Veshiri
Introduction
The fifth planet from its sun, Veshiri is a planet rapidly plunging into an uncertain future, changing so swiftly that young adults now no longer recognize the land of their childhood - a problem compounded by the long lives of its native people, who aren't considered to fully come of age until they reach their hundredth year. The recent revolution in steam technology kicked Veshiri's slow industrial revolution into high gear, and the planet's population has increased by fifty percent in the last two hundred years, a mixture of new births and a tremendous surge in immigration as opportunities open up. Veshiri is notable for being the most technologically advanced planet in the Council of Worlds, as well as one of the least magical, and for being one of the four planets involved in the founding of the Council, three thousand, five hundred, and seven years ago.Characteristics
Veshiri revolves around its sun once every Veshiri year, a period of 412.48 Veshiri days. A Veshiri day is the time it takes the planet to rotate about its axis, which occurs every twenty Veshiri hours. A traditional Veshiri year is split into twenty months of twenty days each, as the ancients who developed the first calendar thought there to be only four hundred days in a year. Modern Veshiri timekeeping adds a twenty-first 'intermonth' period which is a planetary holiday, held alternatively to be auspicious or unlucky. Veshiri has six moons, though only one is large enough to have significant affects on tides. Veshiri's axis of rotation is tilted slightly in comparison to its orbital plane, producing seasons. Gravitational interaction with Veshiri's largest moon causes tides, stabilizes rotation on Veshiri's axis, and is slowly reducing the speed of Veshiri's axial rotation. Veshiri's lithosphere, like that of many inhabited planetary bodies, includes the upper mantle and a crust divided into movable tectonic plates. Veshiri's core is active and consists of a solid iron inner core, a liquid outer core which generates the magnetic field that protects Veshiri's life and atmosphere, and a conductive mantle, the movement of which drives plate tectonics. Roughly 64% of Veshiri's surface is water, with land comprising the remaining 36%. Veshiri's atmosphere, like the vast majority of inhabited worlds, is composed primarily of nitrogen and then oxygen, with smaller amounts of other elements.History
Veshiri is suspected to be over five billion years old, though its exact age is unknown. Life began to form sometime in the first billion - or even half billion - years of the planet's existence. The exact mechanism by which life arose on Veshiri is debated, especially since there is no evidence of gods in the universe at the time. Veshiri's continents initially formed as one super-continent, that drifted apart and together again over the course of the planet's long history. The exact chronology and history of Veshiri is unknown, with native post-cognition rare and non-native post-cognition struggling with the lack of magic in the past. However, fossils show evidence of at least seven past mass extinction events. The origin of the crater in the midst of three of Veshiri's continents is unknown. It is, however, apparently relatively recent, as the continents have moved very little since, lending credibility to the idea that a god may have been to blame. Veshiri shows no evidence of gods until about fifty thousand years after the first evidence of anatomically and behaviorally modern elves, roughly four hundred thousand years ago. The lack of early gods is at time blamed for Veshiri's lack of high magic.Magic
Veshiri is one of the least magical worlds in the Council, and by far the least magical of the four founding worlds. Notably, resurrection magic was completely unknown until contact with the planet Alea (another of the four founders). It is unclear if this was because most spellcasters who would eventually be capable never reached that point, or if Veshiri's gods refused to supply knowledge of such spells. Veshiri has a series of afterlives, each ruled over by a deity. Believers are claimed by a deity after death, and go to that deity's realm. The nature of the afterlives is unknown, with only a few rumors circulating among the populace. Notably, the Order of the Black Rose, in their opposition to the gods, has decried the afterlife system and formed their own alternative.Portals
Veshiri, like the majority of planets in the Council of Worlds, had natural, temporary portals open between it and nearby worlds throughout its history, with early cave art depicting such portals. However, unlike most planets, Veshiri has little evidence of cross migration between worlds to the point of establishing breeding communities or making an impact on the fossil record (with the potential exception of the bumble dragon) - perhaps because the brightly glowing portals would startle away any animals, and Veshiri's portals were notably brief. A few documented cases of individual animals wandering through did happen, and such animals were often kept as curiosities or killed (and their remains held as sacred objects). Approximately twenty thousand to seven thousand years ago, there was an extended period of brief portals connecting the realm of Faerie and Veshiri, leading to a few sapients becoming stranded on either side when portals closed unexpectedly. Reportedly, the early Faerie-Veshiri portals lasted for unusually long periods, permitting quick trade and exchange of news, and were frequent enough that sapients felt comfortable entering one realm and assuming they'd later be able to return to their home world. Some myths claim that fae or elves stranded on the wrong side could intentionally open portals back home, at least in the early days. However, the frequency and duration of the portals declined over time, with a sharp and sudden decrease shortly before the last recorded portal. Fae are, notably, immortal until killed, and those elves who spent significant time in Faerie reportedly tended to live longer. Fae who spend too long away from their home world weaken slowly, becoming more susceptible to injury and disease, and only a few fae have survived the intervening millennia between their stranding and the modern day. Faerie has not been contacted by the Council of Worlds, despite help from the few surviving stranded fae.Geography
Veshiri has smaller oceans than most other worlds - not by a lot, but the total represents a dramatic increase in available land. The continents are fairly fragmented, making ships and the new airships extremely important in worldwide trade. Land covers roughly 82,310,000 square miles - 36% of Veshiri's surface - while water covers the remaining roughly 146,330,000 square miles. Veshiri has a total of four continents: Ederiuda, Koromi, Dijua, and Hvinbe. Ederiuda and Koromi are connected by a land bridge on their western shores, forming the super continent of Mereiose. Very little of the planet is solely across deep water from another part, meaning that the entirety of the planet has been accessible by elven travelers since the invention of the ocean-canoe an unknown number of millennia ago.
Notably, Veshiri has what appears to be a truly enormous crater straddling the equator, at the center of the continents Ederiuda, Koromo, and Dijua. The mountain ranges along its rim are collectively called the Circle Mountains. The crater predates the elves, and it's a matter of debate whether something truly massive struck the planet in prehistory - which would make life unlikely - or if the crater is more the result of an angry god.
Veshiri has medium-sized icecaps, and is firmly between ice ages.
Ederiuda
Ederiuda is Veshiri's only continent wholly or mostly in the northern hemisphere. Its bulk is in the eastern hemisphere. To the east of Ederiuda (though technically in the western hemisphere of the planet) is the large Opoi Archipelago, which is variously considered part of Ederiuda and its own area. Ederiuda is the flattest of the continents, with the only tall mountains being the Fieki Mountains, which are part of the Circle Mountains. Another, shorter and older range stretches from the center of the Fieki range to Ederiuda's eastern border with the Opoi islands.Koromi
Koromi is in the southeastern hemisphere, and is the second smallest of the continents. It has tall mountains along its northern and western coasts, and is across a shallow sea from Ederiuda, with a land bridge connecting them on the northwestern shore. Notably, Koromi is home to Lidaidi, the capital of Veshiri, and to heartland of the historic Kodiri Empire.Dijua
Dijua is a massive continent mostly in the southwestern hemisphere of Veshiri, sprawling out slightly past hemisphere lines. It contains the tallest mountains in the world, the Duakeo Mountains, which separate the Lokmei subcontinent from the rest of the continent. Dijua is split into four rough segments by its mountain ranges, which run northwest to southeast and northeast to southwest. The western segments are by far larger than the eastern segments. Notably, the trade hub Sistu is located near the southwestern end of the mountains, making it a major historical stopping and trading point between areas.Hvinbe
Hvinbe is Veshiri's smallest continent, and the most isolated from the others, though a large series of islands between Hvinbe and the other southern hemisphere continents makes movement fairly easy. It is in the southwestern hemisphere, between Dijua and Koromi. Hvinbe has no tall mountains, being fairly old and stable. Most of Hvinbe is tropical or sub-tropical.Fauna & Flora
Most of Veshiri's flora and fauna are considered unexceptional by the interplanetary community, as Veshiri's low magic has resulted in thoroughly ordinary organisms inhabiting it.
Veshiri is notable for having the smallest species of dragon in the known multiverse, the bumble dragon, which is a phylogenetic isolate of unclear origin that some have claimed must have migrated through early, temporary portals. If so, it is the only known example of such a migration to Veshiri.
Natural Resources
Veshiri has a wealth of natural resources that have supported its people for millennia, but no exceptional resources on an interplanetary scale.
Maps
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Veshiri Planetary
Map of the planet of Veshiri. Background is Old Paper by struckdumb, located at: https://www.deviantart.com/struckdumb/art/Old-Paper-85821415
Type
Planet
Included Locations
Related Tradition (Primary)
Related Myths
Related Materials
Land: 82, 310, 000 sq mi
Water: 146, 330, 000 sq mi--
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