Territories

"A Territory is the severed limb of a dead world... A healthy world dies, fades, floats away. It dissolves into pieces, most of which also wane away. But some small pieces—a tower, a forest, a house—hold tight. They drift across an infinite void until they tack themselves to a healthy world, a world such as ours, like ticks on the back of a dog."

- Valin

A Territory is a fragment of a dead world that floated through the void until coming into contact with the Unnamed World where it was bound by the will of a Founder. Once bound by a founder the territory stabilizes, however, a territory is still in a precarious position for if the founder leaves the territory, it will proceed to fade once again. It is only when the territory is infused with numerous humans that a territory will become stable and grow. This has led to a symbiotic relationship between humans and territories, the humans provide an anchor for the territory and in return, the territory provides humans with power.

Those who acquire power from the Territories are known as Travelers. Travelers attuned to these territories are able to summon mystical powers from their Territory. There are currently 11 known territories that people can travel to in the world of the Traveler's Gate.

For information regarding the Territories, you can read The Travelers Gate Chronicles, a collection of short stories exploring the Territories, available on Amazon.

Each Territory has an overarching philosophy or purpose that the Territory and its natural denizens try to pass onto the Travelers. These philosophies are passed to the Travelers by granting access to powers once they internalize specific aspects of the overarching philosophy. However due to the fact that Travelers are individuals with unique experiences and biases which affect how deeply each lesson is internalized in every Traveler. This in turn leads to Travelers having similar but distinct understandings on what the philosophy and purpose of the Territory is. This taken with the fact that most Territories are ancient has led to disagreements on what the true meaning and purpose of their Territory, as well as Territories in general, is and how they should be used. This has led to division and violence.

Asphodel, the Gardens of Mist
Asphodel is one of the more disturbing territories for outsiders. The territory has a landscape similar to that of Avernus, though primarily flatlands. Like Avernus, it contains various trees and plants. Unlike Avernus, the denizens of Asphodel are primarily plants. As such the powers of Asphodel revolve around the native plants and the Mist, a pervasive psychic entity that feeds on all emotions especially fear and tends to leave mental scars and disorders on its victims. Asphodel is not a battle oriented Territory, but when it is necessary for Asphodel Travelers to enter combat they do so typically as support, healing others and also summoning various creatures and powers from their territory. They have very few physical protections (at least that we have seen so far in the books), and as such require other Travelers to work with them in combat situations. The Territory is most well known for the aforementioned Mist, though it is also known for the various poisonous plants found there. The name "Gardens of Mist" is quite apt, describing the territory perfectly. Little is known about the way of life for permanent human residents in Asphodel, except that they often live in villages, as it is dangerous to go alone in the Mist. The Founder is unknown, as is the original intent for the territory.

Avernus, the Feathered Plains
Avernus is one of the safer and more hospitable territories. Avernus has been described by Denner as having waving plains, forests of impossibly tall trees, and sharp sided mountains The powers of Avernus center around the psychic capabilities of the native birds. Avernus travelers psychically bond with their birds forming incredibly close, and often familial relationships. Avernus is not a battle oriented territory and the travelers are better used as scouts due to the psychic link making long-distance communication possible. Some birds have exhibited the power to detect lies making them useful in interrogation, other birds have been used as advisers. The most well-known power of Avernus is the ability of some birds to see the future. Avernus is not often used to travel because it is notoriously hard to accurately travel through and is time-consuming to try. The name 'Feathered Plains' was given by the first travelers to return from Avernus. However, as Hariman explained in the Traveler's Gate Chronicles, the 'Feathered Plains' is actually a misnomer given because the first travelers only saw the plains and assumed that was all there was. Hariman also explained that every known animal native to Avernus is some kind of bird. Avernus travelers are separated into five main tribes determined by the birds they bond with. The purpose of Avernus is believed, at least by Elysian Travelers, to be loyalty.

Strigaia Tribe: Members are travelers who have bonded with Strigaia owls. Strigaia owls and therefore their travelers have the power of clairvoyance. This is widely known, but everything else is shrouded in mystery. In the traveler gate chronicles it was revealed that the travelers have no power over what they see or when, and that each traveler sees something different. The High Watcher of the tribe sees currency, she sees visions of times buying something will affect her future. Not all travelers see useful visions.For example, n unnamed traveler could only see the position of stars on any given day. However, even though no individual is too useful on their own the combined power of the tribe can shape the future. Keiren, a teenage member of the tribe, however, saw when a traveler of any territory in the moments they would make an important decision, which Denner valued more than two dozen Naraka Travelers calling fire from the sky.

