I made an OoC, since I ran into a spot of free time. Stop by when you can, Genkai. I know you're busy. <3
Also, if you don't like something, please tell me. I'll change it as soon as I can.
{ ~ Swept away, underneath the cherry blossom trees . . .
The sweet scent would fill the lungs of both people who found sanctuary underneath the cherry blossom trees. They would steal glances at one another as everything else around them would slow down and eventually fade away. Their hearts would begin to beat more loudly, much like the taiko drums they heard at the festival, hours ago. In the year 2016, in Kyoto, Japan, two lost souls find themselves swept into another world, so terribly different than their own. This new world is filled with magic and fantasy and these two strangers must form a bond and work together if they wish to save both the world they already love, and the new one they've become rather fond of.
A story of danger and mystical fantasy await both people as they try to find a way to balance one world with the others. While one world suffers, the other prospers. And when their own world might fall into destruction which cannot be undone, it falls upon the two to come together and find a way to balance the lives they've established in both worlds. In their original world, they try to juggle jobs and real life responsibilities but in the other world, they train and traverse a great expansive region, trying to find answers to the problems that threaten both sides of the same coin. Is it possible to give both worlds happiness or must one suffer while the other prevails? Can history be changed? Can the future be changed? Two people swept away, underneath the cherry blossom trees, are determined to find out.
Conservation of Souls
Conservation of Reality
The Impossible
The history of Rathe reflects the history Earth went through. When the Dark Ages hit Earth, Rathe was developing and without much death or disease and conflict. When various wars hit Earth, Rathe had peace and comfort. But when Earth began to push into the mid 19th century*, Rathe began to struggle and weaken.
Magic is a mystifying force: it reacts and behaves like a living thing and is as fluid in its patterns as wind and water. Regardless of what it is, both Rathe and Earth need magic flourish--nourishment for the planet and for all living things.
Powerful streams of magic bind Rathe and Earth together in a shared fate. But like a river, their courses may change, split, form or disappear over time.
And for a long time, Travelers would use these streams to pass through each realm. In ancient times, Travelers weren't an uncommon existence. Ancient cultures on both Earth and Rathe make mention of otherworldly visitors.
For some reason, these streams slowly disappeared over time. The steady procession of technology seemed to edge out the existence of magic, accelerating the the rate of disappearances in just the past few hundreds years. Other streams were intentional cut off by enigmatic organizations and esoteric cults. Travelers who used the streams finding it increasingly difficult to travel between worlds, if at all. Many of them were trapped in one world or the other; their physical body would begin to deteriorate. Strange deformations or a painful fading claimed the lives of many of these refugees. With the risks apparent, few Travelers are able to pass through the streams. Such dangerous ventures are now the providence of the foolish and the insane.
Magic began to saturate Rathe's land, infecting it with life. On Rathe, crop fields grew into vast, unconquerable forests and plains; hunted beasts became the hunters or monstrosities unfit for sport or eating; diseases became more vicious and tragic, claiming lives by the millions. However, people began to live longer and longer despite it. Under the strain of myriad threats, a stagnant populace of nigh immortals, civilized societies became impossible to maintain. Wars would break out between kingdoms which were once friendly, others withered from ennui and neglect, but many were reclaimed by the steadily encroaching wilds. Few oases of civilization remain in Rathe--a place now where magic runs rampant and fuels a chaotic primal landscape full of untamed wonders.
Earth on the other hand slowly began to wither in health. It was commonplace for ancient humans to live for two or three hundred years in the time of magic, but even with all technology that exists, no one can make such claims since magic's decline. Earth's civilizations have prospered at the cost of losing thousands of species to extinction and the slow suffering of the planet.
Now, in the modern era, two people have found a way to slip from Earth to Rathe without harm or incident.
