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Tarrus is a planet I made up, if anyone decides to use this for any art or writing I won't mind, they can do whatever they want. Now, WORLD BUILDING TIME (buckle up cause there's A LOT).
So in this universe there are these supreme gods that basically created everything and land gods who.....rule the lands they're connected to, basic concepts really. So among the supreme gods you got-
-The lawful trinity, three cosmic beings who rule over different aspects of cosmic law, balance, and lawfulness in general.
-The loving trinity, three cosmic beings who are in charge of different aspects of life and creation.
-The wyrd trinity, cosmic beings in charge of fate.
-The baleful trinity, cosmic beings that rule over different aspects of destruction.
No one knows the names of these beings nor what they look like, simply that they're all powerful and not to be trifled with. Next you got land gods like-
-Lady Neria, used to be a mermaid queen before her human lover killed her, after this she became the land god of the black root, a part of the ocean named for it's dark waters and the many massive roots that snake through it that come from Neria's physical form, a giant, winding tree that sprouts straight from the rocks of the underwater mountain in the middle of the black root, with red leaves and a crescent moon at the top, at the base a figure that vaguely resembles what she might've once looked like fuses with the tree. A tail-like form merges with the rock, coral and roots, a branch that almost looks like an arm grips a silver dagger that pierces a red fruit in the shape of an anatomical heart that grows inside of a pearlescent cavity in the wood that looks somewhat like a ribcage, a deep red liquid resembling blood flowing out of it into the tide pools. A disfigured skull-like shape made of pearl lies at the top, the space where its eyes might've been being overtaken by a wooden crest that fans out back into the bark almost like hair.
-Lumiene, used to be a small arboreal snake that loved basking in the sun, after dying she became the land god of vena, one of the many plateaus that rises from the oceans of tarrus. Her physical form is now that of a giant, moss covered, white, serpent that flys through the air, scales speckled with glowing sun glyphs
-Lord Ivunn, son of lady Neria, he was born a land god when Neria died pregnant with him, he lives in the depths of the black root never straying from his mother. His physical form is that of a large crustecean like beast with the face of a baby, a lobster like tail, two claws and many paddle-like legs to swim with. He's not fond of humans, but tolerates them so as not to upset his mother. Though it would be his right to claim the black root if his mother ever chooses to pass on, he has stated that he doesn't wish to do so, and that he will pass with her, but not before sinking the kingdom his human father hailed from into the sea.
-Gelldrun, was once a brown bear cub who loved to play, eat, dance and be merry, after dying quite young he became the land god of the plateau he lived on, bevana. His physical form still..... mostly resembles a bear, though bigger, covered in moss, grapes and ivy, and having a jaw that can unhinge.
-Jhavira, the land god of the kingdom of iivann within the hanging gardens of tarrus, used to be gynnivarri, their physical form surprisingly still mostly reflects that despite their age, one of their only changed features being the fact they have no lips.
-Queen lakja, was once an ashborne queen who gave her life to save her people, becoming the current sole land god of the bastion of tarrus. Her physical form is that of a fiery cave shaped like a giant ribcage with a blackened skeleton fused into the back wall. She is the oldest still living land god in tarrus.
-Eman'wa, one of the five land gods of the undertow, was once a bat, his physical form is now a large flying chimeric creature with feathers like a falcon, the tail and scales of a gecko, and the wings fangs and ears of a bat
There are as many land gods as there is land on Tarrus, these are just a few. As you've probably noticed from reading about them there are some interesting details about the land gods of tarrus, let's dive into that.
Land gods were all at one point mortal creatures, plants, animals, people. And became land gods after dying, this does not mean anything can just BECOME a land god though, beings that become land gods after dying do so because of their powerful personal connection to the land. When a dead mortal revives as a land god they become incapable of dying of things like old age or disease, after first reviving they usually look almost identical to how they looked in life, but as they age their physical forms become more lovecraftian in nature, often gaining features that reflect the lands they rule. They can however still be killed or, simply choose to pass on, when this happens their physical forms simply just become a new land mass. After this the land they ruled usually either sustains itself on the land god's latent energy, or comes under the rule of a still living land god.
When it comes to how the people of tarrus treat the land gods vs the supreme gods there are quite a few differences.
