Plushie's Writing Blog for Writings

[plushiewriting]

Geography of Irmstae

Hi, I'm Shara. I've been asked by the human named Sifka to give you all an overview of the human city of Irmstae. She thought my experience being a tracker might help with giving a clear overview of this city, but to be honest, I have no experience with human cities, though I will do my best.

Well first of all this human city is rather flat. By this I mean that it is build entirely on the ground. As such navigation requires more memory than actual tracking abilities. Luckily the city is divided in smaller subsections. This is achieved through a combination or rivers and walls.

There are two types of rivers. First are the two large natural rivers. The Mienne, which flows from east to west, and the Khaaln, which flows from the north and joins the Mienne in the heart of the city. Several islands are located in these rivers. Most of the river banks have been solidified with stones and as such bridges are needed to travel from one bank to another.

Secondly there are many human made rivers, called canals. Most of the canals are concentric to the joining of the Mienne and the Khaaln. Though there are a few who are positioned more radially. All in all it resembles a weird spiderweb.

The walls are placed more erratic and also differ a lot in size and structure. There is no real structure to their placement. Their purpose still eludes me. They seem to do little else than constrict the traveling of the people who live here.

While everything appears to be build on the ground, the ground is not flat. The city is build on seven hills; at least from the human perspective, I do not find these slight elevations worthy of the name "hill". Most buildings are of comparable height and thus for a hypothetical second level on which one might travel. However this is apparently not allowed. There are a few higher buildings present, sporting towers or spires. climbing these gives you a good overview of the city, but this is also not allowed.

I know this because the humans are yelling at me to get down. I better comply cause these humans often favor violence of dialogue to settle perceived disagreements. So that is all the info I can give you for now. I hope it was helpful.

[plushiewriting]

I like the first-person narrative you used for your intro. :) Your world seems intriguing.

thank you. I do plan to use the first person narrative through the entire month. Because I can. Also it lets me explore my characters a bit. Not sure how much I’m going to switch between characters.

[plushiewriting]

Introduction to Irmstae

Hello there good Sir or Madam or Individual or Multi-entity.

My name is Sifka and it will be my pleasure to guide you through Irmstae this month. I’m always happy to meet new people, as long as they are friendly themselves.

Irmstae is the capital of the human empire. Of course not every human is part of it yet, but our armies are working tirelessly to get there. Many of these people simply call the empire Irmstae, but honestly only the city is called Irmstae. Some people opt for the Irmstaeln empire, but that seems kind of redundant, you know? Sure we name the provinces, such as the Yisvallian province, but that’s because there’s many provinces. And there’s only one empire. So if you just say the empire, everyone will know what you’re talking about.

Since this is the capital it is a very vivid and diverse city. There’s people from nearly every province here and even people from outside the empire. And even people who aren’t really people. There’s Centaurs and Khin and Elves. Well those last one are rather rare. And it appears there’s different kind of Elves even. Normally we get the blue skinned eastern elves visiting, they usually travels with the Yisvallians. But recently some Elves from up north have come. No one even knew there were elves living there.

If you wonder how I know these things. Well... my lady Fa makes all the dresses for the high court. She gets to meet a lot of interesting and important people that way. And I get to meet a lot of interesting and important servants. Between talking to them and wandering the city on my free days, I pick up a lot of interesting information. But I’ll share more in the coming days, at least if you decided to join me again.

I hope to see you then, bye bye.

[plushiewriting]

Fairy dance

once upon a time a hunter was sneak through the woods when he was surprised by a bear. He was sure he was a goner when suddenly a fairy appeared. Both the hunter and the bear were entranced by the fairy's dance and soon the bear disappeared.

The hunter lay there for a time dazed by the spectacle he had just witnessed. when he regained his sense he chased after the fairy, he needed to thank it. After searching through the thicket a bit he found the fairy sitting on a branch. He did his best to climb the tree and he scuttled along the branch to where the fairy was sitting.

"You saved my life, how can I thank you?"

The fairy just looked at him. And cocked its little head a bit. Though it spoke no words somehow he seemed to understand what the fairy wanted. He felt the feeling bubble up inside him: "Go home". and so he did.

With every tree he passed the feeling grew stronger in his chest. When he finally saw his village again it was as if his heart exploded. He ran in and announced his return, but nobody even glanced in his direction. Like everyone was ignoring him.

He found his house and his wife, surely she would miss him. He entered and talked to her, but she didn't reply, as if he didn't exist. But he didn't give up. He was here, he knew it. So he followed her, tried to talk to her, until she went to bed.

At night his wife got up suddenly and started walking to the woods. It was an odd thing to do, but he wasn't all that bothered with it. By morning she hadn't returned.

He started asking the other villagers what was going on, but none of them replied him. And night, the villagers, one by one, all started walking towards the woods. And none of them ever returned.

