A Beginner's Compendium to the World of Nocteraia

Welcome, seeker of knowledge, to the shadowed realm of Nocteraia. This is a world steeped in an eternal, starless night, a land where the sun is but a forgotten memory. In its place, a complex lunar cycle governs the flow of magic and the very nature of its inhabitants. Here, ancient factions—witches, vampires, and lycans—vie for dominance, their centuries-old animosity fueled by dark magic and the whispers of a world-altering prophecy. This compendium shall serve as your guide through the twilight.

1.0 The Realm of Eternal Night: An Introduction to Nocteraia

1.1 The Day the Sun Died

Long ago, in the year 1474, the balance of Nocteraia was shattered by an act of profound hubris. A coven of four witches, their Artageca triads intentionally chosen to cover all four elements—fire, earth, air, and water—gathered to perform a rite of immense power. Their goal was absolute: to draw power from "the darkness between stars" and ensure their "faction shall reign supreme."

Their ritual, however, was a catastrophic failure. Instead of consolidating their power, their spell tore the sun from the sky forever. As the world outside plunged from bright noon into an obsidian night, the denizens of Nocteraia knew with chilling certainty that an "age of nightmares" had begun. The eternal darkness empowered the vampires and other beasts of the night, upsetting the delicate truce between the factions and setting the stage for centuries of conflict.

1.2 The Dance of the Moons

In the absence of the sun, the very rhythm of life in Nocteraia is dictated by the phases of its moon. Each phase lasts for six hours, creating a 24-hour lunar cycle that carries immense magical and biological significance.

The Lunar Cycle of Nocteraia

Moon Phase	Description & Significance
Opal Moon	The first phase following the darkness of Ebenveil. Its moist, invigorating rays are particularly conducive to lycanthropic transformation and fill lycans with raw, animalistic energy.
Ashveil Moon	A standard phase within the 24-hour cycle. The world exists under its pale, ashen light for six hours.
Emberglow Moon	A brilliant, full moon phase that casts long shadows and bathes the landscape in a powerful glow.
Ebenveil Moon	The final phase of the cycle, characterized by a black, dream-like darkness and a deep cold. This is considered the natural time for rest.
Salvia Moon	A special, lethal moon phase that occurs every five months, replacing the Ebenveil Moon in a given cycle. Created by ancient witches as a weapon, its caustic purple glare is fatal to vampires, forcing them into hiding and curbing their power.
Widow Moon	A rare astronomical event that occurs once every 50 years. This three-night phenomenon blurs the veil between the living and the dead, making dark rituals and prophecies more potent. Creatures of the night become more prevalent during this time.

Understanding this ever-present celestial dance is crucial, as the light—or lack thereof—directly influences the power and politics of the factions that struggle for control below.

2.0 The Factions of Nocteraia

2.1 The Witches of the Beltraine Sisterhood

The Beltraine Sisterhood serves as a bastion of "feminine mysticism," with a core mission to restore peace to Nocteraia by banishing the "beasts" that roam the eternal night. The witches worship a three-faced deity known as the Crown Goddess and are led by a powerful triumvirate of headmistresses.

• The Three Mothers: The ultimate authorities of the Sisterhood, this triumvirate consists of Meirothea (the wizened Mother of Mercy), Lysandra (the strict Mother of Light), and Crimsonia (the austere Mother of Justice, whose severity is often likened to a mother scolding a child out of love).

  
  

• The Vestals: These are wraith-like, spectral beings created by the Mothers to serve as protectors and enforcers within Beltraine. Each Vestal possesses a unique power derived from its creator. Paracelsus, created by Mother Meirothea, guards the main gate and can unleash a deadly, purifying "cauterizing light." Obsidia, created by Mother Crimsonia, is a hideous, gashed specter that enforces rules from within and has the terrifying power to entice souls from bodies. Aurelius, created by Mother Lysandra, is a vaporous, ghost-like being responsible for maintaining order within the dorms.

