#canahi lore

[brutal-nemesis]

You already know you've got me invested. So a bunch of questions about your HRT magic system, whenever you've got the time:

- what does the ritual actually look like/involve?

- does the process look the same for both feminizing and masculinizing, or are they different?

- are there any effects that can't really be achieved using this form of HRT?

- how long does it take to build up effects? will you see some changes immediately, or is it slower?

More to come later, I'm sure 😁🧡

suit up bitches it's time for all the trans magic lore

What does the ritual actually look like/involve?

Essentially, person performing the procedure uses magic to force the patient's gonads (testes or ovaries) to produce more of the desired hormone, whether it's estrogen or testosterone. Unlike in our world, where people on E need to take T blockers to ensure that they see results (since T has stronger effects), this change in what the body itself is producing means that T levels would naturally decrease since the testes are producing more E. The actual procedure usually just involves the one performing it placing their hands on the patient's back near their spine and carrying out the spell. This typically takes five or so minutes, depending on how much the patient's natural levels need to be adjusted. The spell only lasts so long, so after a couple weeks it will need to be cast again. The spells themselves are called estrogen/testosterone production stimulation, EPS and TPS for short.

However, as magic advances, beyond the point it's at in Castys's early story and the entirety of Erebus & Terror, a new method is developed that alters the hypothalamus and pituitary glands instead, since they tell the rest of the body of what hormones to produce. This spell, called hypothalamus pituitary direction alteration (HPDA) only needs to be done once as the effects are permanent in the sense that they don't wear off, even after decades. However, it's much more complicated to carry out, so it takes longer to cast and is usually more expensive. The procedure itself usually involves the caster putting their hands on the patient's head and doing the spell for about 20 minutes.

It generally becomes standard practice for a patient to undergo at least a year of E/TPS in order to find the right balance of hormones for them before getting HPDA. The effects of HPDA can be altered later, but it's complicated enough that it's best to get it right the first time, hence using E/TPS as a trial run of sorts to figure out the best fit for each individual person.

Does the process look the same for both feminizing and masculinizing, or are they different?

Yes and no. The actual process is very similar, since it's just changing what hormones are produced, but adjusting the AMAB body to produce E and the AFAB body to produce T are different enough that most doctors specialize in one or the other. There's a lot more nuance to it than just turning up the hormone dial, so specialists in one or the other are skilled at helping bring about the wanted changes and preventing certain negative side effects.

Are there any effects that can't really be achieved using this form of HRT?

Since it's pretty similar to HRT here, it has the same limitations and effects, for the most part. Magic can certainly be used to help with things like top and bottom surgery (which sometimes don't need to be an actual surgery and are just a magical procedure), but neither form of HRT discussed above will completely change primary sex organs or massively alter skeletal structure.

How long does it take to build up effects? will you see some changes immediately, or is it slower?

It's a slow change, happening over the course of years, just like it is for people on HRT in our world. The body takes time to adjust and change on its own, and forcing it to do so quickly can have drastic consequences. At the start of E/TPS, all changes are closely monitored so that the levels of hormone production can be adjusted in order to suit the individual patient best and prevent side effects like emotional instability and blood clots.

[brutal-nemesis]

How do people use magic/abilities/special tech/etc. to improve the mundane parts of their everyday lives?

While not everyone can use magic, it still helps everyone out in daily life. Since spells can be stored in the class of minerals corresponding to their element, anyone can use enchanted mineral crystals to bring about various effects. Some of them are things we have here, like starting a fire for cooking or lighting up a room, and some of them are a little more ✨magical✨, like creating water that's at the perfect temperature for a bath or quickly defrosting frozen food (since ice magic is often used to keep food cold, though most places don't sell any pre-frozen food so it's more of a way to preserve ingredients you've bought or something you've made yourself).

These stones cannot activate automatically unless part of the spell on them sets criteria for activation such as light level, which costs extra, so most of the time someone needs to touch the crystal in order to give it energy and activate it. Certain ones should also be used with care and under adult supervision or serious injuries might occur!

