Mythhaler

Mythhaler is the home planet of the Nassigussa, a species starting to reach out into the stars. Its history is rife with conflict and its main landmass is cleaved in two. An established, but intermittently-debated, unitary Coalition accounts for all its many nation-states. Despite this, the present condition of Mythhaler is occasionally precarious.

This page contains a summary of Mythhaler's inhabitants, geography, culture, and key moments from its history. See the relevant pages for more information on the inhabitants and coalition.

The inhabitants of Mythhaler are the Nassigussa and Nassoids. Nassigussa are the organic sapient species native to Mythhaler, serpentine creatures with four arms and a long tail for movement. They are found all across Mythhaler, with the largest powers being those in the northern continent (Hetherovon) and the southern continent (Lyssthrophivon). Nassoids were created well after Nassigussa became an advanced culture: synthetic beings designed initially to compensate for low birth rates and fulfil societal roles that organic beings simply did not have the ability to fill. Now, Nassoids are fully integrated into Mythhaler's societies due to strong AI ethics laws, with all rights and responsibilities as equal citizens to Nassigussa.

The bulk of Mythhaler is open ocean, but the land is comprised of two great supranational continental entities: the Hetherovoni Concordat (also known as Hevco) in the north, and the Lyssthrophivon Council (also known as Lyssil) in the south. In the current day, the names of these governing bodies are often used interchangeably with the names of the landmasses they govern. Historically this split was merely ideological, but following the Great Seismic Reshaping, a rift occurred in the planet's large central landmass, cutting part of Lyssthrophivon from its body and drawing a line of ruin across Mythhaler's new border.

The two continents have different climates. Hetherovon has the fortune of being located mostly around Mythhaler's temperate regions, and with little but forests and rivers as natural barriers to divide up the rolling plains in the continent's centre. Lyssthrophivon, on the other hand, is much larger and more varied: equatorial jungles, polar glaciers, vast mountain ranges, and sprawling deserts can all be found on this beautiful continent. Distinct subcultures exist within each continent, but there are general patterns across both.

Hetherovon's fertile lands were the birthplace of Nassigussan civilisation. The temperate climate makes for rich agriculture, but the repetitive work and the sparse population historically due to the large number of farms has led to a great emphasis on intellectual stimulation through science and arts.

Today, many Hetherovonian Nassigussa take up careers in grand university towns which form hubs for scientific and cultural progress. Hetherovon has developed a very unique and prominent cultural class of intellectuals because of this, with formal customs such as holding their greater arms behind their backs and gesturing with their lesser arms. The influence of the intellectual class is even felt in the most rural farms, where it is not uncommon to see Hetherovonians articulating themselves with their lesser arms and stocking their shelves with books and art. Hetherovonian communities also tend to be relatively small, mostly limited to direct family or a few, albeit very close, friends. Often these small groups will centre around art, music, or games.

Beneath the surface of Lyssthrophivon's many biomes are a wealth of natural resources such as metals, gems, and oil. As such, this continent was the site of many crucial developments in Nassigussan industry. As technology developed far enough that food could be easily transported from the north to the growing, dense cities of Lyssthrophivon, many industrious Nassigussans moved south in search of jobs and riches.

Lyssthrophivon was originally two supranational entities: Lyssanivon and Throphivon. With their hostile climate and rapidly increasing populations, the nascent entities were very food insecure, which led to Hetherovon gaining massive influence economically and politically over them. In reaction against rising Hetherovonian influence, these two entities grew culturally close together until they were considered one and indistinguishable.

Emphases on unity, community, and practical concerns all shape Lyssthrophivonian culture. Lyssthrophivonian society is much more informal and communal than in Hetherovon. Social status, for both Nassoids and organic Nassigussans, is often determined by your standing within your community, with good deeds, charity, and hard work being highly valued. These communities also tend to be very large. For instance, an entire apartment block might be treated like one big familial unit, and Lyssthrophivonian Nassigussa frequently have multiple close partners. Given these values, Lyssthrophivonian citizens are expected to contribute heavily to their communities, especially in tasks to which they're especially suited, like overseeing complex machinery, factories, and vehicles. Those who are generous and hard working tend to be well-liked and loved as focal points of their communities.

For millennia, the continents of Hetherovon and Lyssthrophivon were one contiguous landmass, split into hundreds of nation-states. The cultural borders of these nation-states were in constant flux as civilisation developed, but eventually settled more-or-less into three major supranational powers: Hetherovon, Lyssanivon, and Throphivon, the latter two of which would later become Lyssthrophivon.

In the year 3102, about 120 years before the invention of the Contingency, an epidemic ravaged its way across Hetherovon. Poor international relations made quarantine procedures impossible, and so it quickly spread across the border to Lyssthrophivon, becoming a world-wide crisis with death tolls in the tens of millions. This worsened already tense conflicts between nation-states across and within the two continents.

Sixty years later, in 3164, another disaster struck Mythhaler; an earthquake, dubbed "The Sundering Quake", ripped across Lyssthrophivon's landscape, tearing the land in two. Unstable fault lines in this region meant the population was prepared for seismic activity, but the order of magnitude of this earthquake meant that emergency services could not cope with the sheer volume of killed, injured, or displaced citizens. A plea for help was sent to the Hetherovon government, a plea which was answered in the form of significant relief efforts from across the globe.

As a result of this, the need for a global organisation was recognised. While the smaller nation states were unwilling to cede power to a unified government for fear of strong northern political powers dominating, fear of future crises was high. Eventually, the Coalition of Mythhaler was formed. This global peacekeeping organisation works with nation-states providing relief efforts, facilitating diplomatic meetings, and keeping economies stable. The latest initiative launched by the Coalition is the Contingency, a massive network of dormant AI, ready to wake whenever Mythhaler needs them most.