Nethicka is a shattered land of harsh, rocky islands which were formed eons ago when a meteor fell into the Sea of Stars. Those who live here now, the gilth, are a race of agile, skittish humanoids who worship an entity known as “The Silent Speaker”. The impact also created a huge underground cave system, named The Beneath; an area which is largely unexplored, but the location of fabulous gems and precious metals.
Nethicka is inhabited by a strange, primitive humanoid race called the gilth. These creatures are adept swimmers and climbers - perfectly adapted to life within the hostile environment they call home.
The Gilth are humanoid creatures whom may at one time have been much like mankind, but have gradually altered and evolved into what they are today. Gilth are smaller than humans, at around five feet and four inches being a good average height for males, slightly smaller for females.
They are a scrawny but deceptively strong race, known for their agility and low cunning. Gilth have wicked looking sharp features with pointed noses, pointed chins and large ears. They have excellent hearing and their sense of smell is as keen as a bloodhound's. Gilths dislike sunlight, though they are not harmed by it, and so they spend much of their time underground in the dark and can see reasonably well in such conditions. Their skin colour ranges from dark greens and browns to reds and sometimes pitch black. Black gilths are more often than not the more powerful of their kind, with those of dark green generally being the weakest. What caused this variation is unknown, but it has led to gilth society becoming highly segregated, with “the greenies” serving as lackeys for the others. Black gilths are the rarest colours and for the most part it is them that rule over the others.
All gilth are very strong swimmers; their barren land does not support life and so they must turn to the sea for their food.
Gilths often squabble and kill each other over small things. They are barbaric and animalistic in the sense that they have little regard for each other’s lives, but still are not fully beasts. They have limited crafting and metalworking skills. Art and music seem somewhat beyond them, perhaps because such things are far from their way of life. They do, however, have a great tendency to invent a wide variety of games which they play and squabble and kill each other over.
The gilth are an isolated race, and have little to do with other races except to go to war with them. This is fortunate, because other races wish to have little to do with the gilth. The only reason for anyone to travel to Nethicka is to attempt to extract some of the diamonds that can be found within the caves there. This is highly dangerous, as the gilth are fiercely territorial and will attack and kill any intruders on their lands. Other than the diamonds, which they are oblivious to the value of, the gilth have little to sell or trade from their homeland, though gilths themselves make excellent trackers and scouts, and can sometimes, but rarely, be found as hirelings for expeditions into dangerous areas and territories.
Though the islands comprising Nethicka are for the most part individual entities, all gilth know that their supreme rulers dwell on the largest island, Cranak, and the gilth rulers are known as The Avatars. It is at Cranak that a meteor crashed into Iiosia milennia ago. The impact caused much of the low-lying land to sink beneath the sea, never to resurface, and left behind the wreckage that is modern-day Nethicka. The meteor, buried underground, was unearthed within a great cavern by the first of the gilth. Warped by the heat of the atmosphere and eroded by the dripping of underground water, the alien composite rock had eroded away in places but not in others, resulting in an effigy of a giant, towering figure with many arms. The gilth worshiped the statue, naming it The Silent Speaker. Close proximity to the alien rock caused some of the gilth to have hallucinations, which were interpreted as The Silent Speaker talking to them. Those who saw such visions were considered highly blessed by their god, and greatly revered. Thus, they become Avatars, and they spend much of their lives living by The Silent Speaker, awaiting visions from it that will instruct them on how to lead the gilth race.
The sea is abundant with fish which form the gilth's main food source. Hardy shrubs and grasses can survive upon the infertile soils and within the sheltered cracks between rocks, but other than those life stuggles to persist here.
It is also worth noting here that Nethicka is home to the largest concentration of illumoss on Iiosia. Illumoss is a plant which grows within certain underground caverns and glows with a strong green light.
The islands which make up Nethicka (neth-ee-kah) were formed eons ago, when a strange and mysterious rock plummeted from the heavens and impacted deep into the earth. The impact shattered the land, scarring it forever and forming the harsh, rocky islands that became Nethicka, as well as creating a massive underground network of tunnels and passages under the ocean floor.
Nethicka is an unforgiving environment. The islands are rocky and steep, the air is chill, and the winds strong. Storms are frequent in this part of the world and the area is largely shunned by sailors. Tales tell that the gilth will try to kill and eat any man they find marooned upon their homeland.
The whole of Nethicka is a barren, desolate place formed mostly from bare, rocky terrain with many sheer cliff faces, gorges and mountains. Many of the islands would be nigh impossible for the average human to walk across, since the terrain is so craggy and uneven one would eventually fall foul of a steep, slippery cliff, or break an ankle in the jagged rocks.
