Araevis

Map of Araevis

**Araevis** is the terrestrial planet serving as the setting for Post Terminus.

## Overview

The world of Araevis has seen many catastrophes, but the most recent was nearly its end. The Cataclysm struck with little warning, beginning with the eruption of the monolithic Mount Denuntiare volcano in the center of Secare, which triggered a chain reaction of eruptions, earthquakes, and avalanches throughout the world. The very structure of the planet was shaken to its core.

The peoples of Araevis -- the terrestrial people known as laicar, the aquatic people known as velen, and the avian people known as enlil -- were led to build a stronghold in a forgotten city in the far northwest, sheltered on three sides by towering mountains. Before the end, even that bastion had suffered great damage, with parts of the mountains themselves crumbling before the onslaught. The stronghold survived, as did its refugees. Following the Cataclysm, a previously unknown race of mechanical humanoids was discovered in the city beneath the stronghold, the Demvir.

Gradually the stronghold grew to become a city, and over the following centuries, the world began to recover. The face of the planet was reshaped, but not utterly destroyed. Though it did not hold the only survivors, the city was remembered for being the one bastion where peoples of all races and countries gathered together for common survival. For its part in averting their end, the city was named Terminus.

There are five main continents in Araevis, not including the icy wastes of Arctoa and Rigentis at the north and south poles.

## Continents

### Hiemis

**Hiemis** is the northern continent on Araevis. Hiemis, a land of cold biting winds but abundant natural resources, is the northernmost of the continents, bordering the wastes of Arctoa. The mountains rise high up in the air, with numerous jagged peaks; the southern faces of each mountain, however, are visibly battered and blasted, and in some areas there are immense piles of boulders. This devastation is said to be from the Cataclysm. The Grand Metropolis of Terminus is here, causing Hiemis to be a hub of civilization rather than the distant outskirts of society it might otherwise be.

### Aridus

**Aridus** is the western continent on Araevis. Considered to be the far west, the continent of Aridus earns its name from its strangely dry climate. Though there are scrub forests that grow nearer to the coasts, the majority of Aridus is desert. Rivers and lakes dry up, and oases are fleeting, temporary things. Despite its inhospitable nature, however, archeologists find the continent to be eternally fascinating, as there are uncountable numbers of ruins found in the sands, of villages, temples, and other strange artifacts. There are many who believe Aridus was not always so barren, but as of yet, there are no credible theories to explain the change. In the northern half of the continent, there are three towering stone spires, somehow still strong and sturdy rather than worn away by the scouring winds. On an around these spires, a penal colony was built long ago; though abandoned, the demvir took it as their own, and the colony was reborn as the city-state Eleutheria.

### Paludis

**Paludis** is the southern continent on Araevis. Mountains on the southern edge of Aridus serve as the border between it and the southern continent Paludis. The stark contrast between the climates is baffling: Paludis is muggy and tropical, with frequent rainstorms, wide bogs, and lush jungles. The continent itself not only covers ground south of Aridus, but also forms a bridge to southern Secare in the east. Cities and industry have mainly appeared along the shores of the Copiae ocean, home of the Pelagium Empire. The jungles are largely untamed, and are home to Araevis' Southern Cluster, a handful of active volcanos in close proximity to each other. Near the center of the land-bridge to Secare, Paludis is host to Eruditio, another demvir city-state that serves as a trade hub to all of the other ports, towns, and cities in Paludis.

### Secare

**Secare** is the central continent on the common world map, in between Aridus and Boreas. The continent is prosperous and abundant in natural resources in both the north and south, but the center of the continent, near to the equator, is home to the shattered peaks of the Denuntiares Mountain Range. This range forms a bowl around a deep crater which has filled with water over the centuries. A dangerous area, rife with vistras, most people avoid traveling through or even near it. Travel between the northern Kingdom of Excelsus and the southern Kingdom of Prendere is normally accomplished by way of the ocean.

Encompassing most of the north of Secare, Excelsus is a kingdom of laicar who pride themselves on strength, temperance, and the preservation of old traditions. While welcoming of new technologies brought in by other countries, Excelsus has not embraced or supported any such studies itself. Despite most of its architecture being built upon manual labor, however, the structures in Excelsus are some of the longest-standing and strongest fortifications in Araevis. The Kingdom of Prendere takes up most of the southern half of Secare. With an abundance of fertile land, and few dangerous indigenous beasts, Prendere has some of the most expansive and most productive agriculture, allowing them to grow crops from almost anywhere else in the world. This has supported its rise to the top in commerce and trade.

### Boreas

**Boreas** is the eastern continent on Araevis. Climbing high into the sky, Boreas is both a continent and a mountain. It was once home to towering trees that rivaled the height of mountains themselves, though these were destroyed in the Cataclysm. The population is mainly enlil, and the culture has split between those seeking to reclaim the past, who grow and tend new forests aspiring to reach the heights and glory of their predecessors, and those seeking to move into the future, embracing new technologies and philosophies and fostering a new generation of remarkable engineers. The climate is windy but temperate around most of the mountainous island, though it grows increasingly cold as altitude increases, and some of the terrain becomes marshy nearest the shores. There are several cities and villages underground, built into the hollowed roots of the monolithic trees of the past, while others are built high in the boughs of the new trees being raised to replace them.

## Oceans

### Copiae Ocean

South of Hiemis is the **Copiae Ocean**. The ocean touches four of the five major continents -- Hiemis, Aridus, Paludis, and Secare -- and is home to the velen empire of Pelagium. When the Cataclysm occurred, fissures opened underwater, releasing powerful but dangerous terra regia into the waters of the Chlorae and Tenebrae Oceans, but the Copiae was spared the majority of this. Because of that, the Copiae is safe enough for the velen to create numerous underwater cities, some which even accommodate their air-breathing cousins.

### Chlorae Ocean

The **Chlorae Ocean** between Secare and Boreas is so named due to the faint emerald tint of its waters. There are numerous corrupted beasts and humanoids that fill this ocean, including fearsome tribes of naga, schools of predatory fish, and dangerously volatile elemental beings. Most trips across the waters are uneventful enough, but there is always the threat of a sudden reversal of fortune, and so ships rarely leave port without a full complement of able-bodied guards, limiting the amount of cargo or passengers that can be brought along. Those brave enough to fish the troubled waters can make vast amounts of money from the abundant fish and crustaceans, but it's a job that carries a high mortality rate, especially among vessels sailing the emerald waters for their first time.

### Tenebrae Ocean

The least-known and most-dangerous ocean is the **Tenebrae**. Though the waters are a comforting light blue close to shore, ships need head no further than a mile from land before the waters visibly darken, taking an almost indigo hue. Squalls are frequent in the dark waters, and the sea-life is vicious. Even the gulls adopt a more vicious demeanor. There are rare species in the Tenebrae that brave and foolish men try to fish up, eager to make a quick fortune, but the number of ships that have successfully sailed those waters is meager indeed. The island nation of Songen has long used the Tenebrae Ocean as a buffer between it and other nations of Araevis. The dark waters are believed to hide many mysteries, only a few of which have been glimpsed, such as the Idols of Senes.