[plushiewriting]

Heroes

Lord Jiran - Probably the most well known human figure, Jiran was the leader of the rebellion against the rule of the wurms. After the disappearance of the dragons, the wurms emerged from the northern Jungle and established their dominance over the humans, using them as toys and collectables. Jiran was the first stage a rebellion, which was largely unsuccessful until he made a pact with the Destroyer. This then threw humans into a civil war, with one side backed by the wurms and the other by the Destroyer. Since Jiran won he is seen as the great liberator.

Allya Dargvaalsaarsil - Allya the dragonslayer was a noble from the houses of Firanne in Yisvalle. She was the first human to slay a dragon. According to the legends, she decided to do this after a drunken bet with her sister. Until then there had been little hostility between the dragon that roosted in Yisvalle and its inhabitants. This action was mostly seen as unbelievable rather than something grand. The real reason she is known is that she then with her sister set out to conquer all the cities in Yisvalle and establish the Queendom of Yisvalle, which lasted for nearly a thousand years. The house of Dargvaalsaarsil still rules Yisvalle to this day.

Veyl - A merai healer from Salvalle. During the war of the oathless many temples were destroyed and many priestess were forced to flee and/or wander, so too was Veyl. Unlike many others, she didn’t recant her oath and didn’t participate in the war. It is believed that for her loyalty the goddess has granted her eternal life.

Misasa - Also known as Misasa-tsi, Misasa-shi-tsi or Shi-tsi. Zei was a drow and the first mortal to learn the some of the dragon magics. A formidable fighter in the war against the vampires, she butchered many of them. She is also well known for being able to summon hellions at will, control volcanoes and cause earthquakes at will. Many drow consider her to be the incarnation of their goddess.

Elves - Elves don’t have heroes because it goes against their culture. Elves accomplish things through cooperation and so it wouldn’t be right to assign extra importance to any one individual.

[plushiewriting]

The Sky

The sky of Darsaan is dominated by it’s twelve moons. Solar eclipses are common, though not all the moons are large enough to fully black out the sun. When multiple moons are out at night you can see as well as if it was cloudy or dusk or dawn. On rare occasions a Gathering occurs, then all twelve of the moons are in the sky together and it can as bright as any day.

The names of the moons vary from culture to culture. In the empire the carry the names of their twelve gods and goddesses. The stances of the moons are very important in the religious rituals. Offerings to the gods are made when their moon is full. In Yisvalle they are named after the twelve virtues their goddess embodies.

For the drow the moons are not as important. The sky is often blanketed by ash and smoke from volcanoes. This is called the veil, that separates the world of the living from the world of the dead. The drow believe that the stars are the souls of the deceased. On clear nights the drow will often stargaze and pray to their dead.

The sun is the other important celestial body. On Darsaan, the polar circles are closer to the equator than the tropics, causing the sun to set or stay above the horizon for several weeks each year. These times are respectively referred to as Wintersnight and Summersday.

[plushiewriting]

Gender

For this topic let us start with the easiest out there. The drow view of gender consists of a cocked head, one ear neutral and and the other wiggling from front to top, and a blank stare. Attempts to explain such a concept to them might result in one ear going up and the other wiggling to the front, and you being shoved down the mountain. Drow have no concept of nor any interest in gender.

Talking about genitals to them is also not advised as this will most likely be interpreted as request for sex. This can only end badly as they will either harm your confidence by rejecting you, or having sex with you and passing on one or more STIs they as a species are immune too.

The elves have a wide array of genders available. These genders are no assigned at birth, but it is instead something each individual has to discover for themselves. This discovery is considered one of the rites of adulthood. The elves also have many times of surgeries available for those that suffer from bodily dysphoria.

Humans largely use the penis/man and vagina/woman false dichotomy for their gender assignment. Variations and corrections exist in some places and many places have different ways of filling in what genders mean to them.

In Yisvalle there is a third category, the merai, while it is technically a group term to encompass anyone that doesn’t fit in the previously named binary, it is mostly used for the women who were born with a penis. Most of the merai are priestesses, which is a wide term encompassing anyone who works for the temple. Some of the jobs this encompasses are farmer, cleaning person, healer, judge, lawyer, counselor, temple attendant, philosopher. Many may practice different jobs on different days.

The traditional Yisvallian family is composed of one or more women at the head, their husbands and children, and sometimes their brothers, father and uncles. Women are expected to learn to wield a weapon, for poor families this is usually the spear and quarterstaff, for wealthier families, the sword is added to that. Women are expected to learn a skill to support their family while her husband takes care of chores, minding the kids and often farming duties alongside his wife.

In Irmstae, the tradition family is usually headed by the oldest male, though this might vary depending on who the previous head named as his heir. They live together with their wife, offspring and sometimes siblings. The men are supposed to learn a skill, and they usually pass this on to their sons. This might also be their sons-in-law. Marriages are usually arranged and having a mistress is common for men. Women are expected to do things peripheral to their husband, for example the administration, dealing with customers and raising the children. Children are expected to help out as soon as they can. Women are expected to marry as soon as they hit puberty.

