Lexica:Chromagaia

Chromagaia's time moves forward with ours! Today's date is:
Lysisday, Liliyogh 23, 1134 LE

Essential Vocabulary

Chromagaia: The entire universe itself. This term has no reality in-setting, and it is simply called "The Universe" by its inhabitants.

Odhir: Spiritual energy, as according to Sequential Quadrant Cosmology. The energy used in magic and the substance that makes up gods. Exists as an ambient medium through the universe.

Súla: Spiritual matter, as according to Sequential Quadrant Cosmology. Bound irrevocably to physical matter, and primarily functions as a container for odhir. Captures odhir as it moves through the universe.

Vyraf: Alternative title for physical energy, as according to Sequential Quadrant Cosmology. Will be used sparingly for reader comprehension, likely only to differentiate from odhir without being too wordy or implying that odhir is not energy.

Creas: Alternative title for physical matter, as according to Sequential Quadrant Cosmology. Will be used sparingly for reader comprehension, likely only to differentiate from súla without being too wordy or implying that súla is not matter.

Sunstep: Magic done by controlling and releasing one's own reservoir of internal power. Almost always refers to odhir usage but other sources can occur.

Starstep: Magic done by connecting with and altering external matter or energy.

Moonstride: Any Magic done by using the properties of exotic materials.

Voidstride: Magic done by using runes to direct the ambient medium of odhir.

Soul Component: The strength of binding between a given body of physical matter and its spiritual matter. Ranges from 0-100%, with 0% indicating no binding (no longer found in reality) and 100% indicating a complete overlap between the two (nothing past 96% exists in nature).

The Silent Song: The semi-conscious primordial emptiness that formed the universe. Its body is that of the universe itself.

Gods: Entities made entirely of odhir, whose magnitude is enough for them to become self-sustaining. Take the form of vortices. Only seventeen currently exist.

Astronomy

This section will be updated as more celestial bodies are added and developed.

Suns: Chromagaia's suns are stationary spheres of dense, burning matter. Their soul component is 96% and they each house the remnant vortex of a single god, which gives each one a unique color or set of colors. Suns in Chromagaia are around the same size as the real-world Sun. Suns share the name of the god they imprison. Solar flares often carry packets of each sun's unique sunstuff out into the universe.

Alcaernon is an orchid sun that holds the former god of repetition and recursion. Its planets are all in perfect orbital resonance with one another, collectively in a 2:3:4:6:12 resonance chain.

Annrava contains the former god of fragmentation. It is primarily violet, spotted with azure regions that shift across its surface. It has no planets, but rather belts of various sizes of debris.

Aureolin is a vibrant blood-orange sun. It houses the former god of blinding fury.

Cancrus is a primarily black sun, broken up with fractures of gold light. It holds the former god of containment and overlap, and has nine times the planets it appears to. Each world has eight neighbors accessible only by gates opened from frequent solar flares.

Eremoor is a deep indigo sun that houses the former god of stillness. Its planets have extremely long orbits, taking centuries to finish a revolution for the inner ones. Eremoor's system is densely packed with smaller planets, as the sun's will resists violent collision.

Eumrakh is a vibrant honey-gold sun that contains the former god of communication. Its system is home to large oceans of its sunstuff, as well as being the birthplace of the universe's criosidium supply.

Glauryuz is a pale plum-colored sun that holds the former god of intoxication and madness. It has a set of 5 co-orbital planets followed by a torroidal world, Eithragi, encircling the system. It also holds belts of its liquid sunstuff and, uniquely, a belt of stars.

Haerox is a pale gold sun that houses the former god of concealment. Its planets include Keppel, homeworld of humans and first world to produce organic life.

Illyre is a bright cyan sun that contains the former god of suspension. The system is enclosed in an oceanlike medium of its sunstuff, which its planets orbit through slowly.

Luxor is a brilliant and iridescent white sun. It holds the former god of brilliance and masterwork. Luxor is one of the most active suns.

Mananakus is an amber orange sun that houses the former god of bonds. Its eight worlds are chained together with sunmetal, the sunstuff of Mananakus.

Pereptia is a cobalt blue sun that contains the former god of ceaseless motion. It rotates rapidly enough to deform its shape, and serves to stir Galaxios across the universe. Pereptia is the closest sun to the true center of Chromagaia.

Regalion is an amaranth sun that holds the former god of travel. Its nine major worlds are of its own creation, bound together by a giant false tree grown between them. The system hosts thousands of microplanetoids that mimic environments seen across the universe.

Schismata is a rust-colored sun, spotted with sky blue. It houses the former god of contradiction, and is host to one of the most chaotic solar systems.

Sechmas is a crimson sun that contains the former god of violence and destruction. Its system is regularly ravaged by cosmic thunderstorms capable of shattering moons.

Vaalgrota is an ethereal grey sun that holds the former god of decay. Its nature and influence is antithetical to life, and the system will likely never be inhabited.

