Prime

The Diamond Realm

By Anders Sandberg

This is a very weird realm which was created during a very late game session (about 3-4 in the morning). It is definitely not a standard realm, and may cause interesting problems for the players who find it.

I looked around the corner. A group of five Emmas and two Franzes were busy arguing about whether "...the diamond locked quintessence fields could be forced to realign when subjected to shock waves of a quasi-physical nature..." Damn hermetics! Of course, Franzes were not hermetics, but they behaved as if they were. I leaned carefully back against the perfect wall of diamond. Across the tunnel I saw my mirror image go around the corner to argue with the hermetics. I lit a cigarette and watched as the smoke smoothly turned into diamond dust in the air.

Suddenly I heard a commotion around the corner. Someone soothingly said "You have no possibilities! This is for your own best!" I quickly ran into the side tunnel, making the finger to another one of myself who was running a few steps behind me. He responded the same way. At least there were two of me.

About a half dozen Salvatores had appeared and were busy killing the by now ten Franzes. I saw how one of them expertly cut the throat of another Franz, while he advanced towards the cornered Emmas. Damn! I held up Wands 8, Swiftness, against the ceiling and looked away when a meter-long spear of diamond fell down and impaled the Salvatore. Suddenly I saw a movement in the corner of my eye. Before I had even a chance to turn, my throat was almost painlessly slashed open. The last thing I heard, before I died and began to turn into crystals was the friendly "See? I cured your smoking!"

History

The Diamond Realm was created unintentionally. The brilliant and overconfident mage Emma von Kellstahl believed she had devised a useful and elegant way of removing Paradox. She created a material pattern and channelled Paradox instead of quintessence into it, thereby (according to her theory) creating an object which could be safely disposed of. No more problems with Paradox. She was quite wrong. When the pattern was created, the rote channelled Prime as usual into it, and at the same time she let out her Paradox. It accumulated in the object, but turned it effectively into a sort of Paradox spirit. After a first, partially successful, experiment (she survived the Paradox spirit, anyway) she tried to remove all of her Paradox. She used a powerful artifact inside a Node and channelled all of her Paradox into a diamond pattern in the Deep Umbra.

The result was spectacular. The combination of some quintessence from the Node (which had accidentally been sent too) and the artifact (an idol of unknown origin which seems to catalyze powerful and dangerous magickal effects) influenced the pattern. The pattern began to evolve. Instead of becoming a single, perfect crystal of diamond filled with Paradox, it exploded into shards. Every shard began to absorb free quintessence from the environment, turning it into more diamond. The effect was somewhat like when a piece of ice is added to supercooled water: an explosion of crystallization spreading outwards. Quickly, the diamond structure began replicating, growing larger and larger. It began to grow towards Emma, who didn't suspect anything.

A month after the original experiment, Emma began to worry. Strange portents told her that something was quite wrong. The snowflakes which fell on her were not hexagonal, but rhomboidal. When left to themselves, chess pieces began to reorganize themselves into a crystalline pattern. When drawing a tarot card, she got 6 wands (which in the Crowley deck depicts a crystal, with arrows of lightening pointing outwards). Finally, another member of the Cabal took a look at her in the Umbra. He saw a crown of crystalline reflections above her head and looking outwards he saw something big growing towards her. A whole realm of titanic diamond crystals, growing straight towards Emma like a heat-seeking missile.

They decided to try to stop it inside the Deep Umbra. Using some help from a hermetic order, they managed to use their Node to ram a hole in the Horizon. Following the path of Prime they had used, the began to journey towards the new realm. An enormous mass of brilliant diamonds glittered in the far distance and when they got nearer they saw an enormous blade of diamond crystallizing towards them, like an express train locked on its course towards Emma. They jumped off their path, trying to escape the crystal.

They were not completely successful and were trapped in a space inside the crystal realm, surrounded by labyrinths of sparkling diamond. Their quintessence began to drain and turn into diamond. Sharp spikes of diamond shot out of their clothes, and sheets of diamond tried to encapsulate them. Fortunately, they had spent most of their quintessence earlier and managed to free themselves.

