#avatica university of alchemy

[magic-is-something-we-create]

ETERNAL ARTHUR SHIELDSTONE - The Millennium Saga [Firebreathers ; Echoseers ; Goddess-Touched]

They tell me he is Holy as they comb through my hair and titter over my presentation. They say he is sent to save us from the Great Decay, hand-picked by the Goddesses when his mother gave birth. That he is powerful in voice and mind, but needs a protector, and though the King wishes goodwill to the Ehlves, he does not want to risk his own guards to the perils the Chosen may face. So he has decided to send me, instead. Arthur the Defender, knight of House Shieldstone. Lowest in the social hierarchy, and newest to knighthood in all the kingdom.

Basics:

He/him - Cis man

Gay - 1015 [~1116 on Earth; appears anywhere from late 30s to late 50s]

Human - Allmage, Runesman, Alchemist (pioneered the discovery of alchemy)

Massively depressed, suffers from survivor's guilt.

Where he begins:

Arthur Shieldstone's impact on the world is forever tied with that of Tieling of Nimia - they were lovers, after all, when the world was supposed to end. Stories still circle of Sir Shieldstone, the bravest knight of Avatica and the best king who ever ruled.

But he is not a king; he never wanted to be. He is not a knight, either; he only became one because it was expected.

The only significance he ever wanted was to be a part of Tieling's life, and now he regrets even that.

When we meet him at the University of Avatica, a place he helped build many long centuries ago and has taught in ever since, he refuses to even look at Tieling in the flesh. He is deep in regret for things no one else knows, and though he clearly wishes to die, it is no longer an option.

So he will wallow instead.

What he finds himself confronting:

As much as he wishes to never again face what the Three have done, there are some things that cannot be escaped. And when those he invited to recover under his care are attacked, he comes close to being responsible for even more death than he can carry.

It is just one straw, but it is the one that breaks him.

It's just one, but there were eighty thousand lives he could have saved.

There are millions more now. And if he does not say something, they will be lost too.

And he will still remain.

Important connections:

Friends: Rillmother Veratrum, Penn Fleetwater, Carnelian Aster, Noah Torrent, Marie Trueheart, Rosalind Quickhand.

Enemies: Tieling of Nimia (not wholly, but it's complicated), the Highpriestess Delta of his youth (oh, how many things he would've said to her if he knew what he did now)

MUSIC

Themes - Where Do We Go From Here by Njord, Kingdom of Silence by Fractal Dreamers, Ode to Earth by Kamikaze Kitty

Vibes - Sirensong by Rosendale, Achilles Come Down by Gang of Youths, Rilke Song by aeseaes

#braindumps.txt #writeblr #character intro #wip intro #original writing #original character #the millennium saga #tms intros #snip

[magic-is-something-we-create]

Happy wbw! Since I just finished talking your ear off about it, tell me about some life path options people have in your world! What's college like? What do most people end up deciding to do? What are the incentives to do so?

Hi!! Happy WBW!! Sorry it took me so long to answer this one, I've been trying and failing to do some writing before answering these things and I have finally given up on that a;lskdjf

I haven't gone nearly as in-depth as you in terms of post-primary school options, simply because I've been following the perspective of someone who didn't have much choice in what they did!! It's mainly addressed as college vs. trade apprenticeship vs. military vs. physical labor.

College requires really good grades in the more prized disciplines in order to even think about admission (art, architecture, history, and business for the area I've got the most on), never mind cost, because I'm ~projecting~ the situation I and my friends are in.

Trade apprenticeship is something that's gotten a little more love - there's something kinda like career days for the equivalent of high school, where local guilds and individual masters will advertise their trades and look for hopeful apprentices. (Or, like in Nimbus' case, if students excel in areas that are less desired, tradespeople in those areas will often be in contact with teachers or be keeping an eye out in the frequented supply shops.)

The military is... similar in appeal to real life, though it's fallen very quickly out of favor in-world because of a prolonged, petty war that's taken a lot of lives. It's the most secure of the options, though, especially for those with particular skill in weaponry or magic, like Ember. But you're also guaranteed to land in active service on the battlefront, so it's a dreaded last resort.

Joining the labor workforce is the most accessible option, usually, and that's heavily dependent on the area - most people in the Godwoods would enter wood mining, there's always a need for more messengers, shopkeeps, cooks... and Ember, when we meet them, works in ship construction, since they live in a port city!

There's also a few specialized schools around the world. The University of Avatica is the prime place to learn Alchemy and Enchantment, and most places with significant human populations have at least a few courses on Runes. One of the universities in Impalfahr specializes in magical research, history, and anthropology, and a lot of students go into a mix of those. The Starsmith Guild in Glittergale has a trade school to learn about the forging of Starmetals, and there's a couple variants of Fantasy!MIT in the Goblin cities!

But yeah! Thank you for the ask :D

#a&a #wbw #ehlverse #talking with: space-cadead

[magic-is-something-we-create]

Hi magesmith

Which of your blorbos would be the most likely to get a hot air balloon pilot's license?

Hi sleepy!! Sorry this is so late but I hope you enjoy this answer because uh. Well.

I have a canonical answer to this one.

One of the Big Plot Things that happens in the Millennium Saga is one of the characters, Andy, inventing airships. And while those aren't zeppelins or blimps, she does actually need to use a hot air balloon as a lifeboat while testing them, including learning how to pilot it. From a professional.

Andy is not only a certified hot air balloon pilot, she also becomes the world's first long-distance airship pilot, and one of the first Ehlves to be officially made into a short-distance airship pilot in Glittergale, which is roughly equivalent to being forklift certified. Because they use short distance airships to lift ships and their cargo over choke points in the Glittergale Delta so they can get to the trade destinations further down the river.

(Also, side note, one of the minor characters, Carnelian Aster, is the reason that half of the classes at the Avatica University of Alchemy are held in enchanted hot air balloons tethered to the school. They were part of her thesis project and Headmaster Trueheart was so enamored with them he commissioned more from her.)

#a&a #talking with: sleepy #andy is fantasy!osha certified

[magic-is-something-we-create]

A for alphabet soup my friend!!

!!! Thank you, Alex!!!!

This list is going to be A Long One. I have literally so many OCs with names that start with A its not even funny and ive already established a pattern with this for listing Every Single One,,,,

Andesite Meywin (She/Her) (The Millennium Saga) - The amateur Starsmith and automaton engineer and third in the triplet set with Granite and Gabbro, who very much wants nothing to do with emoting visibly, thank you.

Aurora Meywin (She/Her) (The Millennium Saga) - Matriarch of the Meywin family, who marched up the Aree Godtree to feed the rebels the morning after they freed the city because she decided to make pancakes.

Autumn Timber (She/Her) (The Millennium Saga) - Third-eldest of the Timber family, but functionally the oldest sibling, since Ember and Nimbus are the legal guardians; her favorite pastimes are bickering with Dusk and taking risks behind Nimbus' back.

Ash Timber (He/Him or They/Them) (The Millennium Saga) - The youngest of the Timber family; a chaotic, Deaf magpie of a child (affectionate) who uses his amassed collection of beads to communicate with his blind twin sister in their own private language.

Akari Timber (She/Her) (The Millennium Saga) - The Timber family's deceased mother, who owned and tended the apple orchard on the outskirts of Aree where most of them were born.

Artrix Palm (He/Him) (The Millennium Saga) - Former Citylord of Aree, ousted by the Firebreathers rebellion; pathetic but in a wholly unappealing, Elon Musk-esque way.

Amony Irveil (She/Her) (The Millennium Saga) - Trademaster of the Starsmith's Guild of Glittergale; a crotchety Dwarven woman who mistakenly thinks Gab is there to rob her guild hall on their first meeting, and instead of cussing him away points him to the room of the coworker she hates the most.

