(LOC): We Will Be Titans (WWBT) IC

[mystic1110]

It began as such things were oft to do, no idiosyncratic attempts at originality here, with a flash of infinity to light the silent darkness. Lights flickered across the canvas devoid of color, pinpricks of light building intricate chains of icy white points at the edge of what was known. More gathered near to the flash, catching the light it brought and channelling it away – but not too far away. The flash of the pulse was the foundation of a world, but a world needed to have more than simply being. More energy followed the channelled light, spinning it into an orb of radiant energy that would shine upon the world to come and with it came the first matter. Light was light no longer, it became else that was real. It became the Sun, in a world wear darkness now existed.

The universe twisted at the point of the flash as a great orb of matter began to break through the walls between that which was real and unreal, sending cracks and fissures rippling across the untarnished surface of reality as it tore a gaping rift into that impossible fabric. Metal, rock and molten stone melded with air and water, a world entire born of all things material, a home and rebirth for those to come. Traceless fire trailed its passing into being, echoes of a void beyond the realms of space and far outside of the track of time from which the world had been called, as were all things new. Twisting patterns of energy that had wrapped it in timeless safety began to fall away as it entered a place where they were not required, diving towards the world that they had protected to release their sacred gift and burden. A wave of rainbow multicolour washed out from their points of impact, and then the rainbow became water, which rippled with waves created from it's own birth. And there it was – the earth and the endless ocean.

And then the light of creation simply vanished.

Yet some things remained. The light was snuffed out but for the sun, and yet still reality was full of nascent and unrealized power. A presence made of many things, gloriously unbound from the ties that had constrained it before, and full of more power than anything not such could contain. Potential with no form, it yearned to find one. And so it would.

It was a little thing really, much of power perhaps, but little of the flash that created the universe. Yet what mattered was that it happened, that the potential of power was released, and that many were handed – without seeming price – a hand fully strong enough to tear free one strand of infinity. Limitless potential with boundless power, could any truly be surprised by what was born of that union? What else could have, but gods.

Small gods. Fractions of infinity. But gods.

And so this story begins.

Spoiler

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Credit to Snowfire - I re-purposed the excellent intro he wrote for one of my other games for this one - so if you are reading this Snowfire, Thanks!!

[mystic1110]

The orb of water rotated around the sun. There was nothing else after all. There was no one else to see it, but if one was looking at the scene one would have thought they saw two suns. The light of the sun caressed the water of the earth and danced in its waves and then looked back onto itself. It was like the earth was a mirror and the sun was a preening vainglorious fellow whom was captivated by his own visage.

The entire affair was entirely bemusing. Beneath the sun's reflection (or perhaps, the reflection itself - certainty not beneath the waves) a sort of laughter could be heard. Well . . . not heard exactly. But felt.

The water rippled slightly - the reflection wavered. One might have though the reflected sun grinned. Or perhaps it didn't.

There was no one else around to laugh at the joke.

[Toxic Mind]

From Darkness came Life. It was the natural order of things, that when darkness and light became one, something neither wholly one or the other would be born. The heat of life, the true warmth of blood pumping and flesh and motion, the cold ice of darkness and of death, of hunting and night and a merciless countance.

Yet the world was not yet ready, and so Yara dreams. Her body, warm and alive, encased in a massive prison of ice, both womb and tomb for the goddess, who fears nothing. Her awareness extends beyond her icy home, but senses nothing of worth, no reason to awaken. So Yara slumbers, and in her dreams hunts the trackless void.

[Razade]

With a flash of light, it found itself hurtling down into a deep blue wet thing. It also found itself a thing, where once the expanseless darkness merely was. It cast about, looking to return yet as it broached the placid surface only to come into the shining sun. It recoiled, racing to the edge of the light, seeking refuge of the First Night and took shape. The Being that was Yen'Hi looked over the featureless and dim water beneath it, calling forth from it's depths an island of rock to rest. Wreathed forever in clouds and rain, Yen'Hi moved deep into large cave to keep away from even the dim light of morning. Yet more questions remained, and it was small and weak from it's birth and from the darkness it created small shards in it's own image, fluttering scrolls of bright colors and heavy woods, to travel the world and return with what they found.

Spoiler

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3 AP to Start

(Alter Land: The Midnight Isle -1)
(Create Life: The Messengers [Mythical Creatures]-1 ).

3 AP -2 AP= 1 AP

[Toxic Mind]

The dreams of gods have power, power that mortals do not possess. When the island rose, the waters rippled for the first time, and the glacier rocked, an oh so small movement. Yet the creature within stirs for the first time, for something has disturbed its rest. Yara shifts, and in her dreams hunts a vast land, half in shadow and half in light.