Hallit tribe: Members are bonded to Halliat Eagles which they use as mounts.

The other tribes have yet to be introduced in the books.

Endross, the Lightning Wastes
Endross is a vast desert wasteland, broken only by the occasional oasis of lush jungle. The jungles are arguably even more deadly than the harsh wastes, as they are home to a thousand species of predator. Every day the land gets, without fail, blasted with lightning and flogged with harsh winds. These harsh and unforgiving conditions have given Endross the reputation as being the most brutal of all the know Territories. The purpose of Endross seems to be bravery. However, due to the brutality of Endross, it more often instills recklessness into its Travelers.

Helgard, the Tower of Winter
Described as a frozen tower with numerous floors. Within lies vast libraries which have long made Helgard the preferred destination for scholars seeking knowledge. The knowledge from the libraries sparked humanity's first developments in agriculture and science.

Lirial, the Crystal Fields
Lirial is one of two territories Leah is attuned to, which makes it one of the most used territories used in the Series. The Lirial geography consists of dusty gray plains, the most well-known feature are the dozen iconic moons of Lirial. The patterns and understanding of the orbit and interactions of the moons are of vital importance to every Lirial Traveler. Humans were not the first to discover Lirial; that was an ancient race known only as the Daniri. The knowledge and artifacts left behind by the Daniri are highly sought after by current Lirial Travelers and have led to many battles among those who seek to unlock their secrets

Naraka, the Cavern of Flame
Naraka is described as being extremely hot. Naraka is the territory of judgment and whilst all territories have ideals none are as true to said ideals as Naraka. Naraka is full of very powerful creatures that can be humanoid in form, and use their powers to enforce justice for crimes.

Ornheim, the Maelstrom of Stone
Ornheim gets its nickname the "Maelstrom of Stone" from its "sky" which is quite literally an in enormous maelstrom of Stones. The Maelstrom consists of every size, shape, and color of stone imaginable ranging from vast flying mountains, to grains of sand. The Maelstrom is known by the Ornheim Travelers as the cycle. The cycle is of vital importance to Ornheim, as every Traveler must learn to read the pattern to safely navigate Ornheim.

Ornheim Travelers are known for their golems which they craft out of the gem stones and rocks found within their Territory. Golems can be crafted into any shape, provided the Traveler possesses the skill, which lends to the versatility of an Ornheim Traveler.

Patience is everything to an Ornheim Traveler, creating a golem takes months, the hearthstone weeks, and this is without the time it takes to develop the design. Learning to read the cycle takes years and learning to navigate the Maelstrom takes a lifetime, and a single misstep can cost one everything. Due to this, Ornheim Travelers never act on impulse and instead take time to think their actions through, this has led to Ornheim Travelers sometimes becoming too passive and letting opportunities to make a difference pass them by.

Tartarus, the Steel Labyrinth
Tartarus is an ever-changing booby-trapped labyrinth made entirely of steel, thus its nickname. What we know of Tartarus, though limited, points to a unique and distinct Territory. The purpose of Tartarus seems to be to instill its Travelers with diligence and humility. This is accomplished by the unpredictable shifting of the Territory (Labyrinth) and ever-present traps that require new Travelers to embrace teamwork and unity, which requires one to work without complaint (diligence) and to suppress pride (humility) to achieve. The Labyrinth Travelers are well known and respected for their unity and deadly combat capabilities. While it is assumed that there is a center to the Labyrinth due to it being a big maze it is neither known nor believed that anyone has ever reached the center.

The teamwork of the Labyrinth Travelers has led to them being the most ingrained with the armies of the Unnamed world. This is due in large part to the command structure of the military fitting seemingly into the lessons of the Labyrinth. The unity of the Travelers has led to the saying that there is no such thing as a lone Tartarus Traveler.

Their combat prowess stems from the fact that the Steel Labyrinth grants its Travelers the ability to instantly summon weapons; which when paired with their teamwork lead to perfectly timed and flawless combat. The fact that they fight with summoned weapons leads to many to misidentify Valinhall Travelers as Tartarus Travelers.

Due to Tartarus instilling its Travelers with humility it is the only Territory that Elysian Travelers deem unneeding of their guidance, and in fact, encourage their young Travelers to learn from.

