Eastern Zenninfal

Summary: Eastern Zenninfal is slightly less industrious than the west, but it is overall more educated in the fields of mysticism, philosophy, mathematics, politics and law. Magic is largely what drives the society, whether it is in the mages becoming figures of political power in the city-states and kingdoms, or the priests and shamans leading their tribes of barbarians in the less civilized areas. Money is used, but trading for goods and services is still practiced. Overall, the people living in Eastern Zenninfal are more tolerant of most everything, from the differences between people to the injustices of society. There are notable exceptions however, which will be detailed in the "Major Conflicts" paragraph.

Regional Religion: The religions of Eastern Zenninfal are wide and varied, though most of the universally worshiped gods are seen as forces where you are better off if you are ignored. Most prayers are not prayers asking for favors or good events to happen, but rather, prayers asking for salvation and mercy. Priests of many gods are seen less as intermediaries between their god and the people, and more as defenders of the people against the excesses of what their god represents.

Naming styles: The names of people and places in Eastern Zenninfal tend to come from the romance languages. Towards the north, people and places tend to have Greek names, and towards the southwest and northwest, people and places tend to have Slavic names.

Major Political Factions: Igakari is the driving nation in this region, with most other nations and kingdoms being mere city-states. Igakari itself is ruled over by two sections of government. The first section is a group of Magistrates from every town and city. These Magistrates serve as both mayors and national representatives; they stay in contact with one another through magic and drive national policy. The larger the city, the more influence that city's magistrate is afforded. International policy is driven by a group of 12 council members who act as both diplomats and foreign policy advisers.

History: Igakari has existed as a nation for more than two millennia, and have considered wars or conquest beneath them. Historically, the magistrates and council members of Igakari have seen fit to maintaining the power balance that exists in the region and nothing more. Several hundred years ago, when the Jerol empire was attempting to conquer the world, the invaders were stopped fast in their tracks by the Barbarians of Rothysia, who consider themselves fiercely independent and managed to keep the Jerolans at bay using guerrilla tactics and magical powers. Many Igans recognize that their current, peaceful way of life would have been impossible without the barbarians to the west, though just as many do not.

Magical Styles: Although magic in Igakari is not as industrious as it is in Cerenbaun, enchanted items are still extremely common. The most common enchanted items are wands and stones that allow the holder to cast specific spells. These items are so common that there are mages with no innate magical talent of their own, who instead do all of their casting using such objects. Magical items in Eastern Zenninfal are normally activated by thought or command words; the switches, gears and buttons of Cerenbaun are not used here, and considered superfluous and inelegant. Magical law is also far more lax in Igakari than it is in the west, although some notable styles of casting are still illegal, such as murder or grave-robbing for the sake of necromantic materials, or creating soul-links with more than two people.

Major Conflicts: Recently, many barbarian tribes have been propositioning the Igan government to annex their tribes as new cities and towns. This "expansive borders" immigration has caused a political group called the Barbarian Caucus to form, in order to represent the rights and interest of the Barbarians of Rothysia. A notable exception is that the Barbarian Caucus has refused to acknowledge the existence of the Bush Ardlins as legitimate barbarians, while it (controversially) accepts Ghrok with open arms.

A group of mages from the west have recently begun stirring up trouble in Igakari. They feel that two thousand years is far too long for a nation to exist, and they seek to exacerbate the tensions between Igakari and the Rothysian barbarians in order to destabilize the region.

Although powerful mages have always become an impromptu part of the Igan government, recently these mages have been experimenting with magical styles heavily frowned upon by Igakari's populace. As a result, the number of "Mage-hunter" adventurers has increased as of late, and there are rumors that the Mages may attempt to take over and break off massive chunks of territory so they may increase their magical power unmolested.

The Valdrex from southern Yessha are attempting to set up permanent bases of opperation and trade in both goods and slaves in the lawless areas of Rothysia, illiciting mixed feelings from all sections of society.

In the south of Igakari, bandits from the region of Camaria have been raiding the local towns with impunity.

The Ghrok have been slowly going extinct. They have been competing for territory with the vicious bush ardlins and bandits reveling in the lawlessness of the region. The Ghrok are aware of their impending extinction, and this makes them very dangerous.

Points of Interest:

Chianmos Desert: This desert to the north acts as part of a barrier leadaing into Eastern Habruk. Due to its northerly location, it is more often cold than hot. The snow coming down off of the Elfalos mountain blends into the white sands of this desert. From a distance the desert looks like a glacier coming down off the mountains.

Elfalos Mountain Range: Also known as "The shelf above the world" this mountain range helps to separate Zenninfal from Habruk, as well as divide Habruk into the eastern and western regions.

Lake Siloros: A large glacial lake that lies at the base of the Elfalos mountain range. Those who live north and west of the lake tend to be Habrukan. Those who live south and east of the lake tend to be Igan.

Kressia: The most humid area of Eastern Zenninfal, Kressia is a region made up of peaceful city-state dwellers who tend to wear shawls and ceremonial masks. They are master woodcarvers and fishermen, but their region is otherwise impoverished. Kressia is known for its plains of blueish grass, and coniferous forests with needles of a similar hue. It is also famous for its fog.

Rothysia: An expansive region of plains, and the source of the Lyeban river, the longest river in the northern world. Rothysia has resisted civilizing influences for countless centuries, and is home to a proud barbarian culture. It is home to Ghrok, Bush Ardlins, Valdrex colonists, bandits and human barbarians. In Western Zenninfal, Rothysia is known as "The Eastern Border" regardless of whether or not the location in question actually borders Rothysia.

Tehgrahan: A large confderation of many smaller kingdoms, Tehgrahan is an area east of Rothysia. It was conquered by the Jerolans when they were expanding their empire, so the natives largely speak the Jerolan language. However, they still follow much of the culture of Eastern Zenninfal and worship the more Easterly gods. The kingdoms in the north of Tehgrahan are conservative and known for grumpy, under-educated, superstitious and pessimistic people. The south of Tehgrahan is made up of large, expansive forests inhabited largely by Orchaein. The inhabitants here tend to be much friendlier than their northern neighbors. Like the whole of Eastern Zenninfal is a melting pot between the views of the far east and far west, Tehgrahan itself is a melting pot between Eastern Zenninfal and Western Zenninfal.

The Southwest Way: This valley leads directly into the Yesshan Desert, and is an important trade route, the only land line route that least to Eastern Yessha.

Climate: Eastern Zenninfal is somewhat arid. In the south, it is made up of hot bushlands. The middle of the region is mostly grasslands and plains. The north is cooler and more temperate, though it still suffers from less than average rainfall. There are sparse forests closer to the eastern coast, and thicker forests on the coast of the Great Barrier Sea.

Native Godtouched: Humans (Primarily Igans), Theromorphs, Bush Ardlins, Ghrok, Orchaein, Satyrs, Phoenixes, Sphinxes, Unicorns, Earth dragons, Valdrex (colonists only), Vampries and other Undead.

Aarn Timeline (Beginning with the Birth of Humanity)

Year 0 - The first humans are created by Jennin. The "Age of Humanity" begins.

Year 120 - Already established godtouched civilizations such as the Lenneshin, Ghorma, Valdrex, Salamanders (lead by fire dragons), Medusae and Centaurs begin attempting genocide against the humans. Civilizations that outright refuse to aid the humans are Satyrs, Merfolk and Orchaein, but they do not act hostile towards the new race.

Year 140 - The naga begin aiding the humans against attacks from civilized godtouched. Sphinxes begin aiding the humans against attacks from uncivilized godtouched.

Year 280 - Human civilization first begins successfully in the south of Rensvan. These humans name themselves the Udhan.

Jennin appoints the Naga as the official mediaries between himself and humanity as a reward for saving them.

Year 300 - The giants in the north name two of the other promminent human tribes "elves" and "dwarves." The humans call themselves "Aledorans" and "Tehxiona," respectively.

The fey formally known as elves rename themselves grassrunners and take on a human shape, as opposed to a satyr shape.

Year 350 - The Aldeorans and Udhan independently develop wizardry with the help of Jennin.

Year 490 - The Centaurs accept a truce with the Aledorans.

Year 500 - The Tehxiona enter into a protracted conflict with the Leneshin civilization in the middle north.

Year 530 - The snow naga protecting the Tehxiona are driven extinct by the war.

Exiled from their homeland, the Tehxiona invade the Aledoran homelands in the southeast.

Year 590 - The Valdrex invade, conquer and enslave the Udhan and their southern naga protectors. Their culture is eradicated. The Valdrex quickly reverse-engineer wizardry.

