Setting and Geography	Common Language
The Earth’s Cycle	Currency
Time Period	Bounty Hunting and Slavery

Spirits of the Earth is set on Earth in the future, after the natural destruction of the world as we know it today. The Earth has been reborn and renewed to the state of perfection it was in at its initial formation, though countries and continents that once existed are no more, for the formation of land masses is entirely different. That does not, however, mean that remnants and ruins of the old civilizations do not still exist. Creatures that were once extinct prior to the Earth's reformation, or creatures that perhaps never even existed to begin with, now exist, along with many other familiar species. This includes humans and other humanoid beings that, over time, have rebuilt and reestablished civilized countries and governments.

All the areas seen in this site are the various existing areas of this new Earth. Well, the discovered areas, at least. There are plenty of undiscovered places around; maybe one day someone will find them. Le'raana is the name of the continent which represents all the currently discovered areas of the Earth, and it's also where all the action in Spirits of the Earth takes place.

Click on the map to enlarge it! Full credit and love for the drawing of the map goes to the talented and wonderful Aruka hitowa!

The continent of Le’raana is divided up into four regions: Northern Le’raana, Eastern Le’raana, Western Le’raana, and Southern Le’raana. Northern Le’raana includes the kingdom of Connlaoth, a more advanced country in which magic is illegal, and the arctic town of Hyoite. The upper reaches of the Northern portion of Le’raana, past the Kilanthro mountain range that border and surround Connlaoth, tend to be cooler in climate, eventually reaching arctic conditions. Around Connlaoth, the conditions are warmer and temperate.

Eastern Le’raana includes the kingdoms of Adela, a more war-like nation, and Serendipity, a peaceful kingdom in the country. These kingdoms border each other and are separated by the large Ora River. Both kingdoms are near the Hivan Ocean, a cooler ocean to the East of the continent of Le’raana that reaches up to the North of Le’raana. Another mountain range, the Terrin Mountains, serve as a border between Connlaoth and Serendipity. The lands here tend to be moderate in climate, with some annual snowfall, and is heavily forested especially around Adela, while Serendipity’s landscape is more country-like and suited for agriculture.

Western Le'raana is also dotted with heavy forests and many independent villages, and the climate is a little warmer. The Tuor Ocean, a warmer and more active ocean than the Eastern Hivan Ocean, is also to the West of Le’raana, and it extends down to the Southern reaches of Le’raana.

Southern Le’raana grows even warmer in temperature the further down one goes, opening up into sparser forests and eventually grasslands and, even further, deserts. The desert town of Essyrn can be found here, and even further beyond that toward the Tuor Ocean the land gives way to jungle terrain.

The Hivan Ocean to the East of Le’raana is home to the cryptic island city of Thanatos, a haven for necromancers to practice their taboo arts, and the warmer Tuor Ocean is home to the tropical Yoreiq Isles.

Keep in mind, this is simply the world as known thus far, and not even all of the Le’raana continent has been explored yet! There are more continents likely out there, and many, many unexplored areas in Le’raana alone! The “All the Lands of Earth” boards are there to serve as multi-purpose boards for plots and threads that can take place, well, anywhere on Earth at all! Le'raana is very diverse, and any human or humanoid being can almost certainly find a place to belong to, whether it is among thieves, nobility, or the common folk. There is also a wide variety of other cities and civilizations beyond the borders and control of the major kingdoms.

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THE EARTH'S CYCLE

It is most commonly believed that this is not, by any means, the first time the Earth has been destroyed and reborn. It is commonly believed that the Earth works in cycles and that, ultimately, it is its fate to be destroyed so that it can be renewed again. One common belief held in a number of religions is that the cycle of destruction is triggered by a symbolic sort of “darkness”—by the increase in wars, bloodshed, death, and destruction—and that the Earth destroys itself in order to preserve itself: things can only get worse before they get better, and once it is destroyed, it can begin to renew itself.

This is an endless cycle...or, so it is believed.

Now, what is meant when it is said that the Earth is "destroyed"?

Different cultures, religions, and individuals have different takes on what actually happens and what this means, and interpretations vary from literal to symbolic.

Some believe in a literal, and total, obliteration of the planet—the planet itself is torn apart piece by piece, and has to literally reform itself from galaxy-dust back into a nice sphere; whether this happens with the aid or direction of a deity or not, once again, varies from culture to culture and person to person. A religious person may say that there is a deity or pantheon behind this and support their ideas with scripture and their own spiritual beliefs.

