Tamed (Tamed)

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Stay in your habitat, little ones.

This content is a part of Tamed.

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Index / Lexica / Timeline

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Tamed is a Bronze Age fantasy setting that takes place on the supercontinent of Xanglu, a land full of majestic mountains, sprawling plains, a vast desert, ancient forests of towering trees and of course, the Vridin, short, fluffy humanoids who have built societies across the world. However, this land however is not without its dangers. The untamed wilds of Xanglu are home to more than just the Vridin; colossal beasts roam these lands, driven by the need to defend their territory, protect themselves, or hunt for their next meal. In a feral world, civilizations need to adapt to survive, whether this means advancing technologies, working together, or fighting over resources. In this savage world, the little ones who inhabit it need to work each and every day so they can they not only survive, but truly thrive.

Xanglu

Meta Info

Article Creator

MythHooked

Scope

Tamed

Author

MythHooked

Planular Makeup

Regions

Forest, plains, mountains, foothills, drylands, swamp, wetlands, boreal forest, tundra, desert

Demographics and Culture

Intelligent Species

Vridin

Nations

The Everturning City, Where The Roads Hang High, The City of Knowledge

Xanglu Overview

A map of the supercontinent Xanglu

General Features

Xanglu, the vast supercontinent of Tamed, where prowling kestofren stalk ancient towering forests, and the qu’islu’s howl carries over the vast desert. A land that the Vridin call home, and the spirits roam.

Primal magics course their way through the world, giving power to the druids but also imbuing the wild beasts and arcane spirits with strength, ensuring that civilization must remain ever vigilant if it wishes to survive in the savage world in which it lays.

Environments

The expansive lands of Xanglu house an array of environments, each hosting their own challenges for the Vridin that inhabit them.

Running through the center of the continent is Xanglu’s Wall, the great mountain range which separates lands from one another.

To the east of Xanglu’s Wall, you’ll find the Land of Dust and Bones, the vast desert where most can only survive due to the Great Eastern River running through it, providing clean water and fertile land.

West of Xanglu’s Wall lies the Cradle of Life, a forest older than any recorded history, where trees grow thicker than two Vridin standing side by side and tower more than fifty stacked atop one another.

Further beyond the Cradle of Life is known as Where the Vridin Ride Beasts, a verdant grassland where a Vridin can be hidden just by standing still in the grasses.

Past the northern side of Xanglu’s Wall lies the Land With a Hundred Rivers, an area full of swamps and wetlands, south of of Northern Coast, known not only for its many rivers, but also for its wet grasslands where the grasses and flora act as a filter, causing the water to only need to be boiled to be safe to drink.

East and north of the Land With a Hundred Rivers is Where They Don’t Trust the Spirits, a boreal forest dense with evergreens. As the trees thin and the air grow colder further north, the land gives way to a vast tundra, where frost clings to the earth year-round and the frigid winds whisper the cries of spirits long forgotten.

Where Villages Hide, south and west of Xanglu’s Wall, is a region full of foothills, gentle rises and secluded valleys that cradle humble hamlets, where you can hear the howling of beasts on cold nights.

Further south from Where Villages Hide lies Where No One Lives, a desolate region known for its lack of Vridin settlements and absence of rivers, making survival here a near impossibility. This region consists of dry lands, which lead into a boreal forest as you approach the Southern Coast.

Inhabitants

The vridin are the most widespread inhabitants of Xanglu, found wherever clean water is available, particularly along rivers. Vridin are a furred, humanoid species, standing between 107 cm (3’6”) and 122 cm (4’) tall. Men are typically smaller and more brightly colored, while women are larger with more muted tones. Beyond the vridin, Xanglu is home to a vast array of towering flora and fauna, many of which dwarf the vridin in size. Xanglu is also inhabited by powerful spirits, ranging from wrathful wardens of nature to ancient void-born destroyers older than creation itself, as well as benevolent guardians who bestow blessings upon civilization.

