[Lore]The Void Shard

[Kaun 99]

I was thinking about the idea you just spoke of Elindor, while it is quite good, I haven't been able to explain the fullness of how the Controller works. The Controller is pretty much a balance on the Shard, it keeps it from growing too large and powerful as well as giving the one with it the ability to control the Shard's abilities. Though, this Object can change persons at the risk of the Shard growing slightly on each change. Because of this, I do see part of your point, if you meant this, it can become 'snowflaked' sorta once the Shard is near breaking point because no one wants it to go nuclear on the area.

 

So, I thought a little bit on making a device that does not need an exact Controller Person as the case would be. A small device of sorts, using the remains of the Sephyrim Crystal could act as a stasis of the Void Shard, as I'll also have to add to what Sephyrim Crystals are and what they do.I'll work it out, but if you have any pin pointing ideas on where to take this and what to add, feel free to leave more posts. More views and thoughts help me further the lore and make it better understandable, acceptable, and enjoyable to the server. :)

[TavernLich 324]

Due to my lack of time, I haven't been able to read it yet, however I do have some questions: who is going to be using it? I would rather not have people going around with this thing making themselves special snowflakes. What do you plan to do with this? Do you want it as a sort of impossible artifact to get, like a philosopher's stone?

[Kaun 99]

It will not be a snowflake item, as all it takes is gathering things that will all be capable of being gathered In Character. The only item of it that will require me being told of is its actual formation and the finding of a Sephyrim Crystal, which shall be in numerous places across the map. I'm attempting to balance it into a device that cannot be snowflaked, and its Cons in using it outweigh the Pros in many situations if used rapidly and recklessly.

 

It won't be an impossible artifact to get, as stated. As who shall be using it, any who attempt and succeed in creating one, its purpose varies in a great many situations and will create unique roleplay when interacted with by outside forces, the results could be positive or greatly negative by reacting with the Shard itself. For example, Voidic magics will not harm the Shard but it will still use mana, which will in turn, the Shard will replace your mana at an increased rate to Pure Mana, increasing the chance of being in mortal danger from the poisoning that Pure Mana is upon Mortals and Immortals alike.

[Elindor 654]

A lot of what you have got in terms of practical use is focussed on this pure mana. Though, I would be inclined to calling it Arcane mana, rather than pure. Mana comes out of any living thing and in doing so it is taking on some resemblance to its source (as in the differing auras). So just as arcane energy is the unaligned element of aura. Arcane mana would be mana that draws its source from the void itself. No?

I'm just thinking that calling it 'pure' (for the sake of semantics) isn't hugely accurate because the mana produced by a tree should be pure. It hasn't been affected by anything and exists in the way The Creator intended. IMO

 

(moving on) I was just quite taken by the symbolism of pure void and balance. So I thought that it would be more of a literary device if the (potentially) all powerful void shard isn't linked to a person (because surely no mortal could handle it) and instead is kept in limbo by something that the person wears (ring of power anyone?). Any kind of lore that goes along the lines of: here's this super powerful object but I made it so only I can use it; is digging a big whole for itself. Also if you then have these two objects, the introduction of it into the game becomes a bit easier to imagine.

As in, there's some hidden tomb thing that wise wizards chose to hide away 2000 years ago. But now people find it and uncover it and there is nothing in it but two pillars. On one is what seems to be a rock (void shard) or a staff with the shard in it, and on the other a tiny gem (balance stone) or it could be already crafted into a piece of jewellery for the sake of keeping it on one's person. Together they are doing nothing, but the mere shifting of them brings life back into the void shard.

 

 

As I already said, I don't think it is living up to its potential to be only about the pure mana aspect. As it stands, that's already very much a part of existing dark magics, that you can get tainted and slowly die. See shade magic, necromancy, or undead corruption. It seems to me that the transforming of aura should be more of a side effect. However you DO have to keep in mind that whatever you try to write into the lore as a downside (especially when it means eventual perma-death) will be inevitably ignored by players. That's just how it is.

