Keppel

Chromagaia's time moves forward with ours! Today's date is:
Embresday, Yahataidh 27, 1133 LE

Keppel. The truth behind the Wanderer's lies, the jewel envied across the heavens. The wellspring of the Seventh Age and the Eighth, the first garden to free the dragons from their isolate havoc. The dancer draped in Eremoor's dress, home to the many and the few. Home to the dream of dreams, and birthplace of the practice of magic. O Keppel, may thy majesty gleam and reign eternal.

Keppel is the third planet around the pale gold sun Haerox, the pet project of hundreds of generations of the most ancient dragons, and the first celestial body to bear an ecosystem of its own. It is an average sized terrestrial world, with a majority of its surface covered in oceans of saline water and the rest by rocky land.

With a ten million year old biosphere managed and designed by vivacious dragons, Keppel sports some of the greatest biodiversity in the universe. Not only do countless species exist and continue to change over time, but the sheer density of different sapient races is unmatched anywhere else. The interplay between these numerous peoples has woven a tapestry of grand history almost a hundred millennia long, though much of that is now lost to the fog of archaeological decay.

Solar Interference

Keppel is a planet of the sun Haerox, and is thus subject to the interference she inflicts on all her planets. Haerox, being quieter than most suns, is relatively unassuming, and much of the aberrant properties of the system are a result of the properties of its sunstuff, veilglass. Many locations are difficult to access or map out due to the concealing properties of veilglass, and getting lost has a lot more to do with regularly checking bearings than the actual positioning of landmarks.

Rrataradn

Where veilglass deposits are especially prominent throughout the entire Haerox system, gateways into a hidden other side of the world can appear. This is made up of all things "concealed", lost, or "forgotten" by the inhabitants of the system, and its singular contiguous landmass form a seventh "planet" that connects to all other bodies with any of the few dozen gateways in the solar system. Most of them are on Keppel, with the continent Asperia having an abnormal density of fifteen separate gateways through its surface area. Variscya, the southern ice cap, also has multiple gateways on it.

This "hidden planet", which shifts around the positions of the Gateways on its side and never quite has the same geography, is known as Rrataradn [ˈʰraː.tə.ˌɾɒd.n]. Things pertaining to this realm/planet/plane are called rrataradh [ˈʰraː.tə.ˌɾað].

Myth, folklore, and even forgotten dreams are taken into Rrataradn and recycled. They are turned into something completely new that has all the elements of the lost or concealed thing. Any travelers through it, though few survive the journey, describe it as a nightmarish landscape that is at once both alien and familiar. The skies are black and dotted with glowing wisps of cloud, lit from no source yet reflective nonetheless. The heavens, regardless of time, resemble swirling tar, black and smothering and tinged with a dark nacreousness.

Climate

Keppel's climate is extremely varied, a result of its powerful tectonics and continuously built geography. The gargantuan mountain ranges on its two largest continents dictate a lot of the exchange of humidity within their interiors, and the volcanism taking place on the island ranges across the world contribute a fluctuating influence of chemicals and dark clouds to much of the planet. The vast seas act as a conduit for a lot of thermal energy, powering strong winds that would even climates out across latitude lines, were it not for the presence of so many high mountains.

In places where the climate becomes extreme and circulates within itself, Keppel's own well of odhir may even be drawn up and released, agitating weather systems further and pushing massive storms. For most regions in the world, these happen about once a century or so. Only outliers like the Ocean of Flame see these odhir-storms as a common occurrence.

Regions

Remna

Remna [ˈɹɛm.nə] is the northernmost continent on Keppel. It is thought to be the largest in terms of surface area, though that depends on whether certain island chains count as a part of the continent itself. Of the three continents, it has the widest range of hospitable biomes, with vast temperate zones fueled by moist ocean winds leading up to the mountains in the West.

Arm of Remna

The Arm of Remna is a series of large islands and the Northern stretch of Remna's mainland that create a ring around the Northern ice cap, Lazulya. It is home to many expanses of tundra and subarctic climates. Sparsely populated by races that aren't acclimated to the constant cold and humidity, the Arm is no place to get lost. It is battered by storms year-round, with snow only fully melting during the peaks of summer.

The Arm of Remna serves to keep sea ice and frigid winds from Lazulya contained, evidenced by the notable lack of icebergs and spread of polar climates South of the Arm and in the Chrysokayan Sea. This geographic feature is responsible in part for the continued prevalence of temperate climates throughout most of Remna's interior.

Chrysokayan Sea

Between the Thunderclap Ridge and the Arm of Remna lies an island-infested sea cradled by the continent. Separated by traversible seas and predictable winds and currents, the city-state structure of civilization almost seems more suited to this region than anywhere else. It is one of the most densely populated regions, since most of the monsters that live here do not travel onto land. Most islands are safer, if less abundant in resources, than many mainland regions.

Much of the danger in the Chrysokayan Sea comes from travellers. Bands of pirates have been a common scourge for centuries, able to ransack coastal cities and escape into waters experienced sailors even hesitate to touch. Because of the featureless expanse of much of the sea, they are able to travel almost entirely undetected. The universal draw of life free from consequence, as well as the general insulation of populations from one another, makes the Chrysokayan Sea one of the most racially diverse regions in the world.

High West

The High West is Remna's largest mountain range, formed by its motion across the planet according to tectonic activity. The volcanic activity of this region is consistent and generally spread out enough to be coexisted with, though a few cities have been lost to sudden eruptions. Geothermal steam power makes up a large majority of the energy for mechanical processes for the simple machines found here, relying only on other methods in times of extreme dormancy. This region is home to the densest populations of Capricari, who first originated deep within the mountains and are highly acclimated to the environment.

