Leaders
[ Draelyk ]
The De'Stregoi Tribe
[ Sorth ]
House Khalid
[ Mauren ]
The Council & the Great Scholar
[ Xansai ]
Various Warlords
[ Isles of Nri ]
Aeon Collective
Portal Locations
[ Draelyk Portals ]
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Reneastre: Elyu to Dragoste: Draelyk
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Reneastre: Elyu to Providence: Adoria
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Moartea (Destroyed): Elyu to Dragoste: Draelyk
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Vrykos: Draelyk to Western Coast: Sorth
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Cape Vallon: Draelyk to Southern Coast: Mauren
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The Waystation: Burmecia to Dragoste: Draelyk
[ Sorth Portals ]
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Shyul: Sorth to The Eastern Rathgard Coast: Draelyk
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Shyul: Sorth to The Waystation: Burmecia
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(Non-Functional) Shyul: Sorth to Draelyk: ???
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(Non-Functional) Shyul: Sorth to Xansai: ???
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(Non-Functional) Shyul: Sorth to Isles of Nri: Nri
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(Non-Functional) Shyul: Sorth to Mauren: Misto Tyshi
[ Mauren Portals ]
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Misto Tyshi: Mauren to ???
[ Isle of Nri Portals ]
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Nri Island: Ring of 5 Non-Functioning portals to the other continents half buried in hardened lava from multiple eruptions of Mount Mnoc.
[ Xansai Portals ]
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Misto Tyshi: Mauren to ???
Climate
[ Draelyk ]
One of the larger continents, Draelyk is almost entirely covered in forest, with the northern half temperate forest and the southern half dense rain forests, with the occasional mountain range or peak breaking through the green. The climate of the rain forest can be described as balmy, sticky or just uncomfortable to those unused to living in such environments, while the temperate forest in the north is far less humid and a bit cooler.
[ Sorth ]
The southernmost continent, Sorth is little more than a vast stretch of arid, windy desert. Shifting dunes and great beasts keep the geography in perpetual motion. Throughout the sands though, there are specific spots where oases have been established, offering respite from the harsh environment and all walks of life gather. It’s one of the few places where predator, prey and Scolani gather without fear because every creature knows that water is necessary to survive and trying to tip the balance in one fashion or another will have drastic repercussions.
[ Mauren ]
Extremely cold all year around and mountainous. There’s an extremely good chance that a portion of Mauren is actually a massive glacier that lodged itself against the continent proper, only adding to the inhospitable nature of of the land. If the land isn’t being blasted by a near perpetual blizzard, the land is capable of being still and quiet.
[ Xansai ]
A spirit-blighted badlands. By and large, it is utterly blasted and devoid of plant life. There are occasional oases and water upon which the fifteen city states are built. But the vast majority of Xansai is an infertile, utterly hostile hellscape blasted with searing heat during the day and bone-chilling cold at night.
[ Isles of Nri ]
It’s a deadly tropical paradise that you can’t easily get to because of the rough seas, vertical cliff coastlines, torrential lightning storms, and arguably the absolutely worst tempered flora and fauna on Zhurin. Other than that, it’s humid, warm, with a strong breeze that is nice towards the center of the islands, but rather buffeting near the coastal cliffs. The elevation of Mount Mnoc is enough to drop the temperatures due to altitude, but not enough for snow; and the lip of the cone does come with a rather nice updraft of warm air.
Governments
[ Draelyk ]
Tribal Dynasty
[ Sorth ]
Scolani - Sultanate Dynasty | Jhakkar - Power Oligarchy
[ Mauren ]
Intellectual Oligarchy
[ Xansai ]
Individual City-States, each lead by an individual Warlord
[ Isles of Nri ]
Procreative Socialist society
[ Religion ]
There are no Gods in Zhurin, only Spirits, and they are primal, vicious entities. Magic directly associated with a specific God will not work within Zhurin as a whole. Xansai is barren of even the Spirits blessings. The native races do not worship the Spirits in the same way that outsiders might worship gods. They revere them, acknowledge their purpose in Zhurin and sometimes, in the case of the Aeon and Odanodan, might have been directly influenced.
There are 20 Spirits that have names. One can call on them and hope they answer, but it's highly unlikely that they'll heed any such request. They do not feel emotion as many mortals do (immortals or deities either, for that matter) so are unlikely to get angry, jealous or otherwise.
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As a result of Zhurin's unique Spiritual environment, deities from other worlds have no power nor influence. One might be blessed by a goddess of Life or a patron to a god of chaos, but such abilities simply do not function while in Zhurin.
