Fireborn

Appendix: Glossary and Magic System

Races

Dragons: a Paxan mammal with both reptilian and avian traits; a martial race of that has evolved to transform into a humanoid during a harvest sun or a new moon; they either interbreed with humans or mate with other dragons

Dragonborn: a martial race of human-dragon hybrids; known for their primacy in battle and war; they serve the Gatál Empire by comprising the vast majority of their army

Dwarfs: a sub-race of humanoids who specialize in combat and physical labor, such as mining and crafting; males and females are almost indistinguishable from each other

Fireborn: a genetically manipulated race of Risa bred purely for combat; the society includes two castes: the intellectual elite and the barbarian hordes

Gatál: a sub-race of humans who specialize in wizardry and have access to parallel worlds to obtain technology well beyond their ken; they look like humans but have superhuman abilities

Humans: the Paxan equivalent of homo sapiens on Earth (Terra)

Risa: a peaceful sub-race of humans who possess the requisite biological systems to absorb natural elements and energy and convert them into mana (magic power) for spells

Wraiths: undead beings; mortal souls brought back from the dead against their will or by force; dark beings who live by draining/siphoning the emotional energy from the living; can only be killed by a diamond-edged blade or arrow in a way that would have killed them as a mortal

Places

Free World: a loose confederation of Paxan nation-states that stand against the Gatál Empire as allies; regime run by the Ministry of Minningen, a democratically elected body of officials

Gatál Empire: a collection of annexed nation-states and satellite states that belong to the Gatál; run by a powerful centralized, dictatorial monarch; an oppressive regime that uses slavery

Hades: a place of limbo on the ephemeral plane (not the physical world) in which people create their own worlds, usually ones of eternal torment and despair

Halden: a free village-state in the neutral zone between the Gatál Empire and the Free World; the Free World has sworn to defend Halden against Gatál attacks

Minningen: one of the major nations in the Confederation of the Free World

Paxus: the fictitious planet on which Fireborn and the Forlorn universes are based; all nations exist on Paxus (adj. Paxan)

Terra (also called Earth): a planet in a parallel plane of existence, which is similar to Paxus with some major differences (Example of parallel evolution: dinosaurs on Terra; dragons on Paxus)

(Please refer to the Map for more detail regarding geography.)

Classes

Academics: intellectuals who strive to increase their wealth of knowledge and use that information to teach, fight, defend, heal, and research how the world operates

Barbarians: primal warriors who focus on brute strength to win battles (in contrast to Fighters)

Clerics: religious warriors, healers, or magic users who use the power of their gods and goddesses to draw strength for spells and the acquisition of knowledge

Fighters: skilled warriors who use a combination of wisdom, intellect, tactics, and superior weapons and armor to win battles (in contrast to barbarians)