Litan-Drassic

Litan-Drassic

Litan-Drassic is quite literally Sky-Earth in one of the older languages of the area. The region was named shortly after the first airships arrived from foreign lands, as there had previously been no need to describe the area as anything other than “The Land.” Drassic, the plains region, had long been isolated from the rest of the world, bordered by mountains on three sides and an ocean to the south. When airship travel became possible, large numbers of people set out to live on the mountains, making their living through the airship trade. This newly inhabited region is known as Litan.

Drassic is primarily composed of plains with natural borders formed by the mountain rivers. The exception to this is a mountainous region in the centre of the area that holds a high-altitude lake. This is the only area that is largely unpopulated, since it is traditionally a fae stronghold. As such, the area is steeped in magic. Otherwise, Drassic is fairly highly populated. Most of the population lives in city-states, the borders of which tend to be defined by the river paths. Endasin is the most prosperous city-state, lying west of the largest river and bordering on the sea. This location means that trade flourishes in Endasin more than anywhere else in Drassic. This city-state is ruled by a tyrant who is traditionally chosen by nobles from among themselves, but lately merchants and craft guilds have had more influence.

There are a few feudal fiefdoms left in the more backward parts of Drassic’s plains. These have little trade or political sway, not being considered important enough to be absorbed into the nearest city-state. There is only one kingdom still remaining, the Kingdom of Taranth. The kingdom has shrunk considerably in size since its glory days and was long considered anachronistic and politically insignificant. However, since much of the kingdom borders the mountains to the north, the kingdom has recently become a waypoint for a large portion of trade goods from Litan, making the region politically significant once again.

Litan is made up of the various mountain towns and cities—basically, everything that is a certain altitude. There are a couple of floating islands, mostly small and man-made, but there are rumours of large floating landmasses that conceal themselves in cloudbanks or with magic. Law and order is still scarce in many of the mountain towns and cities—Litan is somewhat equivalent to the Old West. Gron Graston is the largest and most developed city, though it still lacks infrastructure. Gron Graston is the major connecting hub for ships coming from the other lands to the north and for goods transports that run through Taranth. As such, the city teems with people of many different races and walks of life.

The monetary system is based in Drassic, but Litan uses the same currency. The basis unit is the Dra, which is generally equivalent to the price of two pieces of fruit. Though the coins will differ in appearance depending on the city-state in which they are issued, there is no difference in value or composition. Taranth is the only holdout, using silver Tars and copper bits. Bartering is still very much a way of life in the countryside and in isolated towns in Litan’s mountains.

Technology is advancing on several different fronts. One is technological process as seen in our world, technical advancements made without the aid of any kind of magic. Basic combustion engines are emerging as are early firearms. Both are fueled by basic alchemy (which is this world's equivalent of chemistry). Another technological process is Litan-Drassic magitechnology, which uses basic mechanics along with channeled magic to make the technology work. An example of this is best found in Litan-Drassic airships, which are made of spelled wood and powered by sails and wind spells or by engines that run off of magic. Finally, there is dwarf technology, in which magic and mechanics are intertwined. Dwarf airships are strange-looking creations that devote much of their space to the engine and they tend to use much more metal than Litan-Drassic airships. Dwarf guns are the only accurate guns in Litan-Drassic and they tend to cost an arm and a leg. They also look different than purely mechanical guns. Interestingly enough, none of these approaches to technology has discovered a way to create airships that can run at both high and low elevations--the nature of the magic involved means that ballast doesn't work as well as a solution. As such, there aren't very many ships that transport goods between Litan and Drassic and they tend to suck magic.

Races

Humans:
Humans are the dominant race both on in Drassic and in Litan. For the most part, there is very little physical difference between plains humans and mountain humans, except that mountain humans tend to be a bit hardier and plains humans have a bit of trouble at higher altitudes. Humans are predominantly Caucasian, though the mountain trading hubs tend to have a greater mix of different ethnicities.

