The world of Artellium
Last updated
Last updated
The world of Artellium has seen two rival powers opposing each other for decades: Arkhante, a civilization spread across the entire western part of the continent, endowed with magic and capable of incredible feats, and Mantris, a city-continent where technology is an integral part of daily life for its inhabitants. Between the two enemies lies the Rift, a lawless zone stretching from north to south of Artellium like a natural border. Once known as Solon, it is now a no man's land created following a cataclysm that ended the War of the Heroes.
Pranah, a source of energy that can be found in various forms in nature, plays an essential role across the entire continent; it enables mages to express themselves in Arkhante and powers numerous robots and energy sources in Mantris. However, in recent years, its strength has been dwindling, and Arkhantes and Mantris find themselves facing an energy depletion problem, upon which they cruelly depend to sustain their way of life.
The territory of Arkhante is divided into seven regions, known as arkhomes. An arkhome refers to the territory and the arcana associated with a specific type of magic. There are seven known arcana in Arkhante: Nature, Earth, Shadow, Water, Fire, Light, and Air, and each of Arkhante's regions reflects the power, wealth, and culture of one of these arcana.
From the lush forests of Orcunion, home to an incredible array of fantastical creatures, to the arid desert of Massada, to the magical marvel that is Plenition, with its immense tower made of water, the regions of Arkhante symbolize magic at its grandest. Each region is governed by two significant entities, one representing the arcana and the other the nobility. Thus, mages are the magical representatives associated with a territory, while dynasts are the representatives of the prominent families established on that territory to govern it.
These two entities may not necessarily interact with each other but theoretically act for the common good, like two sides of the same coin. They serve the malek (the king) or the malkah (the queen) of Arkhante, when they do not oppose their or her reign. To assist the sovereign in their or her rule, the Primus, the most powerful entity for each of the arcana, are regularly accompanied by one or more of their disciples, who aid them, whether they be mages or warriors. Any Arkhante citizen can aspire to join a magical college.
There are also various entities spread across the entire territory of Arkhante that wield varying degrees of influence. These include guilds led by potentates, commercial organizations, or quams, who represent the bourgeoisie.
Mantris, stretching across the entire eastern part of Artellium, is a technologically advanced and highly connected city-continent. Technology is evident at every turn, from the implanted enhancements of its citizens to the towering buildings adorned with fluorescent neon lights and the tech vehicles traversing the streets. Corporations proliferate, and technological domains are as vast as they are numerous, ranging from the development of ultra-sophisticated machines to hybridization. The Noria system is an integral part of Mantris, serving as both a vast connected database for Mantri equipped with a SIT (a microchip implant) and as an authority and control system, never violating the privacy of its users.
Similar to Arkhante and its arkhomes, Mantris has technological families known as techstyles. Techstyles refer to distinct domains within the city-continent. There are also 7: Meditech, Robotic, Chaos, Mantrix, Cybernetic, Order and Genetic.
Each techstyle can occupy entire districts dedicated to them in Mantris: commercial zones, research laboratories, corporations, or residential areas, although most of the time, these techstyles are mixed in the landscape of the city-continent of Mantris.
Citizen-shareholders, commonly abbreviated as "citac" in the Mantri language, may feel affiliated with a particular techstyle based on their lifestyle or experiences, but this does not prevent them from using products or services from other techstyles. All these technologies are naturally more or less used by citacs in their daily lives depending on their needs and desires. On a smaller scale and in dedicated neighborhoods, some activist groups are purists of their techstyle.
The seven techstyles all pursue a common quest, that of a transhumanist "ideal" aiming to surpass the natural human and compete with each other to achieve it.
The lands of the Rift, stretching from north to south of Artellium, were once called Solon and represented the eighth territory of Arkhante. Closest to the border with Mantris, these lands were the main stage of the War of the Heroes between Arkhante and Mantris. A conflict of opinions and ideologies that escalated into a competition of technological weapons and magic. An escalation that deeply worried the citizens of both people of Artellium, and in the face of their fears, the leaders had to find a way to end this seemingly endless war. A simple duel between heroes was supposed to resolve it, to be the final point of these long and bloody battles. The result was the death of the two chosen champions, total uncertainty about who won that day, but above all, a mysterious gigantic explosion culminated the duel, which devastated the former territory of Solon. Now a lawless and devastated area, the zone took the name Rift and now separates Arkhante and Mantris like a natural border. The former Arkhantes who lived there, for those who were fortunate enough to survive the Blast, are now called the Fort-Gotens and ignored by both powers. The territory sees various clans and groups of people trying to survive as best as they can in the aftermath of the war, of which they are the collateral damage. Smuggling networks abound, and life there is dangerous. Since the great explosion that marked the end of the war, disruptions in pranah are stronger there than elsewhere. Vibradiated zones proliferate, and it is almost impossible to survive there for long for someone who is not native to the Rift.
As if to seal and stay away from this open wound on the world, the two nations have erected a separation between their territory and that of the Rift. Arkhante, by building the Bone Wall. Mantris, by setting up the Dome.
