Sekhar

Oh folly. Truly, no lens can confer the clarity of vision that hindsight can. I regret only that I spoke such harsh words to those who wished to send another into the heavens for when I gazed upon the countenance of our beauteous world for the first time, I found myself, for the first time in my long life, at a loss for words.
The joy, the sadness, the exhilaration, the humility, the awe... words alone could not describe what it was that I felt and what it was that I saw. We should have sent musicians to capture the profound loneliness of the silence of orbit, artists to affix the glittering majesty of our world to canvas, poets to describe the awe of such sights in the kind of language that only they can muster.
I looked upon our lonely world. From the perch of the gods, I saw none of our sprawling cities, our grandiose castles, or vast nations. Not a speck of our influence on this world but for the minute twinkling lights that flicker on when the shadow of night sweeps across the face of the earth can be seen from the heavens.
How truly irrelevant our arguments, our divisions. It was as though I was a chick, staring for the first time at the countenance of the egg from which I had been birthed, understanding in that moment, that this small, precious world was the place from whence I came.
And yet, beyond that understanding, I was thoroughly and utterly dumbfounded, unable to see, unable to comprehend how other insignificant specks such as myself, who were born into the cosmos for reasons as yet beyond my understanding and perhaps forever beyond the understanding of all our fragile, limited sight, conspired to build a spear of smoke and flame that thrust me up among the hallowed stars.

— Ellereýn a'Korridë,
The Second Man in Orbit

Sekhar is the home of many of the known mortal races in the world of Rivendom. It is an otherwise unremarkable planet orbiting some distance away from its equally unexceptional parent star known, to the inhabitants of the planet, as Denë among other names. It is accompanied by a pair of moons and experiences four seasons in every orbit around its parent star. It is the second of four planets that form the interior of its stellar neighborhood and is also the second largest rocky planet in its solar system.
The modern name for the planet was coined by the tretalleri philosopher Ciltana a'Neýra ca. 400.20 NA. The name derives from the Tretalleri term "sehira," which describes the philosophical concept of a place of material essence where the immortal, ethereal soul temporarily resides, typically in a flesh-and-blood form, and the term "khara," which means complaint or grievance.
This etymology underscores the moral philosophy that governs the way that the inhabitants of Sekhar view the planet: a world of grievances and imperfection, where by virtue of nature itself there will always be some shortcoming that society will have to overcome to maintain order. Although some might criticize this philosophical framework as being defeatist in nature, its defenders argue that it can and, in fact, should be viewed as a reminder that the world is in constant need of improvement and that it ought to provide motivation to work towards overcoming the shortcomings inherent in the world.

Geography

Nearly 60% of Sekhar's surface area is covered by a single continuous body of salt water which is sometimes known in the modern day as the Great Ocean or the One Ocean, but which has been historically subdivided into nine distinct regions by the Dominion for administrative and navigational purposes. The rest of Sekhar's surface is comprised of eight continents including two at the poles that are covered by thick ice shelves and perennial sea ice.

The Pāll-tanír

Main Article: Pāll-tanír
Despite being the largest continent on the planet in terms of total land area, the Pāll-tanír is consistently, with the exception of the polar continents, the least populated of the eight, due in no small part to the fact that except for a small stretch of land in the southeast, the region is covered by a continent-spanning desert of the same name. The only area of the Pāll-tanír to be covered in perennial vegetation is known as The Shār, a dense jungle in the southeast corner of the continent.
Although it is relatively desolate on its surface, the Pāll-tanír boasts a surprising diversity of species. There are a number of surface flora and fauna that flourish in the cooler, and less sandy regions of the continent, and the mountains of the Skywall Range are home to a thriving ecosystem. However, the vast majority of the Pāll-tanír's flora and fauna reside primarily in caverns, in the continent's rich underground biome, which are fed by a network of rivers that course throughout the continent beneath the desert sands.

