Wherein you will find a condensed document to help introduce you to Kambria, the world in which Dawn Tree Academy takes place. World map can be found here: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/22578539/

Transcript:

Dawn Tree World: Global Dynamics
Cartography
The world of Kambria is ~24,000 miles (38,600km) around its equator. While ancient avian navigation used six adjustable cardinal directions based on the path of the sun, modern Kambrian maps use six fixed cardinal directions dictated by the equator.

Lunar/Solar Calendar
Kambrian years are 432 days long, divided into 12 6-week months and 72 6-day weeks. Kambria has three moons, named by the dragons: Leer, the largest and furthest, goes through a full phase shift in 36 days and is used to determine the month. Suut, the smallest and closest, has the greatest tidal and weather effects. Maak, the middle in both categories, serves to balance the orbits of the other two, keeping them constant. All three are tidally-locked to the planet and orbit at 120 degrees to each other, resembling an almost atomic geometry. Their orbits and complex gravitational interactions cause them to seem to grow and shrink in the sky over time. Like Earth, the tilt of the planet divides the year into four seasons.

Timekeeping
Kambrian days are 36 Earth hours long, giving an age conversion rate of 1.5 Kambrian hours to every 1 Earth hour, and 1 Kambrian year to ~1.775 Earth years. That means a speed limit of 90 on Kambria is the same as a speed limit of 60 on Earth, a 6.5 second 100m dash time on Kambria is equivalent to a 9.75 on Earth, etc. As in our world, days are commonly divided into 24 hours, each 60 minutes long, and each minute divided into 60 seconds (they're just 50% longer). One notable exception to this clock is the draconic chronograph, which divides the day and night into 24 30-minute hours each, regardless of season (the measurement units grow and shrink throughout the year).

Dawn Tree World: Inhabitants
Elemental Kambrians
The world of Kambria is a home to a wide variety of anthropomorphic animals, each with their own kingdoms, cultures, beliefs and sociopolitical influences. Each nation aligns itself with one of twelve basic Elements: Fire, Water, Earth, Air, Mind, Body, Spirit, Chaos, Light, Darkness, Space and Time. All of these Elements are found in every sentient being on Kambria, though only three are effectively dominant in one person at once. None are inherently good or evil, despite the social implications of their names. Though all beings are made up of and infused with these Elements, those who can produce strong or dangerous Elemental effects (magic) are uncommon.

Native Physiology
Physiologically speaking, most genera on Kambria are capable of interbreeding, with the mother commonly determining the outcome of birth genus/species. Hybrids are uncommon, despite the frequency of cross-genus relationships in a modern world. Notable exceptions to compatibility include avians (not including felavians (gryphons)), dragons, raptors and other reptilian species, who cannot produce offspring with the mammalian genus. Felavians are an exception to this rule, capable of reproduction with both avian and mammalian partners.

Lifespan
Different genera have different lifespans and maturity rates. Avians, as an example, live shorter lives of approximately 30-40 Kambrian years, while felavians (gryphons) benefit from both avian and mammalian medical advances and can live up to 120 Kambrian years.

Disease
Avian, reptilian and mammalian physiology segregates most diseases to their source group, but sometimes they jump between groups. Felavians in particular suffer susceptibility to both avian and mammalian diseases, and historically have gained negative social status for this unfortunate trait. Though few in number and rare in occurrence, hybrid individuals also suffer from this stigma. Disease cultures are also shared between feral animals of the same genus, meaning a feral bird could give a cold to an avian (or more worryingly, to a felavian).

Ferals/Unkindled Animals
Though the sentient anthropomorphic animal people of Kambria are the focus of the Sedora Universe, non-sentient and semi-sentient animals also exist. They are referred to as “unkindled”, lacking the full spark of sentience. Each nation deals with the rights of the unkindled in its own way, and policy conflicts have helped shape the power structure of the world throughout history. On the majority and despite resemblances, unkindled creatures are viewed as separate species and as such are farmed, conserved, hunted and domesticated in parallel with such practices in our world. A canine owning a dog or an avian having a caged bird would be viewed similarly to a human owning a monkey, or more abstractly like a monkey having a pet cat. Cross-kindled relationships do exist, but are fairly rare and considered taboo in most cultures.

