recursal/Fanatic-Fandom huggingface dataset:
Bonfires of Byreon

The **bonfires of Byreon** were pyres set up for the purpose of burning heretics or heretical contraband considered offensive to the Stephedist faith. Suspected witches, warlocks, and books of questionable content were raised onto kindling in the Amaranth Imperium, and continued erratically throughout Austen, Lavmoor, Modeon, Drayden, and parts of the Duchies.

## Background

The Stephedist tradition of burning heretics and enemies alive was inherited by the Birtukid orcs in the early Iotheman military who became early adopters of the Solemnic religion, particularly Primad Carrandius, who ordered soldiers to tie and burn elven rebels during Elven Rebellions. The bonfires lit then by the Iothemans predated Byreon by some years, but the principle is regarded as religiously mutual.

## History

### Reclamations / Purgation Era

The establishment of the Holy Vistern of Stephedore by union with the co-founding of the Amaranth Imperium was marked by a rally to arms by King Byreon I the Lightbringer against the insurgent elven kingdoms that had further deteriorated the failing Iotheme. Comparing his campaign's righteous cause to the holy mission of Oracle Essha in legend, Byreon recruited the kings of Cremalia and anyone seeking the absolution of God by initiating his First Reclamation against *Constantinople* which had been overtaken by the {Lilac} elves.

On Byreon's orders, wherever his reclaimers went, all things contrary to the Sight of God was piled into city squares and put to the torch.
Demon

A **demon** (more specifically exodemon) is a classification for several non-Hephestian alien species that arrived in Hephestia in DATE during an event known as the Sorjachani Invasion. As a whole they can also sometimes be collectively called **demonkind**. The study of demons is known as **demonology**.

## Etymology

```
DEMON: **daimon** ("deity, genius", Greek) » **daemon** (Latin) » demon (Middle English)

```

```
DEMON: **daimon** (Greek) » **daemonion** (Greek) » **daemonium** ("lesser or evil spirit", Latin) » demon (Middle English)

```

```
DIMENSION: **dimetiri** ("measure out", Latin) » **dimensio** (Latin) » dimension (Middle English)

```

```
DOMINION: **dominus** ("lord, master", Latin) » **dominium** ("rule, ownership", Latin) » **domino** (Medieval Latin) » dominion (Middle English)

```

```
DOMAIN: **demeine** ("belonging to a lord", Old French) » **demesne** (English) » domain

```

```
DOMAIN: **dominus** ("lord", Latin) » domain

```

## Characteristics

* Red animi.
* The Sorjachani are guided by the socraj.
* The number three is considered holy, and by extension lucky, and recurs as a motif. A triune has three leaders and demons typically travel in groups of three because it is believed to be safer. Tridents and three-pointed crowns are among other demonic symbols including the number three.
* Main method of economic exchange is through pacts, a form of bartering where magical favors are performed for tribute.
* With some exceptions, most are physiologically analogous to humanoids.

## Trivia

* The various demons, their traits, and their cultures are loosely inspired by the various mythological concepts of monsters, malevolent or evil spirits described in ancient mythologies (Mesopotamian, Greek, etc.) and world religions, such as the Abrahamic religions, European folklore, and several Asian belief systems, including Hinduism and Buddhism.
Emar Yengec

The orc **Emar Yengec** is an initiate member of the Seragikhulwatha, an orc supremacist group in Cremmannea.

## Involvement

The story begins with Emar in the city of Alewall preparing himself mentally and physically for his upcoming task he volunteered for to prove his worth to the Serag.

In his room, Emar shaves his head bare, as per his instructions by his master.

At midnight, Emar is brought to a gathering of his comrades, all wearing masks, where he is presented to the presiding warlock of the cabal, who proceeds to examine the initiate. After approving of the sacrifice, Emar's throat is slit.

### Naeoleis Incident

It is later discovered that a revenant made from a deceased orc was used to attack the Naeoleis Armory by hiding a bomb in its torso and exploding inside the building. A mask made to look an ox skull was placed over his head.
Navassa

The **navassas** are Canonical educational centers of the bagharn.

## Relationship to ArEm

A special exemption for the CC bagharn exists in relation to ArEm, which presides over all policies of magic. Any dwarf born in the bagharn is taught magic in the navassa according to the bardomme's own curriculum.

* Dwarven mages are all free to learn combat if they join the military.
* Dwarven mages aren't taught about psionics, only if potential is seen.
* Warding only taught to mages if potential was seen.
* Dwarven mages are given lessons with heavy Canonical and nationalist influence. Traditionalist theories and superstitions were due course.
Death

**Death** is the end of life. Most world religions and spiritual systems inform about death in some regard, some even describing an afterlife for the soul to journey to after the physical body expires.

## In religion

### Agriagas

The Agriagasi believe in reincarnation into Lia and the natural world.

The Grand Augustan cultures abhor suicide and condemn the act as the lowest form of cowardice. Contrasting, the lands of Sitaram celebrate their own culture surrounding suicide, and even seem to favor it as a form of individual redemption.

### Canon

Death is revered as the ultimate state of permanence and the height of transcendence, when a dwarf is most like the Stone. Stoneborn traditions on death are the most sacred aspects of dwarven life and the Bagharn's culture is cored around the cultivation of a perfect afterlife.

### Esshianism

According to the Oracle of Essha, all that awaits humanity is Oblivion in the darkness. Also called the Void.

### Stephedism

Stephedists believe there is an alternate heaven (or hell) for everyone depending on their own individual moral actions and vigilance. The righteous are awarded a happy destiny and the wicked are banished to oblivion and darkness.

#### Martanism

Martanists believe that Doomsday is the ultimate fate for all mankind if magic is allowed free reign in the world.

### Diabranewa

Diabrans aspire to bring heaven to earth, bringing the end of time and reuniting mankind with God.

### Vederada

In Janican culture, it is considered an honor to be struck down by an enemy, on the condition that both the killer the victim are *gapaki* ("worthy") at the time of the killing. Death is the opening from the world of the living to Oguhavak, the Vederadan afterlife, and one must be eligible for entry before making their journey, or else be eternally damned to skulk outside the walls of paradise in the darkness as *gahuli* (ghouls).

## See also

* Necromancy
* Gentle death
Conroy Fay

**Vice-Minister** **Conroy Fay** is an influential and wealthy nobleman of the House of Fay in the Kingdom of Lavmoor. Currently he is supporting the forces of his cousin King Jean Marcus Laurie against the people's rebellions flaring in the cities and villages.

## Characteristics

* He is deceptively intelligent and insidiously ambitious, and operates on all sides in his dealings.
* A sly politician but a weak fighter.

## Involvement

Conroy was present during the Lavmoran banquet that entertained Empress Baharra of the Ushanra Empire during her delegation tour of Cremalia.

// Fay was in business negotiations with the Serag's Vankish leader Urdankar to plot rebellion in Ushanra. When the orc offered information about a powerful weapon in exchange for practical arms he could use to seize power, Lord Fay was more than happy to oblige the terrorist in taking the mana bomb out of the equation.

Lord Fay anticipated the route the Naeoleis thieves would take and welcomed the warlock Jeseride and his companion, only to betray them and slay the succubus. He then stole the mana bomb from them and deliberated on its potential uses.

// Conroy confronts an entrapped archdemon he has hidden in his residence. The Lavmoran lord had struck a deal with the demon to help steal the mana bomb in exchange for being made king, but Conroy never intended to follow up with the scheme and instead played the role of a simpering social climber while his scholars researched demon-binding magic for the Master's arrival. He reveals he has foiled the demon's plot and subdued his servants.

Conroy's spiritual advisor and family caretaker Archveter Oben Thewell encourages him to live up to the Solemnic prophecy of the Chosen One, to rise as a champion of the faith side-by-side with the Palatine Knights in Lavmoor.Thewell further encourages that Conroy lead a new Reclamation against the Underworld, a sword against evil.

His arcanist Stefan Krovold is given custody of the subjugated necromancer on the prison-ship *Deliverance*. The arcanist is tasked with studying Jeseride's body wards and extract information from him through torture.

### Siege of Concordia

Conroy is present during the rebels' siege on Concordia.

## Relationships

Conroy is assisted in his machinations by his two most trusted advisers and confidantes, whom he has relied on for education and guidance. Archveter Thewell, who has served his family's household for two generations, provides Conroy with his Stephedist learning and rank. In his adolescence, Conroy became fascinated with the arcane, and invited an arcanist from the Duchies to help teach him about the sciences, Stefan Krovold, and the two became fast friends.

## Trivia

* Conroy wears a pair of glasses with lenses made from magic glass, designed for him by Krovold.
Font

A **font** is a source of mana from which a mage channels mana from to develop spellwork.

## Types of fonts

### Internal source

The spellcaster draws mana from their own animus. Using one's own animus to power spellwork will reduce their mana volume, which exposes the caster to hypomana and its incurred symptoms.

### External source

An external font could be anything outside of the caster's own animus, even another organism's animus. External sources are most commonly derived from variants of ioun concentrates, like ioun pearls or bloodstones.

### Divine source

Most early arcanists and some contemporary theurges believe that all mana is derived from a divine or supernatural being. Spells in this context were called **miracles**.
House of Ushar

Statistics

The **House of Ushar** (*oo-shahr*) is the ruling dynasty of the Ushanra Empire, descended from the bloodline of King Ushar of Ameram by-way of his daughter Roya. Members of the House of Ushar are called the *Sons* and *Daughters of Ushar* and bear the epither *ai-Shunra* at the end of their names.

The House of Ushar is an organization in its own right, with its own politics, laws, customs, and even a fortified headquarters in the capital city where the various families are sequestered (the Wirashom).

The dissemination of Ushar's bloodline is one of the most tightly controlled aspects of Ushanra, due to the fear of pretenders making claims to the Solar Crown.

### Daughters of Ushar

Each Daughter of Ushar is eligible to be chosen as rumsa.

### Sons of Ushar

At the age of sexual maturity, the Sons of Ushar are ritually castrated, because of how hard it would be to track down scatterings of Ushar's essence and then speculate the success or legitimacy of a pregnancy. At least with the Daughters of Ushar, evidence of legitimacy is undeniable when the mother is of the blood, and whatever the sex of the child, they are birthed into the House of their mother, midwifed by the Daughters—all aunts, cousins, sisters, and grandmothers. And manning the halls are the watchful Sons, the brothers and uncles.

>> House of Ashur(?)

>> Ashuri
Kai Quin

The god **Kai Quin** (*ky keen*), the **Monkey King**, is a mythological hero and trickster deity venerated by the elves of Liashan. He is a patron of community, good fortune, humor, hunting, and wealth. In contrast to his kin in the animal pantheon founded by the ancient shomarwen cults, Kai Quin championed the elves who had come to Aleyasha (the legendary name for Besperia) and helped them to survive the dangers of the forest in defiance of the other gods' vengeful intentions.

Kai Quin is half-mortal and half-divine, having cut off his own tail to live out the term of his life as a mortal, an act which straddled him between the pantheon and the elves.

Despite being worshipped by pre-Shadir elves, Kai Quin thrived as a cultural icon and folk hero amongst the elves long after the dissolution of the animal cults in Liashan. The Monkey King remains a fixture in elven culture and society and is often prayed to for protection or luck.

## Trivia

* The Ushanran Provost Chief Loriv Thieodin is nicknamed *Kaiquine* (the Ushanran spelling) by Freyhe.
Holy Vistern of Stephedore

The **Holy Vistern of Stephedore** is a major religious organization founded by the Seer Stephedore, one of the Eight Beholders who documented the Vigil of the Oracle Solemn in DATE.

Followers of the Vistern of Stephedore refer to themselves as **vigilants**, although people of other beliefs call them **Stephedists**. Colloquially they are commonly called *moths* because of their pursuit of the Light.

## Buildings

The Holy Vistern is spread out through the world in various holy spaces maintained by a staff of clerics.

The largest places of worship of the Vistern are observatories, where diviners perform their auguries. The Grand Observatory in the City of Worship Burstadt, Austen is the most famous of these Stephedist temples.

Visterns are the more common edifice of the Stephedists, whose round buildings can be found in almost every town. Each rotunda houses an oculus that the presiding veters access to receive glimpses of the future.

Otherwise, monasteries of denominal Stephedist sects also set up spiritual communities in the remote reaches of the mountains or forests, trying to get a better view of the night sky while living in modesty.

## Organization

### Hierarchy of Ordained Clergy

* **Witness** – clerical head of the Holy Vistern of Stephedore. Resides in the holy capital of Burstadt, Austen.
* **Diviner** – clerics who oversee the vigil of a country. They preside over observatories.
* **Archveter** – senior clerics who oversee the vigil of large cities or regions. They can preside over either an observatory or a vistern.
* **Veter** – clerics who oversee the vigil of a single vistern and its attending vigilants.
* **Surveyor** – monks who live in isolation and modesty, either by themselves or communally in a monastery, to uphold their vigil to a stricter ethic than common men. They are led by a Head Surveyor.

### Lay positions

* **Observer** – acolytes who have not been ordained who serve the vistern and attend to its well-being and maintenance. They assist the clerics in their performance of sacred duties while practicing holy rites.
* **Querent** – vigilants of the laity who attend the vistern with questions.

### Titles

* **Visionary** (Vis.) – legendary Stephedist warriors and leaders, champions who brought about the glory of God's Vision. Both Byreon the Lightbringer and Dame Juline of Dyrium have received this honor.
* **Lord Reclaimer** – holy warriors blessed to lead the efforts of a reclamation.

* **Reclaimer** – holy warriors who have been blessed to fight in God's name.
* **Protector of Solemny** – honorary vigilants who have been venerated for defending the faith and the faithful.
* **Luminary** – exemplars of the faith who shine as lights in the Sight of God.
* **Man of Yelen**

## Trivia

* The Holy Vistern of Stephedore is based off of the Roman Catholic Church of real-world renown.
Irreipej

*"So comes the withering of your world, and so with it the maws of the Devouring God."*

> *– Irreipej to Conroy Fay*
>
>

 **Occupation** | Exarch

**Irreipej** is the current Exarch of the High Triune of the Highlord Xipe Darum, a reclusive archdemon who dark horsed his way to power.

## Background

When the ebenients were being purged, a lone Botiac Cleric by the name of Venullus became entrapped in a hive with no hope for escape. Venullus, despairing, passed away in darkness. His decaying animus, however, was absorbed by a clutch of ebenient eggs left behind in the hive, becoming infused with his human essence (by way of adopting his mana signature).

The resultant combination of ebenient DNA and human DNA was the Prelate, a rare hybrid of Demon and Man unlike the fandray impersonation or the liches' parasitism. The prelate was a new thing entirely, a demon with the soul of a man, capable of channeling within the aethos of Hephestia. They walked on two legs, stood upright, and dreamed outside of the socraj.

As well as his physical attributes, the prelates embodied aspects of Venullus' personality, such as his scholasticism and reclusiveness. In other cases, Venullus' emotional and sexual attitudes manifested. The mage Venullus had been intimate with his master, the Primad Marentiys, with whom he had a secret affair. Some of the prelate descendants of the ancient mage inherited Venullus' primal lusts and strong romantic connection with the long-dead emperor of Ioheme.

Venullus, reborn into a grotesque effigy of his old self and his hated enemy, forced to live alone in the world without a soul like him.

## Involvement

After learning of Myrna's ultimate demise from Meine's apprentice, Eleza Gulph, Irreipej convinced Jeseride that the Arais Emodun were to blame for Myrna's death and that it should be destroyed.

## Behind the scenes

Irreipej recruits the warlock Jeseride to break into the Armory of Naeoleis and steal the mana bomb manufactured there. Irreipej intended the bomb to be unleashed at Amadi Cais, assassinating the Proconsul of the East and its mage defenders.

His plan was interrupted by the Lavmoran noble Conroy Fay, who subdued the archdemon's agents and took the mana bomb for himself.

Black Garden / Loriv

## Relationships

### Aurello

Irreipej's greatest insecurity is the insatiable lust and affection he harbors for Venullus' human lover of old, Primad Marentiys. Irreipej is haunted by longings and vivid memories of the affair, which cause him great heartache, and consequently, embarrassment. These feelings are the "human" in him, an aspect he despises and is repulsed by because of how vulnerable and helpless he is to it, and how beholden he is to his feelings for Marentiys. Irreipej's companionship with the incubus Aurello is based on their private liaisons, where Aurello disguises himself as Primad Marentiys (having learned his appearance from sharing Irreipej's memories) and spends quality time with the archdemon, who allows himself to be "weak" with Aurello and show tenderness. Aurello claims mostly they just sit in silence, talk about their plans and fears, and hold hands or sleep.
The Joyous

**The Joyous** are a pro-royal faction supporting King Jean Marcus Laurie in Lavmoor and his allies.

Contrasting the Discontent in the Kingdom of Lavmoor, the faction supporting the king and his nobles has taken the name of the *Joyous* to express their satisfaction with the ruling regime and its policies. The Joyous are primarily composed of aristocrats, and Steward Worey is mockingly called the 'Overjoyed' by his opponents, in the same manner Cumberland and his militia have been labeled the Malcontents of Lavmoor.
Mandrake

The **mandrake** (sci. *Mandragora \_\_\_\_*) is a starchy tuber native to the Anduvin Mountains which has been historically farmed by the dwarves dwelling in the cold weather valleys and mountain slopes where they grow. The mandrake is special because its edible root, which forms underground in the shape of a small, pudgy humanoid infant, requires specialized extraction due to their reputed lethalness.

## Characteristics

The mandrake root grows in the cold, hard soils of Upper Cremalia. It is a meaty tuber rich in starch and other hearty minerals that nourished the dwarves over the centuries.

Mandrake is eaten sliced, powdered, cooked, or raw.

It is also used in poultices for medicine.

### Extraction

Mandrakes are sensitive to touch, and evolved a self-defense mechanism against animals rooting for food. When its surface stalk is pulled on, the plant's roots will diffuse toxic gases into the soil around it, mounting pressure underneath the surface. When the mandrake root is finally harvested from the combined strain of gas pressure and pulling, the toxins will immediately erupt from the opening in the earth, infamously lethal to most mammals including humanoids. This is also accompanied by a bubbling crackle as the gases are propelled from the earth, characterized as an infant's sob.

In order to circumvent the death knell of the mandrake harvest, the dwarves tied ropes to the visible stalks of the plants and had their domesticated vascas pull them from afar, sparing everyone the unfortunate circumstance of inhaling poisonous fumes.

## Culture

### Folklore

The dwarves believe mandrakes are the deformed fetal children of the Earth Mother who refused to leave her womb, gestating in her soft flesh and leeching her nourishment. When they are pulled from the ground, the sound emitted was said to be the child screaming as they were birthed into the world, killing everyone within earshot for dooming them—or sadly calling back for the warmth of their Mother.

### "He pulled the mandrake root."

In date the [Gaelic] hero Thane Maur Crommwoch went to war with the Geler Clan of dwarves over land rights, leading to a particularly intense race war between the Crommwochs and the Gelers, which culminated in the disastrous Battle of Vunt Hill. Surrounded on all sides by dwarven pikemen, closing in for the kill, Maur looked down at his feet and noticed the sprout of a mandrake growing underfoot. Just inches from a pointy death, the thane grabbed the mandrake by its head and pulled it free, instantly killing himself and his enemies in a deafening shriek.

Ever since, the phrase "he pulled the mandrake root" has become synonymous with victory at all costs, even the life of the victor. It is used to describe acts of self-defeat or the purest spite.
Eremite

**Eremites** are mages that live and practice magic outside of the anchorage system.

Eremites in CC-incorporated countries are considered renegades or transients, living off the grid and away from government oversight. They disguise or hide their abilities to preserve their anonymity, not wanting to draw unwanted attention, and many live in seclusion as "hedge mages" or "woods witches."

Outside of Cremalia, magic is completely unregulated and freely sourced, and eremitic magehood is the most common way of living for those with supernatural abilities. The Batiorum and similar precincts give these eremites a source of welfare and income, applying their unique abilities and knowledge to the needs of their querents.

Eremites do not answer to any central authority nor are they obligated to conform their often varied beliefs regarding the arcane to an established orthodox. Their ventures and findings are performed at their own discretion, for better or worse, and they are in no way required to share their secrets nor the content of their grimoires.

## Modern

Many necromancers operate clandestinely as eremites, studying the Forbidden Art covertly and outside of the jurisdiction of the Protectorate.

## Trivia

* Eremites are the most likely to practice magic according to a different orthodox than the popular Grand Arcanum. Particularly, the Sublime Gates is an occult favorite of the fringe society.
Seer

**Seers** (**Se**.) provide contemporary insights that relate to and are confined by the Hora Viva ("living moment," the present), but do not directly reveal any future or past knowledge. A seer's published insights vary as common sense proverbs, advice on ethics and morality, and counsel on proper etiquette on improving one's personal relationship with God.

The Eight Beholders of Stephedism are recognized as seers.

## Trivia

* Akin to Catholic saints.
* Insights are often published in *series*.
Buaen Song

**Buaen Song** (formerly **Xeankul**) is a song in the Liashan Concert in the Tayrishan Ashorate.

## History

### Orc Wars

During the Orc Wars, Ban'Sangra conquered and reformed a Tayrishan song into the headquarters of the Okaramog, naming it Xeankul. Over the years of occupation, the orcs converted the elven city into a kategahr stronghold.

Emogren Himero do Kechi came here to negotiate a peace with the leader of the raiders pillaging the Concert, only to be deceived and killed.

## Locations

### Royal Hall

During Buaen's occupation by the Okaramog, the Okar used this as his personal residence. Visitors paying tribute to the court of Ban'Sangra were obliged to crawl on hands and knees to his throne.
Malbalaj

The **Malbalaj** is a festival held once a year in the city of Balabala. The Malbalaj is a celebration of the supremacy of the dromuts over their colleague races and the mortals of Hephestia.

## Background

Held once a year, the Malbalaj is a parade of slaves hosted by the reigning tyrant or dromut alpha. Rounded up from the expansive cellar dungeons of the city, the damned are linked together by chains and forced to march in a procession throughout the city to celebrate the supremacy of the Sorjachani over Man.

Among the prisoners are descendants of ancient heroes who opposed the sorjachani, whose entire bloodlines have been cultivated and preserved in the darkness of imprisonment as a form of extreme punishment over the generations. Living in the tombs of their ancient ancestors, tormented captives that exist solely to punish the memory of the Sorjachani's greatest enemies. Around the world, these mysterious orphans of light represent the hope for Sitaram—caged and withered, pale-skinned and timid.

## Trivia

* The name Malbalaj is derived from *malebolge* ("evil pit") from Dante Aligheiri's *Inferno*, one of the torture locations in Hell.
Oculus

In Stephedist visterns, large orbs called **oculi** (s. **oculus**) are traditionally suspended from the ceiling at the apse of the building. The oculus symbolizes the Left Eye of God (Sinister Eye) from which visions of the future are seen, and is accessed ceremonially by veters during divination services. The oculus is also a symbol for God's vigil on earth, observing the day-to-day of the faithful. They are a universal feature in all Stephedist centers.

Stephedist oculi are specifically made out of moonglass, a glass colored specially to have a nacreous, milk-cloud appearance. One of the more spectacular events in a Stephedist service is watching the light from the vistern windows strike the oculus. The divination ceremonies and weekly services are traditionally held at the ‘magic hour’, due to the desirable effect of light the setting sun has on the oculus.

Early tradition forbade ornamentation of any kind, and the oculi were plain, transparent glass. Glassmakers have always been closely tied to the Vistern as a result for producing these sacred fixtures.

It is customary for every household to have a small oculus in their home, so that God may keep his 'eye' on it against evil, and to discourage sin being committed.
Fugue state (magic)

Fugue -- "in the fade" / faded

fugue psyche

when the brain's neural pathways are suspended, "cast out" and leaving the body comatose (operating only on involuntary functions like heartbeating and breathing). Corruption can also deteriorate a person's neural connections, causing them to be perpetually "faded" except for certain core parts of the brain governing instinct (like hunger and fear).

Transmitting mental missives to mana causes one to feel "faded" after the initial elation.

- also emphasized by the sudden drop in stimulant chemicals released during conjuration & discharge phases of spellcasting, characterized as fatigue, disorientation, and a loss of focus.

Psionics take the mind out of the conscious control of the individual to remote places, another mind is the most stable and safe refuge for a fugue psyche.

A fugue psyche that is severed from its homebrain is at ultimate risk of fading out, which can result in the permanent vegetation of the caster, or "snap" their brain back into action and "reboot" (like a system restart, losing touch with the fugue psyche that is now destroyed) with no memory of whatever the fugue psyche encountered.
Right of Way

> "Every thinking, feeling creature is entitled to the basic living right to safety on their way home."
>
>

The **Right of Way** is the main principle the outdated Wayfarers believed in, and it inspired their every venture and published reference, including the preface of the Wayman's Almanac.

The Right of Way stated that all sentient beings were entitled to the unalienable right to security on the road, and that anyone who violated the dignity of a motivated man going on his way was a criminal to be hunted. The wayfarers emerged as vigilantes to "keep the ways fare," eventually picking up into the licensed agency of peacekeeping mercenaries endorsed by the Cremalian Congress to police the tradeways instead of training militias to patrol against monsters and bandits.
Faerie

**Faeries** (Lia. **onoseelie**) in Besperian tradition are elven women who have symbolically renounced their mortality to serve as as intermediaries between the physical and spiritual worlds. Faeries are revered in Liashan for their role in communing with the spirits of the forest, providing blessings to supplicants and tending to sacred groves. Elven faeries are trained in a variety of arts, including music, theatre, and conversation, and can sometimes be found in the company of Liashan nobility as symbols of prestige and piety. Faeries in Liashan can attain certain degrees of celebrity, with the most renowned among them boasting great followings of admirers, including young girls who wish to follow in their footsteps.

Faeries first began during the re-founding of the Agriagas religion during the height of the Namphyin Dynasty. The faerie-women of Liashan dress in several layers of vibrant silken robes and dress their hair in elaborate styles that incorporate headpieces and decorative flowers, but their most striking feature is their use of make-up to create otherworldly façades, painting their faces white with beautiful colored patterns.

It is entirely forbidden by custom to touch a faerie, as the touch of a mortal is thought to defile their sacred quality, the physical contact believed to invalidate their immortal souls and doom them to dreamless death. All exchanges with a faerie are verbal, and blessings are transmitted from a faerie matron via their attendants (who have not yet transcended their mortal forms), often in the form of an offered gift (a trinket, drink or food), breathing on them, or a gentle caress. The concept of prostitution with faerie-women is more of a popular myth, though men will sometimes boast having slept with a faerie who surrendered her immortality to lie with him, but in actual practice sex was rare and forbidden among the mysterious sect of women.

## Festivals

One of the Concert’s most celebrated festivals is the **Festival of Faeries**, in which a procession of faerie-women parade through the main street of Leiboi Song in full regalia and dispense boons and favor to onlookers. At the end of the festival, the most beautiful and graceful of the holy women is elected by acclaim to the be the *Queen of the Faeries*, a title which she holds for a year until the next festival.

## Notable faeries

* Peach Blossom
* Flowering Fragrance
* Tranquil Sunrise
* Windblown Cotton
* Red Fawn
* Walks with Shadows
* Lotus on the Water

## Related

* Hesistyri – The "Painted Ladies" of the Goddess Hesistyra oversaw and conducted the mystic rites associated with the Ancient Ioheman cult. It is believed that early Iohemans who came to Besperia encountered the elves' faeries and inspired the devotees of the Goddess of Love's iconic body paints.
* Kifshaba – In Ushanra, there exists a class of matriarchs who have authority over an array of businesses or families. They can often be the most powerful individual in a town or city and often have sizable groups of followers who defend and enforce their interests.
Imp

The **icharibites** are vermin among demonkind. More commonly referred to as **imps**, these mischievous winged creatures are proliferate in areas where promafer populations are dense, feeding off of powerful animi to satiate their primal cravings.

They have been notoriously stigmatized as *plague demons* or *demons of pestilence* (ie. pests) by the Stephedist community. Historically, other demons would intentionally infect imps with bacterial viruses and debilitate enemy forces. At times, plagues were suspected to have been engineered to create a market of the desperate ill, oftentimes with the exact vaccination prepared to reap a profit.

## Biology

### Magic

Spellcasting for imps manifests as an instinctive defensive response, called *nerve flaying* which directs their limited magic ability to eviscerate enemies' nerve endings, causing extreme pain and nerve death, or, worse, paralysis. A swarm of attacking imps can leave someone completely numb or even comatose from the agony of feeling like their skin is being peeled off inch by inch.

## Notes

They are notoriously addicted to the side-effect of mana invocation, siphoning mana from any available font they can detect nearby, including people. Dromuts are the most potent generators of mana in existence, and a dromut is never without a few imps buzzing around its shoulders like flies.

» aka frogs
Ogur the Almighty

Historical Information

**Ogur the Almighty** is a legendary orc hero of Janican fame.

Called O-Goor in some parts of Janica.

## Background

Ogur was a mighty champion of many weapons and feats, slayer of a great many honorable warriors and hunter of powerful beasts. He vexed the elves of Liashan with great success, and was beloved and celebrated all along the dashovir for his strength and courage.

### Immolation

One day, Ogur found a tree that had caught fire from a lightning strike, and a great, raging blaze had reduced the oak to crackling timbers. Hoping to stop the fire, Ogur threw his spear through the heart of the combustion, only for the spear to glide through, blackened by the effort.

Ogur, impressed with the transient quality of fire, the ethereal essence of his ancestors, decided he wished to be impervious like fire and committed himself to the task of divesting himself of his vulnerable flesh. Observing that the beasts he hunted bled and cut as he, he shunned their meat and instead fed on coals as one swallows bread. Ogur forsook the old roads of soft sand and earth, tempering his soles on trails of smoldering white ash. And at last he came to the shamans covered the Almighty Ogur in animal fats and oils, sang to his well-being and touched a stalk of burning sage to the orc, turning his skin to char and his bones to ash, so that only the burning warrior within remained, shed of the impurities and weaknesses of mortal flesh and blood.

Revered as the Fiery One, Ogur returned to romp through Janica as a demigod, laying waste to the forests of the elves and herding swarthy herds of cattle to the People. Finally, Ogur left the grassy plains of Janica for the Black Field, blazing into the sky to settle his own home and champion the beasts and warriors of the universe. Ogur is said to have built his own hamvak in the sky to rest at after his daily hunts, a village of pure fire built on pillars of flame and light, which they called Oguhavak. During the day, Oguhavak lights the world below as the sun.

## Trivia

Oguhavak – "Village of Ogur"

Ogres – avatars of Ogur; large, fearsome warriors.

There is a constellation in the sky named after Ogur, and for his Fiery Horde (meteor showers that occur throughout the year).
Magisterium

The **Magisterium** is an arcane institution of learning and represents the educational branch of the Arais Emodun, opposite the Protectorate, which is responsible for the training and education of mages around the world in the curricula of the Grand Arcanum. The Magisterium is open to all people, with its basic education programs for mages made freely available thanks to generous subsidies from the Senate, but also offers opportunities for higher learning and specialization to arcanists on a tuition basis which are more involved with the research and development of arcana.

The Magisterium is also responsible for updating the Promatlean Lexicon, an open source index of the known Promatlean Alphabet that is freely available to the public. Copyright and patent laws on wards and ward systems are one of the most protected industries administered by the Arais Emodun with the anchorages, and violations or counterfeiting is a serious crime constantly persecuted by the quaestors.

Colleges of the Magisterium are called *magisteria* (s. *magisterium*).

## Criticism

* Mandatory enrollment for all individuals diagnosed with invocative agency or hypermana.
* Archival of all attendees' mana signatures.
* Heavy Stephedist influence; instructs only according to the orthodox Grand Arcanum and censors all media regarding the Forbidden Arts.

## See also

* Magister, a title for a scholarly professor of the arcane.
* Promanaea, temple-schools of magic in Ancient Ioheme.
* Batiorum, a center of magical learning and science in [Spain].
* Aklarra, a school of sorcery maintained by the Sorjachani.
* Navassa, academies of learning in the bagharn which teach magic based on a Canonical perspective.
* Presidium
Lugaria

• Lugaria was, by the end of its stint, poorly administrated and otherwise lawless. The ogres that were imported from [Australia] to serve as the empire's defenders were, by nature, indolent and corrupt, and organized crime flourished in the form of urban gangs, desert marauders, highwaymen, & maritime pirate confederacies. Some, led by the ogre [janissaries] themselves.

• The wayfarer guilds that were abolished in Cremalia found sanctuary (and recruits) in the shifty Lugaria.

• The Lugarians (who converted to Diabranewa) were absorbed into the [Spanish] dannoi.

• The Lugarian [janissaries] who surrendered to Ushanra were inducted as a high-ranking muridanno.

• [Athens] was a former Karkinite city-state, the draw Ibamandra of the Ibaman dwarves.
Manageniture

**Manageniture** is the process of producing mana. Every promafer produces mana proportional to the amount of mana passively destroyed in the periphery friction of their animus, maintaining a balanced volume.

## Degrees

Degrees of manageniture are relative. The biorhythm of the species and the individual's unique physiology can greatly affect how mana is produced in their body.

### Hypomanageniture (or, hypomana)

The condition where the individual's pineal gland produces less mana than is being consumed by the aethos. Reduced animic radiance results in increased aethereal suffusion within the physical body.

### Hypermanageniture (or, hypermana)

The condition where the individual's pineal gland produces an excess of mana beyond the volume of the animus' carrying capacity. This was previously associated with the "mage-making disorder" until it was affirmed that a promabolant's casting ability was whether or not they exhibited invocative agency, not an ample mana capacity.

A rare and more advanced form of the disorder is **supermanageniture**. The pineal gland continuously generates a dangerous amount of mana that radically exceeds the carrying capacity. Those diagnosed with the condition suffer the Cynbeline Curse, the unpleasant symptom of excruciating, jagged ioun pearls growing inside their internal organs, bones, muscles, veins, or skin due to constant automatic transmutation by the brain, which is responsible for passive ventilation—removing of excess mana from the animus.
Lichhood

**Lichhood** is a stage of symbiosis between a qurit demon and the soul of its host body. The resulting entity of the dual soul is called a **lich**. The lich is a psychic and physical fusion of the demon and the host's identities.

## Hosts and reproduction

The magic power and physical fortitude of a person hosting a lich determines how successful the qurit will be at reproducing and multiplying. "Weak" bodies either outright reject the joining process (resulting in host death) or barely survive the ascent into lichhood, requiring months of unstable recovery.

The wurm in a host will harvest genetic and nutritional material to create new copies of itself, born with inheriting the memories of both the original wurm and the host. "Worthy" hosts can support multiple newborn qurit, and will sacrifice their own life to birth the wurms from their bodies. Ancient tradition holds that a powerful lich of several generations will cull the majority of their spawn with each rebirth to preserve their dynasty with as few select heirs.

The most powerful warlock could be a skeletal nest of a dozen serpentine qurit (a Hydra) coiled inside of him after decades of dedicated sorcery, and wield the power of ten wizards.
Inscription

The practice of **ward inscription**, **inscribing**, or **ward tattoos**, is using *mana ink* to apply sustained wards or ward systems to a person's body in the form of tattoos, utilizing their animus as a constant power source.

### Awakener Movement

Trailing after the Awakener Movement, several cults began to practice necromantic inscription

## Other

### Necromantic inscription

In necromancy, some cults reanimate the cadavers or skeletons of deceased bodies by carving ward systems into the necrotic flesh or exposed bone to reanimate them into constructs, or revenants. It is known as *osseous inscription* when the warding is being done directly to bone tissue.

