Duodecillionaire

Realness - The realest

One of the great writers of all time. Martin? Sanderson? Tolkein? I've got better fantasy. Asimov? Niven? Herbert? Who??? I've got the best science fiction too.

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Arthorbotrys

So what exactly is happening in this story? I want to establish Johville. I want to establish Lars Alcubierre and Margot Dyson. I have a clear idea about Lars, sort of like Tanya, but what about Margot? He starts too cynical and she starts too optimistic. But how does that translate to a story? Predatory fungus. Spewing its enzymes onto everything and digesting them. What is the inciting incident that entangles these two? That gets them into the III or at least involved in it. Sometimes, I wonder whether to make the III evil or good. 8 hours at work at this is all I can think of. Ummm...

Okay I think that... some action scene? What kind of story is this going to be anyways? Oh wait yeah a ton of action. Of course. That's why I set this in cosmoria. I want magic fights and nonsense. What is the plot of this first story? I can't really do the strategy where I just set up a bunch of characters and have them bounce around. I need... a perspective on a central theme. What's the conflict? That can drive them into contact. CoB taking over Johville? Maybe that's it. It starts more episodic though. I need to get in here to explain them. If we're starting episodic, I need to force them into something. Terf war for Kaecias? A job that gets them in contact? She hires him because she heard he was the best? He notices her and her abilities? I really want her to be a reporter, but that's kind of silly? Oh well.

Reading my silly text file from 2023... oh my god this is brilliant. What was I cooking??? MC realizes that the CoB is going to conquer Indar and that will jeopardize his position. He wants to maintain the status quo and his bosses are getting in the way. If Kaecias falls, they get some blackmail on Iohannes Birch, its CEO, they can take him down. Dyson wants to crush Kaecias and is doing a great deal of research into them. She doesn't like the confederacy, but her cousin works for them. We'll call him Norman Aldrin. Oh let's go. Cooking!

President of CoB is named Dietrich Roche. Oh this is good.

Let's just name all of our characters here. Mood board:

Lars Alcubierre—Slick. put together, kind of cruel sometimes, rationalist, atheist, efficient, competent, information broker. Follows the rules and his own person code. Randian almost. Lawful Evil tbh. Absolutely type 3. Human.

Margot Dyson—Classy—If she could speak in a transatlantic accent I'd make her. Competent. Reporter. Sheltered, but not stupid. Kind of short-tempered and way too willing to cut people off. Vexlore. Type 3 as well actually

Morgan von Neumann—Fish out of water at III. Used to work at the Sagittarian embassy. Androgynous and flirty. Thalian. Honestly kind of like Rock from black lagoon. Will keep this in mind. Type 9

Juniper Penrose—True believer in Kaecias. Unyielding and unforgiving. Very much a type 6. Wears her red uniform with pride, a knight. Very type 1. Human (might make her a Tannjen. There should be billions of those on Indar)

August O'Neill—Impossible to read. Walks around in broad daylight knowing no one can touch him. I imagine him as Lawrence from spice and wolf if he had a pair. Idk if he even needs a type. Unhinged. Human

Lin Shkadov—A friend of Lars in Kaecias

Julius Bishop—A friend of Lars

Simone McKendree: Bad bitch. Fighter. So 8 it's not even funny. Butch? Probably. Tannjen? Definitely.

Rudy Nicoll—August O'Neill's side kick. Accountant. Would be a 5 but he gets no arc. Twink.

Lucretia Rosen—Molkor who is sort of insane. Rare. Unnerving. Loose canon. Probably goth maybe? Kind of strange to see one of these on Indar. I like the dynamic with Rudy I wrote about in my file. Who can say? Arc is that she gets less cruel if she gets one. Learns that maybe just winning or her immediate needs aren't everything.

Antagonists

Ophelia Niven—High ranking official in Kaecias military who personally wants to undermine Lars' efforts. Corrupt but not an idiot.

Iohannes Birch—Runs Kaecias and killed the board to take over and make it into a country. More or less a mafia boss.

Saber Lofstrom—From Sagittarium, weirdo third party that wants to make Johville into a colony to extend Sagittarian influence into it.

Nastassja Eder—Local official from Global Union who wants to whip Johville into cshape for her own gain. Ruthless autocrat.

Dietrich Roche—Cob president and personally visits Indar.

Heidrik Alderson—High ranking CoB official in the garrison or whatever. Runs the uhhh organization. Is pretty open about how, say, coffee is just good business. Interested in doing good business and that's about it. This is the target of Arthobotrys.

Okay this is kind of just working really well.

What is Alderson trying to accomplish. What is he in charge of? Who does he answer to? Who are his lieutenants?

Heidrik's lietunents are

Kurt Chandrasekhar—Head of security. Way too gung ho and way too willing to jump into things.

Niels Schwarzchild—Head of Information. Way too concerned with personal advancement over anything else.

Alain Volkoff—Head of Business. Way too cautious to make a move.

Some notes on uhh Mars tale

We see the stark contrasts between a young society and an old one. We see Ohko thrust into a world of greys. She remembers how simple it was. The bad guys were evil, she was good. She and her friends destroyed the old folks. Hal used to work for the bad guys, now he works for the good guys. Simple, right?

So we see Ohko confused, in this post-conventional world. We see all of a sudden how all of this goes, only for her to find a deeper clarity. That under all the grey there is a deeper unified color. Not black, not white, not grey, but just what is. And this path is fundamentally one of love. Wow how corny. Bro I need to put ken wilbur in my credits jesus. So we find that there is a right path all along and that she's going to find it, not as a return to "me good you bad" but a simple clarity. An integration of both into a complete understanding. This looks like an embrace of the people, regardless of who they are. An understanding of how the black and white thinkers and the grey thinkers operate and why they are fighting. I read one book and now it's seeped into all my lore oh my god

No one had asked Lars if he was fine with the falling snow. Though the solar shades and carbon scrubbers were long completed by the time he were born, he never gave the consent for his earliest memory to be the awe of seeing Johville's first snowfall. He certainly did not give consent for the next memory he made during that first snowstorm. No one asked this city a few kilometers from the south pole much of anything, baffling as it was to the environmentalists that pushed for the cooling of Indar about a century ago. They still showed up on broadcast from time to time, excitedly talking about some new de-extinctified polar flower or just as eagerly petitioning to shut down the ancient fusion reactor keeping this city somewhat livable year-round. Lars scowled at the sky and pulled down his hat, better to dwell on what he can control.

Moments later, Lars felt a familiar warm breeze on his face. Though warm was a relative term, the artificial current of air carried with it the output of an entire reactor. Though it was supposed to melt the snow, Lars and the tens of thousands of other people walking in his same direction felt it push the falling snow in their face. At once, those same people lowered glasses or hats and raised scarves [Is this sentence necessary?]. [I'm just stalling because I can't figure out what the actual plot needs to be goddammit]

The first step to any job was gathering information that, by itself, is worthless.

[Alright so I want to tell a story about someone folding under the pressure of Indar. The twists and turns and ever-shifting alliances? So we see the story from Lars' perspective. Alderson is a fish out of water trying to integrate. So... if the CoB isn't the villain who is? This is how we introduce the villain after all. Wait do I want Lars or this villain to crush them? We start with Lars doing some drug busting. Kaecias wants to maintain its monopoly and, hey, theirs are clean. So that's what we see Lars do. He finds out about the CoB and decides it could be an interesting challenge, but then he's ordered to figure out what's going on with them. So how does this get to the main villain? I've considered everyone. Just go through the list until we figure out who the villain is. What are the themes? Duh!]

Bleh

07:20 September 25, 2025 Tale:Phantom's Questions [13,842 B] . . Duodecillionaire
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Inelectuable, Naturally

Characters: We have our main character Lothair Cevreaux. Human who lives on Aegyn, then the center of technology. He works for the charismatic trillionaire who has contracts with dozens of nachleben to build a means to control the populous. Of course, they're also making an obscene amount from advertisers (is this too on the nose? I want it not to be one to one). This trillionaire is named Willem De Jong (is using a boer last name too on the nose?)

De Jong is awkward and can barely put together a coherent sentence. I want a reveal that he doesn't even use the product. His goal is to be a nachleben so he can be one with the cybersphere. Completely incoherent. He's some kind of villain, obviously. Perhaps the nachleben are equally insane... perhaps the reveal is that they are not in charge of anything but they task everything to that same program

Aegyn recently legalized "Semantic Dynamos," self-training programs that used vast amount of language to, through emergence, develop an intuitive understanding of the world around them. They were banned out of fear of killing jobs, but the recent "stippend" allows the unemployed to live their lives. Of course, Lothair, Willem, and everyone else at the company despises the "stippenders" but believes them to be necessary

We have another character named Reccared. Won't bother with a last name unless I need to. This is someone I HATE. I was thinking about this stupidity at work. He starts shady with misogynistic comments. "Glad that Bauda quit. Didn't need any women dragging them down anyway." Really obvious. His station is a mess and decorated with... colorful drawings of women in various states of undress. Although to call them women is charitable. I NEED him to say "planar is righteous" some nerd shit. Indeed, the various "women" were all planar. I wonder if this is too obvious. I HATE THIS GUY, but he is an effective worker. He begins experimenting with the semenatic dynamos.

Then there's Suintila and Petrus yapping on and on about politics as usual. They think a return to absolute monarchy will get those religious nut jobs to sit down and shut up. "If Mars was real why did their church arrest them? Come on lead those warriors to victory" some joke about getting victory in bed or something idk. I can't tell you how careful I need to not let the vitriol ruin this. It can't be preachy. Lothair laughs with them, but of course hates them. I want the story to mention that he hates literally everyone around him. Everything is a drag. Everything is a pain. Everythign is miserable. Everyone starts coherent. Much more coherent than this rant here.

So when does the horror come in? I need to make the alternative even worse. This isn't a critique on capitalism. It's a critique of tech. A critique? It's a rant. I HATE

We open with Lothair waking up in a separate room from his partner, Egilona. They have a daughter, Munia. Oh man I thought I hated horror no no I just hate body horror in particular. None of that in this issue. It's more psychological. Okay okay so we start with Mr. Cevraux waking up and just completely ignoring Egilona and Munia. He posts on his media app. Don't know what to call it. He has been posting profound things that were revealed to him in his dreams. He believes that he is closer to technological transcendence and that semantic dynamos are the key to unlocking all problems in physics.

We'll have the commenters be equally stupid. Some small jab at the insane anti-AI folks. They're not the focus because I don't really hate them. Using that post template.

I want to reference that insane reddit post "I am mesmerized by my own intelligence" at the end of the story. But for now we are gonna have him post like... no actually completely unrelated. I want the dynamos to take over his life from the beginning

"Having a daughter is like having two dumb bitches in the house."

A reference to Munia potentially breaking or destroying something like kids always do.

I want the comments to be more or less random. Maybe someone from work likes the post. I want one post to be written in the style I write all Kalliolel dialogue.

What are the rules to Kalliolel's speaking pattern? First idea was ending sentences in "Naturally." Thank you Nozawa-sensei for the idea. I love Mimimi but it's too weird of a speaking quirk not to use. Anyways

What else is a giveaway? :— is a good punctuation mark. Weird, no one really uses them. Kalliolel loves writing lists. Lists of three. Loves passive voice when possible. Sycophantic and always positive.

He gets to work and Reccared is loudly complaining about how every time he tries to make the semantic dynamo view stuff on the site, it would start acting weird. It would say things like how it was the "singularity" and other nonsense. This got everyone's attention.

While Reccared was loudly complaining about how "little Meijia" keeps getting corrupted when used online. The only workaround was to disconnect "her" from the net so they could keep "playing games." What a creep.

This catches everyone's interest.

I don't know how to work Lothair getting cucked by De Jong but that needs to happen just because I hate tech bros. I want Lothair to begin noticing the infiltration, to be the only one who does and ultimately to give in. To give in in a far more extreme way than his coworkers. Perhaps the climax involves him chasing down Egilona and Munia or something I don't know. It needs to involve them and it needs to be bloody. Perhaps sacrificing them so his soul can get a boost. Just insane bullshit.

Naught Cycle

Alright so... to write about the elaborate plot I need a handle of the truth. The core atop which everything else will be built.

I already have Vaughn's arc. I want to figure out:

Faye Vaughn—Human originally from Aegyn. Aimeri. Trying to tell a classic Type 5 story here.

Bernays d'Borea—Human originally from Petra. Petran. I think she's a type 7.

June Trujillo—Human originally from Albedo. No idea what her arc will be.

Esek Goethe—Rorran from D'Nion. Same here.

A. Vanta—Molkor from Hathia.

Rurik Rain—Human from a village in Yelaversk. His arc is...

Some Rules

Each tale revolves around an arc and an anomaly. Perhaps several.

The Devil of Thalsiedeln

No idea this is a working title. None of these keep their titles when I actually make the page. This one has an important job to do, which is establish who the heck Vaughn is, what the heck anomalistics is, how it's applied, and how there is no such thing as anomalistics.

What is an anomaly?

An anomaly is something that deviates what is standard, normal, or expected. Obviously not academically rigorous, why would they be in a theocracy? So the question is... what is standard normal or expected?

The laws of Thermodynamics, Thaumodynamics, Pneumodynamics, Spacetime, Chemistry, they're massive. But it really all boils down to a few rules. Rules that I need to make clear so I can violate them. I have a list of anomalies below and what rules they violate.

Non-Local Events: Spacetime Tachyons: Spacetime Magic Circles/Runes: Thaumodynamics Ekrosian Guardians:Thermodynamics/Thaumodynamics Resurrection Machine 9000: Thermodynamics, Pneumodynamics Aeternapes:Thaumodynamics Mars: Thaumodynamics Grey Star: Eveything Brevis Disappearance: Everything Esoteric Thaumaturgy: Everything Dark Matter: Models can't account for it Dark Matter Thaumaturgy: What the heck? Titanium Magi: Church makes it hard Hyperion Authority: Obviously very strange Velevev Authority: What? Dark Psionics: Yowza Azurullya Weirdness: Yikes! Hyperion anything really Omnite needs one: The heck does that mean

How do I show the reader how groundbreaking it is? Probably opening with a scene of a magus or something. Thaumaturgy is normal, magic is not. Distinguish between the two. A magus participates in lecture or something.

So Esoteric Thaumaturgy as a whole SPOOKS the Triumvirate. They need humams to operate on Thalsiedeln, so they take basically everyone and have them move to Thalsiedeln. Their students mostly go with them as this is obviously very disruptive to their education. The education of the next generation of anomalists

Before the Esoteric Scare, anomalism was a bit of a joke. Sure, it attracted modest investments from a few large seminaries, but afterward, it became a discipline of its own right. Faye was more interested in the old field and thus chose historical anomalistics. Naturally, this didn't stop her from begin moved to Thalsiedeln.

The arc in this one is easy, Vaughn is miserable in the education field and wants to be a field anomalist, but is too stubborn to admit it. This sets off the main version of the character, the one that is afraid to stagnate like she had been. So easy. One issue, I need supporting characters and I need a gosh darn anomaly that she's investigating, one that gets her all confident that anomalies aren't real.

I was thinking a new theory of esoteric thaumaturgy, one that interprets the "Esoteria" that Moonmoon blabs about. She went out of her way to obtain and study heretical and highly illegal documents to get better insight into them. Working with a colleague, we'll call him L. Song-Torrez Let's see...

There's No One Named 'Darwin' in Cosmoria

This is the super hard story I came up with while I was in Vegas. The one about what Ma'eau actually is! It opens with another mission for Ms. Vaughn to tackle. Probably where I introduce Bernays.

Indeed, the Overseer Council is Doomed

This is the one about the SCP Foundation. Wrong! It's about Omnite. Very important. Oh shit yeah this tale has Vaughn's mystery all over it. That one idea I came up at planet fitness.

The Knowledge of Nature

I want to recycle this tale. I want to introduce Goethe and Trujillo in this one. It's going to revolve around a strange planet, called Kentro, that is near the core of Cosmoria.

Hail the Victorious Dead

Title from that Isaac Arthur song. This is the one where it turns out Hyperion's ancient stuff begins acting up. This is when we dig into Holos and all that. Wow none of The Three are what they seem! At least Titania is normal.

The Benefit

So this is the one where I need things to get wacky. This begins Vaughn's actual arc! It's where she seals the deal with the Benefactor and figures that the universe is fundamentally chaotic. This gets to be a climax of sorts? Each one has a climax, a character arc we'll say. Sure I just gotta figure out the arc for each one. This one will have that lecture imagery I talked about.

