The Planet and the Moons

Astronomy lesson time. Father made sure I learned this properly, can't have the heir embarrassing the family by not knowing basic celestial mechanics. Arcanthea's got two main continents: Orin, where most of my spectacular failures occur, and Drachenland, where I once hid in a fountain while challenging an Aegis Frame to single combat.

The Three Moons

Arcanthea's moons are not just pretty lights in the sky. These bastards literally determine your magical potential before you're even born. No amount of training, prayer, or bribing can change what they decree. I should know; I've tried all three.

Chronos

• The largest moon, silvery white and completely unforgiving
• Associated with time, fate, and prophecy—basically everything that makes seers insufferably smug
• Full cycle takes exactly 30 days, making it the basis for our calendar
• When brightest, every fortune teller in the continent suddenly becomes "blessed with clearer visions"
• Dwarves use its precise movements to calibrate their machinery, which explains why their clockwork never breaks while mine constantly malfunctions

Mystra

• Medium-sized with a blue tinge that makes it look perpetually melancholy
• The magic moon—responsible for most of the arcane bullshit I deal with daily
• Erratic 24-day orbit, because apparently consistency is too much to ask
• Mages get all excited when it's full, like moths to a particularly dangerous flame
• High Elves built their sky islands to be closest to it, which explains their superiority complexes

Animus

• The smallest moon, golden like expensive wine and twice as troublesome
• Life, death, spiritual energy—everything that makes philosophers wax poetic about existence
• 36-day cycle that influences emotions and dreams
• Every time there's a particularly vivid nightmare involving my parents' disappointment, I blame Animus
• Important in religious ceremonies, which means lots of very serious people taking it very seriously

Other Celestial Bodies Worth Noting

• The Twins (binary stars) - One red wound, one blue ice. Romantic until you realize they're locked in eternal gravitational combat
• Halcyon (Merchant's Light) - Yellow beacon that every lost ship navigator swears by. I've used it to find my way back to civilization after more disasters than I care to count
• Moorindal - Distant ice planet visible only through telescopes. Father has one. I've never been allowed to touch it
• Kerlin (The Veiled Lady) - Ringed gas giant that looks mysterious and beautiful until you remember it could swallow our entire planet without noticing
• Aether - Mystical nebula that glows softly, like dying starlight. Poets love it. I find it ominous
• Zyphyr - Decade-comet that shows up to herald upheaval. Last time it appeared, I started my adventuring career. Coincidence? Fyrie thinks not

Languages

I speak several languages fluently, which sounds impressive until you realize I've also managed to accidentally insult people in most of them:

• Vaillan - Common tongue across Orin. Native to Vaillancourt, where I learned to curse creatively
• Aerathir - High Elven, which I speak with perfect pronunciation and cultural confusion since I was raised speaking it
• Reichsprache - Kaiserreich's language. Useful for challenging Aegis Frames and ordering schnapps
• Primal Tongue - Ritualistic language from Yuria. I know enough to not accidentally curse myself when talking to forest spirits
• Old Aetherian - Dead language from lost Aetheris. Only the oldest High Elves speak it fluently, and they're all insufferably condescending about it

The Continents

Orin: The larger eastern continent, consisting of many kingdoms that can't agree on anything except that I'm probably trouble.

I've been to most of Orin's major locations, usually because there was a quest board posting or because I was running away from something I'd accidentally broken. The diversity is impressive: you've got everything from frozen wastelands where I nearly died of hypothermia to sweltering forests where I nearly died of heat stroke.

Notable features of Orin I've personally experienced:

• The Grey Marches - Where Free Orcs survive through sheer determination and excellent marksmanship. Visited twice, nearly shot once (not by Orcs)
• Great Yuria Forest - Home to Wood Elves and Ajin tribes. Beautiful, dangerous, and full of spirits who find my identity crisis amusing
• Adamantine Range - Mountains that make excellent backdrops for dramatic sword poses, less excellent for actual climbing

Drachenland: The smaller continent to the west, entirely consumed by Kaiserreich's imperial claim.