They began to wander towards the center of the realm, following the tunnel they found themselves in. Then Franz, while trying to understand the nature of the crystals, suffered Paradox backlash. At first nothing seemed to happen. Then Lizzy noticed that her mirror images did not move in the same ways she did. Neither did the images of anyone else. The mirror images behaved in about the same way as the originals did, bickering and discussing. Franz soon found out that he could even read their minds, and they were thinking about the same things as the originals.

As they moved on, they suddenly noticed there were two Emmas walking through the tunnel. Both of them quickly realized neither knew which was the original and which was the copy. Soon there were several large groups of copies of each of the five mages, each handling the situation in different ways. The Emmas had quickly formed several teams to discuss the situation and ways to make use of it. Salvatores and Lizzys tried to ignore themselves. Jahns stood in the corners, smoking and sometimes harassing the others. Franzes began to experiment using Mind to communicate between himselves.

According to a theory proposed by an Emma, the phenomenon was caused by some unknown interference effect between the original Paradox, Franz' Paradox and the crystalline lattices of Prime around them. As the people moved on towards the center, they became more and more numerous as the primal fields began to increase. Several of Salvatore suddenly realized that their copies had exactly the same possibilities or fewer than they had themselves, and thus were filling up room for other possibilities. Therefore they should be given the Good Death. Quickly half of the Salvatores killed the other half. After that almost everyone began to avoid them.

When they reached the center, the by now quite disturbed people tried to find a way to undermine the realm. Inside the walls of the central chamber the original, Paradox-laced crystals were embedded. Emmas tried to destroy them, which only led to a cave in, which killed many people. Salvatore pointed out the fundamental problem with the realm, its total lack of entropy. Together Emmas, Jahns and Salvatores began to create a spreading pattern of entropy, hoping to counteract the spreading pattern of order. The result was complete chaos, as parts of the realm caved in, crystal shards rained down and many Salvatores used the moment to backstab many Jahns, Lizzys, Emmas and Franzes. A confused fight began, while others fled outwards.

The end result was the realm as it is now. Inside the gigantic labyrinth of diamond, groups of almost identical people study, ignore, fight and help each other. Instead of an ecology based on diversity as on Earth, the realm is based on endless repetition of existing patterns with small variations. The inhabitants have partly created this realm, partly been formed by it. The most important thing about it is reflection: everything happens again and again, in infinite permutations, like the reflections inside a diamond. There is no past or future, as everything that happens will repeat itself and has already happened somewhere else. There is no real space, as every event will happen again and again in new places. Everything mirrors everything else, in infinite permutations.

Physical Description

The Diamond Realm consists almost completely of perfect, 100% pure diamond with a somewhat unusual crystal symmetry. Titanic crystals, several miles long, create the backbone of a complex lattice of diamond. Inside the mostly compact mass there are interstices and tunnels left empty when the quintessence needed to build the world was used up. Infinitely long halls with walls, floor and ceiling made of perfect diamond interconnect into a labyrinth inside the realm. Mostly they lead towards the center, where the realm was created. The central chamber is a great cupola, where many of the tunnels connect. In the walls there are still shards of the original crystals embedded.

Everything is made out of diamond, reflecting and refracting everything into its facets. The illumination consists of brilliant reflections, often split into spectras of unearthly beauty. While the realm is extraordinarily beautiful, it is also terribly dangerous to the careless. The edges of the diamonds are razor sharp, and long, sharp spears of diamond can easily impale or slash open a runner. Loud sounds can make the ceiling come crashing down or make sharp stalactites come loose, impaling anyone underneath.

There are some structures which resemble plants: groups of crystals arranged into rosette patterns or forests of exactly similar diamonds. There is the rare icosidodecahedrons, perfect polyhedrons of diamond found lying around. They roll quite easily, and sometimes seem almost like they were alive. Whether they really are alive is an unending source of debate among Emmas and Lizzys.

