First Visit (From the Flowing Bridges):
[A long, dryer bridge leads away from the gash in the ocean's surface, leading to a stone structure that seems to rim the circumfrence of the Ruins. Far in the distance is a twisted tower, with a pulsing, fleshy object hanging from a massive hook.]
-BRIDGES OF THE EDGE-
[Explorer comes to what seems to be a dead end, only for a path forward to warp into existence, spiralling from nowhere. It suppored the Explorer's weight as behind him, the bridge warped into unrecognizability.]
Art by Zdzislaw Beksinski
AREA OVERVIEW:
[Reality is unstable here, as parts of terrain break free from gravity and drift into the air, or reform as the Explorer encounters them.
The terrain is twisting and nonsensical, with non-euclidean corridors and portals to other parts of the Bridges.]
(Difficulty Level: [3] Dangerous)
APPEARANCE:
[On one side, there is the vast ocean of the Ruin's interior, and the hazy, faraway images of the Regions, emerging from or sinking into the eldritch sea.
The Lighthouse Dock is visible in the distance, its light sweeping the Bridges. On the other side, there is only sky, with the clouds twisting and fading into shadow the further down the Explorer looks.
The Bridges themselves are ruddy and ruined, chunks of charred stone and old flapping flags clinging to the wreckage, as well as structures whose construction defy logic, bending around impossible corners.]
BOSS: OTHERWORLDLY WARRIOR (Friend or Foe)
[Standing at the edge of an expanse, shards of stone fuse together into a circular arena, and through a gash in space, another Explorer emerges, with a hazy form.]
Zdzislaw Beksinski
BOSS OVERVIEW:
The Explorer is pit up against a fellow Explorer, and so their strength and tactics are unpredictable. Fight with honor! Fight with conviction!
If the Explorer fights offline, their opponent will be the phantom of Magic Knight Orion.
Assuming they have met, Orion will fight valiantly, but will shrug throw himself off the side of the arena if both he and the Explorer are damaged enough.
DROPS:
Fellow Explorer's Soul
The Soul of another Explorer, quite like you. Treat it with respect.
The Bridges of the Edge border the Aeon Ruins, almost like a barrier between it and whatever lies outside.
Use this illusory Soul to gain a large amount of Souls, or else create a unique treasure with its essence.
-INSANITY TOWERS-
SHADE DISPERSED
The shadow lessens.
But the light that borne it will never fade.
[Past the arena, the entrance to the great tower beckons. The Explorer enters, finding themself in a great hall filled with arcane devices, bizarre creatures, and gravity defying furnishings. Rooms too big to fit in the tower, even, and portals to eldritch pockets of space.]
Art by Zdzislaw Beksinski
AREA OVERVIEW:
The Insanity Towers are a massive, confusing labyrinth. After traversing strange realms in the lower sections of the tower, they will become able to traverse certain walls in the tower, ascending vertically as easy as walking on the ground.
In the upper layers, their travels will take them outside the tower to a stunning sideways view of the Ruins, and eventually up to the crystalline final areas, where a strange foe awaits.
(Difficulty Level: [4] Terrifying)
APPEARANCE:
[Stone towers, twisting off into the sky like a tree. Within, the bare white stone walls of the halls and domes are interrupted by mysterious glyphs, arcane artifacts, and massive cracks, both in stone and in reality. The pocket dimensions are varied in environment.]
BOSS: WRITHING FRACTAL (The Aberrant Presence)
[On a Dias with a glyph in the center, something breaks free, then turns to reveal itself.]
Art by Zdzislaw Beksinski
BOSS OVERVIEW:
[Turns to turn invisible from most angles, can cut by running into. Distorts world in order to limit the Explorer's movement.]
DROPS:
Two-Dimensional Soul
A Soul as flat as its progenitor. Easy to lose track of.
The Writhing Fractal was not even recognizable as a true being. But its obvious pain, frustration, and madness transcend the boundaries of species.
Use this strange Soul to gain a large amount of Souls, or else create a unique treasure with its essence.
Connections:
Bridges of the Edge
Abyssal Heart
-ABYSSAL HEART-
SHADE DISPERSED
The shadow lessens.
But the light that borne it will never fade.
[Fractal collapses. Bridge out of the side of the tower leads to a gash in the hanging heart, leading to a frigid organic landscape, dripping with gristle and rotting reality.]
Art by Zdzislaw Beksinski
AREA OVERVIEW:
[A dangerous area, filled with powerful foes. Naturally drags Explorers in Soul form to other worlds to do battle. Cold rivers of blood and falls into the void serve as dangers here.]
(Difficulty Level: [5] Mortal Danger)
APPEARANCE:
[A dark, burgundy place, filled with veins and ice. Gashes in its flesh reveal the night sky, with nothing in all directions. Faces of humans and demons alike stare back from frozen walls and floors of blood.]
MANIFEST BEING: FROST WIGHT (Malice Manifest)
[A massive skeletal creature sticks out of a frozen lake of blood.]
Art by Zdzislaw Beksinski
BOSS OVERVIEW:
[Immobile, giant boss. Fights with sweeps of massive limbs, powerful Cryomancy, and manipulation of the blood lake.]
DROPS:
Cold Blooded Soul
An incredibly cold Soul, solid as ice.
The Cryomancer's Soul was not altered much in its demonic transition. He was sadistic and cruel, even before becoming the Frost Wight. His isolation in the Abyssal Heart would have been crushing to a normal man, but to one such as him, it was paradise.
Use this frosty Soul to gain a large amount of Souls, or else create a unique treasure with its essence.
ABOMINATION DESTROYED
Its foul existence has ended.
But the world turns on, unaware...
[A hole after the lake looks out at the whole of the Ruins. Nestled in a corner is what seems to be a fleshy mannequinn, covered in organic armor.]
Connections:
Insanity Towers