Dawn Tree World: Topography
Kambria is divided into six main continents (two are currently connected) divided by six oceans. The first name listed is the modern common name. The second name is the name given by early avian explorers. The third name is the ancient, alternative, or native name.

Sandera/Riyadhi/Therasia
Sandera is the native home to aviankind, though due to their migratory nature and flight abilities they are found all over the world. It is said that the birds evolved their wings so they could reach other lands just to feed themselves, as Sandera is largely desert. Avians are commonly associated with the element of Light, and credited with combining all of the world languages into one over time. Sandera is also home of the Therasian cats, who worship the gods of Fire on the slopes of their tropical volcano. Therasians are an enigma in that they never challenged the birds for their lands. Many say that in ancient times the cats gave the birds fire, however it is also postulated that the easily-combustible feathered ones simply feared their fire and stayed away. Following the Downfall Reformation, the once enslaved felavians (gryphons) revolted and formed their own nation, the Alkara. The Alkara only ever sought equality, and in recent times they willingly returned to the Sanderan nation when it was granted.

The Summerlands/Migara/Baltan
During the warmer months, many avians journey to Migara, more commonly known as “the Summerlands”, to grow food for their largely desert homeland. In the winter they return home, leaving their lands in the care of hired staff, both native and immigrant. The Summerlands are a melting pot of genera from around the globe, as landwatching jobs are well-paid and reliable income. The Summerlands are also home to the native Baltanic wolves of the (Northern) tundras who ally with the Sorengan owls, and the Felastran corvids, a separatist avian faction that embraces Darkness over Light. The Felastrans, though allied with the Baltans, are just as withdrawn as their canine friends. They isolate themselves in a massive but well-guarded ancient meteorite crater in the (South). It is rumored they guard one of the greatest mysteries on Kambria, perhaps even the origin of life itself.

Ramatra/Sinhad/Torago
Ramatra is a lush land of jungles and savannas. It is home to the imperialistic Simbasian lions, who have established colonies on a widespread but disconnected scale around the world. They are associated with the Space element, and use unstable but effective portals to keep their colonies safe. The Simbasians are bitter enemies of the hyena nation of Kovuko. Though weaker in most regards, the Kovukan people have enslaved an industrious army of meerkats to ensure their lands are fortified, trapped, and laced with tunnels to make invasion nearly impossible. The lions, along with freed meerkat warriors, constantly seek to liberate them. It is also the native home to ancient raptor, panda and tiger cultures who revere Fire and the Earth in their great jungle temples, and more recently the Sorengan owls, a separatist avian merchant faction who revere the Air over the Light of their brethren. The Sorengans trade in rare goods and treasures, using their airships to quickly move from port to port, but only doing business at night. The Sorengans inhabit a maze of tropical islands and archipelagos, hiding their treasure troves in high rocky peaks and cliffs.

Valenice/Alkada/Kro'no'a
Valenice is an ancient land of diverse inhabitants, ranging from the swamp-dwelling and innovative gators who excel at endeavors of the Mind and technology, to the nomadic great plains stallions and mountain goats who worship the Earth. The bears maintain dominance over the (Western) fjords, separated from the Sorengan owls by the strong currents of the Alkadan Strait. It is home to the otters, whose merchant fleets dominate the seas with their Water weavers. Otter ships are slower than Sorengan airships, but move much larger quantities. They both pirate each others trade routes, which historically has lead to awkward trading relationships at best, outright conflicts at worst. (Eastern) Valenice is a more ancient and barren land called Kro'no'a, home of the dragons. Though once they ruled the continent, technological advances allowed lesser creatures to rise up and drive them back to the mountainous region they currently inhabit. The dragons are now isolationist, peacefully minding their almost inaccessible mountain temples where they study the subtle tenets of Time. The creatures of the woodlands separating the dragons from the rest of the continent keep a watchful eye to the (Eastern) mountains, just in case.

