READ AT YOUR OWN RISK, CERTAIN CONCEPTS MAY BE SPOILED FOR YOU IF YOU READ BELOW. FOR THE MOST PART KALIE WILL EVENTUALLY COME TO KNOW THESE THINGS HERSELF, BUT AS I WILL KEEP UPDATING THIS, IT MAY SPOIL SOME THINGS FOR YOU.

MAJIC, SPIRITS, AND RELIGION

Majin(Ma-Gin) - Those blessed by Leona to be able to sing the songs of creation/play the tune of creation/speak the language of creation. They can manipulate mana particles of particular types, based on their own affinities. For greater spells, or majics, Majin need to commune with spirits. Different amounts or classes of spirits are required for different majics. A price must be paid for all majics which is usually taken in the form of the Majin's internal mana, however, the price can be anything agreed to by both the spirit and the Majin. In addition to the different affinities of mana particles, majin are further subdivided into three distinct groups. Singers, Instrumentaliers, and Contractors.

Singers - A type Majin who knows and understands both the tune and the words of a particular portion of the song of creation. The portion of the song of creation that they know allows them to speak with and interact with a particular affinity of mana particle and spirit. Only requiring the ability to sing or hum the song of creation, singers are regarded as the most generally useful varieties of Majin, however, the talent of a singer can greatly determine their capabilities. Similar to Contractors, the majority of Singer's are able to perform most spells at the cost of their own internal mana. Their versatility makes a singer essential in combat, however intricate or grand scale spells are often too difficult for them to perform without preparation and focus.

Instrumentalier(instrument-a-leer) - A type of Majin who only knows the tune of the song of creation. Like all other majin, instrumentaliers often only have an affinity with a certain type of mana or spirit and they interact with both the mana particles and spirits through their chosen instrument. While all instruments are capable of being used by an instrumentalier, the talent of the majin is a factor as it is with singers as well. As most high level instrumentaliers own instruments that contain within them contracted spirits, instrumentaliers are often able to perform much grander scale spells than those that singers are able to produce. As most instruments are valuable, and some even cumbersome to use, an instrumentalier is often seen as a supporting type majin. Useful in large utility type spells, it can often be difficult for a instrumentalier to defend themselves if directly targeted.

Contractors - A type of Majin who only knows the words of the song of creation. Like all other majin, Contractors have specific types of affinities that they are able to commune with. However, due often being incapable of preforming most spells that are available to other types of Majin, contractors are often blessed by Leona with multiple affinites. It is unlikely for a majin contractor to have more than two affinities, but it is solely the contractor type of majin who have ever been blessed with three or more affinites. Contractors craft deals with spirits who they share affinities with. Often these deals are used to create specific weapons, armor, clothing, or instruments, that have some sort of additional effects. For lower level effects, the cost is usually the users internal mana supply, however, the stronger the effect, the higher the cost, and often there are additional costs that are agreed to by both the spirit and the contractor. For a famous example, a pair of walking boots that allow the users to travel at increased speeds, however, the faster the user travels, the less they are able to see. At full speed, they are effectively completely blind. These costs are failsafes often there to protect the spirits, and make sure that they aren't being over burdened by use. Over time, or upon the choice of the user, contracted spirits can be released from their deals, often returning them to the immaterium.

Majic- The spells and effects of spells done by Majin. (Melissa's/Kalie's narration will continue to use magic when referring to the general art of making fantasy things happen, but when referring to magic spells that Majin do, characters *should* always say Majic, if not, then I've goofed)

Mundane - Any non-Majin persons.

Crystal of Devotion - A gift from the goddess Leona which allows for any one to detect the presence of a Majin. The larger the crystal, the larger the detection radius.

"The price" - The price is the name given to the myriad of effects and ailments that often befalls majin who have used their powers over a long life time. While the exact effects of the price are different for both different majin as well as different affinities, the foremost amongst them, is the loss of the majin's life. Weakness and physical ailments are common, but continued undue strain on the mana core of a majin does irrevocable harm to their whole bodies over time. The price is often cited as the reason why their are few "famous old majin" because one cannot be both famous—or prolific—as well as grow old. Due to the price, and the additional costs of dealing with spirits, majin often die young, with only their great deeds outliving them.

