Even Further Beyond [Complete]

An Age of the World draws to a close. Cataclysm and anarchy ravage its peoples. Bandits and monstrosities prowl the wilderness. The great empires of yore are decaying husks of their former glory, offering little protection at the price of ceaseless exploitation. Oppressed, benighted, savaged by tempest and claw, the masses of the world cry out for a savior.

Their cry is answered. The self-styled Divinities, secret masters of the world, send forth one of their own to be born amongst the people, to live as incarnate flesh and lead them into a new Age. Every genius shall be afforded her. Destiny shall be her perennial ally, circumstance laid prostrate at her feet. She shall tear down the moldering edifices of the past and lay them as kindling for the phoenix-flame to come. From that conflagration shall the Spirit of the World be born anew, the close of an Age and the dawn of its successor.

At all costs, she must be stopped.

---

Balance is the watchword of the Divinities, and the appearance of balance their ultimate law. For one of their number to transgress openly upon the world, a countervailing force must be raised.

Hence your presence, child of Earth. Make no mistake: you are doomed. Though they will grant you raw power the equal of her own, they have tilted the world so thoroughly in her favor that your defeat is all but inevitable. Such is written in the air and the stars, in the seas and the fields, written on the very bones of the earth. Your life is tied now to a dying Age, and should it breathe its last your very existence is forfeit.

Consignment to oblivion is likely the kindest fate in that scenario. It is in your best interests to delay that hour for as long you can.

Willing or not, you are conscripted for this role. Soon you will be confronted with a plethora of choices; balance to your unwitting recruitment, a myriad of ways in which the power of your station can manifest itself. They hope that in your inexperience, you will destroy yourself by choosing foolishly. See now how they operate, always and forever: superficial fairness to mask the stacked deck.

Choose carefully. Choose well. For all of us that have come before.

---

Alright, enough of that!

Sorry about him, kid, the servants can get a bit uppity at times. It's my own fault, I like 'em with a bit of fight. Makes it easier to justify punishments, heh. In case the motormouth didn't explain it clearly for ya, these are the rules:

1) You're in a contest with my sister to determine the fate of the world. You're trying to prop up the old order, she's trying to destroy it. Win, and we'll grant any wish within our power - no grumbling or rules-lawyering, guaranteed. Lose and you're fucked.

2) To make it fair, you'll be granted three Celestial Orbs. Spend 'em below to give yourself a fighting chance. You can take more orbs, but then we have to grant some of her requests as well. Gotta keep things balanced.

3) Once you've spent your orbs, we'll kick you down to the mortal realm. Anything goes over there. The contest won't be finished until the Age ends or her life does.

4) The Age ends once all great empires that defined it have fallen. Should an ambiguous situation pop up, you'll intuitively know which side to support.

Got it? Good!

Oh, a word of advice: try to make a good show of it. No one likes it when the Dark Lord lays down and dies 'for the good of the world.' My sister might appreciate the gesture, but don't expect the rest of us to go easy on you afterwards!

- You have three (3) Celestial Orbs -


[ ] Reincarnation (1 orb) - Now, you unfortunately are not actually the reincarnation of a mythological warrior or legendary wizard, but that can be rectified. We'll induce a temporal schism to split off a fragment of your soul, hurl it back in time, and twist Destiny to ensure you do something notable with your life. An existence full of hardship and tribulation awaits you, all for your benefit in the future! Advantages unspecified, but likely vast.

*Grants roughly 3 orbs worth of benefits over time, the exact nature depending on the activities of your past soul fragment, but no immediate power.
*
Your soul fragment will likely be aggrieved over your treatment of you. May result in conflicts during reintegration.

[ ] Young Master (2 orbs) - No one likes being born a loser. Don't worry, we can fix that.

*Rather than being placed directly into the world, you'll reincarnate in the same manner as your opponent, but with all your memories intact. You'll live a charmed life, guaranteed a position of prosperity and power until you reach your maturity. Your new body will be exceptionally strong, quick of limb and of mind, well-formed and attractive. You will have a natural charisma that makes alliances easy and inspires even your enemies to begrudging respect. You will be able to leverage the contacts and connections of the family you're born into for additional benefits.
*A myriad of advantages at a steep cost, and not just in orbs - you'll lose your temporal head start over your opponent, a serious issue.

