This map is intended to show the general terrain of the world of my setting. For those curious about the peculiar positions of the snow caps in this world, the Equator does not run horizontal to this map, the inhabitants of the world having discovered that concept long after maps were long standardized. The actual equatorial line runs roughly from the bottom-left of the map to the upper-right, on a line that comes close to intersecting the towns of Barzum and Sabaya. This map will also remain in use for the latter planned stories in my setting, although for some they will use more detailed maps depicting certain regions instead, but the map of the world will remain mostly unchanged. Note that this map depicted the state of the world as of the current story's date (Circa 672 FP), and the other stories might present different cities that were either newly built or had been lost to time.

This is also not a map of the entire world. Beyond the poles are uncharted regions of deep oceans, where leviathans are said to roam (that sea serpent on the map? Is of actual scale).

Only major cities are listed on this map, with the orcish towns being listed because they are the two largest permanent settlements that belonged to the orcs. For those that paid attention to the Teleportation Gate Network mentioned in the story centered on Paradise, the 7 current locations it connected to are to Levain, Great Emerald Forest, Kingdom Down Under, as well as the four major cities on the Ur-Teros Continent. Said teleportation network is mostly usable by small parties of people, priority typically given to archmages, and as such aren't the most conductive to trade purposes, mostly used by researchers and scholars in the pursuit of knowledge.

When considering distances, keep in mind that travel by sea is a good bit faster than travel by land in this setting, hence why Cal's initial journey by ship from Al-Shan (from the south-eastern most island) to Serda (located on the very tip of the small peninsula to the west of Alcidea) took her a week whereas her trip from Serda to Paradise, took nearly half again as long, even with all the stops considered. The travel in the orcish plains are slow in particular because she hitchhiked with the Orcs there, and thus kept to their travelling pace, whereas her own solo traveling pace would easily be three to four times faster than that of a migrating Orc caravan, and two to three times faster than travel by stagecoach and carriages.

Deities

Deities exist, even if they do not particularly present themselves much to their worshippers. Looking back on the two millennia of written history collected from all over the World, there had been all of two incidents where deities can be considered to have personally acted on the World itself - both incidents caused by what could only be considered blasphemy of the highest order. One was when the dwarven monarch Ulfred Stonehammer, last of his name, attempted to enslave the deity of fire to harness its might towards the gigantic forge complexes that were the source of dwarven prosperity at the time, only to invoke the deity’s wrath that resulted in the immolation of the entire dwarven capital city. The other was when Ver’Dun Slovac, the Mad Monarch, casted a massive ritual sacrifice where he sacrificed everyone in the human imperial capital of the time in an attempt to attain immortality. Vitalis frowned upon the display and turned him into a pulsating mass of tumors, forever in horrible agony, yet undying. Legends has it that to this day the Mad Monarch still writhes in agony in his prison deep beneath the ground under the rebuilt capital.

But other than such outlier cases, Deities can be considered laid back and do not meddle in the life of mortals.

For all intents and purposes, as best as even the clergy has been able to research, Deities are genderless beings. Popular depiction, however, tend to lean one way or another, often changing between regions, due to cultural differences, much like how Vitalis is typically worshipped as a woman in white among humans, yet the orcish idol of Vitalis would be that of a brutish male with a gigantic phallus.

The six deities are as follows:

Vitalis - Deity of Life

Vitalis governs over life, and in most depictions are described as an all-loving parent to mortals - even if there had been no proven direct interventions in history. Also commonly associated with Fertility, Harvest, Nature, Light, and the Sun. Most commonly depicted as a motherly female in white. The clergy typically adopted the colors of White and Yellow.

Tohrmut - Deity of Death

Tohrmut governs over death, typically described as an impartial arbitrator that judged all mortals for their sins when they died. Associations include Darkness, Decay, the Night, the Moon, and Disease. Despite what some might expect, nobody considers Tohrmut an evil deity, merely impartial, for after all, everyone was equal under death. Typical depiction is a skeletally thin old man in a black robe - if not straight up a skeleton in a black robe. The colors adopted by the clergy are Black and Purple.

