Calados Overview

From Shahara

Current revision as of 23:28, 6 December 2007

Planet

Calados is approximately the size of Earth, maybe a little larger, maybe a little smaller. Unlike our world, it is roughly 50% landmass and 50% water, with a much more peculiar environment. It is only about two billion years old. Unlike our world, it has seen much less tectonic acivity; therefore, there are not a huge number of little islands. Vast parts of the continental landmasses are flat and level. Weather patterns are, at the best of times, erratic and unpredictable. Magical flux has a tendency to alter the natural affairs of weather and as such, it has created a number of bizarre climatic anomalies. There has been a lack of globally catastrophic events, and thus many forms of animal and plant life that are extinct in our world can be found here (IE: Dinosaurs are still runnin' around.) The intricacies of the solar system and planetary bodies will be added later.

People

The population of civilized races in Calados is approximately two billion. The ratio is roughly 40% humans, and 60% other races. Civilized races include, but are not limited to- elves, dwarves, goblinoids, kobolds, anthros, catfolk, orcs, prettymuch any non-magical humanoid/monstrous humanoid species of sizes Small to Large.

Major World Powers

The largest and most powerful countries in the world are, in alphabetical order- Gathyanjo, Pureacea, Sharaha, and Zipangu. This is not to say that other countries, such as the Naryubia Union, do not have considerable economical or military might all their own, but the four listed countries wield the most. They are therefore likely to be the most pertinent in RP, particularly Sharaha.

Lexicon

Upheaval- The short era where Magic made a forceful comeback, causing worldwide panic and turmoil.

M.A.- Modern Ages, this is used to date the past 1,500 years, which saw the greatest technological growth. The Modern Age came to an end 5 years ago.

R.A.- The Renaissance Age lasted for approximately 2,000 years, seeing the most social and political progress in world history.

A.O.R.- The Age of Reconstruction, from when Magic fled the world and the races of the world were forced to rebuild with only Science at their disposal, ended approximately 3,500 years ago and begin at 5,000 years ago.

O.A.- The Old Ages mark the extensive passages of time from before the magic died, relics of this era are valuable as many of them are suddenly magical again..

A.R.- The Age Reborn, where Magic has returned, with all new struggles and possibilities. The current (IC) year is A.R. 5.

Foreigner- The term used for any person who is not a native to Calados.

Unification Wars- The time period when Sharaha was engaged in a series of wars to unite the continent under one banner.

In the Beginning..

Another place and time.. Familiar themes that have withstood the test of time. The Heavens, Hells and Abyss separated themselves. Gods were born, and created angels to do battle with the Hells and the Abyss while they created this world. When they were content with their creation, they placed mortals on it, and the common schisms between how to guide the mortals upon their creation led to vast, grand schemes. Wars would spring up and rage across the earth, followed by times of peace. Ages began and ended, each more glorious and bringing forth ever more wonders than the last. Great cities flew in the skies, forests grew wild and dense, rivers ran clean and pure. Peoples flourished, cultures grew, and heroes performed great deeds. Until...

Well, things got a little *too* perfect, one might say. It all happened so fast, even the gods didn't have time to react to it. The tapestry of the universe had been drained dry, leeched of all its magical energy- of all forms. Positive, negative, elemental, all of it had been sucked up. There was nothing left, and without any magic to fuel the tapestries of reality around the world.. It fell apart.

The great cities that flew in the sky came crashing to the ground, great jungles and forests whose growth was fueled by magical sources began to swiftly wither, die, and petrify. Armies of the walking dead suddenly collapsed to the ground, many of them decomposing at incredible rates. Ancient Lich Kings grew weak and tired, becoming as inanimate as their skeletal guards who were crushed to dust under the weight fo their own armor. Great dragons suddenly lost all their powers and become little more than massive intelligent animals, unable to grow any further without magic. Clerics, paladins, wizards, psionicists, all of them lost their connections to the Arcane, Divine, Psychic, as ancient leylines went dead and the blood of sorcerers became dull and mundane. The abberant races such as Illithids and Aboleth too were afflicted, some even died from sheer shock of the sudden loss of nearly all their abilities that they had known for all their long existences. Those humanoid races that were inherently magical, such as the Drow and the Gnomes, arguably suffered the worst of all the humanoids, as these powers, no matter how seemingly simple, were integral to their daily lives.

When the smoke cleared from the ruination wrought by the universal and unequivocal loss of all magical power, the worlds surviving inhabitants found themselves alone. The gods had seemingly abandoned them, all their greatest works lay in a shambles, leaving them in little more than the stone age with fancier clothes. But.. Not all of their efforts had been based purely in magic, many mundane tools were at their fingertips. They quickly began trying to rebuild and relearn their surroundings, struggling to compensate for the lack of magic with science. Though disease would become a far more dangerous threat than it had been in the past, and wounds could no longer be healed swiftly, they adapted. It took much longer without the aid of magic, but they would develop new cultures, new societies and kingdoms. Non-magical technology became the ruling power.

Which forced many things into hiding. The dragons, Illithid, Drow, Gnomes, basically *all* the once magical beasts, creatures, and peoples had to flee to places where they would not be hunted down, or face destruction from the march of the Machine Age; not to mention the fact that many races still bore deep grudges for previous tyrannies, misunderstandings, and general prejudices. Within a few generations, they would become little more than legends. Even the long-lived Elves would eventually forget, and soon the history of the world became little more than myth and legend..

And so we come to the present day.. A world where high technology is still the dominant power, but magic has returned and is swiftly reclaiming its former place. Many racial boundaries that are common in other worlds don't exist, or barely do, here. Even those races commonly associated with purely evil actions can sometimes flee that life and carve out a niche for themselves in another country with more tolerant views. But, with more problems solved, more problems arise. The political climate of the world is at the best of times tense, piracy and terrorism are at all time highs, and the new threat of ancient monsters suddenly re-empowered, Lich Kings rising again from their long slumber, and the divine and infernal powers of the Otherside are all too prominent to ignore. It is the dawning of a New Age.

Whatever happened to Baby Jane?

As noted previously, many boundaries that formerly kept peoples apart no longer exist. Elves, dwarves, humans, anthros of all kinds, kobolds, to name a few, share this world without complaint about another's species. It is rare that a racial supremacy group will surface, but when they do, they are usually crushed by those of their own species. Orcs, goblins, hobgoblins, Drow, Gnolls, these races tend towards 'evil' actions on an instinctive level; they're naturally aggressive, destructive, and/or devious. However, this is not always the case.. There are small but noticeable numbers of these and other races well known for their evil ways, that have found refuge and solace within more pleasant countries, and been allowed to live peaceably in their borders. (In game terms, those mortal races such as Orcs, Drow, Goblins, etc, that are "usually" or "always" evil do not apply so much as before. More humane and tolerant societal models allow 'good' or 'neutral' members of these races to survive outside of their own country without instantly being slain for being X race, thus allowing them to propagate and spread. We hope that our players will not take advantage of this and start spewing out loads of 'good' Drow, since these numbers are meant to reflect a VERY small minority. Like, 1 out of 1000. Most of those will die anyhow.)