Creative "Ask Me Anything" issues thread

[doctorpangloss]

Leave questions about Spellsource's world here for your lore team to answer using the Leave a comment commenting box below!

[Muhframos]

Who are the Bogovey? What do they do?

[Pircival]

What's Gramlot's role in the story? What are some fun facts about Gramlot? What is Gramlot?

[Bromora]

Is the true nature of the Spellsource known? If not, what would be the leading theories by any who believed in it?

[Bromora]

Was Yunnon an empire before being attacked by the Lotus Empire, and was it then that they fell, or were the slowly falling over time already? Would it’s state in the game be open for being related to a class and it’s champion that seeks to bring it back to power?

[Pircival]

Besides Shun He, who are other important humans?

[Pircival]

Can humans use magic from the spellsource? In what way? What's the difference between Lun and spellmist?

[Pircival]

What exactly are Elementals? Are there any important ones?

[Phyley]

Would most yokai fit the lore or are there only a certain few that we would use?

[NekkitXD]

Would constructs fit the lore as ancient mechanical creatures powered by magic?

[Pircival]

Are there specific names for the lesser and greater Oni? How is a lesser Oni different from a greater Oni?

[Phyley]

What do we know rn about the Lotus Empire, and what are the general directions in further lore with it?

[Phyley]

Also do we have an idea how the world works? Like different planes, many gods and such?

[alexanderberman]

Who are the Bogovey? What do they do?

@Muhframos The Bogovey are a clan of Dragonvians, the dominant dragon-race of the Lun Islands. Dragovians are like Elves in traditional fantasy -- they are brilliant architects and fighters, but also arrogant and conservative. Bogovey are the outcasts of Dragovian society. They are rebellious, independent, and ruthless. And because of a crime committed far in the past, they cannot fly and are cursed to live underground. Think of them as Dark Elves.

Hundreds of years ago, the great Dragovian scholar BOGOVAR dared to question Dragovian religion. All Dragovians believe that the world was created by their geometrically shaped serpent-like ancestors who fought a war with the demons and sealed them underground. They also believe that magic is the promethean gift bestowed them by the same Gods and there's no more to harness. But Bogovar didn't buy it. He was an alchemist, and according to his research, magical power comes from somewhere underground. It is a substance… not a gift from the Gods. So in order to harness it, he traveled to the Demongate on Krah island to get safe passage underground. By working with the Demons -- or Oni -- of the island, Bogovar broke the greatest taboo of Dragovian society. He was sentenced to death for his sins, which ignited a brutal civil war between the Dragovian establishment and his followers who called themselves Bogovey. They used his theory of magic to summon demons and powerful spells for war. But they were too few in numbers to triumph. Ultimately all the Dragovian clans united against them and they were cursed to live underground.

In the hundreds of years hence, life in caves under Mount Moromah made the Bogovey lose their wings. But they never lost their fascination with magic. And they've been biding their time for revenge ever since.

[alexanderberman]

What's Gramlot's role in the story? What are some fun facts about Gramlot? What is Gramlot?

@Pircival Gramlot is the seat of the Jerbrod Dragovian clan. Located on a bay, it's home to a bustling port and the commercial heart of Dragovian society. The greatest symbol of Gramlot's wealth is Gramlot castle. Located in the center of the city, the castle is a towering aviary built of gleaming limestone. Imagine it looks like medieval skyscraper with little stone runways jutting out the sides where Dragovian traders, clergy, and aristocrats curry favor with the ruling Daimyo. On the top of the castle is a massive stone statue of Ankylo, patron God of the Jerbrod. The more powerful your family in Gramlot, the higher up in the Castle you roost. Around the castle, there are smaller tower-like aviaries inhabited by the lesser aristocrats of the Jerbrod. Each lords' magistrates and serfs live lower down in the aviary. The town center is the perfect symbol of the Jerbod's cutthroat and stratified society.

But go a little further out, and you'll see this is the most open city in Dragovian society. As a trade hub, it hosts whole communities of Hengeyokai who work in the port, farm the land, and staff the workshops. Around the port, the carps pull in ships while the cat-like Bakeneko patrol the docks. Kawauso otter shipwrights build the cargo barges that sail goods down the Jer river to the capital at Mount Moromah. And a vast shantytown of Tanuki surround the city. These wily racoon dogs are the middlemen between Hengeyokai and Dragovian society. They are always sniffing around for coin.

