PERFECT
HEART OF CLAY - You choose to be, or are, defined by your sexuality. You define your sexuality. You are very protective of those you see as friends or closer; if you and a close ally are both in combat, you may call DODGE once per Event. In DT and Jaunts, you will be able to get easier results from those NPCs you are closer to.
COLD LIKE ICE - Your Crest is a tattoo or similar that must be bright and prominent on your body.
As long as it is exposed, you have an additional 1 Natural Armour maximum. It still counts as Armour for using KLUNKS, but counts as Hits for Healing.
In DTs and Jaunts, you are mostly unaffected by status effects and other harsh conditions, like dangerous environments.
REALMS;
FOUNTAINHEAD - HEDONIST'S STAMINA
You gain an additional Hit.
ARENA - GLADIATOR'S IRE
You can call SEVER with a weapon once per Event. You can only use this while you have Natural Armour.
If someone is unconscious, through 1 minute roleplay, you may execute them.
SHELTER - HOARDER'S BOON
You may take an additional Item.
SHELTER - MARKET AWARENESS
All from Shelter gain 5 Scrap.
GOALS
* MEMORY; Located on The Fountainhead
* MEMORY; Mend someone's broken romantic relationship.
* MEMORY; Fight and survive a difficult fight on behalf of a close friend.
ITEMS;
Big Weapon; Hammer
Tough Armour
IN CONCLUSION;
2 Hit, 1 Armour, 1 Natural Armour
1 SEVER p Event
1 KLUNK to STUN p EVENT
1 DODGE p Event
Two-Handed Hammer
1 Key
5 Scrap
Friday 30 June 2017
Example; Survivor
SURVIVOR
LOST IN THE RUBBLE - You don't know why <HUNTER> spared you, or if you were just collateral, but you are the only survivor from <BACKGROUND>. As such, you stand out amongst a crowd...
* Your Aegis, which takes the form of <Your Choice>, provides you with 5 Natural Armour. It still counts as Armour for using KLUNKS, but counts as Hits for Healing.
Your Aegis is very important to you, and you won't let others touch it.
* You can call KLUNK to STUN once per Event. You may only call this if you have Natural Armour.
* Your Aegis gives you the fluidity of the FISH. You can use RESIST against FEAR once per Event. You can only use this while you have Natural Armour.
* Your Aegis gives you the fluidity of the FISH. You can use RESIST against FEAR once per Event. You can only use this while you have Natural Armour.
* Your Aegis gives you the tactics of the FOX. You can call REND with a weapon once per Event. You can only use this while you have Natural Armour.
A target hit by Rend must scream in agony as they take a flesh wound; they lose no hits, but cannot do anything unless pressure is applied to where the REND hit. REND does nothing if the target still has Armour.
* Your Aegis gives you the tactics of the FOX. You can call REND with a weapon once per Event. You can only use this while you have Natural Armour. A target hit by Rend must scream in agony as they take a flesh wound; they lose no hits, but cannot do anything unless pressure is applied to where the REND hit. REND does nothing if the target still has Armour.
* Your Aegis gives you the ferocity of the MUGWUMP. You can call SEVER with a weapon once per Event. You can only use this while you have Natural Armour.
If someone is unconscious, through 1 minute roleplay, you may execute them.
AEGIS DOWN
When you lose all your Natural Armour, your defenses have been broken. You will panic; this can be running away, screaming, acting as if you are under FEAR, seek out protection, whatever you think is appropriate to show panic. This lasts the entirety of the time your Hunter is present and ten minutes after they leave. During this time you become very protective of your Aegis.
You will be notified if your HUNTER appears, and told that your Aegis is down, and reduced to zero Natural Armour. You cannot regain Natural Armour while your Hunter is present and until 10 minutes after they've left.
EMPOWER THE AEGIS
* Survivors can always consume Memories to learn personal Memories they have lost, rather than gain random information.
LOST IN THE RUBBLE - You don't know why <HUNTER> spared you, or if you were just collateral, but you are the only survivor from <BACKGROUND>. As such, you stand out amongst a crowd...
* Your Aegis, which takes the form of <Your Choice>, provides you with 5 Natural Armour. It still counts as Armour for using KLUNKS, but counts as Hits for Healing.
Your Aegis is very important to you, and you won't let others touch it.
* You can call KLUNK to STUN once per Event. You may only call this if you have Natural Armour.
* Your Aegis gives you the fluidity of the FISH. You can use RESIST against FEAR once per Event. You can only use this while you have Natural Armour.
* Your Aegis gives you the fluidity of the FISH. You can use RESIST against FEAR once per Event. You can only use this while you have Natural Armour.
* Your Aegis gives you the tactics of the FOX. You can call REND with a weapon once per Event. You can only use this while you have Natural Armour.
A target hit by Rend must scream in agony as they take a flesh wound; they lose no hits, but cannot do anything unless pressure is applied to where the REND hit. REND does nothing if the target still has Armour.
* Your Aegis gives you the tactics of the FOX. You can call REND with a weapon once per Event. You can only use this while you have Natural Armour. A target hit by Rend must scream in agony as they take a flesh wound; they lose no hits, but cannot do anything unless pressure is applied to where the REND hit. REND does nothing if the target still has Armour.
* Your Aegis gives you the ferocity of the MUGWUMP. You can call SEVER with a weapon once per Event. You can only use this while you have Natural Armour.
If someone is unconscious, through 1 minute roleplay, you may execute them.
AEGIS DOWN
When you lose all your Natural Armour, your defenses have been broken. You will panic; this can be running away, screaming, acting as if you are under FEAR, seek out protection, whatever you think is appropriate to show panic. This lasts the entirety of the time your Hunter is present and ten minutes after they leave. During this time you become very protective of your Aegis.
You will be notified if your HUNTER appears, and told that your Aegis is down, and reduced to zero Natural Armour. You cannot regain Natural Armour while your Hunter is present and until 10 minutes after they've left.
EMPOWER THE AEGIS
* Survivors can always consume Memories to learn personal Memories they have lost, rather than gain random information.
* Survivors can use Memories to gain extra Hits, Dodges, or uses of FEAR
* Survivors use Hopes to add new abilities to their Aegis, including more Natural Armour, Klunks, or RESIST.
* Embracing Personal Hope, the Survivor learns of their past, their survival, and his to defeat the Hunter. The Aegis' restriction is broken, the Survivor is no longer weakened by the Hunter, and with new knowledge they can seek out and destroy the Hunter
REALMS;
FOUNTAINHEAD - HEDONIST'S STAMINA
You gain an additional Hit.
FORGETTING - PRIMAL SCREAM
You can call FEAR once per Event. Roleplay your bubbling emotions and then scream FEAR! You must point at an immediate target if it is unclear. They must cower compliantly or run away, and can't approach you for 10 minutes.
BALANCE - PAIN IN ART
You can call FEAR once per Event. Roleplay your bubbling emotions and then scream FEAR! You must point at an immediate target if it is unclear. They must cower compliantly or run away, and can't approach you for 10 minutes.
GOALS
* MEMORY; Located on Netzach.
* MEMORY; Located on Tiferet
* MEMORY; Ensure your Hunter is unaware you were ever in the Shard.
ITEMS;
Basic Weapon; Axe
Basic Armour
IN CONCLUSION;
2 Hit, 1 Armour, 5 Natural Armour
1 SEVER p Event
2 REND p Event
2 FEAR p Event
1 KLUNK to STUN p EVENT
Sword
1 Key.
* Survivors use Hopes to add new abilities to their Aegis, including more Natural Armour, Klunks, or RESIST.
* Embracing Personal Hope, the Survivor learns of their past, their survival, and his to defeat the Hunter. The Aegis' restriction is broken, the Survivor is no longer weakened by the Hunter, and with new knowledge they can seek out and destroy the Hunter
REALMS;
FOUNTAINHEAD - HEDONIST'S STAMINA
You gain an additional Hit.
FORGETTING - PRIMAL SCREAM
You can call FEAR once per Event. Roleplay your bubbling emotions and then scream FEAR! You must point at an immediate target if it is unclear. They must cower compliantly or run away, and can't approach you for 10 minutes.
BALANCE - PAIN IN ART
You can call FEAR once per Event. Roleplay your bubbling emotions and then scream FEAR! You must point at an immediate target if it is unclear. They must cower compliantly or run away, and can't approach you for 10 minutes.
GOALS
* MEMORY; Located on Netzach.
* MEMORY; Located on Tiferet
* MEMORY; Ensure your Hunter is unaware you were ever in the Shard.
ITEMS;
Basic Weapon; Axe
Basic Armour
IN CONCLUSION;
2 Hit, 1 Armour, 5 Natural Armour
1 SEVER p Event
2 REND p Event
2 FEAR p Event
1 KLUNK to STUN p EVENT
Sword
1 Key.
Thursday 29 June 2017
Example; Paragon
PARAGON
CRANE'S POEM; You are on a quest to overthrow a mighty monster...
* Can call SEVER with Relic once per Event.
If someone is unconscious, through 1 minute roleplay, you may execute them.
* You gain 1 Hit.
RELIC; An Axe. KLUNK to DESTROY once per Event.
All Relics are over 36".
HAMMER OF PIGEONS; Can call SEVER with Relic once per Event.
If someone is unconscious, through 1 minute roleplay, you may execute them.
EMPOWER THE RELIC
* Paragons can use Memories to gain more uses of SEVER!, STUN!, REND! or DESTROY!
CRANE'S POEM; You are on a quest to overthrow a mighty monster...
* Can call SEVER with Relic once per Event.
If someone is unconscious, through 1 minute roleplay, you may execute them.
* You gain 1 Hit.
RELIC; An Axe. KLUNK to DESTROY once per Event.
All Relics are over 36".
HAMMER OF PIGEONS; Can call SEVER with Relic once per Event.
If someone is unconscious, through 1 minute roleplay, you may execute them.
EMPOWER THE RELIC
* Paragons can use Memories to gain more uses of SEVER!, STUN!, REND! or DESTROY!
* Paragons can use Memories to heal themselves, cleansing anything malignant and gaining extra Hits.
* Paragons use Hopes to permanently improve their Relic's damage capabilities.
* Embracing Personal Hope creates a unique empowered link between Paragon and Relic, revealing the truth and embracing destiny, resulting in devastating heroic powers.
REALMS;
ARENA - BERZERK RAGE
Once per Event, when you are reduced to 0 Hits, you may roar with rage for five seconds. If you do, regain all hits and recover any calls of SEVER & RESIST. Until you are reduced to 0 Hits again, you are incandescent with rage; you will attack anyone in your way indiscriminately. When you are again educed to zero Hits, you lose all unused SEVER & RESIST calls.
FORGETTING - FIGHT THE DARKNESS
Can call RESIST! to FEAR! once per Event.
If someone uses TERROR! you may choose to roleplay FEAR, steadily back away, or stand on the spot fighting the urge to run for 10 Seconds.
SHELTER - TEND WITH MERCY
With 5 Minutes appropriate roleplay, you may heal someone other than yourself back to full hits.
You may reduce this by a minute, to a minimum of 1, for each Emotion spent in addition; roleplay feeling this emotion for each spent.
SHELTER - MARKET AWARENESS
All from Shelter gain 5 Scrap.
CRANE'S POEM QUEST
<Enemy Monster> lives in <Realm>. They are protected by <?>. You will need to <?> to get to them / get their attention.
* MEMORY; Located on Arena
* MEMORY; You will need to win a duel without ever losing armour or a hit.
* MEMORY; You will need to win a duel without ever landing a blow.
ITEMS
Heavy Armour
IN CONCLUSION;
2 Hit, 2 Armour
1 RESIST p Event
2 SEVER p Event
RELIC weapon
1 Key
5 Scrap
* Embracing Personal Hope creates a unique empowered link between Paragon and Relic, revealing the truth and embracing destiny, resulting in devastating heroic powers.
REALMS;
ARENA - BERZERK RAGE
Once per Event, when you are reduced to 0 Hits, you may roar with rage for five seconds. If you do, regain all hits and recover any calls of SEVER & RESIST. Until you are reduced to 0 Hits again, you are incandescent with rage; you will attack anyone in your way indiscriminately. When you are again educed to zero Hits, you lose all unused SEVER & RESIST calls.
FORGETTING - FIGHT THE DARKNESS
Can call RESIST! to FEAR! once per Event.
If someone uses TERROR! you may choose to roleplay FEAR, steadily back away, or stand on the spot fighting the urge to run for 10 Seconds.
SHELTER - TEND WITH MERCY
With 5 Minutes appropriate roleplay, you may heal someone other than yourself back to full hits.
You may reduce this by a minute, to a minimum of 1, for each Emotion spent in addition; roleplay feeling this emotion for each spent.
SHELTER - MARKET AWARENESS
All from Shelter gain 5 Scrap.
CRANE'S POEM QUEST
<Enemy Monster> lives in <Realm>. They are protected by <?>. You will need to <?> to get to them / get their attention.
* MEMORY; Located on Arena
* MEMORY; You will need to win a duel without ever losing armour or a hit.
* MEMORY; You will need to win a duel without ever landing a blow.
ITEMS
Heavy Armour
IN CONCLUSION;
2 Hit, 2 Armour
1 RESIST p Event
2 SEVER p Event
RELIC weapon
1 Key
5 Scrap
Monday 26 June 2017
Thoughts; Twenty Oneiropelago Sleeper Concepts David Would Like To See From The 50s
Some characters David would be very excited or even over-the-moon to see portrayed in Oneiropelago. Feel free to email David if one of these grabs your interest!
