The OVERSEER Companion Guide

A WORD FROM THE AUTHOR


Thank you for reading the Overseer Companion Guide. If you read the Overseer books (OVERSEER: Servants, OVERSEER Guardian, and OVERSEER: Silence), or any of the short stories set in that universe, certain aspects of the story may confuse you, such as how magic works in this world, or how I arrived at the names I used. Fear not! I compiled all the notes I created before and during the writing process into this guide.

Before I begin, I would like to make a shout-out to The Orion’s Arm website. The site inspired some concepts you read in these books. A special thanks to Todd Drashner for all his help in explaining certain concepts and technology in that universe. It caused me to change some things in the story because OA is so well thought out and detailed. Please check them out at www.orionsarm.com.

If there is some aspect of the books or stories that I do not explain, drop me an email at [email protected]. I can either answer the question or maybe even update this guide with pertinent information.

I didn’t organize this guide in any special way. If you are looking for something in particular, use the table of contents to find what you need. Also, there may be aspects of the books that I didn’t reveal because more books are coming in the series, and I don’t want to give everything away!

As a last word, SPOILERS BELOW! If you don’t want to know what happens in the books before you read them, STOP NOW! Consider yourself warned.

BOOK CREATION

I am asked all the time, “How did you come up with the idea for this series?” There are many answers, but one of the most obvious is that there are certain types of books I like to read. However, they are challenging to find! Therefore, I wrote the books I want to read!

By that, I mean I like books that are logical in the story’s context. I’ve read many books that contain glaring plot holes, or the story morphs into something else for no apparent reason. I also don’t like it when plot elements are just dropped or forgotten. Please don’t include a Maguffin and then not use it! 

I like books that have logical consequences for the actions the characters take. For example, characters that can wield world-shattering magic but have no consequences, or kill someone and everyone glosses over it, disturbs me. In the actual world, there are consequences for every action.

In any story I write, there are always consequences for the character’s actions. If someone can use world-shattering magic, there is a good reason for it (hint—the world will get shattered!) Anyway, I like things to flow from one set piece to the next, as a logical outgrowth of the character’s actions and decisions.

Another thing I like in my books is excellent character development. I will lose interest if the major characters lack depth, so I create an in-depth backstory for every character I write about, such as childhood, adolescence, interests, hopes and dreams, even bad habits. I go through this exercise for every character POV you read because I must have a good idea of how that character will react in any situation.

The series has been brewing in the back of my mind for the better part of a decade. I started writing it several times, but always quit after a few chapters. A friend of mine, Beth Detjens, wrote a series of books called The Never Series (highly recommended). These books detail the author’s adventures with a menagerie of exotic pets she had as a child and are very entertaining. She convinced me to finish my story. 

With her coaching, I created an outline, thought through the things I wanted to include in the book, and started writing. I have heard there are two types of writers: ‘Pantsers’ and ‘Planners’. A Pantser is someone that just sits down and starts writing from the seat of their pants, never knowing where the story is going. A planner outlines the story and plans out the events that will take place in the story. I fall into the Planner category. I plan everything, with tent pole action sequences, motivations for why the events occur, and a satisfying conclusion. My stories may not always end up where the outline goes, but it follows the outline. For example, the third book in the series, OVERSEER: Silence, differs from the outline more than most of my stories.

OVERSEER: Silence started life as a novella. For those that don’t know, a novella is somewhere between 18,000 words and 40,000 words. As I passed 30,000 words, I was only halfway through my outline, and I realized the story had turned into a book. Now, a typical fantasy novel is somewhere around 80,000-110,000 words, and a 60,000 word novel would not cut it. Therefore, I added several more POV’s and side characters to spice things up and brought the novel to 95,000 words. My original outline went by the wayside. If you read the book and compare it to the outline, you’ll see that most of the events I planned are in the story in some way, but I added a lot of drama and miscommunication to enhance the plot.

When I started writing Servants of the Most High, I was only going to write one book. However, once I got into the story, I realized the book would be 700~800 pages long before completing it. It turned into an 807 page monster! From a personal perspective, I am very cautious about picking up books over 500 pages long. It eats into my book-writing time! Therefore, I split this story into two books, each around 400 pages long.

More things happen in the Overseer universe than just the published books, though. I am writing the fourth book, and I do not know how long it will take to finish it. It may also end up being split into two books. I won’t know until I get further into writing it (101 pages and counting). My point is, I still get flashes of inspiration, and it causes me to go back and ret-con parts of the book that I’ve already written. 

For example, I never meant Terok to be a major character. I meant to kill her off in Chapter 7 of Servants. However, her character was so rich and tragic that I couldn’t let her go. She is still my favorite character in that book. I meant other characters to survive (Meron), but they ended up dying because it served the story so much better. Sometimes I get an idea and go back to add that subplot into the story. 

I hope this section gives you insight into the world of my imagination. Like I said before, if you have specific questions, please contact me at [email protected] and I will try to answer your questions in a timely fashion. 

With all that said, on to the good stuff!

THE REALM

The story takes place in a “Bottle Universe,” a small realm created by a potent high-level magical intelligence. When the story begins, the principal characters don’t know that they are in a bottle universe. Some characters learn this later in the story. The reason for this baby universe is a type of “farm” for creating other higher-level intelligences. Once again, the characters don’t know this. There are aspects of a very high-level intelligence destroyed in a ‘War of the Gods’ scenario that this high-level intelligence wants to recreate.

The World is not ancient. From the character’s standpoint, the World has been around forever. In reality, it is only about 700 years old as they measure time. The Servants control all information, and they feel it is to their benefit to perpetuate this misinformation. In the Manyverse, this universe is only a few picoseconds old!

The World is a flat disk with a vast ocean that spreads out from the world’s edges. It has a giant mountain-sized diamond in the center of the disk. This diamond houses the Most High’s essence, although the Most High also occupies the Ether, which makes up the entire universe. 

The Realm has two suns, each held in place by giant pillars on either side of the World. From the characters’ point of view, they only know about one sun, and it waxes and wanes daily, both a sun and a moon. Gigantic pillars hold the suns in place, the Pillars of Creation, and are stationary. 

While one sun is bright, the other sun is dim. The Most High created no intelligent life on the other side of the World. Only animal and plant life exist. When the population grew to the point of over-crowding, the Most High planned to move whole populations there to ease the burden. 

The stars in the heavens are shards of the giant diamond leftover from the universe’s creation. The stars are a part of the Firmament surrounding the World and do not move. They are bright because they house energy left over from the Creation Event. There are no planets, comets, or other astronomical phenomena in the Realm.

The World is circular, with concentric ranges of mountains in the center. It is the size of Africa. A vast desert occupies the center of the World around the central diamond mountain, although, at one time, it was a giant grassy plain. 

MAJOR PLAYERS

Humans are level 0, Servants level 1, Guardians (the Most High) level 2, etc. While each Servant is different, a Servant has 1000-2000 times the intellectual capacity of a human, while a Guardian has about 100,000 times the intellectual ability. The next level (unnamed) may have 10,000,000 times a human intellect.

Higher intelligences have different and more efficient modes of thought and can process and correlate information many times faster than a human. Each level of intelligence brings more incredible mental and magical knowledge/understanding. This understanding grants these higher intelligences the Foresight ability. The Foresight ability is a way of forecasting future events by analyzing current data. Each level of intelligence gets better at Foresight, with Guardians so far beyond Servants they might as well be Oracles. Guardians are incomprehensible by human standards. Guardians have god-like power and control over their realms. In most cases, they can model a human or Servant mind to the point they can determine what an individual will do or say in any situation. There are exceptions, as you will discover in a future Overseer book.

When the story begins, there exists only one Guardian in this pocket universe, also known as the “World” or the “Realm.” Its population knows it as the “Most High.” Before the events of the story, several hundred Servants existed. They acted as the lieutenants/agents of the Guardian. They are hands off but make appearances from time to time. Servants are subtle in their manipulation. Guardians rarely deal with humans. The Guardian’s intellect/presence dwarfs humans, and humans have a reasonable possibility of going insane and dying if that presence focuses on them. The Most High will sometimes use an avatar to “push” things along in the desired direction if a Servant cannot alter the situation. This action is rare and means that not even the Guardian (Most High) anticipated the crisis. 

Humans make up the rest of the population. Like most civilizations, humans vary in ability and intellect, but they all have the same capability. A human may develop a talent or skill that attracts a Servant’s attention. Such a gift is a genius-level skill or ability. The Servants always study, catalog, and may even mimic the ability if the talent or ability is valuable. The individual with the skill or ability seldom realizes that a Servant is studying them. 

Humans in this society are like people everywhere. Most just want to live their lives and not be bothered. Different Servants handle their populations differently. Most use social engineering to make average humans follow established social norms. Of course, Servants constructed those social norms, so they vary from culture to culture.

DEATH OF THE MOST HIGH

After the Most High’s mysterious death, the Servants became the de facto rulers of the Realm. The death of the Most High became known as the Great Calamity. Servants imposed their own sets of rules and laws. They also learned how to steal the powers of other servants to augment their abilities. By stealing weaker Servants’ powers, the number of servants dwindled to 21 “super-powered” servants that carved the World up between them. The Servant Wars resulted in many deaths, but the population lumped them together with the Great Calamity without realizing their importance. 

Powerless Servants are “Lost Ones”. Other Servants stripped from them their power and they cannot use most forms of magic. An enchanted item not powered by the Fallen One’s own Mana (or magic) will work until they use the Mana stored in the device up. Unable to die, they exist in hidden places far from anyone or anything. Lost Ones become trapped in the place where a Servant stole their power, so you will find them wherever Servants battled. If someone removes them from that place, they will experience various levels of insanity until they are brought back. They may group together, but they are most often solitary. Lost Ones still possess their uncanny intelligence. They exist as rumors and stories.

