An Overview Map of Kaelaross

This map shows the four Empires at their height, just as the Wars between the Empires broke out.
In the Northeast is Toutus, the yellow border showing the extent claimed (not necessarily controlled) by the empire. 
In the Northwest is Bursia with the red border
In the Southeast is Bellenos with the magenta pink border. 
In the Southwest is Telthus, which has not been described yet. I'm thinking about leaving this only outlined for anyone else to fill in. 
The areas already detailed in this blog (the Kingdom of Teiglin, the Godsblood Straits and Walrus Freehold) are in the boxed areas on the west coast of Toutus.
In the south of Bellenos there is the region that contains Tekhumis the Desert Port. 
As can be seen from the map, the Empires, though great, did not cover the whole of the surface of Kaelaross - large areas are unclaimed. Some of this is uninhabitable wilderness, others dominated by barbarian tribes and a few places there are small, independent realms that refused to be dominated by any of the four empires.

The Currencies of the Empires

Before the Summoning, each Empire in Kaelaross had its own currency that was the standard across each empire.
Toutatian coins were

• Platinum Crowns
• Gold Marks
• Silver Shillings
• Copper Pennies

Bellenosian coins were

• Platinum Doubloons
• Gold Ducats
• Silver Florins
• Copper Centimes

Bursian coins were

• Platinum Eagles
• Gold Hawks
• Silver Ducks
• Copper Sparrows

Telthian coins were shaped as they were named: 

• Platinum Hexes
• Gold Pentagons
• Silver Squares
• Copper Triangles

All of these coins were approximately the same weight (1/10th lb) and in other posts (particularly Dungeon of the Month where treasure is detailed) you can use the Imperial currencies to describe coinage. 

The value of precious metals between Empires was about the same, and during peace, merchant would accept foreign Imperial currency with only a small (10%?) exchange rate. Alternatively, ingots of metal were used instead - the value of the coins was not so much because they had been minted by any particular treasury so much as the value of the raw metals, such as the gold. Ingots of 100 coins-worth (10lb weight), 200 coins worth (20lb weight) and up to 500 coins worth (50lb weight) were all used, and as long as the traders could trust the weight and purity of the ingots they saved a lot of coin-counting.  

Promissory notes of payment were never widely used, but were sometimes issued by individual merchants or bankers, rather than governments. Since the collapse of the Empires and much of civilization, these promissory notes are little more than curiosities - it would be rare for one to be honoured and cashed in. 

There were instances of locally minted currency within provinces and conquered territories, particularly when the culture remained distinct from the rest of the Empire. These local currencies need not be in the form of precious metals. The use of gems, clay tablets, livestock or iron coins with promises of payment stamped onto them have all been used. Some of these are really more like barter than money, particularly livestock. 

These days, 50 years after the Summoning, the Imperial currencies are still in circulation, but surviving realms like Teiglin, Klantorr and the Confederacy of the Ten Peaks are producing their own along side Imperial coins, often melting and reminting coins that come into their coffers. 

The Bellenos Empire

While the classic medieval stories of knights in armour, splendid castles and feudal chivalry of Britain, France and Germany have inspired a lot of Toutus, Bellenos, one of its main rivals before the empires collapsed, is from further south - namely the Renaissance Mediterranean, especially Venice, Florence and Genoa. While feudal loyalties were what bound the various duchies and counties of Toutus together, it was trade that kept Bellenos together. The Bellenosians certainly had powerful armies, but they were more a means to an end when trade and diplomacy failed rather than the reason for the state. 

If this makes it sound like the Bellenosians were more benevolent than the Toutatians, think again. At their best they were charismatic, sophisticated, cooperative diplomats. At their worst they were cynical, greedy lying bastards who would buy large tracts of land from ignorant natives for just a handful of glass beads, and then viciously repel the angry natives with steel when they realised the deal they had struck was unfair. In other cases the Bellenosian explorers simply conquered hapless natives in foreign lands, claiming the land for the Bellenos Empire (with the expectation of being governors of these new territories). 

Bellenos arose as a coalition of city-states on the home island of Bellenia, which then spread  around the Vendalian Archipelago. The empire had grown powerful through their merchant-explorers, travelling around the archipelago and beyond - even reaching the shores of Toutus, though never establishing anything more than trading enclaves in Toutatian towns and cities.
They also explored east and south. To the east they came across the huge continent of Keshiss, with its northern and southern halves both projecting west towards Bellenos. To the south the Bellenosians found the Cynidean islands, with the dying Cynidean culture that collapsed just as the Bellenosians made contact. The Bellenosian towns and trading posts only cover some of the islands - a lot of it is still wilderness and abandoned Cynidean ruins. One of the most notable of these Bellenosian towns, which has survived the Summoning and subsequent collapse of the Empire is Tekhumis the Desert Port. 


The Bellenos way of war was less feudal and more regimented than in Toutus, and with less reliance on armour and more on manoeuvrability - lightly armoured crossbowers protected by ranks of pikemen and halberdiers were common among the regiments of the city-states. Since Bellenos was based on an archipelago with many overseas outposts and colonies, there was a much greater emphasis on its navy - not just slow, crude cogs, but sleek, fast schooners and mighty galleons, while closer inshore there were galleys manned by hundreds of rowers each. The sailors who manned these ships were reluctant to wear armour that could drown them if they ended up in the water, so in Bellenos the Swashbuckling style of fighting was developed. 