From the outside, the whole realm looks like an enormous cluster of diamonds, and their brilliant reflections can be seen from a great distance. Several drained ley lines lead into it, and where they once were now impossibly large crystals point outwards. The whole realm looks a bit like a beautiful, impossible gem suspended in the Deep Umbra. Around it there is a region where most quintessence has been drained, making it impossible to grow further. Here the remains of several small realms can be found, which have been drained and partially turned into diamonds.

The diamonds of the realm have some unusual properties. When in contact with quintessence, they absorb it and grow (especially in the direction towards the nearest Emma). If an outsider appears in the realm it will begin to drain his quintessence. If he has Prime, he can use countermagick, difficulty 5, to resist this for a turn. Dead things, like a pencil or a corpse, will slowly be drained of their quintessence and reform into crystals. The speed at which this process happens depends upon the amount of entropy nearby, which inhibit it somewhat. This draining is not active against living beings, which constantly renew their supply of Prime, and their carried things which seem to be protected by their nearness.

When something is turned into crystal, it will reform into a cluster of diamond of about the same size. This cluster will slowly, over the course of a few hours, merge together into a single diamond. Some of these intermediate stages can be found lying around after a fight, the only clue to the victims. Sometimes a person is encapsulated in diamond or trapped under a rockfall. When they have suffocated, they will slowly become more and more transparent, until they have been completely transformed into the surrounding diamond.

Normally, the realm is highly anti-entropic. A ray of light reflecting between crystals will do so forever. This may be the source of light in the realm, as trapped light is reflected over and over again, sometimes becoming copied. A bullet will tend to ricochet forever, and may become copied. This can create tunnels filled with ricochets, slowly turning into razor sharp diamonds.

The crystals have perfect facets, which mirror and refract everything. Inside them, the viewer can see other people like Emmas studying, groups of Jahns and Lizzys arguing, himself getting attacked by Salvatores, etc. The mirror images can in fact be contacted with Mind and behave exactly as the originals would do in their situation. Sometimes mirror images contact the onlooker. Sometimes the images show what happened a few minutes ago, sometimes what will happen. There is no way to distinguish the events inside a mirror view from the outside world. In fact, they seem completely interchangeable.

The duplication of people is the most unusual feature of the realm. Suddenly, there are two or more of a person, or group of people. They do not appear out of thin air, or from the walls. Instead they just are there when someone happens to look. It is impossible to tell who is the original and who is the copy, as they all have exactly the same memories, attitudes and physical form. This is also true, to a lesser extent, for material objects (which will turn into diamond faster than they are copied unless carried).

Sometimes the copy is not perfect, and differs slightly from the original. This still does not give anyone the chance to distinguish them, as the difference is too small to notice and even when the two people compare their personalities, memories and ideas they will not be able to find out which is original since both versions are equally possible. Notice that due to the low entropy, the different versions of the archetypes do not diverge that far from each other, as they would in a more entropic realm like Earth.

There is also another, unknown factor. Sometimes there are strange shifts in the refractions inside the diamond, almost like a reflection of something else. They are never there when a person looks again. Franzes claim they have noticed traces of a presence of a mind not belonging to the normal inhabitants, something perhaps not even human. Emmas have noted small fluctuations in the pattern of light. All these phenomena seems to be related, but there are no clues to what causes them.

Magickal Axioms

The realm has been shaped by the original Paradox of Emma (creating the realm in the first place), Franz' mental Paradox (creating the mirror images) and the partially successful Entropy spell (which creates the fluctuations between Prime and entropy). As a whole, the realm has a quite stringent reality in some aspects, but a rather loose reality in others. The different spheres are:

Correspondence 0
This works as normal. Since almost all places are very similar, and populated with similar persons, the effects of Correspondence are almost as easily duplicated by walking.
Entropy 1 to -1
In the realm's original state, entropy was highly suppressed. When shattering a piece of diamond, the shards were split along straight lines and fell in a geometrical pattern. Dice always fell the same way, and so on. By the introduction of more entropy, this axiom changes. When it is as high as 1, it is quite easy to find weak spots, to backstab people and structures and generally destroy anything. Most of the time it is quite low, even when it is ascendant.
Forces 0
This works as normal. There are no higher forces like radioactivity in this realm. Light, gravity and kinetic energy are the only normal forces.
Life 0
This works as normal.
Matter 2
The creation of new diamond is a quite natural process and Emmas have found out how to simply will diamond into existence when the Prime is high enough. To change the parameters of diamond (changing its color, strength and so on) is also quite simple for a mage. To create anything else is harder, and may give Paradox. Soft, fuzzy objects are quite impossible. Remember that matter, when left alone, will begin to turn into diamond crystals.
Mind 0
This works as normal.
Spirit -3
No spirits exist in this realm, since they would become absorbed by the crystals. This makes spirits very careful not to enter it. It is impossible to look in or out using Spirit, since the diamonds block the view.
Prime 0 to 2
In the original realm, Prime axiom was 2. It is quite easy to notice flows of Prime, as they will begin to form crystals or become trapped inside crystals. Anyone using pattern magick will be briefly surrounded by the suggestion of reflecting facets in the air. To channel Prime into something is quite simple, as the realm eagerly absorbs Prime. The hard part is to get it out again. When Entropy is ascendant, the Prime axiom is lowered towards 1 or even 0.
Time 0
There is no true passage of time in the realm, as there is only an eternal now, without any long term changes.

The Entropy-Prime Cycle

Due to the introduction of entropy, the realm suffers from changes. These are periodic in nature and last a short while (ranging from a couple minutes to several hours). When Prime is ascendant, it is easy to create new patterns. It is during this time most of the mirror images emerge, as there is enough quintessence around to create them. When there are too many people around, the descent into entropy immediately begins. Usually Salvatores begins to "give room for possibilities", which leads to quick and dirty fights between them and unwilling victims. Entropy gains power, as Jahns begins to use entropic magick, Emmas and Franzes try to flee, mages suffer Paradox backlashes and general mayhem ensues. When entropy is ascendant, old structures are destroyed and their quintessence is freed. Usually this will create more crystals and mirror images, making Prime ascendant yet again. This cycle continues in large and small oscillations throughout the realm.

It is not known if the changes are local to a small part or global, influencing the whole realm. According to one proposed theory, the total amount of quintessence is constant, as there is no net influx. The same is true about entropy in the realm. In game terms, the Entropy Axiom + Prime Axiom = 1. Some teams of Emmas have tried to influence the cycles, with mixed success.

Paradox

Forces, Matter and Prime Paradox will almost always lead to the creation of more diamond or the disruption of diamonds. Many Emmas have been crushed or encapsulated by crystals when trying to work magick.

Entropy will lead to short term fluxes in the Entropy/Prime balance, often pushing it towards one extreme. Sometimes sharp stalactites coincidentally fall from the ceiling, impaling the mage (this effect is also often used by Jahn).

Mind can lead to the usual problems. One possibility is the dissolution of the mage's identity, as he loses his grip on who he is and begins to think of himself as an Archetype, not as an individual. This is especially true of Franzes, who tends to go around in large groups communicating with Mind 3.

Inhabitants

There were five members of the cabal who first entered the realm, thereby creating all the rest. These are the five archetypes. Each archetype has diverged slightly by now, as the mirroring is not always perfect (especially when entropy is ascendant). This divergence can be quite fast, and lead to new sub-varieties of the archetype. These varieties differ slightly from the personality, outlook and behavior of the mainstream.

Mirror images are created all the time, replacing dead or departed people (when someone leaves a place, one or two mirror images often stay behind). When Prime is ascendant, the available room is quickly filled with people. Shortly after entropy has been maximally ascendant, it is possible to find completely empty tunnels and chambers.

If someone enters this realm, he or she will immediately create a new archetype, changing the politics of the realm totally. This may turn out to be a good thing, or a very bad move.

Generally, Emmas and Franzes organize themselves into large teams, while Jahns and Salvatore tend to be solitary and mistrust themselves. Lizzys sometimes group together, sometimes stay solitary.

