Limited Special Collector’s Ultimate Edition Fate/Re:Trace Wiseup!
The Servants:
Saber: True identity: ; Master: Ayaka Millsbury
Strength: B (A -> A+) Prana: B (A)
Endurance: C (B -> A) Luck: D (C)
Agility: C (B -> A) Noble Phantasm: B
Class Skills:
Magic Resistance: A++: The user is highly tied to powerful magic and/or possesses the blood of a Phantasmal Race. Even the powerful magic of old has trouble affecting him and to normal magi he is nigh untouchable.
Riding: C: Handles nearly all vehicles with average skill but does not possess the aptitude to ride members of the Phantasmal Races, Demons, Dragon kin and the likes.
Personal Skills:
Battle Continuation: B: Allows the user to continue the fight even with gruesome injuries.
Slayer of Kings: A: Receives a bonus to damage and increased damage resistance when facing enemies with royal blood. The skill is active even if facing enemies who are not directly descended from royalty.
Innocent Monster: A: The name of the monster that had his past and way of being distorted because of the image that was born from his behaviour in the previous life. Both abilities and appearance were transformed. Incidentally, this equipment (Skill) cannot be removed.
Prana Burst: B: Can easily destroy normal weapons after a short exchange of blows. The surge of prana can be used to increase the speed of the user or to strengthen the attack. The user can now increase the power of the burst by freely charging it with more prana.
Noble Phantasms:
Spawn of the Dragon Kin- Blood of Fire: C: As an indirect descendant of the Dragon Kin, the user can temporarily gain the attributes of a dragon. He receives a bonus to all physical stats (STR, END, AGI) and the Prana Burst personal skill is ranked up to A, but all other skills are lost in exchange for B rank Instinct. Because of the average rank of the NP, the user is unable to control his primal instincts and gains Mad Enhancement for the duration of the NP. The appropriate stat increases are implemented but every time this NP is used the user risks being permanently engulfed by his madness. The risk is greater the longer this NP is used. (This Noble Phantasm is only gained under the effect of Innocent Monster.)
Clarent- The Coward’s Blade: A+: The tainted sword with which Mordred killed his own father and his fellow knights. The Oathbreaker’s weapon, the Fatherkiller, the Coward’s Blade- many are the names of Clarent and undoubtedly there is no knight unable to recognize the foul prana emanating from it. Clarent is the stain and brand on Mordred’s soul, twisted and corrupted by his deeds from its original holy glory to that of a foul weapon whose power stems from crystallizing the despair and nightmares of both wielder and foe alike.
Archer: True identity: ? ; Master: Graham Crowley
Strength: B Prana: C
Endurance: C Luck: C
Agility: C (B) Noble Phantasm: A
Class Skills:
Magic Resistance:B: Cancel spells with a chant below three verses. Even if targeted by High-Thaumaturgy and Greater Rituals, it is difficult for him to be affected.
Independent Action: A: Can remain in this world for a week even after losing his Master. However, to use Noble Phantasms of great prana consumption, back up from the Master is necessary.
Personal Skills:
Charisma: C: Possessing the rare talent of an experienced orator and the persuasion abilities of a trickster, the user can sway the will of others through means both foul and fair.
Military Tactics: B: The user is well-versed in the art of war and able to successfully lead his troops under even unfavorable circumstances. (In this user’s case it is more of an superior ability to outflank, outwit, outmaneuver or outright trick and surprise the enemy, through any means necessary.)
Instinct: A: The skill isn’t just the user’s ability to ‘sense’ the flow of the battle through natural gifts and experience, but an ability bordering on true precognition thanks to the blessing of the god who has chosen the user as his or her ‘champion’.
Noble Phantasms:
Anemos Mainetai: Gift of the Wind King: C: The divine ability to ‘leash’ the fury of the winds and control them at will. While this Phantasm can surely be used purely offensively, its main strength comes from the variety of uses one can find for such a broad power as ‘controlling the winds’. Outstanding speed, superior force, invisibility and even heightened senses can be achieved if only the user is shrewd enough to find the way to reaching the desired effect. The ranked of the Phantasm is only average, as it is merely a ‘gift’ and hence, not truly ‘belonging’ to the user.
?
Lancer: True identity: ; Master: Meissa Scintillare
Strength: C (B) Prana: C
Endurance: A (A+) Luck: D
Agility: A (A+) Noble Phantasm: A
Class Skills:
Magic Resistance:C: Cancel spells with a chant below two verses. Cannot defend against Magecraft on the level of High-Thaumaturgy and Greater Rituals.
Territory Creation: D: A limited form of the usual skill. The user may designate a certain area as a ‘lair’ in which his physical stats (STR, AGI, END) are ranked up.
Personal Skills:
Innocent Monster: A: The name of the monster that had his past and way of being distorted because of the image that was born from his behaviour in the previous life. Both abilities and appearance were transformed. Incidentally, this equipment (Skill) cannot be removed.
Eternal Arms Mastership: D: The user has significant mastery over a specific type of weapon.
Protection of the Faith: A+++: A Skill possessed only by those who have sacrificed themselves for a religious view. Despite being a form of divine protection, it is not a blessing from a higher existence. It is only the absoluteness of one's body and soul, which is born from faith.... But if it is too high, it causes abnormalities in the personality.
Noble Phantasms:
Veil of Wallachia- Curtain of the Bloody Darkness: B: The physical embodiment of an aspect belonging to the entity known as ‘Dracula’. Its origin lying in the legends about the famous vampire count, this Noble Phantasm allows Vlad to shift his body into black mist and become intangible and thus invulnerable to any and all attacks for a short period of time. While in this form his movements are impossible to be read or predicted and all of his attacks strike without fail, as any defense is useless against an attack that doesn’t have a tangible form. The black mist can also hide Vlad’s form completely, making him impossible to detect. The power of the Noble Phantasm comes from the twisted historical image of the Executor King, whose dubious deeds have made mankind fear him and reimagine his whole identity as a supernatural bloodthirsty monster.
Kazikli Bey: The Fortress of Impalement: A++: The ultimate embodiment of the Executor King’s inner world, Kazikli Bey is the Forest of Spears, grown over the years with each foe slain and each traitor whose life was taken. This field of thousands upon thousands of blades is both Vlad’s greatest achievement and greatest failure. The Fortress of Impalement is, ultimately, the only thing the one who forsook his humanity and embraced his inner darkness in the name of faith, country and love has left- a barren wasteland filled with bloodied spears, meant to remind him of each and every life he has taken. The pain the target receives increases in proportion to their sins of immorality and depravity as a fitting ‘blow of justice.’
Rider: True identity: ?; Master: Glen Grimaldi
Strength: C Prana: E
Endurance: A Luck: C
Agility: C Noble Phantasm: A++
Class Skills:
Riding:A: All creatures but those of Phantasmal Beast and Divine Beast-rank can be used as mounts.
Personal Skills:
Battle Continuation: A: Makes possible to fight even with deadly injuries and can remain alive so long as one does not receive a decisive fatal wound.
Bravery: A+: Courage bordering on recklessness, the user’s belief in his cause and his almost preternatural willpower allow him to not only negate mental interference, but to instill determination into his own mind. Bonus effect of increasing melee damage.
Guardian Knight: A: The epitome of the paladin, the user derives great power when defending those ‘close to his heart’, be they loved ones or comrades.
Noble Phantasms:
?
?
?
Berserker: True identity: ?; Master: Shinosuke Hasegawa
Strength: B (A -> EX) Prana: E (D)
Endurance: B (A -> EX) Luck: D (C)
Agility: D (C -> B) Noble Phantasm: none
Class Skills:
Mad Enhancement:B+: Rank up for all parameters, but takes away most of sanity.
Personal Skills:
Battle Continuation: B: Allows the user to continue the fight even with gruesome injuries.
Vanquisher of the Hellspawned: B: As someone who has fought and killed many beasts and demons in his mortal life, the user retains this skill as a Heroic Spirit and deals more damage to beasts, demons or other unholy or otherwise mythical creatures while also receiving less damage from them.
