zallia-and-beyond

[zallia-and-beyond]

Lavienne & Vernir - A paradise-bird and raven - Bard & Ninja

Siblings born from an angel and a demon, blessed with Primordial power, they grew up in a whimsical life, absent of responsibility. They were well-traveled from an early age, brought along by their parents' theater troupe and learned well the importance of performance. Very little did their parents ever tell them 'no,' and often when they did, it came with a challenge to overcome.

Thus did the pair develop an unhealthy taste for pursuing their desires above all else, foregoing societal norms, and taking what did not (yet) belong to them. They see themselves less as entitled brats and more like daring, dashing rogues, eager to challenge themselves with bigger and riskier scores. One thing they detest the most is killing, after all, for what fun would there be in stealing from someone who cannot notice their things are missing?

To them, life is a game, meant to be enjoyed without restraint. A game wherein they must always come out on top only to reset the score and go again and again.

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Nirdalor, a city built around its industry for airship. A city who grew up instead of out, resorting to building on top of its buildings for generations. A city whose centerpiece is a maestrom of design and a miracle of structural integrity.

It isn't a natural part of Zallia, rather it is a city native to Abelay, one of the continents of Ilseron, the planet that had suffered most in the Joining of Worlds. It is one of few places where airship construction, engineering, and maintenance is a huge priority, bringing in people from all sorts, and this now includes curious Zallians.

In my campaign, the party has just arrived here with their own airship, constructed as a reward for breaking a coup and slaying one of Ilseron's most infamous villains.

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Player sprite - Avenrath

Royal bear Bloodrager (ursine sub-species, known for their horns and spiky manes)

He belongs to his creator, by the same name

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A Note on Angels and Demons

While denizens of the Zallian Immortal Realms share the moniker of "angel" and "demon," they hold no relation to the Outer Planes of Heaven or the Abyss. In a similar vein, these immortals do not always come from regular mortals swearing away their souls. The process of conversion varies wildly between immortal domains, in fact.

The easiest way to tell if one used to be a mortal is to simply ask for their name. Natural-born immortals, whether angel or demon, tend to lack a surname of any kind. In contrast, those that had been mortal often express a certain, innate pride in their surname.

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Melody Byran

Few people get to meet their heroes and come away with a positive tale to tell. Melody's beginnings in Zallia were strained as she utterly failed to calm herself in the face of the fantasy world she had read so much about. She hails from Mundus, after all - a world devoid of magic, whose land was graced with a wrongfully-exiled Syrenax Durellion. Through the mercy of the Storyteller, the unicorn was allowed to maintain contact with a select few individuals from Zallia, all with her memories locked away and a new persona - Sindravier Durell, a fantasy book writer - communicating in her stead. To sell the illusion, she was nudged in the right direction to become an accomplished novelist, and Melody was hooked upon the series.

She is an avid cosplayer, fanfic writer, and theorycrafter, and having the opportunity to not only discover her fantasies were real, but to actually travel there, was a dream come true. She left her family with little hesitation and joyously traveled back alongside an adventuring party that had happened to visit her world at the right place and time. Melody is a lover of magic and rogues, and she gravitated toward both of these things when given the opportunity. But after a series of near-death experiences, she's taken a step back to put her outfit-designing skills to the test. Going out dressed like a typical wizard was getting her targeted, for the smarter foes knew to slay the squishier mages. Now, she presents herself like a mercenary, looking the part as a native to the land itself and one much more comfortable with her place in the world.

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Joule, the Blackbird

One man's journey can take them across the world, spurred on by an adventurous spirit just as much as spiteful disdain. Joule is of the latter, for the father he had brought him up in mundane secrecy. Jealous of the rest of the family for their primordial power and displeased with his prolonged life, he sought to keep Joule from them, but this was made with an unrestrained cruelty. It came as no surprise when he simply disappeared one day, seeking the wider world beyond their dingy village.

He flew across Vitwyr, sailed the Endless, and continued his journey into Felwyr before meeting his mentor, Rosa Durellion. He thought they'd all the time in the world - him being a demon, and she a unicorn - and through her would he discover a lifelong passion for pursuing the unknown. However, his more macabre interests meant the two could not remain together forever, and Joule made his way into the service of the demonic Lord of the Arcane.

Within his Spiral Tower did many an atrocity be committed, all in the name of research. He would do what few had the stomach for and would learn all he could of peoples' bodies - how they worked, how they were different from one another. He became a well-respected professor there, yet still would he be unsatisfied as the years dragged on.

During his service, he befriended the soul of a dragon, one long since passed, whose body had been stored away in secret. Its fundamental parts were split apart, and Triax - in a pursuit of hateful vengeance - tortured each in their own, unique ways. Joule took this soul into himself and prepared to exit his service as quickly as possible. Doing so would send him into his estranged son's path - one he had sired in his off-time and had not the chance to meet. How could he when his mate at the time despised him for being a demon; he assumed the chick would have been cast into the ocean...

As time went on, the sorcerer's heart softened, forming a much-needed bond with his boy and the dragon he would eventually be separated from.

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Lawrie, the Lifebringer

The Aviary's name has been besmirched and withered from their zealous acts and fervent worship of Ryuka III - their Blazing Sun. Lawrie was fortunate to separated from the military wing when she did, as she avoided the tarnished reputation that came with being associated with them.

Her cousin gave her an out that her elder brother allowed. With him would she see the demise of the Third, the truth of the world, and the growth of her unique powers - separate to the divine. That is not to say her divine power is weak in comparison. She is not called Lifebringer lightly, for the light of her god's holy sun shines through her. An ultimate mercy is cast from her fingertips, dispelling death itself.

