Uras

"From the snowy tops of the heavens range to the shimmering tides of the gray sea. Mankind made all of this its own. What was once ruled by mighty entities such as dragons and wyverns, giants and trolls, vampires and far more hideous horrors, now obeys solely the will of the common man," the unknown Raskshan growled as he widened the scarred corners of his mouth, revealing a terrible, far too wide grin around his sharp yellow teeth, "that's what you think, isn't it?"
Harsan looked up at the creature searching for mercy, trying to find a hint of humanity in the scaly features. He desperately searched for something to connect with, a chance to transfer his own feelings to the person in front of him, but all he found was sheer hatred. A hatred that seemed so primeval and pure that he could hardly relate to it.
"I beg you sir, none of this is true. I am but a simple merchant, my wife and I...", that was as far as the man's trembling, breaking, begging words got before the dagger jerked forward again, digging into his shoulder. He screamed, collapsing to the ground. The taste of woodsy ground settled on his lips while searing hot pain clouded the rest of his senses. It was only a few hundred meters to the road after all, someone had to hear them, anyone, if only he could scream. Groaning, the muscles in his neck acted, tensing and allowing his face to straighten and look toward the road.
The scream he tried to push out with all his might was only a short moment away from escaping his dusty throat when something fell into his field of vision with a muffled sound. At first he saw only tangled strands, white as snow, before his eyes could make out the difference between the figure and its surroundings. The wisps of white hair slid down and he looked into his wife's face, an expression of fear etched deep into her frozen features. Her throat was dark red. It almost reminded him of the beautiful scarf she had worn on cold winter evenings in their yard. The scream stuck, unable to find its way past the lump that filled his throat like an attached ulcer.
"Your people will bleed." he heard the hissing voice, victorious and conscientious behind him. The whistling sound of cut air, a sharp pain in his neck, and then...nothing...nothing but red color and all-encompassing silence.

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Uras is one of six continents that together form the planet Terria. About 900 years ago, the fifth age began on Uras when humanity discovered the first worldshrine. The landmass of Uras is almost equally divided into the territory of the six nations and the neutral zones, lawless areas not controlled by general human society.

Table of Contents

1. Geography
2. History
3. Climate
4. Map

Maps

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  Uras

name

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superior areas

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inferior ares

Uras

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Terria

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neutral zones
kingdom Kartus
military state Lahoral
goddess state Lithanien
paridates state Asorat
republic of Mas'Orat
holy nation Tasmeran

Type

Continent

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1. Geography

The exact location of Uras in relation to the rest of Terria is difficult to determine, as the rest of the world has not been discovered, nor has contact been made with outside cultures. The only information about the rest of the world comes from the elystrate, the holy book of the Church of Light, which was left behind by the Ame herself. According to this work, Uras is found south of the continent of Miridas, the two being separated by the mighty and formidable heavens range. To the east of Uras, a crossing of the Titan Sea would lead directly to the beaches of the continent of Iteras. To the south, however, Uras joins the grey sea, which conceals the southern islands, as well as the distant Tarial-archipelago. To the west, however, the Ice Floe Ocean separates Uras from the continent of Quiala.

2. History

The history of Uras is appropriately difficult to exactly determine thanks to the various apocalypses that ended the earlier ages, wiping out a great deal of existing knowledge in the process. Some of the little information, however, includes that the famous city of Bawim, once founded by the Yal'Sekai, probably extended at least partially over Uras as well. After their decline and destruction the nameless probably left the continent. The third age on the other hand, reveals the presence of the envoys on Uras. These

beings lived in the midst of a human society called Gesenna and inherited the powers the dragon had once stolen from the goddess. They continued the fight against the darkness, however it is unclear exactly how this battle ended. Both the records of the end of the third age and nearly all knowledge of the fourth age were lost. Little is known from this time, but in this lost age the mages must have originated, as well as the world shrines. However, the true story of Uras begins in the silent age, immediately after the Awakening.

The entire population of Uras, animals and beasts included, awoke from a kind of sleep which had possibly lasted for hundreds of years. All these beings, even the hundreds of years old elves, lacked the memories of the fourth age, only fragments remained. At that time, no mages existed and no supernatural powers were bestowed upon people who awoke in the wilderness or in the ruins of vanished civilizations. During this time, humanity faced its own powerlessness. Where they once inhabited one of the greatest civilizations of all time as part of Gesenna, they were forced to return to archaic and nomadic origins for protection from the beasts and other monstrosities. Whenever they tried to settle down, they were overrun and crushed by whole hordes in no time. Thus began the long period of nomads in which the myriad of human clans moved from place to place.

Certainly we know quite little about the essence of the Awakening itself. What we do know is that it was an apparently spontaneous and intelligent event that not only altered the memory of all intelligent life forms to its will, but even manipulated or erased physical records of the past and the fourth Age. This does not necessarily imply a correlation between the end of the lost age itself and this erasure, but it does make a common source or at least a connection seem guaranteed. To this day, it cannot be clearly stated what explicit information was to be erased by the Awakening, however, even super-powerful beings such as the dragons were stripped of all their knowledge from that time.

