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The Structure of a Multiverse

11 November 2025: Every single world in or outside Destiny-Alduran exists within a multiverse, of which there are an infinite and ever-expanding number, and although each is so vastly different from another, all share a handful of common traits regarding what they contain and how they are arranged. In many ways, the anatomy of a multiverse can be compared to that of a galaxy like our home Milky Way. In their centres exist the source of all other worlds in its system: its origin world, also referred to as its primal world, which connect all their alternate universes through a common history. The existence of many alternate universes, or AUs for short, hinges on major divergences between a world's timelines. Similar to the "many worlds" theory, every possibility that exists within a universe creates a new branch in a tree of infinite futures, some of which, if extreme enough, may form into AUs. Nearly every AU is set anywhere from days to years ahead of its origin world. This is especially true in multiverses like Destiny, whose furthest AU is set millennia ahead of Destiny Prime. Some AUs, however, are not solely based on matters of timeline, instead splitting off due to influences from other multiverses, as is the case with those from other multiverses that were close to Destiny, or in the instance of inter-multiversal mergers.

Any and all universes contain timelines, but only those in Destiny-Alduran are known to contain realms. Realms are categorized into two types, major and minor realms, of which Destiny's worlds have one major realm and four minor realms and Alduran's typically have two major realms and a varying number of minor realms. Major realms hold within them both infinite space and infinite timelines; minor realms, meanwhile, are finite and depend on their respective major realm to exist in the first place. A world must contain at least one major realm to be considered a fully-fledged universe, however there is a world type which is similar to a minor realm, but can exist on its own: subworlds.

Highly unstable, man-made, and frequently dangerous to enter, subworlds require a massive amount of magical strength and stamina to not only create, but maintain. They are not bound to the laws of any pre-existing universe and as such are free to be defined by their own physics, magic, and more. Unlike universes, they do not hold infinite space, cannot separate in any way, and are not self-sustaining; they can and will decay if abandoned or otherwise poorly handled. Similarly, deadworlds are former universes that have broken away from their multiverse for whatever reason, thereby losing their own stability. Some can integrate back into their original multiverse or into others, but typical deadworlds simply fall apart like a neglected subworld. In addition, both types of world are difficult to detect, making their study an arduous task.

Due to the nature of their creation, some groups of subworlds in Destiny seem to orbit the same universe, drawing their power from it as a method of keeping them stable, similar to planets orbiting a star. For example, Universe 1000-D fuels a collection of twenty subworlds dedicated as inter-universal or inter-multiversal travel hubs, many of which were created in response to the Destiny-Alduran merger.

The existence of realms, timelines, subworlds, and deadworlds, all acting as a multiverse's "dark matter," means that calculating a multiverse's true size by the number of its universes will always result in inaccuracy. Not only that, but the very fact that deadworlds are able to move and new branches of timelines form in less than the blink of an eye means that, if a finite number were to somehow be produced by this type of examination, it would still change exponentially by the millisecond. The sheer difficulty of such a method makes it all the more reasonable why the accepted "size" of a multiverse is generally measured by how many universes it contains.

Multiverses are not physical cosmic objects; they do not have a tangible shape, thus the models used to visualize them do not reflect any sort of "true form."

Just as dark matter is not part of the universe's backdrop and is instead clumped in halos around galaxies, individual timeline trees exist only within their respective multiverse. The expansion of a multiverse and the behavior of its timelines mutually impact one another; the more timelines diverge into AUs, the larger a multiverse becomes, and the larger a multiverse becomes through other means such as acquiring deadworlds or via the influence of Destiny's magic, the more likely timelines are to diverge. In fact, Destiny's magic reaching a multiverse can directly force rapid universe creation, as the integration of magic into a pre-existing world separates its timelines even further from those of its companion AUs.

To summarise: multiverses exist as distinct collections of universes, and fully-fledged universes are born of changes in timelines. At the core of a multiverse is its primal world from where all timelines are rooted. Subworlds are finite worlds that are created via magic, and deadworlds are former universes that have broken away from their original multiverse.

