Realm of Mynros
Mynros is a realm deeply interwoven with magic, one that once held grand civilizations and sprawling lands, but now is a world of oceans traveled by the last creatures to call it home. These last living creatures are the turtonic, behemoth reptiles that travel the shallow oceans carrying the last remnants of landmasses on their backs. Turtonics hold great stores of magic power; which they use to terraform the world to their purposes, create creatures to reintroduce life to their desolate world, and hold back the effects of parasitic mushrooms that feed on both their bodies and magic alike.
Among the creations of the turtonic are mhoats, creatures formed of magic that have taken a physical form, this physical state of magic is called aethic. They live upon the turtonics and aid these creatures by culling the mushrooms that sprout freely on these creatures they call home.
Geography
Mynros is a world of water, the deeper oceans lined by shallow waters. These shallow waters act as pathways for the few remaining landmasses that sail slowly across the face of the world. These islands are held on the backs of massive reptilian creatures called turtonics.
The deeper oceans are dotted with small bits of land, usually uninhabited and infested with the magic fungus that overtakes whatever lands it roots. On these small lands or just cresting the ocean’s surface are ancient ruins from a time before mhoats roamed the world. The only large landmasses remaining in the world is at the poles where thick mushroom forests dominate the land, and where the highest concentration of magic exists. These forests are warped and strange, the turtonics avoiding the oceans surrounding the poles and stories of those forests leading to myths and superstitions among mhoats.
Turtonic Islands
TBA
Lore
Long before mhoats, Mynros was a world somewhat familiar to a fantasy Earth. Humans, elves, and dwarves inhabited the land alongside familiar animals and creatures of myth. The civilizations of these past inhabitants were grand in scale, their command and control of magic to be admired; yet, the only creature to survive from these times was the turtonic.
The fall of this past world came on suddenly with the explosive growth of parasitic fungi, ones that feed on magic and any living creature it can find. As the fungus spread it consumed more and more magic, the energy this provided allowing for more extensive mutations which made it better conform to the many different places it spread. As the fungus absorbed the naturally forming magic of the world it also released this magic out into the world, altering the intensity of magic on the surface. Where there was a stable flow of magic it now began to flow uncontrolled, becoming wild enough to alter the world where it was most concentrated.
Turtonic’s ability to store magic played a key part in their survival, this ability to stockpile allowed them to outlast the other creatures and to counteract some of the effects of the parasitic fungus. Paired with the increased availability of magic in their environment, the turtonic were able to terraform the world, breaking apart continents, and shifting the placement of material of the world to create shallow oceans. Part of this was to limit the growing surface for the mushrooms but it also allowed the turtonics more space to roam. Alongside this transformation of the world, they began to create the first creatures of magic, primarily aquatic fish-like creatures as a source of food.
Several centuries passed after the fall of the turtonic’s world, the parasitic mushrooms slowly taking their toll on the wanderers. Their desire for a solution to the parasites led to the creation of the first mhoats. Yel who was gifted with the magic to distort time and Myn with the magic to alter space. The combination of their power allows for them to create more of their own kind, becoming deities to the first mhoats they brought into being.
These deities lived alongside the first mhoats, helping them establish settlements across several turtle islands and sharing their purpose to aid turtonics. As they created more mhoats and more settlements were established, mhoats began to reproduce naturally on their own and form permanent social structures. With less reason to create new mhoats, Yel and Myn chose to draw away from their kind to a turtle island that is rarely seen.
With livable land created by Myn and the knowledge of how to speak with their island homes taught by Yel, mhoats began to see their world transformed. Smaller creatures began to fill the world, each with the purpose of maintaining the islands for the mhoats living there. Mhoats began to keep some of these pets, helping them spread into new locations and assisting mhoats in creating livable land at a slower pace than their deities' magic allowed.
Time passed, societies built up and ceremonies formed around the deities. This left mhoats with a disconnect from their origins and gave time for knowledge to shift. Where Yel and Myn were viewed as benevolent equals, their lack of influence and the way their powers showed in the world changed how they were perceived. Yel’s power became associated with order, those with that power often acting as healers and seers; meanwhile, Myn’s power became associated with chaos as the nature of this magic warps the world and is difficult to control. The disconnect from their deities created this sense of Yel as a peaceful presence, healing, and fortune where Myn was seen as a chaotic force, often associated with death and ill omens.
During this time of development a subspecies of mhoat surfaces, aquatics. To the mhoats living on land, they were a mystery, elusive, and rarely seen when they first took to the oceans. Their role to curb the formation of coral-like fungus under the waves, a place their land-based counterparts struggle to reach. The origin of aquatics has much to do with Myn, a personal project of theirs when they grew disenchanted with how their creations viewed them. This new subspecies has more direct contact with their deities, their knowledge more filled out than their fellow land mhoats.
Modern mhoats are industrious, using magic freely to make items and aid in their roles on the islands. Much of what they create appears handmade and any technology is powered by magic, often created by skilled craftsmen or pieced together by a determined individual. Books and written accounts are often stored in archives, paper is created by small shops or by individual mhoats rather than being widely available. Very little the mhoats create is done at a large scale, the quality and artistry valued over how easily available something is. Even magic is either taught in circles, places of magic research, or learned from others when an individual has a need for particular magic skills.