People can buy these stones anywhere they would buy the associated goods, like crystals for preserving food and cooking at places such as butchers and produce sellers and crystals for lighting at places that sell furniture, and usually come in some kind of wooden holder so the crystal can be picked up without activating it.

[catnykit]

ooo interesting,this has way more lore than i thought,Nice!!

Abt casty being studied in the lab,do the lab has any morals of "we're doing this for the greater good" or is it just "lets fuck around and find out: no anesthesia edition"

Nah the lab is just fucking around. It also ends up being a sort of secret death row for most kingdoms, so the vast majority of the people who end up at that lab are criminals. The general populace don't even know about the lab's existence, as it's on some remote islands in the middle of the sea.

So the data gathered, and all the organs harvested from the dead, are shared with all participating kingdoms and likely used for good, the people there are not given any kind of comfort because they're there as punishment. Castys was the Pirate King when he was captured, but honestly the lab would have caught him even if he wasn't. They study "interesting" people on the DL ✨ but those are a rare occurance

[brutal-nemesis]

PLS give us the slave collar lore dump

Aight here we go boys

Slave collars were invented sometime in the early 700s (about 1200 years after the events of Erebus's story) and they're a metal ring around the neck with this design on the front:

Until they're put on someone, they just look like a small metal rune. The rune is pressed into the neck of the slave and it forms the ring, but those three prong things don't form until the slave recites their three commands. When they say the command, a prong grows and the spell forcing the slave to follow the command activates.

So a slave physically can't disobey their three commands, but any loopholes they can find are fair game, so you have to be careful when coming up with the commands. And you can't just slap one of these on someone while they're sleeping since they have to recite the rules themself or the collar won't work. Which means very fun and humiliating forcing them to say their commands as the collar is put on :)

[brutal-nemesis]

*triangle* Neteri, do you really think that you're a good doctor, scientist, or whatever it is that you "think" you are? You were in charge of the armputation; you messed that up so badly that Erebus was in extreme pain, and you almost collapsed when you failed to fix what you did. Couldn't you have given Erebus some sort of magical painkillers or something?

10/10 this is a sensitive topic everyone clap

“I know I messed up, alright?! I worked so hard to get here and I’ve already made a mistake like-” she takes a deep breath, “no, I can fix it. I just underestimated how complicated it was going to be, and I didn’t have enough energy to heal it all the way. I got too ahead of myself and both of us suffered for it. But,” she looks you in the eye, “I’m good enough to fix it. I’ll be more prepared next time. This won’t happen again.”

“And since it seems you aren’t aware, it’s a well known fact that anesthesia and magical healing don’t mix. Any sort of interference with the nerves can cause major problems in healing them with magic, and it can sometimes damage them beyond repair. I’m sure Erebus is aware of this because he has to have been injured or at least exposed to the situation of having to choose between healing something naturally with painkillers or healing something magically and enduring the pain. I’d rather he not have to suffer that much but this isn’t something I can do without using magic.”

[brutal-nemesis]

(off topic, but feel 4000% free to make an infodump of lore for Taiyorum bc 👀👀👀👀👀 uhhh I NEED it with my entire being (fr, you never have to feel like it's an imposition on us to infodump lore (for anything really tbh)) you're amazing and your world building is a million % appreciated and we love you <3)

(*/ω＼*) wow okay thank you let’s see...

I already sorta talked about Taiyorum here, though a lot of it was just in my terrible handwriting in the picture, so I could talk about some of that shit here so let’s go

It’s got a lot of greenery! Most of Xerna is rather desert-y, but being on a peninsula and on the other side of the mountains that prevent that part of the continent from getting much rain allows Taiyorum to have a more tropical climate. There are numerous parks and gardens all throughout the city

It’s a pretty international place, with ships and merchants coming from all around the world, so there are a ton of different cultures and races interacting. Even in Erebus’s time, when the world isn’t quite unified yet, Taiyorum was pretty globally connected

The cuisine shockingly involves a lot of seafood, which isn’t true for all of Xerna and is more of a Taiyorum thing. There’s obviously a lot of different cultures going on too, so you can get pretty much anything. For the most part, cooking has a lot of spices since being a trade city gives it access to them. And, per Xernan tradition, most food is eaten with a flatbread called suti which sort of acts as the utensil 

Xernans revere the sun greatly, and some say it’s the great Iridescent Dragon herself, bringing light and warmth to them. The sun brings life, and this reverence for it is why it’s the symbol of their empire and why Xernans are sometimes called “the people of the sun”. Their currency is even called “suns”

That’s all I’ve got off the top of my head, but I promise this shit’ll actually be in the story in a couple of chapters so you’ll see it there...eventually.