The Five Archetypes

Salvatore De Gennaro

Salvatore believes in possibilities. He does his best to give everyone a chance to fulfill their possibilities. Unfortunately, most of the inhabitants in the realm are simply copies, which have exactly the same possibilities. They take up the space and possibilities for each other and hinder their own evolution. Thus most of them should be removed, to give more room for the others. This is true for everyone, but he mostly keeps an eye on Jahns and other Salvatores. Since Salvatores generally think quite alike, they always mistrust each other to avoid being ambushed.

Normally, Salvatore behaves very coolly, always wearing his intimidating sunglasses and pinstripe suit (he would make a great member of the Men in Black). He does not say much, and stands in the background, studying the others present. When he feels someone has too few possibilities, or is blocking others' possibilities, he springs into action. He swiftly and efficiently kills his victims with an almost inhuman precision. He sincerely feels he is doing them a great service, and can't understand why everyone else is horrified.

Salvatores are the predators of the realm, constantly seeking out and killing anyone they consider expendable to free much needed entropy. When Prime is ascendant, they are often forced to stay in groups due to lack of space. This is a highly unstable state which can erupt at any moment. Suddenly everyone turns on their neighbors to make space, efficiently killing them. As long as Prime is strong, they use the stiletto, but when Entropy is above 0 they can also use the gun.

However, not all Salvatores kill anyone indiscriminately. Many of them are quite nice people, helping others and generally behaving normally. This of course will make others even more confused.

Quote
Lizzy: "You're a sociopath!"
Salvatore: "What's that?"
Lizzy: "Look it up."
Salvatore: (after reading definition in encyclopedia) "Yes. It fits quite well."

Euthantatos
Essence: Questing
Nature: Judge
Demeanor: Caregiver
Concept: Mafia Assassin
STR 3, DEX 5 (steady), STA 3
CHA 3, MAN 1, APP 2
PER 3, INT 2, WIT 3
Talents: Alertness 2, Awareness 2, Brawl 2, Intuition 3, Intimidation 3, Streetwise 3
Skills: Drive 1, Etiquette 1, Firearms 4 (pistols), Melee 4 (knives), Stealth 3, Technology 2
Knowledges: Cosmology 2, Culture 2, Investigation 3, Law 1, Linguistics 1
Backgrounds: Allies 1, Arcane 1, Avatar 1, Node 1, Talisman 2
Spheres: Entropy 2 (2 dice made of human bone), Forces 1 (weapon), Life 2 (no focus), Spirit 2 (dance)
Willpower 7, Arete 2

Gear

  • Very sharp stiletto. Talisman. Contains a coincidental Life effect giving two dice extra damage (which is multiplied by 3). Is also quite painless. This effect will only work when Prime is less than 1 (otherwise quintessence is too low).
  • Beretta M92 (only works when entropy is above 0)
  • pinstripe suit
  • sunglasses

Emma von Kellstahl

The creator of the realm and still very interested in its physics. She is highly individualistic and organized, often working in teams were everyone is trying to impress everyone else with brilliant ideas and powerful magick. These teams work quite well together and experiment with Matter and Prime magick. Since she generally ignores the consequences of her actions, it is not unusual for these teams to be destroyed by Paradox or cave ins.

Emma has style. She is always impeccably dressed and well organized. Her magick is often dramatic and impressive ("when you are doing vulgar magick anyway, why not liven it up a bit with Forces?"). She is also currently the only mage controlling Matter in the realm, thus making her quite powerful. She produces much diamond in her experiments and when Prime is ascendant she can even do it without magick (some Emmas use this to protect themselves, by turning the air between themselves and an attacker into diamond).

Quote
"Hermetics are not Technomancers. Hermetics are Better."

