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![[GRIM RENAISSANCE] LAWRENCE-ETHANIEL TAKENAKA](https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/55addf51-25df-4b0a-baaf-4019ec6b5e89/d6labr5-0c9c406e-9427-4585-a493-c5cdd295f7a2.jpg/v1/crop/w_92,h_92,x_20,y_0,scl_0.12777777777778,q_70,strp/_grim_renaissance__lawrence_ethaniel_takenaka_by_rafael_domination_d6labr5-92s.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9NzIwIiwicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvNTVhZGRmNTEtMjVkZi00YjBhLWJhYWYtNDAxOWVjNmI1ZTg5XC9kNmxhYnI1LTBjOWM0MDZlLTk0MjctNDU4NS1hNDkzLWM1Y2RkMjk1ZjdhMi5qcGciLCJ3aWR0aCI6Ijw9MTM1MCJ9XV0sImF1ZCI6WyJ1cm46c2VydmljZTppbWFnZS5vcGVyYXRpb25zIl19.xXGnigmaql3CUPUFSZmew7o9b10STFEGRh2V7oOzov0)
![[GRIM RENAISSANCE] JOSEPH MCALISTER](https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/55addf51-25df-4b0a-baaf-4019ec6b5e89/d6lzaj6-0eba24cc-9769-45a3-8b85-f6b965925b6b.jpg/v1/crop/w_92,h_92,x_20,y_0,scl_0.12777777777778,q_70,strp/_grim_renaissance__joseph_mcalister_by_rafael_domination_d6lzaj6-92s.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9NzIwIiwicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvNTVhZGRmNTEtMjVkZi00YjBhLWJhYWYtNDAxOWVjNmI1ZTg5XC9kNmx6YWo2LTBlYmEyNGNjLTk3NjktNDVhMy04Yjg1LWY2Yjk2NTkyNWI2Yi5qcGciLCJ3aWR0aCI6Ijw9MTM1MCJ9XV0sImF1ZCI6WyJ1cm46c2VydmljZTppbWFnZS5vcGVyYXRpb25zIl19.YD4BL19LURJ8mFimjkIRqFi4PFu9-AMxwzLvbUWXS4Y)
![[GRIM RENAISSANCE] TOBIAS LEON-GOGH](https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/55addf51-25df-4b0a-baaf-4019ec6b5e89/dcuh1in-5158b073-eb42-41e8-ab7f-0cfa2923cc68.png/v1/crop/w_92,h_92,x_20,y_0,scl_0.095833333333333,q_70,strp/_grim_renaissance__tobias_leon_gogh_by_rafael_domination_dcuh1in-92s.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9OTYwIiwicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvNTVhZGRmNTEtMjVkZi00YjBhLWJhYWYtNDAxOWVjNmI1ZTg5XC9kY3VoMWluLTUxNThiMDczLWViNDItNDFlOC1hYjdmLTBjZmEyOTIzY2M2OC5wbmciLCJ3aWR0aCI6Ijw9MTgwMCJ9XV0sImF1ZCI6WyJ1cm46c2VydmljZTppbWFnZS5vcGVyYXRpb25zIl19.U8A-Ug6FZaWq7ErPX6LZpP-XqJ59CXuxbIDBD2Ts5Zw)
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“Make no mistake, I enjoyed the casual exercise of making an overpowered faction. I don't think I'm being arrogant when I say that, if I wanted to, I can easily play at the 'Cosmic Genre' arms race. It's not that hard, really. Add two scoops of 'logic-breaking statements' to half a cup of 'no-limits fallacies', and stir in separate tablespoons of 'made-up definitions', 'nonsensical allegories', and 'security through obscurity'. Season with a pinch of 'colon-rending insanity' and 'cancerous narcissism', stuff the mixture into a shriveled-up carcass of 'creativity', then roast over an open flame of 'pretentiousness' for X hours, where X is the amount of time 'nobody gave you enough attention as a child'. Garnish with a sprig of 'excuses as to why it's everyone else's fault that they can't appreciate your genius' before serving hot on a bed of julienned 'god complex', topped with a sprig of 'shameless entitlement' for style points. Voila! Precisely nothing of importance or worth was accomplished. Been there, done that. See, the problem with humans going on ‘transcendent’ escapades is that nobody truly appreciates them. If you’re honest with yourself, once you tire of the bragging and the lack of logic, you realize that any pleasure had on them goes stale really quickly. In a drama of Cosmic or Beyond-Cosmic stats any sense of identity, style or scale becomes meaningless, trivial and unnecessary. Besides, it’s not like we can’t do those well. It’s just that the origin, the journey, and the destination taste so much sweeter when certain limits are in play.” ~ Joshua Dsiorpov, to an unidentified Grim Artist on how he and certain friends tend to Manifest.
WHEN FUN BECOMES FORGETTABLE
- There is an objective trend with the most popular forms of fictional works when it comes to humans in general, despite how subjective Art can be: the top books, films and games rarely, if ever, feature True Cosmic beings as the main characters. There may be cases that feature items, entities or schemes that span and/or threaten ‘creation’ or entire universes, but the capability to crush multiple existences is never a thing of effortlessness or commonality. The ‘star of the show’ is usually human, humanized, or at the very least aspires to be either or both. There are many rules and hindrances, many inhibitions and prohibitions, many borders and consequences that allow for an intense and unpredictable storyline, which in turn allow implemented plot points and setting aesthetics to make a lot more sense. While it’s true that regular folk do wish to be something better than they currently are, hence the massive success of ‘Superhero Stories’, even on a Non-Cosmic and/or human level an outright invincible or otherwise omnipotent entity is considered boring and worthless, and franchises containing an abundance of such that have managed not to be hated due to some redeeming quality still never match more ‘down to earth’ franchises in popularity and value. It is plain to see:
- ‘Human’ is fundamental, ‘Super’ is applauded, and ‘Cosmic’ is scorned.
- Even works proclaimed as ‘Ultimate’ in terms of ‘Cosmic Attributes’ have an unfortunately human element to them. Anything from weapons, materials, to limbs, to energy, to attacks, to the risk of failure (all of which many True Cosmics are above having) and the exhilaration of victory: that it must be fathomable and relatable to be enjoyable is a creative feature both inescapable, wonderful, and necessary. It’s alright if the ‘Cosmic’ Artwork itself was made to cater only to its maker and/or a few others who share the same tastes. It’s even more alright – awesome, even – if ‘Cosmic’ Artwork was made just for the hell of it, perhaps with no larger audience catered to, purely a demonstration one’s ability to create, proving that even Cosmic Beings are subject to Artists. But to output ‘Cosmic’ Artwork and expect (or in some cases demand) that everyone stand in awe and praise the maker for owning something nobody can ‘match’ or ‘emulate’ is an idiotic move at best. To think that one’s personal Canon can infallibly invalidate, influence or involve all others is even more idiotic.
- To those with enough guts to admit it, as a baseline ‘Cosmic’ Artwork plays second fiddle to ‘Non-Cosmic’ Artwork. Ultimately, ‘Cosmic’ really isn’t that special to begin with – quite literally anyone with so much as mediocre levels of creativity can play at what ‘pioneers’ and 'top players' of that genre hinge their work off, i.e. the act of elevating their creations over the competition’s in all possible facets. Any moron can spy on others and respond to inspired envy by pumping up personal Canon for pride’s sake. Any novice can continuously add terms equating to ‘Infinity and Beyond’ as prefixes or suffixes to the ‘oh-so-absolute’ traits of his/her creations. Any windbag can pretend he/she is the one setting the bar, the one who can’t be beaten, that his/her statements and descriptions about all Canon (revelations of/concerning anything behind/beyond Fiction itself and/or the ‘Fourth Wall’, revelations about all-encompassing truths in regards to the relationship between real life and imagination, and so on, and so forth) hold even an iota of sway outside one’s personal Creative Domain. It takes a master to conjure up power without depending on others for a frame of reference, riding the coattails of hard workers to numb their insecurities and deficiencies. It takes a genius to create infinite possibilities with finite ingredients while unleashing originality and quality. It takes a boss to be the best without flaunting it, to be a badass without saying it, to be the top dog while being unafraid of helping out others for fear of being overtaken. Admirers for the ‘Cosmic’ Genre are rare anyways, even for the few who can mix the ‘Mundane’, the ‘Imaginary’ and the ‘Cosmic’ properly. It’s a bitter pill for some to swallow, like Joshua Dsiorpov, to realize that none of their ‘Cosmic’ brainchildren will likely ever have any worthwhile impact, that for all the loftiness of the ‘Cosmic Genre’ it is nothing but lonely and unsatisfactory dead end. Unlike Joshua Dsiorpov, however, there will always be some who never transcend the ‘Cosmic’ genre itself and move onto greener pastures, some who are doomed to uselessly boast at how undefeatable their works are (and by extension much more special they think they are) to a few stragglers while rest of the world moves on, utterly unstained, utterly unaffected, utterly untouched, and better for it.
- As such, it's no surprise that many human members of the Triumvirate, the Ternion, and the Troika willingly opt to go forth and have an outing that doesn’t involve anything overtly Cosmic. Not all of them share the same tastes in scale and complexity of adventure, but there’s something refreshing about only having to worry about the fate of the a city they’ve come to love, as opposed to say an entire supercluster of mega-realms they’ve come to gloss over; there’s something precious to be gained or lost when limitations are a source of definition and not mere deprivation.
- It will not be elaborated here as to why the aforementioned three won’t just barge into places that cannot contain them; previous Articles that have already touched up on that. There are countless why’s, what-if’s and which’s that either have no answer, don’t need an answer, or have an answer that frankly can’t be comprehended. Why do this in the first place? Answer: why not? Can’t they do this stuff in their own headquarters? Yes, but why should that stop them from doing otherwise? Do they actually gain or remember anything from such outings? Yes, no, and unknown. The list goes on, and most of it leads into greater and more convoluted queries.
- Important to note: this is no matter of dire urgency or importance. As is the case with people with way more authority than is decent, some activities are done in a manner (regardless of how impractical or inefficient) dictated by mere whims. This is a simply a case of ‘I want it my way’.
- Regardless, in order for the aforementioned parties to experience events, places and persons without their ‘usual selves’ getting in the way (while still ‘being themselves‘) some special hocus pocus had to be done, not for their well-being, but for everyone else’s.