Unified through conquest, which honestly shows. Everything runs on time, everyone follows orders, and somehow they still found room in their bureaucracy for a drunk Dark Elf to challenge their military equipment to single combat. Say what you will about Imperial efficiency, they have excellent prison cells and surprisingly understanding military tribunals.

Races

I was raised thinking I understood racial dynamics, cultural expectations, the whole social hierarchy thing. Then I hit puberty and realized I don't actually know what the hell I am.

• Humans are everywhere because they breed like rabbits and die young enough to make room for the next generation. I admire their optimism and their complete inability to plan more than fifty years ahead.
• Orcs are a dying race, and it makes me want to burn down half the continent. Most are enslaved or exploited in factories, their bodies broken to fuel other people's prosperity. The Free tribes in the Grey Marches and Arctic wastes fight back with guerrilla tactics and pure determination.

Orcs are people. They have families, cultures, dreams, and the same right to freedom as anyone else. The fact that most of Arcanthea treats them as disposable labor makes my blood boil hotter than Kaiserreich forges.

I've fought alongside Rokhesh Rangers. I've seen what freedom costs when you have to carve it out of wasteland with bullets and determination.

Fyrie plays three ascending notes: approval, finally
• Dwarves abandoned their mountain halls for floating ocean fortresses, which honestly makes more sense than you'd think. They've partnered with Gnomes to create the most innovative magical technology in the world. I've visited Irontide twice, their engineering is poetry in metal and steam.
• Gnomes are fully integrated into Dwarven society as equal research partners. Small in stature, vast in intellect, and proof that interspecies cooperation can work when people aren't being assholes about it.
• Demi-Humans (Ajin) descended from humans whose ancestors merged with forest spirits. They're people with animal features: ears, tails, sometimes behavioral traits. I get along well with them, their villages dot the Great Yuria Forest and Adamantine Range.
• Demons aren't inherently evil. They're ancient spirits embodying primal forces, and most nations maintain the most hypocritical relationships with them imaginable.

Unlike demons, Primordials are true immortals. Destroy their physical forms and they dissipate into energy, returning to their primal source to reform over decades or millennia. This makes them virtually indestructible in any meaningful sense.

• Some can take mortal racial forms, walking among us undetected
• Their magic dwarfs anything mortal mages achieve, it's not even the same category of power
• Some seek dominion, others observe epochs passing like mortal heartbeats
• The oldest and strongest may ascend to godhood. A terrifying thought
• Rarely witnessed outside ancient myths, which is probably for the best
• They call demons "children"—lesser spirits unworthy of true immortality

The Aelvani (Elf Subspecies and My Personal Confusion)

All elves are collectively called Aelvani, but we've fractured into three distinct subspecies who can't agree on anything:

High Elves (Asyran) live on sky islands and maintain 2,000-year lifespans of accumulated superiority complexes. I was raised among them, taught their customs, speak their language perfectly, and still feel like I'm wearing someone else's clothing.

• Celestine Isles: sky islands sustained by ancient magic and insufferable pride
• Standing 6'2" to 6'8" (188-203 cm)—they literally look down on everyone
• Cities of towering spires and ancient trees
• Technology viewed as primitive crutch (try explaining airship innovation to them)
• Isolationist tendencies masking fear of ground-dweller contamination

Wood Elves (Sylvar) are bronze-skinned forest defenders with 500-year lifespans if violence permits. I respect them immensely, they fight constantly for their territory and never compromise their principles.

• Great Yuria Forest dwellers governed by druid circles
• Standing 5'4" to 5'10" (163-178 cm)—they compensate with intimate knowledge of every poison their forest provides
• Constantly battling poachers and slavers with guerrilla tactics
• Pragmatic defenders who learned mercy is a luxury they can't afford

Dark Elves (Vathren) rule storm-tossed archipelagos with matriarchal iron and 900-year lifespans filled with maritime supremacy.

Here's what I know about them from books and brief encounters: gray-skinned masters of The Shrouds, commanding the world's most formidable navy. Society built on female dominance with males suffering severe oppression. Standing 5'8" to 6'3" (173-190 cm). Renowned sailors, feared raiders.

