The Fifth Fansus

Once, the Histories were undisturbed by the machinations of the Hours, safely sequestered from their terrible masters' sight behind the great Wall. Within their refuge, their Wood, mankind managed only a tenuous grasp of the Invisible Arts. But at least, the Histories and scholars of the secret world knew a precious peace, safe to progress and bend nature to their will.

Until now.

Over a century has passed since the Wall was breached. The ancient protections set in place by the Firekeeper, Hour of Glory and Father of Mankind, have failed at last. After a millenniae-long absence, the Wild Gods of the Wood have returned to our world. The Gods are fickle beings, and their motives are as incomprehensible and myriad as only those belonging to beings as old as time can be. Some wish to reclaim their places as rulers of the rediscovered curiosity that is mankind. Others see humans as little more than prey to feed upon, or as acceptable casualties fulfilling their grand designs.

Realizing that the realm it had only ever known was but a nursery, breached at last, mankind understands itself under siege. But where some despair at the return of their "masters", others see opportunity. Many mortals see the reopening into the realm of the Gods not as a blight but an opportunity, either as servants of their new masters or as conquerors. Backed by the New Gods, Gods-From-Flesh created from humanity at last unlocking its full potential, brave souls venture beyond the Wall into what has been dubbed the Frontier, to bring back the riches of the Heavenly Kingdoms and harness the power of the Gods.

Supplicant or Frontiersman? Wild God or New God? Which side are you on?

Fansus Five: The Frontier.

Welcome Home.

The Firekeeper's Betrayal

Way back, before civilisation truly got going, there were only one god-from-flesh. The Firekeeper. He ascended when humans first made fire, and was at first beneficial for the Hours, because he fixed the failing Glory. However, the Firekeeper saw a terrible future Hour in the Glory, and decided that this couldn't be. So he smothered the Glory, and incurred the wrath of the other Hours. The Firekeeper was almost destroyed, and humans were forever banished from the higher levels of the Mansus, the Wall blocking them from going any further than the wood. The Firekeeper's remains were used with what was left of the Glory to make the Second Glory, a crown that would be passed between Hours, giving them each a turn to rule with power.

The Breach

A long time passes after the Firekeeper, where humanity is augmented by minor occult power that is more well known than in some Fansii. But at some point in the later 20th century, humans decide to try and blow a hole in the Wall. Somehow, they succeed, and the following is a step by step account of what exactly happened:

1. The Hours were eager to get back into the Histories and resume business as usual. The moment they realized there was a way through the Wall, they pretty much dropped everything to try to be the first one through, or at least get through before their rivals did.
2. They didn't have a clear picture of what humanity was capable of. What little they knew of the Histories came from what they extracted from the members of the Lost Expedition they captured. The descriptions they were getting from the terrified humans they were torturing/assimilating/eating and all around mind-raping wasn't exactly clear. They've been locked up for milleniae, so they didn't have a frame of reference for what they were hearing outside what they knew. The ability to harness lightning in every home. Metal wands that shoot instant death. Metal steeds that come to life when humans sit in them, carrying them wherever they wish. They went in basically assuming they were fighting an if not equally powerful opponent, than one that was scarily close to it for what a cattle race was meant to be capable of.
3. Shock and Awe. The Hours wanted to send a message to the whole of mankind: The Gods are The Gods for a reason. After they almost instantly annihilated the first City they more or less realized as one they weren't on an even playing field. This just spurred them on. Their successes either emboldened them or they just figured they'd already come this far, so why stop now. The only thing scarier that Mob Mentality is divine mob mentality.
4. The Babylonians likely maneuvered themselves into positions of power where they could subtly prepare humanity for when their "masters" returned.
5. Military and private security presences were probably tipped of where to go and what to do to get the drop on a few of the Hours' forces, or had bases or wards placed atop sites sacred to certain Hours. Not enough to actually hurt the Hours, but enough of an unexpected struggle they started slowing down as they assessed their opponents.
6. This would be around the time one or two New Gods from Blood popped up from the fighting, so the Hours rapidly started losing steam.
7. This would come to a head when the Babylonians would effectively bluff the Hours into a ceasefire. (More on that under the Babylonians section)

The Roads In The Mansus

- There was a discussion on having Roads in the Mansus instead of doors, and in the end it was decided that the Mansus would be split into tiers.

       -In the first Tier, there is the wood and the Dream-City itself. 
       - In the second tier, newbie explorers of the frontier make their cash, travelling to the few unexplored places and finding valuables, then with the help of some Hour, establishing roads to this place.
      - In the third tier, experienced explorers make their cash. Very unexplored, very dangerous, very few roads. There are up to 5 famous roads leading to monuments/very valuable and safe areas, but explorers are still exploring off the beaten path. A lot of them die.
      - In the fourth tier, humans don't dare to explore, it's far to dangerous. This is the realm of Hours, places such as the Hunting Grounds are here. At minimum, brave/foolish Long explore here.
     - In the fifth tier, exploration is madness. Only Names and Hours and such walk here. Places like the Well and the Library are here.
    - There might be a sixth tier? Unclear. If there is, the Firekeeper's residence is here. The holy grail of explorers.

