The Crystal Palace ------------------ This is a *very* weird realm which was created during a very late game session (about 3-4 in the morning). It is definitely not a standard realm, and may cause interesting problems for the players if they find it. ------------------------------------------------------------------ I looked around the corner. A group of five Emmas and two Franzes were busy arguing about whether "...the diamond locked quintessence fields could be forced to realign when subjected to shock waves of quasi physical nature...". Damn hermetics! Of course, Franzes were not hermetics, but they behaved as if they were. I leaned carefully back against the perfect wall of diamond. Across the tunnel I saw my mirror image go around the corner to argue with the hermetics. I lit a cigarette and watched as the smoke smoothly turned into diamond dust in the air. Suddenly I heard a commotion around the corner. Someone soothingly said "You have no possibilities! This is for your own best!". I quickly ran into the sidetunnel, making the finger to another one of myself who were running a few steps behind me. He responded the same way. At least there were two of me. About a half dozen of Salvatores had appeared, and were busy killing the by now ten Franzes. I saw how one of them expertly cut the throat of another Franz, while he advanced towards the cornered Emmas. Damn! I held up Wands 8, Swiftness, against the ceiling, and looked away when a metre long spear of diamond fell down and impaled the Salvatore. Suddenly I saw a movement in the corner of my eye. Before I had even a chance to turn, my throat was almost painlessly slashed open. The last thing I heard, before I died and began to turn into crystals was the friendly: "See? I cured your smoking!". History and explanation: ------------------------ The Crystal Realm was created unintentionally. The brilliant and overconfident mage Emma von Kellstahl believed she had devised a useful and elegant way of removing paradox: she created a material pattern, and channelled paradox instead of quintessence into it, thereby (according to her theory) creating an object which could be safely disposed of. No more problems with paradox. She was quite wrong. When the pattern was created, the rote channelled prime as usual into it, and at the same time she let out her paradox. It accumulated into the object, but turned it effectively into a sort of paradox spirit. After a first, partially successful experiment (she survived the paradox spirit anyway) she tried to remove all of her paradox. She used a powerful artefact inside a node, and channelled all of her paradox into a diamond pattern in the Deep Umbra. The result was spectacular. The combination of some quintessence of the node (which had accidentally been sent too) and the artefact (an idol of unknown origin, which seems to catalyse powerful and dangerous magickal effects) influenced the pattern. The pattern began to evolve. Instead of becoming a single, perfect crystal of diamond filled with paradox, it exploded into shards. Every shard began to absorb free quintessence from the environment, turning it into more diamond. The effect was somewhat like when a piece of ice is added to supercooled water: an explosion of crystallisation spreading outwards. Quickly, the diamond structure began replicating, growing larger and larger. And it began to grow towards Emma, who didn't suspect anything. A month after the original experiment, Emma began to worry. Strange portents told her that something was quite wrong. The snowflakes which fell on her was not hexagonal, but rhomboidal. When left to themselves, chesspieces began to reorganise themselves into a crystalline pattern. When drawing a tarot card, she got 6 wands (which in the Crowley deck depicts a crystal, with arrows of lightening pointing outwards). Finally, another member of the cabal took a look on her in the Umbra. He saw a crown of crystalline reflections above her head, and looking outwards he saw *something big*, growing towards her. A whole realm of titanic diamond crystals, growing straight towards Emma like a heat- seeking missile. They decided to try to stop it inside the deep umbra. Using some help from a hermetic order, they managed to use their node to ram a hole in the Horizon. Following the path of prime they had used, the began to journey towards the new realm. An enormous mass of brilliant diamonds glittered in the far distance, and when they got nearer they saw a enormous blade of diamond crystallising towards them, like a express train locked on its course towards Emma. They jumped of their path, trying