A little lesson on the world: Uwei

While Ray prepared for his exams, I started to study something for my sake. The history of this world was very interesting, as this civilization was not the first one to have made contact with these gods. older civilizations were less advanced and more focused on the survival aspect of life. their purpose for borrowing the authority of the gods was to wage war.

Their reign was short-lived, as they destroyed themselves. Gods stopped lending them authority, and their whole civilization fell apart. that was the result of making all of their operations run on the borrowed authority, which was taken back. The entire society collapsed, leaving the people to repeatedly ask the gods for authority for decades. That asking is what resulted in the creation of what Ray is studying currently, Runes.

Other civilizations learned from this mistake and developed what has come to be known as modern science. The devices are now powered by natural energy rather than borrowed authority. electricity is the major energy form in the world. Zosdos did help in making this possible, but now that the humans have learned to generate and store electricity, he couldn't be more proud.

Now, let's talk about the world where Ray lives, shall we?

Uwei, about the size of Mars, is largely covered by water, 80 percent of the surface being ocean. There are four major continents here of which two cover the poles. Apart from those inhabitable ones, the other two continents have vastly different climates. One is mostly grassland and desert, while the other has Lumesvein mountains running through its center, creating a divide between north and south.

There are not many nations in this world. mainly because of the large size of each of them, even if they are smaller ones comparatively.

The largest empire is the Oclar Empire, which is the entire land north of the Lumesvein mountains in the continent. The dynasty that ruled this empire is constantly changing the leaders and yet manages to stay stable due to the ministry's hard work.

Second, comes the Uswon Union, covering the southwest of the continent. This large nation is the result of multiple smaller nations coming together to form an alliance. This is mainly an alliance that depends on trade and military negotiations.

The Kingdom of Lageth, which just gained Lucian as its 7th prince, lies in the east of Uswon. the main lifeline of this nation is the Xin River, which flows in the center. The capital state of Glomias lies in the middle of the river, a water-locked land. Having a large river helps the kingdom have an efficient trade route.

To the east of Lageth lies Bexmeda, a nation known for having a population primarily made up of immigrants. it's a social hub for the entire continent's trade and helps act as a bridge between the two continents. hence the population is of the traders, sailors, and the people who tend to this moving population.

The last country on this continent is the island nation of Astax. It lies south of Uswon and is the second smallest country in the world. heavily reliant on imports and tourism, but is a holiday hotspot for the entire world.

On the other side of the world, there exist only three countries. all being island nations, and having varying climates.

Being the smallest country in the world, Blewich has a low population. As the majority of the land is covered in dense rainforest, only the coastal villages exist there. This place relies on fishing as the major food and trade source.

To its north, lies the nation known for being home to all kinds of dragon species. Having a sub-tropical environment with little to no changes in its weather as the seasons change worldwide, the forest land of Apror worships these dragons as deities. They were the ones who formed the global alliance to safeguard these marvelous creatures.

The largest country, although having the biggest area after the Oclar empire, is pretty much empty. Due to the desert climate of about half of the land, the population lives on the eastern side, where the grasslands are. The Republic of Goswen is the main producer of natural energy for the whole world. having large areas which are not habitable by other standards, they made huge plans in the desert. These plants are the place where the most types of stored energy are produced. So in short, this country is known for being industry heavy. almost all of the income of this country is generated from export.

Now, you might think that with these authorities available to the general public, they can easily terraform the desert, or make the inhabitable continents more hospitable. although this could be done easily, that would mean that the civilization that gets to live there would go back to relying on borrowed authority for their survival.

Besides that, almost all of the Runes that are being researched are in the remnants of the civilization that lived in these areas. Each day, some new part of the history is being discovered, and with it, comes a warning to not rely on mana and god's authority for survival.

At the current age, there is an equal usage of mana and energy in the world. but as humans slowly move towards ease of life and longevity, their reliance on technology increases. I have seen this on Earth too, humans slowly losing their survival instincts as they live an easier life surrounded by technology. but unlike Earth, humans on Uwei are more adept and respectable towards nature. their way of progress does not damage nature, and hence, towards themselves.

People here are hard-working, maybe because they want to, or because they fear that the gods can abandon them any day. Their faith in gods is completely transactional, like how a customer trusts the shopkeeper to give the right product. Only a few places in this world worship the gods, so they find it rare that someone asks them for help.

Personal requests are not something that gods regularly comply with, so when someone makes a request from them, they tend to go a little overboard. For example, that dragon that Lucian slayed, was blessed by Divina. After getting injured in a fight, he lost all hope and asked for help in survival, which is the department of Divina.

There was also one time that Ray had an unusual request for Arcana, which she complied with without much thought. These kinds of requests amuse gods, and they like to have a little bit of attention that they gain from it.

What's most interesting is the effects that gods bestow on those who worship them with all their hearts. There are only a few people like that around this planet, but their devotion has granted them abilities that go beyond what regular people are capable of.

I am not aware of all of them, maybe because they will appear later in Ray's life. Followers of a god, who are part of the same faith, gain similar abilities and these abilities are generally well-known. The only drawback that they have is that these abilities exist as long as they have faith in that particular god. As soon as they lose that faith, their abilities are also lost.

Imis grants the followers immunity to drowning. Her followers are incapable of ever getting lost in the sea, and hence most of the sailor population is made up of Imis followers.

Vutix gives flight, which is not rare, but most people need special gear to make this happen. These people are found in Apror, where they worship dragons. Vutix enjoys observing these creatures exist, and hence gave the people who protect them this special gift.

Zosdos, the god of earth, is worshiped by farmers all around the planet, and the ability they gain is a niche one. that being capacity for turning almost any kind of soil into farming land once every few months. Although most people find it useless, it's an excellent ability for farmers to have.

The followers of Utos, the fire god, and Urus, the lightning god, are continuously fighting to prove whose god is superior. and hence, neither has given them any abilities as it might just end up destroying both sides.

There is a cult, as they like to call themselves, that worships Midea. Cult of Midea is an underground operating society that only a select few can enter, but that's the extent of my knowledge about them. it's certain that the knowledge is being kept from me, and that hints at these people appearing in Ray's life.

Divina doesn't like to grant the creatures an ability, but rather a blessing. Her blessing enhances the healing abilities of the people. Doctors, like Ray's father Norman, are her primary worshiper. Her blessing extends to a little more than just the devotee, she even blesses their families. Ray is also blessed by Divina, although his blessing isn't as strong as direct devotees, it's still easily noticeable.

Other gods don't have that many known followers, but that just makes the followers they have more special to them. Arcana currently has two followers, who are fully capable of removing their existence from all types of sensors. their identities are confidential, as Arcana doesn't want them to be found.

Bonas's follower is a single prison guard. his abilities, yes he has multiple, has a long range of usage. From being able to hold down every criminal within the prison with just a flick of a finger, to controlling the actions of the prisoners to prevent any kind of fights, he is well-feared. His sense of justice is the reason he gets to operate the largest prison in the world, in the middle of Goswen's desert.

Then there is Otin, the leader of these 'gods'. Who, despite having the most power, he isn't well-known to humans enough to grant him a huge following. He has one follower, as he once told me after slipping up. but he didn't give me any other information about the ability he has given to him. I look forward to meeting him soon.

I think the amount of lore-drop in this part got a little excessive, but its easier to have in one part rather than spread over multiple chapters that people forget about. Getting back to Ray's story, well he is sleeping. Must have been tired that poor guy.