Gramlot is like the medieval New York or Shanghai of this world. It's not the prettiest or most powerful city on the island. But it is the one most bursting with life.

[alexanderberman]

Is the true nature of the Spellsource known? If not, what would be the leading theories by any who believed in it?

@Bromora The true nature of the Spellsource is not known.

But there are several and contradictory theories. Shun He, the grand alchemist of the Lotus Empire, has dedicated his life to its study. He believes that Spellsource, which he calls "Lun", comes from the air. Back when he was a child in Yunnon, he remembers one summer when glowing blue flecks -- like a thousand fireflies -- floated through the air. His grandmother captured these flecks in jars to sell at her market stand as trinkets, and young Shun He stole one for himself. As an experiment, he dropped his sister's doll inside and sealed it up. That's when something incredible happened. The doll started to move on its own.

After teenage Shun He is captured by the Lotus Kingdom, it's this same demonstration that saves his life. The emperor is so impressed that he names him Grand Alchemist and orders him to use any resource he needs to harness Lun and fashion it into weapons of war. With the industrial base of the Lotus Empire at his at his disposal, Shun He builds the Lunvane -- a device that can detect the presence of Lun in the air -- and he makes many discoveries: Lun's appearance is random except it appears more on windy days. Then there's the most important discovery of all. Lun is coming from the East, across the ocean.

Armed with this knowledge, Shun He convinces the emperor to mount an expedition and find the source of Lun. It brings him to the Lun islands… and that's where his Lunvane starts acting up. It no longer points in any direction and instead spins wildly. Perhaps the Spellsource doesn't come from the air after all…

The dominant view among Dragovians is that the Spellsource is the promethean gift of their emperor, the giant dragon slumbering inside Mount Moromah. Specifically, it is the tears he sheds for his people that contain the magical substance. The haughty Vahlok clan collects these "tears" in the streams coming off the mountain and uses it to dominate the other clans. As keepers of the Emperor's tears, they follow strict traditions when it comes to magic and prevent any further investigation.

The Bogovey clan was exiled for questioning this orthodoxy. They believe they know the true nature of Spellsource. It comes from underground, and deep below the demongate on Krah, you can find the highest… and most dangerous concentration of Spellsource.

Air, Water, Earth, Fire-- all of these are competing theories for the Spellsource… and they are all wrong. The truth will only be known after the bloody war for its control is over.

[alexanderberman]

Was Yunnon an empire before being attacked by the Lotus Empire, and was it then that they fell, or were the slowly falling over time already? Would it’s state in the game be open for being related to a class and it’s champion that seeks to bring it back to power?

@Bromora For most of its history, Yunnon was a landlocked desert backwater constantly warred over by bloodthirsty Khans. Thirty years before Shun He's discovery of the Lun Islands (30 BD), a Khan named Goyan united all the tribes and went on a conquering rampage. Kingdom after kingdom fell before his armies of horse archers across the plains. At its height, the Yunnon empire covered millions of miles and ruled over millions of people. Its power had no bounds… until it hit the Great Wall of the Lotus Empire.

Stretching hundreds of miles and over a hundred feet tall, no army had ever breached the Great Wall. And Goyan's horse archers, who proved so effective at routing kingdom after kingdom, were powerless against it. So Goyan had a choice. He could turn back and rule the largest empire the world had ever known. After all, the Lotus Empire was no threat to him. The Lotus Dynasty was weak, old, and riven with intrigue between its great families. This was an empire on a slow decline. Its Great Wall was more to keep people in than keep armies out.

But Goyan was arrogant. He charged his advisor and alchemist, Shun Loa, with breaching the Great Wall. Over the course of his travels, Loa had heard of a substance that -- in high enough concentrations -- could trigger a huge explosion. So he collected it across Yunnon's vast holdings and managed to build a bomb. This was the first recorded use of Spellsource as a weapon. And it was devastatingly effective.

The wall was breached, and Goyan's horse armies streamed through. They burned and pillaged every imperial village they rode through, hoping the shock of their brutality would bring the Lotus Empire to its knees and hasten its surrender.

