Lore infodump

Introduction

Hi, this is the infodump of most (if not all) of the books and/or lore related dialogues (non quest stuff right now) that I've found. This is more for reference's sake rather than being it's own section. This information is current as of December public release V1. Each lore book gives your entire party 5 XP.

Books

Southport

2nd floor of Southport housetown building

Unsealing Demonic Spirits for Dummies

• Traditional pentagram-based anti-demonic seals are notoriously difficult to open. Beginning with the northmost symbol, unscribe the seal by moving to the next symbol in a counterclockwise (widdershins) fashion. Continue to unravel the symbol in this manner. It may be helpful to think of is as releasing a knot- you have to untangle the "strings" of the seal in the opposite manner that they were placed.

Applied Thaumalogy Building

Scrolls: Magic Made Easy

• A spell scroll is, essentially, a magical spell already halfway cast and simply waiting the proper incantation to finally go off. The words on a scroll aren't even the magic part- they're just a reminder of the incantation for the scroll user. Theoretically, a blank scroll can contain a spell,though such a scroll could only be used by someone who knows what specific spell is bound to the scroll and how to incant it. However, due to the complex magics involved, a scroll spell is always less effective than a real spell, both with regards to damage and the status effect inflicted.

Magica Tactica

• When facing an enemy who employs healing magic or innate regeneration, it's often best to respond quickly with fire-elemental magics to render their healing power useless. Even if a monster that cannot speak can replicate a spell's effects, Deafening that creature is often pointless as they are not actually reciting an incantation. While it can be tempting to simply focus on delivering as much damage in as short a time as possible, never underestimate the ability of Control-type magic to render an enemy impotent.

Elemental Spells and Non-Corellation: Busting Common Myths

• It's often hard for students of magic to believe, but elemental magics do not necessarily have relationships or defeat each other in some kind of primitive "cycle". While it is true that, for example, beings aspected towards fire are weak to cold, this isn't a universal rule, nor is there a grand pattern based around the elements. The elements simply represent natural forces mages can utilize to inflict harm on their enemies. No more, no less.

Tomes and Orbs: What's Right For You?

• Much ink has been spilled over which is the better of the two most common magical tools in use today: orbs containing Mana energy, and magical tomes. What you can be certain of is that orbs are best used defensively, providing a small amount of magic resistance and usually containing an enchantment that weakens a specific element. In contrast, magical tomes increase raw magical power, and can usually be referenced to provide the mage in question access to spells they haven't fully memorized. Now you know the difference, you can make an informed decision about whether tomes or orbs are better for you, and can state that orbs are strictly better than tomes with confidence.

Elemental Spells and their Effects

• Fire spells can be used to cause "Burn". Burned enemies heal much more slowly until they recover from the Burn.
• Cold causes "Chill". A Chilled enemy has much reduced agility and litte ability to evade.
• Sonic spells cause "Deafness". A Deafened enemy cannot heard themselves speak, and thus cannot incant Spells or Prayers properly.
• Acid causes "Corrosion". A Corroded enemy has their defense greatly reduced.
• Poison spells cause "Poison", obviously. A spell that involve injecting toxins directly into an opponent's veins happens to cause damage over time.
• Force spells cause "Knockdown". A force spell is capable of bowling a opponent over, causing them to lose their next action.
• Radiant spells cause "Daze". Dazzled and partially blinded by light, the enemy cannot counterattack and has difficulty hitting with normal attacks.
• Necrotic spells cause "Weakness".The deleterious energies of death can leave an enemy weak and unable to strike with any degree of force.
• Psychic spells cause "Disorientation". A disoriented enemy is much more vulnerable to magical spells and cannot motivate their will to resist.
• Lightning is capable of destroying Mana. A bolt of lightning evaporates Mana, leaving enemy spellcasters too drained to cast spells.

older version(October 2014)

Lightning causes "Paralysis". A bolt of lightning can leave enemies incapable of movement, too stunned to act.

"In Praise of the Humble Magic Missile."

• The basic Magic Missile spell has a variety of uses and serves as an excellent self-defense spell in a pinch, dealing excellent damage and possibly disabling the target temporarily. It is highly recommended for mages of all varieties to keep a beginner's Magical Handbook nearby if they do not know Magic Missile themselves, in order to incant the spell straight from the Handbook's pages.

Damage vs Control: Choosing the Spells that are Right for You

• There are two broad spell types: "Damage-type" spells and "Control-types" spells. Damage spells act exactly as they sound. They are optimized for inflict the greatest amount of damage on an opponent. Control spells are optimized for inflicted the maximum likelihood of status effects on the opponent.

