Updating Estrelin

Estrelin and Reyalen were the first two countries I ever conceptualized for Vester back when I started work on this series in 2015. While this means that Estrelin has a lovely kind of nostalgia to it, a problem has recently rose up where its lore and history is too outdated compared to some of my newer work. So I’ve decided to go about and update some of my older work to fit my newer design. This serves two purposes, first, to apply my new knowledge and experience from working on this series so far, and second, to see what has been lost over time. I wager that there are some notes in my older writing that has fallen to the wayside because it has been too far out of sight and out of mind.

The Issue

As it stands, Estrelin is too monolithic in terms of its culture and history compared to its neighbors. Estrelin’s twin, Reyalen was recently split into two distinct regions, the south retaining the name Reyalen and the north taking on the name Reyvase. Both of these regions have vast differences in geography while sharing several cultural touch stones. Without spending several lines going into too much detail, Estrelin has always been characterized as a single culture standing in almost isolation compared to the rest of the continent. That feels out of place considering its neighbor holds even the slightest subdivision, which is why Estrelin has been split in thirds.
Estrelin itself will still exist as its own kingdom, within Estrelin are three internal provinces known as The Three Duchies. Each is ruled by a duke who answers directly to the King of Estrelin and each duke rules over a number of lesser nobles in the King’s place. While these new provinces still need more detail to them, I have come up with the high concepts that I’m listing below along with the new map of the region.

Atrilla is the northernmost province, composed of the lands that fall in proximity of the Deep Woods, Fort Cato, and up to the small river just south of the fort. It is a long and storied land that was first settled by a group of people known as the Toors after they migrated south to escape harsh weather and marauders based out of the city of Marin. Their most notable holiday is the celebration of the Red Moon, when they believe their champion and founder of their dutchie, Laurence Atril blesses them with his protection from the afterlife. When the moon is stained red, the people of Atrilla celebrate when others would cower in fear.

Esturia controls the western shores of the Verna River, working in closer partnership with the Kingdom of Reyalen. They also control the land up to the mountains near the Deep Woods and the island chain just south of the city itself. Esturia is a land fascinated with astronomy, thanks to the clear air provided by the nearby mountain ranges along with sitting at a hub of several different cultures, the Esturians were able to closely watch the stars and map out the Celestial Pantheon. Their influence was so widespread after the Stellar Intervention that the Esturian calendar, eight months of the year of the eight gods of change with forty five days in every month, became the accepted calendar across most of the continent.

Almadé controls the two southern peninsulas along with all of the land directly north of them up to the unnamed river and to the west up to the mountains near Esturia, though the exact border is often disputed. Almadé is a land of maritime trade thanks to the natural harbors that formed alongside its cities. This is a very dangerous prospect as the oceans have never settled since the Stellar Intervention and they often compete with trade moving through the Verna River. Yet, the Almadé are clever shipwrights and have slowly begun to advance the safety of their vessels to the point that they can reach open sea without risk of storms or otherworldly monsters.