Elysia, the City of Light
Elysia is the most well renowned and revered Territory among all travelers and common people. The territory is composed of a soft grassy plain and a city. The plain is where the gates into Elysia open, and is contains flowers of white and gold, and stretches for about two hundred feet from the gate to the city wall. The city is protected by a vast curving wall of pale white stone and pure gold carved to look like a rushing river, it is only broken by two gates each an intricate work of gold, silver, and a rainbow of extremely large precious stones. You can only see the tops of the buildings over the wall, the sky is not blue but a rich gold like dawn and lasts all day. It is a breathtaking and beautiful sight and is a big part of the reason Elysia is thought of as a paradise. Elysia was the youngest Territory before Valinhall and was the most powerful until it went dormant for three hundred years. Before its decline, Elysian Travelers led all of the other Territories. They were the ones who sealed Ragnarus, and were in charge of hunting the incarnations. Elysia Is unique in that it was born (like all territories except Valinhall) and taught Travelers. The lore of Elysia (at least in Enosh) is that Elysia was created to lead the other Territories because men are imperfect and were abusing the Territories power. We know this is wrong because all Territories are fragments of dead worlds bound together by a founder. However, it is possible and likely that the Founder had that in mind seeing how the powers match the older Territories perfectly

The City of Light's size is as yet unknown and is divided into nine color-coded districts. Each district represents a different virtue and each virtue corresponds to a Territory which is younger than Elysia. Violet represents honesty and openness, and corresponds to Helgard, orange represents loyalty and corresponds to Avernus, silver represents wisdom and corresponds to Lirial, rose represents compassion and corresponds to Asphodel, green represents patience and corresponds to Ornheim, red represents diligence and corresponds to Tartarus, gold represents valor and corresponds to Endross, blue represents mercy and corresponds to Naraka, and white represents selflessness and corresponds to Ragnarus. Although each virtue has its own district, Elysian Travelers teach that a single virtue by itself is meaningless and only when tempered with others can you understand it's true meaning. For example, any valor without patience is recklessness. You can also look at Alin's actions after he incarnated to see the dangers of utilizing only one virtue without any other especially selflessness, this can be seen when he heals an old man without using silver (wisdom) because he didn't want to see what he would see in himself and he killed the man he could have saved if he just put his wants after the mans health. For a more in-depth look into the virtues read the Travelers Gate Chronicles.

Elysia was dormant for three hundred years because there were no natural born travelers to it for over a century until Rhalia, and then no known natural born travelers for three hundred years until Alin. The taught travelers all died fighting the incarnations until there were none left and after Rhalia incarnated, there was no one to open the gates and teach any non-born travelers. It is not known why natural born Travelers stopped being born or if Alin represents a return of natural born Travelers or if he'll be like Rhalia and no natural Travlers will appear for centuries.

Ragnarus, the Crimson Vault
Ragnarus is the most feared of all the territories due to its defining rule, all power comes at a cost, and the fact that most of Ragnarus's travelers tend to force others to pay that price for them. Ragnarus was sealed by the Elysian travelers, most likely due to the tendency of Rangnarus travelers to use innocent people to pay the price the territory demands.

Ragnarus was sealed for an unspecified amount of time before Queen Cynara bound it to her bloodline to combat the Elysian incarnation. Due to Cynara binding Ragnarus to her bloodline, only the royal family of Damasca can access its power. Queen Cynara did this through a bargain with its founder, the founder's face is engraved on the door leading to Crimson Vault, it is unknown what the terms of the bargain were. The founder has only been seen interacting with Cynara after her battle with Rhalia when he turned her into an incarnation, it is worth noting he did this even though she had not drawn too much power from the territory. The founder at one point used the eye of ages and has met Rhalia, he has yet to be seen in the outside of Cynara's flashback scene.

Ragnarus is one of the three most powerful territories along with Valinhall and Elysia. This is highlighted by Leah being able to intimidate multiple Endross travelers with just the appearance of one of Ragnarus's artifacts. As well as King Zakareth decimating an Enosh strike force composed of multiple Grandmasters, Alin, and his son Talos by himself. The battle did take place inside Ragnarus which weakened the powers of the strike force, and Zakareth was forced to use armor which drained his life force, but it was still a feat that few, if any, could match.

There are living creatures in Ragnarus but none have been seen in the series and Leah, a Ragnarus traveler, has never seen one. Much is still unknown about Ragnarus even to Leah.

