Chapter Text
Blade
A sentient magical being that awakens when someone with enough aptitude contacts a Core Crystal. Blades are incapable of dying while their partner, known as a Driver, is alive. Blades can feel pain and be harmed just like normal humans and monsters, but as long as the core crystal remains intact, the blades live on. Blades have talented control over Ether, built-in weapons they can summon at will, and possess skill in specialized areas of knowledge or performance. Blades lose all of their memories and go dormant when their driver dies, although long-term observation across multiple drivers indicates an amount of mental evolution each time. Blades can reawaken anywhere from 3 days to decades later, waiting to be resonated with again.
Ether
The magical energy that exists throughout Alrest. Primordial ether can be broken down into 8 elemental pairs; fire/water, earth/electric, ice/wind, and light/dark. All blades specialize in one of these 8 elemental types, although even within these elements, no two blades typically use the energy in the same way. Ether can also be concentrated into technology and artifice, and has many commercial applications, such as heating, lighting, ammunition, or rejuvenation. High concentrations of ether manifest as Aurora Borealis, such as the leaves on the World Tree. Attacking a target with multiple different types of elemental ether in quick succession can have devastating physical effects.
Combat Arts
Blades typically have three escalating combat Arts each, with a fourth tier only available during moments of extreme synergy. Driver Arts are much weaker by comparison, but using them causes large amounts of ether to be absorbed by the Blades, allowing for Blade arts to be used.
Titan
Titans are the foundations that the people of Alrest live upon. Colossal fauna, the unique biology of a titan allows for whole ecosystems to grow on top of or even inside of them. There are six major titans that hold the largest civilisations on them, but the true number of titans is unknown, but speculated to be near 200. Control over the Titans and their land has rapidly begun to cause friction, as it seems the number of titans in Alrest seems to be diminishing. Fears of what will happen if the titans go extinct have tensions high.
Blade Bond
A Blade Bond is the slightly visible phenomena that arises when a Blade and driver are close together during moments of high emotion. Typically seen as a blue translucent wire, Blade bonds are a visual indication of the physical and emotional coordination between a driver and blade. Coordination is the key factor in driver-blade combat, as exceptional drivers can seamlessly move with and fight alongside their blade, becoming stronger than the sum of their parts.
Empathy Link
An Empathy link is the large-scale, soul-deep connection between a driver and blade, created at the moment of their resonance. An Empathy Link allows drivers and blades to understand each other's emotions, regardless of distance. Strong emotions are easier to sense than weaker ones, but an empathy link almost always allows the reading of emotions if either party focuses on it.
Aptitude
The ability or likelihood of successfully resonating with a Core Crystal. Unsuccessful resonance can result in injury or death, but the experienced traveller can usually tell if a resonance will go awry. It’s rumored that high levels of aptitude could allow a driver to fight alongside multiple blades at the same time.