The Throne

Chapter 1

The war between the Humans and everyone else came to an abrupt halt on the day King Richard III was killed. Then the war against the humans was placed on an indefinite pause, as the leaders of the other nations wanted to see what the next human ruler would do. Richard III's son, the crown Prince Stephen V had abdicated many years ago after suffering from an extreme illness in favour of one of his two children taking the throne, Prince Matthew or Princess Rosanna. The only problem with this was now, two years after the crown prince's illness and subsequent abdication, Crown Prince Stephen had passed away in suspicious and mostly unknown by anyone circumstances and Prince Matthew had gone missing. Princess Rosanna had become queen regent, as she refused to be the officially crowned queen because of her brother's status as missing, as legally speaking his birth right was being the crowned monarch more than hers, due to him being older.
The other Kingdoms that had previously been at war with the humans were vast in their diversity, of residences and their ways of life.
Firstly, there was the kingdom of Sirenus: The aquatic Home of the merfolk and other underwater citizens. Sirenus boasted features such as cities built into the coral reefs, the largest underwater protected sanctuary ever known, and never had problems such as droughts. Apollonius however, was almost constantly in Drought. The land of Apollonius was covered with roofed gazebos for both shopping and living in, and there were small roofed and walled beach shacks for changing and bathing attached to each. This tropical paradise is the home of the Day elves. In complete contrast, Artimes was a cooler, darker, region. As the Night Elves are a nomadic population, there are very few permanent structures, save the Elvesmith village which holds the main armoury forges and the leaders along with their families. The nocturnal population are also nomadic, with many family lines combining as children marry. The kingdom of S'kylaark is an exception to being at war with the Humans. The home of the Angels is built high in the clouds, and the Angels tend to try stay out of warfare and fighting. Humans only ever interact with them at the coronation of a worthy monarch, which is to say, not often. Sources say S'kylaark has rainbows and crystals everywhere.
The final non-human based realm is Verr'daes: the Home of the wild animals. Where all the cast out members of any society are sent. Verr'daes is one big city, built in the trees. No one wears shoes as they are not readily available, there was a significantly lower standard of cleanliness of the general population, and many wore rags. Many of the non-Human Races shun the humans in Verr'daes, due to Humanity's lack of magic for many people and most shunned human's violent tendencies.
The home of the humans is Zydias. Zydias sits high on the ridge of mountains between Apollonius and Artimes, and covers the whole alpine region. Due to the amount of unrest aimed at humankind by other kinds, other races could only cross through one small corridor of the kingdom, with the best guards in the nation other than the palace guards. Zydias only has two cities on flat ground.
Caymar is on the Artimes side of the mountains. It is a Cold and dark city. The buildings mostly follow the Tudor style of architecture, bordering cobbled streets. Water freezes easily in the wells. The People of Caymar dress in warmer clothes- heavy woollen jackets, cloaks, and sturdy shoes. Most people who live here have longer hair to avoid wind chill on their necks. Skirts and heels are not sold in this kingdom due to the sheer impracticalities of them.
Regian is on the Apollonius side of the mountains. It's daylight most of the time, and always summer. There are natural hot water beaches with white sand on the coastline. Most of the land is beaches. The houses don't really have walls due to it being 18 degrees at coldest. Sun hats/ swimwear are worn year round; the days are lighter, cooler clothes and sandals are the go to clothing items.
On the hilltop are three regions. One is The Human empire's capital city, Alyen. This is where the palace is. Alyen is also the only human city where magic is taught. It's the home of the rich and wealthy, and has a mixture of temperatures along the region. The Palace is built out of warm stone with lots of stained glass windows throughout the building. The town is built in the same style of elegant Victorian architecture. Throughout the region are lots of gardens and green space, bordered by Lots of shops. Apartment buildings and townhouses are the most common places to live, houses not so much as there is not enough land mass for them.
Lyion is the region where the gates between Apollonius and Artimes are, and the main residences of the guards. Lyion is a very industrial city. There is primarily Georgian architecture, and there are a lot of factories. The only residencies for anyone are apartments. There is no green space, and if there was the amounts of smog in the air would have chocked it. The Schools are in the apartment buildings. No one walks around outside if they can help it. The gateway street is heavily guarded, by well armoured guards with gleaming spears. There is no way through the human kingdom without them knowing about it.
Wengain is the last region of the human's kingdom- and the poorest of all the regions.
Wengain is full of once beautiful Elizabethan architecture which is slowly falling further into a state of disrepair. There are weeds and vines growing through the cracked cobble of the streets and the crumbling walls of buildings. Many buildings are broken in some way. Many dress in rags or well-worn clothes, because they can't afford to buy any more.
Wengain is the sort of place you go when you want to hide from everyone you've ever known.