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The World of Halrin

Halrin is one of my most fleshed out worldbuilding projects. It began as my excuse to learn about different political philosophies, with each Halrinan nation serving as an example of a specific political structure. That process quickly blossomed, resulting in a full creation myth, histories spanning over a thousand years, and my most detailed maps to date.

Fear, fear in the blood. Fear from the moment of impassioned conception, a promise of slow death to new souls. To live our history is to be in constant terror of the end of it all, whilst serving as its envoy. The pallbearer to one’s own coffin. Yet peer onto this world’s surface and one will find pockets of indolence, in betrayal of the natural order. War for long enough, fear for long enough, and it would seem that humanity can still grow complacent. Sin undoubtedly nests deep within us all, but the peace of Sloth is oft favoured against the chaos of Wrath. 

 

Still, there exist hearts and minds that rage silently, and eyes that have not forgotten what they saw, not even after a thousand years. Eternal beings, plagued by a Wrath that requires not the immediate fuel of cathartic carnage, but the simple act of waiting, to grow. But the breaking point is near. The day will come, soon, when such inner fire will be released in a blaze of sheer annihilation. And though the conscious minds of the mortal masses remain unaware of this fate, that fear for which it has served as malignant impetus is encoded within us. At rest it has stayed, but the year is now 1197 of Halrin’s Second Age. The blood of millions has begun to boil as the beginning of the end arrives.

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- The Prophet of Epínei

The Continents

Halrin's surface is dominated by three continents: Sefria, Ajura, and Kharne. Each is unique in the brand of violence it houses, from Sefria's native subjugation to Kharne's holy wars. Do not mistake uniqueness for separation, however. The history of one continent is the history of them all, a consequence of violence's fundamental need to spread.

The Stories

Halrin's complex past and present yearn for great tales of heroes and their deeds, for they have precious few of their own. Their stories come from the tired and hungry, the dogged and malicious, victims and their oppressors. Every so often, a Halrin myth will feature some selfless act that restores the reader's faith in humanity. But in a world with such institutions as the Bardic Colleges of War and State, even selfless stories cannot be trusted as anything more than empty propaganda. 

© 2025 by Sid Shukla. All Rights Reserved

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