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magisteriaexe2024-04-09 09:42 pm
magisteriamods) wrote in magisteriaexe2024-04-09 09:42 pm
Magisteria Event 001: Training in High Rise Village, Part I
Welcome to Event #001! First of all, I want to say, I'm very sorry for the delay. This event ended up being quite a bit more thicc than I had originally planned, and even having given myself the extra time, it ended up taking longer to write and code and piece everything together than I expected. Turns out, writing all this by yourself takes a hot minute! I hope you guys enjoy. I will admit, there are two areas where I abbreviated for the time being: first, the Central Library does not appear here, but will instead get its own special player plot log post on the comm this month. Kind of a mini-event if you will.
Secondly, I intended to have the fire spirits monologue a bit more at the end... but again, time/length. So if PCs want to dig into their backgrounds or history, by all means, go ahead. I mentioned that we would be getting into what the ancient hero was renowned for. This can absolutely still be addressed.
Please note: There will be no TDM this month. This event can function as a TDM for prospective applicants. Just tag yourself as new character and/or new player if you're not in the game, and please be sure to familiarize yourself with the basic arrival and game details! This event is OTA and doubling as a TDM, but I do not guarantee that all events will be.
At the entrance to the Digital Flora Dome, your group encounters its mistress.
Otherworlders, Otherworlders…
Hehehe! We meet at last! Welcome, welcome! Gaze upon me freely, if you will! Rosalind, Rosalind, that’s me.
Are you all truly ready for the challenges that lie ahead? I just don't mean today, of course! I mean The challenges!
What are humans, really? Flesh and blood and bone. Able to be chopped apart with a firm blade. Able to be dissolved by acid, burnt into ash. Do you fear pain, Otherworlders? Limb loss, bleeding out? Perhaps not! Some of you are great heroes, after all!
But, you see, I needn’t ever suffer pain or degradation of the flesh. I needn’t even suffer the risk of those things.
Strength is beauty. Beauty is strength. And this body? It is one of absolute durability! Absolute resilience!
What is life? Where does it begin and end? Without the fear of pain, with limbs that last endless years, how would humans be different creatures? Would the “human condition” still be such? O, such questions! Do androids dream of electric sheep? Now that is something you may ask me!
In our city, the masters of technology belong to The Council for Technological Advancement. I, Rosalind, am a member of this body. Our leader is The Administrator. Perhaps in your world, you already know technology. Perhaps some o’ you even have implants of your own. But the leader of our organization is a being whose grasp of technology is absolutely transcendent. All of the Aetherium District, all wires, all circuits, all lines of code, hundreds of programming languages, millennia of development and projects, all belong to the mind of The Administrator, accessible within milliseconds.
Can any and all of you live up to that? We shall see.
Otherworlders who enter the Digital Flora Dome may feel as though they have entered an alternate universe where the lines of nature and technology blur at the edges. Throughout the dome’s interior, cybernetic flowers “bloom” in a manner quite reminiscent of “real” flowers, even down to the feeling that the air is being affected.
There’s a low rustling sound, as of leaves brushing against one another as a breeze blows through a forest, as well as a metallic hum. Some of the petals, luminous with the glow of industrial Bios, even drip with what appears to be droplets of dew. This digital greenhouse pulses with a feeling of energy – Bios, as if the life of real flowers and the life of their virtual counterparts have a sort of resonance, despite the one being synthetic.
A) Light Pattern Challenge
The neon glow of the flowers is gentle, pulsating. One by one, the blooms emit Bios-infused colors, each of such hue and brilliance that the radiance reflects off the other, currently more dormant flowers each time one brightens.
Otherworlders are informed that they must guide the Bursterflies through the pattern sequence: the cybernetic flowers, having been tampered with, have become eccentric and finicky about their pollination cycle. Each time a light flashes, it indicates which bloom must be pollinated by the Bursterflies. However, the pattern is erratic: one color may flash, indicating pollination. Then, that same color flashes, followed by the same, or another color, building a sequence of colors. Otherworlders will find that, should they pollinate the blooms out of order, the sequence restarts, with either a new color, or the original color.
[Note: Players are free to make up whatever patterns they like to complete this challenge, so long as the sequence is one they would consider to be reasonably complex.]
B) Vitalis Bloom
Once the sequence has been completed, an especially large cybernetic flower appears within the center of the dome. Rosalind informs Otherworlders of the unique properties of the Vitalis Bloom: when it blooms, Cyberseeds will implant within the Otherworlders. Does that sound weird or uncomfortable? Well, not to worry, she insists: you want your powers back, don’t you? These Cyberseeds will interface with characters’ circuits or tech adaptations, turning them back online with Magisteria’s own unique technology.
It might be a bit more startling for characters without augmentations or enhancements, as they will have bodily sensations that might be described as ethereal circuitry. Neonatal, unformed circuits: a sensation of the human(oid) body mingling with technology on some deep level, not actual cybernetic enhancements.
To make the flower bloom, Otherworlders must Synthesize the pollination, directing a tandem pollination by Bursterflies. This can be done through whatever mental/physical arrangement, so long as the two characters are in alignment. Synthesis is, after all, quintessentially cooperation embodied and represents perfect cooperation – something that, Rosalind and the others hint, is a big part of the Ideal in Magisteria, in both of the Institutions, including the CTA, of which she is so proudly a member.
