A Virulent Horizon
Far separated by the Khauthi and Dreaming Oceans lie the scattered islands of the Rift. It has served as a place of fascination and opportunity for the leaders of the "old world," as Rift-born individuals would call them. However, it can also be a dangerous place, home to many magical storms and strange anomalies that make traversal and settlement difficult for the uninitiated.
Geography
The geography of the Rift islands is quite varied. The two central islands are quite rugged and covered in vibrant tropical jungles. The largest island to the south is mostly desert, with the regions around Mor Cralk being more temperate. The areas around Enho primarily consist of flat plains with rich soil for farming. The northeastern archipelago of Shi-Enma is rugged and rocky, with small forests taking root on the islands.
A unique feature of the Rift are regions known as Storm Plains, uninhabited areas known to have frequent magical storms that make these places nigh uninhabitable for most. These regions have made traversal and trade on land difficult for the Rift's inhabitants, prompting the creation of the Rift Runners.
Rift Runners are specialists in traveling the Rift and navigating its Storm Plains. These individuals utilize their skills to find safe routes through dangerous terrain and deliver packages to distant settlements.
Anomalies
The distant continent is home to many strange occurrences that have presented unique challenges for its inhabitants. The most prevalent are the Storm Plains, regions that frequently experience intense magical storms that make them too dangerous to inhabit.
Another major issue that has plagued the magically inclined is the Rift's incompatibility with portals. Portals opened in the Rift are prone to instability or open in the wrong places. The exact causes for these issues are unknown as of the current day. Strangely enough, these issues aren't affected by summoning something from another realm, such as summoning a demon.
Inhabitants
There is a stark difference between the inhabitants of the Rift, which one only begins to notice once they venture away from the coastal port cities. The inhabitants of the cities and nearby towns are mostly colonists born in the "old world" seeking a new life in the untamed Rift. They carry with them the customs and beliefs of their homelands, often still identifying with them.
The towns and villages further inland are mostly made up of those born and raised in the Rift. The politics of the colonists' distant lands mean little to them, for they have carved out a new life in untamed lands. Vestiges of their old cultures linger as new ones have burgeoned among the Rift-born peoples.
In the northeastern archipelago of Shi-Enma live the Aboshan, an amphibious race who lay claim to the islands and its surrounding waters. Their civilization centers around the Zi-Yut, a massive object that crashed into the ocean near Shi-Enma. They have strong relations with the Varaki of Reskfrull and are accepting, if not a bit weary, of human settlers arriving in their lands.
Notable Settlements
Many small settlements are scattered among the islands which make up the Rift. The largest of these are the initial landing points along the coastlines that have become the main entryways for travelers coming to the Rift. These initial colonial settlements have grown into full cities and make up the main part of the supply chain for the inhabitants of the Rift.
The first and oldest of these colonial cities is Enho, established by an adventuring Sijigen warrior in 1343 1E. It is the northernmost of the Rift cities and is the main port for ships traveling from Glakora. Despite its founding being steeped in Karriattan tradition and history, the city has taken on a new identity where the old world divisions are forgotten and blended into a new one that takes on aspects of them all.
Mor Cralk, far to the south of the other cities, was founded in 1399 1E by explorers from Rocturra. The colony was loosely ruled over by the Rocturra for much of its history, but that rule has drifted away as the centuries passed due to it being a low priority in the eyes of the Rocturran monarchy. While it is still officially under the domain of its mother nation, Mor Cralk, and its surrounding settlements consider themselves independent from the rest of their kin in Stelwen.
Reskfrull's initial founding is a tale of accidental discovery. The Rift was initially unknown to the
Varaki of Rass Marastrix until an error occurred with the Omnurix that sent a group of traders sending goods out of Nostrina into an at the time unknown land. The traders would try to return home with their own personally created portals but would discover that this place would cause them not to work, become unstable, or send them to the be sending them to the wrong location. Eventually, the isolated traders would make camp and a new life in this unknown land. Centuries later in 1457 1E, Varaki expeditions to the east would find the remains of the old camp near the place that would eventually become Reskfrull, Rass Marastrix's Rift colony.
The city of Entelela was established in 1521 1E after an Ibuhessi explorer named Nomvala's voyage to find a new route to Ostenland that didn't require passing through the Crossroads Sea or the Indlovu Sea, which had become a hotbed for pirate activity. After their initial discovery and eventual return to Ibuhess, the Nomvala's landing point would become the site of the first Ibuhessi colony in the relatively unknown Rift. Entelala lies on the easternmost point of the center island and serves as the main point of connection between the Rift and Ibuhess.
Claufort is the newest of the cities, founded in 1841 1E on the order of Kaiser Tristen Aumann, who sought to establish new trade routes and extract the many potential riches of the distant continent. Claufort is the main port for Barbarossan ships traveling to the Rift and serves as the beacon of the empire's domain in the unclaimed lands of the Rift.
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