They are more like this this
And they are not like this
_____________________________________________
Quick overview
Kingdom Name:
Asiotus – The Animal Kingdom
Ruler:
King Strigi the Chosen: A long-eared owl that founded and rules Asiotus. A powerful user of magic he is also considered the high priest of the Kingdom and believed to be in direct contact with the great god that granted them the clarity of mind.
The king is an enormous owl, bigger than even the biggest bear in the kingdom. It is said that the gods granted him his size so he should never be the prey of anyone.
The Great Roost is his ‘castle’, a large mountain that sits in the middle of the land.
Notable officials:
Militia-Captain Ulfa: The leader and great-hunter of the Asiotus army, such as it is. She is a large grey bear renowned for her strength and hunting abilities.
Skymaster Spee: A peregrine falcon who, while not the largest of the skymasters, is the quickest and has not lost a single fight with any bird that wanted to prey on him.
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Inhabitants: A wide variety of animals such as: Owls, mice, rats, weasels, stoats, foxes, wolves, bears, a variety of birds, snakes, lizards and more.
History
According to legend the kingdom was founded when the owl now known as Strigi was visited on his great perch by the God of All Beasts. The God of All Beasts said to him that long enough the many creatures of the world had been living in the shadows of other beings and that now was enough.
The God then gave Strigi a grand vision, a world where all the beasts of the world would walk and talk, where the great would prey on the small as it has always been and should always be but where none of the beings already granted the light of the mind would rule over them. With his power the god gave Strigi many great powers and raised him to be the greatest of beasts, chosen to rule over all. Then the god’s influence grew and ignited in other beasts the light of the mind, granting them intelligence and the ability to build.
As time passed more animals joined the kingdom and laws were ironed out, a city formed around the Great Perch where the greatest of beasts would live. To honour their dominance the city was called Apex, and now functions as the capital city of Asiotus.
With prayer and by following the law of the Animal God the beast citizens believe that one day all animals of the world will be granted intelligence and they will reign supreme.
Overview
Asiotus is in short a Kingdom formed out of intelligent animals. The Kingdom is not that large in truth, it’s around half the size of Vos Valkear and not all of it is as inhabitable, at least not for an outsider. Due to the nature of its citizens the somewhat mountainous region has settlements in the most unlikely of places, anywhere an animal could live towns are found.
The land itself is hilly with large forests hugging the mountain ranges of the west culminating in a marshland. The north of the country is almost continuous forest extending all the way to the capital. From the western side towards the south of Apex runs a large grassland, for outsiders this would be the most hospitable place to live but due to the nature of the land only the bigger prey-species inhabit it. Tinier prey-species too often fall prey to birds, who choose this area to hunt.
What is most mysterious is how this kingdom of animals seems to have some sort of magical border. Any animal that enters this border will slowly mutate into an intelligent upright-walking animal, but they will also lose this mutation if they step outside of the borders for too long.
The demographics of the land are very strange, most of the best places are inhabited by the Apex predators, most of whom are found around the Great Perch, basking in the glory of their owl king. The parts unsuitable for the apex predators are then again inhabited by the prey species or the smaller predators, who take a lot more care to hide their settlements.
The Waking
The core of the Kingdom and which allows it to even exist in the first place is the strange gift that animals get when they enter the borders of the kingdom. Animals affected by this strange effect - the origin of which is unknown - will undergo a series of changes. First they will ‘wake’ their mind, allowing complex thought and intelligence roughly on par with humans and goblins. Next their body will slowly change, hands gaining thumbs if possible while the hind-legs also change slightly to allow the animal to stand upright. Shapes never become too humanoid, often shifting only as much as it needs to.
Not all of these changes occur to every creature. Snakes for instance have nowhere to gain a thumb but still become intelligent and seem to become a lot more handy with their tail.
Another strange effect of the awakening is how the memories are processed at the moment their mind becomes clear. Memories of the time before ‘waking’ are usually vague and strange, more like remembering a dream than a real memory. They know of rough concepts or ideas but previously lacked the mental capacity to properly process them.
Laws and culture
The Owl Law
There is one rule at the center of the entire kingdom, the rule upon which all other rules are based and it goes as follows: Any creature that is smaller than you is considered prey and can be hunted and eaten without repercussion.
This rule means in short that it is perfectly acceptable to kill any other animal for food provided it is smaller than you in physical size. Eating a creature that is bigger is considered a crime and can be punished, provided some exceptions.
