World of Koros Overview

Koros is a fantasy world where magic is a major part of the environment and culture.

### Magic of Koros

Koros's magic is currently in a process of transition to Aetheric Magic that started approximately 1,000 years ago. Before that time, all magic on Koros was made up of what is called Primal Magic, fueled of course by Primal Mana. The Draconic races and the Titans are the only beings to ever successfully harness this magic energy into perceivable effect. There has been much debate on how this magic works as well as what costs are paid to fuel the effects beyond the expenditure of mana. However, the sages of the Dragons and Titans refuse to divulge this information to those races they see as "lesser."

This transition was seismic in scope effecting the entire world and every being in it. After the introduction of Aetheric Magic, every being in Koros began incorporating the new magic into their existence. This change not only enabled the rise of races other than the Dragons and Titans to a greater existence, but even led to the introduction of the Personal System Menu for every sentient being of Koros, often referred to simply as the "Menu". The introduction of the Menu allowed beings to not only track their accumulation of life force, that the Holy Twelve referred to colloquially as "XP", but also allowed sentient beings to channel their accumulated life force into metaphysical structures the Holy Twelve called "Classes", which increased in power over time as different levels of power were added. These classes allowed beings of Koros to build systems of abilities and spells using Aetheric Mana to accomplish amazing feats never before seen outside of Primal Magic. These systems enabled the Holy Twelve to lead the various sentient races to power previously undreamed of and led to the eventual independence of these races from the Dragons and Titans.

While the rise in power of the sentient "lesser" races were key in their rise to independence, their rise cannot be explained without also understanding the deterioration of power the Dragons and Titans faced. After introducing Aetheric Mana, spells and abilities using Primal Mana became unpredictable and extremely inefficient. As time passes, fewer and fewer of their number even have the capability to use Primal Magic. The Dragons dealt with this problem through adoption of Aetheric Magic and transitioning away from Primal Magic. Titans however either cannot or will not adopt Aetheric Magic in their civilization.

The influence of this transition and corresponding follow-on effects are so massive that the method of reckoning the year for all sentient species is now referred to a Before Aetheric Mana (BAM), and After Aetheric Mana (AAM). No exact date is currently known to the wide world for when Aetheric Magic was introduced to Koros, but sages under the first kingdom of the Holy Twelve affixed a date of Life 1, 0 AAM.

The cause of the introduction of Aetheric Magic and the subsequent dwindling of Primal Magic is not currently understood. Many a scholar has spent their life searching for a cause and explanation as to how and why Primal Magic is dwindling while Aetheric Magic is progressively growing in Koros. There are still unanswered questions as to how the transition will complete and what will happen afterwards, but it is certain that the transition is accelerating over time.

### Calendar Structure in Koros

While some civilizations in Koros use variations, the calendar used by all major civilizations is broken down into 6 months of the year made up of 60 days each. The months also correspond to the Six Great Gods and their associated mana aspects. The months are ordered in what is believed to be the process of the creation of the world:

1. Life - symbolizing the metaphysical creation of Koros
2. Earth - symbolizing the physical creation of Koros
3. Air - symbolizing the separation of Koros from the void
4. Fire - symbolizing the crucible Koros passed through to prepare it for living beings
5. Water - symbolizing the basic requirement for all life on Koros being added after the crucible
6. Death - symbolizing the end of Life's cycle and preparation for the rebirth of following life

The three moons of Koros go through varying cycles, but every 60 days, the residents of Koros can look up to see all three moons full at the same time. This event signifies the beginning of the 60 day lunar cycle and the start of the new month.

### Technological Development of Koros

As a result of the integration of magic into every aspect of the world, the world developed differently than what is usually expected on a non-magical world. The technology of the world has only progressed to the early Steam Age level with some technologies having never needed to develop due to the development of magical abilities to meet the same needs that typical non-magical technology meets. For example, major towns and larger typical are lit by street lamps that emit light due to a *Light* spell enchantment that is regularly maintained by local members of the Mage's guild.

