Are you taking into account the fact that different worlds or Earths with different physics are canonically still part of reality? Spider Man being off on an Earth connected through a distant part of the Nevernever is the big example.
While you can make him an Outsider, it'd make more sense not to. The Outsiders seem like an actual faction and are something inimical to reality itself, not just anything from another reality.
A better source of conflict might be the laws - given you're playing by the realities new rules, they might well affect you too. This is especially problematic if you don't realize where you are immediately. Both from an internal and external conflict point of view.
Body Control (Ongoing. Still ~1.5 weeks left. Extensive control of bodily functions. Requires 1/8th the normal amount of food, water, and air. Heartbeat operates at 1/8th speed. Heals at 8x speed.)
Tracking Ward (Particularly powerful, but apparently useless anti-death-scrying ward.)
Motonic Conversion (Still operating. Allows absorption of death energies as a creature of death.)
Ball 2 Hole
"There are five trials one must overcome to learn sorcery." Rambena rasped, "To go on a Journey, to learn Humility, to find Tutelage, to overcome Fear, and to make a Sacrifice."
I glanced over the design carved into the grass as the pale sun slowly worked its way to the horizon, only listening in on Secret's tutelage with half an ear as I worked.
The central hole-punching spell, a spell enhancement circle around it, a metaphorical belt to connect it intrinsically to the cogwheel system on my end, which was going to be linked up to a couple other gear-systems built around circles. Those were drawn up to enhance and channel the power of other spellcasters and was meant to link up with the motonic converter spell I had running, with that stuff going on I could just dump mana into the Prime shielding spell I had built around my end.
"From what you have told me, you have just now begun your Journey, and still need to overcome Fear and make an appropriate Sacrifice to learn Sorcery," Rambena glanced in my direction, "However, I believe you have found sufficient Tutelage, and have already learned Humility."
The stuff on my end was more like a fume hood over a reaction, the contained reaction being the gateway I'd be making. I was barely an Apprentice of the Prime Arcanum, and no matter how useful the practices of Fraying or Unraveling might have been at dealing with this ward, I didn't know how to use them. I'd have to make do with Ruling, Shielding, and Veiling, guiding the response around myself and into another target rather than just tanking it. Because there was no way I had sufficient power to just counter a spell woven by Solars... or hell, any sort of Exalted or Dragon King in the First Age.
If that response to my ward had been any indication, I couldn't really come into direct conflict with maybe anyone here, not in their specialty at least.
"So…" I could hear Secret shift about uncomfortably, "What do I do?"
Alright, this is about as good as I was gonna come up with in a reasonable amount of time and with the resources they'd be likely to grant me… the issue was now how to set up all of the spells proper and not just the runic system. I could just start casting them as is, but my pattern was already loaded up with three spells, my body control, the wards on Secret, and the motonic converter. Any further spells would be a not-insignificant strain on my efforts…
"You must Journey beyond what is comfortable for you and find a new measure of comfort. Something I believe you are on your way to doing. You must overcome Fear. And you must make a Sacrifice. Should you overcome Fear and made an appropriate Sacrifice, I believe you would be able to learn Sorcery upon your return to Creation."
Ugh, that meant my options were: Dump tons of mana into this to avoid tearing myself to bits (Not really an option) ; Take a long time to go through the spells, hours on hours (Not looking forward to that at all) ; releasing one of my spells and going through each of these and setting them up with that free space in my Pattern (Not ideal seeing as all three of my currently held spells were pretty important) ; Risk tearing myself to bits with the power of the Abyss as I worked my way through the spells.
"How… how would I go about that?"
Right, so it boiled down to how confident I was in this working. If I was right and opened my pattern up by dropping my Life Control spell, I could work my way through this pretty quickly. I'd still have a couple days where I'd be okay without water, and if this failed I did still have some living mana leftover with which to recharge myself…
"The trials are very personal by their very nature, and I do not know you well enough to make appropriate suggestions."
Yeah, I was impatient enough to do this. The oppressive, supernatural chill of the Underworld was uncomfortable, and had only gotten progressively worse the longer I stayed. It was that cloying, disturbing sensation, like stepping through a spiderweb that chilled your skin, but worked its way slowly down to your very bones… blech.
"Oh…" Secret muttered dejectedly. But I couldn't really let that dejection stand, so I spoke up.
"I should be able to figure something out as we travel, Secret." Thankfully, I could probably spin something about being smart or magic and just hijack Misho's ideas. The trick was Humility honestly, I wasn't a good stand in for the King in that regard. But I could at least make her feel better for now.
"Really?" she asked, brightening a fair bit, "That's great!"
"It's no problem." I said with a warm smile before turning to her tutor, "Rambena, I'm going to need another two spellcasters to help make this work. I don't really have the raw power to fuel this safely."
"We can certainly provide," she nodded, standing and smoothing out her robes, "Many of us have mastered the Terrestrial Circle of Sorcery."
I gave a little bow, "I'd appreciate it if you could gather those you feel work best for it while I finish charging this up."
"Of course," she gave a little bob of her head before turning, leaving the town circle. As she did, the other Dragon Kings watched me with varying degrees of curiosity.
Kneeling beside the first of the Spell Enhancment Matricies, I touched a hand to the runic gear and murmured under my breath, "Runtime Start:: #Arcanum(Fate), #Practice(Ruling) ; Yantra(Mantra, Mudra, Mandola) ; Variables(Set) ; Enact:: Spell Enhancement Matrix."
The magic began to settle into place as I focused on the probabilities, it was a Fate spell meant to enhance and codify the nature of probability in my favor, basically, it was like deliberately pouring water in a certain way to create a channel that encouraged the water to fall long it… or like adding more circuits or bandwidth to a single branch of a circuit-board to make it more likely a signal would take that route. The route being 'cast this spell properly'. Spell Enhancement Matrix (10 Dice) = 7 6 3 4 6 1 9 (10 1) 2 8 = 3 Successes
And it was a spell I was damn good at.