[brutal-nemesis]

Look at that it’s Erebus’s brand, the Erebrand

So yeah that’s the crest of the Xernan Empire. The word in the corner isn’t part of the brand I just wanted to show off my fun sexy alphabet. It just says “Xerna”. Maybe I will write other things at other times...who knows. But yeah that’s the brand! 

[brutal-nemesis]

I am always down for some lore so tell me about Taiyorum please!

PERMISSION TO LORE DUMP

First please take this drawing and random blurbs from this morning (sorry about my handwriting)

The biggest thing is that massive sandstone cliff along the west side of the city. It’s on a peninsula, so the rest of the city is surrounded by the sea/ports. The cliff is inlaid with Xerna’s crest made of various lightstone minerals. These minerals are also present along the base of the cliff. People from all over come to touch them and send their prayers to the sun and offer some of their energy to power the crest so it shines at night. This glowing sun in the cliff is why Taiyorum is called “The Midnight Sun”. The palace is under the crest where you can see those blocky-lookin things (I can’t draw buildings okay). Erebus is imprisoned somewhere in there :)

I’m too lazy to retype everything written up there but uh yeah

[brutal-nemesis]

Are there grocery stores in Taiyorum?

Lol not really. Most produce is sold in the various open-air markets that dot the city, with seafood and foreign goods being sold in the markets along the port, meat and vegetables in the central market, and spices and handmade goods generally along the cliff that marks the west border of the city. Indoor shops sell more specialty/expensive things.

[brutal-nemesis]

Tell us some more lore about Erebus’ world, I wanna learn 🤩

(Feel free to answer whenever you want)

Ahhhh thank you so much for asking (*/ω＼*) let’s see what we can talk about...

Let’s start with a map. People like maps!

Okay just an FYI this map is for like...some long amount of time after Erebus’s story takes place, so the kingdom divides aren’t quite what he knew them as (and obviously some kingdoms have ceased to exist/new ones have formed). Also things are probably not scaled properly. But! Nathar and Taiyorum are both marked and haven’t moved since then, so you can at least see how far Erebus is from home right now. This is in the southern hemisphere of the planet, Canahi, so the weather gets warmer as you go up.

For a bit of Castys lore, you can see Quibhass there in the bottom right, where his Ice Day piece takes place. That group of islands called Saika that’s in the middle of the sea is where the human experimentation lab is located that he’s in for the Glass Day and Spiral Day pieces. And you know what, for some context, how about a blackout poetry version of part of the timeline!

Okay so first of all, Erebus’s stuff takes place around the year 535 Elta, which is before a unified calendar existed. Elta means “broken” while Kyavi means “united” because, well before year 0 the world was sort of divided, but after year 0 everyone was all aware of each other and shit. Of course he doesn’t think of it as the year 535 Elta right now, but for my purposes that’s what it is. Castys is immortalized in one of those blacked out dates before year 0, but spoilers be a thing so it’ll just be a mystery when exactly that happened for now.

In 452 Saika is formed and Castys starts his horrible test subject hours! And for those who have been here for a while and remember Jairus (poor hiatus child 😔), his story takes place in 746 as you can see. So that’s how everything is organized timewise!

Sorry this wasn’t super Erebus focused, but I thought looking at how everything is connected would be fun! Thank you for asking (❁´◡`❁)

[brutal-nemesis]

What do the demons dragon counterparts look like?

More lore, more shitty drawings! Let’s dive in.

All dragons have the same basic shape:

You know, the standard Western-style one. Variations between species are most notably present in the horns, wings, and tail. They’re different colors and stuff too obviously.