This only changed a long time later when the seven hell beasts appeared on the face of the continent. These creatures terrorized all the living creatures of the continent equally and they flattend entire areas until the goddess herself appeared one more time. She slaughtered the creatures and thus created the foundation for her Church of Light, which became the first stand for a settled human civilization in the following centuries. Nearly a thousand years after the beginning of this entire silent period, the being referred to as the eighth hell beast finally appeared, but this time it was not the Mother who saved humanity. Instead, a single figure appeared, a young man, marked by a red and black glowing mark, the first of the mages. The strange man defeated the unearthly creature, but lost his life in the battle itself. A total of four people then set

Behold the mother, for she brought the sword. Behold the mother, for she brought the shield. Behold the mother, for she leveled the land. Lower the heads, for she struck down the beasts. Lower your heads, for she gave you fertile soil. Lower your heads, for she gave us protection. Given from the light, defended by the light, purified by the light. Taken from the light, redeemed by the light, born anew by the light.

— Scripture of Grace 14:3 elystrate

out to follow his tracks, and eventually Laho, Litha, Quim, and Kartus came upon the World Shrine, a bridge to the realm of the dead. They followed the strange man in his quest to become a mage and in no time the former nomadic peoples flocked to the newly founded city of Alphis, which was built around the shrine. From this loose confederation, the Council of Mages soon formed and a second human culture emerged alongside the church. Although this was ethnically connected, fear and suspicion blossomed between the two sides, causing a first brief conflict. This ended with a fraternization of both sides, in which the ten seats of the council were provided equally by nomadic descendants and representatives of the church.

It did not take long for this new front to find a new enemy, the beasts and other creatures they felt had wronged them. Just five years after the beginning of the fifth age, the first human liberation war began. During this time, humanity saw its clear enemy in all those beings that did not share its standard of intelligence and physical form. All these diverse beasts were so crushed by the growing human force that they had nothing left but to flee. Thus, they hid in the deepest corners of the world,

wary of the armies of men. In the year 11 atnA. this war finally ended, but mankind's thirst for blood was far from being quenched. A few decades later, the second human liberation war already began, this time targeting elves, dwarves, and all the other races that never really wanted to help humans in their earlier predicaments.

In the course of this war, humanity managed to subjugate most of the continent to their control, though the nature energy and their effects threw a wrench in the complete takeover. Eventually, as expected, the war against all that was different grew into hatred and distrust of each other. The Council of Mages broke into pieces and their ideals collided in the first territorial war. The end of this war was sealed by the Treaty of Territorial Order, a document that regulated and anchored the various boundaries. However, this war had brought far more changes than previously arrived. Since the magical upheaval during the second human liberation war, more and more world shrines had appeared all over Uras, and the massive war had seemingly accelerated this process. Hundreds of the objects broke their seals, were found partly on open lands and partly in hidden ruins and it was no longer possible to bind the powers of magic to ordered political structures. Thus the free adventurers, unbound loners or small groups formed, who used their powers to solve the missions of the population in outlying areas. Likewise, however, these shrines also formed the basis for the assassins.

Within a very short time, the various cultures and political parties on Uras grew to enormous size, and even outside the vast nations of the then five countries, countless cultures blossomed. With the passing of centuries, even the intelligent races joined this society and besides magic, the other energies were discovered, explored and deciphered. The last major conflict, on the other hand, began in 689 atnA and ended in 701 atnA. The second territorial war erupted from the swelling hatred of the populace against the mages and the problems they unleashed, such as the demonplague and the miasmas. This hatred gave rise to the Sanctuary of the purified world, a religious splinter group that developed anti-magic-technology and sought open war against the mages. The end of this war was the treaty of the new territorial order, which legitimized the holy nation Tasmeran as the sixth nation and adjusted the borders of the continent. Thus, the dimensions of the neutral zone also changed and former cities grew into self-sufficient city-states. At present, however, in the year 911 atnA., crises and conflicts seem to be piling up once again. The absolute mages terrorize the borders of Kartus and in the north the battle for the chrononite between Mas'Orat and Tasmeran threatens to escalate. Seemingly, the world cycle is heading for the end of a cycle one more time.

Uras after the end of the first territorial war

3. Climate

The climate on Uras is difficult to grasp as a whole, especially because of the nature wells. These underground accumulations of natural energy possess a primary element which they radiate to the environment, thus affecting the surface as well. According to the extent of their power, these natural sources are divided into three levels. Gaeli are the most powerful of these wells, their output of natural energy is so immense that approaching them will quickly cause mutations. Their environment and surface is determined exclusively by them, and the ordinary climate has not the slightest influence on them. The Gaeli are followed by the weaker Mitrii. These sources continue to emit enough energy to create ecosystems all their own, and their proximity also creates strong mutations and prevents easy approach. Beings who themselves have natural energy in their organism can easily move in and out of these areas, which is why they primarily build their cities and fortresses here, where they are safe from many other life forms. The lowest form of natural springs is known as Elia. Near them, the climate is usually only slightly affected and remains quite ordinary. Within this scale, the hottest temperatures are found in the northeast of Kartus and the south of Lahoral while the coldest climate can be found in the north along Tasmeran and Mas'orat and the heavens range.

Uras since the end of the second territorial war

4. Map

Uras

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