A Chance at Fate: Post Links

This is just a hub to make it easier to find where each bit of information for A Chance at Fate is. The titles are the same as the post titles.

Underlying Universe, Cosmic Influences, and Story Location.

Mana and Magic.

World Map and Details.

Sentient Races and Related Languages.

System Skills.

A Chance at Fate: Sentient Races and Languages

Sentient Races:

There are numerous sentient races on Panavar, many of whom are sentient monsters, who while sentient are not covered here as they do not gain access to the Class System. These sentient monsters are not categorised as sentient races as they are not guaranteed to be sentient at birth.

Within the sentient races, there are countless sub-races associated with a particular mana. It is highly difficult for a child to be born as a sub-race, as either the surrounding mana needs to be highly concentrated and of a single type, the child needs to be born from two very powerful individuals or the child’s parents need to both already be sub-races. Even under these strict conditions, entire isolated societies of sub-races exist across Panavar.

Individuals of the sentient races are predominantly born with 1 affinity. Being born with dual affinity is possible but rare (1/10000) and being born with triple affinity or higher isn’t possible. If the individual is a sub-race then even dual affinity is impossible.

A person's affinity is determined by their soul, but the type of soul that inhabits a newborn is partially affected by the parent's affinity and the environment at the time of birth.

There are 15 Sentient Races across the planet of Panavar;

(lots of inspiration from DnD in this post ;_;)

Humans

Humans are a middling but persistent race and can be found almost anywhere in the world. Their average lifespan is ~100 years.

Believed to have originated from the Earthen Expanse their ancestors adapted to fast geological changes and resource shortages, making modern humans proficient at adapting to what is needed of them to survive. This also has the side effect of Humans being particularly varied in personality and attitude, with their only unifying trait being that they are slightly more inclined towards survival habits and greed.

Appearance-wise they are just like real humans.

Elves

Elves are a mystical race that are believed to have originated in the Eternal Lands. They are quite easy to find worldwide but rarely in large groups, they are a relatively middling race, though with less physical strength and stronger souls than humans.

They have an average lifespan of ~500 years, and their point of origin means their ancestors had their sense of time completely corrupted, leading to elves having a habit of rapidly switching from being overly in the moment to perspectives that gaze centuries into the future. This has caused elves to develop highly efficient teaching methods across their cultures, as the time any one elf will give to learning a subject will vary highly.

Appearance-wise wise they are very much like typical elves but their clothing is closer to mercenaries or adventurers than classical elves. Equally, they are not related to nature or spirits like classical elves, instead being related to time.

Dwarves

Dwarves are a hardy race that are gifted in defense, being more sturdy than humans both mentally and physically, though their lack of spirituality as a culture leaves their souls more vulnerable.

Believed to have originated from what is now the Iron Reach dwarves are a proud race that on average live ~250 years.

They can be found in small numbers worldwide but are most commonly found in the city-state Iron Reach, or in smaller communities living underground. Their disposition very much leans towards crafting and they do so with heavy reliance on logic and pragmatism, with little room for non-function creativity or flourish.

Appearance-wise very much like a typical dwarf, without the accent.

Gnomes

Gnomes are a crafty race that are gifted in tinkering and inspiration, being more bright and dexterous than humans, though their lack of spirituality as a culture leaves their souls more vulnerable.

Believed to have originated from what is now the Crystal City, Gnomes are a mischievous race that on average live ~250 years.

They can be found in small numbers worldwide but are most common in the city-state Crystal City, or in smaller communities living underground. Their disposition very much leans towards artificing and they do so with heavy reliance on flourish and creativity, leaving little room for pragmatism or minimalism.

Appearance-wise gnomes have either black or very very dark shades of purple/blue/grey skin. They seem a mix between a refined goblin and the Pokémon sable eye, with hair only on the top of their head and eyebrows, spiked teeth, pointed ears, short and thin stature, and round heads.

Halflings

Halflings are a kind race, embodied by their big heart in almost any circumstance, which causes their soul to be stronger than humans across the board. Their small stature causes them to be a little weaker than a human physically.

Believed to originate from the Arcane Mountains, they live for ~150 years. Their ancestors were exposed to the unique and unpredictable Arcane Mana there for generations, and for reasons unknown this has manifested in Halflings as an effect they have on the people around them, exaggerating the luck they would experience in any scenario, either positive or negative.

As a nomadic people, they have a preference for mountainous, hilly, or grassy environments and can be found in decent numbers anywhere on the planet but the only predominantly halfling settlements are in the Arcane Mountains.

Appearance wise just regular DnD 5e Halflings.

Lizard Folk

Lizard folk come in any variety of reptile depending on their heritage and are a tribal but highly sophisticated race. They will build grand cities and even grander palaces and adorn themselves in all manner of gaudier. They are highly technical in civil manners, with most of their population being lawyers, civil servants, etc, yet are highly prone to faction politics and overt tribalism, meaning most constructs of Lizard Folk society do not last as long as those of other races. They can be found in small but united groups across the planet but are most common in the areas around the Clouded Bog as that is where most of their history has taken place.

Believed to have originated from the Clouded Bog they have an average lifespan of ~150 years. Their stature and long history of tribalism makes them prone to violence, or at least the display of it in more civil environments, making them more physically capable than humans, though dumber across the board. Their tribalistic and political nature causes them to be highly pragmatic which harms the development of their souls.

Appearance-wise they look like humanoid versions of the reptile they descend from, though more buff than a human equivalent and slightly skewed towards turquoise in scale colour.

Satyrs

Satyrs are a silver-tongued race, keen on misdirection and lies, normally for hedonistic reasons or wants, though they do have a deep appreciation for music and family. They are adept at trickery and the art of bargaining. They are the most spiritual and superstitious race and this affords them souls of much higher power compared to humans, though they are usually slightly less strong physically. While considered the trickster race they are also incredibly joyful people and have an innocence as if shielded from knowing about the darker evils of the world, which sadly lowers their ability to endure.

With an average lifespan of ~150 years and believed to have originated from the Fey Wilds this is where they are most commonly found, while they can be seen in the rest of the world it is notably rare.

Appearance-wise they are the same as DnD 5e Satyrs, usually shorter than a human but not always, horns included.

Giants

Giants are a large humanoid race that can range between 6m and 20m tall. While their large stature gives them incredible physical capability it does not predispose them to violence, with the race being incredibly soft at heart and normally unwilling to harm living things needlessly, which sadly weakens their souls defensive capabilities, though they are more cautious around other sentient races. They are also a people prone to contentment, meaning over the course of their evolution their mental capacity has not advanced as much as other sentient races.

Believed to have originated from the Moving Mountains these Giants live to ~250 years on average, and while common in giant-dominated settlements they are particularly rare in the wider world due to their size. Most giants have no use for “gaudy” material possessions beyond what they need and are happy to live as hunter-gatherers, even if their societies and technology have long progressed past that point.

Appearance-wise just normal giants in DnD 5e.

