(( Hey everyone, sorry for being hugely inactive lately. On the twentieth of December, I finally moved to America (California, specifically). Between moving, finishing up classes for my major, and setting up in my new job location, I've been a bit busy to RP. I'll see if I can squeeze in the time for a post tonight, but no promises. ))
"Since you guys seem to be okay with it, we'll head off. I'll keep the rift open for the people who have yet to arrive." I announced, with a grin. Energy began to swirl around me, swarming like moths to a flame. It took nothing more than a couple already prepared magic circles, each one looking like intricate golden hoops, and the energy conversion ritual I had begun earlier in order to bypass time and space. The three frames floated in the air, revolving around an invisible core, where a small speck of purple light appeared. That light expanded outwards to the point where anybody in the group could get through without clipping their head on the fabric of reality. "Time to go on a field trip." An excited me said. I jumped through without a second thought, ready to be the first person to travel through time.
The experience was overwhelming at first. I had aimed the special shift aspect of the portal correctly, as I was definitely in Doal, but I was hoping our exit site would be a bit more... Grand. The portal lead to a small warehouse, filled with crates of all sorts of contraptions. Bronze automatons whirred to life just by me being in their proximity. Exactly as I had wanted, they demonstrated a form of Affinity Conversion to turn the air around them into fire, which fueled their weird engines. It'd be nearly impossible to drag Ivan out of here. I noticed one remaining thing that would definitely show we were from a different time: our clothing. There weren't many garments laying around, so something would have to be done about that, but it was an issue for later. For the time being, I just wanted to get to know exactly how these people utilized their limited magic, as well as why and how they were destroyed.
Tobias laughed a bit at Rani's question, which I found odd. Had he grown insane over this past year, or did he just have a weird sense of humor? Nonetheless, he replied, "Is there a requirement of a reason to break every rule in this world in one fell sweep? I want to study their magic, their artifacts, and what got the entire nation of Doal destroyed. The specifics on all three of those topics are lost in time, but a new friend of mine has created a mock version of a small tool they used. The blueprints were very hard to find, but with my friend's mechanical talent and my magical knowledge, it turned out alright." He reached into his jacket and pulled out what looked to be some sort of steampunk pistol. The main two parts of it were a wooden stock and a bronze barrel, if you could call the latter that. It was a wide tube, maybe two inches wide, that widened like a horn toward the end. Closer to the stock, the tube split off into two smaller ones, each looking like exhaust pipes.
"According to the recovered notes, the Doalians were a peaceful people with no offensive magic and no technology designed to be weapons." He continued, aiming the weird pistol around. "Apparently they had mastered the Affinity Shift technique in order to create magical fuel out of other matter, which is one of the reasons they caught my interest. Watch and learn." When he pulled the trigger on the strange gun, it began sucking in the air. A small fireball was produced and shot out, although I could tell it was really just a mass of harmless heat. With his demonstration over, Tobes looked back to us. "Our trip is already prepared, although there are only two rules if you'd like to accompany me: you may bring nothing relating to our current technology back unless it is crucial and, regardless of whatever heroic instincts you may have, you must not prevent the destruction of Doal."
Rani evaded my attacks without an issue, a definite sign of improvement. He then sent a barrage of light projectiles my way, but two of us could play the dodging game. Each one sailed past me, exploding against various buildings. I'd have to repair those. I would have returned the favor with a couple bolts of lightning, but I remembered what I wanted to discuss.
"We're going to have to put the duel on hold." I told my opponent. "Since a few of you guys have gathered here, it's about time to give you the new crazy scheme. I decided that I wanted to go on a field trip to a distant country called Doal. However, the entire thing is nothing more than a giant mess of ruins and I personally hate archeology. I decided it'd be much cooler to travel through time and explore their culture first hand. An informant of mine has supplied me with the means to slip through time, which should get us there. I figured that, since time travel has never been accomplished before in any substantial way, you guys might be interested in joining me on this expedition."
(( Nulling my previous post for no reason other than I had forgotten that I wanted to save the Infinity Focus surprise for later. I hope you weren't preparing a response because you'll have to restart .-. ))
[Tobias]
"It is fairly arrogant, I must guess." I admitted, finishing up the chalk diagram. My issue a year ago was that, after all the battles had been finished, the toll from activating my Affinity State was too much for me to bare. I had spent several weeks training solely towards converting the energy around me into applicable power and the fruits of my labors were quite plump. "Still, you can not say it isn't the truth." I took a brief moment to use my aura as a radar and determined that there were two Ranis, although one had a superior amount of energy to the other. If I were to guess, I'd assume he was trying to pull my attention to the inferior based on immediate sight, but the real one was likely in position to strike. The time I had decided on was nearly up. Uncovering my new arm, I used the masterfully crafted prosthetic limb to smash the shield around me. I didn't have high hopes, but it sent a web of cracks throughout the entire barrier and shattered it like paper-thin ice. If I had but a moment to surprise him, it would need to be with something that would stop the warrior in his tracks. Luckily, I knew what spell this was.
