The Southwest part of the Rhine is arguably the busiest, besides Centralia Isle herself. This region covers everything from Devimetra to Ocean’s Landing, Southport to Taegel and Helmrest. Paradoxically, this region has both the highest and the lowest amount of Centralian influence, depending on where you are. Some islands are directly under the thumb of Centralia, with guards frequently hailing directly from the Isle, while other islands frequently rebel, usually inhabited by either proud natives or swashbuckling pirates. Both these groups have an uneasy alliance against the continuing Centralian colonialism, creating a near constant state of fighting between the two.
Devimetra has a bit of a rough history. While Sunkissed Pier is fairly standard as far as Centralian colonial territory goes, with traveling circuses and most amenities accounted for. The eastern side of the island, however, has been encompassed by a thick swamp within the past few years. Primarily the territory of a local semi-aquatic lizard Rondo, the swamp appears to stem from a large stone city with statues of people made from glass. None truly know precisely why this is here, but many believe it has to do with legends of ancient necromancers and alchemists gathering peoples’ lifeforces together to create a philosopher’s stone. A Caller in Darkness was spotted in the area in 2555 and later in 2559, though the beast was properly disposed of. Some believe it was likely the original source of the rot. As proof, the swamp persists, but no longer spreads.
Ocean’s Landing has two major port towns on it, Port Faraday and Port Respite. Both are nearly equal and opposites. Port Faraday was founded by a Centralian noble wishing to establish a place of learning within Centralia’s colonies. Port Respite, meanwhile, was established much later as a vacation home for the wealthy elite of Centralia. Port Faraday is still governed directly by its original founder. Meanwhile, Port Respite is run by a conglomeration of business owners whose main offices all still reside on Centralia, meaning the rulers have little to no clue what is actually happening in Port Respite unless they’re directly visiting.
In both cases, the fortresses have evolved into their own heavily industrialized cities, bordering the lavishness of Centralia itself. In contrast, much of the island’s natural wildlife no longer exists. Trees exist only in the cities and none of them are native species to the small island. No fauna remains on the island either, unable to sustain themselves due to the lack of natural plant life. The combination of the two cities are a testament to Centralia’s end goal of colonization, seeing nature as only a means to an end.
Taegel is a fairly normal island. Established primarily as a mining colony in 2232, the city of Helmrest is quite large, and thus quickly grew into something else entirely. Helmrest is run theocratically, serving as a major religious center for the Centralian business venture. It has the largest Natatorium in the Rhine, an old Tarusian Archive, an old Vormaxian University, and trades extensively with Lojem, serving as the westernmost point of the Rhine. However, in the year 2555, three tragedies struck. First, the town was almost destroyed by pirate captain E.G. Sherwood after a group of adventurers challenged him to a duel. Around the same time, it was found that a major member of the Theocracy had been killed and replaced by a shapeshifting hirudo known as The Faceless One. He had previously used a form of mind control to keep the town docile to that fact, but with his death the spell ended. Since then, Helmrest has mostly returned to normal, but remnants of the spell placed on the town occasionally crop up in riots. People have slowly been moving away from the city. Thirdly, the head of the University of Helmrest, Fatima Abiduan, was revealed to be a pirate working for Scourgetide and ousted from her position.
In the meantime, the old half-rivalry half-partnership between the Tarusian Archives and the Vormaxian Kira Institute has not ceased despite the two’s fusion into Empani. Indeed, the Archive and the Institute maintain their half-rivalry, attempting futilely to prove one Empanian Path superior to another. The city has begun to rebuild itself with a sense of normalcy, attempting to not attract large amounts of attention from greater forces.
Scourgetide is one of the few wholly free islands in the Southwest Rhine. Among those other free islands, it is one of the fewer still that engages in widespread trade across the rest of the Rhine. While most of the free, untouched islands in this portion of the Rhine are isolationist, primarily inhabited by native semi-aquatic lizards and shellbearers, Scourgetide relies on trade.
Scourgetide was initially a Centralian colony, the same as most of the other islands surrounding it. However, the colonists there began stirring trouble in a bid for freedom. While Centralia clearly fought back in an attempt to regain the area, the natural reefs surrounding the island made attacks on the island predictable, especially considering Centralia had to take a longer route around the island and wait for the proper tides to set in. Eventually, Scourgetide became more trouble than it was worth and was left to rule itself.
Despite this, no official laws were established. As the decades passed it became clear that a power vacuum of sorts existed on the island. Many of the citizens had turned to piracy, forming their own gangs and crews to pillage Centralian ships in an attempt to maintain the island. Eventually, the void was filled by a conglomeration of larger crews who dubbed themselves The Pirates of Scourgetide. No one ever accused them of being creative with names. The Pirates maintain a ‘pirate code’ valuing mercy and focusing more on stealing from the rich than murder, as a corpse or a pauper can only be pillaged once, while a wealthy merchant can be pillaged to near infinity. The Pirates are currently led by Katura Jax.
The Southport area is quite busy. A string of smaller islands, such as Maelstrom Bay and Meatball Island, rest to the northwest, two semiaquatic lizard settlements, Slet’ceth and Featherton, sit idly in the northeast, not yet conquered by the Centralian army.
Southport itself was conquered with the intention of establishing Port Davis. Built over 200 years ago, Port Davis was built as the only port in the area far south enough to not solidify during The Freeze. Because of this, it very quickly grew into arguably the most major city in the area. Some say its influence rivals that of Centralia herself, but the city’s governor is and has always been selected directly by the Centralian Lords for their unceasing loyalty. Port Davis’ status is a complete pipe dream for most of the other islands in the Southwest Rhine, but is used as a constant motivator, to try and achieve the same level of wealth and favorability among the Centralian Lords.
The Nikron Isle was conquered very quickly by Centralian invaders in the year 2345. It was established as a mining community following the success of the Ile De Sarver in the Eastern Rhine. Nearby, to the north, a second mining town of Kravico was established. Both the Nikron Mines and Kravico are the primary sources of iron, and eventually steel, across the Rhine, feeding the metal directly into the pockets of the Centralian Lords.
The Kashava Isles are quite far from most of the rest of the Rhine. Eastbank is less of a fully developed town and more of a glorified military garrison. Established in 2447, Eastbank took a surprisingly high amount of military might to bring under Centralian rule, even requiring adventurers to establish. The governor is an elderly Elvish woman who helped conquer the place. As mentioned, it’s quite militaristic in nature compared to the other towns. It is also known for having the largest jail in The Rhine,
Port Saleen is a fishing town in the southwest portion of The Rhine. The local governing body, hand selected by a Centralian committee, keeps the place calm and quiet. Not much happens there, intentionally. Port Saleen does suffer from the usual class disparity found in all Centralian run cities, with the differences being quite exasperated as time has gone on. Yet the small town persists in its poverty, refusing to attract attention, lest something worse come along to harm it.