The Mainland
Most scholars from all three nations agree, the world is in a golden age. There is very little poverty or hunger. Most diseases are easily treated. Most types and levels of education are freely available, and society continues to advance at a remarkable pace.
There are three great nations in the modern world; all three formed twelve to fifteen hundred years ago. Finding accurate information about the time before this is difficult (literacy rates jumped after the formation of the three nations). Only those who specifically study “Pre-history” know much about it.
The seed of the first of these nations was planted around fifteen hundred years ago, though it would take much longer for it to grow into the Grove Empire. At that time the people of the jungle were separated into many small villages and wandering tribes who often raided or warred with each other. It is believed that, in an effort to gain the upper hand against its neighbors, one of these villages created the Network Trees. These Trees generated a virtual space that allowed them (and the people connected to them) to interact regardless of distance.
As the Trees grew and produced more and more networked seeds, the Network began to engulf the jungle. This provoked war from the other villages. To stand up against wars on so many fronts, those who tended the Trees (now called Sysadmins) learned how to rapidly grow and cause physical movement in the Trees.
The war dragged on for nearly a generation. The enhanced growth of the Tree meant that, by the end, the Network had invaded most of the jungle and people started calling it an Empire. The Network called itself the Grove but never made much effort to rule or govern the territory it had taken.
The second nation comes from the Trilith revolution, which happened within a generation of the first Network Trees’ creation. The kingdoms of Ilgóòlú, Ilirin, and Okuta Iyebiye were the wealthiest and greatest in the world at that time. Though few were able to enjoy those achievements, as the nobility hoarded the wealth and shared only with their family. One brilliant smith from Ilirin decided to change this. Having no army with which to fight the nobility, she chose to build one of iron soldiers. These were the first of the Okonia, and they easily destroyed the troops the nobility sent against them. Seeing their success, the unhappy citizens of Ilgóòlú and Okuta Iyebiye begged the smith and her iron army to drive out their own nobles. In order to fight on three fronts, the smith created two more Okonia armies, one of diamond, and one of gold. The Okonia defeated the nobility in all three kingdoms.
Victorious, the people decided to tie their fortunes together and give control to the smith who had started it all. The smith, however, feared that people could not be trusted with power, and that eventually a new entrenched nobility would arise. As they had no real concept of greed or sense of self, the smith gave control of the Trilith to her Okonia armies. These Okonia became the Stone Judges, and have acted as the Trilith’s government ever since.
Khemet arose from sheer need and was the last of the modern nations to form. Within a few hundred years of their creation, the Network Trees had taken over a good portion of the jungle and many villages within it. Some of the villages that were left feared they would also be consumed. They could not fight the very land itself. So they prayed to their Gods for help. The Goddess Aset devised a plan. At the very edge of the world she created a river and fertile land surrounding it, and the people ran to it. Around it, the God Sutekh made a great desert so that no Network Tree might survive. As the Gods had saved them, the people decided the Gods would rule them. Control of the government was given to the priesthoods with the high priest/ess of Aset ruling the country.
Cultures
The Grove - There is very little one can say about the Grove as a whole, other than that its citizens spend a lot of time in “the Network.” It is fairly well known that they can communicate instantly over long distances with it. But since non-Networked people can’t see or interact with it, who knows what’s actually going on in there?
The Trilith - The cities and countryside of the Trilith are beautiful. The country is filled with museums, ornate gardens, breathtaking architecture, and endless artists’ markets. This is to be expected when almost every person in the city is trained to be some kind of artist or crafter. However, very few of the Trilith know how to fend for themselves or lead others. Many whisper that without the Stone Judges to feed and govern them, the Trilith would simply die off.
Khemet - Khemet is a land of myth and legend, with great stories of Gods and heroes celebrated and reenacted yearly. They structure their laws and society around Ma’at, the concept of divine justice, and for this the other nations consider them the most conservative. Khemet considers itself to be the most resourceful and adaptive of the nations, as they are not dependent on any one entity (as the Grove is with the Network, and the Trilith with the Stone Judges) to survive.
People
Enia - Basic humanoids. They are believed to be the oldest of the people.
Mangaro - The Mangaro are like Enia but with characteristics from a specific animal species (a leopard’s tail and claws, a falcon’s wings, etc.). Many Mangaro believe their ancestors were Enia who developed these characteristics to help survive the dangerous environment of the pre-network jungle.
Okonia – The Okonia are stone. They are shaped by a creator so that they might speak, think, and act as people. This is usually not entirely successful (it is sometimes not intended to be). The other two peoples find them hard to interact with as the Okonia still, to some degree, perceive the world as ageless stone does.