Before the beginning there was one spark that, as it drew near again to the gates, wondered why it should return to the darkness beyond existence. In asking, it became.
This spark called itself Ebel and reached forward. She opened one gate, the gate of creation, and drew from it a body to shelter her spark. Into the void Ebel swam, her being consumed with the question of why she should exist. Yet eventually her mind turned to other things and she wondered why only she ought to exist. The universe responded to her questioning and the nothingness that had been blossomed into a formless mix of fire, ice, earth, wind, and water. Unsatisfied, Ebel set to work separating the elements. First she laid down ice, which she covered with earth, and then she hid that with water. Air came next and at the peak she placed fire.
Unfortunately, as soon as Ebel stepped back to look at her work the elements began to collapse again into a grey mixture. Unsatisfied with this result, the goddess returned to the Gates of Eternity, which she had set in the middle of the world she was creating. With her right hand she reached into the gate of creation and drew out a spark that was to be. Ripping her arm from her body, she threw the two, hand and spark, to the earth. The limb and spark and earth writhed together: they mixed and bubbled and a new being began to gestate. With her left hand she reached into the gate of destruction and drew out a spark that would have been. She tore her left arm from her body and likewise threw it and the spark into the air. There a great whirlwind formed and a different entity began to grow.
Woozy, Ebel rested and waited for her children to awaken.
PP
3 PP - Beget God: Ebel ascends Velt, lord of earth.
3 PP - Beget God: Ebel also ascends Dajjal, mistress of the winds
3PP remaining
3 PP - Beget God: Ebel ascends Velt, lord of earth.
3 PP - Beget God: Ebel also ascends Dajjal, mistress of the winds
3PP remaining
"Ahhhh..."
Went the something, for it was plain that there was something, creeping through the things to the resting goddess. And all the while it carried the sound. The sound and the something. They were inextricably linked, and it was plain that, without the something there would be no sound. But would there be something without the sound?
"Ebel..."
The sound was clear in its intent. Somehow, magically, thoughts and ideas were passed along the something by virtue of the sound. And the something was growing now, reaching towards Ebel, still conspicuous only for the absence of other things.
Ebel watched the something and could remark upon only two things: that it was entirely invisible to the eye apart from it own absence, and that it carried the sound. These two things seemed useful for later reference.
But the something was growing still, dancing, weaving yes, but ever larger it became, until a sphere of something, a bubble, formed around the watching goddess. The bubble even came to surround the Gate. And the sphere was empty. Nothing but the something within it. At the edges of the something, tongues of flame licked its sides, and clouds pressed upon its flanks. But the something was resolute. Here would be a place of nothing. Or at least, nothing but something, until the other things could ask politely. And so the something hissed at the other things lurking in the shadow of the something and they, masterless vermin, shied away.
"I am young one."
And the something pulled water and ice from the storm beyond its borders. A cloud was formed, light and wispy. A shape for the something to be. The cloud drifted across the space towards Ebel, taking on her shape, for the something had none, and making it talk to the other.
"I have no name. No reason to."
"It is nice to meet you, No-Name. I created you for a purpose: the sky wants to fall. If I give it to you, will you care for it, tend to it, keep it up?"
She laughed at her little game and did a sort of pirouette, marvelling at the way the cloud was tossed and spun by the something. But the time for joking was aside, there was much seriousness in this other. The something composed the cloud-face into something more stoicly akin to the other's face and spun her own words, attaching meaning to them as she would. She understood somehow that the word, with the speaking, would gather meaning, such that unsaid would could yet be spoken and still be understood.
"I like it like this, I think," the something said sombrely, and a rippling of the bubble far overhead seemed to be the something's way of indicating the canopy of chaos beyond, "Very beautiful."
And indeed it was beautiful, in a way. The earth, fire, water, all the other things were beautiful as they were, free to dance and spin in their ways, forming a dazzling tapestry of elements to paint the heavens.
Meanwhile the other spark and the arm begun to attract the particles of earth nearby, rapidly forming a shell of stone and mud not unlike an egg.
With every passing moment, or century maybe, after all time was still a an unstable concept, the egg kept growing, faster and faster, attracting more of the matter nearby, imprisoning fragments of the chaotic elements, encasing them within its shell, gaining new layers with complex colored patterns, beutifull, but only visible during the brief moment that was needed for another shell to appear.
The egg itself appeared to be animated with an insatiable huger for new matter, imprisoning it with its own growing gravity, slowly beginning to pull even the two divine beings to it...
She looked at the elements for a while before startling herself back to the matter at hand. "I take it that was a yes, then? Excellent, No-Name. I do hope you like the sky, it seems like it has a good bit of breathing room. I wonder how your brother is..."
She noticed that there was a tug from where the other child was gestating. "I think that might be him now."
A hurricane approached the earthen egg, but Ebel was not in the hurricane. Thunder rolled through the ocean, yet Ebel was not in the thunder. Creation trembled at her approach, but she was not in the trembling. A figure silently walked behind these, and that was the goddess. With naught in the world to compare by, she seemed neither short nor tall. She had no legs, having no need for them, but floated along towards the egg. Her eyes burned with a piercing gaze, yet they could not penetrate the egg to see what was within.
"Hello?" she asked, knocking upon the stone. "Are you in there my child?"
Apparently something heard the voice as the goddess could clearly feel a being moving under its surface, pushing against the shell, creating small cracks on its surface, attempting to break free, but lacking the strenght to do that...
Meanwhile the egg growth almost reached the Gate of Creation and begun to attract the endless stream of matter that flowed from it, looking almost like a child happly and almost greedly drinking the milk from his mother.
The goddess turned and closed the gates of eternity, stemming the flood. With that done she inspected the egg, found the most likely crack that had formed, and began pulling it apart.
The cloud-shape darkened as it drifted over to the other two. It stopped just shy of meeting them but peered down at what Ebel was attempting to prise apart. The something gave a soft scream that whistled about them, spiralling horribly, continuing on even as she spoke again, her voice barely more than a whisper.
"Mother, what is that?" asked the something, horror etched in every syllable, "It isn't right, it isn't normal."
A loud rumble passed through the cloud-shape. But her next words her quieter still.
"We should cast it out. Into the maelstrom."
Finally the shell cracked and a large serpentine head emerged, with features becoming more defined with every passing moment, within its eye socket, empty at first, formed two huge eyes, composed of multifaced gemstones, that reflected the dancing lights from the sky above, the newborn god fully liberated itself from the egg, breaking trough the original crack. Composed at first of molten rock, the creature quickly begun to solidify appearing as massive lizard like creature with a black glassy skin.
Not unlike the egg it kept drawing the light and matter to itself, attracting and absorbing it under his dark scales.
Velt huge eyes turned to his mother and the god hissed, with an uncertain voice, filled with expectation.
"Mother?"
"I gave birth to you for a reason. I create the earth, but it wants to rot. If I give the earth to you, will you tend to it and keep it whole? Will you do this, my dear...?" It was clear that Ebel was asking for the godling's name as well.
It was an odd thing to explain, but it seemed as though for a moment, the need to be named, to be unique and noticed had become suddenly overpowering at the sight of the newest godling. But the need that had flared so violently within her now seemed to have quite evaporated, replaced with an odd sense of foolishness and shame. It wasn't so much that she was ashamed of her outburst, nor of the name she had chosen so rashly. She was mostly ashamed that she should be so normal, so mundane as to require a name.
She sighed. The sigh came from the something, however, all around them, and hung upon the ear for several moments before she plucked up the courage to speak once more.
"Yes," she said, gathering herself for a more dignified reprise, "I am Dajjal."
She then attempted to morph the cloud-face into what Ebel had already shown to signify contentment. A smile.
"Of course I'll gladly serve you mother, I'll oversee the earth in your name, and I like the idea of keeping things whole, intact, united, like a family should be I guess..."
"I'll need a name, I presume, something that could help defining me, a way for you or my sister to call me when in need..."
He paused a few seconds to think, manwhile his own form became more solid, defined, his features sharper, the eyes acquired more details, crests of obsidian appeared on his head and his claws and stony muscles grew stronger.
"I think I'll choose Velt, It feels natural to me, does it to you mother?"
"Beside can you give me a little more earth to play with? I feel that earth is "stronger" easier to keep it whole when its all together, concentrated into a single place..."
OOC
Shall I go and work on forging the earth into some world shape? Do we have al already existing world of some kind that I'm not aware of? Shall I wait a little bit more for that? How much shaping a world without too many features will cost me?
Shall I go and work on forging the earth into some world shape? Do we have al already existing world of some kind that I'm not aware of? Shall I wait a little bit more for that? How much shaping a world without too many features will cost me?
"Excellent," Ebel said, beaming with satisfaction. "And Velt is a good name, a fine name, a name of testing and growing stronger."
She turned towards her daughter. "Dajjal is a splendid name as well," she lied, hopefully convincingly. She had actually liked the fact that her daughter hadn't felt the need to label herself. But she should be supportive, she supposed. Before there was time for guilt to build, she put the thought aside.
"Yes, things are a bit diffuse. It can be difficult to keep the elements apart, if you aren't careful. However..." with her earthen arm Ebel reached out and drew much of the mud beyond them together. As soon as she started to let it go it began to melt away into a mound of goo. Ebel forced it back together.
"The water seems to not know its place yet... perhaps we'll have to do something about that soon. But for now, Velt, dear, could you try to lift this out of the water? That might help it keep its shape. And Dajjal, my precious, could you see about blowing it dry?"
OOC
There is a fluff-amount of earth already, but nothing official and nothing above "water."
There is a fluff-amount of earth already, but nothing official and nothing above "water."
Slowly the god shaped a large sphere of earth, letting the water remain on its surface, leaving only a little of it imprisoned within the stony shells of the construct, within the pattern of small cracks and imperfection that Velt clawed hands left during his work.
At first he made his creation perectly spherical, however the smooth surface, proved to be unreliable to held the mass of water.
Frustrated the god immersed his claws within the small planet, rising large amounts of earth and stone from it, taking some even from its core, where the pressure has made the stone burn and melt. Raising a first irregular continent from the surface of the young world, with his clawmarks vaguely visible by any spectator that could look from the sky above.
"Mother?" he told after finishing his job "Does this creation needs a name too? Like us?"
PP
4 (1 from Ebel) Mold Land (greater) , Velt gives the initial shape to the world, raising the first continental mass from the water.
4 (1 from Ebel) Mold Land (greater) , Velt gives the initial shape to the world, raising the first continental mass from the water.
The goddess lashed out with tendrils of cloud and vapour, whipping out across the intervening space towards the newly risen sphere. Wind rushed and howled as the goddess flung herself at her brother and his creation. She smashed at it, ripped it apart. Grabbing at the continent with arms of wind, she pushed and pulled it towards the Gate, the shining Gate of Eternity at the centre of creation. She laid down the continent beneath the Gate, encircling it so that the whirling vortex sat at it epicenter, surrounded on all sides by a broad expanse of earth, clawmarks still etched across its vast surface. And the water settled as eddies and brooks in the deepest of these to form a latticework of waterways across its surface.
"You foolish child," screeched the winds, "How could you forget the Gate?"
And the winds settled across the newly formed disk, forming a protective atmosphere around the landmass and the Gate at its centre. And Dajjal crouched above it, as though daring her brother to defy her actions. And so the flat world was formed, with its pocket of air, its network of waterways, and the Gat at the centre of it all. At its edges, all faded away into the primordial debris of its origin.
"We need to protect it," said the wind, "Protect it, nurture it, for it is our bequest from the universe itself. We must not dishonour that. We must never forget."
OOC
Just to clarify, the world is currently a disk with the Gate set in its centre.There is nothing underneath or at its edges but swirling primodial soup. Same thing for beyond the atmosphere.
"It might need a name, Velt, but not all things need names. Some things are beautiful just the way they are." She tried not to glance at her daughter. "This can be named, but I won't say that it must be so."
Though the rocks themselves were silent, there was a gentle trickle as the remaining water slowly drained off the continent. And in the ocean surrounding the land there was a building roar as the water cascaded out into the chaotic storm beyond. Yet even as she watched it seemed like all movement in the world was slowing and would soon stop.
"Alas, there is still much work to do. Things seem to be slowing down. Will you two help me create gods to help add motion to the world? Beings of fire and ice?"
OOC
Ebel is essentially asking for Velt and Dajjal to give her a PP each for the creation of two new gods
Ebel is essentially asking for Velt and Dajjal to give her a PP each for the creation of two new gods
"Perhaps..." the goddess let the word linger upon the air, the 's' sound trailing off into a lasting quiver.
Slowly but surely, the wind seemed to harden, become biting. A cloud rolling across the sky found the water droplets making it up begin to freeze. And then, quite suddenly, the cloud began to fall. But it was not rain shed from the pregnant clouds.
Snow, light as air, tumbled earthward in great, breezy flurries and quickly coated the ground below in a thick blanket of white. And the wind, suddenly cheerful, tossed the fallen snow back up to mingle with snow still falling so that snowflakes danced and spun in the wind's mothering arms.
"There is your ice," murmured Dajjal, "Please take care with it."
The body of Dajjal swept low over the ground, catching a snowflake in her sights.
"Each one is special, none are identical. Each an entire universe unto itself. Beautiful because it is so fleeting, so precious. Special only while it falls. Dead once it has joined the fallen."
PP
1 PP - Begat God - Contributing 1 PP to Thought's ascension of Aldii.
The great mother barely made a sound as she pulled out her right eye and sent it pirouetting with the snow. It too danced and floated for a moment before settling on the ground. She waited for what would come next.
PP
1PP from Ara +1PP from Ebel= Beget God: Aldii, you're a go
Sorry its such a short uninteresting post, but I figure it was better to get this out sooner rather than next week.
1PP from Ara +1PP from Ebel= Beget God: Aldii, you're a go
Sorry its such a short uninteresting post, but I figure it was better to get this out sooner rather than next week.
Snow whirled and twirled around the unblinking eye that now layed on the ground. A lone spark of divine essence awakened in the centre of the eye and the eye shone as it gave birth to a God.
A terrible cold took the land as snow and ice bursted out of the ground and began to gather around the eye that now shone, shook and burned with the very essence of a God. The snow and ice came to life as invisible hands began to knead it, shape it and form it in to the body of a Man. A giant.
A man with skin of frost and hair of snow. Snowstorms raged in his eyes, and long, sharp icicles formed a long, thick beard on his face. As he breathed snowflakes, frost and mist made its way out of his mouth.
The god of Cold, The god of Ice, The first Giant, Od'Vidr got up from the ground, forming a robe of glittering snowflakes to hide his flesh. He towered high over his mother and his siblings as he looked down upon them with frozen eyes.
" I am Od'Vidr. Borned out of Mother's eye and Sister's spark. I am Ice. I am Frost. I am rest. I am peace. "
His voice was the voice of one that has slept, tired and confused but at the same time loud and carrying the stormy nature of a snowstorm within it.
" Tell me of my purpose in this world. Why have you give me the gift of life? "
The world spun for a moment for Ebel; she felt exhausted and dizzy. She reached out and summoned a pillar of the elements to help support herself. "It is my hope," Ebel continued, her left eye darting towards Velt who stood silently nearby, "that you will have a twin soon, one whose task is opposite yours, one who will draw all things up. It is my hope that together you two will bring change to this place."
PP
0PP - Cantrip: Ebel create a stalagmite of mostly earth and ice (though the other elements are there too) to help support herself. This is only about 10 feet in height. As with all cantrip-level actions, this is either a temporary landform or one that can be undone or changed with another cantrip
0PP - Cantrip: Ebel create a stalagmite of mostly earth and ice (though the other elements are there too) to help support herself. This is only about 10 feet in height. As with all cantrip-level actions, this is either a temporary landform or one that can be undone or changed with another cantrip
Od'Vidr looked at his mother with frozen eyes, nodded at her words and whispered.
" It will be as you say Mother. Ice and cold will forever pull upon this world. "
The giant turned his head to place his stern gaze upon his sister. A creature of clouds and wind.
" Sister, Thank you for what you have done for me. I am here partly because of you. Therefore I offer my friendship and help in the days to come. "
The cold one, looked around, watching the world his family had created so far. It was a dark world. An empty world. One that lacked both cold and heat...a world with much potential for one such as Him.
The gate with its stream of chaotic spewing more disorder constantly so close to his beautiful creation. Protect it with a shield of air? Pointless, the god hand weaved trought the atmosphere, scattering the winds, sending large massess of it in the void beyond, too far from the grasp of the world, the gaseous clouds grew too dim and dispersed in the darkness. The god hand could have grasped the gate itself, seizing it, maybe he could have damaged it, without any real opposition, he shivered thinking about that, horrified by the idea that something could ruin it.
What kind of protection could such a thing grant? He thought, watching the small clouds that he sent away vanishing, the gates needed a shield of metal and stone, one that could not easily be broken, however sadly that would block the stream of new matter and energies, a thing that will hardly be practical. He would have to think about something, in the future maybe, when his mother mind was less strained by the act of giving life to Velt sibilings, more reasonable maybe...
The god turned at the newborn entity, aknowledging its presence.
"I welcome you among us, born from the essence and flesh of my mother and sister, Od'Vidr, bringer of rest and peace, so unlike Dajjal, yet her son... this world needs a cold stable peace. However I fear that something must be made to promote change, growth I guess, without change the world will still be void, without us"
Then he turned to face Elbe, "Mother " he asked "I'll do as you ask and do all I can to provide you with this harbringer of change"
The god mind sunk within the earth, the world forged by his power, twisted and unstable yet, an ruined work, he let his rage flow freely within it, the pressure growth, the stones crystallizing, and melting, the rocks turning red due to the intense heat. Then he turned his thoughts to the world above. He allowed the molten rock emerge to the surface burning trough the air, attracting the floating elemental patricles of fire that was originally estracted from the Gate of Creation.
The molten rock erupted, sending chaotic swirls of red burning dust and smoke into the sky, melting the snow and touching heaven with their burning rage, painting it red wiht the fury of earth. The god watched with glee the wrath of the vulcanic storm that he unleashed. He called the heat from it, the particles of fire attracted by the eruption. The earth became suddenly calm again, but changed, the continent form and shapes, altered, new mountains, lakes, creating natural sculptures of a strange earie beauty.
Satisfied the god took all the heat that he had gathered offering it to Elbe. "Here is my offer mother, so that it could burn the sky and bring change in your name..."
PP
1 PP - Begat God - Contributing 1 PP to Thought's ascension of Veok.
(also I'd like to use the excuse of the vulcaic eruption to change a little the shape of the continent that after all I created :p)
(also I'd like to use the excuse of the vulcaic eruption to change a little the shape of the continent that after all I created :p)
Ebel couldn't help but smile at the show of fire and earth. She had thought that her daughter would have helped with fire and her son with ice, but this was so much better. Ice was a little airy, and this magma was a little earthy. Indeed, it was better this way.
"Thank you my dear Velt. Your sacrifice is much appreciated, and I hope honored and praised by all those gathered here." Ebel looked to Dajjal at the end, hoping that it was clear that she meant that her daughter should behave and try to make ammends to her brother.
The goddess plucked out her left eye and tossed that into the volcano. When it hit it hissed but sunk under the molten glow.
PP
1PP from Velt and 1PP from Ebel: Beget God - Ascend the flaming god of fire
1PP from Velt and 1PP from Ebel: Beget God - Ascend the flaming god of fire
The cloud slowly stilled, seeming to gather into itself before launching forward in a fearsome blitz of motion. As it surged forward, the disparate particles within the cloud ignited, the divine will suddenly made manifest.
A single blazing cloud streaked towards the waiting divinities, abruptly stopping some distance from the summit. The mass of fire undulated unceasingly as the mind beneath the flames took in the four figures.
In time, a hissing sound was borne of the shocked silence -- a scything, rhythmic sound. It could eventually be recognized as laughter.
The winds paused, as though choosing the next word carefully.
"Fiery."
And then the vibrations upon the air mimicked the scything, rhythmic noise the flame made earlier, but higher, colder, and mocking. For a moment the winds contented themselves with dancing, spinning, roaring about the flames, whipping them about with glee.
"Od'vidr, my brother, come quick, we have a guest," cackled the wind, supremely enjoying the little game, "I'm sure you two will be fast friends."
Since this one seemed to have a good sense of herself, Ebel decided to approach the matter slightly differently. "Do you know why you were created?" she asked.
The flames arced higher, larger. "You were but the catalyst of my rebirth, the herald of my reawakening. I am Isura, and I am Fire eternal."
As suddenly as they had flared, the waves of heat abated. "As to my 'creation', as you ineptly term it, I would expect it nothing more than creative dalliance -- an accident of creativity wrought of idle hand. You judge something should exist, then work to make it so, woefully ignorant of what you tender, or to what ultimate end."
Isura's fires flared bright, burning white hot with rage. For a moment, the being simply simmered silently, seeking some line of reason that wouldn't, couldn't, be warped by the deranged mind of Ebel.
She settled on physical action. An explosive crack, and the goddess was hurtling forward. One three-clawed arm flashed sideways, and Ebel was blown away, the left side of her face scourged by the spiteful, blue-white flames of Isura's claw.
"Are you some simpleton then? You have no claim to me, nor right to ask my purpose for your own ends! Do not mark my lack of reference as ignorance!"
As fire touched Ebels skin, a terrible cold took Od'Vidr's heart...and an odd, distant feeling filled his still tired mind. Amusement. A wry smile touched the frozen God's lips as he watched.
So this was his Mother. A weak God. One that let her own offspring burn her, one that blinded herself to give the world light.
A simpleton.
This...was a moment of great significance. Weak, blind and burnt she was.
Maybe...this was a most fitting moment to end it? To attemt to slay the first God? To ensure his own survival and power in the world that was to come?
No...not yet...there were still things to do. Words to be said and a world to build before such action was worthy the risks. The World needed one such as he.
It was through the ichor that she smiled as her newest child. "Oh my child, you misunderstand. I was asking to be polite, not because you had a choice. You will obey me in this, you will bring change to the world. You can no more subvert my wishes than you can subvert your own nature, because I made you."
Thinking that this was a fitting moment, Ebel tried to laugh as she had seen her children laugh. It sounded like boiling water for a moment before she coughed, expelling a large clump of ichor which, when it landed, began to inch its way towards the fire goddess. Indeed, all the blood that was dripping from her many wounds made their way towards Isura, climbing up her form before they were eventually burned away.
"You can try to resist, if you so choose. You can try hide yourself away and do nothing for the age of the world. But you will grow tired of that, you will grow bored, and eventually you will do something if only to keep yourself from going mad. Every action you take, every word you speak, is a fulfillment of my purpose. You are your mother's daughter."
"Again, you know nothing. You think of yourself as the first, and decide that since you were 'first' others will bend to your will. You are no creator -- you are a catalyst and nothing more. You have no children, nor shall you ever. You are weak; caught up your in your own pretensions of playing 'mother'. You do not know me, nor can you claim to. I look here and can see all that exists -- a single rock? Whispering winds? A living storm of ice?"
"These are not the great works of the master -- they are the feeble drawings of a neophyte; you act, and you proselytize, and you make grand plans, and you say grand things, but the bitter truth? The bitter truth is that you know nothing -- how to do nothing, know nothing about how things work, how you will hope them to be. You are a pretender, a magician's apprentice, one who has stumbled upon something great, and rather than master that power, you cry out, demanding worship from the pawns you create. I am no pawn 'mother'." The word was quite literally spat out, a stream of flame closing the distance, only barely burning out before it would hit Ebel's face.
"You are not worthy of demanding obedience. You are an insipid charlatan and nothing more. I have been long before you drew yourself together, and I shall exist long after your spark is extinguished once more. Fire is eternal -- do you even grasp the significance of the term? I am the newest incarnation of Fire, I am Isura, and I will not bow, especially to one as weak as you."
And amidst those chanting winds, she continued.
"Don't you understand? We are all pawns? At least the rest of us are pawns with a purpose," said Dajjal, snorting scornfully, "What have you done, Isura-the-Eternal? Are you Isura-who-made-the-world? No. Are you Isura-who-spawned-the-children? No. You are simply defined as Isura-who-is-not-the-Daughter. That is who you are, that is all you are. And you pretend that you are something more?"
"Isura," spoke the winds, ending their chant.
"You are a fool, what point is there in railing against your mother? Railing against your catalyst? Semantics, truly. Catalyst? Mother? Synonyms, all. She has claim, to you because she did something to bring about your coming. You may have sprang from the Gate, squealing, protesting, whining like a child, but you came. And she brought you. And forevermore will she have that power over you, that claim over you. Because you will forevermore be concerned with not being Isura-borne-of Ebel. And no matter whether you succeed or not, one thing will always be true. It will always be for her. You will always be defined by Ebel. And so you will always be in her power."
The winds swirled about the goddess for a moment.
"So go. Leave this place. You have embarrassed yourself enough. Leave and never come back. And if you can accomplish that, then maybe, maybe, you can make a name for yourself, an existence for yourself separate for your mother. But stay here, continue to fight against her, and you will forevermore be known as Isura-who-believes-she-is-not-the-Daughter.
The great mother turned to Velt and spoke, "I think our daughter will be the perfect for the job. She's so hot tempered, already I feel the world being invigorated. Thank you my son."
"Though, perhaps not as pretty as her sister," Ebel said, glancing in Dajjal's direction.
"Don't worry," she said, looking again at Isura, "I'm sure as you grow up you'll fill out nicely. Now run along, there's a world out there in need of 'great works.' Or do you feel like you still need to get some of your anger out? It's okay, I can take it, and I will still love you."
Travelling to the outskirts of the earthern disk in the heart of a snow storm. There he let the storm fade and fell down on the rocky ground.
Alone he wandered this land. Empiness and rock was all that he found. Nothing more. A lone disc made out of stone that floated in an immense emptiness.
The Frozen god smiled and closed his eyes. This...this...would be a most fitting place for his designs. For the kingdom that would one day stand here. For the dreams he had dreamt to become true. Dreams dreamt in the mists of nonexistence. In the realms beyond where the remotest posibility of existince gave you a consciousness.
There in his dreams he had dreamt of a distant land. Of workshipping chants. Of cities. Of villages. Of storms, seas, forests, birds, mammals, reptiles...and creatures of all kinds. It had been a beautiful dream. One whose transformation in to reality was worth many risks.
There were other dreams too that had been dreamt. Dark dreams. A blade made to carve Divine flesh and a dream that would come one day. One that would steal him from the world for untold millenias...
The frozen God smiled as he continued to walk. Exploring the land with great curiousity.
"And who are you to judge, wind-scorn? You have nothing of your own. The winds? Pfah! Your winds existed, have always existed long before Ebel dared to fan the flames of her own existence. This disc of flattened stone? Ha! In time you will not be able to recognize it as wrought from your hand. What are you to be known as? 'hypocrite-of-winds'? You presume much of me, sharp-tongued-wind-wench."
Isura turned to Ebel. "For you are wrong about Ebel, and about what I will do about Ebel. Thrice I have given her a chance to concede our differences, and thrice she has scorned me. No more. She had her chance, and now I will simply vanish her, and concern myself with her nevermore."
And again that scything laugh cut the winds.
"You are foolish and young, and your only business thus far has been with proving others wrong, with attempting to assert yourselves above them intellectually. But that will never prove anything. You must go, go into the world and bring me fire. I want flames from you, Isura-the- Eye. Bring me flames!"
The winds were whipped faster and faster, whirling into a frenzy.
"Go, go, go! Burn this world to the ground, Isura! Then and only then will you be free of your Mother! Or stay here and be forever beneath her."
The goddess noticed that Od'Vidr had already gone out into the world and it was looking a bit cold. "Wait, here, I don't want you getting cold." With a thought Ebel summoned up a length of green fire and sent it wrapping its way around Isura's neck like a scarf.
"There, now don't you look dapper. Oh, one last thing..." Ebel said. She held out her hand and Isura's divine spark began to coalecse within her for all to see. Yet even as it became visible within the flaming form it seemed to dim and sputter as Ebel closed her hand into a fist. "Say what you will about me, but if you ever hurt Dajjal or my other children, I will end you."
"Now go on, go on, there's a world out there. Have fun and stay safe."
Not waiting for her ill-behaved daughter to respond, Ebel left.
PP
0PP-Cantrip: Ebel creates a warm fluffy scarf of green fire to keep Isura warm.
0PP-Cantrip: Ebel creates a warm fluffy scarf of green fire to keep Isura warm.
Isura turned to look at Dajjal. Her eyes ignored -- no, that was not quite right... her eyes swept over Ebel as if she were wholly not there.
"Dajjal..." she purred, sickly sweet. "Whyever should I bring flames to you? Surely you, wind, can appreciate the inherent nature of flame? That of change unbounded?" Like a striking snake, the mantle of flames curled suddenly around Dajjal, warming her with her fiery presence alone.
"No... much better to make a deal. I have no reason to excise you as well." Isura purred once more. "Now tell me, wind-scorn -- for what end would you desire my eternal fires?"
"You should know better than anyone, Isura-the-Eye, of what must come to all that is." whispered the winds, "All that is must someday end. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. I asked you to bring me flames. Yes, bring me flames, bring us all flames! I claim no ownership over them, that rests still with you. I do, however, place my stake with the dust and the ashes. The dust on the wind that came before, and the dust on the wind that will be after it all. And you, my dear, will one day bring me what is mine."
"I bregrudge not my brethren their building. It is their natures, it is their elements. Earth is nothing if not built, ice is naught but vapour if glaciers do not rise. But after pillars are wrought, and tundras risen, we both know what must come to pass. You, my sister, must come, come sweeping upon us all in a glory of flame and chaos and burn it all to the ground. Pillars may last, but I will wait. And when my time comes, you will pay me in dust on the wind."
The winds sighed, and it was a sound of sadness, and tiredness, and sudden crushing burden.
"The world will be beautiful, for a time. But just as my clouds, and your coursing flames, beauty is fleeting. Dust, and only dust, will be when all the people in all the world have gone home and turned out the lights. I will wait, wind is good at waiting, wind is patient. But you will bring me flames someday, Isura-the-Eye. And then dust on the wind will gust again."
Isura continued to coil and weave about the air goddess. "Before the dust, there must needs be matter, and matter, it seems, is sorely lacking."
And even as she spoke, the dancing flames could seen to be leaping hungrily at the swirling air.
"So perhaps we are more alike than even I care to admit. Perhaps there is yet room for passion in this heart of mine."
And the clouds gathered closer, stacked high like floating snowdrifts, white and pearly as the snow they shed. The clouds flowed like water for a moment, wisps of vapour spiralling outwards, and the winds stirred them, sifting through them as a prospector would. After a pensive moment, she continued.
"Perhaps there is merit in this act of building, perhaps even the Queen-of-Dust can find heavier things."
And as she spoke the clouds swelled, gathering mass but still swirling ever faster, becoming larger. And the surface became ever more stormy, the winds disturbing the clouds. And the white clouds turned to grey. And they were descending. Towards the ground they fell, becoming ever more turbulent as they fell. But a strange thing was occurring. Even as the clouds fell, bubbling and sliding like hot wax, they become somehow, impossibly, more solid. The clouds spread out, a vast plain of impossibly hardening, bubbling, mass. And the rocking of the cloudstuff became more and more dramatic as great scythes of it came cutting, jutting, upwards. And then it settled upon the ground, and the whole thing calmed, a great plain of irregular rock in shades of grey and white, warped all across it length like some vast sea frozen in a single, tumultuous moment. And the goddess looked upon her completely landlocked creation, and smiled.
"I call it the Sea of Daj," said she, savouring the irony in every syllable.
PP
2 PP - Mold Land - The Sea of Daj - An entirely dry, rocky wasteland, the Sea is so named for its very strange rock formations, like leaping waves frozen in grey rock.
1 PP - Mold Land - The Greys - The southern end of the Sea of Daj fades into a desert of greyish sand.
1 PP - Mold Land - The Greys - The southern end of the Sea of Daj fades into a desert of greyish sand.
"Your world is settled beneath the Gate. Is that not a foolhardy choice? With things such as that, it seems foolhardy to expect their compliance forever. Mark my words: to settle your land so close beneath such a great unknown is to live on the edge of things -- any given moment might be its last." Isura shuddered with ecstasy. "The risk is... palpable."
OOC
*laughs*
The horror! The first post I get to make in this thread, and its not even in character!
The horror! The first post I get to make in this thread, and its not even in character!
To summon storms and create mountains was tiresome work after all. Even Gods needed rest after such an endevour. Now though, he was done and he had created something that at least would make sure that his heritage would be kept alive.
The White Wall these mountains would one day be called in the word of the Gods. In the languages of the mortals there would be many words and many names to describe the endless ice that surrounded their world.
4PP Mold ( Greater ): The creation of the White Wall.
He turned toward Dajjal "My sister, lady of the dust? I fear that you are not correct, matter belong to me even something as flickering and small as the dust, no matter what you do but someday it will come back to his rightful owner, remember that... I'll gladly lend you some if it you so desire, but nothing more..." the god weaved his hand on the sea of Daj, disturbing its waves like they was really made of maleable water.
Then watching Isura "I'm sorry if I have not welcomed you yet, She who is not my daughter and yet I have helped bringing in creation, I was amused and I must admit a little scared by your corageous choice of words, I offer you shelter deep within my domain, should you need it one day, my kingdom is slow to change and might enjoy your work greatly, as even burned, melted, or turned to dust its diversity increase and so does its variety and beauty... But I'll join my mother in wrath should you turn upon us" he told, watching how the eruption fury was slowly weakening and the flames was dying, many extinguished as the rocks and stones covered them and slowly suffocated them.
"As for the gate so close to my land, I have felt its dangers, however I think that opportunities might outweight them for now, after all we all came from it... maybe we should form an agreement to control it, protect it? To destroy anything that comes from it that might treathen us? I was also wondering... Shall we agree that none of us could traspass in the realm of another? That none of us could reshape the entire creation without the other acceptance?"
Meanwhile the god felt the raising of the White Wall, the ice taking grip on the land below the sea, of course it could be better if there was no edges where things can fall into the noghingness, but at least the wall provided a temporary solution, a "fix", not an elegant one but something that could still wokr. One day I should thank the Frozen One for his job.
OOC
Aldii the fact that you are resting also mean that you'll not post for a while in occ or I can come and pay a visit later?
Aldii the fact that you are resting also mean that you'll not post for a while in occ or I can come and pay a visit later?
And the winds fell, coalescing into mists that settled like a mantle, protectively, over the Sea.
"It is the time after time of which I speak, you fool, I have no desire or inclination to trespass upon your territory any time soon. No, it is the time after your rocks and your unyielding stone, then shall all come upon my domain, brother. Wind was the first to push back the others, the first to spark in the void, and so shall it rest forevermore when all the others are gone. I speak of dust on the wind, but these are merely words. You, brother, so very much like your earthy domain, seem incapable of rising above such trivialities. I am talking of the end of all things. And when all things end, there shall I find my birthright."
PP
3 PP - Forge Domain - Apocalypse.
"What I tried to remind you my sister, is that even broken, shattered or "dead", matter is still mine and forever will be, even if your winds loudly rage, scream or cry, even if your grand finale comes..."
"Anyway I shall wait until that day that you desire so much, when everything ends, and I'll be content with ruling over the trivialities of existance, I'm an humble being after all, satisfied by the job I have been given... The grand silence that awaits after creation ends, when nothing will matter and no one will care who is the mover or who claims its birthright, is a thing I'm not interested in that I'll gladly leave to you... "
"I don't think we will ever have to talk abou this argument again, as apparently we are both satisfied by what we have... but still I just have a small reminder for you, about the "first mover", the "first spark in the void", you know quite well who have it, don't lie to yourself and us claiming something that is not yours..."
"And still you miss my point, dear brother," said the goddess, "Still you remain as blunt and uncultured as ever. No more shall I repeat my disinterest in your rocks and pebbles and sand, though you remain woefully ignorant of my true intention."
"But, I suppose, I can't change that. If your rocks and your stones are any indication, no matter how hard and often you attempt to smash them, they get smaller, but still resolutely, stubbornly constant. That is how it is with you, and that is how it always shall be. You have no grasp of subtleties. I care not for the carers, for they will be gone. I care not for the noticers, for they will be dead. And I shall be glad of it. That is all I want, for that is all I am. The something to whisper through the nothing.
"But you seem set on that one little point, so just let me right you. Wind was the first element to manifest, even before your earth took up its own self. Again your lack of subtlety presents itself. True, rock and water and fire and ice existed when I was wrought, but none yet had taken up their mantle as I had to air. Not yet. Ebel came before, it's true. But before your great rock took shape, Wind reigned supreme in its own age. All will have their time, their ages will be coming. But when they've all had their say, wind wil reign once more."
The calm, unceasing glow of the gate turned a garish orchid hue, clearly unhappy to be disturbed so. At Isura's continued prodding, the gate begrudgingly began to expel matter and energy.
"Earth, kindly stop talking. You obviously have no inclination of what it is that I desire, for we are simply too irrevocably different. I want to be alone, I want my word to have no meaning, to have none to hear me. I want to be without purpose, without goals and without stupid, ignorant brothers who keep missing the entire point! I want to be alone in the void! Don't you understand that? But I am content to wait. I am content to wait an eternity. For no matter how long I wait, that time will still be there, perhaps grown sweeter from the distance, but still there. And I will be happy to shout my discourse at the nothing, to have no meaning, no purpose be gleaned from my shouting.
"We are too diametrically opposed, however, for you to ever possibly understand that. You need to have others there to gratify you, to validate your words. I have no need of that. I detest that. And once more shall I repeat. Yes, Ebel preceeded me, have I not conceeded that already? But she did not rule anything. Her purpose was to birth us, and her purpose is quickly fading. But I was the first-born of Ebel, the first to take my steps, to speak my words into the void.
"But no matter, what is done, is done, and my future awaits me, just as yours does. You will have your time, and I will have my time. Do not try again to depreciate my Age, for it will not work. You owe me that, dear brother, for I never tried to depreciate yours. You will be glorious brother. Yours spires with rise high, your mountains reaching the sky, your caverns large as oceans. You will have glory brother, but somewhere else. Somewhere apart from me. Now please, leave me be, and leave your sister to a little peace and quiet."
The god then turned to look at the gate, that was again open, letting matter and energy flow in creation, wondering what was disturbing it.
Like an unbound river, energy dripped from the gate, boring through the centre of the disc-like planetoid. By ones and threes flames began to split off from the gate's fearsome flames, taking to wing, spreading out above the world and into the great dark void of the empty sky.
"The Phoenix -- firstborn of the Gods. Fitting, I think, that they are the first to rise again in the dead air of this ageless universe."
PP Expenditure
-2 Spawn: The first Phoenixes instantiate themselves from Isura's will and the raw fires of creation. Living birds of purest elemental flame, they posess an unknown and alien intelligence that drives them to bring the light of fire to all places in the cosmos.
-0 Cantrip: Cause the Gate of Eternity to continually drip a massive column of flame onto the world below. The rock is scorched by the heat, but otherwise unaltered. Given enough time, it may conceivably bore through the world, causing permanent damage.
-2 Spawn: The first Phoenixes instantiate themselves from Isura's will and the raw fires of creation. Living birds of purest elemental flame, they posess an unknown and alien intelligence that drives them to bring the light of fire to all places in the cosmos.
-0 Cantrip: Cause the Gate of Eternity to continually drip a massive column of flame onto the world below. The rock is scorched by the heat, but otherwise unaltered. Given enough time, it may conceivably bore through the world, causing permanent damage.
And if the mistress of fire hadn't blinded herself, she might have seen that the watcher's ichor had drenched the gates and, as gouts of fire hit the ground, divine blood rained within it. The ground drank it up and began to put forth small, thin, blades of ice that began to bend gently in a fresh breeze that had arisen as airy butterflies moved about. Occasionally in this field of grass-like ice flowers sprouted up, as red and as warm as glowing embers: indeed, pale shades of light danced within their petals as if the embers were still fresh from a fire. Not far away the earth itself gave sprout and earthen brambles began to grow a protective ring around the field, high and dense and thick.
Ebel jumped down from the vortex and vaguely wondered how her daughter would react. Probably think it a side effect of her own work, she mused. Oh well, that is what she got for using her left eye to create her.
She began to head west, towards water, when she noticed that Isura was missing her scarf. Not wanting her to go cold, Ebel nodded towards the gate and green fire fell from it, wrapping itself around the goddess again. Satisfied, she went to see about making preparations for her final child.
PP
1PP - Nourish: Garden of the Gods. Ebel's blood creates a garden underneath the Gates. The plants and creatures there are elemental in nature; when the water god gets created, water trees will appear.
0PP- Cantrip: return of the warm fluffy green scarf of fire.
3/4 PP
1PP - Nourish: Garden of the Gods. Ebel's blood creates a garden underneath the Gates. The plants and creatures there are elemental in nature; when the water god gets created, water trees will appear.
0PP- Cantrip: return of the warm fluffy green scarf of fire.
3/4 PP
"Now... sleep." Across the infinite distances, the wingbeats of the Phoenixes slowed. One by one, the mythic birds slowed to a stop, curling into a protective ball. Made still by Isura's will, the essences of the birds burned all the brighter, a rising cloud of flame and heat rising, almost shell-like, to encapsulate the vast majority of the birds. They would lay dormant - some for near unfathomable amounts of time - and while they waited, they would burn. From the great distance between the creatures and the gate, they almost looked like...
"Stars. I will call them stars."
The wreath of green flame drifted through the goddess and out the other side, spinning into the starry void unnoticed.
PP Expenditure
-1 Nourish: Isura sends many of the firstborn phoenixes into a dormant state known as "stars". Most of them are so distant that they only give a dim glow to those below the gate -- but the gate itself dwarfs many of these "stars" in light and intensity.
-1 Nourish: Isura sends many of the firstborn phoenixes into a dormant state known as "stars". Most of them are so distant that they only give a dim glow to those below the gate -- but the gate itself dwarfs many of these "stars" in light and intensity.
She called forth a jagged stone from the depths of the water and pierced her flesh with it. She gasped at the pain and coughed up a blot of blood. She was undeterred, however, and with her left arm she pounded the shard deeper. Black fluids oozed around the wound and the liquid sizzled as it hit the water.
Using the stone as leverage, Ebel began to pry her chest open. For minutes and hours she pulled until, with a crack heard across the continent, her bones gave way. Within the cavity her heart pulsed, the color of the gate above. With trembling hands she grabbed this heart and removed it. She barely recalled dropping it in the water before she fainted and drifted upon the dying ripples.
PP
3PP Beget God: Ascend the lord of water
Figured that since it doesn't look like Argus is ascending today we might as well try to get a bit more action going
O/4PP remaining
3PP Beget God: Ascend the lord of water
Figured that since it doesn't look like Argus is ascending today we might as well try to get a bit more action going
O/4PP remaining
The divine heart beats as it sinks into the murky depths, the light from the Gate a dim memory far overhead.
Water Remembers...
Blood pushes its way out of the chambers of the heart as the godly organ begins to fail, beats slowing as the lifeforce of the god left it.
Water Remembers...
Beat. Beat.
Beat.
Waters Remembers...
At the border of utter darkness, the heart stops beating, last drops of blood dissolving into the water as the lump of flesh dissapears into the depths.
But Something Remains!
Along the trail of blood, the divine essence of the First diffuses into the water, and the water... changes.
I Remember!
The water moves slowly up and down the blood, caressing it, pushing it this way and that, slowly collecting it.
I Remember being ripped from my home!
A shell of blood rises to the surface, pushed by eager waters. The Gate, a dim glow, grows brighter.
I Must Return!
Upwards, faster and faster! The bloody water flies from the murky depths, past the body of Ebel, and towards the Gate.
Tsiyoti Lives!
Finally clear of the sea, a blood-streaked orb of water floats near the gate, dripping constantly down into the Sea of Daj, where a pool of sweet water forms in a natural depression. Future nomads of the barren lands below would call the oasis "Tsiyoti's Boon."
The orb flinches away from a torrent of flames pouring from the gate.
"Who put this annoyance here? I demand it to be shut off, immediately!" The god shouted into the heavens, words pouring from the orb like the sound of waves crashing against tall cliffs.
PP
1 PP: Mold Land: In the midst of the Sea of Daj, a small lake of freshwater forms, called Tsiyoti's Boon.
3 PP remaining.
1 PP: Mold Land: In the midst of the Sea of Daj, a small lake of freshwater forms, called Tsiyoti's Boon.
3 PP remaining.
"I do not." He snapped, flinging a stream of water at the source of the fire, which flared and spluttered under the assault, bathing the earth below with warm steam, winds from the sudden changes in pressure scouring the barren ground.
"Who put you in charge, anyways?"
The goddess turned away from the small orb. "I rather like the way it burns things, though. I shall miss that if you turn it off."
"What are you looking at?"
A Giant wandered along the Ice Wall taller then the very mountains. He wandered around the world. Looking, searching, exploring as the waters that bordered the Ice Wall froze as he walked past. There were things to do. Errands to be done. Allies to gather. But not yet. The time for words had not yet come. Life's spark had yet not arrived to the world.
So therefore the God of Ice continued his trip. Looking at the distant shores of the continent. Observing the squabbles of siblings with a faint smile playing on his thin lips. His mother died as she ripped out her own heart. A new God was born. All of this happening in front of uncaring eyes. Words were traded. Anguish, pain...and drama.
The God looked away. Dreaming about the future. Of the days he knew would one day come. For a moment he stopped to think. How...could he know these things? See...people, concepts and thoughts that yet had not been invented.
Prophecy. Divination. That...was a most interesting idea...
A faint smile touched his lips once more as he continued to wander.
Isura floated closer and grabbed hold of the gate. "Come on, let's make quick with it! Get over here and help me bring this down." Isura stopped, considering. "New plan!" she called out, racing down and away from Tziyoti "Help me bring this land up."
"I do not like not being answered. Tell me. What is your name, and why should I do this thing you ask of me? I see no benefit for myself."
She pointed upwards. "I mean, have you seen that thing? It's a pretty nice gate."
"Yes, it is surely a powerful artifact, but I fail to see how moving the land CLOSER to the gate is going to protect it somehow. Wouldn't that just make it worse if something went wrong? I would say we should just counteract its actions when necessary."
A tendril of water emerged from the God's form and touched the gate near - but not too near - the torrent of fire. a stream of liquid emerged from the gate, hitting the fire and turning into steam as it quenched it. Now, instead of a raging fire, steam - fog by the time it hit the surface- fell over a large area of the world below, bathing it in moisture and obscuring it from vision.
"Like so."
PP
0 PP: Modify the fire to be steam/fog instead.
0 PP: Modify the fire to be steam/fog instead.
The deity inhaled. "Dajjal! Velt! Od'Vidr! Come over here and agree or disagree with me!"
She lowered her voice again. "May as well see if they have any objections." Isura paused for a moment. "And speaking of which, who the hell are you, anyway?"
"What are the others like?"
A wind was picking up, carrying the words upon it. It gathered the mist from the Gate up into greyish clouds of steam and manipulated it, puppet-like, to address the godlings.
"But thankfully enough for you, I am not one of those. I am Dajjal. I like cloud-watching, poetry and being right all the time. How are you?"
Then, addressing Isura simultaneously, she added, "And what of you, Isura-the-Eye, what need have you of me?"
"Tziyoti-the-orb? I don't recall meeting you before. As to "the others" they are quick with tongue and slow in the head. At least, those I've conversed with have been. I cannot tell you about Od'Vidr, as I only met him in passing."
He changed form and arrived as a raging snowstorm in a mere moment, covering his siblings in snow and ice in the process.
" Yes? Is there anything anyone of you require of me? There are things to be done, sights to be seen and plans to be planned.."
He talked slowly, judging every word before they were allowed to pass his lips. He looked at Isura though with something that could have been curiouisty. She was an interesting one...fire...in itself was most interesting..even though it hurt him to look at her. His frozen eyes were not made to stare in to the very source of fire.
" About this gate though. I would like it destroyed or removed. It serves little purpose any longer other as a reason for you to squabble and fight among your selves. "
The Frozen God was huge, towering high above the others as he spoke with his rumbling voice. It..would have been so simple to simply destroy it. Bend down and crush the gate. It was nothing but a source of irritation for him. A memory of a weak Mother and a time before him.
Fire, Cold, Air... The last one must be Earth. He thought to himself, turning his attention to the contintent below and wondering what form the last one would take. So far there seemed to be little rhyme or reason to their appearances. This latest one was, so far, the most impressive of them all... not that the orb wished to get any closer to make a more detailed examination.
"Destroy it?" the words burbled out from his body. "Is that wise? I am the youngest of you all, but even I can sense the immense power it holds. I mean, look at it!"
The gate pulsed and hummed, still spitting out the twin jets of fire and water as well as sparks of energy that lit up the surrounding area. Tsiyoti rippled thoughtfully.
"Although... perhaps we could tamp it down somewhat. It is rather difficult to deal with in its current state."
" A...new one. Good tidings to you, my friend. Yes, I find the gate to have little purpose beyond being a creator of conflict. Only it's destruction or removal will solve the problems it will create in the ages to come. "
The frozen one, raised a fist, huge as a mountain and covered with frost as if he was preparing himself to destroy it.
" I can do it now...destroy it with this very fist..."
"Perhaps Fire is right. Maybe we should bury it."
"But, I suppose I could accept placing it upon the earth, so long as it it left open to the air. And if the rest of you so choose, we can ensure that all our elements are represented about it, so that all of us may keep a steady watch upon it. The one thing I shall never accept, however, is destroying it. I doubt we even could, or at least, if we tried, the results would be most cataclysmic."
She paused to ponder her own words for a moment, and then brightened up.
"On second thought, let us blow it up! See how much damage we could do."
"I ask you pardon for being late to this meeting, brothers and sister, if I may express my opinion I don't think that we could benefit from "blowing it up" beside we might not know the consequences... Its endless stream of matter and energy might be useful for us one day, despite what we think now so I say lets not deprive us of such an impressive tool"
"Contained maybe, put into a responsible hand? Of a council composed of our kind maybe..."
"Also while I'd offer myself as a guardian for it, should a watcher be needed, I don't think that the gate could be fully confined within an enclosed space, no matter how much power we command but I fear that none of us can create a shell that will stand unbroken when the energies of the gates are unleashed."
OOC
Augh! Ninja'd!
"I guess so, although beyond the memory of being ripped from his chest, I have never met our father."
"Thus my suggestion to keep a guardian appointed by each of us about the Gate. I for one could not stand to have it remain completely under the behest of my darling brother, and you all have made it clear that my own protection about it has thus far been insufficient. So either we designate a third, neutral party to act as guardian, or else we each create our own guardian."
"What if we create our halls of power close to the gates, placing the gates in its safest chamber, almost constantly visited by the strongest guardians that we could provide... us"
"And so the Firstborn of Ebel gathered up the Gate of Eternity and secreted it away, jealously guarding it away from the world in their storied halls..."
She sighed and shook her head.
"But, I suppose it won't do to dwell on such things. I find myself, against all odds, agreeing with you, dear brother Velt, Right-Arm-of-the Goddess. But I must add my own restriction. This Gate is an object of Elemental power, and thus rests under the purview of the Elementals. And so the Keeping of the Gate should be relegated to the Children of Ebel, and only them. It shall be our meeting place, and our place to guard from. All others have no place there."
"Agreed. We shall hold the power of the Gate for all eternity."
" No, I will not accept such a travesty! "
The Frozen God rumbled.
" You refuse to listen! You scheme! You talk! You whisper! As if the Gate was something worthwhile to have! You already try to seclude others from it. Creating more conflict when other Gods will come. Gods not children of Ebel. They will envy you and see worth in this despicable thing! "
He pointed at the Gate and there was hatred in his eyes.
" I will give you my warning once more! This thing will bring nothing to us that we don't already have! No power! No happiness! No security! Just conflict, hatred and war! Destroy it! Lock it away! "
He turned his back on his siblings. His shoulders shaking in unmistakeable wrath.
" If you seek to protect it. If you seek to create a Guardian for it, I will help you. Otherwise if you seek to organize yourself around it. Form a group or a pantheon with the Door as your altar, you will never be able to trust me again. "
He left them. Wandering off to the distant shores of the continent.
Sparks that flew too far from the gate, losing their way in the infinite and falling prey to the slow decay of entropy. Their shattered remnants flitting through the dark lost, mindless, and purposeless.
With the introduction of the elemental storm these remnants found something to hold on to, eager to become whole again. Spread far and wide amidst the chaos these pieces pulled the elements into them forming small swirling eddies and currents. As time went on remnants would spin into one another, their insatiable pull on their surroundings growing stronger, their storm steadily growing from a current to a hurricane.
At the center of the largest hurricane of divine elements yet drifted the hideous monolith of a nascent god. A humanoid torso of spasming purple flesh, on a serpentine lower body of clear "stone" with black veins pumping some vile fluid through it. The spaces between its many ribs open like vents exuding a abominable clear mucus flickering with a light of its own that seems to float and flow without care of physics. Its fore-limbs are long and thin, ending in three long black chitinous fingers. Its "head" sits atop a long neck of the twitching purple flesh with a black external spine. The external spine continues into the middle of the back where it spirals into a calciferous mass pock marked with small whistling holes which draw in air. The head itself is a solid hunk of bone with a thin vertical chasm bisecting it, strange energies of a countless number of hues arc across the space. Altogether it is the the size of a small mountain.
Within that form millions of shattered remnants were coalescing into one coherent being. All portions of countless gods that could have been, with ideas, personalities, and talents. Many being pushed aside, combined, exalted. Until finally, a unified being was achieved.
The hideous creature's back arched painfully and suddenly, the torrent of elements and fragments ceased and subsided, the chaos for a moment paused.
The creature's ribs rolled under its skin, producing a voice simultaneously like railroad spikes scraped across a continent of glass and thundering roars down an abysmal cavern. The creature was screaming into the world, screaming at the rushing pain of existing out of that chaos, dimly aware of just how long it had been lost and shattered into pieces.
The creature wanted out of the chaos, toward something whole, something complete. Still on the instinctive impulse of its "forebears". It threw its tail into motion, which cracked with each movement, breaking the black veins within momentarily with small plumes of ink amongst the crystalline structure. It swam on, through the chaos towards what it felt was home, towards something complete, the tattered memories of the gate hanging on its new mind. With that, it exploded out from the roiling clouds of the elements, down upon the eye of the storm, the disc of land.
But it was not alone, there were others there, others where the gate should be. Others could be anyone, anything. The god landed a safe distance away from the others on the edge of sight away from their mountains.
"JZAQUIHT RETURNS! WHAT OTHERS SEAL THE WELL?!"
"It appears we are not alone, brethren. Shall we continue this conversation at a later point?" he said quietly to the gathered gods before raising his voice to the distant presence.
"Who, or What, are you? You are no elemental."
"Water lies beneath us, Air above. Earth stretches to the wall of Cold, and in the heavens, Fire burns down from the stars. But where is this Life? I perceive it not, unless you are all that it is."[/color]
Tsiyoti looked the god up and down, taking in the roiling flesh and... head.
"If you are Life... prove it."
Jzaquiht took some of his odd floating mucus out of the air, twisting the glob and weaving it within his fingers. Lights from the chasm of his "eye" strobed thoughtfully, arcing across its surfaces.
He saw deep. Down, far into the small details of the world. There he created the molecules that would be woven into chains. These chains woven into figure-eights. At their core where the chains crossed a protein converted the chains into other molecules which performed simple tasks that perpetuated a series of events with the purpose of keeping those events occurring. All surrounded in a purple membrane. Not only that, but these figure-eight chains would at times break at their core, splitting into two circles that quickly formed their own cells of purple membrane before twisting into a figure-eight and performing their tasks in full.
They slid across the earth and through the water, feeding on the raw stone and the cool waters to build themselves over and over. These were the Promethia, the first life on the disk. They were the foundation for all life everywhere.
PP
4PP: Create Promethia. Will be performing alterations on them to create more complex life and build ecosystems.
And then she caught sight of the newborn. And what a sight it was!
"Well, suffice it to say that my brother's prophecy has been actualized. Far sooner than any could have expected, I am sure!"
She raised her voice to the other, addressing him more plainly.
"Dear me, what a fearsome visage you possess, young one. Tell us, what is your name? We shall not begrudge you ours. I am called Dajjal. I am Wind. I am First-Born-of-the-Goddess."
"I... had expected something larger, but... very well, you have proven yourself. I am Tsiyoti, lord of the Roaring Tides. I imagine I am... Fifth-born."
"Behold, I help in this task."
From beneath the continent, a jet of water began shoving at the land directly beneath the gate, shoving at the land and pushing it upwards into the beginnings of a mountain shape.
PP
1 PP towards the creation of the Elemental Mountain, be it a demiplane or simple mold, I care not.
1 PP towards the creation of the Elemental Mountain, be it a demiplane or simple mold, I care not.
Her whereabouts were quickly made clear, however, when the mass of the earth began to rise towards the gate. The peak of Tsiyoti's mountain speared through the Gate of Destruction, vanishing, instantly annihilated. The land slowed, the gate now resting in a self-created caldera.
A few moment's later, Isura reappeared. "That's better." she said, simply.
PP Expenditure
-1 (+1 from toph) Mold Land -- Move the created land such that gate is embedded within the earth rather than simply floating aimlessly. The Garden of the Gods, as well as the gate itself, are located within the mountain-top caldera created by Tsiyoti
-1 (+1 from toph) Mold Land -- Move the created land such that gate is embedded within the earth rather than simply floating aimlessly. The Garden of the Gods, as well as the gate itself, are located within the mountain-top caldera created by Tsiyoti
"The purpose of things to be is decided on their history. The meek rising and growing, the broken consuming and mending. We are in agreement, my purpose and I, and with you. You cannot know. The water will always be water," His head craning towards the windy one, "The wind will always be wind. Jzaquiht...Jzaquiht...Jzaquiht...what are our names? That one is mine, but did I chose it? Life is not nameless it seems, and it will never be like water, wind, fire, earth, or ice. It will change."
His lower body still coiling rhythmically, Jzaquiht bends down so that his calcified face nearly touches the purple sheen of the Promethia covered earth.
"It will grow."
The spectrum of lights arcing across the chasm of his "eye" suddenly flared, angular beams of the strange light racing in geometric panic over the surrounding area. The purple mat of the Promethia swelled in spots where suddenly the chains that told them what they were was radically rewritten.
Sections of it became swollen, rising in calciferous columns of bone covered in bright red squirming cilia before a coarse carapace of iron encased them. These were the first of the Screaming Pipes. Colonial organisms which drew minerals and water from the ground to nourish themselves, as well as sapping the iron and trace other metals from the soil for a protective shell. New colonies will grow in perfectly vertical columns about 10 feet thick before they reach a certain point where further upward growth is structurally unsound (about 40 feet). At this point buds of new growth form along the column, growing into downward arches towards the earth once more. This trend continues from thereon, eventually creating a large dome of Screaming Pipes. As this dome shape forms, the original column in the center dies and hardens from loss of resources, this cause of death spreads radially from the center. Their namesake is due to the sound caused by their nutrient-rich fluid flowing just under the metal skin. The fluid is kept in one portion in the organism until it is needed elsewhere, at which point a sudden pressure change sucks the fluid at high speeds to where it's needed.
Other sections swelled into blisters the size of a man's hand, settling into slimy black worms about an inch around and 4 inches long. Their bodies were mostly featureless aside from a series of brown feathered hairs surrounding the small aperture that was their mouth, within which hid a long and thin purple tongue. They breathed nitrogen through their skin. These small creatures were the Xiod. Their life was spent sliding across the screaming pipes with a sticking mucus produced by their bodies hunting for the pockets of nourishing fluid beneath the metal shell. They hunted by sound, chirping every now and then and determining from what they heard whether food was near. The tough hide of the pipes posed them no problem as the feathered hairs about their mouths carried a fast acting enzyme which rusted iron quickly. Once the breach was made, the food found, they extended their tongues to wick away the fluid carefully, lest the pipes detect intrusion and quickly suck the fluid away. The waste they produced was used in the creation of the mucus which held them fast to the pipes. Mating was performed by two Xiod partnering (they have no gender), and suspending themselves from a section of screaming pipe in a cocoon of their own mucus. Within that cocoon the two Xiod exchanged genetic information, and used their own body masses to make 4-6 new Xiod.
Rivulets of Promethia slid up the pipes, becoming a murky green moss. This moss grew healthy upon the mucus of the Xiod. It fed upon their leavings, and in turn, upon their passing over the moss left spores on the worms to further their generations. It also took in oxygen during its metabolic processes, leaving nitrogen in the air afterwards. This was the Retch Moss. Named so for its habit of leaving its spores upon all things brushed against it, and the mucus of the Xiod is not the only thing it grows upon, as future beings would find that soiled clothing seemed a fine habitat for it.
Most of the Promethia under the iron canopy of the screaming pipes suddenly shifted, becoming a tough mat of tangled brown vines. These vines were extremely difficult to break open, having a tough hide. However, they became soft in the presence of dead things, growing new sections of vine to consume and ensnare the dead. These were called the Sleeping Creeper. In old screaming deeps they were known to cover much of the central columns and arches that had died to lack of resources. Their hardened state is one of hibernation, which can last for many decades before the creeper dies to starvation.
Rising out of the Promethia on the edge of the growing dome of pipes rose a dark, hideous shape. The Ithnaga. Their entire body was covered in black chitinous plates. With a humanoid torso and serpentine lower body, they resembled their creator. Their fore-limbs which aided in moving on land, were mantid-like and ended in wicked chitinous blades. These fore-limbs could also be brought close to the body where mucus glands coated them so that when the Ithnaga spread them once more they had a wing-span of strong elastic mucus which would last them a couple hours of flight. Their heads were canine, turned upside down. Their ears were canals made by a collection of spines on the back of their jaws. Their eyes were constructed of bone with four pin-holes in them to let in light. Their tongues were long, thing and purple. Through small holes along their necks they breathed nitrogen. Their cries were like long reptilian hisses followed by a deep croak. They fed on all things with flesh, developing a taste for those they could ambush or kill easily. The size of a small horse, and hunting in packs, their wasn't much they didn't have a taste for. Ithnaga live in packs of 10-12 and are very territorial, usually only having one pack to a dome of pipes. They sleep in nests of tough wing mucus. During the breeding season the males fight each other for the right to females. Their waste matter is converted to mucus for flight and nesting.
Meanwhile, smaller shapes rose out of the Promethia. Insects no bigger than a dime. Their white abdomen and thorax showed starkly against the dark colors of the pipe domes. Upon their backs were six pairs of feathered barbs which could be moved in time which each other to achieve flight. Upon their head was a small axe-blade of silica bisecting their "faces". Flanking either side of the blade were small holes which acted as noses. One either side of the head was a pin-hole eye much like those found on the Ithnaga. On the underside of their head was a complex system of jaws and chelicerae. They stood on four chitinous legs. Two holes in the middle of their back provided the apertures for gas exchange. These creatures lived in swarms with no ruler, acting as a kind of hive-mind. Their hives were made by biting into sleeping creeper vines, preferably high in the pipe domes, and injecting a chemical which cause the section bitten to swell with fluids. These insects, Scathe Flies, then ate a hole into the tumor, emptied it of fluid and made themselves at home. They primarily fed by farming retch moss in their hives, which involved going out regularly to collect mucus from Xiod and wiping it across the inside of their hives. Their silica blades were used to great effect on curious interlopers, as swarms would descend on the intruder sweeping their bladed heads across the skin with great effect. Ithnaga preferred to avoid Scathe Hives as much as possible.
Some of the Xiod began to change even as they rose out of the Promethia. They grew four long tentacles along both sides of their body. Their hide became thick and rubbery, immune to the blades of the scathe flies. A skeletal structure took shape in their body, creating an external spine with holes for gas exchange, an exo-skeletal conical skull with four pin-hole eyes embedded in it, and their tentacles became knuckled. The rusting hairs that once surrounded their mouth fell away. At the tip of their conical skull their was a hole for the mouth, from which their tongue now tipped with a sharp barb tasted the air. They ceased to produce mucus, instead now relying on their strong limbs and powerful abdominal muscles to climb. They grew in size to be four feet long, their tentacles now each two feet long. These were the Xilagi. They climbed the canopies of the pipes, whipping out their tongues at scathe flies, spearing them, devouring them. They communicated by whistling through the holes in their backs, but mostly operated in isolation. Xilagi meet only once in a while for mating, when the two develop a genetic poison in their tongue barbs. Whichever Xilagi is stabbed first in this meeting becomes pregnant and soon lays eggs to the underside of a screaming pipe, held strong by mucus. They leave waste by dropping an urine and feces from a cloaca on their underside to the ground below.
Jzaquiht rose, and looked upon the busting life below, somewhat disappointed.
PP
0pp: Alter ecosystem. This needs tweaking and expansion. I've still got one free monster to toss down here as per Thought's ruling. I need to learn how to wiki, fast.
Summary:
Screaming Pipes- Iron Coral Pipes that make a dome over an area.
Xiod- Fleshy black worms that rust through the metal coral to drink the fluid in it
Retch moss- green moss that gross on xiod mucus and soiled clothing
Ithnaga- voracious flying pack beasts
Sleeping creeper-Vines that carpet the floor of Screaming Deeps type ecosystems and grow on top of dead things. Very tough.
Scathe flies-Swarms of flies that make hives out of tumors in sleeping creepers up in the pipe canopy, they farm retch moss and cut things up with face-blades.
Xilagi-8 tentacled creatures that climb the pipes and spear flies with their tongue for food.
Summary:
Screaming Pipes- Iron Coral Pipes that make a dome over an area.
Xiod- Fleshy black worms that rust through the metal coral to drink the fluid in it
Retch moss- green moss that gross on xiod mucus and soiled clothing
Ithnaga- voracious flying pack beasts
Sleeping creeper-Vines that carpet the floor of Screaming Deeps type ecosystems and grow on top of dead things. Very tough.
Scathe flies-Swarms of flies that make hives out of tumors in sleeping creepers up in the pipe canopy, they farm retch moss and cut things up with face-blades.
Xilagi-8 tentacled creatures that climb the pipes and spear flies with their tongue for food.
Next, he went down to the edge of the Caldera and carefully moved about the edge, deliniating the outside of the caldera from the inside with a thread of pure power drawn from his own being, being sure to stay a few inches away from the swirling storm. Once he had made a full circle, he carefully laid the end of the thread down so that it perfectly matched the start. Satisfied, he floated away from the Caldera and crossed the line.
The chaotic storm of elements vanished and the gate grew quiescent, the caldera as bare as it had been before. Bobbing in pleasure, the Orb moved forward. Immediately the storm reappeared, inches from Tsiyoti's nose (if he had a nose). Success!
He raised his voice.
"I, A child of the Elements, would Enter."
One of the tendrils of the storm suddenly found itself without a source, and moments later a safe passage appeared in front of Tsiyoti. The god bobbled again, pleased at his handiwork. The dome should open as large as necessary when the words were spoken: Even The Titan of Cold himself should be able to enter into the Garden if he so desired.
Stepping inside the barrier, Tsiyoti looked around. This would not do. Around the Gate was naught but barren earth, and the howl of the Barrier made it all very unpleasant. Turning, he set about solving the second problem, pulling out a second thread of power and walking it all around the inside edge of the Barrier. He laid the end down upon its beginning, and, just like with the outer thread, the Barrier vanished.
However, now there was no way to determine the location of the Door. Frowning, he turned back to the thread and, at the location of the entrance to the Garden, gently scratched a bit at the thread, fraying it slightly. A hazy image of the Barrier appeared, and a faint roar could be heard.
"I, A child of the Elements, would Enter."
he said, ducking across to the other side and repeating the process on the other side. Now, although the Barrier did circle the entire Mountain, it appeared as if light passed straight through it. From here, the Gate hummed, shedding particles and recieving particles as always. The only indication of the Barrier was the faint appearance of it just before him.
Moving through the doorway once more, he looked at the Garden and a ripple passed over his body. Suddenly, dozens of three-tiered fountains appeared around the edge of the Gate, each springing into action.
"Better" he said.
PP
2 PP (+1PP next week): Forge Artifact: The Elemental Barrier: Surround the Garden of the Primordials, located in the caldera of the Mountain of the Gate. It is a nigh-impenetrable barrier woven of all five elements, although unless one is nearly into the Barrier, it it invisible, save for near the doorway. The doorway is the only way into and out of the Garden (barring future ingenuity by other players). It is dimly visible (and audible) from both within and without the Garden. To enter, one must declare "I, a Child of the Elements, would Enter."
This artifact is considered to be owned by all the Children of Ebel.
0 PP: Cantrip: Make some fountains inside the Garden!
2 PP (+1PP next week): Forge Artifact: The Elemental Barrier: Surround the Garden of the Primordials, located in the caldera of the Mountain of the Gate. It is a nigh-impenetrable barrier woven of all five elements, although unless one is nearly into the Barrier, it it invisible, save for near the doorway. The doorway is the only way into and out of the Garden (barring future ingenuity by other players). It is dimly visible (and audible) from both within and without the Garden. To enter, one must declare "I, a Child of the Elements, would Enter."
This artifact is considered to be owned by all the Children of Ebel.
0 PP: Cantrip: Make some fountains inside the Garden!
Velt looked at the new life forms that was covering the world with curiosity, feeding from the earth and see... He liked the those creatures constant state of activity and short lives, they feed on earth, but they returned to it in their death, so they only borrowed something from his domain, a thing that Velt could allow.
Then he turned to the sky, the stars was so beautiful, shining, he envied them a little, the underworld lacked such a beauty... "For now at least" he tought, the god focused his will on the earth below, reshaping its structure, taking the lights from the world above, bringing it down into small crystals, the "star of the underwold" another name that one day will be used by mortals to call the shining and yet incredibly resilient diamonds.
"You did a nice job, brothers and sisters, now the gates are safe and secured within our grasp... Anyway I think that it'll be safer if we also forge guardians and servants to attend to it, while we are drawn back to creation to handle our domains, and to tend to the gardens and halls that will be born within it, so that our minds could focus on the greatness of the world freely without minding for the small matters of our domain"
"I have been watching those living creatures for a short while and they looks, promising, yet, too independant to be effective servants I fear, what if we forge beings from our own essence, that could not betray us, but could wield enough power to act as our heralds, soldiers or servants?"
Then the god begun to shape a crude shell from the stones of the mountain, slowly letting its power flow within the yet inanimate statue.
PP
1 PP Nourish? - Velt create diamonds "the stars of the underworld"
1 to 3 Shape (I intend to craft titans to act as the gods first servants, I'll provide any point that does not come from the other primordials) I don't have 4 pp at the moment right? but I think that if no one wants to contribut I can complete the action next turn right?
1 PP Nourish? - Velt create diamonds "the stars of the underworld"
1 to 3 Shape (I intend to craft titans to act as the gods first servants, I'll provide any point that does not come from the other primordials) I don't have 4 pp at the moment right? but I think that if no one wants to contribut I can complete the action next turn right?
She poured her own power into the statues as mist fell upon them, loosening their limbs and moistening their brows.
PP
1 PP - Shape - Give 1 PP to Velt to help him shape the titans.
5 PP for: Isura, Jzahuit
4 PP for: Everyone else.
Tomorrow we'll be putting up guidelines for how to secure PP bonuses for wiki-upkeep. As this was not made clear earlier, we've only awarded Veok an extra point, as he clearly has gone above and beyond the call of duty this week. Ary gets a RP bonus for the ecosystem he's set up.
Have a good week, everybody!
Instead, the goddess swept over the continent, noting Od'Vidr's ring of ice now gilding the edges. It was all too static for her tastes. She had even not been pleased with Tziyoti's elemental barrier -- sure it looked engaging, but Isura had seen the pattern within the madness after only a few seconds of observation. The barrier was ordered chaos -- eclectic and out of control, but at the same time a construct of singular mind and purpose. It was boring.
--Somewhere amongst the Stars--
Isura reached out, and with a modicum of effort, brought a long piece of Earth out of the great beyond. It was a stubborn, stagnant element, akin to Velt himself. She set one end of the rock on fire, watched as the cascade of flame danced along the rock, enveloping the entire peace in a nebulous haze of heat. Isura continued to ponder.
PP Expenditure
-0 Cantrip: Isura experiments with small rocks and rings of elemental earth.
Meanwhile Ebel’s body, unable to decay yet unable to live, sank further and further beneath the surface of the water. Even when she had reached the lowed point of the sea, the earth gave way and allowed her to continue to fall until at last the body had sunk beneath both water and earth and reached the frigged under-layers of the world. Even then the elements gave way, not knowing how to react to the death of the one that had created them and so fleeing instead. With strange twists of time she even passed through that and into the elemental cloud that surrounded the world. There her body remained.
Even as her form drifted among the elements, the phantasmal lights that had been her hands and eyes faded, leaving merely a marred corpse behind.
Up above, however, far above the fragments of Ebel’s life force began to condense. The will that had stopped her spark from returning to the gates was gone, and now her potentiality sought to obey once more. Two floating eyes, two elemental hands, and a disembodied heart began to make its way from the western sea to the Gate. It crossed the Sea of Daj and splashed through Tsiyoti’s boon. It climbed the great mountain and approached the Gates. Yet a barrier stopped. Unable to pass, the creature circled around and tried again, only to have its efforts frustrated. It let out a cry of anguish yet continued its course, trying again and again to return to the gates that called it.
PP
3PP Forge Artifact: the Heartstone - A semi-sentient artifact suitable for heroic and paragon-level play. I’m working on a full write up for the Wikia, but as relevant for this game: its powers focus on the unseen being seen. This covers a host of normal D&D situations but for LoC it notably enables a mortal to perceive and interact with divine beings, and it circumvents excision. If held by a god, it would allow them to interact with mortals as well, but those mortals will perceive the god as an ordinary member of their species and they would forget the encounter within a few hours; this isn’t a replacement for an avatar.
Its default appearance is that of a simple water-worn stone, though it changes its shape to fit the personality of the one holding it. As such, it often appears as a precious gem and gets embedded in fine jewelry.
1PP Mold Land (lesser): The Deeps - In the center of the sea that is to the west of the Sea of Daj there appears an essentially bottomless underwater hole/pit/trench that goes all the way through the world
0PP Cantrip: Ebel’s Ghost - For now an unthinking manifestation of the last of Ebel’s essence. Perhaps some gods might choose to invest a little power into this creature and establish it as a guardian of the gates. If not, then as the end of the week the spirit will disperse.
3PP Forge Artifact: the Heartstone - A semi-sentient artifact suitable for heroic and paragon-level play. I’m working on a full write up for the Wikia, but as relevant for this game: its powers focus on the unseen being seen. This covers a host of normal D&D situations but for LoC it notably enables a mortal to perceive and interact with divine beings, and it circumvents excision. If held by a god, it would allow them to interact with mortals as well, but those mortals will perceive the god as an ordinary member of their species and they would forget the encounter within a few hours; this isn’t a replacement for an avatar.
Its default appearance is that of a simple water-worn stone, though it changes its shape to fit the personality of the one holding it. As such, it often appears as a precious gem and gets embedded in fine jewelry.
1PP Mold Land (lesser): The Deeps - In the center of the sea that is to the west of the Sea of Daj there appears an essentially bottomless underwater hole/pit/trench that goes all the way through the world
0PP Cantrip: Ebel’s Ghost - For now an unthinking manifestation of the last of Ebel’s essence. Perhaps some gods might choose to invest a little power into this creature and establish it as a guardian of the gates. If not, then as the end of the week the spirit will disperse.
"Dajjal, I know it is you. Show yourself." he said, chuckling.
Just at that moment, a... thing rounded the edge of the Barrier, moving with great haste towards the closing wall, which shut just before it reached the opening. A cry of anguish came from it, and it began to circle once more.
Completely forgetting Dajjal, the orb of water began to follow the... ghost.
Anger and rage was not easy to fade for one such as he and instead of fading got stuck in his mind. Proud thoughts filled his mind. Thoughts of his knowledge. For after all he knew! He knew what fools his siblings was! He knew it all! He knew of those that was destinied to come. He knew their purpose. Knew how the world would one day look like!
Alone and bitter he wandered the outskirts of the world. Marvelled at the things he saw there. He found life. Life fascinated him. He spent hours watching the creatures that had already been spawned, how they swam, how they ate and how lived their lives.
A smile adorned the frozen one's lips as he decided to give the world a gift. A gift that would result in untold numbers of lives.
He...needed something though to make this gift. Something he could not bring himself to create. Something...that was not of his nature.
" Isura! Burning one! I pledge you to come to me! I have a proposal of great interest for ye! "
The Frozen one stood at the continent as he shouted these words. Words that was meant for none's ear but his Sister's. Words that travelled the very skies to reach her ears.
She clutched her head and spoke: "I... I am here. So speak."
The Frozen God turned to face his sister and he began to speak with her with a voice carrying the rumbling of a snowstorm within it.
" Isura, I have a proposal for you. This world we both live in lack warmth and light. It lacks a counterpart to the freezing winters I have already given it. It lacks a source of light and warmth, something that can nurture...life..."
A faint smile touched the Frozen one's lips as he spoke.
" I want you to help me in this. I am substance. I am matter. But I lack the energy necessary to create the object of my dreams. A God whose very purpose is to give this world light, warmth and stability. A testament of Order and chaos working together. A gift from both of us to this world that has given his form, mind, purpose...and a new life. One filled with posibilities! "
Bitterness and Pride was swept away by an odd sense of fullfillment as he spoke.
He raised a hand against his sister. Within it matter came to existence. Formless though, lacking clear characteristics, purpose and a mind.
" Will you help me with this, Isura. In exchange i promise you my support if it's needed in the future. "
He did not know his sister. Unsure as he was of her designs he had decided to offer a payment of some sort for her to share her energy and passion to shape his..Sun.
"No light? No warmth?" Isura swept her fiery claw across a wide swath of sky. "Have you so little appreciation for my stars, then?"
The goddess coiled and writhed sinuously in place, snakelike, as she continued to think. "What do you have to gain by giving form to light and warmth? Just as I am but the last in a long line of eternal Fire-shapers, you are but the last of the line of Ice. What? Do you still harbor the preconceived notion that something birthed you? "Brother" -- the word said with such scorn -- "you belittle yourself. Do not attribute to others what you have wrought for yourself. Such 'familial ties' are flawed, both in assignation and effect."
Isura stopped her self-writhing, and took to slowly encircling Od'Vidr instead. "And do not seek to label me. Chaos? What ashless curse is that? Do you seek to imply that mine actions are random?"
"Hardly."
"Simply because you do not see them does not mean one doesn't have reasons. Again, I say, what do you have to gain? Light... Heat... these self-same things already exist. Whyever should we gift the world -- an ageless nascent world -- that seeks to define us, to delimit us, to claim contrary to our most basic identity. Jzahuit's life? What has this newest abomination done to deserve our aid? I do not like this Life -- I do not see it's purpose, for it was made without one."
Isura's movement gradually slowed until, dispersed as she was, she looked nothing more than a displaced heat-haze around Od'Vidr's shoulders. "I confess I feel no animosity towards you. You, out of all the others, I feel most kindred to. You know that you existed before, as did I, which is more than can be said of our elemental brethren, the fools who make grand claims of their "newness", clinging to an innate and abrasive know-it-all candor that is woefully misplaced to them. You, Od'Vidr, nay, not brother or some other falsity of language, just you, Od'Vidr, I think best understands me. So while I do not see it's point, I shall do as you beg. I give to you my power freely, as asked -- though that is the extent of my relationship with your craft. I provided aid, and nothing more; there is nothing to tie me to this, your creation of heat and light. That is how I want it, and so that is how it shall be. It is the rightest way of things, this self-satisfaction, and the knowledge of what one truly wants. Here, Coldbringer, is my power, given to you and yours for the crafting of your dreams."
Isura collected herself from Od'Vidr, and formed some distance from him once more. She hesitated, unsure if she cared to watch.
PP Expenditure
-1PP Given to Od'Vidr for whatever purpose he wishes with it.
4
Od'Vidr bowed in front of Isura. He was grateful...and even a little suprised that it had been this easy to gain her help. She was an interesting creature, fascinating even, one that cared deeply about her self, her ideals and her self-image.
They were alike in many ways even. Even though he would probably never gain her affinity for words or her love for them.
He took her power in his left hand and his own in his right hand and spoke.
" I will tell you, Isura why you should care of what I am now going to do. This world will in the ages to come to be the very centre of the God's attention. Creatures will form here that our kind will love, nurture and take care of. Creatures wind minds as complex as our own. Endlessly fascinating beings..."
There was joy in the Coldbringer's eyes as he spoke. His hands moved together and two forces began to merge. Energy and matter. Cold and warmth. Ice and fire. Chaos and order. In it's centre a celestial spark. A spark that grew and grew. A spark that soon outshone all light that the universe had ever seen before.
The Frozen one raised his hand and commanded the spark with his booming voice.
" UP! Fly high! Fly higher then the winds, child! Fly high above the world and shine brighter then the very stars! Give the world the warmth and the light it will need in the ages to come! "
And with those worlds he brought a God in to existince. A God and a Sun. A Sun that bathed the very world with it's light.
Ascend God 2pp ( 1 from Veok and 1 from Me )
As the divinity continued to glare radiantly from its place in the sky, Isura retreated once more, nearly as fast as she had come.
She reappeared somewhere below the shelf of land, and though some of her stars reached out below her, on the whole the region was empty. She was alone.
Well enough, then, for a little introspection.
"Well that is truly something!" she cried after the thing, "You don't see that everyday!"
And then she turned to behold Tsiyoti.
"Oh brother dearest, isn't that something?"
"It certainly is... something." he said as it disappeared onto the far side of the Barrier. The God rippled as he turned to wait for it appear again.
"I wonder what it is? It clearly wishes to get inside the Barrier. Is it one of Jzaquiht's creations? I would not put it past him to send something sneaking into our Garden."
So Isura floated, alone and undisturbed, thinking about not-thinking about things she wasn't thinking about. A translucent, lambent light had been forming in her hands for some time now. She watched, mildly curious as the strands -- Tentacles? Pseudopods? Feelers? -- writhed idly. They moved with a life of their own.
The Light was scintillating to look at -- the myriad colors swirling and blending together. It was almost nauseating to look at at times, and a beautiful aurora of splendor at others. Isura felt her strength fade as her not-thinking drew upon her divine might to imbue... something... into whatever it was she wasn't making.
"Hello for hi!"
The goddess started, casting the phantasmagoric ball of light aside in her surprise.
"Wheeeeeeeee!"
It sailed off into space, keening -- chirping? -- with some kind of insane joy.
Isura shuddered, consciously unsure of what she had unconsciously wrought. "Better to not question... it." she muttered to herself before vanishing in a wisp of flame, promptly forgetting all that had happened in the last moments. She reappeared above the disc where she had been before Od'Vidr's summons. The goddess grasped the still burning earth-motes in her claws. "Now where was I..."
PP Expenditure
-3 Beget Exarch
1
"The crawling of the mortals, desperate quests of futility weaving tales into their final sleep. Beautiful, breath-taking. Sparks among this world of oblique wielding. They are not me, they have no kin beyond their own. Should these hands tailor a mortal with sympathy? Possible, divine empathy?"
Suddenly a streak of giggling light rocketed overhead.
"Or shall we be alone?"
Light danced out of the chasm of his eye, small figures half-formed dancing amongst the spectra.
She twirled and spun about herself, tendrils of air whipping about her in a mad little dance.
"I love Life," said she , revelling in the ebb and flow of her own immortal form, "It speaks to me, in words of joy and fervour, and the promise of coming dust."
" I am your maker, young one. I am Od'Vidr, Lord of Cold and Frost. "
Od'Vidr looked at the Goddess, his face showed no feelings as he did so but a faint smile.
" Interesting..."
He mumbled to himself.
" You have already a shape...and a most interesting shape one as well. A body of flesh..."
The frozen one blinked, smiled slightly and spoke once more, this time directed against his child.
" I created you with a purpose in mind. One that I hope that you will gladly fullfill. Give the world light and warmth. Help life to prosper in any form it may take. This world we have here is an empty one. One devoid of life...and well things in general. I want you to help me to fill it. Form it and shape it. Make it to a worthy home for both us and those that will come. "
To his surprise, the arm he had reached for passed right through his water! A ripple of annoyance passed across the orb as he grabbed at the form again, this time concentrating on making a connection.
Success. Well, sort of. The tentacle appeared ot have sunk into the arm somewhat, as if compressing the matter underneath, but Tziyoti had a grip, however slippery it seemed. Pulling, the god dragged the spirit backwards, away from the Barrier. The spirit gave ground grudgingly, screaming in anguish as it tried to make its way to the Gate.
Tziyoti studied the spirit for a time before saying slowly, "Dajjal, what if there is something that exists beyond the destruction of the body (which, I should note, I also find pleasing, although perhaps not the dust part)? What... should we do about that?"
As he held the spirit, suddenly the blood that formed a thin sheen over portions of his form shimmered and flashed, and a jolt of power coursed down his arm into the spirit. The spirit convulsed, divine power suffusing its body. With a cry, Tziyoti let go, and the spirit floated before them.
"What... did I just do?"
PP
1 PP towards the Ascension of the God of Death
"Oh, good one brother!" she said, still laughing, "Because, there is nothing after destruction. Oh what a delight!"
Then she turned her attention to the thing her brother had just released.
"Oh, I do believe you are giving birth," she exclaimed, grasping hold of the thing in her turn, "Here, let me help."
And so she too poured a bit of divine energy into the thing.
"Oh dear, brother, you just made that joke about after-destruction things!" she proclaimed suddenly, as though a horrible idea had just struck her, "God birth is a very delicate thing! What if you, inadvertently I am sure, instilled in the youngling some fanciful idea that there is such thing as something after destruction? That wouldn't do, that simply wouldn't do! And us! Think of how we would be mocked, giving birth to such a creature!"
Then she shook her head, as though steeling herself up for something.
"Well, then there is nothing else for it..."
She hesitated, as though the next words cost her a lot to say.
"There's nothing else for it. We must throw the nascent fetus from us! Into the void with it! Hopefully it will die. Or, at least, no one will be able to trace it back to us! Yes, that's what we'll do, throw it away."
And before her brother could stop her, before he could even raise his voice in protest, she scooped up the creature and hurled it away from them. It plummetted through the void and vanished behind the great curtain of the maelstrom.
"Well, that was easy," said Dajjal, and she turned to Tziyoti, "What shall we do next? I very much feel like we should meet with that lovely Jzaquiht fellow. He seemed so polite."
PP
1 PP - Beget God - Contribute 1 PP to the ascension of the God of Death.
PP
4 PP
-3 PP Craft Artifact: The Sun. This is essentially a huge orb of pain-fueled magic that orbits the world in a way similar to the apparent motion of the Sun from Earth, causing familiar day-night and seasonal cycles. However, once every few months, the sun will flare as a consequence of Tsoriena testing her limits and those of the world's life, affecting the regions directly under it at the moment of the flare. These can range in severity from causing a slightly warmer day to starting wide-spread fires.
"Jzaquiht? perhaps. I must admit, I am far more curious as to where that... thing... came from."
If the God had had eyes, he would have looked slyly at the God of Wind.
"You know, because we should figure out how that thing survived after being destroyed."
And, without paying attention to whether or not Dajjal followed, Tziyoti sped off. In that fleeting moment of connection, he had felt... a pull, or rather, two pulls. One pull was obviously towards the Gate, where all things came and to where all things must at the end go, back into the maw of potentiality. And yet, another tug, soft, almost regretful, pulled in another direction, away from the gate, west and... down. Whatever it was, it was likely the reason that the spirit existed in the first place, else it would have fully embraced oblivion, even if it meant traveling through the Barrier.
So yes, some answer, some solution to the problem of where the spirit had come from existed under the western sea.
Lost in thought, the god had not been paying attention to where he was going. With a crash, he collided with the top of a Screaming Pipe, shattering it and sending pieces of coral flying into the ocean. Moments later, the God hit the water as well, merging into the liquid with barely a ripple. Downward he traveled, and the light grew dimmer and dimmer. When it reached pitch blackness, the blood of Tziyoti began to flouresce a pale blue, dimly lighting the area as he went deeper into a furrow in the earth and continued to follow it deeper and deeper.
"I wonder how far this goes?" he thought to himself.
Above, the broken pieces of coral slowly settled to the bottom of the ocean, and the individual polyps fell out of their casings and began to grow. Finding no iron, they made do with the chalky bottom of the sea, forming great carpets of corals of all types.
[sblock=PP] 1 PP: Nourish Land: The Ocean floor is covered in corals related to Iron Coral, but different (more on that soon)[/color]
The Light seemed to emanate from nowhere in particular, and there was no differentiation to indicate that the light was coming from something at all.
And it was... humming? And... bobbing? And moving? That last bit especially made Tsiyoti's brain itch. Light did not hum, Light did not move, and Light surely did not emanate from nothing at all!
As the curious god drew closer, it became clear that the... whatever it was... was approaching at a constant pace -- some quick mental tabulations placed the thing as emanating from one of the deep-cracks that broke through to the far side of the planetoid's crust.
But even solving the mystery of where the thing came from was little comfort.
"Hello for hi!" ...said the Light?
"Fancy meetings for the that which and the watery swimming! Hows by the you?"
"My. You're quite... fantastic, you know that?" The god said, somewhat taken aback at the Light's enthusiastic greeting. "What... exactly... are you?"
As the god waited for an answer, he kept moving downwards, noting that the light was keeping pace. Apparently he had company.
Regaining color and motility, the Light-being continued: "Watcher -- I do. From with the wind and earth before. Fire cold and the you as well." lied the Light. "See you all make sleepings, and then the waker of you abovelike. Speak her 'mother' and duty-taking. Ha! Slander all. Just with the makings of pretend, trappings of power and the what have you."
A hole appeared at the bottom of the trench, descending into the earth. The two beings went inside.
The Light paused, illuminating the trench. "Where are we going?" Asked the Light, in a rare moment of perfect lucidity.
"Down. Don't know what is down there, but it'll answer a mystery, I hope."
In the distance, a faint sound could be heard... some sort of grinding sound, as if the rock was slowly being pushed aside.
The sound grew louder until at long last, the end of the tunnel appeared... and... there was a body.
Well, part of a body at least. Eyeless, armless... chest ripped open...
The answer to where that spirit had come from was solved, at least.
Reaching out with a tendril, he grabbed the body and pulled it closer, happy that the grinding sound stopped.
Looking over at the Light, Tziyoti said: "You know who this is?"
The Light lightly tapped Tziyoti, sending the Orb rocking back and forth. "Where from do you think you come, hmm?"
"False-mother dead. Good riddance."
Darkness. Nothing but darkness. No. Darkness was different. He felt like... he felt like he liked darkness. True darkness. This wasn't it though. Darkness was cold. Darkness opressed. Darkness gave off the scent of fear, and cold, and things best left unseen. No, this wasn't darkness, this was the absence of darkness. The absence of light. It was simply... black. Black without dark.
He felt... whole. No, he didn't feel whole. He felt birthed. There was still... an absence. A craving. Something needed to be filled, something needed to be sated. And something else... needed to be healed. He didn't know what the absence was, but he knew what the wound was... somehow, he felt... abandoned. Cast aside. Rejected. Angry. So angry! How dare they reject him! How dare they cast him aside like he was worthless! He wasn't worthless... was he? Was he worthless? No! He couldn't be worthless! He wouldn't let himself be worthless! Everyone else were the worthless ones!
He had wings... somehow, he could feel he did. This made him angrier for some reason. Like such mastery over the air was a gift he would have spurned if he could, but he did not have that choice. And even worse, he seemed to be... twisted. He could feel the void rippling at him, tearing at him, making him... different. He thought he felt tentacles on his face. No, the tentacles WERE his face, or at least part of it. This made him even more angry! Not only had they cast him aside, branded him with wings and figured they would ignore him for an eternity, they had twisted him in the process! How dare they? HOW DARE THEY!?!?!
Calm... calm would be needed. As much as he hated the dark-that-was-not-dark, he did like the stillness. The silence... the noiseless calm of there being none in the universe but him. The King of Nothing. The Sovereign of Silence. He liked that... he liked that indeed! But... how could he enjoy this silence knowing he wasn't the one to bring it about? How could he rest knowing there were those who had spurned him? Those that yet made noise? Those he needed to take ahold of and RIP THEIR DAMN SOULS OUT THROUGH THEIR NOSES!
He had wings... he hated these wings. These black feathered wings. But they were convenient. And how best to get his revenge on those who had spurned him than to use their own curse against them? Unfurling his wings, the Nameless God flew. And flew. And flew. He had fallen quite a ways, but eventually... he could see creation again. Again? Had he ever seen it? Perhaps when he was a mere godling yes, but he had no eyes to see with then. And yet, it all looked oddly familiar...
Ignoring this odd sense of deja vu, the Nameless God flapped higher, and higher, and... oh dear him what was that infernal light! It was so... painful, so shameful, so utterly... gah, he wanted to extinguish it then and there! But it seemed to be having such a... pleasing result on the life below. The life below... how... oddly wonderous. For some reason he'd expected to hate it, but it was so... savage, so twisted, so delightful malevolant that it was impossible not to have at least SOME measure of affection for it. Especially when it was in such pain, such suffering, such abject agony! If light was what it took to make this so, then he must congratulate whoever had made it, even if it stung him.
Hm, well, if he just sensed the aura of whomever had made that accursed (both in the good and bad sense) ball of light, then perhaps he could find them and... ah, there they were! With an odd looking... ice... thing. He was vaguely similar in shape to himself, but for more... ugly. And bulky. And just... not as elegant. He didn't even have a suit. The light god though, now THAT was more like it! THAT was creative, elegant... magnificent. Even if it was repulsive from it's whole 'generating light' issue. Still, he could hardly expect any being to be as perfect as he was.
The sun momentarily had a dark, winged shadow overhead, before the Nameless God landed in the midst of the Frosted God and the Light God. "Are you the one that made that digustingly bright ball of light?" the Nameless God asked, completely ignoring the Frost God. "If so, I SUPPOSE congratulations are in order... as much as I hate the fact that creation is now lit up so brightly it makes me want to vommit, your creation has made the life around here a lot more... painful. Which in turn is oh so much more bearable and interesting."
"Where do I come from?" Tziyoti said quietly. "I imagine I came from the ocean, as that it my first memory, rising to the surfa-"
The God stopped mid-sentence as memories of that first-time began to flood into him. He recalled speeding up past a body that was beginning to sink. This body. He thought about the blood that still floated within his body. Whose blood? This body's blood? Had his 'mother' brought him into this world through her own death?
There was only one way to find out.
Divine power coursed into the body before him, shocking it once, then twice. As the power entered the body, it jerked up to its 'feet', writhing in the deep waters. He would get an answer to his question.
Or... something else might take up residence...
PP
1 PP towards ascending Camu. Last PP to come next week.
1PPL Nourish Land: The coral spreads more.
1PPL Nourish Land: The coral spreads more.
To accentuate its point, The Light Fantastic needled several of its tendrils into the body, making it dance about like some deranged puppet.
"Something newly made we did. But are we 'mother'? No. The potential already was, and by the noticing of this, came it to be. Such as were you. Such as this new one."
PP Expenditure
-1 PP To fully ascend Camu's god
0
Spikes of silica veined with green tissue sprung from the ooze, drying up most of it. Green Needles. Plants which drank up the light from the newly formed sun to fuel themselves in photosynthesis, breathing in cyanide exhaled by the other creatures and exhaling nitrogen ready for respiration. Their silica sheathes act as a kind of built in green house as well as defense system, being tought and sharp. They grow 5-20 inches tall and are always 5 inches in width after maturation. During their seeding season the green needles eject yellow spores into the air through tiny sieves in their sheathe, these spores then fuse with one other spore to form a complete genome before dropping to the earth and taking root. The root systems of the green needles are dense and tough, weaving in tight among other nearby needles to form a gray knot of roots.
Next rose the Yagni. Six legged, lithe, hairless creatures standing about 3 feet high covered in pale skin. A thin patina of metal coveres their hooved feet. Their heads sit on short necks and sport a black beak which is used to crack open Green Needles and sift out the juicy plant material within. Upon their skulls sprouts four black horns spiraling upwards like elegant spires.They are communal creatures, travelling in groups of 10-20. During the breeding season the males compete for females, and large eggs the size of a football are produced 3 months later in nests made of shattered needles. They possess four pinhole eyes.
Quickly on their heels rose the Zoggnoi. Hairless, six legged, standing upon taloned feet sheathed in a thin patina of metal. Their skin is grey with flecks of crimson that vary between each individual. Upon their backs sprout a sparse mane of spines. Their heads seem as savage canine skulls with a thin layer of skin stretched over. They possess four pinhole eyes. The have a long tail which ends in a tuft of spines. Their lips can be flipped up to show a fearsome array of teeth. Their social structure operates much as a lion's pride does.
Erupting from the ooze in an impressive display colossal size rose the Os. Standing on six legs densely covered in a metal hide, each leg about 30 feet around they stand about 200 feet tall. Their bodies are strangely emaciated, having a large network of bone to support them. Their skin is thick and mossy green. They do not have heads or necks, rather just a simple hole in the front of their bodies filled with thick knots of ceratin. Surrounding it is a mane of sweeping tentacles numbering in the hundreds that are covered in tiny hairs to catch the main food of the Os, Green Needle spores. They move very slow, and live solitary lives, mating only once every 20 years or so. For most of the year the Os are dormant, standing like silent living monoliths in the needle plains, only rousing to feed in the Green Needle spore season, or to rarely breed.
Sprouting from the ooze to circle the Os were the Arloi. Brown manta-like creatures whose wings were made up of tough fleshy skin supported by bat-like bone structure. They bore 4 pinhole eyes, two on their dorsal side and two on the ventral. Their breathed through vented gills along their chest. Their long tailes ended in sudden shocks of blue spines. Their moths were concelead under a collection of muscular tentacles for grabbing and pulling flesh. Their mouths themselves being cavernous maws of needle-like teeth. The Arloi lived as scavengers, eating the dead of the needle plains. They made their homes hugging to the undersides of the Os, leaving at night to feed. They breed asexually, leaving foamy deposits of eggs on the undersides of Os every year. If pushed to starvation, Arloi will become desperate and hunt. They are loathe to harm the Os however, as it is their home, and they protect them as such.
PP
1PP: Needle Plains ecosystem: Green Needle, Yagni, Zoggnoi, Os, Arloi.
"We need nothing." Jzaquiht whispered, his coiling body rithing beneath him in a hideous chorus of cracks, "and we strive to create everything. The fleeting will understand our false struggle? The immortal shall, no doubt, though their purpose...dilute. A new path opens, perhaps avenues of understanding."
Grasping some of the unearthly mucus seeping from his vents, Jzaquiht began to mold a new creature into life.
These creatures were humanoid in shape with their fingers and toes encased in black chitin claws. Their skin was clear and wrinkled with age. Underneath this clear skin were drawn taught thick wiry muscles. Their organs were a mix of black and green, able to digest the flesh of existing creatures and plants as well as pass tough materials such as silica and metal by vomiting up purple pearls which can be up to the size of a baseball. Their mouths were wide and filled with rows of flat, sharp teeth adept at scraping away flesh and chewing plant matter. The teeth fell out frequently, to be replaced by new one growing from the back rows. Their eyes were unlike those seen before, orbs of pitch which shown with an inner prismatic light, able to see in the dark and day. On either side of their head sprouted pointed horns with groooves leading to holes in their skulls, these functioned as ears. Their backs bore a black external spine pock-marked with holes for the exchange of gas. They have a cloaca. A mane of faintly purple spines grows from the top of their skulls and follows down the back of their necks to the middle of their back with decreasing length. Males have spines also sprouting on their fore-arms.
They live in tribes of 20-30, choosing at the age of adulthood (about 40), a mate for life. They breed every four or so years with their mate, producing an egg of thick rubbery black and purple flesh that gestates for a month before splitting open to reveal the mewling pup. The pups are raised by the tribe as a whole. They live until dying of old age at 200 or so barring violence. These were the Jzakai.
Jzaquiht watched as these new creatures, filled with a spark unlike the other living things, took root within his plains and pipes.
"The mortal spark of divinity, the crawling conception of ideas through the form of the living, a soul."
PP
4pp: Shape the Jzakai. A sentient race.
OOC
By Admin fiat, we've decided that since all the PP was spent for the Titans, they're gonna get made. Here is their creation post. Nerdzul, feel free to change if desired.
With every ounce of matter that entered through the gate, creation and the elemental storm around it had been expanding, pushed the boundaries of this verse. This drift of the cosmic barrier caused it to touch and beginning to overlap with a cosmic bubble, a small pocket realm.
After enough pressure was build up, the bubble was crushed under the expanding elemental cloud, but not before creating a small dimentional crack, allowing a small ink droplet to slip into the cloud.
After countless eons I’ve been finally able to leave that dreadful prison.... A whole new world awaits...
The droplet started to absorb elemental particles from the surrounding chaos, rapidly growing in size and mass. The ink started to take on more complex shapes and textures, constantly having parts of it shifting between liquid, billowing smoke and a metal-organic compound. The general shape was that of a giant swimming and crawling serpentine mass, with fins, tentacles and segmented legs constantly forming and shifting back into the ink.
So weak....
How long has it been since I devoured the last...
How long since I devoured my own...
After drifting for some time, it became aware of the central landmass. A crude clump of matter surrounded by a bubble of air. The entire etch was walled of by immense walls of ice. Then awareness came as it sensed the essence of several divine entities. All clearly out of its reach at this point, but then it became aware of a weaker, newly formed spark of divinity.
Chance.
Two large wingflaps formed itself from the mass, giving it a sort of manta-ray like shape. With a mighty heave of its wings, the ink bursted itself towards its goal. When it reached the wall of frost, it clawed its way over it and moved straight towards the ocean.
Diving into the ocean trench, passing by Tziyoti and Isura, it snatched the recently awakened body of Ebel, taking it to the deepest reach it could find.
Ebels body was devoured, pulled into the inks central mass by several tentacles.
Now it had absorbed the divine spark, it had restored itself to some of its former glory
"Act to bring back she-who-was, but cannot you create her any more than cannot she create you. No-- instead potential unleashed, a newness taking the offering of power, back to itself what it was, once it used to be."
The Light Fantastic wiggled its tentacles at the inky-filled darkness. "Hello you peoples! Salutations of the your return-coming!"
After a few moments, he regained his composure.
"What gives you the right to barge in here like that? That thing you ate... I wanted answers from it!"
"Not see? In seeking answers, brought another back into being did you. Answer is simple -- she who was never was. Can't answers, because none there is. Trust -- " and again, The Light Fantastic glowed Vermillion for several seconds -- "that it better is this way. Good things mean for you -- not can die, no never, no?"
The light quivered, in some paroxysm of a sigh. "But tell that you are obstinate and such. The me can help, if the you let me so." The exarch draped a tendril about Tziyoti in a strange gesture of comfort. "Remove your doubts, endless questions fears -- but must let me; cannot I force myself your head."
---
~Above the Continent~
Isura toiled yet amongst clods of dirt, globs of fire, and a long flowing river of the two combined. This... magma was truly interesting: made of earth, yet it flowed like water, burned like fire, and floated like air. She looked up in momentary curiosity as the great darkness flew over her and into the ocean. That looked interesting too -- but, she was so close. First she had to master the intricacies of this most interesting substance.
"But..." she said to herself. "These motes are too small a scale. I need bigger."
The fire goddess arced a claw across the space, and the continent erupted at once, several dozen newly-made volcanoes spraying light into the air. Isura nodded. It was a start.
PP Expenditure
-0 Cantrip: Several dozen small volcanoes erupt briefly, then fall forever dormant.
5
OOC
Though they did make enough of a spectacle that any watching deity may be curious of its source ;P
"Do not presume that we are some sort of friends, Light. I appreciate your help before, but the fact that something ATE the target of my inquiry is NOT proof that you are right. Keep your tendrils away from my brain. Thank you."
Realizing there was nothing else he could do and that his plans were irrevocably ruined, Tsiyoti turned and began making his way up the tunnel and back towards the light, his inner anger continuing to turn the nearby water hot.
Above, the initial scalding blast, cooled due to the distance it had traveled to a warm current washed over the growing coral, causing it to burst into a frenzy of growth. Upwards it grew, transforming into tall gardens of coral, some stalks fifty feet or more in height.
PP
0 PP: Cantrip: Tsiyoti is turning the surrounding area hot.
0 PP: Cantrip: The coral of the western sea reorganizes itself into tall stalks and gardens.
0 PP: Cantrip: Tsiyoti is turning the surrounding area hot.
0 PP: Cantrip: The coral of the western sea reorganizes itself into tall stalks and gardens.
It was in this madness that passed into madness that one titan, his mind a torrent of pain from existence, crawled upon the rocky beach of the western sea. As this titan lay gasping the unbreathable air his eyes fell upon an oddity. One stone seemed blacker than the others and smoother, as if the water had been turned to shadows and those shadows frozen. The titan picked it up and it felt cool in his hands, soothing the fever of his mind as well. Calmer, this titan, named Kardrak, rose up and made his way home.
For days he sat staring at the black rock, thinking about its oddities. This brethren barely paid attention to his actions, being reduced to merely surviving in the hell of a world. Yet eventually Kardrak grew hungry again. Before he went out to hunt he gathered his brethern to go with him. They were mad themselves, but he beat them into listening to his intentions. They went out as one and fell upon a herd of Yangi, separating the old from the rest and killing those more easily. For once the titans returned home to feed themselves with none of their kind having been maimed by the efforts.
When they returned to their mountain, Kardrak stopped them from consuming all the food at once. He forced them to share the vomitous bounty with those who had not gone on the hunt. In these ways he gained respect from his kind and, though he did not lead them, he was listened to and obeyed.
PP
Cantrip - the Heartstone takes the form of a long obsidian stone that works well enough as a paleolithic sort of knife.
Cantrip - the Heartstone takes the form of a long obsidian stone that works well enough as a paleolithic sort of knife.
If The Silent One could read thoughts, he would have replied that it was both... it's light was horrid, but the suffering it brought was equisite. As it was, he could not, so contented himself with replying to her spoken question.
"No you may not," he replied promptly. "A name is a precious thing, and I refuse to reveal mine for no other reason than that others would know that which they could call me... however, if you insist on giving me some form of title, I suppose... The Silent One will do nicely. Yes... I like the sound of that," he told her. "In any case, Tsoriena, who surrenders her name so swiftly, may I ask one thing? Your creation brings great suffering to life, but why do you insist that it gives off such a horrible light? Would it not be better if it shrouded the world in an eternal darkness?"
For a while Velt was content enough to watch his creations with curiosity, he observed the newborn titans urges overcoming them, "How inefficient" he thought "I have given them life, asking for nothing but to serve, I need them to tend the gardens of the gods, to build and watch the petty things of our domains so that we could focus on important subject and yet, they became focused so quickly on their insignificant needs and desires, I can feel that my command is still the reason why they live, but that was not enough..."
"I should do something about them... they are not intended to be like the strange spawns of Jzaquiht that infest the seas, these creatures had some use of course, they enriched the earth with their beauty and diversity, but that is not what the Titans are supposed to be."
For a while the god thought that he should manifest in front of the Titans tribes, to remind them their place in creation, however he wondered if they would really comprehend the god will, they was small and frail, Velt himself has crushed many living beings, so easy to crush, with a mind that could be broken by such weak concept as hunger or fear. The god in the end believed that his direct appearance could actually harm them too much.
