Fading Light

THIS IS A WIP
Fading Light should be called Remembered Dreams, for to walk its valleys and mountains, to traverse its rivers, to swim in the Nymphmeer, is a reminder of freedom's call to indulge in your yearnings.

~Aeshren Gerant, founder of the Hallowed Collective

Fading Light

Fading Light rests between Uka's Lament and The Quiet, and is the largest of the continents. It connects to the Voidlands in the north, and used to connect to the Sunderlands in the south until the Beast, well, sundered them. It has dry grasslands, wetter grasslands, deep forests, a giant lake, and the most important river in the Evenact, the Nectar (yes, some debate this, but what other body of water allows one to hear the pleas of the Condemned?).
The continent has fourteen regions not counting the Voidlands. Within these regions is the largest giant lake, the Nymphmeer, the tallest mountain chain in the Evenacht, the Crescentshine Mountains, and the largest city, Evening. There are other special places, and I'll cover them when I talk further about each region.

Research:
Evenacht
by our Industrious Finder hero, Lorgan the Hardworking
In this Research Document:

all images by Shanda Nelson unless otherwise stated

History

Fading Light is the first continent every spirit encounters, because the Evengates are here. This simple fact makes it the most important place in the Evenacht. Why that particular place was chosen as the entry into the Evenacht, or why they were even moved from The Quiet, no one knows. I've read that the Fields of the UnRedeemed began after Death set the Evengates, being a hilly area that just happened to be nearby, so some other reason prompted that long-ago deity to put the Gates where they are.
The continent has changed names through the years; the earliest reference I've read refers to it as the Darklands. The Beast tried to rename everything to suit beghestern sensibilities, and as soon as Erse Parr defeated him, spirits demanded a change. While apocraphyl, the tale goes that Erse sat down with Veer Tul and Talis and came up with names in Reckoning that better suited the ghostly inhabitants (natives of the Evenacht often have their own names for things, which can cause confusion during Redemptions, so read up on local references before you visit a place).
Not much is known about Fading Light before it became part of the Evenacht. Records have long ago vanished, and scholars who write on it got their information from scholars before them and scholars before them who wrote down myths and legends from storytellers--nothing comes from first-hand sources.

The Temple of Death's Hand (found in Death's Hand region) has two books that the priests claim were written by the Death who made the pact with the Astri--though they have no name for this Death, and cannot read the writing. The script is nothing like the Reckoning, or any Talin or Evenacht language. So even if they are that ancient, they aren't readable.
The Astri have their convenant document, and while I wouldn't be surprised if they have preserved histories in their family libraries, no one other than they have access to them. They've produced grand scholars--but even their writings do not go back to before the Evenacht became the Evenacht. We must rely on archaeology and anthropology to dig for information, and depending on the culture, that, too, is scarce (we're talking about at least 80,000 years previous).
Third-hand records about early clashes with the living are the primary existing documents from the very earliest Evenacht writings. The beghestern were very unhappy with the Astri's covenant, and battled with spirits in the hopes of driving them away. They participated in the most violent battles, though the forest tribes of the Dark and the settled Neucro of the Sun Plains fought hard against the invaders as well. Other than farm accounting documents by the various settled governments, we have nothing substantial until Aristarzian acolytes of Light began to write down important events starting around thirty-thousand years previous.
While there are some ghosts who claim to have lived fifty-thousad, sixty-thousand years, they have a selective memory when it comes to their early existence here in the Evenacht.

Aside: I say selective memory. Ghosts don't remember their actual age, let alone much of anything from before, say, twenty-thousand years previous, and journals and diaries are non-existent but for a few scholars.
This is mainly due to ghosts liking their anonymity.

