Glossary And Notes

Warning, spoilers below

Terms:

-Black Suns:

Three are recorded as existing. The Heavenly Black Sun, The Oceanic Black Sun, and The Earthly Black Sun. The Oceanic Black Sun is dead, now locked within a single Fragmentary Domain by the Sun of its Pantheon. The Earthly Black Sun stands as the dominant Sun of its Pantheon. And The Heavenly Black Sun while dominant as the Sun of its Pantheon refuses to accept its true nature and hides its form.

-***:

Consumed the Firmament of *****.

-Sun Divinities:

Sun Divinities are among the strongest in their Pantheon. They typically find themselves stationed below Sky Divinities as the second strongest. The Sun sits within the canvas of the heavens that encompass all creation, the Sky.

But sometimes a Sun refuses to just sit.

-Pantheon:

A Pantheon consists of True and Partial Divinities. Pantheons exist within-*

-The Disaster:

What was the "Disaster"? When the first Burst Event occurred Divinity flooded the world and 92% of the human population died. They could not handle the new environment that came about as a result. Only humans were affected, for a reason to be revealed at a much later date, and this mass die-off resulted in a complete collapse of modern society.

What has risen up is not what once was. But it has risen where it once was.

It has been hundreds of years since then and because humanity has adapted to Divinity in the atmosphere (and rely on it to survive) so Divinity has lost any sort of negativity attached to it. The great die-off of humanity is a distant memory hundreds of years later.

Still, some question this theory. Divinity has never been shown to have any toxicity, no matter the concentration. Reports claiming it was Divinity at fault have been found to largely originate from shortly after the Disaster. The bias against new energy being the source of humanity's peril at the time would be natural. Yet with no trace of another cause making headway into this subject has been met with no results.

-Fragments:

Fragments are the main threat in a Mythological Marble. Therefore they are humanity's greatest threat. All Fragments are capable of causing a Burst Event by gathering large amounts of Divinity. To stop this they must be killed, although doing this does not kill them permanently. It just resets the Mythological Marble (if all Fragments are killed). Multiple Fragments can exist within a Marble. As a note, all those located within a Marble upon a Fragment being killed cannot re-enter that Marble. This means humanity must constantly train up new Marked to clear Mythological Marbles.

-Resets:

When all the Fragments are killed the Mythological Marble resets. This reset is always to the same point in events from where the Marble started. Fragments don't seem to possess any memories of previous resets, as tactics that worked in the past have a high chance of succeeding in subsequent resets.

-Monsters:

The various beasts that inhabit a Marble constantly appear at relatively steady rates. This means without regular cullings monsters will inevitably grow to extreme numbers (regardless of how close a Burst Event is). While Fragments cannot leave a Marble until a Burst Event monsters can if they sufficiently damage the interior of a Marble. Therefore routinely Marked are sent into Marbles on missions to cull monsters to keep them from attempting to exit a Marble.

Monsters are both biological and Divine. Most are almost purely biological. Yet all seem to use Divinity in some capacity to function. As a rule of thumb, the more Divine a Monster the more dangerous. The closer something approaches to being an actual Divinity the more likely it is to be a menace to even Primordial Marked.

Some Monsters are able to reach a state of pure Divinity, an evolutionary endgame. However, none have been able to do so for the current millennia. These Divinities born from a Monster are exceptionally dangerous, all considered to be the greatest threats among their respective Pantheons and classified alike to True Divinities.

-Magic:

Magic is generally unstoppable unless two circumstances are met. Its conceptual counter is met or it interacts with other magics. For instance, fire magic will never stop burning unless water is thrown on it, or the air is chilled around it. Lightning magic used on fire magic will repel it to some degree, but the effect is based solely on the strength of the opposing magic.

More magic than elemental based exists though -*

-Overdrawing:

When somebody uses up all their Divinity any automatic withdrawals on it are canceled. You can exceed your own innate Divinity. Doing so is highly inadvisable. First off the body begins to shut down, and while death from this is gradual the effect is immediate. Meaning the chance of fighting in combat in this state is nil.

But most importantly overdrawing permanently reduces your maximum Divinity. What most Marked don't know is that this process is paid for by their Divinities and their maximum Divinity is then recouped as payment.

There is no difference in power between a Divine Ability activated with Overdrawing and without.

General Consensus:

-How Are Mythological Marbles Graded:

Mythological Marble's are graded mainly on reset difficulty and the rate at which Fragments within the Marble near a Burst Event. Clearing The Giant's Corpse would theoretically be C Grade based solely on the monsters lying within the island. Since it lacks any known Fragments it is considered F.

Locations:

-The Giant's Corpse (F Grade Mythological Marble):

A Mythological Marble that appeared on Ireland's Toraigh island shortly after The Disaster. No Fragment has ever been located within it and it has therefore never reset. It is inhabited by a race of creatures known as Fomorians. They come in a wide variety of appearances but all possess one feature that is fish-like in nature.

The magic Fomorians use is water magic, and they are considered to be in the grand scale of things paltry users of it. However, due to magic's nature, it is incredibly deadly and unless one has a direct answer to it you will find yourself dead quickly.

Deep within the island lies a cave system, it is absolutely filled with Fomorians that are nothing like those who prowl the surface. It is said if a Fragment existed within the Giant's Corpse it would qualify at minimum for C Grade based on the Fomorians within the island. However, due to the nature of grading (see How Are Mythological Marbles Graded for more information) it is ranked as F.

It helps those dangerous Fomorians within the cave will never leave the darkness of it. As a note, the sun never stops shining in The Giant's Corpse, a somewhat odd trait considering most Marbles follow a normal day-night cycle.

In the deepest chambers of The Giant's Corpse lies a giant humanoid corpse. It lacks a head, but the size of the body is massive. Although the caves where it is found are absurdly huge in their own right. It is thought the Fomorians have used magic to achieve this effect, but nothing conclusive about this has been found.

This headless giant is thought to be a dead Fragment. The best evidence for this is that no piece of its body may be taken outside the Marble. The Fomorians treat it as a sort of holy site and will vehemently attack any persons that are near it without abandon.

Indeed Fomorians seem to possess a sort of culture, evidence of a societal structure has been identified clearly in interactions with those below. Evidence of actions resembling prayer and instances of human sacrifice to the corpse has been [YOU ARE NOT AUTHORIZED TO VIEW FURTHER]*

-Humanities' Research and Development Facility:

The name was given to the Marble by the HCF in the interest of making it clear all of humanity laid claim to it. Though, Japan still argues it is theirs alone and it is known as the "Japan's Orbital Research and Development Facility" in Japan, and by certain countries that recognize their claim. Humanity has argued over the exact name of this Marble a lot. The truth is it actually already has a name. A name before it appeared, [The Myth of the ******].

It's a secret research facility and its location allows secrecy to be easy to maintain. The greatest minds have visited it pre and post The Disaster. In fact, it is considered the mecca for elite scientists. It is the only Marble where it is considered absolutely safe to develop human-made Divine Tools.

The first PDS was developed within. As such the facility stands as a hallmark of humanity's progress. And it has the distinction of being the first Mythological Marble to appear.

While the average Marked will never visit it Primordial Marked are those who have the highest chance. Though, even their entrance into the facility is highly restricted. Thus only two groups of individuals tend to be allowed in.

Scientists of the highest grade, typically Marked with Divine Abilities boosting their intellect/problem-solving skills. Extremely wealthy/powerful Primordial Marked who set up residence within.

It is grimly believed by some that in the event of Earth becoming uninhabitable, perhaps by a series of Burst Events, that those within the Marble would be safe. Osywn Steele, President of The Free States of America has commented on his visit to the Marble.

"My visit? Hmm, it was an exceptional hall of mirrors filled with feeble tigers and brainy skeletons. No, I have no further comments."

The comment was promptly stricken from publication and the reporter who recorded his words was found dead of a robbery gone wrong shortly after.

-City in the Sea (S Grade Mythological Marble):

Located off the coast of Sardinia. This Marble was discovered a year after the Disaster. It is considered one of the greatest threats to humanity. The entrance to this Marble is incredibly small. Upon entering it one will invariably find themselves in an ocean.

The sea is inhospitable, and entering it will invariably attract all manners of sea monsters. The first major expedition into the Marble failed when a Primordial Marked, who was meant to head the group, died after being assaulted by an innumerable number of sea monsters.

The only landmass that has been found within the Marble is Atlantis. Atlantis is an island that is completely covered by the mega-city structure Atlantis. Entry has only been achieved by means of Divine Abilities.

So far the Marble has never been reset. No matter the assault force humanity has grouped together subsequent expeditions have only been met with middling results. Atlantis itself is inhabited by a race of humanoids who call themselves "Atlanteans".

Atlanteans are not hostile. However multiple creatures patrol the city and all will attack intruders on sight. When the first expeditions were made entering into Atlantis was much easier, now it has become increasingly more difficult as the creatures within are aware of the existence of Marked and have begun patrolling the exterior as well.

The Fragment within Atlantis has only been confirmed through external sources (the Atlanteans themselves) and has not been reached by any expedition. The reason for a Burst Event not occurring after hundreds of years is unclear, though measurements show the Marble's barrier is weakening signaling one is inevitable.

*Will be updated when the story gets further along