Young Writers Society

•Aside for the... well, curses, I guess, handed by the gods, is there any kind of supernatural forces in Terith? Any magic system for humans to harness, or are we all just runnin' on good ol' 18th century medieval tech (since it's 1717)?

•Speaking of which, there are fae, nymphs, and spirits. Can they do anything specific? In Greek mythology, nymphs quite literally have dominion over the aspects of nature they represent. So like, they can turn into various natural things, or force other beings to undergo metamorphosis as well if they step into their domain. Any of that here?
-Similarly, fae flicker in the night. So, I'm assuming that's bioluminescence. Do they do anything else, or nah? If our future party meets any fae, what do they look like? Bugs, or like, tiny humanoids and such?

•Kidoleas' current romantic partner is one of the nymph's male counterparts (satyrs/potamoi/tritons). Dude's a medieval knight, so he's got his own land to manage and so long as things run smoothly, not many get to be aware of this fact.
↑ Is that fine? Because it says that nymphs take care of forests and barely interact with humans, as opposed to, you know, "they never meet them and think they're all uncouth piles of filth" or something.

•That reminds me: are the nymphs that we're dealing with here only dryads (those who tend to the forest), or nah? I don't actually mind, if so, but I thought about it just now. So, y'know, wanna make sure.

•Is there any difference between spirits and humans when spirits just show up in human form within cities? I'm assuming they're not just goals, since we can touch them.

1. Yes! There is magic in Terith! Except... it's highly exclusive, costly, and some empires/republics have outlawed it entirely. See, the thing about magic in this world is that it has the "eye for an eye" rules. You pray/worship your god of choice and try to recieve their blessing, but you have to give something to do so. Learning spells is also a very much controlled by the upper class. You'll almost never find a poor magic user, since magic has it's own education (sort of like how knights start out young).
But for more magic-y things (necromancy for example), living scarifices must be made. I don't know if I explained that very well, but basically, almost all acts of worship, prays, and sacrifices happen on ritual circles or else the gods will ignore you. The Gods in this universe are very elderitch inspired and very absent, despite what their presence does.

2. Nymph and fae here are more concepts then they are creatures, while Spirits are more creatures than concepts (this can also be seen in their behaviors: Spirits take form of humans, animals, bugs, etc. while Fae don't have enough power to be more than little balls of light and Nymphs embody things such as trees, the wind, fog, rain, water in the river, etc.) All souless beings are simply remnants of the Gods' power, left from the creation of the world and their escape from it shortly after the ancient era. Fae appear as flickering lights, like fireflies. They have no body, and are simply concentrated things. They have a semi-consciousness and know they exist, but they aren't alive. Nymph are in a similar boat, but they have an understanding of language. Other than that, they mainly are there to make sure the world can stay alive. Magic/Gods' powers literally power everything and keep it all alive, so they make sure it's all actually alive.

ADDED ONTO THIS BECAUSE I THINK ITS IMPORTANT: Fae, Nymph, and the Gods DO NOT look like this in actuality. The descriptions given are only what the human mind can comprehend of them (which is why those who seek the Gods' true knowledge usually end up insane/dead, their mind cant process it.) The Gods are insanely elderitch, but humans depict them humanoid since that's all a human could comprehend of them. This goes the same for Nymph and Fae. Spirits can see all the true forms as well, but they more often than not choose humanoid/animal forms.
Now that thats outta the way:

3. It'd be very uncommon, but possible! Best way to explain it, Nymph have an appearance, unlike fae, but no physical body, unlike spirits. So, basically ghosts. You can't touch them, they can sometimes touch you in the form of breezes, wisps, etc. Nymph would also commonly be condecending to humans due to their limited knowledge, but because of that, don't actively see them as a threat. Simply another creature of Terith, like bears and eagles.

4. There is practically no difference between a human and a spirit who has taken a human form. The only difference would be things in personality and behaviors. Spirits tend to be more mischevious and curious, so they'd likely ask more questions and make more sly comments than your average townsfolk, then leave the next morning. Calling a mysterious, quiet, or eccentric person a spirit is a common joke/jab in Terith.