Travel through the High West is difficult due to the terrain, and mapped roads and pathing along plateaus have been constructed to aid with this. While the protection from the elements is none and there remains almost no deterrence for roving wildlife, this network of roads remains the largest scale example of inter-city infrastructure.

Kerrekglen

Kerrekglen is the largest island considered a part of the Arm of Remna, and is far enough North to be seasonally attached directly to Lazulya. Almost exclusively inhabited by the Gelisrazi, it has a high density of built structures, though most of them are abandoned. These shelters are taken up by nomads as they make their way through the frigid and resource-poor island. The only permanent settlements are the guard posts at the entrance valley in the South and a city-state begrudgingly established to serve as a gathering place for the heads of nomadic Gelisrazi clans.

Starshattered Desert

The Starshattered Desert is a hot desert created in the wake and rain shadow of the Starsundered Range, claimed in its entirety by several tribes of desert dragons. It is the largest set of contiguous territorial claims in the world, forming the basis for what some call a tyrannical empire and a draconic ethnostate. While not as truly extreme as its sister-desert on Koeya, the conditions are still harsh and unforgiving. Those entering unprepared for the heat and aridity are often met with disaster, and that's if the elements get to them before the inhabitants. The Starshattered Desert is notable for its extremely rare production of firestorms, only about once or twice a year in the peak of summer.

The majority of permanent residents in the Starshattered Desert are the Dyrrhan, descendants of a caravan that was almost fatally lost to the oppressive climate. They form a sparse network of underground villages and manage much of the environment aboveground as needed for their local settlement. The desert dragons that have claim over each region of the Desert are usually nowhere to be seen, save for a few assigned sentinels to accost tresspassers. The lakes and shores at the Western edge of the Starshattered Desert are where most of them congregate for most of the time, rotating out as they see fit. Anyone wishing to travel into the Desert must go through the process of attaining authorization for each region that they visit. This is broadly seen as unfair and unreasonable occupation, but nobody is willing to go to war with a population of hundreds of thousands of dragons and millions of Dyrrhan to change the order of things.

Starsundered Range

The Starsundered Range is a range of mountains that was once part of the High West, moved in the 40,000s AT by a group of titan dragons for unknown purposes. Its motion has left a distinctive slope in its wake, and its rain shadow converted the once-jungles it trampled into the Starshattered Desert. Its summit has some of the highest peaks on Remna.

The Starsundered Range's lower elevation areas are populated with a few small cities, though the vast difference in climate on its leeward and windward sides makes them as different from one another as one could imagine. At its peak is a very small monastic order, home to a temple known as the Mouth of the Heavens. This place specializes in guarding and enhancement of precious stones for prospective mages who are willing enough to make the journey.

Thunderclap Ridge

The Thunderclap Ridge is a relatively humid mountain range, with the lowest-elevation summits of Remna's major ranges. It sees a lot of humid wind come from both sides, in from the Northern Chrysokayan Sea and from the greater ocean to the South. This region is, despite the name, not the region with the most thunderstorms in the world. It gets its name from being the place the legendary thunder dragon warrior Asarba the Rain-Bringer singlehandedly repelled a full-scale attack from the Red Army during the Vermillion Wars. It would later be the place where the Teirenni managed to become a stable population and where the legendary swords, the Thundering Chains, were forged.

The Thunderclap Ridge has several Chrysothca-majority city-states within it, as it is their ancestral site of origin as a race. Other notable populations of aquatic dragons also inhabit this region. Their unique history and environment has led to a blend of cultures often exoticized by North-central Remnan regions.

Koeya

Koeya [ˈkiː.jə] is the most equatorially balanced continent, with much of its landmass lying in the tropics. It is dominated, due to the mountains along its Eastern edge, by a massive desert known as the Ocean of Flame. As much of the upper half of the continent is in a prominent rain shadow, blocked by the highest mountains in the entire world, it is the most arid continent in the world.

Gilyac Iwagip

Gilyac Iwagip, literally "The monster who chokes the clouds", is the mountain range on the Eastern edge of Koeya. It contains the highest peaks in the entire world, and forms a barrier significant enough to block nearly all moisture from reaching the other side. This geographic feature is the single most contributing factor to the Ocean of Flame's existence and climate.

On the windward side of Gilyac Iwagip are some of the wettest regions on the entire world, at a multitude of elevations. Some areas might be described as alpine rainforests. On the leeward side is desert, steppe, and other dry climate zones. The summits are frigid and show a view unimaginable to most. Storms battering an entire horizon to the East, sandswept blank skies to the West.

Heavensent Sea

The Heavensent Sea is a large circular sea on the Western edge of Koeya formed as the crater-basin of the Criosid impact. It is smooth along the ocean floor, with the center leading back up to the island Criosis. It is lined by a ring of mountains, forming something of a barrier to the empty interior of the sea. Localized currents flow within the Heavensent Sea and give it a weather system somewhat disconnected from the rest of the continent. A few channels allow its moisture to flow through to the fringe savannas of the Northern half of the continent, but it remains otherwise insulated.

The Heavensent Sea's ecology has been built from the ground up since the Criosian Extinction. The region itself was formed in the catastrophic impact that caused the mass extinction, and everything around it was reduced to inorganic slag in a matter of seconds. A little over fifty thousand years have passed since that impact, though, and a new host of flora and fauna inhabit the Sea's metal-rich floor and its salty waters.

Ocean of Flame

The Ocean of Flame is the largest and hottest desert in the entire world, covering a staggering portion of Koeya's total landmass. With such vast geographical sameness, massive sandstorms and weather systems can give rise to planetary magic, creating phenomena known as firestorms. Keppel's own well of odhir is brought to the forefront of weather with these massive infernos, which rage across vast swathes of dunescapes and leave behind a curious gemstone in their wake. The extreme environment has made this desert impossible to brave for most groups for long periods of time, and only recently has there been a notable number of settlements within it.

