# Introduction
{% hint style="danger" %}
Genesis Bridgeworld has been frozen in time and will not see any future updates as of October 17, 2024. This documentation site will be sunset and transition over time.
{% endhint %}
# Getting Started
*Greetings, fellow travelers. You are invited to embark on a journey like no other. On this quest, you will venture into a fascinating new world, searching for coins, Treasures and other elements that can be combined into precious artefacts.*
## Step 1 - Obtain MAGIC
In this world, MAGIC is the energy of the metaverse, and you must acquire some if you hope to gather fellowship.
To do so, simply go to the [Trove marketplace](https://trove.treasure.lol/), connect to the wallet of your choice, and click “Buy MAGIC”. Bridgeworld operates on Arbitrum. You will need to send funds to Arbitrum in order to purchase MAGIC *via* the *"Buy MAGIC"* button. View [here](https://consensys.net/blog/metamask/how-to-bridge-your-assets-to-arbitrum-using-metamask/) for details on sending funds to Arbitrum.
### What is MAGIC?
MAGIC is the natural resource of the Treasure metaverse. It powers the ecosystem of games on Treasure. MAGIC is designed to be increasingly scarce as it weaves an ever-growing web of narrative bridges within the Metaverse. Players can obtain MAGIC through playing in Bridgeworld and across the Treasure ecosystem.
### What is the Treasure Ecosystem?
The Treasure Ecosystem consists of games that share the same economic infrastructure which includes the reserve-currency (MAGIC), Marketplace (Trove) and in-game assets. The Treasure ecosystem is a part of Treasure, a decentralized game console.
View [here](https://treasure.lol/) for more information on Treasure and the broader Treasure ecosystem.
## Step 2 - Obtain your character
Before you can embark on a quest, you must obtain a Legion.
There are 3 types of Legions:
1\. **Recruit Legions** - The Barrack is where players can obtain a Recruit Legion to begin playing Bridgeworld. Recruits can be minted for 10 MAGIC. View [here](https://docs.bridgeworld.treasure.lol/gameplay/barracks) for details on Recruit Legions.
2\. **Auxiliary Legions** - Auxiliary Legions are better at questing and crafting than Recruit legions and can be used within Harvesters to find more MAGIC.
3\. **Genesis Legions** - Genesis Legions are the most powerful beings within Bridgeworld. They have strong abilities in finding Treasures and extracting MAGIC from Bridgeworld.
Head to the [Trove marketplace](https://trove.treasure.lol/cartridge/bridgeworld) to purchase a Auxiliary or Genesis Legion. Here, you can trade in your MAGIC for Legions to join your company. Choose the warrior best suited to you, and being your quest!
## Step 3 - Embark on adventures!
Once your company is full, it’s time to set out for adventure!
There are four main paths to send your legions. Legions can questing for treasures and other rare elements, craft treasures and consumables, eliminate corruption in bridgeworld and gain a seat in a Harvester to find MAGIC across Bridgeworld.
### Train a recruit Legion
By summoning others to your cause, you will be able to increase your party, and thus your chance of success in Bridgeworld.
In the Barracks, you can acquire and train a Recruit Legion for a modest fee of 10 MAGIC. These Legions have restrictions in how they can be used in Bridgeworld compared to Auxiliary and Genesis Legions. With enough questing and crafting, a recruit can be promoted to an Auxiliary Legion!
### Quest for items
By traveling to the Ivory Tower, Legions can begin questing throughout Bridgeworld, gaining experience as they seek out valuable Treasures and items that can be used across Bridgeworld and the broader Treasure ecosystem.
Questing is the main way to find Treasures in Bridgeworld. As Legions go on quests, they will gain questing experience that will allow them to unlock more difficult quests. Questing is free and is how Legions earn Essence of Starlight, Prism Shards, and Treasure Fragments which can be crafted into Treasures.
### Craft new assets
At the Forge, Legions can take the items they’ve amassed through questing, and combine them into useful items that will aid in their adventures, as well as their journey of finding MAGIC.
As with Questing, your Legions will gain crafting points the more they use the Forge, which will allow them to unlock the ability to forge rarer and more valuable artifacts.
### Join a Harvester
Harvesters are ancient creatures that find and consume MAGIC across Bridgeworld. Legions have learned to harness the power of Harvesters by attaching Harvester Permits to them which divert the MAGIC they find and consume to themselves. View [here](https://docs.bridgeworld.treasure.lol/gameplay/harvesters) for more information on Harvesters.
### Fight Corruption
Corruption is a toxic substance continually seeping into Bridgeworld that makes questing longer, increases break rates during crafting and reduces the amount of MAGIC harvesters can find.
Legions can work to remove corruption that has seeped into the Ivory Tower, Forge, and Harvesters as well as harness the power of corruption to craft it and throw it against their opponents to gather more MAGIC.
###
***Disclaimer - game mechanics and recipes are subject to change. Do not invest or speculate on any game assets or mechanics within Bridgeworld and the broader Treasure ecosystem.***
# Training a Recruit in the Barracks
Bridgeworld is full of adventurers and dreamers from far and wide who come to Bridgeworld to make a better life for themselves. The most ambitious among these transient citizens volunteer to join the Bridgeworld Recruits, earning the chance to prove themselves worthy of permanent citizenship. Recruit training is long, arduous, and dangerous—many who set out fail along the way. But for the most extraordinary, ascending through the ranks to become an Auxiliary Legion is a reward worth the sacrifice.The Barrack is where players can obtain a Recruit Legion to begin playing Bridgeworld. Recruits can be minted for 10 MAGIC. See below for more details on Recruit Legions.
## What can Recruit Legions do?
Recruits are able to gain experience from questing in order to get promoted to more powerful Legions known as Auxiliary Legions.
### **Questing with a Recruit Legion**
Recruit Legions are able to go on quests in the [Ivory Tower](https://docs.treasure.lol/cartridges/bridgeworld/ivory-tower) to find Treasure Fragments which they can craft into Treasures.Details on questing with Recruit Legions:
* Recruits travel through part one of a quest (Auxiliary Legions can venture further)
* Recruits receive the following from questing:
* 4 Experience (XP) points
* 1 Essence of Starlight (EOS)
* 1 Prism Shard
* The chance to find a T5 Treasure Fragment
* Chance of finding a T5 Treasure Fragment varies over time depending on how many other Recruits are also questing, and how many fragments are in the pool. The more recruits questing, the quicker the pool deplets. However the fragments in the pool are gradually increasing every second.
* The pool fills up continuously at a rate of 5,000 tier 5 treasures per month
* Cadets receive an extra 5% boost which is multiplicative. So if the base odds from that formula is 50%, and they are a cadet, they get an extra 5% boost (50 \* 1.05) = 52.5
### **Crafting with a Recruit Legion**
Recruits are able to craft T5 Treasures in the [Forge](https://docs.treasure.lol/cartridges/bridgeworld/the-forge/crafting-treasures). Recruits are unable to craft consumables until they are promoted to an Auxiliary Legion. Below is the recipe for Recruits to craft Treasures in the Forge.
*Recruit Crafting Recipe*
| Treasure Tier | Prism Shards | MAGIC | Fragments | Recruit XP Gained |
| ------------- | ------------ | ----- | --------- | ----------------- |
| T5 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 0 |
### Promoting a Recruit
Recruits receive experience (XP) for questing that enables them to level up to be promoted to an Auxiliary Legion.
Recruits can be promoted to a Cadet at level 3 and have the option to choose to become one of the following types of Cadets:
* Lethality
* Cognition
* Parabolics
*Note - promotion to a recruit requires 6 Essence of Starlight and 6 Prism Shards.*
Recruits can be promoted to an Apprentice at level 7 whereby they can choose to become one of the following based on the type of Cadet they are:
| Cadet Type | Apprentice Type |
| ---------- | --------------- |
| Lethality | Assassin |
| | Fighter |
| Cognition | Spellcaster |
| Parabolics | Ranger |
| | Siege |
The Apprentice type determine the type of Auxiliary Legion your Recruit may become when attempting to get promoted to an Auxiliary Legion. For example, a Spellcaster Apprentice will become a Spellcaster Auxiliary Legion.
#### **Experience Required to Level Up**
Level
Experience to Level
Cumulative Experience
Gained Perk
1
10
10
Craft Treasures
2
20
30
3
40
70
Promote to Cadet
4
70
140
5
100
240
6
130
370
7
175
545
Promote to Apprentice
8
230
775
Attempt Ascension to Auxiliary Legion
In order to ascend to an Auxiliary Legion, Apprentices are required to pay 150 MAGIC.
When attempting to ascend to an Auxiliary Legion, there is a chance that your Recruit fails to ascend. In this case, your 150 MAGIC is refunded and in order to attempt another ascension, your Recruit needs to repeat level 8 first.
It is rare that a Recruit ascends to an Auxiliary Legion, and is rate limited to approximately 14 ascensions a week over time. The probability of ascending depends on how many Recruits are simultaneously trying to ascend, and how many spots are available (2 spots are added every day, 14 per week), so it is best if a Recruit strategically times their ascension attempt when fewer other Recruits are attempting to ascend.
#### **Additional Information on Recruits**
* Players can only mint 1 Recruit per wallet
* Recruits are non-transferable
# Questing in the Ivory Tower
The Ivory Tower is where Legions can set out on quests in search of Treasures hidden within Bridgeworld.
## Questing Overview
The Ivory Tower is where Legions can set out on quests in search of valuable resources such as Essence of Starlight, Treasure Fragments, and Prism Shards.
*Note**:** Genesis Legions have the added advantage of finding full Treasures (in addition to the above).*
Items found from questing are used in a variety of ways across Bridgeworld. Treasure Fragments can be used to craft full Treasures in [The Forge](broken://pages/8VmN9s8HSioIkrKt1Aif). Essence of Starlight, a liquid form of MAGIC, is used to tattoo Legions with one of Bridgeworld's constellations onto their skin so they can equip more Treasures while on quests to earn higher tiered Treasure Fragments.
Legions gain experience as they explore Bridgeworld’s frontiers. Questing points are awarded after each completed quest and are used to increase a Legion's questing experience level. The max questing level is 6.
Each quest has 3 parts. The higher a Legion's questing level, the farther they can go in each quest and the higher chance they find items from questing. Each time a legion quests, the distance the Legion traveled is added to the Legion's stats. Each part of a quest is considered 10 kilometers. Part 3 of a quest enables Legions to play [Treasure Triad](#ending-journeys-with-treasure-triad).
High level game loop for Questing
### Questing Tutorial
{% embed url="" %}
# Constellation Quests
## Embarking on Quests
There are three regions a Legion can quest in. Each region drops a specific affinity of Treasure Fragments which can then be used to craft full Treasures based on their affinity type. View [here](https://docs.bridgeworld.treasure.lol/gameplay/the-forge/crafting-treasures) for an overview of Treasure affinities.
Sending a Legion to quest within a specific region. 'Optimized' Legions have the same constellation as the region.
Legions have the opportunity to quest through three parts of a quest. In order to progress further into a journey, Legions must satisfy questing level requirements:
* Part 1: Requires Legions to be at least Questing level 1
* Part 2: Requires Legions to be at least Questing level 2
* Part 3: Requires Legions to be at least Questing level 3
Continuing a journey for rarer Treasures comes with risk. Users forfeit whatever loot they earned in the previous sections (see [Questing Rewards](#quest-rewards) below for more details), and Auxiliary Legions run the risk of falling into “stasis”, which will temporarily immobilize the Legion.
Players that travel to the 3rd section must also play the Treasure Triad Card game using equipped Treasures. See [Treasure Triad](https://docs.treasure.lol/cartridges/bridgeworld/ivory-tower/treasure-triad) for gameplay details.
#### **Each level of constellation protects your Auxiliary Legion and reduces the chance of stasis (default 30%):**
| Constellation Level | Stasis Reduction |
| --------------------- | ---------------- |
| Level 1 Constellation | reduce by 4% |
| Level 2 Constellation | reduce by 6% |
| Level 3 Constellation | reduce by 8% |
| Level 4 Constellation | reduce by 10% |
| Level 5 Constellation | reduce by 15% |
| Level 6 Constellation | reduce by 20% |
| Level 7 Constellation | reduce by 25% |
### Questing Rewards
During questing, Legions receive:
1. Questing XP (amount gained according to table below)
2. Essence of Starlight (EoS) and Prism Shards (amount gained according to table below)
3. Chance of finding a [Universal Lock](https://app.treasure.lol/collection/consumables/10) in all regions and sections
4. Chance of finding Treasure Fragments (see [Treasure Drop Rates](/gameplay/questing-in-the-ivory-tower/treasure-drop-rates) for more information)
5. **Genesis Legion Bonus:** chance of finding full [Treasures](https://app.treasure.lol/collection/treasures) (see [Treasure Drop Rates](/gameplay/questing-in-the-ivory-tower/treasure-drop-rates) for more information)
For Questing XP, EoS and Prism Shards, the rewards depends on the distance traveled:
Distance Traveled
Questing XP
Essence of Starlight
Prism Shards
1 Section
10
1
1
2 Sections
20
2
2
3 Sections
40
3
3
# Treasure Triad
Legions who travel to the 3rd section of a quest (requires questing level 3) and equipped Treasures must play the Treasure Triad game in the last part of their quest.
The goal is to flip as many cards to your control, which boosts the chance your Legion receives higher tiered Treasure Fragments and/or Treasures.
In order to travel to the 3rd section of quests and play Treasure Triad, a legion not only requires level 3 questing, but also requires at least one Treasure to be equipped. One Treasure can be equipped per constellation.
## Ending Journeys with Treasure Triad
{% embed url="" %}
Treasure Triad Video Tutorial
{% endembed %}
You will see a board with 3 cards placed by the computer. Your goal is to use your cards to try flip them.
Treasure Triad
The game works as follows:
1. Cards have 4 stats for the “North”, “East”, “South”, and “West” sides of the card.
2. When a card is placed next to another card, if the stats on your card are higher on the touching sides, you flip the adjacent cards to your color.
3. Players can place **up to 3 cards** on the grid by dragging and dropping a Treasure from their deck to an unflipped grid location of their choice.
* Simply click on a card to unplay it and move it back to your deck.
4. Grid cells with a purple color have a status effect of “corruption”. If you do not play a card on a corrupted grid cell, your legion will be put in stasis (frozen for X hours).
* Game generates at most 2 corrupted cells.
* 1 unflipped “corruption” grid cell ⇒ 12 hrs stasis
* 2 unflipped “corruption” grid cells ⇒ 24 hrs stasis
* **NOTE:** Genesis Legions cannot be put in stasis
5. Once you play 3 cards, click “End Games” to submit a transaction to end or restart your quests. Note that you do not have to place all 3 cards to finish a game.
6. The more cards flipped into your control, the higher the drop rate:
* If the current fragment drop rate is 40%, with 3 cards flipped = 40% \* (1 + 15%) = 46%
## Additional Game Mechanics
Two grid cells in the game are randomly selected to have affinities, and matching Treasures/Legions with them will offer game boosts:
* Treasures are grouped into affinities of Alchemy, Arcana, Brewing, Enchanting, Leatherworking, and Smithing
* If a Treasure matches the affinity of the cell it is placed on, the card enjoys a +1 stat boost on all sides.
* For example, Donkey is a Leathworking Treasure so when it is placed on a cell with a Leatherworking affinity, it will enjoy a +1 boost to stats
* Each Legion class is associated with multiple affinities (see chart below). If a Legion matches the affinity of a Treasure that also matches the affinity of the cell it is placed on, the card enjoys a +2 stat boost on all sides.
* For example, Donkey is a Leatherworking Treasure, so when it is placed on a cell with a Leatherworking affinity by a Legion with class Assassin, it will enjoy a +2 boost to stats
| Legion Class | Affinities |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------ |
| 1/1 (Bombmaker, Clocksnatcher, Dreamwinder, Fallen, Warlock) | All |
| All-Class (Ashen Kingsguard, Clockwork Marine, Executioner, Reaper, Shadowguard) | All |
| Numeraire | Alchemy & Arcana |
| Riverman | Brewing & Enchanting |
| Ranger | Alchemy & Leatherworking |
| Fighter | Enchanting & Smithing |
| Spellcaster | Arcana & Enchanting |
| Siege | Alchemy & Smithing |
| Assassin | Brewing & Leatherworking |
## Treasure Triad Card Stats
Diagram showing Treasure tiers, affinities, and Treasure Triad card stats
# Treasure Drop Rates
Treasure Fragments are [soulbound](https://vitalik.eth.limo/general/2022/01/26/soulbound.html), non-transferable and are dropped in quests based on the below formula.
Each region drops a category of Treasure Fragments as follows:
* Corruption Canyons ⇒ Alchemy/Arcana Fragments
* Icy Ascent ⇒ Enchanting/Brewing Fragments
* Desert Ruins ⇒ Smithing/Leatherworking Fragments
The chance of finding a Treasure Fragment = **1/(1 + (N/k \* s)^2)**
* N = the number of legions questing
* s = a settable constant set to 1
* k = the number of available treasure fragments when legion ends the quest.
* The number of Treasure fragments gradually increases every second at a fixed rate.
* e.g. if there is a 30,000 monthly cap for T5, then this works out to be 30,000/(30\*24\*60\*60) = 0.0115740 T5 Treasures per second
This formula produces a drop rate graph as follows:
Variable droprates based on N (#legions) and k (#treasure fragments remaning in the pool). See this simluation for example of how droprates vary over time: https://youtu.be/utfZvA0y_sA
| Treasure Tier | Treasure Fragments emitted per Month |
| ------------- | ------------------------------------ |
| T5 | 30,000 |
| T4 | 21,000 |
| T3 | 12,000 |
| T2 | 3,000 |
| T1 | 1,500 |
The probability of finding different rarity tiers of Treasure Fragments are outlined below.
Legions can earn multiple fragment Tiers in each section based on the above drop-rate formula, but only one of each tier.
**For section 1**: Legions have a chance of finding up to 2 fragments (1x T5, 1x T4) or none at all.
*You have a chance to find either: (1x T5 and 1x T4) or (1x T5) or (1x T4) or nothing at all. You cannot get 2x T4 or 2x T5.*
**For section 2**: Legions have a chance of finding up to 3 fragments: (1x T5, 1x T4, 1x T3) or none at all.
**For section 3**: Legions have a chance of finding up to 3 fragments: (1x T1, 1x T2, 1x T3, 1x T4) or none at all. Traveling to latter sections does not give you rewards from previous sections.
Additional Treasure Fragments are emitted from separate pools for [Bridgeworld Recruits](/gameplay/training-a-recruit-in-the-barracks) and ecosystem partners like [Realm](https://www.rlm.land/), [Tales of Elleria](https://talesofelleria.com/) and [Knights of the Ether](https://knightsoftheether.com/). As more game loops and sinks are built, we may gradually introduce more places to earn Treasure Fragments. Current extra Treasure fragment pools include:
| Game & Treasure Tier | Treasure Fragments emitted per Month |
| ------------------------- | ------------------------------------ |
| Bridgeworld Recruits (T5) | 5,000 |
| Realm (T5) | 5,000 |
| Tales of Elleria (T5) | 5,000 |
| Knights of the Ether (T5) | 10,000 |
| Knights of the Ether (T4) | 3,500 |
| Knights of the Ether (T3) | 2,000 |
| Knights of the Ether (T2) | 500 |
| Knights of the Ether (T1) | 250 |
Legions with Questing level 4, 5, or 6 have higher chances of finding Treasure Fragments:
| Questing Level | Boosted chance of Treasure Fragment drops |
| -------------- | ----------------------------------------- |
| Level 4 | (1 + 5%) \* BaseDropRate |
| Level 5 | (1 + 10%) \* BaseDropRate |
| Level 6 | (1 + 15%) \* BaseDropRate |
Genesis Legions are immune to stasis in questing, have higher chances of finding Treasure Fragments, and have an additional chance to earn a full Treasure during quests:
| Legion Rarity | Chance of finding full treasure | Boosted chance of finding fragments |
| ------------- | ------------------------------- | ----------------------------------- |
| Common | 1% | (1 + 2.5%) \* BaseDropRate |
| Special | 1.5% | (1 + 3.75%) \* BaseDropRate |
| Uncommon | 2% | (1 + 5%) \* BaseDropRate |
| Rare | 4% | (1 + 10%) \* BaseDropRate |
| Legendary | 12% | (1 + 30%) \* BaseDropRate |
## Stacking Droprate Bonuses
Bonuses to the Treasure Fragment droprates stack as follows: (1 + QuestingLvlBonus + CardFlipBonus + GenesisLegionBonus)
So for instance if the current BaseDropRate is 35%, and a lvl 4 Special Genesis Legion is questing and flipped 3x Cards in the Triad Card Game,
The drop rate is: (1 + 5% + 3.75% + 15%) \* 35%
\= (1 + 23.75%) \* 35%
\= 43.31%
**For more details on how the Capped Treasure mechanism is implemented and how it works see:** [**https://docs.google.com/document/d/1l82TwyJMNJ42Bup7Y2C\_E32t1iDuDVIwc79bbiI0V3s**](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1l82TwyJMNJ42Bup7Y2C_E32t1iDuDVIwc79bbiI0V3s/edit#)
# Crafting in the Forge
## What is the Forge?
The Forge is where Legions can utilize assets to craft new assets with varying utility in Bridgeworld. Increasing Legions’ Crafting Levels enables them to craft more difficult recipes.
### What types of crafts can Legions perform?
Legions have the option to craft **Treasures** or **Consumables**. **Treasures** are artifacts made powerful by exposure to MAGIC. They act as productive resources across Bridgeworld and beyond. There is some mystery between the exact relationship between Treasures and MAGIC, but they allow it to be wielded in ways that are not possible in its natural state.
Legions can use Treasure Fragments and Prism Shards to craft Treasures.
Legions can use Treasures to craft **Consumables**. Consumables are a category of assets that use Treasures (e.g. beetle-wing, diamond, carriage) to create powerful assets in Bridgeworld. There are 3 types of consumables.
View subsequent sections to learn more about crafting Treasures and Consumables.
### Crafting Tutorial
{% embed url="" %}
# Crafting Treasures
## How do you craft Treasures?
Treasures can be [crafted in the Forge](https://bridgeworld.treasure.lol/craft/treasures) using Treasure Fragments and some Prism Shards. You will need either a Legion or a Recruit.
You will need to find and assemble 12 fragments of the same tier to craft a Treasure. There are 5 tiers of Treasures: T1, T2, T3, T4, T5.
For example:
* 12x T3 Treasure Fragments (and Prism Shards) produce a T3 Treasure.
* Prism Shards which are used with Treasure Fragments to create Treasures.
* Legions and Recruits can craft Treasures with 100% success rate, with no crafting time.
### Recipes for crafting Treasures
To craft Treasures, users need Prism shards and Tier-specific Treasure Fragments. See below for the recipes:
| Treasure Tier | Prism Shards | Treasure Fragments | Craft EXP Gain |
| ------------- | ------------ | ------------------ | -------------- |
| T5 | 2 | 12 | 0 |
| T4 | 4 | 12 | 0 |
| T3 | 8 | 12 | 0 |
| T2 | 16 | 12 | 0 |
| T1 | 24 | 12 | 0 |
Treasure Fragments are found by questing in the Ivory Tower, although have increasingly been spotted in other games across the Treasure ecosystem, such as Realm, KotE, and Beacon.
### Treasure Affinities (deprecated)
This is specific to Bridgeworld's Questing only. In Bridgeworld Questing there are 3 zones which give different types of fragments (different affinities) and you must collect fragments of the same affinity to craft them into a Treasure.
NOTE:
* In the future these "affinities" will be deprecated and treated the same
* Treasure fragments found in other games will be all the same affinity (so there is no need to think about them)
For now, in Bridgeworld questing, please stick to the same questing zone to collect the same types of fragments.
# Crafting Consumables
Legions can use [Treasures](https://app.treasure.lol/collection/treasures) to craft two types of [Consumables](https://app.treasure.lol/collection/consumables) in Bridgeworld: [Prisms](#prisms) and [Metabolic Boosters](#metabolic-boosters). Each crafting recipe has its own difficulty, costs, time to completion and XP gained.
Consumable
Difficulty
MAGIC cost
Time to craft
XP gained per craft
Prism
Level 1
2.5 MAGIC
12 hours
10
Metabolic Booster
Level 4
2.5 MAGIC
24 hours
40
Each recipe also requires a certain amount of Treasures of each tier, which have the possibility of [breaking during crafting](#treasure-break-rates-during-crafting):
Consumable
Tier 1
Tier 2
Tier 3
Tier 4
Tier 5
Prism
0
0
2
2
2
Metabolic Booster
1
1
1
1
2
## Prisms
All Legions can craft Prisms. When crafting Prisms, Legions have the chance to receive one of the following types of Prisms:
* [Small](https://app.treasure.lol/collection/consumables/1): 90% drop chance
* [Medium](https://app.treasure.lol/collection/consumables/2): 9% drop chance
* [Large](https://app.treasure.lol/collection/consumables/3): 1% drop chance
### Upgrading Prisms
Legions can use [Essence of Starlight](https://app.treasure.lol/collection/consumables/8) and [Prism Shards](https://app.treasure.lol/collection/consumables/9) to upgrade the size of their Prisms. The price of upgrading varies based on the level of Corruption in the Forge (see below table). The price decreases as Corruption increases to encourage players to upgrade Prisms to remove more Corruption when corruption is high. Upgrading Prisms requires 48 hours to complete.
| Forge Corruption Level | Cost |
| ------------------------- | -------------------------- |
| 0 - 100,000 | 700 EOS + 700 Prism Shards |
| 100,000 - 200,000 | 600 EOS + 600 Prism Shards |
| 200,000 - 300,000 | 500 EOS + 500 Prism Shards |
| 300,000 - 400,000 | 400 EOS + 400 Prism Shards |
| 400,000 - 500,000 | 300 EOS + 300 Prism Shards |
| 500,000 - 600,000 | 200 EOS + 200 Prism Shards |
| 600,000 - 1,000,000 (max) | 100 EOS + 100 Prism Shards |
## Metabolic Boosters
Metabolic Boosters give your Harvester a *temporary* boost to its mining power. A maximum of 10 Metabolic Boosters can be deposited to a Harvester at once. Legions must be Crafting Level 4 or greater in order to craft a Metabolic Booster.
There are 3 types of Metabolic Boosters (small, medium, large). See below for the likelihood a Legion crafts a certain size of Metabolic Booster and their associated boost they will have in Harvesters.
| Metabolic Booster | Drop Chance | Mining Boost % |
| ----------------------------------------------------------- | ----------- | -------------- |
| [Small](https://app.treasure.lol/collection/consumables/4) | 0% | 20% |
| [Medium](https://app.treasure.lol/collection/consumables/5) | 90% | 25% |
| [Large](https://app.treasure.lol/collection/consumables/6) | 10% | 30% |
## How many Crafting Points are needed to level up?
Legions can reach a maximum Crafting Level of 6. Increasing Legions' Crafting Level enables them to craft more difficult recipes.
XP needed to level up
Cumulative XP to reach level
Level 1
140
0
Level 2
160
140
Level 3
160
300
Level 4
160
460
Level 5
480
620
Level 6
480
1100
## Treasure break rates during Crafting
When crafting Consumables, Treasures have a chance of breaking. Broken Treasures are sent to the World Treasury, where they will be recycled and re-distributed for quests.
With the exception of Grin and Honeycomb, Treasures’ likelihood of breaking are based on their Tier. Treasures break during the process required to extract and apply the MAGIC at their core to Legions' crafts. Legions who break a Grin or Honeycomb report feeling a tremor that shakes the very foundation of Bridgeworld, an [Essence of Grin](https://app.treasure.lol/collection/consumables/13) or [Honeycomb](https://app.treasure.lol/collection/consumables/12) in the debris.