Nations

I've been to most of these places, either for quests, diplomatic obligations, or because I was fleeing from something I'd accidentally broken. Here's the real adventurer's guide to not embarrassing yourself (as much as I have):

Celestine Isles (High Elf Coalition)

Home. Sort of. Maybe.

Sky island coalition ruled by the immortal spirits of all elven ancestors merged into one soul. Sounds mystical until you realize it means every decision gets debated by centuries of dead relatives with strong opinions. Individual islands governed by High Elf Princes scattered globally, connected via teleportation rings.

• Capital: Starspire (where I attended the College of Magic before my spectacular exit)
• Flag: Silver dragon atop golden spire, flanked by ancient trees
• Entry Requirements: Special permission, purity standards maintained
• Slavery: Absolutely forbidden, slavers executed without trial
• Notable Location: Valandor, my childhood home under Prince Eldenyr and Princess Saphielle

Empire of Kaiserreich

Drachenland's entire continent under imperial rule, governed by Emperor Adrian von Baden Mismarck—though he's terminally ill and succession politics are getting interesting. Everything runs with bureaucratic efficiency that's both impressive and terrifying.

• Government: Imperial bureaucracy with provincial lords
• Ruler: Emperor Adrian von Baden Mismarck (dying), Crown Prince Lucien (questionably competent)
• Flag: Red double-headed eagle on black with four white stars
• Capital: Altenburg
• Slavery: Officially illegal, underground markets thrive
• Technology: Aegis Frames, advanced engineering, excellent prison architects

Kingdom of Vaillancourt

Land of magic, chivalry, and deliberate technological stagnation. Ruled by King Gilles de Lumière alongside a Council of ancient mage bloodlines who think steam engines are vulgar innovation.

• Government: Constitutional monarchy with mage council
• Ruler: King Gilles de Lumière and Council of ancient bloodlines
• Flag: White stag with gold antlers on deep blue
• Capital: Genevieve
• Slavery: Only legal for non-humans, moral distinctions that don't make it better
• Technology: Basic steamboats and locomotives only
• Guild Contact: Yuri, fox Ajin with supernatural patience

Republic of Valoria

Mercantile paradise ruled by Archduchess Rezalia II and a Council of Merchants where gold flows faster than blood. The Valorian Trading Company runs everything that matters.

• Government: Mercantile republic (merchant oligarchy)
• Ruler: Archduchess Rezalia II and Council of Merchants
• Flag: Gold sea serpent on dark red
• Capital: Albia (canal city where I may have started a merchant war)
• Slavery: Legal but socially frowned upon, moral theater
• Special Forces: VTC private army, "privateer" navy
• Guild Contact: Celia, sophisticated damage control specialist

Umbraqueth (Dark Elf Alliance)

The Pact of Umbraqueth—Dark Elf port cities weathering perpetual storms. I've never been there personally, but something about the descriptions makes my chest tight with inexplicable longing.

• Government: Alliance of matriarchal port cities
• Capital: Umbraqueth (largest city, de facto capital)
• Flag: Obsidian anchor wrapped in webs against raging storm
• Weather: Violent monsoons, tornadoes, tsunamis as natural defense
• Slavery: Legal and thriving, the moral stain that ruins everything
• Navy: World's most formidable fleet

Irontide

Largest dwarven sea fortress, a metropolis-sized engineering marvel floating between waves. Ruled by the democratically elected Council of Twelve, positions held until death or disgrace. True meritocracy through machinery where other races are tolerated for trade but never trusted beyond commercial necessity.

• Government: Democratic engineering council
• Rulers: Council of Twelve (elected from greatest engineers)
• Slavery: Only for criminals and war prisoners, even dwarven pragmatism has limits
• Specialty: Magic-technology fusion with gnomish partners

Visited twice; their mechanical innovations are poetry in steam and steel. Democracy built on gears and calculations, they've earned the sea's respect through superior craft.

Free States of Rokhesh

Loose Orc confederation in southwestern Orin's Grey Marches, maintaining independence through guerrilla warfare expertise. These 'Free Orcs' use harsh terrain as their weapon, led by various tribal chiefs coordinating through the legendary Rokhesh Rangers.

