Olum's Environments

The environments that are present on Olum follow the same principles that govern how environments are formed on our own world. They are influenced by wind patterns, ocean currents, temperature, topography, elevation, precipitation, and other factors, just to name a few. While these sets of factors help determine what kind of biome typically forms in that region of the world, the Wilds help influence the shape of the land and what lives within it, and can even push the typical into the extraordinary. While the Wilds might be responsible for influencing an otherwise flat region of tropical savanna into becoming a rocky, barren desert full of ravines and stacked plateaus, the kinds of Wilds that form generally follow what is normally allowed to form in the region. This being said, if the Wilds want a snowy wonderland in the middle of hot jungle, it can be done, but it usually favors twisting and turning what's already present versus creating a whole new biome. However, if a Ley Line is crossing through the region, all bets are off as to what can and cannot be done.

Overlays

This introduces a concept I like to call Overlays. Overlays are "filters" that superimpose themselves over environments. The deeper into the Wilds you get, the more an Overlay can impose. There are also a number of Major Overlays known, such as the Elemental and the Axial Wilds. These Elemental Wilds consist of Water Wilds, Earth Wilds, Fire Wilds, Air Wilds, Storm Wilds, Life Wilds, and Death Wilds, and are the more common type of Overlays. The Axial Wilds are rarer, consisting of Good Wilds, Evil Wilds, Order Wilds, and Chaos Wilds.
While Overlays do cover parts of the world, many different types of Overlays or themes exist, and cannot be as easily ordered as the major ones are, nor should they. If the Aspects wish to turn a patch of forest into crystal, an easy-going plain into molten fields of lava, or a simple wooden bowl into stone, they can.

Other Laws

On top of the normal governing Laws that oversee the Wilds and trigger-happy Aspects, there are also regions that seem to be controlled by a different set of Laws, replacing portions of its energy with something called Essence. When coalesced, these Coalesced Essence Regions create much more volatile versions of the normal, already dangerous Wild region present, with Essence excluding portions of the Wild region that may be considered "easy" to travel through or "safe." It is in these regions that the scattered clans of Draelish prefer to live in, with them rarely being found in Wild regions such as the Faewilds, not that the Wild Gods controlling these regions would ever allow them in. The Draelish, despite living deep within the Wilds, are not considered Wildlings, for whatever new Law that operates within them excludes any hold that the chaotic energies of the Wilds would have had. As long as they have a healthy supply of Essence around them, they can travel and live within Heart or Wildling territories, to a certain extent (large populations of Draelish need an amount of Essence that can only be found within the Wilds, and are routinely forced to split apart when the coalesced Essence can no longer sustain their population size, hence why most clans diligently control their numbers if living in an area that's known to have a smaller cap of Essence).

Different Influences

Other factors that can influence the Wilds outside of general overlays are Wild gods, which were covered previously. Some well known Wild gods involve the Giants, the Fae, Vampire Lords, and Primals (though these are not technically Wild gods, since they are rumored to have come from Before). Beings that have control over other portions of the world but are not Wild gods are Demons, Devils, the Dark gods, Angels, and the Outer Ones. Demons are the scourge of the living, and are routinely driven back to their prison. Devils exist in the World Beneath, otherwise known as the Underworld, sharing that wasteland with Demons and the Damned. Between the Underworld and the Surface is the Underdark, a place where day never comes, with the very Wilds taking on a more sinister quality to them. It is a place of endless caverns, underground seas, forgotten ruins, and crevices that lead into the Underworld below. Angels are rarely seen, though proof of them do exist, while the Outer Ones are known by many names, rarely if ever having interacted with those living below.
Finally, there exist dimensions that act as mirrors of the world, with the Aether being a version of the world that has been reduced to nothing but a "sea" of Aspects and Connections, whereas the Ethereal is a version of the world that exists on a "deeper" level, and is where departing souls go to travel to The Beyond.

