Encyclopedia

Antenir
It is common belief that the Antenir (Ellendilia: "antenandra" = "those who came before us") were the aboriginal people of Aventira. Their ruins can be found all over the country. However, all those ruins appear to be functional buildings, so far no residences have been found.
While during the last few years, some progress has been made in translating the Antenirian language, the civilization still remains a mystery at large. It is known, however, that they were masters in using Pyridium to power their magitechnological constructs.

Asmodia
Drakumans were part of the refugees from Odamania. While they originally lived peacefully together with humans, when the Praetorians arose, they soon felt harrassed and threatened. To avoid constant surveillance and questionings, they moved to the barren lands south of Aventira, which they named Asmodia.
Asmodia's soil is extremely rocky, making it difficult to cultivate crops. In addition, storms moving in from the ocean frequently unleash their force over the land. Thus Asmodian agriculture comprises mostly the cultivation of fruit bearing trees. The capital of Asmodia is Shadjhura. From here, the Sovereign rules over his subjects.

Aventira
After a devastating volcanic erruption, which practically destroyed the land of Odamania, some citizens fled across the ocean. Since they believed that not only their homeland, but the entire continent would be destroyed, they sailed west until they reached the undiscovered continent of Vyria. They settled on the east coast and started to develop the land, which they called Aventira (Ellendilia: "new beginning").
Aventira is split into three provinces - Silverrun Plains, Three Lakes and Kingsland. The inhabitants of the Echo Mountains, Heerer Mountains, Dammergawn Swamps and Mist Valley are also considered citizens of Aventira, but the regions don't count as separate provinces and are not part of the actual country.
Aventira's capital is Pyndra, which is also the king's domicile.

Dammergawn Swamps
The name Dammergawn comes from the Ellendilian "dameren gawyn" (= twilight created by clouds). The mountains to the north and west of the swamplands cause clouds coming in from the east to bottle up and loose most of their water.
The swamps themselves are a labyrinth of small islands, inhabited by dangerous creatures, such as boggarts and will'o'wisps. The only way to reach the swamps is a path from the Silverrun Plains. There are only two inhabited places in Dammergawn - the Swamp Botton Inn at the entrance to the swamps, and the village of Leydenhome. The people of Leydenhome gather rare herbs and ingredients from the swamp, which they sell for a living.
For reasons unknown, humans born in the Dammergawn Swamps all have pale skin and green hair. Some blame the food, while others believe in a strange magical aura surrounding the place, which somehow changes unborn children.

Dragons
For a long time, dragons were worshipped as godlike beings by several cultures on Mirt. They were the first civilization of this world, and it was them who brought fire to the humans, and taught them magic. They were considered the embodiment of power and wisdom. Today, there are no dragons left on Mirt. It is not known what happened to them, but the general belief is that they left the world, maybe even ascended to a higher state of existence. While there are accounts of people encountering dragons every now and then, none could be verified. By now, dragon worship was mostly replaced by other religions.

Drakuman
When the dragons were still living on Mirt, some groups experimented with combining human and dragon blood. This resulted in the creation of the Drakuman - humans with dragon features, such as affinity to fire and magic, a firy temperament and longlivety. Although such experiments were condemned by dragons and humans alike, they were not noticed for a long time, resulting in the creation of a large number of Drakuman. Since their genes are dominant, their numbers are significant today, and they are considered a race of their own. Drakuman can easily be recognized, most of them have horns and scaly patches of skin. Some even grow tails.

Echo Mountains
To the northwest of Aventira, between Lavendar and the Heerer Mountains, the Echo Mountains are located. It is here where the Silverrun has its source. While the Echo Mountains are not considered a province of Aventira, they were of great interest in the past, as the largest deposit of pyridium to date was found here. It was so large, in fact, that a settlement for miners was founded. However, the deposit depleted years ago, so the settlement was mostly abandoned. Although prospectors still find smaller deposits in the mountains, these are usually mined by smaller organizations which only set up temporary camps.

