In another universe lies the planet of Historia, inhabited by Humans much like us, but blessed with impossible powers that we think of as 'Magic'.

Magic is a daily part of life, existing alongside technology just as advanced as ours', although some integrate magic with science to create advanced inventions. But it is a widely held belief among the people that the highest form of Magic is Storytelling, and that The One Deity, the Creator of the Multiverse, gave Humanity the power to warp reality through the telling of stories.

Three thousand years before the present day, when the greatest storyteller of that time, the Illuminated Poet, sang of the grief and joy of Humanity, appealing to The One Deity to provide a way through their sufferings. In response, The One himself came down and sang his song, the Epics of Making, by which Humanity and whatever sapient beings lived beyond Historia were granted freedom from the will of the divine. The Epic of Making was instructions for the casting of Magic, allowing Humanity to better their lives and that of others at will.

And so the Illuminated Poet taught pieces of the Epic to those who followed him, turning them into the first Magi. He also sired twenty sons and thirty daughters and prophesied that as long as a descendant of his bloodline was alive, Humanity’s destiny and the destinies of all sapient beings across the Universe, would be free from divine interference, and Magic would continue to be accessible to all human beings (and most aliens except for [REDACTED]).

Fast-forward to the present and the majority of the descendants of the Illuminated Poet have suffered purges, slaughters, genocides, and massacres from the various nations of the world due to ignorance and misunderstanding, or even outright lies spread by their enemies. Their one safe refuge is Illiad City, an independent city-nation founded by the freethinkers and outcasts of the world, people dedicated to artistic and philosophical pursuits, as well as worshippers of The One Deity. Despite the hostility of other nations towards it, its access to a greater portion of the Epic of Making makes it equivalent to the great empires of the world in Magical might.

But now, a feud is brewing between the two prime Magical Academies of the city, a feud brewing from how to deal with the world's hostility towards them. Ironically, this feud might be the one thing that brings down the metropolis...

Marduk Academy for The Mystic Arts, located on Uruk Hill in the western parts of Iliad, holds power over the pieces of the Epic of Making that govern 'Heroic' Magic - The Magic of Light, the Elements (Fire, Water, Air, and Earth), and the power to heal the wounded and the sick with mystic energy alone. Their students are the champions of the defenseless, the honorable knights-errant, and the wise wizards. But confronted with the hatred of other nations towards them, they seek a 'muscular' foreign policy, asking that Iliad City use its magical might to conquer the neighboring empires and repressive states that wish to destroy Illiad City before they grow too strong. However, whispers are being heard that push for more than that - That Marduk Academy should attempt to rule the world so that no nation would exterminate the descendants of the Illuminated Poet once again.

And Professor Ninsun, its Principal, is beginning to listen...

Ishtar School for Creative Minds, on the other hand, holds power over the pieces of the Epic of Making that govern 'Black' Magic - The Magic of Darkness, Entropy, Blood and Death, as well as the power to inflict agony and weaken their enemies. Their students are the spies and assassins, the dark knights whom monsters and criminals fear. Despite this, they used to work alongside Marduk Academy, until Professor Nergal, its principal, began urging for the casting of the Spell of Otherworldly Travel, which will transport Iliad City onto another dimension where its people can live in peace. Problem is that 1.) This requires the pieces of the Epic of Making that Marduk Academy does have, and 2.) Marduk Academy considers Ishtar's solution cowardly.

As the feud simmers, Ishtar does double duty watching out for foreign infiltrators in the Leviathan Port/Mount Ophir in the eastern, coastal part of Iliad City.

The Cassandra Club is the newest faction in the block, a small band of students from both Academies and a larger group from other schools who believe that the brewing feud between Marduk Academy and Ishtar School is being engineered by a 'sinister force' outside the city as part of a grand plan to conquer Iliad City and acquire the full Epics of Making. Not only that, but they believe in asking the question: Why do other nations hate us? What are the lies they've been fed to kill off the descendants of the Illuminated Poet? Do they even know that they are bringing Humanity’s destiny under the control of the Divine again? And if so, who is trying to do so and why are they courting the wrath of The One Deity?

The Cassandra Club is led by the Anonymous Council, a group of 'concerned students and teachers' (PCs have the option to be part of this circle) whose goals are to find out exactly who is profiting from the extermination of Descendants and stop them before its too late. These folk are supported by the Church of The One and meet in the Cathedral of The One.

The Wall - Iliad City is located on a coastal plain from where three peaks with smaller plateaus jut out, and the plain is enclosed by a huge wall, two miles high and four miles thick (Based on the Ark Fortress of Bukhara, Uzbekistan), with four gates where refugees seek asylum from the Hermannreich's oppression, many of whom are admitted into the farmlands, forestlands, and hills inside the wall after a thorough screening, including mind-reading.

