[Neus]

Can you expand on the relationship, biological or otherwise, between dragons, wyverns and serpents in general? Is there a common progenitor shared between two or more of these, or are they entirely unrelated?

Well, biologically, they're all scaled creatures as you'd expect.

Dragons are magical creatures that have more or less always existed. Wyverns are thought to share some ancestry with dragons but this is not something anyone has determined for sure - they may have once been the lowest ring of dragons and lost power over time, for example.

Serpents are just serpents.

Is there a de-facto God of Nature? Lightning, Plants, or all of them together? Does that just fall under Mercala's domain, or is it it's own thing?

There is no known God of nature as a whole, no. Isesip's body is said to be the continent of Kysei itself - but that's just legend and should be taken as such. I suppose it could technically fall under Mercala's domain in a very abstract interpretation, since she's the Goddess of Life, and plants are alive, but I don't think anyone would interpret her title that loosely.

Can youkai completely possess someone who has contracted them through Install or Shapeshifting in any form?

It's rare, but yes, that's one of the dangers of both the Install technique and shapeshifting. You are giving the Youkai some measure of influence over your physical body - if they're too powerful for you, they can take over if they will to do so. Usually, this doesn't happen, as summoners and youkai usually have a bond of trust and understanding, and the summoner can always null the contract if the youkai acts up.

But in short, yes, it can happen.

1- Is a Youkai Contract a literal (and magic) parchment of paper with regulations and rules, or symbolic?

2- Can other people beyond the Youkai and the Summoner break said contract? Mostly in case if the Summoner is going mad with power or whatever, and needs that taken away.

3- Can you force someone to sign a Youkai Contract? (I.E, is being a Summoner something gifted from birth, or can anyone become one if they feel like?)

4- Assuming all rules of conduct are the same, who determined that? Is there an arbiter entity for Youkai and Humans who enforce the contract?

5- What happens if you break the rules? Is there any otherworldly punishment for it?

This is already answered in the lore compendium. Please search that for your topic before you ask.

- (What are they exactly?) A contract is a tattoo-like symbol that the Youkai puts on your skin when it's contracted, which signifies its soul resides inside of you. Usually the 'terms' of the contract are hashed out before it actually happens. A youkai doesn't necessary need a contract to be 'within' a person, but that starts to get into the territory of possession, and it's dangerous for the youkai so usually it doesn't happen.

Is there anything that prevents a Chimera from gaining an evolutionary trait by consuming a particular monster or race? Are they able to take god-granted aspects (i.e, Glykin scales, Corbie/Phenex wings, Shaitan claws)?

I'm not sure what you mean by evolutionary trait exactly, so I can't answer that. They are not able to take god-granted aspects from those races, no. Basically, I would take what is possible to obtain in-game as the range of things they can reasonably have.

Henlo I'd like to start off by pointing out a discrepancy in regards to a question I asked a two months back and the answer in the lore thread. I'm mostly curious whether it was changed to be that or if it just slipped your mind. That being!

This is the answer in the Lore Compendium.


And this is the answer in the lore questions thread on September 2021.


So the clarification I'm asking for is if the records(CDs) do exist IC(assuming the fun-o-gram is considered in-character)? Or was that retconned entirely and fun-o-grams aren't IC?

They're not really IC. But if you really want them to be IC, I would just say that they're plates enchanted with sound magic that function similar to records.

Why DO Nagas get their legs turned into snake tails when they're put through whatever Snakemen do to kidnapped human women? Is it just in connection to something like their Winged Serpant?

It's part of the Naga ritual process that makes their bodies more compatible with snakemen. Hopefully that tastefully clarifies it.

Is Dragonfield known for much else than its connection to Hornweed and, by extension, the Ereshkigal cult? What's it like there?

It's basically a large, open town with large flower fields surrounding it. They make a big deal out of their history with dragon statues and incense burning. Beyond that, not much.

It's the 30th, so no better time to drop some (related) questions.

-Presuming complex firearms are possible, how does machining of the small and complicated mechanisms take place?
-How does magic influence the creation process of regular and magical firearms?
-How accurate are weapons created this way? Is pin-point accuracy a staple, or are they more akin to muskets? (Those things suck. Seriously, look it up.)

1) It generally isn't. Guns in SL2 are basically conduits for spells in the form of bullets or concentrated focus shots.
2) Without magic, firearms would not exist.
3) Relatively accurate, but it depends on the type of gun being used mostly. Rifles have good accuracy at long ranges. Shotguns don't have great accuracy but are hard to miss in close range. Handguns are somewhere in the middle.

To what extent could elementary magics be put to use in day to day practicalities?
For example, could wind magic help you sail, glide and even fly?
Could you create cave systems with earth, or even create and move land?
fire seems pretty straight forward, but some limitations to be known would be nice
ice as well, but perhaps knowing if you could freeze water or define blocks into something akin to ice sculptures with precision.
even lightning with powering some form of technology based on electricity
this of course goes for dark light water and the others i missed

1) Wind mages can help ships sail, though it is very taxing to do so and not practical. If you're a very skill wind mage, you could probably attain limited hovering, but not flight, and it's not easy to control wind with such precision.
2) That would be beyond the capabilities of earth magic.
3) I'm not sure what limitations you would mean - fire is fire.
4) You can freeze water, if it's not a large body, yes. I don't know if you could make statues with any sort of great precision without it taking a long time and a lot of concentration, much like actual ice carving.
5) Lightning wouldn't have any benefit over regular focus if used as a power source for something, so doubtful.

Questions related to familiars this time! 

-What kind of entity would a familiar be considered? The Familiar Lady in Karaten mentions a ritual or process that allows one to create them, but does that imply that one is basically creating life, or is more like putting a spirit into a vessel to act as a servant? 

--If they are "alive", does that imply they have a soul?

-How sentient/self aware/intelligent could a familiar be?

-Are they widely used within Karaten?

-Do they have a limited lifespan and naturally expire, or can they remain as long maintenance/focus is provided?

1) I don't know if you'd call them 'life' exactly. While there are more 'advanced' familiars that are similar to youkai in that they have agency and intelligence, can speak, etc, the ones at the Familiar Lady do not. They're more like tools or similar to trained animals (though not a 1 for 1 comparison).
2) They do not have a soul.
3) Not very if at all, in most cases.
4) Yes.
5) They can generally be maintained for an extended period, but eventually they will expire after a few decades. Sometimes they may retired before that, though, if a more useful familiar comes around.

A bit late but I'd like to ask a niche question/confirmation of the magically formed (non-fusion) variety of Homunculi.

As we're aware, Amalgama/Salamandra follow by in large the normal rules of physiology. They

'are very similar to normal mortals by design. They may eat, sweat, cry, bleed, and so on. Although artificial, their bodies still contain necessary vital organs'

However, I'd like to clarify whether or not their artificial bodies are capable of (and if not, whether the creator can implement these capabilities) changing their body composition. More specifically:

-Can they Gain weight? (and if so, is it through normal biological processes?)
-Can they Lose weight? (and if so, is it through normal biological processes?)
-Can they Gain muscle mass (and if so, is this through exercising or some other means?)
-Can they Lose muscle mass (and if so, is this through neglecting exertion of those muscles?)

While the wiki page on Homunculi notes they do require nourishment to sustain their bodies it doesn't explicitly note whether this is only for maintaining their body as it is or whether natural biological processes can shape and change that initial state as given to them by their creator.

1) They can gain weight, and they can lose weight. Yes, it is through natural processes.
2) They can gain muscle mass and lose muscle mass, also through natural processes.