Ellendilia
Ellendil was a neighboring country of Odamania, Ellendilia was its official language. Ellendil's culture was always considered as noble and sophisticated, which is why the elegant, melodious language was quickly adapted as the language of science and nobility all across the continent. This is still the case in Aventira - many places are named in Ellendilia and the language is part of the syllabus for mages and scientists. While Ellendilia is written in its own script in Ellendil, in Aventira it is usually written in Odamanian common.

Faed
The word "Faed" stems from the Antenirian language and means "hidden". It is believed to be a civilization existing in Aventira at the same time as the Antenir. However, they are even more of a mystery than the Antenir.

Glashan
The Glashan are humanoid fish creatures, spending most of their lives under water. They are capable to live in fresh water as well as salt water, and can also breathe air for a limited amount of time. In Aventira, they can be found living in the lakes of Three Lakes.
While Glashan are generally peaceful, they can become very aggressive if provoked. Often even things considered petty at best by humans will cause them to start excessive, even fanatic acts of revenge, which are in stark contrast to their otherwise deeply spiritual culture. It is for this very reason that a peaceful coexistence with the Glashan is exceptionally challenging. 

Heerer Mountains
To the north of the Silverrun Plains, between the Echo Mountains and Mist Valley, the Heerer Mountains are located. These highlands, which are covered in snow during most of the year, are not considered a province of Aventira, but are nontheless subordinate to the crown. The citizens of the Heerer Mountains pride themselves in a very strong sense of tradition and have resisted cultural progress in many areas. While the rest of Aventira considers women and men to be equal, in the Heerers, more traditional views are still prevalent today. Thus, women are not eligible for higher education or to learn a trade. Often families also offer their daughters for arranged marriages to gain advantages.

Kingsland
The eastern province of Aventira is situated at the shore. It was here where the Odamanian refugees first went ashore and built their first settlement. Pyndra, Aventira's capital is located here, as well as the king's castle and the academy of magic. In the south, Kingsland borders the Wasteland.

Lavendar
This land, which borders Aventira in the west, presents a stark contrast to its eastern neighbor. It appears like a vast crater, filled with prehistoric forests of ferns, lots of hot springs and a couple of active volcanos. When the first explorers reached these strange lands, they were extremely surprised to find humans living there. The Lavendarians, who call themselves Aeroui, dress themselves in furs from slain animals and live in tribal communities. They are excellent hunters and fighters and highly skilled with the bow and claw weapons. They are also very self-confident and proud. Many missionaries found them an impossible nut to crack.
Today, there is little contact between Aventira and Lavendar. While the Aeroui are not hostile and their demeanor towards visitors is friendly, the land is considered to be just too wild and dangerous.

Mirt
Mirt is the name of the world. It is similar to Earth in many ways, has one moon and is the second planet in a solar system of six. There are also some differences, however, such as the geography and the presence of exotic minerals, such as pyridium.

Mist Valley
To the north of Kingsland, a valley is located that is almost constantly covered in fog. The valley is rumored to possess a strange energy, which not only created strange plants that can be used for highly potent alchemistic potions, but also lead to the evolution of unique fauna. The shadow stag, a predator native only to this place, is the only wild animal capable of casting a curse, that is not classified as a magical creature. Shadow stags use this ability to cast a weakening curse on prey, allowing them to hunt them down more quickly. Countless caves dot the valley's walls and there are rumors about a hidden Antenirian temple.
The only settlement is Heron's Exile to the north, where the descendants of the infamous bandit Heron's gang, who voluntarily exiled themselves here, live. All humans here have a very pale skin, probably due to the lack of sunlight, and are born with green eyes. It has not yet been determined wether this is because of some magical influence, or just chance.

Odamania
The original home of the people of Aventira was destroyed by a volcanic erruption over 500 years ago. The entire country, which was located at the west coast of the continent of Grandia, sank and was flooded. Some Odamanians, who believed the erruption would not only destroy their homeland, but the entire continent, set sail and began a long journey to the west, until they eventually landed in Aventira.

Pyridium
This strange, crystaline mineral possesses some astonishing properties. Since it was completely unheard of on Grandia, it took the people of Aventira quite some time to realize its potential. Pyridium is able to store magic energy and, if arranged in matrix arrays, is even capable of siphoning magic energy from the environment and influencing it. The Antenir used this mineral to power their magitechnology. In Aventira, pyridium is considered highly valuable. Prospectors are constantly searching for it, and even the smallest of deposits are mined.
Pyridium is used in magically powered devices and allows even people without any magical abilities to construct and use magical weapons. Nontheless, such constructions are not seen very often, as pyridium is rare and very expensive.

Silverrun Plains
The western province of Aventira, located among the foothills, is also the youngest. It is here where the only path to the Dammergawn Swamps is located. Most villages here are relatively young. Willemgrove, the capital of the Silverrun Plains, started out as a dock for river ships who traded with the Echo Mountains and Heerers. Most of these ships were too large to continue up the river. The town still mostly serves this purpose today, and profits from its excellent location.

Solesoram
Before the three provinces of Aventira were founded, the land was split into dozens of small counties and duchies. In the year 119 after the arrival, king Alderic I decided to combine all those mostly independent estates under the crown. Although there was some resistance in the beginning, this change was eventually accepted by most, except by Trozan Solesoram, the duke of the largest duchy of Aventira at that time. When he met with the king to discuss the matter, it quickly turned into a heated argument, which ended in the duke being exiled. Together with his servants and a number of subjects, he left the kingdom and settled on an archipelago off the shore of Aventira, where he proclaimed the independent duchy of Solesoram. It took several years for contact with Aventira to be resumed. Today, there is a diplomatic relationship between Aventira and Solesoram, whose independence was accepted by the crown.

Three Lakes
The central province of Aventira reaches from the shores of the Silverrun to the border of Asmodia. It got its name from the three large lakes situated within the province. Glashan live in these lakes, strange fish creatures upholding an uneasy peace with the humans. The capital of Three Lakes is Castana, a town built on a couple of islands off the shore.

Wasteland
A long time ago, the Wasteland, which is located to the south of Kingsland, was likely green grass land. It is not clear what events lead to its transformation into the dead moonscape it is today, but the strange shape of the place hints to some sort of cataclysmic catastrophe, which created what appears to basically be a giant crater. The nature of this catastrophe remains a mystery, however. While there were attempts to explore this hostile place, the expeditions sent here found nothing but thirst and death.

Yakan'toray
The Children of the Stars, or Starborn, are a non-human civilization that left Mirt a long time ago. They use highly sophisticated magic and technology, allowing them to shape a world plane of their own where they live today. They are exceptionally proud beings, valuing mental and phyiscal discipline above all else, but are also considered quite stubborn and unflexible. Yakan'toray can easily be identified - they have blue skin, horns, hooves and blue glowing eyes. Although Starborn are generally peaceful, they lead a crusade against their dissimilar cousins, the Yakhul'yrum.

Yakhul'yrum
Nightborn, or Children of the Night, are impulsive, passionate beings who are related to the Yakan'toray. Like their dissimilar cousins, they split from a mutual ancestral civilization. While the Children of the Stars value discipline and light the most, the Children of the Night embrace the darkness and live out their drives. They value strength and knowledge above all else. They are considered moody and mischievous. Although the Yakan'toray see them as savage and dangerous, Nightborn are not inherently hostile. They consider honor as extremely important and actually tend to be more easygoing than Starborn. Their lifestyle differs strongly from that of the Starborn, which is why they evolved into a completely different direction. Nightborn usually have no horns, but jet black skin and red eyes. While not inherently evil, their affinity to shadow magic and necromancy has earned them a rather negative reputation.