Overview
Relics are mysterious objects scattered throughout Postremo Limine, capable of granting unique powers, traits, or abilities to those who wield them. Their origins remain uncertain, and even the most advanced factions have failed to fully explain the rules that govern them.
Definition
Relics are objects that contain powers incapable of true recreation within Postremo Limine. Technology, magic, and ritual craft may imitate certain relic effects, but never perfectly. Each relic possesses something beneath its form that meshes directly with the laws of the world.
Relics can appear in countless shapes: weapons, tools, ornaments, armor, books, vessels, charms, or even ordinary objects such as plates, keys, mirrors, or coins. Their appearance does not always reflect their power.
Magical items have their own base mana source, and some can draw environmental mana. That feature alone does not make an item a relic: the distinction concerns the nature of its power, rather than simply whether it stores mana. See Magic and Mana for magical item sources, casting methods, and mana costs.
The Eternal Order maintains its citadel Node through a Relic that requires its leader to remain seated in a chair. The faction's Ethereal Coins and rebirth machinery operate within a system dependent on that citadel. This limited means of returning members to life does not prevent soul corruption or establish that the sustaining Relic's power can be reproduced.
History
Relics have shaped Postremo Limine since its earliest recorded eras. Wars have been started, won, and ended through the use of powerful relics. Entire factions have risen because of a single artifact, while others collapsed after losing one.
A faction’s strength is often measured not only by its territory or soldiers, but by the relics it controls. Some ancient rumors even claim that Postremo Limine itself began with a relic, though no surviving record has proven this.
Rules / Limitation
Relic power varies greatly. Some relics provide minor convenience or small enhancements, while others can alter the course of battles, reshape social orders, or threaten entire safe zones.
Relics are notoriously difficult to destroy. When a relic is broken, some believe its power is not truly lost, but reabsorbed by Postremo Limine until the world releases it again in a different or similar form.
Modifying a relic is considered nearly impossible. While some relics may grow, awaken, or reveal deeper layers of power, deliberate alteration is almost unheard of.
Relic Types
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Normal Relics | Found throughout Postremo Limine. These relics can be looted, traded, stolen, inherited, or collected. Their effects range from minor enhancements to highly dangerous abilities. |
| Library Relics | Granted during the Library Gate ritual. These relics are soul-bound and non-transferable, forming the foundation of a person’s initial power arc. Almost all Divers possess a Library Relic. |
| Cursed Relics | Relics that appear similar to normal relics, but inflict a curse upon activation. These curses may be permanent or semi-permanent, and the relic often cannot be unequipped or abandoned without special intervention. Effects range from minor burdens to soul-corrupting parasitism. |
Relic Tomes
Only Relic tomes can grant knowledge directly without requiring study. This ability belongs to their particular Relic power; ordinary and enchanted magical books must be studied. Enchanted books can be reproduced through a suitable skill or spell, while Relic powers remain incapable of true recreation. See Grimoires and Mystic Tomes for magical texts, reproduction, and spells that require a book during casting.
Usage / Role in Society
Relics are a key part of life within Postremo Limine. Safe zones collect them, factions hoard them, merchants trade them, and Divers risk their lives to recover them from unstable regions.
For Divers, relics are both tools and status symbols. Most begin with a Library Relic, but skilled or successful Divers may acquire additional normal relics over time. A Diver’s reputation is often shaped by the relics they carry and how well they can use them.
Cultural Impact
Because cursed relics exist, most experienced Divers avoid using newly discovered relics immediately. Unknown relics are often inspected, tested, sealed, or sold before activation. Even then, mistakes happen.
Relics inspire awe, greed, fear, and obsession. To some, they are gifts from Postremo Limine. To others, they are traps, recycled fragments of power, or remnants of souls that were stripped upon entry into the world.
Known Theories
One theory claims that relics are powers taken from souls when they enter Postremo Limine, later reshaped into physical form and scattered throughout the world.
Another theory suggests that relics are discarded fragments from other worlds, dumped into Postremo Limine and forced to adapt to its laws.
No theory has been proven.