“A circus mirror that’s haunted” is a great description of most of Eden.
The biblical garden was once perfect, but that didn’t last for long. Likewise, the world of Eden might have been beautiful in the beginning, but it’s now ravaged by war and corrupted. And each of its lands reflects the fall in a different way.
Before the Storm is set in Dagre, possibly the most normal part of Eden. Dagre is Victorian England’s bastard child by medieval fantasy. It’s elegant, misogynistic and moving inexorably into an industrial age that will leave its swords and castles in the dust.
Maybe literally.
Of all the races in Eden, the Dagrans are the closest to what we’d consider human. The land itself is temperate, with fields and forests outside of the cities and townships. Except for those areas which have been ruined by the plaguewar called the Infestation.
Iternum means "journey"… This should be translated as "journey" or perhaps "of the journeys" since the notes state that this song was inspired by an inscription found in the portico of Marilyn Monroe's last home, "My journey ends here".
During the Fire is set in Iternum, directly to the south of Dagre. Every Iternan is born with the ability to use one of two kinds of magic – the Inward Way or the Outward Way. Their magic is powerful enough to make them valuable when other lands are involved in civil wars or other unrest, but Iternan law strictly prohibits such interference. Therefore, leaving the borders of Iternum without sanction carries a death penalty.
Hunters, who range beyond the borders to bring in fugitives, are the only exceptions.
Iternans are infertile with other Dagran races, meaning their magic stays with them under any and all circumstances. They can be told apart from other races of Eden because of the symmetrical ridges on their faces, which they refer to as lateral lines, and which are nerve bundles that respond to the use of magic.
[Hecate] is a personification of the moon, or of the evil side of the feminine principle, responsible for madness, obsession and lunacy.
A Dictionary of Symbols, Juan Eduardo Cirlot
Lunacy lies in the heart of Eden, which may or may not be a coincidence. It was colonized by Dagrans centuries ago, but the land itself had changed its inhabitants. While they’re still as refined as Dagrans in some ways, they have their own mindsets and customs – and in some cases, twisted magic.
Lunacy itself is an inhospitable place to outsiders, a land where wild horses prey on solitary travelers and two moons shine at night – even though the rest of Eden sees only one. Although there’s ongoing business between various Lords of Lunacy and other lands, trade routes don’t go much farther than the border, which is the range known as the Mountains of Madness.
After the Rain is set in Lunacy.
Denalay
In the west of Eden, there’s a land torn apart by civil war between the mainland and a collection of islands which were once the farflung provinces of Denalay – and which are now seeking their independence. They have pirates and airships. The mainlanders have science and whalewitches.
Battle is joined.
Bleakhaven
The last and smallest land of Eden, Bleakhaven is also the one of which the least is known. Other than that the secretive Bleakhaveners are held in thrall by their mysterious Faith, to the point where any outsiders wishing to live in their land will have to bow to the Faith sooner or later.
One fugitive – a descendant of Dagran blood, who’s called Eric Garnath – does not.