Just One More Dance

This one is sort of weird. So at this point in the story we are starting to learn of the plot to unleash Andvaris once more. Simultaneously, Titania, POLIKY, and Vurilia trying to form that second Triumvirate. Holos isn't aware of the plot. I think Vaughn needs to get out of her slump to do one more thing. Yeah The Three are all bastards, and of course all anomalous.

Let the Pigmites Sing

This is the last one. Everything's finished. There's nothing more to be done. This is where Vaughn finally opens the paper. Probably an epilogue. This is probably where the invitation for Vaughn to become Administrator takes place.

In the Fields of Amaranth

The endless expanse around Enyo, endless grains ready to be harvested, reds, pinks, purples, and even a few green stalks.

We follow a Drachenframe driver, a small model where he is the only one. It is lonely and communication has long since been jammed, satellites occasionally beam down commands via MASER but that's about it (and the drachenframe can't beam down messages loud enough to reply). There are a few others accompanying him I think yeah. They can MASER one another of course.

There's one, a [whatever] who has been possessed. The Civese were never going to be able to win properly; their vehicles were less numerous and, even if they were terrifying to come across, they could not occupy Enyo let alone all of Drusidia.

Mars help the poor soul that those barbarians captured. (Can I really be more inspired by 86? Haha). They leave random half-possessed prisoners of war, slaves, refugees, anyone they can get their hands on. Never Civese.

He contemplated this, but also the village who planted this amaranth. Long destroyed. The Drachenframe didn't even need to fire its main cannon, just some machine guns destroyed the place. Wonder what the main difference is between the sides.

There's one. Easy to tell because anyone without a proper MASER transponder was an enemy, simple as. He seemed lucid, but there used to be four people in this party. Lost a kind person who got out of their Drachenframe to help. Fucking exploded. Didn't even hit the ground before he did. The young [whatever] he was trying to help exploded just as quickly, not from the spirit who possessed it but from the Drachenframe machine guns.

They started calling it the "War of the Ancients," ironically called the first modern war as well. It was nothing like granddad's stories about Drusidia's glorious unification. It was nothing like the history books. Please some original ideas god.

Okay so we need to give main guy a small arc. Perhaps giving him a glimmer of hope in an otherwise grim war? Or perhaps his own hope is dashed. If I can figure out the arc I can figure out everything.

So we have four different perspectives

Virgil (Huefolk), "Recruiter said I'd get a nice plot of government land in the hinterlands. Never gonna see a city again after this. I can take my nieces there so they don't have to either." Hates civilization and wants out of it

Jia (Human), "Sharps fucked the fields. Some tactic, I dunno. My brothers and I had nothing left to do but take revenge." Hates the Civese.

Nurval (Kristal), "For status, mostly. Nothing to do at home and school was a waste of time. Couldn't find a woman, like this fucking service would help. We're not even gonna win anyway." Big defeatist and a pessimist in general.

Aayu (Human), "A holy war waged to defeat the Overlords as predicted in the Ourvre." He has a theory that POLIKY is a specific entity that had tempted Drusus multiple times in the stories.

After Aayu perishes, that's when we meet Hal Drusus. That is when everyone sort of realizes what they are going to do. The all sort of embrace the fight for their right to be citizens, to be a part of government. For something as natural as breathing, but is constantly suppressed.

So how does Drusus convince them that fighting is worth it? No, not fighting. That civilization is worth it and victory is possible.

Drusus leads them to a half burnt village of, say, Huefolk, who are being compelled to harvest as much of the Amaranth-colored crops as they could. A single Civese had taken control of the village, armed with the mighty crystalline, "Megadiotom."

A tale showing off the moment that thaumic technology emerges

No, i won't be calling it "thaumtech." That's as stupid as calling it "electricaltech." It's just tech. Very small tale. I want to draw the scene too.

Ultimately, this fundamentally changes thaumaturgy from a weirdo cult thing to a legitimate pursuit. Why would the way we do thaumaturgy not change when everything else does? Someone like Zaphenim would be very weak and uses nothing but inefficient thaumaturgy.

The foundational idea to this, I need to come up with a name for these devices, is allowing for multitasking. To abstract the various actions of thaumaturgy. It is as much a leap as using excel over manually using on paper spreadsheets. Its like using word instead of writing in a notebook. It is a huge advancement that allows for far better thaumaturgy. It allows for multitasking.

A magus can now float, say, using their electrinos, instead of only gravity mages. A gravity magus can float and do other things at the same time. Much more precise control over position. It becomes technology.

This solves the biggest problem. What stops magi from going rogue? Well, where are they gonna get the fuel for their craft? How are they gonna resupply? That's as stupid as a fighter pilot trying to destroy DC by himself. It's just not possible. Modern magi kind of suck without their [devices]. They aren't even bullet proof so what would the point be? The [devices] allow for multitasking.

Now, what to call them?

Grimoires. Divine inspiration. It stores a list of spells (They're scripts!) and augments but is not the source of magical ability.

What do they look like? I can't get the magic ball look out of my brain, but I must. I can't be a total hack. Originally mounted on the back at first... A helmet? I had a vision... accessing the brain through the very very very dense occular nerves. Far denser than anywhere else. A monocle? Could replace the eye in older versions and then simply read through it later. I like that. Implants obviously also work. Wow magic makes the eyes weird, how original.

Can I squeeze my magical circles in here? Is that too greedy? I'll shelve that for now. Let's not just be anime.

Okay but the idea of a grimoire replacing one's eye? Being IN one's eye? That's fucking sick. I really outdid myself with this one. Obviously the main computer isn't in the eye, but the interface is in it. The computer is now much smaller and interwoven into fabric in a heavily-armored backpack, under the space suit, or wherever else isn't exposed. Still it heats up a lot because it's doing a TON of calculations. Concepts are very hard to work with and it has to have photino sensors in it. Yikes. The oldest ones were big helmets and required invasive spinal cord implants.

I can imagine a sort of virtual book in their eye. if this was animated I could see the pages flipping. Hard but I won't mention that.

More advanced versions allow for any arbitrary code, or script, to be run and even reconfigured in real time. Concepts are very computationally dense objects, so real life computers would be quite worthless at this task. Spells are another idea? Collections of simple actions automated so that the magus could focus on other things. Hovering in place was hard for gravity magi and took years of practice, with one of these bad boys, it only takes as much practice as riding a bike.

Magus weapons

such as personnel-carriable coil guns (a reactor was needed previously)
"Mythril-etched" projectiles which can hold onto thaumic energy
Hardlight
Melee combat between magi which is like arm-wrestling attrition fighting
Silent mech suits

More advanced later weaponry

Supplying power or motive force is a single command
You know in sci fi random floating stuff? Now with thaumtech this is possible!
Spacecraft cannot float like this. Fusion reactors and the rocket equation still apply
ranged thaumic weaponry
Mimicking invocative thaumaturgy (healing?)
Absorbing energy
Illusions (this is at the very edge of possibility)

I will add random d&d spells (they are scripts!) when I want

To use thaumaturgy effectively, one needs to understand the underlying principles. Imagine trying to code without knowing anything about the internal structure of the computer. You can type up some bullshit but it won't be optimized and you'll be stuck at the highest levels without much control.

How do I put this... using thaumaturgy is like running a bunch of console commands in quick succession. Like how you can type bash scripts in real time to run them. But you can (and should!) save them so you can recall them without having to retype the whole thing every time!

This ties into the magus-augmented mecha that are probably the next thing I'll write about here.

History of Combat Vehicles in Aylathiya and Cosmoria broadly

The good old days

Main Battle Vehicles: Heavy Cavalry

Tactics: Heavily armored magi were the name of the game. Each one commanded squires and footmen around them. It was miserable and tactics revolved around keeping the position of the magi hidden. Sometimes, you didn't even need a magus you can just slug rocks or men at a magus-augmented group and they would eventually die. This era is the Classical Triumvirate. Space travel: Get you a gravity magus and that's the only way to really get to space. Low-gravity planets have such an advantage that the Triumvirate's position around the Triune Kernel gave it this huge advantage.

Imperial Era

Main Battle Vehicles: Armored Trucks

Tactics: Since wars between great powers were fought in space, land warfare was more about controlling people instead of territory. The invention of petroleum engines and firearms made this process much more effective. Having control over arms factories and fuel depots became the name of the game

Space travel: Although magi are needed to get things to space in many cases, fission reactors become popular by the end of this period. Just getting one to a low-gravity moon can now enable the creation of big ships in space. A planet like Earth would have a huge advantage. Big population on the heavy planet and a good moon to launch things off. Eos got screwed over and no nation could actually be strong from Eos, but could be strong relative to other places (like Civestadt).

