dumbass rambles about OCs

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Serafin Exiles

Although there are quite a few aspects of serafin society considered contentious, no law is quite so infamous as the one exiling some of the most vulnerable serafin living in The Nest.

A practice started long in the past of the Pathfinder Star's leadership, exile is perhaps one of the most well known idiosyncrasies of serafin society. Crownless serafin already struggle in The Nest; the main form of serafin language is their telepathic ability, of which crownless serafin are unable to send nor receive impressions with. Thus, any serafin who's crowns shatter are automatically isolated and cut off from the culture in their own homeland.

The Pathfinder Star's response to this has not been any attempt to encourage verbal connection among their people, nor to establish any sort of program to benefit crownless serafin. They exile these serafin entirely from The Nest, with the reasoning that they should simply live among the other races who don't use telepathic connection. In the act of doing so, they separate exiles from the little culture and community they may have left and leave them adrift in a foreign land.

Many exiled serafin perish within the first week, where prospects seem the most hopeless to their eyes. One of the leading causes of death for exiled serafin is wing rot.

Being an exile isn't necessarily a miserable existence. With their unique traits, exiled serafin who successfully mesh with the community they land in become almost indistinguishable with their now peers. Most exiles are eventually found to have seamlessly taken up an appearance congruent with their new community; merfolk serafin who have taken on fins and a tail, human serafin who shed their extra eyes, beastkin serafin who sprout pointed ears and fur with the rest. Serafin thrive in every climate and diet with some acclimation, so they're capable of living anywhere despite an unideal start.

Seeing a community of exiles is quite rare, as The Nest travels across the land and scatters its exiles across borders and mountains. Lacking the common serafin language, the average exile will usually just know the language of the community they're dropped off in, so groups of exiles are forced to rely on other races' common languages and communication. Many exiles eschew a connection with fellow serafin altogether, fully embracing their new homes.

Regardless of how many exiles gather, they will never be capable of founding a self-sustaining community of their own. The Nest remains the only place where newborn serafin are birthed, and so they will forever be dependent on a stream of new exiles to bolster their numbers.

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The Serafin

The average serafin is defined by two major features; the hooplike "crown" that is anchored to their head, and their wings. No other race in this world has such a large flight-capable population.

The majority of serafin reside in The Nest, a moving floating island guided by their leader. All serafin are born there, and serafin who leave the island have not been observed to successfully propagate their species.

Crowns are extremely important to a serafin. Serafin communicate with each other telepathically, and become unable to send communications. Many serafin with broken crowns are exiled from The Nest and are forced to join separate communities. These are commonly referred to as either exiled or fallen serafin.

Aside from crowns, one might note that serafin have different numbers of wings sprouting from their back. These roughly denote seniority, and serafin with a higher wing count possess more authority in The Nest. Single winged serafin are treated as adolescents, and any with four or more wings are called elders by the others. Serafin sources report that higher wing count corresponds to a greater level of finesse and power in telepathic communications, although outsiders don't have a sense of how exactly that manifests.

The population of the Nest is broken down into smaller cloisters of towns, each headed by an elder. A town elder's duties mainly persist in organization and personal counsel; having a high wing count means their telepathic radius is larger, and they're able to be connected to most minds in the town at once. This facilitates town-wide communication.

For the sake of personal counsel, elders are capable of suppressing and modifying memories through close telepathic bond. Elders with a high wing count can also perform feats such as altering personality traits and inserting constructed memories. Thanks to this system, reported rates of mental illness and unhappiness with the state of serafin society are extremely low.

It's suggested not to speak to outsiders about this practice, as "they wouldn't get it".

Many serafin with broken crowns suffer from high rates of depression, discontentment, and other ailments. Because they cannot open their mind to communications, they cannot receive traditional personal counsel. The Pathfinder Star suggested that they would better be suited to living with the land races, where they would be among alike individuals incapable of the language. Thus the tradition of exiling crownless serafin began.

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Character List

Not exhaustive, gonna slap some guys on here and a very brief description of each

World of Cycles

The Gods

Order - The God of Order of this world. A lazy jackass who prefers to set up complex falling dominoes and rube goldberg machine schemes rather than directly solve his problems.

