Akaso

  ZASTREON, THE PLA

  Signifitly rger thah. More ndmass, but distributed across smaller tial masses.

  THE BANISHMENT WHEEL

  A megastructure spanning the ey of the p, with an internal support structure which is ied with the pself while the wheel proper extends hundreds of kilometers into space. Seven spokes reach down from the wheel, through the support structure, and into the p’s core, where the meism’s actual core is located. The spokes also gh an inner ring at surface level which prevents seawater or surface detritus from falling into the meism.

  It spins stantly, produg a barrier around the po bolster its waning geomagic field, stabilizing its orbit, and most importantly preventing the ods from entering our world directly. Despite splitting the world down the middle, the wheel itself is built such that passage between its spokes remains possible, and for the purposes of le shipping, the Wheel is often the safest part of the journey.

  It was built before recorded history began by Igaria the Wheelmaker in a grand act of rebellion, usurping trol of the world for mankind. It is the tral object of worship for the Seven Spokes.

  A recurring inscription is found all over the wheel:

  True souls they will not break

  They never fade away into the past

  False gods we will outst forevermore

  IMMEDIATELY RELEVANT TIS

  Ashametan

  The tral ti on which o Caster takes pce. A temperate ti with three innd seas and several major mountain ranges. Its climate transitions iremophiliearly alien ecologies in the south - the Beyond Frontier.

  A notable portion of Ashametan to the far west is separated by untamed nd, which is crossed by the Dregstone Road. The Road is threaded between sheer seaside cliffs and the northmost portions of the Beyond Frontier.

  Most inhabitants of Ashametan just refer to it as "the ti".

  Agertian Peninsu

  A rge peninsu ected to the the western coast of Ashametan. It is ri nearly all known natural resources excepting Dregstone and a se of its coastline is protected by a mountain range, from which many rivers flow.

  It tains several minor statehoods alongside extensive Calbian ruins.

  The nd-bridge which ects Agertia to the rest of Ashametan is run-through by the Banishment Wheel, blog it off from access for short periods of time throughout the year.

  Tiengenzen

  A remion to the far west, including a single tral ti surrounded by many isnds. The sea around it is so extremely turbulent that only specialized methods of transport escape or ehe Tiengenzen Region, and it is believed that this is caused by some type of isotioructure built not long after the Banishment Wheel. What limited tact has been had with Tiengenzen has shown that the Seven Spokes System rarely mas in people from the region and that alternative methods of harnessing the Soul Furnace are predominant. The region's equivalent to agencies reign with the power to overrule any normal gover, and often war with one another for resources.

  Xaugeth

  An isnd whose size pces it in the awkward space between a huge isnd and something that could be sidered a new ti. It is due west of the Beyond Frontier on the northmost part of the aforementioned region. Xaugeth exhibits simirly alien ecology to the Beyond Frontier, but the life found on and around it is different enough from even the Beyond Frohat it is believed Xaugeth may have formed atop some supermassive extrapary object from millions of years ago. Some theorize that Xaugeth ossibly still active attempt by a civilization from another world to alter Zastreon's ecology to their own preference. Xaugeth's alien biosphere has not been recorded as spreading for as long as history has been recorded, however.

  It is a civilized pce with its own geopolitics, though its kingdoms are rgely insur and out of touch with Ashametan. Several species of non-Evoy ioid are known to inhabit the pseudo-ti.

  RELEVANT STATES

  Jas'raba, the City of the Gods

  A vast, sprawling city built inside an open-pit mine, with a giant pile of mummified bodies in the ter. It is ied with Tur'ith Ur-Baneworms and bsted by Anathemic radiation at semi-random intervals, the only safe pces being eldritch cathedrals scarred around.

  It lundered for turies and is still believed to hold hidden treasures as to this day. However, only those desperate enough to brave its dangers now dare to e, as the potential reward is unfavorable pared to alternatives. As such, expeditions into Jas'raba tend to involve low mid-ranker tractors at best.

  The Jas’raba Civilization

  Jas’raban teology is eldritd horrifi appearance as well as fun to the modern humanoid. Their maes, many of which were tools for en-mass fleshgrafting of a sort, seem designed withard for fort, brutalizing and mutiting in the course of carrying out their funs. It seems as though they were desigo be purposely cruel, but iy, this is just our modern perspective iy.

