Welcome, adventurer! Welcome to Paz Dunia, a world of splendor, home to many wonders and spectacles, the likes of which you may never have seen before!
Pardon our dust; with the re-opening of the Lanae Grand Library, many scholars and archivists are hard at work translating and transcribing information heretofore thought long lost in the annals of history. Be sure to check back often, as we are sure to have uncovered something new!
To peruse information on the races of people living on, above, and within Paz Dunia, click the Races link to the right.
To catch up on the events of the current Age, or to learn about Ages long past, click the History link.
For a brief discourse on the powers of Magick in the world, and those who wield them, follow the link pointing to Magick.
To learn about the gods of Paz Dunia, their interactions with the world, and the religions devoted to them, select Religion.
To discover more about Paz Dunia itself, from the great continent of Lanae to the magical courts of Faerie to the depths of the earth itself, the Geography link will take you there.
"Pazz DOO-nee-uh"
In and around Paz Dunia flows magick. In the most abstract sense, magick is raw energy to be shaped and channeled by the wielder, but if one looks closer, there are currents and pools of it throughout the land. Look even closer, and it will become apparent that not all magick is created equal.
There are three distinct types of "schools" of magick known by the inhabitants of Paz Dunia (though most would not rule out the possibility of as-yet-undiscovered schools), each named after and watched over by a patron goddess. Each school differs in its style and execution, each speaking something about the personality and mind of its patron.
Fortuna, the luck magick, is wielded almost exclusively by the fairies, though a few dragons and fewer humans are rumored to have mastered it -- or been given the right to use it.
Fortuna is not flashy or gaudy, instead favoring subtle manipulations. This is not to say that Fortunan magick cannot be used to shock and amaze, merely that the flair is left up to the showmanship of the magician. Inversely, a magician skilled in the art of Fortunan magick who wishes to remain unnoticed can craft powerful spells in such a way that onlookers will convince themselves that magick had nothing to do with it, merely luck of the draw.
Etherea, when compared with Fortunan magick, carries much more "bang." Pillars of flame, massive explosions, calm lakes on warm, sunny days suddenly freezing over, these are the trademarks of an experienced Ethereal magician. Throughout the ages, when emperors and kings have needed to wreak massive destruction upon their enemies, they have called upon the magick of Etherea.
Etherea is much more liberal in granting access to her powers than either Seraphis or Fortuna; as such, Ethereal magick is the most common and widespread. It can be found in all reaches of Lanae, though the Fair Folk rarely desire or exercise the ability to wield it.
Seraphic magick, the third school, is known in many circles as "hallowed magick," and for good reason -- it is the only magick with the power to heal wounds and cure diseases. It is practiced by priests and clerics across the continent to better the lives of the people. Seraph grants access to her powers only to those who demonstrate a purity of heart and nobleness of purpose.
It is rumored among those who study the magicks that when her magick is used to cleanse wounds and mend flesh, Seraph takes the injury upon herself, suffering in the stead of the afflicted. This is said to be why no other school of magick has restorative or healing powers: no other god or goddess is selfless enough to subject themselves to the pains of mortality when it is easy enough to rise above them. It is also rumored that should Seraphic magick ever be used with evil intent, the goddess herself would die of heartbreak.
The eldest god, Tyee was the first of the Chosen to reach Ascendance.
Home to the Fair Folk, Faerie is a mysterious magical realm that few humans have entered and even fewer have returned from.
There is some debate as to whether Faerie is located on Paz Dunia itself, or if the fae portals merely provide a conduit to another world or dimension. If the fairies know, they haven't shared.
What little information has been gleaned on the home of the fair folk seems to point toward the general topography of the land being similar to a many-tiered mountain, with the royal courts of Eventyr being perched at the summit. Descending the mountain plunges one into an ever-deepening purple-hued twilight, though sources would seem to indicate that darkness never falls completely over the land (the most notable exception being the roaming blackness known as the Faedark).