"Oblivion Pane." I said. As soon as the last syllable left my lips, I could feel the void form behind me. Rather, I could sense the lack of any magic. Last time the Whistler had merely touched the Pane's energy-stealing barrier, he was sent into near Arcolic Shock. There's no way his body would be able to pass through and still have the energy to fight me, so I'd likely have bought myself a few moments. Striking now was ideal, yet any warrior would recognize this as a window of opportunity. I'd be insulting my opponent by taking such obvious paths. Instead, I did a bit of a roll to make even the slightest amount of distance. When I stood up, I willed a bit of stone to form little spheres and float above me. "So, there were three jurors you never likely got to meet. Heracles could control Gravity, so I picked up one of his tricks." With a flick of my wrist, the direction of the force of the Earth changed for these rocks. They launched themselves toward the Whistler.
(( There is only one method to get to Aer and it can only be used by Xeltia and Tobias. This is very intentional. Just keep that in mind. ))
[Demi]
Lucy and Ordis had come to where Hell was about to break loose. "Good to see you guys! Even if they make a mess, Tobias can probably clean it up. Speaking of, something feels different about him..." I trailed off, wondering about what Tobias could have done over this year. His aura was completely hidden, but even I could feel the ethereal energy revolving around him. Tobes' grin wasn't filled with egotistic pride, but rather pure confidence. His body was a bit sturdier, so he must have been training quite hard. I had never, not once, seen him train either his body or his spells at all. He was a genius since birth and his spells only improve by getting modified. How different was this Tobias from the one I once knew?
[Tobias]
"Out of respect for the difference in our strength, I will not use any offensive techniques until a minute has passed. Use this time to strike." I said, carefully crafting my words. With a small hand motion, I activated a more advanced version of Mana Shield. Instead of constantly draining my energy to maintain the shield, it created a single barrier. By pouring a bit of energy into it, I thickened that defensive Ward to the point where it was three feet thick and stronger than steel. This wasn't going to protect me against The Whistler, who likely had trained his Divine Light to near perfection. It was merely to stall,
Since he would likely waste most of the minute attempting to break through, I got to work drawing a fairly complicated circle array on the ground beneath me. It utilized three different magic formats: Elven (the chosen people of Lief who are majorly long dead), North Eternian, and a bit of my own custom design. The purpose of all of this was to pull in enough magic energy from my surroundings to maintain my display of power. Even with all of the magic energy I possessed, I wasn't stupid enough to try and cast it without a constant intake of high density energy. The Elves were masters of Nature Magic, hence why Lief favored them, and one of their various techniques included gathering magic energy from their environment in order to cast spells way above their regular 'price range'. In the Northern Ranges, it was essential for nomads to be able to condense the air to make it possible to breathe even at the highest of heights. These two things, combined with my own Affinity Alteration method, fit perfectly in order to turn Nature into a gigantic mana battery.
"Do you know the difference between a Mage, a Sage, and me?" I asked, making some idle chatter while finishing up the array. The minute was nearly up but I couldn't waste time focusing at all on The Whistler. "A Mage is someone who understands the laws of magic enough to utilize it's power. A Safe is someone who can use those laws in their entirety to command the very fibers of magic. I, however, can write, bend, and break those laws as I see fit."
(( I sort-of addressed this via PM with you, Man Man, but I guess you didn't quite get the point I was trying to make. To try and define any global lore is the same as writing history that would effect everyone. I'm not sure how I'd describe what rule this breaks. PowerGaming for controlling the history and lore of the Roleplay without my permission? That's probably the most accurate term. In the following spoilers, you will find a chunk of the OP that details the origin of magic. You will find no mention of "dragons" or any sort of primordial beings, excluding the Gods. In bold, you will find the specific mentions of how magic was given to the humans and how said magic was put on the planet. The Lore of Caelum is both unknown and an exception to the following, yet the scenario doesn't change for not being able to touch it.
