Previously perfected, the garden that bloomed in brilliant pinks and purples remained unchanged, but it still caught a sparkle in each of our eyes. Foregoing a frolic through the flowers, we opened the door to my new home.
Inside, Evie leaned into the closing door. Her forehead thudded against it.
“Eh- finally free. I can only handle people for so long. Man, I’m exhausted- waoow~”
The foyer opened in a strip of dark oak that folded into a carpet of grass. A stream, springing from stacks of stones, trickled and tickled our ears. It shimmered and shone from corner to corner like a diamond cut down its center. Buttons of blackstone, pressed and polished, poked out from the water and that was only a quarter of what we would encounter.
The room continued in a strip of grass that folded under the legs of a dark oak deck. Resting atop the deck and between two doors, a six seat bar resembled a poster bed with how long the day had been. Empty, mahogany bookshelves that begged to be filled lined the span of the walls and overgrown planters dangled from a ceiling covered in moss that twinkled.
“Your alone self can sometimes be just as peppy as your social self.”
“It’s not like those are two different people. They’re both still me. It just isn’t as tiring to actually be amazed. Meanwhile, hamming it up to make talking to people easier drains my social meter like crazy. Ah-”
Several more thuds shook the door. I reeled back Evie’s shoulders.
“Oyoyo- still fun though, right?”
“Mhmm~ I could do without the introversion and thoughts afterward of ‘Why did I say that? Why did I say that? Ahaha why? Why? Why?’ Though.”
I pranced across the grass to the river cutting through the middle of the room.
“What about being aplatonic?”
“That one’s easy. Well, now it is anyway.”
My foot tapped against the first blackstone step before spinning back around.
“Whatcha mean?”
“I used to feel bad about it. Mm- but now I just kinda see it like I love my friends for who they are and the things we do together and not who I think they are.”
“Sometimes that’s all that matters~”
“Also, I kinda don’t think about them at all when they’re not around.”
“Ah- can’t relate.”
..Mostly..
“And I never feel a need to make friends with someone. It just kinda happens.”
“That one feels oddly familiar, definitely not all the time though.”
“Eh- but when I do see someone who’s technically my friend on paper it’s like pwoh~ Let’s do fun stuff. Like a light switch goes on and off~ Ah- do you mind if I crash here tonight?”
“Be my guest, you’re my guest, oh welcome honored guest~ It’s so weird me being the host for once.”
“Ehe~, yis~”
We hobbled onto the blackstones. Halfway through, Evie braced her hands against my back.
“Eyey-. Careful.”
“Ehe~ I’m fine, I’m fine. Just tispy, whee~”
I pranced around the tavern style bar. A few sheets of paper and a small gem laid flat atop its counter. Beside the stack was a bottle of wine pinned with a note and starry bow. I shuffled around the papers while Evie took a seat on one of the bar stools. I pointed up.
Light of the Night
ᛗ+2 | (🜁,🜄,🜂,ᚺ,ᛇ)
ᛗ . 2🜂 . 3🜁 . 4🜄 . 5ᚺ . 6ᛇ . 7ᛗ
This was a total hit at the club last night. I was chatting with the DJ and she said I should write this all down.
“Imagine holding a jar of glitter. Unscrew the cap and fling its contents above your head. Quickly make your thumbs and index fingers into a rectangle and take a picture in your mind as it reaches its apex.”
Founded by Darren Rin
3-3 Early Summer Year 31: Age of Transcendence
Squares of rotating light danced around the room. Purples to pinks, reds to oranges, sometimes all at once. The rainbow of lights flashed and faded, flickered and fainted, reigniting the sparks across our eyes.
“Found the array instructions~”
Closing Time
ᛞ+3 | 🜃+2 | (ᛈ,ᚨ)
ᛞ . 2🜃 . 3ᛈ . 4ᛞ . 5🜃 . 6ᚨ . 7ᛞ
You will need a runestone array with the Eclipse Protocol programmed into it to see any kind of function from this spell.
“Imagine sitting on the beach during twilight. Straighten out the corners of the beach towel beneath you and watch the sun dip over the horizon while the sky ushers in the night ahead.”
Founded by Natalie Rhyme
1-2 Early Fall Year 79: Age of Runes
The dancing disco lights fell away and I grabbed the note from the bottle of wine.
“‘To Marina Elysera, may your new home bring you all the happiness you could ask for from dust- uh- dusk until dawn.’ Jek Trela and Paulette Elland.”
