The Second Arrival
Below are various excerpts from a 386-page book titled "New Neighbors, New Magic, New Apocalypse" by a prolific member of the Rainbow Ribbon Caravan, Korr Tutun.
Below is an excerpt from the opening chapter. It would appear I am in the minority when I say that the Second Arrival (SAE) of Sinstrams landmasses is both exciting and beneficial to all it's new and former inhabitants. The so-called "First Arrival Era" (FAE) is behind us, and to deny it is to both dismiss the new world origin theory and deny the new arrivals a chance to thrive in this world unfamiliar to them. When the world shook, perhaps for the second time, and the very face of our millennium-old world changed as new landmasses arrived and existing ones shifted; Many yelled that the gods had decided we had outlived their graces and we would all die. Seeing as I am writing this as of 6 SAE, I have my doubts about this idea, and my very purpose in writing this book is to dispel the ongoing tensions in religion, culture, nationality, and perhaps the concept of life itself as well as document the dramatic changes the event has caused. We exist, both you reading this lengthy collection of ideas and history, and I, Korr Tutun, the author. The constant bickering of what this all means and what we did to "deserve this", has not yet been progressive, and I doubt it will be. We have new neighbors, new cultures, new religious ideas, and many new minds that can help us progress Sinstram beyond its current limits. The Second Arrival, as the event itself has been dubbed by Luraid scholars, is an opportunity, and to not seize it is foolish. Though before we begin the meat of this book, I want you the reader, and future generations to understand what exactly the "Second Arrival" is. It was the start of a new era. Sinstram's first era (now dubbed "First Arrival Era" in hindsight), consisted of 10 different nations. Then, one fateful night, the ground shook, the stars blurred, and the weather got hysterical. Some locations claimed to have frogs raining from the sky, others said molten rock poured out of the bark of the oldest trees in the land, while other places got a light drift of snow for the first time in their recorded history. What exactly prompted this worldwide event is as unclear as why it happened. Some suggest a powerful wizard failed an impossibly complex spell, others say the gods began to fight for control, and some have even said that it's random chance, and Sinstram simply got unlucky. After roughly 10-15 hours of earthquakes, floods, and the above-listed events among many others, a massive mostly-invisible wave of energy crossed the land with its origin being widely accepted as "somewhere in north-western Goldscape". Along with this wave of energy, literal mountains were moved, and land began to appear trailing the energy wave. As the energy moved, it reshaped the land it passed over, seemingly copying or moving already existing land from another plane of existence. The various oceans suddenly became stone and dirt, hills became mountains and basically, the sky fell and became earth. The ocean levels rose, flooding Woadpress, turning Shield Lake into an inland channel, and new islands appeared along every coast. The entire face of Sinstram was physically changed, and as these new landmasses arrived, new species of people arrived with it. New cultures, with their own gods, music, and history suddenly had new neighbors. It became a whole new world in less then a day. However, In addition to the new life, I think it's important to note that thousands died suddenly during the half day of chaos. Some were buried alive under new mountains, many drowned without warning in their own beds, and there is even some cases of people falling to their deaths as the ground vanished under their feet. As I move forward with this novel, I plan to record everything I can, get people's stories, and get the names of those lost, and those that have the best chance of helping Sinstram move forward. Now that you have a basic understanding of what exactly I mean by "The Second Arrival", let's get into the finer details of its changes and what we may deduce or study moving forward to make Sinstram better for all.
