I think some form of entertainment would be a good idea.
This is essentially a diplomatic meeting held over the course of 9 days in the lands of one of the participating kingdoms. There's food, leisure, booze, and of course performances in between negotiations so as to sweeten everyone's mood and make things run smoother. (Also as a means to make data collection and spying on the persons of interest easier for the Nannalians but that's hush hush)
During performances there could be a lot of character movement on our individual ends for whatever motive we have out of this meeting
Okay y'all, final update on MC, who I'm finally happy with: I edited his backstory a bit to make him less unique in the fact that the Vleugs have an academy in the fifth kingdom for monster hunters to cull beasts that spill over from Denhart, and to enter Denhart itself and kill monsters before they can spill over into other allied territories. Eirik is from the Griffin House within the academy, of which there are several other houses (Dragon, Basilisk, Ulfheddin), hence his griffin-like tendencies and the griffin's head medallion around his neck. Of course, I'd like Vincious to confirm that this is alright lore for the world.
I don't put this in her background because I want it to be unconvered through the course of the story, but I do want to flesh it out enough to make sure it fits with the established rules and themes. What I have so far is that she made a deal with some dark magical entity for her talents. By sacrificing a rare, sacred type of magical rabbit, she calls upon the entity to grant her agility so she can become a world-renowned performer. Of course, this comes with a hefty price that she is not fully prepared for. Although she gets what she wishes - talent and success - her life is controlled by a constant need to regularly do something to stave off some sort of severe illness caused by the curse, not to mention the depression caused by the hollow, consuming effect of dark magic. In addition, she must honor and remember the sacrifice she made by making the rabbit motif a deep part of her life, hence her title The Black Rabbit. I'm thinking what she needs to do is either consume something or perform some sort of ritual or action. Whatever it is, she keeps it secret, because it's extremely taboo or frowned upon and could ruin her public image. Or, maybe she's just humiliated by it and doesn't want a soul to know. Is there a deity or power anyone has in mind that could fit the bill for the dark entity? Any ideas for the ritual action she must perform?
I love how the plot is working out so far, but I'm trying to find a way to fit Mirabelle into it. She tries to stay out of politics because she has enough trouble dealing with her own life. If she gets involved with the meeting, it would be for some sort of reward or by order of someone superior to her. Plus, what would be her importance at this meeting? Her connection to dark powers? Is she hired as entertainment along with her troupe, then pulled deeper into the whole mess?
If I need to change some stuff about Mirabelle's story I'm fine with that, but first I want to throw those questions out there to see if anyone has any cool ideas.
Maybe this particular breed of magical rabbit is considered the sacred pet or symbol of a specific goddess, Nim, and in sacrificing it in exchange for its abilities, she's now the thrall of this particular goddess; in order to honor the goddess for the sacrifice and abilities she was granted, she has to perform a blood ritual on a certain moon phase, spilling her own blood in exchange for the blood she spilled by killing the rabbit? Or something? Lol, it know it's still super vague.
This definitely fits! I love the rare magical rabbit idea lol... all I can think of is the Monty Python rabbit
But anyway, in Denhart, all kinds of taboo practices are generally accepted. Outside of Denhart, they are not. But even people ruled by a sort of gothic Bohemian royal family have their limits, right?
She could be consuming a concoction which relies on the blood of a creature that is sacred to Denhart dwellers.
The raven.
Ravens and basilisks are symbols of the royal family. Any corvids, really, are seen as sacred messengers of the dead. If she has to kill one and drink its blood in some potion she has to make out of this and maybe other unsavoury things, I mean, it's taboo in other places AND Denhart! Better yet, she could have to eat them raw. They probably hold just the right amount of death magic to counteract and feed the curse.
I honestly think it'd be pretty easy to bring her in! I like that she is different, too. I think she could've been hired by, say, the Korakis maybe, or any other kingdom, but since she's originally from Denhart, I think they'd wanna show her off. She's hired entertainment in the eyes of the politicians, nothing else.
Now, you see, Allara is obsessed with things out of the norm. A super talented circus performer would be the kind of person she tries to talk to :p so she can probably easily get your character involved by accident. Seeing as she is talented, she can definitely be of use to the whole 'wtf did we just find' plan. In fact, Idk if it's in the cards but Allara might try to get her in bed .