Humans can interbreed with any other race and have done so for many years (excepting the dwarves, who have only arrived one or two generations ago). There are a lot of people who have one inhuman ancestor from way back that they might not necessarily know about. Human characteristics tend to be dominant, but every once in a while strange characteristics and abilities come through. For example, a human with a vampire ancestor might get unnatural speed or healing ability. Or, they might end up with funny teeth or a strange thirst for blood. It seems to be quite random; however, even half-bloods tend not to have more than a few inhuman characteristics. Strangely enough, if one child from a certain generation has inhuman abilities, the other children of the same generation are more likely to have abilities as well. No one seems to know quite why that is.

Vampires:

Vampires have always been native to the land, though they used to hide themselves in the eras before the airships. As the airships brought greater diversity, the vampires felt more comfortable as a genuine part of society—mostly in the mountains. They are good sailors, as they are not affected by altitude changes. Vampires have no built-in enmity with any other race.

Vampires live on blood—they’ll starve to death if they are unable to feed. That said, they don’t need to feed often and they don’t necessarily need human blood. Vampires crave blood, but don’t intend to kill victims; this is a sign of poor self-control. Vampires generally create more vampires by biting someone with a special venom—normal bites only have a venom that relaxes the victim and heals the would after the teeth are removed. It is very difficult for two vampires to conceive naturally. Human/vampire children are more common, but any union with a vampire mother will create a vampire child (conception in these cases is also more difficult). Most vampire/human children are born of a male vampire and human female. Vampires are able to breed with every race, though they rarely breed with fae or demons—this is a good thing, as vampire/fae hybrids are almost uniformly psychopathic.

Abilities- Superhuman strength and speed, do not age, heal very quickly unless catastrophically damaged or unless it’s been a long time since they last fed. This can even extend to reattaching severed limbs, though they would need a lot of blood. Vampiric abilities are powered by life force, which is badly understood but seems to be present in all living beings, especially in the blood. This means that, potentially, there could be a way for vampires to survive without blood, but so far no substitute has been found.

Weaknesses- Damage to the heart or the brain will kill a vampire almost instantly. Bright sunlight has an effect somewhat like powerful acid, but cloud cover would merely give a severe sunburn-like effect. This can be prevented with adequate clothing, but most vampires aren’t willing to risk it on a sunny day. If a vampire is literally torn to pieces, they probably won’t be able to pull themselves back together unless they have a willing blood source there and are lucky enough to have an untouched heart and brain, which are still connected to each other.

Fae:

The fae tend to keep to themselves in wilderness areas, rarely venturing into human settlements. In the past, they took a more active interest in human affairs, inviting humans to celebrations, taking human children and leading hunters on wild chases, but this kind of thing is much less common now. They are essentially forces of nature—like the natural environment, they are inherently magical. They produce their own magic, rather than drawing on the magic in the environment. They live very long lives, gradually growing more physically fragile over hundreds of years. They reproduce in the normal way, but they do so very rarely. Children between fae and other races are more common, though they tend to take more after the other race rather than the fae parent. New types of fae will pop into existence upon the creation of a new type of environment; there is talk nowadays of city-born and city-dwelling fae. Technology is foreign to most fae.
Fae appear in glamour most of the time, whether around other species or their own kind. They do have true forms, which tend to vary based on personality more than anything else—though they can change their appearance, they cannot actually change shape. They can also have a true name, which gives them more power but can also be used to control them, just as certain natural elements can be controlled through the use of a true name.

Powers- Though fae cannot use magic in the manner of a conventional mage, they do have a number of abilities. Their glamour allows them to appear however they wish and a powerful glamour can have a trance-like effect on other races. Vampires and demons are less susceptible to this, since vampires have similar abilities and demons are more easily able to recognize that magic is being used. Fae uniformly have power over animals. Depending on the environment that gave birth to the fae, they will have different elemental powers. Most can fly. However, these powers usually extend only to the environment—a fae could not produce a blast of water, but they could divert a river.

