The Codex

Fantasy RPG game with all romance combos https://www.winterwolves.com/lorenamazonprincess.htm
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Aleema
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The Codex

Post by Aleema »

Here's your darn Codex! :mrgreen:

Ask me anything about the world or the characters, and I'll try to write something about them. I'll update this post with everything.

edit by jack: you can also browse a new wiki that is being made by fans and ourselves in spare time: http://www.aravorn.com

~~~

ELVES

The Elven Forest:
Spoiler:
The mythology of the Elven Forest, or The Weald, stretches back to the Old Age when the Death Knights ruled. The first druid, commonly called Mother Nature, cried and her tears turned into seeds. She mourned the scorched land so much that her tears covered all of Aravorn, bringing green back into the world. She was killed by a Death Knight on the spot that GrandTree now stands. A single sapling rose from her grave, and it was from that tree that the druids came to be. The tree would turn into a forest over time and a population would find refuge in them. These people became what is now the elves, adapting to forest life so completely that their affinity for nature has become who they are. The magic blood of druids is now permanently a part of their race from a millennium of intermingling with the druids.

The elves are an isolationist society for the most part. They have close relations with the dwarves, but they have traditionally not allowed immigrants as they have historically disrespected the forest.

The forest is divided into regions, often determined by natural features. Tribes of elves claim authority over these various regions and are responsible with maintaining them along with their local druids.
The Druids:
Spoiler:
Descendants from Mother Nature. All plant life is attributed to her, and so all her children have a special bond with nature. Elder Druids are always female and must descend from a particular line of "pure" druids. Druid magic, on the other hand, can be learned by anyone, if you have a druid parent or grandparent.

The duty of the druids is to protect the forest and its symbiotic inhabitants. The elves have become an important part of the forest as much as the deer or the birds, so they are protected as well.

Myrth was born in one of the rare "pure" druid lines, and her mother was the Elder Druid before her. She is the most closely connected to the forest than any other druid because of this. Her pain is especially deep when the forest cries out, which it does whenever it feels threatened. Harvesting trees or anything else from the forest without the supervision or permission of a druid is illegal. Fire of any sort is completely forbidden, so the elves rely heavily on food that does not need to be cooked, or import whatever they need from the dwarves, like weapons.

Deep red hair is a recessive trait among druids, so you can easily tell that Myrth is from a strong druid background. Most druids, and even some elves, refuse to wear animals as clothing.
~~~
EMPIRE

The Empire:
Spoiler:
Before the Empire, territories were divided among hundreds of tribes and Kings. They began to dominate each other after the Old Age, conquest after conquest. A great king, the previous wielder of the Ember Blade, managed an army so great that he went undefeated in uniting all the human civilizations under one banner. He was buried with his sword in a tomb in Mt. Kronos and his Empire carried on as a monarchy for many generations. A few costly peasant revolts and a noble war later, the Council was established to represent all major factions, and the Empire has never had a King or Queen since. The Council is rarely in agreement, unless they are speaking of their common enemies: the elves.
Empire & Elven Relations:
Spoiler:
The forest was never conquered by the Empire as it was well-defended and frightening to non-magic folk, because magic was not taught in schools until a certain time. However, that did not stop the Empire from attempting to capture it over and over again. Wood was a prized commodity before technology advanced. Instead of a neighbor, the elves were viewed as a nuisance, and due to their isolationist attitude, they rarely encountered elves so they were a faceless, foreign creature to humans. They were depicted as only caricatures of themselves in human tales, often in barbaric or humiliating ways. Human society very much bred a contempt for the elves, but they were not alone. Constant attacks from the Empire spurred fear and hate of them from the elves, which passed on through generations even after the conquests stopped. The elves are not blameless, as they have razed human settlements near to the forest in the past. This was seen as a great tragedy to the Empire, as many were not sparred in these attacks. The elves felt they had no choice.

Though both nations have remained quiet on the war front for at least a generation, tension has remained. Their trade agreement has yet to come to fruition thanks to their many disagreements, so they currently have little to reason to care for one another as they're quite independent. This has stunted their cultures and technology, and they will see an explosion in both once they learn to share all they have with each other.
~~~

AMAZONS

View on Magic:
Spoiler:
Magic really has no place in their culture, since their religion is more or less founded around real people (famous Amazons), who did not perform magic, only great strength in battle. Saren/Elenor was able to cultivate their magic skill thanks to their unusually caring mistress before they met Loren.
Selective Breeding:
Spoiler:
Amazon commoners tend to choose the tall, strong men from the servants as they want the tallest, strongest daughters, but many are known to choose on attractiveness. Often, these men are smaller and much more submissive. The Queen, however, does not directly choose her daughters' fathers. She's not allowed to go anywhere near the slave pen and encouraged never to think of them. (To compensate her lack of choice: Queen's harem.) Several men are selected and reserved for the Queen and, in a time of peace, they are presented to her. They do not have any other purpose in the Citadel other than to prepare themselves for her. Multiple men are selected in case one or more are infertile (and if they are discovered to be ... they are no longer needed). These men are retired at a certain age and tasked with grooming their younger replacements.
~~~