Brawler’s Fury: B: Having achieved great feats while fighting only with his bare hands in his mortal life, the user now receives a boost to his physical stats (STR, END, AGI) every time he fights without using any weapons.
Noble Phantasms: Unable to use any due to Mad Enhancement.
Caster: Classified information…
Assassin: True Identity: ; Master: Alexander Portia
Strength: D Prana: C
Endurance: C Luck: E
Agility: A+ Noble Phantasm: B
Class Skills:
Presence Concealment: A+: It is possible to disappear completely and become almost impossible to be detected. However, efficacy will decrease once preparations to attack are taken.
Personal Skills:
Eternal Arms Mastership: C: The user has great proficiency with all kinds of weapons and is able to use any weapon with above average skill.
Eye of the Mind (True): B: Capable of calm analysis of battle conditions even when in danger and deduce an appropriate course of action after considering all possibilities to escape from a predicament. So long there is even a 1% chance of a comeback, this ability greatly improves the chances of winning.
Projectile (Various): B:Thrown projectile weapons are now comparable to bullets.
Noble Phantasms:
Zabaniya- Cloak of the Devil’s Flame: B+: Embodying the smokeless flames of the Middle Eastern jinns, the user possesses full control over the unholy black fire. The enchanted flames can solidify and take any form or shape and are unable to be extinguished by any natural means. Since they are both physical and magical in nature, the one attacked has to have both strong Magic Resistance and Endurance to defend against them. Like the darkest shadows this fire represents, the user can become fully cloaked in them and teleport for short distances.
The Masters:
Master of Saber:
“To set right what once went wrong.”
Ayaka Millsbury- an adopted Japanese girl with a troubled past, Ayaka is eighteen years old and a senior in high school. Her usually quiet demeanor hides her passion for magecraft knowledge. Sadly, her thirst for the arcane has led to the already shy girl becoming even more socially withdrawn. In reality much of her ‘shyness’ is Ayaka’s conscious attempt at keeping others away from her. Witnessing the death of her parents in a fire more than a decade ago led to her believing herself to be dragging down everyone around her, a proverbial ‘vampire’ and ‘leech’ unable to survive without making others suffer for her sake. Her hobbies are reading and researching more magecraft knowledge. While an amateur at best, Ayaka is quick to understand the concepts behind Formalcraft and Witchcraft, her sole arcane ‘specializations’.
Master of Archer:
“To put an end to this foolish War.”
Graham Crowley- London’s Jack of All Trades, Graham escaped his home at the age of twelve when his power manifest for the first time. Falling in with the wrong crowd, the teenage mage quickly grew from a simple errand boy for the mafia to a leader of his own little gang. It’s a mystery among the mages in the Clock Tower how on Earth did he end up Velvet’s protégé but most attribute it to Waver’s preference for low-generation mages. Graham himself despises the nobles, as he is looked down on as a first generation mage and a self-taught one to booth. Favoring instant magecraft, he studied Runelore and inscribes playing cards with Runes for quick use. While only average prana-wise and relying more on wits and street-smarts then on superior magical powers, Waver has some doubts about the boy’s true origin as he can control all five of the natural elements and possesses the Mystic Eyes of Charm.
Master of Lancer:
“To prove I’m the strongest!”
Meissa Scintillare- known under the moniker of ‘The Shining Valkyrie’, Meissa is a third-generation mage and the daughter of one of the most influential men in Hartcroft. Denied the position of future Head of the family, she spends a great deal of her time studying and enhancing her family’s sorcery treat- the Jupiter Pulse. While a dangerous and accomplished mage at the tender age of eighteen, the constant comparisons to her more talented cousin and future patriarch of the family have made her bitter and overbearing. To her, everything in life is a challenge and she despises those who choose to remain weak instead of striving to achieve their goals. To Meissa the world’s merely a stage meant to show her shine. Perhaps most of all she despises her arranged marriage with Glen, which cemented her opinion that her father would never see her as a mage and not as a daughter whose sole purpose is to be married off. Meissa has a strained relationship with her father, blaming him for the death of her mother she witnessed at a young age and even more for giving her twin sister to the Aylesburries when the old family suffered a succession crisis.
Master of Rider:
“To free myself from these poisoned chains.”
Glen Grimaldi- The Crest-bearer of the Grimaldis- one of the five founding families and one of the oldest known families of magi in the world. Glen is technically the youngest child of the family (he was the second twin born) but after the disappearance of his elder brother and proving himself more capable than his twin sister, Glen’s heart was removed and replaced with his family’s Crest. Inside it is stored an enormous amount of prana and a millennia worth of Fleshcrafting spells- but since the patriarch of the family uses the Crest to prepare younger host bodies for himself, Glen never activates his magic circuits because every time it’s activated, the Crest overtakes his body more and more. After being saved by his elder brother, he was taken to Hartcroft and left under the official care of Scorpius Scinitillare and the unofficial care of Nia Smith. His experiences in life have made Glen bitter and sarcastic and the continued betrayal by those close to him had led him to become withdrawn and selfish. With the power of his Crest and the millennia of Fleshcrafting spells stored in it Glen can even face off against average Servants under the right circumstances but since activating the Crest means certain death, he is forced to participate in the War more as an ordinary human than a super-powerful mage. Glen is arranged to be married to Meissa in exchange for the protection offered by her father, who agreed to it in hopes of the three-generation Scintillares to acquire a Crest of their own.
Master of Berserker:
“To find the one strong enough…”
Shinosuke Hasegawa- a Japanese pretty-boy in his twenties. Shinosuke, while exceptionally polite and quite smart, is in reality a vicious murderer who seems to derive extreme pleasure from his killings. The type to compliment a woman on her looks even as he is vivisecting her, he has no standards by which he chooses his victims. As long as it bleeds, it’s fair game to him. Shinosuke is a prodigy with the katana, having spent almost his whole life in a mountainous village under the care of a weapon master’s family, after they found the then young boy wandering aimlessly around the wilderness, on the brink of death. The weapon master, a retired member of the Demon Hunting Association, taught the boy everything he knew in hopes of Shinosuke becoming his successor and he was the one that helped the boy accept the curse of his eyes. Unfortunately, that idyllic lifestyle ended when one morning Shinosuke just butchered his adoptive family and the whole village for seemingly no reasons at all. A miracle-worker with the blade, Shinosuke now roams the world in search of the strongest opponent- and the Grail War is the place he thinks he’ll find that opponent.
Master of Caster: Classified information…
Master of Assassin:
“To share my pain with the world.”
Alexander Portia- perhaps the most dangerous man in Hartcroft, Alexander was raised and trained in the deepest and most secret facilities of VEXA Corp, under the watchful eyes of the White Queen herself. One amongst the many orphans picked off the streets, he is the sole survivor of the mysterious Project ‘MERCURY’, which led to the start of the cold war between VEXA and Elysion. An oddity amongst oddities, Alexander’s power is comparable more to an innate bounded field constantly trying to expand itself than anything else. The crystalline substance he controls has frequently been compared to a cancer that devours anything it touches- including Alexander himself, but never to his face- it’s whispered that he has killed for lesser reasons. Bearing the pain of the alien substance devouring him from within for nearly three decades, Alexander rose from a simple guinea pig to Chairman of VEXA Corp, showing that his is also shrewd enough to lead and not just strong enough to destroy. Alexander gained entrance to the War by unknown means, somehow managing to get a hold of a Class Card despite VEXA and Elysion’s mutual agreement to stay out of it. Portia, as the Spider King, holds the position of Fifth Throne amongst Hartcroft’s AESIR and his is the only magic Norman Drake has never destroyed, despite all his efforts.
