The land of [insert world name here] has never been in more turmoil. The recent years have been hard, nature itself seems to seek its demise. Earthquakes shake the land, the waves grow larger and larger, and many towns and even some cities are slowly dying as a result. Even though this generation has seen its richest merchants, wisest rulers and most powerful souls. Yes, souls.
The land of [insert world name here] is rife with magic, and all of it stems directly from the soul. Each person is born with a special soul inside them. Each soul takes on certain defining characteristics, but all are unique. The power of Souls was discovered long ago, and now Souls have a central role in society.
The current age of [insert world name here] has been blessed with some of the most powerful souls that have ever existed, and perhaps that is part of the problem, as the most powerful souls have always been the most feared.
Souls
The souls of the people of [insert world name here] are all unique, but they do fall into several categories which are listed below. Most souls start very weak, and don't affect the person at all. Over time, the power of their souls will increase until it reaches a certain point. At this point, their soul will take on one of the more specific characteristics of their types.
However, just having a powerful soul doesn't mean you can use it, to use a soul, the bearer must learn how to use it. The soul a person bears is unique, and as such can only be used a certain way known to them alone. Each person's soul is a reflection of their personality and their traits, and they dictate what shape a person's soul takes. That doesn't mean that a soul cannot change a person's personality. Some souls do, and some don't.
Neither personality or soul are dependent on one another, personality has been known to shape the soul, but sometimes souls have been known to warp personalities.
Light souls: Bearers of Light Souls are perhaps the most highly regarded in normal society. After all, the masses will always congregate around anything that stands out, no matter what it is. To that extent, the degree that bearers of a Light soul will attract is based on their characteristics.
There are two main types of Light soul, they are Bright Souls and Radiant Souls.
Strong bearers of Bright Souls tend to not just be exceptional, but also look exceptional. They will always attract attention, just as the brightest light in the room eclipses all others. Those who use Bright Souls usually stand alone either above or ahead of everyone else.
Bright Souls tend to have bearers who are bold, charismatic, and commanding; but can be sometimes be harsh and difficult to approach. Bright lights are hard to look at directly, after all.
Bearers of a Radiant Soul are usually more subtle in character, but can still stand out. Bearers of a Radiant Soul tend to be more like the glow of a trusty lantern or a light at the end of the tunnel. Magics concerning Radiant Souls tend to 'give' more than any other and usually have a wider area of effect than other types.
Radiant Souls tend to have bearers who are steadfast, trustworthy and honest. They also can be overly trusting which can lead to problems as their offensive capability isn't usually very good.
Nature Souls: Bearers of Nature Souls are neither the worst regarded, or best regarded in society. They represent the naturalistic side of humanity, and though some would embrace their natural heritage, most would prefer to stay away. This wariness extends to bearers of Nature Souls who are split into two categories.
Bearers of Nature Souls tend to have either Feral Souls or Terra Souls.
Those who have Feral Souls can tend to be marginalized by society due to the fact that this kind of soul is one that is likely to be able to affect personality. As the name would suggest, bearers of a strong Feral Souls can sometimes be taken over by their feral nature. This is somewhat rare as the soul has to be powerful enough to override their hosts higher functions, but society as whole is wary of those with Feral Souls.
Bearers of Feral Souls tend to be more rebellious, more brash and outgoing than other people.
Bearers of Terra Souls are generally better received by society as the nature of a Terra Soul allows them to be closer and more aware of nature. Strong bearers of a Terra Soul can even maniuplate nature as if they were a part of it, growing and withering plants as they choose and some of the strongest bearers could terraform entire biomes.
Bearers of Terra Souls tend to be wiser and more contemplative than those who bear Feral souls, but still somewhat more welcoming than some other types.
Burning Souls are known for their incredible passion in all it is that they do. With emotions that often burn boldly and unabashed, they live every moment to the fullest. Oft reckless, most common in the manifestation of the Raging Soul, all Burning Souls often burn bright to the last moment. Most dying young, few Burning Souls live into elder ages, with those that do frequently being the more level headed and thoughtful Kindled Soul.
Most Burning Souls manifest anger as a pure weapon of will; some so terrifying in their rage that they physically combust, radiating intense heat and flame from their bodies but being no worse for wear themselves. Many, being so prone to fury, are violent combatants who fight tooth and nail, with awesome endurance; capable of being physically killed but fighting on for a few moments more. While Kindled Souls often master and manipulate flames, Raging Souls hunger for battle and danger - never sated with their situation if they cannot have the opportunity to let their free spirit run rampant again.