 

How I would see a void shard being used? I am not completely sure. There have been a few attempts at writing magic for pure void magic but none were really that great, and all treaded very much on existing magic types (especially void translocation. My bad). But THERE is the key to this really becoming interesting. What can one DO with the void existing in a tangible way? And not in the unapproachable form of a void node, but a somewhat controllable aspect of the realm in which the possibility for everything exists?

 

There are somewhat obvious things. As in, if you took a balance thing (diamond, jewellery, piece of string) and threw it off a cliff to see what happened, the place around the void shard would become a node. Most likely an unstable node and either explode outwards with the manifestations of the imagination of any within its reach; implode into the void taking a fair amount of stuff with it, or miraculously balance out and create a stable (for now) void node in that place. However, air is a terrible form of matter to stabilise a node with and the most likely outcome if the thing is above ground is to implode.

But the less obvious possibilities come down to what you want this to do. If Estares (if you're really set on keeping that as the genesis) found the 'secret' to controlling the void, then what stands out to me as that secret is he discovered how to create from the void. How to pull something out of it and break its tether to the void. Meaning he could make something come from the void and never have to return to it again.

That sort of thing can either become a new kind of magic with the usual list of spells, pros, cons, and scale of experience. OR it could be a magic device that provides an opportunity for any void mage (who has both the shard and the balance thing) to pull something out of the void like the would normally, yet it will remain in our realm and never need to return.

 

 

The deadly effects of pure mana is far less intriguing to me. And honestly, I read of the ability to control it to such a finite degree that you can select targets and mass taint them all and rolled my eyes. If that is the ONLY thing this is doing, then sure, a finite level of control could become possible, but if the larger possibilities of the void being touchable are met, then targeting people with a mana taint is OP, and also kindof silly. What is the point of it? Taint works better as a side effect. Like if you punched someone with a balance ring on your finger then they are suffering the mana taint. Not some AOE + only-targeting-bad-guys spell.

 

 

Of note, the law of equal sacrifice might still be in play. Whereby for something to come out, something else must go in. Depends how you feel about that.

[Kaun 99]

A lot of what you have got in terms of practical use is focussed on this pure mana. Though, I would be inclined to calling it Arcane mana, rather than pure. Mana comes out of any living thing and in doing so it is taking on some resemblance to its source (as in the differing auras). So just as arcane energy is the unaligned element of aura. Arcane mana would be mana that draws its source from the void itself. No?

I'm just thinking that calling it 'pure' (for the sake of semantics) isn't hugely accurate because the mana produced by a tree should be pure. It hasn't been affected by anything and exists in the way The Creator intended. IMO

 

(moving on) I was just quite taken by the symbolism of pure void and balance. So I thought that it would be more of a literary device if the (potentially) all powerful void shard isn't linked to a person (because surely no mortal could handle it) and instead is kept in limbo by something that the person wears (ring of power anyone?). Any kind of lore that goes along the lines of: here's this super powerful object but I made it so only I can use it; is digging a big whole for itself. Also if you then have these two objects, the introduction of it into the game becomes a bit easier to imagine.

As in, there's some hidden tomb thing that wise wizards chose to hide away 2000 years ago. But now people find it and uncover it and there is nothing in it but two pillars. On one is what seems to be a rock (void shard) or a staff with the shard in it, and on the other a tiny gem (balance stone) or it could be already crafted into a piece of jewellery for the sake of keeping it on one's person. Together they are doing nothing, but the mere shifting of them brings life back into the void shard.

 

 

As I already said, I don't think it is living up to its potential to be only about the pure mana aspect. As it stands, that's already very much a part of existing dark magics, that you can get tainted and slowly die. See shade magic, necromancy, or undead corruption. It seems to me that the transforming of aura should be more of a side effect. However you DO have to keep in mind that whatever you try to write into the lore as a downside (especially when it means eventual perma-death) will be inevitably ignored by players. That's just how it is.

