Fantasy Cradle of Desire: Glossary & NPCs

[Nano]

Cradle of Desire

Glossary & NPCs

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Note .

For those looking to quickly skim through the lore, the

parts colored purple

should be enough to give you a general idea of things. However, this should not be taken as a replacement for reading the glossary in its entirety. Due to my familiarity with these subjects as the writer, I can’t guarantee that the highlighted text alone gives a clear enough picture to write with zero issues. You’ll be missing a bunch of context, regardless.

Timeline .

Year 548 - Syr teaches mortals how to make use of mana
Year 577 - Lucinde, the Goddess of Dreams, grants Angelica Covell the first fragment bestowed upon humanity
Year 580 - A Technicians’ guild is formally established to better research how to best make use of divine fragments
Year 673 - The Tower of Technicians is officially established
Year 678 - The Cradle of Desire begins operations
Year 741 - End of the Era of Magic / Gods destroy The Cradle of Desire
Year 803 - Queen Arwen turns 16 and officially takes over her duties as the ruling monarch of Vestry
Year 805 - The possession of relics and vestiges are outlawed within Vestry
Year 806 - Vestry is put under lockdown
Year 808 - Arcana is established
Year 809 - The Deck of Fools comes into Arcana’s possession
Year 810, 7th Day of Rebirth - Raeger and a majority of Arcana’s members storm the palace in the countryside that Queen Arwen was secretly residing in while recovering from an illness. Lady Eris and the royal guards defeat and slaughter the insurgents, causing Arcana to take a significant hit to their numbers.
Year 810, 15th Day of Rebirth - Raeger is executed alongside the two royal guards charged with selling information regarding Queen Arwen’s whereabouts
Year 810, 20th Day of Rebirth - Owen officially takes over as Arcana’s new leader and begins rebuilding and restructuring the organization
Year 812 - Arcana rises to prominence and becomes more aggressive in their attacks against the nobility
Year 813 - Present day

manastones .

At its most fundamental level, magic is a borrowed power bestowed by the gods that allows mortals to briefly transcend the world’s natural laws. Though

mortal bodies are incompatible with magic

, the ingenuity of the Technicians gave mankind access to the divine powers latent within mana through the use of manastones and technology that they’d refer to as relics.

Manastones can be fashioned out of any gem or metal, but certain minerals were more suitable than others due to durability as well as how well they could keep mana contained without leaking.

The majority of manastones were manufactured out of magicite gems and arcanium alloys

, though other materials would be used in the case of supply issues or aesthetic reasons. However, these were typically faulty and lacked durability, resulting in the stones easily exploding. Though the method of manufacturing manastones is long lost, their prevalence in the Era of Magic means that

they can occasionally be found abandoned in certain areas.

Relics and Vestiges .

Relics utilize the mana stored in manastones to bend the world’s natural laws.

Some are capable of producing streams of water out of nothing, while others are capable of increasing the physical capabilities of its wearer. However, its energy source is finite, and

relics will cease working the moment the manastone it's equipped with runs dry until replaced.

However,

a specific subset of relics are capable of functioning without a manastone. These relics, called vestiges, each contain a fragment of one of the many gods present during the Age of Magic.

Due to the remnants of the divine power within them, these fragments are capable of generating divine energy and act as a self-recharging energy source for the vestige. As they lack the limitations of ordinary relics which are constrained by the size of the magicite core fitted into its body, the powers latent within vestiges are far more varied and potent.

The energy produced by the vestige’s divine fragment reflects that of the god that the fragment was born from, making the function of the vestige closely tied to the attributes or power of said god. As these fragments were once part of the gods themselves, they contain a portion of the god’s ego, and those that closely resonate with the fragment may gain the ability to hear the voice of the ego. However, the vast majority of these egos are nothing more than a brief memory, a shadow of the past. In extremely rare cases, the fragment may develop an ego strong enough to gain a will of its own, but vestiges containing such fragments are more often than not a danger to humanity.

Mana Corrosion .

When The Cradle of Desire was destroyed by the gods, many Technicians fell with it. However, those who survived would soon mysteriously fall deathly ill and meet an untimely death within days. The people who remained near the ailing Technicians to care for them would eventually show similar symptoms, though their deaths were far more gradual with some living for a decade in pain. Initially believed to be a curse sent by the divine, the world’s poor understanding of illnesses prompted the people to burn the bodies of the infected and hope that would be the end.

