Saturday, March 26, 2011

known shards

Known Shards

The shard of Megalos has had little dealings with other shards until relatively recently... thanks for the most part to the goblin explorer Vespucio... Who travelled off the shard in a very odd and dangerous craft known as a wind ship. Vespucio returned years later with a small fleet of ships, carrying thousands of marvels and wonders from dozens of shards... Since then trade routes have been established with several of the new found shards. Explorations continue constantly, mostly funded by both the Order of St Thomas, and House Ariadne (the spell weavers). The following is a list of those shards now known to the people of Megalos.

Tejas
Tejas shard is the best known of the other shards, populated mainly by giants (Tejans), with a large goblin population as well. This shard is primarily grasslands and sagebrush desert. The Primary economy is the raising of dragons; not the intelligent kind of course, but rather the brainless Dragon cows (brontosaurus like) and Dragon bulls (a much smaller, winged version, something like a Wyvern). Tejas is also famous for its powerstone mines... The biggest and best stones in the shards come from Tejas. Heck, If you ask a Tejan, the biggest and best of everything comes from Tejas!
The average Tejan stands eight foot, nine inches tall, and tends to dress in dragon leather clothes, with large shade hats. Their most common personal weapons are hand held crossbows, short, heavy scimitars they call Bowies, and lariats. Tejans are famous far and wide for their love of brawling.



Gondwana
This shard supports an empire easily as large as Megalos, and has been around easily as long, if not longer. The Archeron empire is ruled by a god-king with absolute power over his subjects... the great pyramids that dot their empire are the burial sites of former rulers, silent testimony to the empires wealth and power. A great desert, thousands of miles in size dominates one entire fourth of the shard, with the rest divided between jungle and grassland. Imported from Gondwana are spices, exotic animals, and gemstones.
Gondwana is a large shard, and the people are divided into many cultures. Moslems flourish in small pockets, yet the dominant religion remains pagan, with large pantheons. The dominant race is human, but other races can be found... Primarily reptile and insect men. A common race of tribal nomads are the Punts, short and dark skinned, with dwarven features... but the race is beardless, and hair tends to be wiry and black.
Archeron dress tends toward loincloths or loose flowing robes, due to the great heat put out by the dome... yet their culture seems remarkably advanced. Common weapons include swords, bows, and a wicked personal dagger with a long twisted blade.

Tamoachan
This shard is peopled primarily by Goblins and centaurs, The Goblins dominate about half the shard, the centaurs control the rest. The Goblin empires are known as Azatek and Taracua, they are nothing at all like the goblins common to Megalos. Where Megalos goblins have become very much an established part of the mostly human shard... The Goblins of Tamoachan are xenophobic and prone to violence. They are fierce warriors, and take many prisoners to be sacrificed to evil pagan deities. Nevertheless, their empire can be compared to that of archeron... they also erect great ziggurats, but instead of burial crypts, the pyramids are shrines and altars to their dark gods.
The Centaurs belong to a great many tribal nations, banded together against the goblins... Nations include Cree, blackfoot, and Apache tribes, each of with have various specialties worthy of export. Trade includes gold, silver, wood products, furs, and exotic plants.
The goblins tend towards loincloths and loose clothing like the Archerons, but also tend to tattoo themselves a great deal. Their most common weapon is the spear and atl-atl, as well as war clubs covered with sharp obsidian stones or animal teeth. These goblins do share the same flair for invention as goblins elsewhere, but they tend to be along the lines of mass destruction and lethal traps.
The centaurs have various modes of dress depending upon their tribe, but deerskin clothing is common, and ritual tattoos can be found as well, but style can change dramatically between tribes. the most common weapons are the spear, bow, and a small throwing axe.