Other characters:
Nia Smith- the leading information broker in Hartcroft. An attractive woman in her twenties, she is- by her own admission- a mystery wrapped in a riddle inside an enigma. No one knows if that’s actually her real name, where she comes from and what are her goals. Everybody knows, however, that whatever information they require, Nia has it- for a price. A wild card without a clear allegiance, she is both an ally and an enemy to all the power groups and cliques in Hartcroft. Her only distinctive motivators seem to be money and saving her own skin- goals which usually remain well-hidden under her cheerful attitude and cat-like personality. Her interest in the War is currently unknown but as she likes to put it, “information equals power”. And since she happens to rather like power, no one is surprised to learn how much she actually knows of what transpires behind the scenes and those smarter than average usually suspect she happens to be more than the bit player she pretends to be. Many a urban legend are told about how exactly she gathers all her information- but to this day no one has managed to learn her secret. In some kind of twisted parody, she’s the closest thing Glen has to a family now. Nia, while technically not his guardian, is the one that acts the role.
Jedediah “Jed” Rosenstein- a teenage boy Ayaka’s age, who seems to be her only friend at school. Jed is a… peculiar person. While incredibly friendly and almost childishly idealistic, people’s common impression of him is that he is a few Marbles short of a Phantasm. Still, his status as a social pariah doesn’t bother him in the least. There’s always a goofy smile on his face and there’s always something whacky happening around him. Most of the time the motormouth spends retelling the tales of his travels across the universes, claiming to be able to jump dimensions and slide into new worlds. No need to mention, his ludicrous claims are usually ignored and outright ridiculed. But Jed still keeps going strong, braving the ‘boring’ world with a wide smile on his face.
Waver Velvet (Lord El-Melloi II)- having gained fame (mostly among the young female mages) and recognition (mostly among the other noble families who despise the ‘adopted’ noble for his achievements), Waver now works as the Head of the Spiritual Evocation Department, researching the means through which a Heroic Spirit can be summoned into our world even without the help of the Grail. Even though he is a Lord, Waver is a walking contradiction to his title. While somewhat sarcastic, he has none of the arrogance of other nobles and some mages in the Clock Tower seem to think that half of his day he sets aside specifically to annoy the higher-ups on the hierarchy. Embracing modern technology more than any other Old World mage (to the point that he one day just up and left to places unknown when he was told he couldn’t keep the enormous video game system set up in his chambers) and working highly in favor of the younger generations of mages, Waver Velvet is a favorite to many of the lower classes in mage society. His closest pupils, like Graham, know what kind of goofball the otherwise imposing-looking man is on the inside. Upon learning of the emergence of a new Grail, Waver sets out to Hartcroft along with his apprentice, dead-set on uncovering whatever conspiracies lie hidden below the surface.
Father Luciano- the supervisor sent by the Church to act as overseer in the Sixth Grail War. Luciano tries to be fair to all the participants and makes sure they enter the War on equal terms, knowing full well what being a Master means. He is an aged, white-haired man of the classical grandfatherly type but he is far from afraid of chastising those who go out of their way to harm innocents during the War. Despite his age he still has an imposing figure, proof of his days as an Executor for the Church. Luciano is fully aware of the hypocrisy of his former job. He considers taking possibly innocent lives just for what they are a necessary evil and, according to him, he is ready to face whatever punishment awaits him in Hell.
Scorpius Scintillare- the father of Meissa and CEO of Nebula Industries. He is the Second Owner of Hartcroft, the Scintillares having inherited the title from the last ruling family during their rise in the 1920s, but since such things are considered too archaic for the City of Free Mages, the title is only technical. As a mage, he is only of average skill but Scorpius’s real power comes from being cunning and shrewd enough to elevate a mere three generation magus family to a position where their title as Second Owners can be backed up by the real power of business connections and money. His attitude is usually ‘strictly business’, the only exception to this rule being the only daughter he has left. But even while satisfying most of her whims, he isn’t willing to compromise when it comes to the good of the family. And thus Meissa’s arranged marriage with Glen continues to loom over their heads. Scorpius considers the millennia-old Crest Glen carries inside him to be the Scintillare’s ticket to full control over Hartcroft. Scorpius is Glen’s legal guardian, but aside from providing housing, money and education for the boy, he rarely acts the role.
The Burial Agency
With the emergence of the unknown new Grail in Hartcroft and the threat of a new War, the Church saw the perfect opportunity to finally expand their influence in the bastion of Western mages. In a city full of powerful enemies, the Church realized they needed to send their best- but since the majority of actual Buriers were either chasing Dead Apostle Ancestors or sent to the Far East to investigate the sudden peak in magical activities there, a new unofficial Agency was formed. Their leader aside, its members are hand-picked by the Head Cardinal himself from the list of Eights for the official Buriers. This Agency’s goal is to retrieve the Grail for the Church, kill off any dangerous individuals and seek a way to weaken Hartcroft as a whole. The Agency’s members are:
1st member: Mr. Kane- the hulking man is the only official Burier of the group, holding the position of 4th member in the actual Agency. Mr. Kane lacks both the usual fervor with which Executors usually hunt heretics and the signature attitude of the heretical Buriers. He just claims hunting down demons is his job and does it with frightening success, considering that he is only an ordinary human specialized in modern weaponry. He doesn’t look like a member of the Church, being always dressed in a business suit, but he does carry a small cross around his neck. The usual opinion about him is that Kane acts more like a contractor than a Burier. He gets the job done with as less fuss as possible, frowns upon the ‘zeal’ attitude of others and just spends time with his weapons. Which he loves enough to give them female names.
2nd member: The Cyrus- a carefree man in his twenties who looks like a Church member as much as a purple platypus bear with silver horns and golden wings does. He dresses like the most stereotypical Hawaiian tourist possible, wears sunglasses 24/7 and acts like your run-on-the-mill surfer dude. No one actually knows why he even works for the Church and if he even has a motive at all. All that is known is that The Cyrus is the only one capable of using the Eleventh Holy Scripture- a book capable of imprisoning any demonic or mythological creature in its pages and then summoning them under the controller of the user.
3rd member: The Crimson Hellequin- a mysterious man who is, by his own admission, ‘a devil that hunts fellow sinners’. His reasons for becoming an Executor are unknown but everyone admits that he is one of the most dangerous Church members out there. Incorporating magecraft and more heretical Executor techniques with the deadly scythe-like cross he carries, the Hellequin is a very dangerous opponent, indeed. He always speaks in a calm and cool tone, even when others are ridiculing his choice of attire- a black priest’s frock with red fluffy sleeves and a red jester’s hat. No one has seen his face- it’s always hidden by the crimson frowning mask he wears.
4th member: Gideon- an unfortunate man who had the Egg (a soul shard) of the 12th Dead Apostle Ancestor placed inside him as a child. Due to this he still possess his child-like appearance, even though he is well into his forties. Imprisoned by the Church for nearly three decades after they put an end to his rampage, Gideon now helps them in hope of finding a way to destroy the Egg inside him or at least get rid of it. He possesses immense speed and physical power, enhanced senses and incredibly fast regeneration rate. He also possesses the toned-down abilities of the 12th DAA, namely his Mystic Eyes and the ability to turn his skin into diamond-hard black scales. Alas, all this comes with the price of an insatiable thirst for blood and the every-day risk of the Egg possessing him fully. The Ninth Holy Scripture- Reins of Seven Heavens- entrusted to the 5th Burier is the only thing capable of suppressing his vampiric transformations and impulses.
5th member: Lucinda ‘Lucy’ Smith- an ordinary girl born into an ordinary family, Lucy’s life was destroyed when a renegade mage killed off her family and used her in his experiments of forcing a human’s mind into Akasha. After years of both mental and physical abuse the girl was saved by a group of Church Executors, leading her to embrace their goal and ideals. All four limbs she lost during her captivity were replaced with artificially enhanced prosthetics. She now hunts mages with unending hate and vigor and has trained herself to a level where she is faster than even the vampiric Gideon at his finest. She is the one entrusted with Gideon’s chains- the Ninth Holy Scripture.
