Kaddon Information Thread

[Mizagium]

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[Mizagium]

“A Brief History of Cerka”

Officially founded about four hundred years ago, Cerka began life as a duchy of Rylia, the dominant monarchy of the region. After the War of Gates, Rylia’s leadership declined and the empire fractured. Civil war loomed but never came, duchies and dukedoms merely took independence and named themselves kings and queens in their own right. Cerka was one such land. It prospered especially due to possessing the largest (and oldest) port, Kaddon, which dated back to the First People.

By reestablishing old trade networks, and securing a monopoly on the emerging Ehk traders, Kaddon, and therefore Cerka, flourished. What remained of Rylia never quite got on well with Cerka, but they generally stayed out of each other’s way. Threats came, instead from the north, across the Aladernis Mountains—Haezia, and from the sea—Ataz. Cerka fought off-and-on wars with these lands for years, leaving their soldiers well trained, but thinly spread.

When the G’neschi came from the West, no one was prepared. The beastmen had ravaged their way into the heart of Cerka before the Pact was drawn up: the Coalition of Mercenaries was contracted by the Crown to defend the Frontier from this new threat. Backed up by contingents of Royal Swords, the Coalition fought the invaders back across the border and maintained a vigilance for over a hundred years.

Fifteen years ago, however, the new king, Karyein, having recently ascended the throne under suspicious circumstances, broke the pact, ending all involvement with the Coalition, and denied them their payment. Outraged, the Coalition staged a revolt, but in-fighting and a poor leadership resulted in the mercenary companies being decimated. Karyein won the war, but lost the Frontier. Since then, the Royal soldiers have taken the place left vacant by the Coalition, but it was too little, too late. Slowly, they have been pushed back to the holdings of the River Lords.

Kaddon has continued to thrive, however, with the fighting so far from home, it is easy to forget about the threat that creeps ever closer.

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“An Overview of Dealia”

Contrary to the worldview of its people, Cerka is far from the center of the world. To the southwest it touches Rylia, the land that once owned it. Rylia appears to be more trusting of magic than Cerka, and thus is a sense of unease for Cerkans. They had so far held against the g’neschi horde, but through unknown means. Further west are the plains and a great desert, which have not been visited by a Cerkan in centuries. Stories once circulated of great ruins in the desert—and the monsters that reside there.

To the north, a cross the Aladernis, lies Leeward, aptly named for its position in the lee of the mountains. Past them is the great Haezian Empire, the largest nation in the region. Leeward and Haezia are routinely in conflict; despite Leeward’s relatively small size, it resists the Imperial forces time and again. Both are human lands, although Bear Tribe g’neschi have reportedly taken root in the empire. Ehk have made their homes along the eastern and northern coasts.

To the south of Cerka, lies the Cerchiato region, a warmer region closer to the tropics. It takes its name from the sea around which the land wraps. Ehk and atazi nations abound here, along with a smattering of human kingdoms—all too numerous to name here. Further south are lands seldom visited by Cerkans, as are the lands west from there.

The Sea of Storms stretches out to the east from Cerka, the only indication of land is the Sea Star, a reminder of the sunken ehk homeland. Ehk stories tell of lands farther east, but few ships make it past the region of sunken Ehklora (the Thrashings), and those that do, never return.

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“On the People of the World”

Six distinct races are officially recognized as having disparate origins, foreign enough to be considered separate races, but not so distant as to be of another species altogether. Debate rages on whether the G’neschi are considered a different species, but recent…experiments with interbreeding have confirmed that no, they not a different species.

HUMANS
Tradition holds that if a human sees a patch of land not yet seen by his own eyes, he will immediately claim it for himself and deny it ever not in his possession. It’s quite the stereotype, but not without some truth to it, as humans have historically been more imperialistic than others. Because of this seemingly compulsive expansionistic attitude, humans possess more physical variety than most other races, save for, perhaps, the G’neschi. Skin tones vary from pale to black, and hair from blond to black to red. Cerkans tend towards a tan complexion with brown hair, of varying shades. Blond hair occurs but isn’t common. Eyes tend towards brown and green, with hazel and blue occurring sparingly, and usually in bloodlines that can be traced back to pure Rylian ancestry. Cerkans are built for fieldwork, as was their lot in life for a long time, but make excellent soldiers and seafarers, though they generally like to keep land in sight.

