My parents are STEM majors so Ive been exposed to it a lot since I was born We live somewhere you get a really good view of the sky. Had a lot of astronomy books as a kid and it just kinda went on from there. I now have a lot of books on astrophysics, astronomy, quantum mechanics, m-theory, string theory, all that stuff.
It really comes in handy with my worldbuilding because it gave me some groundwork. I just made my worlds on top of it and played around with a few concepts. It is all theorietical after all
There was also inspiration from some popular scifi shows. And some not scifi shows.
A lot of the dimensional law I got from Doctor Who. The higher planes I got from Stargate. Some of the designs I got from both. Rifts I got from multiple shows. Jump Points I got from Guardians of the Galaxy. A lot of the designs I got from anime. Most of them come from YuGiOh, Bakugan and Log Horizon. A lot of the world building designs I got from cartoons like Winx, Ben 10, Secret Saturdays, Generator Rex, Young Justice. Yknow, the good ones
It is funny, though. Because my characters are from a place Above, most of what people call magic is just science Lower Beings havent figured out yet. I get a lot of good excuses in explaination because of this
The whole Beyond thing is another level which is where it gets very complicated
Nope, never seen it But i have seen a lot of scifi shows
What made that happen?
Why do the Ilvagis want them to not leave?
Sounds like some of the healing magic/technomagic my characters use
Are spells common in your world?
Just to clarify, you mean lava as in molten rock, right?
Who is the ruling king? Are they important? What can they do?
Reminds me of the Umbra from my books
Why only luna magick?
This is a very interesting idea
What are the other planets like?
The Moonstone is the opposite power to the Sundrop Flower. Defs worth the watch
What are the other stones? Why is the moonstone most important?
Wow, okay XD So you’ve had a long sciency childhood, huh?
Oh you should, if you’re interested. I would love to hear what you think of it! They talk about time and stuff. It’s also a great feel-good movie and with thrill and with awesome, awesome Hans Zimmer scores. As for the sciency stuff, experts were consulted, apparently, and they said some of the theories introduced are not completely out there and actually pretty close to possible science stuff (you can tell I’m out of my comfort zone when I start loading the word “stuff” XD).
Integration with Humans, and native Elganians having weaker genes compared to Humans (meaning if a Human got together with a native Elganian, a Hybrid or Human is born, not a full-on anthro), and loss of magick and power. You could say Humans tried and failed to invade/colonize Elgana, eventually settling on integration.
Well, there was a war and the Ilvagis won and this was actually the first war they won against the Kattalunae. They became super excited but also afraid that the Kattalunae would fight back, so they prevented the Kattalunae from increasing numbers, and wanted to make them lose their magick.
The only Kattalunae permitted by rules to use lunar magick to heal are the clan leaders. Everyone else could use the magick to fight, but without anything to fight, their magick went stale and faded eventually. Soon, the clan leaders began to lose their magick, too. Using it only to heal was not enough to keep that skill working. Magick is like a muscle for some that if they don’t continuously use enough of it, it can fade away.
Yes, quite common The ones that use them are Ilvagis, Kattalunae, and Sorcerers. They all use some form of runic magick.
Yep. If there’s some shadows near or around it, chances are, an Ilvagi would come crawling out and immediately look for food. The crawlers are always hungry.
“king” in Ilvagien doesn’t only mean a male ruler, but the word they use in Ilvagien sounded like “king”, so then everyone else started calling the ruler, the king. It stuck.
The king is the top, single ruler of all Ilvagis. Their choices, decisions, commands, ideas are what make Ilvagien society work. Since only the high-ranked Ilvagis think for themselves, the rest need commands. They need it so much that if they don’t have any, they actually can go crazy and in extreme cases, they can die. So, the king’s commands are like food for the lower ranks and which keep them sane. They always say, “we live on commands”.
The king makes all the decisions, so they also choose which of the high ranks can be their second-in-command (captain) and one day the captain will be the next king.
