Etheridge

*"This is our base of operations, our home. A lot of us were born here, and fought tooth and nail for its freedom, and we'll protect it until the end" - Kodachi*

*"A rich and diverse continent, its individuality shines brighter than ever after the fall of Kendra's tyranny." -* Official description by the Etheridge Collective

**Etheridge** is the continent in which a majority of the Etheridge Collective hailed from, and is home to the Etheridge Collective as they have a plethora of bases scattered about the vast continent. It is situated further east than the fallen continent of Graelenncia, separated from it by the eastern and western Prismian Oceans.

## Geography and Climate

Etheridge is a massive continent home to a wide variety of climates and geographical differences that helps give each and every city, town, and village their own uniqueness and culture; for example, Breezewood is adjacent to Arcturus and thus the Etheridgeon Macaws that have lived in the lush mountainous forests for generations have evolved to become larger to accommodate for the cold climate.

Etheridge features vast mountains to the north and encompass Arcturus and Breezewood, while mountains towards the south west border Garmsby Village and Lunaris. Further south features a warmer climate that, while able to experience winter, does not see much snow overall. Coastlines line the shores, the southwestern ones proving a semi-popular tourist destination during the spring.

### Culture (Pre and Post-Dictatorship)

Etheridge's culture, before and after tyranny, was and still is diverse and celebrates diversity. It encourages individuality and the pursuit of one's own goals, and encouraging collective goals to benefit one's own community. As such, Etheridge lacks a set culture and is thus a melting pot of all different walks of life.

## History

### Legend

5,000 years ago, three goddesses looked after the world that encompassed Etheridge and Graelenncia along with countless then unnamed microcontinents. Adelpha, the goddess of life whom had children she affectionately named Salvagers, along with her sister, Vivienne, goddess of decomposition, had children she affectionately named Wreckers. Their mother had created vehicular beings that populated the skies, the oceans, the very landmasses that they all rose from the sea. With the Salvagers came preservation of life where death shouldn't have been, and with the Wreckers came decomposition and rebirth when life wasn't feasible. There was a delicate balance that was kept in place for the next 2,000 years, until a grassroots movement set to throw off the balance of life and death came to a head.

The People were tired of generations of being dictated by their creators, and thus killed the mother and her two daughters in their sleep; however, the mother used her dying breath to decree the existence of a new daughter who would bring back balance to the world now that the family could no longer come back to their world, locked in their afterlife for all time. To keep her new daughter safe, she saw to it that her wish would be reincarnated as a vehicular being.

### Wars of Natural Order (~1,000 years ago - ~980 years ago; 1900's - 1994)

The wars of Natural Order were sparked by the deaths of the goddesses; those who wished to keep to the status quo of nature's decreed order as they had intended, while others fought to break free of it, to make decompose and save lives wherever they could, whenever they wanted, however they wanted, no matter the cost. As the years passed by, Etheridge remained war torn for generations, displacing millions from their homes, tearing apart local governments for better or worse, and have even rendered multiple races of vehicular beings extinct, such as helicopters, planes, and submarines courtesy of technological advance.

A general that had been alive for generations thanks to her long life, Tsurugi, had never led battles before the 1900's where her usual peacekeeping nature was compromised by the deaths of her friends. She had an air of charisma that could lead an entire army with a single command, and the mana to protect her army even in the most dangerous of situations. Although she didn't lose too many soldiers to the arduous struggles, she took the time to honor each and every one who had laid down their life for a freer Etheridge. It is said that Tsurugi was the third and final daughter birthed by the mother goddess in a last ditch effort to restore balance, but Tsurugi had disappeared from the public limelight under mysterious circumstances after the struggles ended on account to all of the Salvagers having been killed.

With all of the Salvagers gone, anarchy was free to roam with an overwhelm of Wrecker mages, leading to casualties across the continent. Tsurugi, fed up with anarchy and wars, reappeared before the people of a city that would be known as Naxera. She revealed herself as the half human, half goddess birthed thousands of years prior to put a stop to the wars. Using a forbidden decrement magic, she sacrificed her life to put a curse on the Wreckers for several generations to never feed from healthy or dying life ever again, and to restore peace and ensure it, appointed her second in command to become a king of the land and decreed that his royal blood would last several generations.

What she didn't realize was that her curse was poorly worded and the nature of her curse. If there were no heirs to the kingdom directly related to him in the form of being his child, the curse would be broken in the form of a distant generation regaining their powers and their greed fueling them to feed off of life uninhibited. Such a day wouldn't come until 2011, when a child and her future cabinet would storm the castle.

### True History

While the legend and true history are different, they have parallels, and because of word-of-mouth folklore and the wild imaginations of several generations, the true history of Etheridge was lost for years until recent times. While there were guardians that watched over Synaptum, these were discovered to be a group of unnamed Ancients (it's unclear if any of them share the same names as the mythical goddesses, however) that existed since the dawn of Synaptum's time.

Instead of a prophesy where a future ruler would lose their power to a curse, there was instead a prophesy made by The Ancients that Synaptum would be united under one ruler to bring eternal prosperity, and thus, future leaders would have to be prepared to give up their power and let her lead forever onward. While a vast majority of historians and scholars have prioritized the history that puts The Ancients on center stage, there still exist other scholars and historians, priests and priestesses, and a multitude of laypeople who still believe in the legend of the goddesses, due to how unclear early history is.

### The Era of Dictatorship (2012 - 2020)

Kendra, a former commoner child alongside an Etheridgeon macaw, Zeph, and an Etheridgeon penguin, Lumi, were adopted by the royal family after posing as lost children. While the former king and his Cabinet were vehemently against it, the then Queen supported it; the three would prove themselves useful as servants in the public eye, but be considered nobles among only the Cabinet and the royal family. Kendra had her eyes on the throne, however, and conspired with her team to take down the monarchy. Being a bookworm, the rebel looked through several books in the library for several nights, nearly getting caught several times. One night, she found a grimoire that contained forbidden magic not in the library, but in a secret room of the Queen's.

The spell would make whoever spoke it the new Queen, and imbue the new Queen with absolute authority not only over Naxera, but also over Etheridge as a whole. It was a spell that could be used as a contingency in case the royal family died en masse in a catastrophe. She could have spoken it and changed reality without anyone knowing, but she tore out the page and kept it safe without anyone else being none the wiser except for Zeph and Lumi. She would wait until the next televised event, where several eyes on one place would turn the coup de'tat into a spectacle to behold by millions.

When the next televised event happened in the form of an announcement of a new child born into the family, Kendra and her affiliates stole the show and spoke the spell, granting the child absolute authority in front of millions, changing reality in an instant as the castle was customized to her desires, and all who opposed her were executed, including the royal family. This brought forth an era of unparalleled dictatorship that couldn't be stopped. She would be invincible for an entire generation.

### Rebellion 2019 - 2020)

The rebellion was started by a grassroots movement by Kodachi Tsurugi, a 16 year old who had her life upended to be summoned to Naxera to be part of Her Majesty's Cabinet, thought to be the original sourced person from an external source fictional in its own right. Having been the subject of Her adoration for a while, Kodachi was elected by her siblings and a few other rebels of Her Cabinet to be the one to talk sense into Kendra. After her heartfelt speech, Queen Kendra deemed Kodachi to be a distraction, and locked her away with a life sentence as punishment.

Having had a quiet year during 2019 while the grassroots movement kept growing into a proper rebellion, from protests to whistle blowers releasing confidential information, from campaigns to propaganda. The war was fought mostly by pen and paper, media coverage, all unbeknownst to Kendra as Her knowing would spell the end of her reign, so Her Cabinet thought. In the first and second quarters of 2020, the war moved from pen and paper to sword and shield, blood being spilled in multiple battles, and lives being lost on both sides.

At the end of a fateful summer day in 2020, the castle was destroyed and collapsed into the ocean in a pile of rubble, with the Queen's body never having been found.

### Present

Today, the continent is run by multiple smaller, fairer kingdoms and republics. While Etheridge used to be run by the Etheridge Collective, they gave their power to individual leaders over their subjects and people, and they themselves have followed the laws of the New Kingdom of Naxera. With the establishment of the village of Shuugou-mura, the Etheridge Collective's jurisdiction only goes so far as the village, the Ryokan Highlands, and their own lives in the alternate world.

## Notable Cities and Landmarks

* Lunaris - A huge city situated east of the city of Naxera; technologically advanced with the aesthetic of a huge city like New York, located in the United States externally.
* Garmsby Village - A quaint village where everyone knows each other and their grandmother; the birthplace of the triplets
* Breezewood - A city situated in the trees just southeast of Arcturus, populated by Etheridgeon Macaws, where treehouses make this the perfect place for just about anyone who can fly; birthplace of Zeph.
* Arcturus - A city situated further north where it's cold year round, popular for its ski resorts and wintry climate for a cool getaway on a hot summer day. Populated and run by vehicles that can tolerate the cold and penguins; birthplace of Lumi.
* Naxera - A city that rivals Lunaris in population, known for its medieval aesthetic and celebrating its history, protected by soldiers, battlements, and draw bridges even in the present day. It seems as though it's a time capsule for the nostalgic.
* Tidestone - A small community located on a small island, the only way to get to it is by boat. Because a magic darkness covers the community at night, street lights and headlights do not have an illuminating effect; therefore, it's important to go with a local if you plan to visit at night for they can only use echolocation to travel about the dark roads.
* Lorcan Creek - A creek situated near Garmsby Village in a densely packed forest; contains the first Phase Zone Kodachi ever discovered. Named by a legendary warrior named Lorcan who supposedly founded the village and died there in his final fight with a Wrecker mage to protect it.
* Rokeby - A village to the east, isolated from civilization by way of having no roads. The citizens of that municipality have tried to get someone to go out there to give them roads, but nobody has responded.
* Thornloe - A village to the northeast, sister villages with Garmsby Village; birthplace of Tachi Tsurugi
* Buryn Ridge - A mountain range near Thornloe, popular for being scenic and for having a makeout point. It's been closed for restructuring due to erosion over the years.
* Lakecrest Hollow - Another town where it's just for passing through with a gas station, ATM, a couple of fast food joints, and a car parts store. Rivals with Meadowglen.
* Meadowglen - A region further south of Garmsby Village, not much is known about it except that it's a country side populated by a few rival gas stations, a famous diner, an ATM, and a convenience store. Rivals with Lakecrest Hollow.
* Halstead Acres - A farm owned by the mayor in Rokeby, the source of a ton of grains and other vegetables for other cities and villages. Some have said that the lack of roads comes from the desire to have no one come in and take his vegetables.
* Gumberry Ridge - The mountain ridge that one needs to pass through to get from Arcturus to Breezewood, named for its poisonous berry bushes that prove lethal to Etheridgeon Macaws, but strangely not to other races that exist in Etheridge.
* Shuugou-Mura - A village that acts as the capital of the Ryokan Highlands, run and protected by the Etheridge Collective. They are an established trade village.