The Continent

About
The world created by Ludo-Rathowm, consisting of a main continent and some islands floating in the middle of the universe, supported on the back of four Holy Beasts (JAPAN was supported by a fifth Holy Beast living within it). Whenever any of the Holy Beasts move, earthquakes occur. In the picture above, two of the Holy Beasts are visible (an elephant and a turtle). It's a geocentric world and has no oceans (only streams, rivers and a very large lake). It has a calendar system divided in eras based on the current reigning Demon King.

Currently the most prominent species are humans, hannies and monsters. There are roughly 300 million humans living in the world and 2 billion hannies. The amount of monsters was never estimated.

The Continent is the main setting where the events of the Rance Series of games takes place, though there are a few other series such as Toushin Toshi that are also set in the same world.

Planner Scenario
The Planner Scenario is a collective term for the universal structure of Ludo-Rathowm's world, created by Supreme God Planner, who is constantly making sure that a balance is preserved within the scenario.

The elements that make up the Planner Scenario: *Note: "Dark Lords" is sometimes translated as "Demons" or "Fiends".
 * The Protagonist Race
 * The Round Ones
 * Dragons
 * Humans
 * Kalar
 * Poppins
 * Ghosts
 * The Hero System
 * The Demon King
 * Dark Lords
 * Elite Dark Lords
 * Monsters
 * Gal Monsters
 * Guy Monsters
 * Levels
 * Level Cap
 * Skill Levels
 * Magic Arts
 * Divine Magic
 * Holy Magic
 * Death Magic
 * Onmyou
 * Balance Breaker
 * Youkai
 * Insects (unintended)

Outsiders of the Planner Scenario
While only the Protagonist Race and the Antagonist Race live in The Continent, there are other species of sentient beings that influence The Continent.
 * Ludo-Rathowm: The Creator God. He created the continent and its inhabitants. The world exists only to entertain him.
 * Souls: The source of life in the continent. They come directly from Ludo-Rathowm's body.
 * Reincarnation Cycle: The cycle of life and death. All souls originate from Ludo-Rathowm and return to him upon death.
 * Gods: The Creators of the world and the rules and the ones that observe the way mortals live in it. They all live in the Gods Realm.
 * Angels: Technically lower ranked Gods. They appear in The Continent to retrieve souls and hunt Devils.
 * Oni: Servants of the Gods, they are in charge of the purification of polluted souls. They live in Hell, but sometimes pop in the continent through Hell Holes.
 * Devils: The "Anti-Gods" that serve Devil King Rathowm and wish to take down the Creator God.
 * Horus: A species from a very far world that happened to clash in The Continent.
 * Kurupiston: A very bizarre race from far away that scout The Continent in search of human women for the sake of breeding..
 * Alternate Dimensions: There are other worlds in alternate dimsensions that sometimes connects with the continent through different means.
 * Kaiju: A species of lizard-like people from another dimension that occasionally slip into the Continent. They fight for the rights of monsters, and oppose both humanity and the Demon King as a result.
 * Sumo: A strange race that comes from another dimension. They are somewhat indestructible and can only be destroyed with specific means. They mostly get in the way of adventurers.

Human Territory
The Human Territory is the area on the eastern side of the Continent, established during the reign of Demon King Gi.

Prior to Gi's rule, Demon King Gele had monsters swarming all over the Continent as she cared little for humanity or any living comforts they might feel entitled to. Gi changed that by allocating territory for monsters and territory for humans, the monsters were mostly called back to the western half of the Continent and formed the Monster Realm, while the humans were left to their own devices on the eastern half. Many internal conflicts amongst humanity brought about the rise of the four main territories within the overall human territory.

The Helman Empire dominates much of the north and north-west sections, the Kingdom of Leazas has claimed the fertile soil to the north-east, the Magic Kingdom of Zeth owns the land to the south-west, and the south-eastern section is made up of an alliance of Free Cities. Additionally, there is a floating landmass known as JAPAN to the east of the mainland.

Between Zeth and Helman and east to the Crystal Forest, there's a huge desert called the Kinani Desert. This desert is a death-zone for humans since trying to pass is suicide with the sand-storms and the huge path of sand. This made it impossible for Helman or Zeth to try to invade the other. There's one small nation called Shangri-La in the middle that is completely independant to everything else.

The Kalar Race reside in the Crystal Forest in the center of the continent and are unified under a single country called Pencilcow, founded by Index Kalar and Hanty Kalar. Humans are not allowed to enter and are either killed on sight or captured for breeding purposes until they die.

The world is currently divided into these major powers, and humanity is rarely in unison. Though there have been attempts to unify humanity, such as Emperor Ishimaru Fujiwara's conquest during Demon King Nighcisa's reign, but there has only ever been one successful unification of mankind in history and that was during the reign of the Holy Magic Sect. That time however, has long since passed.

Monsters still exist within the human territory, just in smaller numbers than they do the Monster Realm, and higher numbers of them are more commonly seen along the area where Zeth and Helman both border the enemy territory, but that was fixed by erecting superstructures to act as physical barriers and defensive lines to protect humanity from the Monster Realm. Zeth constructed the Maginot Line, a complex and high-tech magical defense system, while Helman constructed Fort Banra, an enormous stone wall that soldiers can live inside. These two structures make up a visible line between the territories of man and monster.

