Medius

File:Medius.jpg
Medius
Located In	N/A
Controlled By	N/A
Racial Occupants	Human, Jakkai, Fairy, Khamega, Merfolk
Debut
Slightly Damned #1 [HQ, TS]
Image Gallery

Medius is the name of the physical world in which most of the story takes place.

Geography

Medius is very much Earth-like. It has mountains, plains, forests, lakes and a large ocean with trees, flowers, grass and other recognisable species of plants including crops. There are three known countries or regions but likely more exist outside the story of Slightly Damned:

• Fragaria — the main country/continent in which the comic takes place
• The Dragon Island Archipelago — a group of islands out to sea near Fragaria where many species of Dragons/Wyverns are found.

Medius experiences an Earth-like day-night cycle, the day sky is blue with one sun but the night sky has two moons, one of which is green and the other red. It is likely that Medius is a planet but it could also be flat, there are not enough references to cosmology to be sure.

Population

There are multiple native sentient races that inhabit Medius. These races include Humans, Jakkai, Fairies, Khamega and Merfolk. All races possess the ability to use Magic, although their capacity for skill in the art varies.

Humans are similar to Earth humans, they build towns and roads and live in houses of their own design. Humans have a standard medieval-capitalist economy that runs mostly on money but also includes barter. Some humans run shops or inns, others work as farmers or other laborers, etc. Humans are capable mages, able to learn and perform many spells over their life-time. They are widespread and possibly the most numerous of the sentient races.

Jakkai are short (compared to humans) bipedal ground-faring climbing mammals that lay eggs. They are usually reclusive, living in small villages built in special hollow trees. Jakkai are generally tribal and appear to have a communal hunter-gatherer economy that requires everyone take turns contributing in various ways (such as participating in the hunting party to gather food), the results are then shared amongst everyone. Most villages are located in out of the way places where most humans are unlikely to travel, though they may trade with and visit nearby human villages for certain special occasions like celebrations of the Winter Solstice. Jakkai are poor mages, generally only learning one or two spells over their life.

Fairies are even more reclusive than Jakkai to the point that most members of the other races don't know they even exist, they are native to the Southern Woods region of Fragaria though they could live elsewhere on Medius. Fairies are tiny and physically weak but have significant magical power. However, they rarely use their magic for battle spells which makes it easy for black-market traders from the other races to capture them.

Khamegas are bipedal turtle/tortoise-like beings about the size of humans that are capable swimmers like ordinary turtles. They are [apparently] native to the Dragon Island Archipelago.

Merfolk are walrus-like humanoids that have flippers for arms, a fish tail as their lower body and additional fins on their back and the back of their head. They live in the ocean.

It is possible for the various races to interbreed, the resulting child is called a Mixling or "Bitza". The specific groups appear to be named using the obvious pattern of combining half of both parent's race names; for example, a Jakkai and Human hybrid is called a "Hukai" (Human-Jakkai). Such combinations are noted to be rare, Hukai being the most common type. They are most common in combined cities where multiple races live together, such as St. Curtis.

Medius has many Earth-like species of non-sentient animals such as rabbits but is also home to other creatures such as Wyverns and Dragons.

Languages

Most Medians speak a language called "Lingo" which is basically just the in-universe name for English. Lingo is used by Humans, Jakkai and Khamega making it the language of trade and business. No references have been made to Jakkai or Khamega having their own language that they no longer use so Lingo was apparently co-developed by all three races for their shared use.

Fairies have their own native language separate from Lingo. This language is only used by fairies who are virtually unknown and viewed as mythical by other Medians. Due to their reclusiveness, fairies rarely learn to speak Lingo and almost no-one other than fairies speak Fairy. However, Cliff Sinclair and Sammy have been taught to speak some of it by Duster, Duster is also one of the few fairies who can speak Lingo, although with a heavy accent.

History

In the world there are three great gods: Gaia, Syndel, and Death.

The kind, peaceful Gaia made her home in the beautiful land of Heaven and created angels in her image. Syndel made his home in the dismal wastelands of Hell and created violent and aggressive demons. Death resides in the middle land of Purgatory, separated from Heaven and Hell by the Styx River.

The Creation of Medius

Gaia and Syndel were mostly satisfied with their creations, but wondered if they were capable of more. Death convinced the two to work together and create the land of mortals, now known as Medius. Under Death’s supervision, Gaia and Syndel crafted the lands and breathed life into the creatures of Medius.

The three gods decided not to interfere directly with Medius. Instead, they would only receive the souls of the mortals after death. Gaia and her angels rewarded those who were good enough to reach Heaven, Syndel and his demons gleefully tortured evil souls, and Death received all the rest in Purgatory.

Death also created the creatures Cerberus and Drazil to guard Hell and Heaven, respectively. Eventually, all souls are reincarnated and live life again in Medius until they die, repeating the cycle.

The Twelve Guardians

Main article: Twelve Guardians

In the gods’ place on Medius, the Twelve Guardians were left to watch over the lands and they walk among the mortals in false forms using their powers of shape-shifting, and they are all very powerful. There are three beasts for each of the four elements.

The Great War

Main article: Great War

"Although Gaia and Syndel worked closely together, supervised by Death, who made sure that everything was in balance, Gaia received most of the credit for creating Medius. The mortals worshipped her as the Great Mother; Syndel was mostly shunned. Jealous and angry, Syndel thirsted for revenge and aided a military general in the conquest of his own kingdom, starting The Great War.

When victims of the battles during the evil general’s invasion of a second kingdom claimed that they saw demons, Gaia sprung into action and sent her angels to fight. Death resolved to keep neutral during the fight; his creations Cerberus and Drazil did the same. Some of the Twelve Guardians aided Syndel in the fight; some aided Gaia. At first Syndel’s troops were too much for Gaia and her army to handle, but thanks to the brave efforts of a few mortal heroes, the forces of good won the war. And so, The Great War ended.

…or did it?"[citation needed]

Magic

Main article: Magic

So far, every sentient race (as well as different kinds of animals) has displayed the ability to use magic. Medians are capable of utilizing Fire, Water, Wind and Earth magic, either through their own power or through magic items such as Magic Crystals.