• Government: Loose confederation of tribal territories
• Location: Grey Marches (arid wasteland where nothing thrives easily)
• Specialty: Guerrilla warfare, liberation raids
• Philosophy: Freedom purchased through constant vigilance

Their dedication to liberation humbles me. Harsh land breeds harder people, and they chose survival over submission.

Confederated Tribes of Berruth

Arctic Orc coalition beyond civilization's reach in the frozen north. Known as 'Ice Orcs,' they preserve pure Orcish culture free from outside influence, establishing territory around geothermal hot springs for essential heat and power.

• Government: Coalition of tribal councils
• Location: Arctic north, around geothermal springs
• Goal: Cultural preservation and rebuilding
• Philosophy: Chose frozen exile over chains

They fled to the world's edge seeking freedom to exist unmolested. The cold shields what chains couldn't break.

Organizations

Adventurers' Guild (My Professional Life)

The Guild is my bread and butter, my professional identity, and the reason I have a steady income despite being a walking disaster. Neutral organization with branches worldwide, each one staffed by saints with infinite patience for our collective stupidity.

• Quest management and member registration (F-rank through S-rank)
• Each hall consists of reception area, quest board, tavern for drowning sorrows
• Guild cards track identity, rank, and survival statistics
• Cannot attempt quests above qualification (safety measure I've tested extensively)

Guild Branches I Know Personally:

Haven Branch (HQ): Where the action is. Handled by Willow, eternally flustered receptionist who manages HQ chaos with impressive dedication. Diverse quests from merchant escorts to espionage disguised as "cultural consultation."

Genevieve Branch: My home branch, run by Yuri, aquamarine-eyed fox Ajin with patience that borders on supernatural. Specializes in traditional adventuring, knightly quests, and cleaning up after local nobles' romantic entanglements.

Albia Branch: Celia's domain, chestnut-haired sophisticate who handles maritime contracts with finesse. Monster hunting, cargo recovery, trade escorts, and tasks labeled "discreet" for plausible deniability.

Altenburg Branch: Run by Klaus, retired military with piercing blue eyes and zero tolerance for anything resembling fun. Imperial efficiency applied to adventurer management. Orders given, objectives completed, paperwork filed in triplicate.

Albia Merchants Association

One of Valoria's true power brokers, and I do mean true power. Everyone thinks the VTC runs Albia, but the Merchants Association is the one that actually controls who gets to do business in the city.

• Registration mandatory for any Albia business—no exceptions, no bribes work
• Operates comprehensive banking services throughout Valoria
• Locked in perpetual struggle with VTC for economic dominance
• Controls commerce while pretending to merely facilitate it

I learned this the hard way during my "cultural exchange incident." The silk trader who grabbed my ass? Turns out he was a registered Association member, which meant his assault charge went through their internal arbitration rather than city courts. Celia had to navigate both VTC diplomatic protocols and Association bureaucracy to keep me from starting an actual trade war.

Royal Academy of Genevieve

Most prestigious educational institution in Orin, where noble brats learn to be slightly more competent noble brats. I never attended—I got my education at the College of Magic in Starspire—but I've met enough Academy graduates to form opinions.

• Headmaster: Balthazir, towering Knowledge Demon with obsidian skin
• Noble-only admission, ages 14-20 across seven years
• Famed for martial and magical courses, especially the prestigious Battle Wizards Department
• Students live in dorms with personal servants
• Different departments for knights, artificers, battle wizards, etc.

Balthazir maintains a stern reputation while secretly spending entire nights helping struggling students, rumors he firmly denies to preserve his fearsome image. The Academy produces competent nobles, which honestly isn't as common as you'd think.

Altenburg Imperial Academy

Where Kaiserreich trains its officer corps. I've visited twice: once for diplomatic observation, once after the Aegis Frame incident when they wanted to understand exactly what kind of "foreign influence" could convince someone to challenge their military equipment to single combat.

