Introduction to the World of Drase
This article provides a basic introduction to various matters in Drase. Including its geography, general technology status, magic, economy, philosophy, physics and general other things encompassing the setting.
Overview of Drase
Drase's set in the continent called Ramul Ta. The world itself has no unified name in the language of its native inhabitants, but out of character, can be referred to Drase, and is implied to be bigger than Earth. Drase is a setting centered on human vs human conflict - in a broad sense of human meaning sapient humanoids.
Climate & Geography
The geography and climate of the world deviate from real world physics when creative liberty demands, especially when it comes to climate progression from the equator. Within a continent, climate patterns tend to stay somewhat coherent.
World Physics & Cosmology
Generally speaking, Earth physics applies until it is said not to - often because of magic. This includes the curvatures of the Drase’s world - it has the exact same curvature of the world, but somehow it is not round and might stretch infinitely into the horizon.
The sun rises from the east and the length of day are the same with some variations across the world, and whether the world rotates around the sun, revolves around Drase or it is a massive light put up there by the gods is unknown.
There are two known other realms that follow somewhat different rules: The Cavern and the Arcane Seas.
Setting & Technology
As of the year 1050 PS, Drase’s technological and societal development parallels that of earth circa 1480, mirroring the technology of late medieval Europe and Asia. This applies to the most advanced states and countries in the world. There are unique advancements and variances in fields such as cuisine and warfare due to the fantasy setting, however.
Magic (WIP)
Magic has a profound impact on the society of Drase. However, this section is incomplete and will be filled out eventually as lore is expanded in the future. Magic in Drase is a relatively common place, currently gated by the fact that the community is poor and unable to afford universal magical education. Individually wielded magic is relatively limited in power compared to other settings, but still quite destructive.
Inheritability
Magic is not inheritable to a significant degree in Drase - there’s no Clades nor bloodline exceptionally “gifted” for magic. Magic is learnable by almost anyone, and the difficulty and time investment needed to learn basic magic is about on par with
Power Level
To be decided. But we should note that Arcane Gates / Cavern Gates is basically the pinnacle of known Drase magic in terms of scale and power, and no one has managed to cast an extremely destructive, world shattering spell.
Society
Agriculture
Agricultural technology has advanced beyond the rate of advancement in the real world, reaching 18th century level with four field rotations, seed drills and improved plows being rather common - but farming practices vary from place to place.
Assisted by magic, livestock selective breeding have also improved to 18th century level, resulting in bigger and more specialized animals, with cow size doubling to around 350 - 400 kg, which is still a way to go from modern age size around 500 - 850kg, but makes meat considerably more affordable.
The world of Drase is post columbian exchange and plants of all kinds can be found everywhere.
Cuisine
Cuisine in Drase, for our own culinary purposes, are much more advanced than the late 15th century - primarily because most dishes we are familiar with and consider delicious were later inventions or seldomly recorded.
Poor people mostly stuck to meals of grain with occasional salted meat and cheese being a luxury. Meat consumption in rich urban centers and occasional meat consumption in more well-to-do rural households is quite likely to be common.
For middle and upper class people, food would be much more varied. Restaurants as a concept have been invented over hundreds of years ago and are now a common sight in major urban centers across the world.
In general, a type of food or a recipe will exists in Drase under the following condition:
- It was invented before or during 19th century
- Its invention does not require technology after the 1600 (I.e. Mayonnaise, Ginger Bear, Root Beer and Sandwiches is OK, but Iodized Salt and Meat Extract is not.)
Demographics & Diseases
The demographics of the world have one key factor making it different from the real world - the presence of healing magic. Healing divine magic is widespread due to its very obvious utility, and is capable of curing diseases and wounds that modern medicine in our world cannot. The only limitation is that it requires relatively expensive herbs and skilled labor, but its reliability is high enough that people will more than gladly pay for the needed labor.
In general, this means that in more developed countries with the ability to support healing mages at a reasonable proportion, birth rate in normal time hew closer to 3 - 4, and death rate - especially infant mortality and childbirth mortality are greatly reduced, healing mages would often serve as a midwife to ensure the safety of the mother and the infant when possible. Average lifespan in these countries are likely to reach into the 50 - 60s. The expenses needed to survive disease reliably however means that people would still die from disease especially in times of mass famine and warfare - and reliable magical medical care would often be delayed unless it is likely that a disease turns out to be fatal. Epidemics are still a threat - not because they are incurable, but because they threaten to utterly overwhelm a medical system.
Economy
The economy of the Drase world is broadly similar to that of the mid-late 15th century.
Trade
Global trade is far more developed than that of the world around the 15th century, with the Arcane Gates - present since ancient times, assisting the distribution of goods and ideas across the world by greatly shortening travel distances. Rare spices are cheaper than in the medieval world in places where they do not originate from - but they remain greatly labor intensive and highly profitable.
