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【LORE DROP】
Starsand Sandbox
.
All About Spirits & Kami
(spirits, shrine, kami)
Welcome to the dawn of a new era! Things in this world are changing fast and even the local population is having a hard time keeping up! Up until five years ago, this world did not know that magic existed... but that doesn't mean the sudden spring of fantasy came from no where. Magic has always existed in secret here, but it was just that: A secret.
Spirits have always been in this world, but few people knew of them. They are souls that do not have a body. Spirits could see and hear the world around them like it was a dream, but they could not interact with it. Their lives were of lonely observers, doomed to eventually fizzle out when their magic was spent.
You see, spirits gained power by being acknowledged. Otherwise, their existing power burns up over time like lives normally do. Gaining power is very difficult to do when you're invisible and mute to the rest of the world! But possible if you tell a small lie. A spirit could inhabit a Shrine and take faith from it. And early humans loved to stick their faith to random things!
So for example, a spirit might inhabit the shrine of an imagined god of agriculture. They could take the god's imagined form and develop the imagined powers, thus creating a cycle of faith: The spirit produced the imagined miracles, they get more faith from humans, they get more power and make more miracles. Their power could eventually produce a body and allow them to exist.
Spirits who evolve in this way are called Kami and they were plentiful in the past. Some were extremely powerful, too, because their power could only be explained by magic. There was nothing else to believe in to grow your crops but a Kami, because no one knew what else had that power.
The flaw in this is rather obvious, then. Once science began to spread, the need for Kami went with it. Humans could explain things without magic, so they stopped believing in it. This caused the once-Kami to revert to powerless spirits. The "Golden Era of Kami," as schools now teach it, came to an end and the "Era of Learned Forgetting" began.
During this particular era, normal people could not see spirits. They did not know that they existed. Faith was a limited resource, because most humans had turned to science as an alternative to faith. Kami would fight for what scraps of faith still existed, while spirits were left to fade away unnoticed.
That is, until the current era: "The Era of Remembering." Five years ago, a girl appeared on television and revealed spirits to the world with her power. The video went viral and sparked a revolution. Faith began to snowball until spirits were visible to everyone as coloured balls of light. Kami are becoming commonplace again and spirit magic has become a regular part of peoples' lives. That girl came to be called the Kami of Love and her power grew, becoming the source of magic that sustains the Starsand City to this day.
Spirits have always been in this world, but few people knew of them. They are souls that do not have a body. Spirits could see and hear the world around them like it was a dream, but they could not interact with it. Their lives were of lonely observers, doomed to eventually fizzle out when their magic was spent.
You see, spirits gained power by being acknowledged. Otherwise, their existing power burns up over time like lives normally do. Gaining power is very difficult to do when you're invisible and mute to the rest of the world! But possible if you tell a small lie. A spirit could inhabit a Shrine and take faith from it. And early humans loved to stick their faith to random things!
So for example, a spirit might inhabit the shrine of an imagined god of agriculture. They could take the god's imagined form and develop the imagined powers, thus creating a cycle of faith: The spirit produced the imagined miracles, they get more faith from humans, they get more power and make more miracles. Their power could eventually produce a body and allow them to exist.
Spirits who evolve in this way are called Kami and they were plentiful in the past. Some were extremely powerful, too, because their power could only be explained by magic. There was nothing else to believe in to grow your crops but a Kami, because no one knew what else had that power.
The flaw in this is rather obvious, then. Once science began to spread, the need for Kami went with it. Humans could explain things without magic, so they stopped believing in it. This caused the once-Kami to revert to powerless spirits. The "Golden Era of Kami," as schools now teach it, came to an end and the "Era of Learned Forgetting" began.
During this particular era, normal people could not see spirits. They did not know that they existed. Faith was a limited resource, because most humans had turned to science as an alternative to faith. Kami would fight for what scraps of faith still existed, while spirits were left to fade away unnoticed.
That is, until the current era: "The Era of Remembering." Five years ago, a girl appeared on television and revealed spirits to the world with her power. The video went viral and sparked a revolution. Faith began to snowball until spirits were visible to everyone as coloured balls of light. Kami are becoming commonplace again and spirit magic has become a regular part of peoples' lives. That girl came to be called the Kami of Love and her power grew, becoming the source of magic that sustains the Starsand City to this day.
(the power & currency of faith)
In the current era, life has become incredibly different. Just about anything and everything can be supplied by faith magic. Spirits can purify water, grow crops, manufacture goods, build houses... And all they need in exchange is a heartfelt prayer. This has turned the economy on its head. Starsand City no longer has much use for money. Instead, people barter with faith.
Faith can be crystalized into konpeito shaped crystals called Starling. When given to a spirit or kami, they receive the same amount of power as an hour of sincere prayer. People who don't have the time or faith to tend to a shrine will instead exchange Starling. Smaller shrines have popped up all around the city and the spirits there provide everything form electricity to food. Public opinion of spirits is very high and everyone pitches in to help their neighborhood spirits feel loved and appreciated. Mistreatment towards spirits is a quick way to earn yourself a bad reputation.
Faith can be crystalized into konpeito shaped crystals called Starling. When given to a spirit or kami, they receive the same amount of power as an hour of sincere prayer. People who don't have the time or faith to tend to a shrine will instead exchange Starling. Smaller shrines have popped up all around the city and the spirits there provide everything form electricity to food. Public opinion of spirits is very high and everyone pitches in to help their neighborhood spirits feel loved and appreciated. Mistreatment towards spirits is a quick way to earn yourself a bad reputation.
(the power of rumors)
While Star Sand is generally a very safe city, there is one problem. A dangerous problem. They are the dark secret that lurks in the shadows; Rumors.
As mentioned, spirits can inhabit a concept and turn it into a shrine. This allows them to gather power as more people believe in them. In the past, it was very difficult for spirits to get shrines. Until a certain group came up with a twisted solution: Rumors. They would spread a rumor with their vast media empire; A viral video about a monster, a story about a lucky item, a spooky urban legend... These rumors would eventually become something that a spirit could inhabit and gain power from.
But there was a twist.
These rumors were controlled by this media company. They controlled the rumor and therefore controlled the spirit who inhabited it. What at first seemed like a gesture of kindness was actually a ploy to turn spirits into monsters that this company could control.
For example; The company might tell the story of a swamp monster. They spread supposed pictures of it, viral video sightings, someone makes indie merch, a fan club starts... Suddenly, this swamp monster is something that a spirit can use as a shrine. But then, the story changes. It's said that the swamp monster hurts people. The spirit in this shrine can't back out now, but now the spreading rumor is forcing violence to be part of their existence.
The only way to solve these incidents would be to disprove the rumor or, unfortunately, destroy it once it got out of control.
These are 'Rumors.'
Because they are powered by faith, it's important that people don't discuss them. It's unfortunately a blessing and a curse to learn they exist; Just being aware of Rumors makes them stronger. But those who are aware can at least try to prevent others from believing.
Characters are welcome to encounter all sorts of Rumors. You can assume they learn the secret explanation or request an NPC to explain it. Characters are also welcome to share this secret information with each other.
Fighting rumors is a paying job, but it's secret. Payments are made by the Shrine of Love.
As mentioned, spirits can inhabit a concept and turn it into a shrine. This allows them to gather power as more people believe in them. In the past, it was very difficult for spirits to get shrines. Until a certain group came up with a twisted solution: Rumors. They would spread a rumor with their vast media empire; A viral video about a monster, a story about a lucky item, a spooky urban legend... These rumors would eventually become something that a spirit could inhabit and gain power from.
But there was a twist.
These rumors were controlled by this media company. They controlled the rumor and therefore controlled the spirit who inhabited it. What at first seemed like a gesture of kindness was actually a ploy to turn spirits into monsters that this company could control.
For example; The company might tell the story of a swamp monster. They spread supposed pictures of it, viral video sightings, someone makes indie merch, a fan club starts... Suddenly, this swamp monster is something that a spirit can use as a shrine. But then, the story changes. It's said that the swamp monster hurts people. The spirit in this shrine can't back out now, but now the spreading rumor is forcing violence to be part of their existence.
The only way to solve these incidents would be to disprove the rumor or, unfortunately, destroy it once it got out of control.
These are 'Rumors.'
Because they are powered by faith, it's important that people don't discuss them. It's unfortunately a blessing and a curse to learn they exist; Just being aware of Rumors makes them stronger. But those who are aware can at least try to prevent others from believing.
Characters are welcome to encounter all sorts of Rumors. You can assume they learn the secret explanation or request an NPC to explain it. Characters are also welcome to share this secret information with each other.
Fighting rumors is a paying job, but it's secret. Payments are made by the Shrine of Love.
(basics)
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