Mt. Uruk - Watching over The Wall surrounding Iliad, Mt. Uruk stands deep inside the city's west, bristling with walls and fortifications of its own, including magical shields and guns. Marduk Academy sprawls over all of the mountainside, even digging a reinforced bunker underneath the surface to conceal its own pages of the Epic of Making.

The Leviathan Port/Mt. Ophir - Iliad City's port is where most of its foreign trade comes from, due to the Hermannreich's on-and-off hostility. A bustling structure where great cargo ships dock and depart, the Leviathan Port is watched over by great ranged guns from two coastal forts that guard the entrance to the bay, as well as Ishtar School for Creative minds, whose campus, located on Mt. Ophir, the smallest of the three peaks of Illiad, overlooks the port.

The Acropolis - On a mountain higher than Mt. Uruk and Ophir lies the Acropolis, where a plateau on top contains City Hall (where the Mayor, a Non-Descendant, is constantly pressured this way and that by the feuding academies). Besides City Hall lie the Cathedral of The One, in whose basements the Cassandra Club sometimes meet, and Fort Maccabeus, where the city's formal military, a powerful force of its own, regularly sends out patrols of Gunships, Pegasi, and the occasional Dragon Rider to remind the Academies that they are not the rulers of the City.

Artisan Coffeemakers United Branches - A set of coffeehouses spread all throughout Iliad City dedicated to the production of quality artisan coffee, tea, and pastries at a fair and affordable price. Both Ishtar and Marduk have cafes of ACUB on their premises, with secure internet lines to each other, and it is rumored that students who wish to establish forbidden contact with each other are allowed to use said lines... For a price.

Enchanted Mountain - Iliad's prime amusement park, with a large Ferris Wheel, magitech roller coasters, and virtual reality simulations of any environment one can think of, as well as various restaurants catering to every palate. It is also a 'truce zone' between Iliad and Marduk, due to Professor Gilgamesha having spent time there on better days and not wanting to let the place be stained by the current inter-school conflict.

Kaleidoscope Arcades - A series of arcades filled with the latest games mundane science and magitech can supply, and are thus destinations where both Marduk and Ishtar and students from other schools can be found competing against each other in a halfway-friendly manner.

Paradise Spa - The place everyone who is anyone in Iliad goes to relax, Paradise Spa is filled with treatments both mundane and magical which rely on pleasing every sense possible, from sweet aromas to soft coats of mud to serene sounds and calm colors, along with filling yet tasty smoothies and juices, Paradise Spa is where the troubles of the world fall away, even for a while.

The Unified Hermannreich - The undisputed conqueror of the entire Western Continent except for Illiad, the Hermannreich is also an empire built on slavery and oppression, maintained by a dark alliance between its militaristic regime and the mysterious Custodians. With vast armies at its disposal, it waits for the order to conquer Iliad City and purge the Descendants, but its inferiority in Magic and the need to keep the slave population underneath its heel are obstacles to fulfilling such an order.

That and Iliad City is grudgingly protected by its main enemy, the Olympian Federation across the sea...

The Olympian Federation - A close compact of twelve nations that claim to stand for Freedom and Justice, the Olympian Federation is a naval power that governs the Eastern Continent whose fleets, airpower, and cruise missiles prevent the Hermannreich from destroying Iliad and then crossing over to the east. However, do not be deceived: Olympia is just as Anti-Descendant as the Hermannreich is, it just hides it better. Once Iliad City's usefulness ends to the Federation, the latter will destroy the former itself.

All Magic comes from instructions given in the Epic of Making, which in turn is a long poem or song that details the transference of a part of The One Deity's power to mortal Humanity, and the basic mental exercises used to 'pull' magical power from the depths of one's own soul to make what you imagine real.

The various 'types' of Magic come from concepts common to humanity, concepts that you either come up with or are taught. These, in turn, are powered by the Human heart, will, and soul. There is no way to take magical energy from the surrounding environment, as only Humans (or fully sapient aliens, if they exist) have magical energy.

Anyone can learn Magic, but few have the combination of strength of heart and imagination to be truly good at it. Therefore, Magical Academies are important so that what existing Magi already imagined before can be taught to other people.

There are six disciplines of Magic:

High - Many theories try to explain High Magic. Some say that it is the power of The Divine, it is the power of positive emotions, channeled through the human soul. Nevertheless, High Magic is the power of controlling Magical Energy itself, allowing for the ability to see all Magic, to draw available magical energy from the indestructible and immortal souls of others, create constructs of condensed Mana, create and fuel magitech and enchanted items, ward people and places from magic, and finally, the ability to create bolts of silver-white light that cause damage that cannot be healed by magic to Mages and Magical creatures... But not ordinary targets, whose burns can be healed as normal.