All of these were born in the 40s or earlier:
* Lloyd Kaufman; Born 1945
Director, Gore Hound, Boundary-Pusher
Path; Pariah
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lloyd_Kaufman
* David Lynch; Born 1946
Director, Spiritualist
Path; Pacted, Seeker, Pariah
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Lynch
* William Burroughs; Born 1914
Author, Fantasy Realism Experimentalist
Path; Scribed, Pariah
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_S._Burroughs
* Iggy Pop; Born 1947
Godfather of Punk, Singer
Path; Singer, Skin, Perfect, Paragon
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iggy_Pop
* Lou Reed; Born 1942
Art Rocker, Gay Icon
Path; Singer, Perfect
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Reed
* Stephen King; Born 1947
Horror Author, Dreamweaver
Path; Scribed, Pariah, Pacted
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_King
* Brian Eno; Born 1948
Experimental Musician, Theorist
Path; Signal, Singer
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Eno
* Anton Lavey; Born 1930
Satanist, Occultist
Path; Pacted, Singer, Prince
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_LaVey
* Henry Kissinger; Born 1923
US Secretary Of State, Diplomat
Path; Prince, Pacted
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Kissinger
* Steve Ditko; Born 1927
Comic Artist, Randian Objectivist
Path; Scribed, Pacted
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Ditko
* Divine / Harris Glenn Milstead; Born 1945
Drag Queen, Gay Icon
Path; Perfect, Pretender
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divine_(performer)
* Bettie Page; Born 1925
Pinup Model, Icon
Path; Perfect, Pretender, Paragon
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bettie_Page
* Isobel Varley; Born 1937
World's Most Tattooed Woman
Path; Perfect
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isobel_Varley
* Marina Abramovic; Born 1946
Grandmother of Performance Art
Path; Singer, Perfect
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marina_Abramović
* Yoko Ono; Born 1933
Artist, Unfairly Maligned
Path; Scribed, Singer, Survivor
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoko_Ono
* Margaret Hamilton; Born 1902
Actress, Wicked Witch Of The West, Charity Advocate
Path; Survivor, Singer, Perfect, Pacted
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Hamilton_(actress)
* Liza Minelli; Born 1946
Performer, Gay Icon, Recovered Addict
Path; Singer, Pariah, Pretender
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liza_Minnelli
* Anne Rice; Born 1941
Vampire Author, New Age Gothic
Path; Pacted, Survivor, Pretender
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Rice
* Patti Smith; Born 1946
Punk Poet Laureate
Path; Singer, Survivor
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patti_Smith
* Vivienne Westwood; Born 1941
Punk Fashionista, Impresario
Path; Prince, Pretender, Paragon, Pariah, Perfect
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivienne_Westwood
All of these were born in the 40s or earlier:
* Lloyd Kaufman; Born 1945
Director, Gore Hound, Boundary-Pusher
Path; Pariah
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lloyd_Kaufman
* David Lynch; Born 1946
Director, Spiritualist
Path; Pacted, Seeker, Pariah
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Lynch
* William Burroughs; Born 1914
Author, Fantasy Realism Experimentalist
Path; Scribed, Pariah
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_S._Burroughs
* Iggy Pop; Born 1947
Godfather of Punk, Singer
Path; Singer, Skin, Perfect, Paragon
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iggy_Pop
* Lou Reed; Born 1942
Art Rocker, Gay Icon
Path; Singer, Perfect
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Reed
* Stephen King; Born 1947
Horror Author, Dreamweaver
Path; Scribed, Pariah, Pacted
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_King
* Brian Eno; Born 1948
Experimental Musician, Theorist
Path; Signal, Singer
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Eno
* Anton Lavey; Born 1930
Satanist, Occultist
Path; Pacted, Singer, Prince
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_LaVey
* Henry Kissinger; Born 1923
US Secretary Of State, Diplomat
Path; Prince, Pacted
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Kissinger
* Steve Ditko; Born 1927
Comic Artist, Randian Objectivist
Path; Scribed, Pacted
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Ditko
* Divine / Harris Glenn Milstead; Born 1945
Drag Queen, Gay Icon
Path; Perfect, Pretender
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divine_(performer)
* Bettie Page; Born 1925
Pinup Model, Icon
Path; Perfect, Pretender, Paragon
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bettie_Page
* Isobel Varley; Born 1937
World's Most Tattooed Woman
Path; Perfect
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isobel_Varley
* Marina Abramovic; Born 1946
Grandmother of Performance Art
Path; Singer, Perfect
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marina_Abramović
* Yoko Ono; Born 1933
Artist, Unfairly Maligned
Path; Scribed, Singer, Survivor
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoko_Ono
* Margaret Hamilton; Born 1902
Actress, Wicked Witch Of The West, Charity Advocate
Path; Survivor, Singer, Perfect, Pacted
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Hamilton_(actress)
* Liza Minelli; Born 1946
Performer, Gay Icon, Recovered Addict
Path; Singer, Pariah, Pretender
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liza_Minnelli
* Anne Rice; Born 1941
Vampire Author, New Age Gothic
Path; Pacted, Survivor, Pretender
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Rice
* Patti Smith; Born 1946
Punk Poet Laureate
Path; Singer, Survivor
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patti_Smith
* Vivienne Westwood; Born 1941
Punk Fashionista, Impresario
Path; Prince, Pretender, Paragon, Pariah, Perfect
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivienne_Westwood
Sunday 25 June 2017
Sleepers; Perfect
Perfects - Those who feel ties to the physical body, whether through image, strength, or sexuality. Their goals involve improving / changing their form, or promoting conflict / romance.
Perfects' gift is a CREST, an ever present growing image or tattoo. Different Crests, when improved with Memories, enhance the body differently.
Perfects use Memories & Hopes to give themselves extra combat abilities.
Embracing Personal Hope gifts the Perfect with their True Form, the revelation of their Soul's body, gifting them with unique physical qualities.
You choose from three different kinds of Perfect, each vastly different;
* Eyes of Fire; You focus on your looks & beauty, able to change the world with your popular voice...
* Hearts of Clay; You focus on your sexuality, able to help those you love...
* Hands of Iron; You focus on your fitness & strength, your body untouchable...
You choose five from below to improve your Crest.
You can choose each option multiple times;
* SANDOW; Like the Greek Ideal, you are sculpted to perfection.
* CLEOPATRA; Like the Queen of the Nile, you are clad in the armour of your own beauty.
* DE SADE; Like the Marquis, you leave your mark on this world, with body and words.
* NG MUI; Like the Martial Artist, you evade your enemy's blows with unnatural speed.
* MULAN; Like the Soldier, you have learnt to strike with purpose.
Ideas; "Farokh", a charismatic young man with a royal crest on his back, confident in his sculpted, pristine body.
"Wicked", a large, crass, torrid woman with Flamingo Crests, immune to society's norms and chains.
Sleepers; Skin
Skins - Those who feel a tie to nature rather than / as well as their own human form. Skins' goals involve rejecting their humanity, embracing their inner animal, or proving dominance.
Skin's gift is a PELT, a physical remnant of some greater animal nature. Donning it awakens the beast in both the pelt and the Sleeper.
Skins use Memories to boost their Pelt's bestial powers
Skins use Hopes to awaken new bestial powers in their Pelts
Embracing Personal Hope bonds Pelt to Skin personally, merging Sleeper and Beast into an enlightened monster of a species only they truly know.
At creation, you choose up to three kinds of animal.
You choose from three different kinds of Skin;
* The Superego ; You see your animals as equal to Dreamers, to be loved and respected...
* The Id ; You see yourself as a Beast beneath other Dreamers, a wild animal...
* The Ego ; You see yourself as a commander of Beasts, a king or queen of the wild...
You choose from three different kinds of Pelts;
* Blood of the Predator; Your Pelt is aggressive, gifting you calls and a violent personality.
* Hide of the Prey; Your Pelt is a survivor, gifting you hits and dodges, and an analytical personality.
* Plumage of the Winged; Your Pelt is a singer, gifting you Songs, the ability to use Emotion, and a Winter's manipulative personality.
Example
Ideas: "Iguana", a volatile topless young man out to smash the remnants of the Ornithocracy, with the calm poise yet volatile strike of a Street Walking Cheetah.
"Draven", a corpse-like soldier turned artist hung up on death, aided by the Crow wings on his leather jacket.
Sleepers; Prince
Princes - Those who desire to / need to lead, driven by a need / right to control. Princes need to create packs of many followers to support their majesty. Princes' goals include gathering a large number of allies, dethroning others, and staying in control.
Princes' gift is a DIADEM, a Crown of leadership. Diadems inspire fear, cause silence, spread majesty.
Princes use Memories to link others to their Diadem, protecting them from the Diadem's power.
Princes also use Memories to buff everyone linked to the Diadem.
Princes use Hopes to create Grand Diadems. These are copies of the previous Diadem, but the new Grand-Diadem ranks higher. Using these, the Prince creates a pyramid of power, which they always top.
Princes use Hopes to give permanent buffs to everyone linked to a Diadem, or empower the Diadem.
Embracing Personal Hope, a Prince embraces their past, why they were never on top, and now ascend for the pinnacle. An ascended Prince exerts authority in their chosen group, freely granting the abilities of one ally to another, or denying such power, at their behest.
You choose from three kinds of Prince;
* The Buzzard's Master; You use Fear & Silence to gain control of situations...
* The Eagle's Heir; You excel at combat to aid your allies...
* The Owl's Sister; You can sing and start with Ref-picked songs...
You choose from three different kinds of Diadem;
* Terrible Glory; Spreads Mass Fear & Silence
* Assumed Control; In Jaunts & DT, the Diadem wielder is always assumed to be the leader by NPCs
* Chains of Command; Starts connected to two other Sleepers
Example
Ideas; "Regent", a purple-clad aggressively feminine young man, obsessed with his own glory, his own followers and his place in the world.
"Iron", a dominating woman in a power suit and armour whose best intentions will trample over those who don't side with her.
Sleepers; Pretender
Pretenders - Those who change in social situations, who need to flow and adapt, or hide away. Driven by a need to fit in. Pretenders goals involving influencing others, or creating / wrecking friendships / romances.
Pretenders' gift is a MASQUE, face covering fetishes that hold information and abilities. Masques can be passed around and worn by anyone. In deeper parts of the Shard, simpler Dream-things see the Masques being worn as different to the same person masqueless.
Pretenders use Memories to place those memories inside the Masque.
Pretenders use Hopes to imbue new abilities in the Masques.
Pretenders also use Hopes to create new, simpler Masques.
Embracing Personal Hope let's the Mask embrace and merge with their Masques, revealing their need to hide or change. A Hopeful Pretender has the memories and abilities of many people, but with a singularity of purpose.
When you create your Pretender, choose from one of the following;
* Harlequin; You are a wily, mercurial manipulator...
* El Capitan; You are a liar and a convincing actor...
* Pierrot; You hide pain and vulnerability behind your mask...
You choose two personalities from five different options when you create your Masque;
* The Christopher; in DT & Jaunts, NPCs will believe what you say.
* The Ress; in DT & Jaunts, NPCs don't pay attention to you.
* The Pablo; the Masque provides Armour.
* The Titus; in DT & Jaunts, a moniker of your own choice is well known and respected or feared.
* The Isolde; the Masque provides Songs and the ability to use Emotion.
Example
Ideas; "NJ", a waif, a starlet, a sex kitten, a junkie, a girl looking for a safe world.
"Lucas", an emotional Singer and inspiring presence whose masque hides an internal darkness.
Sleepers; Pacted
Pacted - Those that believe they owe their existence to something else, Pacted hear the voices of some concept, some powerful being they sold their life to at some dark moment. Pacted struggle between serving their Pact and denying it, often at the cost of trust from their allies. Those dedicated to a concept, spiritualists, priests, addicts. Pacted goals involve contacting their Pact, serving it, pleasing it, or even denying it.
Pacteds' gift is a COLLAR, a powerful item of restraint. Through it the Pact gifts the Pacted abilities like healing or smiting, but can be used to remove power, or cause pain to the Pacted instead. A collar only becomes removed on death / leaving.
Pacted can use Memories to commune with their Pact. This is the Pacted's only direct use of Memories or Hope. While communing, the Pacted can give Memories, Hopes or items to their Pact in exchange for information or help. They may be gifted with new powers, especially in exchange for Gifts.
Embracing Personal Hope, Pacted understand their Pact intimately, rendering them immune to a Pact's pain. What they do then is up to them. With this knowledge, they can blackmail their Pact for ultimate power. Or sever their Pact entirely, destroying the Collar. This will anger the Pact, enabling the once-Pacted to design a counter attack. Or use this counterattack to draw power from the Pact and replace them.
When you create your Pact, choose one from the following;
* A Sacrifice ; You are your Pact's willing servant...
* Chosen by Fate ; You are your Pact's unwilling Servant...
* Connected by a Thread ; You and your Pact are intrinsically linked, in both directions...
When you create your Pact, you choose two descriptors from the following five;
* The All-Powerful; Your Pact is aware of your actions at all times, so knows not only when you are lying, but when you need aid.
* The Anarchic; Your Pact's demands follow no reason, as do their blessings.
* The Benevolent; Your Pact is kind and giving, but their demands are simple and numerous.
* The Judging; Your Pact blesses you when you smite their enemies.
* The Forgiving; Your Pact demands you forgive your enemies, and rewards you for such.
Example
Ideas; "Judas Booth", an animist and visionary deeply connected to the zeitgeist of the everyday world... Haunted by the five Woodpeckers who gifted him his spiritual connection in the form of his hearing aid...
"Curt Vile", ringmaster of the Circus of the Travelling Serpent, servant of Glycon's, The Absurdist Worm; Vile conjures stories from the aether, and praises Glycon for his gift.
Sleepers; Signal
Signals - Those who aspire to the future, who embrace technology. Those beyond the slow progress of the prison-like human form. Their goals involve inventing or bonding with ever changing, ever reaching technology.
Signals' gift is an EDGE, a unique device bound to them. Empowering it with Memories recharges the phenomenal device. They work differently to Winged Devices or Artefacts. Only Signals can use Edges.
Skins use Memories to recharge Edges.
Skins use Hopes to build new Edges.
Skins use Hopes to bond Edges to themselves, making closer to ascension.
Embracing Personal Hope either creates an Ultimate Edge, an embodiment of the Signal's aspiration... Or triggers "Singularity Ascension" in a Signal who has become one with many Edges. This enlightened Signal is more like a Source.
You choose from three different goals for your Signal;
* Improve; You use Technology to improve the world and others...
* Adapt; You use Technology to improve yourself...
* Embrace; You Are Technology, Or Will Be...
You choose from three different kinds of Edge;
* Strength from Silicon; Your Edge is an item of war, used to hurt or harm others.
* Climbing The Wire; Your Edge is an item of exploration, used to travel or learn.
* Born Of The Bomb; Your Edge is an item of improvement, used to heal or buff.
You then choose from a sliding scale how many uses it has versus how powerful it is.
Example
Ideas; "Kite", an imaginative woman clad in beautiful cloaks and robes, who sees technology as magic, and uses her staff to heal her allies.
"Vostok 6", a living rocket who sees self improvement as a way to explore the universe and gain a greater understanding of herself and... Everything.
Sleepers; Pariah
Pariahs - The outcasts, artists and eccentrics, those who feel removed from the world. Pariahs habits or interests cause them to be overlooked or ostracized from society. With no home to call their own, they have a knack for finding other worlds. Pariah goals involve acceptance, exploring new worlds, or discovering and activating new parts of the Shard.
Pariah start each event "somewhere else", gaining an insight of strange worlds before the others.
Pariahs ' Gift is a SKELETON KEY, a key that easily opens simple doors, and can always contribute to the Entrance's locks without being used up.
Pariahs can use Memories to forge Keys to open locks. Pariahs can do this cheaper than anyone else.
Pariahs can also use Memories to affect or understand Shard Mechanisms.
Pariahs can use Hopes to activate Shard Mechanisms.
Wanderers can use Hopes to open Locks other than the Entrance without keys - expensive but quick and effective.
Embracing personal Hope, Wanderers can discover where they belong, and why they are outcasts. This knowledge allows them two options - to open the Entrance with zero keys for them self or others, or create a doorway to The Place They Belong, becoming one with their new home. From here, they can choose to dismiss this door and be on their own, or keep the door active for others to discover.
When you create your Pariah, you choose one of the following;
* Rejected; Reality never wanted you...
* Ostracized; Reality never understood you...
* Pleading; You want Reality to accept you...
When you create your Skeleton Key, you choose one of the following;
* Thieves' Fingers ; Always counts as five keys towards the Lacuna.
* Saboteur's Skull ; Always counts as one key towards the Lacuna, and reduces the next Lacuna Lock by three keys.
* Explorer's Tooth ; Always counts as one key towards the Lacuna, and you start with the brief for another of your Personal Realms.
