Vezetra

The people of Vezetra live in constant fear. Their lives, and their world, could end at any minute - and they believe this survival is slowly dependent on their ability to satiate their sleeping god. In reality, however, there is nothing they can truly do about their imminent demise, short of fleeing into the stars.

— Notes of the Scribe

Vezetra is a world grown on an unlikely planet. Its strange, almost ovular shape is a hint towards the planet's true nature. Growing deep within it is a celestial being, every second bringing it closer to hatching. The people of Vezetra worship this being, though not out of understanding of what it is and what it can do to them, but rather their own mythology regarding its power and risk.

Life on Vezetra

Vezetra's thin crust is covered in earth and water, upon which life has managed to develop, fed by the energies of the planet's core. Its many continents and islands have no real rhyme or reason to them, and are certainly not formed by tectonic plates. There are many sapients and exponentially more flora, fauna, and fungi.

Self-Perpetuating Cycle

Life on Vezetra is only possible due to the life-sustaining energies radiated by the growing celestial at the centre of the planet. In turn, the life cycles of Vezetra's people feed the embryo inside, allowing it to eventually hatch.

Vezetra's Myths by notahumanhand

Religion of Vezetra

The people of Vezetra live in settlements from small village communities to giant metropolitan cities, with one shared trait among them: their faith. Ancient Vezetrans from centuries past have mythology of a world-destroyer sitting within the core of the planet. These stories are depicted in their paintings and songs, and are taught to children as they enter the world.

In Vezetran mythology, the great deity Vian created the world and breathed life into their people. But Vian was attacked by a rival god, Seros, a battle in which both were mortally wounded. To prevent Seros from killing Vezetra right there and then, Vian, in their dying breath, sealed her deep beneath the planet's surface, casting a spell of eternal sleep. However, should Seros ever wake, she would most certainly destroy the world and all of its inhabitants in her subsequent attempts to escape.

To appease Seros and keep her sleeping, many people of Vezetra perform prayer or rituals, or even make ritual sacrifices in the name of strengthening and continuing Vian's spell, which they refer to as "the Final Gift". Depending on the culture and the location, these sacrifices vary from small burnt food offerings to the spilled blood of devout religious folk.

Prayers & Rituals

Many Vezetrans, on different parts of the planet, have various unique methods to keeping Seros asleep. Each night, designated clerics of Seryth sing an eight-hour long hymn they believe will prevent Seros from waking, the Hymn for Seros. The people of Acelis craft tokens of wood and string which they burn each evening.

Moserrans believe that the only way to keep Seros sleeping is to lead lives void of interest and distractions, and restrict themself to only activities necessary to their own survival - entertaining themselves with verbal stories and conversation. At a stark contrast, Tychians perform ritual combat, often to the death, in sacrifice to Seros - a tradition that formed due to the continent's dense population and dwindling resources. Dansenat's Conduit is the source of its people's religious traditions, involving annual gatherings in which the continent's entire population travel to the northernmost pole.

Acelian Trinket by notahumanhand

Hymn for Seros (Excerpt)

Tal vos a nas,
A mo site.
Vo nal ostra sino.

Velthas tule,
Col ta nava.
Ema la tonu.

Ensa a va
Es vel miten.
Estrot mol ven osto.

Tal ust mena,
A mo site.
Es no al tonu.

Titan deep below us, / Sleep soundly. / Dream of peace.

Hymn of ages, / We soothe you. / Bring us safety.

You may wake when / All is gone. / Reside in dreams for now.

God of destruction, / Sleep soundly. / So we may be safe.

The people of Valtor burn food as offerings to Seros, alotting some amount of their harvests as tribute to the sleeping god. In Raughth, those who come of age are submerged fully in waters from the continent's central spring, as they believe these waters protect them from the wrath of Seros. The people of Felavan occasionally sacrifice their livestock, most villages doing so once per year. The animals brought up as a sacrifice are treated and fed well, and painstaking efforts are put into their funerals. Ouriath has a complex system of prayers spoken at every turn of the day, including before and after meals, upon waking up and before going to sleep, and differing prayers for each day of the week. Enivar's religious practices come in the form of strict rules regarding how they prepare and eat their food.

Geography

There are seven major continents on Vezetra: Tycheis, Valtor, Seryth, Raughth, Moserra, Felavan, and Dansenat. There are also three regions that contain many smaller islands: Ouriath, Enivar, and Acelis. The largest continent is Valtor, and though the total area of Ouriath is technically larger, the amount of land within it is not. The smallest of the major continents is Seryth, though Enivar and Acelis are both much smaller in land area, Enivar being the smaller of the two. In total area, however, Acelis is the smallest.