Since that discussion, a detailed layout of the Mansus has been drawn by Edward, with an accompanying explanation:

• First, we've got the small "Safe Zone" where the most humans are outside the Wood. It has numerous campsites and outposts, ranging in development from a handful of tents to enclaves built up approximately to the level the first City was. Mostly picked over for treasure already, but you can learn a bit of the early days of Mansus "pioneering" by going through the remains of the first campsites.

• The "Contested Zone" is as far as most Frontiersmen go. It's basically the front line in the ongoing battle between the Wild Gods and their servants and the Frontiersmen and their New Gods. Colonies and camps pop up seemingly overnight and vanish just as quickly, with the exception of some heavily fortified and divinely sanctioned exceptions. This is where most of the prospecting and looting gets done by the average Joe.

• The "Deep Frontier" is the domain of the Hours. Humans only travel here in large, heavily armed groups or send stealthy solo elites. Even then most don't come back. The really valuable stuff is found here.

• "Hour Territory" is self-explanatory. Most of the Wild Gods have their homes here, but not all. No one outside of the servants of the Wild Gods have seen this place and lived. Only secondhand accounts exist, and even those are considered vital intelligence.

The Hour- Touched

When the Wild Gods attacked the first City, not all humans were immediately slain. Those that survived the attack or were dreaming and witnessed the Hours' majesty in full were forever changed by the experience. Many were struck irrevocably mad on the spot, or given mutations that killed them almost as quickly as those in the City. But those who survived were... different. To be Principle or Hour-Touched is to have something that marks one as more than human. Glowing eyes, feathers for hair, scaled skin or a prediction towards uncooked meat. The affliction is not entirely accurately but most often described as being permanently bestowed with a Hour's Marks, with many of the drawback and privileges a normal Disciple or Exalt would usually receive.

The Touched tend to reside in the City, either by choice or to avoid persecution. For some their bizarre mutations are impossible to hide, and make them a target of persecution from normal humans and those who see them as minions of the Wild Gods. Others simply feel "at Home" in the Frontier, something in them telling them they no longer belong in the mortal world.

In addition to their appearances, Touched sometimes have strange abilities befitting the Principle they were changed to reflect. Grail-Touched are described as eerily beautiful or charismatic, even if their features would be on anyone else be considered disgusting. Lantern-Touched glow with unnatural light that none can hide from. These powers are varied and unpredictable, sometimes even dangerous to their wielders.

The Babylonians

- There was a discussion on a group of 8 Long came into existence in the time of the Firekeeper. We call them the Babylonians and the idea is that they follow a set of archetypes, and have taken the place of some historical figures.

    - During the Breach, the Long were the first and only line of defence against Hours. They manipulated behind the scenes so that humans were sort of, but not really, prepared for them. Hours were slowed down slightly by this, but not by much. 
    - Then the Long performed a ritual to sacrifice one of their members, the Priest, in order to punch an Hour (metaphorically) in the face, and give it a metaphorical black eye.
    - This happened to coincide with the destruction of a History. The Long bluffed their way into making the Hours believe that it was the Long which destroyed the History, and this made the Hours back off in surprise
    - Unfortunately for the Babylonians, this ritual cursed them to be scattered. Now they only exist in one History each, so they can never meet again.

- Babylonians we have so far:

The Warrior: Sun Wukong

The Charlatan: Coyote

The Priest: Sanzou Houshi

The Madman: Diogenes

The Doctor: Baba Yaga

The Wise Man: Merlin

The Ruler: Queen Victoria

The Outlaw: Morgan Le Fay

Humanity and the New Gods

- Around the time of the Breach/First Contact War, the New Gods ascended and started establishing themselves around the Breach. At least one example is the Boatman, maybe the Porter (I'm actually a little uncertain). These Hours now formed a proper line of defence against the Wild Gods, so their danger is lessened.

- A century passes after the war, humanity has recovered, and forayed into the Mansus. The current idea is that 1% of people in every major civilisation can get into the Mansus and with the help of Ed, we have described this has 'A melting pot of culture, the desperate, uber-rich, and the pious manage to get in, seeking fortune or glory in the Mansus'

- The Histories are all pretty different from each other. It's been decided that at least one of them is a magitech Cyberpunk civilisation.

The New Glory

The New Glory has been constructed out of the remains from the Old Glory, and part of the Firekeeper. It works as a crown for whichever Hour possesses it, giving them tremendous power. However, most of this power has to be used in order to keep the natural law, such as gravity, the rules of life, etc. What power is left over is still very powerful, but part of the New Glory's restriction is that it prevents whichever Hour is wielding it from both communicating effectively, and acting effectively. The Hour wielding the New Glory can only act in extremely broad strokes. In addition, the wielder of the New Glory takes a new, brighter form, and adds -in-Triumph to the end of their title.