Sparksong - The World
As with our own, the citizens of the world in which Sparksong is set haven't really named it anything special (have we named our universe yet? I didn't think so). They use an old word for "the everything - erisde - to refer to all that is known and unknown. But that isn't a proper name. I might make one up eventually just for reference.
Geography and Political Divisions
This world is, climate-wise, very similar to Earth's. There are poles, north and south, where everything is frozen and no one lives. Halfway between the north and south poles is the hottest part of the world, with deserts, jungles, and even a savanna. Also like Earth, mammals are the dominate species.
There are two populated continents, both in the southern hemisphere:
Riens (reens) is the larger and more populated of the two with the most varied climate. There are five countries. Tesni, Elith, Lauhkina, Arvel, Anwyn.
The northernmost, Tesni, is Zahra's homeland and is mostly desert. It is also the largest area-wise.
South of that are Elith, the only non-monarchy (it's a fledgling republic), and Lauhkina, which contains most of an inland sea of the same name and is heavily populated.
Arvel is home to the sacred River Tallulah, and is thus Meivu's homeland, and has more spirits than people, due to the current king's pro-environment (for lack of a better term) policies.
And finally Anwyn is southernmost. It is mostly mountains in the north and tundra past that.
Alyenor (al-ee-yea-nor) is the smaller continent, containing two minor countries: the poor fishing-sustained Cecipi (keh-kee-pee) and the mysterious Lahni, which was supposedly wiped out in a tsunami years ago.
* Riens is based on the Arthurian myth name "Rience", while Alyenor is an elaborated form of "Aliénor" ("Eleanor" is derived from this), which is of Germanic orgin and means "the other". Tesni - "warmth from the sun" in Welsh. Elith - based on Scottish Gaelic "Alyth" meaning "rising". Lauhkina - from Scottish Gaelic for "lake-land". Arvel - "wept over" in Welsh. Anwyn - based on Annwn, the Welsh underworld.
Non-Human Residents
"Spirits" is the generic name for the creatures born from, tied to, and constantly associated with natural features of this world. Think nymphs of Greek myth. Sort of.
The most common population-wise are probably the sea spirits, but few ever see those.
The ones most people think of when they hear 'spirit' are the wood spirits, which due to their fierce protection of the forest are a hot topic these days (the king of Arvel has continuously denied requests to eradicate "the spirit menace") and children grow up on constant warnings to avoid the wildwood.
Less well-known but perhaps more often seen in human populations are the river-daughters. Unlike their mortal frenemies the wood spirits, river-daughters are able to blend into humans quite easily: with a bit of dye (their hair is usually blue) and the proper hairstyle/hood to hide the slightly pointed ears, they can easily blend into crowd. There are river-daughters for even the smallest creek, but the greatest river, Tallulah the Abundance, is the only one able to support thousands of children.
There are also desert spirits, mountain spirits, volcano spirits, lake spirits, and others, even supposedly star spirits, although the latter's existence is only legend.
Elves were once the dominant race over humans, but have long disapperared. There are still a few noble families who claim elvish ancestry, but since even the slighest point to an ear or an unusually tall child are considered evidence... it's questionable. (No, there are no "elves in hiding". I'm not that big into cliches. And they won't be making a miraculous comeback, either!)
Like any good society, humans in erisde have tall tales of fantastic beasts like dragons and faeries and trolls (okay, trolls are real here. They're just reclusive and live only in the frozen south), but unique to this land are the fel-withryn, a creature that I of Earth can only describe as a cross between a bird, a frog, and a blimp. I'll draw it sometime. ;)
Geography and Political Divisions
This world is, climate-wise, very similar to Earth's. There are poles, north and south, where everything is frozen and no one lives. Halfway between the north and south poles is the hottest part of the world, with deserts, jungles, and even a savanna. Also like Earth, mammals are the dominate species.
There are two populated continents, both in the southern hemisphere:
Riens (reens) is the larger and more populated of the two with the most varied climate. There are five countries. Tesni, Elith, Lauhkina, Arvel, Anwyn.
The northernmost, Tesni, is Zahra's homeland and is mostly desert. It is also the largest area-wise.
South of that are Elith, the only non-monarchy (it's a fledgling republic), and Lauhkina, which contains most of an inland sea of the same name and is heavily populated.
Arvel is home to the sacred River Tallulah, and is thus Meivu's homeland, and has more spirits than people, due to the current king's pro-environment (for lack of a better term) policies.
And finally Anwyn is southernmost. It is mostly mountains in the north and tundra past that.
Alyenor (al-ee-yea-nor) is the smaller continent, containing two minor countries: the poor fishing-sustained Cecipi (keh-kee-pee) and the mysterious Lahni, which was supposedly wiped out in a tsunami years ago.
* Riens is based on the Arthurian myth name "Rience", while Alyenor is an elaborated form of "Aliénor" ("Eleanor" is derived from this), which is of Germanic orgin and means "the other". Tesni - "warmth from the sun" in Welsh. Elith - based on Scottish Gaelic "Alyth" meaning "rising". Lauhkina - from Scottish Gaelic for "lake-land". Arvel - "wept over" in Welsh. Anwyn - based on Annwn, the Welsh underworld.
Non-Human Residents
"Spirits" is the generic name for the creatures born from, tied to, and constantly associated with natural features of this world. Think nymphs of Greek myth. Sort of.
The most common population-wise are probably the sea spirits, but few ever see those.
The ones most people think of when they hear 'spirit' are the wood spirits, which due to their fierce protection of the forest are a hot topic these days (the king of Arvel has continuously denied requests to eradicate "the spirit menace") and children grow up on constant warnings to avoid the wildwood.
Less well-known but perhaps more often seen in human populations are the river-daughters. Unlike their mortal frenemies the wood spirits, river-daughters are able to blend into humans quite easily: with a bit of dye (their hair is usually blue) and the proper hairstyle/hood to hide the slightly pointed ears, they can easily blend into crowd. There are river-daughters for even the smallest creek, but the greatest river, Tallulah the Abundance, is the only one able to support thousands of children.
There are also desert spirits, mountain spirits, volcano spirits, lake spirits, and others, even supposedly star spirits, although the latter's existence is only legend.
Elves were once the dominant race over humans, but have long disapperared. There are still a few noble families who claim elvish ancestry, but since even the slighest point to an ear or an unusually tall child are considered evidence... it's questionable. (No, there are no "elves in hiding". I'm not that big into cliches. And they won't be making a miraculous comeback, either!)
Like any good society, humans in erisde have tall tales of fantastic beasts like dragons and faeries and trolls (okay, trolls are real here. They're just reclusive and live only in the frozen south), but unique to this land are the fel-withryn, a creature that I of Earth can only describe as a cross between a bird, a frog, and a blimp. I'll draw it sometime. ;)