(*19th century: the widespread manufacture and use of steam engines really marked the beginning of the modern industrial era; technological advancement since then has been near exponential)
Earth's Faction: They have been in the shadows for centuries and have gone by many names: The Order of the Green Dragon, the Illuminati, the Thule Society, Freemasons, Gnosis, etc. They have made continued efforts throughout the centuries to hinder or destroy the existing passageways to Rathe, seeing magic as a destabilizing force which threatened humanity. They knew without the flow of magic, Earth would be free to function without unpredictable chaos. Their group has been able to keep magic at bay and has sent in a few of its own to Rathe, in order to ensure its eventual collapse. They truly believe once Rathe is no more, that Earth will be able to continue to progress without the threat of war or turmoil. In order to keep the lines of communication and travel closed or hindered, their group has had to spread itself throughout the world, guarding and sometimes even destroying things/places.
Rathe's Unnamed Faction: Their numbers are far fewer than Earth's faction. Since they are kept in the dark, they have had to fend for themselves. They have had to struggle for survival as their world tips further down a slippery slope. Their members are limited so they have not been able to try sending someone through a stream. The dire risk involved pits them against overwhelming odds. With so few agents on Earth, many of them stranded, they cannot push their goals very effectively. This faction believes that both worlds need to carry the burden of magic. While the energy can be used for amazing feats, in high concentration, it is deadly and volatile. The faction is more passive than aggressive, unlike their counterparts. If the thought ever crossed their mind that destroying Earth would solve their problems, they would surely decline and consider another means to finding peace and stability. This faction's goal is endure and reopen the blocked channels.
Ian Baird Chancellor, "Chance" ~ Aspiring law student with a morally ambiguous character.
Also, if you don't like something, please tell me. I'll change it as soon as I can.
{ ~ Swept away, underneath the cherry blossom trees . . .
~ Premise ~
The sweet scent would fill the lungs of both people who found sanctuary underneath the cherry blossom trees. They would steal glances at one another as everything else around them would slow down and eventually fade away. Their hearts would begin to beat more loudly, much like the taiko drums they heard at the festival, hours ago. In the year 2016, in Kyoto, Japan, two lost souls find themselves swept into another world, so terribly different than their own. This new world is filled with magic and fantasy and these two strangers must form a bond and work together if they wish to save both the world they already love, and the new one they've become rather fond of.
A story of danger and mystical fantasy await both people as they try to find a way to balance one world with the others. While one world suffers, the other prospers. And when their own world might fall into destruction which cannot be undone, it falls upon the two to come together and find a way to balance the lives they've established in both worlds. In their original world, they try to juggle jobs and real life responsibilities but in the other world, they train and traverse a great expansive region, trying to find answers to the problems that threaten both sides of the same coin. Is it possible to give both worlds happiness or must one suffer while the other prevails? Can history be changed? Can the future be changed? Two people swept away, underneath the cherry blossom trees, are determined to find out.
~ The Known ~
Conservation of Souls
Religion had the right idea. There is indeed a life after death, but its not the one the scriptures talk about. The universe likes to conserve souls with fundamental laws just like it conserves energy and matter. Everything is recycled. The same atoms in your morning coffee could be the same atoms that a dinosaur pooped out a millions of years ago. All the water on our planet is all the water that has even been on our planet, simply shuffled around and carried along to different places and in different forms.
Souls are no different. They are never truly destroyed, rather they take on different forms. The soul you have in you today could be the same soul from Julius Augustus Caesar or it could be from a banana slug some six-year-old killed with salt two weeks ago.
When a creature dies on Earth, they are reincarnated into a new body in Rathe, and vice-versa. The soul you have now has cycled through many lifetimes, always alternating between Earth and Rathe.
For those who know this as truth or simply take it as faith, they resign themselves to this fate. Not even the most enlightened know how to truly escape this cycle of suffering, or what other worlds may exist beyond it.
Souls are no different. They are never truly destroyed, rather they take on different forms. The soul you have in you today could be the same soul from Julius Augustus Caesar or it could be from a banana slug some six-year-old killed with salt two weeks ago.
When a creature dies on Earth, they are reincarnated into a new body in Rathe, and vice-versa. The soul you have now has cycled through many lifetimes, always alternating between Earth and Rathe.
For those who know this as truth or simply take it as faith, they resign themselves to this fate. Not even the most enlightened know how to truly escape this cycle of suffering, or what other worlds may exist beyond it.
Conservation of Reality
The universe may not be an intelligent entity all on its own, but it does a damn good job at making itself seem like clever. Any time some enterprising traveler from the Rathe's astral wastes decides to tear holes in the fabric of space because they can't be bothered to use roads like the normal folk and just wanted to visit the next village over, reality tends to address these "problems" with extreme prejudice. Extradimensional travel is all fun and games, until someone loses an arm to a closing portal.
The fact is the universe polices reality and enforces its own aspects where appropriate. On Earth, there are no subspecies of humanoids that compete with Homo Sapiens for dominance. On Rathe, this couldn't be further from the truth with several races achieve supremacy at various points in history. But if by some cosmic fluke a warp wolf from Rathe ended up a jungle on Earth, reality will quickly rewrite the vicious, two-headed, teleporting, poisonous beastie into something more appropriate. If somehow an advanced smartphone-like contraption from Earth ended up in Rathe, and reality couldn't figure out what to convert it to, there's very strong possibility it would just blink out of existence entirely.
Reality is a temperamental child. If it doesn't get its way, it'll just remove whatever is annoying it from existence. Rathi sorcerers have sometimes ran afoul of this cosmic enforcer and their reality-defying creations, and sometimes themselves, became little more than a footnote in the history books, if they were written about at all. The souls, matter, and energy are then redistributed wherever they need to go as per "The Rules".
The fact is the universe polices reality and enforces its own aspects where appropriate. On Earth, there are no subspecies of humanoids that compete with Homo Sapiens for dominance. On Rathe, this couldn't be further from the truth with several races achieve supremacy at various points in history. But if by some cosmic fluke a warp wolf from Rathe ended up a jungle on Earth, reality will quickly rewrite the vicious, two-headed, teleporting, poisonous beastie into something more appropriate. If somehow an advanced smartphone-like contraption from Earth ended up in Rathe, and reality couldn't figure out what to convert it to, there's very strong possibility it would just blink out of existence entirely.
Reality is a temperamental child. If it doesn't get its way, it'll just remove whatever is annoying it from existence. Rathi sorcerers have sometimes ran afoul of this cosmic enforcer and their reality-defying creations, and sometimes themselves, became little more than a footnote in the history books, if they were written about at all. The souls, matter, and energy are then redistributed wherever they need to go as per "The Rules".
The Impossible
"...The greatest mystery, however, rests in a strange fact: there are beings who exist outside the rules. They have a few names: freaks, Windwalkers, gods. These beings don't have to trouble themselves with death to cross the boundary between our world and the next. When the wind blows in their favor, they get to ignore the rules and travel to wherever they please. As the saying goes, they "sail on a divine wind to distant shores."
How do these beings come to be? How are they able to violate the rules of reality and suffer no consequences? What happens to their soul, when they die? Some believe they are agents of the divine, or aberrant monsters perhaps. There are no answers, only more questions.
They often look and act no different than a normal creature of their kind. You couldn't never pick them out in a crowd. They can appear completely normal. It may even be someone you had lunch with last Tuesday, but they are among us, of that you can be certain."
How do these beings come to be? How are they able to violate the rules of reality and suffer no consequences? What happens to their soul, when they die? Some believe they are agents of the divine, or aberrant monsters perhaps. There are no answers, only more questions.
They often look and act no different than a normal creature of their kind. You couldn't never pick them out in a crowd. They can appear completely normal. It may even be someone you had lunch with last Tuesday, but they are among us, of that you can be certain."
--An excerpt from the conspiracy theorist blog Behind the Curtains
by Astronomer Henry L. Singh
by Astronomer Henry L. Singh
~ A Brief History of Time ~
The history of Rathe reflects the history Earth went through. When the Dark Ages hit Earth, Rathe was developing and without much death or disease and conflict. When various wars hit Earth, Rathe had peace and comfort. But when Earth began to push into the mid 19th century*, Rathe began to struggle and weaken.
