Archived from groups: alt.games.whitewolf (More info?)
This is a rough draft I've been kicking around for a while. I never did get
around to polishing it. Lots of grammar stuff gone awry. Lots of ideas
that never got refined. Lots of STUFF that just never got into it. Lots of
assumed errors on my part, in general. Feel free to not let this hit a
singularity.
There are some aspects I have yet to hit on. What created people are like,
other places. If there is interest, I'd address this in further posts.
========================================
THE LIBRARY OF MAN
Standing as one of the greatest achievements of the First Age, the Library
of Man has been nearly forgotten. The constructs, created by the Twilight
sorcerer Ynussai, is one which proved the power of the Solars: that they
stood amongst men as Gods with the power to make what they wished.
The Library is not one building, but the term used for a specially
constructed Manse that leads as a gateway to a small world outside of
Creation. These worlds were created by Solar Circle sorcery and exist
outside of creation in the vastness of Elsewhere, and were meant as
sanctuaries for the Solar exalted. Each location is unique. Some mimic the
passage of seasons as in creation, while most others have their own rules.
Kohlos is a world that doesn't even have an exterior, Ebony Cinder hangs in
an eternal late autumn chill, while Cynos is a city that constantly wanders
between late afternoon and early evening.
The worlds are complete and self-sustaining as they need to be. The more
complex a structure, the more a need for spirits and minor Gods there are,
but such beings were either included in the construction of the realm, or
were invited from Creation to have rule over the new domain. All kinds of
creations from Creation (and some that not even the Wyld has given birth to)
populate areas as needed. As do people. Some are the followers of the
Solars chose to follow their masters. Some are slaves, brought in to work
in elaborate palaces or maintain fields of exotic crops, such as tiny
sweet-shrimps that grow on the ends of pink stalks of wheat.
The realms vary in size and no two are alike. Each depends on the needs of
the Solar they were created for, also being subjected to obscure occult
understandings of how the world came to be. A world of nothing but shrimp,
for example, could not be created anywhere but someplace relatively near the
elemental pole of water. The maximum size of the realms is connected to the
power of the Manse in which the spell was created. that being said, most
realms weren't even made near their load capacity, though they are still
vast. A level one Manse would create a realm the size of a fairly decent
city (if pushed to the limit). A level 5 Manse could create a realm 1/4 the
size of the Blessed Isle, though no single realm even comes close to that
size.
The creation of a realm is based on an understanding of concepts that once
were only known Primordials, the Yozi, and the Sidereals. It remains to be
amazing that only two of the previously mentioned had any involvement in the
creation of the process.
Ynussai never explained how the notion came to him: he only ever talked
about his journey to make it a reality. His first step was to enlist the
assistance of an old ally, Melora of Estros, a Chosen of the Maiden of
Secrets. Melora's understandings of the workings of the Celestial
Buracracy, as well as the Loom of Fate, helped lay the foundation of making
a stable world outside of creation. Though she was more instrumental in the
next stage of research by making a simple observation: if you want to know
how the world was created, you should ask a Primordial.
Ynussai summoned forth Orabilis, the End of All Wisdom, and asked him for a
glass library of the lores and languages of spellcrafting and sorcery. And
in the vast expanses of the tomes, he came to understand a wriiten language,
which in conjunction with a spell, had the power that was before only
limited to the Primordials themselves.
After the first successful creation of a realm, Ynussai practiced his craft
relentlessly. Some of the worlds were at the request of his fellow Solars,
while many others were wild experimentation to test his own capabilities.
The spell could only be performed from within a Manse or powerful Demanse.
To properly perform the ritual, some alterations to the Manse or the
surrounding area may take place. In some cases, a Manse would be created
for the sole purpose of creating a world, even though a Manse could be used
more than once for the ritual. Ynussai had a staff of hundreds who would
scout locations, do research, and return with reports so he could craft the
framework of the new world to be made. And over the course of several
hundred years, traveled to the far edges of creation for only this purpose.
