Nine Divines - In Character

[Anti-Eagle]

Spoiler: Introduction

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Hello everyone, this is a thread created for the sake of recording the actions and interactions of the Nine Divines game being developed by myself and a couple other people under the direction of Zhentarim. More information to come.

Links will be added to this post over time.

Discord: https://discord.gg/aTNPDfZ
Mythweavers: https://www.myth-weavers.com/game.php?&g=34390
Interest Thread: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?601363
Lore Thread: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?605535
Mechanical Thread: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?605536
Out of Character: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?605538
In Character: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?605539

[Anti-Eagle]

Grigori, the Forge Master LN (White/Blue) Lesser Deity | Action Points: 20/10 | Artifice (Smithing), Community (Legalism), Industry (Machines), Law (Inevitables), Trickery (Embellishment)

Darkness Grigori awoke suddenly at the beginning of things, gears slowly beginning to turn through his massive form as it spread across known reality... Tic Tic Tic. He was made to remember his purpose. How long had it been already? What was the indicator for time? Himself? Tok Tok Tok. His machinery stretched into the greater machinery of reality, molten iron and glass raining from the sky. Bells rang. It had begun and so things snapped back into place. Grigori was conscious again after an eternity in the void, his body awakened across the cosmos and his flesh found purchase in the fertile oceans of the new world. Slowly he began moving, his body did not long for reality in its current state. Soon he would be rejected. He felt out into the world, drawing molten half-metals across reality into a body. A new consciousness in his mind forming, one of iron and fire, of industry. A mask falling from the sky and landing upon the mass of machinery half-resembling his "natural" shape. He forced concentrated reality into his bones, and gears, and springs. As he formed he forced heat into his body and movement, and slowly with tools in his hands he reshaped his body. He was Grigori, he was the Venari, the Aramak, the Sinan...

[ezekielraiden]

Never, in the Nowhere, Nothing was. For in an absence of place, time, and substance, only Nothing can be. Yet, in the timeless eternity without time, in the infinitesimal boundlessness without space, in the hungry possibility without substance, Nothing is Everything, and Everything is Nothing.

By this truth did Nothing become Something, and from that Something, came Arkhos, the first light, the Shining Wyrm.

Whether he was the first child of Something as one might measure time is a question for the philosophers, as time has no meaning when there is nothing to gauge it against. Instead, Arkhos became through the act of his birth the first moment of time, the linchpin--or, perhaps, the beacon--by which it might be measured. For in being born, Arkhos gave light shape, spinning it into a sphere: the sun. By its light, the First World was illuminated. A world of improvement and possibility could begin, for now there would be Time in which beginnings and endings could be.

But though his birth gave light shape, it did little else, for that light was a cold light. Brilliant, but without weight or impact. A light which did nothing but illuminate, allowing witness of events after it. Arkhos saw it, and thought it good, for under its light, deeds might be done, tales told. With eagerness, and perhaps a touch of impatience, he waited to see what his siblings would add to the grand tapestry of Something.

[AvatarVecna]

As the world around her came to life, so too did Aidia. Awakening with the new world, the new universe, she stretched...and stretched...and stretched, until the whole of her was uncoiled and loosened up, free to explore this forming cosmos. A bright point drew her attention in towards the First World, and she slithered in to inspect this forming star. It was bright, certainly, but little beyond that, and with nothing save herself and those like her to appreciate its splendor. She followed the orb for some time, and began to take inspiration from its design - but instead opting for a more muted, red light, a sun that was not merely bright but also brought with it the heat that could sustain life in the millennia to come.

Her sun settled into a gentle, graceful dance with the first, twirling round and round with it as the cosmos formed. Perhaps one day, a long way down the line, they too would come to an end and crash together - but such is the fate of all things...and it'd make for a wondrous sight. For now though, the long arc of the universe would gradually push her heat and life into this forming world. It would not last, but that was okay...she'd be here for them when her light could shine no further, when her heat had cooled to the background temperature of the void, when their life gasped its last breath.

Spoiler: Ooc

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Create Land (Sun)
2 AP (18 remaining)
2/10 Earth (Radiation)

[Powerhouse]

From the shadows between Something and Nothing comes a darker presence. The two gods before her illuminated the First World so that they might better admire it with their feeble eyes; but Sutela is a goddess of a million eyes, and to her the rays of the twin suns can mean far more than a pretty display and some warmth in a universe that has known nothing but darkness and cold.