The Northern end is a frozen wasteland, ice and snow and mountains, howling blizzards and freezing temperatures. Perpetually in night, the tundra in the dark is deadly beyond compare. The middle is verdant forests, the frosts leading naturally into massive trees that shade the ground from the sun and grow tall and wide. Rivers run through, pure water nurturing this hunting ground, and the trees are hearty and good for building. The forest is the opposite of the tundra. Everything grows large here, from trees to creatures. It is half in light and half in dark, yet the trees grow all the same. The southern end is baked in heat and sunlight, vast trackless sands. Dotting this landscape are many oasises, and they mean life in the desert, but also great danger, for all things need them, and they are prime areas for traps.

And in the middle, in the heart of the forest on the boarder between day and night, a massive glacier, and inside it, a nascent goddess, slumbering as the island around her grows. No longer cradled by ocean, she sleeps on as the glacier slowly melts, divine waters nurturing the forest.

With a sound like a gunshot, were anything around to be startled, the first crack appears. Yara stirs.

Spoiler: AP

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2 - Create Land: The Hunting Fields - Yara's continent, roughly the side of Russia. Lying on the boarder between sunlight and darkness, the northern tundra is ever night, the forest is split and the south is sunlike desert. In the center of the forest Yara's glacier lies, slowly melting.

I will be expanding on fauna in the next few posts.

[Croverus]

It seemingly appears from nothing, pulling itself from the shadows of a tree and trying to take form. It comes upon the a small creature, a rodent, one of the first of its kind. The shadows leap and envelop the rodent and sink into it's body. It rears up on its hind legs, quills begin sprouting from its shoulders and back, front paws twisting in shape and growing large claws, tail becoming barbed. It's beady red eyes finally open,a glint of the divine spark glows in them as the tiny godling looks about, scurrying back under the shadow and examining itself. This was Mandig, giver of claws and quills. He knew what he must do, but loathed the thought of having to do so. But if he was lucky, the other gods would make his work easy for him? ... Not likely.

But first thing was first; Mandig sought out more of the rodents he'd come across and one by one he gifted them with claws and quills like his own, greater size and stubborn determination. They fed mostly on plants for now, and on their dead, but there were no other creatures for them to kill or be killed by, and so that was all that seemed needed. Mandig was pleased, calling them Rodents of Unusual Size. And not too soon after making them, Mandig forgot about them completely, and convinced himself there's no such thing. He also fails to notice the lesser forms of them proliferating across the Hunting Lands, for there was nothing to keep their numbers in check.

Spoiler: AP

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Create Life -1 AP: Rodents of Unusual Size and lesser rodents

[Robert Blackletter]

The presence study the world, moving from experience to experience. Some creatures sensed something was watching, but none stopped in their business. The presence saw many things in his travels, a great cat trapped in ice, a giant rodent which hid its hoard beneath a tree, a feline hides its kill high in the tree top, a wolf alpha hide it weak leg from it pack, a isle forever trapped in mist and a hundred more little secrets were discovered in it first explorations.

Colledig slowly became aware of his self in his travelled, and marvelled at the wonder and beauty of this new world, there were other of his kind out there, greater than the little creatures maybe he should visit one, discover more about this place he now found himself. First he travelled to the midnight isle of mist seeking the creator of such a masterpiece. He sent a gentile word throughout the isle, and all creatures heard a gentile voice whisper in their ear

"I seek the master of the isle, I Colledig wish to make friends and discover more about this marvellous place."

[Razade]

Spoiler: Post Above Me

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The presence study the world, moving from experience to experience. Some creatures sensed something was watching, but none stopped in their business. The presence saw many things in his travels, a great cat trapped in ice, a giant rodent which hid its hoard beneath a tree, a feline hides its kill high in the tree top, a wolf alpha hide it weak leg from it pack, a isle forever trapped in mist and a hundred more little secrets were discovered in it first explorations.

Colledig slowly became aware of his self in his travelled, and marvelled at the wonder and beauty of this new world, there were other of his kind out there, greater than the little creatures maybe he should visit one, discover more about this place he now found himself. First he travelled to the midnight isle of mist seeking the creator of such a masterpiece. He sent a gentile word throughout the isle, and all creatures heard a gentile voice whisper in their ear

"I seek the master of the isle, I Colledig wish to make friends and discover more about this marvellous place."

The Island is silent save for the pitter patter of rain, the verdant and lush forests that cover its rockey expanse cloaked by fog until the world dissolves into white. However at the words of the Godling, a thousand swirling scrolls appear as if from thin air to circle the intruder. "And why do you seek the Master of this land? You who are like I, Yen'Hi."

[Kapow]

*splish*
It danced on the waters that were the world,
*splash*
bathing in the light of the sun,
*splish*
jumping from wave to wave,
*splash*
it splitted the rays into myriads of colors.

Then the light was gone, the waves were gone, there was something hard under it and water was falling from the sky, hanging in the air.

It clinged to the rock, taking it all in - fascinated.
That's interesting, hard stuff and water that's hovering. Can I do this too...?

