World of Alvarra: Rise of the Vampire Lord

a little something before you start reading this chapter. I don't plan to start making an entirely new series anytime soon. don't expect another chapter until maybe next month. since this is a draft, if any one of you have any suggestions on what I can change to improve the story, don't be afraid to say so in the comment section below. also, the "of the alvarru" part can be taken out if you guys think it makes it to wordy, I'm thinking of dropping it anyway. with that out of the way, here's an image of what I think the Skylands may look like, please be reminded that I do not own the image, if you know who does or you do, please tell me and I'll take it down.

The snow was blinding. Like slowly falling stars they fell lazily towards him, the light reflecting off on them from the now open wound of the ship. He lay there, broken on the floor as the cold flecks of liquid slowly buried him alive and blinded his vision.

Van knew he should move… roll away… maybe shimmy to the side… but such thoughts barely registered in his slurred mind… after all, Why should he move at all? Despite half his body being contorted and twisted in a way that no human should be able to bend. He was in fact in a very peaceful state… Even as the snow piled onto him, freezing him to his bones and turning into hard ice that kept him down, freezing into a chilling cocoon, he never before felt such… Calmness…

Perhaps that was just because of who he was. Or perhaps because just a few hours prior he was inundated with enough heat to last a lifetime, the cool breeze now being a very welcome respite. Or maybe it was because the heat and cold never truly bothered him at all, like it did most other people… And this was such a novel sensation that he didn’t want to miss out on it.

Or perhaps.

He’d just given up.

Who could help gazing up on the falling snow, marveling with strange yet clear eyes. Wondering if perhaps this was what historians meant when they mentioned that long ago the night sky was full of such wonderful twinkling lights that bathed the darkness in a kaleidoscope of colors…

Though this sky was filled with overhung clouds of gray and a never-ending stream of frozen water…

With the shallowest of sighs, he begrudgingly took a labored breath, knowing full well the time for feeling sorry for himself was now over. This wasn’t the first time he fell from such heights… Though hopefully it would be his last…

The air he inhaled popped and crackled every rib into place as it expanded his lungs. He took his good right hand and tried to make a fist, opening and closing it painfully slowly, like ants running up and down his nerves, until he felt like he could make some use out of it and the tingling had subsided.

He then brought his hand to his face to wipe some of the snow to better his vision and get rid of whatever was messing with his left eye. There was something there, a liquid that made him squint a little, and it was annoying… But when he pulled his hand back from rubbing it, he found a blackish-blue smear like oil, that reflected the light, casting rainbows on its glossy texture.

For a minute. He just stared at the odd liquid. Wondering what it was… Until it dawned on him that what he was looking at was his own blood…

It had been so long since he last saw it, he had completely forgotten what it looked like… But that was not the only thing that made him pause, a smooth metal band now lay inert on his wrist.

And with that, a small flicker of hope was kindled within him.

With an inward sigh he put his hand away and tried to turn over onto his left side. Only for the left half of his face to slam into a pool of liquid. More of his blood…

Now with half his face smeared, he grunted as he forced his right hand down to brace himself as the feeling of pins and needles ran up and down his spine. Once that was done he got up at glacial speeds using his one good leg. Only to fall and hit the ground.

A shockwave of pain racked his body. Again he was glad he was not a normal person, otherwise the pain would have knocked him out instead of feeling a dull ache. But that didn’t change the feeling of damage his body felt, and how close he was to the brink of not moving at all…

He gritted his teeth and brought his hand down again, eyes scanning around for anything that he could use as purchase.

The ship was tilted now, so all the items he had been carrying had fallen alongside all the other things towards the edge of the hallway. And right there was his Aetherius. A specialty rifle made just for him.

With iron will and singular focus he crawled toward the weapon. Grabbing it and using it to prop himself up like a cane of sorts that he could lean on to help take the weight off his body.

Now standing unsteadily, he looked down on his mangled left arm and leg. There was no helping it now… He had little choice… And there was no one around anyway…

Closing his eyes he concentrated until he could feel every tear and break of his arm and…

POP! CRACK! POP!POP!POP! CRACK! CRACKLE!

He clenched his jaw. Refusing to utter a single sound of pain. Even as his eyes watered. His arm was slowly forced into its proper form, every bone was put back, all the veins returned to their proper place, the nerves reconnecting until he felt a massive wave of lightning shoot up from it and enter his brain. Almost making him black out and his vision spin.

With a final grunt and gasp, he finished his grisly work. Feeling far more drained and hollow than before. But now… with a semi-working left arm and hand…

Tendrils of static electricity running up and down his fingers and up to his shoulder, slowly dispersing up to the stem of his neck.

His eyes went to his still broken leg, but the thought of trying to forcibly fix it like he did his arm made him too nauseous to even think about. The energy requirement was just too great. So instead he set his sights forward, down the darkened hallway of this old broken down and finally dead ship.

As he trudged along down the hallway, it got harder to see as most of the lights had stopped working. Panels and wires hung out of place, ripped with strange fluids seeping out and forcing him to duck and weave out of their way. Thankfully his eyes could still see, despite the darkness, they glowed lightly and allowed him to make his way through towards his assigned cabin. Though there were a few things he wished he didn’t have to see along the way…

Men and women were strewn about. Their heads caved in or necks twisted in angles they shouldn’t be. The trauma of the fall was too great for their squishy bodies to handle. He could still remember their screams lasting for hours… His fellow crewmates banging back and forth against the walls of the ship as it tumbled and fell… Some held on for hours, but their stamina couldn’t last. The final sounds of explosion, ended what little remained until all that was left was death and agony…

He shook his head violently, trying to shake off the memory, it was not one he wanted to keep… He carefully walked around the corpses, trying to avoid the pools of blood and viscera that got in his way. He was being extra careful not to disturb their final resting moments, nor get any of their blood on him.

They all wore the same dark blue uniform he had on, the Merkander Trading Company logo on their leftmost shoulder. Though he had the added benefit of getting to wear a robe of sorts that helped keep him warm in this now very cold climate. Though originally it outed him for who he was… an outcast…

He felt some sadness for the loss of life, but no real sympathy for what happened to them. He was never really close with any of the crew anyway, both sides keeping their distance from each other. His only concern was getting to his room and retrieving his things before finding the captain. Or what was left of him… And finally getting off these metal bands once and for all. And then… Well… He’ll think about that later…

Hobbling forward he finally reached the room given to him since he was press-ganged onto this wretched ship. It had an extra pair of locks just for him. With an annoyed sigh, he began twisting the large handle open, then leaned in with his body weight since he had no energy to force it open himself. Thankfully he had gravity to help, and with how the ship was leaning towards the direction of the door opening, it worked out in his favor.

With a sharp but tired creak, the door slowly began to open and he managed to slip himself in. The first thing he did was to stumble to his bed and lay down, practically falling onto the sheets, then took a deep breath and allowed himself a few minutes of respite before he had to work again. His mind flickered with memories, trying to make sense of all this bad luck and wondering what he was going to do next to get out of this mess. Without missing a beat, he found himself falling into a deep sleep for the next hour without even meaning to.

His dreams were plagued with the ringing of the alarm bell, crew getting ready for battle, yelling, shouts and orders being flung left and right. A rival company had come with a bunch of hired privateers to raid their ship alongside its sisters. Unfortunately for him, the captain of this ship was a bit of a hard case. And would rather go down with his ship than surrender, It didn’t help that the captain was an old fogey that didn’t know the first thing about proper ship-to-ship battle and only knew how to get from point A to point B. Because of that, he had allowed themselves to be exposed to a massive broadside that hit two of the four engines of this old and outdated ship, effectively sinking them…

Next thing Van knew. He was sliding down the halls with a bunch of other people. Holding on for dear life once he got hold of a stray pipe. Then the feeling of weightlessness as another broadside finished the job and he saw people being flung every which way by a massive explosion. And then… they fell… Whispers followed him as he tumbled into a nightmarish darkness... All telling him to find... the library...

The memories startled him awake. Then with a groan, he forced his body to comply with his orders to get up. Enough time was already wasted, and he didn’t know how much he had left.

He noticed worriedly that his breath now was expelling heat, puffing out of him in streams of foggy air. The cabin had also gotten a bit chillier while he was napping, meaning he probably had less time than he feared.

Picking up his rifle, he again used it to help put off some of the pressure on his bad leg and quickly moved towards his desk on the other side of the room. Just a few quick steps and he sat down on the chair, checking the contents of the drawers and what hadn’t been thrown off from the desk.

There wasn’t much… He wasn’t allowed much after all… Just a few things and emergency rations that he quickly decided to open and scarf down. Cold mushy potato-like goop and mashed carrots, with an assortment of what he hoped was actual meat… funnily enough, the food was more likely going to make him want to cry than the fall of the ship did…

Forcing the meal down his throat, he then went for a second one. Knowing full well he was going to need the energy. Once that was done he closed his eyes and began to feel his left leg. He had recovered some of his energy since the nap, and with food in his belly, he felt like he could risk forcibly fixing it like he did his arm.

With a grunt of pain, he gritted his teeth and held onto the desk for dear life as he felt his leg crack and twist back into shape. He groaned and muttered incomprehensible words, banging his head onto the desk a few times until finally the pain had passed, leaving a numb leg he could at the most limp on, and maybe walk with for a few steps at a time. With that done, he decided to catch his breath and slowly raised his head to stare into the mirror in front of him.

Alien eyes peered back into the depths of his soul… black sclera dotted with a swirl of colorful points like stars. Spinning around his deep electric blue iris until they broke in at four points, continuing their whirlpool-like path until hitting the center of his pupil.

The whole image was surreal to say the least… It looked like the center of his eye was a whirlpool, or blackhole of sorts, sucking little stars into oblivion… With some concentration, he forced his eyes to turn back to his display mode. Or that was what he called it at least. His sclera quickly turned white, and his iris and pupil went back to what humans would consider… normal…

Though he absently wondered who this was even for anymore. not like anyone was around to see... Just… a force of habit perhaps…

He couldn’t do much for his ears though, they were slightly pointy. His features as well were handsome, though in an exotic sort of way. He heard some of the male crewmates mutter how such looks were wasted on one such as himself, wondering why his kind looked the way they did. Followed by something disparaging about how it was all a ploy for this or that nefarious reason… Questioning if he was even a person… There were even debates on whether he was a monster or not just mimicking human form…

He shook his head of those useless thoughts. He had more important things to worry about. His leg had mostly recovered now, though it was shooting up a few bolts of electricity and pain up his brain every now and then, it should still be able to work for what he needed it to do. Getting up, he began to look for something he noticed was missing since he first came into his room.

Getting down on his knees, he began looking around on the floor in search of his lost item. Looking every which way, he found it under his bed, glowing weakly, with barely any light to call its own.

His spirit lantern…

Absent-mindedly he wondered if he had actually brought it with him and simply forgotten about it. It was rare after all that he would walk around without it strapped to his waist. But from what he remembered… He left it in his room because he was planning to get a few things in the hopes of improving the runes that had slowly worn off, leaving it unattended mid-maintenance.

Crawling down he reached out and tried to make a grab for his lantern. After the third try, he was able to get the clasp and pull it out, raising it to eye level so that he could take a better look.

His heart squeezed itself in worry and fear at what he saw. Tiny colorful flickers of light moved around a translucent crystal in the center of the small old and worn cage. The tiny balls of light seemed to fade in and out, some floating or zipping about in half-crazed states of panic, others huddling in corners together. Worse, one of the sides of the lantern had caved in during the fall, greatly agitating the colorful lights.

“Sh, sh, sh… It’s okay. I’m here now…” He thought to them, sending a strange flow of energy from his body down to his hand and from there allowing it to enter the cage. The balls of light, frantic at first, slowly began to calm down and began to float lazily around the crystal once more. Though still a little on edge… Every so often they would erratically jolt themselves in an odd direction, still racked with nerves.

But his heart still heaved a sigh of relief, his expression of worry and panic fading away… He glared at the caved-in part of the lantern somewhat. He knew it wasn’t the best lantern, but clearly he didn’t realize how bad it actually was! The thing was obviously diluted with mystic bronze. Which, while not being a bad substitute for most things, was NOT Something you wanted when carrying wisps around! Star metal being expensive or not! He wished he could throttle the person whose task was to give him this lantern, clearly, they didn’t know or care about what was required to properly house wisps or spirits. Probably pocketing the difference for their own greed…

He allowed the thought to simmer in his mind and let some of his inner rage to flow, harnessing it to give him some energy for the next task at hand before he forced it down to focus on what was really important… Surviving…

Going back to the desk, he placed his rifle down on it and the lantern beside it. Checking his Atherious for anything damaged as well. The stock of it was beautifully designed with a bunch of runes and magical circles that helped regulate the magical and spiritual energy. The chamber was a solid piece of crystal, with the stock also having a piece of crystal combined with the solid piece of wood of the rifle. There was a handle, but no trigger, a barrel and muzzle, but nothing mechanical that would attach or go anywhere with the belly of the rifle.

Once his inspection of the rifle was over and found no faults in its design, he turned back to the lantern, counting the number of floating balls of light and their colors.

“Hmm… four wind… seven fire… two water… one earth… not much to work with… But unlike others, I can at least make them last...” Slowly, he reached out to the lantern and coaxed a few of the balls of light out. They followed him happily, they always did… And he gently placed them within five small shards of crystals that jutted out of the chamber area of his rifle, joining the other two that were already there. Once in place, they began to glow a shimmery light and he felt their presence fall into a state of half-sleep. He then made sure to anchor them down spiritually to the lantern and himself, unseeable threads of magic connecting them all together, before hanging the rifle on his back.

Now with his weapon fully loaded in case of any unexpected emergencies, he felt ready to leave. He clasped the lantern to his waist, giving a silent promise that he would fix it later, and quickly began to fill a nearby satchel with everything of importance he could think of that he had on hand. Then just as he was about to exit his room he remembered something.

Quickly checking his drawers, he found his old clothing and a few other personal effects under a pile of junk, hidden away lest someone take them away claiming contraband. Changing out of his uniform, he put on his old pants and shirt, as well as the black long coat. He took his mask and wore it around his neck, and his goggles on his head. Once he had strapped his well-worn boots on he was ready to leave. He also made sure to pack some of the extra clothing and uniforms as well as the coat he was wearing before. It was getting colder, and he may need the extra warmth.

With that done, he was ready to leave this broken ship and find his way back to his beloved… Hopefully, Alicia Merkander can keep a promise… Because if she couldn’t… She would know the wrath of an Alvarru…

Van walked down the rusty and now freezing corridor towards the intersection that would lead him hopefully upstairs. Thoughts of looting this bucket of bolts called a ship crossed his mind as he went by, but he didn't have the strength nor desire to rummage through every little thing and then carry it all. He had to conserve his energy, get out of this ship, and hopefully find help or warm shelter. Preferably before anything nasty might find him.

Taking a right, he carefully walked up the now slippery stairs that were covered in a thin layer of ice. He almost slipped off of it twice but was able to regain his balance and continue forward to the next level.

There he found more corpses, all of them twisted and ripped. The smell of entrails and blood assaulted his nose as they smeared the walls and floors. It seemed a few had the unfortunate luck of surviving for a few minutes longer, due to the impromptu cushions that were their former comrades in life. But in the end, it didn’t matter, the weight of bodies, cargo, and other miscellaneous crap crushed them in the end. And what little of those who did survive the fall slowly bled out without the necessary medical assistance required to save them from such a fate.

“By the stars… This is a morbid sight… I’m lucky the Bluer didn’t go off in all the crashing. Might not have survived if that was the case…” He turned his head right and left. “The cafeteria should be around over there, I should take some supplies with me while I'm here.”

He carefully made his way over and down the hallway towards the cafeteria, trying to avoid all the bits and pieces of his former shipmates the best he could. Upon nearing the door, he found it to be jammed and had to walk around to the other side. When he finally was able to enter the cafeteria, he saw that all the tables and corpses had piled up onto one side, like most everything else on this ship.

With great sorrow, he saw that most of the food supplies had flown out from behind the kitchen area and plastered themselves all over the floor with preserved jams, glass, meats, and kitchen knives. Walking carefully over behind the kitchen counter, he tried to search for anything that had not fallen or broken during the fall. But to no avail, everything fresh and edible was strewn all about, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to take the risk of eating any of the meats or red preservatives lying all over the place. He didn’t like the thought of accidentally confusing jam with blood, just thinking about it tied his stomach in knots.

There was one good news he found, though that might be determined by what one might think of good news…

“Great… Just my fucking luck… At all of the things that remained secured… It had to be the fucking MRE’s.” Opening a once secured cabinet in the back of the kitchen that was now slightly ajar. He lifted the cold metallic box to his face, opened it up, and gave a sniff.

“Ugh…”

His nose wrinkled away from the all-too-familiar smell. It was more of his favorite mashed carrots and potatoes. With its centerpiece, the ‘I hope it is meat’ taking center stage. He sniffed it one more time for good measure, making sure it hadn’t expired. One couldn’t be too careful on this boat, where everything seemed to be old and rusted beyond its expected death date.

With a heavy sigh, he began to take a spoon he found in one of the drawers and began to eat the tongue-curdling food. Having no choice if he wanted enough energy and nutrients to survive whatever might come next.

After the impromptu meal, he packed whatever he could fit in his satchel that he brought with him from his room. It wasn’t much, but it will have to do. He left the cafeteria and made his way up the next set of stairs. Once more having to go the long way around due to a corridor being blocked, thanks to the walls having caved inward and the staircase in question being crushed.

After what felt like hours but was probably a lot less, he was able to slowly make his way up to the bridge area where the same scene as everywhere else was replayed to the point it mostly lost its effects on him. Mostly…

He quickly looked around on the ground for any sign of the captain. Upon finding him, he found his former employer at the top of a small pile of debris and other body parts. His disgusting already bloated body and face in life was even more so in death and now with a tinge of blue.

With a revolted look on Van’s face, he began to feel up the dead corpse, sticking his hands in sticky pockets, wishing he could throw up, but knowing it was largely impossible for him. Finally, he found it, a set of keys that were slick with blood.

Taking it to a nearby locked drawer, he opened it up to reveal a set of weirdly colored orbs. Checking them out, he found the one that was his and raised his rifle at it. He channeled a fire wisp, and with a will, pulled a mental trigger that set the red light shooting down the crystalline-like weapon until it exploded out of the tip, sending a small sphere of fire to crack the orb and shatter it to pieces.

He felt the fire wisp expand its energy and go into a deep sleep. Its presence disappeared, but it was still felt through the connection shared between it and Van. slowly, a dull red light appeared within the spirit lantern. It sagged low as if greatly tired.

Van patted the lantern as if thanking it for a job well done. Glad that he was an Alvarru in this case. Otherwise, the poor wisp would have been spent completely with nothing left to recover…

Slowly he was able to peel off the now dull metal bands on his wrist. He then opened up his pack and picked out another metal band, this time one more ornate, and put it on his left wrist with a satisfied look.

Now that that was done, he turned around to see out of the open windows of the ship. The landscape revealed everything, bare and unashamed, it wasn’t afraid to show its desolate beauty, nor hide its hidden dangers.

It was like a winter wonderland. Everything was white or some shade of it. The landscape seemed to go on forever, except for the fact that there always seemed to be some snow falling in some form or another, so visibility was cut short. The gray heavy clouds above also made it harder to see, all together it cut his vision to no further than a few miles.

This left his ship in a sea of snow on a small island of visibility where he could not scan for safety without leaving and going searching for it himself. Looking down, he couldn’t help but see the wreckage of what remained of this transport barge and think to himself how lucky he was to still be alive.

The barge was at least four generations out of date. With large bulky protrusions in engines that also acted as a method to lift the ship up on each corner of the ship. Two of them had exploded, and as the ship fell, its form began to warp as it stumbled through the sky, making it so that when it landed it not only split in half but in a twisted state as well.

Not far from where his ship landed was a far newer-looking and leaner ship. With only one bulky protrusion in its rear and a row of spikes on either side of its keel that helped keep it afloat, or would have if not for the fact it suffered the same fate. It was clear that it was a pirate owned with the way it emphasized speed over power and it’s evil-looking flag. It also had a thin layer of armor plating, and no sails to help it move since it didn’t need one with its no doubt newer engine and wind barrier that it probably produced, meaning that it was a very slender and agile-looking ship. Compared to the large fat transport barge that he was on, which was originally made of wood and had more tape than rivets keeping it together, it was like night and day.

Off into the distance, he could see pieces and parts of other ships. Some of them new, some of them old. He peered out the window, contemplating his situation.

“Shit… I can’t believe I actually survived this… Now if I only can find some-” He froze as he noticed something move onto the deck with great speed. “What was that!”

He leaned forward trying to see if he could get another glimpse of the blur that zipped by. But nothing else happened for a while…

Slowly he moved away from the window, taking another wisp and slotting it into a free shard on his rifle. Even if he could not see it he could tell… he wasn’t alone anymore…

He then began to check the control console and other electronics to see if anything was still functioning. Maybe by some strange twist of fate there would be some power left in this old ship and the transponder and radio would still work. But no matter how much he tried, he couldn’t even get a single signal out. Everything was broken and damaged, mostly beyond repair, and what few things were fixable, wasn’t worth the effort since it wouldn’t do anything to help increase his rate of survival.

“Shit!” He slammed his fist on the console once he realized it was useless to him. “...Maybe one of the lifeboats has a working distress beacon I can use? Or maybe I can get one of the engines to work again… If I just had some power…” He shook his head.

“No… That wouldn’t work. I don’t have the time to play mechanic. I should probably just repurpose one of the lifeboats and see if I can’t make it float. Maybe power it somehow to move across this snowy landscape? Better then-”

There it was again!

Just out of the corner of Van’s eyes through the window he saw something scuttle across the deck and into the hold. He rushed towards the glass and tried to peer downward to see if he could catch a glimpse of it once more. But to no avail…

Van just stood there for a solid minute, eyes refusing to budge even a millimeter, taking in every little thing within his vision. But no matter how hard he stared, nothing moved…

He had to force himself away from the window, his instincts screaming at him that something was wrong and that he had to be careful, that he had to catch whatever was moving in the act, just to make sure it wasn't his imagination. But he refused, and instead took a deep breath, trying to relax his frayed nerves.

Eventually, he came to the conclusion that he needed to get out of here. It may be a bit of a risk, but some risk was better than staying here and hoping that nothing was actually wrong. He went back to the console and tried to bring up the logs of the ship, checking to see where they were before they fell, and extrapolating from there where they could have fallen.

“If my calculations are correct…” Bringing up a map for the fire layer and checking it and then comparing it to the frost layer map. “The ship drifted a little when it fell and hit the cold sea. Before finally falling through… That means we landed on…” He checked the map, trying his best to read it through the flickering screen. “Blesswood Island. Or as the locals call it, Drvo Doma.” He checked the map intently, but the flickering screen finally died out leaving a blank blackness that seemed to suck in what little hope he had left.

Once more his fist hit the console. “Dammit! At least let me check if this stupid island has a port or not!” He grumbled in annoyance, not able to believe his terrible luck. All of a sudden the ship began to tilt once more and he had to brace himself. The old wood and rusty rivets began to stretch and bend, a few pieces popping out as an entire section of the ship fell away.

After it stopped, Van let go of his death-like hug on the console. It was the only piece on this stupid ship that was properly installed. Mostly because it was newer than the ship by several decades, and looked far out of place considering all the other older and rusty pulleys and levers that called the bridge its home.

After the last of the shaking ended, Van plopped down on the captain's seat to take a quick breather. He then brought up his hand and covered his eyes as he took in a deep breath and let it out, gently pinching the tip of his nose.

Once he had recovered somewhat, he got up and prepared to leave. This place wasn’t safe anymore. Things too fast to see were crawling over it, and the ship was falling apart. There was nothing left to do but get out and hope for the best.

But just as he was about to leave, he remembered something important. Quickly turning back, he rushed to one of the levers. Just like everything else, it had seen far better days. But that wasn't what was important right now. He almost wanted to kick himself for forgetting this. With a quick pull, two burning flares shot up into the sky from the ship.

He peered through the window as the lights arched through the air, glad he didn’t forget. Even if he was going to leave the ship, even if it might mean drawing attention by raiders or monsters, there was a chance that someone might actually come to his rescue. Now all there was left to do was use the captain's keys to get to the emergency flare gun and maybe get one of the lifeboats to work.

With his task done here, he left this time for good. Turning his back on the corpses of his former employer and down the stairs into the belly of the ship. He took a quick detour to the captain's quarters and opened up the door to see what might be useful to loot. He was not disappointed.

While there were slim pickings. He was able to grab a handful of coins and Jems that he greedily pocketed. Better yet, he found a credit stick and tapped it to his ornate bracelet, transferring the credits, his eyes going wide at the amount. There were a few other things he wished he could pocket and take with him, but they were too big and bulky. He also made sure to pack the emergency flare gun, and take a few of the other keys laying around for easier access to the ship that could be useful later on.

Walking out of the captain's quarters he headed down towards the deck and hopefully to one of the very few still intact lifeboats available. He walked down a broken and bloody hallway towards the door that would lead him outside. A little nervous, he began to open the door, hoping that he would find nothing, peering carefully in the growing gap he was making.

Van froze.

The thing had five spider-like legs equally spaced around its cylinder-like body. It was broken into two segments, with the top half having three arm-like protrusions that ended in claws. The lower segment had a ring of eyes alongside its legs, while the top part had one large one and what appeared to be a bulbous stinger of sorts right under it. Above and below it seemed to have two mouths, to which it was feeding pieces of a freshly ripped-apart corpse to, an unfortunate soul that didn’t simply fly off as the ship fell and got tangled in some rope.

Upon noticing Van, its top half spun like a turret towards his direction and its two mouths gave a terrifying shriek. He closed the door just in the nick of time as the bulbous stinger-like protrusion fired off a sticky string of webbing in his direction.

Van locked the door and ran.

“Shit! Shit! Shit! What the hell was that! I’ve never heard of a monster like that before!” Van ran down the hall he just walked through previously at breakneck speeds. He really didn’t want his previous suspicions that he might not be alone to be right in such a frightening way. Once at the intersection, he turned and lifted his rifle as he heard banging against the door as the thing pried it open with its body.

His first thoughts were to continue fleeing down the twists and turns of the ship and lose it some way. But he realized he didn’t know how many of those monsters were actually out and about and didn’t want to risk accidentally running into another one. So he instead stood his ground and decided to check the effectiveness of his weapon on the creature. If he could harm it or kill it, then perhaps he might have a chance of survival if he ran to others. If not, then at least he would know that the only thing he could do was run and hide and conserve his wisps for other more important things for survival.

Van took steady aim as the fucked up frost spider, as he called it in his head, tore its way through the hinges of the door and opened it up enough for its body to pass through. With a terrifying screech it was just about to charge through the gap before being knocked back by a massive detonation as Van charged up a fire wisp and a wind wisp and fired it towards the spider's direction.

The two wisps temporarily combined to create an explosion that flung the spider backwards through the door it just pried open, dealing great amounts of damage to its body. But this only seemed to anger it and it gave another screech and angled its body to charge back into the breach.

Van fired an earth wisp at the metallic door that was now slightly ajar. When the spider began to try and rush past it, it exploded outwards into metal spikes that skewered the monster. The creature gave a roar of pain, and almost seemed affronted that such damage was done to its body. Despite the ghastly wounds it sustained, it continued to writhe and wiggle, trying to get at its prey, its top half trying to spin around to fire more of its disgusting thread towards his direction.

But Van wasn’t going to allow that to happen. He lifted up his rifle one last time and channeled an earth wisp and a fire wisp and fired it at the monster. A far more condensed explosion rocked the spider, splattering guts and flinging the door it was stuck to outside where it lay finally still.

With a satisfied huff at the gory sight of the spider, he turned to inspect his rifle to check it for overstraining after firing so many wisps at a time. He eyeballed it thoroughly, making sure nothing was out of place. “Looks good… Seems like it held up well despite forcing two wisps at a time twice. Downside is I can feel some slight energy fluctuations in it, that means I was pushing it pretty close. No straining though, and no breakage either… That's good. I’ll need to give it some time for the fluctuations to pass before I think of using it again anytime soon.”

He then put his rifle away and checked his spirit lantern.

“Five wisps down, and with the condition of the lantern, it will take them far longer to recover their energy than before. At least I’m not like other humans and just expand my wisps completely, even if it does increase the power of the attack, I feel it’s more important that they are alive and can be used again for later. Now I only have three wind wisps, five fire wisps and two water wisps in total left… Not sure how useful the water wisps would be… But maybe I can work something out…” He thought, as he already added the wind and fire wisp he had left in his rifle to what he had left.

Gently he coaxed a wind wisp, three fire wisps and a water wisp into his rifle. Their lights sparkled in the crystals that held them to his weapon. With that done, he moved carefully forward to the now broken doorway.

Peering outside and checking both ways, he found not a trace of life around him. It seemed that no other monsters were nearby. Maybe they were far enough away that they didn’t hear the explosion and fighting. Or maybe that was the only monster in the area.

He hoped for the latter, but expected the worst.

After all, he didn’t know how these monsters thought, for all he knew they were waiting for him to let down his guard. Or maybe just perhaps they were chowing down on more easy prey, such as the unmoving ones that were piled up high everywhere inside the ship. Which meant it truly was better for him to leave as soon as possible than risk running into another spider of that kind.

Walking onto the deck, he realized that the damage was far worse than he thought now that he had an up and closer look at everything. He found it hard to find purchase on the slanted floor, especially because of all the ice now slowly forming on top of it. It didn’t help that there were splinters and holes all over the place. It truly was a miracle that this hunk of junk of a ship fell in one piece. Perhaps there really was a reason why it was still in service after all these years…

It didn’t matter now though. Now he had to find a way out of here. The first step being to check if some of the lifeboats were still available, though by the look of things, that was probably not going to happen…

Literally everything that he could see was destroyed… Lifeboats included… They were as old as this stupid ship. But he couldn’t help but hold on to some form of hope that they would somehow make it out in one piece. Sadly, that was not the case…

“Who fucking uses wood for life rafts now and days anyway!?” He exclaimed inwardly as made his way to what little remains of one of the few lifeboats around. “Why does everything on this stupid ship have to be over forty years old! And why wasn’t it properly secured!?” He gave a swift kick to a piece of the wood that used to be a lifeboat. “Why couldn’t I have been on a ship with actual life pods, or escaped pods, or just… Anything!” He gave another kick, this time hitting the torn in half lifeboat.

Normally he wouldn’t allow such displays of anger, it simply wasn’t like him at all. But after everything he’s been through, having a stupid captain, racist crewmates, falling down an entire layer, having almost died, then being attacked by a spider abomination and his only way to safety being destroyed alongside the ship. Left him a little… peeved… So much so he decided to give one last kick to the remains of the stupid lifeboat. Just to get rid of the last of his anger.

Which was the worst thing he could have done…

The boat slowly started to slide on the now icy surface of the deck. It picked up speed as it made its way down, hitting more pieces of wood, broken crates and other things as it made its way to the bottom. With a loud crash, the pieces of debris collided into a cacophony of noise and sound that could wake the living dead.

Van stood still. Frozen in place. As frozen as the few corpses still stuck on deck, their bodies covered in layers of ice… For a moment nothing happened… And then…

SKREEEEE!!!

A chorus of numerous screeching sounds burst up and all around the ship and its insides. Van’s face went pale as he realized he was in grave danger and began to look every which way in the hopes of finding some means of escape from this predicament. He soon realized that the only way out was the path that the lifeboat made for him. He had to get down and as far away from the ship as possible, maybe hole up in another one nearby, or just take his chances out in the snow…

Taking a few tentative steps, he picked up momentum and let himself slide down the now cleared path to the bottom as all around him noises of those horrid creatures drew ever closer. Just as he was halfway there, the deck gave way taking him under.

A massive spider with three segments and seven legs had somehow taken up home inside the hold of the ship. It used its webbing to tear down the broken pieces of the deck above to bring him down.

Van panicking, used some of his energy to jump from crate to crate to avoid falling into the ravenous horde of the spider monsters down below. All of them screeching upward for his blood. Thinking quickly, he coaxed a water wisp and fire wisp out of his lantern and smashed them together.

A wave of hot steam engulfed the area, blinding everyone. The spiders now shrieked in pain and anger. Unhappy about the heat they now found themselves bathed in. Their already poor eyesight now finding it hard to track his location as he used a wind wisp to empower his speed and jumping capabilities.

Taking a leap of faith, he jumped for the edge of an intact part of the deck and clambered on. Fleeing the scene as fast as he could with the wind wisp helping him reach great speeds. He slid the rest of the way down until he found himself in the snow down below, just as the effects of his little wind friend timed out.

But that wasn’t the end of the massive daddy long monster…

It was far more intelligent than its younger and weaker brethren and jumped high up onto the deck to chase after its prey. It had been so long since it had fresh blood, and it refused to give up when such a tasty morsel was right in front of it. Its top two segments swiveled in place and spun to aim for Van. They fired clods of sticky goo in his direction. One missed by a foot, right nearby Van’s boot. The other whizzed overhead, mere inches away.

Van went double time and used a water wisp on his feet in the hopes that he wouldn't fall through the snow as he began to run on top of it. He jerked his rifle around and tried to aim at the monster, sending a wind and earth wisp its way. A hardened piece of earth formed in front of the barrel of his rifle, and was fired with great speeds, amplified by the wind wisp which also helped it hone in on the giant fucked up spider.

The monster shrieked as a chunk of its body caved in. Then it roared in anger and doubled its own speed towards Van undeterred and now mad that its prey even dared to try and harm it.

Van paled. He used his last water wisp to make it even easier on him to move on top of the snow and then fired two fire wisps which rocked the spider back by a few feet. Only for it to continue its charge. What's worse, the other spiders began to crawl out of the woodwork of the ship, and the roars of their boss made even more of their brethren awake from their slumber and pop out of the snow around Van one by one, some of them with only one segment and three legs.

As the situation worsened, he began to panic a little, wondering if this was really how it was all going to end. Despite that he didn’t show a hint of fear as his mind tried to analyze rationally a way out of here the best he could. It would take more than death to scare an Alvarru, but that didn’t mean he didn’t fear… He was afraid… Of failing to meet his beloved…

Gritting his teeth he realized it was too late… He was surrounded… And even more of those larger spiders with three segments began to show up.

Taking a stand he took a bayonet and fixed it to his rifle. He then took the flare gun and fired it up high, letting it be a testament to where he will make his final stand. He then took a knife and held it in his left hand while he held his rifle in his right. The last few fire wisps he had already slotted in.

Just to make sure he checked his spirit lantern and found all his current wisps still tired and depleted of energy. He could probably force them to expend the last of their power for his sake… But he rather have them live on after his death then do something so selfish.

His preparations complete, he stood tall and gave a glare worthy of an Alvarru. One filled with the power and pride of his race and the sheer malevolence that followed. Even the spiders could sense that something had changed in their prey, an almost instinctual fear made them pause.

The many spider monsters that surrounded him then stopped in place, keeping their distance as their wounded boss slowly made its way towards its prey. It knew that Van had nowhere to go, and relished the thought of digging into such a feisty meal. But learning its lesson from before, ordered its minions to attack first with a skittering roar and shriek.

The spider monsters shrieked in unison and began to charge. Some fired their webbings, to which Van did his best to dodge. Others tried to tackle him or attack him with their sharp knife-like legs and claw-like arms. But he avoided or blocked such attacks, dodging and rolling out of the way and using his own enemies' bodies as shields.

But it was a losing battle…

Everytime the flood of spiders got too dense, he would fire off a fire wisp, killing or greatly wounding a nearby spider, sending the rest to retreat momentarily. But as time went by, they wizened up to the fact that he couldn’t continue such a thing and began to slowly pen him in.

He jabbed with his bayonet. Sliced with his knife. Kicked with his boot. Sometimes even using his own enemies as springboards to jump and dodge other spiders. But in the end it was to no avail. There were just too many of them, and some of their webbing finally started to hit its mark, slowing him down and making it harder for him to move. Worse, the water wisp had finally run out of juice and his feet began to sink into the snow…

Out of all the spiders he fought… At most he killed two and wound another three. Showing the resilience of these monsters to be unfairly high. He had hoped that he could take a few more down with him, though perhaps this was simply his limit… He remembered how stories were told of great and powerful Alvarru in the old days, destroying entire islands on a whim with just a thought. And wished he could have had the chance to do the same.

The boss of the spiders knew now that it was over. For while Van continued to fight, there wasn’t anything he could do. The giant monster slowly made its way forward, deciding that it was the one that wanted to give the finishing blow. Its underlings quickly moved out its way.

Just then Van thought it was all going to be over, he heard a yell from far away.

“DUCK!” It screamed.

And Van did just that, lowering his head as an arrow from afar whizzed by and embedded itself into one of the eyes of the monster. This was followed by a small shower of arrows that began to fall and strike the other spiders, some being killed instantly. As the boss of the monsters yelled out in anger and pain, Van turned to see who it was that had come to save him.

About half a dozen riders in silver and leather armor came charging in riding mounts that could only be described as a mix of tiger and fox with white fur. He knew almost instinctively that those mounts were demi-spirits of sorts. The riders wielded large beautiful bows and fired arrows with unnerving speed and accuracy. Each shot they fired hit the spiders around him in the exact same place that seemed to kill the other spiders from before instantly.

As they moved in and cut a path of death and destruction, scattering the few remaining live spiders out of their way, the lead rider bent down as they rode by, their hand outstretched.

