Neon Aethel
In the year 2242, the integration of arcane magic and human cybernetics birthed a new era of hyper-capitalist dystopia. The sky is permanently choked by smog, illuminated only by the neon glow of the Megacorps who hoard the world's remaining leylines.
Rules of Reality
Synthetic Mana
Magic cannot be drawn from nature. It must be purchased in the form of synthetic mana batteries and injected directly into casting implants.
Cyber-Sickness
Elven biology naturally rejects chrome. Implants in Elves require heavy, expensive immunosuppressants.
Species & Powers
Street-Forged Humans
Highly adaptable and heavily modified, they make up the bulk of the workforce and street gangs.
High-Elf Executives
The incredibly wealthy upper echelon. They rely on pure, uncorrupted magic rather than cybernetics.
Key Locations
The Undercity Sludge
The lowest levels of Neon Aethel, entirely devoid of natural light. Lawless, dangerous, and home to black-market ripperdocs.
The Ley-Spire
The towering headquarters of OmniCorp, built directly on top of the planet's last pure magical leyline.
The Neon Terraces
Mid-city's stacked pleasure districts: noodle stalls, spell-tattoo parlours and rain that never reaches the ground. Everyone here owes someone above and exploits someone below.
The Mirror Docks
Chrome-flooded freight piers where data and contraband arrive in the same crates. The water below reflects neon perfectly, hiding what swims beneath it.
The Skyrail Ring
The elevated transit loop that stitches mid-city together, its carriages running on tithed leyline charge. Above it, corporate air-lanes; below it, everyone else's whole life.
Blackout Row
A district OmniCorp de-powered for unpaid arcana bills, now lit by bottled spells and burning bin-glyphs. The Front runs a free leyline tap on every corner; the Choir runs the corners.
The Datafall
A sheer face of the Ley-Spire where discarded data cascades as glowing rain into the mid-city, scavenged by sieve-priests and identity thieves. Standing under it too long changes your dreams.
History
The Silicon Ascension
2088
The First Integration — The first successful bonding of a spell matrix to a cybernetic nervous system.
2105
The Leyline Wars — Megacorps went to war over the control of the earth's natural mana fonts.