Dossier (PALISADE)

The dossier for PALISADE is the various information provided within its episode descriptions. Like PARTIZAN's, it does not have an explanation within the fiction.

This article is current as of PALISADE 09: The Canvas of Dreams Pt. 4.

Organizations

The Divine Principality

The Divine Principality: The largest empire in the Milky Way Galaxy, spanning multiple arms and billions of stars. Comprised of five somewhat-autonomous sub-states, the Stels. Currently, the Principality is engaged in wars both external and internal, the prior with their neighbors, the Branched, and the latter a civil war between the competing factions and pretenders to the Princept’s throne.
Bilateral Intercession: One of two factions vying for leadership of the Principality, comprised by Stels Kesh and Nideo, and lead by the so-called Peaceful Princept, Cynosure Whitestar-Kesh (he/him), who took control of the faction from the Curtain, a secretive intelligence organization with roots in Kesh’s ancient spy operations. The “Bilats” are a conservative and reactionary force, aiming to return the Principality to its roots both literally and figuratively. After a long campaign against the Pact of Free States, they managed to take control of Palisade.
The Pact of Free States: One of the two factions vying for leadership of the Principality, a joint operation by Stels Columnar and Apostolos. Led in name by the Glorious Princept, Dahlia (they/them), but operated in day-to-day matters by members of the original Pact of Necessary Venture, including Rye (he/him) and Gallica (she/her). Though they are reformist in some ways, their primary goal is greater autonomy for each Stel, freedom from the legal restraints, taxes, and oversights demanded by the Principality, with additional deregulation to follow downstream.
Stel Apostolos: A dynamic and diverse military powerhouse, whose dedication to self-expression is eclipsed only by their dedication to violence. They are tied to Motion. Speed, change, violence.
Stel Columnar: A reformist democracy, made up largely of synthetics on the cutting edge of technology, art, politics, and war. They are tied to the Future. Innovation, style, cowardice.
Stel Kesh: The oldest established power in the galaxy, built around a stuffy (and secretive) aristocracy. They are tied to the Past. History, knowledge, stubbornness.
Stel Nideo: Created the largest faith in the empire, and used that influence to shape (and surveil) mass culture. They are tied to the Present. Faith, coercion, stability.
Stel Orion: An industrial giant that controls more literal space than any other Stel, yet is also the most fragmented, now facing regular internal strife between various corporate powers. Orion is currently the only Stel not involved directly in the galactic civil war, and thus free to operate across every star system. They are tied to Space. Wealth, labor, expansion.

The Authority

The Bilateral Intelligence Service: Formerly called the Curtain, the BIS is a Kesh-operated organization which specializes in espionage, subterfuge, and surveillance. Though it is as secretive as ever, it is no longer the true source of power in Kesh territory. Instead, Cynosure Whitestar-Kesh has modernized its structure and operation, and has ensured that it remains well integrated into the Bilateral Intercession’s greater workings—as to better keep one eye on them.
Fabreal Duchy: When the Divine Principality left Palisade nearly 5,000 years ago, they left behind a Duke and his barons as caretakers. In the generations that followed, they ruled as petty tyrants, creating Delegates as their slaves, remaking their bodies into glass and oil, and extending their reach across Palisade’s continents.
The Frontier Syndicate: A powerful conglomerate with a broad purview, including technology, heavy industry, entertainment, telecommunications, and transportation. Led by Exenceaster March (he/him), the Syndicate betrayed the Pact of Free States and joined the Bilats in order to be part of their colonization efforts on Palisade.
The Lone Marble Group: Built around a single artifact recovered from an Advent facility, this Frontier Syndicate subsidiary develops the future of Bilat war machinery.
Lock and Cross Security Services: The largest mercenary unit on Palisade, invited to the world by Exenceaster March. Operated by Maidstone Cross (she/her) and Margate Lock (she/her), a pair of divorcees too committed to their work together to fully separate

