Though Sam starts out his journey in the ever-isolated Besfen, along the way he visits strange new places and hears of many more besides, for Paralex is a rich world of different climates and lands. Each section below links to more information about the regions and important locations within. Find below, extracts from The Wanderer's Guidebook by Erasmus Flynn.
I have made the error of commissioning a famed brachionite artisan (who shall remain nameless) to provide illustrations for my travels. While they can hold a paintbrush in each tentacle it seems they can hold just as many points of view about how best to represent MY work!
With Frustration,
Erasmus Flynn
To the east lies Dalloran, a continent both green and mild. It is often said to resemble a warped bird - the rich and fertile Tumulus Plains forming its beak, the broken Scarlands, windswept Whistle Moors, and barren Wandrums its craggy head. Further south, past the towering Britches and deadly Stratigent Jep, the sun-bleached Empress Grasslands taper into its tail, the often-dismal Sangrum Coast.
Within the Tumulus Plains is Dersey, the capital of the world and the seat of human government, where the Queen rules from the Palace of Paralex.
The western edge of civilisation, Reot is a land of heat and sun. The impassable Great Magnolia Desert covers much of its centre and western coast, ringed by drylands and savannahs. At the north-eastern edge of the great desert, the Independent Jaserta Republic have carved out a 'country' of their own, contained in their capital city Nezaulin.
To the north are the arid Riddust Mountains and Scarlum Chasms. Shining white beaches stretch for miles across the east and southern coast. Along these coasts too is the brachionites' seaport capital of Yoob.
The southern continent, Crovis strikes an unwelcome image - many of its regions forever trapped beneath an unending storm. Where there isn't rain and lightning, other dangers lurk in places like the Ashlands and the Nightmare Cradle. But beauty can be found here too. Despite the downpour, the vampire capital Harquer boasts the breathtaking Castle Seward atop Mt. Renfield.
The vampires ruled Crovis unopposed for more than a thousand years before joining the Eight Great Races and many of their old laws still stand. Vampiric hypnotism may be outlawed, but Zangits - literally 'blood-slaves' - remain legal. Tread softly traveller....
(Sam has never been to, nor heard about any of the places in this land - but perhaps one day?)
Off the north-eastern coast of Reot, Lungia may be the smallest continent, but since Before History, Dragons have nested within the many volcanos that dot this humid, hardy landscape.
Though once a tranquil land, Lungia has spent centuries in the grip of war, as the dragons fight tirelessly to exterminate the invasive basilisks. Battle-lines and territories shift decade by decade, yet as it stands, the basilisks have taken nearly a third of the continent. Journey here at your peril.
"A man who keeps north, gets all he deserves". So goes the saying, taking inspiration from the frigid land farthest north of Paralex. The Hubris Peaks offer scant habitable places, much of it being too cold to survive. Iceflows, snowfields, and the highest mountains in all the world lie here, reaching beyond the clouds.
Some say there is a hidden route within the Peaks, leading to a passage through to the Forbidden Lands. Mayhaps that's true, but I in all my tenacity would never walk that path, part for fear of the cold, part for fear of what I may find at the end.
(Sam has never been to, nor heard about any of the places in this land - but perhaps one day?)
For there are locales not so easily categorised, such as the city of Atlantis deep beneath the Sheprian Ocean and Alec-Cassem in its own pocket-dimension.