Though nausea, vomiting, and fatigue are common symptoms of various illnesses, symptoms of rapid loss of muscle and bone density as well as the patches of white scales that grow on jointed areas were eventually narrowed down to occurring most frequently in those who lived close to The Cradle of Desire or got caught in the explosion of a manastone. These associations would in turn result in the realization

that the divine blessings the gods had stripped from them had not only shielded them from illness but also the negative effects of mana.

Unlike most pathogens and toxins, protective equipment such as masks and covering oneself from head to toe has proven to do little in preventing the spread of the illness from one individual to another. Burning infected corpses similarly has little effect and

the sole method of reducing the chances of contracting the disease appears to be distancing oneself from areas heavily polluted with mana and avoiding contact with people who are infected or have frequented such areas. As a result, all excavations of The Cradle of Desire and other locations related to relics have been halted and marked off as forbidden areas.

Despite the known dangers of mana, the use of relics by the privileged is common. Manastones are therefore a hot commodity within underground markets and many will risk their lives to scavenge for manastones in polluted areas to make a living. As a result,

Mana Corrosion tends to run rampant in many poorer communities. The white, scale-like growths that appear on the skin during the earliest stages of the disease are a telltale sign of Mana Corrosion, and both the upper and middle class heavily discriminate against those with such markings.

Some noble houses will even disown members of the family who develop signs of the disease, viewing them as a shame to their noble bloodline for succumbing to a disease most commonly associated with “lowborns”.

monsters .

Once a precious resource for researchers, monsters are now creatures to be feared for more reasons than one.

The primary distinction between an animal and a monster lie in whether or not they are magically inclined.

Animals may mutate under the effects of mana, yet most are like humans and succumb to the disease. Monsters, on the other hand, feed off of this energy and thrive in settings that are dense with mana.

Unfortunately, not only does this make them a danger to mankind due to their otherworldly powers but also due to the mana that leaks out of their carcasses once their bodies begin to decay. They tend to remain within mana dense areas, so run-ins with monsters in towns and cities are rare, however.

arcana .

Three years ago, a band of insurgents and a man by the name of Raeger Antwer were sentenced to death by beheading for the crime of making an attempt upon the Queen’s life.

As the blade of the guillotine loomed ominously over his head, the failed assassin shouted that it wasn’t over yet: Arcana would prevail. No one paid any mind to the ramblings of the madman, and the name he bellowed seconds before his death was quickly forgotten.

“Arcana” wouldn’t return to public attention until two years later when a series of thefts were committed in their name. Those who could recall the final words of the late Antwer scoffed at the pettiness of their crimes. After all, what could minor robberies do against the Vestrian crown?

It was only a year ago that Arcana gradually began to build up the fearsome reputation that it has today.

Rumors of fiends attacking the carriages of nobles and stealing their valuables were attributed to the underground organization, further reinforcing the image that they’re nothing more than a group of petty bandits. However, when a mysterious woman called forth a crowd to watch as she dangled the decapitated head of Count Mayler in her blood-encrusted hand, their motives suddenly became crystal clear. Where the poor were forced to toil for long hours to pay off heavy taxes and had their treasured relics confiscated by the government, the wealthy nobility continued their lavish lifestyles while flaunting the relics and vestiges they managed to harvest from the common people.

This national outrage was promptly suppressed by the royal family, but support for Arcana continued to grow among the commoners. However, their increasingly violent acts and the secretive nature of the organization also sparked a significant amount of fear within the people of Vestry.

Regardless of the generous amount of resources the Queen allocated towards exterminating the terrorists, Arcana’s members remained impossible to track down. Witnesses could never give clear details on what the terrorists looked like, and any members that died in their skirmishes burned until not even ashes remained. Their sole clue over three years of investigation are the variety of strange tattoos that all of Arcana’s members possess on their left hands, but they’ve only caught copycat criminals through this lead.

