Demons

According to Zether, long ago demons were the only ones who could use magic, but Nerso took their magic from them and imprisoned them. Apparently, they were tyrants, who used their magic to kill mortals at their leisure, to kill immortals at their leisure, and to kill- you get the idea. Nerso took their magic from them and forced them all into imprisonment in the Nerso Space, making some wizards think twice about travelling through it for fear of being grabbed by a demon mid-warp. Vague records suggest that lesser demons do not have horns, but any kind of demon is (reportedly) nearly impossible to kill, perhaps that is why Nerso chose to imprison them rather than kill them?

Goblins

Bronze-skinned and stunted, goblins are foul creatures of a blighted origin and purpose. According to the legend of the King of Evil, he recruited the goblins to his side through yet unknown means. After his defeat at the peak of evil, the goblins fled south and tunneled their way to a then nameless group of islands. When the Ishmaki arrived, they claimed the larger islands for themselves and forced the goblins onto the smaller islands. Before the Guardians reforms, the Guardian states would help the Ishmaki fight the goblins, and according to the official records, the Guardians and Ishmaki collaboration resulted in the extinction of the goblins. Nowadays, the only time goblins are really mentioned are by mothers to frighten their children into behaving.

Nersoism

"By Nerso, this one is persistent!" Valvix Dernvinerva

Though it is widely agreed by everyone who is not a wizard that Nerso was not a god, it has not stopped human wizards around the continent from worshiping him. According him divine status sprang up after Zether revealed the origins of magic to humans at the time he supplied them with magic crystals. Humanity was understandably reluctant to praise Zether for this, his actions having resulted in the death of millions after all, so they took to worshiping Nerso instead. According to the tenets of Nersoism, wizards are to dedicate their life solely to the advancement of magic and the arcane.  It also holds that Nerso has prepared a special place in the hereafter for the greatest of wizardkind. Unlike the other religions, there is no holy order of warriors associated with Nersoism, an understandable situation for most people, as Nerso was said to be, according to Zether, a peaceful person devoted to the expansion of the arcane.

The Symbol of Nersoism, and what is widely considered the symbol of Nerso in general, is a swirling mass of stars which invokes the idea of a creator. A fitting symbol, as Nerso is seen as the creator of magic.

GwrvoriaN: the Holy City

Located deep within the southern border of the Life Desert, Mahalak had Gwrvorian constructed to house the Great Cathedral of Vigil. Most of the buildings were carved out of the mountain itself, and the city is well known for its maze-like streets. Most of the citizens who live there are refugees, their homes destroyed in the constant wars that ravage the continent. The priests harbour them all regardless of faith, feeding them and providing them employment. After Greater Lakamatisim was replaced by Draco-Divinitisim as the state religion, Gwrvorian became the only place in the Life Desert that still had proper places of worship for Vigil. It escaped attack because Gwrvorian acts as a natural , impregnable fortress, re-enforced by magic-proof rock and with a large storage capacity for supplies. Once this was realized, it became customary during each Elven War for most of the civilians to retreat into Gwrvorian while the soldiers could fight without fear of what could happen to their families. Mahalak’s descendants occupy positions of prominence in the city to this day, although there are rumors that the family is planning a comeback to power.