The Tourist's Guide to Sian (On twenty ravens a day)

The Continent of Sian: Sian is a minor island continent on a world that currently doesn’t have a name. It's divided into the provinces of Nuriko, Sakura, Daruun, Tira, Makoto, Nosinia, and Selphine.

Provinces of Sian: Provinces are run by a hereditary nobility and in most of them inbreeding has set in. Nobility of Sian: Mostly, as mentioned, inbred. The nobility of Sian is a laughing stock. Ineffectual rulers, they are plagued by upstarts and bullied by the Guilds.

Use-names: Families do, indeed, have "usual" last name but Sian dispensed with the usual method of heroes taking titles and replaced it with the practice of usenames in the interest of being PC. Thus, everyone unmarried has the right to create any usename they wish, preferably an original one, and it becomes their legal last name. It can be changed at any time, for any reason, but it costs ten ravens to get it changed in the books so it's a pain if you're just bored.

Major Cities: Guam (Sakura Province)
One Small Candle (Nosinia Provice)
Slip City (Nosinia Province)
Salad Fork (Selphine Province)
Ville (Tira Province)
The Nameless City (Sakura Province)
Reality (Makoto Province)
Capital Pink (Daruun Province)

Major Guilds:
Guilds have strong sway in Sian, perhaps too strong. They can override the edicts of a province, and usually rule their home city.
Guild Arkiko: Mind-magic guild of Sian, a reputation for ruthlessness and strict training. How Aphraell got into it is unknown. Home base is Slip City. Guild Magehome: The main magic-teaching Guild of Sian, home base is Ville. Guild Shadowstalker: Thieves' guild of Sian, not much is known about it, and there's a reason for it. Home base is somewhere in the Makoto province. Guild Evil Steppersons: Think about it. Home base is Guam.

Money in Sian:

Marriage in Sian:

A Brief History of the Continent:

The Randim Ocean:

The Islands:

Magic in Sian: There are several types of magic in the world of Sian. Thay can loosely be segretated into the following catagories: Sorcery, Nature, Ki, Divine, Psycker, and Magical Girl. These depend on various mindsets and power sources.

Power Sources: Humans, Gods, Demons, Nature. Things with potential.

Sorcery: Accounts for magic as Adriss Darkshine does it- magical words (Elvish, in fact) and then a command. Sorcery follows most laws of physics… that is to say, it works within them. For instance, Teleportation is just switching places with a You-shaped something else- hopefully air. A human’s power in Sorcery is dependant on their will, knowledge of what they’re doing, and inherant power.

Nature: Healing magic, defence magic, and like. Nyree is a user of Nature magic, as are Sianin Elves. Nature magic can also be used to make living objects grow, and can be used in that way as an attack (The vines that’re out to get you.). Little experimenting is done in this field, as those who use Nature magic tend to be rather gentle (Vegetarians, usually), and feel close to the elements they work with, so fear screwing up.

Ki: Asian-style focusing of the will to defend, attack, whatever. This takes a bloody lot out of the user, and should only be used in last chances over short periods of time. It can resemble Sorcery but does not require words as a focus. Divine: The gods of Sian are rather strange, but they are powerful. They can grant use of their power like a rental car to those they like. Those favored by the gods become extremely strong… but only until the God changes his/her mind. This happens a lot. There’s insurance for it.

Psycher: The magic of Arkiko. This field includes telepathy, telekinesis, empathy, and most words that involve “tele” or “pathy”. Not Teleportation however, unless you want to be in a coma afterwards. Hard but useful. This also contains illusion magics (A form of projective telepathy) like Aphraell has. However skilled a Pych-Mage becomes however, they are rarely powerful and usually rely on talismans and charms as boosters. Arkiko is littered with such objects- hence the strength of those within its boundaries.

Magical Girl: Don’t be fooled by what you’ve been told. These girls have sold their soul and dignity to demons in return for their own magical powers! Why would demons do this? Easy. Immortals get bored a lot.

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