Hans_Sprungfeld
2012-09-03, 09:21 PM
http://i.imgur.com/sjXeh.jpg
A view of Mt. Gorski at noon
“Some say the world will be cleansed in fire; others, reborn in light. But most are too busy trying to eek out an existence in the dark to form much of an opinion one way or the other.”
--Arrian the Stillborn, court-mage of Sverina
Overview & Ecology
Omotavi is a land cursed by darkness. Or more accurately, by a dim and distant sun known to humans as Dracol, the Dragon-Star. At high noon on Midsummer, Dracol takes up almost a fourth of the sky as it brushes against the upper atmosphere, but the flames are as dim as Earth's twilight. At Midwinter, Dracol appears as only a larger and brighter star, and illuminates as much as a crescent moon. In this realm of eternal shadows, men, dwarves, orcs, elves (and other less savory creatures) struggle daily against hunger and biting cold. As Dracol streaks across the sky each day, it drags the atmosphere in its wake, and powerful winds blow from West to East each day for 1-3 hours after noon each day, followed by a gentler wind from the East as the atmosphere returns.
Were the planet to rely on its feeble sun alone for light and heat, civilization would be a distant dream, and life itself a pointless struggle against starvation and cold. Across the planet, deep below the oceans and atowering above the vast desert of Zasluga Pjescara (“Dwarf-Desert” in Dwarven), numerous volcanoes dot the landscape. Rather than lava, the volcanoes of Omotavi hurl gouts of green flame into the sky, burning away the clouds above before falling back to earth to sear the mountains below. The heat and light from these peaks is so intense that it can cause fatal burns to an unprotected human a dozen miles away, and the largest eruptions can be seen from more than 1,000 miles distant.
But while the volcanoes make the area around them uninhabitable, they make life on Omotavi possible. Plants have adapted to this bizarre climate, and is able to use the intermittent bursts of intense green light from these fires, in conjunction with Dracol, to sustain themselves. When they are off-schedule (either too seldom or too frequent) crop failures are common, and even in the (relatively) fertile plains of Calanthia, starvation is a constant worry.
But it was not always the case. Millennia ago, there were no volcanoes, and Dracol was lit with the same bright green fire that now erupts from the earth. All the legends agree that in those days, two armies of Dragons battled each other for control of Dracol. But long ago, something or someone banished these fearsome beasts, trapping them deep beneath the earth. For countless centuries now, the wyrms of the distant past have put aside their ancient rivalries and struggled together against their stony prison. Some day, the Dragons will return.
What the legends disagree on, is what the Dragons will do when they return. Some traditions teach that they will restore the ancient light to Dracol and usher in a new age of plenty. Others, that they will burn all traces of life from the planet. Whatever the outcome, there is little the mortal races can do but wait.
Geography & Countries
Coming soon!
Theology & Cosmology
Coming soon!
Races & Cultures
Coming soon!
Monsters
Coming soon(-ish)!
Magic
Coming Soon!
Character Classes
Coming soon!
Let me know what you think!
A view of Mt. Gorski at noon
“Some say the world will be cleansed in fire; others, reborn in light. But most are too busy trying to eek out an existence in the dark to form much of an opinion one way or the other.”
--Arrian the Stillborn, court-mage of Sverina
Overview & Ecology
Omotavi is a land cursed by darkness. Or more accurately, by a dim and distant sun known to humans as Dracol, the Dragon-Star. At high noon on Midsummer, Dracol takes up almost a fourth of the sky as it brushes against the upper atmosphere, but the flames are as dim as Earth's twilight. At Midwinter, Dracol appears as only a larger and brighter star, and illuminates as much as a crescent moon. In this realm of eternal shadows, men, dwarves, orcs, elves (and other less savory creatures) struggle daily against hunger and biting cold. As Dracol streaks across the sky each day, it drags the atmosphere in its wake, and powerful winds blow from West to East each day for 1-3 hours after noon each day, followed by a gentler wind from the East as the atmosphere returns.
Were the planet to rely on its feeble sun alone for light and heat, civilization would be a distant dream, and life itself a pointless struggle against starvation and cold. Across the planet, deep below the oceans and atowering above the vast desert of Zasluga Pjescara (“Dwarf-Desert” in Dwarven), numerous volcanoes dot the landscape. Rather than lava, the volcanoes of Omotavi hurl gouts of green flame into the sky, burning away the clouds above before falling back to earth to sear the mountains below. The heat and light from these peaks is so intense that it can cause fatal burns to an unprotected human a dozen miles away, and the largest eruptions can be seen from more than 1,000 miles distant.
But while the volcanoes make the area around them uninhabitable, they make life on Omotavi possible. Plants have adapted to this bizarre climate, and is able to use the intermittent bursts of intense green light from these fires, in conjunction with Dracol, to sustain themselves. When they are off-schedule (either too seldom or too frequent) crop failures are common, and even in the (relatively) fertile plains of Calanthia, starvation is a constant worry.
But it was not always the case. Millennia ago, there were no volcanoes, and Dracol was lit with the same bright green fire that now erupts from the earth. All the legends agree that in those days, two armies of Dragons battled each other for control of Dracol. But long ago, something or someone banished these fearsome beasts, trapping them deep beneath the earth. For countless centuries now, the wyrms of the distant past have put aside their ancient rivalries and struggled together against their stony prison. Some day, the Dragons will return.
What the legends disagree on, is what the Dragons will do when they return. Some traditions teach that they will restore the ancient light to Dracol and usher in a new age of plenty. Others, that they will burn all traces of life from the planet. Whatever the outcome, there is little the mortal races can do but wait.
Geography & Countries
Coming soon!
Theology & Cosmology
Coming soon!
Races & Cultures
Coming soon!
Monsters
Coming soon(-ish)!
Magic
Coming Soon!
Character Classes
Coming soon!
Let me know what you think!