Mana particles - The most basic building blocks of the majic system. Seven varieties of mana exist with majin being able to control specific varieties determined by their affinities. Light, Fire, Water, Nature, Earth, Wind, Unaffiliated or Raw mana. All Majin are able to manipulate at least one other variety of mana particles besides raw or unaffiliated mana. Mana particles permeate the prime plane, however, they exist solely in the immaterium, a sub-layer of reality. Due to their small size and relative ease of manipulation, it is fairly simple for a majin to "press" mana particles from the immaterium into the prime plane. The different affinities require varying levels of internal mana and effort from the majin to preform different intensities of majics.

Spirits - As mana particles gather together, it is possible that they are able to gain a low level of sentience. Usually naturally formed from a single affinity of mana, they can also be formed by Majin through painstaking effort, and exceptional amounts of power. Physical size and power varies greatly based on affinity and what a lesser spirit of one type could do, a greater spirit of another type may be required for a similar feat.

Lesser spirits - The most basic form that a spirit can take after they form from mana particles. In their lesser forms, spirits are no more intelligent than single celled organisms, focusing solely on where they're going to get their next meal from, and what they need to do to survive. Different affinities of mana make for different types of spirit. Lesser spirits of all types are usually without much sapience, however, that is not the rule. They are able to form contracts with majin, and gain more power through simple trades. This infusion of power is often how a lesser spirit will ascend to greater spirit status, but once again, this is not a rule.

Greater spirits - A greater spirit is often a rare sight to behold. Almost never seen in the prime plane, a greater spirit will often live its entire eternal life within the immaterium. Greater spirits are often intelligent and have gained this intelligence through contracts formed with Majin as lesser spirits. While greater spirits are significantly more powerful than lesser spirits and therefore more effective when contracted to perform a spell, they are difficult to work with because they are both finicky and often costly, requesting far more than just the internal mana of a majin to perform their great feats.

Spirit Kings - The greatest form that a spirit can achieve. While essentially a greater spirit, these spirits have lived for a very long time, and have often spent at least some time on the prime plane gathering power. While still in the immaterium, a spirit king's power is exceptionally limited, but if they are able to ascend to the prime plane without the power of a majin keeping them in check, they would be more akin to a sentient natural disaster. Capable of destroying any and all who stand in their way.

Leona (Lee-O-nah) - The main goddess of the primary religion of the mainland. “Physically manifested” in the sky as a large blue “moon” that the planet revolves around. Revered as a sky goddess whose purview is majic, growth, and change. Influential in ancient mainland politics, in the modern era, the church had been suppressed by the Empire of Holaria. However, alongside the populous Ravencourt uprising, the church and it’s leaders have returned to the highest courts of the mainland.

Immaterium(Imm-Ma-Tear-Re-um) - A sub-layer of the "Prime plane" in which all mana particles are created, and from which mana particles and spirits are pulled into the prime plane. Without the immaterium, majic would be impossible.

Prime Plane - The plane of existence that is experienced by most sentient beings.

LOCATIONS

The Shattered isles of Cerith(S-air-ith) - The homeland of the Great Petrel. Originally ruled by the Petrel solely, the current Petrel, Kalie's Grandmother, decided to split her rule in two, giving political control to her mundane son, the current king, while maintaining her own title. The isles are known to be "the land of majin" and therefore is exceptionally feared and loathed during the time of the Empire of Holaria and largely ignored afterward. Originally inhabited only by an indigenous population the arrival of the original Great Petrel saw both the shattering of the island itself as well the destruction of the original social order. The introduction of the glut of Mainlanders (the Petrel’s attendants and original adherents of The Way) transformed the lives of the Cerithians for both the better and worse. Four hundred years later, the arrival has been mostly forgotten by the Cerithians other than the pseudo tribal nobility that had retained scraps of the old way.

“The Mainland”- Officially, the Holarian(Ho-lar-e-ah) Peninsula, bordered to on the south by the sea of thorns, to the east and west by wide seas, and the north by huge, nearly impassable mountains, the peninsula has seen numerous kingdoms rise and fall since the dawn of mankind. 400 years before Melissa woke up as Kalie, the peninsula was taken over by the strongest kingdom—Corvus—renaming itself after the land it’s taken over. In Cerith, Holaria has always been known as the Mainland—at least since the Great Petrel arrived—and since the fall of the despotic Empire of Holaria to the Ravencourt uprising, even the citizens of the Mainland have taken to calling their own land the same way.

The Nine flagged Alliance - The flags of the alliance fly across the entirety of the Holarian peninsula. Formed three years after the fall of the Empire of Holaria, the alliance was founded to defeat a threat to the sovereignty of the entire mainland. Founded by the new White Raven following the death of his father and the subsequent interregnum in the south, the then eight flagged alliance’s first goal was the subjugation of Lord Protector Henry Vreen and the Lacan Protectorate. Formed from the rest of the peninsula’s various sovereignties, and headed by a council, the alliance eventually saw success in the subjugation of Lacan. Convening in Corvus, representatives from the kingdoms of Corvus, Domai (Doe-my), and Weza (Way-zah), the Jesop Dukedom, Lacan Protectorate, Ardos (R-dose), Kablus (Cab-loose), The affiliated merchants of the Silver Coast, as well as the people of Xoweth (So-weth) Swamplands. United, albeit loosely, under the council, with the White Raven at its head, and the Ravencourt, the people of the Nine-flagged alliance, are living in an age of newly found, but unprecedented peace and prosperity.

Lacan Protectorate (La-Can) - Beautiful verdant forests filled to the brim with greater nature spirits as far as one’s “sight” would allow them to see the Lacan protectorate is the third largest of all the mainland kingdoms, and the second most populated. The last to fall to the Empire of Holaria, only after the unification of the rest of the Mainland. Ancient rumors and half understood texts implied that rather than falling maritally to the empire, an outside force had a hand in subjugating the kingdom. After the fall of the empire, there was great upheaval in the social order of the protectorate. Long had the ruling family of the protectorate served dutifully under the emperor, that the sudden change in structure resulted in great internal strife. Within three years of the Ravencourt rebellion, Henry Vreen, newly crowned Lord Protector Vreen, sought to rebuild mainland politics with himself at the forefront. Following the deaths of the White Raven and his first heir, Vreen hoped that the instability elsewhere would result in a swift Lacan victory. What happened however was far from what he expected. The White Raven’s youngest son not only took on the mantle of his father, but also took on Vreen’s challenge personally. Raising an army from not only the people of Corvus, but from across the Holarian peninsula, forming the first ever eight flagged army. Within another three years, the new White Raven and his alliance were able to force Vreen and his forces back to the very edges of the Lacan coast, holding the Lord protector under siege for a full year before negotiating Vreen’s surrender. Vreen’s public execution saw the end of the interregnum in the south, and the fermentation of the nine-flagged alliance.

Jesop Dukedom (Juh-eh-sop) - A small independent dukedom, which broke off from the original Corvus kingdom at the dawn of the Empire of Holaria. Throughout the years, the stone-mover majin that ruled over the sparsely populated lands defended it martially and diplomatically from being completely subsumed by the empire. While nominally a vassal of the empire at its height, the majin purges that took place throughout the empire were conspicuously absent within the dukedom’s borders. While many terrified and on the run majin hoped to find salvation from the empire’s brutal extermination, the safety they sought was no more than a mirage. Little is known about how the Ravencourt’s uprising affected the small land, but following the fall of the empire, the dukedom was once again free to return to independent rule. But, like the rest of the old empire’s vassals, the interconnected nature of the mainland grew to be too great a pressure, forcing them to join the nine-flagged alliance.

Ardu Desert(R-Do) - One of the lands to the north of the mountains of the northern peninsula. Known for being mineral rich, and expansive, not much is known by the residents of the Mainland about the land aside from it’s ruling people. The Illiu nomadic people have roamed the desert for as far back as their records show, but in recent times they have settled along the coast of the harsh desert, creating a booming trade of minerals and sweet desert fruits. Despite the Empire of Holaria’s anti-majin edicts, Illiu people have always been protected by powerful fire majin, and most of all, by the Great Ardu Fox, an ancient folkloric protector that arrives from deep within the desert to protect the Illiu people during times of great strife.