Bermund is a flat land just about undefensible, but it's seldom been overrun because the area was settled long ago by a magic race who discovered humans, took their form for the sake of ease, and settled in. The one time the country was taken was by a mage of yet another race, who blended right in among humans and Xubarecs alike. Their magic is personal, unteachable, and utterly useless for things like war. Except that armies just don't like Bermund, and have historically found their way out as fast as they found their way in.

Not that anything terrible happened. It's just that when solid objects tend to flicker on the edge of your vision, a table leg becoming a groping tentacle, or a lamp slowly waving butterfly wings, and just beyond hearing come odd, faint squeaks and trills, one doesn't really feel much like settling.

Humans there enjoy Bermund's quiet existence. Flax and wool are main commodities because the Bermondese produce the famed rugs of the area. The weaving is fine, but what is really going on is the rich, curiously resonant color. People feel that Bermundese magic is in those colors, which no one (even Colend, and they've tried off and on for centuries) to reproduce. When people step on Bermund's rugs, the colors just feel . . . right somehow.

Laupgren Harbor is located at the mouth of the river Margren. By treaty the harbor supplies Erdrael Danara's border cruisers.

Just west of Laupgren is the capital city, Arthla. The inner city is built of white stone and white marble, the white stone remnants left from the days of the great mage kings. The four queens are descended from a long-lived magic race, but they largely live as humans. The four queens are sisters, called Child of Spring, Child of Summer, Child of Autumn, and Child of Winter. Each rules during her season. Winter oversees much business and magic council talk. Autumn is a traveler. It was she who helped to break the enchantment during the single time Bermund's government was put under enchantment. (See Senrid, and CJ's Second Notebook.) Later, she helped spread knowledge of vagobond magic, which is a type of the Old Magic of Ancient Sartor.

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