To provide some protection to the prey species however, every single unique species is allowed to appoint a single individual as a diplomat. These diplomats are then personally interviewed by the Great Owl and – if they are found suitable – are given diplomatic immunity so that they can broker deals with other species. Killing a diplomat as prey is strongly forbidden and can result in the most severe punishments, the disappearance of a diplomat is also a high priority and will often be immediately investigated.
As one can expect however, ‘prey-killing’ means killing another animal with the intent of eating them. Killing for sport is considered murder and is as severely punished as it would be in any other kingdom.
As a trade-off to this somewhat ruthless law, self-defense is very highly regarded in Asiotus. Prey species who are attacked can do whatever they need to defend themselves from predators, which includes killing them. Some who get especially good at killing predators can often expect a lot of respect from both prey and predator, although they often also become the target for skilled predators, who are also highly regarded.
Punishments
Justice is strictly enforced within Asiotus by the militia. The militia counts animals of all stripes and has a variety of lieutenants and commanders divided by species, the army is the faction that most often gets temporary immunities in bulk. Currently there are 3 types of punishments in effect.
The most severe form of punishment is the banishing of a beast as this effectively means forcing a creature to lose their sapience and return to what they were. A lot of creatures reject this punishment, which is not considered unusual.
Execution is the second most severe punishment. This involves killing an animal without giving them a chance to survive. Despite being the second most-rare, this punishment is often only achieved if an especially heinous outlaw rejects banishment.
The third punishment, and the one that is most common, is being branded base-prey. Being branded a base-prey means that any animal - regardless of size – can treat and kill you as prey. If possible the creature is magically branded and then released, given a head start of about 10 minutes before the hunting season goes into effect.
The third punishment can also be temporary, which is how different severities of crimes are punished. To survive such a punishment can lead to great honour and respect from other animals, in fact the current leader of the militia - Uranja - is said to have been one of the first creatures that was punished this way and survived being base prey for an entire month.
Diplomatic immunity
Diplomatic immunity is one of the core principles of Asiotus and the rule that some animals believe keeps it from collapsing in on itself. Diplomatic immunity is granted permanently to specifically appointed creatures (usually 1 diplomat for every differently accepted species) and is sometimes granted temporarily to certain beasts to perform certain tasks.
Animal diplomats in Asiotus serve the vital function of brokering deals between species. Such deals are most often temporary agreements to cease hunting in a certain area or even an agreement to leave a certain town alone. Trade agreements are also common as are agreements between prey species to work together in securing an area. Of course predators also have diplomats and have been known to band together as well if prey forms too strong a fortification.
There is also a sort of immunity among the various factions, although this is entirely regulated by them and does not involve branding. Soldiers for instance are not allowed to prey on any other creature wearing a soldier’s uniform. Most factions have similar regulations.
Brands
Branding is the main manner in which beasts are marked as either immune or base prey. These brands are magical and take on the shape of a brightly colored marking scorched into the fur of the branded creature. This brand also gives off a very strong and unique scent that further allows beasts to recognize them. No amount of washing or perfume can mask the brand, although it can be hidden by wearing clothes of course.
In case of the brand of diplomatic immunity the beast can choose where the brand is placed, although the most common place is the top of the head. This allows birds of prey to see it clearly and not accidentally swoop down on a tiny diplomat. In case of being branded a base prey it is also often put somewhere obvious, even if the victims of such punishment often take great pains trying to conceal it.
Clothes
As animals the inhabitants of Asiotus don’t have much need for clothes to keep themselves warm and for that reason clothing does not usually serve that purpose. Clothing is more used as a way to show what faction you belong to, meaning uniforms and clothing are almost the exact same meaning for most of the animals in the kingdom.
Language
The awakening affects the vocal cords of the animals, allowing them to speak to some degree after a certain amount of time. They take naturally to the common language, even if some species use it in a strange way and have their own ever-expanding vocabulary.
The beasts also have their own language which is a combination of vocalizations and body-language. This would be rather difficult to learn for any outsider but not impossible.
Religion
The animals of Asiotus worship many gods as almost any collection of species or individual species have their own myths and legends. There is only a single deity that is worshipped by every beast in Asiotus and is said to have blessed their land so it would awaken them. This deity is officially named the Survivor by King Strigi, the god who cannot be caught and will never go hungry.
The relation between this deity and any local gods or myths varies immensely from beast to beast. Among mice in particular the Survivor is often depicted as evil, having cursed mice with their small stature because their own deity, the Mouse Mother offended the Survivor somehow.
