The alliance is composed of nations in territory dominated by two major trade routes, one running along the coast (Khitai, Balurous) and the other inland (Darfar,Venhya,Vilayet,Khand,Eldrain). Due to trade revenues, these are the largest and most prosperous of the nations that make up the Alliance.
Since the Namdaran invasion began 15 years ago (though they call it a Unification) and began to hit high gear five years before the campaign begins, since New Namdara is mostly unified. Darfar, Vendhya and Khitai have banded together but most of the other cities and minor nations are now separated by armies, bandits and refugees -- and many are unsure what to do.
The campaign itself begins in the small town of Tul'zen, a relatively minor town with only one doddering old magician to its name and, so far, relatively free from the direct path of the war. But all things change ...
No, I’m not going to map it. This is a village in the most minor of empires, in the hyborean age. It’s pretty much a large collection of thatched huts, 3 wooden inns ( The Rising Sun, The Drunken Pony, Trader's Rest) of varying quality the PCs can meet at if they want a nice cliché start, one stone building - the town hall, in better times; currently the home of the eccentric magician Gelhalee who wanders about the town in his bath robe that the townsfolk think is a wizard who went senile. He’s considered pretty harmless, and everyone ignores his requests for their pets for experiments involving buttered toast and cats. The town sewage system is, however, two creatures of his own creation who exist under the earth on human waste.
In addition, the town has 2 bars, one a recent one run by an retired barbarian called The Battered Axe, though the axe behind the bar seems fine. The other is Moah’s Tavern, run by a merchant and some locals that’s rather more upscale, insofar as a tavern can be considered upscale. Apparently in better times -- a couple of decades ago -- there was a ‘tavern’ called the Eunuch Horn, and many locals speak of it fondly, like a wayward pup. If pressed, they admit to having burned it down for ‘tax reasons’.
There are a lot of empty and abandoned buildings, the town having once been far more prosperous, and various half-ruined inns like the Black Cock Tavern, Zarastra's Folly, and The Dog and Duck give mute testimony to better days; most of the locals are here because everyone has to be somewhere and many of the children dream of setting out into the wide world and earning their fortune, blithely oblivious to their fact that their parents once did as well.
The town guard:
Day shift: Lans (Captain), Bearn, 2 other officers.
Night shift: Mado (f) (Captain), Dast, 3 other officers.
Aven - a rich tourist from Ticaldi who is here for the “inns” thanks to out of date travel advice.
Borero - The merchant who runs the Moah’s Tavern.. Due to trade problems, its stock is declining to the level of an ordinary tavern even if the prices are not.
Gelhalee - Eccentric town magician.
Hayden’s Raiders - Ticaldi deserters from the continual war against bandits and tribes from the Waste. They drink too much but don’t fight too often and often mumble about Hayden’s Folly, without naming it.
They are: Anel (f), Dorgal, Edwar, Manx.
(“The”) Hoff - a warrior who considers himself a local legend. His exploits are famous -- to him.
Kyme (f) - One-armed veteran who spends her time at Valcan’s bar.
“Limper” - A large cloaked man whose lived in the village over two years now. He drags his one leg about and his speech is odd and slurred.
Morshuk - a merchant from Namdara who is seeking interesting trinkets and stones to sell to craftspeople on his way back north.
Vinel & Yeshel - His servants/bodyguards.
Moshoe - a travelling magician plying his wares throughout the world.
Annabel (f) - his lover/bodyguard.
Riktik - Arakan arms dealer who is trying to get more people using and buying bows.
Valcan - Owner of The Battered Axe, a one-eyed former fighter who bought it and has run it with money he gained doing “a dark thing”. He tends to give away too many drinks to those he considers friends or allies: the fact that Hayden’s Raiders have not drunk him dry says a lot about his relative wealth.
Yao - One of the young kids in the village dreaming of greatness.
Just kidding! Assume two-three thousand people per city, one-third to one-quarter of that able to engage in war, a lot of traders passing through, many villages feeding said cities and many rulers with delusions of grandeur, magicians who quickly forget that everyone who believes the world can't get on without them dies as easily as other men and the graveyards are full of those who believed themselves indispensable.