Any tips the government received tended to lead to similar deadends, and very little progress has been made in uncovering the organization's many secrets. A recent rumor led them to the doors of The Whistling Maple, but no conclusive evidence of any relation to Arcana was found. However, the investigators did find themselves facing backlash from the tavern’s faithful patrons after unjustly seizing the owner’s business license and suspending operation of the tavern’s services. The investigators moved on, defeated, but little did they know just how close they’d been to the truth…

the whistling maple .

Unbeknownst to its patrons and the government,

The Whistling Maple is a tavern owned and operated by Io Laxia as a cover for Arcana’s headquarters.

On top of its usual customers, many of Arcana’s members come and go in broad daylight, and some are even employed to work on the tavern’s premises. Resultant of the high traffic regarding rumors that pass in and out of the establishment’s walls,

it also serves as an information hub for Arcana.

The Whistling Maple’s cellar is connected to the vast tunnel system that the Technicians of The Cradle of Desire created using the vestige Wanderer’s Labyrinth.

Though the entrances to the tunnels were initially set to react to the specific mana frequency of a certain relic, many doors (including one leading to the vicinity of the Cradle itself) have been re-tuned to respond to Stigmas and Gems of Rebirth. Despite the vestige’s title, the tunnel system within Verrin is relatively straightforward and can typically be navigated without aid after roughly two months of utilizing it. Many of Arcana’s members are familiar with the locations of the various doors located throughout the city, though the same can’t be said for the parts of the tunnel that stretch throughout the rest of the nation.

These doors leading to the tunnel are what allow the members of Arcana to seemingly disappear into thin air and come and go from place to place as they please.

gems of rebirth .

Small gems produced by the powers of Death’s Stigma.

Each member of Arcana is given one soon after joining the organization for the purpose of masking their identities.

While the power of the gem is active, it cloaks the holder in a veneer which causes observers to be incapable of identifying them.

Though fellow holders of gems of rebirth are capable of seeing past this veneer, others can only remember generic details such as the color of the user’s hair or their height.

The color of the gems vary and seem to be based on Death’s mood at the time they were created, with the most common variety by far being a deep red.

factions .

Arcana remains united under the cause of freeing Vestry from the oppressive rule of Queen Arwen and the noble houses, but its members bear different visions for the nation’s future. As the underground organization grew, so did the differing ideologies of its members. This eventually led to the rise and fall of various factions within Arcana, of which three continue to stand strong.

The First Faction, led by Aurelius Stallard, carries on the will of the late Raeger Antwer

and is the sole currently existing faction that was established prior to the incident that culled the organization’s members two years ago. Though the public condemns them as terrorists, most members of The First Faction fancy the term vigilante instead. They see Arcana’s operations as a necessary evil: an extreme measure to combat extreme circumstances. Contrary to popular belief,

The First Faction does not seek the collapse of the government but rather a series of reforms to the current feudalistic system.

Its members generally believe that the corruption of those in power must be culled, but a complete upheaval will only succeed in causing Vestry to become easy prey for its neighboring countries.

First Faction members tend to be the most in tune with their Arcanas, and the most powerful Stigmas tend to belong to members of this faction. Some members of this faction openly express their lack of trust in Owen, and the extremists believe that he somehow had a hand in the death of Arcana’s founder.

The Second Faction, led by Dorian Alfieri, initially stemmed from a group of radicals within Arcana who sought complete anarchy.

Many sided with The Second Faction out of a strong desire for vengeance against the crown, but as the factions within Arcana merged or fell, the faction’s goals saw a gradual shift from pandemonium to a new order. Unlike The First Faction,

The Second Faction aims to do away with both the crown and nobility in its entirety, opting to replace it with a new system representing the voices of the common people

rather than keeping power within the hands of bloodlines of pedigree. A handful of merchants have joined this faction, no doubt disgruntled over the rigidity of moving up in social status within Vestry. However, the vast majority within The Second Faction hail from disgraced noble families and people of the slums who’ve been long oppressed under the heavy hand of the upper-class. If necessary, they will see to it that the country is washed with blood to pave the way to a new era. Incidentally,

many of the Second Faction’s members have silver tongues and are familiar with combative techniques unrelated to Stigmas

whether it be due to skills picked up in the slums or having lived a privileged life and hence a better and healthier physique. Arcana as a whole is also dependent on the funding and information that the Second Faction provides.

The Second Faction tends to view Arcana’s founder in a more negative light than most, blaming him for impulsively leading many of their comrades to a pointless death.

