The world of Himeachea, a beautiful and idyllic world when seen from a god’s eye. A marble of azure blue seas, verdant green lands, and pale caps of ice and stone. Beautiful, almost as if it had been crafted by an ethereal hand, guided by an omniscient eye. In reality, it was created by thirty-four such eyes. Before this world, and before those that inhabit it, there were Gods. Seventeen beings of unimaginable power, unmatched strength, and bottomless wisdom, these gods existed in a state we mortals cannot comprehend. Each inhabited their own plane and so they were separate, yet aware of each other as all were omnipotent and all-knowing. For eons unknown, these beings existed in semi-solitude as only gods can without succumbing to loneliness and madness. And then, something changed.
No one knows why, not even the gods themselves, but suddenly the gods changed. At first, it was just one, one who began reaching out to the other gods- To create something new. Perhaps the god had grown lonely; perhaps it had come to desire something more than the endless solitude and contemplation that was godhood at the time. I cannot say. What I can say is this; over the following eons other gods began to change as well. Now, to us this is an unbelievable length of time, but to the gods it was but a moment, a short period of yet more contemplation. And they changed, as a coal catches fire- Slowly, than all at once. Seventeen beings of un-explainable power and un-knowable desires came together, on one plane of existence. Each conferred with the rest, and for a time that was all. The gods all shifted to one plane and spoke, and that seemed change enough for the gods. But then, they changed again, as a group this time. Simultaneously, the seventeen beings converged on one place and did something that had never happened before- They created, weaving the very fabric of space and time to give birth to the aforementioned world, and the vast darkness that surrounds it.
And again, the gods stopped. They had their beautiful world, and to it they added the flowers and grasses, the rivers and trees. But nothing Lived. The world was a centerpiece, pretty to look at but achieved nothing, caused nothing. It remained as such for millennia, with the incorporeal gods contemplating as before. But then, something new occurred. A god took independent action, and invested part of its power, part of its essence, into a creation- An animal. A living, breathing, Thinking being came into existence, one that had never existed before. The god was delighted by this, and called the other gods to it to show what it had made. The other gods were suitably impressed by this, for they had all grown bored with their endless contemplation. Creating their world had been the most exciting thing any of them could recall, and this new discovery, the ability to add life to their creation brought back the excitement. Soon, all the gods began experimenting, bringing forth new shapes and colors, filling the world with beasts and creatures that had never before existed. Many took on the corporeal form of the creation they most liked, giving the gods the first concrete form they had ever taken. And so the gods were pleased for a time.
But, as always, something changed. One of the gods grew weary of the world the others had made, and desired to return to its solitary existence on its own plane. But, desiring to leave its mark on the world it reached deep into itself and tapped its very soul, adding animas to its final contribution to the verdant world before its departure, and unknowingly giving rise to our species, the Anduine. And unknowingly sowing the seeds of this world’s trouble.
–Heimos Zashapo, “On our Home”
The Anduine and Society
Anduine males average on five feet and a half in height, with the females averaging it five feet and a third or so. Do to the hardships of life in this age; the life expectancy for a man is around fifty years, while a woman stands near sixty on average. While skin shade, hair color and facial expression all vary from land to land, all Anduine are bipedal, with above average cranial cavities and opposing digits. Due to this, and their almost unique capability of speech, the Anduine have been the only species to build and thrive in communities and kingdoms. With a nominally patriarchal society, it is common to see male heads of house, and males in positions of power. This is not to say that females don’t have their own fair share of rulers and authority figures as well, however.
-Anonymous, “Hearths and Hierarchies”
The kingdoms of Himeachea
In the past, there were fourteen kingdoms of note. After the majority of the world advanced past the tribal life-style, twelve Duchies of considerable power rose up across the continents, clashing and allying, trading and warring for centuries, until one became a true kingdom- The Duchy of Reame.
Due to a series of political marriages and “Unfortunate Accidents,” this Duchy swallowed up three others in quick succession, instantly making it the most powerful kingdom in existence. Following this, a decade-long series of wars and treaties saw this kingdom swallow up two more duchies, giving it control of nearly half the world’s land, and the entire continent of Maris. Fearing this threat, the remaining duchies rapidly formed alliances and began taking steps to limit the power of the Reamen kingdom. Those duchies on the continent of Jurya, numbering three, quickly formed an alliance now called the Imperial Marches, so named because the duchies elected an emperor to serve in times of war. As the mountains of northern Jurya rang with pick-axes digging for iron and bronze, and the southern foothills echoed with the battle cries of training armies, the two duchies spread across the vast archipelago of the Middling Isles took a decidedly different approach.
