The Burn

The Burn is the single most distinguishable geographical feature in Vaskeer. It is the collection of centuries worth of human souls that leave their bodies when they die and rise into the sky, joining together into a radiant torrent of light. During the night, it appears as swirling rivers of greenish-blue light that encompasses the entirety of the sky. During this time, it can be beautiful, bright viridescent light swirling overhead in an almost wondrous pattern. But during the day those colors are washed out and instead appear like an ugly black-red course of scars snaking throughout the now-invisible sky. This is what gave The Burn its name. During the day, the Burn simmers, giving off a scarlet aura of inevitable death and destruction. During the night it is emerald, deceptively beautiful and bright, and resembles a burn running through a damp field. When viewed up close, you can see that The Burn is made up of a current of manifested souls, their corporeal bodies writhing in the mass of light known as The Burn.

All cultures think of The Burn as the afterlife, confirmed by seeing souls of the dead rising to join the river. Iron wants to go to the Burn. It is the good afterlife to be sought out instead of having your soul eaten. The Soleri differ slightly, but most want to die on the Soul Tree, M'Boukho to avoid the Burn as it is like their Hell, the worst afterlife. The Har'Akirians only want to die at the hands of another human, so their soul stays in the mortal world forever. The Burn is like a Hell for them as well.
The sun itself is barely even known anymore, and the time of day is measured instead by the sky as a whole, usually using the color of the Burn as a sign. At night, when the Burn shines brightest, and the mouths of screaming souls can be seen within, that is midnight. When the Burn turns purple, it is dusk. When the Burn turns orange and yellow, it is dawn. When the harsh light behind the Burn is brightest, and the Burn looks most faded, like old blood dried on stained parchment, it is midday.

The Burn makes day darker than night, and completely overwhelms all life in Vaskeer. It has:

• Become the basis for The Iron Creed
• Made many nocturnal animals much more prominent but reduced anyone being good at seeing in darkness. Animals that have adapted to seeing in the dark are uncommon. Anyone that suddenly finds themselves in complete darkness gets very frightened because they have never experienced it due to the Burn.
• Large factions of people prefer the night because of how much beautiful it is. The Burn during the day looks evil and they believe the people who dwell during daytime are likewise evil.
• A tribe of Soleri only walk under the night-Burn, they are the Anansi clan, who believe the Burn is the godly spiderweb spun by the Animal Trickster God of the same name.
• Often refer to the light coming from the sky as burnlight. Red burnlight during the day and green burnlight at night.

Navigation

Stars cannot be seen through the Burn except in a rare occasion where a tendril of the river flickers and the glittering of faint white dots can be seen behind during night. Ancient records from the beginning of Vaskeer 500 years ago explain the existence of stars, when they could still be seen, but since then the Burn has grown tremendously and blots out the entirety of the sky. Now, the Burn has to be used for travelers to navigate the land.
Instead of distinguishing stars in the night sky that don't move like the rest, people are forced to pick out distinguishing features in the Burn to guide them. There are a few large holes or pronounced, bulbous areas in the Burn that the Vaskeerians deign as Souls of Heroes. These souls are of powerful heroes that can guide them like stars used to. Even so, picking out the distinguishing souls from within the Burn is very difficult and to be a navigator requires great training and practice as the souls can be easily confused with another. However, there are many great heroes from Iron's history whose souls do not appear in the Burn. This is because it is believed their souls have been absorbed by others and continue to pass around either in Titans, Soulomancers, or Lost. Because of how the Burn stretches across Vaskeer, unlike the stars, the souls used for navigation are unique for each region as they are so close to the ground. The souls within Iron are below:

• Veler's soul is not in the Burn. The Iron Creed believe that Veler's soul still roams Vaskeer looking to be reincarnated in his descendent, becoming the Stormsoul.
• The First King - King Glorius, the First King of Old Iron, was the leader of the Sacrim tribe during the Blood Age, and fought alongside Veler in the Yellow Campaign. He became a trusted ally and was given the island of Old Iron as a gift by Veler before his rest. Glorius led his people to Old Iron and founded the Iron Kingdom, becoming its first King. His soul sits to the East, where he led his people to Old Iron.
• The Black Wound - A thin slice of a dark soul that looks like a sword wound in the usually bright Burn. Named after the Hero Black Blade, who wed Pantensus Glore, daughter of the Last Iron King, after saving the Last King's life. The Black Blade started the Blackblade House through his son, Bedirion Blackblade. His daughter, Paratus Blackblade, later started the Paratus noble House.
• The Father - Cayde, the Father, Carantus is the founder of the Carantus House and father to the renowned Goldbeard who made his noble House prosper. Cayde married Payne Rottcolt, great-grandaughter of the Last Iron King through the Rottcolt line.
• The Dancer - A writhing soul that always flows more than the souls around it, naming it the Dancer after Sir Wulfric, the Dancer, Lancer, who seduced both Ayenna and Smyte Carantus, grandaughters of the Father Cayde Carantus, and fathered the Seaspark and Wartide, the two greatest seafaring adventurers in Iron history.
• Ormeo - A tragically flawed hero that tried to become a God. Ormeo was lowborn, but the noblemen were fond of him because of his quick wit, sharp mind, and loving heart. He respected their greater blood and always did his best to help the Empire. Ormeo lived in the first few decades after the Burning War. He was so great that a nobleman of House Kilrich even allowed him to marry his daughter because of how great of a help Ormeo was to the founding and production of Redburn Brandy. However, one day a Dragon crashed down into the land of Iron after a battle with a monster from outside the Wall. After decades of humbleness, Ormeo saw the chance to become something greater and to rise above his noble fellows and stop living under everyone's shoes. Disregarding his new family and children, Ormeo jumped atop the riderless Dragon and urged it to take flight. The last seen of Ormeo was him soaring up into the sky laughing gleefully and cursing at his new family from high above. Then the Dragon plunged through the Burn and Ormeo's laughs turned into screams of horror as his flesh bubbled and dripped off him and his body contorted and twisted, absorbed into the Burn in endless pain. The Dragon flew through unharmed and returned to its vigil. The Witnesses tell this tale as a warning of trying to enter the Burning Heaven too soon and to not try and get out of the status quo. His soul now looks like a twisted and tortured one among many, but appears more solid and physical than others.
• Tiny Titan - This mythical Titan managed to beat down an entire pack of horrid Lost creatures by herself despite her size. She was born a dwarf, considered to be a genetic abomination by most of the Empire's culture, but when the dwarf (whose name has been largely forgotten to history) became known as a Titan, only the second in Iron's history. people treated her vastly different. She slew a dozen Lost at once to save the town of Goodsoul?
• The Humble Soul - The famous Edric the Humble that rose towards the north of the Burn after his sacrifice at Alaric's Ambush.

Soleri souls:

Based off their ten Animal Trickster Gods.

1. Tchiwara Antelope – An animal that appeared to the Soleri people and showed them how to work the land. It hoed the ground with its antlers and covered the seeds with dirt with its hooves.
2. Akanshi the Spider – Spinner of wondrous tales often filled with cunning lies and manipulations. ‘Spider stories’ are sets of oral mythological stories passed around by the tribes that were once told by the spider itself.
3. Mshindi – A mouse that uses its powers to appear like the most majestic and powerful animal in Soleri, the Lion. A tale that is used to teach Soleri that they can do whatever they set their mind to. Even if they are smaller, the size of their heart is what matters. Lions represent heart.
4. Impirsi, The Spotted Hyena – a tragic myth of a dog-god that could not stop laughing, even when it was tragic he is the sign of when to and not to laugh, when it is inappropriate. Birthed the Hyena animals. Viewed the world as too drab and dark, wanted to bring laughter to the people of Soleri. A foolhardy Soleri man challenged the Spotted Hyena to a contest of wit, to try and make more people laugh. When he failed, the Spotted Hyena turned him into a tree. A small rainforest sprouted around the tree, named the Spotted Rainforest.
5. Tavathi – The first cow that had horns so large that it could not life its head, so the Soleri people were able to come up to it and milk it. A wise and old animal.
6. Benga, Trickster God of the Sol – Said to be the linguist for man. He translates for humans the otherwise cryptic messages from the heavens. He sows turmoil and disrupts harmony wherever he goes, but the people of Soleri love him and do not view him as evil. When disharmony takes over the Soleri life, such as natural disasters, they are positive about it because of Legba. A warning tale for children that if you always lie then no one will believe you when you tell the truth.
7. Mantis, the Lan – A trickster animal God that is known for its shapeshifting abilities. In many rituals in Soleri because it takes the form of the animal related to it. When a boy wants to become a man, he must kill his first antelope while hunting. The Lan takes on the form of the Antelope and tests the boy by making a chase. The people celebrate while feasting on the Lan’s flesh. The fat kept from the Lan antelope kill is kept by the tribe and used in the ritual of a girl going through puberty. The fat from the Trickster God is used to anoint the girl into womanhood.
8. Senzo-Impunushe – Animal trickster God that was there during the creation of the universe. His name was Senzo then, and he tried to be the ultimate father. For his bad actions he was transformed into Impunushe, the Pale Fox, known locally as the Jackal – a creature despised by all. Serves as a cautionary tale for overreaching.
9. Xotli – Trickster God that serves as a divinity chief enforcer of the natural law and worship of tricksters. Xotli is a forceful entity that often appears like a young boy. He appears and pushes for sacrifice by the people in order to keep harmony in the world or appease the other Gods. Animal form is that of a rooster. Specially worshipped by the Zulere tribe who sacrifice above all others.
10. The Tenth

Type

Void