The Third Faction, led by Reno Salvatore, differs from the First and Second Factions in that the fall of the royal family is a mere stepping stone towards their final goal.

They tend to view Vestry’s political environment as inconsequential in the grand scheme of things and have their sights set on the catastrophe that left the world in its current state: The Cradle of Desire. The Third Faction was founded upon the goal of curing Lithos of its current ailments, but many have joined under its banner with far less altruistic reasons in mind.

At its core, The Third Faction is merely a convocation of people who study the philosophies of the Technicians,

whether it be to follow in their footsteps or learn from their mistakes.

Much of the Third Faction are noncombatants,

but their knowledge of relics, vestiges, and mana is nonetheless invaluable to Arcana.

The few experienced fighters in the faction, however, tend to be unmatched in their skillful use of relics and vestiges. Their lack of interest in the more politically-driven matters within the organization causes them to err on the side of caution regarding conflicts between the First and Second Factions.

deck of fools .

The magnum opus of The Cradle of Desire. No one is entirely sure of its origins due to all records of its inception having been destroyed during the Fall of the Era of Magic, but it nonetheless exists as one of the few vestiges that the Technicians succeeded in creating without the aid of a divine fragment. The Deck of Fools is a particularly monumental feat given that it exists as a singular system whose individual parts cannot function separately yet is nonetheless best defined as a collection of vestiges rather than a singular vestige.

The cards within The Deck of Fools are divided into the Major Arcana and Minor Arcana, the latter of which is further split into four suites. Each possesses a unique name and its own ego which resonates solely with those who share the same traits as the ego of the fragment contained within the card.

Those chosen by the Arcana are bestowed a Stigma by The Deck of Fools, symbolized by a tattoo-like marking on their left hand that appears when using the Stigma’s powers.

This Stigma grants its holder access to the ability hosted within the respective Arcana.

Powers derived from the Major Arcana are fairly specific in their function but in turn possess powerful effects. Minor Arcana, in contrast, grant abilities that are far more broad in scope but are generally less potent.

For example, if a Minor Arcana and Major Arcana both deal with powers related to fire, the Minor Arcana is likely capable of bending fire into all manners of shapes and functions while the Major Arcana is limited to quick explosions that pack greater overall firepower.

Stigmas also provide a form of resistance to the effects of mana.

Though they do not shield the body from it or neutralize its effects, they are capable of slowly devouring mana that has entered their host’s body. As a result, Arcana’s members can typically traverse through polluted areas without much concern so long as their trips are not extensive or frequent enough for the build up of mana to exceed the rate that it is cleansed. Unfortunately,

the concentration of mana within The Cradle of Desire is so high that even those with Stigmas cannot safely enter its grounds.

cradle of desire .

The folly of mankind knows no bounds, and human greed gave birth to a dream that would eventually lead to their downfall.

The Cradle of Desire was Syr’s final gift to his technicians, though no one imagined that it would ultimately become the poison of the world.

When the Tower of Technicians opened its gates in the year 673 on the twenty-second day of Clear Springs, it was lauded by all as the pinnacle of mankind’s achievements. Never before had the world seen a greater convocation of the land’s brightest and most innovative minds.

Hands acting upon wills forged by greed later established the Cradle of Desire under the gilded halls of the Tower of Technicians. Countless brilliant inventions result from their cruel experiments, yet it would not be long before the gods discovered their avarice, and the resplendent age of the Technicians would quickly be tarnished as an indelible mark of sin in the world’s history.

It is known that the Technicians successfully deciphered the essence behind divine fragments and utilized this knowledge to artificially create fragments on par with the power of the gods. However, these artificially created fragments were far less stable and would frequently lead to the vestige failing or the fragment itself collapsing. Unbeknownst to the Technicians, the failures of these unstable fragments had repercussions that went far beyond the minor physical damage they caused their surroundings.

The violent bursts of mana these artificial fragments spewed into the atmosphere during each collapse still linger in large quantities within the Cradle of Desire as well as its vicinity. Though there’s no accurate method of measuring the level of pollution,

it is generally estimated that the Cradle of Desire contains a concentration of mana up to fifty times higher than other areas that have been restricted due to high levels of mana pollution.

