The World of Anyara: A fantasy universe proposal

[Czernobog]

The Nations

There are many nations and races in the world, but let's start with the biggest ones first. To the north -east there lie the isles of Aesirheim, where two great tribes predominate - the Kriegan and the Svengir, locked in eternal war and feud. The tribes also send down raiding ships, to plunder and pillage wherever they see fit. To stand against them, the Kingdom of Azura was formed, ruled by aristocrats, knights and powerful sorcerers.

To the south of Azura, there is the Magocracy of Tzakathar, a great and powerful nation. It is ruled by mages, dominated by the Council of Nine and its powerful legions of mage-warriors.

To the east of Azura and directly south of Aesirheim lie the isles of Vangaer, a rainy, wind-swept and mist-covered place that is heavily mountainous and bears the brunt of Aesirheim's raids, as well as constant attacks by supernatural creatures. It is for this reason that the vast majority of the population dwell in castle-cities, designed to protect them from what lies outside.

The Magocracy ends at the Lessarial River, north of where the elven cities are built. Wrought of beautiful, magically wrought crystal, they shine in the light of the sun and moon, wondrous and otherworldly. Unfortunately, the elves are at war with the Tamared Hordes, a horse-riding people from beyond the mountains and the Western Desert.

The elven dominion ends to the Urghai Empire, ruled over by the Orcs. It dominates vast areas of the globe, from the mountains and plains of Hellenos to the wharves of Al-Imaji, ending only at the borders of the Great Jungles. Barbaric tribes rule these jungles, until one reaches the great Southern Cliffs, from which the mountains of the Zan Zheng Islands can be seen.

The Zan Zheng Islands are known after the founder of the civilisation on them, known only as Zan Zheng. They are strange to the people of the northern lands, and practice bizarre customs and rituals. They are known for their grasp of magic, and are exceedingly skilled with using it in combat.

The Races

Humans are the most successful race on Anyara, being a 'jack of all trades' without unique specialisations or handicaps. Otherwise, they are much the same as on our world, except the fact that they can command the powers of magic.

Elves or Eldaril ('sky-children' in their tongue, and the name they call themselves) are an extremely long-lived race that can live up to 10,000 years. Elves have perfect recall and have greater hand-eye co-ordination, and the least intelligent elf is a genius in human terms. However, the elves are far more conservative than the other races, and their city-states have not advanced technologically in millennia.

Orcs (Urghai in their own tongue) are the second most successful race, have built the great Urghai Empire (lit. Orcish Empire (even though it is not home to all orcs)) and have advanced greatly technologically in the last few centuries, even developing gunpowder from the people of the Zan Zheng Islands.

Dwarves (Duergan in their own language) are another great race, having created vast underground fortresses in the Steel Mountains in the Urghai Empire, designed so that they could defend against the great wars and catastrophes on the outside.

The other races are minor and not of note.

Magic and the Gods

Magic and the gods are closely intertwined. Magic is an all-pervading force, controllable by sentient beings and even some animals. It is the life of the universe, its heartbeat. The gods likewise, represent important facets of either the universe or the sentient mind. They are one and the same. The gods have immense powers, as they can control vastly greater amounts of magic than any others, and they can bestow some of their power on a priest, granting him magical abilities.

There are two factions of the gods: Utiolth's faction and Aesanar's faction. Utiolth desires that the lives of the non-divine races be interfered in and controlled - Aesanar desires that they be allowed to struggle and live on their own. They dare not fight one another, for the goal of each faction (Utiolth's and Aesanar's) is the domination of existence, and a full-out battle between gods would allow the Eternal Ones to break in and destroy everything that exists, something that was barely stopped at the beginning of the divine war.

Thus, they struggle through proxies, letting them battle against each other without harming the fabric of reality, even if the battle can never be one by either side. There are also divinities neutral to the struggle, but they are minor and unimportant.

[Czernobog]

Beyond the Physical: The Cosmology of the Universe

The Physical Realm

The Physical Realm is the world where most creatures live, a normal world. Beyond the confines of our globe, it is said, are the stars and planets of the night sky, where beauty beyond imagining can be found and seen.

The Light and Dark Mirrors

The Light and Dark Mirrors are the closest realms to the physical, and the most normal (excluding the Physical Realm, of course). The Dark Mirror is a wintry, ruined and desolate vision of our own world, teeming with undead, where the Shadow Fae dwell. The Light Mirror is a bright and glorious version, in an eternal summer where everything is alive and wonderful in its forms, the home of the Bright Fae. Both these places have their dangers, and those who enter them are never the same again.

The Elemental Ring

Beyond the light and dark mirrors lies the Elemental Ring, a series of dimensions consisting of one element or physical law, There are many: the Plane of Time, the Plane of Silver, the Plane of Crystal and many other such places. They are extremely dangerous to the unwary, and it is unwise to enter them without proper protection.

The Astral

The Astral is a great storm which never ceases, fanned by the fire of human thought. Souls exist there, and are cut off when they die, to go to the Divine Realms. Their fate is unknown, but it is thought that the gods make them into their great and mighty servants. However, dark rumours have spread, about the deepest parts of the Astral, and the malevolent will that exists there....

The Divine Realms

The Divine Realms exist beyond the astral, and about them little is known, save for the fact that they are created by the will of the gods, and die when they do. The Divine Realms have many forms, and each is ruled over by a different divinity.

Beyond

Beyond the Divine Realms lies the infinite nothingness of the Void, where the Eternal Ones dwell. Nothing is known apart from that fact, and it is said that within the Void are yet other universes, so that they can be linked. Little more is known about these places, although a spell called the Gate of Eternity (which to our knowledge, has never been cast), was devised to link our universe and any others that might be out there.