Ouranos—the Etruscian term for both god and the universe, the world from the center at the Grand Tree to the edges at the Far Mists. The land consists of three continents suspended over an endless mist, held up in the sky by the roots and towered over by and enveloped in the shadows of the branches of the Tree. From the center of the boughs emanates a dim blue light, illuminating the lands. The sky and the surrounding air is dark, and only from the tree is there light.

The tree is the awe for the men of the continents. A few brave men dare to scale the tree, to reach the core of the branches, to perhaps find something wondrous. Some say one would find a city of gold; others say one would find the stars; and others say one would find a civilization of gods, a menagerie of chimerical creatures. Yet no man has returned from the center. There are a few outposts situated in the outer branches, formed by pirates and reached only by airships, but no large-scale cities have existed in the branches.

The wonders of the tree inspired a monotheistic world religion: it is believed that Father Ouranos, life-crafter of the universe, rests in the center of the tree, providing fruit and light to fuel world. Every three-hundred-and-sixty days, millions of hard, fist-sized dark-red fruit fall like hail from the Tree over a thirty days; this time is called the Harvest. The fruit provides a large supply of food for all the continents, though it is not enough to feed all the citizens year-round (mushrooms in Etruscia and Pelopses and bamboo in Anatolia serve as year-round staple crops).

Cities throughout Ouranos are composed of many buildings of three to eight stories, often of greyish-red brick, which becomes tinted light purple from the tree’s radiance. Residential structures and factories are usually rectangular. Most cities have old quarters filled with traditional stone structures.




Etruscia is the northwestern continent of Ouranos, connected to Pelopses in the south by the Theopoli Isle, and separated from Anatolia by the Northern Divide. Due to the cold weather, rocky soil, and thick forests of the northern regions, the population of Etruscia is centered in the Lomba Basin. With iron- and Aethus-rich mountains surrounding the vale and fertile soil for mushrooms in the vale, the Lombans have a powerful resource pool for a military.

But unlike Anatolia, fragmented by tribal and civil wars, the Lomban Etruscians held together with a centralized imperial crown. After the Etruscian Unification Wars (1861H—1864H) led to the Lomban hegemony, the provincial rulers of Etruscia willingly submitted to becoming princes of the Lomban Throne rather than resist Lomban control. Perhaps due to prosperity or the population centralization in the Lomban Basin, there has never been a large-scale Etruscian revolt against the Lomban Crown; the people have remained quite loyal to their king.

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Pelopses, covered in mountains and rocky, poor soil, has never had a strongly unified populace. Unlike the population of Etruscia, centered in the Lomban Basin, the men of Pelopses are scattered throughout the land and mountains. The only two large cities are the ports of Elthaea and Corith.

The Magi, situated in The Spire, tend to rule Pelopses, using the Crown at Elthaea as a puppet government. The Crown was originally established by the Magi after the 2126H “Peoples’ Revolt” against the Magi, in which non-magi citizens and the military attempted to overthrow Magi rule of the continent; the Magi, hard-pressed in The Spire, appeased the citizens by creating a monarchy and “submitting” to its rule.

Without good soil for mass agriculture, the Pelopsesians are forced to import mushrooms from Etruscia and bamboo from Anatolia...With neither a strong military nor abundant, well-paid jobs, black markets and pirates are rampant in the wilds of and above Pelopses. However, the regions around cities like the Spire or Elthaea or Isthara are very well controlled and have never been raided by pirates.

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Anatolia, despite being the largest and oldest of the continents, is the most divided. Man originated and dispersed from Anatolia in the Primeval Age, along with the Ifrits—the two-meter tall horned humanoids, covered in black or brown scales, which walk in a hunched fashion—that plagued man for around six-hundred years during the Age of Strife. After the successful anti-Ifrit wars during the Age of Strife, Anatolia quickly descended into civil war and chaos. To this day the continent is divided in Roassus—Domnas civil war and tribal conflict in the countryside.

Roassus and Domnas remain as the two major rivals in Anatolia. The population of Roassus, which consists mostly of native Anatolians, refuses to be ruled by the Domnans, who are actually of Etruscian and Lomban descent. Throughout the country are tribal towns, loyal to either Roassus or Domnas, constantly raiding each other for their respective side. Due to Etruscian and Pelopsesian refusal to intervene in Anatolia, both sides loath Etruscia and Pelopses, enough to kill Lomban or Pelopsesian merchants that enter Roassus or Domnas.

The Nassus Tower, which contains most of the continent’s magi, loyal to The Spire and Lomba, tries to remain neutral in the Anatolian Civil War, though both sides constantly try to subjugate it. Lombans and Pelopsesians constantly supply the Tower using airships, further exacerbating the Roassian and Domnan hate.

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Since 2155H it has been “The Calm.” The world thought it had peace. Lomba and Pelopses focused on life—living rather than fighting for it. The Ifrits were gone. Mad Emperor Scipio was gone. Lomba and Pelopses were unified. The people could pursue greater ambitions, like exploring the grand tree and colonizing Corscily.

But that time is gone.
Piracy in Pelopses has increased, enough so the airspace not around Elthaea, Corith, or the Spire is far too dangerous for merchants.
In the Lomba Lake, fish are dying in prolific rates, cluttering the shores. Mushroom crops have increasingly been found seared with black holes and no longer edible. Some blame the arms factories and metal refineries and their spewing of smog; perhaps Ouranos is disappointed with man’s progress.
Nassus reports stirrings in Anatolia, the emergence of forgotten creatures, ones that were hunted to extinction by man.

2240H—that is the year the Ifrit, a creature assumed to be extinct for more than one hundred years, was brought back to the Spire. It was reportedly found wounded and unconscious in the northern deserts of Anatolia by a Spire nonmilitary expedition, sent to verify Nassus’s reports of the stirrings of creatures. It found more than it sought.


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