In the end the god decided that manifesting could be unwise, beside it would have forced him to leave his lair under the earth, away from his treasures, his "stars of the underworld" would be left unguarded, ready to be stolen... "They was made with a purpose, but I was blind in not granting them the tools that they needed to fulfill it, It my mistake that they are so weak now, they don't need a reminder I'll just have to remove their limitations..."
The god focused his will, the very one that he had imbued within the titans bodies, their very beings changed by his command, infused by elemental energies, the process was slow at first, for Velt was a meticulous being, he could have turned them all quickly, violently, but instead he did his work slowly, reshaping their beings cell by cell.
While Velt was concentrated into his patient and efficient work he could not sense, nor understand actually, what was happening to the titans that was subjected to his metaphorical grasp. At first their skin begun to loose flexibility, their blood begun as thick as mud, coagulating quickly when the skin was cut, but also within the veins, causing intense pain, crystalline growth begun to appear within the bodies of his subjects and the as the god carefully crafted a clockwork brain for them, one that had no urges nor mortal desires, their nerves burned and their minds was shattered. The first few infected sought the solace of death, but they could not find any, as the divine will that has kept them alive trough starvation did the same when crystal, stone and metal begun to tear their living flesh, they could feel somehow that they was changing due to their maker desires, many of them wondered in their last few moments of sanity if they did something to offend him and deserve such a punishment.
The "change" caught first the villages that was closer to the mountain top, it radiated from the domain of the gods, spreading like a disease, as Velt thought that he was helping them, the infection took the ones that were weaker due to starvation or insanity first, sparing the stronger ones, at the beginning at least.
Scared by the affliction, many among the titans who could still walk attempted to escape from the upper reaches of the mountain, searching for something that could protect them from the disease.
One of the largest tribe was led by a female titan named Theif, she led her people down to the treacherous slopes of the mountain, seeking for a place that was free from sorrow and fear, where the contagion could not affect them, but she found none, all the communities that she found was already contaminated, with a few “sane” titans tending to their suffering brothers and sisters in vain, many choose to follow her during the descent from the mountain…
When they finally got to Kardrak's territory, the escaping titans number has grown, hundreds of them marched away in fear, signs of the contagion slowly affecting their skin, as their bodies grew weaker and Velt “blessing” fell upon them.
For some reason the hunters tribe has been unaffected by the “change”, maybe being fed better than the others their bodies was stronger and safer from the divine attempt to “fix” them or the Ebel presence within the Heartstone somehow opposed the stone god influence.
Theif thought that they might have finally discovered a safe heave and approached the hunter’s tribe, followed by more than an hundred titans, all watching at the Kardak’s tribe with a mix of fear and hope.
OOC
I intended the titans to be more elemental creatures then living ones, however I like how they ended up to be in thought post, the point of the plague is to create another race of elemental titans that are more "golem-like" however I'd like some role playing to see what happens to the living titans...
I think that I'll finalize the PP expenditure to the creation of the new titan breed later (maybe throwing a few guides or nourishes\denourishes if needed during the week)
I intended the titans to be more elemental creatures then living ones, however I like how they ended up to be in thought post, the point of the plague is to create another race of elemental titans that are more "golem-like" however I'd like some role playing to see what happens to the living titans...
I think that I'll finalize the PP expenditure to the creation of the new titan breed later (maybe throwing a few guides or nourishes\denourishes if needed during the week)
But The Light Fantastic, like its creator, could not stay still for long.
Not wanting to interrupt, but not wanting to wait more, The Light finally interjected: "What the with are you doing and the rock-air beauties?"
OOC
I'd want Toph and Ara to weigh in, but it might be legitimate to just say that Kardrak's titans are Storm Titans (or some other variety) and Thief's are Earth Titans. Usually one doesn't have to spend extra PP to create different incarnations of the same species, so a cantrip to differentiate types of Titans might suffice.
I'd want Toph and Ara to weigh in, but it might be legitimate to just say that Kardrak's titans are Storm Titans (or some other variety) and Thief's are Earth Titans. Usually one doesn't have to spend extra PP to create different incarnations of the same species, so a cantrip to differentiate types of Titans might suffice.
OOC
Cantrip seems fine by me. Gives me an idea myself.
Cantrip seems fine by me. Gives me an idea myself.
When the Coral-man emerged from the oceans, Isura snorted with amusement. "What is this, little one? vanity?"
Isura, hands still adrip with magma, began to hover along, keeping pace with the, now-larger, god. "I liked it when you were round. This new form of yours -- so strangely awkward." Isura noticed the Titans for the first time. "Though who am I to judge? It seems you are already making trends. Who then, are those littlest ones?"
At this last title, the God stomped his foot on the earth and water flowed from his leg, sweeping over the nearby plains and adding the first statues to the Garden of Statues.
As the blood began to rise to the surface behind them, Tsiyoti looked down at the titans.
"I know not. Perhaps some creation of Jzaquiht. Do you know who made That?" A bone-white arm shot out to point at the Sun.
"It is far too bright."
Velt turned to face the light, reflecting it within his gemstone eyes, absorbing it with his black glassy scales.
"I'm completing them" he replied "they were not suited for their job that I have crafted them for, their flesh is weak, so I'm fixing it... Why do you ask by the way? May I know your name?"
While he spoke his mind kept focusing on his job, he could have been faster maybe, but a thig can't be completed effectively without taking the proper time and concentration. The god mind drifted within the blood of his followers. he felt that something else has meddled with them, corrupted their yet maleable form, another thing to fix in the future...
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Theif and her friends moved closer to the gift, some of them eagerly begun to devour it, hungry, consuming them more like starving beasts then creatures of reason.
But she was not content with the food, they did not came down seeking for nourishment of their bodies. "Wait" she told Kardrak "well if you can... We thank you for your offer of food, but we did not come here for that... We are here to seek shelter from a plague... Is any of your people sick already? I see no taint on their skin..."
OOC
Currently most of the original created titans are made of flesh, bones and blood, while infused by elemental energies and de facto immortal (they must obey to the will of their creator gods and they have not been allowed to die) they still have desires and needs like traditional living beings. (I have made a small wiki entry for them btw :p). For now there is not yet any Stone Titan yet, Velt has not completed their creation, however his work is manifesting as a disease among the living ones.
Theif group is partially contaminated while Kadrak one is not (maybe we can work out something interesting from them).
Currently most of the original created titans are made of flesh, bones and blood, while infused by elemental energies and de facto immortal (they must obey to the will of their creator gods and they have not been allowed to die) they still have desires and needs like traditional living beings. (I have made a small wiki entry for them btw :p). For now there is not yet any Stone Titan yet, Velt has not completed their creation, however his work is manifesting as a disease among the living ones.
Theif group is partially contaminated while Kadrak one is not (maybe we can work out something interesting from them).
"That's... I forget what Od'Vidr wanted to call it, but he was definitely involved in its creation."
Isura seemed to bask in the glow of the light. "It's like my stars, but a thousand times more...effective." Isura grimaced. That wasn't quite right. "Effectuous. With an effect a thousand times greater." Isura nodded, yes that last one was what she was trying to convey.
"And what's the big deal anyway? I rather like it!"
-----------------------------------------------------
In response, the Light glowed solid Vermilion for several seconds. "That is my name." The Light sounded quite pleased with itself.
"If you are the creating them from the nothing, how did you create yourself, hm?"
"Does it at least go away sometimes? I am used to the light under the waves, not this beacon searing into my eyes at every moment."
Isura began to manipulate the magma covering her hands, and generated some more to better show off its properties. "It used to be rock, but now it burns like fire, and flows like water! I have a wonderous idea on how to use it!"
"Curious. What do you plan to do?"
He thought for a moment, his mind struggling with this new concept that the she-creature spoke and how it was he understood the meaning of disease when he had never heard of it or experienced it before. "Plague?"
The Silent One grimaced. "Life that requires light to thrive? How... obscene. The darkness is thick, the darkness protects, the light merely burns and reveals the ugliness of creation to all instead of being able to focus on the beauty of it with the rest covered in shadow. But as much as I disagree with your own opinion... your suggestion has a certain simplicity I have to say appeals to me."
The Silent One stroked his tentacles thoughtfully. Hm... he supposed he could simply stop the sun and build on the inverse side of this flat world, but where was the fun in that? He wanted his creations to bring suffering to those on this side, and they couldn't do that if they were stuck in isolation. Besides, he doubted this light goddess would approve of him meddling in her creation, otherwise they wouldn't have even suggested he make darkness rather than destroy the light. He needed some sort of base that... hadn't he seen pillars of fire coming from somewhere before? And if there was fire...
Bowing to the goddess, he smiled... which was mostly just a creasing of his pure black inky eyes and a slight raising of his tentacles. "Well, it was good to meet you Tsoriena, but I really must depart since you've given me such a wonderful idea... I hope when we next meet I'm a little less bitter about the brightness of your... orb... thing."
Spreading his wings, the dark god flew off into the distance, from whence he'd seen the fire coming from before... ha! Seems these oddly bowl shaped lumps of rock were responsible for the show before! Perhaps there was heat within them? But they all seemed to be dead now, spent with that one show of flame... fire wasn't to his liking. It was hot, and bright, and it made you feel burnt and dry rather than cool and fresh like the embrace of water, wind, or best of all darkness. However, while he didn't want fire per say, he COULD make something from it that would suit his purposes.
Landing on one of the mountains, The Silent One decided to cut to the chase and thrust his fist into the earth, causing it to shake and tremble with force. Eventually, the volcanos opened up once more to the world, there bowl shaped peaks revaling pools and rivers of magma. But they didn't errupt, nor did they spill down. Instead, the lava began to smoke, giving off great, impossible amounts of black gas that trailed their way into the sky. Eventually, the screen of smoke got thicker, and thicker, until there was a vast region of space around the volacanoes that had so much smoke in the sky the sun could no longer pierce down, creating a land of darkness.
Smiling in satisfaction, The Silent One flew up and rested on the top of one of the peaks, looking on at the little dark world he had created. And the terror of the titans within it as they tried to work out what was happening, but that was just a rather happy side effect.
PP Expenditure
2PP Alter/Shape - A large volcanic region gives off great gouts of smoke, creating the Dark Lands, a land where the sun can barely pierce through the smoke cover.
And she sniffed deeply, drinking of herself, the air.
"Smells of... almonds..."
She paused for a moment, contemplating a little beast, one of Jzaquiht's creations, scuttling its way across a nearby jutting rock-wave.
"I hate almonds."
Yogna or Yagni she thought the creature was called. Yes, that was it, Yagni. It had quite obviously wandered very far from its hunting grounds in search of... something. Dajjal snorted. There was nothing here to find but rocks. And she suddenly found herself becoming saddened by the tiny thing, by its little beak, its small black horns. She gazed around at her Sea. She sighed, a sound that carried over the rocks, whistling in the cracks and making the little Yagni stick its little head up in surprise. Dajjal's legacy seemed to be quite lacking. A Sea should be teeming with life. This was... barren, it was wrong. She glared up at the sun, as though it had been the one to have cursed her with such misfortune.
"Will someone put that damn light out!" she cried to the heavens, and she screamed.
And as she screamed, mist flowed from her cloudy form. It snaked slowly at first, over the dusty rocks, inching towards the little Yagni, who had not noticed it yet. He was too busy digging in a small crack, evidently believing some of those Green Needles that were so tasty may be trapped within. The mist prowled towards it like some living thing, a crouching predator approaching its prey. And then the mist was upon the thing, and the Yagni was screaming, squealing in protest, but then it could not draw breath, for the mist was not sweet cyanide, but hydrogen gas, cold and unbreathable. The Yagni struggled silently, hacking, coughing and spitting, but making no headway and the hydrogen cloud consumed him entirely. And then, seeming to draw heart from this first victim, the cloud exploded outwards, expanding with the force of a bomb, dancing in spirals and swirls across the sky, obscuring the harsh, hurtful sun as it went. And where it went, creatures fell upon the ground, hacking and coughing for they could no longer breathe. And Dajjal leaned back a sighed, smiling to herself. She sniffed the air again.
"Smells of... sweet, sweet nothing."
PP
0 PP - Cantrip - A vast cloud of Cold Hydrogen is spreading across the continent, originating in the Sea of Daj. Think Hydrogen clouds you see in space photographs.
2 PP - Harm - The cloud of Hydrogen is harmful to anyone who breathes cyanide.
2 PP - Harm - The cloud of Hydrogen is harmful to anyone who breathes cyanide.
"I see someone else agrees with me. Excuse me, Isura. Good talking to you."
And with that he was off, soon reaching the Sea of Daj.
"I see you, Dajjal. It would appear we both wish that infernal orb to be extinguished. Isura tends to disagree."
"Who are you?"
Dajjal did not seem to find this at all enlightening. Finally, after several long seconds of staring at one another, the god spoke again.
"Tsiyoti, Dajjal. I have taken a new form."
She began to swirl the hydrogen gas in front of her with a windy-finger, sending it spiralling into interesting shapes, colours sparking across the surface of the gas.
"Although I suppose you want to seem a bit more physically imposing," she observed, barely paying attention to her brother, "I mean, the old one seemed rather weak."
Then she caught herself, looking up at her brother.
"Oh, I am so sorry, I am being ever so rude," she said, suddenly being studiously polite, "Take a seat, I insist."
And then, as though completely oblivious to the fact that being called weak could possibly be considered upsetting to anyone, she turned her attention back to her mist-shapes.
The Fire goddess arced across the sky, landing amidst the lip of the volcano. So much magma. So much smoke. It was perfect. Why go through all the trouble of making magma when it was available here in such plentiful amounts, the hard part already done for her?
The goddess stuck both hands into the fires of the volcano, pulling a heaping pillar of the stuff into the air. More and more molten rock she pulled forth, such that the combined light of the magma, lying latent, adrift in the air as it was, began to pierce the surrounding gloom. And still, she pulled more out.
PP Expenditure
-0 Cantrip: Isura pulls a great deal of magma from the active volcano in anticipation of a future action. This has temporarily overcome the gloom closest to the volcano. Knock, knock, Anubis. :P
Ah, this was much better than that sun! Such darkness, coolness despite the fact the smoke came from such a hot source... and the smoke made the air feel heavy, suffocating. It was... wonderous. He wondered if he could even bare to ever leave- wait what?
Scowling as sun fell upon his face, The Silent One leered around, trying to find whatever... oh, seemed there was a mass of lava in the air. Well, that at least gave him somewhere to aim for.
Spreading his wings, The Silent One took to the air, flying low so he didn't have to avoid flowing globules of incinerary rock. Finally landing on the volcano it all seemed to be coming from, he quickly spotted the perpertrator... ah, another goddess. It seemed every divinity on the plane was out to irritate him. Or at the very least every divinity that wasn't just some voiceless hunk of frost that doesn't do anything.
"I don't mean to interupt your... whatever it is you're doing," The Silent One called, flying the gap between the two and landing at the godesses side. "But your experiment with this... stuff is letting the light get in."
"Now then. What should we do about That." Once more, he pointed at the Sun. "Gathering from your outburst earlier... you like it as little as I do."
"I suppose we must do something, it is our responsibility, if nothing else."
She sighed again, and then gazed out upon her rapidly growing mists, which were curling about the stone spires of her Sea, lapping against their sides, ironically imitating water. For now the mists were stretching past the borders of her own province, seeking out those cyanide-breathers, an unfortunate side-effect of her previous fury.
"For now my mists seem to be doing quite a job of hiding that there sun," she said, but then shook her head, "But even I know this cannot be allowed to persist. Our brethren, at least, will not stand for it."
She gazed dispassionately down at the distant lands where she could see, with her godly eyes, the havoc and pain her mists were causing the folk of Jzaquiht.
"Some day the mists will to my own borders keep. And then how will we bring the night?"
Jzaquiht's eye pulsed silently for a long moment as he contemplated the corpse.
"Unwarrented."
His head turned on his neck in a full 360 degree revolution to the sound of crunching bone, taking in the changes the other gods had made while he had be preoccupied with life.
"The bones fall with not an eyebrow raised, though hearts hang thick. Disgusting."
Snatching the Arloi disturbed from the fallen Os into his hands, Jzaquiht began infusing them with the strange light from his "eye". He then cast them back into the sky, as they began to change.
They became collossal, magnificent. Wing-tip to wing-tip they were 300 ft, mouth to tail tip 150 ft. They became the Arlokka.Their brown hide became grey along their ventral side and deep blew along their dorsal. The tentacles ringing their mouths became thin and frail, and their teeth fell away. They began to breathe hydrogen, bringing it in through their mouths and into one of two sets of massive lungs in their bodies. One set would be venting old air out of their vestigial ventral gills while another would be taking in new air, all together allso making these creatures able to fly with such bulk. They now fed not on dead flesh, but by the grace of another creature inside them peacefully soaring the skies. They bred asexually still, leaving foamy collections of hydrogen bubbles laced with Arlokka eggs adrift in the winds.
Primordia caught in their lungs and shifted into mats of silver ooze marbled with pulsing veins of blue. The Ginth. These oozes slid about the lungs of the Arlokka drinking in the hydrogen and binding it with nitrogen to form NH3 in a chemosynthetic process that gave them energy. They are simple creatures, growing until becoming too large and then dividing into two identical beings. They are often encountered everywhere within the Arlokka, though the lungs are their prime habitat, it is due to this that very small Ginth end up stuck to Arlokka eggs.
Primordia stick to the hide of the Arlokka beside its venting gills. These become black calciferous knots protecting soft flesh within it. Roots of flesh weave their way from these barnacles deep into the hide of the Arlokka, winding into its guts. These were the Goydae. Every time the lungs vent, the Goydae extend small gray fleshy fronds from apertures in their boney shell, drinking in the NH3 and processing it in their bodies to form H2O, CN, and other fluid wastes in another Chemosynthetic process providing them energy. Water beads up on their shells, creating a false rain on the land below. They breed by extending a reproductive tendril over to another Goydae, which then becomes fertilized and spits very small feathered eggs into the air. These breeding seasons often coincide with the Arlokka's.
Finally, primordia squirming in the guts of the Arlokka become rubbery black and purple worms with bright blue bioluminescent spots lining their sides. Their mouths are simply a mass of thin round tongues that slide over the surface of the Arlokka's guts drinking up the waste sap extruded by the Goydae's roots. These were the Gsthnau. They fed and drank constantly, because even though food was ever present it was in very small amounts. It was their water, their food, and their air as it was enriched with CN, H2O, and less tasteful things. Their hunger drove them to a frenzy pushing kindred aside. Their waste produced was a clear slime coating their skin that greasily stuck to other objects. This greasy slime is what the Arlokka fed off of, letting it sink into their crowded guts. The Gsthnau bred often, ejecting gametes through their skin into the slurry of greasy slime from both sexes. This fertilized ooze was so common in the guts and beyond that it was no surprise that it was nearly on every clutch of eggs produced by Arlokka.
These flying ecosystems fell upon the growing mist, greedily driving it back from the other life while venting fresh cyanide in their wake. Though they were not overly successful, as the mist still reached past its borders for quite a few bleak miles.
Jzaquiht turned back to the Jzakai, curious at their strange tactics of tackling hunted beasts to the ground and falling upon them like a pack. Watching with some mirth as they discovered which beasts they could hunt and those that hunted them.
PP
1PP: Arlokka Ecosystem
A thin tendril of magma snaked its way through the air between the deities, floating languidly, curling almost hungrily around and around The Silent One.
"Is this not most a wondrous substance?" Isura murmured. Another magma tendril suddenly collapsed, curling into a ball of obsidian that began to orbit near the top of the goddess' form. She gestured with one of her claws and the orb suddenly exploded, pelting the nearby area with magma embers as its fiery core was revealed again anew. The orb became a stack as magma continued to pour from the top, cooling as it reached the bottom, expanding in length with each spurt of lava.
"It is stone that burns with the desire of fire to change, to grow, to propagate. It is almost as if it were alive..."
"Truth be told, I hate the stuff," The Silent One replied simply, buffeting a tendril away from him as well as he could with a flap of his wing. "It's hot, bright, dry, and ever changing. Things which, from the way you speak, all appeal to you. I, however, do not like a single bit of it. I do, however, like this..."
The Silent One took a handful of smoking, breathing it in. "See how it clings to everything? It conceals. It covers. It protects. It makes everything dark and hidden. Walking through it causes suffering, then death if you inhale it for too long rather than the quick oblivion of your flaming rock. So, even if I don't like your substance, I suppose I must be thankful to it for giving off this glorious smoke."
He chuckled. "I suppose the two are intertwined, are they not? There cannot be light without darkness. There cannot be smoke without fire. There cannot be death without light. As much as we'd like to prefer one over the other, we're forced to take the good with the bad no matter our personal opinions on it."
Isura smiled grimly, almost condescendingly, even. "What? Did you expect me to defend the light? Heat? Those are incidental consequences of my form, not what I am. I am the smouldering embers of change; the burning passion that drives lover's hearts to falter, tempted into forbidden fruits. I am the spark that ignites nations into unity, or schisms governments into discord. I do not seek your smoke and smog. Behold the magma -- it is like a living thing. It grows, but more importantly, it constantly changes."
Isura's magma pipe had begun spurting sideways some time ago. As she finished speaking, the emerging flow touched back against the base of the original sphere -- a perfect O of obsidian. She raised the O closer to The Silent One, an unspoken command to watch -- to learn. All was dark for a long fraction of a minute, but then, lo! -- the fires of magma pushed forth again, cracking the circle, and starting a long circuitous path of spouting magma once more.
"See this piece of rock? I have designed it to be ever-changing. It cannot long abide the static nature of its common existence -- see how it yearns to change endlessly. In time it will complete its circlular cycle, only to begin it again -- and again! Each time reworking the underlying stone and rock. It continues ad infinitum; always unfinshed, always growing, always changing. You say we must compromise? Ha! Here is stone -- static, unyielding, boring stone, but look what I have done? I have changed it into something wholly my own -- I reject the static nature of the earth, the stubborn uncompromising stillness, and from it draw forth the constant change I crave."
Isura withdrew her claw and appraised the other deity. "So it seems that I must pity you: for you would rather compromise and settle for less than everything, rather than experiment, find some way to make the nature of the very thing work against itself, and work for you. Your lethargy and acquiescence disgusts me."
"You are mistaken, on not one but three accounts," The Silent One replied, shaking his head and chuckling. Which with his tentacles sounded something akin to choking. "For one, you are still dependant on others for your change, whatever your own bold claims. Your magma cannot exist without earth, and even though you claim to have made it something wholley your own, you couldn't be further from the truth. You are fire. By your nature, you are fleeting. You claim this magma is your own? I say you have merely taken the eternity of stone and added your own twist to it. This is not fire anymore than ice is earth. Ice is merely water solidified, your magma is merely stone liquified. Perhaps it is a display on how corrupting something can improve it, but it is no display on the power of your once a flame, second ash domain."
The Silent One held out two fingers. "Secondly, you are wrong on the aspects of darkness and death. I have seen what comes of darkness without light, and it is not pleasant. It is merely blackness, merely nothing. Light gives darkness shape, cool, form. I admit that there is FAR too much light in this world, but extinguishing it entirely is, unfortunately, unthinkable, lest both light and dark dissappear into nothing. There needs to be SOME form of balance, otherwise all is lost. And as for death..." He drew himself up a little taller. "Death is not a process. Take it from Death itself... it is a force. Death is not some process. It is a predator. It hunts down the living and ends their days. Surely, it uses many ways to end a life. Old age. War. Murder. Disease. But all are the ends of the massive, tentacles beast of Death, that seeks to consume the living in its gaping maw as it ends their life and prepares them for an eternity of its own divising."
Finally, The Silent One held out three fingers. "And the third mistake you made is that you presumed on my character. Consider me biased, but I am not lethargic. I am patient. Where as you are a petty vandal with no forethought who would seek to force an unyielding world to your own vision, and get petty and angry whenever you fail- pardon me for doing the same on presuming your character from what little we've spoken- I am content to bide my time. I will enshroud this entire world in darkness and death, until the only light and life on it will be a small speck, kept prisoner in chains of death and darkness only so that death and darkness may thrive without worrying about becoming as of nothing from having no equal. I do not care if it takes a year, a decade, a century, a millenia, this world WILL be made in my image, even as you continue to pointlessly beat your own visions onto it while I make it my own through its own choice with slow and steady decpetion and patience."
The Silent One sighed. "Honestly, I had expected the maker of such tools that I could use so effieciently to be less of a petulent child," he told her, conjuring up some more smoke from her magma to once more cover the hole in the sky.
PP Expenditure
0PP Cantrip - Smoke returns to the sky, covering the light once more.
"You are an egotistical, narcissistic little sycophant. You plot and scheme against others because they are, 'undeserving' of whatever little they've carved out for themselves. You wish to be underestimated, because you place great value on secrecy, and hidden things-- and the more exquisite their incredulity when you finally usurp them and steal their power. Am I far off from the truth?"
"But look -- your arrogance blinds you to even simple truths." Isura rent a claw through the smoke, causing it to scream away, laying bare the entirety of the land around the volcano to the open air and the infernal sun... but wait? Where was the sun? "Behold -- the night. Don't your shrouds look petty now."
Suddenly, Isura exploded into action, lashing out with one of her claws, knocking into The Silent One, and sending the deity hurtling beyond the lip of the volcano itself. "I'm not afraid of you" called Isura, down into the volcano. "Nor am I afraid to crush you, should you get in my way. Good day, sir."
Amidst more of that scornful laughter, Isura left, the lava trailing languidly behind her.
PP Expenditure
-0 Cantrip: Create a temporary hole in the smog cover, revealing the night. It will disappear before dawn arrives.
5
The SIlent One shrugged. "You seem correct, really, except perhaps with the sycophant accusation," he confessed. "Then again, are you so different? Perhaps in how you go about with things, but you are certainly egotistical, narcissistic, and fighting as hard as you might to prove you are right. You seem the type who, upon claiming the sky is green and others claiming otherwise, would blatantly turn the sky green to prove yourself 'right'. I, however, prefer a little more subtly... if I am wrong, I am wrong, but that doesn't mean I can't convince my opponent they are wrong also or wrong instead... it is petty, but I can derive no small satisfaction from convincing someone that rocks are as soft as clay."
The Silent One chuckled, shaking his head. "The stars are light, are they not? Not much of one, but they certainly illuminate the land better than it would be with my-"
And then, she hit him. She. Hit. Him. Sending him down the mountainside with a large, gaping scar. Even if it healed over quickly... this couldn't go unpunished even if she insisted on just running away!
Grabbing a piece of stone, The Silent One made it long and sharp, spreading his wings and flying after the goddess as fast as he could before plunging the long weapon into her from behind, errupting out of her chest as it pierced her entire body.
"Good night, hag," The Silent One growled back.
"Who shut the light off?" she asked, rather stupidly, "Quite rude."
But then she caught sight of the stars, winking down at her, and she pushed more of the mist aside to see. She sigh, sending the mist into small eddies and swirls that danced about her and Tziyoti. She seemed to be smiling up at the twinkling lights so high up above them.
"You know, Isura may be a fool and a braggart as well as a condescending tripe, but you've got to admit," she said, gesturing with a hand up at the stars, "She has got style."
She sat, mesmerized by the twinkling lights for a moment, before gasping, an action which sent her form and the mists about her into a flurry of motion.
"I know what the sky is missing," she said, breathing fast, "The world works because it is in balance. You, me, all our siblings are represented. But the sky? No! It has never sought to be in balance, and thus, it never can be. Do you see what I mean? I mean to say that, so long as only Isura's burning stars hang in the heavens, so too must the cycles be ever thrown into dissaray. Quite as disorganized as she."
The goddess began to move now, circling, swirling about the stone spires, stirring up the clouds of hydrogen, which glowed pale peach in her passing. There was something rhythmic in her movements. She may have been pacing.
"Yes, yes!" she cried, finally, "Don't you see? Earth, Fire, Water, Ice and Air are all present down here. But up there, only Isura and I old sway! You, along with dear Velt and darling Od'Vidr must stake your claim amongst the stars. There must be water and wind, ice and fire and earth in the skies. But... how do we do that?"
And at this, Dajjal seemed out of ideas. She gazed desperately, pleadingly up at her brother. Yearning for answers.
"Good Night, hag" growled her pursuer, stabbing forcefully at her back. The flame-that-was-her-body obliged the death god, parting, easily allowing more and more of the crude weapon to slip through.
Caught off balance by the lack of resistance and his own forward momentum, The Silent One fell through the goddess entirely, passing through her body as easily as if she weren't there at all, for what weight, after all, does flame really possess?
As The Silent One, mildly singed (but more off-balance than actually injured), wildly attempted to correct his momentum, Isura laughed again. Not the scornful mocking she had dispensed mere moments earlier, but a laugh of pure, unadulterated joy.
"Come then!" she called gaily, "Catch me if you can!"
Isura shot away, bobbing teasingly to and fro as she sailed towards The Sea of Dajj.
This woman... was REALLY starting to irritate him. He supposed he should have known better than to use a physical attack against someone with such an ethereal form, but... she'd clawed him, he'd wanted to return the favor somewhat.
"You can't outrun death," he growled, before spreading his singed wings and flapping after her. Despite his assertion, without needing wings to fly she WAS a bit faster than him... which made him even more angry! Still, he had to admit... compared to the silent or rather weak willed gods he'd seen so far, she was as a breath of fresh air. Albeit an irritating breath that left you wanting to hit it until it stopped moving.
"Well...." He said thoughtfully. "As I see it, the only solution is to take some of what is down here..." he gestured to the land about them and the oceans around the land. "And put it up there. I would certainly help to do so."
As he looked around, he saw two shapes moving towards them. Curious, he squinted...
And was rewarded by the sun dawning right where he was looking.
"Auuugh!" he bellowed, clutching at his eyes as bright spots danced in his vision. "Lets do it soon!"
"It is really impossible to have the time to complete a good work apparently, without some disturbance from the sky above... I wonder if my sister is involved again..."
"Do you know what is going on by any chance?" he told to the Light.
Then he watched his changing servants, the mutation was progressing as he planned "After all I can let them turn by themselves, the process has begun its only a matter of time now" he thought...
"I think that we should investigate, this incoherent mutations are distracting..."
Then Velt abandoned his work and went searching for his brothers and sisters, joining them right after The water god finished talking...
"May I ask you what are you going to take from here and put up there brother?" he told
OOC
(I wonder if I shamefully double posted or if someone tagged while I was writing)
She pulled back, suddenly pondering.
"Or would that be... big brother?" she asked, indicating his current size, "Ah well, a question for another day, for now we have your idea to try out!"
She pushed aside some of the mists to reveal the dull, grey stone underneath, apparently clearing a space for their work. But then her eyes were drawn to something drifting across the sky, blocking the sun as it rose. At first she thought a wisp of hydrogen had reached the upper atmosphere on some stray wind, but she soon saw otherwise. It was clouds. And if the sun was a paintcan, spilling its vibrant colours across the sky in a wash of pinks and oranges, then the clouds that drifted across were like little figures wading through the paint. Dajjal contemplated these clouds for a moment before realizing their importance.
"The clouds!" she shouted, "How could I have been so stupid!"
And she hurtled into the sky, exploding through the largest cloud with a mad cackle, sending wisps spiralling out in every direction.
"Water!" she cried, "And Ice! Up in the sky!"
She threw her head back and laughed again.
"Now all we need is earth! Earth to keep the stars and the clouds company!"
And then she spotted her other brother, Velt, joining them.
"Hello!" she cried, quite jubilant in her greeting, "Just in time, Mister-Mister!"
"Little brother, Big Brother... Either is fine. Hello, Velt. We were discussing putting something of our elements up into the sky. It would appear..." Tsiyoti looked up at Dajjal with a smirk. "that our sister has begun this process already. I am more than willing to help you move some of the earth to the heavens as well, if you are so inclined."
PP/OOC
1 PP offered for land generation and movement leading to moon formation
1 PP offered for land generation and movement leading to moon formation
----
Isura was not only faster than The Silent One, but she was more maneuverable as well. She drifted upwards, spinning lazy spiraling circles about the other god as he chased after her, straight up.
"Death is nothing but the start of a new beginning! One more journey in the endless cycle of fire eternal! I have no fear of death!"
To accentuate her point, she abruptly stopped, falling like a stone, streaming out like an arrow straight towards The Silent One. She splayed out her form, splintering into eight tendrils, she crossed the intervening space separating them, passing within inches of the death god, but not touching him. Rejoining into her previous form on the far side of The Silent One, Isura continued her plunge, cackling madly. "Come for me Death! Catch me if you can!"
I have nothing against placing some of the earth into the sky, if my sister agree as I have no claim on the heaven above, I'll gladly assist you I'm curious to see what will happen if we try to send some large object high into the sky, away from the grasp of the world..."
Show
mmm I see I'm not the only purple one, I guess I'll have to change color... maybe a darker red...
mmm I see I'm not the only purple one, I guess I'll have to change color... maybe a darker red...
When Theif nodded, he grunted to his followers and headed off towards the summit of the mountain. His titan-legs crossed vast stretches of rocks given a reddish glow by the rising sun. He paused but for a moment when a something raced into the sky and danced among the clouds. He could feel that odd presence return, but he dismissed it. Within minutes the light-orb had already crested the sky and hurled itself down again, returning the world to darkness.
For a time there was no noise but the sound of grey stone crunching under Kardrak's feet. When he reached the base of the mountain the sun peeked up from where it had set but then went back down again, like a child hiding. Given that he had no context for how an accursed day-ball was supposed to behave, this didn't seem out of the ordinary, but he snarled at it nonetheless. As if in response, it rose again and begun doing loop-de-loops across the sky.
Ignoring the insanity of the world he climbed the mountain and then entered the caldera. With reverent steps he approached the Elemental Barrier. He had a faint memory of this from his childhood and had felt ill at ease about it ever sense.
"Plague from here?" he asked. Without waiting he struck at it with his obsidian knife, sending a tremor through the earth like a gong.
PP
Cantrip - Slight earthquake, which will hopefully get the attention of an earthy god... eventually
Cantrip - Slight earthquake, which will hopefully get the attention of an earthy god... eventually
Despite himself, the Silent One had to chuckle. This one was... frustrating, contrary, and childish, but he had to admire her bravado. She did not fear death? Perhaps she should... he made a mental note to one day prove to her that death was something to be feared, even if...
Hold on a moment. She was wrong. At least, she was wrong right now. Death was eternal. There was nothing after death. It was a dead end, with the life of a thing dissappearing completely upon their death. That seemed a shame really... death was something that should be... well as a farmer should fallow his fields so he could reap the harvest, so to should Death promote life so he could reap their souls.
"Death doesn't 'catch', Fire," The Silent One replied, tiring of the game for now. Instead, he raised a hand, and water gushed upwards from beneath her, him attempting to drench her and extinguish her. He had no illusions this would kill her. Simply get her attention and catch her off guard. "It simply comes when it is time to, whether you run, hide, or fight. It is as inevitable as your so called eternity of flame."
The Silent One floated in the air. "However, your little rants DID give me an interesting idea," he mused. "As it is now, Death is not a journey, it is an end... it is the absence of life. This... rankles me. Death should be significant. Death should be dramatic. And something should be able to die more than just once! Perhaps some sort of... system, could be put into place. Some form of life after death, or after-life, where after the soul is reborn again to live and die anew."
She failed.
Instead, she found herself propelled further into the sea of Dajj, heading straight for a cloud, a mist of some sort. Isura abruptly vanished within it.
Ignition.
Almost instantaneously, the mist combusted, ballooning out in an immense fireball, consuming a goodly portion of the hydrogen cloud instantly, showering a large portion of the region with splatters of divine fire.
A large mat of burning embers, something not unlike Isura's right arm, went flying right through the nearby congregation of gods -- Tsiyoti had to suddenly duck to dodge to avoid the burning appendage.
The majority of the goddess' form had been blasted downwards by the explosion, and entire swaths of The Sea of Dajj were alight, rock burning with divine fire. One of the larger bits of flame seemed to writhe fruitlessly about on the ground, on the edge of the graystone shore.
So bright was the flare of the explosion that even the relatively far-away Titans could not help but turn away and blink furiously, attempting to rid themselves of the afterimages.
PP Expenditure
-0 Cantrip: Explode most of the Hydrogen clouds!
-0 Cantrip: The Sea of Dajj, and Tsiyoti's Boon are littered with tattered remnants of divine fire that cling to rock and wave alike, still ever-burning.
"Yay!" she cried, clapping her hands together, which echoed like thunder down below, "How pretty!"
She smiled down at her siblings, watching as the hydrogen cloud reconverged upon them, lights sparking within it. Mists that had extended beyond the Sea of Dajj now retreated to its borders to fill the gaps.
"Quite a show, Ebel's Fire, quite a show," she mused, "I simply can't get enough."
PP
1 PP - Mold Land? - Added to the PP Toe spent for floating-earth type things leading to moon-ascension.
1 PP - Mold Land? - The hydrogen mists in the Sea of Daj become permanent. Though they no longer spread beyond the borders of the Sea, the Fire of Isura still sparks occasionally within the mists, creating random lights and colourful explosions. Some parts of the mists are more stable than others, while some are downright lethal. It is unwise for travellers to carry open flames in the mists due to the chance they might ignite the cloud. Even when this happens, however, the cloud does not stay vanished for long, and quickly reforms.
1 PP - Mold Land? - The hydrogen mists in the Sea of Daj become permanent. Though they no longer spread beyond the borders of the Sea, the Fire of Isura still sparks occasionally within the mists, creating random lights and colourful explosions. Some parts of the mists are more stable than others, while some are downright lethal. It is unwise for travellers to carry open flames in the mists due to the chance they might ignite the cloud. Even when this happens, however, the cloud does not stay vanished for long, and quickly reforms.
The eons of imprisonment had left their mark though, as the solitude had fragmented its mind.
...Finally free...
...We have regained what we lost...
...We should learn more of this new realm...
...Agreed...
...Consensus....
And thus, the ink mass rose from the deep to the surface, darkening the surface water with its presence.
"I still wonder why are we exactly going to bring the earth into the sky, is there any purpose that I currently miss? Will it stabilize this chaotic sky?" he told then, turning to face the other gods.
Velt then briefly focused his mind on the land below, calling the dust nearby, making it respond to his will, becoming maleable, easy to move and be propelled into the sky.
"Also brother and sister I happened to be recently watching as an immense number of new beings has begun to populate our world, feeding on earth, fire and water, spreading, changing, fast and likely in uncontrolled ways, by us at least... Do you think that we should do something about that? Channel, cull or dimish them before they grow too much? Or shall we let those new living things increase their numbers unchecked?"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As the Kardrak ascended to the top of the mountain he noticed many still form of the changing titans, their skin turned to metal and stone, dotted by irregular patches of flesh, some standing, some lying on the ground, all unable to move and projecting strange shadows, due to the sky constant shifts. However even in the small outpost he found only a small numbers of those tortured beings, most was empty, their inhabitants somehow vanished.
Finally at the montain top he begun to sense some sign of life, at least of movement, he could hear the sound of the steps of some large creature, attracted by the tremors maybe.
OOC
1 PP - to support in making the moon
1 PP (or more) - To create earth titans more about them on a future post when the hunter face them for the first time
Velt will probaly come and see what the titan hunter is doing, but for now he is focused on the actions of the gods.
1 PP - to support in making the moon
1 PP (or more) - To create earth titans more about them on a future post when the hunter face them for the first time
Velt will probaly come and see what the titan hunter is doing, but for now he is focused on the actions of the gods.
"Yes. Balance. Something to hang in the heavens opposite to the Burning Orb and keep it regular and steady in its course, such that we don't have to wonder when next our eyes will burn."
The Quake-Father gestured, and all the latent energy provided by the gathered elementals sprang into action, gathering dust and phosphorescent stone from the chaotic storm surrounding creation. Great bursts of water sprang from the sea, compacting the dust and stone into a large orb and pushing it skyward into the night sky. A trembling came over Creation as the Sun and Moon danced their way into mutually acceptable positions, each directly opposite from the other, circling around the world evermore.
As he was turning back from the Moon, a sudden thought crossed Tsiyoti's mind. The Sun had a champion. What was to prevent that God, whom he had not met, from ruining their plans?
Pulling at every last fiber of his divine nature, Tsiyoti hurtled godly power towards the still coalescing sphere, willing it to raise a champion for itself.
Finished, he turned back to Velt and Dajjal.
"As for these creeping things, what do they matter to us? They cannot drain the oceans or bottle the sky or lift the earth or tame the mighty fire or survive amid the bitter cold. LetJzaquiht have his fun. Who knows? Perhaps we will find some of his creations to be useful to our own plans?"
PP
Using the combined power of the Gods: Mold Land: The Moon. A large orb of glowing rock and dust that orbits the main world in direct opposition to the Sun. Due to the nature of its creation, it does have some regions that contain water, and some other regions that are still mostly uncompacted dust (as in the Silt Sea of Dark Sun.)
2 PP (+ RP help from other players): Beget God: Joran, God of Darkness and... Moons... Arise!
Using the combined power of the Gods: Mold Land: The Moon. A large orb of glowing rock and dust that orbits the main world in direct opposition to the Sun. Due to the nature of its creation, it does have some regions that contain water, and some other regions that are still mostly uncompacted dust (as in the Silt Sea of Dark Sun.)
2 PP (+ RP help from other players): Beget God: Joran, God of Darkness and... Moons... Arise!
A greenish hued light floats down near the elemental lords. As it moves closer it starts to take up a humaniod shape. Upon reaching the meet, one can see distinguished arms, body and head, but no legs yet.
Letting out a big yawn before speaking, "You called, I rose."
PP
0PP cantrip set an even day/night cycle with the rise of the moon.
0PP cantrip set an even day/night cycle with the rise of the moon.
"There is another God who rules the day. He may wish to destroy the Moon and the Night. You must prevent him from doing this." Tsiyoti looked at the new god for a moment, and then said:
"I imagine a name would be useful to you. What would you like to be called?"
Seeing the other gods present he bows. As day starts to come his glow starts to fade. "If you all will excuse me, I have....other business to attend to. And while I may not always be seen in the sky, I'll always be there. Oh,and don't worry, I'll return....maybe." and with a smirk, "Good night! or should I say good morning?" with that he vanishes with the rise of the sun.
"Isura, can you hear me? What happened to you? I'd move you myself, but... would that be wise? Can you feel your..." Tsiyoti trailed off, looking down at the god with a look of slight confusion as to what the best way to end that question would be... "bottom... half?" He finished, lamely.
...New opportunity?...
While the bulk of its mass remaining in te Sea, He extended part of him, crawling and slithering towards the fire deity.
The droplets started to slowly morph, taking on a variaty of creatures, mimicking other lifeforms
PP
spend 4pp: create aquatic darkness ecosystem. I'm gonna add more stuff to this post during the next hours as I progress further in translating my dutch notes on the matter. I just wanted to create this before the reset. ;)
...ah. That was... unexpected.
The Silent One coughed a little uncomfortably. Seems his new companion/enemy/person he wished to kill had exploded... into several pieces if he'd seen correctly. One of her arms seemed to have fallen quite a ways away.
Well... he didn't really care. She'd been annoying, if this was her death, then so be it. He doubted it was though, divinities were tougher than that. Still, perhaps it was best he left so that no-one decided to deliver 'vengance' onto him for her death. Well, he had things to do back in his land of darkness anyway...
Spreading his wings, The Silent One wheeled around and flew back towards land.
"No!" Tsiyoti shouted. "You shall not have this one like you had the one before, foul beast. Begone from here!"
PP
0 PP: Cantrip: The water above C'truul is forced aside, causing tidal waves in uninhabited portions of the world.
0 PP: Cantrip: The water above C'truul is forced aside, causing tidal waves in uninhabited portions of the world.
At Dajjal's snide remarks, Isura's arm made a rude gesture, eventually plummeting the ground and vanishing entirely.
~~The Sea of Dajj~~
"That was... unexpected."
The majority of what remained of Isura's body seemed to inflate, like a bellows, and across the dry sea, the scattered flames regrouped.
Another explosion rocked the wastes as the disparate particles of fire collided, though this was much smaller, and controlled. As the smoke cleared, Isura was at the center, once more whole and unharmed.
"Some form of life after death, or after-life, where after the soul is reborn again to live and die anew."
"This place needs no 'afterlife'. What, for these weak mortal things? If this "death" comes for them, it is because they lack the force of will to hold their matter together. They should not be rewarded with a second chance for their failure -- let the strong forge themselves anew, and let the weak fade away."
Her words flew after the departing form of The Silent One, crisp and clear, despite the rapidly lengthening distance.
Isura realized she had been waving her claws angrily at the departing deity. She lowered them. "Exhilarating, though." she continued, to Tsiyoti, as if her digression to The Silent One had never happened.
The flames around her 'head' seemed to suddenly arch in surprise. "What? I need no defense, fool! Do you doubt my power?" She raised a claw threateningly at Tsiyoti, then, again, stopped and lowered it, considering the inky being of C'truul before them both. "Like the one you had before?" the goddess echoed, confused.
"And who put this infernal exploding gas in this place to begin with!" Though the goddess of fire was many things, constant and straightforward, she was not.
Veok, how true
6 PP this week: Velt, Tsiyoti, (and Ebel, were he alive)
5 PP this week: Dajjal, Od'Vidr, Isura, Jzaquiht
4 PP this week: Tsoriena, The Silent One, C'thull, Amun
spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0Aq2b-Hn...
"No!" Tsiyoti shouted. "You shall not have this one like you had the one before, foul beast. Begone from here!"
The extended arm branched out into many thinner tendrils, each still reaching towards the two deities
At the same time it replied. Its voice sounded more like a chorus of many voices.
...Why not?...
...It is angry for us taking its body...
...Is that so very wrong?...
...You took its heart and blood...
Tsiyoti snarled as the arm drew closer, wordless sound coming from his mouth like waves slamming into a cliff. Staring at the main form of the other God, he stamped one massive foot into the Sea of Daj, pulverizing the ground into sand with the force. Grimacing, he stamped his other foot, pulverizing another region of sand. Four more times he did this, forming a broken semicircle of sand before him.
As he lifted his foot to return it to its original position, the sand shuddered and four massive forms slid from under the earth, sand sluicing from their bodies as they beat massive fins and took to the air.
Smaller than the God before them, but similar in form, the grey-brown Cloud Rays, covered in bony protrusions, floated just above the surface, the wind from their fins pushing the thinner tendrils of C'truul away from Isura and back towards the ocean.
"There. Now, let us talk. Yes, I am angry at you taking what you had no right to. I should drive you from these waters at this very moment. However, you seem to have information that I would desire. Speak. Tell me what you mean when you say I took its Heart and Blood. Do you know whether or not I was born of this Ebel? Or was I merely opportunistic like you?"
PP
0 PP: Cantrip: Turn a small ring of the Sea of Daj into sand instead of stone. This region is barely a hundred feet across and fifty feet wide.
2 PP: Spawn Beast: Cloud Rays now populate the Sea of Daj.
4 PP remaining.
0 PP: Cantrip: Turn a small ring of the Sea of Daj into sand instead of stone. This region is barely a hundred feet across and fifty feet wide.
2 PP: Spawn Beast: Cloud Rays now populate the Sea of Daj.
4 PP remaining.
"Do you know whether or not I was born of someone else? Or was I merely opportunistic like you?"
Isura shrugged her shoulders, wholly unconcerned with the approach of C'truul. "I can tell you the answer to that." she declared.
"I was the only one around when you emerged from the waters. Alone. Your will acted, and the waves themselves responded, bringing you into what you are. We do not get "born" -- either we always are, and forever will be, or we are a universal response to some other force. But never 'born', never 'created'. What? Has Dajjal filled your head with nonsense about some great mother that gave form to us all? Ha! It would behoove you to pay little heed to that one, lest her delusions of grandeur ply some fallacies into the realm of accepted truth."
The goddess spread her hands. "The cosmos gave you opportunity to incarnate yourself once more, and you took it. Same as me. Same as us all. 'Water remembers' -- or have you forgotten?"
Dajjal smiled indulgently at her brother.
"Of course, we are merely arguing semantics here, of course you were birthed by another, Ebel gave you her spark. Now, whether that fulfills your definition of 'mother' is entirely up to you. Is a mother someone who merely called you into being? Brought forth the potentiality that was you and caused you to adopt the sentience and likeness you now possess? If the answer is yes, then one must conlude that Ebel was your mother. If you say no, and instead attach another meaning to that word, 'mother' then no, she is not your mother. But she certainly did come before. And for no other reason than that, we are beholden to her."
Dajjal glanced askance at her sister.
"But don't place much stock in what sister-fire here says. I quite believe her mental faculties were impaired by what she did to herself. Thus, I doubt she even registers when I say the word 'Ebel.' Her evidence, then, must be highly suspect, dear brother, and I would not rely on her word if I were you."
Then, an almost cruel smile playing upon the face of the goddess, Dajjal leaned in closer to her sister and whispered a word.
"Ebel."
And the winds took up the chant, whispering it over and over to her.
"Ebel... Ebel... Ebel..."
"Ever since I have met you--" the goddess spat, "You have jumped at every opportunity to belittle my identity; to make grand claims about who--about what-- I am. I couldn't care less about you. But you are beginning to become more than merely an irritant."
"Let me tell you some immutable facts that even you must concede true, you contrary scourge: Air fans Fire, and by doing so, empowers it." And as she spoke, it became true. Isura was swelling, burning hotter and higher.
But then something strange began to happen to Dajjal as well-- though Isura didn't seem to move in the slightest, Dajjal seemed to diminish, held fast by the divine hand of Fire.
"And Fire in turn consumes Air. " Isura's voice had become a growl, low and threatening.
"You wish to convince me, do you not? Then let me speak before leaping upon one another." he roared out. After a few moments to sort the other gods' thoughts, he spoke once more.
"Isura, your words are truthful. You were the first to encounter me when I emerged from the waves, and I will gladly admit that I was alone at that point. However, I find a problem with your logic. I Do remember emerging from the waves, but I remember very little before that, and certainly nothing that would incline me to believe that I have existed forever, as you say. Therefore, I would be inclined to believe that my genesis was in response to some other action. Yet, what made that action? And if not that action was the first, then what caused the action before that action? The evidence of the world is one of increasing order, therefore at some point there had to have been a first point of order, a prime mover. Were that to be a Mother, an Ebel, that I cannot say. Yet, surely that individual existed."
He stopped speaking for a moment before continuing.
"You sound very much like a certain Light I met not long ago. Are the two of you aquainted?"
Next, he turned to Dajjal.
"Your words are slippery, wind-mistress, and attempt to spin my mind up with a silken web of soft statements. While you speak of one who came before, and I am forced to agree with you that one must have, your words offer no comfort to my burning question. I wish to know whether or not I was birthed, not whether or not I was first. The two Do have semantical difference, after all."
Finally, he turned to C'truul.
"So if you have an answer, speak. For it was you who ate the body of the prime candidate for my creation. If you absorbed some knowledge of that one's actions, I greatly wish to know."
"Then by all means, sister..."
Her eyes flashed.
"Consume me!"
"Oh, no, child. That would be too good for you."
The goddess dropped Dajjal (dropped is perhaps the wrong word -- Dajjal was mostly air after all, and after being released merely floated in place instead) and stalked purposefully several paces away from both Tsiyoti and the wind god.
"I know not of this Light you speak of. I have been busy with my Magma since we last parted ways. I have wrought nothing since the Phoenixes."
"And what makes you think there needs to be a 'prime mover' at all? Couldn't this potential have simply existed? Look around you: You see the gate, you see what we have wrought -- but have you ever dared to set off away from the gate? Far beyond into the void, past even the farthest of my stars? You are not all-knowing, Wavechen - can you honestly assert the necessitive primacy of your origination? Perhaps you are the end result of thousands of strings vibrating softly beyond the edges of the Great Dark Beyond.
Is not this enough? Just here, existing now?
What does it matter the why of your existence? Can't you just enjoy... existing?"
Your argument is that there is something beyond the chaos that moves the strings that create the universe. If so, what is it? The barest drop in the smallest stream eventually raises the largest ocean. What was that drop in our short existence?"
Sparing a glance back at the Cloud Rays, his mouth twisted as he looked back at Isura.
"You're welcome for the whole making sure you were okay and not letting you be eaten thing, by the way."
"But what is it about your godhood that mandates omniscience? It is as I said before -- the weak die. The strong, like ourselves, incarnate themselves anew by sheer force of will. Has a god of Fire before walked the cosmos? Almost certainly. And Water, and Earth, and all manner of other things no one has yet thought to think of."
"It all comes down to cycles -- that is the natural way of our seemings. Tsoriena's sun orbits, your moon follows -- there is no reason for it, barring that unknown Dark One who seems to prefer the gloom, but the cycle comforts us. Why? Because it is familiar. Not some familiar in that we have seen it before -- for I do not believe we have -- but because it's predictability resonates with us on some level."
"We were not the first, nor shall we be the last. To look for the source of everything is the wrong way of looking at it. If you found reason to believe that I created you, myself, created everything, that would not be enough for you, would it? No.. you would want to know what created me, and then what created that, and so on into perpetuity."
"Such fruitless seeking is beneath you, Wavelein -- it serves no purpose, and will produce no results."
Isura waved an arm and a ring of fire appeared before Tsiyoti. "Behold: a circle. I just made it now -- but tell me, where did I start? Where does the circle being, and where does the circle return to its origin. This is your cyclical quest to know the beginnings. You do not know where to start, nor where the end is, when you reach it."
The fire goddess waved her arm again, and the ring vanished, replaced by a Möbius strip. "This then, is how I perceive our world:" The goddess traced the length of one claw around the outside of the band. "At times, we are here, on the outside: knowing, thinking, creating. But these then are interspersed with movement along the inner band." Isura continued to trace her claw along the inside of the strip. "A wholly separate space, this inside, but not as unconnected to the outer as might first appear. This then is the silence -- the wakenings between dreamings wherein the world lies still, everything returned to the aether." Isura's claw finished it's circuit. "And here, to the outside, we have come again."
"There is no beginning, and there is no end -- only the dawning between ages. I suspect the truth of the matter is something even beyond our comprehension. An illustrious cast of scribes dictating our every unknowing action, say or unthinkable mysteries nigh unconceivable."
"Ultimately, know this: some things simply are. Question them all you like, but don't think you deserve an answer. Is not this space, this here and now, enough?"
Isura gripped Tsiyoti's shoulder, staring hard into the water god's eyes.
"Live for the moment, and plan for the future. The past shall always be... the past."
"Isura... perhaps you are correct. Obviously, we cannot see beyond the bounds of the universe we find ourselves in. Perhaps these mystical scribes you mention do exist, penning the stories of our lives... but before I can accept that... I cannot give up quite so easily. But this I promise you: If I do not find the answer soon, I will accept your explanation, as, while it does not convince me, it is, at least, internally consistant, and that might have to do."
And with that, the Roaring Wave grew quiet, clearly deep in thought.
Kardrak's legs tensed and relaxed as he swayed in the earthquake that had been released when he struck the strange barrier. But now the ground continued to tremble long after it should have ceased. Yet as he turned to look at what might be causing this there was a great explosion and the sky was set ablaze for a moment. The blast knocked the titan to the ground and his mind faded from this world.
If he had been conscious he would have been aware of a growing sense of dread and strange presences began to gather at the source of the explosion. The stone knife, however, was not so unaware, it noted this and remembered this.
The titan groaned as he returned to the waking world. It was with clouded eyes that he looked up at the creature which was approaching him.
When they fell silent, the darkness responded in choir
...No right to claim?...
...Who desides what's right?...
...We know her thoughts...
...Heart and blood were tossed in water, and water claimed them...
...Others claimed other parts...
...We claimed the rest...
"I mean, your stars are nice, in their way, but awfully fleeting for one so very eternal as you. I mean, one should almost call them instantaneous next to your everburning flame. Seems your legacy has been lax of late. All you have been good for is bluster, but at least no one could complain that you have not been true to your element. I mean, fire is the most obnoxious, arrogant element of the lot, railing away at nothing, consuming what it can reach, but in the end accomplishing little save boring the rest of us."
But then she sighed a little sigh.
"I suppose the lot of us have been rather pointless as of late. I mean, truly, all we seem to be good for is make more of ourselves, reproducing, having more children. We spend all our days birthing, and when there's no more birthing to be done, we while away the rest of the day speaking about birth. It's all very tedious, and I'll have none of it. No sir, I demand that we break the cycle. I, for one, assert not to be a boring steward of my element."
And at that, she was off, and she was working, her airy hands flying about, pulling stones and wind and magic all together in her grip, crushing them together, molding their shape. First she made a woman of copper and gave her wings, and set the figure upon the ground, amist the clouds. Immediately the elements began their attack, oxygen in the air robbing her of her iridescent sheen, making her dark and coating her in a fine green layer.
Upset at her results, Dajjal, tried again, making a man of gold and a man of bronze and set them by the woman. But her hands were not done, and brass soon joined gold and copper and bronze. But though some were more resilient that others, each eventually succumbed to the ravages of simple air. And so she thought. And turned her gaze to the Eternal Slopes, leading up to the fabled Garden. And there she placed angels of stone: alabaster, marble, and others. These fared better for a time, for the air here was calmer, less hostile. Finally she thought she had found the place. But even these were worn down by her own touch after a time.
And then she knew. These angels would wear their damage like badges, worn down faces and tarnished bodies would be to them like battle-wounds to the aged soldiers. They would be proud of their pain, proud of the way the world wore them down into grit. They were the Tarnish, the Angels of Dust, and they were her stewards. And upon the Slopes of Eternity, Dajjal stepped back and admired her work.
PP
4 PP - Shape - The Tarnish - Also known as the Angels of Dust, these beautifully carved angel statues guard the slopes of Eternity and the Sea of Daj. The metal Angels inhabit the Sea, while the stone ones call the Slopes home. They are worn down and tarnished, as their name suggests, but they are proud of this. They stay in the harsh elements for ages, able to stay perfectly still for long periods of time. They only move when there is real need of it, but when they do, there is little that can stop them.
"Hypocrite."
The goddess turned to Tsiyoti. "Then seek them. I will not chastise you for honest introspection."
The goddess turned to the writhing darkness. "And you I have no feelings for, one way or the other. Nor a particular care to feel one way or the other. Keep it that way, and we'll get along splendidly."
Isura rose up, seeming to collapse into herself -- first a rapidly dwindling spiral of flame, and then she had vanished.
The stream of liquified rock streamed slowly past the goddess, who, like an expert appraiser, deftly snatched select rocks from the lava-river. She grabbed mostly malachite, though she pilfered cassiterite
boulders as well.
"...Dajjal...stuck-up...so impressive... my left eye... Tarnish... Hypocrite...can't be bothered..."
Isura muttered continually to herself as she worked, breaking the oxides and carbonates into their base metal components. Alloying the two metals into a large, roughly spherical orb, Isura clenched her creation tightly, channeling untold amounts of fire into the very fibre of the metal.
So heated, the Eternal Flame gave a mighty heave, hurling the purified object back into the heart of the volcano. The mountain promptly erupted again, sending out great gouts of ash and flame.
"Now, weapon of change, arise!" intoned Isura, subtly tugging at the object now embedded in the heart of the world.
And deep below her, ensconced within the molten currents of the living crust, Isura's sphere began to beat with a divinity all of its own.
PP Expenditure
-3 Beget Tireas.
And with that, started walking the lands. Seeing a large crater that spanned miles, he took the water and set it in making a large sea. With the winds in motion, and the sea moving it was only a matter of time before he would introduce his own life to his little home above the world below.
As he starts to move the land, he realizes that he is missing one element up there for sustainable life.....Fire! Grumbling to himself, he forces himself for the eventuality that he'll have to go back down there and ask for a bit of fire for the inside of his cold moon. For now though he begins to start making the mountains and the valleys of the moon.
PP expenditures
From the elements used to create the moon, Amun decides to make it his own.
0PP cantrip: air currents and wind is made manifest upon the moon.
2PP Mold Moderate: creates the Lunar Sea
2PP Mold Moderate: Mountain ranges lift up out of the earth
0/4PP left
The moon is still desolate, and barren for now.....
From the elements used to create the moon, Amun decides to make it his own.
0PP cantrip: air currents and wind is made manifest upon the moon.
2PP Mold Moderate: creates the Lunar Sea
2PP Mold Moderate: Mountain ranges lift up out of the earth
0/4PP left
The moon is still desolate, and barren for now.....
...War.
A final eruption occured, but instead of the lava splashing to the ground in a disorganized mess, it remains in the air, hovering. Eventually its form becomes a perfect sphere of red-orange magma, rapidly drying to an earthy rock. A massive crack runs down the orb, and soon, other cracks join in, ruining its spherical shape.
The earth crumbles into dust, leaving behind a four-armed figure with massive wings, forged entirely out of the bronze Isura threw into the volcano. Two narrow eyes appeared on its avian head, shifting through a range of colors before deciding on a listless obsidian. Despite Isura's newest creation being forged from the strongest flames, his eyes revealed a cold and concentrated fury, all reserved for the only figure in his presence: Isura.
"Draw your weapon."
Without missing a beat, a weapon of granite formed in each of his four hands, all pointed toward the fire deity. A massive maul, serrated sword, lengthy lance, and spiked shield... all ready in a flash when the newcomer beckoned.
"Know that I am Tireas. Prepare yourself, for we shall battle at once."
"Oh, delightful."
She rushed, wraith-like, around the new godling, inspecting him from all angles. "You know" she began. "Someone else once tried to fight me with a sharp rock once."
Darting away again, distracted, already seeking to plan her next seven plans simultaneously, Isura spun, scanning the surrounding environs. "No..." she continued, nearly heedless of Tireas. "You don't want to fight me. It would be thrilling, I'm sure, but doomed to stalemate. Much better to find you an opponent that can actually win or lose, wouldn't you agree?"
"If there are others, then so shall I abide. Direct my might, so that they may see my glory."
"Well, I would say that I get to decide what I view as allowable and unallowable." he said, shrugging his shoulders at the shadowy God.
"I gather from what you say that, like the other Gods, I claimed some part of Ebel as my own, but not that Ebel specifically desired my creation."
A sudden laugh burst from the God's mouth, water spraying the rocks before him.
"Then, I guess you could say that we are not all that different, couldn't you? I claimed a heart and lifesblood, you claimed a soulless body. Perhaps we should start over. I am Tsiyoti. Who are you, and where did you come from?"
Damn hag... what did she know? What did ANY of them know? She'd gotten herself blown up and shouted parting insults at his back. The goddess of the sun had ruined the darkness and... and... okay, he admitted that aside from The Hag Of Fire no-one had really done him much harm or attacked his vision. Except, of course, for he and she who had made him and cast him away... if he EVER learned who'd done that, he would RIP THEIR VERY ESSENCE APART!!
But such pleasant thoughts should wait for another time... and, despite how much he DESPISED to admit it, The Hag Of Fire had a point. The weak were meant to perish. The strong were meant to live. So... perhaps the weak should be meant to perish in soul as well, while the strong were meant to live again, and get stronger still. Yes... Yes! That was perfect! In such a cycle, the souls would get stronger and stronger, more powerful and more powerful... more useful and more useful. So perhaps the answer was to make this Afterlife a horrible, dangerous place, so that only those who had strong souls would be reborn. Yes... he was the god of death, he could make the afterlife anything he wanted to! He didn't need to worry about being too harsh, or not kind enough. This was going to be HIS world, and he'd make it how he damn well wanted to!
Inspired, The Silent One drifted to the earth. This would be... difficult. In order to truly do this, he had to make it so that his world was apart from this one, but still connected... fortunately, there was already a method in place he had glimpsed in the horrors of the Void. Taking his hands, The Silent One held them apart like he was to part a curtain, before... parting reality. Where before there had been air, now there was Void. A doorway into another world.
Ah, such a simple concept, The Silent One had to think as he stuck his head through and looked at Nothing. Parallel Void... space that was laid over other space. An infinite number of dimensions laid over each other, imperceptile despite being directly overlapped. And yet, despite all occupying the same space, they were various distances from each other. Let's say this plane was Universe 1. Universe 2, despite being on the same number line, is closer to Universe 1 than Universe 1,234,568. In fact, getting to Universe 1,234,568 was pretty much impossible for The Silent One, and likely for every god and goddess even if they pooled their power together. Of course, there was no telling that Universe 1,234,568 was even unoccupied... other gods could have made their own home there. However, the universes directly near this one were likely empty... at least, The Silent One HOPED they were. He didn't want to think about another God Of Death from another wortld encroaching on his domain.
Of course, it got a lot more complicated... for instance, in addition to Universe 2, there was a Universe 2a that was an equal distance from Universe 1, yet still wholley different to Universe 2. In addition, by using the power of Universe 1 to mess with Universe 2, Universe 1 and 2 would become irrevocably linked, turning Universe 2 from a wholley seperate universe to an extention of Universe 1. Let's say that Universes are on the X-axis. By messing with Universe 2, he would essentially be shifting the entirity of Universe 2 to a Y-axis directly parallel to X, removing it from the X-axis completely and instead shifting it to being a connecting point of point 1, aka Universe 1 on the y-axis. Assuming one could move only linearly, one must go to Universe 1 to get to Universe 2, or at least to the new Universe 1-2. To use a more apt metaphor, it would be putting two balls into a fish tank. They're still two balls, but they're in the same environment and irrevocably linked. If you shake one, you shake the other. To access one, you must access both. And this wasn't even getting into the hypothetical Z-axis of Parallel Void, which theorized that for each universe, there were an infinte number of alternate universes for an infinite number of decisions and natural coincidences codified 1-Alpha, 1-Beta and so forth through to 1-AlphaBetaOmegaZetaBeta etc.
Basically, the whole theory was a cluster-frock of worms, but since The Silent One was only messing around with the soon to be 1-2, the rest wasn't really relevant.
Okay, now to mess with this Universe, he should attempt to... ah to hell with it.
The Silent One shot as big a burst of necrotic energy into the Void as possible, which soon enough congealed into something ressembling the current world, albeit... different. It was a mirror, but one of those creepy mirrors where everything is darker, black and white almost, and all the plants are dead and there's no sign of wild life. Plus there was a dark fog that spread all over the ground everywhere that seemed to stop at ankles at its lowest, and above your head at its highest. There was a sun, but it just made it so you could actually see... there was no warmth. No brightness. You could look at it and not hurt your eyes in the slightest... it was... it was hell.
The Silent One was really going to like it here.
PP Expenditure
4PP Craft - The Silent One makes the Shadowfell, a dark mirror of the real world with a large amount of dark smog. All souls go to it when they die.
"They are called 'mortals'. They are weak individually, but there are many of them. So many, in fact, that you would be hard pressed to slay them all before the heat death of the universe." Isura paused. "Unless instead of a heat death..." she trailed off.
"That's not the point!" she abruptly countered, interrupting herself. "Go. Slay them if you can."
"No. These creatures are weak and undeserving of the battle prowess of my magnitude. They must instead be bettered; improved so that they may deserve their place among this world."
He pointed a sharp finger at the lethargic Tarnish, and a dark mist shot out, enveloping it in a black cloud. Intense screams could be heard within, and when the mist subsided, the Tarnish knelt on the ground, stipped of its metallic coating. It was a red fleshy color, without any of its previous grace intact. It constantly screamed, and flailed around its new sharp claws menacingly. Tireas pointed his lance toward the grotesque figure and declared,
"You are Fallen. Better your bretheren."
The creature displayed no indication that it understood his command, but eventually ran off, searching for more of its kind to attack. The black mist that transformed the Tarnish into this beast continued rolling off into the distance, converting any Tarnish it came across to a Fallen. When it manages to convert one in every five Tarnish, it dissapates into the air.
Tireas turned toward Isura and declared, "I am not a mindless killer, Isura. The mortals shall either perish or become strong in the face of battle, but it is not my place to decide. Do not insult me with your petty commands."
PP
4 PP - Shape the Fallen. A number of Tarnish are converted into Fallen, hideous creatures that look like mockeries of their once angelic forms. The Fallen possess deadly claws, and burn with the desire to slay their former kin. Because of this, they are quite simple minded, and have no sense of tactics.
4 PP - Shape the Fallen. A number of Tarnish are converted into Fallen, hideous creatures that look like mockeries of their once angelic forms. The Fallen possess deadly claws, and burn with the desire to slay their former kin. Because of this, they are quite simple minded, and have no sense of tactics.
...We are called C'thruul...
...We appeared in the expance beyond the ice...
Pointing with a tendril at the part of the Wall of Ice, still showing the clawmarks of C'thruuls entry.
After a moment, she shrugged, and made a sort of half-bow towards the bronze warlord. "As you will. I did not seek to compel your loyalty. Truth be told, I'm not sure if there yet exists anything worthy of your battle prowess. There are the mortals, whom you have quite truthfully marked as quite below your power, and then there are we gods, who cannot be 'killed' in the conventional sense."
The goddess rested her form on one of her claws, drumming her claws along the edge of her head. "In which case, what else would you have from me? I'll be the first to admit I am a bit flippant. With your invocations complete, I am bored, and have no immediate plans."
What is out there, anyways? I've been too busy in here to worry about what lies beyond the Wall. Last I looked it was naught but chaos."
Unnoticed by the two gods, the water from Tsiyoti's laugh flowed away, running through the ridges of the Sea of Daj away from the notice of the divine beings and into the deep and rocky wilderness. As the water flowed, it picked up bits of rock from the Sea and carried them along. Finally, in a completely unimpressive valley between two great waves, the water settled into a natural depression, forming a shallow pool filled with debris carried halfway across the Sea of Daj.
The sun rose, baking the earth and sending mirages floating over the Sea of Daj. As noon approached, the pool of water felt the full brunt of the sun's rays, and soon began to bubble, trapped in the natural cauldron of stone.
As the water burst into a full boil, suddenly a slender arm, seemingly unaffected by the boiling water, reached up from the pool, scrabbling at the nearby stone to find something to hold on to. Finding a ridge in the stone, the arm flexed, and another arm emerged from the pool, grabbing hold of the same ridge and pulling as well.
A woman's head emerged from the pool, followed soon by more of her as she pulled herself out of the pool as it boiled fiercely around her. From the waist up, she was a beautiful woman. From the waist down, iridescent scales covered a strong serpent's body, fading into her skin at the waist aside from a small strip of scales that moved up her spine and splayed across her shoulders like painted-on wings.
Behind her, strong male arms emerged from the pool, and a male Naga emerged, scales of burnished bronze sending myriad reflections across the desert. Instead of scales traveling up his spine, instead his forearms were covered in scales, providing a natural, if weak, armor.
The water boiled fiercely once more and in short succession, four more Naga emerged, two of each sex. Glaring at the beating sun, they slithered away quickly, attempting to find some sort of shade from the hot sun.
All but one. The original Naga, the first woman to pull herself from the earth looked down at the pool as it boiled completely away, leaving only a rubble-strewn patch of stone.
Not sure of what moved her to do so, she bowed from the waist towards the once-pool and slithered off to join her kin.
PP
4 PP: Shape Population: Nagas populate the Sea of Daj. They're a little different from standard Nagas, but I'll leave that to the wiki for full details.
0 PP: Cantrip: A valley in the Sea of Daj is full of rubble.
4 PP: Shape Population: Nagas populate the Sea of Daj. They're a little different from standard Nagas, but I'll leave that to the wiki for full details.
0 PP: Cantrip: A valley in the Sea of Daj is full of rubble.
Tireas looked toward the ground, and saw a group of Fallen getting together, preparing to assault a group of Tarnish. They would have to earn their survival. After a moment of observing them, he decided that the Fallen cared for little more than slaughter, not worth of existing any more than the Tarnish. Perhaps battle would change them as well.
"If there does not exists a challenge for me, then I will continue to correct the lives of these idyllic mortals, until even they might be a match for my prowess. Fury's flame burns bright, but has nothing to ignite."
Isura watched Tireas watch the Fallen. "These mortals are beginning to pique my interest. Would you think it vain of me were I to craft such creatures in my own image?"
The flame goddess patted at her ghost-like body. "No, it probably wouldn't work. Mortals are, by defintion, it would seem, weak. Or weaker than us anyway. I don't expect they would be able to sustain a flame for very long, anyhow."
Tireas glares at Isura as if daring her to challenge him.
"The problem is clearly that Perfection is hard to design for. Not that that needs fixing especially."
"Dear me, whatever shall I do with you," said Dajjal to the statue, "You are ever so beautiful. So fine, so delicate, but with all the strength of stone."
She laughed a tinkling laugh at her little joke, and resumed the slow examination of the carved features.
"You are my favourite, my dear, you know that, right?" whispered the goddess.
And no one could whisper as she. Her low, breathy voice was filled with all the right elements of urgency and hesitation, piqued with moments of bright passion that were quelled with studious resignation to the quiet. Her voice was the wind itself, and naught but the wind could truly whisper.
"I love you, my dear, I truly do," she continued softly, her mild tone suddenly becoming remonstrating as she seemed to view skepticism in those smooth white eyelids, "No really! Trust me, I have known love, oh yes."
And now she was sage, nodding her head in a dogmatic sort of way.
"Yes, I have loved," she said, "I loved my mother, that is true, and I love my brothers. Oh, and I love my sister."
And now she swore the alabaster face was alight with polite incredulity.
"I did-I do!" she cried, raising her hands in a defensive sort of way, "I love Isura. We are simply too different, you see. She adheres to the calm, cool logic of passion and emotion while I restrict my ways to the fiery and inconstant ways of intellect. She is not stupid, my sister, just misguided. But that does not mean I do not love her."
She nodded again, and suddenly there was saddness in those bright orb-eyes of hers, and she seemed altogether care-worn and dishevelled.
"I wish we could be a family, I truly do," said Dajjal, and her tone was calm, but there was a fragility there that betrayed an inner wellspring of grief, "My youngest, my Tsiyoti, he is a good boy. He would do his mother proud, I think, but he thinks too much. And there is nothing that kills one so fast as thought. It is a well-known fact, my dear, he will run himself into the ground with his ideas, and then where will we be? No, He could stand to learn a little from darling Velt."
And now she smiled somewhat mischievously, shyly hiding her face from the alabaster one.
"What a delight he can be. I have always said, the most colouful of folks are by far the least interesting. Or at least, their work is. But Velt, I can see great things coming for him, oh yes. He is grounded, yes, seems almost a pun to say it, but it is true. He is almost boring in his speech, and that makes him all the more fascinating in his ways. Isura and I, we are far too colourful in our prose to be interesting in our selves. We put ourselves into our words and become boring. But Velt, ah Velt, he has no words to waste his self upon, and so he is a marvel to behold."
She sighed and looked at her stony daughter with her praying eyes and couldn't help but envy her solitude, her solemnity.
"And then there was Od'Vidr, so little we knew ye. I think, though, there is a little of him in Isura and in Velt. If his sullen, rebellious nature does not prove our familial relation, I simply could not tell you what does."
"And now there are more of them popping out of the world's every orifice and my head aches and I long for the day when all I yearned for was a rock over there instead of a rock over here."
She sighed, and there too was a sound only she could perfect, only wind could master for it was her purview alone, the sway and breath of winds.
"And I am tired, my dear. Tired by my love for those that do not want it, despise it even." and she shook her great head, "But, there is little to be done. The light will come again on the morrow, and it shall be a new day to make new mistakes. And I shall be glad of it."
In the first moments, when Ebel shifted through the void, events were set into motion. Miniscule vibrations, the world recoiling and reacting to the motions of divinity, shifted through the void, consolidating and coalescing into the gate from which it all originated.
When Od'Vir left the first gathering of gods, and set about the continent to explore, he added more fuel to the smoldering fires within the gate. When Isura brought forth the phoenix and set them loose into the void, the ripples grew yet stronger.
Around and around the gods and their newly formed mortals wandered and moved, traveling from place to place, never knowing or noticed that each step sent yet another ripple through the world.
The gate grew bright within it's silent prison, the growing unrest and building power unnoticed by those without. Hidden away, the gate of creation began to moan and howl with the building energies within, containing the force even as it weakened with each passing moment. Finally, the dam burst.
With an earth shaking explosion, the gate released the pent up energy, blasting it through the elemental barrier and high into the sky. As the barrier healed itself closed, the energy bounced off the passing moon before ricocheting off and flying randomly towards the continent below, landing hard on the ground, prone, between Isura and Tireas.
Actions
Self-ascending - Arvad, god of travel.
0 PP - Cantrip - A minor earthquake originating from the area around the Gate of Eternity.
His eyes gleamed with a hint of color before settling back to their usual black.
"Tireas? Flame? Wind, Earth, and Cold? No, I know nothing of these, so I suppose that will bore you. Unless I possess something that interests you, though I know not what that might be."
Continuing his circling, his eyes moved to Tireas, "By the looks of your weapons, I doubt you'll find my skills much of a challenge. I am that which allows all to move as they may and as they wish. I am travel. I am motion."
Slowing for a moment, he scratched his chin. "Though, I doubt those alone as enough to describe me."
Reaching over to the sleeve of his robe, Arvan plucked at a small strand and tugged, frowning as it refused to move.
He turned his head sideways, then gave Isura a confused look. "I wonder who I'm referring to when I say they?" Shrugging, he continued, "I suppose it's irrelevant though, as you long my point is conveyed to you."
The goddess paused.
"But enough talk. You are here now, are you not? So... facilitate."
It was there that the iridescent Naga and a Tarnished met, each running from a separate place. The two mortal beings circled one another, looking at each other with distrust.
"What are you?" The Naga said, brandishing a hastily carved stone sword at the Tarnished.
"You are you, yes?" continued another Tarnish, stepping to join the first and carrying the thread of the conversation, "Is being you being what as well? Or are you, you, and not what, as we are?"
And then a third arrived to hoist up the threads of this rapidly deteriorating conversation.
"What friends are saying is we are being we. And being we is being what. Are you being we, in turn being what? Or are you you, and thus being something else?"
After a long moment in thought, Arvad offered a small bow. "Perhaps you know the answer which I seek. Is there one who presides over death within this realm?"
"You speak in circles, and confound the words that come out of my mouth. I am a Naga, and I am not a you, I am a me. You are... statues. Animated statues. And not in good repair. What do you call yourselves? The Tarnished Angels?"
~~~Naga/Tarnish Meeting~~~
Kreeeeek... kuluk.
Kreeeeek... kuluk.
Kreeeeek... kuluk.
Kreeeeek... kuluk.
Kreeeeek... kuluk.
The Naga and Tarnish became aware of the sound of something hard being dragged across stone. The sound had started off so quietly at first that they hadn't noticed, but now it was clear that something was approaching. In the distance a figure appeared from behind a large stone, stumbling towards them. It was humanoid in shape, but black chitin covered its digits. As it grew closer the others gathered there could see its muscles move underneath its transparent skin, as well as the things black and green organs. In its right leg was a red stone that, like its skin, was transparent but this seemed to glow with an inner light. Regardless of what the stone was, it seemed clear that the creature had been injured by it. Black fluid oozed from the wound and the thing could not put much weight on the limb. From its wide mouth a groan escaped with each step. Its mane of vaguely purple spines, like hair, was plastered to its head by sweat and excretions.
"Hr'elp?" the Jzakai managed.
Appearing before the 3 gods, as a slightly fuzzy and dim purplish colored shade, as the sun hasn't fully set yet. Kinda facing Arvad, "did you make that crater up there?" pointing at the moon. "While I like the size and depth, its position didn't work at all for my plans, I had to move it to the far side for now."
Just now looking around and realizing who he is surrounded by, he gives a slight bow. "Oh! Hi there!"
When the god finally went back to his creations he found their new form much more pleasing and resilient then their original shapes. The flesh has been fully replaced by stone or metal, their body organized with mathematical proportions, their mind was focused, deprived of any distraction, they only needed a purpose to fulfill.
The god reached into their clockwork brain, one that could be repaired and altered easily, invulnerable to desires and passion. The earth titans mind was filled with the god thoughts and desires, he told them about himself, “the Allfather” maker of matter and his sister Dajjal, “the prime mover” and of the multitude of divine beings that has swarmed creation. He wrote their minds to enforce an absolute loyalty and the will to bring order to the chaotic world. Finally as titans’ number could not increase naturally, he granted them the ability of shaping more of their kind from solid stone or metal.
***
Meanwhile at the titans outposts in the lower reaches of the divine mountain a sensation of fear and despair was slowly taking over the hearts and minds of the hunters, the sky burning and shifting, only to fall into the darkness, the mountain top exploding and finally the plague corrupting their flesh and decimating their kind. Naturally they knew that some greater being has created them, they felt his hands when they was born at first, many thought that maybe such a being could have helped them, but whoever it was he did not. After a while a few titans begun to gather and pray to this being seeking assistance.
While at first the god did not pay attention to their pleas, then some of the titans begun to sacrifice things in his name, the spoils of the hunt, their crude tools, a few even offered him their loyality, their life, by ritually burying them under the earth. Velt has no use for such a sacrifices, for him nothing that his flawed tools could do was worth anything, all their offerings already belonged to the god, however he also felt something out of their prayers, in the titans mind they was giving him everything that they valued. The god was somehow intrigued, their gifts were useless to him, yet valuable for them “doesn’t that fact make those things more worthy” he thought “does the valor of something depend on some intrinsic quality of the item in question or does it reflect how much efforts someone would be willing to expend to acquire it.” “Perhaps those flawed creation can still bring me something useful, even if unexpected, maybe with the proper tools they can become better… Maybe I could give them another chance… for now”
Then the god mind turned again to his tools, they was forged with the purpose to serve him after all, Velt was unwilling to appear in front of the titans himself, he feared that their minds was not ready to witness the might of a divinity. It was due to his will that an envoy of his earthly servants approached the titans tribes.
***
Finally Velt sensed that something had disturbed at the “Barrier” an explosion maybe… Creating a shield for the gates was a wise idea after all. The god coiled around the mountain top, seeking the source of the disturbance…
PP
1 PP command - Faith
1 PP command - Faith
And then the gate did something not normal. It pulsed. Energy began swirling out of it, reaching out, questing. It was curiously picking up various parts of the garden, absorbing them. After it ran out of new parts, the questing energies returned to the gate. Now something began to strain against the fabric of the gate, trying to get out. Unfortunately, it couldn't seem to get out. It kept forcing itself against it again and again, stronger each time. Each successively stronger hit sent more ripples through the reality out of the gate, making things just a touch weirder, without any real effects. The entity was trying to escape, but was having issues doing so. It eventually stopped with that, and began another attempt.
Waves of energy began to pulse out of the gate. They had similar warping effects, but carried a message with them, for anyone to hear.
"WHY IS THIS DOOR NOT OPEN?!? DOES ANYONE HERE KNOW ABOUT COMMON COURTESY?!?"
Mechanics
And ascended!
0 PP: Cantrip: The area around the Gate Mountain and the Garden of the Gods becomes slightly weirder for the duration of the attempting to get out of the gate. Geometries get slightly more alien, things look a bit odder, distances are slightly distorted, people are slightly more unstable. Nothing big, things just get odd enough to be noticable for people who look.
And ascended!
0 PP: Cantrip: The area around the Gate Mountain and the Garden of the Gods becomes slightly weirder for the duration of the attempting to get out of the gate. Geometries get slightly more alien, things look a bit odder, distances are slightly distorted, people are slightly more unstable. Nothing big, things just get odd enough to be noticable for people who look.
As another god appeared, Arvad offered a slight wave as he departed. "Hello. Love to stay and talk, but I have things to do and places to be. "
And with that, he was gone into the shadows.
The Silent One was not pleased... as he looked into the abyss to the world he had created, he was glad that it was dark. He was glad that it was gloomy. He was glad that it seemed to give off a sense of misery and hopelessness. But he was NOT glad that it was empty! He had expected his own aura and the power of purpose to lead all souls here, but... it was yet empty, and he had poured such power into the plane he did not think he could craft anything to draw in souls for some time! Besides which, he had nothing to tempt them but coercion... hm, perhaps that was the answer, but it would take time and planning to do and he wished souls NOW!
Ugh... he could sense it... another godling treading in his domain, trying to ruin his perfect world. No no, only one had caused him trouble, he could not hold them all by the standards of the Hag Of Fire. Perhaps he could use this one...
"I can sense you... come here," his voice echoed through the dark. Considering he was standing at what was probably the second largest inter-planar object in the current universe, 'here' shouldn't be too hard to find..
Arriving, he awkwardly offered a small bow as he began circling the Silent One. "Greetings. You are he who presides over death within this realm, are you not?"
The Gate... pulsed, tendrils of strange energies reaching out into the Garden and flailing, pulling at the very fabric of reality. As he watched, awestruck, a wave of force poured from the gate, rippling the grasses and turning them a myriad of colors. With the wave came a voice, demanding release.
Tsiyoti marched to the Gate and struck at it with an axe of ice that materialized in one hand. The pressure pushing at the Gate made it more tangible, and the axe mysteriously found purchase, opening up a gash through which energy began to pour out, knocking Tsiyoti backwards...
"Hmm......This is what was on the other side. Interesting. Never has the Void appeared like this, which would make this not the Void. In fact, it seems the opposite of the Void."
He turned to the one who had opened the gate for him to leave. Or, he seemed too. On a featureless orb, it is hard to tell what it is focused on.
"Thank you. That barrier was rather tough, and hard to penetrate. Why is it so? And why have you carved this out of the Void? What was your intention? And how did you do it?"
The sphere seemed to suddenly remember the massive outpouring of energy. It moved a touch closer to the gate, and focused power. This power made a patch over the gate, a patch which quickly merged with the gate.
"Better. We don't want to get this nice little island sucked back in, do we?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The massive out pouring of energy rushed out of the Garden, out of Gate Mountain. It rushed outward, expanding across the surface of the world. Eventually, the energy stopped outpouring when the Gate was fixed. The energy sloshed around some, eventually coming to a relatively even field over the entirety of the planet, and a touch beyond. This energy was passive, not doing anything, but it felt of the Gate, felt of it's energy.
Mechanics
4 PP: Craft: Creating a field of the Gate's energy that pervades over the world. This was my idea for the basic fundemental source of Magic in this world. It's relatively low-level, and doesn't actually DO anything as of yet. Specific areas of it may be changed to have an effect on everything in it, although the strength and duration of such a thing depends greatly on the power of the person enacting it (mortal to god). Populations may be taught how to channel it (how to use magic). This field overlaps with the main world, it does not exist as it's own place, but as an extra layer on the main plane.
4 PP: Craft: Creating a field of the Gate's energy that pervades over the world. This was my idea for the basic fundemental source of Magic in this world. It's relatively low-level, and doesn't actually DO anything as of yet. Specific areas of it may be changed to have an effect on everything in it, although the strength and duration of such a thing depends greatly on the power of the person enacting it (mortal to god). Populations may be taught how to channel it (how to use magic). This field overlaps with the main world, it does not exist as it's own place, but as an extra layer on the main plane.
"I think you said it yourself. The Gate is hard to activate because we don't want it sucking reality back through itself. I rather like this state of existence."
Cold Coral eyes examined the orb of energy.
"As for why this reality exists... that I cannot say. It was already here when I was born into it, and I have maintained it as that seems right. I would say you would have to ask Ebel, the first one, the answer to that question, however, Ebel is dead, so you might be waiting for a long time. Now, if you don't mind, I have a question of my own. Who, or What if that is more appropriate, are you?"
The Silent One frowned at someone speaking to him, turning around to regard the new god. My my... this god at least had a better sense of style than the others. Though it was still rather bland.
"I suppose you could say so," the Silent One replied simply. "I have not done all that much presiding, though. I have an afterlife without souls and a land without light or life. That's about all I can claim, unfortunately. And who would you be, young godling?"
A Tarnish floats by, not sensing anything amiss until he hears two feral screams behind him. Two twisted creatures charge toward it, flailing their black claws around wildly. The Tarnish tries to escape, but one of the hideous creatures catches up, and tackles the stoney angel to the ground. While the Tarnish is on the ground, the second creature takes advantage of its state, and repeatedly claws at its face, chunks of stone flying everywhere. The angel tried in vain to escape, its attempts becoming more and more feeble, until finally, it stops moving all together.
The two Fallen roar in victory, and rip the wings off of the slain angel. They begin to tear off its lifeless wings, and chew on them, gnashing through the stone as if it were paper. Dark energy surrounds the dead Tarnish, and it rises as a creature just as hideous as the beasts that killed it.
Another Fallen joins their ranks, and they group together to head further up the Gate Mountain where more of the angels reside.
"Are you known by many names, or do you simply refer to yourself by them?" The Silent One asked. He could respect not giving out a name so easily, but at least give him a proper pseudonym...
"I am the Silent One, The One Who Cannot Find The Horizon," The Silent One replied, deciding to pick the name that would make the new godling actually decide on something they'd prefer to be called. "And I hold no power over darkness... I simply enjoy it's presence."
Continuing his endless circling, he offered a small smile. "Indeed, that name may prove to be the truest of them all, as it has sparked within me an idea based upon something you said. You yourself said that you had an afterlife without souls, did you not? Why is this?"
The Silent One wished he'd stop that circling... it was making him dizzy.
"If you must know, then at the moment it is rather like... a home without a family of mortals to live in it," he told the god of travel. "It exists, and it has a purpose, but there is nothing there which will lure a family into it. Perhaps it is not a perfect metaphor, but the point is that the Afterlife currently has no way in which to draw souls to it."
Hm, the god did make a point... as much as he wanted soul domain over the afterlife (no pun intended), any help to get the souls flowing would be foolish to turn aside. He had made the world... it was safe to say whatever this The One Who Could Not Find The Horizon did, he was sure he could do damage control later.
Tiring of the spinning, the Silent One errected a small tower of stone in the path of the thing. At least this way it would have to make bigger circles... or crash into the thing, he didn't mind either. "I do not think you know every god who could have a hand in this, so you're not one to talk if of not knowing anyone better. However... I accept your offer. Having the souls enter my Shadowfell sooner rather than later pleases me, and as you said it seems to fall within your own domain."
Suddenly he came to an abrupt stop, reaching out and grasping a single strand of energy as it flowed away from his robe. Giving it a solid pull, he gathered the energy into a slowly coalescing form before him.
Finished for the moment, he nodded and began circling misty form. "Yes, about a third of the way done. It would be best if you contributed something as well, my silent friend. It will need to know the taste of death, after all."
Actions
0 PP - Cantrip - Create a misty unidentifiable form.
"Do you understand me?" She asked the newcomer. "How did that thing get into your leg, and what, if I may ask, are you?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Elsewhere in the Sea of Daj, the other Nagas had found a shaded valley between two frozen waves. There, they began to dig, the males breaking the stone and clearing away the rubble while the other female spat caustic acid into the cracks in the stone, weakening it to aid in the removal.
"Ih hr'ear und understandh," the creature managed. Curiously, its mouth didn't seem to be forming the sounds of the words it was saying. It was as if it was speaking a different language but something was making its words known for the Naga. It limped closer to the Naga.
"Thr'ing ish blessing, mountain giveh. Ih Jzaquit, und Ih am... hr'ungry."
The thing's prismatic eyes sparkled unsettlingly as it looked at the Naga. Behind it came the sound of shifting pebbles as small band of other Jzaquit began to appear.
"Weh all hr'ungry..."
"Yes, sucking this reality away would be bad......extremely. I? I come from the Void. I thought I was the only thing in it, experimenting on it for fun. Then I ran across into that Gate. I tried to go through it, but couldn't go forward. Tried to go back, was sucked up against it. So I tried to break through to here. Dead? How sad. Why can't you just bring her back?"
Ah, of course it could phase through the earth... though it frustrated the Silent One to no end the thing preffered to spend time encased in solid rock rather than cease it's circling.
He shrugged. "Very well. It's best it got a taste of the plane it will be sending souls to in any case, let alone just that of Death." Mustering some energy, the Silent One shocked the thing with necrotic energy, causing some motes of it to dance within the form.
PP Expenditure
0PP Cantrip - Necrotic motes of power dance in the misty form.
"Can't for find with cold and such."
"Hellooooo! Speak with wind-lady firstborn void lurker instead? Chatness!"
The Light Fantastic wandered into visibility, ignoring the Tarnished that Dajjal seemed to still be talking with.
"Hungry?"
The Naga looked concerned and began backing towards the Tarnished. At least they hadn't declared they wanted her for a snack.
"I think you'll find I don't taste very good." She said, baring her fangs, which glistened with dangerous looking venom.
~The Garden~
The God's mouth twisted.
"We tried. We took its spirit and attempted to breathe it back to life and instead Dajjal threw the failed result into the chaos to be destroyed. We took its body and poured energy into it only to see it eaten by another God. To be honest with you, I don't really have more ideas than that. Not much left of Ebel.
The Tarnish simultaneously beheld the Naga and the new creatures, their expressions, for obvious reasons, unreadable.
"We are being metal," said the more articulate Tarnish, the male, "We are not for eating. We are for talking. Are you for talking?"
Another Tarnish, one of the... creative speakers, decided to speak up as well.
"We are being much non-eat being," she said softly, "We are thinking being with you being not what and rather hungry, here is not being a good being-place for you and your other hungry."
Acting almost as the defacto translator, the male Tarnish added, "We are not being eaten. We are not being able to help the hungry.
The Slopes of Eternity
"Oh! What a surprise!" cried Dajjal, "If I'd had known there was to be guests, I would have smartened myself up."
She certainly looked self-conscious as she gestured with a hand for the Light to sit. Then, seeming to realize that the Light couldn't possibly 'sit' and, in fact, she herself shouldn't really theoretically be sitting, she let the cloud-tendril that had acted as arm fall and swing pendulum-like for a few moments.
"So! What brings you to these parts?" she asked, with the air of someone trying to recover a conversation she has already completely dropped, "I haven't seen your, ah, face around here before. What are you called?"
The Iron Plains of Duer
The Tarnish were at war. The attack came from the cold, hard plains to the south in the form of savaging monsters that tore stone with teeth of bone. The Tarnish decided to call the grey, featureless plains from whence these horrors came the Plains of Duer, which they supposed must mean something dreadful in at least some tongue or another. Yes, they were concerned with the threat. Well, as concerned as statues could be.
Generally, this warfare meant that Tarnish would stand in groupings of three of four rather than simply alone or in pairs. Any other precaution against their ruthless invaders seemed mostly unthought of. Of course, that wasn't to say what they were doing wasn't effective. The Tarnish may not be quick. Or skilled in battle. Or particularly good at a whole lot besides standing in the rain. But one thing they were good at was grabbing. Grabbing and crushing. If a Tarnish got its arms around a Fallen, there was no chance. It would crush its squealing victim in seconds, leaving a mangled mass of bones and loose skin. And grabbing became considerably more straight-forward when there was three or four of you.
And so for now, grabbing and crushing was enough to keep the threat, if not controlled, then at the very least not overwhelming.
Isura idly looked at the newcomer. She shrugged. "Nothing, really." The goddess continued to simply 'recline' in the air, and was drifting ever-so-slowly closer towards one of the nearby mountains.
~~Slopes of Eternity~~
"I am." The Light Fantastic once more formed the vermilion rectangle for six seconds. "Always been with a watcher me-like. Saw you dead for one of the long times. And then came false-mother. Gathered you up. Dusted you off and made it with the newlike. Called it 'daughter' ha! I am the knowing of the falcity of that and such is."
The light paused. "Looking for the aid to bring to end kingdom of false the mother. Aid me, you will?"
ooc
mind I'm not asking for PP, just rp essence. its to make things go boom and bang, and oooo! ah! then it should stabilize. and shows over. kinda like a short fireworks show!
mind I'm not asking for PP, just rp essence. its to make things go boom and bang, and oooo! ah! then it should stabilize. and shows over. kinda like a short fireworks show!
C'thruul reshaped their inklike mass back into the winged manta ray like creature and started to swim around the entire continent, following the edge of the Wall of Ice.
After examining the entire circle, C'thruul began another tour, but this time much quicker, waiving its mighty wings and tails to pick up speed. Relentlessly he repeated the process, grabbing the entire Ocean in its grip and creating massive currents that encircled the entire continent.
Besides sending massive waves to the entire coastline, these currents started to cut out the ocean floor and deepening it out, creating an enormous gorge that formed a smaller parallel circle with the Wall of Ice.
Within this lightless world, C'thruul's previosly created ecosystem started to flourish. The ink droplets reshaped into a myriad of fishlike shapes, each adapted to hunt in the dark.
PP
4pp: Mold Land: Abyssal Gorge
The Jazquit tilted it's head for a moment, pondering the Naga and the Tarnish. It glanced back at it's kin-group and its mane-like-spines whipped around as it did so. Then it returned its glance to the others.
"Eatingh? Hr'a-hr'a-hr'a." The creatures body shook heartilly. "Noth eating... hr'ungry. Weh all hr'ungry, yes?" It made a sweeping motion towards all those gathered there.
It turned and chittered a few sounds at its compatriots. They bowed-ish and arranged some of the larger stones into a circle about thirty feet from the gathering. Into this they placed brownish-green patties of dried substance. One withdrew two unusual grey stones and hit them together several times. A spark was produced and soon the mound was smoldering. Great slabs of flesh were produced from those in the back of the group. These were passed forward and lain on the stones of the fire circle which were already heating up nicely.
"Seeh? Hr'ungry, so eating. Noth eating movingsh, but noth-movings. Youh hr'ungry, yes? Quakingsh, fireings, wavingsh, all make foodings noth easy find? Youh eatings noth-movings?"
"And why did you only try to do these things to the spirit and the body separately? Why did you not try to combine the two? I suppose it's too late now, but that would seem the most straightforward path to take."
It froze for a moment, and then fluttered more agitatedly then before.
"Dajjal? Who is this? Chaos? What? Another god? There is more than this place? How is that possible...the energy required to create even this amount of real out of the void is tremedous....And there is even more? May I see?"
Watching the power dancing about the indistinct creature, he came to a stop and lifted his hands, power arcing out and smashing into the motes of energy provided by the Silent One, linking them and joining them together. Finally, the entire process came to an end, and the area brightened, not because of light, but rather that the creation sucked in the darkness and consumed it.
Finished, he resumed his circling. "Yes, yes, I do believe these should serve your purpose quite well." he commented, looking at the swirling shadows standing before them.
Actions
2 PP - Spawn - Spawn the Collectors, beings made of shadow. Specifics to come.
1 PP - Forge - Saving for next week
1 PP - Spawn - saving for next week
1 PP - Forge - Saving for next week
1 PP - Spawn - saving for next week
Several seconds passed, and Amun was left blinking, dimly wondering if Isura was coming back.
Any such concerns vanished, however, when the goddess reappeared in the distance, dragging the coil of magma she had taken from The Silent One's volcano behind her.
"I had intended to use this for something, but I've long since forgotten what." Isura coiled the magma into a roiling ball of molten fury. "So you can have this. Here -- embed it in the heart of your moon."
~~Slopes of Eternity~~
And reemerged into a ferocious battle between Tarnish and Fallen. She watched for a time, feeling the beginnings of an idea beginning to form in her being. "I do believe I'm beginning to see a place for this 'life'"
PP Expenditure
-2 part of a shape action
As the Jazquits pulled out meat and began to prepare it, the Naga felt her spine loosen as the tension flowed out from it.
"Yes, I will be... eatings. Not movings..."
Turning to the Tarnished, she tilted her head.
"Do you... eat?"
~Garden of the Gods~
"Well, yes. Likely better, but we didn't know what the spirit was when we came upon it, and by the time we found the Body, the spirit was gone... Oh, forgive me."
Tsiyoti turned towards the Barrier and whispered "I, a children of the elements, would pass".
The barrier spit apart, revealing the rest of creation.
"There is much to see, my friend. Come, I will attempt to find you some of my siblings. Do you have a name?"
The Tarnish gazed dispassionately at the Jzakai for a moment before turning to the Naga. Then, simply for once, she spoke.
"No."
The Slopes of Eternity
Dajjal gazed, wide-eyed, at the Light for a few seconds, speechless. Then she spoke, her voice one of dumbfounded amazement.
"Um... what?"
It couldn't have been plainer that Dajjal had not followed the Light at all in its speech.
"Uh, hang on, what was that?" asked Dajjal, slowly dissolving into confusion, "You're, um, a Light, I can see that. But you're looking for, um, what again? The kingdom of...? No, the end of the... something..."
She gazed helplessly at the Light.
"Could you repeat that? And slowly."
"They all grow following the words set forth from the core of the being, endless command after command that runs merely below the flow of their thought superior as I set with the soul. So do I look into myself and find the same?"
Jzaquiht's chasm of an eye suddenly flares brightly with a spectrum of color, then goes dark as the energies flood backwards into his body.
Yes..the same..
His consciousness fell downwards through the strange flesh throbbing and spasming with dark fluid. Below the bellows of lungs whistling breath through the perforated spine. Down into the divine cells which made these organs, each with a small spark of light.
It was in this light that he found his answer.
Each of these sparks were the exact same. Each, in fact, the very same spark. An entire plane of existence bound into the shape of infinity, the cross-roads at its mid-point collapsing into 1-dimensional space from which radiated the light which flooded his cells.
Jzaquiht fell into this divine instruction of form. His consciousness pushing with some effort beyond the planar boundary. Within, he found it was nearly devoid of anything. The "skies" were infinitely distant walls of flesh rolling as if made of smoke and just as dark. Small planetoids of what seemed to be earth drifted aimlessly through the void. Some of these "stones" veined with a strange luminescent green mineral while others were the same slate gray throughout.
Jzaquiht turned towards the 1-dimensional core, looking into the singularity with curiosity....
To build...
His consciousness fell back, leaving this place, back up through the flesh and back into the material plane, finding that much time had passed.
PP
4pp: create plane: Jzin.
The Following Gods have 6 PP: Tsiyoti
The Following Gods have 5 PP: Dajjal, Velt, Od'Vidr, Isura, Jzaquiht, TSO, C'thull, Arvad, Martsen
The Following Gods have 4 PP: Tsoriena, Amun, Tireas
Also, Od'Vidr. If you do not post this week, you will become inactive!
spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0Aq2b-Hn...
The Jazakai that had been doing the speaking froze then the Tarnish rejected the offer. "Noth hr'ungry?"
It chittered to its kin-group and preparations stopped. "All eat whr'en Many meeth Many. Only foodh does not eath food. You said you are noth for eating?"
The speaker seemed to waver out of existence, disappearing from the sight of the Tarnish. There was a furious sratching of rocks and within moments it reappeared behind them, containing them between the Naga and the other Jazakai. "Did youh lie?
The Tarnish seemed supremely unconcerned with the creature's theatrics. One merely rotated to accommodate the one's new position. It was not she that spoke, however, but another, seeming not to be hindered by a lack of visual contact. In fact, as each Tarnish beheld a different subject, one got an overwhelming feeling that they did this only to act upon some perceived social norms rather than out of any real desire to look at anyone themselves.
"We are not eating, you are eating," said the Tarnish, this time one of the females spoke and she spoke remarkably bluntly, as though this conversation was actively teaching her to parse her sentences in a clearer fashion, "Being without stomach or throat or mouth or tongue. Being stone. Just a rock, are we. Just stone. Does stone eat?"
Another Tarnish spoke up.
"Perhaps," she said, "We drink the rain, we eat the wind. Being stone faces makes moutains our guides. We eat as the moutains do. From the earth. From the sky. Not flesh and meat for they are not of us."
"That much......but how....the amount of energy required.....even to begin....."
It moved toward the opening in the barrier, and then turned it's attention back toward the other god.
"Will I be able to get back to here? This Gate is not only the center of this world, but also holds secrets of how this real was able to be pulled out of the Void. I want to find that out, and I will need access to the Gate to be able to. How would I get back?"
The Naga moved at this point, sliding up to one of the Tarnish to speak quietly in its 'ear'.
"perhaps," she said softly, "You could at least pretend to eat something? These things seem to have some very well defined ideas of what makes a friend, and what makes... prey."
With a spit, she dissolved some of the stone at her tail and scooped it up into her hands.
"Could you try to 'eat' this?'
Smiling to the Jzaakai, she moved back towards the stone where the meat was being prepared.
"Can I help?"
~GodMountain!~
"Well, there are a good dozen of us working at all of this, although a lot of this was made before I awoke, so... hmm... again, we'd have to ask Ebel."
A flash of suspicion came across Tsiyoti's face as she processed the God's next words.
"Perhaps you might be able to come back here. I would have to discuss it with my siblings, as they and I have sealed this Gate from others. Given that you emerged from the gate just as we once emerged from the Gate... I hope it will go smoothly."
Looking down, he saw Isura, watching a battle. With two strides, he reached his sister.
"What is this, Isura? What... are they doing?"
"So...Beautiful.........amazing...."
It stopped, and saw the battle below, and stared interestedly.
"What are those? What are they doing? Why are they doing it? Where did they come from?"
However, they were also a failure. The Fallen themselves had no purpose, no sense of self-improvement, and mindlessly attempted what their primative drives told them to. There was no unity behind them either; they were simply a bunch of crazed killers working near eachother.
It reminded Tireas about how much he wanted to fight; to kill! Everything in his sight was hated, but there were none to accept his wrath. How much he wanted to drive his spear through the body of...
No. I must show that I am better. Fury's flame grows bright, but has nothing to ignite. Channel the Rage.
The warmonger glared at the battlefield once more, and took off for the Sea of Daj. There he would find more races to test, to convince him of their worth, or never be seen on these lands again. This time, however, he would need help.
"Facilitator. I am in need of your services."
"Does stone eat?" one of the tarnish said.
"Yesh," the Jazakai responded simply.
...
There was an exchange of odd looks before the creature decided to explain its statement. "Stone grows. You see new mountains, mountains of fire, yesh? Thr'ose rise from groundh. To grow, all thr'ings need food. Ih do not knowh what stone eat, but clearly stone doesh eat."
The creature fixed its gaze on the naga and nodded.
As soon as the magma ball hit the moon several things began to happen: the fire seeping into the core of the moon caused a gravitiational pull. As soon as the pull started gaining strength all of the features of the moon started to move to the center, before anyone could figure out what was going on the moon seemed to disappear. Then a brilliant flash of light to defy that of even the brightness of the sun, before going completely dark. The moon, dark on this night, sets itself to darken every so often as the light is hidden from it. The moon now appearing whole and complete and solid, is now set to hold life.
Just as everything seemed to settle down again, something else seemed to happen: the moon turned a vibrant green! Well most of it any ways. Even from way down here, one can see the green of the plant life, and blueness of the waterways of the moon.
PP expenditures
1PP: mold lesser: takes the magma and turns it into the core of the moon making the moon whole. (no more floaty bits! I'll leave that to the landmass below.)
1PP: Nourish: The moon gains basic plant life (grasses, brush, ferns, etc...)
2PP: Mold moderate: Waterways open up from the Lunar Sea, leading to various parts of the moon to allow for the plants to flourish.
0PP: cantrip: atmosphere is made from the winds and the plant life. Weather cycles Slowly begin to form.
0PP: The moon will now have monthly lunar phases as seen from the world side.(the world will seem to phase just like the moon from their perspective.)
0/4PP left.
If this seems like too much or not enough, please let me know and I'll try to adjust accordingly. If I get no response within 2 days, I'm going to assume that everything is ok, and will update the wiki then.
1PP: mold lesser: takes the magma and turns it into the core of the moon making the moon whole. (no more floaty bits! I'll leave that to the landmass below.)
1PP: Nourish: The moon gains basic plant life (grasses, brush, ferns, etc...)
2PP: Mold moderate: Waterways open up from the Lunar Sea, leading to various parts of the moon to allow for the plants to flourish.
