Areth (Continent)
Areth was a continent and the primary setting of the Adventures of Baron Von Monocle series. Its inhabitants, including the peoples of Rislandia and the Wyranth Empire, were descended from settlers who arrived more than a thousand years before the events of For Steam and Country. The continent was surrounded by blue waters, including the Golgmarsh Ocean. Areth was also referenced in old stories as a destination reached by giants who crossed the Golgmarsh Ocean, and legends told of giants who roamed the land in ancient times.
The name "Areth" was used colloquially by its inhabitants in expressions such as "Why on Areth" and "Where in Areth," reflecting its role as the known world for the continent's peoples. Rislandia City was described as the shining beacon of hope of Areth. The continent was home to multiple kingdoms, including Rislandia and Atrebla, and its peoples exported goods to many places across it.
In The Blood of Giants, Cappa had never heard of Areth, suggesting the continent was unknown or obscure to at least some peoples beyond its shores.
In The Steam Knight, King Malaky XVI argued that it was in the interest of everyone on the Areth continent that Rislandia succeed, stating: "It's for everyone on the Areth continent's benefit that we succeed."
History
According to sources referenced in For Steam and Country, the first settlers arrived on Areth over a thousand years ago. In the process of establishing themselves on the continent, these settlers began anew and lost much of the history that had preceded their migration. As a result, knowledge of events and civilizations from before the settlement of Areth remained fragmentary or entirely absent among the continent's later populations.
This gap in historical awareness was noted in a book given to Zaira von Monocle's father by a Zenwey shaman, which referenced the continent and its people's limited grasp of their own origins. As the text observed, "the Areth continent didn't have a grasp of true history."
Old stories also told of giants crossing the Golgmarsh Ocean to reach Areth, and legends described giants who roamed the land in ancient times. In The Blood of Giants, Ivan expressed belief that these tales were real.
The Great Areth Empire
In The Iron Wedding, it was revealed that a vast empire once covered most of the Areth continent. The original settlers of Rislandia were described as "fleeing from a vast empire that covered most of the Areth continent." This empire was ruled by the Great Areth Emperor, who sought the settlers' crystal powers for his mage knights. The settlers' flight from this empire and the subsequent loss of historical memory explained why later generations of Areth's peoples had so fragmentary an understanding of their own origins.
Unification Under Kudi the Great
In The Iron Wedding, Kudi the Great was identified as the first ruler to unite the Areth continent under one rule, referenced in connection with "the kings of old, who united the Areth continent under one rule." The precise relationship between Kudi the Great's unification and the Great Areth Empire described elsewhere in the same novel has not been clarified in the text.
Geography
Areth was a continent of considerable extent, surrounded by blue waters. In The Fight for Rislandia, the airship The Liliana was described as looping around "the northernmost part of our corner of the Areth continent" in order to reach Cliffside Castle, indicating that the regions associated with Rislandia occupied only a portion of the continent's total landmass. A war room within Cliffside Castle contained a tactical map of the Areth continent, reflecting its strategic importance to Rislandian military planning during the 2nd Wyranth War.
In The Steam Knight, The Crystal Spire was described as perhaps the tallest building on the Areth continent.
Role in For Steam and Country
In For Steam and Country, Areth served as the geographic backdrop for the central conflict between Rislandia and the Wyranth Empire. The continent's forgotten history was introduced as a thematic element through the book provided to Zaira's father by the Zenwey shaman, suggesting that the true origins of Areth's peoples remained a subject of mystery and potential significance.
Role in The Blood of Giants
In The Blood of Giants, Areth was referenced in old stories concerning giants who were said to have crossed the Golgmarsh Ocean to reach the continent. James Gentry, who narrated those events, was from Areth. Ivan expressed belief that these tales of giants traveling to Areth were real. Cappa had never heard of Areth, indicating the continent was not universally known among all peoples encountered in the story.
Role in The Fight for Rislandia
In The Fight for Rislandia, Areth was referenced in the context of active military operations. The Liliana navigated around the northernmost part of "our corner of the Areth continent" to reach Cliffside Castle. Additionally, a large table in the castle's war room displayed a tactical map of the Areth continent, underscoring the continent's centrality to the strategic planning of Rislandia's forces during the ongoing conflict.
Role in The Iron Wedding
In The Iron Wedding, Areth's ancient history received significant elaboration. It was revealed that the original settlers of Rislandia had fled from a vast empire that once covered most of the Areth continent, whose ruler—the Great Areth Emperor—had sought to claim the settlers' crystal powers for his mage knights. The novel also referenced Kudi the Great as the first to unite the continent under one rule, situating him among "the kings of old." These revelations provided context for the settlers' loss of historical memory noted in earlier books, as the flight from the empire and the subsequent resettlement on a new part of the continent contributed to the fragmentation of their collective past.
