June 2012 Entry: Chthonia

[Diamond]

Chthonia is a world of extremes. Most of the planet's surface sits a couple of miles above 'sea level'; the atmosphere in these desolate upper regions is thin and storm-wracked. Few life-forms are capable of surviving there, and most of this terrain is unexplored.

Scattered across the land are massive valleys. These might be natural formations or the result of ancient seas drying up - no one can say. Life on the valley floor is much different than the world above. Here, air pressure, temperature, and weather are more normal. There are bodies of water, some quite large. Rivers pour from great chasms in the cliff edges, feeding the lowland seas. Dense forests and fertile hills blanket the land.

One of the greatest of these valleys, Leng, is home to a thriving iron age civilization, the Empire of Zaran. Isolated city-states and petty kingdoms hold out against Zaran's 'benevolent tyranny', but there is no major power to rival them... except the Caraeum, a mysterious order of mages who work to undermine Zaran's hold on the valley.

...And meanwhile, from the Uttermost North, from across the Great Desolation, the scouts of an alien army from a distant valley have discovered Leng...

### LATEST WIP ###