The tome is required as a precursor to the performance of the spell. Once
performed, the tome, containing the blueprint, remains in Creation as mostly
a reminder, and in some cases, a guide to gaining entrance to the world.
Often, early in the tome, details are clearly laid out (unless there was
good reason for it to not be) of how to gain entry to the world. Some
entrances to the Otherworld are withing the Manse (many larger Manses
created for the purposes of this ritual actually have direct, constant
entrances that never close), or other location. Sometimes gaining entrance
to an Otherworld is done by performing a ritual, a spell, asking a
particular guard spirit, or waiting for a specific event. This all depends
on how access to the realm is intended. Some Otherworlds do not even have a
direct gate between it and Creation. Many realms have gateways that lead to
other neighboring realms that hang in Elsewhere.
The framework each realm would require thousands of hours of constant study,
as they are based on specific rules of a programming language. The
blueprints vary in range of length. Some are thousands of pages in length,
while one consisted of three words. However, the true skill is to know when
three words will do, and when three thousand pages isn't enough. The
language is like poetry, or a work of literature, and becomes an art require
skill and patience on a variety of levels.
The invocation of this spell is mighty, and the effect, to those who are
unready for it, can be vastly disturbing, especially if close to the caster.
The spell punches through Creation, into the vastness of Elsewhere, creating
a new stable formation of land and space, and in doing so, imbues certain
naturally qualities found in Creation in the new realm. The larger the
realm, the greater the side effect. It's said that when the realm of Ebony
Cinder was created, a Shadowland was created that lasted for seven days.
The city empire of Cynos, created at the foundation of Eldretta, caused the
mid-day sky to turn to black, stars to fall from Heaven, and the sun to
appear to be a full moon. This was seen as a hole in the Loom of Fate.
It was this which cause Melora to questionn her friend's motives. She stood
so close to him and his work that she failed to notice his descent into a
near mad-man, bent on creating a new world. Melora went to study the Loom
of Fate, and despaired at what she saw. And when the Sidereals gathered in
Yu-Shan, and they spoke quietly and calmly of the state of the world, and a
cool voice put forth the suggestion of seeing what the future had to hold,
Melora firmly agreed.
She supported the Solar purge, though indirectly. She directed more of her
efforts towards the creation of the Jade Prison. But after all was said and
done, and the Solar essences were trapped, she still could not rest. She
was not only painfully aware of the existence of the vast numbers of
Otherworlds, but she was convinced Ynussai was not killed.
Part of this was gut instinct. Part of it was that she tried to confirm
what happened to Ynussai's essence by studying the prison, as well as
directly approaching Lytek, and found no satisfactory answer. Part of it
was that she knew he could have gone anywhere.
Melora planned for a final confrontation. She studied the stars and
perfected her martial arts and was ready to set into the Otherworlds.
Sadly, the universe opted for a minor twist. As the Sidereals removed
themselves from the world, Melora's study went from being the workshop of a
great sorcerer to being an abandoned library, filled with all manners of
notes and essays which spoke, to the untrained and unknowing eyes of those
who once worked beside her, of utter nonsense. Many of the more useful
tomes were taken for personal collections of Dragon-Blooded mystics, while
that which appeared to have no value were burned. At least, it seemed.
Melora believed, that while most of her mortal and Terrestrial assistants
forgot her and ransacked her belongings, it was Ynussai who came for her
notes about the Otherworlds. Notes which detailed, not only the entrances
and how to access them, but also of the worlds that were made, and the maps
which showed the connections that held them together in Elsewhere.
There were many worlds, and numerous entrances. Since most Manses didn't
always hold an entrance, she required the notes. The ones that were easy
for Melora to remember were either sealed off, altered, or lead to a
different world. She even went as far to consult Madame Marthesine of the
Lost, but knew that anything she could have given up to gain access to the
Otherworld would cost her more than she could give up and still expect to
function as a whole being.
THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE LIBRARIES IN THE SECOND AGE
In the Second Age, the permament gateways have been moved, but still exist
(as their structure repelled against the Wyld fluctuations). The realms
that had gateways that could be opened from anywhere will still work.
Realms have been shifted from the Otherworlds.
Time passes at the same rate in the Otherworlds as it does in Creation.
Many realms have populations (brought from back in the First Age by their
Solar masters, and who were only mildly missed inbetween teh Solar Purge and
the Great Contagion, in which a hundred thousand people not being on the map
didn't make much difference when 9/10 of the world up and died), who've gone
on disconnection from the changes in Creation. There could even be realms
which have gone to war with other realms in the absence of their master.
The notion of there still being active, First Age Solars is not even
dismissable. These lands are also treasure troves of First Age wonders.
The realms number in the thousands. Some are more secluded from others,
while some create long chains of city-states in which people freely mingle.
PLACES OF NOTE IN RELATION TO THE OTHERWORLDS:
ELDRETTA: The key city in Creation that leads to the greatest number of
Otherworlds, Eldretta stands as a large complex of libraries, the central
building being the Grand Archives of the Library of Man. The main realm
connect to Eldretta was Cynos, the gate city. In the First Age, the
Eldretta was in the middle of the Blessed Isle, however today, it's location
seems to have changed. There is no evidence that it was destroyed. It is
possible that it was moved during the influx of the Wyld when the Fair Folk
invaded. It is also possible that it was moved and hidden within Yu-Shan
after the Solar Purge.
CYNOS, the City: If the links of the portals were lines, and if each realm
was a connection between two lines, Cynos sits in the middle of the web like
a spider. A sprawling city, with large gates that lead out to more realms
than any other ten realms combined, and five times as many as the city of
Eldretta. Direct access to creation was once through Eldretta, but in the
time since the Solar purge, the gateway was permamently sealed.
EBONY CINDER, the Autumnal Estates: cloaked in perpetual fog that rarely
breaks, though often thins, and blanketed by thick gray clouds on days when
thick black clouds don't pour down ice-cold rain, the Autumnal Estates of
Ebony Cinder are vast and magnificent, though at first, uninviting. The
architecture of the sprawling mansions is awe-inspiring, and unlike anything
seen in creation. Aside from the pallet of gray, the only colors in the
realm come from the stained glass windows of the massive homes, and the
eternal fall foliage on the trees. The seasons are almost impossible to
differentaite from one another. The leaves that grow on the dark brown
trees are red, orange, and gold. They hang onto the trees for several
weeks, then one by one, fall to the ground, leaving the trees bare for
several more weeks.
KOHLOS, the Fortress: For all purposes, the realm of Kohlos is all rock.
The fortress inside, a maze-like series of corridors and passageways, never
once touches sky, though cool fresh air passes through it as if moving
forward would lead you to the exterior, although it would only lead you
astray into traps and dungeons. The exterior walls, in theory, can be
destroyed, but this would only lead to more wall behind it. Kohlos stood
for many years as a secondary world, where secret talks would meet where
security was paramount and safety a high priority. In it's many vast
storehouses are treasures and riches of kings from the beginning of the
First Age.
RAOTUS: created near one of the points where Creation is nearest to
Malfeas, during Calibration, Raotus stands as one of the harshest worlds.
Home to a cruel and insane dictator king, his world warps and twists within
itself. Plants grow sickly, and the daytime sky is a deep shade of red as a
large cluster of white stars mark the passage of 'day', while night falls
into a deep purple with blue stars, fixed in place, glow with a combined
light of a full moon. The landscape erodes and rebuilds itself almost
randomly. Very few geographic markers remain intact outside the axis. The
axis is a line that moves straight through the world. On it, are the
dictator's keep, a large castle that juts up against the black waters of the
ocean, as well as a canyon which divides the land mass. The one permament
gate is in the mouth of the canyon, and is accessable only through flying
machines.