In the countryside the gender expectations are less strict and basically everybody farms and helps out with the household.

[plushiewriting]

Fauna and Flora

Since I’m running a bit behind I’m going to combine these two in one huge post, probably not even saving me any time at all.

The Northern Jungle

(for those of you who haven’t noticed, the fact that jungle is in the north means that we’re on the southern hemisphere.) This is the domain of the elves, while teeming with life, only a few species are domesticated and really impact their daily lives.

Kèeshoo - The giant trees in which the elves make their home. These behemoths dominate the areas around rivers, partially petrifying themselves to increase their strength. Its massive branches create several floors for the jungles and are host to thousands of other plants. It is said that if you fall from a kèeshoo, you will hit the ground nine times before you stop falling.

Sloth - A common sight in the elven city, sloths just hang everywhere. They are fed a mixture of leftovers, plant waste and leaves by the elves. They are also groomed regularly and their hair is used for wool.

Silk Spiders - Another species that hangs everywhere in the city, these spiders can be as large as a fist and build webs that are a full arm length in diameter. The webs are harvest daily for making silk from them. The spiders themselves sometimes appear on the menu of the elves. The spiders also help keep mosquitoes and other insects at bay.

Harvester Boa - These snakes often hang around food storage and kitchens snatching up vermin. Kids love to pet them and play with them. They are sometimes used for leather and meat.

Bees - kept for honey, pollination and feeding silk spiders.

Riru beans - Actually riru just means bean in elvish, but whatever. It’s a climbing plant that is grown on the walls of the houses. It’s a staple food.

Nunenu - A plant with large flowers. Its nectar is used for making beverages and its flowers are used for snacks and seasoning.

Yunaam - A hanging plant that produces large pink to orange berries. A staple food for the elves.

Faeries - Not a domesticated species, but still of great influence. Faeries are small insectoid creatures that sport large colorful wings. From these wings they can release scales as they fly, spreading a powerful hallucinogen. Elves will sometimes harvest this hallucinogen. It is used as a sedative during operations and as a recreational drug. Faeries normally use their hallucinogen and colorful wings to lure animals into corpse brambles. They will then lay their eggs in the animal’s corpse.

Corpse bramble - Not domesticated, but a deathtrap too many elves have fallen into. A chaotic cluster of branches filled barbed thorns is what this plant looks like. Struggling only further entraps the animals that are caught in it. Once it is caught, the plant will start releasing digestive juices and consume the animal.

Aksadamo

The home of the drow, this high volcanic mountain range is a rather hostile place for both fauna and flora. While there are some normal species living here, many of those you’ll find might be very different and alien from what you normally find.

Mountain goat - These animals are wild and live in small packs. They feed of moss and shrubs and grasses that can be found in the valleys. They are often hunted for meat and leather.

Silver Jaguar - A large feline predator that primarily feeds on goats. It’s fur is a light grey with black ringlike markings. It’s is hunted for it’s pelts and meat by drow.

Geyser Algae - Sometimes called sweet algae, these tiny organism live in the hot pools fed by the volcanic water. Dried, these algae are a staple food for the drow. In the wild they form the start of the live web of volcanic pools.

Misu - Technically means fish in drowish, as it is the only fish they commonly know. It lives in the underground volcanic pools and are fished for by the drow. In the human language this fish is known as a merlow and is considered a delicacy due to it’s sweet taste.

Rice - along the pools, one might find varieties of wild rice. Recently, algae farmers have started to plant them around their pools.

Pshada - Pshada are crystalline fungi that grown on ashfields. They look like a geode spilled it’s crystals all over the place and come in thousands of colors. They are used as seasoning, for medicine and for poisons.

Hellion - The only non-sentient fauna that exists in Darsaan. Allegedly made by a drow goddess, these creatures are often seen as the embodiment of the land and more specifically it’s volcanoes. They live underground, using the volcanic heat to stay alive and ingest lava to keep warm if they move from there. They only surface when they need to feed or when earthquakes call them up. Many old hellion burrows have filled with water and are now home to the misu and other aquatic animals. Hellions have a wormlike body with a stone/obsidian hide. They have a large circular mouth filled with dozens of rows of obsidian teeth. along their mouth they have eight segmented tentacles.

Yisvalle

The mountainous land of the humans, it’s less inhospitable than Aksademo, but still not the lush land that many people dream off. The fauna and flora are mostly located in the valleys with them becoming more and more sparse as you travel up the mountains.

Goats - the goats of Yisvalle are domesticated and herded. They are mostly found more up the mountains where the flora is mostly grassland with shrubs. They provide the humans with milk, wool, hide and meat. Goats are the lifeblood of many mountain villages.

