Excerpt from ‘Cause and Effects; Section C – Wars of Roe; Section AX – Year 0’, (Nobleheart)

There have been many wars throughout the millennia long history of Roe, some better documented than others. This, should you have spent the time to read through some of my prior works, you should know. None however are as shrouded in obscurity as the GD1, the first Great Desolation. There are a lot of things which were hidden, be it through coincidence or purposeful action. For example, this war, if it could even be called as such, involved a being known as Desolation, one so powerful that it’s echoes continue to this day, and yet which most would sooner believe to be a force of nature before anything else.

Now it may come as a surprise that I know this or it may not, I have been surrounded by knowledge of the past my whole life and have no perspective in the matter, but as I’m sure you would know already I am a descendent of the clan Nobleheart, one whose fates were entwined with one key figure in the war. Reto Mason, Child of Aether and Champion of Desolation.

Curious, isn’t it? That such a titled figure could fade into obscurity? And, surely, a villain through and through, being the Champion of the enemy, Child of the force which wrought ruin? But no. Champion in name assuredly they were, but I find any further application to be mere exaggeration at best, honest slander at worst. And whilst I hesitate to express such opinions I truly believe that Aether isn’t an inherent evil, in the past it did good and even still it can continue to do so. But, I digress.

It would be best to start at the beginning, with the start of the war. GD1 was initially an incursion by enemy forces into Rouj, one which employed the palest of souls to do the vilest of deeds. This incursion was not without reason however. At the time evil was growing, great powers such as Desolation itself were growing their influence, and the creatures of the land could tell. Their numbers seemed, from an outwards perspective, to be growing. I believe instead that they were being forced from their homes, but they have since faded to obscurity with few being left alive. It can not be said with certainty that they didn’t have a fear reaction to such a large scale event that caused them to attempt to swell in numbers such that they can fight it off.

If there were one thing for Rouj to be known for it would be their wards, specifically the ones which repel animals. They are true master works of enchanting, able to discern a soul from a distance and reroute their path without even touching their magic resistance. Of course, they became known for something far more sinister later on, but until then their wards were coveted, the ability to keep entire cities safe so easily appealed greatly, and they went through any lengths to get it, hoping to avoid the influx of danger.

By this point, the majority of their farmland had been taken over, and the poor were dying in droves as the rich diverted food and eventually completely shut them off entirely. There were even rumours of cannibalism among the paler of their nobles, the very same that were used to take Rouj territory. It should be kept in mind that these are just as I said, rumours. To take it as an absolute would be a folly. Though there are some records of suspicious activity, and many more that were lost to time, there are any number of explanations otherwise.

Regardless, there are…

----

Entry 02 – Day 8

I’m in a pretty bad spot right now. That spell was a lot more powerful than I ever thought it would be, which isn’t inherently a bad thing on its own, but there are other issues that come with it. First of all, someone definitely knows something strange is afoot. I’m not sure how they ordinarily monitor mages but given the lack of explosions there must be something stopping it. Although, I didn’t get any Levels for that whole experience so maybe it’s just hard to get powerful enough.

There’s another thing though. After casting that spell I suddenly and violently ran out of Mana. There weren’t any physical effects, but my maximum has since slowly decreased by a few points, now stabilized at 62 points. That means it’s possible to take permanent damage to my attributes, and I don’t know what to do about that. When I checked the Mana plane, the extrusions I attached to my hands were just gone, and I had to seal up a hole that was left where they were.

I’ve just been laying low, trying to avoid attracting attention I guess but mostly just avoiding damaging my Mana again. I’ve been thinking about how my aura knows not to effect my own Mana, and whether or not I can use it on anything else, but without actually using magic it’s impossible to know. I’ve not got any other plans. I’ve got nowhere to go either.

At this point, a word has been written down but then vigorously crossed out.

----

As the chief investigator of South Frostcaster, it was Ew Ironcaster’s job to manage the investigation of crimes across the southern section of the city, as most people would guess from the title. Most thought he was guard captain of some sort, but in truth that role has been split amongst several people, not all of which he knows personally.

Technically, though he certainly has a job, he doesn’t strictly have to do anything. His family is a subsidiary of Frostcaster, the nobles that have been in charge of the city since it’s inception. Well, more like a sister family really, but they are in a subservient role in truth. As the Iron of the Caster nobles, he’s supposed to be a warrior of some sort, but his talent with administration lead him here, not that he’s one to complain given that he’s actually able to make a difference.