Instead of gathering under one ruler, they gathered under many. Forming a council composed of dozens of princes; these Islemen spent not their coin on war, but rather their favors. Gifting gold and supplies to those duchies that offered them advantageous deals, the Isles quickly formed into a collection of mini-kingdoms, each led by a merchant-prince, and loosely guided by the Council. Within another half-century, the Isles would become the greatest naval and trading power in the world. The Isles are also home to the largest information network in the world, as a prince is not decided by blood but by coin, and by collusion. It is not a mistake to say that intrigue and Islanders go hand in hand, more so than coin and conflict.
While one kingdom united and geared for war, and another ruptured into dozens of Isle-states, on the final civilized continent of the world something even stranger took place- Three duchies entered into A Triumvirate. Bluya, the final continent, is naturally split by a channel running down the center of the rounded land, naturally dividing the land. To the north, the channel splits into two great rivers flowing east and west, effectively splitting the continent into three massive islands, each home to their own duchy. While acrossed the world, coin and sword and backroom dealings were used to unite the duchies, these three decided to wait, and simply entered into a loose triumvirate of alliances, promising aid in times of need and the like. And so, while the rest of the world forged ahead into time of war, these three duchies stayed at peace, yet their military suffered for it.
For nearly a decade a cold-war raged between The Marches and The Reamen Kingdom, before it finally boiled over after a rash of assassination attempts on the Reamen royal family, killing the heir-apparent which in turn sparked a series of revenge killings on the Imperial electors and their families. (It should be noted here that Islemen were contracted out in both situations, and perhaps even by the same princes.) After the attacks, The Marches hired a massive fleet of barges from the Islanders to transport 25,000 soldiers across the sea, south to Maris. Unknown to the Imperials however, was the fact that the Reamen had paid the Islanders for any information regarding an attack. (The Islemen continue to do such things to this day. They will honor any treaty, but only to the word. Any loophole to be exploited will be.) Thanks to this, the 25,000 Imperials were faced with 30,000 entrenched Reamen soldiers when they marched inland from the barges. Having expected to have surprise in their favor, the Imperials were quickly slogged down into a months-long running battle, from the south-east tip of the continent where they had landed to avoid giving warning, to the extraction point on the north east tip, some four hundred miles north. Losing over a fifth of their number in just the first clash, the Imperials soon found themselves in a hell of forced marches at night, desperately fighting of ambushes, and facing starvation while their enemy easily replaced their lost men and filled their bellies with the summer’s harvest. When the imperial army finally reached their escape, their dead numbered over ten thousand with another seven thousand in captivity.
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When the army returned home with only a third of its number, the empire shuddered at the losses. With public opinion firmly against the war, the Imperials felt no need to pursue any conflicts for the foreseeable future, what with their loss of man-power. But peace wasn’t in the cards, for the empire OR the Reamen Kingdom. In the mountains that comprised the northern third of Jurya lived only a tenth of its populace, in the Chenyi region as it was called. In the “Great Rout” as was to be called later, the son of a local hero was one of the captives taken. The Reamen offered to sell the captives back, but the empire was skint at this point, what with the costs of hiring the fleet and the cost of raising an army, and so it declined, assuming the prisoners would be treated honorably. However, the Reamen king decided to take drastic action in retribution for his son, the dead heir. He ordered the seven thousand captives to be ritually executed, as a blood debt for his son. This decision was immensely unpopular at home, but it sparked an even greater outcry from the Empire, as one might expect. The emperor, who had a cousin among the captured, immediately ordered a new army raised, and prepared to sally forth in vengeance. And the cycle of bloodshed nearly continued, were it not for two simultaneous uprisings. In the empire, the Chenyi rose up and seceded, declaring their mountains the Kingdom of Chenyi. Meanwhile, in Maris, two great families allied to overthrow the Reamen royal family- The house of Zachar and the house of Marchibeld. While the conflict in Chenyi quickly turned into a series of guerilla skirmishes, the situation in Maris exploded into a full war, culminating in the massacre and sacking of the royal city of Mathel, and the total execution of the Reamen bloodline.
With the war over, house Zachar and house Marchibeld divided the continent between them, with Zachar getting two-thirds the land while Marchibeld got the lion’s share of the trade ports. And so formed the kingdoms of Zachariya and Marchibeld, allies to this day.
-Walthos E. Fontra “Pre-modern Historia”
“There are three major religions in the world, all based upon the gods of creation and their diminished forms, The Sacred Beasts.
1. The Temple of Sea- Focuses on the belief that the sacred beasts that govern the oceans are the greatest
The Temple of Land- The Temple of Sea, but for land based creatures.
The Temple of Heaven-The Temple for air creatures.
2. The God-King worship, present in the Empire. It preaches that the Emperor is a blood descendant of the gods of creation.
3. The Allfather-Present in Bluyas, but spreading, this religion teaches that the gods of creation are but children of the one true god, the Allfather
Other pagan religions are practiced by individuals, and tribal customs rule the northern Ice Barbarians.”