Example
Ideas; "The King", a cigar chomping no-nonsense stone-faced elderly gentleman with a mouthful of curses and a heart of gold. Through his doors, a swirling colourscape of twisting images and God like beings await, a Fourth World to be explored by the marvelous and fantastic...
"Ocean Child", an artist who travels through repetitive soundscapes and minimalist corridors, obnoxious sound and image coupled with peaceful intent, determined to hide from those who claim she "Ended the World"...
Sleepers; Scribed
Scribed - Those touched by knowledge, Scribed see and hear knowledge all around them. Often twitchy, Scribed seek an understanding of their life, of reality itself. Artists, scientists, thinkers, philosophers.
Scribed goals include learning new things, proving things wrong or right, creating new items.
Scribed' gift is a CODEX, a book of knowledge and an aid to crafting new ideas. Different info briefs and Artefact instructions are contained at creation. These Artefacts usually have one-use plot importance or are powerful weapons. Using Memories and Hopes, the Codex can be expanded.
Scribed can use Memories to "unfurl" another Memory, turning it into a powerful vision. This is then recorded in the Codex.
Scribed can use Memories and Hopes to craft Artefacts from their instructions.
Embracing Personal Hope, the Scribed is gifted Ultimate Understanding. They can use this Understanding to become a Source of knowledge, create an ultimate Artefact, or complete their Codex.
When you create your Codex, you choose one of the following;
* Mocker's Blueprints; Your Codex specialises in Artefacts. If you ask for a Brief, it will ensure you get a Blueprint next time.
* Wolfgang's Scratchings; Your Codex gives you what it thinks you need, when it thinks you want it.
* Lisabet's Notes; Your Codex Specialises in Briefs. If you ask for a Blueprint, it will ensure you get a Brief next time.
When you create your Codex, you choose five of the following (you may pick the same ones multiple times);
* Elsie's Scrawlings; the Codex contains a Ref-picked Song that you can sing.
* Warra Warra's Travelogues; the Codex contains a brief about a Ref-picked Realm.
* Lorri's Rants; the Codex contains a brief about a piece of Dream History.
* Mackarthy's Essay; the Codex contains a brief about a Source / Pact.
* Alfie's Whistles; the Codex contains the blueprints for a Ref-picked Shard Artefact.
Example
Ideas; "The Man From The Shack", a perennial outsider and hitchhiker, dressed in his pyjamas and dressing gown. His only companions are his towel and his highly helpful book...
"Magdalena", a striking, powerful artist whose magic-realism images pour out of her sketchbook; by drawing on her canvas pages, she calls forth the spirits of the universe to aid her...
Sleepers; Seeker
Seekers - Those who seek what they have lost / they need in their lives, their Treasure. Seekers are looking for clues to their amnesiac, forgotten lives. They are often surrounded by codes and cyphers. Archaeologists, scientists, philosophers, hunters.
Seeker goals include helping to find lost items, decoding clues, or even finding their Treasure.
Seekers' gift is a DIVINER, a compass or device that points to lost items or people. If asked a person / item's location, it will always say where it is. It cannot tell the exact location of a Treasure, but can hint.
Seekers can use Memories as extra dodges.
Seekers can use Memories with their Diviner to summon Clues. A Clue soon appears, and will need decoding. If unspecified what they are trying to find, the clue will hint towards their Treasure. Solved clues often summon forth relevant doors.
Seekers can use Hopes with their Diviner to summon a map. A map is full of codes and cyphers, but they are all relevant and in correct order to each other.
Embracing Personal Hope not only reveals secrets of the Treasure and its location, but solves every map and clue the Seeker carries.
The Treasure itself is a very very powerful Artefact, plot-relevant item, or key Shard Mechanism. You choose its origin at creation;
* Lost & Found; Something from your past that you lost...
* Ancient Treasure; A piece of Dream meta-history lost to the ages...
* Mythological Machinery; A piece of the Shard directly connected to you...
When you create a Diviner, you choose one of the following;
* Enigma; Provides Clues in the form of ciphers.
* Psychedelic; Provides Clues in the form of visions.
* Ouija; Provides Clues in the form of pictures.
Example
Sleepers; Smith
Smiths - Those with a need to be seen, heard, witnessed. Smiths are strange as they are gifted with the Winged ability of Song. Smiths' goals involve singing a number of songs, pleasing audiences, and changing the world through their song. Performers, writers, artists.
Smiths' gift is a LIBRETTO, a songbook containing a set number of Songs. All Librettos specialize in different subjects of Song, and those that don't always start with different songs to their contemporaries.
Smiths can use Memories to power and activate Songs.
Smiths can use Hopes to add extra pages to their Libretto, gaining a new Unique Song.
Embracing personal Hope, the Smith discovers their ties to Winged song. The Hope completes and empowers their Libretto, adding both a Unique Song and giving the Libretto access to all 25 basic Songs.
When you create your Libretto, you choose five of the following five (you may choose the same one multiple times;
* Maverick's Soprano ; A Song to aid allies...
* Mad Dack's Shanty; A Song to hinder enemies...
* Ophelia's Overture ; A Song to harness power...
* Pahl'Mun's Aria ; A Song to speak to the powerful...
* Coallus' Chorus ; A Song you never asked for...
And one of the following three;
* The Golden's Crescendo ; Your Libretto is connected to a being of great power...
* The Phoenix's Coda ; Your Libretto contains great, world changing power...
* The Gryphon's Underture ; Your Libretto is a mystery, cast away before it found its way to you...
Example
Ideas;
Almost any Singer or Performer from the second half of the twentieth century.
Sleepers; Survivor
Survivors - Those who still live after a near death experience, all Survivors are amnesiacs, trying to piece their shattered lives back together. Survivors are hunted by whatever failed to end them, The Hunter, whether it be another Sleeper / Winged / Other, a Dream creature, a Source, etc. The Hunter becomes a major antagonist / character. Survivor goals include finding their Hunter, protecting others, surviving further.
The player may be aware of what is hunting them, but we would like to enforce some mystery resulting in shock and heightened tensions.
Survivors always react in abject terror near their Hunter. This is to enforce a dynamic where the near indestructible Survivor acts as a heavy 99% of the time, but becomes useless and needs to be protected in that 1%. This creates a roleplay arc based on dependability, trauma, image, etc.
Survivors' gift is an AEGIS, a piece of their past life that offers them protection. The Aegis gifts the Survivor with many abilities and strengths, but stops working in proximity with The Hunter, after alarming the Survivor.
Survivors use Memories for personal buffs.
Survivors can always consume Memories to learn personal Memories they have lost, rather than at random.
Survivors use Hopes to add new abilities to their Aegis.
Embracing Personal Hope, the Survivor learns of their past, their survival, and his to defeat the Hunter. The Aegis' restriction is broken, the Survivor is no longer weakened by the Hunter, and with new knowledge they can seek out and destroy the Hunter
When you create your Survivor, pick one of the following;
* Lost in the Rubble; Of many, you are the only survivor...
* Trapped in the Web; You were targeted...
* Blind in the Dark; You don't know why you are hunted...
When you create your Aegis, pick five of the following (you may choose the same multiple times);
* Cockroach; You gain stamina..
* Bat; You gain foot-speed...
* Mugwump; You gain weapon strength...
* Fox; You gain weapon finesse...
* Fish; You gain mental resilience...
Example
Sleepers; Paragon
Paragon's gift is a RELIC, an otherworldly item or weapon that can be improved and empowered. It represents the Paragon's need to fight. Relics have personalities, needs, and feelings.
Paragons use Memories & Hopes to improve their combat skills.
Embracing Personal Hope creates a unique empowered link between Paragon and Relic, revealing the truth and embracing destiny, resulting in devastating heroic powers.
RELIC; A weapon over 36". Always KLUNK to DESTROY.
Must be unique or fancy in physical design.
You choose from three different kinds of Quest;
* ODYSSEY OF THE ALBATROSS : A journey that tests the Sleeper's hunting skills, this a fight where the hero must slay a monstrous threat, or take on something well beyond mortality.
* THE CRANE'S POEM : A journey that tests the Sleeper's fighting skils, this is a Quest where the Hero must defeat a villain and their forces, or fight through impossible odds.
* THE WOODPECKER'S EPIC : A journey that tests the Sleeper's endurance and willpower, this is a Quest where the hero stands up against an oppressive power, or must survive terrible ordeals.
Each Quest has three Milestones, followed by a Confrontation.
Each Milestone should be a Jaunt or a threat to take down. As well as any items dropped etc, the Paragon should gain a reward.
The next milestone should not be confirmed until the previous is completed.
Doing all three reveals the confrontation.
You choose Five from the below to empower your Relic.
You may choose the same option multiple times;
* MUSASHI; Like the Samurai, your Relic's blows are devastating.Buying this five times has an extra effect.
* LA MAUPIN; Like the Swordswoman, you are quick on your feet.
* BOUDICCA; Like The Queen of the Iceni, you are enduring.
* ALEXANDER; Like The Great, you and your Relic cannot be stopped.
* ROLAND; Like the Knight, your personal resolve and your Relic bring you back to your feet.
Ideas; "Sky", a young story-wright wielding a glowing blue sword, determined to overthrow an evil emperor and save a story so beloved it will be remembered for decades.
"Granger", a student "witch" with a handful of useful spells in her Relic wand... And a destiny whose story will equip all other attempts.
Realm; Kether Of The Crown
THE CROWN
KETHER
Kether appears as a giant stairway heading into a blinding light. No matter how many times you try, if you struggle with the stairs, you cannot climb them. Some ascend with no effort... And don't return...
At the base of the stairs is a small, unremarkable outcrop of rocks and pleasant trees & grass. Or a white room, with unremarkable furniture, with a remarkable floor pattern.
It is both.
The Concepts Hope, Magic & Tradition live here, playing chess & cards or talking quietly. Hope appears as a chipper, androgynous Winged in white & gold. Magic is a larger, bald Dreamer in a suit, and Tradition a lizardine Winged in many coloured plumage, usually crying in the corner.
Occasionally, they get memos from Upstairs.
Kether is a mystery.
It is impossible to understand it... Or is it?
* What It Represents
"Keter is so sublime, it is called in the Zohar "the most hidden of all hidden things", and is completely incomprehensible to man."
"The first Sephirah is called the Crown, since a crown is worn above the head. The Crown therefore refers to things that are above the mind's abilities of comprehension. All of the other Sephirot are likened to the body which starts with the head and wends its way down into action. But the crown of a king lies above the head and connects the concept of "monarchy", which is abstract and intangible, with the tangible and concrete head of the king."
Kether is the Crown, the final Realm to be understood. It sits on its own, away from the mass of the Realms.
* Roads
#0 Fool
#I Magus
#II High Priestess
* Indigenous Creatures
Other than Hope, Magic & Tradition, none.
* Population
Other than Hope, Magic & Tradition, none.
* Power Structure
Other than Hope, Magic & Tradition, and the Memos from Upstairs, none.
* Ties To Moonchild
Magic is waiting to meet the Moonchild...
* Costume
There is no costume associated with those tied to Kether. Mysterious, considering the other Realms...
* Choices for Character Creation
Those chosen by Kether are gifted with an understanding of elsewhere, gifted with a Brief of another Realm...
...or are touched by creation, able to Sing and gifted with a Song...
...or can ponder secrets, able to meditate for answers.
KETHER
Kether appears as a giant stairway heading into a blinding light. No matter how many times you try, if you struggle with the stairs, you cannot climb them. Some ascend with no effort... And don't return...
At the base of the stairs is a small, unremarkable outcrop of rocks and pleasant trees & grass. Or a white room, with unremarkable furniture, with a remarkable floor pattern.
It is both.
The Concepts Hope, Magic & Tradition live here, playing chess & cards or talking quietly. Hope appears as a chipper, androgynous Winged in white & gold. Magic is a larger, bald Dreamer in a suit, and Tradition a lizardine Winged in many coloured plumage, usually crying in the corner.
Occasionally, they get memos from Upstairs.
Kether is a mystery.
It is impossible to understand it... Or is it?
* What It Represents
"Keter is so sublime, it is called in the Zohar "the most hidden of all hidden things", and is completely incomprehensible to man."
"The first Sephirah is called the Crown, since a crown is worn above the head. The Crown therefore refers to things that are above the mind's abilities of comprehension. All of the other Sephirot are likened to the body which starts with the head and wends its way down into action. But the crown of a king lies above the head and connects the concept of "monarchy", which is abstract and intangible, with the tangible and concrete head of the king."
Kether is the Crown, the final Realm to be understood. It sits on its own, away from the mass of the Realms.
* Roads
#0 Fool
#I Magus
#II High Priestess
* Indigenous Creatures
Other than Hope, Magic & Tradition, none.
* Population
Other than Hope, Magic & Tradition, none.
* Power Structure
Other than Hope, Magic & Tradition, and the Memos from Upstairs, none.
* Ties To Moonchild
Magic is waiting to meet the Moonchild...
* Costume
There is no costume associated with those tied to Kether. Mysterious, considering the other Realms...
* Choices for Character Creation
Those chosen by Kether are gifted with an understanding of elsewhere, gifted with a Brief of another Realm...
...or are touched by creation, able to Sing and gifted with a Song...
...or can ponder secrets, able to meditate for answers.
Realm; The Palace Of Reflections On The Edge Of Forever
THE PALACE OF REFLECTIONS ON THE EDGE OF FOREVER
CHOKMAH
Chokmah, the Realm of Wisdom, is a sparkling, black-silver ocean. The chrome waves flow in slow, deliberate tides, like stills of oil paintings more than smooth movement. The Lacuna opens on an endless beach of shining dark jewels and ancient bleached alien bones, inspected by tiny, frail humanoids, devoid of any features, constantly inspecting and picking choice stones.
From below, the sound of enormous, thrusting machinery fills the ground with roars...
The sky twinkles with large, white "stars", resembling strange, enormous pale winged beasts held in the sky in slumber.
The moon is many times bigger than any "star", a circular bowl from which the dark waters fill the Ocean.
Many Concepts feel a similar strong link to Chokmah, venturing for identity.
* What It Represents
"The Hebrew noun chokhmah (חכמה khok·mä), also sometimes transliterated hokhmah, is the Hebrew word for "wisdom"."
"Chokhmah, the second of the ten sefirot, is the first power of conscious intellect within Creation, and the first point of 'real' existence, since Keter represents emptiness. According to the book of Job, "Wisdom comes from nothingness". This point is both infinitely small, and yet encompasses the whole of being, but it remains incomprehensible until it is given shape and form in Binah."
"In its fully articulated form, Chokhmah possesses two partzufim ("faces" or "features"): the higher of these is referred to as Abba Ila'ah ("the higher father"), whereas the lower is referred to as Yisrael Saba ("Israel, the Elder"). These two partzufim are referred to jointly as Abba ("father")."
"Chokhmah is associated in the soul with the power of intuitive insight, flashing lightning-like across consciousness. The partzuf of Abba Ila'ah is associated with the power to spontaneously extract such insight from the superconscious realm, whereas the partzuf of Yisrael Saba is associated with the power to subsequently direct it into consciousness."
"The "wisdom" of Chokhmah also implies the ability to look deeply at some aspect of reality and abstract its conceptual essence till one succeeds in uncovering its underlying axiomatic truth. These seeds of truth can then be conveyed to the companion power of Binah for the sake of intellectual analysis and development."