Lightning: Bane of Spellcasting

• As you know, Lightning spells dissipate Mana stored in your target's body. This makes lightning a dangerous element, and needs to be treated with caution. Control-type effects eliminate more Mana than Damage-types, but both types of spells should be a sign that your enemies may be carefully equipped to counter mages. Some orders of Paladins and Battle Clerics that consider magic blasphemous use lightning-enchanted weapons in battles to disable magicians like us.

older version(October 2014)

book title = Lightning: the Most Chaotic Element

As you know, Lightning spells cause "Paralysis" in their targets. However, as effective as Paralysis is for disabling enemies, for some reason it is only half as likely to succeeed as other status effects. Even Control-type Lightning spells don't inflict Paralysis with 100% effectiveness, so be cautious when employing Lightning magic.

Creatures Building

The Haplodipliody of Dragons and Kobolds

• While many people know that kobolds tend to appear where dragons are, and worship them, a recent study has unearthed bizarre facts of their shared biology. It's long been known that female dragons make lairs and horde treasure, and it seems the reason for this behaviour is because the female dragon lays eggs constantly, on the order of a clutch per week. Despite this apparent fecundity, dragons remain thankfully rare. This is because only fertilized eggs become full-blown dragons. Unfertilized eggs instead hatch into kobolds, who are universally female due to having only a single X chromosome. Kobolds then attend the needs of their dragon "mother" much like worker ants attends the needs of their queen.

The Tarnished Grimoire: Tiers of Lesser Demons

• The Church of the Seven Angels teaches that there are also Seven Demons to balance them out. Each Demon is served by a unique species of lesser demon.
• The weakest demons are the Imps that serve the Demon of Discord and Disdain.They are small, weak and malicious, but have some small skill with magic. 
• The next form of lesser demon is the Brute, who serve the Demon of Cruelty and Hate.These demons are strong and stupid, but have a surprising ability to resist all forms of magic.
• The Demon of Ambition and Avarice is served by the Devils, very humanlike lesser demons that prefer to seduce and corrupt humans with promises of wealth and power, as opposed to physical attacks.
• Fiends serve the Demon of Pride and Perfection.They are tremendously powerful spellcasters, but have a unique weakness in that they are all obsessive compulsive.
• Succubi are universally female-looking, and the only demons to crossbreed with humans.They are equally skilled in magic and battle, and serve, of course, the Demon of Lust and Envy.
• The Nephilim are corrupted angelic servitors that exclusively serve the Demon of Tyranny and Control.They are rare demons that can employ Radiant magic in service to their mistress.
• While Imps are universally the weakest and Nephilim are universally strongest, special mention goes to the lesser demons that serve the Demon of Submission and Oblivion. These lesser demons, called Banes, are usually weaker than even the Imps, but the more damage that they take the stronger they become.Banes cannot be destroyed by the usual means.

older version(October 2014)

Succubi are universally female-looking, and the only demons to have primary sexual characteristics.

The Existence of Slimes, Explained

• Slimes are generally the semi-living results of magical experimentation. Discarded potions congeal and pool together, and the resulting goo is animated by the mana energy contained within. Slimes possess no real physiology or even ecology, and are mostly harmless. Slimes are most dangerous when a wizard magically compels slimes to serve him or her. Rumours of sentient slimes and "slime-girls" are entirely unproven, but given the nature of how slimes are created, anything is possible.

Magical Beasts of the Wild

• Once common to our continent was the mighty and proud Chimera. These magnificent beasts once freely roamed the Middle Kingdom forests and fields, until they were pushed until near-extinction. The Chimera hunted via stealth and stalking, silently tracking prey for many miles before finally pouncing. Most large prey would fall quickly to the leonine jaws, but if was not enough the venom from the Chimera's snake-headed tail would eventually take the life of any escapee. Once felling a tasty piece of prey, Chimeras will usually drag the carcass of the unfortunate creature to it's nest for storage. Contrary to popular belief, Chimeras are carrion eaters, and will patiently wait for the prey's carcass to run rancid before finally giving in to feast. Unfortunately, these majestic beasts, a once-common sight, have been hunted until they are near extinction. This largely due to the high price of Chimera heads for use as decorative trophies.

The Bizarre World of the Sphinx

• The Sphinx is an exotic creature from the Western Continent best known for its strange diet- rather than needing to consume vegetation or meat to survive, the Sphinx consumes mana. Sphinx can sustain themselves at rest just based on the background mana count of the local area. They thrive in areas of concentrated local mana like ancient ruins and natural crystal caverns. Deprived of sufficient background magic, Sphinxes will often resort to hunting mages, or raiding settlements to consume magical items. What makes Sphinxes doubly dangerous is they are highly resistant to magic, as well as seeing most magic users as prey. Most Sphinxes are dumb beasts, however there is a rare breed called the Royal Sphinx that is bipedal and sentient. Just because a Royal Sphinx can act friendly and are intelligent, does not mean they are less dangerous- they still need to consume mana and are still capable of devouring a magic user to survive.