It is said that the most polluted areas within the Cradle cause people to feel ill simply by breathing in the air. As a result, the vast majority of any research notes that weren’t destroyed by the gods remain undiscovered within the lab’s halls. Those brave or foolish enough to venture into the Cradle of Desire also need to navigate the confusing passages of the site. No maps have been successfully retrieved or recreated, and many suspect that the Cradle of Desire has some kind of mechanism that can alter the layout of the lab.

gods of the age of magic .

Once revered and well-respected as higher beings in Lithos,

any mention of the divine is now bound to elicit negative reactions from the average denizen of the world.

Some records of more well-known gods such as Eno, the God of Death, and Lusemi, the Goddess of the Moon, still exist to this day, but the vast majority of the gods have already been forgotten by the people of Lithos. Only the strangest and most hidden of cults dare to continue to dedicate their worship to a former patron deity.

The sole god whose name will likely forever live in infamy is Syr and Syr alone.

vestrian calendar .

In spite of the general animosity aimed towards Vestry as the epicenter of the events leading up to the fall of mankind, the Vestrian calendar remains as the most widely used system within the nation and its neighbors.

The Vestrian calendar is composed of twelve months split up into four weeks which in turn span seven days. Each month has a total of 28 days, totaling 336 days in one year.

Though climates may vary depending on the region the country is in, Vestry’s seasons evenly split the year into four quarters. Winter occurs during the last, first, and second months of the year. Spring occurs during the third, fourth, and fifth months of the year. Summer occurs during the sixth, seventh, and eight months of the year. Finally, Autumn occurs during the ninth, tenth, and eleventh months of the year.

The months of the Vestrian calendar are named after a seasonal word, major event, or important holidays that take place within that month while the days of the week are named after elements. The second month’s name was changed after the gods abandoned Lithos, but the rest of the calendar has been left untouched as follows:

Month 1: Month of Hoarfrost
Month 2: Month of Ascension (formerly the Month of Consecration)
Month 3: Month of the First Melt
Month 4: Month of Rebirth
Month 5: Month of Dewdrops
Month 6: Month of Clear Springs
Month 7: Month of Alacrity
Month 8: Month of the Hunt
Month 9: Month of Quickening
Month 10: Month of the Harvest
Month 11: Month of Eulogy
Month 12: Month of Tranquility

1st Day of the Week: Day of the Moon
2nd Day of the Week: Day of Fire
3rd Day of the Week: Day of Water
4th Day of the Week: Day of Wood
5th Day of the Week: Day of Gold
6th Day of the Week: Day of Earth
7th Day of the Week: Day of the Sun

When stating the date in Vestry, people generally use the format of “the seventh day of Quickening”.

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Owen

The World

170cm

To the citizens of Vestry, Arcana’s leader is a bloodthirsty demon capable of slaying hundreds of innocents without a hint of hesitation. Surely, The World must be a bitter person or perhaps a crazed megalomaniac given their title. Little do they know that the man inspecting a farmer’s basket of apples as if he’s making a life-changing decision is the very person they’re whispering about so fearfully.

The World is a decisive and charismatic individual, capable of effortlessly pinpointing the desires of the people he wishes to recruit into Arcana. It’s as if he can see right into the core of people, though he claims his role as The World gives him no special abilities aside from being the administrator of The Deck of Fools. Conversely, Owen is a man as ordinary as any other. Gone is the entity who meticulously drives Arcana’s movements ever closer to a checkmate, replaced by a flighty mortal incapable of navigating the streets of Verrin without getting lost at least once a day. His ineptitudes seem to outnumber his strengths, and many of Arcana’s members question whether or not they’re truly in safe hands upon hearing Io recounting the time when he nearly set The Whistling Maple on fire while trying to fry an egg. His devil-may-care attitude does little to assuage their worries, though Arcana’s continued success fortunately convinces them to stick around.

He carries around a strange cube-shaped relic composed of 26 smaller compartments. The six sides of the cube are all painted a different color which the smaller blocks automatically scramble whenever the relic is deactivated. When the cube is solved by rotating and matching the rows and columns of the cube until each side of the cube hosts a singular color again, the relic glows briefly but doesn’t do much else. Only faction leaders are aware of the relic’s true purpose.

