XYRILVERSE

a collaborative worldbuilding and story project between @blubger and @voistly xyrilverse lore wiki

[voistly-remade]

Do you have any religious characters?? Any lore on any deities?

many! the main belief system of celtrein is xyrilism which developed from (catholic) christianity but brings in pagan belief & greek mythology as well. there is a bit of tension within xyrilism on whether or not it is polytheistic or monotheistic because people are split on whether or not certain figures (like xyril) should be considered saints or deities. it is officially recognized by the church throughout the 5th century-18th century as monotheistic, but after that period there was no longer a formal religious institution that decided on the rule for the general populace.

this is to say that most characters within the story wombward are practicing xyrilists since it takes place within the celtrein nation, with the exception of a small few (such as shepherd, who holds onto pagan beliefs.) however, very few characters in xyril's city recognize themselves as xyrilists because the name 'xyril' hasn't really survived. anybody who knows the name xyril in the 20th century is probably into some form of the occult and would be derided for researching dubious history.

HOWEVER many of the characters are religious (kid is a devout protestant, ashiri calls himself a catholic for the sake of appearances) and many pieces of xyrilism still linger in their thoughts, even if they do not understand the origin or meaning... the lebub family often tells the book of xyril as a bedtime fairytale to children, but the names from the story have all been forgotten or redacted.

[voistly-remade]

What exactly IS Asher?? He don't exactly seem human.. but then Kid is? How many races/species do you have going on in there-

ashiri is human, as are most characters in xyril's city! outside of montross, people might consider him something else since we do not consider things like vibrant teal skin to be a human trait. but he has been brought here through the same evolutionary line you and i have tread.

montross has a lot of anomalous energy, and one MAJOR side effect of anomalous energy is to drastically change the characteristics of its surrounding environment, including any living creatures living within it. its very obvious with some people, like ashiri, but not noticeable on the surface at all with others, like astrid.

vanessa terese is recognized as the founder of anomaletry (the study of anomalous energy) though she was building her theories off of lukas riesse's research. if lukas' theories were the ones to gain traction in the 21st century, then ashiri would not be considered human and neither would lukas himself. however, vanessa approached bio-anomaletry NOT as an attempt to define taxonomical categories, but to recognize the spectrum of changes caused by anomalous energy.

[xyrilverse]

montross architecture - lucky lebubs & acelle corp headquarters

montross is alive. the city, founded in the mid 19th century, breathes air through concrete lungs and and pumps blood through lead pipe veins. much like the citizens that occupy its body, montross thinks and feels, though its thoughts and emotions are only a reflection of the people who live there. its mind is scattered, constantly expressing and repressing all sides of municipal politics.

for decades, the lebub crime family has acted as the de facto rulers of the city. it wasn't until after an economic crisis in the mid 1970s that the paradigm began to shift and the newly formed acelle corporation's power rivalled that of the lebubs.

just like the city, the main buildings of each respective power are alive. though their minds are much more focused and reflect the values of the organization. even their appearances reflect the differences between them. while the lucky lebub hotel & casino tends to hold onto traditions of the past, acelle corp embraces and pushes forth new consumer trends.

the rivalry between the lebubs and acelle in the mid 1970s resulted in great tragedy within only a few months. slade, the new owner and family patriarch, had been changed by the incident. he had ordered renovations of the hotel & casino for a fresh start. stylistic trends are almost never contained within a single era, and so the renovated hotel & casino's aesthetic influences spanned from the 1950s to the (then contemporary) 1970s. notable styles include googie & mid century modern. specific characteristics include conversation pits, bright wallpaper, geometric designs, shaggy carpeting, and vertical wood panelling.

a full renovation was both financially and physically impossible, as the hotel & casino is an endless labyrinth that often traps its guests within. only the facade and most common areas had any change. the deeper one delves into lucky lebubs, the older it will appear, from old wallpaper visible beneath the topmost peeling layer to entire rooms seemingly untouched by time. we can't often afford to leave the past behind, and neither can the hotel & casino.

the same can't be said for acelle headquarters, as the company pays for constant construction and expansion. the building is emblematic of 1980s luxury and its ceo avoids acknowledging older trends. it mixes traditionally expensive materials like marble, glass, and gold with postmodern designs. one is far less likely to get lost in any acelle building or find its labyrinth and no part of the past remains there. whatever labyrinth you find will be an empty, aesthetic void.

[xyrilverse]

id in alt text, transcript below read more.

some plasmidine lore

transcript

image 1

the corebrum (pl. corebra) is the heart and brain of a plasmidine. a plasmidine has three of them.

the corona is excess gas stored in the body. it is useful for changing the body form or replacing vital gas in case of injury or disease.

the ossametal is a single piece of hot, malleable metal that provides structure to the body and creates conduits for plasma to travel in the body.

a plasmidine's lifespan is several thousand years. within this lifespan, a plasmidine will molt several times. the molting interval averages 200-300 years. after a molt, the plasmidine only retains the most key memories from its previous iteration. a plasmidine may change drastically between molts but will still be influenced by the same experiences. the molting scars will get thicker along the edges of the torso and form concentric circles on the back. you can tell how many molts a plasmidine has gone through based on the thickness of the scars and the amount of circles on the back.

image 2

plasmidines change their appearance every molt. these appearance changes reflect environmental changes, social changes, or psychological condition.

example of mild change between molts, example of moderate change between molts, example of extreme change between molts. mild to moderate change between molts is the most common. extreme change between molts is marked by either genetic condition or extreme environmental adaption

plasmidines mimic their appearance of other social species. plasmidines will mesh together different attributes of a species in areas of high species diversity.

plasmidines late into their current iteration will have a dimmer glow and higher mineral build up.

image 3

plasmidines usually find other species before other species find them. as a result, it is difficult to find a plasmidine that doesn't mimic at least one other species. in addition, a no-contact plasmidine will immediately start to mimic another species after contact. this makes documenting their intial form difficult since it doesn't last long. however, plasmidines have been observed from far away with telescopes. a no-contact plasmidine has trilateral symmetry.

there is an ongoing discourse in academia about whether or not these observed no-contact specimens are actually no-contact. one side of the discourse argues that this may not be the plasmidine's actual form but instead that it mimics something incredibly ancient and extinct. the other side of the discourse argues that we have no evidence for this ancient and extinct species and thus the argument is too speculative.