EHK
Modern Ehk are the “sea people”, making life as fishermen, traders, and sometimes pirates. Ages ago, the Ehk homeland of Ehklora was lost beneath the eastern Sea of Storms. All that remains of their home is the Great Lighthouse, which juts out above the waves. From Kaddon, the light from the beacon can be seen to the southeast, just on the horizon. This light, known as the Sea Star, has become vital to navigation. It is said that every Ehk can feel the pulse of the Sea Star, even when inland, always aware of the exact direction. Many Ehk have set up permanent residences within other nations, but there are a good number of ehk republics further south around the Cerchiato Sea. Ehk are more heartly built than Humans, having made their home on the waters. They are significantly more tan, and with blonder hair, sometimes become platinum. The most obvious physical characteristic are their ears which, while not pointed per se, are more narrowed and elf-like than humans. Supposedly, the pointier, the more pure the bloodline. They are also generally a few inches taller than humans.

ATAZI
Atazi are a tropical people, hailing from far to the south, and use the sea lanes as their primary means of connecting with Cerka. They are generally viewed as primitive and barbaric by many humans, based upon their minimalist clothing and intricate tattoos that adorn their bodies. Diplomacy is not something that occurs a lot in atazi cultures, as they prefer to simply exterminate their enemies entirely—historically, anyway. Modern atazi are much less tribal in nature. Still this stigma remains. atazi are darker in complexion that even the Ehk, living around the tropics of the world are generally shorter than humans by a couple of inches. Due to their military cultures, some atazi nations repeatedly come into conflict with Ehk, leaving a deep bitterness between those two races. Physical differences between atazi ethnic groups are difficult to pinpoint (even the atazi themselves are unsure) but the tattoo designs contain emblems of their homeland, family line, and any sort of title or accomplishments. By reading that tattoos, you can learning an aztazi’s family history for at least three generations.

G’NESCHI
The beastmen. Not very much is known to the Eastern Lands about the feral wildmen from the west. They appeared seemingly out of nowhere to rampage through the lands. G’neschi appear to be s shapeshifting race, with individual tribes based around a certain animal. The Wolf Tribe was the first to appear out of the west, but was followed quickly by the Cougars and Lions. Other Tribes have appeared, but none have been so aggressive as the first three. Rumors circulate that come tribes have made their homes further north, within Haezia. Beastmen are larger and bigger than humans, atazi, and ehk. Unknown physiological (or otherwise magical) grant this race the ability to shift into a more animalistic form, seemingly at will (although discussions with more peaceable tribes seem to suggest that holding this form for too long is dangerous). The varying tribes’ social structures do not seem to imitate that of their animals forms, despite what some initially believed. However, much g’neschi culture is unknown, given the two centuries of warfare.

THUSUL
Perhaps even more mysterious than the g’neschi are the thusul. Thusul resemble the legends of vampires among the world’s cultures, and are likely the root of many. Thusul are a pale, waifish people who keep away from the world. They burn in the sun and require blood for nourishment. They keep to the darker, more secluded regions of the world. While found at seemingly all corners of the world, they do not appear to keep in regular contact.

XAENIN
The First People. Legends tell that the Xaenin were the first people to be created and placed upon the earth. They flourished in an immortal golden age. But five among them desired even more, and abused the Magic to become gods. Angered, the creator appeared to strike them down, but was unable to do so, and they escaped into the Void. Saddened, the creator stripped the Xaenin of their immortality and disappeared to seek the Five. Quite the tale. The Xaenin were a dying race until around seven hundred years ago, at the conclusion of the War of Gates, the Xaenin disappeared. Well, sort of. Whatever happened to conclude the war, the only surviving Xaenin city (Sethalla) had its inhabitants transformed into magestone statues, where they remain relatively undisturbed. What records remain from that time describe a lithe people, with fantastic hair and eye colors, but a paler complexion (though not as light as the Thusul). They were evidently masters of magic and magitech—which litters their ancient cities.

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“Notes of Technology”

The War of Gates bottlenecked technological advancement for Dealia. The transfiguration of the Xaenin effectively ended the advancement of magitech. The world survived on salvaged bits, but without the proper maintenance, they eventually faltered. Recent advancements in aether-studies have begun to shed light on the old magitech of the Xaenin, particularly effective use of yellow magestone (and even the rediscovery of yellowdust). It is a world of swords and crossbows, of cannon and gunpowder. Handcannons exist but are is short order. The world sits right on the edge of the beginning of a technological revolution, both magical and mundane.

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“Of Religion”

Due to being a major trade center, Kaddon is host to a number of different religious ideologies. However, one set of beliefs deserves mention here, as it seems to pervade all cultures across the world: the Eleven Divines.

