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= Mosaic; A Game of Runic Magic =
= Mosaic; A Game of Runic Magic =
A recent creation of /tg/'s involving, well, Runic Magic. For now it's going to be an info dump of everything I can find; it'll probably get cleaned up the next time a thread rolls around and it gets some attention.




== Setting ==
== Setting ==
[[Image:Mosaic-worldmap-draft.jpg|thumb|250px|Map of the World of Mosaic with cultures and places noted]]
In mosaic, the players assume the roles of magicians and warriors using mystical runes to bend and influence the structure of reality. Runes can be used in a myriad of ways, many of which draw upon an innate knowledge or intense training to understand how to use. These different ways to use the runes broadly define the classes of the game.


Very low civilization world. Countries are little more than groups of villages who decided to work together, and full scale wars are rare. Craftsmanship and technology is more advanced than you might think, with plate armor being possible (though still difficult) for normal warriors to acquire, due to the common use of Runes in the manufacturing process. Virtually everyone knows a rune or two, to help them with the daily tasks of living, and a genius craftsman is just as adept with runes as a great mage, but applies them to a different task.
The world of Mosaic is antique-medieval in style and level of civilization, with humans as the main driving force of order and structure in the world (as well as currently being the only playable race). The current level of civilization in the world is largely attributed to the Njord, a race that arrived at the eastern coast of the world and discovered the runes. Tapping into the amazing power the runes allowed them to wield, the Njord gave rise to an Empire that ruled over a quarter of the world. After a long age of strife as the knowledge of magic wormed its way into the lower classes and sparked a civil war, the Njord turned to the secret dark runes to restore their power. The result: a cataclysm that destroyed the entire Njord civilization overnight.
 
The world is scattered by ruins from various sources. Some are the constructs of Runelords long dead, or the leavings of long lost civilisations. Some are harmless, others perilous, and its irritatingly hard to know which is which. Most of the land is covered by great forests and mighty plains, or soaring mountains and cold ice. All these places hold darker things, which live to trouble the minds of honest men. Only humans have formed open civilisation, and if others do exist, its within secret places where the boots of men have not yet trodden, or have trod once, and then stopped dead.
 
Religion is odd, with the True Rune being almost universally acknowledged as existing and being the closest thing to a truly Divine being conceivable, being an ultimate description and method of control of all that is. If a thinking being could master it, they could become a true, omnipotent god.
 
Lesser gods exist, and are generally thought to be humans who have mastered, then amplified, a greater rune, taking it into themselves and merging with its essence. They don't act often, but when they do it is impressive. There's no knowledge of what restricts them in their actions, or even if they are actually restricted by any other than themselves.


The true evil in the game, and all the demons and dark god, come from Un-runes. An Un-rune is, essentially, a dark inversion of a rune, creating a sigil which unmakes reality, erasing it as if it had never been. Students of Un-runes seek to obliterate true runes, eventually actualising the Untrue rune, and thereby ending existence. What motives these madman hold is unknown, as seemingly no-one would benefit from their victory.
The lands the Njordic mages had carved were reclaimed by the ocean, and the rebellious remnants of their empire fled to the inland to rebuild. The city of Nerud was founded, and its lords went out to reclaim the fragmented nations the Njord had left behind, founding the Second Empire after a century of strife. The Emperors of this New Njord were greedy, however, and spelled their doom when they sent their armies to force the non-humans to submission. Entire legions of men were lost as they entered the forests of the Others, the plains of the Centaurs and the deserts of the Shifters, and it was not long until the suppressed masses stood up to cast down these lords.


Today, the core lands of Njord are held by a single King elected from the rulers of the land’s regions, exercising little real power with external factions ensuring a peaceful diplomacy. In the archipelago created in the Cataclysm, the Old Njord still linger, however, sitting in the great city of Ordii, gathering the scraps remaining of the Old Empire. Some whisper that they have grown sick and twisted in their isolation, and that the thing that drives them still is a hunger to restore their ancient power.


The known world is one large, ovoid continent, with cold "poles" at top and bottom, a belt of tropics and deserts in the middle, and temperate zones in between the two. The north is more mountainous, while the south is wetter, with more rainfall and rivers.
In distant lands, civilization has budded in the wake of the Empires. The city of Amenai, jewel at the desert and celebrated Anchor of the World has for centuries spread knowledge of the runes to distant nations to allow lucrative trade to grow. Around the desert and surrounding plains, many prosperous nations and dynasties have spired, and they all know the way to Great Amenai.  


There's a good mix of cultures and ethnicities, and although people are suspicious of strangers, the trading of stories with travellers is a universal tradition, used to maintain trust and enhance the oral tradition. Nomads, caravans and groups of various sorts are common sights all through the lands, bringing knowledge, merchandise or services to wherever needs them.
Despite the Njord being hailed as the bringers of order and discoverers of the runes, the world is littered with ruins and monuments that must be far older than the Old Empire. The pyramidal mountains of carved stone in the Amenai desert, the brooding towers that stand silent vigil of the lands of Tzeng and distant Jangxi, and the mysterious citadels that gaze out over the ragged coast of Veste all hold secrets that many seek but few can even catch a fleeting glance of before the power overwhelms them.


Runes are the main source of personal power. Any amount of skill with a sword can be bypassed or augmented by a basic understanding of runes. As such, runes are some of the most important things in life. Most lesser runes are freely given and learned, although due to limits on mental capacity, people don't usually hold more than one or two at a time. However, Major runes and Great runes are much harder to find or learned, generally treated as treasured secrets. Learning a rune requires one who has mastered it to impart to you their mastery, giving you the ability to understand what the rune represents, and thereby utilising its powers.
== Sections ==


Runic tattoos are a simple and growing market, not in the grand manner of the Tattooed caster, but in simple things like tattoo's for strength for manual labourers or protection from fire on the hands of a blacksmith. Tattooed cast
*[[Nations, Cultures and Locations of Mosaic]]
*[[Classes of Mosaic]]
*[[Mechanics of Mosaic]]


== Sources ==
== Sources ==

Revision as of 08:48, 23 October 2008

Mosaic; A Game of Runic Magic

Setting

Map of the World of Mosaic with cultures and places noted

In mosaic, the players assume the roles of magicians and warriors using mystical runes to bend and influence the structure of reality. Runes can be used in a myriad of ways, many of which draw upon an innate knowledge or intense training to understand how to use. These different ways to use the runes broadly define the classes of the game.

The world of Mosaic is antique-medieval in style and level of civilization, with humans as the main driving force of order and structure in the world (as well as currently being the only playable race). The current level of civilization in the world is largely attributed to the Njord, a race that arrived at the eastern coast of the world and discovered the runes. Tapping into the amazing power the runes allowed them to wield, the Njord gave rise to an Empire that ruled over a quarter of the world. After a long age of strife as the knowledge of magic wormed its way into the lower classes and sparked a civil war, the Njord turned to the secret dark runes to restore their power. The result: a cataclysm that destroyed the entire Njord civilization overnight.

The lands the Njordic mages had carved were reclaimed by the ocean, and the rebellious remnants of their empire fled to the inland to rebuild. The city of Nerud was founded, and its lords went out to reclaim the fragmented nations the Njord had left behind, founding the Second Empire after a century of strife. The Emperors of this New Njord were greedy, however, and spelled their doom when they sent their armies to force the non-humans to submission. Entire legions of men were lost as they entered the forests of the Others, the plains of the Centaurs and the deserts of the Shifters, and it was not long until the suppressed masses stood up to cast down these lords.

Today, the core lands of Njord are held by a single King elected from the rulers of the land’s regions, exercising little real power with external factions ensuring a peaceful diplomacy. In the archipelago created in the Cataclysm, the Old Njord still linger, however, sitting in the great city of Ordii, gathering the scraps remaining of the Old Empire. Some whisper that they have grown sick and twisted in their isolation, and that the thing that drives them still is a hunger to restore their ancient power.

In distant lands, civilization has budded in the wake of the Empires. The city of Amenai, jewel at the desert and celebrated Anchor of the World has for centuries spread knowledge of the runes to distant nations to allow lucrative trade to grow. Around the desert and surrounding plains, many prosperous nations and dynasties have spired, and they all know the way to Great Amenai.

Despite the Njord being hailed as the bringers of order and discoverers of the runes, the world is littered with ruins and monuments that must be far older than the Old Empire. The pyramidal mountains of carved stone in the Amenai desert, the brooding towers that stand silent vigil of the lands of Tzeng and distant Jangxi, and the mysterious citadels that gaze out over the ragged coast of Veste all hold secrets that many seek but few can even catch a fleeting glance of before the power overwhelms them.

Sections

Sources

These threads contain all the current information on the system, much of which has changed since its conception and may yet change further. Anyone who has enough time and related knowledge is encouraged to copy currently relevant information from the following threads to this page.

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