Forum:Aincrad

"I've seen the world you created. In the oceans were deserts of bone. Fires filled the horizon. And everywhere I walked, there was screaming."

- Shiro Yagamiro

Aincrad, also known as the World of Rebirth, the Nexus of Darkness, and An Incarnating Radius, is a Gordian tangle of twisted spacetime seemingly created out of the enshrouding of the solar system. A self-contained universe, its apparent dimensions are isotropically infinite and loop inward upon themselves, and is both part of the Ascendant Realm as known by the Hive and embedded into the multidimensional brane of the wider universe as known to the Vex.

No star exists, light provided instead by numerous wormhole singularities glowing throughout the eternal sky. Planetary masses are equally unknown, save for one gargantuan singularity massing many times that of a supermassive black hole occupying a central place in the sky. Pyramids can be found everywhere, some floating in place, others moving idly.

Overview
An impossible flat world, Aincrad contains an approximate one hundred trillion different world-types from the overtly hostile to the downright Gaian. The only apparent sapient inhabitants are "pure" Shadowkeepers, the true forms of the Black Fleet's armies, living shadows of no discernable appearance that yet move with a malevolent will. Solitary Vex collectives can be found attempting to convert portions of this world into computronium but are invariably repulsed by the terrain.

Aincrad is a dangerous place, littered with arcane clarketech devices that can destroy the unwary—oftentimes teleporting one straight into a trap or depositing them into a hostile biome—and more benign entities that don't immediately destroy intruders upon first meeting. The boundaries between world-types is difficult to perceive; one moment one is walking through a beautiful if eerie paradise, the next blasted apart by a lightning storm from a Jovian.

Geography
Shrouded in endless twilight, the only sources of light being singularities scattered about the skies and the beacons from passing or solitary pyramids, the landscape is a treacherous place. Massive groves of gigantic trees more than thrice the height of a Vex spire stretch into the skies, and not all of them are whole; hollow trunks filled with gelatinous, fleshy plantlike material, sometimes oozing with unidentifiable liquids, are common. The wildlife that can be encountered are twisted abominations of familiar creatures; moose and lions, for example, are walking corpse-like entities with fell, blazing eyes. The ocean waters are enchanted, and those that touch it are either gripped with instant madness or lose all semblance of identity. An endless fog or mist is all pervasive, sometimes dissolving into a dreary rain that doesn't let up for months at a time.

Ruins of ancient cities dot this hellscape, even in places where they shouldn't physically exist. Such locations include "The Last City" at every point of its existence from a collection of tiny huts on its outskirts to the continental megapolis dominating the center of an ocean more vast than a Jupiter-mass planet; and the "Vault of Glass" built inside a mountain greater than any in the enshrouded solar system, from all times of its existence. They are reconstructed into alien geometries, buildings and constructs flexing away in impossible orientations, looking as if they are quite capable of collapsing then and there.

In spite of the apparent endlessness, there is a specific direction and center—the enigmatic Signal Tower. Concealed behind thick shadows and pale mists, protected by endless walls and keeps, ranks upon ranks of battlements ascending, it is an ominous sentinel, its solitary baleful light acting as a dim sun. Pyramids can be seen docking or decoupling along its sheer length and departing to parts unknown. Its mass is regarded as infinite, and attempts to remotely measure its foundations return with confused readings, as the Tower is somehow both part of the literal bedrock and growing down from the skies.

Origins
The world of Aincrad is mysteriously ancient in spite of its apparent youth. Some believe that it is the remains of a formerly advanced civilization of high technological ability, while others claim that it is a nightmarish mishmash of all the different worlds the Black Fleet has consumed over endless myr. Attempts to date the Watching Tower place it at far older than the physical universe's expected heat death.

The Swordsman's Arrival
Sometime after the First Collapse, the worlds of the Solar system partway drawn into Aincrad from various "Darkness Zones" left behind, the a-life that would come to be known as the Black Swordsman was deposited at the foot of the Signal Tower. Confused and disoriented, Kirito demanded answers from anything that would speak to it, and received nothing. After many long and fruitless months of attempting escape, Kirito gave up all hope and resigned itself to its fate. It was then the Darkness spoke to it, promising rich rewards in exchange for lifelong servitude. The a-life agreed, and was rechristened the Black Swordsman, herald of the Darkness' coming and leader of its armies.