to escape the crystal. They were not completely successful, and was trapped inside a space inside the crystal realm, surrounded by labyrinths of sparkling diamond. Their quintessence began to drain and turn into diamond. Sharp spikes of diamond shot out of their clothes, and sheets of diamond tried to encapsulate them. Fortunately, they had spent most of their quintessence earlier, and managed to free themselves. They began to wander towards the centre of the realm, following the tunnel they found themselves in. Then Franz, while trying to understand the nature of the crystals, suffered paradox backlash. At first nothing seemed to happen. Then Lizzy noticed that her mirror images did not move in the same ways she did. Neither did the images of anybody else. The mirror images behaved in about the same way as the originals did, bickering and discussing. Franz soon found out that he could even read their minds, and they were thinking about the same things as the originals did. As they moved on, they suddenly noticed there were two Emma walking through the tunnel. Both persons quickly realised that neither knew which was original and copy. Soon there was several large groups of copies of each of the five persons, each handling the situation in different ways. The Emmas had quickly formed several teams to discuss the situation and ways to make use of it. Salvatores and Lizzys tried to ignore themselves. Jahns stood in the corners, smoking and sometimes harassing the others. Franzes began to experiment using Mind to communicate between himselves. According to one theory proposed by an Emma, the phenomenon was caused by some unknown interference effect between the original paradox, Franz paradox and the crystalline lattices of prime around them. As the people move on towards the centre, the travellers became more and more numerous as the primal fields began to increase. Several of Salvatore suddenly realised that their copies had exactly the same possibilities or fewer than they had themselves, and thus were filling up room for other possibilities, and therefore should be given the Good Death. Quickly half of Salvatore killed the other half. After that almost everybody began to avoid them. When they reached the centre, the by now quite disturbed people tried to find a way to undermine the realm. Inside the walls of the central chamber were the original, paradox laced crystals embedded. Emmas tried to destroy them, which only led to a cave in, which killed many of the present people. Salvatore pointed out the fundamental problem with the realm, its total lack of entropy. Together Emmas, Jahns and Salvatores began to create a spreading pattern of entropy, hoping to counteract the spreading pattern of order. The result was complete chaos, as parts of the realm caved in, crystal shards rained down and many Salvatores used the moment to backstab many Jahns, Lizzys, Emmas and Franzes. A confused fight began, between everybody, while others fled outwards. The end result was the realm as it is now. Inside the gigantic labyrinth of diamond, groups of almost identical people study, ignore, fight and help each other. Instead of an ecology based on diversity as on Earth, the realm is based on endless repetition of existing patterns, with small variations. The inhabitants have partly created this realm, partly been formed by it. The most important thing about it is reflection: everything happens again and again, in infinite permutations, like the reflections inside a diamond. There is no past or future, as everything that happens will repeat itself and have already happened somewhere else. There is no real space, as every event will happen again and again in new places. Everything mirrors everything else, in infinite permutations. Physical Description: --------------------- The Diamond Realm consists almost completely of perfect, 100% pure diamond with a somewhat unusual crystal symmetry. Titanic crystals, several miles long, create the backbone of a complex lattice of diamond. Inside the mostly compact mass of diamond, there are interstices and tunnels left empty when the quintessence needed to build the world was used up. Infinitely long halls, with walls, floor and ceiling made of perfect diamond interconnect into a labyrinth inside the realm. Mostly they lead towards the centre, where the realm was created. The central chamber is a great cupola, where many of the tunnels connect. In the walls there are still shards of the original crystals embedded. Everything is made out of diamond, reflecting and refracting everything into its facets. The illumination consists of brilliant reflections, often split into spectras of unearthly beauty. While the realm is extraordinarily beautiful, it is also terribly dangerous to the careless. The edges of the diamonds are razor sharp, and long, sharp spears of diamond can easily impale or slash open a runner. Loud sounds can make the ceiling come crashing down, or make sharp stalactites come loose, impaling anybody under. There are some structures which resemble plants: groups of crystals arranged into rosette patterns, or forests of exactly similar diamonds. And there is the rare icosidodecahedrons, perfect polyhedrons of diamond found lying around. The roll quite easily, and sometimes seems almost like they were alive. Whether they really are alive is an unending source of debate among Emmas and Lizzys. From the outside, the whole realm look like a enormous cluster of diamonds, and their brilliant reflections can be seen from a great "distance". Several drained ley-lines lead into it, and where they once was now impossibly large crystals point outwards. The whole realm look a bit like a beautiful, impossible gem suspended in the Deep Umbra. Around it there is a region where most quintessence have been drained, making it impossible to grow further. Here the remains of several small realms can be found, which have been drained and partially turned into diamonds. The diamonds of the realm have some unusual properties. When in contact with quintessence, they absorb it and grow (especially in the direction towards the nearest Emma). If an outsider appears in the realm, it will begin to drain his quintessence (If he has prime, he can use countermagick against a target number of 5 to resist this for a turn). Dead things, like a pencil or a corpse, will slowly be drained of their quintessence and reform into crystals. The speed at which this process happens depends upon the amount of entropy nearby, which inhibit it somewhat. This draining is not active against living beings, which constantly renew their supply of prime, and their carried things which seems to be protected by their nearness. When something is turned into crystal, it will reform into a cluster of diamond of about the same size. This cluster will slowly, over the course of a few hours merge together to a single diamond. Some of these intermediate stages can be found lying around after a fight, the only clue to the victims. Sometimes a person is encapsulated in diamond, or trapped under a rockfall. When he or she has suffocated, they will slowly become more and more transparent, until they have been completely transformed into the surrounding diamond. Normally, the realm is highly anti-entropic. A ray of light reflecting between crystals will do so forever (This may be the source of light in the realm, as trapped light is reflected over and over again, sometimes becoming copied.). A bullet will tend to ricochet forever, and may become copied. This can create tunnels filled with ricochets, slowly turning into razor sharp diamonds. The crystals have perfect facets, which mirror and refract everything. Inside them, the viewer can see other people, Emmas studying, groups of Jahns and Lizzys arguing, himself getting attacked by Salvatores etc. The mirrorimages can in fact be contacted with mind, and behave exactly as the originals would do in their situation. Sometimes mirrorimages contact the onlooker. Sometimes the images show what happened a few minutes ago, sometimes what will happen. There is no way to distinguish the events inside a "mirror world" from the outside world. In fact, they seem completely interchangeable. The duplication of people is the most unusual feature of the realm. Suddenly, there are two or more of a person, or a group of persons. They do not appear out of thin air, or from the walls. Instead they just are there when someone happens to look. It is impossible to tell who was the original and who was the copy, as they all have exactly the same memories, attitudes and physical form. This is also true, to a lesser extent for material objects (which will turn into diamond faster than they are copied unless carried). Sometimes the copy is not perfect, and differ slightly from the original. This does still not give anybody the chance to distinguish them, as the difference is too small to notice, and even when the two persons compare their personalities, memories and ideas they will not be able to find out which was original since both versions are equally possible. Notice that due to the low entropy, the different versions of the archetypes do not diverge that far from each other, as they would in a more entropic realm like