A lot of random in-universe documents for a world

 I’ve had a few ideas of what I wanted to write this week, and I’ve begun drafting a few patterns, but I think I feel like I should share this thing. It has sort of a long story behind it, and it’s really detailed, so I’m not sure how much I should explain, but I think I can give the gist of it easily enough. I just really want to show off some of the lore I’ve been thinking about lately. This might be a bit long and rambly, and I definitely got it out later than usual. I’ve been busy.

Backstory

As a kid, I used to make up stories in my head to help me go to sleep. These stories usually started from a book I read or show I watched, and I put myself into the story. By fourth or fifth grade, I began an original story, about five siblings with magical classical-element-manipulation powers (the eldest was named Ella “Earth” Mental, which gives you a sense of my sense of humor at the time) who were heroes and saved the world, although usually that meant stopping bullies on the school playground. Eventually, my stories in my head were more original than not, although I still did a lot of putting-my-characters-into-another-story-to-affect-the-plot. The Auri, the world I’m going to talk about, began as one of these almost-fanfiction stories. They came out of a Star Trek TOS idea, for a ship called the USS Explorer which had mostly a genderswapped bridge crew when compared to the Enterprise, except I put in two types of magic. One was the magic out of Harry Potter, and the other was the prototype magic system that became the Auraic magic system. The captain (who was me, down to a nickname I wished I had at the time) was the first Auri I created, and they changed as I created more and more of the world. The Auri did too. This is some of the stuff from the world as it is now. 

I’m going to start with a little essential context. The Auri (pretty much pronounced OH-rye, adjective form Auraic, language Aurie) are mostly human, but they have magic flowing through them. They call that magic their Aura, and when they use it, it looks like semisolid light, with two colors intermixing (the colors are different for each person and are roughly related to emotional state); the magic of the world is mostly based on intent, though spells are used to shape magic for anything particularly complicated. The Auri are divided into seven Houses, each descended from one of the seven daughters of the first mage, Auri, and linked to an aspect of the world. The Auri classify themselves based on two ‘ranking systems’, one based on lineage and one on magical ability, but only the ability one is used in most cases. They use names with three parts, which are usually alliterative (at least partially) with their House’s name: truename (like our first names), family names (the truename of an ancestor, given at birth by the family), and a surname; most have several nicknames, including one used only by their immediate family. 

Actual lore things I came up with

The thing I actually wanted to do was share some things I wrote that actually exist as is in the Auri world. I’ll try to give more context as necessary, but I hope I gave enough. I’m trying out different ways people might have experienced a given event or written about it, and I picked a handful of important-to-their-history places to think about.

An excerpt from A Young Child’s Flock of Histories, by Arturo Alexis Aurelie; from “Chapter I: The Beginnings of the Houses”. Published 1379.

In the beginning, generations upon generations before us, the world was new. In those times, all the magic was found in the creator, the Spark of All-Power. The Allspark created the world and its inhabitants, setting everything in its place, but the Allspark then retreated, leaving the world to the people. And one of those people was a little boy named Auri, who had no parents. Nobody knew where he came from, but he lived with a small community of people who did not like him. They were very mean to him and made him do all the work. One day, he was very sad that he had to do so much work, and he ran off to his secret hiding spot on top of a tall rock. When he was there, he cried and cried, asking the world why it made his life so hard. The Allspark heard him crying, and felt sorry for him, so the Allspark came to Auri, saying “Young Auri, why do you cry?”

Auri said, “Because I do everything, but they don’t ever let me have anything good! I want to be more powerful than they are so that I can go on my own and never see them again.” 

The Allspark touched Auri on the shoulder and said, “It is done. You have the magic of the world in you, and you will pass it on to your descendants. Pass on the knowledge of the world, and the stories you tell will protect you for all time.” 

Auri thanked the Allspark and ran off to his community. He used his new knowledge to cast the first spell, the first Aura, and lifted himself to the sky, telling his community he was leaving and going alone into the world. Auri traveled the world, learning about the lands and the water and the sky and every living thing upon them. In time, he had seven daughters, each as strong and smart as she was brave and kind, who themselves became mages of immense power. The eldest six daughters each had two powerful children, but the youngest had no children, for she did not want any. And thus the Twenty-Born, the Twenty Mages, came into the world. 

When Auri was one thousand years old, he gathered his daughters and their descendants together before him. “I will die today,” he said, “for I am old. I want you to divide my power between you, each taking a portion to protect.” Then he died, and his children wept. 

“I will protect Time,” smart Auril, the eldest, said, “so all things happen when they should.”

Brave Dyal, the second daughter, said, “I will protect Space, so we will always know where things will be.”

Laughing, Syail, the third sister, claimed Change, and wise Ziul, the fourth sister, took Sight. Rad, the fifth and kindest sister, swore to protect Life, and the sixth child, empathetic Lyril, chose Mind. 

“Then I shall take Light as my own, so that any who come to me shall be welcomed in,” said Auri’s last daughter, the strongest of them all. And thus were the Houses formed and the Lines begun. I tell this story to my descendants as it was told to me by my ancestors. 