And Matole became one with the mist, dancing through the eternal rainy night of the island.
Then he saw them, little colored things flying through the night.
Pity, all those colors would be so much brighter in the sun.
And he raised and raised, up into the clouds.
Everything should see the sun.
Jumping from cloud to cloud, he tickled them, until their rain expanded to the day-side of the world. And the light broke and colored the sky.
Giant bows of color linked the sky with the water and very slowly, they moved, and as they moved, they took the world with them, turning.
The misty island slowly crawled into it's first day, and although the clouds blocked most of the sun, the mist got lighter and the wet rocks glittered in the sun.
The little deity in the clouds rejoiced
Yippee, that's fun!

Spoiler: AP-Actions

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Start-AP: 3/3
Alter Land: -1 AP (Get the world to turn)

Spoiler: Turning World - Explanations/Questions

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Okay, I made it so, that the world starts to turn, because of rainbows. I hope that's not too strange or big. It doesn't mean, it has to stay that way, it can very well only be the initial shove.

Actual-AP: 2/3

[Toxic Mind]

No one would be able to point to a single thing and say "that's why she woke." There were theories of course, but none concrete enough to point the finger of blame. Hynix was a shame, as it would have been nice to be able to blame someone for Yara, as one could hardly blame the huntress herself. She was only fulfilling her imperative after all.

The debate would rage whether it was the natural melting of the ice that awoke her, or the presence of prey on the island, or the sudden shift of the earth beginning to move. Though the point was moot. With a sound like the fistfight of the titans, the glacier shatters, the shards flying across the world. As the icy mist cleared, one could see the inert form of Yara, still curled up where she once slept in the ice. The bottom of the glacier was intact, if cracked and weeping, but the top was scattered across the world. For a full day she waited, lying without motion, simply waiting, the consummate patient huntress. She had all the time in the world, after all, and she knew soon enough that someone would come to investigate.

Yara waits.

[mystic1110]

Gods were certainly interesting - brothers and sisters as they were - but the sun's reflection was enraptured by the ones that sprung forth from the Hushed one. Fluttering scrolls which perched on trees and flew in schools like birds - but ah - birds didn't exist did they? If they did, people would say they nested and flew like books in the air. Wasn't that fun!

And so one day, the day three days after the world began to spin, the scrolls began to migrate. To explore the world, and to write down what they saw in their own pages. Not all of them left their god's island to travel across the barren sea to the Hunting Fields of Yara and Mandig's rats, no only the bravest little books made that journey - or at least attempted to.

Some scrolls grew tired in flight and collapsed into the sea - their pages wet and see through - their seems unraveled until they simply sank or disintegrated. Those were sad times. But some of the scrolls made it - the bravest and the strongest. Scrolls and books of harsh words and iron will. And yet when they saw the new land the books flew in a cacophony of joy.

They fluttered through the air, their pages exposed for all to see. They didn't cover themselves up with their covers, and they danced and were merry.

In a puddle of water in the center of the merriment the reflection of the scroll's revel laughed - as first revels went, this wasn't awful. Not at all. Their was something beautiful in watching books engage in a little fun. But it wasn't enough. Not nearly.

But first the reflection would have to get around to making beer eventually. And he must most definitely make blood. Papyrus pulp just wasn't the same.

[Robert Blackletter]

Spoiler: Post Above Me

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The Island is silent save for the pitter patter of rain, the verdant and lush forests that cover it's rockey expanse cloaked by fog until the world dissolves into white. However at the words of the Godling, a thousand swirling scrolls appear as if from thin air to circle the intruder. "And why do you seek the Master of this land? You who are like I, Yen'Hi."

Colledig mastered his fear and allowed the swirling scroll to see his true form, A magpie made of shadow, and replied
"I seek knowledge and I seek friends. We are new to this world and few in number, together we can shape this world. AS i said I am Colledig. the whispered shadow and I know many secret of the land. I know where squirrels hoard their nuts and where the rabbit hides it barrow. I even know which Messager carry a hidden love for each other. What of you Yen'hi, What sort of being are you?

[Razade]

Spoiler: Post Above Me

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Spoiler: Post Above Me

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Colledig mastered his fear and allowed the swirling scroll to see his true form, A magpie made of shadow, and replied
"I seek knowledge and I seek friends. We are new to this world and few in number, together we can shape this world. AS i said I am Colledig. the whispered shadow and I know many secret of the land. I know where squirrels hoard their nuts and where the rabbit hides it barrow. I even know which Messager carry a hidden love for each other. What of you Yen'hi, What sort of being are you?

The scrolls continue their dance, one slowly growing larger than all the others around it. "I to seek knowledge and to share that knowledge with others. For this I have sent my children across the world with the hopes they will return with stories from the corners of World. This land is a land dedicated to learning, let it be a place where all may find refuge."

