ETA ::Profile (Cthyte)

The world, creation of

From the sweeping, sky-islands of the mountaintop cities of Alsace and it's rival, the Dalnan's floating city-ships that soar above the desolation that was once the great continent of Lusur, to the Sievv Republic, hidden away beneath it, waiting for the day when they can return to claim the land that was theirs once again, Cthyte is a varied place. Distantly located are more peaceful, whole lands, such as the Nalvour Reaches, a collection of city-states and fiefdoms that are located far north, bitterly cold and locked in the grip of deadly winter for seven months of the year. The ruins of Larwhyllyn, and it's surrounding neighbors and allies stand among the green lands of Alhyan, at war with the followers of the dread Shade.

Gods, Species, Magic, and Technology

The Pantheon
Magic & Technology
Indigenous and Native Species

Cthyte At A Glance

Cthyte is a wounded world, with it's share of battles, tragedies, and dangers. And yet, amongst the adversity within, life thrives, grows, and learns. No land is truly untouched by strife, untroubled, although some are more peaceful seeming than others.

Three continents make up the world as it's people know it.

Lusur, the southernmost, has harbored life the longest. It is the cradle of human civilization, and saw the rise of both the elves and the fae, before they moved on, literally, to greener pastures. But, a great war ended in it's almost total destruction, leaving a pall of magical smoke cast across the land, mutating and blighting everything below it. The only life that remains is either above the clouds among the new Kingdom of Alsace, or far, far beneath the ground, within the confines of the Republic of Sievv, though neither is safe, the Alsacei beset by invading Dalnans, seeking more land, and the Sievvites locked in a struggle against the lizardmen beneath the surface.

Far to the north lies the ice-locked land of Zurandir, home of the hostile Nalvour Reaches, and the other small, feudal city-nations of it's deadly breadth. The ancient seat of a goddess known only as the Winter Queen lies deep in it's northernmost reaches, a glimmering castle made of ever-frozen ice. Locked in near perpetual winter, it yet manages to survive, even thrive, as a center of magical learning, as well as the defense of Cthyte itself against extraplanar attack. Also found are the most extensive collection of divine artifacts, and arcane relics of the ages, carefully stored within massive libraries, or the towers of the incredibly powerful Archmages.

And amidst the two sits the largest, and most bountiful of the three continents, Sanolth. Girdled by what was once an ancient and rich forest, which has now fallen into a mire of a swamp, and home to the followers of both Cyonva and the Shade, it is also the home of the Dalnans, far to the eastern edge of the continent, as well as the scattered tribes of elves that remain after their civil war. Also upon the Sanolthian continent lies the drowned city of Larwhyllyn capital of , the order of Heretic Knights, who spit in the face of gods and destiny, and the elusive, and xenophobic dwarves. And somewhere deep in the remaining forests of the rich, bountiful continent lies the Sidhe kingdom, in all it's varied, magical glory.

Sky-Kingdom Alsace

The first vestiges of Alsace were formed in the last days before the terrible apocalypse that utterly destroyed Lusur, casting a centuries long pall over it's lands, leaving only it's highest mountaintops still livable, or the ground far beneath it's surface. Some of the Old Kingdom fled upward, in mighty airships, taking to the skies to avoid death for them and their families.

Even though a great number of airships had been built, a surprisingly small amount actually survived the day of devastation, a mere hundred and twenty from the thousands that had fled. But, soon, those large passenger ships had to find port. And that's when the refugees saw the jagged 'islands' of the Alsace mountains jutting from the endless fog below. The mountainside that trailed to the deadly clouds below was green and verdant, and could support food, if carefully tended.

And, unable to return home, they grounded their ships, setting to construction of cities among the clouds, each mountaintop capable of supporting the ships that had landed upon it.

Over the centuries, the cities grew, and, once terracing and cloud-harvesting became commonplace, flourished. Airships of every size and shape traveled the sky between the new kingdom. Factories, mines, and farming became the most important jobs, along with the vital, and often dangerous cloud-harvesting, for each allowed the kingdom to survive, and in good times, grow.

