Whend

Whend is the sixth Shard of the Create This World saga. It was officially opened on March 26, 2018. Whend is a complex supercontinent populated by great lakes and large inland seas. It is the only major landmass on this planet, which has an overall circumference of about 30,000 km (75% that of Earth). Whend is inhabited by a number of diverse sapient lifeforms who have independently built up unique and colourful civilisations. Status of society in Whend is roughly equivalent to Earth's Classical Age, or Age of Antiquity (500 BC – 500 AD).

## Map

Thank you to /u/ophereon for all the hard work he put into getting this map ready for us (after spending the week fighting a wicked cold). You can find the map link here. You can take a look at the map and scope out some territory for your claim. Just download the picture and then do a quick red outline in MS Paint or wherever to indicate what area you want to claim. Refer to the [New Player's Guide and Claim Template] for more details.

## The World

Whend is of similar size and breadth to Eurasia. It begins in the Classical Age, so bronze and iron rule. Some ancient empires have already fallen to dust, while others are just beginning, and will soon be vast and powerful. And while we are not technologically beyond the Roman era, things are a bit more advanced in the socio-political sphere. The Silk Road has come early, and lengthy trade routes are already being developed to shepherd exotic goods from one side of the continent to another. Resource empires are arising, growing rich by providing goods that remote civilizations desire.

Yet trade and empire is not the only thing going on in Whend. There is something much more ancient and primal going on just beneath the surface. That, of course, is the Rifts. That Rifts have been around as long as any living thing can remember. They are scattered in various locations across the land. None of them are the same, but they all have similar properties. A Rift itself is invisible. It can be observed through magic, or indirectly through its effects. As you get close to a Rift, things get weird. This can take the form of bizarre plant life, or impossible geological formations. Any people or animals living near a Rift will exhibit odd behaviour or mutations. In the area immediately surrounding a Rift there is nothing living at all. Indeed, any living thing that comes in direct contact with a Rift will most likely suffer instantaneous death. However, if you are a sufficiently strong magic user, there is a chance of interacting with the Rift. If you manage to interact with the Rift, you may get a peek into a parallel world, or into the formless Void itself. And you might even be able to bring some sort of new gift back with you.

No one knows where the Rifts came from, but we know that mana came from the Rifts. Mana could best be described as “Void matter”. It is an exotic particle that originates far outside the boundaries of our present reality. On Whend, it frequently appears in crystalline form, but that is by no means the only form it comes in. In some places there are springs or water sources rich in mana. In other places there is mana-rich soil, so it works its way into the plant-life. Rarely, you might even encounter shimmering rivulets of pure liquid mana flowing out from the earth. Mana is found most commonly in proximity to Rifts, but pockets of mana can also be found far away (suggesting perhaps that there were once more Rifts that have since disappeared).

Magic is very much a part of life in Whend. There are few people who haven't witnessed evidence of magic at some point in their lives. But at the same time, it's not common. Magic users make up a very small portion of the population. How they are viewed depends on the society. In some places they will be revered and given positions of privilege, while in other places they might be outcast. There is no clear reason for how one is born with magical abilities. People have tried to establish magical lineages, but there is no guarantee of two magic users producing a magical child. However they come about, magic users come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes with a great many diverse abilities. Most are specialized, only able to do a few things (all-purpose mages are exceedingly rare).

They also require mana. Using magic takes energy that can be refilled with mana. There are trace amounts of mana in the environment, enough that a mage's energies will eventually recharge over time without specific intervention. But if they want to get anything done, they need to seek out mana sources for consumption. However, mana consumption must be carefully managed. Many people erroneously believe that consuming more mana will make them more powerful. It doesn't. Being more powerful allows one to consume more mana, but it does not work the other direction. Overindulging in mana can have serious negative consequences. For a non-magic person to consume any mana beyond the trace amounts available in the regular environment can be potentially fatal.

The rules of magic don't only apply to humans, either. Animals can be born gifted with magical powers. There are no animal species with inherently magic properties (ie. Phoenixes rising from the ashes, or unicorns healing people — dragons are a bit of a grey area), but individual animals can be magical. Obviously, they can't control their powers to the same extent a human can.

## Weekly Events

In addition to our normal posts, we will have special weekly events that are reserved ahead of time.

#### Schedule Sunday

This is the weekly post we make updating everyone on important news happening in the shard and assigning people for all the other weekly events.

#### Market Monday

This is a major interactive post that focuses on a centre of commerce or trade in one person's civilization. One person hosts the Market Monday and all other players are invited to participate in it. This is a great place to explore individual personalities within our societies, but you can also do some macro-interactions as well, striking trade deals or alliances.

#### Technology Tuesday

The march of time moves ever forward. We don't believe in the kind of technological stagnation that you might find in other fantasy lands whose name rhymes with Blesteros. Within the antiquity setting, there is plenty of room to innovate. Steel and gunpowder are big ones, but there are plenty of other developments you could make too. A Technology Tuesday post should showcase a new and interesting technology in your culture that could have an effect on the world at large.

#### Wander Wednesday

This is a new weekly event we're going to try out. People can do a micro-claim on a singular point of interest on the unclaimed portion of the map, and write about what strange discoveries were made there.

#### Feature Friday

This is our oldest weekly event. There are no special rules for a Feature Friday; it should just be a post that showcases something interesting and goes into greater length and depth than an average post.

## Clock

Since a lot of people right now are interesting in empire-building, we are going to be covering a broader timescale than we have in the past couple shards. The sidebar will indicate the current year. Anyone posting events should date them. Anyone can advance the clock with their lore, but there will be limits on how much one can advance within a given week.

## Theme

#### Technology Level

“Classical”. That means that your civilization shouldn't be more developed technologically than what you would expect to find at the height of the Roman Empire.

#### Magic Level

“Medium”. That means that magic is understood as part of the world, but magic users are rare (less than 1%) And of the magic users that do exist, most are not extremely powerful. Magic users need to remain energized by consuming mana.

#### Mana

Exotic Void matter that can be found in pockets around When. Mostly it appears in crystalline form, but it can also mix in with water sources, soil, or plant life as well. Mana can be used to re-energize magic users, but it does not bestow magical abilities itself. Ingesting mana is extremely hazardous of non-magical people.

#### Rifts

Tears in reality that can be found in different parts of Whend. They are invisible themselves, but have a tremendous effect on the land around them, leading to bizarre phenomena. Interacting with a Rift is most often fatal, but can provide great knowledge or abilities for someone sufficiently skilled in magic. Every player gets to place one Rift somewhere in their territory and write lore for it.

#### Claim Limits

There is a limit to the size of territory you can claim with your initial post. An illustration of the rough maximum claim size can be seen here (this represents 350,000 km2 ). Territory can be expanded through expansion posts later on.