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The World You Know

Dichotomy: The event that created the world of Krysolis, as it is known, always was known and never will be. At one point both Vaudeville and the Theatre Realms existed as one. No distinction existed between magic theatre and reality. After this, no individual, group, or inanimate object agrees on what exactly happened during dichotomy. It is never revealed which if any of these litanies is correct and which are false, but evidence is given through the plot which supports the credibility and casts doubt in one stroke on the value of each.

Vaudeville: This refers to the reality which humanity knows, the stark harsh real world in which people enact the drama of their lives.

Theater Realms: Term used to collectively refer to the entirety of the magic theaters.

The Drama: Life, the Universe and Everything. Basically refers to reality, including the machinations of Vaudeville, the Theatre Realms, and everything in between. Usually used to refer specifically to the power struggles relating to the Theatre Realms and Ura.

Forces: Pushing and Pulling

Libretto: Energy released from a human being whenever they physically, emotionally, spiritually, or metaphysically change. Libretto is used in the sculpting of magic theaters (not only in the sculpting, the entirety of the Theater Realms, and the Theatre Masters themselves, are composed of Libretto). This is the force behind what most humans know as magic. 

Percepite: It can be perceived as the counter-part to libretto. If Libretto is what Magic Theaters are made of, Percepite is the essence that forms the underlying structure of Vaudeville. The difference exists in that libretto is unconscious and is easily manipulated into any form of motion or appearance. Percepite on the other hand is self-aware, and thus not so much a force as a "spirit."  It is that makes it difficult to manipulate Vaudeville outside of estuaries; pecepite possesses a will so strong that, unless it desires to be changed, it actively fights any attempts to manipulate it. Percepite doesn’t exist in mass quantities though. The actual composition of Vaudeville is made of a form of Percepite that has been struck by Murmur and has no conciousness. True percepite actually forms entities that can take any form they desire. 

Murmur: The force which causes percepite to fall unconscious. More on it later.

Ura: Ura in Japanese means “the reality beyond appearances.” Ura has two definitions: the space between the Magic Theatres and Vaudeville, and any libretto or detritus that has come into Vaudeville from the Theatres.  The greater majority of this latter ura is seen in the form of tiny balls of light that float about almost everywhere. When they strike something these luminous orbs turn into water. In Krysolis, it literally rains light. This type of ura is in its simplest form, mere unused libretto (this libretto cannot be used by masters because it is now a part of The Coil and has either already been stripped of its usefulness or has cycled so long as to become stagnant and cannot be applied to a theme). The light provided by ura flows in an approximately twenty-four hour day construct similar to our accustomed sun-cyle, though since the Peace, Krysolis has been facing dark days and drought. 

The Ura: The space that exists in between Vaudeville and the Theatre Realms, a middle ground, if you will, that is its own realm. Dichotomy, while it did separate and create distinction between Vaudeville and the Theater Realms, was not complete. For the earthly and heavenly territories to exist at all, an element of the connection that once was needs to be maintained. Ura is this connection. It is a sea of relentless change and instability. It is a reflection of aspects of both Vaudeville and the Theater Realms. When you step into Ura, it's like stepping into a weird landscape wherein Vaudeville and the Realms have been smushed together. The city is there, but dang if it isn't the weirdest thing you've ever seen, with influences of different theatres bleeding into it in different areas and with different intensities, always changing and moving, 

The Coil: A pattern in which elements of libretto, percepite, and ura move through Vaudeville, The Ura, and the Theater Realms. It is an unending flow akin to the water cycle in which the amount of all three of these elements is in some odd way in balance at all times.

Glitter Rain: The Ura is also known as the Rain Place. The force that changes the form and appearance of the Ura is the rain that is constantly pouring down within it, endlessly melting away either the aspects of Vaudeville or Theatres and re-forming them. Rain is water that is surrounding a small particle of solid matter. Glitter rain is libretto that has passed into Ura in a form akin to water that surrounds a miniaturized version of something that recently changed in an individual’s perception. For example if a person realizes they hate apples, then a droplet of water that contains an incredibly small disgusting rotten apple will fall from the sky in the Ura. It is in effect the opposite of the ura that falls in Vaudeville, because this libretto is still attuned and useful to Theatre Masters. 

