The World

Floating islands, powerful artifacts, and the danger of ascending the skies are at the core of *Caelis*.

## World Construct

Earth consists for the most part of floating islands that spread across the sky; while the vast majority are inhabitable, some islands, located at high altitudes are not, and atmospheric conditions become increasingly difficult to handle. As such, the sky has been delineated into five, and later six Zones.
There are also the so called "Clusters" (or island Clusters) which are huge collection of islands. There are 9 known Clusters. Two in the 1. Zone, Four in the 2. Zone and Three in the 3. Zone. There is also one construct in the 4. Zone which some consider a Cluster.

## The Zones

### Zone 1

The lowest habitable Zone is the 1st Zone, in which living conditions are considered to be close to perfect. Zone 1 is quite populated, but mostly hosts small nations and organizations, as it consists of many, but small islands.

### Zone 2

The 2nd Zone also harbors a large population, but consists of much larger islands, therefore accommodating many of the world's larger nations and governments. However, living conditions become slightly more difficult as you go up the zones, usually needing some getting used to. Challenges for example include headaches and dizziness, oxygen deprivation and strong weather changes. That said, after an adjustment period, most healthy individuals are fine.

### Zone 3

The 3rd Zone is less populated than Zone 2 and living conditions generally become increasingly difficult, commonly causing sickness, nausea and numbness of limbs. Temperatures are polarizing and strong changes in weather are common. The 3rd Zone does host a few nations and organizations, but is also yet to be fully explored. This leaves space for adventurers, but also criminals and pirates to find be at home in the Zone.

### Zone 4

The 4th Zone becomes much more inhospitable, meaning only very few civilizations permanently reside there, and the ones that do almost exclusively use artificial means (such as Domes) in order to survive. Living conditions are so difficult that a special vaccine is required in order to enter; and even with the vaccine, people may suffer from intense nausea, headaches, numbness of limbs and vertigo, combined with visual and auditory hallucinations, as well as intense pain throughout the body and potential bleeding from every orifice. Additionally temperatures are freezing cold and extreme weather occurrences are very common and dangerous.

### Zone 5

The 5th Zone, also called the "Hell Zone" is considered inhospitable, as surviving there without artificial help or, in rare cases, extreme adjustment-training, is considered impossible. Temperatures are even colder and the weather is so extreme, that no one has ever managed to get through this Zone; and only a very few people have managed to come back from it alive without any psychological and physical damage, as complete sensory deprivation, confusion and self-harming behavior, and a loss of humanity are almost a given. Some even die, just by entering,

### Zone 6

The 6th Zone describes the hypothetical area of the sky beyond the five known Zones, and living conditions have long been believed to be even worse than those of the 5th Zone. Beside the Myth of Caelis, nothing is known about this Zone, until Isaac Evans and his crew manage to reach it, confirming the existence of Caelis. The theories that living conditions would be "worse than Hell" are also rejected, as living conditions are shown to actually be close to scientifically perfect.

### Minus Zone

Below the first Zone is also the so-called "Minus Zone". It consists of the Earth's core, but it is ravaged with natural catastrophes, extreme weather and heat, and is therefore considered inhospitable (much like the 5th Zone). It is surrounded by dark clouds whose consistency itself destroys (almost) anything coming in contact with it, making it close to impossible to even reach it. That said, a very few people have managed to get through and survive there after adjusting to the environment.

### The Great Vibration

The **Great Vibration** is a very mysterious global-scale catastrophic event, which is occasionally mentioned in the *Caelis* series. Extremely little is known about it and the period of time which precedes it. Not even the "fact" that it was a catastrophic event is proven, but only assumed due to the lack of information of the predeceasing period in time. Due to its nature, the Great Vibration is at the origin of many global theories, most of which are relating it to the beginning of modern civilizations. As such, the present calendar system is derived from it, and sets the Great Vibration as Year 0 and labels every year thereafter as "p.v." (post-vibration).

Another common theory sees the appearance of magic as a consequence of the Great Vibration, claiming the "vibration" itself to be a feat of magic (either natural or caused by man). Some theories also assume the world was one large core planet originally, which the Great Vibration caused to explode and spread across the skies as islands that could float thanks to the now existent magic. After Isaac and his friends find the island of Caelis, it becomes one of the only known remains from the Dark Ages, which was only one of many myths about it prior to its discovery.

It is important to note that none of the mentioned theories have been confirmed by the story of *Caelis*.