World IDs

28 August 2023 (amended 29 April 2026): The Midnight Empire tracks all worlds in and outside the Destiny-Alduran cluster via numerical IDs, with their format changing slightly based on which multiverse is being considered. For instance, because Destiny is known to have several thousands of Universes, it uses four-digit World IDs, whereas Alduran, which is estimated to have only hundreds, it uses a three-digit system. In addition, a suffix is given based on the name of the multiverse. The exact number is determined in order based on when a Universe was found by the Empire, however primal worlds are always considered "first," regardless of when they were discovered or if they were discovered at all.

Commonly known World IDs include 0001-D (Destiny Prime), 0100-D (Destiny Blinding Light AU), 1000-D, (Destiny Midnight AU), 001-A (Alduran Prime), and several more. The two Alternate Universes listed above are the sole exceptions to the naming convention, as these two play extremely vital roles within Destiny and are thus monitored more heavily than other worlds.

Subworlds and Deadworlds, due to their instability, are not given a fixed digit limit like Universes. Instead, they are listed as S# and D# respectively, and are, again, given a suffix to represent their multiverse. Noteable Subworlds include S1-D through S20-D, all of which were created and maintained to this day by the Empire.

When referring to older documentation, some confusion may arise. Before the merger between Destiny and Alduran, the Empire only tracked worlds within Destiny, labling them solely with numerical IDs. Many of these IDs have been given a suffix after Alduran came into the picture, and their numbers are largely the same. In addition, when multiple worlds are discovered to be within the same multiverse, they are sometimes relabled and given a suffix, although the criteria for when this is necessary has to do largely with influence on Destiny-Alduran, not the other way around (for example, the 2070 group and 2088 are within the same small multiverse, with the 2070s being directly influenced from Destiny, but they have not been relabled because they have not established a connection with Destiny-Alduran themselves.) In all, the process for identifying Worlds is flexible and prone to change.

The Structure of a Universe

29 April 2026: Universes differ from subworlds and deadworlds thanks in large part to their stability and connections to one another. They make up the bulk of any multiverse, and the term "universe" is often used interchangably with "world" to describe all worlds types due to their commonality, but while there are similarities, true Universes are much different from their sibling world types.

All worlds of any kind contain within them timelines, which branch like trees from the stem of the past into infinite possible futures, with only the microsecond "present" determining which path a world follows. Not all worlds are "set" at the same point in time, however, and often, major crossroads in the timeline create branching Alternate Universes, which are what create the network of a multiverse. The most influential world on a multiverse is its primal world, as it is at the centre of change. All Universes, in one way or another, stem from the primal world, and should a catastrophic change occur in said world, AUs that are no longer able to connect with it are cut away and destabilise, forming deadworlds.

Extreme examples of AUs within the Destiny multiverse are 0100-D and 1000-D, colloquially called Blinding Light and Midnight AUs, respectively. Both revolve around the Great Prophecy, a largely lost collection of prophecies regarding the reunion of the Celestial Magics within Destiny Prime, and both represent cataclysmic outcomes of said reunion. In Blinding Light, the magic, Alpha, has become so powerful that she is creating an implosion of the universe itself, and in Midnight, Eclipse has become so powerful that it has perminantly altered the environment and the magic of its own world. While the former is almost parallel to Destiny Prime's time, the latter is set a few thousand years ahead.

Within Destiny-Alduran Universes also exist sub-universes known as realms. Realms can be divided into two categories: minor and major, with minor realms being finite and more similar to subworlds and major realms being infinite and core to a Universe's existance. All Universes have at least one major realm (Alduran worlds have two) and can have any number of minor realms, though Destiny's worlds consistently have five: one major and four minor. Subworlds, unlike Universes, cannot form realms, as all are finite. Deadworlds often lose their realms.

Destiny - The Structure of Basic Magic

2 May 2026: Basic magic is the most common usable type of magic in the entirety of Destiny, with nearly 90% of the world's population in Destiny Prime holding any one of its three subtypes. As such, it is easily the most studied form of magic—however, its true structure has only been discovered by the Western scientific community late into the 19th century.

Nowadays, it is well known that all forms of basic magic are made up of raw magic and magic energy, and that the ratio of both impacts stability, usability, and general strength. Raw magic is the usable part of magic which is tied with its user's physical energy and which spellcasting drains. It can materialise in and impact the physical world at its user's command, but its strength is generally limited by its own quantity and that of one's magic energy. Of course, magic energy does not create a true limit on the amount of raw magic one can hold, just what is safe; for instance, overpowers occur when one has an excess of raw magic that must be released, and often, their danger comes from the fact that this magic is released within a mage's own body.

