Polaria
Polaria is the arctic continent north of Horteon and one of the central homelands of the Gnomes. It is remembered through several traditions and names, including Kemi, Wuskouu, Waal, and Jaam. Its lore is built around exile, hearths, winter cities, Kuulvaal, Wielkopan, and the rise of Projection Magic.
Arctic Homeland¶
Polaria is defined by cold. The Gnome page notes that magical Iaawu Hearths are the only things warming many major arctic cities, making the hearth both sacred and practical. Hospitality, family shelter, communal music, and winter festivals are therefore not decorative customs; they are survival systems.
This makes Polaria one of Omniluxia's most distinctive sacred geographies. The land itself teaches communal dependence, reverence for warmth, and caution toward strangers who may be divine tests in disguise.
Gnomish Exile¶
Gnomish tradition says the people originated in the Peaceful Valley, which they call Jaaltuvesk. Around 20,000 BLC, Wielkopan created the Gnomes to live with him there. Around 18,000 BLC, King Skol Skuuva committed the Great Sin by gazing upon Wielkopan's true form.
Wielkopan banished the Gnomes north and rained fire over Jaaltuvesk. The ancestors of the Deep Gnomes escaped into the caverns of the Deep Rift Valley, while other Gnomes carried their sacred memory toward the northern world that would become Polaria's cultural heart.
Kemi, Wuskouu, Waal, and Jaam¶
Polaria is not culturally uniform. Gnomish traditions connect it with Kemi and Wuskouu, and with the cultural-linguistic worlds of Waal and Jaam. These names matter because they preserve the local texture of Gnomish identity rather than reducing all northern peoples to a single arctic label.
Kuulvaal, the worship of Wielkopan as Wekuaa or Wekuu, unites much of this world. The Taalvut, angelic servants honored through pendants and icons, make Polarian religion intimate as well as cosmic.
Politics After the Collapse¶
The Gnome page preserves several key dates:
- In 672 LC, the Northern United Empire collapsed and survivors fled to Polaria.
- In 707 LC, the Saamskoo/Jemskoo split divided Gnomish politics.
- In 779 LC, Polarians occupied most of the Southern Polarian Plains.
- In 781 LC, the Taanka School of Projection Magic was founded.
- In 974 LC, the Saasamenn Kingdom united the Jemskoo.
These events make Polaria a continent of political recovery after disaster. Its states and peoples are not frozen in myth; they are actively reorganizing after imperial collapse, religious division, territorial expansion, and magical innovation.
Projection Magic¶
Polaria's most important magical institution is the Taanka School of Projection Magic, founded in 781 LC. Gnomes are naturally magical, curious, and inventive, and their magical development is tied to systematic discovery as much as ancient tradition.
This links Polaria to Magic, Magic Styles, Development Rankings, and the broader question of how small peoples survive against stronger enemies through learning, invention, and communal discipline.
Game-Relevant Connections¶
Polaria connects most strongly to:
- Gnomes, Deep Gnomes, Waal, and Jaam
- Kuulvaal, Wielkopan, and the Taalvut
- Horteon, the southern Melodian counterpart
- Magic, Magic Styles, and Development Rankings
- the Great Collapse, the Northern United Empire's fall, and later Gnomish reunification
See also: Continents, Regions, Horteon, Gnome, Kuulvaal, and Wielkopan.