01-21-2016, 04:28 PM
Continents
Ivalice: The most politically active continent on Gaia, Ivalice is actually three large microcontinents that have been slowly drifting together for eons. The northwestern mass is Valendia, a largely temperate area with a stable climate and highly seasonal weather. It is the homeland of Ivalice’s humes, who nearly saturate the place; this is not because of any particular hatred towards or banishment of the other races, it is merely because humes multiply so much faster than most of the other peoples of the world. Its shores that face the sea in the middle are like a giant trading hub for Ivalice, and when Ivalice was an empire of old, the capital of Valendia, Valnain, was the largest city of the three lands. It has since been split into three different smaller cities, officially, but for practicality’s sake the area is still regarded as one. The lands there have ample resources of all kinds, which means that while they may never be able to come close to, say, Kerwon in terms of lumber or raise the sheer number of cattle that the ranchers of Ordalia do, there is enough of nearly everything to make almost anything a viable industry to start there. Fittingly, the number of gold and silver mines there are quite numerous, and they have unusually plentiful amounts of mythril, as well as even the occasional adamant mine.
Kerwon, the southwestern microcontinent, is an area far more in-tune with nature than Valendia. While the humes of Valendia have cleared out swathes of land for civilization, the people of Kerwon (largely elvaan in the flatter areas, and the viera dominate mountains and forests) selectively carve their homes into the land, only taking out what is needed as it is needed, and only if needed; many of the colossal trees there have become living apartment complexes for families of viera, for example, eliminating the need for every family to build a house. The most important export of the area is lumber, both common and exotic. Everything from the typical oak, pine, and cypress to featherweight darkwood, hard-as-steel ironwood, and the nigh-mythically rare living steel trees. Other races have made settlements there, but they are largely short-lived.
The southeastern lands of Ordalia are composed of vast, sweeping plains, rolling hills, and ever-shifting deserts. Moogles, gria, mithra, and tarutaru settlements dominate the place racially, although many humes have taken advantage of their sheer adaptability to work what was once an almost universally wild area into a thriving place of many different subcultures. Many burmecians also call Ordalia their home, although they are more reclusive. Their reputations as nomadic, skirmishing bandits are more undeserved than not, but there are indeed groups of wandering marauders that scour both plain and desert, and it is because the burmecians typically favor exile over execution that many of the cruellest raiders are indeed ratfolk. The countries and cities of this place favor parley over warfare, which has led to a history of battling economically, rather than martially. Much of Ivalice’s supply of beef, pork, and other meat animals comes from Ordalia, and it is also home to many varieties of chocobo, which grants Ordalian countries some leverage in dealings with the superior wealth and technology of Valendia or the skill in arms of Kerwonic peoples.
Gran Pulse: Without a doubt, the continent of Gran Pulse is easily the largest single land mass on the surface of Gaia. Stretching far enough to reach from beyond one tropic past the other, nearly half of the dry land in the world makes up this gargantuan continent. Nearly any sort of terrain can be found here, barring the tundra of the arctic and antarctic, and even places normally thought desolate are teeming with life, so much so that it is a wonder there is enough resources for everything to thrive as it does. It is a very dog-eat-dog sort of place, no matter where you go, to the point that even the chocobos have developed omnivorous breeds of their own for the sake of survival. Indeed, many visitors are genuinely frightened by the prospect of one of their beloved fowl seeing them as lunch, and therefore the place does not have anywhere near as many immediately apparent civilizations as the other continents. They are there, however, and have been for many, many centuries; it is speculated that the Gaian Eidolons themselves have a common home there, hidden away from the prying eyes of mortals.
Scholars theorize that the reason for the overabundance of life is the huge amount of crystal deposits throughout the land. In mountainsides, under hills, beneath the waves of the ocean near the shore, and even smack dab on the ground in the middle of nowhere, can it be found. It appears in all kinds of shapes as well, whether in solid veins, huge geodes, or spires of it that reach higher than ten men. Nearly all of the crystals that naturally occur in Gran Pulse are magical to some degree, some more than others. The highest grades can even be used to manufacture weapons, armor, and other powerful items, and a good few of the truly ancient structures dotting the landscape are made primarily of crystal. The stuff is actually common enough that some creatures even use it as a source of food, especially oretoises like the adamantoise or long gui. Most of the intelligent races utilize the oretoise not unlike a truffle hog, following one as it digs out a deposit and eats its fill, and then they mine what they need from the remaining crystals.
Nearly every race on Gaia can be found here, albeit sparsely. This is less because of any single other factor than the sheer size of the place, considering one could comfortably fit the entire world’s population on a fraction of the continent. Virtually none of them, however, aren’t nomadic to some degree, even if they only move around within their own small area.
