Zeirenjier
Zeirenjier! It is but one of several small planets located within the Arwae Planetary System, and happens to be where we live! Most of us, anyway, now that there's astronauts permanently out on the Space Station. The planetary system is named after the star closest to us. Other planets and massive space rocks orbit Arwae, but all I care about describing are Zeirenjier and Arddorwan Isyet.
Zeirenjier has four known oceans: Acirran, Gen-eul, Iyrim, and Mrakhan. The Iyrim ocean is to the northwest of Chirua, the Mrakhan ocean is to the northeast, Acirran to the southeast, and the Gen-eul to the southwest. If it were up to me, I'd simply refer to all the water as one ocean, but it is separated in this way for legal reasons. Despite how dangerous the oceans and its creatures are, daring pirates still exist and must be prosecuted under the laws of the Chiruan region controlling the relevant ocean.
Two moons orbit the planet, named Geodewan and Achririch. Geodewan is closest to Zeirenjier, and therefore appears larger than Achririch, but is actually the smaller of the two. Space researchers theorize that Geodewan had broken off Zeirenjier in the distant past, and Achririch was a stray rock that got caught in the planet's orbit—this is the scientific and reality-based way to explain their current position in space.
The other explanation (which is so much cooler, by the way) is that Lord Ravenienne tore out Saulzienne's eyes before killing him, and flung them into space. This blinded his spirit, slowing his progress of finding and returning to his body once he's inevitably regained enough power to do so. The moons being Saulzienne's eyes explains why so much evil happens during the night, as his gaze empowers those who devote themselves to him and instills fear in those who don't. Just one of many stories told by the Grand Order.
Chirua
Chirua is a continent located on Zeirenjier, surrounded by the waters of all four aforementioned oceans. It contains three distinct provinces: two tiny island nations named Distroia and Santhor, and the third being a major landmass called Ravenguard. Chirua is not that big in total area, making Zeirenjier's oceans look massive in comparison.
Distroia
An island to the east of Ravenguard's coast, Distroia is one of Chirua's three provinces. It is smaller than Ravenguard, but bigger than Santhor.
The official station of the Hakimajra is located here, despite them being in Freight High for most of their term(s). What remains of Greywall, an arena in which Ichauri-irin were pitted against each other or dangerous Etai-irin for entertainment purposes, is here as well.
Santhor
The second of Chirua's provinces is Santhor, located to the southeast of Ravenguard. It is the smallest of the three provinces, having the lowest amount of usable land due to being an archipelago with poor soil.
Great tourist location, however, as hundreds of animal and plant species abundant on Santhor are extremely rare or non-existent elsewhere.
Ravenguard
Ravenguard is the largest province within Chirua. Formally, Ravenguard is called Chirua, because the continent used to be entirely one kingdom before being separated into three distinct provinces. To keep things clear, I use its colloquial Chiruikha 12 name throughout the Archives when referring to the province and reserve "Chirua" for describing the entire continent.
Ravenguard has its own, more in-depth page here.
Chiruan Government
All of Chirua is governed primarily by a monarch, aided by a representative advisor called the Hakimajra and ten additional government staff members simply referred to as Secretaries. The ruling monarch and their family, in addition to the Hakimajra and the Secretaries, reside in Ravenguard's capital city, Freight High. While the monarch formally has control over Distroia and Santhor, both provinces have their own elected leaders (Ministers) that have finer control over how their respective societies function.
While the monarch does have power over Chirua, they do not and cannot change the laws of the land as they please—the Hakimajra and the Secretaries' roles are to advise the monarch on their decisions, and prevent them from stepping on us little people. Whether that's actually the case is debatable.
Changes in the ruling monarch don't happen often, and generally are not influenced by the public. Elections for position of the Hakimajra are held every ten years, or when the sitting Hakimajra dies or is considered compromised. The elections for the Secretaries are every five years.
The Hakimajra is allowed to be re-elected up to three times, while Secretaries are only allowed to be elected once. The Ministers of Distroia and Santhor are elected every eight years, and can do so up to two times.
Since 2187 up to the point of writing this article, the monarch of Chirua is King Rasarind Agririm III, and the Hakimajra is Scyajun Riszarda Morgana of Distroia.