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Prime Spirit: Mahkah
Secondary Spirits: Jrin, Odanodan, Barth, Adhamh, Xeyo, Botina, Kinus, Netica, Nophtys, Lorna, Amadahy, Dalis, Laec, Mosheh
Tertiary Spirits: Nus, Tuulikki, Erata, Nyarad, Peryah
Resources
[ Draelyk ]
Lumber: Wood is something that Draelyk is never without and the feore frequently sell lumber in various states to those that inquire about it. While the more mundane sorts of wood is most frequently sold, steelwood (greenwood) as most non-natives have taken to call it, fetches a much higher premium. A single tree of greenwood can be used to create enough weapons for a small army and harvesting the greenwood is a secret that the feore guard jealously.
Leathers and Hides: While Draelyk does have its fair share of large beasts that might have wonderful pelts, the leather that the feore trades comes from several of the predatory flora native to the continent. These leathers are naturally waxed, though must be re-waxed from day to day wear and tear, but aren’t any better or worse than those made from animals.
Food: Nowhere else on Zhurin can an abundance of fruit and vegetables be found. What most might consider exotic grow in abundance and one of the Elifah’s many tasks is to make sure that the fields are properly tended to and their produce growing healthy. Produce from Draelyk tends to last longer and generally taste better than anywhere else in Zhurin.
[ Sorth ]
Quorn: The only place in the realms where this particular metal can be found and the Scolani keep an extremely tight hold on the mines. The Scolani city of Xalorin is the capital of the Quorn mining expeditions and one of the more heavily guarded cities aside from Shyul.
Glass: Some of the finest blown glass in all of Zhurin can be found in Sorth due to the ample supplies readily available to the Scolani.
Misc: Worm-hide is also found in abundance and the almost metallic dome-plate that covers a sand-sharks head can be worked into any number of useful tools, weapons or armor. Around the oases and in the Scolani cities, fruit and vegetables are grown that can tolerate the arid conditions, if not the outright heat that the Zhurin sun blasts the continent with.
[ Mauren ]
Ore and Minerals: Mauren is rich and full of mineral and ore beneath its surface. Most iron deposits have been marked and guarded by the Tyrgo as it is used for almost everything for them. From the building of equipment, to the construction of buildings, even outfighting their soldier with steel, iron plays an important role in Mauren. It is almost as important as the discovery of Lumenstone. These incandescent rocks shine for centuries after being cut and polished.
Misc: Other resources that lie on the surface are the Arvalia plant, and various mosses, molds, and thick rooted plants. Most vegetation is used for food, tea, or medicine, but the Arvalia is cultivated into a hemp like substance for clothing, paper, and rope.
[ Xansai ]
Wastes: There is very little in Xansai that can't be found elsewhere. The reasoning behind that is anything found in Xansai is likely only there as a result of piracy or left over caches from a time when Xansai was still blessed by the Spirits.
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One has to dig deep to find unrefined metals not afflicted by the rusting blight and must quickly refine them in order to make them useful. As a result, metal wares are incredibly rare and only within the holds of the warlords.
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Even metal tools and weapons brought from beyond the toxic reefs that surround Xansai can be quickly rendered useless by the blight if not properly taken care of.
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What Xansai has in surplus is dust, dirt, and death.
[ Isles of Nri ]
Flora: From Poji Berries to Phain Root Bulbs, most of the flora found on the Isles of Nri are incredibly dangerous due to how poisonous they are. These only grow on the unique biome that Nri provides and the Aeon understand fully the benefits of selling these to the other races of Zhurin.
Violent and Dangerous Fauna: Many of the ill-tempered insects, reptiles, and mammals found on Nri have been captured and sold elsewhere for various amounts of money. Sometimes they are used for gladiatorial entertainment, the larger predatory cats are quite agile and strong, and have been rumored to require as many as a dozen men to slay a single one in the arena. Whereas other times, it is simply the need for the hemotoxic mucus from a Nri Snail to cause wounds unable to be healed; another weapon tainting favorite.
Known Dangers
[ Draelyk ]
It’s easy to get lost in the dense forests of Draelyk without a proper guide; even the most experienced tracker outside the realm would find themselves lost in the thick undergrowth. The most dangerous threat in the forests, though, would be the predatory flora that’s marked as the apex predator on Draelyk. Be it the hooklin bushes, mantraps, blood thistles or something less well known, even feore have been known to disappear without trace as the feral, wild nature leaves nothing behind.
The feore themselves are also a threat outside of the four major cities. The race is secretive to the point of almost being xenophobic and those living within the wild forests of Draelyk do not hesitate to kill on sight anything that could potentially be deemed a threat and given their generally nomadic lifestyles and natural capacity of blending in with their environment through camouflage, it’s almost impossible to track which tribes are located in the different parts of Draelyk.
[ Sorth ]
Sorth is a desert land as far as the eye can see. The air is dry and there are extremely rare places where someone can escape the heat that bares down upon them. The sands themselves can be extremely hot on the soles of feet and even some shoes. Water and food are scarce unless you know where to look for them. Cacti dot the usually nearly white plains of sand, sometimes several appear in one small area, though those areas are very frequently heavily guarded by various creatures that inhabit the sands as cacti regenerate quickly and not only hold water but their fruit tends to delicious and a great source of energy.
Most of the creatures of Sorth are predatory and can be found under the layers of sand where things can be much cooler for them. Burrowers, sand sharks, insects and snakes will make a quick meal of an unsuspecting wanderer. Traps are lain within the sands, some that are strong enough to suck even the heftiest of minotaur down and out of sight while others are bold enough to rise and attack with poison and teeth.
[ Mauren ]
The most obvious of hazards is the immense cold that envelopes the continent. With temperatures rarely going above freezing and staying at that range, ice is a common concern. That isn’t to say that the environment doesn’t bring about other concerns. Windstorms that occur commonly. These storms usually persist for multiple hours but very rarely longer than a day. An average breeze is strong enough to throw most surface creatures from their feet during this time, including the larger land predators, who usually find shelter during the storms. When the storm finally breaks, the landscape looks drastically different as the loose snow on the surface gets whipped around and relocated into giant snowbanks. These new snow collections can range from a few feet high to the size of a large hill. Other weather phenomena are still a concern with blizzards and ice storms as well.
During more still times, the fauna can be a major concern. Though most fauna is considered docile or non-aggressive, the two pillars of the food chain are a different story. The Throlasha and Mevalomoths are overly aggressive and will not think of making a meal of anything that traverses on the surface. Other than the aggressive fauna, another concern is a rare event known as the Blinding. Usually only after a fresh snow fall, and a large dip in temperature, the Blinding occurs only on clear days during the noon hour. The sun at this time hits the surface in just the right angle to turn the frozen top layer of the snow into a reflective surface causing not only blinding but possible burns to anyone who gets caught in it for too long.
Other hazards include snow pits, vertical caverns that were carved out by the surface creatures that have had enough snow accumulate over the top that it makes a natural pit fall. There are also avalanches, rockslides, and hot water geysers to be wary. The geysers range from large enough to throw an human being into the air, and small enough to cause small puncture wounds given the size of the geyser and the pressure being pushed from behind it.
[ Xansai ]
The environment is deadly. Bone dry air, the scorching heat of the sun. The lack of easily available food and water. These are all dangerous. Beyond that, the desert badlands are filled with carnivorous predators longing to make a meal out of an unwary, or simply unlucky, wanderer. Everything in Xansai seems to be made of a leather hide and a set of razor-sharp teeth. It is no place for the faint of heart.
There are tribes of wandering Thri-Kreen, vicious mantis warriors always on the hunt for meat. Tribes of nomads who seek out fresh slaves for their collars. And always, the Xhaur loom, looking for fresh subjects to experiment upon.
Within the city-states, the scarcity of resources means life is a constant struggle. One can be knifed for a loaf of stale bread or sold to a traveling flesh merchant for a handful of ceramic coins. There is also the constant struggle for control over the city states. A warlord may stand atop a city state for a time, but their lives and their rule are precarious things, hard to win, but easy to lose.
[ Isles of Nri ]
The flora, and the fauna, and the cliffs, and the currents, and the weather, and the fact that it is an active volcano; they all pale in comparison to the true danger of the Islands of Nri. That is the simple fact that the island is a prison with a formidably capable guard force of dark fey adept in pyromancy; the Aeon.
So, if someone were to find themselves with a solid foothold on one of the islands, and they managed to not find themselves felled by the island itself, its plants, its animals, nor its weather. In short order, much like tapping a toe on a fire-ant hill, streams of crimson armored Aeon would begin spilling from their hidden entrances towards the outsider. Driven by an unnatural, yet innate, duty to defend, armed with weapons glinting of the same deep reddish tint as their armor, and the ability to summon and bend fire at will, they would swarm, attack, kill, and consume the outsider. Retreating as swiftly and silently as they had attacked.
This is not to say that no-one has never, nor could never set foot on Nri. It’s just not advisable without escort.