### Political Status of Koros

Koros is made up politically of a multitude of Kingdoms, City-states, Confederations, and varieties thereof. Each nation has different structures, but most nations follow a feudal type of government with the rare exception of early early stage representative government structures. While the Dragon Empire of Aragos is ruled by a council of Dragons with a nominal head, the Kingdom of Aranthia is ruled by a hereditary monarch with extremely strong levels of power centralized in the capital. Furthermore, the Republic of Valoran is nominal a republic, where the head of state is an Emperor that is elected every 10 years by their Congress of Nobles with no limit of terms an Emperor rules. Under such conditions, it is extremely common for the Empire of Valoran to cultivate a string of unbroken rule of extremely strong dictators.

### Religious Status of Koros

Most peoples of Koros worship or venerate the Six Great Gods with acknowledgement and lesser levels of veneration being given to lesser deities of conceptual ideas that do not directly fall under the sway of the Six Great Gods. The Six Great Gods' portfolio of ideas and concepts they govern also relate to the aspect of mana they most greatly align with. Many have asked through the generations if there is a God of Magic if the Six Great Gods' portfolios align with the aspects of mana in the world. So far, no one has ever gained any knowledge of a Deity ruling magic in Koros. Maybe they are a mysterious unknown, or maybe they don't even exist and the entire pantheon of Koros manages magic on an individual basis.

### Mana Aspects and Related Conceptual Ideas

Mana is aspected into six types that also reflect the sapient concepts of existence. Each being of Koros has differing levels of representation and capability of each aspect metaphysically speaking. Every mana aspect has been proven to relate to each being's personality. Magical researchers have been unable to determine exactly how this relationship exists, yet it is undeniably apparent the relationship is present is every being in Koros, sapient or not. Every being has different levels of representation of these aspects that can be represented as percentages of their total mana.

For example, a being with 35% Air aspect would have 35% of their mana reservoir made up of Air aspected mana. When that being filled their mana reservoir, neutral or un-aspected mana would be converted to Air mana until that 35% proportion is met. Thus at any given time, that being could only use that portion of their mana to fulfill the Air aspected mana requirements of a spell or ability. After expending that aspected mana, it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, for that being to use Air aspected magical spells or abilities. Over time, that being's reservoir will refill and convert mana to the needed aspect, or the body can forcefully convert mana internally to the needed aspect, but that process is wasteful and reportedly painful. Also, there are some class systems, abilities, and even items that improve the conversion process, but no seamless efficient process has ever been discovered beyond the body's passive metaphysical process of mana conversion.

As such, all spells in Koros require different aspects of mana to fulfill the structural requirements for the spell to be cast, and an extremely low number of beings in Koros have all six aspects represented in their mana pools. Even the ones who do usually have at least one or two aspects that are minimal capacity, which still limits what magic and skills they can learn. This diverse representation of aspects further reinforces the ideas of why undead cannot cast spells requiring life aspected mana. There is some debate as to if Holy or Unholy magic casters even need to worship a deity to cast their spells if they simply had enough of the correct mana type or even if the preponderance of Life mana propels the person to seek divine service.

The following list represents every aspect of mana discovered to date with their corresponding concepts

* Air - Inspiration, Happiness, Chaos, Arrogance
* Earth - Conscientious thought, Caution, Forethought, Inflexibility
* Fire - Passion, Ambition, Creativity, Depression
* Water - Adaptability, Acceptance, Indecision, Indulgence
* Life - Aggression, Creation, Confidence
* Death - Competition, Destruction, Structure,

In the interests of full disclosure, there are legends and stories of beings whose reservoirs are made up entirely of neutral mana that could be used to fulfill any aspect requirements of an ability or spell, but no reliable evidence has ever been found to prove these beings exist. If such a being were to exist, they could eventually rise to the level of the Gods.

Perhaps that is even where the deities who make up the Koros Pantheon originated.

### Economics of Koros

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Further detailed information can be found in the Author's Lorendon's Compendium that has unsurprisingly become the best reference compendium available to the denizens of Koros.

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