All eyes

Cosmology in Brief

Everything has a soul. Souls are born when a new, natural form appears in the world. They represent the existence of that form. A soul is existence itself, while form provides essence — the content. Souls are merely a life-force: when a body or shape reaches the end of its time, the soul departs, slowly purifies itself of any memory of its former vessel, and then inhabits a new form. There is no memory of previous lives, because the soul is pure existence, and memory belongs to form.

What makes an individual life unique is its body — its shape. The soul’s journey continues until it has inhabited every kind of form that exists: once a human, once a stone, once a particle of air, and so on — until it becomes “complete.” Only then does it merge with the core of existence, expanding the totality of space.

In the beginning, there was no space at all. Out of nothing, the first elementary particles appeared — already as fused soul and body. From their combinations, new forms began to emerge. That’s why in the early world, the soul’s journey was short. As the world grows, the journey becomes proportionally longer. And the larger the world, the harder it is to expand it.

One day, the first human was born, and with them, a new soul. From that moment on, all other souls must eventually become human as part of their journey. However, not every newborn human has a new soul — this occurred only with the first. All others are inhabited by souls continuing their travels from other forms, entering the embryo in the third month of pregnancy.

After death, the soul enters a formless state and purifies itself in the realm of dreams. When exactly a new shape is formed and a new soul is born remains the greatest mystery.

Disrupting the soul’s journey is a violation of the natural order — of reality itself. It leads to corruption, erosion of existence and form, and gives rise to Chaos. Yet a total lack of disruption brings only stagnation — the absence of all change.

List of Deities and Their Associated States

• Jaruga – The Current – Lord of Mud – river god of birth, death, and change.
• Mavitae – The Shroud – former god of life and death – deceased.
• EndiEndi – The Sky – lord of night and day, and of the future – worshipped by the Zundari (Red Elves).
• The region of Scalp has no god.
• Amarer – Wedge – lord of pride, ambition, and achievement – brother of Lexarion.
• Lexarion – The Judge – lord of power, hierarchy, slavery, and law – brother of Wedge.
• Luxuria – The Bellow – goddess of purity, debauchery, excess, trade, fortune, and risk.
• Nox – The Shepherd – god of sleep and the dead.
• Aria – The Breeze – goddess of freedom, joy, beauty, and travel, worshipped in the Free Lands, though most inhabitants are either nonbelievers or follow the gods of the regions they fled from.
• Tree of Life – Forest elves believe that the great tree overlooking the Lake of Cleansing is a god of endurance, earthly life, growth, gentleness, and hope.
• Wyr – Harm – lord of Pain, mourning the suffering even as he feeds on it.
• Saylateh – The Gesture – a genderless god of magic – missing.

Races

Humans and dwarves are the oldest known races — neither remembers a history without the other. The Lobo came later, though it’s unclear how long they had already been on the continent, as they always kept to their own territory. The last to appear were the elves, who arrived from the wild and untamed reaches of nature.

March of the Condemned

A procession of people undertaking a voluntary, socially sanctioned mass suicide in the Lake of Cleansing. Naked and marked with tattoos, they march to bid farewell to lives they no longer wish to live. Renouncing suicide after joining the Condemned is considered the greatest shame. This march is seen as nature’s way of purging itself and accelerating the dissolution of a failed union between soul and body. Beings join the march regularly, though at irregular intervals — except in winter, when it is too cold to walk unclothed.

Dreamland/Realm of Dream

In this world, the realm of the dead and the realm of dreams are one and the same. After death, souls pass into the Dreamland, where they spend several years shedding the memory of their former bodies. During this time, they wander vast fields tended by the Shepherd — the god of sleep — before continuing their journey through new forms.

The Shepherd, often simply called Sleep, is a neutral deity. He does not judge or intervene — his role is to guide the dead through their transition, allowing them to dissolve what remains of their past life before rejoining the cycle of the soul’s transformation.

Dream

A nation bordering the mountains behind which lies the Dreamland/Realm of Dream — the realm of phantoms and the dead — home of Sleep, the Shepherd, god of dreams and the afterlife. He herds the souls of the dead across abstract fields of pastel grass until they are cleansed of the memory of their former bodies and can continue their journey through forms (see Cosmology). Though the Dreamland is technically material, no one who has entered it in life has ever returned.

The State of Dream is inhabited equally by Onisari (White Elves) and humans. They lead a slow-paced life, and some openly prefer dreaming to waking life. In the mines of the Dreaming Mountains, they extract Dreamstones — the second most valuable resource on the continent. This mineral, steeped in the power of the Dreamland, can be ground and inhaled to instantly transport the user’s consciousness into a dream, even enabling encounters with the dead.

Travel through the irrational Dreamland is not simple, which is why some high-ranking priests of Sleep become Dream Guides. Their role is to escort those who inhale Dreamstone smoke to meet their deceased relatives — so long as those souls still retain memory of their bodily forms.

Dream Guides should not be confused with mediums. A medium is someone who has partially sacrificed themselves to become a voice for the dead within the world of the living — enabling the reverse journey of Dreamstones. Becoming a medium requires years of training and acceptance through the Kiss of the Shepherd in the fields of the dead. Most mediums are those who, through self-sacrifice, seek to atone for past wrongs.

Power rests with the royal family — the Sleepers. Dream is part of the Northern Alliance, which also includes the Well and Wedge.

Well

A small northern territory, almost entirely taken up by a massive pit in the earth, at the bottom of which glisten the waters of the underground Hjodar River. This is the dwarven mining-state, where stone, iron, and the red Earthblood — the most valuable material on the continent — are extracted. Earthblood extends life, though for an uncertain duration. Access to this resource has made the dwarves of the Well immensely wealthy.

Dwarven society here is highly stratified — the closer one lives to the surface, the higher their social status. The dwarves at the very bottom, known as the Deepborn, have never seen the sun — not even its reflection, which is cast into the depths by vast mirrors built into the Well’s corridors.

Both factions agree that dwarves originate from the deep and only discovered the surface relatively recently. The Deepborn call the sun-dependence of surface-dwellers a weakness.

The dwarves of the Well are ruled by King Kragmor of House Stone — father of Fardahryn (heir and envoy to the surface) and Bruxa, who listens to the counsel of the priests of the Soul’s Journey. These dwarves are vastly different from those of the Talking Mountain and question any racial kinship with them — they are larger and more robust. They rarely appear above ground, usually only in massive mobile fortresses pulled by Gorigari beasts, inhabited by wealthy merchants trading in iron, stone, gems, Earthblood, and other treasures of the deep.

The Well remains part of the Northern Alliance, alongside Dream and Wedge.

Zundari / The Great Bridge

The Zundari are red elves who inhabit the vast jungle stretching between the northern and southern regions. They worship Endi-Endi, the Sky — lord of night and day, the sun, and the future. While some doubt it, the Zundari possess genuine foresight: by offering sacrifices to their god and studying signs within shadowy visions cast in great flames, they learn to interpret probable futures revealed by the Sky.

Their entire culture is built around knowledge of these likely futures, and they act to promote the ones that suit their aims. However, they find themselves in a tragic position. For centuries, living in semi-feral isolation and wholly devoted to the religious ecstasy of divine foresight, they alienated themselves from the rest of the world, considering it unworthy of their sacred knowledge. They killed anyone who attempted to pass through their wild domain — the shortest route from the Fertile Lands to the north.

Eventually, the Northern Alliance dedicated enormous resources to repel Zundari attacks long enough to build a massive bridge above their jungle. Crossing the Great Bridge takes four days, but it greatly accelerates and reduces the cost of human grain migration and flour transport. The bridge was completed only recently and remains the cause of ongoing conflict between the North and the red elves.

Volari

Volari, also called the High Ones, are blue elves named ironically — they live at altitude, on floating islands powered by energy cores harvested from Uurundich. These islands are technological remnants of an ancient, extinct race known as the Yrade, who referred to themselves as such in long-forgotten languages.

The Volari now hover above the mist-choked terrain between Dream and Tribunal. The surface below is largely unexplored and widely believed to be infested with monstrous beings. The Volari once lived there in harmony with the humid wilds, but abandoned both land and identity when they uncovered the floating isles and the Yrade’s frozen technological records.

They reinvented themselves as heirs to that lost race, obsessed with continuing the Yrade’s research. That knowledge — and its Volari offshoots — is their greatest treasure and their most guarded secret. Arrogant and proud, they see themselves as superior to lesser minds. They rarely venture beyond their territories, though they maintain a trading presence in the Temporary City on the Fertile Lands, where they exchange energy cores harvested in ritual hunts for Uurundich, along with technological innovations. Recent breakthroughs include an energy rifle and a turbine water engine for riverboats.

Among them are brilliant but reckless scientists and engineers, some of whom have turned to dark forces in their pursuit of overcoming their own mental limitations. Others attempt to blend magic and technology, drawing the ire of neighboring Tribunal and the Demagus order.

The Dżannilidi

The oldest Volari lineage. Arrogant and renowned for weaving magic into machines. Openly mocking of the continent’s anti-magic crusade led by Tribunal and the Demagus, the Dżannilidi seek bodily perfection through external augmentation. They invented rune-eyes — arcane replacements for natural eyes that can cast spells through mere gaze. They believe the Yrade lacked their potential, being unable to wield magic.

