The Root Realm
A subterranean civilization spreading across sunless lands. Information and life force are shared through the vast mycelium network "Memory of the Earth."
Civilization Without Light
The Root Realm is the ground civilization left behind after The Canopy Isles rose into the sky. Sunlight is blocked by the shadow of the floating islands above, leaving the surface in perpetual twilight.
The people build their cities in vast underground cavern systems and conduct communication, healing, and agriculture through the mycelium network known as the Memory of the Earth. The mycelium can temporarily transmit living beings' memories and emotions — a capacity the Root Realm's people call "Earth-Vein Speech."
Without sunlight, Root Realm architecture uses bioluminescent moss and fungi as lighting. Cities are bathed in blue-white light, and while Canopy Isles residents call this place "the Realm of Shadows," Root Realm people speak of their lives as "quiet and warm" with pride.
Seven Great Cave Cities
The seven great cave cities of The Root Realm — Shin'en-to, Kokko-to, Kinbo-to, Sekimyaku-to, Chisen-to, Ankyo-to, and Kontei-to — each hold populations ranging from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands. They form a loose federation linked through the Memory of the Earth. In the most populous city, Shin'en-to, mycelium strands hang dozens of meters from the cavern ceiling, serving as living illumination for the entire city below.
The Pride of "The Sky's Departure"
The Root Realm's people call The Great Fall "The Sky's Departure." To them it was not a tragedy but the day a portion of the sky fled upward in error. Those who remained on the ground see themselves as the rightful inheritors of the earth — a conviction that forms the political identity of the Root Realm Federation.
Trade with The Canopy Isles is economically indispensable but emotionally complicated. The Federation constantly oscillates between resentment at having to bow to sky-dwellers for Aether Crystals and the pragmatic necessity of doing so. In a society where emotions are shared through mycelium, personal anger can instantly become collective sentiment, giving anti-Canopy feeling sudden political force — a dynamic the Canopy Council watches as a serious diplomatic risk.
The Peril of Emotional Propagation
The emotional sharing enabled by the mycelium network gives Root Realm culture a unique sense of solidarity. But it also means that when one person experiences an intense feeling, it can propagate across an entire city in moments. This is why the Root Realm Federation's elders impose strict training on emotional regulation and expression.
관련 요소
- Nenoka, Holy City of the Root— A subterranean holy city in the deepest reaches of The Root Realm, where the mycelium network's core is concentrated.
- Rakuen, Sky Trade City— A commercial hub flourishing as the trade center of The Canopy Isles. Official trade with the Root Realm Federation also passes through here.
- The Canopy Isles— A cluster of floating cities kept aloft by Aether Crystals. Composed of 12 major islands and countless smaller ones. The largest island, Chuten Island, houses the parliament hall and the great library.
- The Floating Ruins (Fwarei Archives)— A collection of ruins — fragments of ancient Canopy cities destroyed by The Great Fall — drifting in the upper layers of The Mist Sea.
- The Mist Sea— A boundary layer of thick mist drifting perpetually at the midpoint between The Canopy Isles and The Root Realm.