Colmaris

Colmaris is the commonly accepted name for the world in which the game takes place. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it is drawn from a Comari word, and the term has entered wide currency due to the widespread influence of the Cartographers' Guild, which has New Colmaris roots. The word translates roughly to the people-living-place.

The world of Colmaris is thought to have been dramatically reshaped by the events of the Ancient Breaking, though the swift and global nature of this disaster has meant that there is broad disagreement about the cause and nature of the Breaking itself. What is generally agreed is that at one time, the lands of Colmaris were stationary, and people lived upon them, sailing enormous bodies of water known as oceans to reach each others islands. Since the disaster, this world is fundamentally different; a land of flying islands and bottomless skies.

Place in the Cosmos

"It's said the ancients knew a thing or two about this, but I certainly don't."

- Anonymous Guild Cartographer

This article or section contains information that is not yet fully fleshed out.

Comaris is an essentially spherical planet of unknown dimensions, orbiting a single yellow star known simply as the Sun. The visible procession of the sun through the houses of the Zodiac is a key component of the Colmari understanding of magic on their world. The planet also has three Moons which orbit on variable periods.

The Colmaris have lost their pre-Breaking understanding of the size of their world because they have lost any viable stable reference point from which to make the relevant calculations. Some institutions argue less accurate models of the world, with the prevailing belief among the Greatwind, for example, being that the world is, in reality, an infinite, flat plane.

Geography

Landmasses

See Also: List of Known Landmasses

Colmaris's skies are dotted with landmasses referred to variously as continents, islands, reefs, and bars, the distinctions between which are largely semantic and conventional (rather than precise), and which have been listed here more or less in descending order of mass. These landmasses follow natural routes through the sky that affect both their position in terms of latitude and longitude and their altitude. These routes, known as skytides, are for the most part reliably predictable and can be computed with the use of charts.

Nations

See Also: Nations

Humanity living in Colmaris has largely organized itself into a small number of nation-states based around common cultures and proximal landmasses. In terms of the overall culture of the world, by far the most influential of these groups are the New Colmaris republic and the Trevult Empire, but the importance of the other nations cannot be understated.

Skytides

Main Article: Skytides

Skytides are forceful currents within the Skies that are primarily noted by the motion of landmasses that are coupled to them; it is possible for several landmasses to become tidally unified and follow the same currents, meaning their positions relative to each other are fairly stable even as their relationships to other landmasses change frequently. These skytides should not be confused for winds and may occasionally travel against the prevailing wind; sailors have to consider both when calculating routes for their airships.

The Firmament

It is believed by scholars at the University of Trevult that the sky has a ceiling, known as the Firmament, which is a wall of force upon which the heavens project, allowing for the accurate computation of the Zodiac. There is also a prevailing believe that this liminal field cannot be sailed past, though the technology to test this limit did not exist by the time of the Age of Rediscovery.

The Skyfloor

The Skyfloor is a term referring to a planetary layer of cloud cover which has historically obscured the former surface of the world from the view of the humans living in the Skies. These clouds, due to some storm or climactic pattern that has lasted unbroken since the Ancient Breaking, form a thick nominal barrier that represents the lowest "safely navigable" altitudes on Colmeris. The Skyfloor itself is, by its very nature, uninhabited by humans, though humans do engage in Skyfloor Dredging to harvest moisture and exotic lifeforms from the clouds. This cloud layer is known to be several miles thick.

The Underworld

Main Article: the Underworld

The Underworld is the portion of Colmaris that is shrouded in perpetual darkness thanks to the presence of the Skyfloor. It is riven by storms, extreme pressures, and inhabited by horrifying monsters, all according to legend. By the time of the Age of Rediscovery the Underworld had not been explored by humans in nearly two millenia. In some legends, the Underworld is home to a Stellarch who survived the Ancient Breaking. In common thinking, it is believed that the Underworld is now a barren, rocky, lifeless wasteland due to the loss of the oceans and the lack of sunlight below the Skyfloor.

Ecology

Humans

"It's said the ancients knew a thing or two about this, but I certainly don't."

- Anonymous Guild Cartographer

This article or section contains information that is not yet fully fleshed out.

Hydrological Cycle

See Also: Water Management

The limited landmass and open nature of the Skyfloor means that water is abundant in vapour forms, but fresh and potable liquid water is orders of magnitude less abundant on Colmaris than players might be used to. Most settlements have one or more preferred technologies for maximizing their ability to obtain, store, use, and even reuse such water, and techniques like Deepsky Condensate Harvesting, Skyfloor Dredging, and Wind Farming are all considered viable professions throughout much of the world. Only very large landmasses like Trevult can support large watersheds of natural water.

Agriculture

See Also: Staple Foodstuffs

The limited availability of water has had an impact on agricultural efforts, and restricted the viability of certain foods that were once staples. Cereals and other staple plant-based foods have increased in importance and been heavily selectively bred to tolerate drought, and diets overall have become far more plant-centric over the years as a result. Some agricultural livestock are kept in artificial conditions, almost entirely limited to various forms of poultry, though small breeds of pig and sheep have been kept over as well, alongside goats. Only the largest landmasses can sustain the grazing necessary for raising beef, rendering it an extreme delecacy.

Key Wildlife

"It's said the ancients knew a thing or two about this, but I certainly don't."

- Anonymous Guild Cartographer

This article or section contains information that is not yet fully fleshed out.