A Brief Encyclopedia of the Chronicles of Sacrifice

Map of the World

The world is vast, with several continents and many nations, alliances, and peoples. Most groups are less defined by race than by geographic boundaries causing cultural separation, though there are racial majorities everywhere, however large or small. The introduction of steam engines and steel-hulled ships some time ago by humans from Hase interconnected this world in a great many new ways, socioculturally and economically. 

The continents are as in the map presented, all of which are delved deeper into later in this section:

Viikinki: A continent of large nations and alliances built on war and respect of force. Most of these nations started off small, little more than several city-states, but grew over time as they overtook their neighbors in an effort to advance economically and technologically to compensate for poor magical ability. These nations, along with their southern neighbors, have a great deal of economic connections to the rest of the world, and are ready and willing to fight to preserve their status. 

Abwärtspfeil: The other of two continents with a strong presence of large nation-states, federations, and high-profile alliances. These nations were built on blood and war and imperialism for the most part, a trend which often continues even today. These nations rely much more on technology than magic to thrive, though some recently began to meld the two and became far more powerful. Their neighbors were forced to respond, resulting in tension so thick you can use a knife to cut it. These nations produce a great deal, and exporting goods is highly competitive among them and the continent to the north.

Stürmischer Archipel: Highly tropical and known for cyclones, this island chain is lower on technological infrastructure and relies a great deal more on magic to survive the harsh storms. Any farming tends to be done indoors in the recently uncovered method of Hydroponics, one of the few more advanced technological systems they do have. As a result, they are capable of hosting a strong vacation industry, making them low-priority for nations seeking control of the seas. Their ports primarily see traffic of the southern seas, a minority of trade traffic, making them relatively safe.

The Midlands:A series of large islands and sub-islands, the midlands are crucial stops for shipping and travelling vessels faring the seas. The majority of their economic well-being comes from tourism and shipping, and they do not produce a great deal, save for their own food. The southern half of the region is more tropical, while the northern half borders the Tundra Waters, granting it a highly varied marine coastal ecosystem, contributing heavily to the ecotourism economy of the islands. 

Vaporis: A highly peaceful, single-continent regional system of societies. They answer to no particular central government, though all small nations have agreed upon mutual defense and partnerships, effectively making them one. Vaporis is known for heavy weather and conditions, though the locals have used a combination of magic and technology to expertly adapt to the harsh conditions. The cultural systems of this entire continent are heavily influenced by Mohrnighan ruins and culture, as more ruins have been found here than anywhere else in the world. 

Hase: A continent of many nations and peoples, where most small nations remain independent and prideful. This often results in one nation or another attacking and creating war, resulting in the dissolution of one state and the winner swallowing it into its territories. These new powers rarely last, though, as the prideful previous residents uprise and become independent once more. It is a war-ravaged land, even more so in modern times due to the influence of outside powers seeking to destabilize the region to poise themselves to come in as saviors. This has also resulted in the rise and creation of insurgencies with global reach, funded by malicious governments and making many attacks around the world. This continent has rich cultural heritage and history, often marred or muddled by conflict as different groups try to destroy each other and each others' histories. 

The Freelands: A land consisting primarily of many small city-states and rural areas. There is no central governance for this region, though many of the cities have mutual agreements with one another over trade, defense, and travel. They loosely maintain borders, resulting in the occasional skirmish between groups, though conflicts remain relatively small-scale. Due to the loose governance, many pursuits can be followed in the Freelands, for better or, sometimes, worse, resulting in many people from around the world coming for a time to the Freelands and then returning home.

The Seas are critical to every nation and ecosystem on the planet. Ocean currents and sea life bring vitality to shores, fish to dinner tables, and trade to foreign lands. The many seas of the world hold many ecosystems, currents, and dangers. Below, we see a few examples:

Shallow Sea: The sea that goes no more than four to five hundred meters deep. This sea is full of life, as most ships that travel through it are purely transport vessels. The few islands that dot it are highly uninhabitable volcanic islands full of sulfur and toxic gas and soil. No humans, elves, or dragons live in these places, nor are they ever visited.

Hell's Deep: Located at the edge of the Shallow Sea, this massive region drops to an estimated four to four-and-a-half thousand meters deep. It is unknown what lives in this region, as no research vessel has braved it for fear of legends of leviathan-type monsters. The few that have sent depth cables down with magical sensors found they were thoroughly destroyed by something in the depths.

No Man's Sea: Just before No Man's Land; the southern tundra; this sea drops a bit from the shallow sea and then comes back up very sharply. This sea is extremely cold, and not much life thrives here, though it is responsible for many undersea streams that carry nutrients around the world.

Tropical Ocean: A beautiful sea of mostly clear water and varied life. Due to its connection to No Man's Sea, though, the pressure differences in temperature occur rapidly, drastically affecting the weather. Combined with the islands' geological structure, the storms can become very severe, hitting anything bordering the sea. 

Slope Sea: Named such because it is a consistent upward slope until landfall at the Ice Sheet. Reef systems and heat vents come in "waves", so to speak, creating a strange array of different life forms and ecosystems. The Ice Sheet is actually just a heavily permafrosted land mass, though like No Man's Land, it remains unexplored. This is due to the few research teams who gone, returning with horrific tales of terrifying monsters the likes of which the world has never seen obliterating their teams. No nation will invest in exploring these regions.

Tundra Waters: Extremely cold water dominates this sea, enough so that if a sailor falls off his ship, the shock will render him inoperable and he will likely die within minutes. When sailors fall off their ships, large ocean creatures, ranging from sharks to monsters, often go after the easy prey for a quick meal. The islands in this sea are vital to the survival of ships as even approaching minimal supplies is highly ill-advised.

Hook Gulf: The gulf of Vaporis, it is exceptionally cold water and often used in religious rituals for the region, including, but not limited to; pilgrimages, endurance challenges, sacrifices, and sports. Few ships actually make their way into this gulf, as it is far more efficient to ship to other areas of Vaporis instead.

Gulf of Torsten: A very large gulf bordering varying geographic regions, it sees a great deal of shipping traffic. Rumor states that there used to be an enormous chain of islands; named the Gevonden plaats; though this is largely discredited as absurd conspiracy theory. The chain supposedly disappeared when the Mohrnighans did, somehow connected to the global change. Nonetheless, strange things do happen in this oceanic region, fueling rumors and even changing some shipping traffic.

Leviathan Sea: A large, deep body of water dominated by large animals and monsters. Shipping vessels do what they can to avoid this region of the seas, but it is far too valuable to traverse it and save time and resources, and many fare it anyway. In the early days, many ships were lost to the terrifying monsters of the deep, though with the advent of preventative magics and technologies, monster attacks have been mitigated. It is named the Leviathan Sea because it is the only sea to have confirmed sightings of the Leviathan, a creature of undefined magic that is believed to be part of the Creation Force.

Besides populated regions, we have the Shallow Sea Islands and the northern and southern tundras; the Ice Sheet and No Man's Land. These areas are not populated by any modern society because of their inhospitable conditions, either due to unlivable weather and soil conditions or the major threat of monsters. The Ice Sheet has many such monsters, the most notable being some sort of ground-breaking worm creature, up to twenty meters long and capable of tunneling with incredible speed. Only one survivor escaped the incident revealing its existence.