Avarith - Player's Choice

[Zieg dil' Tulfried]

Welcome to Avarith, Traveller!

We know you had a hard time getting here because well, we made it that way! The only way in is through Tora’Na—unless of course you can fly. Tora’Na is a small Fallien village on the other side of the mountains that looks normal to all who happen upon it. They guard the waypoint though, a teleportation device and the one way to get from mainland Althanas to Avarith, though we’re thinking of expanding on that. Yet…however did you manage to charm the people of Tora’Na into letting you use the waypoint? Or perhaps you just snuck by them when no one was looking, that’s all right, we’ve got guards!

Those two rather scary looking fellows who seem to be some kind of breed between human and lizard with scales sporadically placed over their bodies—and holy crap, one of them even has a claw for a hand! Don’t worry, they’re names are Bob and Joe, and they’re really nice guys as long as you don’t piss them off. Right now, they’ll be escorting you from the waypoint to the local law enforcement building. Not to be worried they’re not throwing you in jail, they like you, they’re giving you an Adventurer’s Pass so you can flash that around town and no one will bother you. Heck, you might actually come to learn Avarian’s are really friendly people, just cautious of strangers.

Now that you’ve been given your Adventurer’s Pass and a low down on what not to do in Avarith, you decide to explore this vast city, which they nicely told you was the Capital of Avarith and called Edinfirth. Once you excite the local law enforcement building you actually begin to take a look around, something you’d been too scared to do before and realize it’s nighttime here though you swore it had been daytime when you’d snuck passed everyone and used the waypoint. No matter, the city itself is a marvel of stonework and almost everything seems to have this beautiful luminous glow to it.

The night sky is crystal clear and there are millions of stars shinning down on you and…three moons? Why are there three moons?

Confused, you turn to ask one of the locals but are stopped dead in your tracks by the vision of beauty before you. Just like this city, she seems to have a natural quality to glow herself, the light blue dress she has on accentuates every curve, eventually drawing your attention to the wings coming out of her back. See through wings that seem to change into more colours than there are on the rainbow.

You realize this must be a Fae, a race you’ve heard about, the next positive magically enhanced evolution of Humans. Of course, they have a counterpart, the Acane, the negative magically enhanced evolution of Humans. You don’t want to meet those guys and well, today’s your lucky day because they don’t keep good relations with the rest of Avarith, preferring to stay in their little Valley of the Mists.

Mustering up some courage, you walk over to the gorgeous Fae woman and introduce yourself—oddly enough without making yourself seem like an idiot. She tells you her name’s Talel and smiles warmly at you. Before you start babbling incoherently you tell her you’ve just recently come here and would like to know more about Avarith. So, Talel gives you a low down on the area, apparently you’re in Edinfirth 300 meters below the surface! There’s Edinfirth above the surface too but she thinks you should explore down here first.

Then she gives you some information on the races here; typical humans, Fae—like her—enhanced humans who specialize in magic and no their wings are not just for show she can use them. Then there are the Draconians, half human half dragon; you figure you’d already met two of those guys, Bob and Joe. The Mori, mere people of some kind, she tells you you’d be lucky to even catch a glimpse of one, they mostly stay underwater in the large pool to the east. They’re going extinct and are highly protective of their females, so it’s a good idea to stay away. Finally the Acane, a race you don’t want to meet and one that wont be met kindly. They usually keep to the mists so you figure they sound easy enough to avoid.

After that she tells you a bit about Edinfirth below the surface. The city was already here when the Fae and Acane migrated here, the first of the races to come and half of it still vastly unexplored, though mostly off-limits. The North and East sections are guarded, not from people getting in there but from things getting out. That really makes you wonder but she doesn’t elaborate further. She tells you the stars and moons are magic created on the smooth surface of the dome ceiling to give the illusion of the night sky, it’s why Edinfirth is known as The City of Eternal Night. Everything in Edinfirth seems to rely on magic rather than technology too; most of it already here from whatever previous race had inhabited the island.

That’s when she lays the big shocker on you. Avarith itself is not an Island in the middle of the ocean as you had originally speculated, but in the sky! The island floats using the power of a giant crystal that they keep well protected. She also tells you the crystal controls the climate and cloud cover that keeps people from noticing the island from the ground.

With that little tid bit of information you can’t wait to get to the surface and have a look around at the rest of Avarith. Thanking Talel for her help, you proceed to get to the surface, yet forgot to ask how to get there. In your lost meandering through the streets though, you happen upon a Synthesis Shop. Curious, you open the door and walk in and are immediately greeted by a rather friendly looking female human stocking the shelves of the place.

Synthesis Shop:

Using skills in magic as well as the forge, this shop combines two or more materials together to make something unique. Using this one can add attributes to their weapons and armour as well as create something completely unique. Items that can be created here cannot be found anywhere else on Althanas and special requests may be given, but it’s your responsibility to find the appropriate materials to make the item.

For examples:

Fire Crystal – Increases the users strength with fire magic
· Items required – Crystal, Red Dragon scale (using a different Dragon’s scale may result in a different type of crystal)

Ice Bomb – Releases five large icicles at an enemy
· Items required – Snow bug, Quills, Ice shards, Plynt

Dragon Cloth – Fire resist clothing. Does not protect against heat, can withstand direct contact from flames for up to ten minutes, after that it will catch fire. Can be tailored into a shirt or pants, both will required twice the material as will a cloak or trench coat.
· Items required – Leather (Other clothing materials may be used, however the effect may change) Red Dragon Scale, Mana dust.

