We came from a different place, a forgotten world of our own perhaps, in some ancient realm. Oh, you speak of the Njord? It is true, they came from far away, long ago, but they were not, as you might believe, the first. When the first Njord set foot on these shores, the ancient towers and dark keeps, and the stone mountains of the desert were all waiting for them, as were the Runes. Very few know of them, and little is known about them. I heard about it from a mad priest many, many years ago, and I’ll tell you now, what he told me.

Humans first arrived long, long ago, by some means we now cannot even conceive of. The world was different then. Its reflection was clean and pure, its lands not yet divided, and perhaps most significant of all, the desert was absent- there were simply rolling plains, for endless miles.

Of course, we changed all this. Not just due to how we act, felling trees and building cities, channeling rivers and building dams, but how we are. We humans changed this world, to its core, and it will never be the same again. Whether we should be blessed or damned for it is a matter for the gods, for it was they who in the old times started it all. But, before them, came the Runes.

Such uproar! What a surplus of the faithful we have, settle down please, I will explain it all in time. Suffice to say, man created the runes when he came here, and then came to master them in time. This process is continuing, even now, but I digress…

Three tribes of men settled around and abouts, or at least three we know of, although there may have been more or less divisions amongst themselves. They are known by the remnants of their existence- The Towers, the Citadels and the Desert.

The Towers were built by philosopher kings and wise men of those times, who sought insight and enlightenment. Good people, probably, but strange. It was they who built so high and thought so far that they reached the Golden Realm itself, and became their reflection in such depth that, in those ancient times, the Gods were born.

Quiet down, you blasted preacher. Keep your dogma to yourself. Your God was once a man, just like every other God, and its only proof how low down you are in the church hierarchy you are that you Don’t know about it. Now shut up and let me continue.

The Citadels almost the opposite of the Towers, debauched and dangerous holes for the worst of men to live in. I don’t want to repeat the few rumours I’ve heard of them, but suffice to say, just as the Towers bore the gods, so the Citadels created the Demons and Devils who even now curse our lives.

The Desert was created by those known as the Blightlords. Obsessed madmen, death and its avoidance via immortality was their only focus. They forged an empire, enslaved thousands, and created the desert in its entirety to serve their purposes. They succeeded to an extent, although eternity was not as they expected. Those stone mountains in the desert still hold them, not exactly dead, but not alive. The remnants of their servants dwell in the deserts still, watching and guarding the seals which keep their old masters imprisoned. Who are the servants? Well, let’s just say, Don’t mention this story around any Shifters if you want to live to see the next morning.

There may have been others, the little people who worked the fields and toiled, even as their lords researched and studied the Runes and such. Maybe some even survived the long years, as the Tower lords and Citadel masters all rose or fell to deityhood, and the Blightlords were sealed in their tombs. Maybe the Njord found some people waiting for them, although the old records mention none of it.

And then, history as its often known begins. But most people don’t think much about the most important parts of it.

Consider the well known but little thought of fact, that Glyph Carvers came first. Why? It’s the least integrated use of runes- simply inscribing them on other objects, with only the knowledge as part of yourself. This is because, in those days, we humans were virtually alien. It was all we could do to understand the runes, and draw power through them, but our selves weren’t ready for it.

It lasted for years, this detachment. Long enough for Carving to become the norm in those ancient days. And then, something clicked. The Sigilist’s weren’t just a new way of thinking about, or using the runes. They were a fundamental change in the way humans interacted with them. We became able to take the runes into ourselves, and project it onto the world through our own power.

This change was resisted, of course. There were some conflicts, some hidden, some not so much, and even when they couldn’t fight directly, they competed to see who was the best. Such chaos and destruction only hastened the change. Carving had to adapt and grow to the new ways, and Sigilists… well, there came the next generation.

All the variations of rune user are part of this progression, the Somats and Runefists just presenting the newest varieties, as a human beings very essence, very physical movements become one with the runes.

Mimics and Priests? And the Marked? Well, they’re different things entirely.

Marked were a halfway point. A human being, physically integrating themselves into the runes. A quite interesting step, strength of artifice and creativity overcoming any weakness of the soul. Still, they were an artificial version of what came after.

Priests are almost further than Carvers. They don’t have any real power, in themselves, they just open themselves up to the beings of the Mirror, as a conduit. They’re entirely reliant upon the whim of gods and spirits to fulfill their requests and accept their payments. However, as time goes by, some are becoming almost spirit-like in themselves, so perhaps soon we’ll see something new.

As for the Mimics… well, they’re another thing entirely. They aren’t humans coming closer to the world and the runes. They’re the world becoming a little more human, and incarnating itself among you. They reflect the mirror above, but they dwell deep, deep below, whether they know it or not.

Yes, there are two mirrors, as I said. All the runes you know and use are just from one, just a single shard of a broken mirror. The other half holds great power, but is in the hands of devils! Devils and Demons and Darker things, dwelling beneath. And they are fighting to control you, to dominate you, to enslave you all! Their runes will only bring death, as the Njord found out…

The old man ranted on and on, spouting strange theories and mad tales, and the crowd slowly drifted away, muttering about a mad old fool, and throwing him dirty looks. His lips parched and his voice ragged, he sat down upon the pile of wood he’d been using as a stage, and picked up a flagon he’d left beside it, drinking deep. A child watched him, the only one left of the crowd. “Whaddya want, brat?”

The child thought for a moment, and then asked “Well, if all that stuff is so dark, and so secret, why can you tell us about it? Shouldn’t you keep it to yourself?”. The old man chuckled darkly, and smiled. “Three reasons kid. First, no one would believe a drunk old wanderer like me anyway, even if I said it everywhere I went. Second, I might as well, since today is a special day for me. My last day…” He paused for a few moments, and then looked up again, his eyes shining a strange silvery glint “Thirdly, only one person is going to live long enough to remember my words, and they’re special. They needed to know, even if they don’t realize it yet”. With that, he stood up, and walked away, leaving the child staring after him, utterly confused. If only someone had told him that, in that moment, his eyes had reflected silver too…

The Barons entry was announced by a barrage of cheers, and throwing of petals. His throne was borne by a set of heavily armed warriors in Runed gear, impressive and shining in the sun. Around him were courtiers and minor nobles, dancers and servants and a panoply of other hangers on. Amongst the crowd were various enforcers, to make sure no one tried anything improper, or did something silly such as not cheering loud enough.

Silence fell very quickly as one old man exited the press of the crowd, leaning on a stick and smiling a deaths head grimace. He stood, before all the soldiers and nobles, and no one seemed quite sure how to react to him. He stared the Baron directly in the face. “You are ambitious. You conquer and scheme and dream of greater power. You could even succeed. That cannot be tolerated”. His eyes flickered silver, and every man of the guard drew his weapons and charged. But by then, it was already too late.

The runes flew away, leaving their owners gasping as the knowledge and power was torn from their minds and bodies. Weapons dulled and died in eager hands, and everyone watched the rising maelstrom of symbols and power, swirling around the old man, no longer bent, but standing tall, surrounded by coruscating silver energies and his eyes like finely polished mirrors. “Your sentence has been passed. May the next life prove better for you”.

It is hard to describe the result. For one able to perceive such things, the mirrors of reality bent inwards, such was the force of the blow. For one less able, there was merely a titanic conflagration of fire and wind, burning and tearing its way through the Faire in mere moments. Man and beast died alike, even as the wind screamed past burning tents and shattered stands. Amongst it all, a child watched, his eyes flowing with silver tears as his entire world burned around him.

All things pass, and ones deeds are reflected back onto you- Sometimes more literally than others. This is the nature of the world of Mosaic, a dynamic and changing realm of power and ancient danger, where the very nature of man and his place in the universe hangs in the balance. All that exists is connected, by the ephemeral links of Rune and Reality, Reflections eternally of each other. Within this mad world, even one man may make a difference, in the right place, at the right time. And with the right Rune.

*clap clap*

Note- These fluff things aren't 100% accurate. They aren't perfect descriptions of the setting, just one characters perspective on certain aspects of it, which I very much enjoyed writing and which were, generally, positively received. I hope you enjoy this last one, and that altogether it provides a nice primer on the nature and tone of the Mosaic setting.

As I said in a thread posted earlier this week, the Mosaic rules are at a point where Playtesting is necessary, and not to put too fine a point on it, I Need playtesters. Rules are available here- http://www.megaupload.com/?d=DLYO1Q58

If you feel interested, and want to give the system a try or just like the tone of the setting and want to give it a go, drop into the #Mosaic or #Vulcan channels on the sup/tg/ IRC, or send me an email. My timezone is GMT, but I'm currently on a very flexible (Read: empty) schedule which means I can run a game pretty much any time people need me too, with sufficient advanced warning.

Pic is a basic map of the setting, sketched by Betamax, one of the many contributors I thank for helping Mosaic get so far.

The wiki is horribly out of date. Why hasn't it been updated? How sloppy...

"There is a theory that, as the Mimics are reflections of the Mirror itself, so there are those who reflect the true essence of a Rune. The one known as the Wanderer, seen across the land in a myriad of bodies, is merely the one whose influnce is most easily seen; the hand of Destiny itself at work."

bump for mosaic

rebump, and i'm off for the night.

Homebrewbump