Earth. There is also another, unknown factor. Sometimes there are strange shifts in the refractions inside the diamond, almost like a reflection of something else. They are never there when anybody looks again. Franzes claim they have noticed traces of a presence of a mind not belonging to the normal inhabitants, something perhaps not even human. And Emmas have noted small fluctuations in the pattern of light. All these phenomena seems to be related, but there are no clues to what causes them. The Magickal Axioms: -------------------- The realm have been shaped by the original paradox of Emma (creating the realm in the first place), Franz mental paradox (creating the mirrorimages) and the partially successful entropy spell (which creates the fluctuations between prime and entropy). As a whole, the realm have a quite stringent reality in some aspects, but a rather loose reality in others. The different spheres are: Correspondence: 0 (This works as normal. Since almost all places are very similar, and populated with similar persons, the effects of correspondence is almost as easily duplicated by walking.) Entropy: -1 - 1 (In the realms original state, entropy was highly suppressed. When shattering a piece of diamond, the shards were split along straight lines and fell in a geometrical pattern. Dices always fell the same way, and so on. By the introduction of more entropy, this axiom changes. When it is as high as 1, it is quite easy to find weak spots, to backstab people and structures and generally destroy anything. Most of the time it is quite low, even when it is ascendant.) Forces: 0 (This works as normal. There are no higher forces like radioactivity in this realm. Light, gravity and kinetic energy are the only normal forces.) Life: 0 (This works as normal.) Matter: 2 (The creation of new diamond is a quite natural process, and Emmas have found out how to simply will diamond into existence when the Prime is high enough. To change the parameters of diamond (changing its colour, strength and so on) is also quite simple for a mage. To create anything else is harder, and may give paradox. Soft, fuzzy objects are quite impossible. Remember that matter, when left alone, will begin to turn into diamond crystals.) Mind: 0 (This works as normal) Spirit: -3 (No spirits exist in this realm, since they would become absorbed by the crystals. This makes spirits very careful not to enter it. It is impossible to look in or out using Spirit, since the diamonds block the view.) Prime: 0-2 (In the original realm, prime axiom is 2. It is quite easy to notice flows of prime, as they will begin to form crystals or become trapped inside crystals. Anybody using pattern magick will be briefly surrounded by the suggestion of reflecting facets in the air. To channel Prime into something is quite simple, as the realm eagerly absorbs Prime. The hard part is to get it out again. When Entropy is ascendant, the Prime axiom is lowered towards 1 or even 0) Time: 0 (There is no true passage of time in the realm, as there is only and eternal now, without any long term changes.) The entropy-prime cycle: ------------------------ Due to the introduction of entropy, the realm suffers from changes. These are periodic in nature, and lasts a short while (ranging from a couple of minutes to several hours). When prime is ascendant, it is easy to create new patterns. It is during this time most of the mirrorimages emerge, as there is enough quintessence around to create them. When there is too many people around, the descent into entropy immediately begins. Usually Salvatores begins to "give room for possibilities", which leads to quick and dirty fights between them and unwilling victims. Entropy gains power, as Jahns begins to use entropic magick, Emmas and Franzes tries to flee, mages suffers paradox backlashes and general mayhem ensues. When entropy is ascendant, old structures are destroyed and their quintessence is freed. Usually this will create more crystals and mirrorimages, making Prime ascendant yet again. This cycle continues, in large and small oscillations throughout the realm. It is not known if the changes are local to a small part, or global, influencing the whole realm. According to one proposed theory, the total amount of quintessence is constant, as there is no net influx. The same is true about entropy in the realm. (In game terms, the Entropy Axiom + Prime Axiom = 1). Some teams of Emmas have tried to influence the cycles, with mixed success. Paradox: -------- Forces, Matter and Prime paradox will almost always lead to the creation of more diamond, or the disruption of diamonds. Many