Arshamudd

 

(Arshamudd is the setting of Wings of Daera by Ardihel. Check it out by clicking here!)

 

Other Appellations:

 

The Vail Universe (Alpha)

 

 

Fox Harmonic:

 

Alef-Phi

 

Astral Connection:

 

L8 D3

These connection ratings are tentative as telepathic scans of this universe flatline in the presence of Vail. We know from how Vail functions that there’s a clear and strong connection to the Astral, but we can only speculate on the exact nature of that connection.

 

Threat Rating:

 

3

 

This threat rating reflects the possibility of Vail leaking into other universes, though to speak candidly, it more so reflects the fear ARGO higher-ups feel concerning Vail. Vail prevents telepathic scanning on whatever world it lands on and ARGO commanders hate it when the multiverse pulls a veil over interesting worlds.

 

Multiverse Activity:

 

Inactive

 

Keywords:

 

Observe Only, Quantum

 

In addition to the complications raised by Vail, this universe is another of those that we can’t travel to, only observe.

 

Description:

 

On the Cosmic Level

 

In this universe, a space-borne substance of indeterminate origin called Vail sometimes impacts inhabited planets, and when it does, the planet goes completely dark to telepathic scans. It’s as if the planet was a lifeless rock. Nothing sounds through the Astral. We have to rely on physical scans or nothing.

 

You have no idea how uneasy that makes ARGO commanders. They don’t like blindspots in our observations, and they have R&D working around the clock on a way to read the unreadable, but results so far haven’t been promising.

 

And our Vectors aren’t much help either. We’ve tried to “wish” around the blindspots, but when we ask a Vector like Willow Collins to create a portal to “a world where Vail doesn’t jam telepathic scans,” we get a universe where Vail doesn’t jam telepathic scans…because it’s just a rock, an alloy of ringwoodite, to be specific, and that’s not helpful at all because Vail does much more with the Astral besides jam telepathic scans. It seemingly functions like gaeitie and cyanite in that it creates a bridge between the Astral and the physical, but where gaeitie and cyanite are harmonic in that they ground and neutralize Astral phenomena within the physical world, Vail seems to be syncopathic. It brings the Astral and physical together in chaotic fashion. When it makes contact with thoughts, it produces dramatic changes in the amount of ambient energy in an area–and that’s for a start. It can alter reality with the right thoughts. And what’s more, it implants itself within those that make contact with it. It alters the biology of living beings to create Vail.

That’s a pretty orderly act for something with such latent chaotic potential. That’s made some Astral researchers wonder if Vail doesn’t, on some level, have intent.

It’s an out-there hypothesis, and the first thing we tell ARGO recruits is that when making hypotheses about anything in the multiverse, always air on the side of the predictable and plain over the novel and out-there unless you have supporting evidence for the out-there.

 

But we do have supporting evidence.

 

You see, while we can’t telepathically scan living beings on a planet with Vail, we can scan the planet as a whole…sort of. The scan is vague in the extreme and only brings a garbled impression to the mind of the scanning telepath.

 

The impression is this:

 

Growth. Enormity. A mind that can encompass universes. Gestation. Cosmic egg.

 

And the planet where this impression is clearest is called Arshamudd.

 

Arshamudd

 

The ancient history of Arshamudd, the planet which serves as synecdoche for its universe, is one of humans and fae. Humans had their territory and the fae had theirs.

 

The fae are not the fairies we are familiar with. They are natives of Arshamudd, unlike our fairy friends who visit us from another universe. Like the Unseelie Court, the fae believed strongly in inviolable bans. Their territory was sacrosanct, and woe to the human that trespassed through their lands. Because, like faeries we are familiar with, the fae believed in punishments that were as poetic as they were horrifying. Death was a mercy not often given trespassers.

 

Fae were a complication leveled against human development, but in the grand scheme of things they weren’t so bad. They kept to themselves mostly, and unlike faeries, did not see mankind as game pieces to be used in a great civil war between two Courts. They were willing to give mankind enough space to grow and develop, and grow and develop mankind did. They took to science. They built cities. They created industry.

 

Then a little more than a century ago, the heavens struck mankind down. A great calamity befall mankind worse than any fae would have wished upon them.

 

A great meteor, which mankind calls the Daera, impacted the Earth. The resulting cataclysm nearly wiped out humanity and the fae. Man forgot his technology, forgot the fae, and returned to more primitive habits to endure the oncoming ice age.

