Domus



Description
Domus is a planet that was home to the Agrians, beings known as the Forefathers by the Domians, creations of this race. The world is split into several large continents, all separated by oceans and seas. Domus is very similar to Earth in that it is very hot and humid around the equator, and cold at the poles of the planet. The world is approximately half and half landmass and ocean, with a lot of the land having been terraformed into large, relatively flat plains. The Agrians are a race of beings around 400-500kg in size, and the Domians are roughly the proportions of humans.

[Agrius in Greek means "the wild" or "savage one". Agrius and Oreius (Αγριος & Ορειος) are twin brothers that are half-man and half-bear. Agricultural base for resources.]

[Domus is home in Latin.]

[ praeter
 * 1) besides, except
 * 2) beyond
 * 3) more than]

Domus
The planet sits within the habitable zone of a sun like star. It's surface is split rough half land and half water. The land is comprised of six large continents and two polar ice caps. The planet is believed to be around 3 billion years old with three natural satellites, only one of which is visible from the planets surface with enough gravity to affect the worlds tides. The crust is split into eleven tectonic plates and life Earth has seen continental drift separate a single massive super continent into the six continents visible today. The equatorial regions are relatively dry and arid with several of the worlds largest deserts lying directly on the planets equator.

A small twelfth tectonic plate is believed to have been subducted almost completely underneath the Central Plate some eight hundred million years ago. The last remnant being the Szardainian Plate and the Tagiel Plate. It is believed that the addition of the two smaller natural satellites are responsible for the relatively large amount of tectonic plates and the unusual force they appear to have exerted in the planets early years. As these two moons now lie much further out than when the plates first separated their presence no longer impacts on continental drift. The most active plate boundary is that shared between the Central Plate, Szardainian Plate and the Tagiel Plate. This convergent boundary is the location for a sizable portion of the worlds earthquakes. It also has a lot of volcanic activity with the south east of the Central Plate rarely free from eruptions.

Ancient
Domus was originally home to the Agrians. They started life on the southernmost landmass, and as their civilization progressed, they moved to the other continents. As they continued to expand, demand for resources rose dramatically, with the Agrians requiring more and more food due to their large size. Conventional farming techniques proved inadequate, and so their science began to heavily focus on genetic engineering and gene manipulation in an attempt to produce superior crop yields. The solution worked for a long time, but the population continued to grow and more farmland was needed to sustain them. They slowly began to terraform large areas of the world, leveling mountains and the land to create fertile areas for supporting themselves.

Hundreds of years passed, and even this effort became insufficient. Class stratification, along with the ever increasing strain on resources, threatened to topple their society. To prevent society descending into chaos, a team of desperate scientists and engineers decided to 'create more space' - after the failed attempts to create stacked multilevel cities, which caused many economic, social and environmental problems, their efforts would lead to the first 'praeter' called Praeter One. This flying city hovered several thousand feet above the planets surface. With its creation, the inhabitants of several cities were relocated to the praeter, and the cities were flattened and turned into farmland for more crops and produce. The effects were almost immediate, and the praeter was considered a significant step forward. Hundreds were built and almost the entire population of the planet moved from cramped planet-side dwellings to the technologically rich and luxurious praeter, with the abandoned cities being leveled and converted to food production areas.

This solution was effective for several hundred more years before the same problem arose. However this time, the Agrians has been looking into the beginnings of interstellar travel and moving to more worlds to help produce food for their society. The construction of The Arc, a massive colony ship to move a vast portion of the population in cryostasis to another viable world was almost at completion before disaster struck. With squalor reaching another high, a terrorist group managed to steal a deadly gene-virus called the Life-Eater Virus and believing they could control it, released it among the population in a crude attempt to cull a large portion of the population. The virus proved far too extreme for them to manage and spread so fast even the safeguards designed to prevent an outbreak failed to contain it. The result was almost a complete extermination of the Agrians on the surface and almost all of the praeter were infected.

Seeing no other course of action, the remaining Agrians completed the 'Ark' and left the world, leaving behind the newly christened Domians to terraform the planet for their return.

Recent
With the Forefathers no longer present on the planet, the Domians began attempting to terraform it back to a habitable state. However civil war erupted between various factions as they battled over their interpretation of the directives left to them by the Forefathers. Having almost no knowledge of a lot of the Forefathers; technology, they unleashed several weapons they did not fully understand. Fifteen praeter were lost in the fighting, their engines and floating mechanism damage to the point where they either crashed or detonated in the sky. The civil war ended with the loss of Praeter One, its forward floating engine damaged in an attack with caused it to crash into the surface. The ruins and remains of Praeter One became known as the City of the Lost Ones. With the destruction of such an iconic and legendary technological achievement, the factions temporarily ceased hostilities against each other, out of fear of losing even more in the war. Since then, wars between the factions have started and ended many times, but most sides consider fighting on a praeter to be down to small arms only, in an attempt to preserve it and prevent further losses. Since then, five more have fallen over the previous three centuries, but only one in the last one hundred years.