The Cause

Blue Channel: Both the name of Kalvin Brnine’s corvette-class carrier and the Cause-aligned faction made up by its crew. Upgraded with Kalmeria-era technology to enhance its basic functionality, along with other quality-of-life features.
Carmine Bight: From ramshackle additions to the rocky shores of Rifle Island, Captain Skelton Knaggs (he/him) and his fearsome flotilla launch rusted pirate vessels beneath the waves, guided by a coalition of Hyphan navigators.
Grey Pond: With members of the Oxblood Clan, the Company of the Spade, and the Shale Belt's Concrete Front, these blue collar revolutionaries are experts at getting the Cause the equipment it needs (and maintaining what it has when that's the only available option).
Jade Kill: Based in Joyous Guard, this military arm of the Cause is operated by the Delegate liberation faction known as Reunion and supported by Kalar Anakalar's Giantkiller unit and a wing of Swordbreakers. Led by August Righteousness (he/him).
Rose River: Though they are undoubtedly committed to the Cause, this unique research unit (combining Veronique (she/her), her Divine Fealty (any pronouns), and their followers with an out-of-time NEH Sleep Detachment squad) hope for a day when they can be something other than soldiers.
Violet Cove: The Dim Liturgy claim to have seen the Divine Devotion's arrival coming in their sacred text: A battered and corrupted backup of Crystal Palace's final predictions for the future. Now the two cults work together to oust the Bilats... and perhaps to do more intriguing things, as well.
Millennium Break: Dissidents, idealogues, rebels, and mercenaries who launched a revolution from Partizan, moon of Girandole. Today, they agree on much, and most of all, this: It is time for a new Millennium.

Other

The Advent Group: A group of colonial entrepreneurs, invaders, and professional exploiters. Eradicated 5000 years ago, during an attempt to occupy the Twilight Mirage.
The Branched: A post-human society of beings who have transformed their bodies into forms terrifying and spectacular and free—only to have the threat of war force them to rebuild themselves as soldiers first and foremost. After centuries of fighting a purely defensive war, the Branched have now begun to strike into the Principality’s territory.
The Devotees: A church from the Twilight Mirage that is committed to the worship of the divine Devotion, which they sometimes refer to as Fervor. Common practices include the regular checking of one’s pulse and multi-day group picnic outings.
The New Asterism: What was once a schism between Received and Progressive Asterism has now been healed by the false prophet Gur Sevraq (he/they), or at least someone in his name and face. The New Asterism claims that to be a citizen of the Principality is to have an obligation to "better the world," in the sense that one invests in property or in the way that a settler “rehabilitates” or “improves” the places they claim by violence.
New Earth Hegemony: Once, the NEH was massive, galactic-scale power that threatened conquest of The Twilight Mirage. It was reduced to a single fleet—now lost—which provided its inhabitants endless, digital life.
Qui'Err Coalition: The govening body of the Twilight Mirage, comprised by affiliated communes, townships, and other groups across the system's eight worlds.
The Twill: Though many groups have lived on the world of Palisade over the years, the Twill can trace their time on the world back the furthest. Though a first glance appraisal might make one think that their defining trait is the moss that covers much of their bodies and allows them to live on sunlight and water alone, in fact their most unshakable cultural trait is a practice of collaboration, aid, and acceptance. When groups like Advent, Kesh, the New Earth Hegemony, and the Divine Principality left Palisade behind, they often left behind the disaffected or unwanted. It was often, if not always, the Twill who helped these people find sustainable lives on the world, either by blending with the group over generations or through open exchange of goods and information.