WHERE EXPERIENCE IS EXCITING
- The Ternate is considered a ‘place’ only for the sake of definition, the same way the SWORDS’s realms might be. Like its superiors’ assets, its ‘inside’ is in fact larger than its ‘outside’. It can also be considered an organization, event or idea. Whatever it really is, it has one purpose: to Manifest members of the Triumvirate, Ternion or Troika as if they never part of their respective factions to begin with.
- The mechanics used are similar to how Grim Artists can Manifest as Non-Renaissance figments of themselves in the Hex Renaissance, and also how SHEATHES are created by SEEDS Platform Realms, but even more potent. There are no Cosmic or Beyond-Cosmic Beings that can fathom how detached Manifestations via the Ternate are from the Troika, which is supposed to be the lowliest of the bunch. The Ternate doesn’t even show up as part of that Hierarchy, that is, where the Triumvirate ‘parented’ the Ternion, which in turn ‘parented’ the Troika. Even the most distant of the SWORDS’ disowned STABS Colonies can’t be considered a progenitor or a 'chain link' of the Ternate.
- However, while the Hex Renaissance was made for Grim Artists exclusively (and even without their true Prerogative, a non-Renaissance Grim Artist can still be Beyond-Cosmic to an unreasonable degree) the Ternate also caters to their companion factions.
- The Protocols, Techniques and Decrees involved are largely unknown, but it has been hinted that they are applied before ‘Adventurers’ (which is what folks from the Triumvirate, Ternion and Troika will referred to in this Appendix for abbreviation’s sake) even attempt to leave their respective faction, and that they are applied to their Manifestations hailing from the very least of ‘disowned’ SHEATHES; such Manifestations were already disassociated with their ‘source material’ to begin with. Additional countless myriads of innumerable ‘total diluting’ procedures are enacted on these ‘Adventurer’ Manifestations in the process of going forth, and even more of those once those succeed in ‘departing’.
- So perfect is this ‘departure’ that it can even be used to make a Sub-Ternate, where one can ‘Adventure’ with ‘True Cosmics’ involved, but there is still the detachment factor present and in full force. It can be so that anytime the Triumvirate is factually stated and played out as not being merely another Sub-Ternate, the contrary can be true. There are rumors that the SHEATHES-700 found in an earlier Appendix (and by extension its revealed ‘Siblings’ and its ‘Parents’) may be a Sub-Ternate playing host to the real SHEATHES-700, implying that it's basically 'Adventuring' as itself, and that its ‘Cosmic Assets’ may not really be 100% Cosmic while still being more than a match for the real deal, ludicrous as that may sound. Nobody knows for sure.
- Because such SHEATHES are already ‘utterly part’ of their Target Zone, they can no longer be called SHEATHES (Separate-Hegemony Empire; Apportioned Territory for Heraldic Excursions of the SWORDS), but are referred to as SCARS (Severed Canon; Absolute-Retcon of a SHEATHES). The destination of those ‘Adventurers’ therefore is usually location in the Target Zone of SCARS with an Assigned Number no higher than 90 for genuine Ternates, and no higher than 900 for Sub-Ternates.
- In order to accommodate ‘Adventurers’ who complete their meticulous ‘departing’, a SCUFFS (Splinter Canon; Unveiled Fringe-Faction of a SCARS — the Ternate equivalent of STABS Colony) is injected into a realm where they would Manifest in, if that realm already has a version of themselves in it. Some say it takes a great deal of cooperation between Manifestations to accomplish this, that is, perhaps in the case of the Ternion, the Hegemony has provided the ‘host’, the Renaissance eliminates any potentially disruptive elements in the ‘Adventurer’, and the Network smuggles in what’s needed for ‘you to still be you’.
- As mentioned in the previous paragraph, it is a must for the Ternate to use a preexisting resident ‘Alternate Reality Version’ of an ‘Adventurer’ as the Manifestation itself. In a regular omniverse where all possibilities exist, or in a special omniverse, where all impossibilities also exist, there is probably an exact duplicate of any given person somewhere. While factions like Wolfsbane and gang are rumored to have consumed all variants of them on the Beyond-Cosmic level that they have allowed to exist for the sole purpose of harvesting, they seem to have left their mundane ‘Alternates’ alone, but nothing is 100% confirmed as of now. However, with Emperor Vulcan as an example, by ‘piloting’ a ‘self’ that was never part of SHEATHES-10 to begin (with using a ‘self’ disjointed from ‘true self’) he could be somewhere having fun without actually being there. It’s not akin to mere virtual reality or a daydream. This is something, as mentioned earlier, not even Higher Entities can grasp.
- All things in effect, if played out right, Emperor Vulcan of SHEATHES-10 won’t ruin his ‘Adventurer’ Manifestation’s exploits, and once over, there won’t be any messes that will link back to him.
- On that note, yes, Emperor Vulcan can be considered human. There are humans born in SHEATHES-10, maybe partially out of his Essence, and as a result, their Emperor is also human. If a Monarch can be every idea and occasion in their Territory, they can be all their humans too. It’s a state of being that transcends sense and self-contradiction, much like how their dominion over their Assets transcend any foreign command or power.
- Of course, not every ‘Adventurer’ opts to experience things first-hand. Some of them simply prefer to observe how their ‘Alternate’ goes about with their business. Again, this is ensures no disruptions. Some members of the SWORDS are so powerful that even the act of observation could influence or wreck everything, not unlike the relationship between scientists and quantum particles.
- Regardless of the ‘Adventurer’ and the ‘Adventure’, there is an unfeigned experience to be had, without anything owned of True Cosmic gestalt soiling the whole ordeal, at the barest minimum. Many times, the Ternate doesn’t even actualize as a faction or get involved with an ‘Adventure’. Some ‘Adventurers’ are so ‘bound’ to their Target Zone, it’s as if they were a true resident all along, and consequently, the lives they live out would have been whatever would have transpired to begin with.
- Of course, there are occasions where the Ternate exists as ‘The Ternate’. Nobody knows why exactly. Whatever reasons escape documentation, and the Target Zones for such Ternates have had all sorts of designations, from Excell-Enclosed Realities, to Fictional Works, to even previous ‘Adventures’ where the Ternate had not been identifiable.
- The organization of a Ternate seems loosely based on that of the Ternion and relatives. Most ‘basic components’ of Ternates generally speaking can be summed up as so:
WHAT COMPRISES THE CRAZINESS
- Imperial Division: The ‘empire-building’ aspect of the Ternate. It is about the Ternate being a large-sale enterprise. This side of the Ternate has to do with everything from armies, to economy, to borders.
- Individual Division: The ‘core-personnel’ aspect of the Ternate. It is about the Ternate being made up of essential and/or special persons. This side of the Ternate has to do with ‘Adventurers’ themselves.
- Institute Division: The ‘group-interaction’ aspect of the Ternate. It is about the existence of collectives, not necessarily those of an actual government. This side of the Ternate has to do with organizations.
- Machina Essence: The ‘Mind’ of the Ternate. It is about the civilized setting of the Ternate. Everything from sciences, to technology, to mechanisms: this side of the Ternate revels in logic and progress, dwelling on ‘what something may be’. Can be fused with the other Essences into more advanced gestalts, like the Divina and Totala, of which the latter is used to Manifest Ternate Azegans Denizens
- Arcana Essence: The ‘Soul’ of the Ternate. It is about the supernatural setting of the Ternate. Everything from mythos, to spells, to deities: this side of the Ternate revels in impossibility and fiction, dwelling on what something isn’t’. Can be fused with the other Essences into more advanced gestalts, like the Bellua and Obscura, of which the latter is used to Manifest Ternate Wolfsbane Operatives.
- Natura Essence: The ‘Flesh’ of the Ternate. It is about the universal setting of the Ternate. Everything from life, to physical laws, to environments: this side of the Ternate revels in reality and existence, dwelling on what something is’. Can be fused with the other Essences into more advanced gestalts, like the Cybora and Fabula, of which the latter is used to Manifest Ternate Grim Renaissance Artists.
- Passerby Tier: The ‘Uninterested Adventurers’ of the Ternate. These Manifestations are akin to the ‘extras’ on a movie set. Their ‘Adventure’ will barely notice if they die in a freak accident.
- Support Tier: The ‘Casual Adventurers’ the Ternate. These Manifestations are akin to ‘side characters’ in a novel. Both important and passive, they flavor an ‘Adventure’ without being too influential.
- Champion Tier: The ‘Devoted Adventurers’ of the Ternate. These Manifestations are akin to the ‘main protagonists’ of a story. They are the centerpieces of their ‘Adventure’, which ceases if they do.
- Now, whenever such Ternates exist, and each one can vary in design and self-awareness, certain iconic figures via ‘Adventurer’ Manifestations can and will be spotted.
- As for what kinds of emprises those ‘Adventurers’ can go through, a few of the many ‘Types’ will unveiled in an upcoming section of this Appendix. However, no matter what ‘Adventures’ one chooses to go on, no matter what one’s taste for excitement is, there is something of worth in going to the Ternate for it. While it’s true that recreation via the Ternate isn’t truly superior to or more genuine than recreation in places like the Ternion, when it comes to a much-needed break from the ‘Cosmic Extremes’ of business and routine the former is worthy of receiving attendants hailing from the latter. Of course, just because an ‘Adventurer’ doesn’t want to deal with Higher Entities doesn’t mean the latter shares that sentiment.
WHAT IF COSMICS INTRUDE?
- There are occasions when Cosmic Entities, or even just rivals in general, get wind of the existence of the Ternate and anyone on an ‘Adventure’ within it. Perpetrators trying to play the part of party-pooper have been found even within the Triumvirate’s ranks. In fact, ‘The Triumvirate’ himself – Joshua Dsiorpov – has been known to ‘troll’ the likes of Damien by ruining the latter’s escapades on sole principle of being playfully annoying. Likewise, Siegfried bothers Delmorte, and Empress Hecate lovingly teases her Sibling Monarch, Emperor Ramses. On other occasions, however, the joy-killing is more spiteful. Normally, it’s unaffiliated Cosmic or Beyond-Cosmic foes who will attempt to demonstrate their ‘perfect superiority’ on the diluted Manifestation of, for this Appendix’s case, the Wolfsbane Bosses. Why they do so can vary. Some simply want to hurt the Bosses in effigy. Others believe that they can somehow transmit through ‘upwards translation’ something harmful to the ‘source material’. Whatever the case, nothing has succeeded. Such miscreants soon learn that even against the lowly Ternate they have no clout, and it is a lesson applied via what is perhaps one of the greatest and ugliest blows to Cosmic Pride ever brought to bear: Noncosmics shrugging off Cosmics.
