The techno-mage

"It's disgusting to see myself labelled as a murderer. Not because it's untrue, the word itself just shines a negative light on my area of expertise. Instead, think of it as advanced tumour removal. Every cluster of useless cells that decide to stand in my way gets a piece of searing sunlight through their frontal lobe. It's a delicate process to cut out the meaty road to the future without pissing off those left behind, but if I'm the only one willing to do it then so be it. I run a very important book delivery service after all."


Nef is a prime example of what happens when technological prowess is developed before its time. Though more than that, she is a symbol of the path where spellcasting and technology meets. After painfully translating the book she constantly keeps strapped on her, Nef developed transmutation lenses, which are the closest humanity has ever gotten to an existing version of the Philosopher's stone.

Previously, changing energy from one form to another was reserved to spellcasters. With a transmutation lens, any energy that can be contained and pushed through the lens converts in the same manner, granting someone with zero casting potency such as Nef the ability to stand up against mages. While it could help humanity immensely to get a hold of her tech, Nef mostly keeps it to herself, knowing that the majority of the human race is far too stupid to not destroy themselves in the resulting power struggle. She must wait for a time when the world is tranquil enough to handle her gift.

Until then, she's focusing on gathering knowledge on the locations outside the known world that a normal human can reach. This means pulling it from the deep-fried grip of whatever unfriendly faction holds on to it. Nef never intended to keep her book. She's used it up, and knows that its original owner would be happy to trade it for another one.


Some details:

The rifle:

Works by funnelling electricity stored in a drum under the rifle through a lens in the barrel, which then transmutes it to whatever missile-shaped energy form it has been set to. While the shot's energy type, composition, and shapes are limited only by resource usage and the creator's fantasy, Nef pretty much only uses it to shoot compressed heatwaves. The stump nozzle version seen above is adjusted for spraying short-distance cone fire, effective at eliminating groups of enemies in close-combat situations. Previously she's been using the long-barrel version, trading the before mentioned perks for a long-distance laser-esque sniper shot capable of eliminating distant enemies with surgeon-like precision.

The prosthetics:

Works by converting nerve signals through a lens in her knees into electrical ones, which control the legs. Smaller movements use electricity from an energy cell behind her shins as power. Stronger and faster movements are fueled by tanks of compressed air that push the pistons running down her legs into the joints. The legs seen above is the "thumper" version, equipped with a triple joint design for mobility (early designs show this more clearly), a shock piston in her feet to kick holes through walls or people, and heavy armour. All of this is to compliment the close combat concept that her "heat shotgun" radiates. The most commonly used mod after this one is anti-gravity prosthetics, used for clinging to walls and reaching sniping positions. Her legs are designed to be equipped permanently, and work for an indefinite amount of time. A small punishment after years of superhuman gravity-defying lens abuse on her knee joints.

(Note that I designed the prosthetics to work in a real-life setting with some small adjustments. You could theoretically 3d-print them and they'd work fine.)

The book

Old, big, heavy, and indestructible. Often used as a shield. Held the knowledge of transmutation lenses that Nef transcribed. It can not under any circumstance be destroyed in the human world as it was not created nor meant to exist for such a long time in it. Nef strives to reach the library it came from, with the intention of trading it for another book to grant her more unknown power. Like any sunchaser, she wishes to ultimately shape the world in her own image.


Previous posts in her timeline:

I'm pretty much done with the design of this character now. This was more of a description than actual lore, since I need the lore part for a bigger project. ;)

I've completed 2 of 6 potential sunchasers now. The other 4 are mostly fleshed out lore-wise, so I'll work on their visuals. The next posts will focus more on the godly/paranormal followers.


My Artstation / Deviantart

Thanks for reading!

/r/worldbuilding Thread Link - i.imgur.com