Once the Vitalis Bloom activates its bloom sequence, Otherworlders will feel the Cyberseeds implant, accompanied by the burst of bright Bios. The energy manifests outwardly as light, hinting at their newfound connection with the new world that their bodies and energy are becoming a part of. The feelings occasioned at such a moment are not painful, but rather exhilarating and electric, and Otherworlders will feel their tech affinity awaken. In this state, they can proceed to the final challenge: the Neon Nest.
C) The Neon Nest
Although the Neon Nest comprises the final challenge for the techies and their Bursterfly companions, most may actually find it simpler than the preceding challenges, for Otherworlders who have activated the Vitalis Bloom will find that the activated Cyberseeds place them into a state of Synthaura, or temporary, heightened tech affinity.
This “enhanced state” could be described thusly: each Otherworlder will have an awakened sense of the technology within the room, such as the frequencies of the cybernetic birds. They will be able to distinguish among and pick out highly specific audio/video patterns – and, indeed, they will see/hear snippets of audio/video all throughout the room, as if these are being broadcast from the ether. It’s like one has tapped into some whole other virtual level of existence within/among the city.
Among the audio and video are illuminations, projection-like, of a shadowy figure with a skull-like face -- perhaps an android or AI figure such as Rosalind, but no, this is definitely someone else. The intruder? And among the audio, Otherworlders will be able to detect fragments, but the most significant is one phrase, a hissing, hushed whisper:
"Symphony of Disruption..."
And that, as well, is exactly what the birds are commencing with: a disrupted symphony, a cacophony which Otherworlders must use their affinity and technology to resolve.
A) Elemental Rune Challenge
First and most straightforward of the magic challenges: Otherworlders with any magic background, let alone one with any or all four of the elements, may find it exceedingly simple, but remember: the point of this is to initiate everyone, including totally ordinary normies, into the ability to use magic.
Each Otherworlder is given a rune corresponding to each of the four elements. Since today’s challenges are oriented around fire and water, each Otherworlder will need to seek out objects or items in/around the apartment complex or in the broader district which can correspond to these elements. People with canonical magical abilities who find the challenges easy may wish to seek more unique or unorthodox items/objects to correspond to the elements, so as to make the challenge more of an adventure. Even if the magic is easy, hey, you can at least enjoy the scavenger hunt aspect!
Once you have matched the rune and its corresponding version in the real world (whatever that may be; again, feel free to be creative!), an incantation will come unbidden to your mind, should you focus intently and should the match be successful. Reciting the incantation will awaken Magisterian magic within the Otherworlder, and each Otherworlder will feel a connection between their magical abilities and Bios, tethering them to Magisteria’s magic, a sort of oneness.
The magical output for this challenge will be small, though people with canonical magical abilities for the elements are free to play it as relatively larger than what those who are entirely new to magic are capable of outputting.
[ Just remember: in Magisteria, even normies have the capacity to achieve god tier powers eventually, so don’t get too cocky, y’all, nor should normies be in any way discouraged by any skills gaps. ]
B) The Sanctum
Once each Otherworlder has activated their elemental rune and awakened their spellcrafting abilities, they will have the opportunity to proceed to a place known as The Sanctum. It’s a chamber on the property of Evergreen Terrace, an area specifically for magic users to congregate and practice together, sort of a training ground.
The Sanctum constitutes a controlled environment for magic. Here, Otherworlders can interact with higher levels of magic, even if their output outside of this area is still smaller: they can interface with elemental magic within the chamber to engage in flashier, higher level magic for the elements.
[ For this challenge, players are free to create whatever “training ground” trappings they wish, so long as it reasonably fits the setting. They can train with other PCs or NPCs, participate on challenge/obstacle courses, and generally explore and have fun with the elements. ]
After Otherworlders have completed the initial training challenges, the fae twins guide you all through the streets of High Rise Village, to a unique specialty aquarium known as the Azure Vault. This aquarium, you are informed, is not the only one within Magisteria, nor does it encompass all its marine life – which, of course, the fae twins tell you is just as expansive as that of Earth, along with a bunch of creatures which definitely don’t exist on that planet, creatures which you all may find somewhat… unusual.
The Azure Vault is not the only aquarium in the city, no, but what makes it a specialty aquarium is its connection to the Greater Rune, also known as the Heart of Water. The goal here is for Otherworlders to navigate the aquarium and recover the Greater Rune.
A) In the Realm of the Majestic Wildlife
Before you enter the Azure Vault, Lila spends a great deal of time emphasizing how lovely and majestic the location is. Indeed, Otherworlders who enter will find themselves within a realm where the land and sea seem to blur into unfathomable oneness. At first, the experience is reminiscent of that of a normal aquarium in the city: Otherworlders walk in darkness through faintly illuminated pathways as, beyond glass exteriors, schools of fish, manta rays, and larger aquatic animals, up to and including whales, swim by.
Lila says she is going to perform the ”blessing of Thetis.” She raises her hand to her mouth and blows, exactly as one would blow a kiss. Bright Bios unfurls and sparkles – literal faerie magic – and before Otherworlders know it, the pathways they’ve been walking have blended into the aquarium itself, and they’re no longer standing on carpeted floors, but rather they’re all within the aquarium, amid the wildlife.
Yet there are no soggy clothes, no blurry vision, and each person can breathe just fine. Everyone is within the water, yet there’s no actual wetness. Congratulations: you’re practically a merperson, but without a tail.