Arthur Shieldstone (He/Him) (The Millennium Saga) - One of the Eternal Three, former lover and knight of Tieling of Nimia, current professor of Alchemy 101 at the University of Avatica and research funder for the High Alchemists and Enchanters Guild.

Actaea K'Ron (She/Her) (The Millennium Saga) - Ice + Lakia K'ron's grandmother, Emerald K'Ron's mother, General of the Mae Ehlven Military and liaison to the Rill Court; a vindictive and abusive woman who wants to be loved more than anything, and who will tear down the world when she can't climb her way out of the grave she dug for herself.

Alexei Draughtborn (She/Her) (Whispers) - A fifteen-year-old girl whose mother incurred a debt to the Shadow and refused to pay, causing Alexei and her father to both be kidnapped by the Whispers.

Arkady Starsent (He/Him) (Whispers) - Police Commissioner of Myshari with a spirit-of-the-law morality and a crumbling will in the face of his alcohol addiction.

Ava Starsent (She/Her) (Whispers) - Arkady's 5-year-old daughter.

Adaine Firebrand (She/Her or He/Him) (Whispers) - One of the Shadow's right-hand women, with upper arms thicker than most peoples' thighs and a deep-rooted love for dynamite and axes.

Abysdorah (He/They/It) (the D&D campaign i'm running for friends) - The Fiendish patron of my friend's warlock character, and also apparently one of the Ancient Evils the previous party supposedly defeated... except they're still around making pacts with the Earth Genasi in exchange for learning about mortality, so SOMEONE fucked up either in name or kill shot.

Azrielle (She/Her) (a backburner WIP i'm calling Marked) - A princess destined for legendhood since the day she was born with the Mark of a martyr.

#a&a #aboutthewarlord #ask game #talking with: alex

[magic-is-something-we-create]

E, D and R!

Thank you, Sleepy!!! <3<3<3

I exhausted the list of D ocs here, if you really really want all of them!! This list is super long, anyway!!

Ember Timber (They/Them) (The Millennium Saga) - Archer, pickpocket, and rebel who joins the Firebreathers and proceeds to get sucked into way more than they bargained for when consequences supremely out of proportion start raining down.

Emerald K'Ron (He/Him) (The Millennium Saga) - Ice + Lakia's dad who stood up to his abusive mother one too many times and got them all banished, which is a very good thing until said mother decides she's going to commit genocide rather than lose her pride.

Edgar Trueheart (He/Him) (The Millennium Saga) - Headmaster of the Avatica University of Alchemy who definitely does not deserve that title after what he does to a certain pair of grad students.

Evandra Dai'Vii (She/Her) (The Millennium Saga) - Typha Lu'Syr's sister, a Priestess of Vii in the backwoods of Sieril who ends up comforting Ember after one of their prophetic nightmares.

Erra (She/Her (holy)) (The Millennium Saga) - Goddess of Nature, Growth, Instinct, and the Unknown; patron of Plant and Stone mages and the Godwoods, creator of Rillflower and the Moons.

Etienne Polaris (He/Him) (The Millennium Saga) - Xavi NoFather's dad (a real dick, if you couldn't tell by his son's choice in name).

Eli Riverrun (He/Him) (Whispers) - One of Ivan's aliases.

Ranina Palm (She/Her) (The Millennium Saga) - The melodramatic former Citylady of Aree, ousted by the Firebreathers rebellion.

Ruti Palm (He/Him) (The Millennium Saga) - Gabbro's vain rival in acrobatics and acting, and ousted former Cityheir of Aree.

Rosalind "Ros" Quickhand (She/Her or They/Them) (The Millennium Saga) - High Enchanter of Avatica who would have had to drop their schooling at the University if they hadn't made a deal with the Whispers.

Robert Mackenzie (He/Him) (Deity Complex) - The kind soul who gave Hunter a ride into town when he found them at a gas station miles from the nearest town, clearly on foot; may or may not have a special power of always being in the right place at the right time to offer some kindness to a stranger.

