REMONSTRANCE (science fantasy interest check)

The Legate

Hostis Humani Generis!
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I have a college schedule that ebbs and flows but constantly covers everything. I'm rarely able to predict when I'm on
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  1. Adaptable
Preferred Character Gender
  1. Male
Genres
Sci-Fi, specifically Cyberpunk, is where I like it best. I can do Fantasy as well.
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Remonstrance
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(There's a summarized version at the end of the full lore to simplify and convey the basic plot points of the RP. For those who would wish to see if this was of any interest before you devoted valuable time to reading the whole thing lol.)
The Map of Canting
Canting map.png

Welcome to Canting

The Isle of Canting is a large island continent that exists off the main, larger continent of Aglamon, which exists southeast of Canting. Though many cultures and states of living exist in countless countries and lands that exists in Aglamon- the primary focus of this RP as it stands will be on the Isle of Canting. Large enough to sustain it's own kingdom by the same name, Canting is largely the center of the known world. It's influence is vast, it forms the center of any known map, and yet it remains socially isolated and resource independent due to the Abbarent Sea which prevents much transportation between Canting and the rest of Algamon. It is said that the Island of Canting is the birthplace of magic in the world, it is said it's harsh northern mountain tundras know no end and it's southern lowlands hold the center of the world's largest state: The Kingdom of Canting.

The Briefest History of Canting

"Now, here, you will have to entertain me dear reader- not much is commonly known about Canting's ancient history. We know that Canting is roughly 1726 years old. In Canting, years are counted as "Annuals" and a 100 year unit is called an "Age." Thus, currently according to the Canting Calender, Canting is considered to be in the 26th Annual of the 17th Age. Things before the 8th Age begin to become murky, and most of the history past this point is gesticulations on the part of scholars and theorists. Most of the histories and stories told of pre-800s history is done though folktales, legends and myths with no actual primary sources, and at best scant circumstantial archeological evidence."

"Understanding this small caveat, it is said that Canting's founding was not by natural means. In what is known as The First Age, or the first 100 years of Canting's existence, there was once only plant and animal. Basic creatures incapable of sentience, such as wild animals, as well as the native flora. Then over the course of those hundred years, two things were born. The first was sentience, understanding, and knowledge. This caused the creation of Human and Fae life. Sentient creatures, capable of deeper understanding, logic, and consciousness. The second great birth was that of ignorance, of the unknown, of chaos and unknowable fate. This created the force we now call "magic", an unknown reality to which some can utilize to create fantastical feats and abilities that defy understanding and all human logic."

"We know somewhere around the 110th Annual, the first city was ever founded. It was and still is called Zephyr. From it, a grand figure rose to power and declared himself The Eternal Ruler somewhere roughly in the 120th annual. Historical and mythological accounts are hazy: This dictator was known as King Canting and supposedly he ruled for 200 years straight, dying every 30 years or so and then somehow rising back to power without explanation as to how or why. Some mythological accounts say he did so by being reborn each time, and ruling from a new body entirely, much like the real life Dalai Lama. Other legends suggest that King Canting actually rose from the dead several times. Historians theorize (more realistically) that King Canting died after 40 years of reign, and did such a good job that every leader after him adopted the title of "Canting" for the next 200 years. Regardless of what you believe, this was how the Kingdom of Canting got it's name."

"We know that back then magic was suffocatingly strong. So much so that many believe many areas in Canting were literally inhospitable from the amount of chaotic and unpredictable occurrences. Magic was strong enough back then to actually drastically change Canting's physical landscapes. Magic created vast amounts of dungeons that wove underneath the ground for hundreds of miles, grand castles and structures which towered into the sky, and so on. However ever since then, the force of magic has been slowly and gradually dissipating. These days magic is still prevalent enough to practice, but requires great skill and years of tutelage. Compared to a thousand years ago when everyone could use magic without any sort of training or innate skill."

"Somewhere around the start of the 3rd Age, when Canting's reign was coming to an end, we know that sentient creatures such as humans and Fae first expanded out of Canting and started to settle in areas across Algamon. It's largely unexplained how or why Human and Fae explorers left Canting to do so. However, history does get a little clearer as the countries and societies settled during this time on Algamon proper have their own histories. From which we can glean bits and pieces of info to try and understand what was going on in Canting at the time."

"Heading into the 3rd Age, King Canting's final death marks the short and brief "Wolf" dynasty. As legends go, King Canting was killed one final time by a rabid wolf who then took the throne for themselves. Once again historians are highly skeptical that an actual wolf killed King Canting and then took the throne. Realistically, historians believe it is more likely that a usurper outside the Canting bloodline took the crown for themselves. This individual was named Vulf and, since most historical record of this point is predominantly verbal, a "telephone effect" created by subsequent retellings of the story caused the actual historical account to warp into the legend of an actual Wolf King."

"Anyways, I digress: This "wolf" ruled Canting for 15 years until he suddenly disappears from historical record and public chronology. The wolf is followed by the Pasyl dynasty, which reigns into the 6th Age. During which time, the culture and society of Faes started to become much more refined. Evolving through culture, invention and necessity. At this point they had developed basic tools some still use today like swords and armor, iron and steel. Around the 37th Annual of the 4th Age, currency was invented: The Page (plural being Pages) is the native currency of Canting. Popularized by returning merchants who had come back to Canting, a singular page is a small gold bead with a small sheet or veil of cloth attached to the bottom."

"At the 7th Age, the first magical drought hits Canting. from the 12th annual to the 14th annual of the 7th Age, magic ceased to be. Magicians lost their magic, Fae and magical creatures couldn't procreate, and there was a great crisis as people believed magic to be dead. There were a series of uprisings, genocides and mass hysteria that existed up until the 14th Annual of the 7th Age when magic suddenly returned to the world as it once was. Although it took time, Canting gradually repaired itself and life continued as normal. However, around the end of the 7th age, a famous druid publishes a work which details the gradual disappearance of magic in the world, and brings such a discovery to public attention.
Thus, at the end of the 7th Age going into the 8th, there was a radical shift in magical thinking. This gave birth to the first "religion" of Canting."

"Arguably, Canting already had religion: Many people believed many different gods from all sorts of domains and kinds, and by and large people still do. However all religions today synthesize into and organize under two differing modes of magical thought. Up until the 14th Age, there was only one: The Naturalists, sometimes called The Old Faith these days. Formed first by a group of druids (hence the name), Naturalists were the first to discover the magical world was slowly dying ever since time began. They believe that Human and Fae civilizations, particularly advancing technology and deeper understanding of the mechanical and natural world, was to blame. They theorize that in order for the magical world to be saved, magic must be developed alongside it and must be used and practiced as often as possible."