Other literalists take a different stance on this. A naturalist, atheist, and even some religious people may just claim that it’s the natural cycle of things and support their views with what little scientific knowledge exists. They may believe it is due to cataclysmic changes in the Earth's system in the form of plagues, floods, terrible earthquakes, mysterious rocks that fall from the sky, volcanic eruptions, and other such natural disasters that do indeed destroy life on Earth. After all, such things still occur in the world and sometimes, if they’re really bad, they wipe out whole communities. So isn’t it possible that some natural disaster might be big enough to wipe out all life on Earth?

Still others believe the destruction is merely symbolic. The Earth has never actually been destroyed, but old ideas and ways of life perhaps have. This idea represents not a literal destruction, but a sort of figurative change or spiritual awakening, a destroying of old beliefs and ideals and a recreating of newer, better ones. After all, not all destruction is bad; old growth dies to make way for new. Perhaps the people that came before were living lives that were harmful to the planet and perhaps their ways of living ultimately caused the downfall of their societies, so they had to abandon their old ways of living and look for alternative ones.

These are the most popular views, though in truth there are as many opinions on the matter as there are sentient entities on the Earth.

So, what's the truth?

The truth is, no one knows. One theory could be right. And yet, all three could also be right; perhaps each event has happened in succession. One thing is for certain—something happens, and whatever it is that happens, it causes enormous change. Evidence of this change can be found in old ruins that lay scattered throughout the Earth, ruins said to be those of the ancient, yet advanced, civilizations that came before. There is no denying this and, in fact, there are even some guilds and groups of people who devote their lives to studying and searching for these ancient ruins to learn more about the past.

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TIME PERIOD

Medieval. The Earth, still being young, is still very archaic, so the modern technologies we all know and love in our time simply do not exist. In the place of TVs, cars, electric heaters, and indoor plumbing there are public executions, horses, hearths, and chamber pots. But that doesn't mean new technologies aren't being explored. The country of Connlaoth, for example, has developed the use of firearms and more advanced crossbows, though compared to what we have in our time, the weapons are very basic. Aside from that, there are characters that can and do sometimes come to this future Earth from other time periods, or even from other planets and realms of existence, and sometimes these characters bring with them more advanced technologies.

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COMMON LANGUAGE

The most common language found and used is Common, which is fairly universal in the more civilized areas of the Earth; most anyone can speak it. Common is not English, or Japanese, or German, or any comparable language in existence in the Earth of today, since such civilizations were wiped out when the Old Earth was destroyed. However, for the sake of simplicity, it is of course represented by English in the game, and this does not mean that remnants of the languages of the Old Earth do not still exist. Similarly, if a character happens to come to this New Earth from the Earth of today, they might very well speak a language that exists in our world, but does not exist in SotE’s world!

Though Common is the common tongue, this does not mean other languages don't exist. The Earth is highly diverse; there are hundreds of different animal and human cultures, so there are plenty of other languages out there.

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CURRENCY

The common currency system, unless stated otherwise, is universal. Money is generally represented using coins, which are made of precious metals and may or may not bear the emblem of where they came from. The types of coins are Copper, Bronze, Silver, and Gold, Copper of course being the smallest in value and Gold being the highest.

There are other ways of attaining goods and services, however. Precious gemstones, for example, can easily be used for money and barter and trade is not uncommon. One person may lend their labor to another in order to come by food, clothing, or shelter, another may exchange livestock or harvested seed for other commodities…basically, if two people have something that the other wants, an agreement of some sort may be worked out.

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BOUNTY HUNTING AND SLAVERY

Bounty hunting is alive and well in this world, and it is not exclusive to any one kingdom. Anywhere there are criminals at large, there are likely to be bounty hunters. Bounties are generally put up for any criminals who have managed to evade the law, and anyone is free to take up the challenge of hunting them down for a monetary reward. The prices vary from situation to situation; for instance, a petty thief is likely to fetch a smaller reward than a kidnapper or murderer that has been on the loose for a few months or more, and the reward tends to be even higher in price if the crime has affected someone of high rank. The circumstances surrounding a capture also vary from situation to situation; in some cases, a criminal may be wanted alive, and in others, it may not matter either way. If a criminal who is wanted alive is killed…well, that can most definitely affect whether or not the promised reward is handed out.

In regards to slavery, it is legal in most parts of the world, unless otherwise stated. In some parts of the world, a person may even be enslaved as punishment for some crime! Bounty hunting is, in a way, related to the slave trade as some bounty hunters may pillage other locations for warm bodies to sell to various slavers, and some may even go so far as to kidnap a person in one country and drag them across the border into another country to sell illegally.

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