Lyridia - finished

[vorropohaiah]

Here's the next map in the Atlas Elyden project. More details on the world and the Atlas Elyden can be foun on the thread, here.

11 - Lyridia - small.jpg

Lyridia is a relic of another time, a place ruled, not my magnates, or a sovereign, or a puppet answering to a foreign lord, but Firmamentists. Lyridia is ruled by the Abulia or Watchers: nine seers, ancient beyond knowledge, who are entombed within an archaic technarcane structure high in the Kythi Mountains, where they are locked in a fugue state between life and death. There they sleep a dreamless slumber, their bodies unageing, their senses dead to the world. Yet still they are worshiped as gods.

In their stead rule a caste of augurs in proxy. They command absolute authority, though in times of need they might call upon the Abulia for otherworldly aid. Powerful personages and leaders from across Elyden might also seek to learn the secrets of the Abulia… at a price. When needed, the Abulia are stirred from their engineered slumber by the augurs, and immediately they begin convulsing, uttering prophecies that are recorded and interpreted. Though the source of these prophecies is unknown, it’s believed that they are ancient whisperings and teachings of the demiurges, somehow observed beyond the gulf of time. How accurate or meaningful these prophecies (or if indeed they are even truthfully prophecies) is debated by outsiders, but they are the foundations on which this strange nation is built. Lyridia is a rich place and its rulers are not ashamed to show it with large fortresses and monuments dominating its lands, even as its people live in relative squalor.

Beneath the godly Abulia are the augurs and their white-robed policing force, who rule through fear. The populace is otherwise divided into two distinct factions - troglodytes (descendants of natives who traditionally dwell in cliff-hewn settlements, who form the lower classes and rural populace) and Lyradeans (descendants of the parent nation from which Lyridia emerged). In some areas the division between these castes is strong - the north and east are home to mostly Lyradeans, though small troglodyte settlements hewn from cliff-faces or ghettos within the cities are not uncommon; and the region around the Kythi mountains is home to large numbers of troglodytes, who either live mud-brick settlements or even in their traditional cliff-hewn abodes. In other more urban or recent areas the division between castes is less severe, with both making up a large part of the population (though the troglodytes are rarely nobility and usually menial or unwanted jobs).

The nation itself is situated along the cusp of two worlds - the Korachani empire dominates the west, the reformed Sarastroan empire lies to the south and to the west are free lands. Influences from all three regions are not unfelt in Lyridia, but the rule of the augurs is harsh and contact with the outside world is restricted to merchants (though this has relaxed in recent years), the nobility and diplomats. This xenophobia is perhaps understandable as Korachan has stared hungrily east to this land for many years, attacking it at various points throughout their history. It was partially successful and annexed a large part of the nation’s west, which later became a korachani territory known as Lyridia Dhai (literally: new Lyridia), and Lyridia remains wary of outsiders to this day.

[ChickPea]

Another fantastic map where I have to remind myself that this isn't a real place!

I absolutely love your worldbuilding for this area, with the sleeping Abulia and their prophecies. Just awesome work all round.

[Ilanthar]

You just keep doing great work (both maps & stories) !

[vorropohaiah]

thanks I;m hard at work on a few commissions at the moment, so it might be a while before I get anything else up, and I'm also working on something a bit different for the next map (it's still part of the same atlas series, though)...