Emmas have been crushed or encapsulated by crystals when trying to work magick. Entropy will lead to short term fluxes in the entropy/prime balance, often pushing it towards one extreme. Sometimes sharp stalactites coincidentally falls from the ceiling, impaling the mage. (This effect is also often used by Jahn) Mind can lead to the usual problems. One possibility is the dissolution of the mages identity, as he loses his grip on who he is and begins to think of himself as a Archetype, not as an individual. This is especially true about Franzes, who tends to go around in large groups communicating with Mind 3. The Inhabitants: ---------------- There were five members of the cabal who first entered the realm, thereby creating all the rest. These are the five archetypes. Every archetype has diverged slightly by now, as the mirroring is not always perfect (especially when entropy is ascendant). This divergence can be quite fast, and lead to new sub-varieties of the archetype. These varieties differ slightly from the personality, outlook and behaviour of the mainstream. Mirror images are created all the time, replacing dead or departed persons (when someone leaves a place, one or two mirrorimages often stay behind). When prime is ascendant, the available room is quickly filled with people. Shortly after entropy have been maximally ascendant, it is possible to find completely empty tunnels and chambers. If someone enters this realm, he or she will immediately create a new archetype, changing the politics of the realm totally. This may turn out to be a good thing, or a very bad move. Generally, Emmas and Franzes organise themselves into large teams, while Jahns and Salvatore tend to be solitary and mistrust themselves. Lizzys sometimes group together, sometimes stay solitary. The Five Archetypes: -------------------- Salvatore De Gennaro -------------------- Salvatore believes in possibilities. He does his best to give everybody a chance to fulfil their possibilities. Unfortunately, most of the inhabitants in the realm are simply copies, which have exactly the same possibilities. They take up the space and possibilities for each other, and hinder their own evolution. Thus most of them should be removed, to give more room for the others. This is true for everybody, but he mostly keeps an eye on Jahns and other Salvatores. Since Salvatores generally think quite alike, they always mistrust each other, to avoid being ambushed. Normally, Salvatore behaves very coolly, always wearing his intimidating sunglasses and pinstripe suit (he would make a great member of the Men in Black). He does not say much, and stand in the background, studying the others present. When he feels someone have to few possibilities, or is blocking others possibilities, he springs into action. He swiftly and efficiently kills his victims with a almost inhuman precision. He sincerely feels he is doing them a great service, and cant understand why everybody else is horrified. Salvatores are the predators of the realm, constantly seeking out and killing anybody they consider expendable to free much needed entropy. When prime is ascendant, they is often forced to stay in groups due to lack of space. This is a highly unstable state which can erupt at any moment. Suddenly everybody turns on their neighbours to make space, efficiently killing them. As long as prime is strong, they use the stiletto, but when entropy is above 0 they can also use the gun. However, not all Salvatores kill anybody indiscriminately. Many of them are quite nice people, helping others and generally behaving normally. This of course will make others even more confused. Euthanatos Essence: Questing Nature: Judge Demeanour: Caregiver Concept: Mafia Assassin Quote: Lizzy: "You're a sociopath!" Salvatore: "What's that?" Lizzy: "Look it up." Salvatore (after reading the definition in encyclopaedia): "Yes. It fits quite well." Gear: Very sharp stiletto (a talisman. Contains a coincidental Life effect giving two dices extra damage (which is multiplied by 3). Is also quite painless. This effect will only work when prime is less than 1 (otherwise the quintessence is too low)) Beretta M92 (only works when entropy is above 0) Pinstripe suit Sunglasses Str 3 Cha 3 Per 3 Dex (steady) 5 Man 1 Int 2 Sta 3 App 2 Wit 3 Alertness 2, Awareness 2, Brawl 2, Intuition 3, Intimidation 3, Streetwise 3, Drive 1, Etiquette 1, Firearms (pistols) 4, Melee (knives) 4, Stealth 3, Technology 2, Cosmology 2, Culture 2, Investigation 3, Law 1, Linguistics 1 Entropy 2 (foci: Two dices made of human bone) Forces 1 (Foci: Weapon) Life 2 (Foci: None) Spirit 2 (Foci: Dance) Allies 1, Arcane 1, Avatar 1, Node 1, Talisman 2 Arete 2 Willpower:7 Emma von Kellstahl ------------------ The creator of the realm, and still very interested in its physics. She is highly individualistic and organised, often working in teams were everybody is trying to impress everybody else with brilliant ideas and powerful magick. These teams work quite well together, and experiment with Matter and Prime magick. Since she generally ignore the consequences of her actions, it is not unusual for these teams to be destroyed by paradox or cave ins. Emma have style. She is always impeccably dressed and well organised. Her magick is often dramatic and impressive ("when you are doing vulgar magick anyway, why not liven it up a bit with Forces?") She is also the currently only mage controlling Matter in the realm, thus making her quite powerful. She produces much diamond in her experiments, and when prime is ascendant she can even do it without magick (some Emmas use this to protect themselves, by turning the air between themselves and an attacker into diamond). Quote: "Hermetics are not Technomancers. Hermetics are Better." Order of Hermes (Rosicrucian) Essence: Pattern Nature: Architect Demeanour: Director Concept: Efficient business woman Gear: Elegant Armani dress. Handbag containing all sorts of things. Pentacle of wood. Str 1 Cha 2 Per 2 Dex (catlike) 4 Man 3 Int 4 Sta 1 App (captivating) 5 Wits 2 Awareness 2, Expression 2, Intuition 3, Subterfuge 2, Drive 1, Etiquette 3, Leadership 1, Research 1, Computer 1, Culture 3, Investigation 2, Law 3, Linguistics 2, Occult 2. Forces 3 (Pentacle) Matter 3 Prime 2 (Pentacle) Uses Egyptian/Latin incantations for all magick. Arete: 4 Willpower: 5 Paradox: 2 Avatar: 2 Influence: 2 Library: 2 Node: 1 Franz-Josef Durch-Holtz ----------------------- Franz is a private eye, and outside the realm tend to return to the stereotypical gumshoe. However, inside the realm he is quite out of his normal element, and except for his trenchcoat and his odd references to camera angles, lightning, clipping and the budget, he behaves more like an apprentice hermetic. Franz is curious, and is almost as interested in the realm as Emma, but he also experiments with himselves. He often uses Mind to communicate, multitask or create mind links with several of himselves. This has led to that many Franzes have become much more of group entities than individuals. Originally a Orphan, he have been heavily influenced with hermetic thought, and often uses hermetic terms he "borrows", using Mind on Emmas. Franz is very impressed by Emmas hermetic magick. He often helps Emmas in their research, and tries to learn from them. He sometimes talks with Jahns, who he regard as a bit too irritating but generally interesting. He tries to avoid Salvatores, after seeing what he does when he think there are to few possibilities available for anybody. Lizzy is quite reasonable, and often help him. He never use offensive magick or his gun, preferring to run if attacked. Quote (to himself): "Care about some chess? Yes, it would be nice. Queens pawn to..." Orphan with Hermetic tendencies Essence: Questing Nature: Survivor Demeanour: Visionary Concept: Private Eye Str: 2 Cha: 3 Per: 4 Dex: 2 Man: 3 Int: 2 Sta: 2 App: 2 Wit: 4 Alertness 3, Awareness 3, Brawl 1, Dodge 1, Expression 1, Intuition 2, Streetwise 4, Drive 1, Etiquette 1, Firearms 2, Research 2, Research 1, Stealth 3, Technology 1, Investigation 3, Law 1, Linguistics 1 Entropy 1, Forces 2, Mind 3, Prime 1 (uses chessboard as foci for Prime) Arete: 4 Willpower: 10 Paradox : 4 Node 1 Influence 1 Arcane 1 Avatar 4 Gear: Travel chess board A small chessboard, which he uses to study prime or play with himself (most of the time he plays chess purely mentally with subpersonalities) Pistol Trenchcoat Icosidodecahedron Some pieces of diamond. Lizzy (Elizabeth Feigenbaum) ---------------------------- A young girl (tries to look older with Life), dressed like a punk. Wears a shrunken, dried, dead rat, impaled on a needle, on her chest. Often quite soft hearted, but with a hard edge. Tries to help everybody and avoid conflicts. She is the mediator of the realm. When she is attacked, she often flees, but when cornered, she fights like a cornered rat. Then she will use very nasty Life 4 attacks on anybody (and feel bad about it afterwards). She fears Salvatore, but sometimes acts like him (often without noticing it until afterwards). Have both religious and moral doubts about what she is doing, but does it anyway. Lizzy is quite irritated about Emmas paradox creating experiments, and hold her responsible for the