Ancient Magic

Paradise before Hell

The garden of dreams and of purity. A dream-like wonderland yet also a nightmare.

Manoir de - French, "mansion of" Kukull - Albanian, "doll"

- Mansion of Dolls - A centuries old but well maintained mansion in the outskirts of the city, almost in the forest but not quite. The doll maker Oliver Mathias Malvae, and his apprentice Sophie Marie Melva, lived in the mansion producing high-quality dolls and honing their skills every day. His obsession with perfecting each and every one of his dolls led to even more realistic dolls and his attention to the smallest details allowed him to give his dolls a spark of life, whether through the position they were given to the smoothness of the joints and movements; a jaunty upturn of the lashes or small curve of the mouth, the fine lines of the nose to the spirals of the ear. His dolls were in great demand for their life-like qualities and at some point, a doll-enthusiast who's limbs had been compromised asked Oliver to create doll parts for use as prosthetics to replace his missing limbs. This commission opened up an entirely new avenue for Oliver, as orders flooded in for both dolls and prosthetics.

Path A: Unfortunately, Oliver fell for the temption of money and although his dolls were as high-quality as before, they seemed to be missing the spark of life he was previously known for. As orders slowly dried up, his income became scarce and he eventually died.

Path B: His popularity soared to new heights after that and Oliver began to set conditions on who could buy his goods. He only accepted commissions from commissioners who had built good rapport with him before and those whose background checks came back as clean. His brand became more and more famous with each passing day until he only took one order every month and to catch that slot, many burned midnight oil and resources to be the first to send in a form. Eventually his life ended in the culmination of his greatest doll, which was auctioned off for a sizeable sum and he died peacefully with a smile on his face.

Religious faction/faith/something to do with religion anyways. Touts the light affinity and banishes dark affinities.

Sahra - Arabic, "desert" Najima - Arabic, "star"

Stygian - "very dark"

Abysm - "a literary or poetic term for abyss"

Where aquatic dwellers reside and conduct business.

Tsigili - Tsalagi [Cherokee], means "horned owl/witch"? Strega - Italian/Maltese, "witch" Stria/Streia - Romansh, "witch"

Something along the lines of Witch's Lair/Forest/etc