Assassin – A stealthy killer who tries to make kills without being detected by his victim.
Assimilator – A cross between a jellyfish and a Wisp, the Assimilator can float around and collect vast amounts of Essence. It releases this Essence as powerful elemental bursts. A pseudo-Mage, if you will.
Astrea – The Nightmare. Infernal Professor at the Phantom Academy. She is a daughter of the Fringe, and one of Artorian’s grandchildren. Even as an Infernal Cultivator, she finds herself in the most unlikely of company. Including her best friend, Jiivra.
Aura – The flows of Essence generated by living creatures which surround them and hold their pattern.
Barry the Devourer – A powerful S-ranked High Elf with the ability to turn all matter within a certain range into pure Essence and absorb it. Like his appetite, his desire for power is ever growing and seems to have no sign of stopping in Cal’s soul space.
Basher – An evolved rabbit that attacks by head-butting enemies. Each has a small horn on its head that it can use to “bash” enemies.
Baobab – A wood elf with innate fire resistance. Strong-willed, this woman can handle the heat.
Bard – A lucrative profession deriving profit from other people’s misery. Some make coin through song or instrument, but all of them love a good story. Particularly inconvenient ones. This includes Kinnan, Pollard, and Jillian.
Beast Core – A small gem that contains the Essence of Beasts. Also used to strip new cultivators of their corruption:
Flawed – An extremely weak crystallization of Essence that barely allows a Beast to cultivate, comparable to low F-rank.
Weak – A weak crystallization of Essence that allows a Beast to cultivate, comparable to an upper F-rank.
Standard – A crystallization of Essence that allows a Beast to cultivate well, comparable to the D-rankings.
Strong – A crystallization of Essence that allows a Beast to cultivate very well, comparable to the lower C-rankings.
Beastly – A crystallization of Essence that allows a Beast to cultivate exceedingly well, comparable to the upper C-rankings.
Immaculate – An amalgamation of crystallized Essence and Mana that allows a Beast to cultivate exceedingly well. Any Beast in the B-rankings or A-rankings will have this Core.
Luminous – A Core of pure spiritual Essence that is indestructible by normal means. A Beast with this core will be in at least the S-rankings, up to SSS-rank.
Radiant – A Core of Heavenly or Godly energies. A Beast with this Core is able to adjust reality on a whim.
Blanket – The best sugar glider. Blanket defends. Blanket protects.
Blight – A big bad. Also known as a Caligene, this entity can take many forms. Widespread and far-reaching, this thing has been around for over a millennia, and enjoys scheming to play the long game.
Birch – A friendly set of wood elves, of the Birch-tree Variant. They’re friendly and well meaning, even if limited in what they can do. They like scented candles, particularly vanilla. They now spend their days with Mahogany, preparing to raise the next generation of Wood Elves.
Blooming Spirit – The Wood Elven equivalent of Aura. See Aura.
Bob – Cal’s original goblin shaman. Remade to the best of his species. Bob becomes a Mage bound to the Death Law. Due to the myriad of tasks Cal set before him, several copies were made of Bob to complete them. Several then became several thousand. Bob is both a coding reference, and a small nod to the fantastic ‘Bobiverse’ series.
Boro – A trader in exotics, this man allied himself with the raider faction. He assists in swindling deals, and robbing villages blind after flooding them with gold that they will not keep.
Brianna – Having begun as princess of the dark elves, she is now both queen and supervisor of Niflheim. She is known by many names, such as the Hidden Blade, the Empress of Niflheim, and the Pinnacle. She has spies everywhere, and you never know what she’s planning until she’s already done steps one through six. Be wary of the Lady of Mists.
Cal – The heart of the Dungeon, Cal was a human murdered by necromancers. After being forced into a soul gem, his identity was stripped as time passed. Now accompanied by Dani, he works to become stronger without attracting too much attention to himself. Oops, too late.
Cataphron – One of the Skyspear headmasters. Uses the Imperius body technique of the Iron-Shelled Mastodont Kings.
Cats, dungeon – There are several types:
Snowball – A Boss Mob, Snowball uses steam Essence to fuel his devastating attacks.
Cloud Cat – A Mob that glides along the air, attacking from positions of stealth.
Coiled Cat – A heavy Cat that uses metal Essence. It has a reinforced skeleton and can launch itself forward at high speeds.
Flesh Cat – This Cat uses flesh Essence to tear apart tissue from a short distance. The abilities of this Cat only work on flesh and veins and will not affect bone or harder materials.
Wither Cat – A Cat full of infernal Essence, the Wither Cat can induce a restriction of Essence flow with its attacks. Cutting off the flow of Essence or Mana will quickly leave the victim in a helpless state. The process is quite painful.
Celestial – The Essence of Heaven, the embodiment of life and considered the ultimate good.
Center – The very center of a person’s soul. This is the area Essence accumulates (in creatures that do not have a Core) before it binds to the Life Force.
Chandra – A ranked mage who is a masterful cook. She has prior history with Ramset (Occultatum), and runs the ‘pleasure house’ restaurant establishments. She has an affinity for all things plants and nature, finding comfort within the green, more-so than with people. In Cal’s world, she is stationed as one of the many supervisors on Midgard, and is responsible for all the basic flora and fauna in the soul space.