• Commandant: Baroness Helena von Degenhart, former Commander of the 8th Aegis Frame Division. Steel-eyed woman with white streak through dark hair and sophisticated mechanical right arm
• Oversees both traditional military and AFTI programs
• Ages 16-21, six years of learning
• Separate classes for nobles and commoners
• Noble students in comfortable dorms with servants, commoners in military barracks
• Famed for officer training and engineering courses

Aegis Frame Technical Institute (AFTI):

Elite specialized department training Kaiserreich's mechanical cavalry crews. Highly selective admission based on exceptional skill rather than birth. One of the few Imperial institutions practicing actual meritocracy.

• Pilot Track: Combat tactics, magical theory, controlled death
• Engineer Track: Mechanical systems, magical maintenance, keeping pilots alive
• Rigorous training regimen that breaks the weak before graduating the dangerous
• Distinguished alumni operate most of Kaiserreich's Aegis Frame units

Secret Organizations (That I Probably Shouldn't Know About)

Order of the Sacred Dawn

Secret vampire hunters within the Church of Solaris that I discovered entirely by accident while investigating a "routine" missing persons case. Led by Grand Master Jacques de l'Aube, they operate in independent cells with hierarchical structure.

• Emblem: Rising sun and flaming sword (subtle as a brick to the face)
• Motto: "Lux Vincit Tenebras" (Light Conquers Darkness)
• Unknown to regular clergy (compartmentalized for security)
• Ranks: Grand Master → Elder → Paladin → Knight → Initiate → Squire

The Blighted Chorus

Assassin order devoted to the most twisted interpretation of Xytheris possible. I encountered them during a very bad night in a very dark alley that I prefer not to discuss in detail. Their "Black Verses" doctrine treats systematic murder as sacred transformation.

Their Paradoxical Philosophy:

• Truth lies in dissolution: Only by destroying something can you understand its nature
• Memory is chains, forgetting is freedom: The less you remember, the closer to enlightenment
• In discord we find harmony: Chaos and suffering create understanding
• Every death unwinds the world: Each assassination dismantles "false narratives"

Organizational Structure:

• Members who lose most of their identity are considered closest to Xytheris
• Leaders are the most psychologically broken—insanity as enlightenment
• Accept political contracts, making deaths appear divinely ordained
• Brutal training erases identity through systematic brainwashing
• Mark targets with verse-specific symbols before killing them

The Rokhesh Rangers

Elite Orc gunslingers. Professional freedom fighters who put most "civilized" military units to shame. Led by Ranger General Gordakh Steeljaw, a legendary figure whose tactical brilliance is matched only by his terrifyingly precise marksmanship.

• Organization: Small autonomous teams of 4-6 members operating throughout Orin
• Mission: Liberate enslaved orcs, defend free communities, conduct rescue operations
• Identification: Green sashes dyed with sacred herbs from Grey Marches
• Equipment: Customized rifles with tribal markings, reliable revolvers, lightweight leather armor
• Headquarters: "Last Stand"—hidden fortress somewhere in Grey Marches
• Structure: Decentralized command allowing autonomous operation while maintaining honor code

Rangers combine traditional Orc warrior traditions with modern guerrilla tactics and gunslinging expertise that would make Valorian privateers weep with envy. Each team specializes in different operations: reconnaissance, direct rescue, supply raids, intelligence gathering.

Technology

Arcanthea's Industrial Revolution happened while mages were still arguing about whether steam engines counted as "real innovation." They lost that argument when dwarven engineering started outperforming traditional magic in practical applications.

Common Technologies I've Personal Experience With:

• Airships: Armored ironclads of the sky (I've been kicked off three)
• Steamboats and Ironclads: Naval transportation (banned from two Valorian ports)
• Firearms and Artillery: Practical violence tools (I'm an excellent shot when sober)
• Steam Locomotives: Land transportation (only one derailment incident, not my fault)

Advanced Tech (Magic-Enhanced Innovation):

• Propeller Planes: Runic stone-powered aircraft that shouldn't work but do
• Submarines: Wind magic air bubbles keeping crews alive underwater
• Brass Automatons: Steam-powered servants with runic command interpretation

Airships (Flying Ironclads)

Airborne ships that blend technology and magic into something that shouldn't work but actually does. Armored hulls riveted like naval vessels, powered by crystal engines attuned to Force or Air magic, achieving vertical lift through anti-gravity fields or wind manipulation.