IldRenn

Main Article: IldRenn
Second-largest in terms of total land area, but biggest in terms of population, IldRenn is a continuous tract of land that spans from the equator to just above the southern polar circle. It plays host to a variety of biomes including a large central desert and is home to a diverse ecosystem of flora and fauna. It is home to the Races of Man, the IstErinin, IstEristur, IstErillen, and IstErián as well as the Leatha and the IstUrkal.
It is considered the "youngest" of the eight continents as it was the last to be discovered by the expeditionary forces of the Dominion and the last to cede to Dominion control despite there being a preponderance of evidence that trade had been done at one point in the distant past between the Pāll-tanír and IldRenn.

Di'Termalttë

Main Article: Di'Termalttë
Di'Termalttë is the third of the "large" continents of Sekhar, and is traditionally considered the "oldest" as it is the wellspring of the Dominion and the homeland of the tretâllë, as well as the elledŷnnë, and the tolvaar among others. Its northernmost tip is just south of the equator and it extends almost all the way to the southern polar circle. The southernmost point of Di'Termalttë comes so close to the south polar continent Llaniya that it is possible to walk across the frozen sea all the way to the other continent — even if it is not advisable.
The most notable feature of Di'Termalttë, apart from being the home of the Dominion, is The Desolation, the only "bald" area of the continent. The Desolation is a wasteland region surrounding the north-central mountain range known as The Shrouded Peaks. In this part of the continent, the standing water is said to be poisonous, and so few species can survive in the hostile environment that they can easily be counted on the fingers of one hand.

Kilai'i

Main Article: Kilai'i
Literally "The Fiery Necklace" in Sylvari, Kilai'i is a large island chain comprised of seven large islands as well as a smattering of smaller ones. The relatively shallow seas between the many different pieces of land lend the entire chain the appearance of a partially-sunken continent, but these shallow waters are vital to the flourishing of the abundant and diverse aquatic system that is nurtured between the islands of Kilai'i. With crystal-clear waters and colourful fish and reefs in abundance, Kilai'i is a favorite destination for those that want to marvel at the grandiosity of nature.
However, Kilai'i is known not only for its natural beauty but also for the fact that it is one of very few highly active areas in terms of geological activity. Its very name is testament to the way that the planet seems to come alive in Kilai'i. The name Kilai'i is derived primarily from the volcanoes that dominate six of the seven largest Kilayin islands, which constantly pump out molten rock and steam, introducing nutrients to the surrounding seas as well as growing the largest Kilayin islands. These volcanoes are seen as the fiery rubies that adorn the necklace that is the archipelago.

Verren

Main Article: Verren
Home continent of the khathari, Verren is the second smallest of the eight continents of Sekhar. It sits just south of the equator and is dominated by arguably the densest jungle in the world, though no sophisticated comparisons have been made between the Verrenil jungle and the Shār of the Pāll-tanír. Though largely flat, Verren has a small cluster of mountains near its northwestern shores. The three worn peaks are known as The Knuckles, and each one bears cultural and religious significance to the khathari that call Verren home.

Khitidmë

Main Article: Khitidmë
Khitidmë, Storm's Shield in Tretalleri, is a small and relatively uninhabited continent to the southwest of Verren. It is the smallest of Sekhar's eight continents, but easily one of the most fascinating. Named for being the temporary shelter of an exploratory Dominion vessel that departed from Verren in 721.26 NA caught in a tropical storm, Khitidmë is interesting for the high concentration of copper in its surface waters, which forces aquatic life around the continent to deeper layers of the ocean, as well as the immense variety of insects that dwell on the island, having evolved in isolation from the rest of the world.

Llaniya & Noltêrrë

Main Article: Llaniya & Noltêrrë
Llaniya and Noltêrrë are the southern and northern polar continents respectively. Noltêrrë is thought to be significantly larger in terms of its total land area compared to Llaniya, but the exact proportion between the two continents is unknown, and measurements are based on observations of the coastlines of both continents. The icy interior of both continents is of great interest to thrill-seekers and explorers, but most expeditions that have been embarked upon to explore both continents have ended in failure at best, or in tragedy at worst.
Together, Llaniya & Noltêrrë have claimed the lives of over six hundred explorers over the years, but every decade or so bigger, better expeditions are planned and attempted in the hope of exploring and studying some of the last overland frontiers in Sekhar.

Type

Planet