• Location • Veins of Falsehood

[Woe]

Veins of Falsehood

The Veiins of Falsehood are the pathways leading to Ornthrus' Subterraen, all the way to the lower heart of this major fracture. They can take many forms, but generally are formed of stone, sometimes raw sometimes appearing carved as if built by civilized beings. Through all of the fracture's veins, occasionally one might meet minor Emeyans whose task is to defend and protect the Magistrates, and carry out their will whatever it might be.

So long as one plays the game of the Magistrates to perfection, they will not find any trouble with these minor denizens. Should they fail the riddles or tests of the Magistrates, however, they are an open target until they manage to escape the Vein.

The veins are mostly dark, but with some luminescence that gloomily shows the way from one corridor to another. The brightest it ever gets is at the point where Magistrates are situated, usually with a beam of light shining down on them.

Naturally forming wells can be found throughout these corridors, mostly dark gems and mirage stones. Raw territe can also be found. Deeper into the veins, closer to the Heart one might find Sap Stones. Within the Heart itself, Dark Stars are rumored to appear.

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Emeyan Denizens of Fracture

Adamantine Magistrate

Developed by Woe

Price: N/A
Habitat: The subterrainean veins of the Ornthrus Fracture The Adamantine Throne
Forum Location Surrounding Landmarks
Description: Magistrates present as large, roughly humanoid, immobile basalt statues within the Untold. Their size normally ranged from life-sized to two-times life-sized. They are almost never seen or heard within Idalos as they are found beyond the foyers of a major fracture, in the veins of Ornthrus' subterrain.

Their forms range from well-defined statues, life-like and highly detailed humanoid figures, to a monolithic entity with no defining humanoid features besides some lazily carved lines and circles to represent a humanoid face.

They are most often found in narrow passages within the Untold, finding purpose there by ensnaring the interest of those who travel the Untold, preventing them from proceeding through the passage until they've told their story, riddles, or speeches in full, which can take breaks to trials in the reckoning of dreamwalkers. When their speech is done, they will often either test the memory or the honesty of those intent on venturing further through the vein. Anyone who tries to bypsas the Magistrate either physically or those who fail their test will cause them to cry a single, raw darkgem well. Those who lie their way through the Magistrate's test, will prompt them to form a raw miragestone at their feet, which grows for every lie told, until their deception is given a satisfactory and (to the Magistrate) believable conclusion.

Lying through the test of a Magistrate will generally take Expert and greater levels of deception, depending on how far one has proceeded through the vein. The more miragestones one has acquired in their possession, the greater difficulty in proceeding and fooling the Magistrates. If you tell the truth to a Magistrate in a way that contradicts any lie you told, individuals who do so will be driven off by minor and moderate Emeyans that are commanded by the Magistrates. If they tell the truth or speak honestly at any point, this is not necessarily a bad thing. The best lies, are afterall sandwiched in truths and half-truths. And even a true word spoken in order to mislead or confuse can be more powerful than any fabrication.

So honesty isn't detrimental to the passage of a prospective adventurerer. So long as their honesty lines up with the initial lie that landed them into the subterranean parts of the Adamantine Throne. Therefore, deceit is always a part of their passage further into the Veins of Falsehood.

Magistrates do not defend themselves physically if attacked, and indeed barely move at all. Instead, they command a vareity of minor and moderate Emeyans, whose purpose is to attack any threat to the Magistrate, or to drive out those who fail their tests.

Lifespan and Development: These are Major Emeyans. Presumably they live forever.
Diet: Lies.
Temperament: Mysterious and tricky.
RPG Traits: Minor Traits

• Armored: The Emeyan has armour, armoured scales or tough hide, or otherwise some form of protection over their body that serves to shelter them from physical assault. It doesn’t make them completely immune, but makes their exterior more difficult to penetrate with physical means. The Magistrate is made of extremely durable Basalt Stone.
• Painless: An Emeyan that is Painless suffers no pain and is therefore not deterred by taking damage or by effects that specifically aim to cause pain. It continues to take damage as normal, but will not be distracted by the pain of their injuries.
• Emotional Aura All Emeyans are able to project an aura provoking a basic emotion in those around them. From fear to calmness, the emotion is a general sense or feeling from them. Whether through an aura effect, a particular mannerism, expression, sound or posture, they are able to project this emotion and the Dreamer will feel it unless they possess Resistance, Discipline or Meditation at a level high enough to justify resisting.
• Blindsense: The Emeyan is able to perceive their surroundings through other means than their physical sight, reacting to sound, movement and scent in their close vicinity. They are effectively blind to everything at long range from them, but are able to accurately sense opponents in a 20-foot radius of them without fail, provided they have no magical assistance.
• Breathless: A creature who is breathless doesn’t need to breathe. While other creatures are normally susceptible to this by virtue of possessing organs like other creatures, the Breathless do not have this restriction and are able to exist underwater or in inhospitable air conditions indefinitely, and are immune to gasses and similar effects.
• Keen Sense: A single one of the Emeyan’s existing senses are keen and improved over the normal, giving them increased benefits. This can account for any of their natural, normal senses, or any acquired through other Traits. Echo-location range of 60 yards that rebounds when the Magistrate speaks.

