Why are Rosier and Olivier so huge in comparison to other constructs?
There’s two reasons: the more powerful numerically a magician is, the more demons will swarm to feast on them when they drown. They basically gather more mass in a shorter amount of time.
The other reason is that they both spent a considerably longer time in the Abyss, and beings that do so will accumulate more size over that extended period. So Nid was a tier 6 mage when he drowned, and spent about one year in the Abyss, so as an amalgam he’s about the size of an SUV. Rosier and Olivier were tier 10-11 mages and spent probably upwards of five years in, and the result is that they can pick fights with aircraft carriers.
Hello! I just started reading through your blog, this is such amazing world-building and I'd love for it to be converted to a book/comic someday! I was wondering: if the different portals or entrances to the Abyss can get moved around to different time periods and locations, would it be possible to stay in the Abyss for a few minutes, and then leave again, but pop up a decade later (to effectively time travel)? And vice versa, to travel back in time? Thanks!
Hey! :> You’re correct in that assumption, I haven’t really elaborated on it much on my blog yet, but the flow of time in the Abyss is bizarre and has strange and unpredictable effects. Amalgams tend to somehow leave the place with scraps of specific, occasionally advantageous knowledge—sometimes it turns the tide in espionage because some construct emerges with perfect recall of a nuclear weapons document that will be published five years in the future.
There is a tendency to return to their original time, however. When he’s drowning in the Abyss, Nid surfaces briefly and encounters…a ten year old Lafayette after she nearly drowns herself. When he finally leaves, though, he exits a year after he fell in. Weird time shit isn’t exclusive to the Abyss, a LOT of anachronistic reverse-engineered technology is in full effect by the 1960s because weaponry from the 80’s and 90’s keeps suddenly appearing across the globe (it’s theorized to be the result of some sort of magical conflict during that period.)
u-UM WELL. here have a roughly thought-out fan character for mercenary-tributary's story, Coronation! I don't have a name for them yet but, well, they're a core-conjoined amalgam, with each core being located in each of those, uuh, fat stalk things. Yeah.
…I’m gonna admit here. I was so inspired about making an amalgam design that I rushed into the drawing and didn’t give a whole lot of thought into how the amalgam came into being until after I hit ‘save’. I wanna say that scientist mage twins jumped into a pond with the intent to document the process, but, I don’t know, the more I read about Coronation’s lore the more I feel like that’d be a really Mary-Sue backstory. OH WELL OOPS
Crab legs and bug pedipalps because it looks cool well, the twins used a pond which already had its own small ecosystem in it including little mud crabs and whatever insects happened to fall in and drown. When the twins began casting, the demons consumed the creatures inhabiting the pond first, to use their genetic data, saving the twins from having to prime the miasm with blood or other such organic material. T-that’s how that works, right? oh geez I hope I’m not butchering this
Oh yeah, and they can separate their cores and become two separate amalgams pretty easily, sprouting extra limbs as needed, but they strongly prefer not to. Truth is, the transformation changed their personalities.. a lot. Much more than they’d anticipated, actually.
They appear to think, act and identify as one singular entity, and if they were to separate for any reason, their mental faculties would be effectively halved (give or take)- impaired communication skills, decision making, risk-reward assessment, etc. In other words they get rather disorientated, rude and reckless. I get the feeling they would be a bit too dangerous to work alongside canon military amalgams due to their unpredictability.
…ANYWAY!!! THAT’s enough blabberin’ from me for now ahahah. I highly highly recommend checking out mercenary-tributary’s work, they’re markedly better at this sort of thing than I am for one!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ahh! That is such an awesome fan-amalgam, I love it. The design is really freaky in a cool af and interesting way, and I like the way the teeth look a lot. You've obviously put a lot of thought into the anatomy and it shows.
Their backstory is absolutely fine, and really intriguing to be honest--I hadn't put a lot of thought into the possibility of conjoined cores, and you've taken the concept and developed it in an awesome way.
nonsensephrase said:Have you read Charles Stross' Laundry Files series or Tim Powers' Declare? Both do some interesting things in the vein of occult warfare in the 20th century.
I haven't, but I think people have recommended them to me! I've heard good things about these kinds of alt history fiction, I should probably read them.
dykewithadick said:I'm not getting the basis for their criticisms of Andaluchia. Yeah, it might not be totally period accurate to 1960s Francoist Spain, but it's also not 1960s Francoist Spain. I thought the implication was that it was a W. European colonial power that developed along the lines of the Spanish and British empires but happened to also be Moorish. I'm not seeing how that qualifies as exotifying anyone.