## Notes

* Ward tattoos are a very popular cultural tradition among many elves, are among the few promafers who cannot usually channel magic. The wards are symbolic of the solidarity against the magicians, defiant and guarded. The wards are passive and are powered by radiance alone.
Conquest of Lugaria

The **Conquest of Lugaria** was the most dramatic expansion campaign by the Ushanra Empire against the Lugaria Empire in [Spain], resulting in the annexation of [Athens] and many of its former territories. The campaign began with Empress Getayana and was finalized under the reign of Empress Nuriya. Concurrent with the Orc Wars just south in the Liashan Concert, the Ushanrans made allies of the renegade itzhin of the Lapisan Diaspora and the ogre slaves of the Emperor, culminating in the ultimate surrender of the first Kingdom of Solemny to a rival faith.
Twins

In Hephestia, when twins are born, it is believed that they are a single soul born to two bodies. Even if one body dies, the soul survives. Twins are revered with a degree of mystery and rarity, and in many parts of the world enjoy the celebrity of being pet by people for luck.

## Involvement

The Ushanran neeams Lyrros and Lyrra are twin siblings. Their joint birth was seen as an auspicious sign of fortune for the Canveri.
Dispelling salts

**Dispelling salts** (*sebonium nitrate*) are a mineral mined in the Bagharn that can dispel any collus-based magic. When the salt comes into contact with collus, the mucous layer is dissolved and liquefied, preventing it from holding mana, effectively evaporating the colossus. Visually, the revealed sections will sizzle away and reveal the true form underneath, with colored fumes steaming into the aethos.
Niwasa

**Niwasa** was a daughter of the eminent okar of the Golakaher Confederacy, the chieftain Ohotamai. She was taken by the Kechi Emograte and made a ward of Gibrin Song to serve as a political hostage ensuring the peace between the orc tribes and the Liashan Concert. Her counterpart was the elf Prince Bulen, who was raised by her clan in Janica; together they were known as the *Children of Harmony* and lived lives of comfort and nobility within their unconventional spheres of culture.
Healers Union

The **Healers Union** is a major magic guild of international chapters operating in various countries that provides emergency assistance and medical aid through magic and private medicine. Mages in the Healers Union are trained in the Restorative Arts and medicine. The Union is governed by the administrative Council of White River which is headquartered in COUNTRY.

## Background

Members of the Healers Union are separated into healers and assistants. Each country has several minor guilds in different cities called *chapters* which are led by a chief healer, who is a member of White River.

## Membership

* Sarina Reeve, Chief Healer of Concordia

## Involvement

After the Guylon Incident, the Palatine Knights in Lavmoor have been ruthlessly targeting members of the Healers Union in search of the Necromancer responsible for the attack, keeping her and her healers under heavy surveillance. When Fiona meets with major players in Lavmoor's ongoing problems, Sarina Reeve is seen hotly protesting General Bizet's illegal arrests against her colleagues, particularly the recent raid on the Hospital of Seer Miurine. Fiona steps in and shares that Congress believes the Necromancer has fled westward with his accomplices from the Serag, intending to redirect the Palatines' attention from Lavmoor and back to their home country. Steward Worey, the king's aide, takes this information to heart and recommends that Bizet scale down his operation against the Healers Union, since the increase in Canaveran soldiers ransacking the homes of his citizens has been exacerbating his already strained relations with the Discontent.

After another revenant is discovered in Lavmoor, Chief Healer Reeve is tortured and killed by Lieutenant Gongalves on the suspicion that she has been concealing the mage they have been hunting for. Gongalves accuses the rebels for her murder and reignites hostilities between the two factions.
Lurraine

The **Seeress Lurraine of Postera** is a holy woman of the Stephedist Vistern, originally a Woman of Yelen known as Sister Lurraine. She famously traveled to Sitaram with a few other sisters on a mission to visit the poor and sick and observe their turmoil. For her charitable deeds and insights about the Sitaran country and its people, she was awarded the title of seeress. Recently, the elderly Lurraine's failing health has rallied a popular movement to have the living seeress promoted to oracle, lauding her as the Sixth Oracle of Faith.

## Biography

Sister Lurraine an older sister from the Esterlands with strong Stephedist leanings who traveled to Sitaram because of a vision that she could help save the people there from their demonic oppressors. She arrived and was haughtily dismissed by the demon lords, who believed their authority was ironclad. They allowed the Esterlander woman to live among the destitute and give the mortals aid and alms, for lack of a reason not to, and even invited her to their courts as entertainment for discourse and to shock her inhibited values. Her published oracle is referenced as an anthropological guide for the livelihood and customs of the Marooned, inarguably influenced by the writer's skewed religious and social biases, including her perceptions of events deliberately staged by the demons to dazzle her.

She was granted the honor of seeress by Witness Joy II who exulted her brave and holy works in the the lost land of SItaram.

During her praised vigil, Lurraine spent much of her time living with the poor and the sick. After she departed, Lurraine's message inspired a massive peasant uprising among the enthralled, motivating a stunning revolt which took many demons' lives. It was, ultimately, foiled by the combined efforts of the Sorjachani from Gahenadesh, but the uprising frightened the demons enough to want to work together.

## Involvement

As the Seeress Lurraine approaches death, her thousands of devotees have called for her recognition to oraclehood, prompting a convention of Vistern leaders to debate the observation of a new oracle.