6th member: Michael Norcroft- a young and idealistic Knight of the Church. While being the scion of a wealthy and noble family, Michael is very down-to-earth. He dresses casually, prefers the company of ordinary people and actually became an Executor and a Burier because he really wants to rid the world of evil and not because of some misguided sense of revenge. He has gotten in trouble several times for letting some more harmless Dead Apostles go but both his family name and the fact that he is a prodigy have protected him from any harsher punishment. Michael believes fiercely in the Code of Knights and refuses to fight unfairly or to harm anyone innocent just because they were turned into a vampire for example. Much of his fame comes from being the first one in his family after thirteen whole generations to wield the Conceptual Weapon entrusted to the Norcrofts- the trident sword Abdiel.
7th member: ?
The City:
Founded in the 16th century by an alliance of five influential mage families fleeing the the Mage’s Association in Europe, in modern day Hartcroft- New York’s sixth borough- is widely known as ‘The City of Free Mages’ and ‘The City of a Thousand Tales’. Hartcroft is the single most densely populated by mages city in the world. By the peculiar law of nature that oddities attract more and more oddities, Hartcroft has been deeply influenced by the arcane and mystic ever since its founding. Many influential landmarks, streets, building or even parks bear the names of famous mythological figures, be it of old or modern times. And while the ordinary people just think that the majority of architects and the founders of the city itself were just a bit odd, in reality there is a whole different world going on behind the scenes in Hartcroft. Mages, demon-blooded, vampires and who knows what else live in relative harmony in the city, the hierarchy decided not by blood, raw power or age, but by the influence of the cliques and their ability to actually improve the city.
To the average mage citizen of Hartcroft, the internal power struggles of the city aren’t even of interest. Regardless of generation, the mages are free to do whatever they wish. The race to the Root has been largely abandoned in Hartcroft. Its resident mages follow whatever way in life they want- be it living as an ordinary citizen with magical powers, occult investigator, mad scientist etc etc. This is what earned Hartcroft the moniker of ‘The City of a Thousand Tales’- there is always something going on in some part of Hartcroft, involving totally different people having their own adventures and experiences.
The pride and joy of the city is the Reality Marble Schwarzweiss. At its founding, the four other families insisted on the Lirtirras, the original possessors of the RM, to give the Marble a form of semi-sentience and incorporate it with the land of Hartcroft itself. The Marble is supposed to choose for itself someone worthy enough to wield its immense power and it serves as the ultimate shield of the city against any invasion. There has been no known possessor of the Schwarzweiss for the past century.
Hartcroft is split in two relatively equal in size parts by the artificial channel connecting the Atlantic Ocean to New York Harbor. The two main districts are:
Crestford
The western, mostly residential part of the city. The majority of Crestford’s residents live here, including Glen, Nia, Lacie and others. The main points of interest and neighbourhoods in Crestford are:
Boulevard ‘Merlin’: The main artery of Crestford, it runs from one end of the city to the other.
Montressor Harbor (West Side): Pier 4- The Flint is located here, at the southernmost part of Crestford. Pier 4 handles mostly transport ships who deliver various exotic goods to the city.
Dodgson Private Academy: One of the most famous and respected boarding schools in the world, acceptance into which is gained only by incredible academic achievements, the right connections or high amounts of money. This is the school that Glen, Meissa and Lacie attend but they don’t actually live in the dormitories. Meissa is a Prefect there, Lacie is a member of the Art Club and Glen, forced to join a club by Meissa, entered the Photography Club.
The Skyspire: The second tallest building in Hartcroft. It’s a major tourist attraction and the top level is reserved for special occasions like grandiose balls and meetings. The lower levels include numerous malls, cinemas, galleries and other various attractions. The Skyspire has a central pillar around which revolve the different levels of the building, each of them in a different direction or speed. The spiraling pillar is visible through the enormous reinforced glass tube surrounding it.
Hotel Liberty: One of the best hotels in the city. Its main attraction is the clear view over the whole miniature island on which Persephone’s Grove Park is located.
Gallery ‘Vasari’: The world-renown gallery for gothic art and architecture, located on the corner of Polidori Avenue and Stoker’s Street. It’s considered a splendid exhibit in and of itself when it comes to gothic architecture and it’s in possession of various famous gothic works from throughout history. The building also houses many private and grandiose halls reserved for opening nights and the receptions given by the actual owner of the gallery- Dimitri Dragovich, the widely-recognized official leader of the Dead Apostles in Hartcroft. The gallery and the areas around it are acknowledged as purely vampire territory by other factions in the city.
St Patroclus’s Cathedral: Another great example of gothic architecture, the ‘Casa di Angeli Piangeti’ is one of the biggest cathedrals in the world and is famous for the numerous statues of weeping angels decorating its high walls. Behind the cathedral is located the cemetery of Hartcroft and at its end, at the northernmost point of the city, is the Crypt of Faceless Ghosts- a mysterious place that marks one of the leyline merging points and peaks of prana in the city. The Cathedral and the area around it are officially recognized territory of the Church.
Dauphine Bridge: The connection between Hartcroft and Staten Island.
Eastburgh:
The eastern part of the city, which houses the entertainment and business districts, the Chinatown and the urban neighbourhood of Hartcroft. It’s a bit larger than Crestford. The main points of interest and neighbourhoods in Eastburgh are:
Montressor Harbor (Western side): The part of Hartcroft’s harbor that handles the tourists ships and any other cruise liners coming to the city. Its two main docks are Pier 13- The Nemo and Pier 51- The Sparrow.
Little Vegas:
Probably the most famous part of Hartcroft, its entertainment district is in a constant rivalry with the business district for the most widely recognized part of the city worldwide. Little Vegas, like its namesake suggests, is full of casinos, hotels and other places of entertainment. Its main points of interest are:
Midas Boulevard: Running from one end of Little Vegas to the other, from the Afluens all the way to the bridge to Persephone’s Grove Park, Midas Boulevard is lined up by numerous famous casinos, hotels and clubs on both sides.
Afluens Hotel and Casino: One of the most prominent establishments in the Little Vegas. It prides itself in catering to people from all walks of life, which is probably the reason a big part of its premises is reserved for one of the biggest malls in the city.
Casino ‘Orion’: Another very famous casino, it’s owned by the Scintillare family and it serves as a front for some of their shadier deals. Nevertheless, the income from the casino is also highly beneficial for the mage family.
The ‘Wallachia’: The last of the trio of most famous casinos in Little Vegas, the Wallachia is a relatively new addition to Midas Boulevard. Its ownership belongs to the association of Dead Apostles in Hartcroft and according to some sources it’s co-owned by an influential Dead Apostle Ancestor currently residing in Europe.
Club ‘Starlight’: Hands down, the most famous club in Hartcroft. People have been known to wait for a whole year to get membership cards and only the most famous, rich and influential have free access to it. This epitome of a VIP club is owned by the Scintillare family and its heir, Meissa Scintillare, is the actual owner of the club, using it as her base of operations.
The ‘Arkham’: The only other club in the city that can rival the Starlight in fame, the Arkham is owned by none other than Nia Smith. And while the prices are high, all access is free- if you manage to find enough space to squeeze into, that is. The club serves as Nia’s base of operations and it’s the center of her information network.
Kennilworthy Multi-Sport Stadium: Worldwide known as the ‘Hexagonal Jewel of Hartcroft’, this stadium placed in the heart of the Little Vegas is the realization of every sport fan’s dream. From basketball to football to soccer to hockey and baseball, no major sport is left out by the specially-designed half a dozen fields.
Business District:
The second biggest district in the city, here it’s where the big money are made. This district houses the headquarters of many influential organizations that hold great power in Hartcroft. Its main points of interest include:
Anghoulem Avenue: The district’s main street.
Nebula Industries: An amalgamation of companies owned by the Scintillare family. It doesn’t have a definite area of expertise and instead delves into whatever kind of business is profitable at the moment. It has branch companies and connections in entertainment, the stock market, real estate agencies, tourism, various science projects and even handles some private military projects. It’s the main front for the mage family’s shadier business.
