The food chain dominates everything on Afresa. It decides whether you live or die, where you live, whether you have to run away or attack. Everyone and everything is somewhat aware of their place in the food chain, but this does not mean you stick to it. Most sentient races have ways of overcoming their place. (Snakes live in villages, Faeries are always on the move, Vedalken create walls of trees, Ouphes stick to what they believe is safe).
The following list shows the place of a being on the food chain. Note the absence of trees and algae; they are so massively successful that they do not adhere to the food chain.

Tier 5: Most plants, some birds, small rodents, herbivorous fish . Everything on this tier serves as food for something. They cannot hunt themselves and rely on camouflage, speed and agility or some kind of spike or armor to protect themselves. If they lived anywhere but on Afresa they could become predators, but the Afresan continent is just to hostile.

Tier 4: Small spiders and insects, predatory birds, flesh eating flowers, omnivorous fish, Ouphes. The creatures on this tier actively hunt others, but are small, stupid or not dangerous enough to be hunted themselves. They have their niche in the biology of Afresa and stick to that. They generally behave the way you would predict and are easy enough to fool.

Tier 3: Vedalken, Fairies, Snake People, larger catlike, predators, large spiders, small Baloths capable of navigating the broader branches. This tier consists of most of the sentient races of Afresa. The creatures on this spot in the food chain are the most common dangers for a planeswalker that ventures in the Afresan forest. They are strong and/or smart enough to pose a real threat.

Tier 2: Kurvesh. Yes, the Kurvesh have a tier for themselves. They are probably the creatures best adapted to their environment and they fear pretty much nothing. They hunt everything, both in and out of the water. They are pretty much the winner of the Afresan struggle for survival.

Tier 1: Treefolk, Kraken, Leviathans. These creatures can be considered forces of nature. They are simply so large that nothing will mess with them. They can do whatever they please, no one is even capable of stopping them. There are legends and myths of large groups of Kurvesh hunting Kraken, but these are considered just that, legends and myths.

Gentev is a world in which only three colors of mana- , , and - exist. The climate, as a result, varies between livable extremes. In the Heartland( ), hot, dry plains give way to rolling, sandy deserts, spotted with oases that provide just enough water and food to support life. Most of Gentevan civilization gathers here. In the north( ), the highland is cold and humid marshland, where the rain never ends. And in the lowland( ), river basins support steamy jungles, filled with vicious, bloodthirsty wildlife and prone to long droughts and flash floods. This is the least civilized territory on Gentev.

The sentient races have adapted to their world’s harsh weather in various ways. Orochi( ), reptilian snake people, thrive in the hot deserts with rhoxen( ) and humans( ). Nezumi( ) rat people make their lives in the northern moors and vampires( A species all their own on Gentev) live wherever there are other sentients to feed on. But Gentevan vampires don’t suck blood. They dominate others in their own way.

All sentient species live together under one culture, and all of Gentev society is dominated by an extensive system of rules and guidelines known as the Pistra. According to the Pistra, every single man, woman, and child must have a place in one of the five Varni: the hierarchal castes of the world. Your varna is decided at birth, and each oversees and rules the next.

In Gentev, everyone is someone’s servant. And if you’re lucky, you also have a few servants of your own. In addition to these five segments, the people of Gentev are further divided by jati- a unit of measurement from individual to individual. A master and servant are exactly one jata apart, for example. Each varna has a thickness in jati that varies from the others, and not all branches of command are exactly the same number of jati thick. The first varna, for example, is by definition only one jata- on person- thick, as is the fifth varna. Meanwhile, the third varna of military is twenty jati thick from footsoldiers to generals.[spoiler]In Gentev, everyone is someone’s servant. And if you’re lucky, you also have a few servants of your own. In addition to these five segments, the people of Gentev are further divided by jati- a unit of measurement from individual to individual. A master and servant are exactly one jata apart, for example. Each varna has a thickness in jati that varies from the others, and not all branches of command are exactly the same number of jati thick. The first varna, for example, is by definition only one jata- on person- thick, as is the fifth varna. Meanwhile, the third varna of military is twenty jati thick from footsoldiers to generals.

Ameran, at its heart, is a world obsessed with emotion and self-expression. Every man, woman, and child in the predominant culture of Ameran is an artist of some sort, or at least aspires to be one. Art, in all its forms and media, is what Ameran is.

Ameranians build their culture around the concept of Craft. Although there is much dabbling and experimentation in Ameranian culture, magic and artifice are both passed on from masters to apprentices, with the expectation of the student eventually Crafting a great work: a capstone achievement that will justify their entire existence. The strain this puts on crafters is often enormous, as the communities they belong to expect much of them. The freedom associated with this task does counteract the strain, however, and any great work will garner the admiration of their community, regardless of its form.

Still, the great works tend to be magical or artificial in some form, so the plane focuses heavily on artifacts and enchantments.

Communities form around the most fertile regions of the plane, and usually center around a cult of philosophy, science, or art, led by a particularly influential thinker and their students, that often grow into the city-states that make up the world.

The landscape of Ameran is harshly beautiful, full of small, rugged mountain ranges and rocky valleys. Much of the continent is arranged in a series of archipelagos with occasional larger landmasses that support the fields and mountains. All of the land blends together harmoniously, in a beautiful and varied way.

Unfortunately, this type of environment is not perfectly suited to agriculture, and an absence of green mana means that aside from whatever sustenance people can gather from the sea, there is seldom an abundance of food. The landscape also makes travel and communication difficult, resulting in small pocket communities that are emotionally and culturally tied together strongly. Individuals on the plane are pulled in several directions- between their duty to their people and their desire for individual freedom and expression- and communities often come into conflict over their insular ideologies.

The sentient species of Ameran are varied and unusually long-lived. With the absence of green and black mana maintaining the cycle of life and death, it isn’t uncommon for an individual to live for 200 years or more. The isolated nature of the landscape also requires most people of Ameran to mingle together in the same communities. As a result, few cultures or even social circles are defined by species, but rather by Craft.

Humans One of the most populous races of Ameran, humans tend to take a more serious approach to life. They are quick to judge and quicker to anger.

Minotaurs Gruff and hearty, minotaurs of Ameran are different from their more violent, brutal cousins on other planes. An Ameranian minotaur is a lover of life, eating, drinking, and making merry with anyone anywhere. Even a perfect stranger can find an old friend in a Minotaur, it’s said.

Sirens The beautiful sirens of Ameran have a reputation as seducers and temptresses, and while this reputation may not be entirely untrue, they’re also wielders of powerful magic to enhance the emotions of others, including conviction and confidence, to friends, as well as panic and anxiety, to enemies.

Centaurs The centaurs of Ameran are nothing if not vain. On a plane where expression and creativity are prized above all else, they are revered as icons of beauty, virility, and power. Every Crafter finds something of merit in them. Sorcerers base chaotic and dynamic enchantments on the sight of centaurs in battle. Without a doubt, they are among the most respected beings on the plane. This reverence makes a decadent and loutish culture. The centaurs themselves are lousy artists, mediocre poets, and superficial musicians. They prefer to engage in their mad affairs, attend parties, and generally enjoy a hedonistic existence supported by the reverence of other races. When centaurs Craft using their native red mana, their creations tend to be unstable, violent, and sometimes cataclysmic. Their magic is that of self-expression, pure and simple, unfettered by reason, community, or even common sense.

Flamekin The flamekin are a passionate people in everything they do, often making day-to-day activities into dramatic affairs. They are generally easy-going and happy to coexist with anyone and anything, but they are adamant in what few beliefs they hold close.


Giants Giants are the longest-lived races of Ameran, some said to live for millennia. This, combined with the problems caused by their massive size (often as large as the entire buildings of smaller creatures) lead them to seek out solitude in the high, cold mountains of Ameran. There, they spend their time building massive giant-scaled temples dedicated to whichever pantheons they worship. Wandering these colossal, empty halls is a moving experience, unlike anything else the multiverse has to offer.

Homarids These humble crustaceans are the backbone of Ameranian civilization. They live apart from all others, in cities and villages at the bottom of the sea, hunting the many sea creatures of the Ameranean oceans, traveling into dry land only to sell and trade their meat and other wares to the land-dwelling races. This seafood is the single largest part of a typical Ameranian’s diet, and because of this monopoly, homarids generally enjoy a comfortable lifestyle. A homarid’s life is fishing, and sentimentality is seen as weak and frivolous. Craft is all but unknown to them, and they dismiss the creative works of their land-dwelling neighbors.


Incarnations These strange beings are the ultimate product of Ameran's artistic nature. Occasionally an idea or a craft is so brilliant that it transcends its origins and becomes an entity in and of itself. These beings are Incarnations--expressions of pure artistic genius made physical. They wander Ameran, acting as muses for new generations of artists and crafters. Occasionally, albeit less frequently, Incarnations can be seen wandering across the other four continents, expressing some aspect of that continent's nature. It is unknown whether these beings sprung up on the other continents or simply migrated from Ameran and adapted to their new habitat. It has been suggested that their power to inspire may influence the continued separation of colors on Sertaria, but the Incarnations are nothing if not cryptic, and unless they begin to speak directly to the other races of Ameran it is doubtful that such questions will ever be answered.

Unbeknownst to most of the current inhabitants of Cyrea, they are not the sole pinnacle of the world’s studies. With Cyrea’s tendency to develop new magic, species, and technology quickly something invariably goes wrong. Every couple of millennia some experiment goes awry, time reverses too far, some weapon goes off prematurely, or even some beast is made that no one can keep control of. The world returns to its tribal roots, but only until the secrets of the ancients are uncovered once more, and the advancement begins again. And this cycle will continue until Cyreans can learn more from the past than just its blueprints, but for now Cyrea's greatest potential will remain untapped.

For decades now, Faskeria has been consumed in the Great War: a military conflict between all nations with a death toll in the realm of the absurd. Every day, armies of hundreds of men each collide on a plot of land no one particularly wants to control, and there are rarely more than a dozen survivors. The front lines haven’t shifted in years. Each faction’s goal is global domination, and no one can remember how the war got started. But no one is willing to end the war until their nation rules the world or no longer exists.
The politics of Faskeria are just as stagnant as the front lines. No one is willing to agree to any demands or make any sacrifices. Diplomats and emissaries are often assassinated during the countless peace talks, and each one ends the same way: no side can see any viable option other than continuing this war of attrition. These diplomats are often acting under orders from their nation’s aristocracy, which is invariably concerned with only two things. First is that their extravagant and wasteful lifestyle can be maintained- a goal that’s getting harder to achieve every year. Second is the wealth and glory of their nation- a goal that is quickly becoming impossible. At this rate, all of Faskerian civilization is doomed to erode away into nothing.
Faskerian religion centers around the concept of ‘Good Death’, meaning dying in battle, or in service to your nation. Politicians use this in speeches, generals use it as battle cry and priests spread this message in their services. People in Faskeria truly believe that dying for your country is better than dying a coward and believe the afterlife will hold vast riches for those who die in combat.