The World Which Sings for Salvation (Grail Works Ltd x Ar Tonelico)
Hello people. I'm Lyric Rome I recently joined last year and as such I'm new here. I've been planning on what to write for a while, and it took me some time to decide on what to do, juggling between multiple ideas until I finally settled on a pair of OCs from the World of Darkness Mage and pairing up the Grail Works with Ar Tonelico.
For those who don't know, World of Darkness is an RPG created by White Wolf Publishing. The premise is that the world is a crapsack one with dark mysteries, horrifying secrets, and supernatural creatures which live hidden among the unknowing sheep that is humanity. It is a dark and dangerous place where we the supernatural creatures view us as cattle, pawns, annoyances, or convenient target practice. Of course despite us being preyed upon, the supernatural creatures consider us a great threat, especially those who have become aware of the nature of the world and have decided to fight back.
Mage the Awakening, a supplement of nWoD, deals with humans who have awakened to the reality of the world and gained an innate understanding of the truth such that they can alter the fabric reality. Using magic to alter reality can result in disastrous consequences though. Reality doesn't like being tampered, and when a Mage does a very blatant tampering (firebolts, flying, teleporting, etc.) the Abyss manifests and screws you over. The greater the magic potential of a Mage, the higher the chances reality fights back and calls in the Abyss. Basically, reality hates the Mages since Mages know that reality is fake.
On the other side, Ar Tonelico is a game series created by Gust Corporation. The premise is that it is a world where songs contain great power and that everything is part of the symphony of the world. It is a place where magic and science have blended together into a unique mix where magic is wholly dependent on science. Humans cannot use magic, but an artificial single gender race of humans called Reyvateils can utilize the magic.
Well, you could research more about the series I just talked about since I may have made some errors but those are the general summaries.
New Members who have joined Grail Works.
Spoiler:
William Noire is a Mage from the World of Darkness verse circa mid 2012. He was a member of the Free Council and seconded to the Adamantine Arrow; meaning that he is skilled in fusing magic with technology and science, and is a trained soldier. He spent his ten years as a Mage performing various duties for his society, giving him a wide breath of experience and skill in both magical and mundane matters. In the ten years he spent serving his society, his magical aptitude has increased, he is a 2nd Degree Master of Space and Mind, and has founded a New Legacy (think Prestige Class). He has also contributed to the Grail Work's inventory, adding his impressive collection of magical tools and devices. For all of his skill and power though, he is still only a regular human and as such fragile.
Sora Noire is a sentient Artificial Intelligence who hangs around in William's laptop. Will found Sora during one of his escapades in Japan, which resulted in him transferring the digital consciousness into his personal laptop. Sora is undoubtedly loyal to Will as he maintains her continued existence through the use of magic. In return, Sora performs any duties which requires any interaction with computers such as programming, hacking, image editing, and research. Being a digital consciousness, for as long as an appropriate technological device is connected to the internet and Will continues to keep her alive, she can continue to exist indefinitely.
Will arrived at the current chapter of Beast of the Moon (Chapter 18) and spent the next few days recovering from injuries. Once Will was well enough, he asked Ilya to open a door back to his world so he could recover his equipment and tools. Few more days of recovering and getting acclimated to the current situation. Then Ilya got a client in the form of a manifestation of a planet, and here we are now. Will's mission will probably occur during the later stages of the Spira Mission, probably Bevelle or Zanarkand.
One good thing about this is that the solution to the problem will naturally come to pass should certain requirements within the span of 3 years be met. So, in that 3 years, Grail Works need only interfere in select parts, which is basically inserting the members during the time covered by the games. During that time, they could subtly nudge the denizens of Ar Ciel. This adds the ability to switch with different members as needed.
I guess that's everything at the moment. I'll be in your care.
Lunar Legend Tsukihime, Fate/Stay Night, Fate/Hollow Ataraxia, and related materials are owned by Type-Moon. Dungeons and Dragons as well as Faerun Campaign Setting are the property of Wizards of the Coast. Ar Tonelico series is owned by Gust Corporation Ltd. New World of Darkness and Mage the Awakening is the property of White Wolf Publishing. Grail Works is a joint project by multiple authors.
