“Mysterious Warrant of Way”

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The Butcher

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I have no idea what I dreamt of last night but I woke up with this on my lips.

Exactly as worded above, in English (not my native language).

Let’s make this gameable.

I’m thinking of a map that compels those who read it. But what does it lead to? Just screams “nega-dungeon”, doesn’t it?

(And how’s that for the “muh MOTIVASHUN” crowd?)
 
A warrant officially allows you to do something, so perhaps a talisman that opens or allows access to various interdimensional portals?

Edit: So I edited this a bunch as I went and ended up saying exactly the same thing as Self Saboteur Self Saboteur :grin:
 
warrant
a(1)
: SANCTION, AUTHORIZATION
also : evidence for or token of authorization
(2)
: GUARANTEE, SECURITY
b(1)
: GROUND, JUSTIFICATION
(2)
: CONFIRMATION, PROOF


a
: a commission or document giving authority to do something
especially : a writing that authorizes a person to pay or deliver to another and the other to receive money or other consideration
b
: a precept or writ issued by a competent magistrate authorizing an officer to make an arrest, a seizure, or a search or to do other acts incident to the administration of justice
c
: an official certificate of appointment issued to an officer of lower rank than a commissioned officer
d(1)
: a short-term obligation of a governmental body (such as a municipality) issued in anticipation of revenue
(2)
: an instrument issued by a corporation giving to the holder the right to purchase the stock of the corporation at a stated price either prior to a stipulated date or at any future time

Way has a lot of definitions. I’m going to choose one of the more obscure ones, as in “the ways of gamers” - a culture, habit, or characteristic.

So the mysterious warrant of way would be the feeling of societal pressure you get, or the assurance of habit. You are not quite sure why you do practice whatever in this manner, but you feel like it has authority and you dare not question it. The feeling of ritual, of repetition, of behavior learned by repetition.
 
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The Way is the collection of semi-mystical practices to tap into the force that binds the universe. Among other abilities, the Way provides the limited precognition necessary to safely fly faster than light, and that is why Wayfarers are tolerated in the civilized parts of the galaxy, but they still have to register in the Wayfinding Ministry to obtain a Mysterious Warrant of Way.
 
The Way Net - pathways of exotic matter permitting travel between the major systems at apparent FTL speeds, building using now-long-lost technology.

Warrants - strange devices, by appearance featureless and perfectly smooth black cones, that grant access to the Way Net, or a portion of it. It is impossible to make new ones; they are vanishingly rare and priceless.

The Warrant in your possession was retrieved from a dead moon that lay in the path of a Core Wraith wave-front, snatched by you from the very jaws of a Wraith fleet's forward elements. But the Warrant permits travel only in a certain direction. It seems to be leading you towards the Orion Spur, which is conjectured to be the longest-settled part of the Galaxy, and may even be the location of the fabled Homeworld.

[Yes, I nicked this from Alastair Reynolds' "Merlin's Gun" stories, except he calls a warrant a Syrinx, it wasn't unidirectional, and the genocidal enemies are called Huskers. So at least I came up with something!]
 
A Warrant of Way are issued by the Order of Thoth that allows unrestricted access to a network of portals and nexuses that the mages maintain.

Portals
A portal is a pair of two slabs of obsidian the size of a human sized door. Once enchanted a black void appears on a side of one slab that connects to a black void on a side of the other slab. Afterwards anybody can step into the void of one slab and step out of the void of the other slab. Both voids can be stepped into and the traveler will appear at the other void stepping out. Momentum is conserved so anything entering a void at a high speed will exit at the same speed and direction. Unlike the Dimension Door spell there is no range limit to how far apart a linked pair of portals can be placed.

1705596463889.png

Nexuses
A nexus is a stone circle with inscribed runes 20 feet in diameter that has nine stone fonts surrounding it. Each of the fonts has a sigil carved on the side facing the center of stone circle. On top of each font is a carved recessed space large enough for a runestone to be placed within. This allows the nexus to be used as a teleportation device that can safely connect other nexuses.

The sigils on the sides of the fonts form a unique address for that nexus. Any other nexus with runestones carved with those sigils, and placed in the correct order on top of the font can teleport anything inside the stone circle to the nexus with the same address. Nexuses are built to form a network with each location having all the runestones needed to connect to the other nexuses. In theory any nexus can connect to any other nexus. However since you need the correct sigils in the correct order, the ability to connect is limited to whatever runestones are known or stored on-site.

