Local Features

The Beach

The stony shore of Brighthelm is a famous tourist attraction during the summer months, with all races (excepting pyrokin unless it is particularly warm) making a good showing of coming from all over the country for holiday weekends. This area attracts various street performers of both the magical and mundane variety, but is also known as an area in which the unwary travelled will find their wallets missing following a show.

The Docklands

A short distance from the beach is the more industrial docklands. While the beach may feature a few interesting looking boats, more run-down cargo and fishing ships are moored in the docklands, and rows of warehouses facilitate unloading of cargo and boat repair. This territory is closely overseen by the entrepreneurs' guild to ensure the security of all cargo and that all relevant taxation of goods is upheld.

Ditchling Beacon

A ritual site of comparable power to the one found in the Sussex Arms, Ditchling Beacon is a 4-ley-line cross which coincides with a large local hill. It is administered by the Warlocks and while not as well-guarded as the largest site in the Warlocks' Guild, they have set up a series of wards around the site. There is a persistant ritual in place which activates at night, transforming the hilltop into a blinking conflagration which acts as a lighthouse for ships coming in to dock.

It is considered a relatively dangerous place, with the local concentrations of magic attracting elemental beings of various different sizes. The wards enforced by the Warlocks are as much to ensure these beings are contained as they are to protect the ritual site from unauthorised access. There are many local stories of young children sustaining serious injury after playing in this area against their parents' instructions.

The City Limits

As you come to the official boundary of the city, there is a wall. In some places, it is like a great fortified structure, in others it is little more than an extended heap of stones. Nevertheless, the Watch patrolls this wall and mans a few (but by no means all) of the passageways and gatehouses into the city, especially those along main roads where trade caravans may need assistance.

Immediately outside the walls there are still a few houses, which were built after the wall was erected, but these soon give way to open, hilly countryside. The surrounding countryside features an abundance of small villages, with names like lesser wompington, crow-on-the-badger and mudders borough.

The Anglian Island

The known-world in the SWATT universe corresponds approximately geographically to modern-day europe. So Brighthelm is found where Brighton is on a modern map, at the South-East corner of Britain.

Albion

The Kingdom of Albion extends over the majority of the Anglian Island, bordering only Caledonia and Cymru. It is ruled by King Samuel Swornsword, as his family have for generations. Londinium is the captial, where the royal palace is located. Aside from Brighthelm, there are several other notable cities, including Kernow, Oxanforda, Grantabrugge, and Durholme to name but a few. The country is divided up into counties, overseen by Earls. The Earls' roles are largely symbolic, acting only to dispatch forces to bring into line any settlements which fail to pay adequate taxes or respond to royal edicts. The King's Law is a body of legislation defining acts which are considered serious crimes throughout the whole of Albion. Counties and cities are free to add to (but not take away from or contradict) the King's Law, provided this does not cause them to fail to adequately uphold King's Law. The King and his court are staunch followers of Mallan.

Caledonia

Caledonia is a land far to the North of Brighthelm, where Scotland is in real life. There are frequently border skirmishes where the countries meet, and King Samuel has more than once attempted to lead his armies into caledonia to consolidate his rulership over the entire island.

Cymru

Cymru is a land which borders Albion and jutts out to the West. It is ruled by a number of Earls who have sworm fealty to the Throne of Albion since King Samuel's great-grandfather George conquered it sixty years ago. The stereotypical impression of Cymru is that it is mainly pasture-land for large herds of sheep.

Further Countries

Gaul

Geographically located where real world France is. They say the upper echelons of Gaulish society are rife with Sordanites, who maim the peasantry for fun. The Swordsworn family have frequently initiated assaults on Gaul in order to establish a foothold on the continent, leading to several drawn out and untimately unsuccessful conflicts. There is still a great deal of distrust and

Andalucia

Located where real world spain is. A hot country, and occasional holiday destination for the rich. Famous for its spicy foods, large pyrokin population and, allegedly, it's dancing girls (and boys.)

Teutonia

This is a foreign land beyond Gaul where Germany is today. Atenism is the primary religion there and occasionally zelous teutonian missionaries travel to Brighthelm to help "reinvigorate the faithful".

Norska

A land across the sea to the NorthEast, where Norway is located. Norscan warriors are known for raiding the coastline and sometimes sacking entire villages. They are generally thought of as savages and while it is extremely rare they come as far south as Brighthelm, a few particularly old buildings have had the char-marks deliberately left on as a reminder of the Norscan raids.

The Unknown

The Hibernian Storm

Those who have taken ships Westward report a turbulent storm within the ocean, through which no ship has successfully passed. This storm extends almost the length of Albion from North to South, and about 300 miles West to East. Legends say that there is an ancient land within the storm, and that the occasional traveller who has found there way there will remain forever young, but may never return to their home soil. Beyond this storm is an endless ocean. Current thought is dismissive of legends of a sleepingland within the storm, positing the more likely hypothesis that this barrier marks the edge of the world and there is no form or substance beyond this point on the endless ocean, but the name “Hibernian Storm” has remained in common useage nontheless.

Atlantis

Elven legends say that the ancient homeland of the elves was the island of Atlantis, a centre of magical understanding and generally a utopia. The saga of atlantis tells of the coming of strange creatures known as the Dragonlords, who rode great winged reptiles and enslaved the elves for a time before a rebellion sank the island beneath the waves, taking the Dragonlords with it. There are many tales of Atlantis and the strange magics at work there, but none know where it was supposed to have sank and many doubt it really ever existed. While some idly speculate that Atlantis may be the land within the Hibernian storm, the tales of these two legendary lands do not correlate well and elves particularly tend to dislike anything that upsets their ancestral legends.