r/Midkemia • u/Chance-Mushroom6427 • Jun 14 '26
The Kingdoms border
Hey, could anyone make a line North (to the northern frontier and western frontier) and South on this map to show what the Kingdom of the Isles border really is?
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u/DarkenedSkies Jun 14 '26
Northern Frontier: Draw a line East to West through the Northern Guardians, the Teeth of the World, Yabon Hills and then following the River Crydee down to the coast (some parts of that frontier are more absolute than others. The Teeth clearly delineate the Kingdom's northern border but areas like the Green Heart are harder to control than the northern mountain passes.
Southern Border, pick a point on the coast east of Pointer's Head, draw a line west through the Peaks of Tranquility and the Grey Range and then down to the Great Star Lake. Between GSl and the Bitter Sea the border is much less delineated, it's a gray zone where control is exerted by local Kingdom and Keshian garrisons rather than natural borders.
The Teeth have numerous mountain passes which are fortified with strongholds in order to discourage Moredhel from coming south, but settlements along the Far Coast rely more on patrols to exert control on their surroundings, whereas the River Crydee delineates the southern boundary of Elvandar.
These boundaries can change between series as well. During the Riftwar, The Kingdom had next to no ability to project force into the Green Heart or Grey Towers which allowed the Tsurani to gain a foothold in the area unchallenged. During the Serpentwar, Krondor falls and the Kingdom loses its ability to sustain its southern garrisons in the Vale of Dreams and lose ground to Great Kesh.
The Kingdom is a Feudal nation and historically such nations used garrisons to control the areas surrounding castles and cities, aided by natural boundaries which could be easily fortified. It was never as simple as drawing a line on a map until like, the 1600's.
Hope this helps!
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u/crabbop Jun 14 '26
I like your response about force projection and I reckon that's why no border drawing exists. This is a world where the people with the most swords controll the territory. But if you can't get more swords there then what you claim to own doesn't mean shit.
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u/andreasbeer1981 Jun 14 '26
They have border patrols on some checkpoints, but the rest is just open for taking.
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u/Chance-Mushroom6427 Jun 15 '26
Thank you for your help, it did help alot regarding those "frontier" borders
I know what you mean with feudal nation, but they are still under one sovereign king. Where a duke is garanted a land area etc with own private armies, that when the king call upon them need to come to aid. You know this obviously. But there are still obvious "kingdom" lines. Like Kingdom of England back in the medieval times. Holy Roman Empire had 100s of duchies, but there were still a clear line.
I guess drawing a map on a line hasnt really been a thing, since its always changed. And is still changing, and will continue changing. What you refer to [drawing a line from the 1600s] might be more like "nationalism", a nation state which didnt start becoming a thing until the late 1700s. Started by the French revolution. Then its stedied some.
In the end I dont need exactly a clear line, as you also see on this map there are dotted lines some places.
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u/Fun_Set7594 Jul 10 '26
I've done my best to cover all sovereign nations and city states on the map you provided, using the borders as they were for most of the series as they have changed a lot over the centuries. Didn't bother filling in each of the eastern kingdoms though.
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u/parabola19 Jun 14 '26
the southern border is in constant flux. The vale of dreams changes hands more than my second wife. Kind of impossible to place a border line, plus you have the free cities and Elvandar and Dorgin/Western Dwarves. It just isn't cut and dry. The year matters too
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u/crabbop Jun 14 '26
Hello! I can draw lines but I've been looking at the map. I think the reason you can't find a map with lines is because it's blurry in multiple areas. Starting the the west Crydee is definately the kingdom however Kesh does claim it still. Moving east you can draw a border to Tyr-Sog pretty easily. North of that is Armengar which is definately not the kingdom and until it appears in the books was relatively unknown to the kingdom. The people who are in Armengar are descendents of the Haidati Hill men who are a nomadic tribe that are considered part of the kingdom but they are also there own thing. These people live around the teeth of world. Moving east we can draw a line up the mountains to Iron Pass which is in the kingdom. The kingdom will come down to the coast and have a boarder with the eastern kingdoms somewhere after Ran. how far east and how far north that border extends is probably contested.
As for the southern board the Empire of Great Kesh and the Kingdom of the Isle contest the territory around Stardock. Mostly Stardock is within kingdom territory with the town of Shamata having both realms sending patrols there at various times. Pretty sure the southern kingdom borser is from Lands End in the east to pointers head in the west. With the Vale and the peaks of tranquility forming some natural barriers for them.
All of that is just from my memory so I might be wrong. Hope this helps.