Weaknesses- Fae are very difficult to kill with conventional weapons, as they can appear where they are not and use the confusion to flee. They are also difficult to kill with conventional magic, since they are innately magical. Fae are weak to iron, which cuts through illusions and burns simply by its presence. More traditional fae can be escaped or contained using folk methods such as wearing clothing inside out or standing in a circle of pebbles or salt. Rumours say that the new fae being born from the sky cities do not have the same weakness to iron…

Dwarves:

Despite what the name of the race suggests, dwarves are not actually all that short. An average female dwarf stands at about 5’ and a male at about 5’5”--about 4 or 5 inches shorter than average. They are built to the same proportions as humans and vary just as widely in terms of body type. Dwarves are recent additions to the area, having arrived on the first airships—they are the pioneers of airship technology. As such, they are not common, especially on the plains, though more arrive each year. Their skin is quite a bit darker than most of the inhabitants of this area, ranging from light brown to black. Some dwarves even have somewhat grayish skin. Their hair, however, tends towards lighter colours. Men and women both tend to wear their hair long, women braiding theirs together under their chins. This has given rise to the conception that dwarf women are bearded, especially in plains towns that see little trade.

Dwarves are very mechanically minded, especially as they are the only race that does not have an inherent ability to channel magic. However, they are able to build devices that channel magic—airship technology is founded upon the fusion of magic and machinery. Dwarves cannot interbreed with most races. This is likely due to the fact that they are genetically compatible with races that have inherent magic.

Dwarves occupy an odd place in Litan-Drassic currently. Very few of them have integrated into the local culture and they tend to keep to themselves. As such, they tend not to share their technology and culture with the locals. If a child of mixed dwarf blood was born, they likely would not be integrated into dwarf culture and would likely be ostracized.

Werewolves:

Werewolves tend to stick to the wilderness and the plains. They don’t do very well in cities and they do even less well on airships. As such, they are rarely found in Litan. Werewolves are stronger and smarter than other wolves, in addition to being a little bit larger. They can change at will but are forced to change at night at certain points in the moon’s phase. This will be different for every werewolf, with the exception of the new moon and the full moon. At those times, a werewolf is most at risk of losing their human self. Werewolves transform fully into wolves—there is no halfway point that they can stay at. If a werewolf is in wolf form as dawn breaks on the winter solstice, they will be trapped in that form until the summer solstice, barring intense magical intervention.

Werewolfism is usually hereditary, but a human can be transformed into a werewolf by certain spells during a new moon or a full moon. In spite of this, folklore persists that a werewolf’s bite will transform the unlucky person, and as such, werewolves are viewed with suspicion. Wolf form is the most common type of transformation, but there have been instances of were-beings who turn into different types of animals.

Weaknesses- Werewolves are vulnerable to silver, which burns like iron does for a fae. They are also weak against weapons forged during the night of a new moon or a full moon, though this is not common knowledge. The longer a werewolf stays in wolf form, the more likely it is that they will lose their human mind. A full night as a wolf wouldn’t be a problem, but spending every night as a wolf or spending several days in a row as a wolf would be problematic.

Demons:

Demons usually appear as ordinary humans, though they always retain one feature that hints at their true nature. They each have a true form, though this varies widely among demonkind. True forms may or may not be fully humanoid, though demons that interact with other races tend to be the ones with more humanoid true forms. This is no indicator of morality, however. Some demons are thoroughly evil, whereas some follow human morality. It is rare, however, to find a demon that is really Good. Demons have always existed in this land, though most have now moved to the sky, which they find more interesting. They’re still quite rare, however—there was once a hero who hunted down and killed quite a number of demons, and demons reproduce slowly. They live about as long as the fae, dying when they can no longer manage to draw magic to themselves.

Demons have a hierarchy among themselves, which they rarely share with outsiders. They will almost always defer to someone higher up than them, though younger demons are more likely to disobey. Demons are tricksters by nature, and as such, it is rare for them to be given any position of power or trust. They tend not to have strong attachments to any particular place, wandering wherever they feel they might find excitement.

Powers- Demons are shapeshifters. They can choose pretty much any shape they want, though shapes with more or less mass are much more difficult to maintain. They rarely carry weapons, since they are easily able to transform a limb into a weapon. They can emit blasts of fire, ice, shards of glass, etc. However, these are limited, as the demon must actually transform parts of themselves into the projectile. Demons draw magic into themselves and are essentially magic transformed into matter. They are capable of tremendous feats of healing, since their bodies are not so much flesh and blood as they are magic. In addition to this, they will absorb any pure magic thrown at them.

Weaknesses- It takes time for a demon to absorb enough magic to shapeshift, especially if they have recently lost mass. The longer the fight, the more the demon will weaken. Few demons have extensive combat abilities, preferring to work on trickery. Certain spells can revert a demon to its true form, which prevents it from shapeshifting until it has had the chance to absorb enough magic.

Gods:

Gods do have physical forms, though they spend most of their time on an alternate plain of existence. They were originally mages so powerful that they essentially transcended their physical existence, absorbed into their own magic. Oddly enough, a great number of these beings were not educated as mages and did not use magic in its conventional form. They are strengthened by belief, but it is ultimately their choice whether to retain their consciousness or fade away into the magics of the world. They do have physical forms, but these do not always remain the same as the ones they had originally and can change over time. Generally, they are patrons of whatever craft or cause they practiced in life. One can forcibly invoke a god, given the right words and situation, but the consequences can be unpredictable.

Most races can become gods, though races that cannot channel magic in a conventional way (werewolves or dwarves) must have godly ancestry. Since demons use up magic every time they shapeshift, it is rare for them to accumulate enough magic for godhood. Gods can interbreed with any race. Fae use magic differently than any other race and as such cannot become gods. In very rare cases, a dwarf will achieve godhood through a magitechnology accident.

Breeding Chart:

	Humans (m)	Vampires (m)	Fae (m)	Dwarves (m)	Werewolves (m)	Demons (m)
Humans (f)	Human	Child may or may not be vampire. Child and later generations may have vampire traits.	Child will usually have very nature-based magic. Child often very charming.	Never accepted into dwarf society.	Child may or may not have werewolf abilities. Less likely to be a mage.	Child may have some shape-shifting abilities, but much more limited.
Vampires (f)	Child will be vampire. Later gens may have some vampire abilities while not being vampires	Difficult to conceive. Child will be vampire, except in extremely rare cases.	Rare, socially unacceptable. Generally sociopathic. Charming almost to the point of drugging the subject. Hungers, whether vampire or no.	Child will be vampire. Later generations may have vampire traits while not being vampires. Never accepted into dwarf society.	Rare, child will only take after 1 parent. In extremely rare cases, creates vampires that transform into giant bats.	Socially unacceptable. Children tend to be very unstable. If vampiric, thirst for blood is stronger than control. Often killed by parents.
Fae (f)	Child will usually have very nature-based magic. Non mages usually just charming	Rare, socially unacceptable. Generally sociopathic. Charming almost to the point of drugging the subject. Hungers, whether vampire or no.	At long intervals.	Cannot reproduce	Child will be very attached to nature. Probably can talk to animals. Takes after one side more than the other.	Very, very, very rare. Powerful inherent magic. 99% take after one parent exclusively.
Dwarves (f)	Harder to give birth. Usually removed from dwarf society.	Harder to give birth. Child may or may not be vampire. Child and later gens may have vampire traits. Rarely accepted into dwarf society.	Cannot reproduce	Dwarf.	Cannot reproduce	Cannot reproduce
Werewolves (f)	Child may or may not have werewolf abilities. Less likely to be a mage.	Rare, child will only take after 1 parent. In extremely rare cases, child can turn into giant bat.	Child will be very attached to nature. Probably can talk to animals. Takes after one side more than the other.	Cannot reproduce	Child may or may not be a werewolf. (But they usually will.)	Child will likely have enhanced werewolf abilities. May be able to transform part way or take multiple shapes. Still usually restricted by moon phases.
Demons (f)	Child may have some shape-shifting abilities, but much more limited.	Rare, socially unacceptable. Children tend to be very unstable. If vampiric, thirst for blood is stronger than control. Often killed by parents.	Very, very, very rare. 99% will take after one parent almost exclusively. Powerful inherent magic.	Cannot reproduce	Child will likely have enhanced werewolf abilities. May be able to transform part way or take multiple shapes. Still usually restricted by moon phases.	At long intervals

Note: It is rare for most of these races to interbreed directly, though this will produce the results in the above table to the strongest degree. Most commonly, a human could have ancestry from two different non-human races that mixes somewhere down the line. As this suggests, human traits tend to be dominant and non-human traits recessive.