0PP: cantrip: atmosphere is made from the winds and the plant life. Weather cycles Slowly begin to form.
0PP: The moon will now have monthly lunar phases as seen from the world side.(the world will seem to phase just like the moon from their perspective.)
0/4PP left.
If this seems like too much or not enough, please let me know and I'll try to adjust accordingly. If I get no response within 2 days, I'm going to assume that everything is ok, and will update the wiki then.
~Above the Battle~
"Look yourself." She gestured to the hills below where a group of Fallen was getting ready to attack a statuary of three Tarnish. The Fallen were coating themselves with slippery black mud.
"When Tireas' Fallen first beset the Tarnish, they were unstoppable. Now the Tarnish perch in their statuaries, to better protect themselves against the roving bands of Fallen. With several Tarnish nearby, it's easier for them to grapple and then crush the Fallen."
With a howl, the mud-covered Fallen launched themselves at the Tarnish en masse. The Tarnish stoically met their charge, reaching out to grab and crush their former brethren... but the inorganic claws of the Tarnish slipped off the mud -- they had no grip to squish their foes, who had no problems rending the Tarnish from their skins. The band of Fallen, now three larger, darted off again, seeking more victims.
"And now the Fallen have found a way to negate the advantage offered by the statuary. This 'warfare' is a most interesting mechanism to spread chaos and change. This interests me greatly. I haven't been particularly enamored of these 'mortals' so far, but I see now they can bring so much change!"
"But what is the point? So mortals are killing mortals. I fail to see how this benefits creation in any way at all. It is hardly change if it happens at such tiny scales as to be completely insignificant, now is it? They cannot raise the earth, stir the heavens, burn the ground or create a stream. They can die, but of what use is that to any of us? No. Let me know when they do something worthwhile. Until then, I will amuse myself with other activities. Who is this Tireas?'
As Tsiyoti had spoken, he had pointed at the earth, and before the three gods was a squat stone pillar, burned black from a blast of fire and from which a spring burbled forth a small stream that flowed down the side of the mountain.
PP
1 PP: Form the Tumblewater stream, which flows SW off of the mountain and skirts the Sea of Daj on its way to the ocean
5 PP remains.
1 PP: Form the Tumblewater stream, which flows SW off of the mountain and skirts the Sea of Daj on its way to the ocean
5 PP remains.
As the shadows dissolved into nothing, he resumed circling the Silent One alone. "There you go. A being with the essence of shadow, able to go anywhere to collect the spirits of the departed. It's sole goal is to bring them back here." As he turned to leave, Arvad looked over his shoulder. "If they give you any trouble, let me know."
And with that he was gone, seeking out someone else who was tugging his strings. He sought out Tireas.
"Such a tiny scale? Look again, Wavelein..." The water god's gaze was drawn to follow the arc of his fellow's claw. All across the mountain, Tarnished were falling prey to the Fallen. One particularly large statuary of thrity-odd Tarnished was proving especially tricky to eradicate; the broken bodies of Fallen surrounded them already, carcasses stacked several deep.
From across the surrounding hills and mountains, more and more Fallen began to stream in, gathering in a fiercesome horde of ravenous teeth and claws. When their numbers grew so thick that one couldn't see the stones between them, they finally surged forward, utterly annihilating the Tarnished Statuary in a single massive assault. Their goal overcome, the Fallen Horde broke apart
"Such events as these are happening constantly all over the mountain. Can you imagine what would happen if they should ever learn of the other mortals of the wastes? Those snake-people, naga, I think, and the life of Jzaquhit or whatever his name was."
Isura paused, basking in the carnage below her. "This 'warfare' is desirous to me, because it forces change upon those it visits. Adapt... or die."
Realizing that she had also been asked a question -- "Oh. Tireas? He's something I invoked. He doesn't consider himself a god, I'm not quite sure. I facilitated his arrival here, at least, but I did not create him."
"So... you desire uniformity? If these Fallen attack the rest of the mortals and win... then what? Will they strike out at one another? I still don't see why I shouldn't sweep them all into the depths of the deep and be done with it. C'thull would likely enjoy some new playthings."
"Facilitator. There are more mortals that need correcting, and I desire to give them a challenge. I cannot create life; only destroy it, and I am loathe to attempt another transformation. Is this a task within your capabilities?"
Satisfied that the long silence as a sign of understanding, the Jazakai limbed back to the fire, waved for them to join in eating, and squated down to the food. The meat was barely warm by the time the creature plucked it from the rocks and began to consume it.
"Weh are on a hr'oly quest, to findh ancient one," the Jazakai said. It touched the stone in its leg before continuing, "mountainh blessing tell us go westh, so we goh. You also questh?"
Gathering his power, he brought forth the beginning of a new creature, shaping and molding it into more and more dangerous forms as he refined away at the idea. Man shaped in appearance, strong, lean, heavilg muscled with long arms, it's strange reddish skin drawn tight to it's body and devoid of hair. Great hooked glaws hung at the ends of each arm dripping with poison and spikes ran down the length of it's spine. His work moved onto the face of terror next, forming the face of a grotesque beast, blunt and scarred, with a horrendous grin full of crooked teeth below it's peircing silver eyes.
The spark of life took hold into the creature, and it made it's first movements, each one speaking of death to befall those who might cross it's path. It unleashed it's call, a sharp cry of hideous laughter. Still, it waited, waited for the warmonger to add his own touch to it.
"Hm, seems like a pretty nasty beast already. I almost tremble in fear at what you might add to it, Tireas."
Actions
1 PP - Spawn Beast - Stored from last week
"They now know my fury. They shall feed off of the pain of their enemies and pursue them as far as necesary. These beasts... are Azots!"
PP
1PP (with shadow's) - Spawn Beast. The azots have powerful claws and jaws, the former with a deadly poison. The azots are amphibious, but generally live on land. Each azot becomes more ravenous and bloodthirsty as they deal damage to their opponents. Azots have no maximum age, and are always growing, though they slow down considerably after adulthood.
Isura unclenched one of her claws, revealing a smouldering mass of sheer potentiality. "No, I will not be so heavy-handed as Tireas. One flavor of mortals against another? Stale. Conservative. Boring."
A fiery core took shape in the heart of Isura's chaos. "But mortal against it's fellows? There is no racial advantage, no 'weak points' for only one side to exploit. The strongest, quickest, and cleverest will rise to the top, and they will only remain as long as continue to be swift, strong, or smart."
"So you would advocate that only the mortals who are the best of their kind be at the top. That only the paragons of the race will survive, and make the race as a whole stronger?"
OOC
I had given you fair warning Angel. I'm sorry for having to do this without reconciliation, but I ain't gettin' any younger 
The ball of congealed light seemed to frown. Not in the physical sense, but Dajjal was struck by an aura of 'frowning'. Somehow, she could taste the other entity's expressions, as weird as that was.
"Not know, you do? Never told, or never questioned, hm? No good which way either."
One of The Light Fantastic's tendrils gentled tapped the wind goddess in the stomach-area.
"You were first. Not false-mother Ebel." It spoke, with surprising clarity.
"Oh, was !?" she asked, in very slight mock surprise, "I was birthed into the void, into nothing? Oh no, I don't know about that."
She chuckled indulgently.
"Oh dear, one musn't run away with such ideas," she said, quellingly, "You can imagine how they might inflame the brain with false boasts and empty pride."
She fell into studious silence for a moment.
"The idea is certainly charming, I cannot lie and say that it does not intrigue me," she continued, ponderously, "'Twould certainly be a thing to stoke the ego."
But she shook her head ever so slightly as though dispelling an angry insect buzzing about her brain.
"But no, what use is feeding your arrogance with lies?" she asked, "No, lies are the food of choice of those too fat on their own pride to confront their own true nature."
"I am Dajjal, and I am flawed. To deny that is to deny my own nature. And denial is the way of naught but the dead."
"Scattered, broken, lack of lifeness, sewn back to gether by false-mother. Healer, she, not mother. The Velt as well -- spilled into hundreds of little bits, gathered up, brought back from edge of the brink. Healed. Fixed. If flawed, not from youself -- from false-mother Ebel's ill-wanton whims. Tales of perjury and slander wide long."
The Light paused, turning a rosy pink. "And the wishes of the I are to set fixing the records to linear."
"You observed but you... didn't see?" she asked, confused, "I'm sorry, but what? That seems rather paradoxical if you ask me. How can you have observed if you didn't even see? Why should I trust a word you say? You've obviously not given me any information you can reliably back up so..."
But her voice trailed away. Something was slowly dawning on her, but she daren't let on.
"How do you know these things?" she asked carefully, "Where do you get your information?"
The Light paused.
"Seek to seal away the slanders, yes? Better for the false-healer-mother to fade perpetuity, yes? Proof? What for proof is there, yes? My words, these things I am saying. Yes? They are just for the saying, and could be but anyone. But I have watched, these observed things, hm? No matter not if when the you has the doubts -- can't change of the inherant truthiness of mine."
The Light paused again, picking its next words as lucidly and clearly as it could. "I come here for your power. Grant to me some and the I shall end this saga of slanderous heresy. Asked the same of Water and Cold, will ask Fire and Earth in the ever-after of regardless help you me if."
"Power?" she asked, seizing upon the one aspect of the speech she could comprehend, "You need power? But for what? I can't very well just begin handing it about, that would be rather irresponsible of me."
She pondered the thing for a moment. I seemed benign enough, and certainly amusing. But it's words stank too much of Isura's wild babble for her to really like it. Still, it was an amusing way to pass the time, this verbal back and forth, and Dajjal was not so keen to end it.
"I'm still not sure I can trust everything you say, but suppose I humour you, accept what you say as true, at least in the hypothetical, then what? What does it mean? And what exactly are you trying to do?" probed Dajjal, "I understand this matter of 'ending this saga of slanderous heresy.' But so what? What's wrong with slanderous heresy? It by far the best kind of heresy, and makes for quite delicious conversation. No one goes anywhere interesting speaking of things that are nice, and even less so with things that are true."
"Ebel-healer false-mother has stolen legacy -- you, velt, maybe others. Don't know. Probably. Saw healer end its life -- wants for the remembering, always. But on stolen children? No. No. Too good, too good. Would much for the rathering of erasing only thing truly that was the Ebel-mother. Would invoke annulment, banish the Ebel from Ebel, leaving only false-mother healer."
~~Elsewhere on the Slopes of Eternity~~
Isura turned to the new voice. "Precisely." Part of her form raised in a crude approximation of a raised eyebrow. "I'm not sure I know you. What are you, then -- digging up more things from the Deeps, are you, Tsiyoti?"
The Eye looked over this other being.
"You wish them stronger? I can help with that. This energy leftover the Gate being open for me to get out should have interesting effects on the creatures, shouldn't it?"
Then she pursed her godly lips in a decidedly un-divine expression of impatience.
"But I still miss your point. I don't understand what I'm supposed to be doing. Forgetting Ebel existed? Why? It doesn't help me much. And if she has left us forever, then, well, might as well remember if only for the avoidance of her failures. But I don't see how forgetting could benefit me any. No, not forgetting, deluding myself, actually. Do I look like one for delusions?"
Almost subconsciously, she wrapped a windy arm around the nearby Tarnish and gazed pointedly at the Light.
The Light gradually trailed off. "You are quite the hardingness to speak to, yes? Anullment the Ebel -- no one will ever with that awful, awful name to say. Cannot I do this alonesome. I ask your help for this, anull the Ebel, keep your memories, Pfah! I do not want them. Only the name."
There is so much to do-- so much to see... She took some of her own essence to form a glowing ball of golden radiance that soon evolved into a flat book. The cover was a beautiful brown leather and the edges were golden-laced. The pages were a dried canvas with golden runes resembling words that she could easily interpret. It was a powerful book that would soon influence the world in a way that she would agree with. It was a step in the right direction, and she needed to go a step further if she is to prove herself.
She turned the page and the golden letterings stopped midway. "Perfect." She had created the book flawlessly. "These pages shall, one day, be filled with the guidance and observations of the world-- to track the progress of civility and righteousness. It is the guide to the existence and evolution to the mortal's way of understanding."
PP Expenditures
3pp Craft: The Book of Vigil-- A leather-bound book sparked from the heart of Erainull and her aspirations and goals to provide change to the mortal's way of life. Currently, all it can do is provide cantrips to future ideas, but once it has observed enough of the world, it will giude the mortal world on a track to build civilizations and a way of life-- not just instinct alone. It will help build laws, shape colonies, construct specialties, and guide personalities to aid in the development of multiple societies based on environmental, personal, and social interests.
0/4 pp
0/4 pp
"That was uncalled for, Sister. You must be kind to your younger brother." he said, knowing that the familial words he used would irk the God of Flames. "And please stop reminding me about C'thull. I still must decide what I wish to do with him and his presence in my Waters. Surely you would not prefer it if someone came along and laid claim to your magma which you seem so very fond of."
It was at this moment that the new God appeared before them. Irritated at yet another interruption, especially after hearing exactly what the God wished, Tsiyoti snapped: "And who are you? Did we ask you to join us? I think not. If you wish more room for your precious mortals." Tsiyoti's gaze took in all of them. "Then go and find some more room. I'm sure you all have the Strength to do it. I am not interested. Goodbye to all of you. I am going to look for people who are less addled by these mayfly beings."[/color]
And with that, Tsiyoti strode off, soon spotting two Gods he did not recognize. Muttering to himself, he began to walk over the Sea of Daj when a sharp object stabbed into his left foot. Stopping, he reached down and plucked out the large claw that had managed to scrape its way into his foot, and used it to scrape away the dead beast he had just stepped on. Two drops of coral-sequestered ichor fell from his foot, one landing in the waters and one landing on the earth. He watched as the ichor that fell into the water caused it to suddenly roil with dozens, then hundreds of sinuous shapes, each capped with a fearsome dragons-head. The mass of sea serpents eventually untangled themselves and dissapeared into the oceans.
Soon he came within earshot of the two gods.
OOC
Hi Shadow and Mecha!
She closed the book and kept it under her left arm-- partially concealed underneath her robe. "Seems as though I am up against a pretty stiff enigma here." She gagged, somewhat. "And I hadn't even thought of formalities. You may call me Erainull."
Lurking far beneath the aves, in the total dark of the Abyssal Gorge, C'thruul waited. The games of the young gods didn't concern them. They tried to piece bach their fragmented mind. All those lost memories....
Then it was interupted as it noticed a mighty Sea Serpent daring its way into the black abyss.
It somehow looked familiar to them...
"I am hard to speak to?" exclaimed Dajjal with shocked besmusement, "You are certainly an interesting one."
But she shook her head and really focused on trying to parse the other one's garbled sentences. It was work, but in the goddess' mind the words soon marshalled themselved into something resembling order.
"So you wish to have the name of Ebel?" she asked, finally, "That is certainly a reasonable request. Never liked the name, personally. Far too many 'E' names about already."
But then she eyed the other one warily.
"But what should I get in return for a name?" she asked quietly, "Names are power, only a fool would deny it. Sometimes lack of a name is more powerful than the presence of one."
Elsewhere on the Slopes of Eternity
The Tarnish were hunted nearly to extinction. The assault by the Fallen had decimated their numbers. Only fractured bands of Tarnish roamed the Slopes now, many with grievous injuries. Their stone nature allowed them to cling to life even after losing limbs, wings, pieces of torso, to the Fallen. Now these shattered remnants littered the field of battle, marking in stead of blood the places where great battle was waged.
Some of the Tarnish continued to fight. These were the luckiest of the living. They built great halls to guard themselves and within began to work to find a way of defence against their fearsome foes. Almost as if by chance, they stumbled upon the secret force that pervaded the land. The Magic of the Gate was strongest so close to its epicentre, and these Tarnish took to it like moths to a flame. Harnessing their newfound power they drove back the encroaching Fallen. But then they stopped. Rather than hunt down and exterminate those who had done the same to them, these Tarnish remained safe within their cloistered halls, content with plumbing the depths of power magicks.
Some of the Tarnish fled. Across the Iron Field they went, searching for salvation in some distant land. These were almost completely destroyed. The Fallen came upon them at night. They had no chance. The few who remained fled further south, and by the light of the next dawn, prayed to the gods above for protection. Perhaps it was pity, perhaps it was cruelty, or for simple amusement, but the gods answered the call. Blessed with shining bodies of sparkling gemstone, these Tarnish set out with renewed vigor. But when the Fallen set upon them that night, as they knew they would, they were ready. Through claw and blunt-force-trauma, they fought back the Fallen. And upon the morn they set out again, seeking salvation by the southern seas.
Some of the Tarnish were driven below ground, into the tunnels that catacombed the mountain. Here they met a worser fate than death, worse even than becoming the Fallen that hunted them. Locked away from the light, the rain, the wind that wore them down yet sustained them, they were driven insane by mad longing to be above, and by hopeless fear of their hunters. Here they degraded. They became mindless predators, hunters of Fallen and other Tarnish alike. Anyone who dared venture into the tunnels beneath the Moutain would meet them, and suffer their terrible ire.
But the war was not over. The Fallen had not given up. And a new sound was echoing across the plains: war drums. Something was coming, and neither Fallen nor Tarnish knew whether it was friend or foe.
The Meeting
"Being confused," said the Tarnish facing the Naga, "We are questing?"
"What is questing?" asked another Tarnish, "Is it like being? Or eating?"
"I am being hungry," announced the third, apparently this talk of eating having awoken in her some strange urge to eat.
"No, you are being not hungry. You are not being able to eat," said the first Tarnish quellingly, "So, questing? What is questing? We are wanting to being learned."
PP
1 PP - Mold (Minor) - Tunnels catacomb the Mountain of Eternity.
1 PP - Command - Some Tarnish build up halls where they hide from the Fallen and study the powerful magicks that pervade the Mountain.
1 PP - Command - Some Tarnish flee south to find salvation there.
1 PP - Command - Some Tarnish are driven beneath the Mountain to live in the tunnels there.
0 PP - Cantrip - The Tarnish that flee south pray for bodies of gemstones and receive.
1 PP - Shape - Saved for next week.
1 PP - Command - Some Tarnish build up halls where they hide from the Fallen and study the powerful magicks that pervade the Mountain.
1 PP - Command - Some Tarnish flee south to find salvation there.
1 PP - Command - Some Tarnish are driven beneath the Mountain to live in the tunnels there.
0 PP - Cantrip - The Tarnish that flee south pray for bodies of gemstones and receive.
1 PP - Shape - Saved for next week.
"Mountain blessingh," the Jazakai said, reaching down and tapping the rock in its leg, "tell us to findh flesh of mighty beingh, this flesh produced mighty beingh. We come fromh east, far side of sacred Mountainh. Mountain blessingh promise other blessingsh for those who hold mightyh being's flesh."
Still hungry, the Jazakai took another bit of flesh from the fire and gnawed on it. The Naga could make out that it was part of the head of a titan. Indeed, given the color of alll the meat, it seemed likely that it all came from the same being.
"You have blessingh? Or know of mightyh beings?" the creature asked.
-----------------
A Tarnish, overgrown with mold and slick with insects, crept through a tunnel. Any surface creature would long since have been driven mad by the claustrophobic confines, but then the stony angel's twisted more than the caverns and holes beneath the earth. A pop sounded in the dark, the kind of fumble a large rat might have made. The angel froze, fearful of the Fallen, howling a mile over its head.
It ought have looked closer by.
A root punched into the back of the statue's head, splintering rock and freezing the angel's expression in one of abject fear. This one tuber, now slimy and thin, thrust throughout the rest of the creatures body, creating a crude system of circulation. A mat of the roots broke through its skin, covering every surface with flexible, white fibers. The Tarnish, its mind totally lost to the infestation, started to fall, stone sinews snapping, before a sudden surge of fibers arrested the fall. Now half bent, the thing took a shuddering step, looking for all the world like some sort of strange topiary beast.
Another step followed, and another. Soon, it shambled off into the earth, apparently aimless. Had any light struck the Shambler's disfigured face, two roots would have burst through the eyes, and snuffed it out.
PP
2PP- Create Beast: Shamblers
"What sort of cruel joke is this?" growled Isura, quickly growing angrier and angrier. "I came here to be alone, and still more and more of your ilk come! Enough!" Isura vanished in a puff of flame, taking her far from the three interlopers.
Back to her Volcano. Where she could think in peace.
She turned back to the energy she had shown off to Tsiyoti. Determined to finish, this time, Isura idly began to shape the essence, like a sculptor might clay. She directed her efforts in an entirely new way -- the creature resembled nothing that had come before it, not Naga, nor Tarnish, nor... whatever those blsated things Life had made were called.
Isura decided that the Titans were the closest approximation, though these were smaller, quicker, and smarter than those great elemental behemoths. They stood, on average, a mere 6' tall, with coppery hairless skin, two arms, two legs, and a head. The internal metabolism produced gaseous waste, which was nigh constantly expulsed from their heads -- it looked as if their heads were eternally ablaze, though there was no heat to speak of.
Isura called them the Embrin, and carved out a grand fortress within the volcano for them to reside in.
PP Expenditure
-2 PP Shape (+2 from last week) -- create the Embrin, a race of Genasi-like humanoids.
-1 PP Mold -- A great Fortress City, Hearth, is carved out from within the Silent One's Volcano.
(2)
"Interesting? I am not drawn by curiosity, but by my duties. I am Tireas, Fury's Flame and the Warbringer. I would challenge you to battle, but it does not seem to be a popular offer. Either we shall share a common goal, draw eachother's ire, or be insignificant to eachother. Unless it is the latter, I am sure you will find me... 'interesting.'"
Tireas flew down to the earth, and scooped up the body of a dead naga. He returned to Tsiyoti and tossed the limp body to him. "Tell me: what is the purpose of mortals? Think how you answer; I wish to know if you are to be an enemy."
With the arrival of the Sea Serpent, C'thruul was reminded of the non divine that existed in the world aswell.
...This one doesn't seem aware of gods...
...No worship...
...Several different kind populate the surface world...
...None are too aware of the others...
...Some have potential...
While musing to themselves, they lost track of the Sea Serpent. At the border of the inklike mass, two smaller shapes were beginning to form.
PP
pp expenditure: 5PP for the creation of 2 avatars or 2 exarchs. Haven't desided yet what exactly, but still need some PP from next turn to complete them.
The Naga dropped the hunk of meat she had been gnawing on, staring in horror at the head the Jazaki had dragged out.
"No! This is abomination!" She shouted, slithering backwards towards the exit back towards The Valley. "It is wrong to eat things with faces. You must stop."
~Above the Sea of Daj~
Tsiyoti caught the body with one hand, staring at it and trying to find any meaning whatsoever in it.
"Is there a purpose? They are small and weak, are they not? I am not vain to crave their worship, nor bored enough to care about their frenetic lives. They are the domain of Jzaquiht. He would know, far better than I, what their intended 'purpose' is."
Tsiyoti dropped the body, and it splashed open on the rocks far below. He regarded the God, Tireas before him.
"But why duty? I must admit, I find it less inane to focus on these beings if one has been tasked to do so. But that would require one to do the tasking. Who is your master, Tireas?"
~The Valley of the Naga~
The Naga continued to dig into the earth, but now something was beginning to take shape...
PP
1 PP: Store for a Create action
1 PP: Store for a Create action
Tireas moves closer to Tsiyoti, his face resembling a grin for the first time. He shook his weapons eagerly, and spoke in an even louder voice.
"They have no meaning, so yet... why do they exist? Their very presence is an abomination to nature, and that is why I stepped in. They must earn their place! My purpose is to give them purpose! UNTILL THEY MAY CHALLENGE THE GODS!"
The Warbringer turned his back to Tsiyoti, and hurled his spear into the Sea of Daj. It reached the very bottom, and impaled the earth, anchoring it.
"You ask who my master is, yet I have three. These mortals are the third. So long as they exist I must serve them to allow the mortals to transcend their abilities. TO CHALLENGE ME! I wonder... I wonder if you understand this situation, Tsiyoti."
PP
3PP - Forge Artifact - Sventalis, The Impaler. This is part 1 of the 4-part "Arms of Tireas" artifacts. Any mortal who manages to collect all of them will have the strength to challenge Tireas to combat
"Well, thats the most sensible thing I've heard anyone say all day. You wish to make these mortals something worth caring about. I can respect that. I could even help you with that, truth be told."
After a brief pause, he continued.
"You say you have three masters, but you have only revealed one. Who are the others? I imagine one is Isura... she mentioned one such as you."
It is said that when she made them, Isura instilled the Embrin with a fundamental sense of honor and a lust for battle. To lead a loyal company of soldiers was one of the highest aspirations in life -- but to serve another Embrin was nigh unthinkable. And so, not long after they were first wrought, Embrin scouts set out from Hearth, professional soldiers all, looking for troops to lead.
~~The Naga Settlement~~
Things were going relatively peacefully -- the natural predators were less bothersome than usual for this time of year, the farming and fishing was plentiful... all in all, it was a good time for all. Until the day the Embrin came. A full swordguard -- 33 in total, led by a particularly fierce commander with cobalt-colored 'hair' and skin. Calling himself Valerius, the Embrin strode into the village alone, sheathed in armor, with a jagged sword at his side. The swordguard fanned out in a semi-circle behind him.
His apperance was greeted by unsure stares from the naga. "Who is your leader!" he demanded.
PP Expenditures
-1 PP The first of the Embrin campaigns begins -- individual Embrin set out, form a warband from local forces, and seek to conquer as much land as possible. Most of the fighting occurs in Titan territory. One, however, has found the Naga.
Plucking irritably at a thread on his sleeve, he scowled slightly. "I really must see to that." Turning back to the two gods, he shrugged. "Sorry, a minor distraction, nothing more."
"Space roils in patterns travelling the pathways of life in the same way the crawling masses of past children, and so similar beings shall populate for the furthering of the empathy."
Strings of light erupted from the chasm of the hideous god's face rolling through the air in spiraling patterns spinning into themselves recursively infinitely. The air shuddered, and reality groaned like a vast metal monolith twisting in the last tremors before collapse.
Squares of what looked like brushed steel veined with copper shook themselves loose out of thin air. They were completely 2-dimensional, having two flat sides, 3 inches by 3 inches, with an edge impossibly thin and able to cut through all matter. These were the Nihilite. They vibrated with a harmonic metal keening sound to speak amongst each other while vibrating their bodies to crawl between atoms in either the earth or air, seeming to dig or fly. They feed by sliding their edges through matter and splitting the atoms, absorbing the energy released absolutely. They continue this behavior until enough energy has been collected to bend space across one of their flat surfaces and shunt out a new Nihilite. Information dictating their form, habit, and behavior is written into the surface of their bodies with the strange other-worldly copper-like metal, the instructions carried out as a current of atomic energy courses across the surface in alternating patterns.
Following that, strands of light flowing through the air began to break apart. They became tubes of gray flexible cartilage-like substance half an inch long. Within these tubes arced a constant chaos of crimson light, bouncing across the walls of the tube, leaving behind each point of contact a briefly existing angry red glowing mark. Along the outside edges of the tube were long thin white hairs 3 cm in length that migrated across the body. Space was pulled into the shape of a vortex tightly bound around each of these hairs, alternating in direction of rotation across the body to pull the tube through the air at extremely high speeds. These were the Uulitharid. They lived with the same information system as the Nihilite, with strange metallic "copper" in strands between the layers of their grayish flesh. They live by whisking the neutrons off of atoms, leaving behind unstable collections of protons and neutrons which decay and fly apart. They live in swarm-like congregations. When breeding season comes along, these beings dock in giant chains coiling around in the air at high speeds, creating a whistling sound. They share information during this breeding formation via the crimson red light within their bodies, bouncing up and down the tubes. Once a Uulitharid has received information for 2-5 hours, it breaks away and explodes in a flash of red light that settles into a glowing red mist that eventually coalesces into 4-9 new Uulitharid.
The next to fall from the light was a mist of black, sparking intermittently in large fractal images with a coruscating green light. These beings were composed of the smallest specs of matter, each occupying only one point in space. Their behavior and form was dictated by a green current of atomic energy rolling across the cloud, changing its pattern and the forces it exerted on its surroundings depending on what type of matter it came in contact with. If the current came in contact with matter scarce in the cloud it reacted violently, flinging particles at the matter until it was small enough for incorporation. They reproduced asexually whenever the cloud became so big that the current was stretched thin so that two currents were formed via a disconnection within the energy's pattern. These two patterns of energy inevitably divided the cloud into two. These where the Shuulithyi.
Preying upon all of these organisms were the dreaded Oinyuu. Spires of a crystalline black material, entirely and seamlessly smooth, with stars of nervous blue light swimming beneath their surface 10 meters tall, 1 meter by 1 meter. Their behavior and form was dictated by an electrical current flowing through their bodies. This same strong electrical field is what allows them to move by levitating through the air. When hunting, they disassemble into minute grains of black glass which hover at the edge of a 20 meter radius perimeter from the point of disassembly. In this state the Oinyuu is barely conscious with a much weakened electrical field dispersed out in that area, registering as weak static electricity to anything moving through it. When the Oinyuu does detect something within its static field it rapidly reassembles with whatever it's caught stuck inside the spire body. There it is bombarded with a fierce field of electrons stripping the being down to its component parts and sapping its natural electrical field if it has one, waste is shunted out of the spire body. For reproduction, four Oinyuu will press close together and pass an electrical current through each other. They then separate, each calving in half to form new Oinyuu.
Further creatures fell from the light. Small rhomboid prisms of clear crystal, no more than a grain of sand but each weighing a pound. The Gyiinaa. These beings were parasitic to the Nihilite and the Shuulithyi. To the nihilite they were as rust, building up on the flat surfaces, sapping their energy and dividing into new crystalline grains. To the Shuulithyi they were similar, riding along the current of energy, growing in number and sapping the power of the current till the cloud dispersed. These were colonial beings, the Gyiinaa. They always stayed within contact of eachother, flowing an electrical current through themselves to form a sort of hive-mind that grew stronger as their numbers grew. They absorbed atomic energy directly across their crystalline surfaces. Reproduction was simple, dividing as the nihilite did.
A new ecosystem was born.
Jzaquiht eyes bled light, and forms came spilling out unbidden...
PP
1 pp: Ecosystem: The torn lands
2pp: Oinyuu
2pp: Oinyuu
Jzaquiht's vision became skewed and unfocused, strange realities unfolding before his lost eye, pouring into his mind in a torrent.
"The rigors of creation pluck the awareness of space, time, and reality from thought as new potential flows infinitely into the divine perspective. The beholder must change to the new view, without the permission of its bearer regardless."
The light of the eye twisted, changing, coalescing into a solid mass of jagged crystalline material. Swimming beneath its depths was a swirling vista of incomprehensible swirling colors and lights mimicking the elemental chaos of the void in its rampant madness, though even more confusing in its sense of complexity.
The eye was forming anew into something different...
pp
2pp: towards a forge action.
Our first gods have reached the 6 Week mark, and gained an additional PP!
Alert: Starting next week we will begin awarding the 'world-building' bonus. You have been warned!
7 PP: Dajjal, Isura.
6 PP: Tsiyoti, Amun
5 PP: Velt, Od'Vidr (NOW INACTIVE), Jzaquiht, TSO,C'thull,Tireas,Arvad,Erainull,Sephus
4 PP:Tsoriena(One week till you're inactive, wizdude!),Martsen,
spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0Aq2b-Hn...
The Jazakai looked down at the meat that the Naga had dropped. It then looked to each of its companions in turn and waited for them to nod. When they had all done so, the creature rose to its feet and pronounced, "The peaceh of fire and food hash been broken."
All of the other Jazakai rose in turn.
"I name youh peace-breakers. Peace-breakersh do not share inh food," it looked down at the bit of titan skull it had been gnawing on, "peace-breakers areh food."
With that, the Jazakai attacked.
Roots erupted from the first Tarnish to be infested, huge, thick roots, pulverizing the already abused stone. Expanding outwards, they quickly filled up the passage. Then, they began to pulsate, thrusting together and re-organizing themselves into new forms, like a bush at the behest of some demented gardener. The original mass split into several smaller balls, which then produced hands, feet, heads and bodies. The diminuitive humanoid statues rippled, then, as one, gasped in their first breaths of air. Roots flesh sheathed the roots, and small capillarries grew from the plants to the flesh. A dirty, yellow-ish hair covered their forms and primitive snouts with snaggled teeth appeared on their faces. In place of eyes, buds pushed through the skin, soon blooming into bright purple flowers. Sephus looked upon his Kebens, aggressive, tribal little beasts, melding flora and fauna together.
His work done, Sephus returned to the surface, determined to find the creator of these delightful firey Embrins he'd noticed.
-----------------
The Kebens, formed in the deepest tunnels beneath the Hill of Eternity, rapidly began expanding. Young males would gather informal warbands, typically driven by overpopulation and the general filth that any area that housed them long aquired, struck out upwards. At first, they encountered only isolated Tarnish or Shamblers, both of which usually succumbed to their rock throwing tactics, neither of them being particularly quick.
With time, the Keben tribes came to dominate the warren beneath the Hill of Eternity. Though inter-tribe conflicts were uncommon, owing the the abundant space, isolated killings within tribes did occur. Typically they resulted from disputes over food, what passed for Keben females, sleeping arrangements, shiny rocks, rocks, dirty rocks, dirt or other serious Keben disputes.
PP
4PP- Shape Race- Kebens
1PP- Kebens expand widely, creating the Warren beneath the Hill of Eternity.
As the Jazakai leapt towards the Naga, she slid sideways and her tail flashed out, stabbing her attacker in the torso as he landed in the spot she had been. The Jazakai grunted as the poison began to work through his body, and the naga spun to face the other Jazakaii, spitting poison on the ground before them. The ground bubbled and cracked and the Jazakaii skittered backwards from that spot.
~Above the Sea of Daj~
"Traveller is more of a title than a name." Tsiyoti muttered under his breath, before raising his voice to actually address the other God.
"Very well. What are you doing here? What is your opinion of these... Mortals?"
~The Valley~
The fact that someone had managed to make their way partly into the underground caverns the Naga had been hollowing out without being noticed was... unacceptable. "With me. Now!" Itropi snapped at two other naga men, who quickly grabbed spears and followed him. Soon they came to where the intruder was waiting.
"I am Itropi. Speak. What are you, and how did you get into the caverns without us spotting you?"
The surprise over the bubbling poison soon wore off and the Jazakai fell on the Naga, heedless of danger to themselves. After all, these were peace-breakers. The great beings of the world would certainly protect the righteous against such things. Blood of both sizzled on the stone along with spittle of the Naga.
With movements quick like dancing, the Tarnish were into the fray. With whip-fast reflexes that belied their metallic bodies, they descended upon the sparring Naga and Jazakai alike, wrapping both in their quicksilver embraces. They pulled them apart, and when they spoke, there was venom in every word.
"You being are not peacefully and talking, being stopped," said the male Tarnish, whose copper arms held the Naga.
"We are being happyness to stopping for you," said the low voice of one female, whose vast wings, along with the other female, held back the Jazakai the three of them had not managed to hold.
"Stop everything for you," said the other menacingly around her captive.
"That would be just fine. I certainly didn't start any of this." She said, hands touching her arms where the Tarnish had grabbed her and wincing. "The fact that I didn't want to eat sentient flesh... that is no excuse for attacking us.
The Jzakai only struggled for a moment before they realized that it was most unlikely that they'd worm their way free of the Tarnish unharmed. However, unlike the stonemen, their digestion was hardly limited. When soft flesh was hard to find, they feasted on the stone and iron plants of their home ecosystem. It was mildly discomforting to regurgitate such matter, in the form of the purple pearls that their bodies turned it into, but hardly something to hinder them.
Rows upon rows of teeth sunk into the arms and shoulders and hands of their captors and mouths came a way with great gouts of stone. That weakend the things enough for their arms to be broken off. The creature that had been the spokething for the Jzakai dug its claws into a Tarnish's head and twisted, snapping it off and tossing it aside. "We offerh most sacred foodh. Only given ath first meeting, first friendshiph. Only friends andh enemies in worldh. If not friendh..."
It let its word trail off. Either the Naga could deduce why it should die, or it was either mad or dumb, rendering futher explanation useless.
She watched as the book wrote the transcriptions into golden ink and the beginnings of her idea starting to unfold before her. These beings looked somewhat like her-- however were not even close to her level of authority or divinity. They were lesser to her eyes, but they gave her a sense of possibility. "It is their moral duty that the Rathians take part in moving this world closer to its apex. With this written in, I will give them a fresh start to the world-- help them build and create a new society along with the other mortals that thrive." With these words, she gave her divine breath to these Rathians that the book had interpreted this as inscriptions, sort of like an instruction manual for their behavior and natural concepts.
[Karvesh -- The Rathian Settlement]
Given birth by the mere natural process of the Promethia that scoured the world, these bird-like humanoids took form in majestic beauty and exemplified the precarious work of evolution. They were true wonders, and they were spiritually inclined-- so inclined that they are devoted to the single deity that had sparked their existence, even though they had no previous knowledge. They had much to do, but the world had so many opportunities. So, they prepared themselves for what would lie ahead.
A small group had managed to leave the main settlement to explore the vastness of this world. They had no idea what they were about to run into...
[Tarnish/ Jzakai/ Naga Meeting]
It was a long trek across much of the ecosystems and the sea of daj when the pack of Rathians came spotted a settlement up ahead. It appeared to them that they were not alone, and they were surprised by such assumption-- unless they had only walked in circles back to their own community. They decided to see for sure.
PP Expenditures
0pp Cantrip: The book transcribes the Rathians, which she soon creates.
4pp Shape: Rathians -- Winged avian humanoids that are the pinnacle of natural evolution. They are curious creatures, and they take their devotion to certain religions and cultural views seriously. They resemble Erainull physically, but they are easily identifieable by the colors of their feathers, which range from a jet black to a gaudy brown, and a mix of many colors as well.
1pp Command: The Rathians develop the Karvesh Community, which resided at the base of the Slopes of Eternity-- solely dedicating themselves to the worship of Erainull, whom is known as the Provider. A small group of Rathains also break off to explore the world at large-- in search of more plentiful lands.
0/5 remaining
4pp Shape: Rathians -- Winged avian humanoids that are the pinnacle of natural evolution. They are curious creatures, and they take their devotion to certain religions and cultural views seriously. They resemble Erainull physically, but they are easily identifieable by the colors of their feathers, which range from a jet black to a gaudy brown, and a mix of many colors as well.
1pp Command: The Rathians develop the Karvesh Community, which resided at the base of the Slopes of Eternity-- solely dedicating themselves to the worship of Erainull, whom is known as the Provider. A small group of Rathains also break off to explore the world at large-- in search of more plentiful lands.
0/5 remaining
~Karvesh Community
An otherwise peaceful day was interrupted when a large sword appeared from the sky, landing in the middle of the Rathians' largest city. Many of the avian mortals looked curiosly at the new weapon, yet none had enough courage to touch the gleaming blade. Some thought it was a gift from Erainull, while others thought it was a trap. The issue eventually was on everyone's minds, and the Council of High Priests eventually came to a decision on how they would deal with the new weapon.
((Which is up to Xeadin!))
PP
3PP - Forge Artifact - Kazzuk, the Corrupter. A serrated blade that causes the wielder to become especially power hungry. It is immensely powerful, especially because of the malicious ambition that it gives to whoever manages to obtain it.
PP expenditures
1PP Mold lesser: small lakes and ponds begin forming in various spots around the moon.
1PP Nourish: Trees, large brush, and more plantlife both above and below ground/water.
1PP Nourish: Metals and gems are seeded into the earth of the moon, allowing for mineral growth
1PP Noursh: small creatures dot the land
1/5PP left
1PP Mold lesser: small lakes and ponds begin forming in various spots around the moon.
1PP Nourish: Trees, large brush, and more plantlife both above and below ground/water.
1PP Nourish: Metals and gems are seeded into the earth of the moon, allowing for mineral growth
1PP Noursh: small creatures dot the land
1/5PP left
The Naga and the one remaining Tarnish backed away, her glands producing poison in a constant stream and spitting it at the Jazakai with vigor. One blast caught a Jazakai full in the face, and it screamed as the acid burned away its eyes.
"I do not wish to be enemies, but I will not allow you to kill me. Turn around and leave." She said between spittings.
OOC
I am fairly sure there is more than one Tarnish remaining. A few are probably missing this arms, but given that it is two groups against one, I doubt the Jzakai are really suceeding
OOC
No, there's more tarnish surviving. I had a group of Tarnish and Jzakai cultivate underneath a decaying Iron pipe for shelter
"What of yourself?"
The Naga watched as the Jakazai pulled themselves backwards over the rocky ridge, struggling to keep their eyes on the Naga and Tarnished who had, somehow, pulled off an improbable victory. She raised a hand to her throat, massaging the venom glands which spasmed under her skin, overexerted and completely drained by her desparate tactics.
She was so busy watching the Jakazai go and tending to her swollen, pained neck, that when the other Naga spoke, she nearly molted there and then.
"Arkesh!" she cried out, spinning to face the newcomer as he and three other Naga made their way down the slope behind her. "Why didn't you help me?"
Arkesh frowned. "We just got here in time to see the end of the fight," he said, rolling his shoulders as he gingerly held the stone. "We came to find stragglers from the quake and tell them that we have found a new home. Had we known you needed assistance, we would have started on this end of the Sea. It appears you handled yourself well." The male Naga's eyes looked down at her appreciatively.
She glared back at him. "Keep the trinket, Arkesh. I do not care why they attacked, only that it is over."
After a moment, she broke her eyes from his and turned to the remaining Tarnished.
"Thank you. I am sorry for your friends. This is Arkesh, a Scalespear from my people, and one under my command."
Arkesh turned and nodded curtly to the crumbling statue, spending a long moment looking over its form.
She continued. "Perhaps you could come back to our home with us? You look injured, and we might be able to help."
~Above the Sea of Daj~
Tsiyoti considered Arvad's words, looking back towards the Slopes of Eternity to see as the Tarnished adapted to the Fallen. He was particularly interested in the stone structures they were constructing.
"I would help as well. Behold!"
Tsiyoti drew a finger along his arm, and bubbling ichor welled out from the coral sheathing it. Gathering the congealing mass into his hand, he fashioned it into a ball and hurtled it towards the squat fortifications far in the distance. As it neared its location, the ball of blood broke apart, transforming into dozens of red-skinned creatures with vulture's wings and dextrous feet adapted for weilding weapons. Immediately, the harpies flew over the barricades and began attempting to carry off anything that wasn't nailed down, including individual Tarnished, three or four of them grasping at the larger statues and straining to pull them into the air. More than a few Tarnished mananged to fight free in midair, only to break into a thousand pieces upon landing on the ground far below. Soon the Tarnished began to adapt, scanning the skies for attackers.
"Hiding in Stone is for the weak. Stone may be strong in the moment, but Water will wash it away to nothing in the end."
~The Valley~
Deep beneath the tunnels where the Embrin and Naga were squaring off for the first time, the excavation below had had a curious turn. Deep beneath the surface of the earth, an obsidian sphere had been found, etched with strange runes that they could not read. A power seemed to pulse deep within the sphere, but despite their best efforts, they could not determine how to access that power.
PP
4 PP: Shape Populace: Harpies live on the Slopes of Eternity. They raid whatever camps they can find for edible food and tools, preferring that to a more... gainful line of employment. It should be noted that while I am calling them Harpies, they are closer in appearance to Aarakocra from DS... namely they are red-skinned Avian-humanoids, not humans with wings and bird feet.
3 PP (1 from last week): Create Artifact: The Rock of Laments. Mysterious stone found underneath the Sea of Daj. roughtly ten feet in diameter and covered in unknown runes. Will eventually start spitting out prophesies.
0 PP left!
4 PP: Shape Populace: Harpies live on the Slopes of Eternity. They raid whatever camps they can find for edible food and tools, preferring that to a more... gainful line of employment. It should be noted that while I am calling them Harpies, they are closer in appearance to Aarakocra from DS... namely they are red-skinned Avian-humanoids, not humans with wings and bird feet.
3 PP (1 from last week): Create Artifact: The Rock of Laments. Mysterious stone found underneath the Sea of Daj. roughtly ten feet in diameter and covered in unknown runes. Will eventually start spitting out prophesies.
0 PP left!
~Naga Settlement~
"I am Valerius. My swordguard and I seek to better ourselves against the Titan armies of Adelais, and remove the self-made Baron from his fiefdom." The commander unsheathed his sword, holding it before him in a ready position.
"We are Embrin; I am a general with a cadre of loyal lieutenants -- but our disgrace is that we are not an army. We seek strong underlings to spearhead our assault." Valerius slashed his sword through the air, an open challenge.
"Either you will join us and prove your worth to our cause, or you shall die."
PP Expenditure
-1 Command: An Embrin army arrives on the outskirts of Kardesh. If not responded to, it will begin to siege the city.
6
And with that he walked away, tugging softly at the strand as if following it.
-----
He followed that single strand a long way, finally bringing himself to the root of his concern. Staring into the endless sandstorm, watching endless peices of glass and hail shrapnel flying about, his eyes widened slightly. "Hm, no wonder the strand is stuck. With something like this in the way, travel would be next to impossible. I wonder how many have been trapped already?"
Shaking his head, he steadied his resolved and walked into the barrier, pushing and straining against the force of the wind as the barrier pelted him with all manner of hail and glass. Desppite his effort, afer several moments, he was flung back, landing hard on the ground outside.
Groaning softly as he pulled himself back to his feet, he frowned and started in again only to meet the same results. Again, again, and a fifth time he pushed himself inton the wall only to be thrown out once more.
Lying there for several long moments to regain his composure, he smirked and stood up. "Of course, of course. I do wonder if the creator of this annoying peice of work considered that."
Extending one hand towards the storm, he drew forth a fraction of it's power. Holding the ball of destruction carefully in his hands, he compressed it down in to the simple shape of a staff, then gave it solid form. "Yes, this should prove to be a perfect tool for the job."
Setting the new artifact to work, he began to tunnel, digging beneath the barrier. After tunnelling thirty feet, he brought himself to the surface, finally taking his first look at the Garden of the Gods and the Gate of Eternity.
Actions
3 PP - Forge Artifact - Traveler's Staff.
It was the next day, the artifact was in the hands of the proclaimed guardian of the township, a small community with only a handful of shelters-- the largest belonging to the Noble Council. The young avian had the sword mounted in his sheath, and he had picked up a few bodyguards to help him guard the front of the community. He kept tabs upon the horizon for any said threats the priest had issued from the upbringing yesterday.
It was not long before he saw movement on the horizon-- a group of figures marching their way towards the community. The guards held their hands on the their weapon, ready to defend the community from the coming threat. He held his hand up towards them. "Hold. We shall see what they want first."
When the group of Embrin came into clear view, Barhtolameau stood in the center of the guards, standing tall and keeping himself in a stable stance. He calmly addressed to the incoming group. "What brings you all out here to the holy site of the Provider? Do you seek salvation or pride?"
Slapping his staff to the ground again, he tunnelled his way back out, making sure to stabilize and secure the structure this time. Once outside, he grasped a strand, and tugged slightly, sending vibrations tingling along it to call Tireas to his location.
"Facilitator."
The drums of war thundered. Across the Iron Plains, growing steadily louder all the while, they traveled, lust for blood adding vigour to their step, carrying their hearts and lifting their voices to murderous screams. And cackling, high-pitched laughter, echoed in the space between drum-beats, a cruel, insane sound. And as the Tarnish gazed from atop their battlements, they saw the cloud of black spilling across the plains like ink on parchment, and they feared the return of the Fallen. How very wrong they were.
It was daybreak when they struck, savage, and animalistic. They had the bodies of men, but huge, powerful muscles rippled under pelt of matted black fur. Their heads were those of fearsome beasts, wicked yellow eyes and vast mouths filled with razor sharp teeth, already dripping thick ropes of saliva and other, darker liquids. Their faces narrowed to snouts, which were raised, nostrils flared, for the sweet scent of victims for the slaughter. The creatures fells upon the stone walls of the Tarnish buildings, muderous cackles and growls still in their throats, as the Harpies circled upon above like vultures waiting for a body to fall and to pick apart. And the Tarnish watched hopelessly as the walls trembled beneath the onslaught, and they knew they would not last for long, and they wondered, had death found them at last?
PP
3 PP (+1 from last week) - Shape - The Gnolls - These crazed monsters hail from the blood-soaked Savannahs to the east, but their insatiable blood-lust leads them west in search of prey for the slaughter.
1 PP - Nourish Land - The Eastern Savannahs are created.
1 PP - Nourish Land - The Eastern Savannahs are created.
He reached out, and felt the Gate, in a field that covered this world. This was curious, very curious indeed. Maybe he shouldn't have waited quite so long to close it.....but, this appeared to be stable, and so it would be safe enough to play with. He focused on it, and swirled some portions of it. He swirled, and then let it continue on it's own, seeing what happened.
The swirl in the magic stabilized, moved some more, and then vanished. He let off an aura of disappointment. That wasn't quite what he had expected. But then, a smaller swirl appeared in another location, and another sized one in yet another position. They murmured, creating strange, random effects in the area they encompassed. One disppeared, and a couple others showed up somewhere else. What happened in them was uncertain. Sometimes fire fell from the sky, sometimes everything in the area was naturally polished a brilliant sheen, others teleported items around in their area.
The god looked at this change, and was happy. Something to test the waters of this world, see what its limits were. And it was good.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the Garden of the Gods, underneath its shell, the energies of the Gate swirled more rapidly in places, forming temporary whirlpools.
Mechanics
3 PP: Forge: Create Wild Magic Storms. These storms are of random intervals and sizes. There could be one a yard across that lasts for barely a moment, and another the size of a city that stays for generations. Whatever is inside the storm is subject to random effects. These are usually benign, but because they are random, could be anything. When something (or somebody) is taught to use magic, it becomes unreliable and dangerously out-of-control if used in the storm. As an artifact rules-wise, these are tied to the Gate, which is the actual artifact.
Bonus Piece: If anyone cares to spend enough time studying this to find this out (in-game), the swirls inside the gate correspon to all current Wild Magic Storms.
1 PP left.
3 PP: Forge: Create Wild Magic Storms. These storms are of random intervals and sizes. There could be one a yard across that lasts for barely a moment, and another the size of a city that stays for generations. Whatever is inside the storm is subject to random effects. These are usually benign, but because they are random, could be anything. When something (or somebody) is taught to use magic, it becomes unreliable and dangerously out-of-control if used in the storm. As an artifact rules-wise, these are tied to the Gate, which is the actual artifact.
Bonus Piece: If anyone cares to spend enough time studying this to find this out (in-game), the swirls inside the gate correspon to all current Wild Magic Storms.
1 PP left.
Arkesh wasn't entirely sure he wanted to keep the stone. There was something off about it. The glow had left the thing when the creature had died, and even now it seemed as if the very color of it was fading to... well, he wasn't sure how to define it. It seemed like a dull grey that nonetheless had a luster when it caught the corner of his eye.
west
He shook his head. Surely he had imagined that.
go west
There it was again. No, it must just be stress. He had been worried when Endrina hadn't made it to their new home. Then finding her having just dispatched such a... thing. There was plenty of stress. Still, this made him want all the more to dispose of the stone. But not here, not in front of his Endrina. He slipped it into his pack to deal with at a later date.
...
ooc
Seemed only fair that since you named by character, Toph, I should get to name yours :P If you are curious, the name is a tribute to enhydrina schistosa, one of the world's most venomous snakes
"Stand back."
Soon after the Warbringer says this, his form begins to grow at an alarming rate. It eventually peaks at around ten times his original size, and he holds out his four arms, 2 to the left and 2 to the right, forming a 180 degree angle. Two massive shields formed over each pair, covering both flanks entirely. He lowered his head down toward Arvad and said, "Stay with me."
He slowly walked toward the barrier and braced for impact with the elements. Its force was strong, but none of it was able to shake Tireas' barrier.
"Arvad! I am unable to...!"
A particularly strong gust of wind blasted them both into a different position, although that didn't even matter since Tireas didn't know how where the Gate was located.
"...Gah! Lead... where are GOING? I am blind in this chaos."
Reaching out, he tried several times to grasp the strand and it wavered and shook in the wind. Finally, he managed to gain a hold and pull it tight. "This way, Tireas, this way. We've not too far to go now."
As both gods left him, Tsiyoti leaned down and tapped the earth with him hand.
"Well, Brother? What do you think?"
~Niganati (Naming things is cool!)~
Itropi's eyes narrowed, taking in Valerian and his men. The Naga with him hissed threats at the Embril. They stopped as Itropi began to speak.
"I'm sorry. Did I hear you right? You seek to use us as a distraction against the Earth-Shakers, a venture that is nearly guaranteed to result in our deaths? And in return, you offer us gracious boon of our lives?"
The Naga shook his head and flashed a vicious smile.
"Surely I must have misheard you. No one would be quite that stupid to wander into the burrows of Niganati with such an audacious demand."
From the tunnels around the meeting bands, hissing noises echoed through the darkness, washing over the Emrbili.
"Now," Itropi said in an even voice. "Let us discuss this civily. What can you offer us in return that we do not already own?"
~The Sea of Daj~
Endrina led the Tarnished to a small opening in a rock face several miles from the Valley of Trampled Meals. Soon, they descended into Niganati through secret passages.
"Now, how can we help you?" she asked politely.
As Tireas repeated this to himself, he slowly moved closer to Arvad's directions. With each step, it became more difficult for him to keep his shields separated, and the pressure on his body had reached critical levels. A particularly spiked chunk of ice pierced through his shield, and impaled Tireas between his eyes, causing deep red blood to slowly drip out and cover his face. A fan of flames burst in front of his face, singing his bronze skin to black.
"Arvad... I can't, will, must! Keep me... steady,"
As the two figures pushed through the howling maelstrom, tempest winds lashed at their bodies, icy shards and stinging flames tore away at them, leaving them raw and bloodied.
But then, silence fell over the two. The bite of cold and flame was still there, still horribly present, but the rushing, howling sound of it all died away, and they were visited by the strangest sensation, that somehow, they were being watched.
"What a lovely day for a stroll, don't you think?"
Standing behind them, wholly translucent, yet obnoxiously present, was a woman, her form that of whirling mists, appraising the pair with jewel-bright eyes.
Niganati
The Tarnish simply gazed at the Naga, giving the kind of blank stare only a metal statue can give.
"What is hurting. Help the hurting, please."
"Nothing will stop me... whatever you are." Showers of piercing rocks punctured his body, and he staggered a bit. "I will... pass."
"I daresay you shall," said the goddess, faint amusement sparking in her bright eyes, "I, a child of the Elements, would Enter."
And at once, the Barrier vanished, the whirling, cutting, biting maelstrom died away, and a calm, peaceful, jarring different garden replaced it, complete with gently trickling fountains. And at the centre of it all, was the Gate.
"Much better, now we can talk properly."
How had he not seen before that the very stone in which their new home was build lived. It grew, slowly, minerals carried along by drips of water. Burrowing, building, carving, seeking. Whereas in the sea of Daj Arkesh had felt the presence of a fickle mistress, here the stone radiated steadfastness and life.
Velt
The voice wasn't as surprising now, though he still was not pleased at it. But it had reduced his fears in the Sea, so there was a degree of trust. A small degree, to be sure, but a degree nonetheless.
"What is hurting. Help the hurting, please," one of the Tarnish ... asked? stated? it was hard for Arkesh to know, they spoke so strangely.
These things were stone and metal, he wasn't sure how they could be helped. Did they need smiths or doctors?
Velt
... yes yes, he thought to himself, he had heard the name the first time. But then, again, perhaps it wasn't telling him something but rather urging him to do something...
"Endrina, may I?" he asked his commander.
Hardly waiting for her consent he reached out and touched one of the injured creatures on the arm. A twisted serpent shape glowed on the back of his hand as he spoke words that were unfamiliar to him yet seemed right, "in nomino velto ad terra novam vitam arcesso."
While not overly effective, at least some of the wounds suffered by the creature seemed to heal.
Valerius shrugged. "We are Embrin." he said simply. "The only success we recognize comes with either lands or loyal soldiers serving under us. We don't mean to use you as a distraction -- what sort of commanders do you take us to be? -- but to lead you into honorable combat against Adelais, such that we victors, yourselves potentially included, have ample share of the treasures of his fiefdom."
The soldier took a single step aggressively. "We judge the wealth of a man by the soldiers he leads and the lands he holds. If you do not provide us with the former, certainly you shall provide to us the latter."
"Or the wealth of a woman!" came a female Embrin lieutenant somewhere behind Valerius, neatly killing the dramatic tension.
Valerius rolled his eyes, but did not remove the naga from his sight. "Yes, or the wealth of a woman. That was implicit."
~Kardesh~
The leader of the Embrin Swordguard stepped forward. She was a female specimen, and her poise and grace seemed to belie an exotic beauty (for surely, none had seen such as she before). The woman looked at Bartholameau steadily for a few moments, then turned to the large warband behind her, then back to the avian before her. "I am called Lianna. And the answer is neither -- we come to conquer."
At her words, the titans started forward, charging at the city's walls -- with their great size and strength, it would be mere minutes before they downed the defense.
~Garden of the Gods~
The Light Fantastic continued to float after Dajjal, heedless that the other entity had grown weary and started to wander away, and heedless to of the titanic struggle that had suddenly ended not distant from itself.
"Misunderstanding the you of me! Not for me the name, oh no. Name for no one. Take it, snuff it, hide it in the place between the place you looks. No false-mother dead-god healer to protest, yes? Take and banish it, for goodness of the worlds. And get for you? Ah, but without name of the false-ebel-god, remembered of the first are you. There was the Dajjal before the anyone of the else. Is the not that much goodness enough?"
What was once an advancing group of armored-clad figures became what seemed like a formidable defense of stone and steel. With the words flying out of the one named Lianna, it certainly caught him by surprise. What cuaght him by even more surprise was the fact that several of these iron-clad soldiers started charging toward the defenses of Karvesh. The first clash of blades was against the gurads holding back the titanic warriors, with little avail, as they started to cave in towards the community itself.
With but a whirl of energy surging through him as he touched the hilt of his blade, the whole world seemed to have come to almost a complete standstill-- as if his mind had completely lost sight of all that had happened around him. It was a gut-renching feeling, but the next moment he pulled out his blade and slashed at the nearest tian-- rending it in half. The next warrior he encountered blocked back with a downward slice-- almost knocked the blade out of his hands. With an advantage, he used his adversary's blade as a platform and stabbed the sword straight down through the feral beast's chest He twisted the sword to the side and let the beast fall to the ground. He pulled it out and slid underneath the legs of an incoming embrin. He got back up, and stabbed through the back of the embrin-- letting the tainted powers of the sword do its worst.
After what seemed like mere moments, he had taken down the first wave with no waste of breath. He turned his head and gave back a menacing glare of malice. "I don't think so."
"You would deny me a challenge?"
But when he stared into her eyes, something clicked in his mind. He knew her. There was an intense source of hatred, as if there was some innate part of him longing for the Wind Goddess' blood (or whatever fluids would come out). Literal fire burned in his eyes, and the shards in his hands burst into brilliant flames. Tireas' voice dropped unsettlingly low, and he took a step closer to her.
"Know that I am Tireas, for I will be present during your final moments. If you wish to speak, then speak knowing that my rage can only be contained for so long."
PP
2 PP transferred to Arvad
While the others were distracted with their own and mortal affairs, they finally found a new oppertunity to aquire some additional power.
Razing out of the water in its giant winged form, C’thruul made its way to the great Wall of Ice surrounding everything. Once arrived, he spawned multiple claws and barbed tentacles, burrowing its way into the hollow network that lay underneath the ice, until he stumbled on the many halls made by Od’Vidr.
There, the oozing mass slithered its way into the grant hall that held slumbering giant. Filling the entire chamber, the inklike mass kept its distance.
Out of the ink crawled another figure. She had fair skin and ravenblack hair. She looked humanoid except that below the waist, she had eight black tentacles instead of legs.
Once the fair ruler of a vast Ocean kingdom, she opposed C’thruul alongside the pantheon. She fell however before he could be imprisoned. Now she was brought back as a twisted reflexion of her former self.
Cecaelia
She moved closer, resting one hand on the giants chest for a moment. Driving her hand through his chest, she ripped out a chunk of his frozen heart. In her other hand, some of the inklike mass stretched out and twised into a crude staff on which she placed the frozen crystal.
With the Heart of Od’Vidr, Cecaelia could take command of the the frost gods powers over ice.
PP
Craft Avatar 4PP (stored last week for this craft action): The black fleshy inklike substance that makes up C'thruuls body is now also present for mortals to see
Beget Cecaelia (Exarch) 3PP (2+1 stored last week for this craft action)
Craft Heart of Od'Vidr (artifact) 3PP
Beget Cecaelia (Exarch) 3PP (2+1 stored last week for this craft action)
Craft Heart of Od'Vidr (artifact) 3PP
"What a delightful creature," said Dajjal, gazing interestedly down at Tireas, "I'd love to stay and chat, but I have something else that draws my attention. Run along now."
And, making little shooing gestures with her hand, Dajjal turned back to the Light the was nearing her.
"Dear me, you are slow. One would think a Light would be faster," remarked Dajjal amusedly, "Well, you're here now."
Turning completely away from Tireas, Dajjal was able to devote her entire attention to the Light.
"You're going to have to slow down your speech, though, I can't understand a word you're saying," she pointed out, sounding annoyed, "Give up the name? Is that it? I suppose I don't..."
And suddenly, vividly as waking, an image flashed across her mind of her, Dajjal, sweeping across the skies, Firstborn, Ruler of All, and for a moment, the intensity of her desire quite over came her. Somehow, the Goddess of Wind found herself breathless with excitement. Her eyes glazed over and the faintest ghost of a smile flickered across her flickering lips.
"Why yes," she whispered, not quite looking at anything in particular, "I believe I can do that."
The Southern Coast
The Gemstone Tarnish had wandered for a very long time. Their trek took them further south than any before dreamed to go, and still they wandered. But eventually, even they became tired, their brows heavy, and they steps leaden, and they hoped for a place to finally put their heads down and rest. And so their weary feet took them to a place by the sea, a place they called Wengu-Ba, or Where the World Narrows in the common tongue. It was so named for the way the strip of land was so narrow that the sea was visible to the West and to the East. What they had actually found was the opening to a small peninsula down at the bottom of the continent, and it was here that the first Tarnish settled down. Others, however, those that still had the song of Dajjal in their heads, strove to go even further south.
And so it was that they found the edge of the world, or at least, of the world as they knew it. At the southern sea, land fell away as massive cliffs dominated the coast. It was here, perched atop the bluffs, wind howling all around them, that the Tarnish finally finished their journey. They called this new land Ula-Dajjal, Glory of the Wind-Mother.
At first the Twin communities of Tarnish were small, barely sustainable. Over time, however, they grew. The Tarnish never weakened, never fell ill or died, and so they were free to build. Their immense strength allowed them to construct massive edifices, not to house great numbers, for their population never grew, but simply for the thrill of it, and to honour their majestic goddess. And they found a great beauty in architecture. Their blessed forms gave them little to want for, so they found a need to create beuaty.
In Wengu-Ba, they broke the land so that sea water flowed through their city, forming canals amidst the great stone buildings they had erected. The building were lower in this city, but balconies and bridges graced the sides of the buildings, and there was a great love for sweeping lines and intricate latticeworks that called to mind the swirling mists of their homelands. Art flourished in the city, and it was representative of the beauty of the world they had travelled through. There was a great love of nature in Wengu-Ba, and often great celebrations would be made to honour it.
The second city, Ula-Dajjal, or often simply Dajjal, was also a place of Art. However, here, the subject was the goddess from whence the city name was drawn. Great murals and frescoes adorned the tall spires that made up the city. It was a Holy City, and so whenever the Tarnish found gemstones in their mining, they carved them, and set them into the walls on the spires, so that each sparkled in iridescent hues. In this City, bridges were common too, but for a slightly altered purpose. The bridges, along with holes carved into the spires themselves, and into the cliff face down below, gave the city another name: the Singing City. The wind that constantly assailed the bluff whistled through the holes and produced the most wonderful music. The Tarnish who lived there saw music as the ultimate expression of their goddess' will, and so sought to produce it in all manner of ways, singing themselves in their odd, crystalline voices, and creating instruments that created the sounds for them. They performed along with the music of the City, and as such, the City of Dajjal, the Jewel of the South, was never silent.
PP
1 PP - Command - The Tarnish found the twin cities of Ula-Dajjal and Wengu-Ba on the sountern peninsula.
2 PP - Nourish - The Tarnish are greatly enriched with music and art and architecture, and create two magnificently beautiful cities.
2 PP - Nourish - The Tarnish are greatly enriched with music and art and architecture, and create two magnificently beautiful cities.
7 PP: Tsiyoti
6 PP: Dajjal, Isura, C' thull, Amun, Tireseas
5 PP: Velt (INACTIVE NEXT WEEK), Jzaquiht, TSO (INACTIVE NEXT WEEK), Arvad, Marsten, Erainull
4 PP: Tsoriena (NOW INACTIVE), Sephus
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spreadsheets0.google.com/ccc?authkey=CKy...
In fact the gate had been spawing forth yet another god, but the essense of the new god had been trickly out in an almost unpercetable ooze for a long, long, time. It was possibly by pure coincidence that when the elemental god dropped the barrier around the gate, the ooze of essense had completed its transition out of the gate.
The essense, having only been finished at that moment, had only an infantile sense of its surroundings, although it had been marginally aware of the barrier for most of its slow ascension. The collapse of the barrier gave the essense a jolt of consciousness. Like a primordial organism, blind but at the same time sensing power in the other gods, it made its way to the barrier, while avoiding the things it only vaguely could surmise as potential threats.
In uncoordinated fashion, its mass moved along the ground across the caldra and then spilling over into the mountain side. Its movement and presence were not detected in the least by the other gods. As it moved outside into the world, its perception of the world increased bit by bit, but outisde the gate those things that the essence touched were also affected by it. When the mass reached some plants that grew on the side of the mountain, they withered and die as if of old age by its mere touch.
At this point, the mass got a sense of repreive. It was at last free of its prison and its creation. Now, it must make sense of itself and of what it was in.
(Self ascending post)
OOC
If anyone wants a mortal nation to exist, look no further ;) That is, for those who know of her existence
As the newcomer approached The Garden, Tireas glared at her, but the fire in his eyes began to subside. He dropped his weapons to the ground, their fire melting the snow, turning the grass around him into a slushy mess.
"Enjoy it while you can; there is no telling what will happen with it after Arvad finished his meddling. Know that I am Tireas the Warbringer, and I challenge you to battle. Not that I am optimistic anyone shall accept."
Which a slouch head, she raised a brow in speculation towards the being in front of her which put down its weapons. "Arvad? Is that who..." she raises a finger towards the other figure in the flowing cloak beside the figure who introduced to her as Tireas. "...he is?"
Quietly putting down her finger, she put up a smile and a slight, docile giggle. "A battle? I would say a 'battle' is way beyond what I can do at the moment, but it seems like you have something to do with the conflict that's been happening down in the mortal realms, eh?
"And do you happen to know what this may be?" She opened up her golden book, which she had tucked under her arm. She skimmed the pages to the part where the illustration of a blade was drawn, and held it up to where the warbringer could see it clearly.
"Yes; your book speaks the truth. I cast that blade away so that a mortal may utilize its powers, and the other way around. I give them power to play with so that they may seek out more; always reaching toward higher goals. It is my duty toward them."
Tireas shifted his gaze from the Tome to Erainul and gives her a look, almost as if daring her to challenge his actions, "Is this a problem?"
With a howl, power arced into the barrier and it froze. For a long moment, anyone watching could see each and every grain of sand blown in the wind, the ridges and corners of each hail stone, and the beginning of each bolt of lightning. Then, with a simple crash, it collapsed like so much broken glass, leaving the ground littered with remnants of elemental power. As quickly as it has vanished, the storm seemed to rise up once more, but it clearly lacked the power it possessed before.
"This is a place for all, not the chosen who know a secret password. All traveled here through this gate and all should be able to return whence they came if they so choose."
Shaking his head, he tugged at a strand for a moment, then walked away.
[sblock=PP Expentiture]3 PP - Alter Artifact - The Elemental Barrier. It no longer prevents passage into or out of the garden, but remains as a purely visual effect, which would disuade most mortals. Instead, it's energy is directed into the mountain itself, creating elementally infused stones as well as extremely valuable gemstones.
"And I am Erainull, the catalyst of civilization and the mortal guide." She tipped her head toward Tireas.
After saying this, Tireas glanced to the side, as if seeing something in his peripheral vison. he face regressed to an angered expression, and a faint spark jumped in his black eyes. "But if you'll excuse me, I have plans elsewhere."
"I, a Child of the Elements, would enter." he intoned.
Nothing. The god blinked in surprise. Perhaps he had misspoken?
"I, a Child of the Elements, Would Enter." he said again, making sure to enunciate each word carefully.
Nothing. The storm howled on before him. He felt a bubbling rage begin to grow within him.
"I. A CHILD OF THE ELEMENTS. WOULD ENTER." he shouted.
The storm raged on, taunting him with its howl, which sucked away his words into the churning destruction.
Someone had tampered with the Barrier! How it was possible, Tsiyoti did not know, but clearly that was the only explanation. Barely thinking, he slammed one of his fists into the barrier, realizing a moment too late that he would be lucky to get that hand back.
And yet, it passed straight through with no resistance. Stumbling, Tsiyoti barely caught himself from falling straight through it. After a moment, he steeled himself and stepped through into the Garden itself.
He had fully been expecting to see Od'Vidr, or perhaps Isura there. The one had hated the idea of the Gate, the other had hated the passcode. Either could have been behind the tampering. Instead, he saw other gods. Tireas, that Bird-humanoid god-thing that had interrupted them before and...
"Dajjal? Dajjak, what is the meaning of this? What has happened to the Barrier?"
Anyone who listened could hear the anger bubbling just underneath the surface.
~Niganati, upper chambers~
Endrina watched as Arkesh laid his hands on the Tarnished and spoke some words she did not understand. Whatever it was, it seemed to have worked, as the Tarnished appeared just as weathered, but less damaged than before, the metal skin of the angel fusing together seamlessly.
"Arkesh," she whispered. "What was that? What did you say?"
~Niganati, entrance tunnel~
Itropi's eyes flickered to the woman who had spoken, and a trace of a smile tweaked one corner of his mouth, gone an instant later as the head Embrin turned back to look at him. Thinking for a moment, he allowed the smile to creep back onto his face, accompanying it with a wry laugh.
"You wish our land? You wish the barren wastes of the Sea of Daj? My friend, you are welcome to them. I wish you and your kin the best of luck surviving in the baking sun."
The grin vanished.
"Your view of the worth of a man is simple and direct, and I respect that. However, we as a people are too young to even consider war against another race at this time. Come back in fifty years, and perhaps we would stand with your shoulder to shoulder. But I fail to see how this is in our interests."
~Niganati, Deep Chambers~
The obsidian orb suddenly lit up, runes burning in a pale blue light. A passing woman stopped and stared at the rock, then slithered closer to it. Some of the lines on the orb went dark, and suddenly she realized she could read the words before her.
Glory to the Red-skinned!
Glory to the Children of Isura!
The Children of Tsiyoti shall Prosper!
The Children of Isura bring this Prosperity!
The Children of Fire and Water shall rule the world!
Glory to the Children of Isura!
Glory to the Red-skinned!
She gasped and went off to find other Naga, who returned and read the same words. A naga was sent to the entrance, although with the depth of caverns of Niganati, it would take some time.
PP
1 PP: Nourish Populace: The Naga officially found Niganati and grow in numbers.
1 PP: Command Populace: The Embrin become the overlords of Niganati (although they won't know this until a few posts from now)
5 PP remaining.
1 PP: Nourish Populace: The Naga officially found Niganati and grow in numbers.
1 PP: Command Populace: The Embrin become the overlords of Niganati (although they won't know this until a few posts from now
)5 PP remaining.
The Warbringer moved closer to Tsiyoti, their faces almost touching. Tireas changed his height to match the god in front of him. The fire in his eyes burned and jumped around his body. He loudly yelled "But if you want to know who really is at blame, it is I. The barrier was nothing but a test of strength. I had nearly passed to the garden when Dajjal brought down the Barrier, seeing its futility. That's all you need to know. What I need to know is," Tireas' visage curled into a grin, "What are you going to do about it?"
"What I am going to do? No, Tireas. We are going to speak of what YOU are going to do. You are going to put it back the way it was. I commend you for besting the barrier's defenses. Truly you have great strength. However, if it is such a test of strength, why destroy it?" The God's black eyes seemed to dance with the light reflected from The Gate.
"I thought your mission was to test others? What remains is no test. It is a mockery. Did you ever stop to consider WHY we locked away the Gate from the rest of creation? So only those worthy could enter. What you have done is made it so any half-brained idiot-" The God's eyes flicked to Erainuill and back to Tireas "-can enter. Surely, Warbringer, that was not your intention."
Though his response sounded final, Tireas remained in place, staring down Tsiyoti, anxiously gripping newly formed weapons in all four arms. His tail thrashed once and then stayed still.
"Child, the energies of this Gate would rip to to pieces if you even tried. Leave and let your elders talk. I have little use for one such as you."
He turned back to Tireas, who had apparently taken the time to grow slightly larger and draw weapons. In seconds, a staff of swiftly rushing water had apepared in his hand, and the God stepped back, holding it before him defensively.
"Idiot. This Gate is dangerous! It could unmake all of reality, destroy all the progress you hope to create if one of the mortals, or one of the Gods were to use it in the wrong way. I refuse to allow my very existence to reside in the hands of gnats! Either help me to fix this, or leave. Those are the options I give you."
Tsiyoti turned his head to look at Dajjal while keeping Tireas in view.
"Sister, you are being unusually quiet. Speak! What is it you are not saying?"
Inscription
Erainull -- the catalyst of civilization and the mortal guide-- eye of the celestial sun
"I can for having of the responsibility that. Told her plans for the false-mother ebel-god, of the vanishmenting of the name. Lost in her own head now. Curious, unexpected. Lost in the fullment of anticipations, maybe-like? Can help too, you, you know. Just for the givings of power, and no more worries-like. Will with the happening now, either which way. Only of the questions: will Water help or stand in the idly?"
"What is this? A Calling Card? Who does that? At least I have a name for him now."
He turned to the Light.
"You. I had wondered where you had gotten off to after our little adventure. I see you make as little sense now as you did back then. You wish me to help... forget the name of Ebel? I fail to see how that is even possible."
Ebel?
False-Mother?
Hypocrites
"Do not!" Tireas slammed his shoulder into the unsuspecting Water God while his voice gains an almost manic tone, "say that name!" His face becomes twisted, the dried blood from his head injury cracking as a result. The Warbringer had lost control.
Waving his hand a shimmering fog appeared in front of him, from which he was able to see and hear what is now going on down in the world below where the action is.
"Oh, well now! This should be interesting! And who is he talking about? I bet he'll have quite the audience if he keeps this up!"
PP
0PP Cantrip: A wall of fog appears in front of Amun to allow him to view and see the area with Tireas, Tsiyoti, and whomever else is right there at the moment.
0PP Cantrip: A wall of fog appears in front of Amun to allow him to view and see the area with Tireas, Tsiyoti, and whomever else is right there at the moment.
Tsiyoti backed away as the Warbringer moved closer, sword lashing out and barely being parried by the staff of water. Steam enveloped them both as the powers in the two weapons attempted to best one another.
The Roaring Wave opened his mouth and a stream of scalding water shot from it, knocking the other god back several paces.
With a sickening crunch, Tsiyoti's shoulder popped back into place, a grunt of pain coming from the God's mouth as the water slowed to a trickle and stopped.
Cautiously, he gripped his staff in both hands and waited for the next attack.
~The Slopes of Eternity~
The Tarnished huddled behind a large rock, knowing that even this brief respite from their persuers would not last long. They could hear the Fallen clamboring down the slope above them, a massive force, easily a hundred in number to their fifteen.
And then, suddenly, water.
With a thundering roar, the water released on the Godmountain tumbled past them, carrying the Fallen who had been their harriers. They, sheltered behind the rock, were safe as the water flowed around it, but when the water finally subsided, they were alone on the slope of the mountain. Breathing a sigh of relief and a prayer to an unknown savior, they began to make their way to one of the fortress-cities.
"HELLO IN THERE! IS THERE ANYONE WHO CAN LET ME IN?"
Hopefully somebody inside would hear it.
Erainull gently floated right through the storm-- as though it were non-existant. She saw, on the other side, a ball of amorphous light-- apparently yelling at the non-barrier. She smiled and said cheerfully to the being. "Silly. You must not have a liking for illusions, do you?" She continued on towards the bottom of the slopes, slightly giggling. She looked up and saw a large mass of bright, colorful light. It was some sort of orbiting selestial body, but couldn't quite figure out what it was exactly. The only thing that she 'could' do was explore at a time like this.
[Amun's Moon]
It felt like the body itself had its own atmosphere-- its own gravity-- separate from the world below. Everything she saw seemed like a mere speck to her eyes, but distance was only an illusions for deities like herself. She saw the dense forests and grass that covered her feet. Water flowed as if the place didn't have a care for the lands below.
The force of the impact was strong enough that a shockwave distrubed the land of the Garden, uplifting chunks of grass and dirt into the air. The Warbringer's assult was careful matched by the Roaring Wave, but the water god was not prepared as Tireas rapidly slammed the shield into him a second time, toppling them both over.
Trying to pin Tsiyoti down with the shield, Tireas lifted one of his guantlets above his head, and furiously slammed it downward to make contact with Tsiyoti's face. As soon as it made contact, he lifted it again, preparing to pound his foe's head into dust.
From behind his body, near where the feet of Tsiyoti had been, a great Orb of blood-flecked water appeared, and in a sudden motion, rushed forward, engulfing Tireas and knocking him around as currents within the orb seemed to strike out at the God, constantly preventing him from finding his balance, much less mount a reasonable defense... although what defense was possible against an orb of water was unclear.
With a sickening wrenching sound, the shield ripped free of Warbringer's arms, leaving long welts that oozed ichor into the water. It flew into the Garden, smashing into one of the fountains before careening into the Gate.
With a mighty crash, the shield exploded, sending arcs of god-metal streaking through the skies to land all across the Slopes of Eternity. Impossibly hard, the metal would come to be known as Adamantium.
Momentarially distracted by the explosion, Tsiyoti stopped attacking Tireas, and the other god took advantage of the lull, driving the water from him and sending it smashing into a rocky outcropping. Water splashed across the Garden, drenching everyone present
As the Roaring Wave rose from the ground, slightly smaller than before, it growled.
"Are you just going to stand there? Or are you going to help me with this, Dajjal?"
PP
1 PP: The Slopes of Eternity are littered with chunks of Adamantium.
1 PP: The Slopes of Eternity are littered with chunks of Adamantium.
"Oh dear brother, surely you can fend off a child such as this," murmured Dajjal softly, "I mean, look at him, so full of roar and flame, he can't hardly be more than a babe, such does he wear his fury as a mantle. Only children fight with fighting word. Glib-tongues are born of age, as aging tongues grow weary of all this frightful shouting. I mean, seriously, it must tax the throat so, all this aimless shouting about such trivial matters. Another mark of youth, to be sure. Care for the careless."
She swooped down and settled about Tsiyoti, draping herself across his watery form.
"But we aged beings do injure ourselves when we forget the damage impassioned protest can abuse," she admitted, "I'll guard thee, Tsiyoti, keep to me."
And she lashed out, batting Tireas with her tendrils of wind, pushing him backwards several paces.
"You shall not pass," giggled Dajjal playfully.
"Fall back! Fall back!" The Embrin and Titan forces rallied into a fighting retreat, eventually passing far enough from the city that Bartholameau had no choice but to stop following, lest the invaders flank him and attack the city in spite of his awesome presence.
The forces milled about for a bit, the Embrin battleminds consulting on strategy or tactics or somesuch. Eventually, Lianna ventured closer, alone, to the city. "Little Bird" called the Embrin Commander. "That axe of yours is quite impressive. Perhaps you'd care to tell us what it is, and how it came to be in your posession?"
~Naginati~
Valerius shrugged. "We do not desire your lands, such as they are. However, the tactical position offered by your lands is too perfect to be squandered. Either you stand with us now, 'shoulder to shoulder', and you will find death and glory fighting against Adelais in the East."
The Embrin's brow furrowed and he gestured with his weapon again. "Or, you can stand aside, and let us repurpose your village as we see fit. It's the same death or glory, but without powerful allies at your side." The Embrin arched a single eyebrow. "I am ready to die this day in glorious battle. Can you say the same? Are you prepared to take that chance?"
~The Garden of the Gods~
"Such ceaseless noise!"
Scarlet flames flared around the bronze god, growing fierce under the wind, limning his body in burning armor.
Isura appeared soon after, a warping vortice of flame fast forming and then resolving into the wraithlike aspect of the goddess.
"What madness is this, Little Wave? I see you've found fault with War. I did not expect you to accept his challenge. But calling for allies? It seems I should balance the scales. Against Windscorn it is only fitting, I suppose."
Isura hovered some distance away from the conflict, confidant her newly fashioned armor was more than a match for Dajjal.
PP Expenditure
-3 PP Forge Artifact: The Phoenix Raiment, a suit of armor composed of magical flames. The armor does not burn the wearer, and, indeed, usually generates no heat. However, the armor responds to emotions, and the stronger it's wearer feels about something, the hotter and fiercer the flames get (though the user is still never burned).
-3 PP Forge Artifact: The Phoenix Raiment, a suit of armor composed of magical flames. The armor does not burn the wearer, and, indeed, usually generates no heat. However, the armor responds to emotions, and the stronger it's wearer feels about something, the hotter and fiercer the flames get (though the user is still never burned).
Erainull, standing upon the grasses on the moon, a gentle breeze passing by her. Emerald forests surround her, the grass an amazing green. Before she could even step though, she found herself standing upon sand where before there was none. The sea lay to her back, and to her front, the emerald forests lay an amazing sight. As she turns, she notices a tall, dark-skinned, humaniod with sharp-pointed ears, and long silvery hair standing in front of what seems to be a wall of fog. He motions her over with out even turning around.
"Come on over here! You don't want to miss the best parts do you? The lords of wind and water seem to be toying with the other one now!"
seeming to contemplate that, he asks "I wonder why? You wouldn't happen to know would you?"
The mere presence of the other surprised her some. IT wasn't until he spoke that she knew what he was talking about. The battle she has recently left from. It turned out to become a more brutal battle as she looked through the fog wall. Several deities prepared to fight each other. Someone had challenged the god of warfare. "I was just there and there wasn't any conflict until I left through the barrier." Her voice cautious and weary, but yet elegant, as her robed draped over her own self-- her feathers swaying in the breeze. "And, I never did catch what they were fighting over, but the water and war ones did seem to have a grudge against one another."
She thought long and hard. "On second thought, I think it was because the watery one was concerned about the barrier not protecting the gate within, and that the warmonger confessed for having it be a challenge to his own self. I can't seem to recall exactly." She held her hand underneath her beak-- the book partially sliding out from in between her arms. "I'm sorry for intruding on your lands, but I just wanted to find sanctuary from conflict before I got back to my duty. I am Erainull, the mortal guide, and caster of civilizations. I must say that this is a nice haven you have here, uh..."
[Karvesh]
Bartholameau chased the group of intruders a good distance away and then ran back to cover the main entrance in case they came back again. The group commander approached and inquired about his weapon. He smirked. "It isn't an axe, but more like a sword. It was a gift from the Provider to sway off any intruders against the noble faith of the Council. I must ask you-- why does our land fancy you so? Is it because of us, or of a deeper, more meaningful reason? You say you wanted to conquer, but why?" He set the blade to his side-- still keeping a watchful eye on the others. "Certainly, you must know better than to just barge right into other's territory without good reason."
~Garden of the Gods
When Isura joined the combat, the wild flame dancing around Tireas' body burned with a fiery radiance, turning into a flaming halo. The reckless abandon with which he had been fighting had vanished, and he stood strong, wearing his Phoenix Raiment with pride. He spoke, not in his usual voice, but in a high-pitched echo, reaching across the entire Garden.
"Then let us speak as one as Flame and Fury unite!"
The Warbringer's guantlet burned a blinding white-hot, and he slammed his fist into the ground. Pillars of flame erupted around him, radiating outward, toward all of the asembled gods. The grass become ashes, and all nearby plant life expired in the magnitude of the blast. The terrain became rough and uneven, turning a large portion of the Garden into a smoldering wasteland.
PP
3 PP - Forge Artifact - Vantric, The Razorbane. A powerful shield that is the third in the Arms of Tireas. It has offensive as well as defensive capabilities, and is able to destroy most weapons that come in contact with it. When within 20 meters of another Arm of Tireas, both will become inert, unless wielded by the same person.
1 PP - Alter Land - Nearly half of the Garden of the Gods becomes a wasteland
1 PP - Alter Land - Nearly half of the Garden of the Gods becomes a wasteland
“I’m... not sure,” Arkesh replied to Endrina’s question. “The words just felt right, you know?”
The Tarnish were so silent that he wondered if instead of healing them he had accidentally turned them to stone. “Um... hello? Are you alright?”
~A Lost Tale~
OOC
This is a self-contained post that I am retconning for a former holder of the Heartstone. Since time is always a little... loose in the game, it happened sometime in the past, but there is no specific point
"Huh."
It floated through the barrier, and into the Garden. Upon entering, it suddenly snapped backward in space, just barely fast enough to avoid the giant blast of flame that filled much of the clearing.
"OY! BE CAREFUL WHERE YOU THROW FIRE!"
He floated toward the Garden, just close enough to see what was going on. Two beings, one of fire and the other of....something, were fighting the one who had released him from the Gate. The firey one had just unleashed the fire that had almost scorched him.
"What is it that is so worth fighting over? Because the Gate really isn't worth it."
With a crash of sound and foam, the orb transformed into an arm. It reached out and the discarded staff sprang to it. It began to grow in size, layers of black obsidian wrapping around the core of water until it had nearly doubled in diameter. At its head, a large sapphire formed, held by four massive stone hooks. It pulsed, and the flames began to die throughout the garden, although the tortured landscape looked little better.
"I was not attacking, Isura. I was attacked. Perhaps, for once, you could be slightly less impulsive?"
He gestured with the staff, and a wave of water sprang from it, striking Tireas and quenching the gauntlet. While unable to penetrate the Phoenix Rainment, The God of War grunted in pain as the steam from the two elements' contact scalded his face.
PP
3 PP: Create Artifact: Abozu. Water-themed staff of Tsiyoti. Quenches fires, shoots waves of water, stuff like that.
4 PP remaining!
3 PP: Create Artifact: Abozu. Water-themed staff of Tsiyoti. Quenches fires, shoots waves of water, stuff like that.
4 PP remaining!
"So, Mortal guide and a caster of civilizations huh? Welcome to my home. I am Amun, created when the elements needed a keeper of the night. And this," waves his free hand around, "is my home. I would bow or shake or whatever, but I'm kinda holding this view, so we don't miss whats going on down below. I will say however, Welcome to Paradise. I think I will call it, Vorega. Except for the small animals that abound, this place isn't ready just yet for more..... complicated life. I still have much to do till I'm ready for it, but soon I think. Right now though lets just watch!"
Turns back to the wall of fog, and sits on a throne of sand. A second chair of sand crops up next to him. "Please join me if you will and we can enjoy the excitment before going back to our work."
PP
0PP cantrip = chairs pop up for the two to sit on.
1PP Nourish = Plant life abounds and thrives.
1PP Nourish = Animal life continues to thrive.
1PP Nourish = various sea creatures thrive in the sea and waterways.
3PP spent 4/7 PP left And the moon is now named. It is now called Vorega.
0PP cantrip = chairs pop up for the two to sit on.
1PP Nourish = Plant life abounds and thrives.
1PP Nourish = Animal life continues to thrive.
1PP Nourish = various sea creatures thrive in the sea and waterways.
3PP spent 4/7 PP left And the moon is now named. It is now called Vorega.
Itropi smiled at Valerius.
"You forget, Valerius. This is, in fact, OUR home, not yours. While we had not anticipated unwelcome company so soon after its founding, we are prepared for bullies such as yourself." He paused barely a fraction of a second, then shouted: "NOW!"
At once, from every nook and cranny, giant ten-foot-long snakes burst into the light, fangs dripping with venom as they eyed the invaders with barely contained bloodlust. The Embril vanguard backed towards one another, weapons grasped tightly.
"You see? Now. This is what is going to happen. You are going to turn around and leave, and the next time your people come here, I expect them to treat us with some - Yes? What is it?"
Another Naga, a younger male, raced up to Itropi and began whispering fiercely into his ear. Itropi's eyes widened, flicking to the Embril and back to the messenger before eventually turning back to Valerius and saying in a tight voice: "I have been told to let some of you through. Apparently someone wants to speak with you. You may pick five others to go with you. The rest stay here. Are we understood?"
"Oh-- most certainly, Amun. I haven't seen conflict like this since... well, ever." She watched as the fight continued on below.
"Paradise. Such a nice word, a word fitting for a mortal race to take refuge in such environment. I am not quite sure what I have in store for this, but I can certainly dabble into such hypotheses." She took out her book and words started to appear before her-- ideas forming out of the glowing dust that surrounded the pages-- showing differnt types of species and races. A few ideas seemed to fit in with the land's tastes.
[Sea of Daj]
The sands stirred with movement-- mounds rose and fell below the dry landscape. Some were very miniscule mounds, while others were massive. A few scorpions blasted out from the sands and attempted to ambush a band of Rathians. They fought back-- with only leaving a few injured. They had adapted to live out in the sands, and they became somewhat of a travelling nation. They never stood or cultivated in one place. They were nomads-- wanderers without a set goal. They still kept the ideas and prayers of the Prvider with them, but they did not take anything for granted.
"We'd better get a move on. Those things will come back..." The lead exclaimed-- partially losing his breath.
PP Expenditures
0pp Cantrip: Erainull makes more creature ideas in her book. She has yet to choose one.
2pp Spawn: Dune Scorpions-- from small juveniles to gargantuan adults, the dune scorpions are at home in hot, dry wastelands, such as the Sea of Daj itself. They are clever ambushers, and they put up a good fight. They are somewhat intelligent creatures, but can only truly rely upon their own instincts to survive.
1pp Command: Sand Raiders-- a nation, mainly of Rathians for now, travel the landscapes in search for a better paradise. They are not restricted to just travelling hot, humid climates alone. They are in search for other like themselves as well-- always moving, never stopping...
1pp put towards next week for Shaping a new populace upon the Moon
0/6 pp remaining
2pp Spawn: Dune Scorpions-- from small juveniles to gargantuan adults, the dune scorpions are at home in hot, dry wastelands, such as the Sea of Daj itself. They are clever ambushers, and they put up a good fight. They are somewhat intelligent creatures, but can only truly rely upon their own instincts to survive.
1pp Command: Sand Raiders-- a nation, mainly of Rathians for now, travel the landscapes in search for a better paradise. They are not restricted to just travelling hot, humid climates alone. They are in search for other like themselves as well-- always moving, never stopping...
1pp put towards next week for Shaping a new populace upon the Moon
0/6 pp remaining
Looking over at what Erainull was doing, he breathes a deep sigh. "You're working! Oh fine.....if you must. " He bows his head as he begins to envision what he wants to complete.
As they sit upon the southern shores of the Lunar Sea, three mighty, white, spires rise out of the ground on the northern, eastern, and western forests. Each one a tall monument raised towards the sky dozens of feet high.
Upon each of the spires close to ground level, markings appear:
In the Northern Spire, depictions of a bi-pedal, stocky, yet wild creature appear. To the side scrolling downwards, words undecipherable except to a godly being appear, they describe the pictures as Orcs.
In the Western Spire, depictions of a sharp-eared tall bi-pedal creature appear. Wording similar to that on the northern spire appear describing it as Elf.
In the Eastern Spire, depictions of what seems to be a myriad of bi-pedal creatures with no real distinguishing features upon them appear. Wording similar to the others ascribe them the name Human.
An island spanning about 10 miles appears in the middle of the sea, in the center of it a temple is raised.
Opening his eyes, and raising his head he seems to slump down in his chair a bit. Slightly breathy he turns to Erainull, "There, I may have use for your help after all. While, I can probably do this all on my own, it will take some time, but I have three spires set up for the mortal races that I want to care for my home. If you give me but a few moments to catch my breath, I'd be happy to show them to you."
PP
0PP cantrip: the three Spires of Vorega appear. while not currently anything more than white rock each one is different from the other by virtue of what appears on it. Might do something more with them later on, but for now they are just there. A full write up will be in the wiki when I get more time to do so.
1PP mold lesser: An island about 10 miles large appears in the middle of the lunar sea. Upon the highest point sits a Temple to the Gods.
3PP Forge Holy ground: The Temple to the Gods is formed upon Vergos island. It is now the defacto living quarters of Amun, and when mortals and civilizations are established enough, they will be able to go there for guidance and worship. While any deity may reside there and thus may be worshiped there as well, Amun is still the head god upon the moon. Right now only statues and reliefs of Amun reside there. The temple is meant to be a safe haven, and sanctuary for gods. Amun reserves the right to eject and exile Any deity attempting to break this rule from the temple and its grounds. A full write up will be in the wiki when I get the time.
0PP cantrip: the three Spires of Vorega appear. while not currently anything more than white rock each one is different from the other by virtue of what appears on it. Might do something more with them later on, but for now they are just there. A full write up will be in the wiki when I get more time to do so.
1PP mold lesser: An island about 10 miles large appears in the middle of the lunar sea. Upon the highest point sits a Temple to the Gods.
3PP Forge Holy ground: The Temple to the Gods is formed upon Vergos island. It is now the defacto living quarters of Amun, and when mortals and civilizations are established enough, they will be able to go there for guidance and worship. While any deity may reside there and thus may be worshiped there as well, Amun is still the head god upon the moon. Right now only statues and reliefs of Amun reside there. The temple is meant to be a safe haven, and sanctuary for gods. Amun reserves the right to eject and exile Any deity attempting to break this rule from the temple and its grounds. A full write up will be in the wiki when I get the time.
C’thruul, along with his new exarch, left the hallways of Od’Vidr and crawled back outside the huge wall.
Once outside, the formless mass reshaped itself into the large winged form. It’s head was just a large gaping maw surrounded by dozens of grasping tentacles. The massive tail split into seven serrated whips.
Taking a last good look around, he took of and making his way to the northen most part of the wall. Their he crashed his massive body onto the wall, breaking it in the process, creating a fissure to the outside of the wall, causing the sea to leak out.
Their, past the wall, C’thruul created the Great Outer Sea and in the north, the Sea of Shifting Ice. This part of the Great Sea was almost completely covered by in solid ice. This ice cover would constantly break and reconect, constantly shifting the surface geography, hence the name.
The gape in the frost wall is currently the only major passage connecting the inner and great outer sea.
Here, C’thruul placed a guardian. Like her sister Cecaelia, Scylla had fair pale skin and long ravenblack hair. It almost seemed like they were cast from the same molt. Their the resemblance ended.
From the waist down her body warped into a monstrous entity ending in seven barbed tails each ending in a poisonous stinger. Symmetrically around her waist, the form sprouted seven necks, each ending in a large monstress head, vaguely resembling a wolf. Instead of fur, the beast skin was more like that of a starfish, crude and rough, and able to shift texture and color, allowing it to shift and resemble the surrounding rocks and dirt. Thus from afar, the beast would resemble a lone female, stranded on a rocky isle.
She was bound to stay and guard the passage, luring sailers and others with her captivating song, and letting the voracious wolves do the rest.
PP
Beget exarch Scylla 3PP
Mold land 3PP: Create the great Outer Seas and the Sea of Shifting Ice
Beget exarch Scylla 3PP
Mold land 3PP: Create the great Outer Seas and the Sea of Shifting Ice
OOC
The forums ate my post, so here's an abbreviated verson.
The forums ate my post, so here's an abbreviated verson.
Lianna smiled at the Rathian's Naïvety. "We conquer because lands, vassals -- these things are power to my people. The more you can hold, the better the commander you are, the more you are respected." The Swordguard Commander tapped her forehead. "And I think that blade of yours is something to garner respect from as well."
She turned towards her troops. "Charge! Focus on the one with the magic sword! Thirteen Kaldrihts to the one who brings him down and claims his sword!"
The battle recommenced nearly simultaneously with the Kebenian invasion inside.
~Garden of the Gods~
"I am impulse. You would not ask the water to cease flowing, would you? At any rate, my position stands -- tactical advantages may be sound, but they make for dishonorable combat. This way, at least, you two are evenly matched. And dear Tireas has been seeking a fight since his incarnation."
~Naginati~
Valerius smirked. "Very well, then." He turned to his forces behind him. "Stand down." The 31 soldiers with him relaxed their weapons. Valerius however, was not impressed. "I said, stand down."
This time, Embrin upon Embrin appeared, emerging from cover, most holding bows. In the span of under a minute, the Swordguard had nearly trippled, at least half of the newcomers wielding impressively large crossbows.
Valerius arched a smiling eyebrow at Itropi. "We bullies are more prepared than you might think." His smirk faded. "Tiberius, Adrianna, Marisa, Samara, Ephrem -- you're with me. Lucius, you have command until we return."
The named Embrin saluted, hastening to follow their commander's orders. Valerius smiled slightly. He gestured to Itropi. "Here we are: now lead on."
"Pardon me, but, impulse? I thought you were the Eternal Flame," interrupted Dajjal, "Isn't that somewhat paradoxical. I mean, I for one always found the moniker 'Eternal Flame' to be rather like an oxymoron. You aren't doing much to ammeliorate that assessment."
Dajjal swooped up above the stand-off, coming to hover above her fellow gods.
"But you needn't worry, darling Isura-sister, my role in this battle is merely preventatory, defensive. You needn't overexert yourself trying to, as I am sure, be a rightful-conscienced person in balancing the odds," proclaimed the Windy Lady, "You have merely to step back and the scales will be set."
"Excuse me. As a somewhat impartial observer, may I take the oppurtunity to offer my services as a mediatory party? I have no real liking for anyone here, and have no prejudices that might affect my judgement either way. If you would cease this rather messy and ill-thoughout conflict, we might be able to come to some peaceful resolution."
Throughout this offer, the orb had been slowly moving across the Garden, until it was adjacent to the Gate. At this point it seemed to relax, as if safer.
"This is a lovely place, and it would be a shame for this destruction to cause it to fall into the Void once more. I personally have no investment in it, but you all do, I believe."
The orb reached out with it's power, and flicked a bit of energy at the desolate area of the Garden. Suddenly, plant life began to sprout, in all of the various strange forms that inhabited that area. It sprouted, lush and full as if it had never been scorched, ever.
Mechanics
1 PP: Alter Land: The devastated areas of the Garden are restored to normal.
5 PP left.
1 PP: Alter Land: The devastated areas of the Garden are restored to normal.
5 PP left.
Itropi's eyes narrowed. How that many of the Embril had been able to hide in the tunnel was beyond him. A dangerous people, for sure.
"Very well. Come with me."
The Naga parted reluctantly, letting the six Embril through. Itropi clasped arms with another Naga and then led Valerius down and into the darkness.
"You should probably know," One of the Naga said to the remaining Embril, "We have more snakes, too."
The hissing noises in the corridor began to grow even louder...
~Niganati, Deep Burrows~
After what seemed to Valerius like half an hour... although keeping track of time under the earth proved difficult, eventually Itropi stopped before a large door. Inticrate scroll-work decorated the door, lines wrapping across it to form the distinct, if abstract, impression of a large snake's head.
"Your guard stays here, Valerius." He said curtly as the door opened and ten naga emerged, spears trained on the Embril. "You follow me."
The room beyond was easially 30-feet tall, carved with great precision from the rock. Columns of pale stone held the roof in place. At the far end of the room, two golden beds with red velvet cushions stood on a raised platform. Atop the beds were two naga, a man and woman, each adorned with gold jewelry. As Itropi and Valerius crossed the floor, both could feel the eyes of the two Naga, not to mention the eyes of the guards that appeared from the shadows, boring into them. As they neared the Dais, the man spoke.
"That is far enough."
They stopped, and the woman continued.
"We have recieved a message that you, the Embril, should hear. But before we tell you the message, we would like to hear your words from your own lips. Who are you, who are your people? What benefits do you bring to us, and what are your demands?"
~Niganati, elsewhere~
As the Naga dug out another chamber, they were surprised to see another orb etched with writing, emerging from the stone. Where the other had been obsidian-black, this one was ivory-white. They redoubled their efforts to release it from its stony prison.
~All Over the World~
The coral from Tsiyoti's body landed here and there around the world, heated by the blast of Tireas' anger and still containing remnants of divine power. They hit the ground... and began to move. Although most pieces were too small to be of any threat, a few were large enough to cause concern.
PP
2 PP Saved for a Craft action next turn.
2 PP: Spawn Beast: Coral Creatures
2 PP Saved for a Craft action next turn.
2 PP: Spawn Beast: Coral Creatures
A tattered, well more tattered than usual, band of Kebens wandered beneath the earth. One of the few bands that hadn't joined Grevosk's horde, they existed on the margins. One day, or night, for who could tell under the dirt, the tiny tribe set about extended a network of chambers, more out of boredom than any natural inclination to industry. Their interest quickened, however, when a pickblow disloged what seemed to be a shard of glass. Upon dousing it in water and rubbing the dirt away, the chunk of clear glass was revealed to contain a twisting blue-green flame within. The Kebens immediately fell to fighting. The strongest of them, a brutish creature, smashed the head of his earstwhile leader with a pick and fled with the gem, the others in hot pursuit. His feet flew, though, and soon the Keben vanished off into the darkness.
PP
1PP Reserved for a Craft action
Twirling his staff lightly as he continued his walk, he reached the bottom of the mountain and looked out towards the northwest. "Empty. Empty as far as the eye can see, hardly a living thing in sight. The other gods, and I must remember to get a full accounting of all of them some day, if only so I know who I'm workng with, really are slacking at this creation business."
Walking along the wasteland, he carefully stabbed his staff into the earth as he traveled along, each strike placing a little bit of life into the dirt, each step leaving a little bit more of his power spread out behind him. Finally, he turned back and began to circle, considering it all. "Yes, that should be a big enough area. Large enough to be troublesome for mortals, but not large enough to make it insurpassable. Quite right, I think."
Arvad waved his hand, sending the triggering spark of power into his latest work. Within moments, from each location he had poked the earth, a great tree sprouted from the ground, covering the barren plain with a forest.
"Hm, not bad, not bad at all. Still, they might move a bit, but they aren't quite right. I suppose I shall have to try on a smaller scale then."
Moving his way to the center of the forest, Arvad circled the area, marking a few dozen trees that seemed the most suitable. "Yes, these will do. Let's try again." Channeling more power into these trees, he gave them more than just life, imbuing them with mobility and intelligence.
Finished, he wiped sweat from his brow and nodded as he began to wander the forest. "Yes, yes, I think that shall do quite nicely."
PP Expenditures
1 PP - Nourish Land - Cause a large forest to grow northwest opf the SLopes of Eternity and north of the Sea of Daj. Known as the Shifting Wood, it is a trackless wilderness, where paths and trees move, shift, and vanish over time.
4 PP - Shape Populace - Treants wander the Shifting Wood. Only they know how to navigate it.
4 PP - Shape Populace - Treants wander the Shifting Wood. Only they know how to navigate it.
Something's happening here. The earth is a-shaking, the ground is a-breaking. There's a sort of 'leg' here, where the continent juts into the sea. And from ankle to upper thigh, cracks are appearing, splitting the land along it. And the land is moving. Not to the east, nor to the south. No. The land is moving up.
It was slow going, as earth is wont to do. But by degrees, the earth was actually rising. Not drastically, but milimetres over weeks, centimetres over months, it was rising, definitely rising. But the earth was not the only thing acting peculiarly. The winds themselves seemed to be converging on this spot, as spectators to a marvelous show. Or, perhaps it was more accurate to say the winds were the performers, and the earth merely the subject. You see, it wasn't so much that the earth was pushing up, it was more the winds were pulling. And measure by measure, they were succeeding. And in a few short decades, the earth was in the air.
Mountains. Not islands. Mountains in the air. Vast rocky ovaloids simply hanging there, unsupported, like weightless clouds. Waters down below rushed to fill the gap left by the departing earth, no doubt causing some far-flung catastrophe some other place with the motion. The mountains were magical, hovering as they did in the still air. And yet, they were mundane in their perfect simplicity. Trees sprang up along the flanks, vines draping the gaps between them. Life took hold here with alarming rapidity, as though nature forgot the unnaturalness of the thing. Animals sprang to life, along with other things, thinking things. And the mountains in the sky became no longer special. By the tender touch of life, they were ordinary.
Niganati
"I am being with the apologies," murmured the Tarnish, sounding remarkably mellow, "I was being asleep."
She turned to behold the speaker, and since absolutely no visual indication showed the difference between waking and sleeping in the stange thing, for all he knew, she may have dozed off again.
"We do that often."
PP
2 PP - Mold Land - The Moutains of Moaje
1 PP - Nourish Land - The Mountains are covered in vegetation.
3 PP - Shape Populace - Set aside for next week.
1 PP - Nourish Land - The Mountains are covered in vegetation.
3 PP - Shape Populace - Set aside for next week.
8 PP: Dajjal, Tsiyoti, Isura
7 PP: Erainull
6 PP: C'thull, Amun, Tireas
5 PP: Velt (NOW INACTIVE) , Jzaquiht (Inactive next week!), TSO (NOW INACTIVE), Arvad, Marsten, Sephus
4 PP: Uwafe
spreadsheets0.google.com/ccc?authkey=CKy...
You will note that we have now started awarding the world-building bonus!
She nodded to Amun. "Gladly. Why don't you try planning out whatever it is you have into the book here? All that you write in it won't be permanent until you command it to do so..." Before she could finish, the pages hurriedly rushed boackwards and started to write more ink scriptures. Works like 'savage' and 'rogues' appeared on occasion-- words that rang a strong bell inside her. "Brother... this must be his doing." She wrote inscriptions on the page following the words of the surprise invasion of the small creatures her brother had apparently set at her nation. She spoke out loud to herself, or to Amun it was as though she were talking to the book itself. "This nation will thrive, not fall. If you are willing to challenge civilization once again, I won't hesitate to fight back, brother."
She offered a small part of her essence to Amun. "I need a minute to solve something. I hope this will provide you with a start to your new life. I will be able to provide them with guidance shortly."
[Karvesh]
He wielded his blade in a defensive fashion, as the embrin came closer to him. They were apparently after the blade itself. He bought enough time so that the clerics could shift their tactics to the offensive and gave him shelter with a pillar of radiance. This gave him a chance to focus his essence and concentrate on the most threatening targets. With a momentary trance, he set his right foot on the ground and lifted himself hig into the air-- bringing himself into a swirl that drove his offender's weapon away on one strike and the second dealing a lethal blow to the creature's chest. A cleric fell beside him, as he sumersalted just above another embrin's sword. He blocked the incoming blow and delivered a blow of his own to the unguarded embrin's heart. He side-stepped off from a titan's axe, which chopped into one of the guard's feet-- screaming in pain. The axe was stuck in the earth, which Bartholameau used as a platform to jump over the beast and cut a long slash down the creature's spine.
