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The Kurago

Put simply, the Kurago is the spirit world. Unlike many other planes commonly known to the Cefa'zisto such as the Celestial Realms and the Beneath, the Kurago exists irrespective of mortal thought and belief. It has existed before mortalkind, and will continue to exist after it, reflecting all that exists in the material world. A world of mystery, the Kurago is as diverse as the spirits that inhabit it. It is possible to travel through the Kurago and pass by locales as varied as miles upon miles of thick mist, to fields where lost spirits amble about aimlessly, to great cities of debauchery and affluence ruled by ghost-kings. The plane is lacking in color, everything is in shades of grey.

The parts of the Kurago that reflect the world of Jaern are the homes of the Jaernian nomad spirits: ancient beings who perished in the destruction of Torandor. While there is no substance to the Kurago it resembles the worlds it is parallel to. Reality has a reflection within the Kurago. The longer a building is in use the more it will appear in the Kurago. If a building is abandoned in the actual world its reflection will fade with time. Time after time, they reincarnate to guide Jaernian nomads, with the nomad's life and experiences eventually joining with the spirit as it returns to the Kurago upon the nomad's death.

Any living being who remains in the Kurago too long runs the risk of losing themselves, becoming lost without help and unable to find their way back to the material world… until their body fades away and they become a spirit themselves. Souls cannot survive withing the Kurago for more than 24 hours. After this time the soul will die leaving behind the spirit of the individual. This loss often time causes the mind of the being to lose some of its sanity.

The Outskirts

Someone who first enters the Kurago from the Cefa'zisto will find themselves in the Outskirts. This travel can be accomplished by falling off the islands of Itlan-Youali, using a particular portal, or other magical means. The Outskirts are mostly empty. While there is solid ground, there are few to no objects found here, with everything cloaked in a fog that reduces visibility to a mere 10-30 feet in front of you. The most that exists are crumbling stone ruins in an architectural style that doesn't resemble anything known on Jaern or Cahyali, past or present.

Here and there, “holes” in the Outskirts can be found that lead to the Kurago proper, but these are difficult to find and are often guarded by spirits known as Gate Guardians. Uncountable numbers of these spirits exist, and it is not known if they take the post up temporarily or are bound to wander and guard the Outskirts forever. Getting on the good side of a Gate Guardian and convincing them to help is often the only reliable way for a living person to access the Kurago proper.

a_rocha-wefoundthisamazingplace.jpg

A forested place within the Mists. By Andreas Rocha; used with permission.

The Mists

This term is somewhat of a misnomer from early days of exploration and inquiry into this mystical realm, as the Kurago Mists may or may not be actually cloaked in mist. Some places are, and some are clear as day. The Mists are believed to make up most of the Kurago, and the majority of spirits spend most of their time in this area. A living person can persist in the Mists almost indefinitely, provided they don't become hopeless or lost - there is no negative effect one experiences by spending time here.

Much of the Mists, especially its more “natural” locales, are in cool, desaturated shades, most commonly blue and purple. What mystical flora exists is often bioluminescent; adventurers have reported sights of flowers with glowing petals, or grasses with odd luminous bulbs on their tallest stalks. The fauna here resembles earthly wildlife, but can't really be compared directly.

Kurago Locales

There are a few locations within the Kurago that are stable, well known, and can be navigated to with enough care and effort.

Udath: city of souls

Udath is one of the great gathering spots of the Kurago for souls, spirits, and nomads. Udath is a city of souls and spirits filled with towers that are giant pyramid like structures that help to stabilize the city in the Kurago, preventing it from disappearing and being forgotten in the mist of time itself. Udath is the memory of the original city of Udath that was on Torandor before the planet was destroyed. Many of the spirits though would not let the city die a second time and thus the spirit kings built the pyramids of El to preserve the city in the Kurago.

The districts:

The city is divided into three districts

Grand Plaza: the grand plaza is by far the largest district and is the residential district for many of the spirits that call the city home, spiraling towers dot the plaza and serve as the homes for the spirits and nomads that come here, often time there is music that is carried throughout the entirety of the plaza and even beyond, only ceasing when the time of silence arrives. During the time of awakening the plaza is often filled with spirits that go about like they were living their normal lives as if they were alive.

One of the most notable landmarks in the Grand Plaza is the Spirit King’s Palace and the Pyramids of El.

The Spirit King’s Palace is an immaculate domed palace, carved from spiritual energy to resemble marble and ivory, the palace has three floors and a multitude of rooms, the spirit king can always be found within the throne room surrounded by their treasures they possess, it is customary to offer gifts of fine food, drinks, or other substances to the king upon entering into the city, should the king be pleased by the offering they may grant the gift giver a small token of appreciation in the form of luck amulet that does not expire after 24 hours while in the Kurago.

The Pyramids of El surround the palace and fire off beams of pure spirit energy that surrounds the city and prevent the city from fading away. Only the invited, the keepers, and the king are allowed inside of the pyramids, for inside are the beating hearts of El. a powerful spirit that works to keep the city alive and well.

Market District:

There is not as much to be said about the market district that could not be said about many others. Many spirits and nomads here come to trade and apply their crafts, nomadic incants here are plentiful as are many substances that one can ingest to experience new sensations. It is not uncommon to see many stalls get up and move when business is slower, food stalls in particular. Food and drink can also be bought and sold here as well however the food does not provide as much nutrition as it would in the living world.

There are rumors that go around that certain parts of the market are alive with spirits and souls that know ancient arts and incants that are hidden from the nomads. Living tattoos that contain fragments of demigods, spices that allow one to see into the past, present, and future, and songs that can manipulate the very makeup of souls themselves.

The Binding grounds:

The binding grounds is a place where guardian spirits go to meet their potential nomads, many nomads when going through with their initiation ritual will go to special grounds where there spirits will meet them. In Udath, the binding grounds is a ziggurat where the two enter and often converse with one another, the ziggurat is an ancient structure that many of the spirits have forgotten what it’s original purpose was. The binding grounds often has mystical images that fade in and out, whispers of long dead loved ones or friends, sometimes even full hallucinations designed to test the new guardian spirit and the initiate nomad to see if they are compatible while they converse.

Writer's Note: To be added! If you run in the Kurago and develop any new major locations, please let the Story Board know.

The Delves

Even the spirits of the Kurago may not know much about the Kurago Delves. They are deep, dark places, reflecting what is most wild and unknown about the material realm - and, at the same time, holding perhaps the most valuable treasures and secrets the Kurago has to offer. The spirits that inhabit Delves are thought to be overall more hostile than those who live in the Mists, and rarely interact with the Cefa'zisto in a guardian-spirit capacity. When they do, it is not uncommon for these Delve spirits to force their minds over top of the mortal's, and become second lifers.

The Delves are detrimental to the living: without protection of another spirit or their magic, a mortal's body and soul will dissolve away into the fabric of the Kurago after about 24 hours spent continuously within a Delve, leaving only the spirit behind. These places are dark, but often don't have obvious delineations with the Mists. It is possible for a patch of safe ground to exist within an expansive Delve, or a small Delve to crop up within what is otherwise a bustling city in the Mists. Many spirits can sense the boundary somewhat intuitively, but the living cannot.

settings/planes/kurago.1700447578.txt.gz · Last modified: 2023/11/19 21:32 by namk71999_gmail.com