Why did we do it?
Of course we were aware how strange it sounded, how unpleasant it might be...
Of course we were aware how strange it sounded, how unpleasant it might be...
The Gardens of Enoch: Terrascape Academy
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Prelude
Rihaku
The Internet
Why did we do it?
Of course we were aware how strange it sounded, how unpleasant it might be. But you can't grow up surrounded by stories of magic, seeing it in every movie, reading of it in every book, dreaming about it in every stolen moment: you can't go through that and live a peaceable life afterwards, out on our completely mundane Earth. When the invitation comes - if, by miracle of impossible miracles, it comes - you have to say yes.
There was such a desperate yearning for the magical in us, a need for it to be real, that even an offer like his seemed too good to be true. Have I done regrettable things? Yes, many. But do I regret my decision to attend?
Never. There is no world in which I could have chosen otherwise.
On December 21st, 2016, a man in a black coat stepped off of a cliffside on the New England coast. He appeared in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Waving an arm, he created a perfectly circular temperate island exactly twelve miles in diameter, and then seized control of every visual interface on the Earth's surface. Introducing himself as Atrianome Enoch, he announced that he was conquering the world. That he intended to trample upon the sovereignty of every country, dissolve every national border, overthrow every government, and cast aside all existing systems of law to unify humankind under a single ruler. And to this end, he was establishing the Terrascape Academy of Magical Endeavor, where he would teach others to harness powers like his, and give them the opportunity to become instruments of world domination. All humans between the ages of 17 and 20 were encouraged to apply. Classes would begin on the first of the year and, to celebrate the birth of this institution, he would do humanity a favor and rid them of their capacity to destroy themselves.
Satellite confirmation of the new island was instantaneous, and reports flooded in to governments and news stations. Unplugged televisions and cell phones with their batteries removed, gps devices and air-gapped computer systems, cardboard facsimiles and half-built prototypes: on that day, every screen had come to life for the sole purpose of transmitting Enoch's message. He had spoken, simultaneously, in every human language, including dialects so obscure they could not have been taught. He appeared on no records, had no history or documentation.
Thirty minutes after his announcement, nuclear weapons began to disappear from silos the world over. Even those under continuous observation simply winked out, as if clipped from reality.
Pandemonium reigned, for a time. There were those who declared a grand conspiracy, others who questioned the very nature of reality. World leaders met, agreed that this was a very serious threat, and were subsequently paralyzed by mutual indecision. Some countries carried out independent attacks against the island or Enoch's person; those were ruthlessly dealt with, men and materials simply evaporating upon approach. The consensus was that Enoch likely possessed more than enough power to conquer the world by force. Many theories were floated as to why he had instead decided to conquer the world by teaching others how to use his abilities. General sentiment was that he was simply insane, and humankind was lucky to have been held hostage by a relatively benevolent madman. The world was thoroughly confused, and the world survived.
On the first of the year, Enoch's first class of 1000, sifted from millions of applicants, sailed to the Terrascape. A translucent sphere formed around the island, interdicting most forms of communication. Months passed, and while certain researchers in the fields of synthetic biology and artificial intelligence suffered a rapid loss of interest in their work, nothing terribly alarming emerged from Enoch's corner of the world.
Then the attacks began. Striking sometimes at logistical chokepoints, other times at historical monuments or military bases, Enoch would appear with one or a number of students and simply stand back as they destroyed. The students' magics were crude, and they were far from invincible. Some were careful to spare human lives, remaining non-lethal even in self defense. Others were berserkers, slaughtering everyone in their path. Most fell somewhere along the spectrum. Some answered questions about their purpose or training, though the answers they gave were vague.
Enoch would do nothing but observe passively, even if every student he brought died.
There were renewed calls for action. More questions, more speculation, politicians routed from office, governments toppled by revolution. Nuclear enrichment began apace, and was not stopped by magic. Direct operations against the island were again attempted, though all ended in failure.
None of it made a difference. The attacks came, one every two or so months, though they never did enough damage to be physically relevant on a regional, much less strategic, scale. This, too, people grew acclimated to, even as Enoch's students learned, even as Attacks grew slowly but surely in scope and intensity...
It has been five years since the first appearance of Atrianome Enoch. Last year, the first graduating class of thirty was released in the world, apparently free of any obligations to their teacher. The families of their nine hundred and seventy fallen counterparts were merely another chorus of the impotent.
Some graduates established personal fiefdoms, some retreated into isolation, some ran for office and some were wanted men. Some still had names, others only titles: the Interchangeable Man, whose snap-on organs could be summoned from his extradimensional pocket in seemingly endless supply; the Dhampir, whose mostly-successful attempt at embodying romantic vampirism earned him a cult of fanatically devoted followers; the Trifex, who moonlights as a superhero aside her moderately successful voice-acting career.
Some even fought in Attacks, aiding or opposing their former underclassmen. A few killed each other, or were slain by the world's militaries at a hideous cost in lives. One blasted off into space, setting course for Mars. None answered questions about their time in the Terrascape, at least not in useful detail.
Nearly all became celebrities, willingly or not, because they were people who mattered - perhaps the only people who mattered, in the evolving calculus of the post-Enochian epoch.
---
The Terrascape Academy of Magical Endeavor offers instruction in three realms of magic:
Ordinalism - The study of the Ordinal Spiral, a series of spells whose provenance is known to Enoch and, apparently, no one else. The brochure claims that its component spells are famous for their speed, convenience, balance of effects, clear efficiency and (relative) ease of execution. Ordinalism can be taught to most any sentient mind, and for this reason it is the primary active casting art practiced in the Terrascape. Advanced usage of the Second Form of the 7th Ordinal, Teleport/Terrascape, created the Academy itself. Trifex's highly developed First Form of the 6th Ordinal, Lance/Legion, allowed her to puncture and ventilate the Yellowstone Caldera when Ruinmaker threatened the Western Hemisphere with its eruption.