~~~ ~~~ ~~~
Within the confines of Avalon, the newest addition to the Grail crew sat within the confines of a magic circle, contemplating the recent events in his life, the information which Ilyasviel von Einsbern told him, and the few days that he missed while he was unconscious.
Walking down memory lane, he recalled his mission which had clearly succeeded. An abyssal creature was summoned by a rogue nefandi cabal and caused massive havoc in the general area. His cabal, a motley group of experienced mages, was called in and were the first to respond and had fought back against the abyss spawn, but they had suffered massive casualties. Whenever he tried to conclusion of the battle up to the last moment when he was conscious, he always drew up fragments and scattered memories. However, being a master of the mind arcana had allowed him to piece together his fragmented memories.
A heavily damaged abyssal creature against the last survivor of an emergency response cabal fought to the last. In desperation, the abyssal creature became intangible and tried to possess him. Doing so brought the battle to the mindscape where anything within the realms of imagination was possible. His body, unable to hold the massive tainted energies began mutating. Fighting for control of his body was no small task as the horrors of unreality flashed through his mortal mind. Still, in the scant moments of clarity, he created a portal to bring him to a secluded location. What he didn’t expect was that the portal he created had inadvertently led to a pocket dimension in parallel world. Luckily for him though, said denizens were more interested in helping him. It was at that moment when he blacked out.
The next thing he knew, he was lying on a bed while a cute girl with pale skin, crimson eyes, and snow-white hair looked over him. Introducing herself as Ilyasviel von Einsbern, she explained the current situation which led to now.
He would probably be assumed to be dead in his world and be treated as such. He had no place to go. Realizing this, he had decided to accept the offer to join the Grail Works Ltd. Of course, he had negotiated for some benefits such reclaiming all of the magical tools and magical artifacts he had left behind in his world which was easy enough.
Being presumed dead was a fairly normal occurrence in his line of work. Many of his comrades were sent to missions which they never returned from and they were either considered dead, missing, or classified. It was ingrained to them that they should be prepared for their own deaths, not just physical, but also metaphorical. Rewriting your whole history and self by becoming a new person, thereby causing your own death was spoken about by his mentors. It was the situation he found himself now, having discarded his old identity and finding a way to create a new one through membership with the Grail Works, a company founded by a young man with the purpose to help those in need.
In the short time he has been a member of the Grail Works, he had formed some opinions regarding his fellow members and co-workers based from his interactions, observations and or hearsays.
The founder, Shirou Emiya, was a novice mage who had the idea of being a hero of justice who tries to save everyone. He has very few magical skills, being considered an apprentice. Athletic, and judging from his posture, Shirou had some combat experience. He is though, a dense idiot who couldn’t see the affections of the women surrounding him.
Tohsaka Rin, genius mage, skilled in magecraft of this world having been taught at an early age. Because of this, she has developed a somewhat cold, calculating, overbearing, and at times, dominating personality. Inside though, she is still a human, showing compassion and kindness despite denying it. His Japanese colleagues would probably get a rise regarding Rin, seeing her description matches that of what they termed a ‘Tsundere’.
Matou Sakura, a girl with massive magical power. No one probably notices, but from what he could tell, something happened to Sakura which caused her resonance to become dark and twisted. No one is speaking, but he could make educated guesses. It was not his place to pry into the private affairs of others. Besides, she was pleasant company and her cooking was delicious
Ilyasviel von Einsbern, the one who oversees the whole operation of the company, which he could consider as the boss. Formerly a homunculus, her soul was transferred into the system which ensures the smooth operation of everything which happens in this pocket realm. Easy enough get along, though she acts as a prepubescent girl instead of her actual age, which she kept secret. Though she possesses a physical form which can be interacted within the confines of the pocket realm, Ilya desires an actual body so she could ‘seduce Shirou with her womanly charms’.
Saber, a swordswoman turned spirit turned mythical creature. From what Ilya had explained to him, Saber was a powerful spirit summoned to do battle in a ritualistic battle royal for the Holy Grail. As a spirit, Saber possessed powers and abilities which were comparable to what the rumoured Atlantean archmages had. However, she was reincarnated from a spirit given to a bronze dragon from dungeons and dragons. Out of everyone, Saber was the most illogical.
