xistentia | Mingle Log #1: Landmarks of Xistentia

Mingle Log #1: Landmarks of Xistentia

Characters: All characters who opt in
Summary: A party to mark the first wave of incoming characters in Xistentia, punctuated with weird physics and an unexpected trip to the heart (or mind) of F.A.T.E.S.
Date(s): Late May 2017
Warnings/Notes: Sexual content and other potentially offensive or triggering material to be noted in headers.

Mix and Mingle

Landmarks of Xistentia

It starts with the daemons, because of course it does. At sunset, they begin to ring and beep and urge you to follow directions through the city. For those with animate daemons, be they animals or people, the programs are even more intrusive. Pushing and pawing and urging you to get up and go. The destination is not far from the first reclaimed parts of the city— a tall tower covered in overgrown moss and trees, located near the beach, the Westernmost edge of the city. Even with the chaos of vegetation growing over it, it's clear that the building is a miracle of technology and style.

"Connection is essential," the daemon tells you. "However, genital contact is not required."

You have reached the Central Citadel, and it's time to party!

EARLY BIRDS

But F.A.T.E.S. is as susceptible to peer pressure and trendy trends as anyone else! Early birds will find that the atrium lounge is a true mess at first. Birds nesting in the ceiling, thorn plants all across the floors, and the bottles and cups at the white bar are empty. As parties go, this sucks. However, within a few minutes of the first arrivals, changes begin to overcome the club area visibly. It is exactly the same as the way the city has begun to accommodate the visitors, but far more accelerated. Soon, the lights begin to power on, filling the room with ambient illumination. Plants recede, but do not disappear entirely. High above, the ceiling suddenly morphs to display the starry night sky. And most importantly of all, there's booze.

With any luck, someone around here knows how to bartend, because F.A.T.E.S sure does not. Various liquors from across the multiverse are available, along with drink umbrellas, speared olives, mixers and wedges of fruit. However, the cocktails that automatically fill the glasses vary in taste from acceptable to horrific. Luckily, the bar does not keep anyone out.

FASHIONABLY LATE

If you're more than thirty minutes late, the kinks have worked themselves out. The party is now in full swing. F.A.T.E.S. has surrendered drink mixing duty to various refugees^[1], resulting in much more palatable alcoholic beverages. Someone even found chicken fingers, which are making the rounds.

However, it appears that the invisible supercomputer is still trying to DJ. Predictably, the music ranges wildly based on the listeners-- one moment, you have 17th century lute music; the next, Trance. Blink 182 may even make a brief auditory appearance. It is not particularly easy to dance to this nightmarishly incoherent soundtrack, but it does provide a cross-section of multiversal experiences, for those of us who care about that kind of thing.

Alternatively, you can explore. The Central Citadel is filled with odd rooms. In the presence of only one or two explorers, the tidying effect doesn't happen nearly as quickly. Characters may find jungle-eaten conference spaces, computer laboratories, or even more sophisticated situation rooms thronged with vines and flowers. Somehow, the screens and monitors seem to work just fine with blossoms poking out of the harddrives. Rooms with beds are available as well, some of them already pre-carpeted with romantic roses. You might also find your way into a gym, where slightly rotted bokken and a dusty boxing ring nonetheless make for an interesting way to meet people who aren't into roses and laptops.

BONUS ADVENTURE: THE TEMPLE

Characters who meet new CR at the Citadel have a special experience. When the two (or more) individuals get to talking, their daemons both abruptly interrupt with a very important, not at all loaded question. "Do you want to see something cool?" If the daemon was too big to come inside, the question is posed via earpiece or whatever other device.

The correct answer is "Yes." And with that, the characters are abruptly transported to The Telexistence Temple, on the Easternmost edge of the city. The sudden quiet seems deafening; the darkness is almost blinding before one's eyes adjust to the lines of light running through the tall stone walls. It is much cooler here than it was at the Central Citadel, but it has its own eerie dignity.

"In the future, this is where you may access information about your worlds. Recovery information, save points, and both passive and active world entry points are located here." A beat. Possibly the daemon is watching you stumble around. "Most of the tools have been disabled in order to prevent damage from inebriated users."

