Ayern
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Overview[edit]
Ayern is a sparse desert world mostly devoid of life, where everyone is struggling to survive against the harsh environment and a water-based sickness that got deadly effects to the native inhabitants.
History[edit]
Ayern wasn't a world unlike many others until fifteen years ago, when the Ayern was struck by a virus called HTOKUm8 (also called the Pacifying Death). Water-based and lethal to the natives, the virus ended up killing people by the millions, and if it hadn't been for the invention of an antidote by the medicine company called SALVA Pharmaceutical the world have been depopulated completely. Still, the damage was already done, and with most of inhabitants dead or permanently crippled by sickness, a complete societal breakdown occurred. Nations and communication lines fell apart completely, and now only small city states and roving tribes remain.
Nature[edit]
Ayern is a dry world with few sources of water. Most of the landscape consists off deserts, savannas and prairie, with frozen down areas in the far north and south that nobody inhibits anymore. Wildlife wasn't affected by the epidemic, but tends to be very meager anyway because of the harsh environment. Still, there are quite a few magnificent specimen to be found for interested adventurer biologists.
There are plenty of ruins from the old days everywhere you go, even entire abandoned cities. There used to be roads and train tracks between settlements, but fifteen years of disrepair has left it marks, and the especially the train tracks are completely unusable. The "cities" that remain aren't much more than very large villages centered around an oasis, since settlements now have to be self-sustained to be able to exist. The currently largest city is Junkyard Town almost right outside the Nhihn gate. Since this town got easy access to the worlds outside it's able to import material, and is currently the only growing city in Ayern. SALVA Pharmaceutical has its local HQ in this city as well.
Ayern's sand has a special crystalline attribute to it that makes the sand lighter and sharper. If the sand is still on the ground you won't notice any difference, but if a powerful wind grabs hold of the sand an infamous phenomena known as "Rending Gusts" will occur where the sharp pieces of sand flies through the air, shaving away at anything in its path. Because of this, showing bare skin is not advisable while traveling Ayern. Rending Gusts are also a large problem for communications. The upper atmosphere constantly has a certain quantity of sand flying about, lifted there by the gusts. When you try to travel by airship this sand will quickly start tearing at the ship structure until the engines finally give up. Because of this, travel by land is pretty much the only way to traverse Ayern.
People[edit]
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The Natives of Ayern are simply called Ayernians. They are a simple panian species without anything special to set them apart from other panians. Because of the constant risk of infection Ayernians tend to wear gas mask on their face to avoid accidentally inhaling virus-carrying moisture, and they are also in general adapted to their surroundings by wearing thick cloths to protect them from sudden Rending Gusts. Beneath the gasm masks the Ayernians are said to be dark skinned and human-like, but with much larger ears and a more elongated and slim frame to better deal with heat dispersion. There are theories out there that Ayernians and humans are actually related, but they remain unproved.
As people the Ayernians are very community minded, often gathering in groups or "tribes". Culturally, "agreement" (or "Consensus" as they themselves like to call it) is an important part of their society, and outsiders tend to think Ayernians are all a bit too agreeable. In truth though, the Ayernians got a temper as hot as the world they live in, and their agreeable manner is important part of stopping the violent knife fight (usually between younger males) that too often occur when bad weather and booze mix. As a testament to their sometimes violent nature any self-respecting Ayernian always carries with him a traditional Viper's Tooth Dagger used to settle "The Final Argument".
Most Ayernian lives in the few remaining cities, where medicine against HTOKUm8 is readily available. Ayernians are famous for their precise craftwork, and most make a living as tailor's, smiths and so fourth. A small subset of the population lives a nomadic lifestyle as shepherds though. Sometimes these nomads might be tempted to make some quick cash as bandits, which makes traveling Ayern without some protective measures inadvisable. Like mentioned earlier, tribes are important to the Ayern. In cities, each city block is usually inhabited by one, at most two tribes at once, and the nomads are single tribe only.
SALVA Pharmaceutical and the Grand Caravan Race[edit]
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SALVA Pharmaceutical is not a medicine company founded on Ayern, but a worlds-spanning company that got subdivisions in several worlds. SALVA Pharmaceutical employs many differences species, but a majority of employee's belong to the founding species called Buzzers, an insectoid species known for its great work morale and rigid hierarchy structures. Fifteen years ago they were the ones that finally managed to create a cure on the request of the nations of Ayern. But because the medicine can't remove the virus and no method of immunization has been found yet, SALVA Pharmaceuticals still sell their medicine fifteen years after the epidemic. Unfortunately, Ayern's hostile environment has made venture this less than profitable by normal means. The cost of transportation compared to the poverty of the market would simply have made it impossible to make a profit. Luckily, a solution that was less than ordinary was invented; The Grand Caravan Race
The Grand Caravan has been held for twelve years now. It's a wildly known competition where adventurers compete with each other to race through the Ayernian wildlands carrying medicine to remote cities. The first ones to complete the route wins a wast fortune. But since only the winners gets payed for their efforts while there are usually more than a hundred competitors (that have to pay an entrance fee no less), what this competition actually means is that SALVA Pharmaceutical is getting transportation for free, meaning the price of their medicine can be lowered to manageable costs. Everybody wins, besides the ones who died during the race. Because oh yes, people do die. Ayern is an extremely hostile environment, and there are many bandits that are very tempted by the free medicine. Furthermore, surveillance is at a minimum during the race, and it is not unusual that someone decides to take proactive measures to lessen the competition a bit. Only the truly brave (and truly moronic) would ever risk their life in this race of death.