VEXA Corporation: One of the leading research facilities in the country. It’s run by one of the biggest factions in Hartcroft- the emerging Technomages- who claim they can remove the limits of ordinary mages with the help of technology. Officially the company deals with prosthetics, robotics and various other scientific researches, both public and military, but behind the scenes it’s widely believed that VEXA conducts far shadier experiments.
The Skylance: The tallest building in Hartcroft and the most prominent feature of the city’s skyline. It houses the headquarters of various different companies and corporations.
Hillsdale:
The suburban part of the city in which Ayaka and Jed live. As any other suburbia, it’s mostly boring and uninteresting. Or it would’ve been, if not for the fact that oddities attract other oddities and Hartcroft has been the greatest oddity in the Western world ever since its founding. Hillsdale’s few points of interest include:
Brian Ulfric High School: The school Ayaka and Jed go to. While considered above average, it’s still your usual run-on-the-mill high school filled with ordinary high school students. Most of them ‘ordinary’ by Hartcroft standards.
Laynewich Heights: The series of small hills located at the border between Hillsdale and the ocean. They are a famous spot for dates because of the great view of the city they offer.
The Basilisk Bridge: The connection between Hartcroft and Brooklyn. Its name comes from its serpentine form and enormous size.
Huangjin-zhen
Hartcroft’s Chinatown is widely known by the name of the Golden City for its numerous decorations in crimson and gold. It’s the official territory of the Triads in Hartcroft. Its points of interest include:
Mr. Miyu’s Emporium of Wondrous Mysteries in Chinatown: A small and mysterious antique shop run by a seemingly scatterbrained old mage. Many different ancient arcane artifacts are sold there, if one is smart enough to notice the correct magical paraphernalia hidden under the piles of various counterfeit goods.
The Pagoda of the Four Beats: As its name implies, the golden building in typical ancient Chinese style is famous for the intricate statues of the Four Heavenly Beats which decorate it. It’s a major tourist attraction but also the base of operations for the Triads.
Other points of interest in Hartcroft:
The Skyarrows: Known also as the Gateway to the West, the twin lighthouses are the tied for the third tallest building in Hartcroft. They are located at the southern end of the channel which splits the city in two and are the main entry point for the Montressor Harbor.
Melchior, Caspar and Balthazar Bridges: The three draw bridges that connect Crestford and Eastburgh.
The Vimur Channel: The artificial ‘river’ that splits Hartcroft in two parts.
Persephone’s Grove Park: Located in the center of Hartcroft, the park is actually a small island surrounded by an artificial moat derived from the Vimur Channel. Millions of tourists come here to enjoy the masterful gardens and the many famous fountains depicting scenes from the Greek mythology. It’s connected by bridges to the different districts of Hartcroft. In its very center is located the uninhabited castle of the long-vanished House of Escalus, one of the five founding families.
The Five Founding Families:
An alliance between the few prominent mage families of old brave enough to officially secede from the Mage’s Association and its traditions. Every family had a reason of their own and some of them were outright enemies, but for the purpose of escaping from the strong common enemy, they joined forces and fled to the New World. Upon arriving at Hartcroft’s location, they decided to combine forces to artificially create an island imbued with magic to which would flock other freedom-seeking mages from throughout the world. Many of Hartcroft’s secrets remain buried deeply into the very land to this very day.
The House of Aylesbury
“Nos animadverto nex sulum hostilis”- “We see the death of every enemy”
Coat of arms: A stylized eye with three daggers on both its upper and lower sides, taking the position of eyelashes.
A house of mages that gained power during the Middle Ages, the Aylesburys of today are a largely secluded family. Initially the house had many branch families but its power started to decline with the beginning of the Renaissance, many of its branches lost to the diluting of their blood or to their rivalries with other prominent mage families. A hundred years after the beginning of the fall of the Aylesbury a young mage named Regnar took desperate action. Originally the sole living member of the last branch family of the Aylesburys, Regnar somehow conducted an unholy ritual with the help of his prominent Shadow magecraft and struck a deal with an unknown Dead Apostle Ancestor. Or so the rumors go. But it is undeniable that the end result was a new generation of Aylesburys with purer blood than ever, well-versed in Shadow magecraft and with a powerful patriarch possessing a limited form of the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception. Also, Regnar ended up permanently turned into a sentient entity made purely of shadows. The patriarch of the family rules the Aylesburys to this very day, merging with his successor in each new generation on the basis of symbiosis- of a shadow needing an anchor and an already strong mage desiring even more power. Of course, the Mage’s Association wasn’t happy with the turn of events and declared Regnar and all his future descendants Sealing Designated- that was the main reason Regnar joined the conspiracy for the withdrawal. Alas, the Aylesburys were victims of a recent succession crisis when the heir to the family suddenly disappeared around a decade ago. Desperate, the Aylesburys turned to the Scintillares who provided one of the children from their main family as a successor to the House of Aylesbury.
During the withdrawal from the Mage’s Association, the Aylesburys served as the main spymasters of the conspiracy, using their Shadow magecraft to monitor the unaware Lords of the Association. Today the base of operations of the Aylesburys is located in Rhode Island.
The House of Escalus
“Visio nox, visio nex”- “Face us, face death.”
Coat of arms: a crown with mountains in the background
Widely known throughout history as the Lords of Wealth, the house of Escalus was one of the first prominent mage families that discarded the search for Akasha in favor of more earthly goals. They used the power of magecraft to weasel their way into the world of bankers, turning into prominent players with which even dukes and kings had to cooperate. The magecraft of the Escalus- redirection and negation of prana, was mainly used for fortifying their own lands by ‘calling out’ to the leylines and attracting them to their castles where they could easily use the nature’s energy and strengthen themselves. Whenever they were faced with a rival mage family, they promptly left their land dry of both od and mana. As the centuries went by, the House of Escalus gained even more and more power, turning into a force strong enough to rival the Mage’s Association not by sheer power but by the wealth and connections they had accumulated over the years. And since even an army of non-mages was still an army they would have to eventually fight off, the Association made the first move to eliminate the now inconvenient Escalus. With most of their branch families killed off, the main house began the conspiracy that would later be joined by the four other founding families.
During the secession the House of Escalus provided the funds needed to make the long journey and set up the much-needed fortress in the New World. They were the ones who redirected all laylines in the area to the artificial island. Alas, merely two centuries after the founding of Hartcroft, the Escalus family suddenly disappeared from the face of Earth. Unverified rumors claim that the other founding families wiped them out in secrecy, fearful of a repeat of the situation before the secession in which they would play the role of the Mage’s Association.
The House of Grimaldi
“Nostri est epulum eternus”- “Ours is the feast eternal”
Coat of arms: An unfinished ouroboros with a sun in the background
One of the oldest mage families in the world, the rise to power of the Grimaldis started in the tenth century. Mainly due to their outrageous magecraft, they were largely ostracized by the other Lords but still gained significant power with their abilities. The magecraft of the Grimaldis- Fleshcrafting- is a fearsome art of the control over flesh, blood and bones. Their power over the very things from which man was made of led to the Grimaldis getting prideful and gaining an outlook of the world that set them up as gods over the normal mortals and even other mages. The House grew stronger and stronger with each generation as the family had the tradition of not the first-born, but the strongest to inherit the position of patriarch. The legendary Crest of the Grimaldi- the heart of the very first head of the family- has been passed down through history to this very day. The Crest is actually not only a combination of a millennia worth of spells but also literally the compressed flesh and blood of generations of family leaders, ensuring that the future generation will be doubtlessly much stronger than the next. The Grimaldis never actually tried to reach Akasha- as Lords over the flesh, bones and blood of man they focused solely on the mortal world, conducting numerous experiments to improve their already highly-advanced magecraft. Soon after their emergence the family gained fame for practicing a gruesome form of cannibalism- their magecraft had grown strong enough to be able to let them absorb humans into their bodies and use them as ‘composite materials’. It is widely believed that the House can trace its lineage back to a prominent vampire (which is also considered the reason for their legendary feud with the Aylesburys, whose newest incarnation also has similar origins). The Grimaldis never had any branch families. Generations after generations, the family practiced incest to protect ‘the blood of their Ancestor’ and brothers married their sisters or cousins. The only exceptions were exceptional individuals- like powerful Dead Apostles or descendants of some, demon hybrids, psychics etc- who were actively searched for and made to marry into the family to strengthen the already alien and exotic blood of the Grimaldi. The many instances of Inversion Impulse throughout the centuries led to the killing of an Inverted parent or sibling to be the sacred right of any Grimaldi. The practice of the family head using the Crest to possess and kill the ‘successor’ was first started by Albus Grimaldi. Until then known as the ‘White Knight of the Grimaldi’, he slayed all members of the family opposing him, rallied the rest and possessed the body of his own nephew. And, for reasons unknown, he personally led an attack on the House of Barthomeloi that ended up with the family nearly wiped out (of course, they only emerged stronger after the massacre). His actions led to the Association to declare the whole House of Grimaldi as Sealing Designated. With the tainted prodigy now known as the King of Nightmares, the Grimaldis responded by being the first to join the Escalus’ conspiracy.
