Zetrea
Stretching for thousands of miles from the forests and foothills of Ulmera in the north, to the Walwin mountains in the south, are the rolling grasslands of Zetrea. 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 would grow in power and influence as the centuries passed by, becoming the grand and powerful nation we know it as today.
Tororae regards itself as the centre of civilization on Ediacara, and that her neighbours to the north and south are just playing at modernity. Guided by Atu-Zos, who has taken a special interest in the nation ever since it swore fealty to him, Tororae has grown its holdings in wealth, power, and knowledge year upon year. The Seat of the Sun’s expansion is only slowed by the very wild nature of the land, with her towns and villages on the fringes being at the mercy of the powerful animals and dangerous monsters that prowl the plains.
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.
Major Settlements
Tororae, Seat of the Sun
Holtika, The Holy City of the Golden Sun
From the massive metropolis of Holtika the Church of the Sun rules over the empire, guided by the golden rays of Atu-Zos, the sun god and Tororae’s defacto head of state. From within the Golden Fire Cathedral an army of holy men and women carry out the bidding of their god, disseminating their patron’s will across the land.
The city is built up and around the three lakes known as the Daughters of the Sun, with each of them being named after the mortal daughters of the sun god: Myra, Mina, and Zoe. Rising from the centre of the city, in between the Daughters is the Palace of the Sun, and it is here within the palace’s golden halls the day to day governing of the nation takes place.
Population: ~1,500,000
Weyatle
Nestled in the large and calm Melicola bay along the south eastern coast of Zetrea is the port city of Weyatle. As the shipbuilding mecca of the continent, many of the world’s greatest and largest ships have been built here by the hands of the city’s countless craftsmen and shipwrights.
Before the oceans become almost impossible to navigate, Weyatle was the gate way into Ediacara from those coming from Torrdonia, the west coast of Rodinia, and Uralia, which has giving the city a very unique look thanks to that intermixing of so many cultures and practices.
Weyatle is also home to a grand temple to Ezilia, the Mistress of Water. Before any ship is sent out of the dry docks, priestesses of Ezilia bless the vessels and ask their goddess to keep the ship and her crew safe.
Population: ~450,000
Sarath
Sitting along the western coast of the great plains of Zetrea is the port city of Sarath. It is from here that the Seat of the Sun musters her navy from the impressive Naval Base Gold Rise. Life in the city completely revolves around the military, with most of Sarath’s population working either directly or indirectly with the navy.
Sarath’s shipyards and factories build the nation’s warships. Even though it has been generations since the Empire has lost a ship to war, with neither Zaranta or Falnora having the capabilities to meet Tororea on the waves, there is still a need for more ships; more often than not, these large warships are not lost to battle but lost to the waves.
Population: ~60,000
Weika
At the foot of the Walwin Mountains is the industrial city of Weika. The many factories here process the raw ore that is shipped down from the mines that dot the dry and parched mountains, creating the materials needed to run the amazing and modern world. All this industry has coated the city in a fine layer of grime and muck, but this is a minor thing the citizens are willing to endure as they embrace progress.
The countryside around the city is dotted with countless farms, orchards, and ranches that provide the food needed for Weika’s ever growing population. Though it needs to be said that in recent years yields have been lower than expected, and with the cause still being unknown, this poses a growing a problem for the growing city.
Population: ~550,000
Tali
Standing proud in the centre of the Zetrean plains is the metropolis of Tali. As the geographic centre of Tororae, Tali sees peoples and goods from all over the Empire, and the rest continent, passing through daily.
This steady stream of people from all over Ediacara has turned the city into a melting pot of many cultures, beliefs, and practices, which is very different than the rest of Tororae’s heavy Sun worship. This coming together and mixing of ideas is what fuels the city’s many industries, and is why Tali is growing year after year without and end in sight.
The city is home to the Tali Metropolitan University. This massive school is also an elaborate temple to the god of stories and education, Loa’Sia. It is within the university’s central library that the accumulated knowledge of Ediacara is said to be kept and protected by the priests and priestesses of the Order of Zal.
Population: ~1,200,000
Landmarks & Points of Interest
The 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 Mina or Myra are full in the night sky, their corresponding bodies of water glow in the same hue as their namesakes as countless tiny bio-luminescent animals come to the surface, 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, as if she only comes out when her sister’s are away.
The Greenway
Running through the centre of the Zetrean Badlands is the deep and forested rift valley known as the Greenway.
Growing along the shores of the lazy Redwood River that runs through the valley, the Greenway, as it name implies, is the only verdant place in the desolate badlands. It should come as no surprise then that it is down here among the massive sequoias, and along the slow moving river, that a handful of mining and logging towns have sprung up over the years.
It is from these towns that the ore mined from the badlands, and the lumber harvested from the forests of the valley, are sent down the river to the coast to be then sent out across Ediacara.
Evermire
Sitting along the eastern coast of the plains, and within a deep basin that extends for hundreds of miles inland is the immense cypress swamp known as the Evermire. Little is known about the depths of the swamp, but that does not stopped the rumours and stories about the horrors and wonders that hide there from spreading far a wide.
It is these stories that draw foolhardy adventurers and explores to the mire, all of them in search of the treasures that are sure to be lost in the swamp’s muck.
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.
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.