However, two pieces of technology continue to cooperate. First, a huge slab of glossy black stone the height of a desk, emitting holographic Head Up Display upward, the Chronological Cartographer. Your character must touch the device. Immediately then, a bright flowing diagram of data begins to spin through the air, whirling with lines and circles and familiar names. It is a chart of the worlds your characters have lived in before and the people they have met in the past timeline. The splitting point to Xistentia is clearly marked, and your future here is a red line wavering in darkness. Toy with it a little, and you'll even be able to pull up significant dates, friendships, enemies. Moments of transformation. F.A.T.E.S. remembers it all, and it is only a quick teleport from the Citadel. (Fortunately, it is also a quick teleport back.)

Second, there is a monitor with another HUD. It displays a HUD with a single prompt: Amenities needed?^[2]

Starting the next day, the Temple will be accessible to all characters at all hours. Those granted access the night before will be able to find their way back with companions.

Footnotes

Some may be NPCs! Please avoid killing or maiming them without mod discussion first.
Go here and fill out the form, reply to that comment, if your character is going to take F.A.TE.S. up on the amenities request.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Rafa watches this exchange with some amusement. He keeps the glass of not-rum for himself, taking a sip while she argues with her daemon. ]

Mine was convinced to change its name, in the end. My husband did not take kindly to the first one.

[ The unicorn looks up, making a pathetic little whinny as it's called out. Rafa's umbreon promptly lands on top of it, flattening it to the floor. ]

I suggest you keep trying. You are the boss, after all, not the daemon. Perhaps you could put her on mute?

Your husband is here then? I am glad for you. [ Her tone is earnest - she had arrived alone, and while she is capable on her own that does not mean it's enjoyable. To know others don't have to deal with such loneliness heartens her. ]

It is my summon, forged from my aether. Had I been a novice arcanist disobedience would not be unheard of... [ Era is about as far from a novice as you can get, which is why this perturbs her so. ]

I don't mind so much, save for the name it has given itself. It is not always emerald, and so should not be named Emerald.

[ She pulls a large tome and quill from seemingly out of nowhere. The book glows a faint violet as she writes inside of it for a scant few seconds, then throws out her arm in the direction of her daemon.

It promptly somersaults and, in a flash of aetherial sparkles, turns from an Emerald Carbuncle to a crisp yellow Topaz Carbuncle. ]

Now it should be Topaz, yet it claims otherwise.

[ Rafa's eyebrows shoot up. Magic like that certainly gets his attention. He leans forward, taking a closer look at the carbuncle. ]

I like it either way. May I ask what colour you intended? I have not seen this done before, and I have known many witches in my time.

[ Arcanist, she'd called it. Rafa knows them as witches. He's also known many different reactions to that word, so he's interested to see hers. What she did with that book was quite interesting, too. ]

Cannot you give it a name you like, since it was yours to forge?

I invoked the latent power of the gemstone topaz. This is exactly the colour it should be now. I could also choose for it to be crimson as a ruby.

[ She is vaguely insulted by the assumption that she is a witch. Or perhaps moreso that he would lump disciples of any magical art into the category of 'witch'. ]

Arcanists are not witches. We are adepts at the art of the arcanum, harnessing our aether using symbols of power born of geometric techniques. Arcanists are not conjurers, nor thaumaturges.

If it has self-awareness enough to decide on its own name I am not going to force another upon it. It is my companion, not my thrall.

There are some who give names to their Carbuncles, but it is not common.

[ She thinks of Alphinaud, barely seventeen summers old and already a prodigy in the arcane arts. Era may have raw, immeasurable aether reserves to draw upon, but her young friend has an unmatched mind for it. ]

There are also others more talented than I who can create Carbuncles of obsidian, diamond, and moonstone using geometric arrays that they invent. Each type of Carbuncle has a different specialized skill set.

