Welp, that sucks for the Lunar Goddess if having worshippers is important for her
Ah, yes, contradictions are always fun in these situations Any other interesting contradictions in the world building?
Wooooo Does that mean Pinti gets them too?
What’s the submission attack?
Did the royals get a bit mad when the Lunar Goddess have lunar magick to other people because it meant they could also fight the Ilvagis?
Ahhh yes that makes sense. Limited knowledge means limited use
Ooooo so she thinks she needs a thing she doesn’t actually need?
Didn’t you say something before about having more stones? or was that someone else?
Goddess is a magical rock. Got it
Does the king worship the dark side?
Why isn’t she mentioned much in lore?
This sounds like it would be very funny to see
Why do the Gods and Guardians have to be hidden? And what made the ones who chose to be known want to be known? Have there been consequences of making themselves known?
How do the peace treaties work?
Looks like you’ve done a lot of scifi stuff thought about in it anyway heehee
If there’s anymore to hear about it, sure. If not, let’s skip to number 4
more answers
Nox is the most populated and has the biggest cities. It’s also one of the central planets in the system and you can get to all the others from it. It kind of just became the Capital over time because everyone started meeting there, political stuff happened, it went through the most urban development, has the best access to certain materials, the best trade, and was the first to contact the God Worlds. It just . . . happened.
Honestly, the only real problem with Nox is all the greedy nuts who think they can get rich or steal things get all the power they ever wanted. Kind of like supervillains. So naturally there is a group of superheroes on Nox as well
Temple of the Gods. It’s just called “the Temple” because it’s the most famous one on the cliffs just outside of of Lapide.
Here’s a description of it from my first novel:
The flight to the Temple was an easy one from Lapide. It stood on a cliff overlooking the ocean, its bright white stone covered in glittering gemstones and shining gold leaf easily visible from the city down below. It was the most popular, and the most famous, Temple on the planet. Every year, tourists and worshipers alike came to marvel at it. It was hard not to. If nothing else, it was just so fucking gorgeous.
Amneris, riding her trusted wai’u Aten, directed him to the small stone landing strip. He cried out loudly and made the dive, landing graciously on his claws. Amneris gave him a scratch on the head before sliding from his saddle. From the saddle bag, she pulled an apple. He snatched it from her hands with his beak, gulping it down as though he was starving. Amneris laughed, guiding Aten to the small stables to wait. She made sure there was plenty of water, pellets and seed before turning to the Temple itself.
A bright white ramp, lined on either side with decorative pale blue pillars, each one topped with silver diamond, led the way to the main entrance. On each pillar was the carving of the Gods, each and every one of them. Amneris had always thought it was a little overboard but hey, others didn’t exactly have as much quality face-to-face time with the Deities like she did.
At the top of the ramp, a large arch covered in swirling carvings led the way inside. From there, the marble path split three ways. To the left was the Hall of Primordials where one could pray or offer gifts to the Primordial Deity of their choice. To the right was the Hall of Elementals. It was basically the same deal, only made for Elemental Deities. Huge difference. The final path went straight ahead, leading into the central dome of the Temple where one could talk with the many Priests.
Amneris went left. She walked slowly down the hallway, detailed and colourful statues of the Gods flanking her on each side. She paused at one in particular. The statue of Naiu. She stood tall and proud in her alcove. The Goddess’ long, wavy white hair shone brightly against her pale skin, as did her silver eyes. Her usual long, white strapless dress was carved in such detail it was amazing the Ancients had done it. Her shawl was carved around her arms. In one hand, she held a silver sceptre topped with a cyan-blue crystal known as the Stone of Naiu. The Lyriumian Diadem rested on her brow.
Amneris stared up at the Goddess, the being whose power had flowed through her veins since childhood. She’d once asked Naiu why she was chosen. The Goddess had only smiled and said something about how it was meant to be. Naiu had many gifts, but vagueness was a powerful one.
It was fucking annoying.
[. . .]
The central chamber, in Amneris’ opinion, was by far the most impressive part of the Temple. The circular room had doors at regular intervals on the side walls, each one leading to a private room for readings. The far door at the other end of the chamber led to the gardens and Priest accommodations. The final door, the one the two women had entered from, led back to the main Temple area. At the centre of the chamber was a large, circular pond. It was filled with shimmering clear water coming from somewhere underground. Water flowers and pads floated on top as fish swam underneath. It was very relaxing. The dome overhead was covered in symbols from the Old Language and decorated with silver, gold, and gemstones.
Kamaria led Amneris to one of the Reading Rooms. Each one was identical and comfortable. A low table sat in the middle of the room, small cushions on either side for people to sit on. Candles lined the walls, filling the room with a soothing light. A deck of cards sat on the table, each one enchanted with the power of the Gods. A gift from them to the Priests. Apparently.
So, Lapide is on the northern beaches of the Continent. Kiloqua is down south on the edge of the mountains, glaciers, and ice fields in Erostah.
Kiloqua is an enclosed city with walls and giant gates surrounding it. There are a few towers at the centre that are the royal residences creatively called “the Towers”. Aside from that, it’s a lot like Lapide only instead of growing out, it grew up. Because it was the original capital after the Banishment, a lot of the architecture is pretty old for Lyriumia.
It was originally made to hold of the megafauna that used to live on the Continent and still has to fight off the occasional Thunderbird or Ice Dragon, but that’s just part of living in the area.
It’s kind of like an actual on-planet version of Iraliya only much older
It’s entirely possible because that’s how we perceive our oceans as blue
There are worlds with different coloured waters, some worlds with lava oceans, some worlds without oceans, some with frozen oceans. The list goes on.
All G
Doesn’t really hurt her at all. It more annoys her than anything.
Honestly, never really thought about that
It’s a smaller planet with a large atmosphere. Because the planet part of the planet is dangerous, the Desi all live in the floating cities. They have air magic and can turn into wind to fly around. I’m still working out all the info because my Desi characters are new
They can touch just fine but they’re pretty shy around each other so don’t do it unless it’s necessary or by accident. But without their respective shields, they can’t really touch for long periods of time because Isaiah would melt and Imogene would go out.
The story varies slightly depending on whether you ask a Lyriumian or a Terpolite but it’s essentially the same thing. I’m used to writing it from the Lyriumian perspective because I’m used to that version.
A veeeeeerrrrrrryyyyyyyyy long time ago, the Lyriumians lived on a landmass later called The Dark Continent. They lived side by side with the Gods and thrived peacefully. It was a pretty good life. Then the God Vivus entrusted them with with the mission to keep the Balance of light, order and peace on the lower planes. With their instruction, the Lyriumians started their mission. But what they didn’t know was that Vivus had instructed the Terpolites to a similar mission - to keep the Balance of darkness, evil and chaos. But, hey, it was a job and the will of the Gods was an honour to follow.
Over time it became . . . less of an honour. The Lyriumians and Terpolites begun questioning their orders. Why did they have to do this? Why did they have to do that? Vivus didn’t like this but, hey, questioning is part of self-will so there wasn’t much they could do.
Over time, the questioning escalated into a mini-war where the Lyriumians and Terpolites attacked each other because they wanted to experience the other side. For the sake of saving the God Worlds, the Gods stepped in.
The damage done by the attacks was sealed off and the Gods exiled the Lyriumians from the Dark Continent and the Terpolites from what they called the Lost Land. So they went off on their way, discovering new lands and inhabiting them but their homelands were lost forever.
So, aftermath:
lost the homelands forever (or did they? )
relationship with the Gods was ruined forever
Naiu and Naka blamed each other and started fighting
a new age was started on the God Worlds eventually leading to the Time of the Ancients but there isn’t much about the ages before this aside from what’s said in stories
the Forgotten War started (and only recently ended)
This all happened over billions of years ago so a lot of info got lost between then and the modern age, especially since inhabiting the entire planet caused its own problems
Dreama magic is more positive and Metsunox magic is darker. But, yes, they are basically the same thing which is exactly why the two species don’t get along very well. They both have their own idea of how it should be used and don’t agree with how the other side uses it.
But, yeah, they are both essentially the same. Just different ways of thinking
Cor’ei = World Walkers
It’s hard for them to reproduce because it’s difficult to get impregnated. This is actually a real problem faced by certain species and I thought it fit for these guys.
As for what they look like, have some more artbreeders
Kamren - a young Cor’ei (recently freed from the Terpolite Mines)
Nebula - was around during the Purge (currently a teacher at the Academy)
I said it’s like a limbo because that’s what we’d understand it as. It’s not a place for mortals. It’s a separate realm that is a physical (magical physical, maybe,) a part of Elgana. It’s like the Chief Guardian’s space. He has a kind of “office” space where he goes to receive souls and send them off to the stars. No one knows this. Mortals think the Lunar Goddess does everything. And that’s what Aurvandil, the Chief Guardian, wants everyone to think.
Just responding to this one. I need to go out to get food
I was rereading a dialogue passage of Aurvandil last night and remembering how much like a learning teenager he was at one time XD
She’s not sentient, so, idk, maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. Does it have anything to do with how much magick she gives? Hmm That could be a thought, although I think I want to go with the “worshipping doesn’t affect anything” route.
I’m thinking the royals thought their worshipping was why they had the magick, but I think they were born with it. A different variety of Kattalunae born with magick. Then you know, they keep it in the family
To make themselves look awesome and royal and spectacular, they claim the Lunar Goddess saw them worthy of her magick. Or something like that.
Maybe…how Drazlesk works according to everyone’s knowledge and how it actually works. What the Guardians do or don’t do. What the moonstone is for. What the Scepter of Tamido is for and the story behind its creation.
Oh yes. Not all the time, but when she meditates, sometimes they come to her. It’s sort of like lucid dreaming but without having much control over what’s happening.
To bite the necks of those opposing and infuse the bite with Kattaluna magick to make them submit. Not often used in Pinti’s clan at least. Kattalunae leaders are the only ones that can do it.
The royals taught the others realizing that even the lesser groups can be useful They didn’t get mad. At least, not the top guys.
Yes. Exactly. But given her situation of limited knowledge and training, it would be useful to have if she can use it properly.
Yep. There are two moonstones. One is the one she thinks she needs. The other is all the powers of the royals mashed into a stone which is nested on top of a scepter and hidden away. The way to use that one is make a wish
Ilvagis don’t worship. They don’t have a religion (I hope I’m not contradicting myself. They don’t worship things). And nobody worships the dark side XD Stop trying to recruit people to the dark side Hardly anyone even knows it exists
Because she’s kept herself away from the limelight A lot better than Aurvandil. He’s not even supposed to be as well known as he is.
Guardian magick is the MOST powerful, pure magick of Elgana and can make a mortal go insane with greed for it. That has happened. A few incidents of those have threatened the balance of Elgana. So Guardians are super careful not to make themselves known. If they are known by face and name, they hide the fact they are Guardians. If they live among mortals, nowadays they can even disguise themselves as long-living Sorcerers.
They can also do a thing called masking powers which is a trick that Sorcerers use to appear not as powerful as they actually are.
The ones that made themselves known felt they had no choice but to reveal their intentions because maybe the prospect Guardian is shielded from friends or family, or something makes them hard to get to. Maybe the Guardian ends up in a sticky situation forcing them to use their Guardian magick.
Well they are just pieces of fancy paper decorated in the halls of the High Collection Headquarters
Basically, a bunch of police systems were put in place. Each race as their own police faction that is the main body keeping peace. The High Collection members also figured out how to do jail things.
A little bit. Ask me how Elgana doesn’t collapse and the Rings stay in place. My answer will be magick XD
Well…Kattalunae didn’t always live there, there’s a whole bunch of underground cave systems and one connects to a mystical mountain called Drazlesk. Drazlesk is interesting because you can find the same mountain in all the Rings
The Fourth Ring is where magick is the most dense because Sorcerers live there. The question of who came first, Sorcerers or dense magick? is a chicken and egg question. The Fourth Ring is filled with dark, misty fields, cobblestone streets, stone pathways, and can remind an Earth person of Edinburg where I got my inspiration from
I think I’ve told you everything about Sorcerers. One interesting thing is that Sorcerers were once a discriminated race and now they discriminate against those without magick.
I shall respond to your answers and ask any more questions later.
It sounds a bit like the In Between from my books Well, kind of. Like, it’s there but it’s not there at the same time. Am I close?
Dead souls? That just caught my interest
Sounds a bit like they’re using the Lunar Goddess as a sort of scapegoat
That route sounds like the best fit from what you’ve been telling me about this world and the beings that live in it. And it is also kind of a reflection of this world in a way. You could say worshipping does stuff when stuff happens but at the same time it does nothing when stuff doesn’t happen so does that make everything a giant coincidence or is whoever just laughing and throwing popcorn at us like a bad reality show?
Went off on a bit of a tangent there sorry It really is just such an interesting take and not one you see often enough without being shot down like crazy (said the atheist) What’s made you pick this particular route?
Does that mean the Royals also had these genes? Wait, how did the magick thing first come to be if the Lunar Goddess wasn’t the one who gave it to them?
This makes sense. A good way to get the “little people” to follow you if you have a power granted by their God/dess. Did the royals have a reason for wanting to look awesome like an ego thing?
Wowie sounds like you’ve got quite a few!
Ahhhh yes okay this makes sense
By “Submit” do you mean “follow” or “freeze” or “knock out” or “do as I say” orrrrrrrr? Also why biting?
Okay, this is DEFINITELY nothing we don’t see often enough in writing
Oh?
How did the power of the royals end up in a stone? Why a scepter? How did that happen? What can you wish for? Are there consequences for making a wish?
[insert darth vader breathing here]
So they just . . . are? What motivates them?
Before any of this was possible, did that mean the Guardians had to live off on their own away from mortals just in case they got a whiff of the power? What was life before being able to live among mortals like? Also, how far will mortals go for this power?
Oooooo how do they do that and how weak can they make themselves look?
Wondering what these sticky situations are/could be
Sounds pretty standard. How well does it work? Any problems arise?