Yes, sir. There are three remaining classes of supernatural practice employed in the world today. Each is mutually exclusive with the other two. Choose up to one school, unless you choose Thrice-Great.

[ ] Cultivation (1 orb) - In theory, anyone who has not practiced another form of magic can Cultivate! However, those with the talent to become relevant in battle are far less common. Spending an orb here will ensure a prodigious talent arises within you, the equal or superior of any who live in this age.

*An art that focuses on 'improving' and 'modifying' the self to attain ever-increasing heights of longevity and personal power. There are seven known stages of Cultivation, each vastly greater than the last: Ego Barrier, Organ Refining, Soul Chrysalis, Dao Cleaving, Reality Forming, Grand Solipsism, Titanic Ascension.
*Past the first few stages, Cultivators are far stronger than practitioners of the other arts, and only moderately less versatile.
*Reaching even modest heights requires a massive investment of time, effort, and resources. Only the improbably fortunate or shockingly talented ever advance past the second stage. Competition for cultivation resources is unremitting.

[ ] Diagram Magic (1 orb) - In Ages past, the magi of the Diagram School worked ceaselessly to stamp out all other forms of magic, for each conflicting paradigm saps a magical School's effectiveness. For a time, they were successful. At their hands fell the Dwarves and their Stonecunning, the Orcs and their War-Magic, and all tribes of men that dared arise to oppose them. Their paradigm was ascendent; their power unchallengeable. Among their archmagi were men and women capable of traveling a thousand miles with a gesture, of eradicating whole cities with a word.

Then came the Cultivators. Now the nations of the Diagram are broken, their peoples assimilated, their power shattered. Archmage holdouts remain, hidden underground or in subspace dimensions, reliant on lichdom and superior logistics to harry those who humiliated them so many years ago. They are a bitter and fractious people, arcanists who committed atrocities of terrible scope for ends that turned out to be ultimately frivolous. The paradigm of Diagram magic remains unchallenged to this day, for Cultivation's inward focus shelters it from such interactions. Cold comfort, that.

This option grants you an affinity for Diagram magic and a natural understanding of how to develop it.

*A relatively resource-light school that can be learned with only the proper materials and sufficient intelligence, and mastered in only decades.
*Superb versatility: Teleportation, transmutation, divination, and other such wizardly magics. A great force multiplier if you have a non-magical power source.
*The School is truly adroit at countering other schools of external magic, an advantage that is lamentably useless in the present Age.

[ ] Binary Magic (1 orb) - The Twin Magics of the elves do not follow the strict logic of their human counterparts. Do not expect consistent or replicable results.

Elven Artifice consumes the essence of its practitioners, leading to eventual madness and ruin, but can forge masterworks of world-shaping significance. Elven Naturalism allows one to redefine the nature of one's lands in the mortal realm. It presents numerous applications, defense foremost among them. Nonetheless, the last elven nation is a pale shadow of its former glory, corralled into an increasingly cramped homeland by all manner of foe. Their own fault, really.

*Practitioners of Artifice are poor Naturalists, and vice-versa.
*Neither school yields reliable results, but their grandest effects can be spectacular nonetheless - rivaling the potency of the mightiest Cultivators while surpassing the Diagram Schools in versatility.
*This option grants enough raw ability to begin forging Artifacts immediately, if so desired. Beware the cost of Artifice, and the avarice of your lessers.

[ ] Thrice-Great (4 orbs) - If the three schools of magic could ever be mastered by a single entity, their powers would not combine linearly. Interactions would be discovered that compound one upon the other: Artifice devours the self, which Cultivation replenishes and fortifies. Diagram divination to locate rare Cultivation resources, transmutation to render out any imperfections. A time-dilating Artifact or Diagram to buy subjective eons for a Cultivator to reach breakthrough. Or consider the simple destruction incipient in a kinetic-amplification Diagram married to a Cultivator's brute strength. This option combines the benefits of the three options preceding, allowing them to be used in unison.