Plants and Animals

F.L. has a plethora of plant and animal species. If you wish to find out more, good starting books are Deciduous Forests of the Evenacht by Calber Mehn, The Grasslands of Fading Light by Jeunbair, The Sun Plains by Andis Gerant, Fauna of the Largest Continent by Hres Stanezat, and Birdwatching in the Greater Evenacht by Soff Down. Any Finder librarian should be able to help you find them.
There are a few flora and fauna to watch for, though. The bastic grasslands in the south are notorious for their aggressive herbivores. The largest of these, the basall, is a thick-legged, grey-skinned creature that stands as tall as a two-story house. It has two black hair tails to brush flies away, a mane that runs to its rump, four legs that end in stubby feet with stubbier toes, and two tusks that promise a bad day for anyone within goring distance.
The redgem snake of Csdarling forests (so named for gemstone-like large scales on its back) is one of the more dangerous reptiles in the Evenacht. It produces a chemical from glands on each side of its head which can combine with mist; this makes breathing difficult for natives, and discorporates ghosts because it interferes with Ether Touch.

Regions

The first thing ghosts see are the Evengates guarded by beghestern. Quite the scary sight, of red-skinned, white-tusked, towering beings. Then they flee through the screaming heads in the Fields of the UnRedeemed and to Death's Gate, where they enter the Evenacht proper.
This area is known as Death's Hand. It begins at the base of the Crescentshine Mountains and continues along the Nectar and the Sparrow until it reaches Veer's Embrace. It's a plain with few trees but lots of brush, grasses, flowers, and small animals.
Evening rests on the border between Death's Plain and the Crescentshine Mountains, the tallest mountains in the Evenacht. Beyond the Crescentshine, to the south, are bastic grasslands. To the north are the rich temperate forests covering mountainout terrain. North holds drier grasslands and the start of the Voidlands, a place best avoided by the dead.
For more than the brief snippets I'll divulge, see Fading Light's Eyes by Hillock Billock (DO NOT ASK).

orig by Denys Nevozhai, Unsplash
Evening is the largest city in the Evenacht. Founded by Aeshren Gerant, it is a bright light seen from quite the distance. Millions of ghosts reside there, as it is the first place they encounter in the Evenacht, and many do not wish to venture forth.
It also has some of the hottest clashes between ancient ghosts and modern ones, with skyscrapers a central conflict.

The Ambermint:



• Capital: Granular
  Largest city: Port Amber
• Dry grassland north of Nymphmeer
• known for Turtlehead Bay and intersecting the Voidlands
• Population of ghosts low due to drier conditions, balanced by a higher population of natives. Farms line the seaboard, and hunters and miners are common inland.

Carewelde:



• Capital: Gliss Largest city: Frezhin
• Forestlands south of Nymphmeer
• known for growing tea and beautiful, flower-rich meadows
• Population of ghosts are mainly elfine, with a mix of older and younger generations. Natives are typically small tribes, but the port city of Yarmok is theirs, and it's a heavily-used trade port.

Crescentshine Mountains:



• Capital: Fell
  Largest city: Fell
• Mountains south of Death's Hand
• known for the tallest mountains in the Evenacht
• Population of ghosts are a mixture of humans, elfines and sprites, of several generations. Natives have extensive cavern communities.

Csdarling:



• Capital: Eselline Largest city: Eselline
• Forestlands north of Nymphmeer
• known for old growth trees
• Population of ghosts are a mixture of elfines and nymphs of several generations. Natives live in larger tribes than those in Carewelde, and the tree-city of the Fljas, is a magnificent sight.

The Dark:



• Capital: Voldedanthes
  Largest city: Voledanthes
• Forestlands west of Death's Hands
• known for deep, dark secret places and the busiest port in the Evenacht, Voledanthes
• Population of ghosts are mainly human and elfines, with a scattering of nymphs. Natives reside in small, settled tribes.

Death's Hand:



• Capital: Evening
  Largest city: Evening
• plains found in the north-east
• known for lush grasses and bird species
• Population is humongous due to Evening, with ghosts of all faelareign present. Natives from all over the Evenacht also reside there; traditional beings have long since lost their lands.