This special enchantment, called by its faerie “blessing” name, allows Otherworlders to partake in the full glory of the Azure Vault. Within, the aquarium feels far deeper and more expansive. The glow of bioluminescent patterns wind like ribbons through the currents, and Otherworlders will feel a deep sense of connectedness to the life of the aquarium, even hearing the deep, rhythmic, powerful thudding of the whales’ hearts and feeling the pulse of primeval aquatic magic and the heavy presence of the ancient aquatic life within. Above, the ceiling shifts to a curved display that projects the ocean's surface, complete with shifting light patterns that mimic the sun and moon's passage.
In the moment, Otherworlders will feel a deep connection to the life of the ocean, and a deep and intense urging to respect the planet. Though you may not see them, you may feel certain that water spirits are somewhere within, watching, listening …
B) In the Realm of the Not-So Majestic(?) Wildlife
Unfortunately, this being Magisteria, the grandeur of the planet and its spectacular biospheres also naturally co-exist alongside a bunch of shit that is less mesmerizing and more just weird. As Otherworlders navigate through the undersea caverns in search of the Greater Rune, they will find that while most creatures give them a respectful amount of space, their presence really seems attractive to other animals.
Sea Bears aren’t so much “sleek and majestic” as chonky mofos; most manifest as bear/fish hybrids, but there are some especially chonky wave bears roiling with the waters. They emit low rumbling sounds as they swim towards Otherworlders, apparently finding you all highly friend-shaped.
The main obstacle Sea Bears present is that, because of their excitability, they congregate around Otherworlders, sometimes clogging the entrances through the cavernous tunnels and pathways amid the corals. Just a bunch of bear/fish chonks pressing against/down on all these Otherworlders trying to learn to be badass mages.
Fortunately, Otherworlders have been equipped with magical baubles which emit light and sound to distract the Sea Bears.
Another obstacle are the janky jellies, or jellyfish which can change color in reaction to the emotions of others. Their help is needed to access some areas, but should Otherworlders play the light pattern game with them, as the tech PCs played it with the digital flora, they will find the jellies will be quite accommodating as far as helping them through undeseas cavern "doors" that slide away as one traverses the aquarium.
C) Enter the Ember Hearth
Within the magic quarter of High Rise Village, there awaits another specialty location. Tall black gates open into a labyrinthine maze. Though the maze is brilliant with all the colors and hues and shades of flame, Otherworlders will not find the heat overpowering. This is because your fae mentor has provided a blessing/enchantment, so the weather within the Ember Hearth feels as mild as a summer day, with occasional hot gusts of air that sometimes slap the face, and even that is a pleasant sort of warmth.
The Ember Hearth is barren for long stretches, its walls ablaze with the soft gold of swords newly forged or the deep reds of wildfire or the shadow-streaked fire of the volcano, but the maze is experienced as invigorating, as if the Bios of the fire is energy itself and Otherworlders are absorbing it as they make their way through.
D) In the Garden of the Fire Flowers
As Otherworlders progress through the maze, the barren ground will give way to fiery flowers blooming amid the lava flows. The flowers range in colors and intensity, from autumnal hues to streaks of purple amid the curling petals. Amid the flowers, embers and ashes drift along the air. The enchantment is thick and even those new to magic will perceive it.
Otherworlders must guide the runes to brighten or dim the flowers, harmonizing their magic along the way. When a flower blazes or darkens, Otherworlders will feel increased connection to Bios and their cognizance of the maze will strengthen, helping them navigate to the final flower at the base of a miniature volcano.
Sealed by magic, the volcano is no larger than a tall tree. Its lava flows open like that of a hearth, earning it its name. Even this close, the heat does not intensify, and rather, there’s a poignant sense of resonance, as if the strength of the body and the strength of the fire are attaining oneness.
E) The Final Fire Flower… Brace Yourselves, Guys…
This final fire flower may not have a name, unlike its tech counterpart, but its revelation packs no less heat, so to speak.
At the base of the volcano, there’s a dormant flower. As with the tech challenge, Otherworlders must perform something which can constitute Synthesis to awaken this flower. You know the drill: there's a bright Bios burst and the flower blossoms to life/flame.
Congratulations! You made it! Now, Otherworlders get the fun of entering a sort of alternate realm at the base of the Ember Hearth.
This state is Ignus Conflux, resonance with fire magic. The Hearth trembles, and Otherworlders will feel a surge of connection with fire magic, as well as possibly canon powers for those who have them.
PVP bonus: Proportionate [for each PC] amounts of canon power will be returned, so people who want a bit of sport may have it here, as this sequence is a bit outside of time, like a dream state. Un-powered PCs can tap into the fire magic via Bios. It’s like a simulation, but with magic.
F. Ignus Conflux: Magisterian Fire Magic Reveals
The successful completion of challenges and activities will also awaken two other beings. The first is none other than the spirit of the Ember Hearth itself. It appears as a volcanic figure.
The second, you learn, is an ancient hero, and this manifestation constitutes an apparition... sort of like a recording one has stumbled onto, a trace of ancient magic within this charmed location. It's as though Otherworlders were supposed to encounter these beings all along -- and maybe you were.
Secondly, I intended to have the fire spirits monologue a bit more at the end... but again, time/length. So if PCs want to dig into their backgrounds or history, by all means, go ahead. I mentioned that we would be getting into what the ancient hero was renowned for. This can absolutely still be addressed.
Please note: There will be no TDM this month. This event can function as a TDM for prospective applicants. Just tag yourself as new character and/or new player if you're not in the game, and please be sure to familiarize yourself with the basic arrival and game details! This event is OTA and doubling as a TDM, but I do not guarantee that all events will be.
