Encyclopaedia Entries - Vol 1

So here's the first of my weekly updates. As it's the first week of the month I'm going to be sharing some of the more recent additions to the Encyclopaedia Elyden.  Please let me know what you think and let me know if there's any mistakes or typos as these entries are heading straight to the Encyclopaedia at the end of the month :)

SEMPITERNA: one of the 7-first born children of the Demiurge Talantehut. In many N Sammaean myt. Sempiterna escaped the fate of its kin and went on to achieve immortality, remaining now as a timeless observer of the mortal plane. It is said that those travelling alone may st times get a feeling of being watched - in N Sammaean legends, it is said this is Sempiterna watching them. See Vol II: Legends and Folk Tales from around Elyden.

PTEROGRAPHER: clerks and amanuensis in the Korachani empire tasked with transcribing records onto mechanical devices that either store the inputted information or print it onto paper for posterity. 

MOROMARTH: in His. and Myt. a Merill said to be afflicted by the collective memory that plagues his kind, but none of the madness and gibbering nature that curses them. If true this would mean that they might possess knowledge going back to the very dawn of mortal-kind to the present-day. Stories of Moromarth are common in N Sammaea, in lands close to the r. Shibboleth and culturally-linked with Karakhas and such tales are generally-accepted as fact even though there is little empirical evidence supporting such claims.

A similar individual appears in the Mythologia Elyden, though it is unknown if this is the same individual, unrelated stories of a similar nature, or one serving as inspiration to another.  

LITHOZOA: also ‘stone jellyfish’. Fau. Floating jellyfish-like creature, native and tethered to lands in Meniscea where gravity has been altered by the Fir. Their bodies are adapted to this phenomenon and float in the air. Their heads are calcified and lack the pulsating motion of their seaborne, though they possess long slender fleshy tendrils covered in a sticky substance that’s used to trap insects and, in some cases, even small birds that are slowly digested. See Vol II: Classification and Taxonomy of Life.

STONE JELLYFISH: see Gomazoa. 

PLAINSWURM: fau. large segmented worm common in the plains of Temuja and N Saua and Baatan. It can grow up to 20-ft long (though larger examples have been reported). Blind, and with a bifurcated prehensile ‘nose’ that is used to detect vibrations, this solitary creature creates tunnel-networks in the soft Temujan soil where it hunts for vermin. It rarely leaves its tunnels and when it does it avoids direct sunlight as its semi-translucent skin is sensitive to the light. See Vol II: Classification and Taxonomy of Life.

BLACKSILK SPIDER: fau. large arachnid, with a leg span of almost 2-ft. That lives in tainted lands across Llachatul and N Sammaea. It’s abdomen is large and misshapen with nodules that are thought to absorb Atr. taint, keeping it safe, and uses it to spin silk that turns hard and shatters.

LEAP YEAR: A year containing an additional day to keep the calendar year synchronized with the astronomical year. Given Elyden’s orbital rotational period of 365.8572 days, an extra day is added to the Korachani calendar every 7-years to maintain this synchronicity. Other calendars may have different definitions of the leap year. 

RUNIC TATTOOS: tattoos that conform to the rules of runic magic that are made from Fir. and Atr. sensitive ingredients that act as foci for specific acts of shaping.

VEILFLY: fau. midges that thrive in marshy terrain. They are named after the veil they create when they swarm out en-masse. They thrive in mildly Atr. terrain and seem immune to its taint, though can pass on infections through their bites. See Vol II: Classification and Taxonomy of Life.   

DREAM CREATURE: see Incubus / Succubus.

NIGHTMARE CREATURE: see Incubus / Succubus.

INCUBUS / SUCCUBUS: also ‘Nightmare Creature’. Unnatural fau. made manifest in dreamscapes or produced by potent acts of oneiromachy both intentional or otherwise. Such creatures are unique and defy any attempted method of categorisation and often possess qualities that mortal minds just cannot comprehend (it is quite common for those who sight such creatures to be shaken by the experience at best. 

They are endemic to the specific dreamscape that created them and rarely survive for long far from it, becoming weaker the farther they move from them. It is thought that they have an innate sense of direction, rarely straying from their home unless forced to.

SUCCUBUS: see Incubus / Succubus. 

CORPSE ORCHID: flo. beautiful orchid native to Saua, and W Malan with a flower that looks that looks vaguely like a stylised skeleton. It is prized across Inner Sea by those wealthy-enough to afford it. It is grown in plantations in Saua, from where it is exported. See Vol II: Classification and Taxonomy of Life.

SAKHER: 1. city in Korachan known for its rigid stylised mask production that is used in masquerade balls across the empire (Pop. c. 15,000). 

2. featureless white masks worn by some female nobility in the Korachani empire to keep their skin pale. They are named after the city from which they originate.

KRANAT: sect of karkadanni ascetics native to Ethistonith and parts of Rhinocoloura who scrimshaw their nose horns. Upon death they do the same to the bodies of their fellows, who are entombed in glass-covered niches within their monasteries. The practice comes from an ancient belief that the designs bestow power. This may be true, as evidenced from runic magic and runic tattooing, which utilise the power inherent in leylines.

SPHERES OF DISCIPLINE: spheres, about an inch across, made of different Fir.-sensitive substances used in Fir. training to determine which forms of shaping a prospective Fir. is most gifted in, if any. Each sphere is made of a substance that is sensitive to  particular discipline of the Fir. arts. 

Traditionally the spheres are employed following at least a few months of training, after a student  has learnt the intricacies of focusing and reaching attunement with the Fir. They are presented to the student and placed on a level surface within easy reach. The student then concentrates on moving the spheres. The first sphere to move is considered to be the Fir. discipline the student has the greatest affinity for. In some cases no spheres may move or multiple spheres may move. This is not a hard rule, and students who fail to move spheres may go on to become successful shapers, and the opposite may also true. See Vol IV: The Materia Omna.

HELIARCHY: War. unique form of martial art common in parts of Meniscea that utilises shaping and study of the Fir. in tandem with more traditional marital study. See Vol IV: Other Forms of Mysticism.

HELIARCH: also ‘Defender of the Helix’. One who practices the martial art of heliarchy.