The family is developing a small-scale weather control device to covertly disrupt natural cycles in enemy lands.

Riverfolk

A gathering of people who have left their nations behind — or were born on the water — and have dedicated their lives to traveling the continent along the Jaruga River. Using energy-powered ships capable of moving upstream, they form a drifting society made up of mixed cultures, serving as the primary force behind interregional trade. Though officially neutral, they are of course susceptible to bribery, but cannot afford to fall fully into corruption if they wish to remain trusted as intermediaries.

They live on water and in ports, with no permanent homeland. Ship captains are sovereigns on their decks, bowing to no one. This results in constant internal tension within what is technically the largest trade guild in Zaya — though it is not truly a guild, but rather a chaotic web of stateless riverfolk who treat each other like a dysfunctional extended family.

Scalp

A province of the state of Tribunal, Scalp was established as a showcase — proof that the anti-magic crusade does not seek to abolish all supernatural power, but to regulate it safely. Here, necromancy is permitted, but only for “benevolent” purposes. The result is an entirely new economy and moral framework: upon death, even nobles are surrendered to the state, which reanimates their bodies as zombies tasked with performing manual labor. The living receive payment in their stead.

This posthumous, mindless service lasts for three years, until the body decays beyond use. At that point, it is returned to the family for burial, and the deceased is honored as someone who served the public in death. In practice, this results in two funerals: one upon death (without the body) and another when the remains are finally returned.

The province is filled with zombies wrapped in orange robes and hung with pouches of herbs to mask the stench of decay, silently maintaining public infrastructure. Scalp has grown bold — there are whispers of secessionist ambitions, especially given that it was sovereign before the War of Unification. The province is ruled by Baron Bassani Woodenbone.

Lobbia

A crescent-shaped mountain peninsula with an island at its center, home to the Lobo — strange and intelligent beings:

• They have bat-like faces and move on all fours, using both hands and feet with grasping digits — as well as their prehensile tails.
• Extremely agile, they can crawl along walls and ceilings, allowing them to build suspended settlements over chasms. They live on flexible “webs” woven from fungal fibers.
• The Lobo see the world “upside down” — not literally, but their default posture is hanging from ceilings or clinging sideways to vertical surfaces. In social interaction, they often try to invert objects or suspend their conversation partners.
• They have limited facial expression — their bat-like faces are difficult to read. Instead, they communicate emotions and intent through tactile gestures with their limbs and tail.
• The Lobo do not use metal. They rely on lightweight, flexible materials: their technology revolves around weaving and shaping organic fibers from fungi and plants. Their tools and garments are semi-living, adapting symbiotically to the user.
  • For example, a cloak woven from microscopic cave-fungus scales completely absorbs light and sound in close proximity — rendering the wearer invisible in darkness, but only while motionless.
• Lobo preserve memories collectively — certain important memories are stored in “singing caves,” where echoes of their high-pitched vocalizations are imprinted and accessible to all clan members. An individual Lobo might recall the death of an ancestor from 500 years ago as if they had seen it firsthand, though their personal memory is fragile and prone to discarding anything deemed unimportant.

To other intelligent races, the Lobo are seen as oddities and are often avoided. They rarely leave their territory. On occasion, they serve as mercenaries or specialists in high-altitude environments. Rarely, one may encounter a Lobo trading enclave willing to exchange their unique technologies for valuable items such as energy cores or Wonders of Jaruga.

Pouch

A small archipelago of sailors and merchants who worship the goddess Pouch — named after the coin pouch, symbol of fortune, risk, wealth, and restraint. To her followers, the pouch is not just a container for gold, but a metaphor for holding back and letting go — saving and then spending in great bursts of joy.

The people of Pouch believe that the deliberate squandering of surplus is the highest pleasure — not just for intelligent beings, but for nature itself. They live with discipline, running profitable ventures communally and carefully accumulating capital. All surplus (after reinvestment) is ritually wasted during indulgences declared by their religious leaders: massive feasts, orgies, and festivals where the people pass through madness into catharsis.

They are open-hearted and constantly awaiting the next indulgence, but live in sacred abstinence between them. Lack of self-control outside the sanctioned rites is considered the basest flaw. The population is predominantly human. The archipelago is ruled by the dark-skinned Aapassini family.

Jaruga / The Fertile Lands / The Wild Mountains

The Current — also called the Lord of Mud — is the god of birth, death, and transformation, worshipped primarily in the Wild Mountains. These mountains are home to the isolated and brutal tribal society known as the Qqni, who rule over the Fertile Lands — the only large expanses of arable soil on the continent.