The cities themselves are multi-tiered affairs, with flat sections leveled into the mountain, and extended out from it's solid base, called terraces. The largest city, and capital, Alsace Nira, has a total of seventeen terrace levels, the topmost being the docks district, along with the Palace of the Sun, a gleaming, golden affair that reflects light for miles, during the day. Most of it is taken up with habitation, for it's numerous citizens, as well as a thriving university, a museum that pays quite well for relics of the Old Kingdom, any number of foundries and factories to support the industry of the kingdom, and, at the bottom-most levels, the mines, boring in and down into the bones of the mountain beneath, and the farms, terraced into dizzying patterns on the mountainside below.

There are six sister-cities, each with a slightly different culture, architectural style, and main source of income. From largest to smallest, the seven cities are Alsace Nira, Ulvhin, Iselch, Lusuri, Halfont, Factiim, and the newest, and smallest, Dusk's Keep.

It is from Alsace that Hanna hails, a member of their skynavy, which has slowly grown from little more than a police force to fight brigands and pirates, to a full-fledged force, as the Dalnans become more aggressive.

Dalnan Sky-City Empire

A shard of an expansionist empire based in the east of Sanolth, across the Steel Sea, the massive sky-cities of which have begun to search for land to settle and resources to exploit.

The Dalnan's of Sanloth are seated amidst abundant natural wonders and riches, but are limited in their expansion by the great Swamp of the Fallen Dryad, known as Kuchriil, in the native tongue. Legend holds Kuchriil was once the most ancient forest in the entirety of Cthyte, and was transformed into it's dangerous, and hideous state by a massive magical working of some greedy nation. The Dalnans, of course, deny responsibility.

Massive factories sit astride three mineral-rich valleys, feats of architectural engineering nearly unparalleled, that spit out war machines, and, laboriously, produce massive, floating sky-cities. Only four have been made by the factories, but the structure of a fifth is already taking shape. All four of the sky-cities are dedicated to a directive to expand southward, onto Lusur, which is fable to be the ancient home of the human race, rich with magic, artifacts and technology.

The Dalnans found a wasteland, but one which was slowly healing, allowing them to send the rare scouting party to the surface of Lusur, bringing back fabulous riches that are mere hints of what there truly is.

They possess a capable and highly militant skynavy, with stealth technology, and heavily armed magic-enhanced cruiser-weight ships. which they are currently using to pit themselves in an all-out war with the Kingdom of Alsace.

Underground Republic of Sievv

The second remaining nation of Lusur's once great Agaceai empire, it's a remnant of the rebellious instigators of the civil war that drove Lusur into utter destruction.

Consisting mainly of mine workers, foundry workers, and their families who fled into the vast mine and cave systems of Lusur's mountain ranges, from the cities in the easter deserts, when the catastrophe struck, they were led by Sievv, a powerful business man who took charge of the chaos, and ordered all the mines and caves sealed behind them to prevent whatever magical fallout was killing everyone from following them in.

In the 700 years since the first flight down into the earth, the Sievvites have discovered a unique brand of magic, based on runic symbols and life-force, as well as adapting their culture and outlook to their surroundings.

The reach of Sievv's city-states are limited only by the security of the cavern reaches they occupy, as well as the ability to feed and support their populace.

Of slightly greater concern are the lizardmen tribes that live deeper underground, near volanic vents and pools, which enslave what humans they find underground for use as farmers and workers in the 'frigid' outer reaches of the lizardmen's domain. A war has raged, on and off, for nearly 50 years, with the vile beasts.

Lusur, The Lost Continent

The continent itself was, once, the heart of human civilization. A beacon of advancement and magical technology that was unrivaled the world across. Expeditions and colonization from Lusur's shores, in it's earliest days, were the cause of the spread, far and wide, of human civilization. Most that exist today can still draw cultural roots back to the most ancient of kingdoms and cities in Lusur.

The massive Alsace range, current day home of the Alsace Sky Kingdom, splits the continent nearly in twain. In it's earliest times, the Proto-Algaceai Empire, known then as simply, Algacaei, occupied a vast stretch of north-western Lusur, the valleys and hilly lands that lead up to the foothills of the Alsace range.

A bevy of minor city-states and fledgling nations took up much of the rest of the western side of Lusur, while the east was a drier, more arid clime, and it's people's were typified by tribal, semi-nomadic peoples.

Within three thousand years, Algaceai, a nation in first, had become expansionist, and begun to conquer nations, some by force, others by negotiation. It took only a scant 400 years for the nation of Algaceai to stretch from the northernmost to the southernmost shore, bound only by the nearly impassable bulk of the Alsace range, shielding the tribal peoples of the eastern reaches from their more advanced, and better organized cousins.