100% of a recipe's MAGIC cost is consumed. Additionally, all the Treasures used in the recipe have a chance of breaking. Example for a **prism recipe:**
* The ingredients required are 2x T3, 2x T4 and 2x T5 Treasures
* They have a 9%, 12% and 15% to break, respectively
* The RNG is repeated for each Treasure. If the RNG hits the corresponding threshold probability, your Treasure breaks and is burned.
# Harvesters
Harvesters are these creatures from Bridgeworld that produce $MAGIC. If you get the right tools to “tame” these great beasts, you will be able to acquire some of the $MAGIC they produce.
## Overview
Harvesters are colossal creatures from Bridgeworld that bestow $MAGIC rewards to those who earn their favor. Players play games and competitions in the Treasure ecosystem to gain access and stake MAGIC in Harvesters, and must coordinate with other players and find consumables to feed and maintain their Harvesters to produce a steady flow of MAGIC.\
\
Harvester's compete against each other in producing MAGIC: the better fed and maintained they are, the more MAGIC they pull away from other Harvesters.
## Joining a Harvester
To join a Harvester players must obtain special Ancient Permits permits and stake them in the Harvester. Only after staking Permits can players take MAGIC. The amount of MAGIC a player can stake it based on how many Permits they stake.
Different types of Ancient Permits unique to each Harvester can be discovered in the games and competitions within the Treasure ecosystem.
The following outlines the types of Ancient Permits that players can acquire.
| Permit Type | Max Permits / Wallet | MAGIC per Permit |
| ------------------------------------- | -------------------- | ---------------- |
| Atlas Permits for Lupus (Bridgeworld) | 40 | 10,000 MAGIC |
| Emerion Permits (Beacon) | 20 | 2,000 MAGIC |
| Thundermane Permits (KotE) | 20 | 2,000 MAGIC |
| Emberwing Permits (Zeeverse) | 20 | 2,000 MAGIC |
Each Harvester has a limited capacity of Permits and MAGIC that can be staked in them. Below is a detailed overview of the maximum number of Ancient Permits that can be staked in each Harvester.
Harvester
Max # of Ancient Permits
Afarit
RIP
Asiterra
RIP
Emerion (Beacon)
3,000 Emerion Ancient Permits
Kameji
RIP
Lupus Magus (Bridgeworld)
1,500 Atlas Ancient Permits (soulbound)
Shinoba
RIP
Thundermane (KotE)
3,000 Thundermane Ancient Permits
Emberwing (Zeeverse)
3,000 Emberwing Ancient Permits
## Boosting a Harvester
Upon joining a Harvester, a player can use a variety of items to increase the MAGIC their Harvester can produce. Their mission is to find and produce special NFTs and consumables within the Treasure ecosystem to maximize its MAGIC rewards. Some stakeable NFTs and consumables include:
1. **MAGIC:** Harvesters power up and produce more MAGIC as more players stake MAGIC (up to the 6mil cap)
2. **Character NFTs across the Treasure ecosystem**: Certain character NFTs such as Squires (KotE), Moonfae Pets (Beacon), Legions (Bridgeworld), and Zee can be staked in their respective Harvesters to boost MAGIC for individual wallets.
3. **Metabolic Boosters**: Special consumables that provide a significant boost to the Harvester's MAGIC production. These are crafted from Treasures and different types of Balancer Crystals (crafted from various LP tokens) found in the ecosystem.
4. **Corruption**: A toxis substance which must be removed from Harvesters to keep them healthy and producing MAGIC. It can be forged by players and used to sabotage enemy Harvesters.
Each player is a crucial to the performance of each Harvester, contributing to the collective effort of discovering more MAGIC of other players in the Harvester, and shaping their journey in this magical realm.
### MAGIC Utilization Boost
Harvesters only produce MAGIC after the amount of staked MAGIC to it is at least 5% of it's 6 mil capacity. Once this threshold is crossed, Magic emission levels will gradually increase at every 10% interval, until the Harvester reaches its peak emission potential at +80% utilization. See the following table:
| Harvester Capacity Utilisation | MAGIC required | Emissions Activated |
| ------------------------------ | ------------------ | ------------------- |
| Less than 5% | < 300k MAGIC | 0% |
| Between 5% and 10% | 300k \~ 600k MAGIC | 20% |
| Between 10% and 20% | 600k \~ 1.2M MAGIC | 30% |
| Between 20% and 30% | 1.2M \~ 1.8M MAGIC | 40% |
| Between 30% and 40% | 1.8M \~ 2.4M MAGIC | 50% |
| Between 40% and 50% | 2.4M \~ 3M MAGIC | 60% |
| Between 50% and 60% | 3M \~ 3.6M MAGIC | 70% |
| Between 60% and 70% | 3.6M \~ 4.2M MAGIC | 80% |
| Between 70% and 80% | 4.2M \~ 4.8M MAGIC | 90% |
| Above 80% | >4.8M MAGIC | 100% |
### Character NFTs across the Treasure Ecosystem
Each Harvester allows for certain characters to power up a user's deposit. Staking characters from across the Treasure ecosystem helps increase your Harvester’s Power and boosts your assets within the Harvester. Characters multiply the size of the Player’s MAGIC deposit, increasing the Player’s personal share of MAGIC from a Harvester.
Players may stake multiple characters in a Harvester. Each Harvester has specific constraints on the number of characters that can be staked in it. Below is a breakdown of the types of characters that can be staked in each harvester.
Harvester
Character
Afarit (RIP)
Auxiliary and Genesis Legions
Emerion (Beacon)
Beacon Moonfae Pets and Legions
Lupus Magus (BW)
Auxiliary and Genesis Legions
Thundermane (KotE)
Squires and Treasures
Emberwing (Zeeverse)
Zee and Legions
### **Legions**
In Harvesters where Legions are essential, each has a "weight class". A tonnage limit of 220kg per wallet applies to the Legions staked. In the Emerion and Emberwing Harvesters, Legions have a max weight of 40kg.
The weights and boosts for each Legion class are outlined in the table below.
| Legion Class | Boost | Weight (kg) |
| ------------------ | ----- | ----------- |
| Genesis 1/1 | 600% | 120 kg |
| Genesis All Class | 200% | 40 kg |
| Genesis Uncommon | 100% | 21 kg |
| Genesis Special | 75% | 16 kg |
| Genesis Common | 50% | 11 kg |
| Auxiliary Rare | 25% | 5.5 kg |
| Auxiliary Uncommon | 10% | 4 kg |
| Auxiliary Common | 5% | 2.5 kg |
### Beacon Moonfae Pets
In the Emerion Harvester, players can stake up to a trio of these mystical creatures. These pets serve as cherished companions and valuable assets in the pursuit of MAGIC. The yield boost attributed to a Pet has a direct influence on the deposit boost a user receives when the Pet is deployed within a Harvester, see below for more details.
| Moonfae Pet Yield Boost | Boost in Harvester |
| ----------------------- | ------------------ |
| 10% | 20% |
| 13.33% | 25% |
| 16.66% | 30% |
| 20% | 35% |
### Knights of the Ether Squires
In Harvesters such as Thundermane, players have the ability to stake up to 5 Squires. Squire yield boosts will give a 15% boost to the deposit size of the player each.
Players can also stake up to 20 Treasures to a Harvester, which boosts the player's deposit.
### Emberwing Zee
In Emberwing, players can stake up to 6 Zee per wallet. Zee's use their level metadata attribute as boosts. A level 1 Zee has a boost of \~5%, which gradually increases until level 50 where they have a boost of roughly %19.6
Note that Zee on-chain boosts are periodically updated to reflect their off-chain level (in the game) and so there may be a delay in seeing Zee boost updates
## Metabolic Boosters
Metabolic Boosters play a pivotal role in boosting Harvester emissions. Once activated they provide a temporary surge a Harvester's mining power, amplifying the Harvester's ability to produce MAGIC.
Each Metabolic Booster lasts only a limited duration and are consumed after use (burned). You can stack Metabolic Boosters however, up to 10 may be deployed at a time. When a Metabolic Booster is in active use, players can substitute it with a larger variant, like replacing a small Metabolic Booster with a medium one. Players need to coordinate their use of boosters strategically, to maximise MAGIC production.
Metabolic Boosters can be crafted from Legions with a crafting experience of level 5 or higher by using Treasures in the Forge.
The stacking of Metabolic boosts is additive, with each booster contributing incrementally to the total boost. They have the following attributes:
| Booster Type | Boost | Duration |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----- | -------- |
| Small Metabolic Booster | 20% | 3hrs |
| Medium Metabolic Booster | 25% | 3hrs |
| Large Metabolic Booster | 30% | 3hrs |
| [**Special Boosters**](#user-content-fn-1)[^1] | | |
| Durable Booster | 20% | 4hrs |
| Anabolic Booster | 40% | 2hrs |
| Overclocked Booster | 90% | 1hr |
### Calculating a Harvester's emissions
The distribution of MAGIC emissions each Harvester receives is determined by its "Mining Power" as compared to the collective "Mining Power" of all other Harvesters, inclusive of the Atlas Mine. It's a proportional distribution, where the strength of each Harvester directly influences its share of the MAGIC emissions.
For a deeper understanding and more precise calculations of a Harvester's emissions, please refer to the comprehensive [Harvester game guide](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uTw85vDFHQJNacUQYbwiSfjJQfbgBgoR/view). It provides detailed insights and explanations, making it an invaluable resource for players seeking to optimize their MAGIC earnings.
Formula for calculating how much MAGIC a Harvester should receive
## Harvester Deaths
Periodically, competitive Bridgeworld events will pit players in guild versus guild game formats from the ecosystem to determine which Harvesters are destroyed. \
\
In the inaugural [Harvester Doomsday](/gameplay/corruption/doomsday) event, the original Harvesters Shinoba, Asiterra, and Kameji were destroyed. Their remnants litter the plains and players may revisit their remains to collect their belongings:
[^1]:
# Corruption
Corruption is a toxic substance seeping into Bridgeworld that makes questing longer, increases break rates during crafting and reduces the amount of MAGIC harvesters find.
*Disclaimer - game mechanics and recipes are subject to change. Do not speculate on any assets / mechanics within Bridgeworld.*
## What is corruption?
Corruption is a toxic substance that is continually seeping into Bridgeworld structures (Ivory Tower, Forge, Harvesters) bit-by-bit. Corruption slows down game loops, and MAGIC Harvesters find.
Corruption flows into the Ivory Tower and Forge at a rate of 4,000/hr and 1,333/hr into each Harvester.
### Corruption Video Walkthrough
{% embed url="" %}
## Impacts of Corruption on Bridgeworld
Corruption can impact each of the below structures in Bridgeworld with varying effects as more corruption compounds or is removed from Bridgeworld structure. The max amount of corruption that can enter into each Bridgeworld structure is 1,000,000.
### Ivory Tower
Corruption not only diminishes the chances of finding treasure fragments, but also prolongs the duration of legions being trapped in stasis, increases questing times, and the number of corrupted cells in the Treasure Triad.\
\
Assuming a starting treasure fragment drop rate of 5% and a corruption level of 250,000, the resulting drop rate for treasure fragments would be 4.8% after applying a slight decrease of 0.2% (calculated as 5% multiplied by 0.96). View drop rates [here](https://bridgeworld.treasure.lol/quest/embark).
| Corruption Levels | Impact on Quests |
| ----------------- | -------------------------- |
| 0 to 100,000 | +10% Treasure drop rate |
| Above 100,000 | Stasis: +1 hour |
| | Default Treasure drop rate |
| | Quest Time: +1 hour |
| | Corrupted Cells: 0 |
| Above 200,000 | Stasis: +2 hour |
| | -4% Treasure drop rate |
| | Quest Time: +2 hour |
| | Corrupted Cells: 1 |
| Above 300,000 | Stasis: +3 hour |
| | -8% Treasure drop rate |
| | Quest Time: +3 hour |
| | Corrupted Cells: 1 |
| Above 400,000 | Stasis: +4 hour |
| | -16% Treasure drop rate |
| | Quest Time: +4 hour |
| | Corrupted Cells: 1 |
| Above 500,000 | Stasis: +5 hour |
| | -32% Treasure drop rate |
| | Quest Time: +5 hour |
| | Corrupted Cells: 1 |
| Above 600,000 | Stasis: +6 hour |
| | -48% Treasure drop rate |
| | Quest Time: +6 hour |
| | Corrupted Cells: 1 |
## Forge
The likelihood of treasures being damaged while crafting is heightened by the presence of corruption. Assuming a starting break rate of 5% and a corruption level of 250,000, the resulting break rate would be 7%.
| Corruption Levels | Impacts on Break Rates |
| ----------------- | ---------------------- |
| Above 100,000 | No impact |
| Above 200,000 | +2% |
| Above 300,000 | +4% |
| Above 400,000 | +6% |
| Above 500,000 | +8% |
| Above 600,000 | +10% |
## Harvesters
Corruption reduces the mining power of Harvesters.
| Corruption Levels | Impacts on Harvester Mining Power Boosts |
| ----------------- | ---------------------------------------- |
| Above 100,000 | 0.9x |
| Above 200,000 | 0.8x |
| Above 300,000 | 0.7x |
| Above 400,000 | 0.6x |
| Above 500,000 | 0.5x |
| Above 600,000 | 0.4x |
# Purging Corruption
Legions can remove Corruption that has seeped into the Ivory Tower, Forge, and Harvesters.
## How do you remove Corruption?
Navigate to the Corruption structure on the Bridgeworld map and select "View and Manage Corruption". You will then be able to select the Bridgeworld structure or Harvester where you would like to remove Corruption from.
Players have the **option** to choose between two recipe options to remove Corruption in 12,000 unit increments. \
\
**Recipes for removing corruption in the Forge and Ivory Tower**
| Recipe | Items | Corruption Purged |
| ----------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Tier 1 Treasures Recipe |
1x Tier 1 Treasure 1x Prism (any size) 1 MAGIC
|
12,000 COR if using Small Prism 1.5x - Medium Prism 2x - Large Prism
|
| Tier 2 Treasures Recipe |
2x Tier 2 Treasure 1x Prism (any size) 1 MAGIC
|
12,000 COR if using Small Prism 1.5x - Medium Prism 2x - Large Prism
|
**Note** - When removing Corruption from the Forge and Ivory Tower, if using Medium Prisms, 1.5x extra Corruption is removed. If using Large Prisms, 2x extra Corruption is removed.
**Recipes for removing Corruption from Atlas Harvesters (Bridgeworld)**
| Recipe | Items | Corruption Purged |
| ----------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------- |
| Balancer Crystal Recipe | 1x Balancer Crystal | 16,000 COR |
| Prism Recipe |
| 8,000 COR |
| Zeeverse Items (Common) | 1x Zeeverse Item (Common) | 400 COR |
| Zeeverse Items (Rare) | 1x Zeeverse Item (Rare) | 2,000 COR |
| Zeeverse Items (Epic) | 1x Zeeverse Item (Epic) | 12,000 COR |
| Zeeverse Items (Legendary) | 1x Zeeverse Item (Legendary) | 150,000 COR |
**When removing corruption:**
* Treasures have a chance to break
* Prisms are burned
* Ancient Permits are burned
* MAGIC costs are sent to TreasureDAO's Treasury
* Balancer Crystals are sent to treasury
* Zeeverse Items are burned
* Beacon Nullstones are burned
* KotE Items are burned
## Malevolent Prisms
When removing corruption, players have a chance of receiving a Malevolent Prism. Malevolent Prisms are used to craft corruption. See subsequent sections for details on crafting corruption.
### Drop rates for Malevolent Prisms
**Drop rate from removing corruption from the Ivory Tower or Forge**
**Drop rate for removing corruption from Harvesters (excluding Emerion)**
**Drop rate for removing corruption from Emerion Harvester**
# Corruption Crypts
An eternal board game where armies of legions race to attack harvesters.
Corruption Crypts High Level Overview
## What is Corruption Crypts?
Corruption Crypts is where armies of characters across the Treasure ecosystem compete by racing to be the first to attack Harvesters. When an army attacks their targeted Harvester, Corruption will flow into the Harvester and the army will be given the ability to craft additional Corruption, which can be thrown anywhere in Bridgeworld.
**Note:** only armies that satisfy the following conditions are able to craft Corruption:
* Has at least one Genesis Legion or Crafting Level 3+ Auxiliary Legion
* Has at least one Beacon Moonfae Pet
* Has at least one Knights of the Ether Squire
* Has as least one Zeeverse Zee
* Has a Malevolent Prism (obtained by removing Corruption)
## How do you play Corruption Crypts?
### Step 1 - Create an Army
Players can create an army of Legions, Knights of the Ether Squres and/or Beacon Moonfae Pets. While creating an army, you will need to denote which Harvester to attack. Armies are able to have a max of 5 characters. Players are only able to attack the Harvester they defined when setting up your army; reaching any other Harvester during the round will have no effect, and your army will not be able to craft Corruption.\
\
Once created, your army will be staked in Corruption Crypts. You can unstake your army at any time, but you will have to wait for a 72-hour cooldown period before rejoining the game.
### Step 2 - Claim card tiles
Players will accrue tiles that have a path on it at a rate of 1 tile every 6 hours, starting from the round start time. Use tiles to form a path for your army to reach their intended Harvester destination before other armies reach their destinations. When a round advances, any pending tiles from the previous round will be lost and players will begin accruing again from 0 at a rate of 1 tile every 6 hours.
Example tiles
### Step 3 - Place tiles and army on board
Drag and drop tiles onto the board to form a path to the Harvester tile that army looks to attack.
When placing your first tile on the board it cannot be within 6 tiles of your army's intended Harvester.
Click the "Place Army" tab to start your army on the tile previously played on the board.
Once you place your tiles on the board navigate to the "Moves" tab to confirm your moves. Players can batch-play up to 6 map tiles at a time:
Players are only allowed a max of 10 tiles on the board at a time and can remove tiles by toggling to "Destroy Tiles" mode in the upper right hand corner of the map. Destroying tiles cost **1** [**Essence of Starlight**](https://trove.treasure.lol/collection/consumables/8) and **1** [**Prism Shard**](https://trove.treasure.lol/collection/consumables/9) per tile.
The "Your Moves" tab summarizes all moves made that you plan to commit
### Step 4 - Move Army along Path
To move your Army along the path, simply click the army icon on the map and select the connected tile you would like your army to move to.
The number of moves your army can make depends on the tiles in your hand. For example:
* A tile with 3 paths on it (see middle image above in step 2) will let an army move 3 spaces.
* A tile with 2 paths (see to the right of the middle image) will let your army move 2 spaces.
You must discard these tiles in your hand to enable your army to move along its path. Move your army along its path then confirm your actions in the "Your Moves" tab to start the Discard Tiles process.
Along the way, armies can collect Treasure Fragments that randomly drop on the board. If an army passes over a Fragment and there are still enough left to claim, the army will automatically pick up one of those Fragments for each Character in the army (e.g., an army of 5 Legions will pick up 5 Treasure Fragments). **Note** - an army needs to be present for at least one round before it becomes eligible to claim any treasure fragments on the crypts board.
### Step 5 - Reaching the Harvester
Place a connecting tile onto the same cell as your target Harvester and move your army onto that tile to enter it. When your army enters the Harvester, two things happen:
1. Your army will automatically begin directing Corruption to that Harvester
2. If your army qualifies, you will have the option to craft Corruption
\
**1. Directing Corruption to Harvesters**
* There is a natural Corruption flow rate into every structure in Bridgeworld (e.g., 1,333/hr to each Harvester)
* Reaching your targeted Harvester will shift more of this Corruption flow to that Harvester. You don’t need to do anything else: you will be **automatically directing** Corruption when your army reaches its targeted Harvester.
* The proportion of Corruption directed to that Harvester is based on the type of characters in your army (see the table below for the breakdown of characters and the amount of Corruption they direct)
* The more Corruption Directing Points, the larger the percentage of Corruption flowing to that specific Harvester, ranging from 1x to 2x
**1.1 Legions**
| Legion Type | Corruption Directing Points |
| --------------------------- | --------------------------- |
| Genesis (1/1) | 600 |
| Genesis Rare (All-class) | 400 |
| Genesis Uncommon | 200 |
| Genesis Special | 150 |
| Genesis Common | 100 |
| Beacon Moonfae Pets | 80 |
| KOTE Squires | 80 |
| Zeeverse Zee (large supply) | 20 |
| Auxiliary Rare | 40 |
| Auxiliary Uncommon | 30 |
| Auxiliary Common | 20 |
**1.2 Beacon Moonfae Pets**
Beacon Moonfae Pets boast 80 corruption diversion points (supply is much smaller than legions).
#### 1.3 Knights of the Ether Squires
Knights of the Ether Squires boast 80 corruption diversion points (supply is much smaller than legions).
1.4 Zeeverse Zee Creatures
Zee boat 20 corruption diversion points (supply is much large than Legions)
#### **2. Crafting Corruption**
If you have received a Malevolent Prism from removing Corruption previously and your army contains at least one Genesis Legion or Crafting Level 3+ Auxiliary Legion, Knights of the Ether Squire or a Beacon Moonfae Pet you will now be able to craft Corruption.
* You can **actively** send/cast Corruption to Bridgeworld structures
* You can save it up, or coordinate with other players to strategically cast Corruption on enemy Harvesters later (in their sleep, after they’ve just applied Extractors, etc.)
View the subsequent section "[Crafting Corruption](https://docs.bridgeworld.treasure.lol/gameplay/fighting-corruption/crafting-corruption)" for details on crafting Corruption after you have reached your intended Harvester.
### Step 6+ - Next round
When 30% of characters playing crypts arrive at their intended Harvester destinations, the round resets and the locations of Harvesters randomly shuffle. Amies then continue venturing to their opponent Harvester to attack it via diverting Corruption.
**Note:** Harvesters may occasionally shuffle onto the same tile. To re-enter Harvesters in this case, simply move off then back onto that Harvester again.
# Crafting Corruption
After reaching the Harvester tile at the end of Corruption Crypts, players who hold a Malevolent Prism (obtained as loot by removing corruption) can craft Corrupiton ($COR) to attack and slow the mining speed of other Harvesters.\
\
In order to craft $COR, players must use a Legion, KotE Squire, or Beacon Moonfae Pet from their army to burn **1 Malevolent Prism.** The amount of $COR received is a percentage of Corruption Forging Pool, which gradually increases every second.
The earlier players get to the end of the Crypts maze, the more $COR they forge. The less players forging $COR means $COR will build up, and players will receive much more $COR when forging. \
In extreme cases, if only 1 player is consistently forging $COR, they will wield significant control over Harvesters! powerful stuff.
$COR can also be thrown at other Bridgeworld Structures like the Ivory Tower (Questing) and Forge (Crafting), acting as a weather system that freezes these buildings.
**Each character outlined above may forge Corruption once per round of Corruption Crypts.** After enough characters reach destination Harvester tiles, the round will automatically reset and reshuffle Harvester tile locations, and players will need to navigate their way through the Corruption Crypts again.
In the edge case where your has reached the Harvester tile right before the round resets and Harvester reshuffle, you will have 30 minutes to forge Corruption anyway.
**Only Auxiliary Legions in an army with a crafting level of 3+, Genesis Legions, Knights of the Ether Squires and Beacon Moonfae Pets can craft Corruption.**
## How much Corruption can you craft?
The amount of Corruption that is forgeable drip feeds into a pool at a rate of **8,000 Corruption per hour (adjustable)**. The type of character used to craft Corruption impacts the amount of Corruption that can be crafted.
Character Type
Percentage of Corruption Pool Legion Receives
Genesis 1/1 Legions
1.4%
Genesis Rare Legions
1%
Genesis Uncommon Legions
0.6%
Genesis Special Legions
0.5%
Genesis Common Legions
0.4%
Auxiliary Rare Legions
0.3%
Auxiliary Uncommon Legions
0.3%
Auxiliary Common Legions
0.3%
Knights of the Ether Squires
0.3%
Beacon Pets
0.3%
Zeeverse Zee (large supply)
0.2%
Players that arrive at destination Harvesters before others will forge a greater amount of Corruption as they receive a percentage of the Corruption Forging Pool, so **it pays to reach your Harvester destination quickly!**
# Doomsday
The Numeraires bowed their heads in solemn agreement. The MAGIC that flows through Bridgeworld which has nurtured us is at a critical juncture—There is an urgency that beckons us to act
In Harvester Doomsday, characters must race through “Corruption Crypts” and reach enemy Harvesters to construct a Doomsday device.
When they reach a Harvester tile, a Doomsday Device for that Harvester begins construction which when complete, annihilates the Harvester.
The more characters on a Harvester Tile ([as per Corruption Diversion Points](https://docs.bridgeworld.treasure.lol/gameplay/corruption/corruption-crypts#step-5-reaching-the-harvester)), the more Doomsday Points are directed to that Harvester, and faster the Doomsday Device progresses every second.\
\
Moving your army to a Harvester also slows down the construction rate of all other Harvesters (much like the Corruption Diversion game in Crypts).
### Doomsday Rules
* Each round reset of Crypts dismantles the Doomsday Device partially
* Doomsday Devices for older Harvesters are dismantled proportionally less
* When a Doomsday Device completes, the “death sequence” begins and the Harvester is doomed.
* Last Hit: The player who triggers a Harvester’s death sequence is deemed to have “dealt the killing blow” and rewarded.
* The game continues until the Nth Harvester completes their Doomsday Devices.
* The players in the dead Harvester have a chance of getting revenge.
* If less than N Harvesters have completed Doomsday Devices before a pretermined deadline (e.g. the day before the MAGIC halvening), then Harvesters will enter "sudden death" and the top N Harvesters closest to completing their Doomsday Devices will be destroyed.
* Harvester less than 3 months old can be attacked but will not die if their their Doomsday Device completes, they suffer other severe consequences that make future defenses significantly harder, make their Harvesters more difficult to maintain.
### Harvester Death Conditions
* The 1st Harvester that completes the Doomsday Device dies.
* The Nth Harvester(s) that completes the Doomsday Device Points also dies
* If less than N=2 Doomsday Devices are completed by a specific time (e.g. 31 August), sudden death occurs and Harvester(s) with the most completed Doomsday Devices will begin the death sequence.
* 3 Harvesters will be destroyed in total (Shinoba which was died peacefully leading into the event, and 2 more during the Doomsday Event)
## Rationale of the game format
* Allows all players involved across harvesters (including the ones configured for partner games) to participate on a roughly even ground
* Less of a resource war pay-to-win situation where early players have insurmountable advantages.
* Game format encourages social coordination, strategy at a guild level, and mass participation.
* Given some complexity and effort of setting up multiple armies across multiple wallets, favours teams with many players and mass participation
# Meem, The Wandering Merchant
Meem, a descendent of nomadic merchants who operate an extensive network of trade routes, is an expert in brokering deals with new worlds and collections...
Not much is known about Meem’s past, only that Meem’s recently taken interest in Bridgeworld collections and will randomly appear throughout the week to offer deals on various consumables:
* Periodically Meem the “Wandering Merchant” will appear around the ecosystem, starting with Bridgeworld
* Meem will offer you deals to convert various items into Prisms, Boosters, and other ecosystem items Meem may have collected throughout his travels.
**During each visit, the deals Meem offers will vary in terms of:**
* What items Meem is seeking and willing to trade for.
* What items Meem is willing to offer in return, and how much on offer.
* When Meem appears, and when Meem disappears.
* How much inventory available each visit.
**\*\*Some deals may never be seen again.**
Seeking Items
Offered Items
Deal Occurence
Bridgeworld Ancient Permits
Example (varies):
Small Prisms
Medium Prism
Limit per visit: X deals (varies)
X% of the time (often)
Universal Locks
?
?
Auxiliary Legions
??
???
Universal Keys
?
?
Azurite Dust
??
?
Essence of Grin / Honey
??
?
Genesis Legions?
???????
????
Tesseracts?