There is no region more isolating and barren in the world, and yet ecosystems somehow emerge here as well. Within the sands exists a complex web of microorganisms that serve as a basis of material for hardy plants, who can survive with almost no water and an overabundance of sunlight. From these plants, a sparse network of small animals can occasionally be noticed. Firestorm evasion is the utmost requirement for life here, which most animals achieve by burying themselves deep in the sand when the storms begin to blow in.

Greater Aegyrrya

Greater Aegyrrya [a͡e.ˈɡiːr.jə] refers to the regions of islands around and containing the continent Asperia. Even with all islands in the region accounted for, it is the smallest of the three continental land-regions by a wide margin. Greater Aegyrrya is the least inhabited geographical region, save for the ice caps. It is host to the greatest and densest varieties of magical materials on Keppel, though the danger included with those may be what drives people away from it.

Asperia

Asperia is the smallest continent of Keppel, as well as its Southernmost proper landmass. It is host to the highest density of Veilglass Gateways into Rrataradn in the entire Haerox system, and as a result of this is overrun by strange and dangerous biomes of rrataradh origin. It is only sparsely inhabited on its Northern and Eastern coasts. The continent itself features a prominent rift valley, and in several million years it will begin to fully split apart.

Emberthrace Megaforest

The Emberthrace Megaforest is a forest of incredible heat and lacking humidity, formed by the rapid spread of emberthrace trees through its local Gateway. These trees scorch the world around them in high densities, though alone they are a safe source of warmth. The Megaforest first manifested in the 89,000s AT. Plants and animals made to withstand the environment were forged by emerald dragons and have since been diverisfying.

Somnottic Jungle

The Somnottic Jungle is a high-humidity rainforest. In isolation of its effects it appears normal save for the black vines growing on most things and the dark fog transpiring from them. Soporific and hallucinogenic effects make the jungle appear dreamlike and terrifying, cloaked in eternal night with a false and shifting celestial skyline. Its ecosystem is primarily formed of manifested Rrataradn-native beings, equipped with similar enough illusory capabilities to blend into the confusing environment. Medicinal value can be gained from the adapted flora, but the danger is generally not worth it. There is a risk of overexposure to the somnottic vines' fumes, which can result in an incurable coma or even death.

Aetragg Archipelago

The Aetragg Archipelago [ˈa͡e.tr̥ɑg] is the most densely populated set of landmasses in Greater Aegyrrya, being the reason for the region having a name beyond just Asperia. These islands form a long volcanic chain with several other islands scattered between themselves and the mainland. Habitation is greater the further away from Asperia's mainland an island is, doubtless because of the dangers presented by the continent's unique ecosystems.

Oceanic Locales

Lazarre

Lazarre is a volcanic equatorial island formed on the mid-ocean ridge between Remna and Koeya. It is ruled over by an alliance of five city-states, coming together at the central caldera each season to discuss governance and needs. Existing almost exactly on the equator, Lazarre experiences no seasonality whatsoever, with all climate variation being due to the difference in elevation and prevailing direction of winds. Lower elevations feature a range of tropical climates, including prominent rainforests on its windward side and sparser savannas on its leeward side. Montane forests and scrublands exist higher up, periodically burned by a small lava flow from the volcano's regular eruptions.

Marpyra Archipelago

The Marpyra Archipelago is a large collection of islands in the tropical ocean west of Remna. It is home to a vast array of tribes and towns, who keep a steady series of pacts and interchange rites to maintain political stability. The Northern islands do experience a slight amount of seasonality, but the general region is within the tropics and these effects are mild. Marpyra hosts a lot of exotic flora and fauna.

A lot of trade between the Marpyra settlements and mainland Remna occurs via regular transportation ships. They come and go so frequently because of the establishment of the Zirapsis Academy of Magics, which decided to construct its campus on the Easternmost islet of the archipelago. Students and alumni of the Academy make up about 1% of the population of permanent residents.

Satellites

Keppel's planetary rings and striking crystal moon dominate its night sky, only equaled by the striking disk of Galaxios. They are both about as old as Keppel itself, and both instantly recognizable for their vivid colors.

Rings

Keppel's vibrant indigo rings have earned many names over the planet's history, which is unsurprising given how uniquely present they are in the sky. Unless obscured by clouds, the rings are visible at all times of day in at least some corner of a person's vision. They have served countless peoples as aids in navigation.

Keppel's rings only have two distinct rings. The wider inner ring is known as Akhuun, whilst the somewhat narrower outer ring remains known by the name Bythufaan. Astronomical convention names them the A and B rings for simplicity. The gap between them was once believed to harbor a shepherd moon, something to keep the two from touching, but no such object has ever been observed.

It is believed that the rings resulted from the destruction of at least one other moon similar in composition to Jadethrone, Keppel's only moon as of the present day. Exactly how many moons is a point of contention amongst astronomers, and several competing models exist in the contemporary space. Some North Koeyan mythology incorporates the theories of formation into part of their creation myths. One bold outlier states that the rings may have simply been excess debris corralled into order by Jadethrone.

Jadethrone

Jadethrone is Keppel's sole moon, named for the seat it takes in the sky and its striking mint hue. It is primarily composed of silicate-metal crystals, making the whole body one enormous gem. It orbits Keppel roughly every 16 days, which leads to much of the calendar system used by the majority of the world. From the surface of Keppel, Jadethrone's diameter covers roughly two degrees of the sky. Jadethrone is tidally locked to Keppel, rotating in the same time it takes to orbit the planet.

