Corriyami

Corriyami

Since I am in a mood, I do want to explain about a very important thing to the Cryas Chronicles mythos:

Corriyami.

''For as long as the people of Umbralus and Illumalus have called those two realms their home, there has always been the constant fear of a substance that exists in both realms. Some saw it as a sick creation of a deity, others saw it as just a natural plague of the world. Whatever they believed of its origin, one thing was clear throughout history: its horrific effects on animals and their fellow kin.''

Corriyami as it is more understood in the modern times is an extremely dangerous mutagenetic organic substance. It has been recorded in coming in two states of matter: an extremely dense fog and as a semi-fluid liquid state. The fog form of Corriyami is significantly denser than air, so tends to be found relatively close to the ground. The fog state tends to be most commonly observed in caverns, low level areas on the surface, or leaking out of victims. If enough of the fog state is present, it will condense down to the liquid state. The liquid state can range in size from puddles to massive lakes, generally the most common form of the substance. Typically, researchers and inhabitants have noted its tendency to exist in areas where rainfall cause the substance to move down, eventually collecting into many areas such as valleys, caverns, or below sea-level lake beds. Corriyami in of itself is denser than water, so will fall to the lower level of bodies of water as the water pushes it down. The color of the substance tends to be that of a primarily violet-blue hue. Many have noted a very pungent, musky, rotten like scent in areas where Corriyami has been noted to be present.

What makes Corriyami so dangerous and feared by all is what it does to its victims. As mentioned, Corriyami specifically targets lifeforms that have blood in their systems, so the likes of plant life and insects are immune to the substance. Thus, all manner of animal and intelligent life-forms that require blood, like Umbrians, Illumins, and Aunakins are susceptible to Corriyami. For it to infect a victim, the fog or liquid state must be absorbed into the body via contact with the skin. When it enters the victim's body, the substance will travel through the victim's body, seeking a pathway to the individual's brain via the victim's nervous system and bloodstream. As soon as Corriyami makes contact with the skin, the body does two things. The first is to alert the victim via pain receptors firing off to alert the individual. Once the alerts are sent, the body then creates adrenaline in order to give the individual a fighting chance to escape from the source of the Corriyami and fuel the immune system in order to seek and destroy the substance. Due to the co-existence of Corriyami and life-forms on Umbralus and Illumalus for hundreds of millions of years, the immune system of the lifeforms there are quite capable of combating and destroying the substance. But in return, the Corriyami has grown resilient and persistent, more or less brute forcing its way through the body.

When enough can make it to the brain, the Corriyami will infect the victim's brain, sending signals to the body to cease the immune system's attempts to further combat the invasive substance. This begins what many know as 'Corruption'. The first step of Corruption is the shutdown of the pain receptors, carefully manipulating the victim's nervous system in order to do so. The individual for the time being will still have control of their body as the Corriyami allows the body time to heal from the initial assault. As the body heals, the Corriyami will slowly set the foundation for the next big step by eating at non-vital fluids and organs of the body. This allows more Corriyami to form and spread throughout the body as it is being carried through the blood stream. As it does this, it begins to supplant the immune system, consuming and converting white blood cells. Should any diseases begin to enter the body, the Corriyami will merely consume them. A cruel form of protection for the victim. Once the immune system is fully taken and enough of the substance has moved throughout the body, inserting into areas where the muscles of the body are, the terminal stages of Corruption can commence.

Full Corruption, as it is diagnosed as, begins with Corriyami hijacking the motor controls of the victim via their muscles. As it does this, it will then begin the process of supplanting the blood cells in the individual. Despite the destruction of blood cells, the Corriyami will take on the role of the blood cells via carrying vital air molecules and nourishment thought-out the body where it is needed. The substance still needs the victim alive for as long as possible. Once all the blood in the victim has been converted, the victim is no longer in control of their actions. Unable to talk, unable to move of their own accord, they merely exist now as a living incubator for Corriyami. At this point, the Corriyami will start to move the victim around. While it does need to infect other organisms in order to continue the cycle, it is careful at how it interacts with other lifeforms. While pain receptors have been completely destroyed at this point, the Corriyami is careful with how it engages.

As the victim, dubbed 'The Corrupted', are moved around, their body will begin to secrete out bits of excess Corriyami that is made in the body. Should the Corriyami determine that a lifeform poses a threat to the victim, it will do what it can to keep the victim from being killed via mutating parts of the body to defend itself. Aggressive tactics are implemented to either scare off would be attackers or to attempt to harm and spread the substance. However, should this not work, the body will begin to create liquid blisters of Corriyami laced fluids upon the skin, where they will eventually burst and spread some of the substance onto attackers. If all else fails, the Corrupted will retreat. In circumstances where the Corriyami can happen upon a harmless lifeform, it will secrete Corriyami from the body to then spread to another victim. This process of multiplying in the victim's body and spreading the substance to others while also keeping the Corrupted alive goes on for days. During this time, the Corriyami begins to eat at more and more fluids and organs in the body. Once it is nearing the end of running out of parts of the body to consume, the Corriyami will seek to find an area close to populated areas or an area with high concentrations of Corriyami. Once there, the victim remains motionless as the Corriyami finally kills the victim. From there, the rest of the organic matter is consumed from within at a rapid pace. With this rapid consumption of the body, gaseous Corriyami is expelled from the with much force, spreading as much around. Once it is done, all that remains is the skeleton of the victim. The cycle has been complete and the Corriyami can begin anew.

The highly volatile and high energy nature of Corriyami makes it relatively difficult to destroy. While the immune systems of life forms on Umbralus and Illumalus have evolved overtime to create special antibodies that exist solely to destroy Corriyami, they are not full proof and can be completely overwhelmed if too much of the substance enters into the body. Even if an individual can escape and not suffer Corruption, the individual is left in a sickened state for quite some time as the body gets weak from expending so much energy to have the immune system fight in overdrive to destroy any trace of the substance. Corriyami has been found to be immune from any sanctioned, conventional means to fight bacterial and viral infections. However, it does not mean it is fully immune from being destroyed. From what few tests have been allowed under the strictest guidelines, some chemicals have been found to be able to destroy Corriyami. However, those tended to be chemicals of extreme danger in themselves to lifeforms and even then, required a high amount as the substance will still prove resilient from chemical attacks as the Corriyami would merely try to convert whatever chemical particles tried to breach its structures. Effectively, the substance has to be overwhelmed. Radiation is the most effective means of destroying the substance, but once again, still requires a high amount as the substance's structure is resilient enough to stand strong.

Cryas Chronicles Characters

Since I got that fancy new logo for my OC mythos, I feel it is time for me to talk a bit about it. More specifically, some of the characters!

So, the thing with Cryas Chronicles is that since it is my OC mythos, some things are bound to change, and more characters will be added. At the very least, I'll introduce characters that so far play a big role in the first story. First story you say? Yeah, I so far in mind have two main stories in the mythos, though the second is still in need of a lot more work and thought. The first story is so far known as 'Cryas Chronicles: Vicissitude Journey'. The best way to summarize the first story is a road-trip between best friends that eventually becomes a race against the clock to prevent a natural, global catastrophe. Fun stuff.😎

With that said here are the main protagonists of the story:

Auron Compallado (Male, Age 20, Umbrian)

Nym Elapimae (Female, Age 19, Umbrian)

Esuna Sanadora (Female, Age 49, Umbrian)

Taylor Tigrise (Female, Age 14, Illumin)

Remaru Crisofil Arcana (Male, Age 53, Umbrian)

Valkyrie Aren (Female, Age 30, Illumin)

Dalibor Viacido (Male, Age 32, Illumin)

Ulric Zorrosune (Male, Age 16, Illumin)

Norocier (Female, Age 543, Corrian) (Credit: @masterartlocked)

Zembaairos Chaarland (Male, Age 1998, Jrukoshn)

Apologies for the wildly different forms of art of each character. As of right now, the only art of a character I have personally drawn that is their official design is Nym. Auron, need to maybe be updated with a few small things. Norocier is one I need to get off my tush to draw her updated look, which is why I used a commission my friend Nicole made to show her. Everyone else needs to be heavily updated in some way, shape and form of varying degrees. Beyond that, yeah! Here they all are. 😁✌️

Dark Embrace Powers and Abilities

In this entry, I'd like to go over the powers, abilities, and aspects of the Dark Embrace for Hsien-Ko and Mei-Ling as they are quite a big part of Cryas Darkstalkers lore. To start out with, official ref sheets of their designs to help visualize some things that will be discussed:

To start things off, 'Dark Embrace' (Xié è De Yōngbào) is a technique known as a 'Burst'. Burst is the term used by beings in the Cryas Chronicles reality in regard to the ability of using stored potential energy in the individual to invoke a power-up in the individual. This power-up can simply be a boost to aspects of the individual's capabilities or manifest in a transformation in the user. For Hsien-Ko and Mei-Ling, the Dark Embrace manifests as a transformation invoked by their Qi, mutated Corriyami, and the 'shadow selves' that were created in them thanks to the mutated Corriyami within. The appearances they take on invoke the looks of beings that would later come to be known as Corrians.

Once both sisters have enough potential energy to initiate the Burst, one sister can trigger the transformation and cause both to transform. Later on, through training they find a way to where only one sister can transform and the other can hold on to their stored energy to tag in later better utilize their stored energy in a strategic manner.

When Hsien-Ko uses the Dark Embrace, her physical strength is bolstered to further heights, allowing her to overpower quite a number of physically powerful individuals in close quarters combat. Not only that, her stamina and endurance are increased to allow her to tank her way through hits with greater ease, allowing her to get into the thick of battle and power on through with great fervor. Another benefit is her healing factor is hastened, allowing her to recover from horrible wounds quicker to allow her to get back into the battle. While it is unknown if Hsien-Ko can regrow body parts while in the Dark Embrace should they be severed, it is theorized that should the limb still be in one piece, she could attach it back and her body could re-attach to the limb. However, neither sister is in a position nor desires to test this theory.

(credit: @o-corvo-art)

An interesting quirk of the Burst is how Hsien-Ko's sleeves can move and function. While Hsien-Ko has always been able to move her sleeves with manipulating her Qi, in the Dark Embrace they move in ways as if they have a mind of their own. The sisters theorize it is Hsien-Ko's 'shadow self' that takes control of the sleeves during the Burst, allowing Hsien-Ko to more focus on what her body is doing. Because the shadow self is a part of her psyche, it synchronizes better with her movements and makes her quite a dangerous foe to face. Speaking of shadows, if Mei-Ling attaches to Hsien-Ko while in the Dark Embrace, she can call forth the Qi and Corriyami in Hsien-Ko's body in the form of an energy mass that is referred to as a 'shadow'. This mass of energy is able to be manipulated to take on the form of fully functioning limbs, weapons of varying kinds only limited by the imagination, or they can attach to the inner lining of Hsien-Ko's sleeves and drape out to give her 'wings' of sorts. These wings allow for Hsien-Ko to fully be able to fly.

(Credit: @itsununnusart) Initially, this shadow mass was only able to be called forth by Mei-Ling, but overtime as Hsien-Ko improved her capabilities with the Dark Embrace she eventually found a way to do it herself. This effectively gives her six functioning limbs to work with, making her incredibly dangerous if she is fresh and ready for battle. Another noteworthy aspect of the Dark Embrace, and the mutated Corriyami in general, for Hsien-Ko is how the influence and voice of her inner jiangshi, Xienian, are effectively nullified. However, cautions are still taken to assure she doesn't taste blood in case that still triggers this inner darkness to come forth.

(credit: @masterartlocked)

Mei-Ling, like Hsien-Ko gets a notable increase to her physical capabilities and stamina, able to match up more to her younger sister's base form. However, that pales in comparison to the other profound changes to her. The immediately noticeable feature of Mei-Ling's Dark Embrace is the shadow mass on her. When she initiates the Burst, her arms melt away as the Qi and Corriyami in her body sprout from where her arms used to be. During this Burst, her shadow becomes her arms. These shadow limbs make Mei-Ling an incredible dangerous foe to face down. These limbs are quite powerful as they are able to pulverize bodies, shatter rocks, and even pierce metal. Not only is it strong, but it is very resilient. While it can be cut off, the shadow will grow back fairly quickly from the stub left on Mei-Ling’s body, without causing pain to the jiangshi spirit. Due to their amorphous nature, they can change shape per Mei-Ling's will. Beyond simply taking on the shape of normal arms and hands, they can change size and length per her will. Should she need to, she can change the shadow to take on the form of varying weapons, of which are many thanks to her knowledge as an enthusiastic weapon master. However, one of the most prominently used forms of her shadow is that of a dragon. This 'shadow dragon' is basically a corrupted mirror image of the memory of seeing her mother's dragon form the day she sacrificed herself. It is a cathartic way for not only her mother to still be aiding her in a way, but for this corrupted image to pulverize her foes with great ferocity.

(credit: @o-corvo-art)

Beyond the shadow, another notable trait of Mei-Ling in the Dark Embrace is the astronomical increase in her magical powers. Not only are her Xianshu arts increased in their potency but so are the many magi artes she learned from her friends and allies in the other reality. So great are her magical capabilities in the Dark Embrace, she is capable of even using the powerful Jrukoshn Aarts with relative ease.