- It’s a line that Bosses have easily crossed many times, as hinted in a previous Article showcasing some of their Protocols. But, nowhere else does this impossibility, this farce, this ridiculousness occur with such shameless vehemence and vehement shamelessness as it does in the Ternate proper. This is what makes the Bosses and their ilk one of a kind. While everyone else aims to display their power by going ‘big’, the Bosses can not only blow them away with the ‘big’, but also with the ‘small’. While others can only engage in a never-ending arms race via ‘escalation of might’, the Bosses can let loose with a strength made perfect in weakness, something they’ve seem to have borrowed from Siegfried’s faith. While everyone must ascend and 'improve' to beat foes, the Bosses can descend and condescend to do the same. There will always be copycats or liars who try to take this trophy away from them, but only the Bosses have first pushed it this far so effortlessly, and still do, to the point where no rip-off could hope to overtake them.
- Some would argue that this is a fib. There is simply no way for a Noncosmic to deflect, imitate or combat the abilities of even the weakest Cosmic Entity. This isn’t a notion remotely feasible in any reality, or existence, or imagination whatsoever. Cosmics trounce Noncosmics by default, Cosmics are automatically superior to Noncosmics, Cosmics outclass Noncosmics by an absolute, period. Except, that’s not always the case. There exist reports of Superhumans having Cosmic-Tier powers without actually being Cosmic themselves. The way the Bosses have done this, however, is entirely different; Cosmic-like Superhumans still go ‘big’ when matching True Cosmics, but let’s put them specifically out of the picture for a second. How many hierarchies and sequences of realms one can terminate with less than minimal effort, how much bigger one is compared to the biggest of the big, how much more ‘Incomprehensibly-Beyond’ (and all other synonyms of ‘better’, 'higher', or 'absolute') one might be when pitted against 'similar others', and so on: that seems to be the way purveyors of the ‘Cosmic Genre’ one-up each other. What the Bosses have done instead is enable True Noncosmics to brush off even the greatest True Cosmics via their Protocols. To get to the point, this is the case with the Ternate, only no Boss Protocols are involved. Mundane Ternates plough through Cosmic attempts to sabotage ‘Adventures’ on what seems to be a ‘just because’ basis.
- To reiterate, Noncosmics immune to Cosmics for no reason whatsoever.
- Well, almost no reason.
- Cozen, as stated in an earlier Appendix, is a delightful concoction used by the likes of the SWORDS as a replacement for Magic. However, that’s only in its programmed form, where mechanics are built into it that allow for the transformation into its Target Zone’s consensus of what Magic is. Essentially, that modified Cozen is ‘Fantasy’ given form, without help from the ‘Fantastical’. Now, Cozen goes through a detachment and dilution process for each Target Zone by default, so having it tailored for Ternate uses is easy. Even as low as a SCARS-0 equivalent, however, raw Cozen is still ‘Magic without Magic’, ‘Reality without Reality’, and ‘Logic without Logic’, ‘Power without Power’, ‘Thing without Thing’, and ‘Function without Function’. It can still be used to bring about special feats, statuses and effects. It can still become what a Target considers ‘Fantasy’, or even what the Cozen User assumes a Target believes is ‘Impossible and Supernatural’. It can still operate based on a ‘just because’ basis. The Ternate’s Cozen (also known as ‘Hax’ due to it undergoing the same overly-complicated ‘Detachment Procedure’ as ‘Adventurers’) is employed not just as the currency, foundation and governor for the Ternate’s abilities, but also to render its’ ‘Adventurers’ immune to interference from anything 'Cosmic', or 'Transcosmic', etc.
- Much like how Magic can be used to circumvent regular Logic, Hax can also break ‘Cosmic Logic’, other 'Logic-breakers', and all synonyms and antonyms of such, disregarding of any kind of pecking order (and the means by which it was established, like power or arbitrary absolutes) or stats Cosmics have that sets them over Noncosmics, and in that same vein, each other. To make matters worse, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. No matter what, Hax enables Noncosmics to treat all Cosmics, as well as anything of that tier, as if they were less than nothing; at no point do the Hax nor the ‘Adventurers’ involved reach a state beyond ‘High-Tier Superhuman’ whenever this happens. They are literally as non-transcendent as possible, and this evident by how they still can’t affect or perceive True Cosmics. The protection granted by Hax can never be used offensively. It simply makes it so nothing Cosmic can ruin an ‘Adventure’, and this immunity itself is immune to undermining. What Hax actually does to actualize this guard can vary. Sometimes, a Ternate simply never reacts to a Cosmic vandal. No matter how many ‘Cardinalities of Places’ a Cosmic Attack can reduce to oblivion, an ‘Adventure’ remains unscathed by it and continues unimpeded, unaware it even avoided destruction. Some Cosmics are bamboozled into thinking they destroyed the Ternate, and some are instantly trapped in a Supremacell (the SCARS’s breed of Excell), which is a Noncosmic prison capable of holding Cosmics; once in a while, it’s both. This leads to several 'contradictions' about the Ternate being solely Non-Cosmic in essence, but they're all just technicalities, more or less.
- Of course, the purpose of all this is simply to protect ‘Adventurers’. Most, if not all, True Cosmics are fully aware of Hax-based blockades and don’t bother Ternates. Thing is, being True Cosmics, they are above a particular word that plagues most Sub-par Cosmics: ego. They don’t have to prove their greatness; they are beyond even that notion. They aren’t stupid enough to entangle themselves in a net they know can take them on, a net that uses a means they won’t pretend they can understand or counter; they are beyond the need to win. It’s actually interesting to note that the more ‘True Cosmic’ an entity becomes, the less showy, self-praising and pretentious it is. Fact is, Hax has never once snared a True Cosmic; unlike Cozen, it wasn’t built to hide its muscle, and once True Cosmics spot that, they simply pass by. Thus far, only hooligan Manifestations of Hex Renaissance Artists have breached it, but such a breach requires disciplinary action from the appropriate authorities rather than the deployment of Hax. For everyone else, even indirect efforts by Cosmics (hiring Noncosmics, for example) don’t affect Ternates. Sub-Ternates are different animal, but that is a tale for another time, although, it will be stated that get-togethers with friendly Cosmics do happen in those. What will be mentioned, instead, are the kinds of ‘Adventures’ that can occur in regular Ternates.
WHAT STORIES PARTICIPANTS SAVOR
- There are many kinds of interesting exploits ‘Adventurers’ go on. Not all of them have such a happy ending, and pretty much all of them never elapse quite as planned or expected. As mentioned earlier, an ‘Adventure’ can happen virtually anywhere, and in virtually any scenario. The only caveat is that ‘True Cosmics’ cannot abound or be a thing of no great rarity/importance. Sub-Ternates are another matter entirely, as said earlier, but many fundamentals can apply. Six of the various kinds will be discussed here, as well as an example of each.
- ‘Epic-Type Adventures’ are progress-focused and incident-based. They combine many elements from all kinds of ‘Adventure Types’. These rely the most on the Champion-Tier. They’re a lot less rigid than ‘Quest-Type’ Adventures but a lot more driven than ‘Sandbox-Type Adventures’; the former is an ordeal sparked by something and participants must strive for a certain endgame, and the latter is a setting where all ‘Adventurers’ do is simply exist. ‘Epic-Type Adventures’ are journeys headed somewhere, but that somewhere isn’t always clear. As with the ‘Quests-Type Adventures’, there can be many twists and turns in said journey, and something may need to be done about problems that arise, but there are no mandatory checkpoints or goals. As with ‘Sandbox-Type Adventures’, there can be a grand setting or realm to play in, but no mandatory actions or interactions to enact, and no necessary roles or conflicts to dabble in.
- The ‘Scales of Fate’ Saga was a dilemma involving three whole realms, pushing the boundaries of Ternate preferences. But, since the entire ‘cast’ was pretty much only ‘Extreme-Superhuman’ up to ‘Non-Cosmic Celestials’ on the power charts, it was a stressful ordeal, but nothing too insane. Nobody shattered an infinite amount of universes with an errant twitch. That being said, the immensity of the ‘Adventure’ itself was very much in the upper Echelons of Ternate limits. During the ‘Scales of Fate’ Incident, the Realm of Chaos and the Realm of Order were stuck in a delicate ‘see-saw’ around Earth’s Universe. Both Realms sought to eliminate each other, not knowing that an absolute victory would spell doom for everyone, including themselves. Were one Realm to eliminate the other, the entire ‘see-saw’ would irreversibly tip and plunge towards either Pure Chaos (Chaos beyond Chaos, a state that ‘did not make sense’ and would obliterate the Realm of Chaos, which still needed ties to Reality to exist) or Pure Order (Order beyond Order, a state of absolute Nothingness where there is no unpredictability, chance, disruption, change, or movement) both of which meant bad news for Earth. Even the third proposed solution, to destroy Chaos and Order simultaneously, was out of the question due to lack of manpower. Not to mention the backlash of destroying both the Realms of Order and Chaos would snap the ‘see-saw’ in twain and tear apart Earth’s Realm in its wake. It was a perilous and immovable balancing act. The problem was, the longer the fight dragged on, the more tragedies and atrocities happened in Earth’s Realm. Things were resolved by a wise king (identity secret for now) who aided and directed the Ternate’s ‘Adventurers’, who had taken the form of powerful mages, into creating a gigantic spell that caused the Realms of Chaos and Order to revolve around Earth’s Realm like the ‘Yin-Yang’ concept. The spell bound each Realm’s denizens to their respective plane, except for a few individuals who were let in periodically to resolve matters in a more diplomatic way, while keeping the weight of the ‘Scales’ equal. The spell turned the unstable ‘see saw’ into a stable ‘spinning-top’. The only thing left to do was to cause the Chaos and Order Delegates to find a way to fuse their essences, creating beings of both Chaos and Order, champions who then went on long trials of their own to convince (or in some cases, force) their factions to enter a eternally-harmonious unity with their nemesis. Polar opposites, now as one, working alongside all. Lasting peace would set in, but only after many well-won hardships.