whole trouble. The same is true about Franz, who she also suspect is behind much of the problems. Jahn is too impolite and should learn some manners. Quote: "I feel bad about everybody I kill. Both the good ones and bad ones." Ex Hollow One, now Euthanatos Essence: Dynamic Nature: Caregiver Demeanour: Caregiver (a bit warped sometimes, like Salvatore) Concept: Outsider. Str: 1 Cha: 3 Per (keen eyed):4 Dex (catlike) 5 Man: 1 Int: 3 Sta: 2 App (cute):4 Wit: 3 Alertness 3, Athletics 1, Awareness 2m Expression 1, Intuition 3, Streetwise 3, Subterfuge 1, Etiquette 1, Firearms 1, Meditation 1, Melee 2, Stealth 3, Survival 1, Technology 1, Cosmology 1, Culture 1, Enigmas 1, Medicine 3, Occult 1 Life 4 (foci: dried rat) Mind 2 Spirit 1 Arete: 4 Willpower: 5 Paradox: 2 Avatar 5 Arcane 5 Dream 3 Mentor 1 Gear: Stiletto Skull earring and other morbid jewellery Black Leather clothes Lockpicks Jahn Creutz ------------ Jahn is solitary and dislike almost everything, for good reasons. He prefers to stand in corners smoking, sometimes heckling the others and generally avoid most of the action (think of him as John Constantine in a bad mood). But when he sees something he don't like, like Salvatores attacking somebody else, he often interferes. He absolutely hates misuse of magick in any form. Jahn dislikes Emma for what she has caused, and regard her as a perfect example of the hermetic tendency to play with forces far beyond her understanding. Franz is at least somewhat more reasonable, but too influenced by Emma. Salvatore is purely disgusting, and a perfect example of why euthanatos should be stopped. Lizzy is his personal problem. Earlier, she was the most reasonable mage in the cabal, understanding the importance of avoiding misuse of magick. But now she has been seduced by euthanatos, and have begun thinking like them. He doesn't know what to do with her. He agrees with Salvatore that the realm needs more entropy, and does his best to spread it when he feels for it, channelling it into the walls, flawing the facets, cracking the floor and generally destroying the diamonds. He often uses this to clear out areas of the realm, and turn them into tunnels where he can be alone (or rather, where Jahns can be alone) Quote: "Well, Well, what have you done now, Fraulein Emma? Played with Secrets Man Was Never Meant To Know, again? Or just let loose something Unspeakable from God knows where?" Trenchcoater Essence: Dynamic Nature: Loner Demeanour: Jester Concept: John Constantine Wannabe Str: 2 Cha: 2 Per: 3 Dex: 2 Man: 5 Int: 3 Sta: 2 App: 2 Wit: 5 Alertness 2, Awareness 2, Dodge 2, Intuition 5, Intimidation 1, Streetwise 3, Subterfuge 4, Drive 1, melee 1, Research 1, Stealth 2, Cosmology 1, Enigmas 1, Linguistic 1, Medicine 1, Occult 5, Science 1. Entropy 3, Mind 4, Spirit 3. Arete:5 Willpower:8 Arcane 3 Avatar 2 Gear: Tarot pack A tarot pack, which he uses as foci. He holds up a card suited to the magickal effect, and it happens. Cigarettes Jahn always have a cigarette in the corner of his mouth, puffing smoke at the others and the crystals (where it turns into diamond). Dirty Trench coat Mood ------ The mood of this realm is best compared with a diamond: mirroring, hard with a hint of cruelty and very beautiful. Everything that happens is mirrored and repeated, like the reflections inside a diamond. Everything is frozen into the diamond, but seems to move, like the images inside a gem when it is rotated. The inhabitants are quite normal mages who have become trapped in this realm, and lost every chance to leave. They are now the realms ecosystem, endlessly repeating their actions in new scenes. Some of them have adapted, while others tries to resist the realm to some degree. There is no end. Nothing will ever change, and nobody can ever leave (or rather, nobody actually does it. Think of "Waiting for Godot"). The inhabitants seem to not care about it, they just keep on doing their things. There is a hint of alienness inside the realm, of something nonhuman. Maybe the whole realm is a kind of organism, or it is inhabited by something else besides humans. Something maybe uses the inhabitants for its own inscrutable goals. Most important is the beauty and perfection of everything. Glittering diamonds. Galleries of crystal pillars. Perfect gems reflecting everything. Delicate structures growing from the floor. Titanic crystals pointing outwards towards the outside. The melodious sound of diamond against diamond. The strange and hauntingly lifelike icosidodecahedrons. But this beauty slowly turn cold, as the visitors realise that they are trapped here forever, even if they leave.