Fire:

Flameo, hotman! Their wing membranes don’t actually have a straight up flame pattern on them, they have more like shifty fire colors on them. Like a mood light type thing? They glow faintly. Their scales are red-orange. Their horns are pretty basic, with one set of big ones and one set of tiny ones. As for their tails, they always have a flame burning on the tip. Unlike the Charmander line, they don’t die if the flame goes out. They have black eyes with orange pupils. Oh and they also breathe fire (wow)

Air:

These flying homies have lots of feathers at certain points on their bodies. They have them on their wings, tail, and backs of their legs. Their horns are like deer antlers. Their scales are light blue while their feathers are white and gray. They have gray eyes with green pupils. They can breathe concentrated blasts of air and whip up some nice winds with their wings. 

Lightning:

Here’s Jairus’s type of dragon! They have black scales but their horns, eyes, and wing membranes are bright yellow. The wing membranes are clear, but sometimes you can see a crackle of electricity in them if you look closely enough. Their horns are lightning bolt shaped if you can’t tell! And wowee-wow, they can breathe lightning bolts

Cold:

Chilly, chilly. Icicles adorn these pure-white dragons, and they grow back pretty quickly after being broken off. They have light blue eyes with black pupils and breathe blasts of cold air (the water in the air freezes so it’s kinda an ice crystal effect).

Water:

Lots of webbing here, including between their toes. They’re mainly aquatic and can breathe both underwater and on land. Their wing membranes have shifty colors like fire dragons, but instead it’s varying shades of blue and green. They have mottled blue-green scales and deep blue eyes with white pupils. The water jets they breathe can be really high pressure.

Earth:

Oops my geologist ass went OFF. Their scales are swirling gray and brown, with various minerals sprouting all over their bodies. Their wing membranes are made of small sheets of micaceous (yeah I know I spelled it wrong on there) minerals and they can’t actually fly with them. They also don’t have a breath weapon and instead can shoot the needle-like minerals from their tail. Since the minerals contain a toxic substance, these can poison you. Their eyes are dark green with pink pupils.

So that’s it for the aesthetics and a little about them in general! These I also might seriously draw in the future but def not until I’m done with this semester 🙃

Edit: @legallylibra ended up drawing some of them, which you can see here!

[brutal-nemesis]

Envy Demon

The cult inspired me to draw my little flying centipede! (in better quality)

These boys can latch on to the back of your neck and control you completely 😳 What they do while mind controlling really depends on their objective, but a lot of them simply wish to live as humans. Doing this is also how they feed, as all demons derive their nutrients from humans in one way or another. 

They don’t grow to be very big, just about as long as your hand at the max (too lazy to get my ruler okay). They’re found most often in humid environments, like swamps.

[brutal-nemesis]

What do each of the different kinds of demons look like?

Even more lore! :D

Well first of all, I’m sure you’ve already gathered, but there are seven types of demon, one for each of the deadly sins. Each type of demon is associated with a type of dragon, of which there are six, one for each of the elements. Demons are essentially fallen dragons, so their colors are associated:

(this is just a screenshot my lore document it’s a chaotic place)

Also blanket statement on demon eyes: they’re all just a solid color. So like a sloth demon’s eyes are just white orbs (o r b s). Lust demons are the only exception as their eyes are humanlike, just with purple irises.

First up we have Greed, because it’s the only one I’ve like, actually tried to draw.

I’m so terrified of these boys they got long arms and little legs, just creepy. The proportions are Like That because they’re supposed to be and not because I drew this on a geochemistry handout during class

Next is Wrath:

Notice the significant drop in artistic quality! The rest of them will be like this because I am Lazy and don’t want to try to actually draw them. But yeah wrath demons are the very standard demon look with the bat wings and the devil horns. Nekurai is hybridized with a wrath demon!

Now Pride:

They got: pointy ears. And lil spikes on their elbows. And lil tails. Probably lil fangs too. They are all white.

This one is weird: Gluttony

Okay so there’s this D&D monster called the gibbering mouther or something and gluttony demons are heavily based on those. Just a fleshy mass with too many mouths and friggin pseudopods.

It’s the tiny one, Envy!

They’re like... centipedes with dragonfly wings. The fun thing about them is they can latch onto a person and basically mind control them.

