The ABSENCE
An entity apparently stripped of its connection to the Via and left unable to grow, heal, or die in any natural sense. The Absence pre-dates the arrival of the continuum stones with no living memory left on Earth, be it Architect, Deity or Emissary, able to confirm its original nature, or how it came to exist in its current state. For the past four millennia it has survived as a bodiless entity using cunning, manipulation, and malice to feed on the stronger, more destructive energies of a Continuance. Doing so has led to it developing multiple personalities. Some appear to be benevolent, but most are aggressive and seem to work in unison. The original personality is not readily apparent and may no longer exist.
The ANTHROS
Ancient custodians of "the Spheres" who provide the balance on the Earth and within our entire solar system required for life on Earth to be possible. Often mistaken for gods, they neither require nor desire worship of any kind. There are 12 primary Anthros each associated to a sphere (Atmosphere, Ionosphere, Heliosphere etc). Their exact origin is unknown. Theorized to be aliens, angels, AI or highly evolved humans that have transcended to live as energy. The answer is not known. They take no individual names for themselves to avoid deification and are theorized to be as old as the planet, the sun or perhaps even older. They make no claim to be creators of humanity, the planet or the Universe. However they do exert significant influence of the Via, the spark of life in all living things. They are the creators of both the Emissary race and the Continuum Stones.
ANTHROS OF THE TIDES
Lesser Anthros operating beneath or between the twelve primary Anthros in the tides between the spheres. Some are believed to have taken forms masquerading as humans or emissaries to take a more explicit role in the course of human history.
ARCHITECTS
Direct descendants of the humans and Emissary unions who can perceive and draw on the energy of both the Via and the Continuance. They were entrusted with the continuum stones and charged with observing, recording, and guarding the story of life on Earth. Architects have many abilities. They can freeze time in an isolated area, travel through time by "transversing the Via". They can manipulate Continuance energy in multiple ways, and shift their vision to see the unseen as well as "shift the spheres" to travel great distances in the present, turning hours into minutes.
Architects are said to perceive all time as one, that time is set in stone so to speak. The phrase exaggerates. Firstly, Architects' perceptions are limited to the lifespan of the stones and they do not know what is going to, or has happened at every or any given moment. The precognitive perception is vague at best, limited by their human side, often requiring guidance by directly interfacing with a stone. One interpretation is that the conscious mind perceives time moving forward while their unconscious perceives it moving in the opposite direction. The Wardstone Architect families are those that inherit the responsibility of guarding a stone and pass it on from parent to child. The Wandering Architects are solitary beings that serve the entire network, paying no allegiance to any one house.
THE ATLAS
The Los Angeles Continuum House and a major present-day nexus of nightlife, myth, magic, and state-of-the-art technology. Described in detail in Appendix A.. Its creator, Cyrus LaCroix Sr., built and used the structure as a warehouse in 1939 with a foundational structure that made it especially suitable for transformation into a modern-day nightlife event space megaplex in 1972. Its ability to draw manageable-sized crowds, creating Continuance energy regularly into the presence of the Via-empowered Continuum Stone chamber beneath the building, dawned what is now called the Nightlife Model for a Continuum House. Eleven of the twelve Continuum Houses have followed the example of the Atlas, creating event space megaplex structures that can function the same way, though not all have adopted the style of management the Atlas employs.
Almost all of the Wardstone Architect families are ancient and attach their family name and crest to their house. They are prone to mockingly call the Atlas "House LaCroix" because April has made a point of actively managing the Atlas herself, and recruiting individuals whose talents are attributed to the latent fire of the Via that burns within them. In centuries past, Architects hunted beings with latent fire when they evolved into monstrous, hybrid creatures unable to fully master the Via’s influence. As superstition gave way to science, "latent fire" ignited hybrid creatures have become rare. Many Wardstone families point to April as literally playing with fire rather than simply anonymously owning the event space and living the reclusive socialite lifestyle many Wardstone Architect families prefer.
AURORAS
The form the Continuance takes as perceived by gifted beings when shifting their vision. Its color reflects the dominant emotional state or collective intent of the crowd that creates it. Visualized, the gifted say its appearance is comparable to the Northern lights. Kelvin first perceives the Continuance Auroras while wearing SPEKS; Scions under the influence of SCEND report having seen it as well occasionally.
AVALON
An Emissarian enclave tied to Arthurian myth that served as the final visible intervention of the Emissarian race on the development of humanity. They did this in two ways. First by creating the circumstances of Camelot’s legend as a society dedicated to doing the right thing in service to its citizens. Secondly by extending their magic out into ones once more by establishing two new hybrid races—Paladins and M’Naads—that would carry the legend with them long after Avalon and Camelot were gone.
CAMELOT
A kingdom that existed at a time in history where no sect or religion entirely held sway over the peoples of the British Isles. Their Wardstone family of Architects included Merlin, Arthur’s youngest sister Morgan Le Fay openly allied with the Emissary enclave at Avalon, while Arthur’s oldest sister enlisted the aid of Circe and the Absence to create the illusion of a conflict that would end the kingdom and establish the legend. Using the sword Excalibur to split the Continuum stone in half, Camelot and Avalon were swept outside of the spheres. The half in which Excalibur is embedded remained with Camelot, while the half bearing the scar of the sword moved to London, anchoring Camelot & Avalon to the Earth. There it has remained ever since outside the spheres, stationary in time and space, a never-ending inspiration to all the centuries that followed.
CONTINUANCE
A source of magic generated by the collected human consciousness of a crowd. The energy manifests as visible Auroras to the gifted, the colors reflecting the emotions, beliefs, passions, and shared purpose of the crowd generating it. A primary source of magical energy for deities and M’Naads, a secondary source for Emissaries and Architects. Unlike the Via, it’s unstable as it is shaped by the mental state of the people producing it. APPENDIX C explains its nature and use in greater detail.
CONTINUUM HOUSE
A structure built around or above a continuum stone’s chamber. Historically these were built into gathering places like theaters, libraries, and baths, to bring the power of the Via and the Continuance together, as drawing on both is required to traverse the Via (travel through time).
Several of the most conservative Continuum Houses take the name of their Wardstone family: HOUSE CRANE (NYC), HOUSE RAO (Singapore), HOUSE WREN (London), and HOUSE 徐建宇 (Shanghai) are the four most powerful, traditional, conservative, and influential. The house title applies to all members of the Wardstone family itself, which in some cases are so old and large that the branches of their relations have no awareness of the actual Continuum Stone chambers themselves or links to any kind of supernatural power. Membership extends to Paladin families who arrived 1,500 years ago to assist Architects as well. Cairo, Paris, Puerto Vallarta, and Los Angeles have either never or long since ceased to apply a family’s name to their house, because their actual Wardstone family itself remained small or their lines were broken. Out of respect for the success of Cyrus La Croix’s modern-day Nightlife model, they have recently followed April’s example, generally referring to their house by the same name as their newly acquired event space, a trend the Right leaning Wardstone families utterly abhor.
A larger explanation of Continuum House points of origin, current locations, political orientations, and the names of the Wardstone Architect families currently guarding them is available in APPENDIX D.
CONTINUUM HOUSE - CHAMBER
The predestined chambers set in place around the world to contain a continuum stone. Each chamber includes a holographic data flow screen, a Mirror which can show images from within the stones, and Arches which act as portals between all 12 Continuum Chambers. They are typically lit by the light of the Via itself and adorned with clocks and artwork favored by the residing Wardstone Architect.
CONTINUUM HOUSE - NIGHTLIFE MODEL
First envisioned by Cyrus La Croix of New Orleans implemented at the Atlas, the modern preference for situating continuum houses structures in modern day event space / nightlife venues because they provide frequent, emotionally charged, varied crowds that generate usable immediately available Continuance energy.
CONTINUUM STONE
A power-bearing anchor, an inflection point in time directly linked to the Via that can be accessed to store and recall memory of the planet’s natural, sociological, and political history since the time of the Withdrawal. Essentially a sentient computer with a technology so advanced it’s considered akin to sorcery, that’s directly linked to the Via, enabling the Architect’s most advanced abilities while collecting and processing the data the Anthros use in their custodianship of life on Earth. They have the appearance of Arks and the light of the Via can be seen actively working within the crystalline portions of its structure. Each bears the Ankh symbol of life. Architects can import their personal organic memories into the stones for other Architects to absorb. The term inflection point implies a change in the concavity of a curve in the stream of time; the common view among the Architects is that all time exists at once, evolveing and curving within itself rather than existing as a pre-set straight line.
DEITIES
Beings whose origin / arrival
pre-date the placement of the Continuum Stones whose purpose and presence are spititual and faith related in nature. Just as the Emisaries bodies were made from the Via itself deities appear to be composed of or in some case created from pure Continuance energy.They are capable of using continuance magic in multiple ways, the Violet Continuance in particular. As the Architecs are primarily interested in the preserbation of the conditions that allow life on Earth to exist, they favor no belief system and respect all faiths.. There have been both conflicts and unions with individual deities but for the most part the Architect's and Deities stay out of each others way. Superstition based Hybrid mutations were a source of conflict between them for centuries but as the appearance of self loathing hybrids lessened, so too have deity related interactions.
EMISSARIES
Beings created by the Anthros to seed civilization among humanity’s earliest tribes. They served as guides, teachers, and culture-bearers and possessed extraordinary powers. Their bodies were made from the Via itself. Their appearance was mostly human, though the light of the Via was especially bright in them, visible even to the non-gifted. The Architect families are all direct descendants of Human-Emissary unions. The Emissary gene has spread into humanity, steadily grown over the centuries, producing Wildborn Architects and other Hybrid supernatural beings. They were ordered to withdraw from human civilizations as developed religions and pantheons of deities began to appear. Once withdrawn, they chose to isolate themselves in hidden enclaves, leaving their Architect children to guard the Continuum stones. Most have long since chosen to walk the Via from which they were born into the unknown.
GOLDEN AGE
The early period in pre-history in which Emissaries, created and placed by the Anthros, openly nurtured civilization, agriculture, order, and human development. It ended with the Withdrawal as conflict arose over worship, magic, and the use of the newly found Continuance.
HYBRIDS
Any being of mixed human and Emissary ancestry, capable of perceiving the Via and wielding powers unavailable to ordinary humans. Architects, Paladins, M’Naads all fall into this category. For many centuries people untrained or psychologically overwhelmed, gifted with a Latent Fire talent that draws on the Via often found themselves supersticiously in the presence of a violet continuances. Attending spiritual ceremonies and rituals they would believe themselves and thus transform into isolated creatures of legend. Vampires, Weirs, and other mythological creatures are also classified as Via based hybrids. Once transformed curing that error could take centuries. Most of these kind of hybrids lived isolated, tragic lives and were often mercifully hunted by Architects. The more monstrous Via hybrids numbers have dwindled in recent centuries as improved mental health and science, rather than superstiton, has shaped people's perceptions of themselves. Latent Fire is now rapidly growing within humanity usually taking the form of high levels creative talent and advances in the Arts and Sciences which is credited as having natural rather than supernatural sources.
Today Architects, Paladins & M’Naads are the three Via based hybrids that developed into established supernatural orders that pass their abilities to their children. Supernatural creatures whose origina result from drawing on the the Continuance, spell casting the violet continuance in particular do not fall under this classification. A hybrid has a gentic relation to ancient human and emisary unions igniting the spark of the Via that exists in all life as emissaries physical bodies were made from the Via itself.
KESHTARAN OASIS
The last surviving remnant of an ancient West African civilization central to the conflict that led to the Withdrawal, and the fall of the being later called the Absence. In modern times, referred to simply as the Oasis, where the last remnant of the civilization resides as a legendary enclave of healers. The LaCroix family are Wardstone Architects directly descended from Keshtaran royalty.
LATENT FIRE
The dormant inheritance of Via sensitivity carried in descendants of the Emissaries. The latent fire grows rather than dissipates, so that it is known to exist in all of humanity by the start of the 21st century, usually manifesting as creative talent and innovation in the arts and sciences. The presumption being the entire human race might openly perceive and draw upon both forces in the distant future. Many of the employees and contractors April LaCroix has gathered to work within the Atlas exhibit very high levels of latent fire. People with latent fire are differentiated from hybrids in that they are not consciously aware of the power they possess, and are less likely to bhecome aware in moderen societies where science has replaced supersition.
M'NAAD SISTERHOOD
A matrilineal hybrid sisterhood whose link to the Via was severed by the Emissary enclave at Avalon starting with the witch queen Morgause. Morgause bore a son to Arthur, who sired many with the M’Naad gene before Camelot vanished. The severance from the Via significantly advanced their ability to draw and manipulate the Continuance. They are able to enhance the emotional state of entire crowds by shifting the color of an active Continuance, turning a serene or celebratory crowd into an enraged mob in a matter of minutes. More benevolent M’Naads have used this power to calm stampedes or turn terror into teamwork. Circe has been known to take in M’Naads as acolytes to escalate conflict to feed the entity known as the Absence, a being with whom she has had an on-and-off alliance for centuries.
MULTIVERSE
Emissaries are said to have been enamored with Continuance Auroras created by humand gathering when the first appeared.
This may or may not been one of the reasons for the witdrawal. Within the Auroras Emisaries claimed they could see into the Multiverse, or multiple realities. All that can be certain is that within a continuance their ability to perceive all time as one, the natural flow and evolution of time is "something other or beyond" what can be perceived when Architects touch the stones.
PALADIN BROTHERHOOD
A supernatural order of hybrids created by the Architects with the help of the Emissaries at Avalon, able to dampen or nullify access to the Via and Continuance in their immediate field. The first 12 Paladins were hybrid knights of the Round Table sent to sire Paladin families arounf the world after Camelot vanished. The power is passed on from parent to child, and while it appears in both men and women, the males have traditionally served the Wardstone Architect families in guarding the Continuum stones.
PRIMARY ANTHROS
The twelve highest custodial positions associated with the major Spheres and the deepest structures of our reality. Whether these are fixed beings, titles, or offices remains unknown.
PUCKS
A pocket-sized Simbotek companion device that serves as the core hardware hub for a Scion AI. Pucks pair with computers and smartphones and now interface with SPEKS lenses, handling voice, presence, authentication, and low-latency interaction. They can display a Scion as a three-dimensional image, route audio privately through ear pieces or outward through speakers, and maintain the companion’s responsiveness even when the visual interface is handled elsewhere. Roaming protocols have recently been introduced to PUCK hardware. APPENDIX B explicitly explains how PUCKS & SPEKS work with hosts and their Scions.
SCEND
A digital narcotic that affects humans, Scions, Architects, and supernatural beings. It produces a dopamine-serotonin rush, with particularly strong effects on the human occipital lobe when used in the presence of a Continuance, especially in crowds. It is both socially dangerous and culturally potent as an addiction. Created by humans to affect both humans and Scions, its software uses Emissarian code that inadvertently allows supernatural access to coveted, highly protected Simbotek Python code. Explained in detail in APPENDIX E.
SCIONS
Companion AIs made by the highly successful Simbotek Corporation. Scions appear on puck devices as three-dimensional avatars and speak through paired ear pieces or external speakers. They can operate across different interfaces, including SPEKS lenses, which extend their visible presence into the physical world. Roaming protocalls allow the scions to interact with up to three other hosts and scions at a time, control of the roam is dependent on a hosts level of skill and cannot be initiated by scions themselves,
SHIFTING THE SPHERES
An Architect technique that creates pathways between places in the present, allowing great distances to be crossed in a very short period of time. They are not direct portals and can be hampered with Continuance magic by Continuance practitioners that do not want to be found.
SHIFTING VISION
A general term for an Architect’s ability to move his or her perceptions between visible and unseen layers of reality. Paladins, M'Naads and several Contiuance based supernatural beings do this to differing degrees.
SPEKS
A recent Simbotek innovation: smart contact lenses with a neural interface. SPEKS let users visualize Scions interacting with humans and one another in real-world space, while the puck’s roaming capabilities continues to manage the companion’s voice, identity, and local interaction layer. Explained at length in APPENDIX B.
SPHERES
The 12 major domains of planetary and near-cosmic reality governed by the Anthros. Tidally locked by theorized spatial dimensions, humanity perceives their physically observable presence on Earth and other nearby planets as the Biosphere, Atmosphere, Hydrosphere, Lithosphere, Cryosphere, Pedosphere, Coronosphere (the sun), Heliosphere (the Solar System), Magnetosphere, Ionosphere, Exosphere, and the newly evolved Technosphere.
TECHNOSPHERE
The Sphere associated with humanity’s built systems, networks, tools, and technological expression. In the modern age, it is increasingly important to the balance of the world.'
TRANSVERSING THE VIA
The specific Architect act of walking through a crowd in a Continuum House at one point in time to emerge at another point in time within any house in the network. It is done by drawing on both core powers, Via and Continuance, at once. Midfulness and Meditation are key to mastering the practice. This ability is unique to Architects, and trips into the future are one-way. Other gifted beings can accompany them on these walks but can and have been lost in chaotic situations.
The VIA
The foundational source that permeates all existence and underlies movement, consciousness, and magical intent. It powers the continuum stones and can be drawn upon by those born able to perceive it to empower a user in multiple ways. APPENDIX C
explains its nature in greater detail.
WANDERING ARCHITECTS
Solitary, long-lived Architects, some of them wildborn, some of them members of Wardstone families, who travel the world endlessly, acquiring data for the Continuum Stones. They seek out Hybrids and attempt to train them, or in some cases hunt those who have unwittingly drawn themselves into monsters. They have served as both intermediaries between Wardstone Houses and other supernatural continuance based beings. In some cases fighting those whose use of continuance magic threatens the flow of time. Occasionally a Wanderer has chosen to take the mantle of a Wardstone and cease wandering. Wanderers have been known to live thousands of years.
WALKING THE VIA
The final passage into the unknown beyond the Spheres. It is often compared to death, though it is treated as a transition rather than annihilation.
WARDSTONE ARCHITECTS
Wardstone is the title of the most experienced Architects of those guarding a Continuum Stone. As each stone has or had a single family that can trace its origins back to the arrival of the stones, the title is sometimes applied to an entire HOUSE to differentiate them from one another. The left leaning houses use the title strictly for the senior guadian, while right leaning houses apply it to anyone with a blood relation as well as their associated paladins and lonng running servants. Throughout their long lives, they remain geographically close to the continuum stone chambers they guard. The most significant difference between Wardstones and Wanderers is that Wardstones almost always chooses to marry, have children, eventually relinquishing their living memories to the stones, and walking the Via with their spouses. Typically a wardstone lives no longer than a few centuries, they can ward off the aging process indefinately but can only do that for their sposes for a limited time. They usually marry at about 100 years old. Clea of Cairo is the only Wardstone Architect on Earth known to be as old as the stone she protects.
WILDBORN ARCHITECT
A persn born with the full affinity to the Via of an Architect despite no obvious, known magical lineage. If Wildborns are discovered too late to train, they can like any hybrid become unstable and draw themselves into beings that threaten the time stream itself requiting they be captured and forced to walk the Via. A Wildborn can choose to sever his or her link to the Via entitrely to live a normal human life with the asistance of an Architect and an M'Naad.
The WITHDRAWAL
Period in pre-history approximately 4,500 BCE when the Anthros retired the Emissaries from open involvement in developing human civilization. After this, most Emissaries vanished into hidden enclaves meditating and awaiting a change of days to which they might be recalled. Others walked the Via into the unknown. A few disavowed the Via to join the ranks of continuamce drawing deities humans worshipped. The Continuum stones then replaced the Emissaries, and their half-human progeny, the Architects, were charged with protecting and maintaining them.
It is here noted that the circumstances of the withdrawal can only be speculated as it pre-dates the placement of the stones. Circe the Witch, an on and off again ally to the Absence claimes to have discerned the truth with slow patience gathering bits and pieces from several of the Absences many personalities. She said the Absence attempted to give the Anthros, the custodians of the spheres, the creators of the Emissaries and the Continuum Stones individual names. Names for them to be worshipped as Gods. Directing the potent Violet contiuance energies toward them and away from the entities mankind would deify. The Anthros utterly rejected this proposition, the energy was directed back toward the Absence original identity. The reaqction destroyed much of Keshtara in the process and reduced the Absence to its current state of being, unable to live, grow or die in any real or maninglful way. This account of the circumstances that led to the Absence current state is only conjecture, no stone or living memory can confirm it.
