Ziemia

Overview
Ziemia is a very diverse world. Acting as a hub for numerous different planes, Ziemian culture tends to be eclecitc to the extreme. Urban areas display a startling variety of races, unseen on most other worlds, and the flows of commerce have deepened the coffers of many cities. Certain countries, such as the Dark Maid Empire, have sought to combat this diversity through magical means as well as through ethnocentric biases in law.

Ziemia's notable features, aside from its status as a mishmash, are the incredble number of planar gates and its status as the oldest world. As a hub world for the ancient races, Ziemia possesses a startling number of ruins, often filled with monsters or surviving superweapons from the second age. Due to the dangers posed by such creatures, and the inherent rewards offered to those who dare venture inside, Ziemia has attracted an incredible number of adventurers of all shapes and sizes. Moreover, the military advantage posed by these ruins has attracted a large number of evil overlords, dark lords and others bent on dark ends.

Ziemia is a world of unusual geographic diversity as well, owing partially to terraforming efforts in the wake of the second age, the world has numerous biotopes and climates, often without any respect for proper latitude, ranging from the permanently frozen archipelego of Saam to the impenetrable Vervadian Jungles.

The Dark Maid Empire
 A matriarchy ruled by maids for maids. The nefarious reputation of the nation's leader as well as its expansionist policies, pro-maid agenda and almost psychotic cultural obsession with order and cleanliness have given the empire a nefarious reputation.

Ogawa Raceways
Starting off as a simple raceway, this city state has grown into one of the most well known gambling haunts across the planes. Ruled by its Race Queen.. queen the nation is known as the place to prove one's mettle in so many forms of competition and where one can literally bet anything.

The Archipelago of Saam
Ruled by the council of Island Elders, this permanently frozen Archipelago exists in the middle of the pleasantly tropic south seas. With constant blizzards and various ice-monsters, the archipelago would be relatively uninhabited if not for the incredible variety of fish that live there. Ranging from rare delicacies, to the Arctic Leviathan, a superweapon surviving from the second age, the underwater life in the Archipelago has attracted those from researchers to fishers to adventurers out to defeat a legendary monster.

Tolarayda Crime City
Tolarayda, known as the crime city, is the center of Ziemia's largest black market. While the elected parliament theoretically governs the city and its environs, the reality is that three criminal syndicates, known as the Three Families, hold almost absolute authority. Intensely patriarchal, these families tend to dispose of their enemies via transformation into a variety of female forms. While defying the law in Tolarayda has few to no reprecussions, defying the Three Families tends to earn one a career ranging from lounge singer to waitress to prostitute.