Year 620 - After generations of bloodshed and exile, the Tehxiona mostly join and incorporate themselves into the Aledoran civilization.

Year 650 - The Aldeorans slowly begin expanding north and west, invading Lenneshin territory.

Year 700 - The Lenneshin are driven deep into the northern shadow of the Eifalos mountain range.

Year 710 - The Valdrex launch a preemptive strike against the Aledorans. Their capitol city is contained within an impenetrable forcefield, and ransacked by the Valdrex. A permanent portal to the central Valdrex hive in what will become Jerohm is set up to transform the city into an outpost from which to launch a greater invasion.

The Aledoran Naga begin invading border hives of the Valdrex.

Year 730 - The Aledoran wizards engineer a virus that is virulently infectious, but only to Valdrex. A lone Aledoran hero slips past the Valdrex's forcefield and releases the contageon.

The Sphinx officially break ties with humanity, and go into hiding.

Year 732 - The Valdrex panic as the Aledoran capitol and Valdrex central hive succumb to plague, withdrawing their forces.

The Aleodran military pushes the Valdrex out of what will become Yessha, then begin a campaign of liberating the enslaved Udhan in the south.

Year 745 - The Valdrex are pushed deep into the densest jungles of Rensvan.

The Udhan become second-class citizens in the Aledoran empire.

Year 750 - The Aledorans begin colonizing and annexing the rest of the surface world.

Year 760 - The Ghorma withdraw from the mainland and settle permanently in the island that will be known as Ghormotole, successfully defending it from the Aleodrans.

The Aledorans drive the Medusae out of the south of Rensvan, destroying their civilization and cultural sanity in the process.

Year 790 - The Aledorans enter a truce with the Merfolk; the Aledorans will not set foot under the sea, and the Merfolk will not set flipper on land.

Year 800 - The Aleodrans successfully reverse-engineer the Valdrex's advanced wizardry techniques.

Year 830 - The Salamander civilization (in what will become the Yesshan trade route) collapses. 70% of all fire dragons are killed by self-righteous Aledorans, and the Salamanders themselves are scattered over the whole of Aarn.

Year 840 - The Aledoran golden age begins, 90% of all existing landmass is inhabited or annexed by Aledoran people.

Year 860 - With no more lands to conquer, the Aleodrans begin researching ways to breach the Jehttan storms and reach the forbidden side of the planet. The potential power of Wizardry begins expanding exponentially.

Year 1050 - The Aledoran magical experiments reach critical mass, triggering a magical cataclysm. The Aledoroan homeland shatters into what is now known as the Eastern Islands. Human civilization Collapses.

The permanent portal between the Aleodran capitol city and what will become Jehrom floods, creating the Heretanni Salt Lake.

Aarn is plunged into a nuclear winter that lastes 50 years, billions die and most civilizations begin to fall.

Year 1060 - The Lenneshin move underground, preserving their civilization and culture.

Year 1080 - Nektos takes this opportunity to create the undead race, shattering the afterlife.

The "Age of Humanity" ends. The mythical "Silent Era" begins.

Year 1085 - The Lenneshin become devoutly spiritual once their dead refuse to rest.

Year 1120 - Psychic pollution caused by all new deaths leading to ghosts drives a great deal of fey insane, bonding them with the Aarn and causing them to become demi-mortal, similar to what happened when they encountered Aarn for the first time. Many of these fey become ghouls and second-generation soul twisters.

K'tellos forces himself into eternal slumber at the bottom of Lake Anessis in order to prevent himself from meeting the same fate as his fey kin.

Year 1140 - The valdrex enter extended hibernation, preserving their civilization and culture.

Year 1220 - Vizdane creates the Spirit animals, hoping to find a solution to the afterlife problem.

Year 1360 - The fey discover the demons, and comission them to create a new afterlife.

Year 1550 - The demons finish the afterlife. In order to educate sentients about how to prepare for it, they physically travel to Aarn and begin settling there.

The "Silent Era" ends. The "Demonic Era," also known as "The Era of Lies" begins.

Regions: Western Zenninfal (Cont)

Climate: Western Zenninfal is host to mild winters with hot and wet summers. The area has a long growing season, and its food output has helped make it one of the dominant regions of the world. The Attanan Mountains are mysteriously dry. Rainclouds tend to drench the areas to the north and south, but they don't move high enough to water the mountains themselves. The lone exception is the occasional snowstorm in the winter, which helps give the mountains their occasional snowcap. North of the mountains are swamps and moorlands, with the Treddis Islands and other isles north of the continent especially swampy and rocky.

