Dra'cora in the Modern Day

3rd Millennium After Founding

This is the fourth planet orbiting a white, type F sun (nicknamed Shelly by the humans, though nobody remembers why) in a far off star system. More specifically, it is the name given to the lone inhabitable section of that planet. The planet itself (named The Void by the locals, and Shelly 4 by the humans) is most similar to Mars in terms of climate--barren and with a thin, toxic atmosphere. See The Void / Shelly 4 for more details.
Founded three millennia ago (by Earth years) as a colony settlement from Earth (though even the oldest creatures no longer remember this origin), Dracora's (pronounced [Drah'kohrah]) original name has long been lost to history. The current name is translated as "dragon's dawn" in the native languages, from an ancient hymn to their gods for the daily gift of the sunrise. The area is rich in magic (known as Breath by the locals) and protected from the lethal outside environment by a massive atmosphere dome which slowly expands over time. This dome was created as part of a terraforming spell to alter the planet to suit the colony's needs, but the origin of the enchantment is unknown and its creation has been long since forgotten. Attempts to recreate the spell, in whole and in parts, have been tried several times throughout Dracora's history, but so far all have failed, despite leading to new breakthroughs in their own right.
On Dracora, life and magic are viewed as one and the same.
The dome and terraforming effects don't instantaneously change the landscape, nor do they have sudden cut off points. Traveling through Void's Edge, as it is known, is akin to climbing up a tall mountain. Vegetation is noticeably stunted the further out one goes, and on hitting what would be considered the timberline, all growth stops, and beyond that point the atmosphere only gets thinner and colder, seeming to merge seamlessly from there with The Void's atmosphere--or lack of one.

The Origin of Dracora's Magic

Long buried and forgotten by all but a very few who still live, the source of Dracora's terraforming spell is an ancient, powerfully magical artifact called The Pearl Egg of Creation. The Egg is currently housed in the center of The Labyrinth of Apocalypse. If anything happens to it, the spells it maintains will end, dooming all life in Dracora.

Geography

The Void is covered in impact craters, and Dracora's terraforming spell does not weather the original planet rock beneath as it expands. The spell simply layers soil, water, snow, sand, etc, over the existing rock layers, along with the atmosphere. The atmosphere does extend below the ground if the air has openings to enter through, such as caves, tunnels, and aerated soil. The pattern of which material will cover the terrain as the terraforming spell passes over it has eluded Dracorians for centuries, and is seemingly at random. Anything from lush forest, to rolling savannah, to snowy tundra, to swamplands, to sand dune deserts could show up. Not all craters are filled with water, with many simply becoming makeshift hills and valleys.
Interestingly, there is a place in the center of Dracora which is perfectly uniform. Inside a crater, a small sample of each biome type extends outward from its central point like the spokes of a wheel. This place is considered to be sacred. Past those crater walls, however, the hodgepodge of ecosystems only became more jumbled the further out the spell went. Despite popular belief, the terraforming is not completely random. For example, places of extreme heat, such as deserts, and places of extreme cold, such as tundras, are never seen created right next to each other without at least one other, different biome in between them to act as a buffer zone.
To make things even more interesting, Dracora is animistic, with a thriving population of elemental and nature spirits.
Not every place within Dracora's boundaries is magical, however. There are several lifeless black deserts, so named because they contain nothing but a fine black ash. These are places of corrupted magic, and their cause is currently unknown. Much like areas of high radiation (though they have none) any who enter these areas and stay for extended periods become sickened. They eventually recover once removed from the zone, but prolonged exposure will cause death, with all organic matter turning into that black ash. Even the spirits avoid black deserts, for they drain magic and life energy both. One of the largest black deserts contains the ruins of Dracora's long lost ancient capital city, Dra’ma ([Drah'mah], “jewel of dragons”).

Why is the Terraforming so Random?

When the spell was first designed, it was created to use the planet's tidal forces to help spread the effect over time and assign proper terrains according to temperature ranges. The problem with this, is that the spell was using a world with one moon as a template, and that was closer to its star within the habitable zone. Dracora has two moons, and is further out in its habitable zone than Earth is. Unfortunately, no one ever realized that these were the problem, and even if they had, if wouldn't be until the time of the Nex when they learned how to after the spell. As a result of this different orbit and the altered tides from the pulls of two large moons as opposed to a single large moon, the terraforming became much more randomized.