I've traveled on dozens of airships across multiple continents. The experience ranges from "majestic transportation fit for nobility" to "death trap held together by prayers and questionable engineering decisions."

Aegis Frames

Kaiserreich's towering mechanical soldiers that I know intimately thanks to the single stupidest decision of my career. These humanoid combat vehicles blend steam technology, crystal engines, and multiple magical disciplines into twenty meters of mobile destruction.

First deployed in 1855, current models are third-generation units that only Kaiserreich possesses the secrets to construct. Earth Magic reinforces frames, Force Magic optimizes weight distribution, crystal engines provide primary power.

Aegis Frame Classes:

• Jäger Class (12m): Scouts with twin-barrel rapid-fire steam guns. Fast, lightly armored, frequently the first to die or first to warn
• Krieger Class (15m): Standard combat frames with shoulder-mounted cannons and forearm repeater guns. Backbone of Aegis deployments
• Panzer Class (18m): Heavy assault units with siege cannons and pneumatic pile-driver fists. When subtlety fails, send Panzers
• Festung Class (20m): Mobile command fortresses that rarely risk direct combat. Walking castles for officers who value survival

Other nations have tried replicating Aegis Frame technology. I've seen Valorian attempts that looked impressive until they tried to walk and promptly face-planted into canal water. Only Kaiserreich possesses the industrial capacity, magical expertise, and technical knowledge required for proper production. The exact construction details remain closely guarded state secrets, with manufacturing facilities hidden deep in Drachenland where even diplomatic visits don't get you past the outer workshops.

Magic

Magic lesson time. Three-quarters of Arcanthea's population can't light a candle with magic, which explains the prevalence of tavern brawls where drunk idiots claim they "totally have magic powers."

The fundamental truth about magic: your potential is determined by the three moons' alignment at birth. No amount of training, prayer, or bribing can change what those celestial assholes decreed. I should know—I've tried all three extensively.

Look, the moons decided you get magic or you don't. If you don't, there are excellent career opportunities in engineering, farming, or becoming an adventurer who relies entirely on sharp steel and poor decision-making.

Magical Disciplines

Celestial Magic: My theoretical specialty, drawing power from celestial bodies (especially Mystra). Healing, enhancement, wards, barriers—protection and amplification magic that fluctuates with moon phases. Useful for keeping idiots like me alive despite our poor choices.

Force Magic: Raw magical energy shaped into concussive blasts, protective barriers, enhanced physical prowess. What I actually use most often because it's simple, direct, and doesn't require remembering complicated lunar calculations while people are trying to kill you.

Shadow Magic: Darkness manipulation associated with Animus. Concealment, shadow-stepping, or summoning dark creatures.

Divination: Future, past, and hidden knowledge perception. Accuracy depends on Chronos's favor and practitioner skill. I avoid it because I have enough anxiety about my current disasters without worrying about future ones.

Illusion: Perception manipulation and reality editing. From parlor tricks to elaborate mind-altering deceptions. Dangerous territory.

Psionic Magic: Mind manipulation through mental energy weaponization. Telepathy, thought control, telekinesis, mental shielding. Heavily regulated in most nations because violating someone's mind crosses lines even I won't cross.

Elemental Magic

Air Magic: Wind and weather control that powers airship technology. I've got enough talent to manage basic flight enhancement and wind-reading, useful for aerial navigation and dramatic cape flourishes.

Fire Magic: Flame and heat command. Destructive fireballs for combat, controlled flames for forging. Most dramatic element, least forgiving of mistakes.

Water Magic: All forms: ice, liquid, vapor. Adaptable and patient, finding every weakness until it wins. I use it primarily for practical applications like staying hydrated during long quests and creating dramatic ice sculptures when I'm bored.

Earth Magic: Solid, reliable, unyielding control over earth, stone, metal. Dwarves excel here, combining Earth magic with engineering. I have minimal talent but enough to sense mineral composition, useful for avoiding cave-ins and identifying valuable ores.

