0.1 Prologue: Specificity in Summoning

Artorius Maxmas Mor’Emrys Charlemagnus Rex Primus, Arch-Magus Imperator of the Fifth Eternal Holy Radiant Empire of Humanity, 17th of his name, was having a bad day. One could argue he was having a bad decade or perhaps even century. The ancient Barrier that protected the Realm from Incursions from Beyond was failing. Monstrosities with Unknown Powers were even now nibbling at the edges of the Realm. Worse, the even older network of spells known as the System was proving itself insufficient in its adaptability to meet the changing needs of the Realm.

The System recorded the development of every new Skill and Achievement so that future generations would have an easier time integrating and using these abilities. The System didn’t innovate, it depended on its Initiatives to develop new Classes and Abilities. The System would then grant access to these Abilities to others who Qualified. Over hundreds of generations the populace had adapted to only putting forth the effort to Qualify for a Class.

Five hundred years after the invention of the printing press, and the majority of books still had to be hand copied. The Quest to innovate a Printer Class had been issued to the Scholastica Collegium seven times since the Mad Dwarven Artificer created the first press. It took Artorius less than 72 hours before the System awarded him with the Achievement indicating he had invented a new Class. It was so tempting to accept the free Class change and abandon the Empire. Let the other two members of the Imperial Triumvirate deal with the looming crisis.

Sighing, the most powerful living Wizard in Human memory, finished drawing the final Rune of Power for his summoning Ritual. Neither the Eternal Emperor of Humanity nor the Holy Radiant Pontiff seemed to appreciate the danger. System Dungeons were showing signs of Corruption from Beyond. Existing Classes were no longer enough to protect the Empire. Heroes from Beyond, bringing with them knowledge of new Skills and Classes, were an absolute Necessity to combat the new threats. Sure the Heros would bring changes to other aspects of life, disrupting the Social Order. Artorius, frustrated with that Social Order, did not see that as the negative his two co-equals did. It was time to seek help from Beyond. Sure using pre-System Magic was dangerous, but it was the only way. The Runes of Power defined specifically what kind of Hero was needed, and from what kind of World to find them.

Artorius knew everyone else was too set in their ways, too bound by tradition to imagine a World not bound by a System. What he did not know, was just how much he too was bound. He did not anticipate to what degree his assumptions determined his very specific requirements. He also did not realize how much his ignorance of Beyond would affect his Ritual. Space is big, Time is huge, and the Multiverse is large Beyond Imagination. He completely misestimated how long his Summoning would take, and thusly how much Mana the pre-System Ritual would require. A Ritual whose Backlash would not only fracture the Barrier, further accelerating the spawning of Corrupt Dungeons and the Monsters they create, but kill all three of the Imperial Triumvirate, ending the Fifth Eternal Holy Radiant Empire of Humanity.