Archived: Septerra Core-1

Description

The world's seven continental layers (referred to as "World Shells" or "Shells") shield access to the clockwork computer planetary core. Legends mention two "core keys" which, during a rare alignment of the shells that allows a beam of sunlight to penetrate through, can unlock the planetary core, releasing the "Legacy of the Creator". This legacy is known as the Kingdom of Heaven. Those living on Shell 1 call themselves "the Chosen". They are descendants of the demigod Marduk, son of the Creator, and have an attitude of superiority over other inhabitants of the planet. Those living on Shell 2 are called "the Junkers", people which make a living out of collecting junk - especially electronic - originating from the upper shell. The main plot is set around members of both shells. The game's main character is Maya, from the Junkers, and the main antagonist, Lord Doskias, comes from a Chosen heritage.

Story

The ancient prophecy says that once every hundred years, the continents will part , shining the light of the sun upon the core and granting the one who holds two special keys great power. This is the Legacy of the Creator. Over a thousand years ago, a Daemon Gemma tried to get the keys and fulfill the Legacy, which would grant him the powers of the Creator; the powers of God. But the Creator sent Marduk, his son, to prevent him from doing this. Marduk defeated Gemma in a battle that lasted a hundred day and hid the keys, saying that the world was not yet ready for such power.

A powerful Chosen, inhabitants of Septerra who strongly believe in their own superiority of knowledge and technology, named Doskias wishes to fulfill this legacy with force. This will be a disaster for all the other people who live on Septerra.

In the meantime a young woman named Maya, an orphaned junker, finds herself in the middle of the conflict, as it was Doskias who orphaned her and her friends. What begins as a quest of revenge, unfolds into a plot to save the Legacy of the Creator and Septerra itself from falling into the wrong hands. Without help she won't stand a chance against the Chosen and other enemies. But who can she trust in a world ravaged with war, a world on the brink of ruin….

The Creator

The mysterious force that created the world of Septerra to function as a meticulous clockwork on a planetary scale. At the center of this world he created is the Core, believed by many to be the regulator of our planet, forever watching over its master's creation. Many scholars have studied the various clues left behind by the Creator's followers and poured through the ancient texts in pursuit of the nature of this supreme god. Why did he create the Keys that are prophesized to unlock the Core? What is the fabled Gift of the Creator that he who succeeds in communing with the Core is destined to receive? Marduk once prophesized that it would be the grace by which mankind would save himself from certain doom. Many believe it to be a test of ALL mankind on that fateful day, and that the Creator will judge us all, and we shall either receive the hellfires of the Pits of Janaak, or we shall inherit the Kingdom of Heaven.

Elementals and Demigods

Thanatos
Death comes eventually for all the children of the Creator, in the form of Thanatos. Thanatos is the giver and taker of the spark of life, the floating and fearsome spectre that is present at every passing to guide our spirits into the next realm. Thanatos does not answer to Marduk, Gemma, or even the Creator; only his eternal love, loyalty and devotion to the angel Kyra keeps him at his job and allows us all to finally sleep after a life fully lived.

Humbaba
The guardian of earth and ore. Humbaba is the living personification of a volcano; the body of this one-eyed giant is made of stone, lava, and metal. Humbaba watches over the forest and the land, carefully regulating the ecology of our world. When balance is lost, all suffer Humbaba's fury until he can be quieted and reassured that men are adequate stewards of his lands. Finally, Humbaba's Earth is deadly to Air.

Sedna and Pilitak
Sedna is the queen of the ocean, the master of the life-giving sea. Sedna was a girl who was tricked by a demon into marriage; rather than surrender to the unholy and deceitful union, she flung herself into the freezing ocean. She is said to watch over the bounty of the sea, and to bless and reward the people who use their marine resources responsibly and never overtax the waters. Pilitak is the great and loyal creature that watches and protects Sedna in the service of the elements. Finally, Sedna's Water is deadly to the element of Fire.

Ouroboros
Near the core of the world there is a cave, a temple to the three-headed serpent of fire, Ouroboros. Ouroboros is as old as the world and his body is long enough to encircle all of Septerra. Through the fury he feels at his lack of unity, Ouroboros generates light and heat to warm and fuel Septerra. Some legends have said that the world will end when the three heads agree on any one thing. Finally, Ouroboros' fire bakes the element of Earth.

Simurgh
A mighty bird with wings that span the height of a hundred men. Simurgh is the watcher of air, wind, sky and weather. Every thousand years, the Simurgh nests to lay a single egg. This egg contains her spirit, reborn and refreshed to best serve the elements of the ether. When the egg is hatched, the old Simurgh blows away as dust, and the young hatchling continues the tasks of the guardian of wind. Finally, Simurgh's Lightning is deadly to denizens of Water.

The Curse of Draxx

Long ago legend tells of the ancient Necromancer Draxx. Lustful of the immortality of the Seraphim, he furtively studied the arts of the Undead. It is Draxx's Curse that even today darkens the graveyards and pollutes the land. Even the ancient catacombs of Wind City, which once stretched from Mourn Graveyard all the way to the Cathedral of the Seven Winds itself, were sealed to hold back the forces of the dead.

The Great Conjuction

Every one hundred years the Shells of Septerra allow enough light to reach the Core, an event known as the Conjunction. An unexplainable result of the Conjunction is the affect on the creatures of Septerra. One of the oddest examples is the Kahli Crabs of Shell 3. Every one hundred years, during the Conjunction, these deep lake dwellers leave their homes and travel to the shores of their birth, there to spawn, laying the eggs for another generation.

Core Energy

The seven layers of continents that orbit our planet, called World Shells, are each connected to the Great Spine. The rotations of the Shells turn the joints of the Spine and create vast amounts of power, which is collected in the Core. Here it is used to run its ancient machinery and regulate every aspect of the planet. Excess energy is radiated from the Core into the world. This energy can be used for many purposes, from running machinery to casting spells. Every living thing has the ability to tap this energy and use it. Humans can replenish their Core energy by sleeping or by using ancient Relics called Core Runes to quickly regain energy. Core Engines are special devices that draw in Core Power from the world and store it for use in machines.

Alchemy and Chemicals

Many natural elements can be used for the benefit of mankind. The Chosen have taken this way of life to the extreme, with bio-engineered ships and armors, far superior to that of the lower Shells. But as strange as they may seem to us, even stranger are the tales surrounding the blood of the Undead. Long rumored to be deadly to the living, some have recently found uses for this foul chemical, using its strong corrosive properties as an acid.

Fate Magic

Law and Chaos

The battle between Marduk and Gemma may be long over, but their struggle for the hearts and minds of the people of Septerra will rage quietly for a long time. It is said that combining the Fate Cards of the giver of law and the maker of chaos creates powerful spells, reflecting the intensity of the epic war waged by the two Fates who have shaped our world. Fate Magic is the magic that those form Septerra can use in battle and to help others. There are four decks, and each deck has a specific set of cards and theme.

Marduk, the Law Giver

Son of the Creator and the celestial giver of the Law, Marduk is the primary demigod of the Septerran world. Sometime in the ancient past, usually dated as 2145 CR, Marduk was commanded by the Creator to enter into the material worlds of men. Tasked with retrieving the Core Keys and rescuing the Angel Kyra from the Daemon Gemma, Marduk set upon his task and changed history forever. Raising an army of men from every world shell, the Army of the Seven Winds, Marduk discovered the location of Gemma's hidden fortress and began his assault. It was here that he battled the massive Core Creature Daemon that guarded Gemma's fortress, and then did battle with Gemma for a hundred days. The triumphant Marduk destroyed the blasphemer and smote his temple, rescuing Kyra and the artifacts for all mankind. To this day the Guard of Wind City carries on Marduk's Daemon Force technique, wielding mastery over the use of Dimensional gates.