- ‘Survival-Type Adventures’ are more success-focused and exploration-based. They have an aspect of competition, but also cooperation. ’Adventurers’ who don’t have what it takes to stay alive will die, and that’s that. Lighthearted variants, maybe involving a TV show, are not as endearing or precious. This ‘Adventure’ is highly freeform, but unlike ‘Sandbox-Type’ Adventures, there is a clear goal that is both long-term and short-term. Where that goal differs from the mission-based ‘Quest-Type Adventures’ is that it has been tailored to be unattainable. There isn’t usually a proper story, and if there is one, it’s often beyond an ‘Adventurer’s’ abilities to influence strongly. To be the last one standing is not cause for celebration, as is in ‘Contest-Type Adventures’, but a terrible and lonesome doom. Now, while it’s true that nothing is favorable or glorious about, say, being slowly butchered by cannibals (and especially where the ‘Adventurer’ has no memory or perception of the Ternate, the pain and terror in the heat of the moment are as real as it gets) the details can definitely be a great conversation-starter in the aftermath of that ‘Adventure’s’ completion.
- The ‘Apocalypse of Cardinal Directions’ is a favorite of the Ternate, in fact, among the most frequently-replayed. It usually takes place on a devastated planet Earth, where humanity (mundane or with special powers of its own) struggles to stay alive in the midst of four warring oppressors. From the bottomless abyss (South) poured forth the forces of Hell: demons and undead. From the skies (North) descended alien invaders of all kinds, albeit no more than two types per ‘Adventure’. From humanity’s own sins, a machine uprising born of the world’s deadliest military (West), and Magitech or Cybertech instances can occur here. From the planet itself, as in most animes (East), Earth has produced ‘antibodies’ to rid itself of humanity and all other filth in the form of Kaiju, and/or Elementals, and/or other natural disasters. There is often no winner in this ‘Adventure’. If there is a victory, no matter who it belongs to, it’s often a hollow, pyrrhic one that only lasts until the next wave of unconquerable marauders. The longest record for holding out currently belongs to Bellatrice, who managed to put off the inevitable for nearly a century before old age (and a well-aimed tsunami) claimed her. The closest anyone has come to winning was when Lee got assimilated into the aliens’ hive, where he and his biomass unexpectedly started to corrupt it from within. After a few devastating campaigns against the demons and machines, he was killed out of ignorance and fear by one of the survivalists, Valeria, the only person he refused to harm.
- ‘Contest-Type Adventures’ are more action-focused and rule-based. They combine elements of survival and questing. ‘Adventurers’ who fail are eliminated, temporarily or permanently, figuratively or literally. There may be a large plot or grand scheme looming in the horizon, but whatever it is, it isn’t necessarily the driving force of this kind of ‘Adventure’, which can be as simple as a mere one-time duel to the death. Participants can be very cutthroat and treacherous here, as they’re normally in it for the sake of winning, and/or simply because they like the thrill of bashing heads with each other. Prizes or scoreboards needn’t be discarded once the ‘Adventure’ ends (due to nothing follows participants out of the Ternate) since they might be useful in a different ‘Adventure’ or Ternate. Of all the ‘Types’, this ‘Adventure’ is the most game-like, dealing with a great deal of ‘Adventurers’ from self-recognizing Ternates, many of them with a score to settle amongst each other.
- The ‘Traitor Grail Tournament’: a grand melee where the crème-de-la-crème of civilizations from all over the universe (and maybe the neighboring dimensions) are gathered to fight for the Crown of Paragons, a legendary prize that grants its bearer nonpareil longevity and power, with the added benefit of a personal empire to rule. Matches can be between individuals or groups, and there may be obstacles and/or goals every round. Cheating is allowed, but only within the Arena itself, not that everybody follows that. Killing one’s enemy isn’t encouraged, but permanent misfortunes don’t exactly tend to illicit sympathy from either fighter or audience alike. Once the champions have been declared, the trap springs and the label of this ‘Adventure’ becomes clearer. The Crown of Paragons is a parasitic item that is a mixture of collective hive entity and ancient relic. Prior to entering, contestants are made to sign a contract that is actually a binding mechanism and enchantment that ties them to the Crown of Paragons, which then samples and secretly assimilates the power of its victims into itself. Once the winner dons it, the Crown of Paragons turns them into a device/phenomenon that absorb and enslaves the rest of its bearer’s race, species, and/or civilization, using them as the focal point for a massive and ravenous nexus. This process is insanely discreet. Nobody notices anything after the current tournament ends. Once it secures its new thralls, who in time waste away and quietly disappear, the Crown repeats the whole process, setting up a new Tournament and sending out invites. And, by feeding only on the winner’s kind and kin, the Crown ensures that it only draws sustenance from the best meals. This ‘Adventure’ is an example of one that can flow from one ‘Type’ into another. Sometimes, ‘Adventurers’ foil the Crown’s attempt to hijack them. Other times, they don’t. Occasionally, things spiral out of control, and the Tournament becomes the spark which ignites a far grander and long-lasting tale. The latest 'Traitor Grail Tournament' at this Appendix's making pitted Dante and Damien against each other during the semi-finals as two warriors blessed by the Philippine War Gods Ynaguinid and Macanduc. What the Crown thought was a fight was merely a warm up. The cousins had grown bored of the Tournament's pace and decided they would take on everyone; they had entered without any interest in the Crown or its prizes, only joining because they wanted a good scrap. After quickly roughing up each other, they turned on all the other tournament-goers, and then on the Crown itself when it tried to intervene, shaking off their contracts with the help of their Patron deities. The cousins met their demise after several days of nonstop brutality, not by the hands of an enemy, but from sheer exhaustion atop a mountain of vanquished champions. Their ending was nuts, but they did revel in every second of the brawl.
- ‘Quest-Type Adventures’ are objectives-focused and results-based. Whatever plot or fates awaits the characters hinges on a set directive. They can borrow elements of longevity and unpredictability from ‘Epic-Type Adventures’, as well as elements of competition and elimination from ‘Contest-Types’. There can be teamwork and factions involved, especially where espionage and overt ops are concerned. Sometimes, the ‘Adventurer’ could be a loner, perhaps on a road to self-discovery and/or vengeance. These kinds of ‘Adventures’ always end with success or failure, whereas sagas keep going, meandering through life events until something big occurs by happenstance or design. Plot twists aren’t uncommon, but not a necessity.
- ‘Glenna’s Rescue’ once was played by Tobias Leon-Gogh as a young but prodigious village swordsman named Kenric. ‘Glenna’s Rescue’ took place on an ordinary Earth, right round the end of the ninth century, during a series of Viking raids on the British Isles. Kenric's home town was savaged by a group of raiders who made off with not only the year’s store of food, but his very own fiancé. With winter fast approaching, the village fled to the embrace of a large, charitable town that had more than enough essentials to spare. But, rather than chose a life of safety, Kenric decided to make an attempt to save the love of his life. Setting out by himself, angered at how Glenna’s family decided to abandon her, Kenric braved the tempestuous English Channel. An errant wave shipwrecked him onto France’s shore hundreds of miles from his intended destination, so he had to soldier forwards on land. He fought and snuck his away across Europe, gaining and losing friends along the way to Scandinavia, gathering as much information as he could in order to locate the band of Vikings that stole Glenna. He never made it. Turns out, Glenna was the one who led the Vikings to her village, and she wasn’t so much kidnapped as she was escorted. When Glenna and her new lover, Elric (none other than Siegfried himself) found out about Kenric’s quest, they set up a trap for him. After his capture, Kenric was tortured for sport, suffering for hours before being thrown into a dungeon to wait for his public execution on the following day. His only consolation prize was dying of Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy in the middle of the night, an ailment also known as Broken Heart Syndrome.
- ‘Reenactment-Type Adventures’ are story-focused and replay-based. This ‘Adventure’ type is special in that it requires a Ternate to merge with both a timeline and setting, commonly without any real freedom to change or twist anything. While the Ternate’s detachment procedure technically causes a Ternate to possess an Alternate’s fate and essence, ‘Reenactment-Type Adventures’ are specifically for the purpose of repeating something, not just letting something elapse. These ‘Adventures’ can vary in terms of strictness. Some ‘Reenactments’ have 0% allowance for variation, especially if it’s historical in nature. Others have more wiggle room, especially if it’s fictional in nature. ‘Reenactments’ can be even be performed on other ‘Adventures Types,’ either for the purpose of repeating them exactly or to bring about a different ending.
- ‘The Quest for the Golden Fleece’ is another Ternate favorite, and plays out pretty much the same way. The one difference is that characters are replaced with ‘Adventurer’ Manifestations. Usually, said Manifestations fully aware of the Ternate and that this is a ‘Reenactment-Type Adventure’. Not everyone gets to play the roles they want all the time, but disgruntlement can make for good hilarity. Of course, when an ‘Adventurer’ does land a preferred role in the story, he/she/it tends to milk it to the point of hilarity. This ‘Adventure’ caters to a lot of observer ‘Adventurers’, albeit not as much as ‘Documentary-Types’, which features virtually no hands-on involvement.
- ‘Sandbox-Type Adventures’ are setting-focused and freeform-based. This ‘Adventure-Type’ can be quite simple: ‘Adventurers’ are Manifested into a particular setting, and they can do whatever they want within it, whenever they want, however they want. Such simplicity can be deceiving, though. These ‘Adventures’ can produce semblances of all the other ‘Types’, and often have the largest parameters, at least in terms of the boundaries where it takes place. The caveat is that any ‘Mini-Adventure’ that takes place within them is not formally induced or produced by the Ternate; those are always brought about by the ‘Adventurers’’ own actions.
- ‘Earth Ultimate’ takes place on an exaggerated version of humanity’s home. This planet Earth is similar to a normal one in many ways, but also has plenty of differences. For example, it’s dozens of times larger whole continuing to exert the same gravitational pull. It seems to be stuck in a permanent state of ‘Old World History’, with an era range that goes as far back as the Early Stone Age, but nothing newer than the Late Renaissance. Nations, cultures and peoples are also highly exaggerated, stylized, and romanticized. Spartans are nigh-superhuman brass-clad warriors, Japan and China sports unrealistic Martial Artists, English Knights and Bowmen are stuff of legends, the Aboriginals of Northern America have bonded with nature and the world in unbelievable ways, and so on. Everything from Da-Vinci Clockwork, Old-Fashioned Firearms, to Mystic Arts, to Shadowy Assassins, to Naval Armadas, to Ancient Extraterrestrial Contact, to Massive Wonder Constructs: the world as humans knows it has taken on a new kind of insanity, and it is an insanity that extends to even the wildlife and the terrain. All kinds of craziness can unfold here, and they can be as intimate as a friendship between two rivals from enemy clans, to as heartless as multi-nation feud with all sorts of political games involved. ‘Adventurers’ can be anything and anyone here, be it a bandit mastermind who calculates moves on a massive chess board, or a heroic captain rallying troops on the front lines, or a lowly slave vying for freedom, or a nation’s unflinching, invincible ruler.
- With ‘Adventure Types’ ranging from the game-like ‘Dungeon’ to the educational ‘Documentary’, all able to cover manifold kinds of genres, the Ternate is another crazy, gimmicky venue that Network and its peers make a success despite it having no right to be, against all odds and against all critics. Its existence is nowhere near vital, but still its ‘Adventurers’ hang onto it with a great deal of gusto, fervor and endearment even. Now, as to who those 'Adventurers' are, a few iconic figures hailing from a very special ZED Triad will be unveiled in the next Appendix. After all, what good is a game without its players?
- If anything, the Ternate is a small testament to the humanity of folks from the likes of the Wolfsbane Bosses. They find no degradation in stooping to savor the little things in life, little things that the titans they dole out as mere commodities often take for granted, all for sake of savoring them. Fun matters to humans, no matter how seemingly trivial, or needless, or unnecessary. So, for as long as fun in the Ternate remains unsullied by Cosmics – and it will – the Bosses’ favorite playground will stay a sweet dish that never sours, a paradox where ‘pricelessness’, ‘creativity’ and ‘expendability’ merge to form a haven of fresh, unadulterated repose.
WOLFSBANE SERIES
ARTICLE 01: rafael-domination.deviantart.c…
ARTICLE 02: rafael-domination.deviantart.c…
ARTICLE 03: rafael-domination.deviantart.c…
ARTICLE 04: rafael-domination.deviantart.c…
ARTICLE 05: rafael-domination.deviantart.c…
ARTICLE 06: rafael-domination.deviantart.c…
ARTICLE 07: rafael-domination.deviantart.c…
ARTICLE 08: rafael-domination.deviantart.c…
ARTICLE 09: rafael-domination.deviantart.c…
ARTICLE 10: rafael-domination.deviantart.c…
APPENDIX 01: rafael-domination.deviantart.c…
APPENDIX 02: rafael-domination.deviantart.c…
APPENDIX 03: rafael-domination.deviantart.c…
APPENDIX 04: YOU ARE HERE
APPENDIX 05: rafael-domination.deviantart.c…
WHEN FUN BECOMES FORGETTABLE
- There is an objective trend with the most popular forms of fictional works when it comes to humans in general, despite how subjective Art can be: the top books, films and games rarely, if ever, feature True Cosmic beings as the main characters. There may be cases that feature items, entities or schemes that span and/or threaten ‘creation’ or entire universes, but the capability to crush multiple existences is never a thing of effortlessness or commonality. The ‘star of the show’ is usually human, humanized, or at the very least aspires to be either or both. There are many rules and hindrances, many inhibitions and prohibitions, many borders and consequences that allow for an intense and unpredictable storyline, which in turn allow implemented plot points and setting aesthetics to make a lot more sense. While it’s true that regular folk do wish to be something better than they currently are, hence the massive success of ‘Superhero Stories’, even on a Non-Cosmic and/or human level an outright invincible or otherwise omnipotent entity is considered boring and worthless, and franchises containing an abundance of such that have managed not to be hated due to some redeeming quality still never match more ‘down to earth’ franchises in popularity and value. It is plain to see:
- ‘Human’ is fundamental, ‘Super’ is applauded, and ‘Cosmic’ is scorned.
- Even works proclaimed as ‘Ultimate’ in terms of ‘Cosmic Attributes’ have an unfortunately human element to them. Anything from weapons, materials, to limbs, to energy, to attacks, to the risk of failure (all of which many True Cosmics are above having) and the exhilaration of victory: that it must be fathomable and relatable to be enjoyable is a creative feature both inescapable, wonderful, and necessary. It’s alright if the ‘Cosmic’ Artwork itself was made to cater only to its maker and/or a few others who share the same tastes. It’s even more alright – awesome, even – if ‘Cosmic’ Artwork was made just for the hell of it, perhaps with no larger audience catered to, purely a demonstration one’s ability to create, proving that even Cosmic Beings are subject to Artists. But to output ‘Cosmic’ Artwork and expect (or in some cases demand) that everyone stand in awe and praise the maker for owning something nobody can ‘match’ or ‘emulate’ is an idiotic move at best. To think that one’s personal Canon can infallibly invalidate, influence or involve all others is even more idiotic.
- To those with enough guts to admit it, as a baseline ‘Cosmic’ Artwork plays second fiddle to ‘Non-Cosmic’ Artwork. Ultimately, ‘Cosmic’ really isn’t that special to begin with – quite literally anyone with so much as mediocre levels of creativity can play at what ‘pioneers’ and 'top players' of that genre hinge their work off, i.e. the act of elevating their creations over the competition’s in all possible facets. Any moron can spy on others and respond to inspired envy by pumping up personal Canon for pride’s sake. Any novice can continuously add terms equating to ‘Infinity and Beyond’ as prefixes or suffixes to the ‘oh-so-absolute’ traits of his/her creations. Any windbag can pretend he/she is the one setting the bar, the one who can’t be beaten, that his/her statements and descriptions about all Canon (revelations of/concerning anything behind/beyond Fiction itself and/or the ‘Fourth Wall’, revelations about all-encompassing truths in regards to the relationship between real life and imagination, and so on, and so forth) hold even an iota of sway outside one’s personal Creative Domain. It takes a master to conjure up power without depending on others for a frame of reference, riding the coattails of hard workers to numb their insecurities and deficiencies. It takes a genius to create infinite possibilities with finite ingredients while unleashing originality and quality. It takes a boss to be the best without flaunting it, to be a badass without saying it, to be the top dog while being unafraid of helping out others for fear of being overtaken. Admirers for the ‘Cosmic’ Genre are rare anyways, even for the few who can mix the ‘Mundane’, the ‘Imaginary’ and the ‘Cosmic’ properly. It’s a bitter pill for some to swallow, like Joshua Dsiorpov, to realize that none of their ‘Cosmic’ brainchildren will likely ever have any worthwhile impact, that for all the loftiness of the ‘Cosmic Genre’ it is nothing but lonely and unsatisfactory dead end. Unlike Joshua Dsiorpov, however, there will always be some who never transcend the ‘Cosmic’ genre itself and move onto greener pastures, some who are doomed to uselessly boast at how undefeatable their works are (and by extension much more special they think they are) to a few stragglers while rest of the world moves on, utterly unstained, utterly unaffected, utterly untouched, and better for it.
- As such, it's no surprise that many human members of the Triumvirate, the Ternion, and the Troika willingly opt to go forth and have an outing that doesn’t involve anything overtly Cosmic. Not all of them share the same tastes in scale and complexity of adventure, but there’s something refreshing about only having to worry about the fate of the a city they’ve come to love, as opposed to say an entire supercluster of mega-realms they’ve come to gloss over; there’s something precious to be gained or lost when limitations are a source of definition and not mere deprivation.
- It will not be elaborated here as to why the aforementioned three won’t just barge into places that cannot contain them; previous Articles that have already touched up on that. There are countless why’s, what-if’s and which’s that either have no answer, don’t need an answer, or have an answer that frankly can’t be comprehended. Why do this in the first place? Answer: why not? Can’t they do this stuff in their own headquarters? Yes, but why should that stop them from doing otherwise? Do they actually gain or remember anything from such outings? Yes, no, and unknown. The list goes on, and most of it leads into greater and more convoluted queries.
- Important to note: this is no matter of dire urgency or importance. As is the case with people with way more authority than is decent, some activities are done in a manner (regardless of how impractical or inefficient) dictated by mere whims. This is a simply a case of ‘I want it my way’.
- Regardless, in order for the aforementioned parties to experience events, places and persons without their ‘usual selves’ getting in the way (while still ‘being themselves‘) some special hocus pocus had to be done, not for their well-being, but for everyone else’s.
WHERE EXPERIENCE IS EXCITING
- The Ternate is considered a ‘place’ only for the sake of definition, the same way the SWORDS’s realms might be. Like its superiors’ assets, its ‘inside’ is in fact larger than its ‘outside’. It can also be considered an organization, event or idea. Whatever it really is, it has one purpose: to Manifest members of the Triumvirate, Ternion or Troika as if they never part of their respective factions to begin with.
- The mechanics used are similar to how Grim Artists can Manifest as Non-Renaissance figments of themselves in the Hex Renaissance, and also how SHEATHES are created by SEEDS Platform Realms, but even more potent. There are no Cosmic or Beyond-Cosmic Beings that can fathom how detached Manifestations via the Ternate are from the Troika, which is supposed to be the lowliest of the bunch. The Ternate doesn’t even show up as part of that Hierarchy, that is, where the Triumvirate ‘parented’ the Ternion, which in turn ‘parented’ the Troika. Even the most distant of the SWORDS’ disowned STABS Colonies can’t be considered a progenitor or a 'chain link' of the Ternate.
- However, while the Hex Renaissance was made for Grim Artists exclusively (and even without their true Prerogative, a non-Renaissance Grim Artist can still be Beyond-Cosmic to an unreasonable degree) the Ternate also caters to their companion factions.
- The Protocols, Techniques and Decrees involved are largely unknown, but it has been hinted that they are applied before ‘Adventurers’ (which is what folks from the Triumvirate, Ternion and Troika will referred to in this Appendix for abbreviation’s sake) even attempt to leave their respective faction, and that they are applied to their Manifestations hailing from the very least of ‘disowned’ SHEATHES; such Manifestations were already disassociated with their ‘source material’ to begin with. Additional countless myriads of innumerable ‘total diluting’ procedures are enacted on these ‘Adventurer’ Manifestations in the process of going forth, and even more of those once those succeed in ‘departing’.