Magic is a mystifying force: it reacts and behaves like a living thing and is as fluid in its patterns as wind and water. Regardless of what it is, both Rathe and Earth need magic flourish--nourishment for the planet and for all living things.
Powerful streams of magic bind Rathe and Earth together in a shared fate. But like a river, their courses may change, split, form or disappear over time.
And for a long time, Travelers would use these streams to pass through each realm. In ancient times, Travelers weren't an uncommon existence. Ancient cultures on both Earth and Rathe make mention of otherworldly visitors.
For some reason, these streams slowly disappeared over time. The steady procession of technology seemed to edge out the existence of magic, accelerating the the rate of disappearances in just the past few hundreds years. Other streams were intentional cut off by enigmatic organizations and esoteric cults. Travelers who used the streams finding it increasingly difficult to travel between worlds, if at all. Many of them were trapped in one world or the other; their physical body would begin to deteriorate. Strange deformations or a painful fading claimed the lives of many of these refugees. With the risks apparent, few Travelers are able to pass through the streams. Such dangerous ventures are now the providence of the foolish and the insane.
Magic began to saturate Rathe's land, infecting it with life. On Rathe, crop fields grew into vast, unconquerable forests and plains; hunted beasts became the hunters or monstrosities unfit for sport or eating; diseases became more vicious and tragic, claiming lives by the millions. However, people began to live longer and longer despite it. Under the strain of myriad threats, a stagnant populace of nigh immortals, civilized societies became impossible to maintain. Wars would break out between kingdoms which were once friendly, others withered from ennui and neglect, but many were reclaimed by the steadily encroaching wilds. Few oases of civilization remain in Rathe--a place now where magic runs rampant and fuels a chaotic primal landscape full of untamed wonders.
Earth on the other hand slowly began to wither in health. It was commonplace for ancient humans to live for two or three hundred years in the time of magic, but even with all technology that exists, no one can make such claims since magic's decline. Earth's civilizations have prospered at the cost of losing thousands of species to extinction and the slow suffering of the planet.
Now, in the modern era, two people have found a way to slip from Earth to Rathe without harm or incident.
(*19th century: the widespread manufacture and use of steam engines really marked the beginning of the modern industrial era; technological advancement since then has been near exponential)
~ The Factions ~
Earth's Faction: They have been in the shadows for centuries and have gone by many names: The Order of the Green Dragon, the Illuminati, the Thule Society, Freemasons, Gnosis, etc. They have made continued efforts throughout the centuries to hinder or destroy the existing passageways to Rathe, seeing magic as a destabilizing force which threatened humanity. They knew without the flow of magic, Earth would be free to function without unpredictable chaos. Their group has been able to keep magic at bay and has sent in a few of its own to Rathe, in order to ensure its eventual collapse. They truly believe once Rathe is no more, that Earth will be able to continue to progress without the threat of war or turmoil. In order to keep the lines of communication and travel closed or hindered, their group has had to spread itself throughout the world, guarding and sometimes even destroying things/places.
Rathe's Unnamed Faction: Their numbers are far fewer than Earth's faction. Since they are kept in the dark, they have had to fend for themselves. They have had to struggle for survival as their world tips further down a slippery slope. Their members are limited so they have not been able to try sending someone through a stream. The dire risk involved pits them against overwhelming odds. With so few agents on Earth, many of them stranded, they cannot push their goals very effectively. This faction believes that both worlds need to carry the burden of magic. While the energy can be used for amazing feats, in high concentration, it is deadly and volatile. The faction is more passive than aggressive, unlike their counterparts. If the thought ever crossed their mind that destroying Earth would solve their problems, they would surely decline and consider another means to finding peace and stability. This faction's goal is endure and reopen the blocked channels.
~ The Cast ~
Ian Baird Chancellor, "Chance" ~ Aspiring law student with a morally ambiguous character.