Myths, legends and stories are the only things the beasts of Asiotus have to give shape and meaning to the outside world. According to them the outside world is a mist, a land where any beast is always prey even if they might be the greatest of predators in the lands of the Survivor. They believe that these beings were also once granted their intelligence by the Survivor, but became so great and thoughtless about hunting that their preys went insane. This myth is so prevalent that many believe that it is one of the reasons the interspecies diplomacy system was established, so no beast should be hunted into insanity.
Politics
As of this moment the kingdom of animals has no relationship with any other Kingdom, they are not even acutely aware of other Kingdoms. They know that beyond their own lands live strange beings that are intelligent and powerful, they even know roughly what they look like.
Cities
The only real city of any note is the capital known as Apex, named such as only the strongest of beasts can safely live in it. Generally any smaller creature that walks these streets is a diplomat, as this is considered the safest place to broker deals and agreements between various species.
Apex is overshadowed by a large mountain known as ‘The Great Perch’ which functions as the palace of King Strigi. Only a select few beasts are allowed to set foot on the perch and never has such a beast been of a prey-species.
Factions
The Militia
Consisting of the strongest fighters the Asiotus militia is already a powerful force despite its small size and the youth of the country it serves. It’s helped that every militia-member is raised in society where every day is a struggle to survive, that is why it comes as no surprise that the most skilled individual fighters are prey-species.
Led by Uranja the militia’s main mission is to keep the country stable and in theory to deal with any intruders, rare enough as those are.
The Recruiters
A small band of animals mostly consisting of wolves and a few eagles. These recruiters have a mission to seek out powerful animals in the world beyond the Kingdom and bring them back to add their strength to Asiotus. The Recruiters can stay outside the borders without losing their mind for a bit longer than most, although it is not known how they do it (not even to most of these recruiters).
The Skymasters
The spies and scouts of the Kingdom the Skymasters patrol the skies around the kingdom to find any intruders before they intrude. Thusfar they have never encountered one.
Map
And they are not like this
_____________________________________________
Quick overview
Kingdom Name:
Asiotus – The Animal Kingdom
Ruler:
King Strigi the Chosen: A long-eared owl that founded and rules Asiotus. A powerful user of magic he is also considered the high priest of the Kingdom and believed to be in direct contact with the great god that granted them the clarity of mind.
The king is an enormous owl, bigger than even the biggest bear in the kingdom. It is said that the gods granted him his size so he should never be the prey of anyone.
The Great Roost is his ‘castle’, a large mountain that sits in the middle of the land.
Notable officials:
Militia-Captain Ulfa: The leader and great-hunter of the Asiotus army, such as it is. She is a large grey bear renowned for her strength and hunting abilities.
Skymaster Spee: A peregrine falcon who, while not the largest of the skymasters, is the quickest and has not lost a single fight with any bird that wanted to prey on him.
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Inhabitants: A wide variety of animals such as: Owls, mice, rats, weasels, stoats, foxes, wolves, bears, a variety of birds, snakes, lizards and more.
History
According to legend the kingdom was founded when the owl now known as Strigi was visited on his great perch by the God of All Beasts. The God of All Beasts said to him that long enough the many creatures of the world had been living in the shadows of other beings and that now was enough.
The God then gave Strigi a grand vision, a world where all the beasts of the world would walk and talk, where the great would prey on the small as it has always been and should always be but where none of the beings already granted the light of the mind would rule over them. With his power the god gave Strigi many great powers and raised him to be the greatest of beasts, chosen to rule over all. Then the god’s influence grew and ignited in other beasts the light of the mind, granting them intelligence and the ability to build.
As time passed more animals joined the kingdom and laws were ironed out, a city formed around the Great Perch where the greatest of beasts would live. To honour their dominance the city was called Apex, and now functions as the capital city of Asiotus.
With prayer and by following the law of the Animal God the beast citizens believe that one day all animals of the world will be granted intelligence and they will reign supreme.
Overview
Asiotus is in short a Kingdom formed out of intelligent animals. The Kingdom is not that large in truth, it’s around half the size of Vos Valkear and not all of it is as inhabitable, at least not for an outsider. Due to the nature of its citizens the somewhat mountainous region has settlements in the most unlikely of places, anywhere an animal could live towns are found.