The one I’m feeling right now: Sloth

They do NOT have pupils but I drew it like that and I couldn’t stop laughing so the pupil stays. They’re aquatic and shockingly don’t do much.

As for lust demons, they pretty much look like regular humans with red skin and purple eyes. So I didn’t draw one because it would look like a stick person. They can also change their appearance drastically to fit the preferences of the human they’re trying to feed off of so they can pretty much look like whoever. Besides the eyes, the eyes are stuck purple.

So that’s it for those boys. Some of them have a bit more lore and some of them don’t have any, purely based on when I’ve decided to use them as plot devices. I think sloth and gluttony are the only ones that I’ve straight up never included in any of my stories besides very minor roles but honestly I can’t think of any lore for greed, wrath, or pride. So essentially, envy and lust really said 💅

[brutal-nemesis]

any lore you've been dying to share but never got the chance to?

Hmm well this is something that will probably never get explicitly talked about in canon: When someone is hybridized with either a dragon or a demon, their last name is changed to the name of the dragon/demon they were hybridized with. For example, Jairus’s full name used to be Jairus Anya, but now it’s Jairus Lahar.

More on Lahar, she used to be a fire dragon, and this is very apparent to me because lahar is the geological term for a volcanic mudflow. Which is not lightning-y at all. But when I actually nailed down the dragon colors I realized that fire dragons were not gonna be black and Jairus’s scales have ALWAYS been black and I didn’t wanna change it. Lightning ended up being black so that became the new element but the name Lahar stayed.

And while we’re talking about Lahar, I’ll go into why Jairus is considered “imperfect” as a dragon hybrid (I think this was only like vaguely mentioned in the beginning of one of the first chapters so nbd if you don’t remember). In most cases, dragon/demon hybrids are able to mentally converse with the being they’re bonded to, but Jairus can’t. It’s not his fault Elitar just didn’t do the spell quite right when she hybridized him (it’s a complicated one she did her best and the fact that he even survived is like really good). Will this feature come up somewhere later? Perhaps...

[brutal-nemesis]

I love E&T so much and really just want to know anything and everything about E and the world, do you know anything about the customs of the world? Holidays they celebrate? Can't wait for the next bit.

Well the sexy thing about the world is that it’s the same world that Jairus’s story is in so any lore there also applies here. The stuff about the demons and the elements of magic that I’ve written previously are part of this story too. Neteri’s main elemental attribute is water, by the way, which is the element used in physical magical healing. She’s going to make the most of these powers :)

As for holidays...idk if they’ll show up during this story, partially because I don’t know what season it takes place during since it’s not one of the main four ones (the season is important ~thematically~ for those hence Jairus’s story being called “End of Summer”). There are obviously a lot of different festivals in different cultures around the world so idk if there are any like consistent ones but I have at least one that I’ve thought about?

The fall holiday is called Bonuavis, and it’s sort of akin to Christmas where gifts are exchanged. There are typically large outdoor markets and festivals and it acts as one last hurrah before the cold of winter sets in. 

Now that I tink about it, the Xernan Empire, the place that just conquered Erebus’s kingdom, probably has some holiday on the summer solstice since the sun is very important to them (Xerna is known as “the empire of the Sun”).

OH YEAH I made a thing for the months a while back but I never posted it lol so here’s this:

The draconic months (the elemental ones) are named after the 6 great elder dragons, while the demonic months are named after the 7 great elder demons. The Day of Drottkia (the Iridescent Dragon Queen) is an international holiday that marks the start of the new year, and people give thanks to her for the past year through offerings and make wishes for the new one by burning wood tablets with prayers inscribed on them.

That’s all I can think of for right now but thank you so much for asking! (*/ω＼*) it means a lot

[brutal-nemesis]

Sloth Demon

Felt inspired to draw this one since it’s not humanoid (aka I can draw it)

Not as derpy lookin as the sketches, sadly. These guys don’t do much shockingly, and spend most of their time in the depths of the sea. When they do have to feed, they surface and attack human ships by hooking them with their tails and pulling them down. 

They can grow to be really large, up to 20m/65ft long :| Good thing they don’t surface too often.