Chants – Affect a choir-cleric’s growth, and overall fighting ability. A Choir war host in action matches the chant of every other. Each voice added to the whole increases the power and ability of each person whose voice is involved, through celestial and aural sympathy. Church officials get very upset when interrupted by half-naked men.
Chasuble – The name of both a particular type of scarf worn loosely around the neck, and the name of a major church-controlled city. Chasuble scarves are marked to show the rank of the person wearing them.
Church – ‘The’ Church, to be specific. Also known as the Ecclesiarchy, is one of the few stable major powers active in the world. It has several branches, each operating under different specifications:
The Choir – The Face of the church, they carry to torch and spread the call far and wide. Operates as exploratory force and functions on heart and mind campaigns. The Choir’s special function is to use harmonizing sound to buff and empower every member included in the group-effect.
Paladin Order – The Fast-Attack branch, these mounted warriors function as cavalry would. The mounted creatures in question vary greatly, and most members employ a high-ranked beast for these purposes.
Phalanx Sentinels – The Siege or Hold branch, the Sentinels are a heavy-armor branch that specialize entirely on securing locations. They are well known to be notoriously slow, and just as notoriously impossible to uproot from a position.
Inquisitors – The Information gathering branch. This branch remains secretive.
Church Ranks – There are multiple Ecclesiarchy ranks, stacking in importance mostly based on cultivation progress.
Initiate – A fresh entry to the church faction, the lowest rank. Generally given to someone still in training.
Scribe – An initiate who failed to become a D-ranked cultivator, but was trusted enough by the faction to remain.
Acolyte – Achieved by becoming a D-ranked cultivator. The second lowest rank in the church faction.
Battle Leader – A trusted acolyte who shows promise in the fields of leadership and battle.
Head Cleric – A high D-ranking cultivator, or a person who has been a Ba
ttle Leader long enough for their achievements to grant them their personal unit. Head Clerics are trusted to go on missions, excursions, and expeditions that differ based on the specific church faction.
Keeper – Ranked equal to a Head Cleric. People who specifically keep administrative records, and interpret ancient texts. Keepers famously do not get along, and hold bitter rivalries due to said interpretations of the scriptures. Keepers tend to be Head Clerics who failed to enter the C-ranks.
Arbiter – Achieved upon becoming a C-rank cultivator. An Arbiter is a settler of disputes of all kinds, whose authority is overshadowed only by those of higher rank. Otherwise, their say is final.
Friar – A B-ranked cultivator in the church faction. Friars are glorified problem solvers.
Father – An A-ranked Cultivator in the church faction. A Father may be of a high rank, but has fallen out of favor with the upper echelons of church command.
Vicar – An A-ranked Cultivator in the church faction. The de-facto rulers, movers, and shakers of the church faction.
Saint – An S-ranked Cultivator in the church faction. They do as they please.
Choppy – The prime woodcutter in the Salt Village. A very good lad.
Chi spiral – A person’s Chi spiral is a vast amount of intricately knotted Essence. The more complex and complete the pattern woven into it, the more Essence it can hold and the finer the Essence would be refined.
Cleric – A cultivator of celestial Essence, a cleric tends to be support for a group, rarely fighting directly. Their main purpose in the lower rankings is to heal and comfort others.
Compound Essence – Essence that has formed together in complex ways. If two or more Essences come together to form something else, it is called a compound Essence. Or Higher Essence.
Corruption – Corruption is the remnant of the matter that pure Essence was formed into. It taints Essence but allows beings to absorb it through open affinity channels. This taint has been argued about for centuries; is it the source of life or a nasty side effect?
Craig – A powerful C-ranked monk, Craig has dedicated his life to finding the secrets of Essence and passing on knowledge.
C’towl – A mixture between cat and owl. Usually considered an apex predator due to the intermingling of attributes and sheer hunting prowess.
Currency values:
Copper – One hundred copper coins are worth a silver coin.
Silver – One hundred silver coins are worth a gold coin.
Gold – One hundred gold coins are worth a platinum coin.
Platinum – The highest coin currency in the Human Kingdoms.
Cultivate – Cultivating is the process of refining Essence by removing corruption then cycling the purified Essence into the center of the soul.
Cultivation technique – A name for the specific method in which cultivators draw in and refine the energies of the Heavens and Earth.
Cultivator – A cultivator is a silly person who thinks messing with forces they don’t understand will somehow make life better for them.
Dale – Probably not important.
Dani – The most important. Wisp to Cal, and the sole reason the entire Soul Space is still standing. Many mental notebooks have “don’t cross Dani” underlined no less than nineteen times. Surely there’s a reason for that.
Daughter of Wrath – A ranking female servant to the Ziggurat, that showed promise and was given troops to lead.
Dawn – The name taken by Ember as her S-ranked incarnation. A full perspective change from her original self, new options and a new life have opened before her. While the way of being Ember espoused still exists within her, room for the new is now possible. Even though she is stuck in an A-ranked body for now, there’s no way she’s letting that stop her. Dawn is the supervisor of the fiery realm Muspelheim.