[Robert Blackletter]

Spoiler: Post Above Me

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The scrolls continue their dance, one slowly growing larger than all the others around it. "I to seek knowledge and to share that knowledge with others. For this I have sent my children across the world with the hopes they will return with stories from the corners of World. This land is a land dedicated to learning, let it be a place where all may find refuge."

"Well gathering knowledge is important even if I don't agree with sharing it all, as some knowledge is not your to share, but I like the thought that all can find refuge here. Your children would be these scroll creatures fluttering about? I like them! I may make something similar for myself at some time. Will you accept my offer of friendship Yen'Hi? "

[Toxic Mind]

The glacier's destruction had cleared the area for a time, but naturally the animals returned. And Yara could hear the blood pumping through their veins, their hearts beating. Tiny, smaller than her, but still enough.

HUNGER

It gnawed at her, and she opened one eye. It was night now, and so the eye closes, and the third set opens. The world becomes a patina of colors, the heat of the living bright against the shadowed blues and blacks of the cold earth and night. And she saw them. Rodents, small and quilled, scurrying around the island. They had never known the claws and fangs of a predator, and had no fear.

That would change. Yara was among them. One of the rodents climbed the glacier, and gazed upon the strange creature in front of it. Clearly not a rodent. Her tail twitched, and like a bolt of lightning, the rodent squealed once and died, pierced through. And for the first time, blood was spilled on the virgin earth. Most stained the glacier, but some fell to the soil nearby.

Yara took one razor sharp claw and sliced off the quills before devouring the rodent whole, bones crunching and breaking in powerful jaws. The smartest of the rodents ran when they smelled the coppery tang of blood on the air, but many did not. And so the culling began. It was easy at first. Many of the rodents had no survival instinct, and Yara slaughtered them. But some ran, and hid, and climbed and dug. These Yara allowed to live, for they showed the promise of true prey.

Throughout the night she hunted across the range and breadth of the continent. No challenge, not truly, but a simple culling of those too weak to even attempt survival. And finally, her fur soaked in blood, satiated by flesh and bone and marrow and blood, Yara returned to the Glacier as the sun dawned, to sleep, licking herself clean. Her fur once again blends in perfectly with the glacier, only the wash of blood even betraying that a creature dwelled there.

Yara dozed lightly.

[Razade]

Spoiler: I was PM'd to spoiler this.

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Spoiler: Post Above Me

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"Well gathering knowledge is important even if I don't agree with sharing it all, as some knowledge is not your to share, but I like the thought that all can find refuge here. Your children would be these scroll creatures fluttering about? I like them! I may make something similar for myself at some time. Will you accept my offer of friendship Yen'Hi? "

"All knowledge here is free, none shall be kept secret or secure. What one does off the island cannot be controlled, but my children will seek all they can out and return it here If you seek to keep something safe, you shall keep from their sight. Everyone is friends on this island, none shall fight. If you wish to fight you must leave the island. One cannot fight around the fireplace." Yen'hi entones, however comes to rest face to "face" in front of the other godling. "We have an understanding, yes Colledig?"

[Robert Blackletter]

Spoiler: I was not PM'd to spoiler this.

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"All knowledge here is free, none shall be kept secret or secure. What one does off the island cannot be controlled, but my children will seek all they can out and return it here If you seek to keep something safe, you shall keep from their sight. Everyone is friends on this island, none shall fight. If you wish to fight you must leave the island. One cannot fight around the fireplace." Yen'hi entones, however comes to rest face to "face" in front of the other godling. "We have an understanding, yes Colledig?"

I understand Yen'hi, and out of respect for you making this place refuge for the lost, I shall not fight here, but I warn you and any of your children who takes what is mine will forfeit its existence. I came here offering friendship and you have talked of war, so be it. I may be a little god but that give you no right of veiled threats, to bully. I leave your presence now, maybe others of our kind are more civil. Colledig reply his whispered voice getting more harsh until it almost hurts to hear it. Next time we meet, I will not be so kind And with that Colledig ran to the main land looking for another of his kind

[mystic1110]

When the first blood was spilled by Yara it landed in the soil. It was a forgettable puddle. There were so many great implications about that first kill, so many consequences that the blood itself was forgotten. The someone didn't forget. Someone rejoiced. The blood shimmered when no one was looking. It was not naturally reflective - blood is more dull than shiny, it draws in the colors around it and reduces them to a uniform brown. For dried blood is not as romantic as blood full of the fire of life. However this blood was not dull - it didn't shine, but instead it reflected as if it was a red mirror. The whole icy world of yara - already full of reflections - was portrayed in red in that puddle of blood. And since the ice glaciers reflected the blood, and the blood reflected them - the blood refracted into infinity. It was wonderful.

And so the blood's reflection stood up. How? Who knows. The reflection was the god of mirth, and with gods of mirth things simply happen because they do. And so the God danced through the forest and saw the animals of the Hunting Fields and saw them spill each others blood. The God saw them mount each other and spill their seed into each other. The seed would take root to create more blood. Blood to seed. Seed to blood. The reflection smiled, and danced among the animals and taught them to dance and sing, and to express their happiness. But most importantly the god gave the animals shame. For debauchery does not have meaning if indulgence does not exist.