Creation’s Wounds: The passage of libretto and percepite through The Coil is not a closed system. In Vaudeville, the Theater Realms, and The Ura there exist small apertures through which libretto, percepite, and occasionally people pass through, never to return to The Coil. Debate exists as to where these holes lead. The most prominent Wound can be found in Ura. 

Magic: Powers, Places, and Beings

Magic Theater: Small pockets of isolated impossibility that are almost completely detached from external sources of change. Basically alternate dimensions of imagination, each is a reality unto itself, where anything is possible depending on the statutes that its creator imposes upon it. Each Theater possesses some sort of unifying dramatic element involved in its construction and the methods by which its creator uses the magical energies present in existence to sustain it; things as general as love, death, and growing up, or something as specific as arachnophobia or learning to drive. The power that drives these other realities, libretto, is derived from mankind. Because of this a point of great contention is whether or not the magic theaters are a collective reflection of events and themes that occur within reality or whether reality is a collective reflection of events that occur within the Theatres. Each theatre has what is called a center, it is the most important, powerful, and vulnerable point of both the master and the theatre, for it is through the center that libretto is channeled and used to sculpt. 

Center: A fragment of a Theater's original essence which is left over after the trauma of a master’s birth. This is the structural support from which the master will begin their theater sculpting. It contains the element of the master’s theme and is the actual instrument a master uses in sculpting; Rule: All centers are missing a piece as a result of the master's birth breaking it. The center is also the storage place and channeling circuit a master uses for libretto. When the master finally finishes the culmination of their drama the missing piece of their center appears and completes the broken whole. If a center is broken then the master is ended and the theatre shatters. Centers can be removed from theaters without destroying them, yet this makes the master (as one would expect) slightly agitated, and the more time the master is separated from its center the weaker it becomes.

Theater Master: Supernatural (or natural it’s a matter of perspective) entities capable of manipulating and creating magic theatres. Masters can take any form as long as it suits the nature of their respective theater. Masters are entities that are isolated from most of the ebb and flow of change that most beings experience, their realities center around a theme; because of this isolation they are free to sculpt and weave their existence into whatever they wish, usually conforming to the dictum delivered by their respective births. A master’s personality all depends on how its particular theater relates to mankind. Some are very communicative, often consorting with humans in and out of magic theatres with great ease (most humans not even knowing they’ve been speaking with a being of near unlimited power), while others exist in a state so foreign to the perception of most that they cannot be looked upon without sparking an epiphany, madness, or in many cases death.  New masters (and theatres) are created when any master finishes sculpting and completes their respective magic theater. The magic theatre collapses, the master dies, and a new master is born. Upon their conception a master and its theatre exist in a state of perfection, yet almost immediately degradation in the Theatre’s essence causes it to collapse. Everything but the master and the center are gone; the master spends the duration of its existence reconstructing what once was.  Theater Masters are essentially immortal until they either die by completing their theater, their center is destroyed, they commit suicide, or they are killed by humans (which is hard as shit). Methods of killing a master include physically destroying it (assuming it has a physical form), inserting a strong dramatic element completely contradictory to that of the master’s into theater, introducing an incredibly hostile silosyrk, shattering the theatre's center (if one is wise enough to spot it), drain all the libretto from the theater until it ceases to exist (this causes a rather nasty backlash of energy in Vaudeville and is very rarely done), or any way that a creative killer can imagine. Of course, within their own theatres, masters are basically gods, so it's a hell of a lot easier for them to kill you than for you to kill them. Masters currently are in a difficult position. A subversive arcane organization known as Nautilus has managed to secure the supply of energy which masters need to thrive. This amount and type of libretto currently available to the masters is very low, so they resort to using/killing humans in order to secure the libretto they need to survive. This makes them very unpopular, and they become targets for execution by not only Nautilus but also any number of human groups as well.

Estuary: A location in Vaudeville where elements of a particular Magic Theater spill over into reality. Masters are capable of choosing the locations in Vaudeville where they will construct their estuaries. Estuaries act as partial gateways between Vaudeville and the Theater Realms.  Rule: While in an Estuary a master will maintain the form it possesses in its theater but its ability to sculpt will be severely limited. If the master exits an estuary it immediately adopts a human form. This also applies to "objects" taken from theaters. Say an object such as a bear riding a unicycle while juggling fish is removed from a theater. If this bear stays within its master's estuary, it will be fine, if it steers its unicycle outside of the estuary, the bear, the fish, and, yes even the unicycle will turn to water and dissipate.

