Hi, everyone! Welcome to the 9th article in our Lost Lands spoiler series. (If you missed the previous ones, here's a link to the original announcement which has links to the subsequent ones at the end.)

In today's article, we'll be focusing on the human world of Balor itself, where Shadow Era is set, exploring its different kingdoms by way of our new Location card type, including three new Location spoilers.

Please note: Whilst a lot of the content here is lore-focused, I strongly recommend you read the 2nd article in this series that explained all the new rules associated with Locations before continuing, since the six we're showcasing will be hard to understand without that information.


Welcome to Balor!

In case you've not yet seen it, here's our map of Balor:



Whether you click it for a more high-res detailed view or not, hopefully you can make out the six kingdoms - Lyth, Layar, Irum, Vozit, Ellos and Gaderi - and The Wilds, home of the Aldmor.

You've probably noticed that, in the first three sets of the game, we've made reference to some of these places within card names (e.g. Layarian Diplomat) and flavor text (e.g. Divine Connection), but never went beyond that in the game itself.

But that's all changing in Lost Lands! So strap yourself in for a whirlwind tour of Balor's territories, where you will not only learn something about each, but you'll see how they are set to have a much larger impact on the game than ever before, through the Location cards based there.

Since Shadow Era's story began with the discovery of shadow crystals by Nishaven during the construction of Fort Rothem atop Mount Balor, in Layar, we will start there and then expand just as the War of the Crystals did!


LAYAR

Home of Nishaven and Rothem.

Topology:
- The mountains of Lyth end in a range on the northeast edge of Layar, terminating with Mt. Balor.
- Split in half by the River Anmor (branches from River Lyth, into the Ravenstide, and the Shallow Lake).
- Mostly plains with small areas of mountains and rolling hills.
- Large areas of farmland near Delash and Lorhorn.

Key Locations:
- Castle Layar (Capitol)
- Mt. Balor/Fort Rothem (highest mountain in the world, Fort Rothem built atop it, Shadow Crystals discovered here)
- Delash (Port City)
- Solt (Port City)
- Reeph (Small village)
- Lorhon (Large City)
- Garina (Large City)
- Shallow Cove (Small City)
- Temples of the Seven: Endia, Zail, Saymeht, Anmor, Arada, Rilard, Loesstin

Though not in Layar itself, Arthyle's Pass (first revealed in the original announcement) is sat right on its border with Lyth.


Speaking of Lyth ...


LYTH

Home of Eladwen.

Topology:
- Almost completely mountain ranges with only small passes here and there allowing travel.
- Ice-capped and almost completely covered in snow.
- The southern border is cut by the mountain range and the 'River Lyth' (from which the country draws its name).
- Islands off the coast are surrounded by the 'White Sea'.

Key Locations:
- Tiaril (Capitol)
- Ishbond ('Icebound' a city built upon the surface of the frozen lake)
- Arthyle's Pass
- Isles of Frost (Center island home to the College of Lyth; surrounded by White Sea)
- Kristan's Ridge (named for the first Queen of Lyth, who perished there)

This seems a great time to introduce our first spoiler of the week:



Unlike previous locations we've spoiled, Kristan's Ridge showcases a different style of Location, which is intended to act like an alternative hero ability for heroes that have less generically useful abilities (e.g. Ter Adun, Gravebone). In this case, through following an ice attack theme with their allies, there is the option there to play the location at a key time to fire off that high-value alternate hero ability when their own hero ability is not relevant to the match-up or situation within the game. Ideally, from their perspective, the location will stay active for the rest of the game, but the opponent may, of course, replace it with their own location.

To keep it fair to players who are not running locations, we have two features built into the non-controller part of this one. Firstly, the opponent gets a strong alternate hero ability to use themselves, which will work regardless of their amount of ice attack allies. Secondly, that same ability can also take control of the site, meaning that the original controller will now get substantially less value for their next usage of it when they have more than one ice attack ally out (but can also re-take control).

We're hoping this alt-hero ability style of location leads to more surprises within games and also more opportunities to bluff your opponent (e.g. establish a group of ice attack allies on board without the Location in hand, or even in your deck!). Be sure to let us know your thoughts in the comments below!


IRUM

Home of Gwenneth.

Topology:
- Almost completely desolate wasteland of dried stone.
- Very sparse farmland, almost all located around Ravensguard.
- Bordered to the east by Ravenstide (River).
- The Vale is surrounded by the 'Swan's Sea'.
- The Vale is bordered by a large and formidable wall only accessible from the port.
- The Vale, having formerly been its own nation, is covered wall to wall with cityscape.

Key locations:
- The Vale (Capitol of the Swan)
- The Vale's port
- Ravenscrest (Port City)
- Ravensclaw (Port City; specifically for pirates and their ilk)
- Dar'Yari (Home of the Yari)
- Ravensguard (Capitol of the Raven)

If you didn't see it already, here's the Lightning Quarry (first revealed in article 5):



VOZIT

Home of Serena Thoughtripper.

Topography:
- Mostly rolling hills.
- Heavy banks of snow to the north, leading to plains of pure ice.
- More cityscape.

Key locations:
- Temple of Vozit
- Tisay (Capitol)
- Peut (Port city)
- Arila (City of Nobles, major merchant city)
- Rillest (Secondary port city, specializing in the purchase of Lythite)
- Sosilo (Sosilo is a city in two parts; one on each side of a bridge that connects Vozit and Ellos)

Vozit and Ellos (see below), each named for the brother God they worship, have had many conflicts over the ages. Their wars have been among the longest and bloodiest in the history of Balor (to date) and only ever ceased when a leader rose who was tired of the bloodshed. After too many of these wars, a priest had a vision while reading the ancient texts of both gods. In his vision Ellos and Vozit were not enemies but allied, an alliance that made both stronger. This vision he transformed into an institution in homage to 'Unaxio', an ancient word believed to mean 'Brother's United'. This order created a group known as Templar; powerful fighters capable of maintaining the peace between the countries through the might of their faith. Their spiritual home became Brothers' Isle, an ancient dormant volcano, surround by sea, to which Brothers' Landing (first revealed in article 2) acts as the first welcoming point for visitors who have traveled from more distant shores.