Yahasain is a crescent-shaped lime green sun. It houses the former god of mystery and nightmares. Its system manifests transient ecosystems of monsters, which wander its many worlds aimlessly.

Stars: Stars in Chromagaia are mobile spheres or spheroids made of a three-state form of matter called Starstuff. Their soul component is anywhere from 85% to 95%. Stars are somewhat variable in size, but tend to be around the same size as real-world Mercury. They mostly follow erratic paths between solar systems rather than orbiting any one sun. They accumulate odhir quickly as they travel through the universe, and release it just as fast. This is where their neutral white glow comes from.

Rogue Planets: While rarer than stars, some planets do travel between the suns instead of orbiting them. There used to be many more, but straying too close to Annrava or an unlucky encounter with Sechmas reduced most of them to matter for Galaxios.

Galaxios: Galaxios is a disc of dust and gases put into wide orbit by Pereptia, and further broken up by Annrava's influence. It forms a useful orienting landmark for the universe, and glows with ambient odhir processes and ionizing radiation.

Eclipses (Haerox-Keppel-Jadethrone System): Solar eclipses where Jadethrone, a crystal moon, is between Haerox and Keppel happen every year. At the epicenter of the shadow is a 125-meter wide beam of refracted light. This incendiary beam has magical effects on many races and materials that get caught in its path.

This section explains how to find locations and events in space and time.

Timekeeping

Calendar Breakdown: Years in Chromagaia articles follow the years of the planet Keppel, and are usually 389 days long. There are two leap year cycles, one being a familiar 4-year cycle and one longer cycle of a leap day that occurs every 239 years.

Lythryds, which are 32 days long exactly, are the month-like unit of time that composes the year. There are 12 full lythryds each year, as well as an intercalary period at the end of the year, which is anywhere from 5-7 days long, depending on the leap-year cycles. The new year lines up with the vernal equinox in the northern hemisphere.

Ochts are 8-day periods which form the lythryds. There are four of them to a lythryd. The intercalary period is not considered as being part of any ocht.

Days are 24 hours long. I'm not cruel.

Locations (Keppel)

Continents: Keppel has three main continents, along with several large islands and broad ice caps.

Remna is the northwestern continent, with its western edge elevated by ongoing orogeny. Its land encircles the northern ice cap in a region known as the Arm of Remna.

Koeya is the eastern continent, centered mostly on the equator. Its eastern edge is lined with the highest mountains in the world. It is the most arid continent, hosting the legendary desert called the Ocean of Flame in its interior.

Asperia is a relatively unexplored continent southwest of Remna. It has exotic biomes and extremely dangerous ecosystems. Its general region of landmasses, islands and all, is called Greater Aegyrrya.

The ice caps, Lazulya in the north and Variscya in the south, are almost entirely sea ice, but have remained stable for the last 300,000 years. Due to oxides in the ice, they take on a tint, with Lazulya being bluer and Variscya appearing almost mint green.

Ocean of Flame: The largest and hottest desert in the world. Makes up a sizeable portion of Koeya's surface area.

Heavensent Sea: Koeya's own circular sea, and the crater left by a meteor that struck over 50,000 years ago.

Starshattered Desert: Remna's largest desert, claimed in its entirety by several tribes of desert dragons.

History

AT/LE Dating System: 1 LE is the year when the Vermillion Wars ended. Everything before that is denoted as AT. Equivalent to BCE and CE really. The "canon" present year is 1132 LE, which will march forward by one on the vernal equinox (Northern hemisphere) in the real world. Any period of history can be thought of as the "present" within a given tale, so this isn't a restriction. This is just for fun.

Vermillion Wars: The largest mass-extinction event in recent history on Keppel, which took place from 304 AT to 1 LE. About 80% of human life was wiped out, with an overall loss of almost half the world's species. Carried out by a large army of infernal dragons.

Criosian Extinction: Extinction event that occurred around 50,000 AT. A large criosidium meteor crashed into the sea just off the West coast of Koeya. Created the Heavensent Sea an the island Criosis, and wiped out many species of megafauna. Created the conditions required for humans to spread across the world quickly.

Materials

Starstuff: Starstuff is the material that comprises the stars. It takes on three allotropes, which have different properties. Starstuff is only rarely shaved off of stars, and so is rarely seen on any world.

Stardust is a low-gravity material that takes a form somewhere between vapor and powder. It is a very good conduit and amplifier for odhir.

Starmetal is is a semi-crystalline solid that holds its shape incredibly well. It does not tarnish, and takes centuries or millennia of use to chip or shatter. It has the highest melting point of any known material.

Stargel is the rarest form of starstuff. It is a cohesive gel that does not mix with other fluids. It reacts to the will of mages quite easily. When ignited, it undergoes a unique form of "heavenly combustion" which consumes only the stargel and can burn even in the void of space.

Sunstuff(s): Term for the materials created during solar flares. Sunstuffs do not make up the actual matter of the suns. Group of materials rather than one particular one. Each sunstuff has a unique form and set of properties. Sunstuffs from every sun can be found across the universe, but they are more common in systems closer to the sun they originate from.