Naorelle/Dakafir/Shab'ard
Naorelle is a fertile land rich in history and divided by an elemental prejudice that has rocked the very course of Kambrian history. The (Southern) half of the continent is home to the rats, who have embraced Darkness in their vast labyrinthine tunnel cities. The (Northern) half of the continent is home to mainly canines and small populations of hooved talram. To the (East), the Korrovans form an alliance of city-states headed by the socialist capital of Nyathera, where an ordered class system and an indomitable connection to each others' Spirit make for a utopian society in which no one owns anything, yet no one ever goes wanting. Korrovans lead the world in medicinal advances and their dual association to Spirit and Body makes them extremely resilient to diseases. To the (West) across the desert, the Valeskans also seek to extend the lives of their people, but believe Body to be flawed, instead embracing the superiority of machines and cybernetic modifications. Valeskans' Chaos affinity has allowed them to alter the elemental balance of citizens and enemies alike, arguing that some elements are inferior to others, and the very existence of Chaos proves it so. Valeska and Korrova have been in a cold war since the Beacon of Nyathera, a battle so globally important that the common calendar is based on it. Valeska has annexed the limited kingdom of the bats, who like the rats prefer the somber peace of the Darkness in their cave cities.

Dawn Tree Setting: The Summerlands/Migara
Geographic Summary
The Summerlands/Migara is a diverse land that ranges from rocky mountain peaks and icy tundras to deciduous forests to shimmering fields of crystalgrain. To the (West) and at its central heart are the Crystal and Summernest Plains, where avians come each spring to grow food for their homeland. The journey from Sandera to the Summerlands is approximately 2500-3500 miles (4000-5600km), depending on point of origin and destination.

Northern Conflicts
To the (North), the avians once held lands all the way to the Wolfward Cliffs. During the Downfall Reformation immediately following the Beacon of Nyathera and the consequent uprising of felavian slaves, the starving Baltanic wolves seized the opportunity and drove the preoccupied avians (South) to Balgazi and Koalahi. However, the arms race that ensued following the Downfall enabled the avians to establish a firm border. After a lengthy cold war and with the promise of favorable trading routes, the Baltans formally acknowledged avian territory claims and returned to their mostly isolationist ways. They now ally with the Sorengan owls and the Felastran corvids to keep the (Southeastern) Simbasian lion colonies from expanding any further into their territory.

Unexplored Lands
To the (South), the Kolshad forest and Dawnhold Mountains are still largely unexplored due to their remoteness from any kind of civilization, and thanks to constant Felastran rogue patrols picking off fliers and ambushing survey parties. It is rumored that a great secret lies within the Labyrinth of Lunakost, but only the Felastrans would know, and they're not telling.

Southeastern Contested Lands
To the (Southeast), the Simbasian nation has established a colony on land claimed as sacred by the Baltans but entirely uninhabited according to the Simbasians, who constantly seek to expand their reach into the Summerlands. The Baltans along with their Sorengan allies keep the imperialist cats confined to the Rhodian Valley, while Felastran raiding patrols keep the Black Sky Basin shrouded in a veil of mystery by massacring any exploration party they encounter. Further (Southeast), the Sorengan owls control the Autumn Reach, a deciduous island region along the Alkadan Strait.

Major Exports
The Summerlands' main exports are crystalgrain and other harvested edibles, a vast majority of which transfer directly to the desert regions of Sandera. The Felastrans produce a steady supply of Kandium, a richly-colored metal highly prized by Sanderans for its beauty, mystical fourth-dimensional reflectivity and lightness. The Simbasians export marble and fruits from their colony in the (Southeast).

