Peria
The mage-nation of Peria is the shining jewel of the modern world. Magic is everywhere, and nowhere is life even remotely as simple or safe as in the lands of Peria. Ruled over by a council of elders, who keep their identities a secret to ensure their utter incorruptibility, the magic of Peria has provided it with a near infallible legal system, turn the dead into free menial labour, make mass transit and near instant long distance communication possible, extend even the average citizen's life to seventy or even eighty years, and the magically initiated well into their second century, light the cities, and build wonders unlike anything seen in the rest of the world. Truly Peria is a land of impossible wonders!

The Land


The northern lands of Peria occupy the region between the Wound, and the mountains known as the North Wall. Mountainous in the east, where the rugged Grim Towers stretch from the North Wall down into the heart of the Wound, the east coast is practically cut off from the western heartlands by the towers. But of course, for the wizards of Peria, mere terrain is a paltry obstacle. In the centre of the nation the land is mostly rolling hills blanketed with light evergreen forest. The lands of the west coast are gentler, and more fertile. Though they are prone to chill winters, heavy frosts do little to wipe out the lush grasslands and frequent glades of wildflowers.

Climate

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Peria's landscapes vary across its considerable breadth. In the east, along the coast around Kalgesh, there are extensive alluvial plains, while inland, on the western side of the Grim Towers in the north, broad grasslands predominate. Southern Peria is dominated by hills and low mountain ranges, while the south-west hosts the deltas of Peria's two major rivers. In the North around the the North Wall high plateaus feature among the more arid landscapes of Peria. Peria's climate is mainly dominated by dry seasons and wet monsoons, which lead to pronounced temperature differences between winter and summer. In the winter, northern winds coming from high-altitude areas are cold and dry, often bringing frost and snow with them; in summer, southern winds from coastal areas are warm and moist. The climate in Peria differs along the borders of the Wound, where occasionally the burning winds will sweep north, dead grasslands and scorched earth to mark the borderlands.

Wildlife

Because the people of Peria live in densely populated pockets in their land, the wildlife of Peria remains rich and diverse. Brown bears are common to lowland forests, while the mountains host smaller brown bears and cave bears. Aurumvorax mark places where gold seams are close to the surface in the mountains. Smaller carnivores include the red fox, raccoon dog and marten. There are four wild cats in Peria: the grey leopard of the mountains, the golden sabre-tooth found on the plains, and the occasional kreshar or displacer beast in the south. Grazing mammals include deer, wild boar, wild long-horned cattle. Small alpine spider monkeys are rare, but not unknown, and many people keep the intelligent creatures as pets. Spider eaters hunt giant spiders in the hill country, while swarms of stirges rule the skies along the northern border. Wandering achaierai are ubiquitous here, while the southern plains are kept rich and fertile by the attentions of ankheg, and behir wander the lands they till. Marine mammals include the dugong, porpoise and sea lion. Woodpeckers, several colourful pheasants, rails, thrush and wax-eye are all common, as well as large alpine hawks and a large variety of storks and ducks.

The Perian vegetation varies little despite the range of latitudes and altitudes in Peria. Mangroves, cycads and tree ferns can be found along the coastal regions, especially on the eastern coast. Broad-leaved evergreen forest with many oaks on the plains recede nearly universally into dense pine forests as the altitude increases. All manner of wildflower and several speces of flax are native to Peria, and the plains explode in a riot of colour in the spring, but become dark and flat and tangled in the cooler months.

The People


Peria is a land of many dense settled regions. Sprawling unwalled cities of wonders. Its greatest settlements are Xuthil, Gwahlar, Xethral, Zamboulur, Tombaku, Hildaco, Sangara, and Kabulu, and Kalgesh, Druka, Xalendago, Zagula,and Sulzuss are all on their way to matching them, while the island city of Ghaxul is limited somewhat by its geography. The cities of Peria are impossibly massive and perfect. Many storied stone buildings, all lit by colourful mage lights, with extensive glass windows are decorated with fine stonework. Enchanted and alchemic lights, and beautiful domes and towers are the norm, and most cities are founded around large bodies of water, for both practical and aesthetic reasons. Beautiful classical architecture lends itself to the grandiose, and white and orange-pink stone are the norm. Roads are broad, and parks made up of magically manipulated growth are everywhere, while in broad markets and plazas hawkers sell wares of wondrous magic like mere trinkets. Civic buildings and the homes of wizards are always immense and ostentatious, and dozens of architectural marvels compete with one another on the skylines of every Perian city, while the glittering silver pipe of the skyrail - wonder of the modern age - arcs brilliantly over every city, meeting willowy station towers, and vanishing towards other distant cities. Zombies work fields tilled by ankheg outside the city limits, overseen by master morticians, and towering brass golems watch the walls, and keep the peace within. Winged beasts and wizards with the power of flight flit between high towers, and now and then the awful bulk of a tyrant casts its shadow over the cobbles behind a bright robed master.

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Peoples and Culture

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Language

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Politics

Peria is ruled by a group of anonymous wizards known as the Council of the Unseen. Membership in the council is a secret to non-council members, but is never secret to council members, and a term lasts for life unless the council votes unanimously to expel a member. What really makes Peria politically unique is that any citizen can petition for membership on the council. Everyone is made aware of the council's rules and practices, and anyone can request an audience with a panel of counsellors to petition for membership. Of course, since no one can know who is accepted and who is not, no one knows what the council's criteria are.

The council is represented by a figurehead, known as the "Voice of the Unseen", or just the voice, colloquially. The voice is never a member of the council - he merely speaks for them. However it does seem likely that he is the only non-council member who knows who all of the other Unseen are, leading many to speculate that the voice is one of the Unseen who resigns his position. The current voice, Nikomachos, is thirteen years into his tenure

Military

Wand and shield defend Peria, even in its darkest peril. When needful, Peria fields a small, elite body of war wizards who go forth laden with magical items, allowing them to bombard and enemy from a distance all day, and then use more magic to make a strategic, and instant retreat, while reinforcements some miles distant prepare to continue bombardment through the night. Terrible wonders like flying galleons and golems of stone and iron, and armies of reshaped servators with blades for hands and scythed wheels for legs march against the enemies of Peria, with no thought of retreat even in the face of certain defeat, and mythical creatures harnessed by powerful magic unleash alien powers. To make matters worse, if numbers are needed, thousands of the shambling dead are disgorged from the fields and factories of Peria to march against their foes. The wizards venerate no gods, and to them the dead are merely raw material, and their loss is far preferable to that of a living individual, whether or not it depletes their unskilled labour.

Economy

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Government: Totalitarian rule by the Conclave of the Unseen.
Predominant Religions: Aetheism.
Major Industry: Enchanted Items, Spellmaking, Trained Magical Beasts, Raising and Controlling the Dead, Magical Constructs.
Usual Climate: Temperate, with harsh winters and cool summers.
Predominant Terrains: Hilly plains with frequent light forests. Occasional low, mountainous regions.
Predominant Language: Peri.

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