Tychies

/taɪkɪs/
Tychies is the most heavily- and densely-populated continent on Vezetra, home to the grand city of Salhara, with a population of nearly 137 million full-time residents. Tychies is largely composed of flat fields with sparse trees, as most of its natural resources are long depleted. Salhara sits at the highest point on Tychies, known as Hill Tychara. Tychian mythology suggests that a great battle between knights took place on Hill Tychara, which very nearly caused a world ending event.

Vezetra by notahumanhand

Valtor

/vaʊltoɹ/
Valtor has the second highest population of Vezetra, if solely for its high landmass. It is physically the largest continent on Vezetra, and its land is much more cared-for than Tychies. Many farmers live across Valtor, and crops such as fruits, grains, vegetables, and even flowers are cultivated en masse. The ecosystems of Valtor have a wide biological variety of flora and fauna. The cuisine of Valtor is equally diverse, with some regions favouring fish-based cuisine, others with fried food, and others who prefer soups.

Felavan

/fɛləvæn/
Felavan is the continent with the second lowest population, though this is primarily due to its size. It is the second smallest continent in land area, larger only than Seryth. The other reason for its low population is its unbearable heat and its sparse deserts. The few cities that do exist are built from sandstone, carved into cliff faces, or buried below shallow ground. The cultures of Felavan subsist on horticulture, raising and caring for animals so much so that they begin to form bonds with them, able to communicate telepathically with them.

Dansenat

/dansena/
Dansenat is a rocky and barren continent, with hardly any population. Its icy mountains, crags, and cliffs make it difficult to traverse. The continent is situated at the northern and narrowest pole of Vezetra, making its climate near-unpredictable and its gravity weaker. The little flora that grows on the continent is strange and alien to the rest of the continents. This is only accentuated by a landmark in the centre simply referred to as "the Conduit": a magical, pulsing crystal floating on the true northern pole of the planet.

Moserra

/moserə/
Moserra is a fairly isolated continent, compared to the rest of the planet. Its people wear unassuming clothing and lead intentionally boring lives, with an obsession around "cleanliness" - a word which, to them, has many (conflicting) meanings.

Seryth

/seɹɪθ/
Seryth is the smallest of the proper continents, though it still manages to have the third-highest population of all of them. Its population is clustered across a few large cities, whose main exports are craftswork and artisan goods.

Raughth

/ɹɑʊθ/
Raughth is ranked squarely in the middle of the continents in rankings of population, size, and land area. It has many rivers and lakes, below the surface of which underwater communities thrive. These waters do not count towards its land area.

Ouriath

/aʊɹiæθ/
Ouriath is the largest of the island regions in population, area, and land mass. It has the largest total area of any of the continents, and it has a strikingly wide variety of cultures and communities.

Enivar

/ɛnɪvɑɹ/
Enivar's population is somewhere between Ouriath's and Acelis', though it is much closer to the latter. The region is home to many civilisations living on its islands, but also houses more than a few water societies.

Acelis

/esɛlɪs/
Acelis is the smallest of the three sea regions in every metric but land area, in which it beats Enivar by only a hair. The cultures in Acelis believe strongly in customs of reciprocity, with crafting and gift-giving very important to them.

Continent Rankings

Population Ranking

1. Tychies
2. Valtor
3. Seryth
4. Raughth
5. Ouriath
6. Moserra
7. Felavan
8. Enivar
9. Acelis
10. Dansenat

Size (Land Area) Ranking

1. Valtor
2. Tychies
3. Dansenat
4. Ouriath
5. Moserra
6. Raughth
7. Felavan
8. Seryth
9. Acelis
10. Enivar

Size (Total Area) Ranking

1. Ouriath
2. Valtor
3. Tychies
4. Dansenat
5. Raughth
6. Moserra
7. Felavan
8. Seryth
9. Enivar
10. Acelis

Biomes

From the tropical rainforests of Ouriath, to the coral reefs of Acelis and the deserts of Felavan, there is a wide variety of biomes across Vezetra.
Valtor is home to hills and plains, as well as a mountain range to its south, separating its southern dry tundra from the rest of the continent. Felavan is primarily hot and dry, with tropical savannas, shrublands, deserts, and plateaus. Seryth's grasslands and cliffs are for the most part dry and windy, the exception being its eastern marshes and bogs. Tychies was once home to a large desert, a mountain range, and temperate forests, though these regions have since been stripped of resouces. Roughth's thick forests exist both on land and in the oceans surrounding it, with aquatic tree-like organisms populating the regions under the water's surface. Acelis's grassy islands are disconnected from the ocean floor, and some even float in the sky above, the roots of their trees keeping the dirt together. Moserra's rainforest biomes are prone to frequent floods, causing most of its inhabitants to live at higher elevations, especially in the giant trees. Dansenat's freezing cliffs and rocks are barren and ice-covered, barely able to support life.