During the Great Calamity, the Servants were as clueless as the general population about what had happened. However, the Servants pieced together the events and took advantage of the situation to increase their power. 

The Servant Wars did not last very long. The surviving Servants grew so powerful it became counterproductive to fight against each other. These battles resulted in a stalemate, with both Servants weakened and vulnerable to attack from other uninjured Servants. A lesser Servant overcame more powerful Servants because those Servants became weakened after a battle. The Servant of Ihn (pronounced ‘een’) rose to power in this manner.

Never the strongest of his brethren, the Servant of Ihn laid in wait for weakened Servants, then absorbed their powers before they could heal. The Servant of Ihn is among the more powerful Servants now and is the most clever. Other Servants, such as the Servant of On, were already mighty and steam-rolled over their rivals.

CURRENT-DAY SERVANTS

Twenty-one surviving Servants control their populations by granting and withholding knowledge and social engineering. Some Servants teach their people certain kinds of magic by using words to shape magical power, also known as Mana. Some Servants teach the use of music or writing to cast spells, and even use magical trinkets to control magic, such as a ring or an amulet. While some Servants allow reading and writing, most Servants have banned written language because they want to control the historical narrative.

Before the Great Calamity, Servants encouraged inhabitants of the Realm to attempt ascension if they felt they could achieve it. Now, depending on the whim of a Servant, they may just outright murder the candidate or let the candidate attempt to ascend, then steal their powers and kill them if they can. The Servants have invented ways of blocking access to an individual’s Mind-Presence, thus cutting off that person’s access to magic. While Servants cannot die, Servants kill ascension candidates before they ascend. If the candidate cannot die, Servants imprison them, bury them alive, or use some other cruel method to silence them. Some even escape their captivity.

Some Servants, such as the Servant of Ihn, treated their subjects well. Now, they act selfish and covet their neighbor’s power. Normal humans never learned this, as the Servant’s manipulations are too subtle for them to discern.

A Servant’s use of Foresight against another Servant is not reliable. While an average human is predictable, a Servant recognizes that other Servants also have the Foresight ability. They may act in unpredictable ways to thwart the forecasting Servant’s predictions.

LAW/JUSTICE

The higher powers do not involve themselves in the day-to-day running of the World. They consider it a waste of time and effort. A few Servants still feel an obligation to take care of the people entrusted to them. These cities, such as the City of Ihn, are very prosperous and have a high culture with very low crime. Most Servants only tolerate their cities as a convenient power base. These cities have a lower quality of life and a much higher crime level for their citizens. 

Sometimes, when situations have the potential to get out-of-hand, the Servants take action by some subtle step that defuses the problem before it ever starts. This Foresight is because of their probability calculations’ subtle and dynamic nature. Think of this ability as a “boy-scout” approach to being ready for the most probable outcomes to any situation. For example, perhaps a child has the potential to become a mass murderer. Take this child, add a caring teacher or friend, push them in another direction, such as an artistic endeavor that gets them noticed by a master artisan, who takes said child and provides superior training. The child grows to become the greatest artist of their generation because they can channel all their pain and anger into their chosen medium. The Servant’s only action was perhaps to nudge the teacher/friend to take a different route to their destination that morning. Servants always have contingent plans in case the most probable outcome doesn’t come to pass.

Arbitrators and their ilk, such as Imperator Guards, act as the enforcement arm when a Servant’s Foresight missed something, and the situation requires action. These specially trained practitioners (Arbitrators are always women at the story’s beginning) understand empathy, law, and ethics. Not all Servants use Arbitrators. Some just use a city guard, some a standard police force, and some a standing army. The majority, however, use magical practitioners because the Servants can keep the number low while still exerting complete control over the population. 

One example is the Imperator Guard from the City of Go. The Imperator Guard trains men and women in the art of war and they have special magical training that allows them to defeat their foes with inhuman strength and speed. The Arbitrators from the City of Ihn, and the Advocates from the City of On are the most powerful. They are adept in magic, and the entire world fears their fighting skill.

The council chooses and nurtures Arbitrators from childhood to be empathetic, fair, and ethical to all people. Traits important to an Arbitrator candidate are empathy, loyalty, and emotional strength. They must justify all their decisions and actions to their mentors, who must explain their activities to the Arbitrator Council of Elders. Arbitrators must be fair in their rulings. Instead of punishment, their primary goal is to arbitrate a beneficial outcome or rehabilitation if required. However, they train in self-defense, both magical and physical. Arbitrators may use force, but it is always the last resort. Servants who use Arbitrator-like peace forces keep the number low. An average number is around 500 Arbitrators for a large city. These practitioners are powerful, therefore, each Arbitrator is worth 10-20 average fighters. Like most people, Arbitrators have unique skills and abilities. Some are better at hand-to-hand combat, while others may be better at certain kinds of magic, and some may have well-developed organizational skills. Rumors persist of an Anti-Arbitrator, made up of ruthless and evil men and women.