While Man lived on Earth, a set of divine beings lived in Aer, more popularly known as Heaven. Their power is insurmountable, the weakest of them able to cause the world to shake on a whim. Obviously, the population of the Gods is much smaller than that of the Humans. Anyways, the deities of this world decided that the sins of humanity needed to be cleansed and the only way to do that is through spilling blood. Since these beings had transcended the savages below, the Gods decided to create a new creature, one who's standing on the food chain is above humans. These are the Tainted Ones, the living representation of the evil of humanity, bred solely to kill and devour humans. They had one major edge over their prey: Magic.
Humans, who lived with physical tools, were no match for the superior beings known as the Tainted Ones. They lived in constant fear and the moral changes the Gods had hoped for began to develop. Humans stopped pointing their weapons at each other and gathered together to face their common enemy. However, their attempt at surpassing the Taint was ill fated. It would take three soldiers at least to stand up against a single Tainted One, but the various armies of the world had been spread thin. Since this is a story, we cannot allow Humans to die off so quickly, and thus, a new player entered the game: Fallen Angels.
Fallen Angels are Gods that had chosen to descend from Aer, giving up a good chunk of their powers and the whole of their immortality as payment. These beings possessed knowledge of magic and began to spread this gift to the humans, who became Wizards, Magicians, Sorcerer's, whatever you'd prefer to title them. A single sorcerer would be able to take on one or two Tainted Ones on their own, which is a huge improvement. The Fallen Angels could easily take out more, since they were basically weakened Gods. Over time, those who had be given the gift of magic shared it, passing the sacred art down for generations. Unfortunately, there were still a relatively small number of people who could use magic, even less than the amount of soldiers across the world.
My concern here is that, no matter how many times I slap you on the wrist for doing this, you continue to try and twist the lore. No beasts taught magic to the humans, nor were there an Anti-God troupe of Demons. Nothing called the "Makers", "Mad Ones", "Royal Dragons", or whatever else exist/existed. The lore is simple: humans lived peacefully, they turned corrupt, they were punished, magic was given to have them save themselves. I know, I'm not nor have I ever gone into the nitty gritty with the Lore because it isn't needed. There is no need to over complicate things that will never touch the plot anyways. Consider this the last time I'm going to speak about this issue, although I was really hoping to never have to do this in the first place.
Rani and I had, maybe a month or two into the hiatus, met up in order to do some training. He was unbelievably strong for a Demigod, perhaps as strong as Garrett. Either way, we had gone with the concept of "Iron sharpens Iron" and had spent the time honing each other's skills. Rani had almost mastered Divine Light by the time we began, yet I couldn't cast Divine Torch at all. His techniques to let emotion take control helped and, after weeks of intense practice, I pulled it off yet again. By the time the year was up, I could cast Divine Torch twice, three if I was desperate. Rani had, when we arrived at the meeting location, decided to whistle, which was normal enough. It didn't take an air mage to realize that, when he began his tune, the wind shifted to point west. This was followed by a metallic taste in the air, the sky darkening, and, of course, a blast of lightning right in front of my... Nephew?
"You called." A man said, everything but his head covered in a dark cloak. The white hair was a clear sign that he was Tobias. "That whistle is supposed to be for when you decide to fight me. Do you think you're prepared to face me?" He asked. I had no idea what Tobes was talking about, as this was likely having to do with something prior to my descent.
(( Yes you may. Kumquat, I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to be borrowing one of your NPCs just for this post. ))
<< One Year after Caelum's Failed Invasion >>
[Yekaterina Rykov]
About eleven or twelve months ago, I had received a government contracted request for an advanced prosthetic limb. Usually, it'd be cake walk to whip one up, but it proved to be incredibly challenging to customize it to the specifications the client wanted. I had made several trips over to personally get measurements, test out some prototypes, and eventually attached a mechanical base in order to simplify the work load. Connecting the nerves to produce an immediate response was crucial for high quality limbs, so I had gotten that hurdle out of the way. The metal I used was a very strange alloy, one that made it so the finished product wouldn't be destroyed by any explosion inferior to a nuclear blast. Yes, I did get permission to nuke the near-finished prototype. It only made a couple of scratches and scorch marks, which would likely satisfy the client. Today, I was scheduled to deliver it. Entrusting such a masterpiece to one of our employees gave me an uneasy feeling, so I chose to deliver it in person.
Our meeting place was at a warehouse in a city in the Western Region. "Hey, it's Kat." I said, knocking on the door. The door slid open, revealing a fairly normal looking guy in his twenties. Normal being a very relative term, considering he had snow-white hair and a metal stub where his right arm belonged. This was definitely Tobias. "Sorry it took so long to finish up. I worked day and night for weeks to finish this and ensured that it meets all of your expectations." I opened the case and began attaching the mechanical limb to the framework already in place.
"I'm quite familiar with your company's quality." Tobias complimented. At a previous meeting, he had spoken in high regard about my brother, Ivan. As soon as I finished rigging it all together, he pointed it toward one of the warehouse's walls and shot a fireball larger than my head. "Perfect. Can Ivan conduct maintenance on it or should I head to your workshop if I bust it?"
I laughed. "Ivan's pretty smart, he'll know how to fix any small issue. If you manage to break that thing, then feel free to drop by. Rykov Robotics is going to start improving our AutoMail, so we'll make sure that you have the highest quality limb you can." Tobias grinned, pleased to know just how much we respected him. According to Ivan, this guy was one of the strongest beings to ever touch this planet, but he didn't seem like a god. He felt like someone I'd hang out with in my spare time and have coffee with. He invited me into his abode, which was pretty much just a gigantic warehouse filled with thousands of documents, books, and papers. "You're supposed to meet with your friends tomorrow, right? Tell me about your year, since we've got the time."
"It all started out in a hospital bed." He began, reclining on a stack of books arranged into the shape of a chair. "The Mirror Knight put me into Arcolic Arrest, blah blah blah. I couldn't use any magic at all for the first week or two, which kind of sucked. I figured that having an organ that could be poisoned so easily was a weakness, so I had it surgically removed. I was without any sense for magic for another three weeks, but I eventually conquered that and could cast spells and such without it. I realized that I was only training my Soul and Mind, but not my Body, so I spent several months boosting physical strength. You see, if you only sharpen two of the three parts of yourself, it's completely inefficient. I'm stronger than ever before, arguably more than when I was still Immortal."
"So you can use magic... without your Arcoli?" I asked, still dumbfounded.
"Yep." He responded, casually. We continued chatting away for a while. He tested out the arm a bit more, which ended in a perfectly fine piece of machinery but an obliterated wall. After a few hours, I left his compound and returned to my personal oasis in the comfort of a VTOL. Ivan was lucky to have an ally that powerful. At least my little brother would no longer be in any danger.
(( One Year Timeskip inbound! Once your character leaves the war zone, enjoy leaping a year ahead. Feel free to take your own helicopter, that was the reason I had Tobias bring them. ))
[Tobias]
The fight had turned horribly sour when the Knight slashed me with some kind of magic dagger. I could feel all of my clones hidden around the world pop, despite having replaced each of them on my way over to Eternia. I could no longer feel my extremities, nor move my limbs in the slightest. A dagger designed to hunt those who relied heavily on magic. My bane. Ivan Rykov, an engineer prodigy apparently with psychic powers, fended off the Angel-Hunter once I had become a rag doll in the shape of my former self. It was painful to even look around, so I kept my eyes as focused in a way that would let me see the majority of my important surroundings. How could I go from such a high state of power to nothing but paralyzed trash? Ivan called for a medic, probably to the reinforcements I had called in. I watched as some men, suited to handle explosives, handled the various artifacts I had gathered, excluding Arachne's pouch.
"Rykov." I managed as paramedics put me on a stretcher and brought my irresponsive body to a helicopter. "I changed my mind. One year." I had originally thought that recovering from this war (despite the fact that it would likely continue) would take a few months, but I was wrong. A year would been mandatory for me to both recover my strength and remove all of my weaknesses. For whatever reason, it bugged me that I needed to depend on a mortal for support.
The doors closed on the MedEvac Helicopter, leaving me to my own thoughts.
[Demi]
As soon as Tobias hit the ground, I wanted to rush in and help. He had almost died, and he would have if it weren't for Ivan. The Mirror Knight was now known, his name was out there. All Fallen Angels had targets drawn on their backs, including my own. The very prospect that someone of that magnitude wanted me dead terrified me. Medics rushed in and put Tobes on life support, meaning that his entire magic network had been shut down. Whether or not he'd survive the second half of the fight, only time would tell. His final words were about a year rather than a couple months. "If we've got a year, I'm going to get stronger." I declared, understanding just how weak I truly was. Tobias couldn't even beat the Knight and he was miles ahead of me in terms of magic. If we had time, then I wasn't going to waste it. "We'll meet up in New Central, the same place most of us met." With that, I hopped onto an escort VTOL and zoomed off.