World - World Magic is control over the physical elements of the world. Do you want to create Fire? World Magic. Do you want to alter Gravity to make yourself float? World Magic. Do you want to use lightning to electrocute a person? World Magic. If it has nothing to do with changing one thing to another, or controlling something that isn't wholly of this earth? World Magic is your key. Bending from Avatar: The Last Airbender, but without healing or spiritual arts and with control over gravity.

Change - This is the magic that deals with changing one thing to another. This magic can knit wounds and reverse aging, cause trees to grow fists, and turn vines into whips. This magic can change one substance to another, turning lead into gold, earth into acid, and fire into water. What it cannot do, however, is affect stuff protected by High magic, or mess with things that are already dead. That belongs to another school, the magic of the Underworld.

Underworld - Death is all around us, and the old laws against disturbing the ghosts who chose not to pass on are gone, cast into the wind. Nevertheless, the souls of the departed have to be treated with respect...but it is not the same for their bodies. Underworld Magic is the magic of Necromancy; it is the magic you wield when you want to raise an army of the dead, to control the shadows of the world, to speak with ghosts, and to strike people dead with one blow (this is a high-level spell). You can even use this to transcend death, allowing you continued existence in this world without the need for food, drink, and sleep...

Timespace - The magic of traveling vast distances in a single bound, of teleportation, portals, and scrying. The strongest Magi can even control probability, making a person luckier or unluckier, sometimes to absurd levels. But what it can not do is reverse the past; basically, no time travel. Bullet Time and Time Stop are also possibilities for incredibly strong practitioners but have certain requirements that limit their effectiveness in combat.

Mind Magic - This magic deals with controlling minds and altering the emotions of both humans and animals, as well as creating illusions, mental compulsions, and even erasing or editing memories. A very powerful magical discipline, but strong willpower can better resist its effects...

Note: A lot of individual spells are very broken by nature, and would fundamentally destroy the game’s balance if implemented. If you’re touching these spells, please make sure you have some limitations added to them. If you’re not sure, look no further than your GMs! They will be happy to answer your question/address the balancing of your powers.

Spell Mastery

Pretty self-explanatory. Each spell your character possesses has their own degree of mastery. The more you master a spell, the less effort (Mana, Time, other relevant resources) it takes to perform that spell. If you have enough spells from the same school mastered, you can choose to make it a <Magic School> Mastery trait. How many spells, you ask? Well, there’s not a hard-coded number for that. But I’d say about 3+ spells of the same school. We can lower the number if the spells are difficult enough, or raise it if they’re easier to cast. Having Mastery as a trait makes learning and mastering new spells of that school a lot easier.

How long is it going to take to master a spell: This gives me headaches every time. It really depends. From the length of an arc to the number of times the character practices/uses these spells. I’d say on average 1 spell is mastered every arc as a benchmark, but don’t take this as a gospel. Use a LOT of nuances when interpreting this. We’ll try to adjust and accommodate your needs, just let us know.

Enchantment Rules

Enchantment requires High Magic and a spell that you or another party member knows, along with an item to be enchanted. Note however that the weaker and less durable the material is, the magic you can put into it is more limited; for example, oak can be enchanted to emit laser beams, birch cannot. This is the same for metals, and the strongest of spells can only be enchanted into 'Perfected Electrum (more below)'.

Perfected Electrum

Electrum is a mix of Gold and Silver that occurs naturally but can be made by artificial means. This material, if treated by High and Change Magic by four different Magi (see 'Group Spells' below) can be 'perfected', aka transformed into metal as hard as a diamond yet not as brittle, and whose lightness is that of cloth. But the most valuable property of Perfected Electrum is that it can contain very, very strong spells, except for Resurrection (see below under 'Group Spells'). Iliad City has a monopoly of Perfected Electrum, by the way.

Group Spells

Basically, multiple spell-casters with different Schools can do things that would strain a single Mage. This also helps in compensating for single Magi's weaknesses in specialization.

Update on Group Spells: There’s no longer any rules in terms of how many spells are needed to perform group spells. What combination of spells creating what is down to your creativity. Use your imagination! And a bit of common sense too…

Character Traits (Formerly Exceptional Skills)

Character Traits can both be a few neat bullet points to describe some of your character’s defining traits, and also accommodate your character’s non-magic skills. They essentially describe a portion of your character, and some of them might be capable of special effects that can benefit you and other characters in different ways.