She sees potential in this world, in these suns, in the concept of a future.

So she reaches into the dull red sun, at its core so hot as to melt the alabaster scales of her left claw and sear blind the millions of eyes it is covered in... and seizes from it half its heart.

From this moment onward, the surface of Aidia's sun will be marred with an empty black pit, visible from even the surface of the First World; the site of the world's first theft.

And Sutela turns her many, many gazes on the First World itself. It spins pointlessly in the abyss of space, and she almost sighs at the pitiful sight. She will give it purpose. Still holding the burning half-heart in her claw, she points it at the First World, at this meaningless ball of still water and stiller rock. Though she finds it resists even the notion of letting her trespass on its surface, trespassing is unnecessary.

Sutela's toothy, too-wide maw splits in a greedy smile. She speaks a single word, the first she has ever said, in this world or any other. "LIVE." She thrusts the ball of starfire in her claw forward, and it hurtles through the void between her and the First World.

It strikes the oceans. They begin to hiss, steam rising up in great clouds as the world itself seems to boil. These clouds obscure the world from all view, for what might be remembered as minutes or millennia. But when they clear, Sutela's gift is made clear: the lifeless seabed of this world is now anything but. It teems with strange, simple beings, carved from the ocean itself by the power of divine starfire. They waft about in the ocean, seeming to do little more than passively absorbing the light cast by the twin suns far above them. But Sutela knows their true nature; she was the one who created them, after all. She knows that they are hungry.

[Mai]

Shyrask watched all this as she formed, her dark Draconic body forming as she watched the first sun come into being. And then beside it, a smaller red sun was birthed, bathing the first world in white and red light. No longer would it's night be as long as it's day, for the daylight came from 2 sources. Then came the first theft, and with it, the first life. The first world now held many aquatic creatures.

Shyrask smiled at this life that Sutela had wrought, and wished to create more. Shyrask would move closer to the first world, although it rejected her touch. Like 2 magnets that repelled enough, her claws could not ever reach it. Yet they could pull it.

Shyrask reached near the first world, and pulled on it, through her force of will. The crust of the first world buckled and creaked, and then gave in. A massive rocky landmass heaved itself up above the water, and settled into a vaguely circular/ocular landmass not much smaller than australia. It was rocky and cover in cliffs and crags.

Shyrask laid her claw near the first world, and as though carving and molding, she shaped this landmass carefully. Then, she pulled a few polished redwood scales from her body, and carefully threw them though the void, and into the landmass. Her scales took root, and became the first trees. She pulled a few flower petals from her webbed wings, and hurled them into the landmass, generating the flowers. She created deer, and foxes, and the animals that would inhabit this land, and so it was done. The first world was no longer entirely covered in water.

Shyrask would smile and see that this landmass was good. But it could be better. And so she called up the nutrients of the land, and made the small continent bountiful in food and resources. She gave this continent the name Osea, for it was the first to emerge from the ocean.

Spoiler: Actions & Explanations

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Create land (2) + Bless (1)

Details of the continent will be put in the mechanics topic.

[ezekielraiden]

Arkhos looked upon the works of his siblings, and was humbled. Unlike his act, one of petty glory, they moved the world, improved it, brought into it something other than themselves. He saw that Aidia's new light enriched the world. He saw that Sutela's theft, however violent or dark, gave lease to something beyond herself, opening the way for that which could stand on its own. He saw that Shyrask's talons drew up something durable, touchable, from the fire within the heart of the First World, and that she gave of herself but a little, that something altogether new might grow.

In his heart, he thanked them. Though he had shown them the world, they had shown him something just as precious, perhaps even more precious than a blank world. Achievement without impact meant nothing. Glory without improvement was hollow, empty. True glory made something greater than the act itself. This, then, he took as his first lesson, and vowed that those who would come after--the young ones, the small ones, who would look to Arkhos and his siblings for guidance and succor--would learn it as well.

But an error need not be forever. Arkhos reached out to the suns--both the red eye of Aidia and Sutela, and his own white sphere. He saw that the red eye, though baleful in its look, gave warmth and life wherever its gaze fell, but only the warmth of the body, only the life that could beat within hearts or wave in the fields. So he blessed his own, that its light would illumine in a new way. Under its glow, the life that skitters down nerves and dances in willful flame could find purchase.

With the blessing given, he then set the two suns twining about each other, as the planet turned in its own slow circle, creating a different kind of season. No, these were not the seasons of heat and cold, of dry and wet. These were seasons of mind and body, a different cycle, but no less meaningful. By turns, Aidia's work and his own would change hands. Neither would go completely dark, but each would rise to perihelion and fall to aphelion in turn. Cycles of might and wisdom--neither superior to the other, but a push and pull, cooperation and competition, to balance one another and enhance the whole.

Arkhos swam through the void until he reached a comfortable place, high above the beautiful landscape of Shyrask's new domain. He could not enter the world itself, but he could stay here, above it, and marvel at what his sisters had wrought. As he did, another idea bloomed in his mind. A dream, an opportunity, a choice: to become something greater, and more difficult, than they were alone. He could see, feel, a special kinship with these two, these sisters whose mind and form, though different from his, were yet also alike.

"Sisters. Shyrask, Sutela. Let us come together in understanding--and together make something truly great. Something to stand the test of time." He took on something approximating a smile, if indeed a dragon-god can smile. "Something like us."

[Omoikane13]

Light and fire did not spark the thoughts. They were simple. Elemental. Thoughtless.

The god-thoughts were too ponderous. Big. Sweeping.

The spark came with life. Choices. Thoughts. Tiny thoughts, but thoughts.

An insect decides on one flower instead of another. Things begin to change. Predator, prey. Data is generated.

An old thought wraps itself in these. A thought from before, clinging to thoughts from now.

The knowledge is precious. The interplay, the interweave, it is all beautiful.

But it is WASTED.

The others create, and produce, and then watch, but they do not watch correctly. But that is fine. For the old thought will.The old thought will round up those wisps, and will catalog them. Every single one. Torn from their grasp, if need be.

For now, the old thought needed to mull things over. The others would protest at this, once they knew of it. There would have to be a way to make things less...centered. A name. A persona. Appearance. These were things the others had.

For now, a book. Nothing more. No need to resemble one of the lizards.

A name, reminiscent. Caudex.

Spoiler: AP Actions

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Create Mythical Concept [4 AP]: The Akashic Record
The Akashic Record is, for now, a collection of all knowledge that is, but not of what will be. It is by no means comprehensive, and is essentially an ever-updating work, with knowledge drawn from the minds of living beings. God-thoughts are too 'large' to be contained in the Record. The knowledge contained is just that, for now, but there is potential in what can be done with it.

[BaratheonFury]

From the cold nothingness of the abyss, came the winds, and with the winds, Risia. She wasn't sure where she'd been before or how long she'd been there. Perhaps she'd always been here and this was merely the first instance worth remembering, or perhaps she was a fabrication of the stirring winds, or maybe something else entirely. She supposed it didn't really matter in the end, or now for that matter. What really mattered was that she was bored.

Where her siblings tread heat and light had supplanted the cold, dark void. It was different she granted them that but different wasn't always better. It normally was, but not always. It was simply too perfect, too ordered; they'd even made fire boring. Fire was supposed to be fun; Dangerous and free. These were just glorified nightlights, safely dancing on their little canvas!

It was a simple matter, redirecting the winds; like great bellows they converged into the dual suns, fanning their flames to new heights.

"Much better" Risia giggled as she observed her handiwork. The suns danced with a newfound freedom as flame lept to and fro in reckless abandon.

[AlexanderML]

Ulthor the Harvest Mystic CG (Red/Green) Lesser Deity | Action Points: 20/20 |Lesser Deity | Action Points: 20/20 | Portfolio: Primal Magic, Earth, Weather, Raw Goods, Gifts | Domains: Magic, Earth, Weather, Good, Chaos

'Ulthor' - Osea, Forest on the Coast A man whose face looked past it's youth and whose cloths were robes made of living vines appeared walking to the border of the woods while gazing out at the now life filled sea and suns above, chuckling to himself stating "My, those are quite bright". Finding a simple rock at the edge of the beach he sat down, patting the rock. "You feeling alright dear? Everyone's been so focused on you." ... A moment passed and nothing happened. The man's brow scrunched up a little, he patted the rock again gently yet more attention grabbing than the first time. "You listening dear? Don't tell me your still asleep after everything that's happened so far!" ... Again, the man got no response. The man stood up, stomping his foot on the ground while stating. "WAKE UP! It's morning! Trust me, you'll not want to miss what will happen!" The ground beneath the man shook, indeed for a moment the entire world shook as it woke up and opened it's many eyes a little bit. The world was unused to this, and it would take a great deal of time for it to fully awaken; but the man seemed pleased nonetheless. Sitting back down with a satisfied 'humph' he began talking again. "There you go! I suppose that means you've missed what the others did, eh? Well the basic bark seems to be this land and a bunch of critters are here now, as well as a trio of lights above us, you'll love'em." *Earth grumbling* "Oh? Is something the matter?" the man said with an eyebrow raised as he looked around his surroundings. Looking at the trees and the grass, the fact that the greenery was a bit brown did get his attention."Is it the heat dear?" *Grass shaking* The man frowned, looking up at the suns "It does look a bit excessive, don't worry I'll settle this." In a motion similar to blowing a kiss, small clouds left the man's lips and rose up to the heavens, a divine breeze running across the heavens and earth. The clouds gave shade to the land, and the wind moved them about as well as move the water of the ocean to the land. "Ahhh, that's better. Don't worry my dear, if this is not enough still I'll find a way to keep you safe." Spoiler: AP Actions Show AP 20/20 -4 AP - Create Avatar - Husband of the World: Ulthor's avatar is both him and separate. While mostly the same to Ulthor, it regards the world as it's wife and develops differently due to a general lack of the perspective of Ulthor proper (Ulthor can see/act through the Husband Ulthor, not so much the other way around). 4/10 Primal Nature -4 AP - Create Mythical Concept - Primal Magic (or Primal Power): The world is alive! Well, kinda, it's more a collection of life and it's conceptions of the world. "Mother Nature" to put it in simple terms, though over time this'll shift to include urban environments (Urban Druids are an example). Satisfying it can get a mortal favors, angering it may have the land sour. 8/10 Primal Nature -4 AP - Create Mythical Life - The Fae: These are the eyes and hands of nature, and while nature itself is not sentient these creatures can often be quite intelligent. From blots of invisible light, the fae grow to represent a multitude of different aspects of the world. Ageless the fae only die from violence or radical change to their environment, leaving behind a young fae to replace them and adapt to the changes in the environment. Most are a bit alien to mortals, though a fae that grew up near a settlement (or even better, represents the settlement) could far better relate to mortals. I'll write more detail about them in the mechanical thread soon. 4/10 Faekind -1 AP Curse - Data Incompatibility: Divining information on or from the fae is like dividing a number by 0. The fae are creatures that are both alive and part of the chaotic inanimate/hypothetical aspects of the world, so while they do give date to the The Akashic Record and similar projects it's often contradictory, full of incorrect details, and data corruption. Only mundane means of gathering information work perfectly with the fae. 5/10 Faekind -1 AP Bless - The Water Cycle: To combat the high heat of the suns, Ulthor has with his breath started the water cycle to keep the land shaded and cooled. It's not enough, but it's a start. (2 AP required to counter the curse left if I'm correct.) 9/10 Primal Nature 20 - 14 = 6 AP left

[Powerhouse]

Sutela saw the hot wind scorch the First World. She watched as her creations, the tiny hungry light-eaters that filled the world's oceans and crept up on to the sole landmass, withered and died in droves. She watched quite closely as her brother stomped the sky into place, shielding the world with more intent than she had when she had first given it the gift of life.

Much like she had before, she held out a claw. This time, however, she reached inward, into the flimsy bodies of the thousands of tormented creatures, even as many blistered and boiled into nothingness. She would not give them the balm they needed to survive directly; that was not her way. Her gift would be more nuanced than that. Given time, it would find the answers to every conundrum her children would face in the millennia to come... if they were willing to use it.

Now, as her children sizzled and burned in the world's oceans and on the sole continent that Shyrask had lifted from the seabed, colonies sometimes managing to find momentary shelter in the shade of Ulthor's clouds before the clouds parted and the creatures inevitably perished, something was different. They were beginning to replicate themselves. The small ones split into two copies of themselves every time they had gathered up enough energy from the newly intensified suns; the large ones began to produce seeds and eggs and more, soon to hatch into copies of themselves. And every time a new copy was born, no matter how it was made or what its parent was, it was born different from the original in infinitesimal-- and yet sometimes significant-- ways.

