Tirvane

Land of the Veins

Landscape

Rolling hills, craggy cliffs, misty highlands

Climate

Temperate and rainy with cool summers and mild winters. Thick fogs are common along coasts.

Urbanization

Scattered villages built around mining. 

Historic cities that are focused centers of institutionalization. Areas of focus are either:

• Arcane academies
• Magic is common to be studied like a science making it an ideal magnet for wizards
• However, for families in this continent, it is held in high prestige to have gifted children hone their natural talents (witches)
• Military training
• For Paladins or Clerics
• Generally, non-gifted children from high families receive their continued esteem via this avenue
• Lesser families hope to receive Seercraft messages for their children to attend here

Culture

Steeped in tradition and history, which inspires the Seercraft tradition which is more common in this continent than Tal'Inen. Magic is more ritualistic and ancestral here, with bloodline magic deeply ingrained into the social hierarchy. The culture focused on word-of-mouth/storytelling, which makes bards more common here (Sea-shanty types; Folky, airy types). 

Social Hierarchy

Upper Class

• Ancient houses (highest esteem ("nobility") – Arcane Aristocracy)
• Rooted in bloodline magic passed down for generations.
• Trace their ancestry to the continent's first magic-weavers and the founding of the realm.
• Power derived from hereditary magic, especially high ritualistic or elemental magics.
• Authority: Control the royal court, arcane institutions, and magical law.
• Look down upon all who lack “true lineage” or display “untrained magic.”
• Architecture & Heraldry: Grand estates, glowing glyphs in their halls, ancestral wards.
• Paladin orders & military elite
• Not necessarily born into magic, but chosen by god or prophecy through Seercraft.
• Trained warriors imbued with divine or consecrated power.
• Organized into Orders, each with a slightly different focus (e.g., militant defense, law keeping, clerics).
• Held in high esteem, sometimes equal to noble blood—especially in rural regions.
• Being chosen as a Paladin from a lowborn family elevates the family’s status.

Middle Class

• Rune-smiths
• Practitioners of applied magic, focused on the crafting of enchanted tools, armor, and weaponry.
• Require both magical blood (though often diluted) and precise craft skill.
• Typically work with veinstone, manipulating its latent energy through ancient rune-carving techniques.
• Respected and often contracted by nobility or military orders—though never truly considered “upper class.”
• Stone-crafters
• Master builders, architects, and artists of stone.
• The most renowned families have carved fortresses, citadels, and temples, their names etched in history.
• A few stone-crafting families have gained wealth and social favor, creating a rare “noble-adjacent” tier—though still looked down upon by bloodline purists.

Lower Class

• Metal-workers (blacksmiths)
• Work closely with miners, forging weapons, tools, and armor.
• Not inherently magical—considered “common,” but essential.
• Their magic is not flashy, but sturdy & dependable
• If born with magical talent, may apprentice under a Rune-Smith and attempt to elevate their station.
• Rune-smith apprenticeships are the most accessible path for upward mobility—but require magical potential.
• Most dream of rising—but few succeed without noble favor or guild sponsorship.
• Miners
• Backbone of the economy—extracting veinstone, iron, gold, and gems from the mountains and deep tunnels.
• Veinstone = rare mineral said to hum with latent magical energy