Rasdun

The missing vessels and his own past are a mystery to Oswin, who never knew or learned about either of them. He grew up an orphan, abandoned by his parents as a baby because of the consequences that could come of his powers. Instead of surrendering him to the government, they abandoned him at an orphanage to be dealt with by someone else. He was raised in and out of orphanages, but at age 15, he sets out on his own. Over time, he becomes aware of the fact that others like him exist and that they are all being used by the president for his own gain. More unbeknownst to him is the existence of the ethereal plane. He knows it's there and that he can see into it sometimes, but he does not know why or how. Before he was born, the previous Aquarius and Sagittarius vessels together attempted to merge the two planes in an act of rebellion towards Isaac’s father. He tried this in order to summon an army of ethereal beings to fight alongside him, and in the end, his excessive use of his power killed him. When the days under aquarius rolled back around, Oswin was born and the power of Saturn was bestowed upon him shortly after. Although he was unsuccessful in merging the planes, portals still remain that only Oswin can see. 

Setting - The city of Rasdun 

Rasdun is a small city located in a deep cave and was sealed off from the outside world through magical means. Before being sealed off, the city was a relatively large part of commerce in a larger country called Triesia. During the time before when the city was sealed off, Triesia was involved in a large war with the neighboring country of Aflua over ----. During the war, it is speculated that the gods created the power bestowed to the vessels in order to turn the tides of the war. Triesia’s military believed that these people could be used to cause catastrophic damage and gave the order to have them all recruited or forced to fight for the country under the command of Isaac Lowell’s father, Damien Lowell. They were quickly trained to hone their powers despite how little was known about them. 

During this brief time, it was found that pain, anger, and fear caused a vessel’s power to grow stronger. If pushed far enough, a vessel could transform into a more powerful version of themselves. Excessive use of this power often lead to a vessel’s death. In this form they had little control over themselves and Triesia’s military speculated that in this form, the gods were able to take over the vessel’s body and do incredible damage. This theory caused the name “vessel” to stick, and over the course of the war, that’s what they were referred to. After the first vessel died, it was quickly found that another person, regardless of age or any other trait, could be gifted the same powers, but only in the city of Rasdun. This gave the military the idea that these people were expendable and would send them out to nearly any battle or fight that occurred.

Oswin in his more powerful form 

When a vessel enters their stronger form, their eyes begin to glow, and markings made of lines appear across their bodies in the color of the powers that they are currently harnessing. Oswin gains the ability to enter this form during battle, and it will be on a fairly long cooldown. Entering this form boosts the player's stats, upping damage dealt and reducing damage taken, boosting speed, accuracy, and evasiveness. Using this power takes a toll on Oswin, and a few moments of slowness and fatigue will affect the player character when exiting this form. 

With the vessels, Triesia was able to obliterate Aflua and easily absorb its landmass and what remained of the cities. Before the war drew to a close, Damien Lowell forced the current Taurus vessel, a 16 year old girl named Alice Wellington, to seal the city off beneath the ground in order to harness the power of the vessels for himself and eventually conquer Triesia for himself.. The disappearance of the city was assumed to be caused by Aflua using the last of their firepower to destroy it. What remained of Rasdun was destroyed in the earthquake that occurred when part of the city was sealed off. Most of the buildings in the sealed off part of the city remained intact, and over time were repurposed into what became the slums in order to accommodate the large amount of people who were now trapped. The lake quickly formed in the middle of the city because of an underground river. For the first few days, the city was pitch black, the only sources of light being lanterns. The current living Aries vessel soon created a permanent light source that was as similar to sunlight as possible. The people of Rasdun were quickly forced to establish small farms with whatever had livestock ended up trapped as well, and were able to grow a small amount of food. For months, famine overcame the city and many died. During this time, Damien attempted to gain the trust of his citizens, blaming the vessels for sealing off the city and thus creating the malevolent image that the current citizens have. He used this to his advantage and encouraged any citizen with knowledge on a vessel’s whereabouts to come forward. 

