"We're all going to die. That thought echoed through my mind as the wagon carried us toward the Great Crag." — Korranberg Chronicle correspondent, on the Droaam border
Breland is the largest and most industrially powerful of the Five Nations, and its geography reflects its contradictions — tree-lined capital avenues concealing backroom politics, the tallest towers in the world rising above the deepest criminal underworlds, refugee camps growing into permanent towns while the eastern border dissolves into dead-grey mist. The Brelish countryside still carries the atmosphere of a frontier realm that became a kingdom without ever fully losing its rough edges: brick, heavy logs, and buildings designed for comfort and durability, softened by timber even in urban interiors. Fashion favors comfort and light fabrics; the Brelish dislike feeling constrained. The nation's hallmarks — espionage, industry, metalwork, organized crime, subterfuge — are visible in every city listed here.
The capital of Breland and the ancestral seat of the Wynarn line, Wroat sits on both banks of the Howling River where it widens, its tree-lined avenues and elegant drawbridges giving it a welcoming countenance that its reputation does not entirely support. This is one of Breland's most beautiful cities, seducing visitors with its laid-back atmosphere and cleanliness — though the conspicuous absence of beggars and riffraff from the main thoroughfares raises questions about where exactly they have gone. Much goes on quietly behind closed doors.
At the city's center, perched on a rocky island in the middle of the river and surrounded by military docks and barracks, stands Brokenblade Castle — the king's stern fortress and the effective heart of the Brelish crown. The King's Citadel is headquartered here, under the command of Lord Kor ir'Wynarn, Boranel's brother. Parliament convenes in Wroat. Real decisions are made in the offices and committee rooms that line its respectable streets — and in the less respectable rooms above them.
Brelish architecture in Wroat combines Galifaran heritage with local experimentation: stone towers dominate the skyline, but rustic forms survive beneath the monumental surface. The city presents Breland as it wishes to be seen — orderly, functional, and in control — while conducting the nation's actual business out of public sight. Visitors looking for the Brelish national character need only note the contrast between the castle and the city that surrounds it: stern authority on the inside, an easy smile on the outside, and neither one entirely trustworthy.
The largest city in Khorvaire and Breland's economic and cultural engine, Sharn is almost a nation unto itself. Built above a manifest zone tied to Syrania, the Azure Sky, its towers rise to heights no other city in the world can match — and beneath them, in the Cogs far underground, its foundries burn hot enough to work adamantine. Sharn is where the dragonmarked houses concentrate their power, where the Boromar Clan and Daask wage a slow criminal war through the lower wards, where warforged labor in conditions barely distinguishable from bondage despite the Treaty's guarantees, and where the Race of Eight Winds draws gamblers and tourists from across the continent every summer. Due to Breland's proximity to Droaam, Sharn's streets include more monstrous residents — ogres, orcs, goblins, and even sahuagin, harpies, and gargoyles — than anywhere else in the Five Nations.
It is a hub for commerce, diplomacy, and intrigue, and every failure of the postwar world is visible somewhere in its streets.
What began as a refugee camp established by King Boranel has grown into a substantial town in eastern Breland, home to thousands of Cyrans who escaped the Mourning. Prince Oargev ir'Wynarn holds court here as mayor and king-in-exile, commanding the loyalty of Cyran refugees across Khorvaire who look to him for leadership. Resources are scarce, but New Cyre remains both a symbol of hope for the displaced and the last staging point for those determined to venture into the Mournland. The streets display the distinctive Cyran fashion sense — some residents wear the bright colors and glamerweave of the old nation as an act of defiance, while others have adopted Mourningwear, clothing cut in the Cyran style but entirely in black.
The settlement is a live political question. Boranel established it without parliamentary approval; many Brelish citizens in surrounding districts resent it; and Oargev privately pursues goals that put him in structural tension with his host nation. The Dark Lanterns maintain an active intelligence presence in New Cyre. Boranel has stated he will not cede an acre of Brelish territory, but what happens when he is gone remains unanswered.
A critical lightning rail junction connecting Breland to Thrane and Aundair, Starilaskur keeps goods, troops, and information moving across the northern half of the nation. The Dark Lanterns maintain a branch office here alongside their Sharn and Xandrar offices — a signal of the city's strategic importance to Brelish intelligence.
Starilaskur carries additional weight in Brelish cultural memory. On Sun's Blessing in 916 YK — the festival of Dol Arrah, the Sovereign of Honor and Light, traditionally a day of peace when enemies set aside their differences — the armies of Thrane conducted a major assault on the city, violating the holiday's ceasefire. The attack still shapes how many Brelish regard Thrane. Most of Khorvaire observes Sun's Blessing as one of the safest days in the calendar; many Brelish curse Thrane on it. The city recovered. The grievance has not faded.
