Demanse, Manse, and Dragon-Lines... a little help...?

[Andoriol]

Okay... I'm reading through Odanel's Codex (Yey!) and as I skimmed across the manse construction rules, a thought came to me. Jukashi's Keychain comic has a once floating manse from the first age that harnessed the power of the winds or something in order to power it... would it be possible to do something similar with a boat...?


I didn't see rules for such or even the mention of it in the book about potentially mobile manses/demanses, did I miss it?


There's also the question of if it's seriously possible the way I'm looking at it. A frigate that draws power from the laylines of the currents, winds, storms and sun? As a Storyteller (or just an opinion as a player) would you allow it? And if you would, what would the caveat's be?


Would you just essentially have to build an artifact boat to harness the powers? Would you insist on it having to be at least a certain size? Or would you need some powerful thing of the sea, like the body of a dead sea god or something to even create a mobile sea-demanse?


Basically, I had a sudden idea of creating an artifact boat that doubled as a manse, what are the thoughts on this?

 

[Jagane]

I think it would be possible, you'd just have to find a demanse with the right attributes to it, say a floating forest or something if you want to do it easily, if you want a challenge you probably could make it so that a manse that didn't have a floating demanse or something air aspected could still float that way through the construction of it, though it would be quite the undertaking.

 

[Andoriol]

Hmm... okay...


Wait, I just thought of something... would I be able to use Wyld Shaping Technique to create a Demanse in the West and then use things from Creation to make a Manse that I could sail all over the West with? How big would the ship have to be if I did...?


((Of course a First Age Solar could do something like this, I'm just talking about Age o' Sorrows making it))

 

[Virjigorm]

The key component of a manse is a naturally refilling pool of essence to tap into (a demense). If you create an artificial essence-respiring artifact (read: engine) to form the basis of the manse, you can just craft the occult architecture around it the same as you would a natural demense. As a ST this is the option I'd allow. You make an artifact engine with a rating of 1 higher than the manse you're going for, then build the manse around it.


Along the same lines, I introduced an artifact ship into one of my games which is capable of floating on concentrated essence. It can park in midair over a manse, sail on dragon lines (through the air, and rather quickly), and pass through Celestial Gates into Yu-Shan's canal system. I balanced it as a lvl 5 artifact ship by making it a small, well appointed yacht owned by a first age Eclipse who cared nothing for battle. It carries no weapons and has 6 staterooms, but no capacity for troop transport. It has a little god who is capable of navigating and sailing the ship (with base pools of 8 dice for all relevant rolls), but requires complex astrological calculations to navigate the twisted and broken structure of Creation's dragon lines in the Age of Sorrows. The ship is also capable of traveling the Underworld in the same way it does Creation, sailing the currents of essence being slowly drawn into the Mouth of the Void. It can travel to Malfeas as well, traversing the sands of Cecelyne on flows of that Yozi's own Essence. It is Wyld resitant (though not proof) and can greatly extend the ability of travellers to cover vast distances through the Wyld when bolstered by protective charms.


Feel free to use the ship if you like it (great way to get to and from a floating city-manse), my players have liked it a lot. I named it the Realmrunner.

 

[Andoriol]

Okay... that I can actually work with... thank you very much


Where would I find the Essence Engine? Like, what book? This is somethin' I could run with 8)


I'm not going to Yoink Realmruner though (Much as I like the name), not remotely close to the idea I had originally. But I definitely like the whole concept.

 

[Ledaal Kajiri]

There's also the Mobile power in DotFA: Lords of Creation, on page 102. Of course...it makes the manse kind of slow as artifact vehicles go, since it can't move more than 20 MPH, but that's still faster than on foot, or most vehicles in use in the Age of Sorrow. The main weakness is that it means a Manse that isn't particularly cool otherwise, unless you have a Geomantic Relay powering it from a variety of other manses to make it cool.

 

[Virjigorm]

There are mentions of essence-drive engines in the old 1e Savage Seas and I think in the 2e CoTD:West, but that's not really the same as what we're talking about. I don't think the concept is spelled out in canon, but it shouldn't be too hard to hash out the custom artifact with your ST.


I'd keep the concept in line with natural essence regeneration, meaning that you'll need to associate it with a concept or set of conditions. The same way Solars are tied to creation and so do not respire essence in the Underworld, or how some action (like certain charms and the use of stunts) can boost essence regeneration, the engine should have some conditions and limits to it's power. Perhaps it respires elemental Essence and so does not work outside Creation, or may only work on powerful lines of essence flow like dragon lines or Autocthonian power conduits. Maybe it runs on the prayers of your devoted cult, or is fueled by slaying demons and feeding it their Essence.


Also, the purpose of the artifact is to provide a compact, mobile demense-substitute to turn your vehicle or vessel into a manse. The artifact should not have any additional powers, though it may have an elemental or celestial alignment based on your design.


Being able to take your manse with you is very useful and I wouldn't try to stack on much in the way of extras. Some luxuries and conveniences should be appropriate, but I'd be conservative with weapons systems and hearthstone powers. Maybe design the manse as a level lower than you pay for to balance the mobility and speedy travel features.


Sorry I don't have a solid write up to offer, but you'd probably rather design it yourself anyway. Hope it helps.

 

[Andoriol]

That does, a lot actually... any weapons the thing has will be completely mundane, or independant artifacts in of themselves, the thing is gonna be weak (At absolute most a three dot, and that's if I get lucky on my rolls)... but it will be a mobile manse/demanse structure, which in of itself is pretty cool in my opinion.


And yeah, I'd probably twist anything you quoted at me to my own purposes 8)


I'm definitely agreeing that there should be limitations, almost certainly with: 'This only freakin' works in Creation, dumbass' as one of them. Now I've just got to figure out some semi-plausible tech-y stuff to justify it based on what I know about Creations Physics and Metaphysics