Vitalism - The art of replacing one's organs with artifacts of persistent power, and of cultivating the full potential of those artifacts. It is the primary source of magical "healing" and passive augmentation. Tao Sheng's heart of graven jade gives him near limitless vigor, while his lungs of blue calcite allow him to walk the winds. The Golem's eye of smoked glass, inscribed with Kabbalah-rendered scripture, makes him inexorable in the pursuit of his goals. The Nettlespine stalks campus, wearing the form of an ordinary student, its eviscerating carapace hidden until it decides to dispense cruel justice against a murderer or dissident.
Conjoining - Alongside (or perhaps preceding) Enoch's arrival were the appearance of beings humanity has termed "Spirits." Extremely rare, they have been sighted by less than 1 in 100,000 people, but conclusive evidence of their existence was established less than six months after Enoch's arrival. They are wholly nonphysical, and may have been dismissed as a persistent form of mutual hallucination were it not for the existence of Conjoiners. Spirits are incomplete minds and find many basic tasks nearly impossible. Very rarely, for their own inscrutable purposes, and often with the help of numerous differently-incomplete peers, they will approach an individual and request to merge. If the human accepts, they will forever share a part of their mind with the Spirit, as it makes use of the human's faculties of volition, agency, perception and decision-making to further its objectives. The relationship is a symbiotic one, and far less likely to produce psychotically insane Conjoiners than one would think. Still, the Approached are rarely typical humans, and the imperatives of a Spirit are often wholly alien (though rarely antithetical) to human values. In exchange for their headspace, and the risk of losing their identity to Coalescence, Conjoiners gain access to an effect whose power scales with the strength of their relationship to their Spirit. These effects are typically easy to use, fairly impressive, and can break the rules of Ordinal and Vitalist magic.
Enoch does not have a Conjoined Spirit.
The Academy also offers instruction in matters of strategy and combat relevant to a world-conquering officer corps, though Enoch does not appear to use these principles in his target selection for Attacks.
Through luck, cunning, skill or circumstance our hero has secured an invitation to the Terrascape, one of only a thousand a year. They will be part of the fifth class to enter, but only the second to possess a full complement of upperclassmen. Few details are known about the Terrascape's interior, though the ninety-seven percent attrition rate of the first class may be cause for apprehension. Still, it is a time for excitement and wonder (if, perhaps, tempered with dread). What is the nature of our character?
[ ] Conjoiner - Though the Academy has some means of producing Conjoiners, you number among the one-in-a-billion few who became a Conjoiner independently. Your powers are likely substantial, and will be a great help to your survival, especially in the crucial initial months of your instruction. However, you are likely more than a bit unhinged. During character creation, players may have input on either the general personality of your Spirit, or the power(s) it grants, but not both. Either is subject to GM veto.
-[ ] Input on powers
-[ ] Input on personality
[ ] Iron Spire - Some call them a cult. They claim to be a secular organization focused on preparing individuals for the modern world. The Iron Spire aggressively and invasively monitors and manages every aspect of its children's lives. They continuously iterate upon collated data to develop ever-more-efficient plans for their children's development. Their exceptional success in procuring Academy Invitations (ten this year!) has extended their reach enormously in recent years. Some claim they had foreknowledge of Enoch's plans. As a child of the Spire, your diet, physical training, socialization, and education have been rigorously optimized from birth. Unless you are a Mask, you are absolutely no fun at parties. In exchange, you are in the peak of physical fitness, highly competent in numerous forms of physical combat, extremely well-educated, and possess an unbelievable stomach for tedium. You may be world-class in one field of specialization.
-[ ] You are a Mask, a Spire trained for social interaction on top of standard Social Resistance Programming. Conditioned to be subservient to the superior Dragons, you are a tool that exists to facilitate communication and fellow-feeling between the masses and the Dragons. You're tons of fun at parties! Your physical capabilities and subject knowledge lag that of the Dragons, though you are still well within the top 1% of humanity.
-[ ] You are a Dragon, a fully graduated product of the Spire training program. You possess a world-class intellect sharpened by an educational regime grueling enough to drive a significant fraction of its populace insane. You are one of the most effective human beings on the planet. In addition, you are a master martial artist, marksman, and strategist. It is likely you will suffer a psychological break of some kind in the future.
[ ] Infiltrator - Each year, Enoch permits exactly two infiltrators from the Joint Resistance Task Force into Terrascape, under the guise of normal students. Though data from previous infiltrators is extremely incomplete and contradictory, at least two are still alive today. The governments of the world have not been completely powerless in the face of the Terrascape, and their stolen magical knowledge is being taught to recruits across the world. Though young, you possess a moderate degree of intelligence agency training and know some Ordinal magic. Both are likely to contribute enormously to your survival.
[ ] Nobody - You're not really sure why you got accepted, but you can't just say no! You're pretty much just an ordinary human, maybe above-average in some areas, below-average in others. You have no magic or combat skills that will help you survive what comes. Good luck.
Of course we were aware how strange it sounded, how unpleasant it might be. But you can't grow up surrounded by stories of magic, seeing it in every movie, reading of it in every book, dreaming about it in every stolen moment: you can't go through that and live a peaceable life afterwards, out on our completely mundane Earth. When the invitation comes - if, by miracle of impossible miracles, it comes - you have to say yes.
There was such a desperate yearning for the magical in us, a need for it to be real, that even an offer like his seemed too good to be true. Have I done regrettable things? Yes, many. But do I regret my decision to attend?
Never. There is no world in which I could have chosen otherwise.