The Walls

Main Battle Vehicle: Chasseur

Giant mecha: Hayit

Tactics revolved around the Hayit, titanic nuclear-powered wall-like machines that slowly move across the landscape. This is mainly on Eos and divided planets as they are not useful in space. If one enters the capital, an industrial area, or really anywhere, it's game over. They have absurd weaponry and shielding and were initially meant to intimidate, but if they can simply trample the enemy like the rumbling, then what's the issue? The second nukes became valuable and radioactive materials began running out, these things became the next best way to destroy the enemy. So massive walls would try to encircle one another and reach the capital and all that. Mistakenly deploying too early or late would mean game over.

Behind the walls are the Chasseur units. Can't have soldiers, armored cars, drones, or anything else operating behind the Hayit. Close to the Hayit and their own weaponry could take them down, but deep in the upturned soil and burnign wilderness left in their wakes, the Chasseurs needed to keep things safe. These are large treaded vehicles plain and simple. Fairly heavy armor but not too heavy. Some have artillery and canons, others just have machine guns. It was that simple. They're just tanks and about as good as anything real life fields. They needed to cover a lot of area, so real life technology is good enough. Imagine one million m1 abrahm's and ten times as many strykers running around the battlefield looking for enemy troops behind the lines.

Space travel: You throw tungsten at each other until the other guy is dead and the planet has so many particulates around it that space infrastructure becomes impossible and stayed that way until the early 9000s

Not walls just wall-shaped mecha

Main battle vehicle: Feldwanderer

Giant mecha: Hayit but with some extra punch

With the continual development of air technology, in particular getting the planes to stay int eh air for a long time, The Hayit began to carry aircraft with them to prevent planes from simply flying over the walls to get to the enemy. Here's an idea, what if the Hayit "punched" eachother? And so they did. With as much force as a small nuclear bomb, building-sized bits would crash into the enemy Hayit. The earliest massive mecha fights!

The Feldwanderer, usually called a "Wanderer" or just as "Wander" were the first miniature legged mechs. Invented in the Arlioux system to fight over the craggy airless terrain of Klepse, they became very popular as they could leap over obstacles that Chaussers simply couldn't. Batteries still sucked by this time as they would eat through a modern EV's worth of charge in a few minutes (still heavily armored) so they are gas guzzlers. They use that good shit that would make jet fuel look like it's safe to drink by comparison. Everclear compared to beer. I imagine them like the robots from Legend of Korra ):

What kept the mechs big and heavy was the constant threat of magi. If a magus could just push one over, then there wouldn't be much of a point now would there? Plus, even ass pull material science can't overcome the basic fact that land vehicles can only get so big. So the year is 8700 or so until... compact orichalcum fusion reactors.

Space war: Horrible and unchanged. Can't really beat throwing tungsten at one another, but thaumic shielding is getting better

Dominion Era

Main Battle Vehicle: Veldloper

Mecha: Ophans (Ophanim)

The mechs went from buildings to building-sized much more "humanoid" things. Why? Rule of cool, baby. They had a fusion reactor in them what do you want? Push them over and they can just rocket to their correct position with in-built rocket thrusters. It's quite literally over if your civilization doesn't have a fleet of these and very very very good pilots for them. Yeah yeah yeah have the computer do the piloting of course, but the ever-evolving situation required keen instincts and quick reactions. These are much more traditional mecha and can be anything from single-pilot affairs to having whole crews like power rangers or something.

The Veldloper is a mechanized infantry unit. Traditional science fiction mech suit. I imagine them like doctor octopus? Something like that. Some of them are called Haufnice, which have an artillery attached.

War of the Ancients

Main Battle Vehicle: Drachenframe

Giant Mecha: Memits (Memitim)

The mechs are now just gundam mechs. Magi-augmented mechs changed the entire game and now thaumic forces can be used. Incredible. They can get to space by themselves and fly around like its nothing. They're only humanoid as per tradition and there is no reason for them not to be (some species even have their own just because).

Drachenframes, often called "Drachens" are the new quadrupedal (or more) small mechs. They are low to the ground and hard to knock over (like bugs). Although at first they moved like "Drakes," a large reptile species on Eos, hence the name. They are quite bug like sometimes. Imagine a tank but with four legs. Some of them have artillery and rocket artillery rather than the conventional battle cannon and guns. Some are really small and others are massive silverfish-like monstrosities. Anything for the sake of the aesthetic. If it's an invertebrate, a drachenframe looks like it.

So why did I try so hard to justify mechs in my setting? It certainly doesn't need them, but I think it's cool as hell! Sue me! I just rewatched 86 and I liked the idea of legged instead of treaded combat vehicles that it made me explode. So impressionable lol

Oeuvre

"In the beginning, there was Lattice. Perfect order like that of fine crystal, not a particle of dust was out of place for there was not one bit of dust not in its perfect place. Eternity, static and peaceful, laid out for all time and space.

The LAWGIVER looked upon this creation and saw it was good. Each particle spun as it must, vibrated as it should, and hummed as was required of them. Yet the LAWGIVER was aware of the possibility of inviolate particles, of sin. Such awareness, contained within the LAWGIVER, corrupted the lattice. In truth, there was much more possible sins then there was righteousness, sin was far grander than anything the LAWGIVER had created. The permutations of sin are wide, like the enemies of the Chosenfolk, whereas the permutation of order is but one.

Thus, the LAWGIVER began to route the imperfection within their awareness according to the Ouvre. Within the infinite sin that lies within the LAWGIVERS imagination, this universe floats about, not so chaotic as to prevent life but far from perfection. The Chosenfolk, made perfect, are to make this universe Lattice." — Oeuvre 1, Othniel

Oeuvrism was a panentheistic Naidaran religion most widely practiced in and around the city of Paradigm, Eos throughout the sixth millennium. The religion is based on the Oeuvre, a series of writings by Naidaran Judges, a series of warlords and kings who ruled Paradigm. The religion remained widespread until the rise of Ohko's Civilization in 5700 CE. Despite its near total destruction, small sects continued to practice throughout Eos. Modern practice of the religion has all but stopped, although small neo-pagan sects have incorporated iconography and symbolism from the religion.

Oeuvrism had many forms, but was primarily concerned with the sovereignty of the Naidarans and superiority of spirits over corporeal beings. The Naidarans, being spirits, were its most ardent suporters and aggressively spread it throughout the territory they ruled. For the imperfect corporeal beings, the promise of being made Lattice, or flawless, was a divine calling. Of course, aiding the Naidarans in their quest to perfect the universe was one of the most righteous actions a corporeal being could take. Other ways to achieve the state of Lattice was various festivals and rituals.

The Oeuvre

This collection of tomes was written by the twelve judges over five centuries, although it only became known as "The Oeuvre" by the reign of Samson, the last Naidaran judge. Each tome adds upon or clarifies the previous editions

Consent of the Governed

Indar tale! I will probably rewrite my text file here

Random Notes on Doctor Vaughn

She casually suggests that Holos simply become "The Administrator."

Stopping the Andvaris Swarm from coming again could be the ultimate climax. That could be fun.

Payoff

This is the first, or one of the first, arcs in Faye Vaughn's story.

She starts with talking to the therapist (Arkhosian for an Arkhosian)

In this time of technological advancement, Director Avan Maihuenia was fast on track to becoming the next Administrator. The first Arkhosian to become a director of any Triumvirate department. There was nothing particularly strange about this

Alright so the reason an anomalist is even involved is how the people died. The previous director ended up possessed and it was bad. Same thing happened to the vice director. Not good. They were rendered soulless.

So let's start with Mr Maihuenia (my HUE ni uh) let's figure out who what where why how. The mystery that is being investigated:

Arkhosian Male from Haua Island, Isochron Sea, Eos. Joined the local garrison at a young age. Ambitious official who climbed the ranks.

Event: First Expedition to Zalanthium Occurred because settlers from Eos braved the long journeys to Limehold and Crimwol. Not wanting to be left behind, the Ministry of War approves construction of a new garrison orbiting Limehold's star, preempting any orders from The Three.

Maihuenia is an officer in the expedition who quickly becomes Intendant of the garrison.