And with the lessons of the reflection over, the reflection took the form of the goddess Yara, but unlike Yara, the reflection was still covered with Blood and what appeared to be the stains of vomit on its mouth as if it had eaten poisonous mushrooms and purged itself. Yara's reflection strode to the sleeping goddess and gently rocked her awake.

Sister sister, lets bathe in blood together. Sister sister, lets dance in entrails and laugh with our prey and tell the stories at night now that the sun hides itself each day.

Spoiler

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AP 3

Boon: 1 AP. I give the animals of the world Sentience. We now have talking intelligent animals. Well. . . . intelligent is a strong word. Let's just say they can all speak, but they have the emotional capacity and logical thinking of an average child. Maybe a teenager. So some may be clever, but most would just be innocent. Well. . . not innocent. They are still animals - so they still have the need to kill and hump.

AP 2

[Razade]

Spoiler: I remebered to spoil this one

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I understand Yen'hi, and out of respect for you making this place refuge for the lost, I shall not fight here, but I warn you and any of your children who takes what is mine will forfeit its existence. I came here offering friendship and you have talked of war, so be it. I may be a little god but that give you no right of veiled threats, to bully. I leave your presence now, maybe others of our kind are more civil. Colledig reply his whispered voice getting more harsh until it almost hurts to hear it. Next time we meet, I will not be so kind And with that Colledig ran to the main land looking for another of his kind

"If that is how you wish to view these facts I can do nothing but let you go. I was merely trying to warn you however. Walk in peace." Yen'Hi entones, returning to the cave where it first took form. Every story needed an antagonist. All would pass as it required, for the greatest story of all was one that was still being told.

[Toxic Mind]

The eyes opened one at a time. First were the eyes like all the others, the eyes that simply saw. And what they saw was Yara, but not Yara, because Yara knew that she was herself and the were none like her. The second eye opens as the first closed. The heat world imposes on the world, yet this thing does not heat quite right. It is simulacrum of life, yet not life, and it heats, but not as warm as Yara. The third eye opens as the second shuts. This eye was black as the void, and in this eye Yara could see energy, the energy that gave all things movement. And the other Yara burned like the sun in her eye, burned as only Yara did.

Yara stands, and the first eye opens again, and the others shut. She stares at the being in front of her. The god in front of her. "Blood and entrails I know. But you I do not. You name me sister yet you have not run with me, have not hunted with me. Who are you to be sister?" The voice that issued forth was not course or growling, but sweet and inviting, like the jaws of a trap closing even as they hide behind a velvet curtain.

[mystic1110]

Yara's reflection looked at her quizzically. And then it stood on its hind legs and began to slowly waltz - as if standing still was akin to death, but after all is it not?

The reflection span around as it roamed around the other goddess, the blood on its fur splattering the ground, flung by the twirling motions. And then the dancing stopped, as if the silent music was abruptly paused, or as if the reflection decided that this revel had come to an end, or at least deserved a heady solemn reprieve. And then Yara's reflection smiled. A mad man's smile, with more teeth than even Yara had, as if each of them was reflected by the other, and the happiness expressed by the mouth, was simply too much for it.

Ah but I did run with you. I ran with you when you came upon your prey, when you shone in their eyes, bright with fright. I ran with you when you roamed the glaciers, my paws right underneath your paws, just on the other side of the ice. When you lapped waters, our tongues intertwined, saliva exchanged between the two. I am your brother-sister-husband-wife. I am your reflection and the reflection of all the other gods. I am Jukovak. Will you dance with me?

[Toxic Mind]

"Jukovak. Yara tastes he name on her tongue, as if the name itself was a part of the god it belonged to. I am Yara, and your answer is fair. So we shall dance. A dance of blood and life and death and fear and joy. Come. Let us dance in the forests, among the trees. If you wish to dance, then let us go." Yara lopes off into the trees to hunt, not waiting to see if the other follows her. Yara was of action and motion, of stillness that was only coiled muscles and energy waiting to be unleashed.

Yara, assuming that Jukovak follows in some form or another, does not stop, but speaks while running. "You have changed the creatures in my lands. Let us see if it is for the better."

[mystic1110]

Jukovak has taken the form of a thousand birds to follow Yara. A whole murder of crows, and a parliament of owls to manage them. Even more varieties. To better flit about and observe the hunt. Some of the birds simply mated on the branches. And as the god pursued the Huntress, the birds who fell behind were forgotten, and were simply birds, neither divine nor safe from the claws of the now intelligent animals.

The birds moved in an eerily fractal pattern. For each one that flew left, one flew right. It was balanced in a way, balanced in the logic of an ever moving mirror which did not decide how it should be positioned. The birds chuckled, in sync. A weird shrill cry. Perverse as if the birds, and the god within them, relished the thought of the having the birds tear each others feathers off at any moment. Perhaps it would do that. But probably not. Not yet. Or would it? Whatever was more amusing at the time. Whatever made a better revel in the end.

Why for the better? Change is simply change.

And one of the birds, A great Eagle, carried off a small rabbit which was ahead of Yara. The Rabbit squealed - animals are always afraid - but with its new capacity for terror, the Rabbit pleaded and begged, and eloquently stated that the eagle should not really eat it, that the Rabbit would serve the eagle - yes yes, and its children would worship the eagle, and pay homage to it, oh if only it would spare its life - the rabbit would have so many children - you know how rabbits are - and please Mr. Eagle, don't kill me. On and on it went, the Rabbit promised anything that came to mind to spare its life. And with one claw, Jukovak disemboweled it and made the eagle bathe in its blood.

Was that better? I don't think so. It should have tried poetry. I like poetry. Or at least I think I do.

And with that Jukovak took a butterfly and spoke with it, and taught it how to rhyme, and how to sing. All this was in the time in between the beats of a hummingbirds wings, but what was time to a god. What is time to a poem? And thus the blood covered eagle taught the butterfly poetry, and then that butterfly in its short life, taught it to the other animals of the forest.

Even now you could hear a solemn ode to the fallen Rabbit - a sonorous beautiful poem, that spoke of the Rabbit's great accomplishments and deeds, and its tragic death.

And Jukovak cried while he smiled.

Ah yes. I do like poetry.

Spoiler

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AP 2

Boon: Teach the animals Poetry

AP 1.

[Toxic Mind]

Yara laughs, a strange huffing sound, as if the giant cat did not understand how to laugh, but needed to express humor nonetheless. "Change must have purpose, and there is but one. To evolve. To survive. Observe." Yara's coat of fur shifts, and in a moment, Jukovak cannot see her. She blends perfectly with the forest surrounding her. Oh he knows well enough that she is there, to another god she blazes with light, but his eyes, the birds, cannot see her. She is on the creatures in an instant. The first one, a magpie, tries to reason with her and offer her gifts. She breaks its neck. The second sings a beautiful poem praising her beauty. With a swift bite, she ends its life. And then she found a creature, with fangs and a long snout, covered with fur. Lupine, the creature stared at her with deference, but not fear. "Will you kill me?" It asks of Yara. "I will fight you. I will stop you if I must."

Yara smiles, and taps the creature on the nose. "You do not appease. You recognize strength, but do not bow before it. You are willing to give your life. This is good. You will find others, and they will see the power in you. They will follow, because they must." The Wolven, for Yara had given them Name, bnacks away, never looking away from Yara, and then turns and runs. Soon enough, other Wolven find him as the Frost Huntress promised. Some challenge his right, and those he kills, but many follow him. They work together, becoming greater hunters than each individual could be. And the forest creatures began to fear the Wolven.

Yara turns back to Jukovak. "Change. Now they will grow, and thrive, and hunt and live. You create, but it does not assist. It merely is. That is change, but it is not good change. It merely is."

Spoiler: AP

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Concept: Packs - Animals gifted with pack mentality will naturally form social hierarchy based on strength and dominance. They become greater for this organization, though some would see it as brutal and unfair. Yara sees it as the most fair of all. The strong rule, the weak fall in line or die. Open concept for predatory species. For non-predators, ask first. Currently only Wolven are pack oriented.

[Kapow]

For a while Matole was content with dancing through the clouds, playing with the colors of light and changing its appearance to ever new forms.

But it couldn't last, could it?
Gazing down at the world, The Cloud spotted a single scroll flying above a huge mass of frozen water and decided to follow it.
Let's see where this leads me.
While descending, ist shape became more and more similar to that of the scroll.
Then, close to the cold it catched up and reached out to touch it "Ha! Tag, you're it...!"
"Oh, what...?" The wet touch soaked the scroll and nearly instantly it was frozen solid, tumbling to the ground, shattering into pieces.
If it didn't want to play with me, it could just have said so.
Oh what's that?
Matole had spotted a tiny rodent on the glacier and at once forgetting about the poor scroll it decided to investigate.
Flying closer it adressed it, "Hey, little one, you'd like to play?"
Sadly, this animal had already learned fear and fled.
What is it with all those beings, I just want someone to play with.
Perhaps...
The shape of Matole's cloud-Body began to come apart, misty shape of scrolls and rodents began to form and danced around in an ever faster whirl.
"HA! Hahaha! Yes, let's dance my children."

Again, the Dripping Mist was happy.
But as well as their heir, the mistlings where curious about the world. And so they began to leave the dance, looking for new and interesting shapes and Actions.

