Tonori

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This article collects information regarding the conceptualisation of the game world of The Mana World.

Tonori, The Great Desert Current Tonori Game maps Current Tonori Game maps scale 1/32

History

Ancient History

Before the Quake, the land in Tonori was very fruitful; the plains were host to many Talponian farmers to the west and Gispaan ranchers to the East.

Recent History

After the Earthquake, food and supplies were low in Gispaa and Tulimshar. Most of the back stock had been destroyed by the Earthquake or Devoured by the lava. Shortly after, reports starting pouring in, Monsters, never before seen, had attacked caravans along the trade route between Tulimshar and Gispaa. Lieutenant Dausen sent out an expedition to discover the source of these monsters. So far they have only returned sightings that are odd. The survivors are often found to be hysterical, claiming the desert rose up and attacked them. Lieutenant Dausen appealed to the Council of Wizards to ask for help from neighboring cities. Messengers were sent by to the four corners of the world. The first to answer was nearby Hurnscald. The forests around Hurnscald provided much need food and healing supplies during the early days of the Great Earthquake. Soon after came the response from Nivalis, ships packed with ice and meat provided fresh drinking water and meat.

Soon after, other expeditions were launched to discover what new treasures the disasters had unearthed and what new terrors have be unleashed. In the Gispaa mines, rare ores & minerals were found in new caverns opened in the Crystalline Spine. Gisphar, once a rare Crystal, is now found throughout the mines and caverns. The increased availability will assuredly expedite research into new alloys and uses. One property of Gisphar is easy to discern, the luminescence tends to attract monsters to it. There is even a rumor of a monster that uses it as bait.

Gispaa wasn't alone in new areas to explore underground. In Tulimshar, the Sewers have been cleared and are once again irrigating fields and feeding running water to buildings. While excavating beneath the town to clear the debris in the sewers, ruins were discovered. No one is 100% sure what they are for, but the magic school seems to have quite the interest in them. Rumors point to a magical charm hidden behind multiple challenges. As the construction has finished, the Council approved more permits and new shops are opening up. The increased trade among the empire has benefited commerce in Tulimshar.

Even the Wunish, nomadic farmers, saw changes as the Great Rift appeared and rent Gispaan plain in twain. The Great Rift disrupted the old path between their northern and southern grazing grounds. As the volcanic soot began to fall on the Gispaan plain, it began to choke out all but the sturdiest of life. Only in parts of the Gispaan Plateaus can you find Savanna life blooming anymore. Desertification has settled over the northern plains choking out all but the sturdiest of life. The increased difficulty of the plains has forced some of the Wunish to give up their nomadic ways. Those that no longer make the trip, now spend their time Farming the southern plateaus for cactus and snakes. The ones that still travel the Deep Desert wander from oasis to oasis. Finding Wunish in the Deep Desert often always means there is water nearby.

The Earthquake was so strong it affected local geography as well. The Great Rift was formed during the Earthquake. A giant canyon that follows the fault line under the the Desert Trade Route, a scar across the Deep Desert, forever separating the northern desert from the southern plateaus. The canyon walls are pock-marked with, what were once subterranean, tunnels. The tunnels are now exposed to the light of day allowing access to the treasures inside, but the tunnels also provide an exit for anything inside. Adventurers often seek fame by going ever deeper in these tunnels to bring back riches. Many speculate about how far they go, as lost Gispaan miners have been found wandering the Great Rift after going to work in the Crystalline Spine.

Many miners were lost in the Crystalline Spine during the Earthquake as it collapsed as many tunnels as it opened. The Earthquake triggered the Crystalline Volcanoes to erupt, submerging some parts of the tunnels making them hazardous to walk without the proper protection. All the geologic activity as brought mineral deposits and ore veins up from the depths. Reports of Gisphar, a rare manaflorencent mineral, being found in the new tunnels continue to come in. All the recent activity from Gispaa under the tunnels has attracted monsters to the area and the Gispaa Guards will let only the most heroic of adventurers pass.

