This section provides information about the world's history, magical principles, and introduces the main characters who will make up your initial party in the game. If you are worried about spoilers and plan to read the book, don’t read anything beyond the part about the magic.
The world consists of one large continent, with the middle section around the equator being covered by a dense, tropical forest. Deserts occupy a large area around both tropical circles, which transitions into savannas and forests as one moves closer to the poles. At both the southern and northern ends of the continent, snow and ice dominate the landscape.
The Northeastern part of the continent is occupied by elves, who have created a barrier that prevents any form of movement or even magic from entering their kingdom. The remaining temperate sections of the continent are home to multiple human kingdoms. The lands around the equator and tropical circles are generally uninhabited, though they are sporadically used by nomadic tribes.
The ocean around the equator is highly perilous, with strong winds and powerful water currents making it difficult for ships to traverse between the northern and southern hemispheres. As a result, there is virtually no contact between the northern and southern human kingdoms.
Approximately 4 million years ago, the most recent common ancestor of humans and elves lived in the southern hemisphere of the continent. A small group of these proto-human-elves ventured to the most north-eastern corner, which was mostly made up of separate islands. The unique environmental conditions enabled them to pass through and evolve independently, without any contact with the original group they left behind.
Around 2 million years ago, the elves created their first civilization and began to study magic. After about a million years, they reached the peak of magical power, allowing them to modify the environment and their genes, even achieving immortality.
Then, approximately 400 thousand years ago, a massive volcanic eruption created new, expansive lands in the northern part of the continent, connecting all of the islands into one large mass. This prompted the first groups of humans to journey from the south and settle in the north, forcing the elves to erect a magical barrier to protect their land and prevent any human interference.
The Game Book begins in the year 3986 of the human age with the birth of Rea, and the game itself starts in the year 4300 of the human age.
For two million years, the elves have lived in complete separation from the rest of the inhabitants of the continent. Their civilization has flourished, and one million years ago they achieved immortality. Every day, they rely on magic to carry out all tasks, from getting warm water for bathing to obtaining food and medicine. There is no scarcity, no illness, and no natural deaths, so the elves spend their time exploring the highest philosophical concepts, some training to achieve kalokagathos, some devising art, and some discovering new magic. No one alive remembers manual labor, famine, or death.
The elvish society has remained stagnant, both in societal rules and in the approximate number of living inhabitants, since the Great Step. Nothing ever changes, a phrase that aptly describes what they have become; however, most prefer it this way, as they fear the unknown and prefer to plan and understand everything.
When a young elf is born, they begin to learn magic practically from day one, since nothing can be done without a basic understanding of it. Then they attend school, where they read about all known magic, even if they are still too young to use most of it. They also learn about the rest of the world, but just enough to hate it. They learn of people, although they will never meet one. For this reason, nobody cares if the information is accurate. Young elves also learn the way of the society, the norms and rules.
Elves are considered full adults when they reach their 100th birthday. Their magical abilities peak at around 300 to 400 years of age. They usually have two or three children, with a typical 10-year gap between births, starting at 200. When an elf reaches their 1000th birthday, they are considered old enough to undergo euthanasia. As elves cannot die of natural causes, when they grow too tired of living, they just decide to end their lives with painless magic and dissolve into the nature. There are elves who have been living for a hundred thousand years, but none older than two hundred thousand.
Before becoming adults, elves are free to choose whether they wish to live in the society or leave for the human realm. If they choose to leave, they can only come back under very specific circumstances, which hardly ever happens. If someone leaves, it is considered to be permanent; no communication is possible over the barrier surrounding the kingdom. Only one-way passage is granted and then all ties are cut.
In both the northern and southern parts of the continent, there are multiple human kingdoms that operate under a feudal system with an absolutist ruler chosen through a bloodline. The Church wields a great deal of power and is often allied with the kings. Education is only available to members of the nobility, while science is largely absent. Private property is not recognized, as everything is owned by the kingdom.
