The Continent of Felden
The Land of the Forlorn Rebuke
While the alphabet for Sinskel is roughly the same as the English alphabet, the other languages have their own, and thus anything not translated from other languages into Sinskel is the phonetic equivalent and not how something would've actually been written.
Felden is the largest continent in Incarah, with five countries and eight ethnic groups spanning a space rivaling that of South America. It is the most prosperous of the continents, but also faces major political strife due to the opposing religions, countries, and territorial disputes most residents face on a daily basis.
There are five countries on Felden. Skylkyr, Heinfelldba, Amystein, Worntel, and Elisia. Each his home to its own major ethnic group, with Amystein, Scylkyr and Heinfelldba being different groups of Skelliens, Elisia being the biggest home of the Elhavan, and Worntel housing a major group of the Okara. Although each country has its own language, the universal trading language is Sinskel, also the official language of the peaceful country Scylkyr.
There are three major ethnic groups that do not have their own country. The fyrdartha is a minority group of Okaran with different religious views. Facing persecution in Worntel, most have fled into the surrounding countries of Elisia and Heinfelldba. The kor is a group of nomadic Skellens that used to wander and trade freely in the Sanskyr Desert, a land that used to belong to Amystein but has since been overrun by Worntel. They also face persecution and have wandered south into Heinfelldba and Scylkyr in hopes of refuge. The third ethnic group is the vaela, Elhavan mystics that live in isolated villages built underground, which are nearly invisible unless they wish for someone to find them. They have never had a country of their own and live in the Elisian wilderness, content in their isolation.
Geography
There are two mountain ranges in Felden. One is the Fyrar Mountains along the Western coast of Heinfelldba, home to the largest mountain in the world and one of the most hazardous to cross. The one passage open to travelers is only available during the hottest part of summer, and so there is only a singular village along that coast, which most people choose to avoid for fear of those that would choose such isolation. The Fyrar Mountains are viewed as cursed, and few ever venture there. The second mountain range is in the center of the continent and forms a "u" shape around the remaining land of Amystein, who has managed to retain it from Worntel solely because of this natural protection. While these mountains have no official name in Sinskel, the Amysteinians call the range "er dinte alaerkana", or "The Divinity of the Alaerkans", or simply "er dinte", The Divinity, for short.
Felden is also home to the Sanskyr Desert, a large desert around the equator that cuts through the center of the continent. It is the only land of its kind on Felden, and is often used as an excuse by Worntel for persecuting Amystein and other ethnic groups living there, since it is viewed as "cursed" by their culture. In fact, the word in the language of Worntel for desert, ichkyrjav, literally means "cursed land".
The North and Northeast of Felden has five major lakes that take up a good portion of the land, four of which are in Elisia's territory. In fact "Elisia" means "still water" and is also the name of the largest lake on the continent, with Arlathi, Elisia's capital, being named after the second largest. Lakes hold a huge cultural and religious significance in that region, with the potability and lack of pollution making them viewed by Elisian mythology as portals to the dimension of the Ellarora.
Ecosystem
There are 7 major ecosystems on this continent, each with its own features of interest.
The Lakes of Elisia:
These lakes are home to incredibly diverse flora and fauna, reminiscent of the Cambrian Explosion, and such life remains largely untouched due to the beliefs of the people living around them. This ecosystem relies heavily on freshwater conditions, mild weather, balanced levels of phosphorous and a huge variety of flora consisting mostly of seaweed.
The fish in this region are numerous, with over 126 species recorded. The only fish Elisians are allowed to hunt, the laora, or "darkness", is also the most common type, with local legend telling of a curse of the lake in which all species would be overrun by the laora without Elisian intervention. That being said, a more scientific approach would look at their omnivore status and their ability to eat almost anything in an environment rich with food as the central cause to their prosperity.
The Forest of Light:
This forest stretches about half the continent, taking up all of Elisia and Northern Worntel. It is known as the Forest of Light due to the trees not being very tall or densely packed, allowing sunlight to reach almost every part of the forest floor. The trees, or tyra, are not what we would think of as trees, but rather biological equivalents that have golden, circular leaves, thin, translucent bark which appears silver, and a web of small root structures rather than the gigantic roots we are used to. This particular species of tyra thrives in this region exclusively, and is drastically different to the appearance of tyra found in other places on the continent. There is a large amount of fauna but not a huge amount of flora, meaning most organisms in this region are carnivorous, with even small animals feeding off of insects rather than plants to survive. There are only about ten species of flora excluding the tyra, with one flower in particular so rare as to be mythical. No large species eats any part of the tyra except for insects, many of which live in and consume the gooey, translucent bark.