Chokmah is a strange, cryptic grey world representing Wisdom; unlike Understanding, Wisdom is not intuitive but must be sought after. It continues great power, knowledge and potential, secrets of reality and creation, but it is hidden and secretive, and must be sought out.
The Palace has two faces; An Above, and a Below. One that requires knowledge, and another that bestows it. This Palace has a significance, it is a progenitor that no one knows or understands...
* Roads
#0 Fool
#III Empress
#II High Priestess
#XVII Star
* Population
The dark & light creatures from the Palace.
No Dreamers, Winged, or other Animals.
* Indigenous Creatures
No Sleepers or other beings are native to Chokmah.
Concepts and Figments are drawn to Chokmah, wandering the beach and considering the ups & downs of entering the Palace, looking for answers to their existences.
Campfires of long dead Dreamers congregate on the beaches, exchanging ideas and observations about existence. Freud and Jung can often be found with Socrates and Plato, drinking and laughing as they converse animatedly on dreams. Ladies Shelley, Lovelace & Wollstonecraft can be found circling the Palace, discussing it's importance, dimensions, and future...
* Power Structure
None.
* Ties To Moonchild
The Moonchild has been seen on the beach, staring at the Palace...
* Places of Interest
On the beach, is The Palace of Reflections. A colossal geometric black glass diamond that dominates the skyline. Inside the mind-defyingly enormous structure - accessible via spiralling, cut-glass tunnels - millions of faceless, viscous people-like beings stand, sleeping, waiting. Dark ones line the lower levels, while bright ones line the ceilings.
And they are waiting.
In ancient hallways and endless chambers, they stand, some defying gravity, and just wait. Every chamber is lined with ornate mirrors, of different sizes and designs. What they reflect, or don't reflect, is different for each...
From below, the thundering mechanisms continue to echo and vibrate through the glass...
Many have ventured into the Palace, looking for self-realization...
And never returned...
Many believe the bewildering landscape and strange noises hold secrets, and many believe Wisdom can be found within the world beyond logic. Meditation here opens the doors of the mind, allowing ideas and visions to run rampant. Some Sleepers feel a connection to the Realm, looking for answers in the endless reflective surfaces.
Upon a forgotten, broken monolith, lies a tired old bird of fire, three coloured flames above its head. The Phoenix does not converse, but it does listen, patiently & contently. As it cuts an enormous, never ending tally into the glass, it too seems to be waiting...
Doors have been found standing upright, unsupported on the beach, waiting to be unlocked...
* Costume
Sleepers who feel drawn to Chokmah most often wear grey. They often look like the colour has been drained from their clothes, with stains and frays from wandering the beaches. They often have wild, unkempt hair, and mad staring eyes.
* Choices for Character Creation
Sleepers attached to Chokmah are either well versed in the Palace's strange ways, having access to a Brief about Chokmah...
...or are knowledge seekers, able to meditate and find answers within...
...or are gifted with alien knowledge, gaining a Brief about another Realm of their choice.
CHOKMAH
Chokmah, the Realm of Wisdom, is a sparkling, black-silver ocean. The chrome waves flow in slow, deliberate tides, like stills of oil paintings more than smooth movement. The Lacuna opens on an endless beach of shining dark jewels and ancient bleached alien bones, inspected by tiny, frail humanoids, devoid of any features, constantly inspecting and picking choice stones.
From below, the sound of enormous, thrusting machinery fills the ground with roars...
The sky twinkles with large, white "stars", resembling strange, enormous pale winged beasts held in the sky in slumber.
The moon is many times bigger than any "star", a circular bowl from which the dark waters fill the Ocean.
Many Concepts feel a similar strong link to Chokmah, venturing for identity.
* What It Represents
"The Hebrew noun chokhmah (חכמה khok·mä), also sometimes transliterated hokhmah, is the Hebrew word for "wisdom"."
"Chokhmah, the second of the ten sefirot, is the first power of conscious intellect within Creation, and the first point of 'real' existence, since Keter represents emptiness. According to the book of Job, "Wisdom comes from nothingness". This point is both infinitely small, and yet encompasses the whole of being, but it remains incomprehensible until it is given shape and form in Binah."
"In its fully articulated form, Chokhmah possesses two partzufim ("faces" or "features"): the higher of these is referred to as Abba Ila'ah ("the higher father"), whereas the lower is referred to as Yisrael Saba ("Israel, the Elder"). These two partzufim are referred to jointly as Abba ("father")."
"Chokhmah is associated in the soul with the power of intuitive insight, flashing lightning-like across consciousness. The partzuf of Abba Ila'ah is associated with the power to spontaneously extract such insight from the superconscious realm, whereas the partzuf of Yisrael Saba is associated with the power to subsequently direct it into consciousness."
"The "wisdom" of Chokhmah also implies the ability to look deeply at some aspect of reality and abstract its conceptual essence till one succeeds in uncovering its underlying axiomatic truth. These seeds of truth can then be conveyed to the companion power of Binah for the sake of intellectual analysis and development."
Chokmah is a strange, cryptic grey world representing Wisdom; unlike Understanding, Wisdom is not intuitive but must be sought after. It continues great power, knowledge and potential, secrets of reality and creation, but it is hidden and secretive, and must be sought out.
The Palace has two faces; An Above, and a Below. One that requires knowledge, and another that bestows it. This Palace has a significance, it is a progenitor that no one knows or understands...
* Roads
#0 Fool
#III Empress
#II High Priestess
#XVII Star
* Population
The dark & light creatures from the Palace.
No Dreamers, Winged, or other Animals.
* Indigenous Creatures
No Sleepers or other beings are native to Chokmah.
Concepts and Figments are drawn to Chokmah, wandering the beach and considering the ups & downs of entering the Palace, looking for answers to their existences.
Campfires of long dead Dreamers congregate on the beaches, exchanging ideas and observations about existence. Freud and Jung can often be found with Socrates and Plato, drinking and laughing as they converse animatedly on dreams. Ladies Shelley, Lovelace & Wollstonecraft can be found circling the Palace, discussing it's importance, dimensions, and future...
* Power Structure
None.
* Ties To Moonchild
The Moonchild has been seen on the beach, staring at the Palace...
* Places of Interest
On the beach, is The Palace of Reflections. A colossal geometric black glass diamond that dominates the skyline. Inside the mind-defyingly enormous structure - accessible via spiralling, cut-glass tunnels - millions of faceless, viscous people-like beings stand, sleeping, waiting. Dark ones line the lower levels, while bright ones line the ceilings.
And they are waiting.
In ancient hallways and endless chambers, they stand, some defying gravity, and just wait. Every chamber is lined with ornate mirrors, of different sizes and designs. What they reflect, or don't reflect, is different for each...
From below, the thundering mechanisms continue to echo and vibrate through the glass...
Many have ventured into the Palace, looking for self-realization...
And never returned...
Many believe the bewildering landscape and strange noises hold secrets, and many believe Wisdom can be found within the world beyond logic. Meditation here opens the doors of the mind, allowing ideas and visions to run rampant. Some Sleepers feel a connection to the Realm, looking for answers in the endless reflective surfaces.
Upon a forgotten, broken monolith, lies a tired old bird of fire, three coloured flames above its head. The Phoenix does not converse, but it does listen, patiently & contently. As it cuts an enormous, never ending tally into the glass, it too seems to be waiting...
Doors have been found standing upright, unsupported on the beach, waiting to be unlocked...
* Costume
Sleepers who feel drawn to Chokmah most often wear grey. They often look like the colour has been drained from their clothes, with stains and frays from wandering the beaches. They often have wild, unkempt hair, and mad staring eyes.
* Choices for Character Creation
Sleepers attached to Chokmah are either well versed in the Palace's strange ways, having access to a Brief about Chokmah...
...or are knowledge seekers, able to meditate and find answers within...
...or are gifted with alien knowledge, gaining a Brief about another Realm of their choice.
Realm; Binary Kiln
THE BINARY KILN
BINAH
The Realm of Binah, Understanding, is an enormous stone sphere, "built" around a star. An endless forest of huge statues on top of soft stone pyramids, all looking up with admiration at the twin stars that gave the world life... and constantly threaten to destroy it.
Each statue is a memorial of a God, an idea, a Concept that once was, is, or will be. Each red-orange flower that grows at the statue's base is a believer in that concept. Some are still under construction. Some are so old, their features are worn away, a terrifying few to the point that they are featureless mounds of dust. Each pyramid is filled with the concept's ephemera; a museum to a God, no matter how small.
Many Concepts & "Gods" squat in their tombs; too important to die, too irrelevant to prosper.
That concept's believers amass at the tomb, turning it into a living microcosm; Modern followers of Hellenic Gods adore their patron in their own private Arcadia, while those who invest their soul in Money worship at enormous, living banks, in constant states of flux & exchange.
And that light, this world's centre, is no mere star... or two.
Half is known as Y Dylluan Brenhines, or Sowa Królowa; The Empress. Wrapped in Roses & Starlight, Thunder & Serpents. She is surrounded by her sisters and ancestors, stars and auras that constantly caress and support her beautiful, terrible form.
She is a constellation. She is the almighty glow of lightning. She is the garden of flowers grown from supplicants blood. She is the Predator, the Lover, and the Power.
All things love her, fear her, and are commanded by her. Those who climb one of her Cult's many towers may attempt to question her...
The other half, a terrible newcomer, is known as Baal.
Sharing the sky with Y Dylluan is another giant figure, a gaunt male with mismatched eyes, dressed in mixed leathers and furs, encircled in dark clouds and sanguine streams. Some called him Comedy, but his true name was Baal, The Blood. He calls himself the Change Of Emotion, from sadness to happiness to violence and back again. Under his burning red light, almost every Dreamer in Binah has left The Empress for his cause, that of the mercurial nature of feelings.
Where The Empress once had no equal, now she shares it with Baal, lightning clashing with blood in an endless, spinning yin and yang. The sun of The Kiln is a binary star, burning ruby and black, and then scarlet and white. The two constantly contest for worship and power: on the whole, they are tied, but with no outside influence, slowly, ever so slowly, one wills wallow the other... and it is unclear which.
The bridges that connects The Kiln to Routes I, III, VI & VII are each watched over by one of four ancient Sphinxes. These beautiful monsters question and enquire those who travel, testing them for what to come, and attempt to unwravel the riddles within themselves.
Each cult & gathering constantly argue, gangs in an endless gangwar where each is led by a divine idea. The Empress and her Cult intervenes, when she cares, Baal's followers when he does, and the Sphinxes when they do. War here is done by argument & conversion, proof & disproof. Concepts kill each other by convincing their opponent of their non-existence or being obselete. Some concepts strive to find absolute understanding of themselves through experience & meditation; others by consuming & overthrowing their opponents.
* What It Represents
"Binah is 'intuitive understanding', or 'contemplation'."
"Binah is associated with the feminine. The Bahir states: “For you shall call Understanding a Mother.”"
The Kiln is a Realm of Gods, dead and living, a way of understanding the universe and its history. It is built around a feminine Deity.
* Roads
#I Magus
#III Empress
#VI Lovers
#VII Chariot
* Population
The Winged et al population is mostly Owls and any bird or animal linked to a concept or God. Of course, Concepts thrive here. Many Dreamers with deep beliefs or wild imaginations visit here regularly, though in recent times, most have been swayued by Baal to join his cause in the freedom of emotion.
* Power Structure
The Empress & her Cult Of Stars & Roses once ruled The Kiln alone. At her command are "Gods" empowered, adored... And at her command are the same "Gods" ignored, sealed away... Or snuffed out.
But only when she cares. Which is not often.
The Cult control many "offering towers" around the Kiln; tall structures filled with sacrifices and gifts for the Realm's beloved tyrant. These towers reach to The Empress, where sacrifices are made to please the Cult's Goddess; the Cult carefully control who has access to these Towers...
High ranking members of the Cult include The Empress' Lover, Treachery, and the enforcer Astoros, the Minotaur.
But times have changed. Now Baal rules in equal, calling the Dreamer population to rise up and replace the Old Gods. He has no organized Cult, but a riotous surging mob.
With Baal's rise, three of the offering towers have fallen to him. These can be used to contact and beseech Baal personally, at the whim of his Priests.
High ranking members of his followers include Baal's close friend, Camp, and the enforcer Bloddweudd, Astoros' estranged lover .
* Ties To Moonchild
Baal calls himself The Moonchild. There is little room to dispute.
* Places of Interest
Popular & powerful Gods & Concepts here include;
~ Tyranny ran a consultation office, offering advice and training exercises for would be Dictators. That was until an act of terrorism killed the old God. Now the Gods here are terrified for their lives, many blaming Baal.
~ The bar-mistress-of-many-names, now going by Burlesque, whose establishment, Bad Decisions, is the most popular drinking hole, and rumourmill, in the Dream...
A close friend of Tyranny, Burlesque has offered to pay in droves if their friend's murderer is brought to justice...
~ The twins Rock & Roll, blood-soaked & shadow-draped children of the Winged's spreading anarchic influence, and their steed, Dance.
~ Entropy runs his flea market on Binah, when he's not off clearsning up existence. Things that no longer exist can be purchased there, but the price is steep.
~The homeless, derelict Peace can be found picketing outside other "Gods"' tombs along with other abandoned & forgotten Concepts.
~ Glycon, the lisping stand-up comedian serpent god of the Lingam. He runs a curiosity booth, "The Snake Shack". Almost every exhibit is a stuffed animal with googly eyes in a fez.
~ The First Dead, a being entirely of lust and bare, visceral muscle has her brazen, gore spattered, flesh sculpted home here. The Cult seem to give her special consideration.
~ The fast talker Janus has a special business here selling... Doors. In fact, he has an entire store; "Janus' Premier Portal Emporium".
~ "The Infantorium" is run by the monstrous Lamashtu. Nobody wants to go inside, but those who have say the service is "top notch".
~ Old Man Anansi and Ms Renard, Just A Fox, compete over their "Antiques" businesses; mysterious items from one store appearing in the other the next day.
* Clothing
Almost everyone wears a combination of everyday outfits (1950s suits & dresses) and black (or charcoal grey) robes or similar black religious garb. Black togas, flowing dresses. Brightly coloured flowers worn in hair and robes.
* Choices for Character Creation
Those Sleepers with ties to The Kiln are those who have met Gods, unbowed by their fearful presence...
...or are knowledge seekers, able to meditate and find answers within...
...or are touch by the Realm, gifted with a detailed Brief about The Kiln.
BINAH
The Realm of Binah, Understanding, is an enormous stone sphere, "built" around a star. An endless forest of huge statues on top of soft stone pyramids, all looking up with admiration at the twin stars that gave the world life... and constantly threaten to destroy it.
Each statue is a memorial of a God, an idea, a Concept that once was, is, or will be. Each red-orange flower that grows at the statue's base is a believer in that concept. Some are still under construction. Some are so old, their features are worn away, a terrifying few to the point that they are featureless mounds of dust. Each pyramid is filled with the concept's ephemera; a museum to a God, no matter how small.
Many Concepts & "Gods" squat in their tombs; too important to die, too irrelevant to prosper.
That concept's believers amass at the tomb, turning it into a living microcosm; Modern followers of Hellenic Gods adore their patron in their own private Arcadia, while those who invest their soul in Money worship at enormous, living banks, in constant states of flux & exchange.