Chaos - The God of Chaos of this world. Never gets involved directly in anything, but will give their mortal followers great boons on a whim. Busy being nosy and getting involved with neighboring worlds.

Shade - The God of Death of this world. Prefers to leisurely spend her time in the afterlife. Causes huge problems whenever she ascends to the mortal world.

Celum - The God of Life of this world. A playboy Casanova who flirts with everything that moves and breathes. Compared to the rest of his quartet, though, he actually works as much as he plays.

Nation Leaders Persons in charge of different nations' governance, where applicable.

Pathfinder Star - The eldest known serafin, with a wing count so high nobody currently knows the exact number. Is always seen flying above the colony. Interacts with their populace only via proxy. Oceanus - Emperor of the merfolk. Constantly overseeing squabbles and infighting with the barest hope of putting up a united front. Terminally exhausted.

The Seven(?) Heroes Known back in their day as having ventured to defeat a world-threatening evil.

Zephr - Leader and dark mage of the Seven Heroes. Drakekin...? Perished in the final battle. Ceila - Co-leader and healer of the Seven Heroes. Human. Perished in the final battle. Frost - Shield of the Seven Heroes. Serafin. Guards the pit in the center of the world. Has a lifelong partnership with Brooke. Brooke - Rogue of the Seven Heroes. Merfolk...? Retreated into the global underworld. Has a lifelong partnership with Frost. Spark - All-rounder spellcaster of the Seven Heroes. Northern beastkin. Went into seclusion and eventually peacefully passed. Flame - Berserker of the Seven Heroes. Southern beastkin. Disappeared into the unexplored lands and was never seen again.

Cliga - Brooke's big sister. Raised her in a lake in the mountains. Couldn't follow when Brooke left to adventure on land.

The Triple A Bandits A small trio of robbers that operate out of the southern beastlands. Their daily chores include: stealing, bribing, extorting money, smuggling, and going on the run. Ana - A southern beastkin with curved horns. Wields dual blades. A braggart who likes to hoard opulent items. Agile - A southern beastkin with pointed ears. The group's heavy muscle. Short of words and long with temper. Almin - The group's leader, a rogue serafin. Usually plays the part of injured bird in order to bait easy marks. Alice - Used to be the "big sis" of the group. Too busy being dead to do that anymore.

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Memento Categories (cont.)

Mementos Confusingly labelled after the exact phenomena which it is part of. Mementos are considered very useful to a job or everyday life while also not being life-changingly powerful.

Many Mementos are left behind by people well-known and respected, who have aided their community and lived a full life.

Mementos will often be kept within a family, passed down to be used and cherished over and over again. It is slightly more difficult to acquire these for research, as a result.

Examples of Mementos- - A bowl that fills itself with fresh fruits and sweets every morning and sunset. The food remains fresh even when left inside for weeks. The food is noted to be both delicious, filling, and magically healthy; [ ], who partook of it twice every day for a month, gained 2 kg in weight and noted a temporary relief in symptoms from her congenital heart defect. Left behind by the head chef in the royal kitchen of [ ]. - A shortsword that will always cut exactly what the wielder intends to cut while harmlessly passing through undesired targets. Requires the wielder to cut their hand and bleed one drop of blood before it can be removed from the scabbard. Originator unknown. Donated by [ ], a knight's son living in [ ]. - A mask resembling the main character "Ashheart", from the play [ ], which was commonly performed in [ ] 44 years ago. Once worn by an individual, all people in a radius of 50m will be forced to refer to that individual as "Ashheart" and will describe their physical characteristics identically to that of the character, such as that of voice, height, and gender. Has no discernable effect on people who have not seen the play. Left behind by [ ], the playwright of [ ].

Artifacts Legendary Mementos with strong powers. Notably left behind by rulers or people who have made a mark on history.

Very difficult to gain ownership of.