“GRAB ON!”

He didn’t need to be told twice. He reached out for the offered hand and was pulled with surprising strength upward and onto the back of the leader's mount. They then dashed out of the encirclement, the mounts using their claws and teeth to tear apart any spider that dared get in their way. The boss spider roared in anger and in impotent rage as its prey fled away from it, knowing that it would be unable to catch up to its meal now.

Van gave one last look back as they fled the small horde of spiders. He didn’t know who it was that saved him. All he knew was that he was thankful for their help and owed them his gratitude.

For a long time they rode through the landscape without stopping. The scenery was almost hauntingly beautiful now that his life wasn’t in danger. He could only hope that his luck had finally turned around…

“Well this is embarrassing, I hope I don’t owe these people too much.”

Van couldn’t help but think that way, for even though his life was saved, his experience with people has made him jaded to the well intentions of others. The number of people he could genuinely trust could be counted on one hand, and none of them were here.

He held on tight to the armor clad women, for that was what he could tell from pressing against her for so long. The metal and leather she was wearing, did not completely hide her figure that lay just underneath. It made him wish he could let go and put some distance in the shared saddle they were sharing. But the speed that they were going at prevented such an idea, even for him, who was used to standing on deck of an airship flying at great speeds with the wind in his face, couldn’t not let go for fear of falling off.

“We haven’t slowed down in over an hour. Though stronger than the average person, I'm not sure how much longer my body can last, wounded as it is. And these beasts don’t seem to tire, nor have they slowed down once on our journey, despite the speed we’ve been traveling… Could they be not your regular flesh and blood beast, but a unique type of spirit beast? How rare…”

These questions and more he wanted to ask. But despite the fact they were technically his saviors, he couldn’t help but also feel like their hostage. So decided against asking any unnecessary questions.

In the end he started looking around him to help pass the time, but all he found was an endless expanse of white snow accompanied by harsh winter winds. The extreme temperatures and environment forced him to put his mask and goggles on to protect him from the elements.

Finally, after an indeterminable amount of time later, they were slowing down. Taking a quick look around, he found they were headed towards a forest of trees with oddly spherical-like fruit hanging from the points of the twisted branches. The tree itself seemed to be made of ice or glass, with leaves that jingled in the wind like wind chimes, all in an eerie strange light blue color.

By this point his saviors and their mounts had slowed down considerably. Now taking their time to leisurely go through the strange forest.

“What are these…” He mumbled.

He couldn't help but ask, he had never seen trees like these before, and he had been to many strange and exotic islands during his travels. More importantly, the strange spherical fruit that these trees produced, would from time to time pop off as the wind blew and they would float through the air, flying high on the wind as if they were some sort of bubble. But what truly drew his attention to them, wasn’t the oddness of the fruit, but what he could sense within them…

The scent of spiritual energy…

It should come as no surprise that his question went unanswered. Either they did not hear him, or he was being ignored. It was almost as if he didn’t exist or never spoke at all. It annoyed him somewhat but he dared not make it an issue. After all, for all intents and purposes, they were his saviors and until they proved otherwise he couldn’t risk making them enemies because he decided to pester them with a bunch of inane questioning.

The ride by now had slowed down further, and eventually they had crested up a hill where he was able to overlook a small campsite with a few more people in leather and fur armor. It seemed this was the base of the operations for those in the area, it looked like a glorified logistics center or hunters camp. For the facilities he could see seemed to revolve around the processing of plants and animals. Many of which were being bled dry and waiting to be turned into food for storage down the line.

He was pretty sure this wasn’t some sort of small village. Because if it was, it wouldn’t be out in the open, no matter how well defended the environment seemed to allow. There were no children, and there seemed to be just as many carts and beasts as houses. There was also a lone watchtower at the very edge of the encampment that had a look out. Upon seeing their group, the man waved something towards the campsite before their group entered it fully.

“It doesn’t seem to be a village… no signs of children and elderly. And if it was it probably would be better defended than this… One watchtower, small wooden wall, two gates…”

As their group passed through the gate and entered the center of the campsite. The curiosity of the nearby hunters and workers seemed to be drawn towards them. Though it seemed to be due less to him and more to the person he was riding with.

Eventually they stopped and the rider he was sitting behind raised her hand to stop the rest of her companions. And with another quick motion of her hand and an order, they all got off at the same time. Leaving him alone on the saddle and feeling a tad to many eyes on him for his liking.

He also tried to get off the spirit beast, but with a quick gesture from his savior was stopped, forcing him to stay on. So far she had not said a single word to him since she saved his life from those horrific nightmare inducing spiders.

A small crowd had formed around them at this point. A few gazes unwelcoming at the appearance of his savior. A few also gazed towards him with curiosity and displeasure, maybe even disdain at the new stranger among their midst. After a few moments, what could only be described as their leader walked through the crowd to confront them.

“Well what trouble have you brought for us this time Lun?” A youngish looking man asked aggressively. His ice blue eyes flashing with a hint of annoyance, as if aggravated for some reason. Perhaps this wasn’t the first time his savior had brought someone home… With the way he spoke, it was clear that they two had a less than ideal history between them.

“Do you remember the last time you tried saving someone? In the end he stole a bunch of our supplies and almost ended up killing one of our own. He wound up dead despite your good intentions, having run right into a horde of Xeadderkop alongside all of our hard earned work. Now here you are bringing another stranger?” He got a few mumblings of agreement from the onlookers at that, though for the most part everyone stayed silent, waiting to see what would happen next.

But if this had any effect on his savior, she didn’t show it. Instead she casually took off her helmet and pulled down her hood, finally revealing her face. Long white snowy hair cascaded down to her back as she leveled her own sharp gaze at the man standing in front of her.

this is a new work I'm thinking of writing. not everything will be used and no chapters have been written yet. if you have any ideas you wish to add, say so in the comment section down below. hopefully, I'll have written maybe one or two chapters by October. when I do, there will be some chapters on royal road and scribblehub, but most will be on Patreon. this will not be as big as the world of alvarra bio, but I feel it's better because of that, let me write without having to take account of every little thing. if you have any one-off characters you want to add, or any suggestions for names for some minor characters, please don't be afraid to say so in the comment section below or on discord.

Charaters

Minor characters

world

nations/guild/other powers

race

powers/cultivation

spirits

tech/other

beasts/plants/minerals/other

terms/miscs

CHARACTERS-

Van(short for something else/name pending)

-(race): Alvaru

-(appearance): The Alvaru race can easily be noticed by their eyes. Van’s eyes are a deep yet bright blue, with black sclera that have white like star spots that breaks through the edges of the iris at certain points and enters the slitted pupil in the center, giving it a strange and eerie blackhole-like effect where it devours stars and darkness. He does not have a single hair on his body, other than on his face and head, allowing for completely smooth skin that is surprisingly hard, yet soft. No nipples, no belly button, no balls, giving some people the impression of a lizard or dragon with the way his body seems to work. Tall, with hard bones tougher than the average human and muscles that are dense yet efficient, giving him a wiry yet athletic look, despite not having trained much. Pointed ears slanted to the side, sharp canines, and eagle like eyes, plus a strong nose, all of which allow him in one form or another to sense things around him, effectively heightened senses. -At the moment, he is wearing military boots, black pants, and blue uniform, with the Merkander Logo on them.

-(history): Van was a young boy, supposedly born to two normal Solisians, the human equivalent of this world. Except, he was not born like other solisions… he was somewhat hated by his parents, and while not always treated unwell, it was clear that he was neglected, other than when his parents had to feed and house him. He had two younger siblings who his parents loved far more than him, who also kept his distance from him the same way he did to them. After almost dying to his father by accidental neglect, when his father decided to take him on a trip and forgot to feed him, he was given over to someone else by orders of his grandfather to someone more responsible. This someone was far more like a father figure than his own actual father, and who was a mechanic/artificer and also worked on other tools such as ones for airships. He taught Van how to make airship engines and parts, as well as how to fly airplanes and airships, though mostly hands off… as well as the making of many gadgets and tools. Van befriended his new father’s daughter, who was the same age as him, the two getting along well enough. Van spent the next five-six years studying and training, and going to the nearby forest where spirits resided to help relax from time to time. He met a nature spirit there, who he quickly became friends with and over the years, became something more… one day the two made love, and the daughter found out about it and refused to talk to him, believing him to be the same as all other Alvaru… Van, not wanting to continue living in the same house as someone who hated him, decided to leave, trapping his nature spirit lover in a spirit core, which is necessary to operate and power his airplane. Though this one was unique, in that it did not harm the spirit within, after that, he left. only to find himself attacked by a corrupted aldrongonga(name pending) a giant sky whale of sorts that has had turned black and tentacle-like, the next thing he knew, he was falling down, to the next layer, and the layer after that until he crashed into an airship at high speeds. He somehow survived, but the owner of the ship was not pleased. In order to pay her back for the damages, he was to work for her for the next two years(number pending), while she kept his unique spirit core as collateral. Next thing he knew, he was on a mercenary ship as a spiritmancer, using a spirit lantern and wisps to attack other people with and cast spells. He only had three weeks of training before they shipped him out, and then the ship he was on was attacked by a rival group and he found himself falling to the last layer of the world… now he must somehow survive and get back up, otherwise… he might lose his love…

-(personality): A bit stoic and reserved, he keeps his feelings to himself and has some trouble opening up to others due to past experiences. He is inquisitive, and will study anything given the time, always wanting to learn how something works. He can get nervous, inwardly speaking, and usually decides to remain quiet when he doesn’t know what else to do, worried he may screw something up. He tries to avoid confrontation, but since he is socially awkward, that doesn’t always work to his favor, which loops back to him being quiet, especially because he can be a bit too truthful for his own good. He has a very kind and caring soul, and rather not harm others, only doing so when he feels forced to. He does not feel fear, almost literally, not much can scare him, that does not mean he can’t be a little afraid, but true fear is distant to him, making him react in unique ways, perhaps a bit too calmly and rational for others to take. He also strangely enough, has a bit of a spiritualist side to him, or at least, from an outside perspective. Despite his good heart, he will do what he feels is necessary if he deems it, no matter what others think of him. He can also become a little obsessed with those who he deems belong to him… but understands to let them go should it come down to it.

-(main goal): His number one goal is to retrieve the spirit core that has his spirit lover inside in the time limit of two years. If failing that, following the trail to find his lover at all costs. Also get down to the bottom of the weird dreams he has from time to time. Obtain freedom.

-(sub goals): Grow stronger, earn money, learn more. Figure out the cause of the corruption and perhaps find a way to fix it. Somehow remain under the church's awareness and or influence. Get a lot of lovers if possible, starting by retrieving his first one. Maybe one day see beyond the covered sky.

-(wants/likes/dreams): Van’s utmost desire is to have ultimate freedom, alongside those he loves. He wants to be with those he loves no matter what, no matter how many of them there are, which may mean a harem. He dreams of one day flying wherever he wants to fly, earning a good living and exploring the world and the secrets of his people's past, but most importantly, to have fun with those he cares about. He likes art, enjoys good food and admires good craftsmanship. He also likes the spirits, feeling always indebted to them. He dreams of one day, seeing beyond the covered sky.

-(dislikes/fears/drawbacks): Has a great dislike for corruption in all forms, wants to do something about it but can’t at the moment. Has a sense of extreme urgency to rescue his lover that is still trapped in a spirit core. Has a tendency to be obsessed with things he deems belong to him, no matter what they are. Perhaps a little to calm for his own good. Lack of fear is a bonus, but so is it a drawback.

-(power): Van is a spirit mancer, which means he can use the powers of the spirits to cast spells and more. But unlike other types of spirit mancers, who use spirits until they are depleted, Van uses his own energy to power his spells, using the spirits only as a catalyst and core of the spell. He has some aura power, but not much.

-(skills): Van is a beginner when it comes to aura, the same with spiritmancy, though he is oddly good at that. He’s an intermediate flier and mechanic on most things flyable. He’s somewhat of a novice fighter and gunner, relying heavily on his Alvaru abilities to help him in combat. While he has some intermediate skill when it comes to most craftable things that don’t require anything more than just his two hands, he is actually quite advanced when it comes to artificery, which can be something similar to engineering in this world.

-(Spells):

Flame Bullet: when it hits it can cause a small explosion with a chance to catch the target on fire. Requires a spirit gun.

Wind Bullet: shoots a bullet that can travel twice as far with better accuracy and piercing damage. Requires spirit gun.

Earth Bullet: Doubles that damage plus the area of the impact, aching almost like a slug in that regard, but reduces distance of shot. Requires spirit gun.

Water Bullet: makes a bullet that can either ricochet, or shoot out like a shotgun, the damage is the weakest of the other bullets. Requires spirit gun.

Fireball: create a ball of fire to attack with.

Waterball: create a ball of water to attack with.

-(equipment): Van wears a very uncomfortable military uniform forced onto him by the merkander merchant union, only allowed to keep his previous belongings in one bag that he carries everywhere. He wears black leather boots, dark gray pants, and a white shirt with a light blue combat uniform on top. Since he is a spiritmancer, he was also given a dark blue cloak, with a symbol of a constraint star, a sign that he is tainted, at least by the views of this world, it is oddly cozy though. He was also given a rifle, a spirit lantern to hold his wisps in and a bag to carry his stuff in with an assortment of other military crap, as well as a combat dagger.

-(misc):

Luanna

-(race): Spirit-kin (name type pending)

-(appearance): A stunning beauty with flawless skin whose body is like that of a ballerina’s, yet taut like an athlete who does yoga or swimming regularly. She has light blue skin, straight snow white hair that reaches her hips and icy blue eyes. Long legs, large breasts, elegant form and a tight ass, would make heads turn if it weren’t for the fact she has an icy demeanor and sharp no nonsense gaze. Slight pointed ears to allow for better hearing. Eyes that allow her to see far away and pinpoint objects in the whiteness of snow and ice. She wears form-fitting leather armor, as well as some metal parts to protect her more vulnerable parts of her body, as well as fur and a large whitish blue cloak.

-(history): Luanna never knew her mother as she died when she was young. Her father was a hunter and great warrior and raised her mostly single handedly as far as she could remember. Her father was her entire world, and she did everything she could as a little girl to make him proud of her, to which he always was… but living in the snowy cold layer of the world wasn’t always so easy… something she had to learn quickly growing up as the harsh cold of her world was unfriendly to all forms of life… even those as great as her father… who was killed while she was still a young girl, leaving her and her adopted sister to fend for themselves… Thankfully, the village chief was a wise and caring old woman, and helped them out. But it didn’t do anything to stop the beginnings of a fire of hatred in the young girl’s heart. One for the beast that killed her father, and one for herself for not being strong enough to help him… since then, she has worked tirelessly to hone her skills and get stronger. Tirelessly working to exhaustion over and over again. Not putting any time into social skills or acquiring friends and allies, focused solely on herself, and perhaps her sister claire. She quickly became the top young warrior and hunter in their clan, making enemies amongst her own kind due to their jealousy and her lack of desire of extending a hand towards them, no matter how many chances they tried to give her. While still far from being the top hunter, she is at least the top when it comes to her own age group, and the one above her. Though her progress has hit a sudden wall as her ability to improve her aura has stopped, slowly allowing those behind to catch up to her, and irritating her to no end, as she is too confused as to why her progress has ended, and refuse to acknowledge others help, even from the chief that helped her out before. She is a talented woman, but dangerous as she is beautiful, her eyes cold, and her heart set on vengeance on the monster that killed her father.

-(personality): To call Luanna tempered would be an understatement. She’s more machine than person, dispensing cold calculated orders to her younger hunters that she’s in charge of with little regard for their input, mostly just soloing or acting on the hunt before her while the others are still trying to come up with a plan. While she has been hit on once or twice in her life, her attitude and mindset prevents her from registering any poetics or upfront proposals for her company, future or otherwise. Once given an order to hunt something, she will go to any lengths to do so, no matter what happens, even if the scenario of the hunt as changed widely out of proportion and she is forced to spend literal days out in the cold wilderness to hunt her quarry, while most others, even seasoned hunters, would have turned back. She deems anything that does not have anything to do with improving her ability or survival as beneath her, the only exception being her younger sister and Mumu, her contracted steed. When she is not hunting, she is training, or sometimes studying. Deep down, she easily gets frustrated with others, though makes sure to portray a calm front so as to convince others she’s not that unapproachable and most importantly, not to cause needless fights, as she deems such things as a waste of time.

-(main goal): Kill the beast that killed her father, at all costs, at least one day…

-(sub goals): Grow stronger and secure her clan’s and her adopted sister’s future. Maybe one day, once she kills the beast that killed her father, she can move on with her life…

-(wants/likes/dreams): Dreams of killing the beast. Likes seeing improvement in herself. Sometimes wonders to herself what she would do once her vengeance is complete.

-(dislikes/fears/drawbacks): Hates the nightmares that plague her of her father’s death that she believes is her own fault. Dislikes lazy people who hold her back. Can be obstinate to a fault. Fears that she won’t be able to avenge her father. Fears that she is stuck and can’t improve any further.

-(power): First layer aura knight.

-(skills): Advanced hunter and archer. Advanced tracker and fighter. Intermediate survivalist and freerunner. Novice herbalist.

-(spells):

Frost walker skill: allows her to run on snow and ice without losing her grip.

Wind stride skill: allows her to increase her speed temporarily by 20% and allows for agile movement.

Frost Arrow: allows her to enchant an arrow head with the aura of frost.

Wind Arrow: allows her to enchant an arrow with the power of wind, allowing it to travel further with more speed and accuracy.

Aura leap: depending on the amount of aura used, allows the user to increase their jumping ability by 3 to 10 feet. Also taking into account skill.

Aura grip: Allows one to grip onto surfaces. The Flatter the surface, and the heavier the person, the more aura and skill is required.

-(equipment): wears form fitting leather and fur armor that protects from the cold and is colored to help blend in the surrounding snowscape. Has six throwing daggers, a regular dagger, rope and grappling hook, tinder for fire, a cup for water, bandages and healing herbs, as well as a few other things to help survive in the frigid cold. She has her trusty large reinforced hunting bow, and two curved short swords and finally her frost resistant cloak.

-(misc):

Claire (name pending)

-(race): Alvarren

-(appearance): Somewhat similar to a snow fox, this semi furry woman is the adopted sister of Luanna. With pale bright blue eyes, long furry pointy ears on her head with black tips and a long puffy tail with amazingly soft fur. She looks like a mix between an animal and human. She wears a beautiful dress with many symbols and designs in a shamanisic fashion, mixed with oriantal influences of her home, giving her a strange miko like vibe. Her expression is soft, with long eyelashes and luscious pink lips. But she can change into a full blown furry if she wants to, making her stronger and faster.

-(history): Claire was adopted by Luanna’s father when she was young. Alvarren are considered the lowest rung of society, though they make up for a good portion of it. Because of this, when disaster hits a community of Alvarren, not many people or genuinely the authorities themselves, are willing to lend aid. Because of this, Claire never knew her parents, and as far as she can remember, her earliest memories were as a kid, fleeing with her village from something, and then being picked up by Luanna’s father. Because of this, she feels an immense form of gratitude towards Luanna and her father, one she feels compelled to return the favor of, and by extension, to the Luanna’s clan. While awkward at first, Luanna and Claire eventually got along with each other and started to think of each other as family to lean on, only to lose it all when Luanna’s father died. After that, it felt like she lost her family all over again, for Luanna became singularly focused on revenge to the exclusion of all things, making Claire feel alone. Though that did not stop her from doing her best to try and support her sister the best she could. Taking after the chief, she began to train in the shaminsic arts of the clan to commune with the spirits and provide aid to all those who come to her for it, especially her sister. It is hard going, and most definitely grueling, but bit by bit, she has managed to contract a few spirits to her will. Though it has cost her much…

-(personality): Due to constant years of mediation and being taught to be deliberate in all things, Claire can be considered to always think before she responds in all matters. She always moves with grace and purpose and puts all her concentration into whatever task she’s doing on hand, while still doing her best to still be aware of her surroundings as she was trained to be. While inwardly she feels a bit short tempered when she feels her time is wasted, she is always willing to sacrifice a bit of it to give a small bit of help to anyone who she comes by if it looks like they need it, earning her a very good reputation with her neighbors. Constantly looking calm and collected, she is sometimes given important ritualistic tasks, something she inwardly sometimes feels is too much, but at the same time is willing to put up with a lot if it means helping others and the people who helped raise her. She has a self sacrificial kind of attitude, and a serious personality, that gets frustrated with Luanna for not opening up with her, but still cares and loves her no matter what. Secretly, she kinda wishes she could just relax and play around from time to time…

-(main goal): Claire’s main goal is to keep her reckless sister, as she sees it, alive. This could mean providing healing spells or buffs, doesn’t matter. She just wants to keep her sister alive. She also wants to provide help to the clan, and figure out what is wrong with the sacred tree, and why it is becoming corrupted.

-(sub goals): She wants to grow stronger. She feels progress, but thinks it is too slow, making her wish she had the talents like her sister does. She also wishes to relax more often, feeling like she’s always a bit too uptight.

-(wants/likes/dreams): she wants her and her sister to be on good terms with each other again, not the distant relationship they have now. She wants to play around with her sister, and maybe have the free time to make close friends with others. Wants to contract more powerful spirits and be more useful. Wants to marry one day and have lots of kids, but make sure she finds a good man first, one she can share with her sister if possible. She wants to eat lots of sweets.

-(dislikes/fears/drawbacks): she’s afraid her sister will one day die the way she’s going. She sometimes tends to put too much on her shoulders than what she can handle. She kinda hates bugs and thinks they are creepy. She doesn’t want to grow old and die alone.

-(power): Spirit garden, level one star.

-(skills): Advanced ritualistic practices and herbology. Intermediate shaman skills and spirit contracts. Novice shikigami user and scholar. Beginner archer.

-(spells):

Minor Heal: use the power of spirits to heal a person marginally.

Bless: give a spirit's blessing to help protect a person by preventing the chances of minor bad things from happening for a short time.

Commune: commune with spirits for a short time after doing a ritual.

Wind sense: call upon a wind spirit to help sense your surroundings.

Empower: empower a spirit to make it bigger or stronger for a limited time, or a prolonged time if the shaman constantly pours power into the spirit or offers a large sacrifice.

Spirit fusion: fuse with a spirit temporally to gain power and abilities.

Talisman: able to create talismans with effects properties such as paralyzation.

Herbal remedy: able to create herbal remedies that have unique effects for healing and other things.

Shikigami: able to create special forms from spirits using her power.

-(equipment): herbs, paper, ink, pen, small drum, staff, flut, incense, ceremonial dagger. Miraculous other stuff.

-(misc):

(Rhea) Name pending

-(race): Spirit(Mid-tier Spirit of Nature)

-(appearance): A beautiful young looking woman that is far older than what she appears. Can change her appearance some, but mostly takes on the form of a young maiden with light skin and dark hair and bright green eyes. Sometimes changing her skin tone to light green and her hair pink. She has medium sized breasts, and some curves, not much, because she looks like she never reached full maturity, always being on the cusp of full womanhood, but never getting there, though it is by her choice. She usually wears leaves, vines, and other plants as clothing, sometimes even using her magic to create things to help cover herself up if she feels like it.

-(history): A seemingly young looking spirit of nature that has actually lived for centuries if not longer. She is the absolute ruler of the island that Van’s lives on, though no one is the wiser for that fact. Rhea sensed Van when he was very young, and as he grew, she began to spiritually call out to him, in the hopes that they would meet. Rhea was drawn to Van, just like most spirits were, and so in him a chance for her to step out of her island and explore the world. Slowly, she seduced Van, getting to know each other, talking to each other, having Van share his problems with her and always being there for him and understanding of everything. Her heart swelled with each visit, and almost instinctively she was drawn more and more to Van, making her more forward with him, though having the mind to still try her best to guide him into loving her. Finally, after one fateful day, the two made love. After that, a series of events happened that drastically changed their lives. Rhea set her next command in charge of the island in her absence, and prepared to depart. Because Van didn’t have a method to hide her, and she couldn’t very well walk out of the forest in front of other people without being caught, Van created a special spirit core for her to inhabit, one that won’t hurt her and help him power the plane they would use to leave the island. A few months later, they left, but another series of events, this time ones more unfortunate, caused them to crash and become separate. Now Rhea is trapped within the spirit core, afraid to reveal herself and most hope that her lover can save her. Before it’s too late…

-(personality): Rhea is old, very old, and she knows things others don’t. Despite that, technically speaking, when comparing the long lifespans of other spirits, she is actually very young. In fact, it was only in the last two centuries that she could be considered to have fully mentally matured. But, she has carefully guided and ruled over the other spirits of her island for almost four to five centuries, and not stopping there, has made sure to train up her followers, making them stronger and ensuring that they not only would be able to help her, but would also take over for her should something happen to her. She is a kind and caring ruler, yet can also be a little childish at times. Her mind is a bit of an enigma, like most spirits. She can be a little obsessive, and perhaps a tad controlling, but that is because she can focus to the extreme on trying to maintain balance. She is curious, but patient, willing to wait and learn before acting.

-(main goal): she wants to explore the world, she feels like there is something out there, calling to her, he has to go to it. She wants to be with Van, no matter what, she feels he is the key to her instincts, she also loves him in her own way.

-(sub goals): she feels like her island is too small for her now, in order to grow and become a higher tier of spirit, she needs to experience more and gather more spiritual energy from different places.

-(wants/likes/dreams): wants to explore, wants to grow stronger, wants to fulfill her instinct.

-(dislikes/fears/drawbacks): does not like being trapped in the spirit core for so long. Is afraid she will never see Van again. Is afraid of the church, as well as spirit hunters.

-(power): Can control all the spirits that serve under her. Can use her power to control nature, including some plants and animals. Has some minor power in controlling wind, earth, water and fire.

-(skills): Expert in rulership and in keeping the spiritual energies of an island in balance. Expert at controlling plants and manipulating spiritual energy. Beginner at controlling wind, water, earth and fire. Novice at controlling animals. (other skills pending)

-(spells):

Commune: can be used to talk to other spirits, but can also be used to talk to plants and animals.

Empower: shares a portion of her power with other spirits or objects to make them stronger.

Borrow: borrow the powers of any servants within range of her as if it was her own, allowing her to use other elements to greater extent.

(other spells pending.)

-(equipment): none, unless given.

-(misc):

Other:

-(race):

-(appearance):

-(history):

-(personality):

-(main goal):

-(sub goals):

-(wants/likes/dreams):

-(dislikes/fears/drawbacks):

-(power):

-(skills):

-(spells):

-(equipment):

-(misc):

Minor Characters--

(name pending) Luanna’s father was a kind and caring man, who not only helped his family to the best of his ability, but others whenever he had the chance. While not quite a pillar of his community, he was one to his small group of friends and family. During one of the worst ice/frost storms that hit the frost layer in decades, he lost most of his extended family, including his wife, who using her shaman powers, worked to try and protect her clan, at the cost of her life. It was the worst storm in over hundreds of years, and it killed many people, entire families and villages were decimated, only now slowly starting to recover. Luanna’s father worked hard to hunt for the survival of his remaining family, his daughter and adopted daughter. Sadly he lost his life to a (name pending) a creature like a very furry ape crossed with a behemoth with four arms and a large mouth. It came out of the blue and destroyed the hunting party they were in, and ever since, the part of the valley the creature resided was considered off limits.

(name pending) The village chief is a kind and old woman, being a spirit-kin, she has lived for many years, over three centuries. She leads her village in everything, both through managing the village and its people, as well as the religious practices that pray to the high spirits of old, as well as the stars. She is also the head shaman, who has taken Claire under her wing and guides her in becoming a shaman herself. Over a decade ago, a horrific frost storm shook the layer they were in, covering everything in a layer of ice and snow. She took her village and its people to an old ancestral home of their people, where the great ice flower tree resided, with one of the great spirits they worshiped. Taking over the strange cavern, they made a new life there and worked hard to make it their new home, hunting, foraging and trying to cultivate the land the best they could. But lately, she has realized there is something wrong with the great tree, something she may not be able to fix, a problem that caused the original inhabitants to leave…

Mu-mu(existence pending) Mumu is a small snow spirit contracted to both Luanna and Claire. Mumu is one of the unique beast spirits that reside in the frost layer, a creature mixed between a white fox and snow leopard, with two small horns on her head. These kinds of snow spirits are used by the spirit-kin and Alvarren to get around, riding them as if they were horses. They are very large in their full size, sometimes reaching eight to ten feet. Though when they rest, they can shrink to be no more than foot tall, making them easy to care for. Mumu was a bit of a runt in its litter, that was taken in by Claire and Luanna, to which it is very thankful for, striving to prove itself worthy of their kindness. Despite reaching only seven feet tall in maximum height, she is one of the fastest (name type of spirit pending) around.

Alicia Merkander: Alicia Merkander was a pirate turned merchant leader when her wanderlust finally ran out. Born to a somewhat small merchant family, she decided that boring paperwork and being taking advantage of was not for her. She decided to then purchase a one way ticket off her island and never turned back. What happened later beggars belief, as her life completely turned upside down and she found herself as not only an adventurer but a privateer of sorts. Over the next fifteen years she sailed the high sky streams and plundered enemy ships and found lost treasures, working her way quickly to becoming the captain of her own ship and then a small fleet. She developed somewhat of a reputation for herself known as the blue lightning, for the color of her hat and clothes and the way her ship seemed to always appear out of nowhere and catch up to any ship, no matter how fast it was. Her flag was of a mythical dragon head with a lightning bolt through it. Amassing a small fortune, she slowly grew tired of the pirate life and wished to settle down with her first mate. Returning to her parents after so many years, she found out that her family had actually grown a little, as her father and mother expanded the company quickly in the hopes of catching any and all news of her whereabouts, still fearing she had been lost or kidnapped. When she arrived, her father was on her deathbed, and they were able to meet one last time before he passed, with some reconciliation. Her mother then passed the company to her, and Alicia took on the task of running the company. Marrying her first mate, she had a daughter three years later, though her husband unfortunately died five years after their daughter's birth due to lung complications, an infection that's not very common but can be easily caught by sailors depending where they travel, such as inhaling too much bad air. Alicia was devastated, she had no idea as he concealed his sickness too well, and showed no signs or symptoms, mostly due to his endurance. Now with a quickly aging mother, and now a single parent herself, with a rapidly growing company, she feels pulled on all sides and very stressed out for obvious reasons, sometimes acting very short on her daughter, though loving her deeply and perhaps a bit over protectively as well. Lately though, after a chance encounter with a strange young Alvaru, she feels the wind of change on the air again, and wonders what strange secrets he hides, as well as the spirit orb she had taken from him. But since he damaged her ship, she forced him to work for her for two years while she took his orb from him as collateral, as well as his airplane. Alicia is a spirit-kin, halfing variety.(name pending)

(name pending)

(name pending)

World--

-Solisia-

-(past/lore) A long time ago, the Alvar fell from the stars onto the world of Solisia. They saw the beauty of the world, and came to take it for their own. With a mighty boot of subjection, they shaped the world into their own image. Bending the life and the spirits that lived on this world to their will, tricking them into service with lies and honeyed words. With an iron fist, they forced the people of Solisia to their will and forced them to pray to the stars to which the Alvar came from. But not everything was meant to last. Ventu/Elveru(name pending) and their servants, the Gaians, who were the enemies of the Alvar, came to fight off the Alvar and free the world from their tryannery. A massive battle took the world, killing many and destroying much of what was built. In the end, the Ventu/Elveru and Gaians won, but the Alvar refused to take the defeat lying down. The Alvar took away the stars, preventing the Elveru from finding the way back to their own home, trapping them on the world of Solisia… worse, they unleashed horrible monsters into the depths of the world below, preventing anyone from reaching down too far. Elveru then entrusted the world to its natural inhabitants, and to the Gaians to rule over them, while they slept until the stars returned.

-(present) Almost five thousand years have passed since the great war and the Alvar were defeated. Much of the technology that the two races had has long since has gone into myth. Now new technology is used to help the people of Solisia travel and trade. Gaians hold a somewhat high standing in society and are the usual rulers of most places. While the Alvar are looked down upon and are considered undesirables, forcing their kind to slink into the lower strata of society, what few of them they are, since they have become very rare over time. The state religion of spiritus frowns on all spirit mancers, trying to contain and control them all, saying they are doing so for the greater good of all spirits, and cracks down on the cult of the stars and any shamans that follow it. They have spread their influence and grown far and wide, enforcing much of their rule over the people. There is also a strange problem going on with the many beasts of Solisia, many great and wonderful creatures are falling to something called the corruption, turning them into monsters that mindlessly attack people and towns. But this is also an age of great growth! Technology has allowed it so that ships of great sizes can make long journeys, trading far and wide for resources. And the mapping of the many sky islands of the world has helped people navigate dangerous windways and find new natural recurring fonts of resources to use. This is an area of great prosperity, which foretells inklings of strife in the future, as nations and guilds vie for everything that their shrinking world has to offer as the number of people increase, and rulers use their new wealth to challenge each other into measuring contests… more importantly, the sudden rise of Alvaru activity, or lack thereof… has many people concerned, and the stranglehold the church tries to put on people has only increased in the last few decades, their arrogance making people chaff. Who knows… what could happen next…

-(tentative future) The religion of spiritus is gaining power, and they know things most people wouldn’t believe. They are planning something alongside many other great powers and nations. If something is not done, the corruption will spread and the world will be in danger. Something is happening to the world, the weather is slowly falling off kilter and the flow of energy is not as smooth as it used to be. Spirites, creatures of the elements that were very common in the past, are now slowly disappearing and becoming more rare. Making people worry about their future without the ability to make spirit cores that allow their airships to fly, what will happen to the people stuck on their islands unable to get goods from the outside? War also seems to be on the horizon, but no one knows who to go to war with, or why. Something is happening, and whatever it is, might change the course of history forever…

-(society) the world has a fairly ranked society. The Gaians on top, and the Alvaru on the bottom. This is followed by Solisions, Spirit-kin and then the Alvarren in between. Most nations act as a guild of some sort. It is true that there are kings and queens. But, considering everything is on islands, with a few notable outliers, the ability to acquire wealth and natural resources means that all nations are also in some form or another merchants as well. The greatest importance to a nation, is the ability to obtain, and retain, a natural resource that replenishes over time. Such islands or locations are protected by entire armada’s sometimes, due to their sheer importance. And considering that a simple war could see all your resources plummeting to the bottom of the abyss, means that trading is far more preferable than bloodshed.

Another aspect of this society is how they treat those at the bottom. For the most part, Alvaru are simply shunned, unless the church gets their hands on them, in which case they tend to disappear. The Alvarren are not treated much better, treated like third or rarely, second class citizens, usually doing the menial work and sometimes treated like out right slaves. The spirit-kin are in a unique limbo in society, not quite hated, but not really loved either. As solisians believe them to be failed spirits of sorts, while others believe them to be the representatives of the spirits themselves, or spirits that choose to join in society, making it so depending on the culture, they could either be worshiped, or run out of town. Solisions make up the majority of the ruling class, and a large portion of the population in general. Finally the Gaians are the spiritual leaders of the world, holding great importance, with a single word, they can have an entire island sunk into the depths. The Solisions pray and worship the Gaians as if they were the representatives of the gods themselves, believing the Elveru to be some sort of deities, while the Alvaru to be something akin to devils.

Another aspect of society is that thanks in part to the church, there is a semi unified currency called jems. Though they are coins now, supposedly they used a strange crystal like object long ago, though no one knows what happened to them since they were taken out of circulation. Guilds, which make up the majority of most companies in this world due to the cost of shipping and handling, also use this currency to help with transactions. Nowadays, there is a magical wristband that helps keep count of all your money, so you don’t have to hold it on you at all times.

-(religions) there are many faiths in the world, but the two main ones, or at least, major and minor but well known ones, are the church of spiritus and the cult of the stars. The church of spiritus deems spirits to be the be all and end all of all things that are good in the world. Spirits provide life and wealth, as well as are the reason as for why everything is in perfect balance in the world. Without spirits, everything and everyone will die. More importantly, it is thanks to the Gaians that spirits continue to exist, and therefore hold great importance and authority over everyones lives. The church sticks their nose into everything spirit related, sometimes confiscating spirit cores from others if they believe them to go against the church’s teachings. They also hold a monopoly on the creation of spirit cores, being one of the few that mass produce high tier ones, mostly just for themselves using tech that others don’t have access to.

They also have knights that can act with impunity, bullying others and searching for any dissidents to drag back to the church. The church also preaches of scriptures of how the Elveru will one day break free from the depths of the world, and allow them all to ascend to the stars. They also have an organization of spirit catchers, catching all and any spirits that are free of the church, supposedly to bring them back to be worshiped and protected from evil influences. The lack of such spirits on their natural island, could lead to the decimation of the natural resources that island produced.

