Ventures
Ventures
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The Confluence About five centuries ago, a planetary cataclysm, born from the collision of reality and the world of imagination, swept over the Earth. This event, called the Confluence, spared no one. It leveled entire cities, brought down human nations like houses of cards. Like a roaring surge, it reshaped reality in a chaotic manner, causing ruin and destruction in its wake. In its aftermath, new life forms emerged, new landscapes, as fantastic as they were unsettling —a blend of the real and the imaginary, unfolded. The world was transformed, rendered strange and often hostile. It was altered to the point of becoming unrecognizable.
Anatomy of Imagination
Do you want to learn more about the cosmology of Altered? Open the doors of imagination!
The Age of Rediscovery
The launch of the Expeditionary Corps marks the beginning of a new era: welcome to the Age of Rediscovery!
Asgartha
The Asgarthan Peninsula is considered the new epicenter and cradle of human civilization. Despite its rather modest size and complete isolation, this fragmented strip of land has become a biotope where sentient beings have managed to thrive, despite the limited natural resources presented by this ecosystem. In the absence of evidence of the existence of other enclaves, Asgartha is considered the last bastion of humanity.
Caer Eidos
The Province of Caer Eidos consists of three islands: Sekent, Kemeri, and Nisan. Its rugged terrain has served as a natural protection to the human communities that settled there after the Great Wandering.
Kirighai
Accessible only by water or via its unique bridge from the island of Nisan, the "Mugen," Kirighai is almost entirely covered by a dense and primal forest, the Katkera. This wild territory is sparsely populated by humans: only the Muna Refuges (or Temples of Serenity) constitute inhabited enclaves.
Anthea
The largest peninsula in the Asgarthan Protectorate, located south of the capital beyond the Muir Concordia, is divided into two Provinces: Caer Kettria to the west and Caer Arcolano to the east. Like Enosha, Anthea is considered an agrarian and pastoral territory, and the capital heavily relies on the food resources from this peninsula to feed its population.
Enosha
Located east of the Kirighai peninsula, Enosha is also divided into two Provinces: Caer Esvander to the west and Caer Alcada to the east. While Anthea is mainly specialized in cereal, fruit, and vegetable cultivation, Enosha is characterized by the strong presence of pastures and mountainous regions. This is why it is renowned for its livestock and mineral quarries.
Suspira
An almost uninhabited volcanic island, made of black stones and sands, Suspira bathes in an unreal end-of-the-world atmosphere. Located far from Arkaster, it is called the "whispering island" or the "isle of murmurs," referring to the sulfuric vapors that almost constantly exhale from the ground.
The Seas
The Asgarthan Peninsula is almost entirely surrounded by seas. Throughout history, it has relied on their maritime resources to meet the needs of its population. Even today, despite the airships and aerodynes traversing the sky, numerous vessels still crisscross these aquatic expanses, whether for fishing or transporting goods.
Vagheria
Vagheria is an austere and rugged peninsula constantly battered by rain. Its terrain makes it a natural barrier against the Tumult currents, and it absorbed the majority of the mutagenic flows from the titanic Tumult tsunami of 305 AC.
The Leviathans
Their footsteps make the ground tremble and the mountains shake, their silhouette obscures the sun when they spread their wings or soar above the clouds... Leviathans are titanic creatures, large enough to cover vast cities.
Caer Oorun
Nearly three centuries ago, Asgartha encompassed another Province: Caer Oorun. This territory was part of the same Oasis as the rest of the Peninsula. Initially, it was an agrarian area upon which the human colony of Asgartha relied to meet its needs.
Global Timeline
Following a mystical call, the Tumult Nomads initiate the Great Migrations: the various nomadic tribes all converge towards a distant location, which later becomes Asgartha.
The Concord
After long and perilous journeys —some even lasting the span of a human lifetime— the communities of survivors, now known as Tumult Tribes or Nomads, found themselves in the same place, finally reunited after decades of isolation.
Festivities & Celebrations
It's not all harshness in the altered world; one must also know how to commemorate what deserves to be celebrated!
Cities of Asgartha - 1st Part
As Asgartha was gradually populated, urban centers formed naturally in all corners of the Peninsula.
Cities of Asgartha – 2nd Part
As Asgartha was gradually populated, urban centers formed naturally in all corners of the Peninsula.
