The Soaring Lands
“Where the earth itself takes flight, where the sky is no longer a boundary, but a foundation.”
Deep within the heart of The Grandgleam Forest, where magick swells like a heartbeat beneath the soil, the land has rebelled against gravity itself. A great many miles of floating islands, some as small as a farmhouse, others stretching for miles, drift in silent defiance of nature’s laws, hovering hundreds, sometimes thousands, of feet above the forest below. These are the Soaring Lands, Everwealth’s most breathtaking and unattainable landmark, a place where the very bones of the world seem to have been torn from their roots and sent skyward, never to return. Why these islands float is a mystery no scholar, mage, or would-be explorer has yet been able to answer. The Grandgleam is known for its deep, restless magicks, but nowhere else has its energy boiled over so violently, bursting within the very soil itself, altering the nature of weight, mass, and permanence. Some believe the islands are suspended by concentrated veins of magick, their soil lighter than air yet dense enough to hold form, a buoyancy locked in perpetual balance between drifting skyward and sinking earthward. Others claim it is the will of the land itself, an act of defiance or escape from the nightmares that prowl the forest floor below.
Whatever force keeps them aloft, it does not do so silently. At the base of the larger islands, bolts of lightning crackle and dance, flashing in unnatural colors, violet, emerald, and deep crimson, flickering like veins of power too great to be contained. These strikes seem to be nothing more than light, passing harmlessly through stone and air alike, yet some carry a deadly force, obliterating anything unfortunate enough to drift through their path. The Avian, the only true denizens of the Soaring Lands, have turned these unpredictable bolts into a deadly game, weaving through the shimmering storms with uncanny reflexes, testing their speed and instincts against the arcane forces that surge below. Most escape unscathed. Others, trusting too much in the pattern of harmless light, are struck down in an instant, falling from the sky in a streak of burnt feathers and fading life. These islands are not barren stones lost to the clouds, they are lush, vibrant places, untouched by war, decay, or time. Some hold pristine ruins, structures preserved in eerie perfection, free from the ravages of weather, looters, and creeping overgrowth. The promise of ancient secrets, lost treasures, or forgotten magicks has tempted countless would-be conquerors, but no airship, glider, or spell has yet allowed anyone to claim them. The Soaring Lands are not merely a wonder, they are an untouched dream, a world just out of reach, forever floating beyond the grasp of those bound to the earth.Geography
The Soaring Lands are scattered across the central Grandgleam, their islands drifting above the forest canopy, their sheer variety of altitude and size making them impossible to chart with accuracy. Some hover a mere hundred feet above the treetops, casting shadows upon the world below, while others rise beyond sight, lost within the clouds themselves. They are not static, moving imperceptibly over the years, their shifting positions making it impossible to predict exactly where an island will be from one decade to the next. At the base of these islands, energy pulses violently, arcing bolts of unnatural lightning flashing in unpredictable bursts. Some strikes are harmless, no more than shimmering displays of raw power, but others are far deadlier, reducing anything they strike to char and ash in an instant. Green-Thumb River, carving its way through the Grandgleam, runs beneath part of the Soaring Lands, creating a stark contrast between earth and sky, a deep-cut blue vein slicing through the ancient woodlands below the drifting islands above.
Ecosystem
Life flourishes even in the sky. Many of the floating islands are covered in dense greenery, towering trees, and hidden glades, making them appear like fragmented pieces of a paradise torn from the world below. The isolation of these islands has preserved species long extinct in the forests below, creatures that have never been hunted, never known war, never feared the axe or fire. The Avian are not the only ones who call the Soaring Lands home, birds of imposing size, luminous insects, and unknown beasts hidden within the brush thrive without interference. Some of these creatures have adapted to the floating environment, developing incredible speed, sharp aerial instincts, or resistance to the magickal forces that surge through the land. The Avian, despite their wisdom, are not exempt from the dangers of their own home, for the storms that dance below their islands do not discriminate between wing and sky.
Ecosystem Cycles
Unlike the land-bound ecosystems of Everwealth, the Soaring Lands follow no predictable seasonal cycle. Some islands experience temperate changes, with shifts between warm and cold, while others remain locked in an unchanging climate, as if frozen in time by the magick that keeps them aloft. The floating terrain absorbs ambient energies from the Grandgleam below, resulting in a fluctuating state of magickal surges and lulls. This has an odd effect on vegetation certain plants bloom only at night, drawing power from the sky rather than the soil, while others shed their leaves at irregular intervals, independent of the seasons. Some of the islands, particularly those at higher altitudes, experience strange, cyclical fluctuations in altitude, drifting higher during magickal surges and lower when the energies subside. The Avian are highly attuned to these cycles, instinctively tracking the movement of the islands to avoid being stranded or lost. Despite their wisdom, many have met their end from misjudging a surge or failing to react in time to an island that suddenly fell from the sky, disappearing into the forest below as if it had never existed. Additionally, every few decades, one of the smaller islands vanishes entirely, whether ascending beyond sight or sinking back into the earth. These disappearances are never predictable, and though the Avian do not speak of it openly, they can sometimes be seen marking the loss of an island with solemn carvings or wind-borne rituals, their silent grief carried away into the open sky.
Localized Phenomena
The Soaring Lands are as unstable as they are beautiful, filled with natural and supernatural occurrences that make them unlike any other place in Everwealth. Chief among these is the Lightning Veins, arcs of colored lightning that crackle and dance along the bases of the largest islands. These bolts appear harmless at first, flickering like strands of light weaving through the sky, but their unpredictability has claimed more than a few Avian lives. Some carry no force at all, passing harmlessly through stone and air, while others contain enough energy to incinerate anything they touch, reducing winged daredevils to ash in an instant. For the Avian, dodging these strikes has become a ritual of skill and courage, with young fliers testing their reflexes against the pulsing arcs of magick, weaving between the flashes in a deadly display of aerial mastery. Most escape unscathed, but those who grow too confident, too familiar, too trusting of the pattern often fall to a strike they did not expect. Beyond the Lightning Veins, there are other oddities, the Skyward Bloom, a phenomenon where certain plants grow toward the sky instead of the sun, as if drawn by some unseen force. Some islands glow faintly at night, their surfaces shimmering with a soft, otherworldly luminescence, as though infused with starlight itself. And then there are the Ruins Without Time, structures untouched by decay, their ancient walls still sharp and unbroken despite the centuries. Whether this is due to the magick that holds the islands aloft or some other, more sinister force, none can say.
Climate
The climate of the Soaring Lands varies wildly depending on altitude. Lower islands experience temperate conditions, much like the Grandgleam below, with rain, mist, and seasonal temperature shifts. Higher islands, however, are locked in a state of high-altitude chill, with thinner air and frost-covered vegetation. Rain does not always fall naturally, some islands are perpetually damp, shrouded in constant mist, while others seem to repel storms entirely, their soil never wet, their skies eternally clear. Wind patterns are erratic, making any attempt at flight from the ground perilous, as sudden, forceful updrafts can send even the most skilled air-travelers spiraling into the unknown. At night, the air smells faintly different, something primal and charged, like the taste of storm-heavy air before a great tempest. The magickal saturation of the floating lands does not simply exist, it hums, it lingers, it radiates with an untamed, restless energy.
Fauna & Flora
The Soaring Lands harbor life unlike any other in Everwealth. These islands have remained untouched for centuries, allowing species long extinct in the forests below to thrive without interference or destruction.
- The Avian - The last of their kind, a bird-like folk who dwell in seclusion, tending to their skyborne sanctuaries far from the horrors of the land below.
- Cloud Shrikes - Enormous predatory birds with wingspans as wide as a ship, nesting in the highest reaches of the Soaring Lands.
- Skyroot Trees - Silver-barked trees with leaves that shimmer even when there is no wind, their properties highly reactive to magickal forces.
- Starbloom Vines - Flowers that only bloom under the moon, their petals luminescent, visible from miles below.
Natural Resources
- Skyroot Timber - Light yet incredibly durable, rumored to have properties that interact with magick more efficiently than any wood found on the ground.
- Starbloom Nectar - A rare extract believed to enhance clarity, vision, or perhaps even memory, though no one has yet gathered enough to test.
- Runed Stone - Some ruins on the islands are carved from a material unknown to Everwealth, their markings still glowing centuries after their creation.
History
The origins of the Soaring Lands remain a mystery. Some believe they were once part of the Grandgleam, torn free when the magicks of the world surged too violently, sending whole pieces of the land skyward. Others claim they were always meant to be separate, that they are the remnants of a lost world, a civilization so advanced, so deeply woven with magick, that their very lands rejected the earth below. The Avian do not claim ownership of these lands, nor do they speak of their past. They exist as caretakers, not rulers, tending to floating sanctuaries that have endured longer than any kingdom of man. And as long as they endure, so too do the secrets of the sky.
Tourism
The Soaring Lands are unreachable, not for lack of trying, but for lack of success. Flying machines have failed, gliders have crashed, spells have collapsed mid-air, all attempts to claim the sky ending in broken bodies and shattered dreams. From below, they remain a sight of impossible beauty, Everwealth’s greatest natural wonder and most coveted mystery. Travelers who reach the Grandgleam’s heart and witness them firsthand are often struck silent, watching the islands drift against the sky, ever beyond their grasp. But no one stays long. Something about the crackling energy, the looming presence of the islands, unsettles the mind. Those who linger too long beneath them speak of whispers in the wind, of a voice just beyond hearing, calling them upward. Yet no one has ever answered that call.
And perhaps, no one ever should.
Alternative Name(s)
'The Floating Wilds'. 'The Broken Sky', 'The Avian's Refuge'.
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