Nil

Moral Support

23cm

When the demand for mana stones rose exponentially, so did the need for relics that could detect ore veins. The Nilymfiina Tolchellis was a vestige created to serve as a guide as well as a companion for miners until it entered a dormant state after the fall of the Cradle. It is unknown where Arcana's founders obtained the vestige, but it has called Arcana its home since the organization's inception. Despite being an artificial lifeform heavily resembling a pet, it is exceedingly intelligent and capable of understanding human speech. Though the friendly vestige functions more as a lapdog or a hot water bottle nowadays, it still sees use during missions where its mana stone detection functions are needed.

When in the view of the public eye, it remains still to the point where it looks like little more than a very well-crafted plush toy.

Owen calls Nil an "it" while Io insists on referring to the vestige as a "he" which results in frequent arguments.

Io Laxia

Tavern Owner

160cm

Despite her dainty and young looks, Io Laxia is not only a hostess working at The Whistling Maple but also the tavern’s owner. When her parents decided to close down the tavern due to a lack of customers, the young Io begged them to allow her to take over the business. After some trial-and-error, the girl managed to pull their finances out of the red, though she still couldn’t say they were successful. It was only through the help of a strange red-haired man that she managed to turn The Whistling Maple’s situation around entirely.

Despite having been aided by him in the past, Io describes Owen as a useless and unscrupulous bum who refuses to pay his overdue tab. She also still hasn’t forgiven him for nearly burning down her treasured establishment and has banned him from ever stepping onto its premises. Regardless of the utter vitriol present in her tone when speaking about Arcana’s leader, she’s more than happy to allow Arcana’s members to use her tavern as a gathering spot and even employs some of its members as a means of hiding in plain sight.

Prior to taking over ownership of The Whistling Maple, Io was more interested in becoming a tailor. She still partakes in this interest as a hobby and has sewn clothes for other members of Arcana such as Meredith. The clothes she makes and wears are well-made in spite of the crude materials used, but they tend to look more like costumes rather than practical outfits.

The vestige she possesses is capable of sending off paper birds which she uses to send messages to the members of Arcana.

She’s often seen breaking up fights between Basil and Meredith.

Basil

Mole/Medic

173cm

During the Era of Magic, the study of medicine was a niche field given the prevalence of relics capable of mending wounds and humans being immune to disease. Now that even the most common illnesses have the potential to be fatal, physicians have become a commodity that are as important as they are rare. Ever since settling in Vestry four generations ago, Basil’s family has enjoyed a fair number of benefits as well as an elevated status in exchange for their contributions to the crown in regards to medicine.

Compared to the majority of doctors who solely attend to nobles and the wealthy, Basil supposedly chose to open a private clinic catered towards the less wealthy communities in Vestry. However, he’s still frequently called to the royal estate for his medical assistance. Despite the people around him constantly tutting about how he’s wasting his skills to serve commoners, his dissatisfaction with the ever growing gap between the rich and the poor keeps him from caving into their demands. This discontent with the status quo made him an easy recruit when Owen approached him three years ago, and the man has been working within Arcana as a medic and a mole bringing them tidbits of information regarding Vestry’s nobility. Despite the pleasant smile he often wears, he isn’t the easiest person to work with due to his arrogant manner of speech and penchant for needing to get in the last word. In short, he has good intentions but is still a spoiled young master at heart. Despite this immaturity, he’s surprisingly good at handling the younger patients at his clinic.

He can’t stand Meredith due to a clash in personalities as well as ideals.

Though he’s never explicitly stated his real name or the family he’s from, it isn’t difficult to dig up the info that he’s Jeet Raval, the second son of the Royal Physician.

Meredith(?)

Death

157cm

Patricide, arson, theft, assault, and all manners of crimes decorate the ex-noblewoman’s rather impressive resume. Though “Sophia Arva” is a name that the government has yet to associate with Arcana, she was nonetheless a popular figure featured in wanted posters across Vestry until she was eventually caught and thrown into prison. Unfortunately for the queendom, the high-profile prisoner managed to escape a day before her execution and they haven’t seen hide nor hair of her since.