Rider, a stoic individual and loyal guardian of Matou Sakura, is an enigma. What her history in this world is and her relation with regards to Sakura was an unknown for him, but he does know that Rider was summoned as a spirit turned familiar under the command of Sakura. Medusa would also have control of illogically powerful abilities similar to Saber seeing as both were powerful spirits. She is an avid reader, having borrowed some books from him before.
Tohno Akiha, a young woman who leads the Tohno household and companies. She is a demon-blooded individual which would explain the disturbing aura which he had seen before when his magical sense alerted him to something supernatural. Her abilities are more akin to the consumption of life force instead of heat manipulation if he understood correctly. Also, because of her nature as demon-blooded, she has to regularly use her abilities to consume life to preserve her sanity. Regardless, Akiha is an elegant and dignified individual with a mean temper and a somewhat unhealthy affection towards her brother.
Tohno Shiki, the brother of Akiha. The last scion of a clan of assassins, Shiki possesses considerable physical skill bordering on superhuman at times. Aside from his abilities as an assassin, he possesses a special kind of sight called the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception. Said eyes allow him to see the death and destruction of anything he can comprehend through lines and dots, whether matter, life, or immaterial concepts. By using an implement to trace lines he can permanently cut anything without any hope for repair, reconstruction, or healing. The more advanced ability, which is piercing the dots, causes the erasure of the pierce item from existence. Such ability could be on par with an archmage in terms of destruction, and is to be feared. Regardless, Shiki is one who understands the burden placed upon him by his abilities and is responsible in its usage.
Hisui and Kohaku, sisters who are maids working for Tohno household. Hisui wears a traditional western maid outfit which covers her whole body while Kohaku wears a kimono with an apron. Hisui is a serious and stoic individual while her sister Kohaku is a fun-loving, easy-going individual. Nothing much stands out from the two except for the magical aura which the pair emitted.
Ren, a prepubescent dream succubus who can transform into a cat and is Shiki’s familiar. Such relation would bring about some scepticism regarding the tastes of the male Tohno with regards to the fairer sex, but to each his own. Ren never speaks verbally, though it is possible to understand her using non-verbal cues. Not much is known about her as he has never seen her though.
Garm is a dog familiar with powers over shadows and flames. Ilya didn’t speak much about Garm, so he was an unknown.
Arcueid Brunestud, a vampire which is not a vampire. Arcueid is, from Ilya’s explanation, a spirit of the planet which has some traits of vampires. She draws power from the world and the moon, and can manipulate reality to a certain extent. Her thirst for blood is something ingrained within her psyche and is not a need for her to survive however; succumbing to the thirst would exponentially increase her power and abilities while making her into a frenzied berserker. Aside from that, he has nothing regarding her.
Kurai, a Half-lycanthrope Drow Druid in the vein of Dungeons and Dragon. Kurai is a mangled fusion the player character and the D&D character which the player controls. Not much can be gathered save for he is the one responsible for Saber’s current predicament through the use of a Reincarnation spell. Currently, Kurai is on an assignment along with Saber.
“Ne, Will!” A feminine voice called out, breaking his musings on his life. “I got the info you wanted.”
William Noire, nicknamed Will by everyone else, is an experienced mage from a reality similar to and yet very different this one. Having to rebuild his life from the ill-fated mission, he has had a hard time trying to comprehend his situation but has been making some headway.
“So Sora, what did you find?” Will turned to the source of the voice, which was nothing more than a laptop.
The laptop’s screen changed from a simple desktop screen to one which displayed a digital avatar of a young lady with pale skin, black hair, and green eyes, wearing black military dress uniform. Sora Noire, the self-learning artificial intelligence which resides within William’s heavily enchanted laptop. Being the constant companion of Will for the past five years, Sora has the implicit trust of Will even though she was free to do whatever she wanted.
“There’s no Awakened society.” Sora replied. “I checked the sites the Libertines use, but they don’t exist. It’s safe to assume that we’re the only ones who know of Atlantean Thaumaturgy, and you are the only one who knows how to do it.”
No Awakened Society meant that there was no one to teach him. While he was fully capable of furthering his own studies in the arcana, any attempt to fully master it would prove futile as only a Master can provide the necessary insight to fully comprehend an Arcanum. Without any teachers, he was unable to learn rote spells, nor would he be able to continue upon the path of his Legacy.