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(( Hey everyone, sorry for being hugely inactive lately. On the twentieth of December, I finally moved to America (California, specifically). Between moving, finishing up classes for my major, and setting up in my new job location, I've been a bit busy to RP. I'll see if I can squeeze in the time for a post tonight, but no promises. ))
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(( Finals, man. Finals. ))
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(( That's fine, Obidian. Scarf, take as much time as you need. ))
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[Tobias]
"Since you guys seem to be okay with it, we'll head off. I'll keep the rift open for the people who have yet to arrive." I announced, with a grin. Energy began to swirl around me, swarming like moths to a flame. It took nothing more than a couple already prepared magic circles, each one looking like intricate golden hoops, and the energy conversion ritual I had begun earlier in order to bypass time and space. The three frames floated in the air, revolving around an invisible core, where a small speck of purple light appeared. That light expanded outwards to the point where anybody in the group could get through without clipping their head on the fabric of reality. "Time to go on a field trip." An excited me said. I jumped through without a second thought, ready to be the first person to travel through time.
The experience was overwhelming at first. I had aimed the special shift aspect of the portal correctly, as I was definitely in Doal, but I was hoping our exit site would be a bit more... Grand. The portal lead to a small warehouse, filled with crates of all sorts of contraptions. Bronze automatons whirred to life just by me being in their proximity. Exactly as I had wanted, they demonstrated a form of Affinity Conversion to turn the air around them into fire, which fueled their weird engines. It'd be nearly impossible to drag Ivan out of here. I noticed one remaining thing that would definitely show we were from a different time: our clothing. There weren't many garments laying around, so something would have to be done about that, but it was an issue for later. For the time being, I just wanted to get to know exactly how these people utilized their limited magic, as well as why and how they were destroyed.
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[Demi]
Tobias laughed a bit at Rani's question, which I found odd. Had he grown insane over this past year, or did he just have a weird sense of humor? Nonetheless, he replied, "Is there a requirement of a reason to break every rule in this world in one fell sweep? I want to study their magic, their artifacts, and what got the entire nation of Doal destroyed. The specifics on all three of those topics are lost in time, but a new friend of mine has created a mock version of a small tool they used. The blueprints were very hard to find, but with my friend's mechanical talent and my magical knowledge, it turned out alright." He reached into his jacket and pulled out what looked to be some sort of steampunk pistol. The main two parts of it were a wooden stock and a bronze barrel, if you could call the latter that. It was a wide tube, maybe two inches wide, that widened like a horn toward the end. Closer to the stock, the tube split off into two smaller ones, each looking like exhaust pipes.
"According to the recovered notes, the Doalians were a peaceful people with no offensive magic and no technology designed to be weapons." He continued, aiming the weird pistol around. "Apparently they had mastered the Affinity Shift technique in order to create magical fuel out of other matter, which is one of the reasons they caught my interest. Watch and learn." When he pulled the trigger on the strange gun, it began sucking in the air. A small fireball was produced and shot out, although I could tell it was really just a mass of harmless heat. With his demonstration over, Tobes looked back to us. "Our trip is already prepared, although there are only two rules if you'd like to accompany me: you may bring nothing relating to our current technology back unless it is crucial and, regardless of whatever heroic instincts you may have, you must not prevent the destruction of Doal."
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[Tobias]
Rani evaded my attacks without an issue, a definite sign of improvement. He then sent a barrage of light projectiles my way, but two of us could play the dodging game. Each one sailed past me, exploding against various buildings. I'd have to repair those. I would have returned the favor with a couple bolts of lightning, but I remembered what I wanted to discuss.
"We're going to have to put the duel on hold." I told my opponent. "Since a few of you guys have gathered here, it's about time to give you the new crazy scheme. I decided that I wanted to go on a field trip to a distant country called Doal. However, the entire thing is nothing more than a giant mess of ruins and I personally hate archeology. I decided it'd be much cooler to travel through time and explore their culture first hand. An informant of mine has supplied me with the means to slip through time, which should get us there. I figured that, since time travel has never been accomplished before in any substantial way, you guys might be interested in joining me on this expedition."
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(( Nulling my previous post for no reason other than I had forgotten that I wanted to save the Infinity Focus surprise for later. I hope you weren't preparing a response because you'll have to restart .-. ))
[Tobias]
"It is fairly arrogant, I must guess." I admitted, finishing up the chalk diagram. My issue a year ago was that, after all the battles had been finished, the toll from activating my Affinity State was too much for me to bare. I had spent several weeks training solely towards converting the energy around me into applicable power and the fruits of my labors were quite plump. "Still, you can not say it isn't the truth." I took a brief moment to use my aura as a radar and determined that there were two Ranis, although one had a superior amount of energy to the other. If I were to guess, I'd assume he was trying to pull my attention to the inferior based on immediate sight, but the real one was likely in position to strike. The time I had decided on was nearly up. Uncovering my new arm, I used the masterfully crafted prosthetic limb to smash the shield around me. I didn't have high hopes, but it sent a web of cracks throughout the entire barrier and shattered it like paper-thin ice. If I had but a moment to surprise him, it would need to be with something that would stop the warrior in his tracks. Luckily, I knew what spell this was.
