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[oj-swan]

Mana Naming Customs

Manifester naming customs originate from River naming her children Cardinal, Doe, and Minnow. There’s a common misconception, because of the generalized anesthesia technology that H.E.R.I.T.A.G.E. came up with later, that this was what River was suffering from and named her children the way she did because she didn’t remember any normal names – this is not the case.

Cardinal was born eight years after River was taken into captivity, eight years after the last time she ever saw the sun. She wanted her children to have some connection to the outside world, with the hope that one day they would see it and she’d be able to show them the things they were named after.

Over time, common Mana names have grown to take more possible categories than simply things from nature, including colours, places, concepts of freedom, time, food or characters from stories they like.

Once Manas become common knowledge, it’s very common for people with Mana names, even Baselines with names that are deemed too suspicious, to be discriminated against exclusively based on that. Because of this, Manifesters with Mana names will typically have a Baseline name on their birth certificate – often a derivative of their real name – and only be called their real name in their home and around other Manifesters.

[oj-swan]

Characters Post Links

Soooo it turns out I have too many characters to put in a reasonable list, so I'm going to break them up into groups and give each group their own post.

disembodied crying babies (in the basement of a church) - Coming soon! An alternative/indie/punk rock band started in 2016.

The OGs - Coming soon! Characters that originally started this universe, but over time have been pushed into more sidelined roles.

Primordials - Coming soon! A group of the first ever seventh graders to attend Lethe Lekh.

[oj-swan]

Worldbuilding Post Links

Statuses - Different types of people in my world, in relation to Aspect and Essence.

Organizations - Coming soon! Organizations in my world, in regard to Manifesters.

Mana Naming Customs - Coming soon! After living almost entirely in captivity for centuries, Manifesters have come up with their own way of naming children.

[oj-swan]

Hello! Welcome to my blog!

My name is Elliot, or Otto, or Lily, but no other nicknames. I'm nineteen years old, and currently writing a book - and have others planned, all taking place in the same universe.

Below the cut are links to posts I'm going to use to organize this blog so that it isn't impossible to navigate, hopefully.

Worldbuilding Post Links - A post full of links to posts detailing different aspects of my worldbuilding.

Story Post Links - Coming soon! A post full of links to posts detailing stories of mine.

Character Post Links - A post full of links to posts detailing characters of mine.

Used Tags List - Coming soon! A post full of different tags that litter this blog, and what they mean.

[oj-swan]

Statuses

Natural Statuses

Manifesters

Manifesters - previously known as Homo exemius, a term coined in the mid 18th century by the then head of H.E.R.I.T.A.G.E., shortly after the application of the term Homo sapien, now considered derogatory for the implication that Manifesters aren't human and the creation of a slur, Hex, derived from it - or "Manas", for short, are people who have both an Aspect and the Essence to be able to use it.

Aspect

For lack of better word, an Aspect is a Manifester's specific power. If someone has the ability to control or create fire, their aspect would be pyrokinesis, and they wouldn't be able to do anything but that.

Essence

Essence is essentially the battery to a Manifester’s Aspect, though without an upper limit. The longer they go without using their Aspect, the more Essence they will have saved up, and the more they will be able to use their Aspect. If their essence gets too low, Manifesters develop symptoms such as dizziness, fainting, fatigue, irritability, or death until/unless it gets back up. Not every Manifester makes Essence at the same speed.

People who make Essence quickly, regardless of their status, have been known to report discomfort when near electricity. Most common is a feeling of buzzing, just under their skin, all the time. In certain cases, there have been reports of people suffering from constant migraines.

Potentials

Potentials are people who could be Manas, but aren't quite - they only have one of the necessary things - either an Aspect and no Essence, or Essence and no Aspect.

Aspectbound Potentials

Aspectbound Potentials are people that have an Aspect but don't create Essence. For the majority of history, being Aspectbound is a death sentence, as people with Aspects need Essence to be able to maintain it, even if they don't use it - the same way a heart needs to pump blood.

There's a common misconception that Aspectbound Potentials have no Essence - this isn't quite true, they wouldn't be able to survive without any. Typically, they get a little bit from their parents, especially their mother. It isn't enough to be able to use their Aspect, but it keeps them alive for a number of years, depending on how much they inherit. The closer they get to their death, the more symptoms of low Essence they exhibit, such as dizziness, fainting, fatigue, irritability - just the same as a Manifester overexerting themself. The oldest recorded Aspectbound Potential lived to thirty-five.

Essencebound Potentials

Essencebound Potentials are people who create Essence but don't have an Aspect. They have the same side effects as other people with Essence, meaning a buzzing or migraines around electricity. Because they don't have an Aspect, there is nowhere for their Essence to go. As a result, they often have hair and fingernails that grow quickly, and they heal just a bit faster than most.

Baselines

Baselines are exactly what you'd assume - people without Essence or Aspect, what H.E.R.I.T.A.G.E.'s founder was operating under the assumption was normal, or, baseline when he was conducting his research.

Manmade Statuses

Trials

Over the course of the late 14th to early 21st century, H.E.R.I.T.A.G.E. performed experiments on Manifesters, Potentials, and Baselines alike, with the purpose of trying to figure out what makes a person create Essence, or be born with an Aspect. The motivations for these tests have always been murky, ranging from wanting to be able to recreate it for military purposes, to the desire to cure Aspectbounds. These people are referred to as Trials - they can be any natural status.

Echos

To avoid Manifesters using their Aspects to revolt in their Keeps, H.E.R.I.T.A.G.E. use specific, intense types of electromagnetic radiation - ones that stop them from producing Essence. There are side effects to constant exposure though, and the children of both Manifesters who spend even only a few months in a Keep, and guards and scientists, armed with protective gear, who've worked there for over two decades have been proven to be more likely to be born with a number of disabilities. The children born with disabilities because of their parent's exposure to said electromagnetic radiation are called Echos, and the as well can be of any natural status.