Auktishen
From Shahara
Overview: Don't Drink the Water..
Auktishen, largest free land in the world. The continent is huge, and is rich with resources such as oil and various rare minerals, as well as a number of nexuses of arcane, divine, and psionic energy nexuses. It is believed that the various ruins that can be found scattered about the continent speak of the first civilization on Twidelin. Maybe even alien life, since the runes are indecipherable. The problem is that no one can really study these ruins, or mine these ores, or collect these resources, because the continent itself seems to be geared specifically and unyieldingly towards killing all humanoid life. The weather, the flora, the fauna, the very living rocks of the mountain ranges. Even the prey species of Auktishen can and will kill humanoid settlers. There are only three settlements in Auktishen that have survived for any length of time; they are made of unfriendly and harsh people who struggle every day to make it in these hateful lands. Before the Upheaval, it was hard enough to just fight off the various dinosaurs, man-eating plants, countless deadly toxic vermin.. After the world's magic made a comeback, Auktishen trembled with the force that it suddenly churned out. The only reason anyone survived the nightmarish onslaught was the sudden appearance of such magically-inclined races like Gnomes, Blink Dogs, Phoenixes, Couatls, and other relatively humanoid friendly creatures. Once the Upheaval came under enough control that the civilized nations could send help to their allies in Auktishen, it was discovered that the townships did not require aid anymore. Since then, these bastions of safety in a near-living Hell have been the foremost (aside from Athens) in terms of accepting the magical races into society without incident. Though life is still harsh and cruel most of the time, survival has gotten a lot easier- albeit trickier- with the integration of magical power into their arsenal. It has made their purpose of mining and processing raw minerals to ship back to their parent countries much easier. They serve little other purpose than this, save as staging bases for adventurers attempting to seek the secret riches of Auktishen's ruined temples, or federally funded archeological digs.
Survival of the-HOLYCRAPLIONS
The three towns in Auktishen are allied with Sharaha, Zipangu, and Pureacea, respectively. Each one 'officially' is aligned with these powers, and therefore resembles that society the closest. In reality, things are run much differently, only the basic tenets of their parent civilizations holding any real power. Gathyanjo attempted numerous excursions to settle Auktishen, which met with dismal failure. Afterwards it was decided that it was no longer cost-efficient, and attempts ceased. The three fort-towns of Malam (Sharaha), Hyujin (Zipangu), and Innis (Pureacea) are more fortress than town. Though there is no actual standing military, every civilian- even children- learns how to fight tooth and nail for the sake of simple survival. Each township is ultimately autonomous from their parent country, and is led by a Burgess, that is whatever local hero has proved themself the most capable. These towns are in constant contact with each other, via radio, satellite, and magic, but there are no roads. No railway lines. All attempts to construct such emplacements have met with slaughter by the wildlife. The only reason the walls of these towns keep anything out is their unique construction; no place else in the world has enough adamantine and mithral to process for the sake of building a defensive perimeter around an entire colony. These thick, heavy walls are all that stands between Auktishen's civilized societies and certain death.
Come to Scenic Auktishen
The landscape of Auktishen is breathtaking to behold. Lush jungles, gorgeous mountain ranges, vast plains, and wide rivers, with temperatures that standard races can easily tolerate and enjoy. Indeed, perhaps the only friendly thing about Auktishen is its climate. Those who suffered from such diseases as tuberculosis (before the advent of magic) came here because the climate made it easier on them. But these beautiful scenic locales hide the most brutal, destructive, and powerful beasts in the world. And they are instinctively hostile towards all civilized races, even the magical ones can barely approach them without clever trickery. Only a few plants and animals- mainly from other countries- can be trusted not to try and eat people. Most water sources are safe enough to drink from- but most of them are also full of fascinating and hungry aquatic and amphibian life that would love to try something new and fleshy.