Magic energy keeps one's magic under control. It acts as something of a "container" for raw magic, stabilising it and allowing it to be commanded. Magic energy also controls the type of magic one has, and when a different type of magic is absorbed by a mage, their own magic energy will convert it. Magic energy and raw magic are often unequal in quantity, but an extreme divergence can cause rather serious problems—significantly more raw magic than magic energy leads to overpowers, as stated prior, and significantly less leads to underpowers, wherein one's magic is considerably weaker than it should be, most often due to lack of usage. Underpowers are much slower to cure than overpowers as they require usage of one's magic over time, stimulating production of raw magic.

Destiny - Celestial Magic

What is written below applies to all Destiny worlds primal and alternate up until the point of reunion.

2 March 2026: Celestial magic is a type of magic in Destiny known for their incredible strength and ties to an ancient, mostly lost Great Prophecy. Despite popular association with basic magic, Celestial magic is actually significantly closer to Hellfire, mainly thanks to it being categorised primatily by its sentience, wach having their own memorie, temperments and personalities like a living being. However, while these features in a Hellfire magic are determined largely by that magic's strength and connection to a user, Celestial have no need to form ties with an organic being in order to secure their own identities. In addition, Celestial magics face virtually no restrictions outside of the selection of their users, which is guided by a predestny they are cognisant of yet cannot seem to explain. Though this rings eerily similar to Hellfire knowing how to choose its users based on influence from the Hellfire Realm, it cannot be conclusively said whether the Celestial Realm has an impact on the will of Celestial magics.

Another difference between Celestial and Hellfire is that there only exist four Celestial magics, each originating from the same original magic entity known today as Alpha Prime. Its existance is supported by the testimonies of each magic, even though their memories are vague nowadays.

Celestial magic is able to spellcast just like basic of Hellfire magic and is not tied to any specific species. Like Hellfire, it is also capable of possession. Despite having predestined users, a Celestial magic could violate that destiny if it so chooses. It is not bound to the soul and spirit of its user like a Hellfire magic, and thus, it can be directly inherited.

Alpha Prime:

The purpose of Alpha Prime is largely unknown. It was once an extraordinarily powerful magical entity, though its abilities are debated amongst the modern day Celestial magics. Alpha recalls it creating the Demigods and the basic magic system, Eclipse believes that basic magic had already existed and was instead linked to humanoids by Alpha Prime, Reaper questions if it even created the Demigods, and Sunfire believes it simply existed as a watchful cosmic eye.

Alpha and Omega:

Alpha Prime eventually split into two beings who each tasked themselves with maintaining magical order, particularly amongst human- and nomalakind. as the Demigods had already abandoned the Elemental Realm, Harpies were born with Hellfire rather than any basic magic, and the Shadow Beasts had yet to be created. The two would attempt to influence the usage of magic among these species', initially not dividing their focus, but eventually, as their views on what humanoids should do with their powers began to shift in different directions, they grew more and more distant, more and more individualised.

According to legend, Alpha at this time was not particularly focused on the Demigods, but she did start to favour the rigidity of Light magic over the unpredictability of Dark. Omega, meanwhile, thought it best for humanoids to explore Dark magic's affinity for its environment rather than Light's need for unnatural specificity. Alpha's stubbornness and ego made it impossible for them to compromise, and though Omega was more willing to try and see eye-to-eye, Alpha was seemingly more interested in things going her way than figuring out what was best for the Realm. After a long and intense period of fighting, she forced him to take away the humans' Dark magic, which he complied to, unaware of the consequences.

There is historical evidence to suggest that many humans across the globe suddenly lost their magic at the same time, only for many to get it back some time later. In addition, the recollection of all four Celestial magics of this event consistently support one another, even if some stories are slightly embellished.

Omega's attempt to take away the Dark magic of humans triggered a severe overpower, and Alpha, panicked and with no idea what was happening or what to do, performed the same spell to split him in twain much like Alpha Prime did to herself. This attempt to jettison the extra magic was successsful, but, perhaps because of the overpower, Alpha accidentally created a third magic, one that she viewed as a mistake and thus blamed for Omega's suffering in his final moments.

