Arypt
by Marco Dalmonte English translation by Gary DaviesKa - Rakasta, protection of life, prosperity, healing, magic, knowledge, wisdom
[/i]Ninfangle[/i] - Rakasta, bravery, adventure, travel, battle, hunting
Bastet - Rakasta, felines, capriciousness, instinct, vitality, fortune, fertility, wealth
Vanya-Victory, war, conquest, pride, honour, strength
Notes:
1. Arypt is an extremely vast area that faces onto the Sea of Steam to the east, touching to the north the Jungle Coast, to the south the Ice Peaks and to the west the Meghales Amosses. It is commonly divided into High Arypt and Lower Arypt, divided by the area of arid land called Aryptian Basin. High Arypt once housed the powerful kingdom of the Katapecs (perhaps a mixed Neathar-Oltec ethnic group developed in the region from 2000 BC), which ended in ruins when the cults of Atzanteotl and Bachraeus provoked strong internal conflict and a bloody civil war. Now it is inhabited by various tribes of tabi and pardasta rakasta, which conserve some of the secrets of their ancient allies in the mysterious and imposing crystal pyramids hidden in the jungle and on the more luxuriant hills. Lower Arypt instead, in the past a fertile plain dominated by the Varellya Empire, was scorched by the same demon summoned by the Prince Abatu in order to dethrone his brother and win the civil war, that latter on devastated Varellya and cursed the Varellyan survivors transforming them into nagpa. Presently it is a desert area inhabited mainly by Simbasta rakasta, which have also settled in the coastal savannah that faces onto the Gulf of Mar, and by groups of nomadic nagpa that were in the region in search for a cure to their condition and of the secret knowledge that was lost with the fall of Varellya.
2. Among all the races the inhabit Arypt, only the rakasta (both pardasta and simbasta) are settled in cities and fortified villages that rose both in the forests and along the coast. They have an ancient civilisation, with many traditions and knowledge taken from the vanished kingdoms of Arypt and Varellya, and although they weren’t formally allied, all the rakasta cities and villages remained in communication between them through a network of messengers that carry monthly news from one part to another of Arypt. All the rakasta worship the great father Ka and the valiant Ninfangle, and in the last centuries they have brought to the cult of the two traditional rakasta Immortals also that of Bastet, nicknamed the Lost Mother.
3. In the coast that faces onto the Gulf of Mar also rose the fortress of the Heldannic Knights known as Vanya’s Rest (see Dragon Magazine nr 156), erected by the followers of Vanya on the site in which some explorers of the Order discovered the holiest relic of their faith, the Star of Vanya. Taken by a maniple of courageous and powerful warriors and priests of the Order, Vanya’s Rest receives constant reinforcements and assistance from the Heldannic Territories thanks to the flying ships that can be created and properly maintained in virtue of the miraculous powers of the Star of Vanya (artefact that seems impossible to remove from its current position and that therefore needs constant surveillance by part of the Heldannic Knights).