And that light, this world's centre, is no mere star... or two.
Half is known as Y Dylluan Brenhines, or Sowa Królowa; The Empress. Wrapped in Roses & Starlight, Thunder & Serpents. She is surrounded by her sisters and ancestors, stars and auras that constantly caress and support her beautiful, terrible form.
She is a constellation. She is the almighty glow of lightning. She is the garden of flowers grown from supplicants blood. She is the Predator, the Lover, and the Power.
All things love her, fear her, and are commanded by her. Those who climb one of her Cult's many towers may attempt to question her...
The other half, a terrible newcomer, is known as Baal.
Sharing the sky with Y Dylluan is another giant figure, a gaunt male with mismatched eyes, dressed in mixed leathers and furs, encircled in dark clouds and sanguine streams. Some called him Comedy, but his true name was Baal, The Blood. He calls himself the Change Of Emotion, from sadness to happiness to violence and back again. Under his burning red light, almost every Dreamer in Binah has left The Empress for his cause, that of the mercurial nature of feelings.
Where The Empress once had no equal, now she shares it with Baal, lightning clashing with blood in an endless, spinning yin and yang. The sun of The Kiln is a binary star, burning ruby and black, and then scarlet and white. The two constantly contest for worship and power: on the whole, they are tied, but with no outside influence, slowly, ever so slowly, one wills wallow the other... and it is unclear which.
The bridges that connects The Kiln to Routes I, III, VI & VII are each watched over by one of four ancient Sphinxes. These beautiful monsters question and enquire those who travel, testing them for what to come, and attempt to unwravel the riddles within themselves.
Each cult & gathering constantly argue, gangs in an endless gangwar where each is led by a divine idea. The Empress and her Cult intervenes, when she cares, Baal's followers when he does, and the Sphinxes when they do. War here is done by argument & conversion, proof & disproof. Concepts kill each other by convincing their opponent of their non-existence or being obselete. Some concepts strive to find absolute understanding of themselves through experience & meditation; others by consuming & overthrowing their opponents.
* What It Represents
"Binah is 'intuitive understanding', or 'contemplation'."
"Binah is associated with the feminine. The Bahir states: “For you shall call Understanding a Mother.”"
The Kiln is a Realm of Gods, dead and living, a way of understanding the universe and its history. It is built around a feminine Deity.
* Roads
#I Magus
#III Empress
#VI Lovers
#VII Chariot
* Population
The Winged et al population is mostly Owls and any bird or animal linked to a concept or God. Of course, Concepts thrive here. Many Dreamers with deep beliefs or wild imaginations visit here regularly, though in recent times, most have been swayued by Baal to join his cause in the freedom of emotion.
* Power Structure
The Empress & her Cult Of Stars & Roses once ruled The Kiln alone. At her command are "Gods" empowered, adored... And at her command are the same "Gods" ignored, sealed away... Or snuffed out.
But only when she cares. Which is not often.
The Cult control many "offering towers" around the Kiln; tall structures filled with sacrifices and gifts for the Realm's beloved tyrant. These towers reach to The Empress, where sacrifices are made to please the Cult's Goddess; the Cult carefully control who has access to these Towers...
High ranking members of the Cult include The Empress' Lover, Treachery, and the enforcer Astoros, the Minotaur.
But times have changed. Now Baal rules in equal, calling the Dreamer population to rise up and replace the Old Gods. He has no organized Cult, but a riotous surging mob.
With Baal's rise, three of the offering towers have fallen to him. These can be used to contact and beseech Baal personally, at the whim of his Priests.
High ranking members of his followers include Baal's close friend, Camp, and the enforcer Bloddweudd, Astoros' estranged lover .
* Ties To Moonchild
Baal calls himself The Moonchild. There is little room to dispute.
* Places of Interest
Popular & powerful Gods & Concepts here include;
~ Tyranny ran a consultation office, offering advice and training exercises for would be Dictators. That was until an act of terrorism killed the old God. Now the Gods here are terrified for their lives, many blaming Baal.
~ The bar-mistress-of-many-names, now going by Burlesque, whose establishment, Bad Decisions, is the most popular drinking hole, and rumourmill, in the Dream...
A close friend of Tyranny, Burlesque has offered to pay in droves if their friend's murderer is brought to justice...
~ The twins Rock & Roll, blood-soaked & shadow-draped children of the Winged's spreading anarchic influence, and their steed, Dance.
~ Entropy runs his flea market on Binah, when he's not off clearsning up existence. Things that no longer exist can be purchased there, but the price is steep.
~The homeless, derelict Peace can be found picketing outside other "Gods"' tombs along with other abandoned & forgotten Concepts.
~ Glycon, the lisping stand-up comedian serpent god of the Lingam. He runs a curiosity booth, "The Snake Shack". Almost every exhibit is a stuffed animal with googly eyes in a fez.
~ The First Dead, a being entirely of lust and bare, visceral muscle has her brazen, gore spattered, flesh sculpted home here. The Cult seem to give her special consideration.
~ The fast talker Janus has a special business here selling... Doors. In fact, he has an entire store; "Janus' Premier Portal Emporium".
~ "The Infantorium" is run by the monstrous Lamashtu. Nobody wants to go inside, but those who have say the service is "top notch".
~ Old Man Anansi and Ms Renard, Just A Fox, compete over their "Antiques" businesses; mysterious items from one store appearing in the other the next day.
* Clothing
Almost everyone wears a combination of everyday outfits (1950s suits & dresses) and black (or charcoal grey) robes or similar black religious garb. Black togas, flowing dresses. Brightly coloured flowers worn in hair and robes.
* Choices for Character Creation
Those Sleepers with ties to The Kiln are those who have met Gods, unbowed by their fearful presence...
...or are knowledge seekers, able to meditate and find answers within...
...or are touch by the Realm, gifted with a detailed Brief about The Kiln.
Realm; Abyss
THE ABYSS
DA'AT
Epochs ago, Da'at used to be a Realm of Knowledge.
It is now a whirlpool of darkness, ruins and stars spinning in its enormous mouth, strange things seen in its eye, reaching out into existence.
Those who enter Da'at do not return.
No Sleeper has a connection to Da'at.
* Road
#II High Priestess
DA'AT
Epochs ago, Da'at used to be a Realm of Knowledge.
It is now a whirlpool of darkness, ruins and stars spinning in its enormous mouth, strange things seen in its eye, reaching out into existence.
Those who enter Da'at do not return.
No Sleeper has a connection to Da'at.
* Road
#II High Priestess
Realm; The Labyrinth
THE LABYRINTH
CHESED
CHESED
Chesed, the Realm of Mercy, was once dominated by the colossal structure known as Shelter; a brickwork, sheet metal and leather patchwork maze. There is no outside; Shelter span the entirety of Chesed. Up and up, down and down. Far below "ground" Shelter's mazes spread, in every direction, the sound of song and merriment echoed along every makeshift metal panel and reverberating off every taught leather wall.
There is no outside.
And thus, there is no danger.
And thus, there is no danger.
Shelter was alive; they say zhe started as a brick, and after awkward years experiencing existence as other structures ands shapes, zhe settled on an enormous canopy, encompassing and loving everything inside hir.
When there was violence, or hate, or disagreements within Shelter, zhe would intervene with sliding walls and parting rooms. No-one suffered within Shelter. Everyone was equal, and loud, and expressive, and any wrongs were righted by contemplation and reflection.
Shelter's love was so absolute, that for Chesed's non-Sleeper population, it was impossible to leave. Walls and chains manifest when certain doors become opened, and anyone resisting, trying to leave, was swallowed away, sealed in an oubliette to rethink their choices...
But with no punishment, any evil intentions within Shelter only simmered, gaining strength. Incarceration bred determination, and Shelter's criminals were patient. An army rose against Shelter, and a group of Sleepers broke into Shelter's home, and destroyed hir.
Shelter was dead.
Benevolent Tyranny was over.
Benevolent Tyranny was over.
The Sleeper Atlas had arisen, and promised a new world where the strong succeeded and the weak were trodden underfoot. They promised to bring law and order... And to spread it to other Realms.
But that Dream never came to be.
From the Labyrinth below came chaos. The stone and metal of Shelter shattered and bent and changed. Masonry fell from above as new cave-like structures broke through. Hordes of tiny chattering Kobolds spilled from every tunnel and door, capturing those too slow to run. An enormous fortress rose from below the ruins of Trumpington Towers, and every survivor fled to a corner of the Labyrinth.
The Labyrinth had enveloped the rest of Chesed. From within the Fortress, the Labyrinth is ruled by the enigmatic Lord of Kobolds, the self titled Moonchild, a tyrant who wants nothing more than for Chesed's population to give up and be surrender themselves to his Oubliettes: personal fantasy worlds in his Fortress, each catered to give their prisoner their every desire. Leaving one is like cutting out your own heart...
The survivors of the chaos fled to the corners of the Labyrinth, each Faction setting up a new temporary home. Together, they might be able to overthrow the Lord and his army of Kobolds, but opposed to each other and infighting, they'll achieve nothing...
* What It Represents
"Chesed is given the association of kindness and love"
"The Bahir states, "What is the fourth (utterance): The fourth is the righteousness of God, His mercies and kindness with the entire world. This is the right hand of God." Chesed manifests God's absolute, unlimited benevolence and kindness."
Chesed is the Realm of Mercy and Love, manifested by the Labyrinth's smothering, stifling escapism and protection
"Chesed is given the association of kindness and love"
"The Bahir states, "What is the fourth (utterance): The fourth is the righteousness of God, His mercies and kindness with the entire world. This is the right hand of God." Chesed manifests God's absolute, unlimited benevolence and kindness."
Chesed is the Realm of Mercy and Love, manifested by the Labyrinth's smothering, stifling escapism and protection
* Roads
#V Hierophant
#VIII Lust
#IX Hermit
#X Wheel of Fortune
#V Hierophant
#VIII Lust
#IX Hermit
#X Wheel of Fortune
* Population
The Labyrinth is only populated by the Lord's childish Kobolds, though hundreds if not thousands of Sleepers and others are trapped in the Oubliettes.
The Labyrinth is only populated by the Lord's childish Kobolds, though hundreds if not thousands of Sleepers and others are trapped in the Oubliettes.
The predominant population of the Realms corners are colourful, foreign Winged (once called Xenos), Pigeons and other city animals, especially Cats, as well as a large number of Sleepers, many literally lost in the Labyrinth.
* Indigenous Creatures
The Kobolds are the major population of The Labyrinth: childish, diumuintive goblins clad in scraps of leather, armour and fur, these tiny nuisances represent childish fantasies, brought to life by an escape from the hurtful, the painful, the real. On their own, they are comic, harmless beings, but a horde of Kobolds is a dangerous threat, armed with rusty improvisational weapons.
The Kobolds are the major population of The Labyrinth: childish, diumuintive goblins clad in scraps of leather, armour and fur, these tiny nuisances represent childish fantasies, brought to life by an escape from the hurtful, the painful, the real. On their own, they are comic, harmless beings, but a horde of Kobolds is a dangerous threat, armed with rusty improvisational weapons.
Unlike their Mephistofeline predecessors, Cats in Chesed are ...most often ...on the right side of the law. Expert traders, wheeler dealers and straight up spivs, Cats are who you go to when you need something in Chesed. The price may be high, but you certainly pay for what you get...
Gremlins, Vehicles and other Idea Concepts run amok in the steel hallways of Chesed. Metal beings, the rebellious, child-like dreams of everyday appliances, they have no ties to society, and thus play games and set pranks, often with no understanding of safety or lethality...
* Power Structure
The Lord of Kobolds holds absolute power in the Labyrinth, ruling as an easily amused tyrant from his Fortress at the centre. Those that go against the Lord's status quo are sealed away in oubliettes to be comforted by their fantasies, their threats annihilated by happiness.
The Lord of Kobolds holds absolute power in the Labyrinth, ruling as an easily amused tyrant from his Fortress at the centre. Those that go against the Lord's status quo are sealed away in oubliettes to be comforted by their fantasies, their threats annihilated by happiness.
In the Labyrinth's corners, the power structures are radically different, based around those survivors that set up homes in those hidden pockets. In Shelter's Sanctuary, Air-Heart, Shelter's equine lethal enforcer, attempts to care for the thousands of weak, sick and harmless that only wanted to be safe in Chesed, their world shattered with Shelter's death.
In the Objectavarium, Atlas' Unconquered Alphas rule a small meritocracy based on climbing the ladder of capability by crushing your rivals below you... Challenged by Christine's Gremlin Hot Rod Raiders.
In the Crèche, Lance protects his rebel Kobold and Potoddler allies as he draws up plans to rescue kidnapped Sleepers (and others) from the Oubliettes.
In the remnants of Whyam Buying, the Cats are in charge. A power network of Queens and Toms spread from the statue of The Lone Canary (And His Hammer Friend) to deep below, into the bustling black market known as the Lisabetween. Known Tom bosses include such names as Dickandharry, Jones and Andjerry, while some Queens include Victoria, Elizabeth and Bodicca.
* Ties To Moonchild
The Lord of Kobolds is the self-announced Moonchild.
The Lord of Kobolds is the self-announced Moonchild.
* Places of Interest
The Lord rules from his Fortress at the Centre of the Labyrinth, an enormous fantasy castle bigger than comprehension. Inside it's walls, Kobolds patrol, looking for tresspassers or escapees from the Oubliettes, ensuring no-one escapes their private fantasies.
Shelter's Sanctuary provides healing and protection for the hurt and persecuted.
The Objectavarium values those who excel at their field and ascend ruthlessly: those who qualify will find themselves heavily rewarded.
Whyam Buying, the grand market, caters to all your legal needs.
Deep underground, the Lisabetween does the same for weapons... And worse...
Rumours abound of fighting pits in the Lisabetween...
Deep underground, the Lisabetween does the same for weapons... And worse...
Rumours abound of fighting pits in the Lisabetween...
The Creche is a home for children and the innocent, overseen by Lance the "Dungeon Master". If you want to play "Executives and Establishments", go see him.
* Costume
Eclectic mismatches of style. Bits and pieces traded and obtained from a hundred different sources. Very punk; military jackets with flying cap & goggles, rockabilly dresses with leather opera gloves and army boots. Clashing colours, though everything is worn and frayed, at least third hand.
Eclectic mismatches of style. Bits and pieces traded and obtained from a hundred different sources. Very punk; military jackets with flying cap & goggles, rockabilly dresses with leather opera gloves and army boots. Clashing colours, though everything is worn and frayed, at least third hand.
The Unconquered wear business suits, all frayed at the edges but skillfully hidden as to preserve their Alpha status.
* Choices for Character Creation
Sleepers with ties to Chesed usually show Mercy, being skilled healers...
Sleepers with ties to Chesed usually show Mercy, being skilled healers...
... or have underworld connections, gifting them additional items...
...or know Chesed well, gaining a detailed Brief
Realm; The Forgetting
THE FORGETTING
NETZECH
The air around Netzech, the realm of Victory, is thick with humidity, trekking through its dense, strange forests much like wading through stagnant, ancient water. The "sky" is dark and oppreessive, but in truth it is just the thick canopy that keeps the realm's oppressive nature contained. Around every treacherous corner, something huge and ancient, unknowable and defying convention lurks, always in the shadows and always hungry. Strange sounds and hunger cries ring out at the worst times, every sense telling you that you have tresspassed.
