The Moon Izi
Research Expedition log #3
"We made it! We took the necessary resistance potions and jumped into the Mount Cendi Lava Lake, and a few minutes later, we ended up on this yellow hell. We have enough supplies to last us several days. There are no signs of the Phoenixes the expedition was after. The biologists on our team are a little angry, but I am quite pleased to be standing on a whole other world! There is no time for celebration though, we should find shelter soon. It is much colder here than we first thought, and there appears to be no atmosphere. Glad we brought mages along that can conjure air for us!
- Caio, Scholar of the Irrelith College of Geology
A world of Sulfur
The Moon Izi can be best described as a hellish world being ripped apart by the tidal influence from the planet Tarsuros and surrounding moons. Beirunes, Son of the gods Tazil and Nora, had rule over this world at the beginning of days. This world was also where Tazil prototyped his greatest creation: The Dragon Lords.
There isn't much else that Iron Age people know about this world, and even this much was gathered from silver age writings tens of thousands of years old. With the best elven telescopes, Izi appears like a small yellowish dot orbiting Tarsuros. Using various measurement methods, the elves determined that Izi is roughly 1800 km across, and has an orbital period around Tarsuros every 42 hours. The primary elements the world is made of seems to be iron and sulfur.
While most assume that Izi would be a super hot volcanic world, it is actually quite cold, with temperatures regularly being around -163°C. The world is covered in yellow and white fields of frozen sulfur. The almost nonexistent atmosphere is also composed mostly of sulfur dioxide, which is toxic to non-magical creatures of Vreathe, humans included. There are also small amounts of sulfuric acid, which can easily corrode most things.
Typical view from the surface of Izi. Yellow, white, and sometimes red snow covers the ground and is often spun up in a low lying mist that tints the skies yellow. The color of the snow depends on the specific elemental composition.
Lava Flows
There are some spots on the moon Izi that are far too hot for humans of Vreathe to comprehend. The surface of the world breaks apart in areas, and seemingly endless lava flows spew ever outward. In these areas the temperature can reach 100°C with the lava flows reaching temperatures of 3000°C.
Here the first signs that Izi is not a dead world start to appear. Gigantic dark citadels dot the landscape around the most active lava flows. These citadels were built hundreds of thousands of years in the distant past by the Silver Race.
This is also the area where various Phoenix birds can be seen, not just the singular species known on Vreathe, but several different varieties. Strange Magma Wolves can also be seen in this area, as well as several other smaller animals.
Research Expedition log #6
"It took four days, and we went through roughly a third of our stored aethercite crystals, but we managed to find the phoenixes we were looking for. It took two more days, but we found a phoenix that was previous captured on Vreathe and tagged.Now that we have our prize, we should really be thinking about getting back to our world. The twelve of us took a vote, and the biologists wanted to stay. The mages with us agreed since it meant they would get paid more. I have a lifetime of rocks collected already, but I suppose staying a few more days wouldn't hurt..."
- Caio
Magma Wolves
One of the most powerful and cunning animals of this world are the Magma wolves. These creatures are corrupted forms of gray wolves of Vreathe. They were brought here and corrupted by the God Beirunes after he visited Vreathe in the distant past. Most of the animals on Izi aren't native to this world and were corrupted by Beirunes.
Magma wolves generate a large amount of internal heat, which allows them to survive the unforgivably cold sulfurous wastes. They give off a low intensity glow from this heat they generate and always appear to be glowing red or yellow. They are resistant to heat otherwise and can survive living near the lava flows. They will occasionally be observed swimming in the lava flows, attempting to hunt some unknown creature, possibly a corrupted lava fish.
One other thing to note about Magma wolves is that they are loyal to their creator. They are one of the closest things to intelligent life on this world other than the god of fire, and the shadowy beings that live in the dark citadels. These wolves will go to their masters if they notice something is out of place in this world, and they will also tear apart anything that is foreign to these lands.
Magma wolves are the same size as their non-magical cousins on Vreathe. and have a rather terrifying appearance.
Research Expedition log #8
"It's amazing how quickly the situation just spiraled out of control. There were these, magma wolves that we spotted, or maybe they spotted us. They spent several days tracking us, and then one night while we were asleep, they attacked. By the hundreds they attacked. Our mages were able to fight them off, but not before they managed to kill five members of the expedition. There are now only seven of us remaining. It's time to get the hell off this world and go back to Vreathe!Unfortunately, they are everywhere. We managed to take refuge in one of the dark citadels that dot the landscape. We blocked the doors and are now stuck here..."