1. Aight! Fair enough. Roughly, then, which places kept it outlawed and which didn't? I'd like for the Rocumian Empire to have kept it legal, if that's allowed. It would be a part of Kidoleas' life and land, so, it would make it easier to write for it.
Obviously though, you're the Dungeon Master here, sooo, you tell me. I'll keep it under wraps if I must.

Oh! That eye for an eye rule, is it similar to the law of equivalennt exchange? So, comparable to something like Nen from Hunter x Hunter (which destroys your body in accordance to how much you decide to push your nen in the moment, which is your own aura and therefore affects said body) or Alchemy from Fullmetal Alchemist (which essentially uses the scientific idea that nothing is lost or gained, only modified)?
If not, do elaborate! I'm rather interested to know if you came up with anything specific. And, as already mentioned, I don't actually mind if you didn't. So, y'know, this ain't no trick question.

Now, you hadn't explained the ritual circles part, but thank you for doing so here! That already tells me a lot with which I can work with. Much appreciated.


2. Ah, got it. I appreciate that too, it answers a lot.
Now, how does the magic work? Whenever fae, nymphs, and humans-well-versed-in-rituals use it, I mean. Do you create weapons with it, or like does it materialize things like controlled fire, or eldritch minions that fight for you?
If this is up to the writer's discrection, do say so! I can absolutely come up with something consistent to my character, based on the info we have here. But as stated, I, uh... Yeah, I don't wanna break anything.

•Oh! Right, yes. Thanks a ton for the addition, too. Though I was fully aware of it and had Kidoleas mention as much in his profile — so, the "people's depictions of the gods is what he doesn't really trust" thing — it's nice to have it confirmed, y'know? S'nice.
I'll definitely have to think of a potential true form for Kidoleas' husband, too, since apparetly nymphs and spirits also have one. Hadn't read up on eldritch style o' things in a while, so, it'll be fun to study up on that again.


3. Aight! I can work with that. Any way nymphs can learn to be tangible? If not, I can see a few ways I can still give the guy — oh: Epylan would be his name — a workable humanoid body he can touch with. I'll just have to make it artificial, to make sure it fits with your lore (although, stop me if I can't).


4. Behavior's the main difference. Got it! That'll do nicely.

The only place I think it's really, really outlawed is the Gatlon Empire. Priests, Dark Priests, (basically clerics and researchers, medievel stuff), etc all banned from practicing rituals and such. Horsaria may be against the more personal magic stuff, but not rituals. Basically, there's magic involving gods where you just call upon them and they bless you with something, and then there's personal magic, like fireballs and things like that. Classic magic when you think of it. But, you do have to dedicate yourself to it. So, I doubt a necromancer would also know healing spells and other things like that. So, you choose what to dedicate yourself to and that's that.

Hmm I think both options could work, artifcial or not. I might leave this up to you. It might be possible for a nymph to become physical, most just choose not to. Why expend the energy when they can simply exist as is? On the other side, nymph could possess objects and beings, so maybe they built a body for Epylan? A maniquen or life-sized, ball-jointed doll perhaps? Orrr, they could use some... darker magic, to make or "build" a body from something else.
I'll really just leave it up to you on what they choose to do.

Like I said, most soulless beings are unknowable and immortal, and so they treat mortals like young children. Condescending, nurturing. It's not a hateful thing, it's just that humans technically aren't as knowledgable as they are.

And on the magic topic again, the magic is fairly simply. There's 2 main ones. Power from the Gods and power for themself. Personal magic is just fire, healing, casting things basically. Power from the Gods is all the ritual and sigil stuff. That stuff requires lots of devotion and study from a young age and probably a rich/noble family because of that. There's lots of different guilds and studies, which I'll add to the factions (when I get the time), but dark priests are universally feared because they either worship one of the "bad" Gods and do some... unseemly sacrifices and spells (this is where the necromancers and elderitch, body horror stuff comes in.)