Boundless Nations

In the beginning there was only the machine. The Shapers, at the pinnacle of their civilisation stumbled across a way to create new realities of their own design. First used as a way of having infinite resources, soon Real-space paled in comparison to the possibilities of the machine, Future and past mattered little when any fantasy could be lived, touched and altered. When bored by endlessly living out their desires, only horror and suffering could titillate. They built endless realms ruled by great gods battling demons, doomed planets populated by trillions being slowly eaten by unspeakable terrors.

With the passing of an age a number of the Machine-Keepers, no longer able to bear the infinite cosmic suffering their own people had caused, conspired to annihilate their decadent civilisation by altering the ancient programming code and sundered the very rift between True-Space and the Boundless Realms, setting in motion the labyrinthine and ever changing Wormway between them. Whilst the ineffable entities and horrors that the Shapers created tore apart the fabric of their interdimensional empire forever. creating all manner of culture, from the divine, to the harrowing, and even the absurd.

Though the Shapers have long since fallen, the Machine persists, haphazardly creating new worlds, at once awe-striking and terrible.

CULTURES

Human

The Shapers, on their many interstellar excursions surveying the universe of

Real-Space, stumbled across a rather mundane planet.

Something about the proportions of a human face and limb proportions was inherently humorous to the Shapers and visual recordings of the new discovery spread through the Shaper population, like a comedic virus.

Brass Scarabs

There were many Realms created by the Shapers which were entire universes fashinoed for the single purpose of playing back a piece of music. With every heavenly body being metals tuned precisely it truly was a magnificent spectacle to hear and indeed see. The Brass Scarabs are one of countless machine based sentient race that naturally evolved in these settings.

Myrallion

The Myrallion are amphibious, humanoid coral beings that make their home in the reefs of temperate waters and oceans. With an reinforceable exoskeleton that can incorporate found minerals and malleable internal makeup.

Jardwnians

Truly a bizzare race for many other conventional lifeforms, the Jardwnians are malleable hedonistic ameboe propped up to stand by their many tendrils surrounding their primary lower orifice. The Jardwninian digestive system is truly a wonder of evolution. Pleasure in all forms is of the highest importance to these beings. Prefering to be sedentary. They delight in eating the most exotic creatures including other sentient species and eating them in the cruelest fashions. No luxury is spared from their greed. Cosmopolitan and Mercantile, these beings are disgusting to behold, and selfish to the core. It has been posited by Jardwninan scientiests throughout many Realms that this was a primitive chemical method of ensnaring prey in an earlier ancestor creature. They can through consciously altering their metabolism and carefully managing what they injest expire narcotic gases and chemicals that other species will pay large sums of money for, create bestoke poisons, even.

Speaking in strange flatulence resembling tones; Jardwnian languages are hard for outsides to learn but once this barrier is crossed they extremely good bargainers, diplomats and propagandists.

Cenelin

A peaceful and amicable species, the cenelin are short in stature never reaching higher than 3ft tall. Though being so small has obvious disadvantages in combat they more than make up for this by being able to travel virtually silently and make excellent Assassins, hunters, thieves and even Guerrilla warfare practitioners. Nimble fingered they are natural engineers and craftsmen and in a conflict prone setting will rely on technological solutions to their battles. They have amazingly flexible skeletons that enable them to crawl into absolutely miniscule hiding spots, further making a Cenelin ambush harder to detect. Cenelin have poor eyesight but hearing and smelling abilities akin to a dog.

As long as a Cenelin has a full stomach and some simple recreational pleasures they are happy. They often have affinities for Nature Magics from the bountiful realms and use this to boost their crops. The Cenelin have a natural charisma and likeability and that endears them to others. In addition to this and their natural unthreatening appearance they are much more likely to have positive interactions with other peoples, even to the point of paternal like feelings in larger folk.

Hrvelir

A Serene and mystical people with the physical strength and size to keep the peace and hold their own when needed. These gentle furry giants are most comfortable in frozen and cool temperatures and mountain ranges and tundras are usually made their homes.

The Hrvelir instinctively are attuned to magical energies that are often found throughout the Boundless Realms in weather systems and in fact invariably need to take half of their diet from this source. This species manages this by capturing such magic via collecting it in Dew form on their geometric net structures that is in their genetic memory to make. This can be an advantage should the Hrvelir be forced to be nomadic or feed an army on the move. Hrvelir mages have through this deep connection with magic found in weather system an intrinsic aptitude for Climomancy. Which in its most advanced form can summon blizzards, conceal armies in fog or freeze over lakes or harbours or even permanently change climates to so they are cold enough to inhabit them (or make them uninhabitable for others).