???
??
Meem may also offer more powerful items that cannot crafted.
| Item | Boost | Duration |
| ------------------- | ----- | -------- |
| Durable Booster | 20% | 4 hours |
| Anabolic Booster | 40% | 2 hours |
| Overclocked Booster | 90% | 1 hour |
# The Old Tomes
# The Tomes of Lore
A note from the editor
Dear Reader,
If you're reading this, you're probably one of those people in search of answers, trying to work out what exactly has befallen you. Whether you spontaneously found yourself in a field, in the sea, on a boat - you've woken up in this land and there's no way back.
Yes, that much is clear: there is no way back.
But there is a way forward.
To understand where you fit in this new world, what your purpose is and where your opportunities are, you must first understand the history of this world. Context is everything.
This Tome that you hold in your hand is a good starting point.
As with all stories, these are merely the recorded words of those who tell them. Memories fade and get rewritten in the minds that bear them over time, and even for us, it is difficult to draw a clear line between fact, fiction and mere embellishment.
It is up to you to make sense of the history that is told of this place, and if you so wish, write your share of this world's future.
All the best, Legionnaire.
Bridgeworld depends on you.
Yours Sincerely,
The Eminently Dignified Society of Bards, Writers and Artists
**Publication History**
1st Edition, drafted at Arbitrum Block 4643318.
# Foundations
Foundation V.1 By Rickard
Long before the first legion arrived there was an ancient advanced civilization here. They built the original harvesters which drew Magic from the depths of the Atlas Mine. No one knows where they've gone or how they were destroyed. Some relics remain of their civilisation along with relics left by those who have stumbled through portals over the years and found themselves marooned here.
Portal events are the spontaneous appearance of a portal, which drop something from a different world/universe/dimension etc into Bridgeworld. They occur with varying frequency and of varying scale. Living creatures who come to Bridgeworld through portal events lose their memories and identity, they become forced to survive with the instincts and skills that they have. This results in a chaotic ecosystem of constant flux but more than that it also means intelligent life could have arrived in Bridgeworld long before the first legions.
A cataclysmic event in the past nearly tore the continent in half this caused the Atlas Rift. It’s unknown if the harvesters were built before or after the event spawning the rift and therefore no one knows if the harvesters were the cause or whether they were the response to the event.
A few months up to about a year before the first moments of the game take place there was a widespread portal event which brought many Genesis Legions to Bridgeworld. Individual legions like the five Origin Legions are said to have arrived much earlier and soon after the All-Class Legions appeared. No known portal event has ever been as widespread as the incident which brought the majority of the genesis legions to Bridgeworld.
Prior to the first moments of the game, a population of thousands of Legions exist on Bridgeworld. These Genesis Legions built the foundation of a city from scrap metal and Dragon wood. They centered the city around the crafting hub also known as The Forge. The Forge was a natural location to settle given the access to ancient tools and materials which had long since been abandoned. The dangers of Bridgeworld are many given that any predator from any universe could spontaneously appear through a portal event. The Ivory Tower, a watchtower overlooking vast areas of the known parts of Bridgeworld, house the Dispatcher. A being of an unknown race who has thus far guided the early Legions by sending them on missions to secure their own future. When the tower fell from the sky, during a portal event long ago, it speared deeply into the earth granting access to some of the lowest levels of the Atlas mine. An endless series of tunnels snaking all throughout Bridgeworld with thousands of entrances and levels. The tower sits between the crafting hub and the Atlas Rift.
Early investigations of the harvesters have indicated that some of the ancient machinery could be repaired and utilized to extract magic at a very rapid pace. The intricacy and the delicate nature of the parts necessary to repair the harvesters mean greatly experienced crafters and metalworkers are required, something which there is a great shortage of.
There are ongoing investigations regarding the center of the Atlas rift but the magic emanating from the center is far too intense for any Legion to go anywhere near. Even miles away it can become overwhelming however if you approach from underground the forceful magic emanations are lessened but not eliminated.
The magic which is being extracted from the Atlas rift is imbued with primarily six different powers: fire, earth, water, wind, light and darkness. This suggests that each of the harvesters were built specifically to extract magic from one of these elements. Magic, it seems, can be fused with other elements as well: toxic magic with its greenish glow, blood imbued magic with its deep red color, and magmatic magic a deep orange slow flowing liquid, to name a few.
The first moment of the game take place after the first successful summoning of a new Legion.
But with the discovery of the rituals needed to summon new Legions, a massive ethical debate arose given that the newly summoned have no recollection of their past: they do not know what they left behind or what they lost. At the same time there is so much danger and work that needs to be done on Bridgeworld that the summoning of new legions is a necessity if the current population wish to survive.
Those who refuse to accept the idea of having lost their identity and memories of a past which they will never recall sought solace in the end. Venturing up the mountains that frame the Western Borders of Bridgeworld, they constructed for themselves a sacrificial altar: a beautiful stone monument set atop a mountain overlooking Bridgeworld. There, torn between the understanding that they are needed for the survival of their new world and the resentment of losing their old, they find solace in knowing they need not belong to either and so spill their blood. A blood brimming with power...
# Bridgeworld Season 1: Aliya's Ascent
# Audio Book
Bridgeworld Audio Book
{% embed url="" %}
# Prologue: Migration
By Andiamo
The first rays of the morning sun streamed over the horizon as the dawn came, bathing the mist on the water in a mild orange hue.
She opened her eyes. The sound of the surrounding water lapping against the side of the boat gradually registered in her consciousness.
*“Where am I?”, she wondered.*
*“In fact, who am I?!”*
This journey, this boat — yes, it’s certainly a boat, crossing a lake or is it a river. It wasn’t clear, nothing seemed clear. She turned to look around and saw dozens of others huddled in blankets.
*“Well, at least we’re all comfy. But where are we going?”*
She looked up and saw a tall figure in the shadows behind her steadily rowing the boat in the pale light of dawn. Cloaked in a dark hood he stared out into the horizon ceaselessly rowing, ever watchful.
*A Riverman.*
How did she know that name? It was a strange feeling, as if she had only just come in to existence with barely a memory of what came before. At the same time, it was evident that she had a past. Little girls don’t *simply* pop into existence they grow up and go to school and have friends, family, loved ones.
*Family.*
Where was her family? She couldn’t even remember her name. Everyone has a name, surely. The confusion washed over her again like a wave on a rocky shore.
As the mist began to clear with the rising sun her fellow passengers began to stir. As she tried to sit up, she noticed something tied to her wrist: a little velvet pouch of smooth soft purple. Tiny words were embroidered on it.
*“For my dearest Aliya, a safe journey to a better world.”*
Aliya. That was her name. Was it? She couldn’t be sure, but at that point that was all she had to go with. Who gave her that pouch? What was in it?
She unfastened the strings and took a look inside: there were some golden coins, a couple of red tokens, a red feather, a chunk of honeycomb and a queer looking relic.
*“Ah, grandma, always obsessed with these little trinkets”, she mused.*
Grandma? Yes, that made sense. Only grandmothers give away embroidered gifts. Where was the rest of her family? She wasn’t alone, but as she turned to look around, everyone else on the boat looked familiar but foreign at the same time.
And as they looked back at her, she could see in their eyes the same bewilderment.
*It was as if they all knew that they had a history, but it was a past that they could barely remember.*
“We’re almost there now”, the Riverman announced.
As the mist cleared, Aliya looked out across the water and saw hundreds of other boats around her. Ahead of them was a landscape adorned with mountains and green pastures.
*“Everyone’s surprisingly calm for a bunch of people who seem to have lost their memories”, thought Aliya to herself.*
“Everything will be made clear in time”. The Riverman told to her as though he had read her thoughts.
But as another wave of confusion washed over her Aliya fell into an exhausted sleep and dozed off in the cool morning breeze.
# Chapter 1: Landing
By Andiamo
“Alright everyone, we’ve arrived”, announced the Riverman.
Aliya looked up from where she lay on the boat and as her vision cleared from her exhausted sleep, she caught sight of her new home.
Beyond the approaching pier lay a landscape as if from another world. *"Actually this probably is another world."* Some was what she'd deem fairly normal, the pier, the little settlement behind, the stone buildings, the grassy plains rolling over the landscape. Horses, donkeys, and ox roaming the plains, all of it seemed familiar. Even the hearth at the village square with its gently burning fire and the inhabitants milling about performing their morning shores that was all normal.
But what lay beyond the little village left her disorientated and confused.
Five monolithic towers arranged in a star-like formation with each of the towers at the tips of the star shape. In the middle of the towers a translucent sphere lay suspended in the air. A strange blueish glow emanated from the towers forming something akin to a layer of fabric, a fabric ebbing and flowing with energy. Sparks raced across the surface of the "fabric". The sphere suspended between the towers rotated sporadically with no rhyme, reason, or pattern to its movements. Strangely there wasn't a sound in the air out of the ordinary. Birds were chirping, bees were buzzing, and waves lapped against the shore as the light of the morning sun gave the world a golden hue.
“You’re not the first with *that* look on your face”, quipped the Riverman while finishing his knot to tie up the boat.
“What is that? Where is this place?”, asked Aliya her exhaustion finally having let up enough so she could begin dealing with her situation.
“Oh yeah, I'm supposed to make the announcement”, said the Riverman turning to the remaining passengers. “Alright everyone, congratulations, you're the ones who made it.”
“You have plenty of questions, I have little time.”
“You'll figure things out soon enough, but for now I welcome you to your new home." With a magnanimous wave of his arm toward the village and the lands beyond he continued.
“Welcome to Bridgeworld.”
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As the last of the passengers left the boat, Aliya remained seated, mesmerized by the sight before her.
“Hey little lady, I haven't got all day.” The Riverman said dismissively.
“How does it do that?”, Aliya whispered aloud.
“Well, you’re asking the wrong person. I’m just a man with a boat. Does it seem like I'd be the one to know about weird energy, massive towers, and invisible spheres? If you're looking for answers you won't find them on the boat, now scram." The Riverman replied.
“Why did you bring us here?” Aliya asked tearing her gaze from the towers and looking the Riverman in the eyes.
“You're part of the migration, it's my job to bring you here”.
“But why are we migrating? Where are we migrating from? Why doesn’t anything make sense? Why don’t I remember anything?!” Aliya exclaimed feel a wave of panic rush over her as she clutched her head in confusion.
The Riverman looked on in silence, his gaze a little gentler than before. Aliya calmed herself down and looked up.
“I’m sorry, I’m just a little tired I think.” She said as she regained her composure.
"You needn't apologize, the panic attacks will subside as you begin your new life here. We've all been through them..." The Riverman's gaze fixed on the middle distance as he trailed off.
Seeing this Aliya stepped onto the pier and as she was about to leave she turned around and stretched out a hand to the Riverman.
“I’m Aliya, at least that’s what I think my name is, it’s written on this little pouch tied to my wrist.”
Returning to his senses the Riverman shook her hand and replied.
“Nat, but most people call me the Riverman. I'm one of a handful sailing these waters but there are plenty more across Bridgeworld. My friends stick to Nat though. Nice to meet you, Aliya.”
As she turned to go on her way Nat shouted after her.
"Swing by the Rivermen's hut sometime, and I'll cook you something."
“Sure, I’ll come by,” replied Aliya.
“Oh, and pay a visit to Anton in the village. Half the people think he’s crazy, but some say he used to be a Quester. So he’s the most likely to know what goes on in there.” Nat said as he gestured towards the translucent sphere.
# Chapter 2: A New Home
By Andiamo
Having left the pier Aliya followed the path of the other passengers and by the time she got to the village it was already mid-morning. The the sun high in the sky and the day getting warmer. Aliya arrived in the village and saw everyone going about their business. She recognized some of the passengers from her boat, the man seated across from her who had snored throughout the night. He was starting a fire and wiping down an anvil — it turns out he'd quickly jumped one of the blacksmiths and become his apprentice.
The lady who'd sat beside her on the boat was already in talks with one of the farmers to start working in the barn, milking cows and brushing donkeys.
Everyone seemed to know where they were supposed to go. But as Aliya looked around the village she felt no such inkling. What about family? She knew she had a grandmother from the embroidered pouch and gifts. But that told her nothing as to where she'd really come from or where she's going.
*"Why am I even here?" "What even is this place?!"* She could feel another panic attack coming. *"What is Bridgeworld supposed to be?! What's bridging anyway?" Desperately s*he began focusing on her breathing and soon calmed down. As she stood there in center of the village, out of breath and confused she caught sight of something out of the corner of her eye.
It was a strangely innocuous cottage hidden behind some well-trimmed hedges and immediately she felt drawn to it. She remembered Nat's suggestion to look for Anton but she didn't know where he could be so why not check out the Cottage she thought to herself.
Aliya found herself staring at the door of a quaint, unassuming little house.
“The Huntress’ Den”
It was a two story building with a roof of bright red tiles which stood out against the green backdrop that characterized the rest of the landscape.
Aliya looked at the letters etched onto the shiny bronze plaque situated by the door of the stone cottage.
It was an old building, moss crept up the outside walls and had almost reached the roof by now. Wind and rain had smoothed over any and every edge in the blueish-gray stones which comprised the building. But despite it's age it was well-kept cottage, the vines were pruned and trimmed so as not to obstruct the view from the windows. The windows themselves were clear as crystal, not a speck of dust or grime to be found.
Curiosity brought her to one of the windows and she peered inside. What she saw was, disappointing. Everything seemed normal, the fireplace in the living room was burning, the bookshelves lining the walls were stacked with books, a basket of fruit sat idle on one of the tables.
It certainly didn’t look like a “den”, but then again what’s a name have to do with its interior? Was she drawn here like the others were drawn to their respective homes and occupations? Well lucky her then, she thought, because this cottage looked pretty comfortable.
Aliya made her way back towards the main entrance and at the front door she had another look at the bronze plaque. Something about it was out of place. The engraving was tiny and incredibly precise, almost too precise. The tools in the smithy could never achieve this. It was almost as if…
“STATE YOUR IDENTITY.”
Aliya jumped back in shock as a woman’s voice called out. Did it come from behind the door? The door remained completely shut and there wasn’t even a mailbox or a sliding window for anyone to speak through.
“STATE YOUR IDENTITY.” repeated the voice.
Aliya realised it was coming from behind the bronze plate. Could bronze plates talk?
“Hi... uhm.. my name’s Aliya. I just came off the boat and I…”
“PROCESSING.”
*“What? Processing? What in the world is going on?”* She thought.
“PROVIDE YOUR ACCESS KEY.”
“What access key? I don’t know what you’re talking about, I don’t even know what I’m doing here!” Aliya exclaimed in confusion.
Another pile of confusion to add to her ever growing mountain of frustrated ignorance. She threw her arms in the air and as she did so the pouch with her grandmother’s trinkets came loose and fell to the ground, spilling its contents.
Aliya bent to pick them up, undoing the drawstring of the pouch in the process, and began putting back the handful of gold coins and gems that had fallen out.
“ACCESS KEYS ACCEPTED. PLEASE ENTER.”, stated the voice.
“What keys?”, thought Aliya as she looked up at the door. “These aren't keys, just coins and fragments of something ruby-looking."
Then she noticed the embroidery on her grandmother’s message to her. On the outside of the pouch, it read: *“For my dearest Aliya, a safe journey to a better world.”*
But on the inside it was something completely different, a seemingly random string of characters and numbers that made no sense:
*58eaa6d95bf4d8f054b99519d1cef395c92171bad5973db9e113329d574f3ab7*
The door slid open. Upwards.
“This is one strange door,” she thought to herself. “May as well enter, it’s not like I have anywhere else to go.”
She picked up her pouch and stepped through the doorway.
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As if perfectly cut talking bronze plates and sliding doors that open upwards didn’t already seem sufficiently out of place, the sight that greeted Aliya inside the cottage could only be described as otherworldly.
As she stepped past the entrance corridor another set of doors slid open to reveal an enormous piazza. Aliya found herself atop a second story balcony with two sets of staircases leading to the ground floor. The balconies surrounding the open air center of the piazza was bustling with activity, hundreds of people milling about. On the ground, in the center of everything, was a fountain sporting a statue of a woman adorned in flowing robes. In one hand she held a crossbow and in the other a handgun. Her ostensibly grand and authoritative posture was belied only by the fact that her gaze and her weapons were pointing in different directions. Her gaze was inland, toward the “star”; while her weapons were pointing toward the shore. She was both predator and prey, and vigilance was the only route to survival.
Around the central fountain Aliya spotted enormous panels flashing with moving images and figures. *Holograms*. Yes, holograms. How did that word just appear in her mind? Behind the piazza an avenue stretched for a mile or so before eventually reaching some sort of amphitheater carved out of the same blueish-grey rock that the cottage walls were made of.
The cottage walls. As the sight before her began to sink in Aliya made another realisation. The “cottage”, which from the outside was no bigger than 40 feet by 20 feet, maybe a little more, was bigger on the inside. MUCH bigger.
“Handgun”, “Hologram”, “Animations”, how did she spontaneously *know* these words and what they represented? Was this not just a village from the middle ages? What year was it? What kind of technology was before her eyes? How did she know it was technology? Before the panic could set in again someone interrupted her spiraling thoughts.
“Aliya?”, said a gentle female voice behind her.
She turned around finding herself face to face with a tall, slim, female figure who appeared to be partially robotic. One of her arms was partially metallic and mechanical, though her slim, lanky fingers seemed human enough. On her head she wore a helmet of sorts, circuitry and flashing lights adorning the helmet. At least it looked like a helmet, Aliya thought, as she could see some dark red hair and ears poking out from behind it. The rows of lights and sensors on the helmet made this android-figure look a bit like a spider, although at the rate things were going Aliya was convinced things were going to get far stranger than spiderwomen.
“Yes, that’s me,” Aliya replied warily. “And let me guess, this is when I ask if someone could explain things to me, and you tell me that things will become clear in time?” She continued sarcastically.
“You are correct. Recording high levels of sarcasm and a moderate intellect, perhaps.” The android replied with a cool even voice but the snark in her reply didn't escape Aliya.
“Welcome, to the Huntress’ Den” The android continued. “Shall I show you to your quarters?" As the pair began walking the android continued. "We weren't expecting you so soon, arrangements will be made so you may explore the village once you've settled in."
“So, what’s your name? And what's with that helmet?”. Aliya asked the android curiously.
“I am a Numeraire of Bridgeworld. We have numbers, no names, and I am but one of many and many are of me. Here however they call me Pi, so I suppose that is what you may call me as well.” She replied somewhat stiffly.
“Well, I suppose I should say nice to meet you, Pi,” Aliya said smiling as she offered a handshake.
“Nice to meet you too, Aliya.” replied Pi mechanically as they shook hands.
# Chapter 3: Induction
By Andiamo
Aliya needed answers. None of what she was seeing and experiencing made sense but at the same time she was certain everything was real rather than some dream she'd eventually wake from.
But at that moment, her growling stomach and the thick layer of grime incasing every inch of her decided perhaps a bath and something to eat might be more worth her time for now.
From the balcony overlooking the piazza Aliya followed Pi down the long staircase towards the fountain. Her eyes were fixed on the enormous statue at its centre.
“Who is that?” Aliya asked curiously.
“It's the first leader of the Huntresses, Snez’hana.” Pi replied mechanically before continuing.
“She is believed to be one of the first to stumble upon this world which we now call Bridgeworld.”
“Did she come on the boats, too?” Aliya asked, her curiosity piqued.
“No, there were no rivermen before Snez’hana. The legends say she awoke one day, struggling to keep afloat in the water. Somehow she survived and made her way to the village, much like your journey today. As with all new arrivals she had no recollection of where she had come from nor what had brought her here.
It's believed Snez’hana worked as an assistant to the blacksmith, crafting and forging spades, hammers and rakes for the villagers. She would wander the fields, delve deep into the woodlands, and all the while ponder the mystery of the Star." Pi continued.
“The Star? You mean that massive *thing* floating above us?” Aliya interrupted.
“Yes, that’s what the early inhabitants called it.” Pi replied, a hint of disapproval at her interruption.
“So what is it?” Aliya asked excitedly.
“All things in due course. Would you like me to continue with your induction?” Pi said calmly.
“Induction? Oh, yes, induction. Yes please.” Aliya replied gracelessly as Pi’s calm and controlled demeanor blanketed Aliya's excitement.
“Snez’hana continued her ventures deep into the woodlands pushing ever deeper every time. On one of her excursions, she noticed a metallic glint on one of the ancient trees as the sunlight pierced the foliage crown above. Upon closer inspection she saw it was a wooden crate lodged into the hollow of the tree. The lock was old and rusted and came loose with little more than a gentle kick. The contents of the crate spilled out onto the forest floor and she found a strange collection of relics, coins and gems.
Over the months that followed Snez’hana redoubled her efforts to scour the woodlands, venturing deeper still with every trip. Her efforts were rewarded as she continued to find these trinkets and treasures. She begun by selling a few but most of them she kept in the hopes of finding a more valuable use for them. With her newfound wealth she left the smithy behind and continued her search for more treasures.
Snez’hana was the first Huntress, the first in a line that spans generations. Now you've been given the chance to continue that line Aliya.” Pi said with a slight expectation in her tone.
Aliya followed Pi in silence down the hallway of what looked like a building full of living quarters, all the while pondering the story of Snez’hana.
“Who left these treasures there? And why the weapons?” Aliya asked looking up from her musings.
“Bridgeworld is ancient, remnants of thousands of civilizations litter this world. Beings of all kinds come and go, and over thousands of generations there have been countless battles and wars. Empires rose and empires fell and all that remain are odd relics and ancient treasures. The Huntress eschews involvement in these battles, and instead scours the world for treasure. But there are a great many creatures that inhabit Bridgeworld and they have a great many lives over the centuries.” Pi let a brief silence fall before continuing.
“It appears we've arrived Aliya, this is your room.”
As Aliya stepped up to the door it unlocked itself and before Aliya could express her confusion Pi spoke. “The locks are paired to our personal signatures, and they will lock and unlock automatically in your presence or absence. You may come and go as you please, young Huntress.”
“One final thing” Pi said as she turned to leave. “That little pouch that you came with, which unlocked the Den’s entrance contains items of great value. Protect them carefully or lock them in our vault. They will be used productively there but not at risk of damaging or consuming them.
We shall meet again soon.” With that Pi walked out the door and the door shut behind her.
*“Many more questions, and not that many answers”, Aliya thought to herself.* As she laid down on the bed.
She looked around her new room, the walls were made of that same blueish-grey stones, the window looked straight onto the Piazza, at the side profile of the statue of Snez’hana. Shelves lined the walls, books on one wall and clothes, sheets and towels on the other. A desk and a kerosene lamp sat next to her bed, and on the other side of the room was a wooden door.
Aliya got up and opened the door, and found a bathroom with a tub of hot water already running.
*“Looks like I got lucky with this little bit of luxury.”, Aliya thought to herself. “Sure beats the village. Well, I’d best get washed up at the very least. Something stinks in here and I’m pretty sure it’s me.”*
# Chapter 4: Anton
By Andiamo
Aliya stepped out of the Huntress’ Den and into the cool morning air. She didn’t know exactly what time of the day it was — no one seemed to have any measures of specific time other than the rising and setting of the sun.
*Clocks, yes, that’s what this place is missing. No clocks, thought Aliya to herself.*
*No calendars either, it seems.*
At the very least, she felt well rested. Her quarters were suitably comfortable and while it was a welcome rest from the arduous journey across the river, there was only so much rest someone needed.
*But from where? Where did that journey start? Time to get some answers.*
Answers. That’s what she needed, and she was going to find them, one way or another. It nonetheless seemed strange that no one else seemed as troubled as her about all of the things that didn’t make sense. And those that seemed to know some of the answers, like Pi, appeared adamant that she discovered them on her own.
Anton. That was the man that Nat, the Riverman, pointed her to. If the townsfolk say that he’s crazy, that would make him the best place to start, because as far as Aliya could work out, this world — the Bridgeworld — looked like the dictionary definition of crazy.
*Especially that thing, thought Aliya, gazing up at the Star. The gargantuan structure just hovered in the skyline, the five towers, spires, whatever one could call them, gradually rotating around a core that was pitch black.*
Aliya shuddered, laced up her new cloak that was left for her in her quarters, and headed for the village square.
Everything was as she remembered it the first thing she walked through the village, although there was a flurry of activity near the Village Hall as what seemed to be a marketplace was being set up.
“It’s the carnival, the children are all really excited about it,” came a voice from behind Aliya. She turned around and saw the blacksmith, the one who had been on the boat with her.
“You arrived here the same day I did,” replied Aliya.
“Yes indeed, it’s been almost a week now. Been a bit hectic, all this business of settling in and getting tooled up. The name’s Hakan, by the way, nice to meet you,” said the blacksmith.
“I’m Aliya, nice to meet you too. At least you know what you’re doing here, I’ve got no idea. And wait, did you say… a week?”, asked Aliya in confusion.
“Yep, I might not be the smartest cookie in the room, but I can definitely count from one to ten, and I can tell you that it’s been six times I’ve woken up and seen the sun rise since I got here”, replied Hakan, with a toothy grin on his face.
“And I think you’ve got a very good idea what you’re doing here as well, my girl. You’ve even got the cloak to go with it, Huntress.”, remarked Hakan.
“Wh… what? How? I just stumbled upon the cottage the first day I got here, and the door opened and…”, said Aliya as she started to explain.
“Don’t worry about it girl, you don’t owe me any explanation, everyone has their role here. In my six days here, it’s become clear to me that nothing here really happens by chance. Well, almost nothing. By chance, I did stumble upon the best bacon and eggs I’ve ever had in my life, just up there by the village hall,” said Hakan, gesturing at a little hut at the other side of the square.
“I’m looking for a man called Anton, by the way, do you know where I can find him?”, asked Aliya.
“Bacon and eggs, my girl. He’s the one cooking them.”
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The aroma of smoked bacon being fried to a crisp filled the air around the patio of a little cottage, located just a couple of feet from the village hall. As Aliya drew closer, she saw a man by a fire, adding wood chips to the flames as he hung up fresh cuts of pork for smoking.
The man was well-built, tall and with a slight hunch, with long grey hair tied in a ponytail.
“So you’re the new huntress?”, said the man out loud as Aliya approached, without turning around.
Aliya stopped in surprise.
“Don’t worry, I don’t have eyes at the back of my head, even if that wouldn’t be impossible in this place. I saw you in the mirror,” the man continued, gesturing at a mirror on the wall next to him.
“Are you Anton?”, asked Aliya.
“In the flesh”, he replied, “and I’m guessing that rascal Nat sent you my way. Always does that. Now I don’t want to be rude, but if you could give me a second while I get this last piece of pork up on the smoker…”.
“Right, the crowds will be happy, I think. They’re never happy, heh. So, what can I do for you?”, asked Anton as he turned turned to face Aliya, giving her a look over, as if performing a military inspection.
Aliya looked up at him: chiselled jawline, a slightly crooked nose, large black eyes, high cheekbones, framed by that same grey hair. One would’ve said he was a handsome lad back in the day, although the wrinkles around his eyes and on his forehead suggested those days were somewhat behind him.
“Nat said you could tell me what exactly this place is, and what I’m doing here. And maybe also how it is that no one else seems to mind not knowing!”, replied Aliya, a tone of exasperation in her voice.
Anton continued staring at Aliya, then he turned around and put two rashers of bacon and a few fried eggs on a plate.
“You want answers to your questions. And you will have them, at least those that I can give. But by the look of things, those Huntresses probably fed you their healthy stuff. Caught you staring at that bacon more than once heh”, chuckled Anton.
“Here you go, this one’s on me.”, said Anton, handing the plate to Aliya.
“Sit down, have a bite and listen. This isn’t going to be your typical bedtime story.”
“Looks like I’m not the first one to come asking,” remarked Aliya as she took a bite of bacon and eggs. “This is delicious by the way, thank you.”
