LORYN

how memory works

Loryn, made simple

You don’t need arcane homework to get this world. In Loryn, reality is held together by what people remember — and the songs and carvings that keep everyone remembering the same way.

The one‑sentence idea

What is remembered, exists. Memory isn’t backstory; it’s the scaffolding that keeps bridges up, towns present, and history true.

The moving parts (plain English)

The Veil

Long ago, people stopped the gods by erasing their names from shared memory. That net still hums, but it’s fraying. Thin patches cause streets to unwrite, maps to argue, districts to blink.

True Names

A true name is a precise address. Sing it accurately, and the thing it refers to “loads” into reality. The older or larger the name, the heavier the cost.

Songs & Stone

Songs sync many minds at once; stone resists change. Verses etched in stone and sung regularly keep the world steady.

Weavers

Specialists who stitch memory into places, objects, or oaths. Saints when ethical, propagandists with chisels when not.

The Rot

Counterfeit or clashing memories spawn half‑real hazards. Persuasive as rumour; lethal as truth.

Keystone Chants

Community songs that anchor a district or structure. Miss too many nights and things start to slip.

More detail
  • Carvings “self‑correct” minor errors by dawn if the chorus is healthy.
  • Misnaming can call back the wrong echo that looks almost right.
  • Consent matters: oaths bound without it fray people as well as facts.

What people can actually do

  • Protect a place by singing its name and key details together each night.
  • Open a sealed site by recovering and performing its true name.
  • Bind an oath so breaking it makes your life come apart at the remembered seams.
  • Patch a history by finding the most shared version of events and carving it in stone.

The cost (because there’s always a cost)

Personal Burn

Use big names too often and your own memories fray: faces, routes, reasons.

Community Debt

Skip rituals and record‑keeping and a town can slip out of mind — and then out of place.

Ethical Weight

Forged “fixes” can erase people along with problems. Neat. Tidy. Monstrous.

How this differs from most fantasy magic

  • Not energy beams; it’s consensus. Power comes from many minds agreeing on a truth.
  • Not a lone “chosen one”; it’s public infrastructure anyone can support.
  • Not “spell slots”; it’s proof management — archives, choirs, ceremonies.
  • Not arbitrary; it’s cause‑and‑effect you can see. Stop remembering the bridge and the bridge fails.

Quick examples you can picture

The Lighthouse Test

A coastal town sings the lighthouse’s name at dusk. If the chorus weakens, the light fuzzes, ships hit rocks, and the town spends a week carving the details deeper and retraining the choir.

Courtroom Theatre

In Korrvain, verdicts are performed as public memory. If the crowd believes, the judgment sets. Appeals demand better evidence and a better chorus.

Battlefield Ward

A Weaver stitches a trench’s layout into a chant and a map slab. As long as soldiers hum the pattern, the trench holds against Rot‑spawn that try to “correct” it into open ground.

Your one‑page takeaway

  • Rule: what’s remembered, exists.
  • Tools: songs to sync minds, stone to lock truth, names to access things precisely.
  • Risks: misuse breeds Rot; overuse burns memories; lies can win if they’re sung well.
  • Theme: the fight isn’t just to survive; it’s to decide what deserves to be remembered.