Tag Archives: Lore

Djinns

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Djinns (Supernatural entity, demons)

Invisible to physical sight, undetectable by mortals under normal circumstances, djinns are beings capable of travelling between realms, only loosely obeying the laws concerning space and time of this reality. Drawn to the darkness of the soul, djinns roam sites of great death or suffering, such as battles or prisons. They are known for their ability to meld with the soul of mortal beings, however, such a thing is only possible with the consent of the host. The union allows the djinn to take on a physical form, though the form varies depending on the djinn. The resulting being, called a demoniac, is powerful, with different abilities depending on the djinn that forms it. The host’s consciousness is intact and may even cooperate with the djinn, though this has not always been the case. Generally perceived to be malevolent, demoniacs are hunted upon discovery by Ranghan authorities, as their existence pose a high threat to innocent life. A special international task force known as the Dispersion Force was set up in 965 N.W. with the purpose of eliminating demoniacs, wherever they appeared.

An excerpt from the Academic Encyclopedia of Ranghan History, 1130 Edition

A Short Story: Heart Attack

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21st Strawgust 1133, near Wakesharp, Ranghai

“Forty-five,” Barus grunted as he did another push up, raising Taivas up again.

Taivas, who was sitting cross-legged on Barus’ back, was enjoying a leather-bound book as he rose and fell with Barus’ effort. He was rubbing his moustache in intrigue of what he was reading in an introductory paragraph of the chapter ‘Dark Magic of the South’.

The afternoon sun was beating down on them, and around them men, women and children of the town were going about their daily routines, many taking pause to watch the duo of rangers.

“Fifty,” Barus exhaled.

“Hey Barus,” Taivas began, tapping a finger on the text of his page, “there’s a spell that can raise the dead and have them fight for the caster. That would be interesting to see one day.”

Barus let out a grunt as he replied, “Lazy spellcasters… Who’d want to miss out—ngh—on the fun?” He then paused halfway down a push up to contemplate something. With a nod he resumed, and said to his partner, “Learn the spell. If I die, use it on me.”

Taivas laughed. Then he found himself looking up from his book for the thousandth time, at the small hill at the village border, where a young woman sat against a tree atop it.

Barus could sense every glance and gaze. “Will you just do it already?” he begged, stopping his count at sixty and lifting himself up; Taivas got off his back.

 “I’m going to. I’m just thinking of the right words.”

“You’ve been at it for more than an hour now,” Barus groaned, stretching his arms across his chest. “If I’m going to stand out here, cooking under the sun in this damned armor for even another minute, then either you’re going over there, or I’m dragging your ass there.”

“I said I’ll get to it!” Taivas insisted. Underneath his. Ranghan armor his heart began throbbing. “If only I knew what book she’s reading… I could start talking about that…”

Barus crossed his arms and sighed. “Why can’t you just ask her what book she’s reading?”

“That’s prying.”

“I’m giving you another thirty seconds to start walking.”

A cold sweat gripped Taivas as he replied, “Maybe I should get her a gift or something—”

“No! You don’t need that. Just tell her you’re a charming Ranghan ranger, who keeps the law and beats up the bad guys, that you’ve saved women and children and puppies, and you’re educated, you’ve got a mysterious past. Tell her you’ve got a squad who’s in the tavern drinking themselves silly—tell her you’re in Merik Svard’s squad! And—”

“Ok how about something that doesn’t make me look like a pompous prick?”

“Alright, fine. How about this then?” Barus then grabbed him tight by the arms and lifted him off the ground.

“NO!” Taivas squirmed and wriggled as Barus began marching towards the hill; some children stopped and pointed the scene out with giggles to their parents. “Quit it! Stop it Barus!” Taivas hissed as the hill grew closer. “Let me go!”

“What? What’s that?” Barus called out. “I can’t hear you over the sound of wedding bells!”

“BARUS!”