The runes glowed a soft green, small sparks of pseudo-lightning jumping from the diagrams.
Secret spoke up as I began to move to the next circle, "What's all this do?"
"Most of this is just a fancy way of deflecting the response of the wards. I can't just block it, I'm not strong enough, so I've got to be a bit more clever about it." I took a knee next to one of the supporting gears, "Really, the gate-opening is the easy part, and just a sec."
Repeating the mantra with my hand on the mandola, sparks flew once more as the runes lit up. I systematically moved my way through the entire design, charging up the appropriate points, pausing to repeat the mantra as I continued our conversation, setting up the spells in the runic gears, two subtly different ones each for the main punchy spell and for the defending spell, and one each for the assistants.
"Most of this is to funnel power into a shield and redirection system to keep the response from frying me, targeting the ground instead."
"What if you get blasted again?" she asked, resting her elbows on her knees and sitting in the grass not too far away from the design. She'd thankfully gotten more comfortable over the course of her teaching, no longer fidgeting, and her eyes no longer furtively darting about.
"This should withstand that just fine. The spell system is robust enough that even if my defenses fail, the spell itself should finish. But I'm gonna have a bad day if they do, and I'll keep my hands ready in case I need to block something nasty aimed at my face, but I should be able to survive anything other than face-blasting."
A little crack of my knuckles as I took a seat in the primary gear on my end, a focus of thought and a rather brutish channeling of some of my living mana activated my Prime Mage Armor, a field of Supernal Truth using my power as an assertion. It wasn't visible in any way nor was it particularly powerful, but it'd buffer against purely magical effects.
"Just be careful okay? It wouldn't do for the adventure to end this early." She tried to say it with confidence and snark, but she failed, too much concern worked its way into her tone, making me smile.
Crossing my legs, I settled in to get comfortable. I was going to be here a while, "That's what all of this is. Being careful."
"If you're sure…" she still looked uncertain, not that I could blame her. But this should work. A small sound drew my attention, and I twisted in place to look over my shoulder into the distance that Rambena had gone in.
The pink saurian was returning, and with far more than two Dragon King's in tow. Tlacotl and others followed after… it actually looked like two dozen more Dragon Kings, as well some of a variant I hadn't seen yet. It seems they'd come in force… more than a few had weapons… but Rambena didn't seem uneasy and the weapons were holstered. There, but not out and being brandished. Blech, wish I knew Dragon King social ticks better.
Secret was immediately and reasonably nervous as a parade of old and dangerous ghosts basically poured into the town circle. Red eyes glanced at me, "Kenobi…?"
"It's alright," I said, waving it off without standing, turning back to the diagram, "Odds are good that they're just here in case I'm lying and trying to open a gate for the Deathlords or some shit."
"That is correct, amiliki," Rambena rasped out, approaching with two Dragon Kings alongside her. One was one of the more raptor-like subspecies, while the other was the same species as Rambena, the pterodactyl like, "While you have not given us reason to distrust your word, we must take precautions."
"Of course." I bobbed my head agreeably, remaining where I was, "I completely understand."
Tlacotl and the other Dragon Kings spread out throughout the town circle. Some entering the nearby pyramids and finding comfortable places to sit while others took up places near the clearing itself, and more than a few of the pterodactyl like members of the species took to the air and settled on the roofs of the nearby habitation towers. Intelligence + War (7 Dice) = 8 2 1 5 6 5 4 = 1 Success
Ah, they were setting up, casually mind you, but they were prepping for a sudden influx of enemies. The big burly ones with nasty clubs and such were closer to Secret and I, the raptor-like ones and the new, more hulkish ones tended to have these leaf swords or crystal crossbow weapons and were at a more mid range or were setting up in covered positions. And the flying ones were getting a height advantage. Made sense.
I looked at the two Dragon Kings that Rambena had brought over, both of them were in robes, even though a fair number of the other Dragon Kings had switched out for other materials and armors. While the larger of the two was this deep crimson, raptor-like breed, with a brilliant golden crest of feathers down their long neck, the other was much like Rambena. A more pterodactyl like Dragon King, bipedal and slender, with an almost crescent head and with long, almost spindly arms that doubled as membranous wings, a pale tan color rather than the more vibrant colors most of the other Dragon Kings scales seemed to favor. I grinned, "Evening, such that it is."
The long-necked raptor bowed its head briefly, not breaking our locked gazes, "Amiliki." His (or her?) companion bobbed their head as well in acknowledgement.
Awkward, but whatever. I clapped my hands, smiling as warmly as I could manage, "Right! So who am I working with today?"
"I am Huitzilin," the dark red raptor said, bobbing their head once more before gesturing at their companion, "And my partner is Chalchiuitl."
No less awkward! Wish there was some sort of social structure to fall back on here but fuck me if I knew it! But I powered through. "So, you two have a boring but sorta grueling and crucial job. These two gears?" I indicated the other two smaller ones that were linked to my own, "If you'll stand in those and shape sorcery at me, channeling energy into the system, I'll be handling the actual spellcraft, but the power you'll be molding will go into the defensive spells."
"The runes will channel it?" Huitzilin asked.
"Yes," I nodded, understanding the hesitation, "Though take it easy at first, this is built around subtlety first, raw power second. By your nature as Dragon Kings or Ghosts you might have more raw power than I accounted for, so let's take it easier at the start."
"What if it's too much?"
"Things fizzle, nothing blows up or reacts too badly. I should be able to tell you before that happens though." I looked between the two of them, "The issue here is that you two will need to maintain it for about an hour."
