Harmonization

Every soul in Kenos has a natural spiritual inclination towards one of the two forces of nature that drive and empower Meridian and Zenith. Not every person in Kenos bears a Shard, but those that do are subject to unique effects that come from those forces. These forces infuse Shards through a process called Harmonization, which will grant the Shard-Bearer new abilities as their Shard harmonizes further. Harmonization is a subconscious process that’s driven by both personality and circumstance. The longer a person stays in Kenos, the more likely they are to harmonize with these forces.
However, these forces also tend to accrue within the Shard and will cause Discord that expresses itself in a variety of ways and needs to be balanced by the opposing force of nature semi-regularly.
OOC, Harmonization is the process by which your character is drawn deeper into their faction and its ideals. The further they Harmonize, the more difficult they’ll find it to de-Harmonize, since the goals will start to become core beliefs. While both forces present a corrupting influence that will push characters towards Harmonizing further, this process should still be largely intentional on characters’ parts, save for extreme circumstances.
The criteria characters need to meet to Harmonize further can be found on the Harmonization tracker, where you can also apply for lower/higher Harmonization. There are four tiers total (excluding Tier 0), but this page will only display the tiers that player characters currently or are soon to use!

Tier 0

While souls are drawn to one force or the other, this process is not immediate, and some people are able to stay neutral to this draw longer than others. Without the energy of one of the two forces behind it, an un-Harmonized Shard can use some of its most basic functionality but will find anything further beyond them.

Canon Abilities(ish)

When a character first arrives to Kenos, they will be unable to use any abilities they had in canon. This is because to do so, a Shard first needs to Harmonize with Meridian or Zenith to learn how to weave their power. After this, when a Shard-Bearer de-Harmonizes to Tier 0, they'll still have their natural abilities... For a while, at least. Over the course of an OOC month, they'll find their abilities waning in strength until they're lost. To regain them, a Shard-Bearer can simply Harmonize to a faction again.

Communion

Communion is the process of using a Shard to establish a psychic bond with another Shard. This bond is strongest within a shared Aspects and then secondarily within the Shard’s faction but can be used to communicate with any other Shard in Kenos, so long as all parties agree to the connection. By thinking of the person or the people that you wish to reach out to, you are then able to psychically transmit information. This can be voice, images, text, and with practice can be used to transmit more complex information like physical sensations and memories. Emotion is also transferred, and this similarly takes practice to not send along with any other information. OOC, this is the “network” functionality.

Teleportation

The world of Kenos is one of endless floating landmasses in an equally endless sea of stars and nebula, which presents a slight difficulty in navigation on its face. Luckily, just by virtue of being a soul here, you’re able to access a network of teleportation! Souls can teleport between pre-determined locations marked by Cornerstone. Cornerstones are rocks infused with the essence of either faction’s force and create a focus point for its energy. All inhabited landmasses tend to have a network of Cornerstones, which allows for quick and easy travel. By placing a hand on a Cornerstone and envisioning another, the magical energy immediately jumps you to the envisioned Cornerstone. People new to the process often find that it can cause mild nausea until you get used to it. Similarly, teleporting to a Cornerstone infused with energy of your opposite faction very minorly increases the level of Discord in your Shard.

Tier 1

Whether you accepted a faction’s promise or simply were naturally inclined to the force behind the factions, most will find themselves Harmonizing to one of them after a month or less in Kenos. This infuses your Shard with the power needed to return any abilities you may be naturally missing, and it also grants you the power needed to access new abilities.

Purification

Now imbued with your faction’s power, you’re able to minorly channel it into others. By doing so, you can affect the level of Discord someone is experiencing. This process requires skin-to-skin contact, and the amount of Discord you can affect depends on the Aspects of those participating in the process. The more Discord you reduce, the more tiring the process, however.

Spellcasting (Level 1)

As power trickles into your Shard, you feel forces of magic rise up within you. Even if you’re familiar with magic, this particular expression takes some tutoring to learn how to wield properly. Characters can learn three spells of their choice from the Level 1 Spellbook.

Tier 2

As the ideals of your faction are embraced, your Shard responds in turn to harmonize further with the energy behind it. As you tap into this new power, it starts to feel like a comfort. There’s a beauty in things that you associate with that force that you’re drawn to, just as there’s an ugliness in the other. Even if they’re both necessary, your own just feels better for the world.

Cornerstone Creation

By placing your hands on a stone or crystal that's at least a meter tall or wide, you can push your energy into the stone and have it activate as a Cornerstone for teleportation. This process takes five minutes of concentration. Cornerstones cannot be "purified", but they can be destroyed in whatever way would destroy a rock. There is no limit to the number of Cornerstones a Shard-Bearer can create (within reason), but they can only create a maximum of two per day.

Corruption

By acting as a conduit, you can force a substantial amount of your faction’s energy into another and increase their Discord by up to a full level. This requires skin-to-skin contact and can only be done once per day easily. Doing so twice in one day can be done, but will immediately render the user unconscious.

Spellcasting (Level 2)

Your new affinity with magic increases, and with it, you’re able to learn more complex spells. Characters can learn three spells of their choice from the Level 2 Spellbook.

Tier 3

More than simply embracing your faction, reaching this tier is the result of direct action to further its goals and to allow the force behind it to guide your hand. There’s a confidence and certainty in reaching those goals, and you may find yourself trying to convince others to follow your path. After all, you can now feel that raw power at your fingertips.

True Sight

By choosing to look, you can now see the truth of others’ souls. By activating this ability and seeing even a small part of someone’s Shard, your character can perceive any character with a Shard’s faction alignment and their level of Harmonization. Their alignment is expressed as light for the Meridian and as darkness for the Zenith, and their level of Harmonization is expressed by the intensity of each. The effect emanates from their Shard.

Spellcasting (Level 3)

Now at its peak, you’re able to learn some of the most complex spells your faction has to offer you. Characters can learn two spells of their choice from the Level 3 Spellbook.

Tier 4

The highest tier of Harmonization ties you almost physically to the forces you have devoted yourself to. Its great power is now yours to wield freely, and your devotion to it is near fanatical at its least potent. You are still yourself, but you are also an avatar representing its force. At this point, it’s extremely difficult to de-Harmonize without external factors forcing the change upon you, but if you do, there will also be consequences to doing so — as the force itself now doesn’t want to let you go.
At the highest tier of Harmonization, characters receive highly customized abilities that the mods will work with the player to craft, but very generally are:

Faction Boon

Each faction conducts a secretive and intimate ceremony to welcome the most faithful to its highest echelons. Meridian characters will be blessed by Hieropoios Natalia , while Zenith characters will be blessed by Yima. This is an interaction that will be threaded out privately between the character and the relevant NPC, and the boon will grant the characters additional abilities and opportunities that will be discussed between the player and the mods.
In addition, if the character does not already have one, they will be given a permanent residence within their chosen city, a title of nobility, and will be allowed free access anywhere in their faction’s city. There are no secrets to the faithful.

Faction Channeling

The Shard-Bearer is able to channel the energy of their faction very directly and wield it at a large scale. What this looks like is up to the player, but should generally follow the theming of the faction energies, i.e. “life/renewal/chaos” for Meridian and “death/decay/order” for Zenith. For example, a Tier 4 Meridian character may be able to channel their faction’s energy to heal many of their allies at once, help a farm flourish, or even revive the dead. A Tier 4 Zenith character may be able to channel their faction’s energy to sap vitality from others, hold injuries in stasis, or practice necromancy. These are all suggestions, and we encourage players to think of fitting ways for their individual character to wield Meridian/Zenith at its most potent.
However, it’s worth noting that channeling this energy so directly does come with a cost. Whenever a character uses these potent abilities, it does rocket up their Discord. They will find that it increases by a full level and a half per use, so these abilities must be used wisely or with a way to quickly purify the build-up.