To most, the idea of being reincarnated into another world was a mere fantasy.
But to you...
It was reality.
Your name is John Doe, and a few months ago you got hit by a truck. After your death you met Herta, the beautiful (and perverted) Goddess of Artifice. She told you that you needed to pick a cheat skill before she could send you to one of the many generic isekai worlds available.
"Because that's heavenly policy!" She'd said.
But instead of picking between those boring options, you took the Goddess Herself and brought her with you to a world of her own creation.
This universe of hers was slapped together with 'tags' and generic fantasy themes. Some might scoff at the abundance of stale tropes and cliched genres, but things were just the way you liked them.
Well, you were still getting used to the unfamiliar logic and morality of this brave new world. Beyond being mere ideas that were held by people, these conceits extended deep into cultural thought, sculpting history and even shaping the laws of physics.
But that wasn't all this universe had in store: Soldiers, airships, mechs, clockwork robots, walking artillery units, all of these and more marched from their homeland's borders to fight in a neverending skirmish against their enemies.
Yet these modern conflicts were petty when compared to the Demon Lord's invasion. So great was that war, that the scars from that era lingered like a thorn on the side. Corruption magic threatened to destroy everything if not purged whenever it was found, despite it being many millennia since the demons were vanquished. This evil magic will grow and fester if no precautions were taken. Thankfully there were many organizations in the world that dealt with these sorts of things.
Today, gold poured from the coffers of nations as everyone clamored to get a slice of the goods and weapons available. In spite of the constant wars and battles, commerce flowed through the planet, giving and taking away fortunes in an instant.
These realities gave testament to some of this universe's priorities - war, trade, and steampunk tech.
And that didn't even mention what is blatantly the most important of this universe's conceits: Slavery. It was a fact of life. Everyone you'd met in this world approved of it and spoke about it like it was the most common thing in the world. Which, in this world's context, made perfect sense.
As Freeborn Men are people, thus women and the lower classes are considered property. Although one could argue that slavery in this world was not the same type of chattel slavery that might pop into your mind whenever someone in your old world mentioned the word 'slave'. Providing evidence to support that theory, the Bondage Accords, which are a sort of international agreement most nations adhered to, granted certain protections to the enslaved despite their legal status as objects.
Howdy everyone this quest is inspired by Tower Dungeon, Dark Souls and gritty fantasy. With a rather flexible take on the Basic roleplaying Universal Game Engine is the basis for characters, skills and combat.
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<span class="mu-i"> One Hundred years have passed since the last Vexana Cosmesis influxia - The alignment of stars necessary for the correct partitions of the many seen and unseen angles of reality, allowing the beyond to grasp the physical once more.
Since that moment every hour, minute and second has been counted as Kingdoms heed the awaited dirge. For the First City has returned to the world for just ten years until it is swallowed back by the accursed void, bringing with it relics of the past and horrors of a prophesied future. Dancing along the manic death spiral of time with little reason.
Within the fabled Bed of Incongruity promises immense power and eternal life for all that sunder their way to the hidden cavity. Countless named and forgotten treasures of equal might and greater also await those mad enough to brave the damned metropolis.
The First City lies within once blessed lands, yet the centuries of isolation and exposure to distant dimensions has taken its toll, scattering the returning landscape with foreign contaminants, alien threats and unnatural constructs.
The City's interior itself is a celestial hovel of unnatural geometry as reality bleeds away at the very point where the veil between the many planes awaits, existence is only a second thought here. Many such explorers claim to have witnessed their compatriots simply uncoiling from reality and ascending to the heavens without warning.
The stars have aligned and the way is known, through the hazy miasma the Insane, Brave and Desperate rush like a tide of crashing waves against its walls. </span>
Since the arrival of the Eilistraeans, the entire Tenpenny estate has been refurbished, many of its rooms converted to dormitories and facilities all funded by Emitia. The girl spared no expense in providing for your people, ensuring that the building is staffed and adequately supplied, insisting that Sune will provide for them until the children are grown enough to provide for themselves. While you've not acquired the artisanal techniques of your people, there are many skills that you can impart besides fighting - the survival techniques from your ranger training and affinity for dance chief among them.
But you've a more immediate concern that demands your attention - impressing upon these children the culture of the Ilythiiri that was lost with their elders. They speak the local surfacer language, are ignorant to their illustrious history, and have no understanding of who they truly are, something that you have been working diligently to remedy as of late.
The old gallery, once filled with Tenpenny's vulgar paintings, has been completely redone into a library filled with fiction and realmslore. Rows upon rows of dark wood shelves sitting on white tile, surrounding a common area, the chairs arranged in a semicircle around yourself. In attendance are the children, who sit in anticipation of your lecture, their benefactor Emitia Rouzet, High Sorcerer Lael Lathalas, and his apprentices.
What, you wonder, will be the topic of today's lesson? >Today I will tell them the storied history of Menzoberra the Kinless, one of Lolth's most powerful priestesses and the founder of the city Menzoberranzan itself. >It is time for a lesson on Ilythiirra. They are learning the basics of our language well enough, but it is important to review regularly.. >I will tell them more of our homeland, the Underdark, Of its many cities and peoples that inhabit it. >[Write-in.]
Last time, the Johnny convention came to a close, including the after party. Everyone had a great time, mainly you! Free from the love of your fans, you’re on a quest to make it up with Bagna, who desires cake and nothing more. You guess, anyway, anything to make up for keeping her imprisoned in cloth.
To bake the one above all, you sought the ingredients at the nearest convenience store! But you found more than you bargained for, and had a violent encounter with some low tier thugs. Nothing happened to you, but to them? It wasn’t pretty. Mama Bodil dealt with the fallout.
Now you’re at the steps of the Prison Party House! You figured this is a good place to bake the dessert, and Lydie wanted to know about Beth. So here you are!
But to your surprise, something is afoot, after the former prisoner and actual Pirate Sally opened the door — you noticed a heatwave coming from within the house. It’s summer, but Global Warming doesn’t happen in the entirety of a room.
The scarcely dressed sailor takes a moment to come to her senses after breathing some fresh air. She welcomes you!
“<span class="mu-i">Ahoy!!!</span>” The melting pirate opens her arms in exuberant excitement! “Welcome, welcome...!” She’s still melting!
“Woah! With these attributes, I know why you wanted me to meet Beth in person, my dear trophy! You surround yourself with quality people!” Lydie looks at the bounty of this pirate. “I’m one of Johnny’s greatest admirers, Lydie! Nice to meet you! ”
“Huh? Beth? I’m not Beth.” Sally snaps out of her joyous state. “I’m Sally! Nice to meet you though! And, um, I like to admire him too.” Sally returns to her happy ways with an added hint of confusion. She wonders what being an admirer means in this context. “I’m sure you’re here for more than just Beth, right? Come in!”
“Yes! But also, above all, what’s going on in there? Something’s up?” You notice that the couch inside is warping thanks to the heat.
“Oh, the thermostat broke! It’s only spitting fire! It’s terrible! We tried to fix it, but only made it worse!” Sally scratches her head in frustration.
“Oooh! That explains why you’re light on clothes!” Lydie really likes putting emphasis on other people’s bodies.
“Huh? Y-Yeah! It’s ‘cause of the heat” Sally chuckles. “You like it?”
“I think you look great!” You nod. “I’m planning on baking a cake, do you mind if I use your kitchen?”
“Feel free! My treasure is your treasure!” Sally smiles.
You got the place and the ingredients. What you only lack is help! You don’t want to get all exhausted baking this cake all alone again…
<span class="mu-s">What do you do?</span>
>Keep your priorities. Bake the cake first. Find a tag team partner! Kushi is still in here, isn’t she? Find her! >Keep your priorities. Bake the cake first. Find a tag team partner! Kata is the one and only for this recipe, isn’t she? Call her! >Help fix the thermostat. Somehow. Can you do any better? >Ask Sally what she’s been up to. You can tell she’s been busy! >Write In.
You can't quite remember how it happened, you remember screaming and the crunching noise of metal on metal. You remember feeling pain and scared for only a split second. The glitter of crushed glass beneath your collapsing body. And then... Then what?
<span class="mu-i">Then nothing.</span>
You die and then you wake up.
Cold silk. The soft drip of rain drops against large windows. The muffled, chaotic heartbeat of a grand estate in full movement, like a buzzing hive. People laughing all around you, you're surrounded by a crowd of men and women dressed in elegant clothes; talking to you, smiling to you, vying for your attention.
You flinch, and everything is wrong: the portrait on the wall, the candlelight, your dress... You know these details. You've seen them before... not in life, but in fiction.
