#PastorIan

[beyondtvseries]

#BTS from episode 2!

[witchesoz]

Oz Lore: Battle for Oz (Tribes, geography, magic)

Some magic talk. There are different types of magic practitioners. The Evain and the Niave are the people the most in tune with the magic of the arcane – as I said before they are in Oz for so long that they became “natural conduits” of magic, and they learned how to draw power from the land itself, recycling the power emitted by the Emerald everywhere. Contrary to them, the Witches and Wizards (also called Sorceresses and Sorcerers, these words are synonyms) are rather magic practitioners that draw their power directly from the Emerald, and as a result their powers are affected by how far or close they are to the Emerald, and by the current strength of the Emerald at the time. Witches and Wizards also rely heavily on spellbooks and rituals, while the faeries can do magic in a much more natural way, merely by a wave of the hand. There are three other types of magic practitioners : Technomancers, that use scientific devices with arcane energy (usually storing the power of the Emerald in batteries, or putting magical crystals in their machines) ; Alchemists that grind up magical crystals and use them to create potions and concoctions ; Minstrels, that use magic by creating music and songs that enter in “harmony” with the arcane and the waves of energy released by the Emerald. These mentions of “crystals” is quite important – crystals are a big, big thing in Oz, partially because in Oz, all crystals are magic. There are six types of them – green crystals called Emeralds, red crystals called Rubies, blue crystals called Sapphires, yellow crystals named Citrines, purple crystals named Amethysts and clear crystals named Diamond (the capitals are used to separate them from their mundane and non-magic counterparts). In the distant past, the ancestors of the Evains used to create weapons and armors out of these crystals, which made their wars even more destructive. The Wizards and Witches have an habit to put these crystals in their wands and staves. The Alchemists’ entire magic relies on them, since their grind up crystals to create potions and concoctions, and when crystals are mixed up with technology you obtain technomancy. Each crystal is associated with a specific “quality of life” – Diamonds provide strength, Rubies provide agility, Amethysts provide vigor, Sapphires bring spirit, Citrine bring smarts, and finally the Emeralds are basically pure magic. There are only two “crystal cities” in all of Oz. One is the Sapphire City, actually built out of hundreds of thousands of sapphires collected together. The other is the Emerald City, crafted entirely out of the only Emerald ever known to exist in Oz. At least that’s what we thought. The gamebook reveals at its end that there are actually some other Emeralds, dating from a very ancient time, that were crafted into weapons but lost to time. One was shaped into a sword, that was given to Dorothy Gale and named “Twister”. Amber Gale is the current holder of Twister. The other Emerald served to craft an Emerald Armor and an Emerald Weapon – these are currently in possession of Ozymandias II. Ozymandias II also dared to do something no one else did before – he is currently chipping away small pieces of Emerald City, aka THE Emerald, to amplify his own power. It is with such a piece of Emerald that he managed to create his army of new Tin Men. But the trouble is that the destruction of the Emerald is slowly leading Oz into destruction : every time a piece of the stone is taken away, earthquakes and other disasters happen all around Oz… Now, let’s talk a bit about the inhabitants of Oz in this setting.

As I mentioned before the term “Kinfolks” reunite the human inhabitants of Oz outside of the Evain and Niave. The ruling tribe are the Pastorians, the tribe of Pastor. With golden skin and fiery red hair, they live in the Emerald City and are actually separated into six great houses. The first is the house of Pastor, from which hailed the Ozian royalty including the king Pastoria and the princess Ozma. The second house is the house Spitzer, which actually supports the rule of Ozymandias II. The third house is the house Ardour, that defied Ozymandias II’s rule and fled the Emerald City. The three other houses, Sunder, Boumir and Rancour, are all passive towards Ozymandias II rule. The Pastorians are known to be complacent, selfish and cut-off from reality due to living millennia in a magical city that takes care magically of their every need. They use all of their free time for political games, and as a result tend to be at odds with each other regularly – in fact, most of them only see Ozymandias II as a new pawn or player in their political games rather than a real threat. The Munchkins are the inhabitants of the East, and the least aggressive of the Kinfolks. We know that during the wars to obtain the lands around the Emerald, the ones that the tribe of Pastor won, they stayed neutral, selling food and supplies to all of the sides. Short (between five and four and a half feet), with pale or slightly blue skin, and hair ranging from white to golden, they are usually a tribe of farmers and shepherds, even