New Jhelom

What began as a neat little setting building thread, has ballooned into some crazy mix of lovecraftian horror and Arabian Nights mythology involving desperate gods, waning elementals, and a dieing world. All additions to the setting should be done by threads where every person adds a new fact. Slowly populating this page.

Mythology

History

Creation

In the very beginning, There was but Earth and Sky.

Each of the Maiden Goddesses gave birth to two children. One son, and one daughter each.

Earth birthed Lady Stone and Lord Flame, while Sky birthed Master Air and Mistress Water, and for a time, these were the only six beings upon the surface of the world.

Then Water married Fire, and Stone wed Air, and soon each of them had their own first borns. To Water and Fire, was born Blood, and to Air and Stone, was born Flesh, and while each of these pairs had many more children, often who held multiple mates, it is known that Blood and Flesh had eyes only for one another, and their romance was passionate beyond all reason, the courtship lasting nearly a full century by our time before they finally wed and mated.

And from their union, was born Mortality, and to their horror, and the horror of their large family of all the elementals, it was learned that Mortality aged, he would died, and for the first time, the proginitors of this world would know death.

But Mortality did not see it as a curse, rather they saw it as something new, something different, as a possible gift to this world, a chance for continual newness, without the aged ever casting their shadows over the young. And so Mortality studied with their cousins and uncles and aunts, and when they learned all they could, of every art, of every thing that already existed. They descended upon their great grandmother, the Maiden Goddess of Earth, and forged a city... and took their own life. And from their blood, and flesh, and bone, and sinew, sprung the first mortals, who were not human, nor were they palefolk, nor any known race that we know of today, they were the Mortals, so named for their progenitor's name, and in each of them sat a mortal soul, that could divide and grow just as their ancestor had done, and inside each soul, sat one of the talents or learnings that Mortality had gained from all of their family members.

The First Murder

Though Mortals died, it was only through Time or Disease or other misfortune at first. Mortals did not kill each other, for to do so would destroy something created by those greater than they.

But one day, a Man grew jealous of the affections of a Woman and he killed her, becoming the First Assassin. After this First Murder, he became enamoured with killing, inventing every way to kill someone, it was said. And he then began to train others, so once he passed, his art would not vanish. But the Second Assassin, began to see people despair as the people they loved were taken and he saw the wrongness of this. So he performed the Second Murder, slaying the First Assassin. But it was too late - murder had already been introduced into the world. To this day, it is said the secretive Assassins pledge themselves to either the First or Second Assassins. It is also said that the Woman who died, died with child, and from her corpse came the children of the First Assassin - Chasatha and the Perched. It is also said that the First Assassin, after an age of torment, rose as the first Undead - so eager was he to learn of Death in the Mortal World.

The Long Decline

At some point, the Serpent Behind the Wall of Stars devoured The Goddesses of Earth and Sky. It is not known if the Goddesses were destroyed, or rendered dreaming, or imprisoned. But this marked the end of the age of creation. Mortals divided into the races they are today. The Elementals took over control of the Earth, but it was a lesser control. And so things went.

True History of the World

-The islands are dry because of an ancient feud between elementals that broke out many generations ago.

-The Elementals of the Sky destroyed nearly all the Elementals of the Waters - only a few remain, like the Princess of Waters.

Empire, Nations and other Lands

New Jhelom

-The sun never sets on the Empire of New Jhelom. A vast chain of islands stretches across both hemispheres, known as the glittering desert for the enormous amount of jewel and mineral repositories within. Water, while reasonably common, is still precious and one of their most jealously controlled resources. The islands range from a few metres across to the largest, the Imperial Capital and home of the Vizier of the Sky himself, a hundred kilometres across.

-The Vizierdom is a brutal, controlling state. The Satraps pay tax and fealty to the Vizier, wringing their quota from the smallfolk. The non-stop stream of ships, both of air and sea, report to the island's walled enclaves to trade their own curios for the vast mineral wealth of the empire - ores both mundane and magical, including the rare Sildron that recoils from both earth and water, allowing for the mighty ships of the sky. Foreigners caught outside the walls are summarily executed, as are often peasants who cannot account for being outside of their appointed place.