Magic is rare and typically only accessible to those of noble status. It is primarily used for warmongering, and everyday use of it is strictly prohibited. People with magical abilities are compelled to join the military, and concealing them from the state is punishable by death.
There is a widely accepted superstition that magical abilities are hereditary, which is true; however, it is believed that these abilities are diluted if a person has more than one living child. As a result, mages are only allowed one child, and it must be between two mages. If a mage has a child with a partner who does not possess magical abilities, both the child and the partner are executed in a gruesome manner by the church. The person in question is given the chance to prove they may have magical abilities and thus save their life and the life of the child. To do this, they are subjected to torture by having their limbs and body burned. If they possess elemental magic, the most basic form of magic, they should be able to extinguish the fire instinctively. This test usually takes hours and almost always results in death. If the person dies, it is taken as proof they were not a mage. The baby is then killed shortly after.
Many peasants discover their magical ability as they get older and have established families with children. The church employs a network of informants, so they are eventually found. The mages are then taken to a military academy and their families are killed.
The same rules apply to the nobility which is composed solely of mages with long magical bloodlines. Typically, they have more than one child, but only one is officially acknowledged and the others are tacitly disregarded. Conversely, any offspring of two mages is deemed a highly valuable asset and cannot be harmed by any command, even one issued by the king himself.
The elves that leave their kingdom travel throughout the human realm. They are met with disdain, but people still occasionally hire them for their magical abilities. The elves wander through both the northern and southern kingdoms, never staying in one place for long. As there are so few of them, most people never encounter an elf in their lifetime. They do not interfere with any of the kingdoms and, as their numbers are so low, they don't draw any attention from the nobility and rulers. Consequently, they are free to traverse all human borders.
Beastkin, or beast people, are hybrids between humans and animals. They are capable of using some magic and living longer than typical humans. As they don't have their own kingdoms, beastkin typically live alongside humans in the southern part of the continent, with few living in the north. Due to systemic discrimination and prejudice, beastkin are often viewed as a nuisance and are frequently the target of animosity. Consequently, they are often forced to live in the forests or the worst suburbs of human cities.
Beastkin can transition between almost human form and almost animal form, although they never become completely human or animal. They are always bipedal and capable of speaking. In their human form, they can wield weapons and tools designed for humans, and their magical ability is stronger. When in their animal form, their senses, reflexes, and instincts are heightened, although their magical ability is greatly diminished and they are not able to use weapons with their paws.
Most beastkin prefer to stay in their human form, as this allows them to better fit into human society and work alongside humans as manual labor. Although beastkin can transition at any time, many find their most comfortable form and stick to it, honing their skills and abilities in that form.
Humans sometimes organize pogroms against beastkin as they are an easy scapegoat when something bad happens in the neighborhood, such as missing persons or the spreading of diseases.
Magic is highly significant to all three races living on the continent. Elves rely on it heavily and use it for almost every purpose, while humans generally deploy it for warfare and healing. Beastkin rely on it for their work. The capacity to use magic is inherited, and one's genes determine the affinity and maximal magical and alchemic capabilities, which cannot be altered - they are predetermined at birth. However, even with these capabilities, one must still train in order to reach their full potential.
Using magic does not involve any incantations or special moves; it is more akin to a feeling or sensation, like muscle memory. It can only be learned by watching someone else perform magic and remembering the sensation, not from books. While there are books about magic, these simply contain lists and descriptions; without actually seeing someone perform the magic, it is nearly impossible to do so. Unless you stumble upon the right sensation by accident, which is extremely rare.
There are four main categories of magic.
This is the most fundamental form of magic, which people often practice subconsciously. For instance, if you touch something hot, you will instinctively retract your hand. If you are a mage, you can also reflexively call forth a gust of cold air, some ice, or water.
All mages can make use of this magic. It does not enable the creation of new matter, but it allows a magic user to manipulate the air, water, and soil. Some mages can even cool down water into ice or heat it up into steam.
Elves learn to use all the elemental magic between the ages of 5 to 10, while humans and beastkin start to learn it between 15 to 20 years old.