Surprisingly, they both nodded solemnly at that, unfazed. Good.
With a little breath for courage, I clapped my hands again and gestured back at the two circles, "Right, if you'll take your positions, we'll waste no more time then."
There were some whispers from the peanut gallery… though there probably should be a snappy name for them. The almond gallery? I dunno. The Dragon Kings whispered amongst themselves though even as the other two took up their positions. Rambena stayed near Secret, claws hands folded in front of her and the attached wings actually outside of her robes now.
My Mage Sight stayed wide open as I built my imago, watching as Huitzilin and Chalchiuitl moved their clawed hands about, pulling and tugging and Willing the mana in the air around them into form and shape in a way that I myself couldn't, not yet at least. But you'd better bet I'd be reviewing this all later. Intelligence + Occult (8 Dice) = 10 10 10 7 5 4 1 1 = 7 Successes
Two pulses of power flowed towards me down the runic lines I'd carved out of the dirt, setting almost ghostly sparkles of light dancing along them… it was strange, the power was that of the ambient energy, but it wasn't [Death] energy the way that Secret was… I'd puzzle over that later though. Right now I had magic to work.
Opening myself to the power, I could feel it begin to cycle up my motonic converter… the system wasn't perfect, their shaped power wasn't the same sort of death essence I'd anticipated… but it was similar enough. It was like running a two cycle engine with straight gas… no, a better metaphor was running a normal engine with a gas-oil mix. It'd work, but one shouldn't do it for too long.
More and more power poured towards me, the metaphor of drowning wasn't appropriate, but it wasn't too far off. It was like standing in a river and trying to hold a water wheel in place to take advantage of it. Doable, but not easy either.
Holding both Prometheus and Epimetheus in my hands, I constructed the imago in my head, describing it in High Speech as it took form, "Runtime Start:: #Arcanum(Prime), #Practice(Ruling) ; #Practice(Shielding) ; Yantra(Mantra, Mandola, Epimetheus) ; Variables(Duration, Potency, Focus, Scale, Range) ;" Slowly, taking my time, I described each bit of magic, carefully laying out what I was doing and how with the pseudo-gibberish that High Speech ended up sounding like to non-magi.
Even though I heard it as coding language, another mage might hear the same words as a sonnet, or as a song, or as some sort of guild cant or faux latin that made sense or any number of other things. The noises coming from my mouth didn't matter so much as the [Truth] behind them.
And it was a [Truth] I was working upon the world with my Will, and damn if I didn't want to not get blasted again.
Time passed as I fell into the trance of spellcasting, murmuring as I developed the magic piece by piece with words and thought. I fully expected to take nearly a full hour casting this one spell.
I could feel the first beginnings of a headache gnawing at the edges of my temples, releasing so many spells like this was a strain. A half dozen Spell Enhancement Matricies, all knitted into the fabric of the world such that they'd hold themselves together…
It was the mental exertion of placing your hand on a hot stove, despite knowing what would happen. And then doing it again. And again. And again. Releasing spells was hard, it was infusing them with Will in a way that there isn't much analogous to in mundane life. And while normally I could manage a few of them easily enough, doing so many right after one another was hard.
But there was just one more spell to add to that stack.
"Enact:: PrimeRedirectionWard." Prime Redirection Ward (8 Dice, 9 Again) = (9 2) 5 8 5 2 (9 1) 1 (9 3) = 4 Successes
With an audible crackle and clank, the spell settled into place, a briefly visible shimmer appearing in the very air as the Supernal Truths interacted with the air around them. It'd only last about an hour, but as I poured power into it, I smiled, I'd been a bit worried, but it felt solid.
I stood up, cracking my back as I did, the two sorcerers pausing in their shaping power nearly as one.
"Warding spell's in place finally, how are you two holding up?"
"We are quite alright, amiliki," the raptor-like Huitzilin said with a little bob of his (or her) head, the feathers on its long neck ruffling slightly.
"Bored." Chalchiuitl said in a raspy grunt, which made Huitzilin give the pterodactyl-esque Dragon King an aghast glare.
I couldn't help it, I laughed.
Despite the contrite look the raptor-sorcerer gave me, I just smiled at the blunter of the two, "Don't worry, I understand. This next bit should go a fair bit faster with your help. It's a lot less… delicate. Same idea, just a lot quicker this time." I looked between them, "Had you both ramped it up all the way with that?"
"Yes, amiliki." Huitzilin said, still shooting little glares at Chalchiuitl.
"Okay," I said with a nod, "That works out great. I can work with that. If you start up again, we'll open up that gate. Just you two be ready, when I bring my arms up outwards, I want you two to cut your shaping and get out of those circles."
Both of them looked at me in askance, but I shrugged, "I don't know the targeting mechanism the wards are using, it'll probably be focused on me, but if you two are linked to me by shaping sorcery in my direction, it might aim for you as well, and this spell won't be able to defend you as well. It isn't worth the risk. When I bring my arms up, I'm about to finish the spell, so keep yourselves safe and cut yourselves off and get out of the design for good measure." Charisma + Persuasion (6 Dice) = 1 1 5 6 (10 6) 7 = ???
The two of them shared a glance, an unspoken conversation going between them before they turned back, nodding.
"Alright, this won't be a long one," if they'd actually been assisting me in the casting it'd have inherently taken longer, but since they were basically just acting as batteries I could cast quickly, "So be ready."
At their nods, I closed my eyes and took a cleansing breath. I could feel the river of power starting to flow again within moments as they began to shape the power around themselves. Valor = 7 1 = Success
Right, now for the moment of truth.
An abrupt twist of my hands and working of Will sent a pseudo-electrical current through the runic circuits I'd built, sparks the color of light through a forest canopy dancing along the gears and belts carved in the ground, giving them the illusion of motion even as the power moved through them. I set the defensive spell in place, separate from my power with an expenditure of Will.
Despite my unease and the growing ache behind my eyes, I began my working. With my motonic converter magic running hot, power pouring around me, I constructed another , "Runtime Start:: #Arcanum<Death>, #Practice(Fraying) , #Practice(Weaving) ;" My nimbus flared into blazing existence around me this time, real, literal light as my power met what the Dragon Kings were moving in my direction.
There were visible water wheels of circuitry on either side of me, spinning rapidly under the flow even as the mechanisms built from nothing. The gears and pistons once more forming as I built up pressure, using the much greater amounts of power available to buffer against the creeping unreality of the Abyss.
My arms rose, and the waves of power rushing over me cut off, but I couldn't open my eyes now to double check that they'd actually gotten out of the way, I was too deep in the spell to do so safely.
Reality itself pushed back against my efforts, denying my working, there was a barrier here between realities, between the realm of the dead and the realm of the living, and magic declared that it was sacrosanct. I brought my arms across my chest roughly, as if tearing aside the veil with my bare hands as I finished describing the magic in High Speech, "Yantra(Mantra, Mandola, Epimetheus) ; Variables(Set) ; Enact:: Ghost Gate!" Ghost Gate (14 Dice, 9 Again) = 4 4 7 4 8 4 1 4 6 5 1 7 3 8 = 2 Successes
And so I firmly reminded reality where it could shove it.
The circuit-drill slammed into the barriers between the living and the dead and punched its way through, the same wash of living power surging through as it stabilized. And just as expected, within a moment of its stabilizing, golden lightning arced out from the gate straight towards myself! Wards! Redirect! (9 1) 2 4 4 6 2 4 (10 4) 5 ; Shield! 2 4 2 3 7 8 7 (9 7) 2
Gritting my teeth, I just planted my feet, bracing myself for another terrible flash of pain. My hands had not coincidentally been put in front of my face by the final motion of the spell. But their presence was unneeded, the bolt of golden power arcing harmlessly over my head and slamming into the space I'd prepared.
The grass and ground exploding behind me, clods of dirt and greenery raining down on my shoulders and slapping uselessly against my back.
Lowering my arms, I looked over the ghost gate I'd created with the Dragon Kings assistance.
Roughly gear-shaped, a vertical plane of color and vibrance that was a stark contrast with the somber, still nature of the world around us. It was a semi-circle, the upper half of one that sealed against the ground, it was about five meters high, plenty of space even for the largest of the Dragon Kings here. From this angle, the pale sun was cut in half by the gateway, and while in the Underworld it was a pale white, the sky around it a deep purple with only hints of red or orange, through the gateway it was a brilliant orange, the sky awash with every color of the rainbow. It was a humbling, beautiful contrast.
With a smile that was simultaneously relieved and proud, I twirled Prometheus and Epimetheus about, "And there we have it." A large weight settled onto my shoulder and I glanced up, "Mm?"
Tlacotl loomed over me, a massive scaly claw on my shoulder. This close, it was pretty obvious that she outmassed me by about five times, her shoulders as broad as three of me, standing nearly three feet taller than me, and being made entirely made of bulky, scaly muscle and claws. How the flying fuck I'd missed her approaching was beyond me. Yellow eyes focused on me as she growled, "You will be going through first." Temperance = 10 9 1 1 1 = Success
I blinked once in confusion before shrugging as I realized the intention, "Sure."
She was worried I was trying to screw them over in some manner, it was basically the same idea as telling someone to switch glasses with you when you suspected the one they were giving you was poisoned. The kicker was that I had built up an immunity to iocane powder ages ago.
That and I wasn't trying to screw them over.
I started to walk forward, only to be stopped by the claw that was easily the size of half my torso. I looked back at her with a raised eyebrow, "I can't walk through if you're holding on to me."
Tlacotl's purple muzzle furrowed, scrunching up not in a snarl but in some other sort of expression. One I struggled to puzzle out… but after a moment she growled out, "Together." Temperance = 10 4 3 3 3 = Success
"Sure," I agreed, just a little tersely. I was admittedly getting tired of the suspicion, even if I could understand it, I gestured at the gate with Prometheus in my right hand, "Shall we?"
Those yellow eyes narrowed, and the burly Dragon King didn't move. Instead glaring at me as if trying to see what my game was.
I rolled my eyes, sighing, "Look, there's literally nothing I can do to convince you that I'm telling the truth. Literally any choice you make could be walking into a trap. I'm not screwing with you, but I have nothing to prove that other than whatever's on the other side of this gate."
An unhappy rumble came from Tlacotl's throat, but I stood firm. And after a moment, as the growl trailed off, I gestured at the gateway once more, "So… shall we?"
With a little snort, the burly Dragon King gave me a shove. And I was quite proud that I didn't fall flat on my face, instead just stumbling slightly. Shaking my head, I adjusted my overcoat as I walked forward, keeping a grip on both Prometheus and Epimetheus. Temperance = 9 9 8 8 4 = 4 Successes
The thudding footsteps of Tlacotl behind me were slightly unnerving, but I'd deal with it. I glanced at Secret, finding the pale young woman giving me a worried look, to which I just smiled a bit. I knew Tlacotl's type, I didn't know if she'd ever trust me, but so long as I was on the up and up she'd actually defend me if bad shit happened.
Unless this was all one big play by the Dragon Kings, but I doubted that. I didn't even exist more than a month ago, they wouldn't have had enough information to set up such a successful con. Didn't mean my traitorous brain didn't offer the idea, but eh. Whatever. I'd deal with it in the unlikely scenario it was true.
With the burly Dragon King half a step behind me, I walked through the hole in reality with every measure of confidence I could have.
… wow.
Electric tingles danced across my skin, a buzz not unlike touching a doorknob in the winter going through my entire body. A pulse of power through every inch of my skin and into my soul… breathing in sent those jolting tingles throughout my insides, like the biting cold air in winter could sting your insides, it crackled inside my throat and lungs.
A full body shiver went through me, my eyes closing in a brief, desperate bid to keep out the sudden onslaught of [Power] and [Essence] and [Fate] and so many other things that my Mage Sight revealed to me.
And it didn't stop. Every breath was like that, a not unpleasant tingle, a shock to my system at the sheer magnitude of power flowing through here. Even the mightiest Supernal Verges… the deepest wells of Hallowed power in the world of darkness barely compared to a fraction of this power… it was like creeping vines spreading through my body through my lungs and skin, each trying to meet the other as power spread through me.
I looked up at the sky, at the slow transition from soft blue to the midnight black, stars appearing like little specks. An unfamiliar sky… the stars themselves were different, arranged differently from what I'd known… it was subtle, but it was there… but for all that subtlety, it was lost on the part of me that perceived [Truth].
They weren't stars, not as we knew them. They weren't enormous, multi-octillion-ton nuclear furnaces impossibly distant… no… these were truly pinpricks in the dome of the sky, little lights far more distant than one would assume. The sun… no… the [Daystar], it was something else entirely.
This world… it truly was something different. This wasn't jus tanother aspect of my own world, this wasn't just myself deluding myself into seeing things that weren't truly there… I was in another reality, seeing another sky, this was a new world, alive and thriving.
And I'd been tasked with saving this?
I'd been tasked with saving this.
I'd been tasked with saving this?
I'd been tasked with saving this.
In that moment, that realization, I felt very, very small. Like... like a miniscule gear in an impossibly large machine, nothing more than the tiniest little cogwheel spinning in place inside something massive and indescribable… and… and I knew exactly what part of that great machine I was. I was a small mechanism, a little program hidden in the vast reaches of code… and I was antivirus… I was optimization… I was…
I was Ṭ͈̭̩̄̌͑̄̔̈́̚ͅ█̶̨ͥ͂̍͗͏͉͖̲͚̺█̡̢̞̱͕͉̬͎̦̮̓̒̎̋ͅ ͕͔̗̑̌̉̈̽̌̚̚͠B̹̼̮͍̤̫̥̲̞̐̄͛͆͂̓̽█̧̟̩̳͇̤͔̑ͦͧͭ̈̽ͧ́█͚̭͖̤̙̬͓ͪv̸̼͉͆̅̏͂̏ͫ̊̓̿͢█̪ͮ̔̿͑̒ͩ̐͢ ̰̖̱͎̮̞̠̬͊͑͑̍̄́ͯͩ͟█̷̛̺͇̼̙̪̱͓ͬ̎ͩ̄ͪ̇̄͘█̆̅̀͋͗̃̽͟҉̶̻͍█ͯͤͮ̚͏̨̛̥̞͍█̡̳͓̪̣̙ͬ͑͒̎̿̊̓ͨ͠█͇̙̩͇͖̖̫́̈̇̍͐̓̌̍̕█̟͔̳̓̃͘͞█̆͏̨̞̗̮̞̭̫̰ͅ█̷̱̦̓̔̊ͫ͌̉̂́͠█̶̗̟̑̉ͫ͒͒̕͢█̜̘͚̣̑͊ͪ̀̕͜█̆̆҉̟͙̘͙͉̲̟̺̭͟█̧̖̠̯̤͖͈̮̥̎̄̽͟͜█̒͏̨̩̘̀ ̛͙͇͉̀ͪ̅̀͒̒͆ͯ█̨͎̤̱̭̤̟̯̣̃u̟̬̫͔̣̜͙͙̇͛ͩ̃͋͑ͨͧ█̡̫̯̘̖̮͌̿͑͛ͧͩͨ́̚͜█ͭ͆̊̾͏͓͕̖͞█̶̳̝̖̱̎̍█̛̜͉̱̬̻̙̔n͎̹̗̔̂̇ͧ͆ͩ̈́ͪ̇́͟͠t̶̢͇̞̗̂̐ͩ̿̑͘█̝̣̞͙̓̓͞█̧̡̰͓̇̌ͬ̃̅̐̕ͅ ̴̢̗̹̯͚͇̗̂̆̒͂̈́͠█̘̞͓̪͗ͩ̅͜͞f̝̥͈̝͇̙ͭͨ͋̂̎̉͊͟ ̪̤͎̦̭̯͖̬̊ͪ̒̐ͦͯ̀͢█͇̉̎̑͡u̜̰̩̩̮̯͔͉ͦ͛̍̈̓̆ͥ͠f͖͔͎͔̞͔̙̓́̾̐f͆̾̎ͮ͂̆͆ͦ̌͜͏̮͞█͓ͨͭͩ̌̋͆͠█̶̨̰̻̗̻̳̝̠̜̗̽͌ͤ͆̒̏̕█͓͓̦̬̘̄ͣ̄ͧ̍̐ͤͅņ̛̞̽ͪ̀̈́̓͂̾̕█̲̤͔͖̍̄̎̂ͭ̾̑.
I'd… I'd felt this before… back when I'd first been initiated into the [Truth]. On my first mystery play, my first journey into the arcane, when Yuko had forcefully opened my eyes and Awakened me to magic… it was like that, only on such a grander scale…
The setting sun passed beneath the tops of the trees, and like a switch being thrown, the moment of realization was gone. The wonder and awe and Knowing crushed beneath the weight of perspective. I tore my way free from the sight.
A shuddering breath escaped me, and I wrapped my arms rightly around my waist, hugging myself to force down that feeling of terrifyingly smallness.
