[FL] Fantasy Lynching Out of Character: Blood alone turns the Wheels of History

[Cracklord]

Good for you.

[doliest]

Well Indy, that's a nerd dream you just fufilled. Feel free to make a sacrifice to him.

[Executor]

Posted my first King Arthur post in a while. Felt good

[Cracklord]

I'll update for Achillies shortly.

Also, our next Twilight lynching is IN SPACE! and I would be honored if you would play John Cater of Mars. We also have a tentavie yes on Flash Gordan, so it looks like it'll be fun for pulp.

[Colesign]

Say Industrious: You went to that Neil Gaiman talk at the Harold Washington?

Sweet!!!!! To my ever lasting pity, I was trapped in college when that happened.

[Executor]

I would be honoured to play JOHN CARTER (must be capitalized ) again

[Cracklord]

Great. It'll be a while before that starts, but I'll keep your interest in mind.

[industrious]

Say Industrious: You went to that Neil Gaiman talk at the Harold Washington?

Sweet!!!!! To my ever lasting pity, I was trapped in college when that happened.

No. Rockefeller Chapel in Hyde Park.

It was awesome. I have a picture with the two of us.

[Draxx]

So I wrote a long post and it got deleted. I'll rewrite it eventually.

[industrious]

Sha'rah is the WoT equivalent of chess. Unfortunately, everyone who wasn't in the Age of Legends has forgotten about it in favor of "stones," which resembles, apparently, a cross between Go and checkers.

[Executor]

I hope everyone's having a happy Easter. I'll try to get a post out as soon as I'm doing celebrating the Resurrection with my family

[InyutheBeatIs]

So, I've got this wierd realization about the setting.

You know how this is supposed to be Wheel of Time with several other influences. This means that this is after modern day, right? Thing is, the Tolkien-verse is pretty explicitly implied (paradoxical I know) that the events happened before quite possibly recorded history.

Sooo...basically every Tolkien character is probably over 10,000 years old.

[Cracklord]

Da. Well, sort of.

It's mostly based on Michael Moorcock, who, when it comes to fantasy, more or less invented the idea of cyclic history and a single champion arrising each time to fight it in a variety of guises each time. It was then turned into the idea of ages and all the rest by Robert Jordan. But in effect, yes, Robert Jordan, and Tolkien.

Although they could be secondary incarnations of the same person, al la Lews Therin. Don't question it.

And Lord Angmar defies belief how old he gets. I mean, he's second age to sixth. Four ages old.

[Colesign]

Aye, it's indeed a strange cosmology we find ourselves in.

So I'm going to try and drum up support for Nanobot's game one more time: drum up the support of Industrious, Darkblade, and Doliest, to be precise, them being the central players in said game.

If you're not interested in continuing it, that's cool. I just want to be clear on whether it's abandoned or no.

[industrious]

I don't think I'll be able to continue with it. I'm going to be very busy this weekend, anyway.

[InyutheBeatIs]

Quick question. What happened to the noble that Smaug sent out to figure out Kitiara's forces and get them all sappy about how much of a peace-loving people they are and certainly not being led by a dragon who's seriously considering barbequeing them at all?

[Cracklord]

Dunno. Doliest has been a bit... erratic.

[doliest]

Schoolwork hurts my brain. Bad weather hurts my brain. Migraines hurt my brain. Sorry. Updating today. Just get sleepies to prepare for final exam in...15 hours first.

[Cracklord]

It's allright. Just reminding you.

[Draxx]

In that dread desert, beneath the moons' pale glaze, the dead men walk. They haunt the dunes in that breathless, windless night. They brandish their weapons in mocking challenge to all life, and sometimes in ghastly dry voices, like the rustling of sere leaves, they whisper the one word they remember from life, the name of their ancient, dark master. They whisper the name Nagash.

[Cracklord]

So anyway, a bit more background information. Ankh-Morpork is one of several cities (along with Waterdeep, and Bravos) along the coastline of yet another continent, with no territory as such, that survive mostly on trade with other nations. It’s more advanced then most of the world, Think mid- renaissance rather then late Middle Ages.
It is the one remaining place that continues the church of Sigmar (an aspect of Perrin) as the idea of millions of gods constructed from belief doesn’t really work for this sort of setting, and if I have to do a priest i want it to be Volkmar the Grim. It’s mostly Discworld with a few changes, such as no wizards in the Unseen University (though it still has many of the trappings, such a sthe Librarian), Faceless Men instead of the Assassins Guild (so they are far more dangerous. Seriously.) and a few other things like that. But otherwise, yes, it’s traditional Ankh Morpork, and home to the watch, the thieves’ guild, dwarves and all the rest.
Daenerys Targaryen is living there at the moment at the invitation of Lord Vetinari. No, she doesn't have dragons, or an army.
If you don't know where you fit in, assume you come from there.