Alpha

Eventually, Alpha would isolate herself from the other magics, becoming the inheritable power of the Demigod royal family.

Alpha is described by the Demigods as their Divine Power. Ancient Demigods believed she was the source of their power, a belief which she never fully denied. For a time, she was only known to residents of the Elemental Realm in myths.

When the Great Prophecy reached the Light Realm, Demigod royals began a programme that would allow Alpha's users to research the Elemental Realm and try to keep tabs on the other Celestial magics. This introduced humans to Alpha and the Demigods, and it seeded an idea in the Demigods that they all were superior to humans, and that the Great Prophecy foresaw a time wherein they were meant to be humanity's saviour. Alpha, if anything, took advantage of this idea so that she could guarantee herself to be stronger than Eclipse, as she to this day believes it to be her enemy.

Sunfire

Sunfire, one of Omega's direct decendants, journeyed the Earth for a period of time as a storyteller. It largely spoke of its own origin, and to this day, it is considered to have the most accurate retelling of their four.

Sunfire got its name from ancient associations with certain sug gods or sun-adjacent deities, particularly Sol/Helios and Apollo/Apollon. Due to this, it is often also refered to as a male, especially in past centuries, and is sometimes even seen as a sun god itself. Its personal preferences fluctuate. Of all the Celestial magics, it was the most well-known pre-reunion, especially in the West.

Reaper

Reaper, another of Omega's decendants, followed a similar journey as its sibling, though it took a vastly different approach. Rather than becoming a storyteller and assistant to humans, it often avoided humans in general, chosing only to show itself when it could predict iminent disaster. It found that possessing an animal skeleton was most effective in getting attention, though not always in delivering its message. Many saw it instead as the harbinger of doom and death, thus earning its name. Like how Sunfire was known in the West, Reaper often travelled all over the far North and South—it liked being close to the poles.

Reaper was never fond of humanity, often going out of its way not to interact with a human, and though it was more comfortable around nomala, that too was not by a lot. Despite this, it has exceptional power regarding the soul.

Eclipse

Eclipse was the first to integrate itself among humankind. Having at one point or another been in every corner of the world, it mirrored Alpha in that it was largely and inherited power, though it would abandon its user if it felt it was needed. Among many of its users, it had an excellent reputation, but its external perception could hardly be salvaged due to its (somewhat) inaccurate association with Dark magic (which was heavily demonised in various European and Near East religions, especially Christianity) and propaganda from Demigods. This became even worse when several prophets confirmed that Eclipse would be inherited by someone of nomala blood.

The origin opf Eclipse's name is lost, though Eclipse is confident that it was self-assigned. Humanoids had given it several names in the past, with some holding more positive connotations than others.

In all Destiny AUs (not deadworlds,) Eclipse has completely absorbed its user's Hellfire, taking on the qualities of a connection to the Hellfire Realm, the mutatuions of its user's form and, due to its sheer strength, the ability to remotely control other Hellfire magics.

Destiny - Hellfire Magic

25 May 2024 (amended 11 March 2026): Hellfire is a type of magic in Destiny whch originates from the Hellfire Realm and is only naturally usable by nomala and the now-extinct harpies. Cases of artificial usage in humans are extraordinarily rare, but seem to have no difference from their natural equivalent. It is able to spellcast in much the same way as any other magic, however, fundamentally, it functions much differently from basic magic. Unlike basic magic, it cannot be separated into raw magic and magic energy, and some Hellfire magics are able to achieve a level of sentience ranging from simple observational and problem-solving abilities akin to a highly-aware Dark magic to being on par with Celestial magic. Each and every Hellfire is as unique as one's fingerprint, though they all share several commonalities that distinguish them from other magic types.

Stages of Progression

For both nomala and harpies (and the rare human instances,) there are up to three stages of progression which they can undertake. Though they are quite different depending on the species, they mirror one another.

Stage 1 - The Obtaining of Hellfire:

While harpies were born with Hellfire, nomala are not. Therefore, although nothing need be done for a harpy to reach it, this still counts as a stage of progression.

No physical or mental changes occur in Stage 1, as one's Hellfire is typically too weak to alter anything at this point.

