Hi. Where I've been, where I now live. If you care.

Story Status

PYFHO Ch.7 - 1,893/7,000 Words
RL Ch.3 - 2,118/7,000 Words
Bulwark Ch.1 - 364/7,000 Words

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You guys sorta win. I'll stop asking your opinion now. :3 But I suppose I'll still just post whatever I want to post. I'd really appreciate if people would un-watch me if they don't care about my work though, because it's kind of worse when people don't care about your activity /so much/ that they're too lazy to take you off their watch list. -_-U

Hi, this is a glossary of standard terminology you're going to encounter in my book Rational Lunacy. I'm posting in a journal seeing as it's already pretty long and will only get longer. I'll add more to it as the book is written and questions come up. I hope this stuff doesn't bore you too much.

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Rational Lunacy's Supernatural Glossary

-Soul Related Terms-

Soul District:
A nation in the immortal realms that is made up of a wide variety of species. The majority of their citizens, however, are made up of humans that did not venture to the 'mortal realm' (our real world) and had their magic drained, lifespans shortened, and memory of their heritage and origins lost.
They retain nearly exclusive rights over the mortal world, as the 'souls' of the magic-less humans are considered citizens of the Soul District. The nation is responsible for most trade between mortals and immortals, and is very wealthy because they are really the only ones who can funnel mortal technology to other immortal nations.

They also have a well-maintained, if not biased, immigration system. Over time they have become the most diverse nation in the immortal realms.

Soul:
For all intents and purposes, a 'soul' is a citizen of the immortal nation the Soul District. It is an embodiment of magical energy that has an almost backward parasitic bond with the mortal in which it lives. Though the mortal is the host for the soul, it is also the one that feeds on the other. When a mortal sustains emotional damage, it is recorded onto the soul. The mortal also leeches off of a soul's energy to heal severe physical damage, and to extend their lifespans. On the other hand, a soul mimics its mortal's physical appearance and adopts personality traits from it. When attached to a mortal, though the soul can venture out of it, it can only retain a corporeal form because of its bond to its 'host'. Because a soul is nothing more than pure magical energy, without its bond to a 'host' it loses its sentience and itself as it becomes apart of the natural energy of the world.

Tamer:
This is medical jargon for 'mortal', more specifically for a soul's host. It is not commonly used in the immortal realms and is usually only heard from trained soul healers. Derived from the idea that a mortal 'tames' a soul and focuses it into a sentient being instead of simply raw energy.

Soul Medic:
A bottom of the food chain type worker for the Soul District. A soul medic is a mortal who happened to be born without a soul. Because of this they can be rehabilitated in the immortal realms, acquire magic, and become immortal realm citizens full time if they so choose. Typically they are left in the dark about this knowledge until such time as they are required to take on the job of soul medic. Not all are needed, though they are not as numerous as regular mortals there are enough of them that a handful never are 'used' and remain unaware of the immortal realms their entire life.

This 'job' is considered a civic duty, and when you are called upon to perform it, there is not much chance of getting out of it. It's sort of akin to trying to get out of being drafted into the military. There is always the option for the would-be medic of revoking their immortal realm citizenship, but it's usually a lengthy, arduous legal process, and afterwards they are strictly mortal and lose out on any benefits of their dual citizenship.

Their actual job is to tend to the wounded souls in their assigned 'zone'. These souls will approach them for a healing. Once assigned they are responsible for any and all souls while they are in their zone. Once a soul leaves the medic's 'zone' they are no longer their responsibility.

Soul Surgeon:
Middle management! A soul surgeon is a 'ure immortal' who has a larger capacity for magic than a typical medic who was a 'mortal born without a soul'. They work with a team of four other surgeons to manage a region and take on more difficult cases. Not a civic duty where the person performing the job is forced to take it on, it can be taken on by any immortal realm citizen who was not born in the mortal realms, so that they can perform the more serious cases required of them. Soul Medics cannot, thusly, be promoted and are stuck in their position until they are allowed to retire.

Chief:
Step up from Surgeon, a chief is the head of a region and commands the team of surgeons that then manages it. They are considered the last resort for 'serious cases' before Crispin is called in. They also carry some political status as they co-run a region alongside a governor and are handpicked by Crispin.

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-Geographical Terms-

Zone:
Smallest division of land in the mortal realm. Its size depends on population and the votes of immortal folks who elect to live in the mortal realm. Sometimes if a zone encompasses a city or town, where the population is very dense, multiple medics will assigned to the same area.

