Great Mysteries

> *"There's a why and a how and a where...basically the whole story of our little group."*
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> *"And you guys just have no idea?!"*
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> *"We rarely ever do."*
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> --**Tenebris** to **Lillith** in **"What Now?"**
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The story of KingdomFall is an epic, an Iliad in it's own right that tells of how the world plunged into chaos. At the center of these events, a group of Deciders made history. These heroes sought their fame, won their glory, and suffered the lion's share of grief and hardship every step of the way, but in doing so they revealed several ancient inquiries left to slumber beneath the sands of history itself. Questions unanswered and forgotten that were stumbled upon, tripped over and otherwise unveiled in any number of graceless fashions. But while there are those who believe that the events of KingdomFall changed the world, the fact of the matter is that it scarcely scratched the surface. And when the dust settled, many of the Deciders had fewer answers than when they started, to questions nobody had ever bothered to ask. Would they learn the truth, and if they did, would it ever bring them any margin of peace?

## Origins

Great Mysteries are those that have evaded the harsh illuminations of truth, histories greatest secrets, some of which can even date back to a time when the written word simply hadn't been born yet. Inquiries so ancient that the full measure of their validity may well be lost to the ashes of time, even for the most scrupulous investigators. Great Mysteries are named so because the answers are often tinged with legend and wonder, hard truths, truths that can, in some instances, unravels ideologies and unhinge institutions. To learn the answers to a Great Mystery often imbues the discoverer with knowledge unlike any other brand.

During the continuity of KingdomFall, several Great Mysteries were unveiled by Deciders from all the varying factions. These quizzical possibilities hummed with the suggestions of something great, something that if learned, would put Heroes and Villains on paths they scarcely thought possible beforehand. However as is the way with such elusive lore, many Great Mysteries remain unsolved up to the current canon of KingdomFall, some being but a threadbare tug from unraveling fully, others still requiring research and tireless scouring of whereabouts unknown. Below are records of some of the Great Mysteries, found but not yet answered by the Deciders in their adventures. Their power lies in obscurity, and their gravity lies in discovery.

### **The Thirteen**

#### **Status: Unsolved**

Isaac Malcolm Sterling, one of the central most protagonists, is a paradoxical entity in the world of Kingdomfall. A living entity allegedly split into thirteen different iterations, whether these different duplicates were a single man of the same identity at one point, or if each iteration came to exist through unknown means, is not known at this time. Each of these iterations demonstrated self awareness upon first being encountered, with each instance expressing shock and disbelief at the notion of having dopplegangers. To date no version of Isaac ever claimed to have a twin sibling and it is not understood how each instance could be born in different time periods and locale while still maintaining a semblance of each's personality. At the time of writing, ten of the thirteen iterations have been uncovered by the Deciders, currently scattered through smaller factions from Heroes and Villains alike, some instances are currently deceases within reasonable belief.

* **Isaac Malcolm Sterling***(Prime Source, considered the "Original")*
* **Crooked King Sovereign***(Enhanced, current vessel of Cromwell's Gate)*
* **Caais***(Prime Source, the Nobody of "Original" Isaac, currently deceased)*
* **Dr. Sterling***(Enhanced, Bastard of House Isbellmor, Physician)*
* **Dark Isaac***(Abomination, Spawn of Tenebris's Corruption, MIA)*
* **Isabella Sterling***(Enhanced, Only known female iteration, MIA)*
* **Nova Isaac***(Artificial Arbiter, a true copy of "Original" Isaac, Knows the Truth)*
* **The Rage***(Prime Source, a Paradox created through Alchemy, currently deceased)*
* **The Stranger***(Abomination, hijacked the corpse of Dark Isaac from an alternate timeline)*
* **Isaac***(Enhanced, believed to be the past self of Sovereign, MIA)*

Each iteration is thought to be necessary in preventing a great cataclysm, the circumstances of which Damien neglected to share. Regardless it is described as being a more "concrete end" than The Long Night by far, it is unknown what each instance will do once collaborated or how the deceased versions will affect the outcome. What is known thus far is that each iteration proves to be their own man(or woman) for all intents and purposes, having lives and goals separate and isolated from those of their counterparts. Despite never having met each other prior to KingdomFall, The Thirteen display certain similarities that undeniably contribute to their nature as a paradox.

