Damsol will hopefully be an italian Dungeon Punk series by Matteo Bortolotti.The series will follow the stories on the Damsol, a world that underwent a series of technolgic advancements thanks to the discovery of the noivag, a substance that can mana, and the simmavi, alchemics gems that can channel it. Also, the world is made by three parts (body, soul and will), each one that can fuel a different kind of magic, with its specific wizards (warriors are those who can use body magic, priests soul magic and arcanists will magic). Body magic costs way less than the other two (allowing warriors not to wear themselves out by using it while they fight), but at the same time is much more rude and direct the effects, mostly manipulating the surroundings or buffing/debuffing others; soul magic costs a bit less than will magic and is more indirect in its effects, but it's also the most reliable one; will intead has the wider range of effects but has to be used very carefully and to consider exactly what the arcanists wants and how to obtain it, to avoid undesired consequences (it must be noted that all the three of them could theoritically obtain the same things, but the nature of each of them made each one more or less suited for certain uses), a limit of magic, however, is that permanent incantations aren't possible.Wizards are far more common than most settings, since it's quite common to know only a little of it or specific effects, and also everyone being able to possibly learn every kind of magic. The main focus of the series will be the study of magic and technology in that world, and the political struggles when factions try use such advancements and use them to create and manipulate international tensions (and, possibly, start wars).
Damsol will contain examples of:
- All-Powerful Bystander: The Gholfodar. They consciously avoid using their powers to the full extents, and their organization has the only purpose to monitor the whole Damsol to spot any similar power while they are still growing, to make sure they won't become a threat to the Damsol.
- The Archmage: It's the actual title for the six head arcanists of Laedor. Althought they earn their title, they are not the most egregious example.
- On the overall, Norritt is far below that level, when it comes to poison and diseases he is so above everyone else to fully deserve the title.
- Gholfodar are this, among the other things. They can cast spells that influences entire nations half-mindedly.
- Nester Lartis, the only gholfodar who didn't keep a low profile. In the final confrontation, several other gholfodar managed to just barely win.
- Artistic License – Biology: Humans' biology is different than ours (for example, there are six actual different races), some of them are biologically plausible, some of them are just because there's magic.
- Badass Army: Laedor has one, but it pales in comparison to Duknai's. It helps that's the only nation able to deploy Forgals, but human soldiers are not to be underestimated either. Alone, it was able to wage war against the whole Continent (admittedly it did use it's internal divisions to its advantage).
- Big Bad: Uren and the indexers could be closer contenders, as the Forgalid. Soras is often believed to be one in-universe, but see The Empire (however, see also Right for the Wrong Reasons).
- Card Carryng Villain: Makrsha is evil and doesn't try to deny or justify it. For that matter, Uren itself admits to gather the same amount of power and influence Nester Lartis had just for the sake of ruling on everyone else.
- Charles Atlas Superpower: Some examples. Downplayed, however, resulting from a different biology and magic altering bodies.
- The Chessmaster: Heimro is one.
- Also, Eirst, one of Laedor's generals, when he's actually interested on something. He's also a litteral case, being downright undefeatable at tabar (Damsol's equivalent of chess).
- Clap Your Hands If You Believe: A sufficiently large amount of Forgal living an area creates a similar effect, see Reality Warper below.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Janhar. Completely dressed in black, versed in the darker areas of magic and Casting a Shadow as trademark magic, but unambiguosly good.
- Heimro is the head of Duknai's secret services and actively against starting a new war with the continent. She's also a black Forgal.
- Damned by Faint Praise: Inverted with Janhar and Deila, see Informed Flaw below.
- The Dreaded: The Lyunaji, o Unblood, minor children from Jeanna's noble houses taken from birth and trained to become their top assassins and soldiers, deprived of any identity and purpose if not to obey orders.
- Forgaleers, the top of Duknai's armies, each of them able to bring down cities in a couple of day or effortlessy tear through hundreds of soldiers.
- Sedvain. A Blood Knight Combat Pragmatist mage whose only purpose in life is to become the ultimate hunter. He is able to use all the three kinds of magic and isn't concerned about causing collateral damage, and also managed to establish some sort of mystical connection to/dominion over the Qlannevad, an enormous forest that could be considered a dreaded itself, being home of powerful and innatural beasts since anyone can remember.
- Norritt. The greatest expert in poison and diseases around, who studied them so much his body changed making him immune to any of them, his muscles, skin and bones ridicolosuly sturdy and his own blood a really powerful venom, and is also almost completely amoral. He is not overall one of the strongest or most capable wizards around, but he is able to create poison and diseases no magic can heal and that work on a large scale, making anyone just too scared or too concerned about involving innocents to try to take him down. He is helped, however, by being quite reasonable and only going for the kill if someone tries to hurt him first. He is also so far the only people who survived being Sedvain's target, having fought him twice and lived (in turn, making Sedvain the only one who tries to kill Norritt and lived).
- The Gholfodar are a weird example. On the overall, they aren't, since most people don't believe they actually exist, and that the whole Gholfodar thing is basically
memetic badassey. To those the know that those voices are actually true, however, they are almost the gratest example in the setting, only topped by - Nester Lartis. The most powerful wizard the Damsol ever saw, able to play entire nations and trash around Gholfodars, onl brought down by the six most powerful of them and some luck. The Gholfodar went to be just powerful indidual to an organization just to prevent the rise of a second Nester Lartis
- The Forgalid, a human wizard who managed to became the only human-Forgal hybrid, he also conquered a small region and gradually expanded his domain over the centuries. He is also the only student of Nester Lartis, and survived his master's death.
- Dungeon Punk
- Eldritch Abomination: Makrsha, a disembodied conscience. The greatest mind mages can't understand exactly what it is, or what it's actual powers are. It can only be percieved when it's talking to someone, and even then just by the person it's talking to.
- A similar, but benign example is the Conscience, a wizard that separated her mind from her body to fuse it with a forestal area, creating a small shelter into the Qlannevad. It can shape the surroundings and use animal and plants to move, it also can make animals nearby gain sentience and the ability to speak.
- The Empire: Duknai it's often passed as this in the Continent, but it actually isn't.
- Fantastic Racism: With humanity made of six actual races, each one with unique traits, some ensues. Also, some centuries ago, humans in the continend hunted the Forgal, almost leading them to extinction and to flee to Duknai. The Forgal themselves, however, avert it, since those who hold a grudge holds it toward the Continent, but have no problem with humans (that still are the majority of Duknai).
- Fantastic Science: Noivag and simmavi both have a whole branch of science dedicated to studying them.
- Fantasy Gun Control: Averted. While actual gunpowder does not exist, simmavi are used to create the equivalent of guns, rifles, flamethrowers and cannons, althought they are still in their first stages and still a bit too slow to recharge.
- Good Is Not Nice: Heimro is not above manipulating people, among the other things.
- Informed Ability: Exploited in-universe. Eirst is known as a extremely competent and always active schemer, with people in Laedor always speculating on what he's planning and what he's behind. He's far from that active in politics, and he actually exploits and aliments this reputation.
- Informed Flaw: Janhar has an enormous raw power, but is considered to lack control, while Deila is known for her prodigious control, but is consider not to have much power. They are actually quite close both in power and ability to control it, but studying and training together, that difference was noticed and exaggerated. They also took advantage of it to further those voices.
- Magnificent Bastard: Korshel is a couple of step ahead of everyone else.
- Magnificent Bastard Understudy: Soras and Heimro were this to Korshel, but they both couldn't reach his level.
- The Man Behind the Man: Uren is smart, charismatic and an exceptional mind mage in his own right, but Makrsha's influence is still there, and it has an agenda of its own.
- Zig-zagged with Korshel, Soras' uncle. He is overall a greater threat (not to mention The Mentor to both Soras and Heimro), and acts behind his nephew's back, but his only purpose is to help Soras.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: The Forgaleer Rohaile is known as "Whisper of Death".
- Norritt, or the Norritt. His actual name is Ezira Korhan Trime, "norritt" is an ancient word for a really horrible epidemy.
- Inverted with Nester, an average that became a title after the rise of Nester Lartis.
- Whoever earns the title of Gholfodar. Very few remember it, but it was originally the Forgal's version of the boogeyman.
- Nations Of Hats: Downplayed, but a few of them: Duknai's hat is military proficiency, Laedor's will magic, Nivanna's science (and wierdness), Jeanna's trading and Leria's stoicism.
- Never Foundthe Body: Many still claims it about Nester Lartis, since the body disintegrated when he supposedly died and his essence was never found in the Remsi. Even if it's rare to actually find someone in the Remsi, many believe it's not a coincidence. It isn't, however they are wrong and he actually died that day.
- Nothing Is Scarier: It is unknown what was Nester Lartis' purpose (and although it's generally agreed, it isn't actually confirmed that there even was one to begin with).
- Orcus on His Throne: Soras. He is adamant on waiting for the Continent to strike first. It's lampshaded by him, Heimro and Korshel.
- Person of Mass Destruction: Norritt. No one knows exactly how far he could spread his diseases if he wanted to, but is no less then a city.
- And you might have guessed, but gholfodar are too.
- Posthumous Character: Nester Lartis.
- Reality Warper: The Forgal all are. They don't actually fly, or swim, they just can move between a fluid as they please. Also, they do need to breathe, but somehow are able to do it where they don't have anything to breathe, like underwater (making it possible to suffocate or strangle a Forgal underwater, but not to actually drown him). They also can move masses (within certain limitations) and create some small alterations in the ambient around them. The last part particullary also works subconsciously.
- Really 700 Years Old: Due to the Forgal's potential immortality, they usually leave a couple of centuries at the very least. Korshel is the one fitting this trope, since he is old enough to remember when the dragons still existed.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: Soras is looking for a reason to start a war with the Continent once again. He does not, however, do it out of spite or revenge, and is actually a benevolent ruler to Duknai.
- Schizo Tech: Althought the technology level itself is consistant, thanks to magic they have knowledge far beyond the one that should be possible (miscroscopical and astrological observation, for example, are both made possible, despite the absence of actual microscopes or telescopes).
- Sufficiently Analyzed Magic: Magic is studied, analyzed and quantified, to the point of there being a measure unit for mana (wich is also called mana), and also a difference between the raw magical energy and the amount of refined magical energy actually produced (both are also named mana, in-universe that's recognized to be a very poor naming convention, yet it's somehow effective, and it everyone's used to it), wizards being given stats (cloack, the amount of mana a wizard has, and efficency, the amount of refined mana they produce from a raw one, with some sub-stats). Zig-zagged, however, since some principles are logical and not actually quantifiable, magic can be influenced by unquantifiable stats (emotions, personality and atmosphere all can change how a specific spell work), and efficiency is always at least one, wich is noted to be inconsistent with the principle of conservaion of energy observed for everything else, setting magic aside from science also in-universe. Actually, finding out how much The Scientific Method can be applied to magic is known as "the fundamental problem", and is the Damsol's equivalent to the research of a unified theory.
- Villainous Legacy: Nester Lartis, who has emulators in the form of Uren and his indexers, and whose disciple, the Forgalid, is still rulying as a tyrant and gathering power.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Janhar and Irra.
- Whateveromancy: In-universe, "-mancy" comes from "Mantya", an ancient word for magic that it's also where "mana" comes from, so it means "related to mana/magic", justifying it a bit (also, the reason there are "oilmancy" and "gemmomancy", the study of noivag and simmavi respectively, despite neither of them being magic).
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Soras doesn't really want to expand Duknai's dominion (and knows it won't last forever). His real goal is to repopulate the whole Damsol with Forgal.