  
  

2.2 The Vampires of the Four Houses

Vampire society is a rigid feudal hierarchy, where bloodline and brutality determine one's place beneath the iron will of a Vampire King. This society is structured around four great houses, each with its own leader and specialty, though all are subject to the ultimate authority of the ruling monarch.

The Great Vampire Houses

House	Leader	Known Traits & Role	Current Status
Blackcross	Draven Blackcross	The most powerful and ancient family, known for their ruthlessness and mastery over fire (a power akin to that of Pyrae witches).	Ruling House
Nightcreed	Owl Nightcreed	The primary defenders of the vampire race, skilled in aura detection and magical shielding.	Allied with Blackcross
Moonshadow	Lily Moonshadow	Act as mediators and diplomats. Uniquely possess the ability to use Heka, a form of blood-based divination.	Acting as mediators
Fangsworth	Vain Fangsworth	A family that has broken from the others, seeking independence from the Vampire King's laws.	Rogue / In conflict with Blackcross

2.3 The Lycans of the Alphatenory Brotherhood

The Alphatenory Brotherhood is the male counterpart to the Beltraine Sisterhood, a secluded institution overseen by the monkish Father Forsythe. It is a training ground for young men who possess lycanthropic abilities, teaching them to control their powerful transformations. Central to their culture is the Wolf Games, a bloody quinquennial tradition that is less a contest and more a brutal culling process. Here, young lycans must master their dangerous metamorphosis, where failure can result in irreversible physical deformity or death, to select the strongest protectors for the Brotherhood. Politically, the lycan faction is fractured; some hold allegiance to the witches, while others have sided with the vampires.

These powerful factions are defined not only by their political structures but by the unique magical systems they command.

3.0 The Arcane Arts: Magic in Nocteraia

3.1 The Artageca System

Artageca is the celestial grammar of the witches, a formal system of magic fundamentally grounded in astrology. Each witch has a "triad" of astrological signs—their sun, ascendant (rising), and moon signs—which determines their elemental affinity and the method by which they channel their power. A witch's ascendant sign dictates their primary element, while their sun sign determines how they manifest that power. For instance, Esther, a witch with a Leo sun sign (a fire sign associated with the voice), channels her fire-based magic through vocal spells, such as the cry of "FLAMULA!".

There are four primary elemental witch types:

• Pyrae: Witches who wield the power of fire.

• Aerae: Witches who command air, which also grants them access to mental magic like telepathy, emotional manipulation, and illusions.

• Terrae: Witches who manipulate the earth, stone, and plant life.

• Hydrae: Witches who command the element of water.

  
  

A special case within this system is the Channeler. A Channeler is a rare type of magician who possesses a massive, passive reserve of magical energy. While they often struggle to perform complex magic themselves, other witches can draw upon their energy to fuel powerful spells and rituals. This is theorized to be caused by a rare Earth-Earth-Earth triad, a condition where all of their chakras are so developed that the witch cannot focus their energy into a single element.

3.2 Powers of the Night

In contrast to the structured, learned magic of the witches, the other factions possess inherent, often instinctual, powers.

Vampire Powers Vampires are blessed with a suite of supernatural abilities, including superhuman speed, immense strength, and the ability to detect the auras of other beings. Some, like the vampire Crowe, have demonstrated the power of transformation, able to shift into the form of a raven. Exclusive to the Moonshadow house is a unique form of divinatory magic known as Heka. Unlike witch magic, Heka draws upon blood ingested rather than the four elements, allowing its practitioners to commune with ancestral spirits to perform divination. Furthermore, some vampires possess anomalous abilities that blur the lines between factions, such as Tamsyn Blackcross's unique, witch-like healing powers.

Lycanthropy Lycanthropy is the innate ability to metamorphose into a powerful wolf form. This transformation is a difficult skill to master and is deeply connected to the lunar cycle, with the Opal Moon being an especially conducive time for the change. The process is physically taxing and requires intense training to control, with failure often leading to deformity or even death.

The interplay of these factions and their powers forms the basis of the world's primary schism, a conflict born from a broken peace.

4.0 The Central Conflict: Prophecy and Power

4.1 From Coexistence to Conflict

Before the sun was banished, the three great factions coexisted in a state of tense but stable peace. Witches practiced their arts by day, while vampires and lycans hunted by night, each respecting the other's domain. According to the witches' historical accounts, this fragile balance was shattered when Nocteraia was "bewitched into perpetual night, an error on the part of the witches who sought to bolster the Sun's light." Empowered by the perpetual darkness, the vampires began to "slaughter indiscriminately," their power growing unchecked for ages. In response, the witches were forced to create their ultimate weapon: the Salvia Moon, their amethyst vengeance. This act, designed to curb the vampires' dominance, ignited a deep-seated animosity that defines the current era.

4.2 The BloodVeil Prophecy

At the heart of this conflict lies the BloodVeil Prophecy. The BloodVeil, also known as the Scarlet Incantatrix, is a legendary, divine figure prophesied to emerge periodically to restore balance to Nocteraia, returning it to the state it was in before the factions tainted it. Information about this figure is shrouded in mystery and conflicting narratives.

• Her Purpose: The BloodVeil is considered a divine force whose destiny is to purge the world of the factions' corruption and restore its natural order.

• Conflicting History: The last known BloodVeil was an Ashenhollow (the former ruling vampire house). Common belief holds that she slaughtered the leaders of the great vampire houses before being killed herself. However, a competing narrative claims that Draven Blackcross was the true architect of the massacre, murdering the Ashenhollows and framing the BloodVeil to seize power.

• The Current Prophecy: A recent divination using Heka magic has revealed that the BloodVeil is not only alive but is currently active. The prophecy delivered a cryptic clue to her location: "The Scarlet Incantatrix shall rise in two, where the goddess of three makes one." This is widely interpreted to mean that the BloodVeil is hiding within the Beltraine Sisterhood, home to the worship of the three-faced goddess.

Nocteraia now stands on a knife's edge, poised on the brink of open war as this ancient and powerful prophecy begins to unfold among its most powerful players.

5.0 Appendix: Key Figures of Nocteraia

Dramatis Personae

Name	Faction / Affiliation	Known Role
Gloria	Beltraine Sisterhood	A vampire channeler with a mysterious past, hiding her true nature among the witches.
Faelina	Beltraine Sisterhood	Gloria's loyal friend and roommate, who provides her with blood to survive.
Osara	Beltraine Sisterhood	A close friend to Gloria and Faelina, who is inquisitive about their secrets.
Cassandra	Beltraine Sisterhood	A magically gifted but arrogant first-year witch who holds a deep animosity toward Gloria.
The Three Mothers	Beltraine Sisterhood	The three ancient headmistresses of Beltraine: Meirothea, Lysandra, and Crimsonia.
Draven Blackcross	Blackcross House (Vampire)	The ruthless and ambitious Vampire King, who is plotting to destroy the Beltraine Sisterhood.
Tamsyn Blackcross	Blackcross House (Vampire)	The Vampire King's daughter, who possesses secret witch-like powers and is in love with Kain Fangsworth.
Kain Fangsworth	Fangsworth House (Vampire)	The son of a rogue house leader who was held captive by Draven and is in love with Tamsyn.
Vain Fangsworth	Fangsworth House (Vampire)	The leader of the rogue Fangsworth house, seeking independence from the Vampire King.
Lily Moonshadow	Moonshadow House (Vampire)	The leader of the Moonshadow house and a powerful practitioner of Heka (blood divination).
Owl Nightcreed	Nightcreed House (Vampire)	The reserved and powerful leader of the Nightcreed house, defenders of the vampire race.
Carmine Nightcreed	Nightcreed House (Vampire)	Owl's ambitious wife, who openly challenges Draven's leadership and plots against him.
Father Forsythe	Alphatenory Brotherhood	The headmaster of the lycan brotherhood, a powerful lycan himself.
Jace	Alphatenory Brotherhood	The son of Father Forsythe, who struggles to manifest his lycanthropic abilities.

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