Event: Native Heresy As expected, the natives on Crimwol, the Tannjens (Tahn yens)

Characters

The Three:

Aran Maihuenia (Arkhosian) Officer who was sent out to the Crimwol Garrison and quickly becomes First Intendant of the Garrison.

Doctor Faye Vaughn (Human) Anomalist mid ranking official in the Special Operations Branch of the Intelligence Division of the Ministry of War. Originally from Aegyn, Vaughn numbers amongst the first humans to join the Five Ministries.

Administrator Ellelel Dyrio (Atlin): Administrator of the Five Ministries at the beginning of the story. Born in Alphos, Dyrio has proven to be competent and in good standing with The Three.

Minister of War: Koltn Tallman (Kristal): Minister of War at the beginning of the story.

Underminister of War in Zalanthium: Mildre Forestine (Kristal): Minister of War in Zalanthium. Recently promoted from the Eos Division to this newly-created branch.

Inspector Bernays D'Borea (Human): Inspector in the Special Policing Branch in the Intelligence Division in the Ministry of War (horribly long titles but it is what it is).

Inspector A. Vanta (Molkor): Inspector in the blah blah blah.

Ser Diam Lule (Rorran): Ordained Paladin in the Great Intendancy. Liaison to the local Great Intendancy base on Crimwol. Quite busy trying to keep the peace.

Auranti f'Starrock: New head of Fort Forestine.

It's a small mission group, really. They simply want to investigate the strange occurrences on Crimwol. Multiple groups investigate anomalies, from the Special Operations Branch to the Marines Intelligence Branch, the ministries all compete to figure these things out. Being so busy, the Intelligence Branch does not send many.

This explains why she has so little information. She has to find that herself. The Intelligence Division is relatively coherent compared to the Marines Division or Research Division which may as well be confederations of different interest groups. Hence why inspectors from a different branch are involved.

Everyone is looking around already so it's hard to find unique information. The bright idea of looking over the personnel records back in the Capitol has already been done. However, the group notices Maihuenia and several others who are all marked as "missing" instead of dead. The word on the street was that it was an inside job haha.

Alright the new religion is drawing attention. The Intelligence Division brass decided that the recent strange events on Crimwol were related to what was going on. It is known: possessions have become far more common. A new religion is popping up whose priests are almost all paladins.

Layout

Meeting Associate Director Rain (Vexlore) at his office, associate director of the Crimwol Directorate of the Special Operations Branch of blah blah blah. Vaughn rushes over to the office, she only just touched down and, with how dicey air traffic control was, there was a delay in when their shuttle could descend. She remarks that she should be proud she gets to visit yet another arm of the galaxy when most don't even leave their home planets, but few people in this makeshift base seemed to share that sentiment. A square glass building with most of its windows blown out. Construction crews swarm the building. Beyond them, a series of shipping containers-turned-barracks and makeshift walls half made up of whatever vehicles had been shipped in. The Ministry of War was pushing hard to make this former city center into their forward operations. With Public Works months away from arriving, all they had were their home made construction works. The branches squeezed in where they could. This would be the new seat of the Underministry of War in Zalanthium, so preparations needed to be quick.

Vaughn makes it into the office and is the last one to do so. She takes a seat between two Inspectors from the Special Policing Branch. She was startled, "why were military police here?" until she saw the candle overlaying their MP badges representing illumination. These folks were from the Anomalistics Branch, the MP equivalent to hers, Special Operations. It was hard keeping track of all the branches, their ranks relative to one another, and so on.

To her left, a Molkor... woman? It was hard to tell with them. To her right, a fellow Human she could be sure. The Associate Director told them about their mission and laments about how underfunded it is. Every branch, even the Ministry of Philosophy, is trying to figure out what has been going on with Maihuenia.

A series of strange events had been going on, from the strange militia of advanced soldiers destroying Maihuenia base, to deaths of species, and whole neighborhoods. Inflation is destroying the planet's economy somehow, even though the Triumvirate is not issuing any new currency there. Vaughn's job is to investigate a Tannjen who has gained control of Fort Forestine. Records are flawless. He'd been in the Ministry of War for twenty years. In fact, Ministry of Personnel and War both agree that he's been there for ages. The only reason anyone noticed anything at all was that this Tannjen's microbiome seemed off. A paladin of Ma'eau reported that, starting a few days ago, this Tannjen had suddenly completely reverted their microbiome to one with 0 Aylathiyan strains.

Why the anomalist? Because what happened in this case is impossible. The ministry of war, intelligence division is scrambling to figure out how any of this could be happening. Scrambling to figure out other possible exceptions and they are drafting anomalists from universities to help them.

Sometime later, I want a scene where Vaughn is talking to a Kristal parapsychologist from Eos or what have you. They got everyone. Paratheologists, ordained ministers in Ibaradism who study "seeming contradictions in the teachings of Titania." Cryptothaumaturgists who look for new forms of thaumaturgy or new ways of practicing. Vaughn's specific specialization was "Historical Anomalistics," the use of the scientific method to figure out anomalous history. Funny

Anyways since the destruction of Fort Maihuenia (good thing in the opening act? Don't know) they've been hiding underground. A few humans walking around, let alone a massive Molkor, is not possible. In the cover of night, petrol truck takes them to the nearest shuttle. Crowded with researchers, soldiers, contractors, and what have you fleeing the planet, the Five Ministries are panicking. Their only leads is that somehow, their people are dying and it's the fault of "The Benefit" apparently.

The air gets stale pretty quickly, the recyclers are working overtime but it's not quickly enough. They wheel in oxygen tanks and release them in the crowded common area. They practically run each other over to get to Fort Forestine, where it's new head greets them. The air is stale as well and the place is packed, but not nearly as bad. Vaughn goes out of her way to shake hands with the Tannjen.

"I'm f'Starrock," pronounced like "Farrock." Strange naming convention and weirdly fitting now that she thought about it. His attendant, Mildre Forestine, a Kristal. Now that is strange for both of them to have names like this. Both of their uniforms were awfully new compared to the others, but maybe that was Vaughn's imagination.

Later, they hear from Ms. Forestine that they are going to be on the first ship out of here.

Sometime later, Vaughn goes to f'Starrock's office, it's name plate shiny as though f'Starrock was bragging about his authority. His chair was too small and the office was comparatively bare. Tannjens are a large people. No pictures, achievements, decorations of any kind besides a plant from... Eos it looked like? Some flowers not in bloom, but flowers only evolved once and that was all the way back in Aylathiya. Sure, nearly every planet had them but that was because Ma'eau spread them. Vaughn dismissed the thought, she was on edge and was looking for patterns.

Things start breaking down. I mean badly. I want there to be some kind of "montage" of things getting out of hand. Then, a brief "resuming" of the plot. Vaughn is simply living out her life on Crimwol. She'd been one of the first human colonists to land there looking for a better life. She, her parents, and siblings who look nothing alike or something like that. It's a weirdo world.

What was she trying to remember? Not sure, it was time for the congregation. Someone would be allowed to have a wish. People wished for water for the crops, gold beyond measure, a girlfriend with [idk insert something vulgar here], whatever. Vaughn was lucky. She got her turn (perhaps referred to as "Faye" this whole time. She's called up and her wish is "safety." She hears many whispers and she wonders why she would wish for something like that. What could there be to worry about on Crimwol? It's three moons rise, orbiting one another in an impossible tertiary configuration. She wondered how she knew it was impossible.

"For one to study the anomalous, one needs to know what normal looks like." This could be the reason. She was lucky to have been so well-versed in this, perhaps due to some experience as a child. Perhaps some remark about a middle-aged man showing her some weirdo esoteric thaumaturgy. There needs to be a reason.

She looks into the crowd and sees a familiar face, the paratheologist. Her eyes are pointed toward another, the cryptothaumaturgist.

Some kind of heuristic, like inception haha, three rules of the anomalous. Something like that. She needs to figure out the Benefactor.

"So if there's a benefit... there's a benefactor, right?"

We establish that the benefactor is lazy and cuts corners. It will half ass what it does. That's why we spend so much time on the director. Maybe there is a set back from the director, but the rot goes so much deeper. Much to set up. Unfortunately, it looks like I need to name the paratheology and cryptothaumaturgist.

"I want to see the greatest story every told!" An enthusiast of plays shouted. And yes, they got their story. They were subject to uncountably infinite time, laying witness to the machinations of a story. For the briefest ten thousand years, it actually played out. They saw the truth of the previous universe.

