The bastions of Makhavireth are pillars of civilization, and the last remaining nations within the landmass free of Infernal control. Nine in number, the bastions stand strong and proud upon the land, boasting incredible fortifications, magical power, military strength, or inviolable positions. The bastions themselves are mostly human, but hold every race of Makhavireth within their borders, with one bastion being ruled by elves, another by dwarves, and with the southern bastion even holding the most diverse cast of races outside the colorful continent of Vengehar.
The bastions of Makhavireth are listed below with a link to their individual wiki pages, ranked in descending order of power and influence. While each bastion may not be as powerful as the last, each has earned its place on the list as a proud bastion of mortal power; defending itself alone against the infernal powers that seek to wipe the mortal races from the surface of Vennar or take them each as slaves to their First Gods.
Makhiren
Makhiren is the largest and most influential of the nine bastions, and the ancient capital of the last Empire to rule the landmass. The city of Makhiren sits upon a massive, man-made crossing of over a dozen rivers and canals, granting Makhiren its fame in trade, travel, and, less extravagantly, its number of bridges. The bastion leads the rest in wealth, culture, and old power, still holding most of the ancient noble families that ruled the lands a thousand years past. With this influence Makhiren has been able to raise a larger military force than any other, and stands ready to resist the infernal forces arrayed against it.
Kel'Korin Confederation
A collection of various towns with a central governing capital at its center, the Confederation was born of several dozen trading, pirate, and independent fleets who found safety in numbers when the Infernals invaded the Coxani Archipelago. This bastion claims the strongest naval power of the nine, capable of beating down whatever naval forces the infernals are able to dredge up from the sea. It is this naval power that the other bastions rely on to keep their coasts safe for trade and external communication, and it is without this naval power that the land would surely fall to darkness.
Dergomal
Dergomal is a bastion ruled over by Hobgoblins, and controls the most disciplined and powerful military of all the nine bastions. Dergomal's hobgoblin government consists of three tribes, with the tactically strongest Black Scar at its head. Discipline, strength, and honor are among the bastion's greatest attributes, and are maintained with ruthless efficiency. The eponymous capital city of this bastion sits within a vast mountain range, defending itself from the great infernal city of Diyu not far to its eastern border.
Rethlin
The most well-defended and difficult bastion to reach, Rethlin is home to the barbarian tribes of the western continent Vikar. The single home of these peoples is a grand fortification sitting upon a mountain along the northern coast, entirely impossible to attack from any point save the long, winding, and dangerous trails carved out by the barbarians themselves. Its people are hardened human and beastly warriors who have called the fort home for thousands of years, since the exile of their people from the continent of Rethil. The name of the bastion itself is their term for New Home.
Imeána
Imeána is home to the elves of Makhavireth, lying within the protective forests of Rethil, the eastern continent. Save for their enslavement at the hands of the Teluna Empire, the elves have leaved a peaceful existence within the borders of their city for thousands of years, defending themselves from horrors the likes of which the younger races have never known. The anient military arts and magics of the elves have thus far granted them safety from the infernal forces, and they gratefully hold the least corrupted forests of any to be found upon the blasted landmass.
Stondruic
Along the westernmost coastline of Vikar lies a river valley surrounded on all sides by ice capped mountains. The valley is rich and green, holding fauna rarely found within the lands to the east, yet untouched by any mortal. Indeed, the valley is not home to the bastion Stondruic – That honor is held by the mountains themselves, and the earth far beneath the valley. Dwarves call this fortress home, with its great caverns and carved statues, lit by molten rock and ancient magics older than the elves themselves. A huge gate stands at the face of the mountains, defended night and day by dwarven warriors of skill far outmatching any of the younger races.
Traktiera
The human bastion Traktiera sits boldly upon the plains of the western continent, lying lazily across a man-made river fed by pure mountain springs that irrigates the farmlands of the sizable city state. This human city is protected by the religious fervor of its people, their faith feeding the protective barrier cast by nine towers along its borders that separates the dead lands under Infernal control and the rich farmland of the humans themselves. This city-state generates such amounts of produce and meats that it is responsible for well over half the food through trade that all nine bastions consume.
Areqbri
The orcish stronghold of Areqbri sits in the northeast of Makhiren, low in the Orientis mountains. The orc bastion holds a proud history of warfare and plunder, and is the most notorious of the nine bastions for its resistance against the infernal forces. With its counter-attack against the infernals on the second night of the initial invasion, the bastion took hold of an infernal fortress on the other side of a great portal to the infernal planes, the only one of its kind under mortal control. Though its military power and population have been devastated and severely tested over the past few decades, the orcish people have held firm against all odds, and remain a strong and proud people.
Senix
An island nation to the south of Makhiren, Senix was once an outpost of the last empire and last stand for the imperial Teluna family during the empire's collapse. Now centuries later, Senix stands as a proud bastion upon the desert island rich in magics, second only to the Kel'Korin Confederation in naval power, and proudly home to the few airships in Makhavireth. Senix has withstood multiple Infernal attacks with magic and will, and has become a port of safe harbor for travelers to and from the landmass between the Infernal blockades.