Terasil: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 17:03, 25 April 2025

Terasil

Regions	Sanctuary Vale • Yalta Expanse • Fractured Wedge • Citadel Mountains • Murazkar Range • Boundary Mountains • Khargaath Range
Spirit	Varunel • Tehrum
Native Races	Duranthi • Capamnos
Notable Settlements	Kar-Thal
Significance	A realm of stone and memory.

Terasil is a realm of mountains and memory situated within the wider material plane of Orethil. At the core of Terasil stands the Citadel Mountains, an unyielding range that forms the boundary of the Domain of Oras, the last untouched expression of Oras’s intent. Surrounding this sanctuary, the realm of Terasil unfolds in dry valleys, weathered hills, massive mountains and savannah expanses.

During the age of ascendance, Tehrum, the spirit of mountains and stone and Varunel the spirit of memory made Terasil their home and shaped the realm we know today. To live in Terasil is to walk upon a living record. The stones carry not only names and moments, but also the burden of unalterable memory. While the realm provides stability and clarity, it also resists transformation. Innovation is viewed with suspicion, and even necessary change is often filtered through layers of precedent, ritual, and ancestral permission.

History

The Age of Ascendance (c. BME 100,000-50,000)

After the realms stabilized, the ascendant spirits took over the primordial realms in pairs. Varunel and Tehrum settled in central Orethil but the domain of Oras. Tehrum, shaped the tangible aspects of the realms. The mountains and highlands, but also geographic instability. Varunel the intangible aspects. Imbuing the land with memory but also stagnation.

The Great Migration (c. BME 50,000-20,000)

Trueborn humans migrating from their ancestral home of Awenelir during the Great Migration, moved throughout the newly formed Orethil. In Terasil humans became the Duranthi.

The Age of Deep Roads (c. BME 20,000-0)

As surface erosion intensified, subterranean life expanded from nearby Minthal. The Minthari forged extensive tunnel networks. The development of the Deep Roads facilitated trade and cultural exchange between the Minthari and Duranthi.

Modern Terasil (0 ME-Present)

Terasil today endures as a realm defined by continuity and resilience. Its landscapes—mountains, valleys, and underground cities—bear the imprint of transformation. While the Duranthi maintain ancestral customs rooted in spiritual attunement with stone and memory, the Capamnos continue to maintain their isolation in the mountains of Terasil.

Geography

The geography of Terasil is a physical record—its terrain acting not just as space, but as a layered archive of history and memory. From the impenetrable stone flanks of the Citadel Mountains to the weathered expanses of its valleys and steppe lands, Terasil reflects not only geological time but cultural stillness.

Regions

The prime regions of Terasil are the valleys of Sanctuary Vale, Yalta Expanse, and the Fractured Wedge. These are nestled between the mountain regions of the Citadel Mountains, the Murazkar Range, the Boundary Mountains, and the Khargaath Range.

Climate

Terasil exhibits a range of climates based on altitude and terrain. Mountains experience cold, arid conditions, while valleys maintain temperate climates with seasonal rainfall. Plains are generally arid with sharp temperature variation. Subterranean regions retain consistent, cool temperatures year-round.

Flora and fauna

The biodiversity of Terasil reflects its elemental alignment and geological age. Its ecosystems are home to resilient species adapted to rocky, mineral-rich environments. Life forms range from surface-dwelling herbivores to deep-dwelling predators, with many possessing unique traits influenced by the realm’s spiritual energies.

Native Races

Duranthi

The Duranthi are a human-descended people native to the high valleys, ridge cities, and plateaus of central Terasil.

Capamnos

The Capamnos are natives who live high in mountain villages of various ranges of Terasil.

Native Spirits

Spiritual life in Terasil is governed by a stratified ecology of spirits that reflects the realm’s deep alignment with earth, memory, and the burden of continuity. While the spirit Tehrum anchors the physical foundation of Terasil, Varunel, the spirit of Memory and History anchors the metaphysical. Together, these forces define Terasil's spiritual logic.