 

By the way, the world where the Daera was just a hunk of ringwoodite? No survivors. Just in case you were curious.

 

Anyway…

 

The fae were content to be forgotten about. The Daera had devastated their race as much as it did the mankind. In mythology and folklore, they could vanish and recover at their own rate without worrying about what man was transforming into.

 

And this is what man was transforming into:

 

46 clans in 46 heated habitation domes united under the strength of Emperor Rosal.

 

This was mankind.

 

And this was how it happened:

 

As society collapsed around them, scientists learned that the Daera was made of a peculiar substance called Vail–another substance to add to the exotic materials list. Vail generated a constant, steady supply of heat and energy. In the darkness and cold that was soon to swallow the Earth, Vail became incalculably valuable. The very thing that doomed the Earth was now the only thing that could save it.

 

The Vail at the impact site was too concentrated to be harvest. The impact site was a totally inhospitable no-go zone that to this day hasn’t been charted. But the Daera fragmented out from the impact site and left Vail deposits in what came to be known as wings and these wings could be harvested for Vail. Mankind exhausted the last of his industry in constructing 46 Vail powered domes over these wings.

 

Man shortly learned that living in close proximity to Vail was physically transformative. It’s energy did strange things to the human body. For most of humanity this amounted to nothing more than blue tumors on the skin, but for a select few Vail transformed them into living batteries of Vail energy. Their bodies began generating Vail, and what is more, this rare factor was found to be hereditary. Such individuals became known as Conduits and became incredibly important to the nascent post-impact culture.

 

Through tools, mankind could harvest heat from Vail, but Conduits could do much, much more. Generating heat was the most basic and fundamental ability, but the art of controlling Vail went so far beyond merely generating heat. With enough Vail and enough skill, there’s no limit to what a Conduit can do.

 

From his 46 domes mankind regrew his culture. Each dome was centered on a noostower which contained a large chunk of the Daera. Without a Conduit, the chunk was just a cold rock. But with a Conduit, the chunk could be coaxed to project enough heat to warm an entire dome–and power its industry.

 

Conduits and Vail allowed for heat, not just to keep alive but to create industry. Conduits and Vail allowed for the creation of trains and trade between between domes. Conduits and Vail even allowed for the creation of golems, artificial servants.

 

A Church formed which gave philosophical and spiritual context to man’s new world. Universally adopted, it provided cultural cohesion among the 46 tribes.

 

Church hierarchy chart, compiled by ARGO comparative theologist Marsh:

 

1. Pontiff: The leader and face of the church. Absolute authority. Rivals the Emperor himself in power.

 

2. Magisterial Shepherd: Essentially, the Church’s treasurer. They are the one who determines how the Church’s ample supply of Vail is distributed and spent and who monitors the Vail expenditure of individual Church members. Only the Pontiff is beyond their authority. Their identity is kept secret. It would be too much of a liability if it were known.

 

3. Cardinals: Bishops that have earned the attention of the Pontiff and serve as his inner circle and cabinet.

 

4. Exarchs: It’s a rule of the multiverse–everyone fears the taxman, and these are the taxmen of Arshmudd. They were goat skull headpieces because again, everyone fears the taxman. They do the bidding of the Magisterial Shepherd and answer directly to them.

 

5. Bishops: The elite of an elite. They are in charge of managing dome-wide Church activities, and each dome only has a handful. Some even have only one.

 

6. Monsignor: A priest awarded special privileges and responsibilities due to their skills and service. The ones not to be sacrificed indiscriminately.

 

7. Priest: The rank and file. The willing hands, feet, and backbone of the Church. Preachers, administrators, and if necessary, soldiers.

 

8. Martyr: A recent and cruel addition to the hierarchy. Conduit children from noble families chosen (forced) to work the noostowers until they die. Select children that gain the Pontiff’s notice are called the Blessed Ones.

 

Man didn’t just survive. He thrived.

 

But with regrown prosperity came regrown competition. The clans started fighting one another until about 50 years ago a man named Rosal united the tribes under his overwhelming strength as the first emperor of the Vail age with the city of Harvatat the first-ever capital of the entire human race.

 

Around a decade ago, the Asgados clan rose to the favor of Emperor Rosal.

 

For several years the Asgados had steadily increased their power by raiding other clans for their Vail reserves. These attacks were condemned by the Church, and might have been condemned by the Emperor, but one members of the Asgados accomplished a feat of legendary import.

 

One member became the first and so far only human to travel to the Daera impact site, now known a the Abyss, and return alive. Not only did he return, but he returned empowered with miraculously strong Conduit abilities. He was as a god made flesh, and mankind reacted accordingly.

 

Many came to regard the Asgados clan with awe. They were looked up to as a chosen people, a holy people even, and when this man offered himself and his clan to the Emperor to be his right hand, his chosen people, Rosal could not refuse. Age and looming mortality had made the Emperor paranoid, and his paranoia led to extreme measures. He did not have an heir. He worried about the future of his empire when he was gone. The  Asgados gave him a degree of surety. Things would function in his absence, so long as they were under their watch.

 

The man who came back from the Abyss was appointed Pontiff of the Church by the Emperor–and now the Church could no longer condemn the Asgados raids.

 

Vail tributes to Harvatat have increased substantially. After all, the Asgados have to take their cut, and the tribes are feeling the pinch. To ensure prompt and efficient payment, the Asgados have created an elite police force called the Cerberus Squad. They can be thought of as customs officers with nigh-unlimited power. In a less charitable light, they’re legalized pirates. They control travel between the cities, manage checkpoints, and check Vail tributes. Woe be it to anyone whose tributes don’t pass inspection, because the Cerberus Squad are also in charge of administering punishment for tribute violations.

 

With their Pontiff revered as a holyman across the human race, adherents to the Church have reached a new level of fervor–and corruption. What was once a forward-thinking philosophy has become perverted into a vehicle of cruel realpolitk. The Pontiff has decreed that the noble families of all tribes are to send their Vail-capable children to power the noostowers as martyrs. Though they don’t sacrifice their lives, they sacrifice their freedom, and their futures.

 

The noostowers have always relied on attending Conduits. The Daera chunks begin to degrade if left too long without Conduit contact like a radioactive material undergoing half-life. When Conduits interact with the Daera chunks, it exhausts them. They use their power like a spark to activate the greater fire of the Daera chunks. But the Pontiff is the first to make attending Daera chunks a religious institution–and a mandatory one for noble families.

 

But tyranny is like a fire. It blazes in overwhelming force and then quickly dies. Recall the despotic states of our own world. The cracks in the Rosal Empire are already starting to show. While the noble families are uniformly cowed, lesser houses and commoners have started rebellions throughout the empire. Some are organized, some are not, but all seek to undermine the Empire.

 

But the greatest blow against the Empire might not come from rebels at all, but an unassuming young conduit, the Pontiff’s favorite conduit, actually.

 

Though mild and friendly, he holds within himself a great and terrible power that could rock the Empire to its foundations…

 

Individuals of Note

 

Fiadh

 

 

There’s a principle in mirabology, the jackpot principle, which states formally that “in hyperstatic distributions that exhibit consistent uniformity, given enough time, this uniformity will be broken by an individual of significant deviation.” In other words, when you have a world where the superhumans all tend to do the same thing, say a world where everyone can make a small fire with their minds, eventually someone is going to come along that can set the world on fire, that can make stars explode. It’s called the jackpot principle because while hitting a jackpot in a casino is rare, but given enough time, it will happen, and when it does the payoff will be huge.

 

We see examples of the jackpot principle all the time researching other worlds. There’s a new multiverse student over at Martins’ named Wendy who demonstrates the jackpot principle.

And in Arshamudd, Fiadh provides a textbook example of the jackpot principle.

 

He was found abandoned at the foot of a noostower named Immaculate and since he was a Conduit, he was tasked with attending to it as soon as he was old enough to interface with the Daera chunk. Waste not, want not.

 

But Fiadh is not like other Conduits. His Vail generation is off the charts.

 

And no one realizes it. Not his fellow martyrs, not the Pontiff, not anyone.

 

Though powerful, Fiadh is clumsy, and the unskilled way at which he generates and manipulates Vail belies his true potential. What’s more, it’s given him a poor reputation among his peers. They see him as, at best, a useless clutz, and at worse, a walking bomb.

 

The poor boy just wants to help, though. Fiadh is a kind, innocent soul. Bright, hopeful, undaunted in spirit, he just wants to share the happiness he feels inside his heart with others.

 

But he knows what others think about him. He has eyes. He has ears. And he doesn’t wish to be a burden to anyone.

 

So, one night, he slipped away…

 

Wanted posters sprang up around the domes advertising a hefty reward for Fiadh’s safe return, which attracted the attention of a certain bounty hunter…

 

Raw Power 100 (perhaps even more)

Durability 2

Speed 7

Sanity 8

Intelligence 8

Skill 6

 

ARGO Note:

 

“Oh cool! He looks neat! I’m going to research him. Thank you, Mr. Book!”

 

“No problem. Always a pleasure helping a Martin’s student.”

 

“Hey, do you think Fiadh and I could be Fox echoes?”

 

“Well that’s hard to say. Fox echoes are notoriously hard to prove…and disprove. What do you think is the connection? Your names?”

 

“Yep! But it’s not just like, because of the name. There’s more to it than that. Fiadh is only one of my names. And how I got it is real complicated.”

 

“Oh yeah. I’ve seen your file.”

 

“So I’m thinking, I’m called Fiadh because of my second birth. My rebirth. You know what I mean, right?”

“Yeah.”

“And we don’t know how Fiadh got his name, but it might not have been the name he started out with since they found him abandoned at the foot of one of those big scary towers. You get what I’m saying? Please tell me you get what I’m saying!”

 

“I get you. The idea is that he had one name when he was born and then he got Fiadh.”

 

“Yes! That’s exactly the Fox echo connection!”

 

“You two might be Fox echoes then. There are weirder ones. But wouldn’t that imply his other name is Edith?”

 

“It would be odd for a boy to be called Edith. But it is a different culture. Maybe Edith is a masculine name in Arshamudd? Mr. Book, is Edith a boy’s name in Arshamudd?”

“I honestly do not know.”

 

“Yay! More to research, then!”

 

–Edith Ogden to ARGO Researcher Book

 

 

Asha

 

 

A bounty hunter skilled in the use of chains. Rash and opportunistic, she fights with the end in mind–and only the end. No dirty trick is beneath her.

 

Asha works for the rebellion, and for her the rebellion is a very personal matter. She was the sole survivor of the Nutaryu massacre, which was carried out by the Asgados a decade ago. For her, rebellion and vengeance are one and the same.

 

Though something of an idiot when it comes to practical concerns, Asha is a highly skilled warrior, the student of a great master, and fights using chains and blades. She is known as the Crimson Moon due to the scar covering her face.

 

Has a weakness for cheap drinks and bad ideas.

 

Raw Power 7

Durability 4

Speed 6

Sanity 4

Intelligence 2

Skill 9

 

His Holiness, Pontiff Asgados

 

The Saint of the Abyss himself, Pontiff Asgados. The one and only man to travel to where the Daera landed and returned to tell the tale. He is, as far as mankind is aware, the strongest Conduit.

 

He is revered and worshipped for his power and hated for his actions. He was turned the Church into his personal weapon and reduced it to an extension of his will, and many fear it is only a matter of time before he does the same to the Empire.

 

He spends a lot of time around the Blessed Ones, Conduit children he has personally chosen from out the martyrs taken from the noble families of the domes. He keeps a close eye on his Blessed Ones because he sees great potential in their Conduit abilities. He wants to identity potential apprentices…and potential dangers.

 

Raw Power 100 (potentially more)

Durability ???

Speed ???

Sanity ???

Intelligence ???

Skill ???

 

Lady Rilah

 

The rebellion has many benefactors who assist covertly and overtly, but their biggest benefactor if Lady Rilah.

 

She is a vain, haughty, condescending woman of great resources and wit, beloved by those graced by her lovely presence and silver tongue, but her motives in assisting the rebellion are less than altruistic. It is simply a matter of power. The Asgados clan has more power than her own clan, for the moment, and she seeks to make it a very short moment. To that end, she has no problem expending rebels against the Empire as if they were game pieces.

Lady Rilah is not without her humanity though. She has a soft spot to toward her loyal golem maid Vapeurie.

 

Raw Power 1

Durability 1

Speed 3

Sanity 10

Intelligence 10

Skill 6

 

War Lord, Yeudar Asgados

 

Rarely in the multiverse are people that call themselves War Lord good people. It speaks of a disturbingly nonchalant acceptance of one’s grisly role.

 

Yeudar Asgados is the leader of the Asgados’ raids. When the covert extortion of the Asgados controlled Church isn’t enough, there is Yeudar to administer overt extortion.

 

Little is known about Yeudar, and he prefers to keep it that way to cultivate an aura of fear. All that can be said about him is this–he has never known defeat, or mercy.

 

Raw Power ???

Durability ???

Speed ???

Sanity 7

Intelligence ???

Skill ???