Through this fact, the people of the Nimbus have adopted means to protect themselves from the harmful ways of the spirits and souls. Every citizen of this realm wears an animal mask. The style and animal-kind of the mask is very influenced by the kingdoms that have formed. The masks are a very important feature of every citizen, especially when it comes to the choice of animal, as they often need their entire childhood to find their true spirit animal. Under their masks, citizens also wear facepaint in different colours, which shows their status. Furthermore, it is custom to have two names. The 'true' name, which the citizens protect very well and keep secret, as well as the common name. While the common name and surname is just like in our society, the true name is something very special. It is like a confession. Knowing someone elses true name is a big deal. It is usually common to only know the true names of the closest family members, such as mother, father, children or siblings. The act of telling someone their true name is a deep and serious love confession, or a sign of true and absolute trust, given how the ghost of the dead could be able to harm them.

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If the cause of death is a very cruel or painful one, or if the dead has had a very malicious personality, it may also happen that a ghost can become what is known as a shadow. Shadows are the most feared beings in this world and are the root of many horror stories. Shadows are, unlike the pure ghosts, visible to the eye. Horrifying creatures with distorted grins, black and coming in any size. They loose their human form and lust for nothing more than death. Once a shadow has formed, it will go rampage and kill anything in sight. True to their name, a shadow cannot be attacked back, as it lacks a true physical form, yet itself is able to sink its teeth into the flesh of the living and rip it apart easily. It is a rather rare occurrence, yet it is one of the most feared. There were several incidents where shadows had ripped apart through whole cities before their hunger has been satisfied and they disappeared on their own.

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The biggest weakness of the shadows is light, especially sunlight. This, and the many positive things about the sun, is the reason why the sun is worshipped by the Nimbus. The Nimbus has its own sun and moon, and the citizens of the Nimbus have many different holidays dedicated to their wonderful and lifegiving sun. The sun is seen as the force above anything else - followed by the sunblessed Atems.

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Every now and then it is possible that a dimension gap appears somewhere in this realm, linking a world to the Nimbus for a short amount of time. But these gaps are one-way only. Those who fall into the Nimbus from outside are trapped, just like the rest. There is no way out of the Nimbus, which leads to people from the outside worlds being integrated to the culture they find themselves in.

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The sunblessed rulers - Atems

Every now and then, a child is born with unusual abilities. These abilities are the remnant of the first civilisation that got banned into this lonely dimension, but this knowledge is long lost. The people with these special abilities are so rare that having them automatically makes them the Atem. The word 'Atem' is their word for the highest ruler (king) of the respective land (kingdom). Due to the rarity of these abilities, it is absolutely possible that a kingdom has no Atem for a while, until another child is showing new abilities.

These abilities can be vastly different. They can be physical abilities like inhuman strength or flying abilities, as well as mental abilities or even 'magic' abilities. Each Atem in history had a different ability, with only rare occurances of an ability reoccuring (such as flight ability).

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The reign of an Atem usually starts when the sunblessed turns 18. That said, emergencies or special circumstances can easily change this. If an active Atem reigns and a new sunblessed has been found, it is for example custom to take the child into the temple to learn from the current Atem. Every kingdom has its own little rules.

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To show their special status, the Atems (and their partners) are the only ones who are allowed to use golden facepaint. Their makeup often tries to indicate/emphasize the kind of power the Atem has.

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The color codes

Face- and/or bodypaint is one of the many special traditions of the Nimbus. But not everyone can wear just any color they want. At least in the three main kingdoms, the Sun, the Free and the Sublime, there are certain rules to the color coding. Listed beneath are the 'taken colors'. Anyone who doesnt belong into a certain cast is free to choose from the remaining colours available. Since the citizens of the Nimbus often wear masks, those too are painted in the respective colors.

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Gold - Atems (and in some cases their partners) only

Orange - Royal guards

Red - Priests

Yellow - Artists (Painters, Dancers, Singers, etc.)