People

Kalvin Brnine (they/them): Captain of the Blue Channel, former weapons technician and de facto leader of the Society of Banners and Bright Returns. Apostolosian born, Orion trained, committed to Millennium Break.
Coriolis Sunset (she/her): Devotee of Devotion and native of the Twilight Mirage, Cori seeks to defend the weak and spread the word of her blessed Divine.
The Figure in Bismuth (he/they): Once, the Figure was an ordinary, conservative history teacher who was fatally wounded in a conflict on Partizan. After being resurrected by the Witch in Glass, they have become a supernaturally gifted ace pilot. On loan to Millennium Break.
Phrygian (they/them): A Branched researcher who arrived on Partizan to investigate something called the True Divine. After being captured by the Pact, they were eventually freed by Millennium Break, which they joined up with.
Thisbe (she/her): A large, humanoid labor robot whose design is based on the ancient Hypha people. Unearthed by farmers and traded between mercenary units, she eventually wound up working for the Society of Banners and Bright Returns and moved on to work with Millennium Break.
Aram Nideo (he/him): Often called the “The Father of Asterism,” Aram Nideo penned the “Many Stars Argument,” which became the backbone not only for the Divine Principality’s faith but also its governmental structure. Posthumously awarded Divine status. Was part of the nascent Divine Principality’s occupation on the world.
August Righteousness (he/they): Once, August served as the court chef of Joyous Guard. Now, he is the commander of Reunion, a Delegate resistance movement that is part of the Cause's Jade Kill unit.
Baldwin Home a.k.a Black Screen (he/him): A member of the Shale Belt's anti-Principality revolutionary group, the Concrete Front, which operates from the caves of Sinder Karst. Baldwin operates a pirate broadcast station under the psuedonym "BlackScreen," fitting since when his broadcasts take over an affected device, they not only blank out the screen, but render it impossibly black...
Candles Penumbra (she/her): Member of Rose River. Reading in a library in the Diadem when she receives a call from Gucci Garantine.
Connadine (he/him): Commander of the BIS on Palisade. An expert in psychological operations and folklore. A conductor warming his orchestra.
The Lost Duchess, Constantina Malady (she/her): Just as it is said, she arrived on a black horse with white fetlocks.
Saint Decario Dicario (he/him): Devoted Devotee warmonger and one-time lover of the Twilight Mirage rockstar Teleos Triton Tanager.
Stargrave Elcessor (she/her): Leader of the Bilateral Interecession’s occupation of Palisade, assigned personally by Cynosure Whitestar-Kesh. As a Stargrave, she has been granted the means and “right” to detonate the star at the center of Palisade’s star system if she determines that those here are an existential threat to the Principality.
Exenchester March (he/him): Founder of the Frontier Syndicate and the March Institute, former chair of the Zenith Fund. Betrayed the Pact and Stel Columnar, defecting to the Bilateral Intercession in exchange for territory on Palisade and the freedom to use it as he wishes.
Fool Factotum (she/her): Dedicated member of the BIS, assigned to Connadine’s new executive unit. Difficult to guess her age.
“Gem” (she/her): Codename given to the target of Operation Midnight Lapidary. Reported to be a major dealer in precious metals and stones from Stel Orion, here to attend the coronation of the returned Duchess Constantina Malady. Clearly more than she lets on...
Gentian (she/her): Elect of the Divine Crusade. Impossibly old, yet a source of power and vibrance. Attended to by her two sword bearers (Ramondre (she/her) and Ignadiah (he/him), Knight of Books (Clawed (he/him)), and Knight of Cups (Perevel (they/them)).
Grand Magnificent (he/him): A complex in the history of the Twilight Mirage. Member of the Notion, Excerpt of the Divine Arbit, and (above all else) an artist.
Griesel Sunset (he/him): Coriolos' father, a zealous Devotee. Currently lives on the Isle of the Broken Key.
Gucci Garantine (she/her): A defector from Stel Kesh, who used the remaining wealth and power of House Brightline to help found Millennium Break. Currently a key member of the resistance efforts on Palisade, and the commander of Millennium Break forces there. Codename Watershed.
Jesset City (he/him): After helping to kick off Millennium Break on Partizan, Jesset served as one of its major leaders during its expansion across the Principality. Now, he uses his talents in Hollow and Altar engineering, piloting, and cipher breaking on behalf of the Grey Pond unit of the cause. Still considers himself to be a member of the Party of the Wolf, though those designations have largely fallen from use.
Kalar Anakalar, the Giantkiller (he/him): This legendary member of Millennium Break is much more than his nom de guerre. Loyal comrade, proud father, and ever faithful believer. Former member of the Society for Banners and Bright Returns, one of the founding organizations of Millennium Break.
Kenneth Marian Colver (he/him): Former member of the Curtain, now Kesh’s Viceroy on the world. Reports up to the Stargrave. Had bread concerns. Bread concerns have been replaced with violence concerns.
Tenn Alpenglow (he/him): Bodyguard of Kenneth Marian Colver and Knight of the Fabreal Duchy. Resents his assignation to guard the cowardly Viceroy, but takes seriously his sworn oath to serve under the Duchy's new masters.
Kriminel Kollage (she/her): A young Twill tinkerer, working on a project that few believed would ever work. A young Twill tinkerer who tried to convince her community to help her ressurect the long dead divine, Palisade, and went through with it when they denied tos upport her.
Marlon Styx a.k.a. “Em” (he/him): Undercover BIS agent assigned to infiltrate Violet Cove. Has become enamored with the Dim Liturgy’s holy text.
Partial Palisade (he/him): A man who was once a Divine, now living in the shell of a being quite unlike what he once was.
Quintessence “Tessence” Rey (he/him): Joined Millennium Break when the group aided an Equiaxed commune in Vigil City, Partizan. Pilots a customized (but out of date) Kosmos unit for Jade Kill. Protege of Kalar Anakalar.
Ramondre (she/her) and Ignadiah (he/him): Swordbearers of Gentian, Elect of Crusade. Rivalrous and devout.
Saffron Septet (she/her):  A doctor from the Twilight Mirage who lives as a digital consciousness, spread across a number of bodily forms including a heavy Torch Unit, a small motorcycle, and a unique and specially-crafted surgeon body.
General Tomorrow Mourning (she/her): Leader of the Qui'Err Coalition's forces en route to the Twilight Mirage.
Veston Vicinity (he/him): A middle aged Twill who, having felt the Bilateral Intercession's occupation keenly, supported Kriminel's plan.
The Witch in Glass a.k.a. Clementine Kesh (she/her): A former scion of Kesh who, after knitting a bond with the adversary Perennial, came into control of the broken body of the Divine Past, which she has renamed the Reflecting Pool. Rules over the Crown of Glass, a city-state on the southeastern reaches of Palisade. A shaky ally of Millennium Break and cruelly indifferent master of the Figure in Bismuth. Haunted by an old foe.

Divines

The Divine, Arbitrage (it/its): The amoral machine turned de facto treasurer keeps the Frontier Syndicate a step ahead in all matters of commerce. Sole minter of “glint,” a newly popular currency on Palisade.
Asepsis (it/its): The final living remnants of a Divine who pursues its particular vision of purity at the cost of everything else. Kept, studied, and utilized by Captain Kalvin Brnine.
The Divine Crusade (they/them): Leads Stel Nideo’s occupation on Palisade along with their Elect, Gentian. Crusade is an enormous, bipedal machine covered (or perhaps made with) beautiful stained glass.
The Divine Imperium (once, The Divine Empyean): One of the first Divines resurrected by the Divine Principality, and one of the leading figures in its conquest of the stars.
The Divine Resonance (it/its): The watchful guardian, doting caregiver, and ardent supporter of Nideo's colonial efforts on Palisade.

Places

Brecheliant Forest: A vast, mysterious forest on Palisade’s southern continent said to confuse even the most experience of travelers.
Bontive Valley: Blessed by the departed divine Bounty, the Valley provides the Bilats with fruit that never rots and hyper-nutritional grain.
Carhaix: The northernmost city in the Bontive Valley, Carhaix is one of the first major settlements founded by the nascent Divine Principality 5,000 years ago. It was created on the site of a battlefield where they obliterated the straggling remnants of the Advent Group, an organization that had invaded and pillaged the Twilight Mirage. After the Principality left Palisade behind, it became one of the Fabreal Duchy’s many centers of power in the northwestern continent. Currently, it is controlled by Stel Nideo and the Divine Crusade.
Carleon-Upon-Wisk: The capital of the Fabreal Duchy, situated on a peninsula on the Wisk Sea. Though it served as a major city before the Divine Principality left Palisade behind, it rose in stature when early barons of the Duchy “discovered” how to create delegates from chained Divines in the city’s fell laboratories.
Chimera’s Lantern: The second moon of Palisade, shaped oddly like a wasp’s nest or paper lantern. New arrivals to the world find its occasional glow unnatural and frightening.
Composure’s Coliseum: Operated by a revivified Divine who instrumentalizes the data of both the death-sport combatants and bloodthirsty fans.
The Diadem: A wide and deep scar dug into Palisade’s equator by the early Divine Principality. It promised to be a vast arcology that people could live and work in. Instead, it simply ruined the world.
Diadem Gravtrain: While the vast trench-city on Palisade's equator lays abandoned, Kesh has reactivated its railway via an operations center in Carmathen.
Greenfield: A central territory on Palisade taken over by the Frontier Syndicate. Previously, the fields and streams of this area were home to the Twill.
Isle of the Broken Key: Home of the Dim Liturgy since its obscure creation thousands of years ago. Now serves as base for the entire Violet Cove unit of the Cause, including the Devotees and (most recently) additional support teams from the Twilight Mirage.
The Paint Shop: Sitting atop the central peak of Steeple Catterick, most people assume the Paint Shop to be no more than an artist commune where visiting artists collaborate on eccentric and avant-garde work. In truth, it is both a manufactory and front for the Bilateral Intelligence Service.
The Shale Belt: A low, resource-filled mountain range in the north-central of Palisade. Home to the Concretists and their revolutionary Concrete Front, a secular and technologically-minded group with roots in the Twilight Mirage. They take their names from favorite artistic works and have blended their bodies with a special concrete (and some respiratory cybernetics) that aids in their breathing.
Temple of the Threshold: Built at the center of a massive bridge that crosses the Diadem, this serves as the home of New Asterism and its false prophet, Gur Sevraq (he/they).
Tintagel: A city and fortress that marked the Fabreal Duchy’s farthest reach on Palisade’s southern continent. Stargrave Elcessor uses its palace as her operations center and home when she is on planet.
The Twilight Mirage: Created over 5000 years ago by what was then the Divine Empyrean in an effort to protect the Divine Fleet, of which they were a member. The Mirage is a false nebula that obscures the position of its inhabitants both visually and by distorting time and space. Inside, there is now a vibrant and peaceful culture that spans eight planets, orbiting a dark and living Divine sun.

Mysteries

The Divine Fleet: A precursor civilization to what would (in part) grow to become the Divine Principality. For thirty thousand years, it strived towards Utopian ideals and perhaps, for some time, even achieved them.
The Five Afflictions: A group of “monstrous” beings that haunt the dark corners of Palisade.They have been named as follows: Dust a.k.a Pride’s Mirror a.k.a. The Looking Glass Refrain a.k.a. Yesterday’s Reprise  a.k.a. The Ghastly Chorus Ravel a.k.a. Labyrinth’s Thread a.k.a. The Hedge Maze Cleave a.k.a. Whetstone’s Opposite a.k.a. The Sanguine Hatchet Oversight a.k.a. Hell’s Facade a.k.a. The Empty Garden Refrain a.k.a. Yesterday’s Reprise a.k.a. The Ghastly Chorus:  An abandoned theater attended to by a spectral audience, which appears as if from nowhere, appended to the edge of a community. Upon the stage, a flickering projection of a person no one knows. Today, that person is the traveler named Lattice (they/them).
The Fundament: In the depths of the world, further on even than the Diadem... there is the Fundament.