These eleven deities are present in one form or another in almost every culture. Scholars are unsure what the connection is (the predominant theory is that it stems from ancient Xaenin faith, which suggests that the Xaenin once dominated the entire world), but while they may vary in personality and appearance, the basic ideas are there. Each divine is representative of one of the magestone colors, and most traditions make the connection deeper, saying that the magestones are pieces of these deities, or blessed by them. Such a connection is certainly reinforced by the bloodstone phenomenon. What makes this so strange is that in addition to the ten colors, there is always an eleventh, without a color (although sometimes tied to null-stones, but not often enough to consider it here). This eleventh is usually set somewhat above the others, as a watcher, or a judge of some kind.

However, there are numerous other beliefs and faiths in gods and goddesses and demons that are not connected to the Eleven Divines.

[Mizagium]

"Magic"

Magic is a general term used to describe the conversion of ambient æther into a workable energy and the release of this energy into a physical form. Conversion is done through the aptly-named magestones embedded in the skin of the mage. The new energy is then available for use at the mage’s discretion. Magic, despite common belief, is not all-powerful: the strength of the magic performed in equal to the amount of æther absorbed. Ten colors of magestone exist naturally in the world, and thus ten types (school, classes, etc) of magic: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet, gray, white, and black.

In the last century or so, magic has fallen out of practice. Historians note the decline began after the fall of Iziaraz, but the last hundred years have been marked by a sharp decrease in the practice. Oddly, it seems as though the supply of magestones has decreased, although where they have gone us a mystery. Speculations abound, but one of the more popular theories is that the magestones have been mistaken for jewelry by those uneducated in the mystic arts. It is true that the magestones do resemble precious gems unless closely inspected. It has also been postulated that an increase in the performance of blood-rituals, resulting in a net loss, although this remains unconfirmed. Unless a new vein of magestones is discovered soon, magic will become a dead art.

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Red Magic

Also known as energy magic and ruby magic, red magic is the most easily recognizeable form of magic. Red magic typically takes the form of fire and lightning and has earned a reputation as an aggressive discipline. When magic was more widely practiced, infantry were fitted with red magestones in war. Because it is essentially pure energy, red magic is considered the least difficult of magic to master. Aside from fire and lightning, red magic can also generate light as well as shoot projectiles. There isn’t much depth to red magic, but the fire, lightning, and energy can be manipulated by the cast into shapes and forms. If pushed too far, however, red magic has the tendency to backfire explosively.

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Orange Magic

In contrast to the almost pure offensive nature of red magic, orange magic specialized almost entirely in defense, earing its name: barrier magic. Literally enough, orange magic creates walls and barriers, fields of magic energy that can be manipulated by the caster. The strength and durability of the barrier depends on factors such as the size of the magestone (thus, how much magic is being allocated to maintain the barrier) and the will of the caster. Highly trained orange mages can mold barriers into any shape they can imagine – a favorite is to create a personal barrier that fits tightly over their form, although is considered a highly advanced technique.

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Yellow Magic

Even more so than black later on, yellow magic is the least understood and potentially both the most complex and useful form. On its own, a yellow magestone will simply store aether – it cannot release it in any sort of useful form. Mages have long used them as repositories for raw magic, easier to access than the aether field in a pinch. Recently, ancient Xaenin texts have been uncovered, detailing advanced uses for ground yellow magestone (yellowdust or magedust) called artificing. It seems that magedust will carry an aether current along its length, allowing magic to be directed between two points without direct control. This was used to create runes and glyphs with other colors of magic, traps to be activated when approached. The field has begun expanding in some places, but the supply of magestone is low, so development is slow. But the ability to channel aetheric energy flows could be a technological breakthrough for the world.

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Green Magic

Green magic connects the caster to the life-web of the world: plants and animals. By utilizing green magic, one can manipulate the growth of plants and influence the behavior of animals. Plants can be moved according to the will of the caster, have their growth accelerated, or poisons extracted safely. Animals can have their behaviors influenced. All life if connected this way, via the so called “green field” or “life-web”which is separate from the aether field. The green field allows green mages to communicate on a deeper, yet more instinctual level. Unlike the aether field, the green field is much more localized. For simplicity, practitioners sometimes refer to this technique as “speaking to plants or animals” to non-mages.

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Blue

Blue magic is the counterpart to green magic. Blue grants the caster control over the winds and waters of the earth, giving rise to its other name, “weather magic”, which is misleading. The waters on earth are also as the mage’s disposal, as well as the wind, without truly affecting weather. Because of the elements it interacts with, blue magic can be incredibly destructive: stories tell of blue mages bringing hurricanes and tornadoes to raze countries.

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Indigo

Sound becomes a plaything in the hands of the indigo mages, otherwise known as “music magic”. The line between this and gray magic sometimes blurs, but only because gray magic allows the creation of imaginary sounds. Indigo magic tends towards music and the ability to manipulate people’s emotions through them. Violet magic focuses on information gathering, espionage, and reconnaissance, and gray on misdirection – indigo, rather, directs people. A proper indigo mage can stir and entire crowd to action, or lead one man astray. Some have found a way to weaponize such technique and turn armies on each other. When activated, indigo magic can be channeled through the voice or any other musical means, as long as the mage is skillful at playing or singing.

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Violet Magic

Violet magic pertains to all aspects of the mind. Unlike green magic, violet magic only really affects the minds of sapient creatures i.e. humans, ehk, and the like. Animal minds are considered to be too simple to hold up to a violet mage; the strain tends to ruin the minds of beasts. Violet magic can allow the caster to become a veritable telepath, probing into the thoughts and feelings of others. It can also allow the caster to “extend” his consciousness out beyond the limits of his body. The primary method of this is the creation of familiars, psionic constructs the carry a portion of the caster’s mind out a distance and can function as reconnaissance. Through an extension of that technique, violet mages can also create something like invisible tripwires. The mind probing, familiars, and tripwires all can be detected by another violet mage skilled enough.

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Gray Magic

Illusion magic is almost as familiar to non-mages as red magic. Gray magic is limited only by the caster’s imagination and strength of will. Illusions are just that: incorporeal, intangible. The line between violet and gray magic blurs a little bit sometimes, but the primary difference is that gray magic affects the external world. Gray magicians can create false images, ghostly sounds, imaginary touches, and fake scents. Images can be seen by anyone – gray magic does not distinguish between target and bystander in that regard. Depending on where the smell, or sound is conjured, it might also be experienced by another.

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White Magic

What stops white magic from being referred to as “healing magic” is that the magic is not intrinsically good. It does not strictly heal. Instead, it allows the caster to access the entirety of the target’s physical form. Healing with white magic, then, is an acceleration of the body’s natural processes. That acceleration varies depending on such factors as aether flow and mage skill. Healing a broken femur takes more skill and magic than a scrape. As with all magicks, the capacity for…other uses is great. White magic allows the entire body to be manipulated, for good or ill. In that regard, White magic is the counterpart to violet magic – mind and body

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Black Magic

It can be accurately assumed that black magic conjures up all kinds of terrible imagery. And that is partly justified. Black magic has done terrible things…but it has also done good things. Black magic derives its name from the color of the magestone and not from the deeds committed. Black magic encompasses the realm of curses and blessings. From basic things as bad/good luck to specific things like “tripping on banana peels” or “no papercuts today”. It is the least understood because it is possibly the most difficult discipline. It has no discovered offensive abilities, only long-term passive goals. Militaries tend to favor red and orange and even violet over black. But if you’re looking for good or bad luck, black magic is what you want.

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Aether

Aether is the intangible substance that allows magic to exist. Aether cannot be normally seen or felt, or otherwise detected by human senses. It pervades the universe, existing as what scholars refer to as an “aether field”. Magestones act as an intermediary between people and the aether field, drawing aether into the body and processing it into what becomes magic. The color of the magestone “filters” out a specific type of aetheric energy, creating the different disciplines of magic.

All mages, through their link with the magestones, are able to commune with the aether field. Unlike magic, this requires concentration and involves dipping the mage’s mind into the field, allowing the mage to visualize the formation of aether wells and plumes – essentially seeing where magic is occurring. Technically, the limit of this “magesight” is infinite, but the farther one probes, the more likely it is to become disconnected from one’s body. Being lost in the aether field is like death, and no mind has ever been recovered from it.

It is theorized that aether is also a sort of life energy that allows life to even exist, as evidenced by the naturally occurring aether wells and plumes on non-mages, although this has not been studied to any great effect.

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Aether wells

When aether is consumed, a three-dimensional depression occurs in the aether field. All living things naturally generate aether wells, but magic creates sudden, deeper wells. The amount of magic used determines how deep the well is. With the advent of yellow magic as a viable discipline, some mages have taken to using aether currents to dissipate the wells, spreading them over a wider area, in an attempt to mask their magic use. Results are varied, but there are some successful attempts at disguising the amount of magic consumed. Yellow magestone traps and runes can thus be detected, unless the current spreads the well thin enough. Thus, a mage must rely on both mage- and regular sight.

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Aether plumes

The counterpart to a well, a plume is generated when aether is released back into the field. Plumes are a relatively recent discovery. A plume always follows a well, but is usually less noticeable. For instance, a well is generated when a fireball is conjured; the plume results when the fireball reaches its target and explodes. Such a plume is bigger and less concentrated that a well and so I harder to detect. Detecting plumes and wells is an essential part of a mage’s training.