Continent

The Continent

Continent is the supercontinent of the Ephius planet. It's rich and tumultuous history has seen many great empires and cultures emerge over the course of fifty one centuries.

Divided by its Ouna desert into two halves, the Continent has seen the emergence of the great Western Dantrian civilization. Two waves of migrations, called Dawn and New Dawn, have populated the eastern part of the landmass.

From time to time, people with superpowers are born on the Continent. Superpowers range from incredible strength and being able to wield various forms of energy, to the more exotic ones, such as having a phantom live a full blown life while its counterpart sleeps. The Continent has a rich history of superhero warriors, and collectively they have greatly influenced events, culture and politics, introducing an amount of political and economical uncertainty far greater than on many other worlds. Most modern countries of the Continent have been founded or expanded by a superhero warrior at some point in history.

History

See: History of the Continent

Pre-dantrian Settlements

First human settlements are believed to have appeared on the western part of the Continent, and for many centuries had not ventured east due to the Ouna. First expeditions have been recorded in the 4th century of the first revolution. After the 5th century both east and west parts of the Continent have become populated by decentralized tribes, but the ties between the two sides seemed to have been intermittent.

While the east continued to be quite decentralized, several quite centralized countries have emerged on the western side of the Continent by the end of the first revolution, most notably Wunnah, the Kingdom of Tameen and Dantria.

Western Dantrian Civilization

Western Dantrian civilization began to emerge as the dominating power on the Continent by the middle of the second revolution.

After a series of successful conquests, Dantria has expanded its territory to the south and entered into a prolonged conflict with the Kingdom of Tameen. Eventually, Dantria has prevailed, but Tameen retained a large part of its autonomy. Over the course of the next century Tameen outplayed Dantria politically and economically, and became the de facto power in the region. By the 12th cSR it officially became Western Dantria, and Dantria became Central Dantria.

A federation of several countries became known as the Dantrian Complex, consisting of Western Dantria, Central Dantria, Wunnah and Land. Its trading, political and military center was the city of Tavoe, which later became part of what was known as the Diamond, a group of four major dantrian cities: Tavoe, Kalchinge, Walneer and Gungon.

Collapse

The Western Dantrian civilization came to an unexpected end in the beginning of the third revolution, when in 114 a superhero warrior Lydian wiped out most of the population and cities of Wunnah, Western and Central Dantria, destroying centuries worth of science, history, literature and art. The world's population was reduced by an estimated 10-20%, and scientific progress is believed to have been set back by centuries.

Eastern Dantrian Civilization

Eastern Dantrian civilization is the name used to describe the political, cultural and economic landscape to the east of the Great Desert during the first and second revolutions. The name is not applied to the area after the fall of the Western Dantrian civilization, and instead the Continent is described as a single political, cultural and economic stage.

Throughout its history, the Eastern Dantrian civilization was dominated by Yammoe, which was briefly challenged by Gantolia at the end of the first revolution, and then more seriously by Darda at the end of the second revolution, which led to a number of proxy wars in the north. But most of the lands were a playground for constantly rising and falling kingdoms and city-states, with no unified countries forming for centuries. This began to change in the second half of the second revolution, when a number of countries formed along the eastern coast of Tarnaria, in Teamatian around Bahria, and in the north with Darda, Osa Nara, Xornerian and later the Kingdom of Mamkoon and Overpol Expanse. 20th century saw the establishment of Loodon, which later became the Loodon Empire.

War

Peace Congress

War erupted during the first ever Peace Congress in 511 TR. At the time there were three powerful countries interested in the initiative: Loodon Empire, Astauand and Leykarya, with the rest of the Continent consisting of smaller provinces and lands, largely disconnected and decentralized. A procurator by the name of Ghilligin Dhorn was representing many of the smaller lands of Gantolia under the banner of Disconnected Provinces.

Initially, the Congress between country leaders was supposed to be about fundamental issues such as trade agreements and borders, with the goal of lessening local conflicts and small-scale wars. But the meeting quickly erupted into a shouting match regarding what to call the continent itself. The reason for the contention was due to the landmass being called "Leykarya" within Leykarya, which was not a fact known to the group. When discovered, it was immediately challenged by the Loodon emperor, who found this to be "beyond arrogance". The twin kings of Astauand were equally furious and Ghilligin Dhorn made a speech in which he called for fairness and justice.

To her credit, the Leykaryan leader was an accomplished diplomat and was able to quickly mitigate the situation. The talks continued, but then came to an abrupt and decisive end when during a session on the next day it turned out that people of Astauand also call the main landmass by the name of their country. The Leykaryan leader demanded an expulsion of both kings from the talks, and Ghilligin Dhorn performed an ode in which he demanded fairness and justice.

The Peace Congress was completely ruined when it was revealed that the Loodon Empire calls the continent "Loodonland". At this point one of the kings of Astauand left the room, the Leykaryan leader labeled everyone "fools" and Ghilligin Dhorn attempted to do an interpretive dance to demand fairness and justice, but was stabbed in the stomach by the remaining king of Astauand, Karnt.

The start of War

War was first announced by the Astauand king who stayed in the room and murdered Ghilligin Dhorn. Although the debate is still ongoing, the generally accepted view is that this was the most important turn of events in the history of The Continent: Ghilligin Dhorn was so annoying that both the Loodon emperor and Nasta of Leykarya cheered on as he was killed, and thus it was possible to strike peace then and there.