 

How I would see a void shard being used? I am not completely sure. There have been a few attempts at writing magic for pure void magic but none were really that great, and all treaded very much on existing magic types (especially void translocation. My bad). But THERE is the key to this really becoming interesting. What can one DO with the void existing in a tangible way? And not in the unapproachable form of a void node, but a somewhat controllable aspect of the realm in which the possibility for everything exists?

 

There are somewhat obvious things. As in, if you took a balance thing (diamond, jewellery, piece of string) and threw it off a cliff to see what happened, the place around the void shard would become a node. Most likely an unstable node and either explode outwards with the manifestations of the imagination of any within its reach; implode into the void taking a fair amount of stuff with it, or miraculously balance out and create a stable (for now) void node in that place. However, air is a terrible form of matter to stabilise a node with and the most likely outcome if the thing is above ground is to implode.

But the less obvious possibilities come down to what you want this to do. If Estares (if you're really set on keeping that as the genesis) found the 'secret' to controlling the void, then what stands out to me as that secret is he discovered how to create from the void. How to pull something out of it and break its tether to the void. Meaning he could make something come from the void and never have to return to it again.

That sort of thing can either become a new kind of magic with the usual list of spells, pros, cons, and scale of experience. OR it could be a magic device that provides an opportunity for any void mage (who has both the shard and the balance thing) to pull something out of the void like the would normally, yet it will remain in our realm and never need to return.

 

 

The deadly effects of pure mana is far less intriguing to me. And honestly, I read of the ability to control it to such a finite degree that you can select targets and mass taint them all and rolled my eyes. If that is the ONLY thing this is doing, then sure, a finite level of control could become possible, but if the larger possibilities of the void being touchable are met, then targeting people with a mana taint is OP, and also kindof silly. What is the point of it? Taint works better as a side effect. Like if you punched someone with a balance ring on your finger then they are suffering the mana taint. Not some AOE + only-targeting-bad-guys spell.

 

 

Of note, the law of equal sacrifice might still be in play. Whereby for something to come out, something else must go in. Depends how you feel about that.

 

(Going by paragraphs here)

 

1.) At the moment 'Pure' Mana is simply a relative term, what it truly is is as you put it, but I'm using Pure Mana as its place as it is more broad to the subject and more open to the usual concept of something very powerful, being very deadly.

 

2.) The object you were thinking of that it would be 'in limbo' with would be the Controlling Object, (EI jewelry etc.), is placed in the Device I mentioned you made me think of, would put it into a sort of stasis that it could no longer be controlled until the Jewelry/object is removed from the Device. As for the second part, the Shard I'm going for is one people can obtain at any time, as long as they have the materials needed, which also includes the willingness of several Voidic Masters, to keep it from becoming an snowflake object.  Also, there will be an event I will propose to many of the Major Guilds out there in order to get its presence to be known, without bringing the entire server into a compact place with, what will be no doubt, trolling and people trying to be 'top dog' in the situation over others.

 

3.) The sort of poisoning from the mana isn't like Dark Magics in a few ways. For instance, it cannot be removed by Holy Magic or any other magic. Only waiting and being healthy, the Voidic Masters who helped created the Shard, and the person in Control of the Shard can remove it. It is also a location and use based poisoning, the closer you are to the Shard, and the more Mana you use in the Shard's presence will increase the rate and damage of the poisoning. As for players ignoring the downsides, I WILL be checking in on the Shard's every now and again to see what has happened to it, as I cannot monitor all things that occur with them, I will watch the things that inevitably remove the Shard from the players control and cause it to be unbalanced and cease to exist with its imploding into the Void.

 

4.) As I'm not sure I've mentioned before, I haven't gotten all of the Uses out yet, this will include its abilities and whatnot, EI, things only it can do. These may or may not include a strange form, very powerful, yet very limited form of pure void magic.