Correction: It's in an area of complete wilderness! There's a forest-jungle-coast on the eastern side of the continent which no one owns and is willingly left to its own devices. There are such areas between the kingdoms themselves, but I need to finish that map to make this easier lol!
Okay y'all, final update on MC, who I'm finally happy with: I edited his backstory a bit to make him less unique in the fact that the Vleugs have an academy in the fifth kingdom for monster hunters to cull beasts that spill over from Denhart, and to enter Denhart itself and kill monsters before they can spill over into other allied territories. Eirik is from the Griffin House within the academy, of which there are several other houses (Dragon, Basilisk, Ulfheddin), hence his griffin-like tendencies and the griffin's head medallion around his neck. Of course, I'd like Vincious to confirm that this is alright lore for the world.
I think making it a secret would make a lot of sense. Obviously, the Vleugs wouldn't want Denhart knowing they're actively training monster hunters to kill their beloved monstrosities.
I think making it a secret would make a lot of sense. Obviously, the Vleugs wouldn't want Denhart knowing they're actively training monster hunters to kill their beloved monstrosities.
What if the fifth kingdom is truly in the dumps? Barely a 'kingdom', they used to be a simple island full of people who were just trying to fish and live peacefully, lol. When the Vleugs were the Vleug Empire, they didn't like these 'filthy fish eaters' thinking about venturing out into the rest of the world. So, they forcibly kept them in check, militarising a once peaceful world. They kept bringing in their influence until the past identity of the islanders was practically erased. Perhaps they have a large volcano on one end of the large island, and they used to worship it as a god. Now, the Vleugs have 'modernised' their land, building large structures, turning it into a city. The academy would sit near the volcano and would train select few individuals (because too many would be too obvious) who truly excel and are fit for this task.
Eirik could have been in the process of being carried away by (won't say here cause secrets!) and then perhaps he actually fell onto the island. From orphanage to academy, so on.
Now, I'm imagining the city as a dreary, militaristic place with ugly blocky buildings and a North Korea/Nazi Germany atmosphere. The people live horrible lives and have no public voice. This could actually start a spark of rebellion, secret meetings underground.
I'm imagining the main city has a gigantic ugly building in the middle, where the military which is now made of more native islanders than Vleugs controls everything. Funnily enough, there's no one leader like a king, but a council of 5 highest ranking soldiers, 2 of which are islanders (imagine that, hogging the majority vote lol).
What if the fifth kingdom is truly in the dumps? Barely a 'kingdom', they used to be a simple island full of people who were just trying to fish and live peacefully, lol. When the Vleugs were the Vleug Empire, they didn't like these 'filthy fish eaters' thinking about venturing out into the rest of the world. So, they forcibly kept them in check, militarising a once peaceful world. They kept bringing in their influence until the past identity of the islanders was practically erased. Perhaps they have a large volcano on one end of the large island, and they used to worship it as a god. Now, the Vleugs have 'modernised' their land, building large structures, turning it into a city. The academy would sit near the volcano and would train select few individuals (because too many would be too obvious) who truly excel and are fit for this task.
Eirik could have been in the process of being carried away by (won't say here cause secrets!) and then perhaps he actually fell onto the island. From orphanage to academy, so on.
Now, I'm imagining the city as a dreary, militaristic place with ugly blocky buildings and a North Korea/Nazi Germany atmosphere. The people live horrible lives and have no public voice. This could actually start a spark of rebellion, secret meetings underground.
I'm imagining the main city has a gigantic ugly building in the middle, where the military which is now made of more native islanders than Vleugs controls everything. Funnily enough, there's no one leader like a king, but a council of 5 highest ranking soldiers, 2 of which are islanders (imagine that, hogging the majority vote lol).
Furthermore, reading this has reminded me about what sorts of cultures the world is based on?
I was visualizing Denhart to be some sort of Central European Gothic type of thing, Nannalia to be a mix of Gaelic/Ancient Egyptian, Vleugs to be maybe medieval Italian (?). The steampunk kingdom is fairly obviously some sort of Early-Modern era depiction of a steampunk world, and as for the Island kingdom I don't really know
What if the fifth kingdom is truly in the dumps? Barely a 'kingdom', they used to be a simple island full of people who were just trying to fish and live peacefully, lol. When the Vleugs were the Vleug Empire, they didn't like these 'filthy fish eaters' thinking about venturing out into the rest of the world. So, they forcibly kept them in check, militarising a once peaceful world. They kept bringing in their influence until the past identity of the islanders was practically erased. Perhaps they have a large volcano on one end of the large island, and they used to worship it as a god.
