Aqualon World Updates

  • Additional Daily Fact Updates
    Mar 11, 2023

    Aqualon facts #8-#15 have been updated with more content and better prose as well. Preparations for regular video uploads with voiced facts and lore are well-underway.

  • Updating old Daily Aqualon Facts
    Mar 10, 2023

    Aqualonfacts #1 - #7 have been updated with improved prose and/or additional lore in preparation for audio recordings to come. (Find Aqualon Facts on the Aqualon Discord)

  • Article Categories Implemented
    Oct 21, 2022

    The World Anvil article category widget is now correctly rendered in articles on this site. This makes the Encyclopedia Aqualonia article much more useful.

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Featured Novel

The Storm Winds of Glazglubin


Storm Winds of Glazglubin Cover

"There's a monster in every man, boy. Within me, there is a host, and one day, it'll be yours to command." Too often these days, Kenji's mind turns to the words of his accursed father. When he fled the Old Country, he thought he had left the monsters behind, but now he sees them every day in the eyes of his friend and mentor. His world is about to crumble in a spasm of eldritch magic, and though he can see the face of his undoing so clearly in his nightmares, deep down, he knows that the first blow has already been struck.
As the tendrils of a soul plague lay claim on Aqualon's oldest and most powerful magocracy, the Lord of Wind, Kenji Sokolow, is cast down from his high tower, pressed to rally whatever forces he can find. But first, he has to survive...

Featured Short Story

The Black Priest of Rastrowel


Black Priest of Rastrowel Cover

A gripping short story from the life of Lyn, a young girl in the care of two HJT Ferries, ships mages for hire, which operate from their office on the island of Rastrowel, the highly religious birth place of the Church of Pure Souls.

Faced with prejudice against mages every day, Lyn's winning personality and innocence keep her well within the good graces of her peers, until a Black Priest, an inquisitor of the Church takes notice of her...

Lore Articles and Maps

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A Synopsis of the World

Seventeen centuries of peace have allowed the people of Aqualon to flourish. Since the Great War, now known as the Age of Heroes, when the Old Gods rose up once more in vain, the world has become prosperous: powerful magocracies in the Middle Lands are going through a magical industrial revolution and rich tapestries of cultures flourish in the Yamato Mountain Range and the Seventeen Yonder Islands. These lie in the Corsic Ocean of the Ocean Belt beyond the 150 kilometer band of iron, the Iron Belt, which rings the planet around its equator.

And isolated from the rest: two technocracies so far beyond them that they could be thought to live in a world of their own. They are divided by their opposing views on integrating magic and technology, yet united in their quest for knowledge.

But who would have thought that none of these would start the next great war?
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Browse Aqualon's countless lore articles below: Fantasy, Scifi, Horror, Mystery; there is enough to suit any palate and sate any appetite.

