Illumalus - Tumblr Posts
Notes on Cryas Chronicles
I want to go over some notes regarding the setting of the mythos of Cryas Chronicles as it is my creation, and little would be known unless you could read my thoughts.
So first of all, what is Cryas Chronicles? 🔷Cryas Chronicles is the name I give for this series that houses the reality of my OCs. This has been something in the works for well over +10 years at the time of typing this and is still ongoing in terms of development. It has been going through a number of restructuring processes. Originally, the idea of the series was the idea of a video game tetralogy, but I have since abandoned that idea. Now, it is just a series. It is intended to have storylines that spans over many years, generally following a cast of characters, somewhat changing the core cast of each story/saga as needed.
What is the setting of Cryas Chronicles? 🔷 The series takes place in a universe different from our own and one of the Cryas Darkstalkers mythos. The first story, Vicissitude Journey, takes place in a world where two planets are interconnected via a spacetime distortion. They are known as 'Umbralus' and 'Illumalus'. However, later on other worlds are brought into the mix as the series progresses. As of now, other worlds or realms that exist in this reality are: Jrukoshn Relm, Avalos, Sylverra. More will be added as needed.
What are some of the races that exist in these worlds? 🔷 As of right now they are the following: Umbrian, Illumin, Aunakin, Corrian, Jrukoshn, Avalocian, Hemo'eira, Celestian.
What are some differences between this reality and ours? 🔷For this, I will compare this reality to the Cryas Darkstalkers reality.
A year in the Cryas Chronicles reality is the equivalent of 400 Earth Days. While some realms have their own 'year' system based on their approximation to their star, the universal acceptance is 400 solar days equals a year. A solar day is accepted as 24 hours. The general calendar system is 12 months: 8 months have 33 days with 4 months with 34 days. The 4 months with 34 days generally are the month with signaled changes in the seasons of Autumn, Winter, Spring, and Summer. A big thing to take from this is that when I give the age of characters from this reality, that is based on this year system, so it will not be accurate to ages we use in our reality or in the Cryas DS reality.
Earth and humans don't exist in the Cryas Chronicles universe. That goes without saying, but this also means that without humans being a thing, certain terms don't exist in this reality. 'Humane' and 'inhumane' are examples of words that don't exist. Also, rather than me using the term 'humanoid' I will default to the terms of either 'intelligent liferforms', and other descriptors that don't involve the word 'human'.
Magic is generally accepted thing with many societies. Magic in this reality is understood generally as the ability to manipulate different forms of energy. It is something that has been able to coexist with science. While not everyone is capable of wielding magic, most can use it to some degree if they put some effort into it. Some are more naturally gifted.
Many cryptids don't exist in this reality. The concept of stuff like the undead, vampires, mummies, and many things do not exist in this reality compared to the Cryas DS one. However, the idea and existence of souls, spirits, and ghosts are a thing, just not generally accepted thing. It varies between different cultures.
That should hopefully give some context to things since I did share that blog earlier of the main cast for Cryas Chronicles: Vicissitude Journey.
I hope to have more to chare in due time, but feel free to ask away.😎✌️
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.
The power of the spirit compels you!
One thing that has always been a constant for me is how those who can use the aura elemental are immune to the corrupting effects of Coriyami. With the fact that I now am going forward with the idea of aura being spiritual energy manipulated from the caster's own soul, how does this provide protection from one of the most feared substances in the Cryas Chronicles mythos?
Corriyami evolved alongside lifeforms on Umbralus and Illumalus. As time passed over aeons, Corriyami evolved to specifically hijack the cells of specific lifeforms, fauna-based lifeforms to be exact. It never evolved to consume spiritual energy. In the simplest way, when one has the ability to use the aura elemental, their body effectively can use their spiritual energy to basically trick the Corriyami. While this doesn't destroy the Corriyami, it does allow the individual's own body and immune system to fight back against the Corriyami. The Corriyami is basically unaware of what is going on and is destroyed by the immune system or eventually passed through the body.