though they are also well known to produce performers and minstrels (an obvious reference to how the Munchkins sing in the MGM movie). The Quadlings are identified by their dark brown hair, their reddish or rosy skin, as well as by their habit of having tattoos all over their bodies. They also tend to be very large and quite muscular. They are mostly miners and builders, craftsmen and architect whose constructions are renowned through all of Oz – in fact, they are the ones that created the Yellow Brick Roads. During the wars with the Nome King, he inflicted a true genocide on the Quadlings (he at first thought they would join his side, due to their affinity for mining and the earth, but when it turned out that they were faithful to Oz he tried to kill them all). The Quadlings are still suffering from this – they are not numerous, and many of their cities are now ghost towns. The Winkies are identified by their dark hair, their sharp and pointy features, as well as by the color of their skin, ranging from yellow to orange. The Winkies are known to be very creative, and this creativity goes from tinkering, craftsmanship, to smithing weapon-making. They are actually the most advanced of the folks, as well as the most war-oriented ones: they were skilled warriors and professional troops during the Gnome Wars. In fact, they could have managed to become the rulers of the other tribes a long time ago instead of the Pastorians, but they geographical position was a big obstacle for them. It is also noted that their warriors have a certain samurai-aesthetic. This is because a long time ago an Outsider, a samurai from Japan, stumbled in their land and taught them everything he knew. The Winkies are also noted to really appreciate and enjoy music. Finally, the Gillikins. Noted to be very muscular, with black or blackish-blue hair and a skin going from light brownish to slightly purplish. They are shepherds, tribal and nomadic people, with no real “town” or “city”, or at least no town or city that is permanent. Used to live in a harsh and unforgiving land, they rejected the new order of Ozymandias II, having their faith and fidelity in Ozma and still acting as if she was on the throne. The other major inhabitants of Oz outside of the Kinfolks are the Beasts. There are two types of beasts in Oz: the normal ones, identical to our world (named the “animals”) and the sentient, talking ones, named the Animals or the Beast-Men due to their tendency to look like humanoid animals instead of real ones. (and yes, this is taken straight from Wicked, but also from Oz: Dark and Terrible). It is unknown why some animals evolved thanks to the magic of the Emerald into Animals while others did not. While Animals can speak the human language, each Animal tribe can also speak in “animal language” to animal counterparts (such Animals Lions can speak to normal, regular lions, but not to for example a lizard.). However since these animal counterparts are still animals, they can only serve as pets or servants to the Animals, never as for, example, true friends or family members. The Beast-Men are tribal, each species making its own tribe, each with a different culture and different traditions. The tribes are usually grouped together in what are called “Casts” (for example the Lions, Panthers and Cheetah are reunited into the Cat Caste). Each tribe is led by what is called a Prince or a Princess, and each Caste by a King, King appointed by “the Body”, a council of elder representatives of each tribe of the Caste. (this organization was inherited from their “ancient friends” the Faeries, aka the Evains). For many centuries the Castes fought against each other in wars and feuds, but Glinda the Good managed to bring peace to the Beast-Men by creating what is called the “Spirit Compact”, a compact ensuring peace between the Animals. It all worked fine until the Wicked Witches arose in the East and the West – some animal tribes decided to escape the Spirit Compact by offering their allegiance to the Wicked Witches, so that they could fight their old enemies once more. When Dorothy defeated the Wicked Witches, Glinda along with the Good Witch of the North rewrote the Spirit Compact to include a new Body, or Representative, a group made of representatives from each Caste called the “Spirit Council”. And one of the roles of this Spirit Council was to elect a High King that would rule other all of the Beast-Men of Oz. The first of these High Kings, as well as the current one, is Blacktail the Brave, the former Cowarldy Lion. There are five identified types of Beast-Men in the game. There are the Wolf-Men, that look like a cross between a man and a wolf, walking on their hind legs or running on all fours depending of the occasions. They are very social creatures, organized in hunting packs and often led by an “alpha”. There are Bird-Men, winged beings that look like giant birds but with the arms and legs of humans, and can be identified to owls, eagles or even unknown species of birds. They are solitary creatures, even when working in group each one stays in his own corner and does only his own task (they are known to have a sub-civilization in the peculiar tribe of the Hawk-Men that lived