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[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYjDm72y2Ao[/youtube]

[b]OOC[/b]
[b]Slots filled: 5/5[/b]
[color=red][b]Closed[/b][/color]

Themes: [i]Modern Fantasy, Hidden World[/i]
Inspirations: [i]Mahoutsukai No Yoru (Type-Moon), To Aru Majutsu No Index[/i]
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Upon rain-soaked streets, where whispers exchange in full view
In the corners of grey high rises, nestled in upscale lounges
Crumbling towers and filthy tunnels
In the halls of masters, and the abodes of nameless

Unseen workings toil where the common know not
Kings and queens of ancient lineages persist undying wars
Heroes and monsters shed life in perpetuity

Here dies innocence
Here reigns ambition

[b]Magic[/b]
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Magic in the Park (henceforth shortened as MitP) is a world in which you will play as a practitioner of the arcane -be you a confused newcomer to the clandestine scene, or a veteran born of magic nobility- wherein you must merely survive or thrive in power. The world of magic is fraught with danger in the form of wayward curses and abominations, or as murderous fellow mages who see you as a stepping stone to their goals. Ancient grudges and competitions pervade the established houses and organizations of this world, and many can find themselves pitifully caught between them or belonging to one of many sides.

To engage with magic is to delve into the greatest labyrinth ever conceived by once-mortal minds. In the beginning all was permitted, and in the chaos that was afforded naught but impermanence was achievable, for everything that could be was also instantly undone. The combined spirits of ancient visionaries saw to it that this untenable existence would not go on, and smote infinity from the fabric of reality. Since then, magic has existed as a path upon which the existences within the now stationary world may explore.

Loops, halls, mazes, towers, traps, walls, bogs. All these things now exist between ambition and ultimate victory. A spell is a room within this meta-reality, found after deliberate and persistent delving. The means by which a mage reaches these ends is myriad, and not all are entered unharmed. Within the endless-scape manifest misgivings, hatred... but also hope and joy. Monsters and creatures preside here foremost and sometimes they find their way into the realm otherwise reserved for man. Some are tamed and incorporated, while others remain as perilous haunts.

In their quest for ultimate power, truth, and fame, those that access the labyrinth oft seek to stifle the journey of those behind them. To enter a room is to be its occupant and thus suffused in the knowledge its shelves of text provide... to share such with another is to divulge weaknesses, partition energy, and to give up uniqueness. For those within families, whose learned history and progress passes by blood, this sharing is a begrudging capitulation. For those who wander alone, it is an unacceptable act.

Not all within the dark sphere ascribe to the same misanthropic view -all mortals are, necessarily, still their human selves. Such is the binding which had similarly limited magic. Within the hearts of men lay still the trappings of life, and the array of emotions that come with such an existence.

Condensed into an unfathomable finite, magic has come to express itself in manners fundamental to mortal imagination. These [i]Aspects[/i] are thus:

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[color=#ccb3ff][b][Obscurity][/b][/color]
Enigmatic darkness and invisible depths. Unknowable and ineffable songs hide behind a veil while touchless blades tease at strands of spirit. None -save the master that brings them from pits of nameless centuries- may ever define them. And for those masters who do, visions of black, aetheric seas flood the soul with madness.

[right][color=#ff6666][b][Manifest][/b][/color]
A giant of insurmountable will lifts mounds of unquestionable destiny from the earth and tosses them through walls of the deniers. The presence of its bulk pushes away doubt and uncertainty, and crushes under sight all that question even its faintest breath. Determination and desire is ignorant to the realities that seek to stifle action.[/right]

[color=#85e085][b][Dynamicism][/b][/color]
Shapeless material twists and expresses, changing as light-speed evolution into the form that should see it fit into an eternity that cannot compete. All missing is obtained, all that never was, soon to be. Looked upon, only the echoes of past victories are seen, and the hum of innovation teases just out of sight, never to be caught up to.

[right][color=#80dfff][b][Complexity][/b][/color]
Labyrinthine towers, etched together in beautiful arrays that render appraisal hopeless. A river of camaraderie whose infinitely divisible droplets speak together in languages of timeless libraries. Worlds of meaning touch and depart, each affording movement into ever deeper crossroads whose signposts never signal the final destination.[/right]

[color=#ffeb99][b][Precedence][/b][/color]
In greater lights and deeper shadows exists nobility and notoriety that transcends the wishes of lesser. Pure authority -without equal- and the shared-consciousness histories prevail atop uncultured and untested modernity that shall never age to the peaks of godhood. From thrones steeped in divinity, kneel.

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For any mage, a mark of their attachment to these concepts renders unto their skin, and forevermore governs their journey. For some, this mark comes as lineage, and for others as the signal of acceptance into a new existence -borne by effort or happenstance otherwise.

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Most representative of the labyrinth glooms an alternate half of human confluences -the Dark City. This phenomenon manifests in high-population areas as the realm behind a thin veil wherein the arcane-touched may find their way. Dominant in the night and faded by day, the Dark City serves as a place of meditation, a place of settling, and an escape for the hunted. Meaningless and confounding but subtly familiar in its construction, the endless cityscape offers [i]usually[/i] uninhabited spaces to use for chargeless purposes.

Though present for many, little of the dark sphere exercises itself within the Dark City. Great families and brotherhoods make their mark primarily upon realspace, wherein their own efforts and magicks serve to maintain the façade of a mundane world whilst their disciplined numbers hoard what lay beneath it all. For most, life within this dance is met at first breath. For others, it is a wondrous accidental discovery, or a dreaded curse.

But no matter how one steps upon the stage, there exists a constant to every actor:

Continuing in the play is to be mired in tragedy.

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[center][b]Threads Woven[/b][/center]

The home of a beast should be in the darkest corners of the world, for now is the civilized age, and long has it been. Thus, when beasts show their faces in the abodes of men, prophets sing doom, the people lament, and heroes' names are written. Moments of both opportunity and fear have begun to arise now within the city as numerous reports of arcane entities manifesting within realspace circle about the mages' communities. How and why has this transpired? Is some new age arising? Can someone be blamed?

The houses stir as malevolence visits upon the mortal realm and efforts be made to conceal truth. The unaware, in greater numbers, are pulled into the hidden weave.

This is where our story begins. But who are you as this curtain rises?

[b][u]Character sheet[/u][/b]
[i]Name[/i]
[i]Age[/i]
[i]Gender[/i]
[i]Appearance[/i] - Image required, text optional
[i]Background[/i] - The more details I have, the better. An initial hook into action within this world has been provided, but the greater story is to be based around each character and the connections that can be made between them either in the past or the future. Relationships, family members, rivals, deaths, achievements, failures, hopes, hates... Create someone whose past can be drawn upon deeply.
[i]Crest[/i] - Which of the five fundamental Aspects has marked itself upon you?
[i]Craft[/i] - What are the discoveries you have made within the labyrinth, inherited or otherwise? What makes you powerful, and what makes you weak? What calls you master... or what do you call master yourself?

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[b]Additional info[/b]

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[i]Aspects[/i] - Throughout history, fundamental 'categories' of magecraft have shifted, referred to as the "Fundamental Aspects". Believed to be determined by the shared beliefs of contemporary humans, their "theme" guides a mage's journey through the Labyrinth and ultimately shapes what kinds of magecraft they develop, though this is not set in stone. The "deeper" on delves into the Labyrinth, the more they are influenced by their Aspect Crest. Earlier discoveries tend to be considered more "generic" or "shared" by other mages.

[i]Apotheosis[/i] - It is believed that there are many "ends" to the Labyrinth, all of which represent a distinct pinnacle of magecraft. To reach this end is to achieve a kind of divinity within magic. Achieving this end is called "Apotheosis". None who reach this existence remain for long in Realspace -such a state of being is not conducive to the reality that humankind understands. Some believe that those obtaining Apotheosis become one with the Labyrinth itself. Others believe that it is the gate to a realm beyond the Labyrinth, the so-called "Freespace" beyond which magic is not limited. Only a tiny handful of individuals are known to have ever reached Apotheosis, and even amongst that list, it is unknown if they truly achieved it and did not simply vanish by other means.

[i]Aspect Crest[/i] - The physical manifestation of one's Aspect upon their body. This symbol appears automatically as soon as one makes their first discovery within the Labyrinth. For those born to someone already possessing an Aspect Crest, this happens at birth, as fragments of magecraft are often passed along by blood.