Seen as faraway beings deserving of respect and reverence but not usually directly prayed to unless absolutely necessary, usually if people want to pray to them they ask their local land god to pray on their behalf. They are however treated with a little more reverence than land gods even if not actively worshipped.
They are seen as being more immediately important, land gods have complete control over the lands they live on, and while they don't demand unwilling worship, especially of those that don't live on their lands. They're, at the end of the day, the beings that make sure droughts don't happen, storms don't destroy homes, bring food to people's tables and give them the resources to put clothes on their BACKS. Nothing would be able to LIVE without them so they DEMAND respect. And so everyone no matter who they are, gives due respect to the land gods, and does what they must to appease them.
Now that we've established the lore of the beings that rule Tarrus let's move on to Tarrus itself.
Tarrus is a hollow planet made up of four main layers, the surface, the hanging gardens, the undertow, and the bastion. All of which have different climates and very different races and ethnic groups, Let's break them down.
The surface is fairly simple but also very beautiful, consisting only of large oceans, tall, moving plateaus and floating islands, normal islands, and a fair few sea stacks. There are only four races that live on the surface, humans, merfolk, sirens, and harpies. Let's dive into them!
Sirens are an all female race with bird-like features, that usually live on the sea stacks that are scattered across the oceans of tarrus. They usually live in flocks of up to 100 though it's not unheard of for bigger flocks to form, each flock is run by a matriarch, and the matriarchs of every flock all answer to the high matriarch, who resides in the city of temora, among the great branches of lady Neria's body. Whenever a new matriarch comes to power In a flock, or a new flock forms, the matriarch and her flock must journey to temora to present themselves to the high matriarch. Sirens speak sirene (SEE - REN), a highly melodic language that is more sung than spoken and places more emphasis in tones, notes, and harmonies than it does spoken word. It evolved from olde meloe, the language of the harpies, as sirens split off from them after a civil war caused animosity between them.
Sirens can live to be around 600 yrs old, and when a siren dies her body is placed on a rock/sea stack in a suitable position, magic is then used to solidify the bodies into stone, then decorated with flowers and copper and/or brass jewelry. Sirens and merfolk live very harmoniously, with sirens seeing themselves as "protectors" and "sisters" of the merfolk, they also get along fairly well with harpies, though are more distant with them than the merfolk. They absolutely do NOT get along with humans, as due to the history of violence between them, merfolk and harpies. With humans often hunting the three groups, most often for their tongues and vocal chords, and the other three (especially sirens) taking out their anger at this violence not only on the perpetrators but also innocent sailors.
Merfolk are a mostly female race, male Merfolk exist but are not as plentiful. Pods usually consist of around 1,000 individuals and consist of multiple socio-biological castes, the highest being the queen who gives birth to most of the merfolk in the pod. Females who are not queens are allowed to give birth but usually are less fertile. Merfolk castes are earned through merit, if you do well you rise up in rank and when a Merfolk switches castes their body will adapt to be able to better accommodate their job (ex: soldiers being physically bigger). Merfolk are gentle giants, their bodies being about 10 ft upright, excluding their tails which are usually about 12 ft long (males are smaller than females though, and a queen's size depends on her age but they're always the largest of the castes) they are semi-hive minded, with each individual in a pod being able to think independently but all being mentally linked by the queen.
Merfolk live to be around 400 years old usually, but queens can live up to two thousand. When a Merfolk dies their body is taken to the roots of lady Neria and placed among them, intertwining with them over time, the skulls are kept with the pod, what is done with them varies from pod to pod, and is usually kept secret from outsiders. Merfolk don't have a spoken language of any kind, instead communicating entirely through song, and body language similar to whales, different tones, notes, melodies, and movements can mean many different things. A common misconception is that they "don't have an ACTUAL language" so they must be dumb, but they're actually very curious and studious people. It's pretty much impossible to LEARN their language so whenever they interact with other races they just speak in their languages instead, which is very easy when interacting with harpies and especially sirens, as their languages are also very song-like.
