#fantasy lore

taxonomically they are also now closer to basilisks (again). lashed harpies have a range that overlaps a lot with the basilisks as its common for them to live in integrated societies with one another and they have likely co-evolved for a long time probably stemming communal nesting early in their evolution. also i gave them funny skin eyelashes because its silly.

harpies in the scandinavian peninsula+regions of finland have a loosely united civilisation which is still nonetheless very decentralised and it's more like a bunch of separate "city states" that have diplomatic/trade relations with one another and are relatively independent. im still cooking that part so dont worry abouts it. But anyway in many of these cities they have integrated basilisks populations to various degrees but the political state of that integration varies from city to city. in sartrill (the harpy/basilisk city relevant to pareidolia) the basilisk community is a relatively recent integration, while in others the integration might have been present for centuries.

A cold shaft from the cracks in the wall brought her back to herself. The possibilities didn’t matter, her future had been decided for her. She could not refuse her parents, nor the Jorgensens. In a few weeks, all would be settled.

A tear fell on her thimble. Why did her grandmother ask such strange questions? Why did she speak so rashly? Lisl threaded the needle through the rough cloth. Perhaps Breshka only meant to disrupt her marriage to Ernst. She probably only preferred Wilhelm because that she thought that Lisl would be able to travel. Lisl smiled bitterly. At her ripened age, Breshka should know that Lisl would be required to mind their cottage here in Gernt, especially once she became pregnant.

A chair scraped the floor before her. Lisl looked up to see Breshka settling opposite her. The wrinkled hand patted her knee.

“I used to knit stockings for your father,” she mused, “and I swear by the eldest oak, every evening another hole found its way into the stitches.”

The girl attempted to smile, but the effort faded and she looked down at her sewing.

“No matter how hard I scolded him, he was always careless,” Breshka continued, as if Lisl was still interested, “just like the Urwin boy. He never listened to his mother, either.”

“And what happened to the Urwin boy, Grammama?” she said, deciding to humor the old woman.

Breshka shook her head. “What else? He wandered into the forest after supper. The bright light he followed was the lantern hitched to a lonely cart, drawn by a single goat...”

Lisl chuckled softly. Here came the tales. The stories of disobedient children lost forever to the gremlins in the woods, of pregnant mothers brought to term by a mysterious brew in the hollow of a mushroom, and of course, a final warning never to anger Uhyga.

“Strange you always warn me to please Uhyga, yet you tell me I should leave Gernt,” Lisl mumbled.

“Gernt is one spot, Lisl. One weed on a vast mountainside.” Her eyes darkened. “Uhyga is a cruel mistress. Displeasing the mountain brings a bad omen on us all.”

In the silence, Lisl glanced up to see Breshka’s icy stare fixed upon her. Suddenly, the old woman leaned closer. Her eyes grew wide and hollow, like a ghost’s. Lisl felt sucked into her gaze, unable to turn away.

“You'll know them soon, child. Better tales than I do. You'll know them firsthand.”

“Lisl!”

Lisl shook, turning hurriedly to Alma. “Y-yes, mother?”

“Finish mending quickly. You must wake early to churn the butter for the market cart.”

“I finished,” Lisl said, standing before Breshka forced another tale on her. She left her father’s shirt on the table and hurried to the ladder leading to her loft.

“Goodnight, Mama and Papa,” she called, “Goodnight, Granmamma.”

She mounted the rungs as their “good nights” called behind her. As she settled on her mat, she pulled off her over skirt and dress top. Stretching out her underdress, she breathed a sigh and settled beneath her quilt.

Hushed voices spoke rapidly below her. She guessed what they were saying, but she could soon hear them easily.

“She’s not a child anymore,” Kurt said.

“Then treat her that way, Kurt, and let her marry Pier’s boy.” Breshka said hotly, “Jorgensens are fools and don’t know their fronts from their backs!”

“She has no ambitions, Breshka,” Alma pleaded, “Ernst will be good for her. He’s a gentle soul.”

“He’s sharp as a stump. His mind isn’t like hers, Alma.”

“Her mind is a dreamer’s mind,” Kurt interrupted. “She’s a sullen thing, Mother, because of your tales.”

Breshka snorted and muttered something about history and past mistakes.

Magic is illegal. The Lycea (Like the Stellan Lyceum) are allowed to study certain types of magic exclusively for bettering Leseron, but they’re the ONLY sanctioned sorcerers. Illegal magic gets you jail time. Depending on the severity, it could be a life sentence.

The only “magic” that is entirely legal is whatever power you are blessed with should you become Crownwarden (this world's version of a "superhero," each power is unique to the Crownwarden that wields it and, as of the start of the story, there are only four).

Necromany, however, is expressly forbidden. Illegal Necromancy gets you executed. If someone kills a suspected Necromancer without proof, there will be a trial. If there is sufficient immediate proof of Necromancy that can be presented to a court without the presence of the Necromancer, anyone is legally protected against the act of immediately killing that Necromancer and then bringing proof to a court. Not only will they be deemed innocent, they will also be handsomely rewarded.

This has been set in place because so little is known after the afterlife, and it is a great risk to tamper with such things. Additionally, in the Age of Myth (before King Wendell became the first Crownwarden) feral undead roamed the land. King Wendell single-handedly wiped them out using his Crownwarden powers, bringing undead into extinction and ushering in the Age of Wendell’s Watch. He then forbade the practice of Necromancy to keep such a thing from ever happening again.