“To ask? You’re not the first, and certainly won’t be the last. But to understand what exactly is going on here? First place is still up for grabs. Why do you think they call me crazy eh?”, mused Anton.
“Where do we start, let’s just get a feel for what you already know. I’m guessing you’ve met one of the numeraires?”, asked Anton.
Aliya nodded.
“That’s a good start, at least you haven’t lost your mind seeing an android. Had the orientation story about the leader of the Huntresses, whatever her name was, snazzy something?”, continued Anton.
“Snez’hana, they called her”, replied Aliya.
“Good memory. Right, so here’s how things work in Bridgeworld. Let’s make sure you’re on the right footing here, from the basics. You’re real, what you’re experiencing is real, these eggs and bacon strips are real. This isn’t a dream world of some sort that you can wake up from, because this is your reality. Our reality.
Whether you remember it or not, all of us *chose* to be here. If you were on a boat, you *chose* to come. That’s important. There are those who just *happened* to show up here, like in the ages past, and the legends hold that they all woke up struggling for air in the water, with no memory of how they got there.”
“Like Snez’hana?”, asked Aliya.
“Yes, like her. Never really got good at pronouncing that name. So anyway, for most of us, we opted to come here and most importantly, we chose to give up the memories of our previous existence and make this move *permanently*.”
“But why would we do that?”, said Aliya, “Why would we make such a definite choice?”
“I don’t know,” replied Anton, “each of us made our own decisions for our own reasons, but if we can’t remember them now, what end would speculating serve? Anyway, so here we are. The Bridgeworld is the world that exists between all the other worlds. Some of us are permanent denizens of this realm, while others project their existence here to share in our world.”
“But these others, they can go back?”, asked Aliya, questioningly.
“In a way, yes, although it would be more accurate to say that they were never truly here to start with. They may choose to remain, and avail themselves of the riches and adventure here, but everything that they gain and achieve while here stays here. Nothing will ever be theirs until they, too, make the choice of a permanent move”, replied Anton.
“So what draws anyone here?”, said Aliya.
“Fame, fortune, reward — the same things that, I presume, drew you to make the choice to be here. This land is untamed, it is ever-changing. Its history is ancient, yet it is as vibrant as a young sapling. You might have noticed that things often seem a little bit out of kilter: the old and the new, the known and the unknown. The treasures that you hunt, that the Huntresses hunt, are relics left behind from the past *and* the future. While you can count the days that pass here, and time remains linear, *history* isn’t. There are no rules for what must come first and what comes later — or at least, I don’t know them”, explained Anton.
“I can see why they call you crazy, this is properly doing my head in”, muttered Aliya, “But let’s assume all of this makes sense, tell me, what is that THING? The Star? And how does it just hover there?”
“That, little one, is the Citadel. Home of the Legions, Home of… mine. At least, it used to be.”, said Anton, a tinge of nostalgia in his voice.
A bell starting ringing from the village hall, as a the rest of the village erupted in a huge cheer.
“Let’s leave it at that for now, Huntress. The people want their breakfast, and I will not disappoint them. Let’s speak again soon, you’re going to need time to think all of this through”, said Anton as he picked up Aliya’s plate.
“I sure do…”, said Aliya to herself as she stood up and left.
*Pi. Maybe Pi can help.*
# Chapter 5: Cataclysm
By Andiamo
Aliya lay on her bed, her mind completely absorbed by the conversation she had with Anton that morning. She looked around her, in her quarters, and then it struck her.
The juxtaposition of old and new, a world that was simultaneously medieval yet in possession of advanced technology… and the lack of clocks.
Time seemed to be in contorted in this world, but no one seemed to be bothered about it but her.
Pi. She seemed like the most likely source for any answers.
Aliya had to find her right away.
She hopped out of bed and headed down the corridor, out towards the Piazza. It was a warm, sunny and almost humid afternoon, although the entire idea of the insides of a microcosmic pocket world with acres of land and soaring statues being contained inside a tiny cottage continued to escape her.
It was like a pocket world.
*A pocket universe.*
Add that to the list of things to work out, thought Aliya to herself.
On the other side of the Piazza stood a building with an ornate marble portico, complete with columns, although on closer inspection it wasn’t marble, but instead a smooth, polished version of that same grey-blue stone that Aliya noticed before. Within that building, she remembered Pi saying, contained the library and the archives.
If there was any chance of finding answers, Aliya would find them there.
Entering the cool shade of the portico, Aliya headed towards what looked like the main doors to the archives. On either side of the doors stood intricately carved statues of two huntresses, similar in style to the giant statue of Snez’hana on the piazza, standing guard over the archives.
As Aliya approached the doors, they slid open. Aliya looked upon seemingly endless rows of shelves, desks, display cases, sculptures and art.
*Bigger on the inside again, no surprise*, thought Aliya.
On the walls hung art pieces that were constantly in flux, an ever-evolving palette of colour that made visitors to the archives feel like they were floating in a multicoloured coral sea.
“Ready for more, I see?”, came a voice from behind Aliya.
She turned around and saw Pi approaching her.
“No better time than now to take you for a tour of the Archives, follow me,” said Pi.
“I need to understand what’s going on here, why everything seems so… out of place,” protested Aliya.
“You’re a sharp one, I see. Most new arrivals don’t work that out until much later,” said Pi, sounding slightly excited for the first time.
“Well, let’s just say I don’t take things at face value easily,” snapped Aliya in slight annoyance at what she felt was a condescending comment.
“Don’t get me wrong Aliya, I meant that only as a compliment of the highest order,” replied Pi.
“What have you heard of the Cataclysm?”, continued Pi.
“Nothing, but that sounds… cataclysmic, depending on whether it’s coming or it’s going,” replied Aliya.
“Actually, it is doing both. No one knows what brings about the Cataclysm. But there are ways to seek shelter from it.
At the end of the first age, when the first Cataclysm came, it wiped out most of Bridgeworld. The towns and cities were erased from existence, and while the people remained, they recalled nothing from their prior lives. It was as if the entire world was reset.
However, as the dark flames of the Cataclysm – the flames that give off no light nor heat, their tongues appearing like waves of darkness – raged through the world, there were survivors who retained their memories and their knowledge. Their protection: Azurite.”, explained Pi, tapping on the grey-blue stones on the walls.
“By sheer serendipity, Snez’hana and her band of huntresses had taken shelter in an Azurite quarry when the first Cataclysm arrived. With them, their caches of treasures, their manuscripts from their studies of the bridgeworld and most importantly, their memories, were protected from the dark flames.
Immediately it was clear that all that was precious had to be protected in structures made of Azurite – the only material that could withstand the devastation of the Cataclysm.
While the Huntresses were generous in sharing this knowledge with the other inhabitants of Bridgeworld, many others sought to dominate and control the supply of Azurite. As the ages passed, the self-styled Lords and Ladies of the land built themselves castles and forts of Azurite, mining these magic-infused minerals from the deepest mines on Bridgeworld.
Azurite quickly became the most valuable form of wealth in Bridgeworld, since all the wealth in the world would be worthless without being in the protection of Azurite. As the ages passed, the mined Azurite itself started to become known as the Magic of the land.
Unfortunately, humans being humans, even after discovering by chance the means of surviving a Cataclysm, they couldn’t survive themselves. The growing factions of warlords waged war on each other with their Legions, razing the great keeps and forts to the ground in the process.
The madness of man came as a greater cataclysm than the dark flames of old – and so it was that every great age, regardless of length, technological advancement or societal progress, ended as the powers that be engaged in mutual destruction, exposing themselves to the inevitable cataclysm that cleanses the land.
All that remain are the treasures left in the Azurite ruins of those great kingdoms. And you, Aliya, are part of the order of Huntresses that protect and safeguard these remnants of our history. Without these archives, we would be mere animals at the beginning of each new age.
Does that answer your questions?”
Aliya stared at Pi, struggling to process what she had just been told.
“I’m going to need a while to work this all out, to be honest,” said Aliya.
“Of course, it’s quite a lot to process. Shall I take you on that tour of the Archives now then?”
Aliya nodded, following Pi down the steps into the vast hall beneath them.
# Chapter 6: Excursion
Aliya looked at the map carved into the stone at the heart of the archives.
*“A map of Bridgeworld — the world as it is currently known.”*
On the west, a range of mountains were depicted as running from North to South, while in the centre, an elaborate carving marked “ATLAS” depicted what seemed to be like a mountain, although it looked man-made rather than natural.
In the east, a long river ran from Northwest to Southeast, connecting the sea in the North to the Ocean in the South. An engraving that looked like the giant statue of Snez’hana the Huntress marked what Aliya assumed was the location of the Huntresses’ Den, although it looked much farther inland than she remembered. After all, it only took her a short walk from the village square, which was itself not too far from the docks where Nat the Riverman had dropped her off.
“Turns out this is a much bigger place than I thought,” said Aliya under her breath, “Then again, I thought I was looking into a tiny cottage, which turned out to be massive on the inside, so why am I even surprised?”
“Things will start making sense to you in due time,” interjected Pi, who was patiently standing behind Aliya as the latter continued staring at the inscribed map.
“So that Star thing that I see in the sky, is that this Atlas thing? What is it?” asked Aliya.
“The Atlas Mine sits atop a rift at the heart of Bridgeworld, from which the magic-infused Azurite rock is mined. But that which you call the “Star”, that isn’t the mine.”, replied Pi.
“Then what is it? Anton said he came from there, but it doesn’t look like anything on this map,” probed Aliya.
“That is because it isn’t on the map. The Citadel is an abstraction. Many have looked upon it, and some have tried to reach it, but none have succeeded. It seems to exist in the collective perception, and everyone can see it, but no one has yet successfully studied it. It is a paradox: it always looks the same, regardless of where it is observed from, and its location is anywhere and everywhere at once. Therefore, it cannot be marked on the map because we do not know where to mark it,” explained Pi.
“That’s a deeply unsatisfying explanation,” grumbled Aliya.
“Your dissatisfaction has been noted,” replied Pi.
“I think it’s time for some exploring. I’m not going to make sense of things sitting in a library, although it also seems that whatever my life was before, I’m not heading back,” said Aliya.
“Indeed you are not, no one has ever been known to leave Bridgeworld in its entire history,” replied Pi.
“So, how do I get around? This map hardly looks to scale, the Den is much further inland than my short walk from the village square,” noted Aliya.
“On the contrary, this map is to scale. The village from which you came is actually located here,” said Pi, pointing to a small mark just at the edge of the eastern coast.
“Well if that’s the village, then the Den can’t be marked correctly on the map, it’s miles away,” argued Aliya.
“As you may be noticed,” Pi began explaining, “the Den is much bigger on the inside than on the outside. Perceptions of dimensional space and time can be manipulated here. You may move more quickly or slowly than you think or feel, and space, too, can be configured to the needs of those who wield the powers of the land. The door by which you entered is simply one of many entrances to the Den. And every entrance is also an exit.”
“So you’re telling me that there’s some sort of teleportation going on here?”, asked Aliya.
“No, there isn’t teleportation. That doesn’t exist. You physically move, but space and time can be folded to a small extent within certain spaces: stretched and folded, shaped into a specific form which is more conducive for traversing or for inhabiting. After all, it’s all mathematics. That’s what we do,” replied Pi.
“So I simply walk?”, quipped Aliya.
“You could purchase an ox or a donkey from the marketplace, they do come in useful for longer distances, especially if you’re bringing in a sizeable consignment of loot,” said Pi.
“How classy,” remarked Aliya in jest.
“So how do I get to… that?”, asked Aliya, pointing at the Atlas mine on the map, which stood quite a distance from the Den.
“That’s easy, follow me, I’ll show you the Terminus.”, replied Pi.
“The Terminus. This just gets stranger by the day,” thought Aliya to herself.
\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*
Situated at the far end of the boulevard, behind the great monument, was the building in blue stone that Aliya saw when she had first entered the Den. It was much more elaborate in design now that Aliya was standing before it, with intricate carvings etched into the stone that were imperceptible from afar.
On one side of it was a large tract of expansive woodland, training grounds for survival and combat for the Huntresses. On the other, there stood a small circle of stones.
Aliya had seen that configuration of stones before on the map, but they were located near the Northeastern regions of the world, some sort of summoning circle.
As if capable of reading Aliya’s mind, Pi started to explain.
“You may have noticed this layout of stones on the map, where the summoning circle is located. The Summoning Circle is used to summon Legions from other worlds into Bridgeworld, beings such as myself. The ritual artificially triggers a portal event, the same event that brought you here, although in your case it was purely spontaneous and random.
The ancient Huntresses, aided by an unknown wisdom from the Northern realms, succeeded in deconstructing and controlling this power to a limited extent, and constructed the Terminus. From the Terminus, one is able to move between the Den and a set of fixed locations via a temporary portal event that is constrained in its range. These waypoints served as an important way for the Huntresses to escape from the perils of Bridgeworld as they go on their Treasure hunts.”
“So THIS is teleportation,” said Aliya.
“Well, I suppose you are right,” admitted Pi.
“Which one gets me closest to the Atlas Mine?”, Aliya continued.
“That one,” said Pi, pointing to one of the stones.
“Do I just walk into a stone?”, asked Aliya, seemingly confused.
“Yes, but you’ll need to know how…”, stared Pi, as Aliya hopped into the stone.
“… to get back”, uttered Pi to herself.
“Things just became slightly complicated”, she thought.
# Bridgeworld
# Origins: Part 1
By Andiamo
“Don’t tempt fate!”
“Don’t say that, you’ll bring bad luck on us all!”
Have you ever stopped to wonder how it could be possible that one individual word, a tiny utterance, could change the outcomes of events so significantly that they cascade into world-changing consequences?
Almost as if by saying that specific thing, you’d triggered a cheat code in a game, only it doesn’t actually give you “God mode”, but rather delivers a inexplicable dump of bad fortune?
No wonder people believe we live in a simulation.
Or the multiverse.
Or the multi-simulation-verse?
Quantum physicists have for decades looked at the possibilities of the existence of a multiverse, as one of the potential ways of explaining phenomena that defy the very fundamentals of Newtonian mechanics.
It’s as if a couple of programmers came together and wrote multiple versions of code, ostensibly to do the same thing and create a sort of metaverse, but because the underlying syntax was all different, when you got to the nitty gritty bits of trying to understand how things work, the logic that sat at the surface just… falls apart.
Nothing makes sense if you think about it properly.
I mean, think about it: if civilisations advance over time, becoming ever more developed, how can it be that when we look to ancient civilisations like Egypt, Mesopotamia, China, Rome, the Incas and the Mayans, to name a few, they seem to possess this sophistication that is so blatantly absent today?
And where did all the brilliant composers like Beethoven, Chopin, Mozart and Bach disappear to? Was there a mass extinction event in the past century?
Nothing makes sense. Someone’s messing with us.
\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*
*“It seems like we have a potential situation on timeline 0x742016.”*
*“Do not be hasty, my brother. As you shall learn in time, these musings often fall short of the epiphanies required to discern our existence.”*
*“Has the existence Bridgeworld ever been discerned by them?”*
*“The Origin Enclave has watched upon the Bridgeworld since the beginning of time, as we are doing now. From the outside, we are nothing: a dimension in perpetual stasis, where time as they understand does not pass.”*
*“But we experience time, don’t we?”*
*“Indeed we do, but what is time but a point on a defined continuum? Our continuum is infinite in all dimensions, so why do we need time?”*
*“Perhaps. But surely in the infinity of time, some of these worlds must have discerned our existence, at least by inference, given the intelligence we have bestowed upon these beings?”*
*“You speak rightly, young one. It is at those times when the Legions are called upon to intervene, for a great disorder will befall all of these worlds if the Bridgeworld is discerned.”*
*“Don’t interventions seem somewhat blatant?”*
*“The Legions guide, govern and protect the Bridgeworld. For those who do not understand, their abilities are thought to be Magic. And so we allow it to be termed, for it is beyond the comprehension of many. The Legions leave in their wake legends, myths and relics — sometimes as rewards, sometimes as gifts and sometimes as warnings. You ask the right questions young one, and your questions I shall answer. You ask how these interventions go unnoticed? Well, as this individual we are currently observing has noted, history seems to be pieced together in a slightly disconnected manner.”*
*“Ah, yes, so we simply re-order the flow of time across multiple worlds, weaving a new timeline into existence, creating a new reality for those who remain? But surely there are parts of the story that need to be pruned, for the timelines to remain coherent?”*
*“You learn quickly, young one. We shall yet make a good legionnaire of you. That is enough for this epoch. Ponder your questions, for they are good questions, and you may very well discern the answers on your own.”*
*“Yes, my brother.”*
# Origins: Part 2
By Andiamo
Some call it the void; others call it Heaven, others call it Hell. The intellectuals call it the world before the Big Bang. Some say there are many more dimensions that we can ever hope to perceive, and that something exists outside the realm of our comprehension.
Where did it all begin? What came at the beginning of time?
Every civilisation has had an inkling that there was something more out there. To the few that perceived that not all was as it seemed, the clue lay in their recorded histories. The phenomena that no one could explain, and of which no survivors remained to corroborate the records.
Most others just shrug it off: things change, that’s life, they say. Time passes, and life goes on.
But what is time? Is it not just a marker on a scale, like any other dimension: height, width, depth? And if a scale existed, it should have a reference point from which everything is measured.
An Origin.
Who decides the Origin? And what happens around the Origin of Time? Are we in positive or negative time? Do we move forwards or backwards? Why is the Origin the Origin?
Is there only one single line of time? Or can there be many? Do they all pass through the same Origin?
Many questions, but few answers. For those who delve into such thoughts, a clue can be taken from first principles: regardless of how powerful any beings may be, and the dimensions they occupy, there are basic rules that always hold true.
Ponder this thought: The laws of thermodynamics define the conservation of energy and, by Einstein’s famous E=mc² equation, mass.
But entropy ceaselessly increases with every interaction of any two systems. Entropy is up-only. Chaos is up-only.
So any order that is created necessarily requires expending energy to enforce that order, offsetting the chaos that would naturally occur. Compare the amount of effort needed to spill a bag of beans on the ground against what is needed to put them all back into the bag.
Chaos and order exist in a balance.
And if your world as you see it seems relatively orderly then the obvious question to ask is…
*“Where did the Chaos go?”*
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*“Perhaps with a bit of a hint, these people will be able to work it out,” she thought.*
She folded the sheet of parchment and tossed it into a glowing orb, and watched as it morphed into a two-dimensional form, legible in a three-dimensional world.
Follow
# Bridgeworld
By Rickard
As you finally fall for the sweet allure of sleep the void between a thousand worlds begin to stretch out before you and all you can see are bridges. Bridges of gold and diamond, bridges of chain and vines, of dark metal, thick stone, bridges of feathers, light, color, flames, and ice. Bridges in every shape, of every material, in every length.
This is the center, the hub, the nexus. A world in stasis and a world of infinite opportunity. Once a place of utter chaos now lovingly and carefully weaved through countless universe. Where you now stand is the beginning and the future and this is but the first dream.
## The First City
The first city, a marvel of construction and engineering. A thousand thousand tonnes of stone, wood, and metal has gone into its creation. Thick vast stonewalls surround it but the walls are built far from the heart of the city and so fields, farms, and forests all fit within as well as the city itself of course.
At the very core lie the citadel, it looks as though the sun has been plucked from the sky and placed suspended between four wicked pillars protruding from the ground like the horns of a great beast. The citadel is always in motion, it twitches and pulsates, small rotations and sudden outbursts of material, all of it give the appearance of a restless god, a restless sun.
Beneath the citadel lie the colosseum an arena of epic proportions. It has been built within the “Pillars of the Sun” and above the battlefield in the arena center the citadel, ever glowing and ever moving, keep the dark of the night at bay and put the light of the day to shame.
The homes of hundreds of thousands surround the heart of the city. Markets and stalls, smithies and bakeries, mills and alchemists, leatherworkers and arcanists, enchanters, brewers, shoemakers, miners, butchers, cooks, and crafters all exist within its walls.
\- Untitled tablet found in the upper levels of the Atlas Mine
# Songs
## Adventurers Bold
Adventurers bold step forth and claim you loot, magic, and gold. From foreign lands around the globe a thousand strong with thousands more to come. The magic flows from deep within, the mines are dug but can go deeper still. There’s treasures to be had and battles to be fought in a world born from nothing but shared thought. The day is young but the journey long remain steadfast and feel free to share this little song”
## The Adventurers' Call
“The dungeons, the dragons, the travelling bards. The shop keeps, the maidens, the King with concerns. The chemists, the smithies, the crafters and guards all await the heroes who heed adventurers’ call!”
# Darkness and Light
By Andiamo
Six sources of power are known to exist in the Bridgeworld.
Four of them are elemental in nature: Fire, Water, Wind and Earth.
These elements maintain the balance between the elements, inhabitants, constructs and creatures of the world. They create and destroy, they nurture and corrode, and they are the manifestation of nature within this world.
The remaining two, however, are of a very different nature: Light and Dark.
The ancient civilisations of Bridgeworld struggled to articulate the nature of Light and Darkness for one very simple reason: you could never *feel* them.
It was easy to feel the heat of fire, touch the flow of water, experience the caress of a breeze or walk the soil of the earth.
But Light and Dark transcended all of those things: they were visible but untouchable, and the predecessors of this realm knew there was something special.
The power of the Light was glorious in its luminescence: the power to heal, the power to create, the power to inspire hope and joy. And the legions who wielded this power rose to become the greatest commanders within the Legion ranks.
Their victories over those who wielded the powers of Darkness were hard fought, but their ultimate victory over the Dark forces in the Great Engagement led to the now-commonplace saying that no amount of Dark can ever prevail over the Light, and that it would take but a sliver of Light to pierce through any Darkness and dispell it.
Dark, so it became believed, was merely the absence of Light.
But is that so?
The Dark Power was said to be a consuming one: those who wielded it faced the risk of being consumed by an unstoppable shadow which absorbed everything around it, including the bearer of its power, including every drop of light, gradually manifesting in a darkness beyond which nothing could escape.
But what became of those Legions who embraced the Dark power?
None who have embraced the power of Darkness has ever returned to tell their tale. Their powers prior to complete consumption were said to be limitless, drawing upon everything they encountered, relentlessly consuming everything they touched or even laid their gaze upon. But all of them appeared to suffer the same fate: they simply disappeared. But nothing *truly* disappears. Perhaps they simply become transformed: transfigured, transposed, transmogrified.
Children's tales tell of shadows that move even in the stillness of the night, shadows that are cast by nothing at all.
Perhaps these tales aren't as far-fetched as they are made out to be.
Light and Dark are perhaps the two greatest powers in the realm, not because they are untouchable - indeed, they are. No, they are the greatest powers in the realm because they are the very existence of the realm.
It is the contrast between Light and Dark that makes things visible. For without seeing, how would one experience any Magic at all?
*-- Excerpt from "Musings of a deranged summoner: the scribbles of Ralthor Khan"*
# The Light
The Light shines upon all, illuminates all, gives life to all.
For without light, nothing is visible. Nothing that is good hides from the light: rather, all that is good and beautiful seeks to be bathed in the light, that many may observe and relish its goodness.
The Light reveals flaws, and although not all flaws are ugly and shameful, they are nonetheless flaws.
A shortage of perfection.
*Shadows. Scars. Cracks. Imperfection.*
True perfection thrives in The Light, wherein even under the closest scrutiny, not a single blemish can be noted.
We are not perfect, but to embrace and accept imperfections is to succumb to indolence, leading to complacency, leading to the sombre shroud of the Darkness.
*Shadows. Scars. Cracks. Imperfection.*
The Legions that stand for The Light take on an insurmountable mission, one placed upon them many ages ago when the Darkness was vanquished.
It is told that in the Great Battle, the five Genesis Legions led their armies against the forces of the Darkness and prevailed, vanquishing the Vanguards of the Shadow into the aether.
Yet they could not be destroyed, only decimated and scattered in the hopes that they would never reassemble. Alas, so long had the Darkness plagued the world that the very stain of Darkness remains, passed on from generation to generation. Thus, even the victors bore the scars of their pyrrhic victory: their very form obfuscated the light, casting shadows on the ground.
And on each other.
Thus, even in victory does the Light remain on constant watch.
That the blemish which scarred this world remain contained. Controlled. Subdued.
Each Legion, each individual, each being: each needs to be mindful that the shadow that one casts is that which one desires to cast.
Heaven forbid the shadows take a life of their own.
Only in The Light can we find perfection, and only in perfection do we find salvation.
*In Luce, Perfectio; In Perfectione, Salutis.*
# Darkness
Darkness.
It is often described as an absence of light, as if without the light there would be nothing, and the need to describe that nothingness was what brought about the definition of "Darkness".
But it isn't nothingness, is it?
If there was truly nothing, why do we instinctively fear the darkness? Why do terrors and horrors only appear at night? If these fearsome creatures were merely a figment of our imagination, then surely we would be able to imagine them in the daytime as well.
Conventional wisdom suggests that it is only in the absence of light that the notion of such terrors can exist, not to mention their actual existence. But by that logic, there is a baseline for darkness: in zero light, there should be maximum darkness.
But that also isn't true, is it?
Intuitively, all of us know that isn't true.
Intuitively, we know that in the darkness there is much more than we can perceive.
The ancients were well attuned to this notion. Well before the orthodoxy equating light and dark with good and evil respectively was established, our predecessors understood very well that it was all about balance.
Light and Darkness are two sides of the same coin. The coin of reality.
One complements the other: a surplus in one corresponds to a deficit in the other, but not in the form of an absence, no. Just as a negatively charged electron corresponds to a positively charged positron, the world of the darkness corresponds to the world of the light.
For everything that we know of, there exists a negative-thing, since the opposite of "something" is not "nothing". Likewise, the opposite of "someone" is not "no one".
Sometime in our past, this balance was toppled. The orthodoxy that we are constantly reminded of, that "Light is good, darkness is evil", is merely a farce, made up to artificially maintain the order that we see today. Is everything that is bathed in light necessarily good? Can atrocities be committed in broad daylight? Of course they can.
A false dichotomy.
The shadows that we see, even those that we think are moving on their own, when nothing is around; the feeling of absolute dread that we get when left in the dark; our very existence intuits the existence of a different world, filled with creatures and objects that are different, yet inexorably linked to the world that we know.
We can't see them now. Maybe because we don't want to, or maybe because they no longer want to be seen.
Our forefathers could. From them, our predecessors learnt to harness powers that would, in these times, be considered unnatural.
Legends tell of Legions that could bend reality, reconfiguring the nature of time, and therefore space, itself. These lived in the world of the light, hence their stories are recorded and passed down the generations. But even in the world of Magic, their abilities were of an altogether different world.
The inscriptions on ancient Azurite tablets told of a great battle, in which the Light prevailed, led by the five Genesis Legions. Yet nothing is written about the vanquished, and these Legions with supernatural powers remain but a myth.
Did they ever truly exist? And if they did, were they killed?
If they survived, then where are they now?
For how could anyone perceive the absence of something that has never been seen?
# World Treasury
By Rickard
Cycles lie at the very heart of Bridgeworld, some say it’s the cyclical nature of the world which has led to many of its unbelievable creations. One of these cycles is among the greatest mysteries of Bridgeworld, the cycle of Treasure. There are a great many treasures in the world and within each there is magic. Magic that can be used for any number of purposes.
However, once the magic is drained and the item’s been used the treasure fades from the world like a ghost who’s found its peace. This is where the cycle of treasure truly become interesting. For when the treasure has faded and found its peace it will eventually appear again seemingly at random but usually in magic rich environments. It’s not known whether it’s the same treasure or an altogether different but identical one, regardless the cycles continue. Find a treasure, use the treasure, and then the treasure will reappear somewhere at some point.
