The most powerful houses are those which have their own mana well (San'chit). There are three Tlaxican in S. Zaunt and one in N. Zaunt which have their own wells. The three in S. Zaunt have small-ish wells: the one in the North has a Dragongate which surpasses every other well in Zaunt by itself.
Within Tlaxican, there are numerous family units which are called Tlaxi'glica (literally 'lineage') which are analogous to immediate family units. The smallest houses may only have two lineages: the largest have hundreds, or even thousands. This is particularly so in the North, where the vast majority of Mercurions are the children of Tlaxican Quchan ('Chew-chan'), 'The House of Birds', and bear Quchi as their fore-name.
Culture now varies between the two ends of Zaunt, but there remain some commonalities.
Reproduction
A Mercurion child is generally born to three parents, as Mercurions marry in threes. Tlaxican measure their wealth in the number of children they have, the quality of those children, and the reserves of mana they have to create them. To reproduce, Mercurions sculpt their children with a mana-treated silicon elastomer, glass, silicon-carbonite (which is relatively common in Zaunt) and specially softened metals. Their techniques are derived from the technological processes used by the Aesari and Drachan nearly 5000 years ago, and are one of the closest-kept secrets in Archemi.
Mercurions from the richest families are created along very particular clan lines in line with their laws using parts from their ancestors, whereas poorer families tend to craft children less skillfully. This is reflected in the term 'Lixu' - literally 'plain' - which is used to describe people of lower status. Lineage is taken very seriously, and all Mercurions of standing recognize the Tlaxi'glican in their House by appearance alone.
Families within a house have guidelines for crafting their children which must be adhered to to preserve the characteristic appearance of that family. Filigree, eye-color, face shape, proportion and body type are all decided by tradition, and the married triad who are crafting the children are generally honored to do so. Appropriating the features of another House or Lineage is considered a grave insult, and the child is scorned as a 'Juchi', a copy, which is analogous to a bastard in human feudal societies. Juchi are created, however: and they are frequently employed as spies and assassins for the duration of their short, violent lives.
Mercurions are a subterranean people: they live in enormous cavern and tunnel complexes which are sculpted into underground cities. Mercurion cities and towns are not dark and gloomy places, but they are often hostile to other lifeforms. Because of their immunity to poisons and [Stranging], Mercurion Tsonyan (Cities) are generally built near veins or lakes of mana, and they suffer no ill effects from gas pockets, carbon monoxide, or magical vapors. Because of the near universality of mana and the age of the cities, the buildings sprout glittering crackled covers made of glass dust and mana, as well as crops of bluestone and Stranged fungi and lichen. The resonance would be enough to give a human mage a stroke, though the glittering beauty of Mercurion cities cannot be denied: it would be the most beautiful half an hour of their life, before the Stranging took and their lungs became full of crystallized mana.
Mercurions have some of the most sophisticated, haunting music in Archemi. Their signature instruments include a 27-stringed instrument called a Chiki, the Sasuk (a hammered dulcimer) the Jik (a thumb piano similar to a Kalimba), the Tuntikhi (a kind of metal drum similar to a space drum), the Zai (a harpejji) and the Moun, a quartz cantabile. Every house has a Singer who specializes in music, but all Mercurions are sensitive to sound and are tuned for singing. Their education is primarily musical, with great emphasis on teaching songs, ballads, and lists. Reams of information are memorized musically.
It is thought that the Gate of Eternal Longing, the gate which imprisons the draconic deity Veles, was constructed in Zaunt.
Death
Mercurions are not a long-lived people, as they were created to be shock troops, not a species in their own right. As such, the techniques to create and imbue them are fundamentally flawed. From the time they are born, they gradually slow down as their Seid metabolism decreases. A Mercurion has no 'childhood' to speak of. They are educated in their ways within a year, and the next 30-40 years are spent as adults. No Mercurion has lived past 46, and due to the civil war and various other conflicts, they rarely live past 25 in practice.
It is absolutely vital for them to recover their dead to recycle their matter into the next generation, and often, the times that Mercurions will fight the fiercest is when they are denied the option of retrieval. They attribute great significance to the re-use of materials, with Tlaxi'glican forming from lineages on this basis. Incorporating the previous generation into the new is of fundamental importance, and even in the civil war, battles which have resulted in large numbers of dead have seen ceasefires to allow both sides to collect the dead for reincorporation.
Mercurions have no fear of death, despite being non-religious. The fear of death is actually fundamentally alien to them: their lives are so short and their mentality so communal that the average Mercurion views their own death as the point in which they pass the baton to their family's children and grandchildren. Brave soldiers are commemorated through being recycled into future generations, individuals of which will be named after them for their bravery in combat. Because of their sentience and rapid metabolisms and minds, they do not experience temporal contraction. Mercurions are born, live and die fast.