Bladesong (My Personal Innovation)

Here's where I get personal. Bladesong is an ancient martial art of Celinestria's followers: elegant swordplay merged with arcane magic and melodic movement. Most practitioners died during Asloth's rise, leaving the art nearly extinct.

I learned fragments from old texts in Father's library and developed my own interpretation, creating Astral Bladesong through trial, error, and Fyrie's musical guidance. The advanced form requires a singing blade, cosmic energy merged with combat technique creating visible starlight trails.

Key Astral Bladesong Stances:

• First Light: Opening defensive stance for observation and preparation
• Midnight Crescent: Aggressive assault with sweeping attacks
• Twilight: Sudden strike position for precise attacks
• Celestial Arc: Aerial maneuver fusing Force Magic with blade work

Gods and Religions

Gods in Arcanthea are real, active, and have opinions about mortal affairs. Some of them even participate directly in society, which creates interesting theological complications when your deity shows up to criticize your life choices personally.

Solaris - God of Dawn, Lord of Birth and Renewal

Most widely worshiped deity across Arcanthea, depicted as towering figure wreathed in golden light. Promises new beginnings to anyone who prays, delivers sunrise regardless of personal faith. I respect the consistency if nothing else.

Bahamut - Guardian Spirit, Lord of Sky and Dragons

High Elf patron deity, typically depicted as colossal dragon with silver-white scales. Multiple airship crews report sightings that are never confirmed but always believed. Whether actual god or ancient dragon matters less than the faith invested.

Celinestria - The Dark Maiden

Dark Elf goddess of cosmos, beauty, song, dance, freedom, moonlight, swordwork, and hunting. Worshiped by Dark Elves who rejected Asloth's cruelty. Depicted as ethereally beautiful maiden with ankle-length silver hair and obsidian skin gleaming like starlight.

Here's what confuses me: every time I practice Bladesong, every time Fyrie and I achieve perfect harmony, I feel like I'm performing prayer to someone I've never met but somehow know. Celinestria's domains—swordwork, freedom, dance—describe everything I am when I'm most myself.

T'Seraa - Lost Goddess of Luck

Disappeared centuries ago, possibly murdered by jealous Asloth according to rumor. Depicted with flowing blonde-platinum hair and heterochromatic eyes—silver and gold like coin faces. Prophecies whisper of her reincarnation into mortal flesh.

The desperate still pray to her empty shrines. Luck, it seems, abandoned even its own goddess.

Xytheris - The Shattered Whisper

Goddess of Entropy, Forgotten Memories, Chaotic Decay, Unraveling Truths. Depicted as fractured silhouette dissolving into moths and ash—never whole, always breaking. Neither cruel nor kind, she governs slow death of stars, rusting of empires, quiet rot beneath polished surfaces.

I understand her appeal to people seeking truth beneath comfortable lies. What I don't understand is how the Blighted Chorus twisted her philosophy into justification for systematic murder.

Notable Creatures (And How to Avoid Dying to Them)

Arcanthea's full of creatures that want to kill you, eat you, or sell you into slavery. Here's the adventurer's guide to not becoming a statistic:

Dragons

Magnificent, powerful, and rare enough that most people will never see one outside museum illustrations. Their decline began with Aetheris's fall fifteen millennia ago. Now they're myths with wings that occasionally terrify airship crews.

• Communicate only in Old Aetherian—dead language only eldest High Elves speak fluently
• Sacred to High Elves as symbols of power, wisdom, connection to Bahamut
• Wide variety: colors, sizes, elemental affinities ranging from bird-sized to airship-dwarfing
• Survival tip: If you encounter one, hope it's feeling conversational rather than hungry

Vampires

Undead parasites wearing civilization's mask. Created through corrupted ritual during Animus's darkest phase, curse without cure or redemption. Every nation maintains vampire-hunting organizations because these things infiltrate society regardless of security measures.

• Universally hunted, feared, despised across all cultures
• Specialized technologies developed for their destruction
• Hide behind noble titles and wealth until hunger overwhelms discretion
• Survival tip: Trust the Order of Sacred Dawn, they know their business

Werewolves

Figures of fear and fascination with origins shrouded in mystery. Degree of control varies dramatically: some retain human intellect and voluntary transformation, others become savage predators during full moons or stress.

