Zetrea
Stretching for thousands of miles, from the forests and foothills of Ulmera in the north to the foot of the Walwin mountains in the south, are the rolling grasslands of Zetrea. As a seemingly endless expanse of grasses and ferns that is broken only by parched scrublands and rocky badlands, the plains of Zetrea are a rugged and wild place.
It is here on these endless plains that the sun blessed nation of Tororae has grown and thrived for thousands of years. Starting as little more than collection of farms and hardy peoples millennia ago, The Seat of the Sun has grown in power and influence as the centuries have passed, becoming the grand and powerful nation it is today.
Roaming the endless plains of Zetrea are the mighty dinosaurs, shaping the landscape as they go about their lives. Great herds of herbivores move across the grasslands, always looking for the freshest of foliage and coolest of waters. Stalking the herds, as well as the people who call the plains home, are the vicious flesh-eating carnivores that range in size from small and feathered, to massive and scaled, and all of them hungry for flesh.
Settlements, Towns, and Cities
For information on the cities and towns within the nation of Tororae, Seat of the Sun, see the section here
Calchester
Population: ~2000
Located only a couple of miles from the oilfields, Calchester is a wealthy town, yet it is also disgusting place. The air here is rank due to the noxious gasses wafting over from the oilfields, and the buildings are covered in a fine layer of grim that is impossible to fight against; it doesn’t matter how much the people try and clean their town, the filth from the oilfield is all present and never ending.
All the services offered in town are in service of either those who work in the oilfields, and the companies who are drilling the oil. This means there is little reason to visit Calchester, unless you’re looking into working the fields.
Life out on the Plains
Across the seemingly endless plains of Zetrea are countless farms and ranches, all of them working to feed the people of the continent. Just as many towns and villages are also dotted across the countryside, either to service the ranchers and farmers, or to act as stops on the newly built railway. Roaming traders and snake-oil salesmen also travel across the plains, hawking their wares to anyone they can.
Out on the plains, farmers grow a wide variety of crops to be exported across the continent. Unlike farms found out in the foothills, or in the valleys of the mountains, the ones here on the plains are huge operations, almost always worked by more than just a single family. Either multiple families work together to tend the land, or a small army of employees from the neighbouring towns work the fields.
The ranches of the plains are much the same as the farms, covering massive tracks of land and home to hundreds of animals. Being a ranch hand at one of the larger operations is a good job, and a career more than a few young people the plains over aspire to have. Herds of horned dinosaurs, hadrosaurs, and other animals are common, with them providing meat, hide, and beasts of burden for all Ediacara and beyond.
With the recent discovery of oil in south-eastern Zetrea, a growing number of people are moving to the oil fields in a quest for a better life. The work is hard and dirty, but the pay is too good to pass up, and experts believe that the oil industry will only grow as the years go by.
Landmarks & Points of Interest
Daughters of the Sun
Named after the mortal daughters of Atu-Zos (Myra, Mina, and Zoe), these three lakes and the lands between them is home to the holy city of Holtika.
When either of the moons Mina or Myra are full in the night sky, their corresponding bodies of water glow the same hue as their namesakes. This glowing is caused by countless tiny bio-luminescent animals that come to the surface to feed, attracted to the sister’s moonlight.
The lake named after the Sun’s lost daughter, Zoe, only lights up when both of the sister moons are new. Legends say that this is because she only comes out when her sister’s are away.
Mount Chilcour
Mount Chilcour is a lone volcano that rises out of the grasslands, breaking the flat monotony of the countryside. The last eruption was over two hundred years ago, but recent rumblings around the mount have people worried that another eruption is eminent.
The lands around the volcano are dense with farms and ranches, because for miles around the mount the soil is the richest on the continent. The threat of an eruption is being taken seriously by the four powers of Ediacara, as the destruction from such an event would lead to famine on a scale not seen in generations.
Mulwill Oil Fields
Named after August Mulwill, the geologist and explorer who discovered the area, the Mulwill Oil Fields are a sight unlike any other. Dozens of wells have been drilled into the earth, each of them pumping the petroleum up from the ground to then be sent to the refineries. The runoff from the operation has poisoned the land and has also drawn the attention of a variety of monsters, especially slimes to the area.
There is good and consistent work to be had defending the derricks and the workers from the roaming beasts and bandits. While the jobs are dangerous, the pay is good, and the opportunities for advancement are nearly endless.
The Shimmering Chambers
Owned and operated by the Lee and Perry Mining Company, the Shimmering Chambers Show Cave and Fairgrounds is a popular and lauded roadside attraction. Discovered a little over five years ago, and opened to the public not long after that, the cave is home to massive and luminescent crystals that shimmer in hues of neon and pastel. The building sized crystals are unlike anything else on the continent, and while countless other caves have been explored, none of them have crystal formations such as the ones found here.
The fairgrounds are a recent addition, having been opened a year ago. Right now, there is only a Farris wheel and carousel, but bigger and better things are planned for the near future.
Zetrun River Valley
Running its way north across the grasslands from the foot of the Walwin Mountains to the swamps of Finiram, the mighty Zetrun River. The river has carved out a wide valley and flood plain which is lush with trees, shrubs, and flowering plants of all kinds. A great many of the grassland’s dinosaurs, beasts, and other animals come to the valley to escape the heat of the plains, and drink from the river’s cool and refreshing water.
Before the railway, the Zetrun was used by the peoples of Zetrea to move goods up and down the continent. Countless small towns dotted the river side, but now many of them are abandoned due to the railroad taking the work from the barges and ships that used to run up and down the river.
Zokphia
Dedicated to the goddess Miranda, the Daughter of The Seasons, and built up around the ancient amber monolith known as the Summer Slab, is the temple complex of Zokphia.
Experts have determined that the peoples of Ediacara have come to this site to worship the goddess since the First Eon, some tens of thousands of years ago, and yet for reasons still unknown it was abandoned and forgotten about.
After being rebuilt after it’s rediscovery in the Eighth Eon, Zokphia is once again the centre of Miranda’s worship, and it is even said that the goddess herself is fond of spending time here among her followers.
Ecology
This is only a small sample of the mighty dinosaurs and vicious monsters that call the endless plains home.
Tyrannosaur
Commonly known as knife-jaws by the country folk, these massive bipedal predatory dinosaurs roam the plains, hunting anything and everything smaller than them. They live in small sized family groups of around four to five individuals, and generally consists of a mated pair of adults with a few generations of their young.
It is because countless groups of these apex hunters call the grasslands home that it is recommended to always travel in either well armed groups, or aboard the relative safety of a train car.
Long-necks
Majestic herds of these gargantuan dinosaurs lumber across the great plains of Zetrea in their constant search for food and fresh water.
Once they’re full grown, these massive animals have nothing to fear, and so it should come as no surprise that the peoples of the plains have trained the long-necks for generations as beasts of burden; what better way to keep safe than to travel with an animal the predators think twice about attacking?
Unless the long-neck has been raised by people (and even then), they are extremely dangerous animals who have no problem throwing their weight around when threatened.
Slimes and Oozes
The oilfields have drawn an ever-increasing number of slimes to the area, which is something Zetrea has never had to deal with before. Their acidic bodies pose a massive problem to the machinery and workers of the fields, eating through metal and flesh alike, causing no shortage of problems. Ranging in size and shape from small puddles to ravenous cubes, the slimes are a real problem and are a problem that needs to be dealt with swiftly and consistently.
Azhdarchids
These large flying reptiles, some of them taller than a bull Tyrannosaur, soar gracefully through the skies of Zetrea on wings twenty feet wide, hunting anything they can catch and swallow whole.
By in large one does not have to worry about these giant pterosaurs, but just like any large animal, it is recommended to stay out of their way and to leave them alone if you come across one in the wild.
Ankheg
Colonies of these person sized insects are a bane to the countless farming communities that are scattered about the plains. These voracious arthropods carve out large underground nests comprised of hundreds of individuals, with all of them serving the unknowable will of their ravenous queens.
Before problem colonies get too big and devastate the surrounding countryside, community leaders will enlist the help of adventurers and travellers alike to descend into the insect’s tunnels to eliminate the queen and her brood; the pay is always good, but the work is far from safe.