This chapter's only aim is to quickly explain the world's state, do a lore introduction and show some races that will be important. It may not be essential to understand our story, but it is important in order to properly understand where this all comes from and why the world is as it is.
Feel free to skip it and go directly to our next chapter, where the protagonist will be introduced !
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Lore:
"Those who covet for what is not theirs to take shall only meet their end."
This rule, this mentality, was the truth behind the fall of greediest race: the human race. They succumbed to their greed and started a war for lands and ressources.
I mean, a war would have started anyway, no matter who was to strike first. It became obvious since that crack appeared in the Mount Lyco, revealing an unknown gate, leading to an unknown world.
Mount Lyco was at the centre of the world, overlooking every last plots of land this vast world has to offer. No one dared to climb it, to claim it or even to exploit its ressources.
Who would have guessed that the centre of this world, standing since thousands of years, was a gate leading to vaster lands where the unkown awaits ?
No one would have guessed it. But now, everyone wants to grasp whatever these new lands offer.
This discovery was the beginning of the biggest and most deadly war this world has ever seen. The World Alliance, bringing together every races, states and kingdoms, crumbled as their members started to turn on each other. The most competant warriors sided with whoever was offering them the most.
Selfishness and betrayal became common things amongst these lands.
The Human Kingdom of the North, led by King Arthur III, a hateful despot, was the first Kingdom to launch an expedition in the newly discovered world that they named "Nytheris".
The King decided to take part of the expedition, wanting to be the first one to land a foot in Nytheris. This move alone is the reason the Human Kingdom is now a memory of the past.
The Aevarian State, a nation known for their illusion and light magic, made an alliance with the Elvish Kingdom to take the Human Kingdom's unattended lands.
Even though King Arthur III is a despicable man, his militarian skills and his divine powers made him almost vital for his Kingdom's survival. But he is not here. And when he came back, he only found devastation and pain.
He was forced to cede his lands to the Elvish Kingdom and the Aevarian State. His people were enslaved. He was executed, along with his military generals and every competant warriors. It was the quickest defeat a war has ever seen, and all that because of a King's greed.
After 3 years, what we now call The Crimson Eclipse has ended. It is the deadliest war the continent has ever seen. Today, the world's powers signed the Nytheris Pact making peace and regulating the entrance of The Mont Lyco's Gate. The Mount Lyco stays in the Wilderness and everyone is allowed to exploit Nytheris' ressources, as long as they're hired mercenaries, adventurers with at least a level 3 licence or receive a special approval from the Nytheris Congress.
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Territories:
Human Kingdom -> An ancient Kingdom of the North which gave birth to many great warriors and leaders. Harsh condition with low temperatures. Not a main magic affinity. Its people are now enslaved by the Elvish Kingdom.
Elvish Kingdom -> A powerful Kingdom of the North-West. Main affinity with the wind and vegetal magic. One of the big winner of The Crimson Eclipse.
Aevarian State -> A small but powerful democracy bording the Elves' lands. Its people have a blue/purple skin tone with luminescent veins and big ears. Main affinity with light and illusion magic.
Dwarf Kingdom -> Underground Kingdom of the South. Main affinity with the earth magic. Greatest blacksmiths.
Orc Empire -> Big Theocracy of the East. One of the most powerful territory. Main affinity with black magic.
Thrymn Republic -> A Democracy of the South-West living in the Great Ravins. Its people are big and tall with their skin made of crystal and rock. They are usually kind and gentle with weaker races. Main affinity with earth and crystal magic.
Selqarian State -> Underwater state deep in the Selq Ocean (West). The Selqaris are covered with scales with a human like body. Main affinity with water magic.
Nyxarian Community -> The most little state of the continent (South East). The Nyxars are humanoid with full black eyes. Since birth, their bodies are tattooed with white lines while their skin is dark blue, purple or black. Main affinity with black and shadow magic.
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Races that are not in a particular territory:
Veythary -> Humanoids but with parts of the bodies made of tree wood and corks. The more wood parts they have the better their affinity with vegetal and healing magic is, but also the more dangerous fire is to them. They usually live in community, traveling around the continent. Some groups stay in the Elvish Kingdom since it's located in the biggest forest.
Orrath -> Humans that have wings and volatile body parts. They can be different volatile but some of them are better than the others (like eagle and falcon). They do seasonal migrations but always stay in the highest places like the top of the Great Ravins or even mounts. Main affinity with wind magic.
Myrkind -> Sedantary amphibians that doesn't necessarily live amongst the same race. They can be found everywhere in the continent. Main affinity with water and healing magic.
Ashvyr -> Humans with a marbled and ashy skin, they live everywhere but mostly in the Orc Empire because of the land and climate. Main affinity with fire.
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Important Locations:
Mount Lyco -> The greatest Mount of the continent. This is where the Gate to Nytheris is located.
Nytheris -> New land that was discovered through the dimensional Gate in Mount Lyco. Unknown for now...
Great Ravins -> Tall ravins that are crossed by rivers. The place where the Thrymns are living. Interconnected with the underground Dwarf Kingdom through the mines.
Selq Ocean -> The only ocean of the continent, at the West of the Mount Lyco (centre of the world). Many creatures and water beasts are living in the deepest parts. It is where the Selqarian State is located, with a submarine bridge connecting the Kingdom with the rest of the continent.
Kram Forest -> The biggest forest of the continent. Located at the North-West side. This is the territory of the Elvish Kingdom. If not led by a good guide, it is really easy to get lost in it the outer forest is releasing hallucinating spores.
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Magic:
Races tend to have main affinity to particular magic (like fire for Ashvyrs). But everyone can get any magical affinity, wether their race has a main affinity with it or not. People can also develop magical affinities by training but it is harder and almost impossible, since they aren't born with it.
Here's a list of common magic affinities:
Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, Vegetal, Healing, Ice, Crystal, Poison, Light, Shadow, Dark
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Gods:
In this world, gods from every myths watch the world. Gods can give their blessing to newborns. By doing that, they share a part of their power to those whom they view as "promising". Maybe there is a meaning behind all of this...
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Adventurers licences and rules:
In this world, adventurer is a job many dreams of having. To become an adventurer, they have to go through a test, receiving their level 1 licence if they achieve it. Tests for different levels are held everywhere and gives different permissions.
The best licence is level 6 licence. Once someone reach the level 5 licence, it is possible for them to get a rating based on their powers and other settings. The rating is in stars and the highest attainable is 5 stars.
A level 6 licence with a 5 stars rating is the strongest rank an adventurer can achieve, and only a few did.
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Other things such as creatures, protagonists and Nytheris are yet to be discovered by reading the novel !