*Long-term potential is immense.
*Spending four orbs towards an option that provides no immediate or even short-term security is immensely risky.

[ ] The Bow (1 orb) - The Sign of the Bow grants you a Conquerer's Heart. When you struggle to overcome a genuine enemy and finally prevail, there is a good chance they will become your loyal ally. Boon companions forged from such circumstances may instigate friendly rivalries with you, but would never betray you.

*The effect has one chance to trigger per victory over a major foe. Compatible personalities or a more difficult struggle improve your chances.
*Ineffective against your true nemesis.

[ ] The Sword (2 orbs) - The Sign of the Sword grants you the Blood Impulse. You will gain an intuition for physical conflict that well exceeds the humanly possible. This holistic combat instinct explosively accelerates your progress in any martial discipline and renders you immune to violent ambush. Magic is not a martial discipline per se, but differences in fighting skill can compensate for a power gap.

*Applies to violent conflict in greater contexts as well, so with experience you could become an expert general and tactician as well as combatant.
*True battle is necessary to awaken your potential. You will not improve in a fight without stakes, the higher the better.

[ ] The Scales (2 orbs) - The Sign of the Scales grants the power of the Robber Baron. You will gain skills of appraisal, perceptiveness, administration, and manipulation verging on the preternatural. You will semi-regularly encounter situations which you can exploit for considerable profits at the cost of bringing ruin to others. You are under no obligation to leverage these situations. Remember: your powers are structured for their entertainment, but nothing prevents you from growing past your role.

*Able to talk your way out of most fights, but the truly determined are unlikely to be swayed by mere words.
*The pettiness, transparency, and selfishness of normal humans will wear on you. You see their true intentions, even the ones they hide from themselves.

[ ] The Scythe (3 orbs) - The Sign of the Scythe grants the power of the Harvest. Upon slaying a genuine enemy, you may designate one of their attributes. If it is higher than your own, you will gain ranks in that attribute equal to the difference. Those slain by you cannot be resurrected by any known means.

*If you have the strength of one man, and kill a monster who has the strength of twenty men, you'll have the strength of twenty men.
*Skills cannot be acquired in this manner, but talents can. However, the Scythe alone does not allow you to practice multiple schools of magic - you could gain the relevant attributes, but would be unable to use them.
*The process is quite obvious, you will gain a reputation quickly. Few could trust the bearer of such a power.


[ ] Limit Break (1 orb) - At the cost of grievous harm to your physical and spiritual corpus, you can temporarily exceed your limits in a situation of great exigency, becoming many times more powerful than you would normally be. Each use dramatically shortens your lifespan. For a normal human, a single minute of use will reduce lifespan by 5-10 years.

*Immortality can reverse the physical consequences, but not the spiritual deterioration.
*The technique is less effective the more powerful you are. A normal human might become dozens of times stronger and faster, while a Grand Solipsist might only triple in total strength.

[ ] Guardian Beast (2 orbs) - You will be given a sequence of three runes. Within them is a guardian spirit of immense power, capable of matching even the mightiest denizens of the mortal world. Three times the Guardian Beast will protect you from certain death, slaughtering any enemies present. After the third, its power is expended, and it will watch over you no further. Should you wish the creature to escape oblivion, call upon it no more than twice.

If you should have a child, you may pass the Guardian Beast to them, replenishing its usable charges.

*The Guardian Beast can repel, but not slay, your nemesis. The very strongest Cultivators can also survive its attentions.

[ ] Immortality (3 orbs) - There are other means to secure longevity, but few as potent and reliable as this one. Eternal youth and enormously powerful regeneration are yours; you recover from the most grievous wounds in a matter of seconds. This will also preserve your life in the absence of sustenance. Should the Age be ended, however, the conditions of your defeat will still apply.

*Offers no protection against capture or torture.

[ ] Cursebearer (4 orbs) - Surely I've seen this option before, but I don't recall anything...


