Magnum Opus

• None.

A kingdom in turmoil: a civil war looms, but serves only as a distraction from the true danger which threatens the kingdom. All they knew of their world lay between the rocky ocean floor and the surface of the waves - but now a new danger approaches from the Deeps below. The kingdom lies broken, fractured. Even if they lay down their arms now, will it be enough?

Every citizen of Spiral can use magic, but the material required to perform it - Pearlescence - is tightly controlled. This forms the main point of contention between the ruling classes and the common merfolk.

The Empress struggles to maintain order. The only way she can see how is to present a unified front to the people, between the Monarchy, the Trades, and the Temple. However, internal strife makes this difficult.

The Reaper, head of the Trades, is part of the problem, having just begun exploiting a portion of the Empress’s Gardens for the rich veins of magical Pearlescence underneath.

The Hierophant, head of the Temple, remains isolated from the reality of the situation and maintains that their decrees will see the Kingdom through.

The Wheel pushes their radical agenda, wishing to see the new reserves of Pearlescence made available for all to use and prosper from.

All the while something is bubbling up beneath the surface: a beast which threatens to eat Spiral whole. The Hierophant wishes for it to driven back, while the Wheel and Empress both want it dead. The Reaper plots to tame it for themselves.

The Magician brings warnings of the beast, and also of a grand serpent which, they claim, is draining the Central Sea. But will anyone listen?

The Fool just wants what is best for their home and its people - but what is best? They struggle to decide.

The High Priestess turns to the cryptic riddles of the Spirits to try to find answers.

An ocean kingdom, the last vestige of an ancient empire, in a place called the Central Sea. The main city, Spiral, is named for the great palace: an enormous spiral shell half-embedded in a cliff face, point-downwards. All the merfolk live in a city clustered around the palace, at the top of the cliff. Travel outside of the Central Sea to the waters beyond is dangerous - not everyone who goes there comes back.

• The Fool: Not Playable. A young swordsman eager to fight for their city, but unable to decide if fighting really is the best option. Eager to please and not wanting to disappoint, the Fool has an existential crisis and is paralysed by indecision.

• The Empress: Not Playable. Relatively young and new to the throne, she maintains the limits on magic set down by her forebears, fearful of the power and danger of magic used freely. As the city descends into chaos, she struggles to maintain control.

• The Reaper: Not Playable. A great magic-user and a tycoon in Spiral, they have been mining and stockpiling Pearlescence for a while now. To them, the beast represents a jackpot of sorts, and they lobby with all their political might to keep it alive - if only so they can make a profit.

• The Magician: Not Playable. A far-off adventurer that has begrudgingly come back to the city of Spiral as a ‘technical expert’, but they only want to get out again. They have seen things far beyond the city’s white lies, but they are always pushed aside for their fantastical ramblings. Why should they help such ignorant people, even in their greatest time of need?

• The Hierophant: Not Playable. Head of the Temple and stuck in their ways, they certainly aren’t the most impressionable of merfolk and simply continue to make their archaic decrees for an empire that no longer exists. As the beast rises and the water falls, perhaps it is time for them to realise the true wisdom behind their out-of-date practices.

• The Wheel: Not Playable. Somewhat mysterious, a self-proclaimed Voice of the People. They have been lobbying for a long time for the restrictions on the distribution of Pearlescence to be lifted for the common folk. They believe this will lead to a more equal, more prosperous society.

• The High Priestess: Not Playable. A bridge between the people and the Spirits of the Sea. Dwells closer to the Deep than is normal. Some look to her as a voice of reason and a guide to a better future, but her words are often cryptic, and the Spirits themselves do not often agree.

• Chapter 1: Driven by questionable decisions on all sides, civil war threatens to engulf Spiral. The main characters are dotted around Spiral with their own agendas, none of which are currently productive to saving the city.

• Chapter 2: A meeting of the grand council declares that the Fool and the Magician may take on the beast, but only under the discretion of the Empress and the Hierophant. Meanwhile, the Reaper's Pearlescence proposal contrasts with the doomsaying High Priestess.

• Chapter 3: Chaos reigns in the city as the revolution has taken hold, though the destruction of the Temple and the death of the Hierophant has turn the people against the Wheel. As the Empress and the Reaper are holed up in the palace, the Fool and the Magician prepare to do battle with not one beast, but many.

• Chapter 4: The city of Spiral is finally united against the Beasts - though in one last act of violence both The Reaper and The Wheel have been killed. With the true nature of the Beasts revealed, will the united force of the city be able to stop them? Or will they choose another path?

As Jo writes the Magnum Opus, new Chapters will take shape. Each new chapter will be mutable for a time, as Jo leaves it open for editing, and Muses may push the Narrative one way or another.

OC Note: Each Chapter is one turn long. i.e. the first turnsheet action corresponds ONLY to Chapter 1.

You may only play an extra in this Vignette, but you can of course talk to and attempt to influence the main characters. This Vignette otherwise behaves like any other, as far as you can tell, but it is very expansive. There's lots to explore!