-The smaller islands in the remote parts of the empire, those often overlooked by the ships of the Vizier, are home to pirates both local and foreign. Using forged movement passes (and makeup to hide their ethnicity) they plunder the mining ships that burrow into the islands to reap their wealth or even unlucky foreign ships too far off course.

-Although fresh water is scarce, the coastal nature of the islands means that one is never far from the coast. One would, naturally, expect the islands to be lush and tropical, rather than desert. Strangely, however, the islands remain rather arid; mists and rainclouds seem to simply stop at the exact boundary of the islands, as though cut by some divine weather-knife.

What's more, this effect is known to be unnatural. Ancient carvings depict broad, water-hungry vegetation and lush islands that contrast starkly with the modern Empire. Fossil remains also identify that in the past, water was much more plentiful than it was now; whatever strange force keeps the Glittering Desert a desert was not always present.

-The royal family of the islands are named so due to their descendency from air elementals. Various noble families throughout the empire have elemental blood in their veins - and even some peasants.

-Invasion attempts are routinely launched against the empire. Fleets of ships appear, attempt to force their way in and are driven off, usually with few losses. Sometimes, they may possess one of the far flung islands for a few days, weeks or even months if communication is kept cut. The Empire typically continues to trade with the national power in question, simply because it's worth the cost of doing business.

The Empire is not so adept at offense, however - while easily able to defend their islands, they lack the troop ships and carriers to launch invasions, not to mention the siege weaponry.

The Western Continent

The Republic of Gold

-On the far Western Isle of Yaalar, the Republic of Gold is said to be but a den of privateers. But for some reason, the Princess of the Waters and her wives seem to give the Vizier pause. It is said that she is the last descendent of a sort of elemental that the Vizier thought extinct.

The Southern Continent

-Much nearer the south pole is a large, half-moon shaped continent. The weather is mostly temperate, closer to cold than hot (think like northern USA or Canada). This continent is dominated by the prosperous race of fair-skinned people called the Nostos. They mine a rare mineral called Duna, which retains its magnetic properties even when heated and baked like a brick. Thanks to these powerful magnets and basic science, the Nostos have discovered very clean sources of electricity.

Races

Humanity

A widespread race, due to the wide-spread influence of New Jhelom

The Murder Born

The Chasatha

An entirely female Race that looks to be women with the lower half of snake, and some other snake-like features. They come from the Isles of Smoke. The Chasatha trade gems to New Jhelom with excellent properties for making magical artifacts. The Chathasa trade these for beautiful human slavegirls. The Chathasa actually devour these maidens whole and living. This foul deed apparently lets the Chathasa maintain a youthful sheen for all their lives, and an extended lifespan. The Chathasa also taught humans the arts of Assassination. The Chasatha are said to be descendents of the First Assassin. Their bite can kill, agonize or subvert men. But if they try to eat a man, their

The Perchers

An entirely Male Race that pollutes the empty streets of the Isles of Smoke, that look hideous and twisted. They occasionally mate with the Chathasa, but aside from that the Chathasa avoid them.They are said to be descendents of the First Assassin. The blood of women is like acid to them.

The Pale Folk

Friendlier relatives of the Knife-Ears, but reclusive to the extreme. Often appear in fairytales, helping the righteous.

-Under the ground, in large caverns, live the Pale Folk - Elven like people, with strange technologies. But in certain areas of their caverns, they can see the water leaking in, and know the crab people seek to destroy them.

The Crab Men

The most widespread race, they live under the ocean in vast cities. Every 500 years they are driven to land to spawn and replenish their numbers. Their civilization was said to have been grand, but fell to madness.

-The waters around the islands are infested with a malevolent race of crab people, who construct vast underwater cities that span the known globe - but noone who ever witnesses them performing an attack or sees their cities lives. The crab people are long lived and small in number, but spawn once every 500 years in an orgy of violence, magic and crab lust. That time is fast approaching.

The Knife Ears

Marauders in dark ships that skim the surface of the ocean. They come for your blood.

The Undead

Effectively their own race, they live in Thanati with a few humans they raise. The Undead have a rigid caste system, with the blood dependent vampires at the bottom.

The Gorii

A short, green race who used to be the dominant race on land, until the humans who would found Old Jhelom destroyed their nation and corrupted them to savages.

The Teis

The Teis are magical being that float around try to maintain the world.

Reference Material

First Thread: [First Thread[1]]