The Fleshen Ones

A horror to behold, those known as the Fleshen Ones are sentient beings whose form is made of writhing ever changing amalgam of blood, flesh and bone. The botched attempt of an aspiring necromancer to make a still living person an undead servant, the Fleshen ones naturally inspire fear and disgust in other lifeforms. Though as if something from a nightmare these twisted people have all the same fears, hopes and dreams as others. Though the magic that transformed them could only be diabolical there is nothing innately evil about their character. The magic of manipulating the flesh of others and their own is called Fleshcraft. For an environment to sustain them of nutrition it must be transformed to The Fleshblight through their magic. Fleshblighted land is identical to its previous form apart from it is now made from the same swirling mass the Fleshen Ones are wrought. The trees and rocks are as hard as before. The animals are the same.

Yolomi

Deeply inbuilt into this species genetic makeup is the rite of “The Parchening”. When a Yolomi reaches a certain age they begin a lengthy process of self mummification slowly weening themselves of food and fluid, eating only bark, dried leaves and eventually small rocks.

The entirety of the Yolomi life cycle is geared toward the second eternal life they recieve when their civilisation will reawaken from lifeless sleep. They build vast crypt cities to house the holy dead protected by powerful magical charms. The spirits of their ancient dynasties persist and when the time comes and their is suitable magic available they are able to bring back their civilisation beginning with a small number.

In their second life cycle the Yolomi is sustained by magic alone, which they will starve without in much the same way as others would without food.

Djiurka Barr

Strange pink furless Rodents lurk in the dark corners under mountains throughout the Boundless Realms. A single consciousness centred around the colony’s queen, there is no unrest or difference of opinion and what one knows, the entire nest knows. These objectively peculiar, hairless and many wrinkled beings have few interests outside of the hoarding of treasure in their beautifully carved halls. The columns of identically marching, fantastically adorned in armour of exquisite design to arrive outside your city gate comes for one reason alone, to take your lovely shiny things, all at once or on a regular basis (which ever most efficient)

Their many folds being a particular object of their vanity, aesthetic is everything to this species who end up being masterful architects and craftsmen in their dominions. A hive mind renders them almost impervious to espionage, unless not a single member of the nest is aware of these goings-on.

The Between Beings

Between the worm-way portals of the Boundless Realms is an impossible plain of reality for any intelligent beings to comprehend. An endlessly shifting domain populated by malign beings of indescribable countenance.

Ijo

Megafauna Sentient Spiders, this culture has been shaped by an environment hostile to most life. These fierce and deadly hunters have evolved an exceptionally specialised internal organ, capable of recycling bodily fluids ad infinitum. As such, they do not need to drink and are able to survive entirely on the minimal water derived from their sun parched prey. Adaptable as pursuit/ambush predators, they excel in stealth, tracking, trapping, vocal mimicry and behavioural prediction. Culturally, they value personal independence, privacy, patience, intelligence, resilience, and ‘liberty’. They follow a philosophy vaguely analogous to Zen, if it was focussed primarily on hunting.

Balhurn

Spiritually bound to the pantheon of entities in the Realm of Blood, the Balhurn are vainglorious, warlike and proud. The spilling of blood, both of others and their own is seen as divine sacrament. By their nature peace with other peoples and even with opposing factions of their own species is anguish, but they are not headstrong. Balhurn are machiavellian and intelligent in the way they wage war. Deep within the spirit of The Balhurn is a desire to make their surroundings as The Realm of Blood. Through violence on and off the battlefield the Balhurn Blood-Sages can draw power from the dark entities they serve. The ultimate goal of which is to create an opening in the Worm-way so that they can enable their masters to enter their world so that the eternal bloody carnage of the Realm of Blood can be made.

Every aspect of warfare is respected from the farmer growing food for the legions, the metal worker, the fletcher even the tanners.

Mycoloins

Mycroloins are a diminutive fungal people, who inhabit the rocky soil in mountainouse regions, as well as the interior of trees, and even the fur of some animals. Little is known about them, however, they are the subject of endless folklore, with nearby cultures often attributing missing items, defective tools and other minor misfortunes to them.

