Kapir, a country of Omiya to the far east
A world of magic and mysteries, of hidden realms and mad wizards. Warring theocrats, secret societies and amateur book writers. This world had many lands, from the mountains of Mithvir to the expansive Anathe desert. but our tales starts in Kapir, a densly jungled land where natural magic dominates and wild monsters rule. The country was made of unified states. They had come togther centuries ago but recent events had galvanised their connection. Kapir's political ally to the west - Colstice, a militarised nation of religious zealots - had invaded it's neighbour satte of plains and hills, Yorefell. The bloody fighting of the war ended only 9 years ago and left Colstice a battered embarresment. The nations of Kapir had seen this move as an existential threat. Kapir had enough trouble keeping its inhabitants safe from threats inside it's borders, in open conflict it would be a politically weak target. The fear this caused led to the rising of several criminal syndicates, from the Lionteeth of Quama and the Red Imperions who rule the west Arides desert, to the Mal Grove in the south and many petty Vinebarons with holdings throughout the Verdentia jungle. The land is full of danger and oppurtunity in equal measure. if one can survive the explosive plants, the acid spewing birds, the RibStealers and the all consuming bog, then theres just about a living that can be eaked out. Wether it's in harvesting respiroots to grow or craft with them, hunting the fauna for their alchemically rich body parts or siphoning the raw nature magic for enchanting items and fuel creations, theres always a job in Kapir for those daring or dumb enough to try.
Fanguard
but of all of these occupations, none is so hazardous as the people who naively try to do good. the Fanguard. a guild of monster hunters, for them no job is too great and no reward too low. A shining force of protection, abjuring the horrors that shake the jungle from the homes of millions of people. They have been enshrined in Kapiri law since the first days of the unification as a cohesion of several disparate groups from the formerly independant states. as such there is great regional variance depending on what monsters are commonly fought.the jungle is thought to be alive itself, the body of a powerful god called Verdentia in kapiri, with her eternal lover and rival forming the dessert, Arides. together they keep kapir balanced. Arides stops Verdentia from breaking her bounds and becoming overgrown like a gardener cutting back unwanted shoots. Verdentia makes life sprout even in the harshest parts of Arides, providing oasis and hope to prevent Arides being completly deprived of the life essence that sustains them both. people living in Verdentia can often use Vineholds to get around; Animated Vines that take form based on the will of the steerer, controled by a mystical conection through the breath of verdentia. VineHolds range from personal transport in the form of palanquins or common mounts, to large behemoth killers, requiring full crews of VerdentBreathers to keep the strands from coming apart. these can apear as large Galleons Sailing through the canopy, Moving Fortresses that crawl the forest floor or gargantuan beasts that roam the trees. by contrast; in Arides they utilise the local fauna. when a beast becomes too large and dangerous it is shunted from the jungle into the dessert to stalk and roam, now sustained by the very nature of Arides' destruction. these beasts canot be tamed but they can be harnessed. there are towns built on the backs of slow moving titans and hunting parties that attack from platfomres on slithering collossi. for traversing small groups of people there are always the sandsails, small skips and sloops that harness the wind and breath of Arides to glide across the dunes.