User:NeloAngelo/Redstuff/Glossary/Terminology

List of things that may or may not be important. Contains spoilers.

Red Eye Plague
Red Eye Plague, commonly shortened into Red Plague, or simply the Plague is an undying plague that terrorizes the world. The origin of the Plague is unknown, but legend states that it was a curse from a "Red Eye Goddess". Contracting Red Eye Plague is divided into 3 stages:
 * 1) On initial stages the patient's pupil turns red, and their brain/nervous system becomes haywire; randomly alternating extremely stimulated or heavy fatigue.
 * 2) On 2nd stage however, the patient began exhibiting symptoms akin to schizophrenia. While the symptoms vary, 2nd stage all leads to the deterioration of the patients ego and extreme homicidal behavior.
 * 3) On the final stage, the red virus "bursts" out of patients body as they underwent a grotesque transformation intent on destroying everything within their sight.
 * At this point, the transformed victim is referred as "Grotesques".

Red Thinner
Red Thinner is the medicine that can suppress the Red Eye Plague. However the base production cost is incredibly high thanks to the ingredients not easily obtainable, and patients are required to take them everyday until they die. In addition, the medication only works during the early stage, and the patient's Red Eye will never fade, so they will still carry the stigma. Further complicating matters, synthesizing the medicine itself is a skill demanding task itself; if poorly made, the medicine becomes poisonous, thus patients also run the risk of killing themselves, ironically, from the medication. Red Thinner, when applied to un-infected humans also grant limited resistance to the Plague. Thus, they are commonly a part of the supplies for Anti-Grotesques Forces (for those who can afford it, anyway).

Ghost Butterfly
A "magic program" made of pure energy and made in the image of ghostly butterflies, with its earliest discovery found back in "Age of Sky". When activated, Ghost Butterfly releases the magic composite it contains, acting as the "fuel" which substantiate the magecraft performed. Since their bodies are made of energy, this results in the death of those Ghost Butterflies, which breaks down into the air and eventually reforms into a new Ghost Butterfly after a long period of time. However, the Ghost Butterfly (data) is never the same, and the occurrence is not guaranteed, making them precious energy resources. Also, since they are living datas, Ghost Butterflies can be loaded and compressed through the MAG system.


 * Red Ghost Butterfly: A variant of Ghost Butterfly that only spawns from Grotesque corpses' open wound. Compared from regular Ghost Butterflies, these variant has more corporeal appearance, and is packed with much higher magic concentration. Because of such, it is not surprising to have them harvested as energy source, however questionable the act is. Red Ghost Butterflies still carries Red Eye Virus, and prolonged exposure can and will infect users with Red Plague. Red Ghost Butterfly is also the core ingredient for making Red Thinner. However, ingesting raw Red Ghost Butterflies is also a surefire way to get Red Eye Plague. The utilization of Red Ghost Butterflies and the utter extermination Grotesques is a constant source of conflict in terms of moral, economy, and overall world issue quandary.


 * Mana Surge: When Ghost Butterflies are used as fuel, they usually leave "mana embers" dispersed onto the atmosphere. These embers are invisible, and will scatter into the air after a while. However, when large quantities of Ghost Butterflies are used in rapid succession, the "embers" will collide and coagulate with one-another, causing a phenomenon known as "Mana Surge"; an unnatural spike of magic energy within the field.

Age of Sky
A magical era from a forgotten time. It is said that the Red Eye Goddess originated in the Age of Sky, then not long after her disappearance, the Sky perished with her.

Red Eye Goddess
An elusive figure from the "Age of Sky" who is said to be the origin of the Red Eye Plague.

Shaman
Shaman is a special class or position in the world of Redstuff. Shaman have the ability to collect Red Eye virus and sending them away (note: transfer, not destroy), essentially cleansing the area by means of "removing". In addition, they can suppress symptoms of victims of the early stage-Red Eye Plague and grant them relief, however temporarily. One of the biggest perk of being a Shaman is having incredible leeway when traversing between nations/cities. For example, entry taxes are less or omitted when entering foreign territory.

Not anyone can become a Shaman, as the primary prerequisite of becoming one is possessing a certain natural resistance against the Virus. It should be noted that Shaman is a strictly a position, not a job; although Shamans are sponsored, regulations only grants barest minimum. So it is common to see Shamans juggling roles.

Shamans also have the highest risk of contracting Red Eye Plague themselves, and thanks to their latent resistance, should they contract the Plague, their Grotesque form are also much stronger than average.


 * Transmigration Branch: A Shaman's duty is carried with their unique tool, "Transmigration Branch" (MAG compatible), which allows them to draw the Plague and move them. This is fueled by a unique magic program locked inside, which allows Shamans to guide the "flow" of magic manifested in real-time without Ghost Butterflies, which naturally includes the Plague; a system similar to old magic. Due to this, Transmigration Branch are known as "blackbox" technology, and secrets of their creation are known only to Chiara's highest branches. Attempts to hack the system has been made, but they simply result in the system's self-deletion, turning the Branch into a useless stick.