Role in The Steam Knight
In The Steam Knight, Areth was referenced in two notable contexts. King Malaky XVI invoked the continent as a whole when arguing that Rislandia's success against the Wyranth Empire was a matter of shared benefit for all its peoples. Additionally, The Crystal Spire was described as perhaps the tallest building on the Areth continent, offering a rare point of geographic scale for one of the continent's most prominent structures.
Spoiler: The Steam Knight 2
This section reveals events from “The Steam Knight 2”.
On the world map
On the official world map, "Areth" is printed in giant letters across the south-eastern continent. The continent's regions are Rislandia, the Wyranth Empire, Artrebla (Atrebla), Wyn, Zarma, Perryton, Rescall and Nyanzi. Nearby features include Lantern Bay, Perry's Gulf and the Flat Water Delta, and the islands of Ebony Sands, Seamount and Panderica. The Crosswinds Sea separates it from Zenwey.
In A History of Rislandia
According to A History of Rislandia, Areth is the southern continent, explicitly distinguished from the northern continent Zenwey, which the sourcebook describes as a massive landmass far larger than Areth. The bible introduces the formal designation "the southern continent (Areth)" and uses the phrases "old Areth," "southern continent," and "the world of Areth" as recognized aliases for the landmass.
Name and Origin
According to A History of Rislandia, the name "Areth" was given to the southern continent by human settlers, implying the name is not an ancient or indigenous one but a product of the settlement era. The sourcebook opens with the declaration "Welcome to the World of Areth," framing the continent as the primary known world of the series.
Geography and Extent
According to A History of Rislandia, Areth stretches from frozen wastes in the far north to tropical regions in the south. The sourcebook provides the most detailed regional breakdown of the continent found in any source:
- Northwestern Areth: home to Atrebla
- Eastern Areth: home to Perryton and Nyanzi
- Southeastern Areth: home to Zarma and its nomadic tribes, who inhabit southeastern deserts
- Central Areth: home to Rescall, whose tribal peoples inhabit southern jungles
- Northern Areth: home to Wyn, whose clan-based peoples inhabit southwestern highlands
- Southern Areth: location of Panderica
The sourcebook also identifies the Iberanth Peninsula as a named geographic feature within or adjacent to Areth, and states that Rislandia and the Wyranth Empire are located on this peninsula. The Dragonmist Isles are described as lying between Areth and Zenwey.
The sourcebook states that humans spread across Areth and various islands, accounting for perhaps 40% of the world's landmass in smaller communities.
Peoples and Societies
According to A History of Rislandia, humans appeared primarily on Areth and on various islands. The continent was home to scattered kingdoms that eventually came to know themselves as separate peoples. The sourcebook notes that goblins are real, small, subterranean creatures living in cave systems beneath Areth and other continents, and that dragon legends are collected from across Areth and beyond.
The Orethan Dominion is described as having ruled the heart of the continent. Perryton is identified as originating from "the old land" as an eastern coastal confederation.
Relationship to Zenwey and the Giants
According to A History of Rislandia, Areth was too vast and wild for the Giants to fully claim, and it lay far from the Giants' Zenwey homeland. The sourcebook frames Areth as distinct from and separate to Zenwey, with the Crosswinds Sea separating the two continents — consistent with the novel-based account on this page's note that the Crosswinds Sea separates Areth from Zenwey on the world map.
The Nightmen Invasion
According to A History of Rislandia, the Nightmen are launching a continental-scale invasion of Areth, a threat the sourcebook describes as forcing the kingdoms of Areth to look beyond their own borders. This is presented as a defining crisis of the era in which the series is set.
Folklore and Legend
According to A History of Rislandia, the cautionary tale known as The Dragon's Hoard is told across every culture of Areth, with variations in each. The sourcebook quotes: "This story is told across Areth, with variations in every culture." The continent is described as the setting for legends told across the known world.
Technology and Magic
According to A History of Rislandia, Areth exists at a unique intersection of industrial technology and ancient magic. Steam engines power factories and airships, while crystals grant powers that defy natural law. The sourcebook describes the continent as containing airships, ancient ruins, evolved giants, and crystal magic, and characterizes it as "vast, filled with heroes and villains, wonders and horrors, ancient secrets and modern conflicts."
The Great Library
According to A History of Rislandia, King Malaky XIII acquired texts from across Areth for the Great Library of Rislandia, suggesting the continent's breadth of scholarship and culture was recognized and collected during his reign.