In the heart of Betania is the city of Anglaston. Though it was the first to be built in my world, compared to the other cities around it it's one of the youngest.
It was founded in the year 1026 when Lagan Stiward, a noble who had abandoned his house, was wandering through the wilderness. In the deep of night, in the valley of Anglasdael he spotted a shimmering light further off. Following it he came to a cave and discovered the lights were angels. They instructed him to settle there, and from that place he spread their word.
Syrcunia is not a nation or a city, but rather a generalization, and a region. Syrcunia is a vast land to the west occupied by many different clans. But, what the name really refers to is the mythical ancient empire that is believed to have once stood there. Dotting the lands are massive aqueducts, walls, and monuments, who in both size and sophistication are without comparison. Though the Clans of Syrcunia may have destroyed that mythic empire, the constructions reveal, that even hundreds of years later, there is not one civilization that can be said to be their equal.
To adventurers and travellers, the ruins are the stuff of legend, but to the locals, the Dobiri, they are permanent fixtures. Curious maybe, but as natural and immovable as mountains or rivers. It is said that the old empire was destroyed by the Dobiri, and that their clans migrated East, establishing the nations that stand there today. No one knows how to build structures like the Syrcunians did, and no one has the knowledge to maintain them. The Dobiri say that they were built by giants with single eyes and six arms. In fact, in Dobiri, Syr, is the word six, cun means arm, and -ia is the suffix for land or territory, meaning land of the six armed.
The people who now live in those lands are called the Dobiri. In ancient times they were a nomadic and martial culture, and a lot of that tradition remains, but now the clans have split up, and for the most part, each has become more or less sedentary, now specializing in various crafts and merchantry. In particular, the weapons, silks, and glassware of this land are highly valued in the eastern city states and kingdoms. Water also is a strong cultural symbol among the clans, in particular, various practices of taking water and observing its flow are used to divine the future. To this end, the moon is also very significant to them. Many of their myths revolve around various heroes outsmarting the six armed giants. The most famous, is the one wherein Nirad, daughter of Vasir, god of the water, cuts off the head of the six-armed king, and drowns it.