by Max Barry

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The World Machine of
Democratic Socialists

Overview Factbook Dispatches Policies People Government Economy Rank Trend Cards

1

Glossary of Shwe/World Machine Terms

As you may have noticed, I sometimes use common fantasy terminology, such as paladins, in a different way than normal, so I have decided to make a glossary to record any words, future words, or original phrases I might use that may be slightly different than the source material.

A
Angel: A Basic Being that has become attuned to Ordo energy. Known to blindly follow a schedule, and become enraged when such a schedule is disrupted. When tamed by a deity or just about anyone, Angels become fiercely devoted to their master, obeying their every whim. Much like the native Demons, they were hunted to extinction, and exist only in the White Save State (they are still considered extinct because they can not escape the area, which is its own world). Generally resemble stingrays.
Anima: Items whose long lifespans or relationship value create their own souls, and thereby become sapient.
Animant: The primary companion of an Anima.
Animation Quirk: Effects wherein a certain emotion or debuff/buff can draw out bizarre manifestations (e.g. hearts from being charmed/falling in love, white eyes from shock)
Anointed: Offensively-powerful monks or knights that work in religious orders.
Apprentice (magic): Users of magic studying under a mentor.
Arena Region: Zone with high-level Beings that are used by adventurers to hone their skills.
Artifact: Items with unique powers
B
Bandleader: Class of Clerics unique to the Wet Druzakh, Bandleaders use the power of jazz and music to invigorate their allies.
Basajaun/Basandere/Basajaunak: Friendly giants that live an ascetic lifestyle in the Ensia Region's forests. Prefer keeping to themselves, but will help local ranchers, lost wanderers, and shepherds as well.
Basajuan (spirit): Hostile spirits derived from the resentment of Basajaunak that became corrupted by greed. Patrol the Ensia Region's forests, and are always at conflict with friendly Basajaunak.
Behemoth: Any large land monster.
Berserker: Class of Warriors unique to the La Friglas Region, berserkers are known to have impossible reserves of stamina and are vicious in combat.
Bishop: Religious class trained in magic and of higher rank and skill than priests.
Blanker: People that have given up their ability to feel as a result of cataclysm, living entirely vicarious lives and sustaining themselves on the emotions of other.
C
Cetacaedernoc: A type of symbiotic colony consisting of deep-sea creatures nestled within an undead semi-spiritual whale. When these whales detect living beings, they create a vortex of water that sucks in unlucky creatures to create a meal for the inhabitants inside, and a sacrifice for the whale's continued spiritual maintenance.
Cleric: Religious devotees that are healers.
Code: The description that determines a thing's traits. Can be altered through the highly-dangerous, but just as powerful, Code class of magic.
Corruption: Harmful amounts of an affiliation, combination of them, or substance. Some elements more easily cause Corruption than others. Victims of corruption generally lose their minds and become aggressive to anyone not of their affiliation. Popular substances include Fusion Matter and Maivieux Meat.
Crusader: Mounted Class of Anointed or Paladin unique to the Ensia Region, Crusaders are known to zealously pursue and destroy enemies in the name of their faith.
Curate: Religious devotees specializing in spiritual healing from magical damage.
D
Dark Elf: Elves that live underground. Generally prefer and farm mushrooms rather than normal foliage.
Dark Knight: A specific type of Paladin or Anointed that works with dark-affiliated or Chao-affiliated magic.
Demon (native): A Basic Being that has become attuned to Chao energy. Known to be even more adaptable than D'artego demons, but are as violent as Ashan ones. Were hunted down and exterminated long ago, leaving behind only their Oni variant. The typical Native variant exists only in the Black Save State (they are still considered extinct because they can not escape the area, which is its own world)
-dernoc: Suffix indicating undead vessels.
Dís (plural Dísir): Strange creatures with inconsistent intelligence among their whole species. Often serve the Jötnar as skirmishers and scouts, using their long claws and enormous mouths to assassinate anyone that they see and kidnapping others with a combination of their arms and head tendrils.
Divine Chariot: High-ranking mounted paladins, each Church/Religion/Affiliation has one Divine Chariot.
Doll: Lifelike, sapient golems given a soul that are sometimes segmented, being able to rotate parts as they need. Most dolls are highly creative and passionate for the arts as they are a fusion between life and magic, whereas defective variants have a "broken" soul that renders their minds highly unstable because of errors in the creation process.
Domeses: A Psytrine master of magic or head of a government sector
E
Ego Licht: The ideal representation of a person's form that manifests as a Light-affiliated spirit, converted from a Basic Being.
Einherjar (plural of Einherji): Leaders of berserker corps, known for their Gjallarhorn and especially ferocious abilities in combat.
Elf: A Basic Being that has become attuned to Life energy. Extremely sensitive to shifts in pollution and the "unnatural," and become similarly sick in such environments (e.g. life in a factory will result in a native Elf losing sense of self and becoming seemingly mechanical). Dominant in the Shirnijing Region.
Enigma: Dolls with an unknown soul. Usually have strange innate abilities.
F
Field Boss: A unique type of Boss that reoccurs every few decades. Comes with nine sub-bosses. Field Boss events will result in grievous damage to an entire Region if not contained.
G
Gjallarhorn: The horns carried by Einherji. Blesses allies with vitality, strength, and speed, and damage nearby enemies.
Golem: Material given life through magical means.
H
I
Innate Ability: If a person or race has an ability that is not disabled by normal means even without a shield against such nullifying means (e.g. EMP or anti-magic bombs), it is said that they have an Innate Ability. Most can only be disabled through changing the target's code or using exceptionally powerful disabling techniques.