I. Meet the Tech NPCs
What's up, everyone? I'm Malik Patel, the concierge of Evergreen Terrace. Heard Atlas mentioned me. As you can probably guess, Magisteria has the best PTO packages in the multiverse, so yeah, I take advantage sometimes.
Hope you guys have been enjoying the city so far. Sorry that a lot is still closed, but like Minister Brennam told you, we're working on it.
So. Weapons and powers, huh? What's with you guys and coming into a new world seeking guns from the start? Even in Magisteria, there are people that guns could still trouble. We protect our citizens. There are also plenty of people your world's weapons wouldn't pose a problem for... and brother, let's just say you don't want to attract their attention.
Some policies and restrictions are put in place for your own protection, too. Of course, I know some of you are even more excited, hearing something like that.
You could say it's all about integrating our world's powers and your own... for the greater good. Even if you guys don't trust any of us on any personal level -- and we know we can't really ask that -- surely you can see our dedication to the city's well-being. That is the Greater Good, because the well-being of our city is the well-being of the whole multiverse.
Well... don't take it from me, though. Go find those answers yourselves today.
Sup nerds. You know the drill by now, I’m sure. I’m Ava Nguyen, head of the maintenance department at Evergreen Terrace. A little about me: I grew up in the provinces, but came to Magisteria to prove myself. I knew from a young age that my future was in engineering, and now I'm doing the proving. The suit and wings are my creations. I work throughout the district, but the proprietor of this complex pays the best.
Malik and I have a special project related to this city's tech, and it involves... butterflies. Cybernetic butterflies. Bursterflies. Why does such fauna exist? A good working theory is the Infinity Corridors have thrown our world's evolution a bit off-whack, but another theory is that some are the products of experimentation in this world's race to develop technology. Maybe both/and. Technology and scientific inquiry go hand in hand, though, and these Bursterflies do provide some learning opportunities, for both you and for us. So let's head to the lab, shall we?
Hope you guys have been enjoying the city so far. Sorry that a lot is still closed, but like Minister Brennam told you, we're working on it.
So. Weapons and powers, huh? What's with you guys and coming into a new world seeking guns from the start? Even in Magisteria, there are people that guns could still trouble. We protect our citizens. There are also plenty of people your world's weapons wouldn't pose a problem for... and brother, let's just say you don't want to attract their attention.
Some policies and restrictions are put in place for your own protection, too. Of course, I know some of you are even more excited, hearing something like that.
You could say it's all about integrating our world's powers and your own... for the greater good. Even if you guys don't trust any of us on any personal level -- and we know we can't really ask that -- surely you can see our dedication to the city's well-being. That is the Greater Good, because the well-being of our city is the well-being of the whole multiverse.
Well... don't take it from me, though. Go find those answers yourselves today.
Sup nerds. You know the drill by now, I’m sure. I’m Ava Nguyen, head of the maintenance department at Evergreen Terrace. A little about me: I grew up in the provinces, but came to Magisteria to prove myself. I knew from a young age that my future was in engineering, and now I'm doing the proving. The suit and wings are my creations. I work throughout the district, but the proprietor of this complex pays the best.
Malik and I have a special project related to this city's tech, and it involves... butterflies. Cybernetic butterflies. Bursterflies. Why does such fauna exist? A good working theory is the Infinity Corridors have thrown our world's evolution a bit off-whack, but another theory is that some are the products of experimentation in this world's race to develop technology. Maybe both/and. Technology and scientific inquiry go hand in hand, though, and these Bursterflies do provide some learning opportunities, for both you and for us. So let's head to the lab, shall we?
II. Basic Tech Challenges
All those who are participating in the tech challenges are escorted to Ava’s workshop, a domed building on the grounds of the apartment complex. Looking around, you see the gilded pupa of the tech fauna, as well as a table covered with an array of devices designed to interact with them. The devices are metallic and generally resemble joysticks, scanners, or medical instruments – something like that, and it’s these that Otherworlders are to use to coax out the tech insects.
When activating the device and coaxing the pupa out, there may be some feelings of vibration with the movements. The device and Bursterfly alike generate energy in, presumably, some kind of feedback loop.
A) Bursting Brilliance: Navigation Challenge
Once the metallic insects are airborne, other tech within the compound activates: crystalline structures appear on the ceiling, as if growing there. Vents open on the walls, revealing a wind tunnel which blows bursts of air into the room. Otherworlders are expected to hone their eye/hand coordination as they use the handheld tech devices to guide the Bursterflies in their navigation.
In the next room, the air crackles with electrostatic energy, as well as luminous bursts of light that dim into impenetrable shadows. Should the Bursterflies flutter into any of these obstacles, including the light or shadow, Otherworlders will lose points for the activity. If the Bursterflies encounter enough adversity to be damaged or fall from the air entirely and strike the ground (i.e. from the wind tunnel or the electrostatic field), they may need to be restarted via means of the tech device.
[Parameters: Each PC gets their own Bursterfly! However, for the event, feel free to control various ones or help others with theirs. Feel free to create details for the points or add other obstacles, whatever you like! ]
A) Bursting Brilliance: Energy Harvesting Challenge
Second, more long-term focused challenge: create a device which will harvest the energy of the Bursterflies. Learning that level of technology will no doubt open doors.
Initial Objectives: Record findings about Bursterfly energy levels on aXess Link devices/share findings about fauna/energy thereof, experiment w/piezoelectric materials and basic materials in the workshop, and build a basic circuit which can activate stronger energy levels from the tech fauna.