They grew closer to the tree, and as they made their way up, the woman, a blonde-haired dame wearing a modest blue dress and a red scarf, looked up from her book and turned bewildered at the sight. Barus set Taivas down before her like some kind of ornament.

“This guy likes you,” Barus said with impatience, shoving Taivas forward who shot a glance at the book.

“I’m sorry?” The woman gave him a guarded look.

“Uh, hey no forget what he said,” Taivas said as calmly as he could, straightening himself out. He gestured to the book. “I just wanted to know what you were reading, that’s all.”

“It’s my diary,” she replied, looking at them interestedly.

Taivas paused. “Oh… what’s that about?”

“Well, me.” She smiled with amusement. “New at this, are we?”

“You’d think so,” Barus sighed in reply, his fingers pinching the bridge of his nose.

She stood to her feet and dusted her dress with a laugh. “Sorry, I’m engaged.” She showed them a ring on her finger. Taivas looked at it embarrassedly. “Better luck next time I suppose?” she said happily, and then walked past them and towards the village.

Taivas exhaled his lungs out, and sprawled on the grass.

Barus crouched beside him and patted him on the shoulder. “Well, it could’ve been worse. At least Gia didn’t see this one.”

A Short Story: The Fountain

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33rd Gerdagon 1136, Ranghai

The evening sky was crisscrossed by wispy clouds, and their pink flames mixed with the rippling clear blue lapping at the fountain’s edges. I watched as grey dulls and blue lazuli that had been tossed into the water danced at the bottom of the basin and wondered how many of those wishes had come true, and how many were already forgotten. It was a curious feeling looking at those coins. They were like tokens to someone’s past, someone’s dreams, or nightmares… I may not know who those coins belonged to, but felt that each had clinging to it a little window to someone’s life; this fountain was a crossroads of destinies. As I continued to gaze at the shimmering surface, I wondered where the previous owners of all these different coins were at this moment. I looked at Barus; he had his arm plunged in the water. 

“What’re you doing?” Taivas asked, putting his quill and journal back into his pocket. 

“Can’t hurt to pick a few lazuli,” Barus replied, drawing back his arm and counting a handful of coins. 

“Oh come on man!” Taivas protested. 

Barus rolled his eyes, then looked sorrowfully at Taivas. “But Taivas… these coins… they’ll be all alone… no one to take care of them… just sitting in a cold, watery grave…”

Taivas frowned.

“So cold… so cold…” Barus continued, shivering now. “We can’t just leave them like that, right? You’re no monster; you’re not that cruel!” Taivas let out a sigh, and Barus pocketed the coins. “I don’t get why you complain. You’re always the one wishing our pockets weren’t so light.”

“I care a little bit about the how we fill them, that’s all.” 

“Right. You float the idea of stealing from nobles, which is a crime that could land us in prison, but picking a couple lazuli from a fountain, no, that’s too far!”

Taivas grumbled in reply.

Gianna Audirusso

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Backstory for the character, Gia, from The Nyverian Curse

Born the 29th Magusfall 1115, in Swanberry town, to a family of renowned winemakers, Gianna Audirusso, or Gia to her friends, wasn’t one for the country life. Leaving the family business behind her and moving to Rhea when she was fourteen, she joined RAMS the same year as Taivas Robane and Barus Kuma, and soon came to call them friends. While there, she demonstrated an aptitude for social sciences, with a penchant for criminal psychology.

While Taivas and Barus entered the Ranger’s training program, Gia chose to study law. Following their graduation, Taivas and Barus joined the squad of renowned ranger captain, Merik Svard, but they remained in regular contact with now Officer-cadet Gia, frequently relying on her for bureaucratic aid. It was during the following year that she became acquainted with Aiken ‘Scrap’ Von Ra, whose ‘research and activities’ often found their way on her desk. She was promoted to officer only shortly before the fateful day when Merik’s squad battled the sauracen, Rawras. The lone survivors of the battle, Taivas and Barus became known as the Dakusin, and it was at their recommendation that Gia was assigned to be their de facto ‘manager’. She was often seen beside them at major events.

Following the breakout of the 1135 Autumn War, Gia served under General Silas Thorne as an intelligence officer, and was serving beside the Dakusin until their demise during the Roslo raid. She was one of the overseers of the report compiled on the massacre. Shortly after that, Gia resigned from active duty, and remained inactive until the end of the war. In 1136 she successfully applied for an internship post at the Bureau of Magical Law Enforcement in Godspark town.

Inspiration for the Dakusin

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Spoiler free

Oh, now we’re getting nostalgic. Taivas Robane and Barus Kuma are the main protagonists of The Nyverian Curse, two best friends who’re seemingly always standing back-to-back against the world. They were heavily inspired by my childhood favourite cartoon show, Swat Kats, where a pair of ex-military rogues work together to make their city a safer place, all the while trying to escape the arm of the law. The vigilantism, teamwork, banter, heroism, and down-on-luck nature of these characters formed the foundation of the design for the Dakusin. They weren’t powerful like Superman, they weren’t rich like Batman, and they weren’t inexperienced like Spider-man.

Something I loved about that show was how the writers balanced the importance of the two protagonists. They needed each other, and were stronger together than they were alone. It wasn’t a hero-sidekick dynamic, but rather that of partners, of equals.

The fact that the double-main character dynamic was done so well set a challenge for me. I strived to capture it, but I won’t know how well I pulled it off without you guys to tell me… wink-wink, hint-hint, nudge-nudge. On a side note, I suppose I have to admit that the ‘arm of the law’ those inspiring characters had to constantly be weary of, personified by a certain stoic commander in the cartoon show, was the inspiration behind Captain Auriol Svard, the arch-rival of the Dakusin. But I’ll get into that another time; I just got the craving to revisit one of those episodes… 

Eistas

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Mild spoilers: backstory elements and twists from The Nyverian Curse

It’s pronounced ‘Ice-tis’. I know that the spelling doesn’t encourage the correct pronunciation, but I just got too used to it. The name comes from Eis, which means ice cream in German, and Istas, a word of Native American origin meaning snow. It is meant to reflect her innocent, playful personality. In the context of the fictional world of Imeria, her name means ‘from Istas’, which is a month of winter, and also the time she was born (both in the story and in real life).

The youngest of the characters that travel with the Dakusin, Eistas, affectionately nicknamed ‘Ice’, was a favourite among fans of the story-in-writing. Unlike some of the others in the team, Ice went through a series of changes as a character. She was the first to be designed without a template in mind (that is, she wasn’t based of a person or character that we knew of), and as such was a character that we were getting to know on the go.

Her backstory also went through a series of changes. The very first idea for the character was that she was a reverse-werewolf, that is to say a wolf that turned human in the full moon. From there, she turned into someone who could shapeshift at will, but this power was bestowed to her by a forest spirit that intended for her to use it to protect the forest. Eventually, djinns became part of the story, and the first djinn to materialize was Jazz, who took the place of the forest spirit as the one who bestowed her the power to turn into a wolf. The djinn and Eistas then became a demoniac, the fusion of two spirits in a single body. Jazz is the balance Eistas needs: knowledgeable, smooth, classy, quiet, and just an outright cool cat.

Unlike other characters whose personalities were inspired from real people, fictional characters, etc, Eistas’ personality was closely associated to music. My friend got me hooked on nightcore around the same time we were working on her character. The personality that flowed out of some of those songs just seeped into her, turning her into what she is today. It is likely why she is so good at singing too, don’t you think?

In case you’re wondering about the songs, here are a couple that inspired her voice, style, and personality:

  • Mega Unity’s Nightcore version of Halestorm’s cover of Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance.
  • ForTune’s Nightcore version of Popular monster by Falling in Reverse.
  • GIANTS by True Damage

In the context of the story, her musical style is a mix of her own untamed personality and Jazz’ taste for classy hip-hop. I dream for her to one day take the stage with her friends behind her and rock some jams for an audience. Eistas was hella fun to discover as a writer, and I hope that you will all find her to be just as fun to read about!

