[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/MlCs35O.png[/img][/center] [center][h1][b][color=fdc68a]Desire & The Kathetikon[/color][/b][/h1] [h3][i][color=f9ad81]Once Upon A Time[/color][/i][/h3][/center] [hr] Westwards from the Umbral Woods, she swiftly sailed upon the shining stria towards the sublime sight of the Grand Library after following the directions inscribed upon the map that Ashevelen had given to her, and she slowed herself upon her shimmer-board as she approached the exalted edifice. She could see how the world shifted the closer she came to the domain of another deity, yet she could not describe the exact nature of these changes. The winds surrounding the mountains resembled the winds at Keltra, and she could sense the presence of sorcery, mingling with her perception of reality. From her elevated position, Desire examined the numerous plateaus absolutely laden with ever exquisite structures such as the spiraling towers and grand halls, and she observed how each plateau was connected via many sculpted stone bridges and steps - all of this seemed to shine with an ethereal glimmer. She could see within the beautiful buildings the fabulous furnishings illuminated by crystallized radiance, as well as a vast repository of knowledge consisting of an immense collection of tomes, scrolls, illustrations, and much more, with a myriad of signs written in an unfamiliar script that would aid in navigating the various sections of this resplendent realm. There were more creatures that dwelled here; among them were Umbra akin to those that Desire had seen in the Shadow Bazaar which were presumably members of the Holy Order of Ashevelen, and then there were the equines with wings, their feathers forged from the night sky and their fur suffused with colorful warmth. The two types of denizens either flew upon the focused winds, or wandered throughout the wondrous arrangement of incredible architecture that was the Grand Library. None among them had seen Desire yet as her appearance remained hidden behind the aura produced by Sunset Orange - until she leapt from her shimmer-board, leaving her artifact and avatar behind - and alighted amidst the pathways of pearlescent and bejeweled marble between the majestic structures. She would then begin to seek out the Kathetikon, in order to give them the conjured coin she had received from Ashevelen. As Desire stepped down onto the proverbial terra firma of the Grand Library, a coruscating ribbon of light seemed to twinkle through the marble floor. It wound its way up through the chaotic maze of pathways, quickly disappearing from sight, but as Desire got her bearings she would no doubt catch glimpses of it again and again–and each time she saw it, it would gently nudge her perception up towards the great Vault set atop the highest peak. The strange geometries of the Grand Library seemed to unnaturally converge upon it, and now that she had entered it properly and doffed her protection it seemed to do the same to her. An umbra sailing the winds just above Desire happened to look down and catch a glimpse of the coin Ashevelen had given her, and suddenly grew very animated. The umbra began furiously writing strange sigils into the air with a quill and sending them darting off with a flick of her shadowy form. As the movement rippled throughout her clothes, an emblazoned emblem of coins much like the one Desire was holding was briefly visible. It took only another moment or two for the sound of ruffling feathers and equine neighing to be heard, and soon two of the Odysseia had joined in, speaking to themselves in a strange whispering language. “Are you one of the holy Kathetikon’s siblings, perchance, sent here by Lady Ashevelen?” the Umbra asked, quickly performing a prayer under its breath to the Lady of Trade and Shadows as it eagerly awaited an answer. In the background, the lure of the Vault grew even stronger as though something deep within that strange apex were calling out to her. Her deific sight would render her keenly aware of the currents of esoteric and occult energy that were made manifest in the Kathetikon’s realm, but as she gazed upon the celestial trails of energy in the oddly crisp skies she would also become keenly aware of something actively damming her perception. Like a veil of reality itself slipped over something she could see the absence of, it stoked any curiosity she might have had within her and appealed to her sense of mystery. “I’m Desire, ya! Ashevelen said to come here if I wanted to learn more about trading. She told me to give this coin to the Kathetikon. Can you help me find what I seek?” Desire answered as she showed the stamp of the shadow goddess to the Umbra and asked her own question with an affable grin while she fiddled with the aforementioned coin, flipping it between her fingers playfully. Her inner flames flickered with an excited enthusiasm, and so she sauntered forward without worry or constraint towards this source of temptation atop the mountain letting her curiosity guide her. “Ah, what luck! If you wish to know the way onward, I’d be happy to accept a trade… a secret for a secret, hmm?” the Umbra giggled, her eyebrows wagging coyishly as she shone a bright smile towards Desire, clearly eager to talk to this new being but also true to the nature of the Umbra and unwilling to let things be freely given when a mutually beneficial trade could be made! Alas, before the conversation could proceed further Desire found the strange fractal geometries of the Grand Library shifting and constricting. Reality tilted on some unseen axis and suddenly the Umbra was gone, as were the Odysseia flying above, as were all of the living things. Up above in the sky could be seen an inky trail of midnight blue essence, contrasting sharply against the ordinarily too-bright and too-crisp sky. As Desire would catch notice of it it would begin to glob wetly against another point in the sky, spreading almost like the flow of a river–and suddenly it trickled down a dimension that she had not been able to see before and vanished from view. Ahead, at the Apex, the obsidian black glass seemed to drink in the same peculiar essence that Desire had seen earlier. To her divine eyes she could even see the odd angles of the place beginning to split off into the spaces between spaces that appeared to converge here. It was almost as if the strange Vault keened to her innermost senses, pulling her unfailingly towards it and opening its doors for her to begin to explore the interior. The inky currents suddenly became visible ahead of her, as if already enveloping her, and brushed against Sunset Orange, lingering against it for a fraction of a second too long. As suddenly as the vision came into being it disappeared, adding another layer of mystery for Desire to untangle. Her shimmer-board came into view once again as her sacred marionette sailed the artifact upon unseen silvery strings outstretched, and hovered beside her creatrix now. Currently suffused with her namesake, Desire and her Divine Doll momentarily stared at each other with contemplative stillness before both of them slowly shifted their attention back to the strange structure that beckoned them from within. Though this surrealistic cave was dark, and though it devoured, Desire thought its hunger and blackness were somehow bright and hot akin to a bonfire - and so seen as such, caused her skin to feel warm. A foolish leap of faith ahead of her, now she cannot forsake herself or abandon her avatar. She knew she could not step into the calling cave alone, and she suddenly was clinging onto her Divine Doll, caressing its soft features to soothe herself. Her hesitancy passed, and carrying her small woven marionette as they sailed upon Sunset Orange together, the two of them proceeded forward, and ascended towards the mystery that awaited them above. Desire reached out with her threads, like thousands of hands seeking to grasp and gently articulate their surroundings, so that she could attempt to see the shape of what she had seen before - another vision. Another perspective. Desire’s threads reached out, and the infinite tendrils of the Rivers of Mystery each grasped firmly the goddess’ proffered hand and [i]pulled[/i]. They drew her very self through their infinite complexities, each a conduit for the occult and esoteric phenomena of Galbar–but now so close she could see them for what they truly were: the seams that bound this reality to myriad others, the fundamental axes of the multiverse. Each offered something wildly different, a shift in perspective so profound and surreal that mortal minds would burn up in their obsessive embrace–but Desire was no mortal, and the overwhelming heat could do her no harm. The sudden infusion of occult energy took the form of whispers, and they slid slickly through her ears and into her mind as she vaulted rapidly through the glut of new perspectives: “We cannot see you, and we cannot hurt you, but if you only find us and let us in we will fill the hole within you.” And then, all at once, a ripple of written characters vibrated through the air in each of the otherworldly vistas and they began to slide into one another seamlessly. Faster and faster they collided, until all at once they slammed into Desire and she found herself within the interior of the grand Vault. The same incredible space awaited her as had awaited Kaelhmor, the infinite vastness of the cosmos somehow contained within the peculiar obsidian building, but this time instead of non-euclidean edges and peculiar geometries there were little rivers of that inky-blue essence, heading off towards the distant nebulae and planets in the distance. At the center of it all was the prize that Desire had sought, however: the Kathetikon and Anagnostis, engaged in some peculiar type of spellcraft that involved the avatar drawing impossibly intricate and precise sigils in various ways. [color=#3E5967]“Ah, sibling, it is good to meet you! You are one of the Creatrix’s children, yes?”[/color] the Kathetikon wrote, its words manifesting in the celestial skyscape above them. Anagnostis took a single glance at the coin that she possessed and began to write feverishly within the tome’s pages. [color=#3E5967]“Ah! You’ve been sent by Lady Ashevelen, I see? It is a pleasure to welcome a friend of a dear friend. What service would she have me provide for you?”[/color] Desire had yet to be completely healed after all she suffered and all that she witnessed when she was within Keltra, as she felt the hidden scars spanning across her shape become more and more agitated. She disembarked from her shimmer-board, still holding her doll with one arm as she presented the coin to the two that had greeted her. She slowly stepped forward, struggling with the movements, almost stumbling instead of walking with grace, and her brows furrowed with irritation before softening as she briefly peered upwards to read the scripture in the otherworldly sky. “Eh, sorry! My body seems to want to betray me now. I’m Desire, and it’s nice to finally meet you. To, um, answer your question; I’m here to learn about trading.” Upon uttering those words, Desire relaxed as the sudden chafing among the crevices along her form was alleviated temporarily, and so she adopted a more calm and cheerful demeanor as she continued to speak. “I was told I could study here if I gave this coin to the Umbra in residence, and I was told that I should speak with you if I could.” She explained with a smile as she tied herself together with her silvery strings, assisted by her animated marionette that possessed similar threads. The final result was a rather ridiculous sight, but would also prevent her from fracturing apart during this conversation which she deemed more prevalent. [color=#543E89]“Your corporeal index is lower than it should be, it’s true…”[/color] Anagnostis smiled sheepishly before flicking through the Kathetikon’s pages at a blinding pace. It finally settled on a page filled not with words but with arcane sigils, and began to draw the patterns contained therein upon the sky with its quill, linking distant stars and planets alike and directing their energy down into Desire. It was like being plugged into the heartbeat of the cosmos themselves, the sheer magnitude of forces suddenly coursing through her body difficult for even a God to bear–but then the silvery string began to glow as it absorbed the energy that Anagnostis had fed to it, and Desire’s body was united with her desires once more. [color=#543E89]“A temporary fix, while you are within the Vault! The Master knows how to draw energy from the entire multiverse to this place, so it is fairly trivial to maintain such magic while here… you traveled here yourself through one of the Rivers of Mystery, did you not? You were linked then to a single thread in the tapestry; now many more are infusing you with their vitality.”[/color] Anagnostis smiled, performing a deep bow, but then its featureless face returned to the Kathetikon and began to flick through its pages once more. [color=#3E5967][i]“Lady Ashevelen could, of course, teach you intricacies that even I do not know–but she is an efficient manager, and knows when it is best to delegate tasks! She also happens to know that I wish to meet all of our siblings one day, so she has done us both quite the favour. I warn you, however, that I do not tend to… teach, per se. It is my prerogative to reveal the path, but it must be yours to walk it. My Library contains everything you could ever want to know, if only you can find it… but what on earth has damaged you so severely? I sense the Creatrix’s energy about you, but in far higher quantities than one could ambiently accumulate in Keltra–she spoke to me some time ago about a battle of some sorts, have you been injured by one of our kin?”[/i][/color] the Kathetikon wrote, its words fast and blurred together as it leaped from point to point without pause. It was overwhelming, the multitude of emotions coursing through the small system that Desire comprised herself with, and she was momentarily the embodiment of several sins; greed, gluttony, lust, and avarice. She was aching with hunger, as her stomach repeatedly whimpered, and she hated that she deeply contemplated begging for food, for sweet sustenance. She wanted to satiate her hunger simply by forever feasting upon the cognitive vigor that suffused her now, provided by the power of the one that ruled this realm. To withdraw and accept being emptier was an unbearable thought, so similar to the weight of the world itself, it seemed overcoming it would be a sisyphean task. She shook back and forth, trembling with transcendence despite how tightly the sacred strings bound her like shackles, and she felt tears fall from flushed cheeks as she remembered simultaneously why she previously separated herself from such cosmic forces. She wondered when she would lose lucidity and become intoxicated, how it had happened and why? Her mind relentlessly teased her with moans of pleasure and playful mockery beyond the capability of her current body to comprehend. Despite the sensation of her skin being squeezed, excruciatingly forced to constrict and contain all that was within her, she remained more afraid of the threads becoming frayed and undone. She could see such a destiny coming soon, and she winced as she looked away. The pain of prescience and divinity. She gasped, and inhaled. Breathing. How could she explain that she had been brutalized and abandoned, yet was still loved? She could not define the nature of her relationship with her mother who had become something sinister and supernatural in her mind, frightening her. She recalled how even when she had held the Aspect-Shard of War, even when she had fought with fierce conviction, she had been defeated. She sought mercy then, and surrendered to the river that carried her on and on, yet it could not have been her choice to come here. “Yet I’m here.” She whispered so softly, solely with