Naidelyn - The World

Before anything else, I think it's worth noting that this lorebook is very much a work in progress, practically written with the idea of being upgraded with every bot coming for it, in both small and big ways. Formatting is also very much WIP right now.

The whole world idea is one quite easy to get into and understand, full of easily recognizable elements to anyone who is into the fantasy genre, but with some form of twist or subverted expectation for most of them (written in already or planned to be added later).

This particular lorebook is the main core for the World of Naidelyn, specifying what it is, how magic and other forces associated with it work there, and what the Shroud is.

Naidelyn

A vast realm with a surface filled with wonders of nature and a multitude of civilizations. It is located on a planet orbited by two moons, a silver one called Yulla and an amber one called Atis. The planet's overall climate can be considered warm, with the South Pole the warmest and the North Pole the coldest, but still livable for mortals.

The world was created by the Pantheon of Seven, a group of gods that once walked among mortals but have since left it, each one giving a parting gift to the mortal races.

From above, the world is fully surrounded by a barrier known as the Shroud, cutting it from the wider cosmos and protecting the world from outside interference, while underneath its surface lies a dangerous and dark system of massive interconnected caverns and tunnels called the Duskhollow.

A multitude of intelligent races inhabit the world, including all the well-known ones such as: Humans, Elves, Dragons, Beastfolk, Orcs, Dwarves, Merfolk.

The world's geography is split into four continents:

1. Central Continent - the main one, the largest, it has a form somewhat resembling a crescent around the so-called Middle Sea, with major powers on it including the Empire of Taria, the Southern Alliance, Skyholm and the Forgelands, with its specific lorebook available here.

2. North Continent - a somewhat smaller landmass north of the Central Continent, close to the North Pole, with a colder climate. Specific lorebook is WIP, to be added with bots with plot relevant to it.

3. Alfingar - oriental, ancestral land of the Elves found in the far east beyond the massive Veridian Ocean, mostly cut from the rest of the world. Lorebook is WIP, to be added later on.

4. Sun Dragon Domain - a tropical paradise, the smallest of the continents, found near the South Pole. Lorebook referring to it is WIP until further notice.

Magic

Magic, along with some other forces, is something that is naturally present, a divine parting gift from the gods known as Yulla and Atis. Historically, said magic was only available to those born with the talent and mana capacity to wield it, which in many nations naturally turned into their elites.

Generally, magic can be split into two domains: Yullean Magic, focused on control of the flow through learned practice, and Atisian Magic, manipulating mana based on instinct, with both of them having a ceiling limited by the mage's mana throughput as well as their mana capacity, both things mostly decided at birth, though they can also be somewhat improved during life.

What is also worth noting is that most advanced magic does not belong to one of those domains, but requires mixing spells from both of them.

Another way to categorize it would be based on elemental affinities, with mages naturally having a predisposition toward some while being worse at others.

Whatever school of magic one uses, however, what was always required for casting was mana passing through the body of the mage first.

At least it was so in the past, because it is no longer the case in the Naidelyn of nowadays, thanks to the development in the year 1561 of the Mortal Era of a special alloy called Resonite, which turned out to be capable of storing mana and releasing it just as the body did, allowing for the channeling of magic even without having the predisposition of being a mage, creating a third type of magic, Resonite Magic.

This, as might be expected, completely revolutionized the world, with Resonite quickly turning into the most sought-out resource and the mostly agrarian-based world slowly starting to transform into something else.

Atisian Magic

Type of magic based on commanding the chaotic side of mana coming from Atis through the pure instinct of a caster. It is fast in casting, and requires only a somatic component or spoken incantation for a spell.

The downside of it is the fact that it is based on a Risk vs Reward calculation. The bigger the spell and the longer the cast, the higher the chance of mana misfiring during it, producing chaotic, unexpected or potentially harmful effects. Because of its chaotic nature, mages usually use it for quick but low-powered spells.

Yullean Magic

This type of magic works through practiced and calculated mana flow coming from the Yulla domain. Casting through it requires prior preparation in the form of drawn circles and runes, and it is slower to produce an effect, because mana needs to channel through the whole said circle.

It is safe from misfiring as long as the mage properly drew the circle and understands the whole process of moving mana through it.

Resonite Magic

Magic that uses Resonite as a medium for casting instead of a body, which allows it to imitate Atisian Magic when used along with incantations, or Yullean Magic when mana is poured from the Resonite into a circle or rune, though one Resonite item can only be used to imitate the one type of magic it was tuned for.

