Arvore
Arvore is a world of living wonder—a realm where the song of nature has never been silenced, and where the soil itself hums with magic older than time. Its history stands apart from all other Sisterworlds, for it has never known the scars of true war. Conflicts, when they arose, were fleeting—born of pride or misunderstanding rather than conquest or greed—and quickly settled beneath the vast canopy of its forests. Peace is not merely an ideal here; it is a rhythm, as natural as the rising of the sun. To live upon Arvore is to live in harmony with the divine will of its goddess, who is the world itself—the air that stirs the leaves, the rivers that carve the land, and the roots that hold creation together.
Yet Arvore’s tranquility hides a profound truth: it is a world that rejects technology. No engine hums here, no current flows, no machine endures. Electric, solar, steam, or any force unnatural to the rhythm of the planet simply ceases to function upon its soil. It is as though the land itself, in silent defiance, denies intrusion.
The scholars of the Solarian Sisterworld Alliance—those who recently discovered Arvore and it's people—believe this phenomenon to be the will of the goddess herself. For Arvore is not merely a world named after a deity—it is the goddess incarnate. The people of Arvore say her heart beats in the roots of the oldest trees and her blood runs in the veins of the rivers. Thus, any attempt to impose upon her harmony is rejected; all things unnatural crumble before her breath.
Arvore’s divinity extends beyond her living presence. She alone among the Sisterworlds has chosen to appoint her own children as gods—the Elemental Sovereigns of Earth, Water, Fire, and Air, and more. Though unseen for millennia, their existence is recorded in murals, scriptures, and songs that speak of mortals elevated to divinity through noble death. These beings, once human, are said to have surrendered their lives in service to Arvore’s balance and were reborn as her extensions—divine spirits who maintain the natural order. But even within Arvore, their reality is a matter of faith. Some believe they were myths woven by ancient monks, while others insist they still walk unseen among the forests, tending to the pulse of the planet. Philosophers from beyond question whether any being not born of Amare, the creator goddess of all life, can truly be divine—or whether Arvore’s gods are simply fragments of her vast consciousness given form.
When the Solarian Sisterworld Alliance finally discovered Arvore, it was greeted not with hostility but with serene curiosity. The people of Arvore—humble, radiant beings in tune with the rhythm of magic—welcomed visitors with open arms, confident in the safety of their goddess’s barrier. For as long as the world denied technology, they believed they could not be corrupted. Trade began, immigration flourished, and scholars from across the Sisterworlds came to study Arvore’s living magic. But with time, the impossible happened. Small pockets of land—once verdant and vibrant—began to accept technology. Machines that should have fallen silent, belonging to the other Sisterworlds, began to whir and glow. Electricity sparked. Engines turned. And in each place where the unnatural took root, nature began to wither. Rivers dulled. Leaves lost their shimmer. Magic faded from the air like a dying breath.
These cursed regions have since been named Aetherblight Sites— places that accept technology more and more everyday, and who's nature is harmed more and more accordingly. To many, they represent opportunity—a way to bring Arvore into the modern age. But to her devotees, they are an existential blasphemy, a slow poison eating away at the divine. The debate has consumed the world: whether to ban the Solarian Sisterworld Alliance entirely and seal Arvore once more in sacred isolation, or to seek balance, and find a way to coexist while fixing the imminent withering of nature.
Now, Arvore stands upon a precipice. Its forests still whisper the songs of old gods, yet its skies tremble with the expectation of technology coming in waves soon. Its people are torn between the call of faith and the allure of progress, between devotion to their living goddess and the desire to grow beyond her will. The world of Arvore—once the purest expression of harmony—has become the stage for an ancient question: can nature and civilization ever coexist without destroying one another? And if the answer is no… which must be sacrificed first—the world, or its soul?
