[ERF] Set: Map of Set

VENTANNEN
Among the largest of continents on Set is the supercontinent of Ventannen. The origins of Ventannen's name are unknown, but it is believed to have been named by the Pioneer Network early in Set's history. Ventannen is home to some of the lushest forests on Set and - in possible relation - its largest meatscape; the Southern Veinlands. It is home to the largest single huskland on the planet, the Chopping Blocks, and one of Set's longest mountain ranges, the Knobbled Cutters.

Prevailing topography in Ventannen is hilly and forested in its northern half. Across the Southern Veinlands, arid meatscapes and caustic hellscapes run rampant. The border between the untainted northern half of Ventannen and the Veinlands marks a sharp divide in overall deadliness; above, life and weather are more varied, and more gentle than most other continents. In the Veinlands, life is predominantly made up of either meat monsters or meatscape flesh, with weather focusing strongly on blood rains and meat tornados. Conditions near the Ulcerous Sea often include caustic hurricanes.

Ventannen is joined to three other continents. Zuhverl connects at its northern shores, divided along the boundary of Zorah's Eye and its surrounding desert. Darimesa, in the southwest, shares a border with the Southern Veinlands. Sadas Vitia is loosely joined to Ventannen in the northwest. Oceans bordering Ventannen are the Riscadirran Ocean, Ripaian Ocean, and Pyretip Ocean. Nearby seas include the Sawtooth Sea, Houndsbreak Sea, and the Slinking Sea. The Ulcerous Sea rests inside Ventannen and is considered the largest known body of gastric acid on Set.

The present-day Ventannen continent was formed during a major geodisplacement event in 1021 OSC. Before then, it had been part of Patzaghd and occupied a more southern position. Pioneer Network records suggest the continent had existed in various forms across the alliance's history, but cartography on the subject is limited. Zuhverl became joined to it in 1251 after another geodisplacement event. The same event placed the Cloneston Wastelands on a bulge in Ventannen's southwest, which soon after earned its distinction as the present-day continent of Darimesa.


PATZAGHD
The southernmost continent on Set is the supercontinent of Patzaghd, dominated by the planet's polar cold and equatorial deserts. Concentrations of alien species are at their highest in the snowy wilderness between the continents's mountain ranges. Similarly, bandit clans and marauding warbands are commonplace. Most are made up primarily of humans, often operating with a thin level of xenophobic legitimacy. Patzaghd is also home to some of Set's largest mountain ranges and two of its largest deserts.

Land formations in Patzaghd emphasize mountainous terrain and lifeless tundras. Deserts dominate its northern edges, along with equatorial jungles and forests closer to its shores. The sprawling Well of Japes takes up the northernmost portion of Patzaghd, which strongly discourages air and space traffic across the western hemisphere of the planet. Similarly, terrorscapes pervade across the continent, including the notable Pansa Darkness regions and the Blue Wall. Weather conditions include ordinary blizzards, radiation storms, psy-waves, and occasional slicer storms made up of sharpened hail.

Patzaghd does not connect to any other continents. Its "beak" near the Well of Japes, however, has often been claimed to constitute a continent itself - which has thus far gone without a name. Patzaghd borders the Chibean Ocean at its north, the Riscadirran Ocean at its northeast, and the Pyretip Ocean along its southernmost coasts. West of Patzaghd's "beak" is the Snickering Sea, where small patches of black waters are common.

Patzaghd is one of the longest-running continents on Set and has existed since roughly 550 OSC. Likewise, it has historically been one of the largest and most populous continents on the planet. For a time, dated between 700-800, it constituted at least 70% of all land on Set. Prior to the Big Split in 800-870, the southern regions of the planet were only sparsely inhabited. Following it, displaced and stranded aliens significantly inflated their overall population. The geodisplacement event of 1021 modestly dulled the impact of the Big Split when Ventannen separated from Patzaghd. This sent a significant amount of Patzaghd's population off to the north, where many have remained today. In the process, Patzaghd was dislodged from its population top spot.


GRUSGAU
In the eastern hemisphere is the most puzzling and permanent of Set's major continents. Bizarre formations dot it, many physically impossible, and inhabitance varies wildly by region. For the most part, life in Grusgau clusters near the otherwise-tame Baclama Desert and Sadruba Thicket. Sea life is common near its southern shores, including occasional settlements of redworlders migrating from Naza's Prong. By and large, however, monsters dominate Grusgau's daily affairs, be they mundane or murderous.

Grusgau is marked by a strong divide between craggy mountain ranges in its northwest and empty plains in its southeast and northeast. Terrorscapes and black waters are common across the continent and cover nearly half of its total landmass. In addition, it features the largest quantity of major husklands of any continent. Its northern regions are mostly covered in snow, with the prominent Kunelgo Scar serving as a barrier to the ice wastes above. Horror-stalked forests and jungles lurk within the major terrorscapes of the continent. Weather patterns include most common terrorscape conditions. Psywaves are particularly common near its husklands.