Healing magic is also considered to be basic and is closely related to elemental magic. It can be used to heal the body, as well as to make it stronger and more resilient, helping the user to ignore pain. Most human mages can use some form of it, while all elves are capable of mastering it fully.
Summoning magic is considered a basic ability and is capable of being used by nearly all human mages and elves. This magic can only be performed once and is used to summon a familiar; usually in the form of an animal, which will then serve the mage for the remainder of its life. The mage and the familiar are able to communicate telepathically and share senses over great distances. It is believed that the more powerful the mage, the more powerful the summoned familiar, ranging from squirrels and guinea pigs to griffons and dragons. If the mage dies, the familiar will soon follow; likewise, if the familiar is killed, the mage will live on but is unable to perform another summoning.
The elven kingdom has a strong aversion to the summoning magic, viewing it as too chaotic and unpredictable. They also believe that by summoning a familiar, the mage must part with a piece of their soul in order to create the bond between them, leaving them feeling incomplete and tainted. The taboo nature of this magic has made it so that no elf, even those who have left the kingdom, will ever use it, and most would rather die than risk taking part in such a ritual.
Teleportation magic is more advanced than elemental magic, and only a few humans can use it, usually only being able to teleport themselves and one or two others. All elves can use teleportation before they reach adulthood, though the extent of their abilities may vary. To use teleportation, a mage must mix their own blood with clear water, usually in a glass vial. If they possess the right sensation and skill, the water will turn golden. Dropping this golden water on living soil allows the mage to teleport to that location.
Mages can also create multiple teleportation points without having to physically be present, by giving the vial to someone else to drop at the desired location. It is also possible to create barriers that block teleportation and, at the same time, telepathy between a mage and their familiar, such as the one surrounding the Elf kingdom.
Alchemy is an incredibly advanced topic and its inner workings differ significantly from other forms of magic. Everyone, including non-mages, has an alchemic potential within themselves.
There are two modes of alchemy: disintegration and fusion.
Disintegration can be used to break down compounds into their basic elements. For example, salt can be split into sodium and chloride, and water can be separated into oxygen and hydrogen by infusing the compound with alchemic energy. The more energy you use, the more molecules you can break down.
Fusion is more complex as it involves combining two elements together and infusing them with alchemic energy to create a new element. This is extremely tricky, because there doesn’t seem to be a rhyme or a reason to this process. You need to use two specific elements and infuse them with the exact amount of energy, otherwise it won’t work or you will create something you didn’t want. Many of these formulas have been discovered by tedious and long experiments by combining everything with everything else and infusing it with all possible amounts of energy. For example, to create oxygen, hydrogen and carbon must be fused together and infused with precisely 36 units of alchemic energy; any more or less would result in failure.
Only small amounts of a new element can be created at one time and even the most gifted humans typically have no more than 500 units of alchemic energy. Elves usually have around 1500 and the extremely gifted ones have up to 5000 or 6000 units. Unfortunately, the regeneration of alchemic energy is very slow, meaning that 500 units cannot be used to create anything particularly useful; silver requires around 800 units and gold around 3000. Elves use alchemy daily and so they are well-versed in all the combinations they have memorized through school years.
There exist more complex and advanced forms of magic, which are often combinations of basic types. For instance, one can create toxins and antidotes, heal complicated wounds, and even replicate artificial blood. In the past, elves were even able to manipulate genes, though this knowledge has been lost to time.
You may come across people with unique magical abilities during your journey, and by observing them, you can learn their magic as well. All elves, humans, beastkin, and monsters abide by the same rules. If you take notice of a new spell and possess the requisite magical potential, you can master it as well. No magic is exclusive to any particular species.
This section contains major spoilers for the books. If you plan to read them, navigate to some other subpage.
The characters mentioned here will be part of your team at the start of the game. It will be possible to recruit more characters while playing.
