Professor Cogglesworth is a gnome sage of some renown. While he is well-known for cataloging a compendium of legendary figures, he has also compiled a journal detailing the lands he and others have visited. The professor has gone to great lengths to compile accurate information, but it should be noted that some entries within this journal may not be entirely factual. Cogglesworth is an exceptionally intelligent scholar, but history and lore are sometimes a matter of perspective.
Once known as the Qeynos Hills, this pleasant countryside region has since been renamed New Antonica or simply Antonica. It is named after the continent that the Shattered Lands comprised to create when they were one. Antonica is part of the bastion of the Kingdom of Qeynos. This is a fertile land of pastures and grass covered hills and dales. Large hills embrace the valley that makes up most of Antonican countryside. The lush land has a highland coastline along the west. Spots of groves can be found in numerous gullies, hiding many small ponds. This region is dominated in many areas by mild woodland and rolling hills. Spots of colorful flowers can be found amidst the lush greenery.
Antonica was once a great battlefield during the War of Plagues. It is not uncommon to find the remnants of the plagued undead army that once held the city of Qeynos under siege for many months. Nearly every point of interest played a part or tells a story of a battle or important event that took place during the War of Plagues.
This is a battle-scarred subtropical savanna. It is embraced by the titanic jagged mountains called Razorrock Ridge, located on the east side of the Shattered Lands upon the continent named D’Lere. Clumps of trees and kopjes are scattered throughout the landscape. Many battles have been waged on these lands and orc and human ruins are common sights amidst the beautiful and deadly land.
The Commonlands was once a haven for the Deathfist Empire orc legions. The Deathfist Empire seemingly was driven from the Commonlands during the Battle of Defiance. As of the recent decade, the orcs have begun to make a presence in the region again. What brings them back is unknown.
The Enchanted Lands were once home to the halflings, a merry folk who lived a peaceful life in the beautiful glades and forests. This land was originally called the Misty Thicket in the days before the rending tore the lands apart. They gladly shared the territory with the fey, who thrived in these lands more abundantly than anywhere else in Norrath.
When the cataclysm befell the old continent of Antonica, this place was somehow spared from destruction, and its beauty has only flourished in the time that has passed. Yet, despite this fortune to grace these lands, its modern state has mysteriously become unnerving and its future remains uncertain.
Creatures from a distant and unknown realm have invaded this most pure and sacred of havens for nature and its guardians. Beings of true malevolence and chaos, they seem to feed upon the destruction they reap upon earthly purity.
The halflings suddenly disappeared when the foreign creatures first descended upon the land. Today, their tranquil hovels are empty, having been abandoned without reason or warning whilst magical spirits of nature were twisted into chaotic, maddened agents of the invading force.
Those that remain unscathed fight as they are able, but fear that their struggles are against an inevitable destruction.
Zek, or The Orcish Wastes as it is often called by men, is a portion of the remnants of the once-mighty Jaggedpine Forest. The orcs of the Deathfist Empire have held control of the entirety of this island for many years and, in that time, they have reduced the once-sprawling forest to a mere husk of its former glory.
Much of the forest has been stripped down to barren, charred earth. The orcs have begun mining deep into the ground for iron and coal, and use the timbers of the ancient Jagged Pines to construct their warships. What was once a thing of beauty is now, for the most part, a grand redwood forest on the verge of becoming a wasteland of orc industrialization.
Zek has become a battlefield of sorts, as a band of woodland defenders named the Green Hoods have seized control of a coastal keep. From this keep, they now launch assaults against the orcs stationed on the hills opposite the beachhead. They also sneak small teams through the enemy lines and send them deep into orc territory to gather information and to disrupt orc organization.
Lavastorm is a land of unrelenting volcanic activity. One look upon this island and one can clearly see it is a hellish environment that a weary soul could never hope to survive in. The island of Lavastorm is comprised of a series of small volcanoes surrounding the greatest volcano on the face of Norrath; Mount Solusek. The land is like a great spiral staircase leading to Mount Solusek at its core. Steep volcanic mountains and sweltering rivers of lava form a natural barrier to the steppes of this spiraling staircase.
The heat in the air of Lavastorm is nearly unbearable, and the torrid coastal waters boil menacingly. Ash and magma billow from unpredictable vents, spewing darkness and fear from the very depths of the earth. For anything to survive in this harsh environment is astonishing, which speaks of the potential threat and power of Lavastorm's indigenous creatures.
This violent island was scene to great magical battles, so they say. It is said that this was the site of a great battle between drakota and fire giants. The drakota, as it is told, sought entrance to Nagafen's lair to destroy him. It was on these magmatic steppes that a legendary dark elf sorceress known as Najena made a pact with Nagafen and the fire giants. She employed the help of the titanic elven golem, Magolemus, to help repel the drakota from Lavastorm.
The horns of battle are silent now, but the remnants of this conflict and citadels lost to the ages hide somewhere within the dark clefts of this brutal territory.
To say that Everfrost is a desolate arctic wasteland would be quite the understatement. Everfrost was once an arctic range of majestic snow-capped mountains, winding valleys, and ice-blue rivers. Today, it is a frozen purgatory that is both awesome and terrifying in its unearthly majesty.
Titanic glaciers rule this domain, having destroyed all but one of the great Everfrost Peaks in their hungry trek across the broken continent. Blizzards constantly ravage the land, pelting the region with needles of ice as sharp and unpitying as a knight's blade. Funnels of frost and bitter winds often descend from the eternally gray skies, scarring the land in the wake of their destructive rampage.
The region of Everfrost was torn asunder during the great cataclysm, leaving behind several dangerously scarred isles. An equally perilous lagoon should not be approached without caution, as there have been reports of megalodons patrolling the waters in search of blood.
Halas, home of the northmen, is no more. The city was rent by the celestial fireballs that rained down upon Norrath during the cataclysm. Those who survived the initial disaster either fled the region or were consumed by the unleashed hunger of the land. As time went on, Everfrost turned from an inviting homeland to a treacherous glacial wasteland, devoid of floral plant life or any semblance of mercy.