Before enacting his plan to raise the city and retake Triesia, Damien attempted to find and control all 12 vessels, believing that if all 12 were together, it would make their power even more incredible. He was never able to have all 12 at once, and the task would fall to Isaac after his death 30 years after the city was sealed. The city has been sealed for 62 years at this point. 

The City

Rasdun’s slums are composed of densely packed wooden buildings stacked on each other and built off of the existing framework of buildings from before it was taken underground. The deeper you go into the slums the darker it gets, and most alleyways and streets are lit by paper lanterns and candles. A light from the first Aires vessel’s magic dimly lights the city from its center, but this light cannot permeate all the way into the slums. What buildings remain intact resemble 1910s mansions in architectural style. 

Three quarters of the city are slums that are these wooden homes and shops built into the remains of larger buildings that existed above ground that were destroyed when Rasdun went underground. The buildings are built up the wall of the cave, which is round in shape, basically like a bubble in the earth with a city inside. In the middle there's a lake that formed because of an existing underground water source that intersected with this bubble. The water flows from one end of the city and pools in the middle, slowly just soaking into the earth at a rate that doesn't really change. The other quarter holds all of the buildings that remained intact, a school, dorms, mansions for Isaac’s scientists and higher ups, as well as Isaac’s mansion and estate. The architecture and clothing styles are 1910s combined with steampunk. Technology wise they have nearly everything that existed in the 1910s in this world. 

People of Rasdun and Triesia worship the Roman gods that represent each vessel. 

Gameplay - 

Oswin is currently just the name used to refer to the player character

The game would be similar in style and gameplay to Dragon Age: Inquisition. The game would not be under any form of time constraints and the player would be allowed to explore or complete side quests at their leisure and return to the story whenever they pleased. 

Character Customization - 

The player character can be completely customized in physical appearance and players will be given the opportunity to choose which zodiac sign their character will represent. Each sign will have a default character that the player can choose, but from there they can also choose to customize the physical attributes. Each vessel has a specific weapon that cannot be changed, and their basic powers cannot be changed either. Oswin’s basic backstory, being an orphan and living on his own, applies regardless to any player character, as does the ability to see into the spirit plane. 

Certain events in the story will have to have the presence of a certain vessel due to their specific set of powers. The player may choose the taurus vessel to play as, and at the end they will have to use their powers to raise the city back to the surface. If the player does not choose taurus, this event still occurs, but in a less direct sense. The player will experience the event either way, but the perspective that events occur from will change. This will be how most major events involving vessels will occur. The player will always participate in them in some sense. If the player chooses a non-aquarius vessel, oswin will be the first vessel that they meet. If they choose aquarius, the first vessel they meet will Charlotte (Aries). Charlotte will be the default Aires character, but she can also be customized. The game will present all pre-built characters as options, and the option to customize is available for all. The story premise would be slightly similar to that of Bioshock, which is set in an underwater, post-apocalyptic city. Players would uncover the corruption of the city and begin to work towards freeing each vessel. Upon freeing each vessel throughout the course of the game, Oswin is able to harness a new power relevant to the powers of the vessel. For example, after he befriends Charlotte, Oswin gains the ability to create a light laser in the same way that Charlotte can. This power would be on a longer cooldown because of its high level of power, and his basic Aquarius powers would be on cooldowns that are much shorter. He also has a basic melee and basic magical attack that do not require a cooldown. As he gains more powers from the vessels, when he uses his more powerful attack he gains the ability to choose which different one he can use. No matter which element he chooses, the cooldown will be the same and he can only use one before the cooldown starts. To use each power, the player character’s weapon will change and vials representing each element that has been collected up until that point will appear. Players will choose which to use and will smash the vials on the ground, activating the power. This ability will be inaccessible until the cooldown finishes. The overall premise will have combat, but the main point will be the story. A majority of the game will be investigation, dialogue, and role playing with combat usually being relevant to the story. Main enemies will be the city’s military, and minor enemies may be townspeople or spirits from the spirit realm. Bosses will most likely be brainwashed vessels who Oswin will have to fight. They will usually come around and decide to help him before being killed, but some will not and Oswin may be forced to kill them or end the fight there. Players will be able to roam the slums and the market freely, and can go to the market to buy helpful items that can restore health or strengthen certain aspects of his power. These items will not be inherently magical and will likely be herbal concoctions used also by the townsfolk. Players can also purchase more magical items from merchant spirits that travel through Rasdun periodically. Oswin can choose to visit this marketplace at a specific time during the day. This marketplace is located in the spirit realm above the lake. It is along a set of railroad tracks, and each day at a certain time, an ornate steam engine with a set of passenger cars brings merchant spirits to and from this trading post to do business with each other and with Oswin. Since he has access to the material plane, they often give him quests to retrieve items in exchange for money or magical objects. Oswin can also buy upgrades to his spear that are unlocked as he grows stronger. This will improve his use of the weapons and the amount of damage it does. He can also upgrade his simple magical powers so that it does more damage or has an elemental effect applied.

