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Glossary
Not sure what the difference between a “super” and a “metahuman” is? What’s the deal with this SMPB Ranking System thing, and who are the SMPB anyway? And where can you get the best pizza in Paragon Bay? The answers are here.
New entries will be added as the story grows. If you still feel lost… then you’re exactly where Project Eryss wants you.
(For characters, visit the character page!)
A
The Adventures of Kaldor and the Spirits of Ecanria
Usually just referred to as “Kaldor and the Spirits of Ecanria”. An old animated TV series produced by Westwood Inc, and their first big success when it came to TV entertainment. The series is a heavily fictionalized retelling if the Second Waric War, focusing on Kaldor/Princess Alysia and their allies — Kayla, Seraphim and Paragon — as they fight against Lord Waric. The real-life Seraphim and Paragon reluctantly agreed to let the series be produced as a way to homage their old comrades, with Paragon even acting as a creative consultant. The series has of course been banned in Ecanria and is rumoured to be one of the reasons why Lord Waric (not happy with his portrayal) kidnapped Grace Westwood back in the day.
B
Bard
Traditionally, a bard’s a tribal poet, usually a teller of epic tales… but it’s also the term for a magic-user who follows the Bardic path. Bards are musicians, entertainers and performers who use magic through performing. Bardic Arts is one of the three fields of study at Academy. Robyn Foxlane, Holly Blackthorne’s girlfriend, is a Bard.
The Blackstone Invasion
A catastrophic magical event in which demonic forces invaded Paragon Bay, resulting in widespread destruction, mass casualties, and the emergence of long-term magical corruption. The invasion was only stopped when Paragon and the White Sorceress sacrificed themselves to save the city. Many of the city’s younger supers today are direct or indirect products of the Blackstone invasion, and most people agree that this event was what truly turned Paragon Bay into “Supervillain Central”.
Blackstone Pizza
The best pizzeria in Paragon Bay, bar none. Nobody’s sure what their secret is (though any sort of supernatural explanation has been ruled out), but this two-storey pizzeria located in the outskirts of the Blackstone district has the best takeout pizza in the city. Unfortunately, they don’t deliver, so anyone who wants a slice has to brave the streets of Blackstone.
C
Changeling
An old and mostly outdated term for a metahuman. The term comes from the once-popular (but thoroughly disproven) belief that metahumans are changelings left with human families by the Fae.
Changeling Hospital
A hospital in Kingsmarch, the capital of Westhaven. In the old days it was also an orphanage for “changelings” (metahumans) who had either lost or been abandoned by their human families. Even though the term “changeling” is outdated, the hospital has kept the name out of tradition. The Protectors, the world’s oldest superhero team, was originally made up of orphans from Changeling Hospital.
Cool Crush Cola
A very popular soda brand. The stylish blue etiquette on the cans and bottles is iconic, and the cola itself isn’t bad either. It comes in several variants, such as Regular, Diet, Lemon, Diet Lemon, Cherry and Blueberry. The Diet version is said to be a good basis for magical potions.
D
District Chancellor
The elected leader of a Paragon Bay city district. While the High Chancellor and her office govern the entire city-state, the District Chancellors are in charge of the individual districts. Elections are held every seven years… at least in theory. With all the times a District Chancellor ends up kidnapped, brainwashed or turns out to have been a supervillain in disguise all along, “emergency” elections are held a lot more often.
DressDove
A chain of clothing stores found all over Paragon Bay that also caters to supers. Fashion models wouldn’t be caught dead in a DressDove outfit, but regular people and a large number of supers and metahumans appreciate the versatile and durable outfit. Plus, DressDove stores are usually good with “buy now, pay later” deals for naked supers who have suffered wardrobe malfunctions and need new clothes straight away.
E
Evershade Academy of the Arcane Arts
The biggest and most prestigious school of magic in the world. Located in the heart of Tir’Galdur, built into the branches of the The Tree of Eternity. It teaches different fields of magical study: Sorcery (magic through innate, inborn gifts), Wizardry (magic through learning and scientific study) and Bardic Arts (magic through music and art). Evershade prioritizes taking in Tir’Galdur citizens, with Tir’Galdur nobility automatically being accepted, but they also take in students from Paragon Bay, if they have been approved and reccommended by the White Coven.