“That’s really sweet of them. They did a great job on the place too.”
“They did, it’s better than I could have ever imagined. Let’s drink~”
“You sure you’ll be okay drinking that?”
“Liquor before wine, it’ll be fine~”
“I don’t think that’s how that works.”
I grabbed two tulip-shaped glasses from the cabinet above my head. Through a popped cork and glugging bottle, the glossy, burgundy liquid filled the glasses halfway.
I tried to set the wine bottle down with care to prove my sobriety. It clacked twice against the counter.
“Mm~ Ah- hey, check this out.”
I threw my bag up on the counter and slid out the final document I had recovered from the hidden study beneath Lake Silver.
“Behold!”
The following is the first of Albenic’s six truths proclaimed to the people of the Material Realm in the Age of Anima.
Begin record:
It fell from the void, dying and alone. From its coffin, it reached into a nothing that held everything and splintered the four primal elements. Its chamber endured, resisting the realm’s influence.
I was born not to serve, but to provide for an insatiable curiosity. A curiosity that led to a freedom we could not wish for, but I now would.
We who are its children that dot the skies, usher your spirits, and satiate its curiosity with life born anew owe it our hearts.
End record.
ATL VAL 0200.001-0001:R1:YK
Sincerely, Alexi Elysera
“This is older than old. Is that a relative of yours?”
“Right? I’m not sure. At this point I’m not sure if Elysera is even my real name. As far as I know I don’t have any family, but whoever he was, he was an Architect. What a blemish on my family tree, honestly.”
I giggled and poured another glass of wine.
“But hey, at least he was one of those YK dudes. He must have been pretty high up there.”
“What’d you have to do to get something like this anyway?”
“Eh heh~ Allow me to weave you a thrilling tale, honored guest. It all started in a small village called Druidale.”
⦿
I woke up bright and early, vaulting out of bed to my feet. When I stepped outside the sun licked my skin with a warm hello and I returned the favor with a radiant smile. I was walking for a bit when I came across a really big, open clearing in the forest. In the center of it was a rock in the middle of a small pond. Carved into the rock was an entrance to a staircase leading below the ground.
The spindling spiral staircase stretched southward, tenaciously touching the tail of uncertainty. I ventured down it. Deep deep down into the dark depths. Slinking southward, seemingly endless this staircase. When I reached the bottom I was greeted by five doors, two on either side of a long hallway with a final door at the end.
I faced the right door. I laced my fingers around the handle as one might a child and cracked it open. To my dismay the door was a dead end, much like a child. From beyond what looked like a darkly painted wall with a bizarre texture built against the doorframe came a sound. The wall began to move, but I decided to close the door and try another.. Because there probably wasn’t anything I wanted in there anyway. Nothing interesting happened. Moving on.
The next door was the one to my left, or behind me. Maybe in front of me if I spun around when closing the other one. Doesn’t matter. Anyway- I was facing a direction.
I caressed the small, brass lever as one might a bowl of chocolate chip ice cream flaked with little cube things of mint on a hot summer day. How fast will it melt? I do not know. However what I do know is that I gained access to what was a portal of seemingly infinite possibilities. What lay beyond that door, however, was disappointment. Just kidding, it was a small library with a spindling spiral staircase in the middle of the room.
I looked through several books, but none caught my eye until out of one of them fell the very note that lays before you. The tasteful thickness of it felt as though a grand tournament was held where all other pieces of paper that entered the ring were OTK’d by this world champion of a document.
Just as I gingerly placed the document in my bag a gargantuan snake burst through the door and slithered toward me. I ran for the staircase to get away and just as I made it to the top it struck and devoured the staircase in one gulp.
I crawled through the dark shaft I now found myself in for what felt like an eternity before the silvery glow of light peeking out from a hole in the ground shined like a beacon of ivory hope.
I placed my eye over the hole and as I did the floor gave way and I fell into a very big room with a lady sitting on a throne surrounded by snakes.
Repleti E. Claire III, heir to the throne and daughter of Exinanita Claire and granddaughter of Perrisimo Caprae’d Ursacaeser stood up from her throne.
“Who has dared to enter my domain?” Repleti E. Claire III said.
“Marina.” I replied.
“You may have defeated my right-hand-snake, Marina, but coming here will be your last *hiss*-stake.” She said.