"Oblivion Pane." I said. As soon as the last syllable left my lips, I could feel the void form behind me. Rather, I could sense the lack of any magic. Last time the Whistler had merely touched the Pane's energy-stealing barrier, he was sent into near Arcolic Shock. There's no way his body would be able to pass through and still have the energy to fight me, so I'd likely have bought myself a few moments. Striking now was ideal, yet any warrior would recognize this as a window of opportunity. I'd be insulting my opponent by taking such obvious paths. Instead, I did a bit of a roll to make even the slightest amount of distance. When I stood up, I willed a bit of stone to form little spheres and float above me. "So, there were three jurors you never likely got to meet. Heracles could control Gravity, so I picked up one of his tricks." With a flick of my wrist, the direction of the force of the Earth changed for these rocks. They launched themselves toward the Whistler.
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(( There is only one method to get to Aer and it can only be used by Xeltia and Tobias. This is very intentional. Just keep that in mind. ))
[Demi]
Lucy and Ordis had come to where Hell was about to break loose. "Good to see you guys! Even if they make a mess, Tobias can probably clean it up. Speaking of, something feels different about him..." I trailed off, wondering about what Tobias could have done over this year. His aura was completely hidden, but even I could feel the ethereal energy revolving around him. Tobes' grin wasn't filled with egotistic pride, but rather pure confidence. His body was a bit sturdier, so he must have been training quite hard. I had never, not once, seen him train either his body or his spells at all. He was a genius since birth and his spells only improve by getting modified. How different was this Tobias from the one I once knew?
[Tobias]
"Out of respect for the difference in our strength, I will not use any offensive techniques until a minute has passed. Use this time to strike." I said, carefully crafting my words. With a small hand motion, I activated a more advanced version of Mana Shield. Instead of constantly draining my energy to maintain the shield, it created a single barrier. By pouring a bit of energy into it, I thickened that defensive Ward to the point where it was three feet thick and stronger than steel. This wasn't going to protect me against The Whistler, who likely had trained his Divine Light to near perfection. It was merely to stall,
Since he would likely waste most of the minute attempting to break through, I got to work drawing a fairly complicated circle array on the ground beneath me. It utilized three different magic formats: Elven (the chosen people of Lief who are majorly long dead), North Eternian, and a bit of my own custom design. The purpose of all of this was to pull in enough magic energy from my surroundings to maintain my display of power. Even with all of the magic energy I possessed, I wasn't stupid enough to try and cast it without a constant intake of high density energy. The Elves were masters of Nature Magic, hence why Lief favored them, and one of their various techniques included gathering magic energy from their environment in order to cast spells way above their regular 'price range'. In the Northern Ranges, it was essential for nomads to be able to condense the air to make it possible to breathe even at the highest of heights. These two things, combined with my own Affinity Alteration method, fit perfectly in order to turn Nature into a gigantic mana battery.
"Do you know the difference between a Mage, a Sage, and me?" I asked, making some idle chatter while finishing up the array. The minute was nearly up but I couldn't waste time focusing at all on The Whistler. "A Mage is someone who understands the laws of magic enough to utilize it's power. A Safe is someone who can use those laws in their entirety to command the very fibers of magic. I, however, can write, bend, and break those laws as I see fit."
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(( I sort-of addressed this via PM with you, Man Man, but I guess you didn't quite get the point I was trying to make. To try and define any global lore is the same as writing history that would effect everyone. I'm not sure how I'd describe what rule this breaks. PowerGaming for controlling the history and lore of the Roleplay without my permission? That's probably the most accurate term. In the following spoilers, you will find a chunk of the OP that details the origin of magic. You will find no mention of "dragons" or any sort of primordial beings, excluding the Gods. In bold, you will find the specific mentions of how magic was given to the humans and how said magic was put on the planet. The Lore of Caelum is both unknown and an exception to the following, yet the scenario doesn't change for not being able to touch it.
While Man lived on Earth, a set of divine beings lived in Aer, more popularly known as Heaven. Their power is insurmountable, the weakest of them able to cause the world to shake on a whim. Obviously, the population of the Gods is much smaller than that of the Humans. Anyways, the deities of this world decided that the sins of humanity needed to be cleansed and the only way to do that is through spilling blood. Since these beings had transcended the savages below, the Gods decided to create a new creature, one who's standing on the food chain is above humans. These are the Tainted Ones, the living representation of the evil of humanity, bred solely to kill and devour humans. They had one major edge over their prey: Magic.
