Noctiva- Master Worldbuilding Thread

[Elementalist]

Basic Information

All magic is based on Potentia. Potentia in its many states, the 7 elements, and souls are all the same substance. In Noctiva's early stages, it was impacted by asteroids containing solid Potentia. Some of this Potentia became liquid and was buried beneath the planet's crust. Some evaporated into Flux that acted as a catalyst for the development of sentient life on Noctiva (because sentience is a byproduct of having a large soul, and the Flux-rich environment allows organisms to grow souls). Noctiva is about the same size as Earth. It has one pangean continent, Cerrador [possible revision 1: maybe another continent]. Noctiva is surrounded by the Veil, a ring of asteroids. It has no moon.

Magic

Potentia: The first Material Form of Potentia. Liquid Potentia is just called Potentia. It is an azure blue color.

Aether: The first Immaterial Form of Potentia. The radiation-like state of Potentia. Liquid Potentia can be converted to Aether and transmitted across long distances quickly, before being converted back to liquid state for use with formal glyphs, or drawn out of the air directly to power tonal glyphs.

Flux: The second Material Form of Potentia. The gaseous state of Potentia. Liquid Potentia exposed the open atmosphere directly will quickly evaporate into Flux (it boils at room temperature). Flux, in turn, will have a effect on the seven elements around it, though this does not always happen immediately and is only dangerous in large quantities. The boiling process can be stopped by encasing the liquid Potentia in glass or another container.

Soul: The second Immaterial Form of Potentia. This form is undetectable by normal systems of measurement and can only be seen through an Elementalist's Sight. All living things have some soul-form Potentia attached to them. The more soul a living thing has, the more conscious and sentient it is. A creature becomes fully sentient only if it has a very large soul. The more complex a living thing's mind is, the larger a soul it is capable of developing. All biological sentient races develop a large soul from birth by drawing in Flux from the atmosphere, and add to the size of their soul throughout their life by consuming and converting the seven elements as part of natural processes. This is why a person is born barely sentient, and becomes more self-aware the longer they live.

Ordinarily, the soul would sink into the ground after the body's death and slowly decay into Aether. The Aether would saturate rocks around it, slowly causing them to melt into liquid Potentia over the course of centuries. In this cycle, Potentia is a semi-renewable resource (reserves will replenish over the course of centuries). However, the Veiled Ones' actions cause souls to instead be stored in the Veil after the body's death.

Seven elements table:

Kinetic energy - C - rage

electromagnetism - D - excitement

cohesion - F - fear

metabolism - E - happiness

solids - G - confidence

liquids - A - sadness

gasses - B - disgust

Glyph: All magic relies upon glyphs. Glyphic languages differ between nation-states, as do their functions. Glyphs don't need to be in the form of a rune; they can take many other forms as well- somatic glyphs, for example, take the form of specific motions or movements preformed by a person or a machine. A Pattern is a specific combination of glyphs made to accomplish a certain effect. Different glyphs have different purposes when building a Pattern. Patterns manipulate the seven elements as well as the various forms of Potentia in different, specific ways, depending on the glyphs included. For example, a Pattern to shoot a fireball would include glyphs that specified the shape of the effect as a sphere, glyphs that defined the radius of the sphere, the basic glyph for kinetic energy, and additional glyphs to specify the form of the kinetic energy as fire.

Elementalism: Some Humans are born with a fragment of the mind of a Veiled One contained within them (see: Veiled Ones). This fragment gives them the ability to see the universe as the Veiled Ones do. The development of the Sight, along with the manifestation of the Elemental Spark, is sometimes a sign that a person is an Elementalist, and usually occurs during puberty. An Elementalist can only learn one glyphic language; if they attempt to learn a second, they will forget the first (although this could be circumvented if the Elementalist possesses a larger portion of the Veiled One's mind). Elementalists can use magic by providing a mind-body-soul framework. Potentia is the soul component and provides the power for the magic. The Elementalist must keep the form of their glyph in their mind and focus on it in order to provide the mind component. The glyph itself acts as the body component.

Elemental Spark: An Elementalist's Sight is capable of seeing the fragment of a Veiled One's mind within another Elementalist. The people of the world, not knowing what they are really seeing, refer to this as the Elemental Spark. The Spark appears as a pulsing black flame within an Elementalist's head, and usually appears around puberty (though Amadorians have one from birth) (see: Amadorians). It can be made invisible to the Sight by a simple mental exercise, and most Elementalists do so all the time, making the Spark only useful for locating Elementalists who don't know of their powers.

Glyphic Engineering: A person who is not an Elementalist and does not possess the Sight can still take advantage of glyphs. Even without a person directing them, specific combinations of glyphs will still form Patterns if built correctly. The fireball example used above could be created by an Elementalist activating the glyphs mentioned. However, a well-crafted machine could also activate the glyphs and create the fireball when a stimulus was applied, such as the pull of a trigger. Creating machines that mimic the power of Elementalists is the focus of glyphic engineers. Formal glyphs are particularly useful for glyphic engineering, since they draw power from liquid Potentia and take the form of a rune that can be easily stained onto a metal surface (see: List of glyphic languages). A fireball-thrower made from Formal glyphs would use liquid Potentia stored within the device's ammunition clip as the soul component. The glyphs drawn on the device would act as the body component. Without a Elementalist focusing on the Pattern, the mind component would instead by provided by the precise geometric and trigonometric relationships between the positions of the glyphs on the device.