This is not a Victory to be celebrated by any visitor. Netzech is the realm claimed by the enigmatic & isolationist Extinction, a dread, tall shadowy concept wishing to be left alone. Aeons ago, all the dead things in the world were considred alien ands unknowable; simple ideas like charity and survival had been replaced by ego and oppression. For old creatures devoid of modern logic, even nonexistence had become problematic. Extinction, disgusted at the world, sacrificed himself so that all the dark, elder things could escape modern thought.
What remains of Extinction cares for his terrifying subjects here. The great tree they escaped on has grown into the "forests" of this realm, an endless wooden maze covered in moss and unidentifiable flora, a thing of never ending fear. Wood is petrified to stone, by the memory of terrible incidents and unnatural monsters. This is the home of every primal fear, every preternatural hunter, every primordial memory that triggers a "fight or flight" reaction. And they have no interest in your logic, or your world.
This is where Fear reigns.
A Victory Over Reality.
This a Realm most would want to Forget.
Extinction holds court at the centre, The Source Of The Problem, tended by his Found, dead creatures with enough foothold in reality that their presence is still felt here. Although not warlike, many are agressive and have the capability for great violence, unhappy at their paradise being invaded.
Some come poaching memories of monsters, looking for prizes and secrets lost to the living. And many never return; those that do always return changed, and shaken.
* What It Represents
"Netzach generally translates to 'eternity', and in the context of Kabbalah refers to 'perpetuity', 'victory', or 'endurance'."
"Netzach is "endurance," the fortitude, and patience to follow through on your passions."
The Forgetting represents fighting fear, and a realm where ancient, eternal fear rules.
* Roads
#XVIII Moon
#IV Emperor
#XVI Tower
#XIII Death
#X Wheel of Fortune
* Indigenous Creatures
Those Sleepers haunted & hunted by a great fear can find their enemy here if nowhere else.
New Fears may grow in Netzech, spread by Dreamer's spoors of terror left in their wake.
Extinction may summon Sleepers to clear these messes up, for some resemblance of respect...
* Population
Every denizen of Netzech is a dead Winged et al, an ancient Concept, or an extinct Found. That is, except for the few Dreamers who hold a deep attachment to fear, the hunt, survival. Victory over Reality.
The majority of Red Blooded, Dust Children, Winged or Lost in The Forgetting are extinct species. Bustards, Cara Cara, Laughing Owls, Dodos, Tasmanian Tigers, Mole Crickets, Mammoths, even powerful Saurids.
Extinction despises living Winged, claiming they are responsible for Everything Wrong.
* Power Structure
Extinction and his Found are the only power in The Forgetting.
Extinction holds every Dreamer linked to Netzech in contempt, considering them trespassers, but is willing to give them permission to explore at the very least. He trusts only a handful, who he keeps close to him at the Source of The Problem; the wise and respectful Anning Siblings, the babbling "moralist and tennis-shoed explorer" Gonzo, and his favourite, the young "Dreamweaver" & storyteller Edwin Maine.
From The Source Of The Problem, Extinction runs Court as judge, jury & executioner. Only the strong, and the blameless, survive.
* Ties To Moonchild
The Moonchild has no known ties to The Forgetting.
* Places of Interest
Beneath The Source of The Problem, the centre of what used to be a vast ship before it became a Realm, is an oubliette. Extinction only allows those handful of Dreamers he judges as worthy to enter the oubliette, for inside is only darkness... A reflection of the fear inside every Soul... And one Treasure.
There is only what you take with you... Except for one very, very old wooden cup. The Chalice of Forgetting.
Even though a number have held it, no one has ever drunk from the cup...
Various creatures of fear have their own oubliettes and dark corners scattered around the Forgetting. Some are dank caves, others are huge overgrown fortresses of petrified wood and moss.
* Costume
Outfits in Netzech are those of survivors. Outdated clothing (1940s and earlier), torn and repaired with metal and leather armour pieces, small trophies woven in as reminders of victory. Cloaks and additional armour are often added.
The Found dress in ancient clothing from centuries and decades before, sucked dry of all colours, left drab and grey.
* Choices for Character Creation
Sleepers linked to Netzech can channel fear into terrifying bellows...
...or are able to hold their ground against terrifying foes...
...or know The Forgetting well, gaining a Brief of Netzech.
NETZECH
The air around Netzech, the realm of Victory, is thick with humidity, trekking through its dense, strange forests much like wading through stagnant, ancient water. The "sky" is dark and oppreessive, but in truth it is just the thick canopy that keeps the realm's oppressive nature contained. Around every treacherous corner, something huge and ancient, unknowable and defying convention lurks, always in the shadows and always hungry. Strange sounds and hunger cries ring out at the worst times, every sense telling you that you have tresspassed.
This is not a Victory to be celebrated by any visitor. Netzech is the realm claimed by the enigmatic & isolationist Extinction, a dread, tall shadowy concept wishing to be left alone. Aeons ago, all the dead things in the world were considred alien ands unknowable; simple ideas like charity and survival had been replaced by ego and oppression. For old creatures devoid of modern logic, even nonexistence had become problematic. Extinction, disgusted at the world, sacrificed himself so that all the dark, elder things could escape modern thought.
What remains of Extinction cares for his terrifying subjects here. The great tree they escaped on has grown into the "forests" of this realm, an endless wooden maze covered in moss and unidentifiable flora, a thing of never ending fear. Wood is petrified to stone, by the memory of terrible incidents and unnatural monsters. This is the home of every primal fear, every preternatural hunter, every primordial memory that triggers a "fight or flight" reaction. And they have no interest in your logic, or your world.
This is where Fear reigns.
A Victory Over Reality.
This a Realm most would want to Forget.
Extinction holds court at the centre, The Source Of The Problem, tended by his Found, dead creatures with enough foothold in reality that their presence is still felt here. Although not warlike, many are agressive and have the capability for great violence, unhappy at their paradise being invaded.
Some come poaching memories of monsters, looking for prizes and secrets lost to the living. And many never return; those that do always return changed, and shaken.
* What It Represents
"Netzach generally translates to 'eternity', and in the context of Kabbalah refers to 'perpetuity', 'victory', or 'endurance'."
"Netzach is "endurance," the fortitude, and patience to follow through on your passions."
The Forgetting represents fighting fear, and a realm where ancient, eternal fear rules.
* Roads
#XVIII Moon
#IV Emperor
#XVI Tower
#XIII Death
#X Wheel of Fortune
* Indigenous Creatures
Those Sleepers haunted & hunted by a great fear can find their enemy here if nowhere else.
New Fears may grow in Netzech, spread by Dreamer's spoors of terror left in their wake.
Extinction may summon Sleepers to clear these messes up, for some resemblance of respect...
* Population
Every denizen of Netzech is a dead Winged et al, an ancient Concept, or an extinct Found. That is, except for the few Dreamers who hold a deep attachment to fear, the hunt, survival. Victory over Reality.
The majority of Red Blooded, Dust Children, Winged or Lost in The Forgetting are extinct species. Bustards, Cara Cara, Laughing Owls, Dodos, Tasmanian Tigers, Mole Crickets, Mammoths, even powerful Saurids.
Extinction despises living Winged, claiming they are responsible for Everything Wrong.
* Power Structure
Extinction and his Found are the only power in The Forgetting.
Extinction holds every Dreamer linked to Netzech in contempt, considering them trespassers, but is willing to give them permission to explore at the very least. He trusts only a handful, who he keeps close to him at the Source of The Problem; the wise and respectful Anning Siblings, the babbling "moralist and tennis-shoed explorer" Gonzo, and his favourite, the young "Dreamweaver" & storyteller Edwin Maine.
From The Source Of The Problem, Extinction runs Court as judge, jury & executioner. Only the strong, and the blameless, survive.
* Ties To Moonchild
The Moonchild has no known ties to The Forgetting.
* Places of Interest
Beneath The Source of The Problem, the centre of what used to be a vast ship before it became a Realm, is an oubliette. Extinction only allows those handful of Dreamers he judges as worthy to enter the oubliette, for inside is only darkness... A reflection of the fear inside every Soul... And one Treasure.
There is only what you take with you... Except for one very, very old wooden cup. The Chalice of Forgetting.
Even though a number have held it, no one has ever drunk from the cup...
Various creatures of fear have their own oubliettes and dark corners scattered around the Forgetting. Some are dank caves, others are huge overgrown fortresses of petrified wood and moss.
* Costume
Outfits in Netzech are those of survivors. Outdated clothing (1940s and earlier), torn and repaired with metal and leather armour pieces, small trophies woven in as reminders of victory. Cloaks and additional armour are often added.
The Found dress in ancient clothing from centuries and decades before, sucked dry of all colours, left drab and grey.
* Choices for Character Creation
Sleepers linked to Netzech can channel fear into terrifying bellows...
...or are able to hold their ground against terrifying foes...
...or know The Forgetting well, gaining a Brief of Netzech.
Realm; City of Equilibrium
CITY OF EQUILIBRIUM
TIFERET
The Realm of Balance is a world of black and white. White, endless sands of the Fugue give way to the Megrim - thick, black clouds of darkness. At its centre, is the City of Tiferet, a sprawling, spreading mass of sharp new edges and ancient stone curves, as tall as only a monument, as wide as a continent. It is the balance of Then & Now, Art & Purpose, Life & Death. It is a reminder of the beauty in death, and the grim suffering of life.
It is Poetry in Stasis.
The residents claim it used to be many things, that on their own had no purpose or worth. An ancient tomb, a weathered village, a dark & seedy nightclub. But together, balanced on each other, united, they attained purpose. The chiaroscuro of black on white on black, the sharp blades of light cutting through the soft flesh of stone. A cosmopolitan mix of dark cultures against bright skies.
That was until the sun fell from the sky, light and heat destroying the tower. Winged & Dreamers saved from destruction by the Piscan refugees. But then came the Rainbow. Only the intervention of the Shard, a Sleeper and his Frog friend, their image projected in a spectrum of light across the city, saved it. The Artocracy was ruined, but art had survived. No longer merely in balance, but in quilibrium, like an enormous set of scales holding Value in one hand, a nd Expression in the other.
Tiferet is the home of expression, of Art & Song. It is a capitolist commune, where art and creation is both the currency and the product. Art exists for value's sake, and it is for art's sake that Tiferet lives.
For what is praise & prayer if not payment for existence?
When the thick black clouds of the Megrim scream and tear at the city, or the endless Fugue spreads swallowing all thought, sacrifices must be made to appease them. Art, creations, Song. Memories, Concepts. Sleepers, Artists. All are offered into the claws of darkness, or the mouth of emptiness, trades to be made and sold, commerce and goods to establish alliance and friendship.
Art demands value.
And value must be bought.
Like a set of scales, the rebuilt city sits precariously on the ruins of what it once was, gently tipping back and forth. On the edges of the city, Sleeper Winged & Piscan integrate, art is expression, and expression promotes quality, and quality increases value. Here is where the artists and traders inspire, create and sell, their actions keeping the city tipping back and forth in equal motion.
But in the centre, there are those that disagree, that believe art is objective, or without value, or are uninterested in commerce. If their influence was to spread, the city would tip too far, and fall entirely into either the Fugue or Megrim, absence or pain...
* What It Represents
"It has the common association of "Spirituality", "Balance", "Integration", "Beauty", "Miracles", and "Compassion"."
"Sixth is the adorned, glorious, delightful throne of glory, the house of the world to come. Its place is engraved in wisdom as it says 'God said: Let there be light, and there was light.'"
Tiferet once represented the future & the past, light & shadow, the balance between Dreamers & Winged. Now, with the Piscans involved, it also represents the very 20th Century struggle between Art as Art, and Art as Commerce.
* Roads
#VI Lovers
#II High Priestess
#XVII Star
#IX Hermit
#XIII Death
#XIV Art
#XV Devil
#XI Adjustment
* Population
The people of Tiferet - mostly Sleepers, the Corvidian Winged, and other predatory things - dress in whites & blacks, in ancient robes with modern accoutrements or in fishnets and leather. Pain and beauty, ugliness & comfort.
Tiferet also boasts many, many Concepts, born of Sleepers' musings, living with their "parents" in symbiosis.
Refugees from the Megrim, Piscans attempted to integrate into Tiferet society, suffering major hostility. However, following major trade negotiations and the Rainbow, Winged and Sleeper fled for safety, and were welcomed into the dark arms of the Piscans. Now fully integrated, the Piscans are big advocates of trade and capitol, yet are still fully on board with expression and art. They always pay in Emotion.
* Indigenous Creatures
Citizens whisper of monsters lurking within the Fugue & Megrim; creatures born of Angst, of Desperation, of Pain and Regret.
Things born from the sacrificed Art, bits and pieces strewn together into something new...
Ancient civilisations rise and fall endlessly in the Fugue, their time long gone and their return so far away, only remembering their greatest moments. Their riders often travel to the City and the Shard looking for aid for some aeon old dilemma, solved millennia ago.
In the Megrim, civilisations suffer and burn, endlessly destroyed and crushed under time's heel. Wars and fights spark and ignite repeatedly, history clashing screaming with history, suffering at others hands forever. Ghosts, ghouls and banshees stalk the black static, wailing endless angst and striking with the angst they feel, caught in a stasis of neverending pain.
Some ancient Sleepers, lost in time, wander the Fugue looking for a way back to reality. Sometimes they find their way to the Shard.
Formless silhouette giants stride across the Fugue, their void filled shapes empty and lacking any substance. They travel, in search of something.
That said, following the Rainbow, trade with both the Fugue & Megrim have increased a hundred fold, resulting in something of a tenuous friendship between all three regions. Even ghosts from the Megrim and ancient Sleepers from the Fugue have started roaming the city as ambassadors and artists.
* Power Structure
The Old Gods still "live" in the city, but their time is ending. Thoth, Horus, Sekhmet, Ra & Nuth are merely shells, having ushered in the City. The city supposedly does their bidding, but they have not even been seen in... Aeons. They are looking for new vessels and lives for a new world...
The Artocracy of the Veiled Eye once ruled their meritocracy from the ebony & ivory temples at the top of the tower. These Corvid Winged judged citizens by their artistic function, grouping citizens into artforms; those good with their voices are Singers, those good with their hands sculptors, those with imagination became poets. If you did not fit an art form, you became sacrifice. If you choose an art form not prescribed to you, you became sacrifice. If your prescribed artwork goes the way of vaudeville, the limerick, the saga, scrimshaw; your whole artform became sacrifice.
For The Sake Of Art, You Follow Your Function.
Now, after the Rainbow, the same still applies... In theory. The Artocracy is broken, gone. Of the judges, only the Abstract Critic survived. In the ruins of his court in the centre of the city, the robed & hooded Critic is inundated with requests and crises, with The Investigator's Veiled Eye police forces stretched to their limits. To aid him, he has the gangly, pale Duke Pallas arguing in favour of the old ways of sacrifice and cruel exploitation... But in contrast Pal's student the albino Fifteen argues in favour of expression, commerce, and trade. As such, caught understaffed and between two struggling outlooks, the Veiled Eye has begun to accept volunteer consultants to help oversee art crimes and disputes.
