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The Discworld
On the back of the turtle The Great A'Tuin, stand the four elephants Berilic, Tubul, Great T'Phon and Jerakeen. In turn, on their backs rests the Disc. Maps on the Disc read Hubward, the cold, inner regions of the Disc. Rimwards, the warmer climes on, well the Rim. Where our maps read North South East and West, Disc maps read Hub, Rim, Widdershins and Turnwise.
On this page: Overview, Concepts, Countries, Races
Concepts
Magic
Gods and Religion
The basis of the belief system of the Disc, pertaining to Gods, runs like this. The more believers you have, the stronger you are and the more you can do. There are gods out there with no believers at all, they are the Small Gods and exist only as whispering voices in the desert until, one day they may convince someone or thing to believe. It may be that a shepard finds a lost sheep, and as thanks to whatever aided it in not being killed, leaves a tribute. And so it begins… This is a fate that the Gods dread, and so some gods perform multiple functions via a series of disguises. The official home of the gods is Dunmanifestin, which is atop Cori Celesti, the highest mountain on the Disc. There are a great many functioning Gods on the Disc. Amongst these are:Blind Io- Chief of the Gods. He has no eyes, at least in his head. He makes up for this by having a great many semi-independent eyes floating around his head. Primarily a Thunder God, he serves in many cultures via the aforementioned disguises.
Fate-Technically an Anthropomorphic Personification, but he keeps company with Gods. He appears as a late-middle aged man. He looks the kind of man you would help across the road instead of mug, except for his eyes, which are holes into an infinite darkness.
Lady Luck- The Lady. To call her name is to be without her. She appears (though never summoned) as a beautiful lady with iridescent green eyes. Some say she is the most powerful of the gods, but there are no temples to her.
Hoki- Hoki the Jokester. A God of Nature in the Ramtop regions. He appears as an Oak tree, a half-man half-goat, or more commonly, a nuisance. He was banished from Dunmanifestin and is now found in deep woods and the Ramptops.
Offler- Crocodile God. Actually a Klatchian God, but he is also the default God of big rivers in warm areas. He has six arms and fangs that cause him to lisp. He also has a flock of birds that bring him news of his followers and clean his teeth.
Om- AKA The Great God Om, Holy Horns Om. A god who had run into trouble during the events of Small Gods. He appears as a towering golden figure, or at least did when last seen. Primar Bilious-The Oh God of hangovers. A weedy man who looks not at all well. He has a stained toga and a habit of throwing up. He came into existence during the events of Hogfather.
Jimi- God of Beggars.
Flatulus- God of Winds.
Fedecks- Messenger of the Gods.
Bunu- The Djelibeybian goat-headed God of goats
Reg- God of Club Musicians.
Gigalith- Troll God of Wisdom.
Hyperopia- Goddess of Shoes.
P'tang P'tang- A Newt God. Looks like a newt. Possibly the God of newts too, but who knows…
Petulia- Ephebian Goddess of Negotiable Affection.
The Sea Queen
Topaxci- God of the Red Mushroom.
Umcherrel- Spirit of the Forest.
Some also consider Death, Famine, War and Pestilence as Gods, but they do not need belief. They just are. They are included amongst the group known as Anthropomorphic Personifications, which also includes Old Man Trouble and Jack Frost.
Death
Countries
The Disc consists of 4 major continents. Klatch (consisting of Klatch the country, Tsort, Djelibeybi, Omnia, Ephebe, Hersheba and Howondaland) The Counterweight Continent, XXXX and the as yet unnamed continent that is home to Ankh-Morpork, Lancre, Uberwald, Genua and Sto plains.
Klatch
Think of the Arabia of legend. The nearest truly foreign country to Ankh-Morpork. Therefore there is an awful lot of animosity between the two. It's capital is Al Khali.
Tsort
A desert kingdom. Home to the Great Pyramids. Most Tsortians dislike Pyramids on the whole, possably due to them being the basis of the culture of Djelibeybi. Historical enemy of Ephebe.
