Little is known of continental Europe in this time. The major regions
are Rome (Italy), France, Ganis, Gaul, and the far-distant Byzantine Empire. The great Roman Empire of the Caesars has fallen, replaced by warring barbarian kingdoms ruled by grandsons of the ancient German war gods.
  France is a large country in the north occupied by the Franks. Its king is Clovis, who does little more than oversee the many Frankish lords who continually bicker among themselves. The capital city of Paris is a squalid, fortified city.
   Ganis is a powerful land in the southern coast of Biscay. Sailors of Ganis and Brittany contend for the Atlantic trade routes between Britain and the Mediterranean, along with the many Saxon pirates who ply the region.
   Gaul is the southern region, more civilized and Roman than the northern French. (Most of its inhabitants can still read and write!)
   Italy is dominated by the Goths, Germanic tribesfolk who try unsuccessfully to ape the Roman ways. In Rome is the pope, the leader of the Roman Christian church.
   The Byzantine Empire is a powerful one, but is so far away that it is beyond concern. Every other land in Europe is a feudal or barbarian kingdom. The farther north the kingdom lies, the more barbaric it is, making the Picts and the Scandinavians the most barbaric.