The spirits of Terasil range from momentary flickers of awareness to enduring entities inscribed in cultural and geological memory. Their interaction with mortal life is structured and deliberate—spirits are neither worshiped casually nor summoned lightly, and all rituals are shaped by archival precedent.

Nascent Spirits

Nascent spirits are newly formed, unstable presences. Often tied to minor geological actions, they manifest from shifting sediment, mineral formation, or momentary resonance. These spirits are brief and reactive—invoked in basic rites by novices or used as indicators of change in a deeply static world.

Mature Spirits

Mature spirits arise from repeated patterns and communal recognition. Unlike nascent spirits, they possess defined personality traits and limited agency. They are invoked in everyday Duranthi and Capamos life.

These spirits are neither fully autonomous nor entirely symbolic—they occupy the middle realm between presence and concept, often entangled with local rites or vocational traditions.

Ancestral Spirits

Ancestral spirits are the oldest and most deeply rooted entities in Terasil, often embodying events, lineages, or epochs. Unlike gods or elemental lords, they are not omnipotent—but they are vast, weighty, and embedded in the realm’s long memory.

They are rarely invoked directly. Most communication occurs through rituals. Appeasement, not command, defines the relationship.

Examples:

Tharoz-Mir – The spirit of the Deep Roads and the memory of every journey beneath the realm. Felt more than seen, Tharoz-Mir listens across distances, recording the passage of all who travel the underpaths.
Orak-Thun – Revered as the first sentient mountain, Orak-Thun serves as a point of lineage realignment and generational reckoning. Its presence is marked not by voice, but by seismic stillness and unchanging shadow.

Notable settlements

Kar-Thal: An ancient Orasian city carved into a mountain. It houses governing elders and sacred spaces.

