Borne out of a love and passion for magitek motorsport

The Night Runner

This is a compendium of lore surrounding Slaine's Novus D and its trim. Given our limited knowledge of Garlemald's vehicles and daily life in lore, I wrote some of my own. This is a nod to my own love of car culture, motorsport and Initial D. ❤️With the announcement of Solution 9, some things may be apt to change.

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The Novus "R"

The Novus Type-R (or Novus R) is the performance trim of the Novus D. It is tuned specifically for military officials to chase down unruly vehicles in annexed territories with ease. It is equipped with a "Magitek Armored" body kit that ensures the protection of the operator and passengers in the event of an aether-based fight.Civilians from annexed territories are barred from owning a Novus R but are allowed to operate a regular Novus.

Further Details

"THE NIGHT RUNNER" is a nickname given to Slaine's Novus R among locals. It is known as "Nightrunner" because of its black pearl color, speed, and the fact it appears mostly at night. How the Nightrunner was able to roam the streets without arrest is a mystery.

CUSTOM MODIFICATION: Aether balanced & blueprinted with custom aerodynamic bodykit, K-Engine swap (LNX 1.8L kit), aethercharger custom kit, Imperial Head Gasket, LNX Header, Magitek (?) Control Module, Magitek Armored Body Kit, body reinforcement strut bar (F/R), LNX damper kit, Imperial Caliper Set, LNX Custom Exhaust, LNX custom LSD, extreme weight reduction, Flex Fuel system conversion kit (custom)...a long-winded way of saying: this little machine is a hybrid (magitek:aether) monster 👹

The Nightrunner spec is loosely based off the Daiki Ninomiya's EK9 in Initial D, and the IRL equivalent.Credits: Spoon EK9, Daiki Ninomiya's Honda Civic, Honda Civic Type R Buyer's Guide

The market for performance modification and parts are solely dominated by the rich, elite, and military. Lenox often illegally sold these parts at a high price to average civilians to continue funding his manufactory with quality parts and materials.Lenox was not the industry standard, but one of many shops that provided parts and manual labor to any Imperial vehicle. What makes Lucius nan Scipiones unique is his passion to push technology to the next level. He had a great fascination with aether manipulation.'LNX' is the signature logo. The Architectus Magiteci sponsored Slaine's endeavors to fully tune his beaten-down Novus--but for a hefty price.As you can see, "Lenox" as Slaine's chosen last name honors the former shop, whose owner and employees have lost their lives to tempering.

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Project NR

As normal civilians are not allowed to own Novus R's, Slaine got his hands on one by illegal means. He towed a junked out Novus R from a scrapyard and restored it to life with the help of Lenox Motorsport. The Architectus Magiteci called this Project Nightrunner. Because of its bad condition, the junked Novus R wasn't allowed to be sold to the market or registered to operate. Slaine and Lucius found a way around this rule through illegal means. To this day, the vehicle was never legally registered in Garlemald.The Nightrunner is tuned specifically by Lenox Motorsport to race on the paved asphalt streets of Garlemald's Esterno Urbanissima (or so the Magiteci says...). Novus vehicles are not inherently designed to manipulate aether and are 100% magitek combustion engines–however, what makes Project Nightrunner different is its ability to be aethercharged enhanced. Aethercharged modification is commonplace among the underground world of foreign citizens who can manipulate aether. Aetherchargers are strictly prohibited by use of regular civilians, even those of annexed terriotries.TL;DR -
Novus D = your everyday trim
Novus R = higher end fast boi for chasing and bullying citizens in annexed territories to keep 'em in line, and pleasure!

Let's Talk Shop

I'm throwing around a lot of terminology here but there is a method behind all of this madness. The unique characteristic of Slaine's Novus R comes down to its ability to manipulate aether, independent of its operator. How it is able to do that is a trade secret between the Architectus Magiteci and Slaine himself.This gives Slaine a unique (and unfair) advantage over his rivals and it defines how disliked he was among his peers. Not only that, this projected was funded by a Primus Medicus, thanks to her personal romance/affair with Slaine.The pros to this means the vehicle can output more power and distribute it accordingly and efficiently. The con to this is that the vehicle requires a huge amount of maintenance and care. The car is emanating a vast amount of aether that corrodes its parts like no other--it also works 'independantly' of its operator. (Remember, it is a car made of mostly magitek with aether-based components to draw out more power)

Slaine's Novus Type-R is equivalent to an EK9, Honda Civic Type-R - more specifically, the Spoon tuned version of it. More info here.

Slaine and his late beloved, Valeria Lux Ligarius (Primus Medicus). She financially supported the research, equipment and manpower used to salvage and tune The Night Runner.

Lore & Inspiration

We don't have a ton of information about automotive in XIV. I know this. In order for my Initial D insert character to work, I needed to weave together bits and pieces of my own lore which can seem a bit bendy. As time goes on and we are able to learn a bit more about the inner life of the Garleans, I will amend some of my written lore. For now, NOVUS D BABY!

Spoilers on The Night Runner

Please don't read if you plan on finding out this info organically! 😂

The biggest inspiration behind The Nightrunner comes from FFX-2's last boss, Vegnagun (and a bit of Jenova’s concept too). The car itself is not a direct threat to civilization but it is meant to be kept in a fortified enclosure as it is a menace to the aether-rich lands of Western Eorzea. It can, quite literally, dry up the land as it rolls around harvesting aether--it cannot be controlled and has a mind of its own. Because sometimes it harvests, and sometimes it doesn’t, and there is no way Slaine can predict that outcome. It does have a direct connection to Slaine which prevents him from traveling outside a certain radius of the vehicle.

The Night Runner Playlist

No fancy embeds here. I compiled the playlist on Spotify. Here is the breakdown of the tracklist. This is a combination of Eurobeat, electronic, and R&B. It's actually perfect for driving. This is what captures the essence, soul and spirit of the the Night Runner (and yes, if you played Motorfest...you might recognize these.)

• Click to listen to the playlist on Spotify