Arkaster
Known as the "City of Alabaster" or simply the "First City," Arkaster is the capital of Asgartha and the chief town of Caer Eidos. The metropolis itself, nestled between the peninsulas and islands of Sekent, Kemeri, Kuna, and Nisan, has more than 695,000 inhabitants, nearly a quarter of the entire Asgarthan population.
Metropolitan Way of Life
Delve deeper into Asgartha's capitol to better understand how the Asgarthans live !
Services
Outside of its rail network (trams, trains) and its short- and long-haul air routes (airships), the democratization of the Kelon has led to the emergence of numerous ground vehicles on the city's streets, ranging from unicycles to automobiles, including automated carriages. However, these vehicles remain seldom used, as the Asgarthan topography and infrastructure are still not well-suited for these modes of transport.
Political System
The Asgarthan Republic is deliberative in nature, which entails active citizen participation in the political and judicial life of the Peninsula. The political framework is structured around a strict separation of powers among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. Each branch is further divided into several autonomous and complementary organs to prevent any one branch from exerting dominance over the others. This system aims to foster balance and ensure that decisions are made through deliberation, consensus, and adherence to principles of justice and democracy.
Economic System
The greatest constraint of the Peninsula has long been its limited primary resources, apart from the bounty of the sea. The settlement of the entire Peninsula by humans around 130 AC led, over the centuries, to a balance, albeit precarious, between human civilization and its environment.
The Great Wandering
It is difficult to know how many years this period actually lasted. During this troubled era, few cared to measure time with precision... However, it is commonly accepted that the Great Wandering lasted between one hundred and one hundred and fifty years.
The Vanishing
Even now, it remains one of the most enigmatic mysteries in the history of Asgartha. After over forty years of reign, Rune, the first High King of Asgartha, vanished without a trace, as if by magic. His quarters were found empty, his rooms abandoned.
Noblesse Oblige
The descendants of the Rune Knights have benefited from the aura of their illustrious ancestors. As a result, these ancient families have, over time, become the aristocratic class of Asgartha. The ruun-Heshkari, ruun-Caellach, and other ruun-Tighe Houses have always been closely associated with power, regardless of the ruling regime or political system of the time.
The Torment
Seventy years after its founding, Asgartha faced dark times that nearly led to the fall of humanity's cradle. In 42 AC, Cwaith had succeeded Rune, and Ayxas was poised to take over after the High Queen, whose reign had lasted nearly twenty-eight years. Under the influence of the Kuningatar, the living conditions of the Asgarthans had greatly improved.
The Nifir
For nearly three-quarters of a century, the Nifir had regularly plagued the Asgarthan population. Brought back from the salt mines of the island of Suspira, this unknown disease spread like an ink stain across the rest of the Peninsula.
The Severance War
The beginning of the third century was marked by the gradual rise of the Governors, who were tasked with developing Asgartha’s Provinces, as they were granted near full regional powers. This key role allowed them to amass wealth and influence, to the point where they eventually challenged the authority of the Basileus. As infrastructures and cities developed and regional economies grew, so did their personal ambitions.
The Three Factions War
Already ravaged by the Severance War, the third century ends in the bloody twilight of a new conflict, called the Three Factions War. For many years, three of the five existing Factions engaged in a fierce struggle for influence within the corridors of the Asterion. What began as mere political maneuvers turned into open warfare among the rivals.
The Paramours of Seki
When it comes to tragic love, the story that most easily comes to the minds of the Asgarthans is that of Nittaya Vorona and Acantha Shah, also known as the Paramours of Seki.
The Fratricidal War
Following the abandonment of Caer Oorun, now under the Kraken’s rule, the displaced population had to find a new land to rebuild everything.
Metaphysics of the Aether
After the Confluence, nature and its laws seemed to have been so deeply altered as to become unrecognizable. In a world overturned from top to bottom, humankind searched for answers, for meaning, for a new framework through which to understand reality. Thus metaphysics, one of the four major branches of philosophy, came to hold a preeminent place within the discipline. Studying the fundamental nature of reality had become a necessity, a safeguard against madness. As Aristotle had said millennia before the cataclysm, it was first philosophy, preceding epistemology, logic, or even ethics. From this necessity arose several generations of thinkers, the most emblematic of whom left a lasting mark on the history of Asgartha.