Encyclopedia Ermariana - User contributions [en]

Ghikra

2006-03-30T02:57:10Z

Chris474:

== Ghikra ==

The small settlement of Ghikra used to be the liason town between the Vahanatai and the people of Avernum. It was erected after the original Vahnatai portal in the Tower of Magi fell into disrepair and was too dangerous to use.
The outpost was home to approximately 40 Vahnatai most of them guards. Unusually at the time, however, Rentar-Ihrono also resided there. Being the strongest of the Awakened Vahnatai couple with her extreme distaste for humans, made her presence at the outpost strange at best especially since we know that Bon-Ihrono attempted to get transferred there.

== Construction ==

The actual town itself was constructed in traditional Vahnatai architexture. It was erected quickly but with great care by Rentar Ihrono herself.

== History ==

After the ending of the monster plauges, the town's population became very violent and abandoned the area. About that time the Avernites realized what the outpost was built for and why Rentar Ihrono was stationed there. She was keeping an eye on her monster plauges and witnessing the destruction in more clarity than she could many, many miles underneath the surface. It was also reported to Covert Operations that she made contact with the surface explorers and asked them to report to her about the monsters on the surface and what they were doing.

Ghikra

2006-03-30T02:55:33Z

Chris474:

== Headline text ==

The small settlement of Ghikra used to be the liason town between the Vahanatai and the people of Avernum. It was erected after the original Vahnatai portal in the Tower of Magi fell into disrepair and was too dangerous to use.
The outpost was home to approximately 40 Vahnatai most of them guards. Unusually at the time, however, Rentar-Ihrono also resided there. Being the strongest of the Awakened Vahnatai couple with her extreme distaste for humans, made her presence at the outpost strange at best especially since we know that Bon-Ihrono attempted to get transferred there.

== Construction ==

The actual town itself was constructed in traditional Vahnatai architexture. It was erected quickly but with great care by Rentar Ihrono herself.

== History ==

After the ending of the monster plauges, the town's population became very violent and abandoned the area. About that time the Avernites realized what the outpost was built for and why Rentar Ihrono was stationed there. She was keeping an eye on her monster plauges and witnessing the destruction in more clarity than she could many, many miles underneath the surface. It was also reported to Covert Operations that she made contact with the surface explorers and asked them to report to her about the monsters on the surface and what they were doing.

Magic barriers

2006-03-30T02:13:56Z

Chris474:

[[Magic barriers]] are a common sight in Ermarian; like many spells dealing with the evocation of forces, barrier magic is well-known and not exceedingly complex. It is, in fact, usually more difficult to destroy a barrier than it is to create one (to the great benefit of Ermarian [[magic|magery]] and [[demons|demonology]]). Barriers vary in complexity from simple walls of semi-solid elemental fire to wafer-thin, impenetrable skins of pure energy. One of the most common forms resembles a crimson-purple cluster of magical spiderwebs.

Magic barriers are sometimes used in warfare. They were notable as the first weapon employed by the [[Olgai tribe]] on their human adversaries in [[Exile]];

== Implementation ==

Magical barriers are used mostly as solid walls but other uses have been developed. Most notably is the Forecage spell which was recently developed on the surface by Empress Prazacs highest mages shortly after Valorim was being fully settled and just before the monster plauges attacked the continent. This spell uses a weave of thin barriers which vary in intensity. The spell is used by chanting a number of complex Arcane phrases. Spell then surrounds the intended target in the weave which acts a temporary cage. The effect even at higher levels is very short. They have been working on several new versions of the spell but have since been to no avail.

[[Category:Magic]]

Za-Khazi Run

2006-02-03T02:52:02Z

Chris474:

The [[Za-Khazi Run]], named after an ancient [[Vahnatai]] pillar, is a wild, isolated stretch of caves, running through the [[lower caves]] for a span of about 250 miles. It terminates at each end with [[human]] outposts, [[Fort Goodling]] and [[Fort Cavalier]]. The river through Za-Khazi Run also branches off in certain locations through secret passageways some also connects to the river in the Cult of the Sacred Item area of Avernum.

==Size==
==Location==
==Population==
==History==
==Geography==
* [[Assikvas]]
* [[Blood Glee Clan]]
* [[Broken Fang Clan]]
* [[Citadel of Unicorns]]
* [[Fort Cavalier]]
* [[Fort Goodling]]
* [[Lair of Casser-Bok]]
* [[Morog's Castle]]
* [[Opal Citadel]]
* [[Palace of Khoth]]

==Other Sources==
* [http://es.geocities.com/falcata2/maps/ZaKhazi.html Maps - The Za-Khazi Run]

[[Category:Geography]]
[[Category:Caves]]
{{stub}}

Teleportation

2006-02-02T02:52:25Z

Chris474: /* Coordinates */

Teleportation is a very broad field of magic that deals with the power to travel instantaneously between different places. All kinds of teleportation require a great amount of [[magic|magical]] lore and power. Teleportation magic, while producing similar effects, varies greatly in nature and origin, and can be used in the most various ways.

==Portals==

Portals are possibly the most widely used contraptions for teleportation. A ''portal'', in magical terms, is described as a fixed device (or simply a place) that sends anyone who activates it to a certain destination. A portal can be activated by a mechanism or spell, or it can be permanently active. Some portals can change their destination, although this commonly requires a lot of skill and care. The convenience of most portals is their ease of use and maintainance. Once it has been built, it requires enormous amounts of energy, but can fare quite well on its own. Its user requires no more skill or knowledge to pass through it than for passing through a simple doorway.

===Linked Portals===

Most portals are "linked". Two portals stand in different places, and anyone entering one portal will emerge from the other. This is very convenient for two-way journeys, but it also is a far more stable contraption than a one-way portal and requires less energy per use.

The portal to [[Avernum]] was such a linked portal for the latter reason; the one-way nature was achieved by a simple barrier.

===One-Way Portals===

A one-way portal sends its user to a place where ''no'' other portal is installed. Although the effect is similar, this is far more complex magic and requires a lot more power. A one-way portal is necessary of course for destinations that have never been traveled to before (although a spell is used more frequently in this case), but it is also useful if the connection is not supposed to be detected on the other side, or the user is not supposed to return.

===Variable Portals===

[[Mahdavi]] of the [[Tower of Magi]] built a portal that was capable of sending its user anywhere in [[Exile]], given a set of coded coordinates. The [[Cult of the Sacred Item]] possessed a similar portal, although it was far less stable, more dangerous, and more difficult to configure - the cult itself suffered various fatalities through its use. The [[Empire]] has also been reported to utilize unstable cousins of the portal.

These portals are far more flexible, especially for swift attacks. Archmage [[Erika Redmark]] constructed such a portal to send a group of assassins to the [[surface]] to slay [[Hawthorne III]].

Variable portals are by definition one-way, although some linked portals are able to "switch" between several destinations (where other portals stand) in a way similar to a variable portal.

====Coordinates====

This portal originally used a coordinate system for destination positioning. The coordinates were three syllable phrases that were spoken loudly before entering the portal, which allows it to "lock" onto a destination. For example, '''Ell Pit Esk''' would calibrate the portal to a a spot in a tower in the path to the Vahnatai caves.

These coordinates were calculated by mages skilled in teleportation, and often recorded on obelisks scattered throughout [[Avernum]]. It is thought that the coordinates are Vahnatai in origin since they resemble some words in the Vahnatai langauge. Also because they are scattered throughout Avernum, and because the Vahnatai used to inhabit the caves of Avernum, it stands to reason that they would put these obelisks in specific areas that they correspond to to so they would not forget since things tend to get destroyed in Restings.

===Natural Portals===

Some places can form natural portals due to heavy magical residue or a natural source of magical energy. These portals are usually very unstable and risky to use.

===Portal Analysis===

A very complex field of teleportation magic is the analysis of a portal's behavior in order to gain various information. [[Seles]], probably the [[Tower of Magi]]'s most talented portal mage, had developed this skill to such an extent that she was able to detect any ''other'' source of teleportation magic in the vicinity of a certain portal. The residue of the teleportation affected nearby attuned objects, such that by observing a portal she was able to recognize the origin and destination of such a transport.

It was this skill that allowed a group of [[Unspecified Services]] agents to tail members of the [[Cult of the Sacred Item]] to their lair and reclaim from them the stolen [[Orb of Thralni]].

Through the analysis of a portal, it is easy for a trained mage to identify where it leads. It is also possible to detect the presence of a one-way portal's destination, from the heavy traces of residue it leaves behind there. Only very skilled mages are able to deduce the location of the starting point, however. The same applies to Variable Portals, but they must have been frequently used to travel to the given destination to leave a distinct mark at that place.

===Technology of Portals===

[[Humans]] have advanced far on the lore of creating portals, but it is believed this science originated with the [[Vahnatai]]. Even human-made portals are formed with the use of structured [[crystals]], a magic known to be a specialty of the [[Vahnatai]], suggesting that the lore may at one point have been learnt from them.

==Amulets==

The Amulet of Returning was given to the adventurers, who saved the Empire, by destroying the Vahnatai Plagues. Anaximander gave them the amulet to return quicklier and report their actions against the monsters. It can be used only in a specific range around Fort Emergence. When they were near Gale or more to the northern edge of Valorim, they were not able to return through the amulet.

==Spells==

==Augmenters==

Teleportation, be it by portal, by amulet or by spell, typically requires vast sources of power and great skill. In portals and amulets, the users themselves contribute little, but the caster of a teleportation spell has to be very powerful.