Randland (Called Midkemia for the purposes of this), Middle Earth, Allera, and Alagesia are separate continents, naturally enough, and each follow separate histories, with a minimum of interference from the others.

Allera is the place where most of the earlier ages of high magic settings occurred. It used to be called Lustria, for one thing.

Seanchan however is part of Middle Earth, and are the Easterlings and man of Khand. They border the Haradrim back home, and trade openly with them, however despite officially owning their lands and people they don't interfere much, as they have little of value (at least to Seachan eyes) and are far too numerous anyway. Mûmakil exist over there, but cannot be brought over in ships due to size problems.

Anyway, here are a brief rundown on the ages:

The Wheel

First Age: Age of Dreams
This is the Age that the Valar walk upon the Earth, Magic is at its greatest, the trees and animals are alive with it, and Morgoth walks the world alongside them, desiring domination. He builds Angbad, breeds dragons that blot out the sky, creates the Moon by ripping away part of the earth, and spreads himself, seeding evil in the hearts of every living creature.
He builds his own race, the valehru, in which he gives a portion of his divine spark, and for a time it seems inevitable that he must conquer all.
The races are reshaped, and we are more then humans as well, we live hundreds of years and are strongest, taller and wiser. The elves come across from Valinor, in several fleets, and Morgoth is defeated and sealed in the void by all the Valar together. But the cost is high, and they diminish themselves in doing it. As a concequnece, they instruct the five remaining Istari to remain in their place and who would teach and guide the peoples of the world. But Shai-tan is only sealed for a short time, and opens up a rip in the North Wastes, in which Chaos makes its way into the world, empowering him and making him more then an equal of all the Valar. However, just when all hope seems lost, Aenarion the Defender, king of the elves after the death of Feanor, rides to do battle to them with the sword that would become Stormbringer and the power of Manwe and the others singing in his veins. Meanwhile Grimnir the Warrior (one of the origonal three dwarves) takes a pair of axes forged by his brother and does the same. They work in concert and all but seal it away, closing the gate and reducing him to exile from the world to the realm of Chaos. Sauron takes over as prime evil.
On Allera, The Slaan rule, and build an advanced civilization of order, at this time the only inhabitants of their land. Harrad is Nerraka, and is the first human civilization, although Gondor is founded a few hundred years later. They are at the height of their power, and advance in ways the other nations would never imitate. In Lothlorien, the Elcrys is planted.
Alagesia is not settled.