The Arbitrator Council of Elders work to use each Arbitrator to benefit the Arbitration sisterhood in the best possible way. If an Arbitrator is skilled in management, they put that person in charge of some difficult project. If another Arbitrator is better at dealing with people, the council assigns them patrol duty. All young Arbitrators spend time in different roles to assess where their skills are best used.

Because of the special training these women have received, they may use force to their advantage. The population fears Arbitrators because of their combat skills. Most normal people would never consider crossing an Arbitrator. Arbitrators have taught the population since infancy that they are unbeatable. While Arbitrators receive advanced training, enemies can still defeat them, especially with remote weapons such as bows and propelled rocks. However, whoever tries to fight an Arbitrator will know they have been in a fight!

Harming or attempting to hurt an Arbitrator is punishable by death. The Arbitrators view it as a direct attack against the Strictures of the Most High and respond with force. Citizens can protest the rulings of an Arbitrator. Still, given the strict adherence to the Strictures, when the Council of Elders reviews the case, they never overturn the judgment.

Almost every Arbitrator has had “manual and mental rehabilitation,” where they spend a month (or several, depending on their level of arrogance) doing hard labor. This rehabilitation teaches the apprentice that Arbitrator council will not tolerate a sense of superiority and entitlement because of the power they wield over the populace. Mentors use this expected behavior as a “teachable moment” to change the behaviors of young Arbitrators. While unknown to the postulants, it is part of Arbitrator training. Mentors do not share this information with their students, preferring to let the students learn the hard way the sacrifices of being an Arbitrator. Most apprentices come out of this experience with a new understanding of power and try very hard not to fall into the same trap. This punishment also gives them a taste of “Terminal Apprenticeship.” Terminal Apprenticeship is the punishment for capitol crimes that do not warrant death.

Because of the specialized training they have received, Arbitrators may never quit or retire. When an Arbitrator grows old, they may live out the rest of their life off duty, but they must still let their mentor, who by this time is much younger than they are, examine their thoughts. This examination provides a level of control even over the eldest of the Arbitrators. The “retired” Arbitrator picks their mentor, a student or friend with whom they are close.

Arbitrators have a shelf-life. Because of their excessive magic use, they age faster than average people, and die younger. As an Arbitrator ages, they lose their ability to heal themselves. Every Arbitrator experiences a point in life where they cannot heal. An Arbitrator will go into inactive status, conserving their strength for as long as possible to prolong their life, using as little magic as possible.

The council may sentence failed Arbitrators to Terminal Apprenticeship. Terminal Apprenticeship is a tough way to live. Junior apprentices (those that have not passed their trials) may own nothing, not even their own Mana. They keep clothing and some small personal items, but own no other assets of any kind. The council assigns jobs to Terminal apprentices that play to their talents, so they remain useful to the sisterhood. If an Arbitrator commits a crime, the council may place them into Terminal Apprenticeship or even have them executed, depending on the crime’s nature. 

When an Arbitrator commits a capital crime, such as murder, the Arbitrator Council of Elders convenes a general assembly. Arbitrators and their apprentices’ attendance are mandatory, except for a skeleton crew to keep the peace. The Council examines the suspect’s Mind-Presence, feeding the process to all attending Arbitrators to show their guilt. The process is humiliating for the subject, and exposes all their deepest secrets and thoughts. A trial is more of a demonstration for the other Arbitrators, because the Council has already examined the individual and found them guilty.

ASCENSION

Ascending is what the Servants call advancing to the next level of intelligence. Sometimes a human advances to the next level, also known as a Servant. Ascension is dangerous because of the difficulty involved, and Servants regulate and control the process. Servants have banned unlicensed ascensions because of what can happen during the ascension process: death, insanity, or worse. Servants can “foresee” someone getting close to ascension and guide them to a Servant who can assist with training and insight into the ascension process. Some ascensions fail, and the Servant may terminate said person if things do not go well. After the Most High’s death, Servants kill candidates, steal their powers, and then tell the candidate’s loved ones they died during the ascension process.

If a person ascends without a Servant’s supervision, that person is an “abomination,” and apprehended. If the ascension process looks like it went well, the Servant will judge the suspected ascension to determine if that person will live or die. This evaluation is not a pleasant process. 

The judgment involves a “mind-rape” of the ascended individual and various other tests. Mind-rape is very harsh, but a partially ascended person—also known as a Failed Ascension—is risky and could kill many people. It has happened at least once before. At the very least, they can disrupt the World. Servants give the same treatment to those who attempt ascension but failed, because they may have unpredictable powers and abilities. In the past, if a Servant deems that person safe, they would try to “fix” the individual and find some valuable work for them. After the Most High’s death, they attempt to kill them and steal their powers. If they cannot kill the person, they steal their powers and imprison them. Before the Great Calamity, some partially ascended individuals were “fixed.” If a Servant decided they were not dangerous to themselves or others, they treated them as mentally damaged to live out the rest of their lives as best they could or put to work using the talents and skills they gained. Mental damage runs through a spectrum of “high functioning” to “comatose.”

