This celebration started as an initiative of some minotaurs and more considerate settler races to try and understand each other’s experiences, from situations of power to, more importantly, those of discrimation. For that purpose they dressed up as another race for whole day. The idea quickly gained a following with many people keen to walk in each other’s shoes, however when the festival arrived in Mytros the original intent was mostly lost or ignored by those who celebrate. The new main purpose of the festival is to dress up as an entirely different creature and parade around humorously for the celebrations. in Mytros it’s seen as a day of creativity, hilarity and fun, with centaurs made up of two humans being one of the most entertaining sights. Many centaurs find the idea of two people clumsily moving round in a costume, a deep insult to their pride.

"Chalcia, the Godess of Swiftness, was the only god to escape when her siblings, Sydon and Lutheria, decided to destroy their brothers and sisters. She escaped to an island of fire, pursued by Sydon's storm of wrath.  She hid deep in the island and waited for the storm to abate.  You can see her cowering in those seven bright stars.

But Sydon and Lutheria did not leave.  Instead the Twins reached deep into the roots of the island, shifting rock and stone to trap their sister in a tiny chamber at the island's fiery heart.  Look!  You can see the red star beneath Chalcia.  It represents the everlasting torment she suffers, trapped at the island's centre."

The river cascades over a sheer cliff and roars into a vast, semi-circular lake, throwing up a white mist. The Great Falls are almost beyond description. It’s as if an entire ocean has spilled over the edge of the world. The sound of rushing water is almost deafening, and the light of the fading day gleams across the water like red gold. Four massive statues of stone hands surround the lake. To the south, the river snakes down from the mountains, through the The Oldwoods, while the snowcapped Mithral Mountains  dominate the western horizon.

The Academy was formed centuries ago and is the center of learning in Thylea. The great wizard Damon Caduceus was one of its founders, but it wasn’t only an institution for magical learning. It was also a place for philosophy and other intellectual pursuits. Now it consists of many colleges devoted to the different schools of magic (divination, evocation, etc.) and to safeguarding the lore of Thylea. It is also a place where Thylea’s interests in theater, song, and other arts are encouraged.

It was centuries ago when the Xiphos of Slaughter came into being. The dreaded Dragonlord, Estor Arkelander had just destroyed the Gygan capital Fortress on theThe Island of Yonder when he heard tales of a blacksmith from prisoners, a blacksmith that was said to be able to forge weapons that could even pierce the skin of even the thickest beast.

It took months, months of rooting out the Gygan survivors but eventually the smith and his family was found.

"Heed me Gygan scum, your family will be killed... slowly. There is but one way to alter their faith and that is to forge me something. I wish for a weapon that can drench all the shores of Thylea in blood. I wish for a weapon that could slay anything, even a Dragon."

The smith having no choise and not wanting to witness his family be tortured obeyed. Long days of toil followed with the end result being produced, the Xiphos of Slaughter, a bronze sword that while at first glance seems unremarkable but a more trained eye would find that it has not a single imperfection upon it's sharp blade.

"It is perfect...well almost perfect." Estor then completed the creation of the weapon by anointing it with the smith's and his family's blood. After this event the sword was permanently stained deep red.

Estor Arkelander wielded this dread weapon for many years but after he vanished it has reapeared in different hands, usulaly resulting in a bloody conquest as there are always men willing to follow  a terror if only to make it less likely to be struck down by it. The destruction is only stopped when the wielder is finally cut down but quickly resumes when another gains possesion of it.

The Xiphos is incredibly sharp and leaves grievous wounds. It feeds off the blood of any creature it strikes, strengthening the wielder while weakening the victim. The wielder of the blade also eminates an aura of fear and dread making all but the most stalwart of character keen to obey their demands. 

The wielder is said to never want to be apart of the weapon, keeping it within reach at all times, turning intensely violent against any who would try and separate it from them. While the power the weapon gives is immense it is said that a wielder can lose themselves during bloodshed and strike at friend and foe alike. As the Xiphos grows in power so does it's influence.

Kaaaouuuaahhkwaa is a relatively young member of the Rhinoceros race. 

He once went on a rampage in the town of Meos but was talked down by Selene. 

Sometimes called Gloom Hounds or Hounds of Hades, these three-headed creatures are bred to be the ultimate guardians. Very few creatures can successfully sneak past a cerebus hound that guards a doorway or treasure.