Below is an excerpt from a chapter entitled "Magic Changes and its Users Adapt" Magic, to my mundane understanding, has changed along with the landmasses and deities brought by our new neighbors. Now, while I can't go into the gritty details as I simply don't have the understanding of them, I have talked with a variety of spellcasters in my travels and asked how the Second Arrival changed how they view both the world and their magic. It's been explained to me by much smarter people that generally, there are three sources that magical users can draw upon; The Arcane, some sort of invisible force that exists in the air and supposedly comes from stars and underground "magic rivers" called "leylines", The "Divine", which comes from either gods, goddesses, or in some debated circles, ones own convictions and oaths, and finally Nature itself, in which a spellcaster can draw upon the essence (lifeforce?) of plants, animals and all manner of natural occurrences like the tides, moonlight, and well, near anything you can see in nature. All of those forms of magic existed before the Second Arrival, but in many ways have been changed. This is all according to a wizard named Pedutant Drezaray, who was living in the commonly dubbed "Trader's Watch" due to its location on a major crossroad in Fieldtan. Despite his busy schedule, he took some time to explain to me the differences between the old way of spellcasting to the new way. Firstly, he said that many spells themselves were similar in feeling and general mechanics. One still had to concentrate to cast Arcane spells and provide the correct words and hand motions while focusing the arcane to a single point (typically the palm, fingertips, or into a staff or wand), but according to Mr. Drezaray the spells would conjure themselves faster, and while generally needing the same level of skill to produce them, one could even produce a stronger spell and weaker spell in the same brief timespan it would have required for just the stronger spell before the Second Arrival. Mr. Drezaray told me he has a theory that this has to do with the leylines and how they may have shifted along with the new landmasses. He even elaborated that perhaps instead of being entirely underground as before, that there may be a leyline that is directly open to the ocean, "supercharging" it, and as a result may be slowly affecting drinkable water sources and granting normally mundane creatures and even humanoids magical traits and ability. He suspects that if this theory is true, there is a chance for the entire ecology of Sinstram to change over the centuries. Making sorcerers the rule instead of the expectation, and making every herbalist a druid, or every scholar a wizard. He suggested that perhaps even just being strong enough in drive and will could allow you control over magical forces. One of his most striking remarks that nearly had me kicking my feet at the prospect of it, is that magic is actually becoming more common already in those that formally had the mindset, but not the training to perform them. He says that it is most likely some kind of offshoot of divine magic, referencing again that an oath or personal drive could provide magical ability. Monks that have trained their mind and body at temples, for example, are now able to cast limited spells in a day. Whether this is due to their natural connection to the world around them, or the ability to draw on their own will is unclear, but Mr. Drezaray believes it's only possible now due to the Second Arrival. If refining your body or possibly just your mental focus is good enough to have limited spellcasting ability, does this truly mean one's passion can help one change the world more directly? Will prolific traders and business people gain magic by virtue of cutthroat dedication, or will the patience and skill of a blacksmith allow them the ability to shape their metal without touching it? Perhaps if I write this book long enough, I could conjure words upon the page and stop my hand from cramping. It's worth studying, to say the least.
Below is an excerpt from a chapter entitled "Person's of Sinstram and their new bodies" Magic had not only changed for spellcasters, but for its more magical races and creatures as well. Creatures such as Kobolds, Goblins, Gnomes, Dragonborn, and many others had many dramatic changes to their natural chemistry and logical capabilities. Goblin's heads grew in size and they became more unpredictable and flighty, but they also gained the capacity to create items out of trash that against all logic seemed to function as the goblins intended. Kobolds began to have mutations upon hatching, with some being able to breathe fire, and others being born with wings. Gnomes however got the short end of the stick (no pun intended) and suffered ghastly transformations such as sharpened teeth and longer hardened nails, which coincided with a dramatic increase in violent tendancies and bloodlust. While I could list the likely thousands of changes within intelligent races, I'm afraid there may not be enough paper in the world, and it is outside the scope of this book. Instead, i'd like to touch upon the cultural and societal changes these changes have forced into the everyday lives of Sinstram citizens. Naturally, when the entire world's history is thrown into question with entire new histories and landmasses, some things are going to change in how cultures view the world. First and remarkably, Luraid did not completely fall in on itself. As a nation that mixes science and religion, studying the stars and relying on their religious leaders to make choices that affect the everyday lives of millions, they bounced back quickly. Similarly, the Second Arrival had minimal effect on Windari, likely due to their currently ongoing cultural civil war. It must be hard to adapt to the outside world when your internal world is fighting with itself. I'm not going to go into intense detail on every country that didn't have some form of major shakeup since that would quickly become boring, so safely assume that locations not mentioned here quickly adapted, changed in minimal ways, or was a nation that arrived during the Second Arrival, and as such there isn't enough information or not enough of note to include in an already 200-page book. Woudpress was one of the heavily affected areas in both geography and culture. Having just suffered a civil war that cut the size of the nation in half and created the now independent nation of Fieldtan, the struggling theocracy of Woudpress's low swampland quickly became flooded with salty seawater from The Peaceful Tides. Its capital, Eternal, sunk and was washed away in less than 6 hours. Its holy throne was forced to be moved, and the former mining colony/prison was the only major population center in its borders that could handle such a large group of refugees and survivors from both the capital and Woudpress's other major cities. Now, a