  The truth is, Jas’rabans had no reason to at for pain or minimize tissue damage, because meat was nothing more than material to them. Gruesome body modification was akin to cutting one's hair, or even more accurately altering one's clothes. Jas’raba was a civilization made up entirely of Baneworms, who could easily impel their meat-shells into impossibly rapid healing, and for whom pain was meaningless.

  They were the precursors of modern Baneworms; while the devolved, pitiful things we knorimordial Baneworms mostly remained in Jas’raba, their more fortunate cousiually recovered and escaped, not remembering their own past glory, or the fact they had once been free from the position of parasites.

  This theory even expins why the vaunted Baneworm removal maes are found in areas of the great city that resemble prisons. They’re execution devices.

  As for why they met such a fate, it is believed that the Assion Mae devolved most of the popution, while the mutations which allowed the survivors to retain their faculties also rehem hyper-sensitive to Anathema. That is not to say that Primordial Baneworms are particurly Anathema-resistant.

  Afshani Sultanate

  A populous and prosperous try to the north-west of Audunpoint. They hold a notable portion of the ti uheir rule, and operate under a monarchistic system. Their core ruling dynasty has ruled well for the st millennium, and succession flicts have a curious habit of leading to small-scale civil wars with retively few casualties given the sultanate's size, in the low tens of thousands. It is believed the agencies and mert s of the Sultanate have a vested i in its tiability.

  The Afshani royal family hold themselves as self-procimed successors of the Jas’raba Civilization. They do not actually hold the territory which tains Jas’raba and are not sidered to be any sort of authority on the Jas’raba Civilization. Their royal family vehemently disagrees with the theory that the Jas’rabans were precursors to modern baneworms, instead subscribing to the theory’s predecessor, that of an ultra-stratified civilization which treated its undercsses as cattle and tended with persistent baneworm iions.

  In this aspect, the sultanate holds itself as civilized and advao their supposed predecessors, despite practig forms of svery to this day, primarily in the form of using prisoners as cheap bor paid in scrip equating to a fra of what they would be paid for the same work normally. It's not unon to see individuals sell themselves into iured servitude for fixed periods of time, but this system is, strangely enough, funal, and is often used as a social safety by the destitute.

  The Sultanate adheres closely to the Zaveshian faith, specifically a branch of it which leans away from grafting and towards the perfe of one's own natural body. Grafting is heless very on, and Afshani grafters' guilds are sidered to produce good work.

  Calbium

  The builders of the Banishment Wheel. Founded and ruled over for millennia by Zavesh and Igaria. No longer exists.

  Calbiaoration federacy

  A wannabe successor state to Calbium, headed by a Fullgraft made by a rogue Zaveshian Graft-Saint using relic body parts from direct desdants of Zavesh and Igaria - fittingly named Zagarius. The state is highly favorable towards both of the Twin Churches despite the tentious circumstances of its founding, and enjoys perhaps the greatest degree of prosperity and highest quality of life in the known world.

  The CRC holds a coastal territory to the south-east of Afshani borders, extending along the coast towards the Agertian Peninsu, where their territory clumps up to cover the whole of the nd-bridge, using the area to access the Banishment Wheel's interior. They also hold several sizable near-coast isnds. Their territory expands tinually into Agertia and the sea itself, as they use their advand recmation teiques to enjoy tinuous expansion with no need for military flict.

  The CRC practices absolute extermination directives against Evoy and Baneworms and is rather isotionist, making it a mythical paradise of sorts for many. CRC exports are highly desirable, as is their currency, as they overcharge to the extreme if someories to pay foods using anything but CRgs.

  The CRC operates as an absolute dictatorship, wherein Zagarius holds the position of Director. As the Director is an ageless, nearly unkilble being, the possibility of succession is an unfortable one, requiring a crisis of unpreted proportion. Zagarius has sired over twenty children in his long life, a staggering number for a Fullgraft. None of them i the position of Director, as it is intended solely for a Fullgraft.

  The Khovian Khaganate and the Grand Duchy of Gormanshe

  A federation hly two-dozen tribes to the direct west of the Sultanate's borders. stantly at war with one another and with their neighbors, the Grand Duchy of Gormao an outsider's perspective Gormanshe is structured simirly to Khovia, but insinuating such a thing is extremely offeo both sides. Most of their warring is spurned on by their fervent disagreement over seemingly small matters. Most of these wars are also minor flicts between individual member tribes/duchies, leaving the greater whole mostly unharmed.