Bumblefolk

The Bumblefolk are a benevolent quasihive mind, with an agricultural economy and a Monarchical government. These are basically just gigantic bumble bees, with human level intelligence.

Ymtarai

Immortal beings bound to light as the source of their vitality, the Itara are often insular. The source of their light having a large impact on their personality and character with many variations being found. The Sun, Fire and even bioluminous mushrooms have been seen to be used by them. With the knowledge and experience that can be attained in many life times they excel in all areas.

Shapers

Scattered through the Boudless Realm as their control of the Machine and the Worm-ways. Though most collective knowlegde of their former glory has been lost for aeons, some folk stories survive.

Lychwalfen

Picture the bastard lovechild of Legolas and Gimli. These stout, sturdy, and breathtakingly beautiful 'Elves' live in carved woodstone houses and raid foreign settlements annually. The Myrallion are their favoured target for raiding. While this is undoubtedly dangerous, with raid casualities guaranteed, Myrallion shells provide a prized source of production materials, luxury goods, and their meat a delectable source of protein.

Lychwalfen culture can vary, but they tend to live in decentralised tribes, headed by a Chief who is chosen based on strength, raw grit, and fabulous hair. Once a Chief is chosen, their place is passed on to their offspring, unless they are defeated in a series of trials, which push contenders to their physical and psychological limits. This includes relentless obstacle course, a series of melee duals, archery challenges, and runway modelling.

Nerkern

Typicaly piratical and parasitic in nature, the Nerkern are a scourge of costal areas and maritime trade routes. Living on ramshackle constructs that make up their great city-ships, the Nerkern can move their home as they wish. Some of their number are born with a psychic connection to the ocean and these make up their ruling caste, the Sea-callers. Their constructions are made from the cannibalised remains of what the sea offers them, the bones of ancient leviathans, long lost shipwreck and coral reefs.

Tubervolk

Some of the more unusual of the Boundless species, these are mobile sentient Tubers, derogatorally known as “Taters”. They consist of a large central Tuber, protected by a woodlike coating, and small vines, which pull together in the style of a muscle, allowing for animal level mobility. On either side of the central Tuber, the vines grow outward together into two ‘arms’ each tipped with a beak for object manipulation. They walk on a bed of countless tentacle-like wiggling roots below the central tuber, and above grow a bush of leaves along with four Flagellum, one used to perceive vibrations in the air (sound to humans), one to perceive microparticles in the air (smell to humans), and two which they click together in various patterns and rhythms in order to communicate, and echomap their surroundings. When they enter their mating cycle, they bloom a very large, pungent flower, prized among certain other species for its euphoria inducing qualities.

Tubervolk are fully sentient and intelligent, however are subjugated in almost every interaction they have with other societies, due to their nutritional density and flavour.

The Bafush Kingdom (Human faction)

An industrious and cultured people, the Bafushites have been fortunate to repel Miklistic and Vamiric invasions, thanks to their superior metal work and effective utilisation of defensive magic. Their settlements boast not only iron workers, but also highly skilled jewellers and masons. They practice a highly ritualistic religion based a pantheon of gods, which they believe is the source of their power and maintainance of freedom from demonic forces.

Leporidians

The Leporidians may appear cute and cuddly, with their pink little noses, long floppy ears, and puffball tails. However, they are amongst the Boundless Realms’ most effective and cut throat business people. As natural Herbivores, they are not especially deadly fighters, but their instinctive understanding of economics and market behaviours, allow them to leverage wealth (both their own and that of others), to truly formiddable effect.

The accumulation of profit is their singular purpose, towards which their entire culture is focused. Anything and everything is for sale in Leopor, from Daucan sprouts to Whisperstone massages, swords for hire, love in an alley, and dapper old men, willing to pretend to be your dad so you can marry into a wealthy family.

Life in much of Leopor is chaotic, with poorly maintained infrastructure for many, particularly outside the capital. Within the capital is the nation's greatest concentration of wealth, evident in the city's ornate, gilded architecture, lavish dress code, and minimum required bank balance for residency.

KRAKAWA (Beaverfolk)

Generally peaceful, and largely isolated due their mountainous home, the Krakawa share much in common the Hrvelir to the west. In particular, they feed on atmospheric magic, accumulated through the construction of large ‘dams’, adorned with sacred ‘Tchatze’, a form of Rune. These pool magic from one side of the dam, spouting it out the other in liquid form. The subsequent magic pools are drained for utilisation. The Krakawa are a largely egalitarian society with local chiefs and advisors spread out across separate tribes under a united federation.