I really like this part! Personally, I envisioned this fifth kingdom as a more "Skellige Isle" type of place with lots of farmers and fisherfolk, maybe with more Nordic mythology involved, where the academy was built because the island itself was so secluded (yet beneath the Vleugs' island, so easily kept in check). Maybe they lord over the fifth kingdom for sustenance -- the food they provide through fishing and farming -- so that their people can focus on philosophy and leisure time.
Honestly @RK. I'm not very good at telling you these things explicitly because to tell you the truth, I like to just put in things my brain comes up with and I like to keep it open and let it develop and grow as its own unique thing, as much as possible. My brain may draw from irl parallels, but I don't like to specifically say 'this is like x culture irl' cause honestly they're so different!
Denhartians for example I can't even tell you are like Victorians because they're polite and well mannered, and while manners are cherished, they're also kind of Bohemian lol, so it might be more, rather than less, confusing.
But to make this easier, I will put more descriptions into the main lore post. You know that thing is not yet fully finished, I'm not gonna leave you high and dry I'll try to add as much as possible but please keep asking questions because it's what's making my brain come up with really cool answers!
I really like this part! Personally, I envisioned this fifth kingdom as a more "Skellige Isle" type of place with lots of farmers and fisherfolk, maybe with more Nordic mythology involved, where the academy was built because the island itself was so secluded (yet beneath the Vleugs' island, so easily kept in check). Maybe they lord over the fifth kingdom for sustenance -- the food they provide through fishing and farming -- so that their people can focus on philosophy and leisure time.
Yes! They get something good from them. Fishing, farming...
What if... what if they make them work on a really dangerous, magic-poisonous (like literal magic diseases, almost like breathing in pure radiation over years, but on the lower end) experiment, like attached to that large military complex is a mago-lab (for their astronomy and biology and mago-biology research) where they basically have slave workers (maybe we can have a non-human species mostly inhabiting this island, and the Vleugs [they themselves looking like humanoid eagles, people with wings and strange skin or scales and such, maybe other bird-like beings, maybe something similar to a flying vampire; think that ancient flying vampire from Underworld] see them as inferior) working on some dangerous experiments that make their population sick with bizarre magical illnesses over time and the Vleugs don't want to take responsibility and act like they didn't do anything wrong.
Honestly @RK. I'm not very good at telling you these things explicitly because to tell you the truth, I like to just put in things my brain comes up with and I like to keep it open and let it develop and grow as its own unique thing, as much as possible. My brain may draw from irl parallels, but I don't like to specifically say 'this is like x culture irl' cause honestly they're so different!
Denhartians for example I can't even tell you are like Victorians because they're polite and well mannered, and while manners are cherished, they're also kind of Bohemian lol, so it might be more, rather than less, confusing.
But to make this easier, I will put more descriptions into the main lore post. You know that thing is not yet fully finished, I'm not gonna leave you high and dry I'll try to add as much as possible but please keep asking questions because it's what's making my brain come up with really cool answers!
The Denhartians emphasis on politeness but some radically different normalized habits and practices interest me, since social norms pertain most to how dynamics actually function with our people coming from different countries.
I was picturing Nannalian norms to be all over the wall as it's an extremely diverse country with many different types of Fae living in it, but Faeries in particular to be rather conservative but being sexually more open to a level that's considered strange to other countries.
I was also picturing fairies to be the majority of the population of Nannalia (Maybe 70%) Due to high population density in more metropolitan areas whereas other types of fae dominate in, say, the woods or stretches of mountains
I actually think the best thing about fae is their diversity, wouldn't it be really cool if everyone kind of mingled? You know what I mean? So it's normal as hell for all the difference fae species to coexist and they're found all over the place. What do you think of that?
I also like the sexual openness thing haha it's so on brand.
