A River of Swords: Storm of a Trillion Blades Upon Thee

Created and Writen by Khali A. Crawford

Effect

Lancelot's Throne does not allow anyone to escape it once it is cast. When Lancelot manifests it, its barrier is sealed and none may enter or leave except under certain conditions, such as a Dharma-Yuddha¹. In exchange for this sealed barrier, it normally takes est. 5-6 minutes for his Throne to manifest on him. To combat this lengthy casting time, Lancelot will usually inverse his casting, teleporting himself and his foe to his Throne instantly, or allowing himself to be defeated and respawning in his Throne regardless. In this way he not only physically removes himself from a location that forced him to use his Throne in the 1st place, but also instantly gains a considerable advantage.

Side/Secondary Effects

Valkyries and Shikigami

Lancelot's Throne World is guarded by six Valkyries (Valmai, Llinos, Megan, Gwenith, Bestan, and Aelwyd) who can each be manifested in the physical space as swords of great power. Since the sum of all Valkyrie strength equals the Power of the Mage's Soul, Lancelot in this case, wielding the Valkyrie Blades is akin to weaponizing a portion of the soul itself. And because Valkyries return to their Master's Throne when defeated, there is no risk in weaponizing them in this manner, unless some risk were to fall on Lancelot's Throne itself.

✦

Lancelot's Throne hosts a great lake that is home to a small colony of Naiads (Freshwater Nymphs) whose very presence works to constantly heal Lancelot and his Valkyries while they are in Throne but also can accelerate the bodily process of regaining Magical Energy once it has been burnt out. If needed, they can be directly summoned into Realspace by Lancelot for these advantages without invoking his Throne at all.

Imbued Technique

Anything and everything within the confines of this Throne World will be targeted and struck with a trillion slashes and cuts relentlessly and repeatedly down to its ashes. The attack is instant and automatic, it has no aim, so all beings and all things caught within the barrier when cast, save for Lancelot himself, will be targeted and cut relentlessly. The cuts inflicted on targets scale directly off of their durability, growing more powerful the longer they spend attacking a person, but always starting at the lowest power before building up. While Lancelot cannot limit his targets, he can limit what will be attacked, be it the Physical, Spiritual, or Mental forms, but he cannot attack all three at once.

✦

Lancelot's Mahābhūta Transformation of choice is Vidyut (Lightning), composed of Tejas (Fire), Vayu (Air), and Akasha (Ether). It manifests intense energy, mobility, and the dynamic interaction of elemental forces within the ethereal space of the cosmos. The blades of this Throne are referred to as 1 Cut Rotation, composed of 1 trillion slashes and cuts, and 44 Cut Rotations are delivered every second to everything in the Throne. The cuts move like lighting and deal a Lighting effect upon any targets, renewing the effect every time they are cut and growing more powerful with more Cut Rotations. This builds up a massive static energy store that can be discharged at any time to deal even more damage.

✦

Mana (Yin) + Natural Energy (Yang) yields Magical Energy, and this process is done passively within the body via fusion. However, an educated Mage can reverse this process via fission to separate them again. The Yin Path allows for an abundance of Mana within the body. This Raw Magical Energy is far more potent and significantly more powerful than Refined Magical Energy but flesh and blood bodies cannot sustainably handle this kind of power. However, if Lancelot decides to, he can invoke the Yin Path to use Raw Magical Energy which will double the speed of his Cut Rotations to 88 per second, allowing him to target Physical, Spiritual, and Mental all at once, and much more effectively. The downside is the explosion of his Magical Energy once his technique is spent. Similarly, Lancelot can invoke the Yang Path to dilute his Magical Energy to the point that his Cut Rotations slow down to the point of stopping. Either way, it leaves Lancelot without his normal usable Magical Energy but he can easily reside within his Throne World until his body naturally restores his power. Effectively, there is no downside to either choice.

• Mantle Capacity: 16

Manifestation

A River of Swords is a pocket dimension consisting of a series of large lakes with crystal-like blue water broken up by rich tall grasslands under a star-filled sky. The grasslands are scattered with swords spears and other instruments of war, piercing the ground and creating a striking scenery.

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1. If two or more Mages try to cast their Throne World at the same time in the same place against each other, a Dharma-Yuddha commences, a fierce battle of Dharmic ideals and motivations. In this case, their own personal Throne World cancels each other out, and a Dharma-Yuddha Barrier traps them within, and imposes 9 rules on all initial parties involved. The Dharma-Yuddha imposes these rules on all the initial casters of the original Throne Worlds, and not any beings who trespass into it after the Dharma-Yuddha has already been commenced.

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Throne World, As Above So Below

Throne Worlds is a type of Barrier Technique that creates a Pocket Dimension from the Mage's very Soul in real space. This Throne World creation allows a Mage to return from any manner of death unharmed so long as they are not killed while within their Throne or so long as their Throne is not destroyed. The Throne World is a very real place that exists within Yggdrasil in some capacity. And since the destruction of a Throne destroys a Mage's soul which is what allows them to perform Magic in the first place, one must take certain steps to ensure they protect themselves correctly.

✦

Thrones primarily exist so that a Mage can be brought there when they die to be remade and healed before leaving, and due to the risks of a Throne being destroyed or being killed while in a Throne, many mages do not bring it to them, but it is possible if the situation becomes dire. This is known as Throne World Manifestation, the name is misleading as nothing is being manifested but rather they are moving an entire pocket dimension from wherever it was to wherever it currently is. While Mages gain incredible magical amplifications while in their Throne World, understandably most do not manifest their Throne unless forced to.

✦

A Mage can be forced to manifest their Throne if an enemy Mage employs Regression Magic to force the Throne to regress to its point of origin, i.e., the Mage who created it. This is also risky, as the Mage can be killed in this dimension, but now their magic has been amplified. Additionally, if a Throne is under siege or threat of siege, a Mage may be compelled to save it by bringing it to them, incurring any risks of their current situation as well. Thrones are incredibly complex techniques to use and failure to fully understand them and yourself will result in death or soullessness. Refer to Throne World, As Above So Below for more information.

The Valkyries And Shikigami Of Throne

When a Throne World is created, the soul of a Mage is delivered from the cosmos back to their Throne where they can later return to the cosmos at a later point in time. This process is controlled by Valkyries, which are being created from the soul of the Mage, shadows of their master who exist only to deliver their soul from the Shinigami to their Throne. The Valkyries of your Throne are just as powerful as your soul and how many a Mage can conjure depends on the power of the Mage themselves. The Valkyries of a Mage's Throne are unique to them and only exist so long as both their master's soul and Throne do as well. Additionally, should a Valkrie be felled by a Shinigami in the process of delivering the soul of their Lord, they too will rematerialize in Throne, but if they are killed in Throne, that is true death.

✦

Shikigami are the native beings of the Spiritual Planes and naturally occur wherever souls and spirits do, including Throne Worlds. Shikigami of this type are not obedient to the master of the Throne but neither are they inherently hostile. Binding Contracts can be made between a Mage and the Shikigami of their Throne to act as secondary Familiars however it is easier to Conquer them with the power of the Soul. If a Mage's Soul is powerful enough, they can Conquer lesser Shikigami and force them to submit to their whim. Powerful Mages can use parts of their Soul to create Shikigami of their design.

Mantle, The Dimensional Storage

A Throne World has pseudo existence, in the sense that, unlike base Barrier Techniques that are cast and cease to exist when uncast, a Nirvana always exists in some capacity and as such can be used as an external storage for a Mage. These Dimensional Storage spaces are commonly used to house weapons or items or devices that a Mage either won't or cannot carry on their person or leave elsewhere. When called forth, great magical limbs, like arms, manifest from the user holding the desired object. These are called Mantles and the number of Mantles a Mage can manifest dictates how many objects they can house within their Nirvana. The number of Mantles a Mage possesses is determined by the nature of their Throne World and the Throne World itself is just a manifestation of their Dharma.

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