Blank Slate IC2

[Johel]

Xiren

Putrid Swamp

From his investigation, the "grig" learned a lot about the former Dryad Kingdoms :

• Infightings continued. No central power had imposed itself yet.
• The Dryads were divided because of their vanity.
• Many small vegetal fortress had been built through magic.
• Grig slavers still operated breeding farms.
• The Mohrgs were divided because of the insanity.
• Armies of zombis rose after each killing spree of the Mohrgs.
• The Mohrgs couldn't control all undeads at once.

Underwater Jungle

They were together, a rare event for such selfish creatures. But they all had been dryads, once. They had seen what they could accomplish together...and what could happen to them if they remained isolated. And so, to restore their former greatness, 500 Naïades had gathered here, in the main hall of the City of the Depths. All were watching their sisters, reading to act at the first sign of betrayal. A large, fat and ugly matron advanced at the center.

"-When I awoke like this, my first thought was that Xiren had cursed me for being weak and stupid, for not having followed her ways closer enough. We all thought it. We all lamented for days, praying and making sacrifices to please the Kind Mother and to be given a second chance...but we are still here."

She paused for a moment.
"-We are here and we are prospering. Like the Dryad Kingdom once, we are strong and secure, ready to spread the Blood Flower's love across a new world, a world we never thought would be ours, simply because we didn't suspected it existed. But now, we are here. Now, we know.

Sfarina and her generation, our parents, had a vision. They tried to build a kingdom where we would have fought side by side against Xiren's enemies, forgetting our griefs to reach Greatness. Well, Sfarina the bitch and her sisters were wrong !! They can be no unity among the Fey Folk !! Not between the Dryads, not between the Grigs, not between us, the Naïades !! If we try, soon or later, our very nature will remind us of it.

The curse we thought Xiren had casted was in fact a blessing. It was her way to show us our mistakes and to give us the opportunity to start all over again. While the rest of the Fey Folk continue to honour the Kind Mother on land, it is our mission to spread her cult at sea. And to do so, we will need allies. And once again, my dear sisters, the Kind Mother will help us !! Behold the gift of the Mistress of despairs !!"
Shining in her hand was...a frog. The assembly staid silent, hesitating between anger and hilarity. But then, the frog was really shining and comments began to rain down the hall. When the light faded, the frog and the ugly Naïade were no more. A strange creature, the size of a human, was swimming at their place. And it spoke...

"-It was...not suppose...to be like this..."
It then burst into a thousand smaller similar creatures, who themselves burst into hundreds more while "calling" the sound which would latter become their name.
"-Kappa !! Kappa !!"

Spoiler

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2 Major Acts to create the Kappas, small-sized fairies with amphibian abilities. They are very good swimmers and, like some frogs, generate a virulent poison which dissolve in the surrounding water. They are, of course, immune to their own poison. They breed by laying a large number of eggs (about two hundred at a time) but, because of their malevolent nature, young kappas tend to kill each other at birth to get some cheap food. They are not very bright and are more concern by feeding and mating than anything else.
2 Minor Acts to boost the Kappa population.

Continental Forests

Xiren had swore to take care of the monkeys. And so she did.
Once upon a time, centuries ago, a young god had appeared in these forests. A master of illusions whose Xiren had tried to track. For this, she had used gigantic centipedes. The monsters had been sent away...but not killed. And because Kuto wasn't there anymore to send them flying across the sky, she summoned them back.

It took nearly two years for the 12 monsters to reach the mysterious monkeys but when they did, the hunt was merciless, the gigantic insects climbing the giant trees with all the ease an insect had to climb vertical surfaces. And for the trees which weren't big enough to climb, it also meant they weren't strong enough to support the weight of centipedes...and that they would crash on the ground, pulling the Gari settlements with them.

In less than a year, 20 Gari settlements were visited by the divinely powered monsters...and crushed utterly. But what were Zuli's children doing ?

Spoiler

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Just to remember you about them :
The 12 hunting centipedes.
Gigantic-sized vermin with a very thick armor.
Like many of Xiren's creation, their bite is poisonous.
They can also "summon" large swarms of angry flies, mosquitoes, maggots, spiders, whatever vermin seems useful.
Finally, they each have a very powerful smell and earing sense (though poor vision), as well as a keen sense of detect magical aura.