“It may just be that what escapes you
is on an even higher realm than you are.”
Elea

Assessment

Alchemy, the Art of Change, was the premier power of the Silent Realm and the center of her ingenuity. It was the model by which society was structured and the standard by which everything was measured. It was the process through which everything was made and the fulcrum on which the nation and its people oscillated. It was the beginning and end of all things in the land, and like any discipline worth pursuing, alchemy required sacrifice.

The Clockwork Cosmos, perpetual and unyielding, was established by the Eternal and maintained by His particles. It was a masterwork of construction, a triumph of intelligence and foresight wrought together by the Synthetic Alchemist Himself, and it was more than an abode for its inhabitants. It was an example to be studied, and it too echoed the immutable truth of alchemy. Progress required sacrifice.

Taurus, the sovereign and supreme nation of the Silent Realm, indisputable in its brilliance and unrivaled in its advancements, it sat as the most advanced and technologically superior land in all the world. The people lived free protected by the automatons and the benefits of their enhanced and educated communities. As citizens and members of their respective castes, they too understood the nobility of knowing their place. Responsibility required sacrifice.

But the Great Destroyer looked upon these notions with contempt. Taurus was a thinly veiled anathema, a corrupter of humanity, and an abomination of nature. The Silent Realm may have arrayed herself in the splendor and knowledge of the heavens, but she was still mortal and thus subject to the Reaper.

The Silent Realm

Known by some as the Land of Heaven, the Silent Realm was a region decorated by lush forests, groves of pink trees, and wide open fields. Flora swayed beneath the sweep of the winds, fauna danced over the grass, and the natural cadence of the scenery was almost musical to hear. Life provided instruments through every movement, hum, and buzz, but the resident nation sat on top of this beauty and plundered it for all it was worth. With silenced screams and facades of humanity, Taurus despoiled the landscape with unnatural cities and filled the earth with abominations. All of this was done with the veneer of sophistication and maintained with the justification of intelligence. Alchemy required sacrifice and the land had plenty to offer.

After the region had been forcefully polluted by Tauren interference, the nature of the Silent Realm changed from one of moral and mental clarity to amoral and callous indifference. Castes hedged the people into predefined roles from cradle to grave, the Harvesters pruned the populace of the weak, feeble, and disabled, and anything that did not serve the machinery of Tauren culture was sequestered, processed, and disassembled for recycling. All of this was to better serve the arrangement that determined their existence. Free will was an absurdity. Morality was an arbitrary construct. The only truth left of any value was locked up in the Machine, a Cosmic Clockwork abandoned by the Eternal long ago. This was the new Silent Realm. This was Taurus.

Characters

Arcturus

The Medium

There was no reason to question the cycle, his place in it, or whether or not what he did was right or wrong. Arcturus understood his place, he understood the cycle of alchemy, and he frequently admired the sublime scale of it all. He was a Tauren, and it was only natural for him to be a part of the Machine.

And yet, there was something off about him. He did not get out enough for anyone to notice what it was, and void alchemists were already viewed as strange by the others, but there was something unique to him. Fortunately, the only person who would have noticed was dead, so the alchemist was free to ignore it.

At least he was until he encountered the Reaper. His presence and particles were altering the alchemist. Conflict erupted in places where there had previously been agreement. This was not in accordance with the cycle he knew. It bothered him, but it bothered the spirit beneath his facade even more.

Mara

The Abomination

Why had she come to this strange place of talking men and meaningless words? There was something here, something that rang through the earth like a beacon, so she heeded it. It was a long journey, and she was famished after barely escaping from the south. Animals were barely serviceable as a meal.

But she was safe now, and once she got to chew fat with many of the locals, she started to understand. Their thoughts were loud and their words were many, but she was beginning to get it. She only needed a few more encounters, more food for thought, and then she would know. Then she would fully understand.

She needed a helper, someone to stand beside her when she found the being she felt. She searched among the rabble who tried to contain her, but they were unimportant and disgusting. A new face appeared. His back was turned, but there was power in him. Yes. He would do, and he looked delicious.

Lon

The Auditor

It was another pleasant day in the capital of the Silent Realm and another opportunity for Lon to test the efficacy of Tauren ingenuity. He was able to make minor suggestions that went against the grain of day-to-day operations with little resistance, but his most recent order demanded a more radical act.

From his time spent with the committees and politics of Taurus, Lon learned a great number of valuable secrets and highly sensitive information, but this was not a day for more gatherings. This was a day he could play, and he had already prepared the field. His players took their seats, and Lon prepared his proposal.

Using what he learned of alchemy, illusion, and magnification, he instructed everyone within the ruling chamber to die, and there was such a clamor of screams, viscera, and violence that it surprised even him. Satisfied with the result, Lon smiled to himself and then sighed. It was a pity he could only do this once.

I will not be consumed.

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