Aspiring Emperor Quest Lorebin

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Aspiring Emperor Quest Lorebin
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This pastebin will contain all lore that your character gains during Aspiring Emperor Quest.

Note: Although you may find this information useful, it is not requisite to know all of this to participate. The QM will still answer questions about things that are answered in this document.

POV: This document is usually written from the perspective of the PC (Talon York) but sometimes can be written in a slightly meta-perspective for ease of reading. Regardless, treat any knowledge in this document as IC knowledge.

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OTHER EDITIONS
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This is the Thread II edition of the lorebin of AEQ.

A master pastebin with links to all editions for all bins is below.

http://pastebin.com/6Su7M3fh

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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1. Setting
1.1. General Info
1.2. Barrier of Marie
1.3. Anachronisms and Other Deviations from Medieval Expectations
1.4. Rough Timeline

2. Major Factions
2.1. The Three Great Lords
2.2. Magi League
2.3. Royal Seraphi Kingdom
2.4. Darlesia
2.5. Vitria
2.6. Taour
2.7. Mage Guard
2.8. Order of Malataine

3. Races
3.1. Humans
3.2. The Gods
3.3. Elves
3.4. Dwarves
3.5. Archangels
3.6. Dragons
3.7. Vampires
3.8. Infernals
3.9. Elementals
3.10. Mystic Foxes
3.11. Revenants
3.12. Faeries

4. Magic
4.1. General Concepts
4.2. Sorcery
4.3. Spiritual Magicks
4.4. Astral Powers

5. Terminology

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1. SETTING
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///1.1. General Info

The quest takes place on the continent of Gauron. Although its land mass is roughly the size of Europe, the northern half of the continent is currently inaccessible due to an enormous magical barrier that cuts it off. This barrier is known as the Barrier of Marie, and prevents all access, whether by land, sea or air, to the northern half of the continent - it also prevents anything from getting out. Gauron itself is rather lush and is composed largely of grassland and forest. To the far west there is some more arid land and in the south-west is a large wasteland bereft of life. There is one other continent in the world that you know of called Pharos and it is to the far west. You know little of it.

///1.2. Barrier of Marie

Approximately 150 years ago, an unknown monster race eradicated life on the northern half of the continent and was only stopped long enough by the combined forces of the southern half to form a large barrier to wall them in. That barrier itself starts just a little north of the Magi Line mountains (which are supposedly man-made mountains from the Golden Age of Magic ~600 years ago) and apparently extends into the sea around the rest of the northern-half of Gauron.

The barrier itself is said to be created by the archangels, though some tell it differently. Either way, whatever created it was in the league of demigods. The barrier itself is supposedly impenetrable, but given that leagues of soldiers are sent to the fortress' lining the north of the mountains every decade makes one wonder about the truth of that.

///1.3. Anachronisms and Other Deviations from Medieval Expectations

NB: This section is completely OOC. It's mostly for interest.

This is a very high magic setting. Mages are everywhere. That little dirt farm down the road? A mage visits there every growing season to make sure crops are growing properly. High-quality metal is everywhere, quality steel can be smithed easily and magical enchantment is common in cities. Horseless carts and plows, clothes that grant levitation, magical stoves - the list goes on. Basic literacy and numeracy is high-ish (60% or so) and books are everywhere.

With that said, the level of magitech present anywhere is variable. Farming villages may have quality tools, plows and a local agricultural mage but they don't have magic stoves, tractors or anything like that. In terms of food production, productivity is close to the 17th-18th century UK (around twice that of 15th century France). More food means more people; high productivity means more heavily populated towns and cities and a thriving mercantilist culture. The largest cities have more than a million people, and the average city size is around 200,000 and towns around 8,000. (A city is any settlement of more than 15,000 people here. A town any settlement with more than 1,000.) There's probably a mage for every 500 people, though maybe 20% of those mages would be allowed membership to a mage tower (the rest aren't that talented - it's not hard to summon water, heal small wounds or rejuvenate crops).

Taxation and nobility also works a little differently. Royal families or ruling councils tend to act more like centralised bureaucratic systems as magic makes it easier to communicate and high levels of literact mean villages can be trusted with their own finances etc. Taxation varies between areas, but higher food productivity and lower likelihood of bad crops (magic can fend off drought pretty well) means that villages are less likely to live lean. Standards are living are rather high, historically speaking, even in your average dirt farm.

///1.4. Rough Timeline

BC - Before the Cataclysm (descends as time passes like our BC)
PC - Post-Cataclysm

Years are largely approximated. Some events are excluded or not elaborated on because the PC doesn't have that knowledge.

Current year: 1952PC

3000BC - the emergence of angels, demons etc into the world. These otherworldly races are referred to as divine races or beings.
0BC - a near apocalypse, known as the Cataclysm, due to a war between the divine races. Afterwards, humanity, elvenkind, the dwarves and dragons found themselves without masters for the first time in known history.
900PC-950PC - The Great Fae Marches. The mages say that the faeries nearly conquered Gauron, until the Great Mage Kushan pushed them back. Some knightly orders claim that they trace their founding back to this great war.
950PC-1100PC - The Great Mage Kushan's reign of terror. He nearly conquered the entire continent of Gauron until he was stopped by the three Great Lords (who emerged at this time). Also, supposedly discovered evocation, which is the main method mages use now to cast sorcery.
1200PC-1400PC - The Golden Age of Magic. 200 years where magical discovery and technology went unhindered, to hear the mages tell of it. Never bring it up around them because they'll never shut up. Supposedly, the Magi Line mountains were created during this period. The Golden Age ended with the emergence of the Mage Guard, who broke up the old Magi League, killed countless mages and restored many of the royal lineages that found themselves dethroned during the whole mess and modern magic still apparently hasn't recovered to this point yet. Safe to say, the mages and the Mage Guard don't get along very well.
1600PC-1620PC - Not sure if this era has a fancy name, but almost every knightly order refers to this as either their founding period, their blooding or just a grand olde time. The Three Great Lords apparently picked a fight with the rest of the continent, to hear tell of it, and were barely fought to a draw. If there's an ounce of truth to it, then it's to not pick a fight with the Great Lords.
1800PC - The Barrier of Marie is erected. Also, all Sources were sealed up around the same time. The events are almost certainly related.
1830PC - Darlesia declares independence (not sure from who) and anoints its royal lineage.
1912PC - Harrowmont begins construction
1913PC - Harrowmont is abandoned shortly before construction is finished.
1928-1931PC - The Royal Seraphi Kingdom wipes out the Farloun - one of the few remaining magocracies. All hell breaks loose. Half the mages in the east revolted. They were bloodily put down, though magic has become so vital to society that it was limited. I grew up in this period. Darlesia came upon hard times during this.
1944PC - Grand Magister Alyce of the Tower of Stars, also known as Alyce of Lyss nowadays as she supposedly came from there, declares the formation of the Magi League and claims Ahm, one of the largest cities in the world and filled to the brim with mages, as her capital. She exiles the royal family, and crushes all opposition around her. Darlesia well and truly began to fall.
1948PC - Alyce of Lyss is the first new Archmage in a century or so. It's an honorary title that basically tells everybody you're one of the biggest, baddest mages around. Given that Alyce excels at mass combat evocation, that's probably very literal as she could probably single-handedly destroy a modern army.
1951PC - The King of Darlesia is killed in his sleep. Culprit never caught. Taour, a former vassal of Darlesia, declares war.
1952PC - Taour captures Darlesia. The story begins.

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2. MAJOR FACTIONS/RACES
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///2.1. The Three Great Lords

The Lords of Ember, Steel and Air are also known as the Three Great Lords. They are the greatest of the Gods, as they think of themselves, and rule much of the western third of the continent. They once picked a fight with the rest of the continent and walked away with a draw. They segregate their society into three strata: the Gods themselves, the mages and the peasants. They were unimpacted by the mage rebellions.

///2.2. Magi League

The Archmage Alyce's great Magi League. It covers a sizeable part of the centre of the continent and are probably the most powerful faction around aside from the Great Lords. I've never really understood their reason for rebellion - all the tower mages I've met love the idea of magocracy but have never really been what I'd call do-gooders. Alyce has either found an untapped well of altruism or there's something else at play.