Vathirond spent the Last War under repeated assault from Thrane, Cyre, and Karrnath, and its residents still carry grudges against all three. What has shifted their attention since the Treaty is not peace but the Mournland. Nameless horrors have been slipping into Breland from the east at an increasing rate, and the soldiers and adventurers stationed in Vathirond are usually the first to encounter them. The town functions less as a garrison facing enemy nations than as a forward watch against something that has no diplomatic solution — a role it did not train for and for which it has no adequate doctrine.
For adventurers heading into the Mournland, Vathirond is the last place to buy supplies, hire guides, and hear the most recent reports from those who have come back. Not all of those reports are reassuring. Not everyone who goes in comes back.
A city of less obvious strategic prominence than Sharn or Wroat, Xandrar hosts one of the Dark Lanterns' four branch offices and sits at a crossroads of trade routes that make it more important than its profile suggests. It is also the site of the Widening Gyre — one of the most important temples of the Blood of Vol in the world. The Crimson Covenant, the Vol faith's militant arm, has been waging an active campaign to expand the faith's influence throughout Breland, and Xandrar is one of their primary footholds. The Citadel presence and the Seeker temple operate in the same city with full awareness of each other and, as yet, no open confrontation — an arrangement that says a great deal about how Breland manages its internal tensions and how much the Dark Lanterns prefer surveillance to suppression when the target hasn't yet crossed a line.
A massive chasm in the Blackcap Mountains, Black Pit is over a mile across and descends beyond the limits of sight — said to be an entrance to Khyber itself. Foul creatures live among the caves that honeycomb its walls. The nearby village, also called Black Pit, is a haven for deserters, criminals, and those with reason to disappear quietly, along with a thriving black market that supplies goods unavailable through legitimate channels. If you have shady friends, you've likely heard of Black Pit's reputation as a place to quietly vanish. If you have ties to the King's Dark Lanterns, you know where to find some of Breland's worst criminals. The village knows the Lanterns know. Arrangements exist.
The eastern edge of Breland fades into the dead-grey mist of the Mournland, where roads end abruptly and even experienced soldiers lower their voices approaching the line. The Mournland is not a nation or an enemy in any conventional sense — it is a zone of existential volatility, and the threats that emerge from it are not predictable, political, or responsive to diplomacy.
Argonth — the floating fortress, the largest engine of war ever built, a product of House Cannith ingenuity and Brelish industrial capacity — currently patrols this border. It houses thousands of soldiers and can be redeployed to the Droaam or Darguun frontiers if conditions require it, but its present assignment reflects the crown's assessment that the Mournland represents an ongoing threat that cannot be left unwatched. As a Brelish soldier or spy, you might have served aboard Argonth before some incident led you to become an adventurer. Vathirond handles what comes through at ground level; Argonth handles the rest.
Breland's western frontier has never been fully tamed. Long before Droaam existed as a nation, the Barrens — everything west of the Graywall Mountains — were held by monstrous inhabitants who had never sworn fealty to any Brelish lord. Over centuries, the Brelish slowly expanded west toward the Graywall. Castle Arakhain became a favored royal residence in the eighth century, bringing new prosperity to Ardev and Shavalant. But the ensuing wave of western settlers was met by fierce raiders — bellowing minotaurs, orcs, ogres, and goblins lurking beyond the gap between the Graywall Mountains and Silver Lake. An attack on Castle Arakhain led to the brief Westward War, and the fortress of Orcbone was established as the gate between Brelish settlement and the Barrens. The king founded the Westwind Riders to patrol the border.
After the Daughters of Sora Kell arrived at the Great Crag with an army of trolls, ogres, and gnolls and declared Droaam's sovereignty in 987 YK, King Boranel pulled settlers back and sealed the frontier. Tensions remain high. Constant skirmishes and raids cross the border. The city of Graywall, just inside Droaam, serves as the Gateway to Droaam — dominated by monsters and ruled by a mind flayer, but also a center for trade where House Tharashk governs the Calabas, the foreign quarter inhabited by humans and other Khorvairians. The Droaam border is both a military line and a commercial channel — House Tharashk brokers the services of monstrous mercenaries from Droaam, and Droaamite laborers increasingly appear in Brelish cities. It is a contradiction Breland has not resolved and shows no clear intention of resolving.