(Credit: Bunny_Bones BunnyBones ✨COMMISSIONS CLOSED✨ (@Bunny_Bones_) / Twitter)

A shared aspects with Hsien-Ko and Mei-Ling in the Dark Embrace is the fact that due to the nature of how they obtained this Burst, both sisters are immune to the Corruption inflicted by Corriyami.

Powerful as the Dark Embrace is, it is not without limitations. Like all Bursts, it requires a certain amount of stored potential energy in the user in order to even make use of the Burst, of which the amount varies between each individual, each Burst, and their skill with the Burst. Once the Burst is active, the user only can only keep the Burst active for as long as there is enough stored energy to fuel the Burst. With practice, the energy consumption can be made more efficient to keep the Burst going longer, but eventually the reserves will run dry. Normally once the pool of energy is gone, the Burst will force the user to deactivate the Burst. However, individuals can force the Burst to break past this limitation and keep it going once the potential energy is gone. However, this is incredibly dangerous as the Burst is then relying on the user's own life forces as a means to fuel the Burst. Should the user recklessly keep this up, it can kill the individual. Hsien-Ko and Mei-Ling nearly had this happen to them in the Void Labyrinth, the Burst only shutting off once they fell unconscious after a great ordeal. Should this happen, individuals can be left in a comatose like state as their bodies try to recover and stabilize their energy.

Hsien-Ko and Mei-Ling Backstory

On 1730 AD, February 17th, fraternal twin sisters were born to Shào Míngxiá (邵明霞) in the village of Xiān Mén Cūn (仙门村). Before the sisters were born, their father was killed in an incident where he and several individuals were guiding and protecting a caravan of merchants to their village. He and several were killed by monsters of the night known as Darkstalkers. His name was Shào Xiāngzǐ (邵湘子). Happy with the birth of her daughters, Mingxia named them 邵美玲 (Shào Měilíng) and 邵仙姑 (Shào Xiāngū). Hsien-Ko and Mei-Ling grew up among the Shao family, whom have for centuries have had a long tradition and association with the mystical ways of 仙術 (Xiānshù). As they grew up, Mingxia saw via their Qi that they had great potential in them which was of great relief as she was wanting to not only assure their safety, but also keep to the Shao family traditions and name. Since they were able children, Mingxia trained them to become 仙树师 (Xiān shù shī), practitioners of Xianshu. Mingxia herself was a Shifu of Xianshushi and had great aspirations and hopes for her daughters. However, she was never overbearing, allowing them to still be young girls and blossom in their own ways. Even with the freedoms allotted to them by their mother, both sisters sought to make their mother proud. Mei-Ling would show great promise with her natural ways in the mystical aspects of Xianshu while Hsien-Ko was fond of the martial arts and hand to hand combat involved with Xianshu. Balancing their studies, training, and leisure time, the sisters showed relatively swift progress in their abilities in the way of the school of Xianshu and many of the shifu believed they were ready to move on to the next big step in their training: they would be recognized officially as Shifus of Xianshu. However, days before the ceremony, on 1748, July 3rd, Xianmencun was besieged by a hoard of the undead. All the xianshushi were dispatched to fight off the hoard and protect the innocent villagers. At the time, Hsien-Ko and Mei-Ling were enjoying some leisure time elsewhere, away from many. As the hoard came in, they did what they could to protect the people. Despite all their years of training, the hoard was proving too much as the sheer numbers were just vast. Before they were consumed by the hoard, they were saved by several xianshushi and shifus, with their mother among the group. Happy to see their mother, they greeted her gleefully and with relief. However, this joy was not to last as with final words of praise and a motherly hug, Mingxia had her daughters restrained by the other shifu as she then made the ultimate sacrifice. Using the Art of Unusual Transformation, she transformed her form into that of a golden dragon of power. She tore through the hoard like a blade to flesh, burning their dark rotten corpses into ashes. While at first confused and wondering what their mother meant by her words and actions, the sisters were in awe of the incredible power their mother displayed. Unfortunately, that awe turned to sheer horror as they witnessed their mother's body burn away right before their eyes. The only thing that fell to the ground were her bagua mirror and bead necklace donning the family name. Both twins were inconsolable and feel into a deep depression, refusing to eat nor talk with anyone. They only knew that their mother's use of the art not only killed her but banished her soul to be lost to the darkness for all eternity. Not able to cope with this, they went against their mother's final wish. After a heated debate between both Hsien-Ko and Mei-Ling, they agreed to use the Art of Unusual Transformation. On the night of the July 7th, four days after the death of their mother, they shed their humanity to become warriors of the night: they became jiangshi. After a scuffle with some xianshushi and talking with one of the shifu closest to their mother, they were banished from Xianmencun for their own safety. Having had time to gather supplies and a coffin, they set out in the dead of the night, on their journey to save their mother.