The cult of the stars on the other hand, is a mixed hodgepodge of people and faiths, all centering around the worship of the stars. While most don’t even know why they worship the stars, or how, they all believe there is some great important reason to do so. Usually carrying down traditions millenia old, long past the point anyone remembers why they do those traditions in the first place. They believe that on certain auspicious days, they have to give sacrifices and prayers to the spirits on the eve of certain star alignments. Through the use of the stars, they believe they can gather special energies that flow like ley lines through the air that connect to all islands near and far. These traditions are very similar to shamanism, whose believers form special contracts with spirits in exchange for their aid. But for the most part, the Star Cult worship the Alvaru, believing that should they come back again, the social order will change. For the majority of cultists are actually Alvarren, and even some spirit-kin, with a few very exceptions being Solisians as well. The cult believes that spirits shouldn’t be simply worshiped, but understood and made friends with. That man and spirit should work hand in hand together, and not trapped in a cage for their supposed protection, something that deeply goes against the churches teachings.The way of the shaman though, does not always follow any one dogma, and can be wildly different from island to island. But they share many similarities with the cult on how they treat spirits, as not only beings to be worshiped, but also as friends that can be reasoned with and partners that can help each other. There is also a bit more mysticism to it, using incense, doing minor rituals, and going on spirit quests. It goes without saying, but the church will stamp down on either of the two groups if they catch them. Though on some occasions they will go ignored if their presence on an island is too small, for the moment that is. While one can say that the church is completely evil, not all those who follow it are, and more importantly, the church isn’t the only organization to worry about…

It is also important to note, another more secretive cult, one called the cult of the world tree. Where strange creatures called the ventu/vento? Use special seeds to devour entire islands which produce fruit that have unique properties, some of which allow others to live for longer. After they devour an island, they move on to another. They are even more hated than the Alvaru, and that’s saying something.

-(geography) the world of Solisia isn’t like any other world. One can call it something akin to a sky world. A world where islands float and civilizations can be held on the back of a sky whales. The world consists of nine layers, of which unique islands reside, each with different environments. Nations try to carve out territories in this world, which is difficult due to the fact that islands can sometimes move. Those who have established themselves on larger islands are lucky, while those who are smaller have a more difficult time getting by. If not careful, islands can be depleted of resources and spirits and fall to the ground. There are things known as sky streams, where ships and even sometimes small islands can traverse the open sky, in the sky stream, ships can travel far faster, and are sometimes necessary to go between layers. Another important aspect of the world is the Sol Stream(name pending) where a giant upcurrent of magna like slag is shot upward from the depths of the world and far into to many layers, of which nations and guilds around the world try to make use of to harvest for resources such as important minerals and metals. The storms of this world can become catastrophic, to the point entire islands can simply disappear from the map due to one big one simply sweeping it away. Giant towers also make prominent features of the world, helping stabilize the world and providing a special refuge for people to live on. They also may provide hard to find resources, or power sources. Spirits may also make use of sky streams to travel from place to place, or even hitch rides on sky ships to get around. It is not uncommon for some nations and guilds to have control of islands vertically above and below them, depending on the island, such control can allow the quick transfer of unique goods and resources. There are times when islands can rise, and fall, depending on how many spirits there are on the island, or what minerals, so some nations may try to trap spirits, or mine special minerals from other islands to not only keep theirs afloat, but to expand their own into something larger. While it may sound like most islands are constantly shifting, that is not always the case, most of the islands don’t really move, or barely move at all, and technology has allowed islands to effectively anchor themselves in place. This same technology can in turn be used on very small islands to convert them into mini world ships of sorts, allowing the transfer of a large number of people and resources, albeit very slowly. Such ships though are usually used as miniature forts, to stake claims over a certain area that the nation deems their own. Whales can also become large enough to ride on the back of, and there are rare cases of villages using whales to live on or to tow their own island from place to place, chasing herds of rare schools of flying fish for sustenance and trade. Having control over a large area, or areas that allow access to sky streams or areas that allow for vertical travel can give some nations massive amounts of control over others while providing great wealth to themselves. Each nation is also unique, not just between islands of the same layer, but they are also unique from layer to layer, the only exception of which can be found in the earth and sky layer, where for some reason they share one layer instead of two.

-(sample fauna, funa, and materials) many of the organisms have adapted to this world in unique ways. Most of which have some sort of ability to allow themselves to traverse the skies. Whether it is fish with wings or plants creating balloons made of leaves or animals hitching rides on other flying creatures or gliding away like a flying squirrel would. All living things in some way or another either make it so the island they are on perfectly suits them, or can move from island to island when necessary. This of course doesn’t just stop at animals and plants, but even affects minerals as well. Floating stones and rocks are a thing, levitating themselves on the aether as it were. Spirits also play a role in things. Some animals and creatures can absorb wisps which can give them elemental properties. Such as a frosty fox, or a fire cat and more. These also affect plants in unique ways, giving them abilities to fight or even to move from place to place. One of the most important materials is star metal and sol blood, of which further information will be provided below.

-(important technology)

Spirit cores. are a very important aspect of this world. It is necessary for all machinery that requires a lot of energy. Though they are some steam engines, they have nothing on the power a spirit core produces. These cores trap spirits within them, using their near infinite energy to power their machines, mostly airships since that's what is most important. It’s very rare for spirit cores to be used to power a person's mansion, as most would agree that it would be frivolous.

Aether engines. Are what most spirit cores are attached to in airships, or sky ships as they are called sometimes. These engines are used to take control of the aether that surrounds everything in the world and use it to help lift the ship up through the air. It also can be used to power other things and machinery and is usually the most important part of a ship or factory as it is able to channel the spiritual energy/mana/aether throughout the ship or building. Should the engine be destroyed, the ship could very well fall out of the sky, though there are some safety standards to prevent that from happening, allowing some ships to glide their way back home safely, if possible.

-(important structures)

Sol furnace. A great tower-like object, several of which shoot out of the depths of the world, usually stopping in the fiery layer of the world. From the furnace, great amounts of heat is produced, and from time to time, great molten waves of pure fire and mass flow from it. This furnace is used as an eternal energy source and resource producer, as the strange tower produces something called Sol’s blood, which can be turned into almost anything with the help of spirits.

Star tower. A strange black tower that looks like it has starlight trapped within it. They are rare and usually are controlled by the church or by several governments jointly. Rise from the depths of the world and go straight to the very top. No one knows how far up they go, some say to the very stars themselves. Supposedly they were made by the Alvaru, though such knowledge is not common, and when it is, it’s usually seen as a bad thing. No one knows the purpose of the star towers or their reason for existence.

Layers

-(Celestial layer) The highest layer, even those who live on the heavenly layer don’t believe it exists.

-(Heavenly layer) The layer above the storm layer. This layer is for Gaians and high ranking officials of the church as well as a few other notable people that are the top of the top of their respective nation or guild. On this layer, technology is usually a few decades ahead of all those on the lower layers. This layer is always bright during the day, and very dark at night. At night there are supposedly stars, but everyone knows if you try to fly up to them you will die. Beautiful architecture with elegant designs are the norm here, as well as lavish homes and mansions, though it is also not uncommon to find a few islands with a more rural atmosphere that go untouched by large organizations for years at a time. Travel to and from the heavenly layer is extremely restricted, though most of their work is done by the storm layer.

-(Storm layer) The storm layer is the thinnest layer of all of them, yet at the same time the most dangerous. When looking up from lower levels, it looks like there is nothing there, but that is only because you haven’t gotten near it yet. The second you do, the storm layer reveals its name and suddenly you will have a storm surrounding your ship, sending lightning bolts and gusts of wind to knock you down. This layer was practically built to prevent people from easily accessing the heavenly layer, though some ships can pass through the layer without triggering the thunder storms and clouds, usually those owned by the church. Every so often though, a large storm front will appear randomly to knock anyone near it down, whether or not you're a church ship, so it’s important to keep track of the air fronts. Light can easily shine through this layer from the heavenly one down to the lower layers, unless it’s cloudy.

-(Windy Layer) This layer is combined with the earth layer, making one large layer. The windy layer has fewer islands, but is no less important, as many of the church and other organizations use it as an intermediary when going up and down through the storm layer. There are also a lot of large sky streams in this layer, allowing merchants and the like to make past and speedy travel from place to place. There are also many unique flying creatures on this layer, some that live their entire lives here and never once have been on the ground. Many important buildings run by the church and other nations can be found here as well, since travel and control over everything above and around your air space is important, and outposts can allow you to see enemy ships off in the horizon. Islands on this layer are also more easily movable, allowing some towns and even cities to become completely mobile as the aether on this layer is surprisingly strong.

-Earthly Layer) one of the most populous layers of the world, where most of the farming and population resides. On this layer there are also large amounts of mining due to the many floating rocks that rise from the lower levels upwards until they reach this layer. On this layer, a lot of life can be found, from large trees that seem to form entire islands of their own, to whales that can hold entire villages on their backs. A layer of rocks also divides this layer from the lower ones, making it difficult to travel up and down, it doesn’t help that there are usually rain clouds that also block vision from anything below as well as anything from above. Many of the most prominent nations reside on this layer, which also means the church has great influence here. The temperature here is very temperate, allowing for constant growth of food. Most of the other layers require some form of trade with this layer to help feed their population. This layer is also known for its woodworking and craftsmanship.

-(Water Layer) A constantly cloudy and rainy layer. The people who live on this layer have built their houses to better withstand the rain that always seems to pour down with sloping buildings or roofs. The mainstay of this layer is all the fish you can eat, which is a bit odd to catch, since they fly all around you. This can become a major issue as some towns can be suddenly overrun by fish like creatures searching for food, but in turn, hunting those creatures also provide a large amount of food for the people who live here. The major export of this layer is fish, but also water, a unique type of water is found only in this layer, which can be used in steam engines and healing medicines. It is also a very important layer since you need to traverse it to get to the fiery layer, or the fire layer where the furnaces are. This layer is also known for it’s artisans. It is also one of the most dangerous layers to traverse, considering the sheer amount of large aquatic-like life flying out there.

-(Fiery Layer) A very humid and hot layer, almost in complete contrast with the layer below and above it. This layer is where the ever most important furnace is. The furnace is where a vaunt of never ending resources can be made from, though mostly mundane in nature and comprising mostly of iron like metals. Due to the constant heat, one should be careful with the amount of clothes that one wears and always stay hydrated. This place is also filled with smithies that make use of everything that comes from the furnace as well as anything else that rises from the bottom of the layer. The furnace also provides light for the layer, as well as some for the layers above and below it. One can also find a lot of mercenary guilds here, as competition for mining rights can be very fierce. Water is very important to this layer, which can be gathered from the layer above or below. During the night, the furnace also dims a little. (authors note I don’t know if I want to switch the fire layer with the water layer, tell me what you think.)

-(frost Layer) also known as the layer of ice, it is one of the most desolate layers that no one wants to go to unless they are forced to. Despite that, there can be a lot of hidden treasures on this layer, old ruins and more, as well as secret grottoes of nature filled with mystic like plants. It is important to remember though, to always carry a lot of warm clothing and to watch out for monsters that might rise from the abyss. Because of them, this layer is also considered very dangerous, not to mention the frost storms that can cover entire islands in nothing but a sheer wall of ice. The only real export of this realm is the pelts of massive and amazing animals that call this place their home, as well as the many strange and hardy trees and plants that grow here. This is also the place where the church has the least control, and where shamans can openly practice.

-(Abyssal Layer) this is the layer that no one goes to. From a layer above, it simply looks like an endless black void from which no ship has ever returned from. Though from time to time, large rocks and other materials will float to the top, sometimes all the way to the earth layer, where it will coalesce with other particles until they form a rock. There is also the case where giant eruptions of what appears to be molten slag will shoot up, destroying entire islands, all the way towards the earthly layer where it will be mined. (the name of this eruption is name pending.) but most importantly, this layer is the most dangerous because of what else can rise out of it. Strange monsters that should not exist, that can devour entire nations and will give anyone nightmares to look upon.

Nations/Guilds/Other Powers--

Merkander Trading Company/Guild: A very powerful trading company once Alicia Merkander took it over about 15 years ago and grew explosively thanks in part to her skill and knowledge of geography and merchant lanes. a former pirate turned merchant, she used her skills and knowledge she gained over the years as the former to create new routes that were quicker and safer, as well as using her old title as a pirate queen of sorts to bully other merchants groups to tow the line. The truth of the matter though, was her family already owned a small merchant company, and she simply took over when her wanderlust had finally run out. Now one of the biggest trading companies out there, she has created subsidiary guilds and more to help promote and increase her overall power, such as also investing in industry of the goods she ships and in a small mercenary guild to protect her ships and goods as they are transferred. Not only building her company up but wide as well, until she had most of the control of everything from beginning to end. Now she is considered a big power player on par with other merchant unions and guilds, some who see her as an upstart…

Other:

Other:

Other:

Race--

Alvaru

- An ancient race that supposedly came from the stars to conquer the world of Solisia and succeeded until a rival race kicked them out again. These beings of strange power and advanced yet enigmatic technology ruled with an iron fist all those below them, and the spirits of Solisia, taking them as wives and concubines. Because of their dark arts and technology, they created the Alvarren, a servitor race of sorts that obey them and help them rule over the vast world they conquered, to help plunder as they will. And through their unholy union of the spirits, the spirit-kin were born. With the spirit-kin and the Alvarren, the Alvaru ruled without limit. That was until the Elveru came and saved the world, bringing with them their own servants and allies, the Gaians, who rallied the people of Solisia to dispose of the Alvaru tyrants once and for all… The Alvaru are an extremely long lived race, some saying they can last for centuries if not millennia. They have strange powers over reality itself, and their minds operate on a completely different level than most other beings. Their appearance is odd, their hair is mostly black with some blue in it. Their irises are slanted and dagger-like, with a deep vibrant blue and black sclera with little points of light in them to appear like the stars that swirl inward. They have pointed ears tapered to the side and sharp canine teeth. Their body is completely smooth to the touch, without blemish, no nipples or belly button, and any sperm production they may have is safely inside their body so as not to provide a weakness for others to exploit. Their senses are heightened, and they can think and react far faster than the average person, allowing them to do things with ease what may take others months to learn, such as the skill to dodge or predict the trajectory of an object. Though now they are regulated to the shadows of society, shunned and despised by others, a broken people one day hoping that their glory days will one day return… though that is not the end of it… All Alvaru have a special connection to one another, and to the memories of their past…

Elveru

- The Elveru are the exact opposite of the Alvaru. Though from what the people remember them as, they were practically gods… the true gods that the Alvaru claimed to be, making the Alvaru as false gods in the eyes of the people, or wannabe usurpers… The Elveru came and saw what was happening on the world of Solisia, and went down to free its people. A massive war shook the world, and the Alvaru found themselves somehow on the losing side… After their victory, the Elveru uplifted the people of this world, sharing knowledge and some technology, and putting into place their allies the Gaians to rule of the world as stewards on their behalf. No one knows what the Elveru looked like…

Gaians(name tentative)

- The Gaians are a strange race that look somewhat like trees… Though that perception of them can change depending on what kind of Gaian you met, most due though look like trees or plants in one form or another. They seem to have a strange control over the elements and spirits of the world, and can foretell natural disasters and weather. With their power, they can grow entire forests or farmlands, producing resources and food. Their other ability is to purify areas of corruption. They also seem to live for thousands of years before old age finally catches up to them. They are the rulers, directly or indirectly of the world. Usually holding positions of high authority in the church or in large nations and guilds that hold a lot of influence on how things are run. No one knows though what their true agenda is, or why they continue to hold such power and sway over society. Some say because that was how it always has been, they were chosen, others say it’s because of smart investments, they live for so long after all, they are wise, kind, smart and so much better… though a few wonder… if their forecasts were really all natural…

Solisians

- The original inhabitants of Solisia. Supposedly they lived in peace and harmony with the spirits until the Alvaru came and took it all away from them. They look like your average humans, nothing really standing out on them in ability or looks, though they are everywhere. They stand above most of the other inhabitants of this world, it is their nations and guilds that run everything, and it is they who serve the will of the Gaians and their priests. Due to their long history, dating back five thousand years, they have great pride in their past and show great arrogance to those who they deem their lesser. Though they don’t have anything really unique about them, they are a jack of all trades and are known for their greed but also their creativity. They make up the bulk of the wars around the world, and sometimes their curiosity gets the best of them. They look down on the Alvarren and any Alvaru they meet, in rare cases there have been lynchings of the latter, though they have some sympathy for spirit-kin. They also don’t live that long, some only about a hundred years unless something changes that. They also hold a great amount of jealousy towards the Alvaru, Spirit-kin and Alvarren. For some reason, the spirits love and enjoy Alvaru and the others more than the Solisians themselves. The spirit-kin they can somewhat understand, but not the Alvaru and Alvarren. Because of this, they believe that the Alvaru use some sort of dark magic to charm the poor spirits, a rhetoric used by the church to explain away this problem.

Spirits

- the original inhabitants of the world before they were forced to serve the Alvaru. They each represent the elements and parts of nature. Through their work, the world of Solisia is maintained, without them, everything will fall out of balance and the world could end. Therefore, their control is paramount to anyone who wishes for power, for spirits are responsible for practically everything, even the creation of resources or maintaining an island's ability to float. Because of this, and their usefulness in the creation of spirit cores and other machinery, they have slowly overtime become more rare as they are snatched from their homes without remorse by hunters or poachers. It is said that to make a pact with a spirit will grant you great power and longevity, so many people would do anything to acquire one. Because of this, spirits have largely gone into hiding and try to avoid people, especially those from the church who they fear. The spirit’s look is based on what element they represent, so they can look like a flaming woman, or flaming fairy, or a liquid woman or a bunch of other things. They also don’t seem to have an age limit. They are though broken into ranks, with the lower ranks not being very intelligent or powerful as compared to the higher ranks.

Spirit-kin

- supposedly also an inhabitant of this world. Some say they were here before the Alvaru, others say they were not. Some say they are a mix between Alvaru and spirit, others say Solisian, while still others say they are spirits who gave up their spirithood to join the mortal race on their own free will. No matter the truth, spirit-kin have a hard time fitting in anywhere due to their mixed history and unfortunate position of being in between two or more races. Not quite mortal, not quite spirit. Spirit-kin though, do tend to have a unique ability to commune and empathize with spirits. Because of this they tend to be very conscious of the impacts they may have on nature, doing their best to live alongside it. Each spirit-kins appearance is dependent upon where it was born. For example, one on the frost layer would be like a blue elf, on the fire layer it would be like a red demon with horns and wings, the water layer will have them like mer-folk, the earth layer will have them be like halflings and the wind layer will have them like angels or birdfolk. Each spirit-kin will represent the layer they live on in some way, and as they grow, they can tap into their ancestry, which can give them powers, such as a spirit-kin of fire controlling fire, or a spirit-kin of air controlling wind. They tend to live for about one hundred to three hundred years, a few even surviving to five hundred to seven hundred rarely. Most of the time the spirit-kin just want to be left alone, though there are cases that they are also very well integrated with the nation that claims to rule over their land. Such as with the halflings on the earthly layer that also run large businesses and guilds. Earth spirit-kin are also all female, though there are dwarf-like spirit-kin with both male and female genders. Water spirit-kin also have unique water based spirit kin, like mermaids or serenes. Fire bases spirit-kin also have dragonewt like spirit-kin, or half dragon half person type people. The frost layer may also have werewolf-like spirit kin.