Crystal Flame: sunstuff of Luxor. TBA

Ether Jelly: sunstuff of Illyre. TBA

Frostfire: sunstuff of Schismata. TBA

Fulminating Shards: sunstuff of Sechmas. TBA

Hemispatial Opal: sunstuff of Cancrus. TBA

Hyperfluid: sunstuff of Pereptia. TBA

Loop Sunstone: sunstuff of Alcaernon. TBA

Night Ink: sunstuff of Yahasain. TBA

Polarinite: sunstuff of Regalion. TBA

Radiant Honey: sunstuff of Eumrakh. TBA

Scarlescence: sunstuff of Aureolin. TBA

Severstone: sunstuff of Annrava. TBA

Solarraq: sunstuff of Glauryuz. TBA

Sunken Snow: sunstuff of Eremoor. TBA

Sunmetal: sunstuff of Mananakus. TBA

Thanatium: sunstuff of Vaalgrota. TBA

Veilglass: sunstuff of Haerox. TBA

Azurate: A type of gemstone formed in the Ocean of Flame, which has the ability to convert energy into a liquid form called a Flux, and vice-versa, depending on variant.

Flux: Liquefied form of energy. Can be physical, spiritual, or some mix of both. Retains properties until released via azurate gem.

Asperyplasm: The matter that makes up ghosts. Blood transmuted by extraordinary anger-induced soul corruption at time of death becomes Asperyplasm, dragging the person's mind from their brain as it leaves the body.

Caelite: A shiny blue mineral, transmuted from the hearts of some titan dragons after they die. Has anti-gravitational properties.

Criosidium: Metal formed around Eumrakh, capable of being programmed easily and adapting on its own. Has a tendency to form sapient minds.

Dracynstone: Pale grey stone that grows on dragons that are in the path of an eclipse's central ray. Theoretically good for wards against magic.

Pyreglass: Fibrous flexible glass with fiber-thermic properties. Converts molten quartz that attaches to it into more pyreglass. Woven into clothes for high-temperature races.

Xanderine: Also called rose-cobalt. Able to be a simple rechargeable battery when a copper solenoid is wound around it.

Magic

Soul Corruption: A transmutative event caused by refined odhir entering an object's soul. Can be caused by solar influence or natural events (firestorms, electric supercells, etc) causing an upwelling of the planet's reserves of odhir. The origin of almost all magical materials.

Sorcery: Innate abilities accessible to a person via Sunstep. Usually an effect caused by channeling odhir into one's own physical body.

Asperypathy: Sunstep that uses a reservoir of asperyplasm rather than odhir.

Spellslinging: Sunstep-Moonstride hybrid done by infusing bullets with simple refined odhir spells.

Phtheromancy: Sunstep done by inducing soul corruptions in the user to unlock new innate sorceries.

Druidry: Starstep magic that connects by physical touch and expanding one's sense of self.

Bardics: Starstep magic that connects by resonating sound and empathic forces.

Astremancy: Moonstride magic that manipulates Fluxes via use of azurate gems.

Heliamancy: Moonstride magic done by using any sunstuff, be it in an artifact or by itself.

Witchery: Moonstride magic done with organic matter and transmutative processes to create edible or ritual effects. Usually overlaps with cooking or brewing drinks.

Alchemy: Moonstride magic that studies soul corruptions and creates new materials. Overlaps heavily with the scientific study of matter, which is also called alchemy.

Elixir: A clear solution that can hold refined odhir in suspension within it. Essentially capable of becoming elemental liquids or potions.

Artifice: Moonstride or Voidstride magic (Lunar or Abyssal Artifice respectively) that uses materials to create magical objects or tools.

Lunar artifice is a Moonstride magic, using the properties of the materials that compose the object to give it its effect.

Abyssal artifice is a Voidstride magic, using the object as a battery and handle for the crystal focus, which is inscribed with runes to define its effect.

Runes: Geometrical patterns which define the flow and refinement of odhir. Foundation of Voidstride magic.

Focus: Gemstone inscribed with runes, made to act as a conduit for a Voidstride spell.

Spellwriting: Voidstride magic that uses runes written on a temporary medium, putting energy into the medium to activate the spell. The medium, usually paper, is destroyed to gain the energy needed to fuel the spell.

Crystallophany: Hybrid Sunstep-Voidstride magic that uses foci implanted into the brain of the user, later activated via Sunstep.

Harmonics: Altered circular runic script made to enclose an area, providing an effect within its boundaries. Usually drawn with salts.

Thaumaturgy: Not to be confused with Thaumaturgy from Cosmoria. Thaumaturgy is (usually) a hybrid Sunstep-Voidstride magic where harmonics are drawn by crystallizing and stabilizing air. When pushed, the harmonic circle activates a spell via Voidstride, using the energy stabilizing it as its fuel. Can be drawn via Abyssal Artifact with the effect of stabilizing air with pen-like precision for pure Voidstride application.