The Moaner

This creature is humanoid in appearance, and would seem like a lazy man from afar, walking slowly and in a sloppy manner, though from up close one would call this thing an abomination. Its skin, or the parts that remain attached to its body, is pale. Some of the organs are missing, or in a decomposed state.

They don’t seem to be intelligent, and are often seen walking right into obstacles and tripping on obvious logs. Sometimes they fall right into water bodies, face down and seemingly incapable of swimming. Their outstretched movements cause them many misfortunes.

Although they do possess a kind of weird language, they don’t seem to communicate between themselves. The only sound they seem capable of emitting is a guttural moaning that comes from the throat. Those who don’t possess a throat don’t seem to be able to make any sound.

Ashbark

Around the periphery of the Crust, especially to the south on the Jungle Verde border, exists a rare breed of tree. These trees actually weren’t always as such. They became what they are, rather than being born as they are.

Burned, these trees are piles of ashes, glowing fiery red as they are caressed by the wind. They feel as though alive, animated by some strange, primal energy. Yes, animated, but not quick and witty. Just like their more ordinary peers they stand idle, but when living bodies that irradiate a lot of heat comes near them, they seem to want to fall on them, and eventually do, inflicting painful burns upon their victims as well as filling their mouth and nose with ashes, causing suffocation.

One can make them out easily. They are light gray, like the ashes of a burnt log, and have no canopy. It is said that men who succumb to this tree’s deadly attack will be reborn as Ashbark themselves.

Arachnokos

Of a translucent, very light white, these tiny spiders are incredibly vicious. Their quasi-transparency and negligible size makes them extremely difficult to spot, and their bite releases a deadly toxin that is enough to kill a horse.

The insect is said to have come from Wisparia, though it is unknown how for they seem to keep away from water. The most popular hypothesis among those who have seen them, and Whisperers, is that the latter might have brought them to the mainland.

Their preferred habitat is dense forests, which adds to their being difficult to sight.

The Frontier Wars

For long the God-King Jamibia attempted to penetrate the grassland of the west, and reach for the Heaven Stream. The river, believed to purify the soul of his people, has caught his attention.

Though he enjoyed a loyal army, and a great number of slaves, he could never muster the necessary resources to crush the resistance of the indigenes. They were fierce combatants and an ingenious bunch. With very primitive means, they would set up traps and fight a guerilla war with much precision.

For a time his interest in these territories waned, as he fought with violent beasts from the Lever Noir, conquered eastern lands and attempted to contain the riots of their northern slaves.

As he firmly takes control of the conquered eastern lands, many usher rumors about a flame rekindled; the sparkle in his eyes as he dreams of basking in the waters of this divine river.

Jamibia, the God-King

Born to parents of the Yamiya tribe, the early life of Jamibia was one of many hardships and escapes. The Yamiya tribe was chased by the Logosu of the north, which made them slaves upon capture or simply ate them. He and his parents fled towards the west and eventually reached a waterway that would one day be named the Heaven Stream. Life was good, generally speaking. Local tribes had made no threat against their person.

It was his wish that one day, they return to his place of birth. And they did so, but even their vigilance was not enough that time to keep the Logosu from capturing them. They were brought to Regesh, a small village on the northern coast.

One day, an envoy of the chief of the Logosu arrived in the village to discuss business with the local officials. As he wrapped up for the day, his gaze landed on Jamibia's mother and he did something unforgiving. His father tried to intervene, but was intercepted and immediately executed. When Jamibia heard of this, he went mad and attempted to slay the envoy. He failed, and his mother was given a deadly beating. The officials imprisoned him for around a year. His hatred of the Logosu grew exponentially each days of his imprisonment.

He had made a friend among the slaves. The man was Ruobingo, the slave messenger who carried messages to and from officials. It is not clear why or when, but Ruobingo was eventually persuaded to free Jamibia at night.

On the night of his illicit release, he went with his friend to free hundreds of slaves. Officials of the village were quickly overrun (most killed in their sleep) and the freed slaves finally decided on rebuilding their lives on the Maquis of Heaven, so named because it was the place of birth of Jamibia, the savior of the People.

But the former slaves quickly realized that the Logosu would return to take revenge, and meant to mount an offensive. They knew they were outnumbered and that the enemy was now preparing for the possibility of an invasion. Ruobingo, a member of the Bagas tribe, suggested to Jamibia that they persuade his tribal chief to join them in their endeavour against the Logosu.

So they did. The Bagas were eager to make war to the Logosu, for they had lost many members of their tribes to these vile slavers. An offensive was planned and the war to free the region of the Logosu was but a few days away.

They quickly put their plan to execution, and Jamibia was finally able to take a shot at the Logosu tribal chief, Lugo. Lugo admitted defeat and Jamibia quickly proceeded to crucifying him. He then ordered all the captured Logosu, which numbered in the thousands, to whip or punch their leader once with all their might. The entire tribe did so, even though it was clear that after the first few hundreds the chief was already dead. The humiliation and atrocity the Logosu had just endured was not enough in Jamibia's mind, and he then proceeded to do something horrible, that everyone would remember until the end of times.
He lined up all men and placed their children in front of them, while keeping the women prisoner and at bay. He ordered the fathers to end the life of their own children, which they did (those that didn't were swiftly put to death, by beheading, along with their child), and were then executed by beheading or beating (it was at the executioner's convenience). The atrocity was too much for many to bear, and further executions even took place among those on Jamibia's side. A pile of corpses is made of the slaughtered bodies and Jamibia proclaims that it is not to be touched, ever. He names it the Logosu Erection.

The captured women will be used continually over the course of their lives. As Jamibia envisions it, they will produce a generations of slaves for the workforce. For this purpose, the Jamibians will go to great lengths to keep these women alive and procreating. They will eventually be named the Slavebearers.

At the same time, and very shortly after the fall of the Logosu tribe, Jamibia incontestably proclaims himself God-King of Jamibia. Since he sees the world as part of Jamibia, his supposedly divine being, his philosophy is that he rules all. There is an exception, however, to his rule. For his divinity comes from the sky, and he goes to great lengths to prove that even his superiority is weak against the Heavens.

Shortly after his declaration, he orders the construction of Maga Jamibia (or the City of Jamibia) which is partly done a few years after. In the meantime, he took to assembling an army and providing them with basic weapons. He remembered the purity, even divinity of the western stream. He sent off his army to capture all the western lands up to the Heaven Stream. Unfortunately, the defenders were unusually well prepared for an invasion of great magnitude and fought off the invaders with ferocity. Jamibia decided to retreat his forces from the west and go eastward instead, to conquer the provoking apemen that inhabited the eastern bank of the Great River and the savannahs further to the east.

Maybe not obviously, but it was somewhat to be expected, he achieved a quick victory over these eastern people, subjugating them to his rule. But he was soon assailed by another threat. Gigantic, strange creatures were coming from the Crust with their small, but terrifying demonic armies. For about two months Jamibia's forces will be busy repelling the invasion, which they do with success.

Obviously the inevitable happened. While the bulk of Jamibia's forces was busy with unknown creatures down south, the Logosu slaves revolted up north, and so did the unstable tribes of the east. When the battle south of Maga Jamibia was over, the God-King quelled the uprisings and reinforced his political power in these areas.

The noble families, those who most loyally walked at Jamibia's side during all his hardships, proposed that a structure of great magnitude be edified in his name and glory. Jamibia proceeded to sponsor the construction of the Stairway to Heaven, a massive ziggurat.

This edifice was a pillar in Jamibia's plan to impose his religious beliefs among the people, even slaves. All that was left was the Heaven Stream, and his mind fickles again with the exciting though of bathing in its pure waters.

The Cataclysm - The Story of Wisparia and the Whisperers

With their deep echoing voices, the Whisperers slowly tell the tale of their people and how they transcended humanity to become immortal spirits. Some call their state unfortunate, while others rejoice, seeing in their new form a means to a greater range of possibilities.

Their people was well versed in the art of Communing, which is; communicating with spirits. It didn't take long for their people to assemble all their knowledge and form one big community that spanned the whole island. Their society was prosper, and their knowledge of the art ever increasing.

As is the case with all human societies, or so they say, greed and pride slowly took over. The scourge that they were corrupted the Tribal Assembly, an institution they had put together to unite the people of Kipraetas (The name they had given the island, now called Wisparia by the people on the mainland). Where they once stood united on all fronts, small factions were now beginning to surface. Some wanting this, or that. The notion of compromise and tolerance the people had been capable of was dying.

One faction in particular, led by Tiatronos Ex Kipraetas (The Great; the title is hereditary), demanded that all rituals and ceremonies of the Tribal Assembly be presided and conducted by them. It had always been a turn based honour, and some were, understandably, reluctant to let them have their way. Although Tiatronos was the descendant of the primary instigator of the unification of the people, many tribes rallied to his ancestor's cause solely because they thought they could all live peacefully, as equals... How foolish they had been.

The matter was discussed times and times again over the span of an entire year. The other factions had to give Tiatronos that much; he was patient. But not without limits. Eventually he formed a coalition of tribes and declared that all that would oppose his claim as the legitimate ruler of Kipraetas and its people would be deemed as traitors and chased until their deaths. War broke out between the factions, but the result was to be foreseen. Tiatronos was successful in swiftly concluding the war. He subjugated his enemies to his rule using a powerfully enhanced army and put their leaders to death.

A triumph ceremony in honour to Tiatronos was held upon his return home. This is when things started getting ugly. The man had an ambitious plan. He would execute a ritual that would garner the strength of all the slain forces. Many observers agreed that the task was probably impossible and could have a devastating blow-back. For some reason, he went on unobstructed. Suddenly, all was silent, followed shortly thereafter by a quick flash of blinding blue light, and then nothing...

When only a small portion of the whole crowd regained consciousness, everything was different than it had been. The grass, the trees, the rivers and the flowers... all gone. But the most notable change was them. They had become like spirits.

It wasn't about factions anymore, it was about mourning their people, their culture and their past lives. Obviously, Tiatronos, still of this world, was blamed for this and was smitten by some of his ex-allies.

The Kipraetians sought, and still seek to forge a new identity, or to retrieve their former.