written words for she had yet to find her voice again, but in this realm she could speak even when silenced. She was blind to her surroundings, and suddenly found herself laid upon the floor entangled in her sacred strings before the strange Book and its author, as though she were the sacrifice placed upon the altar. She remained dedicated to the reason she had arrived. She had come to learn about trade, and desired to make a deal with the one known as the Kathetikon. “I want everything…” She said weakly, confessing to her crimes, her sins, her salvation. She allowed herself to imagine having another one of those delicious meals she devoured while within the Shadow Bazaar, and also attempted to imagine somehow consuming it while still keeping it in her possession despite how difficult it was to do so. “What can I trade with you?” She asked with desperation. [color=#3E5967][i]“All things are written, Desire, but not all things are decided. I remember the prophecies of many great sages, some of whom communed with forces even the equal of your mother, and not a single one was infallible–we kept keen records at the Oraculum within Gnosis, you see. I could show you universes where you beat the Creatrix, or where your purposes and goals became aligned, or where she was never your mother at all–but what would it serve? The root of your problems is clear to me: the hole inside of you that you have sought to fill has no bottom. You could glut yourself upon all the infinite multiverse has to offer and never be satisfied, because the satisfaction you crave is rooted in falsehood. All I crave is knowledge, dear Desire, and I am about to embark upon the Rivers to do a little research about one of our siblings. I will be gone for some time, so I propose this to you: Find out all you can from your mother about the Sacred Path, about what she has already done and what she intends to do. In return, I shall bless you now with stewardship over the Rivers and their many delights–I can inscribe upon your board the sigils that will permit you to ride them, and I can weave within your strings their essence to bolster your failing corporality. If you keep an eye on things while I am absent and provide the knowledge I desire upon my return, you may keep my blessings.”[/i][/color] the Kathetikon wrote in reply, the scintillating stars above and around them glittering and sparkling in time with its words. New invocations began to draw themselves in the vastness around them, and the mysterious angles of the Vault started to channel energy through the sable Rivers in anticipation of Desire’s acceptance. [color=#3E5967][i]“Anagnostis, fetch a hot meal from the Bazaar, will you? Galxus should know what Desire would like, and you are free to educate him on the many varieties of binding clauses that he was so interested in the last time he visited as recompense.”[/i][/color] the Kathetikon added quickly, and the Anagnostis seemed to dissolve beneath the shadow of a passing star as he entered the Bazaar from the Vault. Only a moment or two later they returned, holding a plate of the precise type of food Desire had been imagining. They crouched down and offered it to her, their featureless face somehow still radiating kindness. [color=#543E89]“You will meet your destiny on the road you take to avoid it. You must live as your authentic self, whatever that is, in order to satisfy your Desire. This is the only logical conclusion the Master has been able to come to, with all of the information at its disposal. I hope this helps, somehow, but I think you need to experience it. The Master does not teach because experience is the only true teacher!”[/color] Anagnostis spoke, its voice at once sagely and full of mirth. Her limbs stayed locked as she lay completely tethered upon the floor, and she cried at the sight of the compassion she was shown. The Book was beautiful, she was certain, and Desire recognized a significant supply of holiness that temporarily compelled her to communicate further. “Um, please… tell me the truth - are you my family or an enemy? Are you my father? A demon? Something else? You’re hurting me, and healing me. I just… I don’t want to be alone.” Her two different colored eyes stared at the Kathetikon with sorrowful yearning, and shimmered with all of the answers she had yet to accept. Her glittering gaze reflected her desires and a hint of defiance, as despite all that she had heard, she sought to stay with whoever it was that she was speaking with. She truly wanted to sail further upon the celestial rivers, but she refused to return to the past as she told herself that she cannot go back, that she was not strong enough yet. She was stuck, bound by the weapon she created and her cowardice, and sudden swift shame splashed against her, angry and hot like the touch of the sun. She giggled for an ephemeral moment, because she happily surrendered again when she considered how foolish she had been, achieving the self-bestowed title of the fake warrior. She was sundered, sealed with stupidity, and yet she had to continue enduring cruelty; the maelstrom, the violence and agony on the path ahead. She wished she could refute the fact that the Kathetikon was not coming with her, and she struggled to slither towards the blessed book. The Kathetikon did not have a gaze to focus upon Desire, so it substituted the sheer vastness of the cosmos present around them for a look and seemed to almost smile both benevolently and piteously at Desire. [color=#3E5967][i]“You are my sibling, as we are both children of the Creatrix. I am many things, but none of them are an enemy–to you or anyone, I should hope. We are an ersatz family, I admit, but its esoteric and often tumultuous nature should do nothing to diminish its love nor the bonds we share as deific beings. Though my curiosity burns deeply at this Sacred Path, know that I am no friend of the Creatrix. She made plain that she cares only for this Sacred Path, and my desire to understand it compels me at times to act alongside her–but I would be upset were you to mistake this for us being little more than allies of opportunity.”[/i][/color] the Kathetikon began, settling itself down in front of Desire so that she could read freely from the words it wrote upon its pages. [color=#3E5967][i]“You are not broken, my sibling. To be broken, one must have first been a complete thing–you are merely components yet to find the correct configuration… but this is your trial, you see? The answers you crave can only come from within; it is my job to light the path. I find it very curious how alike and yet different the Creatrix and I are: we have both stood at the end of a perfect universe crumbled to nothingness, subsumed in its entirety by entropy. We have watched universes die, we have beheld the ultimate end… but a part of me worries that this Path she is building leads not to an answer, but to escape. Unlike her, I do not seek release–I seek answers. I fear that I must be alike her if I am hurting you, but know that it is only my intention to help… now, let us restore your corporal harmony! Anagnostis, prepare the geometries! Fetch the candles and the chalks!”[/i][/color] Anagnostis did so immediately, dissolving into the lightless gap between the Vault and the Shadow Bazaar, and when they returned they started about setting up the right means for the Kathetikon’s grand plan. As Anagnostis prepared Desire, the Kathetikon prepared the heavens and the Vault, and their perspective in space suddenly changed as new stars and planets came into being. Hidden veils fell away before their eyes, and some things they had been privy to before vanished into nothingness–everything that was became something new, and ere long the rite was prepared. [color=#3E5967][i]“If I could stay, sweet Desire, I would… but there are questions beyond the pale that I must answer. There are adjustments I must make for Galbar’s safety beyond the veil–lest we attract the attention of Tindalos or worse. But if you wish to see me again, you need only return to my Library–it will be easy enough for us to meet at a liminal space if you want it badly enough.”[/i][/color] “I believe you, and I’m still going to miss you, hehe. Miss you like I miss Ashevelen and Harmony, and the other daughters of the sun that have yet to collect their spirit. I’m carrying such pain, and yet I can still fly. Ah, though my heart is missing a piece, it still beats… because I have faith we’ll meet again.” The trapped goddess said with the shadow of a smile, promising that the tale will continue when the black mirror connects them together, and they truly meet in the house of the night. With devotion, she had become divine once more, and spoke through time via surfing across the sea of stories to be here now. She will partake in the spell to sail swiftly upon Sunset Orange to overcome the dangers, as death would await her, and so she must hang upon the secret song of sorcery to survive. She was ready to be released from the Sacred Strings. The glittering pinpricks of light in the sky above began to wink out, one by one. The darkness left behind seemed unable to occupy the space, and so it began to dribble down in little droplets until they had formed a little trickle of inky midnight. Each star lost seemed to spawn another, and as the distant light of the unmitigated mystery of the multiverse slowly faded away the ever-swelling tide of the Rivers could be felt coming closer, looming like a sword. When no lights yet remained, and the Rivers had joined together in this nexus so completely that the world was little more than a pinprick of concentrated energy. [color=#3E5967][i]“We are at the source. The infinite potentiality that once powered Gnosis, and now powers the Grand Library. The Vault. The Nexus. You. It… is nothing. Formless. It reflects only what is and creates nothing of its own, given meaning only when it may bring into being the Desires that are entrusted to it, and reflected within its lightless depths. You must visualize the Desire you wish to be, and we will align your body with your deific and noetic essences.”