Tears were running down my face, and I had to scrunch up my eyes against the pain. I'd just been staring at the sun… ugh, like a fucking dumbass. Rubbing at my eyes with the back of my knuckles, I desperately tried to reorder my thoughts, "This the right place?"
There was no response, and blinking blearily, I looked around, half expecting Tlacotl to have had not come with me or something… but instead, the burly Dragon King was looking down at me with a strange expression.
The after-image of the [Daystar] was still burned into my retinas, so I couldn't make her out properly, even ignoring the blurring of my tears, "… Tlacotl? What is it?"
"That…" she started, but after a moment, she shook her head, "It's nothing. This is the right place. The manse was damaged by the passage of time and the growth of the wildlife, but it will not take too much effort to rebuild…"
"We're on an uncapped demense now…?" Demense's, in the lore of Exalted, were the places where energy pooled, where it welled up in enormous amounts. In a world of magic, they were the places of Power. While only some of them were a 'big deal' so to speak, apparently they were a big deal to me. Eesh. "No wonder I spaced out…"
"It is your first time in an uncapped demense?"
I shook my head, "No, but none this powerful. It caught me off guard, especially after being in the Underworld."
Technically true, hell, mostly true honestly. But it didn't really capture the fact that I was from another reality and not used to the absurd power surging through places such as this.
Tlacotl just nodded, "It is a demense of the fourth degree, so such a thing isn't unheard of…"
I finally took the time to look at the actual place we'd appeared in, a mirror of the previous place. But whereas that one had been perfectly preserved, seeming more like a tropical island with a chill wind… this was almost like an overgrown rainforest. The same basic structures, rings of towers and a set of pyramids around a central circle… but trees grew out of some of the towers, all of them crawling with moss, and some of the structures covered in vines… and on every plant there were these strange blooms… that actually glowed in the dim light. They just resonated with power…
"I'm sorry that your old home is in such a state." I said, after a moment.
She paused, looking at me, "It's alright, we expected as much. It will be difficult for us to repair, but in time, we shall do so. Thank you."
Okay, gotta admit, that felt good. I smiled warmly up at her, enjoying the pleasant little tingles in my chest, a good contrast to the almost electric power of this place, "You're welcome."
"Kenobi!"
Secret's voice made me turn around, looking back through the gate. She was still standing beside Rambena, both of them watching us cautiously, as were the other, more distant Dragon Kings on the other side of the gate. "Yeah?" I hollered back.
"Everything okay?"
I gave her a thumbs up, "Doing fine! Tlacotl and I were just having a moment is all!"
The large, purple Dragon King gave me a glare, "Did you have to say that?"
"Yes?" I grinned up at her cheekily, significantly more comfortable with her now even as she growled unhappily.
With a pleased little smile, I turned back to the portal fully, "Right, I'll do some fiddling to make sure the runes don't get messed up. If they're broken the spell itself will break and I'll need to reinforce them to ensure that doesn't happen."
"Kenobi-Amiliki."
I paused mid-turn, "Yeah-?" Massive arms reached for me-?! My arms snapped up towards a defensive stance almost reflesively as the massive arms–
Passed right through me.
Tlacotl and I both blinked a few times as the Dragon King's attempt to pull me into a quite possibly literally bone crushing hug failed spectacularly.
"… oh. Right. Ghost. Creation. You're intangible by default." Hell, I could probably only see here because my Mage Sight was open…
The purple Dragon King scowled, "This may be problematic."
"Really gonna damp down on those strangling plans huh?" I snarked with a grin.
Her scowl deepened, "Keep it up and it might."
I grinned, heading back towards the gateway hanging in the air, "I'll get to work then."
"Kenobi-Amiliki. Again… thank you. You cannot understand how much this means to us." She didn't turn fully, looking out into the forest, "It is as Rambena said… we can never truly repay you for helping us save the soul of our people."
The smile I gave this time was much smaller, much more subdued, but… deeper all the same, "You're welcome."
Hear that guys? That was the sound of Exalted canon shattering into a thousand pieces. The Sidereals and Pattern Spiders are going to be wondering WTF just happened.
"There are five trials one must overcome to learn sorcery." Rambena rasped, "To go on a Journey, to learn Humility, to find Tutelage, to overcome Fear, and to make a Sacrifice."
That where you're wrong. In your own way, you're an impressive being: you're a mortal who can go toe to toe with exalts... At least for a few instants.
A full body shiver went through me, my eyes closing in a brief, desperate bid to keep out the sudden onslaught of [Power] and [Essence] and [Fate] and so many other things that my Mage Sight revealed to me.
Hear that guys? That was the sound of Exalted canon shattering into a thousand pieces. The Sidereals and Pattern Spiders are going to be wondering WTF just happened.
Hear that guys? That was the sound of Exalted canon shattering into a thousand pieces. The Sidereals and Pattern Spiders are going to be wondering WTF just happened.
I was Ṭ͈̭̩̄̌͑̄̔̈́̚ͅ█̶̨ͥ͂̍͗͏͉͖̲͚̺█̡̢̞̱͕͉̬͎̦̮̓̒̎̋ͅ ͕͔̗̑̌̉̈̽̌̚̚͠B̹̼̮͍̤̫̥̲̞̐̄͛͆͂̓̽█̧̟̩̳͇̤͔̑ͦͧͭ̈̽ͧ́█͚̭͖̤̙̬͓ͪv̸̼͉͆̅̏͂̏ͫ̊̓̿͢█̪ͮ̔̿͑̒ͩ̐͢ ̰̖̱͎̮̞̠̬͊͑͑̍̄́ͯͩ͟█̷̛̺͇̼̙̪̱͓ͬ̎ͩ̄ͪ̇̄͘█̆̅̀͋͗̃̽͟҉̶̻͍█ͯͤͮ̚͏̨̛̥̞͍█̡̳͓̪̣̙ͬ͑͒̎̿̊̓ͨ͠█͇̙̩͇͖̖̫́̈̇̍͐̓̌̍̕█̟͔̳̓̃͘͞█̆͏̨̞̗̮̞̭̫̰ͅ█̷̱̦̓̔̊ͫ͌̉̂́͠█̶̗̟̑̉ͫ͒͒̕͢█̜̘͚̣̑͊ͪ̀̕͜█̆̆҉̟͙̘͙͉̲̟̺̭͟█̧̖̠̯̤͖͈̮̥̎̄̽͟͜█̒͏̨̩̘̀ ̛͙͇͉̀ͪ̅̀͒̒͆ͯ█̨͎̤̱̭̤̟̯̣̃u̟̬̫͔̣̜͙͙̇͛ͩ̃͋͑ͨͧ█̡̫̯̘̖̮͌̿͑͛ͧͩͨ́̚͜█ͭ͆̊̾͏͓͕̖͞█̶̳̝̖̱̎̍█̛̜͉̱̬̻̙̔n͎̹̗̔̂̇ͧ͆ͩ̈́ͪ̇́͟͠t̶̢͇̞̗̂̐ͩ̿̑͘█̝̣̞͙̓̓͞█̧̡̰͓̇̌ͬ̃̅̐̕ͅ ̴̢̗̹̯͚͇̗̂̆̒͂̈́͠█̘̞͓̪͗ͩ̅͜͞f̝̥͈̝͇̙ͭͨ͋̂̎̉͊͟ ̪̤͎̦̭̯͖̬̊ͪ̒̐ͦͯ̀͢█͇̉̎̑͡u̜̰̩̩̮̯͔͉ͦ͛̍̈̓̆ͥ͠f͖͔͎͔̞͔̙̓́̾̐f͆̾̎ͮ͂̆͆ͦ̌͜͏̮͞█͓ͨͭͩ̌̋͆͠█̶̨̰̻̗̻̳̝̠̜̗̽͌ͤ͆̒̏̕█͓͓̦̬̘̄ͣ̄ͧ̍̐ͤͅņ̛̞̽ͪ̀̈́̓͂̾̕█̲̤͔͖̍̄̎̂ͭ̾̑.
Its basically his power level. Just know that Kenobi going up in Gnosis is both a good and bad thing. Good in that he can use and store more mana along with a slew of other goodies. As well as gaining access to higher levels of magic.
For example. A starting PC begins at Gnosis 1. They can increase up to 3 by spending a lot of their starting XP. Gnosis 5 is considered the highest level that a standard PC will get. Any higher than that, shit starts getting cosmic. You become an Archmage and then things get... weird.
Bad as in Paradox can hit him harder along with some other unpleasantness.
Sorry for the incomplete explanation. Its been ages since I've read the M:TA books. So I might not be 100% accurate. But that's the general gist of it.
I think... It's because he just created a permanent gate between the Underworld and Creation WITHOUT creating a shadowland. Up until now, there was ALWAYS a shadowland in such a case.
The other thing is he just "reactivated" the fate of Dragon-kings. It's not a bad thing, but the Loom of Fate (what is supporting Creation and the origin of Fate) must be working overtime and the pattern spiders (the administrative and maintenance staff of the Loom) must be acting like very busy bees.
Actually, I get T__ B__v_ _____________ _u____nt__ _f _uff___n_. What you've done, I think, is equate the circle of commas with a space, which it isn't - the Zalgo-fier just dropped it in the gaps, likely because it couldn't put it over a solid block. Second half is good, though.
So we've got The Brave _____________ _u____nt__ of Suffering. Capital S because this appears to be a title, given the capital B on Brave.
The second of the two remaining unknown words, which actually has letters, could be a fair few things, but there's very few that actually work with the given phrase. In fact, there's really only 'Supplanter' or 'Surmounter'. Unless there's an Exalted-specific word that I don't know.
That gives The Brave _____________ Supplanter/Surmounter of Suffering. One word left to find, which has thirteen letters. Unfortunately, there's upwards of thirteen thousand such words (amusingly enough), and I have neither the time nor patience to trawl through that list to find words that fit.
Actually, I get T__ B__v_ _____________ _u____nt__ _f _uff___n_. What you've done, I think, is equate the circle of commas with a space, which it isn't - the Zalgo-fier just dropped it in the gaps, likely because it couldn't put it over a solid block. Second half is good, though.
So we've got The Brave _____________ _u____nt__ of Suffering. Capital S because this appears to be a title, given the capital B on Brave.
The second of the two remaining unknown words, which actually has letters, could be a fair few things, but there's very few that actually work with the given phrase. In fact, there's really only 'Supplanter' or 'Surmounter'. Unless there's an Exalted-specific word that I don't know.
That gives The Brave _____________ Supplanter/Surmounter of Suffering. One word left to find, which has thirteen letters. Unfortunately, there's upwards of thirteen thousand such words (amusingly enough), and I have neither the time nor patience to trawl through that list to find words that fit.
Given context, I think "Surmounter" is more likely. I doubt the title would be Exalted specific, too, since it's based on his own Gnosis. Might be Mage specific, but I can't think of many candidates.
Gnosis is Understanding. An Awakened Mage gains more power the more they Understand the Supernal Truths and how those interact with the Fallen World.
Have you ever been the expert in a room full of opinionated but uninformed people? Think about the feeling you get when people say things that are false, and then others agree because they're 'common sense' answers. Think about the feeling you get when your voice is shouted down by the raw number of other voices. Then think about the feeling when you begin to convince people, when your voice begins to resonate and your points begin to click with the audience, and you feel you can make a change, to inform, to enlighten.
Multiply those feelings a hundredfold, and you have an idea what Gnosis is.
Gnosis is the power and understanding that drives Awakened magic. It isn't magic itself, but it's what's required to make things work. It's like gunpowder and a gun, it makes things happen.
Its basically his power level. Just know that Kenobi going up in Gnosis is both a good and bad thing. Good in that he can use and store more mana along with a slew of other goodies. As well as gaining access to higher levels of magic.
For example. A starting PC begins at Gnosis 1. They can increase up to 3 by spending a lot of their starting XP. Gnosis 5 is considered the highest level that a standard PC will get. Any higher than that, shit starts getting cosmic. You become an Archmage and then things get... weird.
Bad as in Paradox can hit him harder along with some other unpleasantness.
Sorry for the incomplete explanation. Its been ages since I've read the M:TA books. So I might not be 100% accurate. But that's the general gist of it.
Correction: Unlike the other gamelines, Mages don't really have enormous reasons not to go past Gnosis 5, and it's not linked to Archmastery. Archmastery is pushing your Arcanum ratings past 5.
While splats like Vampires and Werewolves in nWoD have decent reasons to avoid going past "Supernatural Trait (Blood Potency or Primal Urge)" 5 since there are inherent drawbacks, the only real drawback to Gnosis 6+ is the increased Paradox. Which stings, yes, but they also have more mana to mitigate the effects. It encourages a Mage reaching beyond their capability, the more they can do, the more they try to do. It encourages, subtly, acts of hubris that can bring about the mage's downfall.
A mage with Gnosis Ridiculous and just a little bit of Arcanum would have lots of raw power, but have little variety in the way of applying it. On the other hand, someone like Kenobi who has very little Gnosis but a frankly absurd amount of Arcanum may be lacking in raw power, but the variety of effects he can accomplish are staggering.
For example: A high Gnosis mage with Death 3 could have punched a hole like Kenobi did, but much more quickly, using a lot more mana to avoid Paradox.
Another example: A high Gnosis but 'low' Arcanum Mage could enhance their own mind and skills on the fly with the Mind Arcanum. Kenobi, with his much lower Gnosis but high Arcanum can create new skills out of thin air in his mind if you give him some time. But by combining the Time, Mind, and Prime Arcanum creatively, he can send his mind back in time to hitch a ride with his past self and cast spells into the past to learn the spells in spellbooks that he saw in passing, dispel the magic such that he doesn't actually alter the past, and upon his mind's return to the present is able to (literally) magically perfectly recall the magic that he saw in passing and cast spells as if he had those spellbooks in front of him.
I'd just like to say, I really like the visuals used with your spells. The magical machinery invoked really make me wish I was capable of producing fanart.
I can only really see him getting a Celestial Exaltation if he does some serious messing around with Fate (and possibly some Prime) magic to get himself one. Since he would technically count as a Outside Fate and possibly not a mortal as far as the Exaltations are concerned. But while a raw Exaltation is VERY powerful. It is also at its most vulnerable when separated from a host.
So while it is very unlikely for him to get some. If he is exceptionally clever. Finds some Sidereels or even one of the Maidens liking him. He has a chance. An exceptionally slim chance. But a chance none the less.
I think... It's because he just created a permanent gate between the Underworld and Creation WITHOUT creating a shadowland. Up until now, there was ALWAYS a shadowland in such a case.
That... could be a problem, actually. Creation has defences which Shadowlands trigger; nasty as they are, they stand in the way of worse things happening.
Remember the earlier scrying attempt; whoever was behind that (almost certainly an Abyssal Exalt or Deathlord) will be investigating the Dragon Kings' island before long. Given that the gate itself has to allow Creatures of Death and Abyssal Exalts through in order to function as Kenobi requires, any Deathlord would covet it immensely and invest considerable resources into 'securing' it. Which is a story that does not end well for the hapless Dragon Ghost-Kings.
That doesn't really matter. Exaltations don't care whether their potential host is Inside Fate or Outside Fate; Autochthon made both the Exaltations AND the Loom of Fate. Infernal and Abyssal Exaltations (cough Secret cough) are Outside Fate.
Vulnerable how? It's completely impossible to weaken or destroy an Exaltation by any means, so the only thing it would be vulnerable to is alteration - which has to at least maintain the power of the Exaltation, if not strengthen it.
Abyssal Exaltations are on short leash. Deathlol picks who gets it, usually. The only time where Exaltation have a "choice" is when the recipient isn't heroic enough. Then Exaltation doesn't click and peon dies.
Infernal Exaltations are too, on SHORT leash. To avoid random picking of heroic mortals ... it's carried by a demon sacrificed for it. To specific hosts that fill both criteria for Exaltation to click and bond, and other criteria that Yozis require.
Vanilla Exaltations were programmed to be more picky with unsuitable mortals. As in Creatures of Darkness or Outside Fate.
That... could be a problem, actually. Creation has defences which Shadowlands trigger; nasty as they are, they stand in the way of worse things happening.
Remember the earlier scrying attempt; whoever was behind that (almost certainly an Abyssal Exalt or Deathlord) will be investigating the Dragon Kings' island before long. Given that the gate itself has to allow Creatures of Death and Abyssal Exalts through in order to function as Kenobi requires, any Deathlord would covet it immensely and invest considerable resources into 'securing' it. Which is a story that does not end well for the hapless Dragon Ghost-Kings.
The ghostly Kings can't respire essence outside of the Underworld or a shadowland. Neither can Secret, for that matter, though she can just drink blood to regain motes. (Unknown to any Abyssal, Primordials provide five times as many motes as any other being should an Abyssal actually manage to get ahold of and feed from a jouten.)