Valinhall, the House of Blades
Valinhall's defining rule is you can take whatever you earn. That rule is seen time and time again inside of Valinhall, one example is the garden where you have to fight the guardian Chaka if you want food and water. Valinhall is little known to common travelers and regular humans, however, it is well known and feared by the more powerful and well-informed Travelers. Its exact age is unknown but it is the newest territory that came to prominence about 60 years ago with the Dragon Army. Valinhall is currently controlled by an as yet unseen council made up of some of Valinhall’s most powerful beings. It is implied that there are some with enough power to join but are uninterested in doing so. The only one connected to the Council we have seen is the Eldest of the Nye.

Valinhall, like all territories, relies on its travelers and humans who reside in the territories to stay healthy, however, due to the incarnation traumatizing the dragon army, the only remaining Travelers, they only took from the territory without giving back to it (bringing more humans to live in Valinhall and possibly become Travelers). This was mostly due to Kai refusing to take his place as Valin's successor and new Founder of Valinhall, this left the house out of balance and leaderless. This, in turn, left the natural residents of Valinhall and, the Eldest Nye in particular, desperate to save the house from reverting to its state before Valin bound it to his will when it was on the verge of fading into nothing. All of the Eldest's actions in the series focus on reinvigorating the house. This is seen in his first appearance when he gave Simon the Nye essence in exchange for finding the lost Dragon Fangs and new Travelers for them.

Simon quickly improved the state of Valinhall, albeit unknowingly, when he brought the Agnos family and Captain Erastes into Valinhall to protect them. Simon never meant for them to stay but they quickly found a home with Andra being chosen by Seijan thus becoming a traveler, her parents working in the forge creating new artifacts for the territory, and Captain Erastes enjoyed sharpening his skills with Chaka and earning steel from Benson. The Eldest remarks that this has already strengthened the house. Simon will also take the biggest step to right the house when he agrees to become the Founder which has an immediate effect on the state of the House.

As the Eldest explains to Simon the Valinhall is unique among the territories for several reasons, one of which being that the travelers draw power instead of summoning tools or creatures. The Traveler will call power into themselves so that they themselves can fight, whereas the other Travelers call power outside of themselves and have it fight for them. Valinhall is the most versatile of the known Territories with the ability to make the power of other territories its own. This can be seen with the frozen horn which comes from Helgard and the mask from Ragnarus. Many of the powers and beings from deeper and more dangerous parts of Valinhall are still unknown, due to only Valin and Kai exploring them to an unknown depth. Valinhall powers are granted when a Traveler passes a room, which is used to teach Travelers a specific lesson. Each lesson is tied into the overarching philosophy, and you earn a power or ability when you learn it. Each room is overseen by a Guardian(s) which must be defeated to gain access to that room and the connecting room, victory over the Guardian without internalization of the lesson will not result in gaining a power, only access to the connecting room. Every time a Traveler enters a room they will be tested until they defeat the Guardian even if they have gained the power of that room, once they defeat the Guardian they do not have to face it again and have free access to the function of that room. If a Traveler defeats a Guardian without gaining the power of the room they will have free access to that room and the connecting room and can take the test again anytime they choose. Valinhall possesses the ability to assimilate the powers and objects of other Territories into itself and turn them into powers Valinhall Travelers can earn. The requirements are that a Valinhall Traveler must earn the object or power, most likely through combat, then bring it into Valinhall where it will be assimilated. Once assimilated the object must have a room and a Guardian that a Traveler, even the one who brought the object to Valinhall, must defeat to gain access to the power. It is unknown how many rooms are in Valinhall, however, it is known that there are currently more Guardians than rooms and more powers than Guardians. This may imply that the House could expand in size if it has enough humans to stabilize itself, or that the full power of Valinhall can only be achieved if the powers are shuffled around.

At the end of the City Of Light, Valinhall began returning to its former position, before Valin's incarnation, again siding with Damasca, pledging loyalty, and agreeing to hunt down all future Incarnations, a duty that was last held by the Elysia Travelers. Simon also agreed to train Indirial's daughter so she could earn Vasha, he also decided to track down Kathrin who had been abusing the power of Valinhall for decades. Simon also agreed to become the bodyguard of Queen Leah, this combined with the awards given by the Queen to the Travelers would lead to Valinhall becoming a well-known territory. This new found fame along with Simons high position in the Kingdom should lead to finding the lost Fangs and new Travelers becoming easier. It is safe to say that Valinhall will be well on its way to becoming a stable and influential territory.