ARKANETICA GLOSSARY 🔹 Thread / Thread Type
Definition: The magical lineage encoded into one's soul, representing ancestry, elemental affinity, and inherited spell patterns. Each person has a dominant Thread—unless they are Threadless.
"Your Thread defines your path. Unless you have none."
🔹 Threadless
Definition: A person born without a magical Thread—considered a myth, error, or system corruption. Rare, often feared. Ari is Threadless but his magic functions on an entirely alien logic.
"Threadless are not powerless. They're unreadable."
🔹 Null-Origin
Definition: An anomaly where no origin-thread data exists in the soul. Ari's classification. He is not just Threadless—he is an origin that pre-dates, or bypasses, the entire magical lineage system.
"The system cannot trace what was never written."
🔹 Hybrid-Threaded
Definition: Individuals born with multiple thread types—rare but sometimes unstable. Can cross magical affinities.
"Dual-fire and shadow? She'll either be a prodigy or a crater."
🔹 Signum
Definition: The symbolic language that governs all magic. Each spell is a sequence of symbols called glyphs, forming a castable "sentence."
"To cast is to write. And to write poorly is to die."
🔹 Sigil
Definition: A single glyph or mark within the Signum language. Complex spells use entire sigil strings.
"A sigil can summon fire—or erase your arm. Write carefully."
🔹 Dreamscript
Definition: A lost and unstable form of Signum that taps into subconscious logic, memory, and reality-interpretation. Only Ari (and a few like Eluin) can interface with it.
"Dreamscript doesn't follow rules. It writes them."
🔹 The System
Definition: A semi-conscious magical framework that governs law, magic, fate, and recordkeeping in Aristeia. It assigns ranks, detects Threads, and maintains balance—but can be corrupted.
"The System is law. But law can be rewritten."
🔹 Fatepath
Definition: A life trajectory predicted and subtly enforced by the System based on one's Thread and social rank.
"She was born with a golden fatepath. You? Dirt-blooded gravel."
🔹 Simulacrum
Definition: A magically constructed simulation or duel environment where combatants test spells safely—or not so safely.
"Simulacrums don't bleed. The casters do."
🔹 Sanctum Academy
Definition: The elite magical institution where Threads are refined, rivalries forged, and prodigies elevated—or destroyed.
"Welcome to Sanctum. Thrive, or fade."
🔹 The Echo Vault
Definition: A hidden, ancient order of anomaly-watchers. They track corrupted Threads, Null-Origins, and system flaws. Their allegiance is unknown.
"When the world glitches, they listen for echoes."
🔹 Thread Recognition
Definition: A rite or diagnostic where a person's magical Thread is revealed and verified by the System. Ari famously fails this—twice.
"No Thread. No rank. No future. Or so they thought."
🔹 Great Houses / Pillar Houses
Definition: Six noble bloodlines descended from the First Weavers. Each embodies a Thread Type, a magical philosophy, and deep political roots.
"Blood is magic. Magic is power. House is everything."
🔹 Rank Tiers (Sanctum)
Unbound – No Thread detected. Monitored.
Scrapborn – Lowborn magic users.
Probationary – New, limited-cast students.
Threaded – Fully recognized magic users.
Dominant – Duel-licensed elites.
Ascendant – Sponsored prodigies.
Archon Candidate – Near-graduates who can access hidden knowledge.
"Rank isn't just prestige. It's access to power."