  Wandering Isnds

  Isnd-sized mobile megastructures built, maintained, and ruled by the Inax, also known as Synthoids. Inax are named after the wizard Inax, whhly three millennia before the story takes pce created them and the Wandering Isnds based on knowledge he gleaned from the Banishment Wheel and Banishers. The i properties of the Wandering Isnds and the Inax' reproductive cycle were iionally desigo facilitate ahnostate.

  Carcosa and Ar, Cities on Lake Hali

  Twin cities at either ends of an innd sea, once brought to ruin, now resurrected. Trade, fishing, and tourism abounds. Lake Hali is the st known natural habitat of fishmen, believed to be distaives of saurians who were taken under wing by ay dwelling at the bottom of Lake Hali. This caused them to split off from their terrestrial cousins; fishmen, thus, developed sapiend created a subaquatic civilization whilst saurians were still tribalistiimals.

  Located he north-eastmost er of Ashametan.

  Carcosa and Ar predate the Banishment Wheel, and were recorded as a even in the few surviving records from old Calbium.

  Giants' Csh

  A city built oe of several historic battles which took pce withiime period 1127-1131 AB. In 1127, two alien giants crashed on Zastreon, one a humanoid encased in a skintight suit of armor, and the other a terrible monstrosity resembling the True Dragons of legend. They did battle for what is recorded as “a hundred days and nights”, with the Shining Giant prevailing over the monstrosity and itself dying soon after. While the Shining Giant’s body vahe Dragon’s skeleton remains. Giants’ Csh is built within the skeleton, a part of its industry is mining the beast’s ever-regeing bones.

  Audunpoint, Carcosa, Ar, Giants' Csh, and some others are sidered as Free Cities, and the greater powers of Ashametan have treaties to maintain their independence. Some of these are as new as a few hundred years, but the tradition of Free Cities is as old as the Banishment Wheel itself, and the Twin Churches go to great lengths to ence Ashametan's various states to tihat tradition. The Free Cities also happen to hold disproportionately strong Twin Churches presences given their size.

  RACES

  Humans

  They're just humans. Fual properties of life differ, but they're still humahnicities don't trahis being a different world, and the specific traits of humans also differ. You may find humans with horns, humans with pointed ears, or humans with extreme enviroal adaptations, but they are still humans.

  Banishers

  Humanoid flesh-golems created by the Banishment Wheel to maintain its depths and fend off/extermirusions in the short-term. If a Banisher is forcibly removed from within the Wheel’s viity, its eyes will turn from blue to green and it will make a certed effort to return to the wheel; if a Banisher fails to return to one of the Wheel’s mainteations within around a month, it will rapidly self-mummify. A mummified Banisher will be restored aivated if it is brought to the Wheel.

  The flesh of dead Banishers does not naturally decay, instead mummifying, and be rehydrated by simply soaking it in water; Banishers fun at such levels of dehydration that they at times resemble moving mummies. Their flesh be used frafting and will interface with the human body without issue regardless of how it was harvested and without Anoi, which is why poag of these creatures is a problem. Zaveshite churches pay handsomely for the return of stray banishers.

  They have hairless, featureless humanoid bodies with skin in dark, desaturated shades of bluish-gray and occasionally purple. The skin is attached to the body iions for ease of maintenance, creating visible seams. Their entire bodies are modur in design, even on the iheir faces have ures except a single vertical slit eye with a perfectly round eyeball protruding in the ter when open, leaving triangur spaces of bare flesh above and below it. A sed, identical eyeball is situated on a Banisher’s upper back, between the shoulderbdes. Strangely, this extraneous eyeball’s fun does not appear to be impeded unless it is covered by Thauma-resistant material.

  Banishers are known to be able to see through solid matter to a limited degree, though doing so appears to be strenuous. The personal auras of other living beings as well as magical emanations show up as empty spots in their vision, so it be somewhat equated to a spiritual X-Ray.

  The Wheel typically modifies them to suit any given task, grafting on armor, tools, additional limbs, etc. However, their form never bees non-humanoid, rarely having four arms aremely rarely six arms.

  Curiously, rather thas Bae rare iions from its depths or mount loerm defenses against invaders, the Wheel sends Pilgrim Banishers into the wider world to request outside aid, and rewards services rendered with Calbian artifacts, which are typically of araordinarily high grade.

  Banishers are created with the knowledge necessary to perform their tasks, including the ability to speak muages and rapidly learn new ohis is thanks to the Seven Spokes’ efforts to maintairucture, including the supply of academic material to the Banishers. In fact, the procurement of new knowledge is the third most on reason for the Wheel to send out Pilgrims.

  Pilgrim Banishers

  Envoys of the Banishment Wheel in the wider world. They have three front-fag eyes, with two horizontal ones and a vertical third, as well as the usual backward-fag eye. Their horizontal eyes remain closed and they a a singleminded pursuit of a a pre-determiask until said task is pleted, at which point their horizontal eyes will open and they will, as detailed in Seven Spokes scripture, “Awaken to Free Will”.

  Awakened Pilgrims remember everything they did and experienced before awakening, though the memories are partmentalized.

  Awakened Pilgrims tend to have names by the time they awakeo a church practice of naming them, but they determiheir own surnames.

  Though a fact few are aware of, the Wheel creates Pilgrim Banishers by capturing errant souls of the dead using the same barrier which keeps the ods from interfering. It then inates these souls into Pilgrim Banishers; this is a method by which the Wheel makes up for the redu in natural reinations that its operation causes. This is also why Pilgrim Baend to have strange ideas, as some degree of memory retention is near universal among their kind, but such retained memory is also universally fragmented and partial such that they ’t correte all their discordant memories into an image of their past life.

  Saurians/Drasaurians

  Numerous subspecies with huge variations to morphology. They ge their own morphology during their lives.

  They became civilized immediately after the Banishing, as their creatod was also the reason they were perpetually stu a tribal hunter-gatherer state.

  Their skin varies from smooth with minimal scales, to feathered and even heavily armored like lesser dragonkin. Some of them have dragonkin blood, which is sidered a form of nobility, though Drasaurians do not enjoy the same bes as nobleborn humans might. Instead, they are expected to perform to a degree greater than their lowborn terparts with the same resources. Drasaurians be created through actual interbreeding, though this is usually impractical or ht impossible, so most of them came about through Saurians ritualistically using the blood and ss onkin to bless already-fertilized eggs.

  The Saurian God had nothing to do with dragonkin, and in fact went out of its way to modify its creations to more closely resemble dragons and to be capable of takiic material from them.

  Saurians are unfortuhe subjects of illegal flesh-harvesting, as well as popur victims of Baneworms, due to their naturally elevated capabilities pared to baseline humans.

  They speak using a syrinx, like birds.

  Some Saurians have wings and even the ans necessary to produce breath ons. All in all, saurians are arguably the most varied ra the face of Zastreon.

  Gor’un/Gor’ah/Mig’jun/Tur’ith Baneworms

  Bodysnatg parasites.

  Gor'un

  Baneworms who trol sapient species and are able to make full use of the host’s itive faculties. They degee to Gor’ah for a variety of reasons and to Gor’ith if they take over an animal for aended period of time.

  The Gor’un take grave personal offeo the idea of hijag a living host body without destroying the inal sciousness, as even they uand it to be beyond cruel.

  When a Baneworm takes over a host body, they i a venom into the brain which wipes it , killing the host sciousness while causing minimal damage to the flesh. This evolved as a method of avoiding the possibility of a strong-willed host resisting. Only then will the Baneworm fully seat itself in its new vessel. The process causes the Immaterial Soul to pass on and damages the Material Soul, but baneworms will often feed upon the ss left behind by the departed host over long periods of time, gaining some of their skills and Boons. This is mainly how they develop, their indepe leveling being badly stunted.

  Baneworms on their own don’t have the mental hardware for empathy as Humans uand it. Many of them are simply not intelligent enough to carry out the mental simution, being funally sub-90 IQ sapients. Those of them with suffit itive processing power (such as those in Human bodies) often don’t bother with simuting the perspectives of others. The process of being grafted into a Zaveshian-made artificial body is perma in part because the body has a sedary empathy brain that the baneworm is grafted to.

  Absenpathy is an evolutionary y of their existence as parasites.

  They are, however, not ily any more proo violence or otherwise antagonistic as than any other living thing, and their unique mental yout makes them, curiously enough, far less proe-holding and tribalism.

  Juveniles will degee into Gor'ah if they go without a shell body for too long. While they effectively trol animals, Gor'un will degee into Gor'ah if they trol an animal body for ah of time. They sider it a demeaning and horrific experience, a true st resort.

  Gor'ah

  Baneworms who either are naturally feral or have degeed to this state. They take over human hosts but are only capable mented speech at best and mostly animalistic.