Second Age: Age of Might
This is the age of mortals, where we try to mimic the achievements of the legendary figures in the past. Elves set themselves to create wonders as fine as Feanor, dwarves build their underground kingdoms, and what's left of Feanor's army breed with the men of Númenor, and build Melniborne, which rules the world for a short time. Men led by Elendil the Tall and his son, come to Middle Earth next, and settle it.
Venerable Lord Kroak dies.
But Sauron, as it turns out, shows a subtler hand then his erstwhile master. Rather then trying to win through military complex, he clothes himself in a fair form and comes bearing gifts. He teaches the elves of ring lore, and we all know how that went. But work is slow, and in the meantime he hinges on a second plan. Elric, last king of Melniborne and armed with a weapon even Sauron has right to fear meets him, and Sauron surrenders. But Elric is lulled by poisoned words, by both Sauron and his chancellor, Fistandantilus, and foolishly goes to war against west, marching on Valinor itself. The gods, in return, cause the cataclysm in retaliation, throw down a fiery mountain and cut off heaven from the world. Elric, realizing he was betrayed fought Sauron, and while he failed to best him he wounded him dearly, sapping most of his remaining power and forcing him to rely on the ring for material form. In place of Valyria is Vroengard, the dragons are dead, its line extinct but one survivor, Malekith, and even the land from which they came was all but destroyed by the doom.
Sauron engineers an enemy to the elves and dwarves by setting the two against each other. The conflict takes on a life of it's own, and the dwarves and elves begin the longest, bloodiest, most spiteful and pointless war ever to exist. The War of the Bear. But amazingly, the dwarves win, the last Phoenix King is cut down on the field of battle by High King Gotrek Starbreaker, and both nations are devastated by the losses on both sides, losing most of their empires as a result, and clearing the way for the coming of man. It is a grudge that would endure long after the war itself was forgotten.
Meanwhile, in Nerraka, Nagash is born, and, being the man he is, destroys all the nature spirits that live within the nation out of jealousy at their immortality, making the place almost unable to sustain life, then builds his Black Pyramid that actually distorts the flow of magic by spreading the winds of chaos to the other side of the world, such was it’s power, made of obsidian and silver and mortared with the blood of generations. When he is deposed, he becomes a liche, and casts his great spell that eradicates all life in the desserts and raises them as undead. These were the first, the plague of undead would never really vanish. He is killed, and the desserts swallow the remains of the empire, turning cities to ruins and monuments to nothing, leaving only a few, poor survivors without the knowledge to rebuild their cities. Instead, they become nomads, the Harradrim we all know and love.
In Midkemia, Artur Hawkwing's children take a great army and sail West, hoping to find the land of the Gods and learn why they suddenly departed, but never find it. Instead, they find what they call Seachan. They bicker, and form three kingdoms, Khand, Umbar and Seanchan (Easterlings, as those of Numenor called them), who squabble and lose all ties they once possessed.
It is this time that Sauron strikes his coup.
But they are foolish to look for leadership once more, and Nagash's son (with his brother’s wife) accepts a ring from Sauron, and so ties himself and his people to the shadow in the East. As do King Brona of Angmar, The eleventh Tisroc (Empress) of the Seanchan, and six others, who's names are lost to history. And so Sauron gains an army like none could have imagined, even while building his own horde in Mordor.
Now surpassing even his master in terms of influence, he attacks, and only a Last Alliance is able to stop him. But Isuldur, seeing what Sauron had wrought and desiring to unite the world as he did (though for more noble reasons) keeps the enemies ring.

Third Age: Age of Strife
Sauron continues to spread strife, his power diminished, but not destroyed. This age was characterized by the waning of the Elves. men turn darker, and the harrad actually take to worshipping Morgth at the Black Pyramid of Nagash.
The Alorns, first men, led by Malekith and bearing a few dragon eggs scavenged from the ruins of Valyria, settle on the coast of Alagesia, where they build a kingdom, and battle the exiled remnants of Feanor’s army. They win, and force the elves back to the forrests, building cities on the ruins of the elves. They then fight a war with the Others, servants of Morgoth, the coldwraiths, and apon driving them back with courage and fire, as well as dragons, build the wall. They then divide into two distinct kingdoms, and both become Mageocracies. The Hadrac Dessert, once the site of the most verdant grasslands, is engulfed in war between the wizards, and distorts much of the landscape. Magical weapons that threatened reality itself (including The Sword of Truth and the Boxes of Orden), are built, and at last a wall is created to keep the two nations apart. The Easterners settle along the coast, and drive back the savages who lived there already, who would go west and Become the New World, and plot revenge. Then the Targaryens, the last family with Melnibornian blood rise to prominance, begining the House of Rahl.
The dwarfgate wars begin, and with the loss of so many dwarven holds the power they once had all but vanishes, the dwarves becoming a doomed, lonely race slipping into the lonely night.
With the dwarves no longer able to hold their holds, many are abandoned or lost to the skaven and goblins.
Sauron is driven from Mirkwood back to Mordor by the White Council, and his master at last regains enough strength to begin to work to free himself. Several scientists looking for a unifying source of power drill through the gap, and, quite by accident, come close to freeing him. With the Valar no longer around to imprison him, mankind must find a savior of it’s own.
The savior is the figure of Lews Therin and his companions (including the Earth king), who builds an army and throws back the Dark One at the cost of his life, breaking the world as he does. At almost the same moment, the Ring is destroyed, and Sauron’s power is broken, but despite being sealed once more, neither are truly dead. Yet. Lews Therin is betrayed by the female channelers, who do not give the help he was promised. As a consequence, the male half is tainted, and Lews Therin is driven mad and kills his love. Just because it seemed cruel, Ishmael cured his madness so he could see what he’d done, only to drive him mad again. But he is hunted down by The White Rose, one of The Dragon's companions, and burried beneath old Father Tree (The Elcrys) where he can do no harm.
In Alera, The Canin arrive, Trollocs of what were once the Order of the Wolf (long, long ago), deprived of their leader (Melidus had no heirs) and kingdom they went elsewhere, roaming the wilds, and eventually their distant descendants who have forgotten they were once human come to the almost empty continent. They wipe out most of the remaining Lizardmen, who had for the most part perished at the breaking, unable or unwilling to abandon their cities even at the cost of their lives. The Canin then start a civilization of their own.
The dark elves, led by Malekith, settle on the shores of the north on a land unable to support them, conquering Umbar and enslaving it's inhabitants. They take to raiding, and Malekith boasted that wherever a man could smell the sea air, they called him king.
The Morporkian Empire sends soldiers under the command of general Tacticus, who make it to Alera but cannot get away. They learn to use furies (they are taught by the Earth King, Erden Geboran) and set about surviving in a terrible world. The Reavers erupt from bellow the surface at the behest of Shai-tan, the Canin see them as intruders and do their best to kill them, as do the Iceman, and the others. Furthermore, the last of the Slaan die, and with no more Slaan, the Vord are released into the world.
Impossibly, the Alerans thrive.