Prelude
On December 21st, 2016, a man in a black coat stepped off of a cliffside on the New England coast. He appeared in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Waving an arm, he created a perfectly circular temperate island exactly twelve miles in diameter, and then seized control of every visual interface on the Earth's surface. Introducing himself as Atrianome Enoch, he announced that he was conquering the world. That he intended to trample upon the sovereignty of every country, dissolve every national border, overthrow every government, and cast aside all existing systems of law to unify humankind under a single ruler. And to this end, he was establishing the Terrascape Academy of Magical Endeavor, where he would teach others to harness powers like his, and give them the opportunity to become instruments of world domination. All humans between the ages of 17 and 20 were encouraged to apply. Classes would begin on the first of the year and, to celebrate the birth of this institution, he would do humanity a favor and rid them of their capacity to destroy themselves.
Satellite confirmation of the new island was instantaneous, and reports flooded in to governments and news stations. Unplugged televisions and cell phones with their batteries removed, gps devices and air-gapped computer systems, cardboard facsimiles and half-built prototypes: on that day, every screen had come to life for the sole purpose of transmitting Enoch's message. He had spoken, simultaneously, in every human language, including dialects so obscure they could not have been taught. He appeared on no records, had no history or documentation.
Thirty minutes after his announcement, nuclear weapons began to disappear from silos the world over. Even those under continuous observation simply winked out, as if clipped from reality.
Pandemonium reigned, for a time. There were those who declared a grand conspiracy, others who questioned the very nature of reality. World leaders met, agreed that this was a very serious threat, and were subsequently paralyzed by mutual indecision. Some countries carried out independent attacks against the island or Enoch's person; those were ruthlessly dealt with, men and materials simply evaporating upon approach. The consensus was that Enoch likely possessed more than enough power to conquer the world by force. Many theories were floated as to why he had instead decided to conquer the world by teaching others how to use his abilities. General sentiment was that he was simply insane, and humankind was lucky to have been held hostage by a relatively benevolent madman. The world was thoroughly confused, and the world survived.
On the first of the year, Enoch's first class of 1000, sifted from millions of applicants, sailed to the Terrascape. A translucent sphere formed around the island, interdicting most forms of communication. Months passed, and while certain researchers in the fields of synthetic biology and artificial intelligence suffered a rapid loss of interest in their work, nothing terribly alarming emerged from Enoch's corner of the world.
Then the attacks began. Striking sometimes at logistical chokepoints, other times at historical monuments or military bases, Enoch would appear with one or a number of students and simply stand back as they destroyed. The students' magics were crude, and they were far from invincible. Some were careful to spare human lives, remaining non-lethal even in self defense. Others were berserkers, slaughtering everyone in their path. Most fell somewhere along the spectrum. Some answered questions about their purpose or training, though the answers they gave were vague.
Enoch would do nothing but observe passively, even if every student he brought died.
There were renewed calls for action. More questions, more speculation, politicians routed from office, governments toppled by revolution. Nuclear enrichment began apace, and was not stopped by magic. Direct operations against the island were again attempted, though all ended in failure.
None of it made a difference. The attacks came, one every two or so months, though they never did enough damage to be physically relevant on a regional, much less strategic, scale. This, too, people grew acclimated to, even as Enoch's students learned, even as Attacks grew slowly but surely in scope and intensity...
It has been five years since the first appearance of Atrianome Enoch. Last year, the first graduating class of thirty was released in the world, apparently free of any obligations to their teacher. The families of their nine hundred and seventy fallen counterparts were merely another chorus of the impotent.
Some graduates established personal fiefdoms, some retreated into isolation, some ran for office and some were wanted men. Some still had names, others only titles: the Interchangeable Man, whose snap-on organs could be summoned from his extradimensional pocket in seemingly endless supply; the Dhampir, whose mostly-successful attempt at embodying romantic vampirism earned him a cult of fanatically devoted followers; the Trifex, who moonlights as a superhero aside her moderately successful voice-acting career.
Some even fought in Attacks, aiding or opposing their former underclassmen. A few killed each other, or were slain by the world's militaries at a hideous cost in lives. One blasted off into space, setting course for Mars. None answered questions about their time in the Terrascape, at least not in useful detail.
Nearly all became celebrities, willingly or not, because they were people who mattered - perhaps the only people who mattered, in the evolving calculus of the post-Enochian epoch.
---
The Terrascape Academy of Magical Endeavor offers instruction in three realms of magic:
Ordinalism - The study of the Ordinal Spiral, a series of spells whose provenance is known to Enoch and, apparently, no one else. The brochure claims that its component spells are famous for their speed, convenience, balance of effects, clear efficiency and (relative) ease of execution. Ordinalism can be taught to most any sentient mind, and for this reason it is the primary active casting art practiced in the Terrascape. Advanced usage of the Second Form of the 7th Ordinal, Teleport/Terrascape, created the Academy itself. Trifex's highly developed First Form of the 6th Ordinal, Lance/Legion, allowed her to puncture and ventilate the Yellowstone Caldera when Ruinmaker threatened the Western Hemisphere with its eruption.
Vitalism - The art of replacing one's organs with artifacts of persistent power, and of cultivating the full potential of those artifacts. It is the primary source of magical "healing" and passive augmentation. Tao Sheng's heart of graven jade gives him near limitless vigor, while his lungs of blue calcite allow him to walk the winds. The Golem's eye of smoked glass, inscribed with Kabbalah-rendered scripture, makes him inexorable in the pursuit of his goals. The Nettlespine stalks campus, wearing the form of an ordinary student, its eviscerating carapace hidden until it decides to dispense cruel justice against a murderer or dissident.
