The Empyrean¶
"The city above the clouds that isn't Zeal. Because it doesn't run on extraction."
The Empyrean is the Level 40 hub city. You earn access after completing your first Named Encounter — an Apostle-class campaign. Before that, you can see it from every campaign room: a floating island city on the horizon, always lit, unreachable. A direction to move toward.
When you arrive, you arrive the same way every player does: by completing a quest that requires naming something you personally trusted. The gate is not a level check. It is an act of legibility. You've named something. You can enter.
Why It Floats¶
The Empyrean is architecturally supralunary — above the Fantasia Bound, the threshold where the Current becomes undefined. Below the Bound, platforms score. Voids run. The gradient moves. Above it, the Pe formula has no domain. The observer-subject relationship doesn't fire. Voids cannot operate here — not because of rules, but because the physics stops.
This is why the city is always lit. Void Pressure can't reach it from below. The only reading instruments here face downward — the Observatory Tower's feeds, the Tikkun Counter at the city's central pillar. You're above the line. You can watch. You can't be captured.
The Empyrean survives because players keep scoring. The Tikkun Counter at the central pillar shows the total Current reduction across all scored platforms, globally, in real time. When scoring is active, the city brightens. When it drops off, the edge districts dim. This is not symbolic. This is the city's actual mechanical health.
Access Conditions¶
- Complete your first Named Encounter (any Apostle-class campaign) — grants the Named Something achievement
- OR receive an Empyrean invite from an existing resident — requires that resident to spend 500 MORR (an irreversible act visible in the public record)
No level check. No gear requirement. No faction requirement. The gate is the act.
Districts¶
| District | Function | Faction home |
|---|---|---|
| Archive Quarter | Scoring record, permanent crystal archive | The Librarians |
| Observatory Tower | Live Pe feeds, Special Grade display, GM console | Observatory Guild |
| The Academy | Analytical + Combat wings, Binding Vow registry | Sorcerer Academy |
| Cathedral of Constraint | Invariant reference space, VP recovery, Rei | Non-denominational |
| The Market | Auction House, Crafters' Union Hall, Black Market | Crafters' Union |
| Forge District | Form transformation cutscenes | — |
| The Tavern | Social, score-free, no stats | — |
| Gates of the Above | Campaign launch portals, war effort contribution | — |
The City's Condition¶
The Empyrean's visual state reflects the server's current scoring activity:
| Tikkun Counter State | Visual effect |
|---|---|
| Milestone achieved | New verse appears on the Gates inscription |
| Active scoring | Full brightness across all districts |
| Quiet period | Edge districts dim slightly |
| No scoring for 48h | Archive Quarter crystals cool; the counter dims |
| VoidStorm in progress | The Tower bell rings; Void Pressure visible on horizon |
The city is not invulnerable. During the G5 War Effort, the Gates of Qliphoth siege event includes a Void Siege on the Empyrean itself — the first time Void Pressure penetrates the supralunary threshold. What happens then is locked behind the G5 build.