There are a set of scar-like gashes on Jadethrone's Keppelward side, etched many miles deep into its surface. These make up the defining features of Jadethrone's surface besides variations in its color, which can be difficult to make out depending on its phase. These canyons do not appear to be natural, but evidence as to exactly what caused them remains unclear. The power required to cleanly cut that much material from Jadethrone is beyond the capabilities of any mage in history.

Because of its nature as a crystalline moon, Jadethrone has some interesting and dangerous consequences during solar eclipses. The power of the sun's radiation is refracted through the entire body, giving it (through once again unknown processes) esoteric properties. This results in a focused cone of light within the wider eclipse shadow whose diameter is reduced to 125 meters on Keppel's surface. This radius is smaller at lower elevations, but is therefore more concentrated. It sweeps across the land, scorching some of the terrain it touches if weather allows. When people or animals are caught in its midst, some may have predictable (albeit still esoteric) transmutations of their body occur. These processes are known as ecliptic corruptions.

City-States

Keppel's civilizations are broken up into city-states, mostly due to the danger of the wilderness. The wealth of resources and energy that magic provides allows for very small and dense areas to be extremely productive, but the universally accessible properties of magic also make large empires nigh impossible to manage. Below are a list of city-states and some general information on them. Their individual articles will have a more in-depth look into their cultures, production, demographics, and histories.

Listed here are the most influential of Keppel's city-states, whose disappearance would cause significant change to their region or continent, if not the world. For a more comprehensive list of city-states and towns, please see this list.

Ailell

Ailell [ˈa͡i.lɛɬ] is a nation of infernal dragons founded in the year 1 LE on the floating island of the same name. Initially ruled by the Red Army warrior who solely and directly caused the loss of the Red Army, Black-Sun Dymuniras Cyntaf-Haul, it has since passed down via dynasty until the current Sun King, Thannan Cyntaf-Haul. The nation has only ever allowed dragons to visit it, with only those of the infernal Discipline being allowed to take up residence there for all of its eleven hundred year history. They are, as all floating-island settlements are, self-sufficient in production of food and other resources.

Ailell is unique in its reverence of particular clans of dragons over others. Rather than heralding the Prismatic clan as the head of the nation, as most draconic clan-hierarchy systems would do, they instead laud sun dragons as the highest of the infernal clans, with scarlet dragons occupying lower-lying nobility and the other six clans as the lower collective caste. Each family of sun dragons is given an ordered rank decided by the royal family on the summer solstice of each year.

Ailell is incredibly prejudiced against humans. It's no wonder, seeing which movement their founders arrived from. It is likely that a human landing on the island would incite a continuation to the Vermillion Wars—one where the Red Army's descendants have had centuries to learn from their mistakes and to stew in their hatred, isolated from the people they so despise.

Aklor Baig

[ˈæːk.lor ba͡ig]

Criosis

Criosis [k͡ʁi.ˈo͡ʊ.sɪs/ or /kɹi.ˈo͡ʊ.sɪs], located on the island of the same name in the middle of the Heavensent Sea, is the most technologically advanced city in the entire world. The city-state is human-majority, with a relatively even mix of most other races forming the minority populus. Most notably, dragons are entirely absent from the city-state. Criosis has a millennia-long history of being violently opposed to the existence of dragons, going so far as to eradicate all of the platinum dragons that manifested in their city during the eighth Draconic Manifestation in 982 LE. Rumors from the coastlines on the other side of the Heavensent Sea are circulating that Criosis' military is being trained to specifically hunt dragons.

How Criosis rose to its technological prowess has a lot to do with the island itself. The meteorite that formed Criosis' island is densely packed with criosidium, a powerful metal that is extremely useful in the creation of soul tech. With soul tech, wireless devices and extremely energy-efficient mechanisms can be produced. Integration with biological processes is also possible through soul tech. The developments have gone on undisturbed for centuries, as no city-state has been willing and able to cross the Heavensent Sea just to pick a fight with an isolated island nation.

Galakar

Galakar [ˈgæ.lə.kaɹ] is known as the Forge City in most of North and central Remna. With no race as a clear majority population, it is one of the most diverse cities in the world. Galakar has a grand set of walls defending it, leading from the entrance gate at one end to the Imperator's Hall at the other. Well renowned for its extremely durable and reliable metalwork, the city's main imports are usually the same matter that they then export. Much of their economy comes from the process of forging, smithing, and otherwise producing metallic implements. It is said that any type of tool in the world can be found and forged here, and for most cases this is true.

Galakar is a very militaristic state, with most men having to serve periodically if they do not have an established business. Women and others are permitted to join the military, but are not required to in the same way. Their reasoning for this required service is the way value is created within the city-state. It is not the materials, the metals, nor the written knowledge in their libraries that brings abundance to Galakar, but the experiences and skills of their smiths within the city. Should Galakar be attacked, every death would result in long-term losses for the city, and so they require absurd defense against outsiders.

Gehk-Kerrek

[ˈgɛʰk kɛrː.ˈɛk]

Khrum-Ziware

Khrum-Ziware [ˈχ͡ʁʊːm zi.ˌwaː.re] is a truly ancient fortress-city in the Northern savannas of Koeya, North of the Ocean of Flame. It is a Haelonyn-majority city, ruled over by a council of local and specialized delegate chiefs who in turn report to and deal with an overseeing "Haruri", their chief-king. The Haruri is, inn exchange for authority, given the task of guarding the sacred bone-fragment the city holds as its most precious historical artifact. Its history dates back so far that the records have been lost to the legendary rampages of Törrhyatz, which is to say it had a sizeable history and was fully established since at least the 6700s AT. It is likely, according to archaeological evidence, that Khrum-Ziware is the origin point of the Haelonyn race.

Khrum-Ziware has gone through phases of being a mining and metalworking economy, agrarian, and fabricating textiles as their primary exports. All of these industries have been around since at least the 5000s AT, but which one is more favored seems to depend on the preferences of their Haruri. Currently they are known for incorporating sustainable and durable materials into garments that can make survival in the harsh lands to their South much easier.