Khazgahsen

Little is known of the Khazgahsen, due their uncompromisingly hostile nature, but we can say these are a kind of amphibious 'werefowl'.

While unable to fly at distance, they are very strong swimmers and patrol their waters, attacking and killing any and all who intrude their waters. Neighbouring cultures have decided to leave them to it.

Sagulia - Human Society

Sagulia was a thriving civilization located between the River Nadri and Lake Sarvre, and was home to a vibrant society built around its city-states, such as Bhugraan, Sarvregraan, and Uutrigraan. Life in Sagulia was centred around the Pahtriman, a sprawling multilevel temple complex leading into underground tunnels that served as both a religious and political hub. The people of Sagulia worship a pantheon of gods led by Suryediv, the star god , and Srachdiv, the ether god. Religion was deeply in statehood, with priests guiding the political and economic policy of the Realm. The belief in divine order shaped the people's sense of duty and justice, evident in their legal codes and rituals.

Sagulia was a land of innovation, all in terms of industry, the arts, and magical manipulation, with its people having developed efficient alphabetic writing, advanced irrigation, and longevity enhancing ‘Anaphori’ magic. This allowed for life expectancies of 110-150 in the lower castes, and up 600 amongst nobles. Lesser forms of Anaphori were used by farmers to increase crop yield and resilience to pests and drought. This allowed Sagulia to have a huge and thriving population, in exceptional health, and bountiful resources. In the bustling markets, merchants would trade not only grain but also textiles, pottery, and precious metals with neighbouring city-states. Socially, Sagulian life was hierarchical. The king, or Luvagre, held supreme authority, while skilled craftsmen, scribes, and merchants enjoyed elevated status, followed by farmers and labourers. At the heart of their identity was a profound respect for law, knowledge, and tradition, qualities that made Sagulia one of the most advanced and influential cultures of its era.

Sadly, it was Sagulia’s good fortune that would be its downfall. Naturally, any wealthy society may be a target for invasion, but it was Sagulia’s Anaphori magic that attracted its conquerors. Anaphori is truly exemplary as a route to heal the sick and extend natural youth, but is woefully vulnerable to Tetliasti, a form of vampiric necromancy.

Sagulia was overthrown and enthralled by the Myklistics, a corrupted off-shoot of the Yolomi. While the Yolomi achieve eternal undeath by a process of magic-supported self mummification, the Myklistics achieve this by drawing out the ‘life magic’ of others. As such, Sagulians and their Anaphori, represented an opportunity for vast untapped sources of food to the Myklistics. The overthrow of Luvagre Duminzi, the last King of Sagulia, was gradual and insidious, starting with the opening of trade routes, and the establishment of Myklistic merchants in Sagulia. Ostensibly, they would trade in ‘Magical Resources’ bringing Whisperstone to sell and bringing Anaphori charms and talismans back to Myklina. Over time, Sagulians started to go missing, young healthy people, merchants and even nobles, would disappear in the night. Naturally, suspicion grew amongst the people that these strange, desiccated amphibians were responsible. However, Tetliasti magic can be used to enthral those who may suspect and any attempt by the people to engage the authorities against Myklistic vendors fizzled out quickly. The Myklistics gained considerable influence over Sagulian institutions by taking control of the souls of many of their highest ranking priests. Sagulia’s once thriving metropolises, dwindled in population, where once there had been wealth and abundance, there was now destitution, chaos, and misery. Luvagre Duminzi, the last King of Sagulia, was publicly executed by enthralled high priests, his life consumed by the great ruler, or Tyana, of Myklina, Tyana Ahui, who subsequently Vassalised Sagulia.

Today, most of the people once known as Sagulians live as livestock, imbued with the immense longevity granted by Anaphori practising Myklistics. These ‘Plialimej’ as the Myklistics call them, are bled regularly to feed their new masters.
A smaller population of Sagulians, known as Amostli, have been bred for strength, and are used for manual labour or as soldiers. They are surgically lobotomised at a very young age to prevent them from attempting a coordinated revolt. There are ‘free’ populations of Sagulians, hiding in the vast deserts and nearby mountain ranges, but these are by no means equipped to take on the armies of Tyana Ahui.

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse