Isodia

### Introduction

Great spires of gleaming blue and green rise slowly from the moss covered forest trees deep within the Swamp of Sorrows. Masterfully worked stonework spires, wrapped in green vines, hold large pulsating blue crystals aloft above them. Levitating high into the air. And it is these four crystals that represent the northern, southern, western, and eastern boundaries of Isodia.

After crossing great swaths of bog-lands and marshes, a traveler would be able to reach one of Isodia's great gates. But once through the gates, said traveler would be beset by strange and wondrous peoples' and cultures, all mixed together and intertwined. For the greatest power of Isodia, isn't their extensive and powerful technology and higher learning, but it is their diversity and culture.

### The People of Isodia

The strangeness of the people of Isodia is that the amount of 'people' who live there. For Isodia is inhabited by a multitude of races, though humans are the only humanoid race that live there. Most of the races of Isodia are actually different animals with levels of intelligence that rival and mayhaps outshine that of humans.

All of the races live together in harmony, enjoying peace and prosperity within their great gates and natural barriers of swampland. Of these creatures, there have emerged certain species that have maintained control within the government of Isodia, which is a republic. These hierarchical leading races are as follows.

#### The Leading Races of Isodia

##### The Wolf Lords

Due to the current Isodian Prime Minister, the wolves of Isodia are currently the most wealthy race and usually sit as political leaders of towns and cities within Isodia.

##### The Great Bears

The bears are in charge of the Isodian military.

##### The Elder Owls

The owls are in charge of the academies and scholarly pursuits.

##### The Green Dragons

The very first green dragon lives within the boundaries of Isodia, and from her all of the green dragons have come. The Isodian forests and skies are filled with these powerful and intelligent beasts. Their magical prowess mixed with the inginuity of the other Isodian races is the main contribution is Isodia's prosperity.

##### The Deep Ones

A small council of Kraken and Sea Serpents who control the Isodian navy, and are the reason why the Isodians are feared on the water by all but the children of Uruk.

##### The Lancelette Shreekers

The ruling class of humans in Isodia is comprised of women. Wielding crystalline lances capable of releasing blasts of arcane energy, these women make up the majority of Isodian's ranged military.

### Isodian Technology and Higher Learning

Isodia boasts some of the most advanced magical technology in all of Ori. Through advanced application of the scientific method, the Isodians have figured out ways to design ways to catch and pull the energy of the Sruth from the world around them. And this is reflected in their homes and living conditions. Isodian diggers and mining units are powered directly from the magic in the air around them, and channeled through these machines through runic circuits carved or inlaid into the machines. And this is only one example of advanced machinery with seemingly unlimited magical power.

With such advanced machinery, the Isodians have a thriving domestic economy. Their homes and walls are made of treated lumber and sided with sheets of thick paper with ground stone between them, a.k.a. drywall. Their use of powdered stone is so advanced, that many of their streets are not cobble-stoned, but are made of poured concrete. And with concrete as a substitute for raw stone, the walls of Isodia lack many weaknesses. The homes that these walls protect also have intricate arcane circuits running through the concrete streets to each house, proving them with what is essentially basic electricity.

The Lancelette Shreekers' lances have the same arcane circuits running through them, drawing raw magics from around them to fire beams of scalding and chaotic energies. This technology has also been adapted for larger scaled use, in the form of advanced beam cannons. Bear officers often have shoulder mounted beam cannons that they wear into battle, and a few of the owls who join in warfare are outfitted with beam-shooting helmets.

### The Great Enemy

Isodia is a utopian paradise, where not only are all peoples and creatures welcome, but they are treated as equals. It is a wonderful place of prosperity, where the standard of living is thousands of years more advanced then that of Ori's other nations. Their army, weapons, armor, and standard equipment is highly advanced. But they have what is essentially a natural predator. The peoples of Uruk.

The Urs, the Mors, and the Morikan are the natural enemies of the Isodian people. The Isodian Kraken and great Sea Serpents could annihilate most fleets. Except for the monster hunters of Uruk. The Urs, who thrive on the ancient and magic rich blood of Isodia's Deep Ones and their Dragons thrive against them on every front of battle. In every direct conflict with Uruk, the Isodians have lost. Their wars and conflicts have stretched across millennia, with the children of Uruk always winning, taking living prisoners in large numbers, and then leaving the Isodians to rebuild and repopulate.

The children of Uruk never want to destroy Isodia. They just want to drink of its magic enriched blood.