Unbeknownst to the authorities, the young girl once known as Sophia Arva continues to walk around their nation in broad daylight, disguised as a woman named Meredith. As Death, she is the mastermind behind the inception of the Gems of Rebirth and utilizes them to their fullest when running amok and creating all sorts of trouble. Due to her erratic personality and refusal to follow a given plan, she’s seldom sent out on group dispatches and is primarily responsible for the maintenance of Arcana’s disguises. Not many are willing to work with the young woman after only accompanying her once. Missions are of little importance to her, and it’s clear that she only remains by Arcana’s side due to the entertainment she gains from making a fool out of the government’s dogs. She only ever seems to become serious whenever the name “Raeger Antwer” is involved.

She makes a game out of testing Io’s patience and greatly enjoys getting under Basil’s skin. However, she thinks Daedalus is a boring person and calls him Mr. DeeDee to “make him sound more interesting.”

Anemona

Six of Cups

162cm

No artist has had as illustrious a career as Liam Byrne during the Age of Magic. Though the vast majority of the beloved works painted by his hands have become lost relics of the past, the Iridescent Brush he treasured is currently in the possession of the young girl who goes by the code name Anemona.

Despite having joined Arcana around the same time that the Deck of Fools came into play, very few of its members are familiar with the adolescent, and those who are tend to view her with a great deal of apprehension or even hatred. She believes herself to be an inoffensive personality, mostly keeping to herself and her paintings until The World calls upon her services. However, her job is not a pleasant one, as crucial as it is. To the traitors of Arcana, only a painful death awaits, but those who decide to leave the organization on more amicable terms are given a second choice.

The Six of Cups liberates individuals of memories deemed unnecessary baggage, in this case their recollection of Arcana and its members. With her Iridescent Brush, Anemona takes these memories and transcribes them into her paintings, earnestly believing that she’s giving those who seek her release and permission to return to their former peaceful lives. Not all cases are cut so cleanly, however, as the more memories she removes, the more likely cognitive issues are to appear to compensate for the sudden gap in memory.

No matter how often such cases appear, the young girl remains callous and unapologetic. After all, they knew the risks but took the fall anyway.

Daedalus

Supplier

188cm

Arcana dips its toes into all sorts of shady businesses, and they’re no strangers to dealings with the black market. The giant of a man known as Daedalus is their primary supplier, and for anything he can't get his hands on personally, he'll skillfully procure it from another source at a lower price than most people could hope to haggle for.

Though Daedalus has been working closely with Arcana for many years, he isn't officially part of the organization and doesn't stick around for long. He's a crotchety middle-aged man who cares little for mingling with his customers, and the only reason why he hasn't ratted the group of terrorists out is due to the money he makes out of working with them. That isn't to say that he'll turn tail and alert the authorities the moment things turn south though. If it isn't clear from his frequent mumblings regarding "this blasted country," his opinion of Vestry and its current state of affairs is clearly less than satisfactory.

He doesn’t get along with any Arcana members in particular, but he appreciates Io’s professionalism. In contrast, he tends to outright ignore Basil, Meredith, and the more childish members of Arcana.

Syr

Fallen God

???

The god Syr appeared before mortals in many forms, but one researcher’s diary recovered from The Cradle of Desire describes the deity as a small tree-like spirit donning a mask fashioned out of a sweetgum leaf. Was this harmless appearance assumed for the sake of deceiving his followers into offending the gods? No one will ever know.

Arwen Luscia Vestrinnica

Queen of Vestry

165cm

Orphaned at the young age of 14, Arwen Luscia Vestrinnica’s ascension to the throne was one met with much discourse. On account of her age, Duke Balfour faithfully enforced the decrees of their former ruler as the nation’s regent in her place. For two years, Vestry would remain in a deadlock with its adversaries, choosing to conserve its resources to feed its citizens. This stalemate would be broken the moment Queen Arwen officially declared her reign on her 16th birthday.

In spite of her youth, the young Queen began to call for radical changes within her country. Where her mother had chosen to remain on the defense, Queen Arwen ordered her army to reclaim all they had lost on top of seizing strategic assets such as foreign mines rich in iron or harbors still rich with the bounty of the sea. Many praised her successes, but poor farmers and middle class citizens gradually began to revolt as taxes hiked higher and higher in order to fund the war effort. Each attempt at a rebellion would be decisively nipped at the bud, and the Queen’s manner of funneling every resource into the army and neglecting agricultural and medical research continued. As a means to increase Vestry’s military might and weaken any potential future revolts, she eventually sent out a decree demanding for all relics and vestiges to be turned in and outlawed personal ownership of the magical instruments. When citizens began to flee the country due to the heavy taxation or relic seizures, a travel ban was quickly issued, and the country has been in lockdown ever since. Seven years later, Vestry’s fate continues down this uncertain path.