Major Traits

• Extreme Biology: An Emeyan possessing this trait possesses a biology that defies all reason. They may be entirely made up of stone, crystal or metal or even partially be composed of them, or have several of their organs replicated or replaced by others. Any other beast would not be able to survive with this type of biological make-up. The Magistrate is made of extremely durable Basalt Stone.
• Humanoid:An Emeyan with this trait has a humanoid appearance and the benefits that come with it. Though it doesn’t have to resemble a human, it possesses the abilities of a humanoid and is capable of speech, has opposable thumbs and two legs unless otherwise specified. Can be combined with other traits for strange creature combinations.
• Telepathic: The Emeyan is capable of communicating with thought, and to a limited degree perceive the surface thoughts of those they focus on in their vicinity. Their communications are limited to images and emotions unless they possess proficiency with any language.
• Supernatural Sense:This Emeyan possesses a sense of a supernatural kind, the likes of which is difficult to otherwise replicate. Whether it’s the ability to see the movements of Ether, see through invisibility, see through solid walls or objects temporarily or feel the subtlest of movements and tremors in the ground or air around them… The sense manifests in a dramatic and powerful way. The
• Magistrate can key into the personal history and concerns of those who cross within close proximity to them. Their stories, tests, and speeches will often be designed in order to ensnare the interest of those who overhear them as much as trip up their potential attempts to deceive.

Fast Facts Skill Levels Required~ please fill this in using this page for reference.

Fast Facts

Knowing It
-- Scalvoris: Expert
-- Idalos: Master
Wealth Tier
-- Scalvoris: N/a
-- Idalos: N/A
Sell/Buy It
-- Scalvoris: n/a
Rarity
-- Scalvoris: n/a
-- Idalos: n/a
Finding It
-- Scalvoris: Expert
-- Idalos: n/a
Collecting It
-- Scalvoris: n/a
-- Idalos: n/a
Using It
-- Lie to it successfully by passing its 'test' or riddle and it will drop a raw miragestone.
-- Try to bypass or else anger it or fail its test, it will cry a singular raw dark gem.
Killing It
-- Special weapons designed to destroy Emeyan beings or tear apart ether structures.
Capturing It
-- N/A
Danger
-- High
Tending It
-- N/A

Player Notes

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	Please leave this for me to fill in

Changelog

Credits to: Your Name
Submitted for Development: Date

Developed by: YOUR CHARACTER NAME HERE!

[Avalon]

So, so, so, so sorry for not following up/updating you on this! I thought I had and apparently, obviously, did not.

I asked Bas to take a look at this since he helped approve the original fracture itself. Thank you for your continued patience!!!!

[Woe]

I hope it's okay to include information on the Heart of the Fracture, as I suddenly had an idea for it. And figured it might as well be included here.

The Adamantine Tribunal

The Adamantine Tribunal is the Heart of the subterranean portion of the Ornthrus Fracture. Here, three of the greatest of Adamantine Magistrates stand in judgement over anyone who has surpassed the cleverness of the lesser magistrates of higher strata.

Once an adventurer makes it this far into the Fracture, they will be held to account for all of the lies they told, and riddles they solved up to this point. This is done via a show trial put on by no less than three Adamantine Magistrates. The First of them uses deceit to make their arguments against the defendant (the adventurer/s) while the Second uses the art of persuasion to cajole and sway opinion. The Third or Tribune receives the arguments of the defendant(s), and stands in judgement over them.

Should the various arguments and deceptions of the defendants hold up to scrutiny, and prove true against both the First's deceptions and the Second's arguments, the First and Second Magistrate will be struck down by the weight of their own failure, leaving no less than two Obstimites that emerge from their cores. The adventurer(s) will then be able to harvest these Obstimites. Should they fail to defend and negotiate their way through the labyrinthine arguments and riddles posed by both Magistrates, the Tribunal will condemn them as guilty, and they will be attacked by minor and major Emeyans until they're either driven from the Fracture, or else killed and their souls harvested in order to produce more lesser Magistrates to populate the rest of the Veins.