Actually considered calling them umbra-something initially But I wanted Icelandic consistency. What I mean is, “Kattaluna” name has an Icelandic inspiration mashed up with “lunar” to translate to “lunar cat”, so I wanted to use Icelandic for my shadow race. Ilvagi is actually two Icelandic words mashed up so that it means, “shadow organism”
Shadow magick’s counterpart is lunar magick. Dark vs light. There’s actually more to this. Shadow magick is destructive. Lunar magick is healing. Destruction vs healing (or regeneration, I suppose).
Let’s start from the center ring:
The other five rings (torus planets)
First Ring: mainly desert plains, mainly Humans and some Hybrids. The biggest portal exists here and distorts time perception. Has a hole in the middle which is darkness and those who go in never return, but there’s a theory it goes to the Underside of Elgana which is thought of as the land of the dead.
Second Ring: mainly fields, forests, and some dry plains. Hybrids mostly here. Build tall cities. The main government building exists here.
Third Ring: Forest, field, swamp and river, rocky and dry desert. Kattaluna live here.
Fourth Ring: Forest, field, lakes, dry plains with sinkholes during wet season. Sorcerers live here. They do get snow here.
Fifth Ring: Jail ring. Forests and cold up north with snow. Jail facilities and also open-field jail (meaning, like animals, criminals are kept in a closed-in area but can run around free with trackers).
Off the top of my head,
Sapphire, emerald, padparadscha, citrine, bloodstone, rose quartz (almost couldn’t remember it!), and moonstone. The seven stones of the seven guardians
The moonstone is the chief guardian’s stone. And he’s as close to a god-like, creator-like position as you can get. His choices and actions directly affect Elgana as a whole. The moonstone is the most important and most powerful for that reason. There is a Lunar Goddess and the moonstone is her gift to him to use freely. So, he does.
I know we’re gonna get into Guardian lore
There are always supposed to be seven Guardians of Elgana that make sure Elgana is balanced. They are initially mortals but then the stone chooses them and they become immortal and also gain the powers of a Guardian which are elemental (because the first Guardians were native Elganians who had elemental magick).
Nah, you’re doing better than a lot. Normally people just look at me like “wtf speak english”
Ah, yes, that sounds like something Humans would do.
That makes sense
I was about to ask about this but this answered my question Is there any way they can get their magick back later?
Oooo fun. How does runic magick work?
Very cool. So, you only use Icelandic words for your species? Not like me who mixes and matches
So there’s no “light” light magic, just luna?
These all sound very cool Do you only have six planets?
Wondering what’s made you pick these stones in particular
Why seven? Same question for the stones actually Why is the number seven so important? What happens if there isn’t seven? Can the stones be destroyed? Can the immortal guardians be killed or lose their power?
Well, maybe to some extent. But the sad reality is that native Elganians are dying out. It’s not always a happy ending.
Runic magick 101? Sort of
I wonder
Well, let’s take Sorcerers who use runic magick straightforward. They call out the names of each rune they are going to use in a spell. The sigils leap forward glowing in front of them. The sigils will connect and merge to become one big sigil that can look as complicated as a mandala. The Sorcerer will say the final version of the spell and release the sigil from their magical grasp. That’s the old way.
The modern way is to just say the spell from the start. So, like, instead of saying, “I want to heal this cut here” they say “Iwantohealthiscuthere” as one word and the full sigil pops out and the Sorcerer can use it right away.
Ilvagis and Kattalunae, however, don’t call out sigils. They’re using the most ancient form of runic magick. They call out each runic symbol still within themselves and project only the energy generated from the symbols. So, you never see the final sigil.
I think this difference is because Sorcerers learned to use the magick and had to discover how to control it. Ilvagis and Kattalunae have always known how to use the magick. It comes to them as easily as breathing. They didn’t have to learn to control it.
I don’t know if that answered your question Feel free to pick this apart until all I can say is "well, because magick "
I try. Icelandic, sometimes Latin, Greek, Welsh, or Gaelic. But that’s if I can’t come up with anything Proto-Germanic.
No one is going to care, but I like to be somewhat consistent with my inspiration
Lunar.
Yes.
Yep. That’s quite enough for me XD
It’s actually more like one planet because Elgana is a planet made up of those ring planets.
Almost the rainbow Also, I did write a separate story that uses gems for magick and…well…couldn’t let all that gem research go to waste. I looked up their meanings and spiritual associations and all that and tried to get ones that would give something like the seven virtues.
Why seven? Can stones be destroyed?
Seven virtues, sort of. The seventh is the moonstone and also the one that is all about balance which is what Elgana is all about. The planet will begin to collapse and everything will become corrupt if balance is lost.
At the time of Lunar Heart, Shadow Bound, there is imbalance and the Guardians are scrambling to get it together.
Lose a stone and/or lose a Guardian, and then the Chief Guardian is like “sigh, well, I guess I need to make it again/appoint one again, darn mortals”. Stones are just stones that hold a special kind of magick. They can be crushed. You can chuck one against a wall and break it.
Can Guardians die? Well,
Guardians can die. In fact, that’s the only way they pass on their Guardian magick to the next prospect Guardian. It’s considered an “honorable death”. Considered. Not saying every Guardian agrees And not saying every Guardian wants to give up their power.
The Chief Guardian can take away the power but this is a little gimmicky for him because he can’t exist in the mortal realm, but the Guardians can. So, if he wants to take something away from them, he has to somehow get them to come to him. If they know what he’s up to, and they don’t want to lose their powers, do you think they would be willing? Also, killing a Guardian is generally against Chief Guardian law though the Chief Guardian is powerful enough to kill them.
Can a Guardian be killed?
Yes, by the Chief Guardian or potentially another Guardian. A normal Sorcerer or magical being cannot kill a Guardian. Their magick is more powerful than an Ilvagi or a Sorcerer living for 600 years (Elgana as a planet has been around for 800 so far). They are so powerful that even a severed limb can reattach itself. Magick enables this healing and the more powerful you are, the bigger wounds you can heal and also with more power you can heal faster, live longer…all the overly powerful stuff.
I have a story where a Human gets into a fight with a Guardian and decapitates him. The head and body are connected with a stream of magick energy that brings the head back onto the shoulders. Takes a while and there is blood, but the Guardian can regenerate, and if needed, suck the blood back into the body.
Right. You know how cats communicate with their tails? That’s where I got it from
It is only used among Pinti and her closest friends. No one else has bothered to keep learning it because no one uses it anymore. It’s also quite limited, so Pinti and her friends even made up connecting word signages. They can say “I go to forest. I eat.” But she added, “I go to forest, and then I eat there.” to make communication smoother.
It’s like a secret language between her and her friends and it annoys others who can’t understand what they’re talking about
Pinti was like, “I am the wind!” and running through the forest on her own and then she’s not looking where she is going.
Thorn the Ilvagi is like “I feel some unique magick somewhere” and since he is tall, he is not looking down.
They crash into each other.
Pinti and Thorn speak Universal. Thorn has learned a little bit of Pinti’s tailsign.
Thanks
I’m not sure actually. I do want to explore this in a story some day.
The only thing closest to a magical disability that I have is about a Sorcerer who was late in developing his full magick potential by the appropriate age (in “Lone Gold, Daring Purple”). Cypur’s magick then explodes and kills another Sorcerer on accident.
I can’t remember our question situation. I shall return with some later anyway
It’s a mouthful because I translated the runic tongue. Sounds a lot prettier without translation
Exactly
Imagine, you are a mortal, and the Chief Guardian, basically the god of the world chooses YOU as worthy for like, say, the stone of justice, and gives you incredible magical power. Would you give it up so easily?