Alpaca -  Kept in the valleys, alpaca are herded almost exclusively for their wool. Dwarf alpaca are popular pet among the upper classes.

Potatoes - grown both in valleys and mountains, potatoes are a common staple.

Corn - The staple crop grown in the valleys.

Beans - grown together with corn, the corn stalks allowing the beans to climb up. It’s the other staple. The idiom “corn and beans” is the equivalent of our “bread and butter”.

Pines - Large pine forests can be found on all mountain sides, they supply wood.

Goblins - No one is entirely sure how to classify goblins, but these monstrous creatures are a large threat in the mountains. They show signs of tribal civilization, and are known to worship man made things, foremost being way markers on the roads. Goblins are nomadic raiders that sometimes attack villages and mostly their lifestock. A goblin bite will often result in diseases such as gangrene and fleshrot.

Plain of the Mienne

The more flat home of the humans, this is a lush environment with many different species spread throughout.

Corn - even more so than in Yisvalle, corn is used for everything. You can find corn being cultivated from the hills till the sea.

Buffalo - The staple cattle. Kept for their milk and meat and hides. Meat-buffalo herders often are semi nomadic taking the herds from town to town to sell off the animals for slaughter. Sedentary buffalo are usually milk buffalo.

Pigs - Kept for meat and their ability to eat basically anything.

Turkey - kept for eggs and meat.

Orchard - Fruit orchards are also common. They provide a mixture fruits such as nuts, apples, pears, citrus fruits. What is produced depends on how far south or north the orchards are.

Peanut - Grown mostly for it’s oil, which is an important resource for the soap industry.

[plushiewriting]

Magic

For the question of what magic is we shall turn to Saa'arn-Gaarsa'a-arm, aka the destroyer. Because dragons know a lot about magic as do gods, the best one to answer this would be a dragon god. (and Saa'arn-Gaarsa'a-arm, don’t give me any of that “I’m nor a dragon, nor a god”, we’re talking about magic, not your semantic definition of yourself.) So, take it away.

First of all, I’m not a dragon and I am not a god. Despite your assertions this is far more important to the question of magic than one would assume. After all, at its most basic, magic is the way to directly impose your will on the reality around you. As such a proper definition of oneself, will and reality are very essential to the proper explanation of magic.

Let us first start by considering what reality is. While mortals will often make a distinction between different parts of reality, namely the physical and spiritual, this is an inaccurate and unnecessary distinction. The so called physical and spiritual have the same origins and share continuous interactions, it is therefor unwise to separate them, at least in the context of discussing magic. If a distinction is to be made, one between the divine and mundane would be a far better one. This is where the distinction between gods and others comes from. Gods have their will based outside of reality and it manifests as reality. As my will is based in this world, I can not be considered a god.

So as to what reality is, the best explanation is the place in which your will has it’s origins and all that it interacts with. This is why the distinction divine-mundane is useful; the origin place of a gods will does not independently interact with the reality that manifested from it’s will, as such there is a clear rift between two realities with the only connection being a will.

On to the definition of oneself. Often the focus will be on the soul, or mind, or will of the individual, but the will must be anchored into something. As the body perishes so will the soul, mind and will. Yet it is undeniable that for some morals, removal of limbs will not make them perish; In fact much damage can be inflicted on a body before it may give out. This is however a hopelessly dogmatic view of self that leaves no room for change or alteration. As much as an individual has changed after losing a limb or a loved one, that individual is still itself, much in the same way one might chip away at a rock and it remains a rock.

So oneself is both the will and it’s anchor in reality.

Now the definition of the will is the hardest of the three. In the dragon language it is described by single word though “aargach” and it contains all the nuances that are necessary for the understanding of will, so an attempt at translating this word is the best way to explain.

A force of persistence, linked to and an image of an existence itself bordered by broken connection of continuity; The existence need not be real or persistent in itself. It weaves itself with the intrinsic and derivative forces of the existence to become and indistinguishable part of it.

As is clear, this is not the same will as the one that is colloquially referred to. Due to the presence of self-consciousness in mortals and the weaving a common misunderstanding is to mistake the will for soul or desire, which can not be ascribed to inanimate objects, leading to confusion.

So now for the actual practice of magic, I have hinted at its most basic premise is the imposition of will over reality. Magic is the purview of sentient beings, as only the weaving of will with a sufficiently dynamic force such as consciousness allows the use of will in such a way; otherwise it is stable and unyielding.

There are different ways in which one might enact this change. The most straightforward is to simply force over the will of what one wishes to enact their magic. This method is highly unreliable as will has no real defined quantity. It’s difficulty can be summed up by the following statement: “you must be more stubborn than a rock”.

A second method is weaving, where one attempts to connect its will with the will of the target. The dynamism of their own will can than be used to manipulate the target.

A third method is to force a disconnect between the will of the target and the target, this allows a dynamising of the will which can then be much more easily overcome by any of the other methods.