Magic:

Drassic-Litan is inherently magical—there is ambient magic around that can be used by most people, if the spell is small and it is properly structured. However, if an individual has no channeling ability whatsoever, they won’t be able to use spells no matter how well structured. Spells can be structured around either words or shapes. More powerful spells must use both. Scholars know something about why certain shapes or words help channel magic, but there is a great deal they don’t know. There are a vast number of different approaches to magic, each of which has different patterns to the magic channeling.

If an individual has some capacity for magic, they will be able to use magic without spells. Spells will still boost the power and precision of the magic, but the will of the mage and how powerfully they attract magic are equally important. For a true mage, any pattern can boost the power of a spell. No one knows entirely why some people become mages and others don’t—there is some element of heredity, but that isn’t sufficient to explain it. Each mage has different specialties and weaknesses, depending on their abilities and personality. Some people are born with magic so powerful that they either die spectacularly before the age of 20 or ascend to godhood. For these people, spell patterns often cannot withstand the sheer force of their magic, forcing them to achieve control through will alone.

Magitechnology is based along the same principles as spell patterns, but since the practitioners have no channeling ability whatsoever, the patterns must be much more precise. In addition, there are spell patterns created to channel the magic, most of which are based in geometry. With magitechnology, the spell pattern attracts the magic and the device channels it. The dwarves guard their knowledge very closely. Possibly, this is because combining magitechnology with channeling magic would be disastrous.

Alchemy is the other dwarf art, which produces bursts of magic by combining different materials. All materials in this world are infused with their own unique magical signature, so combining the right ingredients in the right amounts produces certain reactions. Alchemy is much less precise, though it can be channeled through either magitechnology or conventional spell patterns.

Dwarves have no capacity to channel magic. Werewolves can usually use spell patterns but cannot be mages. Vampires and humans can both use spell patterns and be mages, though the ability is somewhat more rare in vampires. Demons and fae cannot use spell patterns or be mages, due to the way in which they use magic. Gods cannot use spell patterns, but since they are ludicrously powerful channelers, they don’t need to.

Demons attract ambient magic, channeling it into their shapeshifting abilities.

Fae produce their own magic, which cannot be channeled in the regular way.

Vampires feed on life force, which is present in every living creature throughout their body, but most strongly in the blood. There is life force present even in cooked meat, though it is at its weakest. Life force powers vampire abilities—this is true even for later generations that may not be vampires but have some vampire powers.

Important People

Legends:

Marion Godslayer is a legendary figure in Drassic’s past. No one remembers if Marion was a man or a woman. What is universally known is that Marion made it his/her mission to seek out and slay dark gods and gods who interfered in the way the land was run. Though detailed legends are scarce, all accounts agree that Marion was never corrupted and maintained her/his ideals throughout his/her quest. Marion was supposedly armed with a blade that could cut through magic itself. Many fictional stories are based on a quest to find this blade.

Sarna of Taranth was a princess from the previous dynasty of Taranth. She ascended into legend when she saved her kingdom from the clutches of a mad god who had corrupted the ruler—some legends say the ruler was her father while others maintain it was her brother. Though she tried valiantly to save the king, it was too late to retrieve his mind. Sarna was badly wounded in the final confrontation. She appointed a young advisor to be the next king, as none of the royal line remained and drove the blade that had injured her in front of the throne to remind rulers thereafter of the consequences of power gone awry. She then walked out of the palace and disappeared. Some believe she died from her injuries. Some stories say that she survived, continuing to guard the borders of the kingdom from threats. Some say she lives still, protecting the weak from those who misuse their power.