The recording and passing on of important information in an accurate and accessible manner is another extremely important activity, and for this reason, triumvirate marriages are common. These are usually between two soldier caste members and one scholar or artificer, who is relieved of the duty to sculpt children due to their important work in research, record-keeping, machine construction and scribing.
Archemipedia: Ilia [Grade C Knowledge]
Ilia is a large, very old nation which comprises the end of the Garda Peninsula, the westernmost point of Artana. Formerly an absolute monarchy, it endured a decade-long civil war which culminated in the Council of Stewards, the Crown's advisory court of lords, seizing power under the leader of a low-born soldier, Warden Scandiva.
In ancient times, Ilia was home to tribal societies of Meewfolk, who were slaughtered and driven out by the Aesari when they began their migration to Artana from the far north. The city of Cham Garai was built around the oldest of the dragon gates, the Gate of Glorious Dawn, which is the grave of the great dragon goddess of Light, Solnetsi.
The Aesari were eventually overthrown by the combined forces of Sachara, the Demon Queen of Dakhdir, and her lover and comrade Grigori Skyrr, a human slave who discovered a method to bond and fight with dragons without dying of mana poisoning. The Skyrr name is where the Skyrdon of St. Grigori take their titles from, though it means nothing other than ‘laborer’ in the language of the Aesari.
Religion
Yea, both Prophets were in accord; Brother and Sister were in accord when they spake: “From many small instances in time, one large result may emerge. If the small things be good, the emergence is good; if the multitude be unfortunate, then the results shall be unfortunate. Strive to perfect the small lest the culmination of your actions crush you.”
-The Corpus Harmonia, Axiomata of the Prophetess 4:53
Ilia worships two gods common to the majority of nations in Artana. They are Liric, the Lord of Light, and Kyrie, the Lady of the Law. It is an absolutist, proselyting faith which actively seeks new members and is heavily involved in the law of Ilia and other devout nations. The two deities operate in twin churches. Churches of Liric are referred to as Cathedrals, and churches of Kyrie are generally referred to as Oratories.
The religion operates on the fundamental idea that humans were once higher beings who dwelled in perfection on Erruku, thought to be a world made of gold, where the lore of the universe was stored. Humans fell from grace when they warred against the gods and fell to Archemi, where they we
re enslaved by demons and used to fight in their conflicts. They were freed from their bondage 2500 years ago by the prophet Esara and her brother Ansin, who commanded magic and was able to control the demons. She was served by Asir - the early Mercurions - and chased the demons from Artana.
For many years, Ilia was a complete theocracy, ruled by a Starborn Primeria and Imperator who were spiritually considered to be brother and sister.
The primary holy text of the church is The Corpus Harmonia, often simply referred to as the Harmonia. It is arranged in five books, which claim to trace the history of all humankind from the Fall through to the present day. It is supplemented by tracts written by every Imperator and Primeria. Imperators are tasked with recording history, and Primerae must review and restore law.
Concept Art
To see all of the concept art for Archemi Online thus far, please visit http://www.jamesosiris.com/archemigallery
List of James’ Books
Hound of Eden Series
Dark, gritty urban fantasy with a cosmic horror twist, join Russian mafia hitmage Alexi Sokolsky as he confronts the mad demons of the abyss, finds redemption, and saves the world. Hound of Eden is an LGBTI series.
Hound of Eden Omnibus (Books 1 – 3)
0 - Burn Artist (Prequel)
1 - Blood Hound
2 - Stained Glass
3 - Zero Sum
4 - Cold Cell (Early 2019)
5 - Scavenger Eyes (2019)
6 - Morning Star (2020)
Archemi Online
A LitRPG saga about a young dragonrider’s ascension to greatness inside the virtual world of Archemi.
1 - Dragon Seed
2 - Trial by Fire (May 29th 2018)
3 - Shadow Chaser (November 2018)
4 - Wings of War (Early 2019)
5 - Blaze of Glory (Early 2019)
Other Titles
Fix Your Damn Book!: A Self-Editing Guide for Authors
The Expanding Universe #1 (Paperback)
The Expanding Universe #2 (Paperback)
Copyright
Archemi Online and Dragon Seed is Copyright © 2018 James Osiris Baldwin
Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either products of the author's imagination or are used in a fictitious manner.
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author or publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
For permission requests, please contact James Osiris Baldwin: [email protected]
A huge thanks to Stacy Schonhardt and her excellent copyediting!
Layout and design by James Osiris Baldwin.
Cover Art by Richard Shashigane: https://www.artstation.com/makingpicsslowly
ISBN: 9781980248460
Dragon Seed: A LitRPG Dragonrider Adventure (The Archemi Online Chronicles Book 1) Page 37