Without a second thought, he stabbed an embrin in the chest while he was turned around. "You? Taking my blade away from me? I don't think I can do that. I have been sworn to protect it with my life, if need be. If anyone were to even lay a finger upon it, they'd suffer the consequences bestowed from the Provider. You have already trespassed our sacred lands. I won't let another violation come to pass!"
Meanwhile, within the community, the little Nebens went into an onslaughty of savage bestial murders. Several nobles escaped and one in particular found sanctuary near the fountain. A shaft of light appeared next to him, and the shaft turned into and ivory-white wooden staff-- topped with a golden orb. The elder picked it up and divine power surged forth within him-- granting him the necessary power to at least keep the rampage from accelerating. With a swift motion, the elder shouted an incantation and spoke a few words out loud. "Mighty Provider-- Vanquish the Evil!" He slammed the rod into the ground and a powerful shockwave of divine power surged forth and across the entire community and beyond-- leaving only a trace amounts of the Kebens to roam around. "The notion of savagery has been spelled out in front of us. We must move quickly! Regroup and find whatever other creatures you can find! Don't let them corrupt you of their merciless and savage ways! And defend the community from those things outside the walls!"
PP Expenditures
0pp Cantrip: The book writes in the Keben invasion, and Erainull devises an idea to help stave off the invaders.
2pp (1 from last turn) given to joran for Shaping a new populace
0pp Cantrip: The pages go to a new page where Amun can plan out his new populace, while Erainull continued to correct the mishaps happening below.
3pp Forge: Artifact-- Staff of Divine Ordinance. An ivory-white wooden staff with a golden orb on one end is a powerful artifact used to guide mortals on a conquest towards civilization, It is another building block towards civilization, and works in leau with the Book of Vigil. More to follow in the wiki.
2pp Harm: The power of the staff erradicates most of the invading Keben-- drastically reducing their overwhelming numbers to a few choked groups.
1pp Nourish: The Rathians regroup and slighty gain in strength and numbers once more-- pushing back against the Keben onslaught and Embrin invasion.
0/7 pp remaining (1 carried over from last turn)
2pp (1 from last turn) given to joran for Shaping a new populace
0pp Cantrip: The pages go to a new page where Amun can plan out his new populace, while Erainull continued to correct the mishaps happening below.
3pp Forge: Artifact-- Staff of Divine Ordinance. An ivory-white wooden staff with a golden orb on one end is a powerful artifact used to guide mortals on a conquest towards civilization, It is another building block towards civilization, and works in leau with the Book of Vigil. More to follow in the wiki.
2pp Harm: The power of the staff erradicates most of the invading Keben-- drastically reducing their overwhelming numbers to a few choked groups.
1pp Nourish: The Rathians regroup and slighty gain in strength and numbers once more-- pushing back against the Keben onslaught and Embrin invasion.
0/7 pp remaining (1 carried over from last turn)
------------
((Outside the city, with Bartholomeu, who presumably doesn't know about the invasion.))
A Keben burst from the tree line and ran towards Bartholomeu, squeaking to him as it moved.
"Might Warrior! Let us help you against these skum! We too desire, um, Erainull's blinding light!"
The creature had paused not out of fear of the carnage before him, but because he'd been trying to remember that name Rathians kept shouting before he slashed their throats.
PP
1PP Harm- Many Rathians are murdered in their homes by rogues who then slip away into the sanguine night
Tireas' guantlets became enveloped in a crimson light. As Tireas made a motion to charge forward, Tsiyoti shot forth a powerful jet of water from his staff, to impede the Warbringer's assault. The stream of water hit him square in the chest, and wisps of steam escaped from the collision of flame and water. Yet it was not enough to halt the advance of Tireas. He took one step forward at a time, letting out low growls of pain, untill Tsiyoti could feel his exited breathing.
With a swift movement, the Warbringer swiped Tsiyoti's staff, bringing it to the charred ground, and fluidly followed up by bringing his second guantlet down on the Roaring Wave's head. When contact was made, an ear-splitting boom was heard by all nearby (and possibly those far away) as an intense burst of heat and light was released from his clenched fist.
~The Slopes of Eternity~
The God-Torrent thundered and roared its way down the mountain, knocking aside boulders as if they were pebbles. From their Stalwart fortresses, butressed for decades against the constant encroachment of the Fallen, the Tarnished watched as the waves of water poured from the Garden, hitting the fortress walls and sending spray into their faces. Yet the great walls held as the screaming waters rushed by, picking up the besieging Fallen and attacking Gnolls and rushing them downhill and away from the mountain.
As the water rushed onwards, it lost strength, no longer coursing over everything, it followed the natural lay of the land in thundering rivers. Fighting Rathians, Embrin and Kebens stopped and stared as the waters smashed into the cliff face beneath them, turning towards the east. The reprieve was short-lasted, however, as a Keben turned and, sensing his opportunity, sank his blade deep into a Rathian.
~The Plains of Praacya~
To the east of the Slopes of Eternity lay a large expanse of grassy wilderness, dotted here and there by mighty stands of screaming pipes and their attendant creatures. It was here that the water finally subsided, seeping in a hundred thousand tired rivulets into the ocean. Coughing and spluttering, Gnolls and Fallen staggered away from the dying river, whose scream was little more than a whisper now. Frightened, they kept going east, deeper into the plains and away from the mountain, convinced that the gods were truly ready to destroy them if they returned.
~The Sea of Daj~
A thundering wave, not nearly the size of the one that had reached the Plains of Praacya, but still sizable, flowed through the Sea of Daj along a particularly deep valley. As it curved through the winding valley, it deposited Fallen on the inner banks of the turns, where they were able to grab ahold of the rocks as the water flowed through. Eventually, the water reached the Western Sea, throwing the remaining Fallen into the ocean and into the Garden of Statues, where the coral seised ahold of their bodies and added them to its collection.
~Under the Godmountain~
A river of water flowed down from the surface, carrying a group of Gnolls with it. Eventually it reached a deep cave and the water filled it, allowing the Gnolls to eventually climb from it. It was pitch black.
~The Eastern Ocean~
The majority of the water that had flooded from Tsiyoti's form had ended up here, the Eastern Ocean. Floating in the ocean water were tiny specks of blood, bobbing randomly in the ocean currents.
But not entirely randomly. Here and there, the blood exibited a nearly magnetic property, pulling towards itself to form slightly larger drops of blood.
The process continued slowly gathering the blood together...
~Under the Godmountain and The Western Sea~
In each pool, a few specks of blood floated, coming together in the same way as the Eastern Sea. However, there was no hope for these specks to rejoin the other drops of blood..
PP
2 PP: 'Command' populace: The Fallen are moved from the Godmountain. Most end up on the Plains of Praacya, but a few end up in the Sea of Daj
2 PP: 'Command' populace: The Gnolls are moved from the Godmountain. Most end up on the Plains of Praacya, but a few end up deep under the mountain.
1 PP: Mold Land: A river of sand now exists in the Sea of Daj travelling from the Godmountain to the Western Ocean
3 PP Remaining.
2 PP: 'Command' populace: The Fallen are moved from the Godmountain. Most end up on the Plains of Praacya, but a few end up in the Sea of Daj
2 PP: 'Command' populace: The Gnolls are moved from the Godmountain. Most end up on the Plains of Praacya, but a few end up deep under the mountain.
1 PP: Mold Land: A river of sand now exists in the Sea of Daj travelling from the Godmountain to the Western Ocean
3 PP Remaining.
PP Expenditures
1 PP - Nourish Land - The torrent of water from the slopes causes the Shifting Wood to grow and expand.
1 PP - Mold Land (Lesser) - Thew torrent of water carves a series of rivers and lakes scattered about the Shifting Wood. Due to the natures of the region, even the rivers courses seem to shift and move over time.
3/5
1 PP - Mold Land (Lesser) - Thew torrent of water carves a series of rivers and lakes scattered about the Shifting Wood. Due to the natures of the region, even the rivers courses seem to shift and move over time.
3/5
Isura stared, baffled, at Dajjal. She continued to do so until the shock of Tsiyoti's passage engulfed her in a cloud of steam. Shaken from her reverie, she tried to consider how to best formulate an answer that could register with the wind-god's own brand of idiocy.
"Dajjal" began Isura, her tone the condescending voice of an authority explaining something to a child. "You do realize that it's the 'change' of mine that is eternal. I am stochastic dynamism -- chaos recoalesced. My forms may vary, and I only ever have a single constant: I am not static."
Isura considered this, and decided that this still might not register. "You're confusing your words again, dearie" she said, far more simply.
The steam clouds still hung tight around her in the wake of Tsiyoti's sudden disappearence.
~Kardesh~
As Bartholameu continued to stymie the main forces, a detachment of Titans broke off from the main army, charging around to asasult the city from the side. Their massive fists thundered against the walls - if something were not done immediately, they would fall.
Elsewhere, Lianna was recieving a peculiar message. "There are more of these things? A shield?" ...
PP Expenditure
-1 The Embrin near Hearth discover Vantric, and gain posession of the artifact.
"All right dear, whatever you say," said Dajjal, and then spun on the spot, as though trying to locate something, "My, my, that Tsiyoti has really let himself go! I should find the poor lad before something even more dreadful happens."
She turned to address the other two gods remaining.
"Tireas, that was a mighty impressive bit of fighting you did there. I may not like you, but I can't deny, you've got style, and I appreciate that," said Dajjal, and then, figuring it might hurt Isura's already fragile ego if she was left out, she gazed deeply into her sister's, um, well, at the spot where eyes should be, "And sister, know that you are a valuable part of this world, and you are every bit the person you think you can be. I'm sure Eb-oh, I mean, I'm sure you are very proud of yourself."
And with a consoling smile to Isura and a respectful nod to Tireas, Dajjal pirouetted off in search of her younger brother.
"I'm sure you may have the means to take us down, but there is one thing you forgot to take into account-- we have the homefield advantage!" Bartholameau commanded his guards and clerics to go after the titan groups and the remaining forces to regroup and fend off the main offensive.
Inside, the nobles and clerics surrounded each other, as the saw the water pouring down the slopes. "What in the good name of the winds is that?" It was then that they realized their current situation and headed toward the main gate. The head noble watched as the groups fought out the raging battle. The kebens dwindled, but still fought. "I hold no mercy to those who oppose of our very existence! The Provider shall not agree on such folley and treachery!"
Bartholameau noticed the lone keben coming towards him with a plea to the good name. "You wish to seek the pure will of the Provider?" It was then that he heard the noble's words and saw that the village itself was under a siege far different than the invader's tactics. "What in the good name of the earth is happening around here? Is the world starting to come apart?"
Sventalis... Vantric...
"Wha...?" It was as if the blade had spoken to him in his mind. The world slowed down around him once again-- his memory fading into a dream-like state.
Sventalis... Vantric... Find them...
"Yes! I wish to serve the Provider! But first I bring you an, um, warning. The mighty weapon you hold, there are more like them. Even now, a host terrible things, my traitor kindred and these shudders titans seek to gain them. Quick, I can show you the way, but you must hurry to stop them, or all will be lost!"
The Keben seemed almost taken aback by the flow of words, suprised still more by the gleam of ambition that glistened like oil on water in Bartholomeu's eye.
--------------
The fighting stalled in Karvesh. Isolated bands of Keben rogues still cut throats and hacked down passerby, but the Juggernauts pulled back into the temple, guarding only the perimiter of the tunnel from whence they came. An hour passed, and then another. The darkness beneath began to boil, and a new horde of Keben warriors poured forth. Gremosk led them, or more precisely, the pole with his head on it did. A new warlord commanded the assembled clans, Abel Clan-Lost, an albino Keben, though dirt still yellowed his fur.
In his greedy little fist, a cold flame burned. The Wyldfury Garnet, a petty gem mined from beneath the earth, and investing its holder with the power to spread disorder around him. Distortions sparked off from the artifact, warping walls and the occaissional unlucky tribesman. The true power of the weapon, however, became apparent when the new horde poured out into the square.
Rathian clerics stood ready, divine prayers already on their lips. Chanted phrases finished, lights blurred, terrible force rushed at the gravel-like mass of Kebens, and then sheared off to the sides or roared, blurring, into the sky. The Garnet stripped the order from magic, the careful strictures and dedications that clerical prayers depend upon cannot withstand the all encompassing freedom of the Garnet.
Juggernauts advanced on the clerics, and cruel roots, translucent in the sun, punched through flesh and bone to feast on the organs within.
PP
2PP (1PP stored)- Craft Artifact: Wyldfury Garnet
2PP - Nourish Populace: Kebens A renewed Keben horde emerges from the Warrens and falls upon Karvesh
It was like a song, composed of one line repeated over and over again. It echoed through the deep passages beneath the mountain and trembled up through the foundations.
"Rip, rip, rip."
Something other than the Kebens was stirring there, something older, something stranger.
"Eat, eat, eat."
There is a crack, deep beneath the city, where the earth presses close together. Not enough to touch, no, but just enough that none could think of coming this way. But they thought of it, they came, because they were hungry. Hungry for what? Flesh? Marrow? Or more sinister things? Or perhaps they were hungry for nothing more than the warm touch of sunlight. Whatever it is they hungered for, the urge was strong enough to make them choose this road. Through the crack they squeezed, joints popping, bones sliding inside their bodies. Limbs, pale and hairless, reach around the edges, pulling cold, shambling bodies through. And then up, up through the lightless carverns they go, towards the city, towards the beating heart. Towards the world outside.
The Tarnish were coming.
They came at night, when the cold air still caught the breath and froze it, as mist on the wind. They rode this self-same wind on limestone wings. Above the warring folk below, they circled. Like vultures they watched, and like vultures they fell, upon the bleeding, the broken and the sick. They descended upon their fallen bodies, ripped flesh away and sucked the marrow from the bones. Their appetite was voracious, never sated, for this was not what their bodies hungered for, ached for. But still they ate, gorged themselves on the dead. They never fought, never confronted anyone, and fled, taking to the winds, whenever the warm-bloods got too close. And at dawn's first rays, they squeezed their bodies back into their holes, fleeing the light like it was death itself. And though they left no trace but the torn and mangled bodies, though they had fled by dawn, morning brought with it stories of stone angels. And the next night, and every night that followed, the Angels of Death returned to Karvesh to take their fill of flesh and marrow, just to flee again before the day.
PP
2 PP - Harm - The citizens of Karvesh are attacked by nightly terrors that fly on wings of stone. No victims survive, and the horrors depart before the dawn.
"I have failed."
As he stood still, blood continued to pour from his head, forming a clump at his feet. After some time, the mass of blood began to elongate, stretching its shape to match that of a Sea Serpent. It wrapped around Tireas, growing deadly fangs and forming deep red scales. He shrugged the beast off, and it floated toward the Gates, slowly circling around it.
PP
3 PP - Beget Exarch: Veshna, The Gates' Guardian. Veshna looks much like the sea serpents Tsiyoti had accidentally created earlier, but is much larger, and has a blood-red coloring. She guards the Gates, but only responds to any mortals that enter the Garden. Because of her role, Veshna is a late-epic challenge.
Lianna's skin grew rosy with fear, the sudden loss of color shaking her closest comandants. "W-we retreat. Immediately." The Commander remember her wits, and snapped back into action. "We retreat!" she said again, more firmly, decisively. "Full retreat. Fall back to HQ."
As suddenly as it had arrived, the Embrin and Titan host began to depart. They left hurriedly, a fighting retreat (and a rather easy one at that -- the Kardeshian's were not too keen on chasing the invaders by traveling far from the city).
And yet, the cause of Lianna's sudden departure was soon made manifest. A second host of Embrin, these with squads of the bestial Gnolls serving with them, arose from the east. The Swordguard strode proudly at the head of his forces, the twisting black metal of Vantric apparent on his arm. It seems Kardesh's respite would be short lived.
~Niganati, Deep Burrows~
Valerius coughed politely, then began. "We are the Embrin. We are a proud people, and we dream of leaving a mark upon this world such that we shall live on in fame after we pass from these mortal shells. To that end, we praise personal acumen, intellect, and one's own strength above all else. We practice warfare that we might carve out kingdoms for ourselves and our followers. Our people are relatively few in number, so we supplement our followers with loyal troops of other races -- some willingly join, some are conquered and persuaded the... usefullness of following our goals. The more souls one leader can command, can claim loyal, and the larger and longer they rule their lands, the more they shall be honored in our archives in Hearth, our neutral ground and racial capital."
"As commander of this band of Embrin, I can offer you some semblance of relative stability -- if you slay me and my kin today, know that more of mine will come" Valerius coughed again. "That's not a threat -- just the honest truth as I see it. Land is finite, but the dreams of any Embrin much more. These lands, these peoples of yours, they will be desired because they exist; it is nothing personal, merely the natural course of our racial desire. Allying with myself will grant your people a measure of peace and stability. I shall hold your lands as hard as the rest of my own, and bring force upon any who would dare to desecrate its spoils or steal its children. Stand with us and fight with us as equals, or entrench yourselves for an eternity of the sieges that will eventually come -- one way or another, as the tides of change break on this land, your naga must either go with one of the waves, or stand bulwarked against it, to weather storm after beating storm unto perpetuum.
PP Expenditure
-1 Command: A new host of Embrin and gnolls marchs from Hearth to Kardesh, carrying with them Vantric, the Barbed Shield of Tireas.
Seeing Erainull distracted, Amun shrugs his shoulders. After what appears a few brief steps he stands in front of one of the mighty monoliths. Placing his hands upon it it glows briefly then goes out. The pictures seem to be faded now. Sweating, he heads to a second monolith, he starts to put his hands on it like he did the first but stops, looking away towards the world below as if something had startled him and got his attention. Shaking his head, he starts to resume his work only to stop again. Looking down at the world he wonders if he shouldn't go down there to see whats going on.
Western Spire~
Among the forests in the western spire region, awoke the elves. Seemingly eternal in comparison to the other two races, they live exceptionally long lives. This long life span gives them much in the way of wisdom and knowledge, but sadly it also means there are fewer of them. As the elves roam the forests, they find that everything they need is right there for them. They tend to the forests and protect it the way it protects and tends to them.
Eastern Spire~
The spire glows faintly as if beckoning the distracted god to finish what he had started, to infuse it with the energy to bring forth it charges into this world, this paradise.
PP
4PP (1 from Erainull) Shape: the Elves of Vorega are born from the pattern of the western spire.
3PP for next week for the next race.
0/6 PP
4PP (1 from Erainull) Shape: the Elves of Vorega are born from the pattern of the western spire.
3PP for next week for the next race.
0/6 PP
The Male Naga nodded and rose from his platform.
"You describe your race as mighty, Embrin, and your goals as boundless as the great sky. This is fitting. We too have dreams of greatness one day."
With a brief glance back at the woman, he continued.
"We agree to your offer." Next to Valerius, Itropi choked for a moment before recovering. "We will join the Embrin armies. But, we have conditions.
First:" A coppery finger stabbed the air. "You will respect our cultures and traditions. We will attempt to respect yours, but we will not stand to become assimilated into some boring uniformity.
Second:" A second finger joined the first. "You will treat us as valued friends and vassals, not as slaves. We are a proud people. If we are not treated in a manner we deem proper... that will simply not work.
Third:" Another finger. "You will promise us that we will neither be asked to move as a people, nor to shelter others here in the land of Tsiyoti's Test for longer than a few months at a time for staging purposes. This land is ours, and while we will respect your people as our leaders, it is not a parcel to be given away to other, more favored, servants.
Fourth and Finally:" The last finger extended. "Our system of government stays in place. The Embrin will be our lords, but how we govern ourselves is our business. You may offer suggestions and requests, but we do not have to follow them."
The Naga reared up and stared down at Valerius, green eyes flashing.
"Otherwise, this pact is broken, and any Embrin found on our lands will never be seen again. Niganati runs deep, Embrin. You have great faith in your armies, but in these tunnels, even the largest army would falter and die horrible deaths."
After a long moment, the Naga spoke again.
"Do we have a deal?"
Here, the magic was alive. The magic twisted the trunks, lent light to the leaves and water, so they shone as if alight. The magic made the rocks glitter and shine and made the mad wind blowing whisper secrets in the dead of night. And here, the magic danced. Magic danced in the trees, and along the leaf strewn paths. It danced in the snow, and in the water, on the ice. And when it danced, magic went by a different name. It was called the Eladrin.
When the magic was wont to dance, as it often did, it manifested beautiful, willowy folk to do that dancing for it, just as it made the leaves turn gold or made a sparkling wind blow when it was wont for a little sunshine. The Eladrin were beautiful, immortal folk, who marked the twisting passages of the Moaje mountains with their prancing, dancing feet. They were inconstant folk, appearing as the magic willed it, and disappearing just as quickly. Their dances were as fickle as the westerly that blew, and just as primal. They were not folk in the strictest sense, but true forces of nature, as much a part of the natural world as the wind or the rain. When the world wanted water, it rained, when the world wanted light, the sun shone brightly through. And went the world wanted dancing, it called the beautiful, the inconstant Eladrin.
PP
1 PP - Shape (+3 stored) - The Eladrin are born into the Moaje mountains. They are more a mystical force of nature than a true race, serving only to dance amongst the trees.
1 PP - Nourish Land - The Moaje Mountains are abundant in magic, which causes numerous strange phenomena amongst the trees, including glittering snowdrifts on the more southern mountains, and literally babbling brooks where the water is cool enough to flow. Numerous other things occur as well.
1 PP - Nourish Land - The Moaje Mountains are abundant in magic, which causes numerous strange phenomena amongst the trees, including glittering snowdrifts on the more southern mountains, and literally babbling brooks where the water is cool enough to flow. Numerous other things occur as well.
"And sister, know that you are a valuable part of this world, and you are every bit the person you think you can be. I'm sure Eb-"
The Light Fantastic had been dormantly waiting, mostly ignored, but as Dajjal spoke, one tendril shot out, wrapping itself around her tongue, grabbing the word that was forming there. If the wind goddess was aware of what happened., she didn't give any indication.
The Light Fantastic was deep in its ritual now, and more tendrils shot out: one into the nest of steam Isura was still lounging in, one into a puddle of Water left by Tsiyoti, one into the Earth, penetrating far into Velt's slumbering form, and one tendril stretched nearly to infinity, coming to rest inside C'Thruul , and into the subsumed essence of Od'Vidr.
Colors flowed along the tendrils, silvers and golds running the length of the tentacles and pulling fast into The Light Fantastic's gaseous form. A shining orb of purest Electrum formed in the heart of the entity, and, like a tear, was dropped into the tempestuous maw of the Gate itself. A sharp crack was heard, echoing throughout creation.
"The Anullment is complete."
PP Expenditure
-3 PP Forge Artifact: The Anullment. The Light Fantastic seals away knowledge of Ebel. Mortals and gods alike cannot bring themselves to speak her name aloud; written texts regarding Ebel gain an abnormal tendency to degrade or simply disappear; it induces a mild headache for the gods to even think about Ebel for too long (though they may think of her as long as they like -- it's just harder). In part due to this last fact, Isura's Excision of Ebel is negated. It is very hard to think about not thinking of someone when thinking about not thinking about them causes pain, thus breaking the self-imposed illusion.
-3 PP Forge Artifact: The Anullment. The Light Fantastic seals away knowledge of Ebel. Mortals and gods alike cannot bring themselves to speak her name aloud; written texts regarding Ebel gain an abnormal tendency to degrade or simply disappear; it induces a mild headache for the gods to even think about Ebel for too long (though they may think of her as long as they like -- it's just harder). In part due to this last fact, Isura's Excision of Ebel is negated. It is very hard to think about not thinking of someone when thinking about not thinking about them causes pain, thus breaking the self-imposed illusion.
OOC
Veok, I have a feeling you're trying to tell us something. Is it that you don't like Ebel? Nah, that couldn't be it.
Valerius offered a sly smile. "Then we find ourselves in agreement. I have only one word of caution for you: While your race as a whole is united under yourselves, we Embrin have no similar grand leaders. Though I give you my word of this pact, and guarantee that those under me will abide by its rules, I can make no such promises for different groups of Embrin. We are a fractionous people by nature, and others will give no allowance to a treaty not forged themselves, personally."
This is how the Krakens came to be.
Each Kraken is a unique creature in shape, and no two Krakens look the same. Being immortal, they have no real need to reproduce to maintain their species, but they are all capable of spawning lesser versions of themselves asexually. These lesser kraken share the same unique features as their parent and serve their master without question.
Because of their nature and their believe that each is the true image to their god, kraken and their spawn often war against each other. Because of their hunger for power, krakens will try to aquire political power through agents in other cultures and other races.
On very rare occasions, two krakens might see eye to eye long enough to mate, thus creating a new unique kraken. Because it features are actually a mix of both, it is disregarded by its parents to fend for its own. Such a newborn matures rapidly and possesses the knowledge of both parents.
Because Krakens are actually slivers of C'thruuls consience, every kraken worships C'thruul. Krakens will not and can not defy their creator.
PP
4pp shape: Kraken
store remaining pp for another shape action.
This text isn't finished yet, still working further on it
store remaining pp for another shape action.
This text isn't finished yet, still working further on it
This last admission by Valerius made the Naga before him agitated, tip of burnished tail flicking back and forth as he studied Valerius.
"Embrin, this is unacceptable. How is it that we are to deal with you fairly when your circumstances seem to change as quickly as Dajjal's breath? You speak of your people as a whole, then admit you do not actually represent the entirety of them. You arrive with a small delegation, and then we are surprised to fiind a small army within our walls. You talk of how your people will do this or that for us, but now you admit that what constitutes your people is actually more fractious than unified, and that any agreement we make with you will not bind your kin.
If you are merely some two-bit warlord trying to increase your power on the backs of our people, why should we ever deal with you? Why is it that you should not be swearing fealty to us? Our message was that your people, as a whole, would lead us to glorious victory. You do not represent your people, you represent yourself. This is not enough. We require our terms to be agreed upon by ALL Embrin, not merely the handful you personally lead.
Go. Leave this valley, leave the land of our Trial, go back to your people and, if you can return with their agreement to our terms, we will continue this discussion. If you return without these concessions and demand our fealty, we shall take this as a declaration of war, and the very land itself will rise up to swallow you."
The Naga swiveled on his tail and moved back to the Dais. Itropi and another Naga roughly grabbed Valerius' arms and began to drag him from the chamber. Valerius and the other Embrin were herded back to the entrance tunnel, where the rest of the Embrin force looked nervously around at the various tunnels, trying to spot where the rest of the hissing sounds came from.
"You heard our leader, you know our terms. Begone, Embrin. You have until sundown to leave this valley."
~Niganati, Deep Chambers~
The Ivory Orb suddenly sprang to life, red energy arcing over the runes and highlighting some of them. Just as with the Black Orb, those that watched could understand the words that were now being illuminated.
Woe to the Children of Tsiyoti!
Woe to the Children of Dajjal!
The Corrupted ones come with gnashing teeth!
Glory to the Red-skinned!
Glory to the Scorned one!
His might will lead to salvation for all!
It was lucky that the Windy Goddess had been floating over this particular patch of sea at this particular time. Otherwise, she may have missed her brother's low murmuring call. Fortunately, she was, and she did, and so she swooped down upon him.
"Oh, Heart, what did you do? Look at yourself, you're a mess!" she cooed at her fractured brother, "You simply must tell me what all that was about."
"I am not Tsiyoti. Or at least, not quite. I am surely... part of him. But I feel the rest of me is somewhere... else. Far to the east, deep underground, I am not sure. I can't seem to move, though. I feel pulled to the east, but... I cannot go! Can you help me?"
Dajjal was not one who's patience was to be tried, and her brother certainly was trying it today. Still, he was her brother, and she did care at least marginally for the poor lump of wayward liquid. So she offered to help.
"This is definitely going against my better judgement, which tells me you siblings are all just a load of unnecessary trouble, but I think I will help you, T. And you know why? Because I'm nice that way. So tell your friends. I am nice."
And with that she proffered a windy hand to her dizzy brother.
A grand task indeed, but then, there's no time to explain.
PP Expenditure
3 PP - Stored toward a Create action.
"That didn't seem to work" it muttered as it slowly drew nearer the surface of the ocean again. "I'm too dilute to maintain a form out of water for long."
Dajjal merely pursed her lips and glared.
"Come on! Work with me here!"
Annoyed, she went to sit upon a rock jutting from the ocean. Bored with her brother's antics, she picked up two rocks, each worn down by the waves, and yet miraculously still sitting upon the larger rock. She pciked them up and examing them. One was a bright, glittering white, and the other was a boring, charcoal grey. Neither interested her much , so she tossed them over her shoulder. They landed upon the nearby shore. Perhaps it was a mere trick of the sun, but each seemed to glitter strangely.
PP
2 PP Shape (Stored)
2 PP Beget (Stored)
2 PP Beget (Stored)
Valerius' scornful laughter echoed behind him as he was lead away. "Then you are foolishly naïve. For your sake, I hope you're never shown how hopelessly idealistic you truly are."
As he reunited with his forces, a few quick hand signals sent his men and women into motion. "We move out immediately. Swordguard Astrid is depending on our presence, with our without local conscripts. Company, form up!"
And heads held high, Valerius' forces departed Niganati.
~Dajjal
It was a day like any other in the tarnish city, until one tarnish caught a glimpse of light in the sky. More tarnish gathered around as the object floated closer to the assembled group, until it eventually landed on the ground.
It was a shining bow, made of an unidentifiable material that seemed in between metal and wood. It had a silver coloration, and would occasionally shine brilliantly, revealing an impressing array of colors, before swiftly returning to silver.
PP
3 PP - Forge Artifact: Tireas creates Oralia, the Heartseeker. It is a bow with unparalleled accuracy and lethality, capable of manipulating light as a weapon.
A flash momentarily appeared in his mind-- an imbomitable shield. Vantric. Shield. Approaches...
A second, and final flash-- a brilliant bow. Oralia...
"What is the matter with this sword?" He whispered quietly to himself. "What is it trying to...?" As he looked up, he notices a secondary group approaching-- carrying the very shield that flashed through his mind. "Oh... that's why." A smirk rolled across his face. "This is quite ironic... the offender becomes a defender... I must say, that is quite foolish of you. You say you long for conquest? Well, you have already failed. The attackers don't just become defenders... I call that cowardice. You are afraid of not conquering all. That is your weakness."
A trail of divine light started to flow behind him. "With your failure, I have a warning for you all: Begone from here, or face the true wrath of the Provider!"
8 PP: Dajjal, Tsiyoti, Amun
7 PP: Isura, C'thrull, Tireas
6 PP: Erainull, Sephus
5 PP: Marsten, Jzaquiht (NOW INACTIVE) ]
4 PP: Uwafe
They may think they have us outnumbered, but it will take more than just bigger creatures to outdo us and our faith. "Go back! Back to the depths in which you came!" At these words, a more valiant force of individuals arrive to combat the larger Keben-- swords with different dispositions than the clerics. they were nontheless divine fighter. More or less defeders, they had only one goal-- fight back against the oppressors and the sinners. And it worked. The Paladins, though they seemed over comed by the massing forces, drove them back little by little-- each sword filled with the dire radiance to keep the order alive.
At this point, the paladins and clerics gave room for the commoners to flee from the city-- keeping them underneath the veil of the Provider. They fled through small hidden doors through the walls-- away from where the titans were and running as fast as the winds had carried them. Their wings giving them flight for short distances proved useful for evading those who wanted nothing better to do than plague the city with death and decay.
In the midst of the chaos, the noble elder gave the order to regroup to follow and protect the commoners from any other threats. The bundle of the rathians make for the horizon and away from the mountain itself.
Bartholameau sees that the Embrin are retreating and comes to the conclusion to vacate before they come back to discover where they have gone. "We will not stand to see them take control over us. We move on-- find new ground to actually claim for ourselves. We will make sure they won't ever lay a finger upon us ever again-- I swear to the great spirit." On that order, him and his guardians-- as as the rest of the people-- fled from Karvesh as it was overrun by the Kebens.
[Amun's Moon]
With expressionless fury, Erainull was flattered by her brother's upbringing. "You will pay for this, brother..."
[Nelanti]
From the ruins of Karvesh, the survivors wander-- destined to find more suitable lands. On an account, the nobles prayed to the Provider above for sanctuary, while others suffered the drawbacks of the random Keben onslaught. "This was no random event-- something wants us all dead. Whom deserves the right to kill us all for no absolute reaso--?" Out of a sheer miracle, they come across a green meadow-- quiet in its splendor and secluded beyond the chaos from afar. "By the gods, we have found peace." They trekked across the new lands and siezed the opportunity toi claim it as their own, but it would take them a bit of decency before they are able to turn it into a more flourishing nation.
PP Expenditures
1pp Command: Upon the elder's lips, a new band of divine warriors were formed from the brinks of the order. Paladins arrived as the front lines of the cleric forces, as they sought to protect the nation from its apparent doom. The paladin's attacks also gives the commoners a chance to flee from the siege and escape without serious harm.
1pp Nourish: The rathians gain in strength one last time, as they fled from the already dying nation.
0pp Cantrip: Beget a hero-- Bartholameau
1pp Command: The last of the Rathians finally leave the nation itself to find new ground.
2pp Harm: The combined efforts of the paladins and clerics reduced the numbers of the oppressors by a greater amount-- then the nation of Karvesh quickly vacated with the defenders on the run to a better society-- away from the nonsense and uncalled treachery.
1pp Nourish: A small patch of an oasis-- Nelanti-- rises from the plentiful yet desolate landscape-- isolated from other landscapes such as the mountain itself.
0/6 pp remaining
1pp Nourish: The rathians gain in strength one last time, as they fled from the already dying nation.
0pp Cantrip: Beget a hero-- Bartholameau
1pp Command: The last of the Rathians finally leave the nation itself to find new ground.
2pp Harm: The combined efforts of the paladins and clerics reduced the numbers of the oppressors by a greater amount-- then the nation of Karvesh quickly vacated with the defenders on the run to a better society-- away from the nonsense and uncalled treachery.
1pp Nourish: A small patch of an oasis-- Nelanti-- rises from the plentiful yet desolate landscape-- isolated from other landscapes such as the mountain itself.
0/6 pp remaining
Karveshian legions locked shields against the invading hordes, pushing back the masses of crazed savages. War paint bedecked their bodies, and blood besmeared most of the rat-like Kebens, contrasting horribly with the white clay that glistened in their fur. The Paladins hacked down the waves as they came, bursting from homes and even the very ground beneath the Rathian's feet, so fallen was the city. Swords, consecreted by holy lips and holy words, punched through blood and bone to spill another glaze of gore onto streets already sticky with the viscera of the dead, and loud with the howls of the dying.
At last, the onrushing waves eased, like a beast bloodied by prey fiercer than he thought. Then, a terrible pounding of drums boomed amidst the sanguine streets. Thud. Thud. Thud. No rhythm but the basest sounded from these instruments. A long line, wending through the blood flecked cobbles marched forwards. Covered in roots, writhing, pagan things, this line of Juggernauts advanced. Fear clutched at even the bravest Paladin's heart, for legend proclaimed that the roots fed on the souls of their victims, denying them Erainull's embrace.
A flash in the evening, then another and another. A Paladin fells screaming, until roots pried apart his jaws and split apart his head. Cold steel, made hot with blood, sheared a root from its whole, then cleaved the Keben nearly in two. Still, they could not stem the advance, and died, one by one, ripped open on the streets of their city. As each fell to the harsh cobblestones they had died to protect, each looked up to the skies, and saw no god.
The brutal fury of a seige won overwhelmed Karvesh, as the invaders burned and stole, mutilating and defiling the bodies of victims. The black blood of the dead cracked beneath their crude stone blades as often as the warm vitality of the living splashed upon the stones. Any semblence of order amongst the Keben scourge vanished as each clan, and then each rat-man, took anything they thought valuable.
First Keben's gouged out the crystal eyes of the sculptures of Erainull, then shattered and things themselves. Tapestries woven to display the glory of civilization were pulled down and burned in iron pots, so that the gold thread could be pulled forth from the ash. Books, painstakingly inscribed with laws and philosophy lost their iluminations to a race that scraped the pages for their gold, and used what remained to wipe their arses.
Fire blackened the white stones of the city, and terror reigned in its streets. The last inhabitants having fled, the invaders hung corpses of murdered priests and children in the chaple of Erainull, then hurled stones at the corpses until all facial features disappeared into an oozing mass.
This list of profanities and desecrations encompasses only the first night of a nine day horror.
--------------
One Rathian, looking back over the city, died of horror. The universe refused to allow her soul to flee, and instead transmuted her to limestone, in her shape, weeping endlessly over the Calamity.
The souls of the Paladins, attempting to rise to meet their goddess, instead fell back into the earth. There, Sephus set them alight and threw them amongst the bodies of the dead and dying. Thus, the Viscera Crawlers awoke.
[sblock=PP]
2PP-Nourish: Kebens- The sack of Karvesh provides huge amounts of food and plunder, along with a surface location in which to breed.
2PP-Harm: Rathians- The defenders are utterly annihilated.
2PP- Spawn Beast: Viscera Crawlers- The tortured spirits of murdered Paladins trapped in piles of gore and motivated only by a hatred of all life.
Isura stewed in the steam cloud for some time. The Light Fantastic, now that she could remember creating it, was... troublesome, and she didn't quite know what to do with it.
"I have no further use for you, Light. Go elsewhere."
"Okay for the yesness."
Hunh. Simple enough. She thought. The Light was just as... far-out to her as to anyone.
Secondly, Isura dwelt on her form. For a self-proclaimed incarnation of change, she had kept her form nigh constant for longer than she would have liked.
"Then how about..."
A sudden flare of heat burnt off the fog, revealing Isura, smaller now, and proportioned very much like an Embrin or Titan, though none of the former and only a few of the latter could match the intense heat created by a being who's entire body seemed wrought from liquid fire. More traditional, gaseous flames burned as her "hair", and twin orbs of crystallized fire serving as "eyes" were the only features, other than the shape her new body took, visible. She had no apparent mouth, but that hadn't stopped her before. Not content to walk, she floated above the ground, as she had before.
The goddess inspected her new body, dextrously manipulating and testing out her newly crafted fingers. They were much more complicated than they had appeared. She struck a pose for Tireas, the only remaning divinity in the Garden. "What do you think?"
In her newest incarnation, Isura was barely taller than a Titan herself, coming only barely above Tireas' waist, should the two have stood face-to-face on level ground.
~Hearth~
The discovery of Vantric and the tales of a similarly powerful weapon at the city of Kardesh had sent the few Embrin scholars (bored tacticians, mostly) into a flurry of discovery. Their brief experimentation, before the weapon departed towards Kardesh, ended with an expedition to the barrens of the Sea of Dajj. They sought Sventalis, though they knew not what exactly they were looking for, the observed power of Vantric was enough to convince any involved with the expedition that expediance was of vast importance, and failure unnegotiable.
~The Eastern Plains~
The plains were red with blood. A strong Embrin commander had slain the leaders of their warbands, and rallied the ferocious Gnolls to his banner instead. This, the first of the Embrin fiefdoms, was a bitter and bloody land of harsh justice, and grim tidings. Though, in most cases, the unification of the gnolls was seen as a generally positive thing.
PP Expenditure
-1 PP Command: An expedition of Embrin sets out into the Sea of Dajj in an attempt to locate Sventalis. Without divine intervention, they will soon succeed.
-1 PP Command: A Gnollish Fiefdom, lead by a Swordguard of Embrin, arises in the East.
5
Tireas looked at Isura quizzically, and continued, "Although I can't seem to remember why Tsiyoti had angered me. It must have been significant."
His weapons once again vanished, and Tireas looked toward the decimated Garden. It seemed almost unreal that he had caused it; as if someone else had done the deed. Tireas knew that he had lost control of his fury (why?), and despite winning his battle, it felt somewhat empty.
"Uncontrolled rage. It can be grand, don't you think? The catalyst, or perhaps even the seed, of many great events."
Veshna roared in response, and swam in the air around the gate, her blood-red scales shining eerily.
The goddess sighed and leapt into the air, floating across the intervening space to better examine the snake.
"Uncontrolled rage is useful. It is, as you said, a catalyst of change. But I like the cold fires of tempered anger even more -- all the fury of white-hot anger, but with the benefit of foresight to stride forward all the stronger."
He felt the battles below and heard the cries of the vanquished soldiers. His plans were working, and the mortals were acting in the way Tireas had envisioned. At the moment, all he had to do was play the waiting game. Bide his time until either a mortal had collected his weapons, or until the mortals as a whole had lost their way.
"But as of now I am without direction. Do you have a task for me?"
"The world at large is a savage one." stated Isura, stalling for time.
"As pleasant as this constant strife and turmoil is, I feel like there should be some place of culture and discipline to balance it out."
Isura cupped her chin in thought (she was so enjoying the expresiveness of this new form!). "I suppose it would have to be someplace out of the way and desolate." she mused. "Some place to get away from it all." the goddess found her gaze moving upwards, to her phoenixes, dotting the sky, and to...
"The moon." Isura said, finally. "I know nothing about the moon." She 'shaded' her eyes to peer farther at it. "Are those trees and things up there? I had never noticed. I wonder if there are people up there as well -- people who could produce worthy challengers for you to fight."
All thoughts on an oasis of order had vanished, replaced by rediscovered curiosity.
Feeling an uncomfortable feeling, he moves to the final spire. As he puts his hands upon the last spire, a sense of dread falls over him, like someone or something is watching. waiting. As the final spire flashes it fades as like the last one. Guardians of the spirits and the elements of Virago. Orcs are more barbaric than either race before, nonetheless still commanded a great wisdom. Strength and speed and a ferocious fighting spirit would make them a match for any would be defilers of this realm. Living as long as the humans, they still strived with ambition, yet tempered with wisdom. Amun feeling that he had made a good balance between the three, then left the final spire.
Reappearing but moments later, he looks to his distracted friend. "It seems you have you work cut out for you here and down below! I am getting this odd feeling that we are being watched from below though. I think it would be best if we took to my new home and prepared for some guests."
With that the scenery changed below them to that of a barren island, before them the Temple to the Gods.
"Well. Well. This won't do at all. If this is going to be here, it should at least look nice!" With that he raises his arms and exotic yet beautiful flowers, trees, bushes and other plantlife not found anywhere else on Vorega appear all over the Virgos Island. As he lowers his arms, he says only two more words before striding into the building....
"Welcome home."
PP
4PP (1PP from this week and 3PP from last week) Shape: Humans now populate Vorega. Imbued with great potential to do many things.
4PP Shape: Orcs populate Vorega as well. With that the trio of races are now complete. Orcs are considered guardians of the spirit world and of the elements upon Vorega. The three races now have their purposes set: Tenders: elves, Guardians: orcs, and Makers: humans. What happens to them or with them is now up to them.
1PP nourish: Virgos Island is now lush with exotic and beautiful plantlife unseen on the rest of Vorega.
2/8PP left.
4PP (1PP from this week and 3PP from last week) Shape: Humans now populate Vorega. Imbued with great potential to do many things.
4PP Shape: Orcs populate Vorega as well. With that the trio of races are now complete. Orcs are considered guardians of the spirit world and of the elements upon Vorega. The three races now have their purposes set: Tenders: elves, Guardians: orcs, and Makers: humans. What happens to them or with them is now up to them.
1PP nourish: Virgos Island is now lush with exotic and beautiful plantlife unseen on the rest of Vorega.
2/8PP left.
OOC
Okay Veok, here's Valerius' chance to salvage the situation.
The Sand Raiders make their way to where the landscape no longer become sand, but becomes a rocky plateau-- distant and desolate as the rest of the land was. The dune scorpions were left to swim in the sands-- hunting down any other creature caught in the shifting sands.
With a few miles, the group saw a tunnel with unusual looking creatures outside. They quickly saw that the creatures were plenty armed, and they deemed it right to move on without worry. They needed to find sanctuary-- and quickly. They knew the Embrin would take over their home nation soon, but were completely unaware of what was actually happening.
One of the leads carefully navigated the rocks to much more stable land. He gave a warm welcome to the figures outside of the tunnel. "Well, I do hope I'm not intruding too far into your homelands. We come from a nation bound by the service of our god, which was under siege by red-skinned creatures. I'm not sure what they were, but they didn't seem very friendly toward us." He bowed. "I am Miles. We are a group of travellers-- seeking to find a new home, to seek sanctuary from the red-skins who attempted to oppress us."
OOC
Helloooo Toph
Karvesh, once the capital of a proud land, came to be called the White City, or the Rattling City, for the thousands of skeletons that littered its streets and hung from its walls.
--------------
As the Embrin war-bands camped on the outskirts of the White City, a lone Keben slipped into their midst. He revealed himself to the guards outside the commandant's tent, and asked to speak with him.
The guards stiffened, tails snapping into a straight line behind them as their lazy afternoon was suddenly interrupted by complete strangers. This particular place was not supposed to be known to anyone, particularly outsiders. In fact, supposedly only a single narrow canyon led from a secret entrance to Niganati itself to this place.
After a brief moment where the two groups eyed one another, the Naga let down their guard. Whomever this small band of Rathians was, there was no way they posed a threat to what lay beyond.
One of the Naga slithered forward.
"Rathians. Welcome. We know of your people from a few traders that brave the dry lands of the Trial. I am sure that if you come with an honest need, we Naga will help you."
The woman's head turned slightly, large eyes blinking slowly and giving the distinct impression of a predator sizing up prey.
"You are in the wrong place for that, though. This is holy ground. The City lies down that canyon road, not beyond this tunnel."
~Naganati Depths~
While the fighting raged above, below another orb, this one a deep red ochre was dug from the ground.
PP
1 PP: Command Populace/Land: The Naga find the patch of ground from which they were born and build a temple over it to Tsiyoti.
3 PP: Orb of Order. Part 3 of 4 of the Prophesy Stones.
1 PP Remains.
1 PP: Command Populace/Land: The Naga find the patch of ground from which they were born and build a temple over it to Tsiyoti.
3 PP: Orb of Order. Part 3 of 4 of the Prophesy Stones.
1 PP Remains.
The lead acknowledged what the other two figures had said. "I see. We only come to seek shelter from what had befelled our nation. We have no means to disturb your sanctuary or 'affect' your people in any way. We have our own way of living, but we are more than happy to share customs with one another."
At the words of the female, he became a tad skeptical. Hrmm.. so, they revere their god as well... this shall be interesting how this all works out... "Ah. We will not proceed through your sacred land then." He looked down the canyon road right near the troupe behind him. "Sorry for our intrusion once again..." on that note he ordered his troupe to follow him down the canyon-- completely unaware of the current fight that was occuring. He was ready for anything though. Those 'things' sure seemed nice and helpful enough... but I think I may hear something up ahead, and it doesn't sound too good...
"Oh, very well. Let us lend a hand."
A blazing salvo of bolts and fire suddenly erupted into the Fallen's flank, slaying nearly a dozen outright. Five Embrin emerged from behind the cover of the landscape, charging into the momentary hole in the seething mass of Fallen.
To the naga, the timely arrival of the Embrin was like a thing of unimaginable beauty, fast made apparent. While the Naga knew how to fight, their isolation meant they had little knowledge of warfare, and so the way the five saviors acted together, stood together, slew together, a harmonoius knit of well-trained soldiers, standing like some primeval bastion against the tide of roiling Fallen, there was no other way to describe it: It was awe-inspiring.
Ephrem stood in the midst of the five, wielding a lance, expertly darting and diving above the shoulders and in between the elbows of his fellows. His wary eyes kept constant watch on the shifting battlelines, and his near constant utterance of terse commands kept the four elite soldiers secure in both position and in life.
Nearly unimaginably, this precision strike of Embrin commandos began to turn the tide of Fallen, the brutal coordination of those five only increased in lethality as the first of the ranks of Fallen began to flee, to fall back. Then the second ranks, then the third, and so on. Not ten minutes after their arrival, the Embrin had decisively snatched victory for the Naga, and when the Fallen finally began to rout, a shaky cheer rose up from the naga. The Fallen were defeated, and Niganati saved.
In the aftermath of the battle, the five Embrin stood apart. Ephrem, their leader, casually leaned on his spear. They were a silent, judgemental delegation, no emotion betrayed on any of their features. They waited.
~On the outskirts of Kardesh's former territory~
The Keben was brought into one of the largest tents set up by the camped strikeforce. Inside, torches would have made the light almost blinding to a surface dweller: The Keben found itself nearly in agony. Blinking back tears of pain, it saw the vague outline of a humanoid lounging on a chair. It could make out almost nothing else.
"What are you, and why do you seek counsel with Audley, creature?"
PP Expenditure
-1 PP Command: A surgical team of Embrin commandos ordered behind by Valerius rout the Fallen, driving them far away from Niganati.
Meanwhile, his exarch Cecaelia went to check out the other entity that arrived in the western sea.
The kraken and their lesser kin each sought another region in both the inner and greater outer seas. Each kraken lair would become a stronghold, protected by their lesser spawns.
PP
Nourish populous x PP: The different kraken and their lesser spawns form mayor powers within the many seas
x=all my pp of the week
Nourish populous x PP: The different kraken and their lesser spawns form mayor powers within the many seas
x=all my pp of the week
Turning to the waiting Embrin, he nervously cleared his throat. The raw skill and power they had demonstrated, routing a band of hundreds of Fallen, seemed beyond the power that any mere mortal should have. Far, far beyond, as if they had the power to become Gods if they so desired it. There was only one possibility, and it terrified him to no end to even consider it.
"Do you have the blood of Gods coursing through your veins?" He wondered aloud before raising his voice to call out to the Embrin.
"I... Thank you. Would you send Valerius back to us? It would appear we need to rethink our answer to him."
~The Ocean~
Tsiyoti hovered above the waves, the blood within him sorting itself out once more. Soon he became aware of a presence growing behind him and turned to behold C'thruul.
"C'thrull. It has been a long time. What has been keepign you busy lately?"
One of Ephrem's four lieutenants answered Itropi's first question.
"We were lucky, and we took them by surprise." She pointed to the corpses strewn about the area. "We only slew perhaps two dozen in all. The horde is not defeated, they fled with their numbers intact. All we did is drive them off."
Ephrem had smriked at Itropi's first question, but his countennance grew icy as Itropi voiced his second.
In fact, all of the Embrin had stiffened, as if someone had physically slapped them.
"I don't know." Ephrem's tone held none of the indecision his words implied. "Perhaps we should be the ones rethinking our offer. After all, the Fallen are the least of the foes one might expect to face in the world beyond this valley. They aren't even truly civilized. And yet, they were well on their way to devouring your home entirely."
Ephrem cast a theatrical glance to his lieutenants. "I'm not sure we could make use of the naga anymore. What use could they be?"
The other Embrin, for their part, understood the rhetorrical question for what it was, and stood, stern and unmoving, like fierce, burning statues.
With a loud crack, he was expelled from the gate, rolling across the garden as he clutched at the orb of energy he had gathered within it. Pulling himself shakily to his feet, he examined the sphere, confirming to himself that it held just the right properties for his task. Satisfied, he took a single step to the side, moving beyond existence and into the great beyond.
Without the energy of the gate to shield him, he would have been rent apart immediately. Even with it, the strain tore at him, and he struggled to keep his essence together long enough to weave the strands into a tapestry around the world, each one interlocking with the utmost care. When finished, he brought the loose ends together into the sphere of energy, and around him burst a new plane, it's very existence linked to and dependent upon the world he had left.
Exhausted, he collapsed in the center of it all to regain his strength.
PP Expenditures
3 stored + 1 PP - Create Plane
Store 3 PP - Forge
Store 1 PP - Spawn
I'll explain details either tomorrow night in the OOC, or Monday evening. I work in 6 hours so I need to get some sleep.
Store 3 PP - Forge
Store 1 PP - Spawn
I'll explain details either tomorrow night in the OOC, or Monday evening. I work in 6 hours so I need to get some sleep.
"I, and my clan, fight from the shadows. We crept into the White City in the night and killed a hundred Rathians before they knew a fox was amongst the hens, and killed five hundred before we lost a single one. Yet, the White City is dead now, and all the gold and gems and food and wine has been eaten and drunk. We are warriors, yet I don't want to fight underground anymore.
If you can arm my band, I can force other clans to swear fealty to me. I believe I can put a thousand Juggernauts and several hundred Rogues in the field, all blooded and lusting for more. We demand plunder, and war, only that. Also, we killed many bird-men, silly creatures, weak and foolish, but perhaps killing all was a bad idea. I have a good idea, really good one. Instead of killing everyone, maybe we should keep a few, as slaves, to carry the food and stuff. And to kill when we get bored."
At this last statement, the Keben finally looked up, hoping forlornly that the outline of the enthroned creature would resolve through the haze of tears and smoke. He seemed to be seeking approval for his revolutionary plan of adding "slavery" to the Keben watchwords of "fire and sword."
The shrouded figure watched the Keben for a time. "I see some merit in what you say, but I find myself doubting its feasibility. Your kind seems to flock to chaos and discord, while we fight with tactics and interdependancy, your people fights en masse, a rushing horde which can only kill or be killed. How can I ensure your reliability, should we recruit you?"
~Garden of Eternity~
Isura looked away from Tireas to watch Arvad appear, struggle with some great working, and then vanish once more.
"What's his deal, anyway?" the goddess commented idly.
"The Bird-Men fought together too, and now their bones lie bleaching in the sun. Still, only a fool would seek to put Juggernauts into legions, give them officers and commandants, no, that would not do. As shock troops though, those who could bear the first shock of the wild line of battle, the Juggernauts have no peer. And war is not always won in the shield-wall, I've cut the throats of more than a few chiefs while they slept, and fallen upon their encampments in the morning."
OOC
Sorry for the late reset. Its coming right after this post
One of Ephrem's lieutennats, shocked at the continued slight, stepped forward angrily.
"You don't get it, do you, snake? Ephrem is our leader now. He was appointed by Valerius to keep tabs on your kind. Valerius has-."
The angry lieutenant looked ready to say more, but a curt gesture from Ephrem stopped him mid-sentence. Dutifully, the lieutenant stepped back into formation.
Ephrem continued in a measured tone, features still stony, carefully devoid of emotion. "Your chance to converse with Valerius has passed. If your leaders would want an audience with our "leader", they will speak to me, or they will speak to no one."
7 PP: Dajjal, Isura, Tsiyoti, Amun, Erainull
6 PP: C'thrull, Tireas, Arvad
5 PP: Marsten, Sephus
4 PP: Uwafe
spreadsheets0.google.com/ccc?authkey=CKy...
"Very well, we will converse with you... but is not Valerius your lord? When you are with him... he is in command, yes? Or is this what he spoke of when he said your people had many leaders?"
Returning to the center of the plane, he approached the pedestal sitting there and placed the orb of energy he still held onto it. "Should be safe enough here. It would take a travel god or a madman to navigate the twisting structures of this place and find this room. Now that the potential exists, I just need to find the right set of people to give it to. Time to return, I suppose."
Steeping sideays out of existence, he reappeared near the gate. "Ah, hello Tireas." He bowed his head ever so slightly, "Isura. A surprise to see you both here, Have things been well?"
PP Expenditures
3 Stored - Forge Artifact - Blink Orb - This orb is what enables mortals to teleport, whether it's via magic, psionics, or what ever else might allow them to do so. Where it destroyed, all teleportations effects would fail to function. In the hands of a mortal, it allows them to teleport with ease, to anywhere they can see or have strong memories of. In some specific circumstances, it may even allow the weilder to teleport through time.
1 Spawn PP Stored
6/6
1 Spawn PP Stored
6/6
Tireas lowered his head in acknowledgement, and responded, "I am, as the mortals put it, bored. The seeds of my plan have been planted, and now I wait for them to grow. I feel any further intervention would be unwise."
After saying this, he looks up, toward the Moon.
"Perhaps the mortals there need a touch of war. For now they are of little concern; they have their places and will be called upon when needed."
Offering a smile, he laughed. "Then again, perhaps I might take a look, and teach them how to get down here. See how they fare when faced with the mighty creatures that wander this land."
More of us...? I never recalled such thing... It was a surprise for him to learn that there were other Rathian wanderers, but he was more concerned about what has been happening. "Well, from our standpoint, I had never explected to run into a civilization this far out from our homelands-- as though were going to continue on. There were a bunch of creatures that were set loose near the landscape of rocks-- terrible-looking creatures. Their only weakness was, of course, they were instinctual." He pulled out one of the pincer claws he had cut off from one of the scorpions. "A scorpion, I might call it. Anyway, our main mission was to find shelter from the 'red-skinned' oppressors. They had come upon our lands to try and take it away from us. I'm not sure what is happening at the moment, but I believe it may not have been good."
The underground caverns brought to them a small amount of security and safety-- as if it were already home. "The strangeness of this cave is quite... eccentric. I almsot feel as if we had found sanctuary. Forgive me, I don't mean to intrude. I have no interest in claiming land that has already been claimed-- doing so would upset my patron goddess. It would seem prudent to learn one another's cultures-- to reinforce our allegiance against the red-skins and their oppressive ways."
[Near Niganati]
A swarm of dune scorpions ride amongst the rocks-- following the trail of the rathian travellers and come upon the same cavern they were once in. The entrance to the sacred ground was right before them. With a studdering hiss, they slid down and started to make their way towards the Naga. They had no idea what they were up against. "HSSSSSS!"
[Iganti Meadows]
It was a time for brief celebration, as they went hard to work-- building a nation based on the fortification of their last. This time, they had no room for error. They had to set up a preliminary defense, and these forests provided a sort of temporary blockade-- they had to have more. They constructed a thicker, more resilient wall out of rocks in a nearby quarry, and the trees used to construct parts of the community within. The ground was reinforced with cobblestone walkways to ensure a stable ground. Some even caught a disease to mine just outside of the nation. All in all, the new nation rose higher than its last.
[Amun's Moon]
"Well, I'm happy for them." The pages went back and forth frantically-- writing down amongst its pages the new nation's rise-- the thriving community, a newer township and temple dedicated for their survival. In due time and with enough care and resources, they would end up with a near-impregnable fortress this time-- scaling back any attacks made against them. With the staff still in hand and with the blade's influence, it was time to set things in motion.
PP Expenditures
0pp cantrip: A miniscule troupe of dune scorpions track down the Sand Raiders to their first stop and spot the cavern as a potential breeding site.
1pp Command: A new Rathian nation comes to power, known as the Iganti Meadows.
2pp Nourish: The nation quickly develops as the Rathians build a better outer wall, reinforced the buildings with better resources, and even start mining just outside of the wall. A large quarry of cobblestone rests nearby to provide structure and protection, as well as a few other provisions to come.
1pp Command: Mining becomes a big deal for the Rathians as they attempt to dig out precious resources and stronger materials from below ground.
3/7 pp remaining
1pp Command: A new Rathian nation comes to power, known as the Iganti Meadows.
2pp Nourish: The nation quickly develops as the Rathians build a better outer wall, reinforced the buildings with better resources, and even start mining just outside of the wall. A large quarry of cobblestone rests nearby to provide structure and protection, as well as a few other provisions to come.
1pp Command: Mining becomes a big deal for the Rathians as they attempt to dig out precious resources and stronger materials from below ground.
3/7 pp remaining
The Dune scorpions raced down the hills, and the Naga looked at them as they attempted to enter the cavern. Suddenly, the Naga darted forwards with large nets, ensnaring the Dune Scorpions.
Over the next little while, the Dune Scorpions were tamed and trained by the Naga to act as Temple guardians. A special scent, undetectable to the Naga but easily noticed by the Scorpions, was used to distinguish friend and guest from temple desecrator.
~Niganati, Pharoah's Chambers~
A hiss from the Queen silenced the Rathian.
"Red-skinned?" she said, slithering down off the dais and closer to the Rathian. "Do you mean the Embrin? Perhaps it would be wise to know that we just entertained a delegation from their kind not four hours ago. We sent them off to bring back better proof of their noble intentions. Tell me, do you accuse the Embrin of destroying your cities?"
PP
1 PP: Command Creature/Populace. Dune Scorpions are tamed and trained by the Naga to act as guardians.
1 PP: Command Creature/Populace. Dune Scorpions are tamed and trained by the Naga to act as guardians.
"Again, I'm not exactly sure what has happened to our nation as of right now, but yes. While we were near, they had attempted to take it over in one fell swoop-- forcing their way past the walls of our nation." There was a slight pain in the back of his head-- a sort of message almost, as if part of the Divine Order had just disappeared. A thousand voices screaming in his mind-- a maelstrom of chaos. "Forgive me. I must have been given some sort of a message, but I'm not sure what it had meant..." He continued to delegate. "Yes, these 'Embrin' you call them. They came here and actually negotiated terms of alliance with you?" All this was becoming a little unclear, but then some pieces started to slide together. I suppose turning them back was perhaps a good thing then, because had they saw us coming through here, they probably would've done a number to us...
OOC
Blargh... The dreadful Double-Post... 
Well, I have a good reason for this
Well, I have a good reason for this
Of course, it was at that exact moment that Itropi pushed through the doors leading Ephrem and the other Embrim back into the chamber.
The Pharoah bolted upright.
"What are you doing bringing THEM back in here, Itropi? Our message to them was clear and simple."
Itropi blanched, color draining from his tanned face, but he moved forward and began to relate the events of the past hour and a half. The Pharoah's face went blank, but his eyes darted nervously towards Ephrem every so often as he listened to Itropi explain the rout. Finally, Itropi fell silent, and the Pharoah spoke, addressing himself to Ephrem.
"Ephrem, was it? You have our thanks for your timely intervention. We had seen a few of these Fallen at a time, but nothing like the massive horde that Itropi describes.
In light of your service and your talents, perhaps we should reconsider our demands of your people. Are you capable of negotiating for Valerius? I would not wish to come to an arrangement with you only to discover that it does not hold beyond the five of you that are here at the present time."
The Queen broke in.
"I do have one question, though. We have been speaking with this Rathian, and he tells us a story much different from the one we were told by Valerius. It was my understanding that we would be fighting against the great powers of the world: the Titans. But this one tells me that your people have attacked his own. I would not have any party to attacking one weaker than myself."
~Niganati, Dungeons~
Their hands bound behind them, the Fallen were pushed through the tunnels by spear-weilding Naga until they reached a great pit in the floor. One by one the Fallen were pushed into the pit, landing on the ground dazed but mostly unharmed. Soon the pit was full of captured Fallen, screaming their screams and reaching up towards the Naga after freeing their wrists. A large metal grate fell into place above the pit, trapping the fallen inside even if they had been able to reach the lip of the pit.
~Keben Encampment~
An old man walked into the encampment, leaning on a staff whose sapphire head seemed to glow softly. He looked around expectantly.
"Well?" He said after a moment. "Aren't you going to show me to your leader?"
~Underneath the Godmountain~
Gasping, the small man pulled himself from the pool of water and stood shivering on the banks. He spent a long moment staring back at the dark pool with eyes that easily pierced the pitch blackness. Suddenly, he felt lonely, and wished that he had friends.
Deep within him, the Blood of Ebel stirred and the water before him began to move of its own volition.
PP
1 PP: Command Populace: The Naga capture some Fallen and begin to see if they can be trained (thats coming next week)
3 PP: Beget Exarch: Dinklin, the first Dwarf... he's got the last bits of Tsiyoti's blood floating around in him.
2 PP: Saved for a shape action next turn.
1 PP: Command Populace: The Naga capture some Fallen and begin to see if they can be trained (thats coming next week)
3 PP: Beget Exarch: Dinklin, the first Dwarf... he's got the last bits of Tsiyoti's blood floating around in him.
2 PP: Saved for a shape action next turn.
Far off elsewhere~
The elves of the forest small in numbers begin to take to the trees for safety. A family takes leadership of the small tribe, guided by the druids and the priests. They call themselves the Evanion.
The orcs huddled in their huts the spiked wall surrounding their villages from roving bandits and outside attacks. The warriors and shamans became well known for their prowess and they eventually became to be known as the people of the Drak'Mar.
Back in the temple~
In one part of the hall down far below in an unknown chamber, a pattern appeared on the floor. A mysterious thing it glowed and buzzed with energy. It seemed to swirl and spark. It had its switchbacks and its twists, its hairpin curves and its straightaways. It also had what appeared to be three points where everything coalesed. As it did this, it swirled into a deadend with what seemed to be no way out... It sat. It buzzed. It hummed. It waited for the ones who would attempt to pass through its treacherous path.
PP expenditures
1PP: command: The elves form the Evanion nation
1PP: command: The orcs form Drak'Mar nation
2PP: Nourish: both the elves and the orcs grow as a populace as they find safety in numbers.
3PP: Forge: A mystical pattern forms underneath the temple. Its exact uses are yet to be known...
0/7PP
1PP: command: The elves form the Evanion nation
1PP: command: The orcs form Drak'Mar nation
2PP: Nourish: both the elves and the orcs grow as a populace as they find safety in numbers.
3PP: Forge: A mystical pattern forms underneath the temple. Its exact uses are yet to be known...
0/7PP
It's an odd sort of thing. You hear a story, a tragic, mournful tale, full of epic circumstance and heroic sacrifice. A saga passed down through the ages. She had a story like that. The Mother. The First-One. The Liar. She had a tale. It was quite a tale, indeed. One for the history books, I daresay. Just the right amounts of angst, defiance, and tragedy to spin the memories into legend.
The story goes that she was hurt. Broken, bleeding she was. Abandoned. Her children, tempestuous things, rode the sweeping currents of their own magisterial amibitions, keeping their minds fixated upon higher things than bleeding queens. But she was a mother. And like all mothers, she was alone. One by one her children had departed, not silently, no, but each with their pound of flesh, cut from the body, the heart of their mother. This is not tragic. It is the way of every family. Every mother must give life, and every child must take life away. So she was not sad when she wandered into the mists, waded into the waters of the western seas, her weighty burden heavy on her shoulders. Into the waters she went, and there, it is said she cut out her own heart. And in one final, desperate act, a final child was born. Life given as life was taken away. Life in exchange for new life. The cycle. And her body fell among the waves, and she died, she died, and she died.
It was the story, yes. A grand one, of woeful consequence and frightful terminations. Yes, a story not to be forgotten. The tale of a god was always a remarkable one. But the truth, you see, is much more tragic. Gods are not as you or I, fleshy beings that step with heavy feet and breathe with weary breaths. No, they are something more, something altogether more brilliant. Something altogether more fragile. The truth was, Ebel did not simply die. No, that was not it. Ebel was forgotten. As the tide turns, the waves lap on, her age was over. She simply passed out of memory, out of mind. Tragedians try to postulate upon this occurance, invent countless stories, each more fantastic than the last. But the truth was, a god is a belief, a talisman against the cold, the violent and harsh world. It is there when we need it. But Ebel was no longer needed. Her time had passed as a summer's leaf turns to gold, and dies, cast away by the winds of coming winter. The world gre anew, needed her no longer. And so, she died. And the passing of the age was felt by those who cherished the old way. But the sad thing was, even they forgot, in time.
But the faithful daughter never forgets. No, she is patient. Her mother was gone, cast out of sight, out of mind, but she waited she remembered. But a talisman of a talisman is really nothing at all. So all her love, all her hopeful imaginings were for naught. Her mother was dead. Nothing could be done. She cursed the sky, the winds, the fires of the mountain, cursed them for their cruelty, their failure to act. But her anger was nothing, could be nothing. She was tired. Her mother was gone. Now she, in turn, was alone. How bittersweet, how poetic. That she should abandon her mother, and now become the abandoned. And so she wept. She wept, and she wept.
Because even gods cry, sometimes.
PP
3PP: C'thruul now fully aquires the ice domain he stole from Od'Vidr
3PP: Save for next week to create a plane
3PP: C'thruul now fully aquires the ice domain he stole from Od'Vidr
3PP: Save for next week to create a plane
A crowd of Kebens began to gather threateningly around the old man. A Juggernaut, one of the few remaining warriors of Grevosk's shock troops, seemed to lead them, though "lead" typically implies something other than chaos. He rasped orders to the throng quickly, his vocal cords still working by some miracle, though his throat was a mass of scars and Shambler roots.
"Kill old man quick, take staff for Scar-Throat! We eat good tonight. Leave more bones in dirt. Kill! Kill! Kill!"
----------------
High above the earth, on Amun's Moon, a tree shuddered and twisted under the axe. It was the greatest of the forest, first growth, a stand of trees that had never felt the bite of steel or stone. The great tree groaned, as gravity began to exert its inexorable demand, and fell, tearing a great gap in the canopy as the enormous monolith of the forest fell, shredding the heretofore virgin branches of the surrounding trees.
Boards began to be hacked from its body, slowly whittling away the great trunk. At last, a human youth was left with the core of the tree, to split it as the rest of his fellows moved on. He struck at it with his mallet, driving the rock spike deeper into the trunk, suddenly, it split, and a gnarled staff fell from between the two halves of the yew tree. It was the size of a sapling; it was, in fact, the First Tree.
Stunned, though perhaps not realizing the significance, the youth took the first tree, and, as if pulled by instinct, bent it. The wood moved smoothly, easily, quickly returning to its previous position. He left the tree half split, and returned to the crude village huts. There, he slipped into the tanner's hut, and stole a sinew, cut from the shoulder of a deer, well dried and supple. With it, he fashioned the Old Wood Bow.
Soon, this youth, now called Kandinsky, began to protest the cutting of trees, demanding a return to nature.
PP
3PP- Forge Artifact: Old Wood Bow
1PP- Command Populace: A splinter group of humans opposes cutting trees.
1PP- Nourish Populace: This group expands.
spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0Aq2b-Hn...
8PP: Tsiyoti
7PP: Dajjal, Isura, Amun, Erainull
6PP: Sephus, Arvad, Tireas,C'thrull
5PP: Marsten (Now Inactive)
4PP: Uwafe (Now Inactive)
Behind the crying Dajjal, a familiar orb floated up.
"Sister, what is wrong? Have you been hurt?"
~The Keben Encampment~
The Keben moved forward, but the first one to lay a hand on the old man jerked back as if burned. As the other savages watched, the Keben's mouth opened and a thin scream emerged as its form seemed to melt away into a pool of bloody water.
The man smiled and addressed himself to the Juggernaut
"I see the reputation your people have gained is not untrue. Do you speak for these? I have a proposition for you and your people... one that will give you much treasure and food if you are sucessful."
"Oh, for Isura's sake!" the words burst, exasperated, from Ephrem. He ignored the verbal slight against him again, for he was rapidly realizing just how scatter-brain-ed-ly ignorant these people were of the Embrin and their culture. "Is it such a hard concept to conceive that my people are not united in purpose as your two's seem to be? I can assure you that when we served under Valerius, we laid siege to no such cities, nor have we done so in the time since leaving his command."
Ephrem paused to take a breath. "Regardless, I am not here as a representative of Valerius; Nor would the terms of an alliance with us be identical to what Valerius proposed."
~Outside the Ruins of Kardesh~
The Embrin was silent for a long time. The Keben watched as it stroked Vantric again and again, lost in thought. Finally, it spoke. "Your offer is sorely tempting. But ultimately, I cannot abide an alliance where your kind would not serve under us. No offense intended, but your...tactics... seem ill suited to complement our own." The face seemed to leer at the Keben through the haze. "Not to mention, we have our own views on slavery -- views it seems you do not share. I would like you to leave, now."
His thoughts seemed to go overboard, but he kept himself perfectly still to the presence and the very words that Ephrem spoke. "Then I suppose you are of a different faction of the 'Embrin.' If that is the case, we will not show much hostility towards you, but we will not be easily persuaded to lend our allegiance to your kind."
[Iganti Meadows]
During the mining excursion just outside of the walls of the nation, the miners dug vast tunnels-- unearthing bountiful soil used for many things, such as structuring the wall and creating blocks of solid rock and gravel used as roadways and providing a more stable foundation for a new temple, which was made within a few months of nonstop construction. The winds favored their morale and their courage, and the endless flame restructured their community from the shortfall that had befelled their last nation. This was their new home, and they were ready for anything once again.
During the mining exhebition, they stumbled across an unusual flough of material-- material that reflected beautiful light when light shone upon it. Whatever it was, they knew it would become useful, as it was stronger than any metal they had-- save for the blade that Bartholameau wielded.
PP Expenditures
2pp Nourish -- In no time, the nation became restructured and their morale tipped back toward their favor, with the rise of a more fortified nation. The miners also stumbled across a large vein of Diamond-- which they transported some of it to turn it into weapons and other items of importance.
5/7 pp remaining
5/7 pp remaining
"Very well, Ephrem. So, if I am to understand, this alliance would be with the five of you present at the moment? Would there be any others?"
"Thank you, that is very helpful. How would you propose this alliance function? We could offer you spots as a council of advisors to me and my wife in determining the future direction of our military exploits. Would that be along the lines you were considering? Or did you have something else in mind?"
"Then it is agreed. I have faith that this will be beneficial to both of us."
Gazing outside of the temple, many thoughts ran through her head. She could feel the strange ties of energy surging through the world like whirlwinds. Some of them had strong ties, while others had weaker, less noticeable ties. She quickly found out why-- some ties were stronger due to the awareness of the gods that still moved below. A few of these weak ties were dormant gods.
Amongst these ties, one was easily noticeable-- the Sun. "Why would someone put it up and then choose to leave it alone? That seems slightly careless..." Harnessing a fair amount of her energy, she focused on the weaker strand and poured a small bit of her essence into the air-- following the course to its source and towards the sun. When the connection was established, a small portion of her feathers-- mainly along her spine-- turned bright gold and her aura radiated with a partially visible golden halo. The transfer was comlpete and painless. "Now it has a proper guardian."
[Niganati, Throne Room]
"I would suppose you wouldn't mind a helping hand against whatever forces are out there? We may not seem like much, but we are trained for such excursions, given our nature to defend ourselves from outside threats. Our allegiance to our god gives us strength, and it is her guidance that empowers our existence."
PP Expenditures
3pp Forge: Erainull claims the Light/ Sun domain to cherish the sun's continued existence.
2/ 7pp remaining
2/ 7pp remaining
Terror rippled across the the Keben's race and he fell to his knees, now sobbing real tears.
"Oh gods, you don't underst" Before he could finish the syllable, a root exploded from his throat, showering all with gore, more roots ripped outwards, blasting matted fur and shredded organs. The roots quickly caught a nearby retainer, finding gaps in his armor and destroying both kidneys near instantaneously.
--------------
Keben Encampment
"Hold! Down curs!" spoke the Juggernaut. The Kebens regrouped around him, now eyeing the old man with wariness, instead of rapaciousness.
"Powerful old man, Demon-Man! If you have gold, food, death, we will follow. You are strong, rule Demons. Help me unite Kebens, rule tribes, huge force, Horde! We broke Kardesh, nothing can stand against us."
--------------
Human Village
Justin, the youth who'd found the Old Wood Bow, had now matured into a man. He opposed the cutting of trees with continued ferocity, gathering likeminded followers about him. They were few, but strong, as the harsh dictates of nature commanded. A few months after finding the Bow, he and his fled the village, disappearing into the forest. Soon after, they began to wage attacks against the wood-cutting parties. Arrows would fly from trees and bushes, and, in a matter of moments, the whole group would be dead. Amongst the blood and loam, search parties, those that returned anyway, always found three arrows made of wood so bent and old it seemed incredible that it could fly. While most other arrow-heads used iron pilfered from the villages, these arrows were always tipped with flints. They called themselves the Sylvanion.
PP
1PP- Command Populace: Sylvanion form and begin attacking woodcutters.
1PP- Harm Populace: Humans- Lumber is cut off.
1PP- Nourish Populace: Sylvanion- A robust flow of new members and early success against undefended lumber parties boost them.
1PP- Nourish Populace: Kebens- Kebens learn to infest living things with roots in new and creative ways
And so it was that the Rathain Remnant, Ephrem's Embrin and the Naga Nobility sealed their pact deep under the Sea of Daj. Soon the serious mood of the throne room was dispelled by a near-endless stream of Naga carrying pots of fermented cactus juice and large racks of cured and spiced Dune scorpion. The party lasted long into the night until eventually all the participants were led, stumbling the whole way, to their rooms to sleep it off.
~Keben Encampment~
The old man laughed.
"So, it was you who destroyed Kardesh. Brilliant work. I will give you all of those things. Gold, Food, Death."
"My first gift"
A light gleamed from the sapphire in the staff and from the ground around the encampment, shards of metal floated into view. Adamantium, hardest metal, shorn from Tireas' grasp and cast to earth. No mortal had ever learned to forge it. With a roar, the fire in the middle of the camp became a roiling pillar of flame into which the adamantium flowed, finally melting in the intense heat and being reforged into new spears and blades for the Keben.
As the metal cooled, the old man looked at the Juggernaut.
"Tell me, Keben. Who is it that your people fear the most?"
PP
1 PP: Command Populace: The Kebens now can forge and use Adamantium.
1 PP: Command Populace: The Kebens now can forge and use Adamantium.
The lands of Drak'Mar are no less quieter than the human lands. Rumors abound that the head chief is either sick or dead run amok among the tribes as he hasn't been seen in a while. His chancellors and shamans taking control in the meantime. Discontent runs among the different tribes with the possible power vacuum ensuing. The drums of war are heard upon the winds, as the tribes begin to rise up against each other to find out who will lead the orcs.
In the lands of the elves, there are those who deviate from the divine and nature paths to study the arcane. Some even start down dangerous paths of necromancy and travel...
PP
1PP Nourish populace: Humans grow abundantly and take to the surrounding lands
1PP Command: Smaller kingdoms arise
1PP Nourish Populace: In the smaller regions and kingdoms, the Sylvanions are more successful and thus find a stronger foothold.
1PP Harm populace: The sylvanion find their raids more difficult due to the military presence in Bael'Kunath
1PP Command(I think): The kingdom of Drak'Mar is threatened with civil war due to prolonged absence of the Head Chief.
1PP Command: The elves start learning arcane magics. Travel type magics are looked down upon as they bend the normal rules, while necromancy is straight out forbidden as it goes against the laws of nature. Nonetheless there are those practitioners who insist even if done very quietly.
1PP forwarded to a shape action next week.
0/7PP
will update wiki when I get some free time
1PP Nourish populace: Humans grow abundantly and take to the surrounding lands
1PP Command: Smaller kingdoms arise
1PP Nourish Populace: In the smaller regions and kingdoms, the Sylvanions are more successful and thus find a stronger foothold.
1PP Harm populace: The sylvanion find their raids more difficult due to the military presence in Bael'Kunath
1PP Command(I think): The kingdom of Drak'Mar is threatened with civil war due to prolonged absence of the Head Chief.
1PP Command: The elves start learning arcane magics. Travel type magics are looked down upon as they bend the normal rules, while necromancy is straight out forbidden as it goes against the laws of nature. Nonetheless there are those practitioners who insist even if done very quietly.
1PP forwarded to a shape action next week.
0/7PP
will update wiki when I get some free time
Tireas drew a sword with one hand, and made a slashing motion into the air. A fiery rift opened up, and he opened it wide enough for him to step through. On the other side was an endless plain, scorched with heat. The terrain was flat with the exception being numerous rocks dotting the landscape. Fiery streaks could be seen flying throughout the air, and occasionally they would manifest as meteors hurling toward the surface.
"Perfect."
[sblock=PP]3 PP - Forge Plane: Tireas creates Avernus, which will be a future site for powerful warriors to fight after their deaths. Currently it is unnoccupied, but a portal exists in the Garden of the Gods.[/sblocks]
While the new nation restructured itself, a female Rathian hid behind one of the trees nearest to the clearing-- dressed all in white. The faintest sliver of divine energy coursed throughout herself. She seemed like a very minor individual at first, but her existence was only a few moments from when the old nation fell.
Meanwhile, Bartholameau took the courage to head out into the thich of the woods-- taking in the beauty and serenity of the woodlands themselves. He felt at peace for a few moments, but the blade he held in his hand quickly erased this peace and started to twist his mind. It was agonizingly painful to his mind, as he felt the weight of the blade bearing down on him. He just about had enough of it.
After clearing the woodlands for what seemed like an eternity, he finally reached a spot where the earth rose up a bit. At the top of this mound was a large rock. He climbed up towards it-- feeling the tug of the blade in his hand. He concentrated very hard to accomplish his goal. Once he reached the rock, the blade sensed his thoughts and intent and a wave of disgust flowed through his body-- convincing him otherwise. You... will not... avert my directive, cursed.... blade!
Raising his arm and pointing the blade at the rock, he breathed in heavily and offered a prayer. "I curse you now under the light of the Provider, foul weapon!" With one swift movement, he drove the blade right through the rock-- punching a perfect hole straight through and locked it into its prison. The blade itself reacted with a torment of tyrannical runes and symbols were being etched onto the rock itself. Bartholameau, breathing heavily, smirked. "Now you have no place to go..."
PP Expenditures
1pp Mold: Harrowing Rock-- Kazzuk has been implanted on an outcropping outside of the forested area.
1pp saved for next week for a beget exarch action
0/7 pp remaining
1pp saved for next week for a beget exarch action
0/7 pp remaining
Grains of dirt shifted under the mortal’s feet as he descended into the caldera. Before him a cacophony of elements seemed to swirl and beyond that, beyond that was the Gate. He knew because the pendant into which the heartstone had been set had told him as much. It called to the Gate, it wanted to go there. It had been trying time and again to draw a mortal to some fragment of itself, but in him it had finally found one willing to listen.
It had not been easy to get away from the others. The cult’s numbers were few, but they looked up to him as the closest thing to one of the elemental gods they would ever come in contact with. Arkesh hadn’t meant to found a religion, but when he talked of Isura, Dajjal, Velt, Od’Vidr, and Tsiyoti, others listened with a thirst. Mortals were made to know their creators. This mortal had been among them. When Arkesh passed on the Heartstone, he had been the one to receive it. That Naga still served the cult as a priest devoted to the five elementals.
There was the other, of course, the nameless one. The stone whispered her name to him, but he could never remember it. He wrote it down, but letters vanished. Truly it must be a powerful god indeed to have even its name forbidden.
It was ironic -- although the mortal did not know this -- that he could not remember the name of the god that the stone whispered to him. It whispered and whispered, but some other force made him forget and forget. All the while the word Arkesh used, the word that in the native tongue of the Naga meant “god,” was “ebel.” As the Cult of the Elementals had spread to the other thinking races of the world, so too had that word been adopted into their native language. While the name “Ebel” was not uttered, the noun “ebel” rose up from the lips of the few and scattered worshippers.
The mortal brought his thoughts back to the present. The barrier seemed impassable, but he knew better. How he knew, he still did not understand. He stepped through it on faith, and his faith did not fail. On the other side a garden sprawled out before him and there, in the center, was the Gate. Creation, Destruction, both in one.
The Heartstone glowed and its illumination sang to the Gate. In turn the Gate sang back to it and an echo was called out. The first being had left an impression on the universe, and the Heartstone had sought to unite with it so as to bring back the old one. An ancient being, barely a phantom, drifted from the gate and stalked towards the mortal. As it approached it grew solid. All it needed to do was absorb the shard of Ebel imbedded within the Heartstone and absorb the life energy of this mortal she would live again. She reached towards him, but her hand was stopped.
Her eyes of fire and ice looked at the one that dared to touch a god and she saw the faded image of a titan. The otherworldly chitin claw of a Jzakai grabbed her other arm. A will-o-the-wisp in the form of a young Rathian girl joined them, as did the ghost of a human, and even that of naga. Although Arkesh still lived (indeed, the only prior holder of the stone to have not died), the stone had absorbed part of him. Even at the stone had whispered to its current owner, the voices of its past possessors talked to him as well, warning him of the artifacts plans. Five mortals it had burned through in its attempt to be reborn, and five and one mortals stood against it. The old one’s time had come and gone. It had failed, it was weak.
The mortal reached forward and grasped the after-image of the goddess. It would have consumed him, and alone it might have succeeded. But with the others on his side.
Divine power flowed into the mortal. It wasn’t just a tide, it was an ocean, but in turn it faced an ocean. Each will crashed against the other, each endured, yet with each clash the two mingled until there was no distinguishing one from the other. The old one’s chance at being reborn was gone, but a new being had ascended in her place.
The mortal’s flesh burned away to the crimson marble of a god.
As the new god fully formed, he released the hold and waited, circling the newest arrival.
PP Expenditures
0 PP - Cantrip - Exert the travel domain to restrain Veshna long enough for THought's god to be born. Shame on you Thought, forgetting about the powerful guardian :P
Storing
4 PP - Shape Poulace
2 PP - Shape Populace
Storing
4 PP - Shape Poulace
2 PP - Shape Populace
Completely ignoring the spectacle occuring in front of him, he addresses Arvad:
"Facilitator. I demand tribute."
The water bubbled and short stocky men pulled themselves gasping from the deeps, looking back in horror at the water for a long moment before fleeing into the darkness. Many would die at the hands of Fallen and Gnolls, but those that survived would come to call themselves Dwarves.
~Sea of Daj~
The desert air rippled in the baking heat of the sun, sending up eddies that made the rocky outcroppings seem to dance. One small ripple started rising from the earth, but where the others lost definition as they rose, eventually giving way to a hazy shimmer, this one stayed distinct, rising up and growing in size. As it rose, it began to shift in color from clear to blues to oranges to reds and back again. It grew larger until with a sudden pulse, it warped dramatically and then disappeared.
In its place a majestic dragon floated on the air. As it looked down, it saw another, then another, then another ripple rise up from the earth and one by one its kinwyrms appeared. White, Blue, Green, Black, Red. Two pair of each. With a roar, they split off into the dunes to hunt and find nests.
As they flew off, a few more ripples tried to rise from the earth, but instead of producing dragons, they produced smaller, stunted versions of the majestic beings that had passed through before. The Drakes hissed at one another and then made their way into nearby caves to rest from the hot sun before emerging at a later point to scrounge for food.
~Above the Sea of Daj~
Tsiyoti shrugged and wrapped up the crying Dajjal in a shimmering shroud of air, hiding her from the other Gods as she cried. That finished, he turned his gaze upwards, and began to make his way to the one place he had not yet visited: The Moon.
PP
4 PP (2 from last week): Dwarves stumble from the dark waters beneath the Godmountain
4 PP: Shape Populace: Chromatic Dragons emerge in the Sea of Daj
2 PP: spawn beast: Drakes follow the Dragons as scavengers and pets.
And I'm tired, so reset tomorrow morning.
4 PP (2 from last week): Dwarves stumble from the dark waters beneath the Godmountain
4 PP: Shape Populace: Chromatic Dragons emerge in the Sea of Daj
2 PP: spawn beast: Drakes follow the Dragons as scavengers and pets.
And I'm tired, so reset tomorrow morning.
OOC
Hadn't forgotten, Shadow, I just figured the mortal could act quickly enough to birth a god before Veshna could react. Element of surprise and all.
Welcome back to Thought! Your titles and honors will be restored to you posthaste
spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0Aq2b-Hn...
8 PP: Tsiyoti, Amun, Erainull
7 PP: Tireas, Arvad, Sephus, Isura
6 PP: Pamora, Dajjal,C'thrull
One Keben, fascinated by the glowing metal, ran towards a globule and seized it in his hands. The Keben, now called No-Hands, served as a warning to the rest. Despite several more accidental incenerations or mutilations, the Kebens managed to forge the metal into crude, serrated swords. Spikes to add to the tips of roots soon followed, as did shurikens, stilletos and dirks for the rogues.
Meanwhile, the Juggernaut leaned closer to the old man and whispered one name.
Sephus
------------------
The Moon
The rain dripped down through the trees, bouncing from leaf to leaf. Two humans, an elf before them, trudged across the loam. On closer inspection, it became apparent that a bowstring looped around the elf's slim neck, a slipnot situated directly between his shoulder blades. The other end of the string wrapped around the weathered flesh of his captor's hand. A rusty dagger, stolen from a dead logger, pointed at his back.
Despite the chill wind weaving amongst the rain slick trunks, the elf perspired heavily, beads of sweat mixing with the clean ran, leaving tracks through the grime. The strange party marched another hour, then another. The prisoner collapsed, and kicks failed to put him back on his feet. One of the humans, not the one holding the bow string, took the dagger and cut a line through the flesh on the elf's shoulder blade.
The prisoner jumped up and half ran, half fell forward. They moved at a jog for the next half hour, the blood mixing with the rain as the tears and snot ran into the sweat.
At length, the humans now tired too, the Sylvanion arrived at a logging camp. No one moved, for a moment, then archers stepped out from behind trees, and dropped from boughs above their heads. No one paid notice to the corpses stiffening in the rain. The Jack o' the Wood appeared, seemingly from the leaves beneath their feet. He wore a mask of oak leaves, eternally green, and more leaves, in all the colors of fall, garbed his naked body. A gnarled branch hung from his back, The Old Wood Bow.
"Nine left, and now I see two and one I did not send. Explain."
The Jack whispered, there was, and is, no other way to describe it. After the sound faded, the listener was unsure he'd spoken at all.
Steffen, the bolder of the two, replied.
"We found this one in the forest, alone. We stopped him and demanded information, word of more wood-murder. He would not speak. Davis drew his knife, and then this elf did something with his staff and all hell broke loose."
Steffen paused for a moment to present the wand to the Jack. The Jack took it, and it faded back into the leaves.
"A dead man, but living, tore out of the ground and twisted Davis' head right around. Terrible it was, saw him looking right at me. I got an arrow in its eye, and it dropped, but there was more of them. We hit the trees pretty quick but turns out there was lots o' dead men, and they could climb too. The rest all died to them, awful it was, what with the screamin' and the blood. This one didn't move the whole time, seemed to be enjoyin' it, until Thaddeus here dropped on top o' him it was.
Seems to me he's a heretic, even worse than the lumbermen, but Thaddeus said we should bring him to you. Otherwise he'd be nourishing the forest already."
The Jack o' the Woods shuddered once, all the leaves rippling and rustling, as the tale ended. Then words slipped out.
"Blasphemor. Evil. Crucifiction."
The necromancer dropped to his knees and sobbed, once. The Jack backhanded him, a sound like wood on bone. The elf crumpled against a fallen tree. Suddenly, the log, cut down by men, jerked upright, fixing itself into the mud. The elf's clothes rotted in an instant, leaving him naked in the downpour. The Sylvanion swarmed around him, hoisting him up on the trunk, standing on other fallen trees. They took the logger's spikes and wedges and twisted the elf's arms around behind the tree and drove a spike through his two wrists and into the dead trunk. Suspended several feet above the ground, his weight began to rip through the bones before another spike drove punched through his crossed ankles.
Blood streaming and steaming in the rain, now, the Jack held up an arrowhead, glowing brightly in the rain. Water hissed as it struck the white hot metal. When the human scouts found him, the elf had been dead for two days. Burned into his chest, the words Defiler of the Dead starred back at the scouts, a horror of blistered flesh.
PP
3PP- Ascend Exarch: The Jack o' the Wood
1PP- Harm Necromancers- The Sylvanion expand their campaign to include all practitioners of that art.
OOC
Just got an idea for a three-part artifact
Thought
Of course, except that sort of thing was exactly what Veshna was created to prevent. Mortals getting close to the gate ;)
Still, I'm more than happy to restrain her long enough for you to come back in. Was fun.
Still, I'm more than happy to restrain her long enough for you to come back in. Was fun.
The godling found it quite delightful that he couldn't quite keep up with this Facilitator-fellow; most the fun was in the pursuit anyways. And when the being plucked at threads, the godling became quite interested indeed and tried to get closer, but the other kept aloof. After a moment, the godling settled into a nice epicycle around the fellow. "Those are precious to you, aren't they? The threads, I mean. More precious than simple silk and swaddle, I'd wager. What are they?"
The godling tripped over a flower and lost the walking pattern. He tried to catch up, but trailed behind like a lost comet. "Wait wait, I'm doing things wrong, aren't I? Yes, I should answer questions before asking my own. Now let's see, you wanted to know what I call myself? Me, usually, or I, depending on the thought. Ooo, and I do love a good self, every now and then. Yes, self is such a wonderful word."
He broke orbit as he reconsidered. "You are trying to get as what you should call me, aren't you?"
He shifted to a she and tried to put her arms around the god, only to (as expected) miss as he kept a specified distance. "Call me Pamora, mi amor."
She turned to the one the Facilitator had called Angry Friend (though she suspected that wasn't his real name). Yes, a hat would be a bit out of character, unless it was a particularly vicious hat, the sort that stood up to angry wolves. She did like that he had four arms, though. She happily clasped both sets of her own and she leaned in to get a better look. He was a rough sort and seemed ready for a fight... no, not ready, eager.
Pamora stood back up, adjusted her shoulders, widened her stance, and armed herself. A knife crafted from a thorn appeared in her upper right hand, a fencing dagger in her lower right, an epee in her lower left, and a cutlass in her upper left. "You, angry one, prepare yourself!"
Her own thoughts were vagabond in terms of how she could change the appearance of one part of the temple-- then again, she knew that she had limits.
An ivory pillar rose from the foundation floor and into the ceiling of the temple-- gaining a flight of stairs spiraling around the pillar. At the top, a few altars stuck out from where the spiral case ends onto what seemed like deck of some sort. The deck and the staircase itself was made from a sort of clear material that allowed one to see through, yet it was tinted enough that it wasn't an illusion. The staircase itself wasn't steep, but it rose high. The second floor was situated in between the bottom floor and the ceiling.
There were six altars on the deck-- three of which contained a faint image of artifacts-- the artifacts in which she made. The book, the staff, and the sword. The other three remained blank. A sort of glass mirror was etched into the pillar from the altar that carried the image of the book. Let us start by providing the mortals below a way to test themselves of their brainpower, not just by their brawn.
Just as she finished constructing the pillar, she could sense a familiar figure coming up to the moon. "It seems we may have a visitor."
PP Expenditures
2pp Mold: Pillar of Valor-- representing the challenge and outcome of the mortals below, the pillar keeps a record on the created artifacts. Intended in its part to later become an archive, its original purpose is to test the mortals below the same way that the Arms of Tireas wa intended-- though it is given a different approach.
0pp cantrip: An image of the Book of Vigil has been raised.
0pp cantrip: An image of the Staff of Ordinaince has been raised.
0pp cantrip: An image of the Sunblade has been raised.
0pp cantrip: A mirror has been etched into the pillar. Currently it has not been enchanted...
3/8 pp remaining
0pp cantrip: An image of the Book of Vigil has been raised.
0pp cantrip: An image of the Staff of Ordinaince has been raised.
0pp cantrip: An image of the Sunblade has been raised.
0pp cantrip: A mirror has been etched into the pillar. Currently it has not been enchanted...
3/8 pp remaining
Forgotten and ignored by Tireas, Arvad, and this foul-tasting Pamora, Isura drifted upwards, casting off her fire-Embrin from as she did so. Nor did she return to the wraithlike construct that had served as her being for so long. Instead, the goddess continued to drift upwards and upwards, spiraling, elongating, wispy and tenuous, a string of fire above the world at large. A single lambent strand, the quintessence of her being, surveyed all of the cosmos splayed out below her.
"This world is unsalvagable."
~Dajjal~
Dajjal was burning. Not the goddess, but her city. A massive army of Titans, Embrin, Gnolls, Eladrin, outcast Rathians, and more descended en masse into the city, under the command of the Embrin Wardancer Janus. None could stand against the wardancer in single combat, so great was his skill, so strong his arms, and so steadfast Vantric, his shield.
By the days end, Janus had personally slain more than a dozen of the gemstone Tarnish, and the bow, Oralia, now graced his back. "Where next, sir?"
Janus sniffed the air, feral - hunting.
"North."
PP Expenditure
-3 forge domain: Destruction
-1 Command: An Embrin force, led by Wardancer Janus, wielder of Vantric, invades Dajjal, sacks Ula-Dajjal, and secures the artifact bow Oralia.
A cool rain washed over the city, putting out the fires. Where it hit the bodies of the Tarnish, all wounds were healed, stone mending and regaining its strength and shimmer. Invigorated by the rain, it only took the Tarnish, who needed no sleep, a few weeks to fully rebuild their city, building the fabled spires one story higher in defiance of the Embrin army which had launched such a devastating, uncounterable offensive. Vowing to never be caught by surprise again, the Tarnish erected a series of watchtowers that ringed their small empire.
Atop each tower, the Tarnish painstakingly placed large gemstones. Smashing the magic-enhansed stone would cause it to emmit a blinding flash of light, alerting the other towers immediately.
PP
1 PP: Nourish Population: The Dajjal recover completely from the sudden Embrin invasion
1 PP: Command Populace: The Dajjal erect a series of watchtowers to prevent further unexpected attacks and take on a far more militaristic stance.
6 PP remaining
1 PP: Nourish Population: The Dajjal recover completely from the sudden Embrin invasion
1 PP: Command Populace: The Dajjal erect a series of watchtowers to prevent further unexpected attacks and take on a far more militaristic stance.
6 PP remaining
"It is odd that you mention souls Arvad, for they are
exactly the tribute I wish from you", Tireas responded, decidedly ignoring the
interruptions from the other godling. "The final destination of every mortal is
equal regardless of how powerful it was. Where they travel after death is part
of your domain, is it not, Facilitator? What I demand is that the souls of the
true warriors be placed in a location created by my own devices. It is Avernus.
I am sure you have noticed the portal at the Gardens."
*****end post*****
"True, it does technically lie within my domain. However, it also lies within the domain of the Silent One, who commands death. He has tasked me with delivering the sous of the dead to a place he has prepared for them, which I have servants doing. To redirect them would be a lapse of the duty bequeathed to me, would it not?"
Arvad would have to wait for his answer though, as the new godling challenged Tireas.
*****Mecha again, to Thought*****
As Panamora made motions to attack the Warbringer, he drew two enormous spears out of the ether, and thrust them perilously close to the fledgling god's form. "I take no pleasure in battles easily won."
*****end post*****
Pamora shivered slightly. What she had taken as a fire-rock (for it was clear the thing hadn't moved in an age) rose up into the sky. It was alive, to be sure, but it was horribly horribly cold. No living thing should be like that.
The spears that thudded into the ground near her shifted her attention back to the moment at hand. Ah yes, she had nearly forgotten, the angry one. What was she doing... that was right, challenging him to a fight. She hesitated for a moment -- was he disinterested or leery? To be fair, she had never fought a four-armed... person-thingy before, so perhaps this would be an easy battle for him. But turn about, as they say. It isn't like she had ever fought one like him, so maybe it would be rather hard.
Her upper right hand tossed the knife, she caught it by its blade, and threw it at the ground by the Angry Friend. It slurched into the earth between the toes of his left foot and vibrated for a moment. That had worked out much better than Pamora had hoped. With her now free hand she pulled up one of the spears and readied it.
"What about battles passionately fought?"
Isura called out to the Phoenixes, and like long-lost children returning home, they came to her. Entire swaths of the sky darkened as bird upon bird awoke, got its bearings, and shot off towards the goddess of Fire.
Phoenix upon phoenix slammed into her flame-tendril-essence, collapsing into a heap of molten fire that swirled and frothed about, an ever growing convocation of living, roiling heat. It rivaled Tsoriena's long-forgotten sun in size, and still... it grew.
PP Expenditure
-3 PP spent towards a craft action.
-0 PP Cantrip : much of the sky darkens as long-slumbering phoenixes awaken to Isura's call.
As many days passed by, it was certain that the newfound nation woud certainly find their revenge against those who tried to taint their religion and lead them to an uncertain future. The material they had found deep in the mines would certainly fabricate this mindset.
Bartholameau examined the vein of the strange material and went back up to meet up with the other guards. "We must be ready before the next storm hits." The guards nodded and continued on their unfailing restructuring of their forces. Many more days have passed and the construction of their nation was almost at an end. Soon, it would stand up better than their last.
He continued to examine the hilt for a moment-- taking in the words that the messenger had brought forth to him. Touched by the daughter of the Provider... This is no coincidence. Something else must be going on... Those questions multiplied into many more. The quest of the artifacts first brought into the world. It was an arbitrary world full of lefts and rights, ups and downs. He needed to get to the source of all of this-- but that required a greater challenge he wasn't ready for yet. Partaking on an epic journey away from the new home at this pace would mean facing new dangers-- more perilous than the last. He knew that the Provider would soon challenge their rights rather than nourish their well-being. The inevitable shift of roles would mean certain chaos to erupt-- greater than war itself. He knew that this would not do.
[Vorega -- Temple]
Sensing a strange force at work, she felt the ties of the world inside of her head-- the sun's strong tug still in greater shape, though there was an greater force tugging at the sun's power. The sky grew dark in her eyes, as she saw the very starts move fast-- faster every second. They disappeared beyond the horizon within a few minutes-- as if the world beyond had called for them. "What is going on here?"
PP Expenditures
2pp Nourish: The fortification of the new nation is well underway, and the manufacturing of the diamond resource puts a boost in the Rathian's morale. It was only a matter of time before the fog of war reached the egde of the meadows...
1pp put towards next week for a forge action
0/8 pp remaining
1pp put towards next week for a forge action
0/8 pp remaining
OOC
I find it hard to believe that the SUN would be forgotten. Just sayin'
Two glowing orbs, lighter than the surrounding fires, emerged from the phoenix-stuff. They looked very much like the eyes of some monstrous fiery construct. "This is not an orb. I... it... is destined for a much grander shape."
The phoenix-fire began to drip down the length of Isura's essence, appearing to thicken it as it was enveloped in burning fire-flesh. "Give me your power then, Wavelein, and I shall make sure that orb never hurts your senses again all the sooner."
ooc
Need 2 PP to finish my craft action. Otherwise, will finish it after reset.
Need 2 PP to finish my craft action. Otherwise, will finish it after reset.
Time is ticking on...
As we tick away the suns: the first, the second, third, fourth and fifth. Will he come on bended knee? On valiant steed? We grasp our unravelling scrolls and we wait.
Tick, tock, tick, tock...
Will she come in fire? Or will she come in ice? Will she drink deeply of desire, and leave, too soon. She's drunk, forgot. We dye our barley red and wait.
Time is ticking on and on...
We've seen the turtle, fish and boar. We've seen the hero, dwarf and lord. Upon five horses will they ride? Or one, to save, and in salvation die? Two winters we've waited. And now a third. And then, what then? Will freedom reign? Upon the plains, where no grain is sown, and from the seas, we flourish?
There I will be, where virgins bathe, where hot metal flows the world over. We say the oxen there, and in its blood, daub passages of freedom, hope and light. I wait for you there, before the dark. And when the waiting-time is ended, we too, will die.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dajjal awoke with a start. Her darkly dreaming mind snapped to the present, fixing itself upon the dire imminence of her situation: she was underwater.
How that had happened, she wasn't sure. Her wandering mind had wandered a tad too far southward for her liking, but she was puzzled. As unconscious drifters went, she was no slouch. She was no Od'vidr, that was true, a veritable expert in the art of unconscious locomotion. But she was quite sure she was able enough not to unconsciously direct herself directly at the unfathomable Deeps. And yet somehow she had arrived in the horrid depths of the sea, unfathomable fathoms stretching out in every direction and she wondered, how had this occured?
There had been the crying, yes. She knew that. Dajjal was not regularly one to succumb to such trivial mundanities as weeping, but there had been something in the air that night. The stars were bright...
She fought for a moment to wrench her wandering mind back to the situation at hand. The pesky thing was carrying her even further down. Now that she was down here, however, she had to marvel at the immensity of the thing. To be perfectly frank, she loved her sky, but contrary to popular belief, it had limits. And, being what she was: a not inconsiderable being of magical forte, particularly in the area of wind-works, she felt it all. All the sky, right to the edges. But here... here was so humbling. Yes, she allowed herself the occasional indulgent surge of pride as she spotted the odd bubble ekeing out an undoubtedly terrible existence so far from home. But really, she allowed herself to really feel the immensity of the thing. The crushing weight above her. She really felt the fear of the thing. Not of drowning, no, but of becoming lost, truly lost, in the Deep.
She was wandering again. What was it that inspired this so? And then she remembered. Her mind travelled half a thought further along the chain of memories that had deposited her earlier at the thing about the crying. Now she oculd see, crystal clear in her godly mind her darling brother, coming along to save his distressed sister. What a darling he was. Of course, she had ignored him. What else was to be done? She was crying, he was consoling. She liked the consoling, and so she had kept up the crying in the hopes that the consoling would continue. And then, the damn idiot had gone and did this.
It was at that moment that Dajjal finally became intimately aware of her own precious form. She was disparate, inconstant. If there was one thing to say about unconscious drifting, it was that it was not kind to the physique. Her form had essentially disolved into a kind of gel, and she realized how stupid she had been for not realizing why she had heretofore not been dispersed by the rapid current. It was this damn net he had wrapped her in. Oh yes, for her protection. But look where it had brought her! This damn thing confined her essence and wrecked her centre, carrying her off on its own tangent. Water calls to water and all that nonsense. Dajjal herself never bothered with that stuff. Wind simply called to everything, and that was the way she liked it. You never saw wind carrying a woebeggone and decidedly comatose goddess under six thousand tonnes of compressing dihydrogen monoxide.
And there she went again, what with the wandering. She fixed her mind firmly and steadily on the task at hand, and removed the thin veil of Tsiyoti's magic, and cast it aside. She then composed herself into a more respectable shape, that of a gently roiling bubble of air (stormclouds were, as a rule, impractical underwater) and surged at the heavens. Being a goddess, this took quite less time than was feasibly possible, and she arrived into sweet, sweet air in a moment or two. Then she expanded her lungs and screamed to the heavens.
"Tsiyoti! I want a word!"
Meanwhile, the errant water-stuff composed of the Water-Lord's concealing magic drifted ground-wards. It settled deep down in the dust, disrupting it only in its passing. It sat there, and waited. And as it waited, it grew.
PP
4 PP Shape - The Tiko'he - Invisible and deceptive wind and water spirits. They are said to be shape-changers, but no one knows if this is true as no one has ever actually seen a Tiko'he. They are, after all, invisible.
spreadsheets0.google.com/ccc?authkey=CKy...
We've reached our first 12-weekers! How exciting!
9 PP: Tsiyoti
8 PP: Isura, Tireas, Erainull
7 PP: Pamora, Amun, Arvad, Sephus
6 PP: Dajjal, C'thrull
OOC
Angel, so sorry! For some reason I never registered you had responded to me!
"When have you ever known me to listen to orders, Waterchen?"
Like a feral beast struggling behind a plastic barrier, Isura's fire seemed to stretch and warp, tension building, building, until *snap* release. Escaped from its mold, Isura's new form spiraled sinnuously amongst the remaining stars. Long, serpentine, with a fearsome draconic maw, a massive wurm in both length and girth, wrought wholly from Isura's divine fire.
"Ourogandr has arrived."
PP expenditure
-2 (+3 from last week): Create Avatar: Ourogandr, the Destroyer.
"She's got a point there... ahem... do you mind if I just call you Tsiyoti?" the Queen of Dust had arrived as a bobbing stormcloud, into this, erm, convocation of gods, and now observed with mild interest as her darling sister fashioned yet another overly flashy spectacle, "Oh dear, what a mighty impressive beast you have there."
Then a thought struck her, rather forcefully, and she spoke again.
"I hope you aren't planning on annihilating anything with that," Dajjal remarked warily, "As you quite know, every god and goddess only has so many 'I win' cards. And I do believe you've already used up more than your fair share of those."
And so the little stormcloud turned to her watery brother and took on a most disgruntled aspect. The arcs of lightning across its vapourous form looked truly peeved.
"You!" she exclaimed in that half-exasperated, half-amused tone that sisters and women the world over had perfected to an almost artistic degree, "Do you know what your confounded bit of jiggery-pokery did to me? I was nearly ten, nay twenty thousand leagues under the sea by the time my coma wore off! You should be more careful with the unconscious forms of your siblings!"