Current Figures:

The Marid family is the most powerful noble family in Litan-Drassic. Though they own vast amounts of land, the majority of their money comes from shipping. The family is uniformly ruthless in its dealings, using any means necessary to get a leg up on the competition. This is especially true in Litan, where law enforcement is often disorganized, bribable or easily threatened. They have been pushing for years to have their estates turned into a city-state of their own, but as the estates lie within Endasin’s borders, they have not been able to manage it yet.

The Radinar family is the Marid family’s biggest rival, though they have much smaller land holdings and rely almost entirely on trade for their income. They barely qualify as nobility in Drassic and are the lowest in the Na rank in Litan. They appear to be more scrupulous in their dealings, investing money in Litan’s infrastructure to build and enforce law and order. They hope to build up enough resistance to the Marids’ stranglehold on certain mountain towns to take down the Marids, or at least make a little room to open up the market.

Cassia the Pirate Queen is a romanticized figure in Litan. Though she makes her living stealing merchant cargoes, she is much less bloodthirsty than other pirates and makes her heists into a show rather than a battle. Rumour says that Cassia has her hand in a number of smuggling operations and black markets, though it is difficult to pin her down to anything. She is almost always in the company of one of her two first mates (no one knows enough to tell which is first and which is second), one of which is a vampire and the other who is a tall, dark-skinned man from the lands to the north. Because she so delights in making an entrance, many people suspect that she may have started out as an actress.

System of Naming and Nobility:

The oldest system of nobility is native to Drassic and is based on land holdings. A landless peasant, villager, or city-dweller will simply have a last name based on their profession (e.g. Miller or Baker), or on their heritage (e.g. Tomsson), or a combination of the two (e.g. Millerson). A small landowner will have a name linked to their land holdings (e.g. Jan of Larkshollow Field or Rath of Andsor Forest Glen). Generally, the more specific the name, the less land they hold. Large landowners, who are predominantly nobles, have more ambiguous names (e.g. Pilsa of Stonegrant) that are usually linked not to their current land holdings (which tend to be expansive) but to their ancestral homes. One must know which names and areas are important in order to determine a given noble’s place in the hierarchy.

Regular titles such as Duke or Lord are only used by city-state rulers, by fiefdom rulers and within the Kingdom of Taranth, though the different honorifics are used depending on the speaker’s place in the hierarchy (e.g. Your Grace might be used to address someone higher than you, who would in turn refer to you as a Sir). Rulers are simply named after their country (e.g. Sarna of Taranth). Because this system requires the titled to own land, very few merchants have ascended to the nobility.

Litan’s system of nobility was created, in a large part, to combat this. In Litan, there are three different ranks of nobles: ones with Drassic titles and vast fortunes, ones with no Drassic title but large amounts of money, and ones with Drassic titles but no fortunes. They are called Na, Li and Té respectively. The title is inserted between the first and last names (e.g. Vania na Marid or Gerard li Bakesson). Traditional honorifics are rarely used by the Lis unless addressing a Na or a Té, who are more traditional in their approach. There are only five families deemed worthy enough to use the Na, the Marids, the Radinars, the Sacenis, the Thordnens and the Drassens. It is possible to ascend the ranks through intermarriage, though it takes two generations for the descendants of a Li and a Na (or a Té and a Na) to hold the Na title and four for the descendants of a Té and a Li. This assumes, of course, that all of the descendants marry up. However, the system has been in place for such a short time that no one has actually managed to ascend the ranks.

The vast majority of the nobility is human, with a little mixed blood in some cases. There is one werewolf clan that holds a title in Drassic and there are several vampire Lis in Litan. It is possible that over time, more races will ascend to nobility in Litan, where the rules are less strict. There are rumours that the Marid family has demon ancestors, but this has never been proven and the Marids "discourage" this kind of talk.

Edit History:
October 17th, 2012- Adding technology to the section on the world. Adjusting section on dwarves.

This post reserved for any questions that come up, for a history of edits, or anything else I decide I need.