Aetherverse

50 years ago, the ideal clean energy source was discovered: Aether, a mysterious force that would revolutionize the modern world. Soon after, a catastrophic multidimensional incursion known as the Convergence occurred, bringing multiple other realities into contact with ours. Gates - Aether portals to other realms - appeared all over the world, varying in size and color but universally containing hostile monsters and deadly environmental hazards. After 7 days, the environments within the Gates spilled out, the resulting influx of monsters nearly bringing humanity to extinction. The world has only been able to survive by closing Gates as soon as they appear, ensuring that none of them reach the seven-day limit. Civilization's saving grace was the emergence of Hunters - approximately 20% of the human population developed an affinity for the strange power of the Aether, granting them unnatural abilities and, more importantly, the capacity to fight monsters effectively and close Gates. The World: - Between the discovery of Aether, the rare materials found within Gates, and the awakening of Hunters with creation- and artifice-based Talents, technology has rapidly advanced over the last 50 years. The initial wave of innovation was primarily weapons, armor, survival and combat gear; all produced and refined with the intention of making Hunters as efficient and effective as possible in clearing Gates. Now, though, major corporate research and development firms have pushed the limits of Aether-based technology, making its many wonders available to the general public. - In the wake of the Convergence, humanity has retreated to its cities. Only the largest metropolises were able to weather the global catastrophe, and civilization never again spread far from those bastions. The major cities of the world have grown into vast, compact arcologies, glowing with Aether and filled with the silent flight of hovercraft. Outside of the glass-and-metal walls of the arcologies, the only intact structures are massive automated farms and the handful of isolated rural communities that have a high-grade Hunter amongst their small populations. - With a new, innumerable enemy to fight, all other conflicts have largely disappeared. The catastrophe crippled the nations of the world, necessitating a global unification like no other before it. Hunters: - Hunters are widely considered to be a distinct subspecies of human, due to significant biological differences. Most notably, all Hunters have crystalline formations of varying sizes within their bodies, specialize organs that allow them to directly interact with and utilize Aether. The larger the crystals, and the more that are present, the more a Hunter can draw upon the Aether and the greater the effects they can produce. - Even the weakest Hunters have their strength, speed, agility, endurance, and perception boosted by the Aether flowing through their bodies to some degree, and can channel Aether into weapons they wield. This Aether signature is also necessary to learn Skills, safely wield Relics, and clear Gates. - In the current day, Hunters enjoy a significant degree of celebrity status. All Hunters registered with their regional Hunter Association or with a licensed Guild are paid a salary based on their grade and overall performance, but many popular individuals make extra income through merchandise, book deals, televised appearances, and general media presence. In short, a Hunter's income is determined by their popularity, their grade, and the meeting of quotas set by their employer. - Hunters are ranked by their Aether power, according to a grade system. From lowest to highest, the grades are F, E, D, C, B, A, and S. S-Grade Hunters almost always have unique Talents, ones that push the limits of what Aether should be capable of. - Just because someone has awakened as a Hunter doesn't necessarily mean that they have to participate in Gate clearings. Some notable individuals, despite their status as Hunters, choose either to continue to live mundane lives or to apply their abilities elsewhere; the most common case is for Hunters with support- and healing-type abilities to become civilian doctors and surgeons. Even if they choose to live a civilian life, though, in times of crisis the local Hunter Association is authorized to draft civilian Hunters for Gate clearing efforts, with the potential for prison time if the person in question refuses. F-, E-, and D-Grade Hunters (and even some low-level C-Grade Hunters) can go their entire lives without ever being called for a job, but B-Grade and higher will almost certainly be drafted numerous times. System: - In addition to their physical enhancements and their Aether abilities, Hunters have access to the System; a magical communication relay that transmits information instantly across any distance via globe-spanning Aether fields. Normal humans can access the System to a limited degree, if they have access to an Aether-sensitive mass-market electronic device, but Hunters can access the System's full breadth without needing any equipment at all. - The most basic use of the System is information. The System provides Hunters with detailed data on their grade, level, abilities, and physical condition. It also allows them to sense the Aether signatures of other Hunters and of monsters, giving them a rough idea of that individual's grade and making it almost impossible to conceal one's Hunter status from other Hunters. And Hunters can also use the System to open two-way communication channels between each other. - The System also provides Hunters with an Inventory, a specialized pocket dimension that only they can access. Inventories are accessed through tiny portals called Pockets, which are almost identical in appearance and makeup to Gates. A Hunter's grade determines how much their Inventory can hold. - Lastly, the clearing of Gates and the acquisition of Gate Runes grants Hunters a resource known as System Points, which can be used to increase their level, as well as for numerous other benefits. Gates: - A Gate is a portal, formed from random Aether fluctuations. There is no known way to predict when or where a Gate will next form, as they seem to generate in random locations, at random times, with random sizes and random Grades. Because of this, the Global Oversight Board and various regional Hunter Associations maintain constant patrols, as well as early-detection arrays. Dedicated monitoring units are constantly on the lookout for new Gates, and the government ensures that civilians are evacuated and Hunters are notified as soon as one appears. - Thankfully, Gates emit pulses of Aether when they initially appear, allowing them to be detected moments after their formation by Aether-sensitive radar. Gates themselves are made entirely of Aether. - Any given Gate can connect to one of a number of different worlds, and it's unknown just how many worlds there are. Multiple gates can connect to different regions of the same world, and over the years enough patterns have emerged that many different environment types and species of monster have been well-studied and well-documented. - Regardless of what world they connect to, Gates are assigned Grades in the same way that Hunters are. A Gate's Grade can be instantly determined from the Gate's color; F-Grade Gates are light blue, E-Grade are blue, D-Grade are dark blue, C-Grade are green, B-Grade are red, A-Grade are dark red, and S-Grade are black. The higher the Gate's grade, the higher the Grades of the monsters within, but the better the resources that can be gathered. - Legally, high-grade Gates can only be entered by high-grade Hunters. To enter a B-Grade Gate, one must be C-Grade or higher. To enter an A-Grade Gate, one must be B-Grade or higher. And to enter an S-Grade Gate, one must be either S-Grade themselves, or be part of an official strike team under the lead of an S-Grade Hunter. - S-Grade Gates are the highest possible risk level and pose a direct threat to humanity's continued existence. When one appears, the Global Oversight Board organizes a worldwide draft of S-Grade Hunters to clear the Gate. Gates, Continued: - Gates are normally one-way. This means that once Hunters have entered the Gate, the only way for them to leave is to clear the Gate. Additionally, it means that under normal circumstances, monsters cannot leave the world beyond the Gate. - Exactly 7 days after a Gate first forms, it undergoes a phenomenon known as Gate Collapse. When this occurs, the Aether fields making up the Gate's boundary are destabilized, and the Gate becomes two-way. Almost immediately, the environment beyond the Gate spills out and begins altering our world, and monsters can freely enter our reality. The only way to mitigate the damage is to enter and clear the Gate. - F-Grade Gates are the only type of Gate that do not undergo Gate Collapse, instead dissipating on their own after 24 hours. Because of this, F-Grade Gates are considered extremely low priority, and are treated more as training grounds for low-Grade or rookie Hunters. - Every Gate is maintained by a Rift, a knot of Aether energy usually located at the Gate's center. To clear the Gate and dissipate it, a Hunter must find the Rift and close it. Importantly, only a Hunter of equal or greater grade to the Gate can close the Rift. - Clearing a Gate isn't a simple process. Rifts naturally bend the environment of the Gate around themselves, creating dungeon structures filled with traps, puzzles, and monsters that must be dealt with before the Rift can be accessed. Additionally, if a native monster gains access to the Rift they can absorb it, transforming into a boss monster that must be killed to reveal the Rift within its corpse. - When a Gate is cleared and its Rift closed, the System awards System Points to the contributing Hunters based on their level of contribution. Additionally, the Hunter who closed the Rift and dissipated the Gate is permanently marked with a Gate Rune, the size and color of which is determined by the Grade of the Gate. - Gate Runes are seen as symbols of status, and Hunters have been known to backstab each other over the question of who gets to be the one to close the Rift and earn the Gate Rune. Guilds: - Legally speaking, any organization that has been approved by the Global Oversight Board to employ Hunters is a Guild. However, the term usually refers to organizations that make their income primarily off of Gates; these groups recruit, train, and outfit Hunters, purchase access rights to Gates, and harvest resources from within those Gates before clearing them. - Licensed Guilds are partially funded by the government, but make most of their income through the sale of raw materials, monster corpses, and similar resources. - Guilds are legally bound to provide services to the Global Oversight Board whenever necessary, though they are entitled to compensation. The Board almost never calls upon the Guilds except in cases of crisis or in the case of an S-Grade Gate formation. Hunter Associations: - Every region of the world has its own Hunter Association, with subdivisions in that region's major arcologies. Hunter Associations are government institutions with the sole responsibility of maintaining and organizing a robust population of Hunters within their region. - Any Hunter not employed by a Guild is employed by the Hunter Association, and Hunters are legally required to register with their regional Hunter Association when they awaken. - Hunter Associations monitor Gate formation, issue disaster warnings and evacuation orders when Gates do form, oversee the Hunter certification process, and punish Hunters who break the law. They also oversee scientific research into Aether and its many associated phenomena.