Lyardia

Lyardia has the most diverse geography of the World of Light and Darkness, encompassing a cold, northern tundra, a vast central plain, a scorching southern desert, two mountain ranges, two major forests, and a great freshwater lake.

Starting in the north, the three eternally frozen Polar Islands are the most northern inhabited lands in the whole of the World. Named Permafrost, Freezeover, and Pitfall in order from largest to smallest, the Islands are inhabited by the Aurit heritage of elementals, who have chosen to be independently nomadic and only marginally bow to the power of the Kingdom of Polaris. The only permanent settlement is Farstay, a small, fortified city that serves as a military training camp and way-station for merchants who take the Northern route across the Great Luna Ocean.

South of the Polar Islands lay the lands of the previously mentioned Kingdom of Polaris. The Kingdom’s acknowledged territory includes the Cardinal Tundra, the Conquered Steppe, the Cryic Valley Pass, the Coastal Mountain Range, and the northern half of the Boundary Mountain Range. Their largest cities are the capital, New Winterkeep, and the trading-cities of Icerest and Graypass. The kingdom’s largest sources of income are trade and fishing. The people are predominantly of Manglen heritage, with many communities of Aurit, Ruskyn, and Slavon peoples living among the ice and dust and ash of the north. The name ‘Polaris’ means ‘pole-pointing’ or ‘pole-star’, a common way to describe something constant and non-changing.

South of the Boundary Mountain Range, we find the largest of kingdoms in Lyardia, the Kingdom of Raicuth. The Kingdom’s acknowledged territory includes the Boreal Shadowcast Forest, the Flutter Plains, the Evergrowth Marshlands, Aquia Lake, the Vita Cloud Forest, the Serpent-Tail half of the River of Life, and the northern half of the Setting Sun Mountains. Their largest cities are the capital, Gildence, the trading-cities of Ekasea, Iriemery, and Hailholm, the traveler’s city of Cixrith, and the military-city of Rivune. The kingdom’s largest sources of income are trading and farming. The people are predominantly of Axten heritage, with large communities of Inkal and Mayslan people, as well as diaspora populations of Attonan and Makhal peoples who fled the overpopulated Solar Republic. The name ‘Raicuth’ means ‘rich in culture’ or ‘intangible riches’, a description for a place without physical wealth, but great culture and heritage.

More southern still, past the Setting Sun Mountains, is the only republic of the continent, the Republic of the Divided. Formerly the Solar Republic, their acknowledged territory includes the southern half of the Setting Suns, the Split-Solar Desert, the Serpent-Head half of the River of Life, the Spires in the Dust, Tongue Island, and the Noxio Mangrove Forests that line the coast. The largest cities are the capital, Emelenora, and the manufacturing-cities of Blimginia and Nirie. The republic’s largest sources of income are export goods and manufacturing. The people are predominantly of Attonan heritage, with large communities of Makhal and Ethocan making a living in the desert. Currently, the whole of the republic is enveloped by the War of the Sun and the Moon, which is hampering the export of much-loved luxury goods to the north.

West of the Kingdom of Raicuth, among the waters of the Hydros Sea, sits the Evergreen Islands, ruled by the United Island Council as the United Island Nation. The Islands support a small, but strong, population of people who had long ago fled the chaos of the mainland. They are the only proper Confederation on Lyardia. The nation’s main source of income is trade.

Lyardia is called the Wild Continent for a reason. For as long as the elementals have kept records, it has been known that each Quintet Day would bring new swings in the world. With five seasons, changing every two months, life in Lyardia always has some element of chaos.

Razing Season

The first season of the year is Razing season. As the year turns from the month of the Unicorn, the time of rest, into that of the Griffin, all old and useless things are cast away to make room for the new.