Hey, if that’s the easiest answer, just go with it
Ooooooooo It sounds important
actually, there’s an answer to this question. theoretically speaking, it’s the egg
The pics look very cool and kinda gloomy. Very much medieval style .
Huh. Guess they didn’t learn anything ;-;
How about ring number 5? Wait, how many are there again?
Normally, nope. No one even knows it’s a thing. Skye’s the first (and probably will be the only) ghost to ever meet with Albrecht. To be honest, I haven’t fully fleshed out how she’s able to visit with him. It has to do with her being one of the few lux-touched ghosts, and so maybe her being able to commune with Albrecht is one of her lux powers? (Lux-touched ghosts get special powers.)
Ooo there was an ancient bipedal lion race? Were they the ancestors of the Kattalunae? Were they blue too?
It won’t be a bad ending. Individual books in the series can end on a bad note, but I wouldn’t want to end the entire series that way. I’m not that mean. I think it’ll be a hopeful ending. ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ We’ll see.
Sad for all of them actually. I’m dumb, so they’re all huge dummies lol. I swear they all share a single brain cell, and just kind of take turns with it.
Nope, not unless they go catatonic. But that’s pretty much just a ghost coma, not really sleeping.
After is a city! It’s kind of the home-base of the series, where the main cast is from and where most of the series takes place. There are many other cities/villages/communities in the afterlife, but the only ones I have fleshed-out and named so far are After and Ah-hur. (And Ah-hur doesn’t even exist anymore lol. Someone exploded it)
Fun fact: Ah-hur means “After” in Akkadian.
The entire realm is huge, so different communities/individuals have their own names for it, and in many different languages too. The ghosts of After refer to the realm as “the Dark,” since their little corner of the realm has no sunlight, and at the beginning of the series, they’re all completely unaware that the rest of the realm exists. (After the resurrection of their sun, they cleverly start calling it “the Dim” lol). Crow, a loner, just simply calls it “the desert.”
Yup! There’s oceans and lakes and stuff for all the ghost fishies. :3
They seem kinda rare in the afterlife, and have so far taken the MCs by surprise every time they discover one. At one point in the second book, the MC falls into an ocean and chills with a ghost whale for a bit.
There isn’t, like, a map of the realm in my head or anything. It’s canonically a realm that never ends, and I intentionally describe the lay-out of it vague and ambiguously. But the oceans are out there…somewhere.
In theory, I think that there must be more sea than land in the afterlife, considering that most of all life that ever existed on Earth was aquatic, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
(All land in the afterlife is a freezing cold black desert by the way. There aren’t any other biomes. But all ghosts are quite comfortable with the cold. Living people are not).
Thought you didn’t like sci-fi
Who? :o How many people have gone through it, intentionally or accidentally?
So like a black hole! Well that’s terrifying ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ (What’s inside it? Is that ever revealed in your stories?)
About the magic types, is there like a rock-paper-scissors kind of hierarchy (or like…pokemon types lmao) where some types of magic are strong/weak against others? Or is it just based on how powerful the individual wielders are?
Has there ever been a case of one person who was able to use one kind of magic, but reeeally wished they were able to use another kind instead?
What about magicless people? Is there any kind of jealousy between them and magic-users? (Because I’d be jealous as heck lol. I always felt sorry for al the non-benders in the Avatar series)
Btw, what’s the origin of magic in your world? Where did it come from? Will it/Can it ever fade from the world entirely?
What is the history of the superheroes? Who decided that there would be a group of them? Did they naturally come out?
What are these certain materials? And what’s the most popular item for trade? Who do they trade with?
What race or species populates Nox the most?
lol XD
The temple sounds beautiful. Being on a cliff, has it ever crumbled?
Why is it enclosed? What were they afraid of or defending against?
Oh, that’s cool Does anything live in lava oceans? Can the Fire Dragonoid or Firebringer go to these oceans?
Aha! Something new for you to think about Maybe there’s a special shampoo for her.
So, they have physical bodies that you can touch, but can turn into elements themselves and fly around? Makes them sound like spirits.
Oh they have shields. That’s good. Touching each other would be fatal, I see, not good XD Reminds me of that fire girl and water boy Pixar or Dreamworks movie advertisement I kept seeing some time ago.
So, I’m guessing this is the Banishment?
Reminds me of what happened between the Kattalunae and the Ilvagis in my story. Not a banishment, but a full-on take-over. The Ilvagis also distanced themselves from the rest of the world from this moment on.
But in your world sounds like the Lyriumians and Terpolites traveled the world and worlds and spread out, huh? I can’t remember if you told me or not…do they come back together or do they always hate each other?
Why’s it called Forgotten?
I see. So like sunny sunshine happy rainbows and darky darkness shifty shadows?
Stunning
Similar situation with native Elganians over here.
Let’s see… I would say it’s close to that. A physical being cannot get there.
Yeah, he receives the dead. He doesn’t always receive the dead. Sometimes he’s there to receive them. Sometimes he just lets them pass through on their own.
Yeah, well, they can’t be known, but the mortals want explanations so
Thanks.
It half comes from my own questioning of spiritualism and god stuff. Maybe the moon is just the moon? Maybe it’s not? Would we ever know if praying does anything? Idk
Royals have magick in their genes. It’s like, look at their DNA and you’ll see “MAGICK” in neon lights XD Just kidding Yeah, the magick is in them when they are born. It’s like blood that’s already in you or like your brains or like the idea of having a soul. It’s not something you acquire afterwards.
Elgana’s core is magick. From the core came lunar magick, shadow magick (Ilvagis use), and Guardian magick. Guardian magick is more like the original magick. Very close to being the most ancient.
They are royal. They want to stay royal, right? So, they need to seem to be the most powerful in every way.
Idk if that sentence is correct XD
The biting comes from the fact that cat alphas bite the lower guys to assert their alpha-ness in real life cat society. You can also squeeze the back of your cat’s neck and put a little of your weight on them and then they will understand this as you being their dominant. You’re not hurting your cat. You’re just pressing them down a little and holding their excessive neck skin on the back of their neck. That’s the same neck skin the mother cats bite to carry their young.
Submit, in Kattaluna society, means they immediately lose all interest in rebelling or going against and go back to follow orders.
Getting a “submit” drains them of their energy. So, if you are rebelling against, you’re most likely keyed up and you have adrenaline rushing through your body. Imagine if someone abruptly cuts that energy off. You’d feel a sudden exhaustion.
I have a story of a lesser royal that was furious with the decisions. They could only rage and not do anything. It was known they hated it though.
Scepters are the things that the royals hold. The staffs. The royals’ powers were actually turned into a stone so the Ilvagis couldn’t take them when the Kattalunae royals lost the war. The scepter with the stone was then hidden away forever.
You can wish for anything. Consequences, well, you can only make one wish once in a hundred years (allegedly). No one has been able to confirm this. But citizens like to spread this story because it makes the scepter sound that much more powerful and mystical and precious.
They receive orders from the king. That’s what motivates them. The king is on the top and below him (or her or them) is a whole long hierarchy of military, warrior-type Ilvagis. Ilvagis live on orders because most don’t have a lot of individuality and can’t think for themselves. Most don’t even have opinions.
