Chapter IV · The World
Ethon
[ē-thən]
- Ruler
- Regnant Sovereigni Daphyra, who took the throne when her father was defeated in battle
- Capital
- Ashborne City
- Known For
- Warriors, fibrolite, the ashen
- Places
- Ashborne City, Panshaw, Wolfpine, Dryarwood Forest, Fiend's Chasm, Razorspine Mountains
- Lost Lands
- Caerdydd and Murkwell, now held by Staerhiel
- Currency
- Glim, cut in Ashborne (see Money)
Ethon is a battle-born nation surrounded by enemies, and it keeps its blades sharp. It sits on the most valuable ground in the world and the most dangerous: the Fiend's Chasm, where fibrolite is mined and the exspiratis wait.
History
Ethon once worked with the exspiratis and gained powerful abilities. Its ashen nearly conquered Adryae in the War of Souls. Then Ethon realized the exspiratis were slowly taking over the nation. Under a watchful king, Ethon united against them and pushed them back into the Fiend's Chasm. That struggle with its own heritage still haunts the land.
During an exspiratis attack, a greedy Staerhielian emperor seized Ethon's southern lands, Caerdydd and Murkwell, and moved the border north to within sight of Wolfpine, breaking the alliance between the two nations. Ethon's own cut in the rail, through the Dryarwood Forest, had already severed it from Adryae. Weakened, Ethon couldn't take the land back without risking an exspiratis takeover. Today Ethon is trying to reclaim its territory, hold off the exspiratis and recover from the war, while several shadow wars are fought over access to fibrolite.
Ethon and the Ashen
Ethon conscripted every ashen who kept their sanity to fight in the War of Souls. Ashborne still trains its youth from childhood to receive an exspiratis, though nothing can truly prepare a host for the exspiratis' aggression. The ashen are feared across Eldriloch because of Ethon.
Ashborne City
Ashborne is the capital of Ethon and the bastion that holds the exspiratis at bay. It is also the main source of fibrolite, which is mined from the Fiend's Chasm nearby and powers all aetheric technology. The first ashen bargains were struck here after the Dark Sunder, and the race takes its name from the city.
Fiend's Chasm
Runekar hubris created the Fiend's Chasm. The runekar gathered here to develop teleportation and instead tore the veil that protected this realm from other realities. The veil between Eldriloch and the exspiratis' realm is thin here and torn in places. Travel gets more dangerous the deeper one goes, as the exspiratis' influence grows stronger. They can't physically enter the world, but they will try to take control of any human host they can reach.
The Chasm is divided into two regions. One draws all the heat from the other. The west is filled with lava paths, and the east is so cold that nothing but ice exists. A trip into the Chasm can turn a person into an ashen or worse, but it is also the only source of fibrolite, the most precious and expensive material on Eldriloch. Only ashen can work its mines safely.
Wolfpine
A town on the runekar rail with a family inn, a market full of mechanical limbs and goggled hats, and an industrial district of warehouses and plain houses. A private restructuring plant for fallen souldriven lies on its outskirts, guarded by nibs. Its owner, a retired officer, says it rebuilds souldriven. Nobody has ever seen one walk out.
Other Places
Entries for Panshaw, the Dryarwood Forest and the Razorspine Mountains.