Igunacio - Deity of Fire

Governs over Fire, considered a patron god to smiths and warriors alike, with most myths claiming a hatred for two-faced falsehoods and a penchant for brutal honesty. Associated with Metalworking, War, Summer, and Passion. Usually depicted as a living flame, sometimes with a muscular humanoid figure inside it. Red and Orange are its colors.

Remidis - Deity of Water

Governs over Water, the deity most-worshipped by any seafarers, depicted in myths as one with a mercurial temper, whose wrath manifests in raging storms across the seas. Associated with any naval travel, Winter, Cold, and Rain. Depictions usually show either a beautiful young woman or an old hag - or both - clad in waves. The clergy favors Blue and Teal.

Aistrofuri - Deity of Wind

Governs over Wind, patron deity of bards and travellers, considered a free spirit that does what it pleases, with myths attributing multiple pranks to its lap. Associated with any land travel, Freedom, Spring, and Chaos. Generally depicted as a young man or a boy clad in billowing layers of loose clothing. Green and Gray were the colors associated with it.

Pesca - Deity of Earth

Governs over Earth, considered the deity of artists and scholars, a patient deity that goes for long-term benefits over anything rapid. Naturally associated with Artists, Scholars, Autumn, and Balance. Typical depictions are of an old man or woman sitting hunched in a thinking pose, with craggy rocks sprouting from their skin. Uses Brown and Ochre as its colors.

Magic

Magic can be considered something innate to all the enlightened races, something they would be able to use by instinct as they age. Because of the innate and often personal nature of magical gifts, there are no systematic education systems for mages, more of a general one that mostly teach common sense to budding mages - a task usually handled by their parents for those located far from such an institution. Every single enlightened being in the world has the capability to use magic, but for the vast majority, approximately eight out of ten people, they might only be able to perform minor cantrips or activate storage items. Enough to help with everyday life, but nowhere near enough to make a living or career out of it.

For the remaining two-tenths, ninety-nine out of a hundred of the ones in this group would be able to use their magical gifts to do things that allow them to rely on it for their life. The exact nature of what they could do naturally differed as their affinities dictated, but in general mages of this category are the ones considered a “mage” by the general populace, and typically made a living either as an artisan of magical items or with more direct applications of their magical gifts, be it by a fire affinity mage burning monsters to cinders, or a light affinity being a sought-after healer for example.

The last remaining group - typically only one or two around in every hundred mages - are what the common populace refer to as “Archmages”. These are individuals born gifted, with mana reserves far beyond the norm, or with their affinity so in sync with their minds they wield it like their own body, or even both of those cases at once. These are outliers, the cream of the crop, the geniuses, the prodigies, and often the mad wizards too. Most of these individuals either die young, or their name becomes renowned the world over. One notable example - both from history and from the current period - would be the Aideen deVreys, The Silver Maiden, the First Unliving, the First known Mortality-Affinity mage. A person whose feats included having pioneered both a new enlightened race and a new magical affinity.

Magic in general are divided into their respective affinities, based on the elements a person was born with. Each person has two affinities flowing through them, one Major and one Minor. Each parent would pass on their Major affinity to their offspring, but which one becomes Major and which becomes Minor in the child seems to be random. The Major/Minor affinity manifests not only on progeny, but also directly influences the path a person’s magical gifts went towards, barring cases where both Major and Minor are of the same Affinity.

The Affinities are commonly divided into the Six Primary Elements and the Fifteen Derivative Elements, as follows:

Six Primary Elements

Life - The Primary affinity of life only manifests when both parents pass on life affinity to their child, or one parent failed to pass any and the other did. The affinity itself is known to produce the best healers in the world, particularly common among the clergy - regardless of deity worshipped - but also noted for its lack of general use outside of matters that involve preservation of life itself.

Death - Similarly, a Death Affinity only came about when both parents pass on Death affinity to their child or one failed to pass any. Death-mages typically serve as mercenaries or soldiers, where their innate talent for ending lives made itself most useful. Not that everyone of Death affinity need to be one of course, many have made a name for themselves by providing peaceful, painless deaths to the clinically infirm and suffering, while others used their gifts of death to make a living exterminating pests on the behalf of farmers.

Fire - As with any primary element, it takes two parents of the same major affinity to pass it on to the child, or a parent that failed to pass their affinity on. Fire-mages are generally seen as offensive casters, which would not be wrong. However, the affinity itself was also prized among those occupations where fine control of flames are beneficial, as such it is not uncommon to see Fire-mages embark on a career as a Blacksmith, or an Alchemist, or a Chef.

Water - Water-mages tend to lean to supportive roles, both able to aid their allies and with limited amounts of healing prowess. Extremely popular among seafarers for very obvious reasons, also the most common affinity among merfolk.

Wind - Wind-mages usually awaken gifts related to movement, either for themselves or applicable to others. As such, they are prized among travelling merchants for their ability to hasten journeys, a role they often happily accept considering how most wind-based gifts tend to fare mediocrely in combat.

Earth - Earth-mages are known for defensive prowess, and also in high demand as builders and architects, roles their natural gifts often make them excel in. Many artisans have emerged from mages of this affinity, the steadying nature of the affinity a beneficial aspect, and the best pottery and ceramics in the world are produced by Earth-mages.

Fifteen Derivative Elements

As Derivative elements are always composed of a mix of two primaries, it is commonplace to call such a mage by [Their Major element]-[Their Derivative element] for clarity. Not every pairing of the appropriate parents produce derivative elements in the child, for in some cases one parent’s affinity is notably weaker, in which case the child usually grows up with a primary affinity.

Mist - Derived from a mix of Fire and Water Affinity. Mist-affinity mages are particularly suited to Illusions specifically, often becoming actors or entertainers to make the most out of their inborn gifts.

• Fire-Major Mist-mages are capable of more vibrant, realistic illusions in general, some of the best capable of creating plays out of nothing but magic.
  
  
• Water-Major Mist-mages are capable of giving some semblance of solidity to their illusions, to a limit. These people typically take a more active role in life.
  
  

Lightning - Fire and Wind. A completely offensive affinity, with little room for proper usage outside of combat situations. Lightning-mages are amongst the most desired mages for armies and mercenaries, or for adventuring parties.

• Fire-Major Lightning-mages are known to be capable of more devastating spells than any other affinity.
  
  
• Wind-Major Lightning-mages have greater control over their lightning, with experts even able to only hit enemies in a crowded battle.
  
  

Magma - Fire and Earth. Another heavily offensive affinity that also proved highly desired by metalworkers, given the ease with which Magma-mages can heat metal to the desired consistency.

• Fire-Major ones are able to heat their magma so much it turns gaseous, and that gas will burn and poison anything living, thereby these mages tend to lean to combative occupations.
  
  
• Earth-Major ones are able to turn their magma into solid blocks that still emanate great heat - or low heat if desired. These people generally lean to more constructive crafts as a result.
  
  

Light - Fire and Life. If Pure Life affinity makes the best healers in existence, Light-mages are second only to them when it comes to healing prowess. Capable of a lot of utility, but offensively mediocre unless facing undead creatures. Another popular affinity amongst the clergy.

• Fire-Light mages are the bane of undead creatures, and capable of creating lights so bright it could semi-permanently blind creatures.
  
  
• Life-Light mages on the other hand, are the true second-to-none healers when one discounts Pure Life affinity mages.
  
  

Ash - Fire and Death. What most people unfamiliar with the element never expected is that the Ash affinity has some wisps of Time under its yoke. Ash mages are highly offensive, and also capable of causing things to age faster. That makes them as popular amongst mercenaries as they are beyond prized by makers of wine, cheeses, and cured meats.

• Fire-Ash mages typically get gifts that focus on their offensive aspects, capable of creating ash clouds so hot they would sear every bit of meat from the bone in seconds.
  
  
• Death-Ash mages are more in tune with their ability to age things. While this ability is nigh-useless in battle, it is far more useful in finding a lucrative career in the food industry.