Regions: Western Zenninfal

Summary: The kingdoms of Western Zenninfal like to consider themselves the pinnacles of Human civilization. They are industrious, technological, organized and capitalist. In truth, the poverty gap in this region is more of a chasm than a gap. Those who live in the large cities tend to have an excess of gold, treasures, magic and technology. Those who live on the farms and in the viliages of the region are very poor off, with precious little education, sanitation or hygiene. This makes the small towns and farms of Western Zenninfal a veritable breeding ground for adventurers, who are desperate enough for money to go out and adventure, but poorly educated enough to not know any better.

Local Religion: Western Zenninfal's religions are haphazard. Agnosticism and secularism are tolerated beliefs, but raving cults who believe in gods who do not even exist are similarly tolerated. Most gods worshiped (or rather acknowledged) by the majority of people tend to be industrious and materialistic.

Naming Styles: When people and places in this region tend to have names from earth, the names are typically English, Gaelic, Germanic and North American. The exception is the cities from the Shanbar Province of Cerenbaun, which were named after Earth's European countries by demons who settled there 7000 years ago.

Major Political Faction: Cerenbaun is the largest kingdom of Western Zenninfal, and arguably the world's greatest political power. It is ostensibly run by a seldom-seen royal family who share the name of the kingdom. Day to day business is carried out by a group of Dukes who are overseen by an Archduke. The dukes do not directly represent any regions or groups of people, but set government policy all the same. Ruling alongside these Dukes and the Archduke are three governors, who run Cerenbaun's three large Provinces; Shanbar, Denenga, and Querris.

History: Cerenbaun exists in the area that was the seat of the Jerol Empire, which collapsed 250 years ago, and the nation itself is 174 years old. The Jerol Empire Encompassed the entirety of Western Zenninfal, the islands of the Yesshan trade route, and the northern jungles of Yessha. The people who live in these areas still speak the Jerolan language because of this influence.

Magical Styles: In Cerenbaun, magic is an industry. Potions are mass produced, scrolls are sold by the dozen, and a middle-income home will tend to have at least 12 magical appliances and tools. Magical lanterns and street lights are common as well. With so much magic however, comes magical regulation. Cerenbaun has some of the strictest laws in Aarn about what spells can and can't be cast. Soul-linking with anything other than an animal is strictly forbidden. Necromancy and biomancy are both strictly regulated. Non-government experiments to develop new models and styles of necromantic undead and monsters are illegal. Transmutational magicks that change the size and shape of something are somewhat legal, but effects that can change one material into another are strictly illegal, as are experiments with souls or immortality. Animancers, however, are encouraged to perform experiments, provided they stick to using wood, metal and stone as their raw materials.

Major Conflicts: Most conflicts in Cerenbaun are internal. Crime is a large problem in all the kingdoms; despite the laws against magical experimentation, they are poorly enforced, and criminal syndicates run much of the region. There is currently one war being waged in Western Zenninfal; two nations in the north of the continent are fighting over a large, resource-rich offshore island. A second war is brewing, but not yet being waged, between Cerenbaun and a kingdom that is further west. This kingdom has been refusing to patrol or police its side of the Shanbar border. Cerenbaun has recently sent soldiers in to occupy the area, and that particular kingdom is less than pleased at Cerenbaun's apparent territory grab.

Points of Interest:

Attanan Mountains: These mountains separate the kingdom of Cerenbaun in the south with the less developed northern kingdoms. Savage, wild Harpies live in this region, making travel difficult.

Isles of Treddis: These northern islands are positively infested with undead. It is ruled over by a Nercomancer Lich who serves Nektos. The locals are impoverished farmers who prevent the bleak landscape from affecting their sanity by partying at the drop of a hat. They are famous for their wakes and their all-night revelries which celebrate life in their islands of undeath. The Isles of Treddis are also the first stop along the Yesshan Trade Route, with several ports controlled by Cerenbaun politics.

Lake Anessis: This is the second largest inland body of water in Aarn, and the largest in the northern continents. It lies in the dead center of Cerenbaun's Querris Province, and what makes it noteworthy is that the sleeping god K'tellos lies at the bottom. Most of Querris's economy is driven by trade and shipping across this lake.

