◇◇◇

WORLD INTRODUCTION

the land arcana is a fantasy universe where the big cat species of pantheryx (citizens  of the land arcana + individuals born within are called arcantherans,  individuals born outside of it are outborn) are the dominant life form. all types of biomes are present in the land arcana: savannahs, forests, shrubland, tundra, highlands, jungle, and more. the land is bordered all around by the endless ocean,  which like its name suggests stretches across the horizon to seemingly  infinite waters. no arcantheran has ventured far across its waters and  ever come back to tell the tale.

the borders within the land  arcana can change every few months, depending on the faction that has  claimed the piece of land. the factions warring over territory ownership  are the faeric faction, the netheric faction and the aetheric faction. lands owned by the faeric are designated as faethos domain, lands owned by the netheric are nethos domain, and to aetheric is aethos domain.

◇◇◇

FACTION TERRITORY

the factions do not have any one united piece of land for each to defend  - they are scattered in a patchwork of varying borders and territories.  all  members of a respective faction, regardless of geographic difference,  tend to treat each other as allies and work towards the same goal - of  one day uniting both their land and people into one  infallible whole. for now they remain divided, fighting their own  individual battles and exchanging communications when they can. they can  arrange to send forces and resources across long distances if a fellow  faction guild is in great need of aid.

◇◇◇

FACTION SETTLEMENTS

in the first era, faction bases consist of temporary, mobile encampments designed to be packed up and on the move at a moment's notice. huts,  tents, and caravans are common choice of construction. they have  multiple campsites scattered throughout the land and are always building  new ones when advantageous.

in the second era, large guilds are able to patrol and protect larger swaths of territory.  they own land for much longer periods of time, only able to be driven  out by force if put to siege and invaded. only smaller guilds live a  nomadic lifestyle, driven around by border wars with neighboring  factions. during the magic war, the landscape is scarred and morphed by  the many elemental battles waged and fought. once the kingdom is set up and the lands are unified, guilds of the same faction in an area are ordered to unite into a city, where permanent structures are put up.  nomads become more and more uncommon, being some of the few that can  escape the jurisdiction of the council and live on their own terms.

in the third era, a lot of the major cities are razed to the ground in the chaos that arrival the lion of a thousand spirits brings. the  power of the spirits destroying the unification of the kingdom rocks the  landscape. once the lion of a thousand spirits leaves, the citizens of  the land arcana must rebuild. all guilds become self-governing once more. they  are semi-nomadic and build settlements and camps on the lands they have  the power to claim and control, while other patches of land are fought  over, traded, negotiated, or designated as neutral territory. eventually, in the permanent settlements new cities are built. the ruins of old ones are preserved as cultural monuments and become objects of great archaeological study.

in the fourth era, building becomes focused on making bunkers, barracks and protective spaces against the oncoming onslaught of the lionslayers. the lionslayers bring destruction in their wake. once the land splits into floating islands and the lionslayers leave, the most common form of home are flying ships and contraptions that can both navigate and serve as shelter for those aboard.

in general, each faction has their own respective shrines, festival grounds, and other cultural monuments created by generations past. each is heavily enchanted to only allow the presence of the faction that created it.  outsiders will struggle to break the magical boundaries, but it is  possible with combined efforts and strong magic users. there are ruins  of buildings razed to the ground by enemy factions successful in their  invasion. portals to outside universes can be found scattered throughout  the land arcana and are quite valuable.

◇◇◇

THE NEUTROS

in the heart of the land arcana lies the center lake. it is a day's journey inward by boat or wing to reach a large island obscured by trails of mist and fog: the neutros. it is designated neutral territory by all factions, so anyone is welcome to step afoot on it. a community of factionless arcantherans reside here. the island coverage consists mostly of dense and mysterious rainforest that is difficult to navigate without a guide. the wildlife of the  neutros escape arcantheran documentation, for they are quite reclusive  and seem to be in a constant state of mutation. as they never quite  retain the same shape and properties over time, records of what exactly  can be found there are inconsistent. there are also hidden dangers and  pitfalls on the island, as well as traps seemingly set long ago by  unknown entities, just waiting to be sprung.

the residents of the neutros have worked hard to make living on the island possible, though difficult and treacherous,  it is worth it to most for the simple fact of safety from the conflict  that bars peace from being maintained on the mainland. they welcome any  soul looking to remove themselves from political alignment and  complication; their motto is to seek peaceful and simple living with no  boundaries. they cannot afford to fight over what few secure resources  they have.

somewhere in the deepest, most hidden regions of the island are spirit portals, structures that allow an arcantheran to embark on a journey to the domain of spirits. there they can seek out a spirit to bind with.

◇◇◇

THE SPIRAROS

neighboring the land arcana is the dimension of the spiraros,  the domain of spirits. the appearance and terrain of the spiraros  morphs itself to symbolically reflect the mind of the individual  navigating it. arcanthera lose the necessity to eat or drink or otherwise take care of their bodily needs when in the spiraros, as  the domain magically keeps their needs fulfilled the whole time they are  there.

time does not function like normal in the spiraros.  arcanthera have been reported to trek it for seemingly a few hours,  only to emerge to return to a land arcana hundreds of years into the  future. these time jumps leave them to make the most of their lives in  their new era, at least until the next time they gain entry to the  spiraros to test their chances. it’s always a gamble entering the  spiraros, as any  traveler must be prepared for the possibility of leaving their friends  and family forever, to be thrust into a completely different era.

every arcantheran walks the spiraros alone.  even if multiple individuals enter the portal at the same time, they  will never cross paths, as the spiraros paves a unique route tailored to  each one.

spirits roam the shifting landscape, building  theoretical scenarios and playing out dreams and nightmares of different  arcanthera of various eras. some of arcanthera long dead, others yet to  be born - or at least, by the point in timeline that a traveler came  from. visions of possible futures and reflections of the past are plentiful here, sometimes clouding a traveler’s senses completely, which is quite disorienting to experience.

arcanthera cannot die while in the spiraros,  though it’s rumored that some lose sight of who they are and what they  are doing, for all eternity doomed to wander the ethereal plane.

to  leave the spiraros you must tame a spirit. once a spirit is tamed, the  pantheryc is involuntarily brought back into the land arcana through a  fractured wormhole they are thrust into the moment the spirit enters  their body.

◇◇◇

THE DREAMSCAPE

the dreamscape is the realm accessible to the arcanthera only through their dreams. they transcend space and time in that, by varying chance and occasion, arcanthera of different eras can meet in their dreams.

◇◇◇