Dragonborn

Dragonborn are descendants of dragonspawn. At some point in their ancestry, a dragon had a child with a sentient, As such Dragonborn can have some attributes of their non-draconic lineage. The impact of their draconic lineage is entirely dependent on the dragon type. Most will have the affinity of their draconic lineage.

Not originating from a particular place Dragonborn are still rare and spread almost evenly around the world, but there are a few small settlements comprised of just Dragonborn. With a lifespan of ~300 years, Dragonborn are physically stronger than humans with similar soul strength, but their slowed aging causes them to be a bit less bright upon access to the system.

Appearance-wise they mostly follow DnD Dragonborn for their draconic impact but made specific to the particular dragon (see monsters notes) and for non-draconic impact, they take main features only, like a satyrs legs or a giants size or a merpeople’s tail or a gnomes gobliness etc. Be artistic with it.

Gorgons

Gorgons are half-snake humanoids with snakes for hair that are adapted to caves and dark, enclosed spaces. With their bottom half being a snake's tail they are more used to enclosed spaces where they can grip onto rough surfaces, and they are much taller than humans if laid out head to tail tip.

Their development and adaptation from a harsh environment leave their problem-solving and dexterity more advanced than a humans, but with a bit less physical strength. Their history causes them to be extremely survival-focused and pragmatic making their soul less resistant.

Believed to have originated from the Great Chasm their average lifespan is ~200 years and they don’t tend to spread out too much across the continents, though they can be found in great numbers anywhere around the Great Chasm. Gorgons tend to be underhanded and sneaky, and naturally adapted for thievery.

Appearance-wise just a mix between a naga and Medusa hair, any snake colour for the scales human for the rest.

Spriggans

Spriggans are a humanoid race made entirely of wood. They are a highly communal species with their home forest in the Undying Land being where they collect to discuss any changes they may make to their future actions or decisions. They’re highly spiritual towards nature and often rely on coming together in large groups to make any kind of decision. Their wooden bodies give them a bit more endurance than a human, though their reliance on group decisions has made them individually dull in the mind. Their communal community and belief in nature make their souls one of the strongest across the sentient races.

Believed to have originated in the Undying Lands they have a lifespan of ~500 years. While it isn’t unexpected to find one in their homeland groups have been seen in other areas of the world, though finding one by themselves is extra rare.

Appearance-wise they are just the Spriggans from Skyrim but less magic-looking and not as aggressive.

Yeti

Yeti are large humanoids adapted to the cold. They are considered relatively barbaric by the other races but in truth just practice a belief in pragmatism, a necessity for their ancestral development. Yeti are very hardy people and are on average stronger than a human even if a bit less sharp.

Believed to have originated from the Frozen Valley the yeti have an average lifespan of ~250 years. They exist within a classic tribal societal structure and don’t often leave the settlement they grew up in. It is extremely rare to see a yeti anywhere that isn’t the Frozen Valley or nearby land.

Appearance-wise they are all tall and covered in white fur, with similar stature to gorillas.

Merpeople

Merpeople are an aquatic humanoid race, their bottom halves being that of many different aquatic animals. They make their civilisation in the great oceans, a much more dangerous place in terms of monsters than land, and have adapted over their evolutionary development to fit into their environment. They are not physically strong people as they stood no chance at overpowering their potential predators, though they never lost their hardiness and durability. They are not soulful people, developing deliberate belief and soul power takes too long to be useful in such an environment. What they were left with was their mind, which they honed to a razor's edge, making great structures, traps, techniques, and anything else to help them take control of their surroundings.

Believed to have originated from the Sapphire Expanse they have an average lifespan of ~150 years. Their great ingenuity and lack of competition from other aquatic sentient races means they have the most expansive empire in the world, all underwater. Equally, it means they have domesticated almost all types of non-monstrous aquatic life. This leaves the merpeople arrogant and believing themselves better than any “land dweller”.

Appearance-wise they are like normal mermaids and mermen, but don’t need to have a “fish” tale. It could also be a dolphin tale or any other aquatic life.

Werejackals

Werejackals are a desert-dwelling race of animalistic humanoids. Reminiscent of werewolves but with more wild dog features, they don’t shift but are instead permanently animalistic appearance. While strong and hardy they aren’t built for precision, both mentally and physically. They have an innately strong soul due to how they are culturally raised, but they also gain a unique trait of madness, if desired any sound made by a Werejackal can cause a compounding madness effect on any who hear it, being faster to compound the more Werejackal join in. They are immune to it themselves.

Believed to have originated in the Mirage they have an average life span of ~180 years. They are a nomadic people and tend to stick to themselves, though they have a tendency to visit nearby settlements to trade for many things. They can be found in all deserts across Panavar except the Fields of Decay.

Appearance-wise similar to werewolves but with a more dog-like skull structure and less hair.

Wavewings

Wavewings are a unique race. They have entirely unique clothing styles due to their anatomy and are highly sensitive to sound, with their language being one of the most complex and difficult across Panavar, being learned by the nobles of most other races to show off. While not particularly gifted physically or mentally, they are very nimble with their fingers despite the structures of their hands and arms, and their dimmer sight not only enhances their sense of sound but historically has caused them to highly value wisdom and learning to predict their environment based on the experiences of those before. Wavewings are highly social people but only in groups of less than seven, and larger social groups will often split apart to make the people involved more comfortable. This results in consistent high intimacy within the group and over time the race has developed particularly strong souls as a result, second only to the Spriggans.

Believed to have originated in the Echo Lake their average lifespan is ~200 years. Their unique social structures means that their cities comprise of many homes dug into cave walls around the lake and some small, singular, unmanned and unguarded vendor locations by the side of the lake. This has the side effect of Wavewings having a high sense of justice, but not in the religious way.

Appearance-wise they look like werebats however instead of the hand stretches to make the wings much bigger just normal hands at the end of the wings. Also the head is noticeably less bat-like but still more bat than human.

Languages:

There are 22 major languages in Panavar. There is 1 widespread language, 13 race-based languages, 4 religion-based languages, 3 artificial languages, and 2 unique monster languages.

Most monster languages are developed by that race of monsters and there are countless monstrous languages, so they will not be listed. Monsters from the same dungeon will understand each other regardless of language.

Widespread language

Common:

Common is spoken almost everywhere on the planet, the only place it is not the dominant language is in underwater communities. Its origin is unknown.

Speaking common is a surefire way for someone to understand what you’re saying.

Race-based languages

Races will often use their language for tradition or to keep secrecy from someone in the same room or similar actions.

Invercom;

Mostly spoken by humans this language is an inversion of common, making it much more difficult to learn and is widely considered just advanced common. The written word is very similar to common but actually conserves no grammatical rules, making it needlessly frustrating.

A language only possible due to the need to impress others and most commonly spoken by nobles or merchants.

Elvish;

Mostly spoken by elves this language is highly intricate, taking much time to not only learn but pronounce. The written word is very detailed, using many strokes in one character to convey what would be a simple word in other languages. The grammar is long winded and often has two related pieces of information at opposite ends of a sentence or even argument, forcing the listener to pay attention to the whole of a speech before understanding it.

A language that could only be developed by a race with a unique relationship with time.

Dwarvish;

Mostly spoken by dwarfs this language is highly angular, and comprised mostly of modular linguistics. The written word is much more mathematic and straight-lined than common, indicating a love of results and precision.

A language that could only be developed by a ruff and pragmatic people.

Gnomish;

Mostly spoken by gnomes this language is highly arty and flourished, comprised mostly of long, flowing words to convey a whole sentence each. The written word is much more creative and cursive than common, indicating a love of experimentation and the arts.

A language that could only be developed by a pompous and tinkering people.

Lowcom;

Mostly spoken by halflings this language is similar to common with some key differences. The grammatical structure is entirely different and sentences will often miss important verbs or nouns etc, often relying on the reader or listener to assume based on little context. The written word is also similar to common but with much simpler characters and the same above mentioned problems.

A language that could only be developed by a race that has an innate understanding of their surroundings and each other.

Reptilian;

Mostly spoken by lizard folk this language is difficult for others to learn due to it requiring a significantly different voice box and mouth. It was developed over time so that all the different bloodlines and types of lizard folk could share a common language despite differences in anatomy, however, this has resulted in it being less familiar to other humanoid races.

A language developed by a highly diverse people trying to find common ground.

Sylvan;

Mostly spoken by Satyrs this language is highly mischievous, filled with grammatical structures and phrases that can lure people down a train of thought that does not represent what is written. Due to this it is a common language among contract makers and shady merchants, and is another language learnt by nobles across the world.

A language that could only be developed by a people known for their trickery.

Overcom;

Mostly spoken by giants and yetis this language is very similar to common, sharing everything but an alphabet of base sounds with it. This language mainly diverges when written as it was highly adapted to be easier to write at the large scale yeti and giants operate at.

A language made out of necessity for races of a large stature.

Hisstarian;

Mostly spoken by gorgons this language is often confused with Reptilian but shares almost no similarities. Hisstarian is comprised of hisses of different volumes, lengths and pitches and is almost always spoken by the snakes on a gorgons head. When written it looks like a line of punctuation compared to most other languages. People who natively speak this language struggle to learn others as they must use their own mouth to do so.

A language developed by a unique people with many mouths.

Primordial;

Mostly spoken by Spriggans this is a deep, rumbling language. While the written word is effective at communicating to speak this language requires an element of soul control as they will often express emotional aspects of a conversation through their soul power.

A language developed by a simple people with powerful souls.

Aquarian;

Mostly spoken by merpeople, this language is unique as it does not use sound. This is an entirely visual language and is often called sign or hand language above water. Popular with deaf people this language also has its place in covert or military operations. The written word of this language is just a representation of the hand signs used.

A language developed by a people hindered by their dampening surroundings.

Canarian;

Mostly spoken by Werejackal, this language is shrill and sharp, often including what can be described as yips or barks. Native speakers of this language can instil a sense of a Werejackals madness into the words, painting an illusion within the listener’s mind to get a point across more effectively. A learner is considered fluent when they can illicit this effect on the written word.

A language developed by a race with unique gifts in a unique environment.

Complexian;

Mostly spoken by Wavewings this language is considered the most difficult and complex on the planet. Native speakers often grow up surrounded by sound mana and as such are particularly sensitive to sound, letting the language have a broad range of not only volume but also letters and punctuation. Variations in the volume, pitch, and length of each syllable, and contrast between these with a word can highly change the meaning of the same spoken word conveying emotion, context, and opinion on the uttered phrase.

A language that could only be developed by a race with a unique relationship to sound.

Draconic;

Mostly spoken by Dragonborn this language is unique in that it is a monstrous language, comprised mostly of snarls, screeches and barks, but is still learnable by sentient races and has a written word, similar to dwarvish but much closer to the runic language of magic.

A language that bridges the gap between monster and man.

Special monster languages

While there are innumerable monster languages two are very important, as they are used widely by the most powerful and influential classes of monsters respectively.

Draconic;

Mostly spoken by dragons, see above entry.

Feytalk;

Most monsters have a language unique to each monster race, but these are more like protolanguages. Fey creatures are different in that they all share a language, similar in many ways to sylvan.

Languages tied to religious bodies

These languages have slowly developed within a church, temple or cult as a way of encrypted communication.

Celestial;

Spoken by members of the Venarus Theocracy (most holy mana users) this language is similar to common but is entirely composed of passages from their holy texts.

Infernal;

Spoken by members of the Cult of the Lost (most unholy mana users) this language is similar to common but is entirely composed of passages of their unholy texts.

Solarian;

Spoken by members of the Suns Sanctuary (most solar mana users) this language is similar to Reptilian but is comprised entirely of religious scriptures.

Lunarian;

Spoken by members of the Lunar Plateau (most lunar mana users) this language is heavily based on Sylvan but consists entirely of excerpts of their religious scriptures.

Artificial Languages

These are languages developed by the largest organisations in the world as a way for its members to quickly find each other in bad situations.

Simplairian;

Heavily based on Invercom and named ironically, this language acts as a shorthand for members of the Coliseum.

Deep Speech;

Heavily based on Complexian and named arrogantly, this language acts as a shorthand for members of the Paragon.

Abyssal;

Heavily based on Primordial and named descriptively, this language acts as a shorthand for members of Spiritus.

End Notes:

This is an overview of the sentient races and their related languages.

This will eventually be edited to link with other posts.

Let me know what you think!

A Chance at Fate: World Map and Details

General Information:

This is a more detailed description of the world map for Panavar. Some parts are not final and I definitely want to remake the map because it is missing several areas and some names have changed since I made it.

WIP Map:

Places of Note:

Magical Locations:

These are places associated with a high concentration of a particular Mana Type.

The Ember Ocean (Lava) - A volcanic region with a large number of volcanic mountains with a sea of lava around them.

The Silent Isles (Death) - An archipelago that was the site for a huge ancient war and now is the main place of residence for sentient undead. Home to their capital the Nether Sanctum.

The Undying Expanse (Life) - A seemingly ancient forest where all life but the trees seem to be on an accelerated evolutionary course. Birthplace of the Spriggans.

The Eternal Lands (Time) - A seemingly normal flower meadow covered in large, deep tunnels. while the day/night cycle seems normal, the plants of the area act as though it is accelerated 50-fold, with their flowers opening and closing concerningly fast. Birthplace of the Elves.

The Empty Peaks (Arcane) - A range of tall mountain peaks, contrasted by vastly different mana concentrations on every side, resulting in little to no affinity in the mana of the range. Birthplace of the Halflings.

The Iron Reach (Metal) - A small stretch of metal-rich land that houses a city-state by the same name. Birthplace of the Dwarves.

