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by Encore Fri May 24, 2013 8:52 pmPlease enjoy this. This is a work of fiction
Inspiration has been taken from many sources, including other members of this community.
Give him all the respects.
Part one is completely done. Characters: 49516. Words: 8545. Sentences: 411. Paragraphs: 133. Avg. Sentence Length: 21.
I will no longer add any new sections to this part, instead doing minor edits.
Inspiration has been taken from many sources, including other members of this community.
Give him all the respects.
- part one:
- The creation of the universe and life:
- In the ancient times, before even the world itself came to be, there was only darkness and roaming beings of untold monstrosity. These abominable beings slaughtered everything in sight, including each others, but four great beast arose from the deepest parts of these wastes. These four beast took it on themself to slaughter these vile beings of death and abominable sins.
The Eagle beast: A symbol of divinity. This great beast flew high above the monstrosities, slashing them with her claws of unimaginable divine power.
The Snake beast: The symbol of mortal life. This cunning and genderless beast lacked the raw strength of the others, and instead used it´s agile body to maneuver around the monstrosities in order to strike them where they where weakest.
The Bear beast: The symbol of the physical plane. This was the most massive of all the beings of the endless void, including the other beasts. He used his great paws too maul their enemies, crushing everything that tried too oppose them.
The Cat beast: The symbol of sorcery and magic. This mystical beast looked like a human and cat hybrid. This beast weaved the very fabric of the void, casting great bolts of energy, adjusting the weight of the beasts and opening gateways to other "places" in the endless, formless void.
The newly arisen beasts fought against the beings of the void, but this would seem too be endless hordes of the beings of the void. These powerful beasts where drawn too the only source of "light". Fighting their way over there over many millennia, they witnessed the source of the light, a being similar too them. This being was twisted and similar too the other mindless beings that otherwise inhabited the void.
The being of the void attacked the four great beasts, and the fought a ferocious battle. This battle went on for many days, and in the end the malicious being fell, but brought the four Beasts with him.
From the Eagle beast rose five divines..
From the Snake beast the seeds of life where born
From the Bear beast the planets and stars emerged,
And from the Cat beast everything was infused with magic and energy.
The world was now formed, but even though the seeds of life where there, they had yet too sprout. The five newly formed Divines took it upon themselves too use the seeds too spread life on the planet. They first used the seeds too create microorganism. These tiny organisms began too work with the soil of the planet, making the ground fertile. The next thing they did was using the "seeds" too make plants, trees and mushrooms. This allowed for their next creation too live, the animals. In the plethora of animals they created, they also made four of the in the image of the four original beasts, but these had no other power other than being in the image of the beasts.
Their last creation was that of early man. This creation was flawed, because even though they had a connection too both the divines and in turn the four beast, their mind was easily corrupted. The creation was also very special, because they could, with enough training, manipulate the magical energy that had infused all things. The first humans where very simple, having no knowledge about the world.
- The Six Divines:
- Nihila, The Shadow Mistress:
- This divine looks the most human of the initial five divines, having the appearance of a female human in it´s teen years, wearing a wedding gown. Despite looking the most human, she was probably the most unsettling too look at, because she had no features other then the outline of a human. She emits an aura of darkness, and is semi-transparent with white shining dots for eyes.
Hovering slightly over the ground, whenever she descended to visit the mortals, she was met with scorn and hatred. Of all the initial divines, she is the one that interacts with mortal beings the most. All of these characteristics made her very unstable, reducing her to something akin a young child, attaching herself too whoever mortal she fancied.
After the fourth Maiden War, the other divines turned against her. This led her to sever her connection too both the divines and the mortals. She resurfaced during the current Maiden War, having chosen a young woman to attach herself too.
Perhaps being the only divine with real knowledge of the void, she resides in the only stable part of it that remained after the fall of the great beasts, the area where they rose from. This in turn leads her to have a strong connection with the afterlife, allowing her Maidens to pioneer the magical arts known as "Necromancy"
- Ghan, The Lord of Flame:
- This fiery divine has an almost demonic appearance. "The face" looked like a living fire, resting in a spiked, bowl like collar. Beneath the "head" there is a small pillar of molten rock, supporting it. His eyes are dots of a darker shade of fire, located just beneath the "face". His arms are twisting masses of molten rock, ending with solid obsidian hands. Despite being associated with the most chaotic of the elements, this is the calmest of the divines, preferring to choose a cold and calculating Maiden for the Maiden Wars. He us usually seen as the "chief" divine, but is not considered so by his fellow divines.
Not enjoying to associate with mortals, he spends his time in his realm of fire and heat, located in the star closest to the planet. There, he spends his time watching over the mortals, watching over them in order to learn about mortal nature. During a Maiden War, he prefers to interact with his Maiden via small "sparks", a kind of tiny fire phenomena.
Because his direct association with fire and it´s chaotic nature, he and his Maidens have developed "chaos magic". Not fire magic per se, this magical art makes use of the inherent chaotic nature of fire, weaving great firestorms and melting the very ground.