Pinti’s illegal Ilvagi friend Thorn has a high rank. The higher the rank, the more individuality, and hence, he has a lot of his own opinions. He won’t defy the king, but if he saw the need to, he could change the decisions of the king as the king would listen to a high ranked Ilvagi.
When I say Ilvagis live on orders, I literally mean “live”. Without orders, they will lose purpose, go insane, and in worst cases, die.
They were always able to live around mortals. What is called Zero Generation Guardians were all native Elganians at a time when native Elganians were still around. And they stayed as the Guardians for hundreds of years without being detected.
Mortals can’t “get a whiff” of power. Guardians mask their powers, hiding their true potential, and even a Sorcerer wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.
So, Guardians have always lived among mortals unnoticed.
The only time they become noticed is when their stone begins to call for the next prospect Guardian. The Guardian must follow the stone to find the prospect and tell them. This meant revealing themselves and if it doesn’t go well, it also meant there was risk they could reveal themselves to others at the same time.
Guardians are not wise, all-knowing perfect individuals. They can make mistakes or believe in their “my identity is secret” idea a little too much and becoming loose. Could even let it slip. Or they could fall in love and feel they have to tell…you know, they are just citizens of Elgana after all.
They would murder their family for it.
Yeah
They can make themselves seem close to being non-magical.
I don’t know how they do it
It works well with Hybrids. They figured out a good system together with village and tribal chiefs. It doesn’t work well with Sorcerers because they don’t have any governing body other than the police faction (and this tends to turn kind of controlling if not careful). Humans still elect leaders for a kind of political party while also having the police faction being the main ones to regulate peace. It’s holding. Good enough.
Ilvagis are the only ones, at this point, outside of rules. They may have once had something similar in place, but then they stayed away from ever race else. Didn’t want to be bothered by “short-living lower life forms”.
There are six. The Fifth Ring is the jail Ring, locked away from every portal, you need to be government personnel or a police member to get there by policeship. All races are kept there temporarily before trial or kept there to serve life sentences or waiting on death row.
Those deemed the most dangerous are kept in cylinder-shaped tube-like can-like cells individually. Sorcerers who go there are stripped of their magick (to an extent or they could die). Those are only a nuisance and not a threat to society and didn’t murder anyone are just thrown into the jungle. They are given minimal resources to survive.
There’s a Human-Hybrid gang that formed and they live there. Many of them are actually there with life sentences. Reasons unclear. The Fifth Ring is patrolled by each race’s respective police faction in rotation. So, this week, Hybrids, next week, Humans… it’s how they operate and it’s not working
Because the gang of rowdy guys there for life sentences have helped citizens escape. The only reason they can’t escape is become life sentenced criminals get these special tags and cannot take them off.
The Fifth Ring used to be home to the bipedal lionkind and the terrible frost beast in ancient times. After they left, it was uninhabited for the most part and then taken over as the perfect place to put war criminals to deal with them later. The north forests are feared by the criminals who say “That’s where the taiga is. You don’t want to go there.”
No one knows what the taiga actually is. Is there a real threat there or not? People stay away from that place.
Mostly jungle in the south, and snow country towards the north with Drazlesk mountain visible on a snowy horizon.
Yep. Kaunlutha. They aren’t ancestors. They were, at one time, neighbors and even share some of the ancient words. Kattalunae use “poocha” to mean “dear” or “sweetie”. Kaunlutha used “putcha” to mean the same thing
Not blue. That’s only the Kattalunae. Kaunlutha look like lions but bipedal They had fire powers.
I like hopeful ones Even just a little bit.
lol XD I just imagined them fighting over who can use it next XD
What is their sun made out of? Lux?
That sounds so cool! So, ghost breathe underwater? Could a ghost live underwater if they wanted to?
Yeah, but it would be weird of some of those things didn’t happen at all XD I just don’t get into the tech.
Many people. Things, animals, people, uhm, dirt Laundry. I have scene where socks are floating towards it
Not as strong as a black hole, but yes, terrifying. It is hinted at in Storm Heart, Fire Soul. Hinted. Because someone returns
All are like this, except, lunar and shadow magick. These two are against each other. Shadow magick is the only thing that can destroy lunar magick and it goes the other way.
Yep. Pinti wishes she were a Sorcerer at some point because it has more variety of things you can do. But this is before she knows what she can potentially do with lunar magick.
Humans think Sorcerers are snobbish and pathetic. Sorcerers think Humans are snobbish and pathetic. Because of this hate, Humans don’t really want to be Sorcerers, but at the same time, I would think some of them do. The only problem is if you, a Human, have magick but your sister and parents don’t, you would outlive your family members.
You would be powerful but never get to connect with your family. Human-born Sorcerers are a thing. Like a recessive gene, some Humans are born with the genes to access magick. They are adopted out immediately (babies show signs of magick after birth) to Sorcerer families looking for a child.
Happens the other way, too. There can be Sorcerer-born Humans.
Anyway, they have a unique relationship
As for Hybrids, most don’t have magick, so characters like Scotch (fox Hybrid) often forget there is magick in this world. There’s this collective idea that magick, while convenient, can also separate you from loved ones.
Magick is what the core of the planet is made of. If it disappeared the planet will crumble. That won’t be good The Guardians are making sure this won’t happen.
Also, tell me what you’re working on now and whether or not you’d like me to ask questions about something else.
Yeep, I’m trying to come up a a much better term for it LOL. Lux-scarred? Lux-infused? Meh. (shrugs)
They become lux-touched by touching live lux ᕕ( ᐕ )ᕗ . Regular lux is okay to touch, but 99.9999999999(add a lot more nines here)% of ghosts who touch live lux vaporize instantly.
There are only four ghosts in the history of this realm who have touched live lux and didn’t die. (There will be a fifth one eventually). Instead of vaporizing, these ghosts are marked with shimmering white scars where the lux touched them and the scars never heal. They also get superpowers lmao.
There’s Blackburne, who was scarred in the face. He can turn into a giant city-devouring kaiju.
Crow was scarred in the eyes and therefore blinded. But he can commune with crows and can create windstorms.
Skye’s entire arm is scarred, and she can talk to Albrecht and wake catatonic ghosts.
Webb’s lux power is kind of a weird “chicken or the egg” thing. He gets stabbed through the heart with a sword, turning the lux coating it into live lux. His heart, chest, and shoulder blade are scarred. His power is that he can turn regular lux into live lux…but only if stabbed through the heart with it. Sorry buddy. Ya simultaneously got the worst and best power. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Then there’s Vale. Dunno how/where she gets scarred or what her powers will be but it’s coming for you, Vale.
Yup! All suns/stars are live lux. Albrecht sees through these. Most people don’t touch them anyway because they’re floating up in the sky.
Nope, not breathe. But seeing as how ghosts don’t need to breathe at all, they could absolutely live indefinitely underwater if they wanted to, pretending to be a mermaid or something. ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ That’s a cool idea… (not the mermaid thing lul) I should do something with that.
Hmmm this makes me think. Who is the most technologically advanced civilization in Elgana? Could their tech compete with magick at all? Do you think at some point in the far future of Elgana, could technology make magick not be as needed?
Who threw their socks at the terrifying doom portal? Whoever they are, they’re my hero.
So does this imply some kind of animosity between lunar magick users and shadow magick users?
There’s some kind of jealousy there, methinks
everyone wants to be a wizard, don’t lie to yourselves humans.
Wait, could sorcerers figure out a way to prolong the lifespans of non-magical humans?
Random questions:
What is the most impactful/craziest thing a magick wielder has done with their powers in the history of Elgana?
Who is the villain in Pinti’s story and what makes them the villain?
What kind of scenes to you enjoy writing the most?
What kinds do you enjoy writing the least?
Is there a scene that you haven’t written yet, that you’re really excited to write?
Well today I just now started on editing the second book in the ghost series. It’s about to get 100k words added to it, just like I did with the first book. So there’s a bunch of new content coming. Hoooo boy.
You can ask questions about whatever you like lol. I don’t have many other projects and just tend to hyper-fixate on only one project foreverrr.
I did briefly have a little side project that I finished for ONC about a family of foxes in a post-apocalyptic world. It’s a teeny tiny story, only about 20k words long. I may or may not revisit it in the future and expand it to be more novel-sized. (Strongly leaning towards ‘No,’ though…) You can ask about that if you want lol ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ
Skye could come across somebody who believes to their core they are a mer-creature when they clearly aren’t XD Give her a nuisance to deal with.
Is there lava in the dead realm? Could ghosts live in it?
What about micro-creatures like…idk, tiny amoeba or something as ghosts? How tiny of things become ghosts?
Are there bad gangs in After?
No XD Don’t destroy Elgana! Everyone will die. Magick is a MUST. There are no ifs or buts.
I would think the most advanced would be the Humans because they were us in the future when they arrived on Elgana.
lol XD Ever lose laundry on a windy day? Well now you can see them floating toward the void from your window
Yes. Kattalunae and Ilvagis have always been against each other. But really, they should learn to get along because the balance of the planet teeters when they fight.
Well, humans, you know, always up to no good
Ooooooh, interesting! I never thought about that kind of spell actually. I think altering of life would be one of the forbidden magicks. Maybe some Sorcerers fall in love with Humans? They might want to prolong their loved one’s life? I would think they wouldn’t be able to.
The same thing with resurrection. It exists as a spell, but it’s forbidden and all knowledge needed to do it has been tucked away. I think it should be destroyed, but Sorcerers like keeping things for legacy.
Controlled the rise and fall of the sun in their part of the Ring. It was the princess of the Kaunlutha species and she was born with the roar that could control the sun. It was a dangerous power to have which the Chief Guardian wanted to take back. “Oh, yeah, should not have given it to them again. Yeah, my bad. I need that back, but the only way is for you to sacrifice yourself or someone. Sorry.”
There’s more to this, but in the beginning, it sounded like the princess had to give up her life to give the power back. Sovanna and her friends believed there was a loophole somewhere.
I don’t have actual villains in my stories most of the time. The road blocks she faces are: her own self-doubt, the betrayal of her Ilvagi friend Thorn, and a few greedy Sorcerers.
The moment the tough character breaks down and begins to trust again and makes friends
Characters bickering.
The proud character being put in their place and grumbling about it.
A beautiful nature scene.
A silly character doing silly things.
A chaotic world (think Wonderland-esque places where there are weird things that all make sense somehow).
Romance. I end up writing cliche if I do put any in it.
Those in-between scenes that have to happen, but characters aren’t doing much. Maybe getting ready to do something. I try to skip them or not make them go on for too long.
Well, I’m editing, but a lot of it is a rewrite. The scene I’m excited to write is where Pinti realizes her magick is changing and decides to go against her friends’ advice “because I’m the leader” and makes a devastating mistake. It’s the next big action scene.
This question, back at you. What about you? Is there a scene you’re dying to get to and wish your fingers would go a tad faster?
Alright then. I do have some more ghost questions. I shall bombard you with those, but first…
Tell me the names of the major characters that appear in book one and the new major characters that appear in book two.
Tell me the names of the monsters in the desert and in After.
Also, what are the main buildings where things happen on After?
This idea is amazing lmao. Sounds like something that could fit in somewhere in book 3, so this would be Vale’s problem to deal with. XD
There actually is lava! But it’s molten lux, so ghosts would die in it lol. The main characters almost fall into a chasm of molten lux in die in the first book.
Now this is a question that I’ve been asking myself for a long time too lmao. I’m gonna say that single-celled organisms do not end up as ghosts. We do have “lower organisms” like ghost insects and ghost jellyfish in this realm, so there is a line somewhere, just haven’t pin-pointed where it is.
I’m very sure there are! There’s also really big factions that cause the most strife in the first book.
The first is the echelon, a group of four ghosts that serve directly beneath the king. Each is in charge of a certain facet of After life (ex: collecting taxes, manning the wall, heading the guards, etc…). They’re all a bunch of jerks that act like they own the town too, and frequently bully people and rob places.
Then there’s the zealots. I don’t have a clever name for them lol, but they’re a huge group of religious fanatics who revere the king as a god. They frequently perform ritualistic animal sacrifice in his name and anyone who goes against the king becomes their enemy.
The acolights are a smaller religious sect, more of a cult really. They’re anchored ghosts who are shunned by most of After so they live in tunnels underneath the city. They worship Crow and the Light.
Whoops! (puts the magick back and hopes no one noticed)
What, the humans came from Earth? How’d they get to Elgana? Why? Are there still humans on Earth?
So who exactly “forbids” this use of magick? Are the rules of magick universal across all types? What are the consequences of using forbidden spells?
Haha that’s kinda how Crow and Blackburne got their lux powers. It was an oopsy on Albrecht’s part.
Why did the guardians give Sovanna this power? Was it just a complete accident? If they can give it to her easily, why can’t they just revoke it? Why does she have to sacrifice herself, couldn’t she just live out her natural lifespan and lose the power when she dies of old age?
I love this stuff too XD
Characters making dumb mistakes and learning huge lessons from the ensuing fallout is always fun
Well Webb didn’t have a love interest in the first draft, but in this rewrite I’m throwing a criminal vampire boyfriend at him. Looking forward to that guy making his debut lol.
I’m also looking forward to throwing an entire 747 at them both because the first draft wasn’t crazy enough. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
In book one, The main trio is Skye, Vale, and Webb. Crow kinda joins their trio and makes it a quartet during the second act. Side characters are Orville and Aluki. Blackburne is the main villain.
In book two, Skye and Vale have left the story completely, so it’s just the Webb show now. Blackburne and Crow are also gone. Webb’s trio consists of Jake, a ten-year-old boy who becomes like a little brother to Webb. And Ryder, the vampire boyfriend lol. The main villain is Void, a ghost who just looks like a black skeleton because he got deep-fried in Hell. Orville and Aluki are still around, and they’re joined by a new side character named Celia, who’s Ryder’s deaf twin sister.
Oh yeah and Nugget the ghost corgi pops up in the second book lol.