Algaceai didn't see the addition of it's 'Empire' title until the end of the 8th millenia. Explorers, always searching for a way to plumb the nearly unexplored regions across the mountains, found access to a system of tunnels and caverns that stretched, it seemed, infinitely down into the earth, plumbing it's depths, and more importantly, beneath the towering range, emerging, the explorers found with a bit of trial and error, in the sandy stretches of the east.

The wars of conquest took another century, in order to bring all the scattered tribes and peoples of the east under 'civilized' rule, thanks in large part to the limited amount of troops they were able to send through the cave system, as well as the hostility of the environment they found themselves in on the other side.

Even for the length of Algaceai's dominance over the breadth of Lusur, tensions between the eastern and western halves of the empire remained strong, and in the end, resulted in a civil war that shattered the continent, leaving it in it's sorry state.

Nalvour Reaches

Perched on the far northern edge of the world, the Nalvour Reaches is the name for a loose confederation of independent city-states, which have formed a coalition of sorts, allying themselves to survive the harsh, and often deadly winters of Zurandir.

Originally, the cities of the Reaches were colonies of Lusur's vast civilization, outposts and research station. But, as the civil war that tore the great civilization apart began to rage, they were cut off from supplies and control, and generally forgotten in the turmoil. Forced to fend for themselves, the colonies turned to the magical researchers that were stationed there for help.

As they worked to create cities, such as the sprawling valley-town of Nalv, with it's Silver Tower, or the mountainside retreat of Ouria, their mages became vitally important. Over the centuries of isolation, the people of the Reaches have become quite magically talented, with a long tradition of mages. Five towers were established, one in each of the largest city-states, each crafted solely of magic and a precious metal. They range from Silver to Gold, from Platinum to Copper. The fifth, and most recent, is the Iron Tower.

The Reaches themselves range for hundreds of miles in east and west across the southern edge of Zurandir's icy breadth, in the only parts of the continent which see even the slightest hint of spring and summer. Winters are often inordinately long, ice and snow holding sway for eight months out of the year. Life is difficult, and would be utterly impossible but for the magic that it's people wield.

Thanks to their isolation, they are relatively unaware of the cataclysm that claimed Lusur, as well as the wars currently raging. Only recently have they begun to seek to build ups and reach out for the world that left them forgotten.

Kestrel was born and raised in Nalv, and is currently the Archmage of the Silver Tower.

Larwhyllyn, and the lands of the Cyonit

Larwhyllyn, and the lands surrounding it, are the domain of Cyonva. His devout followers populate much of the reaches of western Sanolth, although they do share it with the industrialized cities of the Dalnans, devout worshipers of the Shade.

In truth, they've been locked in a war with the Dalnan forces for years, a pitched battle over a rough, battle-ruined stretch of land that divides the two peoples. Or, at least, they were at war, though the assaults inexplicably stopped on the very same day that Larwhyllyn fell, collapsing in on itself and filling it's valley with water as it blocked the river it stood astride, leaving a lake in it's place.

The lands of the Cyonit, in addition to being the home of Cyonva's followers, are also the heartland of the Heretic Knights, an organization dedicated to stopping divine interference in the lives of mortals by any means nessecary. They hold no allegiance to a higher power, and believe that fate and destiny are meant to be broken and disobeyed. Their power is swelling, after the percieved abandonment of his followers by the Lord of Mercy, and soon they may become a very real political power within the Cyonit.

Tranquil is one of the few survivors of Larwyllyn's fall, witnessing it first hand. She's also one of the prime reasons for the upswell of support for the cause of the Fate Breakers.

The Former Port of Langauli

Langauli, a thriving town on the northern coast of Sanolth, is notable not just for it's wealth and unique culture, but also for the fact that it's the home of the unique art of hydromancy, and it's practitioners, members of the Vaushalt family.

The Vaushalt academy, an ancient, massive edifice, is a center of magical learning. Though it focuses and specializes in the training of hydromancers, there are also visiting teachers who are possessed of other arcane talents. The Academy is notable for turning no one who has the power and seeks knowledge away.

As well as a magical center, it's a trading port, and a fishing center for the northern part of Sanolth, owing to it's rich, abundant oceans. Possessed of a unique culture, it's popular as a tourist spot, for those who can afford the cost of a voyage there.

Umbriel hails from this town, although, in her time, the city has been razed to the ground by an unknown force..

The Girdling Swamp

The Sidhe Kingdom

The Lands of the Dolthrae

The Pantheon of Cthyte

Cyonva, Lord of Mercy:

Cyonva is known far and wide as a benevolent and generous god, who protects and nutures his followers with a careful hand. Once, he was known as the creator of Larwhyllyn, but rumors have begun to circulate as to his role in the collapse of the Heartstone and utter destruction of the city itself. Citizens of nearby Alhyan say that the valley itself is nothing but a placid lake, now, and once would need a boat to approach the other side of the valley from Sunset Pass.

Cyonva and his followers are involved in a war with the Shade and his own followers, a conflict that has lasted for nearly fifty years, with countless lives wasted on both sides. The Shade wants more followers and the fertile lands of Cyonva's for his own, while those of the Lord of Mercy seek to protect their own and end the fighting, hatred slowly taking root in their hearts against their merciless enemies.

Alexiel is an Angel of Mercy, and servant of Cyonva, although she acts more independently than she used to, thanks to her status as 'tainted'.

The Winter Queen, Shadow of the Ice:

The Winter Queen brings the ice, snow and worse, the cryswolves to the Nalvour Reaches, for 9 months of each year. Each is deadly by itself, but together, it makes winters in the Reaches incredibly dangerous.

Priests and priestesses of such a fell goddess are understandably few. To bolster their numbers, the Winter Queen laid claim to all orphans, especially females. Women, and men, marked by the shadow of the Winter Queen are, by tradition, to be given all hospitality due, but her shadow is considered a curse, as the marked are forced to find their way to her temple, far in the icy north, and dedicate themselves to her, under a compulsion that roots itself in the very seat of their souls.

The mark itself is quite plainly noticeable. Any soul who has fallen under it's sway cannot be touched by sunlight. They literally stand in shadow, even in the brightest day, and the air around them is perpetually cold.

The Shade, King of Pain:

Valyarash, Warmth of the Summer:

Valli

The Lady of the Fae Court:

Magic & Technology in Cthyte

Indigenous and Native Species

Anjani: The first race to walk the face of Cthyte. Immortal, nomadic plant-folk, who are loathe to build cities or edifices, for fear of marring the natural beauty of the world around them. Bound to the lands of their birth, and dependent on the magical forces that underly their homes for reproduction, they are mysterious and poorly understood, as most are insular, and the dwindling number of them has made it hard to find any accounts, other than the rare historical record of dealings with them.

The anjani were faced with near-extinction during a prolonged war over places of magical power, known, in the few fragments of history text that remain about it, as the Leyline War. In the end, only the intervention of the gods settled the war in their favor, ending in the imprisonment of the majority of the Fae within the otherworldly Sidhe Kingdom, while the elves were stripped of much of their power and immortality, and left to wander Cthyte, as a lesser punishment for having been conscripted into the war.

Fae: The second eldest race, created by a goddess who sought worldly power. Sacrificing much of her divinity, she crafted a race in her own image, near demigods, who walked the earth. The Lady herself became Queen of the Court, a powerful entity, but no longer a goddess. Incredible, impossible kingdoms sprung up seemingly overnight, as they built cities and bent the world around them to their will. Haughty, proud and endlessly hungry for more, the Fae spread from their forest homes on Sanolth, reaching further afield.

Soon, they discovered their own uses for the leylines that the anjani required to continue their species, draining them to achieve almost deific levels of power, propelling whoever consumed the leyline's strength to the top of the convoluted political turmoil. Anjani died when these places were stripped bare, and soon, war broke out.

The Fae created elves, much in the same way their Lady had created them, a lesser echo, to serve as soliders and tools in their war, as it stretched onward.

Only the intervention of the deities ended the conflict, and the Fae's kingdoms were plucked from Cthyte, all tucked into a fragmented dimension, where they could watch, but never affect the world, unless summoned into it by another.

Elves:

Human:

Lizardmen:

Dwarves:

Dolthrae:

Amethyst
Betsy
Calidus
Civi
Claire
Linnea
Rian
Tranquil

Cthyte

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