G
Glamour
Glamour is the magic of the Fae. It used to be taught at Evershade Academy as the fourth line of study, but Glamour studies were banned after the Fae Lords took over the country. Officially, it was because the Fae magic was corrupting too many students.
H
High Chancellor
The highest elected official of Paragon Bay. The current High Chancellor is Elysia Verenthia, who has been in the role for decades. She’s most well known famous for heading the urban restructuring of the city and the official split into districts… the districts already existed long before Chancellor Verenthia, but it was under her leadership that they all became distinct government bodies with their own District Chancellors.
L
The Lowdown
Paragon Bay’s national news program, recorded in Central Heights. The primary anchors of the program are named Samantha Rivers and Travis Blackwell, and they cover local news as well as international news. Katherine Cho, who’s secretly the heroine Erratic, works as an intern for the program.
M
MagicalGenieGirl
An app for your cell phone that allows you to summon a magical genie girl who will grant three wishes for you… completely free and for nothing. However, if you want more wishes… or if you try to indulge in clever wordplay or technicalities in order to get more than those three wishes… you’d better be prepared to pay a pretty steep price.
Metahuman
Any human with superpowers or supernatural abilities. Some metahumans are born, some are made, some are created by accident. Powers can range from the harmless and insignificant (can smell the colour blue) to the powerful and lethal (can shoot lightning from their hands). A lot of metahumans are also supers, but the majority of them are really just normal people with some extra powers.
Mystic Brew
A series of coffee houses scattered around Paragon Bay. The first one was, fittingly enough, in Mystic Grove, hence the name. There’s nothing really magical about the coffee houses, but they have good pastries.
N
Nightfall Penitentiary
The world’s biggest supervillain prison. Located partially underneath the Nightfall Mountains and partially underneath Darkwater Lake, north of Paragon Bay; it’s a high-tech, high-security prison specifically for supervillains.
P
The Powerhouse Nations
A collective name for the four most powerful nations in the mothern world — Ecandria, Oceandra, Tir’Galdur and Paragon Bay.
Project Eryss
A semi-secret, definitely shady organisation whose goal it is to create female supers… though what their real goal is, is unknown. They’re the main reason why the majority of supers are female, and possibly the reason your barista suddenly started shooting lasers from her eyes. They have divisions all over, including in Westhaven, New Lakeport and several hidden on the Aurelia Islands. It’s rumoured that their main base is in Silvercliff.
The Protectors
The world’s oldest superhero team, and the largest superhero team outside Paragon Bay. In fact, the team is older than the word “superhero”. Founded about 400 years ago by orphans from Changeling Hospital, who wanted to improve their standing among the people of Edridge, they’re dedicated to “helping the helpless, protecting the innocent, and fighting evil”. None of the original members are still around, but new generations keep the team going.
S
SMPB
“Supers and Metahumans of Paragon Bay”. A website dedicated to cataloguing and classifying the various supers and metahumans of Paragon Bay… at least the ones who are in the public eye. Nobody knows who runs the website, but it’s considered reliable enough that even police and government agents have used it to get information on the latest superhero or -villain. The SMPB is also the ones who came up with the “SMPB ranking system” which ranks the supers and metahumans by threat level.
SMPB Ranking System
A quick and easy way to judge how big a threat any given super or metahuman is, based on a simple estimate of how much damage they would cause and/or how big an area they could affect if allowed to rampage freely and unchecked for fifteen minutes. The rankimgs are, from lowest to highest:
Level F (Baseline): Negligible threat; individual-level.
Level E (Localized): Threat limited to individuals or single buildings.
Level D (Neighborhood): Can impact several buildings or city blocks. (Most Paragon Bay supers are on this level)
Level C (District): Potential threat to an entire city district.
Level B (Citywide): Able to affect or disrupt the entire city.