///2.3. Royal Seraphi Kingdom

The oldest and most powerful royal lineage. Quite possibly the last one standing, though not for lack of trying on behalf of the mages. Supposedly the royal line has a divine blessing that grants them great power and immortality. Supposedly, you can only kill a royal (and there's a lot of them) if they've wronged you. Given how arrogant they are, that's a rather long list of people - though I hear that the main reason the current King slaughter the Farloun was because he thought he'd somehow wronged the whole race. Fantastic reason for genocide. I fought for these guys against the Magi League and some other smaller rebellions a few years back. I've stayed the hell away since Alyce has been earnestly fighting them though.

///2.4. Darlesia

Formerly, a powerful royal city and nation. Since the mage rebellions started though, their grasp over power has been shaky and collapsing. Collapsed completely now given the entire royal line is dead and the last soldiers loyal to them now fight for me. The city itself lies to the east of Harrowmont and the Darlesian region we are in lies between the RSK and the Magi League's new territory.

///2.5. Vitria

A moderately sized port city to the west of Darlesia. A city of much splendor, wealth and arrogance. Apparently the rich nobles that own the place now (formerly a Darlesian vassal) have had a lot of the city redesigned to look like the port cities to the far east. Strictly speaking, Harrowmont is in Vitrian territory. The main advantage I'll have over them will be that the nobles who rule appear to spend more time fighting each other than trying to rule the city together.

///2.6. Taour

A large city to the north of Darlesia, it was a former vassal of Darlesia, but has since been taken over by a council of vampires. About a dozen daywalkers, from the looks of it. Having fought one before, I can say that one is a pain, a dozen will be hell. They've conquered Darlesia itself now, though that says more about Darlesia's weakness from the mage rebellions against royal lines than it does about the quality of Taour's troops. Once I take Harrowmont, I'll need to deal with them.

///2.7. Mage Guard

Despite the name, these guys have more interested in killing and imprisoning mages than guarding them. Or perhaps it's just an ironic name how they're going to protect mages from themselves? Either way, they hold a large amount of large near the Barrier of Marie to the north and aren't exactly pushovers. They have Inquisitors that travel around the place, being annoying bastards. Oddly enough, they don't seem to have a problem with men like me who use sorcery as a tool - it's the researchers they have problem with. Luddites?

///2.8. Order of Malataine

Apparently this is both a pacifist religion that believes that nobody should fight at all and one of the most militant and heavily armed religious orders on the continent. The priests I've talked to say they don't have much to do with the main order in Malataine over to the far south-west, though that just seems silly. Given they believe sorcery and non-humans are the major cause of conflict, they must be rather tough to survive on the borders of the Great Lords. Almost certainly using a lot of sorcery themselves then - or perhaps they're more talented at spiritual techniques.

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3. RACES
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///3.1. Humans

The most populous race on Gauron - though I remember some mages saying that was more because Kushan wiped out a lot of the elves, dragons and dwarves. We're also the only race that can use evocation, which combined with our numbers, mean we probably have more mages alone than there are non-humans on the continent. Or not - I'm not big on demography. Aside from the Gods, the rest of the races seem happy to leave us to our wars. Humans can either use sorcery, or with a lot of training, spiritual magicks. The latter seems restricted to some of the monks you find around the continent.

///3.2. The Gods

The superhumans that are the true subjects of the Three Great Lords. They're bigger than a normal man. Some of the god-knights used to visit my home city when I was young and living near their territory. I haven't met one since as they don't seem to travel far from home. Supposedly they hate non-humans. Not big sorcery users themselves, but the Lords apparently defeated Kushan, so maybe they're powerful spiritualists?

///3.3. Elves

Isolationalists. Supposedly there's some in forests to the south-west, near Malataine but I've never been there. Never met one.

///3.4. Dwarves

Hardy creatures of industry. They don't participate much in the happenings outside their underground citadels, but they certainly love to trade. You bump into one in settlements from time to time, and they maintain some trading posts near their mountains. There's a large city of theirs in the mountain range in the midst of the RSK and one of them told me they've got a smaller city not that far north of Darlesia, closer to Ahm. There's probably other cities elsewhere. Magic isn't exactly common for them and what they have is supposedly more like transmutation than evocation.

