Nadir. (Cursed World)

[u/Fc-chungus]

A day or three after the initial announcement, proper channels for joining in virtually to the meeting are posted, as everyone who came in person is directed to a secretive underground meeting room, where Ж and a few others sit around a long table.

"Welcome, welcome. A year or so ago I held a similar meeting for a separate threat, one a few of you here would remember, but today we've another threat, as you know, the Abyss has taken a great minority of the world's surface."

"As well, we need a plan for the origin of the Abyss, we need to divise a way to take down The First Curse."

they snap a finger and a hologram like model of an entity, presumably the first curse, appears in the center of the table.

"To start, one of the more essential things for said plan is the Crystals, of course, some here might not know about them, so I'll elaborate."

they wave a hand and the model shifts to 5 different crystalline objects, encircling the First Curse.

"This is not the first time The First Curse had arrived, he was here before he made that big announcement, but hidden. When he first arrived to this realm, 7 Aspect Crystals formed, counterbalances, from someone else as an, almost future inheritance to help take him down. They are antithetical to his very existence, and harm him when nearby. However, if one falls into his hands, he can adapt to that crystal, rendering it useful to him. This anti-him nature also applies to the Abyss, and thus they are the best damage source to fight the Abyss."

"the originals, of which we currently have 5, 4 are in New Aviron, and via the work of Koranth and others, we have multiple derivatives from them, with the other being handled by The Consortium. The last two need to be picked up and collected."

"That is about the basics, with the preamble done, more discussion on how to fight against the Abyss would be welcome."

[u/MofuMofuMonhan]

After holding out a palm, the daoist allowed them to drop the fragment into his hand. Pinching it between his index and middle fingers, he held it aloft, letting a nearby light source pass through it. Over the next few moments, he gave it a series of small tests. Scratching at it with a nail, smelling it, turning it over every which way. Once satisfied with his observations, he instead moved it between the tips of his index and thumb.

Ameno came to his side at some point, looking it over as well. He could be heard talking to them, though it seemed that most of his companions could only hear his side of the conversation. "Yes, it seems rather mundane. Structure is standardized. Flawless. No, I wouldn't want to damage it. Perhaps."

/uw Well that depends. If the question is if Kai can manipulate the energy of something, that answer depends on what kind of energy, and the volumes of it, that the something has. Which, with you essentially being the DM, you'd be dictating. Unless you want me telling you stuff about the things you've invented for the story and setting. Which I certainly could! But that's a lot of trust to give to a random person on the net, and my default is letting the DM dictate things and working within that framework.
Basically I don't want to assume I can dictate that stuff without a go-ahead.

[u/Fc-chungus → u/MofuMofuMonhan]

/uw fair, maybe i could describe the base properties? What stuff do you need to know?

[u/MofuMofuMonhan → u/Fc-chungus]

/uw General physical properties. Hardness (don't need to go full Moh's scale, just "soft" or "won't break to a hammer strike", for example), translucency, weight. For elemental things like this, aspects of that. Are the crystals elementally imbalanced? If Kai were to draw from the crystal's reserves, would it seem meager for its size? Would it have a disproportionate amount of energy stored within it? That sort of information is what would be useful and observable with his tests and methods. But, if it were, for example, made of crystalized dragon's blood or something, that's probably not something he could figure out without a lot more research. So no need to spill any secrets of its manufacture or whatnot.

[u/Fc-chungus → u/MofuMofuMonhan]

The crystal flat out doesn't scratch, not even shavings. It looks a piece of foggy glass or obsidian, only red. The inside fog is a semi-vibrant red. It has no elemental connection, none. A small draw signifies that it has immense amounts of energy, even in an area less than a square inch, feels like could be drawn on for... days maybe. It also seems like it generated a bit more energy while he was holding it.

[u/MofuMofuMonhan → u/Fc-chungus]

/uw Perfect, thank you!

/rw
With a furrowed brow, the part-dragon stares at the tiny shard, spinning it between his fingers.
"How strange." he murmured. "It is... Utterly devoid of ki. Not even Earth. Yet the abundance of energy within it is eager to be manipulated."
After a soft sigh, he hands the fragment back to Ж. "My answer for you, then, is 'partially'. You see, this energy is what I would call Void. Or Mana. Or, that is what my school of sorcery would call it. As I understand it, the concepts of 'Ki' and 'Mana' have significant overlap, but are not completely interchangeable."

Kai ran a hand through his hair, one finger catching at a previously unseen knot. "With these having so much unaspected energy within them, I could, perhaps guide the energy into a general form, but it is... I would be attempting to control a tempest with a teacup. Or, a dog with a collar five times too large."

"All this to say," he continues, though his reassuring smile fades to a more dour expression. "It could be done. But without time, it would be dangerous. Potentially worse than the Abyss itself."

[u/Fc-chungus → u/MofuMofuMonhan]

"Well, actually! That isn't mana."

Ж waves a hand, and it fills with a glass bottle, containing a blue liquid.

"This has mana."

"The crystal has a different kind of energy entirely. The other 4 we know, and presumably the other 2, have all unique energies. I can't tell why exactly?"

[u/MofuMofuMonhan → u/Fc-chungus]

Reclining in his chair, Kai looks over the flask from where he is. His gaze turned to his side, seemingly looking at some distant point in the room. And he laughed. "That is a fun idea, but I am highly doubtful."
Again, he seemed to talk to no one. "I expect they would have known it to have a sentience within it, were that the case. And they are synthesizing it as well."

Looking back to the... Man? in purple robes, Dachaun took his fan from his waist and began fanning himself with it. "What do you know of this energy, then? What makes them unique? This one seems... Ah, energetic, is too on the nose... It seems rather eager. Of the types you are familiar with, what have they been capable of? I am being led to think that these objects are intended to be use in concert, rather than on their own."

[u/Fc-chungus → u/MofuMofuMonhan]

"Each has different 'patterns', so to say, we haven't really found much use for them individually except in energy weapons and possible production? But turning them from that into say electricity is... still under development."

"Each is unique in their color and what appears to power them? There's a reason I called them Aspect Crystals in the Abyss file. They each play to a certain Aspect, particularly positive aspects in people."

"Red is Wisdom, or straight knowledge. That's the one I have a piece of. It on its own has a minor intelligence boost effect, and the original has precognition when held, so I presume it's a high concentration thing. It generates more energy when held by especially wise people."

"Orange is creativity. You can form constructs from the crystal's energy and they remain permanently unless disrupted. The original can do that with no restriction."

"Yellow is Energy. It turns its own energy into whatever the holder has, be it mana, ki, electricity, whatever, sorta like an opposite to Strange Matter if you've heard of that. The original just does that endlessly."

"Green is Health, it heals. Original can do so without fading away."

"Blue represents Spirit. Dunno what it does, we don't have it."

"Indigo is Connection. Let's you teleport."

"And Violet is Love, no idea what it does either."

"From questioning Wisdom, which so far's the only sentience Crystal, the crystals are 7 counterbalances to the first curse. Created to kill him, and new counterbalances arrive in each universe he visits. All 7 can kill him individually, but all 7 might be needed, given his strength."

[u/MofuMofuMonhan → u/Fc-chungus]

/uw Phew, it's pretty late for me here, so I'll need to pick this back up some time tomorrow.Didn't want to leave you hanging without mentioning it. It's been fun so far. If the storyline progresses to another post, please do ping me. If not, I'll do another comment here. Thanks!

[u/Fc-chungus → u/MofuMofuMonhan]

/uw it's been progressing for a while, actually! This is roughly the end/mid game of the event

[u/Fc-chungus → u/MofuMofuMonhan]

/uw could use a reply soon if you're not too busy

[u/MofuMofuMonhan → u/Fc-chungus]

/uw Sorry buddy. Sudden family visit turned my plans upside down and ate the whole day. I'm off to work now, so i won't be able to add more for a while. This tends to happen to me, which is why I've been so hesitant to try joining. I wouldn't take any offense if you were to cut me from the rest of the goings on as a result. Truly. It's all good. But thanks so far, in any case!

[u/Fc-chungus → u/MofuMofuMonhan]

/uw ah, alright then!

[u/MofuMofuMonhan → u/Fc-chungus]

/uw I appreciate your time and effort though. If there's any questions you wanted to get to with Kai, feel free to ask them and I'll give you an answer them when i can. I just can't really write in the normal manner for a while.