DaveYou adjust your goggles and peer at the void, circling around the cliffs. You stretch the telescopic view of the goggles as far as you think they will go (testing it by looking up at one of the moons above and getting quite a clear view of one of its craters - zooming in, you can see individual grains of rock) and see... nothing. As far as you can tell the void is abyss infinite.
You try setting a rule to prevent the void destroying the valley, but as far as you can tell there is no effect. Maybe the void's destruction cannot be prevented, or perhaps the void will not destroy the valley anyway. As you ponder this, you feel the ground beneath your feet start to crumble - you make a mad dash towards the valley as the sand beneath your feet falls away into endless void, just making it to the edge of a new set of cliffs before falling to your doom. You scramble up to the edge again. A quick check reveals that the Voyager similarly managed to evade destruction and is now pulling a safe distance away from the edge. Someone must be consuming Essence.
Zorlock[Those definitions are excellent, they just require a bit more Essence to implement.]
You run through your mental definition of Blood Magic and begin applying the rules, one by one. Blood magic consumes the vital essence of living creatures as a power source, either voluntarily or unvoluntarily via lengthy ritual (using fairly standard verbal and somatic components). Quantity of
elan vital determines strength of magic that can be used. Basic spells manipulate life force, draining it or infusing it into one's self or another. It can also be used to animate blood for use as a weapon or tool. [Essence already paid.]
Life essence (or
elan vital) can be stored up to a limit in a caster's own body, or more practically in gemstones (enchanted using a verbal and somatic ritual). It can then be drawn out and used at will. [-1 Essence]
Blood magic can be used to animate inanimate beings (golems) by infusing them with stolen
elan vital, reshaping inanimate components to function as biological analogues. Golems do not produce their own
elan vital and therefore require it to be provided to act as fuel. [-1 Essence] Blood magic can be used to manipulate the mind, using
elan vital as fuel and medium, particularly simple minds such as those of constructs or animals (but not true robots). With simple or weak minds, it can reshape them to enforce loyalty or obedience. [-1 Essence] Because blood magic works heavily with the mind, long term use can have adverse psychological effects beyond the corruption usually caused by power.
Mundane Physical Laws: The laws of Physics work as on Earth.
Gravity Exception: The grey plain of sand has a unidirectional 'down', exempt from normal gravity rules. There appears to be a cut-off point for this.
Runes of World-Crossing: Seven runes, when inscribed on a surface in the correct order, will transmute anything placed in the centre into a portal to the Dreamveldt from the world it originated from. If the same inscription is made in any other world and a Dreamveldt item is placed within, a portal will be opened as well.
Caveat 1: The item placed in the centre will be permanently destroyed to maintain the portal.
Caveat 2: The portal is one way, either Dreamveldt > Other World or Other World > Dreamveldt.
Runes of Enchantment: A set vocabulary of runes. When written in the correct order (obeying syntax), they will imbue an object with power or aspects of being as directed by the 'sentence' on the object. A single word will 'broadly' imbue an object with the power dictated. The vocabulary is quite basic, but covers important physical concepts.
Vocabulary: Word categories include; Condition; Element/Concept; Verb; Form.
King's Exclusion: Each Wizard King has a series of mental switches they can flip, which will make their bodies and carried possessions stop obeying one of the laws of physics. This only affects themselves and their carried items. The switches are instinctually labelled.
Creation's Binding: All creations of a King are compelled to obey that King.
Rule of Unmaking: Any aspect of creation may be unmade by its creator to regain used Essence, so long as it is unmade in its entirety.
Blood Magic: Consumes vital essence (elan vital) from living creatures as fuel and medium. Quantity determines power.
Elan vital can be extracted willingly, or unwillingly through a lengthy ritual.
Elan vital can be stored in enchanted gems (enchanted through a simple ritual).
Spells manipulate transfer or exchange or life force.
Spells can animate blood using elan vital as a medium.
Can animate constructs (golems) using elan vital to warp inorganic matter to work as a biological analogue.