# The Mysteries
# Mysterious Merchant
By Andiamo
They call him the Peddler: no one knows which lands he comes from, or if he is even of this world. But in the shadow of the Elm tree, one always finds him: ever ready with a price, ever ready with a deal to be done. No small number have returned with glorious artefacts that appear out of this world after an exchange with the peddler, exchanges sometimes done at the price of time itself.
# Balancer Crystals
By Andiamo
*Balance.*
Only with balance can progress be smooth.
These people only ever want more, and more. Yes, more Magic is always good. But there must be balance.
Where there isn't balance, there isn't flow. Where there isn't flow, there is stagnation.
And where there is stagnation, there is death.
*For what is a stagnant life, but death itself?*
My work has taken me to this point, and it is here that I strike the balance.
On one hand, the infinite power of Magic; on the other, the immensity of the Ether itself.
These two powers fused into a single crystal, one balancing out the other: like light and dark, life and death, suspended in eternal and permanent equilibrium.
Perfectly balanced.
Imbued with this balance, a Legionnaire can go on and on, without fatigue, without rest.
*Because they are in balance.*
Where there is balance, progress can happen.
Without balance, there is no equilibrium.
And without equilibrium, we cannot advance.
*Balance.*
*-- Excerpt from The Notebook of Shazad'har, Royal Gemcrafter.*
# Grin
By Rickard
Treasures be found in the dungeons deep underground, from the shell of the Mollusk to the tail of a dragon, from the relics of old to rupees and gold. Pearls glisten atop feathers of red and immovable stones, fairies in jars and favours from the gods all can be found in the castle’s halls. Though deep underground where no one’s around and treasures abound the buzzing of bees is the only sound.
When you step through the hall and the magic is thicker a glimpse of honey might flicker. Now the hour is near pop your cap and disappear there’s been no sin but with that ivory pin who’s to say where you’ve been or if indeed you carry a little Grin.
# Honeycomb
By Rickard
The dying of the bees is perhaps the greatest tragedy of our time. As the ambient magic on the surface diminishes the bees have begun to disappear and with them the key component of health and rejuvenation potions are disappearing as well, the coveted honeycombs.
# Atlas Mine
By Rickard
There are a great many wonders on Bridgeworld, flaming monsters of machines that can level mountains or dig lakes. Beasts of unimaginable strength and animals of beauty which cannot be equalled. There are great forges and temples, waterfalls and mountains, rivers and ravines.
But none is equal to the Atlas mine.
A network of tunnels so endless it’s believed the there is more surface area within the mine than on the surface of Bridgeworld itself. There are thousands upon thousands of entrances with vast canyons and underground rivers that dot the mine. Ancient forests of stone spires and spikes can be found and caverns of crystal and gems ancient cities long abandoned lie hidden in the deep of the Atlas mine. But there is danger here as well, great beasts of immense strength, silent killers who leave no trace, ancient traps and remnants of dark magic, all can be found in the Atlas mine. But worry not for one by one the tunnels are secured. Level by level Questers clear a path for the miners to use but never underestimate the Atlas Mine.
# Crafting Forge
By Rickard
The great hall of crafters also known as The Forge is the hub of creation, construction, and crafting. It’s where the Alchemists and Enchanters meet. Where the Smiths and Leatherworks cooperate and where the Arcanists and Brewers share a beverage. Massive furnaces and bellows, moulds and ladles, anvils beyond counting and hammers enough to supply an army, all could be found in the smithy within The Forge.
Glowing crystals and deep cauldrons, mountains of animal hides and kegs the size of houses. This was all once but a tiny fraction of what could be found in the great Forge but this glory lies in the past. No one knows who made the Forge but what remains is but a shadow of its former glory but it’s a shadow with a past, a shadow which can come to life. When we light the first furnace, when we tan the first hide, when we brew the first drink! This is when the days of old can come again! Journey to the Forge, light the fires, dust off the cauldrons, channel the crystals and restore the remnants of the forge to the days old!
# Ivory Tower
By Andiamo
{% hint style="info" %}
The Ivory Tower looks upon all of Bridgeworld, even beyond the borders of the known realm. From this vantage point, Legions are called when interventions are required, and quests handed out according to each Legion's abilities.
{% endhint %}
They call it the Dispatcher - "it" because no one knows what it really is, other than the fact that the Legions are called towards it, and leave with a compelling sense of mission. An inexorable desire to complete their quest, unable to return or resist unless the given mission is done.
Attempts to reject or defy the Dispatcher have all met with failure. When the Dispatcher calls, you can but obey. Its orders speak directly to the very being of each Legionnaire and compels them to act.
The Bridgeworld extends far beyond the borders of the known realm - beyond the mountains on the west, and across the river in the east, and the waters of the north and south of the continent lie lands, beings, perils and - not to forget - treasures beyond our imagination.
The Ivory Tower that watches over the world sees all, and where an intervention is needed, the Legions are called.
So it is then, that a Legionnaire, compelled by the call of the Dispatcher, presents his or herself at the Ivory Tower. To each Legionnaire, a quest is assigned, in proportion to their abilities.
Thus the Legions go: far beyond the borders of the known world, invoking the Magic running in their veins and tapping on the primordial sources of power from which their very existence originates to overcome the trials they face.
And for those that succeed come the spoils of victory: treasures of great worth, likewise proportionate to the difficulty of their assignment.
# Summoner's Circle
By Rickard
{% hint style="info" %}
The shadows of the Western Ridge frame a circle of stones etched with veins of Magic. Pouring forth their essence into the circle of summoning stones, Legions call forth more of their brethren. Those that came before beget those that come after, not as offspring but as the culmination of their combined essence.
{% endhint %}
The eight pillars, the root of so much controversy. It was here that the first intentional summoning of new legions occurred and it was here that one of the five fell. The pillars forming the circle surround a series of runes carved through the ground, this is where liquid magic is poured to start the process. At the first drop of magic a light will begin to shine at the centre. Whenever the light dims or flickers more magic has to be poured but the light is fickle and so the rate at which to pour varies endlessly. Never pour too much magic! Or you may experience the story of the Fallen first hand…
Legions who attempt the art of summoning must prepare for a week of watching, a week of staying awake. Friends and companions won’t help you here as when you cross between the stones and enter the circle you exist in your own space, your own summoning circle. A thousand legions may cross between the stones and enter the circle at the same time and none of them will see another until the summoning is complete or aborted. Know that the legion which you summon, should you succeed, will be stripped of all memories, of all identity.
It’s believed a new summon is torn from their previous world leaving everything the knew behind. Only fragments of knowledge and experience remain once they appear in Bridgeworld.
Think well on the ethics of summoning and sleep soundly before attempting it.
# Summoner's Diary
By Andiamo
*Entry 289539-B75, Huntresses’ Archives*
*Description: Summoner’s log of a Legion summoning ceremony, located in the ruins of the Forts of Raznathor*
**Summoner’s Log**
Records kept by Summoner Melchizor, attaché to the 6th Guards Legion.
Summoning ceremony on the 19th day of the 48th month of the 3rd Age.
Summoning Location: Altz’har’s Faultline
Present:\
Lord Gol’kar, Genesis Lord Commander, 6th Guards Legion\
General Oksana al-Karna, Genesis Lady Assassin Mistress, 6th Guards Legion\
Major Icarno, Officer Commanding, Alpha Company\
Major Baratak, Officer Commanding, Delta Company
Summary of events:\
The summoning ceremony took place at Altz’har’s Faultline, where the planar dislocation was determined to be at its most pronounced.
I, Summoner Melchizor, welcomed the participating Legionnaires, of which were Genesis Legions, to the ceremony and once all preparations were made, initiated the summoning rites.
The rites were completed without complication, although in this instance, a substantial amount of magic was consumed to yield a fruitful batch of new Legions, perhaps one of the most fruitful I have witnessed in my career.
The results of the summoning are as follows:
Lord Gol’kar, Genesis Lord Commander: 27 new legions summoned\
General Oksana al-Karna, Genesis Lady Assassin Mistress: 34 new legions summoned\
Major Icarno, Officer Commanding: 12 new legions summoned\
Major Baratak, Officer Commanding: 11 new legions summoned
Prescribed cooldown: Minimum of 7 days for full recovery
As is always the case, while summoned Legions will ultimately find their innate calling through their pilgrimage to the Oracle, one can only imagine what a preponderance of issuance from the great Assassin Mistress could entail. Assassins are, after all, a particular breed of their own, and one can never be too sure of what path that strain could lead a Legionnaire down.
# Starlight Temple
By NFDoggo
Nestled in a hidden valley within the mountains, this ancient structure was only recently discovered by the Legions and remains largely untouched by the cataclysms that have befallen Bridgeworld. Though the exterior of the Starlight Temple appears to be comprised of a plain grey stone, Legions are greeted by a dazzling rainbow of lights when crossing the threshold into the building. All but one of the temple's walls, which remains impossibly black, are covered in a variety of Magic-infused symbols, the light from which is bent and refracted by a crystalline roof.
A single, massive space, the only objects inside the Starlight Temple are a white stone slab table depicting a map of Bridgeworld that stands in the center of the room and on which rests a rune-encrusted, hollow tipped needle.
Surrounding the map of Bridgeworld is a series of engravings: the names of the pioneers whose contributions to the founding of Bridgeworld are honoured for all eternity.
Granted favour by the ancient powers, the legends say that they were given what many can only yearn for: a second chance. An Extra Life.
## Constellations
Using Essence of Starlight, a form of liquid Magic, Legions tattoo one of Bridgeworld's constellations onto their skin using the ancient technology located at the Starlight Temple, mixing the Essence with their innate Magic in the process. Depicted on the temple's walls are six constellations that represent the elements of fire, earth, wind, water, light and dark. Referenced as symbols of power and protection throughout various native texts, the origin of the Starlight Temple and the powers it bestows upon those who pay homage in its halls remains a mystery.
The Constellations, however, have been known to provide protection to Legions venturing out into the wastelands. Each constellation confers increasing resistance and protection to its bearer to its element, bestowing a oneness upon its bearer, allowing Legions to move unscathed through otherwise harsh and hostile environments.
#### **Fire Constellation**
Points of glowing red light burn like embers on your skin in the configuration of a phoenix.
#### **Water Constellation**
Points of mirrored blue light sparkles on your skin in the configuration of a tidal wave.
#### **Earth Constellation**
Points of glowing brown and green light twist on your skin in the configuration of a mountain.
#### **Wind Constellation**
Points of swirling gray light flash like storms on your skin in the configuration of a tornado.
#### **Light Constellation**
Streams of white light flow over your skin, forming the nebulous image of a dragon.
#### **Dark Constellation**
Streams of the deepest darkness imaginable flowing on your skin, absorbing all light and leaving the silhouette of a cobra.
# Pilgrimage
By Andiamo
{% hint style="info" %}
Not every Legion was created with a class. This is neither a curse, nor a blessing, simply a matter of fact. To answer their calling, they need to discern, so discern they shall: on a pilgrimage to discover that which lies within them.
{% endhint %}
*Entry 40872-A6, Huntresses’ Archives*
*Description: This document was retrieved in the wake of a battle between Legions which took place in the 7th age on the Plains of Agarth.*
*Classification: Available for public reference*
**Junior Officer’s Diary Entry**
Today is a joyous day. I have been granted permission by none other than my commanding officer himself, the great Lord Ra’tha al-Gramien, to leave for my pilgrimage.
It is told that the pilgrimage is the most defining moment in a Legionnaire’s formation: a journey on which a Legionnaire discovers his or her true vocation. It is through this pilgrimage that I will earn my class colours.
I look forward to this journey with great anticipation as well as great trepidation, for the journey to the Seat of the Oracle is not known to be one that is kind to those who undertake it. After all, it is precisely the tribulations that one encounters along the way that catalyse the discovery of one’s inner inclinations, and one’s true calling.
Many of my fellow Legionnaires have returned from the Oracle, accomplished and standing proud, adorned with the colours of their class on their armour as well as on their hearts: Fighter, Spellcaster, Ranged, Assassin, Siege or Bishop. I have had the honour of training as an Ensign in a Siege battalion, and if the gods will it, perhaps I, too, may follow in the footsteps of my instructors. But if another path is to be taken, then let it be so.
My only fear is that of descending into the darkness of insanity. The legends tell of those who discover on their pilgrimage an innate darkness deep within themselves that ultimately consumes them and drives them to madness. Every heart harbours some of that darkness, but I can only hope that I am proven to possess the fortitude to keep that darkness at bay, and allow me to fulfil my sacred duty to this land.
But tonight, I shall enjoy my last day with my brothers and sisters with whom I have begun my journey as a Legionnaire.
# A Legion’s Pilgrimage, Vol 1
By Fran
Legion picked her way over the rocks between sheer cliff walls. The Valley of Snakes was more narrow canyon than valley and surprisingly snake free up until this point. However, there were plenty of crevices in the rocks for snakes to hide in, so Legion kept her eyes open and her footsteps light against the possibility of their existence. Death from the bite of a desert viper or 100-pacer was not how she planned to end her journey.
Legion was not sure why her pilgrimage had led her to this valley. But when she had learned that the Temple of Adomos was rumored to be located at the back of this valley from a nearby village she had instantly felt a irresistible pull. She was meant for greater and more important things than what life had given her so far. She knew in her bones that this temple was a step towards the purpose she was destined for.
As Legion squeezed through another narrow gap in the rock faces, she came into an open space full of dazzling sunlight. Her hand against her forehead to shade against sun, Legion let the world come into focus as her eyes adjusted to the light. The narrow canyon had expanded into a wide semicircular area of sand between the valley walls. In front of her was the Temple of Adomos. Two guardians carved in stone into the shape of ogres held their left hands out against the passage of evil and rested their right hands on wicked curved swords. Hesitantly, senses on high alert, Legion stepped out onto the sand and towards the temple.
Immediately Legion felt something amiss. The sand beneath her feet began to move and twist. As she struggled to keep her footing, the sands fell away to reveal a writhing mass of brown scales and undulating curves. A Black Viper of tremendous size. Legion pulled her bow from her back and readied an arrow as she stared down the massive snake. The snake lashed at Legion with its tail and snapped its black tinged jaws. Diving and dodging between the snakes strikes, Legion tried to find a moments rest to fire her arrow. As the snake struck again with its jaws, Legion rolled below its head and in the breath of a moment, shot an arrow up through the fleshy skin of its jaw and throat. As the arrow pierced the Black Viper’s brain from below it reared backwards in apparent agony and fell to the sands. Aware of the Black Viper’s tendency to bite foes even after death, Legion quickly backed away from the snake’s body. She turned towards the massive guardian ogres and stepped through the gates of the Temple of Adomos.
As Legion passed between the guardians, she entered a dark passageway. The cool darkness was refreshing after the bright sun. There was a sense of purity in the air as Legion walked forward. Oddly the passageway was clean, free of sand or dirt, as if it had just been swept by some unseen keeper of the grounds. Still wary, Legion scanned each crevice and shadow. Ahead of her in the passageway she could see a pure white light that seemed to pulse, as if to the beat of her own heart. She made her way into the light.
She entered into what could only be described as a throne room of the gods. The walls she could see were made of quartz decorated with gold inlays in the shape of thousands of bees. Hundreds of columns radiated outward into the unseen depths of the room. All this was illuminated by pulsing white light emanating from an apparent throne on a dais in the center of the room. Legion felt herself pulled forward as a moth to flame.
As she approached the throne, she gasped in surprise. The throne was comprised of a pair of upturned hands made of pure radiant diamond. Each facet of the diamond reflecting light and shapes and scenes. The scenes flashed by so quickly she could not understand their meaning or context. So she simply stared wordlessly in reverence at the base of the dais.
*Come Child. Your Destiny Awaits.*
Legion snapped out of her stupor at the voice. The chair had spoke to her.
*Come. Sit Child. Your pilgrimage is at an end.*
Was her pilgrimage at an end? Legion stepped forward tentatively onto dais. Her heart filled with hope and longing. She ran her hand over the fingers of diamond as she stepped around the throne. She heard a faint buzzing and noticed a bee flying above her and the diamond throne. For some reason this seemed to comfort her.
As she sat on the throne she felt knowledge and clarity pore into her. The path before her, which before had been cloudy and full of doubt became clear and sure. Her weaknesses cleansed in fire. Her strengths crystalized. Her mouth opened and a single word escaped.
*…Range…*
Where the legion sat was now empty. Nothing left to indicate that anyone or anything had been in this room of gold, quartz, and diamond hands. The bee which had been buzzing about the room landed on the now open seat previously occupied by Legion. The light of the throne slowly faded as the room turned to black.
# A Legion's Pilgrimage, Vol 2
By Fran
Chaos.
The clarity Legion had felt just a moment prior was gone. Now all she felt and saw was chaos. She was falling through a churning mist. Spinning head over heels. Around her shimmering portals opened and closed with other legions flying out one portal into another. Up and down had no meaning. As she spun through the air she saw a shimmering portal open in front of her.
*Flit*
For a moment she was an Assassin. Stalking her target.
*Flit*
Out she flew of another portal. Back to being Legion for a mere moment before falling headfirst into another portal.
*Flit*
Fighter, exchanging blows on floor of a colosseum.
*Flit*
Siege, storming a castle door with hammer falling. *Flit* Spellcaster, summoning balls of lighting and flame.
*Flit*
A Grin in green eating a honeycomb.
*Flit*
A Black Plague Mask
*Flit*
*Flit*
*Flit*
With each portal she fell through Legion felt her soul twist and pull. The visions were too many. She closed her eyes against the chaos and sought peace within. She needed to find the clarity of her true self. Blocking out the visions and the dizzying fall, she tried to trace herself back, back to who she was before. She was a legion setting out on a pilgrimage, a teenage girl crying over a lost love, a child listening to their mother’s stories of fairies and magic.
Wait! A tickle of a memory pushed its way forward. A kind woman’s voice. A story told over and over at the request of a child. “…and remember sweet one. If you ever find a silver penny, treasure it and keep it with you, for silver pennies are keys to the fairies realm. They open the door between their realm and ours.”
Legion's eyes snapped open. Did she still have it? As she tumbled through the air, her hands dived into her belt bags, searching for a treasure found long ago and kept. Knives, gems, bits of string and flint fell spinning out of her hands as she searched frantically. Finally, her hand closed on the cool smooth surface of a coin stamped with an M. She pulled out the silver penny and held it out in front of her as she fell towards another spinning shimmering portal. Her mind focused on the coin and a single purposeful thought.
*Take me where I belong.*
*Flit*
Ranged opened her eyes. She saw a clear sky and far in the distance a colossal structure of spinning arcs floating in the air. She felt soft grass beneath her and heard a soft giggling sound as if of small girls running and playing at a distance. Sitting up and looking around she saw a shaded wood off to her right. Between the trunks of the trees, she could make out blinking red, pink, and white lights, almost like fireflies had come out to shine and glow in broad daylight. Smiling to herself, Ranged got up and followed the lights into the wood. As she began to whistle a happy tune, it did not even occur to her to wonder where the silver penny had gone.
\- A Legion’s Pilgrimage, Volume 2
# Legions
# The Nature of Legions
By Rickard
In the nature of most legions there’s a will and a want to command. For some it comes naturally while others supress it but every legion has The Voice. It is more than mere sound, it’s an embodiment of authority cast from the mouths of Legions. It’s not a matter of mind control nor hypnosis, it’s a call to action, a call to follow, a call which can be resisted.
Some legions have an easier time calling mundane animals and beast while others take to magical monsters or dark creatures. Many take to the command of people while others are rumoured to have the dead heed their call. There is even a legend of an ancient Legion who could command the dragons.
To identify the affinity of any given Legion a menagerie of creatures, mundane and otherwise, are kept underneath the colosseum in the centre of the first city. Above the menagerie Legions may test their prowess at commanding their forces as well as their own fighting capabilities in epic duels where they're pitted against each other.
# The Providers
By J
We’ve all heard the stories of the legions, and how they came to be. And the Rivermen who shepherded them as keepers of the crossing between realms. Of the MAGIC they sought, to build and to protect. But few dare inquire on the origin of MAGIC itself, as you have done. The ancient wisdom is… mysterious at best. Still, if you are to embark on the quest ahead, you deserve at least the ability to speculate. Come close, and listen.
Perhaps you have heard whispers of them? Ancient legends lost so deep in the history of the gigaverse that most have forgotten why to speak of them sends shivers down your spine. So powerful as to be assumed gods, demons, or nothing more than children’s stories.
The Providers.
Yes, you feel it, don’t you? That inexplicable urge to forget what has been uttered, to avoid the truth. Yet, I assure you there is nothing more important to understand now, as our battered legions search to preserve a crumbling Bridgeworld. We will need great power, and great knowledge, if we are to avoid the impending collapse of our multi-chain system.
The Providers were the pioneers from whom all MAGIC has since flowed. Guardians of the realms, maintaining the fabric of MAGIC necessary for a productive gigaverse. Some even believe that hidden nodes continue to exist, scattered across the chains, wells from which liquid MAGIC can be drawn directly at the hands of the Providers rather than harvested through the work of the legions or emitted from the ancient treasures.
In the beginning, when the Great Rift opened up to bridge the worlds, the Providers with great risk unto themselves harnessed the eruption of MAGIC from the First Bridge. Before even the Rivermen and the Legions of Genesis paved the way across the bridges, the Providers fought to stabilize the flow of MAGIC. Of course, those who bear the title are only those who believed, gave, and survived the journey across the First Bridge. Many were lost to turmoil and the volatility of this mysterious power.
It is unthinkable, but it is even said that the Providers commanded the Legions of Genesis, who bent the knee to the great purpose of constructing and protecting Bridgeworld in a time when the gigaverse we know today was just a dream. It is said too that the ancient treasures, discovered by the Providers, were used by them to bind MAGIC in material form and stabilize its emission across the chains.
If all of this is true, why then do we fear them, and hope the whispers are just whispers? Why do we not worship the Providers in great temples and dip from their wells of abundance?
(to be continued)
# The Origin Legions
By Andiamo
The Origin Legions were the first to find their way into Bridgeworld.
No one knows when they arrived, or in what order. And in some ways, neither do they - they've been around for far too long to remember.
When they arrived, they were like any other Legion: dazed and confused. It's not known if they arrived with others, only that by the time more Legions started to arrive and a written history of Bridgeworld started to be kept, they had already established themselves as the most capable, ruthless and powerful warriors in the land.
For when they first arrived, there was nothing. Those close to them have heard them tell tales of building a civilisation from nothing but the ruins that they found across the land.
Out of necessity, they had to explore and tame the land, including the strange, mystical and often monstrous creatures that roamed the plains, even exploring beyond the Western Borders and the Rivers in the East to gather the resources they needed to survive.
Survival was difficult in the absence of civilisation. It could be said that it was civilisation that made them civil, for prior to that - over the years of which they themselves would not speak, or dare to recall - they must have done deeds that are better off never retold. To survive, they crafted for themselves weapons, armour and equipment, learning to harness the Magic that is native to this land and imbue their equipment with its power.
And they imbued themselves too: through the ages, they mastered their control of the constellations of the six great powers of Bridgeworld: Fire, Wind, Water, Earth, Light and Darkness, holding them in perfect equilibrium and harnessing their inherent power with great finesse and great ease, where others struggled to find balance.
As more legions started arriving, a society began to form: not one in the form that we see today. No, it was not a civil society. Legions are not civil by nature. They may be honourable, but to tame these beings - some say they are simply returning home, given even newly-arrived Legions were found to bear traces of Magic in their lifeblood - it took ruthless discipline and order.
The early society in Bridgeworld was a military one, with the Origin Legions the enforcers of law and order, none other than their words and their will. None could challenge them - none dared.
And thus it was, that the five Origin Legions attained supremacy in Bridgeworld, and thus they named themselves: Clocksnatcher, Dreamwinder, Warlock, Bombmaker and Fallen.
As their ranks grew, so too did the number of their protégés. Many Legions attain a class and some degree of competency in a specific craft or function. But amongst them were a small number, rare and far between who possessed a similar constitution to the Origin Legions.
These were similarly able to attain mastery of all the skills of all classes, and likewise carry on themselves all the six powers of the land in perfect equilibrium. While they were not of the Origin Legions, they were by no means any less powerful.
Their omnipotence earned them the title of the All-Class Legions, set apart from the others by their power and competence, and from the Origin Legions only by seniority and experience.
# Bombmaker
# Dreamwinder
# Dreamwinder #1
By NFDoggo
**Report of Investigation – Dreamwinder - Exhibits**
**Exhibit A – Cpt. A. Forgund**
**Journal Entry Dated \[REDACTED]**
I remind myself that it was just a dream, but it was unlike any dream I ever had, vividly reliving every moment from the debrief in painful detail.
Though I dare not speak out, in confidence, I am anxious about the news from the front. Were the insurgency to discover that reinforcements had been delayed by the recent ley line tremors and resulting dust storms, I believe that they could overwhelm our position and, with the pass lost, the heart of the kingdom would be exposed, and the campaign would take a sudden and dramatic turn. What started as routine unrest during difficult times had seemingly evolved overnight into something much worse and far more dangerous. The insurgency’s leaders preached the end of times as we know them and a glorious rebirth from the ashes, instilling a zealous fury in their followers that spread like wildfire.
My superiors believe that we can end this uprising if we cut the head off the snake, that even with the recent delays the enemy forces are not sufficiently organized to take the pass, but I’m not so sure. With magic dissipating and record low yields from the harvest, the people are hungry, scared, and, I fear, desperate. I think the insurgency’s leaders are opportunists, but they are right - *something is coming*.
In my dream, the General quickly identified my reluctance to be forthright about my concerns, dragging my insecurities into the light. What was worse, he did not react in anger or defiance when I described our vulnerabilities and how the enemy might exploit them. No, he had smiled, lips drawn back into a grin the ghost of which still haunts me.
Dreams do not portend, however, and I must steel my resolve.
\- Adam
*Captain Forgund’s last journal entry before he was killed in battle during the fall of Benten’s Pass. As discussed at length in the accompanying report, this is, I posit, the first documented encounter with the entity that I refer to as the “Dreamwinder.” - Inquisitor Lesant.*
# Dreamwinder #2
By NFDoggo
**Report of Investigation – Dreamwinder - Exhibits**
**Exhibit B – Merwyn’s Folly – Battlefield Report (Selected Excerpts)**
Description: Approximately two days ago, the Century responsible for safeguarding the cache of emergency supplies at Merwyn’s Folly failed to timely report. A handful of Empire representatives, including myself, were dispatched and arrived at the site late this morning. The fortress was empty save for the corpses of its former occupants.
I will leave the full details of our findings to my colleagues to document but suffice it to say that a quick survey revealed that all of the supplies had been taken, which was worrisome but not surprising. However, our search also revealed two unnerving facts: (1) there were no enemy combatants among the dead; and (2) over half the Century was missing.
We discovered Immune Howorn, Merwyn Folly’s quartermaster, half mad but still alive, hidden in a kitchen flue. After providing the Immune with a mild sedative, I conducted the following interview.
Interview Log – Immune Howorn
*Author’s Note: Inquisitor Xuam is joined by Immune Howorn in the officer’s ready room. The interview proceeds according to Inquisitor standards. For the purpose of this Report of Investigation, only the relevant portions of the interview have been included.*
**Inquisitor Xuam:** The Empire thanks you for your cooperation thus far, Immune. As you are no doubt aware, much will be asked of you over the coming days. For now, though, it is just you and me. This is your opportunity to prove your loyalty to the Empire, to help us understand. Please, in your own words….
**Howorn**: They came at night, there must have been dozens of them (*Howorn mumbles to himself*).
**Inquisitor**: Tell me who came. I need details, as much as you can remember. Were there any officers among the mutineers that you can identify for me on the record?
**Howorn**: (*Howorn’s face splits in a sickly grin*) No, they came later.
**Inquisitor**: We did not see any sign of a breach and our scans did not identify any insurgents among the dead. Tell me who came.