Things

AdArm Bouquet: Designed by Stel Orion’s Adamant Arms and Artifice as an Altar-era update to the classic Troop design. It’s still boxy (if a little trimmer) and it retains it’s wide, rectangular “eye” on its head. Gone are the heavy grip claws, replaced with traditional, five-fingered hands, allowing it more complex manipulations, including the operations of its distinctive Roundless Rifle, which seems convert raw Perennial Wave into ammunition. Additionally, the shoulder mount has ditched the heavy cannon in exchange for a close range, pneumatic lance that can devastate even the strongest armor. Roundless rifle looks like an H&K G11, and fires condensed Perennial Wave gathered from the atmosphere itself.
AdArm Motion Engine: Core to all of Adamant Arms and Artifice’s new designs, the Motion Engine was derived from salvaged parts of the lost Divine of the same name, offering a reliable, long lasting, and flexible source of power.
BAC Billhook: Constantly in motion, the Billhook (designed by the Blessed Armory of the Divine Consecration)  might be confused for a conceptual sculpture to the uninitiated. It is a humanoid design with five arms, two on the left and three on the right, though the right-central one always crosses its body to cover its “heart,” behind which the cockpit rests. Most of the Billhook is all made with a special material that can change at an atomic level, switching between an elusive, clothlike silk and dangerously sharp stained glass form. As such, the Billhook can be a loose flag on the wind or a terrifying whirlwind of violence.
BAC Plough: Forged by the Blessed Armory of the Divine Consecration, the humanoid Plough has a statuesque build that it uses to wield heavy weapons, like a bulldozer-sized claw-scoop or a Heavy Arbalest designed to launch roped harpoons. The Plough’s primary purpose is to be Nideo’s frontline unit, but it is as valuable after a fight as it is in one. It is used in the destruction and replacement of “old” or “neglected” locations with new Nideo bases and settlements, and as such serves a propagandistic function by demonstrating that “soldier” and “settler” are two sides of the same coin.
The Blue Channel: Kalvin Brnine's corvette-class carrier. Upgraded with Kalmeria-era technology to enhance its basic functionality, along with other quality-of-life features. Tier V. Approach: Mundane.
Chariot Mk. 2: Coriolis' Altar, commonly used among the Devotees. A humanoid mech with an angular frame, pointed shoulders and three rotating halos. The head is covered in eyes, and its body has purple lights running along it in the shape of a circulatory system. A cape hangs over the right arm of the mech and can be cast off when it begins combat. Approach: Divine
The Devil's Two Front Teeth: The Figure in Bismuth's Altar. A tall, angular machine whose posture is hunched down as if it is always ready to pounce. It was originally built without heatsinnks or vents, so the first time the Figure piloted this mech heat and energy exploded out of the frame and left the frame covered in pockmarks and jagged cavities. The most noticeable of these is a chunk missing from its "chin", giving it the appearance of a humanoid body missing its lower jaw with only two long, crooked teeth left in its mouth. As it flashes in and out of the battlefield, the heat and energy that escapes through these gashes sounds like a wailing wind. Tier III. Approach: Profane
EF Hauberk: Created by House Evenfall Altarworks, the Haubark is capable of deadly, unpredictable, and striking acts of violence. It is beyond “lanky,” with upper and torso extended, with extra joints and top-flight tensors for added flexibility. Its lower half, though, is an extremely thick tire, allowing it for rapid ingress and egress. It is both covered in and wields restraining chains infused with the nullifying magic used by Kesh, and is able to pin its foes down before finishing them off. Tier III. Approach: Mundane.
EF Vambrace: Created by House Evenfall Altarworks, the Vambrace is the unlikely workhorse of the Kesh Altar fleet. With four arms worth of melee weapons and a mounted missile launcher, the Vambrace is able to reach the enemy under self-provided cover fire, defend themselves in melee until an opportunity presents itself, and then deliver the final blow.
LMG Gueridon: Designed by the Lone Marble Group for use by Exanceaster March’s personal security operations, the Gueridon is a modern siege tower. It walks on four, elegant table-like legs, is protected by an Arcane energy dome above, and is operated from within a vast, circular a carriage compartment, with enchanted portholes that enhance the hand-held weapons of anyone firing from inside out. Also carries an infantry deployment pod. Tier II. Approach: Arcane
Mow (he/him): A recovered Zenith-A Project Eudaimonia prototype model, further upgraded with Altar-class technology. The build of a gorilla, quadrupedal & topheavy, a saddle horn-like addition on the back, battered but lovingly maintained. Newly painted. Tier III. Approach: Mundane

Additional Notes

Delegates: In plain terms, Delegates are synthetic individuals created through a process of forcible extraction from a living Divine. Originated by the Fabreal Duchy, who were left behind to "attend to" Palisade by the Divine Principality around 5000 years ago, these Delgates were designed and used as slaves. Currently, a Delegate resistance group called Reunion operates out of the fortress Joyous Guard in the Caldera Stretch.