Inquisitor: Class of magic users unique to the Ensia Region, Inquisitors ensure that the will of the Myerdan Monarch is carried out. Able to employ their faith in devastating long-range spells and moderately buffing nearby Crusaders. Generally, Inquisitors are specialized in Ordo-affiliated, Light-affiliated, or Binding magic.
J
Johari: Previous enigmas whose soul has been identified, either generally or to the person it belonged to.
Jötunn (plural jötnar): Giants made of ice and snow from the La Friglas Region
K
Ce-ce'bore Ka: (Demonish loanword that means "fragmented sovereign") Beings with partial demonic heritage or partially possessed by a malevolent being of any sort.
Knight: Heavily-armored persons who may or may not be mounted, their main purpose in combat is to take on and distract their enemies; usually, knights must be given knighthood by royalty or important people in general.
L
Leviathan: Any large sea monster.
Lusuza: Sapient book Anima from The Wastes. After being recovered by Adventurers, most of them now associate heavily with the Adventurers' Guild.
M
Mage: Mid-level users of magic.
Magic: Counterpart to technology, magic is due to a slight change in the science of a world, which replaces electrical energy with magical energy (in such a world, natural sources of electricity, such as lightning, are caused by magical energy instead as well).
Mentor: The master to an apprentice, mentors must be of a higher tier.
Monk: Religious devotees that are trained in physical combat, unlike priests.
N
Native: A being wholly created directly or indirectly by the Creator deity. Native Beings are unable to use electricity, but have significant magical ability in World Machine.
O
Oni: Native Demons from the Shirnijing Region often hired as vicious mercenaries. Live in villages, and are rarely seen in cities. Have a greater modicum of control and order versus the typical Native Demon.
P
Pachydernoc: Units that ride into combat inside the rib cages of undead elephants. Oftentimes clerics.
Paladin: Any knight/melee defensive class that has magical ability or works for a religious order.
Pallouré: Excessively pale half-Jötunn half-human hybrids who are incapable of staying for long in sunlight. Rare and shunned by most.
Patron Deity: Deities that have significant control over certain Regions and their aspects, whether in specific sections or being a monotheistic power in their Region.
Priest: Religious devotees that are trained in magic, unlike monks.
Q
R
Rakshasa: Any magical anthromorphic lions that can either be summoned or seen in desert regions or in the Silver Cities of Ashan.
Ranger: Archers specialized in guerrilla or highly-mobile warfare.
Random Encounter: Spontaneously-spawning NPC enemies, wild animals, or monsters. When encountered, one can die, but will be transported to the Waiting Room for up to three days.
Region: Designated rectangular area with set environmental and cultural themes. New regions are generated by the Creator Deity at whim.
Rune: A magical detail emplaced on a surface for on-contact or passive effects.
Rune Sculptor: Class of Wizards specialized in using static Rune-improved equipment. Significantly less mobile than Rune Warriors.
Rune Warrior: Physical-based fighters that specialize in using equipable Rune-improved equipment.
S
Selkie: A race that live as seals in the sea and people on land, they live in the frigid La Friglas Region, sometimes in houses they build.
Severity: A weakness towards a particular element more than 100%, causing the victim to receive the stagger debuff, increasing the damage they receive from the next attack, and also slightly decreasing their stats.
Sage: Particularly intelligent wizards.
Scroll: Paper with a singular magic spell, scrolls usually let their user cast a high-power spell.
Shadow: The unknown part of a person's personality manifesting itself as a Dark-affiliated spirit, converted from a Basic Being.
Sorcerer: Wizards specialized in dark-affiliated or Chao-affiliated magic.
Spirit: Beings of a magic-based constitution, rather than a physical or properly matter-based one. Are consequently immune to physical damage.
Staff: A reusable magical item frequently larger than a person's arm. As long as it is wielded, Staves will amplify a user's capability more so than Wands.
Swordmaster: Quick, lightly-armored persons specializing in swords.
Swordsman/Swordswoman: Heavily-armored, slow warriors. Powerful in melee combat, use swords.
T
Tome: Books with magic spells; usually amplifies the magical capabilities of their user.
U
Urosetamyx: Large lizard spirits that live in the Krdatir Region. Infamous for their mischievous nature in tandem with resistances to electricity and heat, it is not uncommon for them to follow Foreigners carrying electrical technology for the explicit purpose of playing with said items
V
Vargr (plural is Vargar): Fierce wolves used by the Jötnar and the Dísir to chase down prey. In contrast, the Sirenous Vargar, which live in the warmer regions south of La Friglas, are less aggressive and far more intelligent, their presence indicated more so by their habit of singing in their hauntingly beautiful, but still wolf-like, voice rather than the snarls and howls of their more common cousins.
W
Waiting Room: The area that deceased individuals enter upon death against Random Encounters to await resurrection. If someone is slain in war, as a murder, by accident, disease, etc... they can not be resurrected and must choose between reincarnation, wandering, afterlife, or wait to be embedded in a new vessel.
Wand: A reusable magical item frequently smaller than a person's arm. As long as it is wielded, Wands will amplify a user's capability.
Warrior: Offensively-powerful persons, in contrast to knights.
Wight: Vengeful undead invincible to all attacks, formed when ghosts are overwhelmed by emotions. Can only be pacified with funeral rites.
Wild Deity: Deities that represent common concepts and details throughout World Machine who lack followers, an associated pantheon, or an associated Region, but rather, live and exert their influence throughout the Machine
Wizard: Expert-level users of magic.
X
Y
Yidi-jiu: Class of drunken Warriors found in the Shirnijing region specialized in slugging and throwing their drinks in combat, overwhelming opponents with sheer alcohol or excessive force.
Z
Ziz: Any large flying monster.

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