Of course, the majority of nobles do little to nothing, and accrue Skills to assist that the longer it goes on for. They are able to affect large swathes of people with them at least, but it’s not nearly worth the complete and utter lack of effort they’ve been putting into anything. It’s strange to him, really, that people can care so little. Even the poorest of commoners can take enjoyment from their work on occasion, as horrible as it may get. These nobles have the opportunity to do anything their heart desires, and yet they choose to throw it all away. I refuse to believe that other cities have nobles like this, which makes it all the stranger. At least the Frostcasters are quite active, even Jacob, who has the least enforcing him to do anything important, is trying to help people. Or, he seems to be.

Lately, Jacob has been making some suspicious changes. He’s auctioned off all the prisons by the edge of the city, nominally because most people have congregated inwards after multiple factors made this an undesirable location to live. This in and of itself, though questionable, isn’t entirely foolish. Those prisons are only really useful for prisoners of war, the kind that would be better off escaping than left in the city, and we’ve no reason to use them. But then he told us to stop investigating anything that happens in them. Most of the buyers have been flagged as suspicious characters, and I was intending on having them be investigated monthly, if not weekly, but now I can’t. Even with the evidence that that prisoner, Reto, gave me.

I don’t have any way to apprehend them. Even if they were to have been watched kidnapping someone by myself personally, I wouldn’t be able to do anything the moment they got too far from the centre of the city. The whole business with the Frostcasters is in ruin anyway, especially that father of his.

----

Day 4 since Retos arrival to the world

Jacob had a very stressful job. Ever since his father, Robert, disappeared a few months ago he had been left in charge. Initially he was hoping to be able to do some good, and he truly believes he has, but there’s far too much politics to work around.

I bet even the King himself has to worry about nobles trying to manipulate him like this, even with all of those bonuses that line gets. I bet he levels once a day just for fending them off, and that’s the only reason he’s still alive today. But I don’t. And I’ve been heading in a direction that won’t help me here, all I have to do is take drastic action.

Like most cities, his courtyard was built to be a spire, with invisible domes regular interspersed atop it. Currently, he was at the top one examining a series of rocks recovered from a dungeon expedition. Dungeons are essentially automatically constructed buildings, and are actually how these spires are traditionally built. He was hoping that, should he learn the secrets to controlling them, he’d be able to multiply the effectiveness of his city by many times.

Just thinking of it I’m getting excited! Effectively infinite housing, not that it’s an issue really, important buildings that can be entered from across the city, automatic defences that can almost never run out, and even the possibility of spreading this knowledge to other cities and connecting them across all of Roe!

Currently he should be doing more administrative duties, mainly managing where resources should be going and balancing the development of the city with it’s defences given the current political climate. Rather than doing anything of the sort he was researching magic, his one true passion throughout all of his life.

The strange thing about dungeons is that their Mana is different. Now, all Mana outside of this is identical. It’s more an energy than an object, and as a result has no noticeable peculiarities. Before they were studied, it was thought that dungeons are naturally occurring enchantments, but they are actually quite incredible.

Mana, as opposed to a somewhat commonly held belief, is completely unrelated to a persons physical state. It has a synergistic effect that enhances Health and Will, as well as granting additional benefits that arise from such, but does not in and of itself cause any such thing. This is relevant because the Mana from dungeons does have that effect, it is often what creates and strengthens it’s materials and creatures, leading to borderline impossible structures. It can effect anything, making dungeons exciting prospects to a wide array of people, from healers trying to stabilise dying patients to adventurers looking to find some amazing Accomplishments. Of course, they often find themselves disappointed.

Besides the terrifying danger it breeds, Jacob still doesn’t understand it’s effects. He theorises that it may provide physical reinforcements, just making things more durable, which allows for more power to be safely drawn out. It has been known that the Aether can affect the physical realm, and vice versa, but the mechanics of such make it hard to theorise.

When left to its own devices, dungeon Mana also has other effects. When removed by an enchanter the Mana clings to the object semi-permanently, though severely weakened and easily removeable. It then converts ambient Mana nearby into more of its own kind, and if it is properly cared for causes crystal-like structures to form. He still hasn’t been able to see one to its completion, they have all been destroyed by even a passing spell or enchantment, or even slight swells in local ambient Mana and ley lines.

The top of his spire is different however. Whilst not actually in a dungeons walls, it is surrounded on all sides regardless. This almost completely halts any Mana flowing in and, with a relatively basic spell covering the doorway, is completely still. With this, the Mana inside the bricks should be able to flourish without harm.

I’ve detected no issues! It should only be but a few hours until whatever this Mana is trying to create is done, and I can finally make actual progress! Not that I’ve been trying too hard in some regards, I will admit, but I’ve succeeded where it counts, and that’s all that matters! I just hope that nothing goes wrong…