Hello everyone,
Today is Saturday, and that means: it's the day of the lore!
As always, you won't find gameplay details here, just a story background for my game!
It is a bit shorter than usual, as I've caught a bad flu and I can't focus that well, but I hope to deliver something interesting nonetheless!
Today I'll tell you about one of the most important places of this world: The Magic Islands!
Let's start!
Map and Inspiration
The "Enchanted Isles" of the mages hold a place of immense importance in the vast and mysterious lands of Silliseria.
When I created them, I drew inspiration from well known literary sagas and iconic video games.
Out of caution I’ll leave it to you, to spot the many subtle (and not so subtle) references hidden within the map and mentioned locations.
Consider it a little challenge, one that may not be too difficult for the keen eyed.
The Island Origins
Long ago, these isles were a distant and remote province of the Elven Oligarchy.
It was the most powerful empire of the world for the longest of times, until a corrupted sect of extreme demonic ideology decided to summon the Living Hell.
In mere years, the elven realm was annihilated, and alas most of the elves were exterminated.
Now, the Islands stand as the only place in the world where the ruins of the ancient pointy-eared civilization can still be seen: silent sentinels of a forgotten time.
They also serve as one of two bulwarks against the evercreeping expansion of the Living Hell of Scylla, in an ironic twist of fate.
The Magic Academy Of The World
Anyone in the world who shows even a flicker of magical potential is, quite unceremoniously, kidnapped by the mages in the shadows of night.
They teleport directly into the future apprentice’s bedroom, shove them into a black sack, and vanish before you can say “abracadabra”.
That’s exactly how Tip the Archmage, now the royal advisor to King Shorty, began his journey.
Tip was taken to the Academy of Toregwyn, a prestigious magical institution run by none other than Aras'Tor'Rig'Sham'El'Sam'Rig, one of the last three surviving elves following the (nearly complete) extinction of their race.
A small blessing, in the eyes of the most rude civilizations of the world of SIlliseria, given how infamously long their names were, birth registries had grown to absurd lengths.
The Magical Talents of Tip
It was at Toregwyn that Tip discovered his passion for temporal magic, a discipline he would later master.
This is the very reason he can manipulate turn-based time flows within King Shorty’s Tower, an ability few can even comprehend, let alone replicate.
If you study the map, you’ll notice the key locations of both the "Isle of Resistance" and the smaller "Trial Isle".
During his (lengthy) stay on the Isles, Tip wandered the Novice Oaks with fellow students, braved the false silence of the Whispering Woods, and explored the ancient elven cities of Manetandor and Tarenemond.
Though once purely elven strongholds, these cities are now melting pots of all races, from the ever-practical Dwarves (the ones that escape from Skal control, that is), to the more exotic Ogres of the distant east.
Like Toregwyn, both cities are ruled by one of the remaining elves, the other two survivors of their entire race other than Aras'Tor'Rig'Sham'El'Sam'Rig, but for the sake of brevity (and your sanity), I’ll refrain from naming them here.
The Bravery of Tip
As with all who seek to become a true mage, Tip eventually made his way to the Trial Isle to undertake the ultimate test.
From the moment a novice steps ashore, they begin to hear the whispered and ghostly regrets of those who failed before them. But the real test doesn’t begin until one reaches the shadowed base of the Mountains of the Lost Souls.
There, the aspiring mage must confront their deepest fears: manifested, physical, and inescapable. This detail is a well guarded secret among the ranks of the mages.
Tip likes to boast that he fought one of the Drakes of the Resistance Mountains.
In truth, however, he was attacked by a particularly aggressive flock of pigeons that wouldn’t stop... ahem... “decorating” his elegant gnomish linen robes.
Strangely enough, it wasn’t this “glorious battle with a drake” that earned him the title of Archmage.
An Incredible Discovery
Two years after earning his full magician status, Tip revolutionized the field of magic by accidentally inventing a telepathy spell.
Not since Logan’s “Riverine Flow” had the Isles seen such a breakthrough: a spell that took Logan years of experimentation on the Isle of Experiments to develop, and ultimately allowed him to drown a monstrous wyvern and her brood (now a tranquil lake visible on the map).
Tip, by contrast, needed only a few days.
Of course, he doesn’t tell people that he discovered the spell by complete accident.
Deep, lost in thought, daydreaming about a certain gnome lady he was quite attracted to, he unintentionally contacted her "mind-to-mind". Horrified, he broke the link immediately.
Embarrassed, he tried to confide the deed to a fellow magician... and accidentally did that telepathically as well, just by thinking intensely about who to tell its discovery.
As it turned out, his mistake became his triumph.
Upon returning to Gnomia, Tip was celebrated as a hero. King Shorty made him his official archmage advisor.
But not everyone was fooled by Tip’s sudden rise through the rank.
One individual, someone very close to him, knew the true nature of his magical brilliance.
But that’s another story entirely, one you’ll have to uncover for yourself.
That was all for today,
I hope you have a great day, and beware your thoughts!
-Giuseppe