Result: Bursterflies level up and flicker with bright Bios.
Now that you have been introduced to the basics of the tech fauna, it’s time to go one step further. Ava and Malik inform the gathered Otherworlders that there’s a special errand awaiting them, one related to the Bursterflies.
In High Rise Village, Magisteria’s Business District, there lives an android named Rosalind Vireo, the proprietor of various floral stalls and displays throughout the city, including her main stall, Floral Convergence. She recently made a report to the authorities because she thinks someone(s) has been tampering with some of her flora and the associated tech fauna she oversees. Fortunately, this task integrates perfectly with learning about tech fauna!
As soon as all the techie Otherworlders are ready, it’s time to depart for the Digital Flora Dome and the Neon Nest.
When activating the device and coaxing the pupa out, there may be some feelings of vibration with the movements. The device and Bursterfly alike generate energy in, presumably, some kind of feedback loop.
A) Bursting Brilliance: Navigation Challenge
Once the metallic insects are airborne, other tech within the compound activates: crystalline structures appear on the ceiling, as if growing there. Vents open on the walls, revealing a wind tunnel which blows bursts of air into the room. Otherworlders are expected to hone their eye/hand coordination as they use the handheld tech devices to guide the Bursterflies in their navigation.
In the next room, the air crackles with electrostatic energy, as well as luminous bursts of light that dim into impenetrable shadows. Should the Bursterflies flutter into any of these obstacles, including the light or shadow, Otherworlders will lose points for the activity. If the Bursterflies encounter enough adversity to be damaged or fall from the air entirely and strike the ground (i.e. from the wind tunnel or the electrostatic field), they may need to be restarted via means of the tech device.
[Parameters: Each PC gets their own Bursterfly! However, for the event, feel free to control various ones or help others with theirs. Feel free to create details for the points or add other obstacles, whatever you like! ]
A) Bursting Brilliance: Energy Harvesting Challenge
Second, more long-term focused challenge: create a device which will harvest the energy of the Bursterflies. Learning that level of technology will no doubt open doors.
Initial Objectives: Record findings about Bursterfly energy levels on aXess Link devices/share findings about fauna/energy thereof, experiment w/piezoelectric materials and basic materials in the workshop, and build a basic circuit which can activate stronger energy levels from the tech fauna.
Result: Bursterflies level up and flicker with bright Bios.
Now that you have been introduced to the basics of the tech fauna, it’s time to go one step further. Ava and Malik inform the gathered Otherworlders that there’s a special errand awaiting them, one related to the Bursterflies.
In High Rise Village, Magisteria’s Business District, there lives an android named Rosalind Vireo, the proprietor of various floral stalls and displays throughout the city, including her main stall, Floral Convergence. She recently made a report to the authorities because she thinks someone(s) has been tampering with some of her flora and the associated tech fauna she oversees. Fortunately, this task integrates perfectly with learning about tech fauna!
As soon as all the techie Otherworlders are ready, it’s time to depart for the Digital Flora Dome and the Neon Nest.
III. Tier II Tech Challenges -- Electric Boogaloo
At the entrance to the Digital Flora Dome, your group encounters its mistress.
Otherworlders, Otherworlders…
Hehehe! We meet at last! Welcome, welcome! Gaze upon me freely, if you will! Rosalind, Rosalind, that’s me.
Are you all truly ready for the challenges that lie ahead? I just don't mean today, of course! I mean The challenges!
What are humans, really? Flesh and blood and bone. Able to be chopped apart with a firm blade. Able to be dissolved by acid, burnt into ash. Do you fear pain, Otherworlders? Limb loss, bleeding out? Perhaps not! Some of you are great heroes, after all!
But, you see, I needn’t ever suffer pain or degradation of the flesh. I needn’t even suffer the risk of those things.
Strength is beauty. Beauty is strength. And this body? It is one of absolute durability! Absolute resilience!
What is life? Where does it begin and end? Without the fear of pain, with limbs that last endless years, how would humans be different creatures? Would the “human condition” still be such? O, such questions! Do androids dream of electric sheep? Now that is something you may ask me!
In our city, the masters of technology belong to The Council for Technological Advancement. I, Rosalind, am a member of this body. Our leader is The Administrator. Perhaps in your world, you already know technology. Perhaps some o’ you even have implants of your own. But the leader of our organization is a being whose grasp of technology is absolutely transcendent. All of the Aetherium District, all wires, all circuits, all lines of code, hundreds of programming languages, millennia of development and projects, all belong to the mind of The Administrator, accessible within milliseconds.
Can any and all of you live up to that? We shall see.
Otherworlders who enter the Digital Flora Dome may feel as though they have entered an alternate universe where the lines of nature and technology blur at the edges. Throughout the dome’s interior, cybernetic flowers “bloom” in a manner quite reminiscent of “real” flowers, even down to the feeling that the air is being affected.
There’s a low rustling sound, as of leaves brushing against one another as a breeze blows through a forest, as well as a metallic hum. Some of the petals, luminous with the glow of industrial Bios, even drip with what appears to be droplets of dew. This digital greenhouse pulses with a feeling of energy – Bios, as if the life of real flowers and the life of their virtual counterparts have a sort of resonance, despite the one being synthetic.
A) Light Pattern Challenge
The neon glow of the flowers is gentle, pulsating. One by one, the blooms emit Bios-infused colors, each of such hue and brilliance that the radiance reflects off the other, currently more dormant flowers each time one brightens.