Ever since Ishimaru Fujiwara conquered most of the continent during Nighcisa's era, JAPANese became the prominent language in the world and it remained that way until the present.

Money in The Continent is the GOLD (which is simply called "G"). One "G" is approximately 100 yen, and thus is now slightly more than one USD. Gold is collected by Haniwa from the remains of the mindless Golden Haniwa.

Nations
Currently the world is roughly divided into:
 * Leazas (red) - Around 50,000,000 people
 * Free Cities Alliance (green) - Around 48,000,000 people
 * Helman (dark blue) - Around 51,000,000 people
 * Zeth (purple) - Around 32,000,000 people
 * JAPAN (yellow) - Around 20,000,000 people
 * Shangri-La - 1 person.
 * Pencilcow - 2017 Kalar.
 * Other Unaffiliated - Around 87,000,000 people

There were other nations in the past, but they have since died out.

Civilization
As humans gather and form nations, they developed their own hierarchical in a pyramid shaped system, with a handful individuals in positions of power to control the masses.

Their Civilization is divided in:
 * Royal: the ruling class. At the top of the society, they have control over the population and economy of their countries.
 * Noble: The high-class among civilians. They don't have political power, but they have high influence in the economy and in the society itself.
 * Civilians: The average person. Makes a living by working and earning GOLD in exchange of whatever service he or she can provide. They have to pay taxes to their government in order to be allowed to continue living in society.
 * Slaves: Humans that are considered private matter, they lack human rights and their life is completely dependant on their owner.
 * Adventurers: Individuals that choose to venture outside of human settlements, typically having to fight monsters or the like in order to complete payed jobs from people.

They also have their own mores and social manners. They tend to rely in items they craft on their own, rather than just using raw elements. Some of the most notorious elements of human creation are:


 * GOLD: An element used for the transaction of goods in a market.
 * Foods: Eleborated dishes made for the purpose of having a more pleasurable meal.
 * Weapons: Crafted tools used for combat, typically wield to attack an opponent.
 * Armors: Crafted tools used for combat, typically used for the protection of oneself.
 * Magic Items: Artifacts used for a wide array of purposes, be it for combat, for research or just for entertainment. Magic vision is a good example of the last case.

Religions
The most prominent religions in The Continent are: The AL Church is spread all over the continent and is the most popular religion of humanity. It has its capital in the island of kawanakijima in the western side of the Free Cities Alliance and worships Godess ALICE.
 * The AL Church
 * The Haniwa Temple
 * The Tenshi Sect

The Haniwa Temple is the religion made by the Haniwa race to worship the Hanny King.

The Tenshi Sect is a more exclusive religion that was born in JAPAN. However, it is its most prominent religion and it's the only human nation where the AL Church's influence is non-existant.

The Monster Realm
The Monster Realm is the name given to the area on the western side of the Continent, established during the reign of Demon King Gi.

Most of the monsters live here, along with Dark Lords, Apostles and the Demon King. It is a huge greyish landscape with a very obscure and dark atmosphere. It is foggy and full of thick clouds with a constantly heavy air, humid, and it feels like you're breathing miasma. The monsters like it, but to a human it would feel like fatigue was constantly eating away at them.

Death is almost guaranteed for humans that enter to the monster realm, not only because of the hostile landscape and the overwhelming amount of monsters that inhabit it, but because it's where Dark Lords live, and an encounter with one would be certain death for any human.

To prevent invasions from the Monster Realm, human countries have established giant protective barries like the Maginot Line in Zeth.

The Legends of The Continent
Some legends are passed across the continent, some people or entities are recognized as having a legendary status and are widely known by all.
 * The Hero: A human with the power to defeat the Demon King. It is said that when mankind is in danger, the hero will unlock his true power and rise up to save the troubled populace.
 * Four Holy Gal Monsters: The Four Godesses that produced all male and female monsters in the world.
 * Earthy Jiuletta: A travelling fortune-teller. It is said that if you give her a piece of candy, she will tell you your future with 100% accuracy.
 * The Legendary Five: Five extremely talented and powerful humans that made the strongest party of adventurers in the history of humanity.
 * Machpiyo: A mysterious little bird that can travel to obcenely fast speeds. It's the fastest being in The Continent.
 * Hanny King: The king and father of the Haniwa race. His powers and fame are unmatched.
 * Hero Phase Shift: Inhabitants of the Kaiju World, a race of lizard-like bipedal known as Kaiju. Sometimes Kaiju slip through dimensions and end up in The Continent.
 * KD: Dragon King Magiihoa once proudly ruled over the continent but that age has long since passed. Now a mysterious riddling cat named KD travels the continent, it is said that is the very same Dragon King from ancient times.
 * M.M Rune: The most powerful magician in history, creator of Tousho, Toushin and Biometal magic. He's the only human in history that managed to unify the human race under one organization, the Holy Magic Sect.
 * The Treacherous Mage: An immortal mage with a bronze body. He betrayed his most trusted friend and ended the Dark Lord War.
 * The Black-Haired Kalar: She assisted the Treacherous mage and is famous for her unmatched magical power. She's the only kalar with black hair.
 * Fujiwara Ishimaru: The first Emperor of JAPAN and one of the strongest warriors in history. His rule established Tenshiism as the main religion of JAPAN.
 * The Harbinger of Death: Goddess of Destruction and Empress of Annihilation. La Vaswald is tasked with purging life from the world when the time comes.