Where It All Goes Down
The Old Kingdom and Ancelstierre
Sabriel's adventures revolve around two different worlds, separated by a vast, guarded Wall. On one side, we've got the Old Kingdom: an ancient, uncharted magical realm. On the other, Ancelstierre, which is a lot like turn-of-the-20th-century England.
Ancelstierre: Pay No Attention to that Magic Behind the Curtain
Ancelstierre (say it with us: An-Sell-Stee-Air) is Sabriel's home for most of her childhood and school years. It lies south of the Old Kingdom on the other side of the Wall, where it enjoys entirely different weather from the Old Kingdom and remains largely free of magic. Magic is still present, especially close to the Wall, but it's kind of like the elephant in the room no one talks about: "Magic only worked in those regions of Ancelstierre close to the Wall which marked the border with the Old Kingdom" (1.24)—okay, more like elephant to the side of the room.
Technology in Ancelstierre includes things not found in the Old Kingdom, like weapons, cars, and electricity. Just as magic starts to lose its effect in Ancelstierre once you travel farther south, technology from Ancelstierre similarly stops working on the other side of the Old Kingdom border.
To this effect, guards who patrol the Wall on the Ancelstierre side use a mix of both medieval and modern weapons, although "the Perimeter was much more successful at keeping people from Ancelstierre out of the Old Kingdom, than it was at preventing things from the Old Kingdom going the other way" (2.2). Looks like one side's a little more powerful than the other.
Sabriel's school, Wyverley College, is much like a traditional English boarding school, with dormitories and a Great Hall. They do teach magic, but it's a subject that everyone likes to pretend doesn't really exist. Sabriel herself is a "runaway first" in her class in Magic, but "that wasn't printed" on her graduation certificate (1.24). Yup—mum's the word when it comes to magical education, it seems.
Bain is the town nearest to the Wall, just north of Wyverley College. It's just outside Bain that Kerrigor conceals his body, buried in a sarcophagus in a nearby hillside.
The Old Kingdom: Toto, We're Not in Ancelstierre Anymore
In direct contrast to Ancelstierre, the Old Kingdom, which lies to the north, is governed by an ancient Charter of magic, and spells are deeply woven into the land itself. The spells, which show up as Charter runes, are woven into both the Wall and Charter Stones, nodes of magic which are scattered throughout the land. All those born in the Old Kingdom who follow the Charter, which seem to be most of its citizens, are baptized into it, and bear an invisible Mark on their foreheads bestowed at birth.
Because of its deeply magical nature, the Old Kingdom has no readily available maps. Because of this, Sabriel has some difficulty navigating without help from spirit guides and her companion Mogget. However, readers are a little bit luckier—we get a helpful map included in most editions of the book, which shows the Old Kingdom as having one long coastline that stretches north, as well as forests, large rivers, and a capital city encircled by a body of water called the Sea of Saere.
Water here is crucial, as it prevents the movement of Dead creatures, so places like Belisaere (the capital city) and Abhorsen's House are built in locations near deep, flowing water. For more on water, be sure to check out the "Symbols" section.
When Sabriel first enters the Old Kingdom, the weather is snowy and cold, but it begins to vary as she journeys northward. Weather in this land is also important, since direct sunshine hinders the Dead. Needless to say, getting a tan around these parts is kind of difficult.