Fourth Age: Age of Heroes

Fifth age: Age of legends
With the taint from the power cleaned, The Dark One sealed in a way he would not escape 'til the world itself changed again, and the drums of war quieted, progress was made. In Midkemia, Pug the sorcerer begins the first university of magic that exists for no reason but to teach in the place of the two towers, and in time most of the battle magic of old was forgotten. Trade proves more beneficial then war, and real progress is made.
However, this is shattered by the War of the Lance, as Sauron, this time in a female aspect, again attempts to bring dominance to the world. He is thwarted and imprisoned in a temple in Neraka, but not before he passed on some dread secrets to a boy named Raistlin. Raistlin seeks to make himself a god, and steal the power of Sauron, warring with the banished soul of Fistandantilus who had the same idea himself and was possessing him. However Raistlin is able to step beyond his own flaws, and sacrifices his ambition in a selfless act.
The dark Elves and Drow discover each other, and Malus Darkblade leads a crusade that wipes the Drow out. But the cost is such that the Dark Elves lose most of their power, and are now a small nation barely holding on.
Ankh-Morpork becomes one of the worlds greatest nations again, at the forefront of arts, politics and civilization, and global links between the nations makes boundaries ever smaller. While war continued, nations thrived or failed, and men were born, fell in loved and died, what really distinguished this age was progress in engineering and the sciences. The other races fade, dwarves mostly living in human cities, elves returning over the seas and the more warlike races slowly being wiped out.
At the end, the humans had an empire that seemed beyond even that of the age of dreams, had harnessed powers both magical and scientific that seemed beyond comprehension, and seemed on the poise of becoming all powerful. Entire new languages were created to express concepts their ancestors had no words for, machines were built that had functions few could understand, and it seemed nothing could go wrong.
Then a war came, and two nations fought each other in the sky with fire and lightening, and released something that caused the collapse, and end to progress, and a fight for survival.

The Sixth Age: The cataclysm
Little could be produced, but much was still understood. For a while, the world was a strange place, while philosophers pondered esoteric subjects and scientists made themselves immaterial and immortal, barbarian armies clashed with weapons of stone and bronze. While men flew on wings of iron and smoke, others threw rocks. But for all this, evil had not slumbered, and once more saw it’s chance. A figure took control of an empire that showed more promise then most, the kingdom of Granbetan, and gave them a desire to conquer. And conquer they did. The men wore animal masks, and never showed their faces if they could help it. They took all of Midkemia, and began to extend further still, but Dorian Hawkmoon broke the back of their armies, and their empire crumbled. They retreated into the wilds, and slowly their masks became their flesh, until they were men with the faces and mannerisms of animals. Meliadus, Emperor of Granbetan was slain by Hawkmoon, and his men fled, eventually becoming the Canin. Sauron, thwarted again, would wait for a time before his next attempt.
In Middle Earth, Brona, immortal but robbed of his ring, went mad, and thought he himself was Sauron. Building an army of his own he divided the races and kingdoms and thought to take them for his own. However, he failed, and the last heir of Shannara, the only remaining elf house on the shores of this world slays him with the Sword of Truth, at last.
On Alera, The Vord reemerge, and this time resistance is too slow. Alera is consumed, and they attempts to cross, but winter another, greater power, Nagash, arguably the greatest mage ever born, shreds them with dark magic for disturbing his silent rule, and they are no more.
Malekith is killed, and his people are split between his son and his mother. Those that follow Morathi head bellow the surface, where they are enslaved by a dark being, Ungoliant, worship spiders and become the drow. Those that follow his son become the Moredhel, wanderers who attempt to rediscover the ways of their forebears and learn the secrets of Sauron.