Examples of Artifacts- - A carved hunting horn, that when blown into, can be heard at noticeable volume at a radius of around 22,000 km [requires further testimony?]. Instantly wakes up all living beings who hear it and removes inebriation. Additional effects unknown. Left behind by [ ], conqueror of the southern lands. - A pair of glasses that show the past in the left lens and the future in the right lens. Extent and control is unknown, anecdotes imply that the user can view whichever points in time they would like. Removing it will tear out the wearer's left eye the first time, and the right eye the second time. Left behind by [ ], who was head of the [ ] archival division. - Decorated robes. When properly worn, all who look at the wearer will fully believe whichever words they are speaking against all possible logic or reasoning, with effects persisting until the moment at which the wearer removes the Artifact from their own person. Unknown radius of effect. Left behind by [ ], head of the Church in the [ ] region.

Curses | Cursed Mementos A Curse is defined, mainly, by a lack of control over its function. Commonly, this comes in the form of a clothing item that is difficult to remove. Curses often cause direct harm to the persons utilizing them. Most curses can only be easily removed upon the death of the owner.

The usefulness of a Curse varies wildly, and the Church has strict guidelines to mark a memento as a Curse. It is forbidden for secondhand sellers to display or keep inventory of Curses without special handling or oversight.

Some examples of Curses- - A corset that senses whether the wearer is properly following high noble etiquette. When rules are followed, it slightly loosens, and when rules are not followed, it slightly tightens. As soon as it is worn, the buttons fuse together and become impossible to undo; [ ], after wearing it for consecutively 7 years, managed to loosen the corset enough to slip out manually. The corset can become tight enough to break ribs and eventually suffocate or crush the wearer. Originator unknown, obtained for study from the Church in [ ]. - A muzzle, the fit and shape indicating that it is for a short-snouted breed of dog. All attempts to verbally communicate by a person of whom is wearing this will come out as various barks and other dog noises. It is unknown how to remove this Curse other than by the death of the afflicted. Originator unknown. Confiscated from the inventory of a secondhand store in [ ]. - A letter opener with metallic thorny vines adorning the handle. When picked up, the holder is compelled to grip the handle tightly until the thorns pierce skin and blood is released from their hand. The letter opener cannot be put down by the holder until it is either used to open either an envelope or is used to injure another person. Left behind by [ ], who was in charge of official communications within the small town of [ ].

[Note: For the sake of removing bias and providing anonymity, names of people and places have been removed from this paper. The names of mementos have also been omitted.]

[craeons-archive]

What is a Memento?

As first recorded, mementos are a phenomenon that have been naturally occurring for over 600 years. Although many things are still unknown about these artifacts, researchers agree that they are linked to the possession of "a soul". Any living creature that has formed this special core of magic within itself will form a memento upon death.

When a living being dies, the memento will usually be found nearby their body or upon their person. A spell of identification suffices to easily differentiate the newly formed memento from any possessions they may have had on hand.

As currently officiated by the Church of Light, mementos can be sorted into different categories.

Materials The "lowest tier" of memento, left behind by monsters and magical animals. Although they have the natural toughness and resistance to deterioration of any average memento, Materials can be broken down using special tools. Like any memento, they contain a high concentration of magic and are very useful in applications of research or craft. Mementos rated in the Material tier are normally inert and do not have any special properties or usages on their own.

Some examples of Materials- - Windhorn rabbits, which spawn in the [west plains], commonly drop their famed horns as a Material. These horns are lathed and used to craft wands and other foci useful for air manipulation. - Drakes were in the past hunted for the fangs and claws that they would drop as Materials. Even after being crushed and incorporated into steel, the magic remains in the Material and imbues puncturing weapons with a particular piercing quality.

Materials are not commonly considered to be "proper mementos" by the common person, but researchers recognize them as part of the same phenomena.

Curio Known as "useless" or "inert" mementos. To be categorized as a Curio, a memento must have no apparent usages outside of its own existence as a memento.

What separates a Curio from a Material, when both are known for being inert and not being useful on its own? Curios come from humankind and are usually in a form of some designed object rather than a part of one's body. Curios are also much more durable than Materials, and it takes very specialized magic and equipment to alter them in any way.

