Even Further Beyond [Complete]

Sign: Knowledge

Tracking Pulse (self-developed, Sigil, not Mastered)

Essentially works like Trimurv's Greater Reckoning, but with a range of one kilometer and a duration of half a second. Not very effective at finding people beyond the Ego Barrier Stage, or Reagents suitable for the Reality Forming stage and above. Still, it's great for finding one's keys, or maintaining a encrypted library with no apparent lexical organization scheme.

Baenlixnaire's Deliberation (Grand, Mastered)

To know is simple, to understand is difficult. To memorize is simple, to internalize is difficult. The mind is the root and receptacle of all knowledge. And knowledge, properly acted upon, is power. By subconsciously cross-associating all elements of memory and heightening information-processing capabilities, this Diagram grants the truest facsimile of 'increased intelligence' that a Diagram Magus has heretofore achieved.

*Modestly improves overall effectiveness
*Automatically generate one Mastermind Point per (objective) month of intrepid adventuring or per (objective) timeskip year
*Once per year, convert Mastermind Points to Beyond Points (2:1) at will

Sign: Seeming

Illusory Guise (self-developed, Battle, not mastered) - For twenty-four hours, the caster or a humanoid target of his designation is clad in an illusion, a hologram of light and vibration that can mimic the form of any reasonable specimen in the humanoid spectrum. Cultivators of the Dao Cleaving stage and above may see through it.

Sign: Death

Mordant Fire (Sigil, Mastered) - Bolts of violet soul-flame sear away the essence of all ephemeral things. Launches up to twenty bolts per casting with mild homing properties. Burns life-force, attacks health and Cultivation base, objects deform and decay. Minor damage to Dao Cleaving Cultivators, semi-relevant to Soul Chrysalis, highly damaging to Organ Refining, lethal to Ego Barrier.

*Quantity of damage is completely irrelevant to targets of Reality Forming stage and above, but perhaps that can be improved...
*Directly attacking their Cultivation base causes most vulnerable Cultivators to fuck off

Lichdom (Grand, Mastered)

Immortality and a host of other effects. See Artifact (the Ring) for details.

Sign: Space

Open the Way (Battle, Mastered) - The character teleports to a location up to fifteen hundred kilometers away. Himself and up to four authorized individuals may be transported in this manner. Familiarity or at least general knowledge of the target destination is recommended. Repetitive casting of this Diagram quickly becomes progressively more onerous; fittingly, long-term transportation is best 'spaced out' over the course of a day.

Unlike many Battle Diagrams, this spell is quite difficult to disrupt. So long as the character remains conscious and in possession of their limbs, spell completion is likely.

Sign: Stone

Kleinvarr's Greater Refining (Battle, Mastered) - This obscure but versatile spell upgrades the 'quality' of a non-Artifact object according to an unknown but generally intuitive standard. The object must be a solid that the character can comfortably hold in both hands. Unless the character understands the object intimately, results may seem underwhelming. Once cast, changes are permanent and not subject to dispellation. Further castings have diminishing returns, but even the reduction of minor imperfections provides a substantial boost to the effectiveness of Cultivation ingredients.

Baenlixnaire taught Nameless this spell when the young scion asked for an effect that could improve Cultivation reagents. The lich recalls master mage-smiths using this spell to turn the crude mass-produced blades of their apprentices into shining masterpieces.

Sign: Force

Unravel (Sigil, Mastered) - A precisely tuned onslaught of Diagram energy disrupts, dispels, and nullifies the effects of external magics. Swiftly rends the effects of other external schools. The arts of the Diagram are resistant to dispellation, but Sigils and Battle Diagrams can be weakened (if already cast) or countered (if being cast).

At this level, it is capable of weakening even the externalized Reality effects of high-level Cultivators. Such effects find their power roughly halved. Titanic extrusions may resist this.

Tyranshal's Amplification (Grand, Mastered, Beyond) - The vicious glyph laid by Tyranshal to entrap any Cultivator of strength sufficient and wisdom insufficient to breach his sanctum. Now defanged, this Grand Diagram of Force dramatically (but safely) amplifies the Energy of All and Nothingness generated by a Cultivator's internal realm, tripling Cultivation speed. Incorporated into the Chronoreactor.

Sign: Flesh

Alvan's Balm of Growth (Sigil, Mastered) - Cast daily on a plant, dramatically improves its vitality, ultimate size, and speed of growth. It has been established that Cultivation reagents experience a substantial bonus to potency. Many daily repeated castings are required lest the plant begin to backslide.

Baenlixnaire taught Nameless this spell after Nameless complained that Kleinvarr's 'Greater' Refining was useless.

Llewyn's Prodigious Might (Battle, Mastered, Beyond) - The caster's physical form swells with barely-restrained power. Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, snatch a ballista bolt from midair, or snap a dragon's neck with a blow, this represents the apex of the Diagram's self-augmentation magic. The caster's flesh is perfected and enhanced to the point where they may fight on par with Cultivators at the peak of Soul Chrysalis. Should the caster be a Cultivator at or above that level, instead their bodily power is increased by one full Stage. Duration: Sixteen hours.

Ascendant Sign: Time

Haltsuphrect's Quickening (Battle, Mastered, Beyond) - Allows for perpetual x4 temporal acceleration of self (and allies, if willing to undertake strain) without side effects. Spell durations and recuperation from onerous spells continue to operate under objective time, though casting speed is accelerated.

Ascendant Sign: Blood

Tyranshal's Potentiation (Grand, Mastered, Beyond) - The great sage Tyranshal crafted this, the quintessential 'Blood Reactor,' by which virtually any Diagram art can be augmented. Though it is not quite as efficient as later Battle and Sigil variants, its constant availability made it the Reactor of choice for those Archmages who saw frequent combat. That the spell draws its fuel directly from one's arteries and veins, rather than requiring tedious and time-consuming self-harm, is another notable benefit. Like most Blood spells, this one does not augment Grand Diagrams. Blood costs reduced by 75%.

The spell has three draw settings: 10%, 30%, and (safety-restricted) 100%

Stage 1, 10%: Spells that directly create attacks or defenses are doubled in power.
Stage 2, 30%: Spells that directly create attacks or defenses are dectupled in power, and other spells are improved by one 'step' (for example, Haltsuphrect's Quickening -> x5)
Stage 3, 100%: Spells that directly create attacks or defenses are improved by the equivalent of one full Cultivation stage, and other spells are improved by two 'steps.'

Ascendant Sign: Fate

Forge of the Nameless One (Grand, Mastered, Further Beyond)

A spell you developed to improve your powers of Artifice. By inscribing this Diagram upon your anvil, bellows or hammer, the caster can channel and re-shape the very stuff of Fate around the object being created. Substantially improves the efficiency, speed, and power of the essence invested and grants a moderate bonus to control. Forging speed is quadrupled and the resulting Artifacts are two (1.5 if effective level exceeds Grand Solipsism) full stages stronger. This Diagram is indestructible.

Ascendant Sign: Essence

Tyranshal's Cerebration (Battle, Mastered, Beyond) - When the stars are right, the caster plumbs the unthinkable vastness of the cosmos, combs through filaments of sun-stuff and fate-spun tethers of dross, drifts like a struck tuning-fork through the tenor of the celestial spheres, and arrives - irrevocably, inescapably, impossibly - at an answer. Scarce fragments of truth may he find, but know with a Sage's certainty that they are true, and moreover relevant to the caster's path.

Can be safely cast once per calendar year. Further uses incur a permanent and exponentially increasing cost in strength, selfhood, and sanity. Delivers accurate knowledge about any subject. The more information the caster already has to go on, the more effective this spell is. Likelihood of actionable intelligence is increased by having gone Beyond, and the minimum amount of information is tripled.

Tyranshal's Extirpation (Grand, Mastered) - A Grand Diagram of Essence that banishes a soul and attendant mind into the outer darkness beyond the reach of all material and worldly forces. They are then free to undertake an existence of contemplation. After the soul is cast out, destruction of the Diagram accomplishes nothing - they are already beyond the reach of such magics.

The Jewel - A miscellaneous Artifact used to fuse the soul of the lich Baenlixnaire to Nameless.

