On the northern border of the Amatran wastes lies the Iron Realms. The Realms occupy by far the largest oasis in western Velorium, if not the entire planet. A massive crater stretching several hundred miles across, The Iron Realms are ringed by a snow-capped mountain range all the way around. This range divides the realms into two distinct biomes. The desert facing rim and the sheltered bowl-shaped interior.
The rim is characterized by dry, rocky terrain and extreme weather caused by the fierce desert winds being funneled over its peaks. The inhabitants here tend to live in poverty as the area is poor in all resources but stone and wind. Much of the rim's economy is based around using windmills to process goods grown in the interior.
The interior is completely the opposite: mountain streams collect into rivers, and the land consists of lush forests and rolling green pastures. These rivers eventually collect into an enormous lake in the center of the oasis. On clear days you can see far enough across the lake to make out the ruined temple that sits at its center. The locals disagree about the temple's purpose, and none who have ventured there have ever returned.
The Iron Realm is divided into twelve separate realms. Each occupying a wedge that stretches from rim to the center of the lake, but not including the temple, like slices of a pie. Each of these realms are ruled over by a Realm Lord, and the realms are known by their Lord's name, i.e., Eleliod's realm. The Lords are powerful Wyrd Spawn, and the locals see them as gods. Each Lord rules over their realm with absolute authority enforced by their Archons, people given magical abilities by the Lord in exchange for an oath of service.
The realms war constantly with each other, although the Lords never become directly involved in these wars as there appears to be some sort of prohibition against them fighting against each other directly. Prohibition or no, the lords scheme constantly and use their people as pawns in their eternal struggle.
The people of the realms, known as realmlings, tend to be dour and stoic. Life revolves around duty to your family and village, and being overly emotional is seen as a sign of weakness. People's lives revolve around work, and the only break outside the occasional festival is war and death.
Men and women share in the workload at their shops and farms. Only men are allowed to fight in battles, and it was once true that only men could occupy positions of authority. However, centuries of constant fighting mean that there are not enough men left in the realms, and women have begun to take up positions in village governments.
Both men and women prefer dark colored sturdy clothes made from wool. Men wear pants and tunics while women prefer ankle-length dresses. Both genders wear cloth caps, or hoods for headwear, while the most common footwear is cloth wraps, or soft boots, though many poorer people go barefoot.
While not strictly isolationist, the Lords of the realm rarely pursue interests outside the realms. As such, the realms see little trade and lag behind the other cultures in terms of technology. Spears, swords, axes, and bows make up the majority of battlefield weapons, and firearms are rarely seen outside of display pieces on the mantles of the wealthy. Even if a realmling has the means to buy a firearm, it is nearly impossible to acquire ammunition for it.
Steam technology is also absent within the realm, and horses remain the primary mode of travel. Despite lagging so far behind in technology, the realm's defensible terrain, large population, and wyrd magics make them one of the two superpowers in western Velorium.