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This series is based on a world that me and a friend developed while going through military training. There is some difference from traditionally used language because we both based the language for the races we developed on things we were familiar with. I developed the Lynhär and based their language on the Tolkien Elvish language, while he developed the Volvaka and based their language on Aztec and Egyptian. Unfortunately I haven't been able to communicate with him for a few years and don't have most of his developed language for that race.
If anyone has any questions about this world I will happily answer them, please let me know!
The location the story will begin is on this small world where the majority of landmass is a single supercontinent. This world is very cold and significantly larger than our Earth. It is further from its own sun and the only places that are habitable to most life are within the temperate zones created by the volcanic activity that is extremely common across the world. The story will begin with the characters located near the "Cradle", a section of continent that was broken off long ago and separated by a large sea from the main continent. This sub-continent is almost entirely temperate due to the large number of volcanoes and mountains keeping the temperature reasonable.
The sentient races present on the continents are the Lynhär and the Volvaka. The Lynhär are a communal merchant society of beast races. The three primary races are the Fox-descendants, the Hound-descendants, and the Feline-descendants. The Volvaka are a nearly hive-minded reptilian race that live almost exclusively in the lava-strewn caves that run extensively under the surface of the planet. Each hive has their own queen, descended from another, who possesses all the memories the parent chose to pass down at the time of birth. Each hive have their own unique history and evolutionary traits, some of which are influenced by the mystical elements in their environment.
Both of these races have the potential to cultivate, the Lynhär follow an initial Body Transformation system that becomes akin to an Essence Gathering system after leaving the Body Transformation phase of growth. Rather than a Dantian I chose to give them a Neidan as they are a beast descendant race, and at later stages they will grow the Neidan into a world-stabilizing tree and develop their own inner worlds.
The Volvaka follow a separate system related to their religion. As a race that grew up directly reliant on the heat of the lava, they became obsessed with Fire elemental properties and worship fiery deities. As a result they are focused on internalizing flame to overcome the limitations of their own cold-blooded bodies in this arctic world. Because of this focus they are excellent smiths and create some of the greatest weapons on this planet due to their access to the richest minerals.
Outside the continent, the large world-wide oceans are mostly frozen hundreds of meters thick. Some life lives out in the arctic wastes, but not many can survive.