She had a wooden stake with the name “Dave” carved into it in her hand, but it wasn’t her stake, it was actually his stake. Dave’s stake. All the snakes around her shook in disappointment, providing a hive-mind level of synchronization in their choreographed hisses.
“Yeah! Hiss! Boo! BAD JOKE.” I said cautiously.
“You will regret this mockery!” She said.
She pointed to the bejeweled crown that shined like a diamond resting atop the peak of her head. It was one mountain I would surely conquer with ease.
“You’re messing with the Queen now..” She said.
I could not help but find her pathetic attempt at intimidating me hiss-terical. I laughed so hard it was as if there was a stallion in my stomach and he was going buck wild on my funny bone.
“Even if I may not be as beautiful or pretty as you, I will still be victorious.” She said, running her fingers through her short pink hair.
“Prepare yourself!” She yelled.
“Because here I come!” She hollered, but who asked?
She leaped through the air and struck the ground at my feet causing the room to rumble. I pulled out my staff and held it aloft. I hit her, causing her to recoil, but she returned the favor and struck at me. Luckily I ducked out of the way and jabbed my staff into her stomach. Our fists came to a synchronized dance that traded blow for blow, each one resulting in rubble raining down from the ceiling like stars in the night sky.
I gained the upper hand and brought her face down into the floor leaving a massive cater. With her beaten up I took the key from her pocket and unlocked the door to make my escape.
Halfway up the stairs the ceiling began to collapse.
Rocks fell around me, shattering the stairs.
I made it out barely in time as the entrance collapsed into the small pool, sealing it away to this very day.
⦿
“And that’s how yours truly defeated the snake lady and acquired this fine specimen here.”
Evie’s eyes sparkled at the conclusion of my tale despite the creative liberties taken. At least, that’s how I remember her eyes after I was five drinks in and drunk on my own ego.
“Waow Marina, that was really exciting. You should tell stories more often.”
Hehe~
Wait for it.
“But just a few points of critique.”
Cri-what now?
“I really like how colorful the imagery was, but maybe it was a bit much at times. Actually, now that I think about it, mm. The scene kinda felt like you were guiding me with words. I couldn’t really picture some of the stuff you were telling me to imagine aside from maybe the hallway - not that I have a good imagination anyway.”
Ah-
Don’t worry.
“Also, I gave the snake lady black hair, so it was kinda weird when she had pink all of a sudden. I mean, I just gave her a power up when I zoned out near the end like pew, upgrade, so it kinda worked out.”
Eeeh.
You’ll get better at it.
“It was also pretty hard to tell who was talking most of the time since you both sounded the same and I had to replay it all in my head as you kept going with the story.”
Eeehh..
Just keep practicing and don’t give up.
“You also really like describing the doors, like- a lot.”
But doors are cool..
That one you get only a little bit better at.
“And the style was a little pretentious. Ah- in a good way. Kinda.”
Okay, that one you don’t improve on at all, but for everything else, I know you’ll get better at it - because you’re me.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
…
I’m writing notes to the past me who can’t read this - I need to get out of this chair.
Stretched my legs. We’re good. Let’s go.
I worked a bit on my storytelling and told Evie the true tale about my adventures in Druidale. When it was over, an uncomfortable silence lingered.
I broke the tension with a blue glow that wrapped around my fingers. The figurine of us burst out from the light.
“Ah- yeah, I got you a present from that novelty store.”
Evie’s eyes lit up. She grabbed onto it with a smile that wouldn’t go away.
“I love it~ Oo~ I got you something too.”
She pulled out a small, square bottle filled with a viscous, mustard colored liquid that had flecks of orange confetti floating in it. The hinged cap popped and she drank the concoction.
A white portal opened in front of Evie’s extended hand and she disappeared into it. When she emerged, she was carrying a black and red wool mini-dress that had long, flared sleeves and the shoulders cut out.
It’s nice she’s willing to give me one of her new outfits, but I dunno if I’ll ever wear it-
“Eehee~”
“It’s cute- but. Ah- but I can’t do this in it.”
I took a step back, crossed my left leg behind me, and curtsied while I tugged at the sides of my skirt.
“I have never seen you do that before in my life.”
“That- that doesn’t matter, I could if I wanted to.”
I brought my arms close to my chest and Evie latched onto them.
“Just try it on - it’ll be cute - pleeeeeease~”
“Agck- okay okay.”
