#fandom worldbuilding

Musings on the Unsung Lords of Cinder

I think about the concepts of the Lords of Cinder and the Firelinking Tradition / curse a lot. Soul of Cinder is an amalgamation of countless previous Souls deemed worthy to link the Flame, right? Not that we ever really get an idea what ‘worthy’ means. Especially since the Unkindled can become a Lord of Cinder despite being denied before. One Lord of Cinder is a small private military, another is a cannibal sludge, some are one guy... Clearly there’s some measure of weirdness going on that makes it hard to define what a Lord of Cinder can and cannot be.

And, lest we forget, in Dark Souls I, the player character is explicitly no one special. They aren't a chosen one, they just happen to be the one that gets the furthest.

So, anyone can become a Lord of Cinder; it’s up to the Flame at the point of the prospective kindling offering to join it. Presumably it has some form of consciousness; at least enough to know when its threatened. I don't think that's a strange conclusion to reach, given the information available.

Does that mean a small town tailor’s daughter can be? Can she just leave home with her papa’s woodcutting axe and try, because the Way of White pastor in the chapel told her that it is the highest calling of ‘worldly humans’... would she be worthy of the mantle, adding her Soul to the amalgamation burning inside the flame?

Specifically, the idea of what I have tentatively decided to call Legacies - a type of magic that cannot be learned, only activated when certain qualifications are met. The exact qualifications of each Legacy aren't well-understood, but it's confirmed that each one is related to a specific soul trait, and so in order to possess one of these magicks you have to have the associated trait as your dominant one. (You can't have Determination's legacy if your soul's dominant trait is Kindness, for example.)

Also, while the inheriting of a Legacy itself isn't directly tied to other forms of magic, natural or otherwise, it's notable that the more magic in the environment around you when you activate it, the more powerful (i.e. the more reality-warping the effects of) that person's expression of the Legacy is.

Anyway, reason I'm bringing this up now is because I'm having trouble figuring out a Legacy for the Bravery trait, and I was hoping for suggestions. Here's what I have so far:

Determination: Determination is defined by resolve and willpower, so its Legacy is Defiance - you refuse to bow to the whims of Fate. Basically the canon Reset+refusing to die mechanics you see in UT, because what says "i spit in the face of Fate" better than being able to no-sell death in a variety of ways?

Bravery: While I have no idea what Legacy to give this trait, the trait of Bravery itself is, essentially, defined by one's clarity of mind/willingness to act in the face of fear (or shame which I could argue is just another form of fear. Fear of being judged.)

Justice (there's no yellow option for text ree?): Justice is a little hard to define as a personality trait, so eventually I settled on it being one's sense of fairness and order. Its Legacy is Proclamation - your word is law to the world, and it will enforce your word accordingly. Basically you can alter the natural laws of the world, plus also unbreakable vow type stuff, i guess?

Kindness: Kindness is defined by generosity and empathy, so its Legacy is Karma. You give to the world, and the world gives back. Luck/fortune/karma magic, basically! Easiest one to figure out of the bunch, haha.

Patience: Patience is defined by one's tolerance of trouble and strife, so its Legacy is (tentatively) Equilibrium. Your existence is balanced with that of the world. Not sure exactly how to explain this magic but it's like... well, balance magic? Making everything equal? Not entirely sure about this one tbh, so suggestions are welcome for this too...

Integrity (there's no darker blue color either ree): Integrity is defined by honesty and one's own moral principles so the Legacy for this one is Truth. The very foundations of falsehood crumble before you. Knowledge and truth magic, basically - you cannot lie to Truth, and the veils of falsehoods and misconceptions are pulled back to see what really is. (Which, with high-power expressions of the Legacy, can be dangerous...)

Perseverance: Perseverance is, essentially, one's ability to outlast the hardships thrown at you, so its Legacy is Endurance! The world may try to break you, but you weather the storm. It's essentially durability/longevity magic, I guess. It takes a lot more effort on the world's behalf to put you down, and even that, with powerful expressions of the legacy, is not guaranteed.

I wanna talk about Pokemon.

I've been working on a Pokemon-based world-building project for about two years now, coming up on three, with the intent to make it more realistic, and explain some of the science behind certain Pokemon or behaviors, or at least providing logical explanations. Parts of it have been taken from the games and the anime, and synthesized into a narrative I feel works. Not to say it doesn't need work in some areas (it does), but that's part of why I share it: to have conversations about it, and get new ideas to fill the gaps.

And in some cases, cutting some things out because I don't like them, and potentially replacing them with something better.

I'm gonna have to admit, a LOT of this has been ripped straight out of (or inspired by) fanfics that I've read. I simply liked their ideas about the world, and added them to my world. I'm not claiming them as my own, they're just cool and I believe what they created was a very good or plausible explanation. If you end up seeing something that you might find familiar, don't judge me.

Where to begin... right, overall story/narrative.

The apocalypse is on its way. No thanks to Mewtwo.

When Mewtwo escaped from the clutches of Giovanni, realizing his manipulation and bringing down the entire hidden Rocket Headquarters and bringing an end to the 30-year Rocket Age, he isolated himself away on New Island, with the purpose of ending humanity via a series of gargantuan hurricanes fully capable of wiping every human civilization off the face of the earth.

He didn't, thankfully, as he was stopped, but there were still consequences. The shockwaves of psychic power used to create the storms echoed across the Earth... reawakening the Legendary Birds.

Cue the Shamouti Incident. More shockwaves. Greenfield. Even more.

But those incidents could be covered up. What couldn't was the Sootopolis Catastrophe.

It was a horrifying blow to the people of the world, to know that at least some Gods did exist, and weren't simply fabrications of the ancient past. The International Pokemon League, or IPL, assembled a press conference to address the fears. They confirmed it: the Gods existed, and have existed for a very long time. A government list was posted of the gods that are confirmed to exist, gods that are likely to exist, gods that are unknown to exist, and gods that certainly do not.

And now, the regions of the world are left to wonder: where will the legendaries reawaken next?

I'll give you a hint, it's not Sinnoh. The dominos that are the echoes of power haven't grown strong enough yet to even attract the gaze of the Creation Trio, let alone Arceus. They'll be the grand finale of the narrative.

Instead, it goes to the richest region in the world, of luxury and extravagance, of ancient architecture and diversity, the melting pot of the Pokemon World:

Kalos.