Grusgau does not connect to any other continents, but features its own, minor subcontinent in the form of Bokose. It is instead surrounded on all sides by oceans, and only the Riscadirran Ocean does not share a border with the continent. The anomalous Tildan Sea emanates out from between its southeast and northwest portions. For its shores' close resemblance to a mouth, the Tildan Sea has often been called the "Witch's Spew".

The continent of Grusgau has been an ever-present element of Set's surface since the beginning of recorded history. While it has occasionally been swallowed up by other continents migrating across the planet, Grusgau's primary features have remained largely intact - though not quite static - since the earliest years of the Pioneer Network. Its tendency to deform across geodisplacement events has led to its occasional nickname, the "Cackling Witch". The names for many of the continent's landmarks have often taken after this inspiration.


EVISPIN
Among Set's northernmost landmasses is the continent of suffering; Evispin. The acid-streaked Hell of the north is generally believed to have been named via contraction of the phrase "everything is pain". Ragged, wilting mountain ranges are common in the icy, caustic wastes of Evispin. Settlements are not. The continent is so poorly regarded that those with access use it as a dumping grounds for their undesirables. Resultantly, bands of outcast Space Loonies and exiled cultists are occasional sights.

There is nothing in the north but hate and death for as far as the eye can see. Caustic wastelands freely intermingle with volcanic hellscapes across the continent's many mountains. Acid hurricanes swirl with sheer malice across the continent. Firestorms sometimes accompany them near mountain ranges. Ash clouds routinely blot out the sun - and do little to stop regular radiation storms and barrier auroras from reaching the ground. Only the Grasping Heights at the continent's south are considered safe - and not by much.

Evispin connects - somewhat appropriately - to the home of the Crimson Expanse; Kelpak. Its caustic mountains penetrate into its neighbor some distance, where they form the Wall of Pain. The close-by Jigges Icelands often suffers expulsions of Evispin's weather near its northern reaches. The bordering Florcasic Ocean and Ripaian Ocean are similarly accosted on a regular basis. Within Evispin is the suitably-named Sea of Hate, which is often responsible for hurling immense caustic mists into orbit.

Evispin emerged to terrorize the north in roughly 680 OSC. Its sudden eruption into a mire of caustic wastelands was a time of crisis for the Pioneer Network that earned its present-day name. Around 770, it was conjoined with Patzaghd, where it earned yet more of its everlasting loathing. Some time near 830, Evispin moved, split open, and flooded itself with the Sea of Hate. Throughout its history, Evispin has done nothing but inflict wave after wave of geographic horror on Set's residents. Some have even taken to claiming it as the wrath of a god - or a wrathful god itself.


KELPAK
What would otherwise be an unassuming arctic landmass is instead the northern terrestrial half of one of the largest meatscapes on the planet. Frozen meat monsters and frosty cultists lay claim to most of the continent. Terrified snowcrabs share an uneasy peace with huddling aliens and chilly outcasts up against the Wall of Pain in the east. Mountainous terrain is scarce and empty tundras dominate wherever the Crimson Expanse has yet to spread.

Within Set's second most massive meatscape, husklands abound. Gut-strewn, sinew-streaked, blood-soaked ruins dot the fissure where Kelpak and Talto separated. Some buildings in the Crimson Expanse have literally come to life, so stained through with meaty juices that they now sag and shriek like living statues. Gallstone hails and gastric blizzards abound in Cult territory. Around the Expanse, blank, empty tundra occupies much of the continent, broken up only by the patchy Wretchwoods in the east. Radioactive blizzards, barrier auroras, and similar weather are common in the outlands. The Wall of Pain intrudes into the continent from Evispin and often contributes to caustic weather patterns nearby.

Kelpak connects only to Evispin near the Wall of Pain, but shares a prominent relationship with Talto via the Crimson Expanse. The Gutbender Sea flows into the continent via the Crimson Expanse and terminates closely to Set's northern pole. The only ocean sharing any connection to Kelpak is the Florcasic Ocean, along the continent's south shores.

Kelpak did not exist until roughly 830 OSC, when a major geodisplacement event caused several catastrophic changes in the underground. Parts of Kelpak emerged from below Talto, which was known at the time as Kanzani. The shock of the eruption tore Kanzani in half and created the major fissures still present in both resulting landmasses. Under ordinary conditions on Set, these fissures would have gradually eroded and disappeared. Instead, the Crimson Expanse has preserved them - and significantly widened them.


TALTO
Of the continents on Set, Talto is the most viscous by percentage. More than two thirds of its overall surface is covered in meatscapes, either as part of the Crimson Expanse or in isolated pockets. The Cult of Meat dominates the continent, with countless meat monsters at its disposal throughout. Further still, it is the site of the heaviest level of orbital bombardment by the Space Loonies, particularly around the southern half of the Crimson Husklands. Looney bunkers are common near the only prominent mountain range, the Big Toe, and regularly clash with Cult armies all across it.

Throughout the continent, battered badlands and bombed-out husklands intermingle with tremendous meatscapes and occasional patches of snowy terrain. The surface of Talto has often been compared to that of a volcanic moon, so filled with still-glowing craters from Space Looney bombing campaigns and Looney artillery barrages that flat land is nearly impossible to find. Ash storms, blood rains, gastric blizzards, and huskland-driven psywaves pervade through the continent. On occasion, Space Looney-driven junkstorms crash into Talto's meatscapes. Life all across the continent is continually displaced by its endless war.

Talto does not connect to any other continent on Set. It shares a mutual boundary with Kelpak, however, via the Crimson Expanse's immense gore stew. The continent is bordered immediately by the Chibean Ocean, the Florcasic Ocean, and the Riscadirran Ocean. The Big Toe at its southernmost tip is one of the closest points on any sealocked continent to another, coming pointedly close to the Well of Japes on Patzaghd.

Prior to 830 OSC, Talto was part of the continent known as Kanzani, which had itself once been part of Patzaghd between 700-800. When 830 arrived, elements of Kelpak erupted from below Kanzani and slowly tore the continent in half. The soon-to-be Talto moved southwest, while Kelpak and the remainder of Kanzani pushed northwest. The Crimson Expanse was split during this event and gradually reclaimed its territory by corrupting the waters between the two continents. Since then, Talto has occasionally shifted between its neighbors, but remained largely coherent.


DARIMESA
One of Set's youngest continents is Darimesa far in the south. Despite having only earned its distinction as a continent in 1251 OSC, Darimesa is home to to an enormous bulk of Set's total population thanks solely to a single city; Cloneston. The AI-dominated megalopolis boasts one of the highest planetary population densities across Set and casts a long shadow in the form of the Cloneston Wastelands. To the south, scattered communities of aliens eke out a living amidst many discontentedly-docile Looney bunkers. A handful of mountain ranges trail along towards Ventannen and its Southern Veinlands.

Darimesa is dominated by flat, occasionally bumpy terrain, most of it covered in snow, ice, or - in the Cloneston Wastelands - industrial waste. In the east, far from the wastes, mountains provide shelter to many bunkers, towns, and terrorscapes, often traced along by migration routes of Cloneston-bound clones. Vegetation in the continent is scarce and mostly limited to its southeast and north, or occasionally found in toxic swamps in the wastes. Weather conditions are mostly calm for the region, but occasionally feature psywaves, barrier auroras, and black hails.

Darimesa is connected to Ventannen at its northeast, but is largely separated from the continent by the Southern Veinlands. Its southernmost tip verges close to Patzaghd, where port communities often take advantage of the shorter distance. Ships passing between Patzaghd and Darimesa move through the mutually-bordering Pyretip Ocean. To the north, the Riscadirran Ocean separates the continent again from Patzaghd, where another close-by point - and Darimesa's largest jungle - serves as the home to many seaside communities.

Prior to 1251, Darimesa was no more than a craggy bulge off the side of Ventannen. Cloneston arrived to change that, displaced from Zuhverl where Aliah's Rupture took its place. The addition of the Cloneston Wastelands and nearby territories nearly doubled the landmass' size and skyrocketed its overall population. As a result, Darimesa was named and formalized in 1262, via a portmanteau of the names of Dari Jazinah and Nilhem Kadrimesa, both of the Space Loonies.


ZUHVERL
History abounds in the sparsely-populated continent of Zuhverl, home to the stubbornly-motionless Zorah's Eye and startlingly-recent Aliah's Rupture. Madness Command Post, the heart of the long-dead Pioneer Network, lies hidden among its jungles. Countless Looney bunkers once affiliated with Set's past protectors lie abandoned or ruined across the continent. Towns - and even life in general - are few and far between. Only a handful of seaside towns and ports are bold enough to disturb Set's oldest graveyard.

Zuhverl's conditions are dominated by those of its two primary landmarks, Zorah's Eye and Aliah's Rupture. Caustic blights coat the Rupture and much of the continent's southeast extension. White deserts and anomalous regions form a near-perfect circle around the center of Zorah's Eye. Ventannen's gentle weather largely gives way to the caustic hurricanes and pressure waves of the Rupture. At Zorah's Eye, most forms of weather almost completely drop away, replaced instead by the Eye's native phenomena, including spectre storms and wispnados. Jungles and scrublands occupy much of the remainder of the continent.

Directly connected to Zuhverl is its only land neighbor, Ventannen, in the southwest. Zuhverl's northern shores border the Ripaian Ocean, where caustic waters from Aliah's Rupture occasionally drift out to dissipate. The calm waters of the Sawtooth Sea flow past to the west, where Zuhverl shares a common border with Ventannen. The Houndsbreak Sea and Slinking Sea are shaped by a similar combination of Zuhverl and Ventannen's shores. Nestled inside the continent are the acidic shores of the Ruptured Sea, which have been steadily growing since Aliah's Rupture first formed.

Zuhverl has existed off and on for centuries, with its first formation and recognition dating back to the First Jump around 250-300 OSC. It is strongly believed that Zorah's Eye pre-dated Zuhverl - and possibly even the Pioneer Network. The continent's identity has largely revolved around the Eye, which has held its position on Set for the entirety of its existence. Since its first appearance, Zuhverl has recurred at least ten times in a multitude of different shapes. Of note is the geodisplacement event of 1251, which pulled the city of Cloneston and its surrounding wasteland from the continent. In its place, Aliah's Rupture appeared, and has been slowly spreading since.


JAPHZE
The small, unassuming island continent of Japhze lies close to Set's southern pole, marked occasionally by hills, valleys, and gentle mountain ranges. Lush arctic forests sprawl across the continent, giving shelter to countless towns and groups of nomads. Looney bunkers are curiously scarce, with most occurring along shorelines as ports or service stations for seaborne Looney fleets. Of similar curiosity is the scarcity of aliens. Despite the absence of their primary antagonists and the continent's southerly position, non-humans are inexplicably rare.

Conditions on Japhze are gentle for an antarctic region. Though cold and covered in snow year-round, the continent's terrain is smooth, accomodating, and populated mostly by skittish wildlife. Monsters are restricted only to its western terrorscapes, most of which are benign spectacles. Weather revolves mostly around common antarctic conditions, only occasionally including radiation storms and barrier auroras. On occasion, blood rains and gallstone hails drift down to Japhze's northeast shores, carried over from the Southern Veinlands in Ventannen.

Japhze is entirely sealocked and connects to no other continents. Its closest neighbors are Ventannen, Darimesa, and Patzaghd. Surrounding it completely is the Pyretip Ocean. Overall, life on Japhze is calm, idyllic, and strongly isolated. Little much else can be said of it.

In around 990 OSC, Japhze split from Patzaghd in a geodisplacement event as part of the larger Jasinna. Only thirty years later, in 1021, Jasinna broke apart in the geodisplacement event that formed Ventannen. Its two surviving masses were renamed Japhze and Ridgesalle. Over time, the two continents drifted in and out of their neighbors, until they eventually reached their present-day position in 1251. Japhze has since remained stable despite the major geological activity of the Pyretip Ocean.


RIDGESALLE
Just as Evispin in the north has hate for all life, life on Ridgesalle has hate for all. The continent is flooded with ravenous monsters, vicious apex predators, and voracious tribes of intelligent pseudocrustaceans. Beasts of all calibers clash with eachother, the sparse towns of the region, and the occasional Looney bunker. Predation is the king of the day among the continent's otherwise-scarce vegetation. Of note are Ridgesalle's significant populations of alien wildlife, as well as its many families of paleworlders stalking its highlands.

Ridgesalle is not much unlike other southern landmasses; a chilly, snow-covered place, covered thickly in hills, ridges, and mountain ranges. For the most part, forests and other areas of dense foliage are restricted primarily to the southeast, where most towns make their home. Distinguishing Ridgesalle from other continents is its ever-present geological activity; volcanos, earthquakes, and all manner of hellscapes are common features across it. All this culminates at Pyretip Peak, the tallest point on Set and one of the planet's most active volcanos. Weather is mostly limited to blizzards, ash storms, and the occasional volcanic winter - which only serves to emphasize its colder conditions.

Ridgesalle is not connected to any other landmass on Set and shares proximity only to Patzaghd and Ventannen. Surrounding the continent is the Pyretip Ocean, which contributes much in the way to its significant geological tension. Visitors from passing ships are rare, which further serves to isolate the continent.

As with its sibling Japhze, Ridgesalle was once part of Jasinna, which was a larger continent that broke from Patzaghd in 990 OSC. The two landmasses separated in 1021 around the time Ventannen formed. The two disappeared and reappeared repeatedly, usually simultaneously, until around 1251. Unlike Japhze, Ridgesalle has been successively reshaped and warped by both geological activity and geodisplacement events. Some tentative studies have suggested that a volcanic rift is forming across the majority of the continent that may eventually split it unevenly from south to north. Supporting evidence has been slow to emerge.