holy throne and major church are built in a former "indentured sinners" mine, and a majority of its population lives underground. While it's too early to tell how exactly Woudpress is going to adapt or change to deal with these issues, to say its historically oppressive church still has its iron grip on its population would be generous at best, and an inevitable lie at worst. Another nation severely affected in the few short years since the event, Kalzarum, with its relatively new leader who claimed power in the form of a coup shortly before the Second Arrival, went from a "separate tribes with power together" to a full-on dictatorship. Lorzuto Jr, now Grand Chief Lorzuto, went from the idea of each tribe keeping its own culture and laws to maintain tradition and only ever gathering in times of war or strife to something along the lines of "Adapt to this new technology I've found or die on your own." It's suspected he made this dramatic change as Kalazarum quickly became colder and more barren, killing the majority of farms and turning the normally ship-friendly fishing waters into ice floes that could easily crush even a war vessel with little warning. It's commonly said that Grand Chief Lorzuto is now repeating the terrible events of the Four Faced War less than 20 years prior when Kalzarum was subject to the Eclipse Islands military occupation. On the topic of the Eclipse Islands, one can only imagine the dramatic swathes of changes and possible revolts happening. Being a secluded island nation that refuses outsiders, the basic groundwork we understand of its inner workings is that its royal leaders is a family of blue dragons that have been ruling the islands since it was first discovered by outsiders. Its population is primarily Dragonborn within a caste system determined by the royal family, who grants boons or demotes others as it sees fit. Making appeals and promises to the royal family is considered as normal as having supper or the mending of old clothes, and since Dragonborn were originally were the offspring of dragons that impregnated kobolds (hence the name "Dragonborn"), any Dragonborn could theoretically trace themselves to the royal line or another full blooded dragon from elsewhere in Sinstram if they were to go far back enough; Making arguments of bloodlines mostly irelevant. With the change of magic due to the Second Arrival however, Dragonborn, no matter how far removed from their kobold ancestors have been reclassified as a sort of "offshoot" kobold, and have been rendered incapable of producing offspring with other dragonborn or with other humanoids expect kobolds and full dragons. Now with the primary demographic of the Eclipse Isles basically being infertile except when mating with the royal line itself or the lowest cast of their oppressive system, one can only imagine the dramatic changes that have to be made for the nation to survive.
Below is an excerpt from the opening chapter. It would appear I am in the minority when I say that the Second Arrival (SAE) of Sinstrams landmasses is both exciting and beneficial to all it's new and former inhabitants. The so-called "First Arrival Era" (FAE) is behind us, and to deny it is to both dismiss the new world origin theory and deny the new arrivals a chance to thrive in this world unfamiliar to them. When the world shook, perhaps for the second time, and the very face of our millennium-old world changed as new landmasses arrived and existing ones shifted; Many yelled that the gods had decided we had outlived their graces and we would all die. Seeing as I am writing this as of 6 SAE, I have my doubts about this idea, and my very purpose in writing this book is to dispel the ongoing tensions in religion, culture, nationality, and perhaps the concept of life itself as well as document the dramatic changes the event has caused. We exist, both you reading this lengthy collection of ideas and history, and I, Korr Tutun, the author. The constant bickering of what this all means and what we did to "deserve this", has not yet been progressive, and I doubt it will be. We have new neighbors, new cultures, new religious ideas, and many new minds that can help us progress Sinstram beyond its current limits. The Second Arrival, as the event itself has been dubbed by Luraid scholars, is an opportunity, and to not seize it is foolish. Though before we begin the meat of this book, I want you the reader, and future generations to understand what exactly the "Second Arrival" is. It was the start of a new era. Sinstram's first era (now dubbed "First Arrival Era" in hindsight), consisted of 10 different nations. Then, one fateful night, the ground shook, the stars blurred, and the weather got hysterical. Some locations claimed to have frogs raining from the sky, others said molten rock poured out of the bark of the oldest trees in the land, while other places got a light drift of snow for the first time in their recorded history. What exactly prompted this worldwide event is as unclear as why it happened. Some suggest a powerful wizard failed an impossibly complex spell, others say the gods began to fight for control, and some have even said that it's random chance, and Sinstram simply got unlucky. After roughly 10-15 hours of earthquakes, floods, and the above-listed events among many others, a massive mostly-invisible wave of energy crossed the land with its origin being widely accepted as "somewhere in north-western Goldscape". Along with this wave of energy, literal mountains were moved, and land began to appear trailing the energy wave. As the energy moved, it reshaped the land it passed over, seemingly copying or moving already existing land from another plane of existence. The various oceans suddenly became stone and dirt, hills became mountains and basically, the sky fell and became earth. The ocean levels rose, flooding Woadpress, turning Shield Lake into an inland channel, and new islands appeared along every coast. The entire face of Sinstram was physically changed, and as these new landmasses arrived, new species of people arrived with it. New cultures, with their own gods, music, and history suddenly had new neighbors. It became a whole new world in less then a day. However, In addition to the new life, I think it's important to note that thousands died suddenly during the half day of chaos. Some were buried alive under new mountains, many drowned without warning in their own beds, and there is even some cases of people falling to their deaths as the ground vanished under their feet. As I move forward with this novel, I plan to record everything I can, get people's stories, and get the names of those lost, and those that have the best chance of helping Sinstram move forward. Now that you have a basic understanding of what exactly I mean by "The Second Arrival", let's get into the finer details of its changes and what we may deduce or study moving forward to make Sinstram better for all.