The Echo Lake (Sound) - A lake surrounded by high mountains, completely silent as all sound made on the lake is echoed endlessly. Many caves surround the lake. Birthplace of the Wavewings.

The Breathless Planes (Space) - A large salt flat where air doesn't flow, no matter the forces acting on it, almost as if the air was spacially locked.

The Tethered Canyon (Gravity) - A seemingly normal canyon with unnaturally smooth edges. The gravity within the canyon is much higher the deeper into it you are, making it difficult to leave once entered.

The Fields of Decay (Entropy) - A desert of particularly fine, sickly off-colour white sand. Everything that enters the desert decays as though eroded and aged at a high speed.

The Sun's Sanctuary (Solar) - The pointed peak of one of two mountains considered the tallest in the world. A temple by the same name is built around the lower levels of the mountain.

The Living Land (Flesh) - An expanse of land where the ground is made of flesh, mostly rock-like bone with pockets of tissue and skin. Home to many horrid monsters and undead.

The Flaming Expanse (Fire) - A hot desert made of ash that regularly and randomly has fire-related weather.

The Talking Forest (Mind) - A forest of seemingly barren trees. These trees are all conscious and attempt to slowly assimilate any who enter the forest into their collective consciousness.

The gate of rebirth (Soul) - A sole isolated island in the middle of the Sapphire Expanse. Shrouded in mystery, those who know of the island believe it to allow whoever discovers it first to be reborn into a perfect life.

The Fey Wilds (Spirit) - An ancient and dense forest, filled with fey life and trickery. Birthplace of the Satyr.

The Moving Mountains (Kinetic) - A small range of tall mountains that, while not relatively fast, are moving in a dancing pattern around each other, slowly sliding over the ground without friction. Birthplace of the Giants.

The Venarus Theocracy (Holy) - An area of Blessed land controlled by the church of the same name.

The Cult of the Lost (Unholy) - An area of Damned land controlled by the cult of the same name.

The Cursed Empire (Curse) - A series of islands that are covered in small forests and ruins. The ruins continue underwater between the islands as if those areas weren’t always underwater.

The Shadow Nexus (Shadow) - a small island in the centre of a large lake, where the grave of a great and powerful shadow mage lies. The shadows on this island eat living flesh.

The Mirage (Illusion) - A desert with a high frequency of mirages present. Not all places in the desert are actually a mirage, and the desert's lack of water leaves people eternally tricked.

The Prismatic Domain (Focal) - A dried lake bed with little to no plant life, where polarised light beams constantly fly in multiple directions many times a second.

The Great Chasm (Dark) - A huge chasm, a scar in the land with many caves along its walls. Birthplace of the Gorgons.

The Blinding Isles (Light) - A series of islands with no tall vegetation or land features. Light from any source seems particularly harsh here and bursts of light will sporadically happen.

Thunders Veil (Lightning) - A series of islands under the edge of the Eternal Storm. The islands act as a lightning rod for the storm causing all electrical charge to be directed here.

The Eternal Storm (Air) - A huge never-ending storm mostly over a section of the ocean. It doesn’t travel and stays over the planet's north pole.

The Crystal City (Crystal) - A small area of land that has huge crystals of magical and mundane varieties growing there. Houses a city-state of the same name. Birthplace of the Gnomes.

The Frozen Valley (Ice) - The only continental piece of land close enough to the poles to have snow/ice all year round. Birthplace of the Yeti.

The Clouded Bog (Vapour) - A bog with a permanent fog over it and some bog like trees. The air is not entirely safe here for most sentients. Birthplace of the Lizardmen.

The Fallen Star (Plasma) - A large, spherical concentration of plasma mana. Potentially created by a failed ritual that became self-sustaining. The source of many folklore tales from the area as it's believed to genuinely be a fallen star.

The Sapphire Expanse (Water) - The deepest stretch of the world's oceans with most of the largest sea monsters living here, it is situated on the planet's south pole. Birthplace of the Merpeople.

The Earthen Range (Earth) - A very hilly but not mountainous piece of land where there are no caves underground no matter how deep you go, and all plant life here is a shade of brown. The birthplace of Humans.

The Lunar Plateau (Lunar) - The cratered peak of one of two mountains considered the tallest in the world. It looks like a volcano but the crater is much higher up on the mountain with a significantly smaller diameter and is not caused by volcanic activity. A temple by the same name is built around the lower levels of the mountain.

The Upper Atmosphere (Cosmic and Stellar) - Literally just the top half of the atmosphere.

There is NO area for Eldritch Mana Types due to the nature of their existence.

Areas Related to the Cultures of the Sentient Races:

There are small settlements across the world but these areas of mass population are significant.

There are four religious groups or temples associated with a Magical Location:

Cult of the lost - Unholy

The oracular theocracy - Holy

The suns sanctuary - solar

The lunar plateau - lunar

(These have been covered already)

There are two city-states associated with a Magical Location;

The Iron Reach - metal

The Crystal City - Crystal

(These have been covered already)

There are three countries not directly associated with a particular Magical Land:

The Saurian Kingdom - Population of mostly Lizard Folk.

The Republic of Cairngorm - The population is mostly dark affinity.

The Piral Alliance - Population of mostly Humans.

There are three international organisations with specific locations as their Headquarters.

Paragon - An organisation aimed towards mages, their branches contain libraries, research equipment, and supply shops for their members. Their Headquarters is a giant, red, crystal inverted pyramid that floats silently high in the sky above Echo Lake.

The Colosseum - An organisation aimed towards physical combatants, their branches contain arenas, gyms, and supply shops for their members. Their Headquarters is a huge colosseum on the edge of the Undying Expanse.

The Spiritus - An organisation aimed towards experts on the soul, they have one branch in each country's capital city, and the method to become a member is unknown.

There are three international organisations with no specific Headquarters but has branches placed in every settlement with enough population.

Adventurers guild.

Crafters guild.

Healers guild.

Mana Flows of Magical Lands:

How does the mana for each Magical Land allow for them to coexist?

Circuit 1; (Lava, Fire, Metal, Earth, Lava)

The Ember Sea is an area of naturally high high volcanic activity, causing lava mana to pool here.

As the lava travels and cools it is slowly eroded into the sand that makes up the Flaming Expanse, taking small amounts of lava mana with it. With an entire desert of sand made from igneous rock and the heat from the neighboring lava, the desert causes fire mana to pool here.

The Iron Reach is an area with dense and valuable metals in high volume, due to the repeated refining of nearby fire mana from the Flaming Expanse, but this also causes the soil to be thin, metallic, burnt, low quality, and bad for crops. The sheer volume of metals in the area causes metal mana to pool here.

The concentration of metal mana in The Iron Reach causes nearby minerals to slowly over time be moved by surrounding flows of mana towards the iron reach. This affects the nearby Earthen Expanse as it would be normal land, but with the removal of almost all metal mana has a high concentration of earth mana, causing the soil layer to be extremely deep, preventing most caves or tunnels from existing and making the ground highly unstable.