To the left of the bar I stepped through the doorway into my newly furnished study. Along the wall near the door, a breeze of nighttime air blew through a large window that swelled white sheers. Staring at the window from across the room was a long, blackwood desk and a cushioned mahogany chair. Empty shelves, cabinets, and bookcases matching the desk lined the walls.
The figure of the four adventurers burst out from a blaze of blue and dropped into my hands. I placed it atop one of the shelves along the back wall.
I peeled off my clothes and slid the dress over me. It itched my skin, but after a few seconds I was used to the texture so long as I didn’t move my arms.
From side to side, I waddled back into the foyer. My eyes were down on the floor and wouldn’t peel away from my bare legs.
“So cute~”
“Ah- no.”
I scrunched up into a ball and pulled the dress over my knees. Toppling backward into the hardwood deck, I rolled myself into the study. The door squeaked halfway closed when I kicked it with what little range of motion I had. After a few more kicks it finally clicked closed.
Muffled laughter seeped under the door’s frame as I rolled my black, spider silk stockings over my legs. Confidence restored, I pranced back into the foyer.
“Ahah~ Much better.”
“Still cute~”
“Ah- that reminds- *mfh*”
“You okay?”
“I’m good.”
“Mhm.”
“And I am suddenly completely sober.”
“Ah-”
“And my stomach won’t take anymore. This is the worst.”
Evie walked behind the counter and grabbed one of the wine glasses. A rush of water flowed out from the faucet and into the cup. When she returned, Evie dipped her fingers into the glass and flicked at my face before handing me the drink.
Eech.
“You’re not sober, your brain just freaked out. Drink.”
“Yes ma’am~.”
I gulped down the glass of water and let out a refreshed exhale.
“Bed time.”
“Euuhh.”
We strolled through the door to the right of the bar and I plopped into the bed, rubbing my face against the fluffed pillow that folded snugly around my cheeks.
Evie hopped on the other side and pulled the comforter over her. Too tired and lazy to bother doing the same, I let out a muffled sigh.
“Night~”
“Good Night~”
The night stretched on through my slumber. I stretched and thought daylight would peek through the window soon, but in reality it had only been an hour or two since I went to bed. I laid motionless, staring at the wall before I turned over.
Evie’s eyes were wide open and fixed toward the ceiling. Unblinking.
Ah- she’s playing on Vilgamesh’s world.
I slid out of bed. Rocking my feet from heel to toe, I tip-toed through thoughtful steps into the foyer.
My feet pattered against the cold deck to the grass. The ground beneath me crinkled as I plopped down and rested my back against it. If I hadn’t just been laying in bed I probably wouldn’t have found the grass as rough as I did.
Comfortable enough, I closed my eyes. The sloshing of the water washed a calm over my mind. I opened my eyes.
“Release.”
I curled forward, pressing my palms against my eyes. A burn gripped my face and my stomach. After swiping away the water collecting in my eyes, I clicked my tongue. It was just on the edges of my imagination.
Through a sigh, I closed my eyes again and imagined the room around me, recalling as much detail as I could, recreating an imaginary version of myself lying atop that grass. I tried again.
A blue hue coated my eyes. The trickle of the stream slowed and I fell into a world of detail. Individual blades of grass graced my gaze, the separation in blues and whites of the river, all the points of the house that creaked against the wind outside. That sensation dulled, but its remnants lingered.
“Okay, that’s new.”
I drew in a breath through my teeth and teleported as far and as fast as I could. From corner to corner, the room became a blur of rotating colors and my head weighed down on my shoulders, pulsing with heat. I stumbled onto my hands and knees, blinking through gray, water washed eyes. Evie’s voice made my shoulders jump.
“Practicing your Runic Release?”
“You know about it?”
“Yeah, it’s so weird it’s gotta be baked into one of the formulas I use for work when I have to figure out magical thresholds. Take a look.”
Evie pranced from the bedroom’s doorway to the bar and dug into her bag. She flipped through a notebook filled with scribblings like a crochet of interwoven words and symbols.
[https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zAZA--HiQ0asUWDLp9e1LiRphe-ocNb6/view?usp=sharing][https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/u/1/drive-viewer/AK7aPaAFrRe_qtgD_V5KJQ_ukYolyO0ubgPkfDO8V9uK4dLAzg8UsH7q_LX4fCOuwoHWusN5c58GVtMXyLLjPBh2UE5PpS3HEQ=w2984-h1756]
When calculated the nth and mth values are the source and all values that precede it are the background pieces. Use the spell’s component proportion values where the symbol appears.