Although his involvement with mortals does not amount too much, it was one of the few times he did involve himself in mortal affairs other than the Maiden Wars that led to the "Charred Incident"
- Muriu, The Water Queen:
- The Water Queen is the most grotesque of all the divines. Her head is very large and is round in shape, and has multiple eyes located at seemingly random location. located just beneath her is a huge mass of randomly located features of aquatic life. But the most disgusting feature of her is the tentacles that sprouts all throughout her body, which move about in what seems to be random ways. Being that she represent water in itself, there is more than one "section" of her body, representing the different stages of water. The section representing steam is connected directly to the huge mass. Consisting of her stomach, this open hole into her body gives of a constant stream of heat and steam. The last part of her body, the one representing ice, is connected to her tentacles. On the tip of each tentacle there is stinger made out of the ice, and ice spikes are protruding all throughout her body.
When the planet settled, before life itself had come by, she began to search for a place to reside in. Having lived her entire existence being mocked by the four other divines, she began to search a place where should could be alone. At the deepest part of the great ocean, she settled down. While life began to spread, she decided she would never leave, and asked the newly formed beings of the ocean to grow coral around her, "trapping" her there.
As she can not visit mankind herself, but whenever she does so goes by forming a kind of ever frozen ice, and speaks through it. Whenever there is a Maiden War, she chooses the most beautiful Maiden, trying, in her own way, to get revenge against the other divines.
While many of the other divines has developed unique arts of magi, the water school of magic has none, instead focusing on manipulating water that is located in places you would not think of, blood, for example.
- Leeroy, The Shining Knight:
- Inspired by ResIsBestStat. During the sixth Maiden War Leeroy enlisted in the Endan army, wishing for glory and power. He was one of the "Magha" knight, semi magical warriors utilizing enhancing sorcery and great skill with their weapon. In the bloodiest battle ever seen, his was the only person surviving a surprise attack by an army lead by directly by the Maiden of Flame, the chosen Maiden of Ghan. After the ensuing slaughter, he stood against the remaining forces of the opposing army, which was over 800 soldiers and sorcerers. After fighting all but the Maiden herself, he challenged her. He was scared by the fire, but was enraged by the death of his comrades, and was about to subdue her. He could however not find it in him to execute her, so he captured her.
Since Leeroy cut out her tongue and bound her hands, the Maiden could not cast incantations or spells. Pleading for help from the lord of flame himself. Her prayers where heard and Ghan descended from his fiery realm, and challenged Leeroy in battle. Knowing that the battle would lead to his inevitable demise, he accepted. After standing his ground for many hours, Ghan eventually overcame Leeroy and called upon chaos itself, blasting apart his body. To Ghans surprise, Leeroy survived, and out of respect and dignity Ghan offered him a place among the divines. Leeroy accepted, becoming the "Shining Knight
Having lived a life of poverty and hatred, he had never experienced any love, and whenever there is a Maiden War, he chooses a Maiden that is devoted to him, in order to satisfy his selfishness. Because his body was partially destroyed by the fires of Ghan, Leeroys right arm and leg, left eye and the right side of his stomach was replaced with brightly colored crystals, that by it´s very nature is resistand to magic and most importantly, fire.
Because his power was granted to him by the other divines, he is the weakest of them, making up for it with tactical ingenuity and his knowledge of battle. The blade he used to fight Ghan with was also crystallized, as was his shield, so he can carry them into battle as memento of what brought him to become a divine. He resides in a great shining castle on Island of Myth, being served by a huge staff of beautiful maids and lovers, ruling over the island.
Ruling over "energy" in it´s crystal form, he inspired the further development of the "Magha" style of magic, making it one of the most developed and popular school of magi.
- Helas, The First Magician:
- Helas is a divine with indescribable features, as he can choose what form to appear as. His actual form is something that can be likened to a small lightning storm, swirling around and emitting light. "He" does not actually possess a gender, instead preferring to use the form of an animal whenever he visits the mortal beings. This is the divine that it´s least know about, as his intention are always unknown and mystical in it´s nature.
After the fourth Maiden War, Helas was the first of the divines to sever his connection to The Shadow Mistress. His intentions are not know to the other divines, making him the most dangerous of them.
His title "The First Magician" come from the cat that he created the school of magic know as "Mysticism", the art of manipulating reality itself, binding to places together or tearing matter apart. When he chooses a Maiden, there is no red line to follow, it differs from time to time, but he mostly picks highly educated scholars.
It is common belief that he shares a direct connection with magic, but that is a myth, but what he do is that he resides in a place far removed from other beings, instead having formed is own realm of mysticism and magic located on the direct opposite side of the star.
- Olood, The Arch-tree:
- Olood looks like a giant animated tree, nicely representing the everlasting forests of Alhant, the place where he resides. Towering high above the other trees, he can be seen from as far away as the Island of Myth. He normally stands still, letting nature decide what what will happen to him. Animals make their nest in him, birds peck at him and so forth. Being the modern symbol of life, he values all life, except humanity, despite it´s intention.
He does however willfully participate in the Maiden Wars, wishing to eradicate the other Maidens in order to end the battles as quickly as possible. He hates the other divines, because they are willing to spill the blood of living beings, but that is quite ironic, as his area of expertise is not only healing and restoring wounds, but also the most horrific of diseases.
During a Maiden War, he usually chooses one of the young women that where chosen by the king of Alhant to live in celibacy and tend to him. Using his power to spread miasma of disease and death, the Maiden of Olood is the most feared of them all, as she can last long in battle before falling, thanks to the healing influence of the Arch-Tree.
- Divines, their sphere of influence and their champions:
- Nihila, The Shadow Mistress:
- Nihila once influenced the unseen, what was to be discovered and what was long forgotten. She is perhaps the most knowledgeable being in existence, not that she get´s much use out of it. The immortal divines are still living being with emotions and desires. Nihila´s personality at it´s core was for a long time very curious, desiring to know about mortal life. But neglect and hatred left her partially broken inside, retreating to her residence. After the incident during the fourth Maiden War she was left completely broken, reduced to something akin to a young human child. Her sphere of influence was also warped. Now representing unpredictability, childishness and perhaps ironically, innocence.
Most divines follow a pattern, a certain Modus Operandi when they choose a champion, but now being a divine of unpredictability, no one knows how Nihila will act, if she acts at all. An example is during the fifth Maiden War, where she choose a for year old girl because she looked cute. Before the fourth Maiden War, she usually choose someone with the ambition to study, learn more and discover things about the world. When it comes to testing her subjects she usually picks a very young girl, usually near the age of 10 to 15. These test usually seem very strange, and can compose of things such as "making a beautiful doll" or comb her hair the "best". She usually goes directly to the person she wants to test, working together with her. This makes Nihila the divine that is easiest for mankind to keep records on. She usually clings to her champion, both metaphorically and in physically, and forces the champion to act "babysitter" for her.
Even though her once mighty knowledge and wisdom is lost behind a wall of innocence, she is still a force to be reckoned with. Her champion is blessed with the partial knowledge that she once possessed, and the ability to be stronger at night, making shadows the most dangerous place to fight them. Favored techniques of the champion is to summon a small army of spirits while she and Nihila watches from the shadows. The Shadow Mistress never leaves her champions side, and the few times she wins a Maiden War she rarely does much, preferring to stay at her champions side until the next.
- Ghan, Lord of Flame:
- Inspired by Hart. The god of Fire and Brimstone, Ghan, also represent war and tactical knowledge. Unlike many of the gods in stories and heathen religions, he does not desire war, rather wishing to end any given conflict as fast as possible. Wishing the best for the mortals, he tries to be over with it as fast as possible. He makes good use of his sphere of influence, manipulating enemies and preparing allies. Always wishing to prepare for battle as thorough as possible, allowing his champion to act accordingly to all situations.
When he searches for a champion, he usually do not test individual persons, rather prefers to do his things like the infamous test, dubbed "The field of Death" by those who survived it. What happens is that Ghan summons forth hot blood to cover the battle field, and then calls forth a scorching hot elemental phenomena called an "Ifrit". The Ifrit has no tethering to the ground, giving it a great advantage against against the heavily armored warriors. The warriors are now challenged to to take the beast down. The lord of flame consider the choice of a champion not something to be taken lightly, scheming for many years for a test of their skill, and will never accept dishonor or disloyalty. Testing his candidates by handicapping them and forcing them to finish is what he does, because he is looking for adaptability, the ability to see things objectively and perhaps most importantly, coldblooded ambition.
It is however not only warriors that can become his champion. A politican that manipulated and bribed his way to his position, an murderer that calculated his crime and executed it perfectly, both are two good examples of people with virtues favored by The Lord of Flame. In times of great despair and chaos, like the times after a war or plaque, Ghan turns an eye to the mortals, looking after someone with the potential to become his champion. A champion of Ghan is blessed with increased speed and strenght, and the ability to control a huge amount of fire without using magic to do it, an ability know as "Pyrokinesi".
Ghan, The Lord of Flame is the divine that breaks the norm the most, preferring to choose male champion over the more common female ones.He is also the only divine that uses the elemental phenomena to his advantage. He prefers to use Sparks, as both messengers to his champion and as field agents, but is know to use other kinds. He is very protective over the Sparks, acting as a fatherlike figure for them. People that has been know to threaten Sparks has felt the full wrath of The lord of Brimstone himself.
Ghan is a deity of war, but when he defeats the other divines he forces peace upon the human world, usually by uniting an army under his champion, and tasking him to keep the peace with force.
- Muriu, The Water Queen:
- Muriu represent the physical desires, unreachable goals and the everchanging flow of change. Change is a constant in the universe, existing even in the timeless void. Water flows over mountains, eroding them into canyons, steams sets machines in motion, allowing for technological advances. Water is the source of all life, and the lack of it can destroy nations in a few weeks. Change is what drives the world. Species comes and goes, nations rise and fall apart. Nothing, except things within Oloods domain is constant. The difference between Olood and The Water Queen leads to conflicts and tension between their them, and in turn, their champions. This leads to a proxy war between the forces serving under the maiden of Olood and the maiden of Muriu.
She might influence change as a primal force, but her motivation behind her actions during the maiden wars lies in her hunt for beauty and materialistic beliefs. Because of her grotesque appearance, she desires a beautiful champion, a person that perfectly personify beauty. When choosing a champion, she focus on individuals of high standard, such as royalty or other noble classes. The most famous is during the sixth maiden war, where she chose the queen of Alhant herself to be har champion. The champions are then brought through a series of trials called "The Flowing Trials". These trials usually follow the same patter, a trail of beauty, a trial of Grace and the so called "Trial of Muriu." Being a competitive divine, always wishing to have what is not hers, owning all, and therefore has her goals finely planned out.
Her representation of change is shown to a minor degree in her choice of blessings for the divines. Giving the maiden the ability to control water, an advanced version of the common spell "Flowing Control". This ability, called "Aquakinesis" allows the maiden to control water without wasting energy, allowing her change temperatures and create huge mists. The maiden is also neigh invincible in near a big water source, being able to draw power from it. The ever frozen ice that The Water Queen uses to communicate with her champion is worn as a talisman on a necklace. The only time they´ve won the Maiden Wars, she called for a raid against all royalty. The raid went through the known world, killing the people that where considered more beautiful that her maiden and pillaging all that is considered exclusive and "hard to get".
- Leeroy, The Shining Knight:
- Leeroy is a young divine, as he became "The Shining Knight" a long time after the creation of the others. He is the only divine that has the moral codes of a mortal, knowing directly how fearsome the divines actually are, how damaging it is to somebody to commit heinous acts. He now represent humanity, flaws and morality. He watches over humanity, looking to right the wrongs of the past and always forwards the cause of the common good. He is not over things such as mass-slaugher and the death of innocent, but always tries to find a silver lining with it, looking for the good in at bad.
In his core he is still human, however, and still acts on his desires and wishes. As a human Leeroy never felt love, and he looks for a champion devoted to him, usually a female maid in his service. One might think that this is stupid, but he does not go about the choice of champions the same way that the other divines does, instead preferring to choose a champion first and train them in person. Having learned from his mistakes as a mortal, he knows how to train his champion as effectively as possible, quickly turning her into a fear opponent. In most cases a champion are bound to only use the arts that her divine influences, but Leeroy encourages his champion to exploit their ability to learn all schools of magic, making her a diverse but effective fighter. When he became a divine, he took it upon himself to represent crystal and Mhaga magic. This has lead to his maiden specializing in hybridization of the schools. An exemple of this is creating a blinding aura of darkness while ripping them apart with the famous mysticism spell "Unseen Force".
Having similarities to all the other divines, he is one of the most dangerous, if weakest divines. He has experience with both the divines and humanity, allowing him to predict his enemies every move, and plan accordingly. He hates the other divines, considering them a plaque to the world, wishing to rid the world of them, and leading the world into a new era, an era of love, peace and prosper.
Being so close to morality and the plight of the human race has led him to take the role as the patron of humanity, trying to right their wrongs and, when he wins a Maiden War, take away as much of the other divines inflence as possible.
- Helas, The first Magician:
- The first magician is the most mysterious of all the divines, never directly interacting with mankind, instead using projection of animals to communicate. This makes it hard for scholars to make a psychological profile of him. What is known however is that he prefers intelligent people as his champions, having chosen everyone from a young student to a old grumpy scholar.
For these reason he represent mystic things, ideas and scholarship. He wishes to stimulate learning, and studying. He blesses his champion with ingenuity, telekinesi, and manipulation of energies.
When he won the second Maiden War, he commanded that the champion would build universities and teach all the magical schools. He also spread knowledge about the other divines, making people curious about his motivations, if there even are any.
The only time he directly interacted he told about his motivation for cutting ties from Nihila. Considering her a bastardization of her former self, he separated himself from her.
- Olood, The Arch-Tree:
- Olood is usually considered the opposite of Muriu, representing the lack of change, nature and restoration of what has once been destroyed. Since the beginning of time he has watched over humanity, musing over their destruction, and planning their deaths. He is tended to by an order of pure women chosen by the King of Alhant himself. These women are considered the purest of the pure, being left at the monastery as infants, keeping them from learning anything except the healing arts, disease magic and how to tend to the Arch-tree. Because these women are brought up in a peaceful environment, he feels no hatred towards them, seeing them as tools to be used to reach his goals.
To decide which of the women to choose he forces them to go through a series of test, different every Maiden War, but usually, consisting of testing their knowledge of nature, the healing arts and diseases. The most famous test is called "The Blood Plaque", when he initiates the test he curses the maidens at the monastery with an unknown disease, forcing them to use their knowledge to cure it. If no one cures it, the last one alive gets to be chosen. When chosen they are forced to learn in depth about every other divine and potential enemy, so that she might obliterate them with diseases before they strike. She is then trained to use her healing magic simultaneously as she fight with weapon, allowing her to stand in battle for a long time.
Olood defeated the other divines the fifth Maiden War, and he sent his champion on a mission to infect the world with the Blood Plague. Nearly half of the population around the world was lost, slowing down development in a major way, further reinforcing him as the avatar of nature and the lack of change. Wishing that the universe will stay as it is, and that the circle of life will not be disturbed, he works diligently even outside of the Maiden Wars to slow down human advancements, and protect nature as well as he can.
- Demons, the void and the primal beast:
- The void that existed before the world that is known today did not disappear when the planets and stars was created, instead it was separated from it, forming another realm, different from the one that the mortals and all divines except The Shadow Mistress inhabit. When necromancers call forth spirits and the undead, they use the void as a gateway to the afterlife. After the separation, there is only a single permanent place of the void left in the mortal realm, but unstable "rifts" appear regularly.
These rifts spew forth huge amounts of void energy, a kind of magical energy native to the void, and allows sorcerers in a close vicinity to them to draw massive amounts of power. This played a part of the actions leading up to the charred incident. Even after the beasts fell, the monstrosities kept inhabiting the void, except the deepest part where The Shadow Mistress resides. These monsters are attracted to divine and mortal life, and seeks the rift in order to use them as gates to the mortal realm. Mankind dubbed these monsters "Demons", and whenever one is spotted they try to subdue it and slaughter it, but there are a few so called "Void Magicians" that seeks to master them.