The Human, Kaiver, actually says something along those lines. Not “boring” but more like "they came back to life AGAIN??? "
Hi everyone! I updated the original post, so check it out here. Tried to make it easier to ask non-plot based questions.
Tagging new people. This is where you ask me questions and I ask you questions and we talk about our world building and characters in length. If you DON’T want to be involved, react with and I won’t tag you again. I understand if you don’t like this type of thread. It won’t hurt my feelings
Remember, this is a questions asking thread and I will ask questions if you ask questions If your number of questions varies, that’s okay. You can ask one question and I’ll have five, for example.
Okay, I’ll play! You don’t have to ask me anything since I don’t have any plot ideas right now, but I’ll ask you stuff if you don’t mind. I haven’t read the thread, though, so I imagine they’re all repeats.
• why did you want various races instead of focusing on one sentient species?
• did all the different species evolve from the same common ancestor?
• are all the different species native to it, or did some arrive from other planets?
• is there any significance to Pinti and the others being blue? I mean, is it to camouflage themselves against a natural blue background in the environment?
• are the other species also blue?
• do all the different kinds of magick come from the same source?
• is there a scientific explanation for the magick?
• how long do each of these various species normally live?
• is there a violent history to this planet?
• are there any environmental, social or economic problems right now?
• do scientists exist, or are the problems all solved with magick?
This is perfect and actually aligns well with the older plot I had in mind. In that, the friend is used sort of as a bargaining chip and kept away from Elya. Her motivations are forcibly changed, and she has to co-operate or risk him being killed. You make a solid point about this increasing her loneliness, as when you have something to long for, it makes the times you are alone more poignant, thank you for the suggestion.
This is a very interesting idea, and would incorporate well with what I have in mind for the ending, thanks again for the suggestion!
That’s an interesting character conflict, especially paired with the parents expectations and the fact healing is a noble profession. Like, you know you’re doing good/can do good here, and you’re skilled, but it’s not what you want, always nice when a character struggles to get to that place.
OOO that sounds cool. So, these actions and thoughts, how do they interact with one’s magic? Is it like The Force, where if you take an action with hate in your heart, you break the balance, or is it more like you yourself are unbalanced an unintentionally (but perhaps subconsciously) cause the corruption?
Something like this, yes. They used to have these ruins that you could buy at stores, usually in packets of threes or sixes. This paper would be infused with special herbs/magic that would allow it to be long-lasting. You’d stick it on, trigger the spell using a special word, and batta-bing-batta-boom you got your fridge. The runic paper, depending on its quality, would last from 3-9 months (sometimes you could stretch it to a year).
Magic users could reasonably make their own ruins and such, but the specific stuff they used to infuse the paper was really hard to get and considered illegal in some places (which helped promote business operations).
After the fall of magic, their society was crippled. I felt this would give it a good balance. When you imagine a society powered by magic, it seems so powerful and cool, but when you remove (or corrupt) that magic, you have a bunch of people whose technology and industry are stuck in stagnation. They never made the steps to evolve in those areas because magic was their crutch.
EDIT: here is my first response, will also be responding with a (semi-shorter) one with your updated details
We live somewhere you get a really good view of the sky. Had a lot of astronomy books as a kid and it just kinda went on from there. I now have a lot of books on astrophysics, astronomy, quantum mechanics, m-theory, string theory, all that stuff.
The ones that use them are Ilvagis, Kattalunae, and Sorcerers. They all use some form of runic magick.
But I wanted Icelandic consistency. What I mean is, “Kattaluna” name has an Icelandic inspiration mashed up with “lunar” to translate to “lunar cat”, so I wanted to use Icelandic for my shadow race. Ilvagi is actually two Icelandic words mashed up so that it means, “shadow organism” 
Do you only have six planets?
And not saying every Guardian wants to give up their power.
"
and I won’t tag you again. I understand if you don’t like this type of thread. It won’t hurt my feelings 