Ice - Water and Wind. A very versatile derivative element suited to both combat and non-combat purposes. Ice mages are prized among the civilian populace for their ability to preserve foodstuffs, while amongst combatants they are equally prized for their versatility in combat.

• Water-Ice mages tend to lean more to their combative side, because their gifts grant them the ability to make their ice much sturdier than their counterparts.
  
  
• On the other hand, Wind-ice mages are capable of creating colder ice that lasts far longer, making them priceless for any large cities or any place that needs to preserve food for a long period of time.
  
  

Mud - Water and Earth. Mud mages are versatile, but mostly defensive and supportive. Their gifts also find great use in agriculture, for the mud they create is among one of the best fertilizers money can buy.

• Water-Mud mages have greater control over their mud, typically employed by adventuring parties or by nobles as bodyguards.
  
  
• Earth-Mud mages are the ones responsible for the discovery of the mud’s effect as a fertilizer, and it was not uncommon to see one employed by a collection of farms.
  
  

Blood - Water and Life. Blood mages are somewhat of an anomaly amongst mages, for their gifts often lead to effects that improve their bodies instead of creating anything external. Because of this blood mages tend to be well-versed in melee combat as a whole.

• Water-Blood mages are often derided as undying cockroaches, they have such perfect control over their bodies that myths told stories of one being decapitated, only to mock his opponent that “It was but a flesh wound!”. An expert Water-Blood mage is perfectly capable of keeping themselves alive and functioning even while dismembered.
  
  
• Life-Blood mages are generally seen as very physically competent healers. Their healing abilities are more limited, more along the lines of boosting one’s natural healing capabilities, but their naturally hardy nature endear them greatly to adventuring teams and mercenaries alike.
  
  

Rot - Water and Death. Rot mages receive gifts of decay, one that previously was viewed mostly negatively, considered only useful for violent and insidious purposes. Until one enterprising dwarven rot mage realized that the process where alcohol is created is merely a controlled application of decay.

• Water-Rot mages have extremely fine control over their powers. Once considered useless, until the rise of Orloff Himmelsbrau. Now they are treated like kings amongst the dwarves.
  
  
• Death-Rot mages are capable of creating clouds of decay so powerful even large creatures would die in moments within, typically working as adventurers or mercenaries.
  
  

Sand - Wind and Earth. Considered one of the most worthless affinity when it comes to combat purposes, Sand-mages nevertheless proved their worth as researchers and artisans, roles they take to with gusto.

• Wind-Sand mages are capable of fine control over their conjured sand. A common calling for these mages are to be artists or architects, often capable of creating works of art using their magic alone.
  
  
• Earth-Sand mages are capable of condensing their sand into Glass, and are often called Glass-mages instead. By the current age, almost all glass objects produced in the world are likely one of their handiworks.
  
  

Space - Wind and Life. A versatile affinity, and one most people are familiar with, for storage artifacts were the creation of space mages. While of middling prowess in battle, their general usefulness in everything else ensures that space mages are one of the most desired types of mages in existence.

• Wind-Space mages generally lean to being artisans, storage artifacts being one of their best-known products, while the occasional archmage have been known to build teleportation gate networks, one of which still exists and in use in the Elven Dominion.
  
  
• Life-Space mages are less attuned to craftwork, but their ability to directly affect living things with their affinity means they tend to join adventuring parties more often. A typical joke tells of a life-space mage fighting off a marauding goblin band by dropping cows on them.
  
  

Void - Wind and Death. Another purely offensive affinity, Void mages are considered to be very powerful, but also very dangerous, both to their enemies and to themselves. The void they create would consume all matter within it, without care for which side it belonged to.

• Wind-Void mages, also called Void-Dancers, are most known to be able to clad their bodies in their affinity, and move with it. Many of this sub-affinity often take classes in close quarters combat for a reason.
  
  
• Death-Void mages on the other hand, are best known for their ability to summon excessive amounts of void - often lacking the power to fully control it. It is said that the Borean mountains have the Great Gap in their middle due to a void archmagus losing control of his spell there.