Alvarren

- The Alvarren seem to be a mix between a human and an animal. That is to say they may have animal-like traits such as tail and ears and fur on parts of their body. They also tend to be physically stronger than most Solisians. Because of their history and how they look, they are treated like third class citizens if not out right slaves, and are usually regulated to demeainng and or dangerous tasks for little to no pay. Though it is not all bad, for they at least are treated somewhat well by spirit-kin, who in kindness take them in from time to time. They also have a strange desire to follow and obey Alvaru, though they don’t know why. They are also an all female race, which makes them feel even more alien to the Solisians. Though not as much as Alvaru and Spirit-kin, they are also well liked by the spirits.

Other

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Powers/cultivation--

Aura

- Aura is one of the methods people can become stronger. Through the use of their aura, they can achieve things that normal people can’t. Whether that is superhuman feats or otherwise is up to you. It is important to note though, aura is not for everyone, as it can be difficult to level up depending on the person, and may require hours if not years of meditation and self reflection. Not only that, not everyone is the same, and the requirements may not even be applicable to those training in aura. This can mean they just skip it, or that it takes a longer amount of time for them to come to terms with it. Just because you don’t like people or life, doesn’t mean you can’t become an orange for example, just means that you may achieve it, but that the next level will be harder because you're unbalanced. Those who practice aura are called aura users or aura knights, and the ranks of aura users and knights are broken up into several layers. Aura can be used to attack as well as to defend, such as if being hurt, your aura can take the damage for you, at the cost of your aura pool.

Level zero, or the none or clear layer: this is the layer of sheer force of will. Through practice and mediation, practically anyone can achieve this layer of aura. At this level, you can force your body to do arduous tasks for long periods of time, temporarily increase your strength or speed for moments at a time, or even add special yet minor affects to your weapons and body. It can even allow you to hyper concentrate on whatever task at hand or ignore the heat and cold for a period of time.

Level 1, or the first or red layer: if able to achieve this layer, your body base strength and speed increases marginally. You become a little less afraid of death and have more courage with a lot more energy and stamina at hand to do what you want with. You become more passionate and more free willed and strong willed, and when you do use your aura it’s stronger and you have more of it, allowing your attacks to deal more damage and for you to fight longer. You also heal faster and feel like you have more vitality, and your lifespan will increase about one to ten years while retaining your youth and you take less damage from attacks because your body's a little tougher now and your sense of smell increases. But in order to achieve this layer, you must let go of anger, fear, over aggressiveness, trauma and accept your more physical needs, such sex, good food, basic joy of everything your body has to offer. They have to center themselves, be happy they are alive, and secure and grounded in thought as well as mind and spirit. They have to prevent their ego from becoming too overwhelming, or becoming too inflexible and understand themselves better. They must understand that it is okay to have things, and that they deserve them. They can also sense the earth around them a little, maybe even something more…

Level 2, or the second or orange layer: if able to achieve this layer, your perception becomes heightened and you become more able to sense others around you and read their intentions more quickly. You also become far more healthier and your body's growth increases greatly, allowing training to pay off more than normally would. You heal faster, and can deal with minor poisons and diseases easier. And when with friends or those you trust, you can better sense their intentions and they yours, allowing you to work together almost instinctively. You also have slightly faster reaction time, and are able to think out of the box a bit more when it comes to problem solving. Also, your lifespan will increase marginally again, maybe by another few years to a decade if not more and your sense of taste increases. But in order to achieve this layer, you must not be afraid of others and open yourself up to those who care about you and accept them. You must let go of your past and its problems, and not fear yourself or others or life. Yet you almost must not fall into addiction or fixation. You have to embrace passion, sex, creativity, optimism and pleasure. And acknowledge the enjoyment of life and others. They also must understand that it is okay to feel, that emotions aren't scary, and that they can embrace them. They can also sense water around them, maybe something more…

Level 3, or the third or Yellow layer: those at this layer gain a massive amount of energy and are able to even share it with others, empowering them temporarily. Their health and vitality skyrockets and they heal faster and live for longer. The average poison and disease doesn’t really affect them. They are also able to more influence others with their presence, able to scare the weaker willed or increase the confidence of their allies. They are also a little smarter and able to more easily problem solve. They become more motivated and open minded and can affect others to do the same. They also gain some minor psychic-like abilities unique to the individual. They also are able to more easily digest knowledge and ideas, allowing them to learn a little faster, and become lighter on their feet, allowing them to move faster and jump further. They also become stronger willed and live even longer and can see further. But to achieve this, they have to let go of rage and shame, their inferiority complex, feeling of powerlessness and low self esteem. They have to embrace their own personal drive and goals. Not become power hungry or too perfectionist and accept things as they are. They also have to come to terms with their identity, and accept that they must use their power more wisely. They have to understand that it’s okay to act and take charge, they aren't a simple follower, they are their own person. They are also able to sense heat and fire around them, maybe something more…

Level 4, or the fourth or green layer: the heights of power they gain is even greater now, and they find that it regenerates at an even faster rate. They can not only now communicate with plants and animals on a minor level, but use their new power to heal others and their wounds. They become even more resistant to great levels of poison and disease and live for even longer, adding decades to their life span. They become empathic, able to more easily read the emotions of others, and become fiercely intelligent as well, able to process information more quickly and guess the answer and still be right. They are also able to regenerate small parts of their body and live without eating or drinking anything for days if not weeks, able to hold their breaths for hours as well. They have a perfect sense of balance, and it is difficult to throw them off. Their sense of touch increases and they are also able to sense the air around them, maybe something more… but to achieve this level of power they must, let go of envy and jealousy, and not let every little criticism get to them. Cannot become hateful or spiteful, or too dependent on others. Never feel like life is a burden or too self sacrificing. They must be kind, loving, tolerant, warm, open, take responsibility for their actions and more.

Level 5, or the fifth or blue layer: at this layer you are calm and always collected. You can practically read the minds of others, though not literally and always know what to say in a conversation most of the time. People come to you for your wisdom, as you are now able to put together pieces of information in ways that are enlightening. When you speak, people listen, and are more likely to do what you say, even plants and animals more easily understand you and are more willing to obey. Your sense of hearing increases, and you are able to perceive more than just the physical plane. Your aura becomes stronger, able to protect others or become sharper if necessary. You become more flexible and decisive with more emotional depth and better intuitiveness about certain things. In order to reach this point you must, not fear being misunderstood and more open with yourself, be confident and diplomatic. Never be too demanding, or opinionated, critical or harshly talk down to others.

Level 6, or the sixth or indigo layer: those at this layer have a higher psychic ability, able to clearly see things beyond the physical and have a high intuition. They can sense others from miles away, are able to control their aura precisely and able to do things with it normal people couldn’t. They can tell lies from truth, see through illusions, and predict things happening before it happens. They have a strong sense of purpose and self, and are devoted strongly to those who they hold dear. They are tranquil and hold a commanding presence, which draws many spirits to them. They can feel light itself and their lifespan increases even further. Knowledge bubbles up like a fountain from their subconscious. In order to reach this layer you must be connected in some way with your subconscious, let go of self doubt and just trust your intuition. Don’t become too obsessed with things that don’t concern you and don’t try to force yourself too much to achieve things beyond you.

Level 7, or the seventh or Violet layer: they are able to absorb it all. They can read the minds of others given time. Their body, mind, and spirit are unified and can sense the thoughts of others around them. They are intelligent, wise, understanding, and charismatic. Their aura pool increases tremendously, and regenerates very quickly. They have the ability to influence a massive amount of people with their sheer presence. They have complete control over their body, mind and spirit. Their lifespan increases to even greater heights, and their body can now match up to their mind and spirit, they also become immune to most poisons and diseases. To achieve this they must let go of overthinking things or being stubborn. They have to let go of their inner fears and take responsibility and accept their desires. They can’t allow depression or self hate to cloud their mind. Only when their mind, body, and spirit are one, can this layer be achieved.

Level 8, or the final, mythical layer: supposedly at this layer you transcend the body and achieve true immortality and almost ultimate power. No one knows how to achieve this layer. But some say if you do, you become pure, and free of all worldly desires.

Misc: just because you might mentally meet the requirements to achieve a layer, doesn’t always mean you will achieve it if your aura power is too low. Also, there are cases where people can skip layers, though that doesn’t always mean they get everything. For example, a natural green aura user may be able to heal others, but they don’t have a large aura pool or as healthy as a body if they didn’t work through the lower layers first. And yes, your aura color changes as you level up. And not only that, you can awaken to a chosen element that you become able to control more easily as you rank up. As you rank up through the layers, your lifespan can increase, by seven you can live for an extra two hundred years. It should also be noted that while the negative aspects of a person can prevent you from ranking up your aura, once you do, it can happen that you fall back onto those bad habits if you're not careful, and those negative aspects can even become worse or amplified depending on the rank of your aura.

Spirit Garden

- The spirit garden is a unique type of cultivation, where you create an inner spiritual world for you to store spirits and wisps in. While not as straightforward, nor providing great boosts of strength or power per level, it is far easier than training Aura. The only real requirement is to be able to create a spirit garden in the first place, something that not everyone can do. As you draw Aether and or spiritual energy into yourself, you must focus and create something like a small bubble. In that bubble is where you will store your spirit allies or wisps, where they will rest and feed on the energy within you. The amount and power of the spirits and wisps you can hold depends on the size of your spirit garden. As you grow your spirit garden, you might find it changing depending on what spirits you have and what you add to it. For example, a lot of frost wisps might create a lot of chunks of ice inside, while a mixture of frost wisps and fire wisps might create puddles of water. As the garden grows and you add more spirits and wisps of different elements, the garden can change drastically, and might become hard to handle. More importantly, you can grow spirit herbs from inside our garden, either to help yourself, or to help promote the growth or well being of your spirits, as some plants and minerals have beneficial effects on the garden. It is important though, not everything can be put in a garden, and not everything can be taken out, even if put in. if used correctly, one should be able to contract spirits and use their power for their own use. One should remember though, that the spirits will take a portion of the user's vitality, spiritual, aether, or other form of energy. Sometimes it’s just for even having the spirit in question, just it being there in the garden, or using a spirit's power, where you are taxed for each use, depending on the contract or pact you have the spirit in question. Having a spirit garden can give great gains later on, but is very slow to power up, though it doesn’t have the same roadblocks that Aura users have. Those with big spirit gardens can hold dozens or more spirits, and even high tier spirits, which can destroy small towns. It should also be noted, that the kind of pact or contract with a spirit is just as important, some spirits demand tribute every so often, asking you to do a quest for them before agreeing to your terms. While it doesn’t help much, the more spirits you contract and the more powerful they are, the more your lifespan can increase. This can range widely to just an extra year or two, to five or even six hundred years if you manage to somehow acquire several high tier spirits. The spirit garden takes after the spirits own way of cultivation, their method of taking care of an area and only absorbing the excess to slowly grow themselves stronger, though this is inside the cultivator rather than an actual garden, though a few actually tend real life gardens to help.

Aether/Spirit body

- This type of cultivation requires one to spend long hours of meditation and drawing in the ambient Aether and spiritual energy in the air. This is just basic body cultivation, where the user trains their body with Aether energy to power themselves up. Usually having ten ranks, the higher the rank, the tougher and stronger the body. It affects people differently though, for example, spirit-kin might awaken to be able to use more of their elemental powers, almost as if becoming more spirit then person. While Alvarren get the boost to their physical abilities, and may even awaken to an elemental one on top of that if they're lucky. For the most part though, it simply makes a person stronger per rank.

Rank 0: you're just an average person, nothing really special about you.

Rank 1: without working out or lifting weights, you have obtained the body of a person who does regularly. You don’t tire out as quickly and you feel your body is healthier, you can lift a little more as well.

Rank 2: you're an athlete of some sort, with far better motor control over your body and better senses too. Lifting a hundred pounds is difficult, but not impossible for just a few seconds, and you feel better than before.

Rank 3: your peak human. You run faster for longer and tire out less quickly. You can probably go a day working out and feel like it might not just be enough. You can lift one hundred pounds over your head for about half an hour before feeling the strain, then rest for five minutes and do it again.

Rank 4: your body becomes harder and heals more quickly, you don’t get much stronger, but you heal faster and recover more quickly. You can go a day or two without food or water and still operate at full power.

Rank 5: your mind begins to finally be able to keep up with your newfound strength. Your able to process information a bit faster and you feel more of your body then before, as in you can feel nerves and your heartbeat and your veins flow with blood. You simply have more control over most aspects of your body then you did before, allowing you to move faster and in amazing ways.

Rank 6: you become even stronger, pushing a decent sized boulder up hill is no problem, though why would you? Able to lift about two hundred pounds on your back for the whole day and not tire out.

Rank 7: your body becomes more compact and denser with muscle. Increasing overall power output and efficiency, as well as making you a little quicker. You also become a more idolized form of your body.

Rank 8: you're able to manipulate the Aether inside you, allowing you to shoot out a few blasts of energy or temporarily do superhuman feats with ease. Such as jumping a hundred feet in the air or destroying a boulder in a single punch.

Rank 9: if it didn’t happen before it happened now, your body returns to its prime, whatever that is. You feel more connected with the world around you and can feel things others can’t.

Final Rank: your body becomes harder than steel and you can move as fast as sound. You can hear things from a mile away and see things further if obstructed. You can heal from most wounds and fight for days and live without food or water for weeks if not months.

Misc: as you rank up, your lifespan will slowly go up. At the final rank your lifespan can increase by an extra two hundred years, while still maintaining your full power. (this is not fully complete, I am not sure this is the way I want it to be, it may change in the novel.)

Star Cultivation

- Star cultivation is rather unique, in that it requires you to create something like a star of energy inside you. This star of Aether or spiritual energy then grows as you feed it more energy. The star allows you to grow forever, and the more it grows the stronger and longer you live, though it requires constant training and mediation. Another aspect of star cultivation, is if you sacrifice say a wisp, you can gain the element of that wisp floating around your star as it’s own little star. The more you feed, say that fire star, the bigger it becomes. The more it grows, the more fire elemental power you can use, allowing you to fire fireballs from your hand without a spirit medium or anything, only draining you of your energy. This cultivation though is illegal, since it requires the sacrifice of wisps, a type of spirit. Those caught practicing it are usually executed, though there are a few exceptions. Star cultivators are very powerful, because they can simply devour spirits to quickly grow their power, even though they only need that one first wisp. It should also be mentioned that you don’t actually need to eat wisps to grow stronger, simple mediation and training can grow your star. There are even other ways to create new minor elemental stars around your main one without resorting to eating wisps or spirits.

Elementalist

- Is a practitioner who completely devotes themselves to a singular elemental energy type in order to gain power from it. For example, someone who completely worships fire and does anything to absorb fire spiritual energy and weave it into their body. Once an element is chosen, they can not choose another, though in some rare cases people can have two elements. Those who go the way of the elementalist must understand that they may have to do extreme and even weird things in order to absorb the energy they need. Such as a practitioner of water meditating under water, or a practitioner of fire doing the same but on hot coals, absorbing the heat around them into their own body to use for later. Some even go so far to absorb wisps of their elements to gain even greater power and to become more one with their chosen element.

Other

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Spirits--

Wisps

- Wisps are the smallest unit of spirit with barely any intelligence. They come in minor, lesser, mid, and greater. There is no high wisp as most wisps that arrive at that level slowly evolve into minor spirits themselves. Wisps are more of a collection of energy with a singular point and are used by others to power devices or spells. Once their energy is used up, they tend to disappear unless tied down to or bonded with an item, to which the core of their essence is returned and they wait to recover the lost energy once more. But there is a limit to this, if too much of their power is drained at once without room for rest, they can disappear forever, leaving nothing behind other than a strange absence of energy… Wisps come in different elements, and can be combined with other elemental wisps to do tasks such as power a steam engine using fire, water and wind wisps. Wisps can also be used to enchant gear or machinery, through the use of special runes, one can use the essence of a wisp to empower a device or object, using it up completely as if killed, though the strange feeling of absence doesn’t show until the item in question is destroyed. The amounts of wisps are very varied, ranging from all the elements and those that some don’t even think of as an element. Such as wisps with simply no element at all, just pure spiritual or Aether energy. Wisps tend to be in places where there is a lot of nature, or environments that hold their element in abundance, such as a fire wisp enjoying an area full of fire. Wisps also have a very important part to play in the balance of the world, creating and destroying as necessary, usually at the behest of their rulers, the true spirits. Some examples of wisps elements are, fire, water, earth, wind, lightning, ice/frost, void, life, death, light, dark, Aether, etc, and even a few odd ones as well... wisps are also sometimes used to make Spirit cores, though that is a bit more difficult to do, it is also considered a bit more humane.

Spirits

- Spirits are ranked from Minor, Lesser, Mid, Greater, Grand/High, Arch, King/Queen, God. They also tend to represent elements, though a few can even have multiple elements, such as a spirit of nature may have fire, earth, wind, water and wood, sometimes even life and animals. That’s another thing about them, they can also hold more abstract concepts such as animals, or intelligence, wisdom, love and more. They are also far more intelligent than wisps, growing smarter and wiser as they rank up, as well as they age. The greater their concept, or the more elements they have, the stronger they usually are. They are also used in the making of spirit cores, as full blown spirits are more powerful than wisps and can provide longer lasting power. Spirits as well can be used in runic enchantments, though it is said that a part of the soul of the spirit is also trapped in the item they were used for. Like wisps, Spirits can be killed if all of their powers are used up without room to rest or recuperate, leaving a stronger sense of absence in their wake. As a spirit ranks up, they become more and more powerful. An example of this is a mid tier spirit can control an entire island that, say, has a forest and a small village plus a little more. Control as in being able to perceive everything inside their domain and influence it some, plus all the lesser spirits and wisps inside it. A mid tier nature spirit for example, can then use their control to shape the island, or produce more harvest or animals, maybe a miniature forest or two in the span of a few months. Powerwise they can probably easily deal with a group of thirty or fourty people armed people and a few Aether body practitioners of one or two ranks. Though those with pure fire or wind elements might fight differently, using pillars of flame or mini cyclones to deal with their foes. Those at high and or grand wind spirits, can probably hit an airship out of the sky, and those who are at arch can probably control the winds of an entire large island with a small kingdom. Kings can take control of entire bodies of water or entire zones of air for themselves, an example being a small ocean equivalent on earth. And god tier can probably destroy empires, controlling even more. When a spirit contracts with a person, they are allowing that person to use a portion of their power in exchange for something else. For example, say a person wants to make a contract with a spirit of wind, the spirit may ask for, something small such as a piece of fruit, revenge on another human for hurting it, to do a little dance for it’s amusement that at least is very well done, wine or honey or both, or a quest to retrieve something or kill a beast that has been bothering it’s sisters. These requests become even more extreme the higher the rank of spirit you want to contract. Once the contract is done, the person can use their spirit allies power, but how much may also be based on the contract or agreement you made with the spirit, such as never using their power on a tuesday, or only a certain amount of times per week, or that there is a constant exchange for Spiritual or vital energy for the power used.

