Gabriel's Notebook

I've been reading a book about "us." The Aedvect...is? (I'm never going to get used to the weird grammar here.) It's a lot to process. There's an artist I remember from Art History and I think one of them was a movie star like forty years ago? Someone made trains... Meanwhile, here I am still trying to figure out how to eat that thing that's cooked in moonlight. Jellyfish Salad?

It's starting to make me feel pressured!

At the same time... it's interesting, you know? It's like being part of some big mysterious thing that keeps happening and changing the world. It's something to think about...

— Gabriel

 

Overview

Thrown across realities, pulled through the World-Veil and into a land that is as strange to them as they are to it, the Aedvectis are outsiders in the truest sense of the word. For good or ill, they are a confounding variable in the balance of Empirica Sin - a chaos factor that - whether accidentally or with purpose - warps the world wherever they go.


The People

An "aedvect" - the Diursparidi word for "outworlder", is a person pulled into Empirica Sin from another world. It is not clear whether they have all come from the same place, or if there are several different worlds from which they are pulled. Either way, they arrive in Empirica Sin with a number of complicated advantages and disadvantages that can, at times, be controversial, hated, or embraced... depending on the circumstances.

Variants

While not a race or even an ethnicity in the truest sense, Aedvectis do have similarities to one another. Most notably, they fall into two specific categories... and the reception they encounter will vary greatly depending on the category to which they belong.

Standard

The standard Aedvect arrives in Empirica Sin wholly intact - bringing their body, their abilities, their skills, and often some belongings from home that happened to be on their person when they were transported.

Standard Aedvects are widely accepted and appreciated: they are interesting and full of unique and novel stories and experiences. They think differently as well, making their adjustments amusing to observe. They often brings new ideas, skills, even technological advancements either by literally carrying them into the world to reverse engineer or by having the skills necessary to "invent" things that were not previously present.

Because of these Aedvectis, the level of technology can be inconsistent and confounding across Empirica Sin ... but it is also these Aedvectis that have led to the development of mass transit (specifically trains) and photography.

They are also often influential in fashion and generally in culture as well.

Aedvecti Anima Emuct

The second variety of Aedvect is the Soul-extinguisher - the Aedvecti Anima Emuct. These Advectis arrive without their physical bodies, with their souls instead taking over the body of a pre-existing Empirican. It is unknown what happens to the soul that previously inhabited the body - it is assumed to be destroyed, thus the title given to this variety of outworlder.

Anima Emuctis are far less accepted and not terribly well-loved. It is not hard to see why: they take the form of a loved one, stepping into their lives, even retaining their memories, but without being that person in any meaningful way. Every time an Anima Emuct appears, someone else has disappeared,

Fear of retribution often leads these Aedvectis to hide by continuing to live out the lives of the person they replaced. As such, it is impossible to know how many there are, or even whether they are more or less common than the standard Aedvect.


Language Use

Standard Aedvectis arrive in Empirica Sin without any special knowledge of the world - which means they need to learn how to communicate. Typically, an Aedvect will first focus on the Common tongue - a universal language that can allow them free communication with most people and groups. This has resulted in Common carrying a strong Aedvecti influence as the old Common has merged and incorporated many aspects of Otherworld languages.

Anima Emuctis, on the other hand, have full access to the memories of the body they inhabit and, thus, will tend to have native-level fluency in at least one or two languages (generally Diursparid, Zozun or Clearish plus Common).

Aedvectis have a reputation for having odd speech patterns - they may be more or less formal than would be called for in a situation if they were fully acquainted with the culture they live in. They may also say odd things and use overly literal translations. This is often considered a red flag for detecting an Aedvecti Anima Emuct.

 

Social Hierarchy

Due to the unpredictability and rarity of Aedvectis in society, it can't be said that they have any particular culture to themselves under most circumstances. From time to time, if there are multiple known Aedvectis active in a short time, they may form friendships either in person or through the use of Living Books or other such things. However, if there has ever been a formal alliance or network of Aedvectis, the world does not know about it.

Predictably, Anima Emuctis are less prone to socializing with others, even if others are available.

 

Aedvecti Contributions To...

Clothing

Aedvectis have had an outsized impact on fashion and clothing choices in Empirica Sin - an impact that can be seen thousands of years back to when the Aedvect Alan Beech arrived in denim jeans, sunglasses and a leather jacket.

Often, Empricans will not use the ideas whole, but rather will incorporate aspects of Aedvecti fashion into their more traditional garb, e.g. leather pants and a corset with billowing lace sleeves or robes made of denim.

For more information on various ways that Aedvectis have affected fashion, see Fashion in the Crimson Court - the ideas are more widely applicable than the specificity of the subject indicates.

Technology

Due to the arrival of engineer and inventor Aedvectis, Empirica has developed a train system (most prominently in Gaean ) and simple cameras.

They do not have motion pictures as yet, though magic can sometimes simulate some aspects of them. The idea for this, too, came from Alan Beech, who was an actor in the Otherworld.

Rare, but nonetheless available, are phonographs capable of playing enchanted musical discs that approximate what the Aedvect Isiah Guillen described as "records", though he claims the magical versions "don't sound as good as vinyl."


Art and Culture

Selections from Echoes of Otherworld by Javion Brooks.

Aedvecti contributions to culture cannot be overstated. Several Aedvectis have been published authors writing fantastical tales of the Otherworld either openly or (primarily in the case of Anima Emuctis) using pseudonyms. Composers have created extraordinary music carrying fresh and unique sounds into their new environments. Additionally, the Aedvecti painter Javion Brooks famously created a series of wall sized canvases, Echoes of Otherworld, which depicted major figures in Empirican history against backgrounds from the Otherworld.

Supranormal Abilities

Aedvectis are not often considered strong contributors to supranormal abilities - mostly because they are usually unable to access them. However, there are two major exceptions.

First, from time to time an Aedvect will arrive with an unusual ability from the Otherworld - abilities that may or may not have equivalents inside Empirica Sin, but will almost always work at least somewhat differently. These abilities can be passed on through the Aedvect's bloodline if they happen to have children. They will always be rare, but as a result of this it is not completely unheard of for, as an example, a mortal to have unusual physiological abilities they inherited from a parent or even a distant ancestor. The prominent sage Oriana Tansea has attempted to study these abilities and their heritability, but they appear so uncommonly that she has had difficulty finding populations to study.

A more widespread contribution is the Magic Schools system - a popular method of approaching Magic use, particularly for Mortals. It is said that this idea was brought into Empirica Sin by an Aedvect called Elsa Drake who described it as "nerd stuff" and "basically just thinking like I'm in a d12 game."