Glossary:
Badlisk: A man-sized amphibian common to caves and subterranean ruins. Black when not camouflaged, they have immensely long tongues which luminesce to draw prey to their hooked, telescopic jaws in the dark underground reaches.
The Crimson Drift: Land of the dead, where souls roam and thoughts find shape.
The Crowned Prophet: Khotgr-Os by name, he was the man through whom the Khavyrym chose to educate humanity. It was by his hand that the Shine was made habitable, and through his mind that Lensing was discovered. He professed to know the shape of past, present and future, referring to time as a liquid or constantly breaking, healing and growing crystal.
Daggerbats: Hairless, flying rodents so named for the size and shape of their fangs. They are capable of lifting a full grown man into the cavern skies they inhabit in Hollow World and other swampy enclosed regions.
Fleshcraft: A magic that employs wounding and mutilation to summon beings from the Crimson Drift.
Fleshcrafter: Also called Woundcasters, they are immortal beings capable of using Fleshcraft. They are known for spinning not only small creatures, but entire ecosystems from their bodies. They are believed to be slaves of the Cult.
Garden of Night: The Cult's machine cities. The quiet temples, overgrown with the Shine's first and sacred ecosystem, span multiple worlds. It is ringed by an impenetrable wall that encloses the Khavyrym.
Gila: Standing ten to fifteen feet tall, these bipedal reptiles prefer to live of the warmth of ancient nuclear reactors, and will war fiercely amongst themselves for control of a derelict war machine's engine room. The apex predators create dens of old ships and prefer solitude.
Gloom: Also called "the black realm", it is layered spacetime in which countless civilizations are known to have risen and fallen. Purportedly used by Lensers for time travel.
Ironclip: A carnivorous bipedal lizard found in machine-heavy ruin country in all climates. Ranging from two to six inches tall, they are known for having metallic talons and jaws that can cut through the hulls of fallen warships and sleeping sentries.
Khotr-Os Amydrahl: "Mandate of the Crowned Prophet", a universe-ruling cult that controls the Khavyrym's systems.
KHVRM: Spoken as "Khavyrym", it is a jovian-sized spaceship whose creators are unknown. It is the birth and rebirthplace of humanity, bioprinting the dead into life using an unfathomable technology.
Lenser: A wizard who's ability to reshape reality is derived from metaphysical equations held in the mind.
Overmind: The thought engines of the Cult, these five undead lords of limbo are similar to kings and queens.
Pride: A tribe of Yv Zalga, formed during the Animal Age, when humanity lived solely under the hull of the Khavyrym. They exist as the ruling class, each newborn Yv Zalga being designated to their respective Prides by the Cult that loosely rules the Shine through them.
Razadactyl: A carnivorous winged lizard common to tropical ruin country, though some species favor the glowing sea.
The Seam: An ancient technorganic tower stretching from beneath the Shine to above the heavens. Its summit has never been seen, and it reaches such a height that one can observe it anywhere in the universe as a dark gray cut rising from the horizon to the zenith overhead.
Reaper: Sorcerers created by Fleshcrafters to fight in wars against the threats of other realms and hunt Lensers.
Shine Amysgal: A universe or realm created by The Seam.
Thornbarrow: A dungeon created by Lensing, a project of the Overmind Swarm. It is said to house Fleshcrafters, Reapers, Lensers and countless horrors spun from the war against the Cult during the Crowned Prophet's abolishing of Lensing.
Ugyr: A Cultist. Only ever seen outside the garden when sleeved in a slipskin, a suit of smart resin armor and weapon of immense power.
Underbrood: The offspring of Yv Zalga, standard humans.
Weaver: Immortal entities of unknown shape, motivation and origin said to observe and spin reality from atop The Seam.
White Fractal: Also called "the white realm", it is a fractalized version of reality in which every sliver of time is preserved as a part of an infinitely repeating pattern. Though apparently once a thriving multiverse, it is now totally lifeless and calcified. Its mysteries are beyond measure.
Worm king: Monsters of myth who swim the unseen depths of Yurolgu. They are described in ancient poems as being limbed islands of gore, leviathans that rise for breath but once in a number of millennia.
Woundstrider: Shapeshifting Cult agents created by a Fleshcrafter. Full capabilities unknown, but official history recounts their use of woundcasting to complete missions.
Yv Zalga: A higher race of human beings bioprinted by the Khavyrym. They experience vastly longer lifespans, near ubiquitous immunity to disease, and are usually two feet taller than standard humans. Though capable of reproduction, only the Khavyrym can create Yv Zalga. Yv Zalga offspring are standard humans.
