Lords of Creation: A Fresh Beginning [IC]

**Razade** · 2021-08-21, 01:39 AM (ISO 8601)

Before there was time there was The Creator, a thing of incomprehensible power and thought, a thing beyond mortal or divine minds whose mere brush with Creation cast that small part of it that touched upon reality to splinter away. These splinters became the Titans, beings of slightly more comprehensible power and thought composed of the elements of Creation. Fire, Water, Earth, Air and Void fought for dominance as The Creator left its Creation. These vast beasts then reigned but in their fighting they sequestered their own powers and grew lesser with each blow. In time these mighty things, depleted and weak, fell silent.

The Earth Titan became The First World, an orb of earth and mud that sought to tame the flames of the Fire Titan. The Water Titan draped across it, drowning the first beneath it. Air and Void them wrapped about their brethren and thus the divide between the firmament and the Void was made, clear dark skies above, cold dark waves below. But the shards of these mighty Titans remained and in them remained the power of the Creator still. These were the Gods, lesser than the precursors but perhaps just strong enough to shape Creation. Weak but perhaps weak enough not to simply burn out and die in such glorious chaos.

The First World

One such shard fell from The Void, a mighty storm that fell to the waters and below. Vast earth rose on its impact and the fall was so hard so too did it rend Creation. More tales will be told of this later. What matters now is where the storm raged when it’s fall came to a halt. Worlds beyond Creation lay bare, a storm of energy that spilled forth into Creation and a tunnel that connected these new lands to the firmament.

Spoiler: AP Actions

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Create Land (Cartisia, The Drum) - 1AP: Cartisia is an Asia sized landmass shaped like a large doughnut and broken at points to create large saltwater rivers which lead to a vast inland sea dotted with limestone islets. The interior of the inland sea side are vast mountains while the outer sea side are forests and craggy beaches. Due to the large barriers facing the sea, large storms are a constant in the interior waters of the island.The ring of land itself is roughly the size of Britain from its outer shores to its interior shores, meaning much of the actual continent is the interior sea. Cartisia [Beauty (Gems) 1/10]

Weave Plane (The Elemental Storm) -3AP: The Elemental Storm is, as the name implies, a powerful raging storm of elemental magic. While magic manifests in the physical world as energy in living things, the Elemental Storm is that energy made physical. Large islands of physical land float in seas of water, air and fire. The whole plane is suffused with magical energies, empowering those who use magic to dangerous degrees. [Magic (Sorcery) 3/10]

Weave Plane (The Wellspring Resorts) -3AP: The Wellspring Resorts is a vast plane of water dotted by natural limestone islands. The waters of this plane are naturally imbued with potent magical energies capable of healing the sick and empowering magic users who dwell on the plane. [The Planes (Portals) 3/10]

Create Mythical Concept (Magic) -1AP: Magic is a natural source of energy that both exists within living things as well as the natural world. Magic can be used to perform powerful supernatural feats by those who can harness their energy. [Magic (Sorcery) 4/10]

**zzzzzzzz414** · 2021-08-21, 03:56 AM (ISO 8601)

An old legend, which may or may not contain truth.

---

IN THE BEGINNING, the world was a dead thing. An orb of motionless blue, wrapped around an orb of motionless brown and gray. An unending pool, of unending quietude, unending stillness, cradled in the ignorance of non-existence and non-self.

And then, suddenly, from somewhere, somehow, there was a great and mighty sound. Motion. Vibration. And that vibration resonated down through the dead pool and through the dead rock at its core; echoing, sounding, vibrating more and more until it had become a great hum, resonating to a single point until at last the great dead rock - and with it, the great deadness of non-self - cracked. And from a single, small pebble, the First Seed was created.

From the first moment of its existence, the Seed began to choke and die; for all around it was nothing but suffocating dead rock and darkness, crushing it from all directions, attempting to bring the Seed back into itself. And so the Seed's very first act was of desperation; out of self preservation, out of its overwhelming and heartfelt desire to exist and grow, it reached beyond existence, into the Power beyond Power, and claimed from it a NAME. And there was a great rumbling and roaring beneath the waters as Xe who was OGAM, who had claimed the power to shape the world, spread in every direction, extending great branches of living stone - that which would be called wood - in desperate search for salvation, tearing apart the great stone and churning the great pool above. Of the untold thousands of xer shoots, however, only six would breach the surface of the great stone; and as OGAM's branches reached, spread, and diverged, so too would xer self and nature.

Of the shoots, FEARNA was the fastest; xe twisted through the soft and porous parts of the great stone, emerging from the surface of the great pool and stretching into the sky above before any of xer siblings in the form of a towering Alder tree, xer canopy soaring to the heavens; as xe did, xe dredged up great volumes of sand, silt, and soft earth, which settled into a great continent around xemself. As FEARNA emerged, the sand scattered and shook from xer boughs and blew across the land; the fine grains becoming swarms of bugs and birds, into seeds of grasses and shrubs, while the large clumps became great grazing beasts and hunting beasts, all manner of running and slithering and hopping things. But almost as soon as the great continent formed, the soft earth began to sink and subside, its lowest places filling up with water and salt. And so that land became a place of plains, deserts, fens and marshes.

Of the shoots, CAERTHEAND was the strongest; of the thousands of others that rose alongside xer, xe, and xe alone, managed to break through the layers of thick, unyielding stone that awaited them. Xe exploded from the earth in a great cataclysm of rock and ice in the far north of the world, xer branches dragging up great slabs of stone as xe took the form of a great and hardy Rowan tree, bent and twisted with effort but hard as iron, with globules of red fire glittering upon xer branches. As CAERTHEAND emerged, great shards of stone and crystal were heaved up and rained down upon the land. Some took root in the thin soil and became hardy grasses and shrubs; some shattered into hawks, wolves, bears and other fierce beasts; and others fell down into the deep caverns and melted, calling forth strange life in the darkness. And so that land became a place of crags, glaciers, tundras and caves.

Of the shoots, SAILLE was the most generous; xe did not climb in single-minded desperation towards the life-giving air of the surface above, but meandered, twisting and turning, selecting carefully the parts of the great stone xe would bring to the surface. But this effort taxed xer greatly, and by the time xer winding journey to the surface had concluded, xer strength was nearly gone, branches bowed with effort and exhaustion; as SAILLE finally emerged, dredging up the smallest continent of them all, it was in the form of a drooping Willow tree, doubled over with tiredness, xer leaves sagging almost to the ground. But as the water dripped from xer stooped branches, the full extent of xer gifts was revealed; for every last drop and rivulet brought overflowing scores of life from the rich black soils, blooming into abundances of sweet flowers, life-giving fruits, clinging fungi, and a great bounty of unusual creatures both beautiful and strange. And so that land became a place of swamps, lakes, rivers, and verdant meadows.

Of the shoots, the twins COLLOS and UBOLL were the luckiest. They were not mighty and powerful like CAERTHEAND; and so, when the two of them came upon a great thickness of hard rock right as they neared the surface of the great stone, they did not have the strength to push through, their willpower rapidly falling from them. But just as it seemed they were to suffocate and die beneath the earth, there was a great and powerful CRASH, and the rock above them exploded and shattered, spreading into a cataclysmic tsunami of stone and water - and allowing them passage to the surface. A moment of extraordinary happenstance, created by the actions of a second divinity. As they emerged, they twined around and gripped the great cataclym-wave, adding to it the earth that they themselves had dredged from the great rock; and so, as the earth settled and the great world-splitting roar subsided, the twin shoots found themselves on opposite ends of a vast sea, ringed by broken rock and scattered islands; a dramatic land of mountains, rock spires, cliffs and hills, peppered with shattered stone and battered by great storms from the sea at its center. The twins considered their fortunes, and gave them back to the land in their own ways. UBOLL of the east gave xers in the form of a bright, sweet fruit, soft of flesh and available to all; for one's fortunes should be shared freely, lest they rot away to nothing on the branch. And so UBOLL took the form of the first Apple tree. COLLOS of the west gave xers in the form of a hard, bitter fruit, shelled and difficult to break, but said to contain all the secrets and knowledge of the world; for one's fortunes should be guarded closely and granted carefully, lest they be dashed, abused, and lost. And so COLLOS took the form of the first Hazel tree.

Of the shoots, IBAR was the weakest. Xe struggled and fought to the surface of the great stone, pushing through layer upon layer of hardened stone and clay, persevering and straining harder than any of the others; but in the end, it was not enough. Xe managed to push through the surface of the great stone, but xer strength was entirely exhausted; xe lacked the vigor to climb to the surface of the great pool, to the nourishing air above. Xe reached out one last desperate limb, longer than the others, reaching for the surface; but already xe was too weak, the wood too brittle, and the branch broke, floating away to the surface. With that, the darkness and death swirling around xer finally completed its grim work, and with one last great shudder, IBAR, xe who would have been the first Yew tree, withered and died. Xer wood hardened back into dead stone - and within, the unrealized potential within xer great corpse, the Power beyond Power that would have nourished a continent on the surface above, instead sat, and ever-so-slowly began to rot and fester.

But IBAR did not leave the surface world wholly untouched. Xer broken limb floated to the surface of the Great Pool, and presently drifted to the shore of the great Eastern continent. Being invested with a small portion of the Power beyond Power, it breathed in the life of the soil of that place, and took on life of its own; it dug into the earthy flesh of the world, the wood becoming flexible, gaining muscle to propel itself further into the soil; and so the limb of IBAR became the one that would be called Boiteag Dirt-Eater, the Great Worm who sculpts the world.

As the earth settled and the growth of the world-roots halted, the six great trees that were OGAM took in the life-giving air from the surface world, and OGAM drew xer first breath. As xe exhaled, a great gust of wind blew across the surface of the world, carrying with it a million upon a million seeds; those who would become the first true children of OGAM. They took root in every part of the world, taking countless forms and shapes: the East was filled with broad savannahs, the South with great flying forests, the West with dense swamps and jungles, the North with hardy boreal woods. From these seeds came trees of every type and species, from the evergreen pine to the thorny acacia to the towering redwood. A few, however, were especially unique; the ones that settled nearest to the great shoots of OGAM. And through the webs of roots and fungus that ran deep into the earth, these saplings absorbed something special: the sap of wisdom and life, the sweet nectar of the Power beyond Power that ran through every part of the body of OGAM. As these saplings drew in the divine essence, something within them changed, their hearts becoming something greater, more complex than the simpler vegetation that their siblings who had settled further away had become. These were trees who knew Thought and Self and Name, blessed and cursed with the same awareness of existence shared by their mother; the very first of the Ents.

Spoiler: AP ACTIONS

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AP Total: 16

Create Land: Cartisia (1AP, shared with Deluge)

Cartisia is a massive ring-shaped continent in the southern hemisphere of the First World, surrounded by a number of rocky islands large and small. Its massive size has led to a variety of climates on the ring, from frozen tundra in the far south to temperate warmth in the far north. The animals and plants are well adapted to the severe and rocky terrain: common lifeforms include large birds of prey, mountain goats and other climbing-suited ungulates, and hardy, high-altitude "flying forests" of trees and moss that can cling to the sheer rocky surfaces.

On the eastern edge of the continent is UBOLL, a mountain-sized Apple tree surrounded by a dense forest of trees and Ents; on the western edge is COLLOS, a similarly-sized Hazel tree surrounded by a similarly-sized forest. These places are known as Ubollfidh and Collfidh, respectively.

Earth (Soil) 1/10

Create Land: Piedwald (1AP, shared with Slingid)

Piedwald is a lush tropical/subtropical continent a bit larger than Australia, located far to the northwest of Cartisia, roughly on the equator. Piedwald is a primarily forest and rainforest continent, with plenty of swamps, wetlands, rivers, lakes and lush meadows as well. The soil of the land is profoundly high-quality and fertile, and the climate is ideal for an absolute menagerie of different lifeforms and lush vegetation, including a unique ecosystem of plant-like animals.

In the center of the continent is a massive, ring-shaped lake, in the center of which is a large island home to SAILLE, a mountain-sized Willow tree, as well as dozens upon dozens of miles of rich forest composed primarily of Ents - a place known as Sailloch.

Earth (Soil) 2/10

Create Land: The Northern Continent (1AP, shared with Salacia)

The as-yet-unnamed Northern Continent is a landmass roughly the size of North America located at the far north of the First World, encompassing part of the north pole. The Northern Continent has harsh and dramatic geography, composed in large part of dramatic mountain ranges riddled with extensive cave systems. The climate is consistently cold, more tolerable in the south (consisting of mountainous boreal forests and taiga) and quite extreme in the north (consisting of little but glaciers, ice sheets and arctic permafrost.) The plants and animals that live here are primarily on the southern half of the continent, consisting of evergreen conifer forests, shallow-rooted grasses and cold-adapted creatures.

It is primarily snow and ice - for now.

In the western part of the continent is a low, jagged mountainous area capped by CAERTHEAND - a mountain-sized Rowan tree - and surrounded by a massive forest composed mostly of Ents: a place known as Caerskellig.

Earth (Soil) 3/10

Create Land: Abdita (1AP, shared with Maktub)

Abdita is a largely arid lowland continent roughly the size of Africa, located to the far northeast of Cartisia, roughly on the equator and opposite to Piedwald. Abdita has a largely hot climate, and its low elevation and soft, relatively poor soils mean that it is composed largely of deserts, grasslands, mires and wetlands, savannahs and salt flats, with a number of inland salt lakes.

The continent itself is, for the time being, slowly sinking and subsiding into the sea.

In the center of the continent is a slightly denser forest composed largely of ents, marked by a sight visible for hundreds of miles: FEARNA, a mountain-sized Alder tree.

Earth (Soil) 4/10

Alter Land: IBAR (1AP)

At the bottom of the ocean at the center of the four continents is a petrified, mountain-sized Yew tree: the corpse of IBAR, the shoot who never reached the surface. The tree itself is now composed of crumbling petrified wood and stone, but still contains in its heart the raw divine essence that would have given life to xer continent, waiting and slowly decaying.

Earth (Soil) 5/10

Create Minor Artifact (Utility - Alter Land): Boiteag Dirt-Eater (3AP)

Also known as The Great Worm, Boiteag is a massive earthworm-like creature created from the broken branch of IBAR. Boiteag is of unknown length and size, as he is rarely, if ever, sighted on the surface; Boiteag lives almost exclusively underground, carving up and reshaping the earth. He is capable of creating massive land features by digging up earth and rock, and meanders all over the First World.

Later societies would learn how to summon him at will; but for now, he simply wanders and burrows far, far beneath the surface world, following unknown whims.

Earth (Soil) 8/10

Create Legendary Life: Ents (5AP)

Ents are a type of magically powerful sapient tree, found in specific areas around the shoots of OGAM on the four continents she created.

Ents bear a striking resemblance to normal trees externally; internally, however, they are physically different, their heartwood containing complex chemical neurological pathways capable of supporting sapience. Ents start their lives as mundane saplings; what causes them to develop into Ents rather than mundane trees is a certain nutrient provided dring development: the divine essence of OGAM, absorbed from her through their root systems. In addition to intelligence, Ents are also tougher, longer lived and usually larger than their mundane counterparts; however, they also use up more resources. Ents thus usually intentionally limit their numbers in order to avoid starving the forest to death; as they are the ones usually transferring the divine nutrient to new saplings, they simply do not do so if making another Ent would endanger the balance of nutrients, allowing a large number of saplings in their forests to become normal trees. An Ent forest is thus usually only about 65%-70% Ents; however, mundane trees are still respected as vital parts of their nutrient cycles, even if their "thoughts" are not as advanced as an Ent's.

Ents are entirely immobile, and cannot see, speak or "hear", though they are profoundly sensitive to vibrations as well as changes in the temperature, wind, moisture and pressure in the air and soil around them. They communicate with each other through the ground; their root systems, combined with the mycorrhizal (fungus) networks that are a natural part of any forest. However, rather than nutrients or simple signals, Ents can communicate complex ideas through patterns of chemical signals in order to talk to each other, as well as exchange nutrients in various informal social rituals.

Ents contain the divine essence of OGAM, and as such are inherently divinely magical; their wood is of especially high quality, and has magical properties. Ents can direct this magic in a number of ways; primarily, they use it to direct and, when necessary, greatly accelerate, their own growth. Ents can consciously control the shape and direction of their roots and branches, and often use this to carefully and subtly cultivate the forested ecosystem around them to create better growing conditions for themselves and future saplings.

An Ent's thoughts tend to be both slow and quite broad in scope; unlike most terrestrial creatures, Ents are constantly taking in information from dozens of different "conversations" and inputs at the same time, as well as participating in those same conversations. Rather than quick, discrete, single-subject things, an Ent's thoughts are more like a wide and ever-shifting tapestry, composed of a hundred trains of thought at once that never truly "end", and are composed more of impressions, sensations and emotions than concrete abstract concepts. This makes them very slow to react to external change; but their actions, when they do occur, are decisive and all-encompassing.

Life(Ents) 5/10

16-1-1-1-1-1-3-5 = 3AP Remaining

Spoiler: TL;DR

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OGAM erupts from the ground, creates 4 continents: south ring continent, west lush continent, north ice continent, east flat continent.

One part of OGAM does not make it to surface. One limb of that tree breaks off and becomes a big earth-shaping worm, the rest dies and is now at the bottom of the ocean full of unused divine power.

Ents (sapient trees) now exist, created from normal trees by absorbing the divine essence of OGAM.

**Razade** · 2021-08-21, 04:06 AM (ISO 8601)

The First World: Sunstone Isles

It is said by the Kittess that before there was anything, there was the storm.

No Kittess remembers the Deluge of course, ancient and primordial in its ancient fury but the story tellers and singers of the catfolk certainly chronicle how they came to be. When the world was just water and stone, the first Kittess plied the waves and found the world to be small. A ring of stone and forest rose on all sides in the rocky waves and above only storm. These Kittess were drawn not from the outer ring but the shining rock of the Sunstone Isles they still called home. Here, where the Deluge rained down mighty lightning they crawled from the dark caverns to witness the dazzling stone and glass left on the shores. The Deluge, finding these simple cats to be to their liking, breathed in them knowledge of the mana that seeped from stone and water and dazzling bright light and thunder. It, there, on the shores of their islands sang and so too did the Kittess sing and in the song sang saddness and magic. But the Kittess were curious and when the Deluge left, there beyond the mortal world, the Kittess followed for a doorway opened deep in the caverns and cliffs of their mountain home.

Spoiler: AP Actions

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Alter Land (The Sunstone Isles) -1AP: The Sunstone Isles are a small archipelago in the center of Cartisia. Due to the vast oceans that surround it, from the islands it looks as if there is no other land in the world. The Sunstone Isles are so named due to a rare mineral (sunstone) that glows with the power of daylight found in its mountains. The central island is mountainous while the spattering of smaller isles are less rugged, dense with forests and inland lakes and hotsprings. The Sunstone Isles are wracked by storms and rainfall for a large portion of the year, a powerful monsoon flow feeding this wet climate through the fall and winter. The ocean waters are filled with fish and other sea life and the shallow waters between the islands host a plethora of kelp and other seaweeds that make boat travel difficult. [Beauty (Gems) 2/10]

Create Race (The Kittess) - 2AP: The Kittess are diminutive catfolk. They stand no more than four feet in height at the tallest and many would describe their features as “kitten like”, hence their name, though this appearance belies a race with a shrewd mind and a hunting instinct that would make many larger predators jealous. The Kittess are deeply curious, inventive, and while similar to cats in many regards are not as independent and asocial as felines. Their small size has required them to band together often enough that while minor disputes do quickly turn into hissing and clawing sessions when truly heated, the Kittess are a deeply social species. The fur of the Kittess range from Siamese to Bengal. Some on the outskirts of the isles also have coloring similar to large cats such as tigers or lions. Kittess are long lived, owing to their small stature, living several hundred years. [Magic (Sorcery) 6/10]

Create Society (The Conclave) -2AP: The Kittess as noted are quite social among their peoples. Tribes have a single matron at their head that operates as the de facto chieftess with the oldest males acting as religious leaders and general overseers of the work for the day. A single Matron has a council of these elder males to consult with. All women beyond breeding age help to raise the various litters of the tribe while older males oversee cooking and comfort. Young males and females have no division of labor, any young adult able to work is more than able to fill whatever roles are needed. Work is expected of all in the tribe except for the most elderly who are taken care of. [Magic (Sorcery) 8/10]

Create Mundane Concept (Music) - 1AP: The Kittess are a creative bunch, especially in the arts. The Kittess may not have the best singing voices but their musical instruments are well crafted and they have a fine ear for music theory as it applies to magic and mana in the natural world. [Magic (Sorcery) 9/10]

Bless (Natural Magics) -1AP: The Kittess, as a curious peoples, are adept at magical theory and harnessing natural magics of the world. Even those Kittess who are not students in the magical arts know a few cantrips by the time they reach adulthood. [Magic (Sorcery) 10/10]

Bless (Magical Stones) -1AP: Cartisia and the Sunstone Islands are imbued with minerals, gems and stone with magical energies. The most common on Cartisia is lodestone, a heavy mineral found in the mountains and capable of holding lightning from storms. Sunstone is unique to the Sunstone Isles, storing and producing magic so long as it is exposed to the light of the sun. [Beauty (Gems) 3/10]

**ezekielraiden** · 2021-08-21, 05:32 AM (ISO 8601)

In the beginning, the Titans raged, and in strength unchecked engulfed one another, until almost nothing was left of who they had been. But almost nothing is not nothing. And among the almost-nothing that remained, there was a something. Perhaps it was some twirl of flame that escaped the stone and the deluge. Perhaps it was a lonely breath of wind, sighing across a realm of what-might-have-been. The details ultimately mattered little.

The something was, at first, very nearly not there at all, for it was made of promise: the promise of a better tomorrow, and the promise to let tomorrow come. In the cold darkness that followed the enveloping, though, what promise remained? The promise of a featureless void, of a whole world of stagnant water, that had not even the potential to change into ice?

No. These things had failed, lost to their own savagery. The promise that remained was the first promise: the will to live on, to do more, to reach higher. That promise lived in oaths, and in seizing the opportunity to make, to build, a world better than the one around you. And the first promise had a name. Arkhos. That which comes before. That which begins. That which rises up. Now, only a thin ribbon of golden light, swimming through the Void, but able to become so much more.

How to set the stage, though? How should he show others the way, set forth the challenge to rise again and again until the challenge is surmounted?

With light, of course. "If light has survived this, then let it shine forth, from without, and from within. So shall it be."

As Arkhos spoke these words, a great light, vast and golden and resplendent, came into being, waxing full in mere moments. It stood, clear and resolute, shining down on the First World, whose potential had yet to unfold. But another light also grew, one that could not be seen with the eye, a light within living things, needing only to be tapped. The potential to do so many things. And it was good. By this light, opportunity might be seen, taken, fulfilled. Thus did Arkhos name it Kairos, the Golden Moment.

Spoiler: AP Actions

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16/16 AP from start
Create Land (2 AP): Kairos, the Golden Moment, the First Sun [Sun (Revelation) 2/10]
Create Mythic Concept (1 AP, FFA): Magic, shared with Whose Voice and others [Magic (Rites), 1/10]

13/16 AP remain

Domain Progress
Sun (Revelation) 2/10
Magic (Rites) 1/10

**bc56** · 2021-08-21, 08:05 AM (ISO 8601)

In the beginning, the world was still and only beginning to awaken with life. But before that beginning came another. In the battle between the Titans, the fire titan tore away fragments of the earth titan, which came to rest among the void, but they did not remain. The largest among them was the first to fall, plummeting down to the first world. Air and fire swirled around it, and still it fell. It struck the southeastern corner of the northern continent with immeasurable force, tearing it apart. When the dust settled, a nearly perfect circle of jagged mountains rings the crater of the impact, and as the southernmost part of the crater began to fill with water, the stone which had traveled so far to reach this place in such a violent way cracked open, and two figures emerged, under a sky streaked with the fires created by lesser fragments following theirs to the first world. One looked at the other, and nodded.

Spoiler: AP actions

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Starting AP: 16
Alter Land: The Shattering (1 AP) [Earth (meteors) 1]
In the southeastern corner of the yet unnamed northern continent, a vast impact crater has been created. Ringed by a range of jagged mountains, the partly flooded center is composed of shallow seas and peat bogs. It is notably warmer in the Shattering than in the surrounding areas, and more sheltered from wind and storms.
Bless: Meteor Showers (1 AP) [Earth (meteors) 2]
Across the first world, fragments of the Earth Titan formerly stranded in the Void return to their source by falling through the sky. Some never reach the ground, but many do. Each stone is a unique and mysterious item, and they often have strange properties.

AP remaining: 14

**Breitheamh** · 2021-08-21, 08:52 AM (ISO 8601)

It is written...

As our story begins, the great conflict rages, splintering shards of Creative energy scattering across what was and what will be...

Shaken, beaten, bruised, shattered, rent with almighty force of violence, the great Titans fall slowly silent, leaving behind...

Peace...

For just a moment...

And in that peace, a Hope of What Can Be, that with Hope, Will Be...

From the ashes of endless rage something new emerges: a Creation, more than What Was before the beginning. The Great Storm falls, the Great Tree grows, the Great Light shines, and breath of Life breathes its first.

We must join this Story We Are Telling.

As FEARNA shot forth xer roots and shoots, land gave way...

What stories might be told in this new land? What children would be born, hope would be found, love would be shared? Just so long as... it could last...

The Hope whispered through the marshes and deserts and lowlands, offering their Word on the wind, to carry the legacy on, and the land sighed its contentment, its trust to hold fast, and believe that its story will be Good.

Then far to the west, in the garden of life, Hope found abundance. What Will Be here, in this paradise of wonder? And so Hope stepped forth onto the land, just for a glimpse, and watched with awe at the settling of this world. We laughed, pure joy on our lips, and leapt, Hope seeping through our legs, taking root in the ground, and so we were born, the Children of Hope, springing forth from the leaping laughter of this Beautiful Story...

The Children set to their play, experiencing the Story, telling each other their treasures and joys. They grew only as much as was needed, lived only just enough, and in their wonder, found Hope, and learned to trust in enough. They Named themselves Al-Kitab, for the Book, and Hope spread with joy at their wondrous Children, for now It Is Written that Maktub is their Father and Mother.

We spoke to our Children, and made known that the Story is GOOD...

And so they told their stories, through Word, through page, through art and parable.

And there is Enough.

Spoiler: Action Point Allocation:

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Contribute to Create Land (Abdita) 1 AP Life (Conservation) 1/10

Create Race (Al-Atfal; it's Arabic for children, but you can just call them Arabic Hobbits if you want) 2 AP Magic (True Naming) 2/10
Al-Atfal are small (in D&D terms) creatures who look much like Halflings or Hobbits. Humanoid in structure, somewhat child-like in stature and demeanor (from a human perspective), with somewhat larger eyes than one might expect. Their skin, hair, and eyes run the full range of the human experience, with no two Atfal looking exactly alike. And when I say that, I mean quite literally. They reproduce sexually as humans do, and thus far in their story, there is no such thing as identical twins.

Create Racial Society (Al-Kitab; the People of the Book) 2 AP Magic (True Naming) 4/10
Al-Atfal are raised in family-clans, with well-defined, but not socially strict gender roles. Older men in the clan are called Father, and older women in the clan are called Mother. Mothers take care of the youngest children and maintain the hearth and home. Fathers take care of the older children and explore and gather. Outside of the clan, older men and women are called Uncles and Aunts. All peers of age, both in and out of clan, call each other Brothers and Sisters. Children choose their preferred gender role upon coming of age, and tend to stay in that role for the rest of their lifespan, but adults are free to take on a different role if they wish to experience something different.
Sexual roles are honestly less complicated. Al-Atfal do not wear clothing (at least at this point in their story), as there is no reason to. They are free to experience the world in what way most delights them. If a child is to come of a union of shared experience, what a blessing that is!

Create Mundane Concept (Oral Tradition) 1 AP Magic (True Naming) 5/10
Al-Atfal begin to tell their stories to each other. Through grief and laughter, sorrow and joy, despair and hope, they cement the experiences of one and all in their collective consciousness. This is a large part of how they formed their society, finding unity in shared experiences, passed down from generation to generation.

Create Mundane Concept (Writing) 1 AP Magic (True Naming) 6/10
Not all stories are perfectly happy. Some are hurt by the World, and though it hurts, something beautiful can be born from it. When the first Al-Atfal went deaf, Al-Kitab despaired for a moment, until the one who had been hurt smiled. She pointed to her smile, and then stooped down to the ground, her finger carving through the soft earth, and drew the simple arc that bends low and curls back upward. A Smile, a falling low from height, only to find your way back up again, represented for the first time in writing. From there, it soared.

Create Advanced Concept (Literature) 2 AP Magic (True Naming) 8/10
Stories became more elaborate, taking on recognizable and functional form, becoming more than just a recounting of events, but an artform in itself. Imaginings of what could be became the first fiction, not as an embellishment, exaggeration, or lie, but as a way to experience more than what had already been experienced.

Create Sub-Concept (Poetry) 1 AP Magic (True Naming) 9/10
Originally a memorizational tool before writing had taken root, meter and rhyme became something of substance by themselves as the art of story gripped the hearts of Al-Kitab. There is beauty to be imagined and wonder to be created.

**Zelphas** · 2021-08-21, 09:34 AM (ISO 8601)

It awoke with the sun in the Void, and found itself unpardonably high. And so, with its first action, it brings itself low.

The air was too high, and so it fell beneath it, calling the air down as it came. The earthen mountains that already poked above the First World's seas became places of thin and high air, while the lowlands and seashores became thick with air and humidity in abundance.

The water was too high, and so it fell beneath it, calling the oceans down as it came. The water groaned and rolled as it pressed down upon itself, the weight of its striving downwards converting into pressure that crushed down on anything that dared to live in its depths; one must adapt or die.

Even the earth below the sea was too high, and so it opened that earth and fell beneath it. An enormous crack in the depth of the ocean, black against darkness, gaped wide like a grinning mouth. Bits of luminescence drifted off of its form as it fell, becoming tiny glowing things, the bulbs at the end of monstrous anglerfish, and other pieces of dark, twisted, and strange deep sea life.

Even the fire below the earth was too high, but it paused before reaching it, sensing that this fire strained upwards. To release it would to bring high something that was low, and that could not be borne. And so, it settled upon the earth a mere few feet from slumbering fire, and decided that it was low enough. For now. This would be the place to start.

It gave itself no name, did not seek to discover what it was or why it had become. Its Task was all, and that is what it became named, once mortal and god divined its existence by its influence.

In the lowest point on the surface of the First world, in the hearts and minds of all things that stood or flew or grew or swam within and around it, the Calling began to call them all down.

Spoiler: AP Actions

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16 AP

Curse (Calling the Air) -1 AP: The Calling draws air towards its resting place. Air thins extremely fast on the first world (at about 1.5x the rate as it does on earth), making mountain climbing nad living in high altitudes a more difficult endeavor. (Domain Progression: Emotions (Dread) 1/10)

Curse (Calling the Water) -1 AP: The Calling draws water down to its resting place as well. Water pressure on the first world increases at double the rate that it does on earth, crushing creatures that brave its depths far more quickly. (Domain Progression: Emotions (Dread) 2/10)

Create Land (The Beckoning Deep) -2 AP: The Beckoning Deep is a large, irregular semicircular crack running from the southern edge of Cartisia to the southeastern tip of Abditia. The Deep is three miles wide for most of its length, stretching to seven miles at its widest and narrowing to only a few hundred feet at either edge. At its deepest (where the Calling is), it is 45 miles deep. Various outcroppings and ledges dot the sides of the Deep. The Deep is teeming with strange, warped sea life, suited for living in such extremes of darkness, heat, and pressure. (Domain Progression: Emotions (Dread) 4/10)

Curse (Calling the Mind) -1 AP: Anything with a mind on the First World feels the subtle touch of the Calling, which manifests as an unformed desire to move downwards and a fearful distrust of moving upwards. This impulse can be resisted, and self-preservation and other instincts can override it, but it is present always. This desire grows stronger the closer one gets to the Beckoning Deep. (Domain Progression: Emotions (Dread) 5/10)

16 AP - 5 AP = 11 AP Remaining

**Red Lenses** · 2021-08-21, 09:42 AM (ISO 8601)

Up and Out

[Idyllic]

On a sparse island in the northeast of Cartisia, a patch of earth deforms, twisting like water and rushing away from a central point, exposing a perfectly circular hole in the ground. It is from this hole that an orb of pure glass emerges, hovering up and out of the aperture in silence. No sooner does this orb clear the hole that the earth rushes back into place, leaving no discernible sign of having ever moved to begin with. The orb remains floating a few centimeters off the ground for several moments. Then, its interior ignites, casting out a radiant, shifting golden light.

The orb is awake and resplendent with inexplicable power. It names itself Pythus. If there were anyone around to impress claims of ownership to in regards to this island, he might have done that next.

But there were none, and this was ultimately perfectly fine. Pythus could already tell there was much work to be done. It would have to begin here, but the ideal conditions were not met and would have to be manually instated. The orb rotates, then sets off in a seemingly random direction. As it floats, the land beneath warps in a wide surrounding radius, turning lush and green. Incompatible trees and animals are overwritten and replaced as he passes through. Nothing will escape unchanged. He will spend an indeterminate amount of time manually terraforming the island, moving in precise grid-like motions.

While he surveys and alters the land, Pythus notes the rocky outcroppings of small, rugged mountains. Serviceable materials exist there, but it will need to be smaller beings that make use of it. This is only a consideration for now.

Spoiler: Actions

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Actions:

Art (Sculpture) (1AP) Create Mundane Concept (Stoneworking)
Art (Sculpture) (1AP) Create Mundane Concept (Sculpture)
Art (Sculpture) (1AP) Alter Land

Domain Progress:

03/10 - Art (Sculpture)

Remaining AP: 13/16

**KragBrightscale** · 2021-08-21, 05:38 PM (ISO 8601)

Kraxichit’s Shell

It is unknown when the first sea creatures appeared in the waters of the world, but our historians generally attribute their emergence to the interaction between primordial energies of water and earth. From the sea bed at the depths of the oceans and along the shores of land masses that rose with the world tree, creatures of the sea emerges, grew and multiplied to fill the vast waters of our world.

It was there, amongst the first of our ancestors that the Great Crab, Kraxichit, Lord of the Tides first walked the land. At that time, it was smaller, not much larger than one of us. Yet something was different about it, within it a shard of the legendary Titans (though their existence is still a matter of debate).

As it grew, the divine hermit crab defeated its competitors to claim larger and larger shells. Possibly due to the divine aura surrounding Kraxichit, sea creatures nearby grew to be giants among their kin, as if their species natural limits had been removed.

Still the day came when there was no shell large enough to contain the giant hermit crab. Reluctantly leaving its home, Kraxichit felt naked and unprotected. It could sense the presence of other great beings much like itself who might take advantage of the Crab’s current vulnerability.

It sought refuge by hiding in the ground, yet a giant branch pierced through the surface near it and pulling the rock and soil up creating a large landmass. As Kraxichit escaped the dangerous location, it noticed a giant flaming rock hurtling towards the newly formed landmass. The surface was dangerous so it fled back to the deeper waters to roam the abyssal plains.

There it witnessed the seafloor being torn asunder by another divinity’s escape from the chaotic dangers of the surface. Kraxichit sensed the other divinity’s invitation to join it down in the depths. Yet the depths lacked the vibrancy of life and light that the shallows had so the Great Crab declined politely.

Cutting through the rock deep below the surface, Kraxichit used its claws to sever a massive chunk of the mid ocean ridge. After carving out a large hollow, the giant hermit crab took refuge in it, treating it as a shell.

No longer feeling threatened and exposed, Kraxichit moved towards shallower waters. As the Great Crustacean walked carrying the weight of its oversized shell, it’s pointed legs pierced deep into the ground with each step leaving holes that allowed magma to rise up creating a chain of small volcanic islands. Gathering and moving large amounts of rocks, sand and mineral rich soil, Kraxichit formed a plateau roughly 300 feet (~100m) beneath the surface of the sea.

Arriving at a satisfactory depth where its eyestalks could rise up above the surface of the sea, the crab finally rested from its exertion. After scoping out the surrounding area and determining it to be safe, it retracted into its shell, to live peacefully while it tried to understand the divine power it felt within itself.

It’s shell, only half submerged, sprouted with plants and other life forms after the world tree scattered its seeds through the air, becoming a beautiful island with a thriving ecosystem. Small crabs scuttled along the sandy shores, as fish and shrimp settled amongst the growing amount of coral and kelp that was building up around it.

Unbothered by the minor lifeforms making use of its shell, Kraxichit settled into a steady rhythm of drawing the waters of the world to itself and its shell before gradually releasing it to flow back. It was an exercise in manipulating its powers, and eventually the crab realized that the process now seemed to continue on its own even without the active expenditure of energy.

As the water flowed towards Kraxichit, the global sea level would rise by a little, submerging parts of the contents’s coasts and small islands alike. When the waters were released to return to the depths, the sea level would recede again exposing barnacle covered rocks, small islands and shallow pools full of marine life.

This back and forth between Kraxichit and the one that calls from the depths endured a steady mixing of waters, bringing important nutrients to the shallows and depositing it on the shores and bringing small creatures and plant matter down to the depths for the deep sea creatures to feed on.

The tides, as they began to be called by the first civilizations followed two patterns in their changes. A daily change in sea level where the sea level dropped and rose a few feet several times, this formed naturally as a response to the movement of heavenly bodies in the sky. Kraxichit’s interference resulted in a yearly gradual shift from high tide to low and back again.

For those who dwelled by the coast or in the water, these patterns provided a way to estimate and track time regularly. The Rekexi in particular mark the day of full ebb as a day to rid oneself of baggage, and whatever has been stagnant in order to prepare oneself for the renewing and abundance that comes with the returning tide. The day of full tide is also celebrated with feasting and and combat to represent the ocean overcoming the land.

Krillix and the emergence of the Rekexi

As time went by, a luscious kelp forest developed on the Krillix plateau, having benefitted from all the minerals dredged up by Kraxichit’s move. The volcanic islands that dotted the aquatic continent (and the only land above the surface other than Kraxichit’s shell) started eroding, but rings of coral had already grown around them, and as time went by the volcanic islands eventually became beautiful atolls, the clear shallow waters of their lagoons providing a sheltered place safe from the rough waves that battered the coral reefs. It was here that the Rekexi first appeared.

Although there is confusion over their exact origin, Rekexi historians claim to be descended from the original shrimps that lived near the Divine Crustacean who evolved thanks to its divine blessing. From their original size of a couple inches they now reached a modest size of 2 to 3 feet when standing on their 4 walking limbs, though their powerful tails make up a third of their body mass and length.

Settling on the nearby atolls, the Rekexi lived off of the kelp and seaweed they harvested from the kelp forests below, supplemented by the what they could gather from the tide pools and lagoons. Their budding civilization grew rapidly thanks to their short developmental phase and the large number of young produced each yearly low tide.

Although they have short lifespans, with few living past the age of 30, it only takes them 5-6 years to grow from an egg to a fully mature adult. The lives of the Rekexi are fast paced with regular change, and as intelligent and quick learners, they learn all they need to succeed during their 5 years of maturing, but can adapt and change careers easily several times. In fact most prefer to switch back and forth between two careers every other year as that allows for becoming experienced in both without feeling trapped.

The deep seas surrounding the aquatic continent are full of oversized predators, too dangerous for smaller creatures such as the rekexi or even most sea vessels to cross. Though should the methods to cross eventually be available, the Rekexi would then discover the content of Abdita to the west and Piedwald in the East. For now though, no Rekexi dares swim past the drop off at the edge of the continental shelf.

Spoiler: AP actions

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AP: 16

Bless (Sea Monsters) -1 AP
Thanks to the leftover divine aura from Kraxichit’s early wandering a quarter of various aquatic lifeforms have evolved with the potential to grow multiple times larger than others of their kind. The rate of their growth is faster at first but growing slower over time until, their lifespan is likewise not limited to that of their species, easily living for over a thousand years or more. Being too large to live in the shallows, they roam the open ocean surviving partially on the ambient magic present in the world. While this might seem as a curse to most sailors, to the creatures themselves this is a huge boon.
Monsters (Sea Monsters) 1/10

Create land (Krillix, the sunken continent) -2 AP
Located East of Abdita and West of Piedwald, Krillix is a large relatively flat plateau roughly 300 ft below the surface covered in a thriving kelp forest. There are numerous small volcanic islands that breached the surface but have been worn down until they became atolls with extensive coral reefs surrounding them. At the center of each atoll is a shallow lagoon, proving a safe place for rekexi to care for their eggs and young.
Oceans (Shallows) 2/10

Counter curse (Calling the Water) -2 AP
Kraxichit engages the one who calls from the depths with a call of its own, calling the waters up to itself, to the shallows. Like a divine tug of war, the conflicting yet similar forces cause the global water level to ebb and flow dramatically. With each cycle of high tide to low tide and back to high tide taking a full year, nutrient rich but cold waters from the depths get mixed with warm waters full of smaller sea creatures to increase the abundance of food for both the shallows and the depths. Coastal construction is now more challenging for those living by the sea, as buildings need to be built higher than the water level at the peak of high tide or risk having it washed away and flooded.
Oceans (shallows) 4/10

Create race (Rekexi) -2 AP
An amphibious race of small sized shrimpfolk that dwells along the coasts and in shallow waters. Short lived (max ~30 years), but fast learners that mature quickly (5-6 years). They grow to a height of around 3 feet, and although each of their limbs are not very powerful individually, they have two pairs of arms and legs to make up for it in addition to smaller paddle like limbs. They are numerous, warlike, and dislike feeling stagnant or trapped. They seek regular a change of pace, scenery and careers, this need for change bleeds into many aspects of how they are inclined to behave in society.
Monsters (Sea Monsters) 3/10

Note:Rekexi society coming in next post, please refrain from giving them one or taking them or fighting/destroying them until their identity is more fleshed out. After that though we can talk.

AP remaining: 16 -1 -2 -2 -2 = 9

**Zelphas** · 2021-08-21, 08:11 PM (ISO 8601)

The Call... Rejected?

The Calling, as it became known, rested within its chasm. Some things came to it, slowly, over time. Other things resisted, but it was an unconscious thing, a simple confusion; they would fade.

Then something understood its call for what it was... and declined.

The Calling sat for long moments simply processing the incomprehensible nature of that refusal. There were things that... did not wish to descend? It had understood this profusion of height as a mere confusion and even welcomed it; if there was no confusion, its Task would have been pointless. But now it was faced with the impossible thought that the perversion ran deeper than it had imagined. Some things were not unconscious resisters, but in active rebellion. To think that they had strayed so far...

At first, Kraxichit's drawing the waters into itself was a confirmation of this great depth of the problem, but then it became a revelation. Soon enough, the great crab-god released the waters... and they returned to the deeps, with perhaps even more than they had when they left. That was the secret, it realized in its dark domain. All things return to the deeps. It didn't matter if they reached higher and higher, it didn't matter if the Calling itself sent some things upwards and outwards; its duty was to ensure that all things return to the deeps.

It sent its first gift to Kraxichit and its followers, as a token of thanks for teaching the Calling its purpose more clearly.

The Pit of Hunger

The first Landeater burst out of the deeps without warning, devouring everything in its path down to the sand and earth. It coiled itself painfully up the sloping sides of the once-proud volcano and latched onto the top, and then it began to chew. Living beings could only watch in horror and fear as the Landeater's purple form began to bulge and swell, ballooning with the contents of an entire island. The Landeater sunk below the sea, but did not stop eating. The center of the ring of earth that remained grew deeper and darker over time, until it was midnight-blue even as the sun shone over it in midday.

Eventually, those who tested it found that gifts given to the Pit of Hunger caused strange effects, with the giver often becoming the center of some obviously otherworldly occurrence. Rarely, these things went well, and so the sacrifices continued. The best sacrifices went willingly into the Pit, never to return, but willingness was not a requirement.

Spoiler: AP Actions

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11 AP

Create Legendary Life (Landeaters) -5 AP: In the depths of the sea, Landeaters are spheres roughly 3 feet in diameter covered in a toughened, interlocking bone casing. The closer they get to the surface, the more they expand in size, their bone casing unfurling to reveal rough purple skin. Once they reach the surface, they have expanded to their full size, Colossal purplish worms with toughened spurs of bone on their bodies and a maw of jagged teeth. Landeaters breach the surface near a patch of land, eat their (sizable) body weight in land animals, plant life, and raw earth and stone, and then dive back below. The Landeater deposits the digested food in the deepest place it can find along with an egg containing another Landeater, then moves back up for more food. (Domain Progression: Disaster (Invasion) 5/10)

Alter Land (The Pit of Hunger) -1 AP: The bottom rightmost volcano in Krillix was eaten before it could weather away, leaving in its center a roughly circular pit. The Landeater that ate it returned several times, and so the Pit is 1 mile in diameter and about 22 miles deep. The water in the pit always looks to be a midnight-blue color nearly black, and strange ripples occasionally cross its surface even though nothing living has been found within it. (Domain Progression: Emotions (Dread) 6/10)

Create Minor Utility Bless/Curse Artifact (The Pit of Hunger) -3 AP: Since it is the first mountain crumbled by a Landeater, the Calling pays special attention to this pit in the sea. Those who offer something of great value to the Pit (a life, a large amount of land matter, etc.) will be given a boon--but these boons are from the Calling, which means they only serve to draw creatures into the deeps or to deter them from reaching higher. (Domain Progression: Emotions (Dread) 9/10)

11 AP - 9 AP = 2 AP Remaining

**Feathersnow** · 2021-08-21, 08:18 PM (ISO 8601)

Slingid

Among the Slig nurses and creche-wardens, they tell this story when the youngest ask where the first Queen came from.

In the beginning... The Parrot flew above the deeps for time untold. Even He could not say how long, nor remember if he Had seen anything besides the deeps before the Great Tree pierced the waves.

The Great Alder, unthinking and unknowing, as all its ilk, had beached many creatures of the depth in its eruption. And birds had come for them..

First Slingid cursed the birds, turned them into trees, buying time, though they would fruit into new eggs, eventually. And so, the first of the Borametz were created by the spite of the Grand Sawyer to protect She who was first.

Then Slingid looked to the fish that were drowning in the air, for they needed help the most, and He is a god of mercy. He bound them to the Earth and Air, infusing the humble fish with a touch of the lingering titanic essence. And they changed, too. They became the first of the Cybernetica. The tiny, scampering Spine Turtles who lurk and steal, the vicious, clever breeds of tyranocopter who hover and pelt their prey, the rare and mighty Sylvavores whose queens leave desert in their wake and their drones thrash their tails in time, faster than eyes can follow. That ilk was made too by the will of Slingid.

And, finally, the Abmundials, those who are many brothers and few sisters, the smartest creatures of Piedwald, and alone fixed in form throughout long lives.

He thickened our skins and sealed our gills, unwebbed our fingers and toughened our nails where once were fins. And so the abmundials of the land bear marked differences from those few that wash up on the shore after storms.

And, thinking He was done, Slingid perched in a tree. And, there, he saw Her, the First Queen. She was young then, and had no workers. And no prosthetics. A pack of slogs and a tyranocopter were fighting, clearly over which would eat her alive.

Spoiler: biology

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A Slig Queen is, in DND terms, size huge, with two humanoid arms and a face that resembles a hand, with glowing red eyes. Her rear is similar to a sea lion, but even more hapless on land.

A Slog is mostly a giant, bipedal mouth with gill-like ears but only vestigial eyes. They are similar in size, intelligence and temperament to pitbulls.

A motile tyranocopter resembles a dinosaur head with short limbs designed to attack at range, usually by tossing rocks, shooting poison darts, or flashing blinding lights. The one in the story is a species of rock thrower. They also have four rotary wings, resembling an aerial drone.

A "queen" tyranocopter resembles a building that houses, recharges, and spawns motile tyranocopters. It is also a parasitic plant that drains and incorporates normal trees into uts structure. It is mobile enough to move on after it kills the nearby plant life.

Borametz are birds that, should they reach the end of their life span, burrow underground and grow back as coniferous trees, which fruit eggs instead of cones.

Seeing the Queen in peril, Slingid severed the branch he was on, startling the animals! Never before had a branch fallen!

The Queen reached out, and her latent magic aided her, taking hold of the branch. Slingid saw, and gave her His carving knife, the first tool! She took it gratefully and pared down a javelin, that she tossed with magically aided ability at the tyranocopter. It went down, and the slogs ate it, buying her time.

Spoiler: AP actions

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16 (Start)

Create Land- Piedwald 1 AP (shared with OGAM)
The land of Piedwald is a strange place with otherworldly life, especially in the north, though other regions contain a higher concentration of more ordinary life alongside it.
The life described here, though outlandish, is intended to represent rough analogs of real lifeforms and to be purely mundane in game terms.

Civilization (pioneering) 1/10

Create racial life- Sligs 2 AP
These small creatures resemble squids headed humanoids with no legs as workers. Queens are similar in broad outline, but much bigger.

Race (Slig) 2/10

Create Mythic Concept- Magic 1AP (Shared)
Described elsewhere, Slig magic is currently unrefined always found in queens and rarely in workers. Drones, being of only animal intelligence, lack it.

Civilization (pioneering) 2/10

Create Mythic Subconcept- Animated Objects (shared with Pythus) 1AP

Sligs are craftspeople, and their latent magic most often demonstrates in their creations. They need this magic power to build their wondrous prostheses.

Race (Slig) 3/10

Create minor utility artifact- The Preparing Knife (create mundane concept) 3AP

Gifted to the first Queen, this tool was first used to create the weapons that defended her until she tamed the slogs and birthed workers to care for her.

Race (Slig) 6/10

Raise Hero- She-Who-Is-Ever-A-Part 2 AP
The leader, and current only member of the Slig race, she will have limited telepathic connection to all workers, and drones, and would share memories and be in communication with other Queens. This is a title given to the eldest living Queen.

Race (Slig) 8/10

Create racial society- The Combine 2AP
This is a society of Sligs. It resembles a constitutional monarchy, where cadres of workers each share a vote within the limits impossed by the reigning Queen, who is subordinate to She-Who-Is-Ever-A-Part, who is a sort of hive mind of Queens.
This society does not yet exist, but i must pay the AP up front to use concepts in its ongoing origin story.

Race (Slig) 10/10 Domain Complete!

Mundane Concept- Woodworking (artifact use)
Sligs are great at making things out of wood!

Curse- Borametz 1AP
Many birds native to Piedwald become trees as part of their life cycle.
Darkness (forest) 1/10

16-12= 3 AP remaining

**bc56** · 2021-08-21, 11:29 PM (ISO 8601)

Flames Fall

And so the twins wandered the land they had shattered in their coming. They were not alone, as long as they remained together, but yet they were lonely. They befriended the foxes of the swamps and forests, learning to chase prey through the woods, to dig safe dens, to fight with cunning and guile, but this was a shallow friendship, for the wild beasts did not understand what the twins had to teach. So they remained lonely until they found the starstone.
Meteors always called to them, for they were of the same nature, but in this one, round and egglike, they saw potential. It was Rend who acted first, splitting the stone to splinters with his blade and a great power of fire. It was Right who acted second, binding the innate power of the meteorite with the fiery energy of Rend's wrath, into a form familiar to her. And so was the first Kumiho born, hatched from a stone egg that fell from sky, her tails and hair like crimson flame. And this Ember of divine power became the first to study the art of flame and blade from the twins. And it was her hairs that were scattered throughout the falling stones by Rend and Right to give birth to all other Kumiho, her sons and daughters.

Spoiler: Actions

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14/16
Create Legends: Kumiho (5 AP) [Fire (meteors) 7]
Kumiho, those of nine tails, sometimes called fire foxes. Built like humans, with nine fox tails of fire and hair also of fire, Kumiho are born in the same manner as their creators. Each begins as a fiery spark of life within a meteorite which crashes into the First World. After landing, the meteorite hatches into a Kumiho, born fully formed. Kumiho are immortal and wield a great foxlike cunning along with an innate talent for pyromancy.
Raise Hero: Ember, the First Vixen (2 AP) [Fire (meteors) 9]
Ember is the eldest and most powerful Kumiho. She is a trickster, a thief, and an explorer rather than an outright warrior, but if threatened she possesses a great talent of pyromancy and skill with a dagger. She is wont to hide her true nature to those she meets, often through magic.
Create Sub-Concept (of Magic): Pyromancy (2 AP) [Craft (smithing) 2]
Pyromancy is a pure and violent form of magic, the channeling of emotion and inner energy into red flame which sears flesh from bones. A pyromancer may not stand still, in order to wield flame, one must move as the fire moves, to strike and dance, dodge and weave. A Pyromancer may use any object held in their hand as a focus, but one is not necessary. Pyromancy is a dangerous art, however, and though anyone can learn it, those with powerful emotions but little control are at risk of burning themselves up with their own power.

Remaining AP: 6/16

**canjowolf** · 2021-08-22, 05:30 PM (ISO 8601)

As creation was formed, one power layered itself upon another, confining the first in a smothering embrace. The desire for dominance. The desire for freedom. The frustration of these desires. Such were the cosmic emotions of conflict and desire which gave birth to Blackleaf.

At Blackleaf's birth the inner flame trapped within the world was given a brief moment of freedom though weakening of the earth and sea as the world shook and heaved at the birth of the divinity of desire. This resulted in scores of great gouts of molten stone shooting up through earth and sea to form a chain of islands before the powers of flame escaped into the void to join with the mirror of the heated heart of the world. The newly shining sun. Thus did Blackleaf fullfill the unspoken, unsworn agreement to grant the entombed flame its moment of freedom. Blackleaf could not exist within the physical world, and passed on into a realm of hopes and dreams. A place where fire could exist, but would not destroy by burning and would not die of starvation.

The stone islands left by the passing of the flame cooled swiftly. Touched as they were by the passing of divine energy, the area bloomed with life. And no area bloomed more fully than the great island at the center of the conflagration.

In time, this central island would be called Garden for the variety of life within, but also for its keepers, who tended this life. First, there was Shadow, the great black tree. Where the children of Ogam formed great land masses around them, Shadow merely brought life to the sharp black stones of her obsidian home. For a time, Shadow was young and knew only herself and her own needs. She burrowed her roots to water, extended her leaves to the light, drew in the heavy air and tasted its scents. But eventually she found herself lonely and alone, her dreams pale and empty, her scents the simplicity of salt and stone. So Shadow called upon the power of Blackleaf and begat life.

First came the black mosses on the black stones, to soften and comfort them. Then came the ferns, the grasses, and the flowers, filling the world with new scents. Then small beasts and birds, to fill the world with song. But these beings had simple songs, simple scents, simple dreams. They were not enough to alleviate Shadow's loneliness.

The dreamworld was still barren, like the stoney island of Shadow's cradle. Blackleaf was there, but was quiet, resting from the effort of birth and creation. Few were the dreamers and quiet was the garden. So Shadow petitioned Blackleaf to fill the garden with sound. Blackleaf, though tired, consented and created a bird of dual nature. The Kikiri, a bird which was of bot the physical world and the dreamworld, existing in both. Their song was heard in both the Garden and the Dream. For a time, the new worlds of sight and sound opened by the Kikiri distracted Shadow from her loneliness, but the birds were simple creatures and soon she hungered for more.

Again, Shadow petitioned Blackleaf to create new life. This time with the intelligence enough to alleviate Shadow's loneliness. Blackleaf considered the request. Blackleaf was tired and need to rest, but had enough power for this one last thing. Something beautiful. Something vicious. Something which would need to work with others to succeed. The Phihid.

The Phihid were a race of sapient flowers, bound together by fibers simulating a neural network. No Phihid on its own was capable of higher thought, but bound together their chorus of minds they could develop strategies to affect their world. As immobile plants, they were limited primarily to choosing the direction of their growth, and the chemicals that they chose to release. Speaking the chemical tongue of plants, they were well equipped to seek guidance from Shadow without resorting to the realm of dreams, but as of yet they had not yet developed large enough neural networks to think to do so, and lived in barbarism. Some day their violent struggles for dominance would yield way to a more enlightened form of competition.

Spoiler: AP

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-2: Create Land - The Garden (Nature: Symbiosis) - An Australia like landmass to the southwest of the central islands. It is surround by islands reaching out towards the other landmasses. The Garden is largely warm humid jungle with short mountains trapping the rainfall into the bowl of the land and low lying swamps.
-3 Weave Plane - The Dream Garden (Dreams: Nightmares)
-5 Create Legends - The Dream Trees: (Dreams: Nightmares)
-2 Create Hero - Shadow, the Black Tree (Dreams: Nightmares)
-1: Create Monster - The Kikiri Dream Bird (Nature: Symbiosis)
-2: Create Race - The Phihid (Nature: Symbiosis): A race of sentient plants which perceive the world through olfactory chemical means, essentially existing in the world of smell. They exist as a large network of leafy flowering plants which climb and twist around trees, walls, or any other supportive surface. Capable of speaking to each other through chemical releases, the Phihid primarily act upon the world through chemical releases, from pleasant scents to danger warnings to powerful poisons.

**KragBrightscale** · 2021-08-22, 06:00 PM (ISO 8601)

The Warring States of Krillix / The Krillix Empire

Rekexi society developed naturally fragmented. Due to sheltered shallow waters being the ideal place for Rekexi eggs and young to be protected and raised, each volcanic island lagoon became the center of a community’s territory.

These island tribes fought against other islands for control over resource rich areas of kelp forests or coral buildup. While some managed to conquer other islands, that usually involves a fight to the death, though eggs and young were never harmed as doing so was considered taboo and a loss of important future members of the community. Casualties in the continued warfare was generally limited to members of each island’s bloated military force.

Non-combatants, while spared from being pulled into the chaos of war, were likewise excluded from having a say in who was in charge. They could be advisors, ministers, and minor officials, but ultimately it was whoever controlled the army that decided things.

Rekexi’s hard exoskeletons come in all sorts of colors, from various shades of green and blue to bright reds and deep purples. Young rekexi’s exoskeletons are generally lacking in pigment and softer compared to a fully grown adult, being grayish and semitransparent until their coming of age molting when it usually takes on the the same color as the adults present at the ceremony. There are exceptions and times when colors of some diverge from the norm, these Rekexi are generally considered to be potential future leaders or to fill other significant roles in society.

This first to unite the Rekexi under one banner was a rare gold colored one, whose overflowing charisma and brilliant military strategies brought all the islands of Krillix to their knees. But like everything else, the unified state changed back to warring states shortly after the emperor’s inevitable death. And so, another constant element of change became the norm, a shift between warring states and a unified empire that happened every couple of generations.

Early Rekexi Tech Development

Not everything in the society revolved around war, however, as young needed caring for, the ever booming population meant many mouths to feed, history needed to be recorded and advancements in technology made.

Algae was one of the primary food sources for the Rekexi, and though it naturally grew in the shallows, the Rekexi soon learned how to control that growth, and develop new variants with different colors, flavors and nutritional value. Algae farming, becoming an important industry amongst the shrimpfolk.

The other primary food source was the abundant clams, oysters and mussels that inhabited the lagoons and beaches. Rekexi gatherers eventually started breeding and raising several species both to produce pearls which had become the dominant currency, and for food.

Unlike terrestrial races who could build semipermanent and long-lasting structures using timber and stone, the Rekexi, as amphibious beings who spent most of their time below the surface, made do primarily with coral and kelp.

Early structures were simply long strands of kelp that were cut and woven together to make walls, using still growing kelp as vertical members. Then things developed and rekexi learned how to encourage coral to grow on a surface by smearing a special non-soluble mixture on things. The woven kelp walls were then given rigidity as their exteriors became encased in thick layers of coral.

Not much was built on land, as that required methods unknown to the shrimpfolk, but watchtowers and simple protective shelters for the young and eggs were built in the shallows using kelpcrete (coral covered woven kelp) then transported to the lagoons.

As Rekexi were a short lived and warring race, passing on knowledge to the next generation was challenging to maintain orally, and many early advancements were lost and reinvented until the invention of a written language and the discovery of tools to write with.

The first known writing amongst the shrimpfolk was done using an urchin spine on soft wet clay that was brought to the surface. Before it dried and hardened, the writer carved out several symbols which would then be preserved for a while. Due to their tendency to lose their shape and text when exposed to water, they could only be stored in archives on land. Records were short lasting, and methods were tried to preserve the texts longer.

Writing only truly developed and became widespread when Rekexi clam breeders developed an odd type of clam with a long flat leathery appendage that it used to move. When not in use, it would roll up like a scroll. Writing on this surface was surprisingly easy once the clam had been fed. And as the clams had long lifespans these “scroll” provided knowledge to many generation of the shrimpfolk, though they would only open up to be read underwater.

Disaster Strikes - The Purple Maw and the Lagoon of Sacrifice

The Xiachiki Dynasty, the most recent of uncountable ones that rose and fell, was declining as all Rekexi dynasties eventually do. The old empress was dying, at 32 she was older than many lived to become and would likely succumb to old age soon.

Already there were islands that had rebelled, following one of the next generation’s future leaders as an established independent state. The population had boomed during the relatively peaceful decade that followed the Empress’s bloody unification war, and food production was pushed to its limit to keep everyone fed. A few skirmishes between reputable generals had already occurred in the south, as they rushed to build up and train their armies in preparation for the coming decades of battle.

Amidst all the preparations, an unforeseen event shocked the shrimpfolk. Never before had a lagoon been lost, the destruction of such a vital territory deemed taboo and against the welfare of all Rekexi.

The enormous purple maw that rose from the depths devoured everything, coral, the oyster farm, the hatchery with all its eggs, the young helpless Rekexi, and a good portion of one devastated warlord’s army. It had been too sudden, and no one had ever faced such a beast before. Before an effective counterattack could be organized, the beast had eaten its full and returned to the depths, but before it left it spat out a ball of energy that fused with one of the Rekexi that had watched the whole thing unfold.

An unexplainable sense of power filled the young Shrimp warrior along with an eerie connection to something far below the surface. This power came at a cost, it was an exchange of sorts, not some generous gift or boon. The purple devourer must have noticed his desperate act to save himself. It must have seen him push a nearby warrior into its maw so that he would live instead. Regardless of the method, it was giving something to the deep that resulted in his newfound powers.

Qrasnax did not reject the energy as it flowed through him and coloring his previously bright red exoskeleton a dark purple, almost black. Instinctively knowing how to use his new ability, the warrior’s ambition was re-ignited. He glanced at the warchief surrounded by their personal guard, the lot of them were still staring at the now deep blue hole that used to be the lagoon, frozen in shock.

No, a leader that falters at such an event was not one worthy of dying for. A leader should step up and rally the fearful, inspire courage, and point the direction forward. Although they had been defeated last year by the current warchief, the blessing of the deep gave him confidence to challenge them once more.

Approaching the warchief and the guards, now aware of Qrasnax’s presence. The openly displayed disregard and disdain in his posture and expression caused a few to tighten their grip on their simple weapons. He was only one warrior, but the confidence and killing intent in his eyes caused even the warchief himself to feel nervous. This was not a time for disunity, the nearby islands would surely take advantage of such a weakness.

”Warchief, the losses of our lagoon this time are far beyond what any previous chief has caused, even when losing a war. Your lacking response to the crisis and current inaction is proof of your ineptitude as a leader, I think its time for you to step down and join those we lost to the deep.”

Anger at being blamed and discredited in public, the warchief gripped their warhammer with four hands ready to charge. He would crush this threat to his authority personally. Hammers were the weapon of choice for wars between Rekexi, as slashing and piercing weapons were rarely as affective against their naturally hard exoskeletons.

Smiling, Qrasnax unleashed his magic at the warchief, stunning all those who were present. None had seen such unnatural abilities before. From the warchief’s own shadow, numerous black tentacles emerged and restrained the powerful warrior. His struggle was futile, as the warchief’s blunt weapon was useless against the flexible grasping limbs, the weapon’s length making it unwieldy in such close quarters .

The guards watched on in horror as the one they followed was pulled kicking and thrashing into their own shadow only to disappear without a trace. The oldest guard was the first to react. Bending at the waist to perform the deep bow of servitude, the warrior proclaimed her new allegiance. The others were quick to follow. With this unknown power, their new leader may quite likely succeed in unification, that would be a most honorable cause to fight for.

Spoiler: AP actions

Show

AP: 9

Split AP Create mythic concept (magic) -1 AP (4/4 - complete)
It’s magic, supernatural stuff. Diverse in use and full of potential.
Monsters (Sea Monsters) 4/10

Create Racial Society (Warring states of Krillix / The Krillix Empire) -2 AP
A society of many changes, that cycles a state of war and peace. island warchief’s war for supremacy until one successfully unites them all through conquest, and establishes an imperial dynasty. Once United population boom and everyone enjoys the peace. All that crumbles with the death of the ruling emperor or empress, as various factions emerge to struggle for power. Due to their short lifespans, few empires will last longer than a decade or two before its collapse is followed by a decade of constant war. Populations fluctuate a lot, but non-combatants are generally left out of the power struggle, and likewise deemed to have given up the right to have any say in how things are done on a societal scale.
War (Unification) 2/10

Create advanced concept (Aquaculture) -2 AP
Farming, but aquatic. Rekexi grow algae and raise various oysters and clams for consumption and for pearls. Another type of clam that was developed over time is the Scroll Clam.
[b]Oceans (Shallows) 6/10

Create Advanced Concept (Underwater Construction) -2 AP
Unlike construction on land, the core of underwater construction is guiding where and how coral grows. Kelp, woven or otherwise, is generally used to create the rough shape of spaces and walls, which is then covered with a special sticky paste that encourages coral growth. While the basic framework is quick to make, and coral formation can be sped up with the right methods, builders need to wait until the coral growth is thick enough before moving it to its final resting location.
Oceans (Shallows) 8/10

Teach mundane concept (Writing) -1 AP
The Rekexi’s written language was originally pictographic, but developed to use simplified symbols over time. A phonetic script would have a hard time differentiating the various clicks and hisses, and screeches that are common in their spoken language, and symbols lend themselves better to limited writing space due to taking up less space. Rekexi write primarily on Scroll Clams, which can only be opened underwater.
Oceans (Shallows) 9/10

Curse (Fallen Ones) (AP covered by the Calling’s artifact use)
Those who sacrifice other beings to the depths are rewarded, though it also comes at a personal cost. Strange magical abilities to aid the individual in acquiring more sacrifices are bestowed along with the recognition that eventually that individual must also answer the calling from the depths. While these individuals can wield fearsome powers, and their power can continue to grow in exchange for pushing others into the depths, the more their power grows the stronger they feel the call until they are unable to resist.
No portfolio progress for this

AP remaining: 9 -1 -2 -2 -2 -1 = 1

**Red Lenses** · 2021-08-22, 06:45 PM (ISO 8601)

Rejoice!

The indeterminate amount of time passes slowly and is quite long indeed. Some would say excruciating. Pythus is, after all, only a single orb. When he is done shaping the land that would become Halessia, Pythus decides he could use some company. Or rather, someone to acknowledge his prodigious work and to serve his purposes. There is still much work to be done, structures to raise, and splendor to embody.

Pythus gradually transposes himself to the base of one of the mountains. Veins of soft, white stone are visible between the rocky outcroppings. It is instinct that brings Pythus here. He hacks at the mountain with unseen appendages, cleaving away the sturdier rock. He extracts the white stone in large, square bricks. When he has five such bricks, he breaks them down further, shaping them into the Pythus hacks at the mountain with unseen appendages, cleaving out the white stone in great, square bricks.

When five of these bricks are extracted, he sculpts them into the form he finds most appealing. It is one he finds to be utilitarian, simple, and versatile: two arms, two legs, and a head. It is the humanoid form, though no such word presently exists. Pythus finishes by imbuing these empty shells with the transcendent concepts of movement and obedience.

This is done five times. He reasons that this will be a much faster process in the future, now that he has done it five times with absolute focus on the task. These five would be his first Stone Adherents, carved from the purest marble. Pythus makes a sound to them like a lion roaring, which meant something along the lines of: “Behold! It is done. Rejoice in your making!”

The adherents looked at one another, then themselves, and then finally returned their stares to Pythus. Blank and silent. They expressed no outward emotion to him, or gave any indication that they possessed any higher form of thought at all. Indeed, it occurred to Pythus that he may have forgotten to include the transcendent concepts of complex thought and autonomy. They could move and follow commands, but for all intents and purposes, Pythus might as well have discoursed with inert rock.

From Pythus comes the noise of a braying donkey.

Spoiler: Actions

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Actions:

Art (Sculpture) (1AP) Create Monster - Stone Adherent
Art (Sculpture) (1AP) Create Mythic Sub-Concept (Animated Objects) (Shared with Slingid)

Domain Progress:

05/10 - Art (Sculpture)

Remaining AP: 11/16

**Razade** · 2021-08-23, 03:42 AM (ISO 8601)

The Kittess: The Sunstone Isles

The Kittess were not with The Deluge long. Even as they crawled from the forests and mountain crags of their island homes the being had passed beyond their world. The Kittess were certainly curious where this thing had gone but the world was even more curious and strange, a distraction for the smallfolk. For decades they prounced and played on the rocky shores, hunted in the lagoons and still forests and as they found each other there in the stormy waters and skies, something peculiar happened.

Felines are not known for their sociability but as the Kittess shared their home they developed what one might call a codependency. They were, after all, small things and the creatures of the forest were large and often dangerous. Small bands of the Kittess would band together to take down a deer or bear or fight a powerful eel in the lagoons and share the bounty after...admittedly, some hissing and spitting and feuding. These hunting bands soon grew larger and larger, hunting larger prey more often until soon a primitive culture began to grow. Perhaps it was ancestral memories, perhaps it was just how things were, but a Matron began to take shape as the leaders of these hunting bands, a Matron only as powerful and prominent as as many hunting bands she had.

**Feathersnow** · 2021-08-23, 08:38 AM (ISO 8601)

Slingid

The Queen lashed out at the trees, severing what branches she could reach with the divine knife.

Attracted by the Parrot, or possibly the screams of it hangar-mate, another Tyranocopter came into view. Like the first, it fell to a barely animated pointy stick and the merciless slogs.

Already the dim minds of the slogs were starting to see the mound of flesh that was the Queen in a new light, blessed by the Parrot. And he had one more trick for his new follower, aided subtly by the instructions of a far-off but ideologically pleasing partner. As the Queen slashed and sawed limbs from the trees, magic wove them into a crude palanquin. And Slingid whispered a new order to the beasts and the Queen...

Her new palanquin carried the Slig Queen past the slogs. Not as an offering but as a leader! The remaining sticks readied themselves to be thrown.

Soon they, Slig and Slogs, were at the Tyranocopter hangar, were strange biological and technological ports and hubs sustained and were sustained by the hovering mobile bodies. A volley of living, tentacular sticks did for the remaining adults, leaving the slogs to ravage the meaty growths of the central hub. To make sure, the Slig, taller and more dextrous, ripped at the parasitic growths that afflicted the trees and acted as teats for their intangible lightning-milk and ears for their silent voices that carry on the wind. Any survivors would lose their navigation and either die or be co-opted into neighboring flights of tyranocopters.

Soon this area was a nice longhouse, where the first worker Sligs were growing, brought meat by their loyal slogs working with the Queen. And their mother had already fashioned them legs from animated wood.

Later
Kliv'Yarglhe, the foreman of Kliv cadre, was the Queen's firstborn. Or so he believed. The foremen of the other cadres each claimed the same. Each cadre was assigned an egg from each clutch, with extras being assigned as evenly as possible. The first clutch was stunted in size, as the Queen was over-exerted and unaided. Right now, each cadre had around a dozen members, all but two of whom were grown enough to do at least some useful work.

Kliv cadre, right now, had the job of gathering wood. Up to this point, the Sligs had only taken the best trees and the forest had began to suffer. Few trees grew back, and the game was scarcer than before.

The Parrot saw. Take anything of any value! Burn the rest! The land has turned on you! Turn on it!

A month later, the burns began. The other cadres felt there should have been a vote first, but the Queen ruled that Slingid wasn't to be disobeyed lightly, and she vouched via her mental link for the order.

Spoiler: AP actions

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Starting AP 4

Create Mundane Concept- Hounds AP 1
Intelligent animals can be trained as guards and hunters and domesticated to be safe to cohabitate with.

Society (pioneering) 3/10

Create advanced concept- Forestry (shared with Maktub) 1AP
The systematic and mindful management of forests can create forests better for yielding game and quality wood than nature alone. This typically involves clear cutting and/or controlled fires.

Remaining AP 1

**MrAbdiel** · 2021-08-23, 08:47 AM (ISO 8601)

Nazara-Trades-In-Flesh had brought the slaves she had promised; but none of them would have made a finer wife than the trader herself. The lean muscles and natural proportions of her body filled it out in such a way that her silhouette avoided the gaunt, narrow look that so many Nechustani - slaves or otherwise - could not avoid. Yet the severity of her attention was awful; penetrative somehow, in a way that made him want to look away. Even him! Zadorno-Claims-With-Fire, who had claimed ownership over more than a handful of captives and no few of them spiteful about it with their eyes. It only went to show what he already knew - some were born to be slaves, others to possess them. Nazara-Trades-In-Flesh was of the latter caste, and as finely formed as she was, Zadorno-Claims-With-Fire had no desire to take on a wife who considered herself his peer. His current wives would become insufferable about it.

“They are more educated than you required; though I do not intend to charge you for the additional value.” Nazara gestured loosely to the cluster of nine other Nechustani, and waved a slender hand dismissively. They were clean, pretty, mostly undamaged, and obedient enough to require no bindings. Their eyes ran the gamut of copper through silver, the hair on each of them as ghostly white as their skin, and held back in a single, long braid that denoted their unfortunate station. They would make good wives; but the claim of education made Zadorno curious. The warlord leaned forward on his knees, and raked his own profusion of smaller white braids back over his broad shoulders as he adopted a sceptical countenance. “Not too educated, I should hope.” He cast a glance to the two strong guards of his chamber, stone axes ready at all times, and they read his look as intended, keeping wary of even mild surprises, and shifting on their feet some.

“They know their recitations in good detail. They know the Six Actions of the Carnefactor, and can teach it to your sons. Permit me.” Nazara made a gesture lifting both hands palms up as if offering some invisible token of the display to come. The warlord was not especially pious; he did not care for the writhing and hissing of the old snake, if he happened to be real; but a younger part of him that knew the recitations as his mother taught persuaded him it would be at the very least nostalgic to hear them again. He leaned back again in the basalt groove in the tunnel wall, and nodded a loose assent. The slavemistress turned a glance to her charges, and the nine of them spoke in a warm, pitchwoven contralto. Even the guards seemed to relax a little, as maternal warmth was conjured unbidden in their minds.

“First spake Arah-Huana: ‘The sea gives way to islands, the sky gives way to suns, the life gives way to death; but I will dwell in a new place, where there is neither sea nor island nor sky nor sun, and where death gives way to life.’ First acted Arah-Huana: from the dark of night, he fashioned a new place, where death gives way to life.” Zadorno smiled in spite of himself.
“I used to wonder what the Wend was like, when I had less appetite for material things. No description I heard ever made it appealing.”
“I suppose it depends on what you like; but the Carnefactor never intended the Wend to be a place of comfort. Just a place, where the dead journey to the next place.” Nazara-Trades-In-Flesh offered her commentary spontaneously, turning her body to face the slaves as she witnessed their recitation. Zadorno’s gold eyes skimmed over her again, in that moment. Not a wife, perhaps; but very pleasing to behold. Pious enough to appreciate the recitations in detail; but not too pious to sell people to each other. She reminded him of someone he could not quite recall; but the second recitation came before he dug the semblance from his memory.

“Second spake Arah-Huana: ‘Now death gives way to life, yet it has no master; I will build a bit for the mouth of life, and a bridle for the face of death, and the way I turn them, they shall go.’ Second acted Arah-Huana: from bone and leather, he made a bridle and bit, fixed death and life to his chariot.” That’s it, Zadorno thought. She reminded him of Soshana-Serves-Her-Lord; a priestess of the Carnefactor he had once seized as a wife after scattering her shrine. Soshana had been shapely when feminine and handsome when masculine; and once he had broken her spirit, she was all he could have wanted in a wife. Yet he killed her in a fit of excess many years ago; long enough ago that Nazara would barely have been born at all. She turned her gaze back to him, and smiled faintly when she saw his smile. “The bridle of life and death. Do you take the traditional meaning, Nazara-Trades-In-Flesh?” She took an imperceptible step closer to him - imperceptible to someone who was not looking for it, anyway; and Zadorno had been counting on it.
“The bridle is the means to direct life back into the world, yes. The righteous who honor him will have many sons; the wicked who dishonor him shall have none.” Zadorno intended to be both wicked and to have many sons; regardless of how many wives he needed to take to do so. But he retained his smile, and roamed his eyes over his purchases so to permit the slavemistress a chance to sneak closer, as if she were the initiator of the intimate turn he intended the sale to take.

“Third spake Arah-Huana:..” What comes next, Zadorno thought to himself, testing his recall. The spirits, and their ward? “‘...Life and death draw my chariot; but death is stronger than life, and exhausts her. I will give my strength to her, such that she will never tire, and death will never overcome her.’ Third acted Arah-Huana: from the well of his own strength, he gave some of his strength to life, that death should lose its power, and sting.” Zadorno pursed his lips. “I should imagine that those who die and go to a desperate place might feel the sting very much intact.”
Nazara offered the half-puff of a truncated laugh. “Just as well we are good and noble people, Zadorno-Claims-With-Fire.”
“Just as well.” The nine women who were to be his latest brides awaited an interlude in the exchange between the slavemistress and the warlord, and continued their recitation.

“Fourth spake Arah-Huana: ‘Now life is stronger than death, but the spears of jealous gods will surely wound and kill her. I will give her my scales, so that neither gods nor men can take her from my chariot.’ Fourth acted Arah-Huana: from the scales of his breast, he gave life his scales, such that the spears of jealous gods would not take her from his chariot.”
“The Scale-Ward - the promise of life everlasting.” Zadorno nodded in recollection, and was pleased to sense that Nazara had moved to just beside his basalt seat. Showing interest in pious matters drew her closer. Almost close enough to touch.

“Fifth spake Arah-Huana: ‘Now life is proof even against jealous gods, but there are none on the islands, or the sea, or within the trees who know me. I will make a place where those who know me might dwell, and I will visit with them and move with them in the warm and dark.’ Fifth acted Arah-Huana: from the fire of the earth, he made halls of black stone beneath black sand, warm and dark and fit for those who know him."
“Have you ever met him, slithering these tunnels?” Zadorno cast his glance down one of the winding lava flumes that led away from the chamber, into the mazework of volcanic rock and warm stone tunnels in which most of their kind dwelled. As he did so, he settled a hand on the small of her back, and discreetly dismissed his guards to the anterior chamber with his other hand. Nazara seemed to lean into the touch, as she followed his gaze. The rough hides of her garments were stitched loosely enough that one fingertip felt the cool of her skin. “I have not; and I have never met any who have. But I have my own reasons to be assured he watches us, from his seat in the Wend.” The slave-brides spoke again, for what he knew would be the sixth and final time. He wondered if Nazara would mind them being in the room, when he took her. For his part, he thought it might serve as a kind of orientation for them. They would be less surprised when their time came to serve him; though perhaps more afraid.

“Sixth spake Arah-Huana: ‘Now I have made a place for my people to know me and move with me in the warm and dark; yet there are none who come to me. I will make my own people, and teach them what I have done, so the world may know the actions of Arah-Huana.’ Sixth acted Arah-Huana: from the sand of the desert, he made the Nechustani, and he taught them all the things that he had done, and they moved together in the dark and warm.” She had not flinched from his touch, and leaned into the warmth his body had taken from the basalt seat; that was all he needed. Zadorno bunched the slavemistress’s garments at her back in his fist and dragged her into his lap. She settled on him with admirable grace, and he moved one hand to cradle her head, with his fingers laced into the multitude of her narrow braids. He felt her own fingers, cold and seeking his warmth, rushing over his leather armor, hunting the knots and fasteners with frightful skill, and baring his pale skin to the tunnel’s dim torchlight.

“Seventh spake Arah-Huana:...” The warlord’s memory snagged on the inaccuracy. There were only six actions in the recitation, and he glanced up at the chorus of slave brides for a bemused moment, with their novel blasphemy. “'...Now I have my people, but among them are those who do wickedness and forget all that I have done. I will raise up a champion who knows what I have done, and in my name she will strike down those wicked ones with the sting of death.'” He turned his gaze back to the beauty in his lap.

“Not as educated as-”

Without haste, almost gently, Nazara-Trades-In-Flesh was sliding an obsidian spike into his heart. The warlords eyes flew wide, but for the moment he had the strength to cry out she had clapped a hand over his mouth, and the muffled yelp was drowned in the voices of the nine women - ten, as Nazara joined the recitation with amusement flashing in her eyes. “Seventh acted Arah-Huana: from a priestess who loved him, he made a champion; and he made for her a weapon made of the sting of death, and amidst his people, she struck down those wicked ones in his name.” His fingers gripped her braids as hard as he could; but his strength was a fleeting shadow now, draining out of him with the watery pink blood rushing from his pierced heart. His eyes bulged, and his mind scrambled through the same quicksand spiral that all evil men drown in when their evil finally catches up to them: a heady cocktail of outrage, and fear, and childish, bloody minded frustration that they should ever be made to pay for what they had done. Then he died, and departed his body; and Nazara-Trades-In-Flesh closed his eyes as he went slack beneath her.

“If only I could say ‘rest in peace’, poor husband; but it only gets worse for you from here.”

Spoiler: TLDR - AP Action

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Weave Plane (3AP - Order (Afterlife) 3/10)

The Wending

The Wending is the first destination of the newly dead. The animus (the composite nonphysical portion of a person or animal) is drawn into this endless labyrinth of foggy, dark tunnels in which they revisit the unresolved evils of their life, in addition to their underappreciated moments of virtue. This process pares away the spirit from the soul; the spirit either goes on to an afterlife dictated by their patron god, or else is rendered a resident beneficiary of Arah-Huana’s mercies. The soul goes to the Perdition Sluice.

Create Major Utility Artefact [Perdition Sluice] (5AP - Order (Afterlife) 8/10)

The Perdition Sluice

Known only vaguely to mortals as the ‘bit and bridle of death and life’, the Perdition Sluice is a complex and divinely masterful substrate of the Wending that funnels souls back into the stream of life energy needed to inhabit new life in the world in all its forms. Arah-Huana, as master of the artifact, is able to exploit its function to make more of this soul-energy available amidst the peoples of his choosing, via a miraculous interaction between the Sluice and the natural propagation habits of the target society or people group. Pregnancies become more common and more multiple; infant mortality drops radically.

Artifact Action: Bless [Usually to Increase Mortal Fertility on Target Group.]

Bless [Create Spirits] (1AP - Order (Afterlife) 9/10)

Spirits

Spirits are the immortal, nonmaterial identity of a person that exists long after they die, and the life energy of the soul has returned to the lifestream of the world. A person’s spirit is influenced by their experiences, and is still very much the person they were; though depleted after death of much of their capacity to learn and grow, while also coming to experience time in a more loose and receptive way that permits them to enjoy (or suffer) their afterlife for its full infinite span.

Bless [Immortalize Spirits] (1AP - Order (Afterlife) 10/10)

The Scaleward

Spirits can not be destroyed by any means, though a god or goddess may have reason to provide some measure of alteration to them (elevating them to a new form of spiritual life, for example). The personality of the dead cannot be annihilated, however; only contained, or twisted.

Alter Land (1AP - Darkness (Ambush) 1/10)

The Nuarahan Desert and The Serpentways

One of several deserts in Abdita, the Nuarahan possesses a fine black sand that is particularly invasive for non-natives who do not know how to tuck their garments to protect against it. More importantly, beneath that desert are a spidering series of lava flumes called the Serpentways; warm and dark stone tunnels with living space and warring space for many tribes. Many of the passageways are minimally lit by phosphorescent fungi and worms; others require conventional torchlight.

Create Racial Life (2AP - Excellence (Heroes) 2/10)

Nechustani

The Nechustani are the flock of Arah-Huana, and the principle occupiers of the Serpentways. They resemble classic elves with skintones ranging from ghost white to ivory, and uniformly snow white hair with eyes colored copper, silver, bronze, or another minor metallic tone. The differ from the classic idea of elves in several important ways. First, they are cold blooded, meaning that they become soporific and vulnerable in very cold environments; and they rely on external heat sources to keep their bodies warm. Secondly, they have a peculiar reproduction process, in which sexual union is a physically enticing but not chemically inciting event. Nechustani can change their biological sex with a monthly metamorphic delay (though not they do not radically alter their appearance, so they tend to prefer to ‘be’ the sex of which their androgyny most resembles.) Two Nechustani can produce children in this conventional manner; but a Nechustani (when female) can also become pregnant by other sapient races with a sufficiently powerful romantic bond that triggers a parthenogenetic event. The child is completely Nechustani, though tends to inherit elements of the other parent’s racial temperament and personality. (Put bluntly, they are pale, cold blooded elves who breed like Asari.)

Raise Hero (2AP - Excellence (Heroes) 4/10)

The Carnifex

In order to pursue his interest in violent justice in the world, Arah-Huana has taken special liberties with his power over souls to create The Carnifex. Once a priestess enslaved and slain with no hope for revenge, Arah-Huana prevented her soul from being reabsorbed into the lifestream and instead imparted it directly into a new birth. While the priestess’s immortal spirit rests in the Wending with her god, her soul is destined to return to the world over and over again, accumulating wisdom and skill. The present Carnifex is Nazara-Trades-In-Flesh, a former slave trader who began suffering terrible visions before embarking on the arduous task of coming to terms with the nature of her soul, and her identity as a divine instrument. She is cunning, beautiful, and ruthlessly devoted to executing those who have gone unpunished for severe offenses. Theoretically, there is no reason a Carnifex would need to be Nechustani - but certainly, Arah-Huana would never add a follower of another god to the compounded wisdom and skill of his champion.

1 AP Remaining.

**Breitheamh** · 2021-08-23, 02:31 PM (ISO 8601)

In the time of the Creation, as Life began, Hope spread throughout the World as wind, whispering the possibility of abundance, that there is always Enough, and Life listened. Generously given forth, and freely given back, the Essence of Life, the Energy that now binds the World together, was entwined with Creation, ever ebbing and flowing, waxing and waning, circling itself in the Dance of this Eternal Story. All Life connected, all Life precious, all Life in abundance, conserved forevermore. And as Life embraced Hope, it felt the tug of Essence, the feeling of Being, the connection of all things as the threads of this Eternal Story.

Spoiler: AP Allocation

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Bless (Reincarnating Souls) 1 AP Life (Conservation) 2/10
Every living thing has a soul, a portion of the energy of life, and as a result, every living thing has a connection to everything else, even if it is hard to see and feel. This ties all life to the energy of creation, in such a way that death and birth recycle that energy so that there will always be enough to go around. This energy of creation is actually in everything, cycling through as things are destroyed and recreated, but living things need more, so they have more. (This also kind of acts as a precursor to a possible sub-concept of magic that allows people to tap into more of this energy, or manipulate it in certain ways).

It is written…

Al-Kitab once lived in beautiful harmony. They trusted in the story, and there was enough. They told the trees how much they trusted them, and Named each one, and there was always enough. They told the animals how much they trusted them, and Named each one, and somehow, there was always enough. They loved each other and experienced each other and Named each other, their trust unspoken, but always true, and with no fear, there was always enough…

Smoke…

It was a new smell, a new experience. Full of energy and passion, but…something else…

Fear…

Pain…

Hatred…

Al-Atfal fell silent… It was not Good. It did not feel Good. How could something be not Good?

And then they heard the screams…

The trees, the animals, their friends each one were screaming, the fire soaring higher than anything ever had, black smoke choking the sky for the first time. It was not Good! Nothing would be Good ever again!

Unless they acted…

Quickly, they chose their roles, Mothers to the flames to rescue what they could, Fathers to the source to try to snuff it out, those who were old and young sheltered for safety. They held onto their Hope of enough, their Trust in the Good Story, and braved the flames.

The Mothers pulled nests from trees, encouraged animals to flee from their dens, carried the wounded and comforted the frightened. They gathered seeds, fruits, nuts, berries, held lungfuls of pollen as they ran to safety. And they wept. Eyes closing, tears flowing, death and destruction bringing chaos to the harmony. They wept for the trees they had befriended, who had let them climb their branches and take from their bounty, watching as each one succumbed to the inferno. They wept for the animals who had lost their children and mothers and homes, as each one wheezed black poison from their mouths and noses.

The Fathers entered into the blinding heat, searching for the beginning of the fire, too many falling to never again tell their stories. And just as their Hope began to wane, they saw them. The unknown creatures, their strange red eyes, and alien tendrils, propped up on mutilated corpses of trees. They held dead trees in their hands, alight with the fire of death, as they intentionally set aflame those few parts of the forest that had not yet gone up. It was terrifying, and it was NOT GOOD…

An unfamiliar feeling welled up inside the Fathers, as each one knew by their collective understanding what it was they felt and needed to say. With the mightiest breath, the force of harmony, and the power of a Name, they said to the Fire, “DIE.”

With the power of some thousand voices, harmonically Naming the Fire, it listened, and for ten miles around, suddenly every fire snuffed out. The ash and smoke began to settle as snow. The air began to clear as the Fathers of Al-Kitab stared across the field of death at their first enemies, the Sligs of the Combine. And it was NOT GOOD…

Spoiler: AP Allocation

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Some of these won't make perfect sense until the full story between myself and Slingid is complete, but I wanted to go ahead and spent the AP for them now.

Create Mundane Concept (Agriculture) 1 AP Life (Conservation) 3/10
When this is over, Al-Atfal are going to have to learn to replant and tend to the forest as a garden, to ensure its beauty and bounty.

Create Advanced Concept (Forestry) 1 AP - shared with Slingid Life (Conservation) 4/10
It is a hard lesson to learn, but Al-Atfal must learn that pain and hurt may come, but they do not make the Story Not Good, they are things that can actually make the Story even more Good if they are properly learned from and used.

Create Mythic SubConcept (True Name Magic) 1 AP - shared with OGAM Magic (True Naming) 10/10
This is a specific form of magic that requires both understanding and connection. It is extremely difficult to learn and use in a controlled and intentional way, though every sapient species can access it. By Naming something, one can empower that thing with abilities and identity that it did not have before. It forms a bond between the Namer and Namee, which offers a form of indirect control, as a master over a pet, a parent over a child, or a suzerain over a vassal. It can also be more equal, such as two lovers, siblings, or friends. How you see that connection is generally just a reflection of your motives for using True Naming.

Extremely rarely, as in the above example (referring to my IC post where the Fathers of Al-Kitab Name the Fire to DIE), with enough pure conviction and strength behind the Naming, it can offer a very direct, very overwhelming control over something else.

Some races have a greater affinity for True Naming by their nature, though in the case of Al-Atfal, it is really more of a cultural synergy. Their goal is to be as connected and understanding of everything around them as possible, so they have a sort of cultural affinity for this magic.

**Feathersnow** · 2021-08-23, 03:03 PM (ISO 8601)

Slingid

Slingid had watched the over-sentimental Al-Kitab for a while, in His parrot form, lurking among the branches, He was, if He was seen at all, thought of as a very large bird or a very small tyranocopter, and not a threat to a creature even as moderately sized as an Al-Kitab.

He had assumed they were no threat, though their lives and ways were strange and would be somewhat unsettling to the Sligs. But then they interfered with the burn. And that could not be borne.

Taking the form of a very large Slig, almost as big as an Al-Kitab without augmentation, carried in an elegantly wrought set of legs of some substance no one in the world had yet seen, carrying a woodsman's hatchet, Slingid strode forth from the clearing smoke.

Children of the Story! I am Slingid, protector and teacher of the Sligs! I would know, before there is conflict between us, why you did this thing! I ordered the forest cleared that it rise anew, stronger, and fuller than before. It grew emptier, and as our first hive grows, the workers must search longer each season for meat and wood.

In five years, it will be the first year of jubilee on land, when will be born drones and those who will be new queens! In 11 years, when they set out to form their own hives, I would see the forests packed with game and new growth!

Your sentimentality interferes with the great work! I ask you to let it continue, that we may live in peace.

As the burnt ground cooled, the eldest of the birds began to burrow, to grow into trees.

**Breitheamh** · 2021-08-23, 05:55 PM (ISO 8601)

It is written...

Al-Kitab stared in defiance at this new thing. For the first time in their Story, they did not love or trust at all. They were wary, ready to Fight, though they had little idea how. They only Knew that this was Not Good...

One among them stood forth and spoke, his voice booming with power and conviction that would have sent lesser creatures running for their lives, "You have caused what is Not Good! We, Al-Atfal, Al-Kitab, have lived for generations in harmony with this forest! Your raging death has destroyed what is beautiful and Good!"

A shout of agreement came from the others, rising up and mingling with the whisper on the wind that touched the Sligs each quickly, planting the seed of the thought, if we had burnt everything completely, what would be left? We would die.

The one spoke again, "Thus spake I, Who-Trusts-The-Highest-Tree! And Name you E--"

Silence, and a hush.

The wind had quite subtly swirled into the form of a hand on the bold one's shoulder, stopping him mid-Name, and he turned to look in awe as the rest of the body found form.

The form was completely normal, but the eyes pierced through and spoke directly to the bold one's spirit, and the bold one bowed his head in reverence.

"My apologies, Slingid, I did not expect him to try that!" the Voice of the Story Laughed, the sound clear as water and full of joy. "But my, what stories he will tell!"

"I am the Story We Are Telling, What Has Been and Will Be, and I Trust that you will make this Story Good! My children, trust in Slingid's words. This forest WILL grow back, Stronger and more Beautiful than before, and YOU will help Guide it there."

Sligs! You are right to trust Slingid, only remember that there is a time say 'it is enough.' Raging fire without control will only destroy, and I would not see you destroyed in your own inferno."

The Voice of the Story smiled again at Slingid, "Thank you for teaching them this lesson, my friend."

**bc56** · 2021-08-23, 10:59 PM (ISO 8601)

Sparks Fly
Under a night sky streaked by meteors, the twins stood. Their shadows were cast long across the jagged mountains rimming their home. They were almost ready to move on. Almost.
Rend broke the earth, tearing desirable stones up from below, leaving warrens and tunnels beneath.
Right bathed rock in fire, transforming what was cold stone into glowing fluid. The siblings split and sifted the magma; refining it until only the purest substance remained.
They let it cool and shaped it as they willed, and from the flames they drew forth two blades. Made of pure and perfect metal, they would never rust nor dull. And the twin blades were cast into the bog, to be found again when the time becomes right.
Then the twins began their journey across the mountains, to the frigid tundra beyond, where things they had not yet dreamed of might be found.

Spoiler: Actions

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5/16
Create Mundane Concept: Mining [Fire (meteors) 10]
Valuable things are found beneath the earth. Rend and Right are the first to dig for treasures and tools that might be found there, but they will not be the last.
Create Mundane Concept: Smithing [Craft (smithing) 3]
With fire and ore, metal can be made from stone, then shaped to perform functions neither fire nor ore can perform alone. As Rend and Right forged the Fated Blades, so too will others forge lesser tools.
Create Minor Combat Artifact: The Fated Blades [Craft (smithing) 6]
Two perfectly matched iron daggers which never dull nor rust. They have been cast into the bogs of the Shattering, but will someday be discovered again to be wielded at a time of great importance. In time, many swindlers will sell fake versions, but the true weapons are plain and unadorned, yet immediately recognizable for what they are.

**Writtensanity** · 2021-08-24, 01:06 AM (ISO 8601)

From the Beginning Then...

Deep in the void, a spark of the old titan had yet to manifest into anything that would, or could, affect the first world. Even as the other sparks left behind by the predecessors ignited and became the first gods, this shard of power remained silent. Even as it began to think, this shard remained silent. Apathy. Utter Boredom. Nothing on the First World to bother with. It and the void might as well have been the same thing.

Then the lands of the first world started to crawl with life—simple life at first, but life nonetheless. The spark watched life as it shambled on unsteady legs. Figuring out how to live.

Life got hungry on the First World, which seemed to be one of its innate traits, and when the creatures got hungry, they ate the seeds of the ground and moved on. It was boring, but there was something there.

The titans, the blood of this earth and the spark had fought each other tooth and nail over grand control. It was impossible to know whether the spark knew about this fight, but the creatures it watched would never fight over something as grand as that. They needed something simpler.

With the small echos of power it had without alighting, the spark stole food away from some of the creatures on the first world, and watched as those creatures turned on one another, consuming and killing to feed the constant hunger that life used as a tax.

The shard of the void lit with inspiration, but it would not act until later when the predation of the world was already a constant.

Enter Finae, God of Predation and Nobility

The Legend of Three

A shared myth between the Venuxi, Ghilliandi and Redlia. This telling is a neutral version, as opposed to their typical retellings that clearly favor the spark that created them. It does not represent the reality of their creation.

----

In the beginning, Finae ate three meals, but these were no ordinary meals. As a God, in the void, Finae had nothing to feast on, and though they could have made something that wouldn't try to run away, their meal would have then been tasteless. So instead, he made three sparks, lively and quick, that they would chase down and eat. This meal was delicious to Finae, and as such, he kept remaking the same sparks so that he could enjoy the meal again.

*But the sparks, lively as they were, learned every time Finae chased them, and though they would always get caught, the hunt surely lasted a little longer each time. Knowing that they needed more to escape their fates, the sparks twisted themselves, adding limbs and thoughts into the flame of life.

Eventually, the first spark learned to stretch itself thin and limber so that it would slip between the closing fangs of Finae, moving so quick that Finae would taste their flesh even as they escaped. They ran from Finae and escaped to the First World and hid in the shadows when he was still considering their taste.

The second spark could never be as fast as the first, but instead, it changed its taste and feelings. It transformed itself so that Finae would fall into a great slumber of gluttonous satisfaction upon tasting the smallest lick of their skin. They fled as Finae slept and covered themselves in thick pollen so Finae would sleep before they ever found them.

The third spark was chewed the longest. Eat again and again as Finae continued the hunt, ignorant to the fact that the other two sparks had escaped. Eventually, getting bitten hardened the skin of the spark into scars and bring crushed built their muscles. Finae bit down on the spark in the final night, and the spark held their mouth open, becoming impossible to chew as long as they were alive. Finae, let the third spark go onto the First world.

But fate was not done with the sparks. To be on the world is to be alive, and everything alive feels the hunger. The sparks, at first, resisted, knowing what it was like to be prey. They didn't want to bring that feeling to the creatures they met, but the hunger persisted, and the hunger was natural.

The first spark was so lithe that prey couldn't escape its stingers.

The second spark was so intoxicating that prey slept even as it was eaten.

The third spark was so powerful that everything was prey.

And Finae? Finae was happy, for the hunt had begun, and they could always create more sparks, and the three finally discovered that Finae hunted with patience and persistence. They would all eventually tire and die, and Finae would be there to consume once the sparks could no longer Flee, Fatigue or Fight.

The Plains of Abdita...

The first Venuxi manifest from the fastest creatures of the land. A small pack of flying insects turned on a bird that had been harrowing their hive. When they had killed the bird, they started to burrow inside of it and eat it. Finae was impressed by their display, and enchanted the flesh of the bird, so that those who consumed it would grow, change and become something more than this part of Abdita had ever seen.

Lithe and covered in chitini, the Venuxi walked on long spindle legs and had two main hands, hands that could use tools, alongside their smaller cutting hands close to their chest. They used these cutters to capture and hold prey.

As the first creations of Finae, the Venuxi did the first thing that they understood how to do. They killed and ate. They consumed the creatures of the open plains and deserts of Abdita.

The clever Venuxi quickly learned that working with one another made hunting easier. Nothing could run away if there was nowhere to run.

Spoiler: AP ACTIONS:

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Create Race: Venuxi

<Placeholder for a minute>

Ap Cost: 2
Ap Allocation: Society (The Hunt) 2/10
AP Remaining: 14/16

Create Mundane Concept: Hunting

The act of using strategies to hunt and take down prey in a civilized-ish matter. This also includes extra details like knowing how many persons to bring to carry the meat / resources back to a safe location.

AP Cost: 1
AP Allocation: Society (The Hunt) 3/10
AP Remaining: 13/16

Create Racial Society: Venuxi Hunting Parties

The Venuxi have learned how to work with one another and that working with one another is helpful. Right now their society is a series of unconnected hunting parties that don't communicate with one another. Belonging in a hunting party means adding to it in some way, or knowing/being the child of a Venuxi who does.

The strongest and most useful Venuxi gather influence, and bearing their markings begins to be important among them.

**moonfly7** · 2021-08-24, 12:17 PM (ISO 8601)

The Miners and Boneraisers tell these myths, how much truth there lies in them, who can say but the Lord of Buried Art himself?
In the Begining

In the begining, when the titans first fought and fell, and the first world was young and new, the essence of the Earth titan and the Void titan did mingle. But not in the void like those stones that would one day fall to the world, no. No, this essence was trapped under the crust of the long dead earth titan, formed from the essence of the void and the hardest, coldest peices of the rock hemming it in. Trapped in the earth it was, trapped He was. Until one day the earth did shake and tumble, and the stone loosened and weakened just enough, and the god trapped in the dark alone with only his shiny rocks and imagination shrieked in joyous freedom. Kalvrankin ripped through the metal surrounding his birth chamber, his prison, and into the soft stone around it. He tore through the crust and into the top soil, cutting through it with the vigor of one who had been stuck in the deep for too long.

As he cut through the impetus to his freedom, Kalvrankin did feel a whisper, a call to return to the depths that held him. His heart clutched in fear at the words. Return to the dark? Return to the fear and the loneliness and a world that was predictable, and worst of all so, so boring???
“NO!”
He spake, his voice vibrating with the desperate tones of a god who had so much to see of the world, and so much to give it, once again facing the threat of stagnance.
“My mind is my own, my soul my own. My Identity and Destiny MINE to choose.”
And so he did take the copper and Tin ore around him, and he fused them together. Thus his skull he did sheathe in Bronze, and that ancient metal did quell the whisper and force it from his mind. And with these actions Kalvrankin did ensure that he reached the surface, unknowlingly spurning the request of the Calling, and creating a shield for which to protect one's mind and soul.

Spoiler: AP Actions

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Counter Curse(Calling The Mind) 2 AP: Upon hearing the Call of the Depths, Kalvrankin in his panic responded by crafting a metal that could block that call from his godly senses, protecting his mind from invasion by sheathing his skull in bronze. By doing so he infuses the metal with his own life energy, making it sing with the thrum of a mind and thus repelling and absorbing psychic attacks and actions. Magic(Temper 2/10)
Bless(Sealing Metal) 1 AP: When fusing Bronze with his essence Kalvrankin also blessed the metal that saved him, and his eyes, his very soul and being, from the depths once more. He thus Imbued the metal with the ability to protect others souls and life energy from manipualtion. Bronze interferes with magic and actions that would manipulate the soul and Spirit(as defined by Arah-Huana), thus offering protection to those who wish to remain unmanipulated by magic and men.Magic(Temper 3/10)
Advanced Concept(Metal Urgy) 1 AP: Kalvrankin did take two metals of desired properties and blend them together to reach an even more desirable product, creating the first alloy, and tickling his mind on other combinations to come. Change(Rebirth 1/10).
Total starting AP:16
16-2-1-1=12 Total AP

**moonfly7** · 2021-08-24, 02:38 PM (ISO 8601)

Kalvrankin found that he loved the surface, with it's beautiful forests and abundant creatures. It's rolling hills, flat planes, and scorching deserts. But the thing that Kalvrankin found he loved most was the people that lived on the surface, and the Stories that there lives told.
For many years Kalvrankin had quietly lived in a small orchard on a small knoll, surrounded by Borametz trees and the creatures of the woods. His time there was spent admiring the life and beauty of nature, and quite contentedly observing the people known as the Al-Atfal, whose city lay just below his beautiful orchard.

Oh the stories they told! he would crane his divine ear sockets to hear the tales around the fires and hearths at night, and often snuck his way into the city to read their beautiful texts, losing himself in the beautiful pages of tales of places plucked right from the brilliant and fertile minds of the Children. He may have had to hide his godly skeletal form under a thick fabric cloak, but for stories this beautiful he would give his right knuckle bones, so it was a sacrifice he gladly payed.

And soon Kalvrankin found that the Story of these mortal creatures lives was even greater than the stories they wrote, and he greatly enjoyed watching their lives play out, seeing the surprises and twists and turns of a mortal life never ceased to amaze him. Their god, the Maktub, The Story, also intrigued him. And out of respect for this other immortal, and for fear of ruining his favorite tales, Kalvrankin did refrain from meddling in the affairs of the Al-Atfal. Refrained from changing the story.

And then one day everything changed. One day smoke filled Kalvrankin's small orchard, and the whole place caught ablaze. The animals screamed, the tree's creaked, and the skeletons metal heart shattered as his paradise, his solace from the deep, was reduced to ashen husks and ruined bone. The trees and animals stories cut short by the brutal blaze, and the god could do nothing to help them as they burned. And then there was a loud surge of power, and the fired DIED, as the voices of the Al-Atfall commanded it.

Kalvrankin did not have time to wonder at this power, really think much at all. Instead his mind was consumed with the desire to not lose the little he had on the surface. So with mighty emotion and pulsing power he did slam his hands into the scorched earth, and the burned hillock pulsed with necromantic energy, and the rumble of metals being pulled to their master.

Silver, Gold, and the twisting mix of Copper and Tin that was Bronze snaked up the burned and scarred trunks of the trees in the orchard. Half burnt branches were lifted back up and supported by fittings of gold and silver. Bronze leaves sprouted from the charred branches suspended by the prescious metal, and eggs of silver, gold, and bronze began to grow from the Necromanced trees.
“Yes! Yes, you are back! Back but...different. The pages on your last story have closed, now it is time for your next tale to begin.”

The orchard now stood as a gleaming point in the background as Slingid began to form his avatar, and still Kalvrankin was consumed now not by his grief or anger, but by curiosity and purpose, did not notice what transpired. Instead he continued his work, gathering the Spirits of the animals that had perished and calling them back even as their life energy ebbed away. Most of the spirits headed the gods call, and they returned to their burned bodies and scorched bones, and Kalvrankin weaved his magic once more and anchored them once again to their mortal frames. Giving them back the life they had lost was outside his strength, and indeed would have besmirched the ending to their story. So instead Kalvrankinhad begun a new story, just like with the trees. A story between life and death, a tale of Undeath.

All around the gleaming beauty of the Undead Orchard skeletal animals shook off the last of their charred flesh, and took their first steps on blackened bone legs. Black Boned birds chirped beautiful melodies, squirrels with empty sockets scampered up the new trees, and the small pack of wolves stood on bone paws, panting open mouthed with tongues they no longer had.

Kalvrankin finally stepped back and took in his creations, and he saw that they were beautiful beyond what he could have dreamed. And as he viewed them and basked in the afterglow of his power, he heard the voice of Maktub proclaiming to Slingid, and felt the power of Maktub tie Souls and energy into a cycle.

This was good, the god thought to himself as he stood to stare out on the city and the meeting of his brother gods making peace.

“There should always be order, always be a cycle. And so there is. From Life, to Death, to Undeath. Life draws from the energy fo those who came before, those who are here now die so that others can be born, and there Spirits rise back to the call if their stories are not finished.”

And as he spake these words, their was a call like a song throughout the land, and heard deep into the core of the afterlife. And all those Spirits of the Al-Atfall whose stories were Unfinished, who wished to return and whose identities were not shackled in eternal punishment did rise from their graves and resting places. There Spirits anchored once more to their physical forms. And as they rose, they knew who had raised them, but they were not his, nor did Kalvrankin wish them to be. But some did look, perchance, at the Orchard shining in the sun, and they left to see what new stories it may hold for them yet.

Spoiler: Action Point List

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Create Minor Utility Bless/Curse artifact(Undead Orchard) 3 AP: This Orchard of once dead trees now stands adorned in precious metals, and pulses with necromantic energies. It grows Eggs of Gold, Silver, and Bronze, which hold as of yet untested power and potential. Life(Undeath 3/10)

Create Monsters(Skeletons) 1 AP: The residents of the Undead Orchard are skeletal versions of the local animals, cybernetica and other wildlife reanimated by the magic of Kalvrankin. They no longer eat, sleep, or consume resources much in anyway. They are not overtly aggressive and indeed will act according to there natures in life. Life(Undeath4/10)

Create Race(Undead/People of the Second Story) 2 AP: The Al-Atfall and Sligs that rose from their graves to pursue their Second story. These risen are not necassarily followers of Kalvrankin , in fact some are not and continue to follow their creator's. A few however have become intrigued by the forces that have given them a story all a-new. Life(Undeath 6/10)
12AP-3-2-1=6
7AP total remaining

**Zelphas** · 2021-08-24, 03:13 PM (ISO 8601)

These Things Called "Mortal"

When a piece of its power did not return with the first Landeater, the thing in the depths was not overly concerned. It could still feel its power calling back to it, and so it knew that power would return. The fact that it had attached itself to some small, strange thing was of no great concern.

Then the thing the Calling's power attached itself to did something unexpected: it sent other things like it down into the depths before coming itself. That was... remarkable. The Calling wondered why it had done so; it had ignored the tiny, mobile bits of upper-stuff in the face of all the earth and air and water that still needed to be drawn downwards, but perhaps that had been a mistake.

One of the bigger things, the things that could understand and resist its call, did something to the little things, and now there was a piece of them that did not come to the depths with them. The Calling got their bits of material, crushed into tiny blots by the strength of its calling on the water, but that something else went... elsewhere. The Calling couldn't tell if that "elsewhere" was high or low; this was... new. How could something go elsewhere, but not travel perversely high or descend to its proper place? Something was missing in the Calling's understanding.

Another of the bigger things awoke, and this one rejected the Calling's urges strongly, even angrily. In its waking, it changed something so that some things could be blocked from the Calling's Task. That decided things. The Calling needed to know what these little things were, these things that could send others like them to the depths, that had two parts that separated when they were taken too deep, that now could make things that could hide them from its Call.

And so, the Calling made some to study for its own. It made them like the Landeaters, but not like them, for they served a different purpose. It made them able to ascend in life, but not to descend again until death; that was what damaged the little things, what made their parts split. To study it, the Calling needed them to die often. So, it made them long for the deeps (as was right), but forced them to ascend to live. And then, the Calling settled in its depths, and it listened.

Spoiler: AP Actions

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2 AP

Create Race (Osedaxi) -2 AP: The Osedaxi (plural) mostly live seven to ten miles below sea level in the Beckoning Deep. At this level, they are Small-sized creatures that look like several thin, bright scarlet tendrils poking out of an irregular lump of purple-black bone. The tendrils can reach out to about three feet, and the lump of bone is roughly one foot in diameter. The higher an Oseda (singular) goes above the seven mile line, the more red tendrils unfurl from the bone, thickening and balooning outwards as the pressure lessens. At the top of the Beckoning Deep, Osedaxi look like skinned humanoids of Medium size (generally six to eight feet in height/length), with scarlet tendrils as thick as small tree branches twined around each other to make limbs and a pair of faintly glowing green-white eyes (no iris or pupil) appearing right next to the lump of bone. Somewhere between one hundreed feet and fifty feet below sea level, the lump of bone shatters outwards into a vaguely star-shaped mouth, revealing several sickly green-white, thin tendrils that function as tongues and can stretch out to about eight inches past the new mouth opening. An Oseda with its tendrils twined into limbs can no longer go under two miles below sea level without dying; an Oseda which breaks its bone-mouth casing can no longer breathe underwater (but can breathe air).
Oseda are scavengers who use their bone protrusions to drill into the bones of enormous sea creatures and suck out their bone marrow and the meat beneath crustacean carapaces. They age very slowly and breed quickly, so the lower reaches are often low on food. This forces the Oseda to send some of their number up to attack or entice large creatures into the Beckoning Deep, to feed their brethren before they succumb to the higher point of the sea themselves. Oseda are less buoyant than the water around them; when they die, they sink. (Domain Progression: Society (Thralldom) 2/10)

2 AP - 2 AP = 0 AP Remaining

**Feathersnow** · 2021-08-24, 05:03 PM (ISO 8601)

Slingid

When the Sligs saw their strange new neighbors and their strange new gods, they were flabbergasted, but not angry. They understood that there was a misunderstanding, but it was revolved.

