Saga Of The Seven Tribes: Worldbuilding

Chapter 2: Footnotes For Chapter One

1: Swîtfrût is a type of fruit that grows abundantly in specific areas only. It is incredibly sweet, to the point that most humans have difficulty eating it, but is so nutritious that one can live healthily on it alone. It has the unusual side effects of decreasing sugar tolerance over generations, leaving modern-day Sprikin unable to eat most sweets besides it (which is unfortunate, considering their large sweet tooths).

2: Inrjim Stones are a type of gemstone known for storing, amplifying, and emitting different kinds of energy. A vital necessity for alchemists, low-tech inventors, and Frilled Rockeaters.

3: Not Spirits, Non-Spirits, No-Spirits, Nosprit, Nisprit. Get it?

4: Life Spirits are a subgroup of Spirits strongly connected to the element of Life. They are capable of reviving the recently deceased, though who they save is always changed in some way. They are peaceful beings, but causing too many crimes against Life (AKA: senseless, large scale murder) will earn their wrath. Most wars on Koraz are entirely or near-entirely non-fatal, with enslavement or such being more popular options to execution.

5: Intrap Crystals are perfectly harmless to the vast majority of species. Unfortunately, Spirits are immediately drawn into them upon contact, trapped inside until a Nisprit with the knowledge to do it lets them out. There are different strengths of Intrap Crystals (most made on purpose by alchemists), with strong Spirits able to escape the weaker ones. Many devices, including orbs and lanterns, are created using them. Strangely, most Spirits don't find them at all uncomfortable, and a few have been known to use them as sleeping zones. Sensation-sharing experiments have shown that Nisprit do not feel the same way about it, instead developing extreme but (mostly) temporary claustrophobia and disorientation.

6: Mênland is the single biggest landmass on Koraz, and the home of some of the most advanced civilizations on the planet.

7: Strênjling Strênj is the Spirit Of Life And Creation, one of the most powerful Spirits to ever be. He was a tyrant, once upon a time, and heavily punished by a group of Witches. Begging to be freed from the weak form he'd been trapped in, after suffering for a hundred years, he was freed and put under a lesser (but still terrible) curse. One Witch, wicked unlike the rest, used this as an opportunity to seal away his ability to Revive others. It is said the land itself protested the loss of the Spirit Of Life's most innate ability. For thousands of years he had to watch others die without being able to stop it, breaking him in ways no mortal can comprehend. Luckily, he eventually got the ability back and is doing much better now, though he's still scarred.

8: The Shadowlight were horrible warriors and conquerors, unnatural in a way that frightened even Tech Elementals. They ruled the land for a long time, stealing people's minds and making more of themselves from their bodies and souls, but we're eventually overthrown and banished to the Voids (empty pocket Realms). In recent years, a small number have been freed, causing havoc despite the advancement of magic and technology to fight them.

9: The Great Migration is an inexplicable gathering of thousands of creatures living and traveling in peace. Spritwhales, Icebeasts, Shadowlight Hounds — some of the world's most aggressive and dangerous creatures coexisting with some of its weakest. Animals that normally don't leave their homes, ones that normally live alone, ones that normally are hunted by the others; it matters not, they still travel on a set cycle across the world, for reasons no-one can figure out. It's quite a beautiful sight, though getting too close is very much NOT RECOMMENDED.

10: Sprithorses are Spirit Animals that resemble horses, capable of switching between a Small Form (lapdog sized) and a Big Form (horse sized). They come in three main breeds (War, Companion, and Work), and range the Elemental Spectrum.

11: Flash Rabbits are unusually intelligent, mischievous, glowing rabbits with a knack for teleporting in big flashes of light (hence their name). They are known for being independent, easy to train so long as they find a trick fun, and enjoying stealing things.

12: Soulsight is the ability to see souls. This is useful for knowing when someone is pregnant, fighting in the dark, spotting invisible beings, and knowing whether someone's really dead or not. Spirikin have the additional ability of being able to instantly recognize whether someone is family or not (within a few degrees of relation to them, anyways), making familial imposters impossible and paternity tests unnecessary. A few very special people have the ability to tell a lot about someone based on their soul, but these people are completely incapable of causing harm (including self defense) and usually have minor mental issues from brain overload.

13: Sprikin is the name they tell everyone else. Their actual name is kept secret like most of their language, with the only thing known about it being its meaning: They Who Walk With Spirits. So Spirikin does not translate to that phrase, but represents something that does.

14: In modern days, Soul Bracelets are called Soulets, as some take the form of things other than bracelets (depending on the tribe). Those who can see souls say that soul energy, though not quite a soul, gathers in the Soulets.

15: The Soulless are called such because their souls cannot be seen. However, advancements in the past few hundred years have taught us that they do still possess souls — they're just hidden, weak, and already halfway in the place beyond this one.

16: Forced Separation is legally considered brutal torture, but before widely-available techniques to block Casting were widely available, it was sometimes necessary to do so anyways. A high-up official would have their own Soulet sealed away, and the prisoner would only be separated from their own Soulet as long as the official who recommended it could — this kept the rare sadist that managed to get into a position of power in line, as they couldn't cause pain without receiving it.