Burshan

Burshan is a rugged, sun-blasted continent of arid plateaus, fractured canyons, and ancient battlegrounds from when Rouktu was initially settled. Once fertile, Burshan was ravaged by centuries of warfare and reckless industrial extraction. Now, it is home to fractured city-states, warlords, corporate enclaves, and pockets of mystics clinging to lost power.

Burshan is etymologically related to the term “bursa” which means “purse” and is often thought to be an abbreviation of the “Land to fill the purse”.

Early History

Shortly before the Akkadians met The Limitation they had established several outposts on the planet Rouktu. One of these was a key relay and research hub located in what is now the fractured continent of Burshan. These sites served as logistical nodes, databanks, and refueling stations for the mighty Ark-ships that once traveled between stars.

But when the Limitation struck, severing interstellar networks and destabilizing higher-dimensional travel, everything changed.

One of the great vessels, Ark Eleppu, crash-landed in northern Burshan during a solar flare storm. The survivors — cut off from their homeworld and the wider Akkadian fleet — had no choice but to entrench themselves, building a hardened survival society in one of the most volatile regions of the planet.

Centuries later, UN-led human colonists arrived on Burshan, guided by semi-autonomous ships known as Ravens — advanced vessels preprogrammed by Akkadian technology to seek out viable landing zones. Several of these Ravens found Burshan suitable and began landing human settlers across the scarred continent.

To the surviving Akkadian enclave, these human arrivals were not saviors or lost cousins — they were a threat.

Not only did the humans lay claim to essential water sources and mineral-rich areas, but the Ravens themselves represented a potential return to the stars. A resource the stranded Akkadians believed was rightfully theirs.

Conflict was inevitable.

The War for the Ravens

What began as tense diplomacy quickly spiraled into an extended and bitter war — one not just of weapons, but of ideologies.

• For the humans, the Ravens were sacred: the only link back to the void, to Earth, to purpose.
  
  
• For the Akkadians, they were stolen relics — a lifeline they’d been denied for generations.

The war spread across Burshan’s jagged mesas, broken fault lines, and high plateaus.
Dogfights were fought in the upper atmosphere. Armored columns clashed in sun-blasted canyons.

Magitech drones and relic weapons left entire regions poisoned, twisted, or shattered.

Echoes of the War

Though the war has long ended, its scars remain.

• The Ruins of Ark Eleppu still loom in Burshan’s north, a half-buried skeleton of alloy and memory. Scavenger bands, rogue Soahtti units, and religious pilgrims all vie for access to its sealed vaults.
• Old warzones, such as the Raven Gulch and The Skar Rift, are now home to warlords and scavenger clans — some descended from both Akkadian and human bloodlines.
• Warlords still rise from the ashes of the old conflict, many hoarding salvaged pre-Limitation technology and commanding private armies of enhanced mercenaries.
• Cultural trauma lingers. The Bhappa sing of “The War of Falling Stars.” The Noaidi see the echoes of the conflict in the magical instability that haunts Burshan’s ley-lines.

Modern Day Status

Today, a fragile peace holds — but mistrust runs deep.

• Korr League trade envoys occasionally attempt to secure old Ark tech, but are often turned away by fiercely independent local warlords.
• Burshan remains a warzone — not of large armies, but of ancient grudges, shattered legacies, and unhealed wounds.