Demonic blood contains trace amounts of void energy, and is sold to too high prices to mages and mhaga knights as a potion. The potion is made by mixing cleansed demonic blood with fruits of the everlasting trees of Alhant. Consuming these potions boosts a magicians power tremendously, but as a price. The void energy thaws away the consumers mind, and continuous use of it will create what is know as an "Voidwalker". These semi-demons sanity are long gone, and their bodies has transformed into grotesque monsters. The Void Mages seek to control this transformation, and eventually becoming what the consider being "The ultimate being, on par with the divines."
In modern day Enda, demons have worked they way into society. After the Endan government requested a in depth compilation of all demonic beings, it was shown that there was a kind of "civilized" demons. These new subspecies of demon is known as "Whesta", and has found a haven in the major cities of Enda. The are treated as second-class citizens. Their appearance are something akin to a human, but being very short and having thin bodies. Their skin is very pale, but shades differentiate between close to gray and white.Their eyes are either dark red or sickish purple, but always contain something that looks like moving sprites in them. They also have tiny sharp horns sprouting from their shoulders. Their voices sound like many normal people talking at the same time. After they integrated into society relationship between them and humans became more common. The offspring of these relationship differ depending on which is human or not. If the male is human, the child keeps the pale complexion and has a high chance of having a strong connection to the void, thus increasing the chance of being a powerful sorcerer. If the human is the female, the child keeps the red or purple eyes and having even smaller horns sprouting from their shoulder. These children have increased healing abilities, not quite as much as the sorcerers of the healing school, and is in many cases stronger then average, allowing them to be great warriors and mhaga knights. In both cases the child has a shortened life span and is shorter than average humans. "Whesta" started to appear a long time after human civilization had settled, laying ground for speculation about their actual origin.
Long before even the great beasts rose from the depth of the void, there was a primal beasts there, now called "fifth beast" or " The Primal Beast". As little is known of the beast too begin with, most of the knowledge being speculation or a technique of magic called "Void gazing". This beast had the form similar to the Voidwalkers, only massive in size and spreading an uneasy light all throughout the void. They few people knowledgeable enough about the beasts to know about this beast is struggling too understand what he is supposed to symbolize, but the strongest theory is that he is the symbol of the demonic monstrosities that roam the void. There is a growing theory on Whesta that theories that they rose from the Primal Beast and because of their connection to the void was drawn with it when it was separated from the mortal realm. The biggest problem with theorizing about the primal beast is that there is no knowledge on how he came into being, but scholars are trying to develop the magic of "Void gazing" in order to find out more.
- Elemental phenomena:
- Inspired by SirArchmage Elemental phenomena are not actually creations of the divines nor the beasts. Of course, they are connected to the divines in some ways. The elemental phenomenon came about the same time humanity did. Because humanity itself seemed to be connected to elemental phenomenons a lot of study went into it. They discovered that these phenomena are something akin too anthropomorphic emotions or thoughts. This provides for a great variety of elemental phenomena, but some of these phenomena enlist themselves in service of the divines, because the influence of divines works in their favor. There is not a lot of elemental phenomenons because the way they are created is still not fully understood. During times of great emotional stress the amount of elemental phenomena increases because of their connection too mankind. Without having someone to direct them, most elementals live very chaotic lives, wandering the world.
The most famous and known kind of elemental phenomena is the "spark". Born from some peoples view of fire, these fire elementals are usually impatient and energetic. Serving Ghan by choice, they act as his messengers to mankind and as direct helpers for his Maidens. They have red tinted skin with fiery hair. There are other kinds of elemental phenomena, fire or otherwise, but this is one of the categories of them. Sparks usually have very childlike appearance, and acts similar to them, but are quite capable in combat and fights well with their fire spells.
More "species" of elementals are documented on a rate of about one each year. The life length of the different kinds of elementals is different, but generally it´s somewhere around 15 to 20 years. The elemental phenomena does not die in a traditional sense, instead fading diminishing away over a period of a few days. Different elemental phenomena is of different strength, and some is even on near the same levels as the divines. A great example of elementals gone wrong is the charred land, a place now closed of from the rest of the world that is plagued by malevolent elementals by all kinds, lead by a chaotic fire elemental phenomena of great proportions. The elementals there seems to never age, and in the center, where the incident occurred there seems to be some kind of anomaly affecting them, but all expeditions there has failed in some way or another.
Since the charred incident underground organizations have expressed an interest in these elemental phenomena, and has experimented on them in order too learn how to control them. Most countries has outlawed these practices, but it´s only The Island of Myth and Enda that has accepted them as actual mortal beings with their own personalities and feelings. These arts, called "Phenomena control", tries to bind the elementals to the magicians as familiars or minions, and the magician can in turn draw the element the phenomena is associated with in a purer form than most magical arts. They also try to command them, giving them orders and forcing them to do what their masters demands. So far experiments has been rarely successful, with most of the elemental phenomena dying before being bound to the magicians. In other cases they succeeded in making a mental bind, allowing them to channel trace amounts of their energy, but these lasts bounds rarely longer than a few days, and the connection to the elemental is then severed.