Will frowned at the information she provided and its implications. “That is a massive setback. I guess we’ll have to ask Ilya to open a door if I want to continue my studies.”
Their conversation was cut short when the door opened and the red-haired amber-eyed maid entered the room. “Will-san, Ilya-chan is calling for you. She’s at Saber’s room.”
“Kohaku-san, good to see you.” Sora waved from within the screen of the laptop. “I got the information you wanted.”
“Kohaku-san, please keep Sora company while I go see Ilya-san.” Will vacated his chair which Kohaku immediately occupied. A mischievous grin on Kohaku’s face immediately made Will very uncomfortable, and forced him to move faster than expected
“The chemical properties of the drug you asked are as follows…” Sora began, showing the diagrams and formulas for Kohaku’s next pet project which Will desperately ignored as he left the room.
The inventory room was Saber’s lair, where many cute plushies consisted of her draconic hoard. On the other part of the spacious room was where the Grail Work’s tools and equipment were stored, where Will had made a hefty contribution to the stock of items. Ilya, wearing her trademarked purple dress and white skirt was looking over the tools he had contributed.
“Ilya, you called for me?” The spirit of the grail turned to face the newest member of the Grail Works.
“Will, we got a job for you.” The homunculus-turned-spirit announced. “Ever heard of the place called Ar Ciel?”
Will paused for a few seconds, making sure that he heard Ilya correctly. “Pardon, but did you say Ar Ciel?”
“Yes.” Ilya quickly replied. “Ar Ciel.”
Will opened his mouth and tried to vocalise his thoughts, but found that he couldn’t find the right words. Trying again and failing, he couldn’t form any coherent logical argument against this mission.
Kurai, the only possible person who may know of the situation is currently on an assignment along with Saber. Shiki was busy saving Arcueid. Akiha won’t accept since her brother is in a grave situation and wouldn’t be able to focus on the task at hand. Rin wouldn’t work well with technology, as I learned firsthand. No idea about Ren or Garm. Shirou would fit, though I highly doubt Ilya would let him go. Hisui and Kohaku, well, THAT incident speaks for itself. Sakura prefers to remain here. Rider can technically do it though she wouldn’t have any idea what to do.
He sighed and simply resigned himself to accepting the assignment. “When do I leave?”
Stop a ‘viral’ infestation, take out power hungry leaders, save the mother ‘virus’, stop a tyrannical government, rescue the victims of unethical experiments, help heal mental trauma, create a continent from nothing, god knows what else, and ensure that the planet survives. What’s the worst that can happen?
Last edited by Lyric Rome; January 31st, 2012 at 11:42 AM.
Firstly, I'm not too comfortable with the idea of just popping in a couple of new Grail Works members without any sort of buildup or plot that led up to it, but that's more of a stylistic preference than anything, so it's essentially not a big deal.
However, that first point ties in to the second, more overarching criticism I have of the prologue - it's too rushed. And I don't mean 'rushed' in the in media res sort of way, I mean that there's very little buildup to anything happening at all. As it stands it's a quick recitation of the facts that brought Will to Grail Works Ltd., a quick summation of the current state as applies to him (no Awakened society), and then it's off to receive the mission. There's no real sense of impact to any of those events, and thus it all feels rather rote. Try fleshing out the character a bit more - how does Will feel about being presumed dead and joining up with this crew of people he's never heard of? What's his reaction to the fact that they have (had) a literal dragon on the premises? How does he feel about accepting an assignment on such short notice, even if he doesn't have a logical argument against it? What's his relationship with Sora? A friend, a partner, a tool? All these sort of details help to make a work feel more alive, more believable, and helps to draw the audience in.
The Kohaku bit was cute.
And lastly, another nitpick thing - I dobut Ilya would refer to the realm as 'the Ar Tonelico verse'. If the world has a name, she'd just use that name. Otherwise she'd refer to it as 'a world with X' since she isn't actually very knowledgeable on various videogames.
That's what I have to say for the prologue. This could potentially be very interesting (are you going to be bringing along any of the Type Moon cast?), so what you need to do is work on refining the thing a little more.
Edit: Also, there's a Grail Works LTD tag. You might wanna use it for those of us who'd like to access such stories a little easier. Just a heads up.
