“Iliana, stay. I would have you tell me all that you know,” his mother said, or demanded. He had no way of arguing.
All Sakura could do was watch as he vanished into the distance, sealed behind a pair of ornate wooden doors. The scenery blurred as the two guards whisked her away until it faded from bright stone to murky corridors as they descended down a set of stairs. Moments later, one of the guards chucked her onto a solid and damp bench, which she could now see was inside a cell. Meanwhile the other returned with a set of cuffs, ones unlike she had seen before. They covered the arms from the elbow downwards to her wrist, where a metal grasp was attached that pressed against her hands. A design to block magic casting, along with the standard magic dampening. Another feature was their immense weight, she could already feel the pain in her back. As a final measure of restraint and torture, they chained her to the wall and floor.
The guards offered no farewell as they slammed the jail cell door shut, marching back up the stairs. This was not how she saw today ending or this saga. Iliana had asked her to trust him, but there was too much new to this situation. Could she still trust him? How had Lilith forced him into this? Given the restraints keeping her here, she saw little else she could do, aside from trusting his judgement.
It was hard to hope, though.
Appendix
General Information
Demons
Angels
Humans
Magic
The Central Isles
The South
The North
A Brief History
Book Specific Articles
Dangerous Times
Crystalline Chaos
The Northern Bloodline
Link is above to prevent spoilers
List of Names
Dangerous Times
Crystalline Chaos
The Northern Bloodline
Contains a full list of names, with pronunciations
GENERAL INFORMATION
Demons:
Demons exist in two major groups, old blood and new blood, although in reality, demons are a large mixture of similar races who have interbred since past times. They mature around the age of 20-25, but they continue growing much past this point and are capable of living up to 400 years. Even when fully grown, the body continues to rejuvenate well into the future, with most demons more commonly seeing death by a blade than organ failure. Wing membrane grows back slowly; as such any wounded wings can often leave a demon grounded for quite some time. Female demons experience something known as Heat, which is the only time they are fertile. During this, their natural scent dials up to 11, something that causes much tension within the local males. They know better than to act on it unless it’s their partner and children have been discussed previously, or would not be opposed.
Heritage can be read by an individual’s horns; straight horns indicate they originated from the Central Isles, upward curving horns indicate Southern heritage while downwards curving horns indicates Northern heritage. Old bloods horns can sometimes be vaguer unless they have an obvious, strong curve.
Their native element is darkness, while individuals can possess other elements, it is usually at the cost of their proficiency of darkness. The primal elements are a result of the mixing with the human race.
New blood demons are characterised by their dark skin, membrane-bound wings, horns and long ears, while old blood demons originating from the northern continent are usually tall and stocky but lack wings. Old bloods that originate from the south are often very tall and slender, with bestial traits; such traits often make them unnerving to others, more so those not used to their company. Their main strength is their flight, while the northern line ability is their power. Of course, exceptions exist on both sides, the variety of demons is one of their most notable traits.
Their eyes take on a variety of shades, although red and yellows are the most common. They stand the tallest of the three races, the smaller members often equal the angels in height while the taller individuals dwarf them. Compared to the other races, their blood is black in colour and toxic to non-demons, to their own race it merely causes a short period of sickness. The toxin is what creates the black colour and as such, if a demon were lacking the toxin their blood would be crimson. They are also capable of seeing at night, although this capability varies from person to person.
Demons themselves are rarely loners, preferring the company of their own kind and often sharing houses even if they aren't related. Family groups often stay together or within a certain radius of each other, the older parents often guiding their children once they have prodigies of their own. The babies aren't always peaceful but once they come into the teething stage, inexperienced parents can find themselves overwhelmed with their sharp-toothed little ankle biters. The pain from horn growth is also well known for its ability to create rather cranky children, who aren't always the most willing to accept why they're experiencing that pain.
Central Isles Specific:
Both male and females are taught weaponry and/or magic from an early age. Once they hit early-mid teens some opt to migrate to Shadekeep in order to receive the strict training from Iomor and other equally capable instructors. Unfortunately for younger females, they can sometimes find themselves being hassled by their peers. While such a thing is usually shunned, it is often a stage younger males go through, until they learn the hard way that females aren't interested in their smart-mouthed antics. Sometimes if it becomes too much, the women are separated and receive more personal one-to-one or small group training with other women. Those who take an interest in healing or crafts tend to be streamlined after a few years of basic training, as a demon that is unable to defend itself makes an easy target. Females themselves are often respected by their older peers, although there has been some recent controversy caused by male individuals.
Traits:
New Blood (Mixed blood):
Averaging at ~11ft (3.35m) tall.
Notable traits:
Humanoid, very varied in appearances.
Smooth or textured/raised skin patterns.
