The Lands of Valorin and Their Religions/Customs

[eltorian]

Valorin:
Valorin itself is the North American continent. It is now disconnected from South America due to some large-scale weapons that were used during the initial war to resist the nanotech monsters created by Zurui. Most of Central America is now nothing but ocean, with dangerous spires of black glass jutting up from the water. This span is called The Sea of Graves, both due to the grim reminder of the war, and the numerous wrecked ships impaled on those rocks while trying to cross.
The remainder of the world is still a work in progress, but here I will list some information about the lands of Valorin.

[eltorian]

Tirmarron is a long stretch of land spanning much of the western coastline of what used to be California, and stretching inland as far as the Sierra Nevada. Tirmarron is covered with giant conifer trees that are the mutated progeny of ancient Sequoia trees. These trees grow rapidly during the first two years of their life until they're about 80 feet tall, then start to gradually slow down, though they still grow to be just as tall as their ancestors. These trees are referred to as Ironwoods now, due to the incredible strength of their bark and wood. A complex ecosystem is evolving around these trees, with most creatures adapting ways to climb, glide, or fly to get around.
Tirmarron is almost exclusively populated by the Wood Elves, or "Tirmarri" as they call themselves. They make their clothes, armor, tools, and weapons from the trees they live in, however they frown on taking anything from an Ironwood that hasn't fallen off naturally. The wood elves typically build lightweight, easily maintained and re-positioned homes out of bone, leather, and rope in the branches of these trees, though their mages are able to coerce the trees into elaborate structures. They try to avoid reshaping the trees as much as possible, and generally only the most revered get homes made from a living tree. The wood elves are generally suspicious of outsiders, and meet any attempt to take from the forest without permission with hostility.
The wood elves worship a goddess named Anasei. She is one of the "Divine Ones", and typically appears to be a tall wood elf woman with long black hair, vivid green eyes, and a crown and dress made of green, seemingly living leaves with veins that glow with a pale green light. She believes it is important to try to live in as much harmony with nature as possible, while maintaining strong social bonds and learning to be at spiritual peace. She does still have her people train to fight, but only to defend themselves, their lands, and their ways.
It takes a long time for outsiders to become trusted among a particular community of wood elves. Most only see a cautious aloofness. If they can get past that defensive emotional wall however, they'll see a people that love to laugh, dance, sing, and share stories. While there are wood elves who harbor an a deeper mistrust than simple caution warrants, most only act that way to keep from feeling too saddened if they have to take up arms and end someone's life. Even though they do occasionally have to deal with intruders, especially Kadori slavers, they are generally pacifistic, and mourn the loss of any life, even an enemy's.

[eltorian]