Kindled Souls are methodical, despite their strong sense of emotion; all are level headed initially, but are readily provoked when tensions run high. When they experience an emotion, such as sadness, their powers wane, when happy or angered, their fire power burns brighter than ever. The most powerful among them can conjure flame at will, requiring no open, free-standing fire source, with the most notorious able to conjure balls of flame or combust flammable materials on whim. ((To be edited))
Water Souls exist as people of great tranquility, thoughtful, insightful, they rarely act outside their contemplative nature, but the raw awe they inspire when they do is renowned the world over. Many manifest their souls as the sharpness and biting cold of the Frozen Soul, their calm demeanor instead coming across as indifferent, despite their incredible insight and expertise in any matter they've set to. Rarer, in comparison, are the Tranquil Soul, those whose humbleness and kindness are noted through their deeds and some of the greatest powers... healing.
Frozen Souls are often savants, persons of incredible intellect and precision, most often those who prefer to avoid the company of others and maintain their own interest. So artful are they, they can freeze water into perfect, innumerably varied shapes on whim, chill the air into a fog or convert rain into pounding hail. Many of these frost magi learn their art as a weapon as well, to defend their interests, whatever it may be; chilling their foes with a hampering touch, or casting out bolts of thin, razor-sharp ice.
Tranquil Souls manifest the nature of their spirit in the most incredible of ways; not only do they manipulate water, but so too can they mend wounds. A powerful Tranquil Soul can bind exposed flesh, cleanse one's blood of illness, or rehydrate the parched. Often sacrificial, owing to their kindly nature, many extend their blessings to others at their expense. Essential to culture and life of the powerful, influential and wealthy, many of such souls preform water mastery as an art form and both a means of defense to augment their restorative capabilities. ((To be edited))
Storm Souls change opinion often on whim, thinking little of the consequence of their actions, but often pleased with the result regardless. Most show little practicality or wisdom, drifting and wandering across the various kingdoms and displaying nothing more than an interest in life itself. Some, those far more violent, manifest their souls as Lightning Souls, preferring action first and foremost above all else. Others, such as Thundering Souls, prefer a strong sense of reaction. ((To be completed))
Dark Souls: Bearers of Dark Souls tend to be the most marginalized in society, and unfortunately for good reason. The way bearers of Dark Souls are treated is not the best, and often the treatment is not warranted at all. The Dark Soul is usually split into these two categories: Eclipse Souls and Midnight Souls.
Bearers of Eclipse Souls are the more noticeable but not exactly the more common type of Dark Soul. The bearer of an Eclipse Soul will seem normal for most of the time, but they can suddenly change their moods into a state that can only be described as 'darker'. How this kind of phenomena occurs varies from person to person.
Sometimes the bearer of the soul can predict when this will occur, and sometimes it will come on them suddenly and without warning. However, bearers of Eclipse Soulscan have any type of personality, but it can easily be taken over by their soul, just as the moon eclipses the sun.
Bearers of Midnight Souls tend to be the more subtle of the two categories. Those who have Midnight Souls tend to be secretive, manipulative and usually try to blend into the background. Sometimes if the soul is powerful enough but the person is weak enough, these traits can escalate with a person becoming tyrannical and paranoid.
Typically, bearers of Midnight Souls prefer to stay hidden in the shadows manipulating others to do their will, but many people do not realize that those with Midnight Souls are always how they are for very good reason.
The Power of Souls
The power of souls has never been thoroughly understood, even though it was discovered long ago. There has never been set rules or abilities, and there has never been anything but the defining characteristics of the soul to link one power to the next. Each and every soul has an utterly unique power inside of it, but to obtain the power is something in and of itself.
Each person has a unique way of utilizing their soul, and as such there is no defined way to use their power. If one person is similar to another, then their powers could also be used in a similar way, but this is the only frame of reference that exists for annyone to use. For those with completely unique souls, all they can really do is try as hard as the might, in the hopes of unlocking their latent power.
But this does not mean that it is always difficult to unlock the power of the soul. Each soul is utilized differently, and you will not find the way without looking for it.
Souls in Society
As mentioned above, souls play a central role in society and as such, souls are determined as soon as characteristics become apparent. Most of the time, this means when their personality has become defined enough to warrant the journey.
While souls can be determined by personality, that does not mean that souls are easy to define. Judging based on personality alone doesn't work, as sometimes certain traits only become clear with time. However, there exist special kinds of souls in the world that can see into another person's souls.