 

5.) The Shard, if the 'Jewelry' is tossed and lost from a living person's hand/body, it will cause the Shard to immediately begin to destabilize and, once it has overgone its 'Jewelry's' strength to control it, the Physical Plane will force the Shard and the area surrounding it, into the Void. If the 'Jewelry' is as strong as Tahrah/Estare's Staff is, then it would explode, rather than implode, as at that point the Physical Plane cannot control it and instead of being capable of removing it entirely, it sacrifices the area, rather than the entire Plane.

 

6.) I hadn't completely thought of that, but it did touch my mind. Though, I believe it would turn back to what I said about paragraph 4. Where it may form a new type of very limited but powerful magic in its area of influence.

 

7.) As for this, all things are not quite yet explained, I will in time, but a short example of what I was thinking when it 'zapped' people, is it turns the Mana within the Being against itself, breaking it and destroying it, while the Shard's 'aura' effect, fills them with 'Pure' Mana. Essentially, this will be the base ability of the Shard, which would simply be a hyper effect of its 'aura' effect that it already does. As for the thought of it being OP, it isn't really. As stated above the Origin section, the Mortal Shard's will nowhere near be as powerful as the First Shard. Instead, for example, it would take about 5 minutes of an infant of a chipmunk, for the example, to be killed if targeted by the Shard. On normal aura effect, it could take 20-30 minutes of IC gameplay. Being targeted by the Shard only increases the effect by 2 times the original pace. For the reason it reacted differently on the First, was its level of power, and the Staff, being in a temporary placement to slow its growth and effect. Only when Estares had the Staff and commanded it to unleash its strength, did it have a near infinite effect. (But as said, Mortal Shards will be /infinitely/ less powerful than the original). However, after all that, it's base ability is pretty much a side effect that simply increases the damage of its aura.

 

 

 

No idea what happened with the highlight here. I'm trying to sort it out. (Couldn't fix it so I made it as easy as I could to read.)

[Kaun 99]

-Updated ~How to Destroy~ As well as furthered detail on ~Cons~-

[Kaun 99]

~Been Busy, will Update over this weekend and hopefully finish before Christmas~

[Kaun 99]

~Updated -How to Destroy-~

~Updated -Pros-~

~Updated -Cons-~

 

(Have any ideas, feel free to PM me or simply post here, your choice. All feedback is welcomed, but not required.)

[Kaun 99]

Added

~Items of Interest~

 

And its components.

[Kaun 99]

~Updated~

-Pros

-Cons

 

 

~Removed For The Time Being~

-Uses

-Roleplay Scenarios

[Kaun 99]

For the most part, this Lore is complete, only things to be discovered through events remain (It shall be updated when information in events is found, or any player discovers things about the Shard on their own). Thus, it shall be removed from [WIP].

[ChonGojDragonski 317]

I will read this soon. This is freaking huge.

[Kaun 99]

Also a side note on the 'origin lore,' it is a tale of how it happened, truth be told it is not entirely fact of how it went down, all that is fact is that Estares and Tahrah exist, and Estares was consumed by the Void Shard.

[Wolf Druid Ouity 1461]

I believe there's already an aenguldaemon responsible for change. I know Gazardiael is new beginnings. I always told ET that if they want to create a new and fascinating story, they should work with what exists and embellish it, and I extend the same advice to you. You're writing in dieties you think would be cool to justify a thing you think would be cool. Think broader, give context that we can relate to.

From my time observing the lore team, I can pretty much garuntee to you that as is, this won't be accepted.

[Kaun 99]

Daemons, are beings of Change, they cling to it more than Aenguls. Estares is Daemon of the Void, for he sees it as the one thing that will eternally Change. And as stated before there is only really one Daemon being made to create this lore, and for the most part, as seen when taken by the collapsing Void Shard he is gone. The reasons for creating Estares is because I have not seen another Aengul or Daemon that would dare delve into the depths of the Void as he has to create the Void Shard. If there is another Aengul/Daemon that would, gladly share, for what I know is that most would never tamper with the Void.