The Lore of Crucis Volume 1: Introduction

Thank you for taking a peek of this story!

To my dear reader, as you've read from the Crucis' sypnosis, you can pretty much gauge the depth of the lore in this novel. May this introduction help you in understanding some of the character nuances and dialogues.

To help you familiarize with the dynamics of Crucis' world, and also to help you comprehend some parts, I have organized and summarized the definition of some of the terms you may encounter while reading the first volume of this story.

╔══════ ∘◦ ✾ ◦∘ ══════╗

༺ Races Living in Central Jumana: ༻

╚══════ ∘◦ ❈ ◦∘ ══════╝

Moira

◈ Plural form: Moirais

◈ Beings gifted with long lives, precognition, mana talents (can manipulate & control) and use Divinity to delay aging. (for pure-blooded/dominant Moirais)

◈ Distinguished by the possession of Emerald/Green-hued Eyes. The deeper the colour, the stronger the talents. They also possess lighter hair colours. (Blonde, Grey or White)

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Fae

◈ Plural form: The Fae/Faes.

◈ Ephemeral Beings born from the trunk of The Tree of Truths. Born with the talent to control & manipulate mana.

◈ Consists of Elves, Fairies & Dwarves who have longer life spans. (Distinct pointed ears and green-hued hair.)

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Commoners

◈ Mortals born without any blood ties from Moirais nor Fae. (Basic Humans)

◈ No affinity to Mana usage & manipulation but can train their bodies physically or mentally to get stronger/skilled with their crafts.

◈ Ages normally.

╔═══════ ∘◦ ✾ ◦∘ ═══════╗

༺ Major Factions that Govern Jumana: ༻

╚═══════ ∘◦ ❈ ◦∘ ═══════╝

Palace of Anima:

◈ Believers and Worshippers of Fate. A divine principle by which the order of events has been inevitably predetermined.

◈ Helmed by the Ferre Imperial Family. (Pure-blooded Moirais) Lead by the Emperor & The Empress. (Absolute Monarchy)

◈ Members of the faction are either pure-blooded Moira or Half/mixed Moira kin. (Nobility)

◈ Employs a peerage class system according to rank, lineage & nobility. (Sorted from highest to lowest)

◆ Emperor/Empress

◆ Dukes

◆ Marquess

◆ Earls

◆ Viscounts

◆ Barons

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Church of Arbor:

◈ Reveres and practices Conscience. A moral principle that inhibits or influences the thoughts or actions of a person.

◈ Helmed by the Saints of Silva, the primary caretakers of the Tree of Truths. (Pure-blood Elves) Only the Saints can speak and converse with the Tree of Truths, an ancient sentient tree planted in the city of Silva.

◈ Members of the factions are mostly Elves, Dark Elves, Fairies and Dwarves. (Both full-blooded & half-blood kin.)

◈ Employs a Theocracy system and classified by ranks. (sorted according to highest to lowest)

◆ Saints (Pure-blooded Faes - Who can speak and listen to the Tree of Truths)

◆ Blessed (Children of the Saints - Unable to hear the Tree of Truths, but can speak.)

◆ Laymen (Common Fae folks & Halflings - Unable to hear/speak to the Tree of Truths, mostly due to mixed blood.)

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Seditio:

◈ Rebukes the divinity of Fate, and believes that any mere mortal can shape their own destinies. Followers commit to the words: "The End Justifies The Means."

◈ Helmed by the Enlightened One, a peculiar individual who managed to eat a fruit of the Tree of Truths and managed to survive.

◈ Members are composed of Commoners and Half-bloods from the Church of Arbor. They accept anyone as members as long as the initiate consents to a Blood Oath.

◈ Follows Meritocracy and utilizes Blood oaths to establish Brotherhoods. Classified based on achievements/skills. (Sorted from Highest to Lowest)

◆ The Enlightened One (Leader)

◆ The 5 Big Brothers (Cronies of Leader)

◆ Officers (Aides/Soldiers of the Big Brothers)

◆ Brethren (followers/supporters of Seditio)

╔══ ∘◦ ✾ ◦∘ ══╗

༺ Geography: ༻

╚══ ∘◦ ❈ ◦∘ ══╝

World Name: Jumana (pronunciation: Humana)

Continent: Central Landmass (Contains Central North, West and South) Surrounded by the vast Ocean of Ius. While the Eastern continent is an archipelago.

╔═════════════════╗

༺ Climates, Terrain & Capital Cities: ༻

╚═════════════════╝

Central Region:

■ Capital City: Anima - The location of The Palace of Anima.

■ Valleys & Hills with temperate forests, rivers and lakes at the outskirts of the capital.