Order of Hermes (Rosicrucian)
Essence: Pattern
Nature: Architect
Demeanor: Director
Concept: Efficient business woman
STR 1, DEX 4 (catlike), STA 1
CHA 2, MAN 3, APP 5 (captivating)
PER 2, INT 4, WIT 2
Talents: Awareness 2, Expression 2, Intuition 3, Subterfuge 2
Skills: Drive 1, Etiquette 3, Leadership 1, Research 1
Knowledges: Computer 1, Culture 3, Investigation 2, Law 3, Linguistics 2, Occult 2
Backgrounds: Avatar 2, Influence 2, Library 2, Node 1
Spheres: Forces 3 (pentacle), Matter 3, Prime 2 (pentacle) — uses Egyptian/Latin incantations for all magick
Willpower 5, Arete 4, Paradox 2

Gear

  • Elegant Armani dress
  • Handbag containing all sorts of things
  • Pentacle of wood

Franz-Josef Durch-Holtz

Franz is a private eye and outside the realm tends to return to the stereotypical gumshoe. However, inside the realm he is quite out of his normal element and, except for his trenchcoat and his odd references to camera angles, lighting, clipping and the budget, he behaves more like an apprentice hermetic.

Franz is curious and is almost as interested in the realm as Emma, but he also experiments with himselves. He often uses Mind to communicate, multitask or create mind links with several of himselves. This has led to many Franzes becoming much more group entities than individuals. Originally an Orphan, he has been heavily influenced by hermetic thought and often uses hermetic terms he "borrows", using Mind on Emmas.

Franz is very impressed by Emma's hermetic magick. He often helps Emmas in their research and tries to learn from them. He sometimes talks with Jahns, who he regard as a bit too irritating but generally interesting. He tries to avoid Salvatores, after seeing what he does when he think there are too few possibilities available. Lizzy is quite reasonable, and often helps him. He never use offensive magick or his gun, preferring to run if attacked.

Quote (to himself)
"Care for some chess? Yes, it would be nice. Queen's pawn to..."

Orphan with Hermetic tendencies
Essence: Questing
Nature: Survivor
Demeanor: Visionary
Concept: Private Eye
STR 2, DEX 2, STA 2
CHA 3, MAN 3, APP 2
PER 4, INT 2, WIT 4
Talents: Alertness 3, Awareness 3, Brawl 1, Dodge 1, Expression 1, Intuition 2, Streetwise 4
Skills: Drive 1, Etiquette 1, Firearms 2, Research 2, Research 1, Stealth 3, Technology 1
Knowledges: Investigation 3, Law 1, Linguistics 1
Backgrounds: Arcane 1, Avatar 4, Influence 1, Node 1
Spheres: Entropy 1, Forces 2, Mind 3, Prime 1 — uses chessboard as focus for Prime
Willpower 10, Arete 4, Paradox 4

Gear

  • Travel chess board which he uses to study Prime or play with himself (most of the time he plays chess purely mentally with subpersonalities)
  • Pistol
  • Trenchcoat
  • Icosidodecahedron
  • Some pieces of diamond

Lizzy (Elizabeth Feigenbaum)

A young girl (tries to look older with Life) who dressed like a punk. Wears a shrunken, dried, dead rat impaled on a needle on her chest. Often quite soft hearted but with a hard edge. She tries to help everyone and avoid conflicts. She is the mediator of the realm. When she is attacked, she often flees but when cornered, she fights like a cornered rat. Then she will use very nasty Life 4 attacks on anyone (and feel bad about it afterwards). She fears Salvatore, but sometimes acts like him (often without noticing it until afterwards). She has both religious and moral doubts about what she is doing, but does it anyway.

Lizzy is quite irritated by Emma's Paradox creating experiments and holds her responsible for the whole trouble. The same is true about Franz, who she also suspects is behind much of the problems. Jahn is too impolite and should learn some manners.

Quote
"I feel bad about everybody I kill. Both the good ones and bad ones."