Dulcet:



• Capital: Celestine Largest city: Crayst Harbor
• Forestlands north of Csdarling of Nymphmere
• known for old growth trees
• Population of ghosts are a mixture of elfines and nymphs of several generations. Natives live in larger tribes than those in Carewelde, and the tree-city of the Fljas, a is magnificent.

Lake Arstet:



• Capital: Arstet
  Largest city: Arstet
• Giant lake area south of the Crescentshine
• known for the Teal Temple dedicated to Arstet
• Population of ghosts are a mixture of sprites, elfines and nymphs. Natives are fisherfolk, but also have the largest population of Predica, the port at the mouth of the Selt River.

Mendercane:



• Capital: Riscare
  Largest city: Liejion
• hilly region on the east coast
• known for the healing school of He Alar and the tall sugar reeds that grow along the rivers
• Population of ghosts are a mixture of all five faelareign. Natives live in established settlements with expansive farms.

Nymphmeer:



• Capital: Deposuré:
  Largest city: Deposuré
• giant lake in the interior of Fading Light
• known for the largest watershield dome in the Evenacht under the largest giant lake in the Evenacht
• Population is mostly nymphs, with some dryans and sprites. Elfines, humans and natives live near, but rarely under, the water.

Recompense:



• Capital: Teardrops:
  Largest city: Drerzhayn
  
• southwest desert and grasslands
• known for the Shades of Darkness penal colony at Drerzhayn and the Temple of Syimlin Forgiveness in Teardrops
• Population is a mixed bag of all faelareign and many natives. Many inmates remain in Drerzhayn because they have nowhere else to go, which has made the city one of the largest population centers in the Evenacht.

The Scorn:



• Capital: Badeçasyon:
  Largest city: Badeçasyon
• harsh northern dry grasslands leading into cold desert, adjacent to Ambermint and the Voidlands
• known as the place the interstellar invaders chose to reside until they can find a way to their own evening lands
• Population is mostly Gabridarço (the invaders) and natives. There are smaller communities of ghosts scattered about, with the largest being Sayo, the last stop for spirits before they enter the Voidlands to succumb to the Final Death.

The Sun Plains:



• Capital: Sunwray:
  Largest city: Edifice
• hilly northern grassland with more trees than one might expect
• known as the brightest places in the Evenacht, where more Sun's Blessings occur than anywhere else. Also known for Edifice, where an entire city is housed within a single humongous temple
• Population is varied, though more humans and elfines reside there. Natives are more nomadic, and hunt the larger plains animals. Original home of the beghestern.

The Transformation:



• Capital: Maed's Eyes:
  Largest city: Riverden
• southern grasslands with some hilly forest
• known as a shape changer refuge. Its coastal waters begin the slow transformation to the colder waters of the Sunderlands. Also the ancestral home of the Astri, though their cultural center is now Evening
• Population is predominitely shapechangers, ghost and native alike (Astri fit right in, whether they admit it or not). A large community of fauns reside there.

The Voidlands:



• Capital: none:
  Largest city: none
• a northern void. Not technically Fading Light, but I include it because it's important
• the Voidlands have no mist, are dry, windy, and a terrible environment. Ghosts travel there to meet the Final Death, if they don't want to deal with the Hallowed Collective and the Well.
• There are rumors that some animals live there, or so says the sparse native caravans that traverse it to who knows where. Probably another evening land, but they're silent on the matter. I think they undertake the dangerous task of finding greddels before they make it to the Evenacht proper

The Sunderlands:



• Capital: Coldden:
  Largest city: Coldden
• technically no longer part of Fading Light; a sundered eastern land of perpetual snow, ice and cold
• known for the Beast's curse
• Population is sparse. Elfines manage Coldden, which is underground, and a few humans have settled here and there around hermit mafiz dread towers. While hardly plants and animals do thrive there, most supplies for food are brought in from the Transformation or Mendercane.