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<img src="http://www.elfcomic.com/junk/gaia/diary/daerf.gif" align="left">Duke of Rakkel; both Torvwyn and Rikard worked for him previously. Daerinnid and Rikard are more or less best friends, though the relationship is frequently a violent one, particularly since Daerinnid began losing his mind a few years ago. Daerinnid has two children, a b*****d daughter (Clover Fenneswuik, 5) and a son (Villam Agrippa, 3) by his now deceased wife Alonriel.

<img src="http://www.elfcomic.com/junk/gaia/diary/teliuf.gif" align="left">Rakkelian Minister of Science, Teliu succeeded her father in the position when she was only a teenager. Possessing a quick mind and a knack for inventing strange contraptions, her relentless pursuit of science and eccentric habits eventually branded her a witch. She is Daerinnid's second-best friend. She was a confirmed bachelorette until the fairy princess Alonriel came to Rakkel seeking a union with Daerinnid. To convince Daerinnid to agree to the union, Teliu married a carriage maker named Sebastian Sedona whom she had never before met. Luckily they fell in love and Teliu bore a son, Talos (4).

<img src="http://www.elfcomic.com/junk/gaia/diary/aervwenf.gif" align="left">Torvwyn's elder brother, a quarter-elf ranger. Aervwen cared for Torvwyn after the death of their mother. He was initially suspicious of Rikard, causing a large rift between himself and Torvwyn, but eventually learned to accept Rikard as his brother's partner and repaired his relationship with Torvwyn, taking care of Torvwyn while Rikard was questing to find a cure for Torvwyn's ailment.

<img src="http://www.elfcomic.com/junk/gaia/diary/meepof.gif" align="left">A descendent of the goblins once led by Rikard's father Telrik, Meepo was a goblin runt who would surely have been eaten by his fellows had Rikard not taken Meepo under his wing. The little goblin traveled with Rikard to Rakkel where he eventually became an "honorary forester" under the tutelage of Aervwen. He currently lives with Aervwen and considers Rikard to be greatest person alive.

<img src="http://www.elfcomic.com/junk/gaia/diary/shizukaf.gif" align="left">

<img src="http://www.elfcomic.com/junk/gaia/diary/djerodf.gif" align="left">Djerod lives in the large mansion just a few houses down the street. Rikard lived with Djerod previously in Emperial's home. When Rikard and Torvwyn found themselves woefully short on furnishings for their new house Djerod graciously "loaned" them several sets of furniture, a fact which Rikard resents. Nevertheless, Djerod has made it clear that he more than happy to be of help to for any reason.

<img src="http://www.elfcomic.com/junk/gaia/diary/emf.gif" align="left">The one responsible for first bringing Rikard to Gaia, Emperial is Djerod's daughter and a multidimensional genius. Rikard used to live in Emperial's house when he was not on Keska. Around the time Rikard decided to move out, Emperial closed down her house and left Gaia. Rikard has not seen her since. The relationship between the two is one of close friendship.

History>Etherea>Keska
Geography>Etherea>Keska
Culture>Etherea>Keska
related History>Etherea>Keska>Crusades
----- Culture>Etherea>Keska>Regional
----- Culture>Etherea>Keska>Races

Both Rikard and Torvwyn hail from the realm of Etherea and the island of Keska. Etherea itself is a largely oceanic realm with seven continent-islands. Of these, Keska is the second-largest. It is a rugged, mountainous land, and even its plains are gently hilled. The island is cut up into sections by several rivers, the largest and most important of which are the Serpent River and the Southwater (or River Sablu). The island is comparable in land size to the state of California, albeit squarer in shape.

About a third of the island is comprised of rocky mountains. They stretch high into the sky, massive and impregnable, covering the northern portion of the island. On the western side, the mountains dissolve into heavy hills and forest, turning to swamp at the far south. The eastern part of the island is a mixture of scattered forests and gently rolling plains. The soil is of moderate quality and farming is hard.

