User:NeloAngelo/KStuff/Miscellaneous

List of things may or may not be important. There maybe some spoilers, oh well.

Uncrowned Hero
It is said in the tales of old there was a monstrous dragon would request ritualistic sacrifice periodically from the (already few) surviving humans after the first calamity in exchange of sparing their civilization and occasionally keeping other monsters out of its turf (emphasis on "occasionally"). Out of fear of the unknown, they accepted the deal. While civilizations were able to continue, the number of humans were trickling away slowly but surely. Until one day a nameless hero challenged it and dealt a mortal wound to it in a single strike, causing it to flee away with its days numbered.

His actions were not reciprocated.

Instead, he was greeted with disgust and reject, as the dragon went on a dying rampage that caused immeasurable casualties before breathing its last. More so after the dragon's demise, this resulted in the surviving humans open to even more uncontrollable devastation. Though humanity managed to survive after all, the hero was rejected, tarnished, and sullied to the point his name was erased from the annals of history. Despite of all this, the hero hated no one and took all of the hate with a stride, his only regret before dying is that his descendants will continue to suffer the consequences.

As time progresses and the current state of humanity having a different state of world view, the hero became vindicated. Though his name remain lost, he was christened the "Uncrowned Hero", and his legend became the stuff of culture, though there are still some that vilify his actions, remarking that besting a dragon or not, he still nearly caused another disaster that wiped out all of the surviving civilization. If someone refers to you as similar to the "Uncrowned", they are likely referencing to your pro fighting ability, though it can also be used as a backhanded compliment: criticizing you acting recklessly without consideration of others.

Unsanctioned Locations
Though the Bureau has managed to stabilize the majority of the world's location, several areas are left unsanctioned, either due to a lack of resource at the time or just generally due to it being too dangerous. Due to this, those living in the unsanctioned areas are left to fend for themselves. The lucky ones usually forms their own civilization and lifestyle, sometimes even forming an autonomous community similar to that of a small country.

Those living in the unsanctioned locations generally have a strong dislike of the Bureau, resenting it for abandoning them long ago. As such, many of the Bureau's attempts at reaching out to them (for good or ill) are usually met with aggressive rejection. The situation is made worse as the Bureau is splintering factions within itself currently, a part of them attempts for peaceful-coexistence while the other seeks to seize them by force.

Aetherlux
Aetherlux, commonly known as Ghost Butterflies, Friar's Lantern, or something light+butterfly related (depending on which region you're from) is a new species of "butterfly" discovered after the first calamity. Though called a butterfly, it more closely resembling a plant more than an insect, if only due to the fact that it survives simply by absorbing Aether. Aetherlux's average lifespan is about 1 month, after which its body breaks down into clean Aether dispersing into the air. Due to this, it is commonly used as a clean light source by capturing them in cages, or employed simply as a guidepost. Comes in variety in color, but blue and yellow breed(?) are the most commonly seen. There exists a community that specializes in cultivating different colors of Aetherlux to sell in the market or used in competition against themselves.

Valon
Universal currency (commonly stylized as Vl.) used in Bureau-sanctioned locations. Because the sanction locations are *technically* a one-world order under their flag, there's no difference in money value based on region (products are charged differently instead). Valon holds no value in unsanctioned locations such as B612, making foreign visitors resort to barter system to carry out transactions between one-another.

Material Usage
In Kstuff, Aether-weaponry are dependent on a singular Aether core to increase its performance. Going juxtapose with magecraft, the less color (and lighter) an Aether material is, the much better it is when used as an Aether core. This is due to pale color lacking a "dominant" color, meaning it can be synchronized ("dyed") with different color types of magecraft faster and disperse them easier.

A general rule of that Aether material usage is: "Seven Shades have immunities (all colors except black and white have latent resistance to each other), Black does not absorb black (black neutralizes everything by irreversibly blackening all), Silver is good (best possible outcome you can get), but White is better (white material is OP)."


 * White Material:White Material are an exceedingly rare and precious substance (ore) in KStuff. Named as such due to its lustrous white appearance, untainted by any outside influences (when dug up, simply flicking it will disperse the dirt surrounding it completely). When used in conjunction of Aether, it has the ability to convert all color types of magic at full synchronization rate without any error or delay, as if it is "something meant to be". When used as a power source, White material also grants self-repair capability by absorbing surrounding Aether. Even a splinter of a White Material can easily be sold at 5 digit prices, and a chunk can start or end wars. Revered as "Feathers of the White God(dess)" by many, research indicates that White Material has existed long before the occurrence of the First Calamity. Has a lesser counterpart known as Silver material, which is less op than its White counterpart, but still a very powerful material when compared to other materials. Though white and silver materials are sometimes identical apperance-wise, their differences can be easily spotted by their performance when used in magecraft/item synthesizing.  Examples of White Material usage includes Argence's Aether-weapon's core (made of a shard of white material split between sword and shield) and Quinque's Aether-armor (made of 70% of white material).

Weapon Classifications
In KStuff, personnel armaments are classified into two categories: Aether-type weaponry and Kit-type weaponry.
 * Aether-type: Aether-type weaponry are armaments created with Aether technology/material. While they appear in various shapes and forms, they all share the common point of being powered by an Aether core. Owing to their internal engine, Aether weaponry grant the users a healthy bank of automated processed Aether to perform various skills and magecraft, thus they are very commonly used and researched/manufactured. However, they are also among the most expensive, requiring high resources/mantainence to continue function efficiently. Furthermore, high Aether capacity within the weaponry may also stress out the user, both mental and physical. Depending on the core and skill of the designer/architect/engineer, the Aether weaponry will have different Aether capacity/style/output of firepower. Generally speaking, any Aether-weapon's max firepower that is insufficient to level at least ~6 meter tall building is considered a failure. Depending on the manufacturer, different Aether-weaponry will have their own "brand" number (ex: Round Table manufactured Aether-weapons follow the coding of "[Core]Shade [Weight][Type]/[Number] [Nickname]"). While most Aether-weaponry around the world are manufactured by the Bureau, it is not uncommon to see independent manufacturers or freelance Aether architects/engineers not affiliated with any particular side (ex: Yurischa/Laplace/Ethan/Franz).
 * Aether Compatibility: Aether compatibility, or Aether synchronization rate refers to the user's compatibility with the deployed Aether weaponry. Not to be confused with actual skills in utilizing the weapon, sync rate specifically refers to the user's Root Aether, which determines the user's tolerance of the Aether build up/capacity and the speed of the user's skills in performing magecraft x Aether core. The source that determines which each individual's Root Aether sync rate is unknown ("It's not genetics, I checked." - Alma), in fact, it is entirely possible for a human born with Aether skills (Pure Eyes) to have mediocre sync rate, while a normal human having high sync rate (ex: Argence). It is however possible to artificially heighten an individual's sync rate via grafting Aether components, a process created by the now defunct clan of the 'Black Scale', though this process will also lock said indivual to only specific material while lowering the rest. Furthermore, this process is declared illegal post-clan massacre incident by the Bureau.


 * Kit-type: Kit-type weaponry are armaments created with various ordinary materials. They are known as such due to the fact that they are "assembled" so that the damaged parts are easier to replace. Unlike Aether-type, Kit-weaponry cannot perform magecraft by its own, requiring loaded Aether cartridges or shells to perform Magecraft (default regulation lifespan is roughly 5 hours/per cartridge). This is a double edged sword as lacking an innate Aether core also means the user is also less likely to be burdened with higher Aether capacity. Kit-weapons are very popular among Hunters due to their cost/ease of maintenance, and are also compatible with those with Discoloration Syndrome, owing to the fact that they have no traces of Aether to interfere. Unlike Aether-types that features "locked" designs, Kit-weapons are very customize-friendly, allowing users to redesign any components as they see fit. Due to the widespread design of each Kit-type weaponry, they do not posses any form of nicknames.

Aether Orbital Strikes
AKA Aether nukes. About 30 years before KStuff actually happens, actual nuclear armaments are discarded for Aether payloads for a more practical and precise effect (Aether atmosphere can mess up electronic targeting system). The workings of Aether warhead is simple: Launch, detonate and release the condensed Aether stocked within the warhead to stimulate the Aether atmosphere of the targeted perimeter, causing a chain reaction of intense heat energies. During the process, whatever that isn't killed by the blast suffers from extreme shock due to the jarring rise of Aether atmosphere concentration. Unlike nuclear missiles, the Orbital strikes will only continue burning for roughly 20 days, and then roughly another month for the Aether atmosphere to re-stabilize itself, circumventing the radioactive fallout and allowing the land to be usable. After that, the Bureau just send Knights to clean up whatever that is left. While detonating the warheads midair can cause more devastating effect (by means of shooting up the Aether atmosphere concentration at a much larger perimeter), this is rarely done since it's horribly imprecise and no one really knows how long it would take to re-stabilize the Aether atmosphere. Because of such, the Aether warheads are detonated only near ground zero levels. When launched, the traveling warheads emits a yellowish light, appearing to the naked eye as a faint pillar of light shining down.

It should be noted that the Aether warheads deployed by the Bureau only works best if detonated by its own internal system (i.e; opposing armaments strong enough to obliterate it before it detonates by itself will severely weaken the blast), though its outer shell is built very durable. Quinque being able to quickly neutralize the Aether nukes with her own is a testament of her and White material's capabilities.

Last names
Foreign concept not registered within anyone's dictionary.

Demon Hunter Organizations
Demon hunting organizations are a recurring element within KStuff. The term 'Demon hunting' can be loosely interpreted, since they are actually more associated as clans of familial members with "intrinsic knowledge of practicing Aether", and are suggested the ones who first practiced Aether usage. History records suggest that more than half of Demon Hunters are descendants from eastern region, which was eventually integrated (homogenized?) within the nation-less world post First Calamity. After the clan-extermination incident, the term becomes much more blurred as the remaining clans no longer identify themselves as such, rather as an unified association. Regardless, the clans holds a very strong sense of individuality and secrecy; a common superstition is that their true clan name is their essential nature, and knowing the true name gives one power over the clan (they go by monikers given by the public instead).

Known clans:

The clan Faye and Maya is descended from. Said to be a clan with its lineage tracing back to shrine maidens from early civilization, they specializes in sacred cleansing and sealing magecrafts beside extermination. The clan possessed an inherent Aether-ability in the form of their eyes, identified by their iris being a 'clear' shade of purple/violet. The eyes grants them a superior view of the world by means of possessing a vastly improved eye sensitivity, in particularly to Aether. This ability however, are passed only within female members of the clan. Because of this, female offspring are treated more favorably compared to males, and the head clan are all females.
 * 'Clear Eyes' Clan

The clan is treated as a 'true successor' of the ancient bloodline of the ones who first practiced Aether usage, which obviously gives them a huge sway over other clans. When a female child is born, their name's 2nd and 3rd letter is named after the clan's founder 'Aya'. They are then groomed as successors of the next head to lead to clan without discrimination ("Through grueling lessons. Whee~" - Faye). The head position is naturally passed to the eldest child, unless it was due to outside circumstance, which in that case it is passed to the second eldest, and so on. While the clan hold the purity of their bloodline dead serious, they are also willing working with the other organizations to ensure their bloodline would continue. The head clan is given authorization to wield the clan's three regalias: Aya's original bow, a mechanized spear, and 5 specially crafted arrows using a splinter White material as a catalyst.

During the extermination incident, the clan was chiefly responsible for flushing out of the opposition clan's attempts to elude capture; thanks to their eyes, even the slight activation of Aether, whether barehanded or not will be immediately picked up and dealt accordingly. The clan's tradition of utilizing ranged approach also means they suffer the least amount of casualties on their side, and is the clan still remains relatively unchanged, strength-wise after the war.

Faye was the next-in-line head of this family and is regarded as a child prodigy even among the clan. Her raqe-quit removed her status and her position was taken over by Maya instead. After unifying into the Association, the clan holds the bulk influence. However, they rarely interfere with the inner workings of the Association, due to the internal turmoil of the succession crisis caused by Faye was reignited (it was settled messily back then just so they would focus at the task at hand), with members within the clans arguing about whether to drag Faye and/or keep the current head etc, etc.

The clan whom Laplace/Emir/Orie is descended from. They are said to be formed in a land rife with Aether materials, which they used the opportunity to the fullest extent, specializing in developing various forms of Aether-weaponry. Unique among other clans even before the Association is established, the Iron Keep clan are considered one of the 'friendlier' clans, having no qualms selling their (lesser) creations to others. During the clan massacre incident, they are the first to reach out to the Bureau, and is responsible for stockpiling their armaments. Post-war, this clan remains active among the Association, in particular the weapons R&D department, but no longer participate in exterminations (kicked out members notwithstanding). Due to the internal dispute of the Clear Eyes that renders them incapable to being politically active, the Iron Keep are now more-or-less the 'face' of the Association, incorporating even their color motif. If you're not an Association member, you are almost always guaranteed to have to deal with this clan. On the bright side, they are also more likely to respond to you rather than just outright ignore you. Notable creations among the clan include Aether-firearms, Gestalts, and a revised version of Aether nukes. With a delicate peace where hunting business is booming, the clan quickly recovered their losses from the clan massacre incident, and are now very wealthy via arms manufacturing, representing the one of the upper class of the society.
 * 'Iron Keep' Clan

Given their specialty with Aether engineering, it is speculated that Shinra was the one who founded this clan.

A clan that was founded by what was once a group of members who seceded the clan of 'Iron Keep'. They are given the moniker by the direction of the magecraft they specializes in -while the majority is more interested in the potential of more White/vivid colored magecraft, this clan delves into the research of the black/darkly colored. Unlike their parent clan, the Black Scale also has a much more aggressive approach in demon hunting compared to the Iron Keep. To maximize their performance, they wanted to synchronize human and the Aether-weaponry that was created by having the skeletal, nervous and muscular systems of humans enhanced with components of demons. Since black-colored magecraft are a common unifying/stagnate medium, it was researched extensively so the human body could adapt to the changes at a manageable rate.
 * 'Black Scale' Clan

Bridging the link of humans and demons, the clan's lineage became diluted due to the continued splicing experiments. In the end, they almost became half-demons themselves, ironically blurring the line between the hunter and the hunted. Because of this, they were the least trusted clan by the Bureau during the clan massacre incident. A marriage between one of the members and one Round Table Knights managed to somewhat ease the tense relationship, though it has more to do with both sides seeing as an opportunity to exploit each other. The clan was among the first who launched an assault towards the clan of the nameless, a joint operation led alongside the Round Table Knights. However, the nameless clan proved superior, and quickly annihilated the troops. Furthermore, the clan was the first who exposed themselves among the fog of war, and was used as an impetus for the nameless to tear through their ranks at such an alarming rate to the point that the Black Scale had to rejoin the Iron Keep. Surrendering their research and identity, the Black Scale was reabsorbed by the Iron Keep. Today, it is impossible to know who was a member of the Black Scale among the Association, but there are vestiges who refused to rejoin the Iron Keep and kept themselves away from the Bureau. All of the research of the clan salvaged are destroyed (save only Alma who managed to secured a copy for her personal use) and the Bureau bans the research of bridging human and demons.

The clan whom Franz/Ruger is descended from. At their peak, they were considered the trump card of the Organization. Revered and feared even among the Bureau (back then), they continued demon exterminations without working with anyone because they were so good at their jobs.
 * ___ Clan

Though they possessed long history of Aether knowledge like many other clans, what truly made them so powerful was their sacred ability to manipulate Aether barehanded, earning them the nickname of "Living Crucibles". The ability is so coveted by many that the clan specifies that it is only taught verbally, and not a single written record about its techniques are permitted. Traitors are punishable by death.

The clan practices a form of hierarchy split between "Exterior" and "Interior". The Exterior leads the clan for day-to-day politics stuff, while the Interior functions as their personal extermination squad. To ensure each side's loyalty, the Exterior are given knowledge of using Aether as medical purpose, while the Interior are given the knowledge of weaponizing it. The tradition is held in such that if an Interior member is wounded during a hit, they can only turn to Exterior to save themselves; vice-versa, the Exterior would be left unable to fend for themselves without the Interior, given how dissociative the clan is to the outside world. Outside relationships are carefully "planned" within head-clans of both sides, including arranged marriages, who specifically selects families that could maximize the clan's power and the descendants' potential (other clans can piss right off, though).

The clans inherent nature of distrusting other demon hunting clans remains one of the greatest mystery, even majority of the descendants remarked that it was something they don't truly understand. Some dismissed that it was simply pride, as they hold their sacred ability in such high regard that they simply cannot imagine other demon hunting clans 'tarnishing' it, though it is still just theoretical. ("I don't know either, stop asking." - Ruger)

At one point, centuries of the growing resentment between the clan and other Organizations finally hit a breaking-point (details were brushed over by the Asociation); the other organizations united and turned against the clan, attempting to claim the knowledge the clan amassed. And it was so simple to turn the world against them, just by associating their knowledge of manipulating Aether with demons' inherent ability to do so as well. On paper, the Bureau acted as a neutral force, in actuality, they secretly supported the gank squad the form of dispatching the Round Table Knights, due to the paranoia of the rumors spread.