Otherworlders are informed that they must guide the Bursterflies through the pattern sequence: the cybernetic flowers, having been tampered with, have become eccentric and finicky about their pollination cycle. Each time a light flashes, it indicates which bloom must be pollinated by the Bursterflies. However, the pattern is erratic: one color may flash, indicating pollination. Then, that same color flashes, followed by the same, or another color, building a sequence of colors. Otherworlders will find that, should they pollinate the blooms out of order, the sequence restarts, with either a new color, or the original color.
[Note: Players are free to make up whatever patterns they like to complete this challenge, so long as the sequence is one they would consider to be reasonably complex.]
B) Vitalis Bloom
Once the sequence has been completed, an especially large cybernetic flower appears within the center of the dome. Rosalind informs Otherworlders of the unique properties of the Vitalis Bloom: when it blooms, Cyberseeds will implant within the Otherworlders. Does that sound weird or uncomfortable? Well, not to worry, she insists: you want your powers back, don’t you? These Cyberseeds will interface with characters’ circuits or tech adaptations, turning them back online with Magisteria’s own unique technology.
It might be a bit more startling for characters without augmentations or enhancements, as they will have bodily sensations that might be described as ethereal circuitry. Neonatal, unformed circuits: a sensation of the human(oid) body mingling with technology on some deep level, not actual cybernetic enhancements.
To make the flower bloom, Otherworlders must Synthesize the pollination, directing a tandem pollination by Bursterflies. This can be done through whatever mental/physical arrangement, so long as the two characters are in alignment. Synthesis is, after all, quintessentially cooperation embodied and represents perfect cooperation – something that, Rosalind and the others hint, is a big part of the Ideal in Magisteria, in both of the Institutions, including the CTA, of which she is so proudly a member.
Once the Vitalis Bloom activates its bloom sequence, Otherworlders will feel the Cyberseeds implant, accompanied by the burst of bright Bios. The energy manifests outwardly as light, hinting at their newfound connection with the new world that their bodies and energy are becoming a part of. The feelings occasioned at such a moment are not painful, but rather exhilarating and electric, and Otherworlders will feel their tech affinity awaken. In this state, they can proceed to the final challenge: the Neon Nest.
C) The Neon Nest
Although the Neon Nest comprises the final challenge for the techies and their Bursterfly companions, most may actually find it simpler than the preceding challenges, for Otherworlders who have activated the Vitalis Bloom will find that the activated Cyberseeds place them into a state of Synthaura, or temporary, heightened tech affinity.
This “enhanced state” could be described thusly: each Otherworlder will have an awakened sense of the technology within the room, such as the frequencies of the cybernetic birds. They will be able to distinguish among and pick out highly specific audio/video patterns – and, indeed, they will see/hear snippets of audio/video all throughout the room, as if these are being broadcast from the ether. It’s like one has tapped into some whole other virtual level of existence within/among the city.
Among the audio and video are illuminations, projection-like, of a shadowy figure with a skull-like face -- perhaps an android or AI figure such as Rosalind, but no, this is definitely someone else. The intruder? And among the audio, Otherworlders will be able to detect fragments, but the most significant is one phrase, a hissing, hushed whisper:
And that, as well, is exactly what the birds are commencing with: a disrupted symphony, a cacophony which Otherworlders must use their affinity and technology to resolve.
IV. MEET THE MAGIC NPCS
Lila: Oh, it’s you all! Otherworlders! Hello! You’ll have to excuse my sister and I if we’re not as good at cool speeches like Malik and Ava. We fair folk prefer to speak in poetry or riddles. But we faeries are a part of life here in Magisteria. Our people’s ancient wisdom is just as much of a contribution to this city as its constant pursuit of advanced technology.
I’m Lila, and this is my sister, Lyra. Our own elements are water and air, but we’ll be guiding everyone through the four elements.
Lyra: Oh… those butterflies. They’re so… [ She scrunches her nose, but before she can continue… ]
Lila: Hush, Lyra. Stop being a stereotype. I’m sorry… you see, to us, the use of industrial Bios and the … activities which have led to the existence of some of these tech fauna… well, our people don’t really condone them. To a lot of the races more associated with magic, you could say we have our own idea of environmentalism and how to treat the planet. What the CTA does, and what this city does with technology, sometimes goes against our ideals.
That’s why it’s not as simple as saying magic users and techwrights should just see eye to eye. Malik and Ava are our friends, of course, and we’ll work alongside them if someone threatens this complex or our city, but there really are ideological differences.
Anyway, we hope to be good mentors for you all. We heard some of you already had magic, so some of what we’re doing today might be easy for those people. We’re starting at a level assuming no prior knowledge, to be fair to everyone. But don’t get too sure of yourself… even if, in your world, you’re a powerful magic user, or even something like a deity… well, let’s just say there are magical bloodlines that can be traced back for millennia within The Order of Mysterium. What we’re starting with here are just the very basics, but don’t underestimate the members of our Institution.
I’m Lila, and this is my sister, Lyra. Our own elements are water and air, but we’ll be guiding everyone through the four elements.
Lyra: Oh… those butterflies. They’re so… [ She scrunches her nose, but before she can continue… ]
Lila: Hush, Lyra. Stop being a stereotype. I’m sorry… you see, to us, the use of industrial Bios and the … activities which have led to the existence of some of these tech fauna… well, our people don’t really condone them. To a lot of the races more associated with magic, you could say we have our own idea of environmentalism and how to treat the planet. What the CTA does, and what this city does with technology, sometimes goes against our ideals.
That’s why it’s not as simple as saying magic users and techwrights should just see eye to eye. Malik and Ava are our friends, of course, and we’ll work alongside them if someone threatens this complex or our city, but there really are ideological differences.
Anyway, we hope to be good mentors for you all. We heard some of you already had magic, so some of what we’re doing today might be easy for those people. We’re starting at a level assuming no prior knowledge, to be fair to everyone. But don’t get too sure of yourself… even if, in your world, you’re a powerful magic user, or even something like a deity… well, let’s just say there are magical bloodlines that can be traced back for millennia within The Order of Mysterium. What we’re starting with here are just the very basics, but don’t underestimate the members of our Institution.
Fae Twins Misc
Lyra: The lotuses... they belonged to that woman... [She just trails off, and they both look wistful.]V. Basic Magic Challenges
A) Elemental Rune Challenge
First and most straightforward of the magic challenges: Otherworlders with any magic background, let alone one with any or all four of the elements, may find it exceedingly simple, but remember: the point of this is to initiate everyone, including totally ordinary normies, into the ability to use magic.
Each Otherworlder is given a rune corresponding to each of the four elements. Since today’s challenges are oriented around fire and water, each Otherworlder will need to seek out objects or items in/around the apartment complex or in the broader district which can correspond to these elements. People with canonical magical abilities who find the challenges easy may wish to seek more unique or unorthodox items/objects to correspond to the elements, so as to make the challenge more of an adventure. Even if the magic is easy, hey, you can at least enjoy the scavenger hunt aspect!
Once you have matched the rune and its corresponding version in the real world (whatever that may be; again, feel free to be creative!), an incantation will come unbidden to your mind, should you focus intently and should the match be successful. Reciting the incantation will awaken Magisterian magic within the Otherworlder, and each Otherworlder will feel a connection between their magical abilities and Bios, tethering them to Magisteria’s magic, a sort of oneness.
The magical output for this challenge will be small, though people with canonical magical abilities for the elements are free to play it as relatively larger than what those who are entirely new to magic are capable of outputting.
[ Just remember: in Magisteria, even normies have the capacity to achieve god tier powers eventually, so don’t get too cocky, y’all, nor should normies be in any way discouraged by any skills gaps. ]
B) The Sanctum
Once each Otherworlder has activated their elemental rune and awakened their spellcrafting abilities, they will have the opportunity to proceed to a place known as The Sanctum. It’s a chamber on the property of Evergreen Terrace, an area specifically for magic users to congregate and practice together, sort of a training ground.
The Sanctum constitutes a controlled environment for magic. Here, Otherworlders can interact with higher levels of magic, even if their output outside of this area is still smaller: they can interface with elemental magic within the chamber to engage in flashier, higher level magic for the elements.
[ For this challenge, players are free to create whatever “training ground” trappings they wish, so long as it reasonably fits the setting. They can train with other PCs or NPCs, participate on challenge/obstacle courses, and generally explore and have fun with the elements. ]
VI. Tier II Magic Challenges
After Otherworlders have completed the initial training challenges, the fae twins guide you all through the streets of High Rise Village, to a unique specialty aquarium known as the Azure Vault. This aquarium, you are informed, is not the only one within Magisteria, nor does it encompass all its marine life – which, of course, the fae twins tell you is just as expansive as that of Earth, along with a bunch of creatures which definitely don’t exist on that planet, creatures which you all may find somewhat… unusual.
The Azure Vault is not the only aquarium in the city, no, but what makes it a specialty aquarium is its connection to the Greater Rune, also known as the Heart of Water. The goal here is for Otherworlders to navigate the aquarium and recover the Greater Rune.
A) In the Realm of the Majestic Wildlife
Before you enter the Azure Vault, Lila spends a great deal of time emphasizing how lovely and majestic the location is. Indeed, Otherworlders who enter will find themselves within a realm where the land and sea seem to blur into unfathomable oneness. At first, the experience is reminiscent of that of a normal aquarium in the city: Otherworlders walk in darkness through faintly illuminated pathways as, beyond glass exteriors, schools of fish, manta rays, and larger aquatic animals, up to and including whales, swim by.
Lila says she is going to perform the ”blessing of Thetis.” She raises her hand to her mouth and blows, exactly as one would blow a kiss. Bright Bios unfurls and sparkles – literal faerie magic – and before Otherworlders know it, the pathways they’ve been walking have blended into the aquarium itself, and they’re no longer standing on carpeted floors, but rather they’re all within the aquarium, amid the wildlife.
Yet there are no soggy clothes, no blurry vision, and each person can breathe just fine. Everyone is within the water, yet there’s no actual wetness. Congratulations: you’re practically a merperson, but without a tail.
This special enchantment, called by its faerie “blessing” name, allows Otherworlders to partake in the full glory of the Azure Vault. Within, the aquarium feels far deeper and more expansive. The glow of bioluminescent patterns wind like ribbons through the currents, and Otherworlders will feel a deep sense of connectedness to the life of the aquarium, even hearing the deep, rhythmic, powerful thudding of the whales’ hearts and feeling the pulse of primeval aquatic magic and the heavy presence of the ancient aquatic life within. Above, the ceiling shifts to a curved display that projects the ocean's surface, complete with shifting light patterns that mimic the sun and moon's passage.
In the moment, Otherworlders will feel a deep connection to the life of the ocean, and a deep and intense urging to respect the planet. Though you may not see them, you may feel certain that water spirits are somewhere within, watching, listening …
B) In the Realm of the Not-So Majestic(?) Wildlife
Unfortunately, this being Magisteria, the grandeur of the planet and its spectacular biospheres also naturally co-exist alongside a bunch of shit that is less mesmerizing and more just weird. As Otherworlders navigate through the undersea caverns in search of the Greater Rune, they will find that while most creatures give them a respectful amount of space, their presence really seems attractive to other animals.
Sea Bears aren’t so much “sleek and majestic” as chonky mofos; most manifest as bear/fish hybrids, but there are some especially chonky wave bears roiling with the waters. They emit low rumbling sounds as they swim towards Otherworlders, apparently finding you all highly friend-shaped.
The main obstacle Sea Bears present is that, because of their excitability, they congregate around Otherworlders, sometimes clogging the entrances through the cavernous tunnels and pathways amid the corals. Just a bunch of bear/fish chonks pressing against/down on all these Otherworlders trying to learn to be badass mages.
Fortunately, Otherworlders have been equipped with magical baubles which emit light and sound to distract the Sea Bears.
Another obstacle are the janky jellies, or jellyfish which can change color in reaction to the emotions of others. Their help is needed to access some areas, but should Otherworlders play the light pattern game with them, as the tech PCs played it with the digital flora, they will find the jellies will be quite accommodating as far as helping them through undeseas cavern "doors" that slide away as one traverses the aquarium.
C) Enter the Ember Hearth
Within the magic quarter of High Rise Village, there awaits another specialty location. Tall black gates open into a labyrinthine maze. Though the maze is brilliant with all the colors and hues and shades of flame, Otherworlders will not find the heat overpowering. This is because your fae mentor has provided a blessing/enchantment, so the weather within the Ember Hearth feels as mild as a summer day, with occasional hot gusts of air that sometimes slap the face, and even that is a pleasant sort of warmth.
The Ember Hearth is barren for long stretches, its walls ablaze with the soft gold of swords newly forged or the deep reds of wildfire or the shadow-streaked fire of the volcano, but the maze is experienced as invigorating, as if the Bios of the fire is energy itself and Otherworlders are absorbing it as they make their way through.
D) In the Garden of the Fire Flowers
As Otherworlders progress through the maze, the barren ground will give way to fiery flowers blooming amid the lava flows. The flowers range in colors and intensity, from autumnal hues to streaks of purple amid the curling petals. Amid the flowers, embers and ashes drift along the air. The enchantment is thick and even those new to magic will perceive it.
Otherworlders must guide the runes to brighten or dim the flowers, harmonizing their magic along the way. When a flower blazes or darkens, Otherworlders will feel increased connection to Bios and their cognizance of the maze will strengthen, helping them navigate to the final flower at the base of a miniature volcano.
Sealed by magic, the volcano is no larger than a tall tree. Its lava flows open like that of a hearth, earning it its name. Even this close, the heat does not intensify, and rather, there’s a poignant sense of resonance, as if the strength of the body and the strength of the fire are attaining oneness.
E) The Final Fire Flower… Brace Yourselves, Guys…
This final fire flower may not have a name, unlike its tech counterpart, but its revelation packs no less heat, so to speak.
At the base of the volcano, there’s a dormant flower. As with the tech challenge, Otherworlders must perform something which can constitute Synthesis to awaken this flower. You know the drill: there's a bright Bios burst and the flower blossoms to life/flame.
Congratulations! You made it! Now, Otherworlders get the fun of entering a sort of alternate realm at the base of the Ember Hearth.
This state is Ignus Conflux, resonance with fire magic. The Hearth trembles, and Otherworlders will feel a surge of connection with fire magic, as well as possibly canon powers for those who have them.
PVP bonus: Proportionate [for each PC] amounts of canon power will be returned, so people who want a bit of sport may have it here, as this sequence is a bit outside of time, like a dream state. Un-powered PCs can tap into the fire magic via Bios. It’s like a simulation, but with magic.
F. Ignus Conflux: Magisterian Fire Magic Reveals
The successful completion of challenges and activities will also awaken two other beings. The first is none other than the spirit of the Ember Hearth itself. It appears as a volcanic figure.
The second, you learn, is an ancient hero, and this manifestation constitutes an apparition... sort of like a recording one has stumbled onto, a trace of ancient magic within this charmed location. It's as though Otherworlders were supposed to encounter these beings all along -- and maybe you were.
"We were there during the first war..."
The voice is that of the Ember Hearth, though it is difficult to say whether it is addressing the Otherworlders in particular.
"When they came from beyond the stars. And the second war ... █ █ █ █ █
... even I, with the Authorities of a minor God -- even I cannot say that name. It still must not be spoken in Magisteria...
... when the stars trembled and began to wink out of existence, when the End approached and all felt the fear...
I was there... we were there. I, the spirit of the Ember Hearth, and Caelum Ignis, hero of the Age of Embers.
What do you ask of us?"
The voice is that of the Ember Hearth, though it is difficult to say whether it is addressing the Otherworlders in particular.
"When they came from beyond the stars. And the second war ... █ █ █ █ █
... even I, with the Authorities of a minor God -- even I cannot say that name. It still must not be spoken in Magisteria...
... when the stars trembled and began to wink out of existence, when the End approached and all felt the fear...
I was there... we were there. I, the spirit of the Ember Hearth, and Caelum Ignis, hero of the Age of Embers.
What do you ask of us?"
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