Once a year, the river Jaruga overflows from its sacred mountain, the Source of the Current, where warriors undergo ritual transformations. The flood submerges the Fertile Lands, mutating all life it touches while rendering the soil extraordinarily fertile.

During sowing season, representatives from other nations arrive, offering tribute in exchange for the right to cultivate the land and take the harvest home. Some even erect the container-based Temporary City for the duration. The Qqni do not farm — they live off offerings brought to them. The mutated flora and fauna of the region are known as the Wonders of Jaruga. Treasure hunters seek them out to trade or transform them into valuable goods — but this is forbidden under Qqni law and punished by live immolation.

The original Flood of Jaruga was a one-time catastrophe in the distant past — a moment when the river pushed further past its seal, spilling into other lands and mutating everything it touched. It annihilated young life and replaced it with grotesque or miraculous anomalies.

The Sacred Lands

A central, open region of the continent — a vast savanna — where permanent settlement is forbidden. All nations share an unspoken agreement: this land belongs to the Uurundich, sacred animal beings.

The Uurundich are towering, giraffe-like quadrupeds whose translucent abdominal membranes grow sacs of raw energy — like living batteries. These are harvested in annual ritual hunts and used to power primitive technology.

Despite their utility, the Uurundich are revered, and the balance of harvest and respect is strictly maintained. No one claims dominion over the Sacred Lands — to do so would be seen as sacrilege.

The Lake of Cleansing

The Lake of Cleansing, said to cure all illness, lies in the land of the Flosari — the forest elves — beneath the Tree of Life. Outside of Flosari, no one may access it except the Condemned, who enter the lake to take their own lives.

It is said that the water trailing off the souls of the Condemned — released from their bodies and escaping the lake — creates the most beautiful sight on the continent. From a hill beyond the forest, one can see the shimmer of these departing spirits as they rise into the sky.

The Talking Mountain

A vast mountain range separating the western Wastes from the territory of Tribunal, home to a distinct kind of dwarves. The mountain quite literally speaks — its winds whistle with strange patterns that resemble words. Only those trained to interpret its voice can truly understand it.

The dwarves who dwell within and upon the mountain revere it as their god — a physical, living presence. This belief contradicts the theological definition of divinity in Zaya, but the Talking Mountain defies classification. It is not a god in the traditional sense, but rather a piece of inanimate nature that, for unknown reasons, possesses will and awareness. It cares for its inhabitants, though it does not always agree with them.

The dwarves of the Talking Mountain are gatekeepers. They allow passage only at their discretion — outsiders must pay tolls or detour by sea. These dwarves are smaller and narrower than those of the Well, almost comically so: squat but slim, with knee-length beards and a fondness for tall pointed hats.

The Wastes Beyond the Talking Mountain

A volcanic and virtually lifeless land, uncharted due to its sheer hostility. Almost nothing grows there, and monsters are said to roam freely. A few mad natives survive on the fringes, but they are rare and secretive.

Legends speak of magnificent treasures buried deep within the Wastes, but no one has ever gone far enough to confirm them — let alone return alive.

Wedge and Lexarion

Brother gods with opposing values. Lexarion, known as the Judge, is the god of authority, hierarchy, slavery, and law — he believes that all beings should follow the same set of rules he has established. Wedge is the god of ambition, declaring that the means are irrelevant if the goal is achieved. His followers reject the notions of good and evil, replacing them with success and failure.

The divine brothers despise one another, and their churches are in constant conflict. Lexarion seeks order, even at the cost of slavery. Wedge seeks freedom, even if it sometimes leads to chaos and irresponsibility.

Wedge’s state lies in the north, while the Tribunal, ruled by Lexarion’s doctrine, lies in the south.

The Zummadins

An influential noble family from the state of Wedge, the Zummadins are known for their immense power and wealth, built through expeditions in search of knowledge and Arcanum, which they hoard obsessively. Their crest bears a black swan.

The Huxyds

The second great noble house of Wedge, and rivals to the Zummadins. The Huxyds operate the largest spy network on the continent. They serve as advisors at courts and to powerful individuals, their reach often invisible but always present.

Their crest features Golden Serpents, and like their emblem, they use slyness and subtlety to advance their limitless ambition. They are not without conscience, but will hesitate at nothing. They prefer to remain in the shadows, manipulating others rather than acting openly.

The Birth-Bearers

The Birth-Bearers are a female order of seductive operatives and militant monk-warriors who wield pregnancy as a political weapon. Through intentional conception, they collect bloodlines and genetic ties to gain influence, establish connections, and accumulate power. They are a highly effective organization best left unprovoked. Cooperation with them always carries risk — especially when they’re the ones initiating it.