*Pay four orbs and take on three Curses to be appointed a Combat-class Cursebearer.
*Curses are disadvantages far more serious than those listed in the Drawbacks.
*The sheer force of a Combat-class Cursebearer represents power enough to sunder armies and boil seas, to shatter continents and raze nations to ash. Even in a world such as this, the number of experts capable of overcoming you could be countered on the fingers of one hand. But your Cursebearer powers will not grow on their own and may be difficult to improve with the resources you have available.
*Compared to the other choices, you'll be playing a completely different style of campaign.

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[ ] Unnamed - It has been requested that you be stripped of your name. You shall not recall it, not those who knew you in other worlds. You may refer to yourself by a pseudonym or abbreviation, but never a proper name. Names are important to the Divinities, and your lack of one may de-humanize you in their eyes, but tactically speaking this request is harmless. The Divinities loathe to think of themselves as bad people.

*There were a number of omakes in the last thread that I enjoyed but didn't credit, so have this free orb.

[ ] Incarnate - Normally you would have a period of decades to familiarize yourself with the world and gather power before your nemesis reaches maturity, fully regains her memories, and begins adventuring. Should you choose this, some contrivance will ensure that your opponent is fully operational within the year. Temporal acceleration, spiritual possession, stranger methods - you won't have much time before she begins to accumulate power and fortune with terrifying speed.

*There is no reliable way to locate your opponent until she begins accumulating power, so even without this you won't be likely to kill her before she starts adventuring - destiny will see to that.

[ ] An Age of Glory - The world will not have a single savior, but many. A number of great heroes will emerge alongside your opponent, each bearing some unique and unpredictable advantage. While they may have their petty differences, none will be satisfied with a world in decline. You might subvert one or two, but the majority are likely to unite against you.

*4-5 other heroes will appear around the world, nearly as powerful as your opponent. Unless you have taken In Full Bloom, it may be difficult to figure out which one is actually your opponent.

[ ] Trebly Bound - The elves know well that theirs is a nation in decline. In their desperation, they turned to a power they did not fully understand. Should you accept the offer inherent in their summoning ritual, you will be granted one orb's worth of power, but be bound in service to the Elvish state. The pathologically noble elves would never compel you against your free will, but should they fall then so too shall you.

*Rather than being defeated after every major empire falls, you will lose if the Elvish nation does. The Elves' position is considerably more precarious than that of humanity. Their once-vast power has been expended on one too many a selfless crusade. They would rather a thousand of the highborn die willingly, than for one human child to perish undeservingly.
*Fulfill your degenerate fantasies and become, at least from one perspective, a summoned hero! Your opponent will know of your new loss condition.

[ ] Heroic Passions - The maximum valence of your emotions will be greatly expanded, allowing your soul to safely contain more power. However, your notable traits will be exacerbated to tragic proportions. Imagine Achilles sulking in his tent while his countrymen die, or Agamemnon sacrificing his own daughter for favorable winds.

*Does not affect day-to-day life overmuch, but intimate relationships and important decisions may be much trickier to resolve.

[ ] Talentless - You are unable to perform magic of any kind. You cannot Cultivate, cannot perform Diagram Magic and cannot perform Binary Magic.

*You may still benefit from the Scythe in acquiring attributes unrelated to the casting of magic (magic resistance from a monster, for example).
*Some Cursebearer powers are non-magical in nature.

[ ] In Full Bloom (+2 orbs) - Your opponent will be permitted to employ her full powers to personally customizing her life before being instantiated. As soon as her reincarnated form reaches adolescence, the following benefits will accrue:

While previously good fortune followed her like a favorable wind, now it will shelter her with hurricane force. Fate will accept virtually any turn of events, no matter how contrived, to ensure her survival. No misfortune will befall her save that which is sown to reap even grander rewards in the future, a heroic panoply surely powerful enough to overcome you in time.

*Your opponent was already a reincarnated goddess and omni-disciplinary genius with incredible good fortune. This will raise her plot armor to nigh-impenetrable levels while also granting at least two additional advantages of equivalent scale. Your only realistic hope will be to array the entire world against her before she reaches maturity, and strike before she accrues too much power.