Bellenosian NPCs of Tekhumis

These non-player characters are all found in Tekhumis, the Desert Port.

Estaban the Brash
13th level magic user, align Neutral, gender male
Str 8, Int 16, Wis 16, Dex 13, Con 11, Cha 14
AC 4, move 120', HP 24, THAC0 16, Att 1 staff for 1d6-1 or spell
Equipment: Bracers of Defence AC 5, Staff of Power (16 charges), Potion of Invisibility, Potion of Gaseous Form 
Notable Memorised Spells (4/4/3/3/2/1): Statue, Invisible Stalker, Anti-Magic Shell, Conjure Elemental, Hold Monster, Teleport
Estaban is the de facto ruler of Tekhumis and is loud and confident. His priorities are firstly trade, secondly acquiring new spells and magic items and thirdly the well-being of the residents of Tekhumis. Estaban knows that the Bellenos Empire has collapsed, but he sees this more as a reduced market for his goods than a humanitarian disaster - he may have to look for new customers but it's still business as usual. His arrogance, greed and occasional cynicism both offends and astounds the Shu'aa who deal with him. 


Domino
10th level fighter, align Unaligned, gender female
Str 16, Int 12, Wis 10, Dex 16, Con 12, Cha 12
AC 2, move 120', HP 47, THAC0 10, Att 1 sword for 1d8+3
Equipment Chain Mail +1, Scimitar (sword) +1, shortbow, 20 arrows, warhorse
Domino is both Estaban's girlfriend (which the Shu'aa disapprove of) and the leader of a band of scouts (which they also disapprove of). Although influential among the Bellenosians and dangerous in a fight, she is not popular with the Shu'aa. In return she is quite wary of an Shu'aa she has to deal with, and only lets proven, trustworthy Shu'aa into her band of scouts. Among other Bellenosians she is more friendly and relaxed, but will not talk of her background except to say she does not ever want to return to the Bellenosian heartlands from which she fled.  


Horatio Firebreather
10th level magic user, align Lawful, gender male
Str 8, Int 16, Wis 12, Dex 16, Con 9, Cha 10
AC 5, move 120', HP 25, THAC0 17, Att 1 dagger for 1d4
Equipment: Robe of Protection +2, Wand of Fireballs (21 charges), dagger +1, Medallion of Thoughts
Notable Memorised Spells (3/3/3/3/2): Conjure Elemental, Wall of Stone, Polymorph Self, Dimension Door, Arcane Eye, Dispel Magic, Protection from Normal Missiles, Clairvoyance
Horatio is Estaban's right-hand man and is in charge of the security and the town watch. He is a mage rather than a military commander but has also developed covert contacts in all the notable settlements in the area. He is quite strict and rigorously upholds the law, regardless of race or nationality. This means he has earned the respect of many Shu'aa, even if some Bellenosians think the authority has gone to his head. 


Vespasia
9th level cleric, align lawful, gender female
Str 9, Int 13, Wis 16, Dex 10, Con 12, Cha 13
AC 0, move 90', HP 37, THAC0 15, Att 1 warhammer for 1d6+1
Equipment: Chain Mail +2, Shield +2, Warhammer +1 +2 vs undead, Holy Symbol, 2x vials of holy water,
Spells (4/4/3/2/1): Cure Light Wounds x2, Detect Magic, Detect Chaos, Snake Charm, Hold Person x2, Bless, Remove Curse, Dispel Magic, Cure Disease, Neutralise Poison, Detect Lie, True Seeing
Vespasia is a chaplain to the western traders and colonists, and has set up a shrine to Chelmor in Tekhumis. She does not try to preach to the Shu'aa and tries to be diplomatic with them, but is aware of underlying tensions (a lot of the Shu'aa still don't like the idea of female clerics). Vespasia recognises that some of her fellow Bellenosians are annoying and upsetting the Shu'aa, and though she tries to calm the situation down, she believes a conflict is brewing.

Tekhumis, the Desert Port

This was an outpost of the Bellenos Empire, far to the south-east of Toutus. Since the collapse of the Bellenos Empire, it has become an independent town, living off trade and riverside agriculture.
Tekhumis is not of Bellenosian founding - it was part of the ancient Cynidean civilization that prospered until the rise of the Bellenos Empire.

The climate is subtropical, dry and quite hot, certainly very different from the cool, wet climate of western Toutus. There are large stretches of desert and semi-desert, almost unknown to Toutus.

There are two main cultures that have settled here, and they have mixed relations. The Bellenosians are sophisticated traders, urbane, materialistic, practical and often greedy. The Shu'aa are esoteric, spiritual and honour-bound.
The Bellenosians have mostly travelled from the heart of the Bellenos Empire to Tekhumis on the outskirts. The Shu'aa have inhabited this land for at least nine centuries - in their oral traditions and legends, they tell how their ancestors broke away from the decadent and corrupt Cynidean Empire and formed their own towns free from the taint of Chaos that was infecting the Cynideans towards their end. 
Ruins of the Cynideans are found scattered through the area, and still hold treasures lost for centuries. However, they are not entirely unguarded - there are still many cunning traps, summoned guardian beings and dreaded undead. Some Shu'aa say that there are still pockets of Cynideans still surviving deep beneath the ruins, but this is not taken seriously by the Bellenosians.