Ethent

Ethent is a chaotic and ever-changing land at the centre of Morisia, encircled on all sides by mountains that lead down into its fertile, rolling hills. But what at first appears to be an idyllic, peaceful land can quickly turn violent, with mountains appearing overnight or entire homesteads being swallowed by the very earth they are built upon. Beneath the peaceful surface of Ethent lay great mechanical beasts that threaten to swallow men whole, and the only persistent landmark is the great Sea of Trees at its centre, whose gentle swaying belies its ruthless innards.

# History

Little is known of the history of Ethent, with little to no Ancient presence recovered, and evidence of any later civilisations quickly being lost due to the region’s morphic nature. The local Druidic Cult, the *Sgipwyr Daear* (Skip-weer Day-arr) retains no written history, though their oral tradition claims their ancestors to have been ‘born of the earth’ an undefined time ago, emerging from a crevasse much like a hatching egg.

Ethent’s central location in Morisia and its sharing of a border with three nations would at first appear to make it a hotly-contested area, but due to its dangerous nature and lack of material value, there has yet to be a large-scale move to claim the area, leaving it a neutral ground and one of the few known locations on the continent left entirely unclaimed by any major power. Thus, Ethent occupies an unconventional position as a region with clearly-defined borders that functions much like a nation at the macroscopic scale, but lacks representatives, armed forces, exports, or even laws.

## The Sundering

In the twilight days of **638CF**, a gaping chasm suddenly opened just a few miles north of the Ethentian border with Yuve. From this chasm climbed a colossal creature of stone and rock, which laid waste to the nearby landscape, decimating the mountain range now known as *The Shattered Peaks* that demarcated the de facto border between Ethent and Yuve. This rampage utterly pulverised three mountains, creating *Titan’s Gap,* which now functions as the primary route for passage between Yuve and Ethent.

The colossus - dubbed *Titan* - decimated entire communities that had underestimated the reach of its rampage in just a few hours, and many nations and adventurers scrambled to respond once word reached them of the disaster. The southern reaches of Ethent became a battleground as countless people collaborated to lure Titan away from the borders of civilised land while working to disable it and, with the aid of the Sgipwyr Daear*,* who had declared Titan the Herald of their god Tezcatlipoca, eventually brought the golem down.

Upon Titan’s defeat, a second chasm opened in the earth, swallowing the colossus once more, and in the process unearthed a large deposit of metals which were quickly harvested by those present. This bounty was declared a boon from Tezcatlipoca for overcoming a trial, though whether this was the case or it was simply a fortuitous coincidence has yet to be conclusively determined.

## The Inverted Peak

After the events of The Sundering, adventuring companies remained vigilant for any further rumours of similar events, determined to mobilise their forces earlier should any further ‘trials’ be offered. As a result, when word of a massive sinkhole opening in the spring of **642CF**, many were quickly drawn to the site. The sinkhole was found to be of indeterminate depth and destination and was quickly swallowing up the nearby soil to create a great conical depression, earning it the name *The Inverted Peak*.

After some days, the draining soil revealed an entire subterranean facility inhabited by ancient automatons of unknown purpose that the sinkhole had damaged and rent asunder, and was soon found to be filled with technological marvels and resources aplenty, though anybody attempting to take from the facility attracted the ire of its inhabitants and defensive systems. This proved popular with adventurers, who sought glory and wealth within the facility, and while some nations promised compensation for any noteworthy finds, the nature of the facility’s denizens as passive until provoked led to none mobilising official military excursions.

However, the sinkhole seemingly disabled or damaged whatever systems had deterred the region’s worms, and they soon started causing the facility further damage. After a few weeks, the facility was considered by most to be too unstable to explore, and interest in it waned. Within just one month of the facility’s unearthing, it was damaged so severely that it began crumbling into the sinkhole itself, and soon any remaining things of interest were lost. Some weeks later, the sinkhole appeared to have filled - or otherwise become blocked or closed off - and it was covered once more by the earth.

The Inverted Peak currently exists as a bowl-shaped depression, although given the movement of the earth in the region it appears to be flattening out over time, and will one day become impossible to detect as the site of anything of importance.

# Government

Ethent, as a region, has no governing body to speak of. Each settlement, tribe, or group of people that live within it govern themselves in whatever manner suits them, but due to the abundance of nature, the most common and widespread method of living is that of a nomadic tribe headed by an elder or chieftain.

*Sgipwyr Daear Adref* (meaning “Home of the Sgipwyr Daear”, often shortened to just *Adref,* or “Home”)*,* is the largest community in Ethent and its de facto ‘capital’. It is a Druidic, semi-nomadic commune living amongst the boughs of the region’s great undulating forest, The Sea of Trees, where people build small, disposable homes among the trees and string rope bridges to cross between them. The Sgipwyr Daear largely decide their personal matters and concerns for themselves, though when a matter affects more people they will form groups of those concerned to determine a course of action amongst themselves. Elders of the Sgipwyr Daear will often dedicate themselves to providing their wisdom to the clan, especially if they are no longer capable of living independently; they will educate children, arbitrate disputes, or act as representatives within the commune, making their collective will and advice the closest thing to a political body or law the region has.

# Geography

Chaotic and unpredictable, Ethent is a largely-inhospitable place largely made up of massive flat plains dotted with forests and ringed by great mountains that are rumoured to grow each year. At first glance it appears idyllic, with lush grasslands and a massive forest at its centre, however, the land itself is prone to shift, with sinkholes and cave maws appearing suddenly, and occasionally entire mountains or other large geographical features sprouting or disappearing in minutes.

