"There is no Adra Majoris, not really. This wide land is a bounty of contradictions and conflicts, and the average peasant in Haldot has almost nothing in common with a merchant in Saldonis, if they even know what or where Saldonis is. So, you best erase your notions of this land, if you are going to be working in it."
-The Lord of the Umbrosus Tyrannis
The Cultures of Adra Majoris
Adra Majoris is the largest continent in the world of Adra. It is a matter of debate whether Adra the world was named after Adra the continent, or vice versa, but its name does signify its deep economic, cultural, and geographical importance to the world. Some might argue that Adra Majoris is a super continent that includes all of the lands from Tesiphon to the Roughcut Mountains, and from the White Wastes to the Isles of the Glittering Sea, but most scholars differentiate it from Kelior (the lands west of the Bleached Desert and Wretched Spine Mountains) and Adra Minoris (most of the islands in the Glittering Sea). There are geographical reasons to do this, but particularly with the divide between Kelior and Adra Majoris, there are important cultural reasons to do so.
Adra Majoris is made up largely of feudal cultures, with the glaring exceptions of the Arissian Empire and the City States of Kamomenus. Its technological and infrastructure is also on the less-developed side, since the end of the continent's unification under the rule of Eldios. Furthermore, of the 4 large continents, it is also the most politically divided, with dozens of kingdoms fighting for rule over vast swaths of land. Often within these kingdoms, their rulers hold only nominal rule over much of the land, with local warlords and powerful parties holding more sway than the sovereigns themselves. It is also probably the least stable continent, with wars being not only the rule, but often hard to keep track of, with nations bowing out and joining in, like a game of musical chairs. Those in other places, particularly Kelior, often view the people of Adra Majoris to be culturally stunted, but this could not be further from the truth. With feudalism has come the money and drive by the elites to compete culturally, with a arms race between the landed gentry to be the most refined, employ the most scholars, sponsor the most artists. And even in the feudal cultures of places like Aegyri and Manfried, the pull of merchant trade brings thousands of people to set out on the waves, trading wealth, ideas, and culture as far as their ships will sail.
The most common races found in Adra Majoris are humans, dwarves, elves, goblinoids, orcs, halflings, gnomes, dragonborn, and lizardfolk. You might want your character's culture to be of Adra Majoris if they have a fierce wanderlust, possess great drive to consume and dominate, view the world through a lens of conflict, carry a respect for the elite, or wish to forge a legendary tale. This is of course very broad-strokes, and you should have a look at the following cultures to learn more about the subtleties of each:
Aegyri Culture: The culture of the dragons, dragonborn, and their followers that live in the city of Aegyr and its surroundings.
Arissian Culture: The culture of the remnants of the largest Kith empire in history.
Blackwood Culture: The insular world of the Blackwood, the culture of the Consultari Elves.
Boggart Culture: The culture of the Far-Bog lizardfolk.
Eastern Yogan Culture: A nearly extinct culture, once dominated the ancient Great Western Jungle.
Goblinoid Culture: The culture of the fierce goblin-peoples of northern Zaltia.
Lowland Culture: The Lowland culture corresponds to the original human people of the Aegyri peninsulas.
Kamanoan Culture: The peoples of the mountainous and politically fractured land of Kamomenus.
Manfrieder Culture: The culture of the people of the far eastern duchy, and its grand city of Rumpkin.
Noregran Culture: The culture of the far-northern raiding people of the White Wastes.
Oberen Culture: The chivalrous and feudalistic peoples of Oberbrücken.
Saravoan Culture: The remnants of a once more dominant culture around Lake Saravo, now dimurred.
Steppe Culture: The exotic and violent peoples of the nomadic Wild Steppe.
Wodan Culture: The mysterious and ancient folk of the Yalewood.
Zaltian Culture: The culture of the huge land of Zaltia, the frontier of the civilized world.
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