The King had some Lycea scholars study Necromancy in secret so that the knowledge would be there should they ever have to defend the kingdom from rogue Necromancers, but all official records deny that this ever happened.

The following are the things learned and theorized by the Lycea Scholars about Necromancy when pondering the largest five questions of death and the afterlife.

What exactly survives when someone dies?

The Essence survives. It is a combination of three fundamental pieces: The Soul, The Memory, and The Anchor.

The Soul is the continuation of what a person is. It acts of its own free will in accordance to what it wishes. New experiences can alter who it fundamentally is.

The Memory is the continuation of what the person was. It acts only in accordance to the most important memories constructed during life, and new memories it makes cannot alter its personality. It can learn new rules, but it cannot become a different person. It cannot experience triumph so complete that its personality changes, or grief so thorough that it loses part of who it was.

The Anchor is why the person is and was. The Anchor is either a thing or place or person or action that drove the person toward life. If they died fulfilled or having ultimately given up on everything, there is no Anchor and the Soul (but not the memory) may resist being brought back.

Therefore, Necromancy is placing one or more parts of an Essence into a corpse. None of them can be placed in a living being. However, a whole Essence can be placed inside of a living being. This is called Possession.

At least one fundamental piece of an Essence is required for Necromancy. Without any of these, the vessel is just an empty body and cannot be animated. In any known way.

Incomplete Necromancies create the following:

The Soul

A Phantom. This is a being that is the essence of the person being resurrected, but they have no memories of who they are and no reason to return.

The Memory

An Echo. This is a being of pure memory with no essence of the person being resurrected and no reason for them to return.

The Anchor

A Revenant. This is a being with no memories, no personality, and no essence. It is only a goal that must be completed being channeled through a corpse.

The Soul + The Memory

A Vestige. This is a being with the essence of who the person was and the memory of how they became who they are, but no reason for them to return.

The Soul + The Anchor

A Hollow. This is a being with the essence of a person and their reason for being, but without memory or recollection of who they are.

The Memory + The Anchor

A Shade. This is a being with the memories and reason for being of the person resurrected, but without the essence of who they are and thus no ability to meaningfully change. It can learn new rules, but it cannot become a different person. It cannot experience triumph so complete that its personality changes, or grief so thorough that it loses part of who it was.

The Soul + The Memory + The Anchor

There is no word for this as it has never been done and is assumed to be impossible. This is a true resurrection.

Ghostcasting is the act of manipulating one or more parts of an Essence, but without the presence of a corpse.

Despite its oxymoronic ideation (since Necromancy is “Manipulating a Corpse with one or more parts of an Essence”) Ghostcasting is often considered by scholars to be “performing Necromancy without a corpse.”

It is only theorized to exist due to the known quantities of Necromancy, but there has been no meaningful proof that it exists.

What happens immediately after death?

Death is the act of the body ceasing and its Essence being separated from the corpse.

Severance is the act of the Essence moving to a temporary kind of afterlife called The Veil.

The Veil is where the Essence resides until it decomposes, like a corpse, into the three fundamental pieces, The Soul, The Memory, and The Anchor. Then these three pieces decompose, often at random and wildly different rates. When all three fundamental parts have fully decomposed, an Essence and its parts are beyond the touch of Necromancy.

It is theorized that “beyond the touch of Necromancy” is another location, often just called The Beyond.

This is considered the one true afterlife by those that treat the theory as fact.

Does a person retain any autonomy after death?

An Essence has full autonomy in the Veil. As long as it has freshly died and has not yet decomposed into its 3 fundamental pieces.

When an Essence decomposes, The Memory and The Anchor have no autonomy. The Soul can still resist if the Anchor has fully decayed, but it cannot outright deny.

What does Necromany cost?

Necromancy costs parts of the caster’s Essence.

Manipulating a complete Essence is theorized to require all three of its fundamental parts from the caster, which is why true resurrection hasn’t been done. It’s assumed that, when completed, the caster dies (as the caster’s full Essence is gone). The theory has never been tested through sanctioned research because no scholar has volunteered to die for it. Additionally, no credible record of a successful attempt exists.

The Necromancer sacrifices a part of his Soul, Memory, and/or Anchor to manipulate the corresponding fundamental piece of an Essence.

Manipulating the Soul can erode who the person is. If they do it too much, they lose their Soul and turn into a Shade.

Manipulating the Memory can erode the caster’s memory. When it is fully erased, they become a Hollow.

Manipulating the Anchor can erode the reason someone has for existing. When it is fully eroded, they become a Vestige.

This is quite rare, as erosion of the Anchor often ends in suicide before the Anchor has fully eroded.

This is the true dangerous cost of Necromancy: what happens to an eroded Essence?

Do those pieces move to The Veil?

If a fundamental piece of an Essence, or the Essence as a whole, was sacrificed, where does it go?

Does a Necromancer swap theirs for the one they are manipulating, or is their being erased?

Does a Necromancer go to The Beyond if they die from Necromancy? Or do they just cease to exist and get no participation in any form of Afterlife? Is there even a difference?

How does becoming Crownwarden affect an Essence?

It is not known what happens to a Crownwarden when they are killed, because it has never been done.

The current theory is that becoming Crownwarden permanently fortifies a person’s Essence so that it cannot erode.

Upon Death, it is theorized that the Essence skips Severance and The Veil entirely, and goes immediately into The Beyond.