Natural Resources

Valtor

Valtor has fertile soil and vast land area, lending itself to farming. The crops grown in Valtor include grains, which store for long periods of time and can be processed into numerous things, making for excellent staple crops. Other plants of all kinds are farmed around Valtor, and the oceans surrounding it have many edible fish.

Raughth

Raughth's cold freshwater springs provide a source of drinkable water to many of its inhabitants. The wide variety of trees across the island make lumber a plentiful resource as well. The waters around Raughth are also filled to the brim with fish and sea life of all kind, many of which are edible, the basis of Raughth's cuisine.

Tychies

Tychies has been stripped of nearly all of its valuable minerals, lumber, and other resources the continent originally had.

Felavan

Felavan's resources come in its plentiful livestock, as the majority of the continent is sandy and arid, not ideal for farming, mining, or lumber.

Dansenat

Dansenat is barren, though it has many valuable minerals. Some of these are gems, imbued with strange power.

Moserra

Moserra, as biodiverse as it is, is a treasure trove of lumber, as well as many edible plants and animals that would be considered a delicacy anywhere else. While the soil is fertile, there is not a lot of open land to grow crops on.

Seryth

Seryth is full of grassy cliffs and hills, with a mountain range near its centre rich with resources. Many of the minerals and stones found within can be used for building, decoration, jewellery, and/or functional purposes.

Ouriath

Ouriath's most notable resources come from its sealife, both in food as well as in function.

Enivar

Enivar has many cold springs which are a source of fresh water. Fish are a major resource in Enivar as well.

Acelis

Like the other island nations, Acelis is rich with fish. Its forests and trees are also a source of lumber.

Localised Phenomena

Magic is present across Vezetra in many different forms, often in higher concentrations depending on the specific location. There are some forms of magic than can be studied, taught, and harnessed by certain individuals, though the majority of magic on the planet is known as "wild magic", influencing the environment on its own and unable to be manipulated. Whether or not an individual can channel magic at all is determined by the symbols on their skin. There are many hotspots of wild magic across the surface of Vezetra. A lot of these hotspots are clustered around Acelis, and are the source of the continent's floating islands. Others exist across Moserra, and are the reason for its megafauna. The oceans surrounding Seryth are also high in wild magic, which create whirlpools and giant waves that make the waters difficult to traverse, often requiring specially-trained navigators to detect and avoid these surges. Harnessing magic is something that takes extreme effort, and can only be done by those who have the appropriate symbols. The uses of magic are thus limited to things that are worth this effort, the primary use being healing.

The Study of Magic

Arcanology, or the study of magic, takes many different forms, and is fundamental in most schooling across Vezetra. Even those not naturally gifted with the ability to harness magic still must learn to recognise wild magic around them for their own well-being. Arcanology takes two main forms: arcanography, which relates to the observation, tracking, and recording of the presence and movement of (usually wild) magic, and arcanergy, which covers learning how to use and harness magic, for those who are able, as well as its uses and limits. Each of these fields can be further separated into more specific sub-fields:

• Thaumadynamics: A sub-field of arcanography involving the study of how wild magic can interact with the world
• Runoscopy: A sub-field of arcanergy that studies the markings that allow Vezetrans to perform magic
• Arcanometry: A sub-field of arcanography relating to the measurement of the presence of wild magic in specific areas
• Arcanomics: A sub-field of arcanography that studies the laws of how magic works
• Alchemology: A sub-field of arcanergy that relates to the usage of magic for healing and transformation
• Necrology: A sub-field of arcanography regarding the energy that radiates from the deceased

The Conduit by notahumanhand

The Conduit

Located at the northernmost pole of Vezetra, in the centre of Dansenat, is a large blue crystal floating in the air and pulsing with energy. There is much to be discovered about the Conduit's purpose and function, though what is exceedingly clear is that it has an immense magical effect on the area around it. Creatures that approach the Conduit can levitate above the ground, and the symbols on the skin of Vezetrans who find themselves nearby begin to pulse in time with the Conduit. Over the course of centuries, the Conduit has steadily grown in size. The true purpose of the Conduit, however, is to channel Vezetrans' life energy into the egg.