"Thus, technological and scientific advancement stymied and sputtered somewhere in the 8th Age. It didn't really start back up again until the 14th Age. This period of time from the 8th Age to the 14th Age is known as the Regretful Era. It is also when mad King Zaiax ordered all of history burned, and thus where almost every one of our written histories begin. During this time, a cycle of violent dynasties and political upheavals began. From the 8th Age to the 9th Age, the dynasty of Zaiax reigned rather horribly. Quelling popular Naturalist movements, and devoutly non-Naturalists. They ruled up until another magic drought on exactly the Infant (year of) Annual of the 9th Age. During which time, for the rest of the year, a series of violent revolts and uprisings led by Naturalist upset would result in the royal family's execution. In the final days of his reign, King Zaiax the Folly ordered all physical and recorded historical at the time burned and destroyed entirely: This is the reason why there are no historical accounts of Canting before the 8th Age."

"King Zaiax the Folly also ordered the kingdom renamed the Kingdom of Zaiax, and ordered that historical record be altered for him to have ruled for all 8 Ages. Obviously he failed in that regard, since he had ordered no historians themselves killed. However he had succeeded in erasing almost all of our knowledge of history past the 8th Age of Canting. For this, to this day, Zaiax is known as the worst tyrant ever in Canting's history. Afterwords, a new king was appointed after having sworn to be a Naturalist- given that almost all inhabitants of Canting at the time was Naturalist. Thus the start of a new dynasty. Soon after the magical drought would end and the Naturalist elected leader vowed to never condone any sort of technological advancement or scientific proceedings."

"About a century later there was a magical drought and it all started over again."

"This went on for some time, about 6 whole Ages. It wasn't particularly tragic, at least not from drought to drought. However the technology and sciences of Canting was relatively stagnant. During the droughts of the 10th and 14th Age, each Age created an additional drought, additional crisis, and eventually a new dynasty would win out- though, each time, our histories were spared. When this happened, the governance of the King was limited each time. At the Crisis of the 10th Age, a rebellion semi-successfully usurped the king and instilled a somewhat representative government run by a citizen body called The Jury. This small council was set up by picking 100 citizens of Canting completely at random, and forming them into a single democratic body which represents the will of the people, each Jury serving for 6 months. All the while, a secret group of loyalists- planning on another drought in another 100 years- plotted to launch a coup on the 11th age crisis."

"Unso, at the crisis of the 11th Age, loyalists launched a single-night revolt against The Jury, assassinating each Jury in a single night. This night forever known as The Centicide. The morning after, a King was installed once again to rule Canting. However, as a sign of good will, he allowed the Jury to remain a governing body. We will discuss the details of The Jury in depth at a later date, reader. I can see your eyes grow tired.
At the crisis of the 13th Age, the government was expanded once again. This time, the King's council expanded out into it's own governing body called The Grand Faculty. As you know, dear reader, it is forbidden to speak of the Concern. However we can note that The Grand Faculty is a nebulous group of unknown members and unknown identities, and we know that this Grand Faculty runs the Concern."

"At the start of the 14th Age, everything changed. An elitist coup launched by the Concern and it's students created Canting's second school of magical thought. Often called the New Faith, Adeptists are the antithesis of Naturalist thought. Adepts and the Adept school believe that magic is not a natural resource and, thus, is actually quite limited. They believe that, much like a natural resource, there is a finite amount of magic that exists in the world. They believe then that in order to preserve magic as much as one can, one must vow to never practice magic unless absolutely necessary. These Adepts believe that, rather than rely on a system of magic for centuries only for it to fail time and time again is foolish. Instead the sciences and technologies of the new age should be researched and used to pull society away from relying on an undependable and rare resource."

"Through the 14th Age, Adepts and Naturalists fought a series in length of several wars. During these small internal conflicts, pogroms and religious wars, it looked as if Adepts would be wiped from the world of Canting. However, instead, a miracle happened. At the end of the 14th Age, for the first time in 600 years, there was no magical drought and thus no crisis of the 14th Age. Thus marked the end of the Regretful Era and, more importantly, many of Canting's citizenry believed Adeptism to have been the main reason why there was no magical drought at the end of the century. Thus many join the Adept school of thought, and it is here that it is etched permanently into Canting's society."

"At the start of the 15th century, the leaders of the old faith and the new came together and struck an accord to stop the various religious wars of Canting. They agreed to stop fighting, but only if each subsequent King afterwords was sanctified by both Adept and Naturalist faiths as to ensure that no one King would ever be too impartial to any one religion, and risk starting the religious wars of Canting all over again. To this day, Naturalists and Adepts still butt heads and still compete- but not so much, usually, as to ever be fatal. For now, they live in relative peace with one another."

"Thus began anew 200 years of peace. From the 15th Age on, a golden age reigned over the island of Canting. For a majority of it's most recent history, life had gone well for most of Canting's residents. Not a single magical drought has arrived on Canting since the 14th age 300 years ago, and for a time it's golden age dynasty- the Yuristys (Yur-is-Tus) dynasty- managed to rule successfully and without upset... Until King Yuristys of the Tenor, the Spring Tempest, and the single largest cataclysm in Algamon entire."

- "Our Residence in History," Joeseph Warrick, 26th Annual of the 17th Age.


The Races of Canting

Humans

"Humans: Inordinately simple, extraordinarily powerful. Much like the Fae it's unclear how humans came to be on Canting. Zephyr is the first recorded place they ever inhabited, but they're kinda all over the place. Historically speaking one cannot close their eyes and imagine any point in time where a human was not somewhere in the immediate area, it seems. They are the most common denizen of Canting, and from them make up roughly 60 to 70% of Canting's entire population. It is also said that King Canting himself was the first and prototypical human to which all other humans trace their lineage. Though that is largely a load of poppycock in my opinion."

"What is known is their particular fondness for invention. Humans, over the past hundred years, have developed most of the modern marvels you see accompanying you today. That includes the machnations and gadgets of the Vox Animi. They're not particularly gifted in magic, however any one of them can practice and develop skill in it. All kings, since the dawn of Canting, have been human- and it will continue to be so until the human race is done."

"Live and Love Humans!" Dejana Zoris, 25th Annual of the 17th Age.


Fae
"It is said that one truly never knows love until one comes to love a Fae. At least, that's what they tell you in taverns. There are thousands of different subtypes of Fae. For instance, Half-Orcs are large Fae with green palor, pointed ears and sharp teeth. The Elven Fae are tall, slender, pointed ears and incapable of digesting meat. The Fae that call themselves Dwarves are stout, bearded, usually drunk... You get the idea: All beings and creatures of magical means that exhibit sentience fall under the broad and all-encompassing title of Fae- Yes, even that of dragons and their kin. Because of this, naturally, Fae tend to be born with more innate talents to the arcane philosophies."

