Zeah
| Zeah | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Released | 7 January 2016 (Update) | |||
| Members | Yes | |||
| League region |  Kourend✓ | |||
| Map | ||||
| <mapframe align="center" frameless="" plane="0" width="300" y="3475" x="1538" height="300" zoom="-2" mapID="0">
[] </mapframe> | ||||
| Advanced data | ||||
| Type | region | |||
Zeah is a large continent accessible only to members that is found west of the mainland. First reached by speaking to Veos in the northernmost pier of Port Sarim, it is comprised of the Kingdom of Great Kourend, the Kebos Lowlands and the Kingdom of Varlamore.
Although the name Zeah has fallen out of usage within the game, being removed from the world map with the release of Tale of the Righteous and then from dialogue with various NPCs (such as Veos and Roy jr.) with the release of the Kebos Lowlands, it is still used by Jagex Moderators and players to refer to the continent as a whole.
Great Kourend
Great Kourend is a kingdom within Zeah. It was formed over 1,500 years ago by King Rada I, who united the five Houses into one kingdom. Kourend is currently ruled by the Kourend Council.
Cities in Great Kourend
Great Kourend is split into five cities (sometimes referred to as Houses), with each in charge of a specific aspect of running the kingdom.
- Arceuus- Magic, research, and academia
- Hosidius- Agriculture and food production
- Lovakengj- Mining, smithing, and engineering
- Port Piscarilius- Fishing and ports
- Shayzien- Military and police
Catacombs of Kourend
Beneath Great Kourend lies the Catacombs of Kourend, a massive cave system full of slayer monsters, demons, dragons and undead. It can be accessed by investigating the statue of King Rada I in the Kourend Castle courtyard.
Kebos Lowlands
The Kebos Lowlands is a region found west of Great Kourend. It is primarily inhabited by lizardmen in the areas directly surrounding Mount Quidamortem. To the north of Mount Quidamortem, the soil found within the area is extremely fertile, attracting farmers of Hosidius. Here, the Farming Guild can be found, while further north lies Mount Karuulm, where the Tasakaal and Kahlith reside. In addition, Lake Molch is located within the area.
Varlamore
Varlamore is a kingdom found south of the Kebos Lowlands. Founded by refugees fleeing from Great Kourend during the Age of Strife 1,030 years ago, there are four known areas within the kingdom:
- Avium Savannah
- Civitas illa Fortis, the capital.
- Proudspire
- Tempestus
Development history
Concept
The concept of a brand new continent was first pitched by Mod Reach on 26 April 2014 in a Reddit post on the subreddit /r/2007scape, where he laid out his plans for a new land mass that expanded the existing world map by 50% with an "uber quest". After two months, a Developer's Blog was released on 30 June 2014, pitching three new areas in the continent: Port Roberts, a large floating platform town, Civitas illa fortis, a large Roman-themed town and the Colosseum, a large arena akin to RuneScape's now-removed Duel Arena Tournament.
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A work in progress image of Port Roberts -
A work in progress wireframe of the Colosseum's entrance
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Polling
A newspost was released on 31 October 2014, bringing two Developer's Blogs: an Achievement Diary expansion and the new continent, Zeah.
The blog included the existing concepts from the Continent Expansion blog, with three new areas:
- Great Kourend - A kingdom embroiled in anarchy where five families endlessly fight for power over the kingdom after the death of the last king.
- Keruulm - an ancient city found in a dormant volcano. To enter the remains of the volcano and access the city, high Strength and Agility levels were required. Here, players would find the Tasakaal, an incredibly strong and ancient race who were born and bred guardians.
- Paradigm of Exodus - a large dungeon found in and around an active volcano, allowing 5 to 30 players to take on powerful monsters and solving puzzles in a randomly generated layout, with a boss at the end of the raid.
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An early concept of the Tasakaal race -
Concept art of Keruulm -
Concept art of the Paradigm of Exodus
Zeah was then put on a poll a week later in the Old School New Continent, Achievement Diaries and Poll poll, having received 90.4% of the yes votes.
Release schedule
The continent was slated to be released in summer 2015, but due to the restructuring of the Old School team and focus on other content throughout the year, Zeah was planned to be released in three phases:
- Phase 1, the city Great Kourend, was scheduled to be released on January 2016. This was released on 7 January 2016.
- Port Roberts was scrapped, with Port Piscarilius resembling some of its original concepts.
- Phase 2, the Paradigm of Exodus, was scheduled to be released on June 2016. This was later released on 5 January 2017 as the Chambers of Xeric.
- Phase 3, the Colosseum, was scheduled to be released on January 2017, and finally released in March of 2024 . The city in which the Colosseum was located in, Civitas illa Fortis, is now canonically the capital of the kingdom of Varlamore.
- Keruulm and the Tasakaal were later planned to be part of a Fight Caves expansion in February 2016, but was delayed until the next year, where it was renamed to Brimstone and the expansion named The Inferno. This was changed so that the Inferno took place in the TzHaar City of Mor Ul Rek.
- Keruulm soon was renamed to Karuulm and was released with the Kebos Lowlands on 10 January 2019 as Mount Karuulm, with the Tasakaal and Kahlith residing there.
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An updated concept art of Great Kourend -
Concept of the Great Kourend Houses depicting a possible pirate faction -
A updated concept art of the Paradigm of Exodus -
A work in progress map of Great Kourend.
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Trivia
- Zeah was named by Mod Reach, who wanted the name to be "short and snappy" and have two syllables, and went through random syllables until he came up with one that fit the narrative of the game, was a fantasy-sounding word and could not be related to anything else.[1]
- Zeah features two unique geographic features, being River Hos, a river bifurcation, and Lake Molch, a bifurcation lake. The characteristic feature of these bifurcations is that the river splits up into two streams, draining into different seas, which is highly unusual in the real world. The only other place in Gielinor that also features a bifurcation is the lake above Baxtorian Falls.