That's what I was going for, but I dunno! I gotta do more research.
rainbowsparky said:Wow! I just happened across your demon stuff, and I love it! Scientific treatment of fictional concepts like magic really float my boat. I have to ask, is it possible for an amalgam to be made up of two or more mages? Such as if an accident happened and two were taken at once, or maybe they had an agreement and attempted it deliberately? Gosh your stuff makes me want to draw fan-designs. IT'S EXCITING I'M EXCITED
Hey, thank you! :> I'm glad you're excited, feel free to make fan-designs and whatnot, and show me. Core-conjoined amalgams do exist if they're in the periphery of each other during drowning, but they can be easily separated or separate themselves.
albionisnightmare said:Hey Hello, first of all, Níðhöggr is hot!, second, i love your concepts, srsly, the way you mix scientific explanations with magic and war. New fan here!, please keep going with your amazing work! Well, there are the questions; You story sets on an alternate history, more specifically, an uchronia? And, are you from Spain? Thanks!!
Hehe, thank you. I'm sure he appreciates it. Yep, its a uchronia--I had to look that up but thats an awesome term. And nah, I'm not from Spain, which means I'm gonna have to work harder. Could've set it in China, but nooo---
science-babe said:Hi! I'm kinda falling in love with your worldbuilding with the demons and mages, but I'm kinda confused about the setting? Like, when and where does it take place?
It's set in 1965, during the Cold War, in an alternate universe Europe with a different ethnographic makeup!
mostlyscrutable said:Your Coronation universe is really cool! I was wondering, if holy figures are more resistant to demons and drowning, are there religious orders of mages? Or do some mages join religions to try to protect themselves from drowning? Thinking about it more, has any country tried to weaponize their religions? Ordaining every soldier as a priest and the like? Or do you have to basically be the Pope to get a benefit, and there's only one Pope? Thanks!
Thank you! Um, there are definitely religious orders of mages! Being religious won't completely protect you from drowning, but it acts as a sort of natural repellent--like putting on bug spray, but you'll still get stung if you fall into a great mass of insects. Countries definitely do try to weaponize their religions, but apparently you have to be a genuine believer to get the affect, so no mass-ordainments.
an-alarming-number-of-bees said:Is demiurgic warfare the technical term for the use of demons on the battlefield in your story?
Demiurgic (creation) warfare refers to anything that involves magic, which includes demonic constructs. Analog or analogous warfare is basically everything else--tanks, technology, rifles, et cetera.
xiakha said:Does the Abyss causes emotional distress because of the demons and amalgamations in it or is it inherently bad? If the former, since priests are less affected by amalgamations and demons, would the perfect (hypothetical) Abyssal explorer be the Pope?
Emotional distress such as anxiety, delusions, or panic attacks is basically a side effect of physical contact with demons for long periods of time without protective elements. These effects can be gotten used to, though, with enough prior exposure. And yep, the pope would probably do alright down in the Abyss so long as they are not a magician.
bladekuroda said:I imagine something like this would be a super high tier ability, but would some degree of time alteration be possible for magicians? As in acceleration and slowing things (maybe even stopping?).
Yep, a tier 12 known as Edward Montblanc is infamous for his ability to stop time and cause havoc. He's the only one known of in 1960, but fun fact: there is some anachronistic/advanced technology in Coronation that was reverse engineered because things like surface-to-air missiles fired in the 1990s keep suddenly crashing down from the sky. Everyone is afraid that one day a nuke will arrive from the future.
mima-chan said:hello ! your world-building is by far one of the biggest and boldest i've seen and it's just amazing ! i read about how there are a lot of PSA's for children not to use magic in water, and i was wondering if i could make a fanart of those PSA's ! it would be a poster or something but are you okay with that ? also i have a question, asides from inventories, and radiuses , do magicians have any other offensive magic ? or are those the only ones ? i look forward to more of Coronation !
Hey, thank you! It means a lot to me. Yes, feel free to make fanart of the PSAs, and show me when you're done, I'd love to see them! :> And um, aside from inventories and radiuses, magicians can use schematics, which are like drawn versions of their radius that do a single function and can be activated from very far away.
presidentark said:So if demon-infested water is (temporarily) a vessel of infinite depth and/or a portal to the abyss, what happens if you take, say, a jug of that and turn it upside-down?
