Hey guys. Below is the introduction to my Hidden from the Sun worldbuilding project. I’m super happy to finally be updating the blog with this info, and hope to make a large post every month. Make sure to check the Release Schedule on the side for a list of upcoming posts.
This Post will cover the introduction section of the original document that I outlined. Things are subject to change of course, this is an ongoing project. I hope you enjoy and be sure to come and ask questions in the discord if you have any.
Introduction
Hello and welcome to Hidden From the Sun! This is a dark fantasy world building project by William Freeman (me). The goal is to periodically update my following with notes, illustrations, stories, and lore from the world of Emon. This document is a primer to the world and its principles. If you want more content and updates, follow me on social media, and consider subscribing to my Patreon. Enjoy the world!
“For anyone, even the oldest and most learned, this is the way it has always been. Countless civilizations crumbled in the darkness. All history lost after millennia hidden from the sun”
—Eckberth Bolintiac, 2540 HD
This is a quote from the historian Eckberth Bolintiac of Rävenston in the opening passages of his seminal text “A Unified History of Emon”. This particular selection is referring to the loss of history from the peoples of Emon. Much is confused and shrouded in the Underlands, and even races whose populations are strong to this day cannot speak of their cultures' roots with any certainty.
The world of Emon is extremely ancient. Trillions of years of intelligent civilization have passed, and countless races have risen to the heights of magical and technological potential and all have fallen to some extent, though some have been forgotten entirely.
The Underlands of Emon are a seemingly infinite underground world, where the vast majority of intelligent creatures make their home. This is due to the proximity of the Natfyr, also known as the Plane, or the Crux. It is a bubbling cauldron of energy at the core of the world that has supplied the power both magical and technological to all of the races of Emon.
All races on Emon have a consistent arc. A rise to intelligence, discovery and usage of the Natfyr, and then an eventual cataclysm, which results in the best cases a crumbled and fractured society, or in the worst annihilation. But across all of them the technology or magic they had reached at their zenith has always been wiped out, and their history forgotten. Many of these civilizations still exist as mere whispers of their former selves. More often than not they assimilate into other civilizations. At the current time in the world humans are the current dominant race, though that isn’t to say superior. They have the largest and most technologically, and magically, advanced civilization. This isn’t a comment on how powerful humanity is as a race or on how “good” they are in terms of quality.
The existence of gods or of greater spiritual powers is not verified fact. There are some godlike beings known as conduits. They have given their minds, bodies, and souls to the Natfyr, putting themselves into what is known as the trance of the pure. They are unable to move or to speak in a traditional sense, though they can appear in visions and dreams. They instead can provide power or energy to the world in a usable form. Many clerics worship conduits, and many magic users have conduits as their patrons, allowing them the ability to draw from the Crux if they were previously unable to.
Conduits do not always appear the same, though all accounts suggest they remain in the same spot for their entire existence. Some have withered to bone, fossilized into stone monuments of themselves, or have remained young and fleshed for many thousands of years. Sometimes the spark of a conduit lives on inside of their burnt out husk. There are those who believe it is possible to reignite and resuscitate the conduit, they dedicate their lives to discovering the process.
Some people don’t worship a conduit, but instead worship the Plane itself, claiming it is a sentient being, the one true god. They typically organize into cults. Their participants are those that could draw from the Plane with no aid from a conduit.
The Underlands (all underground sections of Emon), are a shifting and magical place. It is impossible to find your way through the passages and pathways without a special type of magic called guidance. Those with guidance make a good living off of guiding people from place to place. As stated before the Underlands are seemingly infinite. It is impossible to know how far any landmark is from another, guides only know how long it takes to travel from one place to another.
The surface of Emon is home to many people who make a living off of providing goods and services that could not be produced underground. Certain foods and building materials can only be found on the surface. The surface is only 3 continents separated by thin channel like oceans, while the other side of the world is a massive sea that is turbulent with constantly churning storms. No one has sailed there and returned.