**Howorn**: Our parents, our brothers, our sisters… (*Howorn is silent for several seconds*), our children. They showed us our world burning to ash in a sea of black! Burrowed, they burrowed, gnawing, incessant, relentless.
**Inquisitor**: You mean they came from underground? That might explain why we didn’t… (*Howorn interrupts*). (edited)
**Howorn**: Our heads, our thoughts… I can still hear them, I hear them now (*Howorn pounds his head with his fists repeatedly*)!
**Inquisitor**: The hags and other fey creatures have scattered to the wind; the Empire’s mages closely monitored and use of magic regulated. You need to be honest with me, drop the charade, or I will not be able to help you, spare you from the Empire’s more… invasive methods of extracting information.
**Howorn**: (*Howorn continues, ignoring me*)… yet I was not afraid, then. Motes of light, other worlds, in the dark, drawn to the flame of ours like moths. A new world of worlds - better! Promise but need to prepare, must prepare, they are coming, must be strong. Promise but not for Segwyn (*Howorn begins to sob*)… it wasn’t her, it wasn’t her, it wasn’t her, it wasn’t her…
(*Howorn is incoherent for several minutes, unresponsive to attempts to interject. He eventually takes water and promises that he is ready to continue and that he will be cooperative*).
**Inquisitor**: I must remind you, Immune, that I am here trying to help you. Let me tell you what I heard, you tell me if I’m close, and then you can help me fill in the gaps, yes?
**Howorn**: (*Howorn’s hands are shaking but he is quiet, responsive, and nods*).
**Inquisitor**: The insurgency tunneled into, or otherwise found a way to infiltrate, Merwyn’s Folly from below two days ago. They came in large numbers and confronted the troops individually after they retired. The infiltrators had a vast amount of personal information regarding the troops’ loved ones, threatening their well-being if the troops did not cooperate. Am I close, Immune?
**Howorn**: (*Howorn falls out of his chair, laughing uncontrollably, smashing his head against the stone floor. The interview ends*.)
*The Merwyn’s Folly report is the first evidence that the Empire obtained regarding an extremely powerful and previously unknown form of magic, which I believe can be traced back to a single source, the Dreamwinder. It appears as though the Dreamwinder can target multiple individuals and may have some limited ability to discern personal facts about his targets, such as their relations, motivations, and fears, though there are clearly limits. – Inquisitor Lesant.*
# Dreamwinder #3
By NFDoggo
**Report of Investigation – Dreamwinder - Exhibits** **Exhibit D – Mirage Recording – Inquisitor Lesant**
Description: Centurion Min Zigira, originally presumed dead following the Siege of Rats, was found unconscious, locked in a holding cell deep within Empire black site \[REDACTED] two days after the Empire regained control of the city.
\
Centurion Zigira prepared an official report that left many questions unanswered and included a very vague description of an unidentified individual who is believed to be a key rebel leader. The report also included a specific threat directed at Inquisitor Lesant. Following two days of unsuccessful interrogation, the Empire authorized Inquisitor Lesant’s request for emergency use of the Mirage to forcefully reconstruct Centurion Zigira’s memories.
\
After numerous uneventful attempts, Inquisitor Lesant successfully entered a Mirage created from the Centurion’s memories of the night of the Siege of Rats and the following was recorded.\
Mirage Recording – \[REDACTED] – Inquisitor Lesant *The Mirage depicts the inside of Centurion Zigira’s quarters, a loud explosion can be heard in the distance, which syncs with the Centurion’s report of the events immediately preceding her confrontation with the unidentified assailant.*
*Inquisitor Lesant enters the Mirage and begins to describe what he perceives.*
**Inquisitor Lesant**: I can smell the smoke, did you hear an explosion before I entered, is this it?
**Observer \[REDACTED]**: Yes, we heard it, this appears to be the right memory.
**Inquisitor**: Excellent! *Centurion Zigira jumps to her feet, knocking her chair to the ground as reported, a dark figure materializing in the corner of the room.*
**Figure**: Hello, Centurion (*the dark figure says in a calm, male voice*).
**Inquisitor**: Definitely male but Min wasn’t lying, his form seems to distort when you try to focus on it (*Inquisitor Lesant steps next to the Centurion, observing the figure*).
*Inquisitor Lesant continues to observe in silence as the scene unfolds as Centurion Zigira reported until the figure rushes toward Inquisitor Lesant.*
**Figure**: Hello, Lesant, I told you that I would come for you.
\*The Mirage flickers, the image of Centurion Zigira’s room distorting until Inquisitor Lesant reappears on a ledge overlooking a ruined city inside of an underground cavern lit by a dim blue light. \*
**Inquisitor**: Hello, \[REDACTED] are you still there? What just happened?
**Observer**: Yes, I’m here. Not sure, you’re still in the Mirage though. Probably just some interference from the storms, give me a minute. Are you alright, what do you see?
**Inquisitor**: I’m fine, are you seeing this (*Inquisitor Lesant motions to the cavern*)?
**Observer**: Yes, we’re seeing it and still recording, Inquisitor.
**Figure**: Dogged in their pursuit, for three days the Empire’s forces hunted, driving me deeper into forgotten tunnels beneath the earth (*the dark figure rematerializes next to Inquisitor Lesant*). I suppose I should thank them.
**Inquisitor**: Who are you (*Inquisitor Lesant starts to turn toward the figure but struggles, seemingly unable to face the figure directly*)?
**Figure**: They dragged me through the streets and beat me, for what? Asking for bread? Water? But I was more than they imagined… (*the figure laughs dryly*) the look on the Centurion’s face when he found me sitting on his bed, drinking his wine. Some peasant circumventing their defenses, maligning their and the Centurion’s reputation, well that couldn’t stand, so they chased….
**Inquisitor**: You want me to feel sorry for you (*Inquisitor Lesant spits at the figure’s feet*)? Lots of people are going hungry, the Empire is doing what it can to feed all its citizens, you want me to feel bad because some soldiers roughed you up once?
**Figure**: No, I do not want you to feel sorry for me (*the figure sighs*), you miss my point. I was not offended by the soldiers’ actions. Instead, I awoke the next morning, bloody and bruised but full of purpose. You see (*the figure pulls Inquisitor Lesant in close, but the Inquisitor’s head prevents the Mirage from recording the figure’s face*), it became clear that only the strong would survive in this new world and here (*the figure motions again to the ruins*) I became stronger.
**Inquisitor:** \[REDACTED] are you still there (*Inquisitor Lesant' screams*)? Pull me out! *Observer \[REDACTED]’s attempts to stop the Mirage are unsuccessful and his response does not transmit to the Mirage.*
**Figure**: We foolishly cling to the order of this world (*the figure continues, ignoring Inquisitor Lesant*). Civilizations long forgotten succeeded in delaying its passing for a time, but the end is coming. You and your Empire would fight back, dooming us to forever repeat history’s mistakes. Let us embrace this new beginning and welcome our place in the chaos of the multiverse!
*The Mirage suddenly ends, the scene replaced with the unaltered laboratory floor. Inquisitor Lesant’s back is to the wall and he is holding a dagger in a trembling hand, muttering to himself. Two junior magisters rush onto the floor to assist the Inquisitor but, when they approach, the Inquisitor lashes out with the dagger cutting one of their throats. The Inquisitor screams something incoherent and leaps on the other magister, stabbing him repeatedly until Mirage guards rush in and subdue him. The recording is terminated.*
*Author’s Note: Inquisitor Lesant continued to lash out at the guards and magisters who came to his holding cell. Though largely unintelligible, it became clear that the Inquisitor believes that he is still in the Mirage or otherwise in a dream. Attempts to pacify the Inquisitor were unsuccessful and, with magical resources limited and needed elsewhere, the Empire ordered that he be sent to \[REDACTED] and be kept in an isolation chamber indefinitely.*
*The Inquisitor’s unfinished report was found in his guest room at the Mirage site, which was sent to me to edit and finalize based on his notes. The creature that the Inquisitor Lesant labeled the “Dreamwinder” appears to have access to a magic beyond our understanding and the Empire’s efforts to identify the cavern depicted in the Mirage have been fruitless. The Empire has since ordered that this report be sealed and all further investigations into the identity of the Dreamwinder terminated until further notice. Gods know we have more pressing and tangible problems to focus on.*
# Clocksnatcher
# Volume 1, Chapter 1
By NFDoggo
The winds whipped around the gargantuan harvester, only a small amount of sunlight managing to find its way through the labyrinth of swirling dust. The eerie, constant thrumming of the magical construct barely audible over the howling gusts. Here, somewhere in the land known as Bridgeworld, the Legion responsible for transporting Harvester Reconstruction Experiment No. #003, affectionally referred to as the “Hellhound” was lost.
“Why did you stop?” The Lead Engineer hopped out of their chamber on the side of the Hellhound, their words devoured by the wind.
“What?” The Chief Surveyor shouted in silent response. From a respectful distance, the Legionnaires looked on as the officers argued through a series of exaggerated charades.
“Don’t they teach them hand signals?” Fighter signed to their Friend, shaking their head in disgust.
“They’re too busy filling their days with maps and ancient texts,” Friend answers, laughing behind their mask.
“Least they could’ve done is spent some of that time learning about the weather in this hell hole before sending us out on transport. Oh, bugger all,” Fighter signs, pointing at the officers. “It looks like they’re going to fire the engines back up.”
Turning back to the Legion, Fighter directs their squire to raise the signal – time to move out. “Breaks over, friend.” Fighter pats Friend on the shoulder and moves to join the line of Legionnaires rapidly forming their column beside the Hellhound.
The Hellhound’s heartbeat grows loud, rapid as the engines ignite. The officers retire to their chambers and the Legionnaires’ column is still, ready to proceed.
One figure, however, stands alone, out of place beside the column, dwarfed by the immensity of the construct. Barely visible, this shadow races toward the Lead Engineer’s chambers as Fighter shouts hopelessly after. Fighter watches as Friend rips the Lead Engineer’s chamber door open and disappears inside.
The Lead Scout is beginning to signal for pursuit when, after a panicked minute, Friend and all of the officers come screaming out of their chambers, tearing away from the Hellhound and toward the column. The Hellhound’s heartbeat growing louder still, erupting into a terrifying roar that drowns even the wind.
“What is going on?” Fighter signals to Friend who falls to the ground beside them, gasping for air.
“I saw it,” Friend signs as the Hellhound’s engine begins to overheat, going into meltdown. The whole of the world around them erupts in blinding light and, for a moment, is still, the dust blown back, clear sky overhead, and the only sound a piercing ringing in their ears. Then, like a tidal wave, nature reasserts itself and the column stands alone beside the smoldering wreck of the Hellhound, the wind stirring the dust to life.
“I saw it,” Friend repeats. “I saw the flames rip through metal and flesh, I heard them screaming, I could feel the heat on my skin. It was real, it felt so real. But then I was back, and….” Friend is silent for a moment before staring up at Fighter, conviction in their eyes. “I don’t know how, but I saw it, I was there.”
# Volume 1, Chapter 9
By NFDoggo
The sun began to fade behind the distant mountains, bathing the tent in beautiful golds and reds even as the night’s shadows began their dance. A half dozen Legionnaires shuffled anxiously, arguing in hushed tones as Fighter looks on from the edge of the tent. A familiar scene. Having risen quickly at Friend’s side, Fighter knew better than to interject. These Legionnaires were in a league of their own and Fighter understood that their presence, and nothing more, would be tolerated here and so sat casually on a storage crate, picking at his teeth.
\
“Report,” Fighter turned to see Friend enter, now wearing the red, embroidered heraldry of a senior officer.
\
The tent was silent for the briefest of moments before the tent erupted into chaos as the Legionnaires voiced their concerns in a cacophony of ill tidings. Fighter watched as the officers turned on one another, ignoring Friend as they turned to shout their objections across the table in the middle of the room on which rested a beautiful battle map that belied the story that it told.
“Bunch of FUD if you ask me, sir,” Fighter laughs, offering Friend a half-hearted salute from his perch on the crate as their superior officer approaches.
“It’s like they’ve forgotten that I’m even in the room.” Friend laughs, clasping Fighter on the shoulder. “Tell me, how bad is it, really?”
“Oh me?” Fighter feigns shock, bringing their hand to their chest. “But I’m a simple solder, sir, I wouldn’t deign to have an opinion on such matters as they are above my station.” Friend rolls their eyes. “How many times have you gone back and tried to have a productive conversation with these fools?”
“A few,” Friend sighs, taking a glass of wine off a nearby table before taking a seat next to Fighter. “I’ve wasted more Magic than I care to admit.”
“It must be bad if you’ve decided to come and ask me for help,” Fighter takes Friend’s wine, gulping it down. “Well, if I’m being honest, and you know how much that pains me, it’s really not that bad. You’ve been assigned an incredible team of officers, I mean these Legionnaires are all class, but…” Fighter hesitates, eyes scanning the impressive gathering.
“Look, they’ve done an excellent job and despite how bad the lines on that map look, the Legion can handle this, we can take the Harvester, but your officers are distracted, fighting each other.” Fighter stands to stretch their legs.
“She,” Fighter points to the closest Legionnaire, an imposing woman fitted in massive plate armor, “was next in line to take control of a Legion of her own. I don’t know the details but he,” Fighter nods toward a Legionnaire across the table, face hidden in the shadows of their cloak, “contested her claim and now they’re stuck here working for you. I suspect that the only thing that they agree on is that they should be in charge, not you.” Fighter sighs, “I’m sorry, this probably isn’t helpful.”
“No,” Friend motions for an aide to bring them more wine, “tell me more.” And so, Fighter talked, and Friend listened, until the sun’s last dancing lights were swallowed by darkness.
“Thank you, old friend, that is exactly what I needed to hear.” Friend stands, reaching into the pockets of their cloak.
“Seriously? It’s just odds and ends, really, tidbits I picked up listening to these idiots prattle on.”
“It’s all about focus.” Friend pulls out a pocket watch, rolling it over in their hands. “If they’re too busy fighting each other, then they cannot do their job and this Legion is much like this watch, a complicated machine with layers comprised of a myriad of different, interdependent parts. I’m just one person, I need everyone to do their part or none of this works.”
“So, what are you going to do this time?” Fighter asks as Friend closes their eyes and takes a deep breath. A bright light winds its way down Friend’s arms and into the pocket watch in their hand, a red and green light, like smoke, rises from it, filling the air around them.
“I’m going to get their attention.” Friend grins and the world distorts, spinning around them.
\*\*
The sun began to fade behind the distant mountains, bathing the tent in beautiful golds and reds even as the night’s shadows began their dance. A half dozen Legionnaires shuffled anxiously, arguing in hushed tones as Fighter looks on from the edge of the tent. A familiar scene.
# Fallen
> *"Whenever the light dims or flickers more magic has to be poured but the light is fickle and so the rate at which to pour varies endlessly. Never pour too much magic! Or you may experience the story of the Fallen first hand…"*\
> \
> *- Cryptopian*
# Warlock
# The All-Class
By The Numeraire
The all class came into existence by pure chance. A mistake. An imperfection in the process. But imperfection is what created our universe, for if everything was completely balanced, there would be nothing.
# The Riverman
By CryptoMan
In a futuristic desert apocalypse with dwindling resources…
Countries turned to extreme measures to survive. Police states were formed. Mass surveillance, central authority and loss of freedom was common in this world.
Countries fight each other for the most valuable resource known as “mines”. Mines, although scarce contain precious elements to be used to further ones war effort to secure dominance among one another. Conscription was common and only the rich and wealthy are protected from it. The rich jealously guard their status by manipulating the markets to secure their position. You are most likely destined into war. Death is looming around the clock. This is where I come in.
I am The Riverman and I guide spirits to the afterlife. I hear the stories of many before they reach the beyond.
# On the Origins of Rivermen
By Rickard
No one knows when the first legion arrived, nor who it was. Some theorize there were more than one, perhaps as many as five, others are certain there was a single original. Sadly, there is very little evidence to support either theory. However, the timeframe during which the legions have appeared in Bridgeworld is far more documented and researched. The eldest legion still alive and active within society today is around 300 years old. Though many believe there are legions far older than that. It has been some 100 years since the first wave of migration where a massive number of new legions appeared in droves along the rivers. Why they appeared along the rivers is unknown and since the first migration there have been many more waves. The original, or rather the genesis, legions who first noticed the wave of newcomers began travelling up and down the rivers, day and night, in search for these lost souls. These legions are the foundation of what is known today as the Rivermen.
# Chapter 1: Setsuko Kazuko
By CryptoMan
“Hello Setsuko Kazuko, do not be afraid. I am here to guide you to the afterlife.” - I say this because he seemed distressed upon meeting
“I wished I didn’t have to die this way.”
“I am sorry to hear that Setsuko, you will be accompanied by me to the beyond. I hope to hear your story as it is quite a journey.”
Setsuko comes aboard the raft, war-torn with grief.
“I was in the working class so I was unlucky to be drafted by my nation.”
“Your story is among the many I hear but unlucky is not your draft.”
“Why is that so?”
“You were in a system rigged against you, you’re unlucky that you didn’t have awareness.”
Setsuko sits down and looks at his reflection in the water.
“My death was not my own?”
“It could have been.”
“I am angered that my death was not my own. I have a family, a son who may also be conscripted into war.”
“That will most likely be the case Setsuko.”
“I love my family very much, I do not want to see my son fighting a useless war.”
“I have witnessed this many times before. It looks like your world funnel him into a life of war the same as you.”
“Please, there must be something I can do.”
“You will face judgement of the things you’ve done. Perhaps your actions in life will give you what you want in death”
Setsuko sits quiet in despair as the journey comes to an end on the other side of the lake.
Something different although is felt. A bright light comes in a flash and a godly figure slowly descends down with grace. We both stare in awe, as in the millennia that I have been created to do have never seen this occurrence.
“Hello Setsuko, I am Djong-pat of the tenth and you have the favor of the gods. I will teach your son the way of the DAO and restore the balance”
# Thoughts of a Riverman
By The Numeraire
There is only 1 Numeraire but they consist of many. Often they refer to themselves as We even when speaking as a singular entity. Their destiny’s are intertwined and are seen as great storytellers. They have studied Magic in unparalleled detail and whilst they are physically weak, the can defeat the strongest opponent with thought.
# More Riverman
By CryptoMan
Serene waters moving so peacefully it can put me to sleep if I am not careful. I stand on a small raft, countlessly paddling down a river. On the sides, a dark forest envelops the environment with a bright moon to see what’s in front of me. I start to feel the riverbed as I reach my destination. My aching arms pull the raft to hard ground. I feel the chilling wind go through my torn, wet hooded robe. I sit down to rest and look into the distance. I see a man in full plated armor, his helm off and his sword missing. A scabbard only remains, hanging loosely moving back and forth. His hair is black and long and his beard covers his whole neck. He appearance is haggard, torn and seems like he’s been wanderings aimlessly for a long time. I wave at him as a sign of welcome. I see his tired eyes, his face defeated and hopeless.
“The path is difficult to navigate on land. The river moves to where it is incomplete. Where there is a fork, the pull chooses the greater gap that needs to be filled. Come with me and I can guide you to where you seek.”
# Osir
By Start
As Osir looked out his window he noticed tonight's client waiting in the rain. Jacket high in the hopes he’d be able to keep some part of him dry. Osir almost felt bad, he could let him in anytime, but he wanted to ensure he kept the upper hand during their negotiations.
So, Osir waited, slowly shuffling papers while the wind buffeted the windows. It struck him that the effort might be wasted, Rivermen were used to abnormal temperatures.
Finally, he set a candle alight in his window, the signal his patron had been so patiently waiting to see.
After a few moments, the Riverman came straight into Osirs office, not even bothering to knock. The lack of decorum left Osir with a bitter taste. So what if what we’re doing is illegal? It doesn’t mean we can’t act civilly toward one another.
“What’s your name”? Osir, asked.
The man huffed, “I’d thought you knew already. You are the secret taker are you not?”
“I wouldn’t call your name a secret. Anyone connected to the undercurrent of Kahir knows that you’re in a tight spot. I just wanted to confirm I was talking to the right person. Clearly, you are him.”
“Then let us not waste time with stupid questions. What will it take to clear my debt?”
Osir rifled through his drawers until he found a node, a small device meant for sending short messages across bridges. He pushed it toward his client who took it with a look of skepticism.
“What do you expect me to do with this? You know all communications across bridges are monitored.”
“Yes, I know. But what matters is who's monitoring. You’re not the only person I work with. I have someone who will ignore what they see as long as you activate the node at the right times. His schedule will be sent to you tomorrow morning, assuming you agree to these terms?” asked Osir.
“I asked you to not waste time. You know I have no choice.” the Riverman grumbled.
“Excellent”, Osir beamed. “It’s been a pleasure doing business with you. Your debts will be paid this evening.”
And with that, the Riverman left slamming the door on his way out. A brute if Osir had ever seen one.
Osir was delirious. The whole exchange hadn’t lasted more than 5-minutes not including the work he’d done to maneuver the right Riverman into his office. Still, a few thousand magic and the promise to see another day meant he’d be learning about new bridgeworlds from the source. There’d be no need to piece together information from redacted reports or dedicate his life to the Teal Oracles. No, he’d follow Orbeans path the only way that made sense, by trading treasure for knowledge.
# Chapter 1: Watery Grave, Forgiving Hands
By GrandSushi
Mikah had felt the warm reflection of the sun come from the ocean his whole life. Everyday he would wake up to the sound of the waves lopping against the shore, making their soft, delicate music by dancing over the beads of sand in their path, each bead of sand offering a different instrument for the water to play as it went back, forth, back, forth, over the sand. Mikah’s earliest memories were listening to this music and letting it inspire learning of every instrument that his mother would give him. It wasn’t long before Mikah was making his own instruments that the world had never seen, instruments that used the ocean itself as strings, the wind as bass, the rain as a drum. Mikah played his music for his family, for travelers, for warriors, for lovers…and eventually, for enemies.
It was well known that Mikah’s talent for music was beyond this world, and the king would have Mikah come to play in his court more often than not. A hostile envoy came from far beyond the sea to his kingdom, and the king had an idea: let Mikah play his music.
The galleons were coming, the cannons started to gleam in the distance, the swords cut through the air, making terrible sounds to Mikah…but this was his world; the wind belonged to him. Closing his eyes, Mikah raised his favorite instrument and began to play a harmony that stretched out over the air, over the water, and the melody itself began to dance over the waves of the ocean. It danced and danced until it reached where the swords were cutting through the wind, making the wind cry out for a savior, for a friend to help… and the song of Mikah answered their call. In a flash, the wind was strengthened by the power of the melody and the wind had been made so strong that it grabbed the swords of the enemy and made them stop. There was confusion in the air: how had the swords stopped moving? Why had their terrible song stopped?
Mikah’s eyes remained closed: he did not need to open them to know what was happening. Those standing around Mikah were in shock and started to yell their supposed triumph, and in that moment, the swords started to move again.
“Quiet!” Yelled Mikah. “You disrupt my song. Quiet and let me play.”
If they had knives, every person standing there would have willingly cut out their tongues to not disrupt Mikah again.
Mikah regained his focus and began his harmony again, this time making it stronger. The swords again stopped their cutting, and Mikah began to play a new note that made the water well up, to rise, to move to the rhythm that Mikah created.
The enemy’s boats began to sway, to rock, and as the water began to rise, their fear rose with it. Their yells of intimidation had now become yells of “Mercy! Mercy!” and Mikah heard them…but ignored it. These boats and swords had no place in his world of music.
With a new note, the water rose up and smashed the sides of the galleons, puncturing them and sending them to a watery grave down below the surface of the water. The water ripped and tore at the weapons that the enemy had brought, leaving them swimming with nothing but their clothes.
With this, Mikah had mercy. He changed his tune, altered his rhythm to help bring the enemy to the shores. With soft and gentle waves pulling them toward the shore, the enemy arrived at the feet of Mikah and the surrounding citizens. They could not look at Mikah for fear of losing their lives, but Mikah spoke before the king, before anyone else could.
“You have seen the power of my music, you have felt the power of my rhythm. You will stop this invasion at once, or else you will feel a different rhythm dance inside your head. Do you understand?”
They all yelled in unison that they did; Mikah, the king, and the citizens had great mercy on the enemy that night and a feast was had to celebrate Mikah.
However, Mikah could not stay forever, for he felt the ocean calling out to him from inside the palace. After hours of revelry, he made his way out to his home and the ocean, slowly wading out and feeling the water thank him, the wind praise him, and he felt peace.
He let himself drift upon the waves, drift out upon the water, until he felt nothing but water, nothing but peace.
A peace that in a flash was changed into confusion and fear.
Mikah was all of a sudden gasping for air as the water filled his lungs and his limbs thrashed, trying to keep himself afloat in this unfriendly ocean. He regained a bit of control and at the top of a wave, saw land within swimming distance. He made his way to the shore, confused about where he was.
Arriving at the shore, he let his body regain strength and let his mind regain focus…but his focus was nowhere to be found.
Where was he? Who was he? Why was he here?
He looked around, not knowing where he was at all…and not understanding who he was, either. He felt a pull to the forest around him, and had images dance in his mind of things to make…but why? He did not feel fear, but was confused beyond understanding.
A voice made itself known over the sound of the waves.
“Perhaps I can help you, stranger.”
Mikah whipped his head in the direction of the voice, and a kind looking stranger was standing on the beach with him.
“I’m sure that you have a lot of questions. You can call me the Riverman. And your name is?”
“Riverman… I don’t know, but I hope to find out.”
# The Numeraire
427920416e6469616d6f
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# Harvesters
# The Harvesters
By Andiamo & NFDoggo
It is told in the legends that in the Age of Wonder, Magic was so abundant in Bridgeworld that it imbued its inhabitants with abilities and technology beyond our imagining.
The abundance of Magic, now the scarcest of all resources in the realm, came as a result of the the greatest Legions coming together, regardless of class, rank or pedigree, to form the great Crafting Guilds.
Each of these Guilds was guided by its chief architect and engineer, who designed intricate and sophisticated schematics for the construction of the Harvesters. No two Harvesters were identical, for their components, while similar in function, also bore the hallmarks of the Legions that crafted them, and the very same Magic that flowed through the veins and essence of each Legionnaire that contributed to the crafting of each individual part. From drill bits to each of the working components of the Harvester, each component was forged by Legions pouring their essence into the glowing forges, aided by the relics and Treasures of the Bridgeworld.
It is said that when these Harvesters were completed, they spanned the canyons where the Magic mines were located, with their drilling bits extending miles into the hearts of the land. Transport lines moved a steady stream of Magic crystals to the Guildhalls, where they were apportioned to each member according to their rank, their need and their purpose.
The Harvesters brought an age of wealth and abundance upon the Bridgeworld, not just because of what Magic could do, but also because it rallied all the Legion factions towards a common cause.
Yet, all good things unfortunately came to an end. Just as the ever-deepening mines brought up ever-scarcer Magic, the completion of the great Harvesters brought about an age of intense competition and paranoia.
The Crafting Guilds that once stood as the rallying point for the Legions gradually dissolved, as the focus turned to securing ever-growing territories for the purposes of mining more Magic.
Alas, it was that fateful day when the drill bits of two Harvesters placed too close to each other collided in the mines, igniting an inferno that destroyed the Harvesters and eviscerated the Legions operating them. The Lands around the mines were scorched and rendered uninhabitable, and the decision was taken to not only halt all mining, but also to dismantle all the remaining Harvesters.
The plans for each of these Harvesters were ordered by the Elders to be burnt and destroyed, for even in their hour of crisis, the animosity that had brewed for the centuries prior had grown to the point where each faction decided that what they couldn’t have, no one else would be able to have. The Chief Architects and Engineers of the Crafting Guilds, too, were either exiled or executed.
And thus, the Age of Wonder came to an end.