The high amounts of earth mana and instability cause the area to experience high volumes of small earthquakes. These earthquakes cause small shifts in this part of the continent, allowing lava from below the crust to endlessly bubble up and create the Ember Sea, completing the cycle.

Consequence 1; (Arcane and Sound)

The Arcane mountains are situated between multiple areas of high mana concentration causing most mana afford be drained from the range, making it the only place on the planet with arcane mana as the prevalent type.

In the Arcane Mountains is a large Lake, Echo Lake. Surrounded by the mountains it doesn’t get affected by nearby mana, but the shape of the lake and surrounding mountains causes a natural phenomenon where sounds produced here echo for incredibly extended periods, which causes sound mana to pool here.

Circuit 2;(Water (soul), air (lightning), water)

The Sapphire Expanse is a natural feature of the worlds oceans, it is the deepest part and filled with the most chaotic currents, and all sea currents flow from here and end at the eternal storm. This causes water mana to accumulate here.

There is a small singular island in the dead centre of the Sapphire Expanse which is only vaguely known about to most sentient life. Over time it has gained a belief around it as the origin of the world's mana due to how the sapphire expanse is the origin of all the oceans currents. While it is not the origin of the world's mana this belief has arisen alongside a myth for potentially allowing a person to be reborn with their desired mana affinity should they make the journey to the small island, causing it to pool soul mana over time and gain the name the Gate of Rebirth.

The eternal storm is a result of the water under it as all the world's water currents chaotically terminate below it, essentially creating a static and eternal hurricane. This causes air mana to pool here, keeping the storm eternal.

A few metal rich islands exist under the periphery of the eternal storm, and essential act as lightning rods for the electrical charge accumulated in the clouds, eternally striking the islands many times a second. This is thunders veil and lightning mana pools here.

The eternal storm is not a closed system and so wind currents will carry water-rich air from it across the world, a lot of this will reach the sapphire expanse and fall as heavy rain, completing the cycle.

Circuit 3; (Air, Death, Mind/Flesh, Death)

The eternal storm is impossible to navigate through, but people try anyway. This causes a lot of death under the storm, most of which washes up on the silent isles, causing death mana to gather there. Over time it became the home of sentient undead.

The death mana from the silent isles causes life to struggle on the nearby portion of the continent, with two responses occurring over a large timeframe.

A large forest once existed on half the affected area, once the death mana came it caused all but the most hardy trees and plants to die. The surviving plants joined together to survive and over time became more and more cooperative until the forest could be seen as one big, almost sentient, organism. This causes mind mana to pool here, affecting the forest even more. This is called The Talking Forest.

A large expanse once existed on the other half of the affected area, once the death mana came all but the most hardy microbes died and the survivors came together to survive. Over time the land became covered in bacterial and microbial sludge, both over and under ground. With more time passing this sludge evolved and came to resemble bone and animal flesh, skin, and organs. Other creatures and monsters, alive or undead, adapted and made this place their home. This place is known as The Living Land.

Both the Talking Forest and Living Land are harsh environments, killing many who attempt to traverse them. This death fuels the death mana of the silent isles further, keeping the cycle going.

Circuit 4; (Vapour (Shadow), Entropy, Light, Vapour)

The clouded bog is a natural bog that has a reserve of gaseous chemicals deep under it, these chemicals leak to the surface and hang around the bog as fog, causing a harsh environment that the local life is adapted to, though the fog does help sunlight reflect throughout the bog during the day. The eternal fog and its chemical makeup cause vapour mana to pool here. The more light-adverse monsters left the bog when the fog appeared and moved to a solitary island in the centre of a nearby lake.

Wind currents carry some of the fog away, with the more nasty chemicals staying in the wind for longer, helping the bog to not become overly poisonous.

On the nearby island in a lake near the clouded bog is a small ruin of a tribal civilisation, the weird architecture causes odd shadows, and the nearby, shadow inclined, monsters are attracted to the place. In its centre is a grave, imbued heavily with shadow mana from the deceased lying there. All these factors cause shadow mana to accumulate on this island, known as the Shadow Nexus.

Some of The more poisonous or environmentally negative chemicals in the fog from the Clouded Bog flows over to a nearby desert, where it settles and destroys and breaks down most matter, leaving only a sickly white powder that is not of use for anything. This sweeping breakdown of matter causes entropy matter to pool in the area, breaking everything down further and applying the same process to anything that wanders through the area, causing the desert to be called The Fields of Decay.

As matter is slowly buried by new matter over time it continues to be broken down in the fields of decay until after millennia it is completely broken down from any matter to energy, this causes an explosion of said created energy and it forces its way to the surface, bringing some matter from above it for the journey. With how long it takes the decay to reach this point the energy is no longer under the Fields of Decay due to tectonic movement, so it bursts up outside of the nearby sea, the matter taken along for the ride becomes islands and after the journey the only energy left is visible light, creating the Blinding Isles.

Circuit 5;(Spirt ->Curse, Spirit -> Time, Spirit -> Illusion, Curse/Time/Illusion -> Spirit)

The Fey wilds are home to many fey creatures, and over time their continued presence has caused the area to gather spirit mana.

The cursed empire is now just a small set of islands that accumulated curse mana. It used to once be the seat of a grand empire with good relations to their fey neighbours, but one day a new emperor thought his power greater than it was and sought to conquer the fey, causing their empire to be cursed, leading to their eventual downfall and erasure from history save a few scraps. This legend is altered and told the world over by humans to teach children not to mess with fey life, which in turn causes more spirit mana to exist and pool within the fey wilds.

The eternal land is a great shame of the fey creatures, a once great fairy queen wanted to conduct an experiment of some kind, the details lost to time. The outcome was that the affected area never found its place in time again, causing inhabitants and traveler to be sent to the close future or to experience time at different speeds, causing time mana to pool here. The elves, native to this land, tell this story as a cautionary tale of when to know your limits, but as the fey were the perpetrators of the original event the tales cause spirit mana to be generated and pool in the fey wilds.

The mirage use to be a normal desert, but a great battle between two fey rulers occurred within it, resulting in the death of one of them. This fey ruler was an expert at using illusion mana and their corpse causes it to spread throughout the desert well after their death. Anytime people fall for the illusions present in the mirage they commonly attribute it to fey trickery, generating spirit mana and causing it to pool at the fey wilds.

Consequence 2; (Holy and Unholy)

The areas blessed/damned by users of holy and unholy mana, if left for long periods, will start to accumulate environmental mana of their respective types. This is especially prevalent in the house of power for The Venarus Theocracy and The Cult of the Lost.

Consequence 3; (Lunar and Solar)

The two highest mountains in the world receive more lunar and solar mana than anywhere else in the world, but the temples built around their peaks, for solar and lunar respectively, caused mana of each type to accumulate at their respective temples over time, creating affinitied lands.

Equally, as they are the highest point a person can stand on they are closest to the outer atmosphere, allowing very slightly increased stellar and cosmic mana.