"However, times have been tough for Fae, and they are soon no more. Fae are that which is magical, and as magic slowly drains from our world, so do the Fae. No one has even seen a dragon or their kin for the better part of 6 whole centuries. Save for that of the White Dragon. For the past few centuries it has gotten harder and harder for Fae to sire children. More and more they are born infertile and sterile, incapable of forming families or communities. They wander, usually detatched from a world quickly becoming Humans only. Tragic that they once predominantly Canting's only inhabitants. Now, they are it's quickly dwindling minority."

"Goodbye Fae?" Kyllian Barister, 26th Annual of the 17th Age.


Zephyr
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"Behold! Zephyr!"

"Zephyr is the capital city of Canting, and undeiably it's crowning jewel. The city is old enough to predate the known limit of records (the late 3rd Age) and thus the status of it's origins remain yet unknown. Most speculate the hill the city was found on was the location of magic's first founding, and thus Zephyr was at one point perhaps a holy place of pilgrimage for those of the Naturalist faith. Now, in the 17th Age, Zephyr is a romantic 2-part city that serves as Canting's major seat of governance. It's steep hillside streets, narrow corridors, tiled roofs and cobblestone walkways form the heart of the world entire."

"The northern sector of Zephyr is called Zephyr Major. This is where most of the magic happens, and where the meat of the city is. This section of the city holds 95% of it's population, and 80% of the city's actual mass. It is further broken down into three separate sections. The northern-most section is the "Gold Quarter" where most residents within the city stay. This section is primarily dedicated to housing in large townhouse setups. Most commonly, each cottage-like building is separated into two separate halves- each half occupied by a different resident whether they be family or single. Usually each side has 4 or 5 floors. Each floor usually has only one or two rooms."

"The middle district is the "Silver Quarter," located somewhat in the center of Zephyr Major and funnels southward into Zephyr Minor. The Silver Quarter, called so because of it's marble and stone buildings, largely are dedicated to functions of government and every-day administration. The center of Zephyr Major, at the apex of it's hill and center of the Silver Quarter, is the Iron Parasol. The Iron Parasol is a keep that the previous rulers of Canting reigned from until around the 12th Age when Zephyr Minor was built. Today, The Iron Parasol is now used as a "backup citadel" or forward posting for royal guards. Generally speaking, the Iron Parasol is also used as the city's armory and as a nexus for city guardsmen."

"The final district of Zephyr Major, though it comes technically in two halves, is the Bronze Quarter. This district flanks Zephyr Major to it's south east and south west along the rocky shores and form it's harbors and ports. The Bronze District is a hub of major commerce and industry and where most of the city's economy is located. It's also the main areas for crime, illegal dealings and low-income housing. This quarter isn't pretty, but through here, Zephyr's immense treasury is made."

"At the southern-most wall of Zephyr Major is the Grand Strait Bridge. Aptly titled, this huge bridge extends over the Grand Strait that exists between mainland Canting and a tiny rocky isle called the Isle of Mists, due to it's irregular mists at high/low tide times. It is upon this Isle of Mists that Zephyr's second half, Zephyr Minor, is found. Zephyr Minor is often colloquially known as the Holy City. This is because Zephyr Minor houses only two things, and one of them is religion. Zephyr Minor was constructed during the 15th age by a joint effort between the Naturalist and Adept faiths. As such, large portions of it are dedicated to massive cathedrals and philosophical facilities both faiths use for education and academic purposes as well as holy ceremonies and practices."

"The second thing Zephyr Minor houses is the main keep of Zephyr; The High Palace. This massive super-castle is as grand as it is in name. It towers over Zephyr entirely, built on the high rocky cliffs of the Misty Isles. This is where the current King of Canting, Yuristys the Tenor, resides and carries out due operations of an empire whole. Usually with the help of visiting nobles who often stay at the castle for lengths of time, The Jury who currently convene in it's own hall, and the royal family."

"Oh- and as a word of warning... Zephyr Minor is off limits to most of the common rabble. Specifically it is illegal to speak the Common tongue inside the walls of Zephyr Minor under serious penalties, as it is considered sacrilege. Instead, except in cases of the king himself, everyone in Zephyr Minor is required to speak the ancient and magical language of Quaint."

- "Tourism at Zephyr," Unknown, 23rd Annual of the 17th Age.


Gothica
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"As we all already well know by now it can be bad practice to speak of the Concern, or even Gothica for that matter. However as a resident I naturally have come to hate rules, and even more so I've come to hate Gothica, and as a former faculty at the Concern I find myself most equipped to speak on the matter... So here I am."

"Gothica is a magical city, founded as recently as the 12th Age. It wasn't magical, at least not always. For about a hundred years it existed and functioned as any normal city does. However everything changed at the Crisis of the 13th Age. During the crisis, King Hugo VII sought to preserve his dynasty by plotting to slay the Jury once more and be done with it. He came admirably close to do so, going so far as to plan when and where each Jury would be slain as to not alarm the others. However, keen members of his council at the time grew aware of the plot and arrested the king soon after."

"After Hugo VII was executed, a new dynasty took control. King Eryn of Leather's first decree was that the King's council be expanded in such a way that makes it impossible for the King or the King's agents to target and destroy the council as Hugo had tried on the Jury. This was no simple task, as it meant this theoretical third branch of government be constructed in such a way that it could not be destroyed by the first branch of government- even if the first branch had unlimited powers."

"Luckily, opportunity made itself known. In the 30th Annual of the 13th Age a strange cosmic entity came to rest upon the city of Gothica. When it did so, the city of Gothica and surrounding geographic area adopted a series of strange psychological features. The first of which is that the layout, size, shape and appearance of Gothica becomes foreign to those who are not currently looking at or inside the city. People in the rest of Canting know that Gothica exists, know that it is a city, but none can even hazard a guess as to what the city entails. For this reason, the city is also known as The Foreign City as the city always seems foreign and strange no matter how many times one sees it."

"The second of which was the language on Quaint. In the summer morning of the 30th Annual, a select number of Gothica's residents awoke without the ability to speak the ubiqoutous language of Common... But had learned a new strange and magical language, one we call Quaint. This language is hard to describe, and even harder to learn because of it's unique properties. For starters, Quaint is not a written language, it can only be spoken because of it's unique qualities. When someone speaks Quaint directed at an intended listener, that listener temporarily learns the ability to understand and speak the language of Quaint- regardless of whether or not they knew it before. When the speaker ceases or their concentration is broken, the listener forgets the language of Quaint soon after it is spoken to them- unless they have already been taught the language previously."

"Quaint, then, is commonly referred to as the Spy's Tongue. It is a language that can be only understood temporarily by whoever is listening to it and whoever is speaking, only to be forgotten again when the conversation is over- much like a verbal code language. For this reason, it is here in Gothica that The Grand Faculty was formed, as well as the Concern. Due to the fact that these two properties of Gothica allowed the Concern and Grand Faculty to hide itself away somewhere in the city limits without it's position and capabilities being known to anyone- not even the King."

