dawnworld:culture

Cosmology

Creation myths differ on the origin of the World of the Dawn, and in the thousand years since the Generation there has been little to prove or disprove any of them. All that is known is that one day, many years ago, the seeds for the world as it is were planted and germinated with startling speed, for the First Generation came to be without the advent of parentage as we know it. Elders were already elders, warriors already warriors in the wake of the Generation, with no foreknowledge or clues to the provenance of the act itself. Even the longest-lived of the races boasts no living memory of those days.

Vergences

Cultures have risen and fallen over the centuries, and many wars have been fought for many reasons. One thing that nearly every culture can agree on, however, is the danger of the Vergences and the care that must be taken to prevent them from overrunning the World of the Dawn.

A Vergence is a place where evil is made material, leeching into the ground, water, wildlife, and even the very fabric of the world. None of the continents have been spared the touch of the Vergences, save perhaps Thalúlemiba, the Lost Paradise of the North, from whence the men of Sudmuse were driven by the elves in the early days of the world. Rumor tells of strnge Vergences that seem not to be permeated with the stench of wickedness and rot, but there is little proof that these places are still not of malign influence.

Some of the more famous Vergences include:

  • The Blizzard, also called the Prime Vergence, for nearly all are agreed that this largest and most forbidding of Vergences is the source of the evil afflicting the world. Located in the Far North, where ice forever coats land and sea alike, this eternal storm of snow and ice lifts only for the briefest of moments, and then seemingly only to allow a terrifying glimpse of what can only be a palace dedicated to the most spectacular of evils.
  • The Waste lies on the westernmost peninsula of the Eastern Continent, and is notable mainly for the vexation it causes mariners, for it lies at a strait and fell creatures are fond of striking at passing ships.
  • The Enmity is the youngest of the major Vergences, and by far the fastest growing. It is a wall of twisted, massive trees, a hateful jungle marching on the cities of Budzuzupas and Ingagu of the Eastern Empire. As this once-forest used to be the source of much wood for these cities, some have taken to calling this Vergence The Grudge.
  • The Smear is noted for the campaigns of the human warrior-king Ishmar, who encircled and trapped a vast army of wicked creatures there. Though he meant to carry on the campaign and exterminate the lot, he tragically died of wounds received in battle before he could carry out this desire (some whisper he was poisoned). His son, Ushri, was not of the same caliber as his father, and successive kings were quite happy to let the matter rest so long as the Smear remained quiet. The fortress of Desataba has grown into a massive city to support the Legion that has maintained the defensive line for more than three hundred years.
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