Where the Precipice is a strange artifact that bends divine and arcane magic together, its history truly unknown, the Arcline is far less mysterious. It was created by Arcanist Helena Castor well before the current incarnation of the Shardcircle and was largely ignored. A maligned expert in her time, Castor produced many powerful artifacts which have been lost to time. Thankfully the Arcline remains and has been reconstituted for use.
The Arcline functions by feeding off of the Realmweave, that arcane connection that binds the leylines, waystones, and people of The Concord into one magically identifiable group. By doing so it not only empowers itself with a reserve of charged and stored mana, but it can also expend this mana to keep the Shardcircle functioning and even produce powerful, but experimental magical effects.
Powers of the Arcline:
Investitate
The Arcline gathers mana into itself based on dozens of factors across The Concord, notably the number of and power of leylines and the current state of the Arcline itself. This mana gathers into ‘Shards’ and the amount of Arcline shards available for a given Summit will be communicated in the Civil Service report of the Winds of the World.
Shards are used for both of the Enliviate and Obliterate powers of the Arcline, but can also be withdrawn and broken down into Crystal Mana. Crystal Mana can also be added to the Arcline (and is normally done so through Shardcircle procedures in its meetings) to create Shards as well. Only the Archmage can withdraw Shards, but any Mage can add mana to the Arcline.
| Arcline Mana Rates | ||
| Action | Result | Notes |
| 1 Shard broken down | Produces 10 Crystal Mana | Archmage Only |
| 16 Crystal Mana added | Produces 1 Shard | Any Mage |
Enliviate
The various functions of The Shardcircle require the Arcline to function, directing arcane power into their enchantments like a heart pumps blood. It is the duty of the Archmage to spend Shards to empower these functions, knowing that doing so consumes Shards. However in some circumstances additional power can be directed to particular functions to produce improved or different effects.
The Archmage can spend shards by informing an Augury, who will ensure the appropriate actions are completed. Given time and research it is likely that additional powers of Enliviation are possible.
The costs and benefits are detailed below. If a particular element is not empowered it will cease to function during the following season, this is also noted below.
| Arcline Enliviate Costs | |||
| Element | Function | Cost | Notes |
| Vault | Storage and research of magical phenomena. | 1 Shard per Vault. | If not Enliviated, any item within the Vault will be unprotected and will act accordingly. No research will be completed. |
| Secure Vault | Empowers wards of protection and slumber on the Vaults, ensuring whatever is within remains secure. | 1 - 3 Shards | If not Enliviated, some items may attempt to break free of the Vault. This act is not always required. |
| Precipice Gateway | Allows access to the Shardcircle. | 0 Shards | This process is automatically completed by the Civil Service to ensure the Shardcircle does not lose access to the Shardcircle. |
| Precipice Alignment | Allows the aligning of the Precipice | 1 Shard | Aligning the Precipice without Enliviating it could have disastrous consequences. |
| Null Breach | Allows one being to pass through the Precipice to the Null for a short amount of time. | 3 Shards | Must be completed within four hours of the Shard being expended. Safety is not guaranteed or expected. |
Obliterate
The most dramatic element of The Arcline, the power to Obliterate expels the stored energy of The Arcline violently at The Mortal Sphere. While the possibilities are horrifyingly endless, the writings of the Helena Castor only contained three different uses, with three different levels of power known as ‘Incantations’. Such is the power of Obliterate that while it is the duty of the Archmage to perform it, it also requires approval of the Shardcircle to complete through a vote at a meeting. Currently, the Arcline can only produce one Obliteration per season.
Starfall
A poetic title for a destructive act. The Starfall Obliteration expels arcane power in much the same way a mage can do to deliver violent force, however the Arcline uses the stars as a focusing nexus to project this power at a distance. However, the shattered eyes of stars are seldom perfectly focused, resulting in many shards of violent calamity. Areas targeted by Starfall will struck by arcane artillery, blasting fortresses, and scorching settlements.
Stormchaos
A storm given will and hunger. Where Starfall hurls the violence of the heavens in bolts and shards, Stormchaos shatters the sky itself. The Arcline draws deep on the tides of raw magic and tears open the veil of weather, birthing tempests that do not follow wind or season but arcane wrath. Crops wither beneath rain that burns like salt, oxen stumble as thunder beats through their skulls, and soldiers find their boots mired in floods of mud and madness. Roads vanish, banners tear, and timetables collapse; the storm leaves no certainty. In its wake, the land is scarred not only by lightning and flood but by silence, construction halted, armies scattered, fields wasted, as if the very world refuses to move until the chaos has passed.
Realmweave Guardian
Not all the Arcline’s power is ruin. In the hands of the Concord, the Realmweave Guardian binds its brilliance into wards and bulwarks, weaving strands of stellar magic into the soil and sky. Where it touches, foreign curses are torn apart like cobwebs in a gale, and a lattice of protective light settles over fortresses, villages, and fields. To stand within its glow is to feel the world itself grow firmer beneath your feet, to breathe air that tastes of iron and frost, to know that even the broken will not break here. For the Magi, the Guardian grants vigor: breath steadier, blood stronger, spells brighter. For common folk, it grants a quiet defiance, a sense that even in the shadow of giants and wraiths, the land will hold. It is not a sword but a shield and when raised high, even the darkest storm may break against it.
| Obliterations of the Arcline | ||
| Obliteration | Cost | Effect |
| Starfall - 1st Incantation | 2 Shards | Target fortress suffers 1000 points of damage as arcane power lances down from the stars. The fortress must be within a territory controlled by The Concord or adjacent to a territory controlled by The Concord. |
| Starfall - 2nd Incatation | 4 Shards | Target fortress suffers 1500 points of damage as arcane power lances down from the stars. The fortress must be within a territory the Concord controls, or in a region adjacent to a region The Concord controls.
In addition, the Archmage must select one settlement or location within the territory of the Fortress, which is also lanced with arcane power. If the Shardcircle has no knowledge of settlements or locations in the territory, they will be chosen at random. This additional damage is not optional. Widespread destruction is expected. |
| Starfall - 3rd Incantation | 6 Shards | Target fortress suffers 2000 points of damage as arcane power lances down from the stars. The fortress must be within Southern Esterra.
In addition, the Archmage must select three settlements or location within the territory of the Fortress, which are also lanced with arcane power. If the Shardcircle has no knowledge of settlements or locations in the territory, they will be chosen at random. This additional damage is not optional. Widespread destruction is expected. |
| Stormchaos - 1st Incantation | 2 Shards | Target territory suffers arcane storms that wreak havoc on harvests, troop movements, and infrastructure. This territory must be within the Concord or adjacent to a territory controlled by The Concord.
Armies and fleets in the territory suffer 200 casualties, some economic buildings are damaged, and the region gains the ‘Arcane Squall’ trait for this campaigning season. |
| Stormchaos - 2nd Incantation | 4 Shards | Target territory suffers massive arcane storms that wreak havoc on harvests, troop movements, and infrastructure. This territory must be within The Concord or in a region adjacent to a Concordian territory.
Armies and fleets in the territory suffer 300 casualties, some economic buildings are damaged, and the region gains the ‘Arcane Storm’ trait for this campaigning season. |
| Stormchaos - 3rd Incantation | 6 Shards | Target territory suffers a cataclysmic arcane storm that wreaks havoc on harvests, troop movements, and infrastructure. This territory must be in Southern Esterra.
Armies and fleets in the territory suffer 500 casualties, some economic buildings are damaged, and the region gains the ‘Arcane Cataclysm’ trait for this campaigning season. |
| Realmweave Guardian - 1st Incantation | 1 Shard | Target Concordian territory gains an enchantment at magnitude 15. If this is more powerful than an enchantment already in place (be it positive or negative), that enchantment is removed. This effect remains for the season.
Concordian characters with the magus skill based in that territory will gain the +1 base hitpoint next Summit. |
| Realmweave Guardian - 2nd Incantation | 3 Shards | Two adjacent Concordian territories gain an enchantment at magnitude 30. If this is more powerful than an enchantment already in place (be it positive or negative), that enchantment is removed. This effect remains for the season.
Concordian characters with the magus skill based in those territories will gain the +1 base hitpoint, and +2 personal mana next Summit. |
| Realmweave Guardian - 3rd Incantation | 5 Shards | Target Concordian region gains an enchantment at magnitude 75. If this is more powerful than an enchantment already in place (be it positive or negative), that enchantment is removed. This effect remains for the season.
Concordian characters with the magus skill based in those territories will gain the +1 base hitpoint, and +2 personal mana next Summit. Concordian characters without the Magus skill based in those territories will gain +1 hitpoint. |
| Trait | +Cas. Inf. | +Cas. Suff. | Special |
| Arcane Squall | +5% | +5% | Moving into this territory cost 1 additional movement points. |
| Arcane Storm | +10% | +10% | Moving into this territory costs 2 additional movement points. No construction can take place in this territory this season. Any construction underway does not progress. There is destruction to infrastructure and natural environments. |
| Arcane Cataclysm | +10% | +20% | Moving into this territory costs 3 additional movement points. No construction can take place in this territory this season. Any construction underway does not progress. There is widespread destruction to infrastructure and natural environments. |