This worldbuilding doc is written and maintained by ToastyGlow, creator of The Escape from Divinity animatic series. It is for their own reference and the benefit of the fandom. ToastyGlow reserves the right to retcon as needed, and will not engage with headcanon or other fandom speculation unless directly addressed to them for canon confirmation. They will also not read fanfiction.
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Animatics
Part 1 / CHURCH: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0s0E_WsqvQ
Part 2 / HEAVEN: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07XBjTeZI0g
Part 3 / DAYS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcG87eQTy2s
Part 4 / LION: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6jI7bV9ebE&lc=UgzsVwvJwqfLfYmSXbd4AaABAg
Part 5 / LULLABYE: TBD
Part 6 / WORMWOOD: TBD
Characters
Sanga
* 20s/f
* Raised in the church’s orphanage
* Like everyone raised by Divinity, her last name is technically Sampher, but as of the end of the animatic, she’ll have abandoned it. I doubt she liked it very much anyway!
* Has ADHD
* Maybe a year after first meeting Ashivon, was sent away to a school to “learn discipline”. Kind of like Divinity boot camp
* During this time, was essentially gaslit into doubting whether Ash could speak or was intelligent at all
* But it all kind of came crashing back when she returned to the monastery, and she had to pit her idea of “people who are actually nice to me and love me now(?)” against “people who imprison kidnapped kids and turn them into living tools of execution”
* CONFLICT
* Adept at healing and combat magic, but chose to officially become a healer nun
* Her kata movements are based on karate and various staff-twirling videos on YouTube because I’m...LAZY //does a pose
* Her magic was disabled by her Divinity tattoo being cut, and even if it heals, she likely won’t be able to use it as well. Maybe she can get it re-done somewhere? We’ll just see.
* Powerfully dedicated to doing The Right Thing but doesn’t trust authority figures not to hurt her; went through plenty of physical abuse before finding something she was good at and being accepted by the church
* Has a temper when it comes to injustice
* Would have been excised for coming into such close, familiar contact with Ash--I dunno if people thought they were in a relationship but it was close enough that the response was a resounding GTFO
* Jock
Ashivon
* 20s/m
* Bi bi bi (/demi)
* Trauma trauma trauma
* Named by his parents!
* Hoarse, husky voice, hardly used
* Sort of velvety all over (like a horse’s nose), shading to mildly fluffy on his neck/shoulders/tail and a coarse layer on his head and tail tuft
* Might have parents back home
* Parents might be on a quest to find him?
* Extremely smart; Sanga taught him to read and speak her language early in his captivity, before she was sent away
* Has attempted to speak to his captors before, but was punished for “trying to trick them”.
* Knows very little of the outside world
* Has a relatively small vocabulary and will be constantly asking what things are called now that he’s free
* Summoned a few years before the old Executioner died to give them a little buffer.
* Was made to fight when very young; likely forced to with control magic at first.
* His eyes are naturally blue, but turned orange when he was branded
* Was well-fed as a child to help him grow up big and strong, and not badly mistreated until being forced into the role of executioner. Felt very betrayed and confused when it happened.
* First entered the arena as an executioner in his early teens
* Did not enjoy killing, nor was he constantly forced to via his brand (although I expect they had to use it a lot when he was younger)
* But he was fighting to stay alive, so the martial arts skills were a welcome bonus
* And also, like,,,, desensitization is a thing. And after a certain point you’d probably just be killing to stay alive
* Nerd
* Loves poetry, reading and writing. Sometimes reads aloud at public meets
Sanga/Ashivon
* This gets its own section because it has evolved into a whole thing with sort of merged points about both of them. My thoughts on them as a couple are as follows:
* Divinity may not be oppressive to sexual minorities, but they still have Opinions about chastity and “sinful thoughts”
* So Sanga is Deeply Repressed despite having a powerful interest in physical intimacy
* RIP
* Had a brief relationship with a monk, who dropped her like a hot potato the instant they were seen kissing. Coward! :)
* This only becomes a problem once they’ve properly escaped and had time to relax, when she actually starts to be like “oh no...he’s hot”
* Ash has never had these feelings strongly before, between trauma and more trauma
* But he was also never specifically discouraged from them, so weirdly he has less stigma towards them than Sanga
* She is and has been his only source of physical affection, though he’s gradually branching out
* Just sort of gently exploratory!
