Ayern

http://img684.imageshack.us/img684/7074/sample74ded530fc8634933.jpg

Overview

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 which got lethal effects to the native inhabitants.

History

Ayern wasn't a world unlike many others until fifteen years ago, when the world was struck by a virus called HTOKUm8. Water-based and lethal to the natives, the virus ended up killing people in the millions, and if it hadn't been for 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

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. Wildlife wasn't affected by the epidemic, but the nature of the world still keep things sparse. 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 traintracks between settlements, but fifteen years of disrepair has left it marks, and the especially the traintracks 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 Junk 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. If the sand is still you won't notice any difference, but if a powerful wind grabs hold of the sand infamous phenomena known as "Rending Gusts" will occur when 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. 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

http://img545.imageshack.us/img545/8954/gasmask.jpg

The Natives of Ayern are simply called Ayernians. They are a simple panian species without any special bells or whistles to make them unique. Because of the constant risk of infection Ayernians tend 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

http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/86/buggyf.jpg

SALVA Pharmaceutical is not a medicine company founded on Ayern, but a worlds-spanning company that got subdivisions in several worlds. 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, there exist a few problems that makes supplying the medicine troublesome.