Humans, who lived with physical tools, were no match for the superior beings known as the Tainted Ones. They lived in constant fear and the moral changes the Gods had hoped for began to develop. Humans stopped pointing their weapons at each other and gathered together to face their common enemy. However, their attempt at surpassing the Taint was ill fated. It would take three soldiers at least to stand up against a single Tainted One, but the various armies of the world had been spread thin. Since this is a story, we cannot allow Humans to die off so quickly, and thus, a new player entered the game: Fallen Angels.
Fallen Angels are Gods that had chosen to descend from Aer, giving up a good chunk of their powers and the whole of their immortality as payment. These beings possessed knowledge of magic and began to spread this gift to the humans, who became Wizards, Magicians, Sorcerer's, whatever you'd prefer to title them. A single sorcerer would be able to take on one or two Tainted Ones on their own, which is a huge improvement. The Fallen Angels could easily take out more, since they were basically weakened Gods. Over time, those who had be given the gift of magic shared it, passing the sacred art down for generations. Unfortunately, there were still a relatively small number of people who could use magic, even less than the amount of soldiers across the world.
My concern here is that, no matter how many times I slap you on the wrist for doing this, you continue to try and twist the lore. No beasts taught magic to the humans, nor were there an Anti-God troupe of Demons. Nothing called the "Makers", "Mad Ones", "Royal Dragons", or whatever else exist/existed. The lore is simple: humans lived peacefully, they turned corrupt, they were punished, magic was given to have them save themselves. I know, I'm not nor have I ever gone into the nitty gritty with the Lore because it isn't needed. There is no need to over complicate things that will never touch the plot anyways. Consider this the last time I'm going to speak about this issue, although I was really hoping to never have to do this in the first place.
Ronin, will you need a recap of recent events? ))
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(( Welcome back. Never leave again. <3 ))
[Demi]
Rani and I had, maybe a month or two into the hiatus, met up in order to do some training. He was unbelievably strong for a Demigod, perhaps as strong as Garrett. Either way, we had gone with the concept of "Iron sharpens Iron" and had spent the time honing each other's skills. Rani had almost mastered Divine Light by the time we began, yet I couldn't cast Divine Torch at all. His techniques to let emotion take control helped and, after weeks of intense practice, I pulled it off yet again. By the time the year was up, I could cast Divine Torch twice, three if I was desperate. Rani had, when we arrived at the meeting location, decided to whistle, which was normal enough. It didn't take an air mage to realize that, when he began his tune, the wind shifted to point west. This was followed by a metallic taste in the air, the sky darkening, and, of course, a blast of lightning right in front of my... Nephew?
"You called." A man said, everything but his head covered in a dark cloak. The white hair was a clear sign that he was Tobias. "That whistle is supposed to be for when you decide to fight me. Do you think you're prepared to face me?" He asked. I had no idea what Tobes was talking about, as this was likely having to do with something prior to my descent.
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(( Their defeat was made public but, due to Tobias' likely orders, no names were mentioned. This would probably be to preserve his pride. ))
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(( Yes you may. Kumquat, I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to be borrowing one of your NPCs just for this post. ))
<< One Year after Caelum's Failed Invasion >>
[Yekaterina Rykov]
About eleven or twelve months ago, I had received a government contracted request for an advanced prosthetic limb. Usually, it'd be cake walk to whip one up, but it proved to be incredibly challenging to customize it to the specifications the client wanted. I had made several trips over to personally get measurements, test out some prototypes, and eventually attached a mechanical base in order to simplify the work load. Connecting the nerves to produce an immediate response was crucial for high quality limbs, so I had gotten that hurdle out of the way. The metal I used was a very strange alloy, one that made it so the finished product wouldn't be destroyed by any explosion inferior to a nuclear blast. Yes, I did get permission to nuke the near-finished prototype. It only made a couple of scratches and scorch marks, which would likely satisfy the client. Today, I was scheduled to deliver it. Entrusting such a masterpiece to one of our employees gave me an uneasy feeling, so I chose to deliver it in person.
Our meeting place was at a warehouse in a city in the Western Region. "Hey, it's Kat." I said, knocking on the door. The door slid open, revealing a fairly normal looking guy in his twenties. Normal being a very relative term, considering he had snow-white hair and a metal stub where his right arm belonged. This was definitely Tobias. "Sorry it took so long to finish up. I worked day and night for weeks to finish this and ensured that it meets all of your expectations." I opened the case and began attaching the mechanical limb to the framework already in place.