The Azarr Congregation:
An overarching governmental branch, based in and predominantly in charge of the city of Principale. The two local explorers most famous for discovering the Steel Desert and the oft-depicted Silverblossom Valley and Dawn Meadow work for this branch - Helen and Marcus Bright. John Seraph of the well respected Seraph dynasty/bloodline lives with and works for the Congregation as a top tier 1 level Guardian, and serves them in whatever way he can, whether it be in temple, on the streets or on holy missions. The members of the Congregation are generally conservative and answer to their superiors without question; they do not believe that the artifacts left behind by the Forefathers are magic, but they view the products of that civilization with near-religious significance. The Brights are a bit removed from the rest, however.

Stratia Administration:
The world needs guidance, and these men want to deliver it. They are extremely outspoken and try their hardest to bend the world to their standards, but so far, they have not gone to extremes, as they know the public backlash would drown out their cause, and thus they have remained in charge of a citizenry which hasn't changed much in size for a while. They are viewed as merely an annoyance by members of other factions, and those who live under their jurisdiction don't mind their 'guidance' much, as they secure a rigid and consistent flow of supplies, living arrangements, and general support for their citizens.

The Spectre/Harr:
A shady underground conglomerate largely consisting of black-market traders, outlaws, bounty hunters, hit-men/assassins, scavengers, pirates and thieves. Although this group is usually considered by other factions and the media as "organised and dangerous", and are frequently propagated as such, in reality it rarely is; it is an expansive network of individuals and sub-factions whom rarely congregate together and even rarely get on with one another, each one in competition with the others for respect, reputation and above all: riches.

Inhabitants
The current inhabitants of The World are the Domians, engineered creations. They come from the Forefather's genetic code in coalition with their highly advanced genetic engineering technology around the same time the Life-Eater Virus was released. Far smaller than their creators, they also incredibly agile and fast in comparison and were the first intelligent race the Forefathers ever made. Although originally created as part of an experiment by the Forefathers they quickly found their new creation was immune to the virus and realized they could leave the Domians to terraform the planet back to a livable state whilst they went into cryo-status on the Arc.

Helen Bright:
A headstrong, smart, and driven explorer, who primarily applied for work with the Congregation so she could be on the edge of discovery. She ties her hair back in a ponytail, and wears a bit of leather protection as she also likes to explore on foot, as well as scale ruins. Her weapons of choice, should danger present herself, are twin tonfas. She considers her husband Marcus her equal, and loves him very much - they're rarely separable.

Marcus Bright:
A reserved man who would initially seem to be following Helen around, but pulls his weight and quite skilled in his own right. He wears suspenders with leather patches, and a white shirt and tie. He carries a kopis on his belt, which rarely sees practical use but is part of his daily practice routine, should danger present itself. He considers Helen his equal, and loves her very much - they're rarely separable.

Biyaul Murel
A famous painter who accompanied the Brights on one of their first explorations on the edges of civilization. He is responsible for painting both Silverblossom Valley and Dawn Meadow, the latter of which he would dedicate the rest of his life attempting to capture its essence on canvas. He remains a close friend of the Brights, although he is many decades older than them and has settled down later in life.

Lukas Artaellius
A surveyor within the Guild of Technocrats, Lukas' passion lies in the discovery and acquisition of Forefather relics. Desperate to have the next big breakthrough in his name, he seeks out some of the rarest and prized artifact the Technocrats desire, datacores that contain vast portions of the Forefathers scientific research and history. Often venturing from the Guilds headquarters in the Ra'Shi station, he leads expeditions into the heart of outsider territory to find the relic that will put his name down into history.

John Seraph
Johnathan Seraph - chiefly referred to as John by friends/members of the Azarr Congregation and Seraph by others - is a high-ranking (tier 1 Guardian) member of 'The Overwatch' (more widely known by the unofficial name of 'The Hand'); an honour-based law enforcement group controlled by, and loyal to, a large governmental sect known as the Azarr Congregation. A troubled and brutal life leaves him "broken" and devoid of feeling. Haunted by unanswered questions from his past, he is actively ever-searching for the answers in any place and situation he can, which usually leads him into trouble. Unusual for a tier 1 guardian, John insists on working on field missions outside the great temple (on the streets, in the slums, in hostile territory) with the lower level members of 'the Hand'. He is often forcibly accompanied by lower tier guardians and tasked with training them in the fundamentals of law enforcement, combat, worship and scripture; although he famously detests this and prefers to work alone.

Habe Tantum
A Domian pilot trained to serve the Azarr Congregation, who later achieved notoriety as a smuggler. With no true allegiance to any factions, his primary concern is providing for his small family at all costs. As a part of an underground group which trade within the black market, he is often hired to transport unknown items. Usually between factions or to and from the Praetors. He takes little interest in the goods of which he is transporting, other than the fee he can charge depending on the rarity or the risk involved.