on Mount Munch in Munchkinland, but now their towns and cities are but ruins, a result of the Fall and the conquest of Munchkinland by Ozymandias II). The third tribe is the one of the Bear-Men, a large and intimidating cross between a man and a bear. Living in the Moojer mountains, while they are unable to do anything delicate with their big paws, they are very family-oriented, organized in large family units, and usually never go off adventuring somewhere unless it is for family-related business. The fourth tribe is the one of the Tiger-Men, a nimble and strong cross between a man and a tiger. Native of the Gillikin lands, they are currently led by the princess Tearsa. They allied with the Nome King during his wars, but quickly realized their mistake and joined back the rule of Blacktail. Currently, they are enemies of Ozymandias II. Tiger-men are known to be solitary hunters, exploring and hunting down usually in search of fame and wealth, but sometimes just out of curiosity. The last of the Beast-Men tribes is, of course, the Lion-Men. A mix of a lion and a man, they are very strong and very brave, prideful and heroic, but sometimes to the point of becoming arrogant and demeaning. They think it is their natural right to rule over the other Animals, and without the wise and kind rule of Blacktail, they would have certainly destroyed the Spirit Compact to become tyrants of all the other Animals of Oz. Now, these are the identified Beasts tribe. But other animals tend to be Animals. For example the Horses, they are sentient and can’t be ridden without consent, but in general refuse to be ridden or put to work because they think being mere beasts of burden is insulting. As a result the Ozians rely rarely on beasts of burden – and if they do they usually use an ox, because the sentients Oxens are quite rare, most of them being regular “animals”. Talking about transportation in Oz, travelers usually go down the Yellow Brick Roads, a system of roads passing through all of Oz, with runes and spells carved in its brick, spells said to accelerate the speeds of any travel/travelers, but also to protect said travelers from monsters and dangers. The other major way of transportation in Oz are the rivers and the lakes, very used for travel and commerce – the major and most powerful commercial hub of Oz being the Lake Quad. Other mentioned inhabitants of Oz include: # The Outcast Winged Monkeys. Winged monkeys born with stunted wings, or with other types of defects or handicaps that led them to be banished from their group. As “banished” and “exiled” the Winged Monkeys are free of the Golden Cap’s hold, and don’t have to obey it. As a result they are not subject of the hate and scorn Ozians usually give to Winged Monkeys, but they are still not trusted beings – there is always a chance that they are actually spies for Ozymandias II. # Gnomes, or Nomes. The race of the Nome King – small dwarf-like creatures with wide ears and pointy teeth, they are traditionally miners dwelling underground. Half a century before the current events, the Gnome King of Northern Nonestica tried to invade Oz by digging a tunnel under the Desert. When they were defeated, the troops retreated, but the tunnel collapsed – as a result many Gnomes were left behind and now live in Oz. # We know that there are several giants existing in Oz. These include the Yoops, cannibal giants, and the Hammerheads – the one that Dorothy encountered, the human-sized ones, are actually dwarf Hammerheads. The real Hammerheads are dreadful giants with heads shaped just like hammers. # Noac are magic horses (it is unclear how they differ from regular ones) # There is a specific tribe of evil and monstrous Beast-Men or maybe just mutated Men called the “Spider Folk”, half human half spiders # Quiberon, the lake monster, is also present, here reimagined as a giant hydra. # A final race mentioned is the one of the Yookoohoos. A very dangerous type of magical beings that can transform into almost any shape. Very rare and mysterious, they are said to be an all-female species (even though they can take male forms for short periods of times). Able to go from the size of a gnome to the one of a giant, they are mischievous and self-absorbed. They can also perfectly mimic anyone they ever saw – visually at least. Due to their overconfidence, they never bother to know more about the person they mimic and are often easily found out due to not being “in-character”. Disappointingly, the Witches are not very explored in this game. Glinda is said to be a descendent of both Lurline as well as of the Evain. The Good Witch of the North, Skywin Springforth, is said to be Glinda’s cousin. Mombi is still around somewhere, and the Wicked Witches of the East and the West are noted to be sisters that rose together to power. And to end this exploration of the lore, a bit of geography! The East is the Munchkinland, an area mostly made of farmlands and plains, ruled by a Munchkin King vassal to the Emerald City. Since it is the most fertile of all the lands, Munchkinland is mostly covered in farms, with a few cities or towns. Noticeable locations are: Lake Orizon, an inland sea hosting the Ozure Isles and the Sapphire City ; the Unicorn