Fasia (Valhallan Age)

'Change Is Itself Unchangable'

Fasia is a Void Island, located within the Evershift Solar System, acting as it's capital world. It is located within the Sky River Cluster Gyre, and is the capital of the Fasian Dominion, a founding Faction of the Cosmic Union.

One of the most unique worlds within the Sky River, and certainly the most unique within the Vetrarsaer - Even before the Technopocalypse and emergence of Taekni, Fasia was home to extremely aggressive mutagenic properties that resulted in the rapid evolution of life, creating a huge variety of mutant divergent Kinde. In addition, it is believed that up to 27% of the flora and fauna on Fasia has it's evolutionary origins off-world, indicating that in the past, a variety of Voidsea faring Kinde have visited the world. Additionally, there are several ruins found across Fasia that further help suggest this hypothesis.

Fasia would become one of the most important worlds in the history of the Vetrarsaer because of this. In the Valhallan Age, the Voidsea is teeming with life, adapted to survive in even the most extreme of conditions - And a large portion of it can trace it's origins back to Fasia.

Indeed, upon it's discovery by the Greater Solar Union - A Faction that saw the seeding of life across the Voidsea as an almost sacred duty - Fasia became a testing ground for the creation of new Kinde, both sapient and sentient, with which to seed the galaxy.

It went further, as various groups willingly subjecting themselves to the highly mutagenic properties of the world, creating a variety of offshoot Kinde - This became known as the 1st Fasian Evolutionary Wave (1st F.E.W.).

Following the Technopocalypse, many refugees arrived on Fasia. This created the 2nd Fasian Evolutionary Wave (2nd F.E.W), and like many worlds across the Voidsea at this time, Fasia underwent a massive social upheaval. Were it not for the emergence of Taekni and the Arcane, fasia may have been able to remain a cohesive society, but the Arcane was simply too disruptive and chaotic to allow for this to happen.

In turn, this created the 3rd Fasian Evolutionary Wave (3rd F.E.W), and in the ensuring chaos, Fasia split into a variety of independent territories, some determined by Kinde, others by confederation and alliance, and some who followed none of these tenants, and simply did their own thing. Fasia would find itself alone, and isolated, for the next 10,000 years, in an era that would come to be known as the Mutagen era.

The world was home to a group known as the Shadows of Change. This group would go on to become part of the Valhallan Brotherhood.

Evolutionary Properties

Fasia is home to a variety of naturally occurring mutagenic qualities that appear to be present in a huge number of different ecosystems on the Void Island.

These mutagenic properties impact the DNA of any creature that they are able to infect, causing a variety of mutations on the individual in question, but also ensuring that those same qualities are present in any future generations.

These mutagenic qualities can infect a person in any number of ways - Oral consumption, infection from local disease, spores, and even the water and wind themselves - Microscopic life containing such mutagens. Evasion of these mutagens is all but impossible, barring vacuum sealed habitats that are never breached.

While life evolves on Fasia fast in the grand scheme of things, it infects foreign life far, far more dramatically. This is because inevitably, exposure to these mutagenic properties eventually builds a tolerance to them, ensuring that a more stable form emerges. Off-world life does not have this exposure, and thus rapid adaptation occurs. After a few generations, a tolerance is built up, stabilizing and reducing mutations, thus resulting in a new Divergent Kinde. This tolerance is, however, a recessive adaptation, meaning it can be overwritten fairly easily. It eventually comes for all, but it can be a long, winding, and chaotic road to get there.

These mutagenic properties have been of immense value to distant worlds, seeking to re-diversify their ecosystems, or in the case of the Greater Solar Union, kickstart them in their efforts to seed life among the stars. Various forms of these mutagens have been taken off of Fasia, and imported to a wide variety of different Void Islands, sparking rapid biodiversification on countless worlds, creating strange and wonderful outcomes, but also terrifying and dangerous - For while the G.S.U sought to spread life, it did not have as much control over it as it believed it did.

Fasia is not totally unique in the sense that other worlds do not have mutagenic properties - But it is unique in the sheer variety it has created. Fasia is a diverse world with countless geographical biomes that stimulate evolution in countless ways, resaulting in a world with some of the greatest degrees of biodiversity within the known Voidsea.

Sentient Kinde

Fasia is home to hundreds of sapient Kinde. They are often internally categorized by which Fasian Evolutionary Wave they first emerged from, or the corresponding time period in the case of created lifeforms, such as the Shale.

Aviskinde

'Aviskinde' is the term used to refer to the baseline Kinde from which the Fasian Evolutionary Waves can trace their origins to. They are in essence, the 'original' Kinde.

Despite the immense impact, infectivity, and near universality of the mutagen, there are cases of some members of the Aviskinde being immune to it's effects. This is a minor number, as without proper precautions, they are nearly always infected and pass on mutates genes to their descendants. Should an immunity be established however, it is entirely possible for an Aviskinde to maintain a stable population.

In the event that an Aviskinde and a Divergentkinde have a child, it appears to be near entirely random what the resulting offspring will be - Either an Aviskinde, a Divergentkine, or a hybridkinde.

First Evolutionary Wave (1st F.E.W) Kinde
Name of Kinde	Description	Cultural Tendencies
Alfar	A humanoid, Kin-descended Mutant Kinde. They appear very similar to the Kin, though their ears are more pointed.	The Elarun are socially divided into social groups, which are known as "Clans".
Dvergar	A short, stout Kin-descended Mutant Kinde.	They are known for constructing underground and ridge-based cities.
Sylkhae	An aqutic Kin-descended Mutant Kinde. They are covered in scales, have evolved gills, and have webbed fingers. Commonly found in the rivers and shallow oceans.
Marfolk	An Aquatic
Risarapt	In the Fasian year -5122, and without any forewarning whatsoever, the Risarapt emerged from the Oasis Forests of Xeric. These large, tribal lizards surprised Fasia, as they seemed to appear completely out of nowhere.

Second Evolutionary Wave (2nd F.E.W) Kinde
Name of Kinde	Description
Fenvar	Arriving on Fasia as Dire Wolves in a crash-landing Voidship, the Fenvar are a mostly quadrupedal Kinde, displaying limited capabilities
Lank	A Divergent of
Shale	A Kinde of automaton created by the Dvergar. Originally created for labour and construction purposes following the Cataclysm as they sought to rebuild their Holds. However, after only a few decades, the Shale rose up in revolution against the Dvergar, taking their freedom by force. Many made their way to the Fasian moon of Steinn, but many can still be found on Fasia.

History

Formerly, Fasia fell under the Greater Solar Union's territory - However, it was not slated for colonization during this time. It was seen more as a scientific curiosity that deserved research rather than colonization at that particular time. There were plans for theoretical colonization, but those were in the early stages.

Visits to the world were intermittent, and headed mainly by scientists and researchers. Settlements on the world were small and limited, and anyone who visited it was required to leave for at least one month for every six they stayed on Fasia, and undergo mandatory check-ups to ensure they were not suffering any mutations.