The Metaphorical Plane

 "The metaphorical plane?"

"No, the Metaphorical Plane. It's . . . hard to explain."

"Try me, Dr. Amber."

"Okay, you know those 'just-so' stories for kids? Like how the seasons are caused by war between the fire and the water elementals? Even though we know that they are caused by the axial tilt of Earth as it goes around the sun?"

I nod. Dr. Emile D'Amberville was the foremost authority in quasiplanar metaphysics at the University of Orlaine, and I wasn't about to disagree with anything he said. 

"Well, it turns out those children's stories are also true. It's easier to describe using arcane math, but the axial tilt and the elemental war both cause the seasons!"

"You mean the axial tilt determines the tide of the war? Or does the war of the elementals cause the globe to tilt?"

"Yes." I must have looked confused, because he continued on, "That is, while it's natural to think one phenomenon must be more basic than the other, both actually have the same explanatory power as the other. Neither is prior to the other."

"Does that imply that the world is actually flat?"

"In a sense. It is definitely a sphere, but it is equally definitely a flat plane floating above the elemental chaos. This is all derivable from the Covellian equations, but Ferrier's work from just before the Second Demon War makes it clear. It's similar to how Faerie is an echo of what we call the Prime Material, but the Prime Material is also an echo of Faerie."

"So can we visit these locations, like we can visit Faerie?"

"It's difficult, but with the right sort of magic it's possible, similar to how some spells can transfer you to the plane of Fire."

"But didn't Fayon famously just walk into Hades, no magic required?"

"Well, I think you'll find that travel is its own sort of magic."

Morachi

Morachi is the youngest of the successor kingdoms. It had been populated by settlers from Muldavia, but never formally organized until an adventurer named Mikulas Mathias from Fogelon came in and united the people under his rule. Since then, Morachi has been slowly expanding to the north and east along the Reka river.

Mikulas Mathias founded Morachi about sixty years ago. As noted earlier, the area had been populated somewhat by settlers from Fogelon, but had not been organized. That is, except for large bandit gangs who troubled the king of Fogelon enough that he sent Mikulas and his party to stop the bandits. Mikulas showed remarkable mercy in dealing with the bandits, and so was able to use them to consolidate his control over the area. He was nominally a vassal of Fogelon, but they were in the middle of a succession dispute, and paid him little heed.

Mikulas' successor, Stephen Bocksai, further consolidated the kingdom, expanding north along the Reka river. The main threat during his reign came from raids by the Orcish tribes that live to the north. Not only did they threaten Morachi directly, they threatened to cut off the flow of metals that come from the mines of Norhold. Stephen delved into a dungeons located in the hills near Norhold, and there recovered the Globus Cruciger. With the Globus Cruciger, he was able to control the gold dragon Faranth, and drive the orcs back.

The current king is Matthias Corvinus. When he took the throne, he announced formal independence from Fogelon, conveniently while they were at war with Muldavia. Fogelon has not recognized their independence, but has not had the resources to establish control. Corvinus is growing older, and some worry that Fogelon might take advantage of his age to reclaim the territory for themselves.