And yeah exactly, they're polite unless provoked; there's usually a general amicable air amongst people and socially, people are expected to just let others be and not be rude, and if you're rude you do get mocked lol, but they're not like... stiff and overly polite. It's very relaxed. It kind of stems from 'we live in a very hostile place, we might as well make our daily interactions easier so we can have some sort of nice life' lol.
I actually think the best thing about fae is their diversity, wouldn't it be really cool if everyone kind of mingled? You know what I mean? So it's normal as hell for all the difference fae species to coexist and they're found all over the place. What do you think of that?
Yes! They get something good from them. Fishing, farming...
What if... what if they make them work on a really dangerous, magic-poisonous (like literal magic diseases, almost like breathing in pure radiation over years, but on the lower end) experiment, like attached to that large military complex is a mago-lab (for their astronomy and biology and mago-biology research) where they basically have slave workers (maybe we can have a non-human species mostly inhabiting this island, and the Vleugs [they themselves looking like humanoid eagles, people with wings and strange skin or scales and such, maybe other bird-like beings, maybe something similar to a flying vampire; think that ancient flying vampire from Underworld] see them as inferior) working on some dangerous experiments that make their population sick with bizarre magical illnesses over time and the Vleugs don't want to take responsibility and act like they didn't do anything wrong.
Maybe the native people of the island are semi-aquatic? Minimal body hair, webbed feet, fish eyes and stuff? Or they could be regular humans.
I actually was thinking of Bird people when you mentioned stuff about the sky people, so I'm leaning more that way as of right now
Okay so I like what I'm hearing about the Vleugs. Science based society infused with some magic, clearly quite corrupt and unhumanitarian government. This magic poison type of substance that they are trying to produce and refine could be a type of weapon of war, meant as a diplomatic tool to leverage force over other nations through fear and as an actual weapon in the case of actual military conflict .
I'm assuming that the Vleugs themselves are more artificers rather than spell casters? What magical ability do they have?
Vleugs don't really use magic as much as it is inherently a part of their daily life, yes, you're correct. They 'have it' and it's in normal things, like for example their airships, their architecture (clocks running on magical energy, things like that), they study it diligently like good lil wizards, in fact, in their beautiful enormous gilded academies (they have 3 of them, each one in each 'corner' of the island; I'll make that map too ), their education always includes 'magic studies' and things like potioncraft and so on, alongside history, maths, biology and magobiology, so on. I'm gonna make a big ass lore binder at this point, so many cool details!
Vleugs don't really use magic as much as it is inherently a part of their daily life, yes, you're correct. They 'have it' and it's in normal things, like for example their airships, their architecture (clocks running on magical energy, things like that), they study it diligently like good lil wizards, in fact, in their beautiful enormous gilded academies (they have 3 of them, each one in each 'corner' of the island; I'll make that map too ), their education always includes 'magic studies' and things like potioncraft and so on, alongside history, maths, biology and magobiology, so on. I'm gonna make a big ass lore binder at this point, so many cool details!
So probably at the bottom of the innately magical tier (Of the races solidified) are humans, who require intense training or otherworldly influence in order to harness it like you said, then Vleugs, who posses some magical ability but use it more for supplementary means to further the development of society and science, then fae, who are all quite magical but it varies between the species.
I'm thinking that Faeries in particular all use psychological manipulation abilities and enchantment, but most are not true mages. Probably like 10% of Faeries are actual mages who learn complex spells and so on.
I think this has the implication that Nannalia relies more heavily on magic in their society rather than on science like in other Kingdoms
Millennia ago, this land of (name pending) was inhabited by the most basic, most powerful form of beings. The closest thing to a god, they were pure energy, pure elements, incarnate. They consisted of 7 major players:
The Vampire Queen, who fed on the blood of the fauna that had been born out of the birth cries of the world. In the creation myth, the universe came out of an egg lain by a titanic being so ancient and so powerful, they basically create new worlds out of these eggs. Some succeed, some fail, but for the most part, the titans leave the worlds be.
There are 4 titans, each of which imbued the worlds they created with 4 basic things:
1. Magic
2. Energy
3. Conservation laws (aka physics)
4. A duality of chaos and order.
When a world is born and breaks out of its shell, the pure energy, forced into that thin membrane, expands rapidly, creating a myriad of beautiful things in the process. Darkness mixes with magic, light with chaos, things go crazy for a while before planets and stars and galaxies settle down. In fact, in these cosmos, the world is a bit closer together than ours, warmer, more alight, and has less galactic structures and more 'spread out webs of stuff' with voids of chaos in-between, where a mysterious entity named Kaosika is said to reside.