"Hallowed magick"
"Luck magick"
"Cosmic magick"
Fun fact: all fairies are afraid of the dark. In (or on, depending on who you ask) Faerie, darkness never completely falls; the most you'll ever experience is a deep twilight, and so all of the Fair Folk have an abiding fear of complete blackness.
Not a subspecies of fairy unto itself, a Hob is actually a corruption of one of the other races, vicious and malignant. Whether by voluntary mutilation or some aspect of the transformation process, Hobs do not possess full spans of wings like other fairies, but instead have scars or stumps where the wings once were.
If there were a caste system among the fairies, the Nissi would almost certainly be among the working class. Shorter and stouter than the other races of Fair Folk, a common insult directed toward a Nisse compares him or her to gnomes and dwarves and other Deepkin, though any connection between the two races has long since been disproven.
Because of the Nissi's strong build, they are more suited for physical exertion, and, as such, are more likely to become warriors or soldiers than their more delicate counterparts, though when compared with, perhaps, a human or dwarf or goblin combatant, a Nisse warrior is certainly not as strong, and must rely on fast wits and even faster feet to survive.
The first of the Fair Folk races created by the Fae Mother in the time before time, the Sylph are the royal bloodline of the fairies. Every fairy that has ascended to the high throne of Eventyr in the last eight thousand years has been of Sylph descent.
At around four feet in height, Sylph are head and shoulders taller than the other races of Fair Folk. They have two pairs of wings, one a smaller, more sturdy set that is used for flying and aerial maneuvering, and the other a six-foot span of gossamer that is kept tucked safely away except when required to appear more regal or majestic.
Because of their presumedly superior bloodline, Sylph have a reputation among the other races of fairy as being condescending or pious, though this generalization, like most stereotypes, does not hold uniformly true throughout the race.
"When the dwarves went mad, it took years for the surface-dwellers to notice. A subtle decline in exported ores and gems and metals, not so much that anyone was overly suspicious. The mountainholds closest to the surface did a good job of containing the chaos underground, but they finally succumbed as well. We called it the Sundering. So many trite, one-word descriptions of world-changing events. A line in a historian's scroll or tome somewhere, 'The Sundering.'
"The mountainholds are abandoned now. Abandoned, or home to creatures that moved to fill the vacuum that the dwarves left when they tore themselves apart and flung themselves into the bowels of the earth."
- Jadaias Aphaestos, Memories of the Fifth Age, pp. 893
If you're interested in what I've done here and want to drop a line for comments, criticism, ideas, or to become part of the Paz Dunia creative team, you can contact me at aionaever@gmail.com.
Though not a fixed place in the geography of Faerie, the Faedark is worth mentioning as a feature on the landscape. The best reports describe it as a sort of ambulatory shadow or fog, though this description does not seem to do justice in reflecting its sinister nature.
The mere mention of the Faedark will send chills down the spine of a fair folk, and a sighting of it will send them fleeing in terror. Several fairy ballads or epic songs recount heroes braving the Faedark to save a lover or champion some noble cause, some returning successful, many lost forever.
The fairies' abject terror in regard to the Faedark may stem in part from the fact that night never truly falls on Faerie, and the thought of pitch blackness is inconceivable to them. To be sure, the handful of humans who have reported being enveloped in the Faedark report that it is indeed disconcerting not to be able to see one's hand in front of one's nose. But there is something more, because whatever energies fuel the Faedark seem to inspire terror and panic in those who let it draw too near. Those who are familiar with the fact and legend surrounding the Faedark are driven to even greater fear, because most tales involving it report that it is capable of swiftly passing over the landscape, swallowing those it encompasses whole, never to be seen again.
The true nature and origins of the Faedark are unknown. Some claim that it is a punishment of some god for a crime long forgotten. Others declare it to be a counter-balancing of the magickal forces that permeate Faerie. Nobody knows for sure. What is known is that when the Faedark appears, misery and destruction are sure to follow.