Terra:
Ivalice: The most politically active continent on Gaia, Ivalice is actually three large microcontinents that have been slowly drifting together for eons. The northwestern mass is Valendia, a largely temperate area with a stable climate and highly seasonal weather. It is the homeland of Ivalice’s humes, who nearly saturate the place; this is not because of any particular hatred towards or banishment of the other races, it is merely because humes multiply so much faster than most of the other peoples of the world. Its shores that face the sea in the middle are like a giant trading hub for Ivalice, and when Ivalice was an empire of old, the capital of Valendia, Valnain, was the largest city of the three lands. It has since been split into three different smaller cities, officially, but for practicality’s sake the area is still regarded as one. The lands there have ample resources of all kinds, which means that while they may never be able to come close to, say, Kerwon in terms of lumber or raise the sheer number of cattle that the ranchers of Ordalia do, there is enough of nearly everything to make almost anything a viable industry to start there. Fittingly, the number of gold and silver mines there are quite numerous, and they have unusually plentiful amounts of mythril, as well as even the occasional adamant mine.
Kerwon, the southwestern microcontinent, is an area far more in-tune with nature than Valendia. While the humes of Valendia have cleared out swathes of land for civilization, the people of Kerwon (largely elvaan in the flatter areas, and the viera dominate mountains and forests) selectively carve their homes into the land, only taking out what is needed as it is needed, and only if needed; many of the colossal trees there have become living apartment complexes for families of viera, for example, eliminating the need for every family to build a house. The most important export of the area is lumber, both common and exotic. Everything from the typical oak, pine, and cypress to featherweight darkwood, hard-as-steel ironwood, and the nigh-mythically rare living steel trees. Other races have made settlements there, but they are largely short-lived.
The southeastern lands of Ordalia are composed of vast, sweeping plains, rolling hills, and ever-shifting deserts. Moogles, gria, mithra, and tarutaru settlements dominate the place racially, although many humes have taken advantage of their sheer adaptability to work what was once an almost universally wild area into a thriving place of many different subcultures. Many burmecians also call Ordalia their home, although they are more reclusive. Their reputations as nomadic, skirmishing bandits are more undeserved than not, but there are indeed groups of wandering marauders that scour both plain and desert, and it is because the burmecians typically favor exile over execution that many of the cruellest raiders are indeed ratfolk. The countries and cities of this place favor parley over warfare, which has led to a history of battling economically, rather than martially. Much of Ivalice’s supply of beef, pork, and other meat animals comes from Ordalia, and it is also home to many varieties of chocobo, which grants Ordalian countries some leverage in dealings with the superior wealth and technology of Valendia or the skill in arms of Kerwonic peoples.
Gran Pulse: Without a doubt, the continent of Gran Pulse is easily the largest single land mass on the surface of Gaia. Stretching far enough to reach from beyond one tropic past the other, nearly half of the dry land in the world makes up this gargantuan continent. Nearly any sort of terrain can be found here, barring the tundra of the arctic and antarctic, and even places normally thought desolate are teeming with life, so much so that it is a wonder there is enough resources for everything to thrive as it does. It is a very dog-eat-dog sort of place, no matter where you go, to the point that even the chocobos have developed omnivorous breeds of their own for the sake of survival. Indeed, many visitors are genuinely frightened by the prospect of one of their beloved fowl seeing them as lunch, and therefore the place does not have anywhere near as many immediately apparent civilizations as the other continents. They are there, however, and have been for many, many centuries; it is speculated that the Gaian Eidolons themselves have a common home there, hidden away from the prying eyes of mortals.
Scholars theorize that the reason for the overabundance of life is the huge amount of crystal deposits throughout the land. In mountainsides, under hills, beneath the waves of the ocean near the shore, and even smack dab on the ground in the middle of nowhere, can it be found. It appears in all kinds of shapes as well, whether in solid veins, huge geodes, or spires of it that reach higher than ten men. Nearly all of the crystals that naturally occur in Gran Pulse are magical to some degree, some more than others. The highest grades can even be used to manufacture weapons, armor, and other powerful items, and a good few of the truly ancient structures dotting the landscape are made primarily of crystal. The stuff is actually common enough that some creatures even use it as a source of food, especially oretoises like the adamantoise or long gui. Most of the intelligent races utilize the oretoise not unlike a truffle hog, following one as it digs out a deposit and eats its fill, and then they mine what they need from the remaining crystals.
Nearly every race on Gaia can be found here, albeit sparsely. This is less because of any single other factor than the sheer size of the place, considering one could comfortably fit the entire world’s population on a fraction of the continent. Virtually none of them, however, aren’t nomadic to some degree, even if they only move around within their own small area.
Terra: