I tried playing with a world called Tera a while back - not sure how well you remember that. But there were some problems with Tera, particularly involving religion, which was supposed to be a primary part of the setting. I wanted religions that were similar in nature to Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, respectively, similar enough at least to maintain the feel of what eighteenth-century Europe, America, and the Middle East, would feel like, and yet be different enough from said religions in the real world to make sure that nobody would get offended. This seems to be an intractible task.

And so, Annada was born.

Annada is Quenya and translates to "Gift-Realm" (anna, gift, da, realm). I'm going to edit this post as time goes on, sort of the way that BH has edited the History of Therin.

All suggestions are welcome.

Anyhow, here's the basic nature of the world.

Annada is a planet orbiting a yellow star at a distance of roughly 157 million kilometers. It is 12671 kilometers in diameter and gravity at its surface is 0.98g. The planet has a moon which orbits every 24 of its days. Its rotational period is roughly 26 Earth-hours, and there are 317 of these days in its year. The planet has an axial tilt of 22.81 degrees. Atmospheric pressure at the surface is 112 kilo-Pascals; the atmosphere is 71% nitrogen, 26% oxygen, 1% carbon dioxide, and 2% water vapor and other gasses. Equatorial surface temperatures tend to average about 25 degrees C; polar surface temperatures are usually about 0 degrees C in summer and -40 degrees C in winter. 73% of the planet's surface is water and 27% is land; of the land surface, roughly 21% is covered by permanant ice (most of which is over 1 km deep). Average cloud cover (for the planet) is roughly 43%.

--

Religion

Annada is believed by most of its inhabitants (those who are religious, at least), to be the first 'gift' to the people of another world which has many names, but the ancient languages usually call it Arda. According to myth, some of the inhabitants of this Arda are mortal, and when they die, their spirits come to Annada and are born into (some of) its inhabitants. The individual who contains an ancient soul does not remember his soul's previous life, although can be (partially) made aware of his former life's knowledge via a ceremony called a Reinstatement. Nevertheless, even with a Reinstatment, a person does not become the same person his soul dwelt in on Arda, although he will be very similar, and with the same knowledge, will have all the more reason to behave similarly.

Many, if not most, people on Annada, however, do not inherit spirits from Arda - they are merely born. Possessing an inherited spirit is very valuable to anybody wishing to become versed in the arts of magic on Annada. After all, there have to be more births on Annada than on Arda, since time on Annada passes faster (the ratio seems to be approximately 3.14159 times faster; most mathematicians recognize this number).

It is not known what happens to the souls of people who die on Annada. It is thought that they leave to some as-yet unknown place, possibly another world like Annada. There are spells that ressurect on Annada, but the interaction with souls is currently far from certain.

Annada is watched over by two different, competing, but not necessarily hostile, sets of Gods: The Golden Titans and the Silver Dragons. Most people follow one set of gods or the other, although a few pay respects to both sets. Most religious teachings preach that the Gods depend upon the following of their respective divine sets for their existence, number, and power. The behavior of the Gods also generally depends on the collecitve will of their following. Mages are more important in their following of the Gods than non-mages, and the greater the mage, the greater the effect. Most who look at the two sets objectively see the Golden Titans as being more powerful than the Silver Dragons - certainly, there are more Goldan Titans than Silver Dragons, even if individually they seem pretty similar.

There is something referred to as 'alignment' on Annada. Alignment has four basic categories, each of which is given a color: Blue, Yellow, Black, and Grey. Blue alignment means that a person is of the belief that the beauty of nature is the soul of the world and that people should attempt to live with it, even emulate it, but not attempt to alter what constitutes beauty. Yellow alignment indicates that a person believes that the natural things of the world, such as things that grow, the mountains, the seas, are indeed beautiful and wonderful and should not be squandered, but that they should be harnessed to the efficiency that can be sustainably attained for the benefit of the peoples of the world. Black alignment belies a belief that nature is inefficient, that sentient beings can do it better and more efficiently, and that this solution should be found. Grey alignment is a 'neutral' alignment: a person with a Grey alignment feels that other concerns take priority over his view of how to deal with and interact with the natural world.

Alignment has nothing to do with whether or not a person is compassionate and altruistic (at least toward other sentient creatures) or selfish and cruel. A person can be either and still be of any of the four colors of alignment. Most cultures still believe that altruism and compassion are morally superior to selfishness and cruelty, but their take on alignment (if they have one) varies from culture to culture.

As a general rule, the Silver Dragons lean toward Blue alignment but some stray into Grey. The Golden Titans are mostly Yellow, but some are Black and a few are Blue or Grey.

--

Magic

While the word "magic" is used to describe the secret and special powers on Annada, most educated people on Annada agree there to be two entierly different types of magic: the Golden Power and the Silver Power. Both types of magic are rare skills that can be taught and learned, although both require a Reinstatement in order to practice. Having a soul inhabited from somebody in Arda, particularly a person who was powerful in the special arts of that world, helps a great deal in the innate ability to grow powerful on Annada. The two types of magic are not mutually exclusive, but the benefits of studying both are usually outweighed by the benefits of specialization, as the two Powers require the ability to see the world from quite different points of view. A person with a Blue alignment will generally have an easier time getting the hang of the Silver Power, while a person with a Yellow or Black alignment will generally have an easier time learning the arts of the Golden Power. As a general rule, and independent of alignment, men seem to be more poetent in the Golden Power and women seem to be more adept at the Silver Power; nobody knows why, but these tendencies are just that - there are many exceptions. Also, the Silver Power seems more active at night, and the Golden Power seems more active by day, although this effect is small. Any mage of the Silver Power contributes her quotient of faith-power to the Silver Dragons, and any mage of the Golden Power contributes his to the Golden Titans. A mage who knows both, well, does both.

The Golden Power is extremely ritualistic and requires the careful study and memorization of many different rituals and formulas. Casting Golden spells requires the careful drawing of geometric designs, complicated runes and careful recitation of incantations. An intellect to learn the great quantities of knowledge for spells is thus essential for anybody wishing to be a Golden mage. Casting Golden spells also takes a great deal of time to prepare, although the final incantations that "set off" the effects of Golden spells can be relatively quick. Getting a spell formula wrong often results in the failure of the spell to work - or worse, the spell may do something that the mage had no expectation of and does not understand the effects. Very few uses of the Golden Power - in particular, the ability to sense the presence of other Golden mages - are available on a spur-of-the-moment basis. Nonetheless, Golden spells are otherwise not taxing on the caster, except in that they require concentration to get the formula or recite the proper incantation correctly, which tires the mind. Effects of Golden spells are usually more complex than effects of Silver Spells, and are frequently more difficult to resist.

The Silver Power is spontaneous and has very few rituals. Silver spells can be cast with nothing more than a clear note sung with one's voice or a simple, graceful gesture of the body. A Silver mage must still possess significant intellect, for her physical and metaphysical understanding of herself and of the world around her influences what she can do and the strength of her powers. Nonetheless, she can compose new spells on a whim, although frequently Silver mages become specialized and most powerful in causing a particular subset of effects. There can be no failure for a Silver mage in getting her spell wrong, although if she is encumbered so that she cannot move or use her voice she may be unable to cast her spells. While Silver spells can be cast at whim, however, doing so, especially casting powerful spells, is exhausting both physically and mentally. She thus needs little preperation of her magic, but she is limited in what she can do by the limits of her stamina and endurance. If she is too exhausted to cast her spells, they will be less effective, much as a tired muscle cannot generate as much force as a rested one. Effects of Silver spells tend to be simple and straightforward compared to Golden spells, and it is usually possible to resist or avoid their effects through willpower, natural resilience, or agility.

To all appearances, the Golden and Silver Powers are totally different phenomena. Users of either power can sense others who use the same Power, and can attempt to dispel the effects of the same Power, but neither can sense nor dispel members of the other Power. A person who uses both can sense and attempt to dispel both, but a user of one who encounters a person who uses both cannot tell that the user of both is a user of the other as well. Users of both powers can be killed just like normal people (assuming that their killer gets past their spells, that is). Killing a Silver Power user dispels all of her active spells (since she no longer has the strength to maintain them, being dead), although permanant alterations of objects or people done using her powers remain. Dispelling Golden spells and items is not so easy for a non-Golden mage, especially undoing protective wards, but usually such spells have a limited duration. The Golden Power includes a spell that grants its user immortality (or at least immunity to aging). Silver Power users cannot do this, although they can pass their mantle to a specially concieved child, thus perpetuating important aspects of their ideology and power all the same.

Neither the Golden nor the Silver Powers are exclusive with other skills, although learning other skills reduces the the amount of time that one can spend perfecting their arts and learning new spells (especially true with the Golden Power). Thus, due to the somewhat limited usability of their powers, most people who use either Power also develop other skills, which can range from everyday professional skills to armsmanship to the group of things that a criminal must learn.

Most nations are not run by users of either the Golden or the Silver Powers, since the life of politics and the skills of the politician frequently get in the way of their practicing their skills at magic. Nonetheless, nations exist because the Gods and the great archmages allow them to; a nation that is neither in the favor nor disfavor of a God or archmage will not be bothered, but any that is in such a being's disfavor will require being in the favor of another in order to not be toppled. Many of the great archmages are powerful enough to permanantly alter the climate, at least locally (although others can change it back), and this has profound impacts on the welfare of states.

There are currently several theories as to what the connection, if any, between the Golden and Silver Powers are. Since they both seem to affect God-like beings, it is thought that they possess something in common, even though as far as people are concerned, they seem utterly different. Metaphysical thinkers are fond of drawing up all of the forms of the world into a triangular design, with normal matter in the center, the Golden Power in one corner, and the Silver Power in another. The third corner is empty, and many think that it represents void, the absence of matter or of the other Powers. Some, however, have speculated that the remaining corner in fact contains another Power, the Copper Power, and presumably a set of Copper Gods, but thusfar such theorization has been unsubstantiated. Nonetheless, there has been no end to speculation about what would happen if all three Powers were brought together (assuming that there are three, of course).

There is rivalry between users of the Golden Power and users of the Silver Power just as there is rivalry between the Golden Titans and Silver Dragons. Frequently, those who follow Gold have different outlooks on the world than those who follow Silver. Nonetheless, they are not diametrically opposed to each-other, and both are very heterogeneous groups of people (and Gods). Thus, there is more conflict between users of the disperate Powers than there is between different users of the same Power, but not by a large margin.

--

Races

There are six different major races on Annada, five of which are believed to include individuals containing spirits inherited from Arda. The sixth, the Goblins, are more problematic - there is supposedly a race on Arda known as the Goblins that closely resembles the creatures on Annada, but the spirits of Arda's Goblins are probably confined to Arda, like those of certain other races on Arda. Because most people are more familiar with Arda, the descriptions of these races will refer to their Ardan originators and other Ardan races.

The Calatani - The Calatani are a race of far-sighted, long-lived, and relatively slow-multiplying people. Individual Calatani are reincarnated from the spirits of a subset of what are known of as the race of Men on Arda, particularly those who tend toward friendship with another Ardan race called the Elves. On Annada, however, the Calatani more closely resemble the Elves of Arda than they do Men; they are apparently immortal (though can still be slain), tend to stand between 170 and 190 cm and weigh between 55 and 70 kg. Their skin is typically fair, they have varied hair colors, and usually fairly light eyes (blue, green, gray, and occasionally amber). Usually, they are generally lithe, fast, and fit, typically have excellent senses, and are reasonably mentally acute. The degree of sexual dimorphism within the Calatani is significant; males tend to be larger than females but not as fast.