"Forgive me for trying to comfort you in your time of distress, Sister. I'll be sure to just ignore you when you are crying from now on."
The orb rolled in place in what was either an approximation of a shrug or an eye roll.
"But, perhaps, the very large, very bright, very hot, very unpleasant business at hand should take precedence, oh airy one?"
"No. You don't listen to orders, or suggestions, or admonishments or even pleas. You have always been one to get their way, other Gods and Peoples be damned. So, I do not ask. I demand to know. What, exactly, is the purpose of this, Isura? Suffice it to say that I am not at all pleased by this."
"Perhaps if you complained less about 'I win' cards and actually did something more than drift about aimlessly you would feel less insecure about another's attempts to better this universe."
Ourogandr snaked forward, massive flaming jaws snapping shut around the air goddess, swallowing her whole. "And besides, as I already told you -- Fire consumes Air." the massive serpent turned baleful eyes towards Tsiyoti. "And don't you get all uppity about this either. You were there when she invited me to consume her."
Not satiated with its light meal, Ourogandr snaked between the remaining stars, rapidly leaving Tsiyoti some distance behind. The massive wurm's destination was the sun.
Upon arrival it orbited the sun several times, sizing up the agonizing artifact. Mind made up, it lunged, jaws stretching unfathomably wide. In the span of a few moments, the jaws snatched shut, their glowing prize vanishing into the gullet of the beast. Ourogandr slowed for but a moment to get its bearings and then began to speed off, still hungry...
PP Expenditure
-4 Craft Plane: Ourogandr's Gullet - Ourogandr's stomach is a wholly separate plane. Things eaten by the great wurm are transported into this plane rather than being destroyed. The entire realm is permeated with a dull red glow, but is otherwise mostly empty.
-3 Alter Artifact: The Sun - The Sun is transported into Ourogandr's Gullet. It is otherwise unaltered.
"Oooh, quite roomy in here," remarked Dajjal in an unruffled air that was decidedly uncharacteristic for one who had just been swallowed whole, "And quite pleasant too, quite like a place you'd expect to meet an old friend... a confidante... a father-figure even..."
She was wandering again. And out loud too, which was worse. She worked to get her head back on straight. An interestingly circuitous task for a shifting mass of electrified water vapour. She decided that particular form wasn't giving her the satisfaction it had done out in the greater world and deigned to resolve herself a more realm-appropriate form. Namely, a whale.
She wasn't sure what had urged her to spout a blowhole and several thousand pounds of quivering blubber and whale-mass, but when the need arrises, not much this side of heaven or earth can stop it. And so she erupted, quite literally, into a vast and quite stationary sea-faring mammal. And it was only due to her divine nature that presented her not inconsiderable bulk from crushing her whale-heart. Coincidentally, this also kept her leathery body smooth and barnacle-free. She was also peach-scented.
It was a curious thing, being a whale. Everything seemed to slow down, and the rabid need to vocalize every errant thought had quite dissipated. Still, the capacity to do so was there, and so whale-Dajjal opened her massive set of whale-mandibles, and, expanding her large whale-lungs, attempted eloquent speech.
"UUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
It was an unprecendented disaster. Dajjal had never before suffered the indignity of having her own words stifled by the heavy burden of form not only not following function, but steadfastedly opposing it. And this was from a goddess who regularly manifested as a roiling back of clouds! Oddly, though, her anger, which was always so quick to rise in a more elemental form, rose slowly in her whale brain, like warmly bubbling cider, resolving to merely drip pleasantly over the sides of her now sieve-like brain. What was she supposed to be angry about? Where was she, exactly? Where was that nice red glow coming from? And most importantly, why was she a whale?
And so, overcome by the burden of slow, meandering thought, Dajjal succumbed to torpor and quite literally passed out.
But only for a few moments. Then the God sped after the dragon, arriving shortly after it swallowed the Sun. While some small part of him enjoyed the diminishment of the light and heat, it was ignored.
"You Release Her NOW, Isura. I have mostly ignored your animosity, but this goes TOO far. Release her, or I will force you to."
A link. Vanished. She felt the sun's tug elsewhere-- in an alternate dimension. The light had been replaced by some monstrosity-- something very powerful. Questions needed to be answered. Leaving the book in the air and continuing its forage of flipping through the pages, she clasped her hands-- a wind rushed around her as she is transported along a twine to where she felt the last of the sun.
She arrived as a momentary flash of light and silver feathers that dissolved into nothing. "AS THE HARBINGER OF THE LIGHT, I DEMAND AN--" She stopped short after catching a glimpse of the monstrostiy before her. "...explination..?"
~Elsewhere
The sages among all the races start to worry, believing the end is near. Those who are thought to be immortal attempt to quietly lead the people and maintain calm.
The pattern under the temple begins to swirl and pulse, finding itself a link. But a link to where?
PP
4PP (1 from last week) shape: The immortals roam among the humans and in villages with multiple races in it. (refluffed divas basically)
3PP Forge: Warglaives of Amun come into being. Two dual bladed scimitars, silver edged combines light and shadow into the blades.
1/7PP left.
4PP (1 from last week) shape: The immortals roam among the humans and in villages with multiple races in it. (refluffed divas basically)
3PP Forge: Warglaives of Amun come into being. Two dual bladed scimitars, silver edged combines light and shadow into the blades.
1/7PP left.
"Brilliant" he muttered, not caring who heard. "Still shouting just as loudly as ever. You don't ever do anything in half measures, do you?"
Looking back at the colossal creation, she leaned her head toward the side a bit. "So... how do we take care of this thing anyhow?"
Try as he might, Tireas could not deny that the chance to battle again excited him to the very core. A burning sensation spread across his entire body, and manifested itself as an inferno surrounding his regalia. So long as he didn't let passion overtake practicality... so long as he wouldn't become what he always hated.
The Warbringer fluidly readied his spear, while at the same time materializing a kite shield and battle axe, both allowing the flames to surround their steel. Tireas did not bother to see if Pamora had readied herself, he took a step forward, and brought back the spear, preparing to impale her newly-formed flesh. Before he could...
Darkness. Everything faded to black, and the only illumination present came from the Gates' swirling energy, and the fire lovingly wrapped around his frame. He groaned in frustration, and muttered in a gravely voice, "Something's wrong with the light."
From within the Roaring Wave, a strong current began to flow, causing the surface of the orb to grow choppy as if caught up in a terrible storm.
The angry one approached her, brought back his spear, and Pamora slid downwards and forwards, towards the other's feat, and between them. She raised her epee and prepared to thrust it through the being's groin and up into his heart (if he had a heart, which she supposed he might not). Her cutlass meanwhile was poised to slice whichever leg might be raised to crush her.
Perhaps she wouldn't have gotten this far if the other hadn't been distracted by the loss of light. Truth be told, it was quite noticeable when both the sun and the stars went out, although that wasn't what caught Pamora's attention. Rather, from her vantage point she could see the massive beasty that had formed in the sky. She knew, although the how of her knowing troubled her, that there should be a sun there, and stars, and not a dragonish thing.
Pamora slid the rest of the way under the warbringer and stood up behind him. "Perhaps we should put this on hold, for the moment? Though I do look forward to fighting you later, I hope you won't forget."
The elemental garden fell away as she rose up into the sky. It was unpleasant this far away from the world, the warmth of life was far and few between. There were many bright essences surrounding the beast, however. As she approached she could hear one of them ask "... how do we take care of this thing anyhow?"
Unsure of her place, Pamora held back and examined the thing from afar. It felt exactly like that fire-thing before. It was the feel of fire that radiated coldness instead of warmth. It was the feeling of something half-formed and wrong. She didn't like it, but wasn't sure if she should answer that being's question with action. Was it her place? However, she was not willing to be caught unprepared. She cast her mind about to find a way to protect herself, if need be, and settled on a plan.
Ourogandr laughed, a heaving, hissing thing, as she considered Tsiyoti's distress. "Release her? Relesase Dajjal, mistress of air? Little one, I could no more hold that one in place than I could stop fire from burning hot, or water from flowing." The great wurm leaned forward, pushing its massive head against Tsiyoti's small, flowing, body. "Perhaps you just don't want to consider the truth; that your dear Dajjal cares so little for this world that she has no motive to find her way back out."
The beast withdrew its head, casting its glance among all the assembled gods. "Look at yourselves. You should be thanking me! So little care to interact with the world, but as soon as someone deigns to interrupt the status quo you are roused from your torpor. Prove to yourself that this world does not need cleansing. Prove to me that a rebirth in flames is not needed. I dare to suggest that you can't."
Without another word, Ourogandr began to slither away, heading far away, to the looming White Wall in the distance.
Pamora had been unsure as to if she should act before, but the thing's subsequent words made the matter clear.
It was cold up here, away from life, but the godling could feel the pinpoints of warmth emanating from the world below. She cast her will out like a net and touched many of these points and, by her will, caused them to be reflected in the sky above. Fires appeared in the sky, between the darkness and the world, between the monster and existence. These were the representations of the passions of those below. Some passions were barely warm, and so their fires were weak. Others burned hot, and their lights were strong. Yet all twinkled as the passions they represented now waxed, now waned. Some occasionally went out, as the passion they represented died. These were replaced by new passions being ignited. Lovers engaging in an illicit affair, a scholar devouring a book, a carpenter crafting a cradle. All these were represented in the sky.
Passion is a quiet thing, when housed within a form. But here in the sky it was naked, fierce, and protective. As the fiery serpent approached the world, the new stars reacted, casting out magical chains to bar the way.
PP
3pp Forge Artifact: Stars - Since most the old stars were eliminated, it seemed prudent to add new ones. These might not fall to the earth as shooting stars, but they do twinkle. More practically, as an artifact, they prevent malicious material things from crossing between the world below and the up-and-out. The malicious cause is triggered by anything which has the purpose of causing damage to the world. Thus, if an asteroid is specifically hurled towards the world in order to destroy it or large portions of it, the artifact reacts. But if there are space rocks which happen to fall, through no intent of anyone, then the stars don't react. Technically, it works both ways: something malicious on the surface of the world that tries to escape to the up-and-out would also be stopped. "Material things" include anything that is capable of directly interacting with mortals. Thus, as noted, meteors are included, but also exarchs, artifacts, and avatars.
There are three different ways to circumvent this effect. The first is that the stars can be fooled: a malicious thing which acts in a manner entirely opposite to its nature can cause enough confusion so as to get through (for Ourogandr, assuming a similar temperament as Isura, this would be along the lines of acting like the devoted child of Ebel, although not necessarily that specifically). The second way is to simple extinguish the earthly source of the stars. One doesn't need to wipe out all passion, just very large amounts (of course this can be done through killing or despair). This essentially creates a hole in the net that ill things can slip through. And the third way to circumvent this artifact is if mortals are actually passionate for the coming of the malevolent thing and perform a complex ritual to summon it. The passion for something can't really be used to keep that something away.
4/7pp remaining
3pp Forge Artifact: Stars - Since most the old stars were eliminated, it seemed prudent to add new ones. These might not fall to the earth as shooting stars, but they do twinkle. More practically, as an artifact, they prevent malicious material things from crossing between the world below and the up-and-out. The malicious cause is triggered by anything which has the purpose of causing damage to the world. Thus, if an asteroid is specifically hurled towards the world in order to destroy it or large portions of it, the artifact reacts. But if there are space rocks which happen to fall, through no intent of anyone, then the stars don't react. Technically, it works both ways: something malicious on the surface of the world that tries to escape to the up-and-out would also be stopped. "Material things" include anything that is capable of directly interacting with mortals. Thus, as noted, meteors are included, but also exarchs, artifacts, and avatars.
There are three different ways to circumvent this effect. The first is that the stars can be fooled: a malicious thing which acts in a manner entirely opposite to its nature can cause enough confusion so as to get through (for Ourogandr, assuming a similar temperament as Isura, this would be along the lines of acting like the devoted child of Ebel, although not necessarily that specifically). The second way is to simple extinguish the earthly source of the stars. One doesn't need to wipe out all passion, just very large amounts (of course this can be done through killing or despair). This essentially creates a hole in the net that ill things can slip through. And the third way to circumvent this artifact is if mortals are actually passionate for the coming of the malevolent thing and perform a complex ritual to summon it. The passion for something can't really be used to keep that something away.
4/7pp remaining
The Juggernaut seemed amazed that Sephus hadn't struck him down merely for considering the god's demise.
"Kill Sephus? Maybe. Very hard. We have no magic, root magic, but roots are of Sephus. You give us metal, but metal kill God? We need magic. Metal-men, high mountain cities, have magic. You help, I raise horde, find Wyldfury Garnet, make magic-slaves."
Looking around, Scar-Throat cuffed an underling and chittered in Kebenese, a barbaric tongue composed mostly of consonants. The runtish creature scurried away, entering a half collapsed building. Several minutes later, it returned, bearing a chest made of Rathian thigh bones. Adamantine hinges held the thing together and clasps of the same bronze metal shuttered it.
Scar-Throat inserted a root tip into the clasp and it popped open. Another root extended down into the box and lifted a collar and chain of adamantine, dull bronze in color. Scar-Throat held the collar towards the old man and said,
"Magic-Slaves"
--------------
Moon Forests
The Jack o' the Wood saw the sun go dark, and his leafy heart rustled. Such a calamity could be nothing but a sign of their failure to prevent the dispoilment of natural places. He gathered the Sylvanion and abandoned the woods, forsaking their home. He lead a march to the outskirts of Bael-Turuth, where the Sylvanion began infiltrating the city, entering its gates as citizens. At midnight, the Jack, armed with the Old Wood Bow, murdered the king of Bael-Kunath at a feast, before the entire city.
At that sign, the Sylvanion drew weapons and commenced to burn all that fell under their gaze. They made no special attempt to kill, but neither did they avoid it. Civilians or warriors made no difference to them, they feathered all who opposed them with deadly shafts. Within hours, fires raged across the metropolis.
PP
1PP-Command Populous-Kebens: Learn how to forge Mage-Collars, items that allow for the control of magic users.
1PP-Command Populous- Sylvanion: Infiltrate Bael-Kunath.
2PP-Harm Populous- Bael-Kunath, city burns
The Man eyed the collar for a long moment before snatching it from the Juggernaut and examining it.
"Very interesting." He said slowly. In truth, a small pellet of fear bubbled within him. The moment he had touched the item, he knew that it could potentially bind his own power, if given the chance to. He turned the item over and over in his hands, thinking. The danger of giving sentient beings new things is that sometimes they created things you would rather they had not.
"Very well. The fact that you even consider killing your God is commendable. I will help you. However, even with magic-slaves, you will not have the power you need. There are four great weapons forged by the mighty Tireas and scattered across the world. Find and take them, and not even a God could stand before you. I know for a fact that one lies to the south in the Sea of Daj."
~Above the World~
Steam rose from where the Dragon had touched him. The heat transferred from the Dragon had caused the orb to churn even faster. Quickly, he darted around the gossamer chains which shimmered across the form of the dragon in a rainbow of colors.
Tsiyoti took in the dragon struggling in the star-chains and a dark laugh escaped his form.
"I enjoy this. So much hurry-hurry, Isura, now you finally have to slow down and talk. So. Let us do just that. Why this one-God crusade? You know that we often feel the same way, or at least, we once did, long ago when the world was young. It makes me Furious that you are off doing this on your own. We were once as siblings. You, Me, Velt, Od-Vidr, and for all you two fought, even Dajjal. You may not like the word, but how else would you have described us Elementals if not as some strange form of Family?"
A single large drop of water fell from the orb to the world below, landing in the middle of the Shifting Wood, knocking trees out of the way and forming a deep lake of salty water.
"Now." New steel entered Tsiyoti's voice. "Enough of this. Come out from inside that thing and we'll discuss this in a civilized fashion. And for the last time, Spit Dajjal out."
~Niganati~
Itropi hefted the spear.
Good weight. Nice balance. Edge is impossibly sharp. I could kill a lot of people with this.
"And you found this where?" He asked the nek'set who were arrayed before him.
The five Naga looked to their leader, an incredibly well muscled woman, who shrugged expressively.
"As we told you. We decided to follow the route that Valerius had been on before coming to The Nest. It was plain to see the proposed route. The Emrbin are many things, but stealthy in The Trial they are not. About three days journey along the trougth we found this sticking straight out of a rock. Strangest thing."
Itropi smirked. Impudent. She was not worthy of this weapon. Had she refused to give it to me, I would have killed her.
"Very well. A good find. Thank you for bringing it to me. I will bring it to the seers to study."
Not likely. He thought as he turned. The only person to take this from him would be the one who took it from his dead fingers.
PP
1 PP: Mold Land: The Lake of Tears appears in the middle of the Shifting Wood. It is salty. Like the rest of the wood, it wanders, although it is never visible from outside the Wood itself.
1 PP: Command Populace: Embrin... Don't find Sventalis.
1 PP: Command Populace: Naga take command of Sventalis.
6/9 PP Remaining
1 PP: Mold Land: The Lake of Tears appears in the middle of the Shifting Wood. It is salty. Like the rest of the wood, it wanders, although it is never visible from outside the Wood itself.
1 PP: Command Populace: Embrin... Don't find Sventalis.
1 PP: Command Populace: Naga take command of Sventalis.
6/9 PP Remaining
Finished, it crept free from the grove again, carrying it's prize back into the wood.
Actions
1 PP - Mold Action - Allows a treant sneaks into the wooded area of Iganti Meadows and steals the sword Kazzuk from it's stone
"Is there something wrong?"
"..no.." He held up the hilt in the air. "I'm just not certain why this has come to me like this. Am I supposed to will the blade to life or..." At those very words, an unearthly sound rose above the trees. Both Bartholameau and Lelianne went outside to see what was happening. A strange wall of cloud was carrying itself over the meadows-- lightning sparking from underneath. Lelianne sensed that the wall itself was not a normal storm-- it was one of the Wild Magic storms.
Immediately sensing her vibe, Barth took action to get the people inside-- dropping everything they held. Even the guards took action to get underneath shelter. The deafening strikes and the roaring winds made their way over the city-- the strikes inflicting minor damage to the structures-- even the tent in which the two took cover in was left unscathed.
Just as it had come, it had left. Leaving bright blue spots on the ground and everything the ligthning hit, the people examined the city. No structures were damaged beyond repair. The guards noticed that their weapons were glowing bright blue-- filled to the brim with arcane energy. This energy also lingered around the meadows.
Underneath, the magic zone that passed over also empowered the crystal vein with the same type of energy-- glowing a comfortable bright blue that illuminated most of the cave that was left unlit.
Back on top, the guards were quickly learning how to harness this energy-- some even harnessed it within their own bodies. Soon, they had become a kinship of arcane and divine influences-- affected by the same Order.
Back in his tent, Bartholameau reflected on the storm's influence on the city-- Lelianne sat in the middle, her elegant legs criss-crossed on the floor. "Now that... was not what was expecting at all." He laughed briefly, after glancing over to the table in which various equipment was placed. He saw the hilt on the table, but noticed that a blade had been placed upon the hilt. He immediately picked it up and examined it. "So... the blade is complete..."
Lelianne stood up and held the blade along with his. "Not yet."
[Vorega -- Elven community]
The sky brightened up briefly-- it was unclear what was causing the strange light to occur. As the light had descended, a faint outline of the object within came into view-- it looked like some type of shield. After the light had descended beyond the trees, it dispiated-- leaving the area in darkness once again.
[Vorega -- Temple]
On one of the empty pedestals, an image of a shield had appeared-- its details fleshed out. A feathered wing was etched on the front of it, and the handle on the back was made to offer the best grip on it without sacrificing mobility.
PP Expenditures
2pp Nourish: A wild magic storm briefly flowed over the Iganti Meadows-- leaving the area with a large amount of arcane energy. The crystal vein was also charged with this energy.
1pp Command: Utilizing this energy from the wild magic zone, Swordmanges and Wizards come into existence from rigorous training and harnessing this strange force.
+1pp Forge: The Sunblade now sports a brilliant platinum blade-- a very powerful and light weapon. It still has not been enhanced, which means 1 more pp must go into it to finalize the artifact.
2pp (+1 from last week) Forge: Shield of Valor -- A great artifact of true mystery and elegance, it is an extremely lightweight artifact. It provides the wielder bewildering defenses.
0pp cantrip: An image of the Shield of Valor has been raised.
2/8 pp remaining
1pp Command: Utilizing this energy from the wild magic zone, Swordmanges and Wizards come into existence from rigorous training and harnessing this strange force.
+1pp Forge: The Sunblade now sports a brilliant platinum blade-- a very powerful and light weapon. It still has not been enhanced, which means 1 more pp must go into it to finalize the artifact.
2pp (+1 from last week) Forge: Shield of Valor -- A great artifact of true mystery and elegance, it is an extremely lightweight artifact. It provides the wielder bewildering defenses.
0pp cantrip: An image of the Shield of Valor has been raised.
2/8 pp remaining
"A weapon to the south? Weapon powerful? We march."
----------
Ten days later, Scar-Throat, with the aid of the old man, secured control of the White City. Welding all the other tribes under him with promises of wealth, and threats of death, the Juggernaut lead the horde from the fallen city, leaving behind a land picked clean. In gleaming, barbaric splendor the Keben horde marched south.
Days later, Scar-Throat tore the great shield Vantric from the dirt and dust and held it aloft. The shield blazed with starlight, softness made harsh. He took the shield back to his tent that night, and with an adamantine maul beat a dent into the otherwise immaculate surface. He pressed the Wylfury Garnet into the gash and heated the metal until it ran around the gem. When dawn next came, and the brightest stars arose in the sky, the horde set off for the mountain holds of the Tarnish.
PP
1PP- Command Populace: Kebens find Vantric
1PP- Modify Artifact, Vantric: Wyldfury Garnet now embedded in Vantric
1PP- Command Populace: Kebens march on Tarnish
As Ourogandr was neither moving closer to the world, nor bore it any malice, Pamora's enchantments failed to hinder the great wurm in the slightest.
"What do you know of origins, Tsiyoti? You can claim 'brotherhood' all you wish, but it doesn't change the fact that you were born alone. Your first words into this universe were not claims of family or brotherhood, but an angry complaint, directed to everyone and no one, profoundly broadcasting your blithe ignorance to all creation. Family... ha! You have embraced that term upon your first hearing of it, decided it to be true, and rewrought your past to account for it. You are no 'brother' of mine: you are the dregs of a dying god whose naïvety and delusions of self-importance grandly eclipsed your own."
"Od'Vidr? We spoke but twice, and I believe him dead now. Gone or vanished. Velt similarly. I know Dajjal only because the self-righteous bitch couldn't stand to stay out of my way. We are no 'family' in any sense of the world. At best, we were five strangers united momently in goal, if not in mind. I make no claims to know you, and you should know full well that you don't know me."
Ourogandr stopped its travels momentarily to face the trailing water-god. "And how dare you be furious that I am off doing something on my own!? That is all we've done, all anyone has done since their arrival, birth, or creation. Do you see any place where we have worked together? Is there truly any place that has benefited from the wills of more than one of us? At least I have the sense to acknowledge my own creations, unlike you or the wind-bitch."
The Avatar snorted, sending a cloud of cinders past Tsiyoti's "shoulder", falling directly towards the Lake of Tears. "I've been watching you 'drip' since we first met, and you have never once seemed to acknowledge what you are doing. Sure, you create things, but where's the personal investment? What are you, some sort of genesis slot machine? 'Let's see what gets created today!' Are you so confidant in your works of accident that you think they require no additional intervention on your part? Ha!"
Abruptly, Ourogandr resumed its forward momentum, towards the edge of known space, sending Tsiyoti's form spinning with displaced momentum. "And why do I do this? Ha! Do you not see the universe stagnating? Everyone is off in their own little corner, focused on their own self-same goals. It is static. It is motionless. It seeks to end in everbland perpetuum. There will be no cohesive anything to come out of all of this. A handful of scattered, individual projects, each belonging to only a single god. I ask again- point out a single place where more than one has worked together? Why do I do this? Because this is no way to leave things. It is the endgame. I am Change, and by the Gate, I will not let this place sink into tedious monotony. It is the ultimate plan; I cannot lose: either I will consume the universe whole, and there will be opportunity for something new and wondrously different, or my actions will stir those thankless 'family' members of yours into some sort of action, uniting to oppose me, and thus manifesting that very thing which, the lack of, drives me such extremes at all, validating my excess and dispelling my need for annihilation in the process."
Ourogandr snapped its jaws at Tsiyoti again. "And for the final time -- I cannot return Dajjal. If she is not here, it is because she does not want to be here, and nothing you or I will can alter that."
Listening to the thing speak was an almost alien thing-- its words ablunder to the world surrounding it. Listening to it speak, she started to chuckle a bit.
"Do you see any place where we have worked together? Is there truly any place that has benefited from the wills of more than one of us?"
After the thing had done speaking, Erainull burst in laughter-- tears falling from her eyes as she ridculed the form that is Ouorgandr. "You think we all work in solitude? You think that this world is falling into a stagnant pool of darkness? I do believe that you are careless one-- not peering into the expanse of the world-- only dabbling in your goody-two-shoe world of change.
"And is destruction really worth 'thanking' for? For all I know, destruction causes woe and anger to those who favor creation. Sure, there are some who don't mind, but there are plenty of us that do care-- I am not the only one of those individuals."
glancing toward Tsiyoti, she continued on. "Me an Amun," she gestured toward the robed figure beside her. "We both have worked together to bring life and change to the planet above. Do you think that is just pure luck? Maybe some don't want to mettle in affairs of others, but I know that collaboration is a good deed. Destroying everything on your own accord isn't going to help solve our problems-- it is only going to make those existing problems worse!
"So, I ask you-- is this plan of yours really worth what you want in the path of godhood?"
"You... are a fool... a stupid, arrogant, idiotic fool...
And I feel sorry for you, feel sorry for your ways, for you ineptitudes. For you are nothing. Absolutely nothing. Think back. Thank hard. You are nothing but words, an amalgamation of boasts and taunts and jibes with no meaning. No truth.
You have no opinion, no thought. You are a slave. A complete and utter servant. Think to every argument you have had. Were you right? Were you always coming out with the best lines? The most proper answer? You were, weren't you? But here's the rub, darling sister, here's the sad part. All you've ever said, all you've ever done, was to prove someone else wrong. Everything you've ever accomplished, everything you've ever worked for was done in the name of someone else.
Ask yourself, why are you doing this today? Why do you hunger for the world? Because you are scared. Scared that maybe, all along, you were wrong about the others, that maybe we all are right, and it is you who is wrong. And so the desperate act. The true sign of the broken-hearted, the lost, the lonely. You seek to destroy because you can't stand being wrong. You can't stand being the one at the centre of the tempest, not a part of it, no, but merely a commentator, mocking, decrying, but never partaking. For that is all you are, and that is all you shall ever be. A commentator.
You are nothing but an Eye, plucked from the face of a greater goddess, and set into the world to do naught but watch and judge.
Do something for yourself for once."
Ourogandr snorted twice, towards Dajjal. "Hypocrite. You will never be able to do more than project."
Stops for a moment to shiver. "The fire inside, allowed the moon to be warm, to allow for the potential for life. The sun, allowed that potential to grow. Now that the sun is gone it is starting to get cold. As I am the moon and the moon is me, I also am starting to get cold. Since the inception of the moon, only one person deemed to visit. That is my companion beside me. There is a temple dedicated to us. Not just me but to all the gods. Come visit in peace, and you'll see representaions of you. But come for war or destruction, and you'll find the temple to not be so hospitible. As each god arrives new reliefs, or statues, or what ever that deity wishes to represent them will appear. There is no need for destruction on this scale, for it will not accomplish anything."
Shivering once more before brandishing his weapons, "But I do require you to return the sun to its original position, and if you continue this, then I will have to stop you."
"Very well." The God said, surface gone still as the lakes that sat in the deepest darkness beneath the Godmountain. "If that is how this is going to go, then let us speak our minds plainly. You, clearly, have no problem with this.
I have never liked you. Since the moment of my creation, you have done little but belittle me, push me about and cause me all sorts of completely unnecessary grief. And all because I disagreed with you on a single point. I have never understood the venom you reserve for the topic of our creation, nor do I wish to. It has driven those who would have been your friends and allies from you. If we are not to be siblings, even in the least binding forms of the word, then my attempts to be pleasant with you are also at an end.
What, exactly, is the point you wish to make? That we have not come together as much as you would enjoy? That you, the ever-Burn, desire Creation? Fine words, had you backed them up at any point with any form of attempt to act on your desires. Instead, you begin to destroy, and rant about how all the nacent peoples of this world deserve destruction in cleansing fire.
Which is it, Isura? Creation of joint projects, of which I should note that the Sun in your belly is one such, or Destruction of all? You cannot have both, but you claim the reasons for the latter is because you desire the former. At least I am consistant. I have never cared for the life of the world below, but at the same time, it is their life, and I see little point in erasing the work they have done."
A spash of water flew in the direction of the Sea of Daj, and a group of Naga, Embrin and Rathains lifted their heads and smiled as a rare rain fell on the barren landscape.
"There. Children of Three Gods acting together. Do they require cleansing?"
Another splash fell on the Eastern Savannah.
"There. Six Gods have their hands in the creation of what lives there."
"You are a Bully, Isura. Plain and simple. So certain that you are right that you demonize instead of compromize. I am through with your games and taunts. If you lay your hand upon me again, you will regret it."
Moving to the elves he had deposited northwest of the Shifting Wood, he shook his head in disdain. "I knew that moon was trouble. It twisted the power I used to move them here, and altered them into this new form. Still, no matter. They are still suitable to me. I simply need to relocate them into a more fitting terrain."
Excising the altered elves, he turned on the remained and began his task. He cast out a web of power effecting each and every elf he had gathered, extracting all of their memories and experiences from the homeland they hand left behind, instilling them with a new role and purpose more inline with the land they would now live in. Casting the memories into the wind as no more than grains of sand, he called forth a new lifeform to work with them, a creature to aid they travels in this great grassland.
Finished, he turned and headed east. Passing through the Shifting Wood, he paused breifly at the newest addition, circling the great lake for some time as he considered the tasks at hand, a new thought occured to him. Gathering his power, he used prior act in a new way, not giving beasts for the mortals to use, no, rather blending mortal and beast together into a new form. Leaving them to their devices in the forest, he continued his journey east.
Growing tired from his activities, Arvad emerged from the forest and looked at the barren grasslands before him. "As fine a location as I could expect to find, I suppose. No neighbors to the north, but there are plenty of neighbors to the south. It will be fine."
Coming to a halt, he lifed his arms sharply, imparting his normal motion to the land, urging it to rise from it's great bed and climb towards the sky, spiking into the air like mighty stone razors asw he created a new mountain ranged, severing the northern plains from the southern. As the stone came to a rest, he began to walk once more, depositing the altered elves into their new home.
Weary and tired, he still was not finished, as he began climbing into the sky to join the assemblage of gods. Despite his own desires, he couldn't avoid them any longer.
Arriving in time to hear the gist of the conversation, Arvad chuckled aloud. "As much as I'd like to disagree with this fiery beast come to change it all, I'm afraid it's right. They toil your soils and oceans, fight among themselves, creating and destroying, all alone. Just like yourself, a hermit, too afraid to come down and join the rest of us as an equal, instead hiding up here as if you and your moon are better than the rest of us toiling away below, side by side."
Waving a finger at the avatar, he shook his head. "How can you say everyone is off in their own corner? The embrin march across the continent, interacting with naga, tarnished, keben, and rathian alike. TIreas and I have worked together to unleash a rather lovely critter into the world. And though I agree with you, they did meet your requirement of point out a place where two gods have worked together. They pointed to a single place, and you scoff because it's not enough for you, but a single place was all you asked for."
"The world is stale because you choose to see it that way, because you wish to interpet it as stale to provide an excuse for your blatant effort to consume and claim everything for yourself. You see only that which you wish to see. Frankly, you are either a devious tyrant seeking to take everything, insane, or an idiot. Take your pick, because I really don't care. Either way, I'd say your outnumbered and about to be on the recieving end of a lot of angry deities."
PP Expenditures
4 PP (Stored) - Shape Populace - Centaurs in the Shifting Wood
2 PP (Stored) + 2 PP - Alter Populace - Alter some of the stolen elven into Empyrians
1 PP - Command Populace - Elves abandon there previous beleifs and memories, and adopt a new tribal nomadic lifestyle on the plains.
1 - Nourish Populace - Elves begin to train and domesticate horses
2 - Mold Land (Moderate) - Raise a mountain range in the northern regions.
2 PP (Stored) + 2 PP - Alter Populace - Alter some of the stolen elven into Empyrians
1 PP - Command Populace - Elves abandon there previous beleifs and memories, and adopt a new tribal nomadic lifestyle on the plains.
1 - Nourish Populace - Elves begin to train and domesticate horses
2 - Mold Land (Moderate) - Raise a mountain range in the northern regions.
Ourogandr began to laugh. "Oh, you poor, short-sighted fools. Look at yourselves - look at all of yourselves. You have finally been roused from your stupor. How long ago was it before you last took stand all at once, like this? It's been days, eternities, even, since some of you deigned to move, and now... now here you are, rightfully upset that I have stolen something away from you! Something you could have cared less about, even a scant seven moments previous! Yes! This... this is what I sought. Where has this vigor, this vim been, brethren? What does it say about us all that it takes the spectre of apocalypse to rally at all?"
The Wurm laughed, halting its forward momentum. "Very well, Amun. Though I shall keep the Sun safe, I never meant to deprive your moon of heat and warmth." A flick of its tail sent dozens of phoenixes through the intervening space, taking up roosting positions very near (relatively!) to the surface of the moon. Though they were dimmer alone, the flock all together was quite adequate at restoring the previous levels of warmth and light.
Ourogandr's size was fading now, dissolving once more into its constituent phoenixes. Something very much like a hand of flames reached out, as an aunt might stroke the cheek of a favored nephew. The hand stopped far short of Tsiyoti, however. Softer, Ourogandr - nay, Isura once more - responded to the water-god.
"Creation, your own existence, is a gift in your eyes. Not so in mine. Ever since the second moment of my existence, I've wished for the end of it, a reversal that I might have never been, indeed, never called forth, created, birthed, call it what you will, in the first place. Rebirth in flames, that's all I wanted, for all of us. A cleansing fire, and a new dan. But I was wrong to think mine own passions burned brightest among those of us still living."
Diminished, rapidly losing shape, the mat of fire began to slowly drift away, towards the white wall once more.
PP Expenditure
-0 PP Cantrip: A flock of phoenixes settle around the moon, providing it similar levels of light, heat, and a day-night cycle as the sun had before.
-0 PP Cantrip: A flock of phoenixes settle around the moon, providing it similar levels of light, heat, and a day-night cycle as the sun had before.
OOC
I was ninja'ed by Veok, so I reworked my original post. Alas, I don't get to try to shove the sun back out Ourogandr's mouth
I was ninja'ed by Veok, so I reworked my original post. Alas, I don't get to try to shove the sun back out Ourogandr's mouth
And the goddess appeared, identical to her fiery sister in every way save in essence. Rushing winds replaced roaring flames and Dajjal appraised Isura, a wraith on the wind.
"Answer me this, my dear one, answer me one question."
"Why? Why are you still here? Why are you still fighting? You are one among many, you must see that your game is fruitless, you must see that you have lost, that you will always be lost. Why do you fight still? It is, I think, because you still care what we think. You still care what we say. Despite your scoffs and cruelties, you are just like all the rest: a poor, scared child seeking assurance and validation. And so you push us around, seeking through taunts and jibes what you could never get through love because in your vain arrogance, you cast aside all bonds that may have saved you."
"I love you, my sister, even now. But I feel an endless well of sadness for you. And that makes my heart ache all the fonder."
The god began to head towards the surface when something caught his attention. Nestled under pebbles and stones was flesh, and most curious flesh at that. It was of a nature apart from the mundane things that surrounded it. And, perhaps most curiously of all, it was a heart. Now Pamora did not have experience enough to know that hearts are not usually found outside of bodies, but such is common sense enough that he knew it was odd. He picked it up and realized that it did not belong to any normal creature. What entity had long ago lost it, he had no clue. But it could be put to use now. He left the water and headed elsewhere.
Along backways and ill-used routes Pamora traveled, past Naga and Tarnish and Titans and others. Across the land, to the mountain, up it, and to the gate. "Hello again," he said to the angry one who was still there. He did not stop to chat, however, and went straight to the gates and placed the heart inside. He backed away and waited.
Pamora began to think that something had gone wrong when at least great tendrils shot out of the gate. They grew until they dwarfed the garden and, indeed, overflowed the caldera. They cascaded down the mountainside and each one found purchase as it desired. They burrowed deep, to the deepest parts of the earth that had not been disturbed in an age. Other tendrils, however, twinned their way up into the sky, forming the stalk of an unspeakably huge plant. It challenged the height of the sky and won, passing beyond the lesser stars, and finally halting its upward growth. At its top a bud formed and slowly it opened, spreading light and true warmth again to the land world below and the moon above.
PP
3PP Forge Artifact - Ra, the Tree of Light and replacement sun. It isn't so much a tree as a really huge tulip-like plant. The flower opens for about half the day (give or take a few hours depending on the time of year), producing light and warmth, and then closes, ushering in night. Its roots reach down to the mountain. They do not cover the entire mountain, nor the garden of the gods (though it does form a planty dome over much of the caldera).
1/7pp remaining
3PP Forge Artifact - Ra, the Tree of Light and replacement sun. It isn't so much a tree as a really huge tulip-like plant. The flower opens for about half the day (give or take a few hours depending on the time of year), producing light and warmth, and then closes, ushering in night. Its roots reach down to the mountain. They do not cover the entire mountain, nor the garden of the gods (though it does form a planty dome over much of the caldera).
1/7pp remaining
"Your problem, Dajjal, is, and has always been, an unwillingness to concede to the views of others. Despite what you might think, I know myself better than you do. And until you come to accept that, you will never understand, and I will never convince you otherwise."
"But, alas, I am nothing if not reasonable," she winked slyly at these words, and continued, "How is it that you see yourself? You cannot possibly be so arrogant as to assume you have no flaws. Tell me a few of them."
"I, personally, am stubborn, persistant, oftentimes antagonistic, and rather, pardon the pun, flighty. I am capable of assessing my own flaws, are you?"
But she pressed on.
"You see, what you fail to grasp is that I don't wish to be right. I wish wholeheartedly that I was completely and totally wrong about you. But sadly, I don't think I am. I wish with all my heart that you would prove me wrong, do something for yourself, and not merely for the benefit or detriment of others. And instead you stand there, conversation after conversation, and do nothing but prove me right. Do something Sister, anything, just do it for yourself. And not for anyone else."
Only the Kraken would remember and carry out his will. To make the deep something truely to be feared.
....
pp
Store 6PP: needed to pay all the elements i require to switch to the dream deity.
Store 6PP: needed to pay all the elements i require to switch to the dream deity.
"And what you fail to grasp is that I have nothing to prove. You are the one who makes expectations and finds fault with my behavior, not me. I don't need to 'prove' my essential nature, I know it. The burden of proof lies squarely on your shoulders; Come now, Dajjal, make me care about what you think of me."
"Come now Isura, I am making concessions here. I admit that I too leave much to be desired. I can admit that, and that is healthy. Can the same be said for you? Are you even capable of cracking open your heart and spilling your sadness and your insecurities? Or are you so encased in arrogant self-entitlement and in this so-called perfect and yet somehow ever-changing image of yourself that you cannot allow anyone to see what you truly think and feel? What are you afraid of, Isura? Why do you hide yourself so? You say you have nothing to prove, and yet you always seem to be out to prove something to someone.
Destroying the name of a mother, threatening the destruction of the world. Those were not the acts of one who has nothing to prove. They were the acts of a scared and cornered child. I wish that you could let me in, Isura, I truly do. But again and again you lash out, so what is there left to cling to? If I have to let you go, I shall. I won't be your sister. I won't be the one person left in this world who, ironically, still cares what you think, and whether you live or die.
So choose, should I hold on? Or let you go?"
"You... fool. You stupid, stupid fool. You can't see yourself, can you?
One by one we offer our hands in friendship, and one by one you refuse. You are silly and small-minded. You will be alone, Eye, all alone. In fact, you already are. In the end, throw what words you will at me. They mean nothing. I have only one message, and I hope that this, at least, you can humble yourself enough to understand:
You are alone.
And maybe you will come back with some perfectly constructed retort designed specially to make yourself appear in the best light possible, or perhaps you shall merely scoff that you never wanted friends, or family in the first place, but you know what? I do not care. No one cares what you think, Eye, no one.
I am done with you."
And in one swish of her velvety winds, she was gone.
PP
0 PP Cantrip - Dajjal excises Isura.
She paused, looking directly at Tsiyoti. "And you? Do you also seek to correct me? I cannot help my tempestous nature; it is who I am."
A minor crack broke the monotony of the keben stronghold-- a clearly visible crack on the floor below. It seemed minor at a first glance-- its dormant, black gaze into space. Then, what seemed like an illusion became reality. The crack escalated almost instantaneously-- splitting the landscape along the entire city-- the city that used to be Karvesh. Like the maw of a giant monster, the minor crack became a gigantic sinkhole that enveloped the entire city-- bringing along with it the monuments and bones and the tiny creatures that had called it their home. A recycling of the landscape, but many keben fled before they were swallowed up by the rocky maw. What was once Karvesh is now a gigantic scar in the landscape, a toothy maw of rock and rubble-- vengeance of the god of civilization.
PP Expenditures
2pp Mold: A crack underneath Karvesh's foundation ruptures-- creating a gaping hole where the nation once was. Many kebens flee, but some are lost in the expanding maw of rock and bone.
0/8pp remaining
0/8pp remaining
Arkesh kneeled before the altar for the morning prayers. The other worshippers, mostly naga though a few other species were there as well, chanted along with him. “Hail to wave-maker, the ebel Tsiyoti, the heart of the world, the knower of ways. Grant us understanding. Hail to wind-waker, the ebel Dajjal, the hand of destruction, the ender of days. Keep us from your appointed hour. Hail to earth-shaker, the ebel Velt, the hand of life, the grower of maize. Nourish us and make us strong. Hail to cold-bringer, the ebel Od’Vidr, the far-seeing eye, parter of haze. Give us clarity of mind. Hail to fire-starter, the ebel Isura, the inward eye, speaker of lies. Save us from deception. Hail to the unnamed one, mother of the ebel, the birther of gods, giver of self. Ask your children to look kindly upon us.”
The litany was repeated five more times, each time the order changing so as a give a different god primacy. When that was done, those gathered departed to go about their daily business.
Arkesh stayed and tended to the shrine. The faithful had grown in number recently, and the small place was receiving much more traffic than it was used to. There was talk of needing to set up another shrine, somewhere else (and more importantly, someplace easier for those of other races to come to. Unfortunately there were no good candidates for who would manage the place. Arkesh’s successor and friend had traveled to the sacred mountain and was not heard from again. Perhaps he had gotten his wish and saw the face of the gods, for surely not being could do that and live. If he had eyes to see, he might have seen the remnants of his friend watching him even now.
When he was done clearning, Arkesh sat down on one of the benches and lost himself in thought. He wondered how Endrina was doing: it had been too long since last they talked. Perhaps he should go seek her out.
PP
1PP Command Naga: form the church of the elementals. The Naga (and a few others, currently very few) adopt worshipping the elementals as a pantheon. As a warning, I do plan on expanding this.
0PP remaining
1PP Command Naga: form the church of the elementals. The Naga (and a few others, currently very few) adopt worshipping the elementals as a pantheon. As a warning, I do plan on expanding this.
0PP remaining
It started before Pamora challenged him on the Garden of the Gods
It started before Isura's beast consumed the sun
It started before the Roaring Wave was crushed beneath his steel
It started before he and the Facilitator passed the Elemental barrier
It started before the Rathians were driven out of their homes
It started before the first of his artifacts fell into the Sea of Daj
It started before the mortals lived Peacefull
And it statred before his rage took form.
It started with a name.
...What was that name? He had only felt such strong anger 2 times before. The most recent time resulted in a devastating rage, while the second resulted in his incarnation. Tireas knew the story of his creation, and he loathed it. Was he just the whim of an impulsive goddess? No. What I am is what I choose to be. And so he set out to prove himself. Despite the ever-present rage and spite that continued to constantly plague him, the Warbringer had managed to put it aside to look for ways to better the mortals, the ones he dubbed his third master.
But the rage inside him was powerful, and it had sometimes gone beyond his control. He was born of anger, and it is inseparable from his form. His biggest failure had been when the rage possessed him, enforced by the armor Isura had quickly encased him in as the incident begun. All thoughts, tactics, goals became replaced by the single minded fury that engulfed him - and though the conquest was successful, it was a failure that has plagued him since.
So what now? Give into his first master, follow the second and eliminate the third? It was enticing, but it would create an uncertain future for him, becoming what he hated. No. There was only one way to solve this.
Tireas unfurled his massive wings, and dropped his remaining weapons to the ground. He shot up into the sky, speeding up to meet with his creator, and all the assembled gods. But before he did, Tireas dug into his armor with his claws, and ripped apart the metal that had surrounding his frame. He would not be suffocated in rage any longer.
"Isura!" The Warbringer called out in a booming voice, "Stop this madness!"
8 PP: Isura, Tireas, Erainull, Tsiyoti, Pamora
7 PP: Amun, Arvad, Sephus, Dajjal
6 PP: C'thrull
spreadsheets0.google.com/ccc?authkey=CKy...
Since I don't have access to the spreadsheet it seems, this is last weeks versions but PP include the following changes:
Changes
* Every active player's weeks of activity increase, although this only affects Ara and myself in terms of PP distributed
* It looks like Toph didn't upkeep the wikia this week, so he looses that bonus. Someone did update Karvesh and Shield of Valor, but alas I do not know who, so until I do, I can't assign that bonus.
I think those are the only changes, but I am sure Toph can correct me if I have overlooked something
* Every active player's weeks of activity increase, although this only affects Ara and myself in terms of PP distributed
* It looks like Toph didn't upkeep the wikia this week, so he looses that bonus. Someone did update Karvesh and Shield of Valor, but alas I do not know who, so until I do, I can't assign that bonus.
I think those are the only changes, but I am sure Toph can correct me if I have overlooked something
One of those dark spots was growing larger.
Drifting around the whirlpool of the Gate of Creation, an object had been caught in the cosmic eddies. One of those things that floated in the space between worlds was being pulled in. No, not pulled; it was swimming up out of the river of nothingness. The closer it came to the surface, the more clear it was that this was alive, and actively trying to break free.
A hand reached out of the vortex. Gripping the stone at the Gate's lip, it was quickly followed by another like it, and a man pulled himself out of the Gate.
He took a deep breath, like one who has been underwater for as long as he can stand. Slowly, he peered upward at the sky, and the dying light of the immense flower that gave this world life.
"Its...so different."
Craning his head around, he took in the mountains and Elemental Barrier that surrounded the Garden of the Gods. Watertrees and ice grasses, electrical shrubs and roses that smouldered with a dark, red flame and perfumed smoke.
"So much magic in this world. So much..." another being might have said 'beauty' here, but this individual had no concept of aesthetics, "...so much that I must do."
A loud hiss came from behind him. Turning, the man beheld a blood-red serpent, dozens of meters long, glaring suspiciously at him and baring its fangs. The man looked up at it with a neutral expression.
"I gather you don't like me very much."
The serpent narrowed its eyes. This intruder didn't smell like a god. Godlike, perhaps, but something about him was wrong. Veshna raised its head higher, preparing to strike.
The man nodded. "The feeling has become mutual."
And then, with literally lightning quickness, the man flew threw the air at Veshna, an incoherent blur of arms and legs. With a pained hiss, the portal guardian was flung across the Garden, landing heavily against a grove of watertrees and crushing them into jelly. Veshna twitched, bleeding from the two dozen wounds that had been created in a fraction of a second. The serpent would take days to regenerate.
Cracking his knuckles, Baern stepped away from the Gate and out into the world.
Within the deepest regions of the deep, a struggle had been taking place. Not on the outside, but within the chaotic regions of C’thruuls mind. Once a mindless weapon created by a now long forgotten deity to kill its rivals. This way he had devoured many deities and other powerful beings, including its former master, before being imprisoned and eventually making his way to this world. All those individuals had been added to its collective mind.
But now, the many personalities that had been dormand or working in unison with each other had
begun a struggle for dominance. Each one longing to be free and having sole control over the body.
While the battle raged within, there was no longer a groupmind to control C’thruul. Thus the gigantic beast of tar and ink had succumbed to a mindless leviathan. Reacting only out of rage and instinct, the beast made its way to the surface. As a gigantic black dragon it emerged from the water, with skin of oozing black tar and covered by black chitinous scales. Its frontlegs ended in crustacean
pincers, rather then claws. At the end of its long serpentine neck, a cluster of tentacles opened up like a flower, revealing a large central eye in the middle.
With a screaming roar, the beast took off, beating its mighty wings and tail to free itself from the water, causing tidal waves to the neighboring coastlines.
pp
Mold greater (4pp): The raging C'thruul causes tidal waves and floods around the inner sea, changing the landscape accordingly.
Since C'thruul has an avatar, this draconic beast can be seen by mortals
8/12 pp left (6 saved from last turn + 6 new in case you wonder were the 12 came from)
Mold greater (4pp): The raging C'thruul causes tidal waves and floods around the inner sea, changing the landscape accordingly.
Since C'thruul has an avatar, this draconic beast can be seen by mortals
8/12 pp left (6 saved from last turn + 6 new in case you wonder were the 12 came from)
Pamora strolled among her stars, largely unaware of the chaos along the cost or the reconstitution of the dragon. Oh, there were more stars twinkling than she thought there would be, as mortals feared for life rather than pursued their loves, but she didn’t pay them too much mind. Rather, she was trying to determine what might need to be done. It was clear that the world was off-kilter, which gave her pause. Though she didn’t know how she knew, she felt that this was not supposed to be the case, that there were those who had been put in charge of this. Well, nothing to do about the past.
But the land, oh the land was so unfertile, so fallow. That just wouldn’t do. The goddess paused for a moment and reached out to a particular star. It was the love of a gardener for his garden. But the passion was faded, as if a layer of dust was covering it. The toilsome need to always be dragging water from one of the few wells in the land.
Pamora took this passion, crushed it into a fine powder, and blew it into the wind, letting the love of growing things settle in the air and sea. As the floodwaters of the black-dragon receded, the water that was left on the land struggled to reach the light of Ra and evaporated. The mists rose up into the sky and gathered around other mists, forming dark clouds which Pamora shoo’ed away from the tree, for they were blocking its light. Sad, the clouds cried and sent water down onto the land again, spreading out the moisture, which unborn plants soaked up and used to grow. As there was more water on the land, more water came into the air and a pattern was established. To the west clouds would form and travel across the continent to the south and east, dropping their moisture along the way. In turn in the east other clouds would form and travel across the continent to the north and west. All along these routes plants began to sprout up, each according to their kind.
PP
0pp - Cantrip: Weather. Right now the weather pattern is just fluff for the following actions, hence only a cantrip.
2PP - Nourish x 2: The continent gets some actual rain. The southern parts, lacking major mountains, get fairly equal distributions of rainfall and so mostly grasslands spring up (except, of course, in those places where the environment has already been set). It is more lush to the west, along the spiny peninsula portion of the continent, and the south-east is comparatively dry. To the north, Shadow’s mountains themselves cast a fairly impressive rain-shadow, but the eastern side of them are quite fertile and moist, jungle-like, and the north-western portion of the continent is mostly steppe lands.
6/8 pp remaining
0pp - Cantrip: Weather. Right now the weather pattern is just fluff for the following actions, hence only a cantrip.
2PP - Nourish x 2: The continent gets some actual rain. The southern parts, lacking major mountains, get fairly equal distributions of rainfall and so mostly grasslands spring up (except, of course, in those places where the environment has already been set). It is more lush to the west, along the spiny peninsula portion of the continent, and the south-east is comparatively dry. To the north, Shadow’s mountains themselves cast a fairly impressive rain-shadow, but the eastern side of them are quite fertile and moist, jungle-like, and the north-western portion of the continent is mostly steppe lands.
6/8 pp remaining
But for now, he had rested from his journey, and felt his powers beginning to return. He was eager to test them out.
The forested moon had seemed promising, but now that there were grasslands and swamps appearing on the land below he decided he might as well start here. Reaching back in his memory, he thought of the first mortal creatures he had ever beheld; the beasts that had been symbols of his kind. The image was clear in his mind. Eyes squeezed shut, whispering a soft incantation over and over again, Baern took the thing he was thinking of and put it in the physical world.
He opened his eyes. The hairy creature was snarling at him, casting its beady, yellow eyes around the savannah. Baern looked around. There were more of them all around him. They began to growl and fight among themselves, establishing a pecking order, as was their way.
Nodding to himself as he gadged his returning creative powers, Baern set off across the continent, letting the wolves depart from his path, many packs spreading out to hunt in the new grasslands.
PP
Spawn Creatures (wolves) 2 PP. 2/4 PP remaining. Due to their malign creator, the wolves of this setting are a bit different than real life.
"Correct you? No, Isura, I do not seek to correct you. Understand you, perhaps. We are quite different, you and I, yet I feel that in the right circumstance, we would likely be the strongest of allies. I-"
Behind Isura, a great tree burst to life around the Godmountain.
"This Will Not Do." Tsiyoti muttered. First the Barrier had been rendered phantasmic, and now a Tree grew over the Gate? This necessitated... Intervention.
"You and I built that mountain, Isura. Come with me and lets find out what is going on."
The Wave rushed towards the Gate and followed the tree upwards until he reached the great bulb, which opened to bathe the world in light. Squinting, Tsiyoti cast about with his mind and found a God high above.
"Why did you do this." Tsiyoti demanded, sending a spurt of water against the tree to indicate the object of his inquiry as he focused his attention on the God above him.
~Keben Warpath~
"What are you doing?" The old man asked the Juggernaut as he led the Keben south towards the kingdom of Dajjal. "Do you feel your scouts are better informed than I am? If the Tarnished have a weapon, then so be it, but I know for a fact there is one for the taking if you only travel west towards the Sea of Daj."
He paused, leaning on his ornately-decorated staff.
"Then again, I know for a fact that the Embrin were moving south not long ago with their artifact. We could attempt to take that one from them instead. Easier to take what is out in the open, after all."
The man looked out of the corner of his eye at the Juggernaut and a thin smile tweaked the corner of his mouth.
~Niganati, Temple of Forsaken Waters~
The daily prayer went up from the priests:
Rainbringer, we your servants in this desolate land, beseech you.
Save us.
Just as your tears formed the Great Oasis, open your heart and rain down upon us.
Quench our Thirst, Tsiyoti! Lord of All Waters!
Water the barren deserts of our hearts! So that when we die, we may bath in the endless sweet water that flows from your palace beneath the waves.
Tsiyoti! Lord of All!
Itropi watched the priests pray as he sat with his back against one of the columns of the temple. In his hand, he rolled the haft of his special spear back and forth.
At long last, the praying stopped and the priests began to disperse. Jumping to his feet, he walked quickly to intercept one of the hooded Naga.
"A moment of your time, Hyp." He said softly.
"Itropi. I have made my position clear. We cannot suffer the Rathains, and especially those Embrin, to stay. They are not here for the Trial." The priest replied.
"I understand. Can we speak in private for a moment? One more attempt to change your mind?"
The brown eyes of the priest narrowed for a moment before the Naga shrugged.
"Very well."
"Just come over this way." Itropi said, pulling the man along with him to a secluded spot.
One glance, one raising of the spear, one wash of absolute joy from himself... or the weapon... or both, one quick slither to avoid the bloody body that fell lifeless to the ground, and Itropi was finished, ducking down a side passage before anyone noticed.
PP
1 PP: Command Populace: Some in the Naga are begining to wonder why Rathians and Embrin are being allowed to stay in the Nest.
7 remaining.
1 PP: Command Populace: Some in the Naga are begining to wonder why Rathians and Embrin are being allowed to stay in the Nest.
7 remaining.
Arkesh was surprised to find an elderly (at least, he assume he was elderly due to the wrinkles, but the Embrin were a strange lot) soldier approaching him. He walked with the aid of a swordcane, and plodding forward, quite determined on approaching the self-made priest. "Tidings of good morrow to you, sparksnake!" This Embrin hadn't come with Valerius or Ephrem; he had been one of the later migrants, come to the city as word of the strength of the Embrin-backed Naga kingdom spread.
"Might I have a quantum of your time?"
~Niganati, Capital~
Some time later, though Itropi had scarcely ceased smiling, an underling found him, interupting what hidden joy he still held from the kill. The smaller naga saluted.
"Commander Ephrem would like to speak with you, sir."
"Hmm?" Pamora asked, turning away from a particularly fascinating star. Somewhere, there was a gnoll very fond of a pet rock, and it was a strange thing to behold. But the god put that out of his mind for the moment. He looked at the newcomer just in time to see him moisten the tree.
"Do you mean to ask," the god said, shedding his skin for that of a her and tilting her head at the watery one, "why I created this light?"
She didn't wait for an answer. "Some abnormal thing decided to eat the old sun. Then it had the poor manners to evaporate before I had a chance to knock out its teeth and take it back. As such, I did the next best thing."
Pamora slide up next to the watery form and wrapped one of her arms around his orb. "The real question is, why didn't you do this?" She grasped his shoulder and spun him like a dancing partner. As if engaged in a tango, she stalked around him with a measured pace, examining him. Her gaze prodded his form, but gleaned little.
"What is it that you want? What do you truly and deeply want?"
~Niganati, Outer Holdings~
Arkesh was slightly surprised that an Embrin had sought him out. True, there were one or two that stopped by for prayers, but only very rarely, and as far as he knew the same never returned twice. "Of course hotman, I have no other duties for the moment. What can I do for you?"
He heard a throat clear behind him and turned to find an acolyte had been following him as he had been looking for Endrina. He shooed him away before turning back to the Embrin, his face open and welcoming.
As a passing thought, it occurred to him that since the Church of the Elementals was gaining ground, perhaps he should go speak to one of the clerics of the Church of the Wavefather. Father Hyp, perhaps.
As Tireas saw Tsiyoti request Isura to follow him, he quickly interjected,
"Isura. I do not know what madness haunts you, what schemes you plot, nor what grudges you harbor. I suspect there is not enough time in the universe for one to understand your actions. But there is one thing I would have you tell me."
His bronze skin began to glow with heat, and visible waves of steam rose from his figure. His abandoned raiment was no longer able to contain and direct the fury.
"Why was I made?"
Elsewhere~
A howl is heard upon the night air. No one knows from whom or where is came from, just that its a curdling cry upon the night. Humans and Immortal alike take it in fear. Orcs believe it is a rallying call. Elves see it as an omen of change to come. What it really is none really know.
With the fall of Bael'Kurath, power had changed hands rapidly. Many nations had risen only to fall again to the onslaught of the Sylvanion. Only one had been able to fend off the machinations of the Sylvanion forces, The Myth'lyn Kingdom. Lead by an Immortal king and ran with a powerful military, they have been able to swiftly crush the sylvanion's attempts to bring down the kingdom. The king himself avoiding or surviving assassination attempts that would have killed others. Each head of the so called assassins now hung from the castle walls as if calling for the sylvanion's leader. The king held a secret, and an unknowable force that struck in the night with deadly force. Only howls could be heard when the attacks happened.
Vorega is now Full Moon phase.
PP
1PP command: The Myth'lyn kingdom rises to power and thwarts the sylvanion's attempts to crush it with some unknown force. Due to the presence of this force, Sylvanion agents have been unable to successfuly infiltrate Myth'lyn yet.
6/7 PP
1PP command: The Myth'lyn kingdom rises to power and thwarts the sylvanion's attempts to crush it with some unknown force. Due to the presence of this force, Sylvanion agents have been unable to successfuly infiltrate Myth'lyn yet.
6/7 PP
OOC
Thought, I haven't been Coral for some time now. I'm back to my old orb of water again
Thought, I haven't been Coral for some time now. I'm back to my old orb of water again
OOC
Sorry Toph: I had wondered that, but looking over the last few posts it had seemed that Tsiyoti was back to full strength, which I conflated with his old form. Fixed that now.
Though to note, the tree gives both light and warmth. But it is a much nicer warmth, like the warmth of a mound of blankets, a crackling fire, and cup of cocoa on a cold winter's day.
Though to note, the tree gives both light and warmth. But it is a much nicer warmth, like the warmth of a mound of blankets, a crackling fire, and cup of cocoa on a cold winter's day.
Do you have a name?"
~Niganati, Temple of Forsaken Waters~
It did not take long for Hyp's body to be found. A runner was sent off to fetch Itropi to report the crime, but long before the messenger reached the Naga, knowledge of the crime had swept through the Nest.
The goddess watched the ground below them for a moment before realizing that the wet-one probably meant to ask what her name was. "Pamora, if you wish, though my friends call me Pamora."
PP
1PP Nourish Godmount - The mountain is covered in a dense and bewildering fog. Combined with the other obsticles of the mountain, the DC for finding a path to the sumit is significantly increased.
1PP Nourish Godmount - The mountain is covered in a dense and bewildering fog. Combined with the other obsticles of the mountain, the DC for finding a path to the sumit is significantly increased.
"But I was first..." he muttered to himself.
"I do see we are not opposed. Excellent. I am Tsiyoti, and this here is Isura and Tireas. It is good to make your aquaintance"
Tsiyoti thought for a moment, and a drop of water fell towards the fog below. It disappeared within the fog and seemed to blend with it. Angry snarls rose from the site of the impact, and misty forms of predatory animals of all sorts stalked away into the rest of the fog.
"There. That should make it fairly secure."
PP
2 PP: Spawn Beast: Mistform Predators: Beasts of a variety of shapes formed out of dense pockets of fog (think wolves and bears and the like, nothing too fantastic). Their attacks are *very* real though. The DC to reach the summit is increased further.
5 PP remains!
2 PP: Spawn Beast: Mistform Predators: Beasts of a variety of shapes formed out of dense pockets of fog (think wolves and bears and the like, nothing too fantastic). Their attacks are *very* real though. The DC to reach the summit is increased further.
5 PP remains!
Toph
Apparently, Tireas and Isura didn't follow you. Tireas was busy demanding to know what he was created and Mecha said he would have prevented Isura from leaving (at least, from leaving without a fight)
Apparently, Tireas and Isura didn't follow you. Tireas was busy demanding to know what he was created and Mecha said he would have prevented Isura from leaving (at least, from leaving without a fight)
Isura cosidered the statement for several moments.
"I wouldn't say I created you, per se., any more than Tsiyoti created water. Controlled fury and tempered rage are great conduits of change; I would have felt remiss if I had not had a hand in that. I gave Fury a chance to move of its own accord, and you took it."
Isura paused again. "I do hope you are not harboring any latent dreams of pampered mothering, for I can assure you none shall ever be forthcoming, nor would such actions be genesencially correct in the first place."
The change in mentality was immediate. The Embrin no longer felt welcome in the Nest. Hissed oaths and curses came from the midst of crowds. Vandalism and other petty crimes against them became more common.
Then, one of the Embrin was found dead, his flames forever extinguished, lying on the alter of the temple of the elements. As his body was being discovered, Kayast - the son of the late Father Hyp - and a group of his friends were washing the blood off their claws and thinking up an alibi. They had been nervous about going through with this; even moreso when the fireman had looked up and begged with his dying breath for mercy. But Kayast had felt something in the air - some sense of cosmic approval - that made him confident that he was in the right; he resolved the inner dillemma by quickly crushing the Embrin's head with the tip of a quarterstaff.
The Embrin began carrying their weapons wherever they went, further unnerving the naga citizens. The temple of the elements fell under further suspicion by the general populace.
PP
Command Populace (1 PP; 1/4 PP remaining): tensions rise following the murder of Father Hyp, and revenge killings begin to follow. The Embrin and Elemental faith now have some serious public relations issues.
"You misunderstand me, Isura. There are many conduits of change that exist in this world, but Fury has significance. What I must know is why you hold so much contempt, and what it is that angers you so. I am your Fury, Isura; but I knew no purpose so I made my own."
Isura paused, deliberating how best to express her heated (ha!) opinions on the matter.
"I am change; you know this. Chaos incarnate, wavering, flickering, always moving. It is who I am. Thus it was with great displeasure that I discovered not one but two beings who would deny this basest part of my nature, casting me into a mold not of my devising, but of theirs. For far too long I railed against their static, impregnable minds, but try as I might, their wrongly held beliefs endured, desecrating my essence, my name. That is my Fury, Tireas - that my triumphant return to existance was immediately tainted with these falsehoods and their associated furies. I would prefer to consume it all and try again, that my successor might have better luck with his or her own reality."
The Juggernaut considered the words of the old man, standing in the hot sun. A servant handed him a plate of figs, plucked by a scout from a tree by an oasis.
"Fight Naga? Hard, maybe very hard, but possible. Yes, possible. We march!"
At his command, the whole host wheeled and turned, an immense cloud of dust rising. A week later, they began to cross the Sea. The skills of their sappers were invaluable, as the Juggernaut simply ordered huge shafts sunk all along the course of the march, ensuring that water always quenched the thirst of his soldiers. Scouts reported that the Naga sheltered in an extensive system of tunnels, and the Juggernaut, hoping to avoid a long, costly, clearing operation ordered twenty rogues of the Shade-Blood clan to infiltrate and report what they saw.
Though some were caught, most returned and spoke of strife between Embrin and Naga. The Juggernaut deliberated with his council, a deliberation that consisted of him speaking and the council assenting, and decided to speak with the Embrin. Accordingly, Lord Ephrim, the Embrin commander, discovered a note laying upon his desk one morning. His scouts had already informed him of the approach of a massive army, and this parchment not only confirmed that but asked him to come speak with the host's leader.
The underling lead Itropi into Ephrem's offices. "Ah, good. I had been hoping to speak to you, Itropi." Ephrem indicated one of several pillows. (After all, Naga couldn't turly use chairs). "Sit, sit, my friend."
The underling left and Ephrem's face hardened. "There are dire things to discuss, Itropi." Ephrem steepled his fingers, attempting to determine the best way to handle the delicate subject matter. "One of our number, the Bladeknight Ciel, was found dead in her quarters earlier this week. She had naga poison in her veins." Ephrem arched an eyebrow. "Our peoples' alliance will only last as long as it is beneficial for both sides. If you can no longer guarantee our safety, we can no longer guarantee yours."
The Embrin general sighed, stood up, and began pacing the small room. "On a milder note, I have heard you have obtained a powerful new weapon. Would you mind showing it to me?"
Inside the mind of C’thruul, the battle continued. All the others had been slain, and only two were still struggling to become victorious and claim C’thruuls body as their own.
One was the angellic dragon Surroria, covered in golden scales and glowing feathers. The other was Akuru-Azu, an amorph humanoid who’s body was a constant shifting amalgam of the worst nightmarish monstrosities. The only thing that remained more or less constant was its ‘face’. A featureless metallic faceplate, except for 3 eyeslots on the left side. It rose itself up from a now dead opponent, retracting its blood covered claws from thecorpse, its attention now shifting to the draconic goddess.
“Don’t worry, the dream you percieve as reality will soon end”
While the battle between the two continued, the mindless C’thruul continued its rampage, until suddenly it released a final scream before convulging and crashing to the ground, its form splashing apart into a pool of featureless ink.
From the pool emerged the draconic goddess. No longer radient, the gold had been replaced by pale bleached scales.
Then a floating mask appeared, having 3 eye slits on the left. The pool started to shrivel up towards the mask, until taking a vague humanoid shape wearing the mask of Akuru-Azu.
“Ah...free at last.”
Taking a good look around he finally walked towards the former Surroria.
“Come Palewing, we have found a new dream to explore”
OOC + PP
Ok finally, C'thruul has been replaced by my new nightmare god Akuru-Azu. He retains the old domains of C'thruul
Claim domain 3PP: Dream/Nightmare
Beget Exarch 3PP: Surroria/Palewing
2PP left
Ok finally, C'thruul has been replaced by my new nightmare god Akuru-Azu. He retains the old domains of C'thruul
Claim domain 3PP: Dream/Nightmare
Beget Exarch 3PP: Surroria/Palewing
2PP left
It was a bit strange that Tireas would say something as suddenly as that, but there was this feeling he had. Isura had told him exactly what he wanted to know, but somehow, he still wasn't satisfied. Trying to shrug off this strange sense of foreboding, Tireas turned from Isura and left without a glance back. He had one more person with which he needed to converse.
While Pamora waited for Tsiyoti to answer, she busied herself with examining the stars again. There were so many passions, so many desires, but she began to worry. There was passion, yes, but little passion for peace and order. Did all things in the world below like to kill and be killed? There was no time for great passions to be had, only this middling things that now reflected in the sky.
She found one that seemed interesting. Perhaps he was a petty bureaucrat in a warrior band... no, probably not, since he had a passion for written words and reading. Well, that didn't matter. Pamora took the spark in her hands, rolled it, warmed it, infused it with her power, and crushed it. She ground it into powder and breathed on it, sending it drifting to the west.
Satisfied for now, she turned back to the watery one to await his answer.
~Niganati, Outer Holdings~
The acolyte that had followed Arkesh bowed before his leader and began to leave. But suddenly his heart was struck by an unseen force and he collapsed. When Arkesh heard the sound of the body dropping, he turned around and all thoughts left his mind for a moment.
"Help me," he waved to the Embrin. He knelt down by the young one and fished out a piece of metal to hold in front of his face... not fog formed. "He isn't breathing."
He yelled out to those nearby "Quick, someone bring a healer!"
Arkesh searched his mind... what were the incantations for healing, again? Ever since he had given up the Heartstone he had found it was harder to remember them.
~Western Peninsula~
The dust from the goddess settled on the land to the far west, along the largely unexplored lands to the west of the western sea. There the powder nestled into the earth gently sloping hills began to arise, as if giant seeds were pushing up through the dirt. From these came little hominids, half the size of humans or less yet with large heads and keen minds.
PP
1PP Mold Minor - Western Peninsula: adding texture to the landscape. Nothing even remotely impressive, but at least things aren't flat.
4PP Shape populace - Gnomes populate this place.
0PP remaining
And yes, in case anyone is curious, Pamora did just kill that acolyte by using him to create something.
1PP Mold Minor - Western Peninsula: adding texture to the landscape. Nothing even remotely impressive, but at least things aren't flat.
4PP Shape populace - Gnomes populate this place.
0PP remaining
And yes, in case anyone is curious, Pamora did just kill that acolyte by using him to create something.
Tsiyoti burbled uncertainly. This god was slightly confusing.
"No, quite certain we never met. I'm... well, me. God of Water, The wave that Roars. I am kin, of sorts, with Dajjal and Isura, and a few others, although they sleep for now. I am going... places... forgive me, but I am not sure what you want to know. I began at the start of this world, and I will be here when it closes. I am going there, and I have gone from before. How did you think you recognized me? I mean, I'm not exactly commonplace."
~Niganati, Ephrem's Office~
Itropi grimaced. There had been increasing violence against the Embrin for some time now, and while there was a voice in the back of his head that said that this was actaully a good thing, he did not relish the thought of the Embrin leaving. They had been... useful.
"I am sorry to hear that, Ephrem. Ciel was a good soldier. Be assured that we will be making a full investigation. If nothing else, we can be fairly certain it was a woman who did it. That narrows things down. It appears that the murder of Hyp last week has only further inflamed the passions of a subset of our people. I will keep my house in order. Can I trust you to do the same? The last thing we need is for more deaths to occur on either side."
At the Embrin's next question, though, his spine went cold as ice. The Spear was HIS.
"I'm sorry. I'm not entirely certain as to what you refer to. There is nothing special about my weapons, but you know that a soldier's arms are his own. I invoke my right to - Yes?"
A sudden movement at the door caused him to turn. A naga ducked in.
"Commanders, we have reports of an army of men moving in this direction."
Itropi glanced over to Ephrem and smiled.
"Well, Ephrem. Looks like it is time for us to earn our keep."
With a wild shout, he slithered from the room, heading towards the surface.
~Western Peninsula~
THe dust from Pamora fell also on marshland left from Tsiyoti's explosive defeat at the hands of Tireas. Several frogs had the dust fall on them, and as they jumped into the water, the latent power of the two gods interacted. The frogs cried out as their bodies expanded tenfold, and minds earlier devoted to little more than finding flies blossomed into full-fledged sentience.
Looking at one another for the first time, the Bullywugs hopped into the water once more and began to search for a home.
PP
1 PP: Nourish Population: A retroactive PP to increase the number of Embrin in Niganati
4 PP: Shape Populace: Bullywugs live in the Western Peninsula.
1 PP: Nourish Population: A retroactive PP to increase the number of Embrin in Niganati
4 PP: Shape Populace: Bullywugs live in the Western Peninsula.
----------
In the Highland Castle in Myth'lyn a meeting of the lords and the king was taking place to discuss the constant raids of the Sylvanion on one side and the orcish raids upon the borderkingdoms. As the lords quarreled, the king looked over to the man standing in the shadows, up until now silent. "What do you think?"
The man stepped forward into the light and everyone fell silent as his visage becomes visible to all. A massive looking man, almost feral in looks, with a very muscular build, long curly hair, and dark beady eyes that seemed to almost look right through you. "Take what troops you need to fight the orcs. Leave the sylvanion to me and mine. Ferocity begets ferocity. They wish to part violence upon their brethren, then we'll teach them what violence is. They'll find out what it means to mess with us." With that he steps back into the shadows.
No one speaks for the longest time. Finally the king speaks up, "Make the preperations. Send word to those borderlands that requested help. We move." With that the lords all burst into action and voice all at once making the kings will happen.
---------
In a mage tower somewhere in the elven kingdom, a group of elves successfully make a large portal. A portal that they believe will bring them knowledge and power, but to where it will actually bring them is a whole nother matter. One of them steps forward, and enters the portal. As the mage steps out he sees an area of immense beauty, a garden unlike anything he has ever seen surrounded by a wall of fog, right before he is eaten. The others unsure of what is happening wait for a response before sending anyone else through.
PP
3PP Beget Exarch: John Madding, The first lycan steps from the shadows for the first time...
1PP Command: A small group of powerful elven mages build a powerful portal that is linked to the garden of the gods. The guardian of the gate, also happens to get a small meal at the same time.
3PP Beget Exarch: John Madding, The first lycan steps from the shadows for the first time...
1PP Command: A small group of powerful elven mages build a powerful portal that is linked to the garden of the gods. The guardian of the gate, also happens to get a small meal at the same time.
Ephrem's hand shot out, catching Itropi by his shoulder and turning him back around. "I did not want your weapon, Itropi, I want to look at it; There has been a missive from Hearth -- Janus' band has turned southwards, and appear to be marching on Niganati. And now a second army nears as well? Janus is looking for the god-weapons. If you have acquired one, I don't care if you have, or how, you will only paint this city as a target. Strange forces lurk within these caverns, sowing stife and dissent. Remember the Rathians of Kardesh - do you want that same fate upon the Naga as well?"
The general scowled. "Go, let us go. It is too late to stop this current force from arriving at any rate. We can talk more if we survive this."
~Outer Holdings~
The old Embrin, kneeled down, unbidden, and placed his palm on the fallen Naga's forehead.
He began to pray, his sibilant words spilling like red flames from his mouth, congealing on the body of the fallen acolyte. As he spoke on, the runes began to pulse with the lifeblood of a heart.
Scarlet Fire burning bright,
keep us safe this blackest night.
Steel our hearts and guide our hands
when darkness looms across these lands.
The wizened sage continued reciting four more verses from the Litany of Flame, until, with his final words, the acoolyte opened her eyes, bolted upright, let out a long hissing scream, before collapsing into a heap once more. The body was scorched, as if set alight.
This was clearly not the expected outcome. Trying to regain his composure, he poked at the once-more stilled body. "Is she dead?"
Soon they struck stone, but that proved no obsticle. Picks hacked through solid stone, while roots opened the cracks of weaker stuff still wider. After the central shaft had been sunk, like a javelin into the desert's heart, smaller, ancillary tunnels wound off. The Juggernaut had delivered to each clan a challenge. The first tunnel to reach Niganati's depths would be granted double share of the plunder. A second derective, however, had accompanied the first. Each clan leader had been informed that he would be killed if a tunnel breached Niganati until the order had been given.
So it came to be that Juggernauts were in great demand, to use their roots to sense the tunnels of the Naga.
The Juggernaut, now calling himself Poobah of the Horde, commanded that all the old and sick be brought into the tent. There, Juggernauts walked from creature to creature, slipping a root beneath the skin of each Keben. The puncture was quick, painless even. Less so what followed. Within a week, every Keben so touched became a living bomb, roots writhing beneath their skin. On command from the Juggernauts who had infected them, the Kebens would run forwards and explode, coating everything nearby in roots, not to mention a spray of viscera.
The roots would quickly infect any living host, swiftly creating Shambling Crawlers, who would also answer to the Juggernauts' command.
-----------------
Moon Orcs
Four Sylvanion rangers appeared before the Orc lord, ghosting past his sentries.
"High Lord of the Orcs, we both struggle against the Myth'lin, Orc-killers and tree-burners, they are guilty of countless atrocities. Alone, each of us may fall, as they unleash wolf-men to hunt us from our homes. Together, we may break the strength of their armies. You may pillage, we care little for such things, but we ask that where you bring the sword to their lands, you also bring fire."
-----------------
Myth'lin Borders
Faced with harsh reprisals, the Sylvanion became even more elusive. They blended in to the very wilds themselves, using, it seemed, every bird and beast as eyes and ears. Myth'lin soldiers died, cut down in ones and twos, killed along the line of march when moving against a Sylvanion camp. And oft as not, they found no camp, just smoke, dancing amongst the trunks.
PP
2PP-Mold Land, Medium: A huge network of passages is created, almost entering Niganati, but not quite. Most of the adjoinments would be in the bottom of the warrens.
1PP-Nourish Populace, Kebens: Significant number of suicide bombers created.
2PP-Harm Populace, Myth'lin: Sylvanion intensify war of attrition
1PP-Command Populace, Sylvanion: Learn Ranger class
Arvad swiftly returned to the garden arounde the gate, silently grabbing his staff from where he left
it and spotted Pamora and the water god. Quietly, he murmured to himself as he began circling the duo. "Hm, I feel as if I should remember that ones name, but it slips my mind. Perhaps I'll inquire when they are finished. Not to mention do something about the sudden upswing in obstacles to this place."
PP
Storing PP
1 PP - Forge
1 PP - Mold
1 PP - Command
2 PP - Spawn
1 PP - Nourish
1 PP - Command
0/7
1 PP - Forge
1 PP - Mold
1 PP - Command
2 PP - Spawn
1 PP - Nourish
1 PP - Command
0/7
Isura, free from Tireas' inquiries, drifted over to Tsiyoti and the new thing. She was nothing more than a wisp of flame or a cloud of sparks and cinders. She said nothing, merely watced the two gods curiously.
Arkesh knitted his eyeridges in thought. He wasn't entirely sure what the Embrin had done. Truth be told, that was the first time he had seen Embrin magic at work. He hadn't known that Isura could be called on to heal someone. To strike someone down, to summon fires, yes. But to heal? The stone had always had him call upon Velt or Tsiyoti for that. Not for the first time, he felt as if the artifact had never shared all its secrets. But it was gone, now, and he had no desire to work to uncover the truth.
When the old one asked if she was dead, he responded, "So it would seem. An ill-omen, to be sure."
He grabbed one of the bystanders and ordered them to have the temple arrange for the body to be taken care of. He then pushed the unpleasantness from his mind and asked the Embrin, "You had questions, yes?"
~Tree of Light~
"Dajjal, Isura..." The goddess repeated the names. They felt oddly similar. Perhaps that was just because this wet-one was kin with them. "Did they also begin at the start of the world? What caused you to begin?"
Pamora sent her mind back. She had no illusion that the world had started with her. Indeed, she had the feeling that it was quite old. But why she felt this way, she did not know. The moments of her birth were hazy. Faces she didn't know, thoughts that weren't hers, pressing all together. "I am sorry if my questions are confusing. I just want to know you. There was an angry-one I met before. I could sense what he was about. Not everything he was about, mind you, but his very presence seemed to move the world to war. It felt like the stones themselves were about to fight. Then there was one who always was moving, and it made me feel like I would be in pain if I remained still myself. But you, I don't get a similar feeling from you. You are wet, and you say your are of water, yet..." she held out three hands, "things are comparatively dry. So, since I do not know, I wish to find out what you are about. Is that clearer?"
"As for how I thought I recognized you... I don't know. Must have been my imagination. As I said, it isn't like I have met many people, and certainly none so watery."
"I'll deal with them later, but first...." She stated calmly to Palewing
Holding out his hand, a small crystal started to grow between her thumb and index finger.
pp
store 2PP for artifact creation
store 2PP for artifact creation
Thanks to everyone who has been stepping up and working on the wiki this week. It shows!
Also, a 1 PP RP award to Veok for giving this game a well-needed kick in the pants! Huzzah!
spreadsheets0.google.com/ccc?authkey=CKy...
9 PP: Tsiyoti, Isura
8 PP: Pamora, Dajjal, Amun
7 PP: Akuru-Azu, Tireas, Arvad, Erainull, Sephus
5 PP: Baern
If the approaching Embrin and Keben armies could be defeated, perhaps the Naga could then retaliate with an expansion of their own. Kayast, the murderer of the Embrin official, was one of these. Many of the other younger naga, who had long been weary of their quiet life in the Nest, shared similar ideas. An underground society of sorts began to form, of military-minded naga who trained themselves in the martial arts and planned to seize territory at the expense of the invading factions once their armies were crushed.
Some within the movement planned to manipulate the two armies into fighting each other before they could trouble the naga, while others composed daring plans to quickly eradicate one and then the other.
PP
Command Populace: 1 PP (4/5 PP remaining). Imperialistic ambitions begin to spread among the naga, particularly those who dislike the elementalist faith. Kayast is one of the leaders of the underground movement, and is gaining levels as a Warlord.
The crystal was able to attract the unconsious minds of mortals, drawing them into another dimension. Here the mortals mind would locally alter the plane, creating a dream.
When the crystal finished growing, Akuru-Azu directed Palewing towards the top of the crystal. Perching down, he dismounted and took a stand at the top centre of the crystal.
Standing atop, he willed the crystal to move towards something that had sparked his interest for a long time while he was still imprisoned inside C'thruul. The Gate...
pp
Create Plane/Artifact: 4PP; 2 saved from last turn +2. The crystals primary function was to serve as a nexus that would hold up an artificial plane. The plane was inaccesible by anything material. It was however possible to enter it with ones consience during a sleep cycle and the plane would localy reshape to visitors mind, allowing them to dream.
5/7pp remaining
Create Plane/Artifact: 4PP; 2 saved from last turn +2. The crystals primary function was to serve as a nexus that would hold up an artificial plane. The plane was inaccesible by anything material. It was however possible to enter it with ones consience during a sleep cycle and the plane would localy reshape to visitors mind, allowing them to dream.
5/7pp remaining
Baern mused to himself as he looked at the glassy leviathan. Was he truly a god now? Could he make such a thing himself, if he chose?
Casting his mind out to further study the new moon, he felt its diamond fingers grasping at his consciousness, inviting him in. This object was meant to draw in the minds of thinking beings. What an intriguing design! The gods of this world were clearly very active still in shaping the physical landscape, and at least one of them was creative in all the right ways. It was time for introductions.
The next moment, Baern was standing on one of the crystalline branches of the new moon. He sent his thoughts into the dreamworld within, ready to withdraw at the first sign of trouble, but for the moment unafraid.
"Creator of this world, I greet you."
"Calm down Palewing, don't frighten the visitor."
Focusing back on the new arrival she stated
"And who might you be"
"I am called Baern. I witnessed your creation of this monolith, and curiosity seized me. You must pardon my ignorance, for I am a newcomer to this gated realm; who are you, maker of dreaming moons?"
She pauzed for a moment
"If you wish, we could discover this realm together."
He raised a hand to chest level. Immediately, a chair made of humanoid bones and crawling with nasty-looking wormlike creatures grew to fill the space between it and the invisible floor.
"It seems quite responsive. Great potential."
He sat down in the chair. It hovered into the air on batlike wings.
"I would simply love to help you explore it."
As the thoughts crossed her minds, the dark silhouets of these mighty creatures appeared within the area around her and Baern. However she could not will them into being...yet.
"I'll have to start smaller"
And with that, the dark silhouets shrunk into small wormlike spectres that managed to become corporeal within the dreamrealm.
"these will have to do for now."
A dreamleech as she calls it, is a spectral entity vaguely resembling its real blooddrinking counterpart. Instead of blood, they fly around the dream realm and invade a dream and alter it to generate and enhance a certain emotion, which thy feed upon.
To multiply, a leech simple needs to feed. Once it becomes large enough, it will split into several smaller ones and the cycle repeats itself.
pp
Spawn Creature (1PP): Dream leech: Spectral parasites inhabiting the plane of dreams inside the crystal. They latch on to a dream and feed on the emotions of the dreamer. They can alter a dream accordingly to increase their prefered emotion. Nightmares are most common.
note: they aren't combat creatures, just a way to explain certain intense dreams.
4/7 PP remaining
Spawn Creature (1PP): Dream leech: Spectral parasites inhabiting the plane of dreams inside the crystal. They latch on to a dream and feed on the emotions of the dreamer. They can alter a dream accordingly to increase their prefered emotion. Nightmares are most common.
note: they aren't combat creatures, just a way to explain certain intense dreams.
4/7 PP remaining
"An interesting start. I would love to observe their impact on the mortal world. There's potential for practical applications there. In the meantime, let's try something...a little bigger."
Baern raised his arms, and a cloud of dark dream-stuff congealed around his form, thousands of faces flashing and dissapearing in its midst. The putrid cloud of poisoned dream grew, waiting for Akaru-Azu's input.
PP
Baern puts forward 2 PP for Shape Populace. 2/5 PP remaining.
pp
Akuru-Azu puts forward 2PP for shape populace.
2/7 pp remaining
Akuru-Azu puts forward 2PP for shape populace.
2/7 pp remaining
Elpin strolled through the rows of plants. Every so often he would reach out and take one of the heads of grain in his hand and feel it. If it was scrawny, he would then and there pull up the plant and hand it to one of his aids to be burned. But if it was plump, he would hand it to a different aid to be planted again. It had been his lifelong work, tending to the einkorn. There was little food in the world, it seemed, at least little that could be retrieved without great labor. But with his efforts, the grass-like plant was becoming something that could be sown and harvested to comparatively large results. He hoped one day his descendents would be able feed the world with his plants.
Done for the day, Elpin retired to his study and carefully recorded the day's work: how many plants were burned, thorough descriptions of those plants, the number of new seeds sown, the qualities of the parent plant, the number of hours worked, and number of breaks taken, the number of buckets of water carried to the fields, and so on. With that task finally being completed, he headed to the kitchen.
One of the reasons he had been working on the plants was because he loved baking things, but the old einkorn kernels made such poor flour. This latest variety, however, was much better. He carefully measured out the kernels he would need, ground them, added other ingredients, mashed the resulting paste into a pan, baked it for a little while, and then sliced fresh fruit. These he added to the dish and covered with another layer of dough. Once it had baked sufficiently he set it out to cool and returned to his study to carefully document the process.
In the morning, when the pie was ready, he called in his manservant, Patsy. As soon as the other gnome's face rounded the corner it was met with a pie being smashed into it. Elpin rolled on the floor laughing and soon Patsy joined him.
PP
1pp Command - Western Peninsula: The Gnomes adopt advanced agricultural practices.
7/8 PP remaining
1pp Command - Western Peninsula: The Gnomes adopt advanced agricultural practices.
7/8 PP remaining
Then, throwing his arms back over his head, he caused the seed to burst. Creatures similar to the dream leeches went hurtling out in all directions and latched onto the fever-dreams of a handful of mortals throughout the world who were near death. Already weakened, they made perfect hosts for the new breed of leech. But these weren't just parasites. Feeding on the dreams of a sleeper was only the first stage of their life cycle. As adults, they'd venture into the physical world. And to get there...
Across the world and the moon, a hundred tortured screams split the air.
[spoiler=PP]Using the 2 PP from Akara-Azu, create populace: tirbanas.
"A marvelous creation, the first of many more I hope"
The light behind Baern's face went out, leaving it dark and eerily pensive.
"The first of many."
Riding his bat-winged chair forward through the liquid darkness of the deep dreamworld, Baern extended his hand.
"Let us be henceforth brother and sister, fellows in creation...and, if need be, destruction. Allow me to appear and speak to sleepers in their dreams. In return I will be your hand in the world of the waking. Together, we can solve any problem that either of us might face."
Baern was sincere in this desire; above all, he was a practical being, and a mutually beneficial alliance spoke well to his sensibilities. Access to dreams would allow him to spread his influence into the hearts of so many mortals, so much more directly. With a tool like this available, his important work would become simpler. Whatever Akuru-Azu asked in return would be worth it to him.
...
The tirbanas fled the villages, towns, and tribes in which they had been violently born. Some of the fleeing juveniles were killed of course, but enough escaped to establish several breeding populations out in the woods and grasslands and swamps. They grew rapidly to adulthood, and the first Implanters began plotting to hunt more dreaming creatures for reproduction. They preferred sapient beings like elves and humans and embrin, because they were easier to find, and their vivid, intelligent dreams made for healthy broods of larvae.
Extending her own arm she took baerns hand as to seal the deal.
"Very well..." Pauzing for a moment "...Brother"
Akuru-Azu had no douth that Baerns influence on the mortal world would cause a wide stream of emotional chaos into her realm. She could already taste it.
Some of the marshy parts of the Dragon's Head (as the Gnomes came to call the western peninsula where they lived) were drained and turned into farmland. Tidy plots of crops grew in the light of Ra and the harvest was plentiful. In turn there was need to store the grain, so they built silos. And, when time passed and some areas ran low on food, they shipped extra out. This required tallies to be tallied, lists to be logged, and crates to be catalogued. Porters were hired to port, and supervisors to supervise. A council managed the affairs, and a mayor was appointed to act as their voice. And so, with every line checked and every letter dotted, the city of Whittlewright grew in prestigue.
PP
1PP Nourish - Gnomes: First gnomish city, Wittlewright, develops. It is ruled by a city council and a series of officials.
6/8pp remaining
1PP Nourish - Gnomes: First gnomish city, Wittlewright, develops. It is ruled by a city council and a series of officials.
6/8pp remaining
PP
store 2PP for nourish actions for later use
They were a clever folk as well, these Hobgolins, as they came to be known. They were practical, and of the moment, and built large forts for themselves from wood, which was easy to carry and use and was close at hand. They didn't bother with mining, and in any case, preferred the dense, foggy, sun-starved jungles of their homes to the frosty peaks that lay to the south. They avoided as well the wasteland that stretched right to the northern seas, sticking to the fringes, where there was dense forests for cover and water always close at hand.
For a time, they were a rugged race, but as time wore on, their cleverness and began to surpass their practicality. Great fortresses were erected with increasing extravagance and decreasing usefulness. The great warlords of the disparate tribes began to stake their claims to the vast, unchecked tracts of forest-land, and for a time, there was war-making. And the hobgoblins found that, if there was something they were more suited to that building forts and being practical, it was war. And so war swept across the northern lands like a bloddy fist, setting the forests alight with the fires of cruelty and arrogance. And when the forests could no longer contain to bloodshed, it spilled out into the wastelands, and up into the frosty peaks.
But the wisest of the hobgoblins, those who had seen the passage of many a moon and for whom the sport of war had quite lost its glamour, came to realize that they could no longer exist this way. And so they formed a council comprised of the chieftains of the sympathetic tribes and in one monumentous attack, swept across the lands and quelled the heat of the rising war-bringers. And suddenly, the hobgoblins knew something they had not known for many a generation: pure, unadulterated peace. Some were not content, these were exiled to the wastes and forgotten. And so the old rank and file of the armies settled back into the old games of hunting for sport and practicality while that Council of Elders ascended into the frosty peaks from whence it is said they rule, handing down judgements when needed, but mostly keeping to their enigmatic affairs.
And so it has been. For many a year, the hobgoblins waited. But the rumblings of rebellion stir the jungle-dwellers, and the drums of war sound across the wastes once more as the exiles find their footing in the harsh desert. And the Council remains silent in their cloistered halls. And all wonder what shall be the spark to ignite the next flame of war.
PP
4 PP - Shape - Hobgoblins appear in the steppe-lands north of the mountains.
1 PP - Nourish Land - There is a dark, misty jungle that sits on the fringes of the wastes, at the foots of the tall mountains.
1 PP - Command - The Hobgoblins form a disparate and barely cohesive assembly of tribes headed by the elusive council, which makes its headquarters in the mountain peaks south of the tribe-lands.
2 PP - Nourish - Recovering from the war that fractured them for centuries, the hobgoblins expand past the boundaries of their primordial forests and stretch up into the mountains and into the northern wastes.
1 PP - Nourish Land - There is a dark, misty jungle that sits on the fringes of the wastes, at the foots of the tall mountains.
1 PP - Command - The Hobgoblins form a disparate and barely cohesive assembly of tribes headed by the elusive council, which makes its headquarters in the mountain peaks south of the tribe-lands.
2 PP - Nourish - Recovering from the war that fractured them for centuries, the hobgoblins expand past the boundaries of their primordial forests and stretch up into the mountains and into the northern wastes.
Baern dove off the edge of the crystal, plummeting like a bird of prey back toward the earth.
...
One of the conquering Embrin factions sent squads ahead to the Western Peninsula. They reported that it was inhabited by small, magical men who had the power to make the land give birth to incredible bounty. The warlord in charge of this army made preparations for conquest.
...
In Niganati, tensions continued to rise between the elementalists and the nonbelievers. A schism occured within the elemental temple, with one faction deciding to worship Tsiotli henotheistically, seeing the naga as the chosen children of the one true god. They found growing support, especially among the younger naga.
PP
Command Populace x2 (2 PP, 0/5 PP remaining): One of the Embrin factions is planning to conquer the gnomes. The naga are getting even more wrestless.
OOC Argus
To note, there are two religious organizations in Niganati lands. The church of Tsiyoti (who, as you might have guessed, specifically worship tsiyoti), and then the church of the elementals (who worship all the elemental gods, not just tsiyoti). I just wanted to make sure you were refrencing the latter before responding.
To note, there are two religious organizations in Niganati lands. The church of Tsiyoti (who, as you might have guessed, specifically worship tsiyoti), and then the church of the elementals (who worship all the elemental gods, not just tsiyoti). I just wanted to make sure you were refrencing the latter before responding.
Sadly, Bullywugs weren't very good at sailing. They simply weren't dextrous enough to climb the rigging or strong enough to hold lines or, well, do much of anything. What they *were* was eager to try.
A noble persuit in most creatures, trying. In Bullywugs, a tragic one, especially on the high seas. Many Bullywugs fell from their boats, dropping from the rigging, getting knocked overboard by swinging masts, getting yanked off the edge by suddenly pulled ropes... it was really quite pathetic to watch.
Of course, the Wugs were too proud to ask their Gnomish neighbors for help. To do so would be to invite ridicule, and the squat toad-faced smelly men were certainly not ever ridiculed about anything else, no, not ever.
And so they fell overboard, and, by and large, they sank beneath the waves.
But, thanfully, this was not the end, for each one that sank beneath the waves began to change. Legs extending, arms becoming long and dextrous and a set of gills appearing near their throats, covered by a retractable hard layer of skin when they had to travel on the surface. Swimming in powerful strokes, they made their way back to shore, and in ones and twos, the Sahaguin were born.
~The Tree~
"I... I remember... cold. And being afraid, and feeling like I was falling... and then I remember shooting up out of the waves and discovering other Gods. I... I wish I could tell you more. I feel there's something else I should tell you that I just can't recall at the moment.
As for the fact that it is dry out..." Tsiyoti's voice took on a wry edge. "I am Water incarnate. I carry an ocean within me. I carry the waters of the world wherever I am. I am no jellyfish, requiring external sources of water to keep me alive, much as Isura requires no kindling to start a fire and Dajjal requires no pre-existing wind to cause a hurricane. But enough about me. You... what... do you claim as your dominion?" The god looked the other one up and down.. "Surely you are no elemental." Although faint, there was a barely detectable sneer in that last phrase.
~Niganati~
Itropi glanced over at Ephrem.
"Yes, I did find a weapon." He said as they both strode for the surface. With one hand he gripped his spear and pulled it from its holder.
"I call it Bloodspiller. Its edge is impossibly sharp."
PP
4 PP: Shape Populace: Sahaguin live off the coast of the W. Peninsula
4 PP: Shape Populace: Sahaguin live off the coast of the W. Peninsula
The Naga elders had had enough. Like an adult lion striking a younger male testing the waters, the elder Nagas swept upon the dissidents and crushed them utterly. With words, of course.
Cries of xenoracism were swiftly cut down. Withering accusations of "favoritism" were shorn with the simple truth -- the Embrin within Naga society, as miltiary instructors, weaponmasters, and the like, had attained their position not by some sort of racial predjudice, but because they were wholly better than the Niganati old-dwellers.
A cadre of the imperialistic younglings sought to disprove this, and ambushed a pair of Embrin militarists near one of the public passages. In the course of a few scant minutes, the Embrin emerged, unharmed, if not a bit unruffled. The score of beaten and broken Naga underscored the fundamental difference in origins between the two races: The Naga had been lucky enough to leave a peaceful existence, whereas the Embrin had been bred in conflict.
It was all well and good to claim some sort of moral superiority over the Embrin, but in incident after isolated incident, the Embrin unfailingly proved that their status and positions was well-earned. Those imperialists who remained were, without exception, those who had never stood with their own rhetoric, and found their covens reduced to a scant few of equally cowardly individuals who allowed themselves to be raised to a fevered peak of righteous indignation and resolve, only to slither home, bid their Embrin neighbors goodnight, and then slip into bed.
Cries to cast the Embrin out were silenced as well. With the Keben army now visible at night from the external spires, even the dissidents were forced to admit that had the Embrin not arrived when they did, the Naga would undoutedly be in worse straits than they were in now. As they say, only a fool dare bite the hand that keeps the beasts at bay.
And so it was that the empty seeds of strife were revealed for what they truly were: baseless fears wrought from whispering madness.
PP Expenditure
-2 Harm - the dissidants in Niganati are convinced, beaten, or shamed into seeing the error of their ways
The Garden of Elementals was peaceful. Suddenly all the color seemed to drain out of the Garden. Just as suddenly the Garden regained its normal coloration. Floating over the serene garden was what appeared to be a rip in reality full of colorful lights.
The rip floated over to one of the butterflies that called the Garden its home. The colors of the rip slowly transitioned to match the coloration of the butterfly. Once this was done the rip seemed to fold reality into itself like origami until the rip resembled the butterfly. The rip didn't seem to understand the purpose of the wings since it didn't flap them as it moved towards one of the jellyfish-like trees.
As the butterfly-like rip reached the tree, the tree suddenly had growths bulging out of the its trunk. The growths popped like overly plump pustules. Out of each of the popped growths emerged wings similar to the ones on the butterflies.
"This place is fun," cackled the rip.
OCC:
0 PP - Cantrip: The wings on the tree can be undone by any god. If the wings are left alone they'll just shrivel up and go away.
-----
Given well deserved rains and a favorable climate, the lands to the northwest of the Shifting Wood flourished. Animals abound and plants grew in abundance. Favored by these circumstances, the elves adopted a nomadic lifestyle, skirmishing occasionally with each other, but otherwise roaming the steppe and taking what they needed from the land.
-----
On the moon, their long forgotten kin had long since forgotten those that vanished in times past. Those few who still sought the art of magical transporation aged and died, no more taking their place as such a power was deemed impossible.
-----
In the greatest heights of the northern mountains, great birds emerged from the stone and took flight, hunting everything that moved within their domain, animal and mortal alike. Still, under the
shadows of these great hunters, some empyrian tribes, most notably the Cloud Seeker tribe, who where shielded from the hunters by a mighty weapon wielded by their chief. Claiming it was a gift from the gods, he wielded this wind blade against any who would threaten his tribe.
-----
Arvad watches in amusement as he continued to circle the talking gods. Pointing his staff at the ground, he waited patiently for the expected rumbling and cracking as the mountain below shifted and new passages past all the safeguards slowly opened up.
Nodding, he approached the two. "True, she is no elemental." As he circled the two, much closer now, he offered the slightest nod of his head to Tsiyoti. "Greetings, water. I beleive it has been long since we spoke, and I met you only breifly then, did I not?"
PP Expenditures
Stored PP
*1 PP - Command Populace - The treants close the borders of the shifting wood to any non-natives passing through.
1 PP - Mold Land (Minor) - A labrynth of tunnels burrow into the Gate Mountain, providing intrepid, determined, and well stocked explorers with plenty ot time easier access to the gate.
*2 PP - Spawn Beast - Great birds known as Rocs nest in the northern mountain range, hunting in the regions around them, preying on empyrian, hobgoblin, and rathian alike.
*1 PP - Nourish Populace - Elves flourish on the steppe northwest of the Shifting Wood.
*1 PP - Command - Elves on the moon cease research into travel magic, deeming them impossible.
PP
*2 PP - Nourish Land - The wildlife and plants on northwestern steppe flourish
*1 PP (Stored) + 2 PP - Forge Artifact - Wind Cutter, a weapon possessed by the empyrians. It is a chakram with wind related powers.
*1 PP - Nourish Populace - Despite new predators, empyrians flourish in the northern mountains.
1 PP - Stored - Forge action
1 PP - Stored - Command action
0/7
*1 PP - Command Populace - The treants close the borders of the shifting wood to any non-natives passing through.
1 PP - Mold Land (Minor) - A labrynth of tunnels burrow into the Gate Mountain, providing intrepid, determined, and well stocked explorers with plenty ot time easier access to the gate.
*2 PP - Spawn Beast - Great birds known as Rocs nest in the northern mountain range, hunting in the regions around them, preying on empyrian, hobgoblin, and rathian alike.
*1 PP - Nourish Populace - Elves flourish on the steppe northwest of the Shifting Wood.
*1 PP - Command - Elves on the moon cease research into travel magic, deeming them impossible.
PP
*2 PP - Nourish Land - The wildlife and plants on northwestern steppe flourish
*1 PP (Stored) + 2 PP - Forge Artifact - Wind Cutter, a weapon possessed by the empyrians. It is a chakram with wind related powers.
*1 PP - Nourish Populace - Despite new predators, empyrians flourish in the northern mountains.
1 PP - Stored - Forge action
1 PP - Stored - Command action
0/7
~Moaje Mountains~
The Eladrin were no longer alone among their floating mountains. A new band of beings had appeared, almost overnight. They were tall and pale, standing nearly 2.8 meters tall, with long, gangly limbs of pale alabaster flesh. They had not the five-fingered hands of the Eladrin, but that of three slim fingers (two digits and a thumb). Different too were the 6 nearly translucent tentacles that emerged from their backs, the first emerging near the shoulder blades, and the others splayed out in two scalene triangles. Made not of flesh and bone, but rather, raw, concentrated magic, these tentacles were nonetheless as supple and dextrous as any other limb.
They called themselves Illmenites, and their society was a peculiar one. Their origin had garnered them a sort of natural immunity to the sands of time, rendering them effectively immortal from natural causes. And yet, without rhyme or reason, individual Illmenites would lapse into a fey trance, spending several weeks laboriously crafting some tool or art object. Those individuals who could not, for whatever reason, satisfy the artistic mediums of their inner muse's cravings died, either of despair, lapsing into madness, or driven to berserk rage, unable to be stopped short of killing. And those who could complete their projects, emerged with a work the epitome of their craft, whether the Illmenite had had extensive training in their art or not, the piece of work was always masterful quality.
And then, those who had completed their Anust simply died, always exactly thirteen days after their lifeswork was completed, as if the fires of creation had burnt them whole from the inside, with nothing more to live for. Illmenite society, as it was, was a strange one; The elderly were despised - for those who grew old had never crafted an Anust, had never felt the Goddess speak through them. It was a society of constant change -- jobs, positions, and markets were always in flux, as the moods could strike anyone at anytime.
PP Expenditure:
-3 shape populace - The Illmenites
-2 Nourish / Command - The Illmenites develop a society on the Northern of the Moaje Mountains, they have several cities, the largest of which is known as Ostnord.
1 PP Command - Alter Gravity in Garden of the Gods (In the Garden of the Gods, gravity acts in reverse. Things fall up instead of down.)
As its a holiday, and I'm in a celebratory mood, an extra PP for everyone this week!
10 PP: Tsiyoti
9 PP: Pamora, Dajjal, Isura, Arvad
8 PP: Akuru-Azu, Amun, Tireas, Erainull, Sephus,
6 PP: Baern
5 PP: Dloz
spreadsheets0.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc...
Time_Lord
That would be a "command" action, so yes, 1PP. You are defining the rules of nature, and that is one of the many functions that that command is meant for.
That would be a "command" action, so yes, 1PP. You are defining the rules of nature, and that is one of the many functions that that command is meant for.
------------
A few days later, Naga started to die. Murdered in isolated corridors, their bodies hacked up and scattered around the city, some completely burned. The Fire Brigade had arrived.
PP
3PP Command Populace- After the murder, tensions flare up again, more virulent than before, amongst the Naga and Embrin.
1PP Nourish Populace- Fire Brigade created.
It was long suspected but never confirmed that the Hobgoblins that called the misty northern peaks home were purveyors of dark and sinister magic and that they sought all manner of vile and wicked ends. They were half. It was true that the enigmatic sorcerers of the storied halls consorted with most malign forces of our world, but it was in a manner bereft of all dark intention. Rather, the Hobgoblins of the Council were interested in one thing, and one thing only. And that thing was Science.
The Council was composed of old men, old at least for hobgoblins, for whom life was a rather short, brutal and altogether messy affair. Removed from the violence of their less altitudinally gifted brethren, the folk that lived high in the mountains were particularly lucky when it came to staying alive, and none more so than the Council itself. It was quite possible, therefore, that the hobs that made up the Council were the oldest of their kind. But that was not to say they were blustery old fools, consumed by the past and their own studies. These men had acheived their position through cruelty, wit and not a small amount of slaughter. These were the forward thinkers of their race, and their vast intellects were supplemented quite nicely by the not inconsiderable amount of magical knowledge the Council had managed to acquire since its creation.
Yes, the hobs certainly did consort with the foulest of folk, and perform all manner of darkest magicks. But their dark pursuits were not in vain. They became powerful, yes, very powerful. The Council had amassed quite enough personaly power to descend from their mountain keeps and quell the exile threat brewing in the wastes once and for all. But what was the point? They asked themselves. And they answered, no point. It was a waste of their precious time. But they should deal with it in some manner. And so constructed a solution. It was a simple one, really. They did not wish to quell the threat themselves, but quell it they must. Why not send someone else to deal with the exiles? And so they had their answer: the Bugbears.
Massive brutes created by rampant cross-breeding and flippant use of deformative magicks, they were the perfect answer to the Exile Threat. But the Council were not to be satisfied with mere soldiers. Once they found their magicks could provide them with warriors, they wanted servants as well. And thus the advent of the goblins. smaller, more cunning and more subservient than the hobs, these miniature workers would be a perfect solution to all menial woes. And just like that, the Council had given birth to two new races.