Spoiler: AP Actions

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2/3 AP
-1 Ap Create Life (Mythological Creatures): Mistlings (Fogpeople)

Spoiler: Mistlings

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Mistlings are not much more than sentient patches of Fog. They are very curious and playful, but other than that, they have not much Motivation on their own. They travel the world, taking on shapes they Encounter, copying behavior without knowing why, just for the fun of it. As they are nearly incorporeal, it is quite difficult to get rid of them.

1/3 AP

[squidpope]

The hot sun beat down on the dunes in the south of the newly formed continent, the occasional breeze slowly pushing sand piles around in the desert wastes. When larger gusts blew, the swirling winds would whip the sand into dust devils moving slowly across the otherwise featureless place. This was a place where mortals could go mad from heat or dehydration, seeing things in the shadows of dunes, or in the constant spinning of sand as it was stirred from its place and set back down by the wind. It was during a particularly strong wind that the god Rizzit appeared, standing in the settling dust. He dragged himself slowly into the shadow of a nearby dune and lay down, the links that bound his hands and feet piling up beneath him. "It's hot," he said to no one in particular.

He looked up to the sun that was creeping slowly closer to its midday point, the shade form the dune slowly vanishing behind him. An old book flew above him, blotting out the scorching sun for a brief moment before turning around and daring closer to him. It hovered around him for a few moments, then darted back the way it had come. Rizzit stretched, his iron chains clinking against one another as they tried to keep his arms as close as possible. "Well, It appears I'm not going anywhere quickly, might as well get to work." and with that the god stood up, and raised his hands as high as he could. The sand in front of him shifted, and then fell away as a pillar of jagged glass rose up through the otherwise featureless desert, its reflective surface sending strange patterns of light around the rest of the desert. Hues of colors never before seen pierced the sky as the spire split the light from the sun twisting it and bending it in the most incomprehensible ways.

"This is a good start." he muttered to himself, and slowly walked to the base of the crystal tower before lying down again.

Spoiler: AP

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3 AP to begin with
alter land 1 AP- Glass Pillar- a large tower of crystal in the middle of the desert, it sends out beams of light that strike the desert in different ways depending on the position of the sun. This is incredibly disorienting for people trying to travel through the desert.
2 AP left

[bryn0528]

A fine dust spread over the world. Where it landed, it took to seed (no, not like that). These seeds lay in wait, dormant on any purchase of earth they could find, for the world was mostly covered in oceans then. Far in the north, past Yara's frozen wasteland, there was a forest of trees. And in this forest all manner of beast roamed and hunted freely. Trees too, as they aged and died, filled this landscape with corpses. And upon each body, in the dark and in wetnesss and the occasional warmth, given enough time of stillness, sprouted strange growths. The seeds, spread across the world, found purchase in carrion and detris, and bloomed into all manner of mushroom and lichen, of strange shelf-like protrusions on sickly trees and dark spots of mold on stagnant fruit.

And somewhere beneath that dark canopy, a tiny, wizened man, who resembled nothing more than a tiny, brown mushroom, bent his crooked spine over to examine an even smaller, barely visible, stalk protruding from the ground. He harumphed once, set his arthritic back upright once more, and waddled over to the next one in sight, only inches from the first. The process took an agonizing several minutes, but Mykal knew he had nothing better to do with his time. He had the rest of eternity, really, waiting for him here.

But upon a point of reflection; where did the dust, spores actually, come from to seed this world? Well, all alone in the seas rides a flotilla of small rocks. Unlike other rocks, though, they are loamy and moist. It took some time for the thick blankets of moss to turn once solid boulders into suitable soil, but it happened, didn't it? Some might say the corpse of some fell seabeast first contained the seeds which later, through divine conception, flowered across the world, and that in fact, the little floating islands where not made of rocks at all, but the ancient splayed corpse of a whale or leviathan. They would of course, except that none of them knew if whales or leviathans actually existed back in those days, because this was a really long time ago indeed. But the fact remained, and even certain uneducated guesses were closer to the truth than even they could hope to see, that the floating isles prospered in all manner of fungi, each generation of growth feeding the next and so on and so forth. And these little islands, once the world started to spin, were carried on every manner of wave and wind, for it did not have roots which tied it to the earth beneath. And so it came to pass yhat every corner of the world held in it the potential to propigate mushrooms and their ilk.

Spoiler

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Final AP: 2.
(Alter Land, the Floating Mushroom Gardens.) -1.

[mystic1110]

The songbirds on the branches of the forest began to snicker. If you never heard a songbird sinker, you don't want to. It's an obnoxious shrill sound.

Sister sister. To thrive and hunt and live is good. I agree. I agree. But so is to enjoy the hunt. To enjoy the life. And you can not enjoy unless you feel sorrow. There is no honey without the curdled milk after all. Or so I think.

The birds flew upward, and it was clear that they were only birds at this point. Yara could feel the other god talking to her, but it was clear he was talking from beneath the surface of her own eyes. Reflecting himself off her irises. After all there was nothing else to reflect of from and Jukovac has no say when there is no reflection.