Never-ending Rucksack – No matter how many items you put in this rucksack it’ll never fill up. The weight never increases passed ten pounds either.
· Items required – crystallized vortex or black hole, leather, feather
Word of caution! Don’t climb in yourself.

Equipped with your new Never-Ending Rucksack, because oddly enough you just happened to have a crystallized black hole, a feather and some extra leather, you walk out of the Synthesis Shop and begin again your search for the way to the surface. If only you could read these signs posted around the place, oddly enough everyone here seems to speak multiple languages, including Common and Tradespeak, however like every other region, they have their own language you just can’t figure out.

Eventually, you find the waypoint and make it to the surface where you learn rather quickly and with some disdain for your poor eyes that it’s still day out. Asking around you realize you have a wide variety of place to explore; to the North are the Favarian Mountains which play some key role in bringing water to the island by having it collect at the peaks. You’re really not too sure, you stopped listening after a while. At the base of the mountains is a swamp where all the water collects, that swamp eventually turns into a Jungle, both of those places seem interesting and contain ruins of the ancient civilization that was once here. Apparently red butterflies also congregate around these ruins though no one knows why.

To the West are the grasslands, some small forests and eventually the large pool the Mori call home, to the South is the Valley of the Mists where two large waterfalls drop off the side of the island creating said mist. To the East is the Segwian Bride that connects Avarith to Dracos, a smaller island where they train their dragons. Yep, these guys have an army of dragons. Suddenly you’re glad they’re so friendly. In between all of these areas are small villages and towns along the way, and adventures you’re just itching to start. Who knows, perhaps even long lost treasure.

But before any of that can happen, you have to get directions to…somewhere. Asking the friendly old Draconian guy out for a walk you get what you need, directions to the next village over, however it seems the old man wants to give you a history lesson as well. Not wanting to hurt the old guy’s feeling and heck, why not you’ve got nothing better to do, you sit down on a park bench with him to listen to his war time stories, wondering just how old this guy is.

He begins his tale telling you of how peaceful things were when they lived on the mainland of Althanas. It was originally a nation of Draconians, but eventually Humans began to slowly trickle into their nation. However a neighbouring Kingdom filled with greed and mistrust for anything not Human attacked the Draconian Kingdom.

You begin to think the old Draconian might be a little biased as to how the war started, but you figure some of what he’s saying has to be true, so you continue to listen.

The war was devastating to the Draconian Kingdom, for though Draconians were stronger than humans they were fewer in numbers and unprepared for such an attacked. Though they mounted defences against their enemy it was becoming increasingly clear that they weren’t going to win. So, taking what remained of their Dragon Army and population, they fled. After years of searching for a new permanent place to settle down, the Draconians eventually came upon Avarith, which was already inhabited by the Fae and Acane, though the Acane were not very friendly the Fae were more than happy to take in the Draconians and Humans.

And that was how Avarith came to be and according to this old guy that was five hundred years ago, relatively recent in Althanas history and this old fart was apparently ten when it happened. No wonder he looks so ancient.

Thanking him for the story you head out East, destination…not really sure. But heck the destination isn’t what matters to you, the journey is.

Other Information:

Capital: Edinfirth
Form of Government: Matriarch
Rulers: The Fera (Queen) with The Ferum, a ground of female representatives from each village, town and city.
Legal System:
Official Languages: Avarian, Common, Tradespeak and Fallien.
Foreign Relations: None, no one knows they exist.
Size of Military: 100,000
Military Branches: Archers, Mages, Infantry (Foot Soldiers and Spearmen), and Medics.
Specialized Military Units: The Dragoons – warriors who ride the backs of the dragon army, Lateo Latenter – teams who specialize in doing the impossible.

Population: aprox. 400,000
Average Age: Average age 145
Racial Breakdown: 30% Human, 30% Draconian, 22% Fae, 17% Acane and 1% Mori.
Life Expectancy: 212
Nationality: Avarian
Major Religions: A Melting pot of different religions, many worship a different Thayne and there are many churches and temples.
Literacy: 90%

Technology Levels: Roman – They rely on advanced magic rather than technology
Major Imports: N/A
Major Exports: N/A
Currency/exchange rate: One Kara = One Coronian GP. However, Avarian’s value knowledge more than money and will trade their goods for information, knowledge and other items. They especially love new things from different regions. Money is not highly prized within their region.
Natural Resources: Minerals and Ore within the Favarian Mountains, Farmlands

Major Terrain Features: The swamp and jungle at the base of the Favarian Mountains. The two waterfalls leading off the edge of the island and the valley of the mists that they create. Other than that and the occasional forest, mostly rolling hills and grasslands.
Elevation Extremes: Lowest point 300 meters below sea level (Edinfirth underground) High point 13,674 meters above sea level (Favarian Mountains)
Climate and Seasons: One season, summer. Climate and Seasons are controlled. Occasionally they create autumn for a change of pace.
Natural Hazards: Lightning and extreme winds.

[Zieg dil' Tulfried]

Advanced to the Final Vote.