Clueless Delver

 The first fortress that the Cloud Serpents took over was Ma-Imdur, from the fortress they stole the secret of cultivating Barley, and sought to grow it upon the Clouds - but to no avail. Soon, several of the Cloud Serpents took to the ground, and quickly lost their ability to soar the skies. But with a foothold on the land, they were able to feed their brethren in the skies. Thereafter, facing pressure from both Land and Sky, the Land Serpents were cornered and faced a great crisis.

With the first fortresses, the battle with the Cloud Serpents drew longer and neither could successfully defeat the other. But having the bounty of Ul-Sedu's Barley bestowed upon them, the Land Serpents slowly gained the upper hand, as more Cloud Serpents starved and became less sound in mind. Seeing her children who flew alongside her suffer, Ul-Dungur begged Ul-Margur for help, seeing that they both dwelt in the domain of the high.  In exchange for mandating his worship among the Cloud Serpents, Ul-Margur bestowed the Cloud Serpents the ways of commanding hail, and from the ice of hail, they fashioned maces, javelins, and the ability to sculpt large balls of hail which would crush the fortresses that the Land Serpents built.

With a ravenous fury, the Cloud Serpents assailed the land, sacking the domiciles of mud within which were stored the precious Barley harvested by the Land Serpents. Shocked by this transgression, the Land Serpents sought to respond in kind, but their ability to soar the skies were long gone, and they could only find ways to defend themselves. The most gifted of these Land Serpents was Kur-Amat, who built the First Fortress.

As the Serpents ate, the Barley that was upon the Quilt diminished and the number of Land Serpents grew. As Barley grew scarce, the Land Serpents fervently prayed to Ul-Sedu for her mercy and grace. And in return for their prayer and faith, Ul-Sedu granted them Barley in their domiciles. Soon, Wild Barley grew scarce, and the Cloud Serpents who were not bestowed Ul-Sedu's Blessing grew desperate.

To sate their hunger, the Cloud Serpents descended from the clouds to eat the grains from Barley. Several of the serpent's, in their greed ate Barley in excess, and became too heavy to fly alongside Ul-Dungur, these Serpent's became Land Serpents who decided to follow Ul-Sedu instead.

Barley covered much of Ul-Ki'us' Quilt as Ul-Sedu tended to her first creation.  Inspired by Ul-Sedu, Ul-Dungur sought to fill the Clouds with her own creation - which formed the ancestral Cloud Serpents who soared the skies alongside Ul-Sedu. However, unlike Barley, which had their fill of the Void of Water from the High, and the Salt of Earth from the Low, the Cloud Serpents could only eat the Void of Water and hungered for the Salt of Earth.

The three deities Ul-Sedu, Ul-Dungur and Ul-Mar'gur lived in harmony for centuries, tending to the Quilt beneath which Ul-Ki'us slumbered, seeking to make it beautiful and peaceful as a means to not disturb the Deity of Earth's Slumber. The first creation was the grasses - the very first of which was Barley.

As Ul-Gisba and Ul-Ubzi fought, while Ul-Inag wept, the Salt and Void that was cast from the heavens soon layered into many kinds of Salts which settled onto the belly of Ul-Ki'us, forming layer upon layer upon her like a blanket which kept her slumbering.  These layers eventually joined to formed the next generation of Deities, freed from the base inclinations of their primordial ancestors. The first was Ul-Sedu, the Deity of Trees who fed on the void within the tears of Ul-Inag, alongside the Salt of the Earth.  The second was Ul-Dungu, the Deity of Clouds, who fed on the Light from Ul-Gisba's Salt, and the Void of Ul-Inag's tears.  The third was Ul-Mar'gur, the Deity of Storms who fed on the scraps of Ul-Ubzi's Void, and the Light from Ul-Gisba's Salt.

 Due to the force of Ul-Ubzi's strikes the Salt that was beaten out of Ul-Gisba spun upon a different spoke.  These fragments soon gathered to form Ul-Ki'us, the Deity of Earth.  Unlike her creators who commanded Fire and Air, Ul-Ki'us was of a slothful disposition. Though she hungered for Void as she supped on the Salt struck from Ul-Gisba, and the Salt shed from the tears of Ul-Inag, she sat unmoved.   To this day one can still hear the rumbling of her belly, when the land is violently shaken, causing the Salts of Fire to erupt from the deep. These Salts are quelled by the Salts of Air, forming the Salt of Earth.

Yet Ul-Ubzi was not easily consumed, though it was part of her left foot that was gnawed by the starving Ul-Gisba, in her fury, she let go of Ul-Asi and Ul-Asu to strike Ul-Gisba in retaliation. However, having become accustomed to eating the Stars, more of Ul-Ubzi's Void was consumed by Ul-Gisba with every strike she made, even as the Salt was knocked from his bosom.