But thank you for the hunt sister! I'll be sure to hunt with you again. And I'll craft my changes and you'll make my changes mean something. I am fine with that. Enjoy the poems! Pay attention to the spiders - I have a feeling they will be particularly good with sonets.

And with that the god was gone. Perhaps Yara blinked?

----

Elsewhere a dance was going on. And what is Jukovac but a dancer? (one of his many talents!) And so as Matole danced with his mistlings, the other god could feel the presence of mirth and bemusement. The whirlwind, that was the dance of the mist born, was exhilarating. Round and round it went. Ah. . . if only the mist creatures could vomit from the nausea. That would have been excellent.

Jukovac took the form of a rainbow. The light refracted off the various dancing forms of the fog people. Each droplet of their beings twisting the light of the setting sun till Jukovac could take Matole's hands and spin him around. The rainbow god spoke to his brother.

Brother Brother. What fun you have! And your people! Look at how they dance!

And the mistlings did indeed have a special place in wherever Jukovac kept his heart. They were like mirrors themselves - they copied others without truly knowing why. But if they would say why it was because it was fun. And what better answer could Jukovac give?

What will you make now brother?! I can't wait to see!

Jukovac talked as if he already knew his brother, although they were never introduced. Perhaps it was because in one way Jukovac knew all the gods already. He was their reflection. Darker in the presence of darkness, brighter in the presence of brightness. He walked beneath them, as if the world was a mirror - but then he walked among them, showing them who they were. Perhaps. Jukovac would be the first to scoff at that idea, and then wink at you with your own eye.

He was fond of eyes, as it was turning out.

[Kapow]

Spoiler: The Dance of Reflections

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Elsewhere a dance was going on. And what is Jukovac but a dancer? (one of his many talents!) And so as Matole danced with his mistlings, the other god could feel the presence of mirth and bemusement. The whirlwind, that was the dance of the mist born, was exhilarating. Round and round it went. Ah. . . if only the mist creatures could vomit from the nausea. That would have been excellent.

Jukovac took the form of a rainbow. The light refracted off the various dancing forms of the fog people. Each droplet of their beings twisting the light of the setting sun till Jukovac could take Matole's hands and spin him around. The rainbow god spoke to his brother.

Brother Brother. What fun you have! And your people! Look at how they dance!

And the mistlings did indeed have a special place in wherever Jukovac kept his heart. They were like mirrors themselves - they copied others without truly knowing why. But if they would say why it was because it was fun. And what better answer could Jukovac give?

What will you make now brother?! I can't wait to see!

Jukovac talked as if he already knew his brother, although they were never introduced. Perhaps it was because in one way Jukovac knew all the gods already. He was their reflection. Darker in the presence of darkness, brighter in the presence of brightness. He walked beneath them, as if the world was a mirror - but then he walked among them, showing them who they were. Perhaps. Jukovac would be the first to scoff at that idea, and then wink at you with your own eye.

He was fond of eyes, as it was turning out.

Oh joy! Finally! Someone to dance with, to play with!
Matole didn't know who this was, it didn't know why it called it brother, it didn't even was sure what a brother would be.
Matole didn't care! It was a rainbow, it was fun.

"Oh brother, where have you been all the time? It is no fun dancing alone.
What have YOU done? Where did you hide?"

And while dancing ever faster, into the sky, laughing, Matole continued "Hahaha, I don't even know who you are, but you are a friend. I want to give you something. You asked what I'll make next? I don't know yet, whatever would you like to see?"
He grinned widely, "You don't have to answer. Whatever it will be, it will be dedicated to you."

[Lizard Lord]

As Yara's predator's roamed there become only two types of animals; the hunters and the hunted; the predators and the prey. Truly the predators appreciated their lot in life as they were at the top and none, save perhaps larger predators, would dare to hunt them.

But the grounds were with the blood of the prey. Those that did not die immediately fled and hide. All manner of these creatures hide in the bushes and threes and many even made burrows of their own to escape the gnashing of carnivorous teeth.

In one such burrow prey of many breeds hide together. The rabbits, the squirrels, the mice, the groundhogs, the chipmunks and more hide together in what they hoped was the best hiding spot. They huddled together and shivered and the very end of the massive hole, but they were not cold. Yara's wolven were out there and the smaller creatures stood no chance against them.

Perhaps it was the heat of their body or the force of their fear but something else started to grow among the huddled mass. It grow larger and larger and it pushed the huddle apart forcing the creatures to make full use of the burrow's space. They stared in fear and awe and what had just grown in their burrow. Before them stood a squirrel larger than any other, with fur glowing almost as bright as the sun.

"Fear not" The squirrel spoke. "For your King Ratameeko has arrived and from this day forth you not prey. You are the greatest of animals and through stealth and cunning we shall take what we can!"