Notable Features: The Great Hall of Oras and the Catacombs of Eternity, both central to Orasian ritual and governance.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{Realms of Orethil Infobox
-|Image=[[File:Terasil - General 03.jpg|center|frameless]]
+|Realms of Orethil Name=Terasil
-|Size=1,278,911 Square Miles
+|Image=[[File:Terasil Citadel Mountains.jpg|center|frameless]]
-|Spirit=Varunel, Oras
+|Regions=Sanctuary Vale, Yalta Expanse, Fractured Wedge, Citadel Mountains, Murazkar Range, Boundary Mountains, Khargaath Range
-|Inhabitants=Orasians, Duranthi
+|Spirit=[[Varunel]], [[Tehrum]]
-|Significance=The oldest physical realm, home to ancient societies and foundational spiritual influence.
+|Inhabitants=Duranthi, [[Capamnos]]
-|Realm Name=Terasil
+|Notable Settlements=Kar-Thal
+|Significance=A realm of stone and memory.
 }}
 {{Realms of Orethil Sections
-|Introduction=Terasil is a realm of enduring stone, fractured memory, and ancient presence—situated within the wider material plane of [[Orethil]]. While the [[Primordial Spirit|primordial spirit]] [[Oras]] shaped the world itself, it is within Terasil that the principles of History, Memory, and conversely Stagnation have taken deepest root. Once shaped by the force of earth alone, Terasil has become a place where time is preserved in form, and where the past is not merely remembered—it is layered into the land.
+|Introduction=Terasil is a realm of mountains and memory situated within the wider material plane of [[Orethil]]. At the core of Terasil stands the [[Citadel Mountains]], an unyielding range that forms the boundary of the Domain of [[Oras]], the last untouched expression of Oras’s intent. Surrounding this sanctuary, the realm of Terasil unfolds in dry valleys, weathered hills, massive mountains and savannah expanses.
-At the core of Terasil stands the [[Citadel Mountains]], an unyielding range that forms the last untouched expression of Oras’s intent. Within these mountains lies the Last Bastion of Oras, a region of elemental stillness. Surrounding this sanctuary, the broader realm of Terasil unfolds in dry valleys, weathered hills, savannah expanses, and deep-cut gorges—all imprinted with the slow erosion of change and the stratification of events.
+During the [[age of ascendance]], Tehrum, the spirit of mountains and stone and Varunel the spirit of memory made Terasil their home and shaped the realm we know today. To live in Terasil is to walk upon a living record. The stones carry not only names and moments, but also the burden of unalterable memory. While the realm provides stability and clarity, it also resists transformation. Innovation is viewed with suspicion, and even necessary change is often filtered through layers of precedent, ritual, and ancestral permission.
+|History==== The Age of Ascendance (c. BME 100,000-50,000) ===
+After the realms stabilized, the ascendant spirits took over the primordial realms in pairs. Varunel and Tehrum settled in central Orethil but the domain of Oras. Tehrum, shaped the tangible aspects of the realms. The mountains and highlands, but also geographic instability. Varunel the intangible aspects. Imbuing the land with memory but also stagnation.
-Terasil is now mostly shaped by the influence of [[Varunel]]the [[Ascendant Spirit]] of Memory. Unlike the silent permanence of Oras, Varunel’s domain is the record itself: events inscribed, truths preserved, and names carried forward through ritual and stone. Her presence is felt in memory caverns, inscribed ridgelines, petrified ruins, and in the daily practices of the realm’s mortal inhabitants—particularly the [[Duranthi]], stone-skinned humans who serve as keepers of lineage and structured remembrance.
+=== The Great Migration (c. BME 50,000-20,000) ===
+[[Trueborn]] humans migrating from their ancestral home of [[Awenelir]] during the [[Great Migration]], moved throughout the newly formed Orethil. In Terasil humans became the Duranthi.
-To live in Terasil is to walk upon a living record. The stones carry not only names and moments, but also the burden of unalterable memory. While the realm provides stability and clarity, it also resists transformation. Innovation is viewed with suspicion, and even necessary change is often filtered through layers of precedent, ritual, and ancestral permission.
-Terasil’s cultural and spiritual structures reflect this duality. The realm is a bastion of memory, but also a mirror of spiritual inertia—a place where history both illuminates and weighs down the present.
-|History==== The Great Migration (c. BME 50,000-20,000) ===
-Trueborn humans migrating from their ancestral home of [[Awenelir]], moved throughout the newly formed Orethil. In Terasil humans formed two distinct races over time. The keepers of Memory, the Stoneborn Duranthi and the followers of Greed and Desire, the Minthari.