Some items are designed specifically to aid this process in the form of a [[Magical Catalyst]] either by lending additional power or by further focussing the power that is provided by other sources.

Portals require such augmenters practically by definition, which is why they are not called augmenters in this context. However, the power source of a portal - functioning like an augmenter - is exactly what allows it to be used by unskilled persons without any magical power. Small, short-distance portals need only a few small crystals that are usually set into the portal frame. Larger portals, however, are almost always seen in the vicinity of a few huge magically constructed crystal pillars. These pillars act as a power source, drawing arcane energy from the surrounding air and focusing it to power the portal.

In amulets, the power source is commonly included with the item itself - however, some amulets lack an augmenter, and are instead powered by a limited amount of energy imbued in it by its maker. These amulets can be used only very few times before they need to be recharged by an enchanter.

Carried by a spellcaster, the augmenter typically takes the form of a crystal or an amulet - in fact, such an augmentation amulet looks very similar to an amulet that actually contains a teleport spell. When a mage uses an amulet to teleport, it is not necessarily obvious whether the amulet works autonomously or simply augments the mage's spell.

[[Emerald]] is the preferred material for the construction of augmenters, although [[Amber]] is qualified as well and comparatively inexpensive.

[[Category:Magic]]

Teleportation

2006-02-01T04:06:25Z

Chris474:

Teleportation is a very broad field of magic that deals with the power to travel instantaneously between different places. All kinds of teleportation require a great amount of [[magic|magical]] lore and power. Teleportation magic, while producing similar effects, varies greatly in nature and origin, and can be used in the most various ways.

==Portals==

Portals are possibly the most widely used contraptions for teleportation. A ''portal'', in magical terms, is described as a fixed device (or simply a place) that sends anyone who activates it to a certain destination. A portal can be activated by a mechanism or spell, or it can be permanently active. Some portals can change their destination, although this commonly requires a lot of skill and care. The convenience of most portals is their ease of use and maintainance. Once it has been built, it requires enormous amounts of energy, but can fare quite well on its own. Its user requires no more skill or knowledge to pass through it than for passing through a simple doorway.

===Linked Portals===

Most portals are "linked". Two portals stand in different places, and anyone entering one portal will emerge from the other. This is very convenient for two-way journeys, but it also is a far more stable contraption than a one-way portal and requires less energy per use.

The portal to [[Avernum]] was such a linked portal for the latter reason; the one-way nature was achieved by a simple barrier.

===One-Way Portals===

A one-way portal sends its user to a place where ''no'' other portal is installed. Although the effect is similar, this is far more complex magic and requires a lot more power. A one-way portal is necessary of course for destinations that have never been traveled to before (although a spell is used more frequently in this case), but it is also useful if the connection is not supposed to be detected on the other side, or the user is not supposed to return.

===Variable Portals===

[[Mahdavi]] of the [[Tower of Magi]] built a portal that was capable of sending its user anywhere in [[Exile]], given a set of coded coordinates. The [[Cult of the Sacred Item]] possessed a similar portal, although it was far less stable, more dangerous, and more difficult to configure - the cult itself suffered various fatalities through its use.

These portals are far more flexible, especially for swift attacks. Archmage [[Erika Redmark]] constructed such a portal to send a group of assassins to the [[surface]] to slay [[Hawthorne III]].

Variable portals are by definition one-way, although some linked portals are able to "switch" between several destinations (where other portals stand) in a way similar to a variable portal.

===Natural Portals===

Some places can form natural portals due to heavy magical residue or a natural source of magical energy. These portals are usually very unstable and risky to use.

===Portal Analysis===

A very complex field of teleportation magic is the analysis of a portal's behavior in order to gain various information. [[Seles]], probably the [[Tower of Magi]]'s most talented portal mage, had developed this skill to such an extent that she was able to detect any ''other'' source of teleportation magic in the vicinity of a certain portal. The residue of the teleportation affected nearby attuned objects, such that by observing a portal she was able to recognize the origin and destination of such a transport.

It was this skill that allowed a group of [[Unspecified Services]] agents to tail members of the [[Cult of the Sacred Item]] to their lair and reclaim from them the stolen [[Orb of Thralni]].

Through the analysis of a portal, it is easy for a trained mage to identify where it leads. It is also possible to detect the presence of a one-way portal's destination, from the heavy traces of residue it leaves behind there. Only very skilled mages are able to deduce the location of the starting point, however. The same applies to Variable Portals, but they must have been frequently used to travel to the given destination to leave a distinct mark at that place.

===Technology of Portals===

[[Humans]] have advanced far on the lore of creating portals, but it is believed this science originated with the [[Vahnatai]]. Even human-made portals are formed with the use of structured [[crystals]], a magic known to be a specialty of the [[Vahnatai]], suggesting that the lore may at one point have been learnt from them.