In fact, this had the opposite effect. The Yunnonite assault shocked the great families of Lotus Empire into action and they put aside their difference. The aging Emperor was forced to abdicate, and name his dynamic nephew, Lotus Wei, as his heir. Wei's bravery, youth, and brilliance inspired the people and awakened a sleeping giant. Goyan's army, by contrast, consisted mostly of recently conquered peoples. When they saw the tide was turning, they deserted him.

Wei took the fight all the way to Yunnon and killed Goyan in battle. With the Great Khan dead, his empire died with him. But Wei was not a killer. He did not murdered the Yunnonites, just made them all slaves. He even spared Shun Loa's son, Shun He, and allowed him into imperial service.

Deep inside, Shun He sees the same arrogance and danger in Wei as he did in Goyan. But he's not motivated by revenge. He wants to free his people, not destroy their captors. And he believes his father's dream is key to doing it. Tap the Spellsource, and you will free your people.

[alexanderberman]

Besides Shun He, who are other important humans?

@Pircival Shun He sailed to the Lun Islands with three giant ships -- the Lotus, the Lily, and the Hyacinth. His crew draws from the furthest reaches of the old Yunnonite Empire, and these are our human heroes:

Shun He (30) - Commander of the Spellsource expedition and Grand Alchemist of the Lotus Empire.

Brass (undead) - Expedition navigator. He is Shun He's Frankenstein creation. A living-Lunvane, Brass is part-human part-golem and can intrinsically sense and harness Spellsource. Back in Yunnon, he was Shun He's best friend and died in the invasion. After Shun He rose up the ranks, he returned to his home town and dug up his grave. He used his knowledge of Spellsource to reanimate his body, and now his friend is back. As a side-effect of the process, Brass is now a powerful magic user.

Himari (26) - Chief engineer of the expedition. Plucky, kawaii, and often-grease stained, she can fix just about anything.

Qach (60) - Soldier/Bodyguard/Assassin. He's an expert swordsmen and archer that loves to drink. In service to Shun He's family for his entire life, Qach treats him like a son. It's not just a feeling either. Secretly, Qach is Shun He's biological father. He knows how much Shun He looks up to his dad, so he has sworn never to tell him the truth. But he will protect his son with his life.

Ai (22) - Expedition Medic and Healer, Ai joined Shun's crew to see the world. She's secretly Emperor Wei's daughter and ran away to pursue adventure instead of live a life at court. She's also Himari's best friend.

More to come.

[alexanderberman]

What exactly are Elementals? Are there any important ones? Would constructs fit the lore as ancient mechanical creatures powered by magic?

@Pircival @NekkitXD Elementals in the world of Spellsource are created by massive concentrations of Lun. Sometimes that concentration gets in the air through an small eruption of Mount Moromah which creates Air Elementals. Sometime an earthquake exposes a vein of Lun in the earth which creates Earth Elementals. Lun is an animating energy, so focusing it can animate anything. Normally, these elementals are extremely short lived. Like think of natural disasters with the angry personality of animals. But the different factions in Spellsource -- Human, Dragonovian, Demon, Hengeyokai, and Spirit Folk -- have their own ways of controlling those elementals to use in battle.

These constructed elementals are not as powerful as the naturally occurring ones, but they are much longer lasting. While a natural Air Elemental feels like a tornado crossed with a vulture, the Vahlok Wind Construct uses that same power to create a scout, like an Eagle made of pure air. So Constructs could be thought of as Elementals whose power has been controlled by alchemy and technology.

[alexanderberman]

Would most yokai fit the lore or are there only a certain few that we would use?

@Phyley All Yokai fit the lore of Spellsource. Here is how they work--

Thousands of years ago, the Barrier did not surround the Lun Islands so more Spellsource seeped into the human continent. Because of this, the world was a more magical place and demons (Yokai) roamed the swamps, forests, and caves. Then someone or something drove all of these demons off the continent and through the Demongate into an underground prison. This powerful entity also forged the barrier so that magic could not taint the world again.

The people of the continent can now only remember Yokai as myths and legends. They don't walk the world anymore. But when Shun He and his people land on the Lun Islands, they discover Yokai actually exist. They are not just legends. They are a fierce demon army who want to return to the world of men...

And Shun He just pierced a hole in the Barrier that kept them away.