Nature - Earth and Life. An affinity particularly common amongst elves, nature mages are also called Druids, and are capable of healing others, and to an extent, communicate with wildlife and plants.

• Earth-Nature mages are more attuned to the wildlife and plants around then than any other, some even gaining the ability to shift their very shapes into such at will.
  
  
• Life-Nature mages are healers first and foremost, many of which are renowned pacifists (at least until a line is crossed, then woe be to those that unleash nature's wrath), tenderly granting their care to all they come across with no prejudice.
  
  

Metal - Earth and Death. One of the more recently discovered affinities - the history books claimed that a long-forgotten dwarf ancestor was the one that awakened it two millenia ago - and particularly popular amongst dwarves, where it is prized greatly.

• Earth-Metal mages make the best blacksmiths in existence, the finest masterworks are typically made by their hands, and the dwarves consider an Earth-Metal mage of any race an honorary Dwarf by default.
  
  
• Death-Metal mages are more combative, able to freely manipulate a mass of metal that they can shift at will. This grants them great versatility in most situations.
  
  

Mortality - Life and Death. The newest affinity. Discovered by the Silver Maiden a millenia ago, Mortality is a rare affinity, arguably the rarest in the world. It is one viewed by many with some trepidation, for it governs over the flow of life.

• Life-Mortality mages are often also called Fleshweavers. They are experts in mending bodies, both alive and dead, an affectation that has led some to great success as embalmers and morticians.
  
  
• Death-Mortality mages, or Soulweavers, are experts of the mind. While they are far from able to control others - barring a really weak-willed target -, their insights on the workings of the mind has been deemed revolutionary to the development of mental health as a whole. The most trusted psychiatrists are of this sub-affinity.
  
  

Enlightened Races

Many races of creatures coexist on the world today, among which, "enlightened" ones are used to denote those races that possess sentience, and are capable of greater feats of the mind beyond mere instinct. For unenlightened races, they are typically considered either an animal - if they have no access to innate magical abilities, or monsters - if they do.

Unless specifically mentioned otherwise, all races are perfectly capable of cross-breeding with one another.

Human - The human race are a race of rather short-lived people in the world, the oldest known human passing at the age of one-hundred and sixty four only. Because of their short lifespan compared to other races, humans often set their sights more on shorter-term benefits. An average adult human stands one meter and eighty in height. Humans mature at around fifteen to twenty years of age. They are arguably the most widespread race in the world, present in most corners of both major continents and most of the islands in the great ocean as well. At least a dozen different human kingdoms are spread all over the world.

Elves - A long-lived race, elves, often also called the "fairfolk" have recorded elders of ages past their thousandth year. Despite this longevity however, there have been many recorded cases of elves in their later years ending their own lives, having lost sight of the joys of living. Because of this, elves tend to cope with their longevity either by pouring their heart and souls to a subject they are passionate about, or by living their life in many "phases", typically a century or so each, after which they would cut off all ties and start life anew elsewhere. The average Elf stands close to two meters, and they are predisposed to slender builds. Elves mature at roughly the same pace as humans do until they hit puberty, at which point their physical development slows drastically. Typically, they are not considered adults before their fifth decade. Due to their longevity, elves have a custom in that should they spawn progeny with a shorter-lived race (which is anyone not another elf), the child will always take their partner's surname to let their lineage continue. While elves mostly live in smaller communities centered on forests all over the world, the Elven Dominion in the Great Emerald Forest in Alcidea is rightfully considered the center of elven culture.

Dwarves - The Children of the Earth, Dwarves typically live up to five or six centuries. They are relatively short, maybe one meter forty on average, but tend to be as wide as they are tall. Preferring the snug comforts of the subterranean world, most dwarven citadels are either built underground, or inside a mountain. Dwarves in general tend to be very passionate about artisanal crafts of all variety, and have produced many of the world's most renowned artisans in history. Due to their preference of underground dwellings, dwarves very rarely fought wars over territory with other races, and it is not uncommon for a city of another race to be built literally on top of a dwarven citadel. Dwarves too, are a widespread race, present basically anywhere in the world, with their largest settlement being the Grand Citadel underneath the Borean mountains.