Region:
The 'in-between' measurement of land, it is required to contain at least ten zones but is not allowed to have more than twenty. Ruled by a Chief and governor hand chosen by Lord Crispin Walters (head of the Soul District), these fluctuate greatly in size. The soul medic distribution is decided by Crispin's council of advisers and is often the subject of much controversy. Some regions with an extremely dense population in spots are understaffed while others that have scarcely any people are given too many medics who are then given cushy salaries and sit around twiddling their thumbs.

Territory:
Largest measurement of land, it contains at least two regions, and at the most five. Ruled by a 'Demi-lord' of Crispin's choosing.

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-Random Slang-

Healer:
It has two common meanings. It denotes usually any person in the medical field, whether they operate on immortal beings, or souls. But typically it is slang for a mortal born without a soul, seeing as once they are needed they are immediately drafted into a medic position whether they want the job or not.

Socio:
This is common slang for an elf or a person of elvish heritage. Originally elves were highly stoic, impassive to the point of being the nearly emotionless. Derived from the word Sociopath, it refers to their apathetic, aloof nature, and is considered extremely derogatory/racist.

Nelf/Nelves:
A shortening of 'Neo-Elf' and isn't really considered derogatory except by the more 'C' people. It's sort of the equivalent of calling someone black as opposed to african-american.

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-Different Races-

Orc:
Orcs are one of the five main races in the immortal realms. They are highly industrial, and were once well respected for the technology they created. However, they have always been very blood thirsty and short-tempered. They become restless after too long without any bloodshed. Though war is profitable they are smart enough to know that it would not be wise to sustain a constant war with the other nations. Instead they killed only a handful of people from various races over the years. Whereas they consider this 'showing restraint' and being quite generous, eventually their relations with other races wore thin and currently they are shunned from any political gatherings and are nearly unanimously hated.

Appearance-wise: They aren't much taller than humans, but have green skin, sharpened teeth (especially their canines that hang over their bottom lip), bulkier bone structures and a far greater muscle density. Their ears are short and slightly pointed.

Elf:
Elves are one of the five main races in the immortal realms. Next to the Soul District, they are the most well off and governmentally sound. Their technology is a bit way-laid due to their pacifistic nature, though they have made great leaps and bounds as a largely scientific culture. Most technology they have has been imported and modified from the mortal realms or from orc nations or the Soul District. They were originally nearly emotionless in their quest to make great scientific or philosophical discoveries. It was only in the past hundred years that they started to loosen up a bit, though they still tend to come off as 'repressed', 'haughty', or 'reserved'.

During those hundred years of 'branching out' a large portion of the elves broke away from the main society and formed their own nation in which they could be free from the oppressive cultural standards of their elders. This newer nation is much more open to new ideas, and revolves around the concept of free speech, free thinking, and especially free feeling. They are usually referred to as Neo-Elves or 'Nelves'.

Appearance-wise: Male elves tend to average out at around seven feet tall whereas the females are at around six feet. They are unusually pale, and their skin is nearly translucent. Their waists, arms, and legs are much longer than a human's, giving even the 'over weight' elf the appearance of being thin.

*Note for Nelves: Due to them settling in the hotter, desert regions, they have lost their pale skin and are more of a dark graham-cracker brown. But their skin is still fairly translucent, so the blue of their veins looks kinda weird under their brown skin.

Satyrs/Nymphs:
These guys are sorta background critters. They're not too far advanced socially or technologically speaking. There are too many individual tribes competing for majority and no single 'nation' to speak for itself. So they're not really considered in political gatherings. At the most they're only ever recognized when they stop squabbling with each other and try to cause trouble for the leading nations.

Humans:
Humans are one of the five main races in the immortal realms. Aside from controlling both the Soul District and the mortal realms, they are still the youngest of the races (though they are definitely older than the Nelves). They are hard working, diplomatic, and widely distributed. To say they are highly engaged in economic affairs would be an understatement. They have practically a hand in every market and trade with darn near everyone. Though they are generally polite and friendly with all the nations/races they interact with, it is due to their enormous financial success that they tend to be resented. While some consider them 'successful' others think that they are monopolizers, and hoarders.

~The other two 'main races' are Werewolves and Dwarves, I'll add them later.~

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