recursal/Fanatic-Fandom huggingface dataset:
Clairvoyance

**Clairvoyancy** is the supernatural ability to see visions of the past, present, or future. An individual with clairvoyance is called a *clairvoyant*.

## Usage

The Esshian religions follow the teachings of a few individuals who are said to have been divinely clairvoyant, given their abilities of 'sight' by God to lead mankind. They believe that visions are messages from Iden, revealing truth in the context of events that have already occurred and events that are supposedly yet to come. The ability to see into the past (hindsight) is legendarily accessible by scrying through the Dexter Eye, while inversely visions of the future (foresight) can be seen through the Sinister Eye.
Iotheman Pantheon

The **Pantheon of Iotheme** is the grouping of gods and goddesses originally worshiped by the citizens of Iotheme.

## Gods and Goddesses

### Gnollus

Gnollus, King of the Gods, justice, order, domesticated animals, and fate.

### Iothema

Iothema, the Goddess of agriculture, fertility, and marriage.

### Promatles

Promatles, the God of power, magic, inspiration, and manifestation.

### Batius

Batius, the God of wisdom, stability, water, mystery, and self-improvement.

### Aleganus

Aleganus, the God of nature, death, and wildlife.

### Hesistyra

Hesistyra, the Goddess of pleasure, celebration, and sex.

### Marmaros

Marmaros, the God of mischief, commerce, luck, and chaos.

## History

### Demonization

During the Great Purge initiated by King Byreon I...

» historical revision of old gods as diabolical monsters by Vistern.
Lukander

**Grand Master Lukander** (born Romer Anastisos) is the commander in chief of the Palatine Order of Canvary.

He is regarded as a living hero by the people of Canvary, whom he liberated from Ushanran tyranny.

## Name

Lukander = "Danyr of the Lugans", which became Lugandanyr, and then Lukander by his Lugarian compatriots.
Book of Names

The **Book of Names** is an index of at-large demons wanted by the Arais Emodun for crimes against mankind.

## Background

In the East, communicating or working with demonkind is prohibited in almost every aspect of society: religious, legal, commercial, and social. Because of the strict anti-demon orthodoxy in Cremalia, summoning is a criminal offense by the Arais Emodun, which has thwarted every summoning attempt since its founding. The controversy that surrounds demonic involvement in any enterprise as encouraged the Sorjachani to use a collection of aliases and pseudonyms to conceal their identities and employ proxies and envoys to represent them in business.

In its crusade to consecrate Solemny, the Arais Emodun investigates the true names of the demons operating with influence throughout the world. The order keeps an extensive catalogue of the demons who have been identified as conspiring against the nations of the Continental Congress, replete with dossiers of the most wanted archdemons and their servants.
Gap oracles

There existed many hundreds of oracles throughout Esshian's long history, many nameless and forgotten oracles serving as augurs for mundane portents like anticipated weather, farming conditions, and opinions on marriage and financial prospects. Knowledge of many these oracles were lost during the Upheaval and are not widely regarded by the general Stephedist public. Of the Pre-Solemnic Oracles, only the Triumvirate (Essha, Irrah, and Yelen) are worshiped for the impact of their visions.
Adamantine

**Adamantine**, sometimes shortened to **adamant**, is a metal mined primarily in the Anduvins and used extensively in Bagharn architecture, technology, and weaponry. Adamantine is described as the strongest known material, like moldable diamond, and is used to create impenetrable armor or molecule-sharp weapons.

Adamantine has a burgundy-red color to it and does not oxidize. The metal does have a unique texture to it.

Adamantine support pillars and beams made *grade*-building in the seismically-active East possible.

Red dragons are made out of adamantine and indicative of their dwarven make and origin.

## Notes

(?) Adamantine alloys

(?) Lost techniques
Gaius Morton

Historical Information

The human adventurer **Gaius Morton** (real name: **Lars Bothwig**) was a famous wayfarer and author from Austen who published his many adventures into serial novellas that became famously popular throughout Cremalia and abroad.

## Trivia

* Gaius Morton and his many books are held in especially high regard by Cireias Lorring, who read them as a child.
Mountain goblin

* Large, muscular, and violent. Very territorial and hostile.
* Do not work well together; mountain goblin battalions can only be maintained by an ogre, at a maximum of three, or else they’ll kill each other at a moment’s notice and loot the corpse.
* Scarcity of resources, food, and shelter in the [Australian] mountains has embedded a very possessive, territorial, competitive, and solitary character to these goblins.
Jodam ai-Yanza

**Jodam ai-Yanza** is a eunuch guard in the Wirashom, having faithfully served three empresses—Fayza, Mizaara, and the newly risen Baharra.

## Biography

A veteran eunuch captain and Heban's protector before Lyrros.

## Involvement

Keyara starts searching for allies.

A week into Baharra & Keyara's arrival in Usharbanipal, Jodam approaches Keyara in secret, declaring his support for the late Mizaara and pledging his loyalty to Empress Baharra and the dissolution of the "usurpers".

Jodam mentions that there are "many others" like him that wish to see the Kailar abolished.

Keyara is pleased with this unexpected ally.

Keyara ruminates that day about Mascad's gifts and his tenderness and gentlemanliness, positing that Baharra could do much worse when it came to husbands, and that their coup d'état would be an unfortunate necessity for the empress to respect Fayza's wishes.

<stuff happens relating to another plot thread; Dimuwari & Vanut?>

Later that night, a knock on Keyara's door by a servant girl alerts her. The servant says, "A gift from the Kailar to his beloved empress." The servant delivers a decorated chest to Keyara's feet, with Jodam's head inside.

Baharra assigns Lyrros to replace Jodam.

Later, when the Rays of the Sun begin to attack, Keyara speculates grimly if the rebels are the "many others" that Jodam had promised.
Bardomme

The **bardomme** is a ruling council of ruling dwarven clan oligarchs in the Bagharn.

## Government

### Shardam

The Shardamntarn differed from other bagharn in that its bardomme resembled the advisory councils of Mannean dictators rather than the traditional oligarchies prescribed by Canonical systems. The Shardam bardomme was porous in that dwarves from the Fardavr could ascend to offices of power, making Shardam much more competent when it came to administration, but Korsahn Madna still had final say on policy decisions.

Despite its greater effectiveness, resentment from nobly-born members of the bardomme festered. As these Fardavr-born kintae gained more direct influence over Korsahn Madna and affairs of the state, the old blood aristocracy distrusted and worked against their power.
Curse of Arukain

The **Curse of Arukain** is the name for the supposed magical affliction responsible for corrupting the Biascian elves into the Itzhin. It is named for Arukain do Gibrin who was responsible for the Metamorphosis. The population of elves affected with the Curse of Arukain are considered 'soulless', and all implications of the suggestion are taken into consideration.
Moloccho

**Moloccho**, the *City of Gold*, is a city in Sitaram and a former capital of the Marooned Sorjachani.

The ornate castles of the Sorjachani are famously painted with red ochre. At the end of the day, these pavilions are said to glow gold in the light of the sunset.

## Background

The city of Moloccho was once the nexus of the gold and silver trade in Sitaram, where coin mints operated by the Sorjachani smelted ores and pillaged treasures to duplicate foreign coins for the purpose of devaluing their currencies and sabotaging their economies. Counterfeit coins from Moloccho could be found in banks around the world, gilded chips of nickel and tin.

Moloccho's grandiose wealth matched Diz in its audacity, but made no attempt to disguise the depravity that skirted the gold and red citadels of its masters. The city's industrial district is filled with metal foundries and factories of Moloccho's engineering minds which choke the skies with black smoke. Regular rains of soot and ash fall over the city, inspiring canopies over the streets and overhanging roofs to catch the dust. Today it is said these poison rains now turn metal to rust, searing the ground it touches.

The decision by the Continental Congress to begin printing its money in the form of paper bills, as the elves of Liashan did, neutered Moloccho's presence in Cremalia.

Moloccho's deflation triggered the defensive instincts of its wise and cautious masters, who have spent fortunes fortifying and booby-trapping their holdings into impenetrable citadels to protect against their jealous enemies and former allies. Burglary attempts and sieges on the city walls are a common occurrence, the Molocchans having to repel invasion after invasion with mercenary armies to protect their glittering vaults. The Raid of Muryodhana in DATE was the first successful penetration into one of the strongholds of Moloccho by the joint Triunes of Dagaddotha and Nur, ending with the complete sacking of the Muryodhana vaults and its protectors. Directly following the raid was the dissolution of Dagaddotha and Nur's alliance over the spoils, ending in a bloody feud between both triunes and leaving Muryodhana to be picked clean by scavengers.

Today, Moloccho's wealth is fed by interest rates on gold loans paid to a variety of high-profile clientele.

## Trivia

* *Moloccho* is named for the Judeo-Christian demon Moloch and the North African country of Morocco.
* Moloccho is an allusion to the fabled city of El Dorado, said to be a city of gold located in South America and besought by the Spanish conquistadors.
Homunculus

A **homunculus** is a term for a part of someone's animus that has been isolated from suffusion and is an exact carrier for the engram of that person's mana signature.

Some arcanists believe the homunculus is a template for human life and simply needs the proper directive for it to manifest as a simulation of life (if given the necessary reagents to construct a physical body) as a clone. This elusive directive is what arcanists call the Creation Spell, the will to inspire existence, and it remains out of their grasp, reserved to the heavens.

Critics detract from this school of thought as blasphemous.
Goose

The mourasta nicknamed **"Goose"** was discovered by the legates of Duck Hunt hidden at the center of the Black Garden.

## Background

The mourasta in the Black Garden is foreshadowed by the prophecy of Baharra during his half-lucid rant on clarity, and then again by Amory Crane during his Congressional inquisition regarding his time in Canvary.

## Involvement

After Freyhe frees herself from Modean captivity, she is found by her former mentor Loriv Thieodin, who takes her under his escort. Loriv, having been dispatched by Empress Baharra to rout the Serag, changes course to show Freyhe the wasteland caused by the Alvard Incident.

In the Horrormarch, Loriv brings Freyhe to its center, where a triune of demons is working side-by-side with Ushanran magi. Underneath the heart of the compound Loriv brings Freyhe to the factory-temple harvesting sorjin from the mourasta. She only ever sees the demon's lower half.

When Duck Hunt comes to the Black Garden on their own terms, due to Cireias' manipulations, they are discovered and captured by the demons to be sacrificed to the mourasta.

## Trivia

* The mourasta's naming refers to its incidental discovery by the legates, whose objective to find the terrorist Urn Chagall (codenamed Duck) was slightly derailed by their diversion to investigate the Horrormarch, a "wild goose chase."
Ansgav Toram

**Ansgav Toram** is an Ushanran citizen.

## Involvement

After the attempt on Kailar Mascad i-Apsa's life during the Ishanah Memorial Festival, the corpse of Ansgav Toram was presented as the culprit. On his body was a vial of othin, which is believed to have been his solution to capture.

Allegedly, Toram was cornered by Ushanran guards and killed when he tried to attack them.
Awatop tribe

The **Awatop tribe** are a Janican tribe of orcs.

## Notes

* grey-skinned descendants of the Arquisan nation, displaced into roving Kategahrs: horse-riding bandits and herders.
* whips (hydra); flaying whips
* control, taming, subjugation, torture—will-breakers.
* North Janicans are the best slavers.
* horse-wranglers; lassos & hogties
* lasso dancing
* sport: catch-and-release hunt with lassos.
* ouroborous
Habaddian

The **habaddians** were one of the demon species that came to Hephestia during the Sorjachani Invasion. As of ERA the Marooned habaddians have been wiped out in Hephestia.

Also known as **ifrits** in Sitaram where they held a brief but influential presence. In the Esterlands, only a few habaddians were encountered, and thus the name **vulcan** is more of a neologism the Arais Emodun invented to describe the historic species.

## Background

The ancient forebears who commanded the legions of the Sorjachani into the streets of Iotheme Empire. The habaddians were the engineers and smiths of the Sorjachani, designing their weaponry and crafts. They were brilliant and resourceful, constantly vying for power with their aggressive dromut rivals.

The habaddians were clad head to toe in armor of strange metal, with smoke steaming from the gaps in the polished plate. Their blood was phlogiston, and whenever it came into contact with the oxygen of our atmosphere, their oily blood would instantly catch flame. Protected only by their suits, the habaddians risked immolation if they ever came into contact with the open air, observed to combust in hellish agony before being reduced to chunky ash, the metal of their suits twisted and warped by the habaddian's death throes. In battle, the ifrit preferred distance and would throw grenades of their bottled, burning blood to soak their enemies in hellfire.

Because of their vulnerability to most foreign atmospheres, the ifrits rarely risked joining the War Triunes during campaigns and preferred to supervise from Alaniji, although some did join the conquest. During the Sorjachani Invasion of Hephestia, the unexpected tenacity of the mortal resistance prompted the personal appearance of the Sorjachani supreme leader, Tyrant Saartur, an ifrit of considerable influence.

Today, all that is left of the vanquished ifrits is their lasting catacomb in Aklarra, the Hall of Lights, a repository of their bottled blood protected by the priesthood of the Sorjachani.

## Trivia

* In Arabian religion, an ifrit is one of the three sentient races created by God (the others being angels and humans), made from "smokeless fire." They were both wicked and benevolent.
Asmodattiya

The archdemon **Asmodattiya** was a wealthy incubus prince from the Asmod dynasty that prospered from the diamond and emerald trade in Tantara. He financed several building projects throughout Sitaram, his most famous being the Water Gardens of Anutshi, which he built to commemorate the memory of his late wife.

## Trivia

* His name is based on the Judeo-Christian demon Asmodeus, sometimes depicted as a demon of lust.
Legate

A legate is a representative of a national or political power

## Status

### On commission

Legates are required to claim a commission for any kind of mission, assassination, investigation, or interview they undertake, which means a commission must legally exist beforehand. For a commission to be posted—covertly or publicly—it must be processed through Dome, discussed with the concerning delegates and senators (for international commissions), and then approved, before the adjutant can give their legate(s) a go-ahead (i.e. police must have a search warrant before entering a house).

While this is the legal procedure (which is intrusively lengthy for usually on-the-spot initiatives), all that is usually asked is that the legate(s) confirm only with their adjutant on significant decisions, and they must sign off on it, making the adjutant just as liable for whatever happens during and after the commission. Or, they falsify records or pin it all on their rogue legates.

There is a lot of unchecked corruption in CATO. Violations of this procedure are always noted, but historically only a handful have been charged during reviews.

### On Vigil

A legate can opt to temporarily remove themselves from active duty. Legates on vigil status are paid on a case-by-case status; they do not receive any cyclical payroll from CATO, and so must freelance by picking up public commissions on the annavahn.

A legate on vigil can be called upon at any time to take on a commission by Dome. The are on their own discretion; travel around, claiming whatever available commissions they can at their leisure. Some legates take the initiative and start their own investigations, usually getting a sanction from their adjutant to legitimize their projects as Congress-authorized commissions (particularly corruption investigations).
Cambion

A **cambion** (otherwise **changeling**) is a term applied to any child conceived through the kiss of the succubus by a fandray intermediary.

## Term

The fandrays' occult practice of fostering illicit children predated the knowledge of the process, and so these "shapeshifting demonspawn" were suspected of being biologically demonic. The name *cambion* ("change") was first used to describe these individuals, which was later translated to *changeling* in Cremalia. There exist two possible explanations for the name: reasoning that the offspring had been born human but was "changed" into something else entirely, psychologically; or the cambion was meant to "change places" with another person entirely, as an impostor.

## Behavior

*"He shuns all mortal comforts."*

> - *Stefan Krovold, about Jeseride*
>
>

bear heavy psychological trauma

abusive parentage; purposely demoralize the children from a young age to make them malleable.

* Sleep standing up.
* Isolate selves in dark places during daylight.
* Minimal diet; survive on meager rations.
* Perform dust baths to remind them of their "unclean" bodies, as well as to hygienically exfoliate and mask offensive odors.
* Shun water.
Continental Congress

Statistics

The **Continental Congress** is a multinational alliance established as a neutral platform from which the member states incorporated into the organization can trade and discourse freely and civilly. The assembly is called the Senate, a collection of representatives from various countries, and at the core of the Senate is the Supreme Council of representatives of the five major superpowers in the world: the Republic of Modeon, the Empire of Austen, the Liashan Concert, the Kingdom of Lavmoor, and the Doban League. Presiding over the Senate is the executive powers, the Chairman of Congress (position currently held by Gram Murad) and his cabinet of ministers.

## Senate

Chairman | Executive board | Sadierv

Supreme Council | Countries | Represented by councillors...

* Bendet Lamond, Jr. of Modeon

Incorporated

## Agencies of Congress

* **Constabulary**
* **Legates**
 **Arais Emodun*** **Protectorate**
* **Magisterium**
* **Anchorage**
 **Consortium** |  | Trade Committee | The commercial network of industry and finance regulated by Congress and its appointed deputy chiefs.
Cyclops Eye

A stylized eye symbol described as a circled dot or circumpunct, revered as a sacred symbol by all Esshian branches. The **Cyclops Eye**, or **Cyclopeion**, is the most recognizable and ubiquitous Esshian icon. The cyclopeion is incorporated in many Stephedist logos and crests, and suggests the architectural layout of the Stephedist vistern ground plan. Supposed to warn against impending dangers and bad luck, as well as 'glare' at enemies as an intimidating image.

When worn, the Cyclops Eye can invoke different blessings to the wearer, contingent on the wearer's intent.

* *Iden's Vigilance* – Iden's Vigilance is a blessing of protection, a symbol of God's watchful eye. It is often marked on foreheads as a sign of protection (where the third eye is supposed to be located), and often can be found on heraldic devices, national insignias,
* *Iden's Vengeance* – A flaming eye, surrounding by a sunburst like solar rays. Those empowered by Iden's Vengeance believe that they embody God's holy will in the persecution of evil or wrongdoing. Popularly worn by Amaranthine crusaders.

## Depictions & meanings

* Squint
* dilated pupil
* Eye of Judgment
* Closed Eye
* Blind Eye
* Dry Eye
* Glaring Eye
* Crying Eye
* Evil Eye

## Notes

x Sol (symbol)

x Gorgoneion (Greek design)

• Two eye tattoos on neck.

x Peter Vincent cross tattoos on neck (Fright Night (2012)

Monoculum / Monopticon ("one-eye")

Binoculum / Binopticon ("two-eye")
Nadal

The orc **Nadal** was a prominent leader of the Okaramog of Okar Ban'Sangra during the Orc Wars.

## Biography

### Early Life

As a child, Nadal's tribe was assaulted by Lavmoran traders. The Cremalians, who had been colonizing territories of Janica, were in constant need of interpreters to help them navigate the foreign continent, and had assessed that children were much more easily receptive to learning new languages than adults. The Lavmoran traders kidnapped several children, Nadal included, to be educated by their Stephedist missionaries in the Sight and in their own tongue, to serve as a liaison between them and the Janican tribes.
Noretaid du Hasheil

The legate **Noretaid du Hasheil** is a representative of the Maselyn Anthem from the Liashan Concert.

## Involvement

### Noretaid goes to Liashan

In the wake of the Maselyn Anthem's dishonor, Noretaid travels to the Liashan Concert on Sloan's command to petition the aid of the Elf King.

Noretaid has her tongue cut out from her mouth on the order of Prince Nobedan ao Camun.

## Trivia

* Noretaid was the original inspiration for this entire story. Her name and likeness came to me in a dream and, after waking briefly to jot it down, I've since spent years building a world around that one night.
* Tongue cutting: Silenced just as she begins to find her own voice.
Lyrros ai-Shunra

**Lyrros ai-Shunra** is one of two Canveri Neeams. He is the fraternal twin brother of Lyrra and lives in the Wirashom.

## Biography

After the successful Conquest of Canvary, Empress Fayza chose to ingratiate her sizable new constituency by incorporating the Soliflor bloodline into the House of Ushar. The invasion of Tarasin wiped out the main branch of the royal family, forcing Fayza to court a cousin Eledrios ti Beilin, a prince from an off-branch Canaveran clan. After a year, Fayza gave birth to twins, Lyrra and Lyrros, which was celebrated as an auspice throughout the empire, the Canveri especially, who looked up to the twins as darlings.

Because of his sex, Lyrros' options were limited, as Ushanran tradition stipulated that all Sons of Ushar should be castrated upon sexual maturity. Despite already having passed the cut-off age, Empress Mizaara revived the old tradition and had Lyrros and other boys in the Wirashom cut, excluding her own son Heban.

## Notes

* Lyrros is a eunuch.
* Wears a needle-beaked helmet designed like a hummingbird.
Destiny

**Destiny**, or **Heaven**, is the utopian Kingdom designed and built by God for the prosperity and joy of Mankind. The First Violation (Aned and Dena) caused the exile of Mankind from Heaven to live and die as mortals in the Temporal Lands, initiating the sequence of Time that would eternally divide Mankind from entering Heaven until after death, when they swam across the Sea of Sorrow to wash up on Heaven's shore.

In Esshian cosmology, the mortal realm resides "downstream" or "across the sea" from Heaven, the Kingdom of Iden, where His workshop and the realization of the Master Vision is located. From the incandescent shores of Heaven, God and His celestial attendants (angels) welcome the souls of the righteous who have swum across the Sea of Sorrows from the Temporal Lands (metaphor: lived a mortal life) and arrived at the destination of Iden's promised Master Vision.
Adramalesh

**Adramalesh** is a succubus heroine in Sitaran folklore who saved the Kingdom of Jishitya from the Kingdom of Lehasha by disguising herself as Princess Paruvashi and marrying the warlord King Natharar.

## Legend

In DATE, the warlord King Natharar performed many yajnas in the name of his lord and master Baalberath, who was pleased with the sadhana of his servant and awarded him with a cuirass of blessed metal which was resistant to the piercing of any weapon. Impervious to all weapons, Natharar began his conquest of Sitaram, bringing his onslaught to the Kingdom of Jishitya. At the gates of Jishitya, Natharar demanded that King Haskana give him his daughter Paruvashi for a wife, or else he would destroy Jishitya in fire. Already betrothed to the warrior Barana, Natharar challenged the prince to a one-on-one duel, the winner would claim Paruvashi and seal the fate of the kingdom. Barana fought bravely but could not lay a single blow through Natharar's armor, and in the end was brought down by the evil king. Paruvashi wept and refused to go with Natharar, but in refusing the king threatened he would lay waste to her father's kingdom and neither she nor her people would be spared. Paruvashi wept and begged one night with her family and friends to mourn and bury Barana before joining Natharar in his camp the next evening, and Natharar, seeing her sadness, humbly agreed and departed.

Paruvashi despaired. She could not marry the murderer of her would-be husband, but she could not allow Natharar to destroy Jishitya. Coming to the shrine of the sheik Adramalesh, Paruvashi prayed for intervention, and Adramalesh saw her tears and wept.

> Adramalesh disguises herself as Paruvashi with a veil

> Adramalesh travels to Lehasha and marries King Natharar. On their wedding night, Adramalesh reveals herself and kills Natharar, saving Jishitya.

> Adramalesh is then slain by Natharar's guardsmen, but she is celebrated as a martyred hero.
Glossary of Sitaran Language

A **Glossary of the Sitaran Language** as spoken in the region of Sitaram.

All words below are placeholders that need to be reinvented, but I needed to establish the concept in a cohesive space for reference.

## Terms

* **Abra** – a master omath educated in a school of black magic who is sought by acolytes to help them on their paths to Ritspara.
* **Djinn** – mythical entities of pure power said to have been mortals who have achieved Ritspara. Djinnhood is the ultimate destiny for an ambitious omath, their transcendent, luminous soul once it has left the body. Djinni are spirits of wind.
* **Deva** – a demon, the Sorjachani that came to Sitaram.
* **Danava** – a faction of demons in the north of Sitaram.
* **Daitya** – a faction of demons in the south of Sitaram.
* **Shadow council** – cabals of omathi who practice vajra and study the puranas at the behest of their deva masters.
* **Sheik** – a title for a demon oligarch.
* **Raja** – a mortal ruler given power by affiliation with a deva.
* **Shishya** – a disciple of an abra.
* **Sampradaya** – a school of vajra maintained and represented by the uninterrupted lineage of masters and disciples (abras and shishyas) who practice and train others in its art.
* **Parampara** – the tradition of abras educating shishyas in a school of black magic.
* **Ashram** – a hermitage of a demon or omath.
* **Sadhana** – "Suffering," the actions a omath performs to build favor with an abra or sheik in the hopes of having a request granted.
* **Yajna** – a rite of sadhana performed to impress a sheik, usually a sacrifice or an act of self-mortification.
* **Omath** – a warlock.
* **Sadvhi** – a female warlock, also called a witch.
* **Ritspara** – a state of spiritual enlightenment where the mortal soul becomes immortal.
* **Paeantari** – a sect of omathi trained in medicine and healing.
* **Vajra** – the practice of black magic.
* **Vajrathani** – sorjin-channeling.
* **Sheol** – a slum in Sitaram, often infested with demons.
* **Henna** – body inscription using temporary [mana substance] on the hands, face, and feet.
* **Sutra** – a text used for spellcasting.
* **Purana** – a grimoire containing spell diagrams and texts.
* **Moksha / Socraj** – "Unity," the highest principle—unifies the three virtues.
* **Sattva** – one of the three virtues; wisdom.
* **Rajas** – one of the three virtues; power.
* **Tamas** – one of the three virtues; detachment.
* **Untouchables** – "Winnowed," the rejects of the omathi.
Lambsher Hangue

**Archmage Lambsher Hangue** was an affluent anchorite in Lavmoor. He died in DATE.

## Behind the scenes

Along with his peers Arthor Meine and Samuel Toth, Lambsher was selected by his mentor Howlmander to embody the next host of the Narangheer Lich. When attempting to undergo the lich process, Lambsher proved incompatible with the demon and suffered a fatal aneurism.

In the aftermath of Lambsher's passing, his wife Celea, instead, attempted to join with the orphaned lichling and successfully became one of the Lich's three discreet incarnations in the Esterlands.
Council of Verity

A **council of verity** is composed of fifty senior clergymen in the College of Diviners of the Holy Vistern of Stephedore and its supervising Witness. They are democratic in its proceedings, utilizing a ballot system to ensure privacy. Councils of verities' primary objectives are to:

* Disprove *vaticinium ex eventu*.
* Verify the date of revelation.
* Correlate legitimate manifestations of the real event and the prophecy.
* Officiate a mortal comprehension of God's Sight (the published interpretation of the Oracular Revelation as agreed upon by consensus; the final product is a hallowed scripture whose precise language has been meticulously and obsessively rewritten and clarified to adequately express the Vistern's perspective).

## Identifying oracles

Councils of Verity are also convened to dispute or discredit accepted Oracles, such as the rejection of the Oracle of Martan in DATE during the Council of Honheil which by the majority of Cremalian nations. Following the rulings of the Council of Honheil, Martanist Stephedism dwindled in its mainstream practice as changing attitudes towards arcanum. Today, only the country of Drayden still recognizes the Oracle of Martan.

## Controversy

The Amaranthine and modern Visterns' Verity Councils have historically been corrupt, producing doctrinal rulings that have continuously invoked criticisms for promoting discrimination of various kinda and exploiting the liturgical revision process for personal gains.

When something happens that closely resembles (or can be made to match) the narrative and details of a prophecy—declared *before* the event. The council is a very time-exhaustive, bureaucratic procedure handled almost exclusively by divisive elderly clergymen steeped in orthodoxy and unwavering sectarianism.

## Trivia

* The councils of verity are inspired by Christian ecclesiastical assemblies like the Councils of Trent and Nicaea which convened to establish religious orthodox.
Baalshiba

The archdemon **Baalshiba** was responsible for the re-founding of the City of Diz. Beginning as a slum lord in the Balabala sheol, Baalshiba gained notoriety for his manticore fight pits and became an influential partner of the Triune of Zelaza.

He was incredibly overweight, glutted by his preferred tributes of food and wine. After relocating to Diz, his indulgences only worsened, and Baalshiba's size became an obscene legend and also the obvious cause for his eventual demise at his own table, suffering a heart attack at a banquet.

## Banquet of Baalshiba

– Baalshiba was a Grand Duke in the High Triune of the South led by Zelaza, opponent to the High Triune of Baalial in the North.

– The Lords of the South very infamously greedy, stockpiling huge amounts of wealth for personal glory that rivaled the vanity of the dromuts. They were corrupt and extravagant, brutal in their excesses. The North, in contrast, was more stark and ragged, where competition was not financial but territorial.

– Diz was such a great success, Baalshiba's partners wanted a bigger cut. Baalshiba, annoyed, secretly re-aligned himself with a new tyrant—Kraedar—who gave him the go-ahead to murder his allies.

– Baalshiba invited the heads of Zelaza's triune to his palace in Diz where he poisoned them all at his huge feast, leaving Zelaza friendless, and the Tyrant of the South was quickly subjugated by Kraeder's underlings and de-horned by the usurper. The dissolution of the South's leadership emboldened Tyrant Baalial and his Northern archdemons, but they remained too disorganized and untrained to challenge the new borders, held steadfastly by mercenaries and professional soldiers who eagerly traded their loyalty to Zelaza's successor thanks to Baalshiba's generous bribes.

## Trivia

* Named for Beelzebub, a Christian demon of gluttony, and Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction.
Morlan

The **morlan** is a special top-knot reserved for Canonical scholars, originating from Shardam.

## Symbolism

The *morlan* symbolized the wearer's "second brain" that contained their higher knowledge of superior subjects, specifically the arcane and the Canon.

## Variations

The *morlan* comes in many styles, made distinct by region, class, time period, and remains a status symbol evocative of intellect and credibility.

## Trivia

* In the same way glasses sometimes make a person look more intelligent, hair styled into a *morlan* is said to evoke the same impression among other dwarves.
Eunuch

A **eunuch** is a biological male who has had his sexual organ, the penis, surgically removed for ceremonial purposes.

## Society

### Canon

Due to the Shardam practice of castrating any hypermanic dwarf males in their society so that they could serve as warders for the empire, the gene pool for magically-capable dwarves dwindled in Shardam very quickly over the years, since they were unable to reproduce. Mira Rethers, a Lavmoran mage researching the root causes of hypermana, discovered that hypermana was a genetic trait while studying the shifts in the mage population of the different bagharns' spectacularly meticulous census records.
Aer

**Aer** is the name given to aether-suffused air.

Air is the common name for Hephestia's atmosphere, which is a composite of gases (nitrogen, oxygen, argon, and carbon dioxide) used in breathing and photosynthesis. Humidity levels and elevation can affect the water content, in the form of vapor, that is also variably present in air.
List of demons

* **Adramalesh** (Adramalech) – a legendary succubus in Sitaram.
* **Anith**
* **Annirion** – the Deceiver; a historical incubus in Iotheme.
* **Ashtaara** (Astaroth)
* **Asmodakha** (Asmodeus)

* **Asmodattiya** (Asmodeus) – a historical incubus in Sitaram.
* **Asmodesh** (Asmodeus)
* **Asmodiya** (Asmodeus)
* **Assasella** (Azazel)
* **Baal** (Baal) – a legendary demon.
* **Baalshiba** (Beelzebub) – a historical dromut who re-founded the City of Diz.
* **Baalial** (Belial) – a dromut tyrant of North Sitaram.
* **Baalphelogatha** (Belphegor)
* **Baalberath** (Balberith)
* **Baalsophan** (Balzephon)
* **Baltenazga**
* **Bachur Asen**
* **Dantalani** (Dantalion)
* **Dantaliya** (Dantalion)
* **Dantthaliyan** (Dantalion)
* **Desheba** – a historical succubus in Stephedist liturgy.

* **Ereshakti** (Ereshkigal)
* **Gerishna** (Geryon) – a historical dromut tyrant.
* **Iriskyiss** – a succubus recently killed by the Palatine Knights.
* **Irreipej**
* **Ishkrana** (Ishkar) – a historical incubus.
* **Ishtaliyyara** (Ishtar) – a historical succubus.
* **Kari** (Kali)
* **Khoronsaar** – the Betrayer; a tyrant during the Sorjachani Invasion.
* **Kolukatanda Etar**
* **Kraedar** – a dromut tyrant of South Sitaram.
* **Leccydes**
* **Lilishmi** (Lilith) – a succubus operating in Ushanra.
* **Loloth** (Lilith)
* **Mirau** – a succubus operating in Cremalia.
* **Narangheer** – a historical lich whose whereabouts are unknown.
* **Saartur** (Surtr) – the Magnificent; a habaddian tyrant.
* **Semyassa** (Semyaza) – a historical incubus.
* **Xipe Darum**
* **Yundarc** – a habaddian tyrant.
* **Zelaza** (Azazel) – a dromut tyrant of South Sitaram.
* **Zuzupa** (Pazuzu)
Animus Duplication

Also known as *mana blurring*.

When two or more non-related animi come into direct contact (with no intervening aether), they will begin slowly to blend together, causing symptoms of headaches, migraines, loss of concentration, minor telepathic union and physical pains. If exposure is long enough (about twenty hours, although mana agitated by invocation can accelerate the process), they will blur, and the participants' animi will be identical to each other; while in separate bodies, they will generate the same mana signatures, like twins having the same fingerprints or DNA.

Over time, traits from the new animus might begin to form involuntarily in the participants, like the changing of eye color to that of their partner's.

Animic duplication is how sorjin contaminates and supplants native animi.

### Synchronized Telepathy

Perfect Context, Harmony

Magi that share an identical animus can relay thoughts and images with absolute zero variance. They are like one mind.

### Social functions

Many people will intentionally duplicate their animi with close companions, an incredibly intimate bond. In many Western cultures, they are called "soul-brothers," compare with blood-brothers.

Unintentional animus duplication is rare, due to the amount of time needed to completely blend the conflicting animi.

### Twins

Contrary to popular belief, twins do not have the same mana signature, since manageniture begins at puberty and encodes for personal experience, not just genetics.
Demonic pact

A **demonic pact** is any form of binding arrangement made between a demon and their supplicant, who is called a thrall after the exchange. Depending on the nature of the bargain, the demon may ask for a certain payment or tribute for their consultation or specialized services. This can be a blood or gold donation, a live sacrifice, a task to be completed, or, most insidious of all, a favor to be repaid at a later date.

Sometimes the demon may require a signature and insurance of their deal in the form of a demon brand, which is psychically accessible from remote location.

### Selling your soul

The popular saying, "sell your soul to the devil" is rooted in the actual practice of people promising to give up their soul to the demon in exchange for their wish.

## Types of pacts

### Material

* Access to resources (food and water)
* Fortune
* Treasures or artifacts

### Informational

* Arcana, knowledge about magic.
* Mathematics
* Science
* History
* Current events

### Political

* Power (political) – networking and back-channel connections; the demons are king-makers and king-breakers, and every thrall is a puppet.
* Assassination
* War – the Yogara sometimes contract mercenary work to mortals in return for labor or slaves.
* Espionage

### Personal

* Fame
* Immortality
* Love
* Sex

### Magical

* Power (magic)
* Weather manipulation
* Cosmetic
* Blessings (Enchantments)
* Healing
* Curses

## Forms of payment

* Tribute
* Blood debt (installment plan); blood tithe
	+ pay with own blood
	+ pay with others' blood
* Soul sacrifice (immediate or deferred)
Black harvest

A **Black Harvest** is the event directly following a Bloom, the time of year the Oonshara plant flowers and initiates the process for sorjin production. The details surrounding this ritual remains a mystery to Eastern scholars, as the secrets to black magic remain jealously kept by the sorjachani.

Peculiarly, the event of the Black Harvest is a period of mass migration by the various demon species stranded on Hephestia, and presumably in their native plane as well. Like birds, active channelers of sorjin are drawn by a need a assist in the farming of this mysterious plant. They make a pilgrimage to wherever a farm is, relying on Underworld networking and their own intuition to find nearby gardens they can help at.

All levels of demon society brackets itself into a caste responsible for a different segment of the production line, such as the dromuts ploughing fields, and shoarg excrement and imp guano manuring the soil. Hephestian warlocks are even inducted into the labor forces, and of course the omnipresence of slaves from all corners balances the mix.
Jeseride

> *See also: Bystander POV*
>
>

The enigmatic **Jeseride** is a warlock from Valprus with strong ties to the Underworld and an umatched expertise in necromancy.

## Characteristics

Jeseride is one of the few people in history who has been able to fully internalize sorjin corruption and then be able to safely channel it.

* No one lives who has seen his face.

## Name

//Name of a historical dromut (sorjin batteries).

//Name meaning "The Butcher."

//Name of the prophesied Chosen One.

## Involvement

### Naeoleis Incident

The Serag initiate Emar Yengec is presented to the warlock to be sacrificed and disguised as a living bomb to attack the Naeoleis Armory. Jeseride is disguised, wearing a mask designed like a laughing skull.

### The *Deliverance*

» prison-ship

» interrogation by Krovold; inscriptions are traced by the arcanist

» jail-break

### The rebels

* Yelastim do Siyazin
* Thomas Treeman
* Abersom Dodd

### Return to Fay Castle

» Slays Conroy Fay and fails to find the mana bomb

» Frees Irreipej

### New Column

» Follows Gongalves to New Column to take back the mana bomb

» Assassinates Urdankar, their accomplice in captivity

» Gets captured and sent to Amadi Cais to get a face-to-face with the Proconsul

### Amadi Cais

» Meine

» Reunited with Aklys and Myrna
Iriskyiss

The succubus **Iriskyiss** was a powerful archdemon operating in Salavia as a leader of a group of warlocks. She claimed oracular powers and declared a series of prophecies, gaining a devout following known as the Cult of the Great Mother, now disbanded.

## Biography

### Death

Iriskyiss and her cult were raided in their den by the Palatine Knights of Canvary. She was crucified and flayed alive along with the rest of her slaughtered thralls, "turned inside out, layer by layer" to find the real demon underneath.

Her gutted body was displayed in the city of Paloma as a triumph over blasphemy.

## Behind the Scenes

Iriskyiss strategically employed the fandray's kiss to sire unique experiments.

* The Chosen One, sired from an unknown father and a female thrall to herald the rise of the Sorjachani.
* Myrna, sired from the last Soliflor king and a female thrall to carry on the royal bloodline in the face of annihilation by the Ushanrans.
Mana bomb

The **mana bomb** is an arcane weapon of mass destruction capable of killing thousands within minutes of detonation.

## Background

### Conception

The mana bomb supposedly originated during the early development of mechanical mana-to-ioun converters, which was being researched for alternative methods of manipulating mana. This benign instrument was re-purposed by the so-called Valpriot Clerics into a weapon of war.

### Design

The mechanism used by the device to convert mana to ioun was dramatically adjusted to affect a grand-scale, so that any living animus within a ten-mile radius would immediately crystallize and fuse with the fleshy matter containing it—killing the person in their own mana like a cocoon from the inside.

The Arais Emodun scientists who examined the device claim its technology is gnomish.

## History

### Alvard Incident

The Alvard Bomb claimed the lives of two thousand soldiers of the Ushocon. This lead to the end of the Valpriot War and the signing of the Treaty of Serez.

### Moratorium on Magna Arcana Mortalis

Senator Vandra Sloan, heiress of Aegis Arms and a representative of Doban, successfully backed the initiative to have mana bombs and other similar technologies outlawed from research and development.

Opponents from anchorholds decry her intervention as money-minded, not humanitarian, as there is no armor in the world that can defend against the effects of a mana bomb.

## Involvement

### Naeoleis Incident

A second mana bomb recreated by a team of goblins was discovered to have been secretly produced by the Modeon Republic when it was stolen from their factory in Naeoleis, initiating a Congressional manhunt for the criminal responsible before he can set off the weapon.
International Liaison Team

An **International Liaison Team** (**ILT**) is an official grouping of legates assigned to collaborate on a commission by the Senate of the Continental Congress with a member of the Arais Emodun, often because any assignment grand enough to demand international attention is anticipated to require the expertise of an arcane specialist.

## Nicknames

Some Liaison Teams adopt names to personalize their commission and their team, which have been observed to foster close relationships between the agents involved, akin to the "brotherhoods" formed by soldiers during wartime.

## Known ILTs

* Duck Hunt
* Salt and Pepper

## Trivia

* The ILT is the modern incarnation of the "hero team," a spiritual successor to the Botiac Clerics and the knights of the Reclamations.
Deliverance

The ***Deliverance*** is a secret, unregistered prison-ship operating in the Eastern Isles of the Esterlands which contracted discreetly with national powers to detain and care for high-profile captives and prisoners.

At sea the *Deliverance* was accompanied by two smaller ships, a women's galley for female detainees and a small frigate for ship repair and naval defense, as well as serving as a sacrifice to allow the *Deliverance* to retreat if it ever encountered maritime authorities.

## History

The *Deliverance* was formerly an Ushanran ark, bombarded and captured by the Lugaria Empire which then decided the repair costs were too great to salvage, and then sold the massive cog to the wayfarer guild the Peerless Rangers in DATE. The Peerless Rangers invested in the renovation of the *Deliverance* to serve as a mobile headquarters and warship for the guild. After repairs were finished to simply make it seaworthy, the remaining weapons installations were too much for the guild to foot on its budget, and so they began to lease out cell space in the livestock pens to the Kingdom of Modeon for the detention of prisoners due to overcrowding, which expanded into a lucrative and comparatively safe business for the Peerless Rangers.

The abolishment of the Wayfarer Act meant the dissolution of all the wayfarer guilds operating in the Esterlands, as well as their contracts, and so the Peerless Rangers licensed themselves under a new company name, Atanton Maritime. Fronting as a shipping company of live foodstuffs to the Grand Augustan, they continued their operations under a newfound anonymity, protected in their interests by powerful clients in every legislature of Solemny who would do anything to keep their secrets secret.

### Other activities

To cover losses, the Peerless Rangers have adapted their sharp edge for underhanded fighting to the cutthroat arena of capitalism. Detainee care fees are paid on a regularly scheduled stipend, and when a client fails to pay their accounts, the Rangers claim the right to do whatever they wish with the prisoner. This could involve selling them in private auctions alluded to in the Skirts of long-lost criminals, or else threaten the unspecified release of detainees back into civilized society.

## Involvement

The Lavmoran Lord Conroy Fay detained the subjugated Jeseride on the *Deliverance*, and had his arcanist Stefan Krovold represent him during visits to interrogate and question the warlock.

## Crew

* Captain Normand Dulaney
* Warden Hegett Fairhall
* Oskar Stoat

## Detainees

* Detainee #2863 Abersom Dodd
* Detainee #3018 Arno Streuer
* Detainee #3112 Thomas Treeman
* Detainee #3491 Yelastim do Siyazin
* Detainee #3518 Fletcher (Bartram Hale)
* Detainee #3546 Jeseride