This is a rough draft I've been kicking around for a while. I never did get
around to polishing it. Lots of grammar stuff gone awry. Lots of ideas
that never got refined. Lots of STUFF that just never got into it. Lots of
assumed errors on my part, in general. Feel free to not let this hit a
singularity.
There are some aspects I have yet to hit on. What created people are like,
other places. If there is interest, I'd address this in further posts.
========================================
THE LIBRARY OF MAN
Standing as one of the greatest achievements of the First Age, the Library
of Man has been nearly forgotten. The constructs, created by the Twilight
sorcerer Ynussai, is one which proved the power of the Solars: that they
stood amongst men as Gods with the power to make what they wished.
The Library is not one building, but the term used for a specially
constructed Manse that leads as a gateway to a small world outside of
Creation. These worlds were created by Solar Circle sorcery and exist
outside of creation in the vastness of Elsewhere, and were meant as
sanctuaries for the Solar exalted. Each location is unique. Some mimic the
passage of seasons as in creation, while most others have their own rules.
Kohlos is a world that doesn't even have an exterior, Ebony Cinder hangs in
an eternal late autumn chill, while Cynos is a city that constantly wanders
between late afternoon and early evening.
The worlds are complete and self-sustaining as they need to be. The more
complex a structure, the more a need for spirits and minor Gods there are,
but such beings were either included in the construction of the realm, or
were invited from Creation to have rule over the new domain. All kinds of
creations from Creation (and some that not even the Wyld has given birth to)
populate areas as needed. As do people. Some are the followers of the
Solars chose to follow their masters. Some are slaves, brought in to work
in elaborate palaces or maintain fields of exotic crops, such as tiny
sweet-shrimps that grow on the ends of pink stalks of wheat.
The realms vary in size and no two are alike. Each depends on the needs of
the Solar they were created for, also being subjected to obscure occult
understandings of how the world came to be. A world of nothing but shrimp,
for example, could not be created anywhere but someplace relatively near the
elemental pole of water. The maximum size of the realms is connected to the
power of the Manse in which the spell was created. that being said, most
realms weren't even made near their load capacity, though they are still
vast. A level one Manse would create a realm the size of a fairly decent
city (if pushed to the limit). A level 5 Manse could create a realm 1/4 the
size of the Blessed Isle, though no single realm even comes close to that
size.
The creation of a realm is based on an understanding of concepts that once
were only known Primordials, the Yozi, and the Sidereals. It remains to be
amazing that only two of the previously mentioned had any involvement in the
creation of the process.
Ynussai never explained how the notion came to him: he only ever talked
about his journey to make it a reality. His first step was to enlist the
assistance of an old ally, Melora of Estros, a Chosen of the Maiden of
Secrets. Melora's understandings of the workings of the Celestial
Buracracy, as well as the Loom of Fate, helped lay the foundation of making
a stable world outside of creation. Though she was more instrumental in the
next stage of research by making a simple observation: if you want to know
how the world was created, you should ask a Primordial.
Ynussai summoned forth Orabilis, the End of All Wisdom, and asked him for a
glass library of the lores and languages of spellcrafting and sorcery. And
in the vast expanses of the tomes, he came to understand a wriiten language,
which in conjunction with a spell, had the power that was before only
limited to the Primordials themselves.
After the first successful creation of a realm, Ynussai practiced his craft
relentlessly. Some of the worlds were at the request of his fellow Solars,
while many others were wild experimentation to test his own capabilities.
The spell could only be performed from within a Manse or powerful Demanse.
To properly perform the ritual, some alterations to the Manse or the
surrounding area may take place. In some cases, a Manse would be created
for the sole purpose of creating a world, even though a Manse could be used
more than once for the ritual. Ynussai had a staff of hundreds who would
scout locations, do research, and return with reports so he could craft the
framework of the new world to be made. And over the course of several
hundred years, traveled to the far edges of creation for only this purpose.