Some examples of Curios- - A shiny marble that reflects the night sky within it no matter the time of day. It still requires a natural light to do so. Does not necessarily reflect the constellations accurately. Originator unknown. Obtained from a secondhand store in the port of [ ]. - A string bracelet which changes colour every time it is newly perceived. Too small to fit most wrists. Left behind by a weaver's daughter living in a small rural village near [ ] - A feather quill with a blunted edge. Unsuitable to write with. Whenever one attempts to ink it and use it anyway, it will come out dry and have a barely legible line no matter the quantity of ink you have used. Left behind by an unpopular poet from the city of [ ].

Trinkets Mementos that have niche or small usages. On average, larger in size than Curios.

The most common category. One will often find piles of these filling up the shelves of the memento section at your local secondhand store. Trinkets are where mementos move from "difficult to modify" to "near-impossible to damage in any way".

Some examples of Trinkets- - A journal that will reach the end cover within 7 flips of the pages, no matter how many pages you flip at once. The previous owner used it to hide their writings; to get to certain works, you must flip exact combinations of pages at once. Left behind by a retired councilor in the city of [ ]. - A hand mirror that reflects an almost faithful image; except that persons seen within its view will be sans clothing or makeup. Any mementos worn as personal objects will still be visible. Originator unknown. Acquired from the possessions of [ ], who was imprisioned for public indecency. - A hat adorned with ribbons of varying styles and colours. When a ribbon is untied, it reveals a completely identical ribbon underneath; it is impossible to de-ribbon the hat. Ribbons still tied on the hat are indestructible as usual, but become ordinary silk as soon as removed and can be cut or torn as usual. Suffices as an infinite source of ribbons, if one is patient enough to continuously untie and remove them. Left behind by a seamstress previously working in [ ].

((list of categories to be continued in another post.))

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What Makes a World?

"Worlds" are pockets of the multiverse where people live. A world can be as small as a country or as large as our known galaxy. Anything on the same plane of reality is considered to be part of the world; that is, you can go there and interact with it without needing to leave physical reality. (Let's not get into defining Reality.)

^ This is just a very rough and basic definition. Sometimes it's more complicated.

The longest surviving worlds are ones maintained and curated by Gods. The Gods of any particular world will be the beings with the strongest concentration of power. Usually, they govern laws of the universe (gravity and etc), split duties of administrating the world's axis, and maintain a sort of "barrier" to prevent random things from entering the world.

Sometimes worlds are made when Gods get together and decide to make one, but it does happen that stray concepts will smash into each other out in the ether and spontaneously make a new world. Usually, these "wild" worlds have very little magic and don't survive for long without a God stepping in to oversee it. A world is considered dead when all cognizant life is wiped out and there are no Gods to keep it whole; it will disappear into the ether and all timelines will slowly rot from root to tip.

(...What's that about timelines? Uhh... let's not get into that, it'll take too long...)

What Is An Axis

Consider an "axis" as like the periodic elements chart of the world's magic. It heavily influences how magic will "behave" or "flow" within the particular world, and how things are conceptualized. For example, in the "World of Cycles", the four gods maintain an axis of order versus chaos, and life versus death. This means everything can be organized as more or less orderly or chaotic, and more or less life-bringing versus death-bringing.

One "atom" of magic within this world can be made out of order, chaos, life, and/or death.

If one God were to stop regulating their assigned place within the axis for whichever reason, the world would become unstable. For example, let's say the Chaotic god in the "World of Cycles" went on vacation and took too long to get back. Without their guidance, the amount of "chaos atoms" would be reduced, and everything under the domain of Chaos in that world would decline suddenly.

Something else in the axis might rise up to fill the gap. Usually this is the opposing side on the balance. Strange Orderly things might rise in prominence, such as a weirdly organized cult taking over most of the world, or everyone suddenly developing an Orderly concept such as being able to see a tidy numerical representation of their self (like a video game stats screen) or the world being organized into regular and defined segments (think squares on a board game).