Wild magic, though it cannot be harnessed, can still be corrupted. There is little known about this process, as studying it directly would require corrupting the world's magic, something incredibly frowned upon.

Ecosystem

The animals and plants that can be found on each of the continents differs greatly. Enivar is home to many aquatic species and a diverse jungle of oceanic plants. Dansenat, on the other hand, full of hardy creatures that can traverse and survive its harsh landscape. Felavan and Valtor have many beasts of burden, and are also home to a variety of grasses and grains. Valtor has an incredibly diverse collection of crops, ranging from flowers and fruits to grains and vegetables. Moserra's megaflora towers over the majority of its native species. Raughth's ecosystem is home to lush and highly biodiverse forests both on land and in many of its waters, while Seryth's hills, cliffs, and mountains give homes to many crevice- and cave-dwelling creatures.

Flora

Orchid Coral by notahumanhand

Estree by notahumanhand

Orchid Coral

Named for its striking purple colour, orchid coral is a species native to the reefs of Acelis. It is a branching coral known to spread and grow over large areas, and can be used to make a beautiful light purple dye.

Rysh

Ryshes are a species of dry shrubs that grow in Felivar. They have thorns all across their branches to prevent animals from getting to the water and nutrients stored inside, which make them ideal to house small critters.

Threadgrass

Native to the continent of Valtor, threadgrass is, as it sounds, an incredibly thin and tall species of grass, growing up to eight feet tall. This flexible and sturdy material is used to make rope and baskets.

Estree

Estrees, native to Enivar, require high amounts of salt to survive, thriving in oceans and saltwater swamps. Their soft and pliable bark can be eaten, as can their wide leaves, though both are rather salty to the taste. Estrees are often found growing alongside riverberries, the bush feeding salt back into the soil and gaining foundation from the estree's roots.

Osdyl

Osdyl is a root that can be found in the rocks of Tychies. It has hallicinogenic properties, and the diluted dried powder, or byproducts such as teas that can be developed from it, is consumed by certain communities - either for religious purposes, or recreationally. The root itself is known for its hardiness, able to grow almost anywhere.

Fauna

Geldebast

The geldebast is a beast of burden native to Valtor. These nearly 10-foot-tall creatures have lots of stamina and are incredibly strong. They have two large tusks, two horns, and striped backs.

Tattle

Tattles are small, chattering mammals that dash around in the dense forests of Raughth. They are about half a foot tall and a bit over a foot long, with reddish orange fur and small antlers atop their heads.

Mokiri

Making their homes in the waters of Ouriath, mokiri are tiny lizard-like amphibians. The blue and green hues of their skin, along with tendrils on their head, allow them to blend in with seagrass.

Velsha

Velshae are a species native to Dansenat known for their rocky skin and six eyes. They have six short and thin limbs, each with two joints, which allow them to rapidly move in any direction. This is ideal for their rocky environment, as they can navigate through cracks and crevices in the terrain.

Qarris

The qarris is a large bird that can be found in Moserra, making its nests at the top of the continent's tallest trees. These birds have a terrifying screech that can be heard from miles away, which they use as a mating call. At the top of the food chain, these apex predators are nearly 4 feet tall.

Geldebast by notahumanhand

Tattle by notahumanhand

Sapients

Vezetran by notahumanhand

Vezetra's sapient species is the Vezetran, a humanoid species with blue-green skin, red eyes, and horns. Vezetrans' skin tones can range from teal hues to an almost purple blue, varying in shade depending on continent of origin - those of Felavan, northern Valtor, and southern Tychies tend to be darker, while Vezetrans from Dansenat and Ouriath tend to be much lighter. Vezetrans' hair is usually blue or purple, though darker greenish blues are rare. Horn patterns vary greatly, and are classified into four categories: short horns, curled horns, long horns, and double horns, the last of which is a combination of two pairs of horns from the previous categories.

Vezetran blood is a deep blue colour, sometimes with a purple tint. It is thick and almost inky. This distinguishes the Vezetrans from all other blooded creatures on their planet, and this blood being spilled is what feeds the planet's developing embryo.

Common Vezetran Horn Varieties by notahumanhand

From birth, each Vezetran is marked with at least one (though usually around five, and no more than eleven) glowing blue symbol. These symbols can be located at any of fifteen possible placements. While there are many symbols that have been found on multiple people, no two individuals have the exact same symbols at the exact same placements. Though the purpose of these symbols is a mystery to the Vezetrans, they use them for identification, and they are the basis of many writing systems. There are around 200 discovered distinct symbols, and certain Vezetrans dedicate their lives to studying these symbols, trying to discern meaning from them.