The tome is required as a precursor to the performance of the spell. Once
performed, the tome, containing the blueprint, remains in Creation as mostly
a reminder, and in some cases, a guide to gaining entrance to the world.
Often, early in the tome, details are clearly laid out (unless there was
good reason for it to not be) of how to gain entry to the world. Some
entrances to the Otherworld are withing the Manse (many larger Manses
created for the purposes of this ritual actually have direct, constant
entrances that never close), or other location. Sometimes gaining entrance
to an Otherworld is done by performing a ritual, a spell, asking a
particular guard spirit, or waiting for a specific event. This all depends
on how access to the realm is intended. Some Otherworlds do not even have a
direct gate between it and Creation. Many realms have gateways that lead to
other neighboring realms that hang in Elsewhere.
The framework each realm would require thousands of hours of constant study,
as they are based on specific rules of a programming language. The
blueprints vary in range of length. Some are thousands of pages in length,
while one consisted of three words. However, the true skill is to know when
three words will do, and when three thousand pages isn't enough. The
language is like poetry, or a work of literature, and becomes an art require
skill and patience on a variety of levels.
The invocation of this spell is mighty, and the effect, to those who are
unready for it, can be vastly disturbing, especially if close to the caster.
The spell punches through Creation, into the vastness of Elsewhere, creating
a new stable formation of land and space, and in doing so, imbues certain
naturally qualities found in Creation in the new realm. The larger the
realm, the greater the side effect. It's said that when the realm of Ebony
Cinder was created, a Shadowland was created that lasted for seven days.
The city empire of Cynos, created at the foundation of Eldretta, caused the
mid-day sky to turn to black, stars to fall from Heaven, and the sun to
appear to be a full moon. This was seen as a hole in the Loom of Fate.
It was this which cause Melora to questionn her friend's motives. She stood
so close to him and his work that she failed to notice his descent into a
near mad-man, bent on creating a new world. Melora went to study the Loom
of Fate, and despaired at what she saw. And when the Sidereals gathered in
Yu-Shan, and they spoke quietly and calmly of the state of the world, and a
cool voice put forth the suggestion of seeing what the future had to hold,
Melora firmly agreed.
She supported the Solar purge, though indirectly. She directed more of her
efforts towards the creation of the Jade Prison. But after all was said and
done, and the Solar essences were trapped, she still could not rest. She
was not only painfully aware of the existence of the vast numbers of
Otherworlds, but she was convinced Ynussai was not killed.
Part of this was gut instinct. Part of it was that she tried to confirm
what happened to Ynussai's essence by studying the prison, as well as
directly approaching Lytek, and found no satisfactory answer. Part of it
was that she knew he could have gone anywhere.
Melora planned for a final confrontation. She studied the stars and
perfected her martial arts and was ready to set into the Otherworlds.
Sadly, the universe opted for a minor twist. As the Sidereals removed
themselves from the world, Melora's study went from being the workshop of a
great sorcerer to being an abandoned library, filled with all manners of
notes and essays which spoke, to the untrained and unknowing eyes of those
who once worked beside her, of utter nonsense. Many of the more useful
tomes were taken for personal collections of Dragon-Blooded mystics, while
that which appeared to have no value were burned. At least, it seemed.
Melora believed, that while most of her mortal and Terrestrial assistants
forgot her and ransacked her belongings, it was Ynussai who came for her
notes about the Otherworlds. Notes which detailed, not only the entrances
and how to access them, but also of the worlds that were made, and the maps
which showed the connections that held them together in Elsewhere.
There were many worlds, and numerous entrances. Since most Manses didn't
always hold an entrance, she required the notes. The ones that were easy
for Melora to remember were either sealed off, altered, or lead to a
different world. She even went as far to consult Madame Marthesine of the
Lost, but knew that anything she could have given up to gain access to the
Otherworld would cost her more than she could give up and still expect to
function as a whole being.
THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE LIBRARIES IN THE SECOND AGE
In the Second Age, the permament gateways have been moved, but still exist
(as their structure repelled against the Wyld fluctuations). The realms
that had gateways that could be opened from anywhere will still work.
Realms have been shifted from the Otherworlds.
Time passes at the same rate in the Otherworlds as it does in Creation.
Many realms have populations (brought from back in the First Age by their
Solar masters, and who were only mildly missed inbetween teh Solar Purge and
the Great Contagion, in which a hundred thousand people not being on the map
didn't make much difference when 9/10 of the world up and died), who've gone
on disconnection from the changes in Creation. There could even be realms
which have gone to war with other realms in the absence of their master.
The notion of there still being active, First Age Solars is not even
dismissable. These lands are also treasure troves of First Age wonders.
The realms number in the thousands. Some are more secluded from others,
while some create long chains of city-states in which people freely mingle.
PLACES OF NOTE IN RELATION TO THE OTHERWORLDS:
ELDRETTA: The key city in Creation that leads to the greatest number of
Otherworlds, Eldretta stands as a large complex of libraries, the central
building being the Grand Archives of the Library of Man. The main realm
connect to Eldretta was Cynos, the gate city. In the First Age, the
Eldretta was in the middle of the Blessed Isle, however today, it's location
seems to have changed. There is no evidence that it was destroyed. It is
possible that it was moved during the influx of the Wyld when the Fair Folk
invaded. It is also possible that it was moved and hidden within Yu-Shan
after the Solar Purge.
CYNOS, the City: If the links of the portals were lines, and if each realm
was a connection between two lines, Cynos sits in the middle of the web like
a spider. A sprawling city, with large gates that lead out to more realms
than any other ten realms combined, and five times as many as the city of
Eldretta. Direct access to creation was once through Eldretta, but in the
time since the Solar purge, the gateway was permamently sealed.
EBONY CINDER, the Autumnal Estates: cloaked in perpetual fog that rarely
breaks, though often thins, and blanketed by thick gray clouds on days when
thick black clouds don't pour down ice-cold rain, the Autumnal Estates of
Ebony Cinder are vast and magnificent, though at first, uninviting. The
architecture of the sprawling mansions is awe-inspiring, and unlike anything
seen in creation. Aside from the pallet of gray, the only colors in the
realm come from the stained glass windows of the massive homes, and the
eternal fall foliage on the trees. The seasons are almost impossible to
differentaite from one another. The leaves that grow on the dark brown
trees are red, orange, and gold. They hang onto the trees for several
weeks, then one by one, fall to the ground, leaving the trees bare for
several more weeks.
KOHLOS, the Fortress: For all purposes, the realm of Kohlos is all rock.
The fortress inside, a maze-like series of corridors and passageways, never
once touches sky, though cool fresh air passes through it as if moving
forward would lead you to the exterior, although it would only lead you
astray into traps and dungeons. The exterior walls, in theory, can be
destroyed, but this would only lead to more wall behind it. Kohlos stood
for many years as a secondary world, where secret talks would meet where
security was paramount and safety a high priority. In it's many vast
storehouses are treasures and riches of kings from the beginning of the
First Age.
RAOTUS: created near one of the points where Creation is nearest to
Malfeas, during Calibration, Raotus stands as one of the harshest worlds.
Home to a cruel and insane dictator king, his world warps and twists within
itself. Plants grow sickly, and the daytime sky is a deep shade of red as a
large cluster of white stars mark the passage of 'day', while night falls
into a deep purple with blue stars, fixed in place, glow with a combined
light of a full moon. The landscape erodes and rebuilds itself almost
randomly. Very few geographic markers remain intact outside the axis. The
axis is a line that moves straight through the world. On it, are the
dictator's keep, a large castle that juts up against the black waters of the
ocean, as well as a canyon which divides the land mass. The one permament
gate is in the mouth of the canyon, and is accessable only through flying
machines.
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