A Picture of Preenin

Preenin is a large land, approximately 6800 square miles in land, not counting the great oceans to the north and west, and not counting the great heights of the mountains far to the east and south. One major point about the land of Preenin is that it is flat; For a long time this was only known because of the eastern Cliffs of Dilatrean, where the first Gnomes awoke at the beginning of the first epoch. At another time, the north and west boundaries were added by two separate groups of elves, and the story of how the elves divided began there, which is a long story for another time (next post). The four points of the compass have all been explored as much as could be hoped, as it appears as though you can continue over the mountains in the south, though despite the many gnomes and goblins that try, it is still considered a boundary in itself, and the heights are perpetually lost in the clouds.

Rivers run through forests and across plains, heading from lakes and trickles in the mountains towards the great oceans and occasionally into deep tunnels. Forests crop up quickly, almost with a mind of their own, sometimes taking years to grow, but other times, perhaps aided by the elves, it takes a mere days to birth a square mile of forest. Caves tunnel almost everywhere, some preexisting, ancient and deep, others tunneled by gnomes and goblins. The interesting thing about this land is the large number of temples and cities already erected when the first creatures arrived. Many of the cities and temples have been defaced for the gold, jewels, and ancient valuable artworks hidden within, but fortunately the largest was taken over by the Deep Elves, who later renamed themselves the Olkanh. The largest temple is found connected to the lone mountain in the northeast, standing on the edge of the sea and towering above the land, the Silverstream River runs through the middle of the temple and comes out on the other side of the mountain. The largest city found is actually two cities, divided in half by the Silverstream River that flows unswervingly from the mountains in the southeast bisecting the Preenin and connecting with the oceans in the northwest. The cities are Heliopolis on the northeast side and Selenopolis on the southwest. Altogether the city is called Phopolis, the name of the great sky above, and more specifically of the great body in the sky.

The moon rises in the east at 8 PM every night, and sets at 8 AM every morning when the sun rises to take its place, which then sets at 8 PM again. Because of this perfect regularity of the sun and moon, it is the basis of the day and all time is formed on the passage of celestial bodies. Though the sun and moon take their passage across the sky every day, another celestial body takes its path as well. The great Pho, a large body twice as large as the sun and half as large as the moon, takes it's path across the sky and takes 350 days to do so. Almost every race makes this their year, and they also base their seasons off of the color changes it goes through. The year begins after winter, the great Pho descends beneath the world and darkness reigns, the moon shedding very little light upon the land, and for one hour there is silence as every creature waits for the return. After the hour has passed a bright orange light peeks over the edge and the sun rises, the start of the new year. The orange Pho grows in the sky and when, after 70 days, the sun is completely on the sky and a fifth of the way across the sky, it changes color to a deep red, spring is over. Now that summer has come, it lasts for 92 days and then in one day the Pho turns completely unblemished white. This new season is called the waking by humans, most human travels exist during this time, stories are written by great human authors, masterpieces developed by human artists, and brave adventures led by strong human leaders. This tie to the waking has led humans to dominate the known world, despite being the last race to appear in Preenin. After 26 days, the waking is finished and the Pho turns a pale blue. Autumn is considered a time of beauty, and many of the underground races will leave their dens and come up to see it despite whatever work they are doing at the time. After 70 days the Pho turns a deep dark blue and it becomes winter for 92 days until the years restarts.

Next post I will begin to tell you the story of the two great waterfalls.