Enemies derisively call them “whores” for their instrumental use of sex, but their seduction techniques are unmatched. They train their bodies as both weapons and lures, mastering combat and carnal manipulation alike. They are renowned for their composure and ability to read others with surgical precision.

The Demagus

A paladinate representing a sovereign offshoot of Lexarion’s church. Formed to enforce magical regulation in lands under the Judge’s rule — and eventually across the world — they are prepared to use force to achieve it. Their ranks consist of sworn holy knights.

They are widely supported by the public, who fear the catastrophic consequences of unregulated magic. Their symbol is a flame bound within a circle of law.

Magical Catastrophes and the Anti-Magic Crusade

The genderless god of magic, Saylateh (also known as the Gesture), has vanished — or at least, has not made contact in ages. In response, the gods Lexarion and Wyr (the Lord of Pain) have renewed their alliance to combat the growing threat of wild magic — or so their priests claim.

Nations have enacted laws mandating the registration of magic users through colleges equipped to mitigate magical fallout. Unregistered magic is now illegal and punishable by death — a quick death, in accordance with Wyr’s mercy.

Followers of the Judge and the Lord of Harm enforce this order with armed zeal, believing it brings justice and peace. Thus was born the Order of the Demagus — paladins sworn to a crusade against unlicensed spellcasters.

Public sentiment continues to turn against magic. Mage populations have plummeted. Lynchings occur. Arcanum is increasingly viewed as injustice — a power wielded by the few at the cost of the many. Churches of the divine triad endorse this view. Though magical catastrophes are rare, their devastation overwhelms the positive contributions of magic. Fear spreads. The innocent suffer.

The Church of the Judge

Followers of Lexarion firmly believe that everyone has a place in the hierarchy — with both privileges and restrictions — but also that it is possible to ascend the ladder. Slavery is practiced in the tradition of Ancient Rome: it is viewed as the worst fate, and those faced with it are allowed the choice of suicide. If they refuse, it means they have chosen servitude — and they may yet earn freedom through merit or circumstance.

The Church of the Judge is lawful and just, but unflinching and brutal in its punishments. Executions are often public and exemplary.

The way Lexarion conveys law to his priests — who in turn pass it to the world — remains unclear, shrouded in ambiguity and open to doubt.

The War of Unification

A major conflict from 150 years ago, during which Tribunal, once a small nation, conquered and absorbed three neighboring minor states. This marked the birth of the Greater Tribunal, now often referred to simply as the Empire.

The Ban on Intervention

A line above, an X, and a line below — this is the symbol representing the prohibition of divine interference in mortal affairs. It signifies a rupture between god and worshipper, the severance of heaven from earth.

The Grand Tournament

An annual team-based combat tournament held in Wedge, fought to the death — or to surrender, though surrender is not permitted in the final match. It draws throngs of challengers and seas of spectators from across the continent.

The winning team is granted a single wish by Queen Satrada Apotezi of Wedge — any request within her power to fulfill, so long as it does not violate the core values of the state.

GM only

Magic

In the world of Zaya, everything — from living beings to stones and particles of air — possesses a soul. A soul is a mindless force that, from birth, journeys through all forms, ultimately joining the Pillar of Existence and expanding the world’s space (see Cosmology). Thus, a soul is also the force that shapes reality itself.

Magic is the act of ripping a soul from its form and bending it to one’s will. Only a rare few can do this. On a large scale, this manipulation leads to the corruption of matter.

Virtually no one — not even the mages themselves — fully understands how magic truly works. This remains one of the world’s greatest secrets.

The Aurora Wall

A region within the Wastes beyond the Talking Mountain is sealed off from the world by the Aurora Wall — a shimmering curtain of iridescent light that cannot be passed by any known means.

Its origin is unknown to most, but in truth, the wall was created by a coalition of races to contain the madness of a rogue Volari druid named Quelivandi. He believed that magic was a natural force and used it to create crystals that mutated nearby ecosystems into irrational forms: bodies made of cloud, giant worms with intelligent heads, iron birds pecking apart mountains, trees made of flesh, and more.

Quelivandi was imprisoned underground — beneath the Aurora Wall — and kept in magical stasis. His body is maintained by an arcane apparatus powered by his own mutagenic crystals. Every few hours, the machine forces his hands to re-cast the spell that maintains the barrier.

The wall exists to contain the spread of Magiatry — a fusion of magic and nature — within the zone it has already transformed.

Monuments

In certain regions of Zaya — such as an island in the Northern Sea — stand massive white cubes inscribed with incomprehensible runes. No one knows what they truly are.