What is the Nyverian Curse?

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The Nyverian Curse (Spell)

Spell Author – unknown

Date of creation/discovery – unknown

Casted upon the population of Arica in the year 732 N.W by unknown person(s), the spell known only as the Nyverian curse was responsible for the single greatest level of devastation Arica had known since Magusfall, and is estimated to have killed between 30 to 40% of Ranghai’s population that year alone. Afflicted humans, later to be known as Nyverians, were separated from the non-afflicted population by an unverifiable party (see ‘The Legend of Two Young Gods in section 7 – Fables), and formed the Kingdom of Nyveria in the Karaken mountains.

The touch of Nyverian skin inflicts upon a human victim a curse. Falling asleep activates it, causing a transformation into a monster commonly referred to as Shrieking Death. No aspect of the victim’s personality, memory, or humanity is expressed by the monster, which is in fact the embodiment of the curse itself. The spell will indiscriminately ravage non-Nyverian humans without pause or rest, seemingly existing for this sole purpose, which has led some thinkers to label it as a spell ‘designed for extermination’. Indeed, in Gobanese law, the Nyverian curse is categorized under ‘spells of mass-destruction’.

The transformation can only be reversed by the death of the Nyverian that came into contact with the victim, but circumstances where this is possible are rare. The spell is usually necessarily destroyed by military intervention, which regrettably also results in the death of the victim.

Though it is widely accepted that the Nyverian curse has only been cast once in history, no counter-spell has ever been successfully created. The curse’s origin, and its unprecedented feature of being hereditary, has no proven explanation. Theories ranging from the conspiratorial to the fantastical continue to be the only actuality after centuries of study and effort by both humans and rayshans alike failed to solve the mystery.

Excerpt from the Academic Encyclopedia of Ranghan History, 1130 Edition

Aiken ‘Scrap’ Von Ra

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Mild spoilers:  some backstory elements from The Nyverian Curse

As the first rayshan we meet in my book, The Nyverian Curse, Scrap carries the responsibility of introducing his race to the readers. A hard task, considering that he isn’t an ordinary one at all, but the sole rayshan alive with Adler’s syndrome. Unusually colourless for a rayshan, incapable of magic, and incapable of benefiting from the effects of the Colosgerus tree, Scrap embraced his mortality and seeks to make the most of it. His name was deliberately ironic: Aiken means ‘oaken’, or from the oak tree, which is associated with longevity, age-old wisdom, and strength—all qualities that Scrap lacks. ‘Ra’, of course, comes from the Egyptian god of the sun, and is suggestive of immortality, which he also lacks.

Being one of the earliest conceived characters, Scrap is one of those that had the luxury of evolving over a decade of writing. The inspiration for his personality came from one of my close friends, a mousy smartass who was at times selfish but had a moral compass that functioned well enough.

At first, the character was one that actually got along quite well with the Dakusin, particularly Taivas Robane. They both shared an interest in knowledge, a strong sense of loyalty, and the thirst for adventure. It was fascinating therefore, when as the years went by I started to see the relationship between the characters evolve and mature (and by the way, I love it when that happens; I’ll be saying it over and over again that the characters really do come alive, and start growing all on their own without me having anything to do with it!).

Scrap’s loyalty shifted to apply only to a single person, Gia, who never judged him for anything less than his talents and achievements. His thirst for adventure was eclipsed by his desire for self-preservation, which stemmed from the nature of his disease. His desire to surmount his disease and prove himself to his peers, while admirable at first, also started to inflate his ego the more accomplished he got. This would start to rub Taivas the wrong way, and soon a coarser relationship developed between those two, which was all the more entertaining. 

As I write this, I realize with a smirk that although Scrap is one of the youngest characters in the book, especially by rayshan standards, he remains one of the oldest and consistent creations in the story. Perhaps ‘Aiken’ isn’t such an ironic name after all.