The Empire of Zont had been created after the arduous process of ending various inter-tribal disputes by the lich, Zont. It was finally safe to trade across its vast expanse, allowing the Teranese to trade silver as far west as Terra Aqua, Onkere and Austros. These in turn traded with the Maritime Powers in the Western Hemisphere for various manufactured goods. Prior to this, silver passed through the Purple Straits - controlled entirely by Posia - which made it extremely difficult to acquire at times in the West. Hungry for silver, the Myrna Conference saw the three major powers of the West set aside their differences and go east in search of more silver.
Kalousa landed on Shard Isle and proceeded to the mainland where they established Sunderstone. The natives, cannibalistic horsemen, controlled all the local tribes under a reign of terror. Kalousan heavy cavalry and Fire Mages destroyed the cannibals and released the other tribes. They took the north western plains around Sunderstone and came into contact with fur-trading Lizards, opening new avenues of wealth.
Lacour's outpost in Obsidian was poor and relied heavily on some scattered oases to survive. It was rich in marble and oil poured from the ground, but there was no silver to be found. Some gold deposits were there and on the mainland they found more desert, more oil and more gold; yet no silver! The natives were hostile but they formed an alliance to defeat mercenaries from Austros and raiders from the Great Zont Plain. In exchange for magical and military aid, the natives showed the Lacrenes how to survive the desert.
The Elves at the Green Fort were well supplied by sea but the jungles and sheer humidity and endless rainfall were quite a bit different from the more peaceable Elven rainforest back home. The natives fled away from the newcomers who fired off immensely powerful magic at the Posians, who eagerly returned fire. Both sides were dependent on supplies to survive and at various times war at home meant starvation in the colonies. A trading post established near the great silver port of Terra Aqua brought the Elves into contact with Lizards, the Teranese, Zont and more Posians.
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Zont allowed the newcomers in, believing he could learn from them and perhaps steal some of their people to place in his Zoo. He had just finished consolidating his empire and its many vassals and turned to building the Black Fleets. Kalousa treated with Zont and he agreed that the remaining cannibals in between his empire and Sunderstone would suffice as a border. Lacour didn't meet any of his envoys and often killed them, forcing him to send in larger numbers of raiders to defeat either them or the desert tribes who opposed his empire. The Elves and the Posians checked each other beautifully in his mind, so he let them deal with his vassal Onkere and Terra Aqua rather than himself directly - he feared the Kalousans the most, who continued to grow in the south-west.
Posia was fresh from a century of warfare and eager to hold on to whatever it could. It would not allow New Posia to fall, even it was hundreds of miles away and impoverished. They redoubled their efforts after the arrival of the Elves and sent more men and mages to keep their foothold. Sallijah continued to grow and had absorbed Fullijah and Lemure, seriously threatening both Posia in Oislyle and the nations of Rath, prompting them to conclude an alliance against the Sallijans. Posia was overstretched and increasingly vulnerable to attack somewhere in its far-flung empire; the initiative was wrenched from their hands later.
Teran was an island filled with silver. It was in every mountain and ran through every river. They had little value for it at home but traded for all kinds of fabulous rarities and essential items across the world. The consolidation of the Zont Empire allowed Teranese caravans to reach the west coast of Terra Nova and thus avoid the Purple Straits' potential closure. The Silver Fleets crossed the Emerald Ocean and the Maritime Powers of the West boomed. Teran was unstable, with the main island divided by various loyalties and their large domain on the mainland, Coth, had become increasingly powerful and influential in imperial politics. If they crashed, the whole world could be adversely affected.
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Terra Majestus was not hugely undeveloped nor inferior compared to the Western Hemisphere. Frostica and Branch plus Teran and Posia were militarily superior in some ways to the West, possessing firearms and artillery on a much larger scale. The Western Maritime Powers had superior ships and seafaring technologies, much larger populations and food supplies and slightly more powerful magic users fuelled by faith. The East, especially Branch, were dependent on slavery to supplement their labour force and were infinitely more decentralised socially, politically and economically and lacked a strong religious dimension. They also fought themselves as often as they fought the newcomers, preventing them from being eliminated as a force. The West lacked firepower and still relied on cruder projectile weapons and didn't focus entirely on their colonies; the Elves faced toward DracoMa and Fermos, Lacour's northern border was bursting with vicious nomadic tribes who demanded tributes and Kalousa continued to be tied down on the Omeran Cone.