Despite those strange things happening, things would be more or less business as usual until either the Chaotic God returns or the remaining Gods decide to seek a replacement to the Chaotic God. In the meantime, the Orderly God will be in charge of the Chaotic God's domain and subjects.

What happens if a second God disappears from this axis? It depends. But imagine a table with four legs. It might stay standing if you took away one leg and left it with just three- but it would be unstable. And if you took away another leg, it would be extremely difficult for the table to be left standing at all.

(But it would be still possible... It would just take a very, very, difficult balancing act.)

[craeons-archive]

List of Worlds

World 01 | "World of Cycles" - It has the most amount of my characters for now. - A normal magical fantasy world with a roughly post-medieval society, and more progressive social morals. Society is connected on a global level. - In comparison to other worlds, its defining feature is its extremely long history and the relative ease at which its reigning Gods get along. - Cross-world travel is mostly prohibited, with certain special exemptions. - Time travel is also prohibited. Cross-timeline travel is prohibited. - Has four Gods, who maintain an axis of Order, Chaos, Life, and Death.

World 02 | "World of Spirits" - A world that is large, geographically, with societies very spread apart from each other. - Sapient races are divided into average people and spirits, with a sort of patronage system wherein people seek aid from spirits. - There is currently very little global communication and the majority of the world is unexplored. - Cross-world travel is allowed with special conditions. (Requires a "passport" and "visa") - The Gods of this world, known as The Four Grand Spirits, sometimes communicate to spirits when sought out, but are otherwise mostly unknown and do not interfere. - The godly axis is Earth, Air, Fire, and Water.

World 03 | "World of Mementos" - The unique feature of this world is that, upon death, all living creatures will drop an item known as a "memento". - A very small world with seemingly little to explore except for one continent. - "Humankind" started forming these mementos very long ago in the past. (Every sapient race is just known as Humanity in this, even though there are fantasy races) - Humankind is governed by one God, the God of Knowledge and History. - (Oddly, scholars digging up manuscripts as old as before the dawn of mementos would find conflicting depictions of their God... how strange) - After long periods of time, certain unique monsters spawn and cause untold amounts of damage to whatever region they appear within. These are known as Demons or Cataclysms, and nobody knows how or why they appear yet. - As of now, cross-world travel is completely and strictly prohibited. - The godly axis is Knowledge, The Unknown, Life, and Death.

World 04 | "World of The Divine" - Mortals who study power and manage to embody a concept will be reborn as a Divine, an immortal and very powerful being who can only be killed by a fellow Divine. (It's kinda like studying your Dao.) - Humans, normal homo sapiens, dominate this world with very little exception. - Global society is more or less done with its formative years and they went straight to fighting each other all the time. - The pantheon of Gods (there are seven) is never seen and doesn't bother to interfere with this World ever at all, and only check in when someone completely fucks everything up. - Because of the extremely lax supervision, there are straight up no restrictions on cross-world travel, time travel, or timeline meddling. - Complex life has gone completely extinct like five times now. - Uses a seven element axis. Earth, Fire, Water, Air, Lightning, Light, and Dark.

Wild Worlds

Worlds with no God to maintain a boundary. They're less stable.

World A | "World of Timekeepers" - This World used to have Gods, but they have left it behind. - Time has stopped functioning properly, and most of the world is either completely frozen in time or undergoes violent fluctuations. - Society still thrives; individuals known as Timekeepers can maintain a bubble of properly flowing time. They stay in one area in order to let others build cities around them.

World B | "World of Ascendance" - A naturally formed World with many beings on the cusp of becoming true Gods. However, none of them have managed to break through. - The magic is chaotic and influenced by the forming domains of dozens and dozens of lesser Gods. - These Gods bicker and fight over every drop of influence and faith they can eke out, leading societies of mortals to their doom and solidifying their domains.

World C | "World of Layers" - A world with basically no magic, but the supernatural is still a strong presence. - Scientifically advanced but small pockets of society hide from each other. In terms of 3d geometry the World is very small. - Many different planes of existence are stacked on top of each other, and the higher you go the higher the power level rises. - Anomalous objects and creatures are pretty common (kinda SCP-like)