Overview

All of these places and creatures have Aspects that can be used to change the world. While the Wilds act seemingly mindlessly with little guidance, if one has enough power and understanding of Aspects, and are able to form the necessary Formulas to produce that which they desire, anything can become possible. While knowledge can certainly be dangerous, it is power that can cause even gods to fall. Darkness gnaws at the roots of the world, with those holding great age and/or power quickly coming up against this great sickness. Sometimes its best to be a simple Heart hard at work in their humble workshop, a Draelish clan wandering around looking for Essence Hotspots, or a Wildling simply gazing at the moons in wonder of their newfound sapience.

Addendum

Having such knowledge of the world's functions may cause the unintentional side effect of making the world seem like a much smaller place, with the initial wonder wearing off as time goes on. My goal with these writings is to increase the wonder of the world. Though these environments may seem well defined and laid-out, with even the magical ones seemingly identified, there are still plenty of mysteries out there. Ancient pasts lie buried, overgrown, and forgotten, with even the mountains telling tales if one looks hard enough, especially that oddly-shaped one near the farm, the one that looks like a fist had gone through it..

Environments:

Both lists are not exhaustive, though care has been taken to list as many real-world biomes as I am able to identity in Olum. No doubt there are still many magical environments out there that defy classification, with only the most prominent ones being listed, as well as a few that I have personally been to.

Magical:

• The Aether
• Air Wilds
• --Plane of Air
• ---Cloud Giant Domains
• Death Wilds
• --Vampire Lords
• Coalesced Essence Regions
• --Draelish Clans
• The Ethereal
• --The Eternal City
• Earth Wilds
• --The Stone King
• --Stone Giant Domains
• Fire Wilds
• --The Sulfur Coast
• --Fire Giant Domains
• Life Wilds
• --Faewilds
• --The World Tree
• ---Roots of the World
• Limbo
• Storm Wilds
• --The Everstorm
• --Storm Giant Domains
• Outer Wilds
• --Celestial Domains
• Cursed Undeath
• Under Wilds
• --Spore Forests
• --Sunless Seas
• Underworld
• --Nine Hells
• --Endless Wastes
• Water Wilds
• --The Infinite Sea
• Void

Non-Magical:

• Alpine
• --Montane
• --Mountains
• ---Block
• ---Erosion
• ---Fold
• ---Glacial
• ---Volcanic
• Cave
• --Cavern
• Coastal
• Deserts
• --Arid Deserts
• --Semi-arid Deserts/Dry Steppe
• --Xeric Shrublands
• Freshwater
• --Large Lakes
• --Small Lake Ecosystems
• --Ponds
• Forests
• --Boreal Forests and Taiga
• --Mediterranean Forests, Woodlands, and Shrub
• --Seasonal Tropical Forest
• --Temperate Broadleaf and Mixed Forests
• --Temperate Coniferous Forests
• ---Redwood Forest
• --Tropical and Subtropical Dry Broadleaf Forests
• --Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests
• --Tropical and Subtropical Coniferous Forests
• Grasslands
• --Flooded Grasslands and Savannas
• --Montane Grasslands and Shrublands
• --Temperate Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands
• --Tropical and Subtropical Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands
• --Xeric Basin
• Polar
• --Arctic
• --Glacial
• --Ice Sheet
• --Polar Desert
• Riparian
• --Creeks
• --Large Rivers
• --Large River Headwaters
• --Large River Deltas
• --Small Rivers
• --Streams
• Saltwater
• --Oceanic
• ---Archipelago
• ---Coral Reefs
• ---Islands
• ---Kelp Forests
• ---Temperate Shelf and Seas
• Tundra
• --Arctic
• --Alpine
• --Antarctic
• Wetland
• --Bogs
• --Mangroves
• --Marshes
• --Swamps

*Note: Geological formations that do not constitute biomes have largely been left out, such as valleys, glaciers, ice sheets, plateaus, sinkholes, tepuis, etc.