Questions/Question 120

Information	Question	Answer
#1 wiki | comment Topics: Edit question: edit monoceroscaeli asked on Log - June 2025/Event FAQ at 2025-06-09 Answer date: 2025-06-09	So this is separate from the event, sorry mods...but Eli and Childe were thinking about going to explore the northern part of Orexis, and their destination is Phantasia: <img src="https://images.plurk.com/1x8WR6bpCZsZ36vTaM1r6U.png"> Is it possible to reach there, and if so, what would characters expect to find (wildlife, monsters, notable buildings or things in the area?)	Phantasia is a small settlement of... people, surprisingly. If characters explicitly ask Patho-Gen about Phantasia, they will sigh; the particular way they treat those who live in Phantasia is with the same sort of pity that they treat those who live in the outer city, in that many who live there are... defectors, of a sort. They hope they're doing alright, particularly since they've given them quite a bit of technology to live there as safely as they can. Karteria's government will treat them with the same sort of pity. As you know, the world at large has become unsafe for regular people to live in without the use of a barrier; on the island of Orexis, the only place safe for people to live in is Karteria. Phantasia... is somewhat the only second option that they know of. (How Doxa is- long ago this was a small settlement, but they haven't had any contact from anyone there since the barrier was erected.) Phantasia's resources were a monetary drain on Karteria, so the government hopes they're grateful for this overture of good will. So... why does Karteria insist on offering them any monetary support? Well, these people were of Karteria once... They don't offer much further explanation. Eli and Childe would find first the evidence of overgrown farmlands on their way to Phantasia. They can't be tilled, used, or relied upon anymore; they've been let to the wilderness for many years. There's signs of humans having existed there, that much is undeniable. But at first, it'll be incredibly hard to find anybody. As the further northwest they go, the more they'll find intense concentrations of Katalyth. We're talking entire manmade structures, sheds and old trucks, absolutely encased in Katalyth. It's enough to inspire unease and madness in even the Augmented Ones, with how much there is. (Some book reading back in Karteria might clarify why this is: Katalyth's first recorded incidence on Orexian soil is in the year 829, where it's documented on the northwestern shore. It'll require access to some of the archival files in the library, which can be very tedious; this might be the job for someone who is fastidious about reading and learning. ...There is very little else said about this, other than the marvel at this, as well as the unease it sparks in researchers- as well as documented notes about how they "must keep calm.") It's inhospitable. How could anyone live out here? At the base of Alexane's Range, tall spires as steep as the Southern Spires but far more massive- despite the fact that these peaks are similarly encrusted with sickly, multicolored iterations of Katalyth (ranging from the usual turquoite, to yellow, to violet)- is a small settlement. Its barrier is less transparent than Karteria's, a dome-like, shimmering veil over a city about 2 sq mi at most. Stout structures in poor condition, akin to shacks, stand against the test of time. Small farms are dispersed between buildings... and the amount of residents? It's a small population of about 500 people, which is miraculous! They are incredibly withdrawn, and are reluctant to acknowledge the Augmented Ones as anything other than a sign of the endtimes. They aren't hostile; they are stubborn people who are hardened by the direness of their circumstance, people who wake early and tend to what livestock and crops they have. Survival is their priority, while Karteria's people live in some semblance of comfort. But they're making it. If characters ask these settlers about Karteria, they will face them grimly. Do not trust the big city. They don't have any actual personal anecdotes to share, and most of them have never even been to Karteria! But their people have developed something of a doomsday-like mentality of the world, and feel convinced that anything Karteria does to combat it is only going to hasten the world's demise. Summoning these otherworldly Augmented Ones... Phantasians pity the Augmented, who have been yanked from across time and space against their will. This is a broken, unsalvageable world. This, their ancestors have told them. All of this nonsense about Controlling magic, about interdimensional reaching, about harnessing the world's resources for reckless development... This is mankind's own undoing! All they can do as this tiny settlement is live their small lives until the world ends, or until their barrier breaks. But yes, aside from some very grim peoples who live an extremely simple lifestyle, the landscape is ravaged by Katalyth. The local flora and fauna continue to grow, doing quite well! But in these highly concentrated areas of Katalyth, especially closer to the shoreline, animals and critters seem to have... evolved some special traits. Rabbits have sharp, predatory teeth, or may have even developed eyes on the front of their head rather than the sides (uncanny, strange, weird); cougars are faster, more inclined to forage for vegetation, alert and cautious to the approach of Augmented. Creatures are evolving and changing in strange and nonsensical ways, but they're thriving. Do Eli or Childe wish to report back to Patho-Gen about Phantasia's existence? While they are aware of them, they have had absolutely no contact with them and basically had to believe that their tech has been somehow holding up over all this time. They will be curious to know how they fare.