Level A (Regional): Capable of threatening multiple cities or entire regions (extremely rare and closely monitored).
Level S (National): Could affect entire countries (no known supers in Paragon Bay).
Level SS (Global): Planet-wide threat (no known supers in Paragon Bay).
Level X (Immeasurable): Cosmic-scale threat; beyond planetary (irrelevant in practice; at this level they’re so stupidly powerful it doesn’t really matter)
Sorcerer/Sorceress
A magic-user who follows the path of Sorcery. Sorcerers are generally born with an innate gift for and instinctual understanding of magic; unlike wizards, who are born without magical abilities but gain magic through study, sorcerers already have magic but need to learn to control it in order to actually use it. Sorcery is one of the three fields of study at Evershade Academy. Holly Blackthorne is a sorceress.
Super
A person (usually but not always a metahuman) who dresses up in a costume and uses their ability to either help people (superhero) or commit crimes/crease havoc/in renewal harm people (supervillain). Usually they go by some sort of code name while in costume. Not all metahumans are supers… in fact. the vast majority of metahumans aren’t supers. Some supers have secret identities, day jobs and personal lives outside their super lives, others have made superheroing/villainous acts their entire career.
Super Chick Alliance
Also known as “The Alliance of Super Chicks.” Part superhero team and part support group, it was established by Ermine, the White Vigilante of Blackstone, to help and support former Project Eryss girls and give them some productive ways of using their powers and abilities. The first members of the Alliance were Mimette and Miss Metamorph, but more members have been added. The Super Chick Alliance are among the more visible heroines in Paragon Bay and are often seen patrolling the streets.
Supervillain Attack Clause
A law in Paragon Bay that states that nobody can be fired or docked pay for missed working hours as a result of a supervillain attack. A related sub-clause also states that nobody can be held responsible for criminal actions they may have committed while under a supervillain’s control.
W
The Waric Wars
The collective term for the three times Lord Waric tried to conquer Ecanria. The First Waric War ended with him being imprisoned in the Shadow Vale, the Second Waric War ended with his mysterious disappearance along with his two greatest enemies, Kaldor (really Princess Alysia) and Lady Kayla. The Third Waric War was the shortest; it ended with him successfully conquering Ecanria. Kaldor and the Spirits of Ecanria takes place during the Second Waric War.
Westwood Inc
One of the biggest media and entertainment corporations in the world. It was founded over a century ago by William “Bill” Westwood, heir to the Westwood fortune. Bill used part of his fortune to start Westwood Films, largely in honour of his brother Bob who was lost at sea. Today, Westwood Inc is a multi-billion multimedia corporation, but its owners and front figures are still the Westwood family, now headed by Bill’s daughter, “Grandmother” Grace Westwood. They are said to own more than 40% of the global entertainment industry. Rumours that they also do shadier things and are somehow tied to Project Eryss has never been officially proven.
The White Coven
A loose society of the magic- and supernaturally-powered supers and metahumans in Paragon Bay, whose base is at Coven’s Refuge in Mystic Grove. The society was co-founded by White Sorceress, who led the society until her death during the Blackstone Invasion. Nowadays, the Head of the Coven is Count Ravenwood.
Wizard
A magic-user who follows the path of wizardry. Wizards gain their magic abilities through study, research and knowledge. Technically, at least in theory, anyone could become a wizard if they were willing to put in the hard work and study that’s necessary to succeed in magic… in practice, though, not many people have the sheer dedication or patience. As a result, people who do become wizards are generally either very hard workers, very meticulous, very intelligent, or all three. Wizardry is one of the three fields of study at Evershade Academy, and most wizards have some specialized field of expertise. Harlan Gardner is a techno-wizard.
Woodworks
A streaming platform belonging to Westwood Inc. The name’s been thoroughly mocked by everyone not working for the Westwoods.
Z
Zenith Institute
The largest research facility on the Aurelia Island; top secret (nobody outside even knows exactly what they are researching here) and located in gigantic caverns in the Western part of the Nightfall mountains, close to Silvercliff.
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