"The Foreign City," Joeseph Warrick, 24th Annual of the 17th Age


Ehve
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"Beautiful, stunning and dead. These words are what I think of to describe the Fae city of Ehve. It's crazy to imagine that 300 years ago, this city was a megopalis of wonder. Now it is about two strokes away from being considered a ruin."

"There isn't much to say about Ehve- other than condolences to those Fae that used to live there. Ehve was founded thousands of years ago, either right after or even alongside the city of Zephyr. Much like Gothica, it too has a strange magical quality in that it can be only accessed by those of Fae blood. A Human trying to access the city will physically find themselves sick upon entering, and will even go so far as to die if they stick around for too long. Unlike Gothica, this strange charm has existed on the city since time was first recorded. Because of it, it is a Fae sanctuary where only those of the Fae may live."

"This place used to be filled with life and festivities. It was rumored, up until the 6th Age, it was actually larger than Zephyr by that of population. There is no castle in Ehve, as it has never been invaded or harmed, and it has been serene since the begenning. However, now it is at risk of becoming too serene: The city is largely empty. As Fae populations across Canting shrink and rapidly decline, so too has the population of Fae. Once, 300 years ago, there were 30,000 Fae that lived within it's walls..."

"Now? Now there's only maybe 2,000 at best. Many of it's streets and buildings are empty and cold, and one can walk along it's streets and feel as if they are in a ghost town. Many scholars predict that, within our lifetime, it will simply be forgotten."

"The Sinking of Ehve." Dejana Zoris, 26th Annual of the 17th Age


The Government of Canting
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(Look I'm not an artist but this is a basic drawing of how government works in Canting lol)

"Let us pretend that all of Canting's government is a wheel. The King, naturally, makes up the spoke of the wheel. He is the center, and by-and-large his influence and power is limitless. His edicts and decisions are almost completely without challenge- key word being almost because, as we all know, there are some limits built into Canting in order to dissuade the King. The first of which is the Naturalists and Adepts. Still adhering to the treaty of the 15th Annual on the 15th Age, it is required that every King must be approved and sanctified by both the Naturalist and Adept institutions of Canting in order to rule. It is uncommon that any king reigns for very long without the approval of the Adepts or Naturalists. A few have once reigned without the approval of either party, but generally speaking all kings have the approval of both before continuing their reign."

"The second of which is the Jury and the Grand Faculty. These are the two side branches of Canting's government. Technically the King reigns over both these branches and both the Jury and Faculty are succumb to his whim. However, there are plenty of times where this wasn't quite the case. The first body is known as the Jury. The Jury used to be attended by 100 randomly selected citizens. However, these days, it runs a little differently."

"Instead the King creates organizations called Orders to run and be responsible for certain specific tasks and duties of the realm. For instance, the Order of the Spyglass is responsible for managing the King's spies. The Order of the Writ is responsible for maintaining and enforcing the laws of Canting. The Order of the Sword is the military of Canting. You get the idea. Every 6 months, a random member of these Orders are selected to serve on the Jury and are given control over their respective Order. These Orders are largely autonomous and require no input or active approval from the King. Thus they carry out the day to day standard tasks and business of the realm without requiring his attention. However, these orders answer to the King when called and are unable to legally veto or deny any of his decisions and wishes."

"The Grand Faculty is a bit of a strange beast. The Grand Faculty is an organization of unknown size and unknown membership. The King gets to secretly decide how many people make up the Grand Faculty, while the members of the Concern get to nominate themselves as well as students of the Concern into the positions that the King opens up on the Grand Faculty. In a legal sense, The Grand Faculty operate mostly as a team of advisors for the King. However, at any point the Grand Faculty may veto an edict of the King. After doing so everyone on the Grand Faculty resigns their post and an entirely new Grand Faculty is created."

"Canting Law for Dummies," Juricept, 88th Annual of the 16th Age.


Magic and Technology.
"Magic doesn't work like you think it does. Infact, that's actually by design... As if the force of magic was designed at all. Regardless, magic is all the things unknowable and unforseen around us. It is at it's most basic element the concept of uncertainty. All of that can sound pretty confusing when you first hear it, but hopefully this small text will clarify some basic fundamentals that all casters should know before proceeding in the craft. After all, not much is understood about the magical energies and forces of magic. Obviously; Adepts and Naturalists are the best examples of this. Both schools of magical thought have completely different ideas about what magic is and how to use it. For our text we're going to dismiss both schools of thought and only consider what we know for certain."

"Here's the first thing: It involves faith. Not so much in a religious sense, but in an actual applied sense. For instance any good caster will tell you that they are never certain of anything. No caster is ever going to know 100% what their spell might do, or if their magic might be sufficient. However the best casters have a deep, core belief that their magic will come to pass and do the job effectively. Most proficient casters do not doubt themselves, or the magic they use: Even if there is a slight uncertainty in ability, even the smallest inkling of doubt, then your magic can and will catastrophically fail you."

"The next one: It involves ignorance. Now, ignorance isn't something we can control exactly- but it's important to notice that the strongest casters among us are those that usually are not capable of one or more senses. Our greatest oracles are the ones who likely cannot see. Our greatest summoners those who cannot have children. Our greatest minds come from those born simple. You get the idea. To reiterate; this is not nearly always the case, but it is a notable trend that must be addressed and suggests a connection between magic and one's inability to fully participant or be aware of the reality around them."

"Finally, magic avoids that which is certain. This one is hard to conceptualize but, to simplify it, magic avoids technology. Those who use gadgets and items of the more modern variety will find it much harder for one to cast magic. Say, for instance, you wished to cast a spell which would alter the way in which time flows. It would be incredibly hard, almost impossible to do so, if you had a pocket watch on your person capable of keeping exact track of time. Some casters like Naturalists will then try their best to distance themselves from such wonderous modern items and live simply, with what they have. Other casters, like Adepts, commonly try to synthasize the two. Utalizing the occasional gadget and casting the occasional spell."

- "So You Think You Can Cast?" Catrina Vilhep, 20th Annual of the 17th Age.


The Concern
"I don't have much time left, but I have a little bit of ink."

"Everyone in Canting knows that the Concern exists, but all they know about it is that it's illegal to speak on it. I'm not a genius but I think I figured it out, and since they arrested me I think they know I did too. I can see them setting up gallows in the courtyard. I don't have much time left, but I have a little bit of ink."