Spirit Compass: The Spirit Compass is a tangible representation of what connects all things present in reality to the Vaudevillian palate (what connects a person’s metaphysical self to the physical world); they are physically manifested as shadows. Because of this, when an individual enters a magic theater their compass accompanies her or him to allow that person to exist in the theater. While in a theatre the length of a person’s shadow has nothing to do with light sources, but rather shows how much of a connection they’re allowing themselves to the theatre, generally the smaller the shadow the more of a connection. It works like this: a person with very little connection to a theatre casts a huge shadow because he or she is not allowing him or herself to become part of the theatre and thus stands in sharper relief against it. (If shadows are an important part of a theatre, then a person will often cast two: one that's part of the reality of the theatre as well as their spirit compass.) To increase the connection, the person "internalizes" his or her spirit compass, and basically allows the Theatre to become his or her "reality" while they are there. Believing is doing, in a Theatre, so if a person believes that he or she is part of the world and its rules are true, that person can become part of the world while they are there, affecting and being affected. The thing is, spirit compasses are composed of percepite, so while it is extended, when the person denies the Theatre the status of reality, it offers protection of a sort from Theatre Masters, though the presence of a long spirit compass means more percepite in the theatre, which means a very pissed off Master. When it is internalized and the person’s base connection is converted to libretto, the master meets no resistant when interacting with the human. Death is easy as breathing. Because of its importance both in existing in a theatre in the first place and in how much one can affect/be affected by the theatre, many who enter them on a regular basis become very adept at changing the state of internalization on the fly. They'll increase it for a moment to cast a spell or make some other change, then externalize it to just within the limits of staying in the theatre in order to minimize the damage of a Master's response. 

Curtain Time: This refers to the amount of change that an individual can cause and how much they can withstand while in a magic theater before they are ejected back into Vaudeville. When a person enters a theater their spirit compass is taken into their body. Since it is what connects them to Vaudeville, it must be present when entering a magic theater so that they can maintain the tangible form that they have in Vaudeville (ie, the body). A great deal of stress is placed on the person’s compass due to the fact that magic theaters are comprised of libretto and spirit compasses are made of percepite; these conflicting forces eventually become too much for both the human and the theater to maintain and the person is ejected from the magic theater. A person’s curtain time can be elongated if they gradually familiarize themselves with magic theaters and spend more and more time in them thereby acclimating to the stress it puts on them and the theater when they enter. 

Players: Also called the Bound, humans that are Actors for a particular magic theater. They live in Vaudeville, but their lives are strongly affected by the theme of the theatre to which they are bound: the Bound are capable of making use of spells, abilities, and objects granted to them by their respective master. Each Bound by merely living is serving their master indirectly by providing it with the specific type of libretto it requires for its sculpting. None of The Bound ever knows to which master they are associated. 

Cue: Object or ability that is a boon to an individual from a master to whom they are bound. If the Bound human engages in an action that is in severe contrast to the theater to which their respective master holds dominion then the prop being used is either temporarily or permanently taken from them.  

Echo Casters and Silosyrks: These are people who willingly split the essence of their existence in two, one which remains human possessing all of the attributes that made them what they were before, mentally, physically, and emotionally. The other half, the being now known as a Silosyrk, is a new entity that is capable of surviving completely in the theater realms without a Curtain Time. The Silosyrk has a form that is vaguely human; their composition in terms of the physical, psychological, and metaphysical is determined by how the human half uses their magic and to a smaller extent, the theatre in which they were created. They could be anything from skeletons to fairies to super-deformed anime characters. Silosyrks sustain themselves by parasitic relationships with Theater Masters. Masters revile Silosyrks because in essence they possess the full sculpting capability of a master yet are not restrained by any dramatic theme. Each Silosyrk waits for an opportune moment to disrupt the process of a master’s sculpting and twist it to their own ends to create odd little sub-theaters in which they live. Silosyrks are created so that humans are capable of limited sculpting in Vaudeville. When a theatre master sculpts, the Sylosirk can capture the metaphysical ripples and store them for their human counterpart to use. Rule: Silosyrks being mere echoes of an individual are not truly alive (alive in the sense that they possess no intellectual or emotional aspects of their being except the desire to live and fulfill the needs of their human counterpart), in such a way that a virus doesn’t live yet does. 

