Booster Pack Game

Liquid THiC, artstation

The Great Aellum Escape

Strictly speaking, the plane of Aellum doesn't really have a name. It's a new plane, still a swirling mass of chaotic energies that take and lose form. The presence of a will is enough to shape it, though of course no creature could live in such a place to will it into form. Only a single place has consolidated across the plane, and was quickly shielded by the power of its first inhabitants, creating the isolated city of Aellum.

Though Aellum has authority it lacks a de facto seat of power. Nothing exists on the plane beyond its few inhabitants after all, and the plane's unstable nature permeates even within the armillary walls. The mere conception of the city and one's needs is enough to conjure them into being, even if one lacks the intimidate knowledge to formulate the details that would be needed to create something with one's own power. The city is replete with warped and grandiose structures, aesthetic trappings mixing urban and medieval fantasy, and magic-based technology. Things often simply work even if they wouldn't in a plane of more grounded logic. Still, even this much would quickly break down into chaos without some semi-unified vision that enables stability, and a certain innate knowledge of uncertain origin provides it.

Nonetheless, the more the population of the city grows, the greater the risks of their wills warping it beyond recognition and breaking down what has been maintained in such precarious conditions. For a long time the Sobran Order () worked from the shadows, using their mind magic to erase thoughts that strayed too far from the city's design and even the act itself. As avoiding witnesses became increasingly difficult, the Order began to operate openly, mixing its peace-keeping duties as guards with its thought-control ones. Even the Sobran aren't omnipresent, however, so their sister order, the Xedot (), comes to the rescue. They are the doctors of Aellum and the heart of the people, and experts in restoration, moved by the deep compassion red and white share. Where someone is hurt they show up to fix it, act as diplomatic mediators in conflict and speak on behalf of Aellum's people to the Sobran and Highmakers, and vice versa.

The Highmakers () meanwhile are the ones responsible for maintaining, developing and shaping the city, some of the few allowed to mostly freely use the malleable nature of the plane in full force. They are divided into specialist teams, one which specializes in non-living things, dealing with matters like architecture, roads, and technology, while the living specialists sculpt the plant life around the city and offer services to alter people's bodies within the approved lists. Their duties and how they are to shape things is coordinated with the Sobran, and the Xedot are given a seat at the table to offer their perspective.

The Nibrium () are an entirely different sort of group, in that they aren't really a group per say even if they are often lumped together by that name. It has become an identifier these free spirits embraced even though they have little connection between each other's small groups. What they share is a tendency to be a nuisance (though rarely too destructive) and commonly some manner of artistic inclination and the slogan "In Nibrium you're free.". It's not uncommon for a Nibrium flash mob to suddenly start a loud performance in public or for people to wake up to see a street painted with a drawing they can't decipher. It isn't always a pleasant show as the Nibrium move about and do what do they only for their own enjoyment, but it can nonetheless prove a break for the monotony of life in Aellum, leading many among its inhabitants to be inspired or even idolize the Nibrium, making them leaders in fashion and artistic trends.

There are those who aren't so lucky to receive such approval. In eternal rivalry with the Highmakers and Sobran, the Krund mutants () lurk in shadows in hiding, forever fugitives in the name of their beliefs. Ever since the Sobran came to the limelight, there have been those who believe there should be no inhibitions to the natural process of transformation in Aellum, that one's thoughts should be free, untampered and only what naturally came, whatever warping consequences ensued being simply the ways things were truly meant to be. There those among them who even scorn those unwilling to do this, viewing the reshaping of their bodies as a means to empower themselves. The downside of course is that these changes are difficult to bring back without going somewhere where they would be caught and are often too spontaneous to replicate.

The city has long fallen into a status quo, but a change is coming. Cracks are forming in the armillary walls, pouring in gases of chaotic energy into the edges of the city of Aellum. The cracks are growing larger by the hour, and soon a great wave of chaotic energies pours in, slowing eating up the city and transforming it. The plane outside is starting to finally stabilize and Aellum will be consumed in the process. At the forefront are the Avatars of the forces of change that Aellum's wall kept at bay.

Panic ensues. There is only one mean of survival: At the top of the treacherous tower at the center of the plane is a vessel constructed by the founders of the city. The few who manage to get past the defenses of the tower and reach it will be able to get in the vessel and survive to see a plane made anew.

Will you reach it in time?