Fifty years ago during the great dying, a host of angels appeared, and delivered us from our misery and ignorance in our time of need. First among these was Polaris, who broke the wyrm hosts* of the Fell-Handed and the Lord of Inverted Lightning, and threw their mangled bodies into the sun. The greatest was Michael, who wrought a great wall of flame three hundred leagues across, which swept through the lake of mold and scoured it clean for fifty days and fifty nights. Last was Jehoel, the wyrm hunter, who remains to this day. His hunt is endless, and in his few times of respite, he answers our questions and provides us wisdom.
The prophet Marathid, before his untimely demise at the hand of Thirteen-Broken-Gates, forty-three years ago, was responsible for creating the fourth holy book, titled The Last Revelation. This book is still in effect, and is slowly revised by clarifications from Jehoel.
The church of The Last Revelation is primarily active within the higher dimensional structure known as the First Church. Its cities are usually focused around entrances to conventional space, and are split between both sides of entrances. The First Church is also referred to as the fractal cathedral, and is said to be a replica of every single structure built by every single religion throughout all of time, past and future. As one strays further from conventional space, the copies start accumulating and becoming imperfect, and navigation becomes more difficult. This is believed to be a consequence of the link between extradimensional space, the law of branching, and the law of cancer.
Since the revelation that the emperor is a fallen, a fact corroborated by his own admission. Nearly all Abrahamic branches have succeeded from his rule. This civil war still smoulders on, the no man's land ravaged by thaumaturgic weapons. Few dare to tread there now, skirmishes confined to the tunnels.
Miracle magic:
Cantrips: Each can be used 3/day for 1ap, and have range (touch)
-Purify: Cleanse a wound, source of water, or item of disease.
-Exorcise: Prevents spirits from possessing the target. Removes irrational fear and anger. Lasts 1 hour.
-Part (1+): Create a [dice]m wide and [sight] m long pathway through water. The pathway crumbles after [sum] rounds.
-Polaris (2+) (2ap): [sum]+[sum] cold/radiant, 120m, acc6.
F: used while holding a stellar spear, and/or while in vacuum.
-Cure (2+) (1 exhaustion): Cure an affliction, such as a disease or disability. Up cast by 2 to cure a minor magical affliction.
-Holy ground (1+) (3ap): last [sum]x[sum] hours. Any who spill blood while on this ground take 6 radiant and 1 exhaustion. Cancer also takes 6 fire simply from existing.
-Cascading mist (1+) (2ap) (3m): Spend a flask of holy water to create a [dice]m by [dice]m wall of mist, all ranged attacks that pass through it have their damage subtracted by [sum] and their accuracy subtracted by [dice]. Lasts [sum]x[sum] minutes.
-Anoint (1+) (4ap) (touch): Spend a flask of holy water, the next attack that hits the blessed is reduced by [sum]x[dice] damage.
-Mirror steel wings (1+) (touch): Gain fly 8 and damage reflection to radiant for [dice]x[sum] hours. Increase ac by [dice].
-Simurg (3+) (3ap) (sight): May be cast as a free action as a reaction to an ally being attacked. Hits before the attacker. [dice]+[sum] fire damage.
-Hadid malak (1+) ([dice]ap): [dice] tiny slots worth of active bullets are all fired at up to [dice] targets at acc[dice]
-Sticks to snakes (1+) (1a) (touch): Turn [dice] sticks into venomous snakes.
-Locust plague (3+) (6ap) (delayed 1d100) (sight): Each turn, for [dice] turns, [sum]x[sum]x[sum]x[sum] locusts descend on the target area.
-Shamir (1+) ([dice]ap) (3m): [sum] slashing damage in a [dice] m plane, arranged horizontally or vertically, perpendicular to the caster. .
-Shamir (alter) (3+) ([dice]ap) (3m): Summon a [dice] hd shamir. (See creatures of the tunnels).
-Magic stone (1+) (touch): Make a tiny stone or other sphere glow for [dice]x[sum] hours. If throw or shot deals [dice] extra damage with [dice] extra accuracy.
-Pillar of scorching clouds (4+) (3ap) (3m): summon a [dice]m tall column which deals [sum] fire/force damage to any who enter. It lasts [sum] rounds and moves randomly 3m at the start of each round. At the end of each round, a caster who knows this spell may spend 1ap to move it by 3m.
-Hammer of god (8+) (3ap) (1 exhaustion) (delayed 1) (touch): Strike reality like a bell. Deals [dice+sum] force damage in a (dice)m cone. All spells within [dice] kilometres for (dice) hours count as being cast with 1 more or less dice.
-Conduit (6+) (2ap) (delayed 1): Deal [dice] knockback damage to any targets you select within [dice]. Become indestructible for 3 rounds. The next spell you cast is cast with y mana. After the spell ends, you take y soul damage. Y can be any finite number.
-Speak with dead (1+) (4ap): Communes with disembodied spirits and souls with [sum]x100m. They can be asked [dice] questions, including their locations.
-Command nature (2) (voice): May command a mundane plant or animal to heal itself, die, produce fruit, or follow any order.
-Soften stone (1+) (2ap) (touch): [sum] cubic meters of stone turns to clay. Heals golems by [sum]x2 hp.
-Create golem (5+) (6ap) (touch): Inscribe a word with closed eyes onto a [dice] ton statue. It comes to life as a [dice]HD [dice]str, 2ap humanoid with immunity to fire damage, and will follow the tenets of god. Destroying the word destroys the golem. You may write the word multiple times in different places, this consumes the same amount of magic as before again and increases the HD of the golem. Seeing The Word will cause you to forget the last three seconds, and to save vs amnesia with an assortment of unrelated memories (1d2 mind slots). The Word is taught to mages with muscle memory alone, tracing fingers along pieces of carved stone in lightness rooms.
Hundred Hands of God:
Prerequisite: Cannot be cast by non mages or unsouled, cannot be learned by mages not from the school of the Hundred Hands of God.
To cast a spell, a human hand must be severed by the caster (2 bleed damage), the hand is consumed as part of the spell, as well as 1 mana. The hand cannot be healed by any means aside from time, it takes a full day to heal a hand. Some spells require both hands.
-Pluck (all ap until finished): This spell only requires 1 mana, and requires both hands, but does not consume them. Lift a 9-meter radius sphere of terrain centered on yourself, and move it at a rate of 1 m/s. The spell lasts so long as the caster remains awake and still.
-Flick (2ap) (3m): acc6, 12m, 2d12 bludgeoning/force/knockback.
-Mercy of the insect (3ap) (sight): Slam down a 3x4m plane, vertical or horizontal, bludgeoning/knockback 1d20.
-Hold close (3ap): A being within 2m is enclosed within an enormous hand, the hand has had 100hp, and an ac of 10. It is immune to psychic damage. That being cannot be harmed until the hand is destroyed, and effectively does not exist while it is present. After 1d100 hours (dm roll), the hand immolates, dealing 100 fire damage to everything within 100m. Both hands are required.
-Knead (9 ap, the spell starts as soon as the first ap is consumed): A being within line of sight takes 1d6 bludgeoning damage each round for 100 rounds. Both hands are required. Line of sight is only required to begin casting this spell; once it is established, the spell's effects will continue even if line of sight is lost
Only the first nine hands of god are known, these first 4 are taught to its adherents. Here are 5 more, which have unknown paths, angels know of the methods of attaining these further forms, of course, there are 81 which remain undiscovered.
-Supplicate: Wip
-Point: Every sentient being within ten thousand miles is immediately aware of their name, face, location, and their darkest secret.
-Toss: A 3x3x3m chunk of matter centered on yourself is severed from its surrounding space, and hurled 900 meters in the direction you point. This offers no supernatural assistance in surviving the ordeal.
-Open(true): The effects of this spell are unknown, as all who have cast it have disappeared, and none have been found. Both hands are required.
-Open (alter) (line of sight): A human becomes a monstrosity of sin. Both hands are required.
-Gouge (Aura) (200m) (Both hands are required): All unfaithful take d3 piercing per eye and save vs blindness, all light sources are extinguished, the sky grows dark, and those afflicted gain divine insight.
-Sush (Aura) (300m): A 300m aura of silence, lasts a day.
-Fold: Choose a section of floor of up to 9x9m, it ceases to exist, and the two adjacent and opposing 9x9m squares are stretched to fill the space, and any creatures inside it are moved towards the location of the tear. Any living being in that space is teleported 20 meters upwards, but suffers no longitudinal displacement. Both hands are required.
Techniques and paths:
–Gesit: Gateway: A style of dungeon delvers, occultists, priests and cosmonauts.
Each city is built around a portal to the first church, half within, half without. Gesit is the exception, it is built around a cluster of 5 portals, each leading to somewhere else. As such, it is the third-largest city in existence, and acts as a hub for traffic from other cities to flow through it.
-Stance: Mind channel: Makes the mind porous and hard to grip on, venting all burdens on the mind, good against extremely dangerous mental attacks. Grants advantage on saves vs mental attacks and detection. In addition, attacks that do more than 6 psychic damage do only 6 psychic damage.
-Stance: Third Eye: Allows fourth dimensional sight and the ability to perceive objects you are observing closely with extreme precision, as if you were given unlabelled diagrams of their internal function. 2m omniception.
-Stance: Adhesion: Allows you to adhere objects or creatures together as strongly as if they were bound by solder, while being able to still dismiss the adhesion with a thought.
-Technique: Stellar Spear: Manifest a pike, it can be used as a buckler, can be collapsed to the length of a dagger (close combat), and can be extended to up to 20m in length. If you have a pike, spear or dagger, you may nominate it as your stellar spear to store it and gain the advantages.
-Iron body: Iron lung: Must “die” from exposure to the vacuum of space and be resurrected.
Allows the holding of breath for 10 minutes. While holding your breath, your lungs gain the properties of metallic bone, and do not collapse under pressure change or get scoured by gas. In addition, you gain resistance x0.5 to force and cold damage. Like all iron bodies, it grants +12 hp.
–Constantine: Ruler: A style of knights and death cultists. You may not take this path if you are resistant to necrotic or bleeding.
Constantine is the newest great city among all. A mere 20 years ago, a new gateway was wrought, and the only mass true-death event of the modern era took place. In addition, the city is surrounded by a barrier, which once served as a tomb for its inhabitants. While before it only allowed entry, barring exit to the monsters hidden within, it now acts as a shield, freely allowing exit, but barring entry.
Constantine is located within the territory of the empire, behind the black gate. By this nature, all assaults that stem from Constantine are either desperate breakouts, quick raids that retreat into the tunnels of the Atrament, or suicide. Passage of members of the Deep Church, Red Dukes, and Silver Thread into the empire are permitted for a fee.
-Stance: Hack: Gain advantage and ignore 1 disadvantage when attacking with a melee weapon. Each time you hit with a melee attack, take 1 bleeding.
-Technique: Shred (2ap): Make one melee attack against everyone within 1m.
-Strike: Rip: Convert the damage from a close combat weapon strike into bleeding.
-Strike: Tear: After dealing soul damage, the next action the enemy takes costs +1 AP, and the next spell they cast has their dice stepped down by 1.
-Iron body: Rejection of false light: Defeat a follower of the burning lord cursed with a pinhole. You must then spurn the divine blessing and seal it away. After doing so, you gain +12hp, immunity to blindness, and resistance -12 to radiant damage.
–Masada: Mountain fortress: A style of geomancers, gatekeepers and marksmen.
Masada is the southernmost extent of the Last Revelation, marking the beginning of the northern regions. The northern regions of the nine rivers are elevated above the southern regions by a 100m tall plateau. This plateau is eroded heavily, and as such has an ill-defined border which leaves many islands of elevated ground, with Masada as the largest at 30 KM. The original inhabitants lived on its surface, taking advantage of the milder weather and relatively safer wildlife. Currently, a majority of space is actually underground. With sleeping and storage taking place there, most of the waking day is spent above ground. Due to the huge quantity of geomancers, the plateau has long-lost its natural appearance. The weathered walls were replaced by stark battlements dotted with towers and passageways, while the surface became a horticultural grove.
-Stance: Shape earth: Any earth you touch can be shaped by hand as if it were soft clay, you may re-harden the rock with a thought.
-Technique: Pavise: When an attack is declared against you from the front, stamp your foot against the ground. This makes a 2m tall, 1 meter wide and 20cm thick tile flip up in front of you, the wall finishes flipping before the attack hits. Anyone caught in the two tiles in front of you when you use the technique may save or get knocked 12m directly upwards.
-Technique (1ap): Closed gate: When in a tunnel or hallway of stone or earth, create two slabs of 3m thick rock which slam together and close off the tunnel. Save or be crushed when within the closing gate. 2m range, delayed 1, cannot be dismissed.
-Technique (1ap): Hole: make a 2m spherical hole in a stone surface
-Master technique (3ap): Onager: Punch a rock wall, making either one large or multiple small sections of the wall fly out the opposite side (no matter how thick). Make 3 ranged attacks for 6 bludgeoning each at acc3 and 800m range.