[ She pauses thoughtfully here, initial offense mostly forgotten in favour of her continued explanation. Era is not one for conversation - not face-to-face, at the very least - but when it comes to magic she can't help but gush and ramble. ]

I have found that it is the magical discipline most favoured by intellectuals

[ This is all very impressive. Rafa examines her creation while she speaks. It's beautiful, really. His eyes flick up to her when she mentions thralls, and he nods. It's not a slave, but nor is it completely alive, which is a strange combination. It's similar, in that way, to the daemons; not truly alive, but autonomous enough to seem like it. His head tilts up at her, and he files away her description of herself as an intellectual. It explains something of why she'd brought out that book. ]

Where I am from, witches are masters of the magical arts. They are either white or dark, and each uses different spells. White magic is defensive, healing, used to gain knowledge. Dark magic is offensive, powerful, creative. Both have their uses. But magic like this, I have not seen.

[ He leans forward, folding his arms on the bar. She seems talkative about her craft, and he's an interested listener. ]

Do you use magic other than that which forms these creatures? What do the others – the conjurers, and the thaumaturges, do?

My world has both black magic and white. Neither is inherently evil, though black magic has a reputation for it.

White magic draws upon wind and earth aether, while black magic draws upon lightning, fire, and ice. White magic is used in harmony with nature to keep the balance and can be used to heal. Black magic is powerfully destructive, prone to burning untrained users from the inside out.

Conjurers use white magic, though they are weaker and have a smaller pool of spells to pull from than White Mages. Thaumaturges are much the same, save for being the lesser form of Black Mages instead.

[ Had they been outdoors Era might have equipped her cane and rod respectively to demonstrate, but black and white magic are quite volatile for indoor usage. ]

White and Black Mages were commonplace prior to the Sixth Umbral Era. Our planet has a balance of elementally aspected aether: wind, lightning, fire, earth, ice, and water. The mages harness the elemental aethers for their respective skills. You will recall I did not mention any magic that uses water-aspected aether earlier.

[ Conjurers do use water-aspected aether for some spells, but it is so negligible that Era doesn't bother to include this bit of information as it's fairly irrelevant to this tale. ]

The mages of the ancient city-states of Nym, Amdapor, and Mhach went to war with each other, abusing the aether of the land and angering the Elemental spirits that reside within it. The Elementals used the excess water-aspected aether and caused the Great Flood, ending the Fifth Astral Era and ushering in the Sixth Umbral era.

Society left in ruin, magic was all but forbidden and mages exiled. I have heard rumours that some of the exiled mages settled together and began creating a new branch of magic mixing both black and white: red magic. I am afraid I don't know much about this kind of magic yet.

[ She may have earned the title of a Grandmaster of Magic, but without knowledge of Red Magic she feels undeserving of it. One day she'll find a mentor in it. ]

There are two other, ancient forms of magic that stem from the arcane arts: the magic of the Scholars of Nym, and the Summoners of Allag.

Scholars use their own aether to summon forth a faerie companion. These fairies keep their memories and personalities throughout the eons, and faeries are oft passed down through families. I stumbled across a soul stone containing the fairy Lily, and she helped teach me the magical arts of the lost Scholars of Nym.

Summoners are magic users who face Primal gods - these are deities given form using elemental aether from the earth. They are generally highly volatile, and there mere existence saps the planet of her life. The ancient Summoners of Allag were trained to destroy Primals, and then to harness the echos of their aether to create an egi, which translates to 'pure' or 'the essence of'. These egis are essentially the willful manifestation of the slain Primal's spirit and will fight by their summoner's side.

Scholars and Summoners both stem from arcanists, and so both use codexes and grimoires as their weapons as compared to the cane and rods of the mages.

[ And it's about here that she realizes how terribly she has rambled on, causing her face to flush pink in her embarrassment. Era gives a bow in apology, and is quite sure she has filled her speaking quota for the next three moons at the very least. ]

My apologies for talking so excessively.

[ It's a lot, there's no doubt about that. It's a lot to take in for someone who isn't very deeply knowledgeable about magic, at least in his own opinion. Rafa has lived with it, has known magic users - but it's fair to see he's never met anyone like her. In the end he smiles, and waves the apology away. ]

No, it is interesting. Strange, because of the differences between our worlds. The Fae I know would not be kept by anyone, and if they were, there is all manner of trouble it would cause. Vex is a faerie. I wonder what he would think of all of this.