-Excerpt from “Silly beliefs, and where the idiots that started them live”
Mana. An intangible substance that allows beings to influence the world around them, in a way described only as magic. No scholar, no summoned spirit can explain where mana originates from, or why only certain beings can wield it consciously. Even the Holy Beasts, beings of endless knowledge and power cannot explain where it stems from, only how to wield it. Mana is found within all things that have a soul, and is stored in what is widely referred to as a "Mana Pool" within the soul. But the amount of mana varies wildly from soul to soul, and only those with a large mana pool can even sense magic, let alone use it. This means, that even in a world of billions of souls, not even 15% can effectively wield mana. And even among those mages, only a fraction can wield truly world-ending powers. Those few that can use it to rain fire from the sky, or summon windstorms to shred their enemies, are called Battle-Mages, and are highly valued for their services. Those skilled in the healing arts are paid a princely sum to be Royal retainers, and those who excel in the arts of killing are promised the world in exchange for their prowess on the killing fields. Almost universally, mages have been courted by kings and queens as well as lesser nobles, marrying magic and nobility, privilege and power.
Due to this treatment, mages have grown from a quiet, dangerous minority to a loud, powerful and dangerous minority. Many mages come from a noble family, and as magery tends to run in bloodlines, very few mages are born commoners these days and even those who are born common often earn a nobility for their family through their services. As such, the title "Mage" is synonymous with "Noble," and vice-versa. That is not to say, however, that those mana-sensitives that are not mages aren't dangerous as well. Even without the ability to cast world-ending spells, they can still make use of the mana through self-fortifying techniques, such as hardening their skin and quickening their reflexes. Many mana-sensitives find work as bodyguards or soldiers, and most thrive in such action-oriented positions. These sensitives are referred to as "Mage-Knights," even though many are not actually knighted. Mage knights are sought-after partners for powerful mages, who are not in the line of succession, if there are no true mages available for marriage. And despite their awesome power, not even Battle-Mages are invincible. Drawing on mana so heavily often overtaxes the body, leaving the mage frail and tired after using magic. This makes Mage-Knights incredibly valued as bodyguards and as retainers, as using their limited mana does not tire them. Much the opposite, in fact.
There are also rumors of a group of people, known only as Mage-Hunters, who are said to be a mage’s natural enemy. They are said to be unable to use mana, and yet are able to track those who can. They are said to be invincible monsters, which drink the blood of slain mages, and feast on rotting fleash. Stories, I am sure. Tales to frighten rebellious magelings, who tend to cause trouble when they first discover their talent. There are some facts to be found, however. There is an organization that tracks mages and other people of note, and it is said to be based in the Isles. They are said to sport a tattoo on their body, signifying their specialty- A bird for spy and messenger, an herbivore for negotiator and contact, and a predator for a true hunter, a killer. These are the only known facts about this shadowy operation, and since many Islemen port tattoo’s it becomes next to impossible to get any more information…
-Prince Malgo IX Teesh, in a letter on mages and affiliates
Immersion Breaker Ahead!!
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How to tell the time/date in this story: Similar to Chinese calendar, Sixteen animals-one each year. Cycle reverses at end of sixteenth year, ex, Green Crested Serpent>Golden Bull>Golden Bull>Green Crested Serpent. At end of cycle, it becomes a Rot. (Based on Rotation) Example, at the end of the second recorded cycle and the first year of the third, the shorthand became “2nd Rot, Year of the XXX.” Years in general are referred to as Tal. For example, the year of the seventh animal is called 7tal.
Seasons: There are four seasons representing spring, summer, autumn, and winter. They are; Verdantos, Hermos, Dealthos, and Barrentos. The –os at the end of each season, called a Ron, denotes them as seasons.
Months: There are eight Month-equivalents in this story. There are about two months in a season. The Months are, in order starting from spring: Birta, Lueta, Heta, Coleta, Seta, Kirta, Colas, Depa. The –a at the end of each month, called a Ralk, denotes them as months.
Days: There is no unit of measurement equivalent to weeks in this world. Instead, the days are counted until the end of each month. This world has a slightly longer night and day cycle than earths, meaning there are about 264 days in a year, and 33 days a month. Days are referred to as Unas (From Units.) The –as denotes day.
Hours: Due to the longer-than-normal day/night cycles, there are about 17 hours in the day, and 10 hours at night. There are two moons, both about a quarter the size of the normal one. Hours are called Oaus. The –us denotes hour.
How to tell time/dates: Dates go Days/Months/season/year/Rot. Ex: 27as/2a/1os/15tal/347rot.
As for time, one of the moons is always visible, even in the day, providing a reference point for the hour
In this era, pikes and swords, steel and crossbows are the norm as far as weaponry goes. Think “Game of Thrones” but with more magic and fantasy.