[Original World] Szebita

Introduction

Szebita is a world of history and loss, of magic and wonder, of boundaries and dangers.

On a hundred different islands, in great port towns, in small villages, and on floating cities crossing the seas people search for the lifeblood of Szebita, the fiber of magic: starlight. Found in the earth, under the sea, and in sparkling, ephemeral clouds in the wakes of dragons, starlight can do almost anything. It can be made into nutritious food, fuel an engine, enhance one's natural affinity with magic, and for the unscrupulous, be turned into weapons. But starlight, like all magic, is capricious, and where found one day, glistening on the sandy beaches like jetsam, it may disappear the next.

But starlight is not as abundant as it once was and neither does the world seem as bright as the songs and histories tell. A slowly encroaching ruin is subsuming towns on the borderlands and creeping into even the best guarded ports. The academies and wandering mages are doing their best to ward against the danger, but the problem seems too great for their disorderly defenses to stop. Several cities have already set sail across the vast and uncharted sea to the north in hopes of finding a new, unblighted land to call home. Those who remain, by choice or inability to leave, make do and try to get by until the next sunrise and hold on to what happiness they can.


History

In the time before recording, before the seas covered the world and all was dry and cold and barren, there lived a wretched people brought to life by a family who came from the skies and brought with them the gifts of harboring. For centuries the people practiced their gifts, but they began to drift in their ways and to hone the gift of control over their fellows. Wars among them lasted for years until a few who had not fled and still kept the memories of the old days alive combined their power and broke the will of the warlords. In honor and remembrance of them magic began to be taught across Szebita.

[Go to the History section]


Magic

[FONT=&quot]Magic is a naturally occurring force in Szebita, found in animals, plants, and inanimate objects. People, too, can be full of magic. Most believe that magic is a gift given to people by their pantheon of higher beings, the Harborers, but recently studies on magic have found a connection between magical use and a material known as starlight.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Magic is strongest in people and in larger creatures such as the elusive stardragons. It can be classified into 8 common categories: Fire, Earth, Star, Darkness, Metal, Water, Fauna, and Flora. However wildly differing manifestations of magic are known not uncommon.[/FONT]

[Go to the Magic section]


Starlight

[FONT=&quot]Starlight is a partially translucent material, rose-blue in color. It is lightweight and easily malleable. It can be found in a number of, presumably, naturally occurring states such as a slick grease, fine powder or grain, and in small rocky clusters.[/FONT]


Ruin

Ruin is a poorly understood phenomenon by which magic seems to work askew and people, animals, structures, and the landscape seem to erode or decay unnaturally. The concept is rooted in the manifestation of downfall of peoples' physical and mental capabilities and a weariness which shows itself in the physical world where objects appear to crack and break, fall down, tear, or otherwise show signs of immense stress. Physically is is associated with the Ghost Lands on the southern boundary of Szebita.

The Clans

Eight clans exist in Szebita, each claiming themselves as the descendants and inheritors of the original eight groups taught magic by the Harborers. Each clan favors a chosen element of magic and for most born into that clan they will naturally show some affinity for the clan's element. The clans and their strongholds are:

• Altanga clan which favors fire-magic and is centered in Kito.
• Garaman clan which favors earth-magic and is centered in Uremaldót.
• Triural clan which favors star-magic and is centered in Lazlag.
• Shieg clan which favors darkness-magic and is centered in Ivakrar.
• Kuasze clan which favors metal-magic and is centered in Szetta.
• Pavlam clan which favors water-magic and is centered in Sutantung.
• Winst clan which favors fauna-magic and is centered in Ditaszira.
• Aveleta clan which favors flora-magic and is centered in Sura.

[Go to the Clans section]


Geography

The world of Szebita is split between the mainland, a large mass of mountains and ice, the islands, a diffuse group of rocks, and the sea, the great connector of the peoples. The weather is often cool, but mild in the cradle of this civilization, but outside its borders lay the dangers of storm and snow and still unknown mysteries.