During the withdrawal the Grimaldis served as the main soldiers defending the fleeing armada from the hunters of the Association. The Grimaldis of today are located in New England. Almost parallel to the Aylesbury crisis, the heir of the Grimaldis also disappeared, leading to the technically youngest child being declared as Crest-bearer. Seven months later, the original heir returned with proverbial guns ablazing, stealing away his little brother and the Crest inside him. The female twin ended up the sole successor on hand, but Albus now had no Crest to implant into her, leading to obvious problems.
The House of Hartcroft
“Vestri terra, nostrum regnum”- “Your land, our kingdom”
Coat of arms: A multi-branched tree surrounded by stars
Unlike the other founding families, the Hartcrofts were actually a small family with only an average amount of influence in the Association. Still, they were masters in their geomancer magecraft, a skill largely overlooked in a world where there was plenty of land already present to conquer. That, and the amount of prana needed for actual land creation was, quite honestly, insanely big. It was only after the House of Escalus had promised the Hartcrofts an even standing with the other four families and the amount of resources, both physical and arcane, needed for the grandiose project that they finally left their mountainous paradise. They were the ones that, after almost a decade of non-stop work, created the artificial island of Hartcroft, bearing their name as a sign of recognition and honor, with the help of the Escalus who provided the needed enormous amount of prana. The Hartcrofts were also recognized as the official Second Owners of the land and they managed to retain power even after it had become nothing more than a technicality. Alas, the family suffered a crisis during the beginning of the 20th century and, before dying, the last of the Hartcrofts declared their allies, the emerging first-generation mafia family of the Scintillares, as the ones to take their place as Second Owners of the city.
The House of Lirtirra
“Qui sceptrum as illud ut partum”- “Those who rule are those that create”
Coat of arms: a scepter on a black-and-white checkered field
Famous as the Lords of the Mediterranean, the Lirtirras were an island-based family that gained power through a single spell. The family’s Reality Marble, a trait able to be inherited by the transfer of the Lirtirra’s Crest (the Marble actually was the Crest) was one of, literally, godly power. Inside this Reality Marble- the Schwarzweiss- the users literally gained divine powers. Under the black-and-white checkered skies of the Schwarzweiss, one could create whole seemingly endless worlds, filled with people, countries and creatures limited only by the imagination of the wielder, with him or her being fully in control of what transpired there, down to molecular level. Frightened by the Marble’s power and what it could do if its power could be made to affect the real world, the Association tried to exterminate the Lirtirras on the spot. It was then that the coalition of the other four families swooped in and saved the House, declaring their secession to the world.
The sea-faring Lirtirras were the ones that provided the armada of ships for the long and dangerous journey. Upon Hartcroft’s completion, the other four families persuaded the Lirtirras to give their Reality Marble a form of semi-sentience, enough to recognize when the island is in danger and to choose a worthy wielder, who would then deploy it all over the area surrounding Hartcroft and defeat the enemies. Pressured, the Lirtirras did their part of the bargain… and were slaughtered down to the last crying baby in a crib because the other founders were too scared of the Lirtirras having left some secret back door which would allow them to regain full control over the Schwarzweiss at an opportune moment.
The House of Scintillare
“Pro sulum oculus- duos. Pro sulum vita- duos. Pro prosapia- omnia”-“For every eye- two. For every life- two. For the family- everything”
Coat of arms: two crossed revolvers on a field of stars
While technically far from the founding families both in power and fame, the Scintillares are now considered the successor to the Hartcrofts. The family started out when a first generation mage immigrating from Italy joined the ranks of the mafia and grew in prominence. The Scintillares rise to power continued with their official declarations of Second Owners to the land of Hartcroft. Even though the title is purely technical today, the family still commands great respect. Acting more like a mafia made up of mages than mages who just happen to be mafia, the Scintillares are the business lords of Hartcroft, both by legal and illegal means. Since the family is only technically a fledgling in the big leagues, every member is supposed to research a different branch of their lightning magecraft, in hopes of collecting enough spells to form a family Crest. The current head of the family, Scoripus Scintillare, agreed to protect the runway scion to the Grimaldis in exchange for him marrying his daughter after they both turn eighteen. The arranged marriage is actually Scorpius’s back-up plan in case the collection of spells for a unique Scintillare Crest fails. He hopes that using the right means, he would be able to gain control over the legendary Grimaldi Crest and entrust it to his future grandson. Many compared this risky maneuver to Scoripus’s decision from a decade ago when he turned his daughter over to the Aylesburys when they needed a successor. Curiously, the future head of the Scintillares is officially Scorpius’s nephew- Sirius Scintillare, a prodigy with his family’s lightning magecraft and one of Hartcroft’s AESIR, holding the title of Third Throne.
The Factions of Hartcroft:
Nebula Industries (the House of Scintillare)
Using the conglomerate of companies as a cover, the family rapidly extends its influence both in the world of mages and ordinary people. Their highest ranks are reserved for the mages of the main and branch families but their low to mid ranks accept openly ordinary people willing to work for them. The family operates mainly on the mafia principles of old, implementing whatever rules of the ruling class of mages they see fit. Of course, even though they have accepted their title of Second Owners and pride themselves as a noble House, the Scintillares know all too well that not blood, but money and the right connections are going to ensure their power in the city. They have the support of the majority of mages who bother themselves with the ‘ruling’ factions of Hartcroft because the Scintillares do their best to actually improve the city, precisely because they are actively searching for allies among the common people. The House, as Second Owners, knows the locations of all of the focal points into which the laylines of the city converge and they have actual possession of one.
VEXA Corporation
Under its unknown and mysterious leader, the once inconspicuous company has grown to be one of the most powerful factions in the city. Even though their goal was quite controversial to regular mage society- namely, advancement of magecraft through scientific means- many new supporters of the doctrine are found in today’s Hartcroft. Given how nonchalant is the average ‘magus’ is the city, many admit that it had been only a matter of time until the power of the Technomages rose. Of course, there are many rumors about the moral dubiousness of VEXA’s experiments but one thing is undeniable. The corporation has enough influence to shape the future of Hartcroft and the very essence of the world of mages if they manage to succeed. According to VEXA themselves, they are close to replicating the effects of True Magic and many think that they may have already achieved their goals in secrecy.