Dichotomous Hymn: The ritual by which a potential Echo Caster creates his or her Silosyrk. It is thought of as a reflection of the original Dichotomy brought down to the individual level. The Hymn is sung within a magic theater of the singer’s choice. This will be the theater that the newly created silosyrk will use as its host and it also generates some sort of affinity with the new echo caster in terms of the types of spells they will use. Only some individuals are capable of undergoing the hymn and creating silosyrks. Only those whose psyches have a strong connection to the Realms can become Echo Casters. 

Echo Casting: It goes along the principle that every bit of sculpting a master works upon their respective theater produces some sort of reverberating effect, an echo if you will. These echoes can be captured by silosyrks for their human counterparts to recast in Vaudeville. After capturing this ripple, the silosyrk encapsulates it in a form that prevents the echo from dissipating. In this form the echo can be moved throughout Vaudeville, even outside of estuaries. Humans who uses echo casting have a cache of them hidden away somewhere. It is to this location that their counterparts deliver the echo after capturing. The form the echo is in depends completely on the caster. For example Bookwyrm has his in the form of marbles. Spell working such as this is one of the few ways in which reality can actually be sculpted. The captured echo is not actually a full spell as of yet. It is only the potential for a possible work. To actually cast an echo in Vaudeville, the caster must combine a bit of percepite, their own or "borrowed," in with the sculpting they desire to work.  Another principle involved here is that the larger the change worked the more percepite required to complete it. 

Ending: Term used to refer to killing a master, and often just killing in general. Since Masters often defy common conceptions of what life is, it cannot be said that they are truly killed. 

Anti-regulator: Term referring to beings composed of or directly under the influence of percepite.  It is their goal to enter the theatre realms and convert the (what they consider) dormant libretto into percepite. They seek to end the manner in which theatre masters separately control each theatre and create some sense of singularity similar to Vaudeville. Anti-regulators are capable of taking any form in Vaudeville, since they are a primary aspect of its structure. Their most common forms include possessing a human being through their spirit compass, everyday objects that come to life and kill, and mysterious beings cloaked in darkness. The problem facing anti-regulators is that when they enter a magic theatre they loose their will and essentially die. They turn into a form of libretto in which they maintain their normal state but lack a mind. The only part of a theatre that can support them is the theatre center. There, they are able to enter the theatre for a short period of time, yet due to the master’s rage at having its perfect work scarred by an alien presence, they are cleared posthaste. Rule: All centers contain some element of AR activity. They are attempting to discover a manner in which they could enter theaters without losing their will. Anti-regulators are ruthless and for all the consciousness they possess pretty are much unthinking in their actions. If something can be done to further their cause then it will be done regardless of the consequences, because of this they are reviled by both humans and masters alike. 

Parody: Art of internalizing one’s spirit compass in Vaudeville allowing for various acts of wanton impossibility, or magic. The risk involved in this is that the person’s compass is always in direct exposure to anti-regulators. If a Parody becomes too grand the possibility exists for drawing anti-regulators, who will attempt to enter the person’s compass.  

Harvest Time: Refers to the moment when it is possible to gain entry the Nautilus Center, allowing Theatre Masters legal access to Libretto. This is also the only time when masters are able to experience Bravura, which allows them to finally complete themselves, give birth, and die. After Dichotomy, Harvest Time occurred irregularly. Currently, due to the activities of humans (particularly the actions of The League and Nautilus) Harvest Time has not occurred for many generations. The masters are getting antsy.

Nautilus Center: Currently held by the Nautilus Architects, in essence, the Nautilus Center is merely a hodgepodge collection of elements of all other theater centers in existence, maintained by the Mythical Child Abraxis. Because the Nautilus Center is connected to every Theater in the Realms it allows its weilder to partially hold sway over every magic theater.  The Nautilus Center is also the location in Vaudeville to which all libretto flows from Ura before it is released at Harvest Time. Since Harvest Time has been so long in coming, the Architects hold even more influence over the masters by divvying the libretto where they see fit, thus aggravating the conflict between humanity and the masters as slighted masters often resort to harvesting their libretto directly from the source, ripping it from dying humans.