SETTING

The Realm is a self-contained universe that houses all known things with which the characters interact. The Realm is a type of farm or nursery with the explicit purpose of creating “intelligent” life. Intelligent life in this context is Servant level intelligence or above. Servants treat humans as a larval form of intelligence, someone that has the potential to bloom into something special but is just a clever insect until that time. Unbeknownst to the characters, the Most High IS the Realm. It is almost impossible for this entity to move to the next level of intelligence without destroying the Realm. However, like most things, there are exceptions. Intelligence above the Guardian may guide a Guardian through the process, but another must take his place.

Servants could transcend the Realm and exist in the Manyverse, but none have ever done so to date. The Servants are the absolute minimum intelligence capable of transcending the Realm, as humans cannot conceive or interpret what lies beyond the universe. Servants must still receive massive amounts of training and conditioning from the Most High to attempt ascension to a Guardian level of intelligence. A Servant May attempt multiple ascensions, but each time they face the genuine possibility of death. For this reason, they act as agents of the Most High, receiving training in skills and modes of thought required to exist in the “Manyverse.” In this context, the Realm also functions as a training/proving ground for Servants. 

Servants will sometimes act in a way that seems strange or perverse to normal humans. However, Servants have access to information and modes of thoughts that normal humans can’t understand. Servants always have a valid reason for the things they do, even if humans don’t understand it.

THE WORLD

The World comprises a single colossal continent, surrounded by a vast ocean that proceeds to the Edge. When referring to the Edge, it means the Edge of the Realm, where most things cease to be. Beyond the Edge lies the Firmament. The only things that exist in the Firmament are the stars, which are incandescent shards of the great diamond leftover from the Creation Event. The ocean is so vast that no ship could reach the Edge in many human lifetimes. Think of trying to sail to Mars; it’s that big.

The world is circular, with rings of concentric mountain ranges towards the center of the continent. Between the mountain ranges are vast valleys that have different climates and communities. The coastlands are mountainous, with large beach areas interspersed. The more inland regions get dryer towards the World’s center, with a large desert in the continent’s center. A huge crystal mountain (a mountain-sized diamond) lies in the center of the desert. This mountain-sized crystal is the center of the universe. There is no water available in this desert, and powerful storms ravage the area. There are no communities that live in the far reaches of the desert, but a few people live near the mountains that surround it. The World is flat.

The Pillars of Creation hold the sun above the World. These two spires reach from the edge of the Realm. As the spires approach the Edge of the Realm, they disappear into the distance. The sun also functions as the moon. The sun dims in the evening to provide a diurnal emulation of night and day, and each period corresponds to twelve-hour periods. There are no seasons other than a wet period called “the Rains.” These rains run the gamut from gentle misting showers to full-on monsoons, depending on what the Most High considers required. The Rains last about four weeks. It never rains in the desert. As the season goes on, the temperature gets warmer until the Rains come again. The valleys between the mountains have their own micro-climates. The closer to the sun, the warmer the climate. This means that mountains are hot and valleys are cold. It never snows in the mountains, and they are dry and hot. Most people live at the base of mountains or in valleys if they have a higher elevation. Lower elevation valleys have snow and ice, and they are not conducive to large communities. Each week comprises ten days. A year lasts for 36 weeks.

Every morning, beginning a few weeks after the Rains, a thick wet mist covers the ground. This mist coats everything with moisture and provides enough water for plants to survive. The Fogs start around 5 am and evaporate by 9 to 10 am. High elevations do not receive the mists, and it never mists in the central desert.

There are three planting seasons per year. Farmers plant different crops at different times of the year. Some crops grow better at the year’s beginning because more water is available, and some later, depending on the moisture required. Crops grown later in the year are the types that need less water. 

The Realm is a post-scarcity environment with many well-developed nation-states, with an advanced magic-based technology (think magical steampunk). Food, clothing, and housing are all provided in these nation-states. Every outlying community takes a communal approach to supply these necessities. These communities prepare meals twice a day. “House-raising” (a magical process where all adult residents of the village pool their magical power to create a stone house for newlyweds) is practiced in small communities. They even provide medical care. 

Distant areas connect using ‘Dark Tunnels,’ a sort of wormhole from one place to another. Dark Tunnels are costly (from a magical standpoint), and with a few exceptions, anything that is magic cannot pass through them. The more powerful the magic, the more magic it takes to traverse a Dark Tunnel. Most people agree traversing a Dark Tunnel is an unpleasant experience. Travelers vomit while exiting a Dark Tunnel. Many people use a Dark Tunnel only once. The experience is so traumatic they will never use one again. The City of Ihn has the most extensive system of Dark Tunnels in the world.

Servants may traverse a Dark Tunnel, but they have to invest a considerable amount of Mana in doing so, and it leaves them weak. Servants prefer to travel in other ways because of this drawback unless the need is dire. An average human cannot traverse a Dark Tunnel if they have any magical items, including Mana rings, unless someone on the other side helps them.

Large cities have a complex system of gondolas and tunnels that connect different parts of the town. Cities use a ‘steampunk’ type of technology. For example, most municipalities have tenements (apartment buildings) of at least three floors or more. The roof of these tenements has great barrels that collect moisture from the air. Modern tenements provide plumbing into the apartments, with a sink and a toilet. Older tenements may have a particular room, known as a Water Closet, one per floor with sinks and toilets. Outlying areas, such as distant farms and villages, may have a well and use outhouses. The farther away a town or village is from a city, the more primitive the accommodations become.

Most tenements have raised gardens on their roofs. Residents use these raised gardens to grow spices, vegetables, or even flowers and ornamental grasses. Bridges connect the tenement roofs, and it is possible to travel over large sections of a city without ever using a street.

Almost all dwellings use crystals as light. Cheap crystal chips glow for a long time when someone channels Mana to them. Cities use forced labor to light crystals fastened to the sides of buildings, providing light for several hours after they apply Mana.

Personal transit is available in magical steam-driven carriages, but the magic cost to heat the steam engines makes these conveyances too expensive for the rank-and-file citizen. Walking is the most used form of travel. Animals, such as horses, are often too costly to maintain, especially in a city. 

If someone lives in a city, an elevated railway system exists for transport around the city. They call this transport a ‘floating scow’ or an ‘air-barge.’ This is an expensive way to travel. Also, large cities possess an unground railway system geared towards moving large numbers of people. The underground railway is more affordable because more people use it and requires less Mana.

People must walk if there are no roads, especially when the terrain is very rough, like mountain trails. 

MAGIC

Magic in the Realm is a source of power/energy. It is neither good nor evil. It is the use and intent of the magic-user that makes it such. All people use magic to some extent. Some are more skilled than others, some can wield more power in a shorter timeframe, but magic is pervasive in the environment. Servants can perform incredible feats of magic. Because of their ascension, their bodies can contain and channel a great deal of magical energy. There are limits to what they can perform, but to normal humans, they may seem god-like.

Magical energy permeates and hovers around every person, but it is often too faint to perceive by most individuals. Someone may learn to notice this “cloud,” otherwise known as a Mind-Presence, but most are oblivious. A dense, almost fog-like manifestation surrounds Servants. It is very noticeable to everyone, even if they don’t understand what it is, and the public gives them a wide berth because of it. There are few Servants, so this is not an issue.

People use crystals to store magic, and this has become the de facto currency used in the Realm. Higher quality crystals can keep more magic than lower-quality crystals. Mana is the name of stored magical energy. Very high-quality crystals, such as Diamonds, can store incredible amounts of Mana, and most people have rings, bracelets, and necklaces with various crystals to hold Mana. They can transfer a small amount of Mana (known as an Erg) from one person to another to “buy” something they may want or need. Mana has no central repository for storage (or bank) because Mana will dissipate over time if not maintained, so people keep their Mana on their person. Municipalities contain municipal crystals for people to contribute to public works, such as communal meals or city lighting.

A regular part of morning activity revolves around channeling the Mana they have generated through the night into their chosen crystal, thus preserving their “wealth” to use later. On an interesting note, soon after death, that person’s Mana will dissipate at a logarithmic rate, depleting stored Mana in a matter of hours (or less). If a person is aware they are dying, the custom is to pass their stored Mana to their beneficiaries before they die, thus preserving their wealth. With skilled healers and low crime, most people die from old age/ritual suicide (death where an Arbitrator supplies herbs and poisons that put the person into a peaceful sleep from which they never wake up).

When a person has dementia or Alzheimer’s disease or is in some other way unable to control their magic, they may require assisted suicide. A person afflicted with these conditions can become very dangerous because they cannot control their magic and end up hurting or killing others. People that are not afflicted with these mind-altering conditions choose to die naturally. A few people will die from accidents, very few from disease/sickness, and a small number from violence, depending on where they live. Servants predict premeditated violence and deflect it into some other harmless activity. Crimes of passion may or may not get caught.

SIDE EFFECTS OF MAGIC

Magic use has undesirable side effects, the most noticeable being hair loss. The more Mana used to perform a task, the faster and more significant the hair loss. Someone considered “wealthy” will have a full thick head of long hair to show that they use others to perform magic. It is a status symbol. However, someone wearing ragged clothing with a full head of hair may signal the exact opposite. It means the person is unskilled in magic and is a vagabond. Most people have varying degrees of hair loss.

Other side effects include weakness, “brain fog,” tiredness, fever, indigestion, pain, irritability, weight loss, and bloody nose/ears. Under certain conditions, it can even cause death. Other than baldness, Servants suffer from none of these issues.

The council trains arbitrators from a young age to channel their magic, build stamina, and gain a high pain tolerance. These skills come at a high cost: Arbitrators lose their hair over time and become barren. The heavy physical toll also limits their shelf-life because their bodies become so damaged over the years that they lose the ability to heal from their magic use, thus channeling less and less power as time goes on. Also, their ability to generate Mana lessens as their bodies succumb to damage. For this reason, older Arbitrators do not use a great deal of magic so they can preserve their power, allowing younger Arbitrators to do the heavy lifting.

Mentors encourage Arbitrators to form interpersonal relationships. However, the majority remain celibate because the strenuous lifestyle leaves them too exhausted to pursue romantic relationships. Some Arbitrators pursue relationships and may even get married, but they can never have children.

If large numbers of people pool their magic, these side effects get distributed to the entire group and, if the group is large enough, they don’t feel the symptoms because the workload spreads to the entire group. Extensive or prolonged use of magic requires rest, ranging from several hours to several days, to recuperate. After a few hours, people become starving as their bodies repair themselves.

THE ETHER

The Ether is the force that binds the Realm together. It is a part of everything in the Realm, something like the weak nuclear force in our universe. With proper training, the Ether is a medium of communication, education, and control. It is the control over the Ether that allows magic to function. Ordinary people have a minimal amount of power, Servants more, and the Most High is the Either. 

By channeling magic through a person’s Mind-Presence, they shape it. Spells, which can take the form of spoken word, written word, music, or any other form imaginable, shape the Ether into whatever force they require. Think of the process as a mnemonic for channeling magic. Teaching comprises direct-thought transfer (through the Ether) and hands-on application of this new knowledge. A typical study session involves the trainer and student sitting across from each other cross-legged, with palms touching. The knowledge transfer is instantaneous, as long as the teacher has organized their thoughts on the subject at hand. Once the transfer is complete, the teacher practices with the student until the student understands the concepts. One session is enough to pass along a lesson. Anyone can act as a teacher. Some are so skilled in a particular topic that they teach as their vocation. Since everyone uses the Ether, there is no need for a written language, although there are forms of “mental shortcuts” that fulfill the role while accessing the Ether. Remember, written forms may be the only way someone can perform magic, depending on the Servant. Higher-end concepts that are difficult to conceptualize may require a written application.

Servants can directly control magical energy. This ability is the primary reason they are so much more potent than normal humans. Instead of vocalizing or writing a spell, Servants have instant access to their spells. This knowledge is a secret they guard. Under the right circumstances, a human could become as powerful as a Servant in using magic.

SOCIETY

Most people have a job. Most jobs revolve around some sort of artistry, whether it be cooking, writing, sculpting, singing, music, painting, or some other form of artistic creation. Architecture, teaching, advising, matchmaking, healing, and other human-related services are in high demand. Some people opt to go into public service, such as Arbitrators or City Administrators. In some cities, Servants guide people into their chosen career fields based on their talents and other factors. Some towns have caste systems. It all depends on what the Servant deems best. The Servants encourage work through social manipulation. Of course, there are always those that choose not to work. The people consider non-workers as “low-class” and “leeches.” The community at large may ostracize them.

Men and women are more or less on an equal footing. Men, by nature more aggressive, rule or are in positions of authority. Society does not exclude women from leadership roles, but men outnumber women in these positions.

Men and women both help to raise children. Men and women help in domestic roles and chores, but women run the home. 

No large corporations exist at the beginning of the story. Except for governments, all businesses are owned and operated by local people. Owners live in or over their businesses and may employ helpers to clean, prepare food, or watch children if they are affluent enough.

There are no schools for children. Parents pass skills to their children, or sometimes, they engaged tutors. A skilled profession, such as a tailor or potter, has apprenticeship programs that teach the desired skill sets. No requirement for formal licensure or certification exists for any career. 

The marriage binding is a spontaneous spell that links the two Mind-Presences’ of the couple. It only works between a man and a woman. The spell cannot be used again until one member of the couple dies. The binding joins the two together in a way that links their emotions. One member of the couple feels the emotions of the other member. For those highly trained, the binding also allows them to find their spouse and easily join their minds together.

CITIES

As the story begins, a Servant controls every large city in the Realm. Each Servant has their ideas about how they should run and manage their city. Some cities have a very autocratic management style, such as the City of Ihn. The Servant of Ihn takes a very hands-on approach and instructs the Arbitrator Matron in his wishes. Aided by the Arbitrator Council, the Matron guides the City Administrators in what needs to get done.

Some Servants, such as the Servant of On, could not care less about city management. He requires that the city meets his needs, whatever those needs may be. Here, the city’s Administrator-General acts as a king, directing each department as the Servant sees fit. Some cities use a different honorific, such as King, Imperator, or Regent. Cities can run the gamut from a management perspective, but the Servants always reign supreme. 

A council runs other smaller cities. Sometimes the village appoints a Council, sometimes they elect one. Small cities are more pleasant places to live because there is less control by the government. A town may appoint a mayor or sometimes elect one to oversee city management. All towns and villages fall under the power of the Servant that controls the area.

Elders, or perhaps a mayor, run villages. The city elders are just members of the town that help run things besides their own business/farm.

Large cities either sit on lakes or have a large river nearby. These waterways accomplish two things: commerce and water supply. Even though large cities have devices that pull water from the air, this is not enough for the community at large. Also, large-scale commerce runs on barges.