The city's major religion is known further around the world than most realize. Originally it was a fractured faith off of some of the late-Mesomythic celestial religion, likely the Antehymneskic faith. The splinter-faction's followers worshipped and revered the suns, leading into the current faith predominant in Khrum-Ziware and surrounding regions. A lot of solar esotericism and symbology, including the idea of sun signs determined at birth, originated with this religion. As Yarras is oft called the City of Stars, Khrum-Ziware is sometimes called the Fortress of the Suns.

Mechnis

[ˈmɛk.nɪs]

New Aegis

New Aegis [ˈnuː ˈe͡ɪ.ʤɪs], a human-dragon majority city built on the crater of the old city-state Aegis [ˈa͡e.gɪs], is the most technologically advanced settlement on the continent of Remna. It is a metropolitan city, with members of just about every race in the world gathering to build a comfortable life for themselves. Their most notable minority population is the Phanithra, most of whom hail from the original Aegis civilization that New Aegis is built on top of. Their culture bleeds into the aesthetics and customs of modern-day New Aegis.

New Aegis is governed by a large council of legislators, but is more under the true influence of the corporations that have grown there. Absurd class differences unlike any other place in Remna can be seen in New Aegis, and the promise of ability to rise through the ranks is given to everyone. Very few actually make it that far, however, and get stuck working dead-end jobs for the promise of a more luxurious life that never comes. For all the material wealth that New Aegis has, mostly through manufacturing and invention of mechanical and electronic components, the lower classes of people can only look upward at it.

New Aegis puts a lot of emphasis on individual accountability, and assigns a title or career to be a secondary name for all its residents who do not have or declare a family name. These legal names are attached to much documentation, including purchase history, residence, travel in and out of the city, and more. Immigrants have difficulty adjusting in many cases to this cultural custom, especially those who do not come from wealth or nobility. Regardless, this individualistic culture has given rise to a lot of language for people to describe themselves, as well as creating a general sentiment of love for diversity and differences in life. Psychology as a field is pioneered here, as freedom of expression (besides some political sentiment) is something of a core value in New Aegis.

Yarras

Yarras [ˈjeːɹ.as] is a city in the midwestern Ocean of Flame, in a region of the desert prone to some regular firestorms. It is the first and largest city in a firestorm region that still stands today, a feat made possible by their use of astremancy. Yarras is the origin point for the Aerashani, which make up the majority of their population. Humans and dragons, specifically star dragons, are the two most notable minority populations. The city was the birthplace of astremancy as a rigorous discipline of Moonstride magic, and continues to be the lead in development of the practice.

Yarras manages climate control through city-wide applications of astremancy integrated into engineering. Fluxes that reduce temperature and create a sort of "shield" of humidity are positioned and siphoned through the city to keep it well within the range of comfort and habitability. Even firestorms raging right outside the city are disrupted by their unique application of astremantic fluxes. Energy generation and water collection is similarly done, with the ultimate power source for the whole city being starlight.

Yarras' main trade is for goods not produced on large scales, including metal and hardier woods for construction. They export in turn vast quantities of azurate gems, specialized dyes and fluxes, and resources and knowledge related to astremancy. With such an emphasis on azurate, though, the process of collection is a major cultural phenomemon. Many young Yarrashi are drawn to the career of being a stormhunter, one who ventures out post-firestorm to collect the azurate crystals left in their aftermath.

Zirapsis

[zɨr.ˈæp.sɪs]

Resources

Keppel's resources are quite standard for one of Haerox's planets. A light smattering of sunstuffs, rarity determined by distance to each sun, a sprinkle of starstuff from ancient collisions,

Biosphere

Keppel's biosphere was originally curated and designed by the emerald dragons who spawned off of the bacterial sludge that first appeared about 10 million years ago. The initial goal was to create a large and self-sustaining web of species that could be consumed, as vivacious dragons require biomass as their elemental food alternative. Later generations would take liberties designing species for other purposes, aesthetic or flavor or any array of challenges. Many of these died out over the millennia, leaving much of the sillier experiments behind as isolate easter eggs in the fossil record. The fittest to the environment carried on, and time and evolution have carried the biodiversity of Keppel through its continued years.

The draconic influence on life still occurs today. This is first evidenced with the continued existence of dragons as apex predators in ecosystems throughout all of pre-history and current history. Additionally, however, new and strange species are still created to this day, the most recent and notable example being the race of the Kokromali.

Monsters

Teratofauna, mostly just known as monsters to the general public, are clades of animals adapted specifically for power and ability to kill. They generally mesh well within their ecosystems, though outlier species are more akin to locust plagues in how they ravage areas. What exactly constitutes a monster is up to debate, but it's generally followed on a "you know it when you see it" basis that excludes common animals like wolves.

Monsters come in vast varieties, and seem to have some heightened evolutionary capabilities. Megateratofauna, gigantic monsters that could take the efforts of an entire city-state to kill, have been at the forefront of this theory. While still rare since the Vermillion Wars' mass-extinction event, they have been growing in numbers steadily since. This pattern is repeated through history, and mass extinctions tend to be the safest times for ordinary people to survive and travel, ironically.

Legendary Beasts

Legendary Beast is the title given to an animal or monster that undergoes some sort of unique soul corruption or other transformation and becomes a wholly unique being. They usually have specific and powerful magical capabilities, and are each given a name upon discovery. Legendary Beasts are incredibly dangerous, as they have no predictable species traits, abilities, or intelligence. A flailing mass of blades may as well be classed in the same category as a cunning fox-like monster with venomous blood and flame breath.