Below is an excerpt from a chapter entitled "Magic Changes and its Users Adapt" Magic, to my mundane understanding, has changed along with the landmasses and deities brought by our new neighbors. Now, while I can't go into the gritty details as I simply don't have the understanding of them, I have talked with a variety of spellcasters in my travels and asked how the Second Arrival changed how they view both the world and their magic. It's been explained to me by much smarter people that generally, there are three sources that magical users can draw upon; The Arcane, some sort of invisible force that exists in the air and supposedly comes from stars and underground "magic rivers" called "leylines", The "Divine", which comes from either gods, goddesses, or in some debated circles, ones own convictions and oaths, and finally Nature itself, in which a spellcaster can draw upon the essence (lifeforce?) of plants, animals and all manner of natural occurrences like the tides, moonlight, and well, near anything you can see in nature. All of those forms of magic existed before the Second Arrival, but in many ways have been changed. This is all according to a wizard named Pedutant Drezaray, who was living in the commonly dubbed "Trader's Watch" due to its location on a major crossroad in Fieldtan. Despite his busy schedule, he took some time to explain to me the differences between the old way of spellcasting to the new way. Firstly, he said that many spells themselves were similar in feeling and general mechanics. One still had to concentrate to cast Arcane spells and provide the correct words and hand motions while focusing the arcane to a single point (typically the palm, fingertips, or into a staff or wand), but according to Mr. Drezaray the spells would conjure themselves faster, and while generally needing the same level of skill to produce them, one could even produce a stronger spell and weaker spell in the same brief timespan it would have required for just the stronger spell before the Second Arrival. Mr. Drezaray told me he has a theory that this has to do with the leylines and how they may have shifted along with the new landmasses. He even elaborated that perhaps instead of being entirely underground as before, that there may be a leyline that is directly open to the ocean, "supercharging" it, and as a result may be slowly affecting drinkable water sources and granting normally mundane creatures and even humanoids magical traits and ability. He suspects that if this theory is true, there is a chance for the entire ecology of Sinstram to change over the centuries. Making sorcerers the rule instead of the expectation, and making every herbalist a druid, or every scholar a wizard. He suggested that perhaps even just being strong enough in drive and will could allow you control over magical forces. One of his most striking remarks that nearly had me kicking my feet at the prospect of it, is that magic is actually becoming more common already in those that formally had the mindset, but not the training to perform them. He says that it is most likely some kind of offshoot of divine magic, referencing again that an oath or personal drive could provide magical ability. Monks that have trained their mind and body at temples, for example, are now able to cast limited spells in a day. Whether this is due to their natural connection to the world around them, or the ability to draw on their own will is unclear, but Mr. Drezaray believes it's only possible now due to the Second Arrival. If refining your body or possibly just your mental focus is good enough to have limited spellcasting ability, does this truly mean one's passion can help one change the world more directly? Will prolific traders and business people gain magic by virtue of cutthroat dedication, or will the patience and skill of a blacksmith allow them the ability to shape their metal without touching it? Perhaps if I write this book long enough, I could conjure words upon the page and stop my hand from cramping. It's worth studying, to say the least.