Harpies are a bird/bat like humanoid species that mostly lives on the floating islands of tarrus, like sirens they are an entirely female race, usually living in flocks of up to 200 individuals, unlike sirens however, these flocks usually consist of families, instead of random individuals and leaders aren't selected they're usually just the oldest ones in that family group. Harpies in general don't have a singular government or ruling body, they just take care of their own, and take care of each other IF they can. They usually carve their nests into the undersides of the floating islands they live on, and will adorn these spaces with lapis lazuli, brass, and unakite.
Harpies can live up to 100 years, and when a harpy dies her body is mummified and adorned in gold (which is to ONLY be worn by the dead in harpy culture) what is done with the body is up to the flock but common choices are placing the bodies among the mountains of the floating islands or throwing them off of the island after taking them on a last flight. As mentioned earlier harpies speak olde meloe, a language that, like sirene, which evolved from it, is very song like. Unlike sirene however this is not because it places more emphasis on tones than spoken word, but rather because of how the words are pronounced, and how sentences are structured. A good way to think of it is that sirene is a song that is a language, and meloe is a language that is structured like a song.
While sirens and humans have the most violent feuds, harpies are probably the least tolerant of humans.....In that they don't tolerate them at all, any human that has ever entered harpy territory has never come back alive. Harpies don't USUALLY go out of their way to harm humans unless provoked....but they don't tolerate the presence of humans in their territory AT ALL.
The only place where human settlements can be found on tarrus are the moving plateaus, there are many of them that move through tarrus's oceans but to keep this simple I'll just go over the ones that hold the most influential human civilizations.
First is bevana, the plateau guarded by the land god gelldrun. It is home to the bacchus people, who are most known for their wine and beautiful textiles. They are often looked down on by other human civilizations for their dark skin and practice of hedonism, often seen as barbaric while at the same time valued for their trade. The bacchus people are however very philosophical people, with talks of philosophy often being the go to conversation at parties. They are also one of the only settlements to not be conquered by another, due to their adept (if a little disorganized) military. Among all the human settlements they actually get along the best with sirens and merfolk, having only ever had a few conflicts with them.
Next is vena, the home of lumiene. This land basically used to be a place where kids from other plateaus who were disabled, specifically blind, deaf, and/or mute were abandoned for fear of them being "cursed". These children would usually very quickly perish but at some point a band of nomads stumbled across the plateau, and upon learning of the horrors taking place there, chose to stay and take care of the children who were left there. These children then grew up to be the new caretakers of children who were abandoned like them, and also had children of their own, and so on and so forth until the nation of vena was born. Due to the fact that disabilities (especially ones like blindness, deafness, muteness, mental disorders, etc) can often be hereditary, most of the natives of vena are some form of disabled. Because of this vena is..... actually one of the most accommodating lands on the surface, accommodations for various disabilities being commonplace in their society, as well as being very accepting.
Vena is known as being one of the most scholarly societies on tarrus, with some of the best schools in the world. They have also on average WON the MOST WARS OF ANY HUMAN SETTLEMENT, having fought pretty much every human kingdom that practiced the horrible tradition of abandoning disabled children......safe to say very FEW kingdoms openly practice it now. Along with bevana they're among the only human kingdom to have a decent relationship with both merfolk and sirens, having NEVER had any conflicts with them, and many vena natives actually have some form of siren and/or merfolk heritage (though often distant).
Finally we have Constanta. This is the largest of all the plateaus on tarrus and therefore also the largest and most populated of all the human settlements. Constanta is a very militaristic society, as well as one of the few empires the surface has ever known, having colonies on multiple plateaus. Their land god is actually the man who murdered Neria, which has condemned them to one day fall, which the people of Constanta have more or less accepted at this point. They have historically had the most conflicts out of any other human nation, especially with the non-human people of tarrus.
Sea witches, sphinxes, and sea nomads|
Though not technically races of their own, they're fairly important and still need to be mentioned.
Sea witches and sphinxes are sirens, merfolk and harpies that have sworn DEEP devotion to a land god, and have bound themselves to them. The magic used in this process causes their physical forms to change, sirens turn very octopus like, merfolk take on the features of sea turtles and harpies......while I feel like if I have to explain what a sphinx looks like then you have bigger things to worry about. Anyway they're all basically considered the priesthood of their societies, and are very important cause of that.