Rodis Khamael (He/Him) (the D&D campaign im running for friends) - The first victim of the party's poorly thought-out heists, whose manor was thoroughly ransacked in a single session even though I'd planned for it to take at least three, because my players were dumb but rolled well when it counted.

Razorclaw (any, if they're capitalized) (once again, D&D) - The Ringmaster (aka the bronze dragon leading the gang the players are in) who was, in fact, one of the players the entire time (because she randomized her character and jokingly got the state of weighing 14000000 pounds and being 1 billion years old and I took that and ran).

Rivers Cuomo (sigh. He/Him) (D&D) - The name my brother decided on for the bardic mentor of his character (named Lady Gaga, theyre a genderfuck kenku). I have had to incorporate Weezer into my worldbuilding because of this.

#a&a #ask game #aboutthewarlord #talking with: sleepy

[magic-is-something-we-create]

Hey, happy wbw!! I wanna know about the alchemy/magic academy where penn goes. What influence does it have on the rest of the world? It’s in avatica, what is the culture there like? What kinds of things are taught there? Just ramble away about it to your heart’s content

happy WBW to you, too!!!

Okay, so, Penn Fleetwater attended the Avatica University of Alchemy, which is the biggest specialized college the humans of the Ehlverse have! It's everyone's go-to place to learn about Alchemy (potions, not transmutation), Enchantment (what Penn does; basically forging magic into items, like, say, a cloak that is specially sewn to turn into a pair of wings when you fall), and for more combat-minded folks, Runes (blood magic that fucks with space and time on a small scale; this is how u teleport, if ur dedicated, or how you become a speedster for a few seconds in battle).

The main influence the AUA has on a large scale is the training of Enchanters and Alchemists who go on to provide unique, sought-after supplies to the world! Since Alchemy and Enchantment are learnable magics, and have nothing to do with figurative blood, anyone can theoretically attend and learn the ways of the craft. This also leads to apprenticeships for more minor learning opportunities; most people who attend the AUA end up becoming Magic Chemistry Grad Students, but the basics are easy enough to teach to a layman.

The culture in Avatica is actually quite chill! Because of the way their government is set up (which i'm calling a recursive democracy) everyone has a very good sense of what's going on on a grand scale at all times, and if they don't like it, it's pretty easy to voice those complaints and have them heard/addressed. There’s a lot of people in a fairly cramped space within the walls, and even more in the surrounding area outside the walls, so there are occasional fights breaking out, but the human culture is much more persistent on talking through problems. Arthur has set a good precedent a;sldfjk

Thank you again for the questions!! <3<3<3

#wbw #ehlverse #ehlverse culture #avatica #avatica university of alchemy #a&a

[magic-is-something-we-create]

happy wbw :’) do you think could you give like a mini history of how tal’ren, avarice and glitter glaze were founded? what are the main features of the city that it’s residents are proud of (and what you are, if it’s different from the citizens lol)?

hello!!! yes of course, and sorry this ask took a while to get to!!! <3<3<3

i have A Lot in the glittergale tag as of today, so if you want wayyy more depth on it than i was expecting to go into, feel free to check that out :D

also: this got Quite Long, but I tried to keep it in a bit of a narrative tone, so hopefully you enjoy everything behind the cut!! i tried to go in depth on everything, though glittergale got a bit cut off because ive talked so much about it today :)

but!!! the founding of Tal'Ren, Avatica, and Glittergale, coming right up!!!

Tal'Ren

Once upon a time, Sieril was a very peaceful and prosperous land, with a capital city that stretched for miles just off of the Dir’Kal mountains.The Sharali and Rill Ehlves lived side by side, intermingled in urban centers, and were some of the most fortunate people in the world.

And then the Rillian Decay happened. All of the cities of old have fallen into ruin, the Sharali suffered an apocalyptic plague that nearly wiped them out, and the wilds have reclaimed the wonders of the Rill Ehlves of old. Only a few scattered towns and cities cling to the edges of the bayou and the geyser country, while the temperate rainforest wilds are completely uninhabited, and the Sharali are stuck in the northern swamps.