Fundamentals of Magic and Magi Artes

In the Cryas Chronicles reality, magic is a phenomenon that is known by many civilizations throughout the different realms. While many had their own ideas of what this phenomenon was, magic in due time was studied and understood what it was at its core by some. Magic is understood as the ability for an individual to manipulate different forms of energy and forces in the universe to perform different effects. Over many, many millennia, several forms of magic described as 'Elementals' were discovered and documented. The Elementals are as such: Fire, Ice, Terra, Wind, Lightning, Water, Dark, Light, Energy, and Aura. Each elemental has a connection to a different form of energy or force:

Fire and Ice both deal with the ability to manipulate heat energy, but in different ways. Fire is the ability to concentrate heat into a targeted area while Ice is the ability to rapidly remove heat from a specified area. Interestingly, the use of Ice magic does cause areas around the field of effect to feel increased temperatures as the energy cannot be destroyed and must be placed elsewhere. Many tend to throw the heat into the air.

Terra is the manipulation of the force of gravity. Historically, many have made use of it to manipulate the ground and rocks to cause many effects as they manipulate their position in order to attack. Fundamentally though, Terra magic is not reliant on dirt or rocks to be around in order to be used. So long as one's ability to concentrate gravity is excellent, then they can still make things work.

Wind is the manipulation of the atmosphere to move air in a desired way. So long as the caster is in an area where air is present, Wind magic can be used.

Lightning is the manipulation of electrical energy.

Water is the manipulation of water particles in the environment. The power and effects of such artes is dependent on the environment, both in terms of water being in the soil or atmosphere.

Dark is the use of energy to manipulate soundwaves. Historically, Dark had been associated with the perceived notion of evil, negative emotions, or dark energies. But eventually, it was discovered that Dark Magi Artes had an affinity for soundwaves. While many things can produce sounds, the way sound is manipulated via Dark Artes has been noted to be particularly dreadful.

Light is the manipulation of electromagnetic radiation. In the past, Light Artes were associated with perceived notions of good energy, positive emotions, or even the stars. However, with scientist discovering the existence of electromagnetic radiation, a fundamental understanding of Light Magi Artes came to be for the masses.

Energy is the manipulation of energy in its most pure, raw state. Devoid of the typical understanding of the elementals, Energy Artes tend to be rather destructive and difficult to perform as the ability to manipulate such force requires a keen mind and deep understanding of energy manipulation.

Aura is the manipulation of a special form of energy that is both corporeal and ethereal in nature. In a sense, it is a form of energy that is connected to an ethereal essence that many call 'life force'. While all complex life forms have auras to a degree, it is strongest in animals and intelligent lifeforms.

Making use of Magi Artes requires one to train themselves to understand the basic fundamentals of energy manipulation. In some cases, some people will have an affiliation for one elemental in particular, but some might be more gifted to be able to understand multiple. Even with that in mind, study and training is required. While each elemental has other applications outside of combat, the many Magi Artes that exist have been documented and tiered in a way to give an understanding of not only their power, but difficulty in use. The tiers of Magi Artes as follow:

Tier 1 = Neophyte

Tier 2 = Intermediate

Tier 3 = Master

Tier 4 = Arcane

Tier 5 = Mystic

Tier 6 = Ultima

Not only does each tier indicate power, but also gives an idea of the stamina required by the caster in order to make use of such artes. As the caster practices more, they can better improve their use of stamina in order to cast Magi Artes more efficiently. While taking time to focus on casting artes can be risky in battle, some casters found a way around this with the use of Spell Charges. Inducing a Magi Arte into an object, casters can instantly make use of Magi Artes in battle with not time wasted on incantations. However, they are limited and based on the power of the Arte, can take time to properly induce into an object.

Cryas Darkstalkers and Cryas Chronicles Notes

As I slowly roll things out and get my creative juices flowing, I am fully embracing hearing and answering any questions you may have about my Cryas Darkstsalker mythos or the mythos of Cryas Chronicles. Granted, CC will take some time since I don't have much in the way of art, but I got some ideas and lore to share. CDS will be more readily having lore dumps and stuff as we march on. Hopefully and honestly, I hope this will be a great outlet for me to just share things and get my brain going. I may have a private Discord server where I try to organize this stuff, but that is a bit more exclusive as I am nervous about letting randos in. However, this blog is more in the open for people to engage with and is in a format that is friendlier to the idea of sharing such lore. I am very excited for the future. :3