The World

History

Although most of the past is shrouded in mystery, it is well known that modern human society is far from the first example of civilization in the world. Ruins of ancient societies litter the wilderness, brought down by unknown forces in the past. These ruins are filled with marvels of ancient magic and highly sought after by the powers that be. They also have become lairs for some of the most dangerous crytures around.

Nobody knows what caused the collapse of these ancient empires, but pieces of their stories are starting to emerge with every ruin that’s explored. The land is also dotted with evidence of massive catastrophes in the past, often teeming with an abundance of strange phenomena.

Humans have long lived as prey to the dangerous magical beasts that rule the wilderness. Their normal state is that of nomads - small groups who migrate from one campsite to another, harvesting what resources they can scrape together, before they catch the attention of local cryture packs.

This whole paradigm changed with the discovery of binding crystals. With the ability to bind, conjure, and command crytures of their own, humans now had a viable means of defending themselves from the dangerous wilderness. They defended their camps, rather than wander or flee, and learned agriculture to have a fresh harvest of resources regularly.

Even greater change came with the binding of mythic crytures - immortal beings that rule over regions and landmarks, apparently with a supernatural claim to their lordship. Upon being bound by a conjurer, that claim was transferred to the conjurer, giving them never-before-seen power to calm the lands of their domain, as well as arcane secrets known only to the mythic crytures.

Society

Human settlements are usually ruled by a noble class, composed of mythic conjurers and their followers. Their influence is far from ironclad, however, and most of their resources are spent on keeping the dangerous wildlife out of civilized areas, leaving the common people to govern themselves for the most part. Conjurers fill a role akin to knights or militiamen, and are often tasked with patrolling the noble's territory for wandering crytures.

Organized institutions have begun to spring up across allied territories, giving rise to orders of conjurers, and guilds for common craftsmen and laborers. Mythic conjurers also establish semi-religious orders, passing on the divine revelations of their mythic cryture, as well as secret magic and crafting techniques that have been revealed to them.

Outside of these settlements, primitive tribesmen still live nomadic lives, with few conjurers to defend them. They sometimes come to the towns and villages, bringing exotic resources for trade, harvested from other regions they migrate through. Some are warming up to the idea of giving up their nomadic lifestyles and settling under a mythic conjurer's domain, but most are still reluctant to embrace such a change.

Crytures

Strange forces in the world have transformed the familiar, mundane lifeforms that we know, into magical mutant super-animals, known as Crytures. Crytures are sentient, and a bit more intelligent that the animals we're familiar with - although not truly sapient, like humans.

Their bodies are also unstable, causing them to rapidly decompose when the animating spirit leaves their body. Dead crytures quickly dissolve into magical liquid or dust, known as cryture essence, which is a key component in performing magic for humans. Bound crytures revert to their binding crystals when killed, rather than dissolving.

Every cryture is infused with magic of 16 different types, as follows.

Aberrant

Air

Beast

Celestial

Construct

Death

Fairy

Earth

Plant

Fire

Ice

Lightning

Martial

Poison

Psionic

Water

Subcrytures

The wild countryside is teeming with sedentary life. Besides the usual fruits and vegetables, your characters might also find large fungi that sprout edible blooms, as well as things known as lithids, and calcids - unusual growths of stone or bone, that bloom with salty or sugary "candy." There are also Carnids - lumpy, slug-like animals with no more intellect than a jellyfish. These odd "plants" are often farmed by humans, just like any other crop. Some believe that crytures evolved from these lower lifeforms, while others think they are devolved forms of crytures. Collectively, these are called Subcrytures.

With the addition of cryture essences, mutated varieties of these subcrytures can also spring to life. When wild crytures fight each other, they often leave behind essences of their prey, which stains the soil with magical properties. Not only does this supercharge the growth of anything that grows there, it also causes them to mutate in much the same way that crytures have. These mutant subcrytures can produce valuable components with wondrous effects, as well as dangerous hazards to mankind.

Tree-sized subcrytures may also undergo such mutations, giving them unusual properties that make them useful as building materials. Some may even transform into deadly carnivorous monstrosities, or hypnotic blooms that may be more dangerous than the crytures themselves.

Herbids

Subcrytures that fall under the normal type of plants are known as Herbids. They absorb energy through photosynthesis, and get nutrients through root systems. Some produce flowers with nectar for pollinators, or might bear fruit to carry their seeds. Trees, shrubs, flowers, fruits, vegetables, and vines are counted among herbids, to name a few. They are especially favored as food by crytures such as Arbo and Nimbaah.

Fungids

Lifeforms such as mushrooms, molds, and other fungi are classified as Fungids. They typically gain nutrients from the remains of dead herbids and carnids, or as parasites on living organisms. They usually spread by releasing spores into the air, which take root on anything that can provide enough nutrients and moisture to sustain them. Crytures like Yorb and Glarva are fond of fungids as a food source.

Carnids

The closest thing to mundane animals in the Crytures world are called Carnids. They may bear a resemblance to familiar animals, but have lost most of their senses, along with any semblance of intellect. They may take the form of lumps or mounds, which creep around while grazing on grass, or as small bodies that latch onto trees, sucking the sap from them to grow lengthy chains of meat, which fill a similar role to fruit. Some are entirely sedentary, and may spawn small "nuggets" that creep around, collecting food to bring back to the main organism. Psykit and Kitmer are examples of crytures who favor carnids as food

Lithids

Lithids are stone-like organisms that often resemble plants in their structure. Some are composed of rocky stems that grow "flowers" with rubbery petals. Many of them grow crystals, which absorb sunlight for photosynthesis, while others absorb nutrients from unliving stone, or parasitize other subcrytures for sustenance. Most of them produce a kind of sweet or salty "candy" that serves the same purpose that fruit would in plants. These candies are a favored snack for crytures such as Flyl, Snudolf, and Horpit.

Calcids

Some subcrytures, known as Calcids, appear to be made of bone, horns, or other hard organic structures. They may absorb nutrients through roots or filter feeding, while some of them generate energy with more unusual methods, such as capturing vibration from the wind. They sometimes have fleshy bits that are edible for humans and crytures. Ossites, corals, barnacles, and clams are examples of such organisms.

Sectids

Subcrytures that have a chitinous outer shell are known as sectids. Most of them are very small, mobile, hive-based organisms, such as bees or ants. These sectids often survive by grazing on local herbids and fungids. Others are larger and live solitary lives predating on smaller subcrytures. The largest ones are usually sedentary, and may be carnivorous.