A very important consideration is what one tries to accomplish. A proper understanding of the world is therefor invaluable. If one wishes to lift a rock should you go after the entire will of the rock, or merely after the forces that keep the rock in place, or the specific connection of the forces and the rock? All three approaches may have the same result or widely varying results, and require vastly different energy and effort.

A common way to skirt around the differences inherent with the manipulation of the outside world, is to instead focus the magic inward. Since you are part of reality this still count as magic. In fact two of the three examples of magic I will provide here are of this form. When focusing on oneself, one eliminates the need to overcome an opposing will and only needs to shape a cooperative will.

A way to improve one’s magical strength is through the acquisition of soulscars. Soulscars exist from the crystallized will of a dead subject and can easily be woven into your own will, increasing the potency of it.

The first example is that off the battlemages of Yisvalle. Their most common technique consists of the disruption of the forces that would interact with themselves. This allows them to move through solid objects and such, the so called phasing. A noteworthy addition is that most are able to take their clothes and weapons with them into this state. This requires a deliberate expansion and redefining of the notion of the self.

The second example is of the elder dragons and their magic that allows to live despite their size. Much like the battlemages redefine the self, the dragons incorporated the forces that would act upon them into themselves. This causes a drastic alteration in the way the world interacts with them, and an alteration that is continuously under their control. The impact of weapons can be trivialized, the impact of their claws augmented beyond anything in this world, they be blown up like a leaf and gain speed when dropping from even a pace.

The third example is the voice of the fawn. Unlike the previous two this one works in on something external, the mind of subject. The will of anything with a mind is already dynamic and the fawn utilize this. Their voice will bit by bit alter the state off the mind, thus altering the will that is woven with it. Slowly the mind and will of the subject will synchronize with the voice of the fawn until they can no longer exist independently.

[plushiewriting]

Technology

The level of technology depends heavily on where you go. The nomadic races, such a centaur and fawn don’t really have the means to pursue anymore more than the most of discoveries, and rely for the technological needs on trade.

The elvish culture is not very conducive to the development of technology. The elves center the actual living elves, things that would outlast them are often seen as inappropriate. Writing as such is not a common practice and knowledge is passed on orally. The elves are very knowledgeable about nature and other growing things. They are experts at cultivating many plants and animals in harmony that appears symbiotic.

The drow have little interest in technological development either and prefer to focus on skill and determination.

The dragons consider technology to be inferior to magic.

The humans are the master of technology in Darsaan, because they can’t be bothered to do anything for themselves. Also their desire to shape their environment to their needs requires a huge power that can only be obtained to magic or technology. A good example of this is the immense road system that the empire has build to help overcome the long traveling times that comes from spanning nearly the width of the continent. Nitroglycerin has since it’s introduction 120 years ago become a major part of both mining and stone-quarrying and without it, it is doubtful the humans could have produced enough stones for their roads, let along their houses and aqueducts.

While many human regions had their own expertise the empires far reach has allowed them to import and combine those to make quick advances in their development of new technologies. A good example would be the acquirement of Yisvalle and their hydro-engineering, which has led to a revolution in the way the capital, Irmstae, was shaped. In a few decades, sewers and water treatment centrals started springing up (or down rather) which led to a major boost in the health of the population. Recently the entire palace island was equipped with a full running warm and cold water system.

The center of current technological development lies in Irmstae as well. Since the completion of the great library in 683 EI (era imperium) (about 60 years ago), the subsequent establishment of the college of sciences, the first large scale printing press in 692, and the imperial decree in 702 stating that every citizen should have the chance at the college of sciences, interest and popularity of science has risen a lot. And so has the number of discoveries.

[plushiewriting]

Arms and Armor

8 WEAPONS AND TACTICS YOU WOULDN’T BELIEVE WERE USED IN DARSAAN. (because everyone needs some clickbait)

1) Cannons

A fiercely guarded invention by the humans of Merj. It has given them the absolute edge on the seas. This was best demonstrated when during a trading dispute their ships sailed up Mienne and laid waste to parts of Irmstae, the great imperial capital. This included the destruction of the imperial palace.

2) Hornets nest

A fairly simple concept that is hard to properly execute. A hornets nest is a clay jar filled with nails and other sharp pieces of metal, and then topped of with nitroglycerin. This is then catapulted at the enemy, it will explode on impact and rip large groups of soldiers apart.

3) Yisvallian Battlemages

The most skilled warriors on the face of Darsaan. While they are very skilled in sword fighting and martial arts, their true strength lies in their magic. Their ability to phase out of reality can render them immune to any weapon and even more dangerous, it can function as an ultimate offensive weapon as well. A simple stick phased out and held through anyone or anything will destroy both the stick and whatever happens to be unlucky enough to be targeted by this, when it is phased back in.