- Magic:
- The schools of magi:
- Fire and chaos:
- The fire art has of course existed from the beginning of human civilization, but as with most of the five classical schools it started to really develop when the Association of Magi started in Medelgrant. Fire is the most chaotic of all the arts, allowing skilled fire magician to channel huge firestorms. Fire incantations are a subset of fire magic, and works by charging stones with prepared "spells", and then unleashing them with chosen words. This technique is a favorite of fire Maidens, allowing them to prepare for any given circumstance without forcing them to take away focus from the battle.
The developed "spells" in the fire art usually focus on crowd control and chaotic fires. The most know of the spells is the infamous "Firestorm", an advanced spell that summons uncontrolled fire over an area determined by the magician himself. Being caught in this storm usually means near instant death for many normal soldiers. With enough knowledge a skilled magician can start to channel his fire through the ground itself, melting it and using the resulting magma to his advantage.
Being skilled with the fire arts does not automatically mean you are more resistant to fire, forcing the magicians to channel magic in order to not burn themselves to death.
The theory behind chaos magic was conceived after studying the fire elemental phenomena known as "Flashes". Flashes emits a fiery aura all the time, and are unable to control it. Chaos magic is another, more broad subset of fire magic. Not being fire magic in itself, it uses the chaotic nature of fire. A very skilled chaos magician is able to bypass the usage of fire and directly control chaos. This is the point where chaos arts directly split from the fire arts. The magicians most skilled in the chaos arts are able to summon minor earthquakes and manipulate minds of mortal and demon both to create mass confusion. Not much development has gone into into the chaos arts because users have big chance to succumb to chaos and go crazy, endangering the safety of others.
- Shadow and Necromancy:
- Shadow magic does not actually use "shadow" per se, rather it´s more something akin to "darkness". The shadow magicians do not have many means to directly damage opponents, preferring to use crowd control and then strike directly at opponents. Because of that many of the most skilled assassins and stealth archers are somewhat skilled in the shadow arts. The most iconic of the many techniques is called "Shadow Tendrils". It works by materializing "Darkness", giving it a tangible form and allows the magician to damage, restrain, or outright confuse their enemies. The shadow magicians are also able to channel "shadows" around their weapon, obscuring it, allowing for a more surprise attack
Skilled shadow magicians are able to take on a shadow form with similar build to the Shadow Mistress herself, making them near invincible, but usually limits their abilities to damage their enemies.
"Necromancy" is the art of the dead, channeling spirits and reanimating bodies. Magicians adept in the arts of necromancy are called "necromancers", and are usually shunned by civilization as a whole, because the general mindset is that the spirits of the dead should be left alone. When a necromancer is summoning spirits, whether he is going to use it to imbue a weapon or for aid in battle directly, he uses the void as a gateway to the afterlife. The only thing necromancers actually do is strike a contract with a spirit (or multiple if skilled enough) and then commands the spirit, they do not permanently reanimate beings. A spirit summoned and then "falling" in battle do not disappear forever, instead returning unharmed to the afterlife. The shadow Maiden is usually very skilled in both necromancy and the shadow arts, records telling of summoning whole armies of spirits.
- water:
- Water magic is the one that is most horrifying to look at, as the magic itself reflect it´s patron divine. There are "normal" spells, like the now famous "ice spear", nothing more then a sharp icicle. Because water has many shapes so do the magic that controls it. There are 3 branches of water magic, steam, flowing and ice, ice spear is of course in the ice branch, but skilled water magicians can cast spells with elements of all branches, for example casting a shroud of steam around himself and then making it solidify onto whoever goes to near. The most symbolic of all the water spells is called "Flowing Control". This spell takes water and allows the magician to move it around freely, but takes a big toll on the magicians body, making it very dangerous to overuse.
Most of the spells are not grotesque, but the face of water magic was changed forever when one of the water Maidens developed a technique that allows skilled water magicians to "control" the trace amount of pure water in a living beings blood stream. This causes internal damage all throughout the victims body, but the most skilled of them all can force their victims to do their bidding for a short time. Because of all this the "blood" branch of water magic has been classified as taboo.
- Mhaga and Crystals:
- "Mhaga", also known as melee magic, is very unique in that instead of channeling spells they infuse their weapons and enhance themselves. Mhaga casters are not called magicians or mages, and is instead called "knights". The most famous Mhaga knight is the divine "Leeroy", and he is now considered the patron died of Mhaga style of magic. The most famous technique is called "Shroud of the Crystal God", and encases the knight in a shroud of magical light, mitigating any damage and enhances his abilities. Mhaga casters are trained to withstand other kinds of magic, so skilled Mhaga knights are very feared on a battle field. The country where Mhaga is most developed in is Enda.
Crystal magic "magic" is solidified magic in it´s purest form, and the crystal are created by channeling the magic that lies innate in most things, including humans. Most magicians are able to use these crystals in order to fuel their spells, making them stronger, but it´s Mhaga knights that are trained to create them, so they are the most common users. If these crystals are crafted into armor they provide excellent protection against the other kinds of magic. Similar to the incantations of fire spells, crystals can be imbued with spells and released later, but these are not as easy to make and requires no incantations.
- Mysticism:
- Mysticism is often called "Thunder magic" as most of their iconic spells looks similar to thunderbolts. It is however not thunder, and it´s more similar to "Pure magic". This is the broadest and most studied field of magic, and has most of the mundane appliances. The most know mysticism spell is called "Unseen Force", and is easy to learn and use. This spell allows the user to move minor objects with their mind, making it very useful for multitasking. Mysticism is the most tiring of all the schools, forcing magicians to be ingenious and utilize the simpler of the spells. The school is also the most directly devastating one with techniques such as the infamous "Reality Tear". The spell literally tears reality apart, destroying everything in the area where it is cast, forcing reality to pull itself together, often with effects that lasts forever.
