User blog:JeielYozama/Field Notes of The Nonareichen and Sub Realms

XXX  -  20th Day of The 1st Month, Winter.

As usual, Oz was my refuge. The realm of magic always greeted me with vigor and green. Life teemed in such an array, ranging from the organic to the in-organic life forms breathed into existence by the Beyonder. Apparently, it was Oz He loved the most since it was a world that played with the aspects of reality. Of course, Oz is just one part of the bigger picture; Oz and its sister nations, Ix and Ev, are all woven together as the plane named Zion. However... I still don't understand why Ix and Ev refuse to ally themselves to Oz. It  is as if an event in the past marred their unity. It is no wonder why the most I've heard about the realm of magic is that it's called Oz, and rarely Zion. When will a day come that Ev and Ix settle their difference with Oz? Only time can tell.

I am within the Emerald City, sitting in front of an open cafe. The sun is bright. The air is fresh, and the magic is warm. Harmon is sitting across my table... joined by his young daughters. I wish I could have the life he has. One that is within the bounds of peace.

XXX - 31st Day of The 1st Month, Winter.

The Naether still scares me, no matter where I end up in that godsforsaken place. I can't believe Circe, the tyrant, managed to turn an empty, monochromatic, upside-down version of Oz into a playground of the damned. In the Candle Cove, I rested my head. Despite it being relatively modest for an area where millions of lit candles are found, it gave me no consolation. I can still hear the cries, the screams and the haunting sounds of the Naetherkin. I can guess that everyday, a new soul ends up in the embrace of this cold realm - and everyday, a new candle appears in this sordid Cove.

The Naether's unsettling fauna often riddles me with anxiety. There is the possibility that they can overtake Oz if they ever invade the surface - but in my many years of visiting this place there is still no authority that leads the hordes of these ruthless souls. Or... maybe I'm not looking hard enough. I hear that there are signs of early settlements way before Circe began dumping her experiments here. A symbol of an inverted cross was spotted by the open spaces near Candle Cove - it reminded me of a certain Mamono faction years ago.

XXX - 9th Day of the 2nd Month, Winter.

There is mystery in the realm that is Filiphilos. The ancient magic that resided here almost fooled me into thinking that it is a world that exists in a point of time when the Mamono Conversion had just happened. There are two sides in thie world. One is of the Engkantos - the Mamono species that thrive in the forces of nature. They only wish to continue their lives in peace and tranquility. On the other end, the Mandato Del Hierro (they seem to call it Mandato) - a religious faction that seems to work the same way as the Order, continues to purge the people of the belief and worship of the Engkantos. In the middle of this are the Taoh, the humans of Filiphilos, forced to pick a side in the conflict of beliefs. I am worried for this realm's future.

Right now, I am at Abhor, the citadel of the Aswang. While I eat in one of the huts of the elders, Inang Amor asks if I am ever going to stop traveling. I cannot. I need to see more.

XXX - 20th Day of the 2nd Month, Winter

Makura Krull is as untamed as it will ever be. The walls built by the humans to prevent its inner monsters to escape will not hold for long. Already, they see that some of its beings have slipped out of the borders, disappearing into the chasmal waters. Gods know where they are now.

Talking to the Ikna Chief was a bit of a chore. Some of the tribesmen just stare at me, and I can tell they are already judging my appearance. Chief says the beings are often trapped in a state of mental limbo. Some desire to act like Mamono, lust and sexual urge flooding their thoughts. Others want to stay the monsters they were born to be, I personally prefer that they choose the former; I do not want to hear a SkyTerror ripping her husband in two because she suddenly decides to abandon her Mamono urge.

Which reminds me.... will humans from the Mamono Realm ever be able to build a proper civilization here if given the chance? It won't be too much to ask - although I fear it'd be ruined by the Makuran beasts before it could even be established.

XXX - 3rd Day of the 3rd Month, Spring.

It always disturbs me that for me to get into Nevermore, I have to go into a magic-induced sleep. Once my soul starts traveling to that realm there is the fear of a Neverlander picking up the trail I leave behind. Once someone infiltrates my body, I can never go back. I'd be stuck as a thought-being - a Neverlander - forever.

As whimsical as this place is, the deeper I dive into its core, the stranger it gets. At first it's only magical croc-women and mermaid pirates, but as I delved into the 2nd levels... the 3rd levels.... the 4th...I begin to see stranger beings. Is this realm mimmicking that of the complexity of an individual's subconcious? I can't really say for sure. I have only managed to reach the 4th level. Here, I rested with the Delver named Grantia. Her kindness was enough to support me into thinking there's something in the deeper levels of Nevermore worth seeing - if I manage to survive going down.

XXX - 4th Day of the 4th Month, Spring

It took me a while to find the entrypoint to Barsail. And it took a whole while to understand how complex it is. Who would have known the Mamono Conversion reached a nearby planet in the cosmos? The Mamono here are creatures that have no close distinction to the Mamonos we have in Earthland. Plus, it is the women here that hold the higher societal distinction. They overpower the men, who are often stuck to being grunts or peons. I guess this is why they saw me as peculiar, being a man able to walk freely and ask questions.

If there is one thing that confuses me here in Barsail, it is that the color of the skin is an important factor that tells them of who they are. Males have skin colors that specify they belong to a particular Barsailan kind. Plus.. there is a constant idea of conquest running in their heads. Survival of the fittest is supreme here.

Oh great. I have to go. Now the greens are after me. They're big and they have 4 arms. Things are going to be hairy.

XXX - 13th Day of the 4th Month, Spring

To live in Quasipis is to live life set by the rules of a game. Play it,  and if you lose something will be taken from you in recompense. Territory is always being fought over here. I barely landed in the city of Casparov when Pieces started warring against one another in an attempt to seize control. I don't even know how the 'game' turned out. Whatever the case may be I just had to slip out of the place and take refuge somewhere else.

I hear it wasn't always like this. The Pieces of Quasipis used to be drenched in so much bloodshed, warring over and over in a similar fashion as the monsters and man in the forgotten age of the Mamono Realm. However, thanks to the intervention of the heavens and the Mamono conversion, their conflict ended up being settled though games. I guess it was better this way - but it just turned them brash and addicted to the thrill of this newfound vice. I'm going to be more thorough on finding out how these games are played for the different species of Pieces. Wish me luck.

XXX - 1st Day of the 5th Month, Summer.

Lyonesse Lemur is almost a blip among the Nonareichen. It lives in constant travel, is often situated deep in the underwater reaches, and is nearly inaccessible to anyone foreign. The only way I managed to enter it was through sneaking in - and this, I'm not proud of doing at all. If I do so much as poke my head out without warrant on my actions they'll execute me for being an outsider.

The queen of the realm is said to be a recluse. She studies of the realms beyond - but has no plans of connecting to them in a more personal level. I remember the rumors... that the Lemurians desire the subjugation of other realms under their watery reaches. Why? Why bother conquering other realms when their realm is already beyond so much in a technological and magical marvel? I can never ask them for affirmation.

One thing is for sure: Lyonesse Lemur hides a military strength unimaginable. I pray the rumours about them are false. If Oz is attacked... it will be a loss incalculable.

XXX - 30th Day of the 5th Month, Summer.

El Dorazi is ancient - but at the same time, it is beyond anything I have seen before. It poses as an aged realm built out of metal and mineral, and there is nothing else I could see except Mamono of inorganic origin. Beneath the humdrum technological advance, however... there is a darkness. There is a spite against organic life... and magic in particular.

Mechynna, the capital city where I found myself on, felt peaceful. I didn't let myself get fooled. I noticed metallic Scyllas patrolling the skies, hovering and eyeing me with red pinpoints for eyes. They never allowed me to leave their sight. The man who claimed to be the architect of the realm itself, Aurum, told me with an eerie smile that I shouldn't interest myself in El Dorazi - as a scholar, I should understand there are some things better kept a secret. Perhaps... if I ever manage to bypass his line of sight... I'll be able to know what this realm is hiding from me. From all the other realms.

''XXX - 16th Day of the 6th Month, Summer. ''

The Nonareichen... wasn't the last of the realms. There were others. Unmentioned. More complex than the rest. In my travels, I had spotted a realm of gems. A realm of flora overtaking a version of Earth. A realm of monster-women coexisting with modern men. A realm of guise, hiding magical horrors from the surface. A realm of monsters divided into the royals and untamed. All of these.. are yet to be explained.

But why are there so many realms populating the cosmos? Is it because the Beyonder is creating them without restraint? Is there a real purpose behind their creation? It still boggles me. But the words left to me by Harmon still haunts me to no end.

"ZION is the end."

As I return to Oz, sitting by a vacant seat in my favorite cafe on Emerald City.. I remember this sentence and watch the sunset. Wishing that my worst fear on what it means... will not come to pass.

That Zion.. will be the last to live.

S.V.