The Memory

**The Memory** is the ancient magic of the Astari and the cornerstone of their civilization. It functions as a network of spiritual connections between different individuals, allowing them to share thoughts, feelings, experiences, teachings and skills. Upon the devastation of the Jupiter Incident, the Memory was scattered, forcibly relinquished from its previous wielders. It began to instead manifest in a more serendipitous manner among Io's new inhabitants. While not thoroughly documented or even understood, The Memory continues to connect disparate peoples across time and space, allowing rare glimpses into the lives of others.

## Description

The Memory is a mostly intangible and undetectable force that permeates across time, space and even different realities. In the vast majority of cases, only the individual can acknowledge their own Memory and it is often hazy and disjointed. Sometimes, it is merely a feeling. Occasionally, it is the faint voice of another echoing in their mind. And, rarest still, it is sometimes a jumble of visions, of people and events never seen by that individual, fragmented and fleeting. Many go their whole lives without experiencing any of the above, such is the ephemeral and immaterial nature of the Memory. In the very rare events when the Memory does manifest itself in the physical world, it is usually in the form of crystals of various coloration.

## History

It is unclear where the Memory originated, though it was likely conceived by the Astari themselves. Regardless of its origins, the Memory became integral to Astari society. Using its power, the Astari could pass down the experience and skills of their predecessors to the next generation. Holders of specific Memories usually held specific positions of influence in Astari civilization. The Keeper of Divinity, for example, was one of the leaders of Astari society as the bearer of the Memory of Divyana, who brought their people to Io in the first place.

When the Jupiter Incident wiped out the Astari, the collective Memory of its people became fragmented and sporadic. Despite this, the power of the Memory endured beyond the demise of its wielders. In their absence, it attuned itself to the new mortal races of Io created by the Auroran Federation. However, the new inhabitants of Io did not possess any control over its power, with many not even aware of its existence. The Memory itself also began to function differently. Unlike before, the Memory began to link completely unrelated individuals to one another seemingly at random. Such connections began to transcend both time and space, even across alternate realities. Though most of mortality had no realization of its power, they were sometimes afforded glimpses into the thoughts and feelings of others that they were connected with via the Memory.

Perhaps the most tangible influence the Memory had on Io was the scattered Memories of the Fallen Heroes. Upon the defeat of the gods DIV and VOID by these individuals, the world and all living creatures fell into a deep slumber. Upon awakening decades later, the people of Io were left completely unaware of what had happened. However, many of the awakened denizens began to experience fragmented sensations of the eight Fallen Heroes. These scattered echoes were used to piece together the story of the Fallen Heroes; who they were, why they fought and how they destroyed the gods and changed the world. This led to the creation of Io's new pantheon and aided mortality in moving on from the death of their former gods.

## Phase 2 Story

### The Magi

Though most of the former Astari people were trapped in the Shadow, two of their number found a way to escape. A pair of brothers were able to roam Io in a limited capacity by one of them manifesting as a travelling magical hut. The other would adopt the form of a cloaked man with ooze-like properties and would become known simply as "The Magi". The Magi's brother had been quite young when the Jupiter Incident occurred and was always fascinated by stories. To this end, the two brothers would travel around the world, with the Magi posing as a shopkeeper of magical wears. Rather than accepting payment, the Magi would ask his customers to do something a little more unusual.

As they roamed Io, the Magi was able to collect memories through the use of a large crystal in the center of the hut. By having his customers step onto a magic circle, he would recreate an illusion of that memory and pit it against his customers. The spectacle would delight his brother while also granting the hut power to travel and do more fantastical things. The Magi had frequent interactions with the Qethosian Warriors and the crew of the Miss Demeanor, which saw them fight several recreated memories in exchange for his services, including the most powerful and valuable memories of all; the final battles against the gods DIV and VOID.

### Flashes of the Past

Though the Memory was shattered, its presence would become felt on several distinct occasions, often as a reaction to external stimuli. While traveling in the Labyrinth Veil, a party of wizards crossed paths with the Champion of DIV, Bronn Luxprin, and his allies. Working together to escape the Veil to their respective destinations, the Veil appeared to react to Bronn's presence and the Memories of two of the wizards, Elenora Mordove and Tremmer Kushions. A crystalline dragon emerged and barred the party's way forwards. After it was felled, the dragon's corpse transformed into a massive gemstone. Within a Memory of the Fallen Hero Ven could be seen, outlining the slaying of a sacred dragon and the claiming of her ancestor's sword. The image left a sense of deja vu for Elanora and a deep sense of loss for Bronn, reminding him of a particularly troubling episode in his life.