The cards lassociated with Marduk are:

• Summon Bowman - Summons Bowman that inflicts great damage
• Law - Disspells all status changes of target
• Barrier - Decreses damage of target, inflicted by the attack
• Achilles Heel - Shows target's HP

Dogo, the Trickster

Dogo is a mysterious and treacherous demigod of folklore and myth. No one really knows to whom this being pays allegiance, and his dark and clever mind is truly hidden from all but the Creator. When Gemma held Kyra the Angel as prisoner in his secret fortress, it was Dogo who made her rescue possible. He convinced the Daemon Lord to allow Kyra to have at least one item of comfort: A mirror. She could use it, he argued, to make herself beautiful for her new Lord. Gemma, ever greedy and lustful, agreed. Dogo created her mirror from the very stuff of the Core and gave it to the captured angel. She used it to reflect her light into the heavens, creating the stars. Marduk, seeing this sign, followed the brightest to Gemma's hidden lair, rescuing Kyra and destroying Gemma.

The cards associated with Dogo are:

• Effect All - Card/ combination affects all allies/ enemies
• Joker - Randomly casts curse, berserk, poison, slow or stun
• Cloak - Decreases the chance to get hit
• Mirror - It changes cards effect on its opposite effect
• Speed - Speeds up the target
• Slow - Slows down the target

Kyra, the Angel of Light

Most revered of all the Creator's Seraphim, it is Kyra who is responsible for the light of day and night. So desirable was she that Gemma, the Fallen, took her from the heavens and hid her within his secret fortress of Gehan. After her rescue and the restoration of her light to the world, Kyra became Marduk's bride, ruling Septerra from his side as Queen of the city of Babylon. During this time she brought her healing powers and rejuvenating light to all the peoples of the world shells.

The cards associated with Kyra are:

• Bless - Raises stats by 25%
• Cure - Cures poison
• Heal - Heals target
• Resurrect - Ressurects target with half of its HP

Gemma, the Daemon

Gemma was once a Seraphim who stood alongside Marduk and Kyra at the Creators side. But soon, lusting for the power of God, he fell from grace to become a twisted Daemon Lord. Banished to the utter darkness, Gemma swore revenge and found his way into the lands of men. There he built his secret fortress of Gehan, plotting his ultimate rule of all the known universe. To this end, the Daemon recruited an army of spirits from the outer reaches of the element realms, and used them to steal the Creator's Core Keys and even the Angel of Light: Kyra. When Gemma was finally destroyed, his body was thrown into the pits of Janaak, there to burn for all eternity. Marduk then captured the Dark One's evil spirits and trapped them within another dimension, to be called on only by the followers of his Law, to forever be used to battle the followers of Chaos.

The cards associated with Gemma are:

• Vampyre - Drains HP of target and gives it to the one who casted the spell
• Air - Inflicts air based damage
• Curse - Lowers target's stats by 25%
• Water - Inflictd water based damage
• Chaos - Makes the target attack its own party from time to time
• Earth - Inflicts earth based damage
• Fire - Inflicts fire based damage

Card Combinations

• Mirror + Law = Casts berserk on target
• Barrier + Water = Reduces Water based damage
• Barrier + Fire = Reduces Fire based damage
• Barrier + Earth = Reduces Earth based damage
• Barrier + Air = Reduces Air based damage
• Barrier + Curse = Protects from Curse
• Barrier + Slow = Protects from being Slowed down
• Barrier + Resurrect = Protects from undead damage
• Barrier + Chaos = Protects from berserk
• Barrier + Law = Protects from status change
• Barrier + Mirror = Removes Barrier from target
• Summon + Water = Summons Sedna and Pilitak for Water based damage
• Summon + Earth = Summons Humbaba for Earth based damage
• Summon + Air = Summons Simurgh for Air based damage
• Summon + Fire = Summons Ouroboros for Fire based damage
• Summon + Heal = Summons Kyra to Heal the target
• Summon + Resurrect = Summons Thanatos for undead based damage
• Summon + Law = Summons Marduk for damage
• Summon + Joker = Creates a random Summon, casts some status effects
• Heal + Mirror = Poisons target
• Cure + Mirror = Removes HP from target
• Bless + Mirror = Casts Curse on target
• Resurrect + Mirror = Instant death (NPCs Only) or some damage
• Cloak + Mirror = Un-cloaks target
• Slow + Mirror = Casts Speed on target
• Speed + Mirror = Casts Slow on target
• Curse + Mirror = Casts Bless on target
• Chaos + Mirror = Disspells all status changes of target
• Law + Chaos = Chaotic damage on target
• Mirror + Law + Chaos = Creates a Black Hole that damages the whole party

The Shells

Shell 1 - Shell of the Chosen

Shell 1, land of The Chosen, the self proclaimed most important race of Septerra. They don't care about the lower shells and their people at all, they will usualy let them live in peace, except when they decide to fight among themself, then, they may go fight to the lower shells. Nothing is said about that, but I guess they go fight elsewhere so they don't screw their own land. They dump their scrap and junk off the shell, to the lower shells. The Chosen are the direct descendants of Marduk.

Shell 2 - Maya's Home Shell

Shell 3 - Wind City Shell

Shell 4 - World Bazaar Shell

Shell 5 - Ankara and Jinam

Shell 6 - Pirate Shell

Shell 7 - Mold Forest Shell

Characters

• Corgan: Swordsman from Shell 3. He is in love with the late Holy Guard captain Bowman's daughter, Layla. After Selina's men wiped out his hometown, he swore to destroy her.
• Maya: A rifle-wielding adventuress from Shell 2. Her village was wiped out ten years ago by Doskias's men.
• Grubb And Runner: Male mechanic from Shell 2. A staff-wielding inventor who built the Workbots for the town that Maya and he grew up in, though they are abused constantly by the Mayor. Runner is a giant mechanical dog that is loyal to Grubb, its inventor.
• Led: Female mechanic from Shell 5; A wrench-wielding Ankaran engineer. Led's country is based around a strong military leadership and Led grew up an army brat. Her father is a General, and she has moved from town to town all her life. Her mother died from an enemy-engineered plague when Led was thirteen. This caused her father to become overprotective of Led in which she responds with her rebellious ways. Led joined the Youth Core Army to get close to machinery, which she loves to tinker around with. She has never seen battle (mostly because her father insists on stationing her where she will be "safe,"), and some of her fellow army friends call her "daddy's little girl". She wants to get away from her father, whom she considers too strict. A training injury left her with mechanical legs, ever since her father has been very protective of her. She grows to be very fond of Grubb.
• Badu: Blind Underlost from Shell 7; a knife-wielding savage, he 'sees' with an organic RADAR
• Selena: A Chosen Swordswoman from Shell 1. Former lover of the Chosen leader Doskias, and Corgan's enemy. Even though Doskias left her for another, due to her poor lineage, it is apparent she still cares deeply for him.
• Araym: Male bounty hunter from Shell 4; Formerly a Jinam explosives expert from Shell 5 before losing both arms to a war injury. Now a mercenary with mechanical rocket arms. He knows a lot about explosives.
• Lobo: Cyborg Jinam pirate from Shell 6. Once a slave-soldier of Jinam, his limitation device was removed after he was abandoned, allowing him free will.
• Doskias: A powerful Chosen and direct descendant of Marduk. He destroyed Maya's hometown ten years ago while fighting with another Chosen. Now he is bent on fulfilling the Legacy of the Creator at any cost.

Other Information & External Links

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Septerra_Core - Wikipedia page for Septerra Core. http://septerra.sytes.net/ - Junker's Paradise: A Septerra Core Fansite