These structures are fragments of space that were torn into the world of the Labyrinth — taken by the magical Mist, its foundational substance, which spilled out and condensed into solid walls. These monuments have permanently severed that part of the world from reality, cutting it off from the normal laws of existence.

Arcanum

Commonly understood as magical items, Arcanum are in fact objects haunted by souls that have lost their way in the cycle of transformation. These wandering souls become bound to physical forms, granting them strange and potent properties.

Such items are rare and highly valuable.

Gods

Gods were once mortals whose souls developed extraordinary properties. This is the only stage in the journey of souls that is not shared by others — no soul becomes a god more than once.

A god is not real in the material sense and cannot directly intervene in the world. It exists only as a spiritual form — an avatar — a pure force without physical substance. Such a soul is sustained by the emotions and impulses of living beings related to its domain. The content of the soul — its form — is defined by the faith of its followers.

A god is nourished by the actions of other souls’ forms, making it a leading soul. Divinity represents a distortion and a vast extension of the soul’s journey — but when it ends, it becomes the strongest foundation of the Core of Existence, expanding space more than any other state.

• Skalp has no god — its people seek to create one by resurrecting Mavitae as a god of undeath and unlife, turning him into a zombie deity.
• Zarax — the Closed Eye, the Shadow — god of darkness, loss, fear, concealment, and mystery.

Flosari

The Flosari are born from the Tree of Life as its flowers. If a fruit fails to ripen, it ferments and gains the ability to imprint beliefs — the first suggestion heard after consuming it becomes truth for the eater, even something like “you will not die when you die” (which mechanically functions like a Destiny Point). However, consuming these fruits is considered cannibalism among the Flosari, and the knowledge of such unborn kin is kept in deep secrecy.

They do not resemble humanoid races — they are diverse plantlike and floral beings who live primarily stationary lives, though they are capable of movement.

A water djinn named Mirisan, who dwells beneath the surface of the Lake of Cleansing in a nested, pocket-realm, holds the Flosari in check — the Tree of Life grows from her realm into the world of Zaya. She ordered the cultivation of a special branch of Flosari capable of mimicking humans to serve her as spies and messengers. Prior to this, the Flosari had no contact with the outside world and killed any who approached the Tree of Life.

These altered Flosari are called Mizoni. They resemble elves, can grow skin-like surfaces over themselves, and are the only form of Flosari known to the world. No one suspects there are other, truer Flosari behind them.

Flosari society is matriarchal, ruled by the Mothers of Flowers, constantly torn between fighting for the well-being of their kind and obeying the will of Mirisan.

They live in isolation within their great forest and strictly control access to the Lake of Cleansing, allowing entry only to the Condemned, who go there to die. Very rarely, they make exceptions for deserving outsiders — offering them a fermented, unripe fruit of the Tree of Life along with a whispered suggestion that they will survive their next death. The person is then permitted to enter the lake for healing, but never to submerge their head — the power of suggestion protects them from the djinn’s unnoticed strike.

The Flosari permit only a single portion of their territory for external use — a large, strategically located port at the center of the continent, which functions as their main point of contact with the outside world.

The Flosari remain secluded and fiercely guard several secrets:

• That they are the fruit of the Tree of Life, and not humanoid at all.
• That their existence is tied to the location of their tree, and their politics are entirely rooted in defending the territory they can never leave.
• That Mizoni only pretend to be elves — though the entire Flosari people are casually referred to elsewhere as “Forest Elves.”
• That the unborn children of the Tree — their siblings — ferment into a potent and rare resource.
• And above all, that beneath the surface of the Lake of Cleansing, a water djinn sleeps.

Djinn

Djinn are rebellious souls that somehow gained self-awareness during their journey through forms. They learned that space is built from souls, and have begun to construct their own nested worlds — miniature realms made from fragments of soul-essence. Within these personal worlds, djinn possess unlimited power: they are gods there, and can even take on physical form. But these self-made realms draw space away from true existence.

Outside their own domains, djinn are powerless and must act through intermediaries. Most mortals are unaware they even exist.

To construct their worlds, djinn must extract fragments of untainted soul. They cannot use corrupted essence — such material would produce unstable, chaotic domains they could not control. When severing a soul from its body, a djinn cuts away both the corrupted part and a clean fragment. This raises a moral question: does purging corruption from a soul accelerate its journey toward the Pillar of Existence more than the damage done by removing a pure piece of it?

Soul corruption can result from many causes — failure to shed memories of previous forms, outside interference, magical influence, or, as is believed in the case of the Condemned, a fundamental mismatch between soul and body.

Known djinn include:

• Merisan, who dwells beneath the surface of the Lake of Cleansing.
• Zharuun, who resides beneath the lava in a volcano on the desert continent.