 * High Shaman: A "master" rank of Shaman position.Compared to regular Shamans, High Shamans have better(easier) access to funding/resources, and generally possesses superior skills with Transmigration Staff. In exchange, High Shaman are bound to specific locations, and they are not allowed to step out of their assigned domain. Within their assigned domain, High Shamans are allowed to exert high political power (normal Shamans are not allowed in political interference, much less insert themselves in it), with some even is the domain's leader (ex: Araya). Becoming a High Shaman requires a regular Shaman to undertake a series of tests and registration, and because of the additional workload, most High Shamans become one voluntarily. However, if there's a potent High Shaman found among the regulars, encouragement and coercion by Chiara is not out of the question.

Sky Pillars
Sky Pillars, are ancient artifacts found across the world, taking the form of various large statues of mythical beings that dates back to the "Age of Sky". They are named as such from the gigantic pillar that pins said statues down (1 for each) and extending deep into the earth. Sky Pillars are one of the few relics that naturally produces Ghost Butterflies, however slow, and such the area they are located are typically sanctified.

Clover's Circle
Clover's Circle, also known as Sage's Pact refers to a sacred pact between Sage Arato and 3 factions.

While the news of the pact is declared by all 4 of them at the same date, in truth, the Pact is formed much earlier via Arato sneakily visiting/establishing the pact with the leaders one-by-one, meaning each empire has different stipulations and rules. The only common rule the 3 empires' share is prohibition of hostiles in Chiara's soil, and there's no rule saying the empires cannot fight between themselves. In return, each empire is said to have received Arato's blessing in the form of "forbidden knowledge".

To promote goodwill and relationship between the four powers (now 3), the Circle would annually organize a tournament of sorts open to all.


 * Everia: One of the factions of Clover's Circle. After the fall of Melius, they drained what remains of the nations' resources. Everia is renowned for its reverence for the study of magic and history, to the extent that it has a nationally sponsored/sanctioned institute dedicated to it known as Magia Academy. However, its reputation has recently been mixed with a scandal involving a devastating cutting force embedded deep into their capital city's earth.
 * Beovault: One of the factions of the Clover's Circle. Beovault capitalized its strategic location and allowed itself to thrive as an international commerce, in addition to their heavy investment in the entertainment industry has made it a popular tourist spot.
 * Melius: The fallen faction of the Clover's Circle. Pre-collapse, Melius possess the strongest military power in the Circle. What Melius feared was not the Plague, but foreign nations' interest. In turn, Melius set sight at the potential of Grotesques, and begun harvesting/experimenting them. Ironically, it was these experiments that caused the Plague to overtake Melius. Given Melius' activity, it's possible that the rise of Grotesque attacks are made of Grotesque harvested by Melius and/or actual Melius citizens.

Beholder
Beholders are individuals who carry a fragment of "Red Eye's Sin" that Arato bestows after his ascension. In other words, they possess a fragment of Nelo's power/data/memory. The reason for Arato's decision to divide into fragments and part them is to setup proxies should Nelo awakens. Although Nelo can sense them, he can only do so when he's at close proximity with it.

While Beholder is a proper title, its existence is an absolute secret, to the point where Beholder themselves (save Arato) consider it a taboo to refer themselves as such. As Beholders carry a fragment of Nelo's power, they can access parts of his powers, which are warped as close as possible as a reflection of said Beholder's desire. If Nelo is in close vicinity with a Beholder, their powers will amplify at the cost of a "pure" strain of the the virus (that comes form the Fragment itself) rapidly encroaching them.

Becoming a Beholder does not makes one immune to the Plague; the only exception of this is Mana and Marina, which they have immunity (Mana)/resistance (Marina) from having Fragments fully integrated into their body.


 * 1. ______: Grants the ability to enslave Red Eyes and Grotesques to Beholder's will, a reflection of the lust for Red Eye's knowledge.
 * 2._____________ _____: Grants the storage of data at seemingly gluttonous capacity.
 * 3. ____: Beholder actually did not use it on himself.
 * Marina: Inherited the Fragment and grafted inside her body. Grants her latent Plague resistance and access to some of Nelo's techniques, a reflection of her desire for more power.


 * 4. Mana: Arguably the first Beholder (in all but name). Nelo parts his power to her willingly via direct transfusion into her body rather as a Fragment. Grants full immunity to the Plague and sloths Mana's internal Magic system, preventing it from tearing her apart.
 * 5. Unknown: A Fragment kept in Chiara's vault.
 * 6. ______: Grants the ability to channel the Plague to bolster magic processing skills, a reflection of her coveting Red's natural talents in Transmigration.
 * 7. Arato: The first *formal* Beholder. He found Nelo's catalyst and subsequently dubbed it "Red Eye's Sin" as a symbol of his pride "to bear the sin of the Goddess". From there, his research allowed magic to advance leaps and bounds, most notably the creation of Shamans. It's unknown what exactly Arato gained from his particular Fragment.