The Sanskyr Desert:
This desert spanning the center of the continent is also incredibly devoid of life, an empty, barren land full of grey sand resembling ash. The only existing flora is the kraltyra, or "trees of cursed death", named so because of their pitch black, leafless, appearance and also because a simple taste of any part of it proves fatal. The only fauna that live there live deep underground, in sanslurna, or sand caverns, that residents of the region dig to for water and food. These caverns have rivers that connect to the major lakes and each has a unique ecosystem isolated from the outside world. The flora and fauna there sustain themselves, and so residents must be careful not to rob a cavern of too many of one species or risk losing the resource altogether.
While the nomadic kor are incredibly skilled at this, the new Worntelian residents are less so, and have drained many historical/spiritually important sanslurna.
Er Dinte Alaerkana:
This mountain range is notably as devoid of above-ground life as the surrounding desert, with the only difference being that many sanslurna have open entrances and are more accessible than in other regions. The mountains themselves are made of compacted sand, though no one is sure how that came to be.
There are many legends surrounding them by Amystein, and they are currently the dying country's last line of defense against the impending Worntel invasion. This is the reason behind the name of the mountain range. "The Divinity of the Alaerkans."
The Great Plains of Heinfelldba:
These plains are the only of their kind on the continent, spanning most of Northern Heinfelldba and a small section of Worntel. They are treeless and thick with flora, with around 215 kinds of flower alone. It is difficult land to traverse for humanoids, and so remains largely untouched except for the paths cut between towns and cities. It is rich with fauna, however, that is mostly herbivorous, and thus makes for good hunting, one of Heinfelldba's favorite sports. Most of the leaves and stems are a golden color instead of green, similar to the leaves of the tyra in the Forest of Light.
One commonly hunted animal is the hokdurn, or "creature with drinking horns". This creature resembles a particularly short-legged deer, with long horns connected by a mesh of karatin around the creature's face to help it move through shrubbery. It is shy and easily startled, and so provides sufficient challenge for the Hunters of Heinfelldba.
The Cold Scylkyr Forest:
This is forest of a different kind, spanning all of Scylkyr and Southern Heinfelldba. It's tyra are almost identical to the deiciduous species on Earth, although the bark is still gooey and translucent. The forest is much more densely packed and the climate is colder, meaning there are significantly different species here than in the other forest. Many hokdurn wander there, with flora spiling over from the Great Plains, making the forest almost impassible to those that are strangers to the land. The people of Scylkyr, however, are experts.
It is awash with 789 types of flora and fauna and is similar to the density of a rainforest.
The Fyrar Mountains:
Nothing is known about the ecosystem of the Fyrar Mountains. Only the passage is passable and is surrounded by fog, and all those that have strayed from the path have never returned.
Ecosystem Cycles
This land goes through five seasons instead of the four we are accustomed to on Earth, with each day and night cycle lasting 30 hours and each season taking twice as long to complete. There are 15 months in the continental calendar, with each month lasting 60 days. Each year is significantly longer than one Earth year. The months are Mar, Tyr, Nurn, Oyr, Kurn, Ayrn, Ryr, Kidyrn, Furfyr, Surn, Dyr, Hyrn, Fyr, Kralyr, and Sumalala.
The Spring Season, Kalard, "the season of kal, or birth", lasts through the three months of Mar, Tyr, and Nurn. The Season of Iralkorard, literally meaning "the season of holding of one's breath" in Sinskel, is the season between Spring and Summer in which plants flourish as they would in Spring, and yet no new plants will grow on land, forcing most species including humanoids to search for water-based resources. This season takes place during the months of Oyr, Kurn, and Ayrn. The summer season, Rikskard, "The season of ritual burning", lasts for the months of Ryr, Kidyrn and Furfyr. The fall season, Surdolaranard, "The season of beautiful/necessary death", lasts for the months of Surn, Dyr, and Hyrn. Finally, the winter season, "Kralolaranard", or "the season of cruel/cursed death", lasts for the months of Fyr, Kralyr, and Sumalala.
Each week lasts ten days, with months being 6 weeks long.
Localized Phenomena
As mentioned in the above paragraph, Felden goes through a mysterious fifth season that the other continents of Incarah do not. No one knows why this "pause" occurs, or why only water-based ecosystems remain unaffected. It does however, forward beliefs of a continent-wide curse, as well as beliefs in the sacred power of the freshwater lakes that those of Elisia hold.
Another phenomenon is Worntel's sacred Lightning Tree. It is a large tyra of unknown species that is struck by lightning every fourth hour, regardless of the weather. This mystery tree is the Worntel center of worship as they worship a God of the sky and God of the Earth, and thus their union is met at this single point. It has mystified every expert to ever visit it.
Alternative Name(s)
The Land of the Forlorn Rebuke
Type
Continent
Included Organizations
Related Ethnicities
Inhabiting Species
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