Conjoining - Alongside (or perhaps preceding) Enoch's arrival were the appearance of beings humanity has termed "Spirits." Extremely rare, they have been sighted by less than 1 in 100,000 people, but conclusive evidence of their existence was established less than six months after Enoch's arrival. They are wholly nonphysical, and may have been dismissed as a persistent form of mutual hallucination were it not for the existence of Conjoiners. Spirits are incomplete minds and find many basic tasks nearly impossible. Very rarely, for their own inscrutable purposes, and often with the help of numerous differently-incomplete peers, they will approach an individual and request to merge. If the human accepts, they will forever share a part of their mind with the Spirit, as it makes use of the human's faculties of volition, agency, perception and decision-making to further its objectives. The relationship is a symbiotic one, and far less likely to produce psychotically insane Conjoiners than one would think. Still, the Approached are rarely typical humans, and the imperatives of a Spirit are often wholly alien (though rarely antithetical) to human values. In exchange for their headspace, and the risk of losing their identity to Coalescence, Conjoiners gain access to an effect whose power scales with the strength of their relationship to their Spirit. These effects are typically easy to use, fairly impressive, and can break the rules of Ordinal and Vitalist magic.
Enoch does not have a Conjoined Spirit.
The Academy also offers instruction in matters of strategy and combat relevant to a world-conquering officer corps, though Enoch does not appear to use these principles in his target selection for Attacks.
Through luck, cunning, skill or circumstance our hero has secured an invitation to the Terrascape, one of only a thousand a year. They will be part of the fifth class to enter, but only the second to possess a full complement of upperclassmen. Few details are known about the Terrascape's interior, though the ninety-seven percent attrition rate of the first class may be cause for apprehension. Still, it is a time for excitement and wonder (if, perhaps, tempered with dread). What is the nature of our character?
[ ] Conjoiner - Though the Academy has some means of producing Conjoiners, you number among the one-in-a-billion few who became a Conjoiner independently. Your powers are likely substantial, and will be a great help to your survival, especially in the crucial initial months of your instruction. However, you are likely more than a bit unhinged. During character creation, players may have input on either the general personality of your Spirit, or the power(s) it grants, but not both. Either is subject to GM veto.
-[ ] Input on powers
-[ ] Input on personality
[ ] Iron Spire - Some call them a cult. They claim to be a secular organization focused on preparing individuals for the modern world. The Iron Spire aggressively and invasively monitors and manages every aspect of its children's lives. They continuously iterate upon collated data to develop ever-more-efficient plans for their children's development. Their exceptional success in procuring Academy Invitations (ten this year!) has extended their reach enormously in recent years. Some claim they had foreknowledge of Enoch's plans. As a child of the Spire, your diet, physical training, socialization, and education have been rigorously optimized from birth. Unless you are a Mask, you are absolutely no fun at parties. In exchange, you are in the peak of physical fitness, highly competent in numerous forms of physical combat, extremely well-educated, and possess an unbelievable stomach for tedium. You may be world-class in one field of specialization.
-[ ] You are a Mask, a Spire trained for social interaction on top of standard Social Resistance Programming. Conditioned to be subservient to the superior Dragons, you are a tool that exists to facilitate communication and fellow-feeling between the masses and the Dragons. You're tons of fun at parties! Your physical capabilities and subject knowledge lag that of the Dragons, though you are still well within the top 1% of humanity.
-[ ] You are a Dragon, a fully graduated product of the Spire training program. You possess a world-class intellect sharpened by an educational regime grueling enough to drive a significant fraction of its populace insane. You are one of the most effective human beings on the planet. In addition, you are a master martial artist, marksman, and strategist. It is likely you will suffer a psychological break of some kind in the future.
[ ] Infiltrator - Each year, Enoch permits exactly two infiltrators from the Joint Resistance Task Force into Terrascape, under the guise of normal students. Though data from previous infiltrators is extremely incomplete and contradictory, at least two are still alive today. The governments of the world have not been completely powerless in the face of the Terrascape, and their stolen magical knowledge is being taught to recruits across the world. Though young, you possess a moderate degree of intelligence agency training and know some Ordinal magic. Both are likely to contribute enormously to your survival.
[ ] Nobody - You're not really sure why you got accepted, but you can't just say no! You're pretty much just an ordinary human, maybe above-average in some areas, below-average in others. You have no magic or combat skills that will help you survive what comes. Good luck.
Last edited:
Rihaku
The Internet
The Rules
1. This is quest, where players vote on the actions of one character. Though the number of votes supporting an action is important, equally important are the arguments behind those votes. It is possible for a less popular plan to win, especially if the vote is close and it is well-argued for.
2. Stay civil in your discussions; be excellent to each other.
3. You can earn additional XP through omakes, reactions, analysis posts - any content that takes substantive effort. Typical rates are 1 XP per 500 words (rounded sensibly, as long as you guys don't abuse the system), with a quality multiplier of between .5 and 5x. A picture is worth a thousand words and can qualify for higher quality multipliers, often much higher.
4. The story-only thread is here.
5. Typically, the results of last update's vote will be posted at the bottom of the next update. It is, however, frequently obvious which vote won by the update itself.
1. This is quest, where players vote on the actions of one character. Though the number of votes supporting an action is important, equally important are the arguments behind those votes. It is possible for a less popular plan to win, especially if the vote is close and it is well-argued for.
2. Stay civil in your discussions; be excellent to each other.
3. You can earn additional XP through omakes, reactions, analysis posts - any content that takes substantive effort. Typical rates are 1 XP per 500 words (rounded sensibly, as long as you guys don't abuse the system), with a quality multiplier of between .5 and 5x. A picture is worth a thousand words and can qualify for higher quality multipliers, often much higher.
4. The story-only thread is here.
5. Typically, the results of last update's vote will be posted at the bottom of the next update. It is, however, frequently obvious which vote won by the update itself.
Last edited:
Rihaku
The Internet
Character Sheet - Spoilers! Do not read if you don't want to be possibly spoiled.