==Amulets==

The Amulet of Returning was given to the adventurers, who saved the Empire, by destroying the Vahnatai Plagues. Anaximander gave them the amulet to return quicklier and report their actions against the monsters. It can be used only in a specific range around Fort Emergence. When they were near Gale or more to the northern edge of Valorim, they were not able to return through the amulet.

==Spells==

==Augmenters==

Teleportation, be it by portal, by amulet or by spell, typically requires vast sources of power and great skill. In portals and amulets, the users themselves contribute little, but the caster of a teleportation spell has to be very powerful.

Some items are designed specifically to aid this process in the form of a [[Magical Catalyst]] either by lending additional power or by further focussing the power that is provided by other sources.

Portals require such augmenters practically by definition, which is why they are not called augmenters in this context. However, the power source of a portal - functioning like an augmenter - is exactly what allows it to be used by unskilled persons without any magical power. Small, short-distance portals need only a few small crystals that are usually set into the portal frame. Larger portals, however, are almost always seen in the vicinity of a few huge magically constructed crystal pillars. These pillars act as a power source, drawing arcane energy from the surrounding air and focusing it to power the portal.

In amulets, the power source is commonly included with the item itself - however, some amulets lack an augmenter, and are instead powered by a limited amount of energy imbued in it by its maker. These amulets can be used only very few times before they need to be recharged by an enchanter.

Carried by a spellcaster, the augmenter typically takes the form of a crystal or an amulet - in fact, such an augmentation amulet looks very similar to an amulet that actually contains a teleport spell. When a mage uses an amulet to teleport, it is not necessarily obvious whether the amulet works autonomously or simply augments the mage's spell.

[[Emerald]] is the preferred material for the construction of augmenters, although [[Amber]] is qualified as well and comparatively inexpensive.

==Coordinates==

The portal to the surface world in the Tower Colony uses a coordinate system for destination positioning. These coordinates are three syllable phrases that are spoken loudly before entering the portal which allows it to "lock" onto a destination. e.g. Ell Pit Esk. These coordinates would send you to Formello.
These coordinates can be found on obelisks throughout Avernum. They also can be calculated by mages skilled in teleportation. There are similar teleportation systems throughout the surface that were manufactured by the Empire. Unfortunately, these are very erratic and do not work over long distances.

[[Category:Magic]]

Prazac I

2006-02-01T03:50:19Z

Chris474: /* Biography */

Prazac I was crowned the first Empress in 817 [[IE]], after her father [[Hawthorne III]] was slain by [[Avernum|Avernite]] [[assassins]].

==Biography==

Prazac was born in 799 to Emperor [[Hawthorne III]], in the city of [[Imperius]], [[Pralgad]]. The name of her mother has been censored out of most history books (see [[Game canon#The Life of Empress Prazac|Avernum canon]]) - Hawthorne's only wife had died many years before.
Prazac led a fairly sheltered younger because of her father's position in the Empire. When she was a teenager, she was officially declared the successor of Hawthorne upon his demise. During her teenage years, her father put her in charge of certain provinces and towns to test her leadership ability. She spent most of her days in the Royal Castle in Pralgrad. She did not go to school as such but instead was tutored in magery by Garzard himself. She was furthered tutored by the representives from the finest universities in the world. When she was in her late teens, she made many trips to the many towns and provinces that she was put in charge of. There she met the people of those areas. She even did menial tasks working alongside the people. It is said that these events were the catalysts of Prazac's acceptence to power. When Hawthorne was assassinated, Garzard was appointed temporary Emporer until Prazac could seize the reins of her new political powers. Garzard was the one that ordered the army to attack Avernum but if she were to not exact retribution upon Avernum after such a blamphemous crime against the Empire, there was nothing that she could do about it without risking outbreaks of rebellion in all of Ermariana.It was because Prazac had such a kind and sensitive reputation, she was gladly accepted into power. It was thought that there would be uproar from the general population when they found out that a woman was elected to power. Just before the plauge of Valorim occured, she was holidaying in Footracer Province in the Keep of Tinraya. She then ordered the quarantining of Valorim. After this, she decided to settle down in Blackcrag fortress to oversee how things were progressing in Valorim. When the surface explorers of Avernum came to see her in Blackcrag Fortress, she gave the explorers a mission that allowed them to end all of the plauges and expose the perpetrators of the crime against Ermariana. She made the surface explorers Dervishes of the Empire army and the liasons between King Micah and the Empire. She was the one who helped set up viable transportation between Avermum and the surface world and she also gave the Avernites an official peace of land in Southwestern Valorim.
[[Category:In Progress]]

{{stub}}

{{emperor|crowned=817 IE|resigned=[[Present Day]]|name=Empress Prazac I|predecessor=[[Hawthorne III]]|successor=Currently Reigning}}