Acolyte: Warrior priest of Kydaism.

Ascendancy war: The war between gods and demons on the mortal plane. They struggle to claim each other’s spiritual realms (souls).

Ascendant: A returned who follows a moral code and makes mortal lives better. They lose the ability to change or shift, but they gain a greater control of their realm and magic.

Aspect: The nature of a god’s power and their abilities. The Void: annihilation and fear. White Flame: Cleansing fire and redemption. Lyr’eris: Ice and tyranny. An Ascendant’s aspect governs how they will interact with (and feed upon) mortals, whether they instill love or fear, if they will dominate or enrich their lives.

Arisen: A sentient being who has died and come back to life. They return a monster, with a thirst for blood and a hunger for souls.

Astral Eclipse: A tri-yearly cycle where Etheriouses ellipsis brings the planet into the Voids shadow. The Void obscures the light of the Ethereal Battle and without it, the soul shines through the body. Arisen, demons and common mortals are seen for what they truly are. The only safety is upon sanctified ground. To be outside or without the protection of a patron during an eclipse is certain death.

Avatar: High Priests of Khyber. There are 7. Each represents one of Khyber’s virtues.

Awakened: An evolutionary step along the path of ascendancy. Achieved by claiming the souls of other returned and awakening one’s nexus. They lose the ability to shift but gain greater control over their inner realm and the magic it holds.

Blood magic: By spilling blood, an Arisen, demon or Descendant can summon a portion of their realm and manifest it within the mortal plane. But only for a brief time.

Change: AKA Shift: An Arisen, demon or Descendant can change their physical form. They gain great strength and agility and physical resilience but become a monster.

Damnation: Khyber’s Hell. A dark place full of mysterious beasts. If one is condemned to Damnation, they can fight their way to Strothheim and claim their redemption.

Demons: An Arisen who is willing to commit any crime to slake their thirst. Their body reflects the evil they’ve done. This path is quick and easy, and they gain great strength but lose control over their spiritual realms.

Descendant: A demon that has reached godhood.

Eericas: God-king of the Arachnids.

Wyrm: A Descendant of pestilence, it resides in the Far East. None have ever seen it, but its minions are only held at bay by the Wyrm’s Bane.

Duality: A paradox within the heightenings. All individuals have two halves. Good and evil, discipline and chaos, violence and peace. The two halves of one’s self are forever at war, and the more one side is constrained, the stronger it becomes. If anger is suppressed, the easier it will be to lose control, yet if chaos is given a free rein, guilt will flog you for your weakness. Finding a balance between one’s two halves is a constant, impossible struggle.

Dun: Castle City

Ethereal Battle: A physical manifestation of the afterlife and an endless war between transcendent gods.

Faldaris: Capital of Oppenfauld.

Fauld: Keep or Castle.

God-king: A mortal god who controls a Nation. Typically worshiped by a religion.

God-queen: A mortal god who controls a Nation. Typically worshiped by a religion.

Heightening: Zenos’s religion. A series of self-disciplines that allow one to achieve levels of physical and mental prowess far beyond the body’s natural limitations. Achieved through years of study. The heightenings are integral to the Norvish way of life.

Huntsman: A position within the Fauldic Military yet outside the priesthood. A huntsman is tasked with slaying Arisen within Oppenfauld.

Hymnal: An order of wandering missionaries that uses song to spread Enris’s religion. A minstrel who is also a missionary for Enris.

Imbuement: Enchantment.

Judge: Specialists, technicians, sappers, chemists, anchor of Khyber’s faith.

Kydaist: An individual who follows Kydaism.

Kydaism: Khyber’s religion, the religion of the sword and shield.

Mordrem blossom: A flower, extremely poisonous.

Mortal Gods: Kings and queens of the mortal plane.

Enris: God-queen of Mir’eve. The Crystal Lady. Her aspects are music, drunken revel, art, feasting and sex.

Khyber: God-king of Oppenfauld. Lord of the sword and shield, ruler of Strothheim and Damnation.

Glyodrin: God-king of Illuvand. Lord of moon and star.

Zenos: He who leads by example. Chieftain of all, and greatest of warriors.

Mother Tree: God-queen of nature. She who gives life to all. By her grace are our bellies filled.

Nations: See map.

      Lyria: Home of the Myi’eshans

      Oppenfauld.

      Planes of Fangmar.

      Mothers Veil.

      Mir’eve.

      Illuvand.

      Wyrm’s Waste.

      Flame Lands.

Node: Once a realm has been consumed, it becomes a Node. It fills one of the slots that surround the victor’s Nexus. An Arisen has to fill seven slots to Awaken.

Nexus: The heart of a returned spiritual realm. A fragment of the afterlife brought back from the Neather Realms.

Neather Realms: The afterlife. Everything on the other side of the veil, not just the Ethereal Battle.

Place of power: A well spring of energies within the mortal plane. Gods and demons can tap into that power by connecting their spiritual realm to it.

Physic: Medics or doctors.

Races:

      Arachnids: A race of sentient spiders created by Eericas.

      Humans

      Norven

      Ivory Elves

      Spriggan

      Myi’eshan: Human

Realms: Used in multiple contexts. A spiritual or physical place owned by a returned.

Returned: Any being who has come back from the afterlife. Arisen, Demon, Ascendant, Descendant or god.

Rune: The language of faith. Holy symbols written by a priest. This allows them to cast spells specific to their deity.

Sanctified ground: A building or place that has been blessed in the name of a god or demon.

Scrivener: Scribes, administrative staff or clerk.

Shard: A piece of a broken planet.

Spiral: The galaxy, with the Ethereal Battle at the center. Its gravitational pull draws the Mortal Realms (solar systems) into its core, much like water flowing down a drain.

Spiritual Realm: The afterlife that grows within a god of the mortal plane.

Strothheim: Khyber’s spiritual realm, (Heaven) a great fortress, built to withstand the Ethereal Battle.

Sundering: When a planet (Mortal Realm) reaches the Spiral’s core, it is torn apart. The pieces are known as shards.

Transcend: If a returned has acquired enough power, they can ascend to the Ethereal Battle before the sundering.

The Path of Ascendancy: The struggle to attain greater power without being corrupted in the process.

Threshold: a barrier that surrounds a mortal’s dwelling. Arisen and demons cannot pass so long as the ground is sanctified.

Transcendent: A god who has transcended to the Ethereal Battle.

Transcendent gods:

      Cypress: Goddess of Nature. All that is green and good springs from her.

      Lyr’eris: Goddess of winter, cruel, cold and hard. Her only rule is to survive and fight another day.

      Void: A great emptiness that seeks to consume all within the Spiral.

      White Flame: God of the consuming fire. He who is pure and good, he who will burn away your transgressions and welcome you into his embrace.

Tenet: The principles, morals and rules of a religion.

Veil: the curtain between life and death, between the Mortal Realm and the Neather Realms.

Wyrm’s Bane: a great wall/cliff that separates Illuvand from Wyrm’s waste.