- So perfect is this ‘departure’ that it can even be used to make a Sub-Ternate, where one can ‘Adventure’ with ‘True Cosmics’ involved, but there is still the detachment factor present and in full force. It can be so that anytime the Triumvirate is factually stated and played out as not being merely another Sub-Ternate, the contrary can be true. There are rumors that the SHEATHES-700 found in an earlier Appendix (and by extension its revealed ‘Siblings’ and its ‘Parents’) may be a Sub-Ternate playing host to the real SHEATHES-700, implying that it's basically 'Adventuring' as itself, and that its ‘Cosmic Assets’ may not really be 100% Cosmic while still being more than a match for the real deal, ludicrous as that may sound. Nobody knows for sure.
- Because such SHEATHES are already ‘utterly part’ of their Target Zone, they can no longer be called SHEATHES (Separate-Hegemony Empire; Apportioned Territory for Heraldic Excursions of the SWORDS), but are referred to as SCARS (Severed Canon; Absolute-Retcon of a SHEATHES). The destination of those ‘Adventurers’ therefore is usually location in the Target Zone of SCARS with an Assigned Number no higher than 90 for genuine Ternates, and no higher than 900 for Sub-Ternates.
- In order to accommodate ‘Adventurers’ who complete their meticulous ‘departing’, a SCUFFS (Splinter Canon; Unveiled Fringe-Faction of a SCARS — the Ternate equivalent of STABS Colony) is injected into a realm where they would Manifest in, if that realm already has a version of themselves in it. Some say it takes a great deal of cooperation between Manifestations to accomplish this, that is, perhaps in the case of the Ternion, the Hegemony has provided the ‘host’, the Renaissance eliminates any potentially disruptive elements in the ‘Adventurer’, and the Network smuggles in what’s needed for ‘you to still be you’.
- As mentioned in the previous paragraph, it is a must for the Ternate to use a preexisting resident ‘Alternate Reality Version’ of an ‘Adventurer’ as the Manifestation itself. In a regular omniverse where all possibilities exist, or in a special omniverse, where all impossibilities also exist, there is probably an exact duplicate of any given person somewhere. While factions like Wolfsbane and gang are rumored to have consumed all variants of them on the Beyond-Cosmic level that they have allowed to exist for the sole purpose of harvesting, they seem to have left their mundane ‘Alternates’ alone, but nothing is 100% confirmed as of now. However, with Emperor Vulcan as an example, by ‘piloting’ a ‘self’ that was never part of SHEATHES-10 to begin (with using a ‘self’ disjointed from ‘true self’) he could be somewhere having fun without actually being there. It’s not akin to mere virtual reality or a daydream. This is something, as mentioned earlier, not even Higher Entities can grasp.
- All things in effect, if played out right, Emperor Vulcan of SHEATHES-10 won’t ruin his ‘Adventurer’ Manifestation’s exploits, and once over, there won’t be any messes that will link back to him.
- On that note, yes, Emperor Vulcan can be considered human. There are humans born in SHEATHES-10, maybe partially out of his Essence, and as a result, their Emperor is also human. If a Monarch can be every idea and occasion in their Territory, they can be all their humans too. It’s a state of being that transcends sense and self-contradiction, much like how their dominion over their Assets transcend any foreign command or power.
- Of course, not every ‘Adventurer’ opts to experience things first-hand. Some of them simply prefer to observe how their ‘Alternate’ goes about with their business. Again, this is ensures no disruptions. Some members of the SWORDS are so powerful that even the act of observation could influence or wreck everything, not unlike the relationship between scientists and quantum particles.
- Regardless of the ‘Adventurer’ and the ‘Adventure’, there is an unfeigned experience to be had, without anything owned of True Cosmic gestalt soiling the whole ordeal, at the barest minimum. Many times, the Ternate doesn’t even actualize as a faction or get involved with an ‘Adventure’. Some ‘Adventurers’ are so ‘bound’ to their Target Zone, it’s as if they were a true resident all along, and consequently, the lives they live out would have been whatever would have transpired to begin with.
- Of course, there are occasions where the Ternate exists as ‘The Ternate’. Nobody knows why exactly. Whatever reasons escape documentation, and the Target Zones for such Ternates have had all sorts of designations, from Excell-Enclosed Realities, to Fictional Works, to even previous ‘Adventures’ where the Ternate had not been identifiable.
- The organization of a Ternate seems loosely based on that of the Ternion and relatives. Most ‘basic components’ of Ternates generally speaking can be summed up as so:
WHAT COMPRISES THE CRAZINESS
- Imperial Division: The ‘empire-building’ aspect of the Ternate. It is about the Ternate being a large-sale enterprise. This side of the Ternate has to do with everything from armies, to economy, to borders.
- Individual Division: The ‘core-personnel’ aspect of the Ternate. It is about the Ternate being made up of essential and/or special persons. This side of the Ternate has to do with ‘Adventurers’ themselves.
- Institute Division: The ‘group-interaction’ aspect of the Ternate. It is about the existence of collectives, not necessarily those of an actual government. This side of the Ternate has to do with organizations.
- Machina Essence: The ‘Mind’ of the Ternate. It is about the civilized setting of the Ternate. Everything from sciences, to technology, to mechanisms: this side of the Ternate revels in logic and progress, dwelling on ‘what something may be’. Can be fused with the other Essences into more advanced gestalts, like the Divina and Totala, of which the latter is used to Manifest Ternate Azegans Denizens
- Arcana Essence: The ‘Soul’ of the Ternate. It is about the supernatural setting of the Ternate. Everything from mythos, to spells, to deities: this side of the Ternate revels in impossibility and fiction, dwelling on what something isn’t’. Can be fused with the other Essences into more advanced gestalts, like the Bellua and Obscura, of which the latter is used to Manifest Ternate Wolfsbane Operatives.
- Natura Essence: The ‘Flesh’ of the Ternate. It is about the universal setting of the Ternate. Everything from life, to physical laws, to environments: this side of the Ternate revels in reality and existence, dwelling on what something is’. Can be fused with the other Essences into more advanced gestalts, like the Cybora and Fabula, of which the latter is used to Manifest Ternate Grim Renaissance Artists.
- Passerby Tier: The ‘Uninterested Adventurers’ of the Ternate. These Manifestations are akin to the ‘extras’ on a movie set. Their ‘Adventure’ will barely notice if they die in a freak accident.
- Support Tier: The ‘Casual Adventurers’ the Ternate. These Manifestations are akin to ‘side characters’ in a novel. Both important and passive, they flavor an ‘Adventure’ without being too influential.
- Champion Tier: The ‘Devoted Adventurers’ of the Ternate. These Manifestations are akin to the ‘main protagonists’ of a story. They are the centerpieces of their ‘Adventure’, which ceases if they do.
- Now, whenever such Ternates exist, and each one can vary in design and self-awareness, certain iconic figures via ‘Adventurer’ Manifestations can and will be spotted.
- As for what kinds of emprises those ‘Adventurers’ can go through, a few of the many ‘Types’ will unveiled in an upcoming section of this Appendix. However, no matter what ‘Adventures’ one chooses to go on, no matter what one’s taste for excitement is, there is something of worth in going to the Ternate for it. While it’s true that recreation via the Ternate isn’t truly superior to or more genuine than recreation in places like the Ternion, when it comes to a much-needed break from the ‘Cosmic Extremes’ of business and routine the former is worthy of receiving attendants hailing from the latter. Of course, just because an ‘Adventurer’ doesn’t want to deal with Higher Entities doesn’t mean the latter shares that sentiment.
WHAT IF COSMICS INTRUDE?
- There are occasions when Cosmic Entities, or even just rivals in general, get wind of the existence of the Ternate and anyone on an ‘Adventure’ within it. Perpetrators trying to play the part of party-pooper have been found even within the Triumvirate’s ranks. In fact, ‘The Triumvirate’ himself – Joshua Dsiorpov – has been known to ‘troll’ the likes of Damien by ruining the latter’s escapades on sole principle of being playfully annoying. Likewise, Siegfried bothers Delmorte, and Empress Hecate lovingly teases her Sibling Monarch, Emperor Ramses. On other occasions, however, the joy-killing is more spiteful. Normally, it’s unaffiliated Cosmic or Beyond-Cosmic foes who will attempt to demonstrate their ‘perfect superiority’ on the diluted Manifestation of, for this Appendix’s case, the Wolfsbane Bosses. Why they do so can vary. Some simply want to hurt the Bosses in effigy. Others believe that they can somehow transmit through ‘upwards translation’ something harmful to the ‘source material’. Whatever the case, nothing has succeeded. Such miscreants soon learn that even against the lowly Ternate they have no clout, and it is a lesson applied via what is perhaps one of the greatest and ugliest blows to Cosmic Pride ever brought to bear: Noncosmics shrugging off Cosmics.
- It’s a line that Bosses have easily crossed many times, as hinted in a previous Article showcasing some of their Protocols. But, nowhere else does this impossibility, this farce, this ridiculousness occur with such shameless vehemence and vehement shamelessness as it does in the Ternate proper. This is what makes the Bosses and their ilk one of a kind. While everyone else aims to display their power by going ‘big’, the Bosses can not only blow them away with the ‘big’, but also with the ‘small’. While others can only engage in a never-ending arms race via ‘escalation of might’, the Bosses can let loose with a strength made perfect in weakness, something they’ve seem to have borrowed from Siegfried’s faith. While everyone must ascend and 'improve' to beat foes, the Bosses can descend and condescend to do the same. There will always be copycats or liars who try to take this trophy away from them, but only the Bosses have first pushed it this far so effortlessly, and still do, to the point where no rip-off could hope to overtake them.
- Some would argue that this is a fib. There is simply no way for a Noncosmic to deflect, imitate or combat the abilities of even the weakest Cosmic Entity. This isn’t a notion remotely feasible in any reality, or existence, or imagination whatsoever. Cosmics trounce Noncosmics by default, Cosmics are automatically superior to Noncosmics, Cosmics outclass Noncosmics by an absolute, period. Except, that’s not always the case. There exist reports of Superhumans having Cosmic-Tier powers without actually being Cosmic themselves. The way the Bosses have done this, however, is entirely different; Cosmic-like Superhumans still go ‘big’ when matching True Cosmics, but let’s put them specifically out of the picture for a second. How many hierarchies and sequences of realms one can terminate with less than minimal effort, how much bigger one is compared to the biggest of the big, how much more ‘Incomprehensibly-Beyond’ (and all other synonyms of ‘better’, 'higher', or 'absolute') one might be when pitted against 'similar others', and so on: that seems to be the way purveyors of the ‘Cosmic Genre’ one-up each other. What the Bosses have done instead is enable True Noncosmics to brush off even the greatest True Cosmics via their Protocols. To get to the point, this is the case with the Ternate, only no Boss Protocols are involved. Mundane Ternates plough through Cosmic attempts to sabotage ‘Adventures’ on what seems to be a ‘just because’ basis.