List of known glyphic languages:

Formal glyphs (Praetomancy)- a runic glyphic language that draws its power from liquid Potentia. Formal glyphs must be tattooed or otherwise stained on the material they are on. Elementalists harness this language by injecting liquid Potentia into their veins through a syringe and tattooing the glyphs onto their skin. They can then activate specific combinations of glyphs by focusing on the Pattern they want to form. Formal glyphs are also the most useful for creating magical technology using glyphic engineering. The nation of Amadaria was the first of the modern nations to master their use on a widespread scale (see: Amadaria).

Veiled glyphs- a runic glyphic language that draws its power from soul-form Potentia. Veiled glyphs must be etched into the material they are on. These glyphs are the only ones known that are capable of manipulating soul-form Potentia. They can extract the souls from humans, but only at the moment of their death, as human bodies and souls are too tightly intertwined for the soul to be extracted during life. The extracted souls can then be changed to other states, such as liquid Potentia, for storage or use with other glyphic languages. The glyphs are so named because the Veiled Ones were the first species seen to put them to widespread use in the modern era, though they play a part in dwarven and silthen culture as well (see: Veiled Ones, see: Dwarves, see: Silthen).

Tonal glyphs (Sonomancy)- glyphs in this language are composed of specific combinations of musical notes. The basic glyph for each element is composed of a single musical note according to the seven elements table. Tonal glyphs draw their power from ambient Aether saturating the air. Prior to the Deicide, this small amount of Aether was barely useful for parlor tricks; however, the Deicide left enough Aether lying dormant in the atmosphere for tonal glyphs to gain power equal to that of the other glyphic languages. Elementalists take advantage of tonal glyphs by creating them using a musical instrument or their own voice, usually as part of a work of music. These glyphs can be used in glyphic engineering, although they require devices that play the notes continuously to be placed in a precise trigonometric pattern, making them far less useful for small-scale technology than formal glyphs. These glyphs were discovered by Jolen Endries, the founder of the Order of Muses, and the Muses remain the only faction to put them to widespread use (see: Jolen Endries, see: Order of Muses).

Somatic glyphs (Choromancy)- glyphs in this language are composed of specific sets of movements. Somatic glyphs draw their power from Flux. Elementalists take advantage of this glyphic language by drinking liquid Potentia (allowing it to instantly evaporate into flux in their stomach) before preforming the movements themselves, usually as part of a dance. If the Elementalist does not use all of the Flux, they will cause serious harm to themselves and will likely die. These glyphs can be used in glyphic engineering by creating machines which mimic the specific motions required- for example, a machine which elevated an appendage before lowering it to the right could mimic the glyph formed by raising one's right arm above one's head before lowering it again. Obviously, the complexity involved in this renders the glyphs far less useful for glyphic engineering than formal glyphs. Only the nobility of the Shattered Baronies put these glyphs to widespread use (see: Shattered Baronies).

Emotional glyphs (Motomancy)- glyphs in this language are composed of specific sets of firing neurons. The neurons must already have a high level of Potentia saturation to form these glyphs. Emotional glyphs draw power from the seven elements within a person's body; one using them will become fatigued and hungry at a faster rate. All amadorians, and only amadorians, are capable of using these glyphs (see: Amadorians) by focusing their emotions according to the seven elements table. These glyphs are utterly useless in glyphic engineering.

Edited May 6, 2016 by Elementalist

[Elementalist]

Races

Humans

Humans and their nation-states occupy the southeastern portion of Cerrador. Humans are sentient due to the level of ambient Flux on Noctiva, which allows them to grow souls as they develop. Humans are common and uninteresting.

Amadorians

Amadorians live in the area formerly occupied by the Amadorian Empire, now simply called Amador (see: The Amadorian Empire, see: Amador). An amadorian's lifespan is often 2-3 centuries longer than that of a ordinary human. Amadorians were created when the hero Calder destroyed the Amadorian Empire by converting all of its Potentia to Aether (see: The Deicide, see: Calder). The humans of the Empire were saturated in Aether radiation, and their physiology was changed by it. The most notable distinguishing features are their bruise-blue skin and pale white hair. Every amadorian is capable of using their emotions to control the seven elements. Specific emotions are linked to certain elements, and monks will train to control their emotions to become proficient with a single element. No amadorian can use any other system of elemental manipulation.

Wraiths

Wraiths were created by Amadas [reasons TBD] (see: Amadas, see: Veiled Ones). Using an incredibly advanced system of glyphic engineering, an electromagnetic imprint mimicking the transmission of electricity through the neurons of a human brain is imprinted on a mass of Potentia. The process causes the Potentia to stabilize, so it will no longer evaporate into Flux when exposed to the open air; stabilized Potentia is black instead of blue. The electromagnetic imprint provides a "mind," while the Potentia itself acts as both "soul" and "body" to the newly created wraith. Using too much Potentia in the process makes the mind unable to control the soul and body, and the wraith will revert to Flux. Using too little makes the soul and body incapable of taking in the whole of the mind imprint, resulting in a similar reversion to Flux.

The body of a wraith is a mass of liquid of about the same mass as a human body. The wraith can manipulate this liquid in any way they wish, but they have little in the way of physical strength. Because of their liquid constitution, they are immune to any form of mundane weaponry. A wraith is capable of entering the body of a human or Amadorian through the mouth, and can then seep into every cell of the host, resulting in total control.

Wraiths are capable of using Elementalism, usually through Formal glyphs; however, they cannot tattoo the glyphs on their liquid bodies and therefore must stain them onto the inner muscles of possessed hosts. The Potentia for their Praetomancy must come from their own bodies, making it a last resort- if they use too much, their body will become too small to host their mind, and they will revert to Flux. The reason they are all Elementalists is because they possess a third of Amadas's mind.

For a long time, the wraiths have been manipulating governments towards their own ends [reasons TBD].

Veiled Ones

There are seven Veiled Ones. Using metabolism, they grow backup bodies for themselves in a variety of images and designs. Carved into the back of each body's scull is a set of veiled glyphs that causes their soul to become Aether when that body dies, imprints their mind upon that Aether, and sends it back to one of their bases in the Veil, where it inhabits a new body. Each body also possesses the Destroyer's glyphs (see: The Monarch). Throughout the Veil, bases exist containing grown, soulless bodies, along with constructs possessing mind, body, and soul that the Veiled Ones use in their Monarchs.

Even without their system of backup bodies, a Veiled One cannot be permanently killed. Should one's body die without any failsafes to protect its mind, said mind will disperse and recoalesce over the course of millennia. Once the mind is recoalesced, it will latch onto the body and soul of another living being that already possesses a portion of its mind.

The Veiled Ones existed before the Big Bang. The Big Bang tore their souls apart, using their energy to construct the universe out of the seven elements. Their minds were also fractured to a lesser extent, and parts of them sometimes coalesce in the minds of sentient beings, giving rise to Elementalists. The Veiled Ones now wish to reclaim the universe into themselves once more.

In the short term, they seem concerned with collecting the souls of humans as they die and storing them in liquid form in the hollowed-out asteroids of the Veil. Some of these reserves go towards powering the automata that maintain their bases, growing new bodies and powering their Monarchs. Some is simply kept unused in reserve.

Humans first encountered the Veiled Ones when they invaded the Quel'mar Empire. The Veiled Ones destroyed their nation. One of the seven, Amadas, gave up his powers [revision needed 4: maybe stolen? what's his game?] and acted as a guide to some of the remaining humans in the North, teaching them glyphic engineering. After his death, he was worshipped as the Monarch by the new nation of Amadaria.

Silthen

Silthen live in the Hell Below under New Shiman (see: New Shiman, see: Hell Below). Living in darkness so long, they have no eyes, but have incredibly strong other senses. They also all share the same soul, allowing emotion and sensation to flow between them but suppressing individual thought.

Silthen evolved from dwarves (see: Dwarves), but are now little more than beasts. They are pack hunters and skilled foragers, high on the food chain of the Hell Below, but not the highest. Although they often possess human-level intellect, this intellect goes to waste due to the utter lack of anything resembling civilization. Sometimes, Silthen raiding parties will capture Shimans from the surface, blind them, and connect them to the hive mind. This has the effect of suppressing their individuality until they are practically Silthen themselves.

Dwarves

During the time of the Quel'mar Empire, the tunnel and cave network now known as the Hell Below was occupied by the dwarves, as well as the above land now belonging to New Shiman. Though called dwarves on Noctiva, they would be termed Neanderthals by Earth paleontologists. While Neanderthals died out on Earth, on Noctiva they survived until the Quel'mar era. The dwarves resisted the military and cultural strength of the Quel'mar Empire due to their separation from the rest of the world and their ability to retreat entirely into the caves in case of invasion, and focused instead on expanding underground, aided by their easy access to Potentia through the tunnels.

Dwarf society included individuals known as Empaths, Elementalists who used veiled glyphs to connect their souls to those of others. Empaths acted as judges and spiritual leaders, fostering cooperation by allowing individuals to truly experience each other's emotions.

When the Veiled Ones invaded, the dwarves retreated entirely underground. Unfortunately, due to the sudden population explosion in the overcrowded cave network, a plague was able to spread through the dwarf population, and their civilization was entirely destroyed. Over time, the remnants banded together into pack-like groups. The lack of Potentia meant that there was no consistent light source, so evolution discarded their eyes in favor of heightened other senses. The packs that included Empaths began to share their emotions and sensations constantly for the advantage in hunting that provided, blurring the lines between their souls until the Empaths were unnecessary and all of them essentially shared the same soul. At this point, they had evolved into the Silthen.

Verdants

Early Quel'mar experiments with Potentia led to the accidential release of Flux into their environment (see: The Quel'mar Empire). This caused the element of metabolism in the land south of the Mourning Mountains to become highly unstable, causing rampant plant growth that the Quel'mar would need to constantly cut back, lest their civilization become totally overgrown. As a side effect, the high level of Flux in the atmosphere allowed some of these plants to develop large souls as well, becoming sentient. These beings became known as the Verdants and were constant enemies of the Quel'mar. Since the destruction of the Quel'mar Empire, solitary Verdants can now be found anywhere south of the Mourning Mountains.

Edited May 6, 2016 by Elementalist

[Elementalist]

Nation-states and Important Locations

The Quel'mar Empire

Thousands of years ago, the Quel'mar Empire occupied the vast majority of Southern Cerrador. The Quel'mar developed advanced automata to serve them, as well as many other forms of advanced glyphic technology. They conquered the entirety of Cerrador with the exception of the tunnel networks controlled by the dwarves. They were entirely destroyed by the Veiled Ones when they invaded. Afterward, the jungle overgrew the ruins of their civilization. Treasure hunters now foray into the South, past the Mourning Mountains, in search of miraculous technology, contending with guardian automata. Another danger comes in the form of the Verdants.

Amadaria

After the fall of the Quel'mar Empire, the Northern tribes formerly ruled by the Quel'mar had room to expand and grow. One tribe prospered under the guidance of Amadas, who taught its people glyphic engineering. After Amadas' death of old age, the nation worshipped him as the Monarch (see: Old Monarchism). The new nation of Amadaria used formal glyphs extensively, though they were nowhere near as advanced as the Quel'mar. Their nation sat on significant Potentia deposits.

Amadaria used a seven-layer caste system. Those of higher castes had benefits, but also had significantly greater responsibilities. It is important to note that those of higher caste were NOT considered in any way better than those of lower caste.

At one point, a group of people split off from Amadaria due to religious differences (see: New Monarchism). These people founded the Amadorian Empire (see: Amadorian Empire).

Amadaria was eventually desroyed by the Amadorian Empire. Its Potentia reserves were released into the atmosphere as flux after the Destroyer tore up the ground during the invasion. Over the course of several years, this resulted in the area that Amadaria formerly occupied becoming unlivable; it became known as the Deadlands. The survivors of the destruction of Amadaria were taken as slaves to the Amadorian Empire. The Deadlands were later ceded to the wraiths by the new Amadorian government after the Deicide (see: the Deicide) due to their assistance towards the rebels.

Amadorian Empire

Due to religious differences, a cult of people broke off from Amadaria and traveled west. They settled in the arid, dry area that nobody else wanted, and founded what they called the Amadorian Empire. Although not originally at all imperial, the Empire quickly gained power after discovering Potentia deposits under their lands to rival those of Amadaria. It used these deposits to create glyphic machines called devaporators, which condensed water vapor from the air into liquid. The Empire's government set up a system of Potentia transportation to facilitate this infrastructure: Potentia is converted into Aether and transmitted between specific stations before being piped out to the devaporators and the homes of the higher castes. Because the Empire knew only formal glyphs and not tonal glyphs, these Aether transmitters and receivers were enormously complex.

The Empire uses a seven layer caste system based on that of Amadaria. However, unlike Amadaria where the caste system allowed for upward mobility and did not denote status, the Amadorian Empire's caste system signified closeness to the Monarch and therefore defined socioeconomic status. Presiding over the system is the Destroyer, and, supposedly, the Creator. The first caste consists of a sort of nobility who have the greatest wealth and political power. Each cast proceeding downward is considered subordinate to those above. Upward mobility in this system can only be achieved through "conclusive proof" that an individual or family is closer to the Monarch in spirit. Because it is the first caste that reviews this proof, and they are happy with the status quo, upward mobility is nearly impossible, particularly for those with "impure" blood from out of the nation. If a person is an Elementalist, this is considered proof, and they and their family will be offered a higher caste if they consent to join the military forces.

The nation worships New Monarchism (see: New Monarchism). In order to maintain their religion and claim religious superiority over Amadaria, the first caste arranged for the creation of the Monarch system (see: The Monarch). Using the emergence of the Destroyer as a catalyst, the Amadorian Empire then declared war on Amadaria, both for religious reasons as well as to claim the other nation's Potentia reserves. However, the Destroyer's reckless use of his powers led to many of these reserves being released into the atmosphere. Many Amadarians died, and the rest were taken back to the Amadorian Empire as slaves, below even the seventh caste.

The Empire needed more Potentia to keep the devaporators running and the water flowing. With the Deadlands unlivable, expansion was impossible. The people were wearied by the war with Amadaria, but another war with another nation would be necessary to sate the nation's thirst. For this reason, a plan was made to tattoo each person below the Second Caste with a glyphic pattern which would allow them to be killed at a distance by a projection of Aether from the Creator, allowing for total control of the populace. Calder's actions prevented this and led to the downfall of the Empire (see: the Deicide).

Kajhal Baronies

After the destruction of the Quel'mar but before founding Amadaria, Amadas gave a third of his mind to the Kajhal people of the North. The Kajhal consisted of seven clans, later to grow into the seven baronies. The leading tribes of each clan were the only ones who knew of Amadas' gift, which they called the Mind of God. They used it to make their heirs into Elementalists, and, over time, developed an extensive knowledge of somatic glyphs. Over time, these leading tribes became the nobility of the seven Kajhal Baronies and the rest of each clan became known as commoners. The nobility continued the secret practice of using the Mind of God to make title heirs into Choromancers and used the threat of Elemental subjugation to keep the populace in line.

Early on, the Baronies were united under the rule of the royal line, who came from the noble house of Ajira. Later, due to the actions of the idiotic King Regent Rorden Ajira, the nation shattered into a state of civil war between the baronies, which eventually calmed down into a series of minor border disputes. House Ajira remained active as the leader of its own barony (barony rulers are called major houses; others are called minor houses).

After the Deicide, Jolen Endries, the second son of the Baron of House Endries (a major house) gave up his noble status and became a traveling minstrel. His nomadic lifestyle allowed him to see all the injustice perpetrated upon the commoners by the nobility and each other. When he learned of tonal glyphs, then only a rumor, from a mysterious man going by the alias "Power," he used them to found the Order of Muses to protect the commoners from injustice.

A century or two after the founding of the Order, House Ajira was entirely destroyed by house Endries, and the Ajira barony was subsumed by that of Endries. The last heir of the house, Alisandra Ajira, was shuttled to safety to a border town along the Mourning Mountains. She later returned, gathered an army of commoners supported by Muses, and united the Baronies under her rule, becoming the Queen Regent . As queen, to fulfill promises made to gain the army, she established an elected parliament of 1 commoner leader from each barony. Since then, the Regent, Parliament, and Barons have had equal governing power.

Historically, the most common religion in the Baronies has been Hierarchism, though recently Old Monarchism has become much more popular amongst the commoners.

Orrethjar

A cold nation encompassing the northern islands. Orrethjar's lack of any significant Potentia reserves, its poor prospects for agriculture, and its proximity to wraith-controlled waters all greatly limit its economic strength, though its strong navy prevents invasion. Because of its lack of Potentia, Orrethjar focused on mundane technological development- gunpowder weapons, for example, were developed in Orrethjar, as was the internal combustion engine. Orrethjar's distance from Amador limits the effectiveness of tonal glyphs there, though some breakthroughs have been made in regards to their use, and a faction known as the Fates is studying their possible use in glyphic engineering.

Amador

Following the Deicide, the Empire fractured into civil war, with dozens of opportunistic warlords attempting to carve out a chunk of land for themselves. The war saw the people of the land experiment with their newfound Motomantic powers, with disasterous results in some cases. The original rebel faction eventually supported the former Creator in his reunification campaign, as he took advantage of his nearly godlike Motomancy to destroy the opposing warlords. When he finally reunified the nation, the Creator abolished the caste system and renamed the nation to simply "Amador" to signify the end of the oppressive Imperial government. To replace the defunct devaporator system, he founded the organization of Weepers, a monastic order trained to gain perfect control over the emotion of sadness (and therefore liquids). The Weepers use their Motomancy to condense water out of the atmosphere as the devaporators once did. As a new defense force, the Creator also founded the Furies, who gained control over rage (and therefore kinetic energy).

In modern times, natives of Amador are reclusive and solitary. Amadorians are all given training in emotional control as part of public education in order to prevent accidental Motomantic outbursts. In other nation-states, they are often persecuted for their obvious physical differences from humans and seeming emotionlessness, so they rarely leave Amador.

Kiyashima

Kiyashima began as a large island off the western coast. They were led by a triumverate of three representatives, called the Sēgi. The Sēgi of the Ocean represented farmers and fishermen, the Sēgi of the Field represented soldiers, and the Sēgi of the Veil represented Interpreters. Interpreters were Elementalists, were considered holy, and were said to be able to interpret the omens of the gods (the asteroids of the Veil) through their Sight (see: True Sūhai).

The retreat of the dwarves at the end of the Quel'mar era left their former lands empty. Kiyashimans expanded onto those more fertile lands approximately 200 years after the dwarves' disappearance. They recovered of some glyphic technology left behind by the dwarves, and began to experiment with glyphic engineering and Elementalism. This was the first time Kiyashimans had encountered glyphs of any kind. The emergence of Elementalism as a form of combat began to create tension between the soldiers and the Interpreters. As Kiyashiman civilization on the mainland began to extend beyond the reach of the Sēgi, wealthy merchants- previously not represented in government- began to take on administrative and governmental roles.

Tensions reached a head 50 years after the mainland was settled, when Seinaru Kanashi, then Sēgi of the Veil, declared that the Near Gods had named him emperor of Kiyashima. At almost the same time, a book was anonymously published across cities in the mainland claiming to contain ways for an ordinary person to interpret the Veil (see: Worship of the Near Gods). These events set off a civil war as the Interpreters fought against the mundane military. The Sēgi of the Ocean and Field were forced to flee from the island to the mainland, and their forces were steadily pushed back by the Elementalists and religious loyalists controlled by Kanashi. The merchants, seeing an opportunity in this, sent their funds and personal troops to support the Sēgi in exchange for a Sēgi of their own.

Eventually, Seinaru and the Interpreters that supported him gained control over the island, but were driven off the mainland, which renamed itself New Shiman. Kiyashima, aside from a few naval skirmishes with New Shiman, has not interacted much with the outside world. It is now ruled solely by the Interpreters and the Sēgi of the Veil, who continue to preach True Sūhai as a state religion. In order to keep up with the other nations technologically despite not having the advantage of trade, the Interpreters have made several treaties with the wraiths. In exchange for glyphic technology, the Interpreters give the wraiths the bodies of criminals and rebels, as well as the promise of future military support.

New Shiman

New Shiman was founded after the War of Interpretation. It is currently ruled by the Sēgi of the Ocean, the Sēgi of the Field, and the Sēgi of the Road (the merchant-lord Sēgi). Individual towns and cities are usually governed by a wealthy merchant-lord descended from one of the merchant-lords who won the War. These merchant-lords play a strange role in society, as they are under the representation of the Sēgi of the Road but are now more like nobility than true merchants, and their dominance over the economy actually limits the prospects of more mundane traders.

The most common religion is Worship of the Near Gods, though Old Monarchism has recently gained popularity there.

Due to the betrayal of the Interpreters, Elementalists born in New Shiman are mistrusted to the point of hatred. When someone is discovered to be an Elementalist, they are given a choice- leave New Shiman or join the military. Most of these Elementalists are very young, as the Elemental Spark usually manifests during puberty. Because of this, most of them choose to join the military rather than be exiled with no resources or method of survival.

New Shiman lies above the Hell Below. Due to flux spills during the time of the dwarves' habitation of the land, the element of solids in New Shiman is very unstable, causing relatively frequent earthquakes which sometimes open up passages to the Hell Below. The same elemental instability has a tendency to close up these passages as suddenly as they appear. As if attracted by bloodshed, the Silthen began attacking out of these passages soon after the end of the War of Interpretation. Though these raids are never organized and can be repulsed relatively easily by a trained military force, they still present a constant danger to citizens of New Shiman. This danger is commonly accepted as a fact of life.

Montùla

Montùla is a prosperous nation with moderate Potentia reserves, surrounded on all sides by other nation-states. Their precarious position as a nation hedged in by threatening neighbors and the nature of their religion (see: Eaosism) give the Montùla a natural inclination towards trading and politics. The Tùla managed to turn their location- surrounded, with no mountains or other natural protection- into an advantage by forming trade treaties with every neighboring nation, facilitated by the lack of natural obstructions. Montùla acts as a neutral trade hub and route of travel between nations, and has become rich both from direct trade with other nations and from taxing foreign merchants seeking to use Montùla as a neutral location to meet and trade with one another. If another nation were to attack Montùla, it would find itself opposed by a multi-nation army of allies, giving Montùla a defensive option despite its lack of any real military.

When airship technology was first developed, the Tùla feared that they would loose their advantages in trade, as natural obstructions like mountains would no longer inhibit the transport of goods, making Montùla's geographical advantage obsolete. To counter this, as soon as the technology was made available but before it was put into widespread use, the Tùla added airship ports to each of their cities and offered incentives to airship pilots who wouldd use their nation as a trade hub. When airship transportation became the norm, the Tùla cities were ready to support it, allowing Montùla to maintain its economic dominance. The Tùla capital, Yalel, is now informally known as the airship capital of the world, where people of all nationalities and walks of life mix and mingle.

The Hell Below

The Hell Below is an incredibly extensive network of caverns and tunnels beneath New Shiman. Within those tunnels, an entire ecosystem exists, with many plants and animals developing the ability to feed on Potentia to survive. In some caverns, massive bioluminescent jungles grow on the shores of lakes of Potentia, supporting esoteric creatures both predator and prey. In the deep tunnels twisting down through the planet's crust, stranger creatures exist. Massive worms tunnel through the earth, seeking Potentia deposits to consume for sustenance, and beings even more alien, which humans have never glimpsed, contemplate in silence- including, according to New Shiman legends, the near-mythical Deep Walkers.

In the Quel'mar era, the dwarves had colonized most of the upper tunnels, though they did not dare traverse the deep tunnels. The ruins of their cities can still be found in some caverns, now supporting ecosystems of their own. The Silthen eke out an existence in this upper portion of the Hell Below.

The Endless Ocean

The ocean that surrounds Cerrador, and the Potentia reserves beneath it, are almost entirely controlled by the wraiths, who restrict the human nations' sea travel and refuse to allow any air or sea ship to cross a specific perimeter. [This entry may change if I decide to add in another continent, or islands, or an Atlantis- I'm undecided.]

The Mourning Mountains

The Mourning Mountains cut the continent of Cerrador in half, and separate the modern, northern nations from the Quel'mar ruins in the overgrown South. They also have for a long time presented the largest obstacle to exploration and scavenging in the ruins, as any team of adventurers seeking to explore them would have to cross the mountains once to get there, and again to get back with whatever they recovered. Since the development of airship technology, the Mountains no longer pose such a great obstacle.

The Veil

The Veil is the ring of asteroids around Noctiva, and is visible in the sky day and night. The asteroids of the Veil are worshipped as gods by the religions of True Sūhai and Worship of the Near Gods. Godlike beings do exist in the Veil; the Veiled Ones can be found in their bases in and on the asteroids, and their glyphic machines there continue to extract human souls as the bodies die to power the Veiled Ones' designs.

Edited May 6, 2016 by Elementalist

[Elementalist]

Religions

Victorism

Victorism was the most common religion of the Quel'mar Empire. Victorism states that the Quel'mar had been created by their gods as slaves to serve them. However, they rebelled against Heaven, slaughtering their pantheon and claiming the Earth as their own. Victorism states that every race of people has its own pantheon of gods enslaving it, and that the Quel'mar have authority over other peoples due to their status as the "only free race."

"And as Cachenan, last and greatest of the gods, fell to the swords of his slaves, Tlitoxl threw the gates of Heaven open. And through them the Holy Race saw their new dominion, legacy of the gods that had enslaved them, the right by conquest of the Holy Race." From the ancient Quel'mar Book of Histories.

Old Monarchism

Old Monarchism was the most common religion of Amadaria. It is now the most common religion of Amador and is becoming popular in New Shiman and the Kajhal Baronies as well. Old Monarchism is based on the worship of the God Amadas. Because Amadas' name is considered too holy to speak, he is usually referred to as "The Monarch."

Old Monarchist scripture describes how Amadas was originally a part of a pantheon of seven gods, who created the world. The gods, offended by the sins of the Quel'mar Empire, decided to destroy the world and build a new one. However, Amadas pled with the other six to spare the Northern peoples and only destroy the Quel'mar, the true sinners. The other gods pretended to listen to him, but secretly plotted against him. After destroying the Quel'mar, the gods betrayed Amadas and tried to annihilate the Northerners as well. Amadas had seen through their deception and was ready for their attack, and when they came against him he stood firm. Their battle lasted for seven hundred years, and Amadas seemed to be destined to fail. To protect the Northerners, he created a wall between the North and South, leaving himself and the other gods trapped together on the southern side. The Northerners named the wall the Mourning Mountains, as they believed Amadas had died and were in mourning. Seven days later, however, Amadas was found on the ground by a tribe of Northerners, completely unharmed- at least physically. He had made the ultimate sacrifice, giving up his own divinity to kill the other gods.

According to scripture, Amadas remained with the Northern tribe that had found him. He guided them and molded them into the nation of Amadaria, creating their system of law and setting up their caste system. He introduced them to the power that flowed through the earth, Potentia, and how to harness it in Elementalism and glyphic engineering. He died of old age, but Old Monarchists believe that he has gone on a quest to recover his divinity in death, and will return one day in the time of mankind's greatest need.

After the destruction of Amadaria by the Amadorian Empire, it was feared that Old Monarchism would die out. However, the religion survived through the slaves taken by the Imperials, and experienced a great resurgence after the Deicide, becoming one of the world's most popular religions (see: the Deicide).

"He was both creator and destroyer, for as Amadas, Monarch of the World, killed his brethren, his tears fell to the ground and became one with their blood. And behold, the blood of the gods became the blood of the earth, and the power of men, who through divine glyph harnessed it." A controversial line from the Zadoch, the Old Monarchist holy book.

New Monarchism

New Monarchism was the state religion of the Amadorian Empire. Most of its historical scripture was the same as that of Old Monarchism. However, doctrine was changed dramatically to support the Imperial government.

New Monarchism began when the "prophet" Kannerah Jirden declared that she had experienced a vision from the Monarch, proclaiming that he would return during her own lifetime. A charismatic individual, Jirden quickly attracted a large cult of followers. When the orthodox Old Monarchist church condemned the splinter religion, Jirden responded that she would "lead her followers to glory," and her cult broke off from Amadaria and traveled into the desert, founding the Amadorian Empire there.

When Kannerah Jirden's health began to ail due to old age, the first caste sought ways to make it seem to the public that her prophecy had been fulfilled and the Monarch had returned. Using technology given to them by the wraiths, they secretly constructed the Monarch glyphic system (see: The Monarch). The Creator and the Destroyer were based on the passage from the Zadoch shown above, which is taken literally in New Monarchism. New Monarchist doctrine states that the Monarch is a "duality."

