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Remnant Stream - Glossary

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WARNING - This section is may contain some minor spoilers into the storyline of Remnant Stream and is more or less for my own use to organize my terminology.  Some of the unique terms used in the story and character descriptions on this site, though, are explained here.

Ancients – Name given to the civilizations that had built the ruins more than two-thousand years ago.  Since none remain alive, very little is known about them.

 

Animist – Name given to a diverse group of religions practiced most commonly in Jhyrindal.  According to most animists, the ruins are guarded by demi-gods as a challenge to mortals.  Knowledge and power is said to be granted to those who can best the demi-god guardians of the ancients’ ruins.  Unlike many religions, most animist groups claim that the ruins are far older than two-thousand years.  They claim the ruins have existed since the beginning of time, and the recent Collapse was a side-effect of the epic battle between a mortal hero from the south, Jegarhad, and a powerful demi-god guardian, Los.

 

Artifact (also Relic, Salvage) – General name given to devices found in the ruins.

 

Atzael – The frame to an enormous ancient flying ship found in a ruin in  southern Bridana.  The Bridanese government has secretly converted the ruin to a research facility where it studies the frame and is attempting to get the vessel airborne again.

 

Cleansing/Collapse – Names given to the mysterious event that occurred nearly two millennia ago that wiped out the ancients.  Different religions have different names and explanations for the event, but all include it as the origin of their civilizations.

 

Commando Corps. – The unit of the Insignia sent to the mainland to locate the Lost City.  Commando Corps is a volunteer job, as all Commandos know that they may be unable to return home.  The vessels used to transport them to the mainland are incapable of returning them home, and vessels capable of traveling both ways are currently being engineered.  Stringent requirements must be met to be accepted into the Commando Corps and they represent the best few of the Insignia’s army.

 

Demon – Proper name given to a mysterious power that was thought to have existed since before the ancients’ time.  The Demon is said to be an eternal being of pain and suffering, and its only goal is to destroy all of humankind.  Scriptures found in Bridana indicate that the Demon had been contained by the ancients shortly before the Collapse, but recent rumors say it is now free.  There is no conclusive evidence as to the location and activities of the Demon, let alone whether it really exists.  The Demon is not formally recognized by any religion or post-Collapse historical texts, and it is commonly thought that the rumors are severely exaggerated.

 

Diver – Name given to those who make a living by salvaging relics from the ancients’ ruins and selling them.

 

Dune Ship – A mechanical locomotive unique to Jhyrindal built specifically to cross desert sand.  Dune ships are large, housing hundreds of men and dozens of bombards and requiring a crew of more than twenty to operate.  Dune ship frames undergo enormous stresses and must be constructed of a material that can only be excavated from the ruins in the north – it is currently traded from Bridana.  As a result, Dune Ships are expensive and only a handful are in operational capacity within the country.

 

Elementalists – A secret society based in Bridana and formed by scientist Richmond Harland at the activation of the Industrial ruins around U16, 950.  Harland passed away not long after the formation of the Elementalists, and his ideals passed away with it.  While Harland’s goal was to improve the standard of living for people across the world by studying the ruins, his successor is using the powers uncovered in the ruins to keep other nations in check.  Since Harland’s death, the Elementalists have been involved in spying, assassination, and theft.  They have stolen many valuable relics from all excavating nations and use their power base to manipulate the world behind the shadows.  Though they are few in number, they are well hidden and extremely influential.

 

Guild – A team of Divers.  A guild usually does all their Diving together and shares Diving equipment and profits to boost efficiency.  In Bridana, where the government is only indirectly involved in Diving, Guilds often include security forces that protect the guild from raids by other guilds.  In Jhyrindal, Guilds are protected from each other by law, and the government itself maintains a nation-wide guild called the Salvaging Company that provides relics specifically to the Jhyrindal government.

 

Guildsmen’s Code – An unwritten law applying to Divers in Bridana generally stating that Diving parties should provide assistance to other Diving parties whenever possible.  This is a civilian law and was made because the Bridanese government, due to pressure from the Old and New Order Destantism, doesn’t enforce laws in the ruins.

 

Journey – A ritual worldly trip taken by the Esterian clergy before being granted the rank of Acolyte Bishop.  Those on the Journey are expected to leave with nothing and return with nothing, and travel the entire known world before returning to Esteria.  Journeys typically take five to fifteen years.  After the Journey, a clergy member is tested by the Pope before becoming a Bishop.

 

New Order Destantism (shortened New Order) – A religion formed in Akurad after the crusade against Bridana.  The New Order, like the Old, maintains that the ancients were sinful and brought about their own demise.  The New Order, though, incorporated a scripture salvaged by a Diver shortly after the Cleansing.  The scripture has been called the Origin Tome and is believed to be a holy document of the ancients.  Many of the Old Order’s scriptures are confirmed in the Origin Tome.  While the Old Order rejects the Origin Tome’s validity, the New Order uses it to teach that the ancients did not always deny the will of God.  The New Order discourages the salvage of weapons and dangerous relics but encourages the study of the ancients’ history through salvaged scriptures.