Many Sleepers wear Horus' Ankh as a sign of rebellion against the new commercially focused movements on Tiferet.
* Ties To Moonchild
Rumours say the Moonchild has residence here...
* Places of Interest
The Artocracy Temples exist at the top of the vertical city.
The Ebony Temple deals with revering old, accepted artforms.
The Ivory Temple deals with creating new, socially acceptable artforms.
The Steel Temple, between the two, deals with Art for Art's sake, and The Times of Sacrifice. Entry is heavily restricted by the Crow guards.
The Temples of Thoth, Horus, Sekhmet, Ra & Nuth stand as recycled, seized-by-the-populace shrines to artforms; Prose, Song, Painting, Poetry and Dance, respectively. They are safe spaces for artists, seemingly overseen by something or someone. The Artocracy either don't think they are worth stopping... Or can't stop them.
The two most popular drinking holes are the heavily guarded, neutral embassy known as Eduardo's, and the cathedral of excess that is Elsie's. You go to Eduardo's for the safety and stay for the music, while you go to Elsie's for the drink and stay for the...drink.
* Costume
Outfit in Tiferet can be described as gothic. Black on white, or white on black. Leather, lace, fishnets, long coats, dresses. Gothic tweaks of 1960s outfits. Egyptian features like jewellery, makeup and iconography are common. Bright accents of colour are common, though bigger splashes are considered signs of rebellion.
The Veiled Eye wear masonic robes and aprons.
* Choices for Character Creation
Citizens of Tiferet have often created Art, able to Sing and gaining a Song...
...or can channel their pain into fearful wails...
...or have explored the City enough to have a full Brief on the Realm.
TIFERET
The Realm of Balance is a world of black and white. White, endless sands of the Fugue give way to the Megrim - thick, black clouds of darkness. At its centre, is the City of Tiferet, a sprawling, spreading mass of sharp new edges and ancient stone curves, as tall as only a monument, as wide as a continent. It is the balance of Then & Now, Art & Purpose, Life & Death. It is a reminder of the beauty in death, and the grim suffering of life.
It is Poetry in Stasis.
The residents claim it used to be many things, that on their own had no purpose or worth. An ancient tomb, a weathered village, a dark & seedy nightclub. But together, balanced on each other, united, they attained purpose. The chiaroscuro of black on white on black, the sharp blades of light cutting through the soft flesh of stone. A cosmopolitan mix of dark cultures against bright skies.
That was until the sun fell from the sky, light and heat destroying the tower. Winged & Dreamers saved from destruction by the Piscan refugees. But then came the Rainbow. Only the intervention of the Shard, a Sleeper and his Frog friend, their image projected in a spectrum of light across the city, saved it. The Artocracy was ruined, but art had survived. No longer merely in balance, but in quilibrium, like an enormous set of scales holding Value in one hand, a nd Expression in the other.
Tiferet is the home of expression, of Art & Song. It is a capitolist commune, where art and creation is both the currency and the product. Art exists for value's sake, and it is for art's sake that Tiferet lives.
For what is praise & prayer if not payment for existence?
When the thick black clouds of the Megrim scream and tear at the city, or the endless Fugue spreads swallowing all thought, sacrifices must be made to appease them. Art, creations, Song. Memories, Concepts. Sleepers, Artists. All are offered into the claws of darkness, or the mouth of emptiness, trades to be made and sold, commerce and goods to establish alliance and friendship.
Art demands value.
And value must be bought.
Like a set of scales, the rebuilt city sits precariously on the ruins of what it once was, gently tipping back and forth. On the edges of the city, Sleeper Winged & Piscan integrate, art is expression, and expression promotes quality, and quality increases value. Here is where the artists and traders inspire, create and sell, their actions keeping the city tipping back and forth in equal motion.
But in the centre, there are those that disagree, that believe art is objective, or without value, or are uninterested in commerce. If their influence was to spread, the city would tip too far, and fall entirely into either the Fugue or Megrim, absence or pain...
* What It Represents
"It has the common association of "Spirituality", "Balance", "Integration", "Beauty", "Miracles", and "Compassion"."
"Sixth is the adorned, glorious, delightful throne of glory, the house of the world to come. Its place is engraved in wisdom as it says 'God said: Let there be light, and there was light.'"
Tiferet once represented the future & the past, light & shadow, the balance between Dreamers & Winged. Now, with the Piscans involved, it also represents the very 20th Century struggle between Art as Art, and Art as Commerce.
* Roads
#VI Lovers
#II High Priestess
#XVII Star
#IX Hermit
#XIII Death
#XIV Art
#XV Devil
#XI Adjustment
* Population
The people of Tiferet - mostly Sleepers, the Corvidian Winged, and other predatory things - dress in whites & blacks, in ancient robes with modern accoutrements or in fishnets and leather. Pain and beauty, ugliness & comfort.
Tiferet also boasts many, many Concepts, born of Sleepers' musings, living with their "parents" in symbiosis.
Refugees from the Megrim, Piscans attempted to integrate into Tiferet society, suffering major hostility. However, following major trade negotiations and the Rainbow, Winged and Sleeper fled for safety, and were welcomed into the dark arms of the Piscans. Now fully integrated, the Piscans are big advocates of trade and capitol, yet are still fully on board with expression and art. They always pay in Emotion.
* Indigenous Creatures
Citizens whisper of monsters lurking within the Fugue & Megrim; creatures born of Angst, of Desperation, of Pain and Regret.
Things born from the sacrificed Art, bits and pieces strewn together into something new...
Ancient civilisations rise and fall endlessly in the Fugue, their time long gone and their return so far away, only remembering their greatest moments. Their riders often travel to the City and the Shard looking for aid for some aeon old dilemma, solved millennia ago.
In the Megrim, civilisations suffer and burn, endlessly destroyed and crushed under time's heel. Wars and fights spark and ignite repeatedly, history clashing screaming with history, suffering at others hands forever. Ghosts, ghouls and banshees stalk the black static, wailing endless angst and striking with the angst they feel, caught in a stasis of neverending pain.
Some ancient Sleepers, lost in time, wander the Fugue looking for a way back to reality. Sometimes they find their way to the Shard.
Formless silhouette giants stride across the Fugue, their void filled shapes empty and lacking any substance. They travel, in search of something.
That said, following the Rainbow, trade with both the Fugue & Megrim have increased a hundred fold, resulting in something of a tenuous friendship between all three regions. Even ghosts from the Megrim and ancient Sleepers from the Fugue have started roaming the city as ambassadors and artists.
* Power Structure
The Old Gods still "live" in the city, but their time is ending. Thoth, Horus, Sekhmet, Ra & Nuth are merely shells, having ushered in the City. The city supposedly does their bidding, but they have not even been seen in... Aeons. They are looking for new vessels and lives for a new world...
The Artocracy of the Veiled Eye once ruled their meritocracy from the ebony & ivory temples at the top of the tower. These Corvid Winged judged citizens by their artistic function, grouping citizens into artforms; those good with their voices are Singers, those good with their hands sculptors, those with imagination became poets. If you did not fit an art form, you became sacrifice. If you choose an art form not prescribed to you, you became sacrifice. If your prescribed artwork goes the way of vaudeville, the limerick, the saga, scrimshaw; your whole artform became sacrifice.
For The Sake Of Art, You Follow Your Function.
Now, after the Rainbow, the same still applies... In theory. The Artocracy is broken, gone. Of the judges, only the Abstract Critic survived. In the ruins of his court in the centre of the city, the robed & hooded Critic is inundated with requests and crises, with The Investigator's Veiled Eye police forces stretched to their limits. To aid him, he has the gangly, pale Duke Pallas arguing in favour of the old ways of sacrifice and cruel exploitation... But in contrast Pal's student the albino Fifteen argues in favour of expression, commerce, and trade. As such, caught understaffed and between two struggling outlooks, the Veiled Eye has begun to accept volunteer consultants to help oversee art crimes and disputes.
Many Sleepers wear Horus' Ankh as a sign of rebellion against the new commercially focused movements on Tiferet.
* Ties To Moonchild
Rumours say the Moonchild has residence here...
* Places of Interest
The Artocracy Temples exist at the top of the vertical city.
The Ebony Temple deals with revering old, accepted artforms.
The Ivory Temple deals with creating new, socially acceptable artforms.
The Steel Temple, between the two, deals with Art for Art's sake, and The Times of Sacrifice. Entry is heavily restricted by the Crow guards.
The Temples of Thoth, Horus, Sekhmet, Ra & Nuth stand as recycled, seized-by-the-populace shrines to artforms; Prose, Song, Painting, Poetry and Dance, respectively. They are safe spaces for artists, seemingly overseen by something or someone. The Artocracy either don't think they are worth stopping... Or can't stop them.
The two most popular drinking holes are the heavily guarded, neutral embassy known as Eduardo's, and the cathedral of excess that is Elsie's. You go to Eduardo's for the safety and stay for the music, while you go to Elsie's for the drink and stay for the...drink.
* Costume
Outfit in Tiferet can be described as gothic. Black on white, or white on black. Leather, lace, fishnets, long coats, dresses. Gothic tweaks of 1960s outfits. Egyptian features like jewellery, makeup and iconography are common. Bright accents of colour are common, though bigger splashes are considered signs of rebellion.
The Veiled Eye wear masonic robes and aprons.
* Choices for Character Creation
Citizens of Tiferet have often created Art, able to Sing and gaining a Song...
...or can channel their pain into fearful wails...
...or have explored the City enough to have a full Brief on the Realm.
Realm; Arena
GEBURAH
ARENA
The Realm of Strength, Geburrah, resembles an enormous bowl; the outside, or lip of the bowl, is the bustling city of Judgement, part nuevo classical, part military-grade sports arena. All buildings face inwards, so the centre of the realm can be seen always; for those parts of Judgement where the view is obscured, or poorer parts of the city, enormous theatre like screens stand, the view of the battlefield ahead cast onto them.
The inside of the bowl is a humongous, shifting battlefield. This is Arena, the Ever Colosseum. Geburrah is dedicated to Strength as judgment, the Dreamer's inherent need to cast doubts and accusations against another. In Arena, every battle is fought, every anger and grudge is followed through to bloody conclusion or endless, violent stalemate. The city of Judgement watches, cheering on the fighters, delighting in their voyeuristic, cruel entertainment. The citizens of Judgement are always filled with violent furor, glued to their screens or windows, unable to turn away from Arena; they are addicted to violent entertainment, gripped by the spectacle of large, or small, scale war.
Fighters in the Arena come from all walks of life; some are soldiers, entire armies, dedicated to constant fighting, while others are Dreamers, Winged or Red Blooded caught in an angry conflict. Others are not native to Geburrah at all, kidnapped from other Realms by Winged pirates to fight for entertainment in the Arena. This means all sorts fight in Arena; Fears from Netzach, Military Vehicles from Malkuth, Mugwumps from Yesod, Gods from Binah, etc. While fights start personal, they soon become chaotic, all versus all facasses, a never ending battle royale, watched by a roaring, fickle city with their own rapidly changing favourites.
A dominating shape in the horizon is the bustling palace of War, Arena's reigning concept. While the palace is frozen over, encased in thick impregnable ice, War has not been seen for aeons.
But her children have; Conquest, Battle, Skirmish, Melee, Brawl. Even the younger Squabble and Fracas. Bedecked in armour and gleaming weaponry. Flanked by their Centurary underlings, Conquest & Battle address the masses, sending in the guilty, and even "lucky, surprise combatants" into Arena to entertain the Realm and channel their "overflowing strength & judgement".
Some say that aeons ago, there was a prize for winning the Arena. A prize of fantastic worth.
But that is long forgotten...
* What It Represents
"Gevurah is 'the essence of judgment and limitation, and corresponds to awe and the element of fire"
"Gevurah is understood as God's mode of punishing the wicked and judging humanity in general. It is the foundation of stringency, absolute adherence to the letter of the law, and strict meting out of justice."
Arena is the Realm of Strength, where punishment is meted out as combat, and awe and judgement are represented by the addiction to watch violence.
* Roads
#VII Chariot
#VIII Lust
#XX Adjustment
#XII Hanged Man
* Population (Judgement)
Dreamers (Violent, Conflict obsessed, Voyeuristic, Judgemental), Red Blooded (mice, wolves, foxes, big cats, bears, horses), Winged (Raptors, Vultures, Sea Birds).
* Indigenous Creatures
Almost all of Arena's threats are imported. However, every so often, the sheer amount of bloodshed and destruction wakes great power; the concept Violence, a towering creature of bloodstains and devastating rage manifests from the soil. Arena either unites against the beast, or scatters, as all know Violence only knows how to hurt. And tear. And crush. Without thought or care.
* Power Structure
War's Children rule Arena in her... absence? Conquest, Battle, Skirmish, Melee, Brawl, Squabble and Fracas. Under their rule, more and more are thrown into Arena, for smaller and smaller infractions. In fact, under Battle & Conquest, "random" members of the populace are handpicked to fight to the death for entertainment. All for "the attention of Judgement".
Conquest is often seen reading War's latest laws and proclamations, Battle making judgement on those who just enter Arena "for Battle's sake".
Squabble & Fracas can often be found in Arena itself, fighting for reputation. Brawl stalks Judgement looking for punch-ups, while Melee is renowned as a champion duellist.
Most seem elusive, but the family are sure to notice if their younger siblings are hurt... Or worse.
Battle leads armies of armoured "law enforcers" known as the Centuries of War. Each army is a hundred Centruaries, led by a Centurion; each Centurion is a champion in the Arena, saved from endless combat by Battle, personally, handpicked to be agents of the law. And by law, it boils down to stalking Judgement for those not glued to screaming at or cheering on Arena, and then proceeding to hand them over to War's children, beat them to a pulp, or worse... Throw them into Arena.
Conquest has smugglers and pirates working for them, bringing larger and wilder monsters from all around the Dream, to bring glory to the Arena. On an unrelated note, some Judgement citizens are thrilled to see participants from other Realms fighting to the death... Participants who look confused, unsure where they are, or how they got there...
* Ties To Moonchild
So far, none.
* Costume
Everyday 1950s outfits... Torn from battle, and repaired with armour, leather or metal. Often very Red. Very Mad Max.
The Centuries wear Lorica Segmentata made of recycled, patchwork metal, wearing red underclothes.
* Choices for Character Creation
Sleepers tied to Arena are exceptional fighters, skilled with weapons...
...or are able to channel their anger into life saving berserk rages...
...or are touched by the Realm so deeply that they are gifted with a detailed Brief about Arena.
ARENA
The Realm of Strength, Geburrah, resembles an enormous bowl; the outside, or lip of the bowl, is the bustling city of Judgement, part nuevo classical, part military-grade sports arena. All buildings face inwards, so the centre of the realm can be seen always; for those parts of Judgement where the view is obscured, or poorer parts of the city, enormous theatre like screens stand, the view of the battlefield ahead cast onto them.