Calatani generally lead simple lives in wilderness-like settings, thriving off of nature's bounty. They are usually kind people, typically favor Blue alignment, and enjoy personal freedom, while at the same time possessing a strong sense of community. They are generally very curious, although prudently so, and are fond of learning, art, and the appreciation of beauty. Not infrequently they turn to study the Silver Power to put their knowledge to use. A typical Calatana lives to be between two-hundred and two-hundred and fifty years of age before being killed by something (on average - this is more of a half-life than a cut-off). They take between fifty and a hundred years to reach adulthood, marry soon after, and have about four children per individual, with the chidren being spaced usually about forty years apart. After that number of children, they typically become disinterested in raising a family and are happy to have grandchildren. Many Calatani think that their ways and their wide range of physical, sensory, and intellectual advantages places them in a position of superiority to other beings - but then, most cultures regard themselves as superiors, so they are hardly unique in this regard. All told, Calatani tend to think extremely far ahead, looking to the times of their grandchildren and later, well past their own expectations of their lives.

The resemblance of the Calatani to what Arda's Elves are supposed to be like is considered striking, casuing some to feel that the Calatani are somehow supposed to be the Elves of Annada. This would be very strange, as it is thought that (perhaps with one exception) the spirits of Arda's Elves do not pass to Annada, but remain within their world. Some have suggested that the nature of the Calatani represents what they were supposed to have been but weren't. Others say it's just cooincidence, or that the superficial resemblance isn't really that deep at all.

The Moratani - The Moratani are relatively short-lived and short-sighted creatures that possess a mixture of rapid population growth and tendency to organization. They are believed to inherit spirits of Men that are unrelated to the groups of Men whose histories became intermingled with the Elves. They vary considerably in size, but tend on average to stand between 150 and 190 cm and weigh between 60 and 100 kg. Their skin and hair tones vary considerably, and their eyes are usually brown (rarely blue). In terms of their physical attributes, their abilities are roughly average compared to other races, although their senses are slightly less than what other races have. The degree of sexual dimorphism among them is substantial; males are typically quite larger than females, and female hip-structure makes acrobatics difficult for them. They can be beautiful when fit or young (or both), but are frequently quite ugly when undernourished and old. They tend to live on average about sixty years, but can live to be a hundred or die in their twenties.

The lives of the Moratani are varied, but usually are quite monotonous day-to-day but change dramatically from one decade to the next. They tend to be quite self-centered, trusting and kind to their families and friends, but not strangers. Their alignments vary greatly, but are rarely Blue. Their cultures determine their value for knowledge, but most who seek the magical arts study the Golden Power, although most Moratani are not fit to be mages. Their appreciation of civilization and of the arts is also culture-dependent, although frequently the beauty of young, fit, members of their own kind (or of the Calatani and Mithatani) holds an allure to them. Their marraige customs vary from culture to culture, and within social class, but usually their females are married at least as young as their males. Most have many children, although a high fraction do not survive to adulthood (the age statistics above counts only those that do), which is usually counted at between fifteen and twenty years. Moratani generally do not use magic as frequently as those of the other races, but when they do, they usually favor the Golden Power.

In short, the Moratani are more-or-less 'human'.

The Mithatani - The Mithatani are somewhat short-sighted, relative to their lifespans, to the Moratani, but are longer-lived, tending to reach maturity in their early twenties and live from seventy to a hundred years of age before dying. They tend in size between 70 and 120 kilograms, and stand between 160 and 210 cm. Females tend to be smaller than males, but the difference is less pronounced than in some other races. They are usually beautiful creatures when young, but unlike the Calatani, they do not retain their youths forever. They usually are fair-skinned and grey-eyed, and vary in hair color. Males have facial hair and females generally do not. Their abilities are generally fairly average compared to most races, similarly to the Moratani, although their senses are even more close to the average. It is thought that they inherit the spirits of those tribes of Men on Arda that have historically had connections to the Elves or to other tribes of Men that do, but are not closely intertwined in their histories.

