Europe

At a Glance

Explore Europe

• Union of Midgard — Scandinavia and the northern seas.
• Teutonic States — Baltic fortresses, war and contested authority.
• British Isles — crowns, marches, islands and rival noble houses.
• Holy Roman Empire — a dense patchwork of princes, cities, leagues and local rights.
• Swiss Confederacy — mountain communities, mercenary power and guarded passes.
• Low Countries — wealthy towns, waterways and Burgundian power.
• Italy — city-states, courts, trade and Renaissance rivalries.
• Greece and the Balkans — fractured frontiers shaped by competing human and nonhuman powers.
• Kingdom of France — a strengthened crown ruling a kingdom still marked by recent war.
• Principality of Monaco — a small fortified Mediterranean lordship.
• Iberian Peninsula — Castile, Aragon, Portugal, Granada and competing Atlantic ambitions.
• East Central Europe — kingdoms and marches between the Empire, Baltic and eastern frontiers.
• Rus Lands — river routes, principalities, steppe pressure and fortified frontiers.

What Is Happening Right Now?

The political map is unstable even where borders look settled. France has emerged from the Hundred Years’ War with a stronger crown. England is moving toward an open dynastic struggle. The Teutonic Order has entered a new war with the Prussian Confederation and Poland. In the east and southeast, the fall of Constantinople remains a shock whose consequences are still unfolding.

Across the continent, rulers want money, artillery, reliable officials and information. Towns want privileges protected. Guilds want markets. Nobles want land and influence. Mercenaries want employment. Scholars, alchemists and printers are moving ideas faster than many authorities can control them.

Roads, Rivers and Borders

Travellers rarely cross Europe in a straight line. Rivers, toll bridges, mountain passes, walled towns and political boundaries determine the practical route. A journey can pass through several legal jurisdictions in a few days, each with its own coinage, weapons rules, taxes and expectations of foreigners.

For adventurers, local reputation matters. A letter from a prince may impress one gatekeeper and provoke another. A guild contact can open doors that a noble title cannot. Beyond settled corridors, forests and mountains remain large enough for bandits, monsters, forgotten ruins and old powers to survive close to heavily travelled roads.

Where Adventures Begin

Europe works best as a network rather than a single setting. Choose a regional gateway above, then move down into its cities, wilderness, factions and named figures. Political crises can become local very quickly: a disputed inheritance closes a pass, a town refuses a tax, a mercenary company changes employer or a supernatural claim overturns a boundary everyone thought was settled.

Return to the world atlas for other continents and hidden realms.