Utguard
This is a cold shard of harsh winds and great dark forests. Hyborea, Cimmeria, and Jotunland are the three main countries. All three countries are pagan, but Jotunland is becoming more and more christian in it's beliefs. It is a favorite spot for Megalos missionaries.The Jotun Longships with their vandals and raiders are feared through out the shards. No coastal town is safe from their raids, and not many larger cities have been free of attack either... Megalos has made a deal with the Utguardians. In exchange for protection from raids, Megalos trades with them regularly. The principal races of Utguard are Orcs, goblins, and an unusual proportion of hobgoblins... But many races can be found on the shard, due to the habit of taking slaves. It should be noted that the child of a slave can easily win his freedom, and many of the top layers of Utguard society are no longer orcs. Humans often rise in the less combat orientated areas of society. There is absolutely nothing an Utguardian enjoys more than a good knock-down drag out fight. preferably with edged weapons. The Dwarves of Utguard have little direct dealing with the orcs... the war between them has been going on now for centuries. They share the same traits as dwarves from most other shards, but tend to be a bit more colorful, and (to other dwarves) suicidal.

Utguardians wear heavy fur clothing for the most part, weapons include virtually anything found among the shards, Utguardians aren't particular. Axes and picks abound simply due to the war with the Dwarves. Orcs make very little of their own weapons or armor, preferring to take them from their enemies. Dwarves correspond almost exactly to the Megalos version, differences being that berzerkness is more common, and they also worship the pagan deities of the Norse Mythos.

The Underside
Each of the great shards is only shielded on one side. The other is left open to the odd effects of the aether... When first cast onto this dimension, the undersides resembled great rocky, lifeless rifts in the earth... much like the underside of a large shovelful of grassy lawn. But surprisingly, many species have adapted well to the aether, including sea life. Yes, sea life.
Due to the enterprises of an arch mage, all aquatic life that is cast into the aether is transformed into air breathers... with levitational movement exactly duplicating the same locomotion the creature had in the water. This Archmage used spells every other wizard in the shard would gladly kill to learn.
Because of his great magic, Life abounds in the aether... grasses, plants, and seaweed have taken root in the nooks and valleys of the underside. Trees grow next to coral reefs, moray eels lie in wait for unsuspecting pigeons, and great clouds of brine shrimp fly through the aether... chased by whales.
Without gravity... the life has adapted in often bizarre ways. trees can grow to incredible heights, but with no "up" or "down" tend simply to grow in incredibly twisted shapes. The light is dimmer off a shard as well, so plants tend to be a darker color to absorb more of its energy.
The principle races of the Underside are Winged Folk, Great eagles, Mermen, Fisherfolk, and the illithids. Cultures vary greatly, depending on which race and even which shard. Trade consists of coral, pearls, fish, and other treasures of the aether.

Islands
Islands are small shards, and there are thousands of them. They are divided into two basic types, shielded and unshielded.
Of the shielded islands, most were created during the great reconstruction just after the world was whisked into this dimension. These islands have full gravity, day and night, and standard weather patterns. In short, they are much like the larger shards. However some of the shields were created later, by powerful mages who did not have the support of the 900 to fall back on... Some of these islands have warped weather patterns, or inconsistent gravity, or the mage put an unusual twist on the shield that allows for odd effects. These isles can be very strange places indeed. One Island for instance is known to heat up to boiling temperature one day a month, due to a major error on the mages calculations.

The unshielded Islands have no gravity, and weather is as erratic as the rest of the Aether... These Isles tend to be the homes of the original races of this dimension... the illithids and the lifeforms that have evolved on this plane. They resemble great asteroids, with no apparent top or bottom.

Other Shards
These shards are not generally traded with... they are believed to be legendary, possibly fiction.

Necrom
This shard is rumored to be full of undead of all types... primarily bales and vampires. What living races that can be found serve as cattle for them. The only thing protecting the other shards from their depravitity is an unusual field around the entire shard, apparently keeping them within it. obviously little is know about this place.

Arcadia
A shard entirely covered in forest with small scattered lakes and pastoral clearings... Home to elves, the entire shard is rumored to be hidden by powerful magic to protect against trespassing. Most believe it a myth.

Center
This shard never moves from it's location. It is rumored to be the location where the 900 cast their collective spell that saved the world from destruction. It is a small shard, and difficult to get to. Besides, an elder dragon is rumored to live there, why would anyone deliberately go there?

No comments:

Post a Comment