- To reiterate, Noncosmics immune to Cosmics for no reason whatsoever.
- Well, almost no reason.
- Cozen, as stated in an earlier Appendix, is a delightful concoction used by the likes of the SWORDS as a replacement for Magic. However, that’s only in its programmed form, where mechanics are built into it that allow for the transformation into its Target Zone’s consensus of what Magic is. Essentially, that modified Cozen is ‘Fantasy’ given form, without help from the ‘Fantastical’. Now, Cozen goes through a detachment and dilution process for each Target Zone by default, so having it tailored for Ternate uses is easy. Even as low as a SCARS-0 equivalent, however, raw Cozen is still ‘Magic without Magic’, ‘Reality without Reality’, and ‘Logic without Logic’, ‘Power without Power’, ‘Thing without Thing’, and ‘Function without Function’. It can still be used to bring about special feats, statuses and effects. It can still become what a Target considers ‘Fantasy’, or even what the Cozen User assumes a Target believes is ‘Impossible and Supernatural’. It can still operate based on a ‘just because’ basis. The Ternate’s Cozen (also known as ‘Hax’ due to it undergoing the same overly-complicated ‘Detachment Procedure’ as ‘Adventurers’) is employed not just as the currency, foundation and governor for the Ternate’s abilities, but also to render its’ ‘Adventurers’ immune to interference from anything 'Cosmic', or 'Transcosmic', etc.
- Much like how Magic can be used to circumvent regular Logic, Hax can also break ‘Cosmic Logic’, other 'Logic-breakers', and all synonyms and antonyms of such, disregarding of any kind of pecking order (and the means by which it was established, like power or arbitrary absolutes) or stats Cosmics have that sets them over Noncosmics, and in that same vein, each other. To make matters worse, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. No matter what, Hax enables Noncosmics to treat all Cosmics, as well as anything of that tier, as if they were less than nothing; at no point do the Hax nor the ‘Adventurers’ involved reach a state beyond ‘High-Tier Superhuman’ whenever this happens. They are literally as non-transcendent as possible, and this evident by how they still can’t affect or perceive True Cosmics. The protection granted by Hax can never be used offensively. It simply makes it so nothing Cosmic can ruin an ‘Adventure’, and this immunity itself is immune to undermining. What Hax actually does to actualize this guard can vary. Sometimes, a Ternate simply never reacts to a Cosmic vandal. No matter how many ‘Cardinalities of Places’ a Cosmic Attack can reduce to oblivion, an ‘Adventure’ remains unscathed by it and continues unimpeded, unaware it even avoided destruction. Some Cosmics are bamboozled into thinking they destroyed the Ternate, and some are instantly trapped in a Supremacell (the SCARS’s breed of Excell), which is a Noncosmic prison capable of holding Cosmics; once in a while, it’s both. This leads to several 'contradictions' about the Ternate being solely Non-Cosmic in essence, but they're all just technicalities, more or less.
- Of course, the purpose of all this is simply to protect ‘Adventurers’. Most, if not all, True Cosmics are fully aware of Hax-based blockades and don’t bother Ternates. Thing is, being True Cosmics, they are above a particular word that plagues most Sub-par Cosmics: ego. They don’t have to prove their greatness; they are beyond even that notion. They aren’t stupid enough to entangle themselves in a net they know can take them on, a net that uses a means they won’t pretend they can understand or counter; they are beyond the need to win. It’s actually interesting to note that the more ‘True Cosmic’ an entity becomes, the less showy, self-praising and pretentious it is. Fact is, Hax has never once snared a True Cosmic; unlike Cozen, it wasn’t built to hide its muscle, and once True Cosmics spot that, they simply pass by. Thus far, only hooligan Manifestations of Hex Renaissance Artists have breached it, but such a breach requires disciplinary action from the appropriate authorities rather than the deployment of Hax. For everyone else, even indirect efforts by Cosmics (hiring Noncosmics, for example) don’t affect Ternates. Sub-Ternates are different animal, but that is a tale for another time, although, it will be stated that get-togethers with friendly Cosmics do happen in those. What will be mentioned, instead, are the kinds of ‘Adventures’ that can occur in regular Ternates.
WHAT STORIES PARTICIPANTS SAVOR
- There are many kinds of interesting exploits ‘Adventurers’ go on. Not all of them have such a happy ending, and pretty much all of them never elapse quite as planned or expected. As mentioned earlier, an ‘Adventure’ can happen virtually anywhere, and in virtually any scenario. The only caveat is that ‘True Cosmics’ cannot abound or be a thing of no great rarity/importance. Sub-Ternates are another matter entirely, as said earlier, but many fundamentals can apply. Six of the various kinds will be discussed here, as well as an example of each.
- ‘Epic-Type Adventures’ are progress-focused and incident-based. They combine many elements from all kinds of ‘Adventure Types’. These rely the most on the Champion-Tier. They’re a lot less rigid than ‘Quest-Type’ Adventures but a lot more driven than ‘Sandbox-Type Adventures’; the former is an ordeal sparked by something and participants must strive for a certain endgame, and the latter is a setting where all ‘Adventurers’ do is simply exist. ‘Epic-Type Adventures’ are journeys headed somewhere, but that somewhere isn’t always clear. As with the ‘Quests-Type Adventures’, there can be many twists and turns in said journey, and something may need to be done about problems that arise, but there are no mandatory checkpoints or goals. As with ‘Sandbox-Type Adventures’, there can be a grand setting or realm to play in, but no mandatory actions or interactions to enact, and no necessary roles or conflicts to dabble in.
- The ‘Scales of Fate’ Saga was a dilemma involving three whole realms, pushing the boundaries of Ternate preferences. But, since the entire ‘cast’ was pretty much only ‘Extreme-Superhuman’ up to ‘Non-Cosmic Celestials’ on the power charts, it was a stressful ordeal, but nothing too insane. Nobody shattered an infinite amount of universes with an errant twitch. That being said, the immensity of the ‘Adventure’ itself was very much in the upper Echelons of Ternate limits. During the ‘Scales of Fate’ Incident, the Realm of Chaos and the Realm of Order were stuck in a delicate ‘see-saw’ around Earth’s Universe. Both Realms sought to eliminate each other, not knowing that an absolute victory would spell doom for everyone, including themselves. Were one Realm to eliminate the other, the entire ‘see-saw’ would irreversibly tip and plunge towards either Pure Chaos (Chaos beyond Chaos, a state that ‘did not make sense’ and would obliterate the Realm of Chaos, which still needed ties to Reality to exist) or Pure Order (Order beyond Order, a state of absolute Nothingness where there is no unpredictability, chance, disruption, change, or movement) both of which meant bad news for Earth. Even the third proposed solution, to destroy Chaos and Order simultaneously, was out of the question due to lack of manpower. Not to mention the backlash of destroying both the Realms of Order and Chaos would snap the ‘see-saw’ in twain and tear apart Earth’s Realm in its wake. It was a perilous and immovable balancing act. The problem was, the longer the fight dragged on, the more tragedies and atrocities happened in Earth’s Realm. Things were resolved by a wise king (identity secret for now) who aided and directed the Ternate’s ‘Adventurers’, who had taken the form of powerful mages, into creating a gigantic spell that caused the Realms of Chaos and Order to revolve around Earth’s Realm like the ‘Yin-Yang’ concept. The spell bound each Realm’s denizens to their respective plane, except for a few individuals who were let in periodically to resolve matters in a more diplomatic way, while keeping the weight of the ‘Scales’ equal. The spell turned the unstable ‘see saw’ into a stable ‘spinning-top’. The only thing left to do was to cause the Chaos and Order Delegates to find a way to fuse their essences, creating beings of both Chaos and Order, champions who then went on long trials of their own to convince (or in some cases, force) their factions to enter a eternally-harmonious unity with their nemesis. Polar opposites, now as one, working alongside all. Lasting peace would set in, but only after many well-won hardships.
- ‘Survival-Type Adventures’ are more success-focused and exploration-based. They have an aspect of competition, but also cooperation. ’Adventurers’ who don’t have what it takes to stay alive will die, and that’s that. Lighthearted variants, maybe involving a TV show, are not as endearing or precious. This ‘Adventure’ is highly freeform, but unlike ‘Sandbox-Type’ Adventures, there is a clear goal that is both long-term and short-term. Where that goal differs from the mission-based ‘Quest-Type Adventures’ is that it has been tailored to be unattainable. There isn’t usually a proper story, and if there is one, it’s often beyond an ‘Adventurer’s’ abilities to influence strongly. To be the last one standing is not cause for celebration, as is in ‘Contest-Type Adventures’, but a terrible and lonesome doom. Now, while it’s true that nothing is favorable or glorious about, say, being slowly butchered by cannibals (and especially where the ‘Adventurer’ has no memory or perception of the Ternate, the pain and terror in the heat of the moment are as real as it gets) the details can definitely be a great conversation-starter in the aftermath of that ‘Adventure’s’ completion.
- The ‘Apocalypse of Cardinal Directions’ is a favorite of the Ternate, in fact, among the most frequently-replayed. It usually takes place on a devastated planet Earth, where humanity (mundane or with special powers of its own) struggles to stay alive in the midst of four warring oppressors. From the bottomless abyss (South) poured forth the forces of Hell: demons and undead. From the skies (North) descended alien invaders of all kinds, albeit no more than two types per ‘Adventure’. From humanity’s own sins, a machine uprising born of the world’s deadliest military (West), and Magitech or Cybertech instances can occur here. From the planet itself, as in most animes (East), Earth has produced ‘antibodies’ to rid itself of humanity and all other filth in the form of Kaiju, and/or Elementals, and/or other natural disasters. There is often no winner in this ‘Adventure’. If there is a victory, no matter who it belongs to, it’s often a hollow, pyrrhic one that only lasts until the next wave of unconquerable marauders. The longest record for holding out currently belongs to Bellatrice, who managed to put off the inevitable for nearly a century before old age (and a well-aimed tsunami) claimed her. The closest anyone has come to winning was when Lee got assimilated into the aliens’ hive, where he and his biomass unexpectedly started to corrupt it from within. After a few devastating campaigns against the demons and machines, he was killed out of ignorance and fear by one of the survivalists, Valeria, the only person he refused to harm.