Kadorim is an expanse of land stretching along the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, up along the northern edge of the dry, arid desert regions, and down south until it meets the dark mountains of Thamodir. The eastern border of Kadorim is the Rocky Mountains. Most of Kadorim is a desert, with most of it being unpopulated. There are established routes for trade and travel that are policed by both Kadori soldiers, and Andar legionnaires. The places that are populated are either sprawling slave camps for harvesting resources, or training for military purposes, or they are vast cities built with eccentric, and beautiful architecture.
One of the most renowned cities is Haliik, which is a massive bridge across the Grand Canyon. It is covered with graceful spires and arches large enough to hold the University of Haliik, and it's resident faculty and students. Many homes and shops are also contained within more spires that hang below the bridge like stalactites, with (often confusing) walkways linking them. In the canyon walls below Haliik are more buildings, carved into shallow man-made caves. Haliik is known not only as a place of trade and learning, but also, within these two undercities, it's a place of crime where virtually anything can be had for a price. The majority of the population in the undercities are slaves, or foreigners, though there are a good portion of Kadori citizens who have something to hide.
When it comes to Kadori born and raised in Kadorim, there are two sorts; citizens and slaves. Citizenship is determined when a Kadori child reaches their fifth birthday. A local university sends instructors to determine the child's natural talent with magic, as well as their capacity to learn. Those who they determine to be worth teaching are accepted as citizens and taken away to learn at the local university. Those who do not succeed are taken to a slave camp. Once accepted as a citizen, it is very difficult for a Kadori to lose that status, even if they prove to not be particularly interested in magic, or scholarly pursuits, however all citizens do have some ability to use magic. Slave Kadori rarely are able to use magic at all, but often end up being able to resist it's effects better than most. Despite basically being property, slaves do have certain rights, and must be properly provided for by their owners. Also, while they can be punished for misbehaving, or failing a task, there are numerous laws protecting them from abuse. They are also the only Kadori allowed to retire when they get old enough, at which point the Kadori government pays for their needs. Old Kadori citizens are expected to work unless their health is simply too poor for it, and usually that isn't a problem since they tend to focus on magical, scholarly, or trade-related businesses.
One can usually tell the difference between Kadori citizens and slaves by both the quality of their attire, and their horns. Slaves tend to wear very plain, serviceable, sturdy clothes, and their horns are rough and jagged. Citizens smooth their crystalline horns, and engrave markings into them to denote their life's achievements. A citizen tends to wear clothes more designed for looks than practicality. Either way, Kadori clothing tends to be a bit odd, and shows a lot of skin by necessity, since they have to work around horns. If the clothes are not custom made, they show even more skin, since someone making them never knows where their customers' horns will sprout from. It's even common to see Kadori whose clothes are really just long strips of fabric, tied elaborately around their bodies.
The Kadorim government is known as the High Council, which is comprised of citizens who have proven themselves to be responsible, wise, and particularly knowledgeable in a particular field of study. The military of Kadorim is comprised of both citizens and slaves, and it is notoriously difficult to fight. Their common strategy is a phalanx of magic-resistant slave soldiers marching towards the opponents while protecting a force of citizen warriors who sling spells through the air above the slaves' heads.
The god of Kadorim is Arokk, who appears to be a very tall, muscular Kadori man with exceptionally long horns that crown his head, and sprout from his shoulders, elbows, and knees. His long hair is kept in tight braids that reach down to the backs of his knees. He usually wears elaborate black robes trimmed in gold. He keeps his people separated into different castes to try to encourage them to specialize themselves, while still working together. He doesn't get involved in the workings of his nation very often, however. He usually prefers to watch and see what they do, though he does evaluate new findings, and can override the decisions of the High Council at any time. He also welcomes anyone, citizen or slave, to see him with any grievances. He primarily stays in Orrash, which is a sprawling city built directly over the Salt Lake that is designed to harness the light bouncing off the lake, and the surrounding desert to make it seem to glitter in the daylight.
Typically only Kadori are allowed to become citizens or slaves of Kadorim. They might be accepted into it and be allowed to own property, and are fairly well protected within the law, but they are still considered foreigners. Enslaving foreigners is very illegal, but it does still happen. Since they can't be seen in public, usually these slaves are for sex, or secret fighting arenas.

[nsj]

Location Name: Bhaat

Universe: Earth (current universe)

Inhabitants: Bhaat is an archaic term with only localized use in the present day, and denotes a particular swath of dry, sparsely populated land in what was once the Mojave Desert. This is the realm of the sand elves, a loose confederation of nomadic and fiercely independent elven tribes who were cast out of Tirmarron by the wood elves for their unbridled passions: lust and greed. Sand elves are not subordinate and harmonious by nature, as the Timarri to the west. Rather, the elves of Bhaat are defiant, confident and roguish, an undercurrent of savagery lying just beneath the veneer of their loosely confederated society. Sand elves are almost universal in their physique: males tend to be lithe and effeminate, but also strong, athletic, fit and virile. Females tend to be slightly shorter, slender, trim, and more submissive than their male counterparts.

Geography & Environment: Bhaat is a harsh and unforgiving desert landscape of sand and hot sun, far removed from Sasou Valley in both climate and location. It receives precious little annual rainfall. Such conditions drastically curtail any organized agricultural or wild plant growth, though some shrubs, small trees and micro-scale farming can be found outside the few villages and oases dotting the countryside of Bhaat’s core. This has ensured that the sand elves remain few in number and that their society remains small. To the west, they are bordered by the Tirmarron Forest of the wood elves (California); to the east lie the great Rocky Mountains; the Kadorim proper, inhabited by the horned Kadori, surrounds it on three sides, creating a wide “frontier” region.

History: A nameless, undated Kadori epic makes mention of a great social rift between the peace-loving elves of the Tirmarron Forest, followed by a brutal war that raged for some time. According to legend, an entire generation of elves was driven from the sanctuary of the mother forest for its “hubris of life; a [tendency to be] lustful of worldly desire deep and firmly born of their irreverent spirits”, banished into the deserts of the Kadorim and forbidden to return to their mother wood for all time.”

Such were the origins of the bhaati, who continue to hold the tale of exile from their mother wood very dear to their roguish hearts. In the unnumbered years since, the banished elves have cast their lot with the desert sands of Kadorim, whose eternal harshness has forever antagonized their dreams of glory and empire. Even as other civilizations sprang up and prospered around them, the sand elves of Bhaat remained politically separate, capable of little more beyond sustaining their own society. Only to visit destruction upon their immediate neighbors did the desert elves venture beyond the sands of their home, though the occasional elven adventurer has been spotted as far east as the Great Rockies. Societies have risen and fallen, but Bhaat has remained a quiet backwater, forgotten by all but the most curious of adventurers and well-travelled collectors of fine sundries.

Language(s): The language of the sand elves is Nah’naijat – literally, language of the Naijat, a name of the dominant tribe of elves who were cast out by the Tirmarri. It is an exotic and difficult tongue to master: not only is it written from right-to-left, but also backwards. Its preferred script is calligraphy, an entire caste of elven artists have evolved around the ability to beautifully render its words in paintings and books.

Economy: With the exception of military matters and limited commerce, the sand elves do not associate with other races. The population acquires what little it can from its environment. For most of its needs, however, society relies upon an elaborate culture of trade. This business is typically conducted by caravans large and small, and the inhabitants of Bhaat are among the most wily (and deceptive) in their region. While there are not stratified “castes” in the traditional sense, there are “professions” of sand elves, an organization of society that arises from widespread acknowledgement among the population that the labors of all are required to meet the needs of all in a constant struggle against the desert. Traders are well-traveled, resourceful, and almost impossible to cheat, offering a remarkable array of spices, potent homemade salves and remedies, fabrics and clothes, weapons, as well as a few manufactured goods in return for food, raw materials and animals.

Government & Politics: Order is maintained at the local (and/or tribal) level. There is no organized government, but rather constantly evolving agreements between tribes and villages that are renegotiated as situations demand. The bhaati are imbued with an innate sense of purpose, and their harsh environment is incentive enough to ensure that all pull together for the greater good when necessary. Shame, of course, is something a sand elf wishes to avoid at all costs, and is an equally powerful motivator.

Cultural Anthropology: Never content to settle for what is given, sand elves possess an insatiable appetite to strive for ever-greater desires: the most daring feats, the greatest wealth, the finest ornaments, most unrivaled beauty and the most unlikely accomplishments. They strive not for perfection, but rather for the pursuit: the act of labor in the name of their heritage and their goddess, Navarra, is considered among the most holy of actions. Not withstanding their intended contacts with the outside world such as trade and conflict, when the sand elves fracture their paradigm of isolation, it is almost never for the benefit of outsiders. Though small in number, they have a strong appetite for conquest and war, and their spirited application of martial skill is not readily given to defeat. It is through this judicious application of desire, irreverence, skill, and a remarkably developed sense of common advancement that the tiny civilization has achieved and is currently experiencing its “golden age” despite a harsh climate.

When the bhaati can’t obtain what they want through trade (or when a fantastic opportunity simply cannot be ignored), they turn to their illustrious military heritage. Raiding foreign caravans and those belonging to the kadori, their neighbors, is something of a sport and enjoyable pastime among amirs (commanders) and their fighters, though they rarely resort to killing the caravan drivers, as among their own numbers this would trigger a drawn-out and justified vendetta. Even from an early age, every sand elf can comprehend an implicit oath to fight mercilessly and to the death for any who speak his or her language, bringing a strong sense of cohesion and “oneness” to everyday life both on and off the battlefield. Indeed, their principle of warfare dictates that their numbers always fight as though they will be crushed. Their elvish physiology and spiritual attunement make them powerful users of magic, and most technology beyond basic mechanical devices are items they view as unnecessary and with faded curiosity.

A sand elf’s shayet, or dress, is a colorful and diverse affair. They pride themselves on their appearance and in the quality and comfort of their fabrics, as well as the complex palette of their dying process. An infinitely complex cornucopia of hues and shades of each color can be ordered if one establishes enough rapport with a dyer, and such goods often fetch high prices locally. Typically, both men and women will veil themselves when in the company of strangers, as a) it provides an aura of allure, and b) they do not wish to be seen if they are discovered stealing. Indeed, Bhaat is a land deeply appreciative of sensual and physical delights, and the finer things in life are never lost upon its inhabitants. Shear fabrics, body jewelry, ornaments, decorations, poetry, bellydancing and the highly developed arts of seduction all have their role in society.

References & Inspirations: Arabian polytheistic culture at the time of Muhammad.