Ravenguard

Ravenguard, the largest province in Chirua. Much goes on here, but I am only familiar with the region I live in, being Northern Ravenguard. What happens in Northern Ravenguard can also apply to the other regions. Probably.

Regions and Major Cities

Ravenguard is made up of the following five regions:

There are three categories of major city recognized in Ravenguard: highly populated, Zaergenzeral Cult-controlled, and the capital. The three cities controlled by the Cult get their own category because the Eolin-fal built them and still reside there to this day, so they're marked to keep us pure, innocent citizens away from such bad influences.

Cultural Aspects

Three things of note regarding common traditions in Ravenguard (and all of Chirua, really) that I paid attention to.

Naming Conventions

In the past, creatures used to be named in mononymic fashion, and it is still a thing that happens, but with so many more creatures in Ravenguard, it seemed impractical to keep the system as it was. There's a few patterns now in Ravenguardian creatures' names, those being: common surnames among immediate relatives, appending locations as part of one's full legal name, or both at the same time.

Originally meant to help distinguish powerful families from the plebeians, surnames are incredibly common now, and while they do have meanings, no one cares. All they are meant for is identifying one person named Farark from another for taxation purposes. As for appending location names, they tend to be of a creature's birthplace, but occasionally it is added if one has a strong connection to a particular place later in life.

Both given names and surnames originate from Jeonzikha, but there are plenty that are derived from Chiruikha these days, so it's quite common for very different-sounding names to appear next to each other in a sequence. There's also a lot of freedom for parents when it comes to naming their children, even if some groups don't appreciate it. Specifically, the names of the leaders for both the Grand Order and the Zaergenzeral Cult can be—and are—used for the common folk in Ravenguard. My parents were named Maugranam and Causainmyar, for instance. How awkward that would sound for the actual leaders if they ever found out. The only "forbidden" names, really, are Saulzienne, Chirua, Ravenienne, and Makulatorr. Far too powerful for us little guys to handle and while not truly illegal, it's commonly agreed upon to not use them.

Handling of the Dead

All creatures, regardless of their affiliations, agree that disturbing the deceased is forbidden. "Disturbing," in this context, is any deliberate act of desecrating a body previously placed in a grave, or hiding the remains entirely. These actions will nullify or prevent execution of the burial rites needed to seal the spirit inside the body. All Ichauri-irin have spirits that must go to Arddorwan Isyet after death, and if the deceased are disturbed, their spirits will be forced out of their flesh and begin wandering the soil of Zeirenjier, rather than remaining inside their bodies until Lojue Hisadin personally retrieves them.

Should a spirit become prematurely detached from their corpse, they will have no chance of being given a new life, as only Jayir Hisadin of Caulhrot can return them to our world in a new body. A lost soul does have the possibility of encountering Lojue Hisadin while wandering the world, but the likelihood of running into him soon after getting stranded is minuscule. As all creatures want to return, and potentially being stuck on Zeirenjier for decades is a cruel fate, most will treat the dead with utmost respect.

When deceased Ichauri-irin are buried, they will often be buried with matches, candles, lanterns, flashlights, or any other combination of items that can produce light. Many take comfort in the belief that burying their loved ones with a light source will spare them the worst of fates caused by the iykregul that roam the darkness of Harun-dor. Friends and family carrying out final wishes will know that the spirits of the departed are no longer present when they find Lojue Hisadin's talisman near the remains, allowing them to cremate or use the bodies for educational purposes without disturbing them.

Surfacing Spirit

The knowledge we have regarding spirits and their reincarnation has given way to a widespread belief in which aspects of someone's first life can manifest in their current one. For example, if a carthraven has an odd fascination with the dead, one could say that they have the spirit of a cerelt. Or, if someone is a little too quick to become a master at a certain skill or profession, one could assume they had the same skill sets in their first life. It is not only limited to interests or ability, for people have commented on a person's appearance or personality in the same context.

Some have come up with ideas for finding out the identity of one's spirit. One of them is testing the reactions to different names: if someone is oddly attached to or strongly responds to a particular name that has never been used to refer to them before, that name could very well be their spirit's name. Another is more research-heavy, that of being interested in biographies and historic documents, then comparing them to the stories of people living in the present and looking for striking similarities.

We have no way of finding out whether these observations are true, since only those more powerful than us can clearly see what an Ichauri-irin's spirit looks like. Speculating what someone's soul is like is more of a favorite pastime for senior citizens than anyone else.

Reincarnation is a process that most Ichauri-irin spirits would want to experience, rather than the alternative of being iykregul prey. Proof of its occurrence lies in few-yet-substantiated accounts of people recounting past lives to a very specific degree, and claiming to have spoken with Lojue Hisadin here on Chirua. Unfortunately, while accounts have described Caulhrot and Harun-dor as existing on Arddorwan Isyet, they are poorly remembered by those who were able to recall being there after death. Many questions we have regarding what happens to us when we die are still left unanswered, but the little information we have allows us to not be entirely ignorant, at least.

All Ichauri-irin have spirits, but they were not created all at once. The sad reality is that the iykregul will consume those who wander too far into the darkness of Harun-dor, and those souls will be destroyed for good. To allow more Ichauri-irin to exist in the world, Lord Ravenienne must create more spirits to replace the ones that were lost.

There isn't a way for us to tell the exact date of the creation of someone's soul, unless we managed to discover their original identity. A spirit will always reflect their first incarnation in appearance and behavior, according to those claiming to have communicated with Lojue Hisadin. Only a small percentage of souls that he retrieves from the grave match the appearance of the body they were sealed in—these few cases are instances of newly created spirits.

Northern Ravenguard

As I mentioned, I live in the region of Northern Ravenguard, best known for being somewhat of an unkind place compared to the other four regions. The three Zaergenzeral Cult cities and the Eiserne Forest are all contained within the borders of Northern Ravenguard, both considered blights on the province. The upper half of the region borders the Iyrim and Mrakhan oceans, while the lower half borders Sunfall to the southwest and Eastern Ravenguard on the southeast. The border with Sunfall is marked by the Iyrim River, and the border with Eastern Ravenguard was arbitrarily drawn and everyone agrees to it.

More detailed map of Northern Ravenguard

Nearly half of the region's total area is taken up by the Eiserne Forest, the most infamous landmark in the North. Unable to permanently cut down the trees to create space for new settlements, the creatures that live in Northern Ravenguard have therefore mostly concentrated their new constructions a good distance away from the forest's edge. The population density of cities and towns decreases the closer a settlement is to the Eiserne Forest due to concerns about its gradual outward expansion bringing its ferocious wildlife closer to civilization. In fact, there is a designated area along the border of the forest entirely uninhabited by Ichauri-irin (officially, at least), intended for the forest to grow into without displacing people or property. The Eiserne Forest has an overall dismal atmosphere; no surprise as to why few wish to live near it aside from those wackos in Zaergenzeral.

Northern Ravenguard is mostly composed of small towns and villages broken up by forests, rivers, and hills. The region's largest and most populated settlement is Wardenbrook, a city that crosses into Eastern Ravenguard territory to neighbor Freight High, the capital of Ravenguard. The sprawling city is also home to the university that shares its name, further encouraging the population to grow. On the other end of the population spectrum is Hunter's Rest, the smallest settlement in the region. It is within the borders of the Eiserne Forest but does not have a protective wall the way the Zaergenzeral does, making it one of the last possible choices to buy a house in for Northern homeowners.

Points of Interest

The region has its own places and objects that are unique or otherwise special. Popular on travel websites, surely.