The Seminar

Chikyuu Ha Sabbath (Common name: The seminar Sabbath)

Representative Baphomet: Techno mistress Chikyuu Ha (Chikyuu Ha Shuchou Chi Ta, the 'earth claimed')

Activity details: This Sabbath branch is dedicated to the research, reverse-engineering, and cataloging of ancient technology.

Typical races: The seminar Sabbath accepts anyone looking to venture into technological research. Although there is a strong insurgence of Gremlins among the Sabbath's ranks as they are the most driven to ancient artifacts. Hakutakus are also seen in great quantities due to their teaching benefits.

To "you": Come! Come! I have such wonders to show you! Do not worry if you think you cannot feel, for, I shall help you weave the tapestry of magic!

The Chikyuu Sabbath, more commonly known as the Seminar, came to be with a singular Baphomet that was born with an unfortunate infirmity: she was unable to cast any spells, effectively making her disabled among her kind. The legendary mana that Baphomets have indeed coursed through her vein. But, via a rare enmity within her body had barred her from accessing it. She was, in other words, magically sterile.

Undeterred by this, and the fact that her physical prowess was still as potent as the rest of her brethren, Chikyuu Ha traded mastery of the spell for the mastery of close quarter combat all the while getting curious about alternative methods of casting and utilizing magic. Catalysts. Artifacts. Runes. All affiliated to a degree of success, yet always missing something.

Her work foamed devout followers through the decade who were more than happy to share the knowledge they gathered as they were moved by her idea. They followed where she went, nurturing this empathy for the powerless in a world of magic.

In this case, humans, their worth often relegated to the amount of magic they could wield. Those at the top of their hierarchies were regularly those with inherent potential, the 'heroes'. By birth. By the blessing of their god. By the acumen of their family contacts to teachers of high standing. Those who did not were servants to their betters. A thought Chikyuu Ha had difficulty understanding.

It was her eventual husband was the push to the depth of the Seminar's structures. A runt born to a home of potent casters. The black sheep to his family. A 'sterile' just like her. Unlike her, he hadn't the support she brought wherever she went.

Pulling him far from home, Chikyuu Ha began experimenting with the man, utilizing the marvelous scraps of understanding her nascent Sabbath salvaged, merged with the vast knowledge of her Gremlins. All of their accumulated research, their experimental gadgets and tools, all devoted to nurturing this 'sterilization' afflicting the man.

It was amidst their countless attempts that they found the perfect match to his recovery. Ancient technology. The man had magic swirling at the tip of his finger for the very first time. A sensational feeling, even while it was possible only by the arcane of the machines he wears.

Moreover, a curious side effect had the objects corresponding to a greater height to him than they did toward them. Unlike Chikyuu Ha and her subordinates, they functioned to a greater length when worn and wielded by him. It was as if the machinery they were still researching recognized the hands that wielded them.

A hypothesis was formulated, that the ancient humans that made these were not born as the fabled heroes that wrought such wonders. They made them, picking them among the ordinary, aiding them through instruction and the usage of their arcane Archeotech, the term given to ancient technology. A time where heroes were made as opposed as born or chosen through the threads of fate.

Chikyuu Ha was jubilous, ecstatic to feel so close. This, alongside the man who she fell in love with, pushed her to finally establish her Sabbath at the edges of frontiers yet to be explored.
---
The Chikyuu. A Sabbath dedicated to understanding and reverse-engineering the technology of ancient civilizations. Through the excavation of ruins, abandoned temples, island, or any place long forgotten, they salvage what they find to bring back among hundreds of established researched centers.

Inside, they study the artifacts, functional or not, and asset their origin, way of function, building procedure, and overall reason for existence through hypothesis, theories, and prototypes. Those are brought to elongated rooms designed for testing under strict measures priority the safety of the tester as their prototype might find themselves under a malfunction.

With every data compiled, they then archive the item to their catalogs situated at the heart of the Seminar's beginning somewhere in a city made comfortable for the resting members and their spouses.

Eventually, with their assurance toward one artifact, in particular, they begin crafting a true first model while pondering the use it might be toward the other Sabbaths and beyond. Being of special amicability with the Greilia Sabbath due to their dedication to the research and well-being of their patients, the Chikyuu Sabbath has their furthest progress toward what can aid them in their curative profession of which remains unnamed for the time being.

Many research stations and establishments are dedicated to one particular branch of salvage. From old weaponry to rusted armor toward industrial manufactures, they carry them over to their own place, ever wandering out, obtaining more information compiled to knowledge, bringing a better understanding of technology that one day, they might re-forged properly.

Of course, this is but the surface of what they do. This dedication to recovering the ancients' marvelous crafts is but a side effect to the true nature of the Chikyuu Sabbath.

It is no surprise that the men who get inducted into their distant ranks are the most average, for they are exactly what the Sabbath seek out. Humans with nothing in their names, no particular talent or skill, with many more, wondering, questioning the decision of one of them attracted toward them.

They take those who nothing remarkable and grind them to polish through education and instructions to make them reach the height they thought inaccessible compared to those blessed by the gods or favored by wealthy contacts. Paired to one of Chikyuu's subordinates, the men inducted are thoroughly trained in the relationship of mana and the items their distant ancestors built, enabling them to get a better understanding of what was once lost.

Many of the other Sabbaths think that the Seminar's members are an odd group. Mostly due to the occasional visits they receive from the scientists of the distant branch. Calm in stature, their siblings can smell their instincts somewhat held back under the serene disposition, especially when in near the man they have taken as a student.

Some ponder why they would hold themselves back so vehemently toward the man clearly chosen to become their life-long mates even as their desires boil underneath the surface of their tranquil demeanor. Several have asked, all have been replied in one, universal tone: 'He is not ready yet'.

This often mistakes them for anything but monsters. Which is just that. A mistake. As they inevitably get close up and personal in the teaching they give to the men under their wing. At the limit of what they endure, their devotion blooms into intimacy through the endless sessions of lessons and patience they dedicate toward their partner. And the man, once average in the knowledge of technology and the life force that flows in their vein ends up falling in love with their teachers by a certain milestone reached. One that their mentors are very, very observant to as their own hearts had long been set aflame by their progress.

Fanned in the evergoing polish of the teachers, their voices, their touch, their devotion, and endless, boundless pursuance to their constant mistakes, they confess, only to suddenly get pounced by the monster that recruited them. Months, perhaps, years of education and joined exploration of ruins worth of pent-up affection is released in its whole as they join their bodies in fiery intimacy.

 Is it no surprise that the duo settled on one of the many Chikyuu Ha institutions come back as a married couple. Neither is the unwillingness of the one-time teacher to lend her vast expertise to another inductee, now devoted to the study of artifacts she finds alongside her new husband, which then relegate them to the research or industrial Arboretum. Arboreta gaining momentum as the pedagogy Arboretum remain in constant flux.
---
Arboreta:
The Chikyuu Sabbath, as mentioned, has many Arboreta encompassing its internal structure. The main three are of the Pedagogy Arboretum, the Industrial Arboretum, and the Excavation Arboretum. Many tertiary branches are shaped underneath the structures of the trinity, perhaps, too many to account for them all for the time being. It is said, however, that every single one is inscribed in the capital Seminar fortress where Chikyuu Ha Shuchou Chi Ta lives in, examining the vast feed circulating back from the distant institutional towers alongside her oldest subordinates.

Pedagogy Arboretum:
This Arboretum is simultaneously the most and least populated of them all. To see why that is the case, one must look to its function. This is where the Seminar's members bring the new male recruits to set to classes where the recruiting teach begins properly forming them. Mana and its relationship with spells, passive and utilitarian uses with the most important, the technology they excavate back to partial and full functioning.

The original structure of the Pedagogy Arboretum had them put up a celebratory monument for the newly formed scientist and a spot for him to begin before looking to the next man to train. Only, a big glaring elephant stared right at Chikyuu Ha's face. Well, according to outsiders.

All of her subordinates had the tendency of falling in love with the men they were supposed to teach and none of them were, as mentioned before, willing to teach another. With hundreds of them following this pattern, the Pedagogy Arboretum had a tendency to lower to incredible numbers, sometimes, even zero.

Chikyuu Ha Shuchou Chi Ta simply decreed that service in the Pedagogy Arboretum was to be temporary. As such, the flux within its walls is a constant between an influx of recruits and their desertion to a more permanent settlement.

Under the Pedagogy Arboretum are much smaller branches looking over the subject of studies, be it mana, magic, spells, items or others.

Industrial Arboretum:
In the course of the Seminar's existence, many long lost artifacts had found their way to the members, completely blurring them in their purposes, building procedure, resources used in their construction and many more. This is where the Industrial Arboretum comes in.

Its main purpose is the induction of the salvage coming from the Excavation Arboretum, study, understanding and prototypes. All of this is done in inherently strict procedures as the tinkering they examine is majorly unknown to them and liable to cause trouble under paltry procedures.

Part of the Industrial Arboretum is also dedicated to manufacturing the advances they reach as to spread it to their members...of course, after most of it has been modified to suit the monsters and their demonic mana. Simply because the overwhelming majority of equipment they can recover in their fullest is suited to humans.

The men in this branch have demonstrated extra diligence at modding the items they have at their disposition, as a desire to 'share the fruits of their labor' with the women that taught them so thoroughly.

Excavation Arboretum:
Where it all begins. It was fitting that the Chikyuu Ha Sabbath ventured so far into the less known regions, rich in abandon treasury, not of gold, but of technological wonders and knowledge.

This is Excavation Arboretum's main task. To search and establish temporary headquarters near ancient ruins confirmed to be unexplored. Teams are sent within, armed in their brand of weapons and spells as to defend themselves against what often is the case of traps and snares still active and constructs still marching in the derelicts.

Not only do they recover artifacts to send to one of the Industrial Arboretum to study, but they also explore and research the very walls that housed the broken technologies. Often the structures are built-in ways unknown to today's era using exotic material like the things they collect. Learning how they were built them is a must to those who seek to understand the relics of the past as to gift it to today.

More often than not, the teams are made up of two Seminar members. Namely, a monster and her husband. As with the Industrial Arboretum, precaution is the first thought in their mind when dwelling in long-abandoned temples. If a place is surmised to be too dangerous for a single team, then they will place a request to have another group or more to accompany them. Of course, the rigorous safety measures placed in their exploration have gifted them with little injuries, if any at all.

Sometimes, they make use of earthen magic to dig up any building that has been swept by the earth over its discarded millennia. These excavations gather many teams into a large group carefully digging the rusted architecture. Because of their precarious condition leading them to crumble, however, many of them are placed inside large ritualistic stasis spells where those who go explore the innards are blessed with a counterpart to allow them immunity to the spell. Many of those are present, lighting the skies in bright blue pillars, still in the process of research.

Rita:
Rita is the city where it all began. Near a city where Chikyuu Ha Shuchou Chi Ta laid eyes on the man who would become her husband, scorned and rebuked as the black sheep of his family of wizards. Unlike them, he was magically inept. Unlike them, he enjoyed no position of fortune, a shame upon his brethren.

Brazen in displaying her arcane 'sterility' to them, it is said that she challenged each one in a magical duel and defeated them using the mastery over her newly constructed scythe, the Excambium(Compensation). A woven gift from her subordinates, allowing her access to her mana through its usage.

Fear struck them as they were forced into the shoe of the insignificant toward what looked like a supernatural force impacting them. None of them contested the request to take the man, Amun, far from this family.

People from his homeland were pondering of his fate, the bravest, daring to enter the distant city of glistening metal and azure and violet lighting. Of those who went to satiate their curiosity, none returned, giving off an ominous aura to the distant city as a place where the bold die.

Until, years later, a man was to walk back. Amun, the black sheep of his family, changed. Brimming with magic. Glimmering entombed inside an exotic attire yet unseen of stone and luminescence. His gaze was no longer that of a runt, discarded because of his ineptitude to magic, but a learned man.

Still reeling from the defeat of the Baphomet, they lashed out at him, only to become victims to his arcane devices. They fell to his feet, on their knees, once again, tasting the dust of defeat. He uttered no word, the sight, more than enough for him.

Looking at his city, his eyes softened to many, many others before returning, leaving his once-family in disgrace for a second time. Returning to the ominous buildings far in the distance choked in glint, never to return.

Soon enough, more of them came dressed in stone fashion and impossible shapes, their shadows encroaching the city...
---
Rita is the very Capital home of the Chikyuu Ha Sabbath. The city of science and measured arcane. Its buildings are made of metal translated into the debut of ancient structuring. Metallic. Sleek. Every piece constituting them is honed in a potent protection spell, lining the very skyscrapers into a personalized energy shield.

Moreover, trees encased in metal are sprouted all around the buildings. Their lengths vary to the structure they hug, but, anyone approaching them can hear a soft current coursing inside. A current of mana. These are literal Arboreta, and unlike the metaphorical naming of their trinity, litter the place with metallic trees devoid of any leaves, natural or not.

Built from the discovery of ancient techniques to powering sources, the Arboreta empower the houses they hug so closely using the ambient mana gliding in the air in a synchronized balance with the nature that allows them this feat.

A few more are without houses to power, standing at the side of the streets. These are for the people working and living in the city of Rita. A simple touch can refill an individual's mana, able to differentiate between humans and monsters. It works with touch, as a hand placed atop one of its many branches is all it takes to spring the dormant structure from idleness. Mana quickly rushes from the roots to the touching palm, with many saying that it is like drinking a glass of mana.

Monsters, however, largely avoid the usage of these. Indeed, despite a quick refill of their demonic mana, it is mostly the humans that recharge their internal mana with them. Why would they make usage of an alternative when they have a spouse willing to share their much more scrumptious mana?

The city is also self-sufficient, as expected with any land governed by monsters with the sight for a permanent stay. Districts of food, drinks, supplies and anything in-between are present among the more leisure shops, appropriately themed after the science that the Sabbath practices. More traditional shops are present, mostly built on the spot with the blessing of the Seminar to allow distant companies to offer their wares.

Its light is the bright dawn of a green demon realm. Though the air is a difficult struggle for humans not affiliated in incubi or monster physiology, the Seminar has come with one of their earliest successes, a pendant that humans bear, allowing them to feel the atmosphere without fear of turning, nor the struggle of living inside their confine until they make the decision themselves.

The Black Mass:
Once a year, every member of the Chikyuu Ha Sabbath is called back to its fold. It is a gathering for new and veteran members to meet and share experiences as well as the occasion to meet the Baphomet who started it all. They may occasionally receive convoys from the other Sabbaths looking to partake in what breakthrough they have to offer.

This assembly is as much a Black Mass as they allow, uncharacteristically themed after the innumerable breakthroughs they project one-by-one. Displays are the most vibrant, however, allowing the Arboreta of Exploration, Industrial and Pedagogy to gaze and awe at what could become a near-future reality and the most hesitant among potential recruits to gaze as what it is to be part of the Chikyuu Ha.

Of course, more than a few hundred members are often spotted taking their spouses with a few plates of Sabbath plates toward a nearby inn of numberless rooms, longing to spill their devotion toward their husbands over the presentation. A trait that gains in momentum as the day gives way to the night...

Attire and clothing:
When Amun the gray Sheep walked out to his home city, he promised Chikyuu Ha Shuchou Chi Ta that beyond one glance toward those that sorned, he would have no more resentment.

 Although, that wasn't all true, as any resentment had evaporated as soon as his entire family had fallen to her feet. He wondered out in the very first prototype attire, all tailored according to the murals.

The Seminar members wear what he does, clothes of yet unseen features. Gray because of the material they craft them out of, they prance in what could only be impossible stone. Rock somehow molded into layers as light as silk. As flexible as strings. And as sturdy as itself.

One of their first successes, the Chikyuu Ha pride themselves in the seemingly impossible origin of their uniforms, swarmed entirely in stone using arcane machinery.

Each one is elegantly ornate in symbols. The trees that decorate their buildings also decorate the sigils of their top and bottom as the most popular, symbolizing the shared knowledge among them

There are others, like the hexagons mapping the stony fabric, representing the tower shields that cling to their homes and those that defend them.

Others still are of the scientific smoothness of lines shaping their attire, looking onward to what they have yet to recover and the progress they have made.

Yet, whichever the Seminar may take, all of them are more than the eye can see. For, beyond the stony impossibility, beyond the metals that afflict them, their outfits conceal another secret. Bioluminescence.

Their clothes are more than mere esthetic, as they can flare up in bioluminescence, a natural light inactive until one of them puts on the uniform.

Whether they're human, or monster, the shine they take is of blue and purple. With colors vibrant as these, power comes behind in the shape of a defensive coat of energy dented in intricate shapes, offensive amplifiers or utilitarian usage. It depends solely on the wearer's thoughts, using a minuscule amount of mana to keep active, so minuscule, through its bioluminescent lights that it might as well be an extra natural muscle such as breathing or blinking.

May would think to compare these to the runic armors shared between high-ranking individuals. The sorts that come with incredible protection against physical or magical attacks. These, however, have none of the lagging weight the warriors and knights have to bear, restricting their movements. And neither is dependent on a strong incantation of a wizard to keep his or her barrier against offensive attacks of physical or magical nature.

The energy shield that flares up is adjacent to the nature of the attack inflicted against the wearer. From the penetrative power of the spear to the impact-inducing mace. To the elongated puncture of the arrow to the kinetic velocity of a bullet. From a searing blast of fire to the serrated edges of the wind. All of them are accounted for as the Seminar continually experiment.

On the offensive, however, their bioluminescent lights turn away from their devotion to protection in the span of a half-second, resonating with either muscle for a physical attack, or with the mana of the wearer for a stronger spell, asking only to be allowed to.

As of now, the stone is the only material they can convey into such useful clothing, the concept of molding metal as finely, far from being a reality. This effectively makes their attires somewhat short-lived as stones have little ability to properly conduct the mana in their veins.

Humans in the Seminar:
A curious sight for outsiders is to note that the human men and women who are affiliated within the Seminar have been reported to become partially unfettered as opposed to becoming monsters themselves or incubi. Every item they seem inherently familiar with somehow deepens this understanding. Chikyuu Ha Shuchou Chi Ta has theorized, with this occurrence within her husband, that it is relegated what the Sabbaths have long thought. That humans hadn't any spontaneous burst of power with no source to recall it from, but, merely sealed away, waiting to burst out.

This instance is surprisingly common in the Chikyuu Ha, proposing that the items that they wield once more, however different they may be, are rousing their long shackled potentials. The more they use them, the more they become experienced, the more the shackles seem to come loose.

The results are instantaneous. What was once only conjecture and hypothesis can be partially comprehended through their eyes. The scriptures, the writing, once blur in a seemingly alien language now can be partially read by them. A joyous Sabbath yearned to learn more from their resurging comprehension, to help them recover their heritage, however long it may be, however the many steps they have ahead. Perhaps like this, they could become equals. Perhaps with this, they could avoid the mistakes of the past...

Monsters in the Seminar:
Another curious sight for any outsider looking at the Chikyuu Ha would be the monsters within the Sabbath. Their reluctance to pounce to their yet-to-be husbands when traveling back to the more known realms is not the only oddity many have seen about them. Nor is the reason for this bottled restraint, stating that 'they are not ready yet'.

This oddity is not only a mental one but also, a physical one. A quirk that has been picked up overtime over the progress they have begun making. Their bodies seem to somewhat mature, to a limited degree. While their height remains the same to that of early teens, their physiology becomes more akin to that of individuals known as 'petite', adult women who have remained relatively small for their age.

As expected, this makes them deviate from the standard shape of Sabbath members and thus, has had them looking into this peculiar quirk afflicting them. Their spouses have all expressed no issue at this gradual shift of tone, shape and overall, change, which would make them reluctant to reject this change.

However, they also understand that the other Sabbath might be worried at this prospect as it would go against their edicts, hence, the exploration to the source of this quirk through the most ancient of their numbers. Chikyuu Ha Shuchou Chi Ta has is personally looking into this matter, exploring the possibility of negating this change for the sister Sabbaths looking to utilize the fruits of their ongoing labor.

Fortunately for the worrisome, there seems to be a limit cap on the change, meaning that it is unlikely to push them any further. Still, the Techno Mistress is staunch in her experiments, most of it looking to point toward the nature of their work. The knowledge of the ruins they explore appears to have this effect upon them, absorbing into their bodies much like how it looks to mutate the humans into partial unfettered.

Notable spell:
The Seminar has had a few spells born out of the nature of its work. Surprisingly, two are the most utilized among the growing pool of technological incantation, hence, the most detail out of them all. The rest remain in nothing more than murmurs and hearsay.

Translatio:
Translatio, meaning 'Translation' is a spell derived from the need to catalog the ancient language of the ruins and inscriptions on the artifacts salvaged into one of the many infrastructures, as well as a general scan of said item. This incantation, while capable of being uttered by the monsters of the Sabbath, is more easily make active by the staves and scepters they wield.

Pointing toward the object of their desire, the caster's eyes briefly illuminate as a beam of incandescent light washes over it. Any information concerning the object is, over time, displayed toward the caster in his or her preferred language in ethereal shapes flat as paper. The more complex the object they translate is, the longer it takes for the spell to compile the results.

It remains present for however long the caster wishes it to take notes. Should the caster use it again toward another object, the current information will disappear from the line of sight, replaced by the newest scan. Seminar staves and scepters are built specifically to absorb any information not yet known to their archives, later to be processed and accepted into updates to said archives.

An interesting note about this spell is that it also works toward living creatures. Some have been surprised to learn of their spouses through Translatio, although it remains only to the most basic information such as their age, condition, preferences, and dislikes.

A theory is that ancient humans employed more advanced versions of Translatio, which is how they managed to replicate the spell inside a particular set of ruins. Perhaps they sought to understand one another more deeply as to proactively mend those that were ill, physically, mentally, or emotionally. The murals depicting the frequent usage of this spell toward the more ill-looking individuals sounds like confirm this hypothesis.

It is no surprise that the Chikyuu Ha Sabbath is so actively seeking out to advance this spell through salvage or research as they are not the only ones who see the humans they choose as their mates' reluctance to their choice as depreciating. So often they have heard the rant of monsters sighing at the constant doubt from their husbands judging their reasoning.

'Why did you pick me, a worthless peon compared to him?'

'I have nothing to give you. You're better off with someone else.'

'I'm not magically inclined like you, why are you wasting your time here?'

'I'm nowhere as smart as you are.'

'I'm not as strong as you are, I can't spar with you.'

Words they've heard all-too-often from even their spouses at their debut as recruits. Their words spat with no reason behind them, judging them from human standards. Were they to scan them, see why they judge themselves at such shallow levels, they could offer rebuttals as to quell the perjuries at an earlier stage. With this, it would be possible to save the monsters many aching hearts toward the husbands spitting venom at themselves.

Morbi Lucido:
Morbi Lucido, meaning, Bioluminescence is the art of coating the caster in a layer of energy, or the particular uniforms of the Seminar. As mentioned before, the first successes of their excavations and research have yielded them the grasp of a few ancient manufacturing manners. Morbi Ludico is one of them.

It can be enabled whether by a short incantation or, if one wears proper attire, flickered alive by the pulse of their mana. Lights spring alive throughout either their bodies in the shape of sparks or, in the case of their specially crafted uniforms, condensed into fey lights coursing between the metal linings.

From there, Morbi Lucido can act in three distinct ways. If used offensively, the layer will briefly flare up, sending part of its immaterial layer to fuel either the mana used for a spell or the muscles moving for an attack, recognizing the complex movement as attacks. However, without the peculiar attires, it is prone to wither with time, forcing the caster to summon another one as Morbi Lucido has nothing to anchor it to the caster. Those who do will find the task of the mana upkeep to be greatly enhanced, with many stating to forgetting how little it consumes while active.

In a defensive maneuver, the spell undulates in idle form, only to harden and flare up if an attack is made against the caster. It is quite literally a body-side shield that will negate any damage made toward the protected to a certain degree. Of course, as the spell is made to be worn alongside the Seminar clothes, those without them will find it somewhat less effective as if would lack the layers of metal to properly anchor on the caster. Mages with a great amount of mana can negate this flaw through a higher commitment of the life source to keep it awake.

Those who do, however, will find its strength bolstered without the need to burn more mana into it. Not only is the quality of the raw defense increased, but it will also counteract the nature of the attack as to lessen the blow, physical or magical before even committing part of itself to absorb it.

The third use of it, however, is ironically the most usage the Seminar has toward the spell. Which is, in essence, a mobile power source. Whether to flicker magical lanterns, doors objects or runes, Morbi Lucido is an all-around mana supplier. This does make it seem ironic that the members have still decided to install metallic Arboreta throughout the city of Rita while they are a moving source of power.

It would be, if not for the majority of non-members of Chikyuu Ha living inside said city who have no reason to adorn themselves in the uniform of the Sabbath...