Smaller cities are near rivers. Most villages and small towns are near running water or have a large communal well. Most cities offer upper class, middle-class, and lower-class areas. Some cities have caste systems that pre-determine an individual’s class status. Even in cities without pre-determined class systems, specific career fields, such as an Arbitrator or City Administrator, have a higher class position. Sometimes, this leads to pride and a sense of entitlement. Most Arbitrators go through this phase during apprenticeship, and their mentors come down on them when they do.

RELIGION

There is no organized religion. The Creator is God, as the Creator made the universe and everything in it. The Destroyer is the devil. Some people may view the Servants as gods (little g), but the Servants never make that claim. They fear repercussions should they claim godhood and correct anyone who calls them a god. This rule is valid even among the “bad” Servants, such as the Servant of On.

The Most High is the highest level of intelligence in the Realm. Neither the Most High nor the Servants claim to be God. They recognized that there are other, more powerful beings above them. These beings exist outside the Realm, in the Manyverse. With a few exceptions, the Most High doesn’t deal with humans, as his Mind-Presence is so overpowering that humans cannot comprehend it and may go insane or die if exposed. The Most High acts through the Servants, and later in the story, his emissary.

Most people in the Realm know nothing about the Manyverse or the hierarchy of beings beyond the Realm. The Most High must answer to those above him, just as the Servants must respond to the Most High. Servants know about the Manyverse.

The Most High has God-like control over the Realm. After it created the Realm, the higher-order being that brought it into existence fused the Realm with the intelligence known as the Most High. The Most High has complete control over all physical aspects of the Realm. This power includes the Realm’s destruction if the Most High chooses. However, the Most High loves the Realm and is a good steward.

The Most High also can affect the decisions and actions of humans and Servants alike. 

NAMES

The word Servant refers to being a Servant of the Most High, not a servant to the people of a city. It represents piety and humbleness, but the Servants have turned it into a sign of respect, authority, and wonder.

The naming convention for locations relates to the entity that founded or discovered the area. For example, the Servant of Ihn started life as a human named Ihnha. After he ascended, he founded the City of Ihn, becoming its Servant. The Servant of Ihn is among the youngest of the Servants, only existing for a couple of centuries. 

The Servant of On was born in the City of On before the Servants arrived on the scene. He was the first to ascend in the Realm. No one knows his given name.

Many small towns and villages derive their names from the person who founded the city or village. For example, a farmer named Etly founded the Village of Et. He was born in the small city of Ly.

Proper names for people come from the town or village they were born. For example, Pasil (a character in the book) was born in the village of Il. Terok (another character) was born in the village of Ok. Sometimes, a parent names a child after another location. This action is unusual, and most people will assume you were born in whatever city, town, or village that makes up the last syllable of your name.

THE GREAT CALAMITY

The Creat Calamity occurred when the Most High sacrificed himself to preserve the Realm. His lack of progress in creating higher-level intelligences dissatisfied his master, and he ended the experiment. While the Servants existed, the Most High’s master considered them a failed evolutionary experiment in that none ever progressed beyond that level of intelligence. The Most High convinced his master to continue, but at significant personal cost. He bought time and set up events that could give his master the results he required without destroying the Realm.

The Realm is foremost an experiment for creating new and diverse intelligences, not a cloned version of another existing intelligence. There are many other realms in existence, each with different methods for creating life. Some see more success than others.

When the Most High sacrificed his consciousness, he lost all control in the Realm. The physical processes set in place could run for a while on their own, but entropy set in, and the processes unraveled. That is why the temperatures became unstable, the Rains didn’t start on time or went long, and magic was becoming chaotic.

At the time of his “death,” the Most High scattered pieces of his consciousness around the Realm, in whatever “receptacle” he could find. These receptacles were people that were near death. Think of these pearls of consciousness as “god-seeds.” These god-seeds allowed people like Geron and Serenity to survive such near-death experiences during the Great Calamity. Both Serenity and Geron almost died buried under buildings in their respective cities, but they survived because of these god-seeds. It is what allowed them to ascend later in life. There were thousands of people with these god-seeds, but to date, Geron was the only one who “sprouted.” He is the one that activated Serenity’s god-seed (at the unconscious prodding of his own), allowing her to ascend.

The Great Calamity destroyed many towns and cities. Some cities fared better than others, such as the city of On. However, it demolished the City of Ihn. The Servant of Ihn rebuilt the town, which explains its newness and beauty. The City of On was intact, and the Servant of On didn’t care to rebuild it. He directed his city to only repair necessities. The lack of damage explains its aged and weather-beaten appearance.

With the Great Calamity came the Servants Wars. In the aftermath of the Great Calamity, the Servants merged power. They preyed on the younger and weaker Servants, stealing their powers. Without the Most High to control them, the Servants did whatever they wanted, up to and including poaching the powers of the other Servants. 

The population at large never knew about this war between the Servants. It took place on a level that humans didn’t understand, and they assumed it was all part of the Great Calamity.