Or so it would seem, for there are rumours that some of the Engineers and Architects who were exiled, unwilling to let their life’s work fade into obscurity, etched the plans for various Harvester components onto stone tablets and scattered them across the realm. Their locations are said to be marked by guidestones, whose shadows point to their resting place on the sunset of the summer solstice, although even if these plans were to be recovered, few would understand how to reconstruct the Harvesters to the scale and grandeur achieved at their pinnacle.
Perhaps one day the Legions may once again band together in the pursuit of greatness and recover these parts.
Who knows if they may yet reconstruct a greater Harvester than those of ages past, and usher in a new era of prosperity.
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Thrumming with an ancient power, the Fire Harvester rattles the surrounding rock, sending magma into the air, its machinations reverberating deeper into the darkness as its drills find purchase within pockets of Magic hidden deep in Bridgeworld’s core. Pulsating lines of bright red Magic provide a chaotic web of power to the great machine and bathe the cavern in an eerie crimson glow. Legions race across the Fire Harvester’s spans, darting in and out of its engine rooms, attempting to maintain control of the ancient construct and to ensure that the Magic continues to flow.
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Water jets slice through the rock as fine mist permeate the massive cavern. The sheer friction from the water cutting through the rock cause some of the water to evaporate. Hundreds of water jets move in unison like a dance of deadly blades and to have achieved such efficiency and sleekness to a machine of that massive size is a wonder unto itself. Once a pocket of magic is found it’s blasted by the jets and turned to fine mist before a colossal air intake sucks the gaseous magic in and vents the excess mist.
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The never-ending gale can be heard howling through the tunnels as the wind harvester seemingly inhales the magic seeping through the stone of the Atlas mine. Layers of frost creep up the sides of the massive metal frame as the machine continue its endless work. Pipes and tubes of a white glowing liquid run along its sides while deep within the machinery the slight orange glow hint at fire imbued magic being used to keep the machine from freezing over completely.
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Earth shattering rumbles shake the tunnels as the earth harvester grind granite and stone like a mill grinds seeds. Rocks, stones, and pebbles fly through the air as the enormous machine obliterates everything in front of it centimetre by centimetre. As it strikes a new pool of magic the massive drill cease its spinning and gently lowers the drill into the pool of magic. Tubes snaking through the inner machinery all the way to the tank at the back begin to fill up with a lightly glowing brown liquid. With the pool drained the world returns to its trembling state as the earth harvester continue it’s endless work.
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{% tab title="Light " %}
The golden arches span the breadth of the cavernous mine. From the apexes of seven golden arches, the harvester's drill bit is suspended and lowered deep into the mine. Constructed by the bearers of light, every component of the harvester itself holds a sliver of the light, allowing the extraction of Magic even in the deepest depths of the mine to be executed with precision and finesse. Not a single grain of Azurite dust is missed: while pipes carry fresh coolant to the drill head, vast suction valves draw in the fragments of Magic-bearing Azurite, ensuring that not a single grain is lost. The engineers that constructed the Harvester knew: for the Light to flourish, it needed to shine on everything.\
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The Harvester of Light marked the pinnacle of engineering, the apex of technology and ingenuity taken to ever-greater heights after the Great Battle. It is said that the Harvester of Light drew upon the expertise taken to design and build the other four great Harvesters, and elevated that technology to the highest levels, infused with the brilliance of the Light itself.
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{% tab title="Dark " %}
*"Silence. Deafening Silence. From a distance, a shadow can be seen on the mine wall, but do not be mistaken, where the shadow ends is not where this colossal piece of machinery begins. Not at all. Where the shadow ends merely marks the extent to which the darkness emanating from the harvester spreads. Deep within the cavern lies the Harvester itself: its machinery moving frictionlessly as if in a vacuum, the drill head pulverising the the walls of the mine face and consuming the chunks of Azurite ore and their magic as they chip off the mine face. Yet, there is no sound: for the darkness consumes all but itself. Nothing escapes: no sound, no light, no heat and some say not even Magic itself."*\
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While the other Harvesters have been built, destroyed and rebuilt many times over the ages, the Dark Harvester has not been seen since the Great Battle and the victory of the Light over the Darkness. Little is known of the Legions that constructed the Dark Harvester and the powers they imbued upon it, nor of the origins of some of its most critical components.
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# Shinoba
By n8amis.
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It seems a veterinarian, of all people, has managed to tame a massive ape-like creature residing in the forest in the foothills of the mountains at the edge of his village, and succeeded with a surgery in which he’s implanted a circuit onto its brain stem signaling an autonomic redirection of a portion of the Magic the beast feeds on to a mechanical repository. It’s quite fascinating! At this point, the technology is crude, labor intensive, and returns little emissions—but imagine the implications should the process become refined! I intend to visit this farmer immediately to offer guild assistance towards improving the design. I’m already picturing entire farms dedicated to the harvest of Magic! Please give my regards to Cornelius and begin the process of proposal for guild approval to release funds for further research if my visit proves successful.
You probably noted the excitement in the tone of my first missive, but truth be told, I was working hard to keep a level head. The disappointment would have been too great if I allowed my fullest hopes to manifest and arrived to find nothing more than a science experiment performed on a poor and broken animal. Now that I’ve seen this thing in person, I am happy to report the rumors are true. Vincent (the veterinarian), has shown me the most wonderful hospitality and proven to be a kind hearted and intelligent man. Oddly enough, his great pet Shinoba has a similar disposition. Gentle and slow moving, the giant ape loves nothing more than a good scratch behind the ears.
You must be wondering about the technology more than the personalities though, and in regards to that, let me start by saying– incredible! The surgery itself seems to have had no effect on Shinoba’s disposition. The implant flows seamlessly with the creature's natural function. You’d never even know anything had been done to it, which I had worried about. It goes about its business foraging in the forest, which it does by deliberately pacing about until it finds a place it's happy with (unsure of how it determines this, but our working theory is that it can feel a sensation as it walks over a deposit of magic close to the surface). Shinoba then stands to his full height, balls up his massive hands and pounds them against the ground, sending great clouds of dust into the air. Branchlike appendages attached to bony protrusions on Shinoba's back with flat, green, hand-sized “leaves” at the tips excrete a sticky dew as Shinoba pounds the ground. The leaves collect the dust as it settles around the great apes back. According to Vincent, the leaves separate and absorb magic from the dust. The magic travels from the leaves down through the branches into Shinoba's spinal cord and is used for energy from there.
What Vincent has done to obtain magic with Shinoba’s help is truly extraordinary! I will explain it the best I can for you. The process relies upon artificial magical collection units called “harvesting permits'' composed of interlocking cylinders designed to crudely resemble tree trunks (complete with artificial branches and leaves for the magic enriched dust to settle upon) that attach into “outlets” Vincent has installed directly into Shinoba’s thoracic vertebrae, beginning at T6. From there, a bundle of wires fashioned to look like a vine runs along the base of each harvester, connecting them in a circuit series. The vine stretches beyond the harvesters running alongside Shinoba’s spine back to the base of his skull where it connects to the implant Vincent surgically implanted in the brainstem. The implant is designed to inform Shinoba that the artificial harvesting permits are natural to his physiology. Shinoba sends a signal from the implant back down the vine instructing his body to activate the harvesting permits along with all the rest of his receptacles. Magic is then pulled into the harvesting permits through the artificial leaves and branches. When the harvesting permits reach capacity, Shinoba instinctively begins to pull magic from them. As magic passes through the harvesting permits towards Shinoba’s spine, it becomes diverted into a large silow called a "metabolic booster” via tubes running like spokes, situated towards the base of each harvesting tower, into the metabolic booster centrally located amongst the network of harvesters.
As I said, the process itself is miraculous to witness. The biggest problem we face inhibiting collection and scaling involves the metabolization that occurs between the time the magic is separated from the dust to when it ends up in the metabolic booster. Magic in the reservoir has already been broken down enough by this time for Shinoba’s purposes, that its potency (for our purpose) is greatly reduced.
In order for the magic to be useful, Vincent must boil the contents down over a period of hours., reducing the liquid into a paste of highly refined Magic, however, the amount of work involved for the return in Magic is counter productive. If we can discover a way to divert the magic to the reservoir before (or by inhibiting) the metabolic process…I dare not get too far ahead of myself on this as a long road lies ahead. But, if we are successful–I believe this technology will have the power to reshape the world. Please pass on my regards to the guild and send more funds along as soon as they are approved.
# Encountering Kameji
By DystoJ.
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The Captain stood on the beige sands as he had every dawn for a fortnight. Rising above the land behind, the hazy morning sun sparkled on the waves before him. His gaze, however, fell upon a distant island which had been the recent object of his fascination and motive for this seaside ritual.
He checked his pocketwatch, raised his looking glass to observe the island in greater detail, and bid his apprentice to do the same. “Yuki, I don’t know from which side it will begin today, but as sure as the tide the disturbance will come. It is a sight to behold, as the entire island comes alive with activity. Almost as if it is a creature waking from a floating slumber,” the Captain spoke with anxious excitement and just a trace of doubt that today might be different. He picked distractedly at his wiry beard, and noted a forgotten point, “It always starts with the geyser.”
A few tense moments passed between them in silence, absorbed by the rhythmic crashing of waves. The shore was a picture of peace. But then Yuki saw, “There it is, to the north!” An eruption of sea spray had begun to billow up from one end of the island. With it, a small rounded mountain seemed to rise anew from the depths of the sea. Toward the island’s center, the scattered domed buildings of its inhabitants were doused by windblown mist. The air sparkled with the unmistakable pattern of Magic.
“Next, the sound,” noted the Captain right on time. A low, single tone stretched across the water to reach them and continued for perhaps a minute as the pair stood frozen in awe. Gradually, the mountain lowered back into the water, the sound faded away, and the world became still again.
“Magnificent, simply magnificent!” the Captain raved, pleased to finally share his observations. “I have many suspicions to discuss with you now that you’ve seen for yourself, Yuki,” he continued. He pulled a large notebook from his satchel, “Look here now, I’ve been tracking its location. I wouldn’t believe it if I weren’t making the observations myself, but I’m quite certain this island is not anchored to the sea floor. Its movements must be slow, drifting with the sea perhaps? But every morning it has been in a different location. Even seeming more near or far.”
The Captain rambled on, frantically flipping through pages of notes. “And you should see the glow at night! Particles of Magic seem to be drawn toward the island, and gather together in broad currents near the surface of the water. Can you imagine what power would come if we can understand how to harvest Magic from the seas?”
“Sir,” Yuki politely attempted to interrupt the Captain’s monologue, to no avail. And again, with greater urgency, “Sir! Please, look!”
“Yes, yes what is–” the Captain lost his words as he looked up from his notes toward the sea. The island had grown larger. Or closer, rather. And it was growing closer still.
The Captain raised his looking glass again for better observation. The small mountain that had previously appeared at its northern end now appeared to be facing their direction, only slightly above the surface of the water. Atop the island, the visible arrangement of the buildings had changed as well. It had surely rotated since last they looked.
With surprising swiftness, it doubled, and then tripled in apparent size as Yuki and the Captain watched in awe. Eager to observe its features in more detail, the Captain noticed almost too late as it turned again to move southward. With its motion, a great wave began to rise and speed toward the shore. “Yuki, we must get to higher ground with haste!” the Captain called as he stashed his things within his satchel and turned to run toward the cliffs behind them.
They scrambled up a rocky slope with desperate urgency as the wave hit shore. Panting, the Captain stumbled once and caught himself, but his satchel slipped from his shoulder and tumbled down toward the beach. With no time to spare, he left it to its fate and climbed finally atop the cliff to safety. Yuki, arriving a moment sooner, extended an arm to help the Captain up.
The unnatural tide consumed the beach and crashed against the bluff. The Captain watched with silent intensity as the island continued to cut through the sea, like a galley with the power of a thousand seafaring Legions. He looked toward the south, where the cliffs extended out to protect the cove beyond. The island had again turned landward, and looked as if it had set a course to crash into the shore. Gradually, though, it slowed as if satisfied with something found in the shallower waters. Yuki remembered that the kelp forest ran parallel to the cliffs here.
“It’s coming,” the Captain almost whispered, as if trying not to break a spell with his words. Changing course once more, the island kept its distance now but cruised lazily north in their direction.
As it grew nearer and passed directly in their line of sight to the horizon, the impossible truth of things became clear. The island was no island at all, but a creature of the sea, large beyond imagination. Beneath the buildings and the vegetation, the “ground” was made of stone scales, layered and linked. They rose and fell slowly with its movement. Its rounded back was like the shell of a turtle protecting a hidden underbelly.
Just above the surface of the water, an eerie eye peered out from the side of what Yuki had thought of as a small mountain. A whirlpool formed ahead of it as it drew water into its cavernous mouth. Barely visible walking about amongst the buildings, inhabitants of the creature-island went about their tasks unimpressed by the morning activity.
Yuki’s mind raced with the flood of new information. “Who are these people and where did they come from? Have they really tamed this incredible creature, or do they simply manage to inhabit its back without disturbing it? Even so, to what end?”
The Captain, though, was already thinking of possibilities. “Perhaps,” he began with feigned uncertainty, “we should attempt to capture it.”
# Asiterra
By n8amis.
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A long forgotten beast groaned, awakened suddenly from a long and tortured slumber. It rolled over, and the earth shook. The rumbling was so deep that it was barely perceptible on the surface. The creature found itself chained to the shoreline of a lake of fire miles below the surface. It stood slowly, straining against the chains, testing its limbs. Shards of rock splintered and fell from its body as it moved for the first time in hundreds of years. It settled its weight upon its legs and pushed against the restraints. The chains dug deep into its body before giving way and snapping. It felt good to stand. It was good to be alive, even if in agony. It stretched, lifting its head toward the rocky dome above, and sniffed the acrid air. It snorted and raked a pair of heavy upturned tusks across the ceiling, feeling out the boundaries of its cage.
Upon reaching the far wall, the beast shook its head and growled. Agitated, it scratched its hooves across the shore of the lake. It coiled its body and lunged upwards, driving its tusks into the top of the chamber, lodging them between fissures in the rock. It twisted its head, pulled its body into the air, and swung itself back and forth. Boulders dislodged and fell, splashing into the lake along with the beast. Waves of magma rippled across the surface from where it fell. A deep rolling thunder rose from the bottom of the lake, and bubbles of sulfur popped at the surface like grease in a hot pan.
The beast stood, flexed its muscles, and charged from the lake. It kicked its back legs at rocks that fell, sending those it struck through the air into the wall of stone surrounding the shoreline. It ran about, slamming its heavy shoulder and haunches against the wall, dislodging rocks from the perimeter that fell into the lake like hail splashing in water during a thunderstorm.
The rumble from the lakebed grew louder. Geysers of magma poured from lava tubes that opened beneath the lake from the beast's weight and the boulders that fell from the chamber. A cloud of smoke billowed from its body as it spun about, repeatedly throwing itself at the ceiling, battering a hole further into the rock with each blow.
It drilled its way into the rock, pounding through miles of stone using its tusks like a jackhammer. After hours of work, its tusks finally ripped through the surface. Lava spilled from the hole it made like an explosion, vomiting black clouds of soot high into the sky. Molten lava cascaded from a great depression at the center of a giant volcanic cone covered in ash pushing high above the surface.
The boar stood panting at the top of the volcano. It was covered in fresh lava that tumbled down its back, falling from its belly to the ground in columns of fire. The beast glowed red and orange from potholes of magma-filled depressions in its skin. It dragged its head across the land, stamped its hooves, and charged down the mountain.
When the creature reached the ground, it turned on the volcano and trampled it until the remains were no more than smoking rubble. It scooped pieces of the pile up with its tusks and flung them into a giant furnace affixed to its back. It breathed deeply, filling its cavernous lungs with air. When it exhaled, a burst of air escaped from an aperture under the furnace. Heat distorted the air as it flowed through the fire, and a bright orange glow emanated from the furnace. The air pushed upward into a chimney. A black cloud of smoke exited through the chimney, stretching behind the beast as it lumbered across the valley.
A group of Riverman stood motionless on a floating dock. They watched a growing pillar of black smoke stretch across the corrupt canyons. An old man among them extended his withered hand into the sky. He held it there, palm open for a moment then moved it in front of his face and rubbed his hands together. Soot stained his fingertips. He wiped his index finger under his eye, leaving a black streak behind. He spat on the dock, rubbed it into the wood with his boot, and looked up at the others. "Asiterra has risen. Send word to Na'Armalek."
Na'Armalek took the note from a young Riverman. A wax seal with Ezria's seal held the envelope closed. Na'Armalek's hands trembled as he removed the seal and opened the letter:
"Asiterra has returned." He read no more of the letter. He didn't need to. It was as he'd suspected. The beast had escaped. How, he wondered. Generations had passed. It didn't matter, though. Whatever happened, it was here. And Asiterra would not have forgotten. It would come for them, and nothing they could do would atone for their sins or sway the boar from taking revenge.
Na'Armalek looked at the messenger. His eyes were heavy. He felt old. "Tell Ezria I will head to the mouth of the river with as many men as I can gather to hold the pass. Find as many men as you can. Send reinforcements quickly, and get word to Jorah. We'll need his resources if we have any chance of survival."
Asiterra walked towards the mouth of the river. He passed from the canyons of the desert into fertile plains where the river split into tiny fingers meandering across the delta before disappearing into a marsh. Steam rose from his hooves as he waded into the swamp, leaving a trail of boiling mud stretching behind him.
As Asiterra made his way closer to the river, he saw a man seated on a horse. The rider sat at the edge of a cliff where the river cascaded into the delta below. The man returned Asiterra’s gaze and raised a flag, signaling a force of some 200 men that rode over a rise carrying shields and weapons. The men chanted a war song in cadence with the beating of a deep drum as they rode into view. Asiterra reared his head upon seeing them. He slashed his tusks through the air, hungry for violence.
Na'Armalek dismounted his horse. He removed an ancient spear slung across his back. He held the spear before him, looking down thoughtfully at the old white ivory of the weapon with a mixture of regret and resignation. He walked to the cliff's edge and looked down into the delta at the raging beast. "Too late for pity now." He said, hefting the spear. He crouched low, stepped forward, and hurled the spear from the cliff. It flew across the sky and landed in the mud a dozen paces before Asiterra. Na'Armalek got back on his horse and watched the beast approach the spear. He turned, wheeled his horse around, and galloped down into the delta.
Asiterra bellowed as he charged the men that rode down upon him. He crashed into them, tusks battering men that fell against him. He trampled upon them, crushing their bones beneath his hooves as they rode headlong into his vengeance.
Na'Armalek witnessed scores of men die around him. A young man riding next to him disappeared instantly, lifted from the back of his horse upon Asiterras tusk, impaling him through the belly. The man's body hung limply from the tusk and swung about like a rag doll as the beast whipped his head about, crashing through men and horses. Blood sprayed from the bodies of men in great plumes, showering the ground with crimson.
Asiterra slaughtered dozens of men, but champions among the Rivermen fought against him with cunning and remarkable skill. Many of these men carried weapons and talismans imbued with magic that cut deeply into him, draining his power.
Na'Armalek watched as his men gained ground against the beast. Despite its size and anger, it fought haphazardly and appeared tired. Its long imprisonment and the effort it exerted to escape must have taken their toll. If they could manage to hold out long enough for…. "there may yet be hope."
Asiterra felt the life drain from his body with every blow. Legions had grown strong, their betrayal made them powerful, but Asiterra had waited long for revenge against those who'd imprisoned him. He would not roll over and die for these men. Driven by desperation, he breathed in deeply, using the breath to stoke the furnace on his back to its very limit. He consumed every remaining drop of magic from the rock of the volcano he'd gathered. The power of it felt like it would rip him to shreds.
Na'Armalek looked upon Asiterra as the beast burst into flame and reared up on its hind legs, writhing in pain. The men raised their spears and cheered. Na'Armalek felt a twinge of sadness for the beast as it fell to the ground, consumed by fire, eyes rolling back into its skull.
Asiterra was in agony. He'd overstepped. In his desire for revenge, he consumed more magic than he could manage to control. He felt his body convulsing and his mind slipping away. His last fleeting conscious thoughts were hatred for himself for failing and anger towards those who had enslaved him so long ago. As Asiterra's mind slipped away, the vast amount of magic he'd consumed became corrupted by the madness and anger left behind. The corrupted magic rushed into the void of consciousness Asiterra's broken mind no longer filled and assumed complete authority over the creature's body.
The flames that engulfed Asiterra were sucked forcefully back into his body through the aperture on his back. Na'Armalek knew something was wrong. He watched in horror as the creature rose, white flames leaking from its eyes. Na'Armalek saw insanity reflected in the eyes of the beast and knew that Asiterra was no longer in control. He understood in an instant that the beast had been consumed and had become something new, something terrible.
Na'Armalek fled. He ran in terror along with his men as the thing that had been Asiterra turned its terrible gaze upon them. The monster opened its mouth, revealing white fire swirling about its throat chaotically. The creature inhaled. The force of its breath pulled at the men with the strength of a hurricane. Men struggled to stay on their feet. Many fell and were dragged across the ground towards the beast, clawing at the mud. Na'Armalek felt his insides ripping apart. He heard his men yelling. He heard himself scream and felt his eyes burning. The pain was unbearable. He fell to the ground, hands covering his face, begging for death.
Long after the battle had ended, Jorah stood foot sunk in the mud surrounded by dead Rivermen looking down at the corpse of Na'Armalek. The man's eyes had been burned away like all the other dead men. Jorah rolled the body over, sighed, looked down at the footprints of the great boar stretching off into the distance, and said:
"Yes, it seems as if Asiterra has indeed awakened."
# Miscellaneous
# Parmesano's Prayer
By Kalin3186
Our Papa Parmesano, who art gigabraining, hallowed be thy Smol Name, thy Bridgeworld come, thy will be done, on treasure.lol as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily $MAGIC. And forgive us our paperhands, as we forgive those who dump all over us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from OS.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. HODL.
# Fragmented Memoirs
# Bridgeworld Smol Tales and Other Adventures
By NFDoggo
Dust sparkled in those few rays of sunlight that dared pierce through the jungle canopy above, bathing the ancient stone archway in dancing gold. The air was still, silent but for the buzzing of insects, the occasional primal cries of a skirmish deep within the depths, and the muttering of three people stood arguing before the gateway.
“You have no idea what you’re talking about,” the first says angrily shaking their finger at the second. “We just need to step up and walk through the damn thing, what’s the worst that can happen?”
“Just step up and walk through? What’s the worst…” the second laughs incredulously. \*“What we need to do is take our time and study the damn thing before we do anything stupid. Who knows, we may only get one shot at this! Hey,” the second turns to shout at the third, “be careful with that!”
“One shot at what?” The third says, continuing to poke around the edges of the gate with a stick. “It’s just a boring old gate, some ruin in the jungle. This is a waste of time.”
“You idiot,” the first and second respond in unison. Snarling at each other, the second says something about a jinx and implies that the other owes them a beverage.
“The manuscripts are clear and, what’s more, everything that old man told us has been spot on so far,” the first shoves the third away from the gate.
“The old man,” the third laughs. “You think that he and those villagers know anything? Do you think that they’re actually descended from guardians of a gateway to another dimension? No, he was just repeating folklore, stories to scare children away from the jungle and from getting eaten out here.”
The second pulls out a book, bulging with notes and maps, slamming it onto a makeshift table the group has made of a fallen tree. Paralyzed by indecision, lost in debate, the group does not notice the pair of monkeys raiding their provisions. The monkeys stifle laughter as they mimic the outsiders, stealing hats, wearing sunglasses, and even attempting to smoke their cigarettes.
The monkeys pause, however, as they sense the weight of the air around them grow heavy, the hair on their necks standing at attention. A blue light like the surface of water flickers into existence in the gate. Curious, the monkeys walk up to the light and, adorned with sunglasses and caps, step through. The light flashes, fades, and the air returns to normal with the group unaware.
“What the hell does proof of imagination mean, anyway?” The third shouts, exasperated.
# Donkey à la magicka recipe
By The Numeraire
Ingredients:
4 x Beetle Wings \
A bag of rare mushrooms \
Leg of Donkey \
A dash of bottomless elixir \
1/4 of a dragons tail Grain
Method:
1.) sear the donkey leg in a cauldron. You can add any herbs at this point. After searing add water and let simmer
2.)in a separate pan brown the beetle wings. They only take a few seconds. Remove from pan.
3.) Add the rare mushrooms and cook for a few minutes (do not wash the mushrooms before hand)
4.) add the beetle wings, grain and mushrooms to the cauldron.
5.) cook for 4hrs 20mins and 6.9 seconds exactly. Not 1 second more!
6.) remove donkey leg to rest for 20 minutes
7.) garnish with the scales of dragon tail and finish with 3 drops of bottomless elixir.
# Irony
By Memerberries
(5) Irony
The journey back to the citadel should have taken four days, but as the third sunrise broke, their swift pace and early start led them through the western gates. Little notice was paid to two innocuous travelers, but Milos followed his brother’s lead nervously.
“Bear no mind to them,” Torvak said gently, motioning Milos away from advancing street sellers that appeared both peasant-like yet pristinely dressed. Milos noticed Torvak’s deep gaze more distinctly here, and the commanding effect it could have on anyone who met his eyes. The grail he possessed really had changed him. Or would he lose this spiritual confidence if it was relinquished?
Torvak moved calmly through broad city-streets with Milos on his heels, navigating around the neat, sand colored structures as they took in the morning’s warm rays, alchemizing rooftops into bright golden caps. He paused, looking up towards the montage windows above a cul-de-sac, before leading Milos in a different direction. The two made their way into a narrower back-alley and slipped securely into the entrance chamber that appeared to Milos as some sort of filing office.
The man sitting in the only desk saw Torvak and halfway-rose in apprehension as if to say something, but reactively nodded when seeing Milos, before returning mutely to his tasks. He was strained in this effort, Milos noticed, as Torvak unhesitatingly glided towards the stone stairway. The two made their way up into a wider library room, devoid of life or energy save for a small older man half the stature of either of the brothers. He looked up at them with the same frail glee that had explored the documents strewn around him a moment before.
“You might find… This to be quite interesting, young Torvak.” The man squeaked unhurriedly, unbothered by Torvak’s absence, his return, or his new companion. He held up a scroll that from across the room could be surmised to have been written not in ink, given the thickness, & deep red crimson color. Sitting next to the old scroll was another document written on an otherworldly parchment, an almost clear-as-glass piece of paper, playfully curled up like the scroll, perhaps stored together for some time.
Torvak did not respond, moving closer to examine both and seeing quickly the poetry written on each scroll. The blood-colored parchment had no title.
Let’s talk of broken things, Not worn out things, Neglected things, Or what the simple weather brings.
Let’s talk of what the mourner sings, Of stricken grief, of devil stings. Let’s see the rivers’ carryings, On down the way diluting things. Let’s talk of underneath those springs, Where muddied lives will never ring.
Those simple secrets, silenced stories, They were never talked about.
Milos watched on as Torvak gently slid a finger across the document, then moved his focus to the glass-like parchment to read what appeared to be a mocking response. There was a title here.
Smol Song
Let’s talk about what’s past the bling, The flex & bluster rippling, Through NFT’s and leveraging, To those just rekt from gambling.
Let’s lindy-walk the next big thing, No price-exposure worrying, No VC lock-ups posturing, No liquid troubles festering.
Let’s vibe along in summoning, Not rituals and whispering. Just new tradition distributing, The wagmi cure for financing.
Those little joys, the priceless minting. They were never really vibed about.
Torvak, perplexed by the barely coherent dialect, still sensed that this was a sort of intellectual parrying between civilizations, either ancient or simply so foreign that their ways & technologies were unknown. But his little old friend would not have been so enraptured in the documents if not for their importance to the task at hand. This was a major clue.
# The Rinkeby Experiments
# Experiment #0
By Start
DSA - 0
As the portal light dimmed and I stepped into this new world I was greeted with two distinct sensations. One was the smell of salt rolling off the oceans. The other was the piercing shriek of the local primates.