From this, many planets had their primordials. Ours specifically had those 7, called The Priodies:
1. The Vampire Queen, who fed on the blood of the fauna that had been born out of the birth cries of the world.
2. The Ghoul Queen, who fed on anything dead and 'recycled' life.
3. The Lord of Liches, who became the most powerful of any lich alive at the time
4. The Sun Breather, a gorgeous deity with skin made of light, who synthesised with the power of the sun all kinds of new life (it is said the fae are their creation). They're a genderless light being.
5. The Caretaker, the incarnation of nature itself. This force permeates all of creation, and it's the progenitor of various flora and fauna, imbued with magic and otherwise (most things have a base level of magical essence; it's simply imbued in everything. Think CMB from the big bang!)
6. The Turnicator, a being who could make others see things that were not there. They were able to tap into the minds of beings and alter what they saw, whisper lies, fill the underground dwellers with doubts, cause wars amongst the civilisations that later rose as evolution did its thing, and basically kept on being a force that churned the pot of evil of the world.
7. The Merkatror, a creature who could pull on the strings of time, causality, and the forces of nature (all 5, which we have 5 of, as discussed before), manipulate realities, bring about new creatures, and experiment with what could happen if they changed some fates. They don't always have access to the strings of fate which are tethered to all beings (rainbow strange translucent-ish things which look like cartilage, always stuck to the creature but always malleable with new decisions). They were able to make new stars, pretty much. They are the reason we have a ring of a past moon around the planet.
They are now long gone, they left the planet a long time ago because they kept in-fighting, so they went and found their own unique domains lol. But! They have many descendants; powerful beings abound, of many power levels, all across the universe.
Now, modern day beings:
1. Humans:
Humans evolved from ancient creatures who dwelled in swamps, near lakes and by/under volcanoes. They were humanoid but did not look very human; think fully black eyes, blue skin, gills in some cases, etc.
On an unfortunate night, their most powerful leader grew far too arrogant with power and desire to rule and conquer. Whether he was cursed or he was simply like that, we do not know. In his arrogance, he challenged The Priodies (The primordials) for dominion over the planet of Zhar (our planet has a name! Lmk if you agree with it). He was actually, impressively, able to pass 5 out of their 7 challenges, but on the 6th, his very power failed him. Enraged by his behaviour and absolutely delighted in his failure, the 7 cursed his descendants. They stripped them of their magical powers over generations, so it would be a truly powerful, painful experience: each new generation was just a little less capable, giving families moments of true tragedy as their child failed to do some basic things. Eventually, humans lost their touch with their ancestors and began to move towards human crafts: mining, building, woodworking... villages of humans became a thing, getting farther and farther away from their roots, settling farther away from danger. Eventually, the modern day human came to be. This is why some humans are actually still somewhat capable of learning magic without a curse or a pact. It's just super rare, like a hidden mutation, locked away in their DNA's past.
Denhartians:
Denhartians, or the majority of Denhart, is populated by a type of species which appears humanoid but are often far more beautiful on average (you saw Allara), but they are physically and biologically different from humans. Denhartians are mostly a species that was created eons ago by a super powerful necromancer (lich-like) who mixed the essences of 3 different monsters with his essence, an undead, evil, foul energy, to produce 3 distinct but very similar in appearance subspecies.
He mixed:
1. An anthropophagus, whose very essence was actually mixed with that of a powerful ghoul queen.
2. The father of corvids, an enormous tall being who basically was the first, gigantic raven, and the progenitor of hags and witches.
3. The forest nymphs, specifically from those by rivers and creeks, and those hiding in the trees. Also the ones who appeared as pure beasts, giving Denhartians a natural knack for domesticating otherwise horrendous creatures (think Koraki basilisk).
The very first Denhartians, whose species name gave their kingdom its moniker, were a bit more monstrous and ferocious. Over time, the 3 subspecies turned into different creatures. Allara's family comes from a mixture between the 3, direct descendant of one of the most powerful triards to have ever lived. Hence their status as the royal family.
That's it for now haha. I hope it makes things clearer!
