User talk:Nabhan Ralph

Introduction Rift is a newly discovered mineral, naturally found in the form of veins in granite but can also be found crystallizing on other forms of organic material.

Mythological Origins Little is known about the Rift other than what is mentioned in the forbidden tomes found in the remnants of an ancient Mt. Tsukuba temple: The texts talk of Ame-no-Nuhoko, the spear Izanami and Izanagi used to stir the primeval seas, describing it as incrusted with jewels of spellbinding aura. Strings of Tyrian purple and stellar yellow gems radiating with a soothing breath-like glow, wrap around the spear like veins, until the Chidome, and feed Ame-no-Nuhoko with the power to "congeal water into mountains, and turn salt into fertile soil". The gems consummated their union, and they birthed trees, mountains, worlds and Gods, but eventually, even Izanami and Izanagi weren’t immune to the influence of the Rift, and so Izanami died and their bond was forever broken, sworn to be apart for eternity, each holding on to their dwindling lifelines; Izanami to a kanzashi1 of faden purple flakes and Izanagi to his weathered golden haori-himo2 (1. A hair ornament used in traditional hairstyles ; 2. A tasseled string made to fasten the haori, an open jacket-type garment worn over a kimono, giving it a more formal appearance).

The veins of gems are said to be woven into the mountain itself, each hidden inside the granite shell of one of the twin peaks, forever apart as a symbol of the divine divide. No mortal is ever supposed to join the two together again, for it is within the liminal space between them that the balance of the world resides, and is maintained.

Types of Rift Purple Rift This is the first type of Rift to be discovered and the most common variety of the mineral as it forms quickly and adheres to a large variety of organic materials. It is generally safe to handle but advisable to keep away from strong electromagnetic fields and high levels of radiation. Under the right conditions, Purple Rift can crystallize and grow, though naturally-occurring conditions rarely yield a potent product.

Yellow Rift This is the rarest type of Rift and only found in trace amounts adhering to shards of Purple Rift, or leftover in Depleted Rift. It is assumed to be hazardous to handle without appropriate equipment due to its highly unstable magnetic pull. Above ground conditions are not favorable to the formation of Yellow Rift and is therefore deposits are only found in subterranean granite.

Depleted Rift Those are shards of depleted purple and yellow Rift scattered around the mountain, remnants from thousands of years before. Their energy is weak but they are still a valuable resource. The players can find them out in nature, growing on rocks and tree branches, or in caches hidden around the campsites and outposts of local guards. Collecting them inside a special container insures safe storage and players receive more points the greater the amount collected.

Iridescent Rift Occasionally, players can come across an iridescent type of Rift: This is depleted Rift that didn’t break up and stores more energy than the purple and yellow ones. It glows under ultra-violet light (?)

Reaction Purple and Yellow Rift possess strong magnetic fields of opposite polarity and violently attract when in close proximity. The Rift deposit inside Mt. Tsukuba is thought to be in a joint state, or otherwise an extremely fragile liminal state.

Separated State While separated, the magnetic fields of Purple and Yellow Rift are comparable to those of powerful Neodymium magnets or electromagnets found on Earth. In this state, it is theoretically possible to extract the energy stored inside a fragment, and once the energy is depleted the fragment becomes neutral and loses its magnetism. Thus far, extraction methods - including experiments in harvesting the energy for storage or use - have thus far been unsuccessful, resulting in a total loss of the energy and its dissipation in the form of radiation and heat. Numerous reports of extensive damage to testing facilities - namely one involving a certain particle accelerator - have prevented accurate studies of the nature of the energy and the development of advanced extraction protocols.

Joint State As two fragments of opposite polarity get attracted to each other, their pull becomes increasingly and exponentially larger. In this state, the Rift can act on substances at a molecular level heavily exciting any iron molecules and possibly resulting in a change in the physical and chemical properties of the substance. Little is understood about this phenomenon, as the magnetic behavior of the minerals does not mimic that of other substances found on Earth. The bond is hypothesized to be almost unbreakable, and the energy contained in a fragment of joint Rift too great to harvest safely.

Liminal State Purple and Yellow Rift can also be found separately in what is referred to as a Liminal state. It is an unstable state for the Rift to be in but provides safer conditions to handle and study the mineral. This state may be reached if two samples of Purple and Yellow Rift are within a specific distance from each other, at which they simultaneously experience attractive and repulsive forces that keep them in that state. This balance is fragile and the Rift eventually succumbs to one of the two forces, and becoming either joint or separated.

Magnetic Pole Reversal The magnetic activity of joint Rift is subject to a cycle of around 800 years, at the end of which it experiences a reversal of the polar fields; their magnetic fields gradually disappear and are subsequently replaced by a field of the opposite polarity. The reversal renders the Rift naturally unstable, and is also considered a liminal state during which the poles are vulnerable and can be more or less safely neutralized.