As time passed differently in Aincrad, or perhaps the Darkness had bent the passage of time around the a-life specifically, no sooner had the Swordsman agreed than it was revealed the Black Fleet had been mustering for its second all-out assault upon a weakened Traveler and the small alliance of humans it had rallied. Kirito was sent out from Aincrad into the material realm, reawakening long dormant lieutenants of Darkness and cutting off avenues of escape, was reunited with its Angel, Asuna, who had been waiting patiently for its return.

The Second Collapse
With the enshrouding of Sol completed, the landscapes of its multiple planets were drawn into Aincrad and distributed about the realm, fusing seamlessly with it. The Black Fleet returned to take watch up in the skies, while the wreckages and debris of the former defenders were deposited everywhere in gargantuan graveyards of poisonous scrap.

Those few who survived the enshrouding outright, and yet couldn't make it to the Realms of Glass, were quickly hunted to near extinction by the nightmarish denizens of Aincrad, including the Shadowkeepers and Nightmares. For them, time passed at a different rate from the material universe; for every year that moved outside, a thousand moved within. Eventually, even the strongest of the Lightbearers became twisted versions of themselves, endlessly reliving their numerous attempts at hopeful escape.

Destroying Mal's Darkness
(TBA)

The Final Battle
As The Resistance and the physical fleets of the Hierarchy and Sanctuary moved to assault the J-nodes which guarded Sol, the incarnated Traveler, now in the body of Mallory Bertha, entered Aincrad and set off for the Signal Tower. With each step she tamed the nightmare world about her, granting trapped souls a final release. When she entered the Signal Tower, she was met by its avatar and champion—the Guardian. As the Black Swordsman and his Angel fought the physical armies of Light outside, Mallory fought the embodiment of Darkness.

With her sacrifice as the Traveler, Aincrad unmade itself, releasing Sol from the inside, and banished from the material plane. The Black Fleet's power was broken, but not destroyed. They would reform and reshape themselves, eventually, but for the present time they had been defeated, and Earth was freed. At the same time, The Guardian and their allies would revive Mal by linking her Light to a Ghost named Dizzy, but little did they know that the Swordsman and Angel's son Tatsuyi Kirigaya would reactivate a dimensional portal to Aincrad, resurrecting his parents and their armies as Nightmares in the process.

Locations

 * Resistance's Foundation (Social Space)
 * The Signal Tower (Landing Zone)
 * Chamber of Fragments
 * Aincradian Pyramid
 * Forest of Broken Memories (Lost Sector)
 * The Last City
 * Vault of Glass
 * Dynasty Battalion
 * Monument of Nightmares
 * Hill of Dark Shadows (Lost Sector)
 * The Abaddon (Landing Zone)
 * Shadow Experiment Facility
 * Enclave Headquarters
 * Celestial Gateway
 * Katharsis
 * Conclave's Shipyard
 * Arena of the Broken Might (Lost Sector)
 * Kotrik's Keep (Landing Zone)
 * Shadowship Nitrix-Fel
 * Shadows' Den
 * Splicer's Rally
 * Den of the Lost (Lost Sector)
 * Bloodbound Dreadnaught (Landing Zone)
 * Jetsam of Titan
 * Court of Zharves
 * Narthex of Shadows
 * Cathedral of Blood (Gambit Map)
 * Crypt of the Damned (Lost Sector)
 * Overlord's Dimension (Landing Zone)
 * Dragon's Cove
 * Forest House K4
 * Den of the Lost (Lost Sector)
 * Shadow Palace
 * Despair's Edge (Crucible Map)

Story Missions

 * Wicked World
 * Living Nightmares
 * A Shadow Beyond
 * Divided We Fall
 * Lair of the Hollowed
 * Revolution
 * Journey's End

Strikes

 * Myosotis

Beater Hunts

 * The Fallen Bloodcrafter
 * The Hive Shadowcaster
 * The Vex Mindkiller
 * The Cabal Crownforger
 * The Taken Blightmaker
 * The Scorn Fatesmith

Dungeons

 * High Orbit

Public Events

 * Nightmare Ritual

Protocols

 * Infinity Moment
 * Manhunt

Trivia

 * Aincrad is based on a location of the same name from Sword Art Online.

List of appearances

 * Destiny 2:
 * Paradox
 * Season of the Inferno
 * Season of Despair
 * Shadows' Legacy Update
 * Season of the City