Below is an excerpt from a chapter entitled "Person's of Sinstram and their new bodies" Magic had not only changed for spellcasters, but for its more magical races and creatures as well. Creatures such as Kobolds, Goblins, Gnomes, Dragonborn, and many others had many dramatic changes to their natural chemistry and logical capabilities. Goblin's heads grew in size and they became more unpredictable and flighty, but they also gained the capacity to create items out of trash that against all logic seemed to function as the goblins intended. Kobolds began to have mutations upon hatching, with some being able to breathe fire, and others being born with wings. Gnomes however got the short end of the stick (no pun intended) and suffered ghastly transformations such as sharpened teeth and longer hardened nails, which coincided with a dramatic increase in violent tendancies and bloodlust. While I could list the likely thousands of changes within intelligent races, I'm afraid there may not be enough paper in the world, and it is outside the scope of this book. Instead, i'd like to touch upon the cultural and societal changes these changes have forced into the everyday lives of Sinstram citizens. Naturally, when the entire world's history is thrown into question with entire new histories and landmasses, some things are going to change in how cultures view the world. First and remarkably, Luraid did not completely fall in on itself. As a nation that mixes science and religion, studying the stars and relying on their religious leaders to make choices that affect the everyday lives of millions, they bounced back quickly. Similarly, the Second Arrival had minimal effect on Windari, likely due to their currently ongoing cultural civil war. It must be hard to adapt to the outside world when your internal world is fighting with itself. I'm not going to go into intense detail on every country that didn't have some form of major shakeup since that would quickly become boring, so safely assume that locations not mentioned here quickly adapted, changed in minimal ways, or was a nation that arrived during the Second Arrival, and as such there isn't enough information or not enough of note to include in an already 200-page book. Woudpress was one of the heavily affected areas in both geography and culture. Having just suffered a civil war that cut the size of the nation in half and created the now independent nation of Fieldtan, the struggling theocracy of Woudpress's low swampland quickly became flooded with salty seawater from The Peaceful Tides. Its capital, Eternal, sunk and was washed away in less than 6 hours. Its holy throne was forced to be moved, and the former mining colony/prison was the only major population center in its borders that could handle such a large group of refugees and survivors from both the capital and Woudpress's other major cities. Now, a holy throne and major church are built in a former "indentured sinners" mine, and a majority of its population lives underground. While it's too early to tell how exactly Woudpress is going to adapt or change to deal with these issues, to say its historically oppressive church still has its iron grip on its population would be generous at best, and an inevitable lie at worst. Another nation severely affected in the few short years since the event, Kalzarum, with its relatively new leader who claimed power in the form of a coup shortly before the Second Arrival, went from a "separate tribes with power together" to a full-on dictatorship. Lorzuto Jr, now Grand Chief Lorzuto, went from the idea of each tribe keeping its own culture and laws to maintain tradition and only ever gathering in times of war or strife to something along the lines of "Adapt to this new technology I've found or die on your own." It's suspected he made this dramatic change as Kalazarum quickly became colder and more barren, killing the majority of farms and turning the normally ship-friendly fishing waters into ice floes that could easily crush even a war vessel with little warning. It's commonly said that Grand Chief Lorzuto is now repeating the terrible events of the Four Faced War less than 20 years prior when Kalzarum was subject to the Eclipse Islands military occupation. On the topic of the Eclipse Islands, one can only imagine the dramatic swathes of changes and possible revolts happening. Being a secluded island nation that refuses outsiders, the basic groundwork we understand of its inner workings is that its royal leaders is a family of blue dragons that have been ruling the islands since it was first discovered by outsiders. Its population is primarily Dragonborn within a caste system determined by the royal family, who grants boons or demotes others as it sees fit. Making appeals and promises to the royal family is considered as normal as having supper or the mending of old clothes, and since Dragonborn were originally were the offspring of dragons that impregnated kobolds (hence the name "Dragonborn"), any Dragonborn could theoretically trace themselves to the royal line or another full blooded dragon from elsewhere in Sinstram if they were to go far back enough; Making arguments of bloodlines mostly irelevant. With the change of magic due to the Second Arrival however, Dragonborn, no matter how far removed from their kobold ancestors have been reclassified as a sort of "offshoot" kobold, and have been rendered incapable of producing offspring with other dragonborn or with other humanoids expect kobolds and full dragons. Now with the primary demographic of the Eclipse Isles basically being infertile except when mating with the royal line itself or the lowest cast of their oppressive system, one can only imagine the dramatic changes that have to be made for the nation to survive.
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