The Ring - Mightiest and most classic of the Artifact forms, the forging of a Ring is never to be undertaken lightly. A Magnum Opus clad in this form is the only object that might properly be called a Ring of Power, and each Ring so forged is nothing less than an Age of the World made manifest. He who slips Ring on to finger feels blue-blooded essence sluicing through desiccated veins; dreams once more of shining towers; breathes once more the air of the Diagram ascendant - the air of a realm that once was, first blazing season of man's triumph, where the mind could expand without limit, and the truth could slay with a word.

The Ring of the Diagram is a band of white silver holding an ice blue sapphire of elongated marquis cut within a slender lattice of solid diamond. The power of the Ring is The Age of Truth, doubling the efficacy of Beyond Points spent on Diagram Magic and providing a host of benefits relating to the incarnation of an Age. Inscribed on the band in the High Script of the Magus Conclave: "All our glories, we pass on to you."

*Hastens the Doom of the remaining magi; the Ring of an Age ought not be forged until the last of its sons passes from this earth.
*Haltsuphrect's Quickening is now a x4 rather than x3 acceleration (+1 -> +2); Avolen's Lunar Sarcophagus grants a x70 rather than x40 boost (+30 -> +60).
*You are still required to spend the Beyond points necessary to achieve the effect; Going Further Beyond still takes 3 points; Even Further Beyond still 10.
*The bearer can cast Diagram Magic and is immune to the offensive Diagrams of others. This effect persists regardless of the world they find themselves in, even a Legacy Realm which seals such magic or which is a permanent anti-magic zone, and regardless of whether they would normally be barred from such (Cultivators, Elves, etc). Even if they were to travel to an Age before the Diagram even existed, still they would be able to cast.
*Those who witness it intuitively understand that the Ring is very valuable, a precious thing to be coveted. The light of Truth outshines any illusion, making it difficult to conceal, and its wielder immune to illusions from any type of magic.
*Gain the power to speak like this. Causes practitioners of Diagram Magic to feel an urge to defer to the bearer; this is natural. Should you desire access to Truth itself, you may go Even Further Beyond [7 Beyond Points] to do so.

The ring is almost incalculably durable, even more so than the other Artifacts, but unlike them, it can be stolen and its power used against you. Like the others, it is your Phylactery; unlike them, it is not necessarily so, though undoing such a work would be the quest of an Age.

Respawn time: seven days, weeks, months, years, decades, centuries... (resets per Age)
Regeneration: Moderate and Fortifying - body does not count as dead until thoroughly destroyed (reduced to a quarter of its default strength)

[Heart] Rune - An Artifact created to augment the character's Ego Barrier, but also the central seed of an Artifice array intended to harmoniously re-arrange the character's body and inner universe into a supreme Grand Diagram with unknown but titanic powers.

Strengthens the character's Absolute Ego Barrier, granting 'durability' equivalent to the Layered Absolute Barriers stage, though a single incomparably powerful barrier has both advantages and downsides. This allows the character to operate as if his Cultivation base were half a stage higher for all purposes except Stage-specific effects.

Additionally, the character's Ego Barrier gains a fierceness and ductility that makes him terrifying in battle; the sheer concentration of his power sufficient to rend and repel the attacks of Cultivators many times more powerful than he.

• Grants +.75 stages to combat power so long as effective level does not exceed that of Reality Forming.
• Grants +.5 stages if instead it does not exceed that of Grand Solipsism.
• Grants +.25 stages to characters of Titan-equivalent or greater power.

[Sacral] Rune: The character's body generates Diagram-viable blood at four times the original pace, roughly neutralizing the impaired True Regeneration from Suizhen's Eyes for purposes of the Blood Sign. +.25 additional stages for purposes of resisting esoteric attacks upon the body.

[Third Eye] Rune: Spiritual fortification, while imperfectly correlated with the reservoir that Diagram spells draw upon, nonetheless does offer improvements to casting stamina. Nameless' spell capacity for Battle and Sigil Diagrams is tripled. +.25 additional stages for purposes of resisting esoteric attacks upon the soul or destiny.

The Chronoreactor - Forged to enhance Haltsuphrect's Quickening, the Chronoreactor allows Nameless to passively acquire the Energy of All and Nothingness at a multiple* of his current rate without the need to Cultivate actively. Chronoreactor is combined and integrated with his Tyranshal's Amplification Artifact to turn into a highly-durable breastplate that lets you transfer protection and benefits to others.

*Dao Cleaving: 2.5x, Reality Forming: 2x, Above: 1.5x. 4.0 to 4.9 in only 1.4 months! That's 8 Titan-Grade Artifacts per year (or 4 Stage "8" Artifacts per year), and you can do other stuff while Cultivating.

Regalia of the Knight-Errant - A runic lace of silver and sky-blue, an implant not unlike your own Perfecting Artifacts, to placed above her Throat chakra. The sapphire at its heart would be a jewel not unlike the one that adorns your Ring. This Artifact will allow Suizhen to Go Beyond Ego Barrier. It also grants limited but powerful shapeshifting capabilities, allowing Suizhen to disguise herself without illusions - or, yes, improve her looks to the peak of human attractiveness. In battle, she can alter her musculature, grow bone plating, and cause neural proliferation at will, granting her the equivalent of Further Beyond Organ Refining for combat purposes. The Eyes of Kong cannot be shifted away. Total boost +.75 stages for combat, +.25 stages for general use, plus the utility effects of perfect humaniform shapeshifting - after implantation she will have no true form, so her shapeshifting cannot be dispelled by Diagram or Reality effects.

The Noble Lady (Second) - Ming Xiaoling has deigned to allow you to escort her for a tour of the Southern Provinces. She is a Cultivator of some skill, and is very interested in pursuing ancient Legacies and Secret Dungeons. As a fellow member of the Great Clans, her influence is the equal or superior of your own. Finicky, exceptionally beautiful, cantankerous and spoiled, she insists on traveling with her overlarge luggage and despises camping out. As she has no real female friends and Nameless is one of the few peers that can handle her, she is loyal to him if only out of necessity (and desire for Beyond Stages).

Unique Feature - Line of Ming - To stand against one Great House is ill-conceived; to stand against two is folly.

*Her father is the Patriarch of Ming, she only has one elder sister. She is third in line to the Trade Throne of Ming
*A Half-Elven bastard whose ears have been partially filed down, smuggled into the line of inheritance by her doting father.
*Qualifies as an Elf for purposes of using Artifacts. Elvish Charisma grants large bonus to social checks.
*Cultivation speed slightly impaired
*As a Half-elf, her higher base parameters make her considerably more potent (a full half-stage) than her frame, combat skill, and Cultivation level should imply.
*Beyond Stages in Ego Barrier, Organ Refining, and Soul Chrysalis. Knows the secret arts of Ming. Pretty useful both in and out of combat.

*Suspicious and perceptive, sixth sense for ill intentions and will help you talk through complex social situations
*She also adds the Coffers of Ming to relevant trade checks, greatly heightening your purchasing power for major items
*Gets along well with Nameless, but her cattiness demoralizes other female Lackeys

The Genius - Kong Suizhen is a prodigy of the Age, having attained (and promptly sacrificed) the peak of Reality Forming at only 15. Her skill with a blade is matched only by her ruthlessness in battle. Despite this, she has a pleasant and even-tempered disposition, though sometimes prone to an unsettling level of focus. She enjoys, but is embarrassingly bad at, flower arrangement, tea ceremonies, and other traditional pursuits of the noble lady. She seems indifferent to Cultivation, yet practices it with a mercilessness and drive that borders on insanity.

Unique Feature - Heaven-Sent - Accelerates advancement speed, stacks with Lieutenant.

*She hails from an obscure and disfavored branch of Kong whose fief was devoured by monsters; marriage would be scandalous
*Believes in truth, justice, and the Imperial Way
*Completely useless outside of combat, will spend literally all her time training
*Kong Zang killed her father; seeks revenge and stridently opposes practitioners of Forbidden Techniques.
*Fanatically devoted to Nameless, with a 95% chance to resist any Loyalty- effects. Automatically accepts Forbidden Technique usage on behalf of Nameless or his allies, can try to talk her out of killing Zang Kong without Loyalty penalties.
*[Truth Seeking Eyes], can achieve Beyond Stages as if she were a Diagram Magus.
*Base of Reality Forming, +.75 stages from Regalia of the Knight-Errant (Beyond in Ego Barrier and equivalent of Further Beyond in Organ Refining).