[/i][/color] the Kathetikon spoke out, its words traveling not through sight or sound but through Desire’s very soul. Anagnostis revealed the chalks, like the hearts of dying stars, and began to cleave from the infinite everything the singular thoughts and focuses of Desire’s truest essence. All that she was not fell away, drowning in the tides of the Rivers of Mystery and the unknown dimensions they leaked into. For each thought purged a small flicker of light came into being, the tip of a small candle, and soon Desire was surrounded by them entirely. Floating above her was the Kathetikon, its pages open and covered with barely comprehensible patterns that resisted being perceived. [color=#3E5967][i]“As the Rivers flow through you, they will wash away the Sacred String. It will fall to another you, one who needs it as you do not. You will be permanently and indelibly marked with their aetheric signature, and that will serve as the binding to house the spells that will align your board to their currents, that you may surf them across Galbar and beyond. The bargain is struck, dear sibling, and you have learned what it is to trade by doing it yourself.”[/i][/color] It is said that no man ever steps in the same river twice, for it is not the same river, and he is not the same man. However, upon her shimmer-board empowered by immortal defiance, could Desire overcome the paradoxical and illogical laws of an eternally changing reality or would she drown in despair? To surf swiftly, sail higher, closer and closer to the celestial limits and boundaries between the first and final fantasy. Tears of truth trickled from her ruby-emerald eyes as she peered into the ever enigmatic sea of shadows, and she felt herself plunge deep into the unfathomable depths of darkness. She sank, but she was the Hanged One, and so she suspended herself while immersed in the many mysteries of the multiverse, receiving the wisdom of a myriad of lives. She could taste the treachery upon her forked tongue, as she became a serpent to navigate her unseen and sibylline surroundings. Lies touched her lips like the kiss of a lost lover, and she suddenly felt tremendous agony, insidious poison pouring into her and defiling her perception. [i]I’m going to burst,[/i] she thought, sensing her spiritual stomach become swollen after swallowing so much mystical knowledge. Still restrained after the ritual, Desire violently returned from her visions and profusely vomited upon the floor. The Sacred Strings became unraveled, and she was freed, released from her shackles, yet shaking once again with subtle scars across her small and familiar form. [b][i]“I think I know what I must do.”[/i][/b] The goddess gasped, exhausted and blemished by her own bile and vomitus. [color=#3E5967][i]“Ah, sweet Desire, it seems our time is at an end. The tides beyond this world are flooding in, and I must ride them to my destination. Anagnostis will stay here to oversee the Library, so they will be able to help you in whatever way you require. Before I depart, however, I would have you know this: the path you have embarked upon will kill you. As deities we are outside the purview of death, but as beings with thoughts and feelings we still die a thousand times over our existence. You have already experienced one such death today, but it has only killed the parts of you that could not muster the volition to live.”[/i][/color] the Kathetikon stated, its tone now paternal and comforting, though tinged with some unseen note of melancholy. The pages of the book rippled gently in some unseen breeze, and from nowhere in particular a droplet of inky-black liquid fell onto its pages. Then another, and another, and another–and in the span of a single second suddenly the Kathetikon was gone. [color=#543E89]“The Master will return, Desire… now, eat up. Gather your strength.”[/color] Anagnostis smiled, beginning to inscribe sigils and arcane geometries upon the sacred shimmer-board with the chalks it still gripped firmly. The effect was much less grandiose and pronounced than the previous displays of the Kathetikon’s power, manifesting only as a gentle ripple that ululated through the board’s essence before disappearing entirely. [color=#543E89]“When you are ready, you should surf one of the Rivers to become acquainted with them! They have spawned all over Galbar, so your destination will be close at hand to at least one of the Rivers.”[/color] [hider=Summary] Desire visits the Grand Library and discovers that to be curious is to invite certain death, and yet to abandon Curiosity is to die. The Rivers of Mystery are created. The Kathetikon goes on a journey, and Desire prepares to do the same. [/hider] [hider=Might] Desire - 5MP/5AP -> 2MP/5AP -3MP - Claim the Hanged One II Aspect. The Kathetikon - 5MP/5AP -> 0MP/0AP -3MP - Claim the Mysteries aspect. -10AP (Discounted to 5 via Mysteries aspect) - Create the Rivers of Mystery, immaterial loci of occult and mysterious energy that flow throughout Galbar. The Rivers of Mystery are the source of esoteric and strange magic related to arcane sigils and curious geometries, but they are also Galbar’s connection to the greater multiverse and allow for travel between the various shards of reality should one possess the esoteric knowledge necessary to use them. They take the forms of literal rivers, or leylines, or trails within the celestial sphere. Strange and unexplainable occurrences are commonplace near the Rivers, and the Emporoskia are rarely too far from them. The Rivers notably also connect to the Shadow Bazaar, though these can only be accessed with Ashevelen’s express permission. -2 MP (Discounted to 1 via Mysteries aspect) - Bless Sunset Orange with the ability to surf the Rivers of Mystery. -2 MP (Discounted to 1 via Mysteries aspect) - Bless the Sacred Strings with the essence of the Rivers of Mystery, empowering them in mysterious ways. [/hider]