–Barakah: Blessing: A style of pilgrims, healers and forest rangers.
Barakah lies at the northwest border of the Last Revelation, in northern forests that form the largest continuous biome within the nine rivers. It is constructed in the petrified remains of a forest of ironwoods, including the largest specimen found so far at 3 km in height. It is the site of the world's largest domestic dragon roost, rivaled only by the sunken city. Councillors, tycoons and high ranking members of the vermin believe dragons to be the finest hosts, and so pay exorbitant fees for live specimens.
Stance: Strider: Ignore difficult terrain while on dry ground.
Technique: Sterilize (touch): An inanimate object becomes immune to bacterial or parasitic colonization for a year.
Technique: Archive of rings: Taste the pulp of a tree to determine all changes in the weather, soil composition, magical density and air chemistry within the last decade. This can help determine what kinds of monsters are in the area and if it is affected by any curses.
Technique: Farstriker: Before making a ranged attack, make the target glow strongly for the next 30 hours. The next ranged attack against them adds one advantage and ignores all disadvantage.
Iron body: Drakescale: Requires sleeping in a bed of shed scales after consuming the blood of a drake mixed with 8 thaums. Your unarmoured ac becomes as lamellar, and you gain+1 ac.
–Medina: Prophet: Border to the rotting sea.
The city, like most in the nine rivers, was built in concentric circles of walls, with subdivisions protruding out like spokes. During the great dying, the outer wall fell to the Ur-Host, leaving the inner city isolated from the outside world, save for its gateway. Pain wraiths were released as a desperate measure to stall the growth within. Since then, the wraith cascade** and cancerous host have interbred and split, continuously fighting amongst themselves and attempting breaches into the walls or sending splinters out into the tunnels. Medina now forms the border to the sea of mold and the centre of joint cancer suppression operations by the deep church, red dukes, last revelation and dominion.
-Stance: Vigil: Your hearing and auditory memory becomes hypersensitive to danger. You stay conscious during sleep, and can fully wake or fall asleep as a free action.
-Technique: Litany of the untainted: As a response to someone within 30m being afflicted with a disease, curse, mind-altering effect or poison, you may make a bonus save for them.
-Technique: Scorn: Speak an accusation, if it is true, knock the target back and subtract that amount of distance from any movement they make towards you. Scales with the severity of the accusation (minor d3, major d6, abhorrent d12). The name of their crime is burned into their flesh and soul.
-Technique: Spark: Strike an edged weapon against stone to ignite it, a shroud of spinning sparks coalesces around the blade, granting it fire and radiant damage, and shedding light. It also gains 2 points of accuracy.
Araf-Ramoth: Refuge at the border of heaven: A city that lies within the fractal cathedral in a region arranged in concentric Toruses. It is said to take four hundred days to reach by foot if walking from Gesit. It is also one of two cities with a space program.
Stance: Stargazer: Your vision is tripled in strength, in addition, distance in vacuum counts as 100 times shorter for the purpose of determining loss of detail due to distance. For instance, this would make you unbelievably good at seeing constellations, even during stormy nights or under conditions with light pollution. If you combine this with a 2-inch diameter telescope, you can quite literally see better than James Webb.
Technique: Fractal twin: Duplicate a tiny, non-magical projectile within 3m. It retains its original velocity and bearing.
Technique: Longer than you think: When someone uses a teleport ability within sight, they age 1d20 years and gain 2 exhaustion.
Technique: Salyut 1 : Choose a target you can see, until they break line of sight with you, they take 1d6 cold damage at the end of their turn. In addition, exhaustion damage they take is doubled.
*Wyrm hosts are large groups of related or subjugated cancer, which are led by a wyrm, or stillborn god. These are the remnants caused by failed apotheoses. They have true immortality and incredible magical power like other gods, but nothing else. By the nature of cancer, wyrm hosts are divined and fight amongst themselves. There are an estimated 400 wyrms total, and roughly 50 or so wyrm hosts. The total number of combatant in all wyrm hosts combined is uncountable but is believed to be well over a billion (this is a lot, were it not the fact that the entire world was unified in their hatred of cancer, the world would long have fallen).
**Wraiths multiply themselves by inflicting pain and death upon mortals. When released into a densely populated area, it is possible for an exponential growth known as a wraith cascade to occur.
No comments:
Post a Comment