Great Barrier Sea: This sea lies to the south of Western Zenninfal, and separates Zenninfal from Yessha. Ship-travel across this sea is impossible; The Merfolk race make this sea their home, and they mercilessly destroy any and all ships that attempt to cross it. Instead, those from Western Zenninfal who wish to trade with Yessha are forced to travel through Rothysia to the east, or to take the Yesshan Trade Route to the west.

Native Godtouched: Anthromorphs, Theromorphs, Swamp Ardlins, City Ardlins, Forest Ardlins, Mountain Ardlins, Life Dragons, Humans (Primarily Jerolans), Harpies, Merfolk, Satyrs, Sphinxes, Orchaein, Unicorns, Vampires and other undead.

Magic: Channeling Senses

It occurs to me that in the Channeler Skills post, I forgot to list a very important ability almost all channelers share; heightened senses related to their element. Unlike many other channeler abilities and skills, this type of sensory input tends to vary wildly from element to element, so it would be best to look at what sensory abilities channelers develop depending on their element.

Air, Water, Earth, Metal: Channelers who belong to these four elements tend to develop the ability to sense the size and shape of something composed of their element that they are touching. If they develop this ability, they can sense the composition of something made of their element, including the particulates and impurities inside it, allowing an air channeler to sense humidity or pollutant contents, a water channeler to sense poison, or earth and metal channelers to sense gems or the type of ore that exists in a metal vein. Eventually the range for this sense increases dramatically, allowing an air channeler to sense the size and location of everything displacing air in a certain area (hidden passages, people, objects, you name it), a water channeler to do the same for underwater areas, an earth channeler to sense the layout of a building or cave system, or a metal channeler to determine the inner workings of a mechanical construct. Another way this ability can manifest is the ability for them to sense their element at range, which can prove very useful for trying to find water, or things buried in the earth, or veins of metal in a mine. If a channeler develops all of these abilities together, they can gain a startlingly accurate spacial sense of their surroundings, even if their other senses are impaired, with air being the most powerful, followed by water (people are water, afterall) then metal (armor and weapons) then earth.

Life: Perhaps the most versatile of the elements when it comes to sensory awareness, life channelers can not only sense the shape and composition of living things (allowing them to eerily diagnose medical problems) but they can also detect the location of living creatures nearby. Further, unlike any of the other channelers, they can enhance their own senses of sight, smell, hearing, touch and even taste to levels that most people might find uncanny or disturbing.

Death: Death channelers share the ability of air, water, earth and metal channelers to sense the location and composition of dead things, but they can also sense ghosts and spirits who have trapped themselves in the inbetween, but have not left for the afterlife. Ironically, with all of their abilities, death channelers make extremely efficient hunters and exterminators of the undead.

Kanna: Kanna channelers develop an uncanny spacial awareness that borders on precognition. Individually their sensory powers are not as developed as any of the other physical elements (due to having mastery over all physical composition instead of a specialized selection), so their ability does not have a very large range. But within their immediate surroundings they may as well have 360 degree sight that is not limited by mundane things such as walls, barriers or illusions. Kanna channelers also have the ability to sense magical items, and intuit the general enchantments that such items possess.

Light and Shadow: These two elements give their channelers an immunity to being blinded, either by light that is too bright, or the darkest of darkness. This ability remains if their eyes are covered or even removed. Development of the ability allows them to sense the dancing patterns of light and shadow that exist beyond solid objects, which can prove extremely handy if these channelers have teleportation powers that require the exit and entrance to be equally dark or illuminated.

Heat and Cold: These two elements develop the ability to sense what is hot and what is cold at a distance. This quickly allows them to not only develop an infravision that works through walls, but it also allows them to develop a mental map of heat and cold for how an area is constructed. Even if two pieces of material are the same temperature, a heat or cold channeler can eventually learn to distinguish one material from another if the materials have different insular properties.

Electricity: The sensory abilities of an electricity channeler can seem like a joke compared to many of the other elements. Their ability to sense electricity at its most basic of levels is not very useful. Eventually an electricity channeler can develop a sixth sense about where people are located (due to the electromagnetic fields of their nervous systems). Practice might allow them to tell if someone is lying or not, though this might not work on all creatures (valdrex, for instance, are probably immune to such lie detection). Otherwise, this ability would probably just let them know if an electrical storm is coming. In a world where electricity is more of a novelty than a viable technology, electricity channelers do not find much use for their extra senses. The static electricity charge on a dry day combined with their ability to sense electrical reactions inside brains might let them develop a spacial awareness similar to the other channelers, but this ability would be vague, indistinct and unreliable at best.

