____________Zones______________

According to the Imperial Explorer's Corps, Zones are fragments of other realities which have retained the natural laws of their origin, and which linger with those sometimes very odd differences. These fragments are parts of other realities which have fallen through to Aramar due to the nature of Aramar as a dimensional nexus.

According to the Nihon Seers College, Zones are echoes of other times and places that have become fixed (more or less) due to the nature of flux and magic during the time of the Godswar.

According to the dragons, they're interesting but best avoided for the most part.

Zones are generally typified by their hazard level.

A Type 1 (Aleph) Zone is a minor problem. Gravity that is slightly bent or slightly off (higher or lower) but is merely inconvenient. Air that is thinner or contains strange elements but is still regularly breathable. Magic is largely unaffected. Light or other environmental conditions are bearable. Some races may actually find the conditions inside a Type 1 Zone to be advantageous. Reptine and dwarves often find higher gravity Zones attractive.

At Type 2 (Betha) Zone is somewhat dangerous to some races. Gravity that is severely bent, or high enough to make moving within it difficult for some races. Environments that support wildly different species, air that is difficult for some races to tolerate, radiation or magical effects that are hostile towards species that do not have specific defenses against them. Some races exploit their tolerance for these conditions to make use of the opportunities of a different environment. The reptine of the town of Sandstone, for example, find the dry extremes of heat invigorating.

A Type 3 (Caai) Zone is quite dangerous to some races. If a Type 1 Zone has an effect like two gravities, and a Type 2 Zone has an effect like five gravities, a Type 3 could be around ten gravities. Some races cannot tolerate a Type 3 Zone for more than a few minutes without severe risk. A dwarf would be tired or achy from fifteen minutes in a Type 3 Heavy Zone, whereas a mouseling or tallf would likely be dead, and most elves would be unable to cope without potent magics. Likewise if high radiation were involved, the same amount of time could kill a nymph or faerie while an elf would be only moderately inconvenienced and a dwarf would be suffering from sickness. Null magic zones are typically given a Type 2 or Type 3 rating, depending on the level of un-magic, due to the number of magical races who can be slain directly by the inhibitive qualities of such an area.

Type 4 (Geth) Zones are to be avoided. Danger lurks in one. Type 4 Zones are possessed of some quality that will harm almost any race that encounters them. The threat can be magical, natural, psionic, or something that refuses to be typified so easily. There is a Type 4 Zone located in the Dire Straits for example. Anything above the size of a cricket that dies within the Dire Zone is infused with dark energies and it becomes undead. Magic itself is twisted within this Zone, to become a dark and malevolent force that actively tries to turn on the wielder. Fortunately, the effects end at the Zone's edge, and there is a fortress nearby to warn the unwary.

Type 5 (Kavv) Zones are to be actively avoided by all races. Conditions like poisonous air, negative gravity, alterations on the basic laws of chemistry that allow cells to function, creatures that are ridiculously powerful and endlessly hostile, magic that not only is twisted, but then forms a channel that the caster can be twisted. This and more. Thankfully rare. The most celebrated example is Ragisk Isle - about three quarters of the way from Shadar to Nihon. For a mile about its shores, the air itself seems to twinkle and ripple. The closer one gets, the more the rough hemisphere of brilliance is notable. Entering the Ragisk Zone is not recommended for creatures not immune to magical heat. Even those immune to fire will quickly find their ability to tolerate this exceeded. The island itself is a bubbling slag, the rock itself having burned off ages ago. The water constantly boils away near the slag, leaving superheated steam in a column. The Zone itself is a mere fifty miles across, roughly half the island. Most Zones have borders that do not leak their internal conditions, where Type 5 Zones often have such extreme environments that they leak a tiny amount of their nature outwards. Temperatures on the island have been noted as being in excess of that required to melt adamantite. Inside the Zone itself, the temperatures are high enough for air to burn. The Ragisk Zone is also notable in that at least twenty four cursed items have been thrown within the borders (telekinesis is a favored method) for disposal.