Ephebe
Think classical Greece. It is a city-state of white marble on the Circle sea coast. Famous for it's philosophers and its labyrinth. Half of the city's population of around fifty-thousand are slaves. The slaves are perfectly OK with this, the reasoning being that it's a good job. Free food and accommodation as well as one day off per week. Beats being free.
Omnia
Once a religious dictatorship, Omnia has undergone massive change since the events of Small Gods. The vengeful god Om has become more understanding (generally). Om's followers no longer burn infidels, they attempt convert them. The country is still adjusting.
Omnia has a population somewhere over two million and it's capital is Kom.
Djelibeybi
150 miles long and 2 miles wide. This is due to the country forming around the River Djel. Large Pyramids, the primary output of Djelibeybi, in large numbers slow down the time flow. Before the events of Pyramids time was going so slow as to almost stop comparative to the outside world.
Many of the Disc's successful Gods are based in Djelibeybi. It's ruler is Queen Ptraci I.
Hersheba
Little information is available on this desert kingdom. It's Queen is reputedly immortal.
Howondaland
Not really a country, just the name for the unclaimed area of jungle. Legendary home of lost tribes of amazons.
Tezuman Empire
Located in the central jungles of Klatch (the continent). It is modeled after Incan and Mayan cultures. The people are gloomy and depressed. This is partially to do with the quality of life and the priest's efficiency at taking it away in large numbers for sacrifices.Technological advances are few. Although the wheel has been invented, the Tezuman equivalent is square. They are however famed for their exquisite carvings, and due to the written language being pictographs on stone, being able to beat oneself to death with your suicide note.
Krull
A small island nation on the rim. It's land slope upward toward the edge, so that the highest (and narrowest) point actually overhangs the rim. The capital city of Krull, named Krull, sits on the edge. It has a magical University, which unlike it's Morpork Counterpart Unseen University, uses it's powers practically.Most of the materials in Krull are gathered by the cirumfence, a net that runs along part of the Rim and gathers flotsam. The buildings therefore have a nautical theme. Little trade is done with Krull, other countries not seeing anything of value there.
The Counterweight Continent
Also known as the Aurient, trans: "Where the gold comes from." This is due to a large portion of the small continent's mass being gold. A large portion is also Octiron (a metal that radiates magic) deposits.
It is surrounded by a huge wall, it's purpose is that of all walls. To keep invaders out, and the civilians in. The previous rulers encouraged the belief that beyond the wall there was nothing beyond a haunted wasteland. It's current ruler is Cohen the Barbarian, and his Horde. The culture itself is ancient, complex and in danger due to it's current ruler. The old feudal system has been disbanded and it is unclear what replaced this.
The Disc's first tourist, Twoflower, hailed from the Counterweight Continent. Upon his return, his essay 'What I did on my Holidays' caused a revolt. The events surrounding this are chronicled in Interesting Times.
XXXX
An undiscovered continent. Although visited by Rincewind the Wizzard during The Last Continent, it is still considered widely as a myth. History has it that two expeditions have left Ankh-Morpork for XXXX. The most recent before The Last Continent was 500 years ago. The legends of XXXX tell of giant leaping rats, huge flightless chickens, hats with corks hanging off the brim and watery beer.
You get the picture.
Sto Plains
Full of small kingdoms and cabbages. That's about it.
Lancre
Lancre is a small kingdom attached to the Ramtop mountains. It has a population of around 500, all races accounted for. It consists mainly of wooded areas, mountains and the Villages of Lancre, Skund, Bad Ass and Slice. King Verence II rules over the Kingdom from his castle outside of Lancre town. At least officially he does.
In actuality the Kingdom is effectively run by the Witches. The central three of whom are Granny Weatherwax, Nany Ogg and Magrat Garlick, who is by coincidence, the Queen. Not to say the Witches are evil, far from it.They are just more widely respected in Lancre than any King could ever be. Both Lancre and the Witches feature prominently in the novels Equal Rites, Wyrd Sisters, Witches Abroad, Lords and Ladies, Maskerade and Carpe Jugulum.