Born: 3986, Elf kingdom
Height: 180cm
Weight: 64kg
Race: elf
Gender: female
Rea was born in the Elf kingdom on the coldest day anyone could recall. She disliked the inflexible regulations and stagnant society, so she chose to depart the kingdom at the age of 47. She was influenced by the fictional stories she had heard while young, which led her to believe that the human realm was better. After witnessing the dismal reality of the human world, she became quickly disgusted by them. To avoid any trouble, she disguised herself as a human and traveled without drawing attention.
She encountered many unpleasant situations along the way and was eventually forced into a military school, still concealing her true self. There, she made some friends and learned more about the world. Over the course of several hundred years, she saw a positive transformation in humanity. In the end, she concluded that people may not be so bad after all.
At the age of 314, when the game starts (year 4300 of human era), she is already a powerful mage and well respected amongst her peers.
Born: 4190, Northern kingdom
Height: 176cm
Weight: 61kg
Race: elf-human
Gender: female
Yuna was born into the new age of humanity, escaping the trials and tribulations that Rea had to face. From an early age, she developed her skills in the woods, honing her strength and prowess as a warrior and an adventurer of the highest caliber. To defend herself, she wields two Sais as her primary weapons. After meeting with Rea, she began to learn magic, but still prefers to use her weapons in battle.
Born: 4198, Northern kingdom
Height: 180cm
Weight: 64kg
Race: elf-human
Gender: female
Since she was born, Klara, the younger sister of Yuna, has been rebellious. She left her home early to travel the world in search of her purpose, which was the vast ocean. Eventually, she became the captain of her own ship. She is free-spirited and highly skilled with a sword. She loves to explore and expand the boundaries of what is possible, even risking her own life. She has surrounded herself with a crew of like-minded people, who are willing to follow her anywhere.
Born: 4212, Northern kingdom
Height: 188cm
Weight: 78kg
Race: elf-human
Gender: male
The youngest of the five Satella siblings, Albert, followed a similar path to Yuna. He became an adventurer, swiftly rising through the ranks. With an affinity for illusion magic, he was instantly liked by everyone he encountered. It was only natural that he should become a spy, using his special magical abilities to infiltrate practically any fortress without being seen. He prefers not to fight, but when forced to, he resorts to using magic and deception.
Born: ?
Height: ?
Weight: ?
Race: ethereal
Gender: ?
Aenea is an ethereal spirit, always cloaked in black with her face and dark wings concealed. She is a powerful mage having mastery over all kinds of magic. Her air magic allows her to travel thousands of miles in mere minutes. Despite her preference to remain separate from human affairs, she cannot ignore the suffering she sees.
Born: 4276, Southern kingdom
Height: 168cm
Weight: 65kg
Race: beastkin - wolfkin
Gender: female
Nataly is a natural-born warrior, highly adept even for a beastkin. She holds deep affection for her younger sister, Laipa, and her people; she even became an adventurer to earn money to help them escape the oppressive regime. She prefers to stay in her human form, but can shift into her animal form when the situation necessitates it. When in human form, she fights with a spear. When she shifts into her wolf form, she fights with her teeth and claws.
Born: 4279, Southern kingdom
Height: 166cm
Weight: 62kg
Race: human
Gender: female
At the age of seven, Nica was forced to join a secret religious assassin organization. When she turned fifteen, her parents were killed by this same organization, prompting her to flee and join forces with Albert in order to fight against the oppressive theocratic government. To the outside world, she appears to be just like any other woman, but in reality she is an incredibly skilled assassin who is trained in the use of knives and poison magic.
Born: 4275, Southern kingdom
Height: 198cm
Weight: 95kg
Race: human?
Gender: male
From a very young age, Odon was trained to be a supreme warrior. With a true warrior's mindset, tremendous magical power, superhuman strength and agility, Odon was naturally respected and followed by his fellow soldiers. After witnessing the atrocities that were being committed by the theocratic government, he joined forces with Albert and quickly became his right hand man and trusted friend. He prefers close combat, and usually only uses magic for fortifying his own body.