She wields the end of a halberd, hewn from its haft and its metal of sunny mithral - her 'Brightgold Sunrise.' And as a former member of the Aviary, she is an expert of aerial combat, often declaring her sky-diving charge with a shrill cry. It is only on the battlefield that she is this loud; elsewhere, the angel is as reserved as she is a focused, serious woman. She struggles to relax, opting to stay ready for the next threat, wherever it may be, and it takes a special moment (away from her cousin) to afford her the security to take a load off.

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A mystery lays nestled in the roots of the White Oak. Its chamber, filled with floating, colorful lights is not often what one pictures as the pale roots' rest. The demons of the Hunters' sect guard this place, but only those granted greater power by its Lord may visit this hallowed place. None, however, know what the empty gateway is doing here; its stone is not of Zallia, nor D'carta, and the markings etched into it depict an unknown language.

To lords past, it is a symbol of their sacred responsibility to nature. They need not understand it to know they must protect and respect it. And so their vigil continues...

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The Verdant Plane is dotted with innumerable world trees, whose tops hold gateways to the countless worlds of the Material. For those who withstand the the fey's trials to walk beyond these treetops, it is an invaluable bridge to these other places. But what of the bridges whose destination no longer exists?

When Ilseron was torn asunder and merged with Zallia, its gateway shattered, too. The cracks spread to the treetop's fountain, its elemental guardians withered away, and the waters ran black as its tree turned gray. Whatever remained was tainted with a deathly foulness - to grieve the lost world.

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Context: As I was implementing regular, Pathfinder-specific Outer Planes, I had a few ideas. The Verdant was one of them. It's just a mish-mash of various existing places to make it a little more explorable - the Feywild, the Plane of Earth, etc. Just one of the many things on the endless to-do list of concepts I need to illustrate.

~Mizu

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The sewers underneath Aor'b'se are a dank and dreary place, infested with all manner of oversized bug and lurking crocodile just waiting for a hapless kobold to come 'round for an evening snack. In summers past, they were used to transport and store stolen goods out of the city, away from their noble dragon's watchful eye.

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It's strange to think that this map was made for and used in the previous arc for my weekly campaign, and yet that was just over a year ago, before our move to Foundry. I'd a lot more time, then, to do this sort of thing, but I'm proud enough to share it here c:

~Mizu

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Ryuka IV

Known as: the Fourth, Godling Influence: the Sun, healing Species: Phoenix Alignment: Lawful Good Weapon: Sunbeam Lance

Once upon a time, Ryuka was known as the God of all gods; his power was undisputed and mighty. Thrice since then, he has been killed, and thrice has he been reborn from his own ashes. It became simpler for his fellow immortals to offer a nickname with each rebirth; his mightiest rule was the First, and the Second and Third were the warmongers of his lifetimes. The latter-most lifetime was, mercifully, stopped by Syrenax Durellion and a group of adventurers before he could complete a grisly ritual.

Now, Ryuka the Fourth lives to command the power of the sun. Unlike his past lives, he was not brought up in the midst of war and ruin, allowing him to focus on the goodness and warmth he is meant to represent. He is still young for an immortal, however; as a phoenix, he rapidly ages up to a certain, discernible plateau most comparable to one that has just reached young adulthood, but he is still only three years into this latest life. Worse yet, he has been forced to endure a sullen reputation at the hands of his predecessor, left to mend what had been broken between himself and his mortal followers… and the divine immortals who call him kin.

He resides in the Gold Peaks, specifically within the same palace which his Solaris Guard operate out from. Tangential to this guard is the Aviary, a militaristic, zealous wing of Ryuka’s angelic followers that, in recent years, have fully separated themselves from his service, dedicating themselves to the Third – their “Blazing Sun.” Within this region lay the Tower of Creation, a parallel leyline which stretches high into the heavens above; due to the presence of the astral currents, reaching the peak is impossible, and there is no way to enter this mysterious structure.

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Felwyr

What was once a relatively small continent was rocked heavily by the Joining. Thousands perished along the southwestern coast, with the Caedan and So’arcan people left reeling. But over time, all has settled; the dead have been honored, the living rebuild connections, and new lands have opened for both its peoples.

On one hand, the proper land of Felwyr, with some few, wide-spanning nations, overseen by royalty. Their citizens, tired with endless war, seek peace and prosperity, driving many to leave the Ryukan faith in favor of Arkathan. Some wish only for stability, for the universe to cease its constant challenges. And others seek adventure; with the Joining came a boom in technology, opening the world to many who never would have seen beyond the Endless Ocean.

On the other is the region of Abelay - a chunk of the world of Ilseron, and the largest to be pulled over from the other planet. It is a land without borders, save for what nature made. Unlike Zallia, whose diversity in species spans all manner of fur, scale, and feather, the sentient denizens of Ilseron evolved solely into those of scales - dragons, lizards, reptiles, and especially kobolds. There is no royalty in Abelay - only the various ‘tribes’ of kobolds, led by their dragon.

More to come, country by country, region by region

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~ Welcome ~

Zallia is but a world, somewhere out there among the stars, and like many distant lands, it is one of magic, wonder, and war. It is a young world, one with a deeper, hidden purpose known only to those which govern our universe. Parallel to it is a wholly unseen realm, and in recent years, ties to other, outer realms have cropped up as well.

This world - and some few connected to it - have been my world for the last half-decade, and it’s my pleasure to share it with others. It’s a source of inspiration for my writing and (attempts at) art, a setting for tabletop games, and an obsession ever since the first couple locations were established.

This blog is solely dedicated to sharing anything and everything related to the setting - from its denizens to its locales to the deities that preside over it and the primordial entities beyond - whether art, lore, or writings, this is where I plan to show it off. I’m more than happy answering questions about anything as things go up :>

May the sun shine bright upon you~

@deep-sea-dragon​