T.M. sends you a new email, this one with the poem from Terra and Alter Terrae attached. With T.M.’s guidance, you are able to decipher the hidden ingredients and directions within the poem, mixing several elements together in a pot on a bright, sunny day. Silvery, putrid steam rises. The fog melts reality, warping the earth around you and revealing something deeper: a grey, colorless desert stretches far beyond the scope of Terra. You step through.
A young woman greets you as you arrive. Her brown hair whips across the olive skin of a smiling face as a gust of wind blows dust into your eyes. She sticks her hand out from under the sleeve of an oversized camo jacket.
“Hey! I’m Tesla.” She shrugs, then corrects herself. “T.M., I guess you know me as. Welcome to Alium.” Over the next few weeks, she teaches you several basic alchemical skills and truths.
After two weeks, as you’re working with Tesla, she looks at you.
“The first thing you need to know is how Alium functions, and that’s through aniforma. Here, I’ll teach you!” She offers. You nod, and she begins the lesson. “There are six types of aniforma: fire, earth, water, dark, light, and copy. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses, but you’ve got some strong ones already. There are two forms of aniforma: base aniforma and transmuted aniforma, and each should be kept separate from the other. When you’ve split your cards into two separate piles based on this, shuffle them as separate piles and we can start a friendly battle.”
A few more weeks pass, and as you grow closer to Tesla, she realizes she can trust you. On a February Tuesday, you find yourself sitting in a small restaurant on Origen Street.
“So I’m guessing you pretty much understand why I think the Silence Act is a problem,” Tesla says, pushing her hair out of her face. The restaurant is loud, covering your voices as you speak. Lamps flicker on the walls, the flames dancing in the cool, desert air. You nod at her.
“You’re concerned that the act prevents the advancement of knowledge as well as preventing people less fortunate than you or I from obtaining aniforma. What I still don’t understand is why there aren’t more aniforma to go around.”
“You know the nine streets that run through Alium? Do you know what they’re named after?”
“The nine core families,” you reply.
“They’re the reason there’s not enough aniforma for everyone. They, my family included, outlawed the manufacture and research of aniforma to prevent themselves from losing power. They own the media, they make the laws, prevent the redistribution of power. I think the only way we can continue is to fight it by providing aniforma and alchemical knowledge to all. What do you say?”
Choose One: