Summary

The world here isn’t like Earth. In fact, one would be hard pressed to even call this place a world but a plane or a space of existence would be better terms. The people here do not live on terrestrial bodies that orbit a sun in a pattern over and over and over again. No, the people here live in an expanse. As far as the eye can see, there is nothing but open sky and islands that dot the skyline. Floating islands. This expanse, known as Arvalan, has many amazing wonders of different people and sights. Some islands are as large as a house, others as large as a country. It’s rumored there are even larger land masses out there still, but the expanse is not fully explored.

 

However, that is only on the Horizontal axis of the plane. Should a traveler go too far up or down, they’ll be met with an unusual sight. To the skies far above, a giant ocean seems to stop and defy gravity. The waters becoming dark quickly and preventing vision into this sea. Those who have attempted to travel it have failed to return. Towards the bottom is a constant thunderstorm with lightning arcing upwards into the sky. Likewise to the sea, this storm has not been successfully passed and then had those people return.

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Main City

The major hub, Seyaria, is a market center of many smaller and larger islands and island clusters. The city is based in the similarly named country Seyaria. They control many smaller islands that farm the food for the people there. The city was founded before the country when the Seyaran people landed upon the cliffs of a new, large island after fleeing their home in Utal. From there the people began to spread out over the landscape and onto the islands nearby, forming the need of a central hub with a proper government. The city has had to expand several times to accommodate the growing size of the population. It is by no means the only discovered government, but instead one of many. Seyaria is peaceful with all but the pirate nation of Madoria and the Kol'ok empire of Lok'kal.

 

The city is a Monarchy. While the proper terms for the royalty are King and Queen, they sometimes are referred to as Grand Protector. This role is regulated by a number of branches underneath them, which the people elect, that provide balances to prevent any absolute ruler. For the most part, the position of Grand Protector is mostly just for the name, but the role they serve to the people is to direct, calm, and assist the people. Should there be no heir to the throne, the replacement is required to be from the military or be of military training, come from Seyaria, and be well educated. While the position is for life, many retire before passing, handing over the reins to their heir. However, being the Heir does not mean absolute that you will lead, and should they prove to be an incapable leader, they can be renounced of royalty and a new King or Queen is appointed by the elected officials.

 

The other branches of government include the Generals, High Justices, Commons, and Treasury. The Generals command the military and police forces, but cannot go to war without the People voting on it in the Commons. Nor can they fund themselves without the Treasury. The High Justices dictate the laws the other branches set forth and if they feel they should or shouldn’t be laws, but they cannot enforce them or fund the enforcement of them. The Commons can supercede that by turning the unlawful act into law (which has never occurred to modern date). The Commons make the law, but the Generals don’t have to enforce it. The Treasury can deny funding, but can be overturned by the other three overruling. The Grand Protector falls into the Generals side of the government.

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Terms

Human/Humanoid: These are the terms used to describe any bipedal creature with a sentient mind that comes from this plane of existence.

Tauric: This is the term to describe any quadrupedal creature with a sentient mind that comes from this plane of existence.

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Weather, Seasons, and Day/Night

The plane of Arvalan, also referred to as the Living Realm, does have weather and day and night cycles. These are bizarre and influenced by the storm and ocean. Chur is plagued by constant thunder and lightning storms due to its proximity to the storm, but also seems to be in a location that gets an abundant amount of rain. Where rain comes from is something people aren’t entirely sure. But not every place gets it evenly, leaving some places to turn into tropical jungles like Lu’ryl or deserts like Lok’kal. The plane has meteorologists, but most rely on some form of magic to predict how the weather will be. However, not all weather is gentle in Arvalan. Lok’kal suffers major wind storms with cutting sand. Areas of Seyaria are decimated by cyclones of wind that tear homes apart and kill those still in it. Utal suffers from those cyclones as well, but also deals with magnetic storms which draw lightning from the Storm to strike at the island. The open sky is sometimes even plagued with great amounts of cloud cover, making flight difficult and hide islands they might crash into. These also sometimes hide a water spout from the ocean that violently spins and sucks ships upwards.

 

Time functions similarly to our own world in periods of twenty-four hours. Half of that time is lit by what is believed to be the surface of the ocean or some kind of light-like chemical or magic that resides on the surface of it. But for unknown reasons, the other half of the day is dimmed and only gets a soft blue-white glow to drape over the land. Not all cultures adhere to a day schedule, but it is typical with Seyarans. More popular shops hire workers of nocturnal cultures to keep business going throughout day and night. Only major cities tend to have this benefit, especially Seyaria. Time of day, as far as everyone has found, is Universal. The light is equal from Lok’kal to Utal.

 

It is also important to note that Arvalan’s seasons are more abnormal than those of Earth’s. Rather than following a cycle of Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall, the plane has two seasons. The Chill, also known as Winter, and then the rest of the time of the year, also known as the Still Winds or Summer. The Chill is a yearly storm that settles over the plane, coating it in rain, hail, snow, and other similar storms. This hits Seyaria, Madoria, and Utal the hardest and Lok’kal the least. The Chill lasts for roughly six months starting in the month of Harvest and ends in the month of Thel’hu, but some plants can begin to grow again in the month of Guknol. The rest of the Arvalan calendar is of warmer weather.

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Curiously, the early form of navigation while traveling linked nicely with the day and night schedule. While the ocean doesn't have telltale signs like the stars at certain points of the year, it does have a current that goes North while it illuminates and South while it is dark. It wasn't until later that the compass was built using some of the same rock that kept the islands afloat. This compass seemed to be able to detect the ocean currents which made many researchers ponder what effect it has on the islands. No answer has been found yet. The most recent version of the compass is magical and always points to true north.

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The Planes

The Mortal Plane

The plane of Arvalan and where the rest of this setting section describes. As such, I won’t go much in detail here. Furthermore, the name is not to say the denizens of the other planes are immortal or in some way non-mortal.

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The Realm Beyond

The plane functions as the destination of the dead for all other planes. This plane of death stretches onwards, as many speculate, forever. Once someone dies, a servitor of death guides them to their final resting place within the Realm Beyond. Here the souls can intermingle and spend time with other deceased loved ones and family. Then they may return to their own slice, which they can share, of the Realm to relax. This life isn’t much different than on the normal plane, but lacks much of the difficulty of labor and illness. However, if it is known to be this great, why doesn’t everyone just kill themselves and come here? The longer your life, the more you have in your afterlife. More land to spend time with loved ones. This is a percentage based on usual lifespans of the race. So a long-lived Seyaran will have more than a short lived Lu’ryn even if they both lived to a hundred years old. Lastly, horrible souls, ones who murdered and did terrible things for enjoyment, aren’t sent here. Their souls are doomed to wander lost and confused on their home plane. Unable to take enjoyment from anything or harm anyone without aid of another being or thing.

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The Elemental Plane

Fire, Earth, Air, and Water are the main four element types that compose almost everything. Air contains Sonic. And, when combined with fire, nets you Electricity and, when combined with water and fire, nets you steam. Almost everything non-living but magic exists made from a combination of these four elements or the combination of them. The plane itself is the location all four elements meet. Liquid fire collides with water to form earth below the open air above. It is sometimes believed that this is the founding point of all other planes.

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The Etherium

The home of Angels and Demons, Etherium shares a reputation of constant war. The two existing species hold a grudge against each other for crimes long ago. New crimes against the other happening constantly due to both sides holding the grudge. From time to time, members of the species fail to uphold the grudge and flee to the Mortal Plane. These creatures are more powerful than mortal species but not immortal. This happens very rarely. The chance of them approaching mortals to assist their side happens far more frequently.