Djinn see obvious advantage in guiding the Condemned — those already seeking death — to die by their hand, offering fragments of their souls willingly or unknowingly. So far, the March of the Condemned leads only to the Lake of Cleansing, but Zharuun has already sent his fire-wielding sorcerers to spread belief in a new path — one that ends in flame.

Well

This social divide also extends to religion. The surface-dwellers have no god and venerate the Journey of Souls itself as a reflection of natural order, believing they descend from Emhyr the Allfather, who was formed from fertile soil touched by droplets of Earthblood. The Deepborn, however, worship Zarax — a god of darkness and the Underdepths, a vast network of ancient tunnels sealed off by the dwarves millennia ago. Worship of Zarax is forbidden and unknown outside the Deepborn enclaves. Yet they believe that sealing the Underdepths was a betrayal of dwarven identity, and they resent the gate that bars their access, even as they live beside it.

Earthblood has, over billions of years, merged with soil and microorganisms, slowly evolving into living entities that became dwarves. This long symbiosis fused mineral and microbe into a single organism. The first dwarf, Emhyr the Allfather, was a half-golem who helped shape others in his image, already possessing consciousness.

Remnants of Earthblood remain in dwarven bodies — their bones are reddish in color, composed of the same mineral. Though they’ve lost their original hardness, they now function as conduits for nutrients. This is known as the mineral system — an additional biological system alongside circulation — through which microminerals flow, granting dwarves enhanced regeneration, longer lifespans, resistance to many diseases, and partial resistance to magic. If one grinds their bones to dust, a small amount of powdered Earthblood can be harvested.

Jaruga / The Fertile Lands / The Wild Mountains

Jaruga is a river-god with the nature of an element — sometimes calm, sometimes furious — longing to flood and mutate indiscriminately. Yet its source is sealed underground, a fact known only to the Oogrim family, rulers of the Qqni for generations. They are famed for understanding the river’s whispers. The Oogrims conceal the truth: they keep their god imprisoned, fearing its unpredictable nature — capable of bringing both random death and rebirth.

To the rest of the Qqni and the outside world, Jaruga is seen as a predictable god who floods once a year and demands offerings in the form of altered life. But the truth is more dangerous.

The Circle of Starless Nights

An outlawed circle of druids and witches in the Wild Mountains, who view nature through a particular lens:

• Violence and destruction are natural processes: Decay, ruin, and death are not aberrations but core elements of nature. Everything — life, matter, energy, magic — is in constant churn. What is made will be used up, broken down, or rot. Nature is brutal and wasteful by design, and destruction is an inherent part of its rhythm.
• Excess and wastefulness: Surplus is central to nature. It’s not just about survival and reproduction — nature also creates unnecessary, inefficient overflows of energy. Fertility often produces more than can survive; natural processes generate surplus energy that dissipates without purpose.
• The endless cycle of birth and death: Life is a grinding process of transformation — things are born, grow, devour each other, and die, becoming part of the soil for the next cycle. This wheel never stops, and it has no final purpose or meaning. It is absurd and tragic by its very essence.
• No morality in nature: There is no morality, harmony, or care in natural processes. They are impersonal, indifferent to suffering or joy. In the “grinding wheel” of existence, there is no room for compassion or meaning — nature simply acts, destroys, and creates without pause.
• Death as both product and condition of life: Death is not an end, but a prerequisite for life. What dies becomes nourishment and substance for what is born. This cycle is the foundational rule of the grinding wheel. Nature, driven endlessly by this loop, never clings to any one form — all living things are eventually destroyed to make way for others.

Zundari

The Zundari hate the bridge not only because it encroaches on their territory, but especially because it casts a vast shadow over their jungle, limiting plant growth, disrupting the ecosystem, and — most importantly — clouding their visions of the future. They believe sunlight to be the eternal eye of Endi-Endi, who sees the past, present, and future all at once. The band of stars across the night sky is, to them, a fragment of his spine curled in slumber.

The Zundari are led by priests — the most skilled seers among them. Currently, nothing is more important to the red elves than destroying the bridge and reclaiming the full power of sunlight and their god’s clear gaze. Yet despite their ferocity, they have been unsuccessful. No outsiders truly understand their motives, as the Zundari remain alien, feral, and beyond communication.

Volari

There is some truth to the widespread belief that the Volari destroyed the land beneath their feet through reckless scientific experimentation and magical catastrophe. They no longer walk that ground — because they can’t.

These lands were once inhabited by giants. Thousands of years ago, the Volari fled to the skies to escape them. Later, with no hesitation, they continued experimenting with arcana and machinery, and in doing so, exterminated the giants — or so they believe. In reality, the giants survived by burrowing underground, becoming enormous, mole-like creatures. They now tunnel through deep rock in vast underground systems, too afraid to resurface due to the twisted abominations and magical horrors spawned by centuries of unchecked arcano-technological chaos.