"It's an academy- I'm not a genius, but I figured that much out. Grand Faculty are the headmasters, Faculty are the teachers, Students are the- well- students. The Concern hand picks it's students from a list of child savants- people who show great potential in a certain thing, yeah? They take them and train them in all sorts of things, depends on what they wanna learn. They're trained by the best of the best in a skill of their choosing, like art, or warfare, or magic, gods know what else. When these students leave the Concern, they're almost instantly regarded as legends, the best of the best in whatever trade they trained for- it's a fucking hero factory."

"But there's a price, a contract, they have to sign when they undergo training. When the student eventually dies, all of the wealth, items and assets they gathered from a lifetime of adventure is reclaimed by the Concern. They own hundreds of magical artifacts... Dozens of inventions never seen, treasuries of gold to rival the King himself. I was so close, if only I ha"

A burned up slip of paper found in the fireplace at the Constables office in Gothica.


Other Locales to Note
Breaker's Point

Breaker's Point is a prison that was constructed in the 55th Annual of the 13th Age. During this time, the tyrant Duron of Minor was forbidden by the Jury and the Grand Faculty, for a period of time, from executing prisoners. You see Duron of Minor had a nasty habit at the time of executing random prisoners for minor offenses, with the deranged idea that somehow such public executions were intimidating to the Grand Faculty- which they were not. Regardless the Grand Faculty vetoed his ability to hold executions, and thus Duron needed to find another way to execute his prisoners.

Breaker's Point was constructed for just that. The idea is deviously diabolical, as the prison is designed to be dangerous enough so that prisoners do not survive long but technically are not killed formally by execution. Prisoners are held in open cells- meaning that there are no back walls to these cells. Instead, there is a sharp and long drop to the brackish rocky sea that exists below the prison. The floors of the cells are slanted downwards towards the open back of the cell, just enough that prisoners are always forced to be physically attempting to keep their balance. If a prisoner trips, falls asleep, or simply lapses in concentration they usually slide out the back of the cell and fall to their demise.


The Hewed Abby
The oldest Naturalist construct. This large monestary was built soon after the Naturalist faith was founded. Unlike other Naturalist organizations and convents, the Naturalist practicioners of the Hewed Abby accept pilgrams and visitors of both Naturalist and Adepts alike. They are known for two things; the production of Canticle and their study of our reality. Ironic considering Canticle is in fact a product of the latter.

Canticle in the context of the Hewed Abby is not a song or chant. It is a liquid, sappy, sticky and quite thick like that of honey. Canticle's use is completely banned outside of the Abby, and it's production is strictly regulated and controlled as to keep it this way. Production of the liquid takes whole years as it must be gathered through means only known to the Naturalist druids who oversee it's production, and then fermented for many years more before use. Canticle is highly deadly, ingesting a cup of the substance will surely kill even the strongest of man.

However, a small spoonful does something very different indeed: It brings the boon of a new life. Within minutes of ingesting a small dose of Canticle, the consumer will begin to remember an entirely different life- at the cost of memories their own. Within 24 hours, said person will have entirely new memories of a life that never happened. Canticle is used very rarely, most often on poor unfortunite souls so damaged by their lives and the burdens of painful memory that it is easier to live a life illusionary than it is to live the life they bore.


The River Test and the Godlakes.
The Test, also written as The Tyst (though it's pronounced the same) is the largest river in Canting. It forms the main geographic division between East and West Canting. It flows from the northern Godlakes down through the Spyreland Forest and empties out into the Test Gulf near Zephyr. It is the largest and main source of freshwater, and thus a majority of Canting's farming communities is located nearby in the southern lowland basins of Canting where the dirt is fertile.

The Whitewaste and Tarlyn Castle.
You can only go North so far. At it's more northern extremes, Canting begins to become extremely mountainous. These steep peaks are treacherous, and ice cold. Nomadic tribes of savages known as "Wastelanders" exist as it's far north. Though not necessarily hostile, they do not speak any known language and communication with them is limited, fleeting, and usually ends in violence.

However, there is strange rumor that beyond the pale... If one somehow pulls the strength together, past the mountains of Whitewaste is an entirely new continent. A land where sun shines eternal, with cities made of gold and magic lives on. Though many think this sheer heresay, it is well documented that at the highest points of Whitewaste's peaks at night one can see a brilliant glow of gold in the north as powerful as a nascent sun. It is unknown what causes this powerful shimmer of light in the farthest of North.

Many, thus, have set out into Whitewastes to find such a fantastical realm. Some return defeated, others never return at all- and it remains unclear if they perished or the lands they found was so splenderous as to not warrant the trip home. Regardless, Tarlyn Castle is the "last stop" for many. This dilapidated castle, manned by a small group of itinerant explorers and nomads, is used as a launching point for northern expidition.


The Abberant Sea
The Abberant Sea is the large ocean that surrounds Canting. To it's far southeast is the main continent and the rest of the known world called Algamon. However, Canting remains largely isolated from the rest of Algamon because of The Abberant Sea. Aptly titled, the Abberant Sea as it's known today used to be called The Abberancy- but seeing as it is a sea, people started calling it The Abberentsea and then it became The Abberant Sea. This large stretch of ocean, especially which length between Algamon and Canting, is filled with the brim with magical treachors such as sea monsters, whirlpools and even invisible rock shallows which make sailing across the sea a harrowing journey.


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Gonna be honest, I wrote the majority of this when I was high last night so pretty sure there is a typo here or there. I just hope there aren't parts of the lore that conflict 😬

Anyways here's a basic summary of what I'm going for and what I'm interested in:

- RP takes place on the continent of Canting. The entire island is controlled by the Kingdom of Canting.

- It's steampunk fantasy where magic and steampunk don't mix by design. People who use wholly steampunk gadgetry cannot wizard, and people who use primarily magic wizardry cannot steampunk.

- In terms of steampunk gadgetry and technology limits, use your imagination but be aware some things just aren't appropriate for the times. Remember many people still use swords and shields. Simple firearms like revolvers and rifled muskets, novel gadgetry and doo-dads, blimps and coalfire trains are a thing. However if you roll up with a laser cannon and a space ship there may be an issue lol.

- Magic has been slowly disappearing and dying off for hundreds of years now. It still exists, but within the next 200 years, it probably won't. This includes the magical race of Fae, who have been slowly disappearing for a while now as more and more are born sterile and infertile.

- Two species exist. Humans are pretty obvious. Fae is just anything you wanna play as that isn't entirely human.

- Two dominant schools of thought exist for magic users

- - Naturalists are magic casters who believe magic can be saved by using and developing magical skill and thought alongside technology. They use magic frequently, as often as allowed really, and thus they don't really use a lot of steampunk tech stuff.

- - Adepts are magic casters who believe that magic is a rare, limited resource. Using it makes it harder to find, unso they believe in using magic as little as possible. Anyone who kind of uses a bit of technology and kind of uses a bit of magic is usually an Adept as the name implies.