Skin colour varies from black to dark shades of colours (blue, purple, red, etc.), hair is often also dark in colour.
Bat-like wings (or dragon-like), though not all demons possess wings.
Pointed or sharp fingers are common.
Horns are usually present, in varying shapes.
Old Blood (Pure(r) blood):
Often average taller than new blood, though it is not always the case.
Notable traits:
More bestial in appearance/behaviour (depending on the level of social conditioning).
Those with a more humanoid shape from the northern line tend to be very muscular and large, but often to lack wings. Southern bloodlines possess very powerful wings and often take pride in them, taking advantage of the South’s warm climate.
Smooth or textured/raised skin.
They share quite a few of the traits with new bloods as their lines aren’t as much divided as Angels.
Can be overly arrogant towards new bloods, but not always.
More commonly live away from the Central Isles, but there are some known to be living there (mostly with roots to a different continent).
Angels:
Angels mature around the ages of 16-25 but unlike demons, angels are often fully grown at this time and usually live for up to 200 years. Their most notable trait is their magnificent feathered wings, a feature they take great pride in. The variety of wings between individuals is fairly significant, with larger, more elegant wings being a symbol of a noble bloodline. While they have no growth pains when it comes to things like horns, angels do moult several times while growing up and then every few years after that. During this time, they are normally snappy due to their dishevelled appearance and inability to fly, something which others often tease the unfortunate angel, despite the process happening to all of them.
Central Isles Specific:
Younge
r angels can be rather prone to injury as they refuse to leave travelling demons alone; when possible the Ranger's Guild tries to break up the fights, though not always with the greatest success. Foolhardy individuals will attack the residents in the Umbral Forest directly, where the chance of death greatly outweighs the chance of living. The antics aren't shunned by others, but those that try a more direct approach are commonly branded as idiots and little sympathy is given to their injuries or death. Attacks on the western demon settlements are no longer as common, partially down to those that try very rarely return, and heavily burnt when they do. Springhollow usually escapes most things, as the small size of it often makes them considered an unworthy target.
Female angels generally aren't as well considered, but if they can become well respected if they prove themselves. Angels are trained from a young age in battle skills, those that prove poor at these skills, or even slightly substandard are diverted to become crafters, gatherers and at the bottom, healers. Healers are rarely respected, regardless of their blood origin, as they're considered weak.
One's blood relations play a large role in angel society, some relationships are born out of a desire for status. Although if, using an example system, a tier II bloodline angel had a child with a tier V bloodline, the child would more commonly be regarded as the lower tier (in this case V) than the higher. This is truer if the child is female than male. If a high bloodline angel ends up becoming a healer, or even a crafter/gatherer, then they are often disowned by their family. Since the majority of angels reside within Eriden, families often live close to each other, even if they have no relation to each other. Individuals of lower status rarely own their own rooms, often living in communal halls of similarly ranked individuals. Family groups tend to own a single room within the expansive white citadel, and those of higher ranking have independent chambers.
Traits:
Notable traits:
Averaging at ~9ft (2.7m) tall.
Humanoid, large feathery wings, wings can vary in shape from shorter, stocky wings for powerful bursts to lighter, larger wings for prolonged flight. Wings with long pinions are often a sign of more "noble" blood and are generally rare.
Light/exotic hair and eyes (blues/greens/pinks/light yellow most common).
Their native element is light and like demons, those that possess proficiency in the primal elements often do so at the cost of their proficiency in light.
Humans:
Humans are the shortest and most normal of the three main races, standing on average only two-thirds the height of an angel and even less on a demon. Their normal life span is shorter than their counterparts, a fact which can often make their views disregarded in heated racial debates. They are the most numerous race present on the Central Isles, possessing the greatest number of settlements. Humans fully mature at around 18-20 years of age, although they are capable of having children prior to this age. Despite the dangers that arise being caught between two racial rivals, younger pregnancies are disliked, as humans rarely end up dying in these conflicts. Mixed blood from previous angel/demon heritage is possible; more commonly in the case of angel heritage but both are feasible. Angel heritage would give traits such as lighter/golden tinged skin, bright coloured hair (blonde/light brown/light colours), pale/colourful irises and such things similar to angels. Demon heritage would be the opposite, dark coloured skin and hair, with more vivid irises.
A trait more common in human mages is altered appearances; strangely coloured irises, odd coloured hair, mana scarring and an unsettling aura. While angels/demons can also possess this, it is rarer. Humans also are all-rounders when it comes to magic, they are capable of utilising all elements but do not possess a natural affinity towards anyone element. However, a human is still capable of training to master a single element.