■ Cities/Towns nearby: Parte at the eastern outskirts & The Port City of Sequi. (Eastern coast side)

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

North Regions:

■ Capital City: Silva - The home of The Church of Arbor & the location of the Tree of Truths.

■ Alpine Mountain Ranges & Winter Pine forests.

■ Extreme north is frozen/glacial.

■ Winter lasts for two and a half months. (Starts from Month of Autumn until mid Spring)

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

South Regions:

■ Sand dunes, Deserts, Steep Canyons & Palm Oasis/springs.

■ Dry & Arid with occasional sandstorms. Wet season only lasts for a month & a half. (Month of Spring to mid Summer)

■No capital cities as only nomadic tribesmen of Ults settle in the desert.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

East Regions:

■ Capital City: Orto - Home of the Orto Mercantile Group.

■ Volcanic Archipelago, rich in Mana stone mines.

■ The Northern Isles have mild weather (Temperate) & great mountain ranges. While southern isles have Tropical weather and active Volcanoes & Geothermal activities. (Tropical rainforest - Wet Season: Autumn - Winter)

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

West Regions:

■ Capital City: Flumen - Homeland of the Seditio Brotherhood.

■ Plains & Marshlands with minimal Mountain ranges and valleys. Lots of bodies of water such as streams and river systems. (Temperate Weather and occasional tornadoes)

╔═════ ∘◦ ✾ ◦∘ ══════╗

༺ Mana Utilization in Jumana: ༻

╚═════ ∘◦ ❈ ◦∘ ══════╝

Threads of Fate:

◈ Composed of pure Mana that ties a person's soul to the world line.

◈ Other Terms/Words for it: Strands, Threads & Fate Threads.

◈ Has Three Colour types:

1. Gold - represents the Mana link between Fate and a Person's soul. A brighter luster means stronger bonds between the world line and the soul.

2. Red - Strands formed by blood relations. (Ex. Father - Son)

3. Black - Decaying/faded-out Gold/Red threads. (When the Mana connection between Fate & the Soul is cut off by force.)

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Bonds:

◈ Mutual connections that form when two or more Threads of Fate come together.

◈ Has Three types:

1. Familial Bonds - When individuals produce offspring. (Ex. Father x Mother = Son & Daughter)

2. Blood Bonds - When two or more individuals exchange their blood for the basis of compromise. (Ex. Blood Siblings, Marriages, Sworn Siblings/Adoptions) Should it be Broken/Cut, a penalty or death may befall the contractors.

3. Covenant Bonds - Contract imbued with Fate's mana. Usually written or documented. If violated/broken Divine Punishment or Death will befall the violator.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Spells:

◈ Invoked by the caster by actively consuming their own mana pool. The greater the mana capacity, the more powerful spells they can cast. Using too much spells can cause mental fatigue.

◈ Categorized in four levels (ranked according to strength)

1.Calamity-level

2.High/Superior-level

3. Mid-level

4. Low-level

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Enchantments:

◈ Controlling the flow of Mana from the surroundings and using it to surround a target. Uses only ambient mana and is less taxing than casting spells. The higher the concentration of Mana in the environment, the more efficient the enchantment.

◈ The caster can also adjust the Enchantment Level if they can accumulate the necessary amount of mana in the environment

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Wards:

◈ Highest level of Enchantment wherein the caster uses Ambient mana and their own Mana pool.

◈ Only the caster can manipulate/activate a ward. To dispel one, either the caster must disable it or a person must have an active blood connection or bond with the caster.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Divinity:

◈ Actively utilizing the pure Mana from a person's Fate thread. Can only be possible with Dominant Moirais blessed with a massive mana pool. (This also shortens their lifespan as it hastens aging.)

◈ The emerald irises/eyes of the Moira/Moirais turns golden if activated.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Swift Letters:

◈ A type of Letter that is imbued of Mana or Composed of Mana.

◈ Unlike the traditional Letters sent by post, Swift Letters utilize the ambient Mana in the environment to travel to its destination. (May transform as animals.)

◈ Usually sealed and will be sent directly to the intended reciepient, senders can attach items into it like a spatial inventory. (But may require a high pool of Mana to do so)

╔════ ∘◦ ✾ ◦∘ ════╗

༺ Measurement of Time:༻

╚════ ∘◦ ��� ◦∘ ════╝

◈ 4 Months: Spring, Summer, Autumn & Winter

◈ 90 Days in a month. 7 Days in a week. 24 Hours per day and 60 minutes per hour.

◈ Years are documented as Threads. (Years after the Moirais established The City of Anima)

Example date format: 12th Day of Spring, 8967th Thread.