#fivesworld lore

there is a city sized university called Gresse on the island nation of Yixa. Gresse is a university committed solely to the study of magic and magi, and they own a gigantic fleet of quite possibly hundreds of thousands of ships that go out to almost every country in the world - countries under the Gresse Concordisse - to pick magi up and take them back to Gresse. No one except the highest higher ups in Gresse themselves know exactly why this is considered necessary. Within the terms of the Gresse Concordisse it is plainly stated that any realised magi withholding themselves from the ships and refusing passage to Gresse is committing a crime against Yixa, as is anyone knowingly harbouring them.

Saal is (secretly. Secretly , secretly) a magi ; a Pathetic one, but one nonetheless. He also just so happens to live in what would likely be classed as the 3rd most anti-magic nation in the world, Ulor. (he has some serious self image issues.)

Ulor is a country that is almost entirely run by various underground thieves guilds that have existed as long as the country itself. They are deeply entrenched in the culture of Ulor. There is no Ulor without the guilds. Despite the lowlives that make up their ranks - known as scaru - and their propensity for drinks, drugs, gambling, whores, fights and cursing, the guilds are perfectly organised and calculated, and spare no sympathy for anyone in the way.

Saal Fera is a scaru belonging to the guild 'Fratera', the guild in charge of the southernmost territories of Ulor. He's pretty much the exact opposite of organised and calculated, and very much in the way. Him being magi and therefore technically a fugitive was enough to make him a massive liability as is - without the extra mess of him then going and accidentally getting a valuable and talented guild brother, a man named Omalivilian, killed on the job. His standing with the guild master Amaria dropping from unfavourable to straight up resentful, Saal is now at risk of being dropped by the guild; even worse, Amaria has threatened to save everyone the trouble and report him to the ships to have him taken away to Gresse if he doesn't seriously make up for what he's done.

The guild is split into groups called divisas, and Divisa three is made up by Saal and his two best friends: Vitra and Divus.

And then there's Livilial, who's a member of guild Fratera who joined after escaping from her home country to Ulor, who has now made it her life's goal to make Saal as miserable as humanly possible even if that means getting him kicked out the guild for good; Omalivilian was her beloved younger brother. However, Livilial and Saal already have a complicated past, meaning her feelings about him are a lot more conflicted that she'd like to admit.

Okayyyyy :D :D

it's a religious/spiritual thing !! The people of sna iji (here vvv)

have dealt with a lot of natural disasters throughout history that have continuously foiled most of their attempts at urbanising which lead to the people kinda developing a bit of a complex about "evolving too far" and being punished for it

So their whole religion/spirituality centres around devotion to the earth and the natural order of things , and the total rejection of building too big or organising into groups too big

The eye simply symbolises the commitment to this lifestyle . It is below the actual eyes to represent essentially placing your gaze lower, towards the earth (the sna iji people have a bit of a religious obsession with being close to the ground). It says "I will not build high into the world and pierce the floor of the heavens with my hubris, I will stay looking down at my small life."

Here is a mii character who has it ♥️♥️

Holy shit thats so big sorry

Why blue? Where are there blue people and what's their deal

Don't worry lmaooo

Blue people live here !!

The lore on this place is shaky at best - it's a place I've been meaning to get round to building into properly, but it's kinda one of the weirdest and least happy places to live in the world

Shortest version of what I have so far; dead souls tend to migrate to high ground after leaving the body, but a long time ago ki•el was the site of a massacre so large that the souls of all people who died got stuck like a crowd crush, and ended up having no choice but to sink into the ground where they infected and essentially merged with the trees . The land eventually changed from pretty ordinary warm grassland to a fucked up twisty forest so dense almost all the survivors were trapped in - especially considering that a lot of these trees contain (still partially conscious!!) magi souls , and will twist you into something unrecognisable if you try to take them down .

The people trapped there are not naturally blue. They were forced to change their diet after losing access to all trade , and the dead forest blocked out the sun so they couldn't farm any longer . Their diet mainly consists of a very toxic but abundant native mushroom (and meat from animals that also only eat the mushroom)

The mushroom has a very strong chemical compound in it that over time , after a couple of years of consistent consumption, shows up in the skin (and occasionally eventually the hair) as blue pigment.

What alphabet is this? Are these Magi markings? If it's not Ulora what does it say?

"I, magi under gresse, will only seek to use my Evil for good, until I die"

It's the Yixan alphabet , and yes , definitely magi markings kkkkkk I think the translation makes that a little clear . Once upon a time it was canon in my world that all gressian magi have both their hands and around their eyes marked (because those are the most likely parts of the body to be exposed) but I decided against the eye tattoos for everyone and I can't even remember why . I just know I decided to have that be an extra for people who live in very cold places who are more likely to have to cover their hands and need extra determination .

Thank you for your ask !!

HOW DO THEY WORK?

Do any kids actually get adopted? Are they separated by gender? Do people only adopt girls because they will get paid when she gets married? Are there an overwhelming amount of boys because you have to pay someone else when they want to get married?

HELLO .

Yeah some kids actually do get adopted , although it's not the majority of them . Most of them will just age out of the orphanage. Even when they do get adopted it's not as someone's child and more usually to act as an apprentice , so they'll probably never have parents of any kind again . Still , some kids get taken in by a tradesperson and have a pretty good life after that .

They are separated by gender , yes ! And there are always more boys orphanages than girls ones cause they're more likely to get "lost" by upper class peoples. Girls actually are not more likely to be adopted however , because the culture around adoption and children in Ulor is very much "if they aren't your blood they aren't family" . So unfortunately you don't really gain much from adopting an orphan girl . She'd just be considered under your guidance and it wouldn't be your job to raise and love her but instead just to teach her a trade , and if she were to be married that money would just be hers since she has no surviving blood . She could CHOOSE to give you some if she saw you as a parent figure but that's never guaranteed .

I will say there are likely cases of nobles who have bad luck with sons adopting a baby girl to pass it off as their own .

Boys on the other hand are actually more likely to be adopted by lower class individuals because they're considered stronger and more capable . You need an extra pair of hands around the black smithy ? Adopt a boy and he'll be indebted to you . You need someone to deliver letters? Adopt a boy and he'll be indebted to you. You need another body to help transport heavy goods ? Adopt a boy and he'll be indebted to you. You won't even have to pay for him to be married one day unless you're feeling REALLY nice, because he's not your blood .

So yeah, boys are both more likely to come into AND come out of an orphanage . Girls are more likely to stay put , especially considering there aren't that many girls orphanages . In Tellaettemasti, the city our guys live in , there is only one girls orphanage and it is known to almost always be full . Girls are therefore more likely than boys to be on the streets instead of actually in an orphanage anyway, like Vitra was . Quite frankly Vitra was very lucky to not end up in prostitution eventually , which tends to be what happens to those girls .

Of course then there's the matter of the guild, and how they fit into the equation, because secretly a lot of orphanages are actually technically child trafficking centres for the guilds. Many orphanages are secretly guild sponsored, and paid to keep tabs on promising recruits by watching their physical abilities and adjacent things - every year they supply a list of (usually) boys who should be lured away by the guild . They are also even paid to keep the orphanages unhappy to live in so that the guild looks great and appealing to the kids in comparison to the orphanage. Guilds LOVE orphans , and they ESPECIALLY love Nihis-Voluses , because if no one is looking out for you , you're off the hook. This is what happened to Saal and Divus. One with no known family , one whose blood was all dead, and both fairly fit for young boys . They are completely none the wiser to this scheme however, even still to this day. Guild sponsored orphanages and their involvement in recruitment are actually a fairly well kept secret .