Mythlands: THE HEIST

Character Profiles: The Heist Part One (36-40)

Out of this leaders emerged to bring order to the chaos. One such person was The Tortoise, who led tens of thousands of mainly non humans to an uninhabited land which was later designated the Domain of the Mythical Creatures. The Tortoise gathered prominent characters together and established a corporate structure to rule the Domain; operating out of the newly constructed Domain City, Mythical Creatures Interdimensional acted to stabilize the region and reach out to the leaders of many of the nearby realms such as Oz, Wonderland, Elephantland, Never Never Land and the pantheons of the Godlands. 

Even though more people/characters/creatures continued to appear throughout the coming decades, MCI had now put a structure in place to ease the transition and The Tortoise and many of the convened great minds of the newly minted Mythlands had determined that their existence and that of many 'dopplers' for various characters, was somehow connected to the mortal realm.

The influx of formerly dead mortals and even places such as a copy of Las Vegas, proved the hypothesis that if a mortal, place or character became known or in the case of dead humans/places, legendary enough, they would be reborn in the Mythlands. But many mysteries still remain to be solved.

The Domain rests on the northern shores of a continent - their southern border abuts the Magic Forrest and south of that are plains that lead to the small desert in which Myth Vegas is to be found. To the west a short flight in several directions will take you towards Oz, Wonderland, Elephantland, Rhinoland and Never Never Land. Keep on going and you'll hit the Calormen Desert and beyond that Narnia.

At the time of the Great Upheaval, Isolationist Narnia shut its borders and withdrew into an insulated highly religious and paranoid nation which is now known as the Aslanist State of Narnia. In recent years diplomatic approaches from MCI have finally had positive responses and Narnia has opened itself up to trade delegations - ongoing talks are convened several times a year at what is known as The Cair Paravel Economic Summit.

Myth Vegas - Along with several other places from the mortal realm that have achieved 'legendary' status (See Colditz Castle for example), Myth Vegas originated after an empty complete copy of the mortal realm city of Las Vegas appeared in the desert south of the Magic Forrest circa 1967 as the years correspond to the mortal realm.

As the unwanted desert was technically sovereign territory belonging to MCI and the Domain, the Tortoise soon arrived on site and began to conceive of an immense program of building and a population initiative. As most of the construction was cosmetic with occasional alterations and rebuilds, within a year the newly renamed Myth Vegas was open for business, soon eclipsing Oz's Emerald City as the Entertainment's Capital of the Mythlands.

There is a legend that the first talking animal to discover Vegas was lost, dying in the desert, but came upon a cactus. The juice contained within this 'lucky' cactus was enough to keep the creature going long enough to stumble upon an abandoned gas station with a fully working restroom. Thus hydrated and able to eat from filled snack machines and rest and recover in the shade, the talking animal then saw the start of a highway and in the distance ... a city.

Knowing the value of a good story, the Tortoise converted several of the largest and most prominent casinos into the massive Lucky Cactus Casino which, covering several miles right in the central area off of the Strip, became THE place to be when in Myth Vegas.

Owned and operated by MCI, Vegas and The Lucky Cactus is the jewel in the crown of The Tortoise's holdings, providing work, entertainment and leisure for visitors all over the Mythlands - Monarchs, Leaders, billionaires and the influential meet, conduct business and relax there, many maintaining residences and suites at the LC.

The Godlands - A thousand or so miles east of Vegas, the Domain and the realms of the West Mythlands, is a massive landmass known as The Godlands. To the north, you'll find the borders of Asgard and Avalon among other states that include Slavic and Celtic gods. As the Godlands stretch to the south, the lands of gods from hotter climes are to be found, with African, Greek, Egyptian and more in one direction and further east, he realms of Chinese, Japanese and other Asian gods.

The entire landmass is surprisingly small but then again the borders are only those of the main cities such as Olympus, Asgard, Heliopolis, Avalon and more, with some surrounding countryside - however inside each realm of the Godlands, you can travel thousands of miles and to sub realms within trans-dimensional space.

On arrival in the Mythlands, the heads of the various pantheons adjusted to their new borders by forming the Council of Godheads and establishing treaties and rules to maintain the peace. At various points the borders that are physically connected to the rest of the Mythlands, can be passed, but only with permission of the authorities as the entryways are small and magically protected.

While the Asgardian, Olympian and Egyptian realms are among those that border the West Mythlands, other inner realms of the Godlands are only accessible by first passing through other realms such as the ones mentioned. The way to Ta-Lo, the 36th Heaven, realm of the gods of China for example, is right in the centre of the Godlands and borders no 'mortal' realm of the Mythlands.

With occasional exceptions, there is an embargo on the technology that has permeated most of the Mythlands, with the Council deciding to keep outside influences at a minimum.

The Council as an entity cooperates with MCI and other realms, often participating in or hosting economic and political conferences. The Tortoise is held in high esteem among the gods and is regarded as equal in rank to the Skyfathers. Asgard and Olympus, both close friends and allies with each other, also accords the same status to The Domain and Odin, Zeus and The Tortoise count each other as 'brothers' as well as allies.