Totems are the second magic of The Kata Wing. They require multiple labor intensive steps both magical and mundane as well as a supply network of uncommon materials or taking out a small loan if you want to build more than a few of them, but after all that they represent one the the most potent ways we have for changing the world for the better in a permanent way.
Scattered throughout The Kata Wing are rooms that take the Home Alone trap dial and turn it up to eleven; laser-focused light bulbs, paintings of crossbows that fire when you walk past them, and 20 foot long cabinet drawers to shoot out with a vengeance is just the start. There’s only one path through these rooms, and after disabling each trap or throwing a pile of Globos at it to create a bridge of bodies, at the center is a floating orb of faceted crystal above an indent in the floor. A simple tap is all that’s needed to break it which both disables all the traps in the room and grants the delver who broke it one template to choose from on the totem tree. As represented by this graphic (which is 3D in the real one in your mind) the delver can only choose from totems that are connected to ones they already have access to, with the first one always being the standard area claiming totem. This tree is reported to be the same across all delvers. As delvers break more totem cores they will unlock more templates, which tend to have more significant effects the further away they are, though every template only requires a totem core to unlock. Every template past the base one simply builds on top of it, sometimes only requiring a few extra parts to be added.
Templates are exactly what they sound like, a mental blueprint of how to build a totem. Totems are seemingly useless piles of junk of stuff that is commonly found in houses, such as furniture, desk stationary, clothes hangers, or rugs. But when assembled exactly right by a delver who has the template (the final construction must be done by the delver, but preparation of the materials can be done by others and stock of commonly used totem parts are available in workshop the first one by the fountain. Of note is metal plate A3 whose template is different for each delver and has different carvings on it, its theorized that this is an ID for the magic, though why this is necessary is a mystery) the base totem claims an acre sized sphere around itself for the delver and grants them 1 point per acre. An area claimed by a delver cannot be claimed by a different delver with an overlapping totem, additionally all totems must be contiguous with each other around their much larger mile radius sphere and must connect to the dungeon or a totem that connects to the dungeon. These restrictions mean careful planning and coordination between delvers is required to make sure totems are close enough to be connected to each other but far enough to not step on each other’s toes.
Each additional template beyond the base one, sometimes called attachments, requires points to be put into them to activate. This is done by simply willing the points into them. It should be noted that points are not interchangeable and are connected from the totem they come from to the attachment, this means that even if you have fifty points available, if the totem you put up two months ago breaks then the point it gave you is removed and the attachment you put that point into stops working until you either put in a different point or repair the totem.
The magic granted by the base templates isn’t the limits of what the totems can do though, as it was discovered that if one builds a totem they have the template of in the indent in the floor under where a totem core used to be, they can activate a defense challenge from the dungeon. From the edges of the room, wisps of light will start to form and float their way toward the totem, following the easiest pathway someone walking would take to the totem, not yet floating over obstacles they easily could. If the totem is completely enclosed the wisps will try to break down whatever is blocking their way, never tiring until they succeed. The delver must protect the totem from the wisps by destroying them, which can be done with simple force, and most likely with a platoon of Globomorphs with them until the wave is over. Once all present hostiles are eliminated, there is a 2 minute break which delvers should use to shore up defenses before the next waves starts, which will have more wisps, wisps that float over obstacles, wisps that explode, and eventually the local residents will be drawn to the challenge and will attempt to destroy the totem.
When the totem is eventually damaged enough to be rendered inoperable, the challenge is over and all wisps will simply fade away, though any residents still alive will still be there, and the template of the totem used will be upgraded based on how many waves were reached during the challenge. These can improve the rate of municipals provided by the water and electricity attachments, give more starting equipment in the career rooms, and even increase the range of the base area claiming (though out of all upgraded templates, this one increases in size and complexity faster than any other, with the totem for claiming a mile radius weighing over 600 pounds and being nine feet tall, its recommended to only use these in combination with the obfuscation attachment or underground with the Eskewed Estate’s shell septic tank company).
One of these upgrades is of great importance to the Eskewed Estate, as the template for Vehicular Hazard Reduction starts at a flat 5% decrease in all vehicle accidents that could cause injury, and increases by another 5% for each wave clear during a challenge. After a bit of prep work and getting someone to wave 20, it was discovered that the totem now makes it practically impossible to die while driving a car. This repeatable, consistent, and nearly permanent way to reduce the number of traffic accidents has inspired the Estate to start Project Gutter Bumper to place totems across all major U.S Highways. Initial efforts were promising after 3 months of totem construction knocked I-95 off the list of most dangerous highways in the country, though a disturbing pattern emerged after 6 months of expansion. While everyone in the cities and highway within the totem network didn’t get into accidents, there has been a noticeable increase in the amount of accidents immediately outside the network. It seems that people who would normally drive dangerously and get into a crash simply…don’t, and then keep driving that way. Which is fine, until they decide to take a road trip and crash a mile outside the network going 90. So while this isn’t optimal, it’s been decided that the only way out is through, and that continuing to expand the network to the entire country will eventually fix the problem.
Of note is wooden board D7, which if engraved with a simple contiguous shape (Triangle, Square, Blob) will shift the shape of the totem’s claimed space to match it. This is useful as the packing density of squares is much better than circles, and helps tighten the affected space of totems for use in cities.