4) Dragonmail

The ultimate in defensive fashion, the dragonmail is an Yisvallian royal heirloom made from actual dragon scales. It is the only known armor that can protect you from people trying to push phased out sticks through you. It is also impenetrable by any physical weapon. You could take a shot point blank from a canon and the dragonmail wouldn’t have a scratch on it. (You might have some broken bones and ruptured internal organs, but that’s better than being mush)

5) Elven Longbow

The elven longbow is piece of true craftsmanship, using wood from several different trees and hardened spidersilk it can create a drawpower that easily surpasses any crossbow. Perfect for pinning those pesky bears to a tree.

6) Obsidian Daggers

Used often by the drow, obsidian daggers are razor sharp, but very fragile. They easily break and splinter, usually when they are inside you. The fragments and splinters will dig deeper into your flesh and organs and rip them apart from the inside.

7) Hellions

Hellions, the so called spirits of volcanoes, ridden by the drow into battle. Or more specifically a city. And then unleashed. These huge beasts have rows upon rows upon rows of sharp teeth, they spew lava and their entire body is covered in obsidian spikes.

8) Voice of the Fawn

The fawn do not have normal speech but use a telepathic language, which sends thoughts directly into ones brain. Thoughts like how you should like the cute little fawn, how you should protect it or how you should just stop living. At least it’s a cute and gentle death.

[plushiewriting]

Fashion

The drow have a mostly practical view on clothing. Daily wear is mostly leather to help protect from the environment, vest and pants and boots are common. A thick wool scarf that is draped over the head and often across the face helps protect against the ash that is common in the volcanic climate. Quartz goggles are sometimes worn as well, though they are rather rare and a luxury item.

A piece of clothing with some cultural significance is the Ksinato. It is basically a wool cloth that is wrapped around the body at chest height where it is fastened with a leather belt. It reaches to the feet. Similarly the arms are wrapped. A fur stole is draped over the shoulder. Headscarves are optional. It is worn in times of mourning, festivity and pregnancy and is an indicator that the drow wants to be left alone. 

While Ksinato may be colored, most anything else only comes in ash-grey.

The elves have a dual view of clothing, a practical one and as performance art. The practical is mostly fur cloaks used during the winter to help stay warm and work oriented clothing. As art the clothing is temporary, it exists of mixed pieces of fabric of vibrant colors that are pinned in place for the day. At the end of the day is taken apart again and will be used for a new creation tomorrow.

The fashion from Irmstae sets the standard for most of the empire. For the common folk it’s not much of a choice. There’s tunics and pants, mostly from cheap materials such as linen or simple wool. Browns and reds are common colors. Since the pants + tunic represents the workforce, so those who can will wear skirts or dresses during holidays. Leather sandals and boots are common footwear.

For the middle class, fine wools and cotton are the most common materials, and furs and velvet may make their appearance as well in the winter. Most colors, other than brown, indigo and white, are commonly used. Simple dresses and skirts and long coats are the most common clothing.

The upper class wears lavish dresses with many layers and colorful patterns. The materials are still mostly the same as the middle class, but with the occasional Sloth wool or Sylvan silk added in.

Two colors hold specific meaning: white and indigo. White is color of the servants, the reason being that white was easily stained, so if the servants clothes were clean, the house was clean. Indigo the color of the emperor. Only the emperor and those serving them are allowed to wear it.

A specific accessory is the sash. It is worn by both the upper and middle classes, as well as their direct servants. For the servants the sash is then colored and/or patterned in the colors of the house they serve. Wearing a sash of a house you don’t belong to or serve is a serious crime.

[plushiewriting]

History

Well there’s a lot of races so there’s a lot of history to cover. Lets start with one of the most isolated races, the elves.

The elves don’t have much in the way of history, no large cataclysmic events. You’re probably thinking something like “how boring”, but honestly, what is wrong with you? why does there need to be lots of grief for something to be interesting? Why must loved ones be torn apart, sent off to war and come home to destruction and loss, bringing their trauma with them? Why are you so cruel to these poor individuals? Why can’t you just let them live in peace? Ahem ... Moving on.

The most important historical event for the centaur is probably the disappearance of the dragons. In the old days, centaurs used to hunt together with dragons. More specifically centaurs would drive herds of savanna animals which where then roasted by a dragon flying over. The dragon would eat their fill and the centaurs would make off with the rest. For a long time this was their only source of fire and when the dragons disappeared this caused a huge disruption in their diet. Only recently have the centaur mastered the usage of fire and have their clans been prospering again.

For the fawn the disappearance of the dragons was also a major event. After the dragons were gone from the plains and the mountains, the wurms, who previously lived in the jungles started migrating to the plains and mountains to fill the niche of top predator. This meant that the fawn lost their only predator and competitor and they now ruled the jungle. They responded with frolicking and living it up.