Keska is the birthplace of the elves and the fae peoples. Long ago, they were the island's only residents. The elves covered the forests across the island, building their cities into the depths of the woods, walking their hidden wodded paths. Fairies lived in small hovels scattered across the island, adept tricksters and charlatans, living out their short lives in innocuous glory.

Then came the dwarves, who rose up from the earth, burrowing and building out of sight and out of mind under the northern mountains. so long as the dwarves stayed in their place and the elves in theirs, no concern was had between the two races.

Following that came the goblins, refugees fleeing across the oceans in their makeshift boats. Mutually hated by the elves and the dwarves, the goblins eventually managed to carve out a niche on the island by rallying into small, brutal tribes whose population was controlled by the goblins own ignorance and in-fighting. The goblins were unwelcome neighbors, but posed no true threat or danger to the more advanced and organized dwarven and elven cultures.

The elves had little concern for the oceans around them or the other island-continents far in the distance. Then, nearly six centuries ago, settlement ships arrived from far abroad, bringing the humans to the land. They came seeking new land to house their rapidly-increasing population. The humans had the luck (or misfortune) to land on the eastern coast of Keska where there were no elves, fairies, or dwarves, and only a few small goblin tribes who were quickly dispatched. They began to establish towns and then cities, expanding westward and demolishing forests in their path to make room for farmland to support the burgeoning populace.

This quickly led to small skirmishes with elves, who found themselves slowly being driven back against the onslaught of this new aggressor. The humans were hardy, adaptable, organized, and quickly overwhelming the scattered eastern populations of elves and fairies. To the humans, the elves and fae were mere nuisances in the way of development.

Gradually the intensity and number of the fights between the two sides grew in number until the elves rallied themselves on the western shore of the Serpent River and began to fight back. A full-scale war erupted: the Crusades. The elves unsuccessfully attempted to recruit the dwarves, leading to a split in the relations between the two races as the dwarves wanted no part in anything to do with the surface world.

The Crusades lasted a hundred and fifty years with great casualties on both sides. But the humans were quick to replenish their numbers with new generations; the longer-lived elves could not. The two sides fought to a standstill over the River Serpent and then negotiated a truce, defining the three major kingdoms of Keska in the process: Loki, kingdom of the elves, Kappa, kingdom of the humans, and Eterni, realm of the dwarves. The humans continued their expansion southward and the elves returned to their hidden cities, with no love lost between the sides.

The kingdom of Kappa quickly established itself as an extremely xenophobic place where none but humans were tolerated. The Kappans also began to unite behind the banner of the Trinist faith, expelling followers of other religions. These displaced persons, and others who were sympathetic to the elves, ended up colonizing the western coast of Keska and allying themselves with the Lokans, creating a diverse kingdom of many races and beliefs.

Gradually the tensions between the three major races began to quiet, though they still exist today.

Culture>Etherea>Religion
History>People>Prowley, Rikard
History>People>Eprinmaierson, Torvwyn
related Geography>Etherea>Keska>Regional
----- Culture>Etherea>Keska>Regional
----- Culture>Etherea>Keska>Regional>Rakkel
----- Culture>Etherea>Keska>Regional>Loki
----- Culture>Interdimensional>Comparative>Religion

There are three major kingdoms on Keska. The first is Eterni, the kingdom of the dwarves, which lies beneath the northern mountains. The second is Loki, formerly kingdom of the elves, now more a kingdom of elves, magical creatures of various sorts, and humans. About 35% of the population is full human, 5% half-human, half-elf, 45% elven, and 15% various types of fae creatures. Finally, there is the kingdom of Kappa, predominantly human (95%).

Rikard hails from Loki. The majority of Loki is a great forest with elven villages and a few elven cities. Along the coast are the hybrid cities of humans and elves. Among these communities, magic is part of life. The cities are vibrant and colorful and reminiscent of Arabian folklore. The people in the coastal cities tend to be very tolerant of different customs and races, thus they find it very hard to understand the narrow-mindedness of the elves living in the forest (who hate all non-elves), the humans of Kappa (who hate all non-humans), and the dwarves (who hate all non-dwarves). The coastal Lokans are a diverse and very lively bunch.