But, instead, the murderer, having pulled out the knife from the still warm corpse, turned to everyone with a smile and declared war on all parties present.

The Loodon emperor had immediately left, but was then killed on his way out of the Neutral Palace by the other Astauand king. Nasta sat with an astonished look on her face, when she suddenly began convulsing and fell to the floor. She died within minutes. It was later revealed that she was poisoned by the Loodon Emperor who felt that her wisdom and maturity as leader challenged his seniority at the negotiation table.

The Volatile Period

The Volatile Period is characterized by active military conflict between most countries on the Continent and lasts roughly between 6th to the end of the 9th centuries.

Dissolution

Dissolution is a political and cultural term which describes the conflict quieting down, with most conflicts becoming effectively frozen.

Peace Congress II

Peace Congress II was proposed as the official end of War and it was considered with various degrees of commitment for decades, to the point that it became a subject of satire and jokes virtually everywhere on the Continent.

Climate

Continent is a supercontinent and possesses relatively typical climate characteristics. The further into its interior, the dryer the climate. It culminates in the extremely arid area known as The Great Desert. It is the only desert on the Continent.

The northern and southern parts of the Continent exhibit largely warmer climates, with the north being warmer and more arid than the south. The western and eastern parts of the Continent are the coldest.

All areas of the Continent experience seasons, including The Great Desert, which has summers and winters. The climate of the Continent is driven by a megamonsoon.

Superhero warriors

See: Superhero warrior

The Continent's population exhibits a poorly studied phenomenon, thought to be a blend of DNA mutations and environmental factors, that result in the occasional births of individuals with super powers. Super powers range from incredible strength and being able to wield various forms of energy, to the more exotic ones, such as having a phantom live a full blown life while its counterpart sleeps.

Languages

The Continent has a rich linguistic history, with over a 100 different languages documented and with around 30 in use, but is notable for a unique and relatively early development and adoption of a common legal language Mandae, as well as a common dozenal numeral system.

Mandae

See: Mandae

Mandae is an ancient language that originated in the west, but had seen wide adoption throughout the Continent. It became an international language in the east by the end of the second revolution. In Western Dantria, Mandae was primarily used as the language of kings and diplomats. It was also customary to write books in Mandae. A lot of pre-dantrian literature is written in Mandae.

Today Mandae is what is known in linguistics as a dead language, meaning it is no longer the native language of any community. It is, however, continued to be widely used, specifically for legal purposes. Most laws and contracts in the world use some form of Mandae. Some courts deliberate in the language.

Mandae is famously taught in only one city, Couleds.

Thonthal

See: Thonthal

Thonthal is a language spoken in Leykarya and is a widely taught foreign language throughout the Continent. In the past it was an official language of Darda. The language is thought to be an evolved blend of several Western Dantrian languages and is notable for having had a very slow evolution.

Bukk

See: Bukk

Bukk is a family of languages, also known as bukkean languages, which are spoken in northern Tarnaria.

Jabi

See: Jabi

Jabi is a language spoken in Loodori. It is also the language of Xaewoon.

Kefan

See: Kefan language

Kefan is the official language of several Mantareian provinces. It is a close relative to the now dead Nalarli language, and was the language of Afanyu and later western Loodon Empire.

Nalarli

See: Nalarli

Nalarli is a language usually referred to as ancient loodonian and spoken in the area mostly during the second revolution. Nalarli began to experience an influx of words and grammar from bukk. The resulting mixed language is called bukkni. Nalarli is no longer spoken today, but is taught in some universities as a language that gives access to loodonian literature.

Youzi

See: Youzi

Youzi is a family of languages, spoken by the peoples of Teamatian. It is notable for having words with two usually unrelated meanings, called "paired meanings".

Religions

There are four major religions on the Continent: Rahkahnja, Davinia, Xaewoon and Foft. In spite of irreconcilable differences, almost all religions of Continent are either based on or at least address the myth of Eater, which is the preeminent part of the Continent's theology.

Religions have driven significant conflict throughout history, resulting in the Chalice Wars and a Gantolian conflict known as Bitter Lemon which has lasted for over a century during the Second Revolution.

A religion called Gods of Mercy was the state religion of Loodon and the Loodon Empire. It is no longer practiced.

Rahkahnja

Rahkahnja is a monotheistic religion based on a painting which today is known as “The Child”. It's adherents, known as Rahkahns, believe that the world is a garden created for Rahkahnja, The Child Who Walks the Universe. Rahkahnja's history is traced back to the early SR and was the main religion of Western Dantria. During the second half of SR it was exported to the east and took hold in Gantolia and Yammoe. Rahkahnja is the Continent's largest religion and is practiced by over half a billion people.

Davinia

Davinia is a polytheistic religion that worships 5 animal gods called Prijas. Each Prija is responsible for several domains of human life. Davinia originated among the Kwalee people in the first revolution and was later exported to Gantolia, where it was shaped into its current form.

Xaewoon

See: Xaewoon

Xaewoon is a nontheistic religion based on a Sacred Game of Roads. It originated in Tarnaria and had been exported into the Central Continent several times throughout history.