The Sun Valley
Xana
"Welcome to my domain!""You do know you're tresspassing, right? I see those crystals you stole. If you drop them now, I may forgive you!"
The Sun Valley is a currently unpopulated area of Northeast Cassel, surrounded on all sides by mountains. It is bordered by Gwerra to the East and Wheages to the West. The area is difficult to access and is overflowing with various types of ancient magics, which are said to fold the fabric of reality in on itself. Usually the valley is covered by a fine yellow-green mist, a result of glowing aether that is not technically possible anywhere else on Vreathe (aether mist usually glows red and blue).
There are many stories about the true nature of the Sun Valley. One popular myth is that when the Fairies descended from the moon Kalbeth in the Bronze Age, they took pieces of the moon with them and the Sun valley is one such piece. Another story is that the Sun Valley is actually a massive crater from an ancient impact, and that a large Ember of creation crashed in the area. Either story can help explain the highly unstable nature of the lands, but only Xana knows the truth.
The edges of the land in bordering baronies are for the most part unsettled. A few hundred humans and elves live in villages on the edges of the valley, but no one except for the fairy Xana lives in the valley itself. This is her domain, and she has (nearly) absolute control over anything and everything that happens in it.
Year Created:
Capital:
Controlled by:
Capital:
Controlled by:
Not Established
Not Established
Xana
Not Established
Xana
Land Area:
Climate:
Climate:
2,151 km2
Temperate Continental
Temperate Continental
Population:
Demograpics:
Demograpics:
1
1 Fairy
1 Fairy
The Fairy Xana
The sole resident of the Sun Valley is the fairy Xana. Her actual name is lost to time and "Xana" describes her name as much as it described what she is. Compared to other fairy folk in Cassel, Xana is easily the most powerful. She is the most helpful fairy, but also the least tolerant. She is easy to anger, but it is also easy to bribe her and gain favor. It used to be difficult to please her, but today, it is actually quite simple.
Ever since Cassel brought chocolate back from their expedition to the eastern continents, Xana couldn't get enough of the stuff. She will let you pass in the Sun Valley if you give her some. She will allow you to stay in the Sun Valley for a single day, and will even allow you to take one of the powerful aethercite crystals the area is known for.
"Hey, I'm not that easy to--okay I am that easy to please. Give me my weight in chocolate and I will let you take a single aethercite crystal from my domain. If you don't have any chocolate, you better explain why you are here, or....GET THE HELL OUT!"
Resources
Aethercite Crystals
If you do get the favor of Xana and are allowed to enter the Sun Valley freely, there are aethercite crystals all over the place, in greater concentrations than anywhere else in Cassel. Xana has no interest in them, but she also doesn't appreciate people entering her domain for the sole purpose of gathering them in large amounts.Around 1500 years ago, the Tenth Vernador raised an army of over fifty thousand soldiers. He wanted to invade the Sun Valley, capture or kill Xana, and take the riches for the kingdom. Xana responded by turning the entire army into large bears, who proceeded to spend the next week ripping each other to shreds, turning the Azure Sea red for several days. The survivors still inhabit the valley as a warning.
She made the King immortal, and he still roams the valley as a transformed bear, wearing a crown set with all the aethercite crystals he ever wanted.
Rare Elements
One does not need to dig far into the earth here to find all manner of rare elements, from gold to platinum, irridium and osmium. There are also several elements that are so modified by aether that it is otherwise impossible to exist on Vreathe.
Most people are greedy and try sneaking into the valley in search of a gold vein. Xana's usual response is to turn one of their arms into gold. The person usually does one of two things after: apologize and get their limb turned back to normal, or they attempt to drag their now 100 kg arm out of the valley to sell. Little do they know that Xana's magic makes it so the arm turns back to normal the moment they cut it off.
Most people are greedy and try sneaking into the valley in search of a gold vein. Xana's usual response is to turn one of their arms into gold. The person usually does one of two things after: apologize and get their limb turned back to normal, or they attempt to drag their now 100 kg arm out of the valley to sell. Little do they know that Xana's magic makes it so the arm turns back to normal the moment they cut it off.
"Human (and elven) greed never ceases to dumbfound me."
The aethercite crystals are so numerous in some parts of the valley that they litter the forest floor and are easily visible.
The vast majority of Aethercite crystals here are sapphires, or at least have the appearance of them. They store magic differently than crystals found elsewhere on Vreathe, and looking inside one is like peering into a window to another, unknown world.
The vast majority of Aethercite crystals here are sapphires, or at least have the appearance of them. They store magic differently than crystals found elsewhere on Vreathe, and looking inside one is like peering into a window to another, unknown world.
Wildlife
Eagle
Eagles from all over Cassel will head to the Sun Valley to breed. The Sun Valley is closed off from threats normally found in the Mountains of Cil such as drakes, making it the perfect location for eagles to raise their young.Every year near the end of spring, the eagles can be seen flying out of the Sun Valley by the thousands to head off to wherever they originally came from, with young eagles following their parents then going off on their own a few weeks later.
Yurrian Rabbit
several types of rabbits are common in the Sun Valley, multiplying rapidly, feeding the population of eagles. This particular variety of rabbit comes from the nation of Yurrimkil, and were originall bred for their fur and meat. They are also quite large, reaching a meter or so in length as adults.They likely escaped from a farm set up in Esurian or Wheages, and in the relative safety of the Sun Valley, multiplied and flourished.
Doric Bear
"Doric Bears are the descendants of that annoying army that tried invading my domain a milennia or two ago! They have their own bearish language and human level intelligence!
I will sometimes take pity and turn one back into a human, but...I'M STILL ANGRY THEY EVEN TRIED TO INVADE MY DOMAIN!"
I will sometimes take pity and turn one back into a human, but...I'M STILL ANGRY THEY EVEN TRIED TO INVADE MY DOMAIN!"
Bronze Sheep
In the grasslands between the forests, large herds of undomesticated sheep roam. There are two known varieties of Aether Infected Sheep in this region, one of fire, and one of earth. Both have the appearance of a normal Bronze sheep.The Males grow large horns and channel their magic into them when they charge at other males and threats. If the males charging at each other are infected with a different variety of aether, the collision will generate a magical explosion. When the smoke clears, both males disappear.
Town of Curio
The Sun Valley has no one living here yet, but in the future, when Azure becomes its own kingdom, the town of Curio will become the epicenter of a bloody--
The Town of Curio does not exist yet in this causality.
You are in violation of the Law of Nora, the Supreme Judge.
Continued violations will result in your erasure from this reality.
This is your only warning.
Xana
"Heh...Oh yeah! There's this, uhm...time travel war that happens in two thousand years, and in seven thousand years, and also happened ten thousand years ago. I know that's random and confusing, but...probably not a good idea to talk about it right now. Nora is still angry about that one!Let's just, pretend you didn't see this yet!"
by Chrispy_0
A Hand-drawn and colored map of Curio, showing the main town and the surrounding villages, dated to [REDACTED].
Hi! Congrats on this work! I really liked the visual representation of this article, the amount of visual and the original CSS when the reader accidentally violated the Law of Nora was great to me. This really gave of a feeling of a "whimsical place" to me! A hidden natural reserves with unique wild species and a powerful yet irritable species protecting it all is a fantastic place to imagine. And this information on Curio... It makes me curious; is there a way to read more about this?
Thanks for reading and leaving this comment! On Curio, it was a town that existed in the earliest versions of this world, but doesn't exist (yet) in the current version because I changed the time period. An article does exist, but as it is almost four years old, it isn't well written or formatted so it's not public. I am going to revisit that time period in the future, eventually.