Torvwyn, on the other hand, comes from Kappa. The land of Kappa is mixed forests and plains, with several cities. The kingdom is almost depressingly drab, with a large peasant class and rigid caste structure. (Comparably, Loki has royalty, but no strong class distinctions.) Torvwyn's hometown, Rakkel, is located in the center of the island, and is a major trading hub. Two major trade roads intersect in the city and the Serpent River runs straight through it. You can get anything you want in Rakkel. The majority of Kappa is very intolerant of non-humans, but in Rakkel they're a smidgen more accepting, provided the non-human in question is there to barter. Rakkelians love bartering above all else.

There are three major religions in the land. The first is centered around the nature creation goddess Mista. Mistans love the land and respect it, protecting and preserving nature, living in harmony with the world around them. They value life very highly. Theirs is a religion very similar to Wicca and Buddhism. Mistans are matriarchal, but there's no bias against males. The second group is the Trinists, who follow the Three. The Three are personifications of justice and order. Trinists value law and punishment. They are similar to Puritans in many regards. They see only one way of doing things, and anything outside of this way is an aberration and should be destroyed. They despise homosexuality and extramarital sex. Adultery is a high offense. This doesn't mean that such things don't occur, just that anyone who partakes in them deserves scorn, and sometimes a stoning. (Adultery is probably the most overlooked sin.) Trinists are patriarchal with a bias against females.

And finally Morgausites. Many years ago, Morgause ascended to the gods, and his followers believe in one thing and one thing only: Power. Morgausites are the ultimate self-empowered individuals, and their ultimate goal is to follow their god up into the heavens and become gods themselves. Being so power-hungry, there's really nothing a Morgausite won't do to achieve power, and their religion condones sex of all forms, murder, rape, and just about anything else that the other two religions dislike. If a Morgausite wants something, he or she is encouraged to take it. The religion is surprisingly equal in its treatment of the genders: Morgausite wives are entitled to do whatever they like, same as their husbands, and indeed, some of the more infamous Morgausites in the past have been women. Women take lovers just as much as their husbands, murder just as much, rape just as much. However, unlike the other religions, there are no real rules in the Morgausite religion besides don't knock on other Morgausites. So an individual Morgausite might personally detest rape, or adultery, or murder, and that's perfectly fine, so long as that Morgausite doesn't try to press his views onto another.

They're perfectly welcome to impress their views onto non-Morgausites, though, and usually do -- with a knife.

This is very important to understand because both Rikard and Torvwyn are Morgausites, but from very different environments. In Kappa, which is predominantly Trinist (85%), Morgausites are heavily discriminated against. The tenants of the Morgausite religion are almost the exact opposite of Trinism, after all. Morgausites who live in Kappa are very, very discrete. No blood orgies, no mass sacrifices, no major festivals of any kind if they can help it. They practice their religion in secrecy. (Mistans make up just under 15% of the population, with Morgausites taking the remaining 2-3%.) It should be noted that even though they keep their religion a secret, Morgausites are some of the most powerful people in Kappa, because they tend to be the people who are the best at gathering knowledge, wealth, and power. So Morgausites hold roughly 25% of the powerful positions in Kappa, and comprise 9% of the nobility. (They are never members of the peasant class, but excel at taking advantage of peasants.)

In Loki, on the other hand, Morgausites make up about 10-15% of the population, Mistans weigh in at 80%, and Trinists between 5-10%. In the coastal cities, the proportion of Morgausites is closer to 35%. There's no need to be secretive in these areas, and Morgausites take full advantage of that.

So Rikard grew up in an environment where he was able to practice his religion freely, and Torvwyn grew up in a land where Morgausites are heavily discriminated against. Additionally, Rikard is a born Morgausite, and Torvwyn is a convert who learned to follow Morgause by the example of his teacher and his (very secret subconscious) hatred of Trinists. It's no surprise, then, that the two have completely different methods of practicing their religion.

But being Morgausite was the first thing that brought Rik and Tory together and will always be an integral part of their relationship.