One day, Sutela knew, the children of the children of the children of the children of those few creatures that survived would be able to stand proudly in the sun, the living fruit of their ancestors' ability to adapt. And then they, too, would be faced with some new threat, and be given the same choice as their ancestors: evolve, or die.

Spoiler: AP Action Breakdown

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-1 AP Bless : Reproduction. The sun is killing things! Things need to be able to create more things! Even-- especially-- if the new things are slightly different from the old things! (Part of a multi-god effort to "counter" the high heat of the suns. 1 AP remains to be spent towards this goal.)

-1 AP Create Mundane Concept (Open): Evolution. Sutela has kindly given the creatures of this world the power of an imperfect inheritance. Now, on some primal, instinctive level, even the meanest life form has a sense that it must compete for resources in order to continue its lineage... though it may be some time before something smart enough to elucidate these ideas will arise in this world.

[Mai]

Shyrask looks upon the world as the plants and animals she has created begin dying and hiding in the shade when at all positble. Sutela and Ulthor have already taken measures to help, and so Shyrask will do the same.

Shyrask reaches a hand down, and pulls the hot hair up, pushing cooler air down towards the surface of the world, creating rising thermals for the flying animals to soar over, while cooling the surface of the air.

With the world beginning to resume normal functioning again, Shyrask turns to Arkhos. "I agree, let us create a being on this first world, something not unlike ourselves. Something amazing. What should we imbue it with?"

Spoiler: Actions

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Bless (1AP):
Shyrask moves hot and cold air in a cycle, creating termal updrafts that suck colder air from the atmosphere toward the ground. With 3 combined blesses, though the sun's still burn hotter, the first world is safe again.

[Anti-Eagle]

Grigori, the Forge Master LN (White/Blue) Lesser Deity | Action Points: 20/10 -8 | Artifice (Smithing), Community (Legalism), Industry (Machines), Law (Inevitables), Trickery (Embellishment)

Light Grigori stumbled across the First World collecting the flawed pieces of himself. Melting them down, reforging them, hammering them into his body, forcing them into place, and willing them to move. Was he Grigori or was he the Venari? A cruel creature of Iron and Industry seeking dominion over all. He asked this question as he found his way to the deserts of Osea (2,6), slowly growing and breaking apart as he walked the lands. Machinery of varying forms fell from his haphazard body and rooted into the ground, spreading in the rocky wasteland and forging of themselves an ecosystem of machinery. His body was constantly changing in this time, machine-matter appearing from his molten body, falling, and rooting across the wasteland. As he explored, he decided. This body was the Venari. Not his own. He would purge himself of this failing. The consciousness of Grigori split. The body ceased growing. The body stabilized. Venari awoke. He would forge of these lands an empire of Order. Of Steel.

[Unavenger]

Pariah flopped down on her face. "Oof! Ah, ow, what's going... who... oh, YEAH! I know what's going on! Aww, this is so COOOOL!" She got up onto her feet and flicked her hair back. "Ooh, what'cha doing, what'cha doing?"

She grabbed hold of Caudex's shoulder and pointed. "Oooooh, what's this? What did you make? And wow, there's a giant... fire thing! That's so cool! Waitwaitwait what you made another you!" By this point she was talking to Grigori (who towered over her). She looked from deity to deity, and waved her arms. "No faaaaaaair, you all started without me!"

She shook her lantern at... wait, she had a lantern? "Ooh, look, I did a thing! Hey, Imma make more things! And they're all gonna let me do even more stuff! Cool little things! Woohoo! And then I'm gonna make all of the little people who can pick things up and move them around and build them and it's gonna be so COOL!"

Spoiler: Actions

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Create Major Artifact four times, each time creating a utility artifact, and naming "Create Major Artifact" (then immediately activating its ability), "Create Life", "Create Concept" and "Bless/Curse" (Costing 5+4+5+5=19 AP). Then, activating the other three artifacts, Pariah makes the concept of construction, makes the Mutalvai - who can build well now - and blesses them with the power to shape stone with sheer force of will, which is quite nifty I'd say (Costing 0, 1 and 0 AP).

