Cosm

The southernmost continent of Elorae. Cosm once was a verdant, tropical land, teeming with exotic wildlife. However, devastation by magical dragonfire turned the bountiful landscape into an arid waste of crystallized mana, known as the Gem Waste. Out of this waste, civilization still sprung, and desert cities were constructed on economies of gemstone trade. Magic crystals, much of what the endless grounds of the wasteland became, are highly coveted as resources for energy throughout the continent. Rarely, export out of Cosm across the northern sea occurs. One may find Cosm crystals enchanting the armaments of Awakuli High Hunters, adorning Highborne walls in Elen Asva, or on the tradewinds of the Sea of Gold into Tumunz.

As you move south into the lands of Ur, the crystals become more infrequent than in the Gem Waste, giving way to lands of total dust and sand, with sparsely populated cities and villages. Many are built into cliffside caves where mountains rise - or beneath the dunes entirely, in an effort to avoid vicious mana-infused sandstorms that blow from the north. Very rarely, oases might show their lush greenery within the acrid region, but are quickly defended by the people who claim them.

Old cities lie buried under the wastes of Jud'hin. Untold riches and history are forever covered in sand.

Toward the southern coast, the deserts turn to icy gravel, and tiny-but-dense forests begin to form. The storms become roaring mana-blizzards and snows fall on hilly terrain. The coastline is largely inaccessible, as massive sheer cliffs stare down onto the endless frozen expanse of the Forbidden Sea. Scholars believe Cosm to have been much larger than it is today, and posit that the cliffs before the sea are a barrier to exploration - the possibility of forgotten, sunken lands frozen beneath the ice.

Common foods in most regions of Cosm consist of ur-leaves, a very common gray, thick-leafed plant that is ground into a meaty pulp. Salt is in abundance, with many saying it is the best tasting salt in the world, as well as gemwater, a highly nutritious liquid that is thought to be perspirated into the ground from the mana of crystals. Around oases, roseberries and gorrups often bloom and are treated as sweet and sour delicacies.

The indigenous people of Cosm are known as the Cosmai. Cosmai were traditionally bronze of skin and dark haired, but millenia of exposure to latent mana and the crystal wastes has altered their nature. Modern Cosmai have a range of diverse skin tones and hair colors, pertaining to the lands of their birth. On average, northern Cosmai are generally darker of skin and southern Cosmai are generally paler of skin. Often, uncommon colors get passed down through skin pigment - eye color, and hair color too - a product of the mana exposure. Culturally, Cosmai have customs unlike many places of the world, most important of which is slavery, which is common in the brutal crystal mines that are ever-present throughout the lands.

Two travelers finally reach their destination after traveling through the treacherous Ashap-Ur Valley.

Cosmai are the only race of people with an innate proclivity toward Psi magic, harboring more Psions amongst their lands than the entirety of Elorae combined. Some argue that this is due to generational alteration by the strange crystals, others, that it is of an ageless, hidden history - the mark of Ancient design. In truth, the name of the continent shares itself with that of the framework of the Elder magic. It is unknown which was named first.