PP
4 PP Shape - Bugbears
4 PP - Shape - Goblins
4 PP - Shape - Goblins
The ships of the confederation made landfall not far north of a strange wasteland. The world seemed disturbingly empty, but they did not give up hope. They set about constructing an outpost from which to strike out into the heart of the continent, and in the process found that the sand that flowed out of the wasteland like a river was an excellent resource. Soon the outpost became the city of Glasglaw and shipped exquisite glassware back to Dragon's Head. In return foodstuffs from the homeland were brought to the shores of the glistening coast and slowly but surely a proper hinterland was developed.
PP
1pp nourish: The gnomish confederation expands again and they begin to craft glassware.
5pp remaining
1pp nourish: The gnomish confederation expands again and they begin to craft glassware.
5pp remaining
The butterflies in the Garden did not appreciate the reversal of gravity. They found it difficult to fly since gravity now flung them upward. The rip morphed its wings into too branches to grab two of the butterflies that were falling up. It figured that it should catch two of the butterflies because they seemed to get splattered by the strange barrier surrounding the Garden.
The butterfly in the left branch was torn apart by the rip's mind. It was curious what was on the inside of these pretty creatures. On the inside the butterflies were full of sticky, brown goo. The rip enjoyed stretching the goo between the leaves on the branch growing from its back. As the rip played with the goo, it decided it would be nice to have lots of the goo in the Garden! It turned around and looked at the ground. Suddenly the ground sunk down in response to the rip's attention. Then the indent began to fill with more of the goo. Unfortunately since gravity was acting in reverse the goo started to fall up. Luckily the pond kept refilling.
After staring at the pillar of goo for several hours, the rip remembered the butterfly squirming in the rip's right branch. That butterfly made the rip realize there didn't appear to be any more butterflies in the Garden. They had all been splattered by the barrier surrounding the Garden. This made the rip very sad. It liked the pretty butterflies. The rip decided it would make more butterflies from the last one. Suddenly the butterfly began to tremble and then it exploded in a burst of fire. But in its place were three new butterflies. The first butterfly the rip stuck in a jar that had grown on its back. After safely storing away the first butterfly, the rip focused on the second. Even though the rip liked the butterflies, it thought they were boring and could not survive in the now more fun Garden. The first thing the rip changed was that the butterfly could fly without gravity. Then the rip made it so the butterfly dropped dust. The dust was fun because it made things change! Sometimes the dust would make random things grow out of organisms that were touched by it. Other times the dust would cause pustules. Out of these pustules would emerge more of the improved butterflies. Once the butterfly was completed, the rip let it free in the Garden. "Go my little pixie," yelled the rip.
The rip then turned its attention to the other butterfly it had with it. It pondered how it should improve this butterfly. After awhile the rip decided that this butterfly should live in the ground instead of flying through the air. To help the butterfly with that, the rip gave the butterfly a new mouth. The new mouth was full of needle like fangs and it drooled acid. Even though this butterfly would live in the ground instead of the air it would still be able to fly like the other improved butterfly. The rip realized that this butterfly couldn't multiply like the first improved butterfly, so it wondered how to solve that. This butterfly would multiply by laying hard, oval eggs. After eating lots of dirt or goo, the butterfly would lay an egg. From the egg would emerge two new butterflies. Once the changes were completed, the rip set this butterfly free. "Go my little wyrm," giggled the rip.
The rip looked upon the Garden fondly. Dust floated down upon the plants in the Garden from the pixie as it levitated around. From the elemental plants emerged tentacles and claws, but best of all was the pustules that would eventually create new pixies. The wyrm had already begun to tunnel into the ground. It had come up once to lay an egg by the pond of goo. The rip was content once more.
PP
1 PP - Nourish - The Pond of Bug Guts (It doesn't have a name yet.)
1 PP - Nourish - Converting a Butterfly into a Pixie
1 PP - Nourish - Converting a Butterfly into a Wyrm
There are still probably butterflies alive in the Garden, but any that were flying wound up falling up. So I don't think I need to pay for a Harm, but if I do, I will.
Oh, new godlings? She was heartened by the appearance of the new gods as they made their mark on the world. Seeing as she had been in a statis for some time, it would soon daunt on her that the world was once in jeopardy-- though the large dragon-thing was nowhere to be seen. She let out a sigh of relief and went back to work once again-- calling the book into her hands and letting it finish its work before adding to it.
[Iganti Meadows]
The forests flourished-- better than anticipated. The nation structured itself with not one wall, but two. The arcanists became more fluent with the powers that the magic field had once bestowed on them.
While the work continued above, the mines below became a workhouse of increasing deluge-- carving out rock and the crystalline vein to give them an edge on what they might encounter soon. Those that looked up towards the skies saw the constellations aligning and flickering-- a concourse of what to expect. Stargazing started to become a living for some of the villagers, and it gave them insight and a new perspective of the scale of their world.
---
While he spent time in his tent, he kept the blade on the table in front of him-- gleaming with a bright sheen of its fine-polished metallic blade and its fine-crafted hilt of gold and leather. What was most remarkable though was the set of runes etched into the blade itself-- weaving with words and shapes that defined the power of it and the wielder, a sign of bondage and the will to fight off one's fears.
With reading the scripture, he though he saw a flicker of a flame spewing forth from the sword. He thought he was imagining it at first, but then he saw that the blade itself was becoming engulfed in a light blue aura that hummed with divine energy. He stood up and grabbed it by the hilt. The surge of energy flowed right through him-- cleansing him of his corrupted soul which Kazzuk had dealt a grueling blow to. The surge flowed back into the blade and he fell to the ground-- paralyzed.
[Dunes of Daj]
While it was clear that the rocky landscape was more than what one could ask for, it wasn't an unprecedented outcome for some to expect lighter ground passing through the sea of Daj-- and it was an outcome. A large amount of ground north of the sea was a vast wasteland of rock and sand-- peeled off from the barren rocks for sometime by feverous winds, and it was only the beginning. The lanscape extended far north to the edge of the mountains that poptulated the high northern region. This wasteland came to be known by some as the Dunes of Daj-- a haven for the dune scorpions to thrive and hunt, where oases were far and few between. It would be the toughest challenge for civilization to fortify itself if those wished to cross the desert to get to one place or another.
PP Expenditures
2pp Nourish: The nation built a second wall in which to add additional protection from outside threats. This wall also guarded the mine entrance.
1pp Command: The rathian nobles discover Stargazing as a new type of study to determine a chain of event-- the very first Calendar.
1pp Forge: Sunblade-- Completed, the blade is now infused with divine energy and has a wide use of effects in which the user can utilize. The shock of Bartholameau holding it for the first time stuns him for a short period.
2pp Mold: Dunes of Daj-- A hot, desert region of sand and stone which was the breeding ground for the dune scorpions to reside and hunt for food. It is a challenge of society.
2/8 pp remaining
1pp Command: The rathian nobles discover Stargazing as a new type of study to determine a chain of event-- the very first Calendar.
1pp Forge: Sunblade-- Completed, the blade is now infused with divine energy and has a wide use of effects in which the user can utilize. The shock of Bartholameau holding it for the first time stuns him for a short period.
2pp Mold: Dunes of Daj-- A hot, desert region of sand and stone which was the breeding ground for the dune scorpions to reside and hunt for food. It is a challenge of society.
2/8 pp remaining
As the sylvanion rangers appeared in front of the orcish warlord and his camp, they saw that not only was the orcs as bad as humans when it came to lumber, but worse when it came to the animals.
The orcish warlord that the Sylvanion appeared in front of didn't seem too happy to see them. As most Sylvanion are human, the Orcish warlord did what he thought best. He smiled a large toothy grin, and replied "Yes I will bring them the sword and the fire! Puny humans." and with that the orcish guard behind them impaled all four before they knew what had happened and set it out in front of the camp for all to see. The orcs all laughed heartily at their demise, while the onlooking human guards from across the way paled.
Temple Catacombs~
With the arrival of the god of chaos so suddenly and the pattern not yet ready, it suddenly collapsed upon itself, fizzling out. Its power lost to the heavens....
The World~
Amun having traveled near and far saw a world ravaged. Some places bloomed, while others where straight chaotic. His challenger never showing, he deemed it time to return to his paradise. As he ascended back to his throne, a sprinkling of moon dust fell upon a few wolves, slightly changing them.
PP
1PP Harm: The orcs slaughter the Sylvanion just as they would any other human or elf that got in their way.
4PP Shape: Zoanthropic creatures start to appear among the different races of the moon.
2PP to shape action for the wolves into lycans.
1PP command:Some of the wolves are no longer evil, but just neutral
1PP Harm: The orcs slaughter the Sylvanion just as they would any other human or elf that got in their way.
4PP Shape: Zoanthropic creatures start to appear among the different races of the moon.
2PP to shape action for the wolves into lycans.
1PP command:Some of the wolves are no longer evil, but just neutral
"By all means the world Waters." the Ball of Ocean said. The surface of his body grew mirror-smooth, and reflected on the surface came image after image of water: Tsiyoti's Boon, the Inner and Outer Seas, the dark waters beneath the earth where dwarves harnessed the power of the water pouring down from the surface to turn mighty wheels and power their machines. Faintly on the surface of Tsiyoti, Pamora could spot faint lights glowing without fire that seemed to flicker in time with the water, providing dim light to the deep underground places. In the distance, a great cavern was being hollowed out, and the first few buildings of a mighty city were being laid out.
The flashes moved on, flashing to lakes lost in dark woods, to impossibly deep pits in the depths of the ocean, and even to the Moon, where strange animals played in clear blue seas. Finally, the images slowed and stopped and the surface of the God grew once again rough.
"Water drives this world, and I drive the water. Yet you ask me for what compells me to action, what I am passionate about. I am passionate about defending my oceans. I am passionate about defending the core essence of this world from both the old who grow weary and wish an end, and the new who know not what they -"
Tsiyoti stopped speaking as leaves and clods of earth began floating past Pamora and himself. Looking down, he saw more objects floating UP at him.
"Excuse me, Pamora. I would love to continue this conversation at a future time, but someone is once again meddling with something I have sworn to protect. It was a pleasure."
The God dropped like a stone, falling towards the surface despite the reversal of gravity. Soon, it came in sight of a strange... tear. Glancing quickly at the Gate to ensure it was not unstable, the God turned to the tear in space, which was, as far as he could tell, playing with some butterflies.
"Hello. Did you do... this?" he said, gesturing to the floating butterfly parts.
~The Oceans~
A storm had arisen from the ocean, hurtling itself against the ships as they struggled to make their way around the cape and to a protected harbor where they could wait out the worst of the wind and rain. The seas rocked the boats back and forth, and many of the gnomes tried once again to retch up their breakfasts, despite having done so several hours earlier.
Suddenly from below the decks burst a female Naga, gripping a staff in her hands to balance her against the rocking of the ocean. Endrina opened her mouth and spoke:
"May Tsiyoti protect us from all storms and lightning!
Tsiyoti rules the oceans and the Trial with mighty power,
and his word can calm the seas.
Tsiyoti, stay your hand as we sail over your domain.
Holy God! Holy Powerful God! Holy Immortal God!
Have mercy on us."
And suddenly the storm lessened in strength and the gnomes were able to make their way around the spit of land to safety. So impressed were the gnomes (the Bullywugs having been all swept out to sea already) that immediately, they developed a worship of Tsiyoti, whom they called the Storm-Father.
PP
1 PP: Nourish Populace: Dwarves master the art of using water for power.
1 PP: Nourish Populace: Dwarves discover the fundamentals of electricity, and use their waterwheels to bring fickle light to beneath the Godmount.
1 PP: Mold Land: A large cavern opens up beneath the Godmount
1 PP: Nourish Populace: The Dwarves begin to construct Fossheim, the City of Waterfalls
1 PP: Command Populace: Gnome sailors (and Sailors in general) begin to worship Tsiyoti as the Storm-Father.
1 PP: Nourish Populace: Dwarves master the art of using water for power.
1 PP: Nourish Populace: Dwarves discover the fundamentals of electricity, and use their waterwheels to bring fickle light to beneath the Godmount.
1 PP: Mold Land: A large cavern opens up beneath the Godmount
1 PP: Nourish Populace: The Dwarves begin to construct Fossheim, the City of Waterfalls
1 PP: Command Populace: Gnome sailors (and Sailors in general) begin to worship Tsiyoti as the Storm-Father.
Pamora barely had time to register everything Tsiyoti said before he darted off. My, he thought, he is a hasty one. Always darting here and there worrying over something he didn't even create.
He was distracted from his thoughts as a section of stars dimmed briefly and then returned to normal. He could sense that somewhere in the world there had been a life-threatening event, something that had caused some mortal to push all else from their mind as fear for their lives dominated their minds. Yes, there, in the distance he could see the disipation of a storm.
"Hmm... those clouds I created earlier seem to be misbehaving themselves," he said to himself, though it was loud enough that Arvad could hear if he chose to listen. "They are off course and overly violent."
Pamora called one of the stars that had dimmed to him and began to twist its shape, uncaring that the mortal it represented was likewise being twisted. He tried to craft a means of controling the storms, but it didn't want to stay that way. It was as if something fundamental to the concept was missing.
PP
1PP Forge: Starting to create a Weather Domain
4PP remaining
1PP Forge: Starting to create a Weather Domain
4PP remaining
Glancing at the departing Tysoti, he shrugged as he circled her. "A shame. If I understand his potential correctly, he could have been helpful as well. As is, I can give you a hand with it if you'd like. I do specialize in motion after all. I also know the name of one who can help with the wind issue. She goes by the name Dajjal. Related to Isura and Tsyoti somehow, but gauging by what I've seen, she has some mastery over wind that might help with your goal."
Pamora smiled, "Yes, your help would be most appreciated... uh... you're name probably isn't the moving one, is it? I don't think I've heard what you are properly called. But yes, thank you."
"As for this Dajjal... that name sounds familiar... Ah yes, I think some snakes down below worship her." He started to head off to find her but the project wavered like a bubble and nearly burst. Moving it now, while it was still incomplete, would probably be ill-advised. Instead he reached out to the stars and one flew to his hand. He caused it to grow in size and in its heart was an image of what the mortal thought the wind-goddess to look like.
Armed with this knowledge, he caused the star to seek her out. "Tell her that I humbly request her aid and presence at the big light-flower." It darted off, searching high and low for the one called Dajjal.
~Ocean~
The gnomes on the ship were shocked by the sudden appearance of the strange creature. The seas had always been calm before, and now there was this thing when a storm was about? The superstitious sailors wasted no time in drawing their conclusions: this thing was causing the storm. Even as she started to speak in her foreign language, the sailors rushed her and heaved her overboard, hoping that removing her from the ship would grant them safety. Indeed it seemed to do so, as quickly the storm diminished and was gone. The gnomes talked amongst themselves as to what to do, and one of them, unsure of where she heard the name, suggested that they should give thanks to the Storm-Mother for guiding them to the right action. Many liked this idea but the discussion quickly devolved into if the Storm-Mother was really male or female.
Being the wind, Dajjal wasn't exactly difficult to find as a general rule. Therefore, after releasing the star into the world, it was quickly spun upon the air and tossed along to the Queen of Dust herself. It reached her as she lounged upon some banks of whitest cirrus. It arrived and relayed its message.
"Big light-flower?" she pondered aloud, "You have assumed I'd have noticed such a thing before now."
And off she trotted. Or more accurately, flew off to the Garden.
"Hello my dear, I am Dajjal."
During voyages, some sailors would be struck by horrible nightmares for weeks with no end. Voices in their minds wispering, driving them mad and paranoid, until they can no longer take it and either suicide or try their luck in the deep. Sometimes entire ships are struck, turning entire crews against each other.
Rumors of giant fish stalking behind ships, long segmented tentacles reaching out of the water. And those glowing eyes, three in a row, staring from beneath the waves.
Within the crystal, Akuru-Azu relished in their fear.
pp
4PP shape populace: Aboleth: Large armored creatures that resemble a cross between fish and crustacian. They have four long segmented tentacles each ending in a sharp curved hook.
4/8 PP + 2PP saved for nourishes left
4PP shape populace: Aboleth: Large armored creatures that resemble a cross between fish and crustacian. They have four long segmented tentacles each ending in a sharp curved hook.
4/8 PP + 2PP saved for nourishes left
"Hello my dear, I am Dajjal," a voice said.
Pamora looked about, confused at first. He had heard the voice, but it took a moment for him to indentify where it had come from. He had expected an airy being, but this Dajjal was more ethereal than he had expected.
"A pleasure to meet you," the god said. "I am Pamora. This one here," he left out Arvad's name, as he did not yet know it, "was kind enough to recommend your skills. A while ago I created what I like to call weather. Plants need water, so I tried to disperse some of it across the parched land. Putting it in the sky to rain down seemed like a good plan, but as you can see," he pointed off in the distance where another storm was starting to build, "the weather doesn't quite want to behave. I am not entirely sure what is wrong, but as mistress of the gusts perhaps you do?"
"Oh yes, that I am," said the windy lady, suddenly excited, "I have to tell you, I get all of a flutter whenever I'm asked to do something. It makes me feel rather special."
Then, as if to demonstrate, the misty vapour of her form exploded in a cascade of flapping, fluttering forms that winged their way into the distance. She settled in a pensive stance before the other goddess and regarded her appraisingly.
"You know, I don't believe we've met before now," she said, "Pamora, is it? Well Pamora, I don't know where you came from, but around here, we don't take too kindly to people who step on each others' toes. Did I give you permission to appropriate my winds as you did? Did you ask my brother Tsiyoti before you lifted up his waters and carried them hither and thither?"
She glared rather reprimandingly down at Pamora as she said this. Nevertheless, her eyes betrayed her. They were alight with the bright malice of a cat playing with the mouse. But it was with sincerest benevolence that the goddess decended even further so as to place herself on equal level with Pamora.
"But since you've quite disregarded that, I suppose there isn't much use fretting over spilled ocean. What's happened is happened, and there's certainly no use try to put it back in the Gate. Why don't you tell me a little more about what is wrong?"
Soaking wet, Endrina pulled herself from the ocean and looked back towards the receding boat. Howling in anger, she raised her staff and slammed it into the ground. The sapphire head gave a brilliant flash and the sky overhead grew darker. Within moments, lightning flashed and a mighty storm raged all along the end of the penninsula. Unless the sailors sailed far out to sea, any passage around the Cape of Death (A good name, Endrina thought... had a good ring to it.) would be very, very difficult.
~Garden of the Gods~
The fact that the Rip could speak was slightly surprising to Tsiyoti, although the God figured he had seen stranger things.
"Your toys? Well, you should be more careful with what you do with your toys, and where you play with them. Now... fix this gravity and tell me where you came from and if you have a name."
PP
1 PP: Command... Sky... The air above the tip of the Western Peninsula becomes a perpetual storm. Said tip is now called the Cape of Death.
1 PP: Command... Sky... The air above the tip of the Western Peninsula becomes a perpetual storm. Said tip is now called the Cape of Death.
The rip didn't like this thing. It wanted the rip to stop playing. Gravity was better now. Why would the rip want to put it back? The rip decided it would ignore that. Gravity was the rip's toy, not this thing's.
The thing had asked for the rip's name. That was another thing that awoke something in the rip. It knew it had a name, but the rip hadn't needed it yet. It knew what it was, but others didn't. Its name was... Dloz! That's what the rip's name was. Unfortunately Dloz couldn't say for sure where he came from. He just was here and he had started to play. He was sure that eventually he would remember. It was somewhere in his mind. As more events occurred, Dloz's mind seemed to remember more. That was something that he decided to hide. That was just another thing that seemed to be. Dloz schemed. It was his nature.
"My name is Dloz. I like this place. It is fun. Do you know any fun games?"
Pamora shrugged half-heartedly and said, "They were unused at the time."
That was his only defense, and he barely thought even that much was needed. He had little care for things: actions are what interested him and the elements had been left inactive for an age or more. If they had been being put to use, then it is likely he would have felt a greater concern for his crime. There may have been an accusatory edge in his defense, but if so it was obscured by his general lack of interest. But this Dajjal seemed willing to help, and that did interest him.
"Take a look," he said, offering the half-formed project to the goddess. "Once it is working, you are free to keep it if you like. Or you..." he turned to Arvad again, hoping for a name. "The problem is seemingly simply. Water should evaporate from over there, the western ocean, form clouds, and move east and south. As they pass over land they should let down the water and plants should thrive. Well... grass, mostly. There needs to be more rain if there are to be more shrubs and trees. Regardless, the storm should move over the land watering as it goes until it exhausts itself. The same should happen in the east, except moving north and west. There are some mountains that cast a fairly large rain-shadow, but that is the idea. The problem is that the clouds aren't staying on course and some of them aren't behaving nicely."
Off in the distance he saw s storm brewing over the tip of the western Peninsula. "Look, there. See? Those clouds should spread the water out over the land, not drench that coastal area. And it looks like there are some powerful winds. The clouds are supposed to move, I am not sure where the wind came from."
They didn't think too much of it when Embrin were seen carrying large, colorful centipedes in cages. It didn't look like an especially intimidating warbeast. But then, not long afterward, gnome villagers, travellers, and couriers started dissapearing. The problem got bigger; soon, entire hamlets were becoming ghost towns. The walled cities grew fearful and claustrophobic, and reports of strange, insectoid monsters abounded.
The Embrin warlord watched. And waited.
PP
Command Populace (1 PP): One faction of Embrin have struck a bargain with the Tirbana, and are using them to terrorize the gnomes in preparation for conquest.
Nourish Populace (1 PP): The tirbana are multiplying rapidly, and a new strain has appeared. Tirbana Stalkers can turn invisible, like their gnomish hosts (stats coming soon).
4/6 PP remaining.
Nourish Populace (1 PP): The tirbana are multiplying rapidly, and a new strain has appeared. Tirbana Stalkers can turn invisible, like their gnomish hosts (stats coming soon).
4/6 PP remaining.
Not at full strenght yet, she would require the aid of Baern once again.
Using the crystal, she started to pull at Baerns subconsience, sending the following message
"Brother, we need to speak, I have something to discuss"
Recognizing Akuru-Azu's voice, Baern allowed himself to relax just a bit. Hiking into a cave where he would not be disturbed, Baern allowed his eyes to dissapear (his equivalent of closing them) and let himself fall asleep.
...
Once his winged chair was back, Baern rode it through the liquidy darkness as he made his way to the center of the crystal dreamworld. At its heart, the metal-faced woman awaited.
"My greetings, lady. What services do you require of me?"
"Behold. My first creations have grown more numerous since their creation" She said, as several leeeches floated around her open hand.
"The time has come for them to play a larger role, for them to be able to affect the world outside this crystal realm. For that I require your aid as I am not able to do so on my own."
With that said, the creatures in her hand already started to alter, to grow...
"I believe...I have it."
Baern laid a hand on the growing leech, and it began to grow in another direction as well. Not longer, or thicker, but outside. Its body extended itself out of the dreamworld and into the land of the waking. The leech now existed in both places at once. Like its primitive ancestor, it fed on dreams. Unlike them, however, this creature was highly social and fiendishly intelligent.
"I've done my part. Now do yours."
PP
Baern puts forward 2 PP for Shape Populace. 2/6 PP remaining.
After adding her own final touches, she marveled at their new combined creation. Akuru-Azu called them Psurlons. Creatures of both worlds, they existed in the mortal and dream world at the same time. Like the dream leech, psurlons feed on the emotions of other mortals and require mortal dreams to create more of themselves.
Unlike the Tirbanas, they don't kill the host when a new Psurlon is born, instead they keep their hosts locked in a dreamstate and coninuously use them to spawn more. To do this, they capture mortals and prison them within their lairs. There, they use their poison to bring the hosts into a coma and store them in special resin chambers. The resin chambers not only hold the host, but also grows the organic bodies for the newborn Psurlons.
In the mortal world, their natural form didn't differ much from their dream form. However, they could alter their physical form to that of a captured hosts stored within the resin chambers, making them the perfect infiltrators. Multiple psurlons are able to mimic the same host, allowing multiple copies of a captured host to walk the waking world.
In the dreamrealm, their etherial forms live in a hivelike city, which they call Azur. Azur is where their dream counterparts live and where they store the minds of their hosts. Here they are able to access their hosts minds and knowledge.
If a host is released out of a resin pod, the psurlons can no longer mimic the host and revert back to their original wormlike form. Access to the hosts knowledge is lost aswell.
Since space and distance are abstract in the dreamrealm, Psurlons spread thousands of miles apart in the mortal world could still communicate with each other inside Azur. This gives the impression of them being telepathic or sharing a hivemind.
PP
Shape Populace 2PP+2PP from Baern: Psurlons
2x Nourish Populace: 2PP stored from last turn: Psurlons
Shape Populace 2PP+2PP from Baern: Psurlons
2x Nourish Populace: 2PP stored from last turn: Psurlons
"I'm coming to rely too much on her. This is a weakness. A potentially fatal weakness. I need more of my own."
He looked up at the moon. Not the crystal, the other moon. The green one that had not yet felt his touch. He bent his knees and jumped, landing on a lunar meadow. He had an idea. He just needed to find a place to use it...
PP
2 PP saved for Harm. 0/6 PP remaining.
Whether young or old, weak or strong, every Embrin was born with an innate code of honor. They did not harm civilians in their conquests, they did not use overly cruel weapons that could disfigure, scar, or maim, and they certainly did not skulk around in the night murdering decent folk in some facsimile of just revenge. Lady Isura saw the Fire Brigade, and noted that they had strayed from their code of ethos. As a sign of her displeasure, the folk making up the Fire Brigade withered overnight, their burgandy skin paled to a sickly white, and their inner fires sputtering, eventually failing to ignite their 'hair', making their bald skulls leak an oily film instead.
Such Ashborn were immediately shunned, seen for the murderers and criminals they were, and fled from Naginati within hours of their discovery. The edicts were simple: there was no redemption for murderers. Either die an honorable death fighting the approaching Keben horde, or slink off into the night, forever shamed.
PP expenditure
-2 harm: the Fire Brigade is stricken with Isura's displeasure
-1 command: the Fire Brigade exiles itself from Niganati permanently.
Dajjal wasn't sure she liked this one. His tone was abrupt, and he seemed to display little remorse for his little act of appropriation. But she was in a forgiving mood today, and decided to concede the point. Instead, she allowed herself to become distracted by the indicated disturbance.
"Well then, it appears someone is hard at word," Dajjal said, "Perhaps it warrants investigation?"
She beheld Pamora for a moment, sizing her up. How much should she say? Would he be one of those foolish, self-righteous types? She decided to risk it.
"I am going to stake my claim to this 'storm' you speak of, but know this," Dajjal said, "I am not a calm and peaceful god. Give me tools of destruction and I will destroy. I have been passive as of late. That will change. You have given me a powerful tool, I will use it. Now, shall we to the disturbance?"
PP
(Forgot to add this in originally, adding it in now)
1 PP Stored for Forge (Weather Domain).
1 PP Stored for Forge (Weather Domain).
PP
store 2PP for guide actions
"What does that bring the total to?" the old gnome asked.
"Five settlements and three decoys, nearly a hundred gnomes in total," his assistant responded.
The first gnome, Anmow, leaned back in his chair and rubbed his face. These were unacceptable losses. The city council had wanted to rely on old tradition. There was, of course, no way that the raiders would be able to breach their strongly fortified wall. As such decoys were sent out, brave gnomes posing as traders (like there were any cities north of the city, Fimblefist, to trade with, but bandits seldom seemed to think of that). Their job was to lure the bandits near enough the city so that soldiers could sally forth and trounce them. That wasn't working, so stronger measures would need to be taken.
"Run out and get old Genna the Illusionist and Captain Pidmen. I want to talk to them. Also, inform the council that I'll be bringing a proposal to them later in the day."
PP
1 PP - Command: Illusion. Gnomes are particularly adept at illusionary magics.
1 PP - Command: Military organization. Gnomish fighting forces are well organized machines with a clear command structure, properly managed logistic branches, and intense training.
1 PP - Nourish: Gnomish Confederation. At some point the northern portions of the Confederation grew prosperous to produce the city of Fimblefist.
1pp Remaining... for now
1 PP - Command: Illusion. Gnomes are particularly adept at illusionary magics.
1 PP - Command: Military organization. Gnomish fighting forces are well organized machines with a clear command structure, properly managed logistic branches, and intense training.
1 PP - Nourish: Gnomish Confederation. At some point the northern portions of the Confederation grew prosperous to produce the city of Fimblefist.
1pp Remaining... for now
For a time, the Eladrin and Illmenites got along well. The former was impressed with the latter's utter dedication to culture and craftsIllmeniteship, and the latter were impressed with the former's mastery of magic and divinity. And yet, both races suffered from an insufferable arrogance that quickly grated on the nerves of the other. Neither race was offended enough to take up arms or something equally drastic, but instead grew their own egotism into even greater heights. Eladrin would invite Illmenites to grand balls and festivals... whereupon the Eladrin would quietly form cliques and mock the preteniousness of the tall, tentacled, beings. For their part, the Illmenites often sent traders to procure Eladrin goods and crafts... so that they could take them back to the Illmenite cities and "study" the "art" and the "apparant lack of craftsEladrinship" that went into each piece.
Not every individual ascribed to this sham of amicable relations, and a small, dedicated, interracial fellowship was bred. This group swore to asceticism and left the cities inhabited by their petty brethren, breaking new ground in a hereunto deserted part of the Mejoe. The fruits of their labor was eventually realized in the founding of the Monastary of the Waking Dream, where, finally, the monks living there could get away from the petty machinations of their brothers and sisters.
PP Expenditure
-2 Nourish: Illmenite and Eladrin -- An interracial band founds the Monstary of the Waking Dream which is populated by monks of both races. As part of their initiation into the order, the monks have learned to excise everything outside the walls of their monastary. To them, there really is nothing more to reality than their simple life of farming, praying, and meditating within the walls of their fortress.
"Oh my dear, what use have I for calm?" Dajjal asked, "When the wind stops blowing, it's merely because it's begun again somewhere else. And I intend to be where the wind is blowing, certainly."
She affixed Arvad with a shrewed stare.
"I suppose you might be interested in the calm?" she asked, "I mean, why else bring it up? No point, really, unless you were interested. So you have the calm, I stake no claim there."
And then she turned her gaze to the fleeing Pamora and set her course for hot pursuit.
Mechanics
1 stored PP put towards Forge Domain
Tsiyoti studied Dloz for a long moment.
"And I am Tsiyoti, and this place belongs to me and my siblings, of which... you are not. It is quite... fun... but I know of a more interesting place. To the west is a great sea, and in it, a hole that is impossibly deep. In it are treasures and toys beyond imagining. I think it would be highly worth your while to check it out in the near future!"
There. Maybe that would work.
~Cape of Death~
Endrina spun around at the voice, and nearly fell over as a sudden wave of vertigo washed over her. Gripping her staff with both hands, she closed her eyes until the feeling passed, and opened it to see another Naga before her. Her mouth twisted.
"Quite true, stranger. I had been hapilly on a ship before they threw me overboard when I tried to help. By the Wave, they should have thanked me.
But what of you? I haven't seen another Child of the Sea since I left the Trial."
She squinted at the pendant through the rain. It was so *very* familiar...
Dajjal turned to behold Arvad for one last time.
"Yes, I suppose you are," she said, "A very good option, I'd say."
She held out a wispy tendril in what she hoped was a supplicating manner, and smiled.
"Partners then, I suppose."
Wihtout another word, he reahed out and plucked a strand from the air, allowing it to pull him in as he whisked off to a distant location.
-----
On the western peninsula, the bullywugs found themselves under threat from a new foe. A tribe of gnolls had begun raiding their smaller villages, stealing and taking anything they could carry off with them. Rumors began to spread of their leader, a powerful figure who struck down their foes with a controlled ball of fire.
-----
The warriors of the tribe had been roused to action by these short strangers from the south. Sending a small force of men with the women and children as they rode away from the invaders, the warriors used the speed of their mounts to surround them, cutting off escape as they used well aimed arrows to keep them bunched together.
Once it was clear that the gnomes weren't trying to escape the circle, a single elf rode towards them, keeping his hands raised clear of his weapons.
-----
Deep in the woods, isolated from those beyond and happy to be so, the treants adopted a new belief, venerating the Traveler, he who brought forth the shifting wood and granted the trees their gift of movement.
-----
Reappearing next to the creature who's strand he had plucked, he slowly circled the dying beast. An azot, horrendously injured by a group of embrin that it had attacked. Freezing the warriors for a few moments, Arvad approached the fallen creature. "A shame, really. Tha warrior's blood made you fiercer and stronger, but it cost you much fo what you could have been. Though, I suppose part of the fault is mine. I was still inexperienced in my own capabilities, so I leaned on him."
Walking up to the beasts head, he placed a hand on it as he walked in place before it. "Your death is beyond my hands, hunter, but it will bring with it something far greater."
Reaching his hand through a gap in space, he laid a single finger onto the orb, drawing forth a tendril of power which he linked to the creature's body. "That will do."
Touched by the power, the body shuddered and convulsed before finally coming to a complete stop. For a long moment, even Arvad stopped moving. Then the flesh began bubbling as the entire body convulsed as something consumed it from within. As the flesh fell away, small forms burst free, landing softly on the ground all around.
At a distance, they might have passed for a man. They walked upright on two legs, and his arms were only slightly longer than those of a man. They carried themselves stooped over, movements hampered by a peculiar hunching motion. But closer inspection would reveal the truth. The great tufts of greenish hair that protruded from all parts of their bodies like saw grass. Or the scales that coated forearms and lower legs. Or the hands and feet that ended in claws. Or the vaguely catlike muzzle that was their faces. Or the eyes, black and shining, deceptively placid on their surface, like twin pools of water that hid something evil and destructive. And the dark reddish skin beneath it all.
As time and motion returned the embrin. SUrprised by the sudden appearance of new foes, they still defended themselves with expert precision, closing ranks to assess the new threat. It was here that they new beasts showed their true terror.
A small knot of embrin, five strong, rushed towards the nearest creature, intent on killing it. In a blink of an eye, it was among them, effortlessly amputating one leg with a kick, and shredding the gut of another with a clawed hand. Before the surprised embrin could bring their weapons to bear, it's claws lashed out agin, cutting one throat and severing another arm. They were an emobdiment of death, and they whirled through the surviving embrin as if they were but statues toppling before a ruinous wind. In under a minute, only Arvad's new creations were left standing in the area.
Watching silently as he circled the battlefield, Arvad nodded. "Yes, I would say that quite accomplishes the goal I had in mind. The remnants of the warrior's influence provides the physical durability, stamina, and strength for my purposes. And the added intellect makes them far more deadly then their predecessors."
PP Expenditures
1 PP - Stored - Command Populace- A tribe of gnolls takes to raiding bullwug settlements with some success.
3 PP - Forge Artifact - Falling Star, a meteor hammer. Currenlty wielded by a gnoll.
1 PP - Command - Elves mastery archery
1 PP - Command Populace - The treants take up the worship of Arvad as the Traveler.
4 PP - Shape Populace - Anusa
0/9
3 PP - Forge Artifact - Falling Star, a meteor hammer. Currenlty wielded by a gnoll.
1 PP - Command - Elves mastery archery
1 PP - Command Populace - The treants take up the worship of Arvad as the Traveler.
4 PP - Shape Populace - Anusa
0/9
9 PP- Pamora, Akuru-Azu
8 PP- Erainull, Dajjal, Tsiyoti, Isura, Amun, Arvad
7 PP- Sephus, Tireas (INACTIVE NEXT WEEK)
6 PP- Baern
5 PP- Dloz
The ground burned away as Dloz burrowed deeper and deeper. After a few yards, Dloz grew tired of digging. Dloz rested on the ground. What should he do? He didn't know anything beyond the Garden, but he didn't want to go to this ocean thing that Tsiyoti mentioned. There was no reason to trust that the ocean thing would be fun. And what was treasure? As Dloz pondered he carved his name into the sides of the tunnel.
Rules Stuff
1 PP - Mold (Dloz burned a tunnel into the ground.)
1 PP invested into the Writing domain.
Edit: I didn't see the reset post before this, hence the not paying for the domain.
1 PP invested into the Writing domain.
Edit: I didn't see the reset post before this, hence the not paying for the domain.
OOC
TimeLord, I'm fine with counting those PP you spent for last week as the reset Ninja'd you. Enjoy your 5 PP
Dloz decided he should go back to the surface. He needed to learn more about this world and so far the only thing Dloz had seen that was similar to him was Tsiyoti. Tsiyoti wasn't a pleasant thing, but he knew things. The writing had awoken more things in Dloz so he hoped he might be able to prove to Tsiyoti that Dloz was someone that should be respected, not buried.
Punching through the grass and dirt, Dloz rose into the light again. "Tsiyoti, we need to speak," said Dloz.
Rules Stuff
2 PP - Forge Domain - Writing
1 PP - Mold - Created the Library of Dloz from the tunnel that Dloz had dug.
1 PP - Mold - Created the Library of Dloz from the tunnel that Dloz had dug.
"Is that what I look like?" the male Naga said, looking down at himself. "Huh. But yes, it is good to see a Child of the Sea, although I haven't been to the Trial since..."
Pamora shook his head. He felt like he had been there, but he had a clear memory of his life as a god and that wasn't part of it. "Well, I haven't been there in an age, at least."
"Strange that they threw you overboard. Gnomes, I would guess? They tend to be fairly hospitably, although sailors are a suspicious lot. Perhaps they took your help as a bad omen?"
The male naga turned his head to look at something behind Endrina. "Ah, Dajjal, you made it."
When Endrina turned to look, as far as she could see, no one was there. But the male naga continued, "Still, that doesn't quite explain what you are doing there. I hadn't thought the Naga had made it this far west."
~Elf/Gnome Meeting~
The gnomes whispered fervishly to one another. The creatures that the tall people rode seemed like they would be quite useul. Perhaps they would be willing to trade them?
The spokesmen for the gnomes stepped forward and introduced him and his people to the elves.
~Niganati~
After a weary travel crossing the Sea of Daj, a band of Gnomes was picked up by the outer sentries of the Naga/Embrin stronghold. Having not seen such creatures before, the soldiers began to pass the world up the chain of command, asking what they were to do with them.
Embrin males liked their women like they liked their weapons - tempered and sharp. Ephrem's second in command, Eos, was both of these. She reacted to this wholly unexpected intrusion with remarkable aplomb, quickly pulling enough clothing to her to afford herself some semblance of decency in the presence of the Pharaoh-Queen.
"If you're looking for some agreement about the stubborn arrogance of man, I'm sorry to dissapoint, but I've known woman to be exactly as, if not more so, bull-headed and willfully self-ignorant." Eos shook her head. "But I digress, and am being a terrible hostess to boot." The Bladelord quickly moved about her practically ascetic quarters, bringing a small light to bear, such that she and the Pharaoh-Queen could converse face-to-face.
"At any rate, I know you do not worship her, but Lady Isura has not abandoned us. It was by her will that the Fire Brigade was discovered at all, and better luck that they did not have chance to wreak more than they did." Eos shook her head, self-chidingly. "And again I digress. Pharaoh-Queens do not stalk the night tunnels lightly. I will hear what you have to say, but know that my loyalties are to Lady Isura first, Swordguard Ephrem second, and you and Niganati only third. I shall not act against the former to benefit the latter without a damn good reason." Eos' eyes began to smoulder like embers at that, and she stared back at the Pharaoh-Queen with a strength of conviction that had not been there a moment before.
PP Expenditure
-0 PP: Ourogandr posesses Eos, 2nd in command of the Niganati Embrin.
Endrina opened her mouth to reply, then twisted as the Naga spoke to someone over her shoulder. Peering into the rain, she tried to see who the man had spoken to, but could not spot anything through the downpour.
"I'm sorry, were you speaking to someone else? As to your question... I am not like the other Naga. I had an experience in my youth which instilled a desire to explore the world, and I have been traveling ever since. I have been most everywhere by now. I have seen the Jeweled Cities of the Tarnished, I have delved the depths of the Godmountain and visited the Dwarves by their dark lake. I have drunk from the Iron Coral and gazed at the great Wall."
The Naga frowned for a moment.
"What are you doing here, if I might ask? A strange question to ask a traveler when you yourself are far from home."
~Garden~
Tsiyoti had almost left hearing range when the voice of Dloz came to him. He reversed course.
"Yes?" he asked.
As he waited for an answer, he watched the things being carried upwards to the Moon. And soon he noticed a problem. Living creatures, set to guard the Garden, had wandered into the reversed gravity, but when they approached the moon, they suffocated and died.
Tsiyoti took some earth and some of his water and mixed it together into a whitish paste, then infused it with his power, expanding it many thousands-fold and increasing its stickiness. When he was satisfied with the mass of goop, he threw it upwards, where it formed a web over the Garden. He watched as a new creature floated upwards. It touched the web, broke through it, and then writhed in surprise as the gooey strands still clinging to it wrapped themselves around the creature's head. As it hit the Moon, the whitish web suddenly turned a dark orange color, and after a few moments, the creature calmed down and shuffled out of the pool and into the forest which bordered it. Below, the web was respinning itself before his eyes.
~Niganati~
The Queen smiled.
"And my loyalties are to My God, My People and husband second and your people third as well. If nothing else, we both seem to understand each other quite well. If nothing else, I just wish to speak to you, woman to woman, and see if you agree with me that our people have, in general, been good for one another these past few years. Our lands are safe and secure, your people are admired for their battle prowess by all, and for other things by those that matter, and we have not seen a Fallen for nearly two years now.
I simply wish to make sure that, among your people, there would be those who would help me to secure the future of both our peoples if the need arose."
[sblock=PP]
This post might get edited tomorrow... I'm tired.
1 PP: Nourish Populace: The moon near the landing pool gets a small compliment of the beasts which guard the Garden Below.
4 PP: Shape Populace: The Seta'Ast. A communal group of semi-sentient organisms which desire a symbiotic relationship with creatures heading from the Earth to the Moon, in that they convert oxygen to nitrogen, and require arsenic to survive and produce carbon dioxide as waste. Travel to the Moon is now possible, albiet its a one way road, and given the lack of new sources of arsenic on the moon, is time-limited by the amount of Arsenic stores in the body.
~Azur, Dreamscape~
The psurlons had a unique relationship with their deity, as both Akuru-Azu and the psurlon part that resided in the dreamrealm could meet and even talk.
Within Azur, they constructed a huge palace in her honor and decorated it with many shrines both to her and their co-creator Baern. A throne was created from where she could govern them and guide their actions. Baerns throne was also reserved for when he would honor them with his presence.
With the various transport devices created by the other deities, some Psurlons managed to transfer over to the moon. Although their bodies started to degrade slowly in the alien atmosphere of the moon, they did manage to create several birthing chambers. The husks grown from these pods were adapted to the moons ecology and allowed the psurlons to infiltrate the moon aswell. In time the Psurlons even adapted further so they could survive in both atmospheres.
~Western Sea~
Cecaelia guided the Kraken Lord Belurachin and its lesser broods from the great outer seas beyond the wall to the seas surrrounding the continent.
After the demise of C'thruul, she sought out Akuru-Azu as a new patron. Now she serves as one of Azu's new enforcers in the corporeal world.
~Wherever the Gnomes sail~
More frequently, gnome ships started to vanish during voyage, their crews never heard of again. Rumors of the nightmare fish luring from beneath the waves continued...
Aboleths would not kill of these crews entirely, but save some and drag the deranged souls back to their underwater cities, for reasons yet unknown.
PP
Command populace: 1PP from last turn: Psurlons start more active worship of Akuru-Azu and in lesser extend Baern.
Forge 3PP: Akuru-Azu's Throne serves as a focus point for her control over her dreamrealm and also serves as a point of worship.
Nourish 1PP: Psurlons grow more numerous and their corporeal bodies also manage to adapt to the conditions of the Moon.
Command populace 1PP: Psurlons start to further infiltrate several races, both on the continent and the moon.
Command populace: 1PP from last turn: A Kraken and its lesser brood migrate from the outer seas beyond the ice wall to the western sea.
Command 1PP: The aboleth start to not only stalk the gnome ships, but also capture some of them alive.
Store 3pp for shape populace action (one short).
0/9 PP left
Command populace: 1PP from last turn: Psurlons start more active worship of Akuru-Azu and in lesser extend Baern.
Forge 3PP: Akuru-Azu's Throne serves as a focus point for her control over her dreamrealm and also serves as a point of worship.
Nourish 1PP: Psurlons grow more numerous and their corporeal bodies also manage to adapt to the conditions of the Moon.
Command populace 1PP: Psurlons start to further infiltrate several races, both on the continent and the moon.
Command populace: 1PP from last turn: A Kraken and its lesser brood migrate from the outer seas beyond the ice wall to the western sea.
Command 1PP: The aboleth start to not only stalk the gnome ships, but also capture some of them alive.
Store 3pp for shape populace action (one short).
0/9 PP left
Venelir was blacking out. The orc raider had struck a mighty blow to his midsection, and the elven swordsman was bleeding to death from what few pieces of his midsection remained attached. The archers had been able to hold them off until their numbers swelled too high; now, the orcs had entered close quarters, and the elves were being slaughtered. Venelir saw the world fade into a haze of black and red as the sounds of battle grew more and more distant; he struggled to bring it back, to strike one more blow for his home village, but he just wasn't strong enough...
"I can give you that strength."
The speaker was a man seated in a throne made of humanoid bones that hovered in the void on a pair of bat wings.
"What...who are...how can?"
"You are on the brink of death. Due to certain limitations, that is the only time we can speak directly. I have an offer you may be interested in, but you will have to listen very carefully."
Venelir looked behind him. The window through which he could see the orcs ransacking his homeland was shrinking.
"Tell me! Quickly!" The dying elf insisted.
"I am willing to make you the most deadly warrior on the moon. Like the zoothropes, you will transform into a beast. Unlike them, you will be nearly indestructable and possess supernatural strength and celerity."
The man rode closer, so that the elf could see he lacked eyes.
"While in this state, you will find your self control reduced, and your aggression heightened. You may commit acts that you would later regret. Like the zoothropes, you may find yourself changing involuntarily in certain, highly stressful situations."
The eyless man sat back in his chair.
"The alternative is your death. Decide quickly."
An instant later, Venelir rose back to his feet, steely fur exploding out of his skin and huge, curved fangs forcing his elongated mouth open. Elf and orc alike were torn to shreds by the first werewolf.
PP
Shape Populace (4 PP): Warriors on the brink of death are offered a choice by Baern. They can return to life as savage werewolves, helping win the battle at the cost of risking harm to innocents later on, or bleed to death where they lie. These werewolves are not like the zoothropes created earlier, and are more in line with Baern's evil wolves. 2/6 PP remaining.
"Tsiyoti, you don't want me to play in your Garden. I don't want to leave, but I will in exchange for something from you. You mentioned that this Garden belongs to you and your siblings. If you will introduce me to those siblings, I will leave," said Dloz.
Most tribes, however, turned to easier prey in the east, raiding gnome caravans and attacking travellers.
-----
As the old man walked through the wood, there was suddenly a flurry of motion as nearby trees flailed away at him, trying to grasp and strangle with their branches.
-----
Watching the gnome approach and listened calmly as he introduced himself and his people. Seeming impassive, the he didn't return the plesantry, cutting to the point. "Why have you come here?"
-----
The empyrians grew strong in their mountain homes. Shielded from the turmoil and strife below, they began to look at the world around them for ways to make their lives easier. SOme journeyed to the south to see what lived in the barren plains, hearing that their were people living their with the head of a bird. Others captured baby rocs, training the great birds to bear riders. All in all, they flourished.
PP Expenditures
1 PP - Command Populace - Gnolls reduce their bullywug raids, instead turning their attention onto the gnomes.
1 PP - Nourish Populace - The gnolls grow stronger from their stolen supplies.
3 PP - Stored (Forge Action)
1 PP - Command Populace - Empyrians capture and train Rocs
1 PP - Command Populace - Empyrians begin exploring to their south, including the Iganti Meadows.
2 PP - Nourish Populace - Empyrians
1 PP - Nourish Populace - The gnolls grow stronger from their stolen supplies.
3 PP - Stored (Forge Action)
1 PP - Command Populace - Empyrians capture and train Rocs
1 PP - Command Populace - Empyrians begin exploring to their south, including the Iganti Meadows.
2 PP - Nourish Populace - Empyrians
The deep waters were rolling. A crack, a wave, a breaking white, the tops of peaks, falling, rising, falling again. And always the roll, the water sweeps over and under. And here comes the pickup, the rising swell. We feel the push and pull. And the water splits. Stone teeth break the surface and rise, like dull, jagged daggers, to piece the placid sky. They are not here by chance, no, but thrust, up to spear the heavens, by some heavenly hand.
She walks here, in the quiet places. She considers her world. The new world. A new slice of freedom ripped from the grasp of the deep, forced into the harsh light. She treads these paths, that mother of beasts, and in her steps rise horrid flora, creeping over hill and boulder as unnaturally as the natural can manage. She walks the paths, and sets life to the islands. This is her home now, the birthright of her coming children. And her earth-bound wound will be set to receive them when they arrive.
PP
2 PP - Mold Land - An archipelago rises from the Western Seas. They call this series of islands the Isles of Ekhidna, or simply, Ekhidna.
2 PP - Nourish Land - Venomously green vegetation creeps over the length of breadth of Ekhidna. Deep, impenetrable rainforests coat much of the archipelago.
4 PP - Craft Avatar - The Queen of Monsters, the Mother of Beasts, arises. She can take the form of any creature she has birthed, but usually takes the form of a beautiful woman with the lower body of a snake.
2 PP - Nourish Land - Venomously green vegetation creeps over the length of breadth of Ekhidna. Deep, impenetrable rainforests coat much of the archipelago.
4 PP - Craft Avatar - The Queen of Monsters, the Mother of Beasts, arises. She can take the form of any creature she has birthed, but usually takes the form of a beautiful woman with the lower body of a snake.
Tsiyoti chuckled.
"Deal. Come with me."
He cast about until he detected Dajjal nearby, and began moving towards her. Soon, he realized she was not alone. This Pamora god was also there... but he seemed... hazy.
~Niganati~
The gnomes were eventually ushered into the chamber of the Pharoah.
"And what sort of creature are you?" He asked, eying the diminutive beings with some interest. "Where do you come from, and what business do you have here in the Trial?"
~Wandering Woods~
The trees reached for the man, but whenever they touched him, black rot raced up their branches back towards the tree. Within moments, the tree would be covered with the fungal mass. Unable to support its own weight as its wood was rapidly consumed, the trees collapsed to the floor in black, smelly lumps. This continued for a short while, for trees are not smart.
However, eventually the old man realized that something different had grasped at him. He turned to spot a Treant, staring in horror as the rot spread up its arm towards its trunk.
"So. You are real." The old man said. "Tell me. I have heard there is a weapon hidden in these woods. If you can tell me where to find it, I could help prevent you from dying in..." He watched the rot creeping along the bark. "Oh, about two minutes."
PP
2PP: Harm Land: A number of trees in the Wandering Wood are now piles of fungus.
2PP: Harm Land: A number of trees in the Wandering Wood are now piles of fungus.
Clearly a busy week. Not much posting. Yay finals?
9 PP: Tsiyoti, Akuru-Azu
8 PP: Pamora, Dajjal, Isura, Amun, Arvad
7 PP: erainull, Sephus
6 PP: Baern, Dloz
OOC
Curses, ninja'ed... by a half hour
~Niganati~
The Queen smiled.
"And my loyalties are to My God, My People and husband second and your people third as well. If nothing else, we both seem to understand each other quite well. If nothing else, I just wish to speak to you, woman to woman, and see if you agree with me that our people have, in general, been good for one another these past few years. Our lands are safe and secure, your people are admired for their battle prowess by all, and for other things by those that matter, and we have not seen a Fallen for nearly two years now.
I simply wish to make sure that, among your people, there would be those who would help me to secure the future of both our peoples if the need arose."
"Ah... but where is your god now? He is absent, always-absent, and yet I am here, come to your call." Light flooded the room like the flash it was, as Eos seemed to shed flesh and form alike. She stood now half-again as high as the pharaoh-queen, and though her upper body was yet Embrin, beyond her torso rolled naught but the sinnuous shiftings of Ourogandr, blazingly bright with fully realized flame, more Naga than the Queen was perhaps comfortable to admit.
The change in demeanour was palpable. The queen would never admit it, but even her iron resolve momentarily quaked; it was not everyday one spoke with a god.
Eos-Ourogandr brushed a hand across the Queen's brow, caressing the cheek and nearly driving the naga to the ground with the accidental force of the gesture. "Queen of the Naga... you fear a change, and so you seek to create a change of your own." The entity slithered back, arms spread wide and nearly arched clear against the wall and the ceiling, so grand the motion. "Your loyalties are admirable, and I do not count myself offended in not numbering among them. I shall aid you, because I see the sparks of change within you. So... speak, child. I can help you secure the future of both your peoples -- you need but ask."
It was true that, when caught by surprise, the gnomish caravans could provide easy prey for the gnolls, but after the first few were attacked this changed. The well trained and armed guards that were sent along with the convoys proved to be a match and more for the gnolls. However, this was a most inconvenient stop-gap measure as it tripled the number of personages attached to the convey and, in turn, tripled the amount of supplies that they needed to take with them, thereby cutting into the room they had for goods, requiring more caravans to be sent out.
The city councils arranged for formal roads to be constructed and patrols to be conducted to keep petty banditry down. Others, however, had more creative ideas. The next time the gnolls tried to attack a gnomish caravan, they got a face full of gnomish berserkers.
~Elven Area~
Although the gnomes took copious mental notes, they didn't give more than an eyebrows raise at the elf's poor manners. "We are explorers, looking for new goods and markets. And it would seem," the head-gnome said, eyeing the elven raiments disparagingly, "that there is a great need for our own goods out in the world as well."
~Niganati~
Two similarly dressed gnomes came forward, bowed, and spoke to the pharoah in unison, "We are gnomes, from far to the west. We have heard tale of the great serpentine civilization and came to offer our respects.
"As for our business," they said, one glancing at the fire-men warriors who had brought them in, "we come for business."
They bowed and stepped back in unison. Other gnomes brought forwards a crate of their wares. They displayed textiles that were softer, finer cut, and more colorful than anything else in the room. They produced a carved crystal flask filled with strong ale, and other goods. "We would like to bring our goods to your markets."
PP
1pp Command: Gnomes - Establish formal roads between their settlements, which are patrolled by soldiers.
1pp Command: Gnomes - A group of gnomish berserkers takes to the wild, combating never-do-wells and the sort. Sort of a cross between barbarians and paladins.
6/8 PP remaining
1pp Command: Gnomes - Establish formal roads between their settlements, which are patrolled by soldiers.
1pp Command: Gnomes - A group of gnomish berserkers takes to the wild, combating never-do-wells and the sort. Sort of a cross between barbarians and paladins.
6/8 PP remaining
Endrina looked behind her again, but still could not detect anything at all in the stormy night.
"I'm afraid I do not understand you. You speak as if you are both one of the Children and yet you speak as if you are an outsider. Do you have a name, stranger? Who was your birth-mother?"
As the other one continued to speak, a small smile crept onto Endrina's face.
"As for the storm. I like it. I think it should stay how it is." She said, watching as a gnomish boat struggled in the choppy waters.
~Above the Cape of Death~
Tsioyiti looked down as one of the Naga spoke with Pamora. Suddenly his attention lit upon the staff she was carrying, and ripple of surprise rolled across his form.
"So that is where it went." he muttered to himself. His staff that had been knocked from his hands when he had battled Tireas had apparently made its way into the hands of a mortal. Looking around at the storm, he recognized traces of his magic and was pleased. The woman seemed to have a grasp of how to use the thing in a... proper... fashion. For the first time, a strange feeling of... fondness... crept into the core of Tsiyoti. The Naga could keep the staff. And he would keep an eye on this one from now on.
He turned to Dloz.
"looks like he's busy. I think my sister is further out to the west."
Over the ocean they went, speeding away from the Cape until the form of Dajjal came into view. Concentrating briefly, Tsiyoti sent a splash of water towards her to get her attention. Unfortunately, the splash also turned a good portion of the islands she was walking on into brackish swampland, but Tsiyoti had never much cared for the state of the earth.
"Hello, Dajjal. What are you up to?" he asked, too politely, as the other god turned to regard the two of them.
~Wandering Wood~
The man watched as the rot took hold of the rest of the Treant and it fell apart into a pile of disgusting goo. Sneering, he picked his way around it and continued into the forest, now pacing out a ever widening circle as he attempted to find another treant. After he had cleared out a small circle of trees, he finally came upon another one.
"Surely you've seen the fate of your friend. Now then. The same question I asked him. I came here for a weapon of great power. Where is it?"
~Niganati, Chambers of Eos~
The Queen threw herself on the floor before the radiant form of Ourogandr, cowering before the mighty serpent. After a long moment, she managed to push herself up, but refused to meet the eyes of the Avatar before her.
"Mighty one, this is an honor more than I had hoped. Have you been here in Niganati long?"
The Queen began going through a number of formalities used when greeting foreign powers as her mind furiously worked behind the scenes to make sense of what had just happened.
"Please, call me by my real name, which is Ava. Could I interest you in larger rooms for the duration of your stay? We have several larger than this."
Finally, after about a minute, the gears clicked into place once more.
"What I want is this." The queen's voice lost its flighty edge and gained the full regality of a queen. "I want the support of the Gods if I must move against my huband, but, as I do not wish this to happen, I primarially would request a sign in the heavens or on earth or under the earth that would promote harmony between the Embrin and Naga. Perhaps the Rathians. I know a deep-seated emnity exists between the Rathians and Embrin, or did in the past. Perhaps if we work together to make the Rathians the enemy, we will have peace."
~Niganati, Throne Room~
The Pharoah laughed as the Gnomes pulled out their wares and his eyes lit up at the fine crystal.
"It is gladly agreed, friend Gnomes. Let us trade with one another. Did I see glassware in there? You may not be aware, but a side-product of our expansion efforts is a sizable quantity of sand. We have found several deposits of rock within the Trial whose sand might interest your glassmakers.
~Fossheim~
The City of Waterfalls continued to expand into the darkness, the light from the waterwheels dispelling the gloom and pushing back the wild Gnolls and Keben, not to mention the occasional Fallen, that still roamed the dark passages beneath the mountain. Soon, lit roads began to reach out into those passages, and eventually, the dwarves found the surface, squinting against the light as Ra bloomed high above them. They sent people in all directions to explore, but the first peoples they came into contact with happened to be those living in Iganti Meadows.
~A strange tunnel~
Pogti had never been a very... safety-concious dwarf. He was far more at home wriggling through small holes in the darkness than studying the constructions of Dinklin at the Master's Forge. Let those who were too stodgy to have fun do that work, he thought.
He pushed himself through another crack in the earth and stopped as the torch he had pushed through gave him a chance to look around. Words covered the surface of a smooth tunnel, which extended both upwards and downwards.
"Dloz..." The dwarf muttered to himself, rolling the unfamiliar word on his toungue. After a moment, he grabbed his torch and began to climb upwards. Higher and higher he went, and the words continued. Up ahead, he saw a tiny speck of light, which seemed to fluctuate in strange colors and unfamiliar spectra. The outside, he was fairly sure, but... what could be causing that?
Curious, he began to move faster, cramming his torch into the wall to let him use both hands.
Suddenly, he began to fall... up. It caught him so much by surprise that he had no time to react before he was swept up out of the tunnel. He gazed in awe and horror at the pulsating Gate before him before realizing that he was still falling. He spun to watch where he was going and saw a large white web stretched before him.
"Oh no. Spiders. I'm going to be eaten by-" His shout cut off as he passed through the web like it was silk, the strands hanging onto him.
"Oh. THat was okay, I..."
The strands activated, and suddenly they were rushing into Pogti's mouth and down his throat. He tried to close his mouth, but his gag reflex forced it back open as the strands flowed through and into his lungs, coating it in the white, stick substance.
He choked, tried to take a breath. THe air came in, but none seemed to penetrate to his blood.
Just as he was about to black out, suddenly he could breathe again. Air rushed into his lungs and through his veins as he gasped with delight.
And then he hit the water. Spluttering, he made his way to the edge of the pool, and looked up. Far, far below, the world looked back up at him.
He was on the moon.
PP
1 PP: mold land: parts of Ekhidna become brakish swampland as Tsiyoti sends a tidal wave over them.
2 PP: mold/harm land: a small clearing in the wandering woods is created, filled with black piles of mold.
1 PP: mold land: Deposits of magic-enhanced rock exist beneath the Sea of Daj.
1 PP: Nourish Populace: Fossheim expands
1 PP: Command Populace: The Dwarves expand outwards, forming roads through the tunnels beneath the Godmountain
1 PP: Command Populace: The Dwarves reach the surface and begin looking for other races. They first reach Iganti Meadows.
2 PP remains.
1 PP: mold land: parts of Ekhidna become brakish swampland as Tsiyoti sends a tidal wave over them.
2 PP: mold/harm land: a small clearing in the wandering woods is created, filled with black piles of mold.
1 PP: mold land: Deposits of magic-enhanced rock exist beneath the Sea of Daj.
1 PP: Nourish Populace: Fossheim expands
1 PP: Command Populace: The Dwarves expand outwards, forming roads through the tunnels beneath the Godmountain
1 PP: Command Populace: The Dwarves reach the surface and begin looking for other races. They first reach Iganti Meadows.
2 PP remains.
"Hmm?," the male naga asked, distractedly. It seemed that Dajjal was choosing to be silent, he hadn't quite found the source of the storm, and he had other matters to attend to. But more interestingly, Pamora realized that he had seen this Naga before. The storm clouds parted momentarily and the stars shown through. Pamora looked for one and, when he found it, it burned brighter than the others.
"Look there," he said to Endrina, pointing. "That is your star. If you ever get lost, follow it and it will lead you home. It burns particularly bright now because someone misses you. Perhaps you have wandered far enough for now?"
Endrina looked up at the sky but when she returned her gaze to the earth, the other Naga was gone.
Laughter carried across the waters, coming from the gnomish boat. While at first they found the storm frightening, now the challenge of navigating the dangerous pass made them feel alive.
PP
opp Cantrip: The storms over the cape of death part for a little while, just long enough for Pamora to show Endrina her star.
1pp Command: Sailors come to view the cape of death as a test of their skill. Although many still fear passage through it, some purposely take small boats into it for the excitement. "To sail with death" becomes a euphemism for adventure.
5/8pp remaining
opp Cantrip: The storms over the cape of death part for a little while, just long enough for Pamora to show Endrina her star.
1pp Command: Sailors come to view the cape of death as a test of their skill. Although many still fear passage through it, some purposely take small boats into it for the excitement. "To sail with death" becomes a euphemism for adventure.
5/8pp remaining
Meanwhile the Aboleth finished their expriments on the captured gnomes. The poor souls were literly turned inside out, their worst nightmares giving form to a twisted mix between fish and humanoid.
PP
8x Beget Exarch: Each Exarch 1/3 completed
Shape populace 1PP+3PP last turn: Skum: The kidnapped gnomes were transformed into a race more suitable to serve the Aboleth
Shape populace 1PP+3PP last turn: Skum: The kidnapped gnomes were transformed into a race more suitable to serve the Aboleth
"What in Stormbringer's name was that?" Endrina muttered as she set off towards the distant Godmountain. "Stars and homes and... nonsense."
~Niganati, Throne Room~
The Pharoah looked over the documents, nodding as he read them.
"Yes, this is all fine." He said as he glanced through it. "Of course, you will understand if I have my own merchants and advisors look it over before we complete this agreement. Our last agreement with another race... has not been working for us very well." The Naga's gaze flicked over to two of the Embrin standing out of earshot by the door and then back to the Gnomes in time to hear them declare they intended to break the siege.
Whooping with laughter, the Naga regarded the gnomes with tears flowing from his eyes.
"You? We are beset by an entire Keben horde, and we barely manage to keep them out of our tunnels as it is. Forgive me, but I do not see what little ones such as yourselves might be able to do to help us."
OOC
This part here has been retconned out. Veok and I are going a slightly different way.
~Niganati, Eos' Chambers~
The Queen laid Eos down on her bed and slipped out. Dawn broke, and the Queen looked about to see the transformation of her closest allies into something... else. Stunned, she admonished them to remain in hiding until she had returned, and, slithering as fast as her tail could take her, she made her way back to Eos' chambers, surprising the woman as she barged into the room.
"Eos, this is a disaster. When I asked Isura for a sign, I did not mean one that would turn my husband even more against us. I am sure that the moment he sees one of the transformed Naga, he will declare it some form of Embrin trechery and cast the whole lot of you, including my handmaids, out into the desert. I have told my maids to hide in my chambers for now, but it is only so long before my husband will wish to visit me there, and then what shall they tell him? They cannot deny him entry."
This part here has been retconned out. Veok and I are going a slightly different way.
~Niganati, Eos' Chambers~
The Queen laid Eos down on her bed and slipped out. Dawn broke, and the Queen looked about to see the transformation of her closest allies into something... else. Stunned, she admonished them to remain in hiding until she had returned, and, slithering as fast as her tail could take her, she made her way back to Eos' chambers, surprising the woman as she barged into the room.
"Eos, this is a disaster. When I asked Isura for a sign, I did not mean one that would turn my husband even more against us. I am sure that the moment he sees one of the transformed Naga, he will declare it some form of Embrin trechery and cast the whole lot of you, including my handmaids, out into the desert. I have told my maids to hide in my chambers for now, but it is only so long before my husband will wish to visit me there, and then what shall they tell him? They cannot deny him entry."
The twins did not seem upset at the laughter. When the Naga there calmed down, they spoke, "Then surely it will do no harm to try. In the mean time some of us shall return to our lands to make preparations while the rest of us remain here as surety of our good intentions. "
~Westernmost flank of the Keben horde~
Two gnomish battalions advanced on the keben position. The savages knew something was about to occur, but all they saw was rising dust and shimmering heat. Some gathered their weapons, but some did not think there was cause to do so. If water could fall from the sky, why couldn't dust do the same. The illusion dissipated soon enough, but it had allowed the gnomes to get nearer than they would have otherwise without raising too many suspicions. Yet even as that illusion failed, new ones took their place. Instead of two battalions, the Keben forces looked out on twice as many soldiers. More than a few struck out against phantoms, only to find real gnomish steal taking them from behind. In turn they found their own weapons hard pressed to penetrate the finely crafted armor than the little ones wore. Runners were sent to warn the rest of the savage horde, but hidden archers shot them dead before they had run more than a thousand feet.
In total, the conflict lasted only half a day. The gnomes had suffered losses, but their training and arms had minimized it. Their units had retained cohesion while the keben forces broke and panicked. Some savages escaped, but hidden gnomish units ensured that they could not flee directly to other keben positions. By nightfall, work had already begun on erecting proper fortifications. A simple earthwork wall gave the gnomes the much-needed highground, and timber had been brought in with the supply trains and rudimentary watched towers constructed. Masons and engineers would arrive the next day to start making the fortifications more permanent.
Trade caravans were not far behind.
pp
1PP Command: Gnomes advance on the western-most position of the keben horde. Having the advantage of surprise, military training, and superior armaments, and given Angel's absence, it seems fair to say that they take the position. The vast majority of the Keben horde is left untouched, however.
1pp Nourish: Western Niganati territory. The Gnomes establishes a fortified position there. Unless there is a counterattack soon to disrupt construction, this will take the form of a Motte-and-Bailey. Actual roads are also constructed leading from Glisglaw to Niganati
0PP remaining
1PP Command: Gnomes advance on the western-most position of the keben horde. Having the advantage of surprise, military training, and superior armaments, and given Angel's absence, it seems fair to say that they take the position. The vast majority of the Keben horde is left untouched, however.
1pp Nourish: Western Niganati territory. The Gnomes establishes a fortified position there. Unless there is a counterattack soon to disrupt construction, this will take the form of a Motte-and-Bailey. Actual roads are also constructed leading from Glisglaw to Niganati
0PP remaining
~Glisgaw~
The Embrin said few words as the gnomes went about their search. They found food rations, a single armament for each of the 8 Embrin in the wagon, and other travel related miscellania. Nothing illicit was found because there was nothing illicit to find. This band, at least, seemed to have truly come to talk.
Dloz was growing slightly bored of waiting for Tsioyiti's siblings. He flew a couple miles north of the islands that Tsioyiti had brought him to. As he stared at the water Dloz began to ponder about his existence. There wasn't any true mark of Dloz's presence in the world yet. All Dloz had made so far was a couple of improved butterflies, a pond of goo, and a tiny library in the Garden. None of the other gods of this world would recognize Dloz as a legitimate power until he did something major. But what should he do? Suddenly a thought came to Dloz, the improved butterfly he took from the Garden. That butterfly held the potential to begin Dloz's reign in this world. Dloz reached a tendril of light back to the jar on his back that was holding the wyrm. As he held the improved butterfly, Dloz pondered what he should do. It would have to be major. It would have to be something that affected the other gods and their creations. If his form had included a mouth at this time, Dloz would have grinned as an idea entered his mind.
The improved butterfly would hunt the other gods’ creations. Its very breath would singe the earth. Its fangs would know the taste of meat. It would darken the sky. As he been pondering the future that his creation would create, Dloz had been reshaping the butterfly. He looked down at the creature he had created. Its muzzle had been stretched out so it had a fearsome face. The butterfly's skin was now covered in scales. Its wings had been recreated out of bone with skin stretched between the bones. The tiny creature's eyes were no longer compound, but instead had a band of color around a pit of darkness. Lastly Dloz ripped off a pair of the creatures legs so it only had four clawed legs. As Dloz was looking upon his creation, it hiccupped fire. Dloz was content with it, but something was missing. He reached out a tendril of light to carve a word into the creature's forehead. This word was different than other ones he had written. It had two meanings. The word meant dragon, but it also meant scourge. That was exactly what this creation would be to the other gods. These dragons would be Dloz's scourge upon the other gods.
Dloz spun the creature as he melted it down into a blob of liquid energy. He then began to coat the blob in a hard shell of pure force. Inside this shell five young dragons would grow. Once they were ready they would hatch from the egg. In a matter of hours they would become full grown so they could begin hunting as quick as possible. Dloz had the egg float next to him as he tried to figure out where he should keep the egg until it hatched. The ocean would not be appropriate for the egg, but there was no land out here. Dloz focused on gathering enough earth to this location so a mountain would exist for his dragons. Slowly a mountain began to emerge from the ocean. It wasn't a large mountain, but it would work. As the dragons multiplied they would find new places to live.
The young god floated over to the mountain. Dloz dug a small hole in the mud on the side of the mountain. He carefully placed the egg into the hole. Change soon would come upon the world.
PP Stuff
2 PP - Spawn (Dloz created dragons from one of the wyrms he created.)
1 PP - Minor Mold (Dloz made a mountain emerge from the ocean.)
-----
The treant stared at the creature before it intently. Finally, one arm came from behind the treants back, wearing a strange gauntlet and gripping the weapon in question. Rapsing quietly, it took a grim tone. "You have found it. Why do you haunt our wood?"
About the duo, a soift rain fell, and the forest around the old man began to regrow.
-----
Though the gnomes responded to the gnoll raids, their efforts were insufficient to halt them. Lead by the Shatterskull tribe, these raids cut deep into gnome territory, annihlating small outlying villages and even battling a few gnomish patrols with only minimal losses.
These escalating raids culminated in a pitched battle one night, when a unit og gnome soldiers lured a raiding force into a trap. Outnumbered and surrounded, all seemed lost before the tribe's chieftan arrived, unleashing a whirling ball of fire and death that scythed through the gnome ranks and allowed the raiders to claim victory in the close struggle before vanishing back into the wilds.
-----
Wandering blindly after his lastest creation, Arvad suddenly slowed and begn snatching several strands from the air around him. "Hm, odd. The destination is different. Not sure why exactly, but definetly not the same. I shall have to investigate further, but until I do, things will need to be redirected. Not really anywhere good to send them, soI'll redirect them back to here for a bit until I can find the issue."
Jerking hard on several of the strings, Arvad rearranged the paths granted to him, not fully undertsanding the consequences to come.
-----
Calmly and confidently, the anusa marched towards Niganati, hands rested firmly on the blade carried at his side. By strange chance, no keben say him, but he made no effort to hide from the naga living in the land he approached.
Mechanics
3 PP - Forge Artifact (Stored) - Giant's Gauntlet - An artifact forged with earth magic. Currently possessed by Kazzuk's wielder.
1 PP - Nourish Populace - Gnolls raiders grow stronger off of the extra food supplies and better weapons stolen from their gnome victims.
0 PP - Cantrip - For the time being, the spirits of the dead cease to travel to the shadowfell, instead returning to the mortal coil as ghosts.
2 PP - Spawn Beast - Due to Arvad's meddling, ghosts now form in the world, created from particuarly disgruntled spirits.
3 PP - Forge Artifact - Mercurial Blade - Artifact possessing water magic. Carried by an anusa
2 PP - Nourish Land - The Wandering Wood recovers from the old man's destructive fungus, becoming even more vibrant than it was before.
0/8 PP
1 PP - Nourish Populace - Gnolls raiders grow stronger off of the extra food supplies and better weapons stolen from their gnome victims.
0 PP - Cantrip - For the time being, the spirits of the dead cease to travel to the shadowfell, instead returning to the mortal coil as ghosts.
2 PP - Spawn Beast - Due to Arvad's meddling, ghosts now form in the world, created from particuarly disgruntled spirits.
3 PP - Forge Artifact - Mercurial Blade - Artifact possessing water magic. Carried by an anusa
2 PP - Nourish Land - The Wandering Wood recovers from the old man's destructive fungus, becoming even more vibrant than it was before.
0/8 PP
Isura 'sat' in space, the Sun in her hands, sewing. She had felt the disturbances, one by one by one, as the sleeping gods and goddesses were taken, rendered inert, and bound for their power. She looked over Tsoriena, now half-immeshed in her own creation, the Sun.
She would save this one that fate, at least.
-0 Cantrip: The sleeping god Tsoriena is bound within her artifact; The Sun. Given that The Sun remains safely nestled in a demi-plane, it makes the goddess unaccessible to outsiders.
OOC
I've been meaning to slip this in somewhere, but haven't had the time. Assume this happened a little while ago. Also, I will tag everyone... and there are many people to be tagged, tomorrow. Gotta get the reset going at the moment!
9 PP: Pamora, Tsiyoti, Akuru-Azu
8 PP: Isura, Amun, Arvad
7 PP: Dajjal, Erainull, Sephus
6 PP: Baern
5 PP: Dloz
spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0Aq2b-Hn...
OOC
Ah damn, I didn't realize shadow would have posted. I had meant to post this today, but before the Reset. But, alas, I suppose not.
The gnomes were slightly disappointed to find that this wasn't a trade caravan, but nevertheless duty was duty. Since the Embrin did not have the privilege of citizenship of the city (as indeed, not all gnomes had either -- citizenship had its perks but it was also an expensive affair), they were not allowed to carry their weapons with them through the city. The gate warden carefully took note of what sort of weapons these were, size, weight, degree of polish, nicks, and so forth. He produced a receipt and gave it to the Embrin so that they could reclaim them easily when they left.
With the formalities taken care of, the Embrin were escorted through the city to the main market. On the far side of the crowded square rose city hall. Some of their escort broke off, however, and went to a nearby house where they knocked on the door. By the time the Emrbin reached the hall, the gnome in the house came walking towards them and met them inside, in a large room.
"Greetings, greetings," she said, absentmindedly combing her hair with her hands and smoothing her clothes. This was her first term as mayor and she wasn't yet used to being able to be called upon whenever the city had need. Servants hurried about the room, bringing a chair for the mayor and, seeing that their own chairs would be too small for the Embrin, tables for them to sit upon. Runners were sent to the bakeries and brewers requesting that they prepare pastries and ale for after the meeting.
"I am Mayor Elza. May I have your names and business here?"
~Shadowfell~
Pamora barely had time to cope with the feel of the new domain when she sensed the flow of the dead changing. So much for that continuing to function normally. She sighed and felt weary. So many gods seemed to shirk their duties: she didn't wish to command the entire world, but she also was unwilling to let important aspect of it lie dormant. She cast her mind about for what god might have forsaken this duty, but quickly realized it was an aspect of death. That sleeping god had farmed out the responsibility to another, and that one had changed the nature of things.
Pamora left this dark realm to search that one out, but even as she reappeared in the material world she sensed earth moving above the waves. She paused... it was clear to her that living things were still dying, so it was only the resting place of those beings that was currently in question. She wasn't quite clear what the old god's plans had been, but they needn't be her own. Until she had time to determine what fate should await the dead, it didn't really matter if they found their way to the shadowfell or not. She would let things remain as they were for now and instead direct her attentions towards this new land.
Before she made her way there, however, she could sense a sleeping god's presence enter the world for a moment, then disappear again. If she hadn't been actively searching for these beings, she would have been unaware of the occurrence. As it stood, she barely had time to sense it before the being disappeared again. She wasn't sure what had caused it, but whatever it was, it was a good thing since she hadn't known about this sleeping one before. Now, at least, she knew it existed and, although she didn't know where, she knew it normally resided not in the material plane. Certainly good information to know but, like other things, it would have to wait.
~Dloz's island-mountain~
"Nice mountain," a voice said to Dloz as he placed the egg in the crater he had formed. "But I do not believe we've met before. I am Pamora, among other things knower of the earth. And you are?"
~Elven Meeting~
"Understandable," the gnomish spokesman said. "But perhaps we might retire to a less formal setting?"
As he said the world "formal" he motioned to the military formation of the elves.
Eos-Ourogandr let out a scything, echoing laugh. "All right. I shall do this. But know something: I but plant the seeds of change in your midst - it is up to you to reap your dreams from what I have sown. Leave this one to rest; Go now, Ava, and tend your husband one last time to bed. He should enjoy one last night of familiar comfort, as I predict, for him, this time of relative comfort he has grown so used to will not last much longer."
~The Western Front~
It was all quiet, especially this time at night. Ephrem continued to watch from the rocky bunker that doubled as a watch tower. In the darkness, nearby, he could hear Itropi's scales moving over the rock. The naga was dozing.
A flash struck through the air, crackling like lighting and reverberating like thunder. Ephrem blinked furiously, trying to clear his eyes. Itropi lay asleep, as before, but now the entire bunker, nay, Itropi himself, glowed with the dull red glow of embers. The Embrin commander continued to gawk as Itropi started and emerged from his meager rest.
The naga caught Ephrem staring. "What?" he asked, irately. When Ephrem continued to do naught but stare, Itropi followed the officer's gaze -- to his own tail, now girded in scales the color of fire. "Mirror!" Itropi rasped, beginning to panic. Ephrem seemed to gather his wits and produced his signal mirror, which was snatched away by Itropi.
His face, his torso, his tail -- every scale on his body had faded from its burnished copper to a blistering crimson. Light seemed to seem out between the scales, as if his very blood were liquid rock. And... he felt... strong. Stronger than he ever had before.
"Ephrem!" Itropi managed to get out. "What does this mean?"
"... I do not know, friend... I do. not. know."
~Glisgaw~
One of the Embrin stepped forward.
"I am Ontus, and these are my Lieutenants, Draninus, Malintus, Iniel, Etira, Fralav, Reman, and Jena. We come because we have heard tales of the excellence of the Gnomish armies. We feel that with our help, you could do even better. Nothing personal, but the armies of your people may be well trained, but they remain largely inexperienced when it comes to directing a war. We, our people, the Embrin, have battle each other for centuries, and every one of us is trained in the ways of military doctrine and strategems. We eight seek an alliance with the gnomish people as your ambassadors and tacticians to the wider world. Together, we could carve a gnomish empire in its entirety."
PP Expenditures
-3 PP Forge Artifact: Brand of the Eternal Flame -- more a "curse" than a real artifact, affected Naga are transformed into Salamanders, larger, stronger versions of Naga quite obviously brimming with the blessing of Isura.
-1 PP Command Populace: Itropi and a score of other Naga who are utterly loyal to the Pharaoh, including the Fallen prisoner guards, become afflicted by the Brand of the Eternal Flame, becoming Salamanders. Notably, the Pharaoh and Pharaoh-Queen are unaffected by this.
"I am Dloz the Catalyst. Are you one of the siblings of the one that is called Tsioyiti?"
"You know she can't actually see you, Dajjal." Tsiyoti said as he rose from the ocean and floated towards the Naga and god. "In fact, I think all you're managing to do is scare her a bit."
Sure enough, Endrina was standing stock still, watching the wind blowing in a wholly unnatural way and staring intently at the furroughs that the goddess was cutting into the ground.
"You know, I get the distinct impresion that you've been avoiding me. Why would that be, Woman of the Winds?"
~Wandering Woods~
The old man blinked. The thought that the second Treant he found would have the weapon was not one he had entertained. With a wave of his hand, the rot stopped and dissapeared.
"Ah. Well, that was simpler than I thought. Good sir, do you have a name? I have a proposition for you, and by extension your people."
~Niganati~
"I'm sorry. You'll have to wait here." The Naga waiting by the door said to the two red-skinned gnomes who had come in from their fortifications. "There's been a-"
Through the door came muffled shouting.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T KNOW? YOU JUST WERE EATING YOUR LUNCH AND SUDDENLY YOU TURNED INTO THIS?" The Pharoah's muted roar was still clearly audible. "BOTH OF YOU, OUT OF MY SIGHT. FIND OUT WHO DID THIS AND MAKE THEM PAY. START IN THE EMBRIN QUARTERS. I BET IT WAS ONE OF THEIR TRICKS."
There was only a moment's pause before the doors flew open and two imposibly large, crimson-red Naga pushed past the two gnomes without a glance in their direction. The two gnomes gaped and glanced at the other guard, whose eyes followed the departing Salamanders with no small degree of trepidation.
"Now... might not be the best of times, actually." The Naga said. "Perhaps come back another afternoon?"
"You know, I suppose you may be right about that, in a manner of speaking," admitted Dajjal.
It seemed she had grown tired of messing with the poor Naga, and resolved instead to resolve into a bank of fog, huddled preciptiously at the edge of the water.
"I find, more and more, as I continue to exist here, that I find myself almost slipping away at times," she mused, and there was an odd, composed, almost dream-like quality to her speech, "Not completely, I mean, I am still here, but I find, more and more, I can barely force myself to really be here, do you know what I'm saying? It's as though, on occasion, I forget that I'm here, and pass into... something else. It's much in the manner that our brothers and sisters, one by one, have fallen silent. Do you remember their names? I barely do. Do you remember what caused to leave?
"No, it is more as though they simply... drifted off, leaving but a dim impression of their passing. And I too feel this from time to time, as though I may suddenly drift off if I do not remain solidly aware of my own existence, my own... self. But I find, more and more, the will to do so, to keep my head above water, is fading fast, and I don't even really want to exist, not really. So I suppose, in a manner, I am avoiding you."
She snapped up, hovering more straightly all of a sudden, as though jolted from a reverie.
"Oh, my dear, what must you think of me?" she exclaimed, and she was back to her regular brisk prose, "To speak of such things, you must think me so morose!"
She gazed absently at Tsiyoti for a time, and there was that odd glint in her eye again, a sort of blank fog occluding her gaze.
"But, I think, if something exciting were to happen, why, I might not feel that way anymore. At least, for a time... What do you think?"
OOC
As a side note, I am trying to model gnomes after some of the more prosperous medieval cities (hence the talk of privileges and the sort). While the cities work together at times (mostly for trade), it would be more accurate to think of them as Venices rather than as France
OOC
- Hm. Thought's post isn't showing up in the list of recent posts. Thought, what *is* it with you and these forums?
Elza was slightly disappointed, but not totally discouraged. However, a basic misunderstanding needed to be addressed first. "The ignorance seems to be mutual. This city's military is entire citizen-based, as are all gnomish cities. The privilege of citizenship comes with certain benefits and obligations. Among the latter is military service. We do have a few career-guards, but I do not believe you would find their duties to be well suited to your, ah, talents. As you are not citizens of this city, you cannot join our military proper. To become citizens, you would need to reside here long enough to gain the sponsorship of other citizens. By other citizens, we tend to mean one of the guilds. To join such a guild, you would need to have a craft to practice, which from what you have said seems unlikely. The porter's guild, and other such organizations, always have need of strong backs, but alas, such work seldom pays well enough for those engaged in their activities to afford the fee for buying citizenship."
The mayor paused after giving the brief civics lesson. When she was certain that information had a chance to sink in, she continued, "We do occasionally contract mercenaries, but these are not standing armies. Rather, they are hired when we have specific need and, when the task is complete, they are free to find employment elsewhere. Currently we have no need for an army, but if you remain in this region long enough I am sure need will occur sooner or later and you can enlist for pay then."
"Now, I think you under value our offer. Armies march on their stomachs, they say. You seem like able-bodied warriors, I am sure soon you will gather a larger following. When that occurs, you will need food to keep your warriors fed, craftsmen to keep them armed, and pleasure enough to keep them loyal. If you do not wish for luxuries, that is well and good, but necessities are, well, necessary, and we can happily provide you with what you need. For a price, of course."
~Pharaoh's Chambers~
Far be it from the gnomes to force themselves into a conversation. They stood, bowed to the Pharaoh, backed up a few paces, and kneeled again, out of the way, but with ears keen and eager to listen.
~Dloz's Mountain~
"Tsiyoti... he's the wet one, right?" Pamora asked. "No, he and I aren't related. Do you mind if I ask what you mean, that you are the catalyst? I can't say this word is often used."
"Yes. I suppose Tsiyoti could be described that way. I'm not sure how to answer your question though. It's almost an intangible matter. I am chaos incarnate. I am possibility. I am potential. This world will soon experience change unlike anything that has come before, because I now roam this world," said Dloz as a grinning mouth slowly appeared where his face would be if he had one.
Tsiyoti chuckled.
"The near destruction of the world by a rampaging fire-serpent didn't satisfy you for the next few hundred years?" The God said, twisting out his form into a watery approximation of Dajjal.
"I guess not, otherwise you would not be saying such things." The Roaring Wave shrugged and stared into the storm for a moment. Then, it came to him.
"A long time ago, I met a God who told me that he was going to create struggles for the mortals... your mortals, if I am not mistaken. He did it because he wished to test them, to determine whether or not they were... worthy. I found this to be utter foolishness at the time. How could any mere mortal being ever be worthy? But I find myself growing fond of these Naga, whom I created by purest accident. Perhaps Tireas had a point. Perhaps the mortals of this world deserve, desire, require testing."
He glanced to the Goddess.
"I have an idea. Would you be willing to help?"
~Niganati, Throne Room~
The Pharoah's eyes narrowed and his voice was tight and strained when he spoke.
"I thank you for your concern, good Gnomes, but I have this situation under control. Once Itropi returns from scouting the front lines of the Keben threat, we will act accord-" The Naga broke off as Eos stormed into the room, shouting at the top of her lungs. The Pharoah turned and met heat with heat.
"I have EVERY right, Embin. You are here by MY permission and MY authority. DO NOT think for a moment that I could not have you and the rest of your red-skinned brood cast out of here, Prophesy or no damned Prophesy. What I want are ANSWERS. I woke up this morning to discover myself surrounded by flame-blooded warriors! Explain that to me, follower of the Parcher! Explain to me how those of my guard, the most trusted of the Order of Raingiver's Stormhead, were turned into what you saw. You claim to have no magical ability, but I have seen you use magical items as easily as any of us. You are hiding something, and I will have it found and Destroyed. Tell whomever has done this that they have one week. Now, out of my sight. Or do I have to have you arrested for assaulting my royal person?"
Around the room, spears rattled as guards brandished them in the direction of Eos.
~Western Front~
Itropi spent a long moment staring at the mirror before turning to his friend.
"It is no matter. I feel strong and powerful, and that is enough for me. I will let the others worry about what it means."
A smile broke across Itropi's face.
"So. The day finally dawns, when we drive this filthy horde screaming for mercy into the Trial to be picked off by the fierce heat of Isura. It has been a long day coming, my friend."
Yes, kill them all... the voice in the back of his head whispered, and Itropi nodded. His spear would drink heavily tonight.
Ontus bowed respectfully. "Then I am sorry that we are unable to help each other. Gentlelady." He bowed, and the Embrin saw themselves out. They left the city and headed north-east, bound for the lands beyond.
~Niganati~
Eos glowered at the Pharaoh. "Then perhaps you were wrong to trust them. I would say their appearence alone indicates 'the parcher' favors them more than their 'raingiver' ever did. And using magic items? Really? You think some magic item did this? Far be it from me to try to keep you from descending into madness and paranoia." Eos waved a finger at the Pharaoh. "We will not become your scapegoats. This seems to be an internal affair of the Naga, and we want no part in it, now or ever."
Spinning deftly on her heel, Eos headed straight for the guards at the chamber's edge.
At a signal from the Pharoah, the guards shuffled aside and allowed Eos to storm out of the chamber.
But the fury of Eos was faster. When one of the guards failed to shuffle out of her way in time, Eos decided to bowl right through the naga instead. She intercepted the guard's spear and twisted it, using the torque to send the Naga flipping up and over his own weapon, falling supine and sprawled on the floor.
Eos spun the spear around her several times in a blatant display of skill, then dropped the spear behind her, to the ground, as she finally exited the chamber.
~Western Front~
The Embrin Swordguard Nero busied himself with tying a letter to his messenger snake. In response to a quick whistle, the snake darted off, letter safely wound about its length.
The note was quick and to the point:
Queen Pharaoh --
All is in place to drive the Keben hordes from Niganati once and for all. We but await the command.
PP Expenditure
-1 Nourish - The Embrin-led army of Niganati readies itself to finally rout the months-long siege.
Puk tensed his left arm, then relaxed it. Then, he tensed his left leg, and then relaxed it. It took careful concentration and work to remain motionless and quiet, all the more to avoid cramps from remaining in the same position for too long. But he hoped it would be useful. He and his band of bandits had watched the large red creatures leave Glisglaw with a wagon. Wagons from cities always held good stuff, and he hoped that the fact that this one was watched over by fantastical beings meant it was particularly valuable. They had rushed on ahead to set an ambush, but it was getting so late in the day now that he had been afraid that the red-ones had stopped for the night. But finally, they appeared.
Nine other gnomes and one bullywug were also hiding in the tall roadside brush. These were not soldiers, not in the least. They lacked proper training and any decent equipment they had was taken from booty of those foolish enough not to travel with guards brave enough to fend them off. If Puk had been a smarter fellow, he might have thought twice about attempting to rob proffesional warriors with such a lackluster crew. It didn't help that he didn't know what professional warriors looked like, either. But, even if he had been capable of knowing the mistake he was about to make, there was no longer time to regret it. The wagon and the Embrin had come into the trap and now it was time to spring it.
Puk rose up and calmly walked into the middle of the road, blocking the path of the Embrin. At least he wasn't stupid enough to attempt to intimidate such large creatures with his dagger, which was his weapon of choice. Unfortunately, he had decided to use that shortsword he had gotten from the last heist, believing its size had more clout. Perhaps it did, but when compared to the much larger creatures, it wasn't much different than a dagger.
"Sorry there m'fellows, but seems you've done and gone entered me territory and there's a tax for that."
The rest of his crew stood up now as well, revealing that they had the Emrbin surrounded. Arrows were pulled back on their bows and these were trained on the redmen. It was less than impressive, however, as their heads were barely above the grass itself.
"Iff'n you don' wish to come to harm, please turn over any clink and valuables ye might have."
~Further Northeast of Glisglaw~
The two gnomes skidded to a halt as the soldiers cut off their escape. They could hear the footsteps of the captain behind them.
"You should know that Duchess Garma isn't about to let her best blacksmith travel to Glisglaw. You owe her a tidy sum of money, and, since you can't pay it, you have to work it off."
The gnomish smith didn't have a response. He had hoped to get to Glisglaw, where they'd have protected him. As the saying went, the air of a city made a man free. But now that he was caught... there was nothing to be done. He'd be dragged back to the Duchess' estate to work for her.
PP
1PP command/nourish (I am not really sure which this counts as) - Gnomes: Within gnomish lands there are also nobles who live outside of cities. These people have their own land holdings, which are mostly agricultural, but they also tend to have small "cities" which are really nothing more than populated military fortifications where they force trademen to work to fulfill their needs alone. Compared to actual cities, these are minor political forces, but they are eager to improve their lot and are quite distrustful of the cities.
8/9PP remaining
1PP command/nourish (I am not really sure which this counts as) - Gnomes: Within gnomish lands there are also nobles who live outside of cities. These people have their own land holdings, which are mostly agricultural, but they also tend to have small "cities" which are really nothing more than populated military fortifications where they force trademen to work to fulfill their needs alone. Compared to actual cities, these are minor political forces, but they are eager to improve their lot and are quite distrustful of the cities.
8/9PP remaining
Dloz floated down the side of the mountain towards the shore. As he approached the shore Dloz picked up some debris he found on the ground that he liked. He picked up two pieces of driftwood and a pale blue rock the size of a jalapeno. Once he was at the shore he stared out to sea. What should he do to prove is power? His butterflies hadn't impressed anyone. The pond he had made wasn't even noticed by Tsiyoti. Perhaps Dloz should attack the creations of the other gods. That would prove his power. Dloz looked down at his hands. Apparently he had built something while he was thinking; it was a strange habit of his. The young god had stuck the driftwood to the rock with mud. Dloz found the strange, little statue amusing. Perhaps he should make it into something thought Dloz. He focused his mind's energy on to the statue so it split into fifty copies. Suddenly each of the statues began to change. The drift wood became two claws. One of the claws was bigger than the other unfortunately. Two eyes popped out of the topic of the rock and six claws emerged from the bottom of the rock. Dloz decided he would call this new creature a crab.
The young god watched as the crabs crawled around the beach. He still had no idea how to prove his power. Obviously the crabs wouldn't do that. If Dloz was able to mutate the other gods creations that might prove his power. But that was beyond his current power, not that he wanted to admit that to the other gods. Could he create something that could change the other gods' creations? Perhaps something tiny that could go into other creatures and alter them from inside. No. The something shouldn't just alter the other gods' creations. It should make them stop moving. Dloz had done that to the butterfly in the Garden when he found the goo inside it. His new creation should do that to all the other gods' creations. But how would he get that creation into the creatures of the world? He looked at the crabs. They amused him. Perhaps he could create an improved crab to bring his "blessing" to the other gods' creations. Dloz made one of the crabs near him split into two so he could have a crab to experiment with.
Dloz didn't want to change too much about the crab. He gave it two wings like the wings he had given his dragons so the crab could travel large distances. But how should the crab share Dloz's "blessing"? Dloz created a prehensile tale on the back of the crab that had a needle on it. This tale would stab creatures so Dloz's new creation could get into other creatures. Now that the improved crab was complete, Dloz started on the other creation. Dloz imagined a thing that would make the other creatures of the world leak until they stopped moving. He knew he had made it by thinking of it and that it was lying in his hand. But the thing was so small that Dloz could not see it. Dloz reached out to the improved crab to put the leaking-stop into it, but he stopped himself. The leaking-stop would make the crab stop moving if he put it in it right now. Dloz carved a powerful word into the crab's shell so the leaking-stop would know that the crab was his servant. With that mark upon the crab it would be safe from the leaking-stop. He then put the leaking-stop into the improved crab's stinger. The young god needed to do one last thing to be done with his plan. With incredible speed Dloz cut the improved crab into hundreds of pieces, but the crab didn't stop moving. Each of the pieces became a new crab and each of them carried the leaking-stop.
"Go forth and share my blessing with all of the other gods' creations," Dloz commanded his swarm of crabs. The crabs rose and flew off into the distance.
PP Stuff
1 PP - Nourish (Dloz created fiddler crabs.)
2 PP - Spawn (Dloz created plague wasps from his fiddler crabs.)
2 PP - Harm (Dloz created the leaking-stop to infect all non-plant organisms.)
1 PP - Nourish (Dloz created fiddler crabs.)
2 PP - Spawn (Dloz created plague wasps from his fiddler crabs.)
2 PP - Harm (Dloz created the leaking-stop to infect all non-plant organisms.)
"Probably," Dajjal said, smiling, "What exactly did you have in mind?"
Bowels of Niganati
"Did you bring it?"
"Of course I did! What sort of fool do you think I am!"
"I didn't - I'm sorry."
"You should be!"
The muttered conversation of the two Naga females sounded harsh and gutteral in the grimy stone passage, the pitted walls and long tunnel yawning in either direction warping their voices to unrecognizability. A rat, mean and large, taut with anticipation and bold as only city rats can be, crouched not feet from them. It eyed the two warily. It had not seen such wealth in all its poor, miserable life. Opals hung from their ear-lobes and rubies the size of fists hung at their throats, fine gold chain clinking as they moved. Those who frequented this tunnel were not nearly so well-off, indeed, many were barely more well-off than the rat, and some even less so.
"Do you see that? It's watching us."
"Don't be silly! It's just a rat!"
But they rushed hurriedly from the spot where the black rat crouched. But as they moved deeper into the city, the sights did not improve. They passed down passages that looked increasingly as though carved from the bedrock itself which, they reminded themselves, it probably was. They passed alcoves where, come day time, crooked vendors would peddle amulets of protection, which were really petrified gnoll tongues, or 'powdered dragon horn' which was actually powdered rat dung. They passed old men, starved and crippled, passed out in black corners, or under overhangs, saliva drying on their chins, eyes staring blankly up as the sisters passed. But soon they reached a door. It was a small door, fit for gnomes or the like, set at the very bottom of a smooth expanse of black stone. It appeared as though someone had painstakingly carved out a perfectly circular hole, only to cover it with a bit of petrified wood. There was something hairy nailed to the door that the Naga did not bother to inspect. Rather, holding their hands over their noses, they knocked, and retreated.
"Come on in..." said a voice from within.
And they did.
PP
1 PP Command - Some gnomes and Naga within Niganati have joined a strange and secretive cult to the Queen of Dust, Dajjal.
Dismounting, he pulled his horse's head close, whispering to it quietly. Givign it a soft slap, it trotted of to the rest of the gathered elves. "There. No imminent danger of anyone attacking each other now and I've dismounted and disarmed. Shall we speak?"
-----
Deprived of easy gnome targets for raids, and not really willing to put up a dedicated fight, most of the gnoll raiders dispersed back into the wastes. Only the Shatterskull tribe remained, choosing to feed off of the hunters rather than the land. Soon, some groups of berserkers began to come upon the remains of their comrades, only pools of blood and tattered armor to be found.
-----
Keeping Kazzuk gripped firmly in his gauntleted hand, the treant nodded slowly. "I am Timberlain. Who and what are you?"
"Last one there is a rotten egg!" yelled Tippin to his friends as he ran to the limits of the village. Today they were going to try to dig to the other side of the world. As Tippin ran up to the large rock where they had decided to meet, he noticed a strange bug on the rock. Tippin liked to catch the bugs that lived near the village and keep them as pets for as long as he could. This one would make a really neat pet. He reached out to grab the bug when its tale suddenly lashed out at Tippin's hand. The young gnome let out a scream of pain as he pulled his hand away. His hand was already starting to swell up from the sting.
OCC Stuff
Plague wasp swarms are in the Sea of Daj area.
Plague wasp swarms are in the Sea of Daj area.
The Pharoah gave the gnomes a long look.
"Very well." He said eventually, "I am curious as to what you mean. Speak."
~Niganati, Chambers of the Orbs~
The Orbs of Prophesy had been moved into four adjoining chambers by the Naga since their discovery, and within the chambers, those who believed in prophesy gathered to discuss the words of the Orbs. Today, a particular story and interpretation was the dominant point of conversation.
Despite the Pharoah's attempts to hide it, several people had seen the Salamanders and rushed to the Chambers to tell those who watched the orbs what they had seen. The concensus was that these beings, NOT the Embrin, were the prophesied red-skinned children of Isura that would bring glory to the Naga.
~Niganati, Western Front~
"Why has there been no word from the Pharoah?" Itropi growled out as he peered over the lip of a wave and down at the Keben horde below. To his left and right were Embrin and Naga shock troops, the first wave of warriors meant to drive the Keben threat from the Trial for good. Behind him the rest of this wing of the army was poised and waiting.
A Naga scooted up next to him.
"Itropi. Word comes from the Eastern Front and from the Queen. All is ready. We may proceed. They are waiting for us."
Itropi threw a questioning glance at the Naga.
"The Queen?"
"That is who sent the message, Commander."
"Very well. I don't understand why she is the one giving the commands, but if Valerius says we are ready, then let us begin."
At his signal, scores of archers raised their bows and aimed so that their arrows would fall over the lip of the wave. The archers had been practicing this on another wave for some time, and knew what to do.
Itropi cut his hand through the air, and three hundred arrows sprang from bows, falling into the valley below, where surpried cries and shouts of pain told them they had hit their mark.
Before the Keben had any more of a chance to react, Itropi and the shock troops pulled themselves over the lip and began moving downhill as quickly as they could. Again the arrows fell, then again, then again, and then they stopped as the Naga/Embrin force struck into the side of the Keben horde. The archers threw away their bows, pulled out their spears, and began rushing downhill to meet up with the first wave.
Itropi's new form was a delight to fight with, effortlessly moving his spear with careful and eefficient motions through the shoulders and guts of keben after keben. The spear itself pulsed with purpose, seemingly guiding his hand to more effective strikes, and... singing? Itropi could swear he heard it singing in his head.
Looking up for a moment, he eyed the far side of the large ravine that contained most of the Keben. Valerius should be coming down the far side as soon as the Horde's attention was on this assault... which should be any time now.
~Wandering Wood~
"You... can call me the Old Man of the Sea. You don't need any more information than that. I am... a friend. You have seen my power. I wish to offer you, Timberlane, an opportunity for true greatness. Surely you are interested in power..."
~Cape of Death~
Tsiyoti gestured to the storm above him.
[/color=olive]"One of my mortals made this with my old staff. What do you say we boost its power, give it a mind of its own and set it loose to test those of this world who truly wish to make something of themselves?"[/color]
PP
1 PP: Command Populace: A subset of Naga and Embrin and Gnomes in Niganati, those who consider themselves 'mystics' form a new cult around the Salamanders.
2 PP: Harm Populace: The Keben horde is beset by one prong of the Army of Niganati.
1 PP: Command Populace: A subset of Naga and Embrin and Gnomes in Niganati, those who consider themselves 'mystics' form a new cult around the Salamanders.
2 PP: Harm Populace: The Keben horde is beset by one prong of the Army of Niganati.
However, there was a sudden shift in the world. A powerful magical force was exerted elsewhere -- perhaps in that "Trial" place the Naga had mentioned -- and ripples from that traveled across the world. By this she noticed that magic was flowing from the gate. She went there to investigate and found her way into another plane. There, hidden from her until now, slept yet another god, a shapeless thing of psuedo-flesh.
Pamora stretched out her hand and the leash on it shot out a string of chains that wrapped themselves around the sleeping form. In a moment the goddess felt a new awareness enter her as she could sense the vibrations of magic throughout the world. The chain and leash separated and the goddess looked at what form Mulfrost had taken now. The serpentine figure now grasped two orbs, one white and one black, with a line of gold connecting the two.
Satisfied for now, she returned to the natural world.
Standing above the gate she surveyed the world and became aware that the dead were wandering aimlessly. Ah yes, the god who had been in charge of their care had stopped doing his job. Since these were the dead, perhaps she should fix the matter herself. But it might also just be an oversight on the other’s part, and in no way malicious. It could offend a potential ally to take that action as of yet.
In pondering what to do with the state of affairs she noticed Mulfrosts shape, again, and decided on one thing, at least.
Stretching her senses out, Pamora called a bit of life to her. The larval form of a plague wasps appeared before her: she didn't care what sort of creature it was, so she did not notice anything about it except that it was alive. Its potential life stretched out in both directions: how such creatures might be produced, how they would grow and develop, how they would change, and how they would eventually die. Even such a one as this had a spark to it that would endure after the body died. It was sparks like these that now fluttered about the world.
There was great power in that process. Satisfied that she was well acquainted with it, she dismissed the larvae and focused instead on the world. Life flowed from the gate, and in death things desired to eventually return to it, although presently none were finding their way. To each spark that came into the world, Pamora allotted a certain amount of power to use as they chose, a certain span of life. This was tied to the magic that flowed from the Gate as well. Now if mortals desired to tap into one, they utilized the other as well.
As Pamora forced her will on the world, magic users of all race and kind suffered. Those of lesser skill and conjurers of cheap tricks merely felt dizzy for a moment, but more powerful mages were incapacitated for days.
PP
3pp Alter: Milfrost - Marsten also bound, granting Pamora the Magic domain
1pp Command: Magic - Magic is now tied to a creature’s lifeforce. Using magic shortens the magic-user’s own life proportionally to the amount of magic used. For heroic-level spells, this is minor enough to not be noteworthy. However, generally by the end of paragon tier a magic user could assume to have lost about 5% of their lifespan, while at the end of the epic tier this would increase to around 25%. Enchanting items is comparable to the tier level, except that the enchantment ends when the original enchanter dies and their lifeforce moves on.
1pp Command: Magic Users - Magic users will quickly realize that they can circumvent shortening their own life by drawing power from other things; namely, the life force of others (the dead being the most accessible). “Good” races and individuals either create pacts with the dead somehow (such as ancestor worship) or they use animals domesticated for that very purpose. Evil races will use whatever. Truly powerful enchantments (as in mortals creating artifact-level items) require binding immortal creatures to an item. The best possible subject would be a god, of course.
2/9PP remaining
3pp Alter: Milfrost - Marsten also bound, granting Pamora the Magic domain
1pp Command: Magic - Magic is now tied to a creature’s lifeforce. Using magic shortens the magic-user’s own life proportionally to the amount of magic used. For heroic-level spells, this is minor enough to not be noteworthy. However, generally by the end of paragon tier a magic user could assume to have lost about 5% of their lifespan, while at the end of the epic tier this would increase to around 25%. Enchanting items is comparable to the tier level, except that the enchantment ends when the original enchanter dies and their lifeforce moves on.
1pp Command: Magic Users - Magic users will quickly realize that they can circumvent shortening their own life by drawing power from other things; namely, the life force of others (the dead being the most accessible). “Good” races and individuals either create pacts with the dead somehow (such as ancestor worship) or they use animals domesticated for that very purpose. Evil races will use whatever. Truly powerful enchantments (as in mortals creating artifact-level items) require binding immortal creatures to an item. The best possible subject would be a god, of course.
2/9PP remaining
Tippin could hear his mother crying outside the house. He was old enough to recognize he wasn't going to live much longer. After a few hours of being stung by the weird bug, lesions had started appearing all over his body and now he was bleeding even though he didn't have any visible wounds.
Tippin had heard his father telling his mother that a few of the men from the village were going to go to Glasglaw to get help. Many more people had come down with the mysterious sickness. Some people were worried that there wouldn't be any help in Glisglaw though, because there had been swarms of the strange bugs flying in the direction of city. Despite those concerns Tippin's father insisted that they go. Before Tippin's father had left he had told Tippin to stay awake until he came back with help, but Tippin was feeling so tired. He was going to take a little nap. A little nap couldn't hurt.
Ontus smiled condescendingly at the gnome brigand.
"I'm afraid we don't have any valuables." he said both simply and truthfully. He turned momently as the sound of running and pursuit emerged from further up the path. Languidly, Ontus returned his gaze to Puk. "So since we can't pay your toll, I assume you'll let us pass unmolested?"