Lance Balfour

Commander

178cm

The son of Duke Balfour of Palmetta and the current highest ranking authority presiding over the militia. In contrast to the bright vermillion hair and golden eyes of his siblings, his white hair and pale red eyes mark him as an outlier within the House of Balfour. As an illegitimate child born between the head of a Ducal house and a prostitute, Lance Balfour was initially placed on the frontlines as a means of keeping him out of sight and out of mind. Given the then adolescent’s poor eyesight, it was no secret that the Duke expected the boy to perish on the battlefield. However, the Mad Dog of Palmetta made sure his family couldn’t ignore him whether it be due to his nickname earned from his infamously vicious manner of fighting or his reputation as a war hero for turning the tides at Fort Serenity after what seemed like an inevitable loss when their commander was slain. As he grew more and more distinguished, Duke Balfour could do little but begrudgingly acknowledge his bastard son and publicly applaud him as his pride and joy with gritted teeth.

In recognition of his heroic deeds, he was bestowed the Armor of the Lord of the Night, a vestige capable of rendering its wearer invisible and silencing their steps. Even when Queen Arwen assumed her rightful place as Vestry’s ruler, he remained loyal to the crown, tirelessly marching to foreign lands and only returning to place victory at her feet. He is a capable leader and speaks with a high degree of eloquence, but many nobles eye him warily. They are fearful, for he lacks even a shred of sanity underneath that mirthless visage. Even his own father and half-siblings do not trust him.

Seren Arclight

Royal Guard

170cm

The lovely Lady Seren serves as not only Queen Arwen’s personal guard but also as a close friend and confidante. Her every word exudes elegance, and the leaves and delicate pastries she selects for afternoon tea times are the finest that money can buy. As the eldest daughter of an Earl, she’s known the Queen since their early childhood days, and no one is quite as familiar with the Queen’s thoughts, desires, and darkest times as her favored guard.

That isn’t to say that the Lady’s position is one granted through the favoritism of the Queen. Compared to the Mad Dog of Palmetta, her strength is far more subtle and suited for one who guards rather than attacks. She remains acutely aware of every person who steps within her Queen’s vicinity, often catching and quashing any trouble before it even begins. Her tone is gentle but her words are barbed, subtly warning others to think twice before plotting against her liege. Those who approach Queen Arwen with ill intentions must answer to her blade, a one-handed sword that emanates a deathly chill and a promise to freeze whatever its sharpened edges touch.

Many older members of Arcana bear a deep hatred for the knight due to her involvement in the capture of Raeger Antwer.

Raeger Antwer

Arcana's Founder

187cm

Six years ago, a young merchant calling himself Raeger Antwer gathered together the founding fathers of an organization that would eventually operate under the name Arcana. Though full of passionate souls willing to lay their lives down for the promise of a brighter future, the organization’s numbers barely crept into the double digits, and many began to fear that their rebellion was fated for an early end.

The turning point of their dire situation would appear in the form of an adolescent carrying the very vestige that became the center of the organization’s operations as well as the origin of its name. Raeger never divulged the boy’s background even to his closest associates—a secret he would take to the grave—and it was unknown why he placed so much trust in Owen. However, few had much to say when they saw the adolescent’s obedience towards Raeger.

Utilizing the power of The Fool to travel about Vestry as he pleased, Raeger gathered individuals from all corners of the country regardless of their origins, even freeing prisoners if he saw any benefit from doing so. Many of Arcana’s systems were established by the man, including the repurposing of the Wanderer’s Labyrinth. As such, his reckless actions which led to his execution came as a great shock to most, being seen as uncharacteristic of the man who was normally so meticulous. Some believed him to have made a slew of rash decisions due to becoming impatient. Others left Arcana upon Owen’s rise to leadership due to their belief that there was foul play at hand.

Code by Nano