The Mortal Realm of Aurelius.

[FoxyPox]

I've been building this world for quite awhile. If I were to create a Roleplay, it would most definitely be here. I'll add more to this as I get around to it. Tell me what you think! I'm open to any suggestions.


Aurelius is known as the Mortal Realm. It has three moons and one sun. Following the Reckoning, Aurelius became a shattered planet consisting of five major landmasses. These are called Kingdom Shards, as each major shard is a kingdom. Here's the breakdown:

ALBION, the Shining Citadel
   Your typical fantasy realm, chock full of castles, adventurers, vast expanses of nature, and gratuitous 'here there be monsters' areas still left on even a master cartographer's masterwork. From the majestic mountain range called the Dragonspine, to the chokingly verdant Kyrian Annex, nature and civilization are at war in this kingdom.

KYRIOS, the Hungering Wilds
   A place deemed holy to some, seen as the cradle of evolution and a merciless cycle of growth. Things that live here are big. Really, really big. So big that if you found one in another shard, it would be big trouble. From the incomprehensibly vast fissure Fang-Rend to the rampant battlefields of the Gorge Plains, the law of the wild is inscribed into this kingdom's very soul.

EGRESS, the Rainbow Desert
   A sprawling  desert teeming with secrets. Completely inaccessible to an ignorant outsider, beyond the mirages and hostile indigenous monsters, there lies a kingdom of nigh immeasurable wealth.. but when everyone is rich, inflation is rampant. From the font of riches brought upon by Basilisk Migration charted as the Wyrm's Run to the impossible geometric formations ever shifting in the desert sands reported simply as The Construct, this kingdom houses a plethora of secrets.

ARGETH, the Clockwork Heart
   A highly regimented, technologically exotic shard that contains a nearly limitless supply of precious metals and ores beneath the surface. Steam powered sentinels patrol the streets, prosperity is buried under mounds of paperwork, and the most dangerous ideas of all are those that officials ensure never make it down on paper. From the monolithic Mechanus Spiral watching over the world to the birthplace of modern machina known as the Machinist Crux, in this kingdom progress marches on at a steady, clockwork pace.

NOX, the Shadow's Fell
   A place where the reaper fears to tread and the light does not dare to shine, where souls go to mourn and the forge that runs the world is inevitably stoked. Here lies one of the most ancient definitions of darkness. From the festering cradle of monsters known only as The Dark Heart to the no man's land of lost dreams whispered through tales and legends as The End of All, this kingdom is shrouded in mystery and death.





While Aurelius is home to many different races, the most common include:
HUMANS, the Survivors
   Your typical humanoid, being the most populous race on the planet and growing. Very hardy and adaptable, their sheer willpower and ingenuity make them dangerous contenders in the world.
DWARVES, the Architects
Shorter and stockier on average than an average human, this race belongs to the Earth. Being generally natural miners and architects, their projects often involve elaborate constructions spanning years upon years, sometimes never finished after centuries of labor.
ELVES, the Preservers
   Taller and thinner on average than an average human, this race is closely attuned to the flow of mana. It is said that their pointed ears are shaped specifically to pick up the sounds of drifting magical currents. Their civilization in general is driven by an impetus to protect and preserve nature.
SHADES, the Ephemeral
   Shades are nonexistent in the material world. Their presence is only made known through their interactions with the flow of mana around them. In this way, they can take on a pseudo-physical shape, through series of cascading, multicolored mists called Shades.

THERIANS, the Animal
   There are an endless number of subspecies of Therian, each one a humanoid version of an animal.

Also, despite a myriad of different interpretations, the most widely understood version of Aurelius' mythos and history is as follows.

The Creation Myth:

In the Beginning;
Before Life,
Before Thought,
Before Faith:
There were the Aspects.
They were eternally immortal, omnipotent, and bored.
The entirety of existence was their sandbox.
They wrote, rewrote, and broke the Rules.
From the force of their willpower they sculpted the World from nothingness.
To pass the time they toyed with the paradoxical and the infinite.
Over the course of inventing Time, Space, and Mana,
Between the Aspects arose a pastime of Cultivating a Persona,
And the roots of the Eternal Pantheon were founded.
LILITH the CATALYST
Who breathed the first steps of life into the Cosmos.
KYRIOS the ARTIST
Who sculpted the roots of Time and Space.
TIAMAT the CRUCIBLE
Who forged the endless gyrations of existence.
VOX the ANTITHESIS
Who spilled the world into the mold of reality.

The Aspects who were responsible for the Genesis of the World
Were the Architects of the Game which they called Life.

Their canvas was a world without beginning, end, or substance.
Their medium was a spark which simultaneously did and did not exist.
And in an effort to quell their infinite boredom,
As they continued to contemplate their reasons for existence and the meaning of their lives,
After developing infinite, intricate, and inscrutable rules for the game of life which ultimately defined the Fundamental Principles of Existence,
They then proceeded to sit down at a Cosmic Chessboard and started to play a game,
Which is still being played out today.

The Star Fall:

Ten thousand years ago, the Titans shaped the realm with their very footsteps. The world's formlessness slowly grew solid as the Titans' monstrous trek brought them to the edges of the universe. Stars and suns and moons were shaped by the Titans, who were driven by a Spark given to them by the Aspects. No one knows what exactly happened to the Titans after their labors were complete. It is speculated that the Titans slept, their bodies becoming the earth and their souls becoming mana. Such a theory is the lifeblood of the Dwarven race. Their ingrained impetus to mine and dig ever deeper is to one day unearth one such Titan.

The Reckoning:
In recent months, the Mortal Realm of Aurelius has been thrown into turmoil. Wars have spread as fast as the plague that drives them. The sentinels of old have lost their grip. Cages are broken, evils are freed. Immeasurable knowledge and power has become buried beneath mounds of ruins and bodies. Above it all, two swords clash, and an unstoppable force meets an immovable object. The world itself shatters into pieces. Continents become Kingdoms become Shards, floating in space, hanging ever closer to the roiling oblivion of magma below, tethered to each other by thin webs of Mana. The entire world teeters over the edge. Every edge. It is in this chaos that you, along with a hundred thousand others, strive to brand your name into the flow of the universe.

Prime Mechanics of the World
Magic
   Like the FORCE, Magic is everywhere. It is in all things: every person, tree and rock. It represents the flow of life throughout the universe, and is the main driving phenomenon for every single natural occurrence. The raw, ephemeral material from which all derives its soul is Mana. Mana coalesces into patterns, such as Runes, Words of Power, or Crystals. In this manner, one can weave Mana into spells or enchantments.

[Throndir]

Neat! Activity in the World Projects section. XD

If ever you think you want your own section in here, let me know.

[FoxyPox]

Hooray ^~^ I'll have to get back to you on that. I've built most of the world: the hardest part is just getting the darned thing on paper! Or... onto a word document. Plus, I've been designing a few game systems based off of this world, but... it's mostly just simplified versions of existing systems. I have a bunch of roleplay ideas, too! I just have to flesh them out a little. As they say:
Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance, Pals.