Arthur Drake
Age: 20
Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Blue
Build: Bookish, on the tough side of scrawny, except for right arm
Attributes
Mind 4 - Your combined knowledge and natural intellect allow you to rank among the top 1% of human minds.
Body 2.5 - Your human body has above-average endurance, but somewhat below-average strength and agility
Will 2.5 - You have the willpower of an average person. You can be diligent, sometimes.
Traits
Skill: Academic Knowledge [Capable] [Tier 2] - You're very well-studied. You could probably be a teacher.
Skill: Socialize [Proficient] [Tier 1] - You have the social ability of an average adult human.
Procrastinator - You suffer a two-rank penalty to WILL when attempting to do serious work, such as studying or training. Some forms of enjoyable work may not suffer from Procrastinator, but don't get your hopes up.
-- Ordinalism --
You have currently accessed 8 Ordinals.
1 - Shield & Seeker
2 - Conjure
3 - Elements (Earth)
4 - Elements (Fire)
5 - Elements (Water)
6 - Elemental Reduction I (Earth', Fire')
7 - Elemental Reduction II (Earth'')
8 - Elements (Fire'')
Attainments: Slot Filled due to Supreme (see below)
Supreme: As yet unassigned
Skill: Elements [Proficient] [Tier 1]
Techniques: Subterranean Movement (Practiced)
=~ Vitalism ~=
You have no knowledge of Vitalism.
{ Conjoining }
Conjoiner - You're a Conjoiner! One of the "lucky" few.
Spirit
[X] The Strategist - The Strategist requests that its hosts place themselves in a position where they can inflict a devastating betrayal on someone who trusts them. The "potential energy" of the knife poised to fall generates power for it. The deeper the host's bond with the victim, the better. The more potential targets, the better. Note that the Strategist does not require the host to actually betray anyone, and seems generally indifferent to the act, though it can be persuaded sometimes to reward treason with power. The Strategist is otherwise fairly quiet, though its rare comments are incisive and penetrating.
Spirit Traits
Firstborn - Your Spirit is mighty. XP increased by 1.5x for Effect Potential calculations
Compatability - XP increased by 1.5x for Effect Potential calculations. Stacks additively, not multiplicatively, with Mighty Spirit.
Anthrocentrism - Your Spirit's personality and knowledge are humanlike, for one of its kind.
Foremost - Your Spirit is exceptionally Skilled.
Reserved - Your Spirit doesn't talk much, or do much of anything, on its own.
Recovering - Your Spirit is recovering from a great ordeal.
Privilege - Your Spirit possesses capabilities that common Spirits lack.
Passive Depth Gain: Variable, depends on available "potential energy," but typically High
Event Depth Gain: Rare, but Insanely High
Power
Effect Potential - 9.374
Your Effect Potential is a measure of your power's overall potential ability - how well it scales, its versatility and generalizability, its performance against other magical and esoteric effects. It is a logarithmic scale that goes from 1 to 10. As a single quantitative measure, it is a metric that very often lacks finesse and precision. It varies from human to human, and from Spirit to Spirit. Effect Potential does not measure your actual power level, merely its potential. Depth is a more accurate metric of the former.
Your Effect Potential is [Outrageously High]. You could become one of the mightiest Conjoiners the world has ever seen.
[X] Right Hand of God - As a secondary power, your hand may be unleashed to fight on its own with superhuman skill. Its blood is a valuable Vitalism reagent. Its presence renders you immune to divination and mental influence.
Your primary power is the ability to Swear Fealty to an individual in exchange for a host of benefits. You sense that this power is still evolving, and that its subordinate nature may be changed, though you are unsure how.
Requirements for Fealty
*You must have a significant amount of unspent Depth to permanently invest in the relationship.
*The individual must agree to accept your service.
*The individual must be your technical superior in a hierarchical relationship. Mentor and student, King and noble, Counsul and praetor, etc.
*To maintain Fealty, you must interact with the individual in the context of that relationship on a semi-regular basis (at least one meeting every few days), though you are under no especial obligation to follow their instructions.
*Fealty will be broken if the individual dies or if they exert an effort of will to break the agreement, with your consent. If you do not consent, they will lose the benefits of Fealty and you will not, though they do not know this and may believe otherwise.
Benefits of Fealty
*Your Mentor's raw magical power is increased as long as your relationship remains amicable. This begins as a ~1% bonus and increases to 10% over the course of a few months, to a maximum of 20% for a years-long relationship.
*Your learning speed improves by 20% for skills your Mentor knows, or logical extensions thereof. For example, if the Kintsugi Man is your Mentor, you would receive this bonus while researching how to repair your wounds with silver rather than gold.
*You receive a power that is either complementary to your Mentor's abilities, or metaphorically associated with them in some way.
*You receive a power that could be used to counter some portion of your Mentor's abilities, or is metaphorically opposed to them in some way.
*For powerful Mentors, these powers are typically very versatile or very strong. Depth may allow them to surpass your Mentor's abilities.
*As Depth increases, you may receive additional powers with different thematic parameters, or expand on existing powers.
*All Benefits last only for the duration of Fealty.
Sworn Powers
Times Fealty Sworn: 2
Depth Locked to Fealties: 150
[X] Supreme - You may convert Depth to XP for Ordinal access only at a 1:1 rate, up to the 11th Ordinal. You do not benefit from Mentor bonuses, but may benefit from Ordinal Purity if you possess it. You may use both the Seeker and Shield Forms of the First Ordinal. This is the only recorded power to ever grant access to two Forms of an Ordinal. This fills your first Attainment Slot. Initially, you may not possess higher than the 7th Ordinal.