[ Probably not much honestly. Rafa straightens, lifting his shoulders. ]

But I think my husband Shane would like to meet you. He uses the white magic of my world, and I believe he would enjoy this.

What did you say was your name? I must at some point introduce you.

I have not heard this term before - the Fae. Perhaps you could explain it for me, ser? The faeries of my world and of your world are likely very different.

[ Once again she pulls out a book - this one with a soft green glow compared to the earlier violet - and writes in it for a scant few seconds as before, tossing her arm forward where a glowing faerie appears in a rush of aetherial sparks. The faerie's height is about equal to the length from Era's elbow to fingertips, and she glances around before fluttering over to stand on her summoner's shoulders. ]

This is Lily. She is currently in her Astral form and so is Eos right now. Had I summoned her in her Umbral form she would be Selene. She has strong healing magic.

[ Lily gives a small wave in greeting, though is happy to lean against Era's head rather than do much else. ]

I would be interested in seeing what your world's white magic is like. If you could introduce me to your husband at both of your conveniences I would be grateful.

I am Era Ra. I'm pleased to make your acquaintance.

Edited 2017-07-04 01:18 (UTC)

[ Rafa's fascinated eyes shift to the little faerie. She really is little, like a faerie from a child's story book. He finds himself waving back at her, his own smile curious and perhaps a little unnerved. She is like nothing he has seen.

He comes back to himself when Era says her name, and he lowers his head in a slight bow. ]

Rafaello d'Este, King of Vampires. But please, just call me Rafa. Your faerie is most beautiful, Miss Ra.

Those from my world are beautiful, too, but in a different way. They are as tall as you are me, and very powerful sorcerers. They would be no one's slave. For centuries, my people were at war with them, and recently we have found peace. But they are our equals, in all respects. Seeing this is very strange to me.

[ A glance upwards. ]

My Shane would be interested, too. He is part-faerie, himself, and knows the creatures of our world far better than I do. Still, I do not think he will have seen one like this.

I've heard tales of vampires in my world, Ser Rafa. Mostly unfavourable, I am sorry to say. [ She's not sorry about it, actually. But it seems like the proper thing to say. She's dealt with undead before - near mindless beings that lived for violence. Vampires are... different. An unknown she will make sure to be wary of until she learns more. ]

Eos and I both thank you for the kind words. It is interesting that these faeries of your world are so different than the ones of mine. Currently Lily is the only known faerie in Eorzea, as the rest were lost to time in one way or another. I don't know much more about her kind than what I've told you and so do not know how interested your Shane would be in my limited knowledge. There was only so many artifacts available I could glean information from, though my archaeologist comrade has been continuing the search.

[ Era pauses here, expression faltering and falling into something more distance and neutral. ] I should clarify that she is not my servant, nor my thrall, nor my slave. She is my comrade. A friend, even. If it was against her will I would be unable to summon her.

[ Rafa glances between the pair of them, and nods. ]

Then, does not your friend know more of her people? Why cannot she tell you more of what you wish to know?

[ Honestly, even if there's no way to know more about them, Rafa still thinks what Era has said would interest Shane. He'll have to introduce them. ]

As for my people, I am not surprised you have heard things you do not like. Our reputation tends to precede us, and not all that is said is wrong. What have you heard?

They died out with their partners, the scholars of Nym. They were wiped out by their ancient contemporary, the people of Mhach, who feared their prowess.

[ And the few that survived were cursed horribly by voidsent. It's not the happiest of thoughts, and Era spares a sympathetic glance for Lily. ]

Vampires do not exist in my world, but in tales. They are similar to the Voidsent. They live off the lifeblood of others. The sunlight harms them, they have no souls to speak of, and thrive on seducing innocents to their death. [ She pauses for a moment. ] ...Much like the Succubi I am more accustomed to fighting.

I only hear of vampires during the stories told on All Saint's Wake, where children love to be frightened by tales of monsters lurking in the darkness.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Mingle Log #1: Landmarks of Xistentia

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she is generally a quiet thing until you ask her about magic. rafa why...

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forgot to include astrologian magic in that tl;dr so one day she will explain that weirdness

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