Cerberus hounds take pride in sniffing out and devouring trespassers. Once they have been set to guard something, they never tire of their charge, even should hundreds of years pass without incident. Most hounds keep piles of their victims' bones as beloved trophies to gnaw on. Although the hound does require sleep, it rarely succumbs to the urge, and only one of its heads sleeps at any given time.

A sombre day prior to the celebration afterwards marked by candle processions into the night commemorating all those that have died on both sides of the war; each candle symbolising one of the lives lost, each soul now forming part of the Nether Sea. The holiday is supposed to be one bringing together those fighting on different sides, no blame being attributed, but recently many places only celebrate their own dead.

The Amazons are a warrior culture that emphasizes the strength of the individual, in contrast to societies that defend themselves with large armies of hoplites and mounted cavalry. A typical Amazonian conclave will outline its territory, usually an island, and fight viciously to drive away trespassers. When the territory is threatened, they may band together into war parties, whose collective battlecries are said to strike fear into enemies up to a mile away.

For millennia before the coming of the Dragonlords, the Amazons were there. Raiding and fighting the Gygan empire, they were amongst the most feared denizens of Thylea. Over the many century’s outsiders would occasionally wash up on the shores of Thylea. These were usually shipwrecked explorers or merchants who were blown far off course. Of all races and nationalities, these people had to live in harmony with the natives of Thylea. They formed tribes and lived on the islands of the Cerulean Gulf and for the most part coexisted with the Amazons.

When the Dragonlords came, some of the tribes fought with the natives of Thylea against the newcomers but some sided with the newcomers. The Amazons stayed on their own side, but while they were distracted by the infighting their forces were entirely shattered by the armies of the Titans who used the chaos of war as a way of finally getting rid of the Amazon threat.

Blaming their losses on the frailty of the other races who surrounded them, they sought to isolate themselves from the rest of Thylea and create a stronger society: a society dominated by Amazon warriors. Accordingly, they retreated to the remote island of Themis and established an isolated kingdom, unspoiled by the weakness of the other races. The Amazons define themselves as a sacred band of warriors who always stand together as a sisterhood. They train for combat from an early age, and once they come of age, they form into pairs of sister-warriors: lifemates. There are only a few thousand Amazons on Themis, but they are among the most feared warriors in all of Thylea—brutal berserkers with no mercy. They have been known to enslave prisoners, but most of them are executed.

Beastmasters

The Amazons domesticated some of the beasts on Themis. They use rhinoceroses as mounts, and they have trained the native basilisks to act as hounds. Most Amazon warriors keep clockwork birds, called stimfay, as loyal companions and scouts.

Always on the move

The Amazons don’t build any permanent structures on the island except for their prison. Instead, they travel across the island and make temporary camps, usually of 10-20 Amazons and rhino mounts. Each camp is prepared for surprise raids and skirmishes with the other camps. This perpetual “great game of war” is considered essential to the Amazonian way of life.

Sister-Warriors

The Amazons define themselves as a sacred band of warriors who always stand together as a sisterhood. They train for combat from an early age, and once they come of age, they form into pairs of sister-warriors: lifemates.

In the centuries before the founding of Mytros, mortals had no dominion over the untamed lands of Thylea. When humans washed up on Thylea’s shores, their weapons failed them, and their magic ceased to work. They were forsaken by their gods, forced to live as beggars among the fey races. Curious about these strange refugees, the nymphs and satyrs offered them hospitality, and many small settlements were founded. The centaurs, however, offered them no quarter, and the cyclopes were known to devour men whole. Life in Thylea was short and brutal for the so-called ‘trespassers’ from foreign lands. During this era, the Twin Titans wielded great powers, unlike anything seen since the dawn of time. Sydon was venerated as the Lord of Storms. He could conjure apocalyptic storms with his right hand and cataclysmic earthquakes with his left hand. His sister-wife Lutheria held dominion over the land of dreams, and her voice was said to give life to the dead.

Fearing eradication, the desperate mortal settlers built shrines to Sydon and held feasts in Lutheria’s honor. Thousands of sacrifices were dedicated to the Lord of Storms, and libations of wine were poured to the Lady of Dreams at every meal. The twins were at first unswayed but, over time, they warmed to the persistent worship of the hapless settlers. In exchange for this devotion, the Titans offered the mortals oaths of protection, which shielded them from the worst ravages of the centaurs and cyclopes. The set-lements survived, but they were always at the mercy of the Twins. So it remained for many hundreds of years.