This process would seem simple, but for the fact that the First and Second Magistrates will then need to be replaced. And given how they performed in their arguments, the Tribune will see whichever of the adventurers survived the dangers and made their arguments so effectively as natural replacements. The Tribune will bend every power and minor and moderate Emeyan within the Fracture toward the task of capturing these very effective deceivers and speakers. This is a very dangerous situation, as if arguing against the Adamantine Tribunal wasn't enough that requires superhuman skill and power in order to evade or conquer.

The most common conclusion to this venture into the heart is that the entire company that ventures into it is aggregated into the consciousness needed to form new magistrates. Thus the First and Second are replaced, forming a new Obstimyte in each of their cores while the adventurers consciousness is absorbed into the new being. They are not given over to the Twins for Judgement, nor will they be able to become ghosts. They will cease to exist.

Should the Tribunal be overthrown, the Major Fracture will close for no less than an entire arc, with the adventurers being expelled with their two harvested Obstimites and any other wells they earned through the adventure.


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The Test of the Heart

Adamantine Tribunal

The process of the Tribunal is a series of riddles and arguments that the adventurers will have no choice but to overcome with their natural guile and cleverness. This requires no less than GM skills in Social Skills of various kinds, which must then square with the deception and arguments of the First and Second. That's not to say that GM skills will guarantee success, but that's the baseline requirement to accomplish this feat.

Afterward, supposing they succeed in availing themselves of the trial, the adventurers will have to endure the assault as the Tribune attempts to take their souls and make them into a new First and Second Magistrate. This will take nearly tier 2 levels of combative abilities, or else a larger group of GM skilled individuals. That's not to say a less skilled person cannot escape or survive the assault, but their chances will be very small of surviving.

Player Notes

!	Message from: Pegasus
	Please leave this for me to fill in

Changelog

Credits to: Your Name
Submitted for Development: Date

Developed by: YOUR CHARACTER NAME HERE!

[Basilisk]

This overall looks good, but there's a few issues. The initial information on the magistrates doesn't say what happens if you pass their tests honestly, just what happens if you force your past them or lie to them. Then when you get to the Adamantine Tribunal, it initially refers to one of three magistrates, but then goes on to describe a trial by three magistrates. Finally, at the end of Tribunal information, it doesn't say what happens if the final magistrate is successfully defeated or escaped. Nor does it describe what happens if the adventurers should fail the final trial.

Other than those issues, it looks pretty good.

[Woe]

The initial magistrates: I mentioned in the Adamantine Throne that a lie is required in answer to a question given at the base of the Fracture. How they answer (honestly or dishonestly) will determine which portion they travel through. Either to the summit or to the subterranean Veins of Falsehood. I've gone on to edit in that they can tell honest truths as long as those truths don't contradict or aren't in conflict with the original lie they told, or any subsequent lies they tell in order to push their way pasts magistrates. It becomes increasingly difficult to get farther into the Veins, as more lies told leads to more complex answers that have a greater chance of exposure.

Three Magistrates: Ok, I fixed that part of it to clarify that it's indeed always three magistrates at the Heart.

The Tribunal's Defeat: I've gone on to edit in what hapens if you defeat the Tribunal. Basically the adventurers are ejected from the Veins of Falsehood and the Heart, with the two obstimites they harvested from the First and Second magistrates. Then the Major Fracture will close for no less than an arc afterward.

The fate of the defeated adventurers: I thought I was clear about this, but I've added a point that says that their consciousness is used to reform the First and Second Magistrate, essentially recycling their souls to create two new Emeyan beings. They cannot be presented to the Twins for Judgement, and they will not be eligible to become ghosts. Their souls are destroyed, effectively.

Hope that serves as an answer!

[Basilisk]

Mostly it does answer them fairly well. But I didn't mean what happens if they lose the fight with the final magistrate, but rather if Magistrate 1 and 2 successfully win the preceding argument.

[Woe]

Oops, yeah.

They will be condemned as guilty (of whatever stilted-sounding charge the Tribunal can come up with) and attempted execution by a bunch of Minor and Moderate Emeyans at their command until they're either:

1. Driven from the fracture with their lives and whatever wells they managed to collect on the way.
2. Killed and their souls harvested to produce lesser magistrates to protect the way through the veins they've passed through prior to their entrance to the Heart.

I've edited that part in, thanks!

[Basilisk]

All right, everything's good then. Approved.