Amara Dżannilidi — an ancient sorceress and one of the three who cast the Yrade Sealing Ritual in the Labyrinth — would roll in her grave knowing her people have forgotten the truth about the Yrade and now revere them as role models.

The Dry Lands

No one remembers it now, but in ancient times this was the site of Kamazud, capital of the Yrade race — before it collapsed into the earth on the Day of Shame, following the sealing of its inhabitants and hundreds of thousands of innocents within the world of the Labyrinth. The cataclysm left the region scorched and fractured, and it remains desolate to this day.

Beneath the surface lie the ruins of the city and its secrets. Followers of the cult of eternal undeath from Skalp conduct slow and clandestine excavations here. Their goal is to recover the remains of the divine avatar of Mavitae, the fallen god of life and death — buried during the Day of Shame — in order to transport, reassemble, and resurrect him as the god of the undead.

The Zummadins

They embody the core value of Wedge: the end justifies the means. Fiercely loyal to their own bloodline, the Zummadins practice a secret breeding policy — they sire many children and scatter them across the world as infants, accepting into the family only those who survive, return, and prove their worth. They are ruthless, though not needlessly violent. Measured, cunning, and unyielding.

Rose Zummadin — an ancient sorceress, was one of the three mages who cast the Yrade Sealing Ritual within the Labyrinth.

The Huxyds

Capable of great good when it suits them, they often win the hearts of the common folk — unaware of what the Huxyds do behind the scenes. Their greatest secret: they bribe Dream Guides to look the other way while they torture the souls of influential dead in the Dreamland, extracting information to be used in the waking world.

The Scalp

Necromancy attracts the deranged. A network of mages within Scalp seeks to gather the remains of Mavitae, the long-dead god of life and death, and resurrect him as a god of eternal undeath. They dream of regaining consciousness after death — not merely becoming zombies, but living as undead. They believe they can accomplish this by creating a new god for themselves.

This budding religion is spreading across the continent. Its symbol is a fanged skull with worms crawling from its eye sockets. Its apostles search for powerful energy sources to raise the divine avatar’s body. Unbeknownst to them, true undeath may be achieved by a different means — placing a lump of Earthblood into the mouths of the reanimated dead…

The Vivarins

A noble family from Scalp, the Vivarins advise Baron Woodenbone. The family head, Cyril, is a staunch advocate of economic necromancy and a secret nationalist conspirator. It was he who secured permission from Tribunal’s authorities to legalize controlled necromantic practices.

His half-mad son, Cassius, pretends to support his father but has fully immersed himself in the new faith of undeath. He devotes himself to Zur Zaren — the lich and oldest living man in history, who, three thousand years ago, was one of the three mages who cast the Yrade Sealing Ritual in the Labyrinth.

Dawn of Time

In the beginning, there was Chaos — the void — pure disruption. Without it, nothing changes.

Souls were Chaos’s first creation: a raw, mindless force seeking to fill every shape, and ultimately become part of the Pillar of Existence — the known and stable foundation of reality.

When Seeds of Chaos pierce the Pillar of Existence, the result can be good — they shatter the stagnant and allow the world to reshape itself. Without that, the old cannot be forgotten. But if too much of the Pillar — too much space — is broken, uncontrolled Chaos reigns, and space itself collapses.

In the earliest days, the continents were ruled by ancient, destructive beasts — creatures so powerful they were often worshipped as gods. Building civilization in their presence was nearly impossible. Societies grew and fell in cycles.

Eventually, mages began to banish the beasts — one by one — into the realm known as the Labyrinth. But the Sealing Ritual was a work of immense magic, and magic is Chaos. The sheer force of that act fractured parts of the Pillar of Existence, triggering a vast cataclysm.

Some intelligent races survived, but their civilizations had to start again — rebuilding from the ashes.

Dream

Country is plagued by daytime dreaming - it’s inhabitnas often prefer to sleep and be inside the Realf of Dream instead of living their lives.

The Desert

A land almost entirely unknown due to its inaccessibility. The only certainty is the presence of a volcano, from which fire witches emerge — secret followers of the djinn Zharuun. They work in secrecy to sway the Condemned, urging them to leap into lava rather than drown in the Lake of Cleansing. It is a slow and largely futile effort, as faith in the sanctity of the march to the lake is deeply embedded in society.

There are also said to be oases scattered throughout the desert, possibly inhabited, but no proof exists. Unknown to all, hidden within the sandstone cliffs lies the Hourglass of Time.