- Caio
The Dark Citadels
The first Skyfortress shipyards were constructed in the year 66 kSA, on the world of Vreathe, in the modern day nation of Kalletra. Giant stone platforms were built that still stand to this day. but only seven of the thirteen skyfortresses were built here. The rest were built on the moon Izi.
After the Elder Gods took over the Olimians and declared themselves king, the Silver Race were plotting their revenge. The dark god Tazil showed the Silver Race a secret path to the Moon Izi, where they should have all the raw materials they need to build weapons to defeat the gods. So in the year 319 Ksa, the Skyfortress shipyards on Izi were built. They were among the largest structures the Silver Race ever constructed.
The six skyfortresses built here were Aries, Taurus, Libra, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Ophiuchus. After construction, they waited for their counter attack against the gods, and in the year 375 Ksa, they attacked, successfully sealing the elder gods Alom and Yanneth.
The great structures that built the skyfortresses remained for some time. They were occupied by some of the Silver Race that were greedy things, wanting to dig into the moon Izi and exploit it for resources. Eventually these shipyards were taken apart and many more, smaller structures were built. These were castles and mining facilities. They stayed in operation for many thousands of years, draining Izi of many of its resources, all the way until the Silver Age Cataclysm when the silver people were transformed forever.
These citadels look like they are on fire, but the insides are actually quite reasonable and cool thanks to aethercite crystals still in operation.
Research Expedition log #11
"These dark citadels are actually quite amazing. There are aethercite crystals and mana stones connected in a series of circuits with silver wire. Various magical energies charge through these crystals creating various effects, not to different from the magical circuits that are seen in some of the richer homes in Cassel!In addition to a robust cooling system, there also appears to be some sort of oxygen generator. Now we don't have to generate it with mana and waste our magic! The oxygen stones don't seem to have an equal on Vreathe, so I'm going to attempt to gather a sample, if I can. I'd rather not destroy our only source of air for a rock. I'm not that kind of geologist!
- Caio
Nameless Horrors
When the Silver Age Cataclysm happened, some of the Silver Race were transformed beyond recognition. These were the greediest, most terrible of their people. Their shape took on forms that are difficult to describe. They lost the ability to cast magic as well and the usually calm warm light of the sun would burn them. They had to dig underground and are jealous of humans that are still beautiful.
On the moon Izi, the same thing happened to many of the Silver Race here. They were forced to hide in their citadels and became dark, cold, hateful things. Their ability to use technology is almost nonexistent and they very rarely go outside to hunt for food. They have their pets, the magma wolves, do it for them.
On Vreathe these nameless things still have a functioning society. On Izi, they are primitive and primal beasts that will kill anything they can for food. They no longer have a language or societal hierarchy beyond the strongest being in charge.
Since they mainly only stick to the inside of their citadels, they know every path and tunnel, every possible way to get through these castles. They can also immediately tell if someone enters uninvited, which considering the state of their society, is always.
Research Expedition log #14
"We thought we were alone here, but they were just hiding, studying us, looking for the best moment to attack, separate, and kill us. These things then did so, with brutal efficiency. Four more of us were killed within a few minutes. The Three of us remaining (Me, Andi, and Mireya) tok refuge in a windowed room and blocked the doors.We thought we were safe at first. We blocked all possible entrances, hoping that there was no way these things could get in here, but three days later, Andi was killed and his body disappeared. A trail of blood led to a passageway we thought we covered! This is bad, we are not safe here, We will die on this other world!
Our fate came about two days later when these nameless things filtered in the room by the hundreds. They watched us try to defend ourselves only to then resign ourselves to our fate.
They moved in for the kill but suddenly the doors we blocked were blasted open. We were saved by a pair of elves with fiery red hair! Did the College send someone after us? After they killed the nameless things, they then moved towards us. We could not understand the language they spoke. They then produced several pairs of restraints and quickly cuffed us. We still weren't safe yet."
- Caio
Fire Elves
Not everyone on Izi was transformed into nameless things. A good many of them were turned into various fey similar to the varieties found on Vreathe. There are Orcs, Trolls, Goblins, and Ogres, each living in their isolated tribes somewhere in the sulfurous wastes of Izi.
There are elves here too. When they transformed from Silver Humans into Elves, they absorbed the aether of the moon Izi, which is the aether of the fire god himself, Beirunes. This caused the elves of this moon to become beings of fire, at least partially. While "Elementals" do not exist on Vreathe or anywhere else in this universe, elves that absorbed the aether of an elemental god are the next closest thing.
Fire Elves stand at the same height as regular elves and just as slender. They have orange to red hair that flickers like fire around their heads. When they cast magic, their hair flickers in colors of blue and white as well, as if it is heating up in a similar manner to a flame. Their eyes are almost exclusively bright yellow to orange and they shine like molten metal. Their skin can be a range of colors but usually it is a tan to bronze color.
