The World of Nero

A Guide to Traveling Through Nero

Among the elves, two main peoples can be distinguished: Sylvans and Yor. Modern historians say that many centuries ago they were one people, but now only their equally long ears and a somewhat similar moral code remind us of this (although it should be said that modern Yors are gradually forgetting their traditional code). Language, culture, appearance, and some structural features. Lifestyle, worldview, and religions. It is difficult to find parallels between these two nations in all of this.
The structure of all elves differs from humans. Elves are shorter and physically weaker, on average, of course. In the case of Sylvans, even the traditionally high consumption of meat, milk, and fish for this people does not help them, which is a consequence of the prohibition of most plant foods. Sylvans have an accelerated metabolism. Their normal body temperature is slightly higher than that of humans; life processes occur faster, and they live a little longer, although the latter may be due to lifestyle and magical abilities. Everyone knows that any spellcaster in Nero lives at least a little longer than any non-spellcaster, and particularly powerful wizards can live for more than a hundred years (most likely, two, if their lifespan is not intentionally shortened). They are quite fast, possess good reflexes, and quickly grasp information. However, they lack perseverance; most of them cannot focus on any subject in detail. Their senses have greater potential than those of humans, although in the past, Sylvans showed themselves better in this regard: in modern cities, there is no need to train the senses, and they often "lie idle," fully manifesting only if a Sylvan's profession is hunting or at least being a warrior.
Yors are similar to Sylvans in their developed senses. They have good hearing and sense of smell. They don't just see well in the dark; Yors, thanks to living in caves for a long time, have acquired the ability to subtly illuminate the surrounding space with their eye-lanterns. However, such light would hardly help a human see anything, but it is enough for a Yor. Yors are not as active as Sylvans; on the contrary, they can slow down life processes to conserve energy (and later it turned out that slowed heartbeat and breathing also helps them hide from enemies). But when they become active, they can be as swift as lightning.
Sylvans are monotheists and quite zealous: it is difficult to find a Sylvan who adheres to another religion. The Yors, however, are pagans. This people has had a huge number of different cults since ancient times; sometimes, cults merged and thus became stronger, sometimes they feuded, accusing other deities of being false or insufficiently powerful, useless, which often led to bloodshed and the destruction of one of the cults.

A little over a hundred years ago, an event of this kind occurred. Among other cults, one began to stand out sharply: the Cult of Darkness. What could be so special about that? It was one of the oldest cults of the Yors, perhaps once influencing their entire destiny and even their way of life. However, the Cults of Fire and Ice, as well as the Cult of Thunder, have always been just as strong, if not more so. But now, their followers began to abandon them en masse; the Cult of Darkness grew stronger with each day, and at some point, the most stubborn members of other cults were persecuted and... simply destroyed. Such a thing had never happened in the history of the Yors, and rumors spread far beyond their mountains about what might have caused it.
The most superstitious decided that the Darkness worshiped by the Yors really exists and for some reason decided to restore order in Ishiva right now. This version especially shook the kingdom of Tervent and the Sylvans living there, who do not like any evil spirits, even fictional ones, let alone those that actually exist. Others believe that the reason lies in a new type of magic invented by the members of the Cult of Darkness, thanks to which they became much stronger. Well, those who think so cannot be completely blamed... The members of the cult are indeed famous for their unique fighting style. The strangest version is that Darkness is a special dragon. Ishiva is indeed famous for its dragons, especially black ones, although it should also be noted that the authors of this assumption are clearly obsessed with winged lizards, perhaps even to the point of madness.
Be that as it may, the evil that originated in the Ishiva Mountains did not want to stop at what it had achieved. The head of the Cult of Darkness, having met no serious resistance from his fellow tribesmen, declared himself emperor of these lands, and two years later, the young empire attacked the neighboring Sylvan kingdom without declaring war.
The subsequent events were the bloodiest in the history of Tervent: almost every night, fires raged throughout the kingdom. And it was good if it was a forest burning, and not a fortress-city taken by the Yors' troops... Border territories fell immediately; then the Yors gradually slowed down, and closer to the Stone Forest, the Sylvans managed to hold back the enemy. But only briefly. The Yors fought only at night and were extraordinarily strong. Worst of all, they sent assassins into the Sylvan camps, killing many of their commanders and messengers, so no one could detect them before tragedy struck. In such conditions, the courage inherent in the Sylvans meant nothing: knights fought to the last, but never knew who their opponent was, where he would strike next minute, and whether reinforcements would arrive.
Ville-de-Roi is the capital of Tervent, a huge city in the middle of the Stone Forest, defended for the longest time, 455 days. And that was despite the fact that on the thirty-eighth day (more precisely, night) of the siege, King Simon the Wise, together with the commander-in-chief of the Sylvan forces, were killed, and the queen with her children disappeared without a trace...
The fall of Ville-de-Roi actually marked the end of the Kingdom of Tervent, turning the recently mighty power into a province of a pagan empire. Years passed, generations of Sylvans lived in these lands, and erased from their memory the horrors of the war, but they never forgot about their former greatness. They found it very difficult to come to terms with the presence of occupiers in their homeland. Rebellions broke out one after another, like forest fires in that war, but the Yors did not loosen their grip even for a moment, killing instigators and enslaving the rest of the participants, sending them to the frozen mines of Ishiva.
And yet, even in the worst years of oppression, the Sylvans never stopped hoping that someday this dark era would end. No censorship or persecution by the Yors could prevent them from dreaming of the return of the king and the downfall of the pagans... After all, it is not for nothing that the children of Simon the Wise disappeared, and can there be any doubt that one of them will one day take the rightful throne?


What happens if you cross a terrier and a shavkodog? That's right, it's a drasobaka. A huge animal, the size of a horse, it is surprisingly useful for humanoids. True, it is no good as a hunter: the breed is too large to crawl into burrows, too fierce to drive deer or bring ducks to its owner. Unless the dog's owner enjoys broken deer bones and chewed meat. It is better not to talk about the fate of ducks. But they are simply excellent watchdogs, as well as shepherds and war dogs.
The breed was bred by Kre'ates and is still used by them. Later, it spread throughout almost all of Nero, but no one loved it as much as the Sylvans, who traditionally used dogs for many different purposes, and the drasobaka became a real find for them. The breed has become widespread throughout the kingdom, and who knows, maybe it will change its destiny?