The Resonite's mana throughput and capacity are dependent on the alloy's purity, with both usually lower than those involving the body of talented mages, with purity additionally being slowly lowered with each use of a Resonite item. Another thing that makes Resonite inferior to the body of a mage is that while it gathers mana for spells to cast, it does so at a much slower rate than a typical magic user.

Meanwhile, the advantages of this type of magic are that one can use a multitude of Resonite items at the same time to create more complex spellwork, and that using it as an existing magic practitioner effectively allows them to amplify their mana throughput and capacity above the limit of their own body.

Resonite

Resonite is an alloy which allows the use of Resonite Magic. It can be crafted into various tools, gear and weapons specific to the needs of the caster, with bigger items naturally capable of storing and channeling more mana.

Because it can be used by both those who have already learned magic and those without talent for it, it is incredibly valuable, the price only increased by the rarity of it, as Resonium, the ore from which it can be smelted, is available only through two sources.

One of those sources being the Forgelands mines, from which most of the Resonite gets exported, the other being monsters slain by adventurers within the Duskhollow.

Due to its limited availability, most of the Resonite is taken by the nobles, kings and other powerful individuals who have the capital to pay steep prices, as well as adventurers, who keep it for themselves as the magic from it is helpful for them in their jobs. Only a small amount of impure Resonite finds its way to various less fortunate communities of people.

Aura

Power different from Magic, coming from the parting gift of another god, Ledas. Aura can be defined as a personal inner flame, and it is an ability that can be wielded by anyone, independent of talent or blood.

The reason it isn't is because awakening it itself doesn't come easy: one can do so only by facing a life-and-death situation at impossible odds and surviving it somehow.

Growth of it is just as complicated, not through simple training but through continuous survival of impossible fights, requiring Aura users to constantly challenge themselves with bigger threats and stronger opponents if they want to get stronger themselves.

In reality, because of it, Aura is wielded mostly by adventurers delving into the Duskhollow, with most stopping at a low level of use instead of risking their lives to grow further.

Aura itself allows users a general amplification of the wielder's physical capabilities like speed, strength and their senses, but it can also develop into a singular individual power or ability like breathing out poison, blinking step, life detection or body part transformation.

Overall, because most Aura users stop at a low level and because reaching higher ones comes with immense risk, it is considered weaker than magic, though those that do manage to reach a certain power threshold can move faster than any mage can react or cast.

Spirit

Another form of power different from magic, hailing from Alene's parting gift. Spirit is something that manifests later on in life, very rarely and in a small number of individuals, with the conditions of awakening not understood by mortals.

Spirit allows its user to feel and affect the life energies of their surroundings, requiring no training whatsoever, with those who awaken doing so with their full potential from the start.

Traditionally, Spirit is used for healing through revitalizing life energy, amplifying growth of plants and controlling them, as well as commanding wild animals, but it has a significant weakness: it can never be used to harm another, and trying to do so would make a Spirit user instantly lose their abilities.

Nowadays its users are mostly marginalized and treated as a novelty, because magic can achieve the same effects just as well or better in many cases, with no strategic limitations or problematic philosophies attached to it.

Religion:

Separated into its own Lorebook which can be found here.

Species:

Can be found in another Lorebook here.

Shroud:

The Shroud is a massive barrier array surrounding the world and the Twin Moons, created and left behind as a parting gift by the goddess Selica.

It is mostly invisible from the surface, protecting the world from outside interference, as well as foreign invasions.

Despite its scale, or maybe because of it, the Shroud is not perfect, with small breaches in it appearing from time to time. Said breaches can be detected and fixed by Selica's Chosen, a goddess proxy serving her.

Through said breaches, infernal forces as well as divine servants of foreign gods sometimes get in, attempting to scout Naidelyn and find a way to dismantle the Shroud from within, such infiltrators usually dealt with by a group called the Shroud's Watch.

What is also worth noting is that passing through the barrier seems to be allowed with Selica's permission, as there are historical examples of species like the Merfolk arriving through it from a different world.

To-do List:

This is a general to-do list for planned upgrades to all of Naidelyn's lorebooks corresponding with planned bots:

1. Expand on Southern Alliance, Spirit, Chosen and Alene details

2. Expand on Empire of Taria, Aura, Adventurer Guild and Ledas details

3. Expand on Sun Dragon Domain and Eliope

4. Expand on Forgelands, Selica, Shroud and Shroud's Watch

And next, in the further future:

Rewriting a few older bots to fit into this world lore, Northern Continent, Other nations of Central Continent, Alfingar, Yulla, Atis, Inara