Orcs - A nomadic warrior-cultured race, orcs used to be considered monsters in the ancient times. A misunderstanding that quickly solved itself once the issue with the language barrier was solved by mutual learning. Short-lived, an orc rarely saw their hundredth year. They mature fast, being full-grown adults by the age of twelve at the latest, and generally maintains their physical prime for most of their life, but in the final year or thereabouts of their life they rapidly weaken and age until their life itself withers away. On average, a male orc would stand tall at one meter ninety, with a predisposition to a bulky, muscular build, skin with hues ranging from grey to green, and prominent tusks. Due to their nomadic lifestyle, orcs prefer to live on the vast plains in small, tribal congregations. However, these days many orcish tribes have taken their nomadic ways around the world, often living as travelling merchants or entertainers, and thus the race is similarly widespread all over the world. While there are no formal orcish nations around, any area with several orcish tribes living there would usually have a Conclave, where the chiefs of the respective tribes discuss policy for the collective.

Goblins - Another race mistaken for monsters in the distant past. A Goblin is a small being, even adults barely topping one meter, and while they reach adulthood within six years, for a goblin to see their sixth decade of life would be considered a miracle. Highly curious and greedy by nature, goblins are known to be tinkerers,, explorers, adventurers, as well as possessing a reputation as shrewd merchants. They also have a reputation for mischief, and while humans tend to lean to the short term, goblins think exclusively about the short term. Most goblins have yellowish or brown skin, with the majority either shaving their heads bald, or sporting hairstyles that would cause anyone seeing it do a double take. They can be found in most countries, and at least three goblin kingdoms exist.

Merfolk - An aquatic race, the merfolk have no territory on land, with their settlements located on the ocean floor instead. While they are aquatic in nature, a merfolk is perfectly capable of functioning on land, though frequent access to water is a must throughout the duration. They also frequent coastal cities regularly to trade, and in some cases it has been known of some merfolk to indulge in "land tourism", where they visit the lands for extended periods. Merfolk live about two and a half to three centuries on average, blue to grey skin is the norm among them, with webbed fingers and toes and gills. They have no hair, but crests grew along their spines and end near their forehead. Males typically have a few large crests, while female have more smaller crests. Nobody is certain on how extensive the merfolk kingdoms are beneath the ocean, for other races have at best visited the merfolk settlements close to the shores.

Therians - A race whose origin is shrouded in mystery. Therians are, for the lack of a better word, sentient animals with humanoid builds. Some had speculated that they came to be from a mad wizard's experiments long ago, while others joked that they resulted from shapeshifting nature-loving druids taking things too far. They come in all shapes and sizes, and their lifespan fluctuates greatly depending on what animal they most resemble. Originally native to the Ur-Teros Continent, some have immigrated to Alcidea by this age, but they are still less common there compared to their home continent, where a Therian Empire stands.

Unliving - The youngest enlightened race. Unliving are essentially, undead beings that by some manner of providence, maintained the use of their faculties and personality. Also the one race unable to reproduce with any other race, or reproduce naturally at all for that matter, due to being technically dead. Very little is known and much is speculated about how they came to be, with the first unliving recorded in history appearing a millenia ago. What is known is that dying people with a very strong attachment to life seem to have the highest odds of "rising" as one post-mortem. In a sense, the unliving are not a race of their own, as beings of any race can rise as one. Their numbers are miniscule compared to other races in the world, maybe less than six thousand individuals in the current age, but they are functionally immortal unless brought to a violent end. They typically either maintain their corporeal form in pristine shape - either by the aid of a fleshweaver, or by consuming food to use as energy, or entirely do away with their corporeal forms, existing as souls anchored to an object, or most commonly, their own skeletons instead, although typically the ones that chose this approach are powerful mages.

Unliving tend to delve deep into research, making good use of their immortality, and many are employed by kingdoms all over the world for that very purpose. The greatest concentration of unliving is located in the Magic City of Paradise, a city known for housing many of the world's best institutes of magical research, and counting nearly one-third of all current unliving amongst its inhabitants.