Forest said to be the dwelling of the last unicorns of Oz ; Muab, an industrial zone of metallurgy ; the Munchkin River ; the Mount Munch, ancient home of the Hawk-Men ; the Great Wheat Field, the breadbasket of Oz ; Gale, the town that was built around where Dorothy killed the Wicked Witch of the East ; Enilrul Abbey, the fortress of Lurline’s Aegis ; the Moojer Mountains, home of the Bear-Men ; The City of Eternal Elmira, hidden in a thick wood and protected by a veil of illusions, ruled by the eccentric Outsider Wizard Nova the Cute ; and the College of Arts and Athletics, a former center of high education that is now where all of the scribes of Ozymandias II work and live. The College is currently ruled by Professor Wogglebug, now ally of Ozymandias – he was one of the two people willing to teach Joseph about technomancy, alongside Winderek, the Tinkerer’s failed apprentice. The West is the Winkie Country, mostly made up of rolling hills and scattered forests. Noticeable locations as: Old Momba’s Keep, the ancient tower of the Wicked Witch of the West ; the Crow’s Head, the ancient estate of the Scarecrow now seized by Ozymandias II ; Red Oak, the ancient estate of the Tin Woodman ; the town of Herku where giants are enslaved to build giant marble monuments ; the Rolling Forest ; the Roundtops Mountains ; Umber, the ancient farm of Jack Pumpkinhead ; the Yip tableland populated by the savage blue-skinned men ; and finally the Truth Pond that can heal any wound and lift any curse but in exchange forces people to speak the truth and only the truth. The South is the Quadling Country, a place made of mountains, jungles and forests. Like all lands of Oz it has its own dangers: the Fighting Trees, an evil race of walking sentient trees, and the Hammerheads. Noticeable locations are the town of Bunburry (a poor mining town surrounded by a strong stone wall), the Horner Mountains hosting the curious race of Horners, a magic Waterfall that keeps reversing its flow, the Morrow Lodge that was the ancient hunting lodge of King Pastoria, the palace of Glinda now abandoned, a mysterious and ancient Red Brick Road whose existence is shrouded in legends (yes, it is a reference to the MGM movie) and finally the Yma jungle in which live the Lion-Men, as well as dangerous saber-tooth tigers, and in which rules Blacktail the Brave. The North is the Gillikin Country, made of rolling grasslands and muddy barren plains. The “capital” of this country is actually the community that settled itself around the domain of the Good Witch of the North, Skywin Goodforth, her residence being known as “Dunwood Keep”, near Dunwood forest and Dunwood mountain. Other noticeable forests are the Guru forest and the Winged Monkeys forest. Gillikin Country is known to be quite a dangerous land to live in: there are “mist maidens” that act as the sirens of legend by seducing and taking away boys and men to never be seen again ; there are “Flatheads”, savages that hunt down all living beings they cross, and there are also giant spider purples living in the muddy plains. Other interesting locations is the tower of Mombi, the ancient dwelling of the Witch when she was the Wicked Witch of the North, and that she is still living in, recently coming back in power ; and an entire underground kingdom of subterranean lakes, rivers and seas ruled by the evil Witch Ea’soul (a rip-off of Ursula) and populated by merpeople, half-fish half-humans. The central region of Oz is called Pastoria, or the Emerald City District. At its center is the Emerald City itself, called the Inner Ward, surrounded by a great Emerald Wall (as well as an invisible magical dome, and in an horrible note the people regularly have to clean this dome due to all the birds crashing into it). Around the City is the Outer Ward, wards and district built on the surrounding hills to host the workers and servants of the City, protected by a Yellow Brick Wall. The Palace of the Emerald City hosts Glinda’s “Great Book of Records” in the Hall of Records, and the Forbidden Fountain with the Water of Oblivions in its garden. Other noticeable locations of the City are: the Golden Temple, holiest place of Oz dedicated to its most famous figures, such as Dorothy, King Pastoria and Lurline ; the Sapphire Tower, that is the Royal Bank of Oz ; and the Floating Towers, three towers that float above the city thanks to technomagic devices, one being the Royal Tower in which Ozymandias II lives, the second being the High Council tower at the East (now hosting the War Council of Ozymandias) and the third being the West tower of the Mage’s Guild, where Ozymandias leads his dreadful magical experiments. Outside of the City are located the Emerald Hills with deadly poppy fields ; and the port-town of Lake Quad, the major port of Oz (the lake being linked to all the major rivers of Oz). Oz also has a lot of smaller regions and kingdoms outside of these great blocks. Three are noticeable : Pumperdink, a Niave kingdom in a remote corner of Gillikin ; Jinxlong, a kingdom separated from the rest of the Gillikin Country by a large and deep gorge ; and Ogabo, an autonomous monarchy in a valley of the north-west, made up of monastic knights that worship Lurline.