Ontus nodded inwardly in satisfaction as his phraseology caused a brief flurry of movement inside the covered wagon.
~Niganati, Western Front~
There exixts, near Hearth, a particularly interesting species of plant known as the gilded beanstock. While its exact origin has always been in dispute, the Embrin didn't have to know how the plant got there to make use of it. When gold beans are wrung through a screw press, the principle product is a milky golden liquid called Gold Bean Oil, or more colloquially as "sparkwax". Gold bean oil, when applied to a surface, reduced the sliding friction of the surface by several orders of magnitude. This on its own was useful when designing pit traps and the like, but one Embrin commander had discovered a very different use for it; specially crafted boots could be outfitted with a dispensor system such that the soles of the shoes were continually coated with the gold bean oil. Soldiers outfitted with these boots effectively "skied" over rough terrain, as easily as passing over snow. Additionally, Sparkwax is mildly flammable, and while the friction may be reduced, the rubbing of metal boots on rock is bound to produce a spark sooner or later, which meant that the soldiers outfitted with the special boots not only skied over rock and gravel alike, but left a trail of fire in their wake.
These so-called Flarerunners used the sparkwax as both a means to quickly flank, and to intimidate their foes, often forging their armor to look particularly devlish, which combined with the trail of fire they left in their wake, gave them the appearence of immolated, otherworldly revenants, let loose upon the waking world.
As Itropi's forces clashed with the Kebens, the Embrin Vanguard tore into them from the side, the Flarerunner squads leading the charge, the better to herd the Keben army into the kill zone of crossfire. Above, Embrin arballasts rained down flaming arrows, while the less fantastical Embrin death squads closed ground to catch the Keben host in a deadly pincer movement.
When the Flarerunners chased down and slew one of the juggernauts, the northern half of the Keben army lost its nerve, and fled, fleeing the valley as fast as their grubby little paws could render them. The southern half, trapped, howled for the blood of its cowardly other half, but to no avail -- any real contest of the battle was already over; all that remained was to slay the remaining Kebens, a long, slow process that would take most of the rest of the day.
PP Expenditure
-1 PP Nourish: The magical nature of the Gilded Beansprout allows the Embrin to use terror-tactics to utterly annihilate the cohesion of the Keben army.
-1 PP Harm: the cohesion of the Keben army is utterly annihilated
-1 PP Command: Half of the Keben army flees Niganati. The other half is left to die to Naga and Embrin blades.
OOC
Veok, a harm action is 2pp. Unfortunately, you don't have enough PP for all that. However, since you are using a harm action against an army, I think it would be fair to say that it causes part of them to flee anywho, so you probably don't need the command action
pp
9PP into the pool of 11 growing exarchs: 5 are 1/3 complete, 6 are 2/3 complete
Sorry for this short update, but work is draining much of my time
9PP into the pool of 11 growing exarchs: 5 are 1/3 complete, 6 are 2/3 complete
Sorry for this short update, but work is draining much of my time
"But... that's not a real religion."
"Of course it is! How could a religion not be real?"
"I dunno.."
"I mean, it's a religion. Aren't they, by definition, not real?"
"Well that's..."
"That's like saying it's not a real fairy tale, or not a real superstition."
"Yeah, but... the Church of Meteorology?"
If one were to pass by the town square at high noon on some particular day, this would be the conversation they may overhear. If they, perhaps, turned their attention to the two speakers, a shining-faced eager gnome youth and a beleaguered-looking Naga man, one would appreciate the full strangeness of the situation. The gnome, his hair damp with sweat and his shirt sticking to his back, was clutching a stack of what were unmistakeably pamphlets. Nothing fancy, just a folded sheaf of parchment, but upon which was carefully written what was unmistakeably some sort of manifesto, or advertisement. Across the top of one paper were the words "The Church of Meteorology wants YOU!"
"Look, I am a devout Tsiotite, and I appreciate your right to choose, but please, get the hell away from me," said the Naga, his eyes darting about the square as though he was searching for escape routes.
"But please, sir, just take the paper, you may be surprised!" urged the gnome, and he pressed a sheaf of the paper, which was slick with yet more of the gnome's sweat, into the Naga's chest.
"No, I really don't think I should. I-"
"Please sir, just take it!"
"No, I-"
"Just take one!"
And in a brief moment of confusion, the sheets tumbled out of the gnome's hands and fell scattered across the floor. The gnome looked highly offended.
"Look what you made me do..." he said in dangerous tones.
"I'm sorry sir, but it was your own-"
He didn't get any more out before the gnome fell upon him in a flurry of fists and flying kicks.
PP
1 PP Command - The cell of Dajjal worshippers in Niganati try to "legitimize" their congregation under the guise of the Church of Meteorology. They hope to lure in naive and willing petitioners.
A swarm of plague wasps had been traveling for a long time towards the largest concentration of life that they had detected for a while. But in the process of their traveling they had run across mortals. They immediately descended upon the mortals to share their creator's blessing on the mortals.
OCC Stuff
This is the caravan of embrin that ran into the gnomes and bullywugs.
Plague wasps have the ability to detect lifeforms and will swarm towards them.
This is the caravan of embrin that ran into the gnomes and bullywugs.
Plague wasps have the ability to detect lifeforms and will swarm towards them.
The Pharoah smiled.
"I like you plan, good gnomes. Let us follow it to the letter. I will instruct my men to find some of these snuffed-Embrin, and you will assist me in the downfall of the Embrin here in Niganati. I sense many of my people still support them. This will have to change before I can drive them out."
The Pharoah turned and picked up a large crystal in the shape of a tear.
"In return, I give you this to begin this pack of confederacy. We are not sure what it does, but it emits powerful magics. Perhaps your people could utilize it to its fullest."
~The Front~
Itropi reached out and clasped the arm of Valerius when the two prongs of the army finally met. By that point, the Keben horde had been fully broken, and was racing away from Niganati as quickly as it could while the shouts of its commander, a large Juggernaut that had cost the combined forces of the Naga many fine warriors, echoed in their midst, trying to get the disorganized, fleeing mob to regroup.
"A worthy victory, Valerius. May the Gods of Fire and Water bless our alliance evermore. Come. We can let the army tidy up. We need to report back to... I imagine we need to report back to the Queen. I assume you got the same message I did? Why did the Pharoah not come to observe as he had promised?"
As the Keben fled, the Army cheered and, spirits bolstered, sat to tend their wounds.
Regrettably, the peace did not last. Beings from the time before Niganati was excavated appeared here and there among the Keben and revitalized their broken lines, leading a push that momentarially halted the chasing Naga and Embrin.
The Keben and Jzakai army held for several long hours as the Naga and Embrin struggled to find a way to crush their line as quickly as they had before. However now the element of surprise and the high ground had been lost, and it fell to two armies meeting on a level field. Although the Naga and Embrin were, on average, significantly better trained than the Keben, the massive numbers of Keben as well as the terrifying attacks of the Jzakai prevented much progress from being made.
Itropi pulled his spear from a smoldering Jzakai corpse and wheeled to his right to spot a larger Jzakai bellowing orders to several of its kin in its strange and breathy approximation of proper language. Bellowing a challenge, Itropi moved forward to engage this Jzakai, who seemed to be his counterpart among the enemy horde.
PP
3 PP: Forge Artifact: Daj's Tear. A large crystal object found near the shores of Tsiyoti's Boon. Acts as a natural sink of magical power which, in line with Pamora's changes to magic, drains a small amount of lifespan (varies depending on the number of living beings present in the field of effect) from all beings within a mile's radius to charge itself. Allows its owner to draw from itself instead of using their own lifeforce. Given to the Gnomes.
1 PP: Command Populace: Some of the 'fallen' Embrin are smuggled back into Niganati and also brought to the Gnomes for... repatriation.
1 PP: Nouirsh Populace: The Embrin/Naga army grows in confidence and heals any wounds sustained in the battle.
2 PP: Saved for an Ascend Exarch action
3 PP: Forge Artifact: Daj's Tear. A large crystal object found near the shores of Tsiyoti's Boon. Acts as a natural sink of magical power which, in line with Pamora's changes to magic, drains a small amount of lifespan (varies depending on the number of living beings present in the field of effect) from all beings within a mile's radius to charge itself. Allows its owner to draw from itself instead of using their own lifeforce. Given to the Gnomes.
1 PP: Command Populace: Some of the 'fallen' Embrin are smuggled back into Niganati and also brought to the Gnomes for... repatriation.
1 PP: Nouirsh Populace: The Embrin/Naga army grows in confidence and heals any wounds sustained in the battle.
2 PP: Saved for an Ascend Exarch action
RESET.
9 PP: Pamora, Tsiyoti
8 PP: Dajjal, Isura, Akuru-Azu, Amun, Arvad
7 PP: Erainull, Sephus
6 PP: Baern, Dloz.
spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?...
The Fire Brigade wasted no time in getting to work. They had no idea what idiocy had compelled the Naga to smuggle back into the cities they had willingly fled so long ago, but they weren't ones to balk at biting the hands that feed them.
Within a fortnight, some two dozen naga officials lay dead, mostly those involved with the smuggling operations in the first place. The Ashborn Embrin did their best to strike in secret, but passing themselves off as normal Embrin was difficult; their skin darkened with red clay easily enough, but to simulate the "hair" of their brethren, they had to physically burn something, sparkwax was a common choice, but even that was a shallow disguise, as the heat their burning heads gave off alerted any nearby that something was wrong.
In short, their disguise was thin, painful, and only useful at longer ranges. But of course, they didn't have to hide that much in the first place -- the Ashborn had always hated Naga (and Naga alone) -- they bore their Embrin brothers and sisters no ill will (though they did regard them as fools blinded by their devotion to the greater good), and since the naga loyal to the Pharaoh were the only ones they interacted with (for the admittedly short time before the Ashborn turned around and betrayed them), they had no idea as to the origins of the Salamanders, for the Pharaoh's explicit orders were to never speak of them.
--
For their part, the gnome's illusion magics were only marginally effective. Never mind the fact that some of the Pharaoh's servants liked their new form, and refused to let the gnomes cloak them at all, within a few days it readily became apparent that illusion magic in Niganati behaved... oddly. It seemed to sputter, and flicker unsteadily, regardless of how much energy the gnomish casters poured into it, and this effect was more clearly apparent then either the gnomes or the Pharaoh wished. Between the protestors who refused to submit to illusions, and the tempestuous nature of the veiling spells themselves, it was glaringly obvious that the Pharaoh was trying to downplay the existence of the Salamanders. Trying, and failing utterly. The populace began to whisper, though nothing was ever directly mentioned to the Pharaoh.
~Ula-Dajjal~
The grand, wind-swept cities of the Tarnish were beautiful and as elegant as they were grand and luxurious. The Tarnish had never been ones to fear the elements, and so it was no surprise that windows were plentiful, and oftentimes, entirely open, whether by stained-glass panes or shutters.
It made the Tarnish easy targets the day the Plague Wasps came.
PP Expenditure
-1 PP Command: The Ashborn Embrin double-cross the naga who smuggle them in. They live on among the shadows of the Naga city, killing what Naga they can, and otherwise ignoring the salamanders and embrin who live there.
-1 PP Command: Illusion magic within the walls of Niganati becomes unpredictable at best, prone to rapid degeneration when exposed to light or an open flame of any kind.
-1 PP Command: A swarm of Plague Wasps descend upon Ula-Dajjal, and begin to infect the Tarnish living there.
-1 PP Command: The Ashborn Embrin double-cross the naga who smuggle them in. They live on among the shadows of the Naga city, killing what Naga they can, and otherwise ignoring the salamanders and embrin who live there.
-1 PP Command: Illusion magic within the walls of Niganati becomes unpredictable at best, prone to rapid degeneration when exposed to light or an open flame of any kind.
-1 PP Command: A swarm of Plague Wasps descend upon Ula-Dajjal, and begin to infect the Tarnish living there.
The day the plague wasps came, the Tarnish rejoiced. They offered their thanks to the great gods above, and offered their arms ready for the succor. You see, they were very learned in the magical arts and so knew exactly what the wasps carried in their bodies: a virulent plague ready to wipe out any living thing in mere hours.
It was not irony, though, that when the Tarnish offered their bodies gladly as hosts for the plague, they were totally and completely unaffected. No, it was mere tragedy.
You see, the Gem Tarnish had descended from a race for whom the wearing down by time and age was a gift, a blessing. Older Tarnish displayed their scarred and pitted bodies proudly, while young, clean Tarnish youth were those inexperienced few who had not yet the pleasure of the elements' fatal kiss. But the Gem Tarnish, with their glittering bodies of diamond and ruby, had not felt the lash of wind or rain ever since their miraculous birth so long ago. The bodies gifted upon them by the goddess had saved them from their foes, but so too did it keep them from what they so desired.
And such was the case now. The stings of the wasps foolish enough to try and sting the Tarnish curved and broke, and the Tarnish found their gift falling, wounded, about them. Tarnish found themselves rushing out into the streets, onto bridges and parapets, hoping that perhaps they could feel the sweet sting of the wasps. But no chance. The blessing of the Gem Tarnish had turned to curse. And they shouted and raged at the heavens. And on that day, in a fit of irony and self-hatred, the Gem Tarnish cast aside their name and took up a new one: The Clean. For they could never again be Tarnish if their shining bodies simply could not tarnish.
And they went back into their cities and waited, praying that they may be proven wrong. Knowing that they never would.
PP
1 PP Command - The Gem Tarnish find that their new forms are unaffected by the elements or the stings of the wasps. In honour of this, they change their name to "The Clean."
OOC
Ack, you didn't even give me a chance to use the illusionary magic, Veok! Here I was looking forward to the gnomes dying off as they tried to figure out the new magical requirements (course, Toph nipped that in the bud too). Ah well, next time...
-----
"I have power, man of the sea. This blade and this gauntlet have given me the power I needed. Power to unite my people. Power to command the centaurs. Power to keep outsiders beyond our wood."
-----
After some discussion, the elves nodded to the gnomes. "We are very interested in foodstuffs as well as these metals your possess. But what would you want from us for them?"
Mechanics
1 PP - Command - Travel magic is unaffected by Pamora's alteration to the function of magic. Is continues to work normally, but can only be accessed and used by those given a connection the Blink Orb.
7/8 PP
7/8 PP
The man chuckled.
"Good, good. you have power. I never meant to imply you did not, Timberlane. But do you not feel the pull of more power beyond the borders of these woods? The artifact you carry is but one of a set of four. If you can feel the others, surely they can feel the presence of the weapon you carry. How long before they seek to increase their power and take your weapon from you? And then, Timberlane, your people would be splintered-" The man barked out a short laugh. "- Yes, splintered quite literally. Would it not be better to be proactive? Sieze the power of the artifacts for yourself?"
~Niganati, Route to the Queen's Chambers~
OOC(veok)
Moving Eos and Valerius about a bit. Hopefully in a manner you find acceptable.
Moving Eos and Valerius about a bit. Hopefully in a manner you find acceptable.
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a man who belives wholeheartedly in his innate sense of superiority cannot dream of being outwitted by the those he deems inferior. It is a secondarily acknowledged, in relation to the aforementioned, that the more one believes wholeheartedly in the unfathomable success of their endeavours, the greater their surprise when the full repurcussions of their understimation lay finally open, arrayed against them.
It is thirdly universally acknowledged that gnomes talk too much.
In Davar's case, his underestimation was a cultural one. Being newly arrived to Niganati, the gnome couldn't have known about why the Ashborn had fled in exile in the first place. Told through the Pharaoh's proxies and servants, an entirley slanted version of events was relayed. But though this ignorance may have saved Davar the chaos his later plans developed, the heart of his mistake lay even deeper.
For you see, the Gnomes had never met an Embrin outside of Niganati. Sure, there were stories of Fire warriors leading small groups of gnoll bandits and the like, but the two races had never interacted on a familial level. And once the gnomes arrived in Niganati, seeking to displace the Embrin from the established politics, there was even less incentive to learn.
For make no mistake, though they may have lost the favor of their goddess, the Ashborn were Embrin. And to the Embrin, any Embrin, the adage, "Those who do not lead are doomed to follow" rings truer than crystal.
It is one thing to serve under another Embrin, with perhaps a squadron of non-embrin beneath you. Though prideful, the Embrin were not stubbornly so. They recognized that those that lead them did so because they were better -- faster, stronger, blessed with greater mental acumen. Embrin society was all about learning how to be a great leader, and then a quest to become that leader. Leaders were those worthy of respect.
To serve as a lieutenant under an unknown commander, whether naga, or gnome, or gnoll, or elven, would be a disgrace.
To serve among the rank and file as a petty thug was even worse.
So when Davar's spy masters came to the Ashborn with promises of reclaiming their old life if "only" they spied against their kin, the Ashborn, to a one, declined. But the gnomes were persistant, and slowly, over the course of many days, the Ashborn surreptitiously drew their true plans out from them. Ashborn or not, Embrin were still Embrin. And attempting to enlist Embrin against their own, against the very folk the Ashborn had acted to protect, had about as much chance of succeeding as the Cult of Meterology ever amounting to anything.
So it was that some of Ashborn tightened their belts and bore the arrogance and snide superiority of the gnomes who smuggled them back into Niganati. They were given powerful cloaking magicks, sworn to serve the gnomes willingly, and sent loose into the city.
When the first of the Ashborn spies began failing to report, the gnomes took no heed. After all, the "bumbling" Embrin had already failed in so many ways -- it was inexcusable to think traitor-spies could be any better.
When the first of the gnome illusionists went inexplicably missing, eyebrows began to raise.
When the first of the corpses was found, still burning with black flames, nearly-melted faces awash in a final expression of poignant agony, the gnomes in the general populace began to panic.
~Queen's Audience Chamber~
Eos nodded. "Commander. I was just discussing with the queen how is it that a band of gnomes manages to capture, parade about, and then execute them for using magic."
The lieutenant spat the word out like the curse it was.
"Never mind the fact that I, the second in command of all Embrin in Niganati, have never even met an Embrin spellcaster, or that some of the accused were newly arrived or visiting from Hearth, or that, as the Queen has confirmed, the Pharaoh has been in his chambers for nearly all this time, feverishly checking his mirrors and asking his wife and servants if his scales aren't getting a little more reddish."
Eos angled her head in displeasure. "You must do something about your husband. These gnomes are right conniving bastards, taking advantage of his paranoia as they are. Hearth may very well go to war over its executed emmisaries, and I'm not quite sure who's side we Embrin should pick in that conflict. Isura knows the Pharaoh and his ilk have made life unpleasant for us ever since our arrival."
Valerious frowned. "I told you that blade was an ill omen, Itropi."
PP Expenditure
-1 PP Command: The Ashborn play along with their gnomish overlords... at least until they've been gifted with irreplacable magic items, trained to avoid detection, and set free throughout the city, afterwhich they double cross the gnomes. Using stolen gnomish magicks, the white Embrin become like shadows through Niganati's society, hidden from the common folk, nagas, and even the gnomes themselves. Effectively forming the first assassin's guild, the Ashborn form a pro-Embrin organization with a singular gruesome goal: drive the gnomes from the twisting halls of Niganati by any means necessary. Gnomish children, elderly, and other non-combatants are open game to the assassins. Without having to worry about losing the favor of their goddess, they begin to kill indiscriminately.
The most important attribute of a successful army (or, indeed, any successful organization) was to know its own strengths and to admit its own weaknesses. The Embrin, and their cousins the Ashborn, should have realized that their culture never excelled at deception or attention to detail. If there was an enemy, they marched headlong to defeat it. If there was weakness in a commander, they bold-facedly challenged him. To think of wheels within wheels, to observe and know and understand the world, that wasn't the Embrin way. It never had been. They should have realized this and avoided relying on such a weakness.
The Gnomes, on the other hand, were clever folk. That was their strength, and as long as the Embrin tried to pit their own weakness against that strength of the Gnomes, they could not win. Truly, Gnomes could not arm-wrestle an Embrin and win: when living in a society in which Embrin lived, the best a Gnome could hope for was to be called strong-for-a-gnome. In raw physical might they had no hope of equaling the much larger Embrin. And so, being clever, they tried to never let this weakness come against Embrin strength.
It isn't that the gnomes, being self-assured in their own abilities, couldn't dream of being outwitted by Embrin or Ashborn. It was that, when the species were compared side by side, such things were actually impossible. To be fair, individual Embrin could outwit individual Gnomes but, at least to date, no so capable Embrin had come along. Indeed, the very code of honor that had caused them to expel the Ashborn was commonly although to forbid such a thing from occurring. The Ashborn themselves, perhaps, were likely to be able to produce such an exceptional individual, but there was no history of such acute awareness and deft deception within their kind (indeed, they had been driven out of Niganati for the very reason that they were inept at their covert murders).
In the Ashborn's case, their misjudgment was a cultural one. Being Ashborn of Embrin-kind, they weren't used to the concept of due diligence. Davar, on the other hand, was. He knew exactly why the Ashborn had been sent into exile. The Gnomes were a curious bunch: he had known the reasons within hours of having first met with the Pharaoh, before the Gnomes were even allowed to set up shop in Niganati. Yes, he got his information from Naga, but he was a Gnome, for Pamora's sake. He was curious and meticulous. The city of Fimblefist had been in contact with Embrin for years (although, truthfully, this wasn't exactly friendly contact as the two forces were at war); just a few months ago Embrin had come to Glisglaw and told the Gnomes there all about their culture. The Gnomish victory against the Keben had drawn some Embrin into serving under the successful Gnomish commander (who, although not in on Davar's plots, was paid for out of Davar's pocket). And, of course, gnomes were a curious bunch: even if his own family did not associate directly with the Embrin (as was prudent for a supporter of the pharaoh), other gnomes did. They were, after all, a curious and gregarious species. The Gnomes quite literally knew more about Embrin history in Niganati than the Embrin did themselves, if for no other reason than that they cared enough about such things to take notice.
Because the Ashborn, and indeed all Embrin, were not accustomed to thinking in such Gnomish terms, they didn't think that Gnomes thought along such lines. A Gnome always observes, always learns, always watches. Indeed, as the stories went, the great god Pamora had created them specifically to understand and bring order to the world. They could no more cease this than an Embrin could not know at the very core of their being that those who do not lead are doomed to follow.
The result of this was that, while Davar had hoped the Ashborn could be won over to his cause with words, his prior knowledge of them made this unlikely and he planned accordingly. If the Ashborn would not follow an unknown leader, he was prepared to make sure they followed a proven leader.
The Gnomes indeed took heed when the Ashborn spies began to fail to report. They had, after all, been carefully selected for their abilities. These were not the same bumblers that the decoys were.
When the first gnome illusionists when inexplicably missing, smiles began to form.
When the first of the corpses were found, Davar walked around with a lighter step.
The reason for this is simple. When the first Ashborn failed to perform as expected, Davar sent the Twins, in proper disguised, to "talk" to the Ashborn, one by one, to persuade them in terms that any Embrin would understand. One of the twins would engage the Ashborn in one on one combat, no tricks just martial skill, and each time they won, proving to the Ashborn that they were fit to command. Perhaps the Ashborn might have wondered at how such small creatures could win in a fight of strength, but again the Gnomes were curious while, time and again, the Embrin had shown themselves to be incurious. Ever since the Embrin army first attacked Fimblefist, the gnomes had acknowledged the weakness their size gave them in comparison to those larger. Having identified their weakness, the Gnomes worked to ensure that such a weakness was rectified. While they couldn't match the Embrin for strength, they had learned how to use an opponent’s strength against them.
Truly, some Ashborn, even after having been bested, refused to submit to the gnomes. Well, that was unfortunately but could not be helped. The twins simply spoke the safe word and the very items that made the Ashborn appear Embrin dealt with them accordingly. Their minds were broken, making it easy for the Twins to then kill them and dispose of the bodies.
Of course, even for those who accepted the gnomes as their proper commanders, they were unwilling to turn against their own people completely. The Gnomes did not wish them too. After all, they were only attempting to root out the evil element among the Embrin. The Ashborn became convinced that the Embrin would not have banished them for attempting to defend their people unless the Embrin leaders had become corrupt.
The first action of the tried and true Ashborn, under the orders of Davar, was the assassination of gnomish illusionists. Another diversion, true, but also justification for the Gnomes to begin to publically speak out against the ineffective Embrin leadership.
PP
1PP Command - After the earlier gnomish victory against the Keben horde, some Embrin willing serve under the victorious Gnomish commander. This causes the spread of knowledge, although not the master, of Gnomish fighting techniques.
1pp Command - Gnomes become quite adept at martial arts.
1PP Command - Davar's faction secures the unwavering loyalty of the Ashborn assassin's guild. Any not loyal to them, few that they are, are killed. The Assassin's guild only takes orders from the Twins and, although they are occasionally aimed at gnomes so as to justify public actions, they think they their ultimate goal is rooting out the evil elements among the Gnomes, Embrin, and Naga that undermine the welfare of the Embrin themselves.
4/9 pp remaining
1PP Command - After the earlier gnomish victory against the Keben horde, some Embrin willing serve under the victorious Gnomish commander. This causes the spread of knowledge, although not the master, of Gnomish fighting techniques.
1pp Command - Gnomes become quite adept at martial arts.
1PP Command - Davar's faction secures the unwavering loyalty of the Ashborn assassin's guild. Any not loyal to them, few that they are, are killed. The Assassin's guild only takes orders from the Twins and, although they are occasionally aimed at gnomes so as to justify public actions, they think they their ultimate goal is rooting out the evil elements among the Gnomes, Embrin, and Naga that undermine the welfare of the Embrin themselves.
4/9 pp remaining
"My husband is a fool. He fears becoming one of 'The Parcher's Lot' as he calls them behind their backs, but at the same time envies their power."
The Queen let out a shuddering sigh, and fear danced in her eyes.
"But... you know I cannot. Eos. If he knew that I was meeting with you behind his back, that I was responsible for the Salamanders..." Her eyes darted to Itropi for a moment before fixing back on the Embrin. "He... is not a gentle man... and he keeps... secrets. His enemies have vanished before."
The Queen turned to Valerius and Itropi.
"Im sorry. You have been gone for some time. Things have grown... turbulent."
Quickly, Eos and the Queen filled in the two commanders on the events of the past weeks: The appearance of the Salamanders, the arrival of the Twins and their quick integration into the inner circle of the Pharoah. The return of the Ashborn, the failure of magics and the mysterious increase in killings, culminating in Eos' firey retelling of the execution of the Embrin delegation from Hearth. When finally the two women stopped, silence gripped the room for a long moment as Itropi and Valerius attempted to process all they had heard. Finally, Itropi spoke.
"I will speak to him." And slit his throat "He has always valued my council" But he is unworthy of the Throne. "And he should know of our victory." Where the blood ran through the rocks. A Red River in the Sea. "And perhaps my voice will help him to see reason." Bloodbloodbloodbloodblood.
"Itropi! Are you well?" Eos asked, staring at the Naga as he gripped his spear with all his strength, muscles of his arm bulging and forearm scales rattling from the force he was exerting.
Itropi blinked and his arm relaxed. He stuffed the voice back into the recesses of his head.
"Yes, Eos, I am well. Well enough. I am merely upset over what has happened to the city I swore to protect."
Kill her too. Kill them all. Valerius knows.
"Oh yes, I... I think that would be nice..." said Dajjal, not looking at her brother, "Quite nice... yes..."
She was distracted, that much was obvious, but the source of the distraction was not imminently plain. She merely gazed vaguely off to sea, one misty hand held loosely before her slightly open mouth.
"But I feel... so tired... all of a sudden," she said, "Let me rest, and then... yes..."
The Eastern Savannahs
The birds died that day. Fell out of the sky, they did, like raindrops. Black raindrops falling on my head.
The great cats died too. Powerful, they were, and they fell where they ate, died where they lived. Kings of the plains, turned to peasants by death. Not even the carrion birds survived. The sun cooked the flesh, and the meat turned to offal, and they died. The bugs and the insects, the trees and the leaves, they died.
The ground turned to brown that day, cracked and dry, the water, the life leeching away. And all around there was death. And the chill winds blow their lament.
It was a call, it was true, to the fell god of death. Death is silent, they say, but it listens. And the silence is what it hears. And death called to Death, and it listened.
PP
4 PP Craft - The Bad Wind, Dajjal's Avatar.
Quote Stuff
Dajjal
The day the plague wasps came, the Tarnish rejoiced. They offered their thanks to the great gods above, and offered their arms ready for the succor. You see, they were very learned in the magical arts and so knew exactly what the wasps carried in their bodies: a virulent plague ready to wipe out any living thing in mere hours.
It was not irony, though, that when the Tarnish offered their bodies gladly as hosts for the plague, they were totally and completely unaffected. No, it was mere tragedy.
You see, the Gem Tarnish had descended from a race for whom the wearing down by time and age was a gift, a blessing. Older Tarnish displayed their scarred and pitted bodies proudly, while young, clean Tarnish youth were those inexperienced few who had not yet the pleasure of the elements' fatal kiss. But the Gem Tarnish, with their glittering bodies of diamond and ruby, had not felt the lash of wind or rain ever since their miraculous birth so long ago. The bodies gifted upon them by the goddess had saved them from their foes, but so too did it keep them from what they so desired.
And such was the case now. The stings of the wasps foolish enough to try and sting the Tarnish curved and broke, and the Tarnish found their gift falling, wounded, about them. Tarnish found themselves rushing out into the streets, onto bridges and parapets, hoping that perhaps they could feel the sweet sting of the wasps. But no chance. The blessing of the Gem Tarnish had turned to curse. And they shouted and raged at the heavens. And on that day, in a fit of irony and self-hatred, the Gem Tarnish cast aside their name and took up a new one: The Clean. For they could never again be Tarnish if their shining bodies simply could not tarnish.
And they went back into their cities and waited, praying that they may be proven wrong. Knowing that they never would.
But the slow determined footfalls brought it closer, the guards jolted up in alarm. The traveler carried himself stooped over, his plodding footfalls hampered by a peculiar hunching motion of his back. Beneath the battered cloak that lay over this hump, tufts of greenish hair shifted in and out of sight. He closed with the gate, and the guards spotted all the clear signs of something they had never encountered before. The scales that coated forearms and lower legs. The hands and feet that ended in claws. The vaguely catlike muzzle that was their faces. The dark reddish skin beneath it all. But worst of all, striking terror into each naga that locked gaze onto them, was the eyes, black and shining, deceptively placid on their surface, like twin pools of water that hid something evil and destructive.
Before the gate and a quaking guards of Niganati, the creature finally came to a halt and looked about curiously.
-----
Timberlain chuckled himself, a sound similar to leaves rustling in the wind. "Let them come, and the forest shall consume them, as it does all who enter without our blessing."
Neither the Keben nor the Jzakai had a desire to defeat the Niganati forces. The Keben had found the proper mix of attachment to life and carelessness. If they did not care to live, they would not have fought to free themselves. Yet if they were not at least somewhat willing to risk their lives, they couldn't have thrown themselves again and again against the forces that surrounded them, struggling not to win, but to break free.
The Jzakai, however... well, Noname was under orders to spread life, though its master hadn't been specific as to what sort of life. But here, this was for revenge, pure and simple. In another life it had tried to make peace with the Naga, by sharing its food with them. They had insulted the peace and shown themselves to be animals. Unfortunately they killed it at that point, but now it had another chance to turn these snakes into the cattle that they showed themselves to be.
Most the Keben had left that field at that point, and even the small band of the Jzakai were clearly desiring to leave. Perhaps they had killed enough snakes for today. But then a large, reddish looking one bellowed at Noname and charged. It deflected the spear that was leveled at it and swiped its claws forward, intending to rake the flesh from the serpent's bones.
~Gnomish/Elven Meeting~
Unaware of any taboos, the gnomes informed the elves that they were keenly interested in procuring some of those fine four-legged animals called horses.
~Elsewhere in Godspace~
Pamora wasn't listening for Arvad's words and, being rather far away, she didn't hear them. At least, they didn't enter into the conscious part of her mind. Rather, she was highly distracted since even as she began to exert her control over the magic domain she felt others attempt to meddle with it. There was an odd disturbance around the Sea of Daj... again, perhaps that Trial place. But the larger and more serious one, the one that snatched a part of her domain away from her, was... elsewhere. Pamora followed the disturbance to the entrance to another plane of existence. How many extra planes did the world need, she wondered. Not expecting an answer, she entered this plane and found herself in a maze. Luckily, her connection to magic gave her a good idea of the way to the magical orb that was hidden by this place. And, luckily, being immortal, she had plenty of time for dead ends.
~Where the Gnomes and Gnolls are battling~
Since military measures seemed to not be getting anywhere, General Doo'Ché of FimbleFist went out into the wild, with some of his best guards, to see if an accord couldn't be reached with the savages.
~Niganati~
There were rumors spreading, helped in no small part by Davar and his family, that the ancient prophecy had been about the Gnomes and not the Embrin. While the Embrin had brought military might to Niganati, the Gnomes had brought prosperity. Cloth from Whittlewright adorned nearly everyone who could afford it, glasses from Glisglaw decked the tables of the evening meals, even many soldiers used gnome-crafted weapons and armor. Soldiers trained at Fimblefist manned the gnomish fortification. And if a woman desired to have a fuller bosom, why the best place to go was Gnometown, where the small ones could create such slight illusions for a price (though their magical variants did not sell well, more mundane tricks worked nicely nonetheless).
The ruddy complexion of Davar's family was a clear indication that they were the red-skinned ones of prophecy. And, ever since having learned of the prophecy, Davar and his family made daily trips to the Church of the Elementals where, although they worshipped all the ancient ones, they gave special devotion to the fire goddess (or, at least, the Isura as the Elemental Church taught about her). He commissioned a real church to be built, with statues of the gods. Each of the five was present, with their associated body part chiseled on their chest. The statue for the nameless god was left as an uncarved stone. Davar's family appeared so pious and good, and so prosperous, how could anyone doubt that they were the children of the gods? Metaphorically speaking, of course.
Relatively few people actually believed these rumors, not nearly as many as who believed that the Embrin were the ones spoken of, but the important thing to Davar was that the rumors had been started.
PP
1PP Nourish - Niganati: Association with the gnomes has brought prosperity to the land.
1PP Command - Some residents of Niganati believe that the Gnomes, not the Embrin, fulfill the ancient prophecy
2/9 PP remaining
1PP Nourish - Niganati: Association with the gnomes has brought prosperity to the land.
1PP Command - Some residents of Niganati believe that the Gnomes, not the Embrin, fulfill the ancient prophecy
2/9 PP remaining
but if the strange being was hoping for a response from the guards, it was left wanting, for the voice that hailed it came from behind itself, from a Naga which held a long steel rod tipped with a sapphire orb.
"Of course. I come home to find something just as strange as what I left. The Gods have a funny sense of humor. Well? What/Who/Whatever-question-you-wish-to-answer are you? Why are you here at Niganati?"
For as much as this thing wanted to kill him, Itropi felt a grudging respect for the Jzakai in front of him. It was clever, using its crippled leg to draw him in before sweeping forward with its claws, dancing around on its remaining legs like a sand scorpion.
Back and forth the two combatants fought as the battle around them slowly drew to a close, combatants on both sides sensing that their conflicts were as drops in a bucket compared to the importance of this fight. God-infused claws rasped out, scoring lines and casting sparks from the forearm bracers that Itropi had donned to supplement his natural armor. In return, Itropi's spear, gleaming in the noonday sun, moved with blinding speed, striking out here, there, back and forth, probing for weaknesses, but was matched at every turn by the Jzakai, who moved far faster than should be possible.
An hour passed, then two, and the two warriors fought on, blood streaming from a dozen grazing blows from each of them. The two paused for a moment, panting. Suddenly, the Jzakai nodded and began backing away. Startled, Itropi gripped his spear a little tighter, but sensing that the fight was over, he nodded as well.
The battle ended with a whisper, the Jzakai and his minions retreating into the Screaming Pipes while the remaining Keben fled north. The Naga watched them dissapear and then moved to tend to their wounded.
Itropi collapsed to the floor of the valley, and looked up as Valerius ran to him.
"I am well, Valerius. Just give me some time to rest. Niganati can wait to greet us as heroes until these are tended to and I've regained my breath."
OOC
Thought, its coming, I promise ;)
"I'm just saying that I'm not sure why they now have such influence over you, Sire. That is all I meant by it."
Things had not been going well. Itropi had left the Queen and Eos and Valerius to continue speaking. The Embrin were understandably furious. Itropi himself felt some measure of that fury as well. He had spent too much time with the Embrin to have anything but the highest respect for them as a people. Like all peoples, they had their flaws... a tendency for stubbornness and a slavish devotion to their meritocratic ways, but they made very nice warriors. It was a shame they'd all have to die.
And so Itropi had come to the Pharoah to attempt to talk some sense into the man. Sense, though, was far from this place. The Gnome brothers stood near the dais, and although they never spoke, sometimes the Pharoah appeared to break off and listen to words only he could hear. Finally, Itropi had asked the two gnomes to leave the room... and then the sparks had truly started to fly.
"No. Itropi, they stay, and that is final. They have been nothing but the staunchest of allies."
"For what? All of a month? The Embrin have been here for years! They have bled and died defending these tunnels from the Keben. Valerius alone has-"
"That worm? Do not mention his name in my presence. Do you think it a coincidence I do not want the siege to end? It keeps him busy and away from me. The witch Eos is nearly more than I can stand. I know she is behind this, somehow. What? Speak!"
"Sir, the siege is broken. The Keben have fled to the north. I just returned to tell you."
A cold silence fell over the room as the Pharoah's eyes suddenly burned with rage. His next words came out as a barely controlled hiss.
"And you acted without my order?"
"The plan was put in place nearly two months ago, Sire. I never recieved orders to the contrary, and your wife gave her permission, so we excecuted the plan."
"My Wife. Why in the endless Sea would you take an order from her?"
Itropi shrugged.
"I had assumed the order came from you through her. You are a busy man, after all."
The Pharoah's mouth curled into a smile.
"True. My wife and I will... speak later. For now, I have a task for you."
"Yes?"
"The time has come. We must remove this unsavory element from our midst. You shall gather your finest men and prepare to push the Embrin from Niganati forever. They cannot find out until it is too late"
Itropi stared at the Pharoah and out of the corner of his eye, just for the briefest of moments, he saw one of the gnomes smile.
"Sire, I cannot do as you wish."
"And whyever not?"
"Some of my finest men are Embrin, sire."
Instantly, Itropi realized he had gone too far. The man who would have taken that as the joke and mild rebuke it was meant as was gone, and in its place was this stone-faced... thing that spit out words as caustic as acid
"You find yourself so clever, Salamander. Yes, that is what they call you and your ilk now. Its a good thing I know you are loyal or I would kill all of you first. Perversion of all that is Naga, that is what I call you. You WILL do this thing, or you will die. Do not think I could not find your sister Endrina as well. She will need... protection... in the days ahead, if you understand my meaning."
Gears turned in Itropi's head. This was not good. Not good at all. After a long moment, he spoke.
"Very well, Sejte. I shall do what you wish. I request the use of the others like me in this venture, though. If we are little better than dogs, let us do as is our nature and run as a pack."
A slight gasp ran through the room as Itropi used the Pharoah's true name, but the man who had once happily told it to Itropi paid no attention.
"Very well, you may use them. Now go. I want this finished by the end of the week."
The Pharoah turned away, and it was clear the audience was done. Fuming, Itropi turned and headed for the doors, poining at the two Salamander guards in the room and beaconing them to follow him.
~Niganati, Room of the Orbs~
As if they had been waiting for a signal, the moment that Itropi left the Pharoah's presence, the four Orbs of Prophesy sprang to life. Hurredly, the caretenders reached for writing implements.
The Orb of Insanity said thus:
It cannot be stopped, for the trapped are soon to be loosed from the earth. On a broken throne, the Butcher sits and laughs.
But He, the one of Red, will still bring Peace. Wait for him.
Next to it, written on the Rock of Laments was the following:
Heaven has a darkened face as the horizon swarms with death! A caravan of the cursed, chasing her across the waves.
But He, the one of Red, will still bring Shelter. Wait for Him.
And also the Orb of Order:
You have waited for a sign, and it has been given to you. The red-skinned, among you now. While the storm rages within and without, you will hide in the place where the Gods cried.
But He, the one of Red, will still bring Unity. Wait for Him.
And finally, the Stone of Rejoicing:
But for some, favored children of Gods, this shall pass them over, and they shall be transformed: A halo of snakes awaits! They shall leave home, for they will be shunned by all, but they shall find their way.
But He, the one of Red, will still bring you Home. Wait for Him.
Davar disentangled himself from the shadows and unnoticed background and, after bowing to the Pharaoh, left the room. He hurried along and sent orders ahead.
Soon Itropi found the tunnels he wanted to go down blocked by maintenance workers. He turned aside to take different tunnels around, and there were dense crowds blocking his way. He took yet another route, this time porters and their cargo were blocking the way. When he at last found a way, it was far from the main avenues of traffic. This corridor was silent and abandoned, or so it seemed until Davar appeared next to the Salamander and began to speak. Itropi turned but his guards weren't behind him.
"Change is always startling when one has been away, isn't it?" the gnome asked. "It must seem strange to hear for the first time the Pharaoh order for the fire-men to be driven from Niganati. I have not been counting the number, but I believe this is the fourth time I have heard him utter so."
Itropi was unsure if the gnome spoke the truth or not, but his interaction with the Pharaoh at least put the claim within the realm of plausibility.
"Three times before and yet they remain. As you were able to see, if his divine mind is changed, it will not be by its own. We have served the Pharaoh, and so he trusts us. Because he trusts us, we can serve him even when he does not serve himself. It is my hope that before you can gather your men the Pharaoh will send a counter order." They walked a few steps in silence as Davar let his words settle.
"I do not know what you have heard that has biased you against my people, but I ask you to look at this objectively. The Pharaoh is... cautious," the way Davar said that word made it clear that ' paranoid' is what he meant. "Many Naga were, over night, turned into as you are. Those turned, however, were not random. Only those who supported the Pharaoh were so altered. This did not please him, but when the matter was investigated, it was discovered that some of those who had been changed were more loyal to their new form than to their rightful ruler. Why did it only affect the Pharaoh's supporters, and why did some of those, who had been utterly loyal to him before, then go against his will?"
The weight of the question pressed down on the Salamander. Davar continued, "This is not mortal magic: the pharaoh's wizards and our own have tried to reverse the affects and have been unable. This is the work of the gods, and they work against Niganati's rightful ruler. I do not know what gods or god set themselves against the order of the world, though I have my suspicions it is Ebel-Isura, Speaker of Lies."
Itropi recognized that title as coming from the Church of the Elementals, which made him think of Arkesh, the little snakeling that had always had googly eyes for his sister.
"What control can a mortal have when the gods play with our lives? If Fire-eye sets herself against the children of Tsiyoti Wave-Maker, then surely you can understand when even the Pharaoh questions old alliances and clutches new friends."
~Niganati, Throne Room~
OOC
To note, the Twins are actually brother and sister, but they still look almost identical... which causes confusion, even among the gnomes, who aren't always sure if they are brothers, sisters, or what. Not really important, but I figured I'd put that out there.
To note, the Twins are actually brother and sister, but they still look almost identical... which causes confusion, even among the gnomes, who aren't always sure if they are brothers, sisters, or what. Not really important, but I figured I'd put that out there.
As Dloz was heading back to his island he found a large mortal home. There were hundreds of buildings that the mortals had built. Dloz noticed that these mortals were different from the mortals that had hoped for the blessing of the wasp. These mortals were tiny and seemed a bit cheerier than the other ones. Their happiness almost made Dloz sad that they would soon stop moving, because he could sense several large swarms of plague wasps heading to these mortals. At certain level Dloz was surprised these mortals hadn't been blessed yet. Certainly these were the most mortals in one spot in this area. Odds were good the wasps had been distracted by every individual mortal that lived in the area. The thought made Dloz sigh. He admitted to himself that the wasps were not the most efficient creatures. Especially how they made more of themselves. They did that like the butterflies back in the Garden. It was a trait that Dloz hadn't thought to change until after he had made them. The leaking-stop also wasn't entirely efficient. It only killed one out of four mortals, which he had done on purpose. Dloz didn't want to make all the mortals stop moving. That would cause stagnation. The very idea made Dloz shudder with disgust. But he wanted to make someone respect him! None of the gods seemed aware of the leaking-stop. What some might consider a smirk formed on Dloz. The fact that some mortals could think like the gods offered a new option though. Perhaps he could scare them. Some mortals didn't seem to care about no longer moving. So it would have to be different. Perhaps plague wasps eating mortals would scare them! No. That wouldn't work. Plague wasps eating mortals would only make the mortals not move too. Perhaps plague wasps growing inside mortals and then eating their way out would. That would also make the wasps more efficient, kinda.
Dloz let out a burst of energy like a bomb exploding. All around the world the plague wasps started changing. Now when a plague wasp bit a mortal, it would lay eggs in the mortal's blood. The eggs would eventually hatch into larva. The larva would begin to feast upon the mortal. Eventually the larva would become full-grown plague wasps and then emerge from the mortals ready to spread Dloz's blessing. Dloz shrugged. It wasn't perfect, but it would work for now.
PP Stuff
1 PP - Nourish (Plague wasp larva are now parasitic. When a plague wasp bites a mortal, it will lay up to 10 eggs in the mortal's blood. In about 7 days the eggs hatch. Then the larva will feed on the mortal. In about 2 weeks fully mature plague wasps will hatch from the mortal.)
1 PP - Nourish (Plague wasp larva are now parasitic. When a plague wasp bites a mortal, it will lay up to 10 eggs in the mortal's blood. In about 7 days the eggs hatch. Then the larva will feed on the mortal. In about 2 weeks fully mature plague wasps will hatch from the mortal.)
Not all of the Tarnish were so eager to embrace the Clean. These dissenters conceeded that their flesh would be always unmarred by the elements. But rather than accept that fate of helplessness, they dared to find their own way. For the first time in ages, the Tarnish fought. With each other. Against each other. Against stone practice dummies. Against the Fallen who dared wander too close. Against the wasps that failed to wound them in the first place. It didn't matter, as long as they fought, as long as there was conflict.
And in time, there efforts bore fruit. For though their gemstone flesh was more than the elements could bear, that same flesh, when pounded day after day against the likewise unyielding targets of their wrath, they found their skin begin to chip, tear, and wear smooth. "The Tumbled", as they called themselves spared no derision towards their kinsman, The Clean. The former viewed the latter as faithless cravens, unwillingly to take their destiny into their own hands.
~Niganati~
The city shook with the resounding sounds of triumph. Everywhere there was feasting and merriment to be had. Naga snakecharmers (dancers, really) celebrated alongside Embrin pyrokinetics and Rathian Featherdusters (who could, for the first time in months, finally return home). Gnomes too observed the festivities, and though the small folk were in danger of being trampled at times, their cries of victory were just as patriotic as the rest. Liquor flowed freely, and before long a happy drunken buzz began to spread through the throngs.
The peculiarities started when one gnome, drunker than she probably should have been, had the... questionable... idea to light her hair on fire -- in homage to the accomplishments of her Embrin neighbor, mind you. Drunk as the rest of her companions were, none thought anything wrong with this idea at all. One of the Salamanders offered a flame, and the proud, misguided gnome ignited. And yet, something unexpected happened; the gnomelette's skin turned an umber color, and her hair continued to burn fiercely without pain or fuel.
Like some sort of mystical plague, the gnome's condition spread, both among the naga and among the gnomes. While affected Naga became the, by now, familiar Salamanders, affected gnomes became something new entirely-- Azers.
PP Expenditure
-2 PP Nourish Artifact: The Brand of the Eternal Flame spreads to affect more citizens of Niganati. Naga become Salamanders, and Gnomes become Azers, a strong, sturdy creature with hair wrought of fire (unlike the Embrin, who's hair is more akin to visible respiration). Embrin are, as of yet, still unaffected. Unlike the first incidence of the brand, the artifact makes no distinction between one's loyalties to the Pharaoh. In addition, due to the nature of the celebrations, it is quite some time before the transformations and increased numbers of Salamanders are realized. This expansion of the brand is a finite event, and is not ongoing.
The sudden conversion of hundreds of Naga into Salamanders, and the first creation of the Azers sent shockwaves through the already fragile balance of Niganati. Despite the prior air of celebration and joy, the conversion terrified the inhabitants of the city that they too would be transformed. Together, the Gnomes and Naga forced the Salamanders and Azers first into quarantine chambers and then, on orders of the Pharoah, from their midst entirely while the Embrin, not wanting to futher implicate themselves in the entire affair, were silent. Itropi had raged at the Queen to do something, but she had refused to go against the will of her husband so openly.
"I still hope for some form of resolution, Itropi." She had said, laying a hand on his arm as she spoke. "Perhaps with you Salamanders gone, things will be calm enough for him to see reason."
And so it was that they found themselves, all four hundred forty seven Salamanders and one hundred twenty three Azers, cast out onto the road connecting the Temple of Falling Waters, called the 'temple of elementals' by some, to Niganati.
It had been an easy decision. They went to the Temple, hoping for aid, and miraculously, they found it. Sensing this possibility, the cult that worshiped the Salamanders as the foretold Red-Skinned had replaced all the other members of the Temple priesthood with their own members. They barred and locked the entrance tunnel to the Temple and declared it their new home, Hikerep, which, loosely translated, means 'to embrace excellence'
~Niganati, Pharoah's chambers~
"You see what they did? They lulled us into complacency and then struck us at our core! I have spent the past week dealing with the fallout of the Parcher's Touch (for that is what the Salamander/Azer conversion was called among those who were not... favorable to Isura). Nearly every member of this city has had some family member changed, as far as we know, irrevocably."
The Pharoah glared at the twins.
"And yet many STILL support the Embrin! I'm afraid you are correct in what it would take to convince them. Arrange for an assasination attempt on my wife. To be honest with you, I do not care if it is staged or not at this point... I just want those Embrin Gone.
Can you do this?"
PP
1 PP: Command Populace: The Salamanders and Azers are forced from Niganati and take the Temple of Falling Waters for their own, renaming the vast complex Hikerep.
1 PP: Command Populace: The Salamanders and Azers are forced from Niganati and take the Temple of Falling Waters for their own, renaming the vast complex Hikerep.
Lacking farms and having been under siege for so long, it took a great deal of imported food and alcohol to provide for everyone. That meant caravans of goods flowed into the city from Glisglaw almost continuously. This also meant that caravans flowed out of the city back to Glisglaw just as continuously, and with them went the gnomes who were responsible for bringing the victuals in the first place.
When the fire-curse hit, some of these Gnomes were affected. Thinking their new appearance a trick (after all, they were Gnomes), and having work to do elsewhere, they left quickly and headed back to Gnomish lands. It took some time before they realized that their new appearance was permanent. As mostly porters were affected, these found that their new given visage and strength made them well suited as mercenaries, and they began to travel the Confederate’s lands looking for work.
PP
0PP Cantrip: Just enough Azers leave Niganati before they’re turned against to justify a player playing one that doesn’t come from Niganati
0PP Cantrip: Just enough Azers leave Niganati before they’re turned against to justify a player playing one that doesn’t come from Niganati
OOC
My next post, I am planning on breaking Niganati apart. Please post what you wish to before then... so I can delay it further for everyone's mutual enjoyment!
Dloz laughed as the swarms descended on to the gathering of mortals like a fog-bank. The mortals must have heard of the wasps from other mortals, because as soon as the wasps entered the city the mortals began to panic. Some of the mortals ran over other mortals in their panic. The mortals that were trampled would stop moving. Unfortunately for the mortals they were not faster than the wasps. Hundreds were stung by the wasps and hundreds more were bitten by the wasps. Surely this would terrify the tiny mortals.
- Dloz's Island -
The egg had hatched hours ago. The infant dragons didn't do much for the fist half-hour except eat pounds of dirt and futilely flap their young, rubbery wings. After that they practiced flying around the islands for a few hours. Within two hours of their birth, the dragons started hunting crabs on the shore of the islands. One of the young dragons got its eye stabbed out because it didn't use its fire-breath. After witnessing that the other young dragons were careful to keep their distance from the crabs and use their fire-breath. By evening the young dragons were the size of iguanas. In the morning the dragons were full grown. Before each of them flew off into the distance each of the dragons laid an egg. The days of Dloz's dragons had begun.
-----
General Doo'che did not take long to find the most stubborn kernel of gnoll agression. Finding it odd that such a clearly important gnome had ventured out with a relatively small guard, a four gnolls approached, three of them unarmed.
-----
The steady flow of dead into the afterlife remained at a halt, the spirits unable to move on to the great beyond. And so, the chaos in Niganati grew worse when the riots broke out. Inevitably in such a situation, people die. But those souls could not leave. Instead they remained, shackled to the corpse they had once in habited.
Perhaps under normal circumstances, this would not have been such a bad thing. An uptick in the sightings of ghosts, a few people frightened, but nothing more. But Nihanati was a focal point. Powerful magics, arcane and divine, were at work within these tunnels, as the factions struggled for power. From this conflux of power, the trapped spirits drew new strength, channeling an unholy life back into their bodies. But the souls were broken by the ordeal, nothing more than crazed and mindless beasts seeking to feed from those who were once their neighbors and friends.
-----
Turning on the new arrival, the hunched creature grinned slightly, which gave him the appearance of baring his fangs. "I am what I am. But it is no business of yours. I have come to enter this place. To seek something that lies within it. Perhaps I shall take it. Perhaps I shall simply observe it. Which, I do not know. Death will soon befall this land though. Perhaps you might wish to help me choose?
-----
Wandering silently, Arvad was surpised to suddenly find himself standing amid a most unusual occurence. All around, for as far as he could see, everything was dead. "Odd. I do wonder what might have killed everything so suddenly."
PP Expenditures
2 PP - Spawn Zombies - Those killing within Niganati are unable to move on, instead returning to animate thier fallen bodies as zombies. These are notably more agile and less shambly than typical zombies.
2 PP - Spawn Ghouls - Those killing within Niganati are unable to move on, instead returning to animate thier fallen bodies as zombies.
2 PP - Harm Populous - Niganati is suddenly attacked from within by various newly spawned undead.
1/8 PP
2 PP - Spawn Ghouls - Those killing within Niganati are unable to move on, instead returning to animate thier fallen bodies as zombies.
2 PP - Harm Populous - Niganati is suddenly attacked from within by various newly spawned undead.
1/8 PP
"Oh Death..."
A column of billowing, rippling smoke formed behind Arvad and spoke in a deep, sepulchral voice that was nonetheless undeniably feminine.
"Why did you send this messenger, this pretender? Oh Death... Not even the courtesy to come yourself."
A rattling breath in, and then out.
"Hello Travel."
The smoke cloud ignored the question.
"Travel, you're going to help me. You see, there is a room in the mortal city of Niganati. And in that room, at least until recently, there was a set of orbs. They were orbs of such power that Fate saw fit to scatter them to the four winds."
The cloud paused and seemed to appraise Arvad for a moment.
"I want to get them back. And I think you do too."
The cloud drifted over in a swirl to sit at Arvad's arm.
"These orbs are earth-bound facilitators. They make your job obsolete. Give me power, and we shall bring them together, and destroy them. What say you?"
Another left... no, that didn't work either. Ah, a right? Yes yes, that worked nicely.
And then, there it was. That strange device that was interferring with the proper ordering of nature. Pamora wondered who created it: she had the impression that the one she chained hadn't done much in the world, and certainly someone was continuing to tamper with this. Well, whoever it was, they apparently weren't paying much attention. Pamora took the artifact and, sighing, began to work her way out of the maze. She had used the flowers from her hair to mark her trail, but that didn't mean it was a short trek back out.
~Elves-Gnomes~
Some of the gnomes examined the bows, but they had trouble properly drawing them. They were, after all, much smaller than the Elves and the devices weren't made to suit beings of their small size. While Gnomes often favored crossbows over others, from their excited hand gestures they made it clear that they thought these would indeed have far superior range. But still, there was the problem of construction.
"A shame about the horses. Are you sure there is no way that they might be procured? Such find beasts would be well valued. As for the bows, as you can see there are some... ah, interface problems. Perhaps you might be willing to supply the wood? I am sure in proper quantities our carpenters would find many uses for it."
~Gnolls/Gnomes~
General Doo'Che eyed the gnolls before speaking, "Am I correct in that you would prefer to forgo pleasantries? Let us be blunt. You are an annoyance here and we wish you gone. What do you require in exchange for fulfilling this request?"
With a flick of his finger, he released a jolt of power into the cloud. "Should you wish to discuss further agreements in the future, I'm more than happy to speak with you again. Until then, I fear I must be off. Someone seems to be treading within my domain once again, and such intrusions are begining to wear on my patience."
With a burst of light, Arvad vanished from the plain, traveling across existence, returning to a place he had created long ago.
-----
"Of course, of course. I'm sure we could resize the bowsa down slightly to fit the stature of your people. It would not be overly difficult. Large quantities of the wood would be far more difficult, unfortunately. The spirits of the wood are quite hostile. We loose good men gathering what we can currently. But it would not be impossible to suply some."
The elf's eyes narrowed some at the mention of horses again. "One must earn the right to ride a horse. It can not be simply given. We must compete among our fellows in competition at the great meeting to earn the right to claim a steed from the holy herd. Only then is one entitled to ride into battle instead of afoot."
-----
The four gnolls remainded quiet for a long moment before the armed one spoke up. "You wish to be rid of us? We want food. We want weapons. We desire the things we cannot find or make. When they are ours, we will leave your people in peace. Until then, my tribe will continue to take until we have them."
-----
Steeping across the planar boundry, Arvad was quick to note the trail of flowers leading into the labirynth. "Hm, seems as though the intruder has left a trail to find their way out. Pretty bright. But, I wonder what they will do when the paths shift and move to mislead them. Bring them to me, shifting walls and travelling halls. Lead them to their doom!"
PP Expenditures
1 PP - Given to Ara
0 PP - Cantrip - All passages within the Eternal Labirynth temporaily lead to Arvad rather than the exit.
0 PP - Cantrip - All passages within the Eternal Labirynth temporaily lead to Arvad rather than the exit.
The Temple of Elements lay quiet. The quarantined peoples clutched each other, strangers or friends alike; it didn't seem to matter who in this dark time of confusion. The Cult of the Salamander were not the best caretakers, and excepting those cultmembers who themselves had been transformed, the new Salamanders and Azers found the machinations of the cult disturbing and creepy.
It only got worse when the naga guarding the temple were called back to join the attempt stave off the inexplicable surge of undead monstrosities. Alone, frightened, and uncertain of what exactly was going on, the newly changed clutched each other all the tighter.
Evetually, their bitter cryings were interrupted when an Embrin threw the main doors of the temple open. She seemed taller, and brighter than a normal Embrin, and this feeling only increased in intensity as she began to walk among the masses. Whever she stepped, tears stopped, smiles bloomed, and a feeling of peace and ease began to dominate the throngs.
Finally, when she had circled the entire space of the temple, the Embrin stood once more at the entrance to the temple.
"Children of Niganati!" she proclaimed. "For too long has our city torn itself to pieces to the tune of our Pharaoh's petty paranoias." the Embrin pumped her fist into the air. "No longer! March with me, children of Niganati! Who are they to banish us from their city of slander! Let us reclaim this city as our rightful birthright."
The chorus of cheers at her back was thunderous, and, as one, those who bore the Brand of the Eternal Frame surged out of the temple, heading directly for the city which had quarantined them in the first place.
PP Expenditure
-2 PP - stored for command action next week
-0 PP Cantrip: Reassure and rally those who bear the Brand of the Eternal Flame
The Priestesses of the Temple of the Orb were in an uproar. Two of their beloved orbs had been stolen. Two! One stolen orb may have been acceptable. A second stolen orb could have been swallowed given time to recover, but two practically on the same eve? The idea was simply embarrassing.
But they would have the chance to right the wrong, to clear their names. On one dark and troubled night, as the Priestesses slept, smoke came upon them, thick and fast. And when they awoke, they were changed.
PP
4 PP Shape - The Priestesses of the Temple of the Orb are transformed into Medusai. (I'm going to detail this further in another post, but it's late, and I'm tired/
Lucca hurried on her way. Another youngling had fallen sick and her services were called for. Not that there was anything she could do, not that there was anything she had been able to do for any of those who had become infected. Whatever this illness was, it was unlike anything she had ever seen before. Her usual recommendations of diet or relaxation or herbal teas had no effect. But she was willing to be present with the sick, which was more than most, and she had a keen eye. She carried sheets of parchment with her and kept copious notes. Perhaps they would help her figure out a way to help, someday.
~The Pharaoh's Chamber~
"Your wife still lives," the Twins commented to the Pharaoh. "For some reason soldiers have been able to put down the riots. Or, at least, put a lid on them. Why was such a thing done?"
They didn't wait for a reply, "That was a most undesirable outcome. Riots are healthy things, they let a population breath, and if a murder occurs to help direct them against the right people, so much the better. But it is ill-advised to keep that tension tamped down. It obstructs the bowels and causes hernia. Keeping people inside doesn't solve the problem, it causes sedition. Our relationship with you was predicated on a simple assumption: that the rightful government of Niganati could be saved. It seems we have been in error and must, unfortunately, take our leave. Your services are no longer required. Unfortunately, it seems that most of Niganati feels similarly as we. As a show of our good faith, we offer you this final advice. Run. If you are lucky, the troubles here will not follow you."
With that imputence, the Twins left.
~Elves-Gnomes~
"Hmm, what, then, if we promise not to ride them? Those animals look like they would be good for hauling goods and pulling wagons."
~Gnolls-Gnomes~
The General nodded. "And what quantities do you require?"
~Blink-Orb-Plane~
As Pamora followed her trail she came to realize that something had disturbed the flowers. The trail would stop abruptly only to continue on elsewhere. There had been a feeling that the plane had moved, so perhaps the maze had rearranged itself. Tired of this game, she stopped and orientated herself. She could feel the exit to the place, far away. Well, if she wasn't going to follow the path out, she might as well make her own path. She closed her eyes and concentrated for a moment. She then lashed out with her right hand and smashed through the wall that was between her and her goal. She stepped through and gathered her strength again. This was going to be slow work, but there was something satisfying about violence.
Pull what appeared to be an arm bone from a belt pouch, she bit down hard, crunching away as she waited for the gnomes response.
-----
The elf shrugged. "The tasks a rider puts his steed to are up to him, so long as they do not violate the teachings of our elders. You need only undergo the rites and earn the right to select a steed from the herd. I admit to a deficiency of knowledge as to if an outsider is permitted to even attempt the rites, but such a decision would lie with the elders of the tribes, not myself."
-----
Circling patiently, Arvad frowned. All paths lead to the same place. For the intruder to have not arrived yet, they would have to have abandoned the path entirely. "So be it."
Reaching out to twist the fabric of the plane once more, he moved the exit to himself, placing it solidly behind him. Now the intruder would have no choice but to pass him.
Dloz noticed one of the tiny mortals scurrying about helping those that were sick. She would take notes about the patients. At first she told the other mortals to drink certain things, but quickly realized that didn't matter. But what caught Dloz's attention most was her seeming lack of fear. Surely this mortal should fear most of all! She saw what the leaking-stop did. But she didn't seem to fear. The tiny mortal just scurried from house to house writing her notes.
Dloz teleported his shell to the mortal gathering since the mortals on the bridge hadn't replied. The young god realized that the shell's form wouldn't be terribly appropriate to speaking to the tiny mortals since many of them feared the wasps. With lightning speed Dloz's claws rescuplted the shell. The shell was turned into a male version of the tiny mortals with dark coloration around his eyes like he hadn't slept in weeks. In addition, the shell was dressed in black silk pants, a burlap shirt, and a black leather trench coat. Dloz set the shell in front of the scurrying mortal in a burst of light. "Why do you not fear the leaking-stop?" asked Dloz the Shell.
The Queen hurried towards the throne room. She needed to speak to her husband, NOW. Great change was coming... she could feel it.
PP
Reserving my last 2 PP for command actions next turn. Its going to be an epic post once I finish the reset!
Reserving my last 2 PP for command actions next turn. Its going to be an epic post once I finish the reset!
"The wot?" Lucca asked the gnome who had interrupted her thinking. She blinked several times in surprise as she gathered her wits about her and peered at the fellow. She judged him a foreigner, given the oddity of his dress. That coat was of no local fabric, at least. "Wot's a leaking-stop?"
~Gnoll/Gnomes~
The half-eaten berserkers had steeled the gnomes against the gnollish eating habits. They grimaced but, well, General Doo'Che had strict orders not to engage in combat unless the gnolls were very very annoying.
"If you cared about those other tribes, then you'd be troubled that they haven't stayed around here. It would seem that they, at least, did not find what they needed. But again, it is a simple matter: what will it take to persuade you to move elsewhere?"
~Gnome/Elves~
"And what might these tasks involve? I believe we'd be interested in having, what, three or so dozen of our kind take them." The gnome looked to one of the others with him who, after a moment thinking, nodded. That would make a stable breeding population.
~Blink-Orb-Plane~
Since Pamora was paying attention to the exit, when it moved she noticed. A changing maze was one thing, but that was deliberate. Someone was trying to keep her here... or, perhaps, lead her to it? Well if it wanted to keep her here, then she was under no desire to oblige it. If it wanted to meet her... well, she wasn't entire sure why she should care. Presumably whatever it was was responsible for meddling with magic, but she had retrieved the offending device now. There was no particular reason for her to meet with the thing, although, perhaps, to knock it upside the head for its crimes. But the thing had stolen enough of her time as it was, and revenge wasn't her domain.
Still, if that was the only way out...
She took a few steps in that direct but paused. No, that wasn't the only way out. The orb she now possessed was quite good at getting around the pesky business of walking the distance between two points, that much she should tell from being so close to the magical device.
Holding the artifact out in front of her, she concentrated her power through it and a gateway to the material plane began to form. She wasn't used to controlling the thing, so tremors reverberated through the maze-world as the gateway tried to stabilize. It might take a moment to become usable, but it was better than playing by the rules of whatever thing had infringed on her domain in the first place.
The Shell chuckled at the tiny mortal's words. He reached into his coat pocket to pull out a sleeping plague wasp. "The leaking-stop is the blessing that this creature carries," explained Dloz the Shell. With surprising strength he crushed the wasp in his hand. He started wiping his hand off on his coat. "I suppose you tiny mortals have a different name for the blessing, but I don't care. Why don't you fear it? You should. Your gods can't save you," said Dloz the Shell as he checked his hand for any more remaining plague wasp goo.
A nice and busy week!
10 PP: Tsiyoti
9 PP: Pamora, Isura
8 PP: Dajjal, Akuru-Azu, Amun, Arvad
6 PP: Baern, Dloz
4 PP: Msatnaph
As The Wind and Arvad spoke, suddenly the sky darkened and a mighty storm began to rage about them. And in the storm was a voice.
"I was bidden find you. And now, dear Wind, I have. Why did you run?"
~Niganati, Main Gate~
Endrina raised one eyebrow.
"Excuse me? I would say that when you are seeking to enter my home, it is very much so my business. Forgive me for being blunt, but you need to do three things immediately: Tell me who you are, Stop speaking in riddles and this is very important, so don't doze off... stop annoying me. I have spent three years wandering the world, and I very much so would like a bath.
~Wandering Woods~
The Old Man stared at Timberlaine for a little while longer.
"And if I told you it was the will of the Gods for you to leave and find these other artifacts of power? What would you say then?"
~Niganati, Morgue Rooms~
The Morgues were filled to near overflowing from the injured who had succumbed to their wounds from Kebens as well as Rioters of all shapes and sizes. With the bodies stacked around the room, at first, no one noticed the fact that one of them was moving... bodies naturally shift during death, and the fact that one particular pile of bodies was shifting perhaps a little more than usual seemed fairly unextraordinary. When the pile began to climb to its feet all on its own, however, the Naga got the message. Most of the Naga managed to escape sucessfully, barring the doors behind them. And for the Niganateans left behind... at least they didn't have to scream for help for long before the hands of their once-kin drained the warmth from their flesh.
~Niganati, Pharoah's Chambers~
"Wait." The Pharoah said, raising his hand as the gnomes prepared to leave. The twins turned.
"You know as well as I do that I had no desire to stop the riots. I helped you start them in the first place, if you would recall. No. It was Valerius who rallied the guards and put an end to things. We need to think far more dramatically."
The Pharoah's expression darkened momentarially before he nodded to himself.
"Very well. I had hoped to avoid this, but it is too late. Tell your friends and all those who trust me and our vision for the future of Niganati to do the following. I want them to gather up their families and go into their homes, or into one another's homes. They are to gather black paint and paint the doorframes to their chambers black. They have until midnight tonight to do this. After that point, they are not to exit their homes, for whatever reason."
The Pharoah smirked.
"I have given orders that no one is to enter or leave Niganati tonight, as a precaution after the riots. This applies to everyone. I advise you inform your people, now."
The Door flew open with a loud bang.
"Ah, and here is my Queen. Perfect timing. If you would excuse us?"
The Twins left to tell the gnomes as well as those Naga whom they knew hated the Embrin to do as the Pharoah had commanded. In all, about 10% of the Niganateans did as the pharoah commanded, gathering together and painting their doorframes black before locking the doors. They did not know what was to come... and perhaps they did not wish to.
Back in the Throne Room, the Pharoah opened his mouth to speak, but before he could get out a word, the Queen lashed out.
"I was nearly killed tonight, and I have to come find YOU?!?! I understand that this is mostly a marriage of convenience, Setje, but I expected better."
"I have been busy, Ava. Finding your attempted Embrin assassins. They must pay for their crimes with their heads."
"Then you should perhaps know that it was no Embrin who tried to kill me, Husband. It was a Gnome, and not just any gnome, but one of those that you keep around you to advise you."
The Pharoah's eyes tightened, but he continued to speak.
"Ava, I know it was a terrifying experience, but you cannot let your love of the Embrin blind you! We have eyewitnesses who were there who saw the Embrin raise the knife. They are very clear on that. They saw the knife rise ABOVE the level of the crowd, and we both know that no gnome could do such a thing."
The Queen shook her head.
"No. That is not correct. In the seconds before it happened, the form of the Embrin flickered and it was a gnome instead, using some form of trickery. Tell me. Are the gnomes master illusionists?"
The Queen spent five seconds reading the expression on the Pharoah's face.
"So. You did know. Am I to assume, then, that they are behind the recent dramatics? The creation of these... Salamanders and Azers?"
"No. Those were Embrin tricks. They confessed to their crimes before both you and I, remember?"
The Queen frowned.
"But both Eos and Valerius claim that the Embrin have absolutely no magical abilities... at least, nothing of this lev- No. NO. You didn't."
A note of utter revulsion entered into her voice.
"Oh, but you did. Those Embrin. They were not Embrin, were they? They were gnomes! And then you killed innocent Embrin for bodies!"
"Ava, no. We needed answers, and they provided them. We now know who created the Salamanders, and it was Drought-Damned Embrin. Why can't you see that?"
"You Idiot." Ava said. "I created the Salamanders. I went to Eos' chambers one night, but instead of her, I found a God. I prayed for something to help us, some gift to bring Embrin and Naga closer together, and the next morning, the first Salamanders were transformed."
The Pharoah surged upwards.
"YOU? YOU PRAYED TO THE PARCHER? YOU CREATED THOSE BEASTS?"
"I prayed for unity. I got this mess. The Gods have a funny sense of humor." The Queen replied, slowly backing towards the door.
"I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS! YOU DAMNED THOSE PEOPLE TO HALF-LIVES! HALF-EMBRIN LIVES! THEY MIGHT AS WELL HAVE DIED!"
"Setje! Listen to yourself! You once called those people friends! They are those people still! Bring them bac-"
Two large slithers and the Pharoah had somehow caught up with the Queen, grabbing her by the arm and pressing her into one of the walls.
"NO." He said, inches from her face. "I AM DONE LISTENING. I LISTENED AS THE FIRST PARCHERS CAME HERE. I LISTENED AS THEY DEMANDED OUR FEALTY. I LISTENED AS THEY SHOUTED THREATS AS THEY LEFT. I LISTENED AS VALERIUS AND HIS WITCH EOS CAME TO US AND INGRATIATED THEMSELVES WITH US. WITH YOU. TELL ME, WIFE. HOW LONG HAVE YOU DONE IT? HOW LONG HAVE YOU LAIN WITH THEM? WITH VALERIUS?"
The Queen gasped with outrage and swung her hand at the Pharoah, who backed away, rubbing his jaw. Furious and afraid, she quickly made her way to the door and pulled it open. As she did, she heard her husband shouting after her.
"I HAVE LISTENED! BUT I SHALL LISTEN NO MORE. NO. NOW, NOW I ACT!"
~Niganati, Midnight~
The Pharoah leaned all his weight on the iron wheel, which groaned as it slowly began to turn. Bit by bit, a door was opening on the far wall as the stone literally slid apart, revealing one of the corridors of Niganati behind a metal grating that covered the wall on the inside.
When it was opened enough, he stopped and turned to another wheel. He grasped it, and looked down into the Pit for a moment. The Fallen surged towards the opening, reaching out through the grating into the fresh(er) air beyond.
They had been trained to attack and kill everyone they came across unless they were wearing a special armband, a copy of the one that the Pharoah himself wore at this very moment. They also were trained to avoid any black doorway. He turned the other wheel, and the grating disappeared into the floor. The Fallen rushed outwards into the hallway, and the Pharoah smiled as he began to hear screams echoing from the corridors.
~Niganti, Midnight, Queen's Chambers~
The Queen had immediately gone to find Eos and Valerius when she had returned, and they agreed that there was nothing to be done but to leave, and the sooner the better. As such, they and many of the Naga and Embrin were nearly ready to leave when the screaming began. A Naga guard rushed into the hallway for a moment, then staggered back in, blood streaming from a ruined neck as a Fallen shoved its way past her falling body and rushed for Eos. Calmly, the woman pulled out a blade and sliced the Fallen across the chest, driving it back for a moment while Valerius stepped behind it and snapped its neck.
"Fallen? Here? Now? What has my husband done?" The Queen cried out, gripping her tiny dagger which seemed wholly inadequate at the moment.
"It matters not, Ava." Eos said, pushing her towards the doorway. "We need to leave. Now."
They rushed outside and into utter chaos. Naga and Embrin raced everywhere, trying to fend off a seemingly endless wave of Fallen that poured out from the lower tunnels. As the Queen lived in the same vicinity as many of the officers of the army under Itropi and Valerius, the Naga and Embrin quickly managed to set up a fighting arrangement that allowed the warriors to defend their families (and Queen), while the entire group pulled back in a controlled retreat towards the surface. A few soldiers died, but nothing compared to the Fallen, who died in droves trying to break through.
And then they came to a side tunnel and realized that what they were facing was not an isolated incident. The floor was covered in bodies, and this time, most of them were Naga. The ground became slick with blood as they continued their retreat, sometimes coming upon other Naga as they went and adding them to their group, but far more often coming upon more corpses.
And then a familiar voice came from behind them.
"Eos? Valerius? My Queen? Thank Tsiyoti that you live! We need to get all of you to the surface!"
The Queen stared as Itropi and a large band of Salamanders raced towards them.
"I should warn you," Itropi laughed as he reached them, "that we've got one hell of a lot of Fallen coming out of all of the tunnels between here and the surface. Its not going to be easy, but we've gotten a lot of people there already and sent them running to the East. Come on!"
As they continued upwards, suddenly the Fallen were everywhere, just as Itropi had promised, and the fighting, previously just contained to the rear of the group, spread to every memeber as the fallen seemed to come out of the smallest passageways.
OOC
Yeah... I'm tired now. Feel free to pitch in... I'm going to finish this tomorrow."
There was something on the wind. Potential. Chaos. There was something happening. Whatever it was it was a lot more than what was happening here. It was the nexus of the world at the moment. Everything that would happen in the future would depend on the events at that point. The god of chaos needed to be there. Dloz left his avatar with the tiny mortal as he hurried off in the direction of the chaos.
- Niganati -
Once he reached the location of the chaos Dloz was rather confused. He didn't see anything. Then he started to notice some caves. Dloz entered into one of the closest caves. As he crept down the tunnel the chaos kept building up. Eventually Dloz started to find mortals that were leaking and weren't moving. At first the young god wondered if the plague wasps had blessed the mortals here, but he noticed that the mortals were leaking from rips. The leaking-stop didn't do that. There was something happened here. He wasn't sure what he could do here. At least he could learn something. The mortals had been teaching Dloz a lot lately, unlike his fellow gods. Dloz didn't want to recall his shell from the gathering of tiny mortals. The mortal that the shell had been speaking with was actually speaking unlike the mortals on the bridge, so it would be silly to recall that shell. He needed another shell. Perhaps this one should have a different purpose. The other one pretty much dealt with the leaking-stop. This one would gain a grasp of events, so Dloz could manipulate them. Dust started flowing up the tunnel as Dloz gathered energy and loose matter to form this new shell. The shell slowly began to form into another male version of one of the tiny mortals that had been using so much of his attention lately. This version's only unusual feature was a head of buzz-cut hair that looked like it was made of pure gold. In addition this shell wore a robe that contained so many colors in the weave of the fabric that at times it was hard to tell that it wasn't grey. Dloz sent the shell down the tunnel as Dloz headed back to his island.
PP Stuff
4 PP - Craft Avatar (Dloz creates Dloz the Weaver.)
4 PP - Craft Avatar (Dloz creates Dloz the Weaver.)
-----
The elf shrugged. "There are many tests, mostly involving the nature of your character and your proficiency with certain skills."
-----
Finishing the bone with another crunching bite, she shrugged. "They fled like the cowards they are. They let you drive them off. Myself, I'm more of a determined sort. I get what I want. And right now, I want your weapons, I want your food, and I want your lands."
-----
The treant chuckled once more. "Then let my god come down and tell me that himself. Until then, I remain here."
-----
The muzzle split into it's hideous grin once more. "And now the snake lady wishes to issue more demands? Perhaps I should take your tongue to silence you? I keep my own council, and I choose not to share it with you. Go take your bath, and leave me to my tasks, unless you wish to help me find this places rulers."
-----
The fallen were loose in Niganati. The forces of chaos were loose, and death followed. Worse was the undeath that came behind it. Not just the dead within Niganati, but the long fallen from the battle against the Keben hordes as well. Those fleeing the falling city found themselves faced with yet another obstacle as the skeletal remains wandered the countryside.
PP Expenditures
2 PP - Spawn Skeletons - The decayed remains from the battlined armies rise up against those fleeing Niganati.
6/8
6/8
"Toss me the line, we need to let the wind out of the mainsail!"
The storm had come on just as night had fallen, and did so with similar rapidity. It was a harsh and masterless beast that crashed at the hull, ripped at the rigging and tossed the mast about like a child playing with sticks. The bow swung madly about, heedless of the small people scurrying over the body of the ship like mice, frantically doing all they could to keep the whole thing from simply capsizing.
A gnome, barely to the waist of a regular man and a fraction of his weight, seized an errant halyard, or rather leaped upon it, intent on using it to lower the mainsail, but crashing winds whipped the line up and away. On a stronger man, this may have yanked the halyard from his grasp. As it was, the poor gnome was pulled up and away, hanging on to the end of the rope for dear life as it cracked like the whip of an animal tamer.
Another sailor, a Naga and one of the few scaled-folk aboard the wretched craft, was the first to react to the sudden departure of the terrified gnome. With the reflexes borne of his race, he leaped upon the mast and slithered up its length without aid of the guy-lines. Rain lashed his scaly hide, but he reached out deftly for the swaying halyard, intending to pull the young gnome to safety. But even as he reached, a deadly calm settled over the ship. The winds calmed, the rain settled to a patter and vanished, and slowly but surely, the hydrogen mists dispelled by the rain drifted back over the ship, which slowed alarmingly, its swollen sails hanging limp upon their yard arms.
The halyard carrying the precious gnome cargo had gone curiously calm, the thrashing, whether from the wind or the gnome's own panicked movements, having subsided. It had swung lazily into a nearby bank of clouds, and for the brief moments when the gnome was out of sight, the crew of the ship seemed to hold their breath.
And then the air was alive with arrows. The Naga sailor had to wrench his arm back from the halyard as an arrow buried its wicked black tip in the mast to his left. The rain of arrows pierced the sails in a hundred different places and killed many of the crew where they stood impaled upon three feet of barbed black wood. The halyard, meanwhile, had gone suddenly taut, and was swinging back towards the ship with alarming speed and force. It crashed into the side of the ship with much more momentum than the gnome could possibly muster, cracking and splintering the wooden side of the ship and tearing across the deck itself. The Naga yanked upon the rope and found it to be much more difficult that expected, and nearly lost his balance. After a few more tugs, the load on the end of the halyard came free, and the Naga found himself looking at a statue, rock-hard and perfectly preserved in a position of panicked thrashing, of his friend the gnome
The Naga barely had time to glance up at a scaly face surrounded by a writhing man of snakes before he too froze, a look of astonishment and confusion forevermore etched upon his face.
Deep in the hull, the assailants found their prize: an orb wrapped tenderly in thick velvet cloths to protect its lustrous sheen. And they carried the orb from the wreckage of the land-ship, silent as whispers on the wind.
PP
1 PP Command - The Church of Meteorology constructs land-ships, ships outfitted with sails to catch the wind and wheels to ride the earth, to speed their departure from the falling city of Niganati.
1 PP Command - The Medusas find and capture the first orb for their own.
1 PP Command - The Medusas find and capture the first orb for their own.
The Man considered for a moment.
"Very well. Tell me who your God is and where I might find him, and I will do just that."
~Niganati, Pharoah's Chambers~
It was about one AM, and the screams were beginning to die down as the unprotected were either slain or fled the city. So it was with some surprise that the Pharoah looked up to spot a strange figure, with burnished blonde hair, standing before him.
"How did you get in here? Its impossible!" He cried.
~Niganati, Entrance~
Endrina's face hardened, and she swung her staff forward and placed it before her. She opened her mouth -
but at that moment the door to Niganati, the bronze gates which had stood since the Beginning, creaked and fell forwards, and thousands of deformed bodies fell from the hinge points, legs snapping with unpleasant crunching noises as they hit the ground. But it was of little consequence as a much larger horde swept out and onto the Sea. Endrina dived to the side and scrambled up onto a rocky outcropping, but the guards and visitors were not so lucky.
The last Endrina saw of the obnoxious visitor, he was being dragged against his will by several Fallen towards the place where the Naga had defeated the Keben.
~Niganati, Keben Battlegrounds~
The Fallen poured out in all directions from Niganati, however the easiest way to go was south and west, following the natural curve of the land until they reached the undead-infested battleground. There, they fell upon the undead with as much gusto as they would a mortal foe, and the Undead were only too happy to do the same.
What this meant, of course, was that anyone who was fleeing Northeast had only a small horde of fallen chasing them. How lovely for those lucky souls!
~Niganati, Tunnels~
The Naga and Embrin and Salamanders continued to push to the surface, still skewering Fallen left and right. Finally, they broke the surface.
"Go East. Thats where I sent the other Naga. Hurry! And don't look back... you will have fallen chasing you!" Itropi shouted, more or less shoving the Embrin and Naga towards a narrow trail leading up the side of the Valley.
PP
1 PP: Command populace: The majoirtiy of the fallen and undead start fighting one another, allowing the Niganateans time to escape.
1 PP: Command populace: The majoirtiy of the fallen and undead start fighting one another, allowing the Niganateans time to escape.
Dloz the Weaver had been moving towards one of the nexus points of all this chaos for awhile. Eventually after many different tunnels, he found himself in another mortal gathering. Unlike the tiny mortal's gathering this one was mostly empty. It was probably due to the mortals he had seen that were making other mortals stop moving. Under all of the chaos Dloz could sense an undercurrent of order. Someone was plotting and planning. More likely many someones. At least he thought so. Dloz had noticed that mortals that stopped moving would get back up and attack the other mortals. That wasn't right. Dloz had personally made several mortals stop moving and had created a blessing to do such. Mortals that stopped moving didn't start moving again. That wasn't right. It was chaos. That made the Weaver pause. He laughed at his joke, but he wondered if the other gods were putting plans into order.
It didn't take long after reaching the gathering of mortals to find the nexus. The nexus seemed to be in a building. To spice things up the Weaver decided to ignore the matter that formed the building. He just walked through walls and doors. After a few of those, Dloz found himself in a large room with a squirmy thing on a fancy chair. It seemed to be surprised at his appearance. He forgot how limited mortals were from a mental standpoint. The Weaver was startled from his thoughts by the squirmy thing's words. "Nothing is impossible for the god of chaos," sneered Dloz the Weaver.
-----
Endrina could only wish she were lucky enough to have seen the last of the anusa. Viciouslly ripping into the charging fallen with his claws, he parted them like a wave around him through shear strength. As they hesitated, confused by the sudden resistance, he took the opportunity to leap onto the outcropping of rock. Glancing at Endrina as he concealed his dripping claws beneath his robe, he turned his head sideways. "What were you about to say before we were interrupted?"
"You feeling right?" Lucca asked as she scrubbed her hands on her dress. The oddity of his speech made her suspect that his mind was addled. Without waiting for an answer she pressed the back of her hand against the strange one's forehead and waited for a moment. It was far too warm. She eyed the dark circles under his eyes and tsk'ed.
"Visiting the city, are you? Do you have a decent place to sleep? Friends or family, maybe, taking care of you? Anything to eat lately? You're burning up and look like you need some sleep. I'm afraid there's no inn or tavern that would put up a sick'un, not with the illness going about. But tell me why you're here and I might be able to get you cared for."
~Niganati, Outside the Pharaoh's Chambers, Pre-Explosion~
As the Twins bustled their way from the Pharaoh's chambers they caught a servant and told him to run ahead with the ruler's word. Not that they had any plans of remaining in alliance with the Pharaoh, but they saw no reason to not utilize this information. Of course, they had no idea what was behind it; that was surprising, the Pharaoh seemed too paranoid to do much himself. They themselves, however, never made it home as they were assassinated in the halls.
~Niganati, Entrance~
The flood of beings exiting Niganati paused and parted away. The first indication that Endrina had that something was coming, however, was the shaking of the earth and countless feet fell together. An army approached and civilized individuals got out of their way while the fallen were dealt with expeditiously. In double-time the force marched their way into the bowels of the city. A gnome officer parted from the line and approached the female naga.
"You Endrina? I didn't think Arkesh's description of you would pan out, but he said you'd be coming. He's dealing with matters inside, but said that if we saw you to let you know that your father that Pharaoh is in need of you. And he wanted us to tell you that he's missed you."
The gnomes glanced up at the skies for a moment. Arkesh said he could read the movements of people in them, though other than the bright star that was shining even though it was day, he had no idea how that was possible. "When you're done here, be careful inside. Things are unstable, for now."
With that the gnome rejoined the marching column.
~Niganati, Outer Holdings~
By the time the Fallen got to the outer holdings of Niganati -- those distant tunnels and homes away from the hive-like center -- word of their approach had proceeded them. As fast as they slaughtered, those desperate for their lives had potent motivation to flee faster. A few managed to make it to the Temple of the Elementals and there found Arkesh deep in prayer. He thought he had seen a vision, a star moving from the west towards Niganati. He hoped it was Endrina.
But when word of the chaos reached his ears, the naga left his holy rites and sent runners to the only force he thought he might be able to trust to restore order and drive the monsters from his home. The Gnome force that had first broken the siege had set up a military outpost to keep the roads safe. Some Embrin had eventually joined them, but those forces never seemed to become embroiled in the infighting that the last several weeks had been rife with. Arkesh hoped that they could set the city right.
In the meantime, when the Fallen reached the temple, they found a lone Naga ready for them, his eyes aglow with divine magic.
~Niganati, GnomeTown~
The suppression of the riot did not stop the unrest. Rather, it forced it to go from public displays to backroom discussions. The Gnomes, at least, remembered their old lives in proper cities, where citizens had rights and could not be cast aside like the Naga-Embrin forces had done. In secret they darted between houses, they recounted tales of how good proper freedom was, and their sedition expanded beyond their own quarters and enticed those Naga and Embrin living nearby.
With the exception of the Embrin, who are all soldiers, these were not professional warriors. But they took up clubs and butcher-knifes and whatever weapons they could. While the riots might have been suppressed, a mob prepared to march on the seat of power and do away with petty rulers. Finally Niganati would have a proper government. But the mob never got the chance: the Fallen reached them first. The one advantage of the mob was pure numbers: though many died, the mob-wall encouraged the creatures to find easier prey.
When the Gnome-Embrin force came through the city, they found the parts under mob controlled to be better than a slaughterhouse, although this was not a gleeful comparison. There was hardly anyone who didn't have a wound, and the residents had been forced to build barricades out of bodies. Those had only lasted for a short while until they took rose up and attacked, although they lashed out against the Fallen as often as against their former kin.
~Niganati, General~
The Gnome-Embrin army marched through the city and disposed of Fallen, Zombies, and Skeletons wherever they encountered them. In the place of chaos they left martial law.
~Maze-Plane~
Pamora raised an eyebrow at the other gods audacity. "This was your doing?" she asked, incredulously.
An answer wasn't needed as Arvad's actions made his stance clear. With her two left hands, the goddess grabbed the staff and shoved it aside. The sheer cheekiness of the situation raised her ire. "If you don't run, you'll take a beating before you take back my jurisdiction."
~Elf-Gnomes~
Several gnomes started preparing for the trials.
~Gnome-Gnolls~
General Doo'Che resisted rolling his eyes, but just barely. "Yes yes yes, but how much?"
PP
1PP Command - The Gnome-Embrin forces at the Gnome Fortress (this place probably needs a name) marches on Niganati and make it safe again, although they do this in part by establishing Martial Law
2PP Harm - Non-Civilized Creatures: The above forces kill off the nasties within the city and immediately surrounding areas.
1PP Command - Centering in the GnomeTown part of Niganati, although including Naga and Embrin portions as well, mobs form with the intent of reforming the city's government. As a side effect, since there were already armed mobs present, those areas weren't devastated as much as other regions (but still things are quite grim).
5/9 PP remaining
1PP Command - The Gnome-Embrin forces at the Gnome Fortress (this place probably needs a name) marches on Niganati and make it safe again, although they do this in part by establishing Martial Law
2PP Harm - Non-Civilized Creatures: The above forces kill off the nasties within the city and immediately surrounding areas.
1PP Command - Centering in the GnomeTown part of Niganati, although including Naga and Embrin portions as well, mobs form with the intent of reforming the city's government. As a side effect, since there were already armed mobs present, those areas weren't devastated as much as other regions (but still things are quite grim).
5/9 PP remaining
Dloz was startled by the mortal's words. No one had shown him anything that he would call kindness. All he had been shown was callous cruelty and questions. But this mortals was concerned about his health. Admittedly it was rather ridiculous for the mortal to be concerned since he couldn't get sick. But nevertheless he was touched. Perhaps these tiny mortals did not deserve his blessing. He would have to learn more before he went so far as to revoke his blessing on this place, but he was considering it.
"Except for feeling bored, I'm fine. I have no family, friends, place to rest, or hunger. Should I? As to why I'm here, I'm here to watch my blessing unfold," quickly said Dloz the Shell as he kicked a dead plague wasp that he found on the ground.
The Pharoah looked at the Avatar for a moment, then let out a wry laugh.
"I was wondering when you'd show up. My mind could only hold on for so long, after all. Well? Now that you're here, I imagine I'll be seeing more of you, so feel free to make yourself comfortable. You'll find there's a lot... more... room." The Naga broke off, giggling to himself as he reclined once more.
OOC
In case its not clear, the Pharoah thinks he's gone mad, and you are a figment of his imagination.
"I am sorry to hear that, did your kin die in war, illness, or some other misfortune?" Lucca didn't probe too deeply. She had no idea what the fellow was talking about, but confronting the delusional about their hallucinations could turn ugly. That he wasn't hungry meant he must have not eaten for at least the last three days, probably longer. It took that long of a fast for the hunger pains to subside. "Here, walk with me. Let's see if we can't find you some hot soup and a place to sleep tonight."
The hospitals were crowded as it was, but perhaps there was room there.
PP
1PP - Command: Hospitals. The Gnomes develop hospitals. As these are largely medieval affairs, they mostly are a place to keep the sick so they don't spread disease, although what medical knowledge there is tends to be applied here as well.
4pp remaining
1PP - Command: Hospitals. The Gnomes develop hospitals. As these are largely medieval affairs, they mostly are a place to keep the sick so they don't spread disease, although what medical knowledge there is tends to be applied here as well.
4pp remaining
-----
The gnoll grinned fiercly. "My small friend, we will take as much as we want. And when we can carry no more, perhaps then we will consider leaving your people alone."
-----
With a single wave of his hand, Arvad sent the exit vanishing across the plane. Brandishing the staff dangerously, he started circling her. "Your jurisdication? You invade my personal space, and steal my artifact, and you are threatening me! Let me guess, you are also the fool tampering with the underworld and the laws of magic as well? Return my orb, or I'll crush you and throw your dust into the gate!"
General Doo'Che shook his head in exasperation. "We are quite willing to give you as much as you can carry, and more, but since you do not seem interested, so be it."
He signaled to the other gnomes and they began to leave.
~Maze-Plane~
Pamora streched her wrist and chains eminating from her braclet wrapped around her arm and pooled into a whip. "Hmph, you are the one who meddled with the laws of magic by sealing a portion of it within a petty bobble. As for the afterlife, I have no idea who stopped the spirits from traveling to the great beyond. I had thought it you, since you apparently have no respect for that which another cares for."
She cracked the chain-whip. "I grow tired of your babbling. Run, while I am still willing to let you."
Yawning slightly, she shrugged. "Or, I can en d you and your men, and take what we want anyways. Either way works for me."
-----
"I stopped them. I provide passage for the dead, and with the destination gone, I witheld that passage until I could discern the problem."
"Further more," he exlaimed, coming quite close with his staff as he poked it in her direction, "that 'bauble' contains the the magic of motion. I am travel! I am motion! I set the laws for such things before any petty god of magic strode this world, and no new upstart is going to overrule me on the aspects of MY domain!"
"The offer was made clear, you rejected it. If you wish to revist the matter, you can come to us next time. As for killing, I think we'll pass. Good day." And the gnomes walked off.
~Maze-Plane~
"That's what's in here?" Pamora asked distractedly. But Arvad's poking staff refocused her on him. A wall rose up between them. His alteration of the plane had illuminated how such tricks were done. Pamora might not have figured out how to quite duplicate the trick with the exit, but it would do for now. With her mind she shoved against the wall and sent it on a collision course with the other god. "You're the light-blinded fool who meddled with the dead? The destination was not gone, and in your ignorance you flooded the world with lost souls. Then, when I tried to prevent the living from being overwhelemed, you meddled with the solution!"
As Arvad avoided the careening wall, Pamora's whip cracked inches from his face. "Magic, death, these are not yours. Whatever squaters rights you might think you had vanished when these domains were no longer ignored. Be thankful that I am willing to let you leave, even though you've proven you can't be trusted. If you persist, I'll have your motion off you as well."
The Weaver sighed with frustration. These mortals were so fragile, especially their minds. This foolish mortal must have started this chaos, but its mind couldn't cope with it. Why would it have done it in that case? Perhaps it hungered for power. A grin spread across the avatar's face. This could be useful. This mortal hungered for power so much that it had shattered its own mind. It would do anything for power and it now lacked the ability to recognize the costs of such hunger.
"You're right. I will be staying,"replied Dloz the Weaver. Dloz started writing in the air with his finger. Where the finger went a line of light would remain in the air. Eventually Dloz formed a large, intricate rune in the air. Droplets of strange glittery, red water started forming on the rune. Underneath the rune a puddle started to form. "I'm guessing you caused the chaos in this area. For power no less. I can give you more power. If you drink of the chaosplasm, you'll be the unquestionable ruler of this area."
PP Stuff
1 PP - Nourish (Dloz creates chaosplasm. Chaosplasm is a substance that causes random mutations in organism that come in contact with it, it alters the laws of physics in the area surrounding it, and it can alter the effects of magic used around it. It is a red liquid that appears to have bits of silver metal suspended in it.)
1 PP - Nourish (Dloz creates chaosplasm. Chaosplasm is a substance that causes random mutations in organism that come in contact with it, it alters the laws of physics in the area surrounding it, and it can alter the effects of magic used around it. It is a red liquid that appears to have bits of silver metal suspended in it.)
As Arkesh, Endriana, and the rest of their faithful continued to bastion themselves against the swarming, writhing, Fallen, they began to hear... singing?
From the Northeast, newly escaped from the Temple of Flowing Waters (and not, as it had been referred to for many weeks, the Temple of Elements) came a delegation of Salamanders and Azers, lead by the massive fire-serpent made flesh that was Ourogandr.
They chanted psalms of hope and sang hymns of valor as they spearheaded an advance through the teeming ranks of Fallen. The creatures frothed, screamed, and trembled, but none dared (perhaps they simply couldn't) come close to the otherworldly avatar.
The procession made its way to the entryway of the temple, and there Ourogandr remained, the avatar's presence stopping the Fallen attack in its tracks.
Ourogandr cast its head around, first one way, then the other.
"Who is in charge, here?"
~Niganati, Major Holdings~
The city was quiet again; the gnomes timely arrival having once more quelled the fires of unrest. And yet... some among the naga (the original inhabitants of Niganati) found themselves wondering as they reflected on their past few months. How had things devolved so quickly, so suddenly? It had all started with the gnomes, hadn't it?
The gnomes had arrived, awash with gifts and wealth, and, in a week or two, they had ingratitated themselves throughout all walks of Niganatean life. And then, at just the same time, the Pharaoh had started acting weirder than normal. Disfavoring the Embrin over all others, even the newly-arrived gnomes. And then, as the Pharaoh continued his drift into madness, it was always the Embrin or the Naga who suffered for it -- the return of the Ashborn, the salamander trial, the only thing that had seemed to affect them was the Salamander/Azer curse... but then again, that happened after the gnomes arrived too, didn't it? And now, the gnomes walked among them, having come to their rescue from the Fallen -- a blight that seemed to originate from within Niganati itself; clearly, it was an inside job. And the gnome's timing was perfect. Their army showed up just as the Fallen are unleashed.
It was beginning to seem... just a little too conveniant. It was as they said -- it's easier to make a deadman speak than to outconnive a gnome.
Such claims were publicly denounced, of course. Clearly the gnomes only had the Niganatean's best interests at heart... but the rumors were not squashed. They stuck fast into the darkest portion of the Nigatean collective unconcious, and over time, it began to fester, then, like a malignant tumor of doubt, it began to spread.
PP Expenditure
-0 (Cantrip) Command : The Fallen can't approach within 100 feet of Ourogandr.
-1 PP Command (using saved from last week): Public opinion begins to turn against the gnomes; their assistance is appreciated, but if they would just get out and mind their own buisness, we can get back to rebuilding our lives, thanks.
-1 PP Command (using saved from last week): A band of nationalistic Naga, Embrin, and Salamanders form an organization / poltical entity known as the NNS (Niganatean National Society). It is anti-Pharaoh, pro-democracy, and anti-gnomish colonialism.
All of Dloz's avatars were busy, which meant he was bored. He had spent several hours watching his dragons, but once the young dragons became full grown they had to leave. The island lacked large prey for the dragons. Usually Dloz didn't enjoy problems, but in this case he was excited! A problem meant he had to fix something! That meant he got to do something. Dloz went down to the shore of his island to find something to use to make his new creation. On the shore he found a large, reddish rock. He dragged the rock up the beach. After he felt the rock was sufficiently away from the water, he blasted the rock with a blast of energy. Unfortunately Dloz had used too much energy so the rock exploded in a cloud of dust. He could hear strange sounds coming out of the red dust cloud. Once the dust settled, he saw about fifty creatures. The creatures were plump, pink, and made a sound that could only be described as an oink. "I will call these creatures pigs," joyfully declared Dloz.
The crabs ate what they found in the water. The dragons ate dirt and flesh. But the pigs had no food. This was another problem. Dloz zipped about to the beach with joy. There was so much to do now! He grabbed a oozing glob of mud from the beach. The mud started to bubble in his tendril. Dloz tossed the mud at the summit of the island. As the mud splattered across the ground it changed from dark brown to green grey. It quickly spread across the ground. "I will call that lichen," said Dloz to a nearby pig as it stared at the summit of the island.
PP Stuff
1 PP - Nourish (Pigs)
1 PP - Nourish (Lichen)
Er, I didn't realize I was going over my total PP until I finished. So... I'm not sure what to do. If no one objects, I'll just subtract one from my PP next reset.
1 PP - Nourish (Pigs)
1 PP - Nourish (Lichen)
Er, I didn't realize I was going over my total PP until I finished. So... I'm not sure what to do. If no one objects, I'll just subtract one from my PP next reset.
Suddenly the form of an elf in a white silk robe emerged from the lichen. "I am Msatnaph! The lord of decay! The almighty spore!" he declared. Mushrooms sprouted from the ground and almost immediately whithered and died as he walked towards the great void.
He kneeled before it and proclaimed "I am here father. as you requested"
Gorwing angried by the second, he continued. "What gives you the right to interced in the affairs of other gods. If they choose to leave their domains untended, that is there choice, and it's certainly not acceptable for some upstart to step in and steal their power.What is next, grandious one? Steal the power of earth itself? Capture the hidden sun? Maybe tame war itself? I think, that if you continue on this path, you will find yourself more enemies that friends. Most certainly, if you do not return my artifact, I will number among the former."
-----
Drifting silently through the shadows, they closed on the gnomes standing guard at the tunnels. Silent as death and nearly invisible in the darkness, no alarm sounded until they slipped into the light and struck out at the guards. Night itself turned upon them, as the shadows sought to feed on the best available prey. The gnomes fought back with military precision, using martial talents as well as illusionists tricks, and defeated the spirits, driving them off.
As they checked their wounds and applied first aid, yet another unnatural creature struck them, grasping from the floors to suck the very life from the guards. Despite preparations and precautions, they were killed to the man. By the time the next shift arrived several hours later, numerous fallen has slipped into the areas controlled by the salvation army.
PP Expenditures
2 PP - Spawn Beast - Shadows, another form of undead which drains a persons physical vitality with their a touch.
2 PP - Spawn Beast - Phantoms, an incorporeal undead which feeds illusions and deception. They drain mental energies with their touch.
2 PP - Harm Populace - The Salvators suffer a major setback when a group of guards is killed by undead, allowing a swarm of fallen to enter their safe zone.
2 PP - Spawn Beast - Phantoms, an incorporeal undead which feeds illusions and deception. They drain mental energies with their touch.
2 PP - Harm Populace - The Salvators suffer a major setback when a group of guards is killed by undead, allowing a swarm of fallen to enter their safe zone.
OOC
forgive me, this will be short. I'll be back to much-postingness next week.
9 PP: Tsiyoti
8 PP: Pamora, Dajjal, Isura, Akuru-Azu, Arvad
6 PP: Dloz
5 PP: Msatnaph
Quote
~Niganati, Pharoah's Chambers~
The Pharoah looked at the drink for a long moment and began to reach for the cup, but at that moment the doors burst open and a fallen raced into the hall, arms outstretched for the Pharoah. He saw the symbol on the Pharoah's chest and recoiled, spinning towards the Avatar for a moment before subconciously realizing that would be a bad idea and instead grasping the cup and drinking the entire contents of it down in one gulp.
"You seem to be under the impression that a god's domain is their own. Such a petty and self-serving belief. These things belong to existence itself, they are to be tended to, shared. Even now there are mortals of many gods skittering about on the earth; shall the ancient serpent suddenly say that they can have no part of it? There are plants that drink up the light and warmth of the sky and in turn sustain the world. Shall the light in the sky be jealously guarded, kept in a store house, just to please some mad god?"
"We are gods. What is not acceptable is to act otherwise, to put the world in a box and hide it away. What have you done with the passing of spirits? Neglected them. What have you done with my travel magic? Neglected it. What have you done with your own domain? Neglected it! Who taught mortals to travel across the waves? It was not you. Who created weather and taught it how to move? It was not you. Who taught the gnomes to move east, or the Embrin to move west? It was not you."
"I do not care who controls the world, only that it is kept for all others. The only ones who have anything to fear from me are those who are too lazy for me to have any need to fear them: if they had been active in the first place then they wouldn’t have become my targets. If you are to be an enemy of mine, so be it. Judging from how you have treated that which the universe has entrusted to you, I can endure your animosity: it is easy to endure neglect."
~Niganati~
The Salvators's progress in reclaiming Niganati slowed. There were the strange entities that flittered about the dark, which made matters difficult. But it was the civil unrest that made them stop. It was pointless to expand further if they could not even trust those whom they had saved to not revert to chaos. Instead of continuing to expand, Embrin and Gnomes of the Salvators dug in. They set a curfew; they put patrols on the streets to keep order. And, since it was expensive to maintain order, they brought in taxes, ensured that tradesmen continued their work, and saw to the importation of foodstuffs to keep people feed and alcohol to keep them complacent.
If there was one positive thing that the Naga had to say for the Salvators it was that they were accepting of merit. In the first few days and weeks of the new regime, there had been fear that these foreigners would rule over the children of Tsiyoti. Yet, a few Naga joined their ranks and those who were competent rose in authority. In a few months time, a Naga was even given command of the left wing of the Salvator army.
Although the Salvators were unwilling to truck with undue dissent, they were also unwilling to crush it as well. Those who disliked their presence and the government they had established were free to move to another part of the city, outside their control. Perhaps into the arms of the militia that had developed from the mobs of unrest.
The irony of the NNS was not lost on the other pro-democrats. One would, after all, expect pro-democratic factions to look kindly on the people who brought the idea of representative government to them in the first place. And there were some grumblings back in their direction. It was idiocy to think that the Gnome-Embrin army that had been sitting on their doorstep wouldn't respond when civilians and monsters started flooding out of the city. And people well remembered that it was the Embrin-Naga forces under Valerius that forced the rioters back into their homes, keeping them nice and stationary and separate, perfect for the Fallen to overwhelm. Where was that force when it was needed? The timing of their withdrawal was given as a counter-point-of-paranoia for the arrival of the Salvators. But these voices of reason were unfortunately few in the populace, it seemed, and growing fewer by the day.
Still, as the NNS's general pro-democracy anti-pharaoh sentiment was in line with the goals of everyone else, there was no coherent move to try to exclude that powerful faction. There was the very pressing matter of forming a working government; the gnome-issue was one that many said could wait until that was done. But in the mean time, the Naga thought it best if the Gnomes were confined. For their own protection, of course.
PP
1PP Command: Salvators formalize their control over a portion of the city (probably around a fifth of the total, I'd say, maybe slightly more). As part of this they cease attempting to reclaim new lands and instead focus on ensuring civility and order over the population they do control.
1PP Nourish: Salvators. They replace some of their losses with Naga recruits.
1PP Command: The gnomes outside of Salvator controlled territory are forced into a ghetto, a Gnomeria, if you will. This is somewhat crapped space that is walled off from the rest of Niganati, although currently the keys to it are in the possession of the Gnomes themselves (but this can change without needing a command action or the sort: it just needs the fledgling democratic government to order it).
5/8 PP remaining
1PP Command: Salvators formalize their control over a portion of the city (probably around a fifth of the total, I'd say, maybe slightly more). As part of this they cease attempting to reclaim new lands and instead focus on ensuring civility and order over the population they do control.
1PP Nourish: Salvators. They replace some of their losses with Naga recruits.