Circuit 6; (Crystal, dark, space)

The Crystal city is on an area with extremely high amounts of Crystal in its rock and soil, causing Crystal mana to pool there.

The Crystal mana of the Crystal city slowly over millennia pulls nearby crystals towards itself, emptying out where they used to be. Over time such a large area became hollowed out it collapsed, creating the Great Chasm. This huge hole in the ground creates areas that never see the sun and those same areas never did to begin with, these areas and the winding tunnels around the chasm causes dark mana to pool here.

The winding tunnels of the Great Chasm continue to great lengths underground, and in one particular area, the shape they take replicates a spell, causing the air above it to be spatially locked. It is unknown if this developed naturally or was aided by some long-forgotten nation. This area is called the Breathless Plane.

Circuit 7; (Ice, Life, Gravity, Kinetic, Ice)

The Frozen valley is the only piece of continental land far north/south enough to have year round snow and ice, making it the most consistent place for frozen water and this ice mana pools here.

This frozen water will melt once insulated by enough ice and snow above it and start to flow as top quality spring water, the nearby lands benefit from this water and are highly fertile, the most fertile on the planet, overtime this caused life mana to pool here, making the Undying Expanse once enough gathered.

Once a huge beast grew within the undying expanse and became more massive than any who came before or after, that beast decided to journey to a nearby land, but without the support of the concentrated life mana the beast's body collapsed under its own weight and it died, creating a long and deep canyon as it did so. Its manner of death and corpse caused some gravity mana to accumulate in the area it died in, and it was just enough to attract more gravity mana to the site over time. Eventually, this canyon became much more affected by gravity than anywhere else on the planet and became known as the Tethered Canyon.

The Tethered Canyon is a place of heightened gravity, but this extra force comes from somewhere and is just facilitated by the mana, the extra gravity is taken from the nearby mountain range due to its proximity and abundance. This mountain range as a result has much less gravity allowing for even the wind to move the mountains just a touch, this constant movement of lots of mass causes kinetic mana to pool here, causing the place to be known as the Moving Mountains.

The heightened movement and lower gravity of the Moving Mountains means clouds that would normally rain on mountains of such height do not, instead carrying their water past them and over to the frozen valley, where rain falls and freezes, continuing the cycle.

Consequence 4; (Plasma, Laser)

In a corner of the world lies a point of power, either a failed ritual, a divine/cursed item, or simply a runaway gathering array. Whatever it is was made by a highly competent plasma affinity crafter and was likely the cause of their death. The item now lies there with a huge ball of plasma around it, first gathered by the item and then later by the already high concentration of plasma mana around it, making it a self-perpetuating concentration of mana even if the item has been eroded by time now. The locals call this small area “The fallen star”.

Sometimes this plasma sparks in the right way to cause polarised light to flash out, and a nearby savanna has received so much of this light so frequently that it began to gather Focal mana, and after a point, the mana concentration became self-perpetuating here as well. This area is called the Prismatic Domain.

End Notes:

This is an overview of certain environments and areas of interest on the Planet Panavar.

This will eventually be edited to link with other posts.

Let me know what you think!

A Chance at Fate: System Skills

Background Information:

Skills are one of the benefits life receives from the systems of the universe, though it is important to note that the Dungeon Core System does not use skills. A skill is an impartment from a system to a lifeform.

Skills work by enabling the user. A life new to the systems that receives the skill Sword Mastery will have some ability with the sword suddenly, appropriate for the skill level and tier. If they then practice with the skill and do things that would traditionally improve sword skill then they will be much more able with the sword even at the same skill level, and after a point of their ability “catching” up with the skills “endowment” practice will start contributing to skill level gain, though slower than combat or scenarios that require ingenuity. Gaining another skill level gives another “catch-up” gap every time. This is an example of an Active Skill.

Passive skills work differently, where the skill endowment is more important as the catch-up period is longer due to practicing passive effects being more difficult to achieve.

Skills don't impart information to the recipient. If a person was given the Geometric Fire Magic skill without knowing how to use geometric magic they wouldn't be able to use the skill and would still need to practice and learn that school of magic. Skills like sword mastery work through endowed instincts and muscle memory and this is why practicing in the "catch-up" period is so beneficial as it allows people to understand and learn what the endowment has given them.

Skills do not have descriptions associated with them, the only hint to their function being their name and method of acquisition.

The only type of skill that doesn't exist are skills directly related to comprehending mana aspects, and this will be explained in more detail in a different post.

Slight difference between systems:

Skills within the Class and Monster Systems are very similar, with one minor difference.

Both systems have active and passive skills, but the Class System has their skills further categorised into Class Skills or Learned Skills.

Skill Labeling and Progression:

Skills are organised according to 3 metrics, Level, Tier, and Stage.

The Level of a Skill is self-explanatory, with each tier of the skill having a different MAX level, and once they reach their MAX level they go up a Tier, both of which are shown in the skill name.

E.g. Slash (2) Lv3. This is a tier 2 level 3 Slash skill.

E.g. Runic Sound Magic (6) Lv49. This a tier 6 level 49 skill indicating the holder's ability with Sound Mana using the Runic School of Angular Magic.

A skill stage is an artificial categorisation and is not shown by the systems, instead being made by sentient life to show that some skill tiers can be grouped together by how difficult they are to get to MAX level in relative to other skill tiers.

This was deemed necessary because with each tier the MAX level of a skill will increase by the same number of levels until you reach the next “stage” where the increase in MAX level will increase by more.

Below are all the Teirs, their MAX levels, and stages up to a point;

0 = 5 Stage 1 (Starts at skill (0) LV1)

1 = 10

2 = 15

3 = 20

4 = 30 Stage 2 (Starts at skill (4) LV1)

5 = 40

6 = 50

7 = 60

8 = 80 Stage 3 (Starts at skill (8) LV1)

9 = 100

10 = 120

11 = 140

12 = 180 Stage 4 (Starts at skill (12) LV1)

13 = 220

14 = 260

15 = 300

16 = 380 Stage 5 (Starts at skill (16) LV1)

17 = 460

18 = 540

19 = 620

20 = 780 Stage 6 (Starts at skill (20) LV1)

21 = 940

22 = 1100

23 = 1260

Tier Progression and Name Mutation:

Skill level increases with use, following the endowment to catch-up cycle mentioned earlier. To increase a skill tier is much harder than increasing a skill level as it usually requires a new understanding of how the skill functions to be showcased.

When a skill increases in tier it will normally keep its name, but if the new understanding shown to achieve the increase in tier is significant or different enough then it can cause its name to change, and this has a higher chance of happening when increasing a stage.

End Notes:

This is just an overview of how skills work, how they are named, and how life interacts with them.

This will eventually be edited to link with other posts.

Let me know what you think!

A Chance at Fate:

Mana and Magic

Mana

Mana is present throughout the universe in which the story takes place. Different types of mana exist in different concentrations in different parts of the universe. As mana adapts over time to match its environment the environment in question is a good indicator of the mana found there. The presence of Sentient life can impact this heavily. When performing magic or any non-mundane act it is mana that is the fuel, though how is highly varied. Sentient life is assigned a mana type at birth by their own soul.