 === The Age of Deep Roads (c. BME 20,000-0) ===
-As surface erosion intensified, subterranean life expanded. The [[Minthari]] forged extensive tunnel networks. The development of the [[Deep Roads]] facilitated trade and cultural exchange between the Minthari and Duranthi.
+As surface erosion intensified, subterranean life expanded from nearby [[Minthal]]. The [[Minthari]] forged extensive tunnel networks. The development of the [[Deep Roads]] facilitated trade and cultural exchange between the Minthari and Duranthi.
 ===Modern Terasil (0 ME-Present)===
-Terasil today endures as a realm defined by continuity and resilience. Its landscapes—mountains, valleys, and underground cities—bear the imprint of aeons of transformation. While the [[Duranthi]] maintain ancestral customs rooted in spiritual [[attunement]] with stone, the [[Minthari]] continue to expand and explore the depths of the subterranean world. The realm stands as a testament to endurance in the face of elemental change.
+Terasil today endures as a realm defined by continuity and resilience. Its landscapes—mountains, valleys, and underground cities—bear the imprint of transformation. While the [[Duranthi]] maintain ancestral customs rooted in spiritual [[attunement]] with stone and memory, the [[Capamnos]] continue to maintain their isolation in the mountains of Terasil.
 |Geography=<noautolinks>{{See also|Geography of Terasil}}</noautolinks>
-[[File:Citadel Mountains - General 02.jpg|thumb|Citadel Mountains]]
-The [[geography of Terasil]] is a physical record—its terrain acting not just as space, but as a layered archive of history and memory. From the impenetrable stone flanks of the Citadel Mountains to the weathered expanses of its valleys and steppe lands, Terasil reflects not only geological time but cultural stillness. Its surface is inscribed by ancient movement, collapse, and ritual intervention, while its subterranean spaces carry the weight of passage and preservation.
-Its features hold both practical and spiritual significance. [[Duranthi]] communities treat the land as a medium for ancestral record, while the [[Minthari]] continue to navigate and reshape its lower strata through excavation and trade.
-=== Mountain Ranges ===
-* Citadel Mountains: The central range and the heart of the Domain of Oras, these mountains are the most ancient and spiritually inert landforms in Terasil. Largely untouched since the Great Erosion, they house the last of the [[Orasians]] and remain inaccessible to most. Their imposing elevation casts a literal and metaphysical shadow over the realm, generating the rain shadow that created the [[Zanarak Desert]] to the east.
-* [[Anvil Range]]: A mineral-rich range located east of the Citadels. Over generations, Minthari mining has transformed these mountains into a web of extraction tunnels and processing chambers. The range’s surfaces are scarred with abandoned shafts and smelter ruins—some now regarded as haunted by forgotten contracts or dishonored spirits.
-* [[Murazkar Range]]: Situated along the western border, this mist-wreathed range is shaped by residual elemental influence. Though less rigid in spiritual structure, it supports hybrid ecosystems and outpost settlements that rely on intermittent trade and cautious ritual neutrality.
-=== Valleys and Plains ===
-* [[Sanctuary Vale]]: A semi-arid expanse and spiritual basin located between the Murazkar and Khargaath Ranges. It serves as the heartland of surface-dwelling Orasians and Duranthi, marked by ceremonial routes, agricultural stoneworks, and boundary observances. The landscape itself is treated as a memory vessel, with cairns, marker stones, and echo sites used to document both civic and personal events.
-* Emerald Valley: Once desolate, this valley was gradually restructured through layered stonework and water channeling. It is now cultivated with care by Duranthi lineages seeking to demonstrate controlled adaptation. The land is considered a “memory in transformation” and is heavily recorded across seasonal cycles.
-* Yalta Expanse: A dry, wind-scoured plain that bears the imprint of both tectonic and spiritual recession. Though inhospitable, it is home to enduring Duranthi enclaves that maintain oaths tied to ancient migration lines. Its stone ridges often feature inscribed paths visible only in angled light—used for ancestral navigation rather than direction.
+The [[geography of Terasil]] is a physical record—its terrain acting not just as space, but as a layered archive of history and memory. From the impenetrable stone flanks of the Citadel Mountains to the weathered expanses of its valleys and steppe lands, Terasil reflects not only geological time but cultural stillness.