Golems require elan vital as fuel, cannot create their own.
Spells can manipulate the mind in broad ways, changing feelings and perceptions. Strong minds can resist.
Long term use of mind magic can have adverse physical effects.
The Sky - Standard, Earth-breathable atmosphere. Stretches infinitely up.
The Sun - An orb of burning fire, far above the grey plain. When its light passes through the sky, the sky seems blue.
Deimos - A moon that rotates around the sun, blocking 24 hours of sunlight every 144 hours.
Phobos - A moon that rotates around the sun, blocking 24 hours of sunlight every 144 hours.
Chiron - A moon that rotates around the sun, blocking 24 hours of sunlight every 144 hours.
The Grey Plain - A plain of grey sand that stretches infinitely downward and horizontally in all directions.
The Void - An endless absence of anything, encircling this place's creation.
Zorlock's Vale - A pair of interlocked valleys that surround Zorlock's Wood and lead to Zorlock's Lake.
Zorlock's Wood - A region of densely wooded forest, populated chiefly by deciduous trees that filter blue and green light from the sky, giving them red and purple leaves. Dense foliage, grasses and underbrush (all of purple and red hue) cover the soil beneath.
Davidson's Arch - A portal to Davidson's world.
The Rivers Cross - Two crossed rivers, intersecting beneath Zorlock's Hill. Their tributaries start at the heights of the Vale and the mouths meet at the Lake. Sparse vegetation covers the surface.
Salmon - A tasty fish.
Shaiguju's Palace - A truly vast complex of marble and precious materials.
Zorlock's Hill - A great hill rising above the Vale.
The Great Oak - 4m high, and the ground around it is fertile black soil, sprouting a variety of green grasses and bushes. It towers over the surrounding forest, high upon the hill.
Shaiguju's Throne - An extravagant throne in gold, silver and red velvet cushions, seated before the tree.
Darssisth's Mound - A hillock of fused gold, silver and electrum jewellery and gems, very comfortable if you're a dragon.
Zorlock's Tower - A 9 storey tower of red stone.
Lightning Shield - A technological electrical fence around the Tower. Zorlock has the controls.
Drassisth's Rock - A hovel sized stone, suspended 600m above the Tower.
Machine Shop - All the tools needed to keep the Kill-Simulators in good working order!
The Voyager - M1 Abrams Tank
Runs on diesel.
Laser gatling gun mount
Driver force field
Kill-Simulator charger
Essence-binding pocket dimension - 0 Essence
Resident: Velociraptors, Kill-Simulators
Zorlock's Lake - A body of water at the base of the Vale.
Resident: Sukkippu
Sukkippu - Giant lobster men. Immortal. [24 total]
Image-Based/Empathic Telepathy - Can transmit images and emotions between Sukkippu freely.
Simple Toolmaking
Simple Architecture
Night vision.
Velociraptors - Sapient, omnivorous. [5 total]
Mental compulsion not to attack the Wizard Kings.
Humanlike vocal cords and flexible lips.
Kill-Simulators: - Murderous android death-bots. 7 foot tall, steel, approx. 3x human strength and speed. [5025 total]
Non-sapient Automatons.
Standing lightning shield bypass.
Powered by electricity.
Can drive tanks.
Armed with glaives, pikes and longbows.
Ivy Carmine (Prime) - Princess
Ivy Carmine - Princess
Zorlock - Evil Wizard
Demigodlike enhancements to strength, durability and agility.
Essence Map (displays a map of the Dreamveldt with Essence deposits highlighted.
Hastul (or Hathul) - The Lord in Yellow
Grey - A Cat
Shaiguju - Wizard King of the Celestial Plains
Demigodlike enhancements to strength, durability, stamina and speed.
Dave David Davidson - Technomancer
Disintegration gun.
Goggles - Enchantments: See Lifeforce. Read Dreamveldt. [On-Activate:Rune-Increase-Sight]
Darssisth - Shapeshifting Master of Dragons(!)
Essence: 5 Clumps