The Levelan Glossary

The Levelan Glossary

Sounds Familiar?

The Levelan Glossary archives information on terminology and conceps related to the continent of Levelas, third of Apodon's three which was locked away following the golden storm known as the Tormenta, and newly raised heart in the Tower of Cilifus. Both serve respectively as the setting and core of the novel Heaven in Cilifus.

Warning! The Levelan Glossary is not required reading for enjoying Heaven in Cilifus! It is just complementary material! Everything you are about to read is already covered in the novel, if not so directly and explicitly, and you may find light spoilers ahead! All content warnings for the main novel apply to this place. Know where you're landing before you dive.

New terms will be added as they are introduced or mentioned in-story, but some may go somewhere else.

be kind and be patient. As always, I hope you enjoy.

Basic Concepts

Apodon

The name of both the world Heaven in Cilifus is set in, as well as the being whose corpse it's inhabitable surface was purified and fertilized by.It was said to be a colossal ringworm who grew larger, stronger, wiser by consuming nuggets of Purity found within the Churn.

Levelas

One of Apodon's three continents, and the setting for Heaven in Cilifus. It is the second largest and, long ago, the most populous as well, but after being severed from the rest of the world by the Tormenta and its ensuing Catastrophes, it has been left a wasteland of mutation and alien creatures.

Tormenta

A storm of cataclysmic proportions and acrid yellow clouds that arrived from the western ocean and enveloped all of Levelas. It's coming was heralded by the severance of communication between the continent's folks and the Pure Ones, as well as the seas becoming far too perilous for significant navigation.

It was, however, merely the First Catastrophe.

Folks

Or the Eighteen Tribes, or just the Tribes, are the eighteen races born to the Pure Ones through self conception and the essence of life created on Apodon's husk. They came to populate, and eventually conquer the world inherited by their parents.

Pneuma

An intangible, invisible liquid that courses through the body of folks. It is responsible for both the health of the soul as well as the performance of magic.

The Tower of Cilifus

Cilifus

The Tower of Cilifus, the Pillar of Cilifus, the Sin of Levelas. A massive, sky-piercing construct that suddenly appeared in the capital of the kingdom of Vela, Hosile, heralding the disappearance of its population and the Fourth Catastrophe. Key location to Heaven in Cilifus, shroudded in mystery and conjecture.

Invitation

The Fifth Catastrophe. Proof of those who became Guests, it originally manifests as a sheet of black paper written in with white ink, depicting basic information about the Guest, but can be customized in several different ways.

Guests

Folks who received the blessings of Cilifus, with or against their will. They are given access to otherworldly powers that grow as they "Rank up", as well as the ramping need to pilgrimage to the Tower. As the only ones who can enter it safely, they are invaluable to survival in modern Levelas.

Dwellers

Catch all name given to the monstrosities originated from Cilifus, responsible for the Fourth Catastrophe and the greatest loss of life since the Second. Their bodies are resistant to earthly materials, they show strength far beyond what natural physiology should allow, and their numbers seem to be endless.

Guest Terminology

Ranks

A measurement contained in the Invitation, mostly believed to be of individual power, certainly of advancement within the hierarchy of Cilifus. Socially, a high Rank means respect and opportunities one might never have dreamed of, and physically [REDACTED].

Roles

Archetypes Guests are shaped into after their first Rank up. Roles define not only the ways the Guest is passively improved as they rank, but which Traits become available as well.

The five basic Roles are: Enforcer, Vanguard, Saboteur, Parasite, and Caller.

Traits

Abilities offered by the Invitation which allow a Guest to grow in more specific ways than dictated by their Role. Some are passive, working constantly without input, while others require active focus and high quantities of Pneuma to function.

Party

A group of up to six Guests bound together through the holy mechanics of the Tower. The exact benefits conferred vary on the average Rank and making of the group, but they are plentiful: from the sharing of Essence to practical long distance communication between members.

Game of Heaven

A sacred game established by the first Invitations and further build upon by its players. "Heaven awaits those who reach," and thus its Guests reach, desperate for its bounties.

The World's Church and Genesis of Apodon

The Church of Apodon

Also known as the World's Church, it is an international religious organization created over a millennia ago with the goal of bridging the faith gap between the Eighteen Tribes by compiling their shared genesis and abridging their diverging histories. Arguably the most powerful group in modern Apodon, even in the age of the Tormenta.

Lailo Eton

Also known as the Book of Truths, or just the Book, the codex gathering the Church of Apodon's coremost canon. It contains the shared Genesis of the Eighteen Tribes, the epoch of the Earthly Divines, and the foundational treaties of the Church of Apodon.

Father-Mother

Paeon-Aeon, or just Pae-Ae. A reincarnation, metamorphosis, and / or child of Apodon, born out of its death to wander the still lifeless surface. Purity incarnate, Perfect hermaphrodite, they are the epitome of existence as well as the first of the Pure Ones, though considered above even them.

According to the Lailo Eton, it left their parent's body long before the modern day, trailblazing the path to Heaven.

Pure Ones

Divine beings created by the Father-Mother through self-conception, and most direct heirs of their immaculate Purity. Six total, born in pairs of twins, they were responsible for shaping purified Apodon and, with time, birthing the Eighteen Tribes out of their own wombs.

The first pair were Mamogon, who rose to become the all-seeing sun, and Nogon, who submerged themselves into the darkness of the purified ocean with all of the world's secrets.

The second pair were the stoic Lodon, who became one with and in turn nourished the earth, and Dadaron, who blessed the depths of Apodon with precious and powerful metals.

The third and final pair were the naughty Yadaon, who commanded the winds of destiny, and Brabaon, whose ceaseless rage served as their siblings greatest weapon.

Purity

An unknowable, unseen, and yet magnificent quality of being first devoured by Apodon as small fragments, then passed to the Pure Ones and subsequently the Eighteen Tribes through inheritance. How exactly it can be measured, how does it meaningfully set folks apart from other lifeforms, or even each other are topics of extreme controversy among the clergy.

Churn

Or the Churns, a simultaneously chaotic but stagnant bottomless ocean of filth inhabited by demons and blind vermin. The most basic state of Apodon as a world, both feared and loathed for its constant war of corruption it wages against the surface.