A quick glance let us know we’d interrupted their feast of some local fauna. Sadly, a few hadn’t made it away from the portal's nexus in time, we could see them limping away into the underbrush. One unfortunate specimen was smashed against a nearby tree. The pressure differential caused by the bridge must have knocked the ape some 10 meters away.
Another was cradling its body, unaware of our presence. Jiro suggested we capture it now while the effects of the bridge were just setting in.
We initially tried to coax it into an isolation chamber, but it showed clear signs of distress the moment we tried to move it away from its mate. Unfortunately, prolonged, overt exposure to a bridge would have done irreparable harm to its tiny body.
After a brief discussion, we decided to take both specimens with us. Even dead we'll still learn a great deal about the planet's flora with a thorough dissection.
DSA - 7
Our dissection of C.2 was unremarkable. Flora and fauna here appear similar to other carbon-based planets we’ve bridged in the past. What remains to be seen is how the bridge will affect C.1 and his kin.
We've started direct observation of our primate friend, nicknamed Rinkeby by engineer Manek. We gave his mate a brief burial and since then he's refused to leave our side. We've found this behavior inexplicable. Given the circumstances, we believed he'd attempt to escape and return to his kin in the forest nearby.
Regardless, his willingness to stay nearby has provided excellent opportunities to study his development without having to delay our initial lab work and set-up.
Subject C.1 - Rinkeby | Morning Entry
Rinkeby has been a steady observer of everything Jiro and I do in the lab. When we take breaks, he finds someone in engineering or the kitchens to watch. In fact, if he could take notes I'd say he was observing us rather than the other way around.
On our 4th day here, Rinkeby started to imitate engineer Manek as he did his routine maintenance. By the end of Manek's shift, Rinkeby had learned to do some of the simple steps like fastening bolts on his own.
His curiosity is likely due to an increased mental capacity caused by the bridge. We've tried to make contact with his kin but they've been rather fearful of us; unwilling to accept food even when left out overnight. I can’t blame them. Thus far, our only interactions have involved death and kidnapping.
Our working assumption is that the initial proximity to the bridge had a jumpstart effect on Rinkeby’s evolutionary process. The rest of the primates should eventually catch up.
Tomorrow we're going to sit down and run a few intelligence tests. Jiro and I have asked Til and Rez to try and capture a few more if possible, but only if they believe it will not cause undue harm. We’d like to establish a working relationship as best as we can with such an underdeveloped species.
Aside from that, this planet has been extremely hospitable. Food is abundant, there are adequate freshwater resources, and so far none of the local wildlife has threatened us.
Brief reports from the crew - Manek has had no issues setting up our lab. Jiro, Til, and Rez finished the dissection yesterday and have taken a record of their findings. Tuhone guards our campsite without incident. We’ll send a report tomorrow after we finish testing Rinkeby.
# Experiment #1
By Start
Subject C.1 - Rinkeby | DSA - 8 | Afternoon Entry
Rinkeby is showing signs of a rapid increase in intelligence. He had been taking mental notes and jotting down crude drawings under his floor mat after we'd gone to sleep.
It's no wonder his room smelled almost entirely of fecal matter.
The implications here are fascinating. First, he went from climbing trees to developing a rudimentary language. Second, that he felt the need to hide it from us even though he's given no indication he does not trust us. Subtle manipulation? Fear? Or, something else?
Jiro believes it's now imperative we collect a specimen from the wild. We need a baseline to see how quickly Rinkeby is evolving compared to his peers. This could become problematic.
For now, we've started issuing a series of cognitive development tests.
Glory to the Enclave, for this little creature's curiosity. It’s rare we can capture the effects of the bridge this early and so clearly.
Subject C.1 - Rinkeby | DSA - 11 | Post-test Results
Rinkeby has an above-average intelligence compared to other primate species we’ve encountered, but his levels of curiosity compare to that of much more advanced lifeforms. He was able to match shapes and learn two words, his “name” and “food”, in sign. He could have learned more, but we wanted time to discuss the results.
For future bridgeworlders, we provided tests PIS.71 and SDP.13. Both tests matched with near-identical scores.
Off the record, Jiro believes Rinkeby could have done better. He said he could see his eyes move to the correct answer more than once then ”purposefully” choose another answer. He wants to test him again tomorrow.
# Experiment #2
By Start
Subject C.1 - Rinkeby | DSA - 12 |
Tests postponed. Rinkeby is showing increased signs of aggression. We've given him food and a few tombs for entertainment.
Subject C.1 - Rinkeby | DSA - 15
I can't believe I'm writing this, but Rinkebys cranial capacity has increased by an astounding 30% overnight!
The poor thing has been writhing in agony from the cranial swell and we've tried our best to sedate him, but it's difficult to get the dosage correct. Additionally, when the effects of the drugs subside, he grows incredibly irritable as if the loss of cognitive function outweighs the physical discomfort.
It's been difficult to take proper notes on his evolutionary growth between the fits of rage, sedation, and his nearly endless hunger.
DSA - 17
Around lunch, Manek came to us hoping to give Rinkeby some one-on-one lessons. Teaching him how to use tools, possibly even construct a few simple devices if his mind could grasp them.
Jiro was… less than enthused.
"Manek you can't be serious. He's barely conscious a majority of the time and the rest he's fit to rip your arm off".
"First, you know I'd just get a new one so what's the harm? And second, I'm damn well serious. You see how he's devouring our tombs. Imagine what he could build with a few tools' ' replied Manek with a tone that implied he'd get his way no matter what.
"It's too dangerous. What if he uses them to break out? Or worse?"
"I'll take everything we build from him before I depart. You can even be there for the inspection to and from if it makes you feel better. I won't enter his room without your permission."
"It's not a bad idea", I interjected, "we can't properly study him now anyway and we've been unable to secure another specimen safely. Our options are limited.”
Jiro huffed, "you're both mad, but I know I can't overrule the two of you. I'll be there. Every inspection and we have a deal."
Manek sat beaming, or his approximation of beaming. “Deal”, he replied.
It was clear he'd grown fond of our little friend. Fewer and fewer of us were choosing the path of an engineer these days. I'm sure he was glad to have someone to teach.
*
Overall our time here has been pleasant. The weather warms the skin and the sky is a shade reminiscent of our blue rupees back home. The planet itself is teeming with life, but so far only Rinkeby and a few of the other apes have shown any signs of change.
I'll be spending the rest of the evening working with junior bioengineers, Til & Rez, to catalog some of the plant life they've discovered.
They mentioned one fruit I found particularly interesting. Apparently, the plant life here can grow some sort of fur and its shell is dense. Til described it as "buzzing with energy".
We've seen Rinkebys kin drop them from trees, which cracks the fruit and drink the juice from inside, but so far none of us have tested the same. Perhaps we can sit down with him and all share a few drops.
# Memories: Neor’s Bounty
By Andiamo
I should have never listened to Grom. That blundering oaf led us straight into a horde of Gul’thian raiders. Then again, we did locate the old tomb of Mel’tha, although it is perhaps better for no one to find it ever again.
I do not believe that I will survive to see my friends again. So, I make this record for posterity, and hope that the bottle in which I will place this note eventually makes it to the Bay of Raz’thar. A home I hope I will survive to see, unlikely as it is. The place is crawling with raiders and their bloodhounds, and while I can continue to hide in this cave, one step out and they will most surely eat me alive.
It was a week ago that we arrived at the town of Pintherl. Suffice to say, the populace in these lands is of quite the morose sort. Can’t blame them, given the weather here. It just rains all the time. It’s quite a miracle that this entire region isn’t already submerged.
It took us four days on foot, crossing through the marshlands beyond the mountains, to find the old city. The city wasn’t marked on any of the old maps. So how did we know it was there? Well, it was good ol’ Grom that stumbled upon a map embedded within the woodwork of one of those old treasure boxes he was chopping up for recycling.
Greed. It was that greed that brought us here. The prospect of locating the SOURCE of all these treasures was too much to resist.
So here we found ourselves at the dilapidated walls of the old city, just at the break of dawn. It was immense. How could anyone have missed this? Perhaps it was the marshlands that kept this place insulated from the rest of the world.
Trees and bushes were growing all over the old stone buildings, but the walls were in remarkably good shape. Why did such an immense city get abandoned? There were no signs of any damage beyond what nature had inflicted. It was as if everyone just… disappeared.
We followed the map to the heart of the city, what looked like an old temple of sorts, adorned with statuettes and carvings of strange creatures. Perhaps that was the fauna of centuries past, or some sort of mythical beings, we didn’t know. The door to the temple was ajar, so we pushed the heavy wooden door open, and the sight within was one like no other.
In the pale light of dawn, we saw the domed ceiling of the temple glisten, with thousands of gemstones embedded into it. Stained glass windows left a kaleidoscope of colours on the floor, which itself was made of fine mosaic tiles of a multitude of colours. Along the walls were pedestals, on which were placed porcelain urns, golden chalices, bronze axes, jewellery, armour and all manners of exquisite artefacts.
As the sun continued to rise, we saw in the middle of the sanctuary a sarcophagus. This was the tomb itself. I was never one for disturbing the dead, at least not directly. But the others had other plans. Just taking a look, they said.
So while they busied themselves with trying to slide open the sarcophagus, I decided to get productive and start picking up some souvenirs: an old relic, a red feather of some sort, a pocketwatch, some golden coins.
Grom, too, turned out to have made the sensible choice by staying back to fill his bags up. For as the sarcophagus slid open, this terrible screeching noise came from within it. I turned and saw the most horrifying sight of my life. Tentacles reached out from within the sarcophagus, entangling themselves around our friends, all while the screech became ever louder.
The grandeur and beauty of the temple, or what we now know to be a mausoleum, was literally being peeled away right before our eyes. The gemstones embedded in the ceiling fell from their places, raining down like hailstones. At the same time, a black sludge started to erupt from within the sarcophagus, overflowing around its sides and spilling upon the ground.
Our friends… their limbs were ripped from them and flung against the walls, and their bodies were being engulfed by the sludge that was quickly flowing towards us. Despite this, greed ruled. Grom and I continued to try to sweep as many gemstones into our packs, before tying them up and running as quickly as we could out of the mausoleum doors and towards the city gates.
Just as we thought we were safe from whatever monstrosity it was which we had just witnessed, we heard them. The ominous horns of the raiders of Gul’thia. I remember them from my childhood, when a horde raided my village, killing my parents after they hid me behind a false mud wall, smothered with manure to hide me from their bloodhounds.
And now I heard them again, and then we saw them. A horde was coming towards the old city. I was lucky one to have survived a Gul’thian raid. As I write, I’m not sure I will be lucky again. As for Grom, I have no idea where he is. I pray that he successfully escapes.
I hear them close by, now. The grunts of the bloodhounds, the sound of trees and bushes being searched as the raiders sought me out. Of course, they would want nothing of me but my life. But today, I carry with me a bounty that would make its owner a rich man.
If I can’t have this, neither shall they. But to my dear friends in Raz’thar: if we do not meet again, seek out my bounty. There are many caves by this brook, but I will mark the one in which I bury my treasure with the red feather with which I am writing this message.
I leave no family behind. For my greed, I may pay the price of my life.
But by your wisdom, may it not be for naught.
Neor
# Orbean, Avatar of Magic
By Jean
**Orbean, Avatar of Magic**
\*”The final stage of understanding is that of the Magic. And with that, comes true mastery.” \*
Legions, Arcanists, scientists and spies all pay respect to Orbean as they dedicate themselves to questions that may change the face of the multiverse with their answers.
**Holy Symbol:**
Orbean’s primary holy symbol is a representation of a complex box covered in arcane symbols, or in some cases an actual puzzle-box. Another symbol common among Orbean’s faithful is stacked or interlocking triangles.
**Sample Priesthood:**
The Teal Oracles are a fellowship of monks who also venerate Tsuge, Avatar of Passage and work with other clergy of Orbean in temples throughout the Bridgeworld as diviners and soothsayers.
Unlike others who purport to pull back time’s veil, The Teal Oracles are known for rarely speaking about the future.
Instead, they are said to know what a supplicant most needs to hear to divine their own essence and most appropriately live their life. As with many oracles, their words are often either cryptic or disappointingly mundane.
# 'twas the night before smolmas
By NFDoggo
‘Twas the night before Smolmas, when all thro’ the house, No dev was stirring, no stealth launch to douse; The alfa was hidden by the mods with care, In hopes that St. Parmesano soon would be there;
The Smols were nestled all snug in their beds, While visions of coconuts danced in their heads, And the Swols with their platez and the Toadz with their stoolz, Had just settled down for a long winter’s snooze –
When out on Monkey Island there arose such a clatter, I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter. Away to the window I flew in a flash, Tore open the shutters, and threw up the sash.
The moon on the breast of the new fallen snow, Gave the luster of mid-day to objects below; When, what to my wondering eyes should appear, But a miniature sleigh and eight(ish) Legionnaires,
With a little old driver, so full of bravado, I knew in a moment it must be St. Parmesano. More rapid than eagles his coursers they came, And he whistled, and shouted, and call’d them by name:
Now! Pixel, now! Duke, now! End, and Gaarp, On! Wyze, on! Timoraegi, on! Jumpman and Cheese;\* To the top of the shrohm! To the top of the shuttle! Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away you rubble!
\*Twerk! Josh, twerk! Yuta, twerk! T1dev and Mao! Wait! Sisu, wait! Oh, I’ve really done it now.
As the banana leaves before the wild hurricane fly, When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky; So up to the house-top the legionnaires they flew, With a sleigh full of alfa – and St. Parmesano too:
And then in a twinkling, I heard on the roof The prancing and guffawing of each legionnaire goof; As I drew in my head, and was turning around, Down to the chimney St. Parmesano came with a bound:
He was dress’d all in fur, from his head to his toes, He was deck’d out in treasures and struck a pose; A bundle of coconuts was flung on his back, And he look’d Swol resetting his rack:
His eyes – how they twinkled! His dimples how merry, His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry; His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow, And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;
He had, we all knew, a quite grandiose scheme, But who could have predicted that all-star team! He had Magic to spare, offered time to amass, If only that VC had thought it an investable asset class.
He was hardworking and honest, a right jolly old elf, And I invested when I saw him, in spite of myself; A wink of his eye and a twist of his head Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.
He spoke not a word, well that’s not quite true, He had alfa for days, and the people all knew; And laying his finger aside of his nose And giving a note, up the chimney he rose.
He sprung to his sleigh, to his legions gave a whistle, And away they all flew, like the down of a thistle: But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight – Happy Smolmas to all, and to all a good night!
# The Crowned Shadow
By dizzy22
Little is known of the founders of old as time, the great collectors who hoard their secrets from the past. What is known is what they left behind.
Mythic castles buried deep beneath the earth, ancient relics of uncomprehending power, incredible armor and weapons only wieldable by heroes deemed worthy by powers we can't imagine. What has been left is more than trinkets and treasures. It's a legacy, a challenge, a dare even.
Are these treasures real? Are any of the rumors true?
In many ways, their legacy is a curse. It drives adventurers and explorers to madness or death. In some cases whole cities have been dug up from the ground. In others, groups of battle hardened warriors and great mages disappear without a trace. Families lose everything they own chasing a power that may not even exist.
But still, some continue to dig ever deeper. Because these few, there is nothing else. There's no wealth to lose. No family to care for. There's nothing but the burning desire to leave their mark on history. To create their legacy where otherwise, it may not be possible.
For Vyn, he had nothing to lose. He had decided long ago that he could uncover the secrets that so few others could, if any. A keen eye and a little good fortune would set him a journey that would last a lifetime...
# Chapter 1 - The Beginning
By dizzy22
For Vyn it seemed like any other day. The sun was shining, the birds were singing and he awoke with a yawn in his bedroom at his family's home. He went through his usual routine of waking up, getting dressed, heading downstairs to have breakfast.
But this particular morning something felt off. He couldn't quite put his finger on it. It wasn't anything specific, just an overall sense of unease. Something vague and nagging at the back of his mind, like the unpleasant recollection of a dream one can't quite remember on waking up.
He shrugged it off as the natural feeling that he had started to miss over time, that new level of apathy that he had grown accustomed to. He hadn't quite found his place in the world yet. His training as a warrior was going well, but he wasn't sure how he could use his newfound abilities.
Vyn had been taught his whole life that everyone had their own place and the sooner he found his place in this world, the better. His parents were devout followers of Trell and like many others, were keen on imparting some wisdom about the importance of finding your talents and following them to glory.
Vyn had studied the stories of the great founders and had always been intrigued by the mysticism of it all. How could people discover powers that they weren't even aware of? How were the greatest weapons of all time forged?
He wanted to be one who uncovered their legacies. He wanted to find it and make a name for himself.
He read all the books he could find, and followed to stories. Despite everyone's dismissal of his desire for questing, he knew one day he would find something... and then it happened...
# The Last Word
By Andiamo
### A letter found in a bottle, washed up on the shores of Calthrya on the Western coast.
Dario,
I pray this letter finds its way to you. Please tell mama that I love her and that I am sorry, for in all likelihood I will not make it back home.
It has been almost fifteen days since we sailed in the direction of the Port of Alorga, and I fear that we are lost at sea. What makes this situation we find ourselves in an absolute tragedy is the fact that we did succeed in reaching the shores of the Isle of Trachan. The sights we beheld there were beyond belief: chariots that flew in the sky, castles of smooth, grey metal and crystal, and beings which knew no sense of fear, fatigue, hunger or thirst. We were told that theirs was a land of abundance, where society had transcended the needs of the body while remaining within their very bodies.
There was much we learnt from them which would be of such great value to our homeland, though alas if we do not find our way back home, this knowledge will never be shared. To be free of the limitations of our physical bodies would set upon us a new age of prosperity!
One thing’s for sure, that old myth about no one ever being able to leave the Isle once they’ve visited it is an obvious lump of donkey shit. It is patently untrue, given we have been sailing west for the past two weeks. We may not have arrived back in Alorga, but we MOST CERTAINLY have left Trachan. So whatever our fate is, I hope that this letter categorically debunks that myth.
Our supplies are running low, and I myself haven’t eaten in days, although surprisingly I am still holding up well. Those Trachanians fed us well – and they did promise that that last banquet they served us would bring us back eventually for more.
I hope that we will make landfall soon. We have kept a strict bearing for the past two weeks so it makes very little sense that we took four days to sail out, and two weeks to get back.
I must have a word with the navigator, who seems to believe that the Trachanians tampered with his equipment. As if anyone would be able to change where the sun rises and sets, or where the stars sit in the night sky!
You must be wondering how I can be in such a verbose mood while in so harrowing a predicament. Well, as I’ve always told you, there’s nothing worse than making a bad situation worse by making yourself feel sad. It is almost a miracle that I am in fine physical form despite the lack of food and fresh water on this ship. Long may this last – we may yet live to find our way home.
But if we fail to, and if these are my last words to you, then please, lead a full life, take care of mama and never forget that you are deeply loved.
With much love,
Your beloved brother
# Treasures From My Memories
By Pooja
Today is not the same \
As tonite
Today I was waiting for you \
Tonite you arrived
Today I glanced \
Took a chance \
Hoped you’d be there
Tonite I see you \
You have no clue \
A miracle I'd swear
Today is not the same \
As tonite
Today I was hoping \
My heart was simply coping \
Pining
Tonite I'm twirling \
And whirling, swirling \
Not a care
Today is not the same \
As tonite
Tomorrow if you’re gone \
It still won't be the same
I’ll have had the joy, ecstasy \
A moonlit memory, a whispered touch \
Today will never be the same \
As yesterday ever again
I'll never be the same again
# Parable of the Seven
By DystoJ.
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## Text-Only
The great artificers Jora and Erena had seven children - four sons and three daughters. They lived together in a small village, nestled in a valley of the high mountains.
It was a place of abundance where flows of Magic crossed, and their people encountered all kinds of natural Treasures. Erena and Jora collected every kind of Treasure they could find, and everyone admired their beauty. Others in the village would write poems and tell stories of how these precious Treasures swayed the emotions of men, or captured the attention of powerful interests across Bridgeworld.
The artificers learned through careful study how Treasures might be used. And, they hoped, how they might be made. Their experiments were thorough and time consuming, but they never wavered from the goal of adding abundance to Bridgeworld–by capturing the power of Magic to be shared and exchanged and wielded. They believed that Treasures could be used to advance all kinds of craft and occupation, and they were right.
But sadly, Erena and Jora were not destined to finish the work that they started. One winter’s day, out exploring the caves for diamonds, they were caught in a great avalanche. Powerful snow from the peaks was stirred by some unusual activity felt throughout the valley. It crashed down onto the very caves where Jora and Erena sought Treasures that day.
The villagers did all they could to dig up and rescue the talented pair, but to no avail. The youngest and most curious of their children, Nis, had gone into the cave with them to learn. By some miracle the boy survived within a small pocket of the cave. But he witnessed helplessly the loss of his parents.
After the tragedy, the six elder children were determined to honor their parents. Each took up a line of study to carry on the legacy. Their great work survives in many of the wonders and works of Bridgeworld, utilizing Treasures through the six core crafts: Alchemy, Arcana, Enchanting, Brewing, Leatherworking, Smithing. They even created new Treasures just as their parents imagined.
The eldest son gave us Alchemy. His master work was the Castle, a Treasure at grand scale which could protect the various stones and valuable gems used in the processes of transmutation.
The eldest daughter gave us Arcana. She was obsessed with time and perception. Her life pursuit was to understand the nature of Grin and see its full beauty. Thus, the Divine Mask with which one sees across the veil into the spirit world.
The next son gave us Smithing, and forged various materials of exchange. His special project was of course the Cap of Invisibility. The middle daughter gave us Enchanting. It is said she created her Bottomless Elixir in the pursuit of a neverending dream.
The second youngest son gave us Leatherworking. Magical Cows were very rare, known only to their village. So he learned to take donkey hide and cure it with Magic as well.
The youngest daughter gave us Brewing. She was a witch as much as an artificer, as her creations show. Unfortunately, her original purpose for the Ancient Relic is lost in time.
Nis, though, had witnessed his parents’ deaths and became consumed by the idea that he could have saved them if he were stronger. While his siblings worked to support the activities and adventures across Bridgeworld, he dedicated to more personal study. Denying the value of materials and tools, he tried instead to recreate the living power of a Genesis Legion.
He worked tirelessly to gather his own research in addition to the artificers’ work. He found obscure notes from the mines and underground saunas that spoke of giving people great power. Nis believed also that if certain animals and crops could live in Magic-rich areas and carry its power, then perhaps other living creatures–or even people–could do the same.
At first, he discovered tattoos, with success. A great breakthrough that would be lost for ages and banned in fear along with his other arts. Greedy for more power, he tried to deeply integrate Magic into the very life force of living beings. First with creatures and then, in desperation, himself. As his work continued, Nis grew reclusive and hateful. He would not speak even to his siblings. The cries of animals could be heard from his cottage at night. Other villagers desperately wished to stop his pursuits, but they grew fearful of his zeal.
Finally, the six other siblings gathered to intervene. With their own powerful Treasures for protection, they went one night to confront Nis in his home. There, they found him no longer living. A victim of his own work, his body lay frail, veins black. Covered in countless symbols and objects bound to his own body. His life force had rejected the onslaught of Magic he attempted to bind with it.
At his funeral pyre, the village Wisdom closed the ceremony with a caution for all, “We are not of Bridgeworld, and shall never be. We are mere stewards. Never forget.”
# Cave Paintings
By DystoJ.
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## Text-Only
In my studies I have come upon some fascinating findings which, I suspect, may in time have a great bearing on the balance of power in this place we call Bridgeworld. Most of my fellow inhabitants have become consumed by the pursuit of wealth and the navigating of insufferable politics. While I certainly do not intend to follow suit, I would be remiss to ignore consequential evidence that has come to my attention.
In the course of our expedition into the icy ascent of the northern mountains, we made some fascinating geological observations that seem consistent with previous studies of samples from the low canyons. Layers of sediment in the alpine environment bear striking similarity to those found in the old sea beds. Our hypothesis is that the history of geologic activity in Bridgeworld is far older and more complex than we imagined.
Furthermore, in seeking shelter from the snowstorm of the seventh night, we stumbled upon a cave that, while clearly untouched for generations, was home to remarkably detailed murals. The artistic style there is like nothing I’ve seen before, generally darker and with harsher lines, a product perhaps of a more crude or dangerous world. But what is most disturbing and fascinating are the depictions of things and events completely foreign even to the historians in the group. Fairy tales, perhaps. But we cannot rule out the possibility that someone or some community used that place to record their own experiences.
The two most prominent images I describe here:
*Mural 1:* Ten monstrous creatures command attention, distributed loosely across the overall image. They are not painted with great detail, but enough that it is clear they are unique. Some appear to have people and even structures atop their backs. Each includes a round background of a different color, calling to the imagination words like “aura” and “spirit.” They are additionally accompanied by some symbol of nature, and an inscription in written symbols unknown to our members. Etched lines extend out from each to the others, drawn between them but extending beyond as well, to the boundary of the overall image. Depictions of landscape and geography appear along the paths, drawn larger at each point where the lines intersect. In a couple of rare cases, large artificial structures appear instead.
*Comment:* Upon closer inspection, it became clear that the lines were in fact thin veins of Magic within the cave wall. Additionally, examining the distribution and features of depicted landscapes, it is hard to deny a rough resemblance to known areas. Although, others (particularly closer to the periphery) were entirely unfamiliar.
*Mural 2:* A dome of purple surrounds a small group of figures. Some appear human-like, depicted with a variety of weapons and armor like those carried by the strongest Genesis Legions. Others are entirely unfamiliar, with oddly shaped heads or animal-like bodies with intelligent seeming facial expressions and bearing sophisticated weapons or tools. Above them, great rocks fall from the sky, covered in fire. In the background, other figures appear falling into red chasms in the ground, while others still seem to be attacking a fortress drawn with a star inside. In the middle of the sky, a broken stone or crystal floats ominously, emblazoned with a dark and monstrous silhouette.
*Comment:* We assumed that the purple dome is meant to be protecting its inhabitants from the surrounding chaos. Like the lines of the opposite mural, this feature is composed of a mineral vein like Magic, but of an unfamiliar color and quality. Without disturbing too much the sanctity of the work, we collected a tiny sample for later examination.
We uphold several societal truths which are rarely challenged, but would stand in contrast to our findings in the mountains if they are indeed historical records of some kind:
Firstly, it has been widely accepted that our grandparents’ grandparents were the first to arrive and attempt to make a living in this land. Indeed, even the Genesis Legions (at least those willing to speak about it) who were around at that time seem to truly believe the same. The existence of these drawings, let alone their contents, appear to predate both.
Secondly, regarding our understanding of Magic itself. While we see its effects throughout the land, particularly in the occurrence of the natural Treasures, the Genesis Mine has been our only source of extractable Magic to date (and thus the center of politics and power). The lines depicted in Mural 1 are suggestive of powerful flows of Magic distributed across some area, which furthermore may or may not be meant to represent our Bridgeworld.
Thirdly and finally, both the creatures depicted in Mural 1 and the protective dome depicted in Mural 2 seem to have no connection to heretofore understood natural features of our land. Suggesting either we have something now to discover, or these forces are meant to be of another world or perhaps spiritual origin.
In conclusion, I am left with several questions which are quite difficult to consider but cannot be ignored as worthy of additional investigation. Namely:
* Did Bridgeworld harbor societies prior to any of our current and known inhabitants?
* Were these beasts fact or fiction, and what is their relationship to the flow of Magic? Are they somehow unknown in our world, or extinct?
* What possible power could have precipitated the scale of disaster depicted in the second mural? Does it exist in memory of the past, or in fear for the future?
* Who would have left such images in that remote mountain range, and why did they feel it must be so hidden (or protected)?