Points of Depth invested into this power that are not converted into XP will grant half-tiers of advancement for Ordinal Skills:
500 - Distribute 1 Half-tier
2000 - +1 Half-tier, stackable
8000 - +1 Half-tier, stackable
32000 - +1 Half-tier, stackable
x4
These bonuses can take a Skill above Archmastery and do not increase the practice or XP requirements of a Skill; ie they are applied after all other modifiers. However, they are fixed and cannot be altered once placed.
You still need to learn Ordinal Multicasting manually, but note that the First Ordinal can be combined with other Forms without Multicasting.
[X] Chrysopoeia - You have Chrysopoeia. Benchmarks here. You are treated as if having ingested Azoth units equal to your Depth Invested in this ability. Strength and stamina bonuses stack additively with the properties of your arm. Interaction with Vitalism unknown, but likely interesting.
Your access to this ability disturbs the Strategist intensely.
Right Arm Traits
[The Strangler] - You have made an attempt at cutting off a person's airflow. Understanding this intent, your arm has developed far more efficient techniques of strangulation, should you release it to act.
[Prowess] - You are able to raise the Fighting skill of your Arm while it operates autonomously. It is much more skilled than even masters of combat among humans.
Current Techniques Known: None
[Alacrity] - Attacks are x1.5 faster.
[Gambling Mastery] - Your arm has [Grandmastery] of various gambling techniques - fixing dice rolls, coin flips, card tricks and the like.
---
Unspent Depth - 2000
Current Depth Invested in Prowess: 0
Depth converted to XP via Supreme - 6350 (8 Ordinals)
Depth committed to Supreme Bonus - 2500 (+1 Tier)
Depth committed to Chrysopoeia - 18610 (Rank 11)
In-Depth Relationships
Imperia - Arthur is her Loyal Servant
"Alice" - "Friend"
Terrascape Student Body - Notable reputation
Arthur Drake
Age: 20
Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Blue
Build: Bookish, on the tough side of scrawny, except for right arm
Attributes
Mind 4 - Your combined knowledge and natural intellect allow you to rank among the top 1% of human minds.
Body 2.5 - Your human body has above-average endurance, but somewhat below-average strength and agility
Will 2.5 - You have the willpower of an average person. You can be diligent, sometimes.
Traits
Skill: Academic Knowledge [Capable] [Tier 2] - You're very well-studied. You could probably be a teacher.
Skill: Socialize [Proficient] [Tier 1] - You have the social ability of an average adult human.
Procrastinator - You suffer a two-rank penalty to WILL when attempting to do serious work, such as studying or training. Some forms of enjoyable work may not suffer from Procrastinator, but don't get your hopes up.
-- Ordinalism --
You have currently accessed 8 Ordinals.
1 - Shield & Seeker
2 - Conjure
3 - Elements (Earth)
4 - Elements (Fire)
5 - Elements (Water)
6 - Elemental Reduction I (Earth', Fire')
7 - Elemental Reduction II (Earth'')
8 - Elements (Fire'')
Attainments: Slot Filled due to Supreme (see below)
Supreme: As yet unassigned
Skill: Elements [Proficient] [Tier 1]
Techniques: Subterranean Movement (Practiced)
=~ Vitalism ~=
You have no knowledge of Vitalism.
{ Conjoining }
Conjoiner - You're a Conjoiner! One of the "lucky" few.
Spirit
[X] The Strategist - The Strategist requests that its hosts place themselves in a position where they can inflict a devastating betrayal on someone who trusts them. The "potential energy" of the knife poised to fall generates power for it. The deeper the host's bond with the victim, the better. The more potential targets, the better. Note that the Strategist does not require the host to actually betray anyone, and seems generally indifferent to the act, though it can be persuaded sometimes to reward treason with power. The Strategist is otherwise fairly quiet, though its rare comments are incisive and penetrating.
Spirit Traits
Firstborn - Your Spirit is mighty. XP increased by 1.5x for Effect Potential calculations
Compatability - XP increased by 1.5x for Effect Potential calculations. Stacks additively, not multiplicatively, with Mighty Spirit.
Anthrocentrism - Your Spirit's personality and knowledge are humanlike, for one of its kind.
Foremost - Your Spirit is exceptionally Skilled.
Reserved - Your Spirit doesn't talk much, or do much of anything, on its own.
Recovering - Your Spirit is recovering from a great ordeal.
Privilege - Your Spirit possesses capabilities that common Spirits lack.
Passive Depth Gain: Variable, depends on available "potential energy," but typically High
Event Depth Gain: Rare, but Insanely High
Power
Effect Potential - 9.374
Your Effect Potential is a measure of your power's overall potential ability - how well it scales, its versatility and generalizability, its performance against other magical and esoteric effects. It is a logarithmic scale that goes from 1 to 10. As a single quantitative measure, it is a metric that very often lacks finesse and precision. It varies from human to human, and from Spirit to Spirit. Effect Potential does not measure your actual power level, merely its potential. Depth is a more accurate metric of the former.
Your Effect Potential is [Outrageously High]. You could become one of the mightiest Conjoiners the world has ever seen.
[X] Right Hand of God - As a secondary power, your hand may be unleashed to fight on its own with superhuman skill. Its blood is a valuable Vitalism reagent. Its presence renders you immune to divination and mental influence.
Your primary power is the ability to Swear Fealty to an individual in exchange for a host of benefits. You sense that this power is still evolving, and that its subordinate nature may be changed, though you are unsure how.
Requirements for Fealty
*You must have a significant amount of unspent Depth to permanently invest in the relationship.
*The individual must agree to accept your service.
*The individual must be your technical superior in a hierarchical relationship. Mentor and student, King and noble, Counsul and praetor, etc.
*To maintain Fealty, you must interact with the individual in the context of that relationship on a semi-regular basis (at least one meeting every few days), though you are under no especial obligation to follow their instructions.
*Fealty will be broken if the individual dies or if they exert an effort of will to break the agreement, with your consent. If you do not consent, they will lose the benefits of Fealty and you will not, though they do not know this and may believe otherwise.