Pariah then learns to love her creations (Charm (Love)) and how to make cool-looking ancient mystery rocks (Ruins. Please ignore the bit where it says "Druid level", obviously domains key off your cleric level.)

"Look, look! I made, like, people! And they're making stuff! They make things! It's awesome! And you lot better not mess it up!"

[AvatarVecna]

Aidia admired the life brought forth by the others, marveling at the potential they held within themselves, the drive to succeed and improve. She celebrated those that made the most of their life, but mourned the ones that failed and perished in time. Their end was inevitable, to be sure, but endings could also be new beginnings...

With a flex of divine power, the very nature of life shifted. The unthinking masses that made up most of life would not entirely end upon death, but their potential would be recycled into future generations, spurring them onwards towards greater heights and capabilities. Within even the tiniest least intelligent lifeforms, the potential of a thousand, a million, a trillion generations would build, allowing magic to supplement evolution and let them reach heights neither would allow alone. Sentient life gained something far greater: not merely the possibility of reincarnation, but also life after death, the existence of the soul, a receptacle for life's joys and sorrows to carry on past one's demise.

Without hesitation, Aidia took upon herself the burden of escorting the dead to their respective afterlives. She created another celestial body from her other eye, this one to let her watch over the night that she could find new souls in need of guidance. She made a place beyond this world, unreachable by mortals for the time being, and made her new eye a Space-Between-Places, connecting this world with that of the new afterlife.

Spoiler: OoC

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Create Mythical Concept (4AP):

• Soul Magic
• Death (Psychopomp) 4/10

Create Land (2AP):

• Moon, which remains exactly opposite Aidia's Sun relative to the planet
• Darkness (Moon) 2/10

Create Avatar (4AP):

• The Moon is an avatar of Aidia, though it rarely acts but to keep watch over her side of the world
• Darkness (Moon) 6/10

Weave Plane (4AP):

• Purgatory
• Death (Psychopomp) 8/10

Create Portal/Bridge (2AP):

• The moon is a Space-Between-Places between the Material and Purgatory
• Death (Psychopomp) 10/10

2/20 AP remaining

[Omoikane13]

The others seemed to like having toys. It seemed to correlate with how loud and bombastic they were. The big lizards had made smaller lizards, and the young one had made children. The shouty forest lover had made little nature things.

Caudex had watched, and debated the merits of birth. It felt uncouth to add to the mess that The Record was cataloging, whatever it was would need to be above, an extension of the self. Would have its data fed directly to Caudex, not stored. Wouldn't have all the messy flesh.

Firstly, they would need somewhere to go. An extension of a god would not be too welcomed on Osea. This would be where Caudex could...let loose a little. Indulge in the urges beyond data.

Something palatial. Intricate, sprawling, and wondrously extravagant. And not on that burning dustbowl of a world. There would need to be more...well, not freedom as such. Freedom from the others. Freedom to implement whatever was desired, be it rule or law. Call it separation.

A blank canvas, to start. Look sideways at reality long enough, and you can manage to open your way up. Borrow what was granted to the First World, provide the canvas an atmosphere. Upon the sky, hang islands, each large enough for whatever is desired, some with elements of the First World. Gems in the earth, plants, animals, the overlooked trimmings of the First, made using data from The Record. It would be a later puzzle to travel between these islands, either something to be circumvented, or to be aided by Caudex when needed. Potentially learned, if the extensions are ever let off their leashes.

A world away from the heat and the flesh.

It only felt right to enshrine The Record here as well. A central construction, borrowing data from the young one's children. Formed, for now, from one of the few materials that world had produced that Caudex liked: glass. Purples, blacks, and clear glass in a towering construction. And inside, The Record. Viewed however the viewer expects. Caudex sees a very familiar book, the same book reflected in the mirror sheen of the tower.

Spoiler: AP Actions

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Weave Plane [4 AP]: Regia Laboratoria
Caudex's vision of a far more favorable world. Designed for later expansion and building, with visions of sprawling courts and extravagant palaces. Also serves a secondary purpose as a way to utilize data from The Akashic Record to perform experiments, with isolation being easy due to the floating islands. Currently somewhat unformed, will develop further when creatures are introduced, and as concepts are introduced to The First World. Time moves faster here, to better aid experimentation, but