Green - Healers

Blue - Temple staff

White - Inventors or craftsmen

Black - undertaker and gravediggers

Pink - Students of scholars

Purple - Scholars

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The kingdoms

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The kingdom of the Sun

The kingdom of the Sun is the biggest and most prominent

kingdom of the Nimbus (yellow on the map.) It is considered

the strongest kingdom out of any and is overall respected by

every other kingdom. The Sun is the very first kingdom, from

which all the other kingdoms formed. Citizens may say

"I am a Sun" or "I am from the Sun" when speaking about their heritage.

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The masks of the kingdom of the Sun are based on mammals. With the highest populationcount, the Suns need the variety to find the animal that truly represents them. From canines, to felines, elephants and anything in between is okay. Excluded are monkeys, as they are the featured animal of the kingdom of the Sublime.

The overall style of the kingdom of the Sun can be compared to native african tribes. They are a very agricultural land with not many riches. The clothes are colourful and wild, just like the masks. The citizens, however, may be the nicest people you could ever meet. Especially under the reign of their last Atems, the Suns are known for their friendly and welcoming nature. Nobody is left to hunger or die in misery, the citizens are overall very happy and help each other like no other kingdom.

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The capital city (which is basically the entire kingdom) is gigantic and is built like a pyramide. The Atem temple is on the top, prominent in the middle of the very kingdom, while stairs lead down towards the lower parts. The lower and thus further away from the temple, the poorer the citizens become. And eventhough the outter rings are sometimes not more than slums, nobody has to go through the worst of poverty as other citizens care for those in need.

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The current Atem is Atem Yaro, the most powerful Atem in history.

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The kingdom of the Free

The kingdom of the Free is currently rather small (whitish on the

map) thanks to former wars between the Free and the Sublime.

The kingdom of the Free originated from a few artistic minds

that felt imprisoned by the very old and conservative ways of the

Sun. While the Free are not especially violent, they have been often

involved in former battles as they value their freedom. Citizens may

say "I am a Free" or simply "I am Free" when speaking about their heritage.

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The masks of the kingdom of the Free are based on birds. This goes back to the artistic founders of the kingdom that valued the vibrant colours of the birds. And it goes along to the overall feeling of the hotheaded Free. Music, Art, Theatre - The Free are known for their culture like no other. With the fiery nature, they often seem a little arrogant to other kingdoms.

In our world, they could be compared to the passionate, fierce people of Spain. With their guitar music, the tango and many other dances, the Free are sure to impress anyone. The Free are most known for their Dance of Love, the "Baile de amor". A holiday dedicated to lovers. It is custom to wait for this holiday to 'dance at your crush' to show your feelings. And if they accept the dance, the two lovers are considered a couple.

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The capital city is as colorful as it can get. While the Free have many many cities, the capital city is home to the Atem temple, the biggest theatre of the Nimbus. The temple has a huge podium from which the Atem announces and opens events, such as the Baile de amor. Thanks to the latest Commander Ikarus, the kingdom of the Free has the strongest guarded capital city of the entire Nimbus.

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The current Atem is Atem Ra, a kind-hearted but weak-willed man.

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The kingdom of the Sublime

The kingdom of the Sublime is the second biggest kingdom

(brown-grey on the map). It was founded by Atem Luan, who

was born and raised in the kingdom of the Sun but who

couldnt rule because of the current Atem at the time. Angry

that he was not able to rule while he considered himself more

"sublime" than the others, he ran off with a few underlings

and formed this own kingdom. With that mentality in mind,

the Sublime are quite different from the rest and often cause

trouble for the other Atems - at the moment, for both the kingdom of the Free and the kingdom of the Sea. Citizens may say "I am a Sublime" or "I am a monkey" when speaking about their heritage.

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The masks of the kingdom of the Sublime are based on monkeys. This comes from the fact that Atem Luan, the founder, wore an orang-utan mask himself. Since then, the kingdom of the Sun has not permitted monkey masks anymore, so that the Sublime have this species all to themselves. Given that there is not much variety in the animal kind, many wear the same animal or even the same mask. Richer citizens tend to choose monkeys such as gorillas and more human-like apes, while the simple or poor citizens only have small monkeys to choose from.

Like many things, masks are partly mass-produced. The Sublime are known for their high intelligence, but also for their lack of individualism. Monkeys often are inventors with creative new ideas. They even have medieval technology, working with forces like fire, water and steam to run their machines.

While the Sublime have a taste for style and architecture and the cities look gorgeous, the citizens themselves live under rather bad conditions. They are based on the chinese society. The kingdom is crammed thanks to overpopulation, the lowest tier citizens live like slaves, while the higher ups do not have to move a finger.

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While most kingdoms have very friendly rules concerning the Atems, the Sublime are not that simple-minded. They only want the best to lead them on. The most 'sublime', so to say. Therefore the Atem will be anyone who can defeat the former Atem. It CAN go friendly in some cases, but it is custom that sunblessed have to fight for their position as Atem. Whoever wins will be the next ruler.

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The capital city is huge and luxorious, at least for those who are able to afford to live in the better parts of the city. The rest is filled with houses pressed against each other to house the simple worker of the city. The capital is the only place guarded by the royal guard, which leaves a _lot_ of people outside the main city unprotected. The biggest part of the kingdom is used for harvesting rice and for giving the poorest of the poor a place to sleep - even if that is under the blue sky next to the bandit that has been thrown out of the city. Those outside the city have to fear for their lives every day, while those inside have only one worry: to have enough money to stay inside the city, or even to rank up.

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The current Atem is Atem Harambe, a cruel and power-hungry man that was born in the kingdom of the Sun.

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The kingdom of the Sea

The kingdom of the Sea was formerly known as the kingdom

of the Shore. It is rather small on land (blue on map), but

it includes all the ocean and therefore is technically the biggest

kingdom size-wise. The people of the Sea may be considered

sunblessed by default, as most of them have developed gills

to be able to breathe under water. In fact, some citizens are so

far evolved that they cannot go back on land. Therefore,

the kingdom has landdwellers, seadwellers and even more

in between. They are usually very peaceful and a rather

weak kingdom, which is why the kingdom of the Sublime often attack them. Citizens may say "I am from the Sea" or "I am from the Shore" when speaking about their heritage.

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The masks of the kingdom of the Sea are very unlike the others. Of course their spirit animals are all creatures living in the sea. But common wood-masks are not working well with water, which is why the citizens of the Sea rather wear veils instead. These are often decorated with either beautiful abstract designs, or even with pictures of the represented animal.

Their culture can be best compared to the ancient greek. White and wide gowns, white temple-like houses and more. They are especially known for their advanced knowledge of medicine. It is not rare that other kingdoms seek help when facing serious illnesses or when the Atem falls ill.

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A special gift that is consistent between all the Atems of the Sea is the ability to change the weather. With special dances and singing, they are able to influence rain and storms so much, that it can either be a blessing for a dried out land, or a catastrophe for other parts of the land.

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The kingdom of the Sea has no real capital city. The Atemtemple is built at the edge of the sea - half on the shore, half under water, to serve both land- and seadwelling people as a home.

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The current Atems are Atem Yuval und Atem Azura, the first ever known twin Atems. However, Atem Azura is currently the only one ruling, as Atem Yuval is being held hostage by Atem Harambe. Except for the citizens of the sea, Atem Yaro and some people at the temple of Atem Harambe, nobody is aware that Atem Yuval exists.

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The kingdom of the Wild

The kingdom of the Wild is a rather big part of the land (green on the map), but most of it is unusable. For normal people that is. The kingdom of the Wild is the home to several tribes and groups. While it is still referred to as a kingdom, it has no definite ruler. Each tribe has its own leader.

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The other kingdoms have not much to do with them. They only know those 'lizard people' as uncivilized, feral people living in the deepest jungle of the land. Everyone avoids those parts, knowing that these people are not kind to intruders.

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The hidden kingdom

Beneath all of the kingdoms lies a big secret. Deep, deep beneath the surface is another, hidden kingdom. Blinded by the sun, these beings have evolved to live inside the earth and are slowly expanding their kingdom (the darker shade over all the kingdoms). By now, they only inhabit the depths of the mountains surrounding the land, but maybe they will have to expand even more afterwards...

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