Dawn Tree Setting: Town of Korona/City of Karaket
Dawn Tree Academy exists in a small agricultural town on the Kolshad River called Korona (population approximately 21,000). It is about an hour outside of Karaket (population approximately 600,000), a port city on Crystal Bay. Due to its distant position, Karaket's port is mainly used as a staging area to send nearby harvested grains by air or road to other port cities that can better serve Sandera. It does export by sea to the (Eastern) coast of the Summerlands in limited amounts, but rough seas outside of Crystal Bay make it almost useless as anything but a provisional sea port.

Dawn Tree Setting: Time Period
Dawn Tree Academy begins in the local year AD496, though it has no real time equivalent to our own world due to different technological needs and tangents, and the addition of Elemental forces. A very rough comparison would place the events of this story's timeline around the late 90s or early 2000s. There are many technological similarities to our world during that time, but there are also a few notable differences. Here are some comparisons of keystone technologies and how they stack up to our world's timeline:

World tech average: Late 90s, early 2000s.
Aircraft: Advanced. STOVL is common. VTOL is viable. Ornithopters common among avians.
Railways: Hybrid-advanced. Advanced steam engines are still the trend, though diesels are gaining popularity.
Automobiles: Slightly advanced. Electric, fossil fuel and arcane battery cars are evenly spread.
Cellular communication: Mid 2000s, pre-smartphone. Camera phones are common. Camera optics are advanced.
Computers: Late 90s. Flat screens are expensive but becoming more common. Video games are PS1 quality.
Internet: Late 2000s. The Kambridge is the Kambrian internet. Kantari Online is a crowd-sourced encyclopedia.
Social media: Late 2000s. Kambrook (Facebook) and Skwat (Twitter) are popular social media platforms.
Weaponry: Incomparable. Mostly element-enhanced traditional weapons. True “guns” are at a 1960s level.
Space: Advanced satellites, but no moon landings. Space exploration is an active interest to capable nations.
Medicine: Advanced. Last plague was about 100 years ago. STD occurrences are rising, mostly in Korrova.
Genetic modification: Advanced, but a divisive issue. Developed by Valeska, Korrova and the gators of Valenice.
Agriculture: Current. Mechanical farming commonplace. Arcane enhancement aids crop yields.
Industry: Hybrid-advanced. Low pollution levels due to arcane containment. Cold-war era manufacturing tech.

Dawn Tree Setting: Social Climate
Gender/orientation equality is the norm, with some cultural exceptions. Though physically they are male or female, avians have always had one social gender of their own: amale (hi (“hee”), hes (“hess”), hem (“hemm”)). Among themselves avians do not recognize male or female in the social sense. Dawn Tree Academy, like most other avian-owned facilities, has separate facilities for male, female and amale genders. Same-sex relationships are not a social issue in most of the world, with some notable exceptions including Simbasian lions and Valeskan canines, both of which shun homosexual and cross-genus relationships.

Legal slavery still exists, voluntary and involuntary. Racism is prevalent between and within genera, but fur/scale/feather color is varied and usually not a cause of prejudice. Conflicts still occur, but all-out war is rare. The most recent war is ongoing between the Simbasian lions and the Kovukan hyenas. It has been dragging on for about 15 years. The Beacon of Nyathera and the Downfall Reformation occurred 496 years ago.

Dawn Tree Setting: School
Fort Tivoli
Fort Tivoli was built ~400 years ago during the Downfall Reformation to protect landwatchers from Baltanic wolf raids. It is said to have fallen into disrepair sometime in the 250s after peace was brokered with the wolves. Parts of it were restored in 365 in tandem with the construction of Dawn Tree Academy. During the restoration, newly discovered evidence of battle damage called into question the original theory of its ruination. The topic is still unresolved.

The Dawn Tree
Fort Tivoli was built around what is believed to be an expired specimen of Dawn Tree. Dawn Trees are believed by some to be the home of an immortal Phoenix, and just being near the trees will rejuvenate and amplify the Elemental abilities of those who seek protection. Dawn Trees are thought to be extinct, though occasional hoaxes pop up, leading many to believe they do exist. There has been no verification that Dawn Trees are anything other than mythology, but the longevity of the deceased, ghostly white tree on campus remains a mystery.

School History
The Oculary is an avian historical archiving society often shrouded in a healthy veil of intrigue. They are self-tasked to provide the world with a neutral eye and an accurate record on all observable events. Dawn Tree Academy was founded in 365 by a group of Observers, with the goal of providing a sustainable observation node from which the Oculary could archive the (Eastern) Crystal Plains. It would be sustained by providing Elemental education to the children of local landwatchers and avian landowners.

Campus
The campus covers approximately 40 acres (not including faculty housing), and has four dormitories, a student union/gymnasium, an auditorium, a cafeteria and a main classroom building with an extensive underground, a library, an Oculary and a central Akenda (chapel). It is a short walk from downtown Korona, which features a small theater, river boardwalk, ice cream/soda parlor, several fast food restaurants, a row of mom-and-pop shops, and an inviting small town atmosphere. It is also close to a Sorengan night ship mooring.

Students/Staff
The school has a selective enrollment of 400-500 students each year. Most live on campus in the dormitories. It is home to around 40-50 faculty and staff. Over time, Dawn Tree's high-quality education record and victorious sports program legacy attracted more affluent patrons. Present day, only about a fourth of the students are locals due to the steady increase in admissions selectivity and tuition fees.

Academics
Dawn Tree follows an enhanced four-year program that condenses high school and vocational college paths into a useful curriculum that readies students to either continue on to higher education, or if sufficiently talented, move directly into the workforce. In addition to core courses in mathematics, science, geography, history, language and literature, it offers specialized paths in engineering, art and design, music and song, arcane discovery (Elemental focus, magic studies) and Elemental reverence (religion). Dawn Tree recently became one of only a handful of schools accredited to send eligible student candidates to the Simbasian Student Space Program, which has lead to a major increase in affluent foreign applicants.

Sports
Along with its increase in education quality over the years, the Dawn Tree Sunrays have a legacy of excellence and a winning record. Notably, Dawn Tree's Football and Skyball teams are commonly scouted for talent by both school and professional recruiters. The varsity Football team claims a fearsome record of 95% wins, 20% of which yielded a score of zero for the opponent. Such a record is attributed to brilliant coaching, highly athletic student body, and an almost excessive amount of school spirit. Dawn Tree also boasts a Division 1 swimming team, Division 1 tennis team and Division 1 competitive cheerleading program.

Affiliation
Dawn Tree Academy is Sanderan-owned and operated, and still maintains an Oculary observation post for traveling Observers. As such it is on the backbone of the Kambridge network, and a resident certified Skrawl archivist provides seasonal Oculary updates to the Kantari Library in Sandera.

Elemental Reverence
Dawn Tree Academy holds inclusive Elemental reverence services twice daily for all students every day classes are held. Additionally, an ordained Senhiri Sungreeter performs daily Dawnsong/Dusksong ceremonies and leads a volunteer student Markoa lamp-lighting procession each evening following the Dusksong.

Principles
Dawn Tree Academy is all inclusive but follows the principles of Light and the Riyadhi Twelve:

01. The more you help yourself get stronger, the more you can help the weakest.
02. The more you help yourself get happier, the more you can help the saddest.
03. The more you help yourself get wealthier, the more you can help the poorest.
04. It is your duty to gain advantage over those who misuse their success.
05. The actions of one reflect on all of us, therefore in all matters of the earth be silent.
06. The sky and sea begin and end with Light, therefore they belong to those that claim It.
07. Beware the darkness of stagnation; always seek to advance the Wheel.
08. Seek love and remain faithful to its source; it will follow you as long as the Wheel turns.
09. Competition is the right of all beings equally, but success is reserved for the diligent.
10. Life is the right of all beings equally, but immortality is reserved for the great.
11. Light is the right of all beings equally, but you must be the beacon to the world.
12. Celebrate that each one of us is so important for all of us.



Dawn Tree Academy developed by