Sooneyriak (Soon-ey-riak)

Summary

Sooneyriak is the northern polar continent of Veltrona, opposite of Unneyria, its southern polar cousin.
As both polar regions are separated by vast oceans (Vastia and Olaniad, respectively), no real land connections tie them to the heavily populated continents of the world. Divine tempests, sea-borne leviathans, and all sorts of other dangerous obstacles create a natural, isolating barrier around the polar regions. The closest 'viable' routes tend to be from either Varnkof to reach Sooneyriak, or Eylia to reach Unneyria.
In this respect, much of the polar regions tends be mysterious or mythical, as little information travels to or from them. Of the two, Sooneyriak is the most isolated, with Vastia stretching between it and most other locations. The northern end of Varnkof, while offering somewhat stable passage, is so far out of the way that overland expeditions would often take even longer than ocean voyages. For better or worse, it has left Sooneyriak largely to its own devices, unless intruded upon by Prak's wandering sky islands.
The land itself is chopped up into moderately sized queendoms of ice-aspected dragonkind, aylier, ruvenek, while water-borne peoples like shermadi and ekurin live beneath the glacial mass of the continent. Everywhere else, both on the ice and below, is often filled with dangerous wildernesses.
Sooneyriak's fauna and flora relies heavily upon ice and radiant mana types, intermixed with those reliant on wind and water. Fire is generally the rarest, as there are few solid land masses in Sooneyriak above the water line. Most of its volcanoes remain buried underwater, providing rich streams of heat and molten material. Veltron-adapted forms tend to emphasize an amphibious nature.
However, most troublesome is the rampant amount of strange, alien forms of life that follow metal-aspected means of development. Contrary to even Veltrona's own standards on the subject, these bizarre creatures and plants are constantly trying to spread across Sooneyriak. The intense colds typical of the continent, however, greatly hamper and harm them. Overtime, the native peoples of Sooneyriak located the origins of these creatures: the isolated continent, Zahmal.
There isn't a solid land connection between the two continents, but Zahmal's presence does intrude into the glacial regions of Sooneyriak. The prevailing theory is that particularly colder years create temporary ice bridges into Zahmal, allowing for its native wildlife to spread more freely. The remains of some large-scale engineering projects, however, speak of different efforts to connect to Zahmal. Whatever became of those civilizations is hard to say, but the legacies of their efforts yet remain.
While the bulk of Zahmal's ecosystems seem to struggle with surviving in the freezing colds, that doesn't mean 'all' of it does. The intrusive presences of these foreign visitors greatly unbalances Sooneyriak, putting it into a lopsided position. However, even the wildlife of Sooneyriak has learned to deal with their aggressive neighbors. Something that the people have had to contend with throughout time.
Ironically, it became a great boon for many who could afford the effort. With the only viable choice for metal-bearing ores being deep ocean mining, the metalic fauna and flora of Zahmal offered a great alternative. Through extensive hunting and farming, and careful utilization of their resources, they grew great metal industries. Centuries of practice, experimentation, and innovation combined with ice-based magics, creating composite and alloyed materials civilizations soon stood upon.
People are, after all, incredibly capable no matter where they may be.

Geography

Sooneyriak is largely a continent of glacial ice, with few veltron islands providing firm foundations. It does, however, have a variety of floating islands that generally rest not far from the ocean level. These heavily wind-concentrated locations are popular nesting grounds for nearly all of aerial life within the northern polar regions. Some nations have even co-opted a few, creating centralized cities and headquarters. For many, however, life on the ice and freezing waters is more the norm.
The glacial ice provides reasonable stability, valleys, small mountains, and vast plains stretching across the north pole. Where it thins out, lagoons and bays of freezing water await, providing portals into the ice-shrouded depths below. There, one can find massive pillars of underwater ice that'd been carefully engineered into existence. Anchoring to the icebergs above, these enormous columns are where most underwater people live, store, or access the surface from.
Hence, the region between the surface ice and the ocean floor can resemble a massive forest of ice, upon which all other life has grown to live within.

Ecosystem

While most of the sunlight is reduced by the overhead ice, the underwater regions of Sooneyriak are full of all kinds of alternative light sources. Crysium pillars, coral reefs with bioluminescent properties, and even the many kinds of fauna themselves, all provide varying sources of colorful light. Natural growths cross the extensive ocean floor and terrain, as well as the immense ice pillars. The rich and prosperous maze is home to countless hundreds forms of aquatic life, making it remarkably diverse.
The greatest challenges, however, come in the form of leviathans. While most adult leviathans are too big to comfortably navigate these regions, their offspring is not. It's quite common for juvenile or adolescent leviathans to prowl through, seeking easy meals. With their only real competition being other leviathans, they have no recognition of danger, especially given how young they are. It poses an ever present challenge to the people underneath Soonyeriak, who must constantly devise means of deterring or hunting down these leviathans.
Much of life on the glacial mass landscape is one devoted toward tapping into the rampant ice, winds, and water mana available. Interbreeding and conflict with Zahmal's intruding ecosystems also introduced a lot of metal-based variants and new species. The most notable of these crossovers is the appearance of metal-and-ice based 'trees', which grow rampantly across the glacial ice. In turn, other flora attached to them, creating sharply contrasting symbiotic systems.
Of course, herbivores and manavores came in droves, swiftly followed by carnivores. In many ways, these ice-laden ecosystems resemble the jungles of Nerzin in particular, whimsically quaint, all pervasive, and filled with utterly magical creatures. Though, the frozen forests of Sooneyriak are just that much more dangerous when one can fall through the floor into freezing ocean waters.

Natural Resources

Sooneyriak is very poor in terms of its veltron-based resources, as it's largely a continent of glacial ice. Whatever it does gain comes from a scant handful of above-water-level volcanoes, and the mining efforts of the underwater peoples. Almost no external trade happens, as crossing Vastia's incredible distances sounds utterly insane to most people. That often means taking what is available and learning to make the most of it is a critical key to success.
Ice and water-based magics, technologies, and more are thus the most common form of civilized development. The abundance of both, plus wind mana, means all kinds of highly specialized things can be created. Nearly all of them are built in tandem with the animal parts of Sooneyriak's fauna, with things like bone, sinew, skins, and organs being vitally important. For those unusued to the ways of jungle living, or reliant on veltron-based materials, Sooneyriak's innovations can seem quite horrifying. Although, that view does a great disservice to the incredible artistry that is made.
Metals largely come from deep ocean mining, or through hunting Zahmal's metallic creatures. While this does ensure a stream of metal income, the means by which it is procured is challenging at least, and dangerous more often. Something of a cultural divide also emerged between the two sources: people considered hunting the metal-bearing creatures to be 'honorable' and 'worthy'. Hence, those sources of metal are reserved for the most important works, and often bear a cultural value to them. More mundane pieces of metal work, like gears or boxes, are reserved for the sea-based metals.

Type

Continent