The second podcast should be up Sunday. The final draft of Amethyst Foundation was completed this week and no we proofread. Meenwhile, I wanted to pass along a Glossary of terms used in Amethyst:
GLOSSARY
A.E. (After Enchantment): The progress of time in this new era. The game begins for many in the year 508 A.E., just a little over 500 years from when the White gate reopened.
Arkonnia: The same region occupied by the old Continent of Africa in old Earth.
Alternate Quantum Vibrational States: The generic title to any physical state out of phase with our own. "Echans" or magical folk call this state etherealness—being of this reality but not, where you can observe the real world, but exist separately. The real world may or may not detect you and may or may not be able to interact. "Techans" or techa-Folk progressed little in this field. A few bastions discovered a way for machines to enter this state so that they could pass through walls and slip past guard towers without detection. This is advantageous over simply being invisible because Etherealness displaces the subject out of the material reality altogether. Some scientists refer to the realms beyond the gates also as Alternate Quantum Vibrational States and claim the EDF derives from this.
Attricana: The term given to the enchanted realm existing beyond the white portal. It is often referred to as the gateway itself.
Bastion States: Sanctuaries of man's old ways. These are massive technological cities usually heavily fortified and densely populated. Most are echaphobic and forbid the use of magic within its walls. Each bastion stands as its own country, with very little to no contact with the outside world or even other bastions.
Blinder: A common derogative nickname mages and other magically imbued individuals call techans.
Canam: The continent previously occupied by Canada, the USA, and Mexico. It is commonly separated into Eastern Canam and Western Canam.
Corpus Continuity: The belief held by many echans and techans, corpus continuity postulates the similarities in enchanted species of fae and the evolved species of man proves the existence of God. The humanoid form comprising binocular vision, binaural hearing, base ten appendages, erect stature, and mammalian physiology matches the fae species exactly, a species not evolved from primate, but formed from magic itself. With the exception of the pointed ears and the variation of fae species when they branch into subspecies, there still remain remarkable similarities scientists cannot explain to this day. Because fae arose first, many believers of corpus continuity also subscribe to echalogical influence.
Dragons: The first species to achieve high intelligence on Earth. They were originally dinosaurs touched with magic and coaxed into a greater form. No one knows how they achieved such power. They were the first race under Attricana, followed some time later by the first fae.
Earth: The common name for the world everything resides on. It’s odd that many timelines refer to "before the first hammer" and "after the second hammer," eluding that the time between (about 65 million years) simply did not count.
Echa: The slang given to magic or 'enchantment'. It often refers to visual use of magic (spells and magically infused items).
Echalogical Influence: The manipulation / influence via the previous echan age of Terros on mankind's evolution and cultural development. Various theories exist attempting to explain why the previous age of Terros matches those of literature and mythology of humanity's past. One theory points to inherited knowledge, through genetics or fragments of lost magic, converting into mythology. Mythology altered over time, but many truths survived to this day. This theory remains popular among many trying to explain how dragons, elves, and magic exist in this world once previously only found in books of fiction.
Echan: Someone touched by magic or using magic. This term often refers to humans specifically embracing the path of enchantment. Echans still consider this ugly bastardization of "Enchantment" derogatory. Unfortunately, it stuck.
Echagenics / Echalogy: The study in both echa and techa cultures of the similarities between humanity and its recorded history against the fae, dragons, and their recorded history. This analyzes the obvious physical similarities between fae and man in conjunction with historical coincidences in their religions, legends, and mythologies. Theologians studying echalogy are referred to as echalogians. They claim much progress, ascertaining the similarities to the will of creation. Studying echagenics in techan cultures remains an uninspired field bearing little fruit. They admit too many coincidences exist between the time of Terros (old Earth) and modern Earth and are confounded with the numerous references on the world of Terros in mankind's mythology and religious dogma. After a thousand years of study, a firm, scientific answer has yet to arrive. A popular theory recently accepted pointed to a remnant of magical knowledge passing through time like inherited genes. This field coined the term "echalogical influence."
EDF - Enchanted Disruption Field: The enchantment disruption field prevents radio communication and disrupts electronic circuits like an electro-magnetic pulse when extremely powerful magic is nearby. It also carries the tendency of jamming many mechanical devices more complicated than a windmill.
Evolved Races: These are the few species of Earth science created through natural selection. These are the species untouched by magic, even though they can still possess and use it. Man is an evolved race. If both gates were closed, only the evolved races would remain. Obviously, humans and fae bear many similarities on almost every level. Popular theories point to residual background magic (like radiation) that continued to influence the planet even when the gate was closed. This is vital to echalogical influence.
Fae: The first species born naturally from magic after the dragons. All dominant magical races derive from them. Many races claim to be of the original stock and no known original fae live today. The fae descendant races include the narros, laudenian, gimfen, damaskan, tenenbri, tilen, sylphids, puggs, etc. The oldest race to not make that claim is the titans.
First Hammer: The first impact that destroyed the dinosaurs and ended the first reign of magic. It struck what would be called Mexico and initiated the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event.
Inosi: The region of Earth previously referred to as India.
Indoaus: The region of land previously occupied by Australia and Indonesia.
Ixindar: The name given to the realm existing through the black gate, where evil and hate lurks. The evil fiends set up a nation around it called Kakodomania.
Kakodomania: An obsidian glass spreads from Ixindar. In modern times, this realm envelops most of central Slav. Under permanent darkness, nothing entering returns the same. The Reluctant Wall borders the land of Shemjaza.
Lauropa: The term given to the region covering all of old Europe and western Slavic countries.
Second Hammer: The second impact that destroyed the technological empire of man. It struck Siberia, exactly where Ixindar lay buried.
Slav: Often separated into Western and Eastern Slav, this region on Earth covers the majority of China and the entire Russian / Slavic region.
Southam: The region of Earth occupied by South America.
Spawn Races: Enchanted creatures emerging from previous animal forms. Most of these are young races, birthed when the gate reopened. Very few develop any form of culture
Terros: What many non-human echans used to call Earth. The similarity of Terros and Terra (as well as Eoroe, Araa, and half a dozen other similar expressions tied to Earth in human languages) is one point of many connecting threads between the time of old Earth and new Earth. Most species separate the old time to the new time by identifying Terros as the time before, and Earth, the time after. Only laudenians refer to modern Earth as Terros.
Techa: The slang term given to the technology of man and is usually reserved for the bastions and their machines.
Techan: One using technology. Unlike echans, techans do not find their title derogatory.