Bystiria

Welcome to the World of Bysteria, a land of mystery, magic, and mayhem. Philosophical debates fuel all manner of conflicts as the peoples of Bysteria see the world in vastly different ways. The different peoples of Bysteria follow many different deities and have many different practices and hold many different beliefs. Belief and thought are the intrinsically tied to the fabric of the universe. The force, weave, power that makes up all of existence is called Ether. The Ether is the universal consciousness which we are all a part of. Everything you think, believe, perceive, and experience is tied through the threads of the Ether. Consciousness is the force of reality, and as such stories, ideas, beliefs, and fears of the people of Bysteria become real in time, though one cataclysm resulting in the sudden explosion of magic and myth into reality. It has been almost 2000 years since the Collison of Ether and Chaos (The Collision for short). This event ushered in a great many changes to the world:   The many human tongues of the world melded into a common tongue, one that almost all mortals learn and pass down. This new language was a combination of the other languages (some more than others) and became a fantasy version of Esperanto. The effects of this change in the cultures and psychologies and thought processes of people is debated heavily. The Collison brought the open of portals into worlds of myth and story, become real from the Ether. Monsters and inhuman races poured forth from these portals, appeared spontaneously, or were morphed from people and creatures already in the world. These realms of myth and story brought into existence, brought into existence (or confirmed for some) the many pantheons of the world, though from the point of view of the Gods and some philosophers, the Collision smashed the spheres of creation into one chaotic world. The landscape and biomes of the world itself transformed into a land that only partially follows the rules of meteorology, geology, and ecology as we know them in our world. Maybe most importantly, the Ether was able to be manipulated through imperfect means: spells, rituals, prayer, runes, etc. to harness incredible power and the ability to shape reality.   Some of these new elements of reality were accepted with open arms, while others were feared and rejected. The laws, prejudice, and culture surrounding mythical creatures, inhuman races, and magic vary from place to place; people to people.   Bystiria's mega continent Zarlion is comprised of three smaller continents: Ferror, Aker, and Zima. To the east: Ferror is a wild land shrouded in mystery and unknown civilizations and conflicts; the land is seemingly cut off from Zima and Aker by magical means, but it is unknown if this is the result of The Mists or of a powerful being. Aker is the southern continent; it is a land of endless desert, otherworldly mountains, and freakish wastelands. The northern continent of Zima is incredibly diverse land of many biomes and nations; it is made up of frozen tundra, tropical islands, immense mountains, underground networks and much more.