A decent start, though a good beta reader would help you polish it up to "really good" status. I do have one question, though - who's "Ira?" You mention the name a couple of times, but there's never an explanation of whom you're speaking of.
“Love will be cruel to who it entices — love will have its sacrifices.”
— Carmilla Theme
"Evil isn't the real threat to the world. Stupid is just as destructive as Evil, maybe more so, and it's a hell of a lot more common. What we really need is a crusade against Stupid. That might actually make a difference."
Are we going to be given this guy's full list of arcana? What other arcana has he picked up? How does his new demensional location change the power of his magic? If Will is from the normal nWoD verse why wouldn't grail works send a bunch of people to hunt down either natural founts of mana, or Artifacts that could be retrieved to help charge the grail? How is paradox going to work if the Sleapers Curse isn't mucking up all the big spells?
You don't need to answer all of these things right away, but taking a chapter to ease Will into the setting and answer some of these questions will greatly help whatever you want to do with Will in the future if only because he will be better established.
Firstly, I'm not too comfortable with the idea of just popping in a couple of new Grail Works members without any sort of buildup or plot that led up to it, but that's more of a stylistic preference than anything, so it's essentially not a big deal.
However, that first point ties in to the second, more overarching criticism I have of the prologue - it's too rushed. And I don't mean 'rushed' in the in media res sort of way, I mean that there's very little buildup to anything happening at all. As it stands it's a quick recitation of the facts that brought Will to Grail Works Ltd., a quick summation of the current state as applies to him (no Awakened society), and then it's off to receive the mission. There's no real sense of impact to any of those events, and thus it all feels rather rote. Try fleshing out the character a bit more - how does Will feel about being presumed dead and joining up with this crew of people he's never heard of? What's his reaction to the fact that they have (had) a literal dragon on the premises? How does he feel about accepting an assignment on such short notice, even if he doesn't have a logical argument against it? What's his relationship with Sora? A friend, a partner, a tool? All these sort of details help to make a work feel more alive, more believable, and helps to draw the audience in.
The Kohaku bit was cute.
And lastly, another nitpick thing - I dobut Ilya would refer to the realm as 'the Ar Tonelico verse'. If the world has a name, she'd just use that name. Otherwise she'd refer to it as 'a world with X' since she isn't actually very knowledgeable on various videogames.
That's what I have to say for the prologue. This could potentially be very interesting (are you going to be bringing along any of the Type Moon cast?), so what you need to do is work on refining the thing a little more.
Edit: Also, there's a Grail Works LTD tag. You might wanna use it for those of us who'd like to access such stories a little easier. Just a heads up.
Thanks for the helpful criticisms. I'm rewriting the prologue taking into account what you said. And yes, some of the members of the Type Moon cast will be joining in, though I have a mind to get Sakura and Rider to accompany Will and Sora.
Of note is Shirou and Shiki not going simply because Ilya will prevent them because they might attract more girls.
EDIT: How does one use the Grail Works LTD tag?
Originally Posted by Kieran
A decent start, though a good beta reader would help you polish it up to "really good" status. I do have one question, though - who's "Ira?" You mention the name a couple of times, but there's never an explanation of whom you're speaking of.
Ira is Will's Shadow Name. The Shadow Name is what a Mage uses to protect their True Names since a person's real name can be used against one. I forgot to remove it since Will has no reason to use his Shadow Name anymore.
Originally Posted by Jukake
Are we going to be given this guy's full list of arcana? What other arcana has he picked up? How does his new demensional location change the power of his magic? If Will is from the normal nWoD verse why wouldn't grail works send a bunch of people to hunt down either natural founts of mana, or Artifacts that could be retrieved to help charge the grail? How is paradox going to work if the Sleapers Curse isn't mucking up all the big spells?
You don't need to answer all of these things right away, but taking a chapter to ease Will into the setting and answer some of these questions will greatly help whatever you want to do with Will in the future if only because he will be better established.
I'm making his sheet at the moment.
Will only has a maximum of 14 units of mana which is worse than Shirou's. Type-Moon Mage, but more of a Type-Moon Sorcerer. Another apt analogy is that nWoD Thaumaturgy is more cost efficient than Type-Moon Thaumaturgy. With one unit of mana, Will can do things impossible within the rules of the Type-Moon verse. The cost comes not from the mana, but from the repercussions of making reality your b*tch. What Type-Moon magic brings however, is safety in the sense that reality won't react when you use magic.