Sea nomads/pirates are nomadic groups of humans who don't align themselves with any human nation, they have very close ties to sirens, merfolk and even harpies and often have siren, merfolk and/or harpy ancestry, to the point that some fleets have sorta started to become their own thing. Each fleet is sorta like its own "clan" often with their own distinct dialects, practices and cultures. Many human nations aren't fond of them. Along with larger fleets there are also many solitary ships of these nomads roaming the seas.
And that's a wrap on the surface! Now moving on to the hanging gardens!
The hanging gardens circumvent the entirety of the hollow inside of tarrus, lying just below the surface, filled with giant flowering vines that snake down the spires of the undertow, dense forests, and sprawling meadows. There's only one race that lives here, the gynnivarri, let's dive into them!
The gynnivarri are the most magically adept, as well as the most elusive and secretive race on tarrus. They almost never leave the hanging gardens and aren't very welcoming to outsiders. They are often (but not always) humanoid in stature, with animal and sometimes plant-like features. Specific features vary by family line (this family generally has bear-like traits, this family has bat-like traits that sorta thing), different families can sometimes have similar physical traits but it's uncommon, so when it does happen it's often assumed that those families have a common ancestor. Because of this it's considered taboo to be in a relationship with someone who has similar physical traits to you cause it's considered incest. but there're some traits that all gynnivarri have in common, gold teeth and claws, amber eyes, and hollow chests and/or backs resembling the hollow of a tree.
Gynnivarri society is split into different courts that rule different parts of the hanging gardens. Each court is ruled by a king or queen, in these courts everyone has a place, a role to play and anything you say and everything you do is like moving a piece on a chess board. Because of this gynnivarri society is very political in nature and every gynnivarri grows up knowing how to navigate these courts, who gets along with who, what people like, what the rules are. Because of how important ones words are in gynnivarri society things like promises and oaths are taken VERY seriously, and breaking them is actually considered a crime.
Gynnivarri are also very in tune with the land of the hanging gardens, to the point of being one with it, there are many laws about protecting the environment and having respect for the land. This is one of the reasons as to why they don't care for outsiders, because they feel that other races will not have the same reverence for the land that they do. The gynnivarri are in fact so connected to the hanging gardens that they can't be born anywhere else, if a gynnivarri and a person of another race make a baby then if the baby is born in the hanging gardens they're born gynnivarri, if not then they're born the race of the other parent, and if two gynnivarri have a baby outside of the hanging gardens it simply won't survive. This is one of the reasons why they don't like leaving.
Gynnivarri live a very long time generally, with lifespans varying from lineage to lineage but never really going under 1,000 years. This makes them the longest lived race on tarrus
Dragons and blood mambas|
Technically not.....really gynnivarri but are still classified as part of their race due to the fact that they descend from them.
Dragons are usually fairly serpentine or lizard-like in nature and have features resembling different animals depending on the individual, very chimeric. Gynnivarri are directly descended from them, they're very smart and most dragons are CAPABLE of speech but prefer not to speak. They can live for upwards of 500,000 years.
Blood mambas are what dragons evolved from, they're very large serpentine creatures, with moss green scales, amber eyes, black mouths and split bellies that contain flowery, red, hand-like appendages that they use for......no one really knows. They are uncannily intelligent, having the ability to see into the past and future. They're capable of limited speech, but understand others perfectly fine. Not many of them are left but those that are still around are OLD and don't like to be bothered. No one really knows how long they can live for, but it's known that they die after reproducing.
Now we move on to the undertow, and the alfadrin.
The undertow is the middle layer of tarrus, consisting entirely of rocky spires that descend from the hanging gardens and ascend from the bastion, these spires are made of lodestone, and break off in some places, but spin in place due to the magnetic pull, and the gale force winds that scream through the undertow, making for a very inhospitable environment.
The alfadrin are the one and ONLY intelligent race that lives in the undertow, having evolved to be able to survive it's harsh environment. They have black/grey glittery skin, light hair, large eyes and two long antenna like appendages where their ears would be. They don't have true ears as they would only hinder them due to the deafening screech of the winds of the undertow, because of the fact that they, and most of the very few other life forms that live in the undertow are all effectively deaf, they also do not have vocal cords. As it's kinda useless to be able to verbally communicate when you can't hear. They communicate entirely through sign language.