///3.5. Archangels

Supposedly there aren't regular angels anymore, just archangels. Not sure what that means. In any case, legends say there's two of them - Raphael, the Archangel of Life, and Samael, the Archangel of Death. They don't really have territory but they apparently watch over the Barrier of Marie. The most powerful of astral beings.

///3.6 Dragons

These huge, scaly bastards are around but rather rare. They're big, have powerful breath weapons, can use sorcery and supposedly all of them can transform into a humanoid form of some type. Not sure about that last part. The Great Wardragon also deserves mention - Lairos is apparently the biggest, baddest dragon around. He likes to show up in major wars and just obliterate one side for the fun of it. I haven't met him, but I've met a few veterans who saw him when he turned up during the recent mage rebellions.

///3.7. Vampires

There are two types of vampires. The regular, nocturnal kind who die in sunlight and the rare daywalkers. The former aren't that tough - they can regenerate, are strong and fast but die easy enough if you chop of their head or hit them with some sorcery. At a full moon however, they take on a more bestial form that is immune to anything except serious sorcery. A common mistake is thinking that the bestial form are werewolves - they're just vampires during that time of the month.

The daywalkers however, are seriously dangerous. Supposedly they're as strong as a normal human but they have access to some unique vampiric sorceries that can let them regenerate even their head, claw through magical plate or teleport in shadow. I've fought and killed one before, but it was a close thing.

///3.8. Infernals

Demons and devils are collectively known as infernals. They're different but I don't know how. I've never met one, but they ran rampant during the Golden Age. Different to the monsters that overran the north of Gauron. Powerful sorcerous beings.

///3.9. Elementals

Non-humans that have a close connection with the land and magical flows. They come in different varieties based on nature - fire, water, earth etc. There's a variety known as pure elementals that are humanoid and also tough as nails from the sounds of it.

///3.10. Mystic Foxes

Funny looking divine beings originally native to Pharos but they came across a few centuries back. They're basically humanoid foxes with multiple tails. They like to lurk around monasteries here in Gauron, as they use spiritual magicks like the monks do. Supposedly the number of tails shows their spiritual power - the one I met had five and said that was pretty normal for an adult fox.

///3.11. Revenants

When a person dies, their soul apparently lingers after death before being absorbed into the astral plane. During this time, according to legend, a divine being such as an angel or infernal may bind them to the physical plane. Revenants are very rare now - I only hear legends of them, but they were apparently common before the Barrier of Marie was erected and not necessarily evil. What they look like seems to vary in the artwork - some have skeletal warriors, other suits of empty armor; one even had some strange rabbit looking warrior.

//3.12 Faeries

Strange non-human astral beings that exist in another world and yet can sometimes travel to ours. I've never met one but I've heard countless legends. The Great Fae Marches more than a millenium ago nearly resulted in the faeries conquering Gauron according to some mages.

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4. MAGIC
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///4.1. General Concepts

Magic is ubiquitous in Gauron. Magical energy is life itself and is ever-present. Without magical energy, life cannot exist. There is also astral energy, which is the stuff of souls. The only beings that can use astral energy directly are astral beings such as faeries and archangels. For humans and other races, astral energy can be manipulted indirectly using spiritual magicks. All manipulation of magical energy is usually referred to as sorcery - the term magic is used interchangeably in-universe to refer to all magic (including astral) and just to sorcery. The QM will attempt to use sorcery as much as possible for the latter to minimise confusion for players.

Generally, spiritual magicks have an advantage against sorcery and sorcerous beings but are ineffective against astral powers and beings. Sorcery can affect everything if you know how to use it, but the sheer power of astral powers and beings can make this like fighting the tide. Astral powers are effective against everything.

///4.2. Sorcery

Sorcery is the most common form of magic. Humans, elves, dwarves, dragons, infernals, vampires, elementals - the list goes on of races that use sorcery. Each race has a slightly different type of sorcery, and I'm not all that aware of how they use them. Humans, however, split their sorcery into evocation and transmutation.

Evocation is, to hear my old mage friend Maloric Reegan tell of it, the art of instructing the world to move that magical energy how you want it. The gestures, magic circles and incantations are all ways of communicating to the world your wishes. By doing this, humans are able to use a much larger amount of magical energy than they are otherwise capable of manipulating. You evoke the response of the world. The downside is that there's certain things that are difficult to do. Permanent changes to the world are hard - most evocation centers around ephemera, which is where the magical energy comes into the world and leaves shortly after. Personally, I find all this a bit strange - when I use sorcery it certainly doesn't feel like Mal described. Apparently that's normal for instinctive sorcerers.