Central Isles Specific:
Humans often live in individual houses that reside in rows within Aelburn, or semi-detached and detached houses outside of the capital. Some choose to live outside the boundaries of any town, for solitude or to make use of the natural resources, either freshwater lakes or natural growing crops. The status between male and females varies greatly on where one lives, for example in Aelburn it is tilted in favour of males but in the Western settlements, it is often the opposite way around.
Those that live in the west often trade with the demons living there, mainly due to the demon's wings giving them the advantage in the swamplands, allowing them to collect items that would be considered useful. As the only fresh water is near the demon settlements, the relations between demons and humans are much more amiable there than in other locations. Those in the East still often have rather influenced views towards their neighbours.
Traits:
Notable traits:
Averages around 5’4”
Natural hair colours (brown, blond, grey/silver, sometimes red)
Natural eye colours (brown, green, grey, blue)
Unmixed bloodlines usually possess pale coloured skin, on the exception of those originating from the South due to its warm, sunny climate.
Magic:
Aether and mana are interchangeable word-wise.
While everyone possesses mana, not everyone possesses enough mana for them to convert it into magic. The level of mana varies between individuals, one can possess enough to cast while still not being considered a mage. Skilled mages convert the mana present in the environment (aether) to supplement their spells for both efficiency and power. As such, if an area is devoid of mana their spells will be weakened, and if it’s rich in mana their spells will be strengthened. It is possible to prevent someone from casting by using magic-restricting binds, which work by distorting/blocking the mana flow to the hands and generally scrambling their aether. Few mages can cast without their hands, so in general, it’s an effective method.
Within each individual, there is a "safe" cap of how much mana a person can have residing in their body before it starts to become damaging to the owner. The threshold of this cap is often proportional to height, or at least mass (more area for the aether to reside in). As such, demons have an average cap higher than angels, and angels have a higher cap to humans. It is very possible for an individual to be born with natural mana above this cap, but they have to learn quickly how to dissipate the excess, either through magic seals to reduce how much is produced or learning to store the excess, or through constant casting (or just using a certain amount in one go).
Mana restores at a reasonable rate each day, if one has been heavily casting then they would need several days to fully recover. If a mage suddenly has no mana, it is fatal, as the body has adapted to use the mana within the bloodstream. Those low on mana will often feel lethargic.
Magic is distributed around the world via currents of aether that exist mainly in the atmosphere, as winds buffet it around, it replenishes an area with magic. Natural aether is easy to distort with large amounts of mana, causing it to become corrupt and wreaking havoc on the area's climate.
Demons can use dark-based magic and cannot use light-based, and angels vice versa. Humans can use all types of elemental magic (earth/water/ice/wind/fire/lightning/dark/light) but unless they're able to specialise in one, their efficiency is less than that of their racial counterparts.
Chaos magic is a very rare occurrence and is known at birth, thus being unable to be self-taught. Being such destructive magic, the users are often secretly killed at a young age. Chaos itself is a disordered collective of the six primal elements (earth/wind/ice/water/fire/lightning), often being able to manipulate elements to perform the opposite of their natural affinity; for example, using fire to heal as opposed to burn. Chaos’s opposite, order is an ordered collective of the six primal elements. Pure order can cause stagnation, which is equally damaging to the excessive disorder that chaos magic creates. In nature, chaos and order are always in flux, creating the balance that exists in the world.
Necromancy and blood magic are distinctions of dark-based magic, while heali
ng is present in both water and light. Many denominations exist within the elements, these are just the more commonly recognised ones.
Demons are weak to light based magic and angels are weak to dark based magic. Humans have no natural elemental weakness.
The Central Isles:
A collection of islands that exists halfway between the North and South, leading to its name. Its climate is similar to that of the U.K., with less rainfall but colder than average winters. The many islands are governed from the main core, home to Shadekeep, Eriden and Aelburn. Many of the subsequent islands that exist either side of the core is home to the populace’s farmers, miners and other such production trades. The islands stretch so far that they reach the edge of the Borderlands, the giant land masses that border the world. Any travel to and from the North and South requires passage through the Central Isles, given them a unique position. Within the core, there are three main regions:
The Commons: A barren environment, most of the plant life here is short and hardy, with what animal life that lives there being similar. Few settlers choose to live here due to the violent changes in weather combined with the difficulty of finding food. It consists of scrubland and sand dunes, with a large mountain range separating it from The Middle Lands. Only one small forest resides within its harsh expanse.
The Middle Lands: Life is much more plentiful within these lands compared to The Commons, but severe weather and seasons still batter their expanses. Multiple settlements reside on its shores. It encompasses many different environments within its borders, from wetlands near the mountain range in the west to the large forests in the east. Many crops are grown on its fertile lands, which go to market at the end of summer. A large mountain range rends the east in half.
Skies of Fyir Box Set Page 67