Tal’Ren was the first safe haven outpost after the Decay, and it’s slowly been built up over the last two thousand years. It’s not quite a city, as it’s all in one fort, and just a few thousand people live within, but it’s the biggest settlement that far inland, now. And it’s important enough to the Rill that it’s become the default seat of power for the Rillmother.

The thing of most pride there would have to be the Archives, in world, which I’ll delve into in a later ask. Though as the author, I also really like the indoor gardens that are the center for the community. They make what could’ve been a very dreary and depressing hideaway into a lively, colorful haven.

Avatica

Avatica is a city nearly five thousand years old, and though that seems like a long time, it’s in a land of much older civilizations. And, well... Humans didn’t originate anywhere on the current Ehlverse map. They came from a continent known as Eqia, that spanned a large portion of the massive ocean between western Sieril and the eastern Maelands.

A decay struck Eqia about five thousand years ago, in the Decay that came before the Growth of the Common Tongue. The entire continent disappeared, as well as thousands of years of Human history, and any other peoples that may or may not have lived there, too. What few people were in the Maelands at the time built up a ramshackle town to call home on the edges of the Melkan prairie, overlooking the bay they had first stepped foot in, and resigned themselves to a life in a land practically unknown to them.

It’s turned out alright, so far. The crowning achievement of the city is probably the Avatica University of Alchemy, which is the best college to attend if you want to become an Alchemist, Enchanter, or Runesman. Back before the Eternal Three, the fort at it’s center would probably have been more important to them, but with the rise of Alchemy, the government switch to a democracy rather than monarchy, and the Human Eternal himself taking more pride in the university, it’s an easy choice.

Glittergale

Glittergale is it’s own masterpiece, in the eyes of the Dwarves. As one of those most ancient cities of the Maelands, it’s people have had plenty of time to transform it into one of the wonders of Ehl.

Long ago, a small colony of Dwarves were mining into a mountain on the edges of Nimia, when they stumbled upon a giant geode, and the glowing crystals within. This geode was so huge, when other Dwarves started flocking to see it, they decided to found a city within it’s walls of calcite - and, eventually, the city spilled out into the rest of the mountain. And onto the top of the mountain. And into the river beyond, as it widened and met the ocean.

Eventually, the mountain it began in was gradually mined away, so the city that spanned it’s entirety on the outside was held up by the pillars and city of the inside. All centered around the geode, which had since been sculpted into a gorgeous, glowing palace. The river’s natural widening became more and more custom-made for the Dwarves, as they instituted a delta of docks and floating markets and tide-lifted buildings.

The most amazing thing about Glittergale is Glittergale itself, and all who visit are sure to remember that.

#wbw #ehlverse #glittergale #tal'ren #avatica #a&a

[magic-is-something-we-create]

Age: 18

Gender/Pronouns: Cisgender Man, He/Him

Race: Human

Brief Overview:

Noah grew up on a farm fifty miles outside the walls of Avatica, the capitol city that always looked more like a fortress than anything else. His mother was sweet, and his father was encouraging, and when asked how he got into the University of Alchemy and Runes, he points to the endless determination they helped him cultivate. Any time there’s a break in the school year, he makes his way out to the farm and shows them everything he’s learned. They always greet him with a smile, and give him a hug goodbye. He knows he can tell them anything, and they’ll be supportive of whatever it is.

Growing up like that is wonderful, and he wouldn’t trade it for anything. But it definitely didn’t prepare him for the sideways glances and heated whispers when he made the mistake of trying to flirt with another boy in class.

At least the whisperers were a minority, and some well-intended classmates made sure to let him know that they didn’t think lesser of him for it. All the same, he decided to keep his feelings to himself.

When he had his first class with Alexander, he didn’t think much of the smiles he would shoot Noah’s way. After a while, he noticed the way he smiled. And from then on, Noah was lost for words.

#noahintro