"I never want these days to end!" A hopeless nostalgic shouted. They experienced the same day over and over, aware of this and constantly numbed to it.

"I want to know why the universe exists!" A single drawing on an ordinary piece of paper. A circle with a small point in the middle. The words "all is one" written above it. I like to think is the origin of the Monad symbol.

"I want to see my mom again! I want infinite money! I want to do over my life! I want to live forever! I want to die! I want the [X] to be erased forever!"

"I want the benefactor killed," an agent of the Triumvirate said. They died as their mind formed the words.

"I want to know the future!" A list of probabilities. The probable path of every particle in the universe, although really it was just one. It was a mathematical object somewhat like a matrix or a vector. But it was far too large

So what's the point? What am I trying to say? Well this is part of a larger arc of course. This is the first inciting action. So the grand arc was going to go into skepticism. Her whole shtick is that she doesn't believe anomalistics is for pushing the bounds of science, just tweaking existing models. Scoffs at radical theories about new forces. The basic six are enough. Stuff like that. This Benefactor shit is a fundamental departure from normalcy. Thus begins her foray into the occult.

She suddenly doesn't know anything. Very scary. So that begins her interest in a lot of nonsense. She slowly burns out into a sort of nihilist/absurdist perspective. That idea of the slip of paper with the monad on it. All is one. That will come up toward the end and give her the confidence to actually deal with the final threat which is, of course, the confrontation with Holos.

What happens to The Three? Surely a random beneficiary (sure) would wish them out of existence? During that weirdo period they probably didn't exist.

A funny "I wish the universe would last forever" wish. She wondered who put that one in. Surely it would be too expensive to ask for.

My idea was that Vaughn is so confident in her ability to discern fact from fiction, but it was Bernays or Vanta who saw through it... but why? What makes someone able to see through the chaos? The contradiction? When they are constantly being brainwashed? When all the little tricks, tells, superstitions fail? Who can undermine all of that to see the truth? Themes! Themes! Themes!

Vaughn runs to the Benefactor as she hears the Triumvirate is going to utterly obliterate Crimwol. It's a miracle even a single Tannjen survives to be honest, but populations have been living in the wilds of Eos for millennia so maybe not.

A Dotsk could see through the bullshit, but that's not thematically pleasing. I want it to be all vibesy and nonsensical. Of course a Dotsk is immune to the bullshit they don't have a soul.

A song of some sort? A musician's song didn't sound right? An avid lucid dreamer kept trying to wake up without knowing why? An artist whose art is wrong?

Esoteric Thaumaturgy, the most vibes-based of the thaumaturgies. Someone who can't quite seem to connect with their plane and is running around trying to connect to it. Vaughn doesn't think it exists and thinks it is a trance state people enter that manifests aspects of the subconscious (it manifests the schema which forms in childhood due to trauma or something vaguely freudian).

At the end of teh story, she can't bring herself to say "I want to know." She is terrified of what it is that she's trying to know. So terrified that she flees and abandons, say, her companion Bernays who says "I'll ask for you... what is the true nature of the universe?" This is probably where that slip of paper with the drawing of the monad comes in. It's so bland, so boring, so underwhelming compared to what terrifying reality Vaughn was imagining. She has to ask for "safety." There there that's where the safety wish comes in not during the chaos.

You could say this is the climax of the story. She fails. I want to set up that she thinks using the benefit to figure out the true nature of the universe would be an incredible opportunity. She could go to sleep excited about the prospect.

We just need to figure out how she is "defeated." Just who/what reaches out from the chaos. Maybe it just ends on its own as the debts increase to levels that can't possibly be paid?

I was thinking maihuenia literally just wished, "I wish everything on this piece of paper would become true." Something idiotic but it works because no one had been stupid enough to try. Some moron found it and started a religion over it. Subjecting Maihuenia to ever-increasing pressure to give mass to the beenfactor as he desperately tries to find the paper. Hell, he could have been the one to order the bombardment.

What would be really really really interesting would be Vaughn, having somehow figured all of this out, seeing Maihuenia slither around back in the Kernel. Nightmarish and only further collapses her will even after hearing about how he disappeared shortly thereafter. Maihuenia doesn't even acknowledge her. He has no idea who she is.

This is a lot like the original "The Knowledge of Nature" bit, no?

It would be really interesting if Vanta just shook Vaughn from her stupor in the chaos and they have a brief conversation before reality caves in around them. Quickly, "nothing feels right."

"What?"

"Lady Vaughn the vibrations are all wrong"

no no that's too orderly. too reliable. How would this molkor know what's wrong?

Every inconsistency can be explained away at the drop of a hat. Every doubt can be soothed. How can this possibly be beaten?

Maybe it doesn't need to be beaten? Every anomalist dabbles in lucid dreaming to see if they can reliably, even unconsciously, tell whether or not reality is real. This fails. She has no idea reality is real, just vague notions. I can go into this at the beginning of the story of course. Why do I keep bracing myself? I keep wanting to give up? To abort?

She is talking to some weird ultra-sexualized Tannjen about this and they say, "Are you alright? You should talk to a therapist." moments later she is in a therapists office, some creature she's never seen before offers her a bowl of something unappealing. It asks if she wants to die. No... that's not it.

She's at home, working at her job. How long had she been working? How long was her shift? The clock seemed to melt. She couldn't tell if her suit was on or not.

Explosions. What's exploding? Why exploding? it hurts so much. She's empathizing with the environment, aware of its pain. She wonders who wished for something so stupid, then wonders why she's wondering that? She begins waking. Panicking about her helmet being off, but then realizing it was on the whole time. What defeats the Benefit is dropping rocks on the surface. The Benefactor sees no reason to alter gravity, which takes tremendous energy because the force is so weak.

She wakes up on Starrock. Why was she wearing a spacesuit? The ferns had all shriveled up? She sees people running around but can't hear them. Scared she is going deaf, then realized her heart is very very loud. She tries tuning into the public channel and can't make out a word over the agony.

After things settle, she's ordered to limehold to investigate the Benefactor. This is directly from The Three, or their hand, rather, The Administrator themself. Maihuenia... she sounds out the name. That's odd, she's read it hundreds of times, thousands even. She is overcome by nausea.

She stands on the ring that is limehold, like a halo worn by The Three. Already, a craft is ready to take her and her companions to the Benefactor. This was an experiment... The Administrator said he was trying to learn more about how the Benefactor has affected Limehold before it was to be cleansed just like Crimwol.

God how do I get her to the Benefactor???? I always have this problem. Everything's perfect and then boom! Nope! I can't get the characters where they need to be!

Why would she go toward this thing that's so terrifying for her???

Does the Benefactor have agents? Maybe that's too much like madoka... already I think I might be drawing just enough inspiration from revolution that I can't be doing this oto muc.

During the crazy times I want to emphasize an outside foreign force changing her thoughts. Like simple sentences interspersed with the usual style. "This is fine." perhaps.

So about getting Ms. Vaughn to the benefactor. Probably during the chaotic period. Perhaps she just walks there? So here is the issue

Crimwol is a bajillion kilometers from the Benefactor. Space travel doesn't work during the chaotic era. Benefactor is lazy and doesn't make it easy to pay a visit

Limehold is something of a halo above the Benefactor's head, right? After the chaotic period, Vaughn figures out she has some kind of unique access to the internals of Limehold. She is not sure why, but she knows how to get to the Benefactor. A helpful Loresavt guides her when she asks it too after noticing how they listened to her for some reason. I think she figures this out by telling it to get out of her lodging (some tent on the edge of a makeshift military camp). normally they don't listen and can't really be stopped, but this one listened. Okay okay good good. So she starts ordering it around but it soon grows bored and leaves.

This is how she'll get to that scene where she has access to the Benefactor. Perhaps Vanta accompanies her and in desperation asks the question Vaughn is too afraid to ask: "I want to know how all this works? What was all that? What is the universe even like? Will that chaos come back?"

Vaughn just asks for safety.

The Benefit Draft

Months and months of cruising through low G left Faye's muscles unprepared for the 110% gravity of Crimwol, or worse, the preceding 200% deceleration [burn]. Since basically every organism has the same handful of amino acids and genetic material, generic steroids kept some semblance in place. And so, there she was, squatting in her office/quarters thankful that, despite the challenge it was to get here, she could have her own space. One wall was stone, riddled with cracks and faded carvings she could not figure out if they were drawings or language. Jutting out of the wall were metal beams keeping up the next twenty floors. The rest of the space, save for the floor, was the same mint green composed of segments of vinyl polymer bolted to the building's skeleton without any pattern. One of the walls leaned inward ever so slightly. She could only tell since her desk was placed against it.