Currency
Varied forms of iriyl, totaling $1900.
The circulating currency in all of Chirua is the iriyl. The worth of the iriyl was established through declaration by first monarch, backed by silver. It has changed little over the course of time aside from coins being minted with gradually decreasing amounts of silver in favor of similar looking but more abundant metals, and digitization for modern society.
The physical form of iriyl is represented with solid silver-colored coins and grayish-blue banknotes, minted in several different monetary values. For coins, these are five-iriyl and ten-iriyl; for banknotes, the values are fifty, one-hundred, two-hundred, five-hundred, and one-thousand iriyl. Coins have the shorthand symbol for iriyl on one side and the emblem for Chirua on the other, and have their value noted on both sides. They differ in size, with the five-iriyl coin being smaller than the ten-iriyl coin.
Banknotes have different imagery on opposing sides aside from the noted value, and have anti-counterfeiting measures such as security strips and microprinting. All bills have the same primary appearance regardless of value, and are instead distinguished by the number and placement of holes punched into the left side as seen from the front. Both bills and coins have Chiruaven Iriyl written on them in Jeonzikha.
The two designs on the bills were created by the Grand Order, said to be representations of Lord Ravenienne's vertebrae; iriyl is occasionally referred to as "bones" in casual conversation for this reason.
More Than We Think?
Calendar
In case there is anyone who somehow happens to not know about the timekeeping system we live under, fear not as I will briefly discuss it here, even though it's something one should've learned in school.
All scheduling on Zeirenjier follows the Makulatorrven Dominion Calendar. It is unsurprisingly named after Lord Ravenienne, and is said to have started the day after Saulzienne was killed. Each year is made up of twelve months with twenty-eight days each. Each month is further separated into four weeks made up of seven days. When writing the date in just numbers, the standard format to use is year-month-day (YYYY-MMDD), to prevent any potential confusion. Examples would be 2163-1024, shortened form of Kurazcende 24, 2163; and 2165-0404, shortened form of Zurracende 4, 2165.
The days of the week, in order, are:
- Makuliyol
- Heraliyol
- Toreniyol
- Kuzeriyol
- Mirakiyol
- Desariyol
- Gemaliyol
The months of each year are stated to be in the following order:
- Makulcende
- Arwacende
- Shiracende
- Zurracende
- Chirocende
- Beracende
- Surarcende
- Eicarcende
- Irsecende
- Kurazcende
- Dimarcende
- Eriocende
The year is separated into four different seasons (winter, spring, summer, and autumn), each consisting of three months. Winter consists of Eriocende, Makulcende, and Arwacende; spring consists of Shiracende, Zurracende, and Chirocende; and so forth. The season starts on the first day of the first month, and ends on the last day of the third month.
Holidays
What holidays a creature will celebrate depends on whether they follow Grand Order or Zaergenzeral Cult doctrine, neither of them, or something else entirely. There are holidays that most will celebrate regardless of their background, but those are few.
- Makulcende 1 — New Year's Day
A ceremony is held at Redwater in which a high-ranking member of the Grand Order and an assistant symbolically kill Saulzienne, officially marking the beginning of the new year. Some creatures may still continue their parties from the night before. - Shiracende 12 — Lightguide
A celebration for the dead, creatures participate by visiting graves and leaving small gifts that the deceased would've liked. Observers also leave a candle, matches, lantern, or flashlight; believing to help the spirit continue to ward off the iykregul in Harun-dor until they reach Caulhrot. Cemeteries are often filled with many living creatures on this day, tidying and decorating the graves of all the creatures buried there. - Zurracende 24 — Spring Observance
A holiday celebrating the return of life after the dark of winter, Spring Observance is celebrated with young creatures in mind, containing traditions that children can freely partake in. The most practiced tradition is the appearance of decorated eggs and gifts all over a home, believed to be placed by the Springtide Bunny. Parents often tell their children that the Springtide Bunny only visits good creatures in an attempt to convince their children to behave throughout the year. - Eriocende 28 — Year's End
Parties are thrown to celebrate the end of the year. Common activities include counting down to midnight and handing out iriyl-shaped chocolate as a token of good luck.