Benefits of Fealty
*Your Mentor's raw magical power is increased as long as your relationship remains amicable. This begins as a ~1% bonus and increases to 10% over the course of a few months, to a maximum of 20% for a years-long relationship.
*Your learning speed improves by 20% for skills your Mentor knows, or logical extensions thereof. For example, if the Kintsugi Man is your Mentor, you would receive this bonus while researching how to repair your wounds with silver rather than gold.
*You receive a power that is either complementary to your Mentor's abilities, or metaphorically associated with them in some way.
*You receive a power that could be used to counter some portion of your Mentor's abilities, or is metaphorically opposed to them in some way.
*For powerful Mentors, these powers are typically very versatile or very strong. Depth may allow them to surpass your Mentor's abilities.
*As Depth increases, you may receive additional powers with different thematic parameters, or expand on existing powers.
*All Benefits last only for the duration of Fealty.
Sworn Powers
Times Fealty Sworn: 2
Depth Locked to Fealties: 150
[X] Supreme - You may convert Depth to XP for Ordinal access only at a 1:1 rate, up to the 11th Ordinal. You do not benefit from Mentor bonuses, but may benefit from Ordinal Purity if you possess it. You may use both the Seeker and Shield Forms of the First Ordinal. This is the only recorded power to ever grant access to two Forms of an Ordinal. This fills your first Attainment Slot. Initially, you may not possess higher than the 7th Ordinal.
Points of Depth invested into this power that are not converted into XP will grant half-tiers of advancement for Ordinal Skills:
500 - Distribute 1 Half-tier
2000 - +1 Half-tier, stackable
8000 - +1 Half-tier, stackable
32000 - +1 Half-tier, stackable
x4
These bonuses can take a Skill above Archmastery and do not increase the practice or XP requirements of a Skill; ie they are applied after all other modifiers. However, they are fixed and cannot be altered once placed.
You still need to learn Ordinal Multicasting manually, but note that the First Ordinal can be combined with other Forms without Multicasting.
[X] Chrysopoeia - You have Chrysopoeia. Benchmarks here. You are treated as if having ingested Azoth units equal to your Depth Invested in this ability. Strength and stamina bonuses stack additively with the properties of your arm. Interaction with Vitalism unknown, but likely interesting.
Your access to this ability disturbs the Strategist intensely.
Right Arm Traits
[The Strangler] - You have made an attempt at cutting off a person's airflow. Understanding this intent, your arm has developed far more efficient techniques of strangulation, should you release it to act.
[Prowess] - You are able to raise the Fighting skill of your Arm while it operates autonomously. It is much more skilled than even masters of combat among humans.
Current Techniques Known: None
[Alacrity] - Attacks are x1.5 faster.
[Gambling Mastery] - Your arm has [Grandmastery] of various gambling techniques - fixing dice rolls, coin flips, card tricks and the like.
---
Unspent Depth - 2000
Current Depth Invested in Prowess: 0
Depth converted to XP via Supreme - 6350 (8 Ordinals)
Depth committed to Supreme Bonus - 2500 (+1 Tier)
Depth committed to Chrysopoeia - 18610 (Rank 11)
In-Depth Relationships
Imperia - Arthur is her Loyal Servant
"Alice" - "Friend"
Terrascape Student Body - Notable reputation
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Lealope
Not yet invincible
- Pronouns
- She/Her
[X] Nobody - You're not really sure why you got accepted, but you can't just say no! You're pretty much just an ordinary human, maybe above-average in some areas, below-average in others. You have no magic or combat skills that will help you survive what comes. Good luck.
[X] Iron Spire - Some call them a cult. They claim to be a secular organization focused on preparing individuals for the modern world. The Iron Spire aggressively and invasively monitors and manages every aspect of its children's lives. They continuously iterate upon collated data to develop ever-more-efficient plans for their children's development. Their exceptional success in procuring Academy Invitations (ten this year!) has extended their reach enormously in recent years. Some claim they had foreknowledge of Enoch's plans. As a child of the Spire, your diet, physical training, socialization, and education have been rigorously optimized from birth. Unless you are a Mask, you are absolutely no fun at parties. In exchange, you are in the peak of physical fitness, highly competent in numerous forms of physical combat, extremely well-educated, and possess an unbelievable stomach for tedium. You may be world-class in one field of specialization.
-[X] You are a Dragon, a fully graduated product of the Spire training program. You possess a world-class intellect sharpened by an educational regime grueling enough to drive a significant fraction of its populace insane. You are one of the most effective human beings on the planet. In addition, you are a master martial artist, marksman, and strategist. It is likely you will suffer a psychological break of some kind in the future.
Going with this at first. Could be persuaded to switch to Conjoiner or Nobody.
-[X] You are a Dragon, a fully graduated product of the Spire training program. You possess a world-class intellect sharpened by an educational regime grueling enough to drive a significant fraction of its populace insane. You are one of the most effective human beings on the planet. In addition, you are a master martial artist, marksman, and strategist. It is likely you will suffer a psychological break of some kind in the future.
Going with this at first. Could be persuaded to switch to Conjoiner or Nobody.
[X] Conjoiner - Though the Academy has some means of producing Conjoiners, you number among the one-in-a-billion few who became a Conjoiner independently. Your powers are likely substantial, and will be a great help to your survival, especially in the crucial initial months of your instruction. However, you are likely more than a bit unhinged. During character creation, players may have input on either the general personality of your Spirit, or the power(s) it grants, but not both. Either is subject to GM veto.
-[X] Input on personality
-[X] Input on personality
[X] Nobody - You're not really sure why you got accepted, but you can't just say no! You're pretty much just an ordinary human, maybe above-average in some areas, below-average in others. You have no magic or combat skills that will help you survive what comes. Good luck.