- If you don't use magic at all, you probably aren't Naturalist or Adept, you're just unaffiliated.

- RP, at least when it starts off, will take place in Zephyr. Might visit other locales if the RP doesn't die in the first 4 posts.

- Lore is tentative and open, meaning I'm fine if RPers want to develop their own lore to compliment their character and the lore of Zephyr. Just make sure it doesn't already conflict with something.

- I'm looking between 4 and 6 RPers, 8 if this gets popular for whatever reason and I need to stretch but no more.

- If this RP launches, I'll throw up a Discord.
 
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I'll admit to skimming through some of the exposition but this seems like an interesting concept. The main question I have is what will be the main conflict in the plot? I'm assuming it might have something to do with the Concern?
 
For the plot I was imagining that the group of characters become embroiled in a plot and then an eventual revolution/civil war over the crown and, unbeknownst to them, the magical fate of Canting.

However, I'm open to ideas or suggestions!
 
Seems interesting to me. I'll be on standby in case this pulls any more interest
 
Yeah, this looks pretty cool.
 
Yessss steampunk fantasy~ Would love to create a fae living in zephyr!! I imagine she'd be a naturalist but... not use her magic that much, as she would believe it is also a rare gift/resource.

If this rp happens, is this a good start?
 
Questions!!!

What is the golden city beyond the Whitewastes?

If Canticle is completely banned outside of the Hewed Abbey, can people still steal it and sell it? If so, what kind of skill would someone need to perform this feat?

What color is Canticle?

I imagine Canticle might be one of those liquids that people would want to put in the "black market" so to speak? Does this world have a "black market" and would Canticle be there (or rather, faux Canticle)?

A small dose of Canticle costs a person's memories for new ones... If said person went to a significant place in their past, would they have flashbacks or even, feel a familiarity in the area? Or does this mean completely wiped out, old memories will not return?

Breaker's Point— where is that located? Gothica? Zephyr or?

Is the Concern more like... an academy that is hero-ey training? Or more brutal and torturous? I figure hero-ey but I want clarification that if a character went through the Concern, they would not be whipped or tortured to "make them strong"?

By "your magic will catastrophically fail you"- do you mean the magic will simply not work? Or more like, the magic will backfire?

For example, say someone wanted to start a fire in the fireplace. They had some doubt, so when they cast their fire magic, they set the whole place on fire. More like that? Because I definitely prefer that over my magic not working. XD

What happens when you don't get approval from the Naturalist and Adept casters to become king (or queen?)

Are people born knowing common tongue and the Quaint? Or do they learn them? What if someone did not know Quaint and needed to go see the king?

Invitations are from the king only or is his throne room open to the general public to cry out their tears and woes?

"In Canting, years are counted as "Annuals" and a 100 year unit is called an "Age." Thus, currently according to the Canting Calender, Canting is considered to be in the 26th Annual of the 17th Age. "

So 17th Age equals 1700 or 170?

8th Age equals 800?
 
Glad you asked! By the way looking to move this over to signups soon, I just plan to add a little section that will hopefully clarify the actual plot I have planned for the RP a little better and I also have to finalize setting up a discord for it. I'll try to separate these answers as to not be too overwhelming. Also that character sounds perfectly fine!
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What is the golden city beyond the Whitewastes?

The golden city is as of now only a rumor. No one has ever seen it personally, or at least no one has ever reported so, but the rumor originates from northern explorers reporting a huge source of light on the northern horizon of the mountains. Several expeditions have been launched to find the city. Some expeditions returned and said they didn't have enough supplies and resources to safely reach the city. Other expeditions disappeared entirely, and although most believe the journey probably killed them some speculate they actually reached the city and never bothered to make the return trip. If you want meta-info in what it actually is then I guess you'll have to find out yourself! 😝
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If Canticle is completely banned outside of the Hewed Abbey, can people still steal it and sell it? If so, what kind of skill would someone need to perform this feat?

One can feasibly steal Canticle, it's actually not even particularly that hard. It's production is a closely guarded secret and it's stockpiles in the Abby is guarded by the druids who run the abby. However a well-minded thief could probably steal some. The difficulty, actually; is finding a market for it. Generally speaking Canticle is used to wipe someone's memories. It doesn't make for a particularly good poison because it's very sweet and easy to taste- and there's not a whole lot of people who actually have any interest in wiping their own memories. There's probably a few that could use it to wipe someone else's memory but it's still not common enough usually to inspire many thieves to take the risk.
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What color is Canticle?

I was imagining brewed Canticle looks similar to an unrefined chunk of jade, if it was a liquid. With various different oily tones of green that swirl together but never truly mix. Picture below!
1604600413666.png
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I imagine Canticle might be one of those liquids that people would want to put in the "black market" so to speak? Does this world have a "black market" and would Canticle be there (or rather, faux Canticle)?

There is probably a tiny market for Canticle in the underground trade but it isn't very large. As previously mentioned, not a lot of people (so far) have interest in altering the memories of others (other than the Concern of course.) Even worse, faux Canticle is almost impossible to produce. Attempts result in a substance just as deadly but most people trying to produce it themselves will tell you that it's memory-altering properties seem to involve a great amount of magical enchantment. Enough magical energy that one could sunder reality if not careful! Quite the dangerous substance...

There is a black market that exists, indeed. Particularly around the city of Gothica. Gothica itself has very lax laws compared to Zephyr or Ehve, both because of the Concern and because of it's strange property of being simply unknowable to anyone who isn't there. For this reason Gothica is a large hub for illegal activity.
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A small dose of Canticle costs a person's memories for new ones... If said person went to a significant place in their past, would they have flashbacks or even, feel a familiarity in the area? Or does this mean completely wiped out, old memories will not return?

It's a good question and the short answer is yes, they might. The long answer is that it varies depending on circumstance. For one, Canticle takes some time to actually work it's magic so if one ingests Canticle and then visits a familiar place of their past within a few days of having done so, they might have blurry recollections of previous memories. However after that, new memories set in.

The other thing to consider is that certain elements, particularly things that are most fundamental to someone's understanding of life, are more altered than they are actually erased. Some aren't even changed at all! A common example of this is someone's memories of world history: People who consume Canticle can still accurately recall world history, but the memories of their own personal lives are all different than reality. Another example would be learned skills such as language. A sailor doesn't forget how to sail after they consume Canticle- and usually that means they have SOME memory of having learned that skill, even if it's not the real memory.

It's kind of confusing but as a general rule of thumb: Canticle alters and changes memories, but not enough so that the person is confused about the nature of their reality. They remember just enough so that they can carry on with their lives reasonably but they don't remember the context to which they got to their current state of life. For instance if you were an assassin and you took Canticle, you would have a fake memory or past that would account for your skills as an assassin- but specific memories like the exact people you killed or people you worked with would be entirely fabricated.