Decorum – A Morovia Liger who, through some meddling, has gained new life as the snazzy and mysterious Gomez. His rebirth gave him the opportunity to be the ultimate apex predator, but after a life of hunting and being hunted on Midgard he is pulled to move onto a greater stage. A true gentleman, or well, gentletiger.
Deverash Editor Neverdash the Dashingly Dapper – Also called Dev, or Dev Editor. A gnome that retained his intelligence, and may have quite the impact on adventures to come.
Duskgrove Castle – A location within the Phantomdusk Forest. It is the primary hideout for the Hakan’s group of raiders.
D. Kota – An initiate in the choir, who has grand aspirations of becoming a scholar; and does. His works span the great ages. Known for all time.
Distortion Cat – An upper C-ranked Beast that can bend light and create artificial darkness. In its home territory, it is attacked and bound by tentacle-like parasites that form a symbiotic relationship with it.
Dimitri – Also goes by Dimi-Tree, due to his size. A mix between a dwarf and a giant, this brash and brazen mountain loves to dabble. Doing a little bit of everything, he has a reputation that there’s nothing he can’t fix.
Dreamt Ones – Creatures made of Liminal Energy, having manifested through dreams:
Caliph – Dawn’s dreamt one. Manifested as a Djinn and baby. Deemed relevant for reasons pertaining to the blocks in her continued growth.
Scilla – Artorian’s dreamt one. Manifested as a mixture of the small child he met in Chasuble and the bane of the Phantomdusk Forest. She withholds Artorian’s Liminal Energy from him, at least, until he can work through his many, many regrets.
Items – Cal’s specific difficulty resulted in objects and challenges rather than creatures, as his Liminal Energy deemed that he needed to learn the lesson of how to rely on others, rather than perform all tasks himself.
Dregs – A dungeon Core that has limited intelligence. It was installed into Cal’s dungeon to control floors 1-4 so Cal could focus on other things.
Dungeon Born – Being dungeon born means that the dungeon did not create the creature but gave it life. This gives the creature the ability to function autonomously without fear that the dungeon will be able to take direct control of its mind.
Dungeon Cores – Curators of wild Essence.
Gold/Pale Yellow – Celestial affinity dungeons who tend to be a tad on the lazy side. These dungeons are notorious for ignoring their work and simply kicking back and letting others bring the Essence to them.
Blue – Water affinity dungeons tend to be the type that go with the flow. Since Cal’s existence this theory has been debunked.
Lapis – Air affinity dungeons are unable to build their own dungeons. They rely on their wisps to build the dungeon and often are the type to give up projects quickly from being discouraged.
Red – Fire affinity dungeons are lazy. Unlike celestial dungeons, they would rather play in their sandbox of toys. Raging and destroying as they please, rather than build or keep their dungeon squared away.
Green – Earth affinity dungeons are perfectionists. They focus on sheer quality and often ignore quantity without a wisp keeping them on track. These dungeons exemplify how the term “tunnel-vision” came to be.
Opal-Black – Infernal affinity dungeons are gluttons for knowledge. They lust for more information constantly, even to the point of destroying all who enter their dungeon in favor of new tidbits of data.
Dungeon Wisps – Beings made to balance out dungeons in the world. A very secretive group led by an all-affinity wisp. Each base color corresponds with an effect to match their dungeon:
Blue – Celestial affinity wisps whose ability is to convince their dungeon that they are useful, and should use other Essence types beyond celestial.
Pink – Water affinity wisps who are best known for reducing mind altering effects, and are incredibly skilled at keeping these dungeons on task.
Purple – Air affinity wisps. These wisps must shape the world around them for their dungeon, as air affinity dungeons cannot do so. They provide the homes for the air affinity dungeons and constantly encourage the Cores like cheerleaders.
Green – Fire affinity wisps are excellent taskmasters who keep their childish dungeons from breaking all of their toys, and assure they continue to improve and build out their dungeons.
Orange – Earth affinity wisps are naturally soothing. They help alleviate the tunnel vision which earth affinity dungeons suffer from, and encourage their dungeon to value quantity as well as quality.
Silver – Infernal affinity wisps remind their dungeons that patience is a virtue, and make sure their knowledge hungry dungeons do not destroy everything that enters their doors.
Don Modsognir – Goes by Big Mo. Leader of the Modsognir clan. Responsible for trading and caravan operations. Known to be a troublemaker, he has an impeccable link of loyalty to his family. He enjoys finery, nice suits, and better company. He’s got the heart of a king, and the trouble-making penchant of a feisty five-year-old.
Dwarves – Stocky humanoids that like to work with stone, metal, and alcohol. Good miners.
Dwarven Traditions – Complicated unspoken rules that exist purely to protect the core dwarven heritage and ways of life. Specifically used against anyone deemed a non-dwarf or outsider, to sustain a public image that is of benefit to all clans as a whole.
Anima: A Divine Dungeon Series (Artorian's Archives Book 6) Page 39