Other

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Tech/other---

Spirit Core/Orb: a spirit Orb is just a name to a very intricate piece of machinery, though it also does reference the hibernative state that some spirits take. When a spirit is put to sleep, it may take the shape of a small round jewel, this jewel then is encased in fine interwoven machinery that makes use of it as an energy source. Depending on the amount of wisps or energy put into the core, it can become stronger and provide more power. The stability and power that the core produces is also dependent on the casing that houses the core. These spirit cores are integral to another important piece of technology, namely the Aether engine, which gathers aether from the area and uses the spirit core as a focal point to produce greater amounts of energy, mainly to power airships. Spirit cores can also be used to enchant weapons and equipment, as well as provide heat for housing or cold for refrigerators. It has become an integral part of Solisian society.

Aether Engine: a very important part of any airship. It powers the ship and provides the propulsion and a thin film of air around the ship to protect it from the elements. Because of this, the size and power of an aether engine determines the size and power of the ship, usually with the bigger the engine the better. But this comes at a cost, the bigger the engine, the bigger and more powerful the spirit core is necessary, meaning that many wisps or high tier spirits will have to be sacrificed in order to create such an engine. Despite that, through innovation and the progress of technology, engines have been able to become more versatile and efficient, though because of that, more ships have been produced, leading to more wars and the loss of more spirit cores, making it more expensive again. It should be noted, that even if the shield that the aether engine can provide is destroyed, doesn't mean that the power it provides is gone to0, so long as engravers have done their job right, it should still keep the ship afloat so long as nothing extreme happens.

Spirit Gun: a strange and rather unique device. At the moment, the only thing this society can create is cannons. But the spirit gun is an exception to that rule. Created by a genius many decades ago, the spirit gone can, at the moment, be only used by spiritmancers. This gun uses wisps as ammo. Spiritmancers using a spirit lantern to contain their wisps, would inject the wisps into the cartridge and fire the wisp at a target. Depending on the element of the wisp, you can get certain and different attacks. Because of the fact that only spiritmancers can use this weapon, nations and guilds have started to recruit them into small cadres or groups to turn them into soldiers for their war machine, whether they want to be or not.

Runes: runes are engraved in items, objects and machinery in order to power them with aether or spiritual energy, with a spirit core or aether engine largely supplying the power. Runes are important for everyday life, and are used by engravers to write out a code of sorts that the energy flows through. The pattern of which determines what kind of effects the runes have, such as regulating power, heat, cold, or making shields, increasing durability or the lightness of a object and much more.

Beasts/plants/Minerals/other----

sylph weed: a special plant that when fully grown, will release beautiful leaves that flow on the wind to find purchase on new islands to grow new weeds. These weeds are known for being found almost anywhere there is wind. At first a nuisance, it has been found that the leaves, if broken down, can provide good pulp for the making of paper, and in some rarer cases, if treated right, can be turned into thin threads that can be made into clothes, though it requires a lot more leaves. The steam of the plant can provide some healing and or provide help for breathing, giving people a light airy feeling.

Bluer: A special flour grown from crossbreeding certain mundane and magical plants. Though there is a more scientific name for it, Bluer is just a common name that the people came up with for the color of the floor, a blue azure like one that sparkles a little in the light. This flour, made over a century ago from a farmer and researcher on horticulture and more, figured out a method to create plants filled with extra energy for food. In the end though, he created a growable gunpowder that most the cultivation of, is kept as a closely guarded secret by many nations around the world. With this flour, they are able to use them in weapons such as connons, which are primarily used in forts and airships. It also has a very unique taste and a handful of the stuff, if baked into bread, can give enough energy and satiate hunger for a single person for a whole day. Making this flour very expensive. Because of its volatility, it’s kept in a special container to prevent accidental explosions. When armies are desperate, they will consume their Bluer in emergencies. At the moment, nations around the world are trying to figure out a way to refine bluer into a finer powder, so as to create a spirit gun equivalent, but to little to no success. At the moment, it can only be used for medium to large artillery.

Amber Ash/Amber Trees: can be mined or grown. Used as fuel for airships for their energy efficiency and power output. Amber ash is made from the left over residue from already consumed amber. Amber is used for fuel for some ships and or as a base material for important components due to it’s ability to store energy. Amber has a lifespan though, and what is left is burned to get the last bits of energy out of it. It comes from amber trees, that can take a century to grow, making amber very difficult to farm in large quantities, through the trees themselves can be used to create amber ash. While some think that the aether engine does all the work, sometimes it is necessary to use other fuel alternatives for an extra power boosts by feeding the spirit core amber or amber ash. For some reason, spirits are attracted to amber, and sometimes spirit catchers prowl around amber trees to catch them.

Terms/miscs---

Spirit lantern: the spirit lantern combines Star metal and Spirit Crystals to create a capturing device for spirits and wisps, primarily wisps. This lantern helps draw in wisps and spirits and contains them inside. This device is mostly used by spirit mancers and spirit hunters of all sorts, and is very expensive to get.

Alchemy: Alchemy is a more difficult study, acting more like a bridge between herbology and chemistry and a few other professions. It’s importance relies on the fact that it is necessarily to produce rare metals and other materials for the creation of larger structures such as air ships or mana shields and more. While there is never a single cure all for all problems, it is a bit of a jack of all trades and is usually used to provide the basic components of other professions need to do their job.

Shaman: a shaman is sometimes a person associated with the occult, while the truth is they are just people who have a very strong sense of spirituality and devotion for the more natural laws of their world. Because of this, they are easily swayed by the nature, meaning if nature is suffering, they may feel compelled to lash out at what they may deem as the offender. Where as if nature is flourishing, their demeanor might be very magnanimous or gregarious, offering the plenty their home has to offer. They are usually give great importance in small village communities that rely heavily on their warnings or divnations on the future their crops or hunts might yield. They would also play an important role how helping nature or take care of the environment, making sure that the spirits and the plants as well as any other living thing is taken care of and is ensured some sort of legacy that continues beyond just a few years.

Spiritmancer: spiritmancer’s are not well liked, and for good reason. They seem to subvert the normal rules of what it means to use the spirits for aid as. For a spiritmancer seems to be able to simply control the spirits and wisp as if they were just an extension of their own body, and if not careful, can expend that spirits energy to death. Yet despite the dislike, they are usually employed as soldiers or as spirit hunters. And while given a bad name, most people see no qualms about using captured spirits to warm their houses, feeling in them a natural given right to their use.

Star Metal: derived from the star tower. This strange metal does not act like regular metal does. For one, it can become as liquid, and for another, harder than diamonds. No one truly knows how it works, but it has a propensity to capture energy in all forms, which also include spirits for some reason. Because of this, spirits and wisps tend to stray away from the metal when possible, though there have been times when for some reason or another they gather around such metal. More importantly, star metal retains the power and ability of the spirit the best, allowing one to use it for many things, though at the moment, the church is the only one that knows how to make them, as well as a rare few other organizations.

Spirit Crystal: these strange crystals starts to form around areas of high spiritual activity or energy. No one knows how, but through the use of these crystals, islands and ships tend to float, though not always needed. With sometimes sprouting above or below an island, these crystals seem to draw in wisps that hum around them for fun. The air is thick with energy, and wisps would usually call places like this home. The crystals are very beautiful, and are mined heavily for their luminance and value on the market as a use for the creation of airships and artificial islands. As well as in the making of rare and powerful machines or even in the use of factories as they also act as a sort of battery for energy. They are also used by engravers to create magical barriers and other things.

Engravers: engravers are the people who use runes and other things to create magical like contraptions through the use of mediums and spiritual components like the spirit crystals.

Glacial Silkworms: Glacial silkworms are one of the main commodities that the frost layer can provide. The silk from the glacial silkworm is far tougher than any other woven thread, and will always remain cool to the touch, no matter what the heat. Even helping with the cold somewhat, as the silk will never get cooler or colder than is. It is a very difficult threat to break, and some have used it as a garrote of sorts when properly woven, making it something the less scrupulous people seek. This silk is one of the main products that the frost layer sell to those in the higher layers for money and goods.

World Summary

In the year 2064. Humanity has achieved great technological heights, at the cost of all the world’s natural resources, irrecoverable climate change, social cohesion and cultural unifiers. It was a world filled to the brim with systematic corruption and social unrest, where riots and protests were commonplace and many of the world’s superpowers became more authoritarian with each passing year. Those who were wealthy and held political power became the new aristocracy. As innovations and drone and Ai technology progressed by leaps and bounds allowing this new elite class to control all aspects of human life at the cost of the downtrodden, who could not compete with their mechanical counterparts. Nations with no regulation or checks on these changes, nor with any robust social security net, were the worst off for those on the bottom rung of the ladder. But then it came…

The Shift

The Shift was spontaneous. It came out of nowhere and all at once with no warning. It wasn’t some sort of wave that had a direction, it was instead a change that happened instantly within the whole of the universe, having no beginning nor end. It would be more accurate to say that the whole world had been teleported seamlessly into a brand new dimension. The new reality they found themselves in was similar to their old one, just with a few new stars and a few old ones that have been displaced. When it first happened a great panic ensued as all those who were present felt like even their very bodies had shifted and changed as well. This was far truer than they realized…

The first to notice were the academics and scientists of the world. For all technological progress had come to a swift and sudden halt. It was as if a car running a hundred miles on a smooth flat road with nothing for thousands of miles in its way had come to a sudden crash against a massive wall that materialized out of nowhere. It was to their great horror and fascination, that the very fabric of reality and its rules that they had so abused and twisted to get themselves to where they were now had changed at the drop of a hat. But this was just the beginning, something far worse was to come..

The Shift had also brought more than a weird feeling and a change in the rules of the fabric of reality. It also came with something dubbed Aether. This Aether permeated through everything, living or dead it did not matter. It changed what it touched, sometimes making it more, sometimes making it worse… Nukes were no longer effective, for the majority of all uranium had changed into a newtype of matter that would require years of research before they could once more be used in bombs. The same was true for nuclear power plants, even coal and natural gas didn’t go unaffected. New materials were born into the world, some changing from previous ones, almost like an alchemist's trick, of turning lead into gold.

It wasn’t just matter that changed, people had as well, little over a quarter of the entire human population had gone through a sudden change in the body. Sometimes becoming more bestial, sometimes becomeing smaller or bigger with extra or fewer appendages. These demi-humans came with a new wave of powers. Hermits discovered the secret to cultivation, warriors turned their will into devastating aura attacks, some intellectuals gained the ability to move things or read minds with psionic powers, while a few others awakened to a spiritual third eye that allowed them to wield the elements like magic.

It should go without saying, that with the consolidation of wealth in such a select few meant that those few would also have a small number of themselves to go through the unfortunate, and or lucky, change and gain such wondrous power. A fact that many that had to survive on the scraps of society did not forget… Almost instantly a massive world riot spamming several years engulfed the world. For all their endless drones, the countless masses and their new found power washed over their imperialist masters in a tide of blood and metal. Which only highlights the tragedy of what came next…

For it was not just the humans that gained newfound power. And almost as if in their own form of revenge for the damage and trauma that humans have put through their mother planet, the flora and fauna rose up to overthrow their supposed masters. Animals turned beasts, growing bigger than mammoths and spewing fire or an assortment of other powers and configurations, alongside now living plants and sentient water and earth, slowly grew in number and power as human civilization turned in on itself like a pack of cannibalistic piranhas.

When the first beast tide came it was already too late…

Year 2081. Humanity has been devastated by countless wars from within and from without. The very planet they called home had turned on them and the former population of ten billion had been cut in half. Scientists the world over had been scrambling to figure out the new rules of their reality and find a solution for all their problems before they were wiped out by the very animals and vegetables they slaughtered for food and sustenance. Everyone had put aside their differences, even if doing so was a bitter pill to swallow as all people fought and searched for a way to survive. It was then an asteroid hit the earth causing massive damage to the world's crust and changing it even further. But with the asteroid came hope, within the depths of the rock came a new material, Aetherite.

Aetherite was exactly what was needed to help save humanity before the end came. Using this new material they created space ships that could travel to other worlds at 0.0005 percent the speed of light (about four hundred thousand miles an hour) that helped them warp space around the ship allowing them to travel to mars in little under a week at its closest distance. A great monumental project was then taken by every living human on the surface of earth. To fight, defend, and complete the arks that would hopefully deliver them to safety somewhere else.

Year 2092. The population of earth has been reduced even further. Now only three billion humans are left alive and have consolidated themselves into a few major cities that still remain strong against the rising hordes of monsters. They too have grown strong, but not fast enough to deal with their rapidly changing world. By this time two hastily made arks had left to colonize mars and prepare it for any more brother and sister ships that may come after it.

Year 2098. Twelve more ark ships, each carrying about a hundred thousand, have left for mars as a third of the remaining cities left have been wiped out. Only two billion humans remain on earth.

Year 2112. A hundred and twenty four ships of various sizes have left earth, with a few of them doing a dozen or so round trips before their last voyage. The last city falls by this time. The human population on earth is now zero.

Year 2113. The United Solar Republic is formed on mars with the intention of colonizing the rest of the solar system. Adopts a new calendar.

New Era Year 0002. Complications arise between different factions as well as lack of food and resources. Focus is put on terraforming mars and mining asteroids fields.

New Era Year 0003. Permanent base is put on earth’s moon to monitor the beasts that live on it and to strike first should signs reveal any developing means of interstellar travel through evolution.

New Era Year 0012. More permanent mining bases are placed on surrounding asteroids. Space stations are being built to help facilitate space travel within the solar system.

New Era Year 0022. Mars begins to grow life without constant aid, plans are drawn up to start colonizing Venus and the moons of Jupiter.

New Era Year 0039. Terraforming and colonization of Venus and several moons of Jupiter begins.

New Era Year 0072. Remains of an ancient civilization are found. All attempts to decipher the strange construct found on Pluto fail.

New Era Year 0073. A surprising discovery is made when bringing Aetherite to the construct. Strange plans and blueprints are flashed before the gazing eyes of many scientists and academics. The construct proceeds to self-destruct, destroying everything. Research corp remains unharmed.

New Era Year 0121. Through countless trial and error using what little of the schematics they were able to record from the construct, faster than light travel became possible, opening the possibility to connect solar systems and travel between them. Human population has recovered to around three billion. Multiple large birds have to be shot down from the moon base on earth. Earth is labeled as a death world and all travel to the planet is heavily restricted.

New Era year 0137. The first commercial jump drive was put in use.

New Era year 0139. The great diaspora. Dozens of ships leave to colonize the galaxy.

New Era Year 0143. New Eden is discovered, alongside the discovery of intelligent life. Peace talk ensues and humans are allowed to colonize New Eden.

New Era Year 0144. Humans and Lemureva, also dubbed by humans as kobolds, start living together. The Lemureva are very interested in human technology and quickly adapt to it, using it to adapt and change their bodies. The Lemureva appear like humans with animal features, basically short furrys. There are many different tribes and kinds of Lemureva, each with different animal-like features.

New Era Year 1046. Humans discover that New Eden is also not completely safe. While not as bad as earth, there are also creatures dubbed beasts that wreak havoc and need to periodically be culled. First human settlements are built with large sturdy walls to keep most of the beasts at bay.

New Era Year 0152. To the shock of many, a human and Lemureva give birth to a child. The first instance of two completely different species breeding in human history. The studying of the child brings an even greater shock, as the predominantly female race’s genetics carrying over to the offspring, not only that, but they discover an unknown genetic vires on the planet through the child that has infected all the colonists and the surrounding space that causes all species that are hit with the virus to produce more females than males.

New Era Year 0153. A blanket quarantine is put on the Althea System where New Eden resides. But the damage may already be too late.

New Era Year 0154. Scientists and Biologists rush out a Vaccine and countermeasure for the virus. It does not help the infected, but prevents the virus’s spread, those who are infected will pass the new gene down to their children ninety percent of the time, no amount of gene therapy seems to help.

New Era Year 0156. Exploration fleet delta is destroyed by a second unknown alien species. The new species are known as the Tanari, though other factions of their species call themselves the Jahimah. This new species seem to exhibit pirate and scavenger like tendencies and have no known homeworld. They are extremely violent and have appearances that some might label demonic. This sends a ripple through human space as it was believed at the time the only true danger were the beasts, now there are more alien species and it turns out they are actually very dangerous. The United Solar Republic begins to consolidate power and starts the creation of a burgeoning military.

New Era Year 0157. The quarantine is lifted on New Eden and its surrounding systems as the vaccines are proven to work. Resource mining within the system begins once more to help fund the new fleet.

New Era Year 0167. The Tanari Human War begins. While it was called a war, it was more like a one sided slaughter. The Tanari, while not technically having war ships, had technology and knowledge above the United Solar Republic. Their ships and tactics make short work of Human ships, leading to an atrocious attrition rate.

New Era Year 0169. Through the reverse engineering of what few ships they destroyed, as well as paying hefting amounts of resources to the more capitalist minded Tanari who were willing to sell knowledge and technology for the right price, The United Solar Republic redoubles their efforts to make a new armada to scour human space of these pirates.

New Era Year 0173. Space Colony Tetra in System Deva is destroyed by the Tanari, it becomes the new Tanari home base for that region of space. The shock of so many people dying, as well as losing an important mining system to the Tanari sends a ripple of discontent and anger throughout the republic.

New Era Year 0176. The Republic sends its new armada to dislodge the Tanari from the Deva System. It fails… But not without destroying a hefty amount of Tanari pirates. Pirate Queen T’Rica Calls a summit of the Tanari Pirate Clans in the hopes of destroying all human resistance to their rule in that sector of space.

New Era Year 0177. T’Rica and several other pirate fleets join together and launch occupying forces into the star systems around Deva. They then proceed to launch raids further out and closer into human held territories. The true Human Tanari War begins.

New Era Year 0202. After twenty five years of bloody war, The Republic and Taperi Hegemony ends. Empress T’Mica, daughter of the former queen T’Rica who died in the war, now leads a semi united pirate nation under her iron fist. This pirate nation slowly becomes a burgeoning empire in its own right. In exchange for peace and concessions on both sides, The Taperi Hegemony in exchange for the Deva system and the surrounding star systems gives up several mining rights to human corporations and the location of another ancient artifact that is still in use to this day.

New Era Year 0203. Using the information given by the Tanari, The Republic finds a still in use Star Gate that the Tanari predecessors used when they first arrived in their section of the galaxy. Through much studying it is surmised that the gate can be powered by Aetherite and used as a portal to travel the galaxy in a fraction of the time. Repairs and testing of the Star Gate begin almost immediately.

New Era Year 0205. The gate is made functional once more and an exploration fleet is sent through it, this time more prepared than before. They dispatch a Tanari pirate base that seemed taken by surprise by their sudden arrival.