One reason why the Grail crew wouldn't send anyone to collect founts of mana from the nWoD is because it is inefficient. A Hallow produces 1-5 units of mana per day.
Will was possessed by an Abyssal creature for a short while, resulting in Will becoming Abyss Tainted. If you're tainted by the Abyss, well... you're screwed when you use magic.
He might be better off in realms that actually use magic - less Paradox. Assuming that the same mechanic more or less applies as it did in "Ascension," anyway.
“Love will be cruel to who it entices — love will have its sacrifices.”
— Carmilla Theme
"Evil isn't the real threat to the world. Stupid is just as destructive as Evil, maybe more so, and it's a hell of a lot more common. What we really need is a crusade against Stupid. That might actually make a difference."
Paradox in nWoD mage works with the fluff that at one time everyone was a mage. A long time ago Atlantis as the culture magic hub tried to build a way to the supernal realms and F-ed up. All magic comes from drawing spells from the supernal realms and at that point in the past that was simple because you could all but see them unaided. When they screwed up they caused the Sleeper's Curse and the Abyss. The Sleeper's Curse says people can't use magic and the part of their soul that recognizes it lashes out at all magic it can perceive making vulgar spells worse paradox-wise and unraveling any established magic they find. The Abyss puts distance between people and the supernal realms on a spiritual level making it harder for them to awaken as mages and throw off the Sleeper's Curse so they can cast spells. What paradox is differs on the GM but one of the big causes accepted is that the Abyss causes interference when drawing out spells either changing what they do or other randomish effects. Its worth noting that things live in the Abyss and that a mage becoming tainted by the Abyss can actually make them stronger. Intentionally tainting your magic with the Abyss has some drawbacks that act similar to to a mild, but pervasive drug addiction but you can some control over the how and when of paradox forming. Get too deep into it and stopping can kill you from the shock though.
Will casting in a realm with native magic shouldn't do anything to ease paradox because either its decided that the Abyss and Sleeper's Curse are in effect everywhere or they aren't because for the most part he isn't powering the spells he casts beyond the cost of retrieving and shaping the spells wholesale.
Also even if you say one point of mana isn't much a master of Prime arcana can make a magic item that produces its own mana on the order of 30-50 units a day. Remember a master of an arcana can create and destroy anything within their arcana and for prime that means Hallows and magic items that make their own mana. If Will is a master of any arcana he could probably get a hold of a Prime master even if it would be expensive. If you want to say that for story purposes mana doesn't filter into the grail well enough to be worth it right now fine, but a ring or watch that produces its own mana and can transfer its own mana to a host by way of command word means that Grail Works could use them to power servants without needing to bind them to a master. If you don't want to go that route that's fine and I may not agree or whatever, but putting some small mentions here and there on why it wouldn't work at all or why its not cost effective can only help the story. RPG settings have a lot of little bits that need to be taken into account to make them mesh well with other settings because they can all be min maxed and smoothing the edges helps SoD for people who know the setting and removes confusion for people who don't.
“Love will be cruel to who it entices — love will have its sacrifices.”
— Carmilla Theme
"Evil isn't the real threat to the world. Stupid is just as destructive as Evil, maybe more so, and it's a hell of a lot more common. What we really need is a crusade against Stupid. That might actually make a difference."
yes the general consensus is that nWoD settings and templets use better rules, but oWoD had better fluff.
As an avid Werewolf player (and GM), I tend to agree.
“Love will be cruel to who it entices — love will have its sacrifices.”
— Carmilla Theme
"Evil isn't the real threat to the world. Stupid is just as destructive as Evil, maybe more so, and it's a hell of a lot more common. What we really need is a crusade against Stupid. That might actually make a difference."
I never played oWoD though I have the Vampire books. Can't seem to find people to play with. I did play the PC Vampire the Masquerades. Malkavian was favorite choice.
Malkavians are a nightmare, either as fellow players (if they play the mad part well) or as NPCs. Either as friends or as enemies (sometimes I prefer them to be enemies, though). But I give it to you, they are pretty funny.
Spoiler:
Originally Posted by shiningphoenix
Rin: "I wanted Saber..."
