The continent of Balebu lied in Oshmondu . It was the largest continent on the prime material plane, and gave birth to some of the largest societies. It took shape sometime around the end of the Celestial Wars.

Geographical Features

Biomes

Continental Plains.. Balebu was most known for its vast grassy plains interspersed with small brubber groves, located primarily in Central Balebu but also occurring in the north. These expanses' wildlife consisted primarily of badeep herds moving from brubber copse to brubber copse, along with the whole ecosystem that was built around them. The land was very arable and suitable for agriculture, and inhabited by a number of plants - notably grasses such as grainplant - that could easily be domesticated for high food yields.

Fjell appeared mainly on the east coast, where numerous fjords cut through the rough land. Its steep and rocky slopes were mainly home to dry vegetation such as moss, berry bushes, and pine trees.

Equatorial climate was dominant in the south, where vast jungles and wetter plains were home to various animals such as mooders. Plant and animal life was very varied here; it could change every couple kilometers.

Geographical Connections

Balebu, due to its sheer size, was well connected with the rest of the material plane. Its most notable feature were its numerous land bridges. There was a large (160 kilometer wide) continuous land passage leading north into Intralu, which led to some considerable population exchange between the two continents, although this was somewhat limited by the difficult geography in the area, including dense forests, a huge glacier making the passage much more narrow, and the Spine of Balebu mountains and foothills, along with the Everriver, that nearly cut the bridge off entirely. Another connection to Intrlau was the shallow Moonsea and the numerous islands in it.

The Ferdr Fjell, lying in the Moonsea, had an elongated land connection to Balebu and could also easily be reached by ship. There were mountains on the northwestern Balebian coast, but they could be circumvented relatively easily.

Troller Island lied only about 20 kilometers south of Balebu and could easily be reached by ship. The coast there was not rugged whatsoever, featuring a gentle beach of either sand or pebbles leading into thick shrubbery or Equatorial jungle.

Finally, both the Stonesea to the east leading towards Bolmeranda and the Colupan Ocean in the west leading to the multitude of islands in the Colupan Archipelago were easily navigable and did not feature rough currents.

Major Landmarks

Central Balebu was renowned for its Lespen water network. The Nagaflow from the Galena mountains, runoff from the Cloud Peaks, and multiple rivers from the Rathgaunt mountains met in the flat area between Londer's Land and the Snake's Plain, forming an extensive water network featuring the Lespen and Shining lakes, as well as numerous vast swamps. These were relatively seasonal, however; notably, the Snake's Plain was renowned for turning into an impassable swamp during high summer but being a fertile if spongy plain otherwise.

The Lake of Stars, meanwhile, was a huge body of water that shaped the geography of the whole of Northern Balebu. It had multiple arms that stretched out into the land, forming multiple headlands. It also had two rivers running water out of it, the Sarin in the west and Dran in the east. Its southeastern edge merged with the Troll and Desertsmouth mountains to form a large inland fjell, while the impossibly high Sunset mountains covered the major eastern headland. The large Starmoor to the north was famous for the unique habitat it offered.

Animal Population

Wildlife

The most famous wild population of Balebu were the badeep. They formed herds that roamed the rich Continental plains. However, there was some other fauna, including faerfula, small and lithe grass-eating mammals that were renowned for their tender meat. The stripounce, predators with patterned fur to optimally hide in the tall grass and long teeth, were also unique to this continent.

Known Sentient Societies

One of the fixtures of sentient Balebian populations were dwarven enclaves. They never reached large proportions, but were quasi always present. They lived in the upper Caverealm or on and inside mountains, doing their own thing relatively independently of what was going on on the surface.

Orcish herder tribes were also relatively common, occurring essentially anywhere where there were badeep. They were rarely settled, instead traveling with their herds.

Humans, finally, built up large societies that eventually gave the Balebu its reputation as the best home ground for empires. The first humans only arrived around 640 b. OW as citizens of the goblinoid Trensandor Empire, but quickly gained their independence and formed first kingdoms and city-states. Sometime later, around 580, the first large state - Ochebana - had conquered much of Central Balebu and would thereafter remain closely associated with the land.