[i]Dark Sphere[/i] - A term for the collective existence, culture, and societies representing magic and the mages utilizing it. Hidden from the public, it is known of only to those who are born into it, or (rarely) stumble upon it by accident. Some are deliberately exposed to it, such as otherwise mundane servants of Houses.

[i]Dark City[/i] - Believed to be an avatar of the Labyrinth, the Dark City is an arcane realm existing parallel to Realspace. It manifests most heavily in larger population centers (thus, Dark [i]City[/i]) and consequentially believed to be empowered by a shared consciousness of the populace. It is accessible only by those who know to look, and by those who discover the appropriate low-level magecraft. The Dark City mirrors the Realspace location next to which it manifests, albeit as a facsimile. Structures within the Dark City are imitations of their habitable counterparts, but come with strange and often dreamlike quirks: Endless hallways, non-Euclidean spaces, meaningless rooms and placements of furniture and decoration. It is easy to get lost in the Dark City, but in turn is a useful means of escaping others. But beware, as non-human entities make the Dark City their home as well.

[i]Demon[/i] - An evil manifestation within the Dark City. Demons are purely magical beings that can possess any amount of civility to them, from rabid monsters to scheming suits. As naturally magic beings, they possess an intrinsic connection to spaces within the Labyrinth on a level far deeper than a mage could achieve, and thus are also afforded the ability to both grant and divest mages of crafts close to their origin.

[i]Dungeoneering[/i] - A method of discovering magecraft within the Labyrinth. Distinguished from Meditation, as Dungeoneering involves a ritual practice of generating a physical representation of the Labyrinth within which to explore. This manifestation is decidedly not the Dark City, and thus features far more eldritch and inhuman spaces.

[i]House[/i] - One of any number of ancient lineages of mages that persist to this day. Houses contain the greatest amount of existing magical knowledge, as well as most of the latent power. Entrance is by marriage or blood only.

[i]Labyrinth[/i] - A colloquial term for the ruleset that exists on top of magic. Normally limitlessly accessible and expressed, magic as it exists now requires careful study and exploration to develop. The term 'Labyrinth' refers to this nature, as one must navigate the esoteric rules and complications of magic to reach any particular end. In most cases, discoveries are happened upon by accident, rather than purposefully found. Though referred to in a kind of 'physical' sense, the Labyrinth is neither a physical entity nor a mental space, but rather a spiritual one, though it can be explored in seemingly physical or mental ways (see: Dungeoneering, Meditation).

[i]Lich[/i] - A mage that has defeated death. They are functionally immortal, though not invincible or indestructible. Aging has left their bodies.

[i]Magecraft[/i] - Refers to both the individual spells a mage can exert, but also the collective abilities of a particular mage. To explore the Labyrinth is to develop one's magecraft and add spells to their repertoire.

[i]Manifestation[/i] - A term referring to any sort of non-human entity that appears or lives within the Dark City or the Labyrinth. Also called "Creatures", "Beasts", and "Entities".

[i]Meditation[/i] - A term referring to the method of discovering magecraft within the Labyrinth wherein the mage explores a mental space representative of the Labyrinth. Though oftentimes a slower method, it is considerably safer than Dungeoneering. Many tools can be used to aid a mage in this practice, the most notable of which being a "Key" -a preexisting spell that tunes a mage to the necessary mental space required to enter the Labyrinth.

[i]Outer Knights[/i] - A loose society of mages who, in search of Apotheosis, instead became deeply entwined within the Labyrinth both physically and mentally. Most Outer Knights struggle to manifest within Realspace, and are consigned to life within the Dark City. It is believed that their existence serves the perpetuation of the Labyrinth as law, and in turn suggests to some that there are esoteric means by which one can "ignore" or "skip" the Labyrinth, inevitably drawing the attention and ire of the Outer Knights. Such methods remain mere rumor.

[i]Pact[/i] - A magical contract formed between a mage and a Manifestation. The pact can have any number of clauses and requirements, but is sometimes achieved solely through mutual understanding. The Pact affords a mage some crafts they otherwise did not have access to, but can come at a cost depending on the sensibilities of the Manifestation on the other side of the deal.

[i]Realspace[/i] - The real world. The place where mundane humans live.

[i]Werewolf[/i] - A mage that has achieved any number of crafts that transform their bodies physically. This is to be distinguished from mages that can temporarily enhance their bodies by magical means, as a werewolf is strictly one who has physically changed in a permanent fashion.
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