  Mig’jun

  Baneworms who are animals and nothing more, and only trol nonsapient animals with any effectiveness. They take hold of human bodies but it’s really obvious.

  A separate subspecies altogether.

  Tur’ith

  A regressive form of Baneworm which requires a rge mammal host to reach its adult stage, the form of which will influes adult shape; a Tur’ith’s first host will simply be eaten from the ihin a few hours. An adult primordial baneworm tto humans from the bad prioritizes them as prey, but it ot trol a human host, instead rapidly growing through their body until the host is pletely enveloped in root-like tendrils. Ohe process pletes, it will merge with its host and mutate the both of them into a living, still-scious hive from whiew primordial baneworms will emerge.

  Reviled by all, especially their non-devolved retives. The Gor’un take grave personal offeo the idea of hijag a living host body without destroying the inal sciousness, as even they uand it to be beyond cruel.

  Inax/Synthoids

  Humans with monoatic skin, hair, etc.

  Created three thousand years ago by a powerful wizard in an attempt to create his own ideal society. They were partially based on researto the Banishment Wheel’s internal anid the creation process of Banishers.

  They have a very strong natural resistao Anathema, but their unique anatomy which actively expels Anathema rehem fually incapable of facilitating Thaumic Fusion. The moment a Monoe tries to perform it, they instantly enter Meltdown. They are frequent users of Mamon Couplers.

  Some have a sed pair of small eyes on their foreheads. These “Trueborn” always breed true, but after 2 geions of interbreeding with non-Monoes the geion loses their sed pair of eyes and bees iile. They are a sed css in the Monoe culture and thus typically revile their own homend. For this reason Monoes are exceptionally xenophobic. If two non-trueborn Monoes breed there is a 1/10 ce of a Trueborn being produced. A Seventh Son of a Seventh Son and his desdants will always breed true no matter what.

  They have seotoric brains and particurly thick skulls.

  Evoy Ioids

  Fly-men.

  I will not reveal more for the time being.

  Xaugeth Herculeans

  Beetle-men. Their beetle-like forms are more specifically referred to as "Shieldbacks" for distin from Eternity Larvae (detailed ter).

  They metamorphose many times throughout their lives, growing stroougher, and smarter, whilst also developing increasingly more specialized forms. It seems that each subsequeamorphosis is more difficult, with a limited lifespaween each metamorphosis.

  Their juveniles are nonverbal, but possess near-human intelligence from their first metamorphosis. Beetlemen reproduce by impnting immobile rvae into cos, though these are not hive-depe. Humaellect develops in the rva a short time before its first metamorphosis.

  Strangely, it seems that their rvae are biologically immortal and be made to metamorphose into a long-term rval form, or even choose to do so. These Eternity Larvae beobile and indepe, but remain physically feeble and reliant on other Herculeans. This offshoot of their society is believed to be the schorly and goveral branch.

  Eternity Larvae tio metamorphose in cycles just like normal Herculeans, but they do not grow in physical capability and their metamorphoses grow more difficult very gradually. Ay Larva metamorphose into a Shieldback, skipping past a number of stages vaguely correted to how maamorphosis cycles it has already gohrough. This is a much slower form of growth, but is also safer.

  The current ruler of the Herculean civilization is the Thousand-year Sapphire Monarch, so named for the fact he remained ay Larva for over a millennium before metamorphosing into a monstrously powerful Shieldback. At that time, he was red, and was so he Thousand-year Ruby Monarch. He proceeded to unify the disparate Herculean kingdoms in a single campaign, after which he immediately metamorphosed into his current form, proving that he was capable of overing the difficulty of normal metamorphosis.

  Herculeans ot use thaumaturgy, as they ck Soul Furhey are heless powerful, even a First Metamorphosis Herculean being dangerous. They are able to harhauma using other elements of their anatomy.

  Items made using their advanced, yet alien craftsmanship are highly valued, being made of chitin of various types and often possessing material characteristics of the highest grade. Herculean bdes are especially valuable, being among the lightest, stro, sharpest, and most magically ductive.

  Xaugeth Mothmen

  Little is known of these enigmatic beings, as most of the tact that has been had with them was occasional trade with individual merts. Their juvenile, "humanoid grub" forms speak and duct trade, while their metamorphosed mothlike forms are nonverbal ao py the role of a military and schor caste. They are profit in most tial nguages ao have a tenuous, vaguely hostile retionship with the Herculeans.

  Their life cycles are believed to be vaguely simir to those of Herculeans.