For the dragons their disappearance is probably a pretty important event. In total nineteen dragons reached the status of “elder” of those, in a relatively short time span, six were killed. One was killed by the human Ainmer Sar Mej. Sar Mej was a scholar of the dragons, their magic and their writings. One was killed by two sisters in Yisvalle, who would later adopt the name “dragonslayer” and unite Yisvalle under their rule. One was killed accidentally by an drow of unknown name. And three were killed by an unknown wandering elf. The elf is still presumed alive and residing in the northern mountains.

The drow had a war with them humans about a 100 years ago. it started as local skirmishes when the kingdom of Yisvalle tried to conquer some iron mines that were being controlled by the drow. Due to cultural differences, the drow interpreted these skirmishes as unnecessarily cruel and as word spread, more and more drow started participating in the war until it escalated in a guerrilla war that threatened to destroy Yisvalle. At that point, the queen of Yisvalle ‘surrendered’ to the Empire that had grown from the city of Irmstae. They delivered huge amount of soldiers to fight and the tide was turned. The end result was the capture of a few mining villages and millions dead. Both the Yisvallians and the drow had nearly an entire generation killed. The resentment from this war still lingers in the heats of many of the younger drow, who are now coming of age and lost their parents during the war.

After this war, the humans didn’t have enough of it because they started fighting among themselves. When the kingdom of Yisvalle surrendered, only the worldly government did so. So when the empire started infringing on the jurisdiction of the religious government, they started rioting. Their army was mostly made up of battlemages, elite warriors who had survived the war and were less than thrilled with the changes. The empire then escalated by attacking the largest temple, Meisa Salvalle. After this many priestesses decided to recant their oaths of healing and use their skills for war. Another guerrilla war followed this time spreading more to the west into the lands of the empire. Many cities were lost to diseases and trade came to a standstill as the roads became to dangerous. Only on the rivers could the empire maintain some control, but due to the waterfalls and otherwise rough waters, this was of limited importance. Eventually the empire agreed to recognize the authority of the church of Yisvalle, and to not intrude on their jurisdictions. While this caused things to calm down a bit, many of the ‘oathless’, as they were called, continued their terror acts until they were caught and executed. Many of the battlemages were never caught and it is believed that they fell in with criminal groups all throughout the empire and as such gave rise the infiltrators, a group of magic using thieves.

[plushiewriting]

Races

Centaurs 

The centaur roam the northern plains/savanna, east of the spring sea. They live in nomadic groups and only have sparse contact with other species. They are primarily hunters. They will sometimes trade one of their own for more industrial goods with humans. The traded centaurs are often used a laborers in harbors, which is the other place one might encounter centaurs. These laborer-centaur often form their own local culture among themselves which is a mishmash of the different habits that the members grew up with.

Centaur stand on average between 8 and 9 feet tall and are muscular for their size. Their fur is often light brown, honey or grey. The coloring is rarely homogenous with darker swirls on the back and lighter swirls on their legs and belly. The length of the fur varies between winter and summer. The average lifespan is about 90-110 years.

Dragons

What constitutes a dragon is often a matter for debate. Here I’ll divide them in dragons and wurms in order not to get munched upon by an elder dragon.

Dragons once ruled the sky and the land and pretty much everywhere they could put their claws. Now they are all but extinct, something they have done to themselves. As dragons age they continue to grow, therefor there is no ‘normal’ size for dragons. However, as a dragon reaches a certain size their wings will no longer be able to carry them and normally this means they will starve to death. The dragons that are now referred to as the elder dragons didn’t feel like starving so they started warping the world around them to allow them to fly. As such they could continue to hunt and grow. Unfortunately soon they found that the only creatures large enough for them to hunt were other dragons. And so they hunted their own kind to extinction. The combination of the rise of the moral races (elves and men), who seemed capable of slaying even an elder, and the need for larger prey caused the elder dragons to fly north, past the northern wall.

Dragons vary in size a lot. The smallest dragons, cockatrice are barely an arms length, while the largest of the elder dragons, Ma’aar-lash-saa’aach, was said to be over 900 paces long, from head to tail, with a wingspan that was double that. Dragons had a long neck and tail and a clearly defined body with four legs and two batlike wings. Many had the ability to spit fire or venom. Dragon scales came in every color of the rainbow and even more. If you can imagine the color there probably was a dragon that had them. The more colorful a dragon was the more likely it was poisonous (for example cockatrices had bright red, green, teal and pink scales.)

Drow

The drow or dark elves live in the eastern mountains in the volcanic region and are well adapted to such a living place. Sulfur is considered an essential spice, like some humans would declare salt to be. The drow are fervently anarchistic, justice usually takes the form of revenge and the only thing that comes close to a law is their code of honor. The drow are also very vivid and thrillseekers. Things like lava racing (trying to stay as close to the lava as possible) and avalanche riding are common pastimes. Dragon climbing (which did not involve consent of the dragon) used to be popular too, and has since been replaced by hellion riding. Besides fun, they also take love very seriously, but that’s not something that they share with outsiders.

