COPYRIGHT 1986, SKYREALMS PUBLISHING

This essay is a collection on design notes intended for inquiring garners.
This material is not in its final form, and may appear significantly altered
if and when eventually published. We provide these essays to give interested
parties an opportunity to see what goes on behind the scenes at SkyRealms
publishing and to get a look ahead upon our coming releases.

THANTIER.ORG

BY: ANDREW LEKER
FOR: DAVID ACKERMAN

ABSTRACT: The beginnings of Thantier.
 
THE HUMANS OF THANTIER
The original humans in Thantier were among the luckiest of the Jorune colony.
More humans survived the war with the shanthas along the Sea of Cerridus'
northern coast than in any other part of the planet. Though their Earth-Tec
resources were mostly destroyed, the Thantierian population quickly
reassembled in the years after Leesh-Ebeeca. It was in the eleventh year
after the colony's destruction that the human settlements joined together in
a journey to Tan-Iricid, that island located in the middle of the Sea of
Cerridus which they remembered was home to the thriddle race and the Mountain
Crown, a fortress built of stone. Upon reaching the thriddle haven, these
surviving humans began imposing their will upon these creatures. Although
tolerated for a short Ume, the Thantierians quickly made enemies of their
thriddle neighbors. Attempting to drive the humans from the island, several
hundred thriddle were killed by the use energy weapons the humans carried.

Although it remains a mystery of history to this day, somehow the Mountain
Crown employed some technology at their disposal that drove the humans off
the island. To this day the only description of this offense is recorded in
the notes of Hoshi Go-Moi, a Tan-Iricid scholar of this era, "The sky erupted
in a flame taller than a mountain. A Flame as bright..."

Briefly then, the humans were driven from Tan-Iricid, and forced to return
north to Thantier. Here they regrouped. Some lives were lost, and much of the
Earth-Tec resource they took with them. Life settled down for a few years
before the beginning of the cleash invasion. They poured into this human
realm slowly at first, then in ever increasing numbers. The Thantierians were
never able to ascertain where they came from, but one thing was for sure: the
cleash would kill with little provocation. Soon, with human retaliation, they
would attack on sight. In the following decades, the humans erected huge
fortresses to protect themselves. None of these strongholds survive to today.
A multitude of castles sprung up. Populations were ever increasing. During
the first century of the wars the battles were small, more like skirmishes;
then, later, the war took on new dimensions as the cleash came by the
hundreds and then by the thousands. The struggle for survival imbedded the
Thantierians deeply into the fabric of their lands. A new hidden valley would
be the perfect location for a new castle. With such a leap in populations,
the manpower necessary to create such large structures was available. As the
Earth-Tec failed and the luxury of repair became impossible, new methods were
found.

The war with the cleash would continue for a thousand years, and leave the
land in places ravaged. The Thantierians got used to digging into one place
and staying for a long time, often cut off from other settlements. Through
this they developed a strength of independence that they would never give up.

It was less than two decades after they had driven the cleash from their
lands that they made contact with the Burdothians. These humans had never
battled the cleash, and lacked any understanding of such a foe. Although they
complained of the crugar (which were not unknown to the Thantierians), these
creatures were deemed a minor nuisance by comparison. The Thantierians would
never consider the humans of Burdoth to be as strong or durable as
themselves. They would never accept them as equals.

Many of the castles still stand to today. They are often inhabited by the
descendants of the families that built them and fought for them. The
beautiful styles which developed during the Thousand Year War are preserved.


The view of Thantier at a glance would be that she was just another area of
human survival that would have done better had they not failed in Tan-Iricid,
but in fact, of all the decimated colonies on Jorune, those of Thantier
initially faired the best. At the time that her populace attempted to take
the Mountain Crown, her Earth-Tec capability was still great. Had the gamble
with Tan-Iricid not been taken, all indications suggest that Thantier would
have been a pinnacle of human
survival. With mostly distant warp-mappings to this realm, the inhabitants
were rarely subject to shanthic assault. They would have survived with most
of their Earth-Tec, and the ability to build back up to their original
technological level.

COPYRIGHT 1986, SKYREALMS PUBLISHING

This essay is a collection on design notes intended for inquiring garners.
This material is not in its final form, and may appear significantly altered
if and when eventually published. We provide these essays to give interested
parties an opportunity to see what goes on behind the scenes at SkyRealms
publishing and to get a look ahead upon our coming releases.

COLONY.ORG
BY: Andrew Leker
FOR: Miles Teves

ABSTRACT: Early colonies on Jorune.
                                          
                                          

EARTH COLONIES OF JORUNE

The Earth colonies stationed themselves all over the surface of their new
planet. At the time of the war there were several colony sites in what is now
Burdoth, Lundere, the Doben-al, the Khodres, Anasan, Dobre, Jasp, Drail, and
Thantier. Though humans survived at only of a few of the many colonies, a few
hundred did survive, resulting in the large human populations on Jorune in
3500 P.C.

DRAIL

The humans of Drail faired poorly. Changes in their biology resulted in the
creation of new human races such as the trarch. The harshness of the Drail
jungles and barren wastelands were especially difficult environments. No
semblance of terran society still exists in this south-western realm.

JASP

Those of Jasp have changed very little since the days of the colony. Their
language is the closest to true English spoken on Jorune. The styling of
their clothing and their habitations mimic the ancient Earth standards. Their
racial mix is constituted mainly of Caucasians, of which, most are European.
Medium to dark skinned people are also found, though they average a few
inches taller than the lighter skinned inhabitants.

THANTIER

The humans of Thantier deserve special attention, which they will receive in
following sections. Briefly, these humans were left relatively intact at the
time of Leesh-Ebeeca, "The Dying Time" of the shanthas. They still wielded an
arsenal of Earth-Tec, and they suffered few casualties during the shanthic
assault. Had they not boldly stridden over to Tan-Iricid, planning to be the
island's new rulers, they probably would have been the most successful humans
on Jorune. They might have even rebuilt their civilization to a state
comparable to that of Earth standards. However, after losing to the thriddle
in an inexplicable defeat, they retreated back to the coast of Thantier,
where they were faced with an invasion of cleash that appeared to come from
nowhere. They battled the cleash for more than one thousand years, during
which time their culture departed greatly from that from which they started.
They survived only through there careful distribution of resource, their
dedication, and their willingness to sacrifice. The resulting culture shares
little in common with other human settlements on Jorune. Their racial mix is
the most varied among the present realms. (facial hair is tolerated less with
age)

LUNDERE AND DOBRE

The humans of Lundere and Dobre did not fair well. Small groups survived here
and there, but they amounted to little in the long run. Eventually, humans
from these eastern realms melded into groups of humans elsewhere. The
exceptions to this will be discussed later under the topic of human
settlements in non-human realms.

THANTIERIANS IN KHODRE
Few or none of the Khodre's human population is native. However, over the
millennia, exiles from Thantier have been cast into the Doben-al, and many
have made their way north to the Khodres.