Cradle of the World

Some say that the world and all its creatures were birthed in an explosion. Life in the form of mojy, magic, was breathed into the land, the plants, and the animals. Most scholars believe Mt. Vyšnak, in the Chema Expanse, to be the origin of this eruption. The continent of Kima, and especially the northern peninsula of Chema, is known as the Cradle of the World by religious academics and historians.
The northern peninsula of Chema is home not only to Mt. Vyšnak, but also to the Karnevris Mountains, the Foja Forest, and the Tower of Shattered Souls. The Foja Forest, as its name suggests, is thought to be the home and last refuge of most remaining foja in Kima, and perhaps even the world. While foja used to populate the entire continent, decades of hunting, magic leeching, domestication, and colonization have severely depleted their numbers. The only reason the Foja Forest hasn’t been plundered as well is because of the ring of impassable mountains surrounding it, and the looming Mt. Vyšnak to the northeast.
The Cradle of the World myth has a dark side, as well. Mt. Vyšnak only erupts every thousand years. According to the myth, the first eruption created the world. Every eruption since then has created something different, something more sinister: dragons.

“It’s said that dragons are birthed from the flares of lava and belching ash of volcanoes, and Mt. Vyšnak is the biggest volcano of them all. I pray that we never come to know those beasts like the Ancients did.”
–– Cheman scholar

More superstitious folk believe that someday, the dragons will unite in a thunderous explosion and take their revenge upon the world for destroying its magic. Some, like the Twilight Brotherhood, worship the dragons as gods, thinking it will save them in the end. Others think it’s a tale for disobedient children, and that the dragons are long gone. Few know the truth.

Date of Setting

Before the Collapse