+|Regions=The prime regions of Terasil are the valleys of [[Sanctuary Vale]], [[Yalta Expanse|Yalta Expanse,]] and the Fractured Wedge. These are nestled between the mountain regions of the Citadel Mountains, the [[Murazkar Range]], the [[Boundary Mountains]], and the [[Khargaath Range]].
-=== Underground Networks ===
-* The Deep Roads: A network of subterranean routes carved primarily by Minthari labor during the Age of Deep Roads. Initially commercial in purpose, these tunnels gradually absorbed Duranthi influence, becoming sites of ritual marking, passage rites, and lineage recording. Some passages are now closed by ancestral decree, considered “sealed threads” of unrepeatable history.
-* Caverns of Echoes: Natural acoustic chambers where sound repeats and degrades over time. Duranthi use these spaces for memory rites, judicial recitation, and spiritual calibration. The echoes are believed to reveal inconsistencies in recollection or emotion, and access is often restricted to trained Keepers of Record.
-* Strata Vaults (optional addition): Deep-tiered crypt structures where historical objects, stone tablets, or spiritual fragments are sealed. These are rarely accessed, except during generational transitions or moments of civic uncertainty. Many are buried intentionally to preserve knowledge from misuse.
 |Climate=Terasil exhibits a range of climates based on altitude and terrain. Mountains experience cold, arid conditions, while valleys maintain temperate climates with seasonal rainfall. Plains are generally arid with sharp temperature variation. Subterranean regions retain consistent, cool temperatures year-round.
-|Flora and Fauna=[[File:Graniteback Behemoth - General 02.jpg|thumb|Graniteback Behemoth]]
+|Flora and Fauna=[[File:Slateback Behemoth 01.jpg|thumb|A Slateback Behemoth]]
 <noautolinks>{{See also|Flora and Fauna of Terasil}}</noautolinks>
 The biodiversity of Terasil reflects its elemental alignment and geological age. Its ecosystems are home to resilient species adapted to rocky, mineral-rich environments. Life forms range from surface-dwelling herbivores to deep-dwelling predators, with many possessing unique traits influenced by the realm’s spiritual energies.
-|Inhabitants=* Orasians: Ancient beings formed from conscious earthen matter. Initially colossal in form, many have diminished in size over time due to elemental exposure. Legends speak of remaining giants hidden deep within the mountains.
+|Inhabitants==== Duranthi ===
-* Duranthi:
+The Duranthi are a human-descended people native to the high valleys, ridge cities, and plateaus of central Terasil.
-* Minthari: A younger population descended from spirits of greed. Though originally driven by acquisitiveness, their culture evolved to prioritize craftsmanship and community.
+=== Capamnos ===
- Culture: Minthari life revolves around mobility, mining, and artisan traditions. While cautious of the deeper realm, they maintain a working relationship with the Orasians through trade and negotiation.
+The Capamnos are natives who live high in mountain villages of various ranges of Terasil.
-|Native Spirits=Spiritual life in Terasil is shaped by a complex hierarchy of native spirits, each reflecting the elemental nature of the realm and its enduring connection to the [[primordial spirit]] Oras. These spirits range from minor, recently-formed presences to ancient entities embedded in the cultural memory of its inhabitants.
+|Native Spirits=Spiritual life in Terasil is governed by a stratified ecology of spirits that reflects the realm’s deep alignment with earth, memory, and the burden of continuity. While the spirit Tehrum anchors the physical foundation of Terasil, Varunel, the spirit of Memory and History anchors the metaphysical. Together, these forces define Terasil's spiritual logic.
-=== Nascent Spirits ===
+The spirits of Terasil range from momentary flickers of awareness to enduring entities inscribed in cultural and geological memory. Their interaction with mortal life is structured and deliberate—spirits are neither worshiped casually nor summoned lightly, and all rituals are shaped by archival precedent.
-Nascent spirits in Terasil are newly-formed entities of limited awareness and minimal influence. Typically emerging from minor geological or environmental features—such as shifting gravel, falling stones, or condensation on cavern walls—these spirits are highly responsive to external stimuli. Their presence is subtle, often sensed more than seen, and they are frequently drawn upon in basic ritual practices by initiates among the Orasians and Minthari.
-Examples:
+=== Nascent Spirits ===
+Nascent spirits are newly formed, unstable presences. Often tied to minor geological actions, they manifest from shifting sediment, mineral formation, or momentary resonance. These spirits are brief and reactive—invoked in basic rites by novices or used as indicators of change in a deeply static world.