Llamedos
A small country bordering on the Ramtop mountains. It almost constantly rains. It has been said that rain is the main export. The Llamedese are a musical folk with heavy Druidic links. The expertise of the Llamedese in stone circle building is legendary, at least amongst those that know anything about the circles.
Genua
The Magical Kingdom. Surrounded by swamp. It is also a very wealthy kingdom. Recently released from the grasp of it's tyrannical ruler Lily Weatherwax as recorded in Witches Abroad.
Uberwald
Uberwald has been accurately described as '…what you get before you get countries… mainly fortified towns and fiefdoms with no real boundaries and lots of forests in between.' by Captain Carrot. It is located on the far side of the Ramtops to from Morpork and is about four to five times larger than Sto Plains, extending to the Hub. As already noted, Uberwald is thick with forests, rivers and mountains.
The peoples of Uberwald are varied as those in Ankh-Morpork, but the primary three racial groups are Vampires, Werewolves and Dwarfs. Humans and Trolls also inhabit the region, but are "politically insignificant". The culture of Uberwald remains rather gothic and archaic compared to Morpork. It has been said that in Uberwald "The law does not apply. It is the lore." Much of this relates to the "Diet of Bugs", "Diet" meaning "meeting" in the local dialect. This meeting established a code by which the three cultural groups could live side by side (or top to bottom in the case of the Dwarfs, whose kingdom stretches below much of Uberwald). No garlic to be grown, no silver to be mined, etc. Although this last clause has recently been abolished.
The dwarf population tend to be rather old fashioned. "Deep down dwarfs" as they are known in dwarf circles. Things are being stirred up by the recent visit of Corporal Littlebottom however and old ways are already beginning to corrode.
Uberwald's major export is tallow, fat etc from the Schmaltzberg deposit along with iron and gold. The fat is of the highest quality and is much sought after. The recent opening of Uberwald borders has resulted in a plethora of embassies being established in Bonk (pronounced Beyonk), one of Uberwald's major cities. Even Lancre has an embassy. Well a mailbox anyway.
Ankh-Morpork
This city-state is so important to Watchmen (it being where we work), it has it's own page here.
Races
There are a great many sapient races on the Disc (trolls only just making it there). Those listed here are the more commonly found, centering around the Ankh-Morpork region.
Humans
Discworld humans come in precisely the same variety as they do elsewhere. They are just as intelligent too.
Dwarfs
Disc dwarfs average about four feet in height. Both genders have beards and have an average life-span of around 300. Puberty is around 56. They also wear a great many layers of clothing, making gender recognition difficult. There, until recently, was no dwarf equivalent of the word 'she'. This causes many problems, as after much courting a dwarf pair may disrobe only to have to get dressed again and part embarrassed.
Generally a subterranean species, they have very keen sense of depth underground and night vision. They are miners by nature. Their culture revolves around it, especially gold mining. Almost all dwarf songs are about gold. The most famed being 'Gold, gold, gold'. It has been said that dwarfs love gold. Many dwarfs claim this is not true, they just say that to get it into bed. A further note should be made of dwarfish literalness. They do not use and have trouble understanding metaphor and simile. Rocks are hard as rocks, darkness is dark. To start getting poetic when you live in a mine would be dangerous.
Dwarfs have an ancient racial feud with trolls. The reason for it has been long lost in the murk of history, and now for a dwarf, the only reason needed is that they are trolls. Of course, dwarfs being miners, dig things out of rock. Trolls ARE rock. So this could well have been the start of it all. The most famous battle is was the Battle of Koom Valley, the only battle known in which both sides ambushed each other.