Cities

Tulimshar

Main article: Tulimshar

The city has a port off the inlet on the eastern coast of Tonori, where the major export is crystals found in the Gispaan Mountains. The growing number of snakes and black scorpions in the desert has made the outskirts of the city a very dangerous place for non-natives.

Gispaa

Main Article: Gispaa

Thirty years after the quake, with the restoration of Tulimshar nearly complete, many Gispaan miners (not used to city life) sought to return to the mountains to the west. Once an important source for iron ore, the miners made an historical discovery: Gisphar crystals.

Despite fears that the miners' tampering would reignite the volcanic anger within the rocks of the mountains, the small town of Gispaa was reforged at the summit as an outpost for the miners and a gateway for trade with Tulimshar.

Geography

The Desert Trade Path / The Great Rift

Merchants make their fortunes carting Gisphar crystals & Iron Ore into Tulimshar and returning to Gispaa with supplies for the miners. This central area is the safest of the deep desert, as such traffic has forced dangerous creatures further north and south. While there is no distinct path to follow through the sandstorm, practiced adventurers do well not to venture too far away from the corridor.

The Deep Desert

While the deep Tonori Desert, to the north and south of the central trade path, is blanketed with dangerous, violent, and poisonous creatures. The Wunish, a nomadic people, live in and migrate throughout the harsh environment after the quake turned the plains into barren sands. This hardened group presumably survives on snakes and cactus. The nomads are renowned for their leather, but live in despicable conditions that only tested adventurers dare traverse to seek them. The strong, red dye marks on their leather homes provide a guiding beacon for those in search of their wares.

The Crystalline Spine

Once cherished for bountiful ore deposits, the tops of these mountains exploded in lava during the Great Quake. Now quietly resting, the mountains have since become famous for bearing Gisphar crystals. Lone miners live scattered in tents, or come together in small groups to work the mountains despite fear of future volcanic activity. A pool of lava rests at the base of the two active volcanoes that make up the Crystalline Spine. Strange things dwell within the mountains, in places seemingly uninhabitable. A loud and violent region of lava, fire, and ash, the mountains are a place only for the strongest of curious adventurers.

Creatures

Maggot

• Eats: scavenges filth, gardens, corpses;
• Located: Within Tulimshar city limits, port, and city outskirts

Scorpion

• Eats: Maggots, fire goblins, scavenge
• Located: Within Tulimshar city limits, city outskirts

Bat

• Eats: Small bugs, possibly slime
• Located: Holes, caves throughout area, Tulimshar basements

Fire Goblin

• Eats: Maggots, scorpions, giant maggots
• Located: Tulimshar port, and city outskirts, Gispaa outskirts

Yellow Slime

• Eats: Unknown; possibly dead spiders, bat droppings, or mountain moisture
• Located: Gispaan Mountain caves

Red Slime

• Eats: Unknown; possibly dead spiders, bat droppings, or mountain moisture
• Located: Gispaan Mountain caves, C/N/S Tonori Desert caves

Red Scorpion

• Eats: Small bugs, scavenge corpses
• Located: Tulimshar basements, outskirts, within Gispaa limits, outskirts, C/S Tonori Desert

Giant Maggot

• Eats: Maggots, fire goblins, scorpions (rare), scavenge
• Located: Tulimshar city outskirts

Black Scorpion

• Eats: Red scorpions, black scorpions (cannibalistic), scavenge
• Located: Gispaa outskirts, Gispaa Mountains, mountain caves, C/N/S Tonori Desert, desert caves

Spider

• Eats: Attacks anything in its territory
• Located: Holes, caves throughout area, Tulimshar basements

Snake

• Eats: Spiders, scorpions, scavenges
• Located: N/S Tonori Desert, C Tonori Desert (rare), Gispaan Mountain caves, various holes caves throughout area