Seventh Age
Humanity is lost and without direction when the Valar return once more. The remaining Istari quarrel once more, and the tribes of humanity each fall under a god. It is a time of barbarians and war, a time before empires, in which tiny nations fought and died, and society was a rare thing. It was the days of High Aventure. but it was not to last.
Sauron, in the guise of Torak, scarred and burned due to his fight with Elric, takes the Angarak as his own, and they worship him as they once worshipped Morgoth. Again he is able to dominate Saruman (Now called Zedar, due to a change of tongues and language), and seeral other powerful servants, including Nagash. He plans to take the lands for his own, so builds up his power and that of his people. He recovers Stormbringer, the blade that wounded him in the first place and retains a taste for his blood, and controls it. But Gaborn, Warrior eternal and Dragon reborn, under the guidance of Gandalf (Garath) manages to stall and finally stop the army, and confronts Sauron in his kingdom, after Garath slays nagash for good. The evil spirit however proves not as easily bested as expected, and Gaborn is almost destroyed. And he would have been, but for succeeding in turning the Black Runeblade on it’s master. Sauron was consumed, but it proved too much for even Stormbringer, and both seemed to be destroyed together. In reality, however, the two fused into one being, and come the next age Sauron would be reborn.
But the death of Sauron proved to have dire consequences for the world. While emperor Zakath was glad to be rid of his master, the priesthood searched for a new master, which led them, in time, to the great pyramid of Nagash. Foolishly, they sought it’s secrets, and learned of the bore. Zandramas attempted to open it, and allowed The Dark One into the world once more.

[Cracklord]

Told you I could link it all together. If anyone has anything from another series to add, please tell me.

[doliest]

I'm torn Cracklord-do I worship you, fear you, or challenge you to ritual combat, defeat you, and eat your brain to gain your talent?

[Cracklord]

Whatever works. But I warn you, my tallent comes at a high cost.

So what should I retcon the origons of Soth to be?

[InyutheBeatIs]

...Cracklord, you are magnificant, I just want you to know that.

Now, I would like something about Dormin and the tribe that Wander's from and that whole deal from Shadow of the Colossus, but only if you feel like it.

[doliest]

Basically, still the same. The gods(The Valar, maybe?) gave him a chance to save the world, stop the Catacylsm, etc. He was stopped along the way, threw the chance away to satisfy his desire for vengeanced for an imagined slight, and so the gods(the Valar and Sauron, maybe?) cursed him to forever walk the earth for his failure, reminded of it every night.
.
..
So, basically, his curse makes him this universe's Jack Harkness. He's a 'fact' of the world, if I understand how we've handled things.

[Cracklord]

Alright, so Soth is what, from Melniborne? That would explain a lot, now that I think about it, although the fact that he is even capable of feeling regret would make him pretty strange by their standards...

As to the Dormin, I was thinking of making it a great Fury like in Codex Alera, more inteligent and sentient then most, attempting to spread it's influence by killing it's rivals. But if that doesn't really work for you, I'll think of something more dramatic.

[Colesign]

That could work.

My only minor quibble with your cosmology is that Alera just barely managed to stop the onslaught of the Vord by killing the queen. It was the Canim continent that got overrun, and according the Emperor Ja-Jang, they all died from winter.

[Cracklord]

First up, that's in the fourth age. Which I'm not writing, as then there is no real point playing this.
Second up, I know in Codex Alera says the Canim are on another continent. I decided, for obvious reasons, to ignore that particular fact, and so they are both grouped together.
Finally, even if you do kill all the queens the Vord are capable of starting again, just in a new shape and form. So they remain a threat regardless, just one for the future.

[doliest]

So, to make sure I understand, this game is in the Fourth Age, and Soth was first born in the Second Age, where he failed to stop the Cataclysm, and was 'removed' from the cycle, now the same person constantly, cursed in his armor.

As for regret....Soth doesn't quite feel regret. He'd do it all again if given the choice. A definite reason is never given, but likely it's because all he has to live for now is his negative emotions. The positives were worn away by the curse, twisted into mockeries of what they were, like everything else in the Keep. Ultimately, I think it boils down to an unwillingness to admit he was wrong, because it's all he has left-but he can feel anger and sorrow at the position in and of itself. It's weird; Soth is only a viewpoint character in two books, with one only being a few chapters and the other wasn't written by his creators.