Art of Warfare
The art of warfare mirrors the development of warfare around 1480. Within Europe and the Near East, the most significant developments were the development of Matchlocks and the Burgundian Wars. As of 1050, the tactical development of Drase is slightly behind 1480 but will soon evolve rapidly.
Gunpowder
Gunpowder was first invented around 650 PS as a medicine in the Arzidan Empire within the Cavern. First it was taken as a medicine and later on, its explosive quality was discovered. Soon after Arzidan (Zamari) miners started using and producing it in great quantities, finding it exceptionally useful for blasting of coal and other minerals. The primitive, unrefined gunpowder were occasionally used as incendiary weapons but otherwise found no primitive usage.
Around 200 years later, the first primitive hand cannon were invented by inventors in the Arzidan Empire, and started to be used for low intensity conflicts within the Caverns, and fielded in several of the periodic skirmishes with the Silnarian, whereupon they were reported to have a frightening effects on untrained horses but were considered trivial and useless.
Hand Cannons were used extensively in the Lymian War of Independence, however archery (of both crossbow and bow) and magic usage were the primary form of ranged weapons used in the war. Matchlock Arquebus in its modern form were invented after the Lymian War of Independence, inside Lymia around 1020 PS, including a modern stock, elongated barrel and serpentine trigger for holding a slow match. In the time since, the technology has spread to around most corners of the world, but nations in Drase have not yet adapted to its usage en masse and no nation is proficient in its usage en masse. This will however, likely change within the coming decades.
Small Armaments & Armor
In the proto-industrial centers of the world, like parts of Runra, Lymia, Silnaria and even Mentia, sufficient metalworking industry have developed to make wrought iron and steel weapons and armor relatively common. Firearms have already spread - with widespread usage of hand cannons - though it is still an unproven weapons competing with crossbows and bows for dominance.
Matchlocks have just been invented and is chiefly manufactured by Lymia, Siui and Arzida. They are still considered immature and untested in the battlefield in any major wars. Other than plain old linstock / touch hole, there are no other more advanced method of igniting firearms, yet.
Ranged cold weapons, assisted by the prevalence of supernaturally strong warriors, are not close to extinction anywhere soon. Archery is still greatly valued alongside heavy armor, which are proof against all but heavy artillery.
Plate armor - or the concept of large, singular metallic armor has already spread from its place of origins - but is not universally adopted yet, especially by countries who value archery.
Siege & Cannonry
While siege cannons have made their debut in several fights, expensive and large cannons designed to knock down walls are exceedingly rare. Most cannons are made out of bronze, which are rare and expensive, with most cannon founders coming from Arzida, which have an abundance of copper and tin.
Field artillery is underdeveloped as in the same period in the 1480s, and there is no France nor Burgundy equivalence that has incentives to develop artillery and the ability to fund it yet. However, this will likely change very soon.
Castles in Drase still exists but all but the most fortified fortress will likely soon meet their end as soon as a power capable of bringing a large enough siege train appears.
Outside of Ramul Ta, the warring states of Runra have adopted small cannons enthusiastically as anti personnel weapons.
Large-Scale Tactics
Tactics remain around the same level of late medieval development. Massed pike tactics are in infancy and pike and shot is not yet developed alongside tactics like countermarching and even volley fire. Heavy cavalries loom large and likely will for decades more - for the most successful and largest empires of Ramul Ta (the Silnarian, and the Siuian) were built on cavalries
Outside of Ramul Ta, the prevalence of well-trained and drilled infantries might be different but it is not explored in depth here.
Cannons have been adopted for naval warfare, but chiefly in an anti personnel role as foundries across the world start to catch up to newfound demand. Cannonry are usually limited to heavy cannons designed to bombard fortresses, or light cannons designed to soften up opponents before boarding operation. Tactics have not caught up and different nations are experimenting with swivel cannon, wrought-iron cannons and breech loaders etc.
Ship types varies but largely followed the historical region it is inspired by - with some significant differences:
- Runra have always operated a large ocean going fleet with junk rigging (As it is historically inspired by China and East Asia) - with the chief differences being that their ships are oceangoing by default.
- Contrasting with bulkheads being prevalent in Runra’s ship, the need to transport large cargoes means that bulkheads are largely abandoned on non-coastal Runran ships.
- Thanks to the Arcane Sea, states in Ramul Ta are already well aware of junk rigging and watertight compartments. They simply do not see much of a point to adopting it.
Trivia
Board Games: Advanced board games and war games were invented in Drase already, with rules sometime approaching the sophistication of modern day board games- with most of them originating in the Lymian or Silnarian court, which are considered a few steps up from chess in term of realism and sophistication.
One of the most popular games amongst middle upper classes and nobles of the core region is Isidas - a war game of Silnarian origin played on a realistic, gridless battlefield with statutes or pieces representing a different type of military units, and sophisticated rules based on a "point buy" system.