Basically all surfaces of the water that are not bounded by that of the jug will become of infinite depth. So like, as you're pouring it out, you could push something through the stream of water and it wouldn't come out the other side since it's entered the Abyss. And when it's a puddle on the ground, it would also have an infinite depth on top.
so, i can’t draw liquid-y things. or do minimalistic poster-type-things. but hey miasm is neat.
i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again: for those who are fine with body/eye horror and death and like demons and world-building and also really awesome art i recommend looking at the Coronation world by mercenary-tributary.
its not a proper series like a comic or such. its more like a collection of the person’s ideas and questions people ask about the world-building
my sister showed me it and it’s really really cool
!!!!! Hey, thank you so much for the fanart and the kind words! :> I love how you rendered the miasm, it looks really solid and viscous. The typography is also really excellent, really nice work! I'm really amazed that people like my stuff enough to draw stuff for it... @_@
Your world building is so neat! Just out of curiosity, would a magician ever purposefully drown themselves to become an amalgam?
Hey, thank you! :> And yes, it does happen, but its pretty rare because it’s a viscerally horrifying and painful process that can often erase or erode most if not all of the personality of the magician. Magicians that intentionally enter the Abyss also tend to leave it much farther removed from their original identity.
So I'm new to the demons and mages thing. Is it safe for a normal mage to touch a familiar or a construct.
Yeah, it’s pretty safe. Demons obey Newton’s first law for the most part—once they’ve manifested around the core magical source in a familiar or amalgam, they don’t usually leave it, even when another magician touches them. Dispersion is a different story though—if the demons are leaving a critically wounded amalgam, they’ll flock to the next best source of magic.
This is finally done: a more concise description of demon summoning. This kind of handbook would probably have been given out to all the military cadet mages. For further reading:
So you've possibly already answered this but how do magicians maintain their own body? I mean, demons form in water due to magic use, and humans are around 65% water on average, so why do magicians not just turn into walking demon bombs whenever they use their powers?
Demons are actually unable to form in blood, saline water, or most types of solutions that aren’t about 97%-99% H20. They are attracted to exposed blood, and will swarm towards it to consume when active, but they can’t appear in it natively.
I was wondering a few things about the amalgams, namely how they are viewed ethically or generally by the world. For instance, in one of your posts you said that about 12% were created through the accidents of child mages, which is understandable, though how would the family view this? Would they simply accept that their child has been lost to them? You mentioned in another that some amalgams remain in contact with their friends and family, so are they still viewed as their host? Or as separate?
Unfortunately, many families do reject a recovered child amalgam, especially if their personality has significantly changed due to the drowning, and may treat them as if they have died. This is more common with non-magician parents. However, there are also plenty of families that love and embrace their returning child, and go out of their way to accommodate their altered needs. Most governments provide services free of charge to child amalgams, who are safeguarded against conscription.
That honestly depends on how the amalgam feels about it, but people who remain in close contact with amalgams have a tendency to view them primarily as their host due to the use of their appearance when communicating.
(Part 2) Following up the significance-deterrence of demon infestations, does the same rule apply to living things and by extension humans? Is it possible for someone to be entirely immune, or highly resistant to demon infection if many people are highly spiritually or emotionally vested in them, by religion, relationships, mindless devotion or otherwise (such as the Pope, popular band members, even Kim-Jong-Un)? Sorry for the question dump, but your art and your creativity are amazing! :D
Yep! There are entire squadrons purposed for battling demonic constructs, and recruitment calls usually go out for people of high faith for this very reason. Magicians with such qualities tend to incur a much more minimal, or even adverse, response from demons in the vicinity, and it takes a lot longer for them to drown on average. People further compound on this effect by wearing tattoos with religious, mythological, or cultural imagery, or by donning modes of dress tied to their beliefs (ex: the habit, the hijab).
Hi, I recently stumbled upon your Coronation universe and I am absolutely enamored with it! I have a question about holy water: since you said that holy water will repel or kill demons due to its cultural significance, what happens when a drowning magician (in-progress) is drenched in holy water? Would they be able to survive if the demons hadn't eaten away enough? Also, are demons able to inhabit bodies of water that are considered highly culturally significant? (Part 1)
Hey, thank you!! Happy you like it.
Dousing a drowning magician in holy water would kill at least most of the demons, and is typically used in treatment for this very reason. However, it has to be used with care in a medical setting. Demons burrow into the flesh, their effect on magicians is similar to how trees can become infested with wood-boring insects. You can kill the worms, but the holes and damage inflicted will remain. Doctors will have to be poised to immediately treat the (now bleeding) wounds when the demons are cleansed.
Demons are unable to inhabit rivers or lakes considered holy or of great importance, making them popular swimming spots for young magicians.