Fauna & Flora

In terms of fauna, the native Dracorians classify themselves into several groups:
Above everything are the gods, first the Dragon Lords, and than the Beast gods, which were created by them. Beneath those, the inhabitants are ranked as such:

Spirits

Entities born of magic and able to control it. They are usually invisible unless they want to be seen. When they are seen, they look like a mix of the element they represent and an animal. The effect is like looking at clouds and seeing pictures in them, being reminded of animals. As if the natural element has the animal’s shape but is barely holding that form.

Gods-Blooded / Myths

Called "Myths" by the human space colonists upon seeing them, due to their resemblance to Earth's mythological creatures, these are physical manifestations of spirits, and are also able to naturally control magic. They look more like living creatures then the Spirits, but there is still something “off” about them at a glance. As if the creature is reminiscent of certain aspects of nature. Most myths appear more “solid” than spirits, but the older ones seem to shift even more between element and flesh and blood. It's hard to tell if it's a living creature or a piece of landscape.
Despite the beasts’ ancient practice of dragon worship being officially disbanded, they still consider the myths to be “demi-gods” calling them “gods-blooded”, and are (usually) highly respectful of them, especially the elderly, rare, and/or more powerful ones. This reverence of the myths by the beasts generally only applies to those with sentience. Not all myths are sentient (see Monsters).
There are no humanoid myths on Dracora. The majority of them stayed behind or those who did make the crossing were killed off by various events during the first millennium of colonization, after the portal connecting Dracora to Earth became too weak to remain open, cutting the two worlds off from each other. By the time the human space colony showed up, all memory and even legend of humans have been long forgotten. The closest thing to humans that they know of are primates, and even those left the mainland to found their own isolated island kingdom over the sea during the Slayer Wars at the end of the second millennium. No one has seen or heard from them since.

Half-Bloods

These are the offspring between myths and beasts, usually resembling their beast parent but with some subtle physical characteristics from their myth side. Often these go unnoticed unless one knows what to look for, but occasionally the traits are more pronounced. The most noticeable thing about them is that they have the natural ability to control magic, but find this harder to master than myths and often lose control of their powers without training from an early age.

Beasts

The Beasts of Dra’cora look physically no different from wild animals on Earth, but are twice as large, just as smart as humans, and fully capable of speech. Their paws / hooves / claws are more dexterous than those of Earth animals, although only some of them have thumbs, such as rats and primates. Beasts are still quadruped but can stand upright on their hind legs in order to manipulate things with their forepaws. However, this position is uncomfortable for long periods. For this reason, commonly used items are kept at head height or lower, to be easily reached with their mouth. Insects and fish are non-sentient--except for sharks--and unlike other beasts, can grow to truly gigantic sizes. They are what most often spring to mind for Beasts at the word "monster". Beasts are unable to naturally control magic, and must instead use simple and complex sorcery to influence the spirits into performing magic on their behalf.
There are no primates on the mainland of Dracora. They all left to found their own isolated island kingdom over the sea during the Slayer Wars at the end of the second millennium. No one has seen or heard from them since.

Monsters

Non-sentient myths, but also giant insects and fish. These are a regular travel hazard and are hunted by both myths and beasts for food and sport. Some hunt them as a side job for extra money, while others do it as a full time profession.
The flora of the region mostly resemble Earth's trees and plants, although they grow twice as large on average due to the magical environment. Several have altered over time so as to be unrecognizable, and entirely new ones have sprouted up as well. Some are poisonous, some carnivorous, many are magical in nature, and some are plant/animal hybrids. Two of the most well known of this latter category are Vegetable Lambs and Barnacle Geese, which have been domesticated as a food source for Dracora's predators. These plant creatures are classified as monsters due to their non-sentience, despite being relatively harmless.

Natural Resources

Dracora is a land of many resources, but exact quantities are unknown. During the Age of Dragon Worship, gold, silver, gemstones and other precious and semi-precious metals and jewels were highly sought after for those dragon rulers who demanded tribute for their hoards. But in modern times, iron ore is considered the most valuable, with bronze and brass being close seconds, for forging weapons and tools. Especially prized are items made from Water Iron (what humans would know as Damascus Steel). Medicinal and magical plants, along with wood, stone, clay and other building and crafting materials are also valued. Due to a cultural taboo among Beasts against eating each other, organic materials are harvested from plant creatures and monsters, with rare exceptions from consenting Beasts upon their deaths.

Type

Continent

Included Locations

• Heartholt
• The Labyrinth of Apocalypse

Related Myths

• How the Sky was Made