Legendary Beasts are a resource for many human hunters, as subduing and defeating them allows said hunter to eclipse them and gain some or all of their specialized abilities. The hunting of them is generally accepted and appreciated, since the existence of Legendary Beasts is a disruption to an ecosystem rather than an integrated part of it. The full body doesn't need to be present for the eclipse as well, as evidenced by Striepaurheei Törrhyatz's usage of his vase of borrowed celestial blood for his own eclipse.

Only three Legendary Beasts have been cited as being intelligent enough to form linguistic understanding, and of those three only one, the Strioboros, has made any attempt to learn languages of wider society. Throughout history, an intelligent Legendary Beast has been one of the greatest dangers to societies at large. Were one to actually want to integrate themselves into a wider civilization, allowing it to do so would be one of the gravest mistakes anyone could make.

Inhabitants

Keppel's sapient inhabitants form the single densest variety of races in the entire universe. No other celestial body can compare to the sheer number of different sapient peoples that live on Keppel. For a full list of Chromagaia's inhabitants beyond the majority that exist on this one world, which is also slightly more comprehensive in regards to each one, see here.

On Keppel, the races are divided by origin. The three Cardinal Races are the ones whose origin is purely unique, not descended from any other intelligent being. The Idyllfolk Races are entirely descended from humans, having evolved through special application of magic to become a new race attuned to a certain natural phenomenon. Finally, Farfolk Races are generally created when a group of humans performs the same kind of eclipse en masse, though a couple exceptions to this exist (e.g. Kokromali, some Tanmar).

Recently, three synthetic races of automaton have risen. While very low in population, their existence is notable enough to be listed as well. The common factor with these being considered sapient races is the complex and adaptive minds they have due to use of soul tech in their manufacturing.

Cardinal Races

The three Cardinal races have worldwide presence on Keppel, all being well suited to various environments. While not the definitive three oldest races, they are among the earliest species to gain sapience. One would imagine that the Cardinal races, given their wide influence and shared trait of being created independent of any other sapient race, would be equally classed as the upper echelons of every society. This is a simplistic and largely untrue observation, and all three of them have regions they are less than welcome in. Canids, being the newest "discovered" of the Crdinal races, bear the brunt of a lot more discrimination across Keppel than the other two. Humans and dragons tend to be widely recognized and acclaimed in most regions, though they do not often enjoy the benefits of high society often in city-states where they are a minority population.

Canids

Canids [ˈkæn.ɪdz], distinguished from the mundane family of species canidae by capitalization, are the older of Keppel's two native Cardinal races. They were not formally "discovered" until the 28,000s AT, however, and from looking at a Canid's natural form it is clear why. Canids have several Varieties, similarly to how dragons have their clans, each of which mimics a different canid species. They are larger than their Variety's respective species, with wolf Canids standing anywhere from six to eight feet tall on all fours.

Canids are something of a middle ground between the wild speciation of humans and the inflexibility of draconic biology. They have a lot of potential for individual adaptation, though very little of this is ever passed on. Canids have been slowly adapting to the human and dragon dominated world for a long time, even gaining a very human-looking form to integrate into city-states. There still remains vast populations of Canids in the wilds, though, who live in societies that have much fewer permanent structures.

Dragons

Dragons [ˈdɹæ.gənz] are the oldest race in the universe, with the first ones manifesting some sixty million years ago. They have the greatest variety of any race, despite their inability to evolve over time. Dragons have a 50% soul component, the highest of any of Keppel's races. Their innate affinity for Sunstep has given them dominance over the environments of many worlds across the universe, as well as Keppel's own. They have altered entire geographic regions, manifested the state of the world's biosphere, and been at the cause and forefront of a recent mass extinction event.

Dragons have varied forms based on their clan, but are extremely recognizable as a race. Their colorful horned visages have appeared in art and cultures by other species long before formal contact was initiated. Dragons are well known for being inherently powerful, even if those who live in more integrated communities rarely show it. A lot of their strength in early childhood is directed into suppressing that territory-altering capability until it becomes second nature. Still, one must be careful not to be near a dragon during a particularly bad emotional breakage, as their power never truly goes away.

Humans

Humans [ˈhʲuː.mənz] are the youngest of the three Cardinal races, with their earliest recognizable ancestors only appearing in the fossil record about two million years ago. Humans are the progenitor race of over ninety percent of the variety of sapient races on Keppel, with their innate abilities geared towards the creation of new ones. Even through this, humans remain dominant over the majority of Keppel's surface. By sheer numbers, humans have the most settlements where they are the majority.

Humans take a lot of pride in their humanity. There is a lot of value, culturally speaking, in rejecting the temptation to become something else as per the innate human sorceries. It's greatly debated whether this is an inherent trait of humans, something drilled into their cultures early on in their history, or an attitude that arose via natural selection, since all the humans who didn't value their human form as something sacred have likely since become other races. This politically leads to humans being known as very exclusionary and elitist people, and many human-majority cities do have policies that seem to treat non-humans as sub-human instead.

Idyllfolk Races

There are several Idyllfolk races that inhabit Keppel, each born from a group of humans that dedicated generations of their time to forcing themselves to adapt to and get closer to certain aspects of nature. Older Idyllfolk races took much longer to create, generally had more divergence from humans, and have a much different culture. The discipline required to make an Idyllfolk race causes a great split from humanity, culturally speaking, and the older ones had that separation tens of thousands of years ago.

Humans treat Idyllfolk races as closer relatives, owing to their generally more human appearance. Behaviorally, though, Idyllfolk races (especially older ones) tend to have a different psychology than that of humans.