* In short, for Ash, it’s a natural build of romantic feelings and physical attraction, but for Sanga it’s just a lot of “unwanted”, panicky feelings building up behind a dam
* Lots of drama and turmoil to work out //finger guns
Ahnmivah
* 20s/m
* (Late 20s, early 30s? Little older than the duo)
* A bit of a scoundrel
* Pansexual
* Either the renegade first son or neglected youngest son of a rich family
* Disowned after some kind of scandal, sent to work on a trading ship
* Resented it at first and then acquired some kind of parent figure
* Became the lovable rogue we know and love!
* With commitment issues
* Has had quite a few partners, both voa and human, but hasn’t stuck with any of them. May have self-esteem issues??
* Only returns home very rarely, avoids his family like the plague.
* Meeting Ash and Sanga:
* 1. Hot human? Come see me fight I’m very strong and sexy
* 2. Hot human has hot voa friend. I see no downside
* 3. Haha you guys have never tried any of these fun activities? Did you grow up under a rock?
* 4. Oh. Oh god I’m sorry.
* 5. These guys are super traumatized let’s put the seducing plan on hold
Tselah
* Like 9, I guess/x
* Named by their parents, of course
* Rescued before they could undergo the same compounded traumas as Ash, so that’s cool
* Never branded
* Actually has purple eyes, I just haven’t changed any of the ref
Charlah
* 30s/m
* Tselah’s dad! The skinny one
* Trans
Ashivrahari
* 30s/m
* Tselah’s other dad! The one with the cow horns
* He and Charlah were COMPETITIVE DANCING RIVALS but their rivalry eventually blossomed into love and then marriage and a baby! They still dance but usually together
Carnius
* 40s/m
* It’s that unpleasant guy who beat up Ash and just generally looked mad the whole time
* Has a tattoo that corresponds with Ash’s Executioner brand, allowing him to control Ash’s body like a puppet--used when the executioner is tired or reluctant to kill someone
* Probably has a grudge on Ash still and has been hunting him down
* Intense, obsessive, driven. Wants to experiment with magic but also knows Divinity frowns on it.
* Anger issues. I feel like this goes without saying but, eh
Ameqa
* 50s/f
* Loves Davi
* More emotionally expressive than Davi, less likely to freeze up in a pinch
* Tracker, hunter, horseback rider
* Wears a niqab
Davi
* 50s/f
* Loves Ameqa
* Generally has a laid-back-but-tough vibe, but is actually the more anxious of the two
* Sets up camp, cooks, handles business + haggling
Sister of Death
* ??/f
* She kills demons! It JUST BARELY doesn’t count as murder in the eyes of the church.
* Also, fun fact: dressed specifically to resemble Voa coloration
* The job is definitely not randomly assigned--they probably train one person per generation and take it very seriously.
* (They only have one job to do, and it only requires one person)
* In the meantime, they might be Divinity's inquisitor? In charge of torture/interrogation?
The Old Executioner
* 60s/m
* Died in the line of duty, killed by someone he was fighting
* Had totally given up by the end
* He and Ashivon may have seen each other once or twice, but it’s doubtful they interacted
* (Even if Ashivon tried, his predecessor likely wouldn’t have responded)
World
General Fun Facts
* Probably has just one sun, because I do not want to deal with alternatives. Two moons would be fun, though.
* I think this particular story happens on a pretty small continent, relatively-speaking.
Animals
* :U Still trying to figure out exactly how fantastical this world is. On the one hand: fantasy critters are fun to think of. On the other: it’s stressful to populate an entire world’s worth of animals. On the third: mix of our-world animals and fantastical ones?
* There are sheep!
* Davi and Ameqa have a shaggy donkey thing
* DRAGONS. How big are they? Can they actually talk?! More on this later.[a]
* Considering changing the dragon design, I didn’t realize it was already a prevalent thing and I don’t want to gank something from another culture without doing my research. So we’ll see!
Magic
* Where does it come from?
* It’s an atmospheric presence that can be channeled through humans or objects by means of specific markings placed on them
* A specific kind of ink is required for magical tattoos
* The markings “filter” the generic, ubiquitous magic into one particular “color” on its spectrum, kind of like white light separating into a rainbow. “Divine” magic (physical magic) comes in a range from red (harm) to orange (control) to yellow (healing).
* Magic Marks
* Magic signs appear in nature, in places where particular hues of magic are strong
* Idk if that means leylines or a special grove of trees, or what, but I t