-* Flickerlings – Spirits manifesting as faint glows within mineral [[veins]].
+=== Mature Spirits ===
-* Dustforms – Ephemeral spirits shaped from disturbed soil or ash.
+Mature spirits arise from repeated patterns and communal recognition. Unlike nascent spirits, they possess defined personality traits and limited agency. They are invoked in everyday Duranthi and Capamos life.
-=== Mature Spirits ===
+These spirits are neither fully autonomous nor entirely symbolic—they occupy the middle realm between presence and concept, often entangled with local rites or vocational traditions.
-Mature spirits emerge from recurring experiences and collective recognition of localized phenomena. Though lesser in scope than ancestral spirits, they are semi-conscious and often associated with physical objects or places of symbolic significance. Unlike nascent spirits, mature spirits possess defined identities and are regularly invoked in cultural practices tied to memory, craftsmanship, or ritual grounding.
 === Ancestral Spirits ===
-Ancestral spirits represent the oldest and most powerful entities within Terasil. Some are believed to predate the [[Great Erosion]] and embody collective memory or ancient identity. These spirits are often localized in singular sacred sites and rarely engage directly with mortals. Rituals involving ancestral spirits are restricted to elder practitioners and are performed to seek counsel, protection, or long-term omens.
+Ancestral spirits are the oldest and most deeply rooted entities in Terasil, often embodying events, lineages, or epochs. Unlike gods or elemental lords, they are not omnipotent—but they are vast, weighty, and embedded in the realm’s long memory.
-Examples:
+They are rarely invoked directly. Most communication occurs through rituals. Appeasement, not command, defines the relationship.
-* [[Tharoz-Mir]] – Spirit of the Great Tunnels, Tharoz-Mir embodies the enduring memory of Terasil’s subterranean veins. Said to span the entirety of the Deep Roads, this vast [[Ancestral Spirit|ancestral spirit]] is less a single entity and more a presence felt in the stone itself—steady, resonant, and ancient. Orasians and Minthari alike revere it as a silent witness to all passage, trade, and migration beneath the earth.
+Examples:
-* [[Orak-Thun]] – Revered in legend as the first sentient mountain, now a spiritual locus of [[Orasian]] lineage rites.
-These spirits, together, form the spiritual ecology of Terasil—reflecting its role as the realm of endurance, continuity, and elemental consciousness.
+* [[Tharoz-Mir]] – The spirit of the Deep Roads and the memory of every journey beneath the realm. Felt more than seen, Tharoz-Mir listens across distances, recording the passage of all who travel the underpaths.
+* [[Orak-Thun]] – Revered as the first sentient mountain, Orak-Thun serves as a point of lineage realignment and generational reckoning. Its presence is marked not by voice, but by seismic stillness and unchanging shadow.
 |Notable Settlements=<noautolinks>{{See also|Cities and Towns of Terasil}}</noautolinks>
-[[File:Terasil - General 05.jpg|thumb|The ancient city of Kar-Thal.]]
-* [[Kar-Thal]]: An ancient Orasian city carved into a mountain. It houses governing elders and sacred spaces.
- Notable Features: The Great Hall of Oras and the Catacombs of Eternity, both central to Orasian ritual and governance.
-* [[Minthal]]: A concealed Minthari city within the Anvil Range, renowned for its luminous crystals and artisanal output.
- Notable Features: The Crystal Market and the Hall of Ages, centers for commerce and cultural education.
-|Cultural Significance=Terasil is regarded as the foundational material realm within the cosmology of [[Adaris]]. Its creation marked the transition from formless potential to structured existence. The presence of [[Oras]] imparts continuity and stability not only within Terasil but across Adaris.
-To its inhabitants—especially the [[Orasians]]—Terasil is more than territory; it is a spiritual and existential anchor. Its natural features are seen as sentient entities or repositories of memory. Life in Terasil follows the rhythm of stone, echo, and deliberate transformation.
-Outside Terasil, its geomantic influence persists. All realms intersect with stone in some form, affirming Terasil’s symbolic centrality. As such, Terasil is seen as both foundation and frame—unchanging in essence yet receptive to the forms layered upon it.
+* [[Kar-Thal]]: An ancient [[Orasian]] city carved into a mountain. It houses governing elders and sacred spaces.
+Notable Features: The Great Hall of Oras and the Catacombs of Eternity, both central to Orasian ritual and governance.
 }}