The Cleansing Storm

On the first day of the year, the annual Cleansing Storm sweeps across the Flutter Plains before sweeping around the coasts to hit the Cardinal Tundra and the Split-Solar Desert, then returning to the Great Luna Ocean. This yearly event is triggered by the actions of unknowable beasts somewhere in the Great Luna Ocean. During the ten-day long storm, all the grazing beasts of the plains will flee to the Twin Forests of Shadowcast and Vita. It is not uncommon to see herds of Alloy Deer or Leading Antelope racing through empty fields. During this great run, those beasts that are sick, crippled, or otherwise incapacitated will be left behind. In the wake of the Fleeing, as this migration is called, come the carnivorous beasts. Packs of formerly unseen beasts like Kelpies and Knukers emerge from the Aquia lake, hunting down those that are left behind in the Fleeing. The same happens with the avian beasts, with flocks of Horn Geese and Wish Terns making for the trees as Wanderer Hawks hunt the stragglers. The Fleeing is mirrored in both the north and the south, though most beasts flee to the foothills of the corresponding mountain ranges rather than any forest.

Razing the Fields

The act of Razing the Fields is necessary to ensure growth in the next season. After being allowed to overgrow with wild plants during the Sleeping Season, the farmers will set the brush on fire. Traditionally, the fire from the hearth was used, though lampion-oil fire can also be used to jumpstart the Razing. The subsequent ash is then soaked into the fields by the Nourishing Storm, the time of light rains and half-clouded skies that follows the Cleansing Storm.
The first Razing of the Fields was an old religious ceremony of the Empire of the Butterfly’s Wingbeat. The prominent belief at the time was that, after allowing the fields to ‘go wild’, the Fae, who only lived in the wild, would make the earth ready for new crops. But the Fae would always try to hide and steal the crops later on, so they would have been ‘driven away’ by setting the fields ablaze. The soaking of the ash would keep the Fae out until the harvest was done.

Growing Season

  The second season of the year is Growing Season. After the last day of the month of the Leviathan, the month of the Phoenix, the bird who is reborn, comes about, marking a time of new growth.

The Shining Sun

On the first day of the month of the Phoenix, as the Nourishing Storm fades, the Shining Sun takes it place in the sky. The Sun itself must guard it’s edge of the world, as it is sentenced to, but it also must shine in the sky. So after whatever makes the Storms of the Razing Season has their fun, the Sun retakes it place in the sky with pride. It appears as much larger than in the Fruiting Season, with what clouds remain circling around it as the Sun travels across the sky. The Shining Sun pours down Solar energy, which kicks off the Growing Season. It’s under the Sun that the beasts bear offspring, where the crops spring up in abundance, and when the elementals hold festivals celebrating life.
Even during the night, the light of the Shining Sun is visible, creeping over the eastern horizon, taunting the Moon, who, during this season, is the most dull. This phenomena has created a bizarre seasonal sleep schedule, where beasts stay awake for nearly eighteen hours in a day, only sleeping when the Sun is hiding below the western horizon, waiting to rise again. 
 

Feeding the Earth

The act of Feeding the Earth is the most important ritual of Growing Season anywhere that crops are grown on Lyardia. After the Razing, the earth is plowed by either hand or by beast-drawn tools, and then the seeds are scattered about with eyes closed, allowing the winds to dictate where the crops shall grow. 
The most common crop grown in the Flutter Plains is Mak-ze. Mak grows in the form of tall stalks, with blooms of the grain found on the top. This grain is then ground down to meal and flour, which can be made into bread, gruel, or many other staple foods. Like many things still done in the Flutter Plains, both the Feeding of the Earth, and the planting of Mak-ze, originates in the Empire of the Butterfly’s Wingbeat.

Fruiting Season

The third season of the year is Fruiting Season. As the month of the Dragon ends, the month of the Firelight begins, the beasts who eat all, and the living things enjoy the fruits of the Growing Season. 

The Blazing Night

The Blazing Night is one of the only times during the year that the Sun and Moon share the sky. For the first ten days of the month of the Firelight, the day carry's on like normal, but when the Sun reaches high noon, then the Moon rises, followed by the stars. The Sun continues across the sky, and at midnight, it sets. This continues until the Day of Hatching, when the massive swarms of sleeping Scourge Cicadas emerge from the ground to eat. 
  It is during the Blazing Night that the Harvest must be conducted, for once the Scourge Cicadas wake up, there is no hope for the crops. But these tiny beasts are not all bad. They eat only the ripest part of the plants, leaving behind the husks, the branches, the overripe fruits, which in turn allow for the Night Planting, the second round of yearly crops.