Altheris (world name)

According to what fragmented texts have been recovered and translated, the world of Talus was not always called such. Prior to the world-shaking cataclysm called the Sundering, the peoples of the world referred to the planet in its entirety as "Altheris". This name was apparently granted by the divinities themselves, and while pronunciations may vary across the multiple cultures that unearth relics from before the Sundering, all ancient cultures seem to have agreed on the general title.

Major Civilizations (at the end of the First Age)
Zoah Dynasty - an extremely traditionalist magocracy composed almost entirely of dragonkin, claiming their innate superiority through their ancestral ties to the dragonlords of old. Starkly broken into different castes, Zoah citizens either accept their place in the Dynasty, or leave to find fortune elsewhere.

Sketta Empire - a human civilization that defied the low expectations of all the other races to grow into a vast empire by being the first to develop artificial means of channeling and tapping into the world's leylines. They have risen to global prominence continuing to develop this technology, and now stand as one of the superpowers of the world.

The Overrun - an aggressively expansionist confederacy of tribes, all sheltered within an ever-expanding forest. Its people claim to be the last true spokespeople for the natural world - and that the world is angry at the societies that have nearly driven it to extinction.

Khaz-Uld - an enterprising federation of trade guilds, driven by dwarven ingenuity. Even as they establish most impressive means of travel across Altheris's surface, they continue to dig deeper and deeper into the earth.

The Mer Dominion - claiming all of the oceans of Altheris to be its kingdom, the Mer Empire maintains a stronghold on all things beneath or related to the seas. Aggressive trade embargoes and marine sanctions, backed by a massive oceanic military, have kept Mer at the table of global diplomacy...if also at odds with most other nations.