Dourum Aetas

Dourum Aetas is a concave world, a preserve for civilizations and cultures which would have disappeared forever. Near the end of a culture, due to war, disease, or mass extinction, an unknown diety appears to offer the survivors a second chance. If accepted, the being Koresh will transport the survivors to a new, hidden world where the culture may be born again.

While many of the refugee civilizations grow and thrive, many more gail to overcome repetition of history. These forgotten cultures proved too weak to survive and will never be seen again. Those that thrive evolve and change, yet each retains its core identity. This is likely a result of the effect which has become known as restricted evolution. While a culture can grow and change, it seems near impossible to incorporate foreign ideas and technology. A group a people who know one form of magic cannot learn a form of magic drastically different from their own. The effects can be replicated, but a direct import seems impossible. The same rule applies to warfare, architecture, etc. It is as if the mind is blocked from understanding alien ideas.

New cultures arrive infrequently in the wake of a magic wave, which deposits the new arrivals in a replica of their former homes. A pool of new people arrive with the refugees, created with the memories and beliefs of the originals.

You may have noticed that the general concept of Dourum Aetas is borrowed from Hollow World.

Many of the civilizations that arrive in Dourum Aetas have vastly different forms of magic. While the style of magic varies, the effects tend to be similar, as if each simply has a different way of summoning or controlling it.

It has been determined through experimentation that some magic is impeded or restricted after arrival. Spells which move the caster to other planes do not function, preventing peoples from leaving. Spells of summoning and conjuring still function, yet they still cannot be used to leave Dourum Aetas. Reality warping spells also seem impeded when the spell contradics the basic laws of this world. For example, a wish or miracle cast to create or destroy a culture, in its entirety. Effects which would allow a person to leave or learn drastically different ideas fail to function as desired.

Rules of a given form of magic still apply as they were from the source world. Should a spell have a corrupting effect due to being dark magic. The same rule would apply after arriving. However the same corrupting effect would not occur to someone who did no have that effect from their home.

As with most civilizations, religion continues to play a central role where it existed and according to its rules. If divine spellcasting was restricted by alignment, for example, than it still does in that culture. The neighboring culture may not have the same rule.

IT is notable that no diety is known to have set foot, directly or in avatar form, on Dourum Aetas. The presence or lack thereof of a person's diety is still felt and divinations seem functional. Divinations fail to explain why. Yet no god has personally appeared, including Koresh the Preserver.

As Koresh is not a native god of any known civilization, he does not grant spells. Many cultures have since added hime to their pantheons since arriving, however he remains aloof.

As noted, Dourum Aetas is a concave world, like living on the interrior of a Dison Sphere. Some have postulated that this world lies within another, however there is no proof of such and divinations are inconclusive as to the world's location in the multiverse.

The surface is similar to a natural world, with forests, oceans, deserts, tropical zones and arctic zones. Civilizations arrive in locations with similar climates to their home world.

There is a breathable atmosphere that rises a dozen miles above sea level, beyond lies a vacuum similar to outer space. In the vacuum, often called the void, there are stars and moon-like sattilites. In the center is a binary star-like system. A bright pure light and a cold dark emptiness orbit one another, providing the illusion of night and day.

Some theories postulate that the orbs are conduits to the positive and negative energy planes. The same theories also hold that many of the celestial bodies are conduits to other planes of existance, providing a line back home or to their gods.

This world does have coutermonious shadow and ethreal planes, accessible as normal. Though they do not seem to connect to other planes as similar ones do.

While the powerful preservation magics seem to limit civilizations, it does not stagnate them. The preservation magic limits comprehension of alien ideas and technology to encourage cultures to grow naturally.

Encounters between different civilizations is often the most significant cause of change. War, trade, and exposure to different ideas can result in changes to the preserved civilizations. Countries can change/intermix gods, and teach one another. This is limited only by the culture's natural evolution and openness. While you cannot teach a barbarian nuclear physics, you can teach him how to push the button.

War is often another cause of change, and even elimination of a culture. While Dourum Aetas is designed to preserve, it does not forever protect the civilizations. Rumor suggests that an impending second destruction may result in the culture being moved to another preserved world, or perhaps the culture is allowed to die because they were weak. Divination on the topic is unclear.

• Artifacts
• Cultures
• Regions