"Portals" are also part of the mysticism and works by connecting to parts of the world with each other. There are one way portals, two way portals and so forth. Studies go into researching "Phasing", but there is very little success as of yet. Phasing is a hypothetical technique that would allow mysticism magicians to make themselves intangible and able to walk through things, similar to the techniques utilized by shadow magicians. There is a difference though, this hypothetical technique would allow them to materialize their spells and surprise their enemies.
"Void Gazing" is an art of mysticism that works by separating time and reality, unraveling things unseen by mortal life. This technique is the most infamous of all, because it requires a great amount of focus, and even then the results may vary drastically.
There are some that want Crystal magics to be classified as Mysticism, but the connection to Mhaga has grown to strong and most consider it useless to try to change it.
- Healing and disease:
- Inspired and partially written by ResIsBestStatBefore humans had adapted themselves to this hostile world, they were fragile beings. Not knowing about the dangers of the world and how to prevent them,they quickly succumbed to normal fevers and colds. They first tried to heal these ailment with herbs and other, and eventually the magic of Olood. Civilizations arose and fell, and eventually only the Divines, more specifically Olood, know when these healing arts were created. The only healing spell that is common is called "Soothing hands", and closes small wounds. The symbol of healing magic is a technique called "Healing Aura". This technique is makes the caster emit a healing aura, restoring everyone near the caster, foe or friend alike.
The healing arts are unique in that many gifted in the art of magic itself can not learn it, and only a few people born with specific traits are able to be really gifted in it, usually Whesta crossbreeds or children, especially female, of a family with a history in the healing arts. If a child is born with green eyes and brown hair it is usually a sign that the child will become a powerful healer, but scholars today do not know why this is and long time studies are trying to understand why. These gifted people are mostly found near the Everlasting Forest of The Kingdom of Alhant. All people are able to know a little about the healing arts, but their knowledge are often limited in comparison the these individuals.
All magical arts can be used for good, as for evil, and the school of healing is not different. The most feared magic there is, "Disease magic, the same thing that healing was supposed to prevent. All skilled healers can create diseases they know enough about, and if skilled enough, create their own. Nations have fallen to both malicious and careless magicians, and the disease arts are right to be feared. This has caused disease magic to be feared, and in most modern nations illegal to study without supervision from a skilled magician.
Many elemental phenomena has been found for all magical arts except this, as only a single one has been found. The so called "Forest Nymph", why this is is not known, but scholars are searching for answers, but the strongest theory is that the continued growth of nature is a unique elemental phenomena in itself.
- void magic, Phenomena control and other taboo arts:
- Void magic is the art of drawing energy directly from the void, opening up for magic techniques that are unheard off. In most countries these art are not even considered magical arts, and practitioners of these taboo arts are often imprisoned or even executed. There are no known recorder spells or techniques, but there are stories on how void magicians changes their bodies partially into demonic shapes, distort visions of their opponents and commanding demons to cause destruction. The general consensus between scholars and politicians is that they are endangering human civilization as a whole, and that their goal is to achieve divinity. Void magicians work closely with demons, and the most successful of all them are Whesta crossbreeds.
Phenomena Control is near the line between taboo art and a subject of study. Phenomena control is closely linked to the phenomena themselves, and is the taboo art most scholars know most about. The magicians try to utilize the high amount of magical energy that the phenomenons emit, and use them to fuel their magic. There is also attempts to bind the elemental phenomena to their will.
There are other minor taboo arts, for example the infamous blood magic, a branch water magic that works by controlling the trace amount of water in blood and basically twist and turns an individual, making way for one of the most painful death known to man. As most that study more advanced arts of magic do so by themselves or by studying as an apprentice, there are new techniques invented every year. Most that study magic in a collage connected to the association or independent. All schools have some techniques considered taboo, but they are still practiced by magicians that are not connected with the association.
- How magic works and how to be a Sorcerer:
- Magic is the collective word for the energy that all things emit. Magic in the beginning where very simple, but as knowledge of the world marched on so did knowledge about magic. Magic has been developed alongside technology for all time. All humans are linked to magic, and can therefore use it, but some have easier for it than other. Scholars do not know why this is. A good example of this is the people in the healing school of magic, showing that not only is magic itself hard for some people, but more than one school is. The most prominent theory is that there are different energies relating to different schools. A skilled magician can easily craft new spells. They do so by making a new pattern in their mind and control the magical energy differently
Catalysts are items that magicians use to focus their spell, making them easier to cast. Catalysts are not needed, but they are usually the key to cast more advanced spells. The creation of catalysts are common knowledge, as it´s only the creator of a catalyst that can use it. The most common items for catalysts are staves and wands, but any item can be made into a catalyst. They are created by channeling a small amount of magical energy into it, making a direct link to the magician. The process of making a catalyst requires a very small amount of focus and is not very tiring, allowing most people to make one. To draw the energy out from a catalyst the magician utilizes crystals and redirects the energy there, reversing the item back to normal.
There are two know ways of preparing spells. One is called "Incantation" and is unique to the fire school. Incantations are made by channeling spells into the stones, and then etching words into them. The words are what causes the energy to unleash into a spell, but different magicians use different words to symbolize different spells. To use the incantation a magician needs to clasp their hand tightly around the stone, and then say the words.