Bronn Luxprin was later subjected to a similar experience not long afterwards. As they searched for the Ruby-Eyed Scepter, there was an altercation between Bronn Luxprin's party and the grandmaster of a VOID cult. The grandmaster was using a crystal containing the petrified arm of a Fallen Hero as a scrying tool. The party's sorcerer Sachi threw a Fireball at the crystal destroying it. However, the Fireball triggered a memory of a battle that once happened in the tower, where three hags attacked the Fallen Heroes that entered their domain. From the memory of Oswin, the Hero in question, simulacra of those same three hags manifested and attacked whoever they could find.

Dramatic as these events were, there were also smaller instances of the Memory affecting its bearers. Certain individual connected to the Fallen Heroes experienced dreams in which they felt the presence of that hero. For Mottle and Zehani, this only amounted to hearing the name of their respective heroes, Dokke Doldus and Theo. Alice, the Miss Demeanor's navigator, actually experienced Weyzi Uk'tah speaking to his after losing consciousness to an attack from a VOID corrupted creature. The Matriarch's voice told him to get up, and Alice awakened to find himself completely unharmed from the VOID energies, having drawn accidently upon Weyzi's resistance to VOID.

### The VOID Reborn

The return of VOID in Qethos was intrinsically tied to the Memory. At the Jaksu Academy, one of the professors, Hanio, realized the Academy's Headmaster, Shur, was connected to the Memory of Randall of the Fallen Heroes. Intrigued, she managed to extract part of his Memory through some unknown means. When the academy was finally abandoned, Hanio remained behind to watch over the facility and investigate the memory further. She was surprised by the return of her favorite student Sachi Ko and her new allies. While attempting to aid them, one of their number ,the young girl Petra, subconsciously interacted with the extracted Memory. Petra went to investigate, which caused her and her party to become trapped in a alternate plane constructed from the memories of Randall and others connected to him. Hanio theorized that this interaction was facilitated by Petra's own Memory, which connected her to that of Oswin. As they delved deeper, the group came face to face with one of Randall's greatest enemies: a Voidstar. However, unlike previous memories, the Voidstar had become self-aware somehow. During the ensuing fight, it successfully hijacked the bond between Petra and her guardian Terasolum, possessing the djinn. With Terasolum as its vessel, it escaped from the veil of memories, functionally resurrecting VOID as an active force once more.

### The Return of the Heroes

When the battle with Kaasma Khara tore open the sky barrier, a member of the Eight Lagos in another reality sought to enact his plan, releasing the corrupted Fallen Heroes he had abducted onto Io as deadly bioweapons. However, the medium he was using to do so, the Black Star, reacted in an unexpected manner. It summoned eight individuals across different realities, seven of whom were connected to one of the Fallen Heroes. The eight individuals, though many had not met before, had a strange sense of familiarity with one another. Together, they confronted Lagos in the Chapel of the Altered City of Atlas, where he revealed his suspicions regarding their presence there. With a final curse for the people of Io, he released the Fallen Heroes onto Io and then rapidly aged into dust. All the Heroes shifted to Io with the exception of Dokke Doldus, who engaged them in combat. When Dokke was subdued, the goblin Mottle was able to use the power of the Memory to cleanse the Fallen Hero of his corruption. This same technique was used by Alice and Kua against their respective Fallen Heroes Weyzi and Oswin, allowing them to be cleansed in the same manner.

### The Altered Chapel

Though most of the Black Star energy dissipated from the Altered Chapel of Atlas, a portion of it remained, permanently infused into the Chamber of the Eight. When parties of adventurers first came to the Altered City via the eight who it had summoned forth, they were directed to the Chapel by Manda the blacksmith. The adventurers could attune to the Chapel, which in turn awakened the power of the Memory within them. They rapidly witnessed events and emotions of those connected to them across time and space, including the last moments of the Astari people. This attunement also granted the individual a measure of power, allowing them to gain abilities possessed by those they were connected to. For example, Alice obtained the abilities of a holy knight who he had once met as a child, which he turned out to be connected to via the Memory. This awakening of the Memory also allowed connected individuals to communicate with one another via dreams, though such an event was seemingly random in nature. Kua was able to communicate with Petra this way, as was Leask Laell with three people connected to him that he had previously never met. In both instances, they were able to bestow the ability to travel to Atlas and attune to the Chapel themselves, awakening their Memories in turn.

### Masters of the Memory

During the Shadow Invasion, the crew of the Miss Demeanor and their allies battled Asmodeus, Lord of All Shadows, in the ruins of Asmodia. Though they held their own, the party had no way of banishing Asmodeus and slaying him was a near-impossible task. It was then that an apparition of Asmodeus' Astral self, Levin, appeared before them all. The apparition assured them that they were more than capable of defeating the Devil Lord, as they were masters of the Memory, just as the Astari had been. With this advice, Levin temporarily unlocked the full power of the Memory for the combatants. With this power, Io's defenders were able to utilize the powers of their allies and anyone connected to them. This proved to turn the tide in their favor, allowing the group to beat down the spiritual barrier maintaining Asmodeus' form. With a decisive blow, Captain Cornelius Armstrong channeled the magics of his crewmate Alice, banishing Asmodeus back to the Shadow and saving Io from the Devil's crusade.

## Uses

The Memory is difficult to control, and many of those connected to it end up tapping in to its power subconsciously. Connected individuals can use the Memory to communicate thoughts and feelings with one another, be it subconsciously or intentional. In at least one occasion, individuals have been able to converse through dreams, as seen with Sicily meeting those connected to her in her dreams. In the case of Lagos, his command of the Memory essentially creates a hive mind between him and his eight clones.

When attuned to the Altered Chapel, bearers of the memory gained the ability to draw upon the powers and skills of those they connected with, allowing them to utilize new abilities previously beyond them. During the final battle with Asmodeus, those present were able to access all the powers of their allies, even if they were not connected beforehand. However this was only possible due to the intervention of Levin, unexplained as his appearance was.

The Memory has also been seen to manifest in the physical world. The Magi uses the Memory to recreate battled fought by warriors across Io. The Tower Hags and the Crystalline Dragon were also manufactured simulacra inadvertedly brought to life through bearers of the Fallen Heroes' Memories. The Memory is also capable, to some extent, of recreating events and places. Levin was able to use the Memory to recreate his memories of his daughter, while the Memory of Randall in the Jaksu Academy recreated events he and his other connections had experienced. Perhaps the greatest example of the Memory's ability to recreate was in bringing the Voidstar back to life through the possession of Terasolum. The Memory of VOID was able to feel, think, rationalize and knew everything VOID knew, including his desire to live in his final moments.

The Memory also appears to have some connection to the Black Star though this connection is uncertain. The Black Star summoned individuals connected to the Fallen Heroes to the Altered City by exploiting the Memory. In addition, it was through the Memory that Alice, Mottle and Kua were able to purge the Black Star corruption from their respective Heroes. Whether these two phenomena act in tandem or in opposition is yet unclear.

## Mechanics

As a mechanic, The Memory links all of a player's characters together. Through this connection, those player characters are able to pass on information to one another, communicate via dreams and even borrow and share abilities. In addition, access to the Memory allows player characters to multiclass by drawing on the strength and skills of another that they were linked with.

## Trivia

* The Memory was hinted at throughout the series before it was officially codified. The first definitive evidence of its presence was in Arcane Academy Episode 9, where a vision of the Fallen Hero Ven was seen by Elenora Mordove.
* It is possible for individuals to be cut off from the Memory entirely. This was seen in the case of Jubilex, the transfigured Devil that was once Aria Wanderlust. The influence of the Shadow severed Aria from her other connections, as discovered by Sicily.
* The Memory of players are able to connect to non-player characters as well. This is seen in Headmaster Shur sharing a Memory with Sputtacus' characters. A possible second example is in the unconfirmed connection between JoeFudge's characters and Cherim, Levin's deceased daughter.