The Archcoven
The alliance of Dead Apostles created shortly after the vampire Dimitri Dragovich arrived in Hartcroft. Realizing that his kind was only going to end up exterminated by the large magus population if they continued following their old vampiric ways, Dragovich decided to follow the example of Hartcroft’s mages. He gathered a circle of followers and began advocating his new doctrine. Of course, being mavericks and clinging to the old ways by nature, most Dead Apostles refused to cooperate. Those who Dragovich didn’t kill ‘for the greater good of the vampire kin’ quickly came to see his views when, after nearly a century of building up power, he could show the results of his system in action. Said result was the Archcoven- a formal ruling body of Dead Apostles, completely different from the 27 Ancestors. Every vampire could climb up in the hierarchy as long as he or she proved useful enough and none willing to follow the covenant’s rules would be turned down. The rules were actually pretty simple- common sense when one thought about what would be the most beneficial way for a vampire to survive in such a big city. Rule one, never drain a victim dry. Rule two, never create another vampire without explicit permission. Rule three, don’t think you are Count Dracula. Using those three simple rules and a dozen or so more, Dragovich created a power clique of supernatural night prowlers capable of rivaling any of the other factions of the city. Of course, knowing full well that if he antagonized any of them the humans would quickly band together against his kind, he keeps good relations with the other powerful players in Hartcroft. The Archcoven is officially recognized by all the leaders of the city, both official and not, and the Church has been explicitly forbidden to hunt down any of its members.
Elysion
The oldest power clique in the city, Elysion is actually an official organization created at the founding of Hartcroft and meant to act as its internal police. At first it was an order of knights but with the years and the coming of the modern age, it turned fully into a para-military organization. Elysion’s single goal is the continued peace in Hartcroft and many times it has been the one single reason a civil war between the factions hadn’t erupted. Even though they have no ruling power in the city per se, the influence of Elysion is officially recognized by any and all mages and otherwise supernatural entities in Hartcroft. As the closest thing the city has to a government organization, Elysion has the right to take into custody any mage, Dead Apostle etc who breaks the established rules. The second important task of Elysion is the cover-up for the enormous magus population of the city from the normal people’s watchful and curious eyes. Working for the organization is a famous career choice among many of the city’s mages. The agents of Elysion work in fours- one commanding officer, one mission controller and two field agents.
The AESIR
Not an official or unofficial organization of any kind, the AESIR is actually a list of the seven strongest individuals in Hartcroft at any given time, recognized as the only individuals of Class EX in the city by Elysion’s official ranking list (the list actually goes from E to A, EX is reserved for special cases). Its members are all prodigies in their fields and strong enough to throw down with some of the best in the world of mages- it’s widely agreed that the presence of even one of them in the city is enough to dissuade the Association if they ever think of invading. Of course, the ones on the list have varying loyalties, be it to one of the main factions, to themselves, or just to the city as a whole. With the exception of the position of Throne Eternal, none of the other positions actually mean that one is stronger than the other. They are this city’s living urban legends and in a battle between themselves, any outcome is possible. The AESIR are as follow:
The Throne Eternal
The Schwarzweiss
“The God of Over One Thousand Worlds”
Ability: Reality Marble “Schwarzweiss”
The position of Throne Eternal has been reserved for the possessor of the Reality Marble Schwarzweiss since the very foundation of Hartcroft. Even though the last wielder died around a century ago, the people of the city still revere the legend of the Schwarzweiss’s power. The Throne Eternal is considered as high above the rest of the AESIR as they are above the ordinary Rank A. In the eyes of the city, the Schwarzweiss, the world of black and white skies in which the possessor is a literal god, is both a name, a title and a powerful magic. And so the Throne Eternal is considered the unofficial leader of the other six and everyone else on the list is measured up by ‘how long can they survive against the might of the Schwarzweiss’. In the times of a wielder’s absence, the Second Throne takes the position as Acting First.
Second Throne
The Duke of Normalcy/Norman Drake
“The Oubliette of Miracles”
Ability: Reality Marble “Negative Zero”
The current Acting First, Norman Drake is an oddity among oddities even amidst the rest of the people on the list. He has one power and one power only- the Reality Marble ‘Negative Zero’, which negates any and all magic in the area around him. The biggest difference from ordinary prana negation is that Norman can alter reality around him to the point of ignoring a spell’s effects if they aren’t possible according to his ‘magic doesn’t exist’ mentality. In short, a fireball thrown towards him would disintegrate not because his RM sucks the prana out of its or negates the incantation, but because his mind reasons with the World that there’s no effing way a giant fireball appearing in the air just like that is normally possible. Even though Norman is technically one spell more of a mage than an ordinary non-powered person, he is widely feared amongst the mage population of the city. That’s also one of the reasons why the nickname given to him by the citizens of Hartcroft is one meant to point out he’s not ‘royalty’ like some other people on the list. Given the feats Norman has achieved using Negative Zero, many think that he is actually stronger than the eventual possessor of the Schwarzweiss due to his ability to overrule any spell or magic with ‘logic’. Norman is considered a hypocrite among hypocrites, given how for some reason his ‘logic’ negates other people’s spells but somehow always misses the fact that he is a magus himself. His rivalry with the Third is legendary- and mostly one-sided. Usually, after shrugging off 10 000 volts of electricity, an EMP on the frequency of ‘melt brains’ or an electromagnetic attack which should, by all means, use the iron in his blood to make him blow up, Norman ends up using his trusty tactic of No Sell/Punch to knock out Sirius. Other favorite tactics of Mr. Drake are No Sell/Punch Really Hard and No Sell/Punch at a Specific Spot. Ironically, the two men still have some weird kind of bickering friendship. Also ironically, the one time Sirius has managed to actually beat Norman was when he tried to skewer his head with a lightning-augmented pen-turned-railgun. Negative Zero rewrote the incredible speed and inertia and the lightning (enough to power up a small country) but since Sirius throwing a fit and pens at him was something perfectly plausible, Norman ended up with an eye nearly gouged out. The feat that originally placed Norman on the list was surviving an encounter with the King of Nightmares that included physical contact- a handshake- without ending up in a bag made out of his own skin with his spine serving as his shackles.
As a person, Norman is quite flighty. For some reason, even before he grew famous he had managed to gather quite the female fanclub. For some other unknown reason, he somehow failed to notice it (that’s the point where Sirius usually comments on his idiocy). Norman’s loyalty is primary to his friends and whatever cause strikes his fancy the next time he ends up neck-deep in some kind of trouble (he usually does). Of course, he isn’t without bad traits as well- even though he is already in his mid-twenties he has started to show some ephebophillic tendencies and, as Sirius puts it, his power has turned him into an ‘arrogant dick of an asshole’. But Sirius is kinda biased like that.
Third Throne
The Quintessence/Sirius Scintillare
“The One Whose Power Equals a Thousand Suns”
Ability: Sorcery Trait “Jupiter Pulse”
The heir to the Scintillare family, Sirius is considered a prodigy among prodigies. Many claim that he should have the title of Second Throne and Acting First but Sirius himself has no desire to go up the ranks. Of course, that doesn’t mean he hasn’t clashed with the current Second Throne more times than most people can count. Sadly, Sirius’s Zeus-level power over lightning doesn’t work on the likes of Norman Drake. Still, the heir to the Scintillares does have one victory over his great foe, involving a pen and a nearly gouged out eye. Against anyone not possessing the reality defying power of ignoring the effects of all things magical, Sirius is a terrifying opponent. He has elevated his family’s lightning magecraft to a level some consider close to True Magic. What was once high control over lightning currents, over the years turned into a power seemingly over the whole electromagnetic spectrum. Sirius’s known feats include the world record for biggest thunderstorm in known history (Hartcroft barely survived that one), an EMP blast set on a frequency that could put people into coma or outright fry their brains, forcedly controlling people like puppets via the iron in their blood, lightning-enhanced reflexes making him insanely quick, the ability to actually give shape and form to his lightning (swords, spikes, wings etc), the ability to fly by using magnetism bounced off the metallic frames of the tall buildings in Hartcroft and on one occasion he actually managed to rewrite an opponent’s brain by controlling the electromagnetic impulses inside it. If measured by raw power, Sirius is probably the strongest one on the list.
Sirius is also in his mid-twenties and is the heartthrob of probably every female in Hartcroft. Alas, Sirius tends to run hot and cold and very few ladies have actually managed to capture his heart over the years. He has a strange kind of vitriolic friendship with Norman when they are not busy beating the life out of each other. Sirius’s loyalty is, of course, to his birth family. Currently the Third Throne is away from Hartcroft, studying martial arts so the next time Norman writes out of existence a lightning strike with enough power to raze the Skylance to the ground, he will face a nasty surprise.