These souls however, are even more varied than other souls and can take many different forms. This kind of soul is exceedingly rare, and as such are claimed by the rulers of the country for the benefit of the nation. The families these people are taken from are compensated, and the government employs the person as a Seer. Visits to a Seer are well regulated, and can only be done in major cities.
As a result, those from small villages who aspire to be greater, must journey to discover the nature of their soul.
Bearers of Light souls are regarded highly in society, mainly because of their inherent ability to lead and captivate the masses. As such they are usually given high leadership positions ranging from politicians to military commanders. Many of the best monarchs and commanders were bearers of Light souls, but some to ignore that some of the very worst monarchs and generals were also the bearers of Light souls. ((To be completed))
((To be completed))
Kingdoms of [insert world name here]
Brief Description: The Kingdom of twilight refuge is perhaps the smallest of the existing kingdoms. The kingdom was established only recently and became an independent nation from the other countries. The intention of the people of Twilight Refuge is to accommodate all those who would be outcast by greater society and and they accept any person who does not wish harm upon the people.
To this extent, Twilight Refuge has perhaps the highest concentration of Dark Souls in any of the kingdoms, the king himself being the bearer of a Dark Soul. Aside from them, Twilight Refuge is also home to many other outcasts and those who are not able to live elsewhere. This has led to the assumption that Twilight Refuge is a rather weak kingdom as they have little to no infrastructure and an extremely small military force.
But though their forces are small, they have perhaps some of the strongest soldiers in the world. Each member of their military is able to utilize their soul in combat and this has provided the small kingdom with no small amount of relief, but this does mean that even border skirmishes use much of their military might.
Twilight Refuge is hidden inside of a cave with a deep forest at its mouth. This helps focus their defences considerably as very little men are needed to keep watch throughout the forest and there is only one way for an invading army to attack. The Ruler:Vexcis IV It is unknown where the current king of Twilight Refuge really came from, but what is known is that he built the kingdom almost single handedly. He appeared one day amidst the citizens of a small city recruiting people to form an idealistic kingdom where all could be accepted as long as none wished harm upon each other. He was openly mocked, but there were some who believed in his ideals.
As they exited the town, many guffawed at the thought of the motley crew forming an entire kingdom on their own, his group consisting entirely of the poor and outcast, the dregs of society. But several years later, Twilight Refuge was formed, and split off from other kingdoms becoming an independent state to everyone's surprise. They were even more surprised when the kingdom decimated an invading army of 10,000 with only half of them living to tell the tale. His Soul: The ruler of Twilight Refuge possesses one of the strongest Dark Souls that has ever been seen before. His soul is best classified as a Midnight Soul but it is utterly unique, and exceedingly strong, even among those with powerful Dark Souls.
His power manifests in the form of black chains which can appear from any solid surface around him seemingly at will. These chains have sealing properties and are capable of dampening the powers of souls depending on how much of the bearer is covered by the chains. The chains do not affect him, and he can control them freely as he wishes.
Though that in itself would elevate him to a high class Dark Soul user, the majority of his power and fearsome reputation can be attributed to his other power. The other power the ruler of Twilight Refuge has is the ability to capture and chain up other souls and bind them to his will.
He is able to utilize the abilities of those souls to a certain extent, and it is unknown how but he has managed to collect a large amount of Dark Soul, each with unique effects. All that is truly known is that the soul of Vexcis IV is extremely powerful. Powerful enough to establish a kingdom.
Stuff to do, other notes and edit logs
Souls and Magic
Legendary Souls
Kingdoms and stuff(with rulers)
The plot device
All the stuff in square brackets
Kingdoms and stuff
Legendary Souls
The soul types I haven't done
Checking stuff I have done
I'm posting this thing I have in the roleplay discussion mainly because it wouldn't classify an interest check. At time of writing I can barely be bothered writing all this out, but whatever, I'll roll with it. Basically, I just want to develop this setting of mine to some degree so that I can actually use it. I came up with it on a whim, and now I want to flesh it out, except I'm sort of inefficient when making stuff like this. I always usually put too much thought into this kind of thing and it sort of makes me not want to try. But still, I'd appreciate some help on this.
I'll be updating as I go, I am rather lazy though.
This will probably have all my edits in it, and some extra notes. I run on GMT +10:00 so use that for the recorded log times.