Stage 2 - Titan Form:

For those who obtain a strong enough Hellfire, or for those whose Hellfire has grown in strength since, a Titan form is normally the only major transformation that occurs. Titan forms can be described as simplified, anthropomorphic versions of one's possible Hellfire form, as they often remain bipedal and usually don't change all too dramatically in size. With a Titan form comes some of the abilities of its equivalent Hellfire form as well as an increase in physical strength and a decrease in control over one's instinct.

The equivilant for harpies was merely a stronger harpy, with only very minor alterations to their body, all of which were identical and had no relation to a potential Harpy Beast form. As well as the boost in physical and instinctual strength, they also gained sharper claws and teeth, a slightly larger figure and cat-like eyes, which allowed for greater night vision.

Stage 3 - Hellbeast/Harpy Beast Form:

Both Hellbeasts and Harpy Beasts are incredibly rare, as it requires especially powerful magic to transform into one. It is in these forms where Hellfire's uniqueness shines; every Titan, Hellbeast or Harpy Beast form is unique to each individual. Most often, they are four (or more)-legged, kaiju-esque monsters, although there have been a rare few that more closely resembled their original form. In all cases, Hellfire is in control of its user's body, running off instinct if it has no sentience of its own.

Connection to the Hellfire Realm

Note: this only applies to nomala and humans with artificial Hellfire magic. Only harpies with the potential to turn into Harpy Beasts had any connection to the Realm, scant as it was, athough it is as of yet unclear why.

Because it is impossible for anyone without Hellfire to access the Hellfire Realm, little is known about it. What is clear, however, is that all Hellfire users, with the exception of most harpies, are able to be remotely mind-controlled in a sort of hive mind fashion, regardless of their stage of progression or the strength of their magic. They are at the beck and call of the Master of the Hellfire Realm—the most powerful Hellfire user in the five realms—who is the sole entity with the power to control the hive mind. Who this Master is exactly differs depending on which universe is being considered; for instance, in most worlds close to 1000-D, this Master is the holder of the Celestial magic, Eclipse.

Additionally, as the Hellfire Realm also serves as an afterlife, the spirits of all Hellfire users are essentially cursed to end up there after death, and because Hellfire's mark on one's spirit is permanent, there is no way to alter this fate.

Destiny - How to Spellcast

2 May 2026: Spellcasting, put simply, is the art of commanding one's magic to impact the physical world. Spells come in numerous forms, and can accomplish a number of feats, from creation to destruction, from transformation to reversion, from information gathering to altering, and much, much more. The ability to cast certain spells, however, is dependent on magical strength and knowledge of the spell, with more complex spells requiring more specificity from their user. For instance, manifesting a simple wooden cube in one's hand is easy as long as one can, in some way, imagine the cube, but manifesting a birdhouse is more difficult as one must consider all the components of the birdhouse and how they fit together.

Casting a spell requires focus and physical energy. If one becomes distracted or tires during spellcasting, the spell is likely to fail. More complex spells involve much more mental effort, thus compounding onto their difficulty. In order to spellcast, one must first have an idea of what it is they want their magic to do, then direct their power wherever it needs to go, and finally will their magic to enact the change they want. This process can manifest in a number of different ways; for example, an artificial mage does not get the luxury natural mages have of being able to direct through thought alone, so even in something as simple as a low-level manifestation spell, one must do something with their body in order to "tell" their magic where to go. Meanwhile, natural mages, with enough practice and skill, are able to cast entire spells with only a small amount of willpower.

Destiny - The Languages of the Nomala

Just like humans, various nomala civilisations across the globe have their own unique languages, many of which have influenced human languages and vice versa. Unfortunately, due to the near-extinction of the species and the continuing discrimination they face even in the modern day, among other factors, many of those languages, along with the cultures that spoke them, are long gone, and humans at large are only familiar with a few that remain.

Hokkaido

18 April 2026: The indigenous nomala of what is now Japan once got along well with neighbouring human groups and even shared a majority of their languages, however, like their fellow humans, conflict and colonialism caused the extinction of much of their culture. Today, the most mythologised nomala tribes to still exist in East Asia are those whose territory lies deep within the Daisetsuzan Volcanic Group, who all speak a unified language which can be described as a medley of indigenous languages, Japanese, and newer, original features. Its script slowly died as a result of their extreme isolation, so the spoken language is often transcribed in katakana.

