[Elescia] Calendar System

Last update: 2015-04-17

The world of Elescia has several calendar systems. The most notable one, however, is Stellaria Calendar, which has been used worldwide for over two millennia. Other notable calendars include but not limited to Anima Calendar and Ancient Inseria Calendar, although for the most part, the latter had been rendered obsolete.

Stellaria Calendar
Also known as Garandio Calendar, the Stellaria system was proposed by renowned astronomer Leugitze Garandio six years before its first use. While now it is the most-used calendar system in the world, its widespread usage only began in 352 SC. As its name suggests, Stellaria system uses the position of celestial objects (stars), with the five greatest stars - Melanadi, Farga Fiel, Auricesia, Lyodo, and Rhanda Grende - as the objects of observation in determining the calendar.

Each year of Stellaria Calendar consists ten months which is divided into five days for each week, with 40 days in each odd-numbered month, while the even-numbered month has 45 days. There are a few exceptions to this rule, however. These months are:

• Bleuna
• Rengeis
• Landa
• Argol
• Premia (43 days, 45 days every 5-6 years)
• Aindris
• Melcave
• Landoh-Or (44 days)
• Velsieu
• Trameiel

Despite its long usage history, there are still several disagreements on how to determine the calendar exactly. The most glaring one occurs in the month of Premia, when the five stars are at their brightest point. Nonetheless, the Stellaria Calendar remains the most stable calendar system to date.

[Elescia] Guardian Deities

Last update: 2015-04-17

Introduction

In the folklore surrounding the creation of Elescia, it was said that the world was born along with divine forces known as Guardian Deities. Legends surrounding them varies from region to region, but most of them share a few things in common:

• The existence of the world is tied to the Guardians itself. The world was born together with them, and shall the day come when Guardians cease to exist, it's very likely the world itself will come to an end.
• The energy that makes every living being and the environment as a whole, namely sola and aros, supposedly came from the Guardians themselves, meaning that for as long as they exist, the inhabitants of this world do not need to worry about running out of said energy.
• Related to the above, the ability of people to use magic heavily relies on the existence of the Guardians themselves. It was said that people of Ancient Elescia were capable of using magic far beyond what exists today, such as ability to revive the dead and manipulate time, and said ability was gone when the records of the related Guardian were erased from history.

Taking accounts on surviving legends in Elescia, there are approximately 62 Guardian Deities known in total. However, this number doesn't take into account on possible Guardian Deities those were lost from the history, as well as the possibility that a Guardian on a certain region is simply known by different name in another region.

Guardian Deities in Inserian Mythology: Elemental Lords

In the stories surrounding Ancient Inseria civilization, or at least the surviving ones, there exist a group of Guardian Deities known as Elemental Lords. Their existence allows humanity to manipulate the forces of nature to some extent; to put it simply, to use elemental magic. There are ten Elemental Lords known from the stories surviving to this day, namely:

• Aqua Queen Aramis (Water)
  The Elemental Lord that rules over all bodies of water, Aramis is the closest Guardian Deity that is associated with life itself. The legend describes Aramis' appearance as a woman with bluish skin and hair wielding a trident, hence the title. Being the Guardian that is associated with life itself most, Aramis is generally regarded as the highest Guardian among the Elemental Lords.
• Foliage Fairy Hillscrad (Tree/Forest)
  Said to be the ruler of all plants and forests, Guardian Hillscrad allegedly takes form of a small girl with leaf ornaments. It is stated that any withering plants those come into contact with Hillscrad directly will be revived and become more flourishing than ever.
• Zephyr Rider Sylphede (Wind)
  The ruler of wind and flow of air, Sylphede's legend describes the Guardian as a small boy with wings. However, another tale has it that wind and air are not merely Sylphede's specialization, but also matters such as wave and sound.
• Flame Dragon Agnos-Lhei (Fire)
  The conqueror of heat and fire Agnos-Lhei, as its name suggests, is described as a Guardian with draconic appearance. While generally associated with light and warmth, Agnos-Lhei is also associated with calamity; one legend states that when the end of the world comes, the world shall be reduced to ashes by Agnos-Lhei's final blaze.
• Thunder Hammer Legroda (Lightning)
  The Guardian conquering spark and thunder, Legroda's appearance is stated to be a gigantic man wielding a massive hammer that causes sky-shattering lightning bolts every time it strikes. Due to the description of this Guardian's appearance, Legroda is generally associated with justice and judgment; several tales recite that when a gigantic lightning strikes over a man's land, then the people of the land had invited Legroda's wrath.
• Shadow Sage Vriesius (Darkness)
  The Guardian that controls night and darkness, tales revolving Vriesius depict the Guardian as a pale old man covered in black cape. Despite the Guardian's generally grim association with darkness and death, Vriesius is also depicted as the Guardian governing knowledge and wisdom. This originates from an ancient teaching that in order to reach Guardian Encarda's blessing (enlightenment), one must familiarize themselves with Vriesius' trial (darkness and confusion) to overcome it, gaining knowledge along the way.
• Radiant Wings Encarda (Light)
  The Guardian conquering sun and light, Encarda's tale describes the guardian as an androgynous human-like being with pure white wings. Legend has it that the light of the day originates from Encarda's wings spreading through the entire sky. In addition, Encarda is generally depicted as the ultimate destination of humanity as a whole: enlightenment and a bright, blessed life.
• Frozen Spear Celsias (Ice)
  The Elemental Lord of winter and coldness, Celsias' tales paint the Guardian as an effeminate man with dark hair wielding crystal-like giant spear. While associated with death and calamity together with Agnos-Lhei and Vriesius, Celsias is also said to be representation of calmness and one's levelheaded nature. Celsias is said to have a bird that goes through cycle of life and death for eternity; upon its death, its remnants shall dissipate and fall into the world as the countless snow crystals.
• Earth Golem Greido-Arg (Earth/Stone)
  The Guardian of stone and earth with an appearance of a gigantic golem, it's said that the planet itself is the actual body of Greido-Arg. Generally depicted as a Guardian ruling over land and fertility, Greido-Arg is occasionally described as the bearer of calamity, as legends said that earthquakes and landslides originate from the Guardian's uncontainable wrath. Another legend has it that shall the Guardians were threatened, Greido-Arg would be the first defense line for the Elemental Lords.
• Force Guardian Malgion (Force/Power)
  The Elemental Lord associated with all kinds of force in the world. Unlike other Elemental Lords, Guardian Malgion doesn't possess definite physical form, although one legend stated that Malgion is always covered with transparent barrier that can crush anything it violently comes into contact with. It is said the ability for every living being to move around is a result of Guardian Malgion's blessing.

[Elescia] Sola and Aros

Last update: 2015-04-17

Introduction

Sola and aros are two of the most crucial components forming the world of Elescia. Simply put, the two refer to energy that makes the world as a whole - humans, plants, animals, the waters, even the world itself. Sola refers to the innate energy inside every living being inhabiting Elescia, while aros is used to describe the energy stored in the environment as a whole. Regardless of its nature, both sola and aros are said to originate from the Guardian Deities themselves and shall return to them when used; as long as the Guardians exist, humanity does not need to worry about the energy to run out someday.

Sola

To put the rough picture, sola is stored inside a living being like fuel stored inside a tank. The capacity of how much sola can be contained varies for each individual, and so does the natural regeneration rate. These factors inevitably affect how an individual shall live through their life; for example, those specializing in magic tend to have greater sola capacity than most, and it's possible for one's sola workings to affect their physical appearance. Sola capacitance generally grows over time, although it's possible to increase the threshold to push the growth even further through special training.

Aros

Aros generally refers to energy stored and used outside a living being, such as in the open air or inside machinery. Aros itself does not have fixed physical form, although certain amount of it can be condensed into liquid or crystal for more convenient usage. Living beings in Elescia are generally capable of restoring their sola naturally by absorbing aros in the air, although this generally takes time. On the flip side, when an individual uses magic using sola, the magic converts the sola into desired form before dissipates as pure aros into air.

Abnormalities

There are several abnormalities those are capable of disrupting the working of sola and aros, namely:

• Lack of sola capacitance in an individual. This abnormality is generally regarded as harmless since it merely prevents the affected individual from being able to use magic naturally. Usage of magecraft generally alleviates the problem, although this means the affected individual must regularly recharge their magecraft with aros to be able to use magic continuously.
• Sola regeneration abnormality. In general, inhabitants of Elescia regenerate their sola reserve in small amount periodically and can be helped through eating or sleeping. There are cases, however, when the regeneration works faster or slower than usual, or unable to regenerate altogether in very rare cases.
• Aros corruption is a special type of abnormality where the flow of aros is heavily distorted to the point of capable of harming living beings. For more information about this matter, please see Aros Corruption.