Shadows are the main monsters in the first book. They look like deformed humans with blackened skin, lots of white eyes, and too many deformed and twisted arms and legs. The most human parts of them are their faces. They like to eat ghosts.
In the second book, the shadows are all gone. Now the main threats are voidlings, ghosts possessed by Void who look like skeletal zombies, and the squall beasts (which I really need a better name for lol). The squall beast are the “vampires” of this universe. They’re huge black slugs covered in black eyes and have wiggling tentacles that they use to drain their prey of their blood. They’re nasty. …And Ryder’s slowly turning into one. ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ
There will be other new monsters in the future books. I like to introduce new monsters in each book.
There’s Blackburne’s palace which is a huge black metal citadel with a red lux glass dome roof. He doesn’t like guests, so no one’s allowed inside. That doesn’t stop the main trio from breaking in and finding his secrets.
There’s the city square where there’s a huge several story tall statue of a knight stabbing a shadow, all made out of found objects. This is where all public announcements are made, and where the zealots perform their rituals.
The main cast either hang out at Orville’s shop and talk the old man’s ear off, or they go to a scavenger’s bar called the End of the Line and hang-out. Or there’s a huge dilapidated pylon that overlooks the entire city that they like to climb up.
I’m still working on the history because Shai is one of my newer ideas for a series. It takes place in the same Creation because of who the leader of Shai is No one really decided there would be a group of them. It more just happened naturally over time. Members are: Horus (Lyriumian/Fae/Human), Brayden (Nightwalker), Jax (Human/Fae), Mel (Dragonoid - Fire Dragon), Valira (Shapeshifter), Selina (Star-Weaver), Kindra (Zura), Sol (Desi), Jinx (Dreama/Water-Weaver) and Iradia (Light-Bender/Desi). Because the U.F.W. is a system, Shai gets around a lot and also visits a lot of other worlds, but their base of operations is on Nox because that’s usually where the most drama is. Think of them of a group of friends who grew over time and decided to do some good but sometimes ends up biting off more than they can chew.
Add the first question to the list of things I gloss over for specifics It’s mostly rock ore, bronze, silver, gold, diamonds, meats and spices. The most popular items would be some of the spices (haven’t named them yet). Nox trades with the rest of U.F.W. and with the God Worlds. They’re also responsible for dispensing trade from the God Worlds to the rest of the system.
Fae. That’s why U.F.W. stands for United Fae Worlds. All the worlds are inhabited by some sort of Fae. Nox is inhabited by the ones considered “normal” and “common”. So the ones that look like Humans but with pointed ears and different eye colours. The ones who are different to this are considered “different” Fae because politics. Blame the previous leaders for that one.
Thank you. No, it’s never crumbled. It used to be the top of a mountain but became a cliff over time due to ocean levels changing and continental shift. So now it’s near the edge of a now-very-well-reenforced cliff
Kiloqua was the first major city built after the Banishment so there was still a lot of fear of attacks from the Terpolites and repercussions from the Gods. Then there were the megafauna there at the time (still in development). Honestly, the only reason the walls never got knocked down was because they’re considered a marvel of the ancient world and they’re still needed to defend against certain creatures from the area of Erostah and other surrounding grasslands and no one has been able to break them as of yet soooooo
Oh, yah. Firebringers and Fire Dragonoids love swimming in lava. It’s like a warm bath to them. Other creatures do live in the oceans but it depends on the world. On Dragmire (Dragonoid homeworld) it’s mostly different types of Dragons. On Ember (Firebringer homeworld) it’s mostly Fire Birds, Fire Snakes, and other Dragons I haven’t decided on a name for. Lyriumia also has some in the Firelands. Terpola lost most of its volcanic regions over time and there haven’t been any major surface ones in centuries so everything kinda dried up. blame Amneris. her fault
There’s probably something like that Lyriumia has so many species of me to keep track of and a lot of them have very different biologies and requirements to live/thrive/survive/etc. But I’m sure there’s something out there I’ve glossed over
I guess they kind of are like spirits The Elemental System is relatively new in my writing so I haven’t figured out all the kinks other than each species is somehow made of that element e.g., Imogene is made of fire, Isaiah is made of ice, etc. So it only makes sense the Desi are made of air and can do things air can like move around without physicals forms.
for the record, I was doing this before Pixar/Dreamworks made it cool . . .
But yes it’s not fatal. And if it is, I’m sure I’ll bs a way out of the because they’re main characters in Hathor’s series Can’t kill off her friends. That would be a little too tragic for that series or will I?
Yup. The Lost Land and Dark Continent haven’t been seen since, and are long since abandoned and left to crumble. Or are they?
They both have always had their own planet. It’s a two planet system with one sun at the centre of Creation. As for whether they ever start getting along, they do. After the Forgotten War ends, the Dark King is defeated, and a new holder of Naka’s power is found. Relationships are still rocky but Amneris and Xix are doing their best to avoid another full scale war. If only everyone agreed peace was the answer ;-;
There’s always a bit of tension between them because of the whole good vs. evil thing and the history between the two worlds but, hey, nothing is ever perfect.
Because no one knows how it started, why it started, or what cause it to start. The stories are just speculations. It started hundreds of billions of years ago. Of course no one knows.
The Forgotten War is the war between Good and Evil throughout Creation. It’s always there and it never goes away because there must always be balance. There’s always good and there’s always evil and they always clash so there’s always the Forgotten War. That’s just the way things are. So it’s never truly over and will continue until Creation ends. It’s just considered over to the God Worlds because they stop directly fighting each other. It’s a perspective thing
Something like that
We call it plot convenience to explain small numbers
Honestly, I don’t even know how I still have “pure” Lyriumians and Terpolites considering how old the species is and how much inter-species relations have become a thing
even more questions and comments
Not even through something like astral projection? That’s not a physical thing
How does them passing work when he’s there and not there?
Ahhhh okay that makes sense
What’s the original magick?
Yeah, okay, that’s fair and sounds about right
That’s a really interesting thing to base the idea off! I had no idea that was even a thing with cats (I don’t have any so don’t know much about them lol)
Sounds like a smart move. So long as no one finds and decides to use it.
Makes you wonder what the actual story is and how everyone will react once they see what it is, huh?
How does the stone pick the next Guardian?
Regular people with lots of power. Gotcha.
I mean, this literally still happens today so that’s not really saying much ;-;
Plot convenience is how they do it
So long as its working for now Has there ever been a time where the whole politics thing has ended badly?
This does make sense tho. But is there any idea on what the once similar thing was?
Welp, I guess you gotta keep the crooks somewhere
Does that make them go crazy?
How well do they handle not having their powers at the extent they’re used to?
Is there some sort of prison community that has formed over time because of these people?
Nice idea to keep it fair. So, why’s it not working?
Ahhh okay. Why can’t the tags be taken off?
Why did they leave? And who were the bipedal lionkind and frost beast? What happened to them?
On that note…I’m wondering now, what’s the weather like? Is there weather at all? Are there seasons? Can ghost plants grow from ghost dirt?