MANA TYPES

There are 39 Mana types in the universe, and these are separated into 8 groups. There is no combining mana types. If multiple mana types are used together they do not undergo a qualitative change it is simply the cumulative work of those mana types working together.

Basic Elemental Mana Types:

These are the classic mana types representing the basic elements. They are the most common mana types to be born with.

There are 6 basic elemental mana types.

Fire.

Earth.

Water.

Air.

Light.

Dark.

Advanced Elemental Mana Types:

These are sometimes considered specialisations of the basic elemental mana types, however, while they share similarities they are independent. These are less common than basic elemental mana types.

Due to the similarities between advanced and basic elemental mana, Users of basic elemental mana could eventually wield advanced elemental magic with high amounts of study and practice. Equally, a user of an advanced elemental mana could wield a basic elemental mana with the same preparations.

There are 12 advanced mana types.

Plasma. Lava.

Metal. Crystal.

Ice. Vapour.

Lightning. Sound.

Illusion. Focal.

Shadow. Curse.

Life Governing Mana Types:

These are mana types directly related to life in any way and are not related to elemental mana types. They are slightly less common than the advanced elemental mana.

There are 5 Life Governing mana types;

Life. Death.

Flesh. Mind. Soul.

Esoteric Mana Types:

These are mana types that are not widely understood and are not related to the elemental mana types. They are rarer than the Life Governing mana types.

There are 3 esoteric mana types;

Spirit.

Kinetic.

Arcane.

(Arcane mana is unaligned. It is mana without a type, as such it is rare and hard to understand.)

Artificial Mana Types:

These are mana types that exist due to the accumulation of belief or will from sentient life, the desire and force of will over time changed surrounding mana into these artificial types, which then began propagating across the universe. These are as rare as esoteric mana types.

There are 2 artificial mana types;

Holy.

Unholy.

Astral Mana Types:

These are mana types that relate to existence between planets and are as rare as esoteric mana.

There are 4 Astral mana types;

Cosmic.

Stellar.

Solar.

Lunar.

(Cosmic and Stellar mana struggle to penetrate the atmospheres of planets, and don’t exist at sea level while Solar and Lunar do. Cosmic mana represents the space between celestial bodies.)

(Stars produce Stellar and Solar mana, but solar mana doesn’t travel far through space whereas stellar mana does. Equally solar mana finds it easy to penetrate an atmosphere whereas stellar mana can’t. On a planet, this means solar mana can be found but stellar mana is difficult to find. Lunar mana is the result of solar mana bouncing of another nearby celestial body.)

Dimensional Mana Types:

These mana types are directly related to the deeper workings of reality, rarer than esoteric mana types and difficult to learn to use.

There are 4 Dimensional mana types;

Gravity.

Entropy/decay.

Space.

Time.

(Space mana refers to the fabric of space, not the space between celestial bodies.)

Eldritch Mana Types:

These mana types relate to the larger creation of universes and are not present when a universe is old enough to support sentient life.

There are 3 Eldritch mana types;

Void.

Providence.

Fate.

ASPECTS:

Aspects are just that, aspects of a mana type. They are the resulting fractures from sentient life's interactions with mana. A mana type encompasses everything about its representation of reality, using fire as an example, fire mana represents every perspective, objective, and subjective understanding of fire. A mortal mind cannot comprehend all of that and so uses its own comprehension of what fire means in conjunction with fire mana, and these fractured understandings are called aspects.

As an example aspects of fire can include heat, ash, the smell of burning, and or the act of being burnt.

The more aspects of a mana type a caster comprehends the more versatile their magic, though it has no direct impact on power.

This will be expanded upon in its own post.

SENTIENTS, MONSTERS, LIFE AND MANA:

Mundane life does not interact with mana, their bodies are completely void of it and their souls don’t produce it.

If this changes and the animal, plant, fungi, etc interacts with mana it becomes a monster.

The souls of Sentient beings produce mana when in this universe as a reaction to the mana around them. most commonly they produce mana of 1 type and rarely will produce mana of 2 types. These types are decided at birth and cannot be changed.

Dungeon Cores always have 3 mana types and act as a regulator for a planet's mana.

TENDENCIES:

high concentrations of each mana type will act differently to each other, and the use of each mana type will, in the long term, affect the personalities of its users as well. These are both called mana “Tendencies”.

As an example fire mana in high concentrations will act like fire, it is erratic and without a defined shape, and a fire mage will be hotheaded and emotional.

Magic:

magic is the utilisation of mana.

There are 3 Sentient Methods of Magic, known as Venous Magic, Belief Magic, and Angular Magic.

There is 1 Monstrous Magic Method, Monster Magic.

Sentients can only use Sentient Methods and Monsters mostly use Monster Magic, but if they are strong enough and taught a monster can use Sentient Method Magic.

In terms of how the systems relate to this magic, the sentient methods have associated Skills while the monstrous method gives a Skill for each spell.

Sentient Magic Methods:

Venous Method Magic

This method is the most simple and most common, with it being of particular use among physical combatants.

It involves circulating mana out from the users soul and throughout the users venous system, allowing the mana to follow the flow of oxygen in the body.

By doing this the mana reinforces the body physically and allows greater strength and toughness. This effect is only active when circulating mana and has an effect ceiling.

A secondary effect, permanent and cumulative with no effect ceiling, of this Method is it causes the body to take on characteristics of their mana type.

As an example, fire mana can cause the body to have a higher base temperature or a higher base metabolism.

A common use of this magic is to start circulating before combat as preparation. Higher expression of the secondary effect shows experience in combat.

Belief Method Magic

This method is also simple but the rarest and hardest to achieve, only being common among people of religion or spirituality.

It involves leveraging the desire of the user, supported by the strength of their soul, to WILL the desired outcome into reality, using mana as fuel.

If successfully cast the wanted effect will succeed to some degree unless countered by other Belief Method Magic where the most common effect is a stalemate, resulting in no effect or backlash. If the counter is much stronger than the first cast then the first caster will be backlashed, and if the counter is much weaker the counter caster will be backlashed.

Angular Method Magic

This method is the least simple but middling in terms of difficulty or frequency of use. It is most common among research or investigation focused people.

This method involves thought, focus, and rules to ask the mana to create a desired effect. There are 3 schools to this method, Geometric, Runic, and Gesticular.

Geometric School

Uses certain mystic shapes and arrangements to push mana through a certain pattern, creating an effect.

Runic School

Uses a certain language to directly speak and ask the user's mana to perform an action.

Gesticular School

Uses a certain control of internal mana and movement to directly gesture a request to the user's mana.

Monster Magic:

This is only used by monsters and is mostly an instinctual use of a monster's mana. It doesn’t require much thought and is highly unique to each monster.