Notes on The Five Approaches by Eiden Teak

Okay, so more or less, it breaks down like this: There are five “approaches” to how Kalmeria is used. What’s Kalmeria? Well, the Kalmeria Revolution kind of bumped up everyone's power level and brought us back to the things were (supposedly) back in the Miraculous Millennium, before the Perennial Wave. “Hey, that’s not an answer to what Kalmeria is,” you might say? And to that, I say, shut up, no one really knows how it works. But here’s how people make it work (all approach names and sketches tentative):

The Null Approach, also called the Mundane Approach uses Kalmeria and the Perennial Wave’s natural technological negation attributes to basically nullify and reduce magical effects. Kesh is really keen on this, and so are a lot of us in Millennium Break. A lot of our blue collar folks, especially, like in the Oxblood Clan and Company of the Spade. Kesh weapons and Altars enhanced by the Mundane Approach seem to dampen the sound and light around them, swallowing the impact of incoming blows.

The Arcane Approach blends Kalmeria with some of the older sources of power we’ve had for a while like our Chorus Bond, a Twilight Mirage resource called “Q-Glass,” Hyphan strati tech, or the Memoria which Columnar stole from us. In brief, it's very "device" oriented: For us, that means lots of staves, orbs, cybertomes, alchemical potions—classic conduits of power, yeah? For Columnar and the Frontier Syndicate, they often use independently moving, choreographed lots of bits, funnels, and drones—all of which produce with strange visual phenomena, like eye floaters and optical auras.

The Divine Approach uses Kalmeria as a medium for calling on the power of a Divine directly and immediately. Whether that’s from Nideo and the other Stels or from the Divines of the Mirage, it seems very paternalistic, but that’s just my view. It really just escalates the familiar way Divines blessed Hallows, extending it to their pilots. You know: Glowing skin; fiery auras. Living wings.  Both on the pilot & the mech. Nideo stuff looks statuesque and angelic. Mirage Divines are less humanoid by default, and seem to be more insectoid than normal. You can tell the difference between Nideo Divine magic and the Mirage’s use because the former always smells—units report a near endless list odors associated with Nidean Altars, including ash, incense, sugar, mint, sulfur.

The Profane Approach uses Kalmeria in a way similar to Motion did—which frankly, I don’t love— to even more easily create things out of the raw Perennial Wave: Gaseous particles cohering and then solidifying into forms. Damaged armor bursts into liquid, then gets reformed on the simple frame. Melee weapons change shape and dimension as needed. Ranged weapons need no ammo, as it’s generated by the Demiurge Engine. Used by lead companies of Stel Orion, who were allowed to salvage parts of Motion from the salvage field above Partizan since they weren't directly involved in our fight there. But also used by the Crown of Glass, whose witch has a direct relationship with Perennial. When Orion Altars are on the field, you might find yourself tasting blood or berries or something even stranger.

Finally, the Elemental Approach brings together Kalmeria and the capabilities of the Branched to blend the outside world with the inside person. For the Branched themselves, this has brought them in closer conscious/experiential contact with both nature and society—those that choose to tap into Kalmeria find that they literally feel the world more. The Apostolosians, meanwhile, have performed some truly dark research on the Branched, and have used the results to reshape themselves and their war machines directly—in some way, becoming more like their hated enemies the Branched, though they haven’t seemed to notice. The result is that they adopt parts of the environment as expressions of themselves in both their altars and their bodies: Summoning shields of ice, firing lightning or fire from their limbs, turning their flesh to stone, even calling storms into clear days—and when they do, nearby people ungrounded physical sensations: a finger down their back, an itch they cannot scratch, or something stuck in their eye.