This is a a sequel to an RP that was recently concluded on another site. If you are interested in the story that occurred earlier in the history of this worldspace, send me a PM and I'll try to send you a link. At this point I haven't posted enough here to post links, but I will likely update this when that changes.



RP Background
Seed. It was everywhere and in everything and everyone; the source of all life on this world. It was the very life force of the planet. Every three generations, a human female would be born with the gift of Seed made manifest on this world, able to tap into the forces of life that nature in all its forms throughout the world thrived with vitality simply by her being alive. This woman was referred to as the ‘Goddess’ or ‘The Source’. If the Goddess died, then the land suffered as that power once more became dormant until the next Goddess was born and reached her 14th birthday for her powers to emerge.

The Goddess had been noted to be able to do many strange and fantastic things, which many deemed ‘magical’. However, it was a product of Seed, which was behind all great mysteries. The Goddess was not the only one who possessed paranormal powers; in fact, while uncommon it was not so rare to find many other individuals with fantastic powers, just to a lesser extent. There were people in Viemera born with a gift that manifests at the age of 16 for boys and 14 for girls.

These people were called Saturates because they had a higher saturation of seed in them than normal and their gift was two-fold: the first was the ability to directly convert the potential power of Seed into the refined power of Essence within their own bodies and even store a small amount for later use. The second was their unique ability to utilize Essence. Saturates were gifted with other special abilities and powers and could be placed into three distinct categories;

Summoners:
Summoners used the Seed around them, as well as the Essence stored within their body, to create physical creatures and simple objects; this is known as Summoning. These Saturates could only summon one Companion that was specific to the Summoner, e.g. a Lion or a Troll, as well as a small or medium-sized object, e.g. a shield or a shovel. The companion that they summoned was the same each time but would become more powerful and in most cases larger as they experienced different things, particularly through trials and tribulation. Summoned objects appeared crystalline by its geometric shapes and deep purple or black glossy colors, but were actually metallic in nature and with strength similar to forged steel. These objects remained unchanged regarding size and strength no matter how often they were used.

The Summoner could dismiss their companion at any time and if it was injured when they did so, it would be fully restored to health upon its return when it was next summoned. However, a Summoner used a great deal of energy when using their ability so it was extremely taxing to dismiss then re-summon in succession; doing so left the person physically exhausted. The same effects applied to the summoned object, but to a much lesser extent.

If the Summoned companion was killed, the person who summoned it suffered from extreme levels of exhaustion, leaving them on the brink of collapsing and in desperate need of rest. Additionally, when their creature was summoned again after its physical form was destroyed, it would revert to its younger version. This meant that a Summoner must have been extremely careful not to let their companion's physical form die. After a several days of meditation between the companion and Summoner, it could quickly return to the size and strength it had before its demise.

A noted side effect associated with Summoners was social behaviors that faintly reflected the nature of their summoned companion. What this really was, was that as their companions grew more powerful they become more attuned with them; as a result the Summoners would begin to take on subtle physical and personality traits of their summons. It was also this link between Summoner and companion that allowed them to communicate telepathically. Whether or not the companion had a physical body, its mental link was always established with the Summoner and the two could communicate at all times.

Users:
Users, after converting Seed to Essence within their bodies, could then change the properties of the Essence and expel it from their bodies, directing its flow in order to manifest it into one form of energy or another; quite often as some sort of element, such as fire, light, sound, or ice. Each user could only use one form of energy or element. Their power depended on the person casting it, but control over their element (i.e. the ways in which they can change the flow and shape of the energy) simply came down to practice and talent.

While all of the Saturates could prepare and store essence inside their body in advance, Users had an affinity for this and could store double or more essence than the other two types of Saturates, depending of course, on the power of the individual.

Manipulators:
Manipulators had a talent, which shared a commonality with both Summoners and Users. To a limited distance, Manipulators could reach out and connect to the Seed that is ever-present in everything and then bend it to their will. Like the other two types of Saturates this power is usually specific to one type of manipulation (e.g. telekinesis, mind manipulation, or even alter the limits of their own bodies through increased speed, strength, etc).

Manipulators were generally the most subtle of the three Saturates. Given the nature of their talents, they could evade more obvious attention and avoid the general suspicion that Saturates were generally viewed with. Manipulators also required the least power to use their talents since they were tapping into things that existed; they still required the conversion of Essence to accommodate their abilities, but since they use the Seed that was in everything for their function, they did not need as much energy as Users or Summoners.

It was even possible to manipulate time for certain, incredibly rare Manipulators because Seed existed beyond the dimensions humanity inhabited. However, those few who were gifted with this rare ability were inevitably driven insane by it as their minds struggled with the complexities in manipulating temporal cause and effect. More often than not, these unfortunate individuals just disappeared from their native timeline one day and were never seen nor heard from again.

At least that was the way of things before a cataclysm had fundamentally changed everything and it has been over three millennia since The Source last existed in Viemera. Only a few were present to witness the great cataclysm that reshaped the world of Viemera, but that was so long ago that their memory and even the myths of what preceded the “New Age” had been buried by the sands of time.

*Note: The major distinction between Users and Manipulators is that Users are able to manifest their ability from nothing but raw Essence. I.e. A fire manipulator would have needed a nearby flame source in order to use their powers while fire Users could conjure their own flames.

The History of Viemera in the New Age
After countless centuries of nations warring with one another over territory, resources, and governance, the world of Viemera has enjoyed the better part of a millennium of relative peace. That is not to say there haven’t been any conflicts or strife, but it is certainly a far cry from the dark ages and Unifying Wars of old. Though most knowledge prior to the Unifying Wars, which took place approximately between 400-500NA, was lost in the century of endless bloodshed as newly formed nations sought dominion. It was during the first millennia that tales of magic, mythical creatures, nature spirits, and other such superstitions were wide-spread and was as much a part of their society as technology is in present day. So thoroughly saturated were these accounts that there are still religious sects that swear by their authenticity by pointing to various archeological finds that supposedly should have been impossible to accomplish with the tools that were also found in those sites.

While there are several offshoots of religious and spiritual sects who so adamantly believe in such myths as being truths, they are largely grouped into two categories separated by their fundamental beliefs on these entities. Devians are those who believe these spirits, or Sprites as the ancient writings often refer to them, are servants or heralds of a greater power or powers. Vaetirians on the other hand see them as being spirits made manifest of nature itself, that the Sprites were as much individuals possessing the same free will as humans. These beliefs have largely been losing their foothold in modern-day society as a result of people becoming more scientifically inclined. It also doesn’t help matters that supposed regular contact with Sprites ceased well over a millennium ago and those making such claims in present day are largely viewed as being eccentric at best.

Education and technology have been advancing rapidly over the past several centuries, ushering in what is largely referred to as the Information Age. Computers, technology, and communication devices are readily abundant and have basically become as vital to daily life as eating and sleeping. (Present Viemera has an uncanny resemblance to modern day Earth.)

Technology
Technology is identical to present-day Earth, particularly in the first-world countries, though there are some places in Viemera that would classify as being second-world countries, but those are rather uncommon.

Story Background
The year is 3009NA and it’s only been six years since a very small minority of people developed supernatural abilities. For the first time in over three-thousand years, Saturates once again roamed the face of Viemera. Though, this is something that is not known to the general public; those few who have tried to step into the limelight with their abilities were met with unyielding skepticism and largely written off as charlatans. In a handful of cases that made global headlines, these people were targeted and killed by various extremists, not all of them were done in the name of religion. As a result, a majority of Saturates have kept their abilities hidden from others; some going so far as to never use them, assuming they even acknowledge them in the first place. Others practice and experiment with their talents in secret; some even in plain sight that would go unnoticed by the general public because of their subtlety. The truth of the matter is that they don’t know what they are; knowledge of Saturates have long since been lost in the past and they exist in a world where such a thing shouldn’t even be possible.

It is in this ignorance that they likely find bliss, for knowing of the origin of Saturates may lead them to get a glimpse of the bigger picture. The Seed is once again changing and the effects of which will be felt across the whole of Viemera. The past two instances such a thing had occurred, the societies of the world crumbled and humanity was thrown into the dark ages where, by some miracle, the human race managed to avoid extinction. It is this change the Seed is undergoing that is causing instability with the Saturate’s powers when trying to use them. This is called Power Feedback and the manner in which it manifests itself varies from one Saturate to the next, but it is always the same for them.