The clothing they wear is generally very tight and kept close to their bodies, so as not to be ripped away by the winds, for this same reason they don't really wear jewelry, other than beads and rings made of lodestone to help them hold onto the rocky spires of the undertow.
They generally carve out homes near the bottom and tops of the spires, where the winds are slightly weaker.
And FINALLY, we move onto the bastion
The bastion is the innermost part of tarrus other than the core, which is encased in it. Because of this it is VERY hot, full of lava, magma, volcanos, geysers and fire. The very surface of it is hot enough to burn through the souls of your feet. Despite this life persists, the bastion is home to plants that burn from within fueled by flame and boiling rains, many animals that have evolved to withstand and even benefit from the heat, and two of tarrus's most resilient races, the ashborne, and the salamansia.
The ashborne for the most part are no different from humans in build, other than their thick skin that varies in different shades of grayish-black, glowing eyes and flaming hair and veins. They make their clothes out of finely weaved metal fibres and leather from the tough hides of the various animals that roam the bastion. The language they speak is called jinn, it's famously considered the hardest language on tarrus to learn. The ashborne and their language both defend from the salamansia and and olde djin respectively. Many ashborne view them as being their mother-race and respect them greatly, but many also see them as barbaric and uncivilized, so the relationship between the two peoples is complicated. When it comes to other races, no one from any race other than themselves and the salamansia can even set foot in the bastion without extreme precautions, so most ashborne don't really have any opinion on other races, same with the salamansia.
One of the oldest races on tarrus, they are mostly humanoid but possess long, flat, blade-like tails, do not possess cheeks, have clawed, webbed feet and hands, scaly skin, and fiery hair. They are sorta the "merfolk of the bastion" as they reside in its many lava pools and rarely ever stray from them. They speak olde djin, which if compared to a language from earth would be most similar to a mix of Arabic and French. Their clothing is often simple and made from leather, but dyed in heat resistant materials in beautiful ombres.
Tarrus also has two moons, both of which hold their own races, the daemon, and the angels.
Daemons live on the larger of tarrus's moons, Lilitu, lilitu is filled with mountains, bogs, swamps and moors, it's atmosphere is thick and it's climate is generally very misty and stormy.
Daemons can range from being very humanoid in stature to looking more like animals than anything, generally daemons wear clothing made of things like linen, and they love to adorn themselves in jewelry and armor made of shiny metals.
Daemons do have a central ruling body, but it's complicated. Most of lilitu's inhabited lands are split into city states, ruled by military generals. This is how it stays most of the time, but every hundred years a special daemon is born known as the "mother of all monsters" whenever it is found out that such a daemon has been born they're immediately made the ruler of all of Lilitu, the mother will then choose one or more daemons to be their consort(s), otherwise known as the "king(s) of all monsters" the children of the mother are always very powerful, which is one of the reasons why the mother is revered so, along with the fact that they themselves are always the strongest of all daemons and bless their consorts with strength and wisdom as well.
Along with angels, daemons and the moon they live on are unique in that they have no land gods, instead the lands of Lilitu are entirely cared for by nature spirits. And daemons are even more unique in that they don't revere nor are able to connect to the supreme gods, instead engaging in worship of ancestors, and the spirits of nature themselves. Because of this they're often viewed as heretics by other races.
Angels live on the smaller of tarrus's two moons, luciferus, angels for the most part sometimes have humanoid FEATURES but aren't humanoid in the slightest. Often having many wings, eyes, mouths, limbs, fiery hair, and sometimes even animal-like features. Angels also often wear a lot of linen, as well as things like silk and satin.
Like I stated previously angels and the moon luciferus along with demons and the moon lilitu are unique In that they don't have any land gods, instead being entirely cared for by nature spirits. Unlike daemons however angels do revere the supreme gods, but unlike the races of tarrus they do so directly, because of this many people on tarrus think they're hubristic.
The land that covers luciferus is filled with caves inlaid with precious metals and gems and covered in grasslands and rolling hills and meadows and is very sunny and windy generally.
Magic on tarrus is foundational to life, all things on tarrus possess magic and in the case of living beings like people, plants, and animals they can't live without it. Magic also works differently depending on species.
Siren magic is about emotion, if you feel strongly enough then with that emotion you can achieve great things, for instance if a loved one dies and you feel strong enough grief, you could bring them back.
Human magic is about ritual, you do certain things, say certain incantations and use certain materials and your magic will work, use the wrong ones and it won't, in fact it could even backfire on you. Rituals can have varying degrees of complexity.
Gynnivarri magic is about manipulation, bending things to your will in whatever way suits you, however if something can't BE manipulated then magic won't affect it.
Merfolk magic is about connection, if you are one with your magic then you can will it to move just as water does when you swim.
Harpy magic is about freedom, it doesn't work if you're chained down.
Ashborne magic is about willpower, if your will is strong enough you can achieve anything.
Salamansia magic is about balance, when a fire is too big it destroys everything, too small and it dies out, but if you can control the flame then you can use it.
Alfadrin magic is about wishing, if your wish is strong enough then it will come true.
Sea witch and sphinx magic is about exchange, what are you willing to give up to get what you want?
Angelic magic is about faith, believe it will happen and it will.
Demonic magic is about cycles, life, death, rebirth, the seasons, etc, if you can't learn to accept and live with these cycles, these realities, then magic will always be out of your reach.
Each species magic works differently and is unique to them. On top of this there's also three different principles of magic.
First is witchcraft, witches focus on using their own power and working with the energies of the natural world, it is wild and untamed, but also deeply beautiful. It is the most stigmatized way to use magic, especially among humans.
Second is magecraft, mages also use their own power but instead focus on funneling it and controlling it through physical items like magic stones, wands, staffs, and even machines, this is the most common type of magic.
The third is sorcery, sorcerers rarely use their own power, but instead call on powers outside of themselves, gods, spirits, etc. while witches and mages may call on powers outside of themselves it is always to amplify their own power, sorcerers rely solely on powers outside of themselves, and when they do use their own power it is to help the forces they call upon. It is seen as a highly devotional way of using magic and is mostly used by those who are of the priestly classes of their respective societies, and in some countries is illegal for anyone but these such people to use.
Everyone naturally, HAS magic but in order to USE IT you have to learn, so not everyone practices. But most species other than humans do have natural magical abilities that they're just born with that are unique to their species (ex: a sirens song) and some people, including humans are also just born with a natural inclination for magic and even have abilities like being able to see spirits. Things like this usually come about from being blessed or cursed tho, and while it is possible for it to happen naturally it's very rare.
(I really should've covered spirits along with the different types of gods but I forgot to so I'm doing it now)
Spirits are.....just that, spirits, everyone has them, in physical beings your spirit is what makes you who you are and is encased within your body. There're also spirits of nature however, beings that embody, watch over, and protect the natural world, while land gods come and go (tho it obviously takes a long time for them to do the latter) nature spirits for the most part always stay. There are two different kinds of nature spirits, unattached, and attached.
Unattached nature spirits are spirits that can move from one natural body to another when it's necessary (for instance a tree nymph moving from one tree to another when the original is cut down) just because they're capable of it tho doesn't mean they like to, they usually only do so when necessary.
Attached nature spirits are spirits who are attached to the natural structure they inhabit, with it acting as their physical body, if it's destroyed so are they, spirits like this are usually very old, and are usually highly guarded by land gods and fellow spirits.
Of course there're also spirits of the dead, there're two different types of these spirits.
Souls, this is the part that keeps living things alive, after they die it goes off to be reincarnated in another living thing, some souls are bound to certain bloodlines, some aren't. It's not common to see them roaming around but sometimes they have trouble moving on to where they need to go, which can result in undead beings sometimes.
Then there's ghosts, these are the parts of a person that makes them who they are. These spirits often go on to live in the afterlife, but sometimes just stick around for various reasons.
Necromancers work with spirits of the dead, unlike what many people think it's not just raising corpses, many necromancers don't even do that, and when they do it's for a reason. Some forms of necromancy are harmful as they hurt spirits of the dead, focusing more on controlling them than working WITH them, this type of necromancy is banned pretty much everywhere on tarrus. Many other forms of necromancy exist tho and are very beneficial, unfortunately they still receive a lot of stigma because of people confusing them with bad necromancers.
And I'm pretty sure that's everything I wanted to say about tarrus! I am actually an artist so I've been thinking about trying to motivate myself to make some art to go along with the stuff I put in here? We'll see I guess 😅