A character Trait consists of 3 parts as described

<Trait Name>: <Trait Description>. <Trait Effects>
<Trait Name>: Self-explanatory
<Trait Description>: A few sentences explaining what characteristics of your character that this Trait is describing. You can go longer if you wish
<Trait Effects>: These are optional, but the most interesting. These essentially encompasses the Ex Skills, but a lot more specific and individual-based.

A few examples of generic trait to illustrate this further

Swordmaster: His extended training with his family’s traditional blade and under their guidance have made him exceptionally capable with these weapons. Greatly increases proficiency when using blades
Turtleback: His natural skin of his species allowed him to essentially be a walking mini-fortress. Enhanced resistance against physical attacks.

A Healthy and Focused Mind: Her zen training allowed him to ascend to a higher spiritual state that allows her to act solely based on his instincts. Only usable in a combat situation. Allows the character to ignore mind magic during this time. Only affected when said magic can affect subconscious thoughts.
Disgraced Warrior: From a family of traitors, he is received by the public with mistrust. Reduce effectiveness when coercing people through diplomacy.

Supreme Chef: She’s just really good at cooking duh. <Blank> (Yes, you can leave it blank. You don’t have to have an effect for every trait).

Of course, these are generic examples that apply to no one in particular. Your character traits, however, are bound by their background. A character trait has to be connected somehow to your character and what makes them who they are. Unrelated traits will be rejected. Your trait names does not have to follow these format. Feel free to go ham and be creative with the name and description.

What these skills are not, however: They do not fully describe your character. There is and should be more depths to your character than just a bunch of bullet points. They have defining characteristics but they have nuances and more depths to and outside those characteristics. That’s how a great character is made

Some potential questions.

How many traits are needed: There should be no limits to how many traits you have, but please refrain from making too many of them. Remember this is supposed to represent defining characteristics that screams that’s them when mentioned. You don’t want to describe yourself like that. For starters, around 3-4 traits would be a healthy number (this number is preliminary).

What about combat with vague measures to quantify your strength: Well, this is not a tabletop RP to begin with. There is no dice. We have narratives and plots to drive your characters around. How battles would turn out is entirely down to you and your fighting partners. Discuss with your partner how you would want fights to turn out. Maybe this guy have a really cool move that he wants to show off, or this lady is cocky and needs to be slapped down a peg. After all, it’s more about building your character than a game of who gets to win. If you have problem deciding the fight, the GMs can step in and help

Can you bypass these skills somehow: Yes. Having traits that give you enhanced characteristics (durability/strength/speed/etc.) does not make you infallible (unless you opt in for it, to which you would need to give a GOOD justification). Having enhanced resistance against Mind Magic could fall apart if you’re intoxicated/not paying attention. Use common sense and logic at all times.

Gaining/Losing traits: This is possible, as your character changes, but you shouldn’t gain too many traits throughout the journey anyway, so when you want to add/remove/change a trait, contact your GM. Don’t worry we’re friendly

What about Magic Mastery: If you have 3+ spells mastered from the same school of magic, you can gain a mastery trait of that specific school, giving you increased magic literacy for that school. If you CHOOSE to have that trait at the very beginning, and thus giving you at least 3 spells to be mastered, you should contact the GM so we can discuss it.

Technology is equivalent to 21st Century Earth, but Spellcasters are capable of creating devices called "Magitech" which allow even common people to access the benefits of Magic. In Iliad, this has resulted in magical healing being common throughout, with specialized 'regeneration booths' in strategic parts of the city where even grievous injuries may be healed as long as they are not inflicted by High Magic. There is also a set of Magitech Bullet Trains and Nuclear Fusion plants (with magic used in the process), as well as 'Null-entropy fridges' which can preserve meat and fresh vegetables indefinitely.

Military Magitech is also very much advanced, with Iliad City being able to bio-engineer, through magic, entire armies of Pegasi and Dragons, which are fielded alongside more mundane VTOLs and Supersonic Airplanes. They also have Golems, animated humanoid statues of clay and metal, which supplement normal infantry, tanks, and the more usual kind of Magi. The grand majority of inhabitants know some battle magic, including children and teenagers who are trained in spellcasting as soon as they can talk.

However, both the Hermannreich and Olympia are developing not just their own Magitech, but are conjuring up, from almost nowhere, pieces of technology that though they are as powerful as Magic and Magitech, run purely on Science. This 'Super-tech', which includes Lasers, Railguns, and Anti-Gravity devices that can lift up an entire Supercarrier to the skies, is an unwelcome development for Iliad City, and some say it is the harbinger of its fall...