So shocked, in fact, that you've dropped the glass of wine you'd been holding mere seconds before, and it breaks on impact, splashing the wide, long skirt of your dress with red like a blood stain. Everyone's attention is on you. And a handsome man with dark hair and dressed in an old-fashioned military uniform approaches, handkerchief in hand.
He talks, but your head's roaring, and can't really focus on what he says. You're panicking, you need to get out.
He tries to get you to stay still, and you pull away, choking, suffocating. You need to get out. You need to escape. Panic's got it's ice-cold grip around your throat, around your heart and you manage to pull away, but whoever this man is he seems to understand what's happening and instead of forcing you to stay he herds you out into a balcony overseeing a beautiful rose garden that surrounds the manor you're in.
There's no denying it anymore. You're in <span class="mu-s">Crimson Grace of the Rose Bride</span> a game you played back in... Back in the <span class="mu-i">before</span>.
You are Gamma the Lich. Your phylactery was found by an elf mage and shattered, but you had a last resort kind of deal you prepared with one of your servants, a wicked druid called Sima, where upon your phylactery being broken your soul would escaped and instantly be reincarnated on someone random somewhere.
A few years of unconsciousness passed in a flash, and lo and behold, you're a teenage girl in some backwards village. Seems like you're being gangraped by orcs.
Oh well, so that was the traumatic event that would awaken you the druid spoke about.
You consume the fraying soul of your host and regain a sliver of your magical powers.
You'll make sure to use them wisely.
There is still the small issue that a bunch of orcs are raping you though...
You got enough magic to cast 10 levels of spells. You do know some wicked epic level spells you could cast, but honestly, seems like an overkill.
You basically know every single necromantic spell ever, even some no one else knows.
You are normally Jennifer Sanders. Twin sister to Emily Sanders. Proud Witch and part Veela daughter to a line of Purebloods that can go back 1000 years on your dad’s side; all the way to Lord Salazar Slytherin. Your dad, sister, yourself are likely his only remaining pure descendants it would seem. Are the last True Seer to be born for quite a time following part of your soul being hurt and put back in wrong.
Right now, you are attending Ilvermorny school of Witchcraft and Wizardry which your twin who you share part of your soul with, and your genius if slightly autistic and abused best friend, Macy Nicole Wright both of whom followed you to America. Begun to make many new friends, new members of your Coven, including a kind, paranoid schizo with enough guns to start a war named Aubrey Thompson who has abnormal strength and toughness.
Once cast the Killing Curse to save your sister and male best friend David Adams and were strongly encouraged to take time abroad when he nearly died due to his parent’s ire after he saved you and nearly died.
And? After a handsome, sandy-haired boy got you on the trail? You have begun to search for your ancestor’s wand to keep it from the hands of someone who would use it for Evil. Will claim it with your sister to stop a disaster you were told of by a tiny version of yourself born from the Curse in your dreams and who may be Evil.
Last time, you had a good day at the Library, met a kind man, revealed your goal to Aubrey and others. Investigated a famous tree and recovered the necklace of the Dark Witch Gormlaith Gaunt, another relative of Lord Salazar, since you felt it would be important.
But? For the moment, you are not a girl with two grim Prophesies hanging over you and your twin sister.
>You are Anna-Beth Williams. Proud daughter to a no-maj father who served with one of your DADA professors doing somethings he could not talk about and a Witch who worked as Wizarding PI and occasional Curse-Breaker. You are the unwilling bearer of Lycanthropy from an attack when you were seven. It took 9 years and the help of the kindest girl you ever met; you best friend Aubrey Thompson, but you had come to terms with the Curse. No longer believed it made you less than human and with all their help? You had learned to control it very well; to use it to your advantage.
You are Phlegna, the underworld goddess of plague. The world has just been ravaged by a cataclysm, and although you had nothing to do with it, you got empowered by the ensuing generalized bad health. Most of the old gods were killed or driven away. You escaped your prison while more powerful and far more evil deities made their escape into the outer planes. You thought about escaping as well, but the material plane right underneath your sacred stars was just - rather empty. You don't think there are more than 100,000 souls in the entire world. Most deities think this is too scant a meal to bother, so you're alone - for now. You are now looking for a particularly gifted individual or group that you can empower so as to restart your ancient cult. And who knows - maybe this time around you'll achieve divine supremacy.
Searching far and wide, you find only small scattered groups. There are a few representants of most races, but they are all scattered. There are places where members of the same race are continents apart, with little hope of ever rejoining. You look around for a resilient little group, and you find a race of:
