Setting Detail #1: Spherian Vampirism

About half of this whole idea probably means they just need a non-‘vampire’ name. But I’m demonstrably terrible at coming up with names for things.

Spherian vampires have been around since at least a millennium ago, probably longer; the uncertainty is because they tend to keep to themselves, and most of the (surprisingly large) more metropolitan population don’t feel the need to advertise the fact. How they came to exist is a subject of great debate with no solid answer, although there are several (generally more powerful) specific families which are agreed upon as being the ‘original’ bloodlines.

If it’s possible to convert a pre-existing standard human to a Spherian vampire, it must take some extraordinarily long and phlebotinum-filled procedure; nobody seems to have happened upon anything of the sort, despite any efforts to do so. They aren’t a proper seperate ‘species’, possibly apart from some weird metaphysical senses, it’s just that the markers for vampirism seem to be amazingly dominant. (A rare mutation exists which does create a child akin to a half-vampire/dhampyr, but the emphasis is on rare. Even once you get past that, any such individual would be hunted down. There’s a lot of superstition surrounding them, much of the ‘kill them and gain amazing power’ type.)

Spherian vampires are immortal; age has little to no meaning to them, and they have some limited form of healing factor (much less of one than Kunming Device Immortals or Janelle Donovan, though). They also have very good all-round stats to start off with, and limited shapeshifting, especially your semi-classic ‘horde of bats’ mode. Some of the ‘original bloodline’ types also have true forms which you may behold and despair… which commonly point at the ‘different species in some weird metaphysical senses’ bit, possibly some kind of eldritch abomination influence way back when. All of these abilities are easily lost in direct sunlight or lengthy lack of blood/emotion/generic life energy apart from the good stats and super-long lifespan, though.

They seem about as likely as your average KMVian to have an extra ability on top of that. These usually are much less affected by basic meteorology.

Much of the reason they stay out of the spotlight, though, is also that – as a society – they tend to be hidebound and legalistic. This is only a general trend, mind you; Jacob Schwarzwald (the only major character who happens to be one) is sufficiently laid-back to near completely horizontal. …Of course, they also kicked him out, but I’m pretty sure that was for other reasons.

“What am I supposed to do, Laura?! What would Julien tell me if she were here?”

*ahem* “All you need to do, Michael, is believe in yourself. Go forward in all your beliefs, and never forget that we have faith in you!”

“…You’re not very good at being Julien, are y–”

*smack upside the head* “And when that inevitably fails, just make them run straight in to a situation where you can rely on your strengths. You’re a con-man, aren’t you? So sell them a story!”

“…Thanks, Laura.”

“…No problem.”

“Was punching me in the head really necessary, though?”

“You asked me what Julien would do. I was just staying in character.”

Conjunction Outlining

Arc 1: Past – Episodic, focusing on the TCS (precursor to the Magometry Research Agency) and with a variety of antagonists, one of whom (Janelle Donovan) recurs.

Arc 2: Present – More unified, focusing on the MRA proper and with one consistent antagonist.

Past arc has about 9 chapters, present arc has about 14. 23 total, with a ‘series finale’ consisting of three parts, a prologue/epilogue not counted, a few intermission chapters – mostly backstory-oriented – also not counted, and possibly some Miscellaneous which don’t fit anywhere.

If I actually reach the big series finale it’ll probably be followed up by Prismatic, ‘episode 24’ and/or The Big Side-story Movie.

It has two sets of bookends, due to kinda Anachronic Order; chronologically it starts with Darian and ends with Julien, but in the actual story structure the prologue and epilogue consist of two conversations between Miles and Janelle / Tobias and Janelle.

Wow, this might actually exist at some point…

The Trevelyan Family

name, boss-subtitle, color association.

1. Alexandra J. Trevelyan (M.D.), Creation through Knowledge, pink

Certainly one of the first known magometrists on the Sphere; general historical uncertainty makes it difficult to give her the title of ‘absolute first’. Specialized in artificial limbs and overall cybernetics, and is quite probably still alive. And doing science. And feeling fantastic. (This would presumably make her the only author-known case of brain uploading to date.) Basically a grandmotherly cyborg with freaky tron–wings and at least one machine gun arm. Just kind of vanished from records after her husband Nathaniel eventually died, making her quite probably the most powerful loose end on the Sphere.

(Look, I’m not arguing with the 200+-year-old mad scientist cyborg. She can wear pink if she wants.)

2. Morganna Trevelyan, the Freedom of Knowledge, purple

Alexandra’s actual daughter. Specialized in biology and aerospace, which is a kind of odd dichtotomy, but also dabbled in adventure archaeology searching for artifacts. Morganna also served as a primary touchstone of the Spherian suffragette movement, such as it was; when about 10% of the female side can also threaten your cities with giant ant-people!! things get done somewhat quicker. Disappeared in an experiment which would have sent her past the known limits of Sphere-verse space, after creating the Trevelyan cloning mechanisms and Adrian.

3. Adrian Trevelyan, the Madness of Knowledge, yellow

Adrian is, compared to the rest, a cipher; most of what I know about her is that she was completely, destructively insane from when Darian reached her mid-teens (the boss-subtitle might explain it, but I wouldn’t say that’s canon yet). Died – definitive, unlike many of them – in a catastrophic meltdown/backfire of her moon-destroying laser cannon, which created the Spherian ring.

4. Darian Trevelyan, the Timelessness of Knowledge, green/black

A major character in Conjunction’s past arc. Unknown specialty; she doesn’t use her mad-scientific abilities much if at all during Conjunction. One of the core members of the TCS, which would eventually become the Magometry Research Agency. Unquestionably a bit of a loon, but very good at punching things and retains some talent for understanding superscience devices. Disappeared in an effort to create a time machine, as part of a long-standing obsession with time travel. The only Trevelyan to create two clones, for some reason.

5a. Serena M. Trevelyan, the Mania of Knowledge, navy blue

I doubt Serena really counts as a Sphere character any more. She’s more of a Kuiper than a Trevelyan. Nonetheless…

An irrepressible super-Chaotic Neutral thief with the power of teleportation via line-of-sight. Takes after her mother as far as the whole ‘definitely loony’ thing goes, but is also quite skilled. Serena doesn’t really mean any harm to anyone by her random antics, it’s just that there’s this concept of money which seperates her from shiny objects… Underneath all the lunacy is quite possibly a good talent for artificial mind creation, though Helena was still a team project. Disappeared in largely unknown circumstances, and now resides in Sigeki (as much as she resides anywhere).

5b. Julien U. Trevelyan, the Conviction of Knowledge, red

Harbors some degree of resentment towards… well, towards everyone, as far as I can tell, but a more than average amount towards Darian for both leaving a very large gap to fill and Adrian for making everyone wonder if she’ll detonate at them. A lot of Julien’s misanthropy probably stems from being the setting equivalent of a tiny possibly-armed bioweapon; regardless of actual facts Julien seems to see herself as the older one, and started throwing herself in the path of suspicion so Serena didn’t have to from very early on. Her emotions are covered in a nuclear-class blast shield, at this point. Disappeared after Prismatic in a transworld teleportation experiment, and later returned to the Sphere.

6. Elliot Trevelyan/Peralta, ???, white

Mostly just a vague character concept at this point.

ninety percent is shoutouts

…As far as I can tell, part of the point of the random source jokes I keep building in is to give some indication as to basic character abilities. (Alexander is dangerous in large part due to his charisma and fairly good relations with more powerful characters*, and possesses a long-standing tendency to play older brother to just about anyone he meets, regardless of age. Adler is a mysterious female character who honestly doesn’t impact the plot that much beyond founding the Ancient Tradition. Julien is acerbic, commonly anti-authority and often smug, but is super-competent when it counts and keeps saving the world regardless.)

As is tradition for posts like this, in summary: yeah idk.

(Lowen is a complete ditz – albeit one who has his moments – but is a ditzy tacnuke in comparison to anyone else. Dante’s Zombie Apocalypse would turn the world into hell on Earth, no problem. For the first part of Conjunction Miles is a kinda flaily sidekick with areas of standout competence and determination, and later on the role is passed to Theodora who outgrows it in turn…)

* “Ha! I’ve got you right where I want you. That’s the problem with putting all of your points in Cha and Dex, can’t take a hit. Now, y–” *is finger-snap lightered/tasered/pillar-o-lighted(/popsicled, depending on the phase of the moon)*

…He’s also a distant descendant (father’s side?) from the Grand Empress, and can use dual-wield proficiencies. The first never comes up, the second might I don’t know.

Ecliptic Plotting, 1

So far, the major factions for Ecliptic are setting up something like this –

• Lunedi du Clare, Lionel Kreuzer, Tiffany Weyrick: are, as a unit, mostly just trying to figure out what on Earth is going on; this probably has the natural unaltered end point of Lunedi claiming the throne.
• Alexander Kuiper: may or may not be aiming for the dissolution of  Tasmynus’s old system altogether, leaving it in the hands of the interim government. (Being Alexander, it’s tough to discern his ultimate purpose…)
• Kain Armande, Erica Monsley: are primarily following Alexander, but have some independence. Also, ninjas.
• Helena / K: probably angling for either Lunedi or Alexander’s solution, with priority given to the former.
• Evan (Vendredi) du Clare: has some (clueless) interest in claiming the throne herself. Drama!
• The ‘Black Knight’: mostly just wants to ensure Evan’s safety and self-determination, in opposition to
• Samantha Oedekirk, Timothy Salatino: both want Evan on the throne as a manipulable agent, due to regency.
• Xanatov/Fortuna: in general have no particular agenda. Unusual for them, really.

Almost all of these are making some efforts at manipulating each other, not to mention the numerous other characters who are classed as ‘none of the above’ – the most straightforward are Lunedi and Vendredi. Why do I want to write this.

canon birthdays

I don’t even know why I have these worked out, considering nobody ever really ages significantly…

– Sigeki

Helena: April 3rd
Lowen: November 11th
Alexander: February 13th (Friday. Of course.)

– Sphere

(Arvitz wraps birthdays up into New Year’s celebrations, Trevelyan family included, but for reference…

Alexandra: February 29th
Morganna: January 3rd
Adrian: June 26th
Darian: July 26th
Julien and Serena: August 8th)

Michael: None Listed
Tobias: December 22nd
Mina: May 6th
Miles: December 19th
Sterling: February 17th
Janelle: April 19th

– Other

Lydia: October 31st (this explains a lot about her, I think)
Dale: July 9th

“Who are you?” Lunedi demanded, complete with pointed gun-waving, although on an intellectual level she realized that wouldn’t really help the dead man’s switch situation.

“Oh,” the woman said happily. “You know there’s at least one major sect of the Xanatov church to whom that’s a major philosophical question? I don’t really think you realize the magnitude of that request, Knight-Inspector… it is Knight-Inspector, right?”

“Yes,” she managed to grit out between clenched teeth. “And I might not actually kill you, so maybe one straightforward answer to one simple question?” The rest of her team had exited, with the exception of the black-haired one with glasses.

The woman sighed, shrugging the non-switch-holding arm in what Lunedi felt was an unfairly put-upon gesture. “All right, all right, one question. But!” Her tone suddenly became considerably more manic, speeding up to the edge of intelligibility. “Such a simple question might not be that simple, when you get down to it! After all, we are all affected by our past, present, and if you believe some oddball philosophers quite possibly future! So in some ways, to truly answer that–”

On seeing Lunedi’s distinct expression change, she abruptly switched tracks. “Okay. Well. Some say I’m a nameless peasant exalted by Xanatov to serve as his personification on the mortal plane. Some say I’m a knowledge broker trading on old myths of a chosen one to make herself seem larger-than-life! But the truth is, I am neither of these things, though you could say they both play an equal role…”

Inside of a few seconds, the woman had planted one foot on a random desk left abandoned in the rubble, raising the non-switch hand to gesture at… the ceiling as she stared purposefully down at Lunedi. “The truth, Knight-Inspector, is that I am an alien robot dragon, and this form is merely a shell! My true self, you see, rests in the stars, awaiting the dissolution of this semi-demi-mortal body, and my accompanying ascension!” She closed her raised hand with an almost audible snap. “And there’s your answer.”

A moment or two passed in awkward, unremarked silence (evidently the other remaining team member was equally nonplussed), the woman remaining apparently blissfully enraptured in whatever demented mental universe she had constructed.

“You know,” Lunedi said eventually, “you could have just refused to answer the question.” It seemed like the one thing she could say, given the circumstances.

“Oh, but that wouldn’t be nearly as fun,” she hummed as Lunedi turned to evacuate, the other team member following behind her. “Good seeing you, Knight-Inspector! Hope we get another chance to chat sometime~!”

I have no idea either. Apart from how Helena deserves her own tag, and from a somewhat overdramatic point of view all of that really was the literal truth, which means the Multiverse’s weirdness has kind of taken on a life of its own, to be honest.

Being human there’s an inevitability that Elliot makes her parents (well, one parent by the strictest definition, one parent in effectively every non-strict definition) angry. She does it, when it’s on purpose, mostly because she enjoys getting their attention.

Her mother picks up on this very quickly, and as such Elliot quickly learns the difference between her normal slightly warm emotional indifference and the colder sort which spares not an ounce of thought for her native mischievous nature.

Her father never quite gets the hang of ignoring her, but he’s actually the worse of the two at parenting, despite all expectations to the contrary (she gathers from their friends, who are naturally hers by extension).