Yet Void was not as easily gained as Salt. And Ul-Gisba suffered much in his hunger for Void. He labored to eat part of Ul-Asi and Ul-Asu in his desperation, but naught came frome it, for they were too quick and too large. Soon, he was brought to the brink and sought to eat his mother, Ul-Ubzi. And to his surprise and to his mother's horror, he had managed to eat the Void that belonged to her.

In recognizing is lack of power, Ul-Gisba sought to gain it. Like his ancestor, he began to grow a hunger for Salt, and fed himself from the Salt that broke from the thrashing of Ul-Asu and Ul-Asi. And so, as Ul-Gisba's body grew in Salt, it desired more Void in turn.

Like their parents, the First Stars were deities in themselves, few remember their names for they were flung about by Ul-Asi and Ul-Asu, several collided with one another inadvertently merging into Ul-Gisba the Deity of Fire. Unlike his parents, the Deity of Air and Deity of Water, Ul-Gisba sought to end the chaos that was wrought by the Primordial deities Ul-Asi and Ul-Asu, but understood his powerlessness as he bore only a meager portion of Salt and Void within himself.

By chance, the Deities Ul-Ubzi and Ul-Inag were born of an equal proportion of Salt and Void. Half of Ul-Ubzi's Salt spun upward, while Half of Ul-Inag's Salt spun downward in unison. From birth they hung onto their parents' bodies, crying tears of salt and void. These formed the First Stars.

Before the seas, only void and salt existed as two stones, mingling in a tenuous balance. Void sought Salt, and Salt sought void - both substances sought to consume one another, causing both Void and Salt to break apart and multiply. The first breaking of Salt and Void caused the birth of the Primordial Deities, the Deity of Time Ul-Asu and Deity of Space Ul-Asi, who both bore the likeness of colossal serpents that soared across the newborn world. Ul-Asu bore more Salt in her body, and Ul-Asi bore more Void in her body. Due to the nature of their bodies and the great hunger they felt due to the incompleteness of Salt and Void, they chased one another - Ul-Asu seeking to consume the Salt of Ul-Asi, and Ul-Asi seeking to consume the Void of Ul-Asu. In their struggle to eat one another, they bodies clashed, causing Salt to spin, unknowingly giving life to the Deity of Air Ul-Ubzi and then the Deity of Water Ul-Anag.

 A wonder of engineering constructed by the direction Master Builder Mis-Olsu who served the Throne of Sandstone, Kol-Atem who ruled the north-eastern lands near the border of Agash several centuries ago. The Kol-Atem Falls was created from the transcendent confluence of sorcery, river engineering and architecture - built to form a channel which propels boats from the Agashic Lowland to the higher altitude of the Ninur-Sinic lands, giving it the appearance of a waterfall when seen from afar. Apart from its utility, its design, proportion and placement of sculptures are highly regarded. Today, the Kol-Atem Falls remain as the most profitable toll gates owned by Ninur-Sin by many travellers and merchants who seek to expedite their journey across the land.

The most common kind of river boat found in Ulrunir, made of tight bundles of reed or cane that are watertight and highly buoyant. It is propelled by a combination of paddles and wind. Despite having many land locked regions, Ulrunir is home to numerous large networks of rivers which many travellers use to travel through the regions. The only exception is Shur-Qamet whose rivers are largely dried up due to centuries of desertification.

A transcendent state of existence caused by the resonant layering of the Salt within one's body. In the state of Saltform, one is able to dissociate one's consciousness from the constraints of one's body temporarily and have manifest the magical effects of their Salt. It is said that Saltform is the form that ghosts take, created from the residual salts formed in their mind due to resentment.

As described previously, I have introduced the major polities of Ulrunir. I plan to share with the good reader my ten year journey through the land which was completed with the assistance of several guides, both local and foreign which shall hopefully give a fuller picture whose framework was hopefully bestowed by this sketch.

Despite Ka-Absur's bearing as significant authority in terms of religious influence, it is paradoxically the most open as evidenced by the Republic having the largest proportion of foreign visitors, largely from across the Western Seas. It is also home to several renowned adventurers and missionaries seeking to spread the Ka-Absuric denomination of Ulruniri faith.

Should one skirt the western coasts of Ulrunir and move southward, one would eventually find themselves in the Holy Republic Union of Ka-Absur, which borders Agash and Ka-Abir. As implied from its name Ka-Absur had its roots from Ka-Abir, which it was originally a part of until their separation after the War of Schism which saw a separation due to differences in methods of government between the Councils of the two polities.