Sound: Sound channelers are experts at detecting sound and vibration. They can use this ability to "see" what they hear, developing a spacial mental picture based on their hearing. Also, similar to light and shadow channelers, sound channelers cannot be deafened, so for the most part, they also cannot be "blinded." A sound channeler who fully develops their power will notice virtually everything there is to be heard, which can make them excellent spies, scouts and information peddlers.

Manna: Like kanna channelers, manna channelers can sense the location and general type of enchantment for magical objects. They can also, with practice, begin to sense the location of souls, be they living or dead. Developing this power to its fullest potential allows them to sense the auras of all physical things (regardless of how faint those auras are) which can give them a spacial awareness similar to that of the kanna channeler, but their ability to do this does not come as naturally as the spacial awareness of a kanna channeler.

Technology: Locks, Clocks, Springs and Gears

The principle behind the humble gear was originally discovered by the Satyrs with their inventions of the windmill and the waterwheel, although it was the Humans who took the principle and followed it to its logical conclusion. Gears made of magically-reinforced wood and metal make up the bulk of Cerenbaun mechanical creations, with most mechanical non-magical energy stored by springs and flywheels.

Cerenbaun society has access to a great many mechanical technologies that are not typically encountered in a fantasy setting. Clocks are perhaps the most obvious of such technology; clock making is a common and well-respected occupation, and even the most impoverished households have access to a clock tower in the middle of the town square, or a cuckoo clock in the kitchen. In a twist, it is non-magical clocks that are considered an expensive luxury, and magical clocks are more common and less expensive. Genuine non-magical pocket watches are considered an extravagant luxury, though cheaper hand-held time-pieces with magical components exist.

Locksmithing is another occupation that has a large presence in Cerenbaun society. Locks in general can be quite complex, and 5-tumbler locks are not unheard of. Like clocks, the cheaper locks are usually magical, though these locks are susceptible to magical spells that might open them. Non-magical locks cannot be dispelled, but they are still susceptible to telekinesis or shaping spells that might damage them. The most expensive kinds of locks are both mechanically complex and have magical enchantments placed on them that make them resilient to damage, so a would-be thief needs to be quite resourceful with many different magical and non-magical lock-picking methods in order to successfully open the lock. Many of these locks also have magical fail-safes and life detection spells on them that will trigger alarms or traps if set off.

Chain-driven gearboxes like those in bicycles are a common component in machinary, though the gearboxes usually have a magical source of power. The "bicycle" design for translating human power into mechanical movement is available, but slow in catching on. Most people who want access to non-magical transportation have stuck by horses and coaches, and those with access to magical transportation wonder why anyone would do so all that exhausting pedaling in order to get from point A to point B.

The spring is further another important mechanical device that Cerenbaun smiths put into their mechanical designs, both magical and non-magical. Their ability to store energy and release them have made them invaluable in many complex devices, with springs being the second most popular method of storing energy; magic being the most popular, and flywheels being the third most popular. Steam power and electricity are unheard of, with magic more convenient and cheaper to harness for the same sorts of tasks.

Jennin may be the god of wizardry, but he is also the god of human technology and innovation. His holy symbol is a single-direction gear (connected to a spiral-spring latch) and even the colleges of mages and wizard guilds prominently display this symbol representing Jennin's influence on their art and science of wizardry.

Technology: Military

Aarn has always suffered from a massive poverty gap due to the low population density and high mortality rate. Arguably, this was at its worst at the height of the Jerol empire, when magical guilds kidnapped children who showed channeling potential, and where the science of wizardry was a closely guarded state secret. Most people did not have access to magic nor education, so while the aristocracy of the Jerol Empire flourished, the plebeians stayed trapped in the dark ages.

During this time it was fashionable for high-class adventurers and Jerol officers to use plate mail armor. It provided a decent protection against most threats the then-current environment presented, and also helped create an imposing psychological presence.