The earliest fire elves that lived on Izi were told by Beirunes that the Silver Age Cataclysm destroyed Vreathe and they could never go back. This was a lie, but as the original portals between Izi and Vreathe were destroyed, they didn't have any other choice but to believe the fire god. This led to the elves to depend on Beirunes to teach them to survive on this hellish world.
This turned into a cult with later generations of elves, who worshiped Beirunes and developed an unforgiving culture that respects power and nothing else. Beirunes is the most powerful being on Izi so is their king. Male fire elves (and sometimes females) tend to think they are more powerful and regularly challenge Beirunes to a duel. Beirunes always accepts, only to turn the poor elf to ash where they stand.
Research Expedition log #15
"The pair of elves led us outside the citadel. We thought we were going to burn, but it felt oddly cool being around these fiery beings. They led us to a chariot, being pulled by a great beast. It looked like a Rhino. We were led away from the citadel and away from the lava fields, back into the sulfurous wastes. After a few hours we were led to a cavern in the side of a mountain.The inside of this cave seemed to be a paradise! There were various plants growing here. They looked strange compared to the plants on Vreathe, but they were here. There was animal life here. The Cavern was also quite massive! We rode on for a little longer, deeper into Izi until we got to what the two elves called "Girra". It was their city.
I also noticed something else, as we got deeper into the cavern, the further from the unforgiving surface of Izi we were, the further from the aetheric influence of Beirunes, the less the elves had their magic. Their hair fell around their sides and turned a much darker red color. I thought they were beings of fire, but they really are just elves.
- Caio
The Caverns under Izi
While on the surface, the titanic forces of the world of Tarsuros and the other moons seems to be tearing Izi apart, beneath the surface in certain parts of the world there is a different story. Thanks to a type of aethercite called Stable Stone, these regions are calm, void of volcanic activity or earthquakes.
Here, the diversity of life on Izi truly shines. Thousands of different species of plants and animals are adapted for living in the caverns below the surface. Large glowing crystals are found throughout the caverns, lighting the way for these creatures to get around in. Water is available in plentiful quantities and so is oxygen.
It is still quite warm inside these caves, like a sauna and almost unbearable to anyone not native to this world, but it is much better than the burning hellscape near the lava flows or the frozen sulfurous wastelands.
It is here that elves rebuilt their civilization. The network of caverns near the stable stones are quite extensive, with hundreds of cities and hundred more caverns reserved for farming. There are thousands more that are unexplored to this day, filled with strange plants and animals that even the fire elves know nothing about.
The Fire Elf City of Girra. It is nowhere near the largest city on Izi.
Research Expedition log #17
"Our hands were unbound but we were shackled to a long chain inside of a house. We could sort of move around, but we were still prisoners of these elves. I could still write my notes here in this journal, but how is it going to get back to Vreathe, I have no idea.We stayed in the city for three weeks. Various elves came to me and Mireya, attempting to speak to us, but the language barrier was too great. One of the elves that took us prisoner finally told us her name: Ascenda. She spent some time teaching us the basics of their language. It was somewhat similar to the language of the ancient Silver Race, but also very different in some cases.
We also experienced a little of how the elven culture works here. Two elven men saw Mireya and wanted her. One of them made a move only for Ascenda to touch his arm and set it aflame, turning it to ash. The man screamed out in pain while the other one dragged him away. Ascenda wanted to save Mireya for the King himself. Me however...I should not describe what she did to me. The heat of her body was...
Ahem!...that aside, when the three weeks had ended, Ascenda and her sister, named Lumia (the other one that took us prisoner) led us to the Chariot pulled by the Rhino creature (which I learned they call a 'Gigantes'). We started the journey to the King's palace...Their king is of course, the god of fire himself, Beirunes.
- Caio
Beirunes, the God of fire
Beirunes is the god of fire. He is the oldest son of the elder gods Nora and Tazil. His fire is so great, he has to wear armor to keep his heat from burning up everything around him. This god has absolute control over Fire. The Dragon Lord Xiralgus the Nova was created by Tazil using some of Beirunes's power.
The nature of this god for the longest time was destruction. He has fought other gods and elder gods and has destroyed entire worlds. During the dark days before the Golden Age, there was a great war between the Gods. One group of elder gods called the Rena attempted to destroy Meliheal the world tree. Beirunes traveled to the worlds of these Rena and proceeded to turn their world to ash. This raw destructive power made the Tetrad of Vreathe (Alom, Yanneth, Nora, and Tazil) afraid of his power.
