Post by Wormopolis on Jun 9, 2014 0:15:36 GMT -8
| The Alcrystan World |
Fantasy blooming in the physical world, Alcryst is solid magic, visible freedom. It can be both touched and felt as reality and dream, breathed as imagination, exhaled as existence. Clarification This is to clarify the unique terms of Alryst, both verbal and visual. Most clarification, however, is provided in our mandatory-to-read FAQ, so please review that additionally. [PTabbedContent] [PTab=Icons] Proboards' default icon - definition - Alcryst's unique icon  - Locked Thread -   - Stickied Thread -   - Locked Stickied Thread -  [PTab=Pronunciations]
[/PTabbedContent={border:0px;background-color:#75664e;width:600px}] Representation Delve into our world and learn its folds through elaborations, explaining the land you are about to trek. [PTabbedContent] [PTab=Influences] The landscape of Alcryst and the relationship between nature and society is influenced by Avatar along with Native American culture. Morrene is influenced by Eragon's town Carvahall and basic, rustic medieval villages. Faewin is influenced by the Lord of the Ring's city Gondor and ancient Rome and Greece. The lifestyle and feel of Alcryst is influenced by Skyrim of the Elder Scrolls. Some traditions and themes are influenced by ancient Greek and Roman cultures. Alcryst is more like an MMORPG than a normal RPG. Therefore, the full technical name for it would be text-based MMORPG. [PTab=Environment] The world is alive. Stone its skeleton, soil its flesh, clouds the framing lashes--it embraces you, challenges you, a mother and a predator. The plant-life of Alcryst is rich, exotic, and quite foreign to our Earthen familiarity. The sheer size dominates ours; towering trees that graze mountains, leaves stretching like a natural ceiling, flowers that blossom at your shoulder. Beyond mere reach and density, the colors flourish in vibrancy and hue. From azure trunks to magenta leaves, the environment has a hypnotic spectrum. Ever-changing, much of the vegetation shifts in tint and motion, as alive as the pulse beating in your own veins. It is not unusual for a tree to grab you, a flower to bloom within seconds, or for the forest to sing. Overhead, the sky is painted in new shades before your eyes, revolving between colors throughout the day. Stars often glimmer beside the sun, bursts of fire and smoke, of glitter and beams all frequent occupants of the great canvas. You may even feel it cast a specific spotlight on you should you catch some divinity's attention. Through the shadows prowl animals with superior intellect, with elaborate appearances and alien physiques. While some mirror our customary creatures, others are remarkably bizarre. Unleash your own species in Alcryst through Contribution. Similar enough for us to comprehend but different enough to invoke strokes of surrealism, Alcryst is a world apart from our own... one that exists only in dreams. [PTab=Lifestyle] Although Alcrystan society is archaic compared to our modern technology, it is more than a medieval world. Magic is as common as light and yet each touch of it is highly treasured and admired, respected despite the normalcy. Nature is valued as another spirit, equal to your soul, and the animals are revered, even when they must be sacrificed for survival. Differences are accepted even if they cannot be understood, and strangers are brethren even as they are held in suspicion. In such a bloodthirsty world where bandits lurk, crime infests, and ravenous horses prowl, the trust and peace that manages to thrive continues to define their reality. The magnitude of this standard depends on your location, however--in the Outskirts or Wilderness, every whisper could be lethal, even beauty a feral raptor. In Morrene, unity is their strength, both comfort and amiability flavoring encounters. In Faewin, the rock it nests upon reflects in the manner of its occupants; distant, cold, and suspicious, albeit grand and powerful. You might just find that, in Alcryst, who you are depends on where you are. [PTab=People] The individuals are representatives of their culture; so similar to us Earth-dwellers yet so different. They are more open than us in many ways, comfortable with violence and sexuality and greed, unafraid to acknowledge its hold on them... and yet they are so much more closed off, sometimes refusing to give even their name to new acquaintances. Their adornment is more exposed, as they are not ashamed of their bodies nor skin and do not see it as a sin to reveal it, and gems are a frequent decoration. Billowing silks, chilling metals, tempting jewels; their clothing is a manifestation of their desires and personality--or at least, the one they want you to see. Like the animals of Alcryst, their appearances are diverse. While some are more simple, others are ornate, everything subject to an abnormal color, a luminosity, an addition. One may look as normal as you or me, another may have three heads and a devil's tail. Individuality is appreciated and sought, even when originality is no longer original. [PTab=Location] Even though Alcryst is called a world, it is not a planet. What it is, exactly, is unknown. A country? A new dimension? The future? If there is more beyond it, no one has discovered. If Earth exists somewhere, if it is in the future or past, if there are other lands; all these answers are submerged in mystery and assumption. Exploration does not provide clarity, only the cryptic disappearance of those who attempt it, and no legend can offer tangible proof. Therefore, the borders of Alcryst are the beginning and end of this site. [PTab=Traditions] Traditions are usually upheld but it is not mandatory to do so. Deviation may serve you an odd glance or judgment but it is believed that each soul has a path to tread, even if it branches apart from the main road. The name each human bears marks custom in its own creation, as there are generally four names to it, a first, two middle, and one last. Likewise, the name is neither ordinary nor complex. Names found on Earth are not seen on Alcryst, such as Katie or John, but nor will you find a name complicated in length and pronunciation, such as Kyakojou or Rionalochimo. The names are concise, exotic, and beautiful; snips of poetry spoken like the wind. Many names mirror Alcryst itself, beginning with an A and bearing a Y in the center, which is noticeable in both the titles of lands and in the calling of the gods themselves. It is common practice to refrain from multiple, convoluted names when referencing horses, though anomalies are not unheard of. A single calling with an occasional surname tends to remain the norm. [/PTabbedContent={border:0px;background-color:#75664e;width:600px;tabs:side}] Origins All tales are spun from a beginning. Somewhere, somehow, a time before time. Alcryst is a vast land surrounded by the unknown, not only in its neighbors but in itself. Little is recorded of its creation, only the rumored stories passed through generations like a worn antique. They are spoken as tradition, as fact, never questioned or expanded. They are the basis of truth, unless they themselves are lies. [PTabbedContent] [PTab=Divinities] The mold of Alcrystan lore was crafted by divine hands--four deities whose own origin cannot be traced. Their blood and breath supplied the marrow of the land, their aspirations and visions blossoming life upon it. Exactly what the gods are is a controversial topic. The humans, of course, call them human. The horses, as you might expect, call them horses. Those without bias consider them mere elemental, ambiguous specters, or a nonphysical entity, perhaps just a presence pressing on us all. The goddess Adoyne sung solidity from the seed of love inside her soul, growing like the plants she then entwined into the soil. Interlacing roots with the dirt bled from her own touch, she unfurled the vibrant petals of velveteen flowers and strung serpentine vines through the boughs of looming trees. Every corner has felt her kiss, no inch left bare of her embellishment. At her side, the goddess Melaya exhaled the hot winds of the desert and fanned forth the gentle breeze of the ocean. She drowned the sky with dye, each angle revealing a new pigment in the iridescent mists. She seeps her fingers into every chest that inhales, tightening her grip on what she overlooks. The god Rafyre crumbled magic within his grasp and scattered it into the horizon, distant stars glistening like the burning gleam in his sharp gaze. He incarnated the greed and ambition that seared his spirit and cast it heavenward as the ravenous sun. Scouring its secrets and surveying the patches of vulnerability, his eye ever watches over the land, lighting up the hills just as it blurs the crevices in darkness. Carving away the land, the god Dakrym drained his essence into ravines and forged frothing rapids that ate away the banks, challenging the very mountains. He poured his personality into the ocean, tying the unpredictable nature of his mind with the crashing waves. From nurturing to mutinous, the churning tide became both home and horror. He knit together the vaporous clouds, setting them like ships into the wind, their tears trickling from his own fickle heart. [PTab=Mortals] The unity of the four celestials birthed the mortal ancestors of our present day. It is believed their first touch imploded in a shower of sparks that collided with Alcryst and congealed in the form of horses, wild and untouched. Their passion was the fire of Rafyre, setting aflame this new world. Their tempers were the erratic surge of Dakrym, both love and hate stitching their hearts' fragments. Their movements danced with the grace of Melaya, swift and agile as the gale knotting their freed manes. Their bodies dressed with the elaborate beauty of Adoyne, each hair a thread in the tapestry of their vigor. Upon first beholding the majesty of their accidental creation, the gods became entranced, ensnared in the unexpected brilliance. Enraptured in awe, a single tear bloomed from their love, cascading to the land below to shatter like broken diamonds. Each shard pierced reality, melting into the forms of man and woman. Born of raw emotion, the stain of envy curdled in their being, just as the insatiable plague of ambition robed them. Though the two species were contrasting, their differences an inescapable barrier, the similarity of their christening evermore fused their fates. Neither could resist the temptation, the lure, that pulled one to the other. Both were hungry. A starvation that grew from the void either left; a chasm where they once fit together, souls bound. While their shackles were broken, the chains still choked, yearning. As inevitable as destiny, separation became impossible. The curious, or perhaps foolhardy, ventured across boundaries--and blood crowned the day. Legend claims this is what smears the sky red when the sun touches the distant edges, an eternal warning from the gods that the two cannot truly be one. As time's strides journeyed onward, more attempts were made, until the humans tamed a single horse and fulfilled the connection that drove them. The first riders found that limitations were shed, that the bond satisfied an instinct and awoke a new strength. As their passions fermented, so did both halves, slowly, slowly becoming a whole. [/PTabbedContent={border:0px;background-color:#75664e;width:600px}] |