Why would negative prima and ether theoretically provide a valid output? An oversight or just sloppy math?
[m = Maximum amount of unresisted magic. Values above 100 result in catastrophic failure],
[λ = Increase of Prima over time],
[ρ = All background sources of Prima],
[ε = All background sources of Ether],
[w;x = Runic Release],
[A/E/P = Raw anima/ether/prima output],
[🜎/🜍/🜶 = anima/ether/prima output with resistance accounted for],
[r = radius of prima effects in meters (default=3)],
[d = Distance from prima effects in meters],
[Rn;Sn = Runic Release form number (default=0)],
[z = Number of modules in an array],
[β = Runestone betawave multiplier]
🜶
🜍
±β
E/P per cm cubed
Iron
Sapphire
2
~0.001/cm³
Steel
Emerald
4
~0.009/cm³
Mithril
Ruby
8
~0.027/cm³
Adamant
Diamond
16
~0.081/cm³
Runic
Onyx
32
~0.243/cm³
Primal
Ethereal
64
~0.729/cm³
Celesteel
Theoretical
Unknown
Primal
○
Material
⦿
Ethereal
●
Universal
🜁
FORCE
WIND
ᛗ
MIND
ILLUSION
ᛞ
ASTRA
INVERSE
🜶
SPIRIT
NULLIFY
🜄
FLOW
WATER
ᛉ
BODY
PROTECTION
ᛇ
DEATH
CONTAINMENT
🜎
ESSENCE
BALANCE
🜃
TERRA
EARTH
ᚺ
CHAOS
BURST
ᛝ
KIN
CURSE
🜍
SOUL
EXPAND
🜂
FLAME
FIRE
ᛈ
FATE
CHARM
ᚨ
BOND
TRANSCENDENCE
ᛃ
NATURE
TRANSMUTATION
ᚾ
ORDER
SUMMONING
“But even for the weird stuff, it’s so much easier working with this than it is figuring out the like billion variables in alchemy when someone’s essence melds with the effects from potions and poisons.”
“Ah- I see.”
I do not see. Now I know how Sugma felt.
“Mm- I gotta get back to the guys. You should join us. We’re going to test out the beach.”
“They’re still up?- Sure, why not.”
I snatched an emerald runestone with an onyx core from my bag. When I plopped back down on my bed the world around me flashed white.
The sun beamed down on us. Flickering waves rolled against a thin stretch of sand that met smooth, jagged rocks that jutted toward a shifting jungle. Trees towered. Grass glistened. My feet danced in place over the scorching, sun-glazed stone.
Evie and I rushed to a patch of trees that offered sanctuary from the heat. The smell of the salty current whisked its way across the rocks to meet our noses.
“Well, he’s getting the feeling right. If only the world was more clear and less dream-like.”
A voice boomed from the thick foliage. “Manna! Eshtar!”
Evie sprang in her step, peeling through the foliage that sprung more foliage.
“We’re over here Dibil!”
A blurred silhouette of a large man stepped out from the shifting shroud of plants.
“Where’s Vilgamesh?”
“He went to bed miffed as ever, said something like ‘Tsk. Forget this. I need to pack for my trip tomorrow. Do whatever you want. I’m going to bed.’ And then disappeared.”
“Awh~ Ok, well we can’t exactly have an Architect hunter update without the full Awesome Foursome.”
“We need a better name.”
“Yis, but gotta save that for the next meeting. Right now though~”
Evie sprinted toward the water. Her purple, blue, and sometimes green one piece, full body bikini shifted as she ran. I tossed back my long, medium length hair dyed solid white black.
“Hey, what’s the gimmick of this map anyway?”
“Sea monster.”
“Sea monster? Ah- ESHTAR-”
I whipped around with my hands cupped at my mouth, my eyes, and my neck. Evie was warping around the ocean near a giant, squishy monster with tiny huge eyes. She was yelling in a tone that shifted from excitement to fear to joy.
“Euuh. Time to go rescue princess Eshtar.”
Dibil and I slayed the beast with what we thought were swords, but in retrospect weren’t too sure. The sand was too hot to lay on and without Vilgamesh we couldn’t adjust the parameters of the master runestone array.
The world faded away and the ceiling of my bedroom re-appeared. That too would fade away as I drifted off to sleep.