The inhuman creatures known as uraeyl are intelligent and numerous in Majehm, the land they rule to the south. It’s the only region of the Ninth World completely run by nonhumans, yet in the end, the country is not all that different from lands ruled by humans.
Uraeyl have a terrible relationship with humans, which comes in part from the fact that humans are their preferred source of meat. For the last millennium or more, uraeyl have hunted humans for food or captured them to add to “herds” that they kept for both work and food. As humans struggled to establish their kingdoms and tame their lands, uraeyl preyed upon them descriptions don’t quite explain it, and
proxima don’t necessarily have a common appearance.
It may be easier to simply say that they look like “approximate” humans, hence the name. The writer Gornal Strahm’s oft-used quote is, “They look like a sculpture of a human by a skilled nonhuman artist— physically, they are essentially correct. It’s the soul that’s a bit off.”
Proxima live among humans, hoping for acceptance and a chance to lead normal lives. They seem to have no particular affinity for the company of other proxima (if anything, they avoid each other). In many places, they are accepted well enough. In others, acceptance comes harder. In these latter situations, they are called “nears,” as in “near humans” or—even worse—“near misses.” Sometimes, proxima are killed.
As far as can be determined, proxima are born to normal human parents. This suggests that they are mutants, but they never possess preternatural powers or abilities. They are, in all measurable ways, human. There’s just something not quite right about them, something almost
WHY GO TO THE LANDS OF THE DAWN?
These lands, so far removed from the Steadfast and even the Beyond, represent the explorer’s deepest dream—lands truly unknown to anyone in the familiar regions. They lie so far beyond any map made by the cartographers of Navarene or the atlases compiled by the Aeon Priesthood that it is difficult for many people to even put them in context. These lands offer new sights and sounds, new tastes and smells, and new lore and philosophies. Explorers will find challenges undreamed and treasures unimagined. The powers that be in the Steadfast likely are both curious and afraid of this region. The Great Reach is large enough to lead an army through—but it is also large enough to accommodate trade caravans. So far, only the latter have crossed the distance, and only a few at that. The nine kingdoms of the Steadfast all have their reasons to pay explorers to travel to the Lands of the Dawn and report back what they have seen. The
Order of Truth also craves information about these new lands (and their understanding of the numenera). Even the Convergence would like to see its tendrils worm their way into these new lands. First and foremost, what they all want to know is, are these far eastern lands a threat or a boon? So far, what few reports have been made have been conflicted and confusing.
Likewise, Corao, Bruul, and Zare are just as curious (and as concerned) about the Steadfast, and would pay handsomely for more information about what lies on the other side of the Great Reach from them, whether it be from visitors coming through or their own explorers and spies traveling to the far west.
Navarene, page 137 Order of Truth, page 222 The Convergence, page 223
and tried to keep humanity from organizing and advancing. The uraeyl looked upon the advancement of human civilization as a distasteful and absurd threat to their food source.
But the efforts of the uraeyl failed, and humans have established organized and powerful societies that repel their hunts and infiltrate uraeyl lands to liberate the “livestock” there. Uraeyl have been forced to retreat to lands they control rather than hunt in the wilderness (which is how they think of human lands such as Zare or Bruul). Uraeyl do not reproduce as quickly or live as long as humans, so their need for territory and their ability to replenish lost numbers is not as great. Today, uraeyl have grown weary as the constant conflict with their preferred choice of prey and livestock has waned—but not ended.
Humans in the Lands of the Dawn call uraeyl “devils” and often attack them on sight. (Turnabout is not fair play—all humans who have attempted to eat uraeyl flesh have sickened and died.) The border between Majehm and Zare is a tense
a crystalline spire that reaches almost a mile into the sky with gauze-thin crests that catch and store sunlight like the petals of a colossal flower in full bloom.
Corao is wealthy and enjoys many technological advancements developed by its scholars and researchers over the centuries. More than any of the lands of the Steadfast, and far more than the lands of the Beyond, Corao is a well-traveled, connected place. Its fleets of soarcraft make travel relatively quick, easy, and—for the most part—safe.
SOARCRAFT
Both creature and machine, the
biomechanical soarcraft are living vehicles that fly through the air, held aloft by massive sacs of lighter-than-air gases that the creatures produce. They are propelled by numenera engines that allow them to move 300 miles (483 km) per hour if need be, although speeds of a quarter of that rate are more typical. Corao soarcraft tenders are both technicians and caregivers, working in landing towers and platforms across the land. They control the craft/creatures by singing them complex and delicate songs developed centuries earlier, full of praise and flattery as well as detailed information. The main hub of all soarcraft is the Ghost Mountain, but the vehicles travel to all major locations in the monarchy.
One of the biggest threats to soarcraft are the cloud volii, ancient biomechanical creatures that are drawn to the living vehicles, eager to destroy them and consume and absorb their organic and inorganic parts.