Symbolism - 

This symbol above is found on the twelve people in the city with magical powers. Each person’s power is based off of one of the twelve zodiac sign’s elements, detailed below. This symbol appears three times on the body, once on the chest and once on each lower arm, and is the one physical feature that distinguishes someone with powers from someone without. On the chest, the entire symbol is found, but on each arm, there is only the smaller, zig-zag portion of it. Each person bestowed with powers is born under their respective zodiac sign.

 

The Signs and their Powers

Sign / Element / Weapon / Power that Oswin can use / Ruling god (Roman) 

Aires - Light / Morningstar / Light laser, very precise and can hit up to two enemies that are standing in a straight line. / Mars, god of war, aggression, and conflict.

Taurus - Earth / Warhammer / Earthbending basically, can pull up a big rock or something and hurl it at enemies, can possibly hit multiple enemies nearby each other. / Tellus Mater, the earth mother. 

Gemini - Electricity / Gauntlet / Choose an enemy nearby and summon a ball of lightning that temporarily paralyzes them while doing damage over time. / Summanus, god of nocturnal thunder 

Cancer - Water / Shield (throwable, similar to Athena from the Borderlands series) / Summon a large sphere of water that can trap one or multiple (up to three) enemies. / Neptune, Ancient god of the sea.

Leo - Fire / Broadsword / Basically firebending, temporarily sets an enemy on fire which does damage over time. / Vulcan, god of fire.

Virgo - Plant / Whip / Thorny vines can create an area effect that slows/damages enemies that are in or that enter the area. / Vertumnus, god of seasons and change, as well as plant growth. 

Libra - Wind / Katana / Blowback multiple enemies (up to 5), cause slight damage and leave them incapacitated momentarily. / Mercury, messenger of the gods. 

Scorpio - Darkness / Pistol / Create a void that swallows and basically instakills a small enemy. For more powerful enemies, it would cause damage over time for a certain length. /  Nyx, greek goddess of the night. 

Sagittarius - Spirit / Longbow / Summon two mimic spirits that look like Oswin and function similarly to the Digi-Jack’s used by Timothy in Borderlands: The Pre-sequel and last for a short amount of time before disappearing. / Pluto, god of the nether world and of the dead. 

Capricorn - Time / Battleaxe / Pause time momentarily while Oswin can move freely and use other abilities to fight unopposed. / Janus, the god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, and endings.

Aquarius - Space / Spear / Teleport an enemy to a random spot nearby. This takes a few moments and subsequently removes the enemy from battle momentarily. / Jupiter, ruler of the heavens. 

Pisces - Ice / Throwing Knives / Freeze an enemy temporarily in a block of ice. Melee damage done do this character does more damage / Boreas, god of the cold north wind and the bringer of winter. 

Weapons can open up or summon vials representing each power, and when using it, the player character’s weapon will change or summon vials representing each element that has been collected up until that point. Players will choose which to use and will smash the vials on the ground, activating the power. 

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