Fourth Throne
The Queen of Hearts
“The One Who Sees the Finality of Existence”
Ability: Mystic Eyes of Dead Perception
No one actually knows the true identity of the Queen of Hearts. This is somewhat understandable, considering that there’s no one alive that has faced her. Well, the one exception is none other than Norman Drake but his only comment on the issue was ‘a gentleman never battles and tells’. All that is known about the Queen is that she’s female and, after taking into consideration the amount of rank A opponents she has cut up to pieces, Elysion decided to give her the then-vacant spot of Fourth Throne. According to most sources her power are her Mystic Eyes. Her loyalty is unknown but apparently she has a bitter rivalry with the White Queen.
Fifth Throne
The Spider King/Alexander Portia
“The One Whose Web Shall Devour the World”
Ability: Innate Reality Marble “Crystal Valley”
Perhaps the most dangerous man in Hartcroft, Alexander was raised and trained in the deepest and most secret facilities of VEXA Corp, under the watchful eyes of the White Queen herself. One amongst the many orphans picked off the streets, he is the sole survivor of the mysterious Project ‘MERCURY’, which led to the start of the cold war between VEXA and Elysion. An oddity amongst oddities, Alexander’s power is comparable more to an innate bounded field constantly trying to expand itself than anything else. The crystalline substance he controls has frequently been compared to a cancer that devours anything it touches- including Alexander himself, but never to his face- it’s whispered that he has killed for lesser reasons. Bearing the pain of the alien substance devouring him from within for nearly three decades, Alexander rose from a simple guinea pig to Chairman of VEXA Corp, showing that his is also shrewd enough to lead and not just strong enough to destroy. Alexander gained entrance to the War by unknown means, somehow managing to get a hold of a Class Card despite VEXA and Elysion’s mutual agreement to stay out of it. Portia, as the Spider King, holds the position of Fifth Throne amongst Hartcroft’s AESIR and his is the only magic Norman Drake has never destroyed, despite all his efforts.
Sixth Throne
The White Queen
“The One Whose Eyes Perceive the Imprints of Tomorrow”
Ability: Mystic Eyes of Absolute Precognition
The mysterious person behind the rise of VEXA, the revelation of the White Queen’s identity is at the top of Elysion’s priority list around twelve times over. Considered one of the first Technomages in Hartcroft, she somehow managed to gather an enormous amount of followers and elevate the small company she took control of to the position of one of the leading factions in the city in the span of merely several decades. Her goals are unknown but the ambitions of VEXA- which makes them hers in the first place- is the achievement of True Magic via technological means. According to many sources she was also one of the lead scientists on the first big project of VEXA- Project ‘MERCURY’ and she is also considered the proverbial ‘mother’ behind the conception of ENTITY~CharlottE. Many of Hartcroft’s leaders are concerned with the meteorical rise of VEXA and their partial successes of replication some of the effects of the Schwarzweiss. Whispers from many of the dark corners of the city claim that the cold war is heating up- and that it’s only a matter of time before open hostilities between the Technomages and the rest of the city begin. And with the Queen’s mysterious power to glimpse into the future, many fear the possible fight against VEXA, even though the rest of the city’s factions would possess superior numbers.
Seventh Throne (Acting)
The Saint of Swords/Hanzo of the Bladestorm
“The One Who Defies All Odds”
Ability: Sword Style “Bladestorm”
Hanzo of the Bladestorm is a figure of legends even among the others on this list. Even though he is a completely ordinary human with no magical or esper powers and lacks demonic, vampiric or otherwise arcane blood or ancestry whatsoever, his god-like skill with the sword has earned him the position of Seventh of the AESIR. An epitome of courage and honor, Hanzo has faced off against the likes of Sirius Scintillare and Disintegrator and come out the victor, without even needing to rely on his strongest technique. The farthest he has been pushed so far was in his battle against Sirius, in which Hanzo was forced to use all his swords but one in his ‘Eleventh Hour Hurricane’ technique. Elysion is dumbfounded how an ordinary man like him can reach the almost impossible rank EX and has conducted numerous tests to find some secret to his power- and all tests so far have confirmed Hanzo to be an ordinary human who has just spend hours and hours of training with his swords. Sirius has actually sworn to never again be as dumb as to fight Hanzo and the Seventh is also the only one in Hartcroft that the Disintegrator actually fears. Many claim that he is the only one that the Queen of Hearts can’t cut apart or that he is the sole reason for The White Queen to stall the Cold War with the rest of the city for so long. No one has actually seen his last and strongest technique- the twelve sword ‘Midnight Dance’- in action and many claim that with it he could defeat even the King of Nightmares, Albus Grimaldi, himself. As a person Hanzo is surprisingly nonchalant but still follows honor above else.
Seventh Throne (Honorary)
ENTITY~CharlottE
“The One Who Can Create Infinity from Zero”
Ability: Artificial Reality Marble “Monochrome”
A homunculus created via a combination of magical and scientific means by VEXA using cells supposedly derived from the corpse of a member of the Lirtirra family. Even though she is barely two years old, CharlottE has the appearance of a teenage girl but her similarity to a human being stops there. Extremely emotionless and obedient, she is considered VEXA and the White Queen’s main weapon in the potential war against the rest of the factions in the city. CharlottE possesses enough magic circuits to be considered a ‘magic circuit bearing the disguise of a human being’ and her main weapon is the artificial Reality Marble created by VEXA and implemented into her body- ‘Monochrome’. It is an internal RM allowing her to give form and shape to whatever she imagines- but the items created via Monochrome can survive up to 17 hours at best before the World destroys them, as they are unnatural and alien to it. Considered the ‘poor man’s Schwarzweiss’, CharlottE is only an unofficial member of the AESIR and isn’t even allowed to hold a Throne of her own.
Seventh Throne (Unofficial)
The Shackled King/Glen Grimaldi
“The One Who Morphs the Seams of the Living and the Dead”
Ability: Fleshcrafting/The Grimaldi family Crest
Since he never uses his powers due to the risk of his Crest overtaking him, Glen is only an unofficial member of the AESIR.
Eight Throne (Super-Awesomely-Mega-Hyper-Honorary-Off-the-Scale-Mention)
The Mad Talkative Loon Without an Ounce of Fashion Sense
“The One Whose Feet Have Walked a Thousand Worlds”
Ability: Reality Marble “Carnival of Maddest Skies- Endless Phantasm~The Gateway to a Thousand Worlds~” via the Second Magic
A mystery covered by riddles wrapped inside enigmas and sprinkled with questions with a dash of secrecy to booth, The Mad Loon’s true identity is unknown to anyone in Hartcroft, even to the virtually all-knowing Nia Smith herself. Dozens of legends have been told about the Loon- some claim he was sent via rocket from his destroyed homeworld, others insist that he has lost his parents after watching a crappy remake of the Zorro movies, third parties say that he was once a scientist who got trapped in a nuclear experiment ‘cause he was stupid enough to forget his watch there. All we know is that his name is… unknown, so we calm him The Mad Talkative Loon… etc etc. But the truth may yet be wilder than anyone’s imagination. Eyewitnesses claim that whenever the Loon is spotted in action the world around him starts to shift from one bizarre background to another and they insist that they have seen him brawl with a very angry green hulking creature with fashionable purple pants, participating in a staring contest with a basilisk and a rather unattractive man who somehow managed to attract the female witness and had the habit of steepling his fingers (the basilisk gave up ashamed after half an hour) and taking part in weird rap boasting battle with some dude with cool red glasses and a cape with female opera singers providing one half of the background music. The Mad Loon has apparently also been seen sipping tea with an ‘enormous yet unidentified entity composed solely of tentacles, wreathing flesh and eyes and looming over in the fiery skies, its thousandth voices whispering into- AAARGH’. Said witnesses are still confined in various mental clinics throughout Hartcroft. The legends claim that his power rivals even the Schwarzweiss itself, but whether it is true, no one knows…
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Originally Posted by Aladar