How Magic Works:
Spoiler:
I'm going with the wizard rule that magic can be learned. There are those who are born gifted and those who are born with specific magic (elves and druids), but people like Apolimesho spent their life studying it in schools and guilds. Chambara picked up a book and taught herself dark magic, even though it was against the law (and why neither Apolimesho or Myrth really know about dark magic). Draco was dumped in a wizard academy because that's the only place that would take him, because he showed signs of being gifted. He pretty much wastes that talent on elaborate fire tricks. Learning magic is costly and difficult, it requires a tutor and tomes, which are not plentiful in an age before the printing press.
Image
Those who are not innately talented need the support of a staff to aim their spells. Some staves are designed to enhance their magic by passing their spells through enchanted gems.
~~~

DEMONS & DEATH KNIGHTS
Spoiler:
Demons are born in the Under-Realm. Like in Aravorn, demons have various species - some more simple-minded than the rest. Their purpose is to shepherd the living into death. They are beacons of death and crave it - but death is not a bad thing to them. They could even be likened to angels, since eternity in bliss or in agony is up to the individual to decide.

Death Knights are those who do not accept death. They defy it and so are not bound to the rules of it. They wander the Under-Realm until they are called to another realm. Death Knights may be people from Aravorn, but since there is an untold amount of realms, there are no limits to what a Death Knight may be. They are driven by a desire to stay alive, but they must also protect themselves from the demons that seek to feed from their death, so they must be capable warriors. The Under-Realm exists to consume life, so straying outside of death will have consequences ... They forfeit their eternal rest with eternal madness. Death Knights are not alive or dead; they become manifestations of dark magic.

Death Knights and demons can only appear in other realms if summoned. Demons can summon other demons, but it's unwise unless they have the power to control them. Death Knights cannot summon anything, so require others who can.

Necromancers usually only animate the bodies of the dead, but are intimate with the Under-Realm and its dark magic.
Vampires are those that have failed to fall into the Under-Realm to begin with, so they are safe from demons and the Under-Realm's dark magic.
Liches are manifestations of dark magic with the imprint of someone from the Under-Realm. Such dark magic seeps into Aravorn from the summoning of demons or is residual from one's death.

Fost is a Death Knight. He originates from Aravorn, not from any other realm. In his life, he had an unclean death. He refused to pass into death and so the Under-Realm's dark magic took him.
Jul is a high-minded demon. She helped summon Fost along with Grob. She was summoned to Aravorn a long time ago by a rogue warrior using forbidden magic and has been instrumental in summoning more demons.
Last edited by Aleema on Sat Jun 23, 2012 2:15 pm, edited 6 times in total.
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jack1974
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Re: The Codex

Post by jack1974 »

Haha and if becomes such a popular requirement/request, will add the texts from the forums inside the game. Maybe. But not now, perhaps in the expansion! :mrgreen:
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mastro
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Re: The Codex

Post by mastro »

What about the elves? do all Elder Druids look like Myrth? (I want to be an elf then!)
Also, why Elves and Humans are hostile? is a long-time feud or something happened (like an event? a specific event I mean).
ankewl
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Re: The Codex

Post by ankewl »

Image

Aleema must really hate me now. :lol:
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Josep Maria
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Re: The Codex

Post by Josep Maria »

Thank you so much Aleema!
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Themobboss
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Re: The Codex

Post by Themobboss »

Aleema wrote:Here's your darn Codex! :mrgreen:

Ask me anything about the world or the characters, and I'll try to write something about them. I'll update this post with everything.

How Magic Works:
Spoiler:
I'm going with the wizard rule that (at least some) magic can be learned. There are those who are born gifted, and those who are born with specific magic (elves and druids), but people like Apolimesho spent their life studying it in schools and guilds. Chambara picked up a book and taught herself dark magic, even though it was against the law (and why neither Apolimesho or Myrth really know about dark magic). Draco was dumped in a wizard academy because that's the only place that would take him, because he showed signs of being gifted. He pretty much wastes that talent on elaborate fire tricks. Learning magic is costly and difficult, it requires a tutor and tomes, which are not plentiful in an age before the printing press.
Amazon view on Magic:
Spoiler:
Magic really has no place in their culture, since their religion is more or less founded around real people (famous Amazons), who did not perform magic, only great strength in battle. Saren/Elenor was able to cultivate their magic skill thanks to their unusually caring mistress before they met Loren.
Amazon Selective Breeding:
Spoiler:
Amazon commoners tend to choose the tall, strong men from the servants as they want the tallest, strongest daughters, but many are known to choose on attractiveness. Often, these men are smaller and much more submissive. The Queen, however, does not directly choose her daughters' fathers. She's not allowed to go anywhere near the slave pen and encouraged never to think of them. (To compensate her lack of choice: Queen's harem.) Several men are selected and reserved for the Queen and, in a time of peace, they are presented to her. They do not have any other purpose in the Citadel other than to prepare themselves for her. Multiple men are selected in case one or more are infertile (and if they are discovered to be ... they are no longer needed). These men are retired at a certain age and tasked with grooming their younger replacements.
anything? really? :mrgreen:
ankewl wrote:Image

Aleema must really hate me now. :lol:
No, that's silly. Of course she doesn't hate you and I'm sure there's a perfectly innocent reason she picked up that crowbar. :lol:
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Aleema
Official writer
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Re: The Codex

Post by Aleema »

I've updated the first post with mastro's suggestions.
Themobboss wrote:anything? really? :mrgreen:
Try me. :wink:

And I don't hate anyone, that was kind of fun. I just don't want to be obligated into writing a whole Codex, but doing it on my own time is fun.
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Aleema
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Re: The Codex

Post by Aleema »

I must have satisfied everyone's curiosity. :mrgreen:
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jack1974
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Re: The Codex

Post by jack1974 »

I think there might be more questions after the expansion is out 8)
Tellah
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Re: The Codex

Post by Tellah »

Well, I wanted to know more about the Dark Elves... but I imagine more about them will inevitably come up in the expansion given Mesphit's expanded role :)
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