Natural Phenomena
Weather
The force known as magic is incredibly powerful in the Avarka, much more so than the lands beyond the western sea. This force seems to ebb and flow, occasionally creating massive auroras that crisscross the sky. Modern spells and runes are mostly unaffected by this flow, favoring stability over power, but in ancient times such events dramatically effected the capabilities of mages.
Weather in general is largely unpredictable in Avarka, although the rare Sky Song users help stabilize the climate of major cities.
Wildlife
Aside from a wide variety of regular animals and plants, there exist a number of Avarka species that possess unusual qualities:
Aurora-Touched Animals
Some animals and plants develop unique magical abilities after living through multiple Auroras. This is a rare effect for most species – Avarka is not overrun with fiery bears and flying dogs – but such animals are of course of great value to anyone capable of training them (although discovering the bear they’re fighting can become a living fireball might not be seen as a stroke of luck to finder). The descendents of such animals rarely inherit the magical abilities of their parents, unfortunately, so there are no wildly available breeds.
Crows
All modern Avarka crows are the result of crossbreeding between various blackbird species and Passage Crows. These golden-eyed blackbirds behave much like normal crows aside from a sixth sense for detecting Dinyue, with any such findings resulting in entire murders falling upon the offending dark fey and tearing them to pieces. This has led to the near-universal cultural norm of teaching small children to caw like crows when they’re scared of the dark or imaginary monsters, as any real Dinyue that might be hidden in the darkness will surely flee rather test the validity such cries.
Crows are a highly respected bird, although farmers could still do with them staying away from their crops.
Passage Crows (Atjaras)
Passsage crows are mostly things of legend – to see one is considered to be a sign of great fortune (to see many, however, would be considered an omen most ill – for what could have possibly drawn such a murder?).
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Young passage smaller crows typically have two eyes, each one with a golden iris in the shape of a diamond with two triangular pupils fitted within them. Older crows, which vary from regular crow-size to the size of large dog, have possess four eyes; the back two identical to those of the small crows and the front two possessing overlapping, hollowed-out triangular pupils whose irises seem to be inside the hourglass formed by the triangles. The remainder of these hourglass eyes are a beige color that occasionally swirl with gold and black in a manner reminiscent of a starry sky. The black feathers of four eyed crows occasionally swirl with gold as well, although it is very faint.
According to legends there exist six-eyed and even a single seven-eyed Atjaras, but what they might look like is unknown. Also unknown (although speculation abounds) is where the passage crows live, or what powers they posses.
Scholars generally agree that passage crows are incredibly intelligent, albeit unable to talk, and can command other crows.,
Drasil
Drasil are a species of feathered lizard, about the size of a human’s hand, that are especially sensitive to auroras. Common throughout the warmer and coastal regions of Avarka, these lukewarm-blooded* lizards become heavily mutated over time, growing in size and strength until finally becoming a large dog-to-bear-sized animal known as a “drake”.
Most Drakes are feathered and capable of flight, although aquatic, burrowing, and larger gliding specimens are not unheard of. Few Drasil ever progress beyond the Drake stage, but those who do become a beast known as a Dragon.
Dragons are larger than bears, and lizard-like. That is about all that can be said about them as a group – each dragon is a unique monstrosity, often one with numerous magical abilities and great strength. Dragons are, thankfully, a rare sight in Avarka.
*Staff Note: Yes, this is a real term. Well, sorta. Specific term would be “mesotherm”. It’s probably what most of the dinosaurs were.
Fey Rings
Passageways between the mortal and fey realms. Their exact properties vary, but different types of rings follow certain patterns: [Staff note: In progress of adding this]
Nature Fey (Vadtunder) Rings
Most nature fey rings are a set of mushrooms or flowers that form a circle between 5 and 10 feet in diameter. These rings are only ever found in uninhabited places and generally vanish mere days after they first appear (if not sooner!) The rings generally emanate a sort of primal curiosity, as though there is some great reward waiting to whoever might wish to jump into the ring. There is generally a faint sense of wrongness about the ring as well; animals avoid vadtunder rings unless desperate.
Those that enter the ring generally find themselves standing in a place that, at first, looks like exactly like the one they just left. If they act fast enough it is possible to return to the mortal realm during this period by leaving the ring, but if they linger too long, eat anything from the fey realm, or leave the ring while touching a vadtunder, they’ll find that exiting the ring only leaves them stranded in the fey realm.
Dinyue Rings
Dinyue rings are generally a set of rotting mushrooms, dead rats, or similar detritus 1' to 20' in diameter. The ring usually rots away in a few hours. Dinyue rings are usually found underground, in abandoned buildings, or other places difficult for crows to reach. These dark fey rings are almost always found near or within inhabited areas but are far rarer than nature fey rings (which are themselves rare).
Dinyue rings are more varied in their emanations; animals avoid them regardless but sapients in the area might feel anything from fear to an undercurrent of lust and greed. Entering a Dinyue ring works much like entering a nature fey one, except their surroundings will immediately begin to look warped and wrong upon entering the ring, as though they just stepped into a nightmare.
Dream Fey (Alomtunder) Rings
There is only one known dream fey ring, and that is the auraoil lake that surrounds and flows through Inner Verto. The massive, city-sized ring functions more like a tunnel than a door - only through extended travel through the maze-like crystal city might a visitor find themselves in the fey realm.
Unlike other rings there is no known way to get "stuck" on the other side of IV's ring, although any alomtunder would be quick to note how easy it is for a mortal to get lost on the other side.
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