The Travelers Guide to Aqualon

Read the Transcript of the Relevant Article
Welcome, esteemed reader, to the Travelers Guide to Aqualon!
First things first! My name is Thadeus Fletcher, and if you are from the High North a little word of advice: our side won the war, so the North is at the bottom of the map; remember that when I talk about ''up'' and ''down''. It's been fifty days since I left the comfort of my hometown of Manastrat, and the Hank & Jordan & Tenzer Corporation has been so kind as to sponsor part of my trip. I am sending regular letters to my publisher at the HJT Gazette, and you, esteemed reader, will be able to reap the fruits of my in-depth field research!
So, ever had an atlas in your hands? No? Well, this is the situation: We got lots of land in the northern hemisphere, lots of water in the southern hemisphere. The former is called the Great Land and the High North, and the latter the Ocean Belt and the Spiral Sea. We got some big island chains in the Ocean Belt, so it's not all wet. Seventeen really big ones in the Corsic Ocean to the West, and a couple more to the East, and they got some huge lakes and rivers in the Great Land too, so we're all nice and balanced. In the middle, smack in between, of course, lies that wretched Iron Belt. Almost a hundred miles of pure iron (where it hasn't rusted at least), a real bitch to cross, but don't you worry, man finds a way!
In fact, here are my first valuable travel tips:
If you wish to cross the Iron Belt to reach the Great Land, there are three great ports you can steer to: Nankô above the Yamato Kingdom, Blacksteel above the Red Sands, and Ísenwyll by Svalbrynd. Now, if you head over to Ísenwyll, I strongly suggest you curb the whole winning the war stick I gave you in the beginning. The Svalbrynd Nords don't take too kindly to that kind of talk. But hey, since they joined the Axis of Steel with Altonar and the Fiefdoms of Ravensburg, they've become a lot more amenable to travelers and commerce, so don't worry about it. Added bonus with this port: you got actual land around it. Do some shopping, get some souveniers, and spend the night in a room without an iron floor. Additionally, you can cross the Iron Belt pretty quickly here: From Rusty Shore to Rusty Shore, the crazy Altonar technocrats built this thing they call a 'railway' where this huge, metal vehicle drives to and fro, getting you across lickedysplit.
If you're heading for the Middle Lands though, you might not want to take the long way around via Altonar or the Yamato Kingdom, so what do you do? You head to Blacksteel. Now this port is pretty big, and they have these impressive installations built into the side of the Rusty Shore for mooring ships and getting people onto the Belt. You can get some exotic goods here too, if you don't mind hitting the shadier corners. But be careful or you might lose your purse. They don't have any mass transit across the Iron Belt here, but the whole section there is Steel Baron territory. For some coin, their underlings are usually good for taking you across in their magnet rollers. These smaller vehicles float a few inches above the Iron Belt and can reach impressive speeds. The Borealians sold them to the Steel Barons apparently and supply the carbonic power cells they use for fuel; smart deal if you ask me.
Lastly, if the Yamato Kingdom is your first stop, well, Nankô it is. The name means "South Steel" I am told, and it is quite rustic. Everything is made out of bamboo scaffolding and you can usually see several impressive barks moored to the piers here, courtesy of the West Yamato Trading Company. Getting passage of one of their ships to Nankô is also a solid option, if you are having trouble finding your way to one of the three ports. Interestingly, the Yamato Folk have built this huge waterway all the way across the Iron Belt. Almost one hundred miles of artificial river you might call it, a comfortable way to make it across to the Great Land.
Well, while the Yamato Kingdom is a beautiful place to visit, my first stop will be the Middle Lands. I want to head to Aquaris, get a good look at that beautiful Spire of Rahn, everyone keeps talking about! So, Blacksteel it is. I'm on an HJT cog right now, writing this column for my publisher; the captain will hand it over when he returns to Graanshoof, and you'll be able to read more in a couple of issues! T.F.
Aqualon Travel Guide No.1.jpg

Maps

  • The World of Aqualon
    This world map shows the basic layout of Aqualon, most of its parts bleached out to indicate it has not been completed yet. As more and more detailed maps of the nations and locations of Aqualon become available, this grand world map will also become more and more filled out! For now it should help you see the geographic relations of some of the places described in this setting.
    Color Key for Pins
    Green - Large nation, island chain, or region
    Orange - Sub-nation or smaller island
    Blue - Capital city
    Purple - Culturally significant landmark
    Grey - Politically or economically significant landmark

Related Aqualon Facts of the Day


- #96 -
After the Declaration of Existential Independence between 22 and 25 GE, during which Borealis prepared to and then jumped away to the South Pole to forever isolate itself from the world and become a technocratic mega-utopia, the Corsic Ocean was left with a power vacuum that threatened to collapse it. The main actors taking charge across the Seventeen Yonder Islands were the Church of Pure Souls, the reemerging Great Pirate Houses, the cursed land Jamphel Yeshe, and a little bit later the newly formed Hank & Jordan & Tenzer Corporation, which expanded the weakened Hank & Jordan's Cooper and Shipwright Guild into a booming business of mages for hire, which would escort trade ships and liners through the Corsic Ocean, which was now pirate-infested. These mages are still operating today as HJT has grown to a powerful entity within the Seventeen Yonder Islands, and they are generally referred to as "Ferries" due to their occupation of ferrying people safely across the ocean.



- #110 -
The Hank & Jordan & Tenzer Coporation has diversified quite a bit since its founding in 390 GE. Turning into a lucrative business, they have reclaimed some of the old Hank & Jordan's cooper works and shipyards, opened profitable trading routes across the Corsic Ocean, and even published a series of story books called "Ferry Tales of the Ocean Belt", which boasts twenty-four large volumes by now and a roughly five-thousand issue story magazine called "Silfs of the Sea" has been in circulation around the Corsic Ocean and even the Great Land since 1304 GE, coming out monthly pretty much ever since.


Related Reading

The Altonar Calendar
Generic article | Dec 26, 2018

The Altonar Calendar is used in Altonar, the Middle Lands, and some of the Seventeen Yonder Islands. (263 Words)

Aqualonian Maps
Technology / Science | Feb 16, 2019

A primer on mapmaking and the history of the southward orientation. (351 Words)

Aquaris
Settlement | Jan 25, 2019

One of the five capitals of the Middle Lands, home to the Spire of Rahn. ~ 2959 Words

Poetry on Aqualon

Glint Stray in the Void

Short Poems

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Voiced by Koray Birenheide

Short Stories

The Travelers Guide to Aqualon

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