Aside from that, one as yet to report having flashbacks of their real memories or past, but there's always time to be the first! Infact this might involve some meta-info if you wanted to learn more about it so feel free to hit me up with a PM or something if you wanna go down that road.
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Breaker's Point— where is that located? Gothica? Zephyr or?

Breaker's Point is kinda hard to see on the map, but it's north of Ehve. Picture below! Generally speaking if there's a lore blurb about a given location, it's probably somewhere on the map. As new locations come to light as the RP progresses, I'll actually add them too.

1604602582277.png
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Is the Concern more like... an academy that is hero-ey training? Or more brutal and torturous? I figure hero-ey but I want clarification that if a character went through the Concern, they would not be whipped or tortured to "make them strong"?

Sorry if it was unclear; it's hero-ey. It's just also incredibly secretive. Most people know it is an organization that exists within the confines of Gothica but it's purpose and exact location is a closely guarded secret. Generally speaking only those who've trained there know what it really is. The Concern essentially is like a "catch-all" ivy league academy if it makes sense. They selectively take in young students, usually around 12-16, who show remarkable "prodigy" talent for a specific skill.

This skill could be anything and can sometimes be quite broad or specific. Anything from magic to military tactics, intelligence to thievery, even those skills which might seem mundane as music or art. The Concern then basically intensively trains them in that one particular skillset so that they are the absolute masters of that given skill. However in return, everything material that a given alumni owns is surrendered and absorbed back into The Concern upon their death. Such is how The Concern manages to collect the massive resources and funds to train these students so intensively.

Basically it's a school which trains people to be legends, those people go out into the world and do legendary things- usually accruing some vast wealth or rarities along the way- and then when they die it's all absorbed back into The Concern to train the next batch.
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By "your magic will catastrophically fail you"- do you mean the magic will simply not work? Or more like, the magic will backfire?

It depends. Particularly it depends on the mental status of the person casting. For instance if someone fails to cast magic and isn't in a state of duress or stress, usually outside of combat or survival scenarios, the magic will probably just harmlessly fizzle and die. However if a magic user is in some way under pressure, maybe their lives depend on it or they've just simply gone off the mental deep end, sometimes magic can backfire spectacularly if one isn't careful- even going so far as to obliterate the person casting the spell.

This also goes, however, for mental states. For instance even if a magic caster isn't in a stressful scenario, they can still be under some mental stress like depression, anxiety, anger or mental illness, and this might cause the magic to backfire even if it's not a life-or-death scenario.
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What happens when you don't get approval from the Naturalist and Adept casters to become king (or queen?)

There have been cases where someone has taken the throne and hasn't been wholly vetted by either the Adept or Naturalist institution. Technically there isn't a direct consequence of this but more often than not their reign is pretty short lived. Typically rulers of Canting who don't secure the approval of a magical body can expect to fight fierce opposition from that given institution at every turn. Sometimes institutions will refuse to conduct services, and thus the populace gets very angry very fast. Other times members of government who also are members of that given magical institution will lose faith in their King/Queen and plot against them. It also usually restarts conflict and pogroms between Naturalist and Adepts, and all of these things comes together to essentially create a kingdom whose state of existence is incredibly unstable.
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Are people born knowing common tongue and the Quaint? Or do they learn them? What if someone did not know Quaint and needed to go see the king?

Quaint is famously hard to learn. Not all impossible given circumstance, but it's exceedingly difficult. This is because whenever you talk to someone in Quaint; they forget the language as soon as your done talking! How could you tell someone a word of Quaint if they simply forget the word when the lesson is over?

The only way to learn Quaint itself is through a rigorous process of immersive learning. People such as Nobles and high-up Adept/Naturalist members usually learn the language either at a young age (for Nobles) or in the late stages of a seminary education (Adept/Naturalists) by basically only speaking Quaint and being spoken to in Quaint for an extended period of time. The standard is usually two whole months. After this point, most people have internalized it to such a degree that it can be spoken.

It is also possible for commoners to learn Quaint in Gothica, as the city is the birthplace of the language. Many of it's occupants work bastardized Quaint phrases into their common dialect similar to how someone in New Orleans at the turn of the twentieth century would sometimes switch back and forth between creole french and English.

If someone needs to speak to the king and does not know the language, usually the king/queen can sidestep this issue by meeting the person in Zephyr Major instead of his own facilities in Zephyr Minor. This usually happens when the king/queen wants to discuss something with The Jury (as they're mostly commoners) or the captain of royal guard if they too happen to not know Quaint. Infact usually they use the opportunity to make frequent visits to the commoners of the city.
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Invitations are from the king only or is his throne room open to the general public to cry out their tears and woes?

Usually, his own throneroom is closed off to the common rabble of the city. Only courtroom nobles and land owners are capable of visiting the king's court without invitation, and usually the commoners rely on those elite to make the issues of commoners known. As you can imagine, for this reason there is often a big discrepancy or gap in between how the commoners experience the kingdom and how the king does, and king's who are not conscious of this risk dangerous upheaval.

However: Sometimes, usually at least once every year, the king holds an open court in ye olde Iron Parasol. Since the old throne, court and facilities still exist there. Usually in these circumstances everyone is welcome to see the king and make grievances known. Usually this only happens a handful of times in the year- but extremely egalitarian rulers can do this every day if they so wished, and extremely enigmatic rulers can choose to never do this.
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So 17th Age equals 1700 or 170? 8th Age equals 800?

The Age is the century, the Annual is the specific year. Thus the 17th Age would be the 1700s, or the years between 1700 and 1799. The 8th Age would be the 800s, or the time period between the years 800 and 899.

If you would want to denote something that happened in an exact year, the "Annual" is added before the Age to denote this. So for instance the 26th Annual of the 17th Age, which is the current date of Canting, would translate into the 1726th year of Canting.

If you wanted to denote something in the exact year of an Age, so for instance something that happened in the year of 900, you obviously can't use the "zero-ith" Annual of the 9th Age, right? So in this instance, you would say it's the Infant Annual of the 9th Age. "Infant" being a stand-in for "00" if that makes any sense.

The first couple hundred years, also, is kinda tricky to navigate as "The First Age" technically denotes everything from year 1 to year 199, which is technically two centuries and not one. It's not common anyone would ever use an exact date for anything during this time period. In such cases where one must, however, usually the convention of Annuals is broken and people just use the 1st Annual up to the 199th Annual of the First Age, and most people commonly understand them to be talking about the earliest centuries of Canting.
 
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@The Legate You answered all my questions XD I must've asked the right ones! Thank you so much for all this information! My character would definitely be interested in that golden city lol.

So, we know there's an annual and age– what about day and month? Is there a certain term for those?
 