Drow are on average 7 feet tall. Their skin is light to bright blue. The hair is typically white and worn short. Drow have long pointed ears that are important in conveying feelings. The average lifespan is about 500 to 700 years.

Wood Elves

The wood elves live mostly in the northern Jungles. There are essentially two groups of Wood elves, the Misshee or wanderers and the tasa or home elves. The first group live as hunters throughout the entire jungle. The second group makes their home in the large tree city along the Yissha and it side rivers. The elves are very social and compassionate, at least among themselves. They are wary of other races since these “could never truly understand the elvish view”. Elves will turn to cooperation to solve problems. The elves will engage in limited trade with humans, both merchants and nomadic tribes.

Elves are on average 8 feet tall and lean built. Their skin is bright to worn copper colored. Their hair is white and is often died in vibrant colors and worn in elaborate hairdos. Elves have long and pointed ears which are important in communicating and conveying feelings. Elves are immortal.

Fawn

The fawn or deer-centaur is a small species that roams in the northern jungles. They are hunters with a strong religious prohibition against killing. anything. They circumvent this by convincing their prey to “die” rather than physically killing them. For this reason the dragons have named them “death-tongues”. Fawn have just like the dragons an innate affinity for magic.

Fawn are 4-5 feet tall. Their fur is dark brown, light brown or black. They have white patterns on their backs that vary with age and season. The fawn have small antlers that they shed every year. The antler doesn’t grow beyond adulthood. Their average lifespan is 30-40 years.

Humans

Humans are most populous species, due their inability to stop breeding for some reason. Humans are quick to adapt their environment to their needs as much as possible. Due to their large number, humans as scattered and exhibit far more intraspecies conflict than even the conflict loving drow.

Humans are 5-6 feet tall. They generally have brown to dark brown skin. And brown to black hair. They have too little body hair for a proper fur, yet they have too much to consider them hairless. Their average lifespan is 40-50 years.

[gammatreis]

Ahhhh, yes. The art of naming geographical locations. Such a delicate and beautiful process.

-throws hand grenade into bucket of syllables-

MAY THE ODDS BE FOREVER IN YOUR FAVOR.

[plushiewriting]

Geography

The continent of Dar-Saan is flanked by two oceans, one on the east and one on the west. They meet in the south. The northern part of the continent is made up of a huge mountain range. Another major mountain range runs along the east coast. This mountain range is highly volcanic, numbering over a thousand active volcanoes. This is the homeland of the Drow, who call this mountain range “Aksadamo”.

Roughly in the middle of the continent there is also a small mountain range running out west from the Aksadamo. This mountain range basically cuts the continent in half. It is called “Deirno” by the humans.

To the south of the Deirno is the plain of the Mienne, the major river that finds its way to the western ocean. Several major city are build along the Mienne, most notably, Irnstae, Salvalle and Firanne. The Mienne has a large waterfall, not too far downriver from Salvalle. It is considered part of the 17 falls that have marked the borders of Yisvalle for over a thousand years.

The northern mountain range does not have a specific name but is sometimes referred to as “the pillars of the sky” or “the wall of the north”. It’s high peaks are neigh impassable. It feeds the Yissha, the major river of the north. During spring, as the snow melts, the Yissha, will flood large parts of the norther plains, turning it into the largest swampland of the continent. This is often called the spring sea.

Along the western coast, north of he mouth of the Yissha, is a lone mountain. Legends tells that this mountain was created by the elder dragon Ma’aar-lash-saa’aach to serve as his lair. Some believe he still slumbers within the mountain.

[plushiewriting]

Okay so this is a quick a sketch of my world. or at least one continent of the world, since there are other continents, but I don’t plan on setting my stories there so it doesn’t matter that much.

As you may have noted, this is not Florida, but a fantasy world, as made evident by the fact there are elves there.

Magic also exists in the world, but it’s generally poorly understood. Only the dragons, more specifically the elder dragons, had a good understanding of this magic. Unfortunately they are mostly extinct. The humans in Yisvalle also have a working knowledge of a few magical techniques, but lack the real understanding that would allow them to expand on this.

Part of the magic that is often observed are the soulscars. When one person kills another, the soul of the dead person will leave particular scars on the other person. Such soulscars are often a badge of honor for warriors and a big liability for murderers. 

What the world itself is called depends on who you’re speaking too, or more specifically the language they are speaking. In Elvish, it’s “Kaamase”. In the Drow language it’s “Kafémi”. In the human imperial language it’s “Herdach”. And in the language of the Yisvallian humans it’s “Vallema”. Of course none of this really matters cause naming rights go to whoever was there first which is the dragons.

The dragons call this world “Darsaan” or “Dar-Saan”. Which is composed of the word for physical existence: “Dar” and the word for spiritual existence “Saan”. For the dragons, the world only truly exists where both the physical and spiritual interact.