Compasses in Scarterra
Earth is a sphere has a magnetic north and south pole.
Scarterra is sphere-like and does not have magnetic pole. The north and south ends of Scarterra are portals in the Void a realm of malevolent nothingness formed out of the spiritual essence of Turoch's corpse.
Only The Barrier keeps the Void from conusming the material plane. But the Void is still passively leaeching heat out of Scarterra. This is why the polar regions of Scarterra are colder and the equatorial regions are warmer.
Compasses can be formed out of voidstones which are attuned to the energy of the Void which functions like an earth compass but it it is attunded to Void energies instead of magnetism. They will point north and south like an Earth compass, but they are disrupted by Void energies in their vicinity so compasses don't work around demons or large displays of Void based magics. Some undead can affect compasses but this is relatively rare unless they are very close to said compass.
Manufacturing
Voidstones are ordinary rocks with high iron content relatively close to the Scarterra's north or south pole. A skilled craftsman can use a piece of voidstone to make a compass but they need to perfectly still to work properly. Basic magic can make somewhat higher quality compasses that are smaller and can be jostled around a bit and still work.
Social Impact
Compasses are not commonly used, but their use is increasing. Without compasses, Scarterran rely on simple itineraries, navigation magic, or complex star charts.
Discovery
Lots of people argue about who invented the compass first, but it's widely believe that compasses are an innovation developed early in the the Third Age. Before the Second Unmaking, the Void didn't pull on Scarterra strongly enough to allow a non-magical compass to work.
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