Magic Overview

Druids

Druids are a rare phenomenon, with only one in ten thousand vridin awakening to primal magic at some point in their life. Rather than studying spells through formulas, druids wield magic intuitively, guided by their innate connection to nature and the spirits. Every awakened druid possesses a Nature’s Gift, a unique magical ability that reflects their soul. This gift begins as something small but can grow immensely with training and experience. Additionally, it influences which spells a druid can learn most easily, as magic closest to their Nature’s Gift always feels most natural to them.

A druid’s magic is tied to the season in which they hatched; spring, summer, autumn, or winter. A druid’s season is another determiner in what spells come naturally to them, as a druid has an easier time learning spells of their own season, and can never learn spells of the opposing season (IE, summer druids can’t learn winter spells). Additionally, this connection shapes not only their magical abilities, but also affects a druid’s personality as well, since druids tend to be bonded to their season and the things it symbolizes.

Even before a druid’s magic awakens, it lies dormant within them. Because of this, they often display subtle signs of their connection to nature; animal like noises, a preference for the outdoors and nature, a love of plants or animals, esc. Once a druid’s gift awakens, their blood turns green, and many seek the guidance of older druids, wishing to master their newfound magic.

Spirits

Xanglu is a land teeming with primal energies, inhabited by a wide variety of spirits, from those who bring mischief and mayhem, to others who bless the land, civilization, or life they watch over, and everything else in between. Each spirit is driven by its own concerns and objectives, whether it be ancestral spirits seeking the prosperity of their descendants or nature spirits that protect and nurture the verdant wilds. While some spirits aid the vridin, others stand in direct opposition to them.

Spirits are deeply embedded in the everyday life of vridinkind. From festivals held to honor or appease them, to rituals meant to ward them off. Some cultures see the spirits as benevolent beings essential for life in the world, full of ancient wisdoms untold: others view them as wild monsters, directly opposing civilization and all that it represents.

Certain vridin families claim to be blessed by their ancestral spirits, with lineages bound by unspoken bonds that grant them wisdom or protection in times of need. Others leave offerings to the nature spirits, to pray for food, abundance, good weather, or any number of other blessings. Regardless of their intentions, the presence of spirits can profoundly shape the course of vridin history.

Blessings and Curses

The power of druids and spirits can extend beyond mere one-time interaction: those who gain the favor of magical beings may receive extraordinary blessings, and those who anger them may suffer terrible curses. These longer term spells can manifest in a plethora of manners, from subtle shifts in fortune, to more blatant shows of power, like raging storms, supernatural powers, or physical transformations.

Depending on the culture, druids typically grant blessings in exchange for rank and reverence, or simply as a societal responsibility which is expected of them. Spirits generally give blessings as a response to devotion, offerings, or acts of service.

The nature of a blessing often depends on the being that grants it. In others words, a fire spirit may grant a city an ever lit flame for light, warmth, and a place to cook food. A spring druid may bless the land’s soil so that every seed planted within it will sprout. The spirit of an ancient warrior may bless their descendants with heightened reflexes in battle. Some blessings are passed down through generations, while others may be temporary, only lasting as long as the recipient, or until the granter of the blessing chooses to revoke it.

Curses, on the other hand, are the result of wrathful magic meant to cause harm that is not easily undone; if it can be broken at all. Similarly to blessings, curses are highly dependent on the caster, from a storm spirit cursing a region with non stop bad weather; or a fall druid cursing an individual with misfortune for the rest of their lifetime; to a betrayed nature spirit turning fertile fields to lifeless dust where nothing can be grown. Many fear angering powerful magical beings, wary of the curses they might bring, and take great care to honor them in hopes of avoiding such a fate.

Blessings and curses are no small feats of magic, they’re highly strenuous to cast, and may require even more labor to maintain. Because of this, druids or spirits don’t tend to cast these kinds of spells unless they’re highly concerned with the people they’re doing so to. However, not all blessings are pure gifts, nor are all curses without purpose: both are woven into the intricate fabric of fate, shaping the future as surely as any other force.