Mithatani tend to be hard-working, courageous, dutiful, and warlike, honoring their families, their friends, and the friends of their families, and treating a grievance against a family member or friend as a grievence against themselves. While they are short-sighted in their vision of the future, they remember well their dealings in the past, at least back some hundreds of years. Their alignments are usually Yellow, sometimes Blue or Grey. They generally are of a practical nature, and so care little for art for its own sake, but do study the Powers - both Golden and Silver - when they are useful to them (although the natures of these Powers make the Silver Power more difficult for them to grasp). They mistrust that which they do not understand enough not to use it, but do not mistrust proven friends or allies who do. Marraige customs depend on their culture, but are usually monogomous. Infant mortality is uncommon, but not unheard of. Mithatani can use the Golden or Silver Powers, depending on where they prefer to live.

The Halflings - Relatively small, but often pudgy, mortal, and standing typically between 100 and 120 cm and weighing in between 30 and 35 kg, these creatures are thought to inherit spirits from an almost identical type of mortal beings on Arda. They usually reach maturity in their early thirties and live to be between eighty and a hundred years. They are generally healthy, despite carrying a reasonable amount of fat, average more intelligent than the Mithatani or Moratani but less so than the Calatani, and are comparably sexually dimorphic to the Mithatani. They usually have brown eyes and hair, and have hair in odd parts of their bodies compared to other races, such as on their feet. Their ears are usually leaf-shaped, as well. Unlike the Calatani, Moratani, and Mithatani, which can all interbreed (if rarely), the Halflings appear to be a separate species by any measure, or at least no marraiges of Halfling to other races is recorded.

Halflings are a quiet, peace-loving people who do not really wish more in their lives than simple things like families, food, and drink. They have close ties with the earth, and are usually of Yellow alignment. They rarely have the patience for the Golden or Silver Powers, and those that do are so exceptional that the 'normal' behavioral rules don't seem to apply. They can be stout and heroic at need, and extremely resistant to the Powers (as resistant as can be, given what the Powers are). Nonetheless, they prefer a good family life, and feel that things good for (extended) families are good for them. Among some races, they have a roguish reputation, but this is a false one; while they are fond of practical jokes, and their size and dexterity makes them good at sneaking around, they are not particularly partaken to a roguish lifestyle. Halflings are not fond of magic, and rarely favor either Power. Those that do are exceptions, and their preferences should not be taken as characteristic of their race.

The Dwarves - Dwarves are a fairly familiar race to those familiar with Arda, for they inherit the spirits of Ardan Dwarves and are essentially the same on Annada as they are on Arda. Dwarves tend to weigh in between 70 and 120 kg but stand a scant 120 to 140 cm in height, being broad, solid, heavy-boned creatures. Maturity is typically reached at about 50 years of age, and Dwarves can live to be around 250 years old. Dwarves usually have brown or gray hair and brown eyes, and both males and females possess facial hair, although it tends to be sparser and less extensive in females. Generally, like Dwarves on Arda, males and females are so similar in appearance that the other races frequently have difficulty telling them apart (although the skilled can tell nonetheless), but unlike Arda, the ratio of male to female Dwarves on Annada is roughly equal. A typical Dwarven family will have about eight children, but a great many Dwarves have no children at all, even if they do marry. Dwarves do not marry with any other race, and it is thought that they cannot interbreed.

Dwarves are ceremonial and at the same time secretive, are usually very loyal to their families and their kin, and are courageous and daring. Their sense of adventure is driven by a desire for vengence than by wanderlust. They can be greedy, and are fond of gems and precious metals, but to them these things are almsot toys, for they can work them easily, and they can mine more when needed. They are great miners indeed, and great craftsmen, and their fondess for mountains typically lends them to live in cavernous halls delved underneath them. Dwarven alignments vary widely, for Yellow, Black, and Blue, are all found among their kind: Black and Yellow for their machinists who build their monuments, and Blue for those who simply love the beauty of the mountains they live amongst and under. Dwarves generally prefer the use of the Golden Power than to the Silver Power, but can easily use both.

Dwarves on Annada can inherit the spirits of Dwarves that lived on Arda. Because the origin and fate of Dwarves on Arda is only known in part, Dwarves certainly not being of the family of races known as Men on Arda, there is some question of how their spirits were given the Gift of Annada. Dwarves on Arda are mortal, however, so some believe that they may have "become" Men in a spiritual sense while retaining their distinct bodies, and in so they recieve the Gift.

The Goblins - The Goblins are an enigmatic race. They vary in size quite substantially, and this variation is heritible, as if there are really several 'races' within the stock of Goblinkind. In height, they usually stand between 100 and 160 cm tall, and weigh from about 30 kg up to about 70 kg. They usually mature at about 15 years of age, and seem to be very long-lived, as individual Goblins have been known to age to 280 years or more. They do appear to age, but slowly; some have speculated their natural lifespans to be in the vacinity of 400 years or so. However, the vast majority of Goblins never get that old, as their society is a violent one, and one that usually regards life as something quite cheap. Goblins usually have yellow eyes, but can have skin tones ranging from brown to green to dark blue. Their features are usually angular and harsh, including sharply pointed ears and noses. Goblins are fairly well-coordinated and can manipulate objects easily, which has led to a significant amount of craftsmanship and toolworking, despite the fact that the Goblins, as a rule, seem to be the least intelligent of all the major races (there are, of course, exceptions).

Goblins are usually quite harsh in their nature and their behavior. They are usually greedy, selfish, and quick to anger. Some have called them names like "amoral", setting them apart from other races, and called for their extermination. Of course, the Goblins are not unique in having been called thus. Goblins do have beliefs, and their cultures do have values, but they usually value strength, cunning, and victory, over compassion or charity. Some Goblin clans have been known even to value cruelty in and of itself. Goblins usually do not have much taste for art or beauty, preferring things of a more practical nature, things by which they can get ahead of their fellows and of the other races. Most Goblins favor Black alignment, and those that use magic generally rely upon the Golden Power.

The existence of Goblins on Annada is enigmatic; they do not seem to represent or to inherit spirits of people that lived on Arda, despite their ability to use magic (and indeed to use it quite well). However, their resemblance to one of the races of Arda, the Orcs, is both striking and unnerving, as is the sudden appearance of the Goblin race about 5000 years ago. The fates of Orcs on Arda has never been explained, even by those whose Reinstatements revealed themselves to have inherited spirits of people who studied the question, but it is doubtful that the Goblins are their spiritual heirs. Orcs on Arda are apparently immortal, and the souls of immortals on Arda do not (at least supposedly) pass on to Annada; moreover, there are some notable differences between the races beyond their initial similarities: the largest of Arda's Orcs are still considerably larger than the largest of Annada's Goblins. So far, no word has been given as to the origin, the purpose, or the inner nature, of this enigmatic race.

--

Geography

Annada has not been entirely explored, but it is known that there are six continents.

Three of the continents, Amlara, Torise, and Forodren, are relatively close together in the northern hemisphere. Amlara and Torise are joined by a narrow east-west isthmus at about 40 degrees lattitude. There is a straight of about three-hundred kilometers between the Northern Spur of Torise and the Long Chain of Forodren, but as both points are capped with great mountains, it is possible to see between them. Forodren, from an anccient word meaning "northern," is situated almost perfectly over the north pole.

The Kamacha and Haradren are the two important southern continents. Kamacha is situated on the equator and joins to Haradren via a fairly wide isthmus. Haradren (meaning "southern" in the same ancient language) is a fairly long continent, but has a geographically large portion that is located over the south pole. There are about fifteen thousand kilometers separating southern Amlara from Kamacha, the closest of the three northern continents.

The sixth continent is known as Bilior, which is located in the southern hemisphere and is about three thousand kilometers north of the Haradren coast, and is over ten thousand kilometers from any other continent, although it stretches to the equator.

[This message has been edited by Beren V (edited 10-09-2005 @ 08:17 PM).]