==='Confidence' Castor=== The world being an interesting combination of low technology and widespread ignorance has allowed Castor to afford himself a comfortable and easy life. Scavenging is the bread and butter of even the higher classes so he draws no division between his lifestyle and that of the archeologists and explorers. A conman of no fixed abode, he moves freely with a carefree attitude boarding on sociopathic.



Weapons
The weapons of Domus are quite a diverse mix of high/new and low/old technology.

Advanced firearms/projectile weapons exist but are very rare as they are usually made by reverse-engineering salvaged ancient firearm tech and power-sources from the Agrians, which themselves are very difficult to come by. Only a few people are known to own them (mostly VIPs/leaders), one of the few being John Seraph. Ancient Agrians used these weapons but preferred blades.

Basic firearms/projectile weapons exist, such as rudimentary musket weapons, bows, crossbows and slingshots; mostly utilised by mercenaries, guards, hitmen/assassins and Harr pirates. Ancient Agrians also used these weapons but preferred blades.

Bladed melee-based weapons weapons exist, such as kopis, machetes, knives, swords, axes, hatchets and pikes. John Seraph carries a Guardian staff that can extend/collapse, but that also contains hidden blades that are rarely used. Explorer Marcus Bright carries a Kopis on his person primarily for the event of needing it to cut through thick vegetation, hunting/gathering/survival and for self defence whilst out with his wife. Bladed weapons are mostly used by the Harr faction. Ancient Agrians preferred to use blades, often to avoid any further loss/damage of the Preaters.

Blunt melee-based weapons exist, such as hammers, maces, tonfas, staffs, clubs, and batons. Helen Bright is known to carry twin tonfas for self defence, if danger should present itself whilst she and her husband are exploring. John Seraph also carries a Guardian extendable staff for defence that belonged to his father before him. Once again, ancient Agrians used these weapons but preferred blades.Locations

The Steel Desert
Presumed to be a battleground of ancient times, as thousands of weapons of war litter the area, broken and weathered from time and the aforementioned battle. The weapons are quite large and incapable of being wielded by the humanoids now investigating this area - although no one had realized this battleground existed until recently, even though teams had combed the area.

The Dunes of Western Szardai

If the deciphered records of a small, rundown temple on the edge of the area are to be believed, the temple itself served as a reminder to its citizens that an ancient country once forced a segment of its population to emigrate for political reasons. The sands of these dunes consumed many of them. A mural with most of the art missing remains, a few figures stumbling across an endless desert - all drawn with emaciated features.

The City of the Lost Ones
The remains of Praeter One, this place is now a haven for those who operate outside the law. While much of the city cannot be accessed due to lethal radiation levels, the outskirts have been populated by the cast-offs of normal society.

Rin'ya, War's Scar
The damage left by Praeter One as it crash landed, the scar is a seven mile long gouge in the landscape, going hundreds of meters deep at some points. This place is filled with many relics from the praeter, but is constantly watched by the lost ones - making it hazardous to search for anything of value.

Anrondel, Guild of the Technocrats
Anrondel is the headquarters of the Guild of Technocrats. It is here that the majority of the guild recide. It is a massive complex build into the side of a mountain, with an abundance of farmland surrounding the base. The fields are worked by the Guild Serfs, members of the Guild of no real status that are forced to work for the more elevated families of the Guild to provide food. In return they benefit from the prosperity and protection the Guild can provide with its advanced technology and efficient military forces.

Foods

Muralle
The most common food in the floating islands is the Muralle grain, which is milled for various purposes. It grows surprisingly well at high elevation, and has existed for longer than anyone can remember. It’s a hardy plant that also grows in a variety of temperatures, making it ideal for widespread planetary cultivation. Muralle also grows en masse on the planet surface. The taste isn’t anything special, though.

<h3 data-rte-spaces-before="1" data-rte-spaces-after="1" data-rte-empty-lines-before="1">Lulit

A recent discovery on the surface has been the lulit, a fruit well suited for tropical climates. It doesn’t exist on the islands, because it grows best at sea level. This means it’s quite expensive and considered a luxury – it has a refreshingly sour taste, and goes bad quickly unless properly stored.

<h3 data-rte-spaces-before="1" data-rte-spaces-after="1" data-rte-empty-lines-before="1">Marin

One of the delicacies on the islands is the marin, which is very popular with children. A legume-like fruit which is coated by a thin but hard shell, common on some of the trees on the plains of the islands, it’s a popular children’s pastime to climb the trees and grab some for eating at home. The adults eat them as well, but with added nostalgia. Check before you eat one, though – sometimes, high-flying animals will peck them open and eat some of it.

Meat
Meat is gathered on the surface of the planet, for the most part. Many of the flying beasts that inhabit the skies tend to roost on the islands and their peaks, making the animals that live up there prime targets for abduction.

Paku [singular and plural], a rodent-like large mammal with a thin coating of fur, is a primary source of meat for many, and they are kept as both pets and food.