Example: A monster with claws will want to initiate the effect and its mana will instinctually circulate and cause its slash to extend past its body or heat up.

End Notes:

This is just an overview of what mana types exist in the story's universe, how mana behaves, and how life uses it to perform magic.

This will eventually be edited to link with other posts.

Let me know what you think!

A Chance at Fate:

Underlying Universe, Cosmic Influences, and Story Location

Universal Origins:

The top layer of existence (currently unnamed ;_;) is a space filled with countless "planes". These planes can embody any concept, idea, or subject in its entirety and are usually not compatible with matter, consisting of different forms of energy and either eroding or uplifting any matter that enters these planes into these specific energies. The planes are squeezed together, reminiscent of a bundle of bubbles that won't pop.

Each combination of two or more of these planes with touching borders is considered a multiverse, and along the fault lines where these planes touch their energies interact with potentially violent outcomes. These interactions create small bubbles of materialistic reality, and each of these are what the reader would recognize as a universe. The more balanced the volume of energy from each plane in an interaction the more stable the resulting universe, meaning it exists for longer but contains less of the energies from its parental planes.

The Universe in which this story takes place has two parental planes, The Abyss and The Infinite.

The Abyss

A Plane of nothingness, a lack of everything and anything everywhere, the end of all roads, the concept of emptiness. Matter and energy that enter the Abyss slowly erode to nothing, though how fast this process is can be random due to the erosion of even time. The energy that originates from this plane, and the only energy to resist its erosion, is a form of mana called Void Mana.

The Infinite

A Plane of wholeness, the presence of everything everywhere all at once forever, the start of all roads, the concept of the word everything. Matter and energy that enter the Infinite is assimilated into this wholeness, being uplifted instantly into the energy found in this plane. The energy that originates from this plane is a form of mana, Providence Mana.

The Resultant Universe

The amount of energy from each parental plane was identical in the creation of this universe and as such no Void or Providence Mana naturally occurs across it, so where did the energy go?

In the creation of the universe, the two energies met and became Fate Mana. This was highly unstable and quickly degraded into all other forms of mana. By the time sentient life had started to exist no Fate Mana was left in existence.

Cosmic Influences:

The development of non-sentient, multicellular life introduced the first souls into the universe. Souls float across the infinitely small space between planes in search of a fitting vessel, usually found within a universe, though some universes have methods to keep souls within them such as reincarnation. Souls have a significant effect on the universe they reside in due to the life they inhabit being able to feel and think. These emotions influence the Mana around them and cause aberrant behaviors and, in exceedingly rare cases, mutations. The last dregs of Fate Mana responded to the emotions of this early life and created a network that spans the entire universe, The Monster System.

The Monster System

This system was originally created to help life survive and prosper through the use of their surrounding mana. This was in reaction to the wills of early life in the universe, their basic instincts to eat, sleep, and reproduce, and this system was meant to give them tools to allow them to succeed in doing so. Initially, there was no interface for the system nor were there many of the features that exist by the time the story takes place, but over time the system reacted to the will of Mana utilizing non-sentient life, otherwise known as monsters, and changed to accommodate those wills over immeasurable timeframes.

One of those changes was much more impactful than any other, as the development of sentient life brought with it sentient souls, souls that produced their own Mana in reaction to the Mana present around them. This was so foreign to the Monster System that it created an offshoot of itself just for sentient life, this offshoot would later be known as the Class System.

The Class System

Much like the Monster System the Class System was meant to allow sentient life to succeed at what they needed, but over time the wills of sentient life got complicated enough that the Class System changed to enhance each individual based on what they did most over their life. This system also looked very different when it was first created than it does at the time the story takes place.

Over time the success of both sentient and non-sentient life across the universe started to affect the ratios between each type of Mana, some of the sentient life found this worrying in the belief that the different forms of Mana had to be balanced across the universe to keep it alive. And regardless of the validity of this belief the worry lasted long enough and with enough intensity that the systems reacted to it, creating a third and final system, the Dungeon Core System.

The Dungeon Core System

This system was made to create and govern an artificial life form, spread across the universe by this system where any genuine life is located. These "Dungeon Cores" were created to balance the different Mana types of a planet that harbors life. If too much of one Mana type builds up in a planet a dungeon core of a different type will be created to absorb the abundant Mana type and release environmentally deficient Mana types.

Over time some sentient life found methods to become dungeon cores in attempts to gain immortality, leading to the differentiation of "Natural" and "Variant" dungeon cores.

Story Location:

The story will take place in an unnamed galaxy, tagged by the systems as Galaxy 42-7-Y3, in a solar system called the Heart System, and consists of five planets around a yellow sun, called Sol. The planets are called;

Siren.

Morn.

Panavar - Where the story will take place.

Pelagic.

Tempic.

Siren

This is the planet closest to the sun and is tidally bound, it is a barren metallic grey covered in craters and lethal heat on the side facing the sun, but on the side facing away from the sun, the cold side, it is a field of glowing pink crystal formations. The lack of an atmosphere means its cold side is inhospitably cold. It does not have a moon and is the smallest of the planets. No life present.

Morn

This planet is the second closest to the sun. It is the second smallest planet, though only just smaller than Panavar, and has a very thin atmosphere that appears slightly violet from the planet's surface. The whole of the planet is covered in pale, almost white sand and numerous sand storms cover the surface. In the northern hemisphere, a huge crater exists, incredibly deep and wide, as though a huge bite had been taken out of the planet like an apple. This crater seems inconsistent with any made by meteors. The planet has no moons and a small ring system of similar colour to the sand on its surface. Traces that indicate life used to live on this planet can be seen across the surface, but they stopped being generated around the same time the crater seemed to have formed.

Panavar

This is the Planet the story will take place on.

This planet is third from the sun and supports a wide ecosystem of life. It is slightly bigger than Morn and has oceans and continents present on the surface and a thick atmosphere. Similar colour scheme to earth, blue and green.

(Here is my attempt at a map ;_;)

This planet has three moons, Lumi, Lunus and Lutar.

Lutar is similar to Earth's moon in every way. Lunus is the same size as Lutar but their surface is covered in a knee-deep layer of water and has a very, very thin atmosphere. Lumi is bigger than the other moons and has no atmosphere, but its surface is covered in fine, midnight-blue sand.

Pelagic

This planet is fourth from the sun and more than twice the size of Panavar. It has a thick atmosphere and its surface is one huge ocean unfathomably deep. Life is present but no sentient life, the planet has one moon called Lir. Lir is a big moon with an atmosphere whose surface is covered in plant life. the only life on Lir is plant life.

Tempic

This planet is the furthest from the sun and many times bigger than Pelagic, as it is a gas giant. Its clouds are a mix of crimson and dark grey, in perpetual storm. Oddly this planet has no moons despite its immense gravity.

End Notes:

This is just an overview of what planet the story will take place on, the solar system/universe/multiverse it is in, and why the energy type for this story is mana. Many of the things mentioned here will be elaborated on in the future.

Let me know what you think!