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eternity:merx
Table of Contents
Merx
Reports and Ratings
| Sector | Rating (1-5) | Notes |
| Government | 1 | In so far as I'm aware, there is currently no active government within the new Sanctuary. The fact that multiple political entities (the hunters, the mafia, the military etc.) exist within this city is likely to lead to an inefficient cooperative government at best, assuming that the factions are of similar strength. At worst the city will descend into chaos as each faction vies for power over the city, something that is highly likely to happen considering the radically differing ideologies among them. There are certain rumours of a new order being created, however I have yet to find any substance to them. |
| Construction | 3 | I have not had the time to fully decipher the workings of the city and do not have the knowledge of architecture to judge exactly how stable the construction of it is. However, there are a few obvious concerns to raise. There is a large mechanical luminous fixture that moves across the sky everyday. Regardless of how well constructed that fixture is, the fact that I have yet to find anyone who is able or willing to maintain it is worrying, especially considering we do not know how old or worn it is. Furthermore, there are many buildings that are built very inefficiently and in dangerous ways. While many are aesthetically pleasing to look at, I'm absolutely certain that at least 10 of the buildings I've seen will likely fall within half a decade. |
| Agriculture | 2 | As there do not seem to be any beasts around in this desert (a somewhat pleasant surprise), the new Sanctuary will have to rely on agriculture to supply itself. There do seem to be a few different areas that have some greenery growing in them and some of it is edible. However, those are clearly artistic fixtures that are not made for sustainable large scale farming. Moreover, the water source of these areas is unclear and, considering our current location within a desert, I cannot be certain of its longevity. |
| Commerce | 1 | The city is completely isolated from civilisation, there are few resources immediately available around here and there is no active government or banking system that could guarantee a currency. This is an economic sinkhole. |
Conclusion: It may be best to depart from this city, as it is completely unstable and may soon collapse from an economic, political and logistical perspective.
Magic and Musings
A few interesting notes are scribbled down within a small notebook, which is mostly filled with dates and numbers.
A new phenomenon has recently manifested worldwide1). Multiple catastrophes befell the world yesterday. These have taken many different forms2), though in all cases they seem to cause grief to people. It has yet to be discovered whether this is a natural phenomenon3), man-made disaster4) or something else.
Apart from that, at the very same time as this, people gained the ability to manifest matter manifest things manifest effects warp reality5). This ability remains as of yet unexplained, but seems to be easily utilised by anyone. There do not seem to be any obvious consequences to its use in the short term.
…
After interviewing a few citizens I've found that there are nearly no limits to magic6). However, the scale of the effects caused by magic appears to be somewhat limited. Attempts to make people immortal7) or make a person the richest person in the world8) have failed. Nonetheless, the claim that there is no consequence to using this magic is supported by the evidence so far. Still, I feel that the notion that this power is 'free'9) is ridiculous. This world functions based on zero-sum game - whenever something is made, resources must be used up. The very world holds on the idea that one trades goods or services in exchange for something else of value. It may be the case that the consequences of using this magic are delayed, or perhaps that they are borne by another population of peoples10). It is also suspect that the multiple catastrophe's occurred on the same day as people gaining magic. Perhaps that is what fuelled magic and we might expect further catastrophes in order to continue using it?
I have not yet used magic and do not plan to until we have a better understanding of how and why it works.
Regrets and Refuge
You sit in your study (the bank didn't bother repossessing your house when they realised they could make as many houses as they wanted for 'free'), drafting notes for the next experiment. You have to figure out exactly how this works. The entire world has gone mad with power and are blind for not realising the possible dangers of playing with a foreign phenomenon that simply appeared one day. You've already seen quite a few people screwed over by their magic, gaining technically correct outcomes, but clearly not ones that they intended. The number of people who have used magic without fully thinking through what they wanted and had magic 'fill in the blanks' is also quite great. You yourself have yet to use it.
As you think through tomorrow's schedule, you hear a deafening boom, and then another, and then screams. Quickly you rush outside to see whether you need to start evacuating. You see blazing fires in the distance and crowds of people gathering to watch. Seems like someone didn't think through their magic use again. Just as you are about to return back to your writing, you hear yet another scream. Quickly glueing your eyes back to the window you watch the chaos with rapt attention. The screams only get louder. Surely someone would have put out the fire using magic by now? You try to scrutinise every detail of the scene, trying to find exactly what is causing this chaos to continue. You see a lot of injured people, a rumble over to your right is followed by the crumbling of a building, various monsters seem to have appeared. All of these seem like common occurrences to you, at the very least when considering the commonalities of the past week.
“DON'T USE MAGIC! IT WILL HURT YOU!” - a deafening shout clears up all your questions. Finally, your caution and curiosity pay off. You knew this whole time that nothing could be free.
You were right.
You were wrong.
No, you were technically right, yet you were wrong during those 7 days. Oh, how you wish that you could go back and tell yourself to use magic. How could you possibly have known that there would be no consequences for a single week? How could you possibly have known that magic would start having consequences after that yet no retribution would be had for the previous castings? Your course of action was perfectly rational yet… well, it leaves you here - penniless and seeking refuge. Your home and city were destroyed during that night by people who had yet to realise what had happened. At the very least you avoided a worse fate by not using magic, but still that was an amazing opportunity that you missed…
No use sulking over it. Right now is the time to plan for the future. You've joined up with a group of refugees from various cities. They've heard rumours of a city in the desert that doesn't seem to have been destroyed during the Midsummer Apocalypse. Could it be the very same one you left 3 years ago? It'll be interesting to check exactly how accurate your assessment was…
1)
At the very least all of my business partners and acquaintances from nearby cities have reported that to be the case.
2)
In my case, I found that, due to the disasters that have recently occurred, I have been rendered bankrupt as each of my clients has made an insurance claim and I did not have sufficient liquid assets to pay them back.
3)
Considering the fact that I cannot find any record of similar happenings in the local libraries, I believe this option is unlikely.
4)
If someone had enough power to cause this, then surely they'd use it for something more profitable, and even if they wished for wanton destruction, there are clearly more efficient ways of achieving that.
5)
There seem to be very few limits to the capabilities of magic, which I find to be quite confusing.
6)
The term is apt considering our lacklustre understanding of the phenomenon.
7)
That was an incredibly unpleasant experiment to watch and demonstrated exactly what the dangers of placing confidence in something we don't understand are
8)
How exactly would you define richest, considering money has currently lost all of its value?
9)
I have learned the hard way that nothing in the world of business, and also in general, comes without strings attached. Even the alms given to the poor and needy must be bought/made by the person giving them.
10)
While communication has been made somewhat easier by magic, it still only allows us to reach settlements that we know of.
eternity/merx.txt · Last modified: 2022/07/05 10:04 by gm_cynthia
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