Archer: "What? But Archers are all insanely OP, it's like a rule or something, why would you think Sabers were better?"
Rin: "Sabers are more molestable..."
Originally Posted by Vigilantia
AC!Rin. Fixing problems one moan at a time.
Originally Posted by Sage of Eyes
Denizens of another dimension, meet Rin Tohsaka, Tsundere of Mass Destruction
Originally Posted by Christemo
I dont even know what Lunatique is. I assume it's terrible for the sake of argument.
The only vampire I played longterm was a Nosferatu that people thought ought to be a Malkavian - the only one of his party to survive a 747 crash without a scratch, after bouncing off a mountain a few times.
. . . And I think we're getting a bit off-topic.
“Love will be cruel to who it entices — love will have its sacrifices.”
— Carmilla Theme
"Evil isn't the real threat to the world. Stupid is just as destructive as Evil, maybe more so, and it's a hell of a lot more common. What we really need is a crusade against Stupid. That might actually make a difference."
Prologue edited and posted for review and criticisms.
Jukake, I checked the books and I can't really get how a Master of Prime can create a perpetual mana generator. Can you explain how it can be possible within the Mage rules?
I'm working on the following assumptions. Just stating them so you guys have an idea of some of things.
Spoiler:
nWoD Mages have very limited mana capacity, especially at low levels. Even a Gnosis 10 Mage, the pinnacle of magical arts and maximum stat obtainable, can only reach a maximum capacity of 100 Mana points. Compared to the Type-Moon mages, nWoD have very little to average capacity. Will, at his current capabilities of Gnosis 5, has a maximum limit of 14 Mana and can channel a maximum of 4 mana in a single instant.
nWoD Mages do not need Mana to cast spells most of the time. They only need to imagine what the want to happen, exert their will upon the world, and viola! Magic is performed. The only time magic requires the usage of mana for spells is in very specific circumstances:
Casting Spells in Sympathetic Range (You can't perceive the target using your mundane senses.)
Improvised Spells from Arcana that isn't a primary one.
Casting Spells which Aggravated Damage (Damage which cannot be healed easily)
Spells which blatantly violate the laws of reality and creation
Spells which state that they require mana
nWoD Mages do not recover Mana by resting. They need to do specific actions to recover mana. These are the only methods known to recover mana:
Oblations, rituals representing the Paths of Magic, performed at Hallows (magic springs) allows a Mage to draw mana from the Hallow itself.
Legacy Oblations, if a Mage is a member of a Legacy.
Inflicting damage, which lasts for 24 hours, to their own bodies. Muscle atrophy, nerve overloading, hormonal imbalance, and incurable stigmata are examples of this.
Sacrifice of blood, animal, and or humans.
Certain spells which draw mana from people, surroundings, and items.
Create a Pact with a otherworldly being and ensure said pact is upheld.
nWoD Mage Mana is compatible and functions the same as Type-Moon Mana.
Paradox will follow a Mage everywhere. In the case of Will, not even alternate parallel worlds will deter Paradox and the Abyss
The Sleeper's Curse will only apply to those who do not believe in magic in a fundamental and subconscious level. For Will, performing magic in a world where magic is commonplace and accepted, the Sleeper's Curse is non-applicable. In modern day earth and certain settings where magic is impossible, Will must be wary of using Magic else the Sleeper's Curse affect him.
Avalon functions as a Sanctum, Hallow, and Demense
A sanctum is the mage's sanctuary. Think Type-Moon Mage Workshop, and you get the idea.
Hallow is a Mana spring. The Grail acts as a Pseudo-Hallow, allowing Will to obtain Mana from the Grail. Since Will's consumption of Mana is minuscule (Will can only obtain at most 5 units from the Grail per day), Ilya wouldn't probably mind.
A Demense is a location where select magic do not invoke Paradox, regardless of how blatant said spell violates the laws of reality and creation. Since Avalon is a trans-dimensional nexus and houses a consciousness ingrained within structure (Mind and Space), provides protection of body and soul, healing, and regeneration (Life and Spirit), and was made by the Fae (Fate and Time), it functions as a pseudo-Demense where any magic used by Will which pertains to the Arcana to Fate, Life, Mind, Space, Spirit, and or Time does not invoke Paradox.
Well, those are the rules which I'll be following at the moment. I'll add some more as I progress in the story, and things crop up.
EDIT: I forgot to add - I appreciate the analysis, although Kurai doesn't technically consider himself part of the Works. Still, from an outsider's perspective, I suppose it makes sense.
Last edited by Kieran; January 31st, 2012 at 05:10 PM.
“Love will be cruel to who it entices — love will have its sacrifices.”
— Carmilla Theme
"Evil isn't the real threat to the world. Stupid is just as destructive as Evil, maybe more so, and it's a hell of a lot more common. What we really need is a crusade against Stupid. That might actually make a difference."
Ok most of my Mage books are AWOL right now so I'll be using spell lists and my brain to explain myself when I say you can make a mana wellspring that never runs dry. First off everything centers around the spell Create Hallow on page M:tAw 230 and the fact that most masters pick up Fate 2 eventually. I cant remember which duration table it uses but if it uses the longer one there is a casting style outlined in the book Tome of the Mysteries about reaching beyond your normal limits. This doesn't let you cast anything beyond what you would normally be able to cast, but it does let you modify the spell as if you had one extra dot in the arcana at the cost of covert spells becoming vulgar and vulgar spells becoming wretchedly paradox ridden. Further the paradox uses the assumed higher rating to determine effect, but if your casting in a prepared place that doesn't have paradox...
Well back on track you can use this to cast the spell at longer duration using the advanced tables which have indefinite at an option letting you make a hollow that is permanent in all aspects beyond a jerk mage being able to dispel it. Make the creation spell a ritual and you can get a hollow, or object that functions as a hollow that put out 30+ mana a day.
The second way to do it is to enchant an object that makes hollows per the Imbue Item spell M:tAw 225. This is likely the simplest and cheapest, though still expensive, way to get this kind of result. You might not get as powerful a hallow either as you tend to not get as much power from items like that.
Last version requires some spell-crafting. The idea is that because ripping apart a spell or weakening the effects are low level prime spells anyone who can make a hollow can also modify the anti-magic spells to reinforce spells instead to add duration to a normal Create Hallow spell. You then enchant an item to do this for you and just leave it there.
All the parts of these plans are further empowered by adding an extra set of spells to drain mana from hollows per Channel Mana M:tAw 224 and put that mana into a person or object per Imbue Mana M:tAw 226. Whats more with Fate 2 you can put conditional triggers on all these spells so you could have, "every time someone who is short their maximum mana steps into this circle give them all the mana from the hollow and other mana storage items present," and, "recharge yourself when you fall below 1/2 maximum stores." And even if you didn't have an auto dispersion system set up running water and grown fruit tend to absorb enough mana that they become Tass over time.
Some of my friends and I speculated that some of the bigger or more research driven mage centers likely have one of these set up so people aren't constantly running dry in a Demense.
Thanks Jukake. I should try this on my ST sometime. Sadly, Will can't do what you just said. He could do it but that would probably take years worth of study, theories, and experiments. Unless of course, Grail Works can find a Mage qualified to do this.
Much better. Before it felt like "Here, my two OCs are going to have wacky adventures using the setting of Grail Works. Maybe I would include some of the TM characters", but now the new characters feel like they are part of the setting. True, I still don't know much about them, but while before I wasn't that much interested in knowing them, now I want to. I don't know anything about Sora yet, but at least now Will seems to have some flaws (i.e. the fact that he can't master his (reality warping) magic unless he finds a master), and he has personality (he is in for a surprise when he finds who are really Saber and Rider, by example). Keep the good work!
BTW, just for the sake of having all the information posible. What is the last year Will had lived in his world? I supose it is post 2000.
Spoiler:
Originally Posted by shiningphoenix
Rin: "I wanted Saber..."
Archer: "What? But Archers are all insanely OP, it's like a rule or something, why would you think Sabers were better?"
Rin: "Sabers are more molestable..."
Originally Posted by Vigilantia
AC!Rin. Fixing problems one moan at a time.
Originally Posted by Sage of Eyes
Denizens of another dimension, meet Rin Tohsaka, Tsundere of Mass Destruction
Originally Posted by Christemo
I dont even know what Lunatique is. I assume it's terrible for the sake of argument.
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Originally Posted by pureauthor