They began slowly engaging, trading their wooden handicrafts for goods from the Al-Kitab. They tried to learn the language of them, though their voices were raspy and spluttering to the humanoids.

But what truly mystified them was the appearance of their own god. He had legs of metal! And, soon after, metal appeared in the remade forest. And, they had seen, sometimes, it fell from the sky.

Kyryt cadre was tasked with learning the secrets of the substance. They were hampered by its rarity, for they dared not cut down one ofbthe god-touched trees. But eggs and leaves were fair to take, in moderation. And the few meteors they gathered were, they intuited, gifts from some unknown but benevolent hand.

Kyryt'Blatus was the first to realize that the substance would bend almost without limit when pounded with enough force, and the first to realize heat made it more malleable. His experiments with the gold eggs learned they were the softest and the most vulnerable to heat. Too much so, but even gold tools found uses.

The real step forward was when Kyryt cadre bashfully approached the Undead, having learned as much as they could on their own. They had been taught things by their maker, in some uncanny way, that it might have taken lifetimes to learn. And they were willing to share...

It took years of work, and much danger. Kyryt'Blatus himself was badly burned in an accident and did not live to see it. But, when the first three Queens born on land ventured out with volunteers from the cadres, newly fused to drones and ready to start new hives, they did so not on crude wooden litters, but sturdy palanquins with metal reinforced joins, and their retinues were bearing metal tools.

Elsewhere

Blatus, formerly of Kyryt cadre, remembered searing pain, then blackness. He awoke in a dark forest, with no legs and no tools. Alone and helpless!

A voice called back to him, and there was light again.

Remembered as the first metalworker and goldsmith in the hagiography of the Combine, Kyryt'Blatus died late in the winter before the first year of Jubilee. Queens never use their personal names except amongst themselves and they are never spoken aloud or recorded, only used on their psionic link. But the Founding Queen of the Hive of Blatusk named her city after a brother she never met and was always interested in the science of metal...

Spoiler: AP Action

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Blessing- hive reincarnation. 1AP
Spirits of dead Sligs will be reborn into their hive, if possible. Truly depraved individuals might be left in the Wending or reborn as short-lived sub-sapient drones, and the best of the best are reborn as queens, to join with She-Who-Is-Ever-A-Part instead of truly dying after that life.

1 Darkness(Forest) 2/10

Remaining AP 0

**zzzzzzzz414** · 2021-08-24, 05:42 PM (ISO 8601)

IN THE DEEP PLACES OF THE EARTH, the one called Boiteag Dirt-Eater burrowed endlessly through the soil and rock, his unknowable lengths carving great tunnels through the earth. Yet his burrowing was without purpose, without direction, for the sap of OGAM ran through his veins, freeing him from the great burning purpose of survival that all other creatures of the earth must pursue. So, for lack of any other thing to pursue, he burrowed.

He had no need for or interest in the fruits of the world above, so he ignored them - until one day, he found he could not. He was burrowing very near the surface, around the roots of the one who was SAILLE, who was OGAM, and sensed something emanating from the land above. The Great Worm was familiar with vibrations from the surface world, but this was...different. Unusual. Life, but not Life like that which pulsed in the veins of OGAM. He moved closer, and found himself among roots of strange material - not the living stone, but of cold metal, animated by something otherworldly - trees-that-were-not-trees, pulsing with life-that-was-not-life, life-that-was-beyond-life. Something stirred then within Boiteag, something old and deep, and for the first time in his existence, he breached the surface, his pale flesh taking a single apple from the ground about the not-trees, and then dove once again - heading due east, to a place he remembered and did-not-remember. There, he found something alien yet familiar: a great tree, the life long since passed from its stone, its bare and twisted boughs wreathed with coral and barnacle. He found a large knot-hole in the trunk of the great tree, and placed the apple there. Before his eyes, the great dead wood stirred, and closed over the fruit, as long-mouldering Power seeped through the stone.

And for the first time in centuries, the drowned one known as IBAR, xer selfhood with OGAM long since withered and dead, began to grow once more.

Spoiler: AP ACTIONS

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Alter Land: The Corpse of IBAR (0AP; 1AP paid through Artifact use)

Located at the very bottom of the Muiribar Ocean between Piedwald, Abdita, Cartisia and the Northern Continent, the Corpse of IBAR, after being revived by the magic of one of Kalvrakin's golden fruits, is now an unusual being somewhere between tree and coral reef, roughly the size of a mountain and surrounded by a "forest" of twisted branches slowly but constantly growing in all directions. Xer long-blanched and stripped white wood is inlaid with veins of shimmering magical metal in dozens of colors, and the veins near xer center glow with pale, unearthly light, creating shimmering displays all around and upon xer as it plays off the metal.

The branches of IBAR pulse with powerful necromantic energy, fed by the massive reservoir of unused divine power at xer core. This energy attracts a wide and unusual variety of deep sea life - some of which have become strange, empowered, or even disconnected from the natural cycle of life and death, as a result of exposure to this magic. The magic is even powerful enough to slightly warp, twist and fray the fabric of the barrier between life and death itself - a twisting that leads to odd effects, and may have more drastic impacts if properly exploited.

**MrAbdiel** · 2021-08-24, 11:07 PM (ISO 8601)

Atticus-Strikes-At-Mirrors could only watch with astonishment, and no small amount of fear. He and the other pale pilgrims had followed the Carnifex out here as their people grew sufficiently numerous that the Serpentways were insufficient to house then all. He had expected they would be led to a place to settle and begin a new tribe; but this…

He stood with Nazara-Trades-In-Flesh on the plateau of Noragande, the once largest mountain in the northern Abditan range. Now, it was simple a place of miraculous witness to the birth of a new mountain - a mountain that was no kin to the others.

It had ruptured from the blunt top of a squat, wide hillock too small to have been given a name of its own when more prestigious summits shadowed the sands. Black stone, steep and unnaturally regular, extended up from the desert far beyond the gradient and nature of any natural mountain. The conical extrusion split the earth, punched into the sky, and even now was grinding out the last dozen meters of its emancipation with ground quivering force. Atticus is could see something like writing scribed in gargantuan glyphs as tall as small mountains themselves on the side of the stone. He wondered if they were some manner of warning, or invitation to climb. A narrow staircase wrapped around and around the mountain in what must have been an astonishingly exhausting climb even with stairs divinely offered. The young Nechustan wiped his face with one trembling hand. What did it mean? Who was it for? And importantly…

“What does it say?” He asked Nezara. He tried to affect stoic calm, rather than fear; the alloy of effort and incapacity read as awestruck, which was appropriate enough.

He was right to ask. No mortal eyes untouched by divine grace could possibly interpret the glyphs. To the Carnifex however, the meaning was plain as day.

“It says ‘Come, let us reason together.’”

Spoiler: AP Details

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Alter Land (1AP - Reason (Diplomacy) 1/10)

The Black Peak of Reason

The Black Peak is located in Northern Abdita, plainly visible amidst the other mountains. By day, it is a cyclopean landmark that penetrates the horizon; by night, its black stone renders it a blank finger of sky with a golden, flashing tip. It is taller and narrower than any natural mountain could be, with very few imperfections in which eagles may roost, and hardscrabble cliff shrubs might grow. It does not accumulate snow, and water moves too quickly down its side to make anything resembling a river. The words "Come, Let Us Reason Together" are spelled out in four glyphs each of which is hundreds of meters high, comprehensible to gods and those individuals for whom a god might have a purpose to read those letters. Gods know about the mountain from the moment of its emergence, since it is a physical echo of a divine invitation to heavenly court thus far unconvened.

At its top - no less than eight days of stair climbing into air just thin enough that most species can still breath albeit with difficulty - the mountain features no true peak at all, plateauing off and becoming the foundation of a slate grey colonnade for a black marble rotunda known as the Apex, and the theoretically convention of divine appointees therein. The dome of the Apex is lined with golden tiles that shine with supernatural golden fire at night, providing a beacon by which those who dare to travel the sands after sunset may navigate. Below that structure, carved into the interior of the mountain's top, are a series of stone corridors and living spaces theoretically for delegations, monks, and divine flunkies of many kinds. Presently, the Apex is terribly understaffed by a group of Nechustani monks struggling to interpret and accommodate this sudden divine appointment.

Bless - Mortal Fertility on the Nechustani (0 Cost thanks to the Perdition Sluice)

The Nechustani are experiencing a significant demographic boom, prompting them to start new nomadic groups to wander Abdita far from their original home.

**moonfly7** · 2021-08-25, 11:46 AM (ISO 8601)

The Book of Metal and Bone speaks of the first gathering of the Children of the Second Story, and the Lord of Buried Art's gifts to his creation.

They came in ones and two's over the course of weeks and months, perhaps even years. Some walked in with purpose and vigor, and others stumbling on shattered bones and misaligned sockets. Some came on feet made of full flesh and bone, not yet on their Second Story, and perhaps would never be, but instead were coming to grace his Hillock within their First.

Many came from Al-Kitab and the home of the Sligs simply to visit and marvel. Some struck conversation with those Undead and Living who had decided to make a home underneath the branches of the Orchard, and the Sligs specifically wished to acquire the leaves and eggs of the trees. These were happily provided, and tips on how to work said metals were given with smiles and grins. Many did not stay on the Hillock, and in truth Kalvrankin was glad that his home had not become too crowded. But now he had others to sit and eat with on the slowly regrowing grass(For those who ate, for those who did not, gathering at meal times were a habit and a tradition that they did not forsake.) and creatures not unlike him that marveled at the beautiful skeletons that walked the grove, and played and laughed among the trees.

And now too that his hiding was done, Kalvrankin could hear tales straight from the lips of others on nights when the air was crisp and the bonfire's warm. And he did enjoy the freedom to hear stories freely and cheerfully watch them unfold.

And all this reminded the Skeletal god that in his heart, he was a watcher, a reader. But in recent times had begun to play the Author, and he rather liked the feeling in some ways. But conversely he did not wish to alter the Stories of those before him more actively than he already had, he wished to observe as he once had. Not to sink into the unknown and watch from hidden points as he once had, no he found he would not forsake the stories at night or the company of others. But perhaps he would not meddle as much, and give those around him a chance to grow on their own.

The ancient skeleton of metal sighed internally and his rib cage rattled. Perhaps just one more interference? One more brush stroke on this beautiful canvas, and then he would see how the paint ran on it's own. And enjoy the rush of stories flowing once more.

And perhaps he would leave his hillock for a time, and venture forth, if only for a while. For he had felt the tug of something new blooming far away, not the feirce invasion that the Calling had been that the Bronze of his skull had repelled. No, it was a gentler pull. An invitation and not a demand, an invitation to meet and speak with others who shaped stories so greatly. Yes, one more work. Then he would see what other stories existed.

Yes. It was decided. He would give last gifts to those who had gathered at his Orchard, and then he would see if the other gods, Maktub and Slingid had felt this call. And then he would seek it out and learn the stories there.

“Gather round my freinds, undead and living alike!” He said jovially as he walked into the clearing in the grove from where he had been contemplating.
“I have things to teach, before I must journey. Things to teach, and responsibilities to set. Gifts are well and good, but the greater the gift the greater the burden it carries. And Undeath is a good gift indeed.”

And so those present did gather, and indeed many who had not been present did pour in to see what the god would bring. For his first gifts had been wonderous, and the story would no doubt benefit yet again from the variety he wrought.

First Kalvrankin did scoop from a tree a skeletal bird tending the eggs growing there, and he didgently present it to those gathered.

“"Undeath is a beautiful gift, a gift to be savored and shared! Oh yes, Shared! You are but the first to rise from the graves to pursue the Second Story. And there shall be others, and I will not always be here to offer them the experience. But then, forsooth! They would miss put on so much simply because of my limits! So I bestow upon those who wish it a blessing and a burden. A mission. Raise up those who wish to begin their Second Story, but let the bones of those who wish to stay in their death do so, to force a spirit is forbidden, to warp one the greatest sin.

And a second purpose, these Necromancers will serve, to bring an End to Second Stories. For truly a story is worthless if it never ends. For those Undead who have decided to End their tale and not return, Ye shall guide them to Death once more. And if there be those who cling greedily to Life in their Undeath, and abuse the gift they have been given, then so too must they be returned to death. So is the cycle, so is your duty."

And those present who felt the calling to follow his words, and the yearning to spread this gift, did step forward and learn from it's creators mouth the secrets of Necromancy, and accept the responsibilities there in. And they would be called Necromancers, and Spirit Guiders.

After teaching this, Kalvrankin did turn from those he had taught, and addressed the crowd once more.

“Long you have glanced wonderously upon bronze at it's great luster, and many have heard of the tale of it's inception and the magic it holds. Now it is time to teach you it's secrets. For there is Magic in the world my friends, all of it powerful. Some is good and righteous like the power of the Name, and other is dank and vile, like the mind warping fear of the Calling.

I will teach now, those who wish to learn it, a Magic which I hold most dear. I found it by mere accident, when I first bathed bronze in pure magic. I found that just as exposing heat to metal changes it's properties, so to does exposing it to Magic. This "True Temper" does more than just strengthen the metal like it's mundane brother, it brings the power and life of the metal into full view and use of all.

For Bronze it does provide powerful protection from warpings of the Spirit and the Mind. For Silver it doth Shine like the moon in darkness and provide a guide unto your path. Gold when True Tempered gives a burning heat of healing that can aid in the healing of wounds. Many more exist my friends, as many magics as there are metals in the earth. Copper doth Pulse like a mind and record that which it sees, and Tin obscures from prying eyes with but a thin sheet. And so many more that even I have not yet seen.

I give you the knowledge of True Temper, and with it the burden. Do not let this become a Magic of Pain and Ruin. Do not let Silver blind thy foes or Copper spy on thine neighbors, those who do so are corrupting a gift meant for creation, and they must be stopped wherever they are found. I have chosen you too spread this gift and use it wisely and safely. It is knowledge not to be hoarded but shared, so that Life and Unlife might improve from it.”

And with this speech he did teach them the craft, as much as he knew of it. And then stepping forth from those there he did engrave into a large stone on the hillock the Rules and Tenants he had spake, in flowing letters etched in bronze. And all who saw them new that they were good.

He did then step away from his Hillock for the first time since he had become known, and walked down peacefully, searching for the other deities he knew rescided in this land. Wondering if they too had felt the call. And perhaps he would follow the pull of the Necromantic energy, and against his better judgement see what lay beneath the waves that had called on his domain.

Spoiler: AP Details

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Create Mythic Subconcept(Magic(Necromancy))2AP: Necromancy is the art of creating Unlife by binding willing Spirits to there old bodies. Necromancy is not made to rip Spirits from Death without consent, and doing so, while not impossible, is difficult. As is using Necromancy to twist or warp spirits that have been brought back, as these actions are not it's intended use they are extremely difficult to pull off, but can be done. Necromanced creatures come back with the same ideal and personality as they had in life, unless they were personally changed by the experience of dying.Life(Undeath 7/10)

Create Mythic Subconcept(Magic(True Temper))2AP: True Tempering is the art of exposing metals to just the right amount of magic to bring out their natural magical effects. Just like tempering metals with heat, too much magic can ruin the Temper and force the Craftsmen to restart the process. To little leaves the abilities weaker and perhaps lacking the desired effects. True Tempering, just like Mundane tempering, Relies on the Tempering Colors to determine when the metal has reached it's peak magical saturation. Cultures without a knowledge of metalurgy can stil utilize and understand True Tempering.Magic(True Tempering 5/10)

Create Organization(Circle of Metal and Bone)1 AP: The Circle of Metal and Bone is a group of Undead and Living alike, born of the tenants given by Kalvrankin in the Undead Orchard on the appropriate uses and duties of those who practice True Tempering and Necromancy. This group works to spread the use and knowledge of these arts as well as the codes upon which they are built. And while worship of Kalvrankin is not a requirment for membership into this order of craftsmen, artists, and priests, there are few who have accepted it's tenants that aren't. Life(Undeath 9/10)

6-2-2-1

Total Remaining AP: 1

Thread: Lords of Creation: A Fresh Beginning [IC]

Lords of Creation: A Fresh Beginning [IC]

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Escaping to the Garden

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