Nervera

"Nervera contains the unimaginable!"

- Al-Gashin

Nervera is Silmera's southernmost continent. It is also the smallest continent in the world. Nervera still remains unexplored by human explorers despite the amount of expeditions in the past few millennia. It has a very diverse climate with different biomes spread around the coast and in the middle there is a giant ice sheet where the Eternal Storm continues ravage to this day. It also boasts a diverse and exotic ecosystem never seen in the world. It is also considered the most dangerous place in the planet due to its unforgiving nature and the Mystical Species and beasts that inhabit the continent.

Nervera is the home of the Nervetii people who are known for their immagicality. They occupied the continent for much of the world's entire history. They only have one city, Nerere, which is situated near the Majo coast. They are an absolute theocratic government led by the immortal High Priest. Even as humans, they don't speak the same language as the others. They have their own language that is called the Unified Language since this language is also used by other Mystical Species in the area.

Called as Silmera's "final and unbeatable frontier", Nervera is still largely unexplored due to the extremely hostile ecosystem and its unpredictable weather patterns. Aignistad estimates that since Al-Gashin's expedition in 154 TA, Nervera has been only 16% mapped and explored. The most recent expedition was done in 1562 TA but there is some plans for an expedition in 1619 TA by the Empire of Reia and the Republic of Dresmedeus, the first time in history where two countries are uniting to participate in this endeavor.

As explorers approach the center of the continent, their capacity for magic decreases. It slowly drains Essence for the duration of stay in the island. It is said that the storm in the center of the continent influences magic around the area.

Etymology
When Al-Gashin met a native, he asked the name of the continent which the native replied "Nervera" which in reality is the Nervetii word for "Immortal".

Geography
Although the smallest continent, Nervera contains the world's most diverse and exotic ecosystem and geography.

Layers
Geographer Kashishi divided the continent into seven layers, each one more dangerous than the other, farther the coast the more dangerous the layer:

Second Layer: Fields of Glory
The second layers is home to the Nervetii civilization and its single city, Nerere. The Fields of Glory is a wide plain stretching a portion of Nervera. It is a relatively safe layer but there is caution since there are several dangerous species such as the land serpents and the gaurion. It is a very unique and fertile land where exotic species of plants can live such as the spiritfruit and the breion.

Sixth Layer: Wall of Giants
Only the High Priest has successfully crossed this layer. The Wall of Giants is a series of mountain ranges ranging from 5000 meters to 9000 meters. The tallest mountain is the Demon's Horn rising about 9512 meters from the sea level. The lowest mountain is Masasa Shield rising about 5232 meters above sea level. Most of the mountains are very steep from the average mountain. The winds from the seventh layer can be felt in the mountains making it very hard to traverse. It is home to dangerous species rare even in Nervera. Because of all these factors, it is said that it's impossible to climb up a mountain and go to the other side.

Culture
According to Maschida Purloni, Nervera's culture primarily revolves around their own brand of Universalism and the absolute theocratic government led by the High Priest and the Council of Elders.

Religion, Customs, and Traditions
The Nervetii pratices their own variation of Universalism. It is their belief that they should be well rounded and perfect individuals so that they may compensate their lack of magic. Every action in their culture is an act of penance for the sins of their forefathers. Every 1st day of the year, every person except High Priest walks naked into the very hot Fields of Gagariri. This action is a renewal of the covenant and conviction for penance. The High Priest is the representative of the Demiurge to the Nervetii people.

For the Nervetii people,

Expedition
There were nine official sanctioned expeditions starting with Al-Gashin's arrival at the coast of Silmare. There were 100 more unsanctioned expeditions.

Al-Gashin Expedition (154 TA)
The first official expedition to the continent. When word got out that the sailors of the ship Marya saw a distant land, the Sultanate of Balgad decided to explore the land to expand their territories. Suleiman Al-Gashin, then Court Magician to the Sultan, was appointed to lead the expedition. When Al-Gashin found out the ill preparation of the expedition, he went to the Sultan himself and demanded to put more funding to the expedition. He argued that there is no information about the island at all and used the disastrous Kashinti expedition at the island of Wiriri as an example. He managed to convinced the Sultan and the entire court to put more funding to the expedition.

In the 3rd Day of the 9th Month of the Year 154 TA, Al-Gashin with 10 Magicians of the Sultanate Order of the Cactus sailed with a single ship, the Fatimah, to the continent. They arrived there after a month. They landed in the coast in what would be known as the Al-Gashin coast named after the leader of this expedition. Immediately after arriving, they set up a camp and end the day. The next morning, five magicians including Al-Gashin went deep into a jungle. Al-Gashin notes that "Of all the jungles I saw, this one is by far the strangest and the most dangerous". He also noted that they encountered animals that doesn't fit the descriptions of any book. When Al-Gashin realized that it was high noon, they were already two kilometers away from the camp.

They heard sounds they never heard before and suddenly someone attacked them. Al-Gashin describe their attacker as "a single eyed black lion with a horn". He would later call it the Geiorans. It was very powerful and their magic seemingly had no effect on it. It was extreemly fast and Al-Gashin noted that it was faster than sound. They decided to escape but one of the magicians was pierced by his horn as they run. Al-Gashin used the spell "Wind Push" which drove the creature away. The remaining magicians arrive at the camp soon after and describe their experiences to those who stayed. In a meeting, they decided that all of them will go together.

The next day, they destroyed the camp and went on into the woods. They didn't encounter any monsters for the whole day. They found a river and settled their for the night. While they were sleeping, they were swarmed by an exotic species of bees. They driven away the bees but stayed up for the entire night. Sleepless and tired, they continued. While walking, one of the magicians contracted high fever. After two days, the high fever still wouldn't stop and the whole body of the magician started turning into red. It was observed that the temperature rise wouldn't stop and it kept ongoing up until 100 Celsius and the body just started to melt into an unknown form of liquid. This liquid would be known as Liquid Soul. Some of the liquid formed by the body of the magician was stored in an enhanced bottle.

With only eight men remaining, they pushed forward into the jungle. It was 13 days since the expedition began and they were running out of supplies. Al-Gashin wrote that he noticed a significant abnormal fatigue in his men and himself. He said that it feels they are being robbed of the ability to do magic slowly. When they encountered another geioran, one of the magicians split ways with them never to be seen again. Al-Gashin led a meeting with the six survivors. He proposed to end the expedition but four men objected stating that it would be a disgrace to return emptyhanded. The expedition continued. Since there are hostile bees that attack them every night, one had to stay awake to guard the camp and the sleeping magicians. When they encoutner geiorans, they ran away. This continued for days. It was 21 days since the expedition began when they finally managed to get out of the jungle but they witnessed a great plain stretching to the horizon. They also saw what seems to be a man-made structure far away. Al-Gashin and the magicians believing it as a sign of a civilization move toward it.

While waking to the man-made structure, they saw a human for the first time. They didn't understand each other and Al-Gashin noted that the language they used is alien and unfamiliar to them. It didn't bear any similarities to any existing language. They used non-verbal language to understand each other. The person lead them to the man-made structure which was actually a city. Al-Gashin observed the seemingly alien architecture of the people, he had never seen structures as complex. He noted that the material is also of foreign nature.