In desperation, the clan relied on their trump card, a magecraft said to be able to re-create the devastating effect of First Calamity. They had intended to use it as a self-multiplying warhead, but contained within their control. However, the spell had a hiccup and created an inversion of shades wiping out those involved in the ritual, which then went on an outrage that caused countless casualties (innocents included) and untold property damage before collapsing in a vanishing shade of black. The very few of the surviving members out of the clan eventually lost the will to fight and were forced into hiding. Surviving(?) witnesses of the clan’s lasts actions did remain, however. The incident was the final nail that caused them to be remembered as "clan of monsters", a situation that the gank clan were all too happy to use to polish their PR.

After the extermination, the remaining clans re-branded themselves 'Aether Research Association', which opts for a more 'open' way of trading information but still retaining each individual clan's identity. With the knowledge of the Bureau's backing during the operation, the Association used it to blackmail the Bureau and muscling into their territory. All of the clans are records are wiped out, including the name, and whatever salvaged information are locked within the deepest archives of Aether Research Association. For all the information they could dug out of the clan, the Association was never able to learn the clan's technique.

Cult of Red
A Cult formed in the image of Red Eye Argence as an anti-establishment group aiming to supplant the Bureau. They are an extremist group, made up of mostly those captivated by Argence's beauty and power as well as those who are bequeathed a new life by both her and Lydia's Red Eye Infection. The members worship Red Eye Argence as the "Red Eye Goddess", and sees themselves as the inheritor of her wish to cleanse the world. To do so, they have been known to be using terrorism in an attempt to threaten the Bureau, and have been even noted to have taken over a Sanctioned Location as a testament of their capabilities and discipline.

Legacy of the Old World
Legacy of the Old World refers to datas (persons, technologies, etc, etc) that are recorded down, no matter how scarce their information are within the period of pre-First Calamity (strictly pre; i.e; the Uncrowned wouldn't be considered one). Since these information are able to pass down even after centuries, it is not hard to conclude the ones behind it once wielded great power and influence.

Humans (born or not) without a trace of Aether in their system (i.e: they have no root Aether). Theoretically, because they are not connected with Aether, they do not suffer from the Aether-atmosphere changes as anyone would get, or at least have a higher resistance to it (Aether-atmosphere at ~90% and above concentration will still kill anyone, however). About ~500 years (give or take) before Kstuff takes place, all Neutrals have already died off and become extinct on earth. One thing to note is that possessing Discoloration syndrome does not make you a neutral, nor will it mutate (revert?) back to neutral. You cannot have Discoloration syndrome (or Distortion) in the first place if you don't have Aether in your system to begin with.
 * Neutrals


 * Seika

One of the person identified as a Legacy of the Old World. Unlike Alma and Shinra, Seika rejected the longevity process. Seika specializes in the study of Aether's physics in the hopes of understanding the true nature of this energy that should not have existed in the first place. Specifically, it’s the "research of" because Aether particle physics was still in a theoretical phase back then, and the idea of Magic was still a new concept. Seika discovered how to use Aether to break the law of conservation of mass, and the rough conclusion of Origin's transition into Aether. Generations later, his descendants developed the technique to parse and use Aether-barehandedly and established the nameless clan. Every head of the nameless clan used to work alongside Alma/Shinra, whose original goal was to free the world from Aether. The clan exercised this via their prowess in exterminating the monsters, providing the necessary materials for their research.

However, the clan eventually grew tired of their role and the research, which barely made any progress. Ironically, among their fruitless research of eliminating them, the clan found a lead to create Aether and control them with their bare hands, and from there onward, the clan's goals begin to deviate from that of Alma/Shinra's. With their pride growing, and the knowledge of creating Aether becomes more and more of a reality by the day, the clan eventually cut ties with Alma, but kept a secluded inner circle (+restructured into an interior/exterior hierarchy); since Alma's got mad connections. This happens about looong before Faye/Ruger was even born.

Although she dreaded the technique of creating Aether would be publicized, part of the reason Alma became pissed is also because the clan betrayed the ideals of Seika and by extension, her and Shinra. Thus she stringed every other Demon Hunting Organizations into ganking them, the rest is silence. Quite literally(?), though Shinra protested, Alma erased Seika's name (among others) from history out of spite. Why does Alma and Shinra thinks Aether is bad, that's a story for another time. What'd I miss...oh yeah! Spoilers, I guess.