Eterna

Some say that the world is borne upon the back of a giant, carrying it through the cosmos.

Since the first circumnavigation of the globe, however, it has been unanimously agreed that those people are rather silly. This is mostly due to the notable lack of giant limbs extending into the sky being discovered at any point in the journey. It’s the kind of thing you’d have thought somebody would notice.

Perhaps, though, the people who say that never meant it to be taken literally. Perhaps there is a shred of truth to their words that has been lost in a global game of Chinese whispers. You don’t find them very often – the people who know the old ways, who speak in riddles and in metaphors, earn the title ‘oracle’ or, more frequently, ‘crazy’. Eterna has moved on without them, into the world of flying machines and televisions and the stars. The people of the world are so fascinated with what’s out there these days that they forget to look beneath their feet.

Even the geologists, the environmentalists, the biologists who study Eterna’s ecosystems and try to find the how of it still forget about the why. There’s something missing, they say. This shouldn’t work the way it does.

The people clamour that their gods make it so, that there are things science cannot explain.

And there are things that science can’t explain, but they aren’t gods. At least, they don’t act like it.

It’s for the best, really, that nobody looks past science and religion and remembers the old ways. Magic is as much a part of Eterna as rock and water, but its people have lost touch with it. All except those who might say that the world is borne upon the back of a giant.

For although it is gravity that carries the world around its star, a giant carries the world’s life upon currents of power. Deep beneath the surface, within caverns lost to modern knowledge, it dwells in solitude and it is the world.

Eterna, the World Spirit.

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Eterna is a green world, similar to Earth in its landscapes and climates. However, there are some natural wonders that exist only due to the magical energy that perpetuates the planet like its lifeblood, such as wide stretches of land both above and below the sea that are entirely crystallised, thrumming with magical power and glowing brightly through both day and night with all colours of the spectrum. These crystal formations can stretch for miles, and are frequently mined to use the natural magical energy within them as a source of power, or to sell as trinkets. As well as these, expansive floating rock formations dwell in the sky complete with isolated ecosystems, which are held aloft by an unseen force. There are places across the world where physics behaves in inexplicable ways, where water flows upwards or in spirals without cause, forests grow to impossible sizes and many more bizarre and fantastical natural formations.

As far as civilisation goes, the three sapient species of the planet populate different areas. The humans are dominant on land, in large and modern cities. Most of human civilisation is contained in carefully controlled large urban areas, and huge swathes of untouched greenery stretch between them with only the odd villages and small towns permitted. These cities are primarily above ground, but some exist below ground as well. Whilst humans stretch across the land, underwater is almost entirely dominated by rell. Their cities are vast and advanced, set upon the sea-bed (or floating above it) and composed of circular designs and shapes. Incredibly compact, space efficient dwellings are common to suit the preference of the rell for living in tight places for safety, much like squid.

Eterna is a lush and vibrant world filled with life of all kinds. Alongside the primary sapient species, the humans and rell, there are a menagerie of strange creatures of all sizes. From flying reptilian creatures similar to dragons but lacking the sapience of Earth legends, all the way to smaller fuzzy creatures, there is more variety in life on Eterna as there is on Earth due largely to the extra element in the ecosystem – magic. Supernatural energy runs through the planet like its lifeblood, enabling fantastical life-forms to exist where biology would deny them. Nobody can be certain just how much of the life on Eterna depends wholly on this magical energy, just as nobody has been able to find or deduce the source.


Two sapient species claim joint dominance on Eterna, humans and rell:

Humans, going by Etelan, are essentially identical to humans from other worlds, with the addition of a particular affinity for magic.

The sea-based rell are immortal jellyfish/squid-like creatures with incredibly high intelligence and powerful tentacles, capable of communicating with one another telepathically over short distances. About the size of a human child when fully grown, their tentacles are deceptively strong and can break bones with relative ease. Their primary asset is their intelligence, however, and they are equipped with all kinds of technological developments – from hovering land-suits which first brought them into contact with humans to communication devices allowing them to project their thoughts in a manner understandable by those around them. Their technology taps into the magical power of Eterna, as well as more natural occurrences they have access to, such as tidal and underwater currents to create electricity.

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Nations:



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Other factions:



The Archipelago Nations - a collection of assorted governments for smaller landmasses not connected to the continents. Largely, these nations are aligned with either Cathos or Atella but most maintain their sovereignty.
Exiled Rell - Rell factions not aligned with the greater Rell Empire are largely viewed as outcasts and as holding the greater benefit of Eterna and the Rell back.