* Similar physiology exhibited across the spectrum, notable exceptions being Dark Isaac's superior height compared to the rest and Isabella's contrasting lack of height. Among the male instances there is also a remarkable likeness in respect to facial structure and hair, disregarding preferences towards how they style the latter.
* Uncanny personality resemblance indicative of near identical psychological response screenings, of the iterations who were subjected to an examination most all of them answered similarly with regards to questions that gauged mental bearing and other esoteric concepts such as emotions, morals, and judgement. Despite this smaller quirks are exhibited throughout the group presenting a strong case of conflicting personality types in other fields, the end result being an inconclusive determination on Nurture or Nature molding the iterations. Dr. Faust's final thoughts on the matter were neatly summarized by concluding that "they are all the same soul where it counts, but life has fashioned them into their own people at every turn."
* Strangely enough every instance studied exhibited podophilia.

### **Truth**

#### **Status: Unsolved**

There is a great and powerful source of untapped power, believed to be fractured in seven "shards" that can only be perceived by those with exceptional visual prowess. If one were to assemble all the fragments by learning of them through visions, it is presumed that this knowledge would empower the wielder beyond comprehension. Each shard represents a small sliver of the big picture, all seven proving to be relatively useless without it's counterparts. To the ends of uncovering this secret Tenebris has scoured the world over with the use of an ancient and powerful set of instruments, whilst The Hegemon similarly hunts for the answers by tapping into the memories and knowledge of the Deciders in the past. At the time of writing, four of the seven shards have been "found".

* **Blame**
* **Regret**
* **Unity**
* **Guilt**

For the most parts these shards have illuminated some of the mysteries acting behind the scenes of KingdomFall, such as the nature of Arbiters and the self fulfilling prophecy of The Long Night, it is still believed all the same that gathering the shards will reveal a truth unlike any other.

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### **The Ghost Girl/Phantom Pestilence**

#### **Status: Unsolved**

Lillith is the Nobody of Aqua, the wife of Tenebris, a Hero amongst the Deciders, and an utter mystery when viewed through the lens of the scientific community. She was created following a psuedo death experience endured by Aqua herself, the process unfolding much in the way any Nobody's birth would occur. Physically Lillith is the mirror image of Aqua, albeit with darker hair and slightly fairer complexion, although the latter could be attributed to her transformation through Corruption. The nature of the mystery in this case stems from her existence, where as a Nobody typically is birthed from the death of a strong willed human or humanoid entity. However Aqua survived her brush with death and Lillith came into the world all the same, demonstrating a rare occasion in which the Nobody and the "Somebody" were alive at the same time, a circumstance that had only occurred three times prior to this event in known history. Caais and Isaac Sterling represent the other side of this anomaly, although it is never explicitly learned when or how Caais came to exist. Previous instances of this phenomenon were determined to have transpired due to the fractured heart of someone residing in the body of another person, when said person suffered a near death experience, the fractured heart inhabited the body of a Nobody instead of using the original victim's heart. This presents several potential scenarios.

* Both Aqua and Isaac had another vestigial heart within themselves when their Nobodies were formed, ensuring that these hearts were used for the creation of their respective Nobodies. The result being that Caais and Lillith were in fact humans before they met an untimely fate, being reborn as Nobodies.
* Aqua and Isaac both presented unique circumstances being Prime Sources during their near death experience, this requires the birth of Caais to be after Isaac's own transformation however, a detail that is not known at this time.

Current standing theories strongly support the latter over the former, as Caais and Lillith are the spitting image of their original forms, possess detailed memory based accounts of their respective past lives, and can even assume the tone of voice and speech patterns of said parties with enough concentration. Each of the Nobodies also possesses niche quirks associated with the personalities of their old selves, further reinforcing the notion that they are truly the Nobodies of Isaac and Aqua. This leaves the primary concern associated with this mystery to be thus, that the unknown is not whether they are truly Nobodies of their old selves, but rather how they came to exist at the same time as the "Somebodies" they came from.