Avatarp Cauldrons

The Cauldrons

"The Cauldrons, are a matter of much consternation. Most information points out to them being pocket dimensions, found around Ano. They seem to lead towards it's center. Now, the formation of Ano is a different issue. Belief is, that it's massive Aether core, births certain phenomena which most other people, living in NORMAL planets, would find odd.

For example, there is no such thing as a mantle, asthenosphere or anything similarly physical, just...dimensions, and odd projections of Aether. Some of these, less...deep projections, seem to be the Cauldrons. And oddly enough they have quite the...human structuring. The meaning of this, will be made clear below, as I explain each Cauldron. But before I do so, I must name the unique resources found in these Cauldrons.

Aether Nodes: Spherical objects, that connect to an Avatar's core. Aether Nodes are the primary manner through which Avatars attain powers beyond what's normal. Absorb them into the core of your Avatar, to preserve them, when you return.

Core Fire: Plasma-like matter, from the core of Ano. It's effect is cleansing, it seems. Anything it is put close to, is restored to it's original state. It can melt anything, and can be used to power certain equipment, much like how raw aether is used.

Weave: Gold-like material, that is incredibly resilient, but can with the use of Core Fire, be molded into different shapes. Cannot be penetrated or destroyed, except by the aforementioned Core Fire, and even then under very special circumstances.

Abyssal Blood: A somewhat liquid reddish-black matter, that seems to leak out of some Cauldron guardians, or found collected in certain vessels. It seems to react violently to Aether, and vice versa. Illegal to trade or possess, unless one is an Avatar.

Deep Chamber Gas: Found in locked off areas, and formed for unknown reasons. Looks like purple fog. Is highly dangerous to inhale, yet finds it's uses in the transport system, both the railway one, and the maintenance of Fragmented Terminals.

True-Quartz: Used to make True-Glass, an extraordinary material, when it comes to conducting and containing energy. It seems to work with any sort of power source, whether it is Aether, Core Fire or Abyssal Blood.

Star Crystals: Odd crystalline formations, that seem to react differently to certain stimuli, almost as if they were organic matter. They are very perplexing, and in high demand by subterranean scholars, for they are not fully understood.

Tainted Water: Water that has been tainted by the odd substance that seems responsible for the undead. Is only collected by specialists, and used solely for study purposes, by the subterranean scientists.

Dream Spice: Some sort of odd, gelatinous matter. Highly requested by the folks in the entertainment district, for the...effects it has, when combined with food or drinks. As it appears, even in a highly advanced civilization people have the need to get stoned.

Automaton Parts: Fragments of automatons, spread around. This refers only to the ancient, gigantic variety of them however, specifically, the parts found inside the Cauldrons. Used in simply too many fields to list here.

Incarnate Tears: Said to be the purest essence of the soul, belonging to the ancient Incarnates. These tears are said to potentially heal any sort of disease and bring about miracles. Are only found on rare occasions, in a single Cauldron.

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Cauldrons.

The actual Cauldrons, will be described below.

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 Boreal Palace

Resources found: Aether Nodes, Weave, Abyssal Blood, True Quartz, Automaton Parts.

It appears to have been an old fortress of the Lords. The architecture is reminiscent of their temples. A small town, surrounds the main palace. There is snow and ice everywhere, and Banner Knights, corrupted, and much larger than usual patrol the area. Odd beasts, can be found deeper within as well.

Statues and paintings, seem to indicate experimentation went on, in the lower parts of the palace as well. Some chambers are to this day, inaccessible. The entrance to the Palace is found near three Monoliths, making it an easy Cauldron to raid.

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Lair of Pleasures

Resources Found: Aether Nodes, Dream Spice, True Quartz.

An open-air plaza, full of drinking, feasting, orgies, and other festivities. The inhabitants are peaceful statues of various species, as well as numerous animals. They will offer pleasures, in the above mentioned forms, and as long as one does not commence combat, the inhabitants will be quite welcoming and friendly. None of them speaks.

Confrontation, sees them transforming into battle forms. They cannot be put down permanently either. The Lair is accessed through a cavern full of star crystals, and takes quite a bit of walking around to locate.

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Flames of Proving

Resources Found: Core Fire, Aether Nodes, Star Crystals, Deep Chamber Gas, Abyssal Blood.

A massive maelstrom of fire. Falling into it, leads to separate pocket dimensions, where different challenges await everyone who enters. The one Cauldron that is, practically faced alone. Has a single Monolith, just outside it's entrance, and is visible in it's true form, in the open world. The guardians mostly seem to be Fiend-like, yet generally are larger and more varied.

Some evidence, points to the fact that people who fail the tests, are turned i to Fiends, and bound to the Cauldron as it's servants, for long periods of time, before they are released to the world, once again, as Fiends.

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Ancient Catacombs

Resources: Deep Chamber Gas, Abyssal Blood, Core Fire, Tainted Water.

A system of catacombs, built in times immemorial, predating the Lords. Mostly filled with corpses of ancient humans, brought back by the undead virus. Some of them seem to have mutated into terrifying bone-beasts, or in other cases, even worse than that. To top it all off, the catacombs themselves are quite labyrinthine.

Accessing it requires some time, as there is another non-Cauldron catacomb section, prior to this one. A moderate distance away from the entrance to these non-Cauldron catacombs, lies a Monolith.

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The Titanic Corpse

Resources: Weave, Aether Nodes, True Quartz, Automaton Parts.

The corpse of a particularly large humanoid automaton, that has kneeled over, in defeat. Within it, it's old defense systems, still do their job, trying to keep any intruders to the interior of the titan away, through killing them, if they so must. In a way, the whole architecture of the Cauldron is it's guardian.

This Cauldron is unique in that, the nearest Monolith is INSIDE the Cauldron, making entry instantaneous. Most people, either way, opt for a somewhat further away location, preferring not to mess with the limits of the Avatar System.

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The Deep Forest

Resources: Aether Nodes, Star Crystals, Incarnate Tears.

A forest of trees so big, that they literally form layers. Sometimes, one may be fooled by the illusion that they are walking on solid ground, when in fact, it is just a massive entanglement of tree branches. Most of the time, one cannot even see the ground, without descending deep below. The guardians of this place, appear to be fragments and remnants of the ancient Incarnates.

Is distant, from almost any Monolith. As a result, is rarely ever accessed. One of the most difficult Cauldrons to deal with even if one should access it, due to the power of it's guardians.

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The Woven Tower

Resources: Weave, Aether Nodes, Deep Chamber Gas, Abyssal Blood.

A tower made of Weave. It's guardians, are animated, humanoid creatures made of that same material as well, called the Woven. Odd beings, by any standard. Advancement in it, is through an arduous climb. Refusing to fight/climb, seems to pacify the guardians, but attempting to advance, will restore their hostility at once.

The Monolith to it is very close by. Is odd, in that there are portions of the Tower where you can rest, and regroup, and resume your climb, making Tower raids the longest ones by default."