Fractured Kingdom <Working Title>

[Certified]

The world has grown colder over the last century; huge multinationals rising in power, government restrictions becoming stifling, stripping away what were once considered basic human rights. Knowledge is a privilege of the wealthy, those few who can afford the corporate schools or private education. The urban centers of power billions struggle to carve out a living in the shadow of these monolithic empires.

 

Amid the squalor and decay there is another world.

 

Rumors of conspiracy and government plots abound on the streets while the news reports only what they’ve been paid for. In the cacophony of rumor the Church of Unua has spread the tale of Five Kingdoms. Five Realms interwoven The Slumber, The Verdant, The Dark, The Grave and The Unbound, once part of a greater whole the Unua preach that these Realms can be reunited. That humanity can transcend the blight and inter the Unbound Realm. The government and media dismiss them others call them mad. Even so, their message speeds, new churches cropping up cities across the globe. All unified by a single prayer.

 

Through dream I have seen the Slumber.

Through nightmare I have been cast into the Dark.

Through life I have found the Verdant.

Through death I have known the Grave.

I am Unbound. I am Lucid.

- - -

 

The world of Fractured Kingdom is set in the near future. Paranoia is the rule of the day on the streets as forces out of sight move world powers to their will. Across the globe there are those who have crossed the boarders into the Outer Realms. Tainted, they return to the Unbound World a living Gateway to the Outer Realms. It is this Taint that connects them, binds them all. Able to sense each other they are sought by the six Enclaves, Tainted each with their own plans for humanity.

The Lucid: those who have crossed through a Gateway fused with one of the Four Realms but have not been inducted by one of the Enclaves or the Church of Unua. Thrust into a wourld of mystery the Lucid find themselves infused by the Realm, gifted with new and strange abilities. Their eyes open they have become attuned to the hidden forces of the world. Sought by the Enclaves, do they give in to their strength or do they run?

There are others out there like you. Close your eyes and reach out you can feel them; those who have not been inducted by the Enclaves or seduced by the Church of Unua. Out there are the Lucid.

[Roth]

Re: Fractured Kingdom <Working Title>

 

oooo. Sounds like fun.

[Certified]

Re: Fractured Kingdom <Working Title>

 

The Four Outer Realms

The Slumber

The Realm of mind, imagination and the perfected self. The Slumber is a shifting landscape of thoughts and ideas codified only by one’s will and perception; nothing is stable in the Slumber save the most powerful of ideas and collective constructs. Here empires rise and fall in a single night. Those who can tap into the Slumber bring order from chaos. They above all other Tainted are able to transcend the physical limitations of the body.

Abilities: Those Tainted by the Slumber manifest paranormal physical and mental abilities becoming fast enough to dodge a bullet, strong enough to hammer through a brick wall, read the thoughts of others even craft illusions that may take on a life of their own.

Manifestation: The Slumber’s Taint often manifests as a wild unkempt appearance or as a strange rigidity as if always holding back.

Common Gateways: Dreams, Hypnosis and Meditation

 

The Verdant

The Realm of harmony and renewal. Filled with lush glens, forests, and soaring mountain ranges, in every ounce of soil is the foundations for life and the blessing of nature. Death is only a means of creating new life in the Verdant. Some go as far as to say death is only temporary to those who have learned to truly bond with the forces of the Verdant.

Abilities: To be infused with the essence of the Verdant is to be blessed with the gifts of life itself the tainted manifest powers of healing and regeneration as well control over the very elements.

Manifestation: The mark of the Verdant often appears as an inner peace or animal like qualities.

Common Gateways: Crossroads, Dragon Line and Ley Line Nexus, Fasting or Starvation

 

The Dark

Truly tainting those entering the Realm it is a place of nightmares unhinging the mind as shadows surge and recede with a pulsing life of their own. Here there be monsters, the vile constructs of demons and nightmares flourish in the gloom. Those who pass into the Dark do not merely look into the darkness they are infused with the powers most horrible. Legends speak of those Tainted by the Dark being reborn becoming a being of living shadow.

Abilities: Releasing the Dark essence reveals the Tainted’s monstrous inner nature granting control over shadows and darkness. Those willing may learn to call on the nightmare things of the Dark.

Manifestation: Those Tainted by the Realms it is often The Dark Ones who are most skilled at hiding themselves. The Dark Taint almost always manifests as emotional swings, fits of rage and silence.

Common Gateways: Caves or Tunnels, Places of Ritual Sacrifice, Self Mutilation

 

The Grave

Collecting all things destroyed and forgotten, the Grave is a place of sprawling wastelands. Hidden in its desolate expanses are bleak necropolises, repositories for the detritus of the Unbound World.

Abilities: Those tainted by the Grave learn to control decay summon spirits.

Manifestation: The Grave Tainted have an unnatural presence to both mortal and Tainted. The essence of Death radiates out around them.

Common Gateways: Battlefields and Graveyards, Near Death Esperance, Sex