A great many dwarfs have moved to Ankh-Morpork (there were 75 000 at last count). They make up the largest non-human group. Although dwarfs are usually quite serious and hard working, they have a tendency, upon reaching the city, of drinking and then attempting to remove limbs and any other protrusion with axes.
Trolls
Trolls are your basic silicon based life form. They are humanoid, but on a large scale. Trolls never die, although they can be destroyed. That is to say they do not die of age. However over the years a troll may grow increasingly large, and settle down to think. Slowly, perhaps over thousands of years, they cease to think and become geography.
Being silicon based life forms, trolls are effected by heat. In cold climates, they are intelligent, even cunning. In the plains however, the heat reduces most of them to imbeciles, the rest to just annoyingly stupid.
Trolls are not subtle. Their language mainly consists of body language. They eat rock, they're usually named after rock, they are rock. On arriving in the city, most trolls end up drifting from one job to another, as each employer finds it too expensive to keep them on. The three major exceptions in Ankh-Morpork are Detritus, Igneous and Chrysoprase. Chrysoprase is a nasty exception, having picked up a lot of characteristics form humans. He is Ankh-Morpork's premiere crime boss.
Gargoyles
An urban relative of trolls. They are found atop buildings siphoning nutrients from rain water (or other run-off) though their ears and expelling the water out of their mouths. The pipe through which most gargoyles do this prevents them from making half the sounds required to speak Morporkian (english) clearly. Also unlike trolls, gargoyles appear to be able to digest flesh, as they often are found with errant pigeon feathers around them, but never any pigeons. Bats also keep their distance.
Gargoyles move incredibly slowly, but have an equally incredible eye for detail. Because of this they are often found manning Clacks Towers which are used to relay messages long distance.
Golems
Possibly the only artificial life form on the disc. Traditionally made by priests, golems appear as huge animate statues, usually clay, with vague features and glowing red eyes. When they are created, the priests place a set of holy words in the golems mouth which both give it life and tell it how to act. Until recently all golems had been completely subservient. However the events in Feet of Clay resulted in a golem in the Watch whose words were replaced to give him freedom of thought and action. He was also given a tongue, making him the first golem to speak.Gnomes
Gnomes range in height between 4 and 9 inches. They tend to have dirty beards and smoke pipes. They are incredibly fast and strong. This is most likely a defence mechanism to avoid being stepped on.In the novels to date there have only been 3 gnomes encountered. Swires was found in The Light Fantasic. He lived in a mushroom in a forest. There is a Constable Swires in the Ankh-Morpork City Watch, presumably not the same one. The other prominent gnome is Wee Mad Arthur, a Rat Catcher in Ankh-Morpork featured in Feet Of Clay.
Elves
Not a naturally occurring race on the Disc. They actually inhabit a type of parallel dimension from which they occasionally break through. They are beautiful, vain, and cruel in a fashion that makes the most ingenious torturers wince. They have the power of "Glamour" which allows them to confuse and overawe people.Their social structure has been compared to that of bees. They have a Queen who commands and a King (who is a cloven hoofed oaf), but all the other elves have no real individuality. They hate iron, due to it's magical field distorting properties leaving them powerless.
It has been said that elves have interbred with humans during their past visits. There are definitely some very elven people running around being somehow charming whilst at the same time being despicable…
The only real appearance of elves in the Discworld series to date has been in Lords and Ladies.
Gnolls
Another type of troll. Although not as large or itelligent. They are Commonly found in Ankh-Morpork scavenging refuse from the streets.Wood Nymphs/Hamadryads
The classic tree-dwelling spirit folk. They are mortally linked to the trees in which they dwell. It gets damaged, so do they. So many a love-torn man has had a Hamadryad's initials carved in him. They tend to be rather more fatally inclined as punishment though.Neither sex wears clothes. The women have green skin, the men, walnut-brown. They have luminous green eyes with no pupils.
The only appearance of Hamadryads in the Discworld series so far was in The Colour of Magic.
The Undead
AKA: The Mortally Challenged, Fatally Enhanced, etc.