The larger geographical shifts are typically predictable to some degree, with Druids - especially those that worship Tezcatlipoca, the region’s patron deity - receiving cryptic prophetic dreams and visions that hint at the upcoming event, though without a clear time. Such events, if they come about, are typically tumultuous at best and catastrophic at worst, in keeping with the nature ascribed to Tezcatlipoca itself.

The smaller shifts however can be attributed to the movements of the countless massive mechanical worms that writhe beneath the surface, locked in what appears to be an eternal conflict against their own kind. They are typically not concerned with biological life and will not actively seek to harm anybody nearby unless they perceive some threat, however they also show no regard for the safety of nearby creatures, in some cases documented as ‘swallowing’ a person whole when they were in its path, and in many cases causing collateral damage when two (or more) of these worms’ combat led to their flailing injuring a person - often fatally. These creatures’ tunnelling and writhing over countless years has caused most solid subterranean matter to be pulverised into soil, and their continuous movement serves to churn the soil and its minerals, causing the land to be exceptionally fertile and nutrient-rich.

The most notable landmark of the region is the *Sea of Trees*, a grand temperate rainforest at the region’s approximate centre, made up of trees of abnormal size whose tops appear to sway like liquid when viewed from a distance due to the earth’s churning, and whose constituent trees occasionally disappear into the earth. The forest is yet more fertile than the surrounding lands, providing an abundance of plants and wildlife, both edible and harmful. It appears to be located directly above an inaccessible subterranean Battery, which some believe to be the corporeal form of Tezcatlipoca.

# Inhabitants

Those who make their home in Ethent often share one of two things in common: Recklessness, or a tie to the natural world. Other than this unifying tendency, the inhabitants of the region are as diverse a lot as can be, with members of all races, nationalities, and religions able to either find somewhere to belong, or else make one for themselves.

Reckless inhabitants are often pioneers, explorers, or outcasts from other lands, who come to the region seeking to unearth its mysteries or just because they have nowhere else to turn. Some seek to study the mechanical worms native to the region, others to find undiscovered flora and fauna, and some seek riches within the earth.

The second predominant group are Druidic Cults and similar groups, people with a connection to nature itself. The most numerous of this sort are the Sgipwyr Daear, whose oral history asserts that they emerged from the earth in time immemorial and have lived there as a commune ever since. They are raised in the boughs of the Sea of Trees and forage and hunt from on high, swinging and jumping between trees and scrambling up their massive trunks like monkeys and finding most of the resources they need in nature’s bounty.

The Sgipwyr Daear maintain peaceful and positive relationships with most who visit, though they are loath to leave their arboreal home save to temporarily visit other communities in the region, often with messages and prophecies foretelling of upcoming dangers. Unlike most Druidic Cults, the Sgipwyr Daear are not opposed to the use of metal, using it in tools where its strength is advantageous and its weight is acceptable, and often fashioning holy symbols of precious metals that cannot be put to practical use, such as gold or silver.

In addition to the humanoid inhabitants, the region is a haven for Fey and other nature-centred beings, with many groves and ponds home to families of Dryads, Naiads, and the like.

There also exist mechanical creatures native to Ethent - great worm-like war-machines ranging from 8 to 32ft in length. These mechanical worms appear to be made of steel, with massive ‘jaws’ for breaking rock and dirt or grappling with their own that are situated around a ‘mouth’ that houses their weaponry - a large cannon that can accelerate bullets of compressed dirt at sufficient speed to pierce most armour. Their foreheads are bulbous, appearing like a prominent brow, and house an array of sensors that allow them to detect movement through the vibrations in the air or terrain despite their lack of eyes. Even with this sensor array damaged, they are sensitive to such movements in close proximity to their body.

# Religion

Given the region’s lack of unification, it is unsurprising that there is a great variance in religious belief amongst those that call Ethent home. However, the predominant religion is that dedicated to Tezcatlipoca, hermitic deity of the earth, natural life, discord, and natural disaster. Tezcatlipoca is said to have grown tired of the other gods’ squabbles and machinations, and retreated into the earth to block out all light and sound. Tezcatlipocan faithful believe that natural disasters, especially earthquakes, are the result of the deity’s restless sleep, and particularly-calamitous events are representative of his rage at his slumber being interrupted.

During the Sundering, the great golem Titan was declared Tezcatlipoca’s Herald, later determined to have been sent to Morisia to ease its master’s rest in much the same way one might adjust a bedspring. Tezcatlipocan faithful aided in the battle with the aim of appeasing their deity, as they believed Titan’s appearance to be a sign of extreme anger. Tezcatlipocan priests now preach that Titan was not defeated by the forces that stood against it, that it merely partook in battle for the entertainment of its master and to witness the might of Morisia’s people, and that the cache of materials uncovered following the battle was Tezcatlipoca’s token of gratitude for a good show.

The incident of the Inverted Peak is believed by some to be either Tezcatlipoca yawning or eating before returning to slumber, the unknowable depths of the sinkhole at its centre sometimes referred to as *Tezcatlipoca’s Maw*.

Following the discovery of the suspected Battery beneath the Sea of Trees, Tezcatlipocan faithfuls declared it the corporeal body of their deity, indicating the incredible lushness of Ethent itself and especially the surrounding area as proof of his divine bounty. They have insisted that no expedition to directly witness this Battery be conducted, as to do so may disturb the god’s rest and incite his ire. Owing to the extremely dangerous nature of the subterranean geography of Ethent and the damage to relations with the Sgipwyr Daear it would likely cause, such an expedition has yet to be conducted, leaving the presence of a Battery in the area unproven.