- ‘Contest-Type Adventures’ are more action-focused and rule-based. They combine elements of survival and questing. ‘Adventurers’ who fail are eliminated, temporarily or permanently, figuratively or literally. There may be a large plot or grand scheme looming in the horizon, but whatever it is, it isn’t necessarily the driving force of this kind of ‘Adventure’, which can be as simple as a mere one-time duel to the death. Participants can be very cutthroat and treacherous here, as they’re normally in it for the sake of winning, and/or simply because they like the thrill of bashing heads with each other. Prizes or scoreboards needn’t be discarded once the ‘Adventure’ ends (due to nothing follows participants out of the Ternate) since they might be useful in a different ‘Adventure’ or Ternate. Of all the ‘Types’, this ‘Adventure’ is the most game-like, dealing with a great deal of ‘Adventurers’ from self-recognizing Ternates, many of them with a score to settle amongst each other.
- The ‘Traitor Grail Tournament’: a grand melee where the crème-de-la-crème of civilizations from all over the universe (and maybe the neighboring dimensions) are gathered to fight for the Crown of Paragons, a legendary prize that grants its bearer nonpareil longevity and power, with the added benefit of a personal empire to rule. Matches can be between individuals or groups, and there may be obstacles and/or goals every round. Cheating is allowed, but only within the Arena itself, not that everybody follows that. Killing one’s enemy isn’t encouraged, but permanent misfortunes don’t exactly tend to illicit sympathy from either fighter or audience alike. Once the champions have been declared, the trap springs and the label of this ‘Adventure’ becomes clearer. The Crown of Paragons is a parasitic item that is a mixture of collective hive entity and ancient relic. Prior to entering, contestants are made to sign a contract that is actually a binding mechanism and enchantment that ties them to the Crown of Paragons, which then samples and secretly assimilates the power of its victims into itself. Once the winner dons it, the Crown of Paragons turns them into a device/phenomenon that absorb and enslaves the rest of its bearer’s race, species, and/or civilization, using them as the focal point for a massive and ravenous nexus. This process is insanely discreet. Nobody notices anything after the current tournament ends. Once it secures its new thralls, who in time waste away and quietly disappear, the Crown repeats the whole process, setting up a new Tournament and sending out invites. And, by feeding only on the winner’s kind and kin, the Crown ensures that it only draws sustenance from the best meals. This ‘Adventure’ is an example of one that can flow from one ‘Type’ into another. Sometimes, ‘Adventurers’ foil the Crown’s attempt to hijack them. Other times, they don’t. Occasionally, things spiral out of control, and the Tournament becomes the spark which ignites a far grander and long-lasting tale. The latest 'Traitor Grail Tournament' at this Appendix's making pitted Dante and Damien against each other during the semi-finals as two warriors blessed by the Philippine War Gods Ynaguinid and Macanduc. What the Crown thought was a fight was merely a warm up. The cousins had grown bored of the Tournament's pace and decided they would take on everyone; they had entered without any interest in the Crown or its prizes, only joining because they wanted a good scrap. After quickly roughing up each other, they turned on all the other tournament-goers, and then on the Crown itself when it tried to intervene, shaking off their contracts with the help of their Patron deities. The cousins met their demise after several days of nonstop brutality, not by the hands of an enemy, but from sheer exhaustion atop a mountain of vanquished champions. Their ending was nuts, but they did revel in every second of the brawl.
- ‘Quest-Type Adventures’ are objectives-focused and results-based. Whatever plot or fates awaits the characters hinges on a set directive. They can borrow elements of longevity and unpredictability from ‘Epic-Type Adventures’, as well as elements of competition and elimination from ‘Contest-Types’. There can be teamwork and factions involved, especially where espionage and overt ops are concerned. Sometimes, the ‘Adventurer’ could be a loner, perhaps on a road to self-discovery and/or vengeance. These kinds of ‘Adventures’ always end with success or failure, whereas sagas keep going, meandering through life events until something big occurs by happenstance or design. Plot twists aren’t uncommon, but not a necessity.
- ‘Glenna’s Rescue’ once was played by Tobias Leon-Gogh as a young but prodigious village swordsman named Kenric. ‘Glenna’s Rescue’ took place on an ordinary Earth, right round the end of the ninth century, during a series of Viking raids on the British Isles. Kenric's home town was savaged by a group of raiders who made off with not only the year’s store of food, but his very own fiancé. With winter fast approaching, the village fled to the embrace of a large, charitable town that had more than enough essentials to spare. But, rather than chose a life of safety, Kenric decided to make an attempt to save the love of his life. Setting out by himself, angered at how Glenna’s family decided to abandon her, Kenric braved the tempestuous English Channel. An errant wave shipwrecked him onto France’s shore hundreds of miles from his intended destination, so he had to soldier forwards on land. He fought and snuck his away across Europe, gaining and losing friends along the way to Scandinavia, gathering as much information as he could in order to locate the band of Vikings that stole Glenna. He never made it. Turns out, Glenna was the one who led the Vikings to her village, and she wasn’t so much kidnapped as she was escorted. When Glenna and her new lover, Elric (none other than Siegfried himself) found out about Kenric’s quest, they set up a trap for him. After his capture, Kenric was tortured for sport, suffering for hours before being thrown into a dungeon to wait for his public execution on the following day. His only consolation prize was dying of Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy in the middle of the night, an ailment also known as Broken Heart Syndrome.
- ‘Reenactment-Type Adventures’ are story-focused and replay-based. This ‘Adventure’ type is special in that it requires a Ternate to merge with both a timeline and setting, commonly without any real freedom to change or twist anything. While the Ternate’s detachment procedure technically causes a Ternate to possess an Alternate’s fate and essence, ‘Reenactment-Type Adventures’ are specifically for the purpose of repeating something, not just letting something elapse. These ‘Adventures’ can vary in terms of strictness. Some ‘Reenactments’ have 0% allowance for variation, especially if it’s historical in nature. Others have more wiggle room, especially if it’s fictional in nature. ‘Reenactments’ can be even be performed on other ‘Adventures Types,’ either for the purpose of repeating them exactly or to bring about a different ending.
- ‘The Quest for the Golden Fleece’ is another Ternate favorite, and plays out pretty much the same way. The one difference is that characters are replaced with ‘Adventurer’ Manifestations. Usually, said Manifestations fully aware of the Ternate and that this is a ‘Reenactment-Type Adventure’. Not everyone gets to play the roles they want all the time, but disgruntlement can make for good hilarity. Of course, when an ‘Adventurer’ does land a preferred role in the story, he/she/it tends to milk it to the point of hilarity. This ‘Adventure’ caters to a lot of observer ‘Adventurers’, albeit not as much as ‘Documentary-Types’, which features virtually no hands-on involvement.
- ‘Sandbox-Type Adventures’ are setting-focused and freeform-based. This ‘Adventure-Type’ can be quite simple: ‘Adventurers’ are Manifested into a particular setting, and they can do whatever they want within it, whenever they want, however they want. Such simplicity can be deceiving, though. These ‘Adventures’ can produce semblances of all the other ‘Types’, and often have the largest parameters, at least in terms of the boundaries where it takes place. The caveat is that any ‘Mini-Adventure’ that takes place within them is not formally induced or produced by the Ternate; those are always brought about by the ‘Adventurers’’ own actions.
- ‘Earth Ultimate’ takes place on an exaggerated version of humanity’s home. This planet Earth is similar to a normal one in many ways, but also has plenty of differences. For example, it’s dozens of times larger whole continuing to exert the same gravitational pull. It seems to be stuck in a permanent state of ‘Old World History’, with an era range that goes as far back as the Early Stone Age, but nothing newer than the Late Renaissance. Nations, cultures and peoples are also highly exaggerated, stylized, and romanticized. Spartans are nigh-superhuman brass-clad warriors, Japan and China sports unrealistic Martial Artists, English Knights and Bowmen are stuff of legends, the Aboriginals of Northern America have bonded with nature and the world in unbelievable ways, and so on. Everything from Da-Vinci Clockwork, Old-Fashioned Firearms, to Mystic Arts, to Shadowy Assassins, to Naval Armadas, to Ancient Extraterrestrial Contact, to Massive Wonder Constructs: the world as humans knows it has taken on a new kind of insanity, and it is an insanity that extends to even the wildlife and the terrain. All kinds of craziness can unfold here, and they can be as intimate as a friendship between two rivals from enemy clans, to as heartless as multi-nation feud with all sorts of political games involved. ‘Adventurers’ can be anything and anyone here, be it a bandit mastermind who calculates moves on a massive chess board, or a heroic captain rallying troops on the front lines, or a lowly slave vying for freedom, or a nation’s unflinching, invincible ruler.
- With ‘Adventure Types’ ranging from the game-like ‘Dungeon’ to the educational ‘Documentary’, all able to cover manifold kinds of genres, the Ternate is another crazy, gimmicky venue that Network and its peers make a success despite it having no right to be, against all odds and against all critics. Its existence is nowhere near vital, but still its ‘Adventurers’ hang onto it with a great deal of gusto, fervor and endearment even. Now, as to who those 'Adventurers' are, a few iconic figures hailing from a very special ZED Triad will be unveiled in the next Appendix. After all, what good is a game without its players?
- If anything, the Ternate is a small testament to the humanity of folks from the likes of the Wolfsbane Bosses. They find no degradation in stooping to savor the little things in life, little things that the titans they dole out as mere commodities often take for granted, all for sake of savoring them. Fun matters to humans, no matter how seemingly trivial, or needless, or unnecessary. So, for as long as fun in the Ternate remains unsullied by Cosmics – and it will – the Bosses’ favorite playground will stay a sweet dish that never sours, a paradox where ‘pricelessness’, ‘creativity’ and ‘expendability’ merge to form a haven of fresh, unadulterated repose.
WOLFSBANE SERIES
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APPENDIX 04: YOU ARE HERE
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Those teenage gladiators called Dante and Damien have their hairstyles look similar to Eren and Jean from Attack on Titan.