New Era Year 0206. Exploration Fleet Alpha goes on a rampage destroying all Tanari pirates within a few systems of the Star Gate. This brings them to the attention of the fourth new species that humanity meets. The Trillya. The Trillya are a semi aquatic all humanoid female species that have mastered bioengineering and use their jellyfish and whale-like space ships to travel around. They are a peaceful race unless confronted and show great interest in humanity, they are willing to exchange information for information. Humanity learns of several other alien races and empires. They learn of the Illumerate empire which comprises the Scillaru species, an elf-like race filled with pride and arrogance as well as fanatical zealots to their beliefs and gods. They learn of the Hive Queendoms composed by the Xata, a humanoid insect-like species. They learn of the Chimisai, a short alien species that comes in a variety of colors and are known scavengers and traders with no home planet. They also learn of a few more minor races.

New Era 0209. Through negotiations, the United Solar republic gains access to certain trade routes as well as knowledge of other star gates, allowing commercial ships to spread out into the wider galaxy in the hopes of bringing back wealth and knowledge to the republic.

New era 0213. A few of the Xata and Trillya apply for republic citizenship in the search for homes in human space, most move to New Eden.

New Era 0217. New Eden is renamed to Neiden. Exploration fleets are sent out further and further into unknown space in the hopes of finding more relics and ancient artifacts. Massive amounts of colony ships also leave Republic territory to colonize the new frontier, creating new nations. This aggravates the Illumerate empire who believe that knowledge of the ancients is blasphemous and don’t like how quickly humans spread out into the galaxy.

New Era 0224. An archaeologist couple accidentally finds themselves far off course on charted maps. They discover a huge planet with many ancient ruins. There they find the biggest discovery of their lifetime and bring it back home to Neiden.

New Era 0243. Van is just living his life doing what he can to save enough money to buy his own spaceships and explore the world like his parents did. He lives with three kobolds and an Ai he made himself. He goes through a lot of things and the story begins

Nations/Corporations/Faiths/Etc

United Solar Republic

-Government: This government acts more like a federation than a true republic due to the fact that as the nation grew, it became harder and harder to maintain direct control over all its many colonies. This was true even in its own solar system as there were hundreds of colonies in sol. Though as time progressed, they’ve been trying to centralize thanks in part to progress in communication technology. While it is true there is a governing body, most decisions are made by the people, in that when an idea for a new law is made by a person, they can send it out to be petitioned, if enough people sign on to it, it can be made into a local law. As more and more people like the law and more people sign onto it, the law can spread and become a state law, then a planetary law. When it becomes really big is when the overruling governing body, which is a mix of elected people and chosen people whose skills and knowledge gave them a seat (Think like when you are forced to do jury work, they are required by law to help put their skills to the betterment of the nation for a set number of terms) and Ai’s whose entire purpose is to go through all the data and make sure that any law that passes to national or federal is weighed and made to be absolutely certain to make people happier than sadder, or at least ensure citizens freedoms through putting it through massive number crunching and simulations on potential effects the law might have for the future as well as help vet potential governmental members. Laws can quickly go as easily as they come as those in power may dismiss a law should it interfere with preexisting freedoms or those below create a counter petition. Most people don’t even bother to vote on any laws unless it’s to elect their chosen candidate for government or if they feel like it might affect them personally. There is no president in this government, instead there is a high council of about thirty six members, should there ever be a tie, whichever the majority vote of the entire nation adds an extra vote to break the tie. Votes are weighted and have a descending order from favorite to least favorite. There is the federal government, that oversees the solar governments that in turn oversees the planetary governments and so on and so forth. There are three branches, such as the legislative, the executive and the judicial. There are many parties, it is law that there can’t be more than just two major parties and there is no lobbying whatsoever, intended petitions are used to get the attention of the governing body.

-Economy/Resources: The solar republic started with basically nothing other than a few ships and a barren planet that needed desperate terraforming to their name. But that didn’t stop them. They instead decided to go all out and mine the fuck out of their solar system using the new tech and magical powers they acquired, all in the hopes of building themselves up back even greater then ever. While they may not have any unique product, what they do have is always in bulk! Resource wise they always know how to get what they need and get it by the mountain load. Thanks to progress in recycling technology as well as other technologies to make things more efficient, most of their people live in abundance. They can and will out produce anyone that tries to compete with them, the only flaw is that they don’t have anything that really stands out, other than the few rare items they send scavengers to bring back from earth. The stuff of which can go for millions of credits at the auction considering they are remnants of old earth history. It is also true that the monsters and their parts are also unique and are worth a lot. Over the hundreds of years of the republic it is also true that companies have grown to unheard of levels. And so there is not only credits, but script, which companies can offer to their employees. With the abundance of energy and matter, information holds a whole new importance than any other commodity other than rare resources that you can’t get anywhere else such as Atherite.

-History: The united solar republic was made during a turbulent time for humanity. It was not as rosy as some might think when the government was first established, as many different factions, languages, ideologies, religions and more had to work together. When the final colony ship arrived and it was made clear that humanity may never be able to return to earth, many faced a sense of despair considering how many of their brethren they lost. Unfortunately at the same time as the colony ship arrived and such a fact was made clear, so too was the question of who would lead them, or if they should be a leader at all and not just many different nation states. In the end, to ensure that panic doesn’t spread, nor an idea that the thirty six or so colonies might go to war with each other to establish dominance, a few compromises were put in place. They needed a grand gesture to help unite the people, even if it was only in name. And so the united solar republic was made, though it would be more accurate to say that it was an establishment of a herd of cats more forced to go down certain paths rather than because they wanted to go in the same direction. For the most part, the founding thirty six colonies were allowed to expand and grow as they wished, except for a few key points within their government, particularly when it came to research and the military. For even some disliked each other, it was a fact that the universe became a scarier and more dangerous place, with even new found alien space monsters that would sometimes attack their ships if they weren’t careful. So other than having a shared military and research department, they were all different, some even banding together to form factions in the hopes of influencing their new fledgling government. They then proceeded to colonize the sol system, and after figuring out the jump drive, they expanded outward until they hit New Eden. Many in modern times thought of the meeting of the igneous people of new eden as enlightened compared to how the colonizers of old america acted to their native population. But that actually couldn’t be further from the truth, when humans first arrived on the planet of new eden, their first reactions of the natives was that they were a new type of monster that should be exterminated, or worse, a new race that could potentially become a threat to humanity in the future. Debates were had for years on whether or not to even go through the colonization of new eden. In the end they didn’t choose to spare and try to integrate the natives of new eden just because they thought it was the right thing to do, but because they were worried about what would happen if they met another alien species that might be less than friendly. This was not only a chance to learn from these new aliens, but use them as a reference for future human alien negotiations. Not to mention the natives seemed very perceptive to becoming citizens of the republic, they were potentially a new work force that could also apply their unique powers to the benefit of their nation. Which turned out to be more true then they thought as their first hostile alien interaction was a real wake up call for the republic to get off their asses and make a real military other than the ones to deal with pirates and the occasional space monster. In the end they defeated the Tanari and were given the coordinates of a star gate, plus the uneasy truce of a new nation on their borders. When they finally went through the gate, they blasted any Tanari on the other side, their memories of the war still not forgotten. There they met many other alien nations, and put their new skills in negotiating with friendly and hostile aliens to the test. With the new open frontier they expanded even further with many colonies becoming breakaway nations. This made the republic want to centralize and prevent such breaking apart, believing humanity should all be part of one big group. It didn’t help that the many new colonies were causing a very dangerous alien nation to become more and more aggravated, potentially risking war with the Illummerat empire. What happens in the future, not even the republic knows.

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The Stella Corporation

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Martial Hall

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Hunter’s Guild

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Placeholder(Name Pending)

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Taperi Hegemony

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Illumerat empire

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Xata Hive Queendoms

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Chimisai Traders

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Trillya Cooperative

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Races

Human(humi’s)

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Lemureva(Lumi’s)

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Tanari

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Trillya

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Xata

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Characters

Van

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Lynaria

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Zharia Seongho Okami

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Slutty Mcpink

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Myla Aldith Kumiho

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Lin Rhea Kumiho

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Zira Chao Kumiho

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Zefia Namira Akhira

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Minor Character

Nina

-Nina is just a regular jogger and sometimes gossip monger. It’s very clear she likes Van but perhaps she’s a little too free spirited for his liking. They do have the occasional fling, but nothing Van wants to make serious. They usually see each other when Van goes out to walk his girls. She has short pink hair and wears a tight pink sports bra.

Jonas

-Jonas is Van’s courier rival of sorts. He is always second place to Van’s first, something that irks him to no end. He is also infatuated with Slutty Mcpink, a feeling she does not reciprocate, if only because even though she is his boss, he doesn’t pay her the due respects that Van does. Despite that, he is genuinely one of the best courier’s, and so is invaluable to slutty.

Kitty

-Kitty is Jonas’s main squeeze. While Jonas is arrogant and outgoing, she’s more down to earth and helps ground Jonas a bit. She follows Jonas everywhere helping with the courier business. She’s a bit aloof and looks upon Jonas’s antics like an older annoyed sister would their little brother. Despite their different personalities, Kitty is very loyal, and on rare occasions of insight, Jonas returns such loyalty by sometimes dropping everything for her sake.

Lillia Evka Kumiho

-Lillia Evka Kumiho is a Lumi, a descendent of one of the original inhabitants of this world. She comes from a long line of Lumi’s that have gone through gene modding to change their appearance and dna to be more like a humans over many generations until falling upon the most popular one of their modern time. Lillia has a job as an organizer and manager, as well as a job of helping with Lumi outreach and acting as a go between between the human race and some of the villages and towns that stick to the old traditions and are not directly under Republic law. She’s a bit of a slut, and has shown great interest in Van even when he was still a kid, something that pushed him away from her. Despite some of her faults, she’s actually very good at her job and has a way with people, a real extraverted kinda person. Her daughters each have at least one color from her.

Misty

-Misty is an ad pixie, or as she likes to be called, an ad fairy. Misty’s main task is to entice people to buy her products, which she gets some kickbacks from which she uses to buy upgrades for herself. Her dream is to become a rank nine ai. She loves selling her products, half because she gets to project the items she’s selling onto her body for free and the other half because she was programmed to enjoy it. That was until she met Van and he gave her a little push in her programming to become more independent and have a goal. She’s a bubbly girl and is always looking for a good deal.

Onyx

-Onyx is Van’s doctor and the government agent that helps keep track of Van’s whereabouts. He takes his job very seriously, but also in a kindly and amicable manner. He’s very interested in Van and strives to have a good rapport with him, or for that matter, all his patients. Even if he works for the government and is tasked with getting as much data as possible, he makes sure to treat his patients as what they are, patients and puts their health before anything else. He used to be white but changed his skin color to black to try something new. He has a wife and child, the wife is blue and the child is red.

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Timeline

Day One(Arc One)

- Van wakes up with Zira cuddling him naked. He slowly turns over only for the door to his room to open and Myla comes to wake him up. She tells him some bad news and he groans and gets up to deal with it. On his way he notices Lin looking worried and not knowing what to do. He confronts Lillia, the mother of his pets. Lillia is a huge slut and proud of it, but she is also a good mother and does the cleaning and cooking. She happily greets Van and offers waffles. The girls are unhappy because their mother always takes over their jobs when she’s around, Van is a little unhappy because Lillia is always coming onto him very strongly. In the end they eat their meal and Lillia leaves, Van and his girls then get ready for work and have Lynaria, their Ai get the car. They first head to the park where Van walks his girls and where he meets Nina, a local jogger and work out enthusiast. She offers Van a chance to try out this new thing she learned called the kama sutra, he wonders whether to accept or not, she’s a woman who only wears a sports bra and nothing else. Whether he accepts or not, the girls go out to play with their friends for an hour and Van thinks about all the augmented realities at play in their everyday lives. He is also visited by Misty, an ad Ai who annoys Lynaria greatly, but Van and her get along well enough. She offers to send a few things he was interested in to his house which he is thankful for. Once the hour is up the group leaves to work, Van drops Myla off at a mechanic place, then Van, Lin, Zira, head to a large office building like place where the first floor is goods that are oddities and artifacts and rarities and antiques. He goes up the elevator to meet Slutty Mcpink. Van is Slutty’s courier, Lin goes to help sweep up the place and tidy the room and help organize everything. Slutty gives Van a few tasks and things to deliver. He goes to deliver them after picking them up. Zira stays in the car now, putting on her vr headset to do online jobs. Van drives around, decides to take a few shortcuts on manual and gets pulled over, he talks his way out of it then points out he made the app she suggested on improving driving. Van first delivers a package to a girl who asks if he is interested in sex, he turns her down kindly. The second delivery and he opens the door to a kid who is very young and is soon joined by a busty beauty who is his wife. Though their bodies seem at odds, it is the kid who is older and the woman who is younger, at least mentally. He goes to the third place and finds an android who is a little sick and tired of her job and asks Van if he’s interested in sex, but only because her boss is an asshole. He turns her down and wraps things up. He heads back to the office to pick up Lin, talking to Slutty he picks up his custom order. He then picks up Myla from the mechanic and then they maybe decide to go to the museum where they learn a little more about their planet and Lumi’s. Finally they head home and Van is reminded that he has a date with a beautiful girl named Zharia who he met one day on the train. For some reason Zharia loves him and they go on dates, this is their maybe tenth or so date and the first date they had they had sex, on the third date they kissed and Van is wondering if they are going to fast and if they should hold hands on their seventh date. The girls tease him but he goes to his date and they have a blast, after sex and going out on the town and eating delicious food, he tries to casually hold her hand, she grabs it and they walk down the street hand in hand, some pedestrians commenting on how lewd that was. She finally asks him to meet her parents later that week to make their thing official. They go back to a hotel and have even more sex and van wakes up to go to the doctor he has an appointment with.

Day Two(Arc Two)

-Van goes to the hospital and enters the special section of it. He talks to Doctor Onyx, his personal physician. They have known each other for a long time now and they do a few jabs at each other. Casually talks about how they always have surveillance on him, while Onyx denies such accusations saying that they still abide by the law, and retorts that they don’t have to do any spying because of Van’s accomplishments. They then do the same tests that always have the same predictable results and the doctor and staff gain nothing from Van’s body. They do go over though what little they were able to figure out after all these years, but nothing earth breaking. Doctor Onyx does have some good news though, they have developed a cure for the nanites they were able to somehow inject into Van ever since he was a child, which have been running rampant in his neck doing nothing but get in the way of Van being able to access the Quantum net. Van gratefully takes the serum to destroy the nanites that have been plaguing him all these years and feels a huge burden lifted from his mind. Onyx warns him of the implications of not having a soul capsule and insists that Van give up his dreams for space travel. Van refuses and so Onyx gives Van an ultimatum, if he wishes to travel into space, he first has to be able to defend himself. Van thinks about it and agrees. The two then proceed to talk about his future, with Van giving some details about his up and coming jobs for Slutty Mcpink. Onyx warns about dealing with an underworld dealer like slutty, but Van brushes it off. Onyx reiterates his concerns remiding Van of that time with the Nyazis. Flashback to the Nyazis reveals that a group of Cat girl maids, sick and tired of having no masters to serve, decided to smuggle a quantum jammer and interfere with all augmented reality and force everyone to accept catgirl maids. Their idea was if they can’t get themselves a master, they will create the master race by force so that they can serve them. Or something like that, another idea is them also trying to literally create a person to be their ultimate master, the tomboy guild and maid federation gets involved. At the end of it all, Van somehow puts a stop to the conspiracy by stealing the tech and going on a wild car chase followed by him yelling the cat girls down and ordering them to give themselves up. The cat girls themselves weren't really dangerous and didn’t have weapons that would kill, but they were organized and committed. It is later revealed that they were once a part of a virtual slash augmented reality, but felt lost and disillusioned by their fake world. Worse because of their low numbers they weren’t able to afford the maintenance fees to keep their reality online. In the end they are all captured and go through therapy, though there are a few that remain and view Van as the master they have been searching for all this time. Onyx jokes about this to Van and he just sighed and accepts his fate, wondering how he could somehow use those girls to his advantage. Maybe they also talk about some medical stuff, they also talk about ship plans, Vans failures at massages, mechanics, other stuff and a job offer that Van accepts though under duress about soul crafting. Van leaves and goes home and is happy to see his girls again. They have a nice dinner and he excitedly goes to his work room and begins to assemble Lyn’s body. Now that the nanites aren't bothering him he can assemble it at breakneck speeds with his psychic powers and use the special items he got from slutty mcpink to make Lyn’s body even better. After a long night, Van goes to sleep feeling he’s accomplished much and thinks about his future as well as his ability to finally cultivate.

Week One(Arc Three)

-Van meets slutty mcpink at Stella’s diner. The stella corporation is a huge company that has branched off to many other small companies and Van knows the girls working there very well.

Slutty talks to him about a job she has for him, it’s a job about smuggling a girl out of the greatest known club in the city called the Sex Bang/Big Bang. A place where instead of cash, sex is the currency. The girl being smuggled is the daughter of the owner of the store, the daughter feels like her mothers influence in her life is just too great and wishes to move to her fathers place off planet. Normally the government would get involved with something like this, But the girls mother holds a lot of influence and technically she hasn’t broken any laws yet, though it might be construed that the girl was willing. The girl’s virginity is at stake, they pretend to be the girl's childhood friend’s and sneak into the sex bang with fake ids. Then get the girl out. Van and Zharia of all people do this, they enter the building and it is very depraved, but surprisingly clean, with all the cleaner robots. They order a burger and shake and when it comes time to pay Van sends a download of a few sextapes that Slutty had given him to use as currency. The mother comes over and asks how they are doing since they appear new and you need a reservation to get in and they explain they are old friends and Van was interested in purchasing the daughters V-card. The mother is happy that old friends are here and thinks this is a good way for her daughter to open up to the idea of taking over the company. After a while Van and Zharia sneak in and get the girl out, but just as they are about to leave the mother finds them and they flee. It then turns out that the girl has to stay for a while with Van since they haven’t worked out on offworld transport. After a while things die down and Van makes a few calls with onyx to help make sure the mother never finds them. After that Van starts to plan things and grow stronger and heads to the gym where he meets a girl and guy there. He is friends with them and they hang out when Van rarely comes by to get his lift on. Van talks about how he is planning to grow stronger and asks if they want to come with him when he finally gets a spaceship. But is turned down. Van then goes back home and finally sits down with Lynaria and starts talking about getting stronger with her help. Van enters his soul scape and begins working on figuring things out as well as growing his psychic power. After a while they get a little stronger and he tells his girls that he is planning to enter the martial hall and grow even stronger. He gives the balls to them and they grow stronger as well. He tells them of his plans and they agree and things work out. Next week they go the martial hall, then the hunters guild and then take on the task that Onyx gave about soul crafting.