The Great Lakes and the Underworld

18 April 2026: The group of nomala which established the Underworld originated from the Holy Roman Empire and had faced centuries of both forced assimilation and discrimination from the human societies of the area, thus, they spoke primarily German. When they fled, they found an ally in the North American Nation of the Holy Lakes, and even as early as Redwing's reign, they officially adopted their language. Redwing and several of his successors campaigned to be rid of human influence entirely—an idea which, just like fleeing in the first place, had been inspired by the Shadow Beasts—and replacing it with "true" nomala culture. Despite this, many elements of Medieval German are still found within in their dialect.

The Underworld Dialect is the most commonly-spoken nomala language among other humanoids. It is typically the only nomala language taught in the Kingdom of the Shadow Realm, having become an official part of their educational curriculum soon after the two kingdoms officially allied in the mid-1600s. While most of its vocabulary comes from its Holy Lakes parent language, pronunciation is often closer to the primary language of the Shadow Realm, which often makes it difficult for modern Holy Lakes nomala to understand those from the Underworld.

Both groups share the same script, which has twenty-two letters and a small number of punctuation marks. Overall, the syntax rules are extremely close, with the largest difference being that, in the Underworld Dialect, it is strictly phonetic, whereas the Holy Lakes Dialect allows for some remnant silent letters, although they are rare. This is mainly apparent in the vowel sounds expressed; the Underworld accent features much stronger frontality and nasaliness.

Destiny - Religion in Non-human Humanoid Civilisations

27 February 2026: Various humanoid societies have their own unique religious beliefs, much like human cultures. Below is a simple overview of those of the major civilisations:

The Kingdom of the Shadow Realm

- Monotheistic, worshipping a sole Goddess who is the creator of all things and who judges Shadow Beasts for their deeds in life

- Has a handful of denominations within the Kingdom, with varying beliefs on who the Goddess considers to be Her people, what the punishments are for wickedness, how involved She is in the lives of mortals, and so on, but all follow the teachings of the same prophets, even if in different ways

- Draws a lot from Christianity, owing to their history as a man-made species created by royal sorcerers in Renaissance Era Germany, however, it rejects many of the ideas found in Christianity along with its mythology

- Practice involves devotion to the Goddess, which can be done through prayer, acts of good will, dedication via spells, etc.

The Kingdom of the Light Realm

- Somewhat autotheistic, believing Demigods to be descendants of the Celestial magics themselves, and with said magics—particularly Alpha—considered to be literal divine power

- Lacks a singular scripture or mythology, but thousands of stories about the creation of the universe(s) and the purpose of the Demigods in both the Light and Elemental Realms have been told since time in memoriam. Regardless, Demigods hold (their interpretation of) the Great Prophecy in the highest regard. As such, members of the royal family who inherit Alpha are treated as the most divine of the species until they inevitably pass the torch onto their descendants. Now that Callie is known to be Alpha's destined user, she especially is put on an extreme pedestal

The Nation of the Holy Lakes

- Polytheistic and animistic, believing there to be five major gods who live in each of the Holy (Great) Lakes and give spirits to all plants and animals, including humanoids, and many minor gods who represent unnatural or non-material things. Each of these gods are also patrons of particular professions and types of people

- A huge part of practice is seasonal migration to each lake, as each chief god also holds dominion over different seasons, of which they believe there are five (winter is split about midway through.) Anyone who can make this pilgrimage must at least once in their life

- Though this was not always part of the belief system, reincarnation has become another large aspect of it, as well as the idea that devotion to a particular god in one life can grant certain things relating to that god in the next

- The spirits of all plants and animals must be honoured, making wasting anything from a crop or prey sacreligious. In addition, high importance is placed upon protecting the Earth. Several animals are forbidden to eat, and the capturing of non-human-domesticated animals as pets is another giant taboo. Because humans do so much more than just not follow these rules (including and especially killing nomala both out of prejudice and to use their wing membranes and tough scales,) many, many people in the Nation consider them to be a species with evil spirits. Contention exists on whether or not humans should be honourd the same way other animals should

- Hellfire users are considered to have their spirits stolen from them by their magic and are no longer able to reincarnate. Sometimes, a user is exiled, and sometimes, they must be mercy-killed by their chief, with their body left as an offering to the gods. This sort of sacrifice still must be atoned for

The Kingdom of the Underworld

- Polytheistic, but with a focus on one particular god, that being the god of the Earth, stone, caverns, miners, and (as worshipped by the Underworld) refugees and hunters

- They were initially Christian, despite Christianity actively demonising them, owing to their location in north-central Europe during the late medieval period. Those who fled to the Underworld largely abandoned the human religion and were convertedThe royal family avoids involvement with the religious organisation of its people unless absolutely needed due to the unfortunate trend of various royals throughout history becoming targets of hellfire. Normally, said royals, once discovered to have Hellfire, would have a magicblocking curse placed upon them before being exiled to the surface. Sorcerer priests would then host a number of ceremonies to ensure the safety of the kingdom before and during the coronation of the next monarch

Destiny - Souls and Spirits

11 March 2026: The terms “soul” and “spirit” have slightly different connotations in Destiny than they do in the real world. One’s “soul” is their lifeforce, the non-physical manifestation of a creature’s physical wellbeing, whereas the “spirit” holds the identity. Souls are capable of death, but spirits are largely considered to be immortal, though they do disappear once the soul has completely deteriorated. Where they go is unclear; though it is known that spirits of Hellfire users become stuck in the Hellfire Realm, it is nearly impossible to detect where those of anyone else end up, just that they leave the body as soon as it fully dies. Both can be monitored by any kind of usable magic, and to an extent, the soul is also able to be manipulated, though one’s magic has to be very powerful in order to effect it directly.

Destiny has two major spells that relate in some way to the soul: revival and resurrection.

Revival spells are absolutely vital for high-level mages to learn. They are only usable when a soul is in the process of rapid deterioration brought about by death, and they work to revitalise the soul and, by proxy, the body in order to bring a creature back to life. Because younger souls take longer to die, this is typically only used in emergency cases, not so much if the cause of death is, say, natural causes. In addition, revival spells are incredibly draining on their users, and they have a rather low success rate due to the amount of power they need in order to heal the soul, but their miraculous effects make them one of the most valued spells across the globe.

Despite how much effort needs to be placed into a revival spell, they are far from the most difficult to cast, even within the category of “healing spells”. Resurrection is a near-impossible spell, needing magic so strong that even Celestial struggles to cast it—it is far and away the highest-level spell in Destiny! It is also highly specific, as one must be able to not only create a new soul that is compatible with the deceased body, but one must also be able to return the spirit to the body, searching for which being where most of one’s energy is used up. Unlike revival spells, there is also an extreme risk of failure, not just in the spell not working at all, but also in it potentially damaging the new soul or the spirit in some way. Many who have been resurrected die again moments later because their souls have broken beyond repair. The extremely rare few who have been brought back successfully, even with fractured souls, and who are able to live seemingly normal lives are considered to be “undead”.

Though most people have only one soul, tied to having only one body, a number of people have multiple spirits, whether this is due to multiplicity, religious practice, possession, or any number of factors, the having of only one spirit is not as commonplace as is typically believed. Their connection with one another, however, allows a resurrection spell to restore any that had inhabited the recipient body.

Several other things are able to impact the soul and spirit aside from spells. One of Hellfire’s most distinguishing traits is its ability to latch onto the spirit of its user, for instance. Magics or entities capable of possession are able to manipulate the spirit in various ways. Extremely severe overpowers can directly destroy the soul, or split the spirit in even rarer circumstances. All in all, however, these cases are so uncommon that many may go their entire lives without ever hearing about such things, let alone witnessing or experiencing any of them.

MBES; Destiny's Unique Form of Magigenic Multiplicity

Preface:

- Both disordered and non-disordered plurality exists in Destiny in all forms it does in the real world and more. The only difference is that all kinds of systems also have the advantage of using magic to shape/maintain their system. Many times, internal telepathy is used to help alters in systems with dissociative barriers circumvent them, for example, and thoughtforms can be created by magical means.

- "Magigenic" can be used as a term to describe how a headmate or system at large formed (similar to "willogenic,") but it is most commonly seen as a descriptor for MBES.

- In Destiny, a being's lifeforce is known as their "soul" and their non-physical aspects (personality, identity, etc.) as their "spirit." Most systems have multiple spirits, however the psychological/spiritual/metaphysical condition comes before the formation of new spirits. MBES is the sole exception.

- A magic overpower is the state at which magic becomes unstable to the point of potential harm to its user. Most often, overpowers occur in basic magic when one has a surplus of raw magic (pure power) without enough magic energy to keep it under control. It can also happen to any form of magic if the magic experiences a sudden surge of strength. The stronger one's magic is, the higher the risk of an overpower, and the worse its effects are likely to be.

What is MBES?

MBES (or Magic-borne Ego Separation) is an incredibly rare condition in which a severe magic overpower causes the spirit to split into two or three parts. Because the spirit is being split, alters can often be seen as different sides of the original personality, but they develop into their own identities over time as the fragments of the original split become whole (think mitosis.) The condition causes no dissociative symptoms, alters are not given "roles," new alters cannot form on their own, and alters formed through MBES are unable to fuse in any way.

What Causes MBES?

While there does not yet exist a way to quantify magical strength, it is often believed that the magic needs to be at near-Celestial level of power in the moment it splits the spirit; strong enough to do such a thing while also aware enough to safeguard its user from damage to the soul. This threshold is slightly lower in Dark magic than Light due to Dark magic's high environmental awareness, which makes it better able to know that it should protect the soul from itself in the first place. This is what also gives Dark and Dual mages a higher likelihood to survive a severe overpower than Light mages.

MBES cannot be created artificially; in all cases, it originates from a magic overpower. New spirits formed through magigenic means are possible, but do not share the traits of MBES.

What Struggles to MBES Systems Face?

The initial stretch of time after acquiring MBES can be timultuous for all alters in the newly-formed system. Many cite the identity issues that the split causes, issues such as feeling incomplete, as if the person they once were is now gone, or not knowing which alter (if any) embody the original identity most. While some recover the traits of the original identity, others don't. Often, the system goes through a period of "rediscovering themself," so to speak. In addition, adjusting to suddenly becoming multiple can be rather difficult for different people.

While efforts exist to end the demonisation of Dark magic in the West, Dark mages are still frequently discriminated against because of their magic type. Therefore, due to its association with Dark magic, MBES systems face similar risks on top of any they may face just for being a system.

Destiny - Differences Between Plurality and Possession

10 June 2025: While plurality is generally defined as "multiple consciousnesses inhabiting the same body," which possession—or even just the owning of sentient magic—could technically fall under, it is generally not considered to be under the plural umbrella due to how it operates on a separate level than multiplicity. Possession in Destiny is when a magical force takes control of someone's mind and/or body, which can be remote (via a spell, though this is highly outlawed) or internal (via one's own magic or a magical entity.) Anyone can become possessed; it requires no previous psychological alterations. Possession is also nearly impossible to combat due to its magical nature.

Features of Possession:

- Loss of control of the body while retaining one's own consciousness, often described as if one is watching everything like it is a movie, but with minimal immersion (though dissociation may occur)

- The possesser and possessed have distinct thoughts and memories, like two separate minds; the possesser can sometimes hear the thoughts of the possessed, but the reversed is never true during active possession

- Physical alterations, such as a shift in eye colour, changes in voice, markings on the skin, or deformities which reflect the possesser. Hellfire takes this to the extreme by fully mutating the body even before possession (Titan forms, Hellbeast/Harpy Beast forms)

- Magical strength is drawn from the possesser rather than the possessed—possession by an outside entity (not one's own magic) frequently leads to overpowers as the possesser and possessed's magics clash

In Systems:

- The previous fronter(s) is/are pushed back into the headspace with their headmates/alters, but they retain memories as if they are still in the front

- Unless the possesser somehow makes it so, barriers are not established or broken down

- Possession does not effect systems differently based on origin, nor does it effect systems much differently from singlets

Aftermath of the Possession:

- Possible permanent changes to the body, though this is dependent on how the possesser made those changes in the first place (shapeshifting reverts back to normal whereas transfiguration has a lasting effect)

- Effects of an overpower (if one occurred)

- (If possession was remote) Increased susceptibility to magical influence, increased chance for dissociation to occur, decreased ability to retain memories

- (If possession was internal) Magical instability

All of the above are treatable; permanence is not guaranteed.