Transmutation is something I know little of. It's the direct manipulation of magical energy by force of will, rather than by action. It's faster and can do permanent changes easier, but the talent is rare and having enough raw magical potential to do little more than turn sand into glass is even rarer. Supposedly the dwarves use transmutation in their smithing.

///4.3. Spiritual Magicks

Spiritual magicks are very precise and old. It's to astral energy what evocation is to magical energy. The difference is why - astral energy is potent, so for non-astral beings to use it requires great care. Trying to use astral energy ad hoc is liable to get yourself killed, along with everybody near you. Spiritualists specialise at fighting sorcerous beings like most monsters or dragons, though their talents also make them good against mages.

///4.4. Astral Powers

The stuff of demigodly beings like faeries and archangels. Your average astral power is to normal sorcery like a bushfire is to a campfire. Other than that, I don't know much. Souls are apparently astral energy - does that mean archangels are powered by souls? Or do they just have really potent souls? None of the mages I've met have really been certain. Good way to start a fight though - every mage has an opinion on this subject.

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5. TERMINOLOGY
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Source - a huge font of magical energy that is tied to the land. They were all sealed 150 years ago by the archangels for some reason. All Sources can be used to summon a Champion.

Champion - term used to describe the powerful mystical being that can be summoned using a Source. Supposedly, powerful creatures or heroes that were close to the magical plane can become Champions after death. I'm not entirely certain what that means, but it's probably that any Champion I summon won't be human.

Knight - can be used to refer to mage-knights, members of knightly orders (who are also nobles) as well as warriors such as myself that outperform mage-knights without all the fancy equipment.

Mage-knight - used specifically to refer to modern soldiers that wear magical equipment to give them their fighting ability. Usually found wearing heavy magical plate, the armor can give them many abilities - flight, at-will spells cast with a gesture or verbal command, silent movement, great strength or speed... The main difference between knights such as myself and mage-knights is that I'm still a killing machine without some magical equipment - these guys are just regular soldiers (usually). Note that most mage-knights are not nobles and are typically not members of mage-towers.

God-knight - the giant knights of the Three Great Lords are called this. They wear huge, resplendent armor and are said to be nigh invincible.

Mage - a term used either for any magic-user or more specifically for members of mage towers. Mages tend to be scholarly types, though some specialise in combat. There's a lot of agricultural and healing mages, though most of them aren't members of towers - an easy way to earn a living in a village is to be able to summon water, heal wounds or disease or enhance the life in plants.

Battlemage - Any mage who has enough talent at combat magic to actually lend a hand in a battle. Although most mages could kill a man with magic, few have the mettle to do so regularly and under pressure. There are adepts that could defeat a magister on a battlefield due to this.

Combat Magister - different to a battlemage, combat magisters are the elite enforcers of mage towers. Many towers only have one - but one is all they need. A combat magister specialises in death and destruction - typically they've started learning this since they were an apprentice. They are exempt from the research requirements of other magisters in the tower.

Mage ranks - Apprentices aren't yet members of the tower and are still in learning. Adepts are junior members of the tower and are split between learning and research. Journeymen are the majority of members and usually have their own research and speciality but also do a lot of learning. Magisters are the bigwigs and are either very specialised or broadly learnt - sometimes both. Grand Magisters are rare, and although any tower can award this rank, only the larger ones do - a grand magister is generally a very old, very powerful mage. Archmage is an honorary title for a well-respected or renowned grand magister.

Monk - monks are quiet, dutiful people. They live in monasteries and create good brew and herbs. Their local villages provide them with food with no hesitation. This is because every monastery seems to be dedicated to monster eradication and has some dedicated warrior monks. They maintain their independence, though they assist local militaries if their goals coincide. Warrior monks are typically capable of some spiritual magicks which centre around binding and dismissing divine and magical beings and they're usually not bad in a regular fight. They can't fight faeries as spiritual magicks can't affect astral beings, but are capable of warding them off regardless.