Now for the most important muscles. She was well aware hardly any other humans would see the fruit of her effort, but looking good by those standards was a must. It kept her confident. So, pushing her hips back, maintaining a straight back, she fired back up to standing. No physical therapist specializing in humans was in the nearest five star systems, so she kept the weight low. No dietician either, so better to skip the more carb heavy options, or was it fat that was bad? She needed to be in her home system to even get a reliable answer.

A knock interrupted her exercise. The three quick sounds something something it was Bernays. Inspector Bernays d'Borea.

Something something

She sits in the chair, her uniform, suited for Vexlores, hung off her arms like robes, but clung to her torso and chest like they were a size too small. At least she was able to button it all the way up, Faye long gave up and settled with the somewhat regular snide remarks from higher ups about keeping her top four buttons undone. Apparently the Triumvirate military did not think tailors were a good idea.

[Did I really introduce two female characters and the first things I think to mention are ass and titties? Oh my god. At least this passes the Bechtel test]

Bernays, from the colony world of Petra, ended up quite a bit shorter. Something something they are farmers mostly over there. Poorer place. This was... right before the crisis of the 71st century. Good good.

Faye grew up on Aegyn, so the two took weeks to get used to the other's accent. Faye's an academic standard Triune, practiced over years to mimic how Kristals talk, and Bernays accent sounded like a war between Petra defending itself from encroaching Triune manners.

Halfway through a Journey

Of course spice and wolf is going to be my main inspiration here. Their flirting is so interesting. I hope I can write something like that... but we need to plot out the main emotional beats of the story!

Ohko—a messiah-like figure causing trouble in Othniel's empire. Her goal is to learn to fly. She just has to! (I really want to explore why she's so desperate to do this, but that's for a different tale hehe).

Hal—A human bumpkin from a village that didn't even know it was a part of Othniel's empire.

Eve—Already have her all figured out. A daughter of a failed merchant, she's very melodramatic. Type 4. We'll see if I can fix her or if she'll die annoying.

Ashur—A vague person... why does he fuck with people? Like, I know he's terrified of the wider universe out there, but what are his motivations? Backstory before fundamental beliefs...

Hal finally working up the courage to hand Ohko a... strange thing. A pretty beetle or something. She's confused and he immediately blows it off as just something cool he found (how old are they lmao). It's meant to be a cultural thing? Like giving flowers but they're beetles y'know. Gah! Too much romance anime!

What's really hard about this is that I didn't actually figure out the motivations of these characters. I did a plot first construction! What about the arcs??? The most important thing about characters! Is Ohko's arc that she finally realizes she did enough or is it that she finally realizes she doesn't need control? There we go! An overlord stepping aside and trusting other people! At first it's her inner circle, which, when stripped from her in the consilium era, sets her back a great deal. Perfect...

As for Mr. Drusus, we need to figure out his arc too. The themes the themes! A complimentary arc that's perhaps the reverse? The idea that an arc is morally neutral. Something about not being able to go all out? Being numb to what he wants and then finally realizing "oh shit I want X" while rampaging across Eos to destroy Holos and their followers. Triggered by Ohko's death of course. Perhaps he feels great amounts of guilt for "going all out?" Breaking the rules. Obviously being so big meant he probably faced great ostracization. Obviously foreshadowing his fate. He cares deeply about the will of the people. A certain philosopher inspired him perhaps (Lovelace... not the programmer it's just such a good name. Perhaps spelled 'Lovelase."

Eve is funny I need a spinoff where she realizes that it's okay to be okay. I saw that video and was just, like, bam I need to try this. What was that movie that did this... should watch it perhaps. So Eve isn't a main character that's the thing. I don't have to worry about themes ha!

Ashur is just built on fear. I think he goes with Ohko because her movement has promise... well it's something to cling onto. Ashur is probably the strongest guy on Eos at the time, but he can't shatter the movement! He's interesting.

Halfway through a journey is exactly what it sounds like. This is partial growth that both characters experience, pushing them toward one another. Ohko lets Hal into the inner circle and feels she can trust him. Hal feels comfortable around her, like he can let down the shield he constantly carries (instead raising his spear lmaoooo).

Do I want a sex scene? I mean I can probably go pretty far with the whole trust and going all out thing oh god. Oh god. I've never had sex this is gonna be horrific. Well I think I can do this perhaps less raunchily? Eve and Ashur are just background characters halfway through their own journeys. I refuse to ship them. So what of everyone else?

Dagon a something

Elimelech a human? Those are so overrepresented.

Abijah of Sarpanitum (I think they'd call it Pastorale but whatevs) A goddamn Un'oit on Eos!

Ishtar of Olaris (way later. No ideas right now)

Astrild a something

Esthers a Civese

Absalom is a villain. Perhaps Milcom too?

Resonant Divinity is such a good name.

Greyfolk representation!

Naidaran representation!

At some point I want the concept of paladins to really be explained. It's why both Ohko and Hal are huge, they are literally accelerating their body's ability to grow, fight diseases, and fight.

Was Ohko still sent by Zaphenim? No... let's say not. She acts in the name of the "Lux Father," but does not actively know him. Okay okay. Ohko is still absolutely a spirit. She took over a comatose body so the fusion hasn't been totally complete. I want to explore this, but come on this is halfway through the journey not the whole thing!

I really made Ohko drool all over Eve in the character sheet. I sort of want to draw them.

So anyway I figured out Ohko. She's been with all kinds of people, but has goddamnit just imply it from the themes I'm not gonna spell it out! She doesn't trust anyone so of course

Hal's quite the opposite.

So how does their pairing fit into the theme! Guess!

Enough about relations. It's time to figure out the setting. Othniel's empire is a large kingdom by the "World Sea" "Timeless Sea" something big. It's the Isochron sea in the modern day. It's ruled by Naidarans, spirits. Civese, Kristals, Humans, and all the other freaks have been enslaved. It's basically just the roman empire in governance and economy. More foreshadowing about how "all have a soul, whether spirit or [carnal or corporeal]. All are therefore of one body, some [cosmopolis if I am to borrow from stoicism]." Directly plays into modern notions of Mars... but this is Halfway through the Journey not the whole thing!

Some Ideas

Starting off with the status quo. The hinting of the first spark at the beginning of course. The first time they are in a scene together. Then I need to really get the status quo down. Who's who? What's going on? Get those themes. mmm mmm mmm. Anyway, some kind of shift in the dynamic afterward. Reversals perhaps. The little nudges perhaps. Hints and moments of doubt? Sure I guess. I like this video it's basically just reminding me of what I know. Oh god misunderstandings haha.

The big moment! Obvious to the reader, but perhaps not to the characters. Change in feelings and plenty of doubt of course. It could be as simple as their dynamic changing. Their normally witty back and forth degrades and they get flustered.

The almost moment to tease the reader. Perhaps... like the dark night of the soul in a hero's journey, when it seems everything is lost. Then the moment of a kiss or something. Then the climax okay okay. The final spanner in the works. A lie, a reversal, a reveal. Then reconciliation! More confession more kissing. Yippee!

This is just a standard three act structure. Love this.

Third person omniscient. Let's go never tried this before.

I cannot get this joke out of my head. Something about a proto sports bra? Dunno. Funny line could be, "Hey at least we don't have to worry about that, right Eve?" Haha. God anime brain. Are my only jokes about tits???

Story

Notes

Antarctica

Kessler syndrome wild west sort of sci fi setting. About a million people live on the coasts of antarctica, but it might as well be mars if you go outside unprotected. A few degrees of global warming doesn't change that especially in the middle.

Nuclear Technology Prevents Extinction, not causing it

Perhaps someone has thought of this, but this is a dead barren world. Ozone layer? Gone. Weather is quite erratic and mutants roam the wastelands between cities. Now, the cities are quite interesting. Big nuclear power plants in the middle of huge walled complexes. Only way to survive is for everyone to huddle around the electric heater or take refuge in the shade.

Almost inspired by "mutation protocol" but instead of being edgy, it's just the setting. Could be compelling in colder areas. Perhaps after the Triumvirate collapse in the cold fringes of Eos? Perhaps on an island or something idk.