Aerashani

The Aerashani [ˈeː.ɾə.ˌʃɑː.ni] are the youngest Idyllfolk race, only emerging in the late 500s LE in the city-state Yarras within the Ocean of Flame on Koeya. They are aligned to the draconic celestial ideal, though some influences from their desert home have given a slight aquatic affinity. They were not sanctioned by dragons for their emergence, nor did they seek permission. Doing such a thing so soon after the consequences of the last race that tried such a thing, the Cindurans, was a massive risk, but fortunately nobody seemed to take issue with it.

Aerashani have the ability to speak with one another via "constellation", a term for connecting through one another through mutually visible stars. The mechanics of this have not been reproduced by modern magiscience. Their more active sorcery is the ability to temporarily free themselves and things within a certain radius of them from the force of gravity, allowing incredible mobility. Besides this, however, the Aerashani were the first true pioneers and scholars that pushed the field of astremancy into a proper studied magic.

Annhi Dhriaf

The Annhi Dhriaf [ˈanː.hi ˌdɾiː.av] are actually a group of four Idyllfolk races, each one the result of a truly ancient attempt by humans to attain greater magical power via attuning themselves to one of the seasons. They first appeared around 57,000 AT and have been a staple of the turning of the seasons ever since. Each one appears, depending on hemisphere, during a select three lythryds of the year corresponding with their season.

Despite appearing very human, save for their antlers, ears, and coloration, the Annhi Dhriaf are all incredibly dangerous and have a very intricate set of cultures and taboos associated with them. Each one has a set of rules for interaction, lest one be killed or go missing in a social blunder. They do not seem to regard human life very highly, and have considerable magical prowess alongside their millennium-long lifespans.

Very very rarely, an Annhi Dhriaf child can be stolen, found abandoned, or otherwise taken in and raised by humans. This type of child is known as a Changeling, and they have had incredibly difficult lives. Though raised with the cultural values of humans, they have the urges and instincts of their respective race, particularly seasonal wanderlust.

Arcoleigh

[ˈaɹ.ko.ˌle͡ɪ]

Bathyrons

[ˈbæ.θɪ.ɾɔnz]

Cindurans

[ˈsɪn.du.ɾanz]

Draznachi

[dɹaz.ˈna.kiː]

Gelisrazi

[ˌgɛl.ɪs.ˈɾaː.zi]

Glaummer

[ˈgla͡ʊm.mɛr]

Kirefey

[ˈkiɾ.ɛ.ˌfe͡ɪ]

Morika

[ˈmo.ɾi.ka]

Sakraumr

[sæ.ˈkɾa͡ʊmː.ɾ]

Farfolk Races

Farfolk races were once formally defined as races descended from humans through the process of a human eclipse. While this does make up the majority of the origins for Farfolk races, there are at least three counterexamples, and so the term is now used as a catch-all for sapient races that aren't the Cardinal races nor formed the same way as the Idyllfolk races.

Some subset groups of Farfolk races exist, though mostly based on arbitrary terms. The most well known example of this is the term Lazbacchic being used to describe any of the Farfolk races formed from a human eclipse of a lizard species.

For the Farfolk races that are descended from humans, their psychology is typically unaltered, as the mind of a person remains intact through their eclipse. There are a couple exceptions to this with particularly strange fauna, but the rule remains. Humans take their appearances at face value, or failing that tend to have some sort of bias against regional cultural differences that they would otherwise ignore with geographically isolate human populations.

Alteari

[æl.te.ˈɑː.ri]

Amphrios

[ˈæm.ɸɹi.os]

Arralayan

[ˌɑrː.ə.ˈlɑːj.ɑn]

Aurolwin

[ˈɔː.ɾol.wɪn]

Capricari

Capricari [ˌkæ.pɹɪ.ˈkɑ.ɹi] are a Farfolk race that originated in the High West of Remna in the 18,000s AT. They are the result of a human eclipse of the Western alpine goat, which itself is widespread in the region. Much of the High West is Capricari-majority, and they are fairly common in other high-altitude regions across the world as well. Capricari are usually physically strong and suited to harsher environments, having extremely efficient respiratory systems and powerful muscle-fat integration that allows them to repair their muscle fibers faster after exertion. They have powerful livers as well, and typically don't dilute alcohol at all in order to get drunk.

Capricari tend to be very utilitarian, as the mountain environments most of them live in are harsh and not suitable for mass agriculture. Productivity and contribution of personal skill or talent are values one can find in most Capricari-majority cities, and those doing trade with them know this well. Despite having a very limited selection of resources to work with, they have consistently been exporters of alcohol and grain products for millennia. They have been the inventors of multiple important food preservation technologies, including the refrigerator, which is extremely important for their dairy industry.

Chrysothca

[kɾɪ.ˈsɔθ.kə]

Dyrrhan

Dyrrhan [ˈdiːr̥.han] are the newest of the Lazbacchic Farfolk races, only coming into existence in the 2200s AT. They originated from a large caravan of people that was stranded in the heart of the Starshattered Desert, who eclipsed the native dewsun lizards in order to survive the harsh climate. Dyrrhan are endemic to hot and arid regions, and generally cannot survive anywhere far outside the tropics.

Dyrrhan, being descended from a caravan of old philosophers, have cultures very dedicated to knowledge. They are masters of rhetoric and are happy to exchange information with any travellers they meet. However, the Starshattered Desert does not tend to be very hospitable to foreigners, due to the desert dragon sentinels left behind. Some small groups of Dyrrhan, wanting to meet more travellers, have made way for other deserts.

