Mundus
Mundus is the world and planet upon which the realms of Directionland, Ruulran, and other known polities rise and fall. In common use, the name refers both to the physical planet and to the mortal world shaped by the gods of the Aetherian Faith. Across surviving chronicles, Mundus is remembered as a world of countless civilizations, recurring cataclysms, and a persistent struggle between life-sustaining Light Energy and corruptive Dark influence.
| Mundus | |
|---|---|
| Type | Planet |
| Known continents | Aetherion |
| Prominent realms (best documented) | Directionland
Ruulran Southern Federation of Kingdoms (former) Kingdom of Cratterly |
| Primary faith | Aetherian Faith ("Faith of the Four") |
| Aetheric forces | Light Energy (Miran)
Dark Energy (Druvath) |
| Dominant peoples (known) | Humekind
Elvenkind (Ruul'yun) Landling Other mortal and Nether-born peoples |
| Timekeeping | Ticks, minutes, bells, days, muunds, cycles |
| Calendar era (widely used) | Ages system (commonly the Age of Prosperity / AoP) |
Life on Mundus is sustained by Miran (Light Energy), an aetheric flow present throughout the world and within living organisms. The parasitic corruption of Miran by Druvath (Dark Energy) is the basis of Darkblight, one of the most feared metaphysical diseases in recorded history.
Geography
Continents
Mundus is known to have four continents:
- Aetherion – The largest known continent, and the best mapped in modern records. It is home to Directionland, Ruulran, and the former lands once controlled by the Southern Federation of Kingdoms.
- Crattermark – The far-eastern continent across the eastern ocean, historically tied to the dominions and kingdoms associated with Kingdom of Cratterly and earlier Cratterian expansion.
- Westfold – A vast western continent, described in travel writing for long coastlines, deep frontiers, and the "sunset seas."
- Solmara – A smaller southern continent, comparatively unexplored by Directians in modern times.
Timekeeping and calendar
Since time immemorial, Mundusians have divided time into ticks, minutes, bells, days, muunds, and cycles. The modern "Ages" system was introduced with the formation of the United Realm of Directionland, which reset the calendar to cycle 0 and declared the First Age of Prosperity (AoP). A cycle is divided into 12 muunds, with seasonal muunds named in relation to the gods.
Muunds
| Muund | Season association | Common modern equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| Dargsun | Darg (Winter) | January |
| Dargmoon | Darg (Winter) | February |
| Simonward | Simonius (Spring) | March |
| Simonsun | Simonius (Spring) | April |
| Simonmoon | Simonius (Spring) | May |
| Odiviaward | Odivia (Summer) | June |
| Odiviasun | Odivia (Summer) | July |
| Odiviamoon | Odivia (Summer) | August |
| Alessaward | Alessa (Autumn) | September |
| Alessasun | Alessa (Autumn) | October |
| Alessamoon | Alessa (Autumn) | November |
| Dargward | Darg (Winter) | December |
Days of the week
The days of the week are named after saints and elements:
| Day (Common) | Mundusian name |
|---|---|
| Monday | Stylinsday |
| Tuesday | Niamsday |
| Wednesday | Goldday |
| Thursday | Heliansday |
| Friday | Ironday |
| Saturday | Nervasday |
| Sunday | Copperday |
A common written format is:
- Goldday, 6th of Dargsun, 142 AoP.
Seasonal celebrations (selected)
Several celebrations are observed broadly across Mundus, with additional regional holy days.
- Snowtide (Dargmoon)
- Rainbow Festival (Odiviaward)
- Harvest Festival (Alessasun)
- Saintsmas (Dargward)
- Regional examples include Ruultide in Ruulran (Simonward) and Founding Day in Directionland (Odiviamoon).
Faith and cosmology
The Aetherian Faith
The most widespread religion on Aetherion is the Aetherian Faith, also called the Faith of the Four. Its pantheon centers on four gods, each tied to an aspect (sun or moon), an element, and a cardinal direction. Worship is typically practiced with a chosen "Primarch Deity" as an individual's principal focus, while still honoring the full pantheon.
Gold is regarded as sacred in Aetherian practice and is commonly used in sanctums, monuments, and reliquaries. Surviving fragments of ancient texts also suggest the pantheon may once have included more gods, though their names are lost.
The Four and their domains (summary)
- Simonius ("The Father") – Wind, Spring, North; widely venerated as a god of navigation and the seas.