Ex Hollow One, now Euthanatos
Essence: Dynamic
Nature: Caregiver
Demeanor: Caregiver (a bit warped sometimes, like Salvatore)
Concept: Outsider
STR 1, DEX 5 (catlike), STA 2
CHA 3, MAN 1, APP 4 (cute)
PER 4 (keen eyed), INT 3, WIT 3
Talents: Alertness 3, Athletics 1, Awareness 2m Expression 1, Intuition 3, Streetwise 3, Subterfuge 1
Skills: Etiquette 1, Firearms 1, Meditation 1, Melee 2, Stealth 3, Survival 1, Technology 1
Knowledges: Cosmology 1, Culture 1, Enigmas 1, Medicine 3, Occult 1
Backgrounds: Avatar 5, Arcane 5, Dream 3, Mentor 1
Spheres: Life 4 (dried rat), Mind 2, Spirit 1
Willpower 5, Arete 4, Paradox 2

Gear

  • Stiletto
  • Skull earring and other morbid jewellery
  • Black Leather clothes
  • Lockpicks

Jahn Creutz

Jahn is solitary and dislikes almost everything, for good reasons. He prefers to stand in corners smoking, sometimes heckling the others and generally avoiding most of the action (think of him as John Constantine in a bad mood). But when he sees something he doesn't like, like Salvatores attacking someone else, he often interferes. He absolutely hates misuse of magick in any form.

Jahn dislikes Emma for what she has caused, and regards her as a perfect example of the hermetic tendency to play with forces far beyond her understanding. Franz is at least somewhat more reasonable, but too influenced by Emma. Salvatore is purely disgusting and a perfect example of why Euthanatos should be stopped. Lizzy is his personal problem. Earlier, she was the most reasonable mage in the cabal, understanding the importance of avoiding misuse of magick. But now she has been seduced by Euthanatos, and has begun thinking like them. He doesn't know what to do with her.

He agrees with Salvatore that the realm needs more entropy, and does his best to spread it when he feels for it, channelling it into the walls, flawing the facets, cracking the floor and generally destroying the diamonds. He often uses this to clear out areas of the realm, and turn them into tunnels where he can be alone (or rather, where Jahns can be alone).

Quote
"Well, Well, what have you done now, Fraulein Emma? Played with Secrets Man Was Never Meant To Know, again? Or just let loose something Unspeakable from God knows where?"

Trenchcoater
Essence: Dynamic
Nature: Loner
Demeanor: Jester
Concept: John Constantine Wannabe
STR 2, DEX 2, STA 2
CHA 2, MAN 5, APP 2
PER 3, INT 3, WIT 5
Talents: Alertness 2, Awareness 2, Dodge 2, Intuition 5, Intimidation 1, Streetwise 3, Subterfuge 4
Skills: Drive 1, melee 1, Research 1, Stealth 2
Knowledges: Cosmology 1, Enigmas 1, Linguistic 1, Medicine 1, Occult 5, Science 1
Backgrounds: Arcane 3, Avatar 2
Spheres: Entropy 3, Mind 4, Spirit 3
Willpower 8, Arete 5

Gear

  • Tarot pack which he uses as focus. He holds up a card suited to the magickal effect, and it happens.
  • Cigarettes — Jahn always has a cigarette in the corner of his mouth, puffing smoke at the others and the crystals (where it turns into diamond)
  • Dirty trench coat

Mood

The mood of this realm is best compared with a diamond: mirroring, hard with a hint of cruelty and very beautiful. Everything that happens is mirrored and repeated, like the reflections inside a diamond. Everything is frozen into the diamond but seems to move, like the images inside a gem when it is rotated.

The inhabitants are quite normal mages who have become trapped in this realm and lost every chance to leave. They are now the realm's ecosystem, endlessly repeating their actions in new scenes. Some of them have adapted, while others tries to resist the realm to some degree.

There is no end. Nothing will ever change and no one can ever leave (or rather, no one actually does. Think of "Waiting for Godot"). The inhabitants seem not to care about it. They just keep on doing their things.

There is a hint of alienness inside the realm, of something inhuman. Perhaps the whole realm is a kind of organism, or it is inhabited by something else besides humans. Something maybe uses the inhabitants for its own inscrutable goals.

Most important is the beauty and perfection of everything. Glittering diamonds. Galleries of crystal pillars. Perfect gems reflecting everything. Delicate structures growing from the floor. Titanic crystals pointing outwards towards the outside. The melodious sound of diamond against diamond. The strange and hauntingly lifelike icosidodecahedrons. However, this beauty slowly turn cold, as the visitors realize that they are trapped here forever, even if they leave.