Log1: I just realized how big this really is. Someone help me please! >.< Log2: Oh jeez, all the little things I have to edit >.< Log3: I'll be posting something for this in the interest checks anyway, not sure who I'm telling this to but nevermind. Log4: Finished Nature Souls, added stuff to Light Souls Log5 - 8:05 PM: Added date sorting for edit log, added time sorting for log. Not sure who exactly would like to know this, but whatever. Am regretting this a little right about now
Log - 12:12 PM: Changed [insert mystic sounding name here] to Seer Log - 12:17 PM: Added Kingdoms section, still got a loooong way to go; changed some formatting Log - 12:20 PM: Changed water souls to cold souls, established fire souls as fire souls Log - 12:27 PM: Tweaked intro a little Log - 2:48 PM: Added more on Twilight Refuge, I'll need to rewrite that later because it sounds pretty mediocre right now Log - 10:26 PM: Added a little bit about Light souls in society, probably the last thing I do before I go to sleep
Log - 7:56 AM: Finished up the Dark Souls Log - 5:02 PM: Did a bit more work on Twilight Refuge, still needs finishing; added a space between the number and AM/PM in the edit logs
Log - 3:07 PM: Added some stuff about Twilight Refuge's king's powers, gonna have to finish it later
Log - 9:20 AM: Added the power of souls section, may have to do stuff with it. I've got a lot of stuff to do today so I might not be able to do much although I have the day off Log - 12:48 PM: Probably finished twilight refuge, now I should probably do some homework
Log - 10:01 AM: Pretty much copy-pasted some PMed elemental souls which I'll definitely have to edit later. Not really feeling it right now, I can't really think much. Log - 10:04 AM: Changed Fiery Souls to Burning Souls
It sounds like you have a lot of stuff to do. I could help if you would like. If you don't, that's fine. I would be interested when this came as an RP though.
I am willing to assist in this realm, as it is roughly familiar in a few concepts and ideas to a campaign setting or two I've written. That said, I believe there is great potential for building on what is here as a framework, as there's both ample room and time to avoid... I suppose the best term is stereotyping or committing to repetition.
I tend to be better with concepts as a whole than names, locations, persons and the like, if that is of any assistance.
As an example of sorts, I can already imagine a few roles between the souls at hand and the rising chaos of the world itself; explanations and rationale, in a way.
I am willing to assist in this realm, as it is roughly familiar in a few concepts and ideas to a campaign setting or two I've written. That said, I believe there is great potential for building on what is here as a framework, as there's both ample room and time to avoid... I suppose the best term is stereotyping or committing to repetition.
I tend to be better with concepts as a whole than names, locations, persons and the like, if that is of any assistance.
As an example of sorts, I can already imagine a few roles between the souls at hand and the rising chaos of the world itself; explanations and rationale, in a way.
Cool! Can you PM me the details about that last part? I already had a main plot device idea, but I'm open to this kind of thing
EDIT: Although I might not be able to respond right away because I have stuff to do
Names for the Government Employed Person: Âme Voix (Soul See in French) Aura-Oric Soul Mage Soul Oracle Soul-Seer
I am in favor of utilizing oracle, seer or manifester as to describe someone who can actually manipulate, augment, alter or outright manifest their soul's properties into the flesh or through reality changing means. While quite generic, it leaves a sense of mysticism and question to the world at hand; the properties of a soul and its actual usage might be understood as a concept (likely only by those explicitly "in the know"), but it depends on if it is something that's universally understood by most everyone. In short, while everyone has a soul, not everyone knows about it or can even use it.
Oh yeah, I may need help with some kingdoms right now. All I've got that's concrete is written up there, and I have an idea for a desert city and that's just about it.
If you guys could come up with some kingdoms, that would be pretty great!
It's kind of bothersome for me on PMs, now that I think about it. I had the other guy PM me because he might've said something about the plot but he didn't
It's kind of fine either way, but I'd prefer it in here
I have two ideas for a legendary soul and both are kind of important.
The first one is the Fire Emperor who had the strongest fire soul ever. When he first awakened he set his whole city on fire and his soul had to be sealed, but it was so strong it couldn't be sealed completely. Over time it made the nearby lands turn into deserts because of its overpowering heat but those lands have gotten used to it now.
The second one is the Oracle who was a seer who had the ability to see into the future.
The wording one those two a little bit iffy but those two are the only legendary souls I've got so far.
I would imagine a cold soul as someone who kept to themselves, probably a part being ambitious (As ice can break down things (rock) as time goes on). I have nothing for the other half.