When the Empire collapsed, the channeling guilds collapsed with it, and the technology of magic began to spread throughout the realm. Five-and-a-half centuries later, plate mail has become obsolete. Monsters, magic and mayhem have made mobility in combat more important than an ability to absorb blows. While obsolete, plate mail as a technology is romanticized and it is still available. It is also a part of the military regalia of Cerenbaun, and worn by professional guards and mercenaries who do not have to do much traveling or who have little to no chance of combat. Plate mail armor is seen more as a romantic status symbol than as a genuine, practical method of protection in combat.

Most adventurers wear leather armor; anything heavier would hamper their mobility too much in dungeons, swamps and forests, where most of their violent encounters take place. There are also magical equivalents that help protect adventurers as much as plate mail would, but without hampering mobility. Common items are magically treated cloaks and amulets that provide a field of protection, absorbing blows.

The Cerenbaun army has come a long way since the knights and foot soldiers of Jerol. It's subdivided into smaller units that resemble adventuring parties, forces that are heavily enhanced by the ability to cast magic and the supply of magical items. A military unit usually has two wizards, two channelers and two healers, though these jobs often overlap allowing individuals who do or cannot use magic. Stealth and subterfuge are considered more important than direct combat, and the fighting unit is designed to hold their own or retreat in the face of overwhelming odds.

For battlefield combat, Cerenbaun foot soldiers are usually armed with medium armor, a shortsword, a wand of randomly selected ranged magic, and a short bow or crossbow with arrows. Standard equipment also includes an amulet of protection, a ring that cleans and provides hygiene, several healing potions and several grenade-like potions. Specialist units are armed with pole arms, longbows, tower shields and other similar items. Occasionally biomantic monsters are inserted into the ranks, but such units are usually used as expendable berserker units who are sent in to soften up and intimidate the enemy before the main force arrives.

Cerenbaun siege engines are animantic and usually their soul cores are attuned to the individual drivers and unit commanders who are well protected. Cerenbaun's tools of war resemble bipedal tanks, huge trebuchets, and mobile fortresses where the commanders of the battle can congregate and prepare their battle plans. Avian units are rare but not unheard of; they are usually relegated to scouting and fire support rolls.

Field battles usually take place with around one thousand soldiers on a side. During the age of the Jorel Empire, forces of 5,000 or more were common, but the low population density made recruiting that many soldiers difficult, even then. In contemporary times, Aarnian military has focussed more on the style and strength of the army's magical technology than the number of soldiers.

Flintlock and blunderbuss pistols are beginning to develop as a technology, but they've yet to fully catch on. People without magic usually do not have the education to create them or the gunpowder they require, and guns themselves are inferior to most magical items that do ranged damage. Hand cannons are usually used by ne'er-do-wells who typically use them as weapons of last resort that cannot be detected by magic.

Most of Zenninfall follows in Cerenbaun's footsteps when it comes to military technology, especially the areas that were a part of the now-fallen Jerol Empire. Other areas are not so similar. The environment of Western Habruk is harsh and unforgiving, making large-scale combat both impractical and costly, so Western Habrukkan wars are usually fought with war bands of 80 people or less. Igakari's military focuses more on police action than invasion, forgoing seige engines and foot soldiers for state-sponsored guards and constables who have a defensive role in mind militarily, keeping the outlaws from the Eastern Border region from invading Igakari. Igakari also has a powerful navy which they use to influence and keep in check the Kaipu peoples from the Eastern Islands.

The isolation of the Kaipu races that live in Eastern Habruk has allowed them to develop a somewhat unique military style. The mainland Kaipu forgo magic in combat as dishonorable and sacrilegious, preferring to use magic for household tasks and religious ceremonies. Their military instead focuses on foot soldiers armed with long pole arms, spears, and longbows. Despite living in the mainland, the snaking rivers of Eastern Habruk have made a navy quite important, and the Kaipu forces will often fight with one force on land and the other force in the river, the pole arms allowing the units to attack one another despite the short distance between the almost-beached river-boats and the units on foot on the shoreline.

The isolation of the Rensvaja have also allowed them to develop a military style that would be strikingly alien to Cerenbaun forces. When war breaks out between the various Rensvaja kingdoms, the kings themselves go to the battlefield and fight one another directly, using their channeling magic. Disputes are thus settled by these champion kings proving their might through magical combat, which is part of which what makes their massive soul-linked collectives so important to their culture. The fights may be superficially one-on-one, but the kings' families, retainers and spiritual advisers are all aiding the fight by lending their magic to the king through the soul-link.