- Odivia ("The Mother") – Earth, Summer, South; credited with shaping the lands of Mundus and bearing the first mortal children.
- Alessa ("The Mournful") – Fire, Autumn, West; guardian of death and the passage of souls to rest.
- Darg ("The Enlightened") – Water, Winter, East; patron of knowledge, stars, and scholarship.
Rathsern and the Nether
Most Aetherian traditions describe Rathsern ("The Cursed One", often "The Dark One") as bound to a fiery realm, widely interpreted as the Nether, and associated with Dark Energy pooling and forbidden cult remnants. Accounts vary on his state within that realm, but the Faith broadly treats his worship as heresy.
Among the most feared Nether-born forces described in later records are the Netherkind, entities associated with Dark Energy and nocturnal danger. Some traditions also speak of Piglins, sometimes called "the Golden Children," as powerful figures within Nether hierarchies.
Aetheric forces
Light Energy (Miran)
Light Energy is the life-sustaining aetheric flow present throughout Mundus and within all living organisms. It is widely taught that living beings "borrow" Light during life, and that it disperses back into the world upon death. In many traditions, the soul is treated separately, guided to rest by Alessa, while Light is treated as the world's shared life-force.
Aetheric study includes both innate sensing (Aura Readers) and instrumentation (Lightmeasure devices), with applications in medicine, sanctum consecration, and defense planning.
Dark Energy (Druvath) and corruption
Dark Energy is commonly rendered in Ruulden as Druvath. Academic and religious traditions often frame Light and Dark as opposing forces, where Light sustains and harmonizes while Dark erodes, destabilizes, and replaces.
The most widely cited medical model of this corruption is Darkblight, in which invasive Dark Energy parasitically corrupts and suppresses an individual's endogenous Light.
Forcefield towers and sanctums
Two centuries ago, Directionland engineers discovered that gathered and concentrated Light could produce a protective dome over large areas. This led to the construction of forcefield towers in major settlements to shield citizens during nighttime, when Netherkind manifestations are considered most dangerous. Sanctums and Light-consecrated zones also serve as stabilizing environments and are frequently recommended to slow Darkblight progression where possible.
Monitoring Stations
Within Directionland, Dark Energy levels are tracked by the Monitoring Station network, which supports alert protocols ranging from bells and sirens to instructions to shelter in place during extreme events.
Peoples and languages
Peoples (selected)
The best documented peoples in surviving modern public records include:
- Humekind – often credited in later history with wide adaptation, scholarship, and technological development (including rail systems and redstone-electric innovation).
- Elvenkind (Ruul'yun) – historically associated with Ruulden, early migration traditions, and the founding mythos of Ruulran.
- Landling – a shorter-statured mortal people frequently documented in Directionland and Ruulran.
Other mortal cultures exist beyond these three, and many additional peoples are implied in older texts that survive only in fragments.
Languages
Ruulden is widely described as the oldest surviving language, and it remains the official tongue of Ruulran. In Directionland, Ruulden diverged over centuries into modern Common Directian, while Ruulden itself is most often reserved for religious rites, ancient texts, formal diplomacy, and cultural ceremonies.
History
Deep history and early migrations (high-level)
Surviving narrative histories often begin thousands of cycles ago with the arrival of a nomadic Hume tribe on southern shores, fleeing a cataclysm in a lost homeland. Later traditions describe an alliance with the Ruul'yun (Elvenkind) during a long migration, followed by a peaceful split when the groups disagreed on where their promised lands lay.
Directionland-centered chronicles describe the founding of early settlements on fertile plains, the discovery of gold, and the rise of the "Golden City" tradition tied to early sanctum-building and the legacy of Saint Stylinson.
Wars and imperial ages (selected)
Several major conflicts are repeatedly referenced across surviving records:
- The War of Grief (older than 600 cycles in many chronicles), often tied to conflict with Cratterian forces and early Nether-linked summoning traditions.
- The War of the Empires (around 300 cycles ago in modern reckoning), in which the Southern Federation of Kingdoms invaded Directionland and was later dissolved after prolonged conflict.
The modern crisis era
In the most recent cycle, records describe a daylight spike in Dark Energy and a world-shaking earthquake centered on Kingsvalley, followed by the appearance of a portal whose origin and purpose remain unknown. Alongside this, some scroll fragments and rumor traditions speak of "repeated calamities" in which Mundus may reset after overwhelming Dark Energy events, with rare individuals retaining memory between resets. Such claims remain widely disputed outside private circles.