Taea

*"From the light of the Bright Star east I have wandered hither. Through waste and fire of the black throne that was once my home, through the many realms of the dragon lords, through the city-seas of the conqueror, through secret paths in mountain wounds, through the bloody fields of battle, I have arrived now to this Jewel of the Desert. I have seen much beauty and hardship, and many treasures. But, in all my journeying, I thought only of home, of Taea."

— Ferron, the last survivor of the House of the Fallen Star*

Taea (pronounced: /TAY-ah/), is the largely accepted name for what is cosmologically referred to as the Mortal Sphere. The name, as is common of most major naming schemes, is of Elvish origin, and might be literally translated to "This Place", or "The Place". Though the meaning of the name may appear lacking in spirit or character, the significance of the translation's capitalization should not be understated. In Elvish, such a name as Taea signifies intense gravity and magnitude of importance, and can be more generally understood to mean "the only place for me."

Overview

The geography of the Mortal Sphere focuses primarily on what a Dungeon Master or player can leverage for adventure or character inspiration. It is important to remember that the Mortal Sphere contains many broad settings for many different types of campaigns. The descriptions of the regions of condense lots of information into digestible and intriguing profiles.

Geography

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A Lorish map of the whole of the Mortal Sphere. Such maps attempt to visualize beyond the shores of Mord, Sannaea, or Volgaea, using what little can be learned from non-human sources capable of describing far-away lands

Taea has never been holistically explored, and does not have a single globalized culture in the current era. Therefore, the world cannot be generalized as a whole, and is best understood as a collection of continents and regions. The most civilized, diverse, and populated regions are within the continents of Mord, Volgaea, and Sannaea. The other three continents of Taea include Bel, Imir, and Jotunheim.

Taea also harbors four (4) chief oceans, including the Bellatorian, the Conventaean, the Umbral, and the Meridium Oceans. These oceans are each known for being particularly hazardous and difficult to traverse, making trans-continental sea voyages incredibly rare.

There also exists a subterranean network of caves, vaults, and chambers beneath the surface of Taea known as Karzauri by the Dwarves, but more commonly throughout Taea as the Deep Dark, or the The World Below.

Continents

The surface continents are best broken up into two groups: the continents of Mord, Volgaea, and Sannaea whom make up a super-continent containing most of the interconnected civilized world, and the distant lands of Bel, Imir, and Jotunheim.

Mord

The most central and interconnected continent on the globe, and inhabited by a diverse range of ancestries and species. The history of Mord is particularly rich, and it has come to be known as the Land of Remains for its long and storied past.

Sannaea

An untamed continent inhabited most notably by an ancient High-Elven house. The continent's regions each possess a sort of cultural mystique, due in part to the many monstrous and dangerous realms within, granting Sannaea the title of the Land of Secrets.

Volgaea

An eastern continent that has recently served as the battlefield for the conquering armies of Lorian. It is known today as the Land of War for the many scars kept in the land's memory, both old and new.

Bel

Little is known of the land of iron, called Bel by its inhabitants. All goblinoids originally came from Bel, sailing across the Bellatorian or the Umbral Oceans in their Worg ships in a colonization effort called the Iron host.

Imir

South of Sannaea, across the sea, lies Imir. Though the continent's existence has been documented for centuries, it is only recently that the House of Vietor-Dych has successfully established expeditionary colonies to explore the "new world" as it has come to be known.

Jotunheim

The arctic north, and said to be the final resting place of the Giant Annam. Jotunheim is uninhabitable for all but the frost giants or the white dragons.