Letter from Sunrise Sienna Syailie (Heir Syail) to xer cousin Silia Stanus, upon the founding of the Council of Heads and the city of Valus Dae in early 812.  

My dearest Silia, 

Thank you for your last letter, and the explanation of your unusual slowness. I understand completely if you will be unable to respond for the present. I hope you will not forget me during your time abroad, and that you correspond when you can. Make sure that you pack plenty of water — I hear the mountains are quite dry this year! 

Prime Parent is insufferable again. This new Council business, creating a way for the heads to make some kind of consistent policy, has them quite annoyed. Imagine, allowing anyone to interfere in Syail business! Additionally, we just moved again, to Valus Dae. The Council will be based here, Third Father says, but I don’t think it’s fair that we have to move, no matter what fancy things he says or how much personal change is good for a Syail. It’s a farming town, for Auri’s sake, and there’s nothing to do and no society to speak of! Second Mother said it was a political move, because the battle that Heir Lyric of Lyril fought here was for the freedom of all Auri, so many people wanted to raise him above the heads, and not just over his grandfather, Head Lyril. So they’re acknowledging him by basing the council in his home town. Speaking of Lyric, I met him today for the first time. You know how Prime Parent is about ‘interacting with the lower Houses’, so I doubt I have to explain to you that I was expecting a brutish warrior with no mind, but he quite surprised me. Did you know, he barely spoke of his recent exploits! I am simply shocked! I doubt I would have been able to strike down my own sister, had I been in his position. 

Ah, but you have been in the mountains and have not heard the news! It’s certainly one for the Books of Traditions! Three weeks ago, nobody had heard of any little town called Valus Dae, and although many knew of Heir Lyric, nobody particularly cared about him. Then Lyric’s younger sister, Ladymage Ilia, raised an army of followers, some mind-controlled (imagine!), to try to take over the Houses, and not just House Lyril, but the others as well! There’s all sorts of rumors, of course, about what went on after that and such, but there was an enormous battle, and then Lyric came with his sword and simply struck Ilia down, right where she stood! Everything has been chaotic since then, and I’ve barely had time to study around the preparations to move and putting my recently-acquired diplomatic skills to use for Prime Parent. 

I take my third-rank test next week, so I must go practice now. Wish me luck! 

I remain, now and always, Your affectionate Cousin, 

Sunrise

Excerpt from Houses Together: Diplomacy during the Early Council Period, dissertation in early modern history and political science, cowritten by Zelda d’Zentana Zendri (history) and Relia Ronald Radie (polisci). Submitted 1973, published as a book in 1990.

Following the Great Betrayal and the Last War, the Houses of Auri formed the Council of Heads to handle issues pertaining to multiple Houses, and in 813 the first Council released the Inter-House Edicts of 813 to formalize the newly close relationships between the Houses. Since then, very little about the format of the Council has changed. There are still seven members on the Council, each one the Head of their house and holding an equal vote. However, during the Early Council Period (812–957, comprising the first five Councils), the Council passed many fewer laws than during any other period (Zinn 23). The question we must ask history is not why so few laws were passed, as Daffodil Downdilly famously asked in 1022, but how the few laws that were passed were actually passed, given the historical context. 

According to historian Adremma Arin, “the Council came out of a need for mutual defensive capability and a perceived failure of independence” (Arin et al, 196). We analyze the context in which the laws were created and use this, alongside records of public approval or disapproval, to prove that simply passing any laws during this period was a remarkable feat of diplomacy. 

Webpage, by noted travel writer Umaya Utility Usylinas (Heir Unknown), entitled Ten Places You Don’t Want to Miss in Valus Dae. First published 2007, updated 2009.

3. Embassy Building: One of the most obvious places to visit during your stay in Valus Dae is the Administrative District. This area of the city, right in the center, is the oldest part of the city, and its sweeping spires and curling arches date back to the early days of the city. Of course, every visitor should arrange for a tour of the Council building and other House administrative areas, which give the neighborhood its name, but be sure to check out the original Embassy building, still the center of the Circle Transport Network, leading locals to call the entire network the Em. The Embassy holds weekly tours, led by CTN director and former comm-bot Memta (pronouns: it/its), that take visitors into every bit of the process of coordinating city transport, from the bots running communications to the Dyal team that does the actual teleportation. Please note that the Embassy no longer allows foreigners (anyone who cannot prove their membership in a House or residency in the city) to interact with the comm-bots, due to the increase in attempts to incite rebellion. The pure-AI Chief of Police, SEN (full name: Safety Enforcement Network, pronouns: it/its), is tired of having to explain to “idiot tourists” that the AIs in the city, whether they have a bot-body or not, are full citizens with the right to choose their jobs, just like any other citizen; the reports also go to SEN’s bodied-AI deputies, Prelude (they/she) and Postlude (she/it), who handle all harassment cases. Price: free. Open M-F for tours, 11 am to 3 pm.