Triagia

Triagia is a fictional continent on Midkemia, a world created by a fantasy role-playing group and popularized by Raymond E. Feist. This is where most of Riftwar series take place. The readers are introduced to Crydee, the northwestern Duchy in the Kingdom of the Isles, in the first book Magician. The characters travel the length of this continent from west to east, and north to south. Only the Empire Trilogy takes place entirely on Kelewan, another world connected to Midkemia by magically created rifts in space.

Geography

Humans are the majority of the population of this continent, with elves and dwarves being very secondary. The extreme north is mostly wilderness inhabited by Moredhel, goblins, and few humans and there are few enduring settlements. It has two large bays -- the Sea of Kingdoms, commonly known as the Kingdom Sea, to the east and the Bitter Sea to the west. The two seas encroach on the continent's width, reducing it to approximately a third of its girth at its widest. The Kingdom Sea empties out into the Sea of Tears through the Strait of Ilthros. The Bitter Sea empties out to the Endless Sea through the Straits of Darkness. There is one large inland sea, Overn Deep within the Empire of Great Kesh. The north is heavily forested and mountainous. The south has few large areas of forestation, though several mountain ranges. The Jal-Pur desert is the most notable desert on the continent.

Politics

There are ten political divisions on this continent. The Empire of Great Kesh and the Kingdom of the Isles are the most notable nations of humans, with the Kingdom of Roldem and the Kingdom of Queg as strong secondary political players. The Free Cities of Natal, the Eastern Kingdoms, and the Keshian Confederacy play only minor roles. Elvandar is the nation of elves that sits within the borders of the Kingdom of the Isles, but is politically separate. There are three nations of dwarves which are located in the Grey Towers, Stone Mountain, and Dorgin.

The Kingdom of the Isles

The Kingdom of the Isles, commonly known as The Kingdom, occupies most of the northern half of the continent. It shares the north with several other nations. The Eastern Kingdoms lie to the east, the Free Cities of Natal share the northern coastline of the Bitter Sea in the west, and also in the west is the elven nation of Elvandar. It shares control of the Kindgom Sea with the Kingdom of Roldem with the Empire of Great Kesh controlling the extreme eastern section.

The Empire of Great Kesh

The Empire of Great Kesh is the largest land power on the continent, and occupies almost everything south of the isthmus with the exception of the extreme south which is controlled by the Keshian Confederacy with whom the Empire engages in intermittent conflict. Most of the southern shore of the Bitter Sea is held by Great Kesh, but Kesh only controls the extreme east of the Kingdom Sea. To the west is the Dragon Sea, and to the east is the Great Sea.

The Kingdom of Roldem

The Kingdom of Roldem is located in the Sea of Kingdoms. It lies within the Keshian sphere of influence, though it is independent of that nation. It recently acquired the eastern Duchy of Olasko, formerly an independent nation within the Eastern Kingdoms on the mainland. Its culture is similar to that of Renaissance era Spain and Italy, especially in the depictions of dueling in "King of the Foxes".

The Kingdom of Queg

The Kingdom of Queg is located in the Bitter Sea in the western half of the Triagian continent. Queg was once part of The Empire of Great Kesh. Queg successfully revolted from the Empire, approximately 50 years prior to the Empire's abandonment of the province of Bosania (which is now Crydee and the Free Cities). The people feel that they are superior to their Keshian breathren who abandoned them when the Keshian Confederacy rebelled. For the longest time, Queg was the only producer of a substance called fire oil. Its culture is similar to that of Ancient Rome. This is further evidenced by the fact that the native language of Queg seems to be Italian or very similar to Italian. In "King Of Foxes", the second novel in the "Conclave Of Shadows" series, Talwin Hawkins, the protagonist, is trying to explain the word valet to a native Quegan. He uses the phrase 'Il cameriere personale' and refers to it as the native Quegan language. This is Italian and roughly translates to "personal waiter or valet". This is one of the few times in Feist's writing that he quotes a language other than English.

Cities of Queg

*Queg - capital of the Kingdom of Queg.
*Palanque - a city in the southwest of the island.

The Eastern Kingdoms

The Eastern Kingdoms lie to the northeast of the Kingdom. The southern coast of the Eastern Kingdoms is mostly the Straights of Ilthros which empties into the Sea of Tears, and extend some distance north along the northeastern coast of Triagia. The nations within this region are unaligned with each other for the most part.

The Free Cities of Natal

The Free Cities of Natal is fictional group of city-states on Midkemia. They are a loose alliance of cities on the northwestern rim of the Bitter Sea. The northern border of this area is the Kingdom duchy of Crydee. To the east is the Kingdom duchy of Yabon. Relations between the Kingdom and the Free Cities has not always been cordial. Some of the cities are Lan, Margrave's Port, Bordon, Port Natal, and Natal. The culture is equivalent to that of early colonised Australia.

The Keshian Confederacy

The Keshian Confederacy are the southern most political division on the continent. They broke away from the Empire of Great Kesh prior to the first of the Midkemian books. It is located to the south of the Empire of Great Kesh. It is a group of former Keshain districts which rebelled and gained nominal independence. The Empire of Great Kesh still considers them part of their holdings. Their rebellion opened the way for the Kingdom of the Isles to expand towards the Far Coast as the Empire of Great Kesh stripped most of its northern holdings of soldiers to put down the Confederacy's uprising. The uprising also allowed the Kingdom of Queg to gain its independence. Currently, no more is known about this area of Triagia.

Elvandar

Elvandar is the home of most of the elves on Midkemia.

The Bitter Sea

The Bitter Sea is the most politically active area of the continent. The Empire of Great Kesh controls most of the south coast, the Kingdom of the Isles controls the rest of the south coast and the northeast coast, the Free Cities of Natal lie on the northwest coast, and the Kingdom of Queg is an island in the Bitter sea. Piracy is a major problem to all of these nations, with pirates coming out of Durbin, a city in Kesh, and various Quegan raiders.

Vale of Dreams

The Vale of Dreams is located north of the Pillars of the Stars, northeast of the Jal-Pur desert, and southwest of the Sea of Dreams. This lush valley is a contested area between the Empire of Great Kesh and the Kingdom of the Isles. Conflict erupts there on a regular basis though it is generally put down when diplomatic negotiations begin again.

ources

These novels are the sources of the information in this article. All were written by Raymond E. Feist.:The Riftwar Saga::"Magician"::"Silverthorn"::"A Darkness at Sethanon":Legends of the Riftwar::"Honoured Enemy"::"Murder in LaMut"::"Jimmy the Hand":Riftwar Legacy::"Krondor: The Betrayal"::"Krondor: The Assassins"::"Krondor: Tear of the Gods":Krondor's Sons::"Prince of the Blood"::"The King's Buccaneer":The Serpentwar Saga::"Shadow of a Dark Queen"::"Rise of a Merchant Prince"::"Rage of a Demon King"::"Shards of a Broken Crown":Conclave of Shadows::"Talon of the Silver Hawk"::"King of Foxes"::"Exile's Return":Darkwar Saga::"Flight Of The Nighthawks"::"Into a Dark Realm"::"Wrath of a Mad God"

Map link

[http://www.shoalcreek.com/feist/midkemia.htm Map of Triagia]