View source for Diddu

'''Diddu''' (pronounced {{IPA |/&#x02C8;d&#x026A;du&#x02D0;/}}) is a [[godworld]] of the [[Sacred Sea]], notable for the radical [[transformation]]s that the [[world]] and its contents undergo between its sixteen [[mester]]s.  The people of Diddu have, however, established some locations, the [[Golden Cities]], that are protected from the mestral alterations, though anyone leaving the cities is subject to the changes as usual.  By no means all Diddu's inhabitants live within the cities, however, and those who do not are as subject to the transformations as anything else in the world.

==Geography==
Diddu is shaped roughly like three [[sphere]]s, connected by narrow necks of land.  Various protrusions project from each of the spheres.  All the spheres are inhabited, though one, the [[Dark Sphere]], is considered notably more dangerous than the other two.  A patchwork of water and land covers the world, with the land covering approximately 38% of the surface.  The largest settlement on Diddu is [[Qalardin]], one of the Golden Cities; outside Qalardin, the largest settlement is the port city of [[Harambare]], on the shore of the [[Harvage Sea]].

==Time==
Diddu's [[day (Diddu)|day]] is only marginally shorter than [[Earth]]'s; exactly four hundred Didduan days make up the [[year (Diddu)|year]].  The year is divided into sixteen periods called [[mester]]s, varying in length but averaging twenty-five days.  During each mester, the world and its contents undergo a drastic transformation.  One mester, for example, sees the world covered in [[water]]&mdash;except the former seas, which become underwater expanses of [[air]]&mdash;; another sees the world's surface submerged in a thick layer of [[mestral gel|gel]].  In another, the world becomes frigid and glacial; in yet another, it becomes warm and extremely fertile.

While the mesters are sufficiently fundamental to life on Diddu to make up an important unit of the calendar in virtually all cultures, there is some variation in precisely where to draw the line between mesters, and which mester to start the year with (and, of course, in the names they give the mesters).  The nowaday most widely used calendar, called the [[cubic calendar]] for somewhat obscure historical reasons, begins with [[Jiricin]], the mester generally considered to be the baseline of normality from which conditions in other mesters deviate.  The full sequence of mesters in the cubic calendar, with their length in days (according to the most common reckoning), is as follows:
* [[Jiricin]], 32 days
* [[Gandagabian]], 19 days
* [[Canoan]], 21 days
* [[Bajiber]], 29 days
* [[Gurunda]], 27 days
* [[Bukoan]], 25 days
* [[Fansinda]], 22 days
* [[Lulean]], 26 days
* [[Calian]], 30 days
* [[Hauau]], 21 days
* [[Worohue]], 23 days
* [[Derean]], 31 days
* [[Nunean]], 20 days
* [[Farinda]], 27 days
* [[Ienoan]], 24 days
* [[Jijian]], 23 days
For the most part, conditions in each mester are quite different, but there is an exception: two mesters which, though there may be subtle differences, have matching in their most notable characteristics.  These two mesters, Gurunda and Derean&mdash;sometimes collectively called the [[Bunanj]] or the Mortal Mesters&mdash;, are also the mesters most dreaded by most of the world's inhabitants (though Canoan may not be too far behind).  During these mesters, most of Diddu's mortal inhabitants are temporarily [[&aelig;nifaction|turned to metal statues]], while [[undead (Loge)|undead]] roam the world in their place.

There is also some cultural variation in the numbering of the years, even within the cubic calendar.  Different societies have counted from the foundation of various [[empire (politics)|empire]]s or other significant events, but in more recent years&mdash;thanks to the influence of the [[prevision|prophetic]] [[angel (Diddu)|angel]]s [[Senelda]], [[&OElig;ldon]], [[Kalt]], and [[Moraia]] three thousand years ago&mdash;the years are generally numbered counting down toward a supposed future event&mdash;while the angels' prophecies may not be widely believed in, this reverse year numbering still remains as a relic of it.  The current year by this numbering is 1321.

==Creatures==
Diddu is inhabited by a variety of species, though the dominant intelligent species is the [[human (Loge)|human]].  Because of Diddu's mestral transformations, however, exactly what species exist varies by mester&mdash;some creatures only exist at all during certain mesters, while others change into other creatures.  During two of the mesters, for example, all humans (and other living creatures) become frozen metal statues while the [[world]] is haunted by [[undead (Loge)|undead]], while in another certain plants become animate that throughout the rest of the year are unmoving.

==Magic==
In addition to the [[void magic]] common throughout most of the [[cosmos]] of [[Loge]], Diddu is home to several [[arcanum|arcana]] of its own, the most notable being the [[steel magic]] that seems tied to different metals.  Like everything else about the world, though, magic seems to work differently during different mesters, void magic being somewhat less susceptible to change than most other forms.

[[Category:Worlds of the Sacred Sea]][[Category:Caeric worlds]]