Mythical Child Abraxas: Entity whose job is to create the geography of the Theater Realms. For each theatre in existence the child is given one shard; he forms the relationships between magic theaters by placing the shards against one another and melting them slightly so they fit together like pieces from a puzzle. Abraxas’s work takes the form of a gigantic glass sphere: the Nautilus Center. The mythical child can never complete his work because Magic Theaters are incessantly being created and destroyed, thereby altering the pieces with which he works.  Nautilus now him as a source of information. Mythical Child is essentially a neutral party, uncaring of who comes to him as long as they do not interfere with his work. 

Nautilus:  A group of magi who claim that they heard summons from the Nautilus center itself: that it spoke to them of miracles they could work by using the power the center offered. The original Nautilus group dubbed themselves "Architects." They worked together to bring about change through the Nautilus Center, but eventually, for reasons unknown, they fell apart, fighting and killing each other. Since then, numerous individuals have been called by the Nautilus Center, taking the title Architect, and the process continues. Currently Nautilus is a massive organization run by these Architects with tendrils that stretch everywhere into the drama. Beneath the Architects, it is segmented into Chambers of individuals that do the Architect's bidding. Each Architect provides some limited protection for their respective Chambers while in turn requiring that they assist in whatever plots the Architect is brewing. Due to the tension that exists between the Architects, Masakazu acts as a protector for all of them against each other, to prevent the original Architects' doom from repeating. 

Architect: A person that is capable, or believes they are capable, of manipulating the Nautilus Center. This gives them access to the most of the libretto present in existence. They are the top of the chain of Nautilus, an organization that is attempting to take complete control over Theatre Realms and Vaudeville alike.

Theater Harbor:  Occasionally a master’s form will not suit its needs for sculpting or other conditions suggest a need for metamorphosis. When they undergo this change they spin a chrysalis about themselves by reentering the theatre's center. During this time the resistance to anti-regulator and human activity within the theater slackens and a flood of it comes to make use of the master’s prone state. When a master undergoes this ordeal a Harbor can be formed. Harbors are small communities of people who create fantastic worlds which they use as a medium to escape from reality. They are formed by the Wayward and Echo Casters who are capable of taking threads that hang from the chrysalis in which the master is entwined and using them in a form of pseudo-sculpting to create whatever sort of realm they desire. However, these fantasies can only end in tragedy, for when the master reemerges from his center and sees the changes to its realm, it is often enraged. This usually results in the deaths of all those unlucky enough to be in the Harbour.  

The Wayward: In the city of Krysolis the wayward are the poverty stricken lower classes who are prominent almost everywhere. This is only partially due to economic strife, many live the life they do because of cultural reasons (they’re akin to gypsies). The Wayward are actually a source of most of the history that is found within Krysolis, passing information on primarily orally. Each group of Wayward takes a particular classic drama and forms a sort of tribe based around it. One isn’t born into these groups they are found by them. When a new member is found they are given the name of a character and live their life surrounded by the cast. The Wayward believe that prior to dichotomy mankind existed within the magic theatres. Each individual had a home in their respective drama and all was well. The masters, who are viewed as divine, carried out the cycles of dramatic theme and influence. Dichotomy was a result of mankind leaving the theatres and creating Vaudeville . The goal of this group is to make every part of Vaudeville an estuary. Because of their goal, the wayward have developed a magical system which involves the manipulation of estuaries and the movement and cycling of libretto. Sects of the wayward have existed since time immemorial maintaining certain estuaries to keep certain places sacred.