The land itself is hilly with large forests hugging the mountain ranges of the west culminating in a marshland. The north of the country is almost continuous forest extending all the way to the capital. From the western side towards the south of Apex runs a large grassland, for outsiders this would be the most hospitable place to live but due to the nature of the land only the bigger prey-species inhabit it. Tinier prey-species too often fall prey to birds, who choose this area to hunt.
What is most mysterious is how this kingdom of animals seems to have some sort of magical border. Any animal that enters this border will slowly mutate into an intelligent upright-walking animal, but they will also lose this mutation if they step outside of the borders for too long.
The demographics of the land are very strange, most of the best places are inhabited by the Apex predators, most of whom are found around the Great Perch, basking in the glory of their owl king. The parts unsuitable for the apex predators are then again inhabited by the prey species or the smaller predators, who take a lot more care to hide their settlements.
The Waking
The core of the Kingdom and which allows it to even exist in the first place is the strange gift that animals get when they enter the borders of the kingdom. Animals affected by this strange effect - the origin of which is unknown - will undergo a series of changes. First they will ‘wake’ their mind, allowing complex thought and intelligence roughly on par with humans and goblins. Next their body will slowly change, hands gaining thumbs if possible while the hind-legs also change slightly to allow the animal to stand upright. Shapes never become too humanoid, often shifting only as much as it needs to.
Not all of these changes occur to every creature. Snakes for instance have nowhere to gain a thumb but still become intelligent and seem to become a lot more handy with their tail.
Another strange effect of the awakening is how the memories are processed at the moment their mind becomes clear. Memories of the time before ‘waking’ are usually vague and strange, more like remembering a dream than a real memory. They know of rough concepts or ideas but previously lacked the mental capacity to properly process them.
Laws and culture
The Owl Law
There is one rule at the center of the entire kingdom, the rule upon which all other rules are based and it goes as follows: Any creature that is smaller than you is considered prey and can be hunted and eaten without repercussion.
This rule means in short that it is perfectly acceptable to kill any other animal for food provided it is smaller than you in physical size. Eating a creature that is bigger is considered a crime and can be punished, provided some exceptions.
To provide some protection to the prey species however, every single unique species is allowed to appoint a single individual as a diplomat. These diplomats are then personally interviewed by the Great Owl and – if they are found suitable – are given diplomatic immunity so that they can broker deals with other species. Killing a diplomat as prey is strongly forbidden and can result in the most severe punishments, the disappearance of a diplomat is also a high priority and will often be immediately investigated.
As one can expect however, ‘prey-killing’ means killing another animal with the intent of eating them. Killing for sport is considered murder and is as severely punished as it would be in any other kingdom.
As a trade-off to this somewhat ruthless law, self-defense is very highly regarded in Asiotus. Prey species who are attacked can do whatever they need to defend themselves from predators, which includes killing them. Some who get especially good at killing predators can often expect a lot of respect from both prey and predator, although they often also become the target for skilled predators, who are also highly regarded.
Punishments
Justice is strictly enforced within Asiotus by the militia. The militia counts animals of all stripes and has a variety of lieutenants and commanders divided by species, the army is the faction that most often gets temporary immunities in bulk. Currently there are 3 types of punishments in effect.
The most severe form of punishment is the banishing of a beast as this effectively means forcing a creature to lose their sapience and return to what they were. A lot of creatures reject this punishment, which is not considered unusual.
Execution is the second most severe punishment. This involves killing an animal without giving them a chance to survive. Despite being the second most-rare, this punishment is often only achieved if an especially heinous outlaw rejects banishment.
The third punishment, and the one that is most common, is being branded base-prey. Being branded a base-prey means that any animal - regardless of size – can treat and kill you as prey. If possible the creature is magically branded and then released, given a head start of about 10 minutes before the hunting season goes into effect.
The third punishment can also be temporary, which is how different severities of crimes are punished. To survive such a punishment can lead to great honour and respect from other animals, in fact the current leader of the militia - Uranja - is said to have been one of the first creatures that was punished this way and survived being base prey for an entire month.
Diplomatic immunity
Diplomatic immunity is one of the core principles of Asiotus and the rule that some animals believe keeps it from collapsing in on itself. Diplomatic immunity is granted permanently to specifically appointed creatures (usually 1 diplomat for every differently accepted species) and is sometimes granted temporarily to certain beasts to perform certain tasks.
Animal diplomats in Asiotus serve the vital function of brokering deals between species. Such deals are most often temporary agreements to cease hunting in a certain area or even an agreement to leave a certain town alone. Trade agreements are also common as are agreements between prey species to work together in securing an area. Of course predators also have diplomats and have been known to band together as well if prey forms too strong a fortification.
There is also a sort of immunity among the various factions, although this is entirely regulated by them and does not involve branding. Soldiers for instance are not allowed to prey on any other creature wearing a soldier’s uniform. Most factions have similar regulations.
Brands
Branding is the main manner in which beasts are marked as either immune or base prey. These brands are magical and take on the shape of a brightly colored marking scorched into the fur of the branded creature. This brand also gives off a very strong and unique scent that further allows beasts to recognize them. No amount of washing or perfume can mask the brand, although it can be hidden by wearing clothes of course.
In case of the brand of diplomatic immunity the beast can choose where the brand is placed, although the most common place is the top of the head. This allows birds of prey to see it clearly and not accidentally swoop down on a tiny diplomat. In case of being branded a base prey it is also often put somewhere obvious, even if the victims of such punishment often take great pains trying to conceal it.
Clothes
As animals the inhabitants of Asiotus don’t have much need for clothes to keep themselves warm and for that reason clothing does not usually serve that purpose. Clothing is more used as a way to show what faction you belong to, meaning uniforms and clothing are almost the exact same meaning for most of the animals in the kingdom.
Language
The awakening affects the vocal cords of the animals, allowing them to speak to some degree after a certain amount of time. They take naturally to the common language, even if some species use it in a strange way and have their own ever-expanding vocabulary.
The beasts also have their own language which is a combination of vocalizations and body-language. This would be rather difficult to learn for any outsider but not impossible.
Religion
The animals of Asiotus worship many gods as almost any collection of species or individual species have their own myths and legends. There is only a single deity that is worshipped by every beast in Asiotus and is said to have blessed their land so it would awaken them. This deity is officially named the Survivor by King Strigi, the god who cannot be caught and will never go hungry.
The relation between this deity and any local gods or myths varies immensely from beast to beast. Among mice in particular the Survivor is often depicted as evil, having cursed mice with their small stature because their own deity, the Mouse Mother offended the Survivor somehow.
Myths, legends and stories are the only things the beasts of Asiotus have to give shape and meaning to the outside world. According to them the outside world is a mist, a land where any beast is always prey even if they might be the greatest of predators in the lands of the Survivor. They believe that these beings were also once granted their intelligence by the Survivor, but became so great and thoughtless about hunting that their preys went insane. This myth is so prevalent that many believe that it is one of the reasons the interspecies diplomacy system was established, so no beast should be hunted into insanity.
Politics
As of this moment the kingdom of animals has no relationship with any other Kingdom, they are not even acutely aware of other Kingdoms. They know that beyond their own lands live strange beings that are intelligent and powerful, they even know roughly what they look like.
Cities
The only real city of any note is the capital known as Apex, named such as only the strongest of beasts can safely live in it. Generally any smaller creature that walks these streets is a diplomat, as this is considered the safest place to broker deals and agreements between various species.
Apex is overshadowed by a large mountain known as ‘The Great Perch’ which functions as the palace of King Strigi. Only a select few beasts are allowed to set foot on the perch and never has such a beast been of a prey-species.
Factions
The Militia
Consisting of the strongest fighters the Asiotus militia is already a powerful force despite its small size and the youth of the country it serves. It’s helped that every militia-member is raised in society where every day is a struggle to survive, that is why it comes as no surprise that the most skilled individual fighters are prey-species.
Led by Uranja the militia’s main mission is to keep the country stable and in theory to deal with any intruders, rare enough as those are.
The Recruiters
A small band of animals mostly consisting of wolves and a few eagles. These recruiters have a mission to seek out powerful animals in the world beyond the Kingdom and bring them back to add their strength to Asiotus. The Recruiters can stay outside the borders without losing their mind for a bit longer than most, although it is not known how they do it (not even to most of these recruiters).
The Skymasters
The spies and scouts of the Kingdom the Skymasters patrol the skies around the kingdom to find any intruders before they intrude. Thusfar they have never encountered one.
Map
Update of the map, I charted out the surrounding island. There is a sandbank connecting it to the mainland, this sandbank is rather long and is not always above the water. The island is the size of a tiny country, it takes about a month to cross it on foot, of course currently Asiotus does not cover every part of the island.
Being hill with lots of untamed forestland is part of the reason why it is difficult to travel.
Below is where I imagine the country to be located.
Being hill with lots of untamed forestland is part of the reason why it is difficult to travel.
Below is where I imagine the country to be located.
Click here