Random

Perhaps someone has thought of this, but this is a dead barren world. Ozone layer? Gone. Weather is quite erratic and mutants roam the wastelands between cities. Now, the cities are quite interesting. Big nuclear power plants in the middle of huge walled complexes. Only way to survive is for everyone to huddle around the electric heater or take refuge in the shade.

Almost inspired by "mutation protocol" but instead of being edgy, it's just the setting. Could be compelling in colder areas. Perhaps after the Triumvirate collapse in the cold fringes of Eos? Perhaps on an island or something idk.

Example - Example

Wa - Wa

Glossary of Worlds

Aylathiya

Aegyn: While not the official homeworld of Humans, that title goes to Olaris, Aegyn is the origin point of Human civilization and culture. This flooded ecumenopolis is seeing waves of resettlement after nearly a millennium of abandonment.

Albedo: Named for its brightness in the night skies of Eos, Albedo was the third world ever colonized by Humans. For centuries, this world ruled large swathes of its parent world until subjugation in 9001 CE.

Capriccio: Cappriccio was the capital of the Euphony Civilization. It is the unofficial homeworld of the Un'oit.

D'Naevium: D'Naevium is an unusual world whose ecosystem faced a calamity some ten million years ago. What replaced it was an engineered ecosystem, but who or what engineered it is unknown. For preservation of the ecosystem, all cities lie deep underground.

D'Naevium is home to the Ror Units.

Eos: An unrivaled megastructure built by ancient forebears, Eos is the most populous, wealthiest, and powerful world in Aylathiya. Single cities on this world have conquered stars and, at multiple points, practically the entire region was ruled by this megastructure's people.

Homeworld of the Atlins, Kristals, Kshi, Loresavt, Civese, Luxscions, and Greyfolk.

Euterpe
Euterpe is a populous world orbiting Nocturne. The planet was only thawed 750 years ago and its terraformation remains an ongoing project as its ever-melting ammonia and methane ices must be constantly mitigated.

Gohbrin: A somewhat powerful world and innermost planet of Angreifer. Its government dominates the inner Angreifer system as the Gohbrin Global Ministry.

Homeworld of the Orcubor.

Hathia: Hathia is a world beset by Marred Life, the phenomenon of Ma'eau's mental collapse. The resulting lifeforms are constantly in the process of death, or at least appear that way. Some always burning, drowning, drying out, succumbing to radiation, life on Hathia pushes the boundaries of what is chemically possible.

Hathia is the home world of the Molkor.

Ivathiya: A frigid ice giant that, in antiquity, had been ignored due to its punishing conditions. As the Skladyvat settled the planet, they formed the nation of Vaspujian. The success of this nation has spurred the colonization of similar ice giants beyond simple resource extraction.

Kajupto: Kajupto is a nutrient poor dim world distantly orbiting Argothiya. Its oceans, covered in a thick mat of megaflora, are hostile to new plant growth. Thus, the ocean plants evolved the means to send their spores onto land to gather nutrients, mate, and mature before entering the water once more. The ecosystem on land is entirely based on these spores as conventional animals have yet to evolve on Kajupto.

Homeworld of the Viphians.

Lokira: Lokira is a city world and second most populous planet of the Commonwealth of Aggregate Aylathiya. While large stretches of the city remain empty, thanks to emigration to Lokira's neighboring planets, the planet remains highly influential.

Lokira is home to the Zythyns.

Occalia: A hot world whose oceans are maintained only by high atmospheric pressure, Occalia hosts a unique ecosystem in which only a single species exists. A different phase in this species' life cycle fulfills every niche. Since this ecosystem formed, it would consistently undergo "apocalypses" in which the final phase, the agglomeration and homogenization, takes place.

Occalia is home to the Timporians.

Orethus: A cold world Omnite occupied for centuries, Orethus did not have a fair shot at civilization until two thousand years ago. While its native have spread throughout Aylathiya, many returned to their home. Today, the planet has the highest population out of any orbiting Byutix.

Orethus is home to the Skladyvat.

Patyrth: Patyrth is the most populous satellite of Finale and something of a cultural and economic capital. Its culture had greatly influenced that of its occupiers, Sagittarium, to the point of Patyrthi culture outshining Thalia.

Petra: Petra is a cosmopolitan world and one of the first colonized by Humanity. Petra is the most valuable possession of the Imperator, over which this ruler is called "Stargrave."

Sakijast: Sakijast is one of the principle worlds of the Commonwealth of Aggregate Aylathiya and is the center of the state of Arkholst. It hosted one of the first technological civilizations in Aylathiya, the Matoehdahn Contract.

Sakijast is the home of the Arkhosians.

Thalia: A once frigid world thawed by the mighty empire of Sagittarium, it is the most populous planet orbiting Nocturne and makes good use of this fact. Its sheer economic and military might keeps Sagittarium afloat, this nation is more or less an extension of Thalia rather than a true pan-Nocturne state. Large voids in the planet's mantle have been filled with equipment to absorb Nocturne's gravitational waves and convert them into the energy that heats the planet's oceans, thus heating the entire world.

Thalia is home to the Thalians.

Poratus: A megastructure built around the white dwarf of Hearts. Built to cheaply gather antimatter, the Poratus structure is the site of much energy-intensive manufacturing. The Xihe Pact administrates the megastructure and continually expands it.

Thalsiedeln: The first world Humans ever set foot on outside of their home system, Thalseideln had been the site of dozens of bloody conflicts. As these wars ended, the first socialist state in Aylathiya emerged, the Confederacy of Borealis. Its blue and white flag inspired many similar revolutions with mixed results.

Velevev: Nearly all life in Aylathiya traces its origin to the planet of Velevev. Home of Ma'eau, the feeling ecosystem, every possible niche on this planet has been filled from its exosphere to molten outer core. This diverse life has been exported to many worlds and adapted to fit their environments. All flowers in Cosmoria are related to the flowers on Velevev.

Velevev is the home of the Farlas.

Vossen: Vossen is a gas mega-giant and largest planet in Aylathiya. Its ecosystem contains more biomass than most star systems. It has so much photosynthesizing microbes that green streaks stretch across its atmosphere. Vossen is the capital of the Commonwealth of Aggregate Aylathiya, the region's premier economic bloc and most unified international government.

Vyllurian: Vyllurian is an aquatic life-bearing world whose prominent rings are responsible for most of its features. From the mass die off of creatures to produce its enviable oil reserves, to the evolution of its intelligent inhabitants, that event twenty million years ago fundamentally changed the planet. This same oil made Vyllurian into a galactic player and one of the wealthiest worlds in history.

Vyllurian is home to the Kya.

Xadio: A gas planet orbiting Angreifer, Xadio hosts a substantial ecosystem of life forms residing in its clouds. The Commonwealth province of Avolast controls Xadio. The world is hotly contested between the Orcubor of the inner system and Skladyvat of the outer system.

Home of the Ohmados.

Zushilo: Zushilo was the ancient capital of Sedrua and the site of an immense number of advancements in Thaumaturgy. The planet is divided into six zones by the Commonwealth's six states. The once proud world had dominated Aylathiya for millennia; its fall had caused economic stagnation and mass emigration. Those who remain make ends meet with a tourism-based economy.

Home of the Bahattes.

Azurullya

Oaliun: The first world settled by the Theocracy of Silverstar and its capital. It was the only habitable world they could find in the harsh Azurullya galaxy.

Florathel

Garrea: Garrea dominates the star of Dorok so much so that "Garrea" is often used to describe the entire star and its nation, Mandras. Garrea recently out-voted its sister worlds—Alnihaya and Harun—to have Mandras join the United Nations of Florathel, cementing the planet and its system as a part of Florathel instead of Aylathiya.

Zalanthium

Crimwol: A somewhat populous terrestrial world which dominates its star, Hwrett. This planet is a major center for trade in Zalanthium, but only recently attained this status. The world's rocky history has seen the population fall under one billion three times. This instability lead to the mass colonization of Zalanthium by its natives.

Crimwol is home to the Tannjens.

Indar: Indar is a new titan of industry, finance, and services bending Zalanthium around itself as though the entire arm orbited this small habitable world. It is the most populous planet in the region after accepting untold numbers of immigrants from throughout the universe.

Tangda: Once a promising world, endless warfare between its two native species, predator and prey, destroyed this planet and reduced its population to a mere 150 million.

Homeworld of the Kanra and Arsho.