Stills: Stills are born dead. They have no heartbeat, do not breathe (though they usually learn to fake it, as someone not breathing tends to wig people out), nothing. But they don't die. Not quite "undead," so to speak, Stills simply live despite the fact that their bodies are for all medical intents and purposes, dead. They age, bleed, and heal normally, and to look at one, you'd never know it. How, you ask? Spirit Compasses. Stills, from birth on, are able to manipulate their spirit compasses so adroitly, that they can channel their libretto inwards, to fuel their bodies where there would otherwise be no life, among many other powers. This power (and the fact that a walking corpse just darn creepy) makes them the ultimate pariahs, ostracized, forced to wear all white, and endlessly vulnerable to hate crimes and prejudice. What saved them in the end is their ability to manipulate the spirit compasses of others as well as their own, which allows them to heal the Peace in others. Amazing what you can, if not accept, at least tolerate, when extinction is staring you in the face.

 Inversion: Inversion is a state akin to an out of body experience in which persons with unique connectons to a magic theatre temporarily has their conscious mind actually enter a magic theater. Note this cannot be activated willfully.  Inversion either occurs as a result of extreme emotional trauma, a master actually causing an inversion to take place, or the manipulation of this defect by someone skilled enough to do so. While in this state, the person’s body appears to be completely comatose. She or he will not awaken until the mind returns or is forced into the body. When the person enters a theater through inversion they have no physical form that can be perceived short of magical means; unfortunately this does not leave them out of the eye of the master who inhabits the domain they enter. Any wounds inflicted during these out of body experiences appear on the body of the unconscious victim.

Stage Fright: This nasty little bugger could be viewed as a compliment to inversion. Unlike inversion, stage fright is common to any person who enters a theatre. While in this case, rather than having the person’s conscious mind being thrust into a magic theater, a person inside a magic theatre is actually ejected body and mind back into Vaudeville. Needless to say, this defect can produce a number of fatal complications. Those who suffer from stage fright possess an essential flaw in their perspective; this flaw prevents their spirit compass to be taken into her or his body properly causing an inability to remain in the Theater Realms. They just can't believe the theatre, so the theatre kicks them out. 

Ennui: A Vaudevillian weapon made of a person’s spirit compass. It is a device that injures and kills through psychosomatic suggestion. The weapon, when fired, appears as a wispy line of shadow which, when shot at a living magical being (including anything with a spirit compass), rips it to shreds. The blast from an Ennui actually changes the make up of a person’s spirit compass. Because each compass is so heavily connected to a person’s emotions, if the compass is altered in some way the person will be as well. When hit, the target experiences a sharp emotional trauma so quick and acute that it causes physical as well as mental wounds. This weapon was originally designed to kill anti-regulators (and is pretty much the only thing reliable enough to do so). Anti-regulators often latch onto peoples’ compasses for protection, manipulation, or solace. When a person is the host to an anti-regulator the blast from the ennui merely causes extreme discomfort, while the attached anti-regulator is killed, leaving the spirit compass intact

Miscellany

Rejuvenation: An event that occurs within the city of Krysolis every few generations. It is a sort of cultural activity designed to increase the longevity of art and to prevent a lack of repetitive creation that leads to stagnancy  The Rejuvenation essentially involves the ritual and willing destruction of chunks of the city which are then completely redesigned. In the eyes of those that believe and accept the ritual it supposedly generates an aura of pure potential in which the city of Krysolis is given a new face, thereby giving humanity a reason to carry on.

The Peace: A disease that arose about a generation after Dichotomy that almost wiped out the human race. Under the effect of this disease, the body is basically born in a state of stasis or suspended animation: it can neither change nor grow. It can be cured only by Stills, who manipulate the subject's spirit compass to cure this state by trapping all of the libretto the subject would normally release and channeling it inward; thus as the person's mind changed with learning and experience, so too did their body grow. As more and more people were born with the Peace, Stills became more and more important, which kept them from being slaughtered at birth. Unfortunately, because curing the Peace requires all of the libretto the subject will ever create, no libretto is given off to enter the Coil for use by theatre masters. 

Seventh Circle: It is both a place and a group of people present in the city of Krysolis. Seventh Circle is a part of the city where law is completely suspended. In a culture in which everything is aesthetics, killing is an art. Those who are members of this group are legally allowed to murder. What they do with this freedom varies greatly. Some are incredibly sick individuals that seek to take their "art" to new extremes. Others use it for profit engaging in assassination. Most actually rarely use their right and some even develop their own sense of justice and responsibility which they dispense. Masakazu and Tsukino’s father are both members of the Seventh Circle.

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