What little soil there is is thin and sandy and infertile, and there is little life that can sustain itself upon the rocky islands themselves save for hardy shrubs and insects. The gilth and other creatures live not upon it but beneath it, for the islands are intertwined with a massive network of tunnels and caves, creating an underground complex of immeasurable size. This system of passageways was created by seismic activity after the meteor struck, forming the largest underground complex of Iiosia. Because of its nature, it has been named "The Beneath"
Violent thunderstorms rage over Nethicka for many parts of the year and are known to last for days at a time. These storms contribute to Nethicka's inhospitality along with the desolate relief. Even when the storms subside, fierce winds lash against the islands, swirling up huge waves that clash against the cliffs. These winds carry with them freezing air from the north. What little sunlight there is in this part of the world does little to counteract this, for its rays are weak and carry little heat with them.
Viewed from a distance, the islands of Nethicka look like a row of uneven teeth rearing out of the sea.
The largest of the islands which comprise Nethicka is known as Cranak (kran-ack). Deep within its caverns it houses the alien meteor - the "Silent Speaker" - which the gilth worship as a god. Thus, the vast majority of the gilth live within Cranak's huge network of underground passages and caverns. Despite being the largest island, Cranak is very difficult to sail to because it lies at the centre of Nethicka. Many a sailing ship has been dashed against the cliff face of one of the smaller islands as it fell foul of the strong currents and storms which are indicative of Nethicka's waters. The most practical way to reach Cranak is to take smaller ships into the island complex, but these are more vulnerable to attack from gilth hunting parties.
The Hall of The Silent Speaker is a large cavern hidden within the depths of Cranak. Within it lies the meteor which fell over three thousand years ago, which the gilth refer to as The Silent Speaker. It is the hub of gilth culture and where the gilth leaders live to receive the images bestowed upon them by the meteor. The Hall itself is a massive chamber which is illuminated by a luminous moss which grows liberally throughout the caves. Save for the gilth themselves, no creature has ever entered this chamber and lived. Other unfortunate individuals have entered here, but they have been dragged by the gilth for sacrifice. As these poor souls approached their deaths, They would behold the sight of the biggest diamond upon Iiosia. Worth many times the wealth of the richest kingdoms, they would be laid over it before their hearts were torn from their chests.
The Silent Speaker itself is the meteor (or a fragment of it) which crashed here in Iiosia's pre-history. It is made of an extremely hard and glittering stone, unlike any found anywhere else on Iiosia, and stands in the center of the chamber like a silent stone sentinel. The gilth have come to worship it, for it pollutes the minds of those who are close to it for long periods; granting them swirling visions and dancing flashing multicoloured lights before their eyes. This comes at a cost, however, for those who are affected also suffer gradual brain damage and eventually die from exposure to the strange alien rock.
The Beneath is a huge network of tunnels and passageways which stretch throughout Nethicka. These tunnels are home to the gilth and most of the other inhabitants of Nethicka; slamanders, and giant spiders among them. Some of the passageways link the islands together, forming an underground roadway under the seas. Much of the Beneath is unexplored, and it is home to far worse things than the gilth. No one has been able to venture deeper within these caves to discover what is in their bowels and live to tell the tale.
Author's Note
Whether the Silent Speaker is a sentient entity or not is still undecided. I do like the idea of the Gilth being ruled over by an inanimate object that grants them random visions. In the end. I think it will always be an enigma, unless it comes to serve a wider purpose moving forwards.
Runic Year: -6 to -3 Invasion of Rune
In the first happening of its type, the Silent Speaker bids the gilth to launch a full invasion of the lands to the south. This they do with abandon, with only the elderly, young, and some females remaining to tend to them.
Despite them being strong swimmers, the journey across the Sea of Stars was perilous even for the gilth. Many drowned due to exhaustion, or were devoured by giant sea creatures.
Once they made landfall, the remaining ravenous horde attacked and devoured the inhabitants of the surrounding fishing villages. Those that survived and fled took with them terrible tales of wicked creatures that struck with deadly speed and ate people as they still lived.
The invasion continued momentum way from the seas, for the gilth were as mobile and agile both upon the land as they are within the oceans. Yet they had no plan, no direct course of action. As word of their invasion spread the people of the land fled before them, making food less easy to find; the Gilth merely found abandoned villages with their inhabitants and livestock already gone.
They were funnelled towards the city of Núin (now called Braithor), whereupon they encountered the first organised defence set behind defensive walls. After sustaining heavy losses at the hands of the resistance, the gilth invasion lost its momentum and dissipated. Most of the gilth which survived retreated north and returned to Nethicka, though a good number found their way into the surrounding mountains where they inhabited the lakes and caverns therein.