The inside of the bowl is a humongous, shifting battlefield. This is Arena, the Ever Colosseum. Geburrah is dedicated to Strength as judgment, the Dreamer's inherent need to cast doubts and accusations against another. In Arena, every battle is fought, every anger and grudge is followed through to bloody conclusion or endless, violent stalemate. The city of Judgement watches, cheering on the fighters, delighting in their voyeuristic, cruel entertainment. The citizens of Judgement are always filled with violent furor, glued to their screens or windows, unable to turn away from Arena; they are addicted to violent entertainment, gripped by the spectacle of large, or small, scale war.
Fighters in the Arena come from all walks of life; some are soldiers, entire armies, dedicated to constant fighting, while others are Dreamers, Winged or Red Blooded caught in an angry conflict. Others are not native to Geburrah at all, kidnapped from other Realms by Winged pirates to fight for entertainment in the Arena. This means all sorts fight in Arena; Fears from Netzach, Military Vehicles from Malkuth, Mugwumps from Yesod, Gods from Binah, etc. While fights start personal, they soon become chaotic, all versus all facasses, a never ending battle royale, watched by a roaring, fickle city with their own rapidly changing favourites.
A dominating shape in the horizon is the bustling palace of War, Arena's reigning concept. While the palace is frozen over, encased in thick impregnable ice, War has not been seen for aeons.
But her children have; Conquest, Battle, Skirmish, Melee, Brawl. Even the younger Squabble and Fracas. Bedecked in armour and gleaming weaponry. Flanked by their Centurary underlings, Conquest & Battle address the masses, sending in the guilty, and even "lucky, surprise combatants" into Arena to entertain the Realm and channel their "overflowing strength & judgement".
Some say that aeons ago, there was a prize for winning the Arena. A prize of fantastic worth.
But that is long forgotten...
* What It Represents
"Gevurah is 'the essence of judgment and limitation, and corresponds to awe and the element of fire"
"Gevurah is understood as God's mode of punishing the wicked and judging humanity in general. It is the foundation of stringency, absolute adherence to the letter of the law, and strict meting out of justice."
Arena is the Realm of Strength, where punishment is meted out as combat, and awe and judgement are represented by the addiction to watch violence.
* Roads
#VII Chariot
#VIII Lust
#XX Adjustment
#XII Hanged Man
* Population (Judgement)
Dreamers (Violent, Conflict obsessed, Voyeuristic, Judgemental), Red Blooded (mice, wolves, foxes, big cats, bears, horses), Winged (Raptors, Vultures, Sea Birds).
* Indigenous Creatures
Almost all of Arena's threats are imported. However, every so often, the sheer amount of bloodshed and destruction wakes great power; the concept Violence, a towering creature of bloodstains and devastating rage manifests from the soil. Arena either unites against the beast, or scatters, as all know Violence only knows how to hurt. And tear. And crush. Without thought or care.
* Power Structure
War's Children rule Arena in her... absence? Conquest, Battle, Skirmish, Melee, Brawl, Squabble and Fracas. Under their rule, more and more are thrown into Arena, for smaller and smaller infractions. In fact, under Battle & Conquest, "random" members of the populace are handpicked to fight to the death for entertainment. All for "the attention of Judgement".
Conquest is often seen reading War's latest laws and proclamations, Battle making judgement on those who just enter Arena "for Battle's sake".
Squabble & Fracas can often be found in Arena itself, fighting for reputation. Brawl stalks Judgement looking for punch-ups, while Melee is renowned as a champion duellist.
Most seem elusive, but the family are sure to notice if their younger siblings are hurt... Or worse.
Battle leads armies of armoured "law enforcers" known as the Centuries of War. Each army is a hundred Centruaries, led by a Centurion; each Centurion is a champion in the Arena, saved from endless combat by Battle, personally, handpicked to be agents of the law. And by law, it boils down to stalking Judgement for those not glued to screaming at or cheering on Arena, and then proceeding to hand them over to War's children, beat them to a pulp, or worse... Throw them into Arena.
Conquest has smugglers and pirates working for them, bringing larger and wilder monsters from all around the Dream, to bring glory to the Arena. On an unrelated note, some Judgement citizens are thrilled to see participants from other Realms fighting to the death... Participants who look confused, unsure where they are, or how they got there...
* Ties To Moonchild
So far, none.
* Costume
Everyday 1950s outfits... Torn from battle, and repaired with armour, leather or metal. Often very Red. Very Mad Max.
The Centuries wear Lorica Segmentata made of recycled, patchwork metal, wearing red underclothes.
* Choices for Character Creation
Sleepers tied to Arena are exceptional fighters, skilled with weapons...
...or are able to channel their anger into life saving berserk rages...
...or are touched by the Realm so deeply that they are gifted with a detailed Brief about Arena.
Realm; Planet Hod
PLANET HOD
HOD
Hod, the Realm of Splendour, appears as a shining silver planet, surrounded by shimmering rings, in a twinkling starscape. Tall, sleek silver towers rise out of the planet, visible from afar, crackling bright lightning emanating from Tesla coils and neon rings and risks glowing around the buildings. Spinning UFOs, funny-sounding bubble cars, sleek rockets (and something new and enormous called... star... ships?) fly from the surface to the many twirling stations orbiting the planet. Further out spin tiny moons, and even planetoids, miles wide and visible in the swirling, twinkling darkness of Thoughtspace, from Hod's surface.
Hod is a realm of gleaming, bright, just unobtainable Science Fiction.
Citizens of Hod are inventors or adventurers, travelling Thoughtspace looking for threats to peace to eliminate with diplomacy, new planetoids & moons to catalogue, or new substances to locate to aid with thrilling, brilliant invention. Plenty of ships, moons & planetoids in Thoughtspace have yet to agree to the Science Council's offers of Splendour Though Unity, Unity Through Peace.
* What It Represents
"Hasidic Judaism's view of Hod is that it is connected with Jewish prayer. Prayer is seen as form of "submission"; Hod is explained as an analogy - that instead of "conquering" an obstacle in one's way, (which is the idea of Netzach), subduing oneself to that "obstacle" is related to the quality of Hod."
"Hod is where form is given by language in its widest sense, being the key to the "mystery of form" (this may be an adoption of a point of view of Jacques Lacan). Our unconscious desires come from Netzach, and are given form in the symbolic realm by Hod, manifesting unconsciously through Yesod to Malkuth."
"Hod is described as being a force that breaks down energy into different, distinguishable forms, and it is associated with intellectuality, learning and ritual, as opposed to Netzach, Victory, which is the power of energy to overcome all barriers and limitations, and is associated with emotion and passion, music and dancing."
Planet Hod represents the splendour of the future, embraced ("submission") by Dreamers as a sci-fi, Ray-Gun Gothic World, rather than the dream-self of Malkuth. It is a realm of idealised, glorious science fiction rather than mundane, life-changing science fact.
* Roads
#XII Hanged Man
#XV Devil
#XVI Tower
#XIX Sun
#XX Aeon
* Population
The bulk of the populace is made up of adventurous, "scientifically minded" (well, what they think of as science) Dreamers, in their ships and rockets, exploring or inventing.
Seabirds, previously Wavefarers, are now Spacefarers, the crews and officers of these newfangled Starships. Gulls & Cormorants serve as the coloured-shirt-clad yeomen, with vainglorious Albatross captains, Petrel communications officers, and Puffin & Albatross medical staff.
The logical, empathetic Doves are the ambassadors and mouth pieces of the Science Council. Skilled diplomats, they look for any way to avoid conflict but achieve further peace. They operate from their own space station, the White Hand.
The Winged of the River, Ducks, Geese & Swans, live on their quicksilver canal planet of Mercury. Once seen as kings of trade, the Swans now rule pseudo fantasy feudal nations from they temple thrones, protected by the savage-noble Geese.
Other alien races live on the scattered moons and planets circling Hod. Children of Dust, like Spiders, Insects & other bugs. Cold Blooded Lizards, Reptiles & Snakes. "Xenos" Winged like Parrots, Toucans, Peacocks. Their cultures are unknown.
* Indigenous Creatures
Some particularly alien Concepts reside on distant moons & ships, waiting to be found by Dreamers.
Many ships and labs have autonomous Ideas, living creatures of shining metal and sparking circuitry born of new inventions. Most are cold and logical, looking for their place in the world.
* Power Structure
The progressive world of Hod is overseen by the Science Council, a progressive meeting of minds and different races native to Hod wanting to ensure the Splendour of Hod is sustained through peace, cooperation, and socialism. The Council's first priority is to avoid violence at all costs, and only resort to raygun fire when all other options have been exhausted; violence in peace time is an offence met by exile.
The Council wants to unite all worlds within Hod, promoting cooperation. Of course, some worlds see this fledgling federation of races as a threat to their autonomy. It is unknown if the current Chairwoman, the Mercurian President Harmony Lionheart XIV, has alterior motives.
The Doves of the White Hand are the Council's greatest supporters, and act as their ambassadors.
It is unknown if the Council knows about the other Realms... Or what would happen if they did.
* Ties To Moonchild
The Moonchild has been seen on Hod. It is believed they have a moon, somewhere...
* Places of Interest
Scattered around Thoughtspace are Golden ships & planetoids, with a distinct Mezoamerican design, that turn up eratically. These are believed to contain motherloads of ancient Winged technology, epoch old powersources just waiting for new takers.
Every one previously explored has been well guarded by monsters-without-explanation, or haunted by neon spirits.
* Costume
Silver jumpsuits, flashing and glowing lights, sleek & futuristic. Devices with light-up rings and shiny buttons. Star Trek meets The Jetsons. Bubble helmets and jetpacks, raygun and laser swords.
Those from Mercury wear Science Fantasy gear; all filigree armour and alien robes, loincloths and sparkling jewellery.
Alien worlds wear noble savage uniforms of leather and metal, with uncouth weaponry, or alien interpretations of Hod's own shimmering uniforms.
* Choices for Character Creation
Oneironauts of Planet Hod have often created Science or expressed Splendour, and are able to Sing, gifted with a Song...
...or have been caught in a laser fight, knowing how to heal the most grievous wounds...
...or have explored, gaining a detailed brief on Planet Hod and it's Thoughtspace.
HOD
Hod, the Realm of Splendour, appears as a shining silver planet, surrounded by shimmering rings, in a twinkling starscape. Tall, sleek silver towers rise out of the planet, visible from afar, crackling bright lightning emanating from Tesla coils and neon rings and risks glowing around the buildings. Spinning UFOs, funny-sounding bubble cars, sleek rockets (and something new and enormous called... star... ships?) fly from the surface to the many twirling stations orbiting the planet. Further out spin tiny moons, and even planetoids, miles wide and visible in the swirling, twinkling darkness of Thoughtspace, from Hod's surface.
Hod is a realm of gleaming, bright, just unobtainable Science Fiction.
Citizens of Hod are inventors or adventurers, travelling Thoughtspace looking for threats to peace to eliminate with diplomacy, new planetoids & moons to catalogue, or new substances to locate to aid with thrilling, brilliant invention. Plenty of ships, moons & planetoids in Thoughtspace have yet to agree to the Science Council's offers of Splendour Though Unity, Unity Through Peace.
* What It Represents
"Hasidic Judaism's view of Hod is that it is connected with Jewish prayer. Prayer is seen as form of "submission"; Hod is explained as an analogy - that instead of "conquering" an obstacle in one's way, (which is the idea of Netzach), subduing oneself to that "obstacle" is related to the quality of Hod."
"Hod is where form is given by language in its widest sense, being the key to the "mystery of form" (this may be an adoption of a point of view of Jacques Lacan). Our unconscious desires come from Netzach, and are given form in the symbolic realm by Hod, manifesting unconsciously through Yesod to Malkuth."
"Hod is described as being a force that breaks down energy into different, distinguishable forms, and it is associated with intellectuality, learning and ritual, as opposed to Netzach, Victory, which is the power of energy to overcome all barriers and limitations, and is associated with emotion and passion, music and dancing."
Planet Hod represents the splendour of the future, embraced ("submission") by Dreamers as a sci-fi, Ray-Gun Gothic World, rather than the dream-self of Malkuth. It is a realm of idealised, glorious science fiction rather than mundane, life-changing science fact.
* Roads
#XII Hanged Man
#XV Devil
#XVI Tower
#XIX Sun
#XX Aeon
* Population
The bulk of the populace is made up of adventurous, "scientifically minded" (well, what they think of as science) Dreamers, in their ships and rockets, exploring or inventing.
Seabirds, previously Wavefarers, are now Spacefarers, the crews and officers of these newfangled Starships. Gulls & Cormorants serve as the coloured-shirt-clad yeomen, with vainglorious Albatross captains, Petrel communications officers, and Puffin & Albatross medical staff.
The logical, empathetic Doves are the ambassadors and mouth pieces of the Science Council. Skilled diplomats, they look for any way to avoid conflict but achieve further peace. They operate from their own space station, the White Hand.
The Winged of the River, Ducks, Geese & Swans, live on their quicksilver canal planet of Mercury. Once seen as kings of trade, the Swans now rule pseudo fantasy feudal nations from they temple thrones, protected by the savage-noble Geese.
Other alien races live on the scattered moons and planets circling Hod. Children of Dust, like Spiders, Insects & other bugs. Cold Blooded Lizards, Reptiles & Snakes. "Xenos" Winged like Parrots, Toucans, Peacocks. Their cultures are unknown.
* Indigenous Creatures
Some particularly alien Concepts reside on distant moons & ships, waiting to be found by Dreamers.
Many ships and labs have autonomous Ideas, living creatures of shining metal and sparking circuitry born of new inventions. Most are cold and logical, looking for their place in the world.
* Power Structure
The progressive world of Hod is overseen by the Science Council, a progressive meeting of minds and different races native to Hod wanting to ensure the Splendour of Hod is sustained through peace, cooperation, and socialism. The Council's first priority is to avoid violence at all costs, and only resort to raygun fire when all other options have been exhausted; violence in peace time is an offence met by exile.
The Council wants to unite all worlds within Hod, promoting cooperation. Of course, some worlds see this fledgling federation of races as a threat to their autonomy. It is unknown if the current Chairwoman, the Mercurian President Harmony Lionheart XIV, has alterior motives.
The Doves of the White Hand are the Council's greatest supporters, and act as their ambassadors.
It is unknown if the Council knows about the other Realms... Or what would happen if they did.
* Ties To Moonchild
The Moonchild has been seen on Hod. It is believed they have a moon, somewhere...
* Places of Interest
Scattered around Thoughtspace are Golden ships & planetoids, with a distinct Mezoamerican design, that turn up eratically. These are believed to contain motherloads of ancient Winged technology, epoch old powersources just waiting for new takers.
Every one previously explored has been well guarded by monsters-without-explanation, or haunted by neon spirits.
* Costume
Silver jumpsuits, flashing and glowing lights, sleek & futuristic. Devices with light-up rings and shiny buttons. Star Trek meets The Jetsons. Bubble helmets and jetpacks, raygun and laser swords.
Those from Mercury wear Science Fantasy gear; all filigree armour and alien robes, loincloths and sparkling jewellery.
Alien worlds wear noble savage uniforms of leather and metal, with uncouth weaponry, or alien interpretations of Hod's own shimmering uniforms.
* Choices for Character Creation
Oneironauts of Planet Hod have often created Science or expressed Splendour, and are able to Sing, gifted with a Song...
...or have been caught in a laser fight, knowing how to heal the most grievous wounds...
...or have explored, gaining a detailed brief on Planet Hod and it's Thoughtspace.
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