The World and Its Lore
You live in a world where the boundary between life and death is a membrane — thin, fragile, and under constant pressure. The Veil separates the living from the dead, the physical from the spiritual. Everything in this world is shaped by that tension.
The Veil
The Veil is always present. You can't see it, but you can feel it — a tightness in the chest, a ringing in the ears, when you're near a Place of Power or a spiritual weak point. It's the barrier that keeps the dead from overwhelming the living.
The Veil is thinnest where spiritual energy concentrates: battlefields, sites of mass death, ancient burial grounds, places where rituals were performed. These are Places of Power — and they're as dangerous as they are valuable.
The Veil is thickest in areas of strong Creation energy: holy ground, blessed places, sites of ancient worship. These are sanctuaries. These are where the dead rest peacefully.
When the Veil tears, spirits pour through. The consequences are catastrophic. The Neo-Shinjuku Veil Tear opened a district-sized breach. Dozens of Nether spirits manifested. Possessions became epidemic. The Silver Dawn deployed every exorcist they had, and it still wasn't enough.
The Two Limits
Two absolute ceilings define mortal existence:
The Saturation Point (Soul Density 30): No soul can exceed 30. Beyond this, the soul tears through the Veil — ascending, dissipating, or being artificially anchored. Liches circumvent this with Phylacteries, but the price is eternal undeath.
The Flesh Limit (Body Attunement 20): No body can exceed 20. Beyond this, the vessel can't contain the spirit within it. The body breaks down. The soul bleeds through.
These limits exist because the mortal world was designed with boundaries. Breaking them has consequences — spiritual corruption, physical deterioration, reality distortion. The game rewards you for pushing limits. It also ensures you pay for it.
The Spirit CE Scale
Every spirit has a position on the Creation-Entropy Scale. This determines everything about how they interact with the living:
- Benevolent (+10 to +6): Creation-leaning. They heal, protect, guide. Exorcism is -1 tier easier. They respond to kindness.
- Neutral (+5 to −5): Balanced. They may resist exorcism but won't cause deliberate harm. Standard difficulty.
- Dark (−6 to −10): Entropy-leaning. They corrupt, possess, destroy. Exorcism is +1 tier harder. They respond to power.
- Malicious (−11 to −15): Extreme Entropy. They want to destroy the host. Exorcism is +2 tiers harder. They respond to nothing.
Your Grace score reflects your own position on this scale. At +10 (Radiance), you glow with Creation energy. At −10 (Shadow), you radiate Entropy. The world reacts accordingly.
The Factions
The Order of the Silver Dawn: Founded by Sister Mirael after she banished a Dense spirit from her monastery. The Silver Dawn is the premier exorcism organization in the world. They train practitioners, maintain spiritual wards, and respond to Veil Tears. They are disciplined, compassionate, and uncompromising.
The Tech Marksman Guild: Pragmatic. They don't study the spiritual — they contain it. Enchanted rifles, magical ammunition, tactical formations. When the Silver Dawn says "we need to talk to the spirit," the Tech Marksman Guild says "we need to shoot it." They're not wrong. They're just not always right.
The Undead Horde: Not a faction in the traditional sense — more a phenomenon. When a Lich awakens, the dead rise. When a Place of Power corrupts, spirits manifest. The Horde is the consequence of spiritual neglect, and it's always growing.
The Modern Crisis
The year is 1247. Two catastrophes are unfolding simultaneously:
Vorath's Awakening: The lich Vorath the Undying has risen after 300 years of slumber. His Phylactery was discovered by grave robbers who broke the seals. His army marches on the capital. Three villages destroyed. Thousands displaced. The Silver Dawn has pledged to destroy the Phylactery, but Vorath is Nether-classified — Density 22, full caster, commanding 22 points of undead.
The Neo-Shinjuku Veil Tear: A massive breach in the Veil has opened in the ruins of Neo-Shinjuku. Nether spirits pour through. The district is quarantined. Possessions are epidemic. The Silver Dawn and Tech Marksman Guild are working together, but the Tear needs a Veil Sealing Ceremony — a ritual that requires Grade A Magicule crystals and a willing sacrifice.
These two crises are connected. Vorath's awakening weakened the Veil. The Veil Tear attracted more spirits. More spirits mean more opportunities for a Lich to consolidate power. The world is caught in a spiral, and only those who understand both the physical and spiritual dimensions can break it.
What You Need to Know
The world is not a backdrop. It's a living system with rules, limits, and consequences:
- The Veil is fragile. It can tear. When it does, the consequences are catastrophic.
- The two limits are absolute. Soul Density 30. Body Attunement 20. Push beyond, and reality pushes back.
- The Spirit CE Scale determines everything. Know the alignment, know the difficulty, know the cost.
- The factions are not good or evil. They're organizations with goals, methods, and blind spots.
- The modern crisis is your story. Vorath and the Veil Tear are the crises your characters will face. Understanding them is understanding the game.
Welcome to the world of Root and Stem. The Veil is thin. The dead are restless. Your choices will shape everything.