"I'm quite familiar with your company's quality." Tobias complimented. At a previous meeting, he had spoken in high regard about my brother, Ivan. As soon as I finished rigging it all together, he pointed it toward one of the warehouse's walls and shot a fireball larger than my head. "Perfect. Can Ivan conduct maintenance on it or should I head to your workshop if I bust it?"
I laughed. "Ivan's pretty smart, he'll know how to fix any small issue. If you manage to break that thing, then feel free to drop by. Rykov Robotics is going to start improving our AutoMail, so we'll make sure that you have the highest quality limb you can." Tobias grinned, pleased to know just how much we respected him. According to Ivan, this guy was one of the strongest beings to ever touch this planet, but he didn't seem like a god. He felt like someone I'd hang out with in my spare time and have coffee with. He invited me into his abode, which was pretty much just a gigantic warehouse filled with thousands of documents, books, and papers. "You're supposed to meet with your friends tomorrow, right? Tell me about your year, since we've got the time."
"It all started out in a hospital bed." He began, reclining on a stack of books arranged into the shape of a chair. "The Mirror Knight put me into Arcolic Arrest, blah blah blah. I couldn't use any magic at all for the first week or two, which kind of sucked. I figured that having an organ that could be poisoned so easily was a weakness, so I had it surgically removed. I was without any sense for magic for another three weeks, but I eventually conquered that and could cast spells and such without it. I realized that I was only training my Soul and Mind, but not my Body, so I spent several months boosting physical strength. You see, if you only sharpen two of the three parts of yourself, it's completely inefficient. I'm stronger than ever before, arguably more than when I was still Immortal."
"So you can use magic... without your Arcoli?" I asked, still dumbfounded.
"Yep." He responded, casually. We continued chatting away for a while. He tested out the arm a bit more, which ended in a perfectly fine piece of machinery but an obliterated wall. After a few hours, I left his compound and returned to my personal oasis in the comfort of a VTOL. Ivan was lucky to have an ally that powerful. At least my little brother would no longer be in any danger.
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(( As you said, both Andromeda (Ice) and Heracles (Gravity) are still alive and free. Plans are already in place for them both. ))
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(( One Year Timeskip inbound! Once your character leaves the war zone, enjoy leaping a year ahead. Feel free to take your own helicopter, that was the reason I had Tobias bring them. ))
[Tobias]
The fight had turned horribly sour when the Knight slashed me with some kind of magic dagger. I could feel all of my clones hidden around the world pop, despite having replaced each of them on my way over to Eternia. I could no longer feel my extremities, nor move my limbs in the slightest. A dagger designed to hunt those who relied heavily on magic. My bane. Ivan Rykov, an engineer prodigy apparently with psychic powers, fended off the Angel-Hunter once I had become a rag doll in the shape of my former self. It was painful to even look around, so I kept my eyes as focused in a way that would let me see the majority of my important surroundings. How could I go from such a high state of power to nothing but paralyzed trash? Ivan called for a medic, probably to the reinforcements I had called in. I watched as some men, suited to handle explosives, handled the various artifacts I had gathered, excluding Arachne's pouch.
"Rykov." I managed as paramedics put me on a stretcher and brought my irresponsive body to a helicopter. "I changed my mind. One year." I had originally thought that recovering from this war (despite the fact that it would likely continue) would take a few months, but I was wrong. A year would been mandatory for me to both recover my strength and remove all of my weaknesses. For whatever reason, it bugged me that I needed to depend on a mortal for support.
The doors closed on the MedEvac Helicopter, leaving me to my own thoughts.
[Demi]
As soon as Tobias hit the ground, I wanted to rush in and help. He had almost died, and he would have if it weren't for Ivan. The Mirror Knight was now known, his name was out there. All Fallen Angels had targets drawn on their backs, including my own. The very prospect that someone of that magnitude wanted me dead terrified me. Medics rushed in and put Tobes on life support, meaning that his entire magic network had been shut down. Whether or not he'd survive the second half of the fight, only time would tell. His final words were about a year rather than a couple months. "If we've got a year, I'm going to get stronger." I declared, understanding just how weak I truly was. Tobias couldn't even beat the Knight and he was miles ahead of me in terms of magic. If we had time, then I wasn't going to waste it. "We'll meet up in New Central, the same place most of us met." With that, I hopped onto an escort VTOL and zoomed off.