~Plot~
“This is where the end ends and the beginning begins.”
It always starts with a Holy Grail.
There are many worlds. Timelines. Universes upon universes, wrapped around each other like molecules in a vast ocean of existence.
At the center of it all lies Akasha. The Akashic Records. The Void. Heaven. Hell.
All of it.
None of it.
It is the place where all souls are bound to, and from whence all lives originate. It is the past, present, and future. It is the place where wishes can be granted, and where dreams go to die. It is the dream of every magus to one day arrive there, and unravel its secrets--to be the first to grasp a new, true Magic.
A very long time ago--during the year of 1790--a group of great men convened to summon a gate to Akasha, using a tool ancient beyond antiquity--the Holy Grail. They were successful. They were more successful than they could ever have dreamed. They created not only a gate to Akasha, but a wellspring from which magecraft could flourish and evolve beyond its wildest dreams.
It was then that the world ended.
At once, the world became as one and then as none. Reality could not bear this transgression, and chose altogether to bury itself in an eternal Mystery. Impenetrable, and unfathomable.
But, fear not, for this was not our world. This was another world. Had it not so deeply affected our own, we would not have even known of its existence.
Today--during this year of 1790--a group of magi convened to summon a gate to Akasha. However, there was only room enough for one of these men. The Holy Grail was not so much a gate as they had originally surmised, but more like a tollbooth. One pushed through, and what they saw was unspeakable.
They did not see the path to a new Magic. They did not see the Swirl at the Root. They did not step foot in the annals of the Akashic Records.
Through the gate, they had found a great, Mysterious thing. An entire planet, shrouded in an ancient, ineffable strangeness.
They had found what was lost to the hubris of another self, simultaneously having been for as long as being could be, and being as fresh and nascent as a newborn.
The gate that they had stepped through was now open--permanently. The Holy Grail was no more--it could be no more. It was as it always was, and as it had never been.
A Gate to Mystery. The Universe Between Universes.
At the very moment that Mystery lodged itself in the path to the Swirl of the Root, all timelines--all universes--came undone at once. Its mere existence set every other existence off of their preordained course. It is an aberration--a thing that should never have been. In that moment, time itself became a convoluted thing; what was once 1790 became nonexistent, as past, present, and future became but concepts--irrelevant creatures that heralded no weight nor presence.
There is only Mystery, and upon it, the battleground of ages.
Take up arms, O Servants.
Make thy name known to the world, O Masters.
This is the Heavenly Grail War.
~Your Role~
Mystery is an aberration of time and space. It is a planet that is at once a part of Akasha, and the very furthest thing from it. Lodged squarely in the path the Holy Grail created, Mystery has destabilized every timeline, every universe. In doing so, the collective unconscious of the Earth and the primal will to survive of Man--Gaia and Alaya--have all at once coincided, through every universe, creating a temporary battleground in an effort to dislodge the anomaly and bring time back to its rightful course.
This, in the simplest terms, is why you are here. Passing through the gate not of your own free will, but rather because there are no worlds to come home to, you are one of the 42 Masters that inhabit the world of Mystery--and you are destined to fight for the right to your own future. The Heavenly Grail speaks of granting a single wish, and destroying the Mystery that so destabilizes the flow of time.
Led by a Ruler, you and your compatriots will aim to bring the other six factions to their knees, and in the process feed the Heavenly Grail its sacrifices and bring Mystery to its final oblivion.
~The World~
~The Rules~
1. No Gatekeeping!
The Fate/ series is big. It has a lot of people who have invested themselves in varying amounts to the fandom and their understanding of Fate/. What I don’t want to see is people snubbing others because they don’t know some obscure fact about the Nasuverse!
2. There are no dumb questions.
I tried my very best to make this setting as approachable as possible, but even then there are things I missed or failed to properly explain! Please ask questions if you have them--the Discord is a great place to get to know others and ask me anything you’d like to know.