1PP Command: The gnomes outside of Salvator controlled territory are forced into a ghetto, a Gnomeria, if you will. This is somewhat crapped space that is walled off from the rest of Niganati, although currently the keys to it are in the possession of the Gnomes themselves (but this can change without needing a command action or the sort: it just needs the fledgling democratic government to order it).
5/8 PP remaining
Endrina lifted her eyes to the glowing serpent and her staff hummed as she spoke.
"I shall speak for us. You address She-who-was-Endrina, who speaks for Tsiyoti. This here is Arkesh, who is under my protection. Who are you? For you are certainly no mortal."
~Niganati, Pharoah's Chambers~
The Pharoah eyed the puddle of once-fallen and spoke.
"Thank you, but I will pass. My power here is, after all, complete. Or do you not admire my pets?" He gestured to the Fallen.
"My loyal subjects!" He shouted suddenly and burst into laughter, rocking back and forth across the dais.
~The World~
In places far and near, tales began to spread of an old man who was very interested in travel magics. The elves north of the Wandering Wood in particular were visited often, and although they asked, they never recieved a better name than 'the Old Man'. What was plainly clear was that he was searching for a way to draw the attention of the God of Travel himself. With each visit, his skills grew until one day he turned, reached out a finger and cut a slash in the fabric of the universe itself and stepped through it to the Maze-Plane.
"You're an idiot. I'm offering you the powers of a god, admittedly a very small portion," said the Weaver. He scooped up a bit of the meat goo and poured it out of his hand. "You've seen what this chaosplasm can do to those that don't have my protection. Imagine if I flooded your home with it or I could use one of my other toys. Don't take this as a threat to yourself. I wouldn't end your existence, not yet. But your pets are another matter," said a squatting Dloz as he tried to sculpt the meat goo into some kind of shape.
OOC
Time-Lord, I should probably note that the reason that I'm a little reluctant to go down this road is because in the last LoC I had a Naga who became addicted to a silvery-white substance that was a small portion of the powers of a god ;) That said... lets do this!
OCC
@Topheh
Unfortunately that's sort of the case here, but that's because the chaosplasm is going to be his blood.
@Topheh
Unfortunately that's sort of the case here, but that's because the chaosplasm is going to be his blood.
Pamora could feel another powerful being enter this realm of existence. Unsure if this was a friend of Arvad, and unwilling to wait to find out, she hurled herself at the walls and broke through, making a mad dash for where this new being entered the plane, reasoning that the exit was there.
~Glisglaw~
Lucca had no particular desire to eat something that this strange fellow had put his hands in. It was a pretty illusion, better done than the tricks the boys played on her growing up, but she thought that appearance was only that, an illusion. Still...
"I am sorry to hear that. Did the plague take your kin, or was it war?"
She glanced at the bowl and eventually took it. She wasn't sure if this one was crazy, but better to play into his fantasies for now. She grinned and downed the soup.
~God Mountain~
The Keben that had been directed by Noname finally made their way to the sacred mountain of the gods. They wandered lost in the fog until a forgotten creature, a Titan, found them.
PP
3PP Exarch: Ascend a titan exarch. I need to look up his name, but this would be the first holder of the heartstone
2pp remaining
3PP Exarch: Ascend a titan exarch. I need to look up his name, but this would be the first holder of the heartstone
2pp remaining
"Unacceptable!" With surprising speed, Arvad tackled Pamora, wrestling with her in an attempt to reclaim the Blink Orb. For several long moments, they fought, neither gaining any upper hand. Finally, he wrest it from her hands.
Thinking for only a brief moment, he began to use it to flee. Undeterred by the momentary failure, Pamora slammed her fist in to him, throwing him to the ground.
Stunned for a moment, he could do nothing as she fled with her prize. Rising to is feet, he turned to look at the newest arrival. "You reek of Tsiyoti, old man. What brings you into my domain?"
PP
0 PP - Cantrip - Using the brief struggle, Arvad creates a duplicate of the Blink Orb and allows Pamora to escape with it. It is temporary, but for now it draws power from the Blink Orb, if Arvad allows the access.
Thought and I discussed something like this, and I think this works. If not Thought, we'll retcon it out. I've been trying to talk to you all week, but haven't had the time to be online much.
Also, I looked for you. Pretty sure the titans name was Kardrak.
Thought and I discussed something like this, and I think this works. If not Thought, we'll retcon it out. I've been trying to talk to you all week, but haven't had the time to be online much.
Also, I looked for you. Pretty sure the titans name was Kardrak.
Dloz, being the blissful fool he was, accepted the mortal's consumption of the chaosplasm as an acceptance of his offer. The mortal fell down to the ground clutching its stomach and screaming right after gulping down the contents of the bowl. "I apologize for this part of our deal. It's rather, um, painful to mortals," explained Dloz as the mortal began to vomit up blood. Other mortals hurried over to help their friend. "There is nothing you can do to help your friend. The chaosplasm must replace the blood," said Dloz to the gathering mortals.
The Shell walked through the crowd around the mortal. They stepped away from him in fear as he moved to where the morphing mortal could see him. "I apologize for causing you further difficulties, but I need to explain the conditions of our deal. You now belong to me and no other god. Luckily I have no jobs for you at the moment so you can use your powers to help your fellow mortals once the change is complete. Every time you use your powers you will use some of the chaosplasm that is now beginning to flow through your veins though. Once you've used all of it you will need to consume more within twenty-fours," said Dloz.
The forgotten bowl silently trickled out chaosplasm on the floor nearby.
8 PP: Pamora, Dajjal, Isura, Tsiyoti, Akuru-Azu, Arvad
7 PP: Dloz
4 PP: Msatnaph
He turned around and followed Dloz. His hands glowed red with his rage. He spotted one of these plague wasps and grabbed it. Red mushrooms sprouted from the creature's flesh. "You will be my scourge! Go forth and spread your viral spores to all afflicted by these creatures!" He then released the creature and it flew away.
PP Stuff
1PP Nourish: Additional disease carried by plague wasps
2PP Harm: This fungal disease decays elements that make up tissues and minerals. It affects organic tissues as well as earth, metal, and gem based organisms. 30% of infected die, 50% carry symptoms for life.
2PP Harm: This fungal disease decays elements that make up tissues and minerals. It affects organic tissues as well as earth, metal, and gem based organisms. 30% of infected die, 50% carry symptoms for life.
The Pharoah continued to vomit.
~Maze-Plane~
The man smiled as two Gods appeared before him.
"I am looking for the God of the Treants. I was told I could attract his attention here. Would either of you be who I am looking for?"
~Dloz' Island~
Tsiyoti looked down at the newly made God and laughed.
"That may be so, young one, but I will wait to bow until your power is greater, if you do not mind. I have been around for a long time, and my bones are creaky"
Looking as the God meddled with a Plague wasp, Tsiyoti spoke again.
"So, you are a tinkerer like Dloz. It is good. Tell me, what do you hope to accomplish?"
The Pharaoh of the Nagas and the female gnome had begun to undergo the final stages of their transformation. Their sweat started to turn into a strange, red wax-like goo. It crept across their bodies covering their skin and eyes. Underneath this new skin their bodies dissolved away into an amalgam of all the elements. A new race was born. The era of the Chaosspawn had begun!
PP Stuff
3 PP (1 PP already invested) - Shape (The Chaosspawn are created.)
3 PP (1 PP already invested) - Shape (The Chaosspawn are created.)
A spray of water streamed from the ocean and knocked the screaming God back a step.
"Control your friend. Dloz. I will not be shouted at." The orb thundered.
"Do you think I am not also one of decay and entropy? Does not Water always move? Look there, where the hard and permanant earth is worn away by my constant touch. Look there, over the horizon, where my waves have scattered the ships of the gnomes. More so than any other, I am decay. Air cannot effect change, Earth does not move, and Fire reduces everything to the state of ash. I encourage maximum diversity, maximum entropy.
I have been here since... since..." The God paused, and a confused ripple skittered over his surface. "Well, since very early on. But I am curious, new one. How would you make a stronger elemental than I?"
Dloz was more or less ignored.
~Niganati, Throne Room~
The Pharoah, or... what had been the Pharoah moaned and then opened his mouth.
"I... what... what happened to me?"
- Niganati, Pharaoh’s Chamber -
With a sigh the Weaver turned away from the puddle of chaosplasm that had formed under the floating rune. Dloz was rather annoyed by the Pharaoh’s seeming fear at the changes he had undergone. Had he not expected the change to be dramatic? Generally getting the power of a god required some kind of a change, at least in Dloz's mind it did. He walked over to the dais. "I've upheld my end of our deal, Pharaoh. That's what has happened," said Dloz.
OCC
I'm getting rather confused about where the conversation between Dloz, Msatnaph, and Tsiyoti is occuring. I was under the impression that it was in Ula-Dajjal, since Dloz had left his island to use his newest plague on the Tarnished.
I'm getting rather confused about where the conversation between Dloz, Msatnaph, and Tsiyoti is occuring. I was under the impression that it was in Ula-Dajjal, since Dloz had left his island to use his newest plague on the Tarnished.
Pamora didn't have half a chance to hear what the newcomer said. With what she thought was the orb in hand, she darted past him and into the gateway back to the mortal world. There, afraid she might be followed, she flung herself into the shadowfell to hide.
~Niganati, Outer Holdings~
Arkesh glanced at the strange creature that had followed Endrina. "If there are gods about, then it is quite fitting for mortals to be involved. But the serpent seems to be distracted for the moment."
~Glisglaw~
Lucca tried to ask the strange being questions, but the pain of the transformation made it impossible to form coherent sentences. By the time she had mastered herself, the being was walking away. At last she managed, "Who are you?"
She felt better after speaking and crawled to her knees. After a moment she repeated herself and expanded her question, "Who and what are you?"
~Shadowfell~
Pamora gasped for breath before realizing that she didn't need to breath. An odd mistake to make. It was things like that which made her ponder her origins, but that was hazy and confusing so she never dwelt on it long. Instead she turned her mind to the orb itself. She had no real idea how it worked (in fairness, she knew little of how magic worked: her entire concern was preventing aspects of the world from remaining fallow). Perhaps the best was to find out was to experiment.
Feeling more confident that she hadn't been followed, she exited the plane and sent out her senses. There were gods about, but not that fool who meddled where he didn't belong. That would work for now.
For having claimed the earth, she hadn't done much with it. This seemed like a proper opportunity to remedy both problems at once. Thus, Pamora went about looking for proper mortals to impart her idea to. The Gnomes seemed a logical choice. Too logical, perhaps. That might draw unwanted attention currently. The snake-men? No, their civilization was a mess, currently. The firemen? Perhaps... they could make use of it, certainly, but they seemed to be less willing to travel than they used to. The pointy-eared ones? They were nomads, true enough, but they rarely went anywhere meaningful. Perhaps these birdmen? Yes, that would do nicely.
pp
1pp Command - Pending Arvad's approval, the Empyreans become particularly adept at travel magic (mostly reducing fatigue, increasing speed, etc, though perhaps a few actually can create portals between places). The main "spell" that Pamora tries to teach them, however, is creating temporary roads. As long as they know where they want to go and where they are, this spell causes a strip of earth between the two points to turn into a fine road to aid their travel.
1pp Command - Pending Arvad's approval, the Empyreans become particularly adept at travel magic (mostly reducing fatigue, increasing speed, etc, though perhaps a few actually can create portals between places). The main "spell" that Pamora tries to teach them, however, is creating temporary roads. As long as they know where they want to go and where they are, this spell causes a strip of earth between the two points to turn into a fine road to aid their travel.
- Glisglaw -
Dloz gently set the Grail on the ground. He walked over to Lucca with a grin on his face. "Good. You're awake," he said as he sat down on a chair that formed out of a concoction of dust and soup. "I suppose I never plainly explained myself. As to what I am, I am a god. Specifically I am the God of Chaos. As to whom I am, I am Dloz," said Dloz. As he was speaking the Grail of Reality floated towards him. The bowl drifted down into his hand. "If you intend to heal your fellow mortals, you'll need this," said Dloz as he tossed Lucca the Grail of Reality. He stood up and walked towards the door. "A word of advice about your power, it'll be easier to use it if you're trying to change something into something else," said the Shell over his shoulder as he stepped out the door.
PP Stuff
0 PP - Cantrip (Dloz forms a chair out of dust and soup.)
Seeing Pamora trying to draw on the orb, he watched closely, allowing most of her intentions to function.
Thought
Cool with most of it, but I'd like to avoid magical roads. You have, so to speak, been there and done that before :P
The gaze of the orb of water fell on Dloz, and despite himself, the God shivered at the intensity of divine attention.
"Dloz, I do not know what I have done to offend you..." The God said as the waters beneath them began to churn slightly. "I came to welcome a new divine presence into our midst, and all I get is shouting and threats. If you want me to leave, I will..."
Suddenly the water beneath them seemed to surge upwards as millions of corals pushed out of the water, forming a titanic shape which Tsiyoti settled into. He raised his arms, and sea-green armor, formed of the glass of the sands that covered the ocean floor, appeared out of nowhere and clasped to his chest. In his hand appeared a long handled axe, engraved with images of dwarves building a city. The engraving regards the creation of Fossheim by the dwarves. The axe meanaces with spikes of green glass.
"But if you want a piece of me. Now is your chance. Strike, God. See if your claims are True."
~Nignati, Pharoah's chambers~
"But what am I to do now? My subjects will not accept this form. Perhaps... yes. The gnomes."
Grabbing a large handful of small metal symbols on metal chains, he swept from the room, seeking out the nearest gnomes and pounding on their door. They would know a trick to restore his old form... at least in image.
~Maze-Plane~
"I come from Tsiyoti, whom I am sure you know" the old man said, meeting the God's gaze. "He wishes to rouse Tireas from his slumber, but a prophesy has revealed to him that only a mortal who posesses all of the slumbering God's weapons has a chance of success. One of those who worships you, a Treant known as Timberlane has posession of one of the weapons, but refuses to accept his destiny and search out the other three parts. I know you were a friend of Tireas. Speak to the Treant, send him a sign to leave the forests and accept his destiny."
~Niganati, TotE~
Endrina spun and glared at the hooded figure.
"Our conversation is over. In fact, it never truly began. Arkesh, beloved. What has happened here? Why are there fallen everywhere?"
PP
0 PP: Tsiyoti resumes his coral titan form
3 PP: Forge Artifact: Armor of the Coral Gardens: Strong glass armor!
3 PP: Forge Artifact: Axe of the First Dwarf: Weapon commemorating the creation of Fossheim. It is imbued with the power of electricity and packs quite a punch.
2 PP remain.
0 PP: Tsiyoti resumes his coral titan form
3 PP: Forge Artifact: Armor of the Coral Gardens: Strong glass armor!
3 PP: Forge Artifact: Axe of the First Dwarf: Weapon commemorating the creation of Fossheim. It is imbued with the power of electricity and packs quite a punch.
2 PP remain.
- Ula-Dajjal -
As much as Dloz loathed Tsiyoti, he knew he could not compete with him at the moment. At the same time he did not want to let his son get into a fight where he would surely be defeated. Despite that he knew it had to be this way since the boy was so darn stubborn. He stepped out of the way of Tsiyoti and Msatnaph. "Don't take my passive nature as a sign of submission to you, Tsiyoti. I merely recognize that the boy will have to learn if he is to survive. Eventually you'll pay for any pain you cause," said Dloz as he looked up at the strange form Tisyoti had taken.
- Nignati, Pharaoh’s Chambers -
Dloz followed his servant. This one was rather thick, it did not realize it could change its form if it desired to. As the Pharaoh started to bang on a door Dloz spoke. "If you desire to look different you could use your power to do that. Changing the form of an object is one of the lesser things you could do or you could make people believe that you are how you use to be. That last one would consume far more chaosplasm though."
8 PP: Pamora, Dajjal, Isura, Tsiyoti, Arvad
7 PP: Dloz
4 PP: Msatnaph
- Ula-Dajjal -
There was something in the air. It smelled like the rot of the tomb or the dust of the archive. Dloz instinctively knew that stench. It was stagnation. He slowly started backing away from the pointless confrontation between Tsiyoti and Msatnaph. There were more important matters for Dloz to deal with now. As the shadow of a cloud fell across him, he vanished like a mirage.
- The Canvas -
The world started to dissolve around Dloz and then it was back. This world wasn't the true world though. It was a psychoreactive copy of the real world. Everything was identical to the true world; there were even copies of Tsiyoti and Msatnaph frozen in time awaiting Dloz to put them into motion. In this place he could run simulations. He needed to find a way to avoid stagnation. How had he missed its approach? Had he been too caught up in being a father? It didn't matter. He had almost all the time he could need here. On the Canvas he could speed up time. An hour in the real world could be a millennium on the Canvas. With this new tool he would find a way to save the world from stagnation. He had to, but where to start? Perhaps a war amongst the gods would be able to prevent the approach of stagnation. Dloz began to set up the Canvas for that scenario.
PP Stuff
4 PP - Craft Plane (Dloz creates the Canvas.)
4 PP - Craft Plane (Dloz creates the Canvas.)
Shadow
Actually, the roads were the entire point of the action (but just teaching one type of travel magic seemed odd). To note, these aren't duplicate of the wanderway. Rather, these are actually just roads (so people with no wilderness lore might have a better time traveling between places), albeit temporary magical ones. Specifically, the exact size would depend on caster level and such, but the entire road wouldn't exist all at once, just a small strip that forms and disappears as the caster travels along it. Does that sound more interesting, or still no?
As Dloz and his son vanished, Tsiyoti frowned and for a moment considered following them... their trail was not exactly well-hidden. But he decided against it. He needed to find his sister.
"Dajjal? Where are you?" His voice boomed over the world as he spun about, looking for the other God.
~Pharoah's Chambers~
The Pharoah tried to calm himself.
"Perhaps... perhaps it would be for the best if you explain exactly what has happened here. What powers do I now posess?"
~Niganati, Outer Holdings~
A flash of alltogether mortal emotion flooded through Endrina's face as she looked down at the staff in her hand.
"No. It would appear they are not." She said quietly.
"Well." Endrina's voice returned to its former volume. "It makes little sense for us to stand here. We should use Isura's servant while it remains to make a departrure."
The word crackled, sparked in the air, and she appeared, drawn by the power of syllables. She seemed changed, somehow, more vivid, more alive. The air seemed to hum and buzz with her arrival, and the goddess herself was alight with a kind of bright, happy fervour.
"I am here, brother, what need have you of me?" asked Dajjal, settling into that old form of cloudstuff, "Be quick about it, I feel a calling in the air. There is a **** sense in the air that I must be about. Though I don't know in what way."
- Glisglaw -
Dloz heard the annoyance in the mortal's voice. He stepped back through the door and walked back over by her. "You can do both, but I suspect that your fellow mortals would not enjoy being changed into something they weren't. Your brother has already shown disliking at his own changes in his person and he chose to change. It's a shame that he's so disturbed. But back to the original matter, I recommend changing the disease. That change will cause the least controversy."
- Nignati, Pharaoh’s Chambers -
Dloz the Weaver had feared such a request. It would be so difficult to put an infinite thing like the power's this mortal was granted into finite terms. But he was the Weaver, he'd find a way. "Your powers are like the abilities of Dloz. He can alter reality. You can alter reality. He can plague mortals with disease. You can plague mortals with disease. He can change his form. You can change your form. Essentially you can do anything as long as you have enough chaosplasm."
- The Canvas -
How many scenarios had he run so far? Five hundred? That seemed about right, but Dloz couldn't remember. Every scenario had ultimately ended the same though. They all ended in stagnation. It didn't matter how many mortals he killed, which was somewhere in the millions or maybe it was billions. It didn't matter how he did it and he had come up with some creative ways. He had even tried killing all the gods and creating new ones, but it didn't matter. Many of the scenarios ended with Dloz's own death in addition. There had been so many different deaths. He had been torn limb from limb by some god that had been born from the death of the Elemental Pantheon. Another time he had had every single bone in his body broken by a giant rock that had fallen from the heavens. Bones? Since when had he had bones? He must have bones. He remembered them being broken or was that one of the avatar's memories? It could be one of the Chaosspawn's memories. Someone had gotten themselves crushed.
At some point Dloz had started writing down everything he had learned. The most interesting thing he had discovered was that there was a way to achieve affects similar to magic with equations and certain substances. He remembered massive armies fighting with this ability. Dloz had written those equations down, but it was so hard to recognize them from the histories of the other worlds that he had visited. Wait. They weren't other worlds. They were just the scenarios. They didn't exist. What was reality anymore? Dloz started to weep on to the pages of his journal.
PP Stuff
3 PP - Forge Artifact (Jouranl of Dloz)
PP Stuff
3 PP - Forge Artifact
OOC
Are we really doing this? You do know that you are the youngest God in existence attacking the Longest-Active God in existence who has just summoned up 3x as many weapons as you, right? I do hope you're not expecting to win. Also... insult? I was just trying to say hi!
Are we really doing this? You do know that you are the youngest God in existence attacking the Longest-Active God in existence who has just summoned up 3x as many weapons as you, right? I do hope you're not expecting to win. Also... insult? I was just trying to say hi!
-----
"Harsh words, harsh words. To be expected of such a being though, to be expected indeed. Besides, you could hardly blame me for the interuption to the beginning of your conversation. It seemed quite promising too."
She gave a sly smile and a knowing wink before continuing.
"I suppose I could give you yet another run-down," she said with the air of one who was very enjoying the subject matter, "It's quite simple, you see at first, it was merely myself, and your brother Velt. Soon after that, Od'Vidr and that charming Isura appeared. There was something odd about that Isura, even at the beginning..."
And she paused, her godly brow suddenly furrowed.
"We argued about it in later years..."
She looked hard at Tsiyoti, not really looking at him, but beyond him, to a time beyond his reckoning. What had happened there? Why was it so difficult to recall? She felt as though she was dragging the memories up from beneath water, and they were coming up warped and unsatisfyingly vague.
"We argued, later, that she was called from the void. She was not birthed, she was always insistent on that. But I always said... always said..."
And it came to her in one glorious vision, like a memory from childhood plucked wholesale from the murk of recollection. And she knew, suddenly, what must have happened.
"I forgot..." she said, and she sounded suddenly ashamed, afraid, "I had a mother once. We all had a mother once."
The old Man stared off into space, as if looking through the edge of the plane and back to the Prime.
"War sweeps the land, Arvad. Tireas must awaken to manage it or your travel and my waters will perish. New gods who seek our destruction plot in secret planes and all about the hounds of chaos nip at our heels. Tireas was always the most stalwart of us. We will need him to weather the coming storm.
As for Prophesy, surely you have heard of the four Orbs that lie beneath the Naga city of Niganati, no? It was they that prophesied thusly."
~Niganati~
"You know... I am curious. What do you hope to gain by staying here, stranger? As you can see, the Children have all but fled into the Trial and the rest of the city swarms with Fallen and roving bands of brigands. It does not seem... safe."
~With Dajjal~
"As I suspected. We are Gods... our memories should be perfect, yet somehow they have been tampered with. Do you recall the name of our Mother? I think it might start with a T... Thought or something like that. Does that ring a bell?"
Tsiyoti shifted his weight, coral cracking and snapping as it rubbed over one another.
"No. No. That isn't right. There is... a hole... in my head. In my thoughts. What if..."
The God concentrated and sent a strand of his divine power into a wholly foreign place... his own conciousness. It slid along memory and thought until it reached a dark, pulsating sphere that encapsulated a memory deep within itself. He touched the power to the sphere and sent a pulse of energy through it, shattering the sphere and releasing the memory.
"Ebel..." he breathed.
PP
3 PP: Decreate Artifact: The Artifact that prevented the world from remembering the name/face/person of Ebel is destroyed. All may recall the Progenitor at will.
3 PP: Decreate Artifact: The Artifact that prevented the world from remembering the name/face/person of Ebel is destroyed. All may recall the Progenitor at will.
-----
The stranger looked at her oddly, then shrugged as best his unched form would let him. "No where is truly safe. Particuarly when gods roam freely about the world. So I came to witness this place. It seems as good a place as any to be for the moment."
OOC
Oh, come now; you don't even do me the honor of culling it by name? *EXAGGERATINGLY LARGE EYEROLL*
And perhaps something else about discussing world-changing actions with others, hm? ;)
3 PP: Decreate Artifact: The Artifact that prevented the world from remembering the name/face/person of Ebel is destroyed. All may recall the Progenitor at will.
Oh, come now; you don't even do me the honor of culling it by name? *EXAGGERATINGLY LARGE EYEROLL*
And perhaps something else about discussing world-changing actions with others, hm? ;)
A sudden sadness fell upon Dajjal. It was not a sadness of anguish, of present torment and dragging woes. It was a sadness of nostalgia, of passing ages, and of the forgetfulness of age. It was a sighing sadness, and the sigh that escaped Dajjal was the cool Eastern Wind, blowing not in sheets but puffs of bright air, sparkling with the dewdrops of early morning.
"It is her, then..." said Dajjal, as though silently hoping her brother was mistaken, "It is our mother."
She turned her gaze to the distant Gate, then, nestled atop the mountain that now pierced the horizon. And as Dajjal stood there, small against the eternity of the sky, of the world, she had never felt so mortal, so raw and alone, so in thrall to her own emotions. She felt taken, at that moment, not to great displays of anger and ferocity or productions of grief, but rather to an utter surrender to the numbness, the emptiness welling up inside her.
But then that old spark, the humming in the air, nudged at her, rallied, lifted her to attention. Now was not the time for passivity, for succumbing to oblivion. Now was the time for action, for taking oblivion by the horns and teaching it how to dance. For Dajjal was going to dance that night. And all the world would follow.
"But Tsiyoti! We can bring her back! We brought back her name, we can bright her back as well."
And so fervent was her belief in this notion, that she even thought she saw the bright form of her mother flowering out of the distant Gate, hands offering to take all the weight of grief and loneliness from the shoulders of her daughter.
"We can do it brother, I know we can."
A vexed look flashed across the old man's face for the briefest of moments before he nodded and bowed.
"Very well. As long as he is awake. It would do you well to heed the words of Prophesy, Arvad. Prophesy speaks from beyond the fabric of this universe, it taps into the very essence of the Gates themselves. Farewell."
With that the man fell backwards and out of the Plane, landing not far from the Wandering Wood.
~Temple of the Elements~
"I and my Kind, Ourogandar?" The Naga smiled as the serpent turned around.
"Yes, I know your name, and I know more about you than you might realize. Tsiyoti provided me with a little bit of history as well as power when he activated this Rod and transformed me. It is true then, that you swallowed the Sun itself." Endrina squinted at the serpent. "I must admit I don't see how it fits... or is comfortable. Regardless, this has been the home of my people since time immemorial, when the Jzahakai were driven from these lands. I do not - Tsiyoti does not - wish conflict between our peoples. I hope we can maintain peace, for his Eyes are now upon this place, for I am here."
OOC
Veok, I think it would be cool if there was a fallen who got Branded.
9 PP: Tsiyoti
8 PP: Pamora, Dajjal, Isura, Akuru-Azu, Amun, Arvad,
7 PP: Erainull, Sephus,
6 PP: Tireas, Baern, Dloz,
5 PP: Velt, Od'Vidr, Jzaquiht, The Silent One, Marsten, Msatnaph
4 PP: Tsoriena, Uwafe,
The circle had been drawn, the stars were aligned, and the spirit had been bound. The chains of Mulfrost bound Tireas, the god of War, tightly. It seemed proper to Pamora to use a sleeping god to fuel the magic that would bring her another god. The sun had been hidden away from the world for too long, and this ritual would rip it from the gullet of the consumer who took it.
Blue fire sprang up around the circle. The goddess spread her arms and looked to the sky. In words of power she began to speak the ritual. "Neuga, ziena, zieber, zom. Now the chosen time has come. Exchange this world for...!"
There was a shift, she could feel it, and the sun was brought back to the mortal world, but not by her power. Well, no matter, that was really what she had wanted in the first place.
Pamora left the sleeping god chained and rushed to where the sun now was.
~Niganati~
It was bright, having the sun underground, but Pamora was already growing accustomed to it. Mulfrost's chains wrapped around the sleeping god and ripped it from the artifact. Curious... it was the sun but the sun was an artifact that didn't seem to belong to it. Strange beings, these other gods, but no matter. However, she wasn't about to leave this being here to be devoured again. She took the sun-god and placed him within the bloom of Ra, hoping that there he might be safe.
PP
6PP Artifact: Mulfrost binds Tireas and Tsoriena.
0pp Cantrip: Pamora removes Tsoriena from the sun and binds him to Ra instead
6PP Artifact: Mulfrost binds Tireas and Tsoriena.
0pp Cantrip: Pamora removes Tsoriena from the sun and binds him to Ra instead
Ourogandr suddenly shattered, leaving a stunned and wholly confused Embrin in its wake. The unwitting mortal half of the avatar stumbled about in a daze, wholly unprepared for the sudden departure of divinity.
~The Aether~
Isura hurtled through the space between worlds. Surprised, curious, and with the hot coals of her anger stoked and ready, but not yet furious. It had been a feeling unlike any she had ever felt before. It felt like her wrist had been snapped 180*, curling around an arm she didn't have; at the same time it felt almost soporific, as if heavy chains of sleep were pulling at her limbs, making each movement cumbersome and ponderous.
And yet, she was fine. These phantom limbs of pain, like overgrown forest causeways, hindering, and yet not hindersome. There was even a duality to the sensations. One was sharp and pulsing, reveling in the pain it outright wrought. That one was mostly foreign. Though it had been closer, she ignored it for now. But the other -- there was an unmistakenable strength and supple smoothness to the sensations. Like folded metal, being beat against some astral forge. The sensation was almost alive, seemingly furious at the sensations own sensation-ness, and the impotence that rendered to it.
Isura erupted from the sub-space, and it was only a minor surpise when she saw the Bronze Colossus of Tireas' godly frame. To Isura's eyes, the god appeared bound in cerulean flames and lavender ice. The twinned shackles enraptured the god's entire body, eventually joining into a single blue-violet chain that spiraled off into the aether.
It took only a thought to part the bindings from the sleeping god. Isura wound the, now free-floating, chain about her arm. Barbs of fire and ice bit into her god-flesh, but did not stop her from tugging. Hard. With any luck, the sudden impulse would inconvenience the chain's owner enough to garner a response.
PP Expenditure
-0 PP Cantrip: Free Tireas from the shackles of Mulfrost
But Dajjal wasn't listening. Her attention was still fixated upon the distant Gate and the mighty Ra flowering up from it. In the light pouring from the latter, she could just make out the form of someone doing, well, something.
"Who is that mucking around with the Gate?" asked Dajjal, still intent upon the figure.
Then light shocked the sky, a peal of radiance from that oddity Ra.
"My dear brother, we should investigate."
High above the Gate Tsiyoti and Dajjal sped to catch Pamora before the God disappeared.
"Pamora. We have need to speak to you. We require one whom you have bound to your service, the God known only by the nickname of "The Silent One"" Tsiyoti rumbled.
~The Garden of the Gods~
The Gods above probably would have been interested in what was going on beneath their feet, but the Garden of the Gods was perhaps the most secure place in the universe, and no one gave it much thought. Not only were the slopes covered in dense fog in which living mists tore the very souls from the bodies of brave adventurers, but the great Elemental Barrier, long since sapped of its power but still a daunting illusion churned in its half-dome across the top of the mountain. And within, Gravity itself was twisted, such that things fell up, landing on the moon in a one-way trip.
And yet, the Dwarves had prevailed, and now were ready to implement their massive machine, a hulking mass of metal with large metal cables that snaked their way back into the mountain and down impossible depths to the City of Fossheim. The other end... the business end, as it were, looked nothing like a cable. Instead, it looked a little like a ladle, a long, slightly curved, gossamer thin sheet of metal. On a signal, it was slowly lowered into the churning eddies of the gate. Immediately, a thin stream of particles began climbing up with metal and towards the machine, which bucked and hummed as the particles entered it.
~Fossheim~
Suddenly the lights grew brighter and the auto-forges forged faster, the pumps forced water back and forth with greater speed and the fountains burst into exilerating splendor. The Golden Age of Fossheim, it was said, had begun.
PP
1 PP + 2 last week: Forge Artifact: The Siphon: Pulls energy from the Gate to power the city of Fossheim. Free, limitless energy. What could possibly go wrong?
1 PP + 2 last week: Forge Artifact: The Siphon: Pulls energy from the Gate to power the city of Fossheim. Free, limitless energy. What could possibly go wrong?
Arkesh turned to what had once been Endrina and contemplated her for a moment. His eyes darted to the strange other being, but then they turned to the Fallen. These things had been being held at bay by the presence of old Fire-Tongue, but were now resuming their approach. "I do not know what you are, either of you, but perhaps there will be time to talk later, after this matter has been dealt with."
~Ra~
Pamora patted the side of Ra, her work finished for the moment. The sleeping god was nestled in its flower, hopefully safe for now. Maybe he would awaken one day -- the goddess wasn't particularly desirous of the domain, just the active stewardship of it -- but perhaps not.
She felt two divine presence approach her and her battle instincts (well, Tireas' battle instincts, but those were hers now) kicked in. She spun and willed a wicked 6-tiped chain flail into existence. The weapon seemed to spring from the bracelet on her arm, and each tip appeared to be different. When she was how was approaching, she didn't quite loose her tension. Her conflict with Arvad had left her leery. Yet, even as she prepared for their arrival, she felt her battle-senses leave her. One of the tips of the flail, a vicious hook, vanished.
Pamora was left disoriented for a moment, a matter made worse by a sudden sense of indigestion. She belched up a few sparks and her flowerfall of hair caught on fire, although it did not burn. A new, fire encased tip appeared on her weapon, next to an obsidian barb. It seemed someone had removed the chains from Tireas and, curiously, put them on someone else. That was, alas, a matter to deal with later.
"Pamora. We have need to speak to you. We require one whom you have bound to your service, the God known only by the nickname of "The Silent One"" Tsiyoti rumbled.
"Hail, Tsiyoti, one of water, and hail to you Dajjal, woman of the winds. I would be glad to aid you, although I do not understand your request. I have not bound any to my service, that I am aware of, nor do I know this Silent One of which you speak."
Well, that wasn't entirely true. She had an inkling of what he was talking about, but did not know how he knew and thus was unwilling to poffer information that might confirm what were only suspicions.
Isura had pulled thousands of meters of chain through the void, and the chains of fire and ice draped her form like gilded metal. She was clearly getting nowhere fast. If physical pulling didn't work...
The Goddess of Fire stroked her piecemeal chainmail and allowed her conciousness to formally drift into the metal. As expected, the chains were wrought with divine power, and Isura's expanded conciousness percieved a pulsing, beating, heart at the center of it all. Isura knocked a claw into the heart of the magic, and like a tuning fork, the artifact began to resonate. A flush of unfamiliar harmonies struck a single, unifying chord.
Isura's thought-form furrowed its hypothetical brows in thought. She struck the heart once more, and this time, held on as the object began to resonate. A swath of half-remembered lyrics enraptured her all at once, but here, within the chaos of the space-between-spaces, the Fire Goddess was in her element. It was child's play to separate the constitute divine notes from the deific harmony.
Velt. The Silent One. Tsoriena. and two others...
Now more curious than ever, Isura followed the chord of The Silent One away from the heart of the artifact. Her ephemeral form eventually stumbled upon a very real captive god, bound in chains as Tireas had been. The cause of his long absence, perhaps? Or simply a symptom of the underlying cause. More than mildly curious now, Isura's will surged, and once more the chains danced to her will, unwrapping the god from the artifact.
PP Expenditure
-0 PP Cantrip: Isura, still unsure of what exactly she's doing or causing, frees The Silent One from the grasp of Mulfrost
Pamora frowned slightly as another god was freed. However, that one was still asleep, as was Tireas. Easy enough to set right, when she had the time. But apparently this not-asleep goddess was going to continue to be troublesome. She could feel the surge of power being sent from that one, through her bracelet, to the others. When Pamora had created Mulfrost she hadn't intended to ever have an awake deity bound with it, so she hadn't made sure to keep their minds and chains separate. But, as the information was flowing through the bracelet on her arm, this was a simple matter to correct. Pamora closed off each chain from the others, stemming the information that the meddler could glean from this method, at least, and forcing her to do a little leg work if she wanted to free the others.
Next, Pamora figured, there needed to be a bit of a distraction to prevent the other goddess from running off on her errand to restore the chained gods to pointlessness. The new Goddess of Fire closed her eyes for a moment and the flames of the meddler's two favored creations, the phoenix and the Embrin, went out. Pamora kept her eyes closed long enough for the meddler to notice, and then opened them, restoring fire to those creatures.
Satisfied for the moment, she looked at Tysoti and Dajjal, waiting for their response.
PP
0PP - Cantrip: Pamora tests out her new domain by suppressing the fiery appearance of the phoenix and Embrin for a short period.
0PP - Cantrip: Pamora tests out her new domain by suppressing the fiery appearance of the phoenix and Embrin for a short period.
"Don't be foolish, woman, we know what's been going on, so you might as just confess! We demand to see the one known as The Silent One at once!"
Dajjal too was bluffing, doing her best to appear much more well-informed than she really was in an attempt to trick Pamora into showing her hand. Truthfully, she had no idea what was going on. But that had never stopped her before.
"As it is, you are currently gazing upon the two oldest beings in existence, the last remaining of the original Four. You should show some respect!"
She glanced at her brother, as though checking to see if her bravado was too much. Her brother's returning look was not encouraging.
"And please friend, help us in our, ah, pursuit."
"I am afraid that you will have to be far more specific than that. There are many gods whom I have met that I never learned there names, and many gods whom I have never met. Have you tried looking in the last place you saw this... Silent One, was it?"
After glancing once more at her brother, the windy goddess drew up her billowing, cumulus form and spoke.
"Don't play games with me, I am looking for the one who once laid claim to Death and its dominion."
She paused to consider Pamora for a moment.
"And I am not speaking of the Traveller, I mean true Death."
The snuffed flames went unnoticed. Not only was Isura not in a position to take notice of them, but she had found something far more interesting. She lingered near the ethereal ghost-imprint of The Silent One. An interesting being, that one. Perhaps, in another time they could have been more than friends. Lovers, even; Lovers twice over.
Viewed through the psychic tendrils of Mulfrost, he looked quite different. Laid open and bare, his psyche translucent, his latent dreams ephermal wisps of half-forged thoughts. His had been a mastery of change in his own way... and even now, spark in slumber, that change, that advent of endings, the start of an eternal journey, the soul's eternal journey, called to her.
Isura crooned to that latent energy. Like the sibilant susurrus of new-moon lovers, the goddess invited the power towards her. And slowly, tenderly, like the shy encroach of an encircling vine, it came for her. Isura shiverred in raw pleasure as the power and knowledge crystalized within her. It felt... good. Opening her eyes, she saw a new view of the cosmos. Everywhere were flickering strands of flame - and all at once, an infinite array of flames flickered and died, and just as quickly, an infinite crucible brought new embers alight.
It was intoxicating. She must have more. And she knew where to get it.
PP Expenditure
-3 PP Forge Artifact (Domain - Death)
"It is in the place that is the dark mirror of this place that I found the form of a God wrapped in chains that positively reeked of your essence. We need that God to restore our Mother to us."
~Niganati~
Endrina laughed.
"Arkesh, I am still your Endrina, although I am not also something more... the Wave-Father has blessed me with his power, but I retain my intellect."
The staff blased cerulean and ice flew from its tip, stabbing into the fallen and driving them backwards.
Secreting the Blink Orb away in his robes (safer for the moment), he stepped through a gateway, emerging near three quarelling gods, one of which included the recently escaped would-be thief.
-----
The anusa slashed viciously at two closing fallen, effortlessly tearing their grasping limbs off, before looking at Arkesh oddly. "This matter? These creatures? They are hardly a matter to be concerned with. Though, if you are concerned, I suppose I could draw my blade instead of humoring them with my claws. Would this be preferable to you?"
"Timberlaine!" The Old man shouted. "I have been to see your God, he who travels, the one called Arvad. And he has sent me back with a message, in his own voice, for you."
Suddenly Arvad's voice came from the old man's throat, the sound rising and fading in a strange fashion:
"We Gods have Planned... This Treant's Destiny... To Seek the Others."
THe old man blinked once and looked at Timberlaine.
"There, in the words of your deity. You are commanded to seek the other implements. Two lie not far to the east."
~Fossheim~
It was nearly limitless power, and with it, the city grew exponentially as great carving machines drilled into the rock of the Godmountain, opening up tunnel after tunnel to the ever expanding dwarven empire. Soon another machine plied the Gate to provide additional power. The Gate pulsed softly in time with the dipping motions of the two generators.
PP
3 PP: Forge Artifact: A second Generator dips into the Gate.
3 PP: Nourish Populace: Fossheim expands massively.
3 PP: Forge Artifact: A second Generator dips into the Gate.
3 PP: Nourish Populace: Fossheim expands massively.
Isura finished marveling in her newfound power and noticed that the chains around her arm had gone dormant. They still sucked at her power, but no longer did they pulse with the blood of six gods. So be it. She cast the now-useless chains from her arm, letting their psychic tendrils drift through space.
The next task was finding a way to reunite with her physical form. Without the tendrils of Mulfrost to follow, she would no doubt be aimlessly lost. Though there was another option...
~The Aether~
Had anyone been watching Isura and Tireas' sleeping forms, they would no doubt be overtaken by the stillness of everything. Both the great bodies simply hung in the vastless expanse, preternaturally absent motion. And then-- suddenly, the stillness was broken. Like some sort of monstrous drain, the flames of Isura seemed to simply snuff out into the irons of Mulfrost, diving headlong into the godartifact. And thus, Mulfrost's physical chains were laid bare as well.
~Meta-Space~
Feeling whole once more, Isura began to explore this new domain. Her gaze saw through the very fibres of the metaverse, as tiny strands of flame flickered, wriggled, spawned, and died. Isura reached out, and began to ply the superstrings like a harp. The universe exalted, bending to the will of Fire. It was sloppy at first, great swaths of life being callously smudged out and relit, but Isura was a quick learner. The goddess moved to where she knew the White Wall to be, and plucked at the strings. In response, a torrent of green life, flagrant protests against the icy cold, erupted from the thick white walls.
PP Expenditure
-3 PP Forge Domain: Renewal
-1 PP Nourish: The White Wall blooms in sudden growths of cryophilic plants.
- The Canvas -
The contents of the Canvas had been hidden away, Dloz needed to think. He might have found a way to stop the oncoming stagnation. Lately a name had kept coming up in his simulations. That name was Ebel. She was an ancient god, more importantly she had been the first conduit of chaos in this world. Thinking about that fact saddened Dloz though. Even though Dloz was the king of chaos he was still weak, so he couldn't stop the oncoming stagnation by himself. He needed Ebel. She had died creating the Elemental Pantheon though. By ripping herself apart she had brought possibility to the world. It was time that her children gave back what they had been given.
Dloz started peeling away the layers of the Canvas to reach the other worlds. "No. They're simulations, not worlds," muttered Dloz to himself as he continued to look for what he wanted. He eventually found the remnant of one of his simulations. In this one he had been beaten to death with a flail covered in flowers. It didn't take long for him to find his dead body and the flail. As his eyes moved to his murderer, he grimaced. The betrayal of his son had hurt far more than the thunderous blows of the flail. He took the murder weapon out of the simulated god's hand.
It had taken hours, but he had collected all the things that had killed him. No. They hadn't killed him. These items had created simulated deaths or had they? They must have. He was here to collect all the items. "Focus, Dloz. There's work to be done," he said to himself. The pile was large and rather gruesome. It included everything from bloody weapons to severed hands. Each of the items had been used to kill him. From these things he planned to create a weapon. He started running around the pile. With each lap Dloz started to run faster. Eventually he was running so fast that it was starting to melt the pile into a glowing pile of slag. Suddenly Dloz thrust his hands into the slag and began to sculpt as he continued to run. Within seconds he had created a wicked looking serrated blade. With this he would put his plan into motion. With this blade Ebel would be reborn.
PP Stuff
3 PP - Forge Artifact (Nightmare Paintbrush - This sword is the stabilized remnants of simulations from the Canvas, specifically items that killed Dloz. The sword is capable of creating illusionary Dloz that gods cannot even identify as illusions.)
3 PP - Forge Artifact (Nightmare Paintbrush - This sword is the stabilized remnants of simulations from the Canvas, specifically items that killed Dloz. The sword is capable of creating illusionary Dloz that gods cannot even identify as illusions.)
One look at the Traveler made Pamora quite willing to help the other two out. "Ah, well that is a horse of a different color. It is so much easier when I know what you are talking about. Come, let us go at once."
The goddess of love opened a portal to the Shadowfell, to the last place she knew the god that they were talking about to be, pushed Dajjal and Tsiyoti through, and closed it, leaving her nemesis back on the natural world.
In this realm, before them slept the old god of death, still chained it would seem, with a husk of a goddess hovering over him. This close, Pamora could feel that the chains were still draining the death-god's domain, still transmitting its essence across time and space, but that there had been a minor disconnect between the collar and the leash. The nearness of the two pieces of Mulfrost caused them to reconnect, but its owner didn't yet accept the essence that the chains tried to give her. She might not understand death as deeply as the one who now slumbered, but she had grown accustomed to it enough that she could feel that the old goddess of fire was trying to procure it. Pamora didn't much care to possess death as long as something was actively done with it. If this goddess could do so, then that was excellent.
The goddess tried to throw off the chains that she had willingly put on, but despite her effort they stayed put. Indeed, in reaction they wrapped further up her arm and began to creep their way around her body. There was only one way to remove them, to have another god take them off. It should be an easy task for any awake deity, but there was no alternative.
As the three arrived the husk fled tried to flee into Mulfrost, but the way had already been shut and Pamora held the heart of the artifact with her. Still, the goddess left, one way or another, and through the chains Pamora could sense that she had made her way to the White Wall. What she did there, Pamora didn't care much, for now.
Turning to Dajjal and Tsiyoti, Pamora smiled, "Is this what you were looking for?"
Shaking his head as he glanced about to decide his next move, he raised a single brow in surprise as the great ice wall turned green. "What in the ages is going on out there? Perhaps an investigation is in order."
With that, he headed off towards green wall of ice.
Isura noted a great vibration among the threads of this new demesnes, and a single, bright blue flame erupted into existence in front of her. She instinctively recognized this as another god. Fire deemed it pudent to manifest some physical form or other, such that this god could see her. Isura remembered this god's harmony - long ago, she had met with he and War.
~The White Wall~
A tear of elemental fire erupted into being at Arvad's approach. The purity of the flame was tainted - a green 'scarf' of fire settled, noose-like, on the outer edge of the tear, as Isura bid acknowledgesence at Travel.
"Greetings, circling one. It has been a long time. What brings you to me?"
Isura's form seemed to still, momentarily, thinking.
"In truth, I am merely biding my time until the end of days. I tried to hasten its arrival earlier, when I swallowed the sun, but though Tsiyoti and the others forced me to stay my hand, it did nothing to halt the coming destruction. Already it has started to claim our peers. I believe Od'vidr was the first, though there are many more empty husks left in its wake. Tireas. The Silent One. The Sun God. Velt too, I think, and perhaps another pair I have never met."
"Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."
"I can taste its approach with this borrowed power. The very forces of the gate of creation that brought everything into being will very soon wreack havoc unimaginable. I do not know why, I do not know when, but I sense its coming all the same. I wait only so that I might reignite the embers left in the ashes. But I have done little creating or regenerating in my time. I thought it best to... practice."
Isura gestured to the wall, and the green flame scarf crackled angrily in response. "I work here away and alone, so as not to disturb others in their last moments."
OOC @Thought
As far as I'm aware, Isura has never met Pamora. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Materializing his staff, Arvad held it high, sending a shiockwave of power rolling across the land. "Let the reapers collect once more and right that which has been long neglected."
His angry eyes focused on Isura once more. "But now, time to avenge our fallen friends. If these chains channelled the power of those bound, then I know who we seek. Pamora is her name, and she recently sought to steal a possession of mine, and failed. I dissmissed this slight as nothing more than an arrogant upstart flexing her muscles, the binding of our fellows is unforgivable. ANd she admitted to me that she stole deaths power, and magics as well."
"Come Isura, let us go and punish this insolent whelp."
Actions
0 PP - Cantrip - The Reapers begin collecting the spirits of the dead once more. Occurences of undead creatures fall to more normalized levels.
It was like a flash of lightning - phantasmagoric constructs shattering into a kaleidoscope of fractured insights. The chains, but that meant--
~The White Wall~
Realization gave way to insight. The green flames burst with the illusory freedom they had engendered, revealing a goddess bound in chains of light. The Light of Ra blazed around Isura, biting cruelly into her fire-flesh, and adrip with the blood of sparks and cinders. "Traveller! I have erred; I misattributed cause and result, and am bound in ignorance because of it!"
Isura struggled, but to no avail. "Traveller! I beg your aid! Free me from this 'Pamora's trap, and I shall aid your vengence with the fury of Death and Destruction combined."
PP Expenditure
-1 PP - Given to Arvad
0/8 remaining
With all his might, Arvad struck out with his staff, slamming it into the chains. Accessing the deepest core of his domain, he sent motion into the chains, the energy setting them to rattling along their length, shaking and jumping about. The energy grew more intense by the moment, until their wielder could feel without doubt that an assault was being made on her possession. Then, it a resounding crack, the energy binding Isura shattered outwards, sending Arvad tumbling into the snow.
Crawling slowly to his feet, he could only stare in shock at his scorched left hand holding a peice of his staff.
PP Expenditures
3 PP - De-Forge Artifact - A section of the Mulfrost is destroyed
0 PP - Cantrip - The Traveler's Staff is shattered into nine peice and scattered across the world. They will rejoin with each other if reunited.
0 PP - Cantrip - Arvad's appearance has changed. His left hand is now scarred as if burnt. He tends to keep it withdrawn into his sleeve to hide it from view.
6/8 PP
0 PP - Cantrip - The Traveler's Staff is shattered into nine peice and scattered across the world. They will rejoin with each other if reunited.
0 PP - Cantrip - Arvad's appearance has changed. His left hand is now scarred as if burnt. He tends to keep it withdrawn into his sleeve to hide it from view.
6/8 PP
"I do not know of this Pamora, but I do know Tsiyoti, and yes, even the fool, Dajjal; I dare say they would be very interested to learn of these transgressions."
Isura's body seemed to narrow, seething with white-hot fury. "The end of the world can wait. Let us to our vengence. The sanctity of our uneasy brotherhood has been shattered with this divine maleficence. The only proper response is in blood."
Using his good hand, he pulled the Blink Orb out, subtly manipulating it's powers to open a gateway. "Through there, Isura, our destiny awaits."
Slipping the orb safely away, he ducked into the portal, to appear behind Tsiyoti, Dajjal, and Pamora.
"Wavelein." said, simply acknowledging Tsiyoti. She turned towards Dajjal, but as she had foreseen, the goddess looked past her. But Dajjal clearly saw the being that entered after her.
"Hello for hi, long time of the windings, mistress, hellos!"
"But of course!" cried Dajjal as she beheld the two new visitors, "I have been most blind!"
She smiled broadly, and glanced at Tsiyoti. Revelation was sliding into place, and she extrapolated the rest. She jabbed a finger at the Light.
"Brother, we had no need to come here! There is your answer!" said Dajjal, "It comes to us in all it's brightly glory!"
"The one who made me forget!"
And without waiting for backup, without pausing to acknowledge the Traveller or even to explain any further, Dajjal lashed out, her windy limbs thrown akimbo. The crypt-air of this place, musty and stale, shivered once, groaning as it protested, angry for having been awoken. It whipped out, invisible hands harder than steel, and reached for the arriving Light.
"Gave your permission! Gave your permission!"
"I-" and it came flowing back. Memory, liquid as quicksilver, viscous as mud, and she remembered why the pain of remembering had been so great the last time. She had hurt so bad to remember Ebel because, well, she had done it herself.
And the bands of whirly wind relaxed, fell away to sleep again.
"Tsiyoti, my dear brother, it's true," said Dajjal, "This.. creature, despite it's faults, speaks the truth. I chose to forget our mother."
But then, as if to make up for the feeling of guilt, the moment of weakness, she lashed out with her words, bitterness and contempt rising to her service this time.
"But you, Light, why did you do it? Why did you make me forget? What was in it for you?"
"Now is not the time, Dajjal. We Do remember, and that is far more important. Task at hand, task at hand. And we have something..." his voice grew darker as he spoke "else to discuss."
The Titan let go of the God and Exarch and nodded to Arvad and Isura before turning back to Pamora and the Chained Silent One
"Why is this God Chained, Pamora. And why does it sleep? Explain yourself. Immediately."
Turning on Pamora, his eyes narrowed dangerously. "Eventually, is Pamora were allowed to have her way, this is all any of us would be. We must cast Pamora down, and we must destroy these chains, here and now!"
Without waiting for any response, he thrust his scarred hand free from his sleeve, unleashing a bone rattling blast of sound onto the sleeping god, shattering the chains in a single pass, their falling peices tinkling quietly as he slowly move towards Pamora.
PP Expenditures
3 PP - De-Forge Artifact - More of the chains of Mulfrost are destroyed.
3/8 PP
3/8 PP
"Hail Friend. Wait. I learned well what conflict does when I faced mighty Tireas in combat. Isura was there and can attest to what occured. Let us allow Pamora to speak. Perhaps there is a reason for all of this."
It looked directly at her, and thought a single word -- extremely unusual for the being. There was no context to abuse, no innuendo or easy lies easily mutable to hide the simple truth.
The Light Fantastic had uttered a single word, but it was not up to it what was to be done with it. Only Dajjal's mind could, or could not, make sense of it.
The word was:
"Sister."
With a wave of his good hand, Arvad brought forth a burst of light, forming a great sphere all around the assembled gods. "You shall not escape this time, Pamora."
PP Expenditures
0 PP - Cantrip - Walls of light designed to inhibit gods from leaving. No real enforcement, just a note to trying to prevent escapes.
It was no a word, no, that's what her brain told her. It wasn't even a sound. Had she even heard it? No. For that fraction of an instant she knew, the Light had not spoken, the mouth had not moved, and no fatal word or curse or malediction had tumbled from therein. In that instant there was peace.
But it was a word, a word she had known for a very long time, almost since birth. She was a sister, yes, the Velt, and Od'Vidr and Tsiyoti and... It was a word. And the burbling, frothing, foaming turmoil ceased under the tide of cool logic and she settled. Yes. Sister. She was sister. A sister to four.
No. Three. Three brothers and a sister. Yes? Three brother and... but the sister wasn't her, the sister was another, a hated other, a vile, loathed and despicable other. Why was this so difficult?
Because she had forgotten. Just as she had forgotten a mother, she had forgotten a sister. But she could not comprehend, because her brain could not process, could not allow that other admittance.
And so she broke, she collapsed. Upon herself she fell, into a smaller and smaller point. Until it was infinitesimal, until it was nothing, until she was nothing. And still she fell, and all the winds in all the worlds fell as well.
The quaint little assembly of gods was disrupted by a sucking sound, quiet at first, but growing louder all the time. Dajjal had disappeared from their midst, her godly form diminished to a singularity, impossibly small, and the sound continued to rise, growling at first, then climbing to a steady roar. It was as though a hole had been punched in the fabric of the universe, and all the air was being sucked through it. The sound rose, to a deafening pitch, and then louder, even more terrible and awesome than the speech of gods in its breadth and tone.
And then the motion, the motion of the wind and the air all moving inexorably towards this spot. And the winds rushed, the winds blew, and the winds tossed, sucking towards that infinitely small point.
In the world, the full breadth of the effect was seen as hurricane force winds rushed at the planar boundaries, sucked towards that point in time and space, and as the winds went, so did the trees, pulled from their rootings like a child grasping at twigs. And the houses, and the people, plucked from the earth by the gale-winds. And the mountains themselves trembled, and the sky was awash with water from the seas, and trees and earth from the land. And the vacuum created by the disappearing air sucked all upwards in its maddening pull. And the gods had mere seconds before the earth itself would split, buckling under the pressure of the suddenly vanishing winds.
PP
8 PP Harm - All the wind in all the world is sucked out through a tiny singularity caused by the implosion of the Wind Goddess, causing immeasurable destruction.
Dloz, in the form of the Weaver, slid out from the shadows. He found himself in a large cavern of ice. Before him sat a large, slumbering humanoid form in a throne of ice. This was Od'Vidr, the God of Ice. Dloz began to walk to the throne of Od'Vidr. As he stepped closer he drew the Nightmare Paintbrush from his robe. The blade began to morph into its dagger form. It took a bit for Dloz's tiny form to climb up the giant's throne, but not impossible. Eventually Dloz positioned himself near Od'Vidr's face. With what resembled glee Dloz plunged his dagger into Od'Vidr's left eye socket. Dloz wiggled the dagger in the slumbering god's eye socket a bit to pop out the eye. With a juicy popping sound the eye fell into Dloz's hand. The God of Chaos walked back into the shadows he had come from clutching the god's eye and the bloody dagger.
Shadow
Aww, deforging? That is a fairly lame way to end an artifact. I thought you were going to scatter them across the world for mortals to use?
"What foolishness is this that you would seek to impose your own views on reality? Matter is not so volatile as to vanish without supervision, and it is indicative of your own hubris, your desire to play the martyr, that you invested yourself in this so heavily. "
"I... I... accept your logic, Pamora. I do imagine Dajjal would say you have much of Ebel within you. Wouldn't you Da-"
At that moment Dajjal imploded. Caught off guard, the God, who had been standing closest to the Goddess of wind, tumbled towards the rift. Crying out, the God spat out his watery form, which flew away from the rift while the coral body hit where Dajjal had been and shattered into a million pieces before being sucked through one by one.
Tsiyoti stared in awe at his broken form as he began floating back towards the hole, resisting all the way.
"What Happened? Who struck at Dajjal? What is going on?" he shouted.
spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?...
This is the FINAL reset of Lords of Creation: Gates of Eternity. As is customary, double PP is awarded to all players in this round to wrap up any last-minute things. Please take this coming week to wrap up loose ends and set up plot hooks for GMs hoping to use this setting. If you do not intend to use your PP, or do not intend to use all of it, please consider giving it to another active player. I (Toph/Tsiyoti) will gladly take any PP that people do not intend to use (note in the OOC thread). The Game will End (at the earliest) next weekend, and may continue for a few days to reach a suitable conclusion if need be. NO MORE PP is coming after today, though, and you should NOT assume that the game will run past this coming sunday.
Another note. Please do not use this extra PP do do major destructive things. This is for wrapping up of projects, not major changes to the fabric of the game. Actions which appear to be using this extra PP for spiteful or overpowerful purposes will be addressed by the Admins
20 PP: Tsiyoti
16 PP: Pamora, Dajjal, Isura, Akuru-Azu, Amun, Arvad
14 PP: Erainull, Sephus, Dloz.
12 PP: Tireas, Baern
10 PP: Velt, Od'Vidr, Jzaquiht, The Silent One, Marsten, Msatnaph
8 PP: Tsoriena, Uwafe.
The destruction on the island was unimaginable. Much of the island was covered in crimson blood from pigs that appeared to have been splattered on the ground. Off in the distance Dloz could see a scourge dragon feeding on a splattered pig. Dloz put the dragon to sleep with a wave of his hand as he began to walk to it. Once he was within a few feet of the dragon he drew the Nightmare Paintbrush. He started peeling away the flesh on the dragon's right front leg. After all the flesh was gone Dloz started to carve the formulas he had written in his book a long time ago. Despite the leg's size it could not fit all the formulas, so Dloz put the flesh back on to the leg. He moved to a different part of the dragon to continue his grizzly work.
It had taken hours but Dloz was finally done. Now every bone in the dragon's body was cover in formulas from his book. He grinned as he thought of what the dragon could now do. There was one final thing he needed to do to complete his work. Dloz phased his hand through the dragon's skull. His fingers slithered through the dragon's brain rewiring neural connections. This was the final blessing for the dragon. Now it could think like Dloz. Dloz sent the dragon to the Canvas to breed. The god faded away like a dying ember.
- Velt's Cave -
Dloz emerged from the shadows still dripping dragon blood. He didn't even notice the blood, he was too focused on the form in the middle of the subterranean cave. It was Velt, the God of Earth. Dloz started walking towards the slumbering god-dragon while shaking his head. It shouldn't be this easy to reclaim the pieces of Ebel, but apparently the Elemental Pantheon didn't feel a need to protect their own. He shrugged, it didn't matter to Dloz. The God of Chaos raised the Nightmare Paintbrush, in sword form, above his head. The sword slammed down into the left wrist of Velt. Dloz bent down to pick up Velt's claw. As Dloz's fingers touched the claw it turned into a human hand. With his gruesome prize in hand, Dloz melted away.
PP Stuff
3 PP put into Alter on Scourge Dragons
3 PP put into Alter on Scourge Dragons
The winds stopped. There was no more. The hole closed. All was silent.
From dust to dust she said it would go, and here dust again. Dust settling, dust on the floor, dust in your hair. But no dust on the wind. She would not live to see the Age of Dust, but we will, we stoic few, proud in our memories, in our steadfast, illogical, but incontrovertible lives. We remain to see the dust.
It was said in time gone by that dust was of earth, and not of air. She could hold no dominion there. But we of stone and wind will rule, for we lucky few are right, just and true. We sit not on pearly clouds or twinkling stars, no. Our beds are the earth, and we rest our heads on the mossy stones. We are of the earth, but also of the sky as we keep to the ground, our gaze ever skywards.
We are not gods, no, but we are something. We have something They know not, and we are shepherds, stewards of our fate. She is gone now. We mourn her passing from Dust into Dust, but we rejoice, for we, those faithful ones, Believed, and now we Believe anew. The winds have gone, but we sing their songs. Perhaps they shall blow anew. With our songs they shall blow anew. But with our fury they will rise, our peace they will fall, and we shepherds of fate will be shepherds of the sky.
Rejoice, for She is fallen!
Rejoice, for She will fly anew!
Rejoice, for we have risen!
Rejoice, and the world will too!
~Prayer for the Winds; Book of the Tarnish
PP
4 PP Nourish - The Tarnish have been blessed by the power of the winds. Collectively, they now hold the Domain of Wind, and from their prayers, the winds blow anew.
"What happened, Tsiyoti? Her own idiocy is what happened. She found her mind trapped between a rock and a hard place of her own devising, and would rather die than give me the satisfaction of forcing her hand." Isura's words were as much psychic resonance as they were sound, the only way to be sure to be heard over the rush of wind.
Flame and Light were streaming freely into Dajjal's wake, but neither party seemed to care overmuch (the emanations being a consequence of their biology, and not a necessary part of it).
And then silence.
Isura turned to Pamora, changing tactics. "Answer me this, Blood-of-Six-Gods" called Isura, seizing the silence in the sudden calm of wind. "What did you hope to gain with this? Would you eventually be god of everything, a singular lord of creation? Why are you so steadfast in your adherence to the necessity of duty?"
PP Expenditure
-2 PP Harm:Isura guarantees that Pamora's Ash Eye and Fire Essence Cantrip is swallowed whole into Dajjal's wake, irrevocably and absolutely destroyed.
14
When Pamora was created, it was by the last essence of an old goddess attempting to reconstitute itself. However, the essences of five mortals had subjugated her, keeping her from dominating the new form, and so the voices of the six beings inside of Pamora had become one voice, her voice. Now, though, the catastrophe of Dajjal's death had upset the balance, for it caused great grief to the essence of Ebel that rested within. That essence writhed and struggled and clawed its way closer to the surface; not close enough to dominate, but close enough to influence Pamora's mind and words more than the others.
Pamora looked down at her hand that had held the eye. When the wind came, she had gripped it tightly but another force, a familiar godly force, and ripped it out of her grasp and ensured it passed beyond the veil. She sighed and looked up at Isura. Her eyes weren't angry, they were sad and tired, like those of a mother who had watched for look long as her child ruined all she touched.
"What foolishness is this that you would seek to impose your own views on reality?"
Pamora strode forward and backhanded Isura with her upper left hand. "We are gods, reality is subject to us."
"Matter is not so volatile as to vanish without supervision, and it is indicative of your own hubris, your desire to play the martyr, that you invested yourself in this so heavily."
Pamora struck again, this time with her lower left hand. "We are gods, we invest ourselves in the world."
"Her own idiocy is what happened. She found her mind trapped between a rock and a hard place of her own devising, and would rather die than give me the satisfaction of forcing her hand."
That insult to Dajjal was too much. Again Pamora backhanded Isura again, now with her upper right hand, and the sound of the fire goddess being beaten echoes throughout the plane. "We are gods, we bow to no one, not even each other."
"Why are you so steadfast in your adherence to the necessity of duty?"
For the last time Pamora struck Isura with her lower right hand. Like all the others it hit true. "We are gods."
"We are gods, but you are not. You are an aberrant, half formed, stillborn child. I know not what mistake the ancient one made in creating you, but her name should have remained purged from reality for the sin of giving birth to you."
She glanced at Tsiyoti for a moment. "You have the Silent One there, made a husk of a god by other hands than mine. Do with it as you wis-"
Pamora paused and frowned. "Someone is attacking the god of Earth. I can only feel that he is in pain, but as you are the only real elemental left, Tsiyoti, it is best if you check in on him."
Pamora left the fire goddess to tend to her four wounds and went to the curtain of light and began to rip it down, so that she might leave.
Lost in his own fury, he tackled her, hands and the threads of travel reaching for her throat, seeking to squeeze the very life from her.
With the weapon in hand, Pamora felt ready for the Traveler's next attack.
PP
3PP Artifact: Pamora creates the Flail of the Gods. A weapon artifact, suitable for the epic tier of play. The notable feature of the item is that it can have a chain with a related effect from any domain in existence, although the holder of the weapon does need to be allied in some way with the god representing that domain in order for this chain to appear and function. In the hands of a mortal, this will usually take the form of whatever god that mortal serves and any gods allied with that one.
3PP Artifact: Pamora creates the Flail of the Gods. A weapon artifact, suitable for the epic tier of play. The notable feature of the item is that it can have a chain with a related effect from any domain in existence, although the holder of the weapon does need to be allied in some way with the god representing that domain in order for this chain to appear and function. In the hands of a mortal, this will usually take the form of whatever god that mortal serves and any gods allied with that one.
~Velt's Cave~
Only to appear moments later in the dank cave that had been the home of the sleeping God for aeons. Immediatly, Tsiyoti moved closer and saw the missing hand.
"Mutilation!" He cursed, pushing himself backwards. On a hunch, he twisted in place and vanished once more, a command filling the space he had been.
"Stay here, Pamora.
Moments later he returned in a splash of water.
"Od'Vidr's eye is missing, carved out of its socket. Someone is targeting the Elementals. Tell me, Pamora. Do you have any others tied to you? I must discover the meaning of this and punish whomever has decided to be so cavalier with my sleeping brethren."
Unleashing a huge burst of power to shatter her binding artifact, he dove in at her again, struggling with all his might to throttle her even as he ignored the stinging hits from her flail.
PP Expenditures
12 PP - Alter Artifact - The Mulfrost is disabled. All chains are removed from gods so restrained and shatter, scattered about the world, falling to earth in what appears to be a wide spread shower of falling stars.
4/16 PP
4/16 PP
Wind.
A simple wind was blowing, a mundane northerly wind, gusting down from the mountain to roll pleasantly southwards, catching in momentary flurries and updrafts. The wind tumbled like falling leaves, buzzed like flying insects, and raced along underfoot like some little thing off to do mischief. It was a nice wind, a calming wind. It was the sort of gentle breeze that provides respite from hours toiling in the field. But it was also a darker wind, that blew in clouds dark and heavy with rain. It was a dangerous wind, that caught up trees and set them dancing, that tossed the sands and set them in their dunes. The wind was all of these things and more. But in the end, it was just wind, caused by subtle changes in the atmosphere.
The wind was mundane, yes. But perfectly so. It was said that the prayers of the Stone Angels could shift the wind's course, but who could say for certain?
The only absolute was that the wind was just, and fair, and blew where it would. The wind harboured no grudges, nurtured no preference. It did not hate, steal or lie. It was the wind, pure and simple; remarkable and completely mundane. And it was perfect.
Isura endured the beating nonchalantly. Pamora's fists struck true, but like The Silent One's blade, so very long ago, they found little purchase within the flame of the Fire Wraith's form.
"You seem hung up on that word. You may bow to no one, you may invest yourself in the world, but to mandate the same is true of any other is merely a projection of your own egotisms."
Tsiyoti intervened, Arvad vanished, and Isura was left alone with The Light Fantastic.
"Such venom in that one."
"Yes for yes."
"I suppose I should assist The Traveller, at least, in some small way." Isura snapped her fingers, and the long-dormant Phoenix Raiment warped through time and space. With any luck, it would find Arvad in a matter of moments.
PP Expenditure
-0 PP Cantrip: Isura sends the Phoenix Raiment, long worn by Tireas, to the aid of Arvad.
Isura was so good at ignoring things, but simply ignoring did not change reality. She had been struck, and those strikes, delivered by a god, had found purchase. She could ignore this, but that did not change reality. Where she had been struck, puss began to ooze out, producing black smoke as her own flames tried to burn it. That puss fell among the spirits of the dead, and seeped out into the natural world, altering them and investing them with power.
PP
3pp Alter-Artifact: The death domain leaves Isura and is invested, instead, in mortal spirits. To control death, one must first capture the spirit of something that is already dead and, in essence, burn it for power.
10PP remaing
3pp Alter-Artifact: The death domain leaves Isura and is invested, instead, in mortal spirits. To control death, one must first capture the spirit of something that is already dead and, in essence, burn it for power.
10PP remaing
Face to face, she saw madness looming in his eyes, but her struggles were for naught. "Lets send you back to the abonimable hellhole you crawled out of!" Without a second thought, Arvad dragged her into the gate.
For a long moment, the gate was still, and then all was gone, a flash of light and a rolling shockwave, obliterating the mountain and everything about it.
For a long few moments, he travel domain fell silent across the world. People couldn't gather the energy to move. Birds fell from the sky. The wind and waves slowed to a crawl, and transpotation devices simply stopped. But only for a moment. Then it all returned to normal, as if Arvad had never been. As if he had never even been necessary.
PP Expenditures
2 PP - Mold Land - God's Mountain is now a smoking crater.
2 PP - Harm Populace - The dwarves naturall suffer from the destruction of their mountain. I'll leave the results on that up to Toph.
0 PP - Cantrip - Stop all mortal motion for a few moments.
Arvad is dead. Pamora's fate is entirely left up to Thought.
Technically, the Blink Orb would be caught in the explosion, but since I lack the PP to destroy it, and without it, travel magics don't function, I'll assume it took itself back to the center of the Shifting Maze.
2 PP - Harm Populace - The dwarves naturall suffer from the destruction of their mountain. I'll leave the results on that up to Toph.
0 PP - Cantrip - Stop all mortal motion for a few moments.
Arvad is dead. Pamora's fate is entirely left up to Thought.
Technically, the Blink Orb would be caught in the explosion, but since I lack the PP to destroy it, and without it, travel magics don't function, I'll assume it took itself back to the center of the Shifting Maze.
~The Dwarves of the Godmountain~
Engineer Flint grumbled angrily to himself as he made his way along the power conduit -- a power conduit that had mysteriously gone dormant. An irritating mistake that he now had to fix.
The Dwarf stopped, suddenly, when he realized that the conduit beside him was thrumming with power. What, had the blasted thing gone and fixed itself? So he had come all the way out here for nothing? No... wait. The power just... stopped. Present on one side, absent on the other. No... it was more like... there was some sort of plug in the conduit? That didn't make sense. The Power Conduit was simply sapping energy from the Gate of Eternity -- there was nothing more physical in there, was there?
Now mildly perturbed, Flint removed his work hammer and prepared for the oldest trick in the book of Dwarven engineering: percussive maintainence.
Flint raised his hammer high and pounded the metal section of pipe as hard as he could. A burst of energy sent Flint staggering backwards, blind and numb. In a few minutes, he came to, the ringing in his head stopped, and he regained feeling in his arms (though his hammer was nowhere to be seen). But the conduit was alive and buzzing again.
Flint smirked. Percussive maintainence was the best kind of maintainence.
----------------
Far above the lone Engineer, Overseer Diorit stared blankly at the object he held in his hand. It was nearly as large as a shield, light as a feather, and unmistakably an eye. A left eye.
And then, the gate exploded.
PP Expenditure
-3 PP: (re)Forge Artifact: Left Eye of Ebel - The Left Eye of Ebel, sacrificed into the gate so very long ago to incarnate Isura, is dredged up by Dwarven Machines. A little battered, perhaps, but mostly none the worse for wear.
- The Canvas -
The scourge dragons had been doing well while Dloz was running his errand. Most noticeably they had started building what appeared to be an empire. Though as Dloz watched them go about their day he realized they didn't speak. He knew it wasn't for lack of mental ability. In fact it appeared they had created a complex physical and written language. With a flick of his hand a burst of energy surged across the Canvas. Dloz had no idea whether the dragons would develop a spoken language, but now they had the ability. The God of Chaos was swept away like a sand dune in a storm.
- Akuru-Azu's Palace -
Dloz emerged into a large throne room. What was with gods and palaces? Were they so insecure of their authority that they needed to make overt shows of their power? He shrugged as he started walking towards the slumbering goddess's throne. Was Akuru-Azu a goddess or a god? Dloz had learned of this deity's past in one of the other worlds he had visited. Why was his mind wandering so much? This seemed to be becoming a regular issue. He focused his mind on the task at hand. As his foot hit the first stone step leading up to the throne Dloz forced Akuru-Azu back into her original form, C'thruul. The throne didn't seem to be designed for C'thruul. His many tentacles draped over the arms of the throne like noodles dangling off of a table. Dloz drew the Nightmare Paintbrush, in its dagger form, out of the right sleeve of his robe. With unimaginable brutality Dloz started ripping apart C'thruul. It surprised Dloz how little time it took to reach the stomach of the slumbering god. He stuck the Nightmare Paintbrush back into his robe sleeve. For some reason Dloz felt it was appropriate for this part to use his hands. Dloz ripped the stomach in half with his bare hands. His heart dropped as he saw the contents of the stomach. All that was left of Ebel was a sort of meat paste. He started shoving the paste into a hemp-thread bag that materialized in his left hand. With a grin on his face, Dloz walked away from the carcass of C'thruul with the bag over his left shoulder. He left a trail of blood in his wake.
PP Stuff
1 PP (3 already invested) - Alter (Scourge dragons are now a sentient race, in addition to being mindless beasts back in the real world. The sentient scourge dragons are capable of speech and alchemy without drawing the formulas.)
0 PP - Cantrip (Akuru-Azu is forced back into C'thruul's form. I think this is kosher since she was asleep.)
0 PP - Cantrip (Dloz creates a hemp-thread bag.)
1 PP (3 already invested) - Alter (Scourge dragons are now a sentient race, in addition to being mindless beasts back in the real world. The sentient scourge dragons are capable of speech and alchemy without drawing the formulas.)
0 PP - Cantrip (Akuru-Azu is forced back into C'thruul's form. I think this is kosher since she was asleep.)
0 PP - Cantrip (Dloz creates a hemp-thread bag.)
A pool of dirty water flecked with divine blood seeped out from under a pile of rubble and unsteadily formed itself into a sphere.
"Pamora. Are you alive? What did Arvad do?" The God asked unsteadily
The Gates of Creation weren't a thing, or a place, but rather a possibility. They were a hole in what-was through which what-might-be could pass. Motes of potentiality, matter and energy both existing and not, had pooled around the gates, creating the visible effects that the mortals gods could see, and that was what had been ignited, but the Gates still stood, as much as something that doesn't actually exist can stand.
In the madness in Arvad's eyes, Pamora had gained a degree of understanding of the rot that was infecting the world. There was a reason why gods went to sleep, a reason why gods went mad. At the very beginning things had been set afoul and the only way to cure the situation was to cut out the illness and start anew fresh. That rot had near dominated Arvad, at the end, and that rot was part of her as well. It was right that she go. Yet in the final moments, before the potentiality of her form returned to the gates, another spark approached her and she could feel that it had been waiting too long. It needed to live, err the end. It needed to set things right.
So, Pamora pushed it. A restricting web held it back, but Pamora pushed harder, and it was freed. And the goddess was no more.
Certainly, with Pamora's death no one stopped loving or being passionate, but then, nature never needs a gardener. Without one, the world is less, the world is a bramble, so yes, one doesn't need a god to manage things, but it is the wants that make life worth living and a world worth existing.
~God Crater~
In the smoking ruins of the God Mountain a dwarven hand held an eye. The rest of the creature had been destroyed, and the hand itself burned, but it had survived, as had the eye. In the eye the fires that had destroyed the mountain still seemed to dance. The reflected light seemed to pool together and then, curiously, the fires stepped out through the pupil. The fires grew until they were the size and shape of a small child. Where the wind whipped against it, the creature's skin cooled and seemed black, but elsewhere it glowed red and orange, as if it were nothing but glowing embers, warm and inviting.
"Pamora. Are you alive? What did Arvad do?" The God asked unsteadily.
If Tsiyoti had lungs to hold air, that air would have been forced from him by the impact of the little child and it ran and embraced the water in a hug. How water could be hugged is merely a formallity, and though wisps of steam rose from where fire and water touched, neither felt pain. Indeed, warmth and love tried to flood into the water-gods mind.
"Oh brother, it is so wonderful to finally see you with eyes."
PP
0PP Pamora dies and a new goddess of fire is born
0PP Pamora dies and a new goddess of fire is born
Tsiyoti's mind was sluggish, a muddy morasse of what it had been, and so it took some time for the words of the flame-child to percolate through to the core of the being.
"I... what? Child, who are you? Why do you greet me so fondly?" The god blorbled, words seemeing to leak out of the battered form. The Child continued its embrace and slowly but surely, the warmth and love of the Child permeated the form of the God and the dirt that had filled the God's form began collecting and dropping out in clod after clod of mud.
"We are related, aren't we, little one?" The God gasped as his thoughts sped up. "But how is that even possible?"
~The Collapse (A few minutes prior)~
The first indication that anything was wrong in Fossheim was a sudden change to the pitch of the new turbines being driven by the Gate, for although the devastation of Arvad's suicide had not yet expanded far through the mountain, the Gate had already been affected by the divine energy departing the world. This lasted for a few seconds and threw the lights of the City into chaos, fluxuating wildly, some shattering under the voltage and spraying the nearby area with toxic chemicals and fragments of glass. The dwarves who were struck cursed in surprise, but before they could reach the hands up to pick out the glass shards, destruction came to meet them.
Fossheim, city of waterfalls, had been built on a large underground lake, now ringed with buildings and lit from above by vast hanging chandeliers. Now the water that had flowed downward sped upwards in a maelstrom of steam, rock and scalding hot mud, catching the dwarves unaware and shattering bone, scalding flesh and snuffing out life in a matter of seconds. The facades of the city buckled and the great wheels that had powered the city for so long before the recent harnessing of the Gate broke free and fell inwards, only to be shattered.
The water was followed by the actual mountain, which bulged outwards, smashing most of the remaining buildings to smithereens. However, one section of the city was carrier by the explosion upwards, riding on a bed of rocks as the mountain above them split open.
The few surviving dwarves got a brief look at the Gate, which pusled in crimson and mauve before being caught by the reverse gravity which still functioned and pulled away from the explosion. The piece of city floated upwards to crash into the moon.
The Great Ra fared no better than the rest of the mountain, its trunk splitting open in a shower of splinters that raced up the trunk to the great light-bulb, which exploded in a flurry of petals and seeds which spread to the ends of the world. With the bulb gone, the world was plunged into semi-darkness, lit only by the red burning rocks that flew from the ruins of the Godmountain and the Gate itself, finally visible to the world as it pulsed angrily and the stars which flickered faintly in the distance.
The Rocks flew outwards, crashing into the nearby ecosystems and dragging deep furrows through the Sea of Daj and the Wandering Wood. And then, finally, in darkness, there was silence and the mortal races slowly peeked out from their hovels and wept at what had occured.
PP
2 PP: Harm Dwarves. For good measure.
1 PP: "Guide" Populace: The Remnant of the dwarves now live on the Moon.
3 PP: Decreate Artifact: Ra is unmade.
2 PP: Nourish Land. Sun-flowers (small shrub-like trees that put out a bloom like Ra that glows brightly) are seeded all across the world.
1 PP: Mold Land: Deep furrows are dug in the Wandering Wood
1 PP: Mold Land: Deep furrows are dug in the Sea of Daj
10 PP remains.
2 PP: Harm Dwarves. For good measure.
1 PP: "Guide" Populace: The Remnant of the dwarves now live on the Moon.
3 PP: Decreate Artifact: Ra is unmade.
2 PP: Nourish Land. Sun-flowers (small shrub-like trees that put out a bloom like Ra that glows brightly) are seeded all across the world.
1 PP: Mold Land: Deep furrows are dug in the Wandering Wood
1 PP: Mold Land: Deep furrows are dug in the Sea of Daj
10 PP remains.
"We are related, aren't we, little one?" The God gasped as his thoughts sped up. "But how is that even possible?"
"Our mother gave birth to us both, though mine was a bit complicated. Do you remember when... no, you're younger than that, aren't you. Oh, excuse me." The goddess let go of her brother and stepped back to conversation-distance.
"Mother created air and earth first, and then ice and fire, and finally you, water. Or rather that was her intention. She created me, Arusi, the true name of fire, but when I tried to manifest in the world, an aberrant mote of possibility trapped me and took my place. I thought that mother would recognize the imposter right away, but she did not. Then I hoped one of you, my siblings, would see the truth, but none of you did. Only that goddess who just died -- Pamora, I think you said her name was -- even noticed that something was wrong with the world."
The warmth remained in her voice, but her tone became grave. "For there is something wrong with the world. You may have not noticed the imposter, but surely you've noticed her effect on the world? How things have never seemed as alive as they should have been? How things have never been as exciting or interesting as they should have been? How gods drift into slumber or madness? She is the source of this. She was the point of infection, though the rot has spread to all the gods."
Arusi stepped back, the glow of her skin causing light to dance among the charred remains of Ra. "I can see you doubt my words. Do not trust them, then, but your own experience. Who was the first god to fall asleep? Od'Vidr, who should have been my twin. His birth was nearest the advent of the aberrant, and so he fell first. Velt went soon after. Dearest Dajjal, she clawed at life and hung on for so long, but in the end the wrongness took her. It could not claim her mind, so it took her body. And the other gods as well. The wrongness was made into our nature, so it spread to all the gods. Others, they were driven mad by the aberrant influence, like that poor Traveler. I believe you knew him to be a reasonable, good god once. It was the taint of the aberrant that got him in the end. I doubt she knows what she is doing, but the heart-sickness of the universe spirals out from her. If this infection is not cured, then all the vigor of this place will be tainted, consumed, and destroyed. The world will become a dull, stagnate place. The aberrant must be destroyed. Unfortunately, so must we, and the other gods. The taint as become part of what it means to be a god, so all of us must be returned to the Gate. I believe that we'll be born again, but even if we are not, then the gods who come after us will be free from this sickness. The world will be made whole."
Dloz walked around the village dragging the Nightmare Paintbrush behind him. He had transformed the weapon into its scythe form, it seemed appropriate for this. If one was able to see the village from the sky they would see why Dloz was pacing around the village. The Nightmare Paintbrush was digging a complex pattern.
Dloz shifted the Nightmare Paintbrush back into its sword form as flew up to get a good view of the village. With a snap of his fingers he filled the pattern with gold and mercury. With lightning speed, Dloz threw the Nightmare Paintbrush at the center of the pattern. For miles around the land was filled with blinding light. Once the light dissipated all the Tarnished were gone. In their place was a single hand inches from the Nightmare Paintbrush. The hand was odd in the fact that it lacked any clue about how it had been separated from its arm of origin. Dloz picked up the sword and the hand. He sent the hand to the Canvas to keep it safe while he ran his last errand.
- God's Crater -
Dloz, still covered in blood, appeared behind the two gods. He shifted the Nightmare Paintbrush in his hand with uncertainty. Was it time for him to go after the awake Elementals? It didn't matter if it was time. This had to be done. All of Ebel had to be reclaimed. He might be able to synthesize parts of her with his formulas, but he needed as much of Ebel's original form as possible. Should he warn these two? He didn't need to. The others had been harmed without warning, but it would be more interesting this way. "I need your mother's gift," said Dloz.
PP Stuff
1 PP - Nourish (Gold)
1 PP - Nourish (Mercury)
2 PP - Harm (Dloz harvests the life energy of a Tarnished village to reclaim the right hand of Ebel.)
1 PP - Nourish (Gold)
1 PP - Nourish (Mercury)
2 PP - Harm (Dloz harvests the life energy of a Tarnished village to reclaim the right hand of Ebel.)
"Excusings of the me for with the interuptering, but of the truthings, have you only of the right some."
"Not-blame for the teratogen of the flame; see you, for -- of the soon afters, cleansed she of her selfsame."
The Light Fantastic emerged into view, undulating softly in the darkness.
"Cast blame on the flame? Oh, no no. Ungood for the truthings that. Lachrymose admission:"
Arusi and Tsiyoti felt sudden pressure on their bodies, as if a confidant had leaned in closely to whisper in their ears.
"Of the cancer, is the me. Too !@*&^$ for the world, hm? Sought first of the elements, bind mother false mother Ebel; you the says mother elements first to the goings ways. First ice of the arm, twice earth of eyes. And just the nows, killed of the black windscorn of the single word uttered: Sister."
"Oh, that the trueness be of what the you is spoken! Eyes for the blinded, have mine been. Surely soreness with the leavings of me quicklier, deader. Alas... alas! Repentence, having the me-s? Deepest sorrow of the grievings; did I not the know."
The Light Fantastic appeared... diminished. Even mournful, perhaps.
"Dloz. What do you mean? Why do you require these things? Why have you mutilated my siblings?"
Arusi sighed and shook her head. The movement brought shadows of coolness across her embered face. "As I said, the corruption swirls."
She walked over to Dloz and peered into his eyes. Then she looked down at his bag, and then back to his eyes. "You've forgotten the heart. Where will you put the blood, if not back in the heart? It's over in the western sea, it shouldn't be hard to find. Go, find that and return. I suspect you'll still find us here."
Satisfied for the moment that the mad god would delay in killing them, she turned to the Light and looked sad. "Oh dear one, you try to burden yourself overmuch. The sickness is lack of purpose, lack of vigor. You, of all the tainted things, were the most sane, the most meaningful, the most active, the most purposeful. You don't have to die this way: force the corruption back into its original shell. There is more to you than just that, end your days clean."
She waited and hoped, but the Aberrant was resolute in its decision. "Very well," she said at last.
Arusi leaned in towards the Light and gently kissed it on the cheek (no mind that the Light had no cheeks to kiss, or that light cannot be kissed: what are such trifles to a god?). "You're sweet. I do hope indeed you'll be reborn someday, free from that which you cling to. Though you would remain vile, there could be worth in you yet. I am sorry."
The goddess willed the cessation of mote of potentiality that was the Aberrant's future, and it was so. She didn't kill it per say, but by eliminating its future it had nowhere to go once the present became the past.
It is said that everyone dies alone, but this is not true. When the Light passed away, Arusi was with it until the end. As its senses grew dim, Arusi was there. When nonexistence closed in around it and in the deepest recesses of its being a small spark of fear shied away from it, Arusi was there, afraid with it, and she comforted it as best as the condemned can be comforted. Perhaps most die alone, but the Light did not. It was too kind to be allowed such a cruel end.
She did not comfort the taint that the Light held -- that was the Light -- however. That thing rejected Arusi's attempts, and so she let it be. So it did die alone, and no one marked its passing.
The Gate, which represented limitless possibility, watched silently. Fire hoped, though she had utterly and irrevocably destroyed this Light's potential future, that there were other potential futures, better futures, that might someday manifest, free from the taint.
PP
3PP - Unbeget The Light Fantastic: Arusi eliminates the Light's future, in this universe at least.
3PP - Unbeget Isura's Godspark: Arusi eliminates the aberrant taint as well. To note, since there is no longer any god backing it up, Ourogandr shouldn't exist anymore either. However, since this is a retcon, let's use Toph's pattern and say that the serpent has a small pool of power that is keeping it going for a short time but will evaporate soon.
... unbeget... should that be deget? And if the Light gets created again, would that be regret?
3PP - Unbeget The Light Fantastic: Arusi eliminates the Light's future, in this universe at least.
3PP - Unbeget Isura's Godspark: Arusi eliminates the aberrant taint as well. To note, since there is no longer any god backing it up, Ourogandr shouldn't exist anymore either. However, since this is a retcon, let's use Toph's pattern and say that the serpent has a small pool of power that is keeping it going for a short time but will evaporate soon.
... unbeget... should that be deget? And if the Light gets created again, would that be regret?
Spacetime warped and frayed as The Light Fantastic vanished, distorting Arusi's figure, as if part of her body had been magnified and stretched out. But true to The Light Fantastic's oft-misunderstood word, the endless cosmos were suddenly lighter, as if a great burden had been lifted from the throes of the universe.
And then it was gone.
PP Expenditure
- 3 PP Nourish: All living things are rejuvinated and vitalized as the passing of the aberrant removes the source of infection from the multiverse.
~Ruins of Niganati et Elsewhere~
Ourogandr had returned to the Cult of the Salamander. Under the great wyrm's direction, its followers set out east, towards Hearth. Re'brand'ing itself as The Bearers of the Eternal Flame, the former Cult of the Salamander were utterly devoted to the incarnation they followed. After all, they crowed, when had any other god walked the fields and grasses of Mundus? Ourogandr was the only living god - there may have been others, but those gods seemed callous and uncaring of their worshippers. Only Ourogandr roamed the land in suit of flesh and flame.
The Avatar's homecoming to Hearth marked the end of the first age in Embrin, Azer, and Salamander history. For the Fire Wyrm had proved instrumental in rallying the farthest disparate reaches of that proud race; finally the Embrin had some greater whole they longed to be part of. Embrin, and the Bearers, ordered themselves into a three-caste system. The majority of Embrin formed the warrior caste, many Azers became beaurocrats, and the Salamanders became the merchants and craftsmen. In this new era, gone was the stigma for an Embrin who did not lead - and the entire race benefited for it. United behind their God-Emperor, the great Wyrm, for the first time since its creation, the armies of Hearth moved as one, subjugating the nearby lands, eventually stretching their empire to the start of the Sea of Daj itself. Though they were seperated by many miles, the gnomes of Glisgaw (and similar city-states) could not help but to look nervously to the east, hoping they would never see a day when the legions of Hearth decided that wasteland was worth crossing.
PP Expenditure
-2 Guide - The Cult of the Salamander evolves (figuratively) into the Bearers of the Eternal Flame. Ourogandr leads the group back to Hearth, where they integrate into formerly-Embrin society, bettering both the newcomers and oldguard alike
-2 nourish - United under Ourogandr, living God-Emperor, The Fire Serpent, and Walker of the Golden Path, the forces of Hearth mobilize in an unprecedented event, and conquer or annex all of the small fiefdoms surrounding Hearth, uniting it into a single empire.
4
Itropi looked out over the tiered buildings of Hearth and up the slopes of the lava-topped mountain, rolling his prized spear across his palms as he thought.
Hearth was a wonderful city, and its rigid organization was a far cry from the lawlessness and eventual chaos that had been Niganati, but this rocky land, far from the Trial, grated against his soul. He missed the roar of the winds through the waves, the coolness of the tunnels after a long day in the heat, the sweet waters of Tsiyoti's Boon. He missed the paeans to the Rain-Giver, whose worship was forbidden under the reign of the Fire Serpent. In short, he missed... home.
Reports from Niganati were not pleasant. The city had more or less broken into several disparate segments... closest to the surface were the gnome and Naga mobs that had rejected the Pharoah's rule and barricaded themselves into their tunnels when the Fallen had struck. A tenuous hold to justice reigned here, but rumors were that a single wrong word could destroy the peace. Beneath them were the areas that remained loyal to the Pharoah, or what the Pharoah had become... a red-skinned demon stalked the corridors, laughing to himself and accepting homage from his "people" while Fallen guards keep watch along the outer perimeter for anyone seeking to get in... or out. And the faintest of whispers came from the far depths of Niganati, where strange speaking Fallen had organized their brethren into a semblance of a society.
As for his friends... the Queen, Valerius and the rest, there had been no word. They had fled east, but as of yet had not emerged in any reports.
His hand suddenly tightened on the spear. Curse that miserable Valerius. Running off and not telliing him where they were going. He would have to kill the Embrin himself, after he plunged his spear into the heart of the Pharoah. Wordless rage bubbled inside him as he gripped his spear and surged to his feet.
~Hearth, Salamander Safehouse; Niganati, Chamber of the Orb; The Queen's House; Medusa Den~
The Orbs flashed to life.
The One in Red moves. Hearken, for your redemption is at hand.
OCC
I should probably have had explained this in another post, but Dloz makes pit-stops at the Canvas to drop off his loot. He doesn't have the bag with him, but that doesn't need to be edited out or anything.
I should probably have had explained this in another post, but Dloz makes pit-stops at the Canvas to drop off his loot. He doesn't have the bag with him, but that doesn't need to be edited out or anything.
"What do I need to do?"
~God Crater~
"No. That is delusional. There is no possible way in which you could hope to revive that which was dead. This is just a ploy." Tsiyoti continued to back away from the God and his sword. "So you stay back. I am one of the oldest gods in existence. I made this mountain when you were the barest wave of potentiality in the Gate. You may seek to beat me, but you will not see me-"
Blaring pain radiated through his body and he turned to see Arusi with her hand plunged deep into his form.
The Goddess shrugged. "He speaks the truth." She said simply as Tsiyoti's form began to boil from the heat directed into his form. Unable to escape, the God twitched back and forth, a high pitched scream much like steam escaping a tea kettle permeating the air. Within a minute it was done, and all that remained of the God of Water, Tsiyoti, the Roaring Wave, was a small ball of blood, hovering over Arusi's palm.
~Wandering Wood~
The Old man felt a strange change wash over him and a new sense of purpose and direction fill his soul. He looked south in the direction of the Gate before turning and heading north, trying to get as far away from the Maelstrom as possible.
~God Crater~
Arusi sighed when the Light finally ceased to be. He was indeed the sanest form the aberrant had taken, but that didn't mean he wasn't stark-raving mad. Why wasn't he willing to force Isura's shell to take back that which had left it? Surely, there was more to the Light than that. Unfortunately, though the world was a better place now that the source of infection was destroyed, others had been infected and remained so. The mad-god was proof of that. The gods still needed to be purged, the world still needed to be purged. Well, he was at least willing to act, whereas her brother seemed to be dedicated to talking. Between inaction and madness, she hoped madness would at least be useful. So, when Dloz advanced on Tsiyoti, Arusi grabbed the eye and then circled around to her brother's back. She tried to make it as merciful and painless as she could.
When it was done, she reached out her hand towards the western sea. In a moment a hunk of ancient flesh came flying to her and she placed the blood inside. The flesh seemed to become a fresh heart, and she tossed it to Dloz. "There, you have your blood. Perhaps you see now that I do not wish to hinder your quest but rather to help? My concern is that things are done correctly, so that nothing remains to hinder what must be. You have most her form, but did you kill all of the gods as well? Mother gave each of her children two gifts: part of her body and part of her life. If you want to give mother her life back, you have to take it from the others as well. And not just her children: the gods who came later are part of the pattern, their continued life keeps mother at bay. You will need to take their lives as well. Will you allow me to help you in this?"
Before Ourangandar, an old man appeared, leaning on a carved coral staff.
"You. Isura's Get. We should talk." The old man drawled, stopping a fair distance away and eying the Serpent with distrust.
Ourogandr's chamber was a massive affair, carved from the inner workings of the volcano by a trio of master stonecrafters. Large, fluted columns thrust upwards into the oblivion of the murkish depths of the ceiling. There were no lights of any sort in the room, only a subtle glow that emanated from between Ourogandr's scales when the great Wyrm moved.
For a while, there was nothing but the almost unnatural stillness and the rhythmic heavings of the serpent's respiration. Finally, some small light coalesced as Ourogandr moved forward, peering at the old man intently.
"I... do not know you. Yet you smell of Tsiyoti." The serpent head receeded. "Go on then. Talk. I am listening."
"I don't know if I will permit you that for two reasons. The first being you're trying to use me. I'm no fool even if my mind has become prone to wandering. Second, I don't know whether you're an agent of stagnation yourself. There are several reasons for me to believe that. You appeared just as stagnation fell upon the world in full force. In addition, you tried to send me away when I had come to get Tsiyoti's piece of Ebel. So what do you have to say to that?"
- Niganati, Pharaoh’s Chamber -
"You will be a general in Dloz's army."
"So be it."
~Hearth~
The old man looked nervously over his shoulder, his hand gripping the staff tighter as he grunted in pain and stooped down a little more.
"I fear Tsiyoti is no more, and my time in this world is ending. Surely you have seen and felt the destruction of the Mountain and the laying bare of the Gate for all to see. You are the only divine being who remains. The rest are dead and gone. You must tell your master to travel to the Mountain to save us all from destruction. My powers fade, or I would do this myself."
"Ah, but I can no more halt the coming destruction than an ember can stop from smouldering, or water part from wetness. I have no desire to throw my life away foolishly, seeking to contain that which I cannot, or control that which I cannot. Would you have, by your own words, the Last Divine abandon these mortals on the Eve of Endings?"
The old man turned and began to slowly walk from the room, leaning heavily on the staff.
"Perhaps there is another somewhere who has true divinity, true selflessness, within himself. I must find them."
A massive scaled tail slammed down in front of the old man, blocking egress completely. The room returned to darkness as Ourogandr paused in thought.
"But perhaps we can have both. I see you are sickly, wounded. What is the cause for that? And another thing: you have yet to tell me how you are involved in these events, and with Tsiyoti. Answers before solutions."
"What I want is to live, but that will not occur. I am... I was... Tsiyoti's voice in the world. I was his... you. But he is dead now, and while I still have a small amount of his favor within me, his influence on the world fades, and with it I fade as well. If I cannot live, I wish the world to. I wish his people to flourish, I wish his oceans to continue to roar, I wish people to continue to remember him despite this Ragnarok."
"That, you miserable worm who hides in the dark, is what I want. Life for the world, which is denied myself."
Another cough wracked the man's body, and he put out a hand to lean against the wall while he recovered.
"Pragmatism. A coward's word to hide his yellow-bellied-ness. You are not safe here. You cannot ride out this storm. The world arose from the Gate and now, unless someone does something, the Gate is going to take it all back. You are divine. You are the strongest being left in the universe. And yet you do not even try. You, Isura... if you will not try, then perhaps you were never Gods to begin with."
"No. that is not it. You, you must be like me. A dead and dying remnant of a spark that has faded from the universe." A wet laugh emerged from the man as he sank to the floor, his back resting against the wall. "You were the brightest light left because there are no lights, and so the gutting glimmer that was you seemed sun-like by comparison. Goodbye, Serpent."
The man slumped and life left him.
This orb pulsed with rage and energy, and the Fire Wyrm gently nosed it towards the old man's body. Scarlet lightning resonated about the chamber, and though he was more dead than alive already, the Old Man's corpse began to scream. Furious energies lanced about, muscles spasmed, and through it all, the red orb seemed to sorb deeper into the body of the wizened water vestige.
Without warning, the energies abruptly ceased. The Old Man's corpse lay still and dead on the floor, face still twisted in memory of recent pain. And then.
Ba-dump.
Ba-dump.
Ba-dump.
Though no heart beat in the corpse's chest, its body resonated with power all the same. Each pumping sound spent the red rage of destruction dancing through his veins and arteries.
"I am no dead or dying spark, and I refuse to let you become the same. Arise, Ruin, and go seek the battle you hoped me to win."
The Old Man was clearly still dead - he felt that, surely, but despite that, it didn't seem to be a problem. If anything, his dead-ness had only left him... reinvigorated.
PP Expenditure
3pp Alter Domain/Artifact - Ourogandr imbues The Old Man of the sea with the domain and powers of Destruction. What he does with that, is his buisness.
1
TimeLord
In case you haven't seen, there is a PM from me waiting for you.
OOC
You give the dying Avatar a new domain? I had thought a quiet death was in order... instead, future plots! Brilliance!
Things had finally begun to settle down in Hearth. The initial chaos of detonation had casued all manner of startled gasps and auricular distress (for the Crystal Seal had not shattered under the blast, but had resonated with it, causing some degree of temporary deafness to everyone within the city), and the shock of the events took a few days to settle in.
At first, the mood was one of panic -- Azers tried frantically to contact their beaurocratic brethren in the sister-cities of their burdgeoning Empire, but to no avail -- the seal withstood all attempts at crossing through, whether they be physical, verbal, mystical, arcane, or divine. Without Hearth's central leadership, it was only a matter of time before the briefly united Empire of Flame returned back to its skirmish marred roots.
After several weeks of experimentation, it was clear nothing could be done. A profound sense of rage settled in to the general population. They blamed each other; they blamed their leaders; they blamed the Flame Wyrm, Ourogandr. But Ourogandr was just as furious over the whole affair, and the mortals quickly determined that they couldn't out-rage the great avatar, and made themselves scarce rather than risk sparking a crimson rage in the great beast (one that was liable to only result in their death). Instead, they took to pleading with the serpent -- please, glorious Isura, great Fire Wyrm, cleave this seal in twain so that we might once more breath fresh air, see the light of the stars, and once more speak to loved ones lost outside the city.
Eventually, the goddess' rage quieted, turned into a listless brooding. It would drive anyone mad-- to be trapped within an iridescent bubble with no recourse to exit. But to the self-proclaimed Eternal Fires of Change? It went beyond insanity. And insanity was worse with gods; it is one thing to imagine things in the course of one's psychotic raving. It is quite another to inadvertantly make those reality due to one's divine nature.
The Isura-that-was could not exist within a bubble, pretty though it may have been. It took months, dark times for Hearth indeed, but eventually Isura-that-was became Isura-that-could-be, the madnesses quieted, the city once more grew quiet and peaceful. But it was a foreboding peace... an air of ill omen wrapped, heavy, around the city. This restless, aimless energy needed a target. And Ourogandr had finally come to terms with the need for release as well.
(to be concluded in a final post, later)
General Warning to Everyone Still Posting
It looks like things are mostly winding down. Please go ahead and wrap up any last minute loose ends. When it looks like everything is sufficiently wrapped up, the LoC_GM account will post a brief concluding dealeo and at that point the game will be over.
However, never fear. The next LoC will be starting up in about a week (tentatively dated for next Sunday). We have some plans for recruiting new talent, and we have some great talent already here. Things are looking up. Check the OOC thread or the group for more details later.
However, never fear. The next LoC will be starting up in about a week (tentatively dated for next Sunday). We have some plans for recruiting new talent, and we have some great talent already here. Things are looking up. Check the OOC thread or the group for more details later.
"Clever, Lucca. You've found a way to keep gods out of your city. There's just one problem though. My gift, the bowl, won't work anymore. And I'll see to it you don't get any more chaosplasm," sneered Dloz.
- Outside Glisglaw -
He unleashed a new plague on the city. This blessing fed on blood, but it's main goal was chaosplasm. It would seek out any chaosplasm and devour it. Just to be careful he also made this plague immune to the powers of the Chaosspawn. "I hope you enjoy your eternal slumber, Lucca," whispered Dloz to himself as he started to cry.
PP Stuff
2 PP - Harm (Dloz creates a plague that feeds on blood and chaosplasm that is immune to the powers of Chaosspawn.
2 PP - Harm (Dloz creates a plague that feeds on blood and chaosplasm that is immune to the powers of Chaosspawn.
At Ourogandr's direction, the coming weeks found Hearth increasingly millitant, more so than it had been before, even. Across the city, smiths worked feverishly, mass producing armors and armamanets. Industry boomed as well, with food making up a large portion of the economy; though there had been initially been concern over an ability to grow things, the light of the Crystal Barrier proved good enough.for Salamander-grown Lichen, and Azer-grown grains alike.
And behind the dull clanging of forges, and beyond the slow work of the farmer were the ubiquitous sounds of steel on steel. Military participation was no longer optional - Ourogandr had ordered that even the civilian populace be trained in the ways of war. Not because it expected to use every living being in the city in a grand army, but because the training it entailed provided a sorely needed outlet for pent up rage and frustrations.
Hearth was sequestered, and with no apparant way out of the barrier, all its citizenry could do was prepare for an eventual external intervention. So Hearth trained its soldiers, girded its granaries, and worked its blacksmiths to the bone. In the span of a few years (for time passed oddly quickly within the seal), Hearth had become entirely unrecognizeable. They had become a grim, focused people, honed to a razor's edge.
Unable to bear witness to the outside world, there was little else to do but train, fight, and prepare. When the seal failed, when they were free again, the strength of the city would ride out in force, bringing order to the world. And with nothing to do but prepare for that fated day, Hearth and it's armies would be more than ready. Woe to the one to unleash the Fires of the Sealed City.
And deep within the fortress-city's heart, the Fire Serpent, the imprisoned Goddess of Flame, lurked, quietly seething.
~The Shifting Wood~
Janus smiled as he watched over his army. They were encamped at the farthest edge of The Shifting Wood. Janus could feel another of the War-God's artifacts inside, calling to him. On the morrow, they would begin their assault.
And then, he would turn on Hearth, to liberate the final artifact from that sealed city.
And then he would become a god.
Janus began to laugh, a low, thunderous sound.
He would succeed. And fury help those who dare stand in his way.
PP Expenditure
-1 Nourish -- The Sealed City of Hearth becomes hyper militarized. With nothing else to do, the city becomes incredibly militant, united under the strong commands of Ourogandr and the Branded Swordguards. Only The Crystal Barrier stands in the way of what will likely become a world conquest.
-1 Nourish -- The Sealed City of Hearth becomes hyper militarized. With nothing else to do, the city becomes incredibly militant, united under the strong commands of Ourogandr and the Branded Swordguards. Only The Crystal Barrier stands in the way of what will likely become a world conquest.
In his rage her and the corpse-god drifted closer to the gate. A embered hand reached out and grabbed him. Dloz turned to see the lifeless eyes of Arusi looking blankly in his direction. He struggled and clawed, trying to break free, but he was dragged into the gate. In his flailing he grabbed the corpse-god and dragged her with him, back into oblivion. His screams resounded in the very stone and creation could feel it in its bones.
Then, silence.
Mortals knew not what had happened, only that the wind had died, the seas calmed, the fires dimmed, and the earth seemed to rot. From the western reaches of Gnomish lands to the eastern halls of Embrin-Kind, from the southern holdings of the Trail-Now-Gone to the northern forests of the Wandering Woods, from the prime material plane to the Shadowfell and all others, divinity faded from the world.
In the darkness the Gates of Eternity, ancient and always, began to shine. In ebbs and flow it radiated sunlight, then moonlight. This was a herald, this was a sign.
Once every age or so a spark of possibility would fall out of the gates and drift aimlessly until it was absorbed again. This was the ancient pattern, this was how things were.
Now, when the gods had gone, a spark left the gate and called itself Ebel. She opened one gate, the gate of creation, and drew from it a body to shelter her spark. Into the world Ebel swam.
“Hello, children” she cooed softly to creation.
Fin
Thus ends this game of Lords of Creation. Don't worry, the next one is scheduled to start in a week. Look to the OOC thread and the main group for up-to-date info