 

Old Order Destantism (shortened, Old Order) – A faith founded in early Esteria which strictly forbids Diving.  According to the Old Order, the ancients tried to make themselves into Gods and build a path to Heaven, and for this, God wiped them from the Earth.  The Old Order sees the ancients as heathens and their technology as sinful instruments.  The Old Order claims that many Cleansings have occurred throughout human existence, though the number is impossible to know.  Each Cleansing has occurred when the human race broke one of the Promises made to God at the beginning of human existence.  There are twelve Promises listed in Old Order scripture, and it is prophesized that each Cleansing occurred after one was broken – and none have been broken more than once.  When a Promise is broken, humanity is erased and recast down to Earth, slightly perfected in that that Promise will never be broken again.  The Old Order has taken the responsibility of ensuring that Promises broken in the past are not broken again.  Several denominations argue about which Promises have already been broken by the past.  Most denominations agree that if all of the past-broken Promises are broken again, humanity will be erased, but not recast, creating a void.  If each Promise is broken only once, at the end of the 12th Promise, humanity will be recast into perfection and granted a place in Heaven.

 

Orbiters – Refers to two celestial objects named ‘Orbiter-α’ and ‘Orbiter-β’ picked up by telescope in Bridana.  α has been measured to be oddly shaped, spanning roughly 50 kilometers at its longest point, and is in an orbit close to earth.  β has been measured to be in a geosynchronous orbit much farther from earth, and is estimated to be roughly spherical and several thousand kilometers in diameter.

 

Paladin – name given to an individual found to have a response to magical relics found in southern ruins.  Paladins who keep relics close to them have been found to be able absorb supernatural powers from these relics.  The government of Jhyrindal has studied these relics immensely but has come up with no conclusive results on how they grant powers to Paladins.  Most Paladins are found to come from Esteria and Jhyrindal with a small percentage coming from Akurad and almost none found in Bridana.

 

Red Ghost – A rumored Diver Guild that dons the ancients’ armor and weaponry and murders other Divers for rare pieces of salvage.  While some say they have seen the Red Ghost Guild inside ruins, no one has reported seeing them on the surface.

 

Returners – Name given to followers of a radical group claiming to be the pure-blood descendents of the ancients.  Returners are known to inherit supernatural capabilities from relics more quickly and more completely than other Paladins, and are generally found in Jhyrindal, Esteria, and southern Akurad.  Returners generally see themselves as superior to other humans and desire to rule over them.  Currently, the Returners lack the capacity to overthrow the governments of Bridana, Akurad, Jhyrindal, and Esteria, but, they are heavily involved in the salvaging of powerful relics in south - many of these have been known to impart supernatural capabilities on some of their owners over time.

 

Secularism – General name given to those who believe that the Collapse was caused by a natural disaster, a world war, or some other natural cause, and has no lasting effect on the current civilization.  Secularists generally have no inhibitions regarding salvaging, but many realize that the ancients had devastatingly powerful relics that must be protected from the wrong hands.  Secularism is most commonly practiced in Bridana, where it is commonly believed that much of the ancients’ technology was stolen or given to them by an unknown group, who later destroyed the ancients’ with such power that the entirety of human civilization was shaken.  Those who believe the technology was a gift speculate that the ancients’ were slaves to an even greater race and the Collapse occurred when they fought for freedom.

 

Sentinel – General name given to beasts that are only found in the ancients’ ruins.  Different cultures and religions have different explanations for the origins of the Sentinels, but all agree that their purpose is to guard the ruins.  The types of Sentinels found guarding ruins have been noticed to differ from region to region.

 

SUO – Acronym meaning ‘Solo Unit Ops’, a high-level branch of the Insignia army.  SUO’s are trained from a very young age to become competent in all environments, with all weapons, and with all equipment known to the Insignia.  SUO’s are trained to work alone and are boasted to be able to take the place of an entire army unit.  SUOs are familial – a few of each generation of certain noble families are trained to become SUO’s.  There is fierce competition among the families to produce the best SUO, and as a result, each family focuses on its own combative style.  All SUOs, though, share the commonality of blade expertise – whether it be sword, axe, knife, spear, or other – as these weapons are thought by the Insignia to be more powerful than any firearm when used by a competent warrior.

 

Saonism – A primary religion of Jhyrindal which claims that the ancients were greedy and selfish, and destroyed themselves through their own greed.  Saonists as a result discourage any greed, lust, selfishness, jealousy, and hate.  Unlike the Old Order, they don’t see the ruins as inherently evil and allow Diving, but warn that relics should not be hoarded for power.  Saonists believe in a karma system, called ‘Appraise’ whereby generous and kind acts improve one’s Appraise and greedy, selfish, or cruel acts degrade it.  By the ideas of Saonism, the ancients as a whole became corrupted by their Appraise and fate began to work against them, resulting in the Collapse..  Similarly, Saonists believe that if society as a whole is generous, fate will make them prosperous.  The value of Appraise affects the individual as well, and it is said that those who are thought ‘lucky’ are generous, helpful people, and those with poor luck have committed sins.

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