The decision came to imprison Beirunes on the Moon Izi. Nora and Tarcur took away a portion of Beirune's power and left him on the moon to stay for all time. This was preferable to being thrown into the crushing depths of Tarsuros, but it was still a prison. Beirunes wandered his world for an uncountable number of years. He knew that the world tree connected to this world in some way. He was looking for a way to break free and find his way back to Vreathe. There he would set fire to the world tree and end everything his parents had worked to build.
Beirunes eventually had his chance. He found a portal to another world. He first came to the world Tealr, a greenish world beyond the known worlds of the star system Vreathe is in. Beirunes used his power to turn the world into a blackened husk. He then made his way to the world Tortur, and then Akoah, burning everything as he went. He left a little of his power behind each time he destroyed a world but he didn't care, he would have more than enough power to burn the world tree.
When he got to Vreathe, he was met with a massive army of Silver Age humans. Behind the army was Tazil, Beirunes's father. Tazil deceived Beirunes, opening the portal to lure him to Vreathe. Beirunes was quickly captured by the Silver Race. He was placed in a tomb he couldn't escape from and was thrown into the sea. Beirunes at first raged for tens of thousands of years. His power leaked out of his tomb, causing firestorms and regularly turning the sea to fog. but he could not escape. Izi was now a free world for Tazil to execute another part of his plans...
Research Expedition log #19
"I know the stories of the Silver Age! Beirunes is a vengeful, hateful god that only wants to destroy everything! There is no question he is going to attempt to torture the information our of me and Mireya. He is going to want to find the portal to Vreathe and then bring destruction to the world!I attempted to jump off the chariot and into a lava river, but Ascenda rescued me before I could make contact with the burning hot liquid. I was then tied to the chariot and could not escape. Mireya seems to accept her fate, and calmly waited for the end. Does she not understand what will happen when Beirunes finds out we're from Vreathe!?!
This is bad....
- Caio
In the darkness of his tomb, Beirunes sat in darkness and silence. He spent quite a few thousands of years with nothing but himself. His rage and desire to destroy everyting eventually quelled. for the first time in history, the god of fire had calmed down. He spent most of the Silver Age meditating in peace, connecting himself with Silnos the creator of everything, something not even the elder gods can do. It is said that Beirunes had many spirited debates with the god of everything over the years, but he lost every single argument.
After the Silver Age Cataclysm spread around the world, the magical locks keeping his tomb shut were broken. Beirunes was free to walk the earth again, to cause widespread destruction on a scale not seen since the golden Age. Instead he traveled to his world of Izi. There he found silver humans, utterly transformed and struggling to survive on his world. He had a chance to destroy the people who imprisoned him.
Instead he led them underground and taught them about his world and how to survive on it. He then went to continue meditating. For thousands of years the fire elven civilization of Izi grew. They all knew the stories of how Beirunes was in the old days and many believed he was still like this, waiting for his time. In reality, Beirunes had turned peaceful...mostly. He will still burn a person to ash without a second thought if challenged.
Research Expedition log #20
"There he was, the god of fire. He sat on his throne, cross legged with his hands together, generating a blue flame. I expected to be burned in his palace, but it actually felt quite cool in there. He had his eyes closed and did not pay any attention to me or Mireya.Lumia presented us before Beirunes, telling him we were humans from the world of Vreathe. She told him that we knew where the lava portal was and that it was their chance, to go to Vreathe and burn it to ash, to finish what Beirunes had started.
Beirunes looked at Lumia and told her 'No'. That was all he said. Lumia was enraged at first. All of Fire Elven culture is built around strength and getting stronger, to help their king further his goal of burning the world tree down.
Beirunes might have been that god back during the Silver Age, and during the Bronze Age when he led the fire elves to safety, he might have still been that god. But now in the Iron Age, he no longer has that desire. He simply said 'Return', then he closed his eyes to continue meditating.
- Caio
Research Expedition log #26
"It has been a month since we were in the presence of Beirunes, the King of Izi, the God of Fire. And now, we are standing at the edge of the sulfurous wastes looking at a familiar lava lake. Ascenda didn't want me to leave, but this was not my world.Me and Mierya took one last look back at the sisters. Lumia and Ascenda didn't say goodbye or wave or anything. They just turned around and got in their chariot and left. They told us we had the blessing of Beirunes and could survive on Izi unharmed, and we could pass through the lava lake without being damaged, but once we left, the blessing would disappear and there would be no return.
Me and Mireya then jumped into the lava lake and swam our way back to Vreathe.
- Caio
Very nice detailed article, I like the individual expedition protocols between the explanations.