The other way are called "crystallized spells". All magicians can use it, and they work by recording "memories" of the spell into the crystal. Scholars do not know how it works exactly, but the process that is used to record the spell is channeling magic into it while focusing on what pattern the energy will be released in. To release the recorded spell they just crush crystal the in the direction the want to release the spell.- 10 Notes on how to be a sorcerer:
- 1. Every human, Whesta and Whesta crossbreed can be a sorcerer.
2. Magic is tiring for all users.
3. A good physical condition allows for more spells.
4. Skilled sorcerers can make new spells and techniques.
5. Imagination can beat skill.
6. Sorcerers are usually what enemies tries to kill first.
7. Knowing other battle techniques are useful.
8. No magic is inherently evil, but some schools are easier to spread chaos with.
9. No magic is inherently benevolent, but some schools are easier to help others with.
10. Focus and knowledge is the most important aspect of magic and casting.
- Part Two:
- The Maiden Wars:
- Inspired by Hart. The divines are not benevolent nor malevolent, rather they follow their own incomprehensible plans. The Maiden Wars are the machinations of the divines, the culmination of a game that they play. The planet is destined to be reborn at the hands of the winning divines, sometimes completely, sometimes to fit the whims of the winner. Between the wars the divines plot and plan, carefully choosing who they want to lead them to victory. These champions are mere pawns in a game. The champions are called the "Maidens". These maidens are blessed individuals, and after they are chosen they are reborn as avatars of the divines, being blessed with tremendous power and influence. The divines usually follow a pattern when they choose a Maiden. The events leading up to the wars are something akin to test, and vary much from time to time. These test can affect whole populations or a single individual. The divines look for different thing in their chosen champion.
The tests are events that vary from time to time, but it´s the divine that chooses how they will act, if they act at all. The events are at the whim of the divines. There are many examples on how the divines act during preparation for a war, one of the most infamous is during the sixth maiden war, where Nihila the Shadow Mistress chose a four year old girl, on the basis that she "looked cute". The most famous of all the maiden wars is the fourth one. It is famous because this is the only recorded time where all divines stopped battling over conquest of the planet, instead focusing on battling a fellow divine.
Mankind does not know why the divines stage the wars instead of a more conventional way of deciding who will lead the world in the next era. Currently, to world is in it´s ninth era, "The era of brimstone", also known as "The age of the new fire". The time gap between the wars differ, but is usually somewhere around 200 to 300 years, but it was a mere 50 years between the sixth and the seventh war. The time leading up to the wars is plagued by battles, trials of the gods and general distress.
Humanity at large dislikes being just pieces in a game of the divines, and there are always groups engaged in trying to break their connection to the divines. The most prominent of these group is known as "Gesceap, the created". This group dedicates themselves with training in secret, researching way to separate themselves from the gods. Under direct guidance of the Medelgrant government, they are backed with powerful sorcerers and warriors. Their first and foremost goal is to find way to separate mankind from the divines. Their second, and most prominent goal is to end the Maiden Wars as soon as possible, doing so by eliminating the Maidens quickly, forcing the wars to a premature end. This has only been successful once, during the fifth maiden war. They know that they do not stand a match against the maidens in battle, instead employing skilled assassins to eliminate them.
In the end there is no knowledge on the link between the divines and mankind, dooming them to be pawns at the whim of the divines.
- science and technology:
- Science is a broad term defining many things, such as architecture, psychology and weapon development. In the beginning of time man did not build as sturdy structures, did not know the mind and still fought with sticks, but since humanity has evolved towards a better future so has their knowledge of the world, dramatically increasing the availability of technological advancement and magic. As opposed to magic, you can not discover new things by looking at the past, instead forcing the need for experiments and observation.
Technological advancement is the byproduct of science, as when new discoveries is done fields of study, they open up for new ideas and usages. A big innovation was done in the end of the eight Maiden War, so called "Bio-mechanic hybridization". This is a method that allows for arms, legs or even parts of the brain to be replaced by enhancing mechanical replacements, improving the
- Countries:
- Enda:
- Medelgrant:
- The kingdom of Alhant:
- The Charred Land:
- The island of myth:
- timeline:
- Terminology:
- "Sorcerer". A person that utilizes magic.
"Magician". A person that uses catalysts to focus their magic. Is often used interchangeably with "Sorcerer"
"Mage". A person that casts magic without a catalyst.
"Mhaga Knight". A person that utilizes Mhaga spells and techniques, fighting with melee weapons.
"Spell". A basic guideline and form on how to channel magic. Casting a "Fireball" is not the same every time, usually differentiating a lot between different Sorcerers.
"Technique". Similar to a spell, a technique is more advanced and usually requires reagents or stored magical energy to cast more than once.
"Crystals". Magical energy solidified, can be used in many ways.
"Taboo". Ways of magic that the association of Magi deem too "Dangerous and damaging to society and human life"
"Kinesi". A blessing from the divines themselves, this is a rare ability that allows the user to control their magic without the energy trade-off.
Part one is completely done. Characters: 49516. Words: 8545. Sentences: 411. Paragraphs: 133. Avg. Sentence Length: 21.
I will no longer add any new sections to this part, instead doing minor edits.
Last edited by Encore on Mon Oct 14, 2013 8:37 pm; edited 105 times in total
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