"I have returned to this world as Creator and Destroyer, to with my right hand bless the faithful and with my left hand punish the wicked. My holy kingdom will endure eternally, while the kingdoms of heresy I shall reduce to dust. Those who refused to listen to the Truth of my prophet will be the subjects of my wrath." The words of the Destroyer in his first appearance to the public. He soon after led the Empire to war against Amadaria.

True Sūhai

True Sūhai is the state religion of Kiyashima, called "Interpretism" by the rest of the world. Before the discovery of glyphs, True Sūhai was mostly benign and passive. The core belief is that the asteroids of the Veil are gods. The asteroids, or Near Gods, are said to protect the world from the jealous and evil Far Gods, the stars. Because the Near Gods are constantly at war with the Far Gods, they are unable to come down to Noctiva to give direct commands to their worshippers, so they instead communicate their will through their celestial movements. These messages are said to be beyond the comprehension of ordinary people, but Elementalists- called Interpreters by the Kiyashimans- are believed to be able to parse the messages by use of their Sight along with the ingestion of hallucinogenic "holy herbs" and the recitation of chants.

In premodern times, the revelations of the Interpreters were given to the Sēgi of the Veil, who would then reveal them to the rest of the Sēgi through the "Announcements of Interpretation." However, the modern practice of True Sūhai declares the Interpreters to be above the Sēgi, declaring the Sēgi of the Veil to be the Near Gods' chosen king of Kiyashima.

"The Will of the Gods, as Interpreted by Sēgi of the Veil Seinaru Kanashi: Above all others, we place our holy servants. The Sēgi of the Veil, greatest of Interpreters, holiest of men, is to take his rightful place as sole ruler of our chosen nation. Our will be done." This Announcement of Interpretation is one of the most famous in history, as it is considered to be the most direct cause of the subsequent religious and political split between the Kiyashiman island and mainland.

Worship of the Near Gods

Worship of the Near Gods, or Veilism, is the most common religion in New Shiman. It is called the "Far Heresy" by Kiyashiman Interpreters, who claim that the religion is a perversion of "true" worship caused by the meddling of the Far Gods.

The basic tenets of Veilism are identical to those of True Sūhai, except for the way the messages of the Near Gods are interpreted. Only a few days before Seinaru Kanashi's fateful Announcement, a book was anonymously published, known now as the "Script of the Veil." Now regarded as a gift from the Near Gods, the Script contained astrological methods by which, it claimed, ordinary people could interpret the Gods' movements by themselves. These methods rely on both the positions of the asteroids and and specific facts about the person interpreting them, as the Script claims that the Gods have specific messages for each of their worshippers. Veilists now believe that the Interpreters had been demons sent by the Far Gods, an attitude that now influences New Shiman's current treatment of Elementalists.

Kamina, the largest asteroid in the Veil, is considered by Veilists to be the greatest of the Near Gods.

"Denke aligns with Kamina to convey disappointment. The worshipper must seek purification and forgiveness of their sins in order to regain favor." A line from the Script of the Veil.

Eaosism, Spectrism, Veiled One Worship, and organizations to be added

Edited May 6, 2016 by Elementalist

[Elementalist]

RESERVED: Important Historical Events and Figures

Edited March 4, 2016 by Elementalist

[Elementalist]

RESERVED: Important Glyphic Technologies

Edited March 4, 2016 by Elementalist

[Elementalist]

RESERVED: Noctiva Master Timeline

Edited March 4, 2016 by Elementalist

[Elementalist]

Well well well, it seems I've started a trend. Keep it up, I like what I see!

Thanks!

[Seonid]

I hid my post, so it wasn't sitting in the middle of your reserved sections. Sorry about that.

 

I'll repeat what I said here, though. I like the setting. Just curious - why are there only 7 Veiled Ones? Are they remnants of some long-forgotten race from another universe, or are they a natural product of the pre-universe?

[Elementalist]

 

I'll repeat what I said here, though. I like the setting. Just curious - why are there only 7 Veiled Ones? Are they remnants of some long-forgotten race from another universe, or are they a natural product of the pre-universe?

It's most accurate to say that they were the pre-universe. There are seven of them mostly because 7 is the arc number I'm going with. The current universe is, essentially, constructed from their own chopped-off body parts, which makes it somewhat understandable why they're so pissed at everything and everyone (this isn't what literally happened, but it's the mortal equivalent).

[Curious Anamaximder]

This looks really good. Upvotes for you!

[Clockwork]

Have some upvotes for being a lot more thorough than I ever am!

[Elementalist]

Thanks to everyone for their support! Updated with new information on soul-form Potentia and the Elemental Spark in the Magic section, along with Kiyashima and New Shiman in the Nation-states section and Verdants in the Races section. Also made minor tweaks to several other things to make sure nothing contradicts itself.

[Elementalist]

And the Nation-states section is complete!