Hmm, maybe it has something to do with how complex the internal organs are? The less complex, the less likely they will be ghosts? So, maybe, there are ghost jellyfish, but not all jellyfish turn into ghosts even within the same species because their internal organs aren’t all that complex. Thoughts?
Interesting…what do they get for serving the king?
So, the zealots sacrifice animals…these are ghost animals or live animals? Do the zealots have a location they go to for their religious meetings? Apart from animal sacrifice, what other rituals do they have? How do they recruit others?
What are anchored ghosts?
I also realized I didn’t ask you a major question: What are the types of ghosts?
The Light meaning the sun made of lux? Why do they worship Crow and the Light? How do they worship?
Responses
lol
On a few big ships called Life Ships. They came about 200 years after Elgana was created, looking for a new planet to inhabit because they overpopulated Earth to the point of corruption and pollution. Earth still has Humans and still suffering from them.
The police faction of Sorcerers, probably. And also the High Collection representative, and also probably some of the highest ranking Sorcerers (called Archs), and also probably the Professors’ committee at the academy.
Well, Sorcerers are the only ones that created resurrection spells and such, so “forbidden magick” only applies to Sorcerers. Sorcerer magick has a LOT more variety compared to other magick because it was mainly the Humans that discovered it and created the race and you know how greedy Humans are
Imprisonment. Depending on what you did with it, death.
Okay, so that’s like the story of Solar Song, Frozen Fate.
backstory and a bit of the actual story
Basically, Sovanna’s family line of royals were given this power because the Chief Guardian thought he could trust them. Then Sovanna’s grandfather went on a rampage and couldn’t be trusted. So it was revoked for punishment and then to punish lionkind further for using the power for greed, the Chief Guardian created an ice beast that froze most of the land.
The lionkind had to escape and the villagers had to live closer to the royals where the frost couldn’t get to them yet. It then turned out the frost was advancing. The Chief Guardian, btw, can’t control things that are in the mortal realm. So, he thought, “Oh dear, gotta give the magick back to lionkind because I can’t destroy the ice beast or use the power for myself.” And so, Sovanna was deemed compatible and worthy and she was born with it.
But after that, the Chief Guardian was like “well, idk if this is a good idea” and so sends a prophecy to make her journey to destroy the ice beast at the cost of her life (to get the magick back). The ice beast, sensing her magick, wakes up. Which then triggers a race of bird people protecting it to act. They have their own agenda. Then other Guardians become involved in this and a certain Guardian’s stone changes everything.
Chief Guardian Aurvandil can see what will happen in the future and is like, “oh shoot, you’ve really done it this time ”
Sovanna later tells him he’s bad at writing prophecies
So, yeah, Sovanna couldn’t give it up if she dies of old age. There’s no time to wait for that. On top of that, a certain Guardian’s stone wanted her as its successor and she could would be as powerful as Aurvandil and that would destroy the balance of Elgana.
Clearly, Aurvandil did not think this through. This isn’t the first time he’s made a mistake, but in later books, he would make better choices
I thought vampires are mythical and couldn’t be ghosts?
Lots! Folk music is very popular, and there’s many types. Some even pass down stories through music. There’s this popular typed called bharud - based off of Marathi folk music (Maharashtra is a state on the western coast of India.)
Ooh. So people eat a lot of roti-sabzi (roti is a thin fresh flatbread and subzi is basically vegetable curry.) Pulao is another popular option. (Rice cooked with vegetables and spices.) Lots of Parathas - not necessarily the potato ones, ones made from spinach and fenugreek and what not. Thing is, these don’t go bad for a day or two, even in the climate.
Don’t think we talked about that, but not quite. There’s a lot of strays nurtred by a lot of people, and treated well, but no one specifically owns any pets.
Ooh. Some women go up to live to 110 or so. Haven’t really thought about it, but maybe 115 or something.
Hm… nope. None of that, but that’s making me think of something I could incorporate in my next draft…
Hm… probably manipulating Grace (river of life). Problem is, the information is so guarded that the general public doesn’t even know that Grace as a thing exsists. So most people would pribably say something like pottery or artisnal crafts, because these get recognized by rich people and give higher pay.
Try to keep windows open, spray water on the mud houses, and the floors, because evapouration makes the area cooler. The rich simply have servants use hand fans. And they can afford multiple baths a day.
Ooh, were there any other cool things like that? What about Lunar magic, what does that do?
Is there some specific ceremony that this marking is given to the Kattalunae? Like a tattoo or something, or are they born with it?
That map is so cool. Is the outer ring fire? What are the different terrains? What’s at the centre? Who resides in the innermost ring? What’s the most coveted spot to live in?
…I don’t know lol
I guess it would have to be put under a lot of pressure and heat to melt it, just like how molten rock melts into magma on Earth. Forgemasters melt down lux in their forges in order to coat weapons with them. Yeesh. I never realized how dangerous their jobs were until now lol. Orvillle makes it look easy, I guess.
Most of the time there aren’t any drastic weather conditions, and never any seasons. The air temperature across the desert stays much the same, never getting higher than 45°F/7.2°C. It’s breezy, and sometimes there can be windstorms which lead to cyclones and sandstorms. (Fun fact: Ghosts’ internal body temperature is about 30°F/-1.1°C) Sometimes ash clouds roll by during/after a battle.
In the second book, Webb journeys far away from After, and discovers that the weather gets a little weirder. Sometimes squalls blow through the desert and it pours black ghost blood from the sky. Fun. These storms are what spawn the squall monsters.
This ghost blood is the ashes of dead ghosts falling back from the sky. Getting doused in the blood can make ghosts strongly susceptible to negative emotions like anger and depression. The sand absorbs the fallen rain, and a thousand years or so later after a lot of heat and pressure, it crystalizes into lux. I made a rain cycle~!
Yeah, lux is people.
Nope. New life cannot be created in the afterlife, and plants don’t turn into ghosts when they die. There can be some trees, but those are rare. I think I’ve said before that sometimes ghosts carry things with them into the afterlife…things they were touching/handling/using the moment they died. It’s how there’s stuff like clothes and cars other things in the afterlife. (Technically, these things are all copies of the things from Earth. Much like how ghosts are copies of the original people from Earth that died.) So if a person was touching a tree or something when they died, a copy of that tree would appear in the afterlife with them, but it would shortly die as the realm of the dead cannot support life. Like how if a living person somehow got stuck in the afterlife, they too would eventually die. (coughs That’s happened before.)
There’s a moment where the main trio encounter a random dead tree in the middle of the desert with a noose hanging from it, the implication being…
This is interesting! I was looking at it in terms of higher brain function, but the fact that there are ghost jellyfish puts a wrench in the whole “needing a brain to become a ghost” thing. (But I wanted jellyfish in that one scene, dangit!) But the idea that not all members of the same species could become a ghosts is very enticing to me…Hmmmm.
Oh. Oh no. Wait, are there creatures that don’t have hearts? The only internal organs ghosts have are their hearts. Ghosts need hearts, that’s where they keep all their memories. Ah dangit.