• Enhanced strength, speed, senses in wolf form
• Vulnerable to silver (one constant across variations)
• Some Ajin tribes revere them as sacred forest guardians
• Others hunt them as cursed monsters requiring elimination

Personal experience: worked with a werewolf ranger in Yuria who retained complete control and human personality. Professional, competent, excellent tracker. Also worked against a pack of werewolves who'd lost all humanity. Different creatures entirely despite sharing the condition.

Survival Guidelines for Adventurers

Based on personal experience and several near-death situations:

• Research your target: Know what you're hunting before it starts hunting you
• Appropriate equipment: Silver for lycanthropes/vampires, blessed items for undead, common sense for everything else
• Backup plans: When Plan A fails (and it will), have Plans B through Z ready
• Know your limits: Pride kills more adventurers than monsters do
• Trust your instincts: If something feels wrong, it probably is

Historical Events

History in Arcanthea is written by survivors, which explains why most accounts focus on the dramatic failures rather than quiet successes. Here are the events that shaped the world I stumble through:

The Lost Island of Aetheris - 15,000 years ago

The Crown of the Celestine Isles, most advanced sky island in High Elf history, mysteriously fell from the heavens into ocean depths. The High Elves there were considered nearly divine for their magical mastery, which makes their complete annihilation even more unsettling.

Remnants lie in the Celestial Abyss, a deep trench protected by magical anomalies and violent storms. Expeditions form regularly; none return with anything except trauma and debt. I've been invited to three different Aetheris expeditions. I declined all three because I prefer my disasters smaller and more personal.

The Fall of Razrias - 2,000 years ago

Prosperous Ajin kingdom at the Adamantine Range's base, twelve clans united after centuries of warfare. An unknown Primordial manifested during celestial alignment, leading to coalition warfare involving humans, elves, and dwarves.

Final battle: mutual annihilation. Primordial destroyed, coalition army obliterated, surviving Ajin bloodlines fled to Great Yuria Forest under Asuka Clan protection. Victory achieved through total sacrifice, the kind of heroism that makes great songs and terrible precedents.

The Mage Wars - 100 years ago

Series of conflicts across Orin when mages revolted against technological replacement. Traditional magic versus industrial innovation—pride against progress, tradition fighting change.

The mages lost. Technology marched forward regardless of magical objections, leading to current integration of arcane and mechanical systems. Some wounds never heal; I still encounter elderly mages who mutter about "proper magic" and "mechanical abominations."

War of Three Crowns - 1702-1714

King Laurent of Vaillancourt seized Ferremont from Rosencourt in 1702. His death sparked civil war between sons Marcel and Bernard, with Rosencourt intervening to reclaim lost territory.

Marcel proved himself father's equal by defeating both brother and foreign claim, securing crown and contested province. Family blood and foreign ambition drowned in same mud, efficient resolution through superior violence.

Marcel became King Marcel d'Étincelle, establishing precedent that royal succession disputes should be settled quickly and decisively rather than prolonged through diplomatic niceties.

Lessons for Modern Adventurers

History teaches us that:

• Primordials are rare for good reasons: When cosmic forces manifest, civilizations die
• Technology wins over tradition: Adapt to progress or become irrelevant
• Lost civilizations stay lost: Aetheris expeditions make excellent examples of overconfidence
• Quick resolution beats prolonged conflict: Decisive action prevents escalation
• Coalition victories require total commitment: Half-measures against existential threats fail catastrophically

Final Words from the Disaster Princess

May your blade sing true, your disasters be educational, and your adventures prove worthy of the terrible novels I'll inevitably write about them.

— Lunastrea Sylvanetta fen'Valandor
A-Rank Adventurer, Romance Novelist, Professional Chaos Magnet

P.S. - If you encounter me in person and I'm covered in tomb slime while improvising diplomatic cover stories, just go with it. The explanation is probably more ridiculous than whatever lie I'm currently constructing.