1705596496256.png
 

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No one's ever sure if what they ask for is what they really wanted. But I had my chance, and I took it. So now they send me in first.

Impossible cases. Cold cases. Up against the deadline of a statute of limitations. Recalcitrant witnesses. Missing evidence. Sometimes I'm not even sure there's been a real crime, that the evidence was real, or even that the confession I get is genuine. By the time I'm done, it IS, and that's all that really matters, right? I'm on my way to the top of the leaderboard, and no one will ever catch me.

The gun? It's just for show. Never had to take it out. Never will. When I need to talk to someone, they talk. No one conveniently forgets details or can't speak my language. Once, I left a deaf-mute in tears, babbling his confession in front of a dozen people before going silent.

It's the Warrant. Blanket authorization. I rarely have to actually take it out. Announcing myself is usually enough.

I guess you could say I've got a Judge in my pocket. And no one really wants to read Their signature on the Warrant. Sure, there have been a few people who've made that mistake. Mostly lawyers. I guess that's why they assigned me a partner. To explain the... consequences of challenging the Warrant.

My first name? No one's ever asked that. It's Ernest. Most people just call me Detective Way.
 
The Mysterious Warrant of Way is a 3th-level spell for Barnums (a kind of trickster magi) in Meerkats and Mercators, a niche Nu-SR game of cute anthropomorphic mongooses exploring and mapping a fantasy world. (It's just under Disker's Floating Tense in the "Spells" chapter, if you're having trouble finding it). Casting the spell on a sheet of parchment makes anyone who views it think it is an authorization to enter or pass through anywhere, signed and countersigned by the highest possible authority the viewer knows of.
 
It keeps you safe while travelling the Old Forest. The beasts and spirits that haunt that place let you pass without so much as a growl. The paths are straight and don't turn back on themselves. Odd lights in the night stay well back in the deep growth.

Who issued the warrant? You don't know, but the signature gleams faintly in firelight. What hold do they have over the forest's denizens? You don't know, but even starving wolves won't look at you. Is it reliable? Maybe. It got you this far.
 
spittingimage said:
It keeps you safe while travelling the Old Forest. The beasts and spirits that haunt that place let you pass without so much as a growl. The paths are straight and don't turn back on themselves. Odd lights in the night stay well back in the deep growth.

Who issued the warrant? You don't know, but the signature gleams faintly in firelight. What hold do they have over the forest's denizens? You don't know, but even starving wolves won't look at you. Is it reliable? Maybe. It got you this far.
Click to expand...
Those were more or less my thoughts as well. Though I was thinking "a warrant that lets you get through a hostile space system in full Balkanisation"...which probably means it's got the stamp of a weapons-providing megacorp:shade:.
 
DornKratz said:
The Way is the collection of semi-mystical practices to tap into the force that binds the universe. Among other abilities, the Way provides the limited precognition necessary to safely fly faster than light, and that is why Wayfarers are tolerated in the civilized parts of the galaxy, but they still have to register in the Wayfinding Ministry to obtain a Mysterious Warrant of Way.
Click to expand...
Nice! I like this!
 
The Way is power beyond any other, imbedded in the sub-harmonics of the universe a Mysterious Warrant of the Way empowers people as agents of great law enforcement across the galaxy. They may not be 'official' to any specific government but if you face crime, tyranny, and other things there is a good chance that the empowered with the Warrant will come to help. The exact powers of the Warrant vary with each agent concerning their need and the situation they are called upon. Some bearers are quiet and hidden acting with subtle motions and a touch of power, others are bright and obvious champions calling on the Way to strike at foes, shatter strangleholds of criminal power, and hammer away the dark powers before them.
 
My wife and I have been getting into Cryptic Crosswords lately and I can't help trying to interpret this as a cryptic clue, and it's bugging me I can't come up with a sensible answer.
 
In my sci-fi game the Way is the most common term used for the notForce, so I could see a Mysterious Warrant of Way being a license from Star Force (notStarfleet) that allows its bearer to do Way stuff in civilised sectors without fear of repercussion.
 
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