[Go to the Geography section]


Ports and Cities

The largest settlements in Szebita are its ports and cities.

Ports are large urban areas situated in bays and other protected shorelines of the mainland and several of the larger islands. The smallest ports, such as Sakoga, house just over 50,000 people whereas the largest, such as Sura, have in excess of one million. All ports are encircled by walls, but the population and structures may extend beyond the walls.

Cities are entirely different structures from ports, though similar in size and composition. Cities exist as floating or seafaring vessels untethered to land. They are much more densely populated and are often the homes of the poorer residents of Szebita. Several employ the use of sails, engines, or colossal creatures as a means of transportation, but some are anchored in place and do not travel.


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Introduction

The known world is made up of a large landmass and many islands. At least 123 named islands exist and are inhabited along with many smaller, unnamed islands and those misty, phantom islands seen on the horizon. The main landmass has no name, but many towns and ports dot its coast, giving names to each of those capes and shores and bluffs. A great, expansive sea lies to the north of the islands.

The Mainland

The great landmass lies to the south and east of the islands. Its interior is perpetually covered in ice and snow and no one knows how far it extends or what, if anything, lies on the other side. The land is dusty, cold, and covered in hills and mountains. Along the coast the temperatures are milder and the land conducive to farming, ranching, and other forms of agriculture. This is where many of the people of Szebita live and is the source of many of the powerful clans and factions who traditionally trace their lineages back to the founding of the largest ports there.

In the perpetually ice-covered highlands and mountains no settlements exist. Even in the seasonally warm areas nearby where the snow and ice melt there are no villages. The ground there is fertile and the temperatures cold yet bearable, but the nearby dangers from the Ghost Lands are too great for small groups to risk.

Many rivers and steams flow from the higher lands south to the sea. Along these rivers are the farms that feed the great ports. Near sea level the waters flow slowly and gently, stretching out and forming vast interlocking wetlands.

The weather and temperature of the mainland is generally mild to cool throughout the year with infrequent snow in the winter. Because of seasonal rains almost all areas along the coasts are covered in greenery. Tall hardwood trees a hundred feet tall cling to the hills and mountains while smaller, windswept trees with bowed trunks grow nearer to the snow where the constant chilly winds blow.

The Islands

The islands are varied in shape and size. Larger islands are typically rocky with similarly rocky beaches, and mountainous with many hills and river valleys. Some are so large that its inland inhabitants have never seen the sea. The smaller islands may also follow this pattern, consisting of cliffs and beaches, but some smaller islands are mere flat plains of sand and grass rising just above the edge of the sea - dunes too large and stubborn to be washed away by the tide.

Some of the largest islands, such as Ivatanal, Sirpha, Síntiat, and Nakmena, are more like extended branches of the mainland than true islands, having the same makeup of coastal wetlands and high trees, but on a smaller scale.

The islands are generally divided into two groups: east and west. The western islands are the two large islands of Canetol and Zubutas and all those islands west of them. Most of these islands border the Iwannóte Sea and are more heavily traveled and populated. The eastern islands include Könti and the far northern island Sziuka and their surrounding islands. They mostly border the Kontirena and Antravuta Seas and are generally less densely populated. A few scattered islands exist outside of this classification or straddle the border between them.

The Sea

The sea refers to all the waterways connecting the lands of Szebita, but there is one greater than all the rest: The great sea to the north, the Unquiet Sea. This sea stretches vast distances, beyond the island of Sziuka in the north and Nakmena in the west. There are not known to be any but a few small, scattered islands in this sea, and past them nothing else is known. Legends say there is another land on the other side of the world, but those few who have attempted to reach it have never returned. This sea is home to strong currents, mighty winds, and frequent but unpredictable storms, all of which make travel across it slow and difficult.

The traveled seas are much calmer. Currents are steady throughout the year so there are generally no inaccessible lands. Rains pass relatively easily through the islands so that along coasts the hills are covered in a variety of trees and grasses, but windward sides of islands, especially on islands bordering the Unquiet sea, are often rich in starlight blown from unknown parts and so are settled just as often as the calmer, more protected leeward shores. Almost all permanent settlements are along the shore or upriver so that the people have ready access to the sea.


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Harboring

In the time before recording, before the seas covered the world and all was dry and cold and barren, there lived a wretched people. The people knew only suffering, scratching at holes in the ground for rocks to eat and dust to drink, and thus they existed for countless ages in land without day or night. Then came a family who brought with them the gifts of harboring. They made the seas, shaped the land, and brought the people out of their suffering. Hatiurt brought heat and light to drive the cold away. Ikazang carved the shores and valleys on which the next gifts would be laid. Innuta placed the stars in the sky to give guidance and direction. Szorezi gave the gifts of remembrance and tradition so that none would forget. Unnardaha brought shelter from Tamag's gifts, the rains and the seas. Haspersui and Tukta gave rise to the animals and plants so that the people would not be alone. Lastly, they each took some of the people and bestowed on them their own gifts so that they might continue the work in shaping the world together. Then they then departed into the skies never to be seen again.

The people called them the Harborers and themselves, their children and followers, the harbored. Although each group followed the teachings of one of the Harborers, they all lived together and shared their gifts. Although lacking in power, they shaped the world in smaller ways using the gifts bestowed on them. They formed streams, grew gardens, and built fortifications against the cold of the ice which still lingered. The harbored moved away from the cold toward the sea, which was bright and warm, and began their journey across it.

Drifting

For generations the people practiced their gifts. The children of the Harborers grew crops, raised animals, and built villages and towns, and eventually ports and cities. As they stretched out across the seas they were rewarded with abundance wherever they went. They established themselves on many islands and many unknown shores of the mainland, all the while slow growing in number. Eventually some tired of wandering the seas and returned to the mainland, the home of their birth as a people, but they never lost their knowledge of seafaring and with each generation it grew.

Year after year they found island after island and settled on all but the smallest of them. It was perhaps inevitable that, spread out as they were, they began to drift in their ways. The harbored developed into dozens of cultures spread over the land and islands. By the time a thousand years had passed there had grown great port-states situated in the largest harbors and whose influence and power over the surrounding lands and waters went unchallenged. The people began to think of themselves then not as the children of the Harborers, but as the lords of the land and seas.

Clashing

The ports grew rich in art and technology, literature and the martial arts. Many prospered, but in the process some of the port-lords began to hone the gift of control over their fellows. In particular the ports of Lugatót and Atigan in the western mainland grew desirous of power. They built weapons and massive ships of war and began a conquest of the other ports in the western lands, first subduing their neighbors and competitors such as Szaldyt and Kito until they combined controlled all thirteen ports south and west of the Iwannóte Sea.

None could oppose the ports and their powerful armies and navies except the other and so fighting between the two broke out. During the Warring Years those who still considered themselves among the harbored and who lived in the villages and the small islands suffered under a persecution lead by the Lady of Atigan against their own people and any they encountered. People again suffered as they had not suffered since before the Harborers came. Many fled into the eastern islands and ports not yet embroiled in combat, but not all had the means to do so and many were forced to stay behind, to practice their gifts in secret or in the service of the lords and ladies.

Calming

Among those who remained were great scholars, glamourers, sorcerists, and wise wanderers who kept the memories and gifts of the Harborers alive. One among them, an old mystic from the island of Saskiot, known only to history as Saskiotana, proposed a plan to end the wars. The wise ones collaborated, combined their knowledge and power and through an effort of will brought an end to the wars. The power of the ports were broken and the land and islands freed. It was then decided, expeditiously by the new masters of the ports, to promote the gifts of harboring among all the peoples to prevent another catastrophe and so the academies were established and remain to this day, teaching the gifts, known as magic, to those with an affinity for them so that these mages might lead by example.

The academies reached out to the eastern lands and the islands, but only a few took their offer of peace as genuine. Over the years a divide grew among the lands. While Atigan, Lugatót, and the other ports mended their rivalries, the island ports such as Sura and the much more distant Maga and Batsem rejected the militaristic lifestyle and what they considered the arrogant attitude of the western ports. New rivalries were seeded, and although academies were eventually established throughout the rest of Szebita a tradition of magic different to that of the one taught in the academies grew, one which was much less appeasing to the conquering mindset which still lingered in the hearts and minds of the port masters.


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Introduction

The eight clans are: Altanga, Garaman, Triural, Shieg, Kuasze, Pavlam, Winst, and Aveleta. Each has members in all the ports and cities of the world, but are concentrated in their bases of power in particular ports where they wield the most political and social power. Each clan also favors an element of magic which is most common among their people, though not all those belonging to a clan will develop into full magic ability, nor will they necessarily develop the same affinity for the clan's element. While each clan takes pride in its signature area of magic, they nonetheless see the advantage of having native children with a variety of skills to help the clan.

Appearance

Each clan bears more than a name and affiliation. One's clan is seen in one's appearance and distinctive features can identify a person as belonging to a particular clan. Additionally, one's natural inclination toward an area of magic will show in subtle ways so that a person of a clan with magic uncommon to that clan will develop features slightly different from many of their clan-folk.

• Altanga people have brightly colored blood and their complexions are warm and vivid. They blush easily. Their hair and eyes tend toward black or greyish. Most have oval-shaped faces.
• Garaman people have brown eyes and many freckles on their faces and arms. They have prominent dimples and wide noses.
• Triural people have golden colored eyes, ears which taper to a point, and small and slender hands. They have, like the Garaman, significant freckles, but only on their faces.
• Shieg people have greyish complexions with strong cheek bones. Their eyes are usually sunken and dark. Many have light colored hair.
• Kuasze people have strong chins and brows with high foreheads. Many have snub noses and smallish ears.
• Pavlam have full lips, rounded ears with attached earlobes, prominent webbing between their fingers and toes, and large eyes which tend toward blue or green in color.
• Winst people have prominent teeth, particularly their incisors which appear fang-like. Their noses and ears are usually strong and pronounced.
• Aveleta people have soft, downy hair. They have soft features, heart-shaped faces, and rosy complexions.

Naming

Each clan will form the first element to a person's name, signaling that they belong to that clan. The second element of their name comes from their place of birth, which may be the name of a port, city, island, neighborhood, or natural feature of the surrounding landscape. The third and last name element is a person's individual name, given to them based on the season, day, time, and astrological events under which they were born. Extensive books cataloging the different name days and cross references are referenced to find the appropriate name to give a child. Typically an individual goes by their given name, especially if living among their own clan and in the place they were born.

Often in the remote islands and villages the people will not have recourse to the record books to help give a child a name and will opt to give them names based on impressions or hopes they have of the child. Names such as Hope, Strong, Glamorous, and so on will be given to such children and can be a telltale sign to urban dwellers that someone is from the countryside.

In the case of orphan they will usually be adopted into a clan based on their appearance and be given a name based on the day of their adoption. They will have only these two names.

A certain degree of a caste system exists with respect to one's name such that those with the means will enlist the aid of astrologers to find appropriate locations and times in which to have children. Individuals born under inauspicious circumstances will often be channeled into certain, usually menial, professions while the affluent will often espouse their good fortune as the natural result of their being favored by fate, the Harborers, or nature itself.

Payment

Each clan member is expected to pay dues to clan leaders to help their clan stay prosperous. The amount will different from place to place, clan to clan, but it is fairly common for a tenth of one's wealth to be given or collected on a regular basis. In return the clans promise to protect and defend their members from attack or theft and to provide them with shelter, sustenance, and other resources should they fall upon hard times.

Sometimes a clan member will work directly for the clan, either as a representative or as a semi-indentured worker. They will not be expected to make payments, but instead follow the orders of their local clan leader directly. This is often the case with orphans adopted into the clan or those who have become destitute. The work they do is often necessary, but undesirable, such as cleaning sewers or working in starlight mills. They may also be pressed into gangs used to pressure unwilling clan members to pay dues or fight against rival clans.

Clanless

Some people do not belong to any clans, either because they grew up without any clan or because they chose to leave their clan, but their lives can be difficult. Without the protection of a clan they are at risk of being robbed or kidnapped, especially in the large urban centers. In the outer edges of the world this is less of a concern since clan affiliation (and influence) is not such a large part of people's lives.

Additionally, most wandering mages do not affiliate with any clan, though they may have been born into one initially. This is in part why such mages cover their features when traveling through inhabited areas. Because of their status as mages and the general unease people feel around them they are generally left alone and do not suffer the same risks as non-mages, though there have been exceptions.


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[FONT=&quot]History and Introduction[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
The story of the Harborers is the first lesson of magic, but it hardly needs teaching. It is remembered and referenced among all the peoples and cultures of the world in story, song, and art, but perhaps most succinctly in a simple nursery rhyme:[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The rhyme references the eight gifts of magic given to the people by the Harborers. The classical interpretation of this rhyme is that of the eight associations of magic. Fire, magically and symbolically, guides the powers of fire, heat, light, intense emotions, and creativity. Earth guides the powers of earth, rock, meditation, willpower, and self-control. Star represents the powers of order, guidance, navigation, balance, and communication. Darkness guides the powers of concealment, shadows, knowledge, and memory. Metal represents the powers of metals, structures, physics, mathematics, persistence, and preservation. Water is the powers of water, ice, sleep, healing, and imagination. Fauna guides the powers of animal life, healing, spontaneity, and music. Flora is the powers of plant life, chemistry, paper, growth, and harmony.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Academic Research[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The debate over what objects and aspects of life fall into each of the eight gifts is never ending, but a noted scholar, Atatoni na Tekne, defined a scientific system she believed ordered the areas under which the gifts were most effective.

"Fire represents outward motion or motion away from the source. Earth represents downward motion. Star represents cycling or repetitive motion. Darkness represents inward motion or motion toward the source. Metal represents stationary motion. Water represents motion in the path of least resistance. Fauna represents adaptive or reactive motion. Flora represents upward motion."

The work of Atatoni na Tekne has formed the basis for the teaching of magic at the academies, schools of magic established throughout Szebita. [FONT=&quot]Fully trained mages and government overseers [FONT=&quot]run and teach at the[/FONT][/FONT] academies, schooling students in honing their magical abilities and pushing the[FONT=&quot]m to their limits to see what laten[FONT=&quot]t gifts they might also possess. Additionally, the academies research the nat[FONT=&quot]ure of[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT] magic and its interactions with the world, [FONT=&quot]conducting[/FONT] laboratory [FONT=&quot]experiments[/FONT] and [FONT=&quot]occasional[/FONT] ex[FONT=&quot]peditions [/FONT]to study natural magical formations[FONT=&quot] or [FONT=&quot]search for [FONT=&quot]magical creatures.[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]

The Gift

Although prestigious, the academies do not often produce graduates as the fully formed gifts of magic are rare. Only a few children in each generation in a [FONT=&quot]town [/FONT]of thousands will show the signs, and on a small island perhaps only one or two or none at all. However most people have an affinity of some kind with [FONT=&quot]magic[/FONT]. It is rare that a child shows no inclination at all. The academies are merely strict and selective of who they take. A widespread rumor implies that the academies favor the children of wealth patrons and shun those from smaller, poorer islands.

But the academies are not the only place where magic is taught. In small schools in small towns there are wandering mages who will teach to any child who shows potential. These travelers themselves learn from other wanderers, sharing their knowledge as they move from land to land, island to island. Some of their wisdom is based on the work of Atatoni na Tekne, some of their own research, observations, and experiments.[/FONT]


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