3. Your party is your friend.
I really can’t stress this enough. Please join the Discord and please get involved with other players! We can’t make this story happen without you. Everyone’s equally valuable--I’m just the GM that put this story together! It’s nothing without people to get involved in it.
4. “Have fun” is not a rule!
If you’re not having fun, or not feeling involved, you gotta talk to people! I am absolutely dedicated to helping people feel like they’re having a good time, but I’m not perfect and I’ll do everything in my power to accommodate you.
5. Do what you love.
Don’t make a character that you think I’ll like--make a character that’s uniquely you and makes you happy and excited to write. This isn’t a talent show or a competition--I want to give every player a fair shake and a chance to do the crazy stuff they feel like they can’t do in other roleplays. That being said…
6. Don’t be a creeper!
I know, Fate/ is a historical waifu simulator, but I really don’t want people to go around buying girlfriends like it’s 2000s Runescape. This is, at its core, a real deal venture and creeping other people out is a big no-no! Please make an effort to make your character feel larger than life, rather than making them feel like a pinup.
7. Don’t think “power.” Think “interesting.”
While Fate/ is very, very easy to turn into a high-power excursion into just how easily the universe can be broken, I’d really like it if people would exercise restraint in favor of characters being balanced and interesting! I’m much more interested in weird powers than I am outrageous ones. Taking rule 5 into account, this means that while I want you to express yourself, remember that the power level needs to be within reason, and any extravagant powers need to have reasonable drawbacks! If you ever have a question about power levels, I handle things on a case-by-case basis--we’ll talk it out and see how everyone else feels, and ultimately I’ll come to a decision! The nature of Servants makes their power levels a little nebulous and flexible, so it kind of has to go by feel rather than objectivity.
The Fate/ series is big. It has a lot of people who have invested themselves in varying amounts to the fandom and their understanding of Fate/. What I don’t want to see is people snubbing others because they don’t know some obscure fact about the Nasuverse!
2. There are no dumb questions.
I tried my very best to make this setting as approachable as possible, but even then there are things I missed or failed to properly explain! Please ask questions if you have them--the Discord is a great place to get to know others and ask me anything you’d like to know.
3. Your party is your friend.
I really can’t stress this enough. Please join the Discord and please get involved with other players! We can’t make this story happen without you. Everyone’s equally valuable--I’m just the GM that put this story together! It’s nothing without people to get involved in it.
4. “Have fun” is not a rule!
If you’re not having fun, or not feeling involved, you gotta talk to people! I am absolutely dedicated to helping people feel like they’re having a good time, but I’m not perfect and I’ll do everything in my power to accommodate you.
5. Do what you love.
Don’t make a character that you think I’ll like--make a character that’s uniquely you and makes you happy and excited to write. This isn’t a talent show or a competition--I want to give every player a fair shake and a chance to do the crazy stuff they feel like they can’t do in other roleplays. That being said…
6. Don’t be a creeper!
I know, Fate/ is a historical waifu simulator, but I really don’t want people to go around buying girlfriends like it’s 2000s Runescape. This is, at its core, a real deal venture and creeping other people out is a big no-no! Please make an effort to make your character feel larger than life, rather than making them feel like a pinup.
7. Don’t think “power.” Think “interesting.”
While Fate/ is very, very easy to turn into a high-power excursion into just how easily the universe can be broken, I’d really like it if people would exercise restraint in favor of characters being balanced and interesting! I’m much more interested in weird powers than I am outrageous ones. Taking rule 5 into account, this means that while I want you to express yourself, remember that the power level needs to be within reason, and any extravagant powers need to have reasonable drawbacks! If you ever have a question about power levels, I handle things on a case-by-case basis--we’ll talk it out and see how everyone else feels, and ultimately I’ll come to a decision! The nature of Servants makes their power levels a little nebulous and flexible, so it kind of has to go by feel rather than objectivity.
~The Sheets~