The Crimson Drift: Land of the dead, where souls roam and thoughts find shape.
The Crowned Prophet: Khotgr-Os by name, he was the man through whom the Khavyrym chose to educate humanity. It was by his hand that the Shine was made habitable, and through his mind that Lensing was discovered. He professed to know the shape of past, present and future, referring to time as a liquid or constantly breaking, healing and growing crystal.
Daggerbats: Hairless, flying rodents so named for the size and shape of their fangs. They are capable of lifting a full grown man into the cavern skies they inhabit in Hollow World and other swampy enclosed regions.
Fleshcraft: A magic that employs wounding and mutilation to summon beings from the Crimson Drift.
Fleshcrafter: Also called Woundcasters, they are immortal beings capable of using Fleshcraft. They are known for spinning not only small creatures, but entire ecosystems from their bodies. They are believed to be slaves of the Cult.
Garden of Night: The Cult's machine cities. The quiet temples, overgrown with the Shine's first and sacred ecosystem, span multiple worlds. It is ringed by an impenetrable wall that encloses the Khavyrym.
Gila: Standing ten to fifteen feet tall, these bipedal reptiles prefer to live of the warmth of ancient nuclear reactors, and will war fiercely amongst themselves for control of a derelict war machine's engine room. The apex predators create dens of old ships and prefer solitude.
Gloom: Also called "the black realm", it is layered spacetime in which countless civilizations are known to have risen and fallen. Purportedly used by Lensers for time travel.
Ironclip: A carnivorous bipedal lizard found in machine-heavy ruin country in all climates. Ranging from two to six inches tall, they are known for having metallic talons and jaws that can cut through the hulls of fallen warships and sleeping sentries.
Khotr-Os Amydrahl: "Mandate of the Crowned Prophet", a universe-ruling cult that controls the Khavyrym's systems.
KHVRM: Spoken as "Khavyrym", it is a jovian-sized spaceship whose creators are unknown. It is the birth and rebirthplace of humanity, bioprinting the dead into life using an unfathomable technology.
Lenser: A wizard who's ability to reshape reality is derived from metaphysical equations held in the mind.
Overmind: The thought engines of the Cult, these five undead lords of limbo are similar to kings and queens.
Pride: A tribe of Yv Zalga, formed during the Animal Age, when humanity lived solely under the hull of the Khavyrym. They exist as the ruling class, each newborn Yv Zalga being designated to their respective Prides by the Cult that loosely rules the Shine through them.
Razadactyl: A carnivorous winged lizard common to tropical ruin country, though some species favor the glowing sea.
The Seam: An ancient technorganic tower stretching from beneath the Shine to above the heavens. Its summit has never been seen, and it reaches such a height that one can observe it anywhere in the universe as a dark gray cut rising from the horizon to the zenith overhead.
Reaper: Sorcerers created by Fleshcrafters to fight in wars against the threats of other realms and hunt Lensers.
Shine Amysgal: A universe or realm created by The Seam.
Thornbarrow: A dungeon created by Lensing, a project of the Overmind Swarm. It is said to house Fleshcrafters, Reapers, Lensers and countless horrors spun from the war against the Cult during the Crowned Prophet's abolishing of Lensing.
Ugyr: A Cultist. Only ever seen outside the garden when sleeved in a slipskin, a suit of smart resin armor and weapon of immense power.
Underbrood: The offspring of Yv Zalga, standard humans.
Weaver: Immortal entities of unknown shape, motivation and origin said to observe and spin reality from atop The Seam.
White Fractal: Also called "the white realm", it is a fractalized version of reality in which every sliver of time is preserved as a part of an infinitely repeating pattern. Though apparently once a thriving multiverse, it is now totally lifeless and calcified. Its mysteries are beyond measure.
Worm king: Monsters of myth who swim the unseen depths of Yurolgu. They are described in ancient poems as being limbed islands of gore, leviathans that rise for breath but once in a number of millennia.
Woundstrider: Shapeshifting Cult agents created by a Fleshcrafter. Full capabilities unknown, but official history recounts their use of woundcasting to complete missions.
Yv Zalga: A higher race of human beings bioprinted by the Khavyrym. They experience vastly longer lifespans, near ubiquitous immunity to disease, and are usually two feet taller than standard humans. Though capable of reproduction, only the Khavyrym can create Yv Zalga. Yv Zalga offspring are standard humans.