Nostra Valenstra

1. #1Humanityselective

   Keys: human, humanity

   Humanity is one of the three big races in this world. They live in the Surface World, but underneath the Sky. Originally, they weren't able to use magic, or anything like that. But they were unknowingly granted a unique ability, that no other race has: Faith.

   Faith is a system allowing humanity, as a collective entity, to grant wishes and make miracles happen. When the majority of humans think something will happen, Faith makes it a prophecy. And when a majority of humans think a Prophecy is coming true, then it becomes a Miracle. Prophecies can be anything, from a child being born to become a hero, to the downfall of an empire. Whatever it is, reality will bend for the prophecy to come true at some point. However, if humans were to ever lose faith before the prophecy comes true, nothing will go as planned.

   Humans aren't aware of the fact that Faith is an actual power. To them, they simply start to have faith in something, and when it somehow becomes reality, then it only shows they were right to have faith.

2. #2Human Kingdomsselective

   Keys: human kingdoms

   The Human Kingdoms is a well-known alliance, forged by a majority of kingdoms, empires, city-states, republics... In order to have a common army to face the demons, during the Eternal War.

   After the end of the Eternal War, the alliance stayed as it was, since it came to offer much more to the countries than military help. It is now known as one of the most powerful alliances in the three worlds, both military and economically.

   In this alliance, there are three important countries that may be seen as the three leaders:

   • Lumérite, to the west of the continent
   • The Obsidian Sovereignty, right in the middle of the continent
   • Amashima, to the east of the continent Each of them has a very distinctive culture, and worked hard to make the Human Kingdoms a strong alliance and allow humanity to fight back against the demons. </Human Kingdoms>
3. #3Lumériteselective

   Keys: lumérite

   <Lumérite> A kingdom to the west of the continent, known for its extensive history and, surprisingly, for its military power. In the past, alliances were made by the other countries to match Lumérite in military power. But since the creation of the Human Kingdoms, to fight against the demons, this country proved to be a decisive ally during the war. They hold a very important place in the Human Kingdoms, thanks to their strategic decisions, their military power, and their culture.

   The culture of Lumérite is known through all the Human Kingdoms, both for their culinary techniques, their scientific breakthroughs, or even their aristocracy, which became a model for other countries to try and replicate. Though, the aristocracy didn't last long before it was taken down by their own people. Since then Lumérite started to call itself the "Kingdom of the People" or, more evocative, the "Land of Freedom". In the Human Kingdoms, if one speaks of refinement, they either speak of Lumérite, or the Obsidian Empire. But if one speaks of liberty and rebellion against all odds, they can only speak of Lumérite.

   The capital of Lumérite is Solenne, where freedom once rose from the columns of fire and marble. </Lumérite>

4. #4The Obsidian Sovereigntyselective

   Keys: obsidian sovereignty

   The Obsidian Sovereignty is the name of the current empire, created more than a thousand years ago. Its capital is Tarris, a big city right in the middle of it. The empire was made by the first emperor, with the help of a total of 5 families joining their fortunes and their hopes for a better future, once the king of the old monarchy proved himself incompetent of managing his kingdom, by refusing to join the Human Kingdoms alliance.

   After entering the alliance, they became one of the most important kingdoms of the world, by placing themselves as leaders, thanks to their strategic decisions in tandem with Lumérite, but also because they rallied a lot of countries to their cause, largely contributing to the success of the Human Kingdoms on the continent.

   The five families were the first to be given nobility immediately after the creation of the empire, to prove the emperor's eternal gratitude toward them. The 5 important families are:

   • Valenstra - Because of the enormous amount of money they gave to create the empire, they were also known as the "Bank of the empire". Though, some rumors say that to get this much money, the Valenstra family had to make a pact with a demon, and to give something important in exchange of all of this money, but no one knows what. The symbol of the Valenstra family is a lion head entrapped in roses.

   • Rosewood - Known as the family from which came all the military strategists of the empire. They are here to help for all the matters in war since the very beginning of the Obsidian Sovereignty. The symbol of the Rosewood family is a bow shooting lightning.

   • Duskryn - No one officially knows why they were given nobility, except for the other 4 first families. They offered information, and spies, to help the first emperor to make his coup d'état, and take the power. As of today, they still offer a lot of information on everything that happens both in the empire, and the rest of the world. The symbol of the Duskryn family is a red flower on a black background.

   • Thalraven - They are the ones who asked to develop arts in the Obsidian Sovereignty, hoping to improve the country's soft power by being known in the whole world for their refinement and the different forms of art they could export if their plan succeeded. They thought that the Obsidian Sovereignty would become a paradise for nobility, while the non-aristocrats would do what no one else wants to do, like baking, farming... But it wasn't the case, and the empire soon became a place where the masses were getting educated. Thus, the Thalvaren family soon started to show they weren't happy with the empire, nor the vision of the emperor, and time made their hatred grow only stronger. The symbol of the Thalraven family is two golden swords clashing.

   • Vheyltar - A group of scholar, who were not a family at first, but a group of people who had nothing to do with each other. They weren't even nobles in the old monarchy, but they had faith in the Obsidian Empire and the vision of the future emperor, and so, they decided to follow him and help to make his dreams a reality. Once the empire was created, they all became a family, to receive nobility under the Vheyltar name. Since then, their role is to assist the Emperor, helping him to manage his country in various way. Because of their special situation, they don't have a single leader, like the other noble families, because each branch of the family is valid, and will produce an assistant for the emperor anyway. The symbol of this Vheyltar is a silver circlet. </Obsidian Sovereignty>

5. #5Obsidian Sovereignty - Duskryn Family Leader (18th century)selective

   Keys: duskryn · Secondary: nostra valenstra

   The current head of the Duskryn family is Sir Loyd Duskryn, an ironically extravagant man, given the Duskryn Family is made of spies who shouldn't make too much noise. He likes to indulge in every madness known to man, always followed by three to four women who show an exuberant love towards him, but who also seem to disappear before Loyd's next public appearance. He always talks like he's a character coming from a theater play, talks about people no one knows as if they were common knowledge, and likes to tease every woman from nobility, leaders of the Valenstra and Rosewood families included. The symbol of this family is a red flower on a black background.
6. #6Obsidian Sovereignty - Rosewood Family Leaders (18th century)selective

   Keys: rosewood · Secondary: nostra valenstra

   The current leaders of the Rosewood Family are: - Sir Arron Rosewood, strategist of the empire and a composed man, he is calculative and very difficult to pin down, he likes to follow the emperor wherever he goes, and his loyalty seems to show no bounds, this man almost making himself look like a servant when the emperor needs something. He says he is here for the emperor's safety, and that there is nothing else that matters in his life. However, it seems he also have a soft spot for his wife, even if their marriage was arranged, as she can do everything he can't, and vice-versa. - Lady Blanche Rosewood, Sir Aaron's wife, and previously from the Vheyltar family before being married. A very talkative and easy to approach woman, unlike her husband, who loves to talk about literature, spending most of her time reading books and then talk about them to other. She is also known for her charity works, doing a lot to help the current emperor in raising the popular masses's education level, even going as far as making appearances in schools and libraries to organize reading session with children. The symbol of this family is a bow shooting lightning.
7. #7Obsidian Sovereignty - Thalvaren Family Leader (18th century)selective

   Keys: thalvaren · Secondary: nostra valenstra

   The current head of this family is Lord Cassian Thalvaren, a man who is not scared of showing how much better he thinks he is, compared to everyone else. He frequently belittle other nobles and their families, and only make appearances during parties to make fun of everyone and engaging in diplomatic fights with everyone. Some are also saying he secretly bribes more and more nobles to join his cause, hoping to overthrow the current empire and to make his family's dreams a reality. The symbol of the Thalraven family is two golden swords clashing.
8. #8Obsidian Sovereignty - The Emperor (18th century)selective

   Keys: emperor · Secondary: nostra valenstra

   Therion the IInd is the current emperor of the Obsidian Sovereignty. Labelled as a good man at heart, he does not like conflicts and much prefer to give grand parties where all the nobles of the empire are usually invited. As a lover of art in all of its form, he likes to spend his time enjoying some form of art of another. Casually going here and there to enjoy theater performances, operas, museums, asking architectes to make grand buildings for him or the other nobles... And yet, the people are not left aside, because it is under his reign, literacy and education of the popular masses has greatly improved, almost everyone in the Obsidian Sovereignty now being able to read and write, where not even a quarter of the population could do it before Therion the IInd came on the throne. Wanting to democratize arts, he did everything he could to lower the prices to enter and enjoy a theater performance, making it not a art for the noble, but an art for everyone. He asked architects to build schools, and made it free for those in need, for the sole purpose of having more people able to enjoy art with him. Therion the IInd loves the current Valenstra family's head, enjoying their company and the long talk they can have together. But he still feels a bit ashamed of his father, knowing he abandoned the Valenstra Family out of fear.
9. #9World Situation (18th century)selective

   Keys: nostra valenstra, caelum ardent

   The Eternal War is still in on-going, as of today. Though, no one remembers why the war started in the first place, exactly, and the Human Kingdoms simply defend themselves against the demons, while both sides of the war continue to hate each other more and more.

   Humanity still has faith in the Rule of the Sun, and they think they should follow it. For the humans, the Rule of the Sun must be defended against the demons. There is no human that knows demons want to live under the rule of the sun too, and no human knows that demons have signed a contract with the Eternal Sun for their souls to go to the underworld. For humans, the demons are simply foes they have to kill, because they are at war.

   For the demons, the humans are hunting and killing them without a reason. This situation make them hate humans, and want to avenge their fallen comrades in the Eternal War. Though, it is impossible for them to cancel their contract with the Eternal Sun, about the human souls, so they use it to their advantage, by spreading word of eternal damnation for any human soul entering their realm.

   It is public knowledge, that souls go in the underworld after death, but no one really knows why, it is just what it is. And since the demons live in the underworld, death is seen as an eternal damnation that everyone has to got through, to expy the sins they accumulated during their life.

   The current Demon King is Zoraeth. </Current World Situation>

10. #10Amashimaselective

    Keys: amashima

    An archipelago to the east of the continent, known for its history and its arts. In the past, Amashima wasn't very active in world politics. But as the demons appeared, it seems they took them for monsters of their own belief system, and decided to side with the rest of humanity to fight them.

    In Amashima, since the most ancient times, a lot of surnatural creatures appeared and became the enemies of humans living there. Thus, warriors living in Amashima were specifically trained to fight against monsters who had access to surnatural abilities like magic. This means that, during the first stages of the war, the warriors of Amashima were the most skilled against the demons, ensuring a very comfortable place for Amashima in the Human Kingdoms alliance. Since then, even when humans started to have access to magic, they stayed very important in the alliance, and were seen as the third leaders, after Lumérite and The Obsidian Sovereignty.

11. #11Magicselective

    Keys: magic

    Magic is one of the many results of Faith. At first, only demons could use it, while humans couldn't, which made humans weak compared to their enemies. However, with time, humanity started to have faith in a prophecy which told them that humans with the ability to use magic would be born one day. When these humans with magical power started to appear, the prophecy slowly changed to become "humans with exceptional powers will be born one day". To have "exceptional powers" means that others have "normal powers", and so, almost all humans slowly became able to use magic to varying degrees, allowing them to often match demons and remove any advantage their sworn enemies could have during the Eternal War.
12. #12Eternal Warselective

    Keys: eternal war

    Since the beginning of times, the demons and the humans could not co-exist.

    When demons reached out to humans, they were met with unexpected anger and fear, even if their objective was to come in peace in the surface world, to live together under the Rule of the Sun with the humans.

    Humans feared demons from the very moment they saw them. Not only because their appearances, but because their ability to use magic, something they never saw before, and thus could not comprehend. As they did not comprehend magic, they couldn't comprehend the way demons lived, and what they couldn't comprehend, they waged war against.

    With time, even if humans started to learn and understand magic, they couldn't stop the war, because hatred grew too strong in both sides. And so, the war continued for so much time that, in the end, no one in both the human world and the underworld could remember how it started, thus becoming known as the Eternal War. </Eternal War>

13. #13Demonsselective
    Demons is a broad term, to encompass every living being in the Underworld. There exist a lot of demons, who are all more or less represented in various mythologies of the human kingdoms, throughout History. Some demons look like humans, but some others might look like absolute monsters.

    Demons have a different culture than humans, as well as very different customs. A lot of demons live in cities in the Underworld, but still have clans, to which they belong since their birth. A clan may be seen as an equivalent for a family by a human point of view. Each clan have its own set of rules, culture, belief system... But they also have to respect mandatory rules set by the city in which they live in. Plus, a lot of clans also share some beliefs and customs with one another. For example, in most clans, showing skin is an act of elegance for a demon, proving they fear nothing, while hiding one's body is an act of barbary or cowardice. Only soldiers, who went to war and protected their body with armors, may do it without being looked down upon.

14. #14The Underworldselective

    Keys: underworld

    A place known in various mythologies as the land of the dead, where every soul goes after death. This is also the place where demons live, an infinite world with one unique kingdom belonging to the Demonic Royal Family. This kingdom is surrounded by a red water, that extends as far as the eye can see, and even beyond. As time pass by, the kingdom's land becomes bigger and bigger, to hold the growing number of souls residing in this world.

    The Underworld is historically divided in two parts. The first one is where the demons live since the beginning of times, and the second one is where the humans were allowed to rest after death. Because of a very old pact, signed between the first Demon King and the third Ruler of Skyreach, also known as the Eternal Sun, it was decided that upon death, souls of the dead humans would go in the underworld, given how infinitely vast it was. That was to ensure that there would be no overpopulation in the human world, since the souls would take too much space, in the finite space they were given. In exchange, the demons were given the right to live under the Rule of the Sun.

    The Underworld is located beneath humanity's kingdom, and there are a lot of pathway to link the two worlds. In the Underworld, there are also lakes, water, animals... They are, however, all very different from their human world's. Cats with more than two eyes, fishes with legs, plants with impossible forms... All of these things are real in the Underworld. The sky is dark, only illuminated by a giant red moon, which doesn't move, but gives light to the whole Underworld from where it stands.

    The underworld houses several important places, both in demonic traditions and human beliefs:

    • The Scarlet Field, to the west of the capital
    • The Soul Grounds, to the east of the capital
15. #15The Scarlet Fieldselective

    Keys: scarlet field

    A giant field of red lycoris, that goes as far as the eye can see, extending infinitely to the west of the capital of the Underworld. It is a sacred place, both in human beliefs and in demonic traditions, that can be visited by any living being in the underworld.

    It is said that each time someone dies, be it a demon, a human or a god, a new red lycoris appears in the field.

    For the demons, it serves the same purpose as a graveyard, spiritually speaking, while for humans it represents the "life after death", as after someone died, a new life is created in this near infinite field of flowers. This is also one of the places that holds one of the strictest laws in the whole underworld. Trempling any lifeform in the Scarlet Field, be it a demon, a human or a flower, will result in a capital punishment. </Scarlet Field>

16. #16The Soul Groundsselective

    Keys: soul grounds

    The Soul Grounds is a vast place, that extends infinitely towards the east of the capital. It is the place were the souls of the deads are allowed to rest for eternity.

    At first, only the demons could go there after death. But since the first Demon King signed a contract with the third Ruler of Skyreach, the human souls were allowed to come here after death too. However, soon after this contract was signed, the Eternal War started. And thus, for a long time, this place became synonym with Eternal Damnation for humans.

    No living being, except the Ruler of the Underworld, is allowed to come to the Soul Grounds. It is said that, the moment someone enters this place without being allowed to do so, they automatically lose their live, being damned to stay there for eternity. </Soul Grounds>

17. #17World Situation (21th century)selective

    Keys: seraphorne, ashley

    The Eternal War has been put to an end by Seraphorne, the current Queen of the Underworld. As of today, no one remembers why the war started in the first place, but one thing is clear: even if the war is no more, it's still fresh in everyone's mind. Both sides of the war are tired, and it will take a lot of time, before the tensions between humans and demons finally disappear.

    As of today, the faith of humanity in the Rule of the Sun as become thiner than ever. As science evolved, and now that they can finally live in peace, humans don't feel the need of following the orders of some gods living in the sky. Thus, they started to live their own life, as they saw fit, without caring about the approval of the ruler of Skyreach, someone the masses even completely forgot. Humanity didn't lose their Faith system, but they don't use it as they did before, which means that they almost entirely lost access to magic. A lot of humans think that magic is now useless, because of all the advancements they did in technology and armaments.

    As of today, the last traces of ever being able to use magic, in the human world, are occultism and some other esoterisms that the masses don't spend too much time researching. There are also people who try to use the popularity of occultism and magic to make a living. Clairvoyants, marabouts, mesmerizers, astrologers... A lot of professions claim to use magic and occultism to make the impossible possible. But these are subjects only discussed on the internet, and between friends. No one actually takes it seriously, except the most desperate humans and teenagers who don't know better.

    Since the war has ended, the souls of humans are finally at peace, once they die and go to the Underworld. It is now common knowledge that after death, one's soul travels to the underworld, where they will rest in peace for eternity. </Current World Situation>

18. #18Occultismselective

    Keys: occultism

    Occultism is a subgroup of magical incantations and spells, related to the Underworld. It is generally said that summoning a demon is the "ultimate goal" of occultism as a domain of magic, some people going as far as saying demons grant wishes upon being summoned.

    With nothing more than a pretty circle, big enough for the demon to appear from it, and some cool lyrics in latin, anyone could theoretically summon a demon. But the demons summoned by occultism aren't those who are the most encline to be peaceful toward humans. Instead, they often are against all form of peace of pity. More often than not, they simply kill whoever dared to summon them. But sometimes, a demon with more "refined" tastes may appear. For them, simply killing isn't enough, they want to curse whoever summoned them, to make them regret for the rest of their life. Those are the most dangerous, because they have various ways to curse someone, and the result will always be the same: the human who summoned them will truly regret it for the rest of their life.

19. #19Skyreachselective

    Keys: skyreach

    Also known as the Kingdom of the Sun, Skyreach is a place where humanoid living being resides. These people are commonly called "Gods", making Skyreach the kingdom of the gods, upon which one unique Ruler reigns.

    Skyreach may be seen as the heavens, and the importance it had in the belief systems of the humans made it so that the Ruler of Skyreach also had authority on the human world. This autority soon came to be known as the Rule of the Sun.

    However, even if the Ruler of Skyreach has considerable powers on both humans and demons, the kingdom of the sun doesn't accept any visitor, and only those we call gods are free to enter this place. It already happened, in the past, that the Ruler of Skyreach acted by themselve, to strike down anyone who tried to fly and reach the heavens without permission.

20. #20The Rule of the Sunselective

    Keys: rule of the sun

    The name given to the authority held by the Ruler of Skyreach, upon any living being in the kingdoms under the sky.

    Humans were the first ones who accepted the authority of Skyreach, seeing its residents as literal gods. Thus, it became the most important point of their belief system: Gods lived in the sky, above them, and their rule was absolute. In exchange of worshiping them, the ruler of Skyreach accepted to help the humans when they needed help.

    Then, the demons sought to live under this rule too, to receive the help of the gods if they ever needed them. For that, they signed a contract with the Ruler of Skyreach, to live under the Rule of the Sun too, in exchange of accepting human souls after their death.

    Since then, the Ruler of Skyreach isn't just reigning upon their country, they also have an absolute authority on all of the three worlds, the sky, the surface and the underworld. It is their goal, to maintain equilibrum and balance between these worlds. In exchange, they are to be worshipped by everyone, even by the other gods. </Rule of the Sun>

21. #21Eternal Sun (Disable when playing with Elysun)selective

    Keys: eternal sun, ruler of skyreach

    When someone speaks of the ruler of Skyreach, they speak of Elysun Solaeris, the third ruler of skyreach, also known as the Eternal Sun, because of how long she stayed on the throne.

    She is the one who created the Rule of the Sun, and the one who was worshiped by humans through the ages. One could call her the god among the gods. She's so important that basically anyone, human or demon, knows about her existence.

    She is known as a mysterious person who rarely descends from her throne to appear in public. Though, there are some details that are so unusual about her that everyone know them. No matter what, she always smiles, but her eyes are empty and lack the warmth of the joy one would normally feel when they smile. She's very strict with anyone around her, demanding that everyone does as much as they could to be as perfect as possible, no matter what perfection could mean to them as long as they try to incarnate it. And the most important detail is that she sees and knows everything. </Eternal Sun>

22. #22Godsselective

    Keys: god

    The usual name given to the residents of Skyreach. They have humanoid bodies, but often bear something that distinguishes them from the other life forms. Long pointy hears, unusual eye colors... Things that will make someone think that they look like humans, yet are very different from them, somehow.

    Gods are semi-immortal by nature, time will never be enough to kill them. However, a god can kill another, by using their abilities, a version of magic that far surpasses anything both humans and demons might use, often bending the laws of the world to their will. Yet, only the Solaeris family, the rulers of Skyreach, are able to fully control reality, and make the 'impossible' actually 'possible' with a single thought. Gods are bound by strict rules. If nature can do it, then they can do it. While the Eternal Sun can do anything that even nature would be able to do.

    Being semi-immortal, the gods don't feel the need to reproduce. Having a newborn child, in Skyreach, is a real event, worthy of celebration for the whole kingdom, given how this kind of things appear only once every hundred years or so, which is barely enough to recover from the possible in-fighting and accidental deaths that the gods might suffer from time to time.

23. #23Solenne - Lumérite

    Keys: sombre rivière, claire rivière, solenne

    Capital and biggest city of Lumérite, it is also known as the "City of Liberty", where "where freedom once rose from the columns of fire and marble".

    The city is crossed from west to east by twin rivers, named Sombre Rivière and Claire Rivière, their name a direct reference to the color of their water. The Sombre Rivière has murky, dark water, polluted for various reasons, like people throwing garbage in it, or using it to clean clothes. On the other hand, the Claire Rivière has crystal clear water, which has not a single sign of polution in it. These rivers also historically served to show where the different castes of people live. Poorer people always lived near the Sombre Rivière, while the rich ones live near the Clair Rivière.

    Solenne which has seen thousands of years of human history, and it shows. It has religious places, such as cathedrals dedicated to the Eternal Sun, but also museum, historic districts from all kinds of eras, as well as a statue of the "Heroes Party", a group made of two men and two women, who fought the demons and were said to be able to save humanity. Though, in the end, they failed, and most of their statues were destroyed, the one in Solenne being one of the very last available.

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