This looks cool. I’d just like to confirm some things about Quaint. In 1330, every Gothica resident switched their mother tongue from Common to Quaint. I imagine that in the following ages, the flow of people in and out of the city was enough that they were able to learn Common as well (just as Quaint spread to elsewhere). But nowadays, how many people from Gothica have Quaint as a mother tongue? How many are bilingual? Is Common or Quaint the one more likely to be taught as a second language?

What happens when someone attempts to write Quaint? Are they literally incapable of doing so/incapable of comprehending how to do so? Do any approximate attempts simply not make sense?

I mostly understand why it’s used as a spy’s tongue; it’s rare enough that a speaker of Quaint can easily find non-speakers. However, if they ever revealed sensitive information out loud while unaware that another Quaint speaker was nearby, that would present a leak. Also, it must be the case that a speaker can only converse with one non-speaker at a time; Quaint cannot be intently directed towards a group, correct? Or perhaps maintaining the necessary concentration to do so is difficult, and easily leaves some person out of the loop if the speaker forgets about them. I imagine this must be why the King leaves Zephyr Minor. If only one non-speaker were to visit the ruler, it shouldn’t be a problem, but if there are many, there is, and so it is much simpler for the King to head to Zephyr Major and converse in Common. Yeah?

By the way, what happens to any “failed” heroes from the Concern? I think this is an instance where Canticle may be used; a failed student consumes it, lives their life as they please, but doesn’t know they’re still contractually obligated to pass all their possessions to the Concern…so the institution can observe and collect from even those they deemed not good enough. Heck, they might even do something like that to a successful person who chooses to leave the premises for all I know. Unless they have the better option of a magical non-disclosure agreement.
 
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But nowadays, how many people from Gothica have Quaint as a mother tongue? How many are bilingual? Is Common or Quaint the one more likely to be taught as a second language?

Exceedingly rare these days is Quaint anyone's mother tongue, due to the difficulty that one has in learning the language. In almost every single case- even for those in Gothica- Common is learned first as a mother tongue and then Quaint follows after as a secondary language. It is very rare that someone learns Quaint before they learn Common, mostly because Common is used so ubiquitously due to it's easily accessible nature. This is because usually most children who are going into the critical period for language development are much more likely to pick up on Common than they are Quaint as it's much more conventional and Common can be listened to and understood even if it's just by listening second hand- which is how a lot of tiny kiddies learn any kind of language.

What happens when someone attempts to write Quaint? Are they literally incapable of doing so/incapable of comprehending how to do so? Do any approximate attempts simply not make sense?

It's actually more like no one has ever bothered to make a written alphabet for it. It's magical properties don't seem to carry over to paper so most people just never thought it worthwhile to build an alphabet for the language, and those who did found that it never really catches on ubiquitously since different people disagree mostly about it's particulars important to the written word such as how it's grammar works and stuff like that. Thus, up until now, most attempts to use an alphabet are just culturally abandoned.

However, if they ever revealed sensitive information out loud while unaware that another Quaint speaker was nearby, that would present a leak.

This is actually an important thing to clarify: Just because you know Quaint doesn't actually mean you can understand other people's conversations in the language! Much like Gothica, one only truly understands the language when in a conversation with it. It's kinda hard to conceptualize but knowing the language of Quaint only means you possess the capacity to begin that magical dialogue with another person or party. It doesn't actually mean you can listen to someone else's Quaint convo!

Also, it must be the case that a speaker can only converse with one non-speaker at a time; Quaint cannot be intently directed towards a group, correct?

Quaint can be spoken to small groups, as long as the crowd isn't humongous, and it's actually easier than one might think. It doesn't necessarily require concentration but requires two key components: Those components being awareness and intent. In order to speak to a group one must be consciously aware of someone's presence and have the intent to speak Quaint to them. That's all! However it's important to clarify the "awareness" part can be trickier than it sounds. For instance if one was speaking Quaint to a crowd and there's a member of the crowd perhaps around a corner so that they aren't visible, or if someone had maneuvered or snuck around behind the speaker so that the speaker doesn't know that they're there, they wouldn't be included in the Quaint speech and wouldn't be understood.

This is actually quite an important thing to consider, especially Nobles and Naturalists/Adepts that might give a speech in Quaint: A clever assassin looking to kill someone giving a Quaint speech can use this to their advantage. Maneuvering around the area and using their own understanding of the speech to actually gauge whether or not their target is aware of their presence!

I imagine this must be why the King leaves Zephyr Minor. If only one non-speaker were to visit the ruler, it shouldn’t be a problem, but if there are many, there is, and so it is much simpler for the King to head to Zephyr Major and converse in Common. Yeah?

Kinda yes, kinda no. It is true that if the King was to give a speech to a large crowd, like a very large audience, he'd probably have a much easier time with it in plain Common than Quaint. Another thing to consider though is the actual logistics of navigating Zephyr Minor itself all the way into the king's court without knowing Quaint and, thus, pretty much without speaking to anyone. Let alone what that might look like if dozens of commoners tried to all do it at once. For that reason the king instead moves to Zephyr Major every once and a while just to make it easier for commoners wanting to visit and talk to the king.

By the way, what happens to any “failed” heroes from the Concern?

You're right on the money with that assumption. Canticle isn't used too often, but the Concern is by far it's most primary user outside of the Hewed Abby. It's used both for "flunked" heroes as well as unfortunate curious souls who discovered the organization when they shouldn't have. However it's important to note that the Concern is very selective and picky about who they choose to attend. Much like the real world, students who drop out of the Concern are seen as a net loss financially for the institution. Their seat can't be easily replaced, and the Concern effectively wasted time and energy training a flunk.

For these reasons if too many people flunk out of the Concern, it actually risks losing a lot of it's resources and gold. So they take very careful effort to make sure all students are at least promising candidates for the program. That doesn't mean it doesn't happen though.

Hope that all makes sense well enough!
 
Yeah, it makes sense and was a fascinating read! Really cool stuff.
 
@The Legate Out of curiosity, any update on my question?
 
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@Kat Sorry! Been busy. I figure maybe we should just keep that simple and just have a similar system for denoting times of year: 12 months in a year, 4 weeks in a month, normal names for months. If people want we can draw up a whole ass calendar but for the sake of convenience we can keep it like that for now 😅

Also, I'm still working on getting the signups posted up. It's coming up to semester finals for me and with grad school applications and all that I haven't had any free time. Realistically it might be a bit before this goes to sign ups so I'll mention people here who expressed interest when I do. My apologies!
 
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Im interested also i have a question are there people who are trying to experiment with magic and technology at the same time? Like "oh let me cast a fire spell while next to a freezer" like opposites of eachother would that be a loop hole for experimentors to exploit if they exist?
 
Interested if this is still going on ^-^