Da Boyz
The Cutest Apocalypse.
[X] Nobody - You're not really sure why you got accepted, but you can't just say no! You're pretty much just an ordinary human, maybe above-average in some areas, below-average in others. You have no magic or combat skills that will help you survive what comes. Good luck.
Insane mode activated.
Insane mode activated.
-[ ] Input on personality: The Spirit's name filtered through the bond eventually: The Lord of Thorns. Well, it was more the impression of a king sitting on a throne transposed against a briar patch, but the Lord of Thorns was the translation you decided on. The spirit delights in suffering, in pain. It believes that suffering is the only true road to improvement, that those who suffer and endure are the stronger for it, and that those who suffer and perish make the world as a whole better in their passing. For a spirit so focused on suffering, The Lord of Thorns feels old and wise, almost paternal in its distant affection for all the world. It views itself as a teacher and the world is its classroom.
Am I doing it right?
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Lealope
Not yet invincible
- Pronouns
- She/Her
When two of the other options are insane and the third will probably get killed, why would we not?
Rihaku
The Internet
You don't need to be that detailed, though you can if you like. Most Spirits have much weirder priorities than human pain, but it's certainly within the realm of possibility. They're closer to Lovecraftian in terms of how alien they are, though aesthetically and ethically (?) they're much nicer.
Relatively speaking.
Thought about dragon, but meh, been down that road before. Could be tempted if the break would happen very soon though.
[X] Conjoiner
-[X] The spirit is very insistent that a structure eventually be raised to reach out of the earth's atmosphere. It is flexible on the specifics of the structure and the time-frame it is to be established in, but expects some form of progress at ill-defined intervals.
[X] Conjoiner
-[X] The spirit is very insistent that a structure eventually be raised to reach out of the earth's atmosphere. It is flexible on the specifics of the structure and the time-frame it is to be established in, but expects some form of progress at ill-defined intervals.
I can not resist red option,Red option is the most ruthless action on the choice.
AZATHOTHoth
༼ つ ☀️_☀️ ༽つ
The red compels me to pick this.
Vote Changed
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Alectai
Speaks Words of Wisdom... On occasion
Seriously though, I don't expect to be terribly active here, these Quests are always so damn exhausting to be an active participant in.
What's worse is that I just plain don't like most of the options, especially with the revelation that Conjoiners are more 'alien abominations' in motivations and desires. Even if they're good at using your brainpower to fake human relations.
What's worse is that I just plain don't like most of the options, especially with the revelation that Conjoiners are more 'alien abominations' in motivations and desires. Even if they're good at using your brainpower to fake human relations.
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That makes Conjoiner substantially more appealing.
Rihaku
The Internet
Hey! The infiltrator has no worse odds of survival than any other student. Objectively speaking, their odds are much better!
If you vote to be a Nobody, you can specify what you're above-average at, I guess. I suggest having an above-average Mind in exchange for a below-average Body or Will.
Note: the Nobody is NOT a secret 'Chosen One' or anything. He has literally no outstanding abilities at the time of creation, though there may be ~some stuff you can spend XP on before chargen ends. The other options would get those picks as well, though.
Alectai
Speaks Words of Wisdom... On occasion
Anyhow, looking over the choices, essentially, I'm more and more convinced that Enoch is trying to be a kingmaker here, rather than take over the world himself.
The character picks are essentially a slice of various mindsets and points of view.
You've got the Conjoiner, who's blessed by fate with powerful arts and the blessing of a mighty spirit--Sorcerer King candidates if you will. You've got the Iron Spire who are essentially the "Groomed for Rule" types of the old feudal era, either the brilliant vizier who must play the political climate and use trickery to advance or the peerless tyrant with all of the training they desire. You have the Infiltrators who represent the modern political climate, and then you have the occasional wildcard picks who bear no blessing or talents, the very Everyman given a chance at power, but inherently inferior to the true "Chosen" of the world.
He takes all of these, and puts them all on a relatively level playing field--and then he steps back and sees if any have the potential to be the ruler of the world. So far, none have met his expectations.
As for the Iron Spire having an advantage, and the whole suggestion that they were given a heads up. They're right, because it would defeat the whole point of testing for feudal warlords if they didn't have the legacies, bloodlines, and dynastic perks that come with the package.
The character picks are essentially a slice of various mindsets and points of view.
You've got the Conjoiner, who's blessed by fate with powerful arts and the blessing of a mighty spirit--Sorcerer King candidates if you will. You've got the Iron Spire who are essentially the "Groomed for Rule" types of the old feudal era, either the brilliant vizier who must play the political climate and use trickery to advance or the peerless tyrant with all of the training they desire. You have the Infiltrators who represent the modern political climate, and then you have the occasional wildcard picks who bear no blessing or talents, the very Everyman given a chance at power, but inherently inferior to the true "Chosen" of the world.
He takes all of these, and puts them all on a relatively level playing field--and then he steps back and sees if any have the potential to be the ruler of the world. So far, none have met his expectations.
As for the Iron Spire having an advantage, and the whole suggestion that they were given a heads up. They're right, because it would defeat the whole point of testing for feudal warlords if they didn't have the legacies, bloodlines, and dynastic perks that come with the package.
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Rihaku
The Internet
Iron Spire is the only class that has much bearing on your personality, and only if you're a Dragon. The others can have basically any personality. You can argue for a specific personality type, and if there's not a lot of pushback it will probably be at least partially accommodated. Also, the demands of the Spirit are not the demands of the Conjoiner, unless you Coalesce (don't do that).
This quest might be real brief...
The psychological break will happen rapidly, and will almost certainly turn your character into an 'unconventional' Dragon. One of the options is similar to the Burnout choice from Control & Law's Adventure.