Theoretical Magic Building

The Source of Mana

• The original source of Mana in the world is not known to academia. There are several popular theories for the origin of all Mana. All that is known as fact is that Mana is diffused throughout the world, and ether is an excellent storage medium for the energy. The one theory that has the most popularity is that the sun delivers Mana through it's rays, which is why sunlight has different thaumaturgic qualities than firelight. Another theory posits that Mana is finite in the world, but cannot be divided or destroyed, and exists in a cycle that magic takes advantage of. A third theory posits that Mana is a natural side product of life, and is produced by the environment. This theory is obviously popular among shamans and druids.

Third Pantheon Theory

• There exists a fringe theory that Mana and magic are propagated in the world by a third pantheon, independent of the Angels and Demons. Angels and Demons provide magic-like powers to their followers, usually as part of an exchange where humans provide the Angel or Demon in question with worship and spread that being's philosophy. However, magic requires no such exchange of service for power. Magic is available to anyone who studies the basics and learns the formulas. Despite both drawing from Mana, prayers and spells are clearly two different thing and obviously not alike at all.

Animated Beings

• Most skills enchanters are capable of crafting  "animated creatures", unliving dolls powered and given sentience by Mana. These creatures fall into three broad categories: Golems, Mannikins, and Nymphs.
• Golems are usually fairly simple. They are basic servants crafted from Mana, often Mana drawn from clay, wood or stone. They are strong, but usually not smart.
• Mannikins are attempts to replicate humanoid form and sentience with Mana. These are often the result of misguided attempts to replicate life with magic.
• Nymph are the result of creating sex slaves with Mana, and often have an attractive or pleasing form and a deeply ingrained lust for sex.
• Interested fact: it is from the creation of nymphs that the term "nymphomaniac" comes from.

Herbalism Studies Centre

The Counter-Undead Properties of Common Flora

• Several common plants can be used to repel the undead, especially revenants,vampires and other forms of life-draining undead. Wild roses, also known as dogrose, can be planted on the graves of the undead to prevent them from rising, and the prick of a wild rose thorn drains the life of the vampiric undead. Garlic, in addition to it's use as a garnish, emits an odor that repels the vampiric dead. Finally, ashwood is capable of destroying the undead completely and instantly. Any undead pierced by an ashwood shaft is totally destroyed and melts into a puddle of unclean fluids.

Manor (Northmarket)

Shelf in Felix's Room

The Divine Guidance of Humanity

• In the beginning, humans roamed the earth aimlessly, subject to the whims of whatever beasts they encountered. Humans were held captive by whatever forces could control them, forced to worship demons, dragons, and worse things. It was a long, dark, painful time. One day, the Angel of Law and Justice looked upon humans, and was moved by their suffering. He gathered his six servant Angels, and each one gifted humans with two virtues to aid them. These virtues inspired humanity to form first cities, then nations and kingdoms. Visionaries inspired by the virtues of Law, Loyalty, Justice and Mercy became the first rulers. The world that once controlled humanity was subjugated in turn, and the human race rapidly became masters of the earth.

A Brief History of the Middle Kingdom Part I

• The Middle Kingdom once began as one of a number of tribal states occupying the area now held by both our Kingdom and the Kellos Empire. These tribes had a collective culture known broadly as the "People of One Hundred Nations". This name is poetic, and likely there were no more than a few dozen of these tribes at any one time. These peoples warred and made peace among each other for time immemorial, largely ignored by their dwarven, elven and catfolk neighbors. One tribe, a warlike people from the northeast of the continent, eventually grew enough in power and influence to absorb most of the other tribes, one by one, into a larger, powerful nation. This nation, of course, was the beginning of the Kellos Empire. In the far southwest corner of this land, however, there was still a single tribe, the Magari, who were protected by natural borders and remained unconquered. The Magari were a mercantile people, more interested in craft and trade than war. This proved to be to the tribe's strength, as they hired mercenaries to help defend their land. The combination of hired outsiders, a strong navy built up from costal trade ships, and the mountains that protected the Magar people proved highly effective at defeating the Kellos legions. This lead to a protracted period of uneasy peace between the two nations, which allowed Magari culture to flourish due to contact with other peoples and races. The Magari were formally united under King Magar I about three hundred years ago. This was the official founding of the Magar Kingdom.

A Brief History of the Middle Kingdom Part II

• The peace enjoy by the Magar Kingdom was not to last, however. About one hundred fifty years ago, during the reign of King Magar VII, the Kellos empire was able to attack in force once more, catching the Magar kingdom off guard. The unprepared Magari defenders lost battle after battle, and were pushed back to the natural border of the Kimochi River. King Magar VII was able to rally his forces once more, and counterattacked, pushing back the overextended Kellosian line to partway through the wide Eastern Plains. This is where, on a cold winter day, a Magar King and an Empress of Kell met for the first time in history, and signed a treaty that drew the border through the Eastern Plains. A third of the Magar Kingdom was ceded to Kellos. King Magar VII then began a large defense project, erecting a series of fortified towers along this border. The message to the Kellos Empire was clear. They would advance no further. In time, King Magar VIII took the throne. This young man was present at the signing of his father's treaty, and saw the Kellos presence in his ancestral lands as an insult. At great expense, he equipped his armies with cannons and rifles purchased from the dwarves, and attacked the Kellos-occupied lands from surprise. Faced with unheard-of technology and with the Empress distracted by a civil war in her own lands, the Magari were able to retake their old lands and secure the mountain ranges once more.

Shelf in the Manor Study

A Brief History of the Middle Kingdom Part III

• For almost one hundred years, the Magar Kingdom laboured under their enourmous debt to the dwarven peoples. While many dwarves emigrated to the Magar Kingdom in this time, the dwarves were largely concerned with other pursuits, and expressed no interest in annexing the debt-stricken Magari. The Magari are nothing if not industrious, however, and in the reign of King Magar X the debt was finally paid back in full. King Magar X even held a lavish ceremony where the High Clan Senate of the dwarves were invited to receive their final payment- a handful of silver Magari coins each- at the Magari capital. At the ceremony, King Magar X addressed his people, announcing his grand plan to restructure the kingdom, rebuild its infrastructure, and seize prosperity for all Magari. He publicly renounced the name Magar, and rebranded himself as King Regal I of the Middle Kingdom. Similarly, he announced many new, simpler names for the cities and villages of the Middle Kingdom. Due to their interest in trade and investment in mercenaries, the homeland of the Magar had come to be shared with dwarves and many expatriate humans. King Regal I and his new Middle Kingdom would represent them all equally and fairly.

Hero: I remember that ceremony. I think I was about... seven?

Adventure Guilds

Bookshelves in the guildmaster's room.

• We solemnly serve to protect those who cannot protect themselves, and to fight for those who cannot fight for themselves. In antiquity, skill at arms determined the worth and status of all. Modern society, however, has many individuals of great value in spite of their lack of mettle. The new measure of a person's worth is wealth,and so the Adventurer's Guild dedicates itself to protecting and fighting on behalf of the worthy.

Hero:That's basically it. Let the knightly orders and such worry about charity and justice, we do it for the cash!

Sermons

The sermons are identical in the Eastfort, Lumberhill and Northmarket churchs, but only the one in Eastfort gives exp.

Eastfort

• There are seven angels who grants us mortals their blessings. Their leader, and the center of our worship is the Angel of Law and Justice. At His left hand sits the Angel of Loyalty and Service, who reminds us of our duty to family, friends, and crown. At His right hand sits the Angel of Light and Mercy, who punishes the guilty in His name and brings hope into dark places. There are laso the Angel of Love and Passion, the Angel of Hearth and Craft,and the Angel of Companionship and Courtesy. Perhaps least understood by most folk is the Angel of Peace and Comfort,who relieves the sick of their pain and escorts our souls to the afterlife.

Southport

• Many people look down on the Angel of Hearth and Craft as being plebian or pedestrian, but everyone benefits from her blessing. She protects sailors who ply their trade across the sea and encourages merchants to deal honestly. All the Angels provide their blessings to the faithful. Even those who may not be popular.
• Perhaps, now, you'll come for the public service next week?

Westcastle

• Each of the angels is served by a race of servant angels, each one suited to the individual angels that they serve. Serving Law and Justice are the archons, powerful warrior-angels who enforce the will of all the Angels. The Angel of Loyalty and Service guides the seraphs, the personal messengers and servants of the angels. The erel serve the Angel of Light and Mercy, as the footsoldiers of the forces of virtues. The irin serve the Angel of Love and Passion, and occasionally gift mortal folk with the visitations that result in half-angel children. The Angel of Hearth and craft is served by the lares, who occasionally take on the homes of individuals to protect and keep tidy. The Angel of Companionship and Courtesy is served by the advisor-angels called fravashi. Finally, the Angel of Peace and Comfort is served by the messengers of death, the celga.
• I hope that was informative. Walk with the Angels by your side.

Total

As of Version 3 of the March 2015 release, there are 24 lore books. That means 120 XP, which is a nice number for your efforts.