Gayakhti

[gaː.ˈjaχ.ti]

Haelonyn

[ˈħæ͡e.lo.ˌnɪn]

Heillranh

[ˈha͡ɪl.ranʰ]

Kokromali

[ˌko.kɾo.ˈmaː.li]

Kyrisir

[ˈkiɾ.ɪs.iɾ]

Lepidacherons

[lɛ.pɪd.ˈæk.ɚɹ.ɔnz]

Myrrekhia

[mɪr.ˈɛχ.i.ə]

Phanithra

[ɸa.ˈniθ.ɾə]

Sielaummr

[ˈsiː.laʊmː.r]

Tanmar

[ˈtaːn.mar]

Teirenni

[te͡ɪ.ˈrɛnː.i]

Umbraani

[ɯm.ˈbraː.ni]

Synthetic Races

Provenance

[ˈprɔ.vɛn.əns]

Runirgamur

[ˈr̥uː.niɾ.ga.ˌmʊɾ]

Throneslayers

[ˈθɹo͡ʊn.sleː.jɚɹz]

History

Keppel is roughly fifty million years old, formed near the tail end of the Settling Age of creation. This historical section covers much of its events in detail; for a more universal and succinct history, see Timeline:Chromagaia.

Brýmsmeldr Era

This is the primordial Keppel, a sphere of burning rock pelted by ices that boiled into an early atmosphere. Oceans of magma flowed into each other and cooled whilst the core heated up further with the pressure from every new ton of mass added onto it. It slowly cooled over the course of millions of years, but was largely uninhabitable for anything besides infernal dragons for the majority of its history.

Draco-terraformation

Once Keppel had actually cooled enough to allow other Disciplines of dragons to exist on it, they swiftly got to work making the world suitable for themselves. Diverting primordial comets and simply creating water to add oceans, adjusting the atmosphere's composition to their liking, and splitting the world's crust as they saw fit. This terraformation process lasted many millennia, but by the time it was complete, Keppel had all the necessary ingredients for life, including the ever-essential presence of dragon corpses.

Heptagram Era

About ten million years ago, tiny bacterial life in Keppel's seas had

Sjúrian Igneation

Ratljón Glaciation

Emergence of Canids

Human Civilization

Valley of the Gods

Criosian Extinction

Great Human Diaspora

Creation of the Starsundered Range

Vermillion Wars

In 304 AT, the Cinduran tribe disobeyed the will of a particularly nasty sect of Infernal dragons and began the process of creating a new Idyllfolk race out of themselves. The world was at its technological and magical peak during this time, having access to great unified theories of both and even beginning to rely on technology to launch craft into space for observational purposes. This fanatical group, soon to become the Red Army, retaliated genocidally. They blamed all humanity for the supposed insolence of the Cinduran people, and decided first to annihilate Kallatasis, the world's foremost city of knowledge and technology at the time, as a declaration of war.

As a "holy war" against humanity, the Red Army managed to rouse a significant force to join them, but they were met with worldwide resistance from the other eight draconic Disciplines and every other race on the planet. What resulted was the greatest test of strength seen in the universe's history since the Genesis Hyperwar. Cities were obliterated one after the other, and the few that managed to survive were practically reduced to nothing. Forests were burned and glaciers expanded from the blankets of ash clouding the skies. It was an age of fire and an age of ice.

The primary targets were initally places the Cindurans were suspected of hiding, but the resistance to the Red Army's fervor soon forced them to change strategies. It is thought that their founder, Red-Sun Seichmallt Chwalu-Haul, always intended for the war to be an omnicide, and goaded this resistance to get his forces on board with the idea that the world needed to be scorched. Asarba the Rain-Bringer, savior of the Thunderclap Ridge, accounted this as her official prediction in her mementos.

The strategies through the 250s and 240s were a purging of knowledge, seeking out individuals with key skills in enchantment and manufacturing and destroying the area they lived in and worked in. Criosis, the technological capital of the world after the desolation of Kallatasis, was melted into practically scrap metal. Enchanters and the great mages of the era were destroyed year by year. The game of war was incredibly difficult, and even though even matches between forces would happen, the fly-by ambush destruction that most of the Red Army's main firepower opted for did not leave room for counterattacks. The cities burned to ash before anyone could take up arms to retaliate.

Only a total disruption to the firepower and strategic wit of the Red Army would slow them down enough to be beaten back by a rapidly deteriorating resistance force. Lumin, a young girl whose mother had fought and died in a key battle and left her to the resistance forces to raise, decided at the age of twelve to give up her life to enact a plan against the Army. She sacrificed herself to the Radiant Hive, offering First-Vessel Umakh the way to stop the extinction of his Vessels on Keppel in exchange for a favor using her body. It was known that the leader of the Army at the time, Black-Sun Dymuniras Cyntaf-Haul, sought greater power to finish the war faster, and so the ruse of a wish was enacted.

Umakh, using Lumin's body after her assimilation, offered Dymuniras a wish, implying that even a dragon's fundamentally inscribed power could be changed by such an act. The foolish new general-king jumped at the opportunity, demanding that sun dragons have their sorcery reinterpreted. Umakh, obeying the deal he made with Lumin, granted this wish in a way that would massively disrupt the broad-scale destruction the Army caused. Sun dragons were irreversibly limited in their output and flame-enchantment, and without a third of their main firepower, the Red Army panicked. An enormous oversight by their own leader's greed caused enough of a delay in their actions to fully mount a counterattack, and while the Red Army met to discuss their next moves, the vast majority of them were annihilated by the resistance movements, ending the Vermillion Wars.

The extent of the destruction was unlike any natural mass extinction event in history. The world's knowledge of technology and magic was hindered by the key individuals massacred through the three centuries the wars took place through, and the world's population was reduced to a mere three percent of its original number. No cities remained unscathed, and the corpus of world development was returned to where it was in the 20,000s AT, the only difference being the presence of technological and necrotic dragons.

In the centuries after, hatred of the Red Army transformed into a general prejudice against dragons for their ability to enact such violence. While this has gone away in most places in the modern age, some isolate communities still believe dragons as a species should not be permitted the power they have.

Modernity