They get power and prestige! Each of them are hand-picked for their position by the king. They like to think they were chosen by Blackburne because they’re all exceptional in some way, but really it’s just because they’re suck-ups that take orders easily. The echelon tends to have a high turnover rate. Crow likes to mow through them whenever they bother him…
They sacrifice ghost crows that they catch, specifically to smite Crow, the enemy of the king. Mostly they just hang out in front of the statue or wander the streets, yelling out their beliefs and condemning any sinners. …They’re fun people. I think that’s pretty much how their recruitment process goes too. It would be cool if they had a cathedral somewhere though…I like that idea a lot.
So anchored ghosts are ghosts that have a person/place/thing back on Earth that they still have a strong connection to. It feels like they have an anchor tethered to their hearts, keeping them from moving on into the afterlife. Their pupils have a faint white glow inside them. They have an ability to summon portals of white Light and can travel back to Earth to whatever they’re anchored too. The bad part is…ghosts can’t survive very long in the realm of the living. After a few minutes, they just fade away into nothingness. So they can’t stay with their anchor which is excruciating for them. Anchored ghosts don’t flourish in the afterlife, and tend to go a bit…crazy.
Skye is an anchored ghost, her anchor is her still-living boyfriend.
There’s anchored ghosts. Hollows and whole ghosts can be anchored.
Lux-touched ghosts are ghosts that have touched live lux and survived (VERY RARE). They have white scars. When they use their powers their pupils burn lux-red, red luxlight writhes visibly under their skin, and they exhale embers.
Shadows/hollows are kinda the whole point of the first book.
Shadows are the main monsters in the first book. I’ve already said what they look like. They’re basically amalgamations of raw emotion, can feel pain, can bleed. Highly aggressive and not at all intelligent.
In the first book, all ghosts in After are hollows. They don’t have emotions, can’t feel pain, and can’t bleed. They’re literally hollow. They are sentient.
You might be seeing where this is going.
Spoilers! It’s discovered that all ghosts in After are actually split in half. Hollows and shadows are two halves of one soul. This is all Blackburne’s fault lol. Rejoining shadows and hollows makes them into whole ghosts.
Whole ghosts are the default ghosts (they’re just called ghosts lol). They have glowing white halos, have emotions, can bleed, and can feel pain.
Then there’s the Squall beasts and Voidlings, and other monsters to come.
The Light is something that’s completely different from lux. It is literal bright white Light. (You know when people say you head toward the light when you die, it’s based on that.) It’s the boundary between the living realm and the realm of death. All newly deceased souls pass through the Light right before they emerge from beneath the sands in the desert.
The acolights are a cult made up of anchored ghosts, who believe that Crow was also an anchored ghost who found a way to stay in the realm of the living without fading. They worship him by following in his footsteps! They give in to their temptations and summon portals of Light and dive on in. Many of them don’t come back. (It’s a death cult ) Honestly, Crow’s not a huge fan of the acolights.
Haha! Weeeell technically they’re not really vampire vampires. XD They’re ghosts, so they only exist in the afterlife. What they really are are giant slug-like masses of semi-sentient ghost blood that hunt other ghosts that get caught in the storms. They don’t live very long. They bubble up from the sand during blood storms and then pop like water balloons when the storms pass.
Ryder is an exception. He was a regular ghost who used squall beast blood to mark himself with a tattoo, finding that the mark keeps the squall monsters away from him…with the unintended side-effect of him slowly turning into one of them himself. He looks a bit more like a typical vampire at the moment, but he won’t stay that way for long. Right now, he’s just a dude with fangs (who occasionally drinks the blood of any enemies in order to heal). Sometimes he can spawn tentacles from his back.
Responses and Question!
Liiiike space ships? How long was the journey? Did they have a destination in mind or were they just wandering?
Dang. sucks for them. Do the humans on Elgana have contact with them? Are both factions of humans aware of each other’s statuses? why can’t they send more humans from Earth to Elgana?
Also what was their reaction to encountering a donut-shaped system of planets full of magical fantastical creatures?
But what if they gave themselves immortality somehow? Would they be stuck in prison for eternity? Are the prisons magick-proof?
Seems like lotta people can’t be trusted with magick
So he can make the ice beast but he can’t destroy it? Why doesn’t he just send a fire beast down to destroy it?
Does she tell him this to his face? Because that’s awesome
Okay, what is the difference between a Nightwalker and a Metsunox?
What’s a Star-Weaver? It sounds so cool!
So, okay, you have a lot of species XD I’m getting overwhelmed XD
Give me a list of the common species and uncommon species of the U.F.W system.
Your species variety reminds me of X-Men and Star Wars. There’s no end XD That’s a compliment, btw
Okay, so, I want to know about the magic. Tell me the different types of magic that exist in U.F.W.
We’ll start with U.F.W
Someone needs to go fix it XD Who maintains it?
Okay, so you said the walls cannot be broken down. As the author, in all your races and species, is there really no one that could potentially do it? Is there anyone that could potentially do it and it would make sense for them to do it? If so, what would be the reason, you think, for that race or species or individual to break the walls?
Oh my gosh that’s awesome XD Then normal everyday temperatures must feel so low to them.
When you say Dragons…am I to imagine the scaly kind with the leather wings or do you dragons not look like the ones in mainstream media?
Like shampoo and what everyone uses to bathe with Personal hygiene products.
Ooooh, I have a good question: do the females of your different species get their periods? Or do some of them not have periods? If they do, how do they deal with it?
That’s pretty cool how you have the different elements. Will there be dark matter or light or earth or water?
In your lore, do you differentiate lightning from light or shadow from darkness?
I think you made it cool They just got so jealous.
You could pull a Romeo and Juliet death with the two somehow, maybe? But both of them actually had their shields up or something like that. Idk. A thought
Probably floating out there somewhere in deep space or whatever.
What’s the name of your entire universe? Do you call it anything? Is it Creation? The Creation Universe? Like I can say “the world of Elgana” and that is where everything happens.
Oh well darn it I just thought of something. How do they fight? Space battles? Or do they go to each other’s countries or planets?
That is so cool! It’s a totally different way to how I craft the balance in Elgana. Yours is a constant thing and a perspective! I see. That is interesting. Makes sense though. There is always going to be the tug-of-war between good and evil, possibly on various scales.
Interesting. See, I don’t have that good vs evil type of balance idea. Elgana’s balance has to do with magick only. It so happened that having a balance of magick makes the world somewhat peaceful.
Mine is to explain eventual extinction.
Maybe there’s some sect that keeps everything in the family. Might also be some cloning going on, too. What do you think?
(I’m going to not summarize this because sometimes I forget what I said )
And how it’s different from Lapide.
How does she take care of her hair?
What’s the limbo like?
Any other interesting contradictions in the world building?
Does that mean Pinti gets them too?
)
Hardly anyone even knows it exists 
It’s kind of the home-base of the series, where the main cast is from and where most of the series takes place. There are many other cities/villages/communities in the afterlife, but the only ones I have fleshed-out and named so far are After and Ah-hur. (And Ah-hur doesn’t even exist anymore lol. Someone exploded it)
Who threw their socks at the terrifying doom portal? Whoever they are, they’re my hero. 
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