Layers of Aroka

While cultures throughout the ages have classified various aspects of the world differently, the most common system divides the world into layers based primarily on elevation above and depth below sea level or the local average elevation. This results in the Void, the Peaks, the Heights, the Level, the Shallows, the Depths, the Underworld, and the Hearth.

The Void

The Void is typically defined as higher than any flying creature can reach. It is where the the Skygate and the Three Suns dwell. Of note, there are no stars in the Night Sky of Aroka. The only lights are the Three Sun and Aroka's moon prior to the First Firefall. This is the realm of the unknown forces of existence and the mysteries of the cosmos.

The Peaks

The Peaks are the highest mountains in the region, most often relegated to mountain tops that have year-round snow. However, in areas that don't experience much snowfall apart of during and immediately after the Dark Days even on their tallest mountains, they may lower the requirement to simply high enough in elevation to cause breathing difficulties to those that live at the Level.

The Heights

Areas between the Peaks and the Level usually fall into the category of heights, consisting of hills and smaller mountain ranges.

The Level

The Level is whatever is considered the baseline elevation for the region. If near the coast, this will be sea level. Of note, in areas that experience significant changes in tides throughout the year, Levels near the coast may be submerged for part of the year.

The Shallows

The Shallows refers to both underground and underwater regions. For the former, there isn't an official depth that separates the Shallows from the Depths, but if it would take less than a day's worth of travel before encountering sunlight again, one is considered to be in the Shallows.

For water, the Shallows is limited to how deep sunlight can reach on a sunny day and with normal visibility for that body of water.

The Depths

The Depths of the earth are reached if it would take more than a day's travel to see sunlight again. The Depths of the sea are reached when on can no longer see any sunlight on a sunny day. In either case, there is often little interaction between what lives above and below the Depths, with those that live in beneath it in the frigid darkness, called Deep Folk, being considered monstrous by those that live above. The creatures that dwell in this region are lethal hunters and have inspired many a nightmarish tale, but the worst of which, by far, are the Unseen Swarm, which spend the majority of the year in the Depths, only venturing closer to the surface during times when sunlight is scare, particularly during the Dark Days.

The Underworld

For those brave or foolish enough to venture well into the Depths and have the luck or skill to survive, they will eventually come upon the Underworld. Not much is known of this region except that it is warmer than the frigid depths and is said to have various sources of light, with some reports bioluminescent flora and fauna as the source while others suggest it is glowing lava features that illuminate the region. The rare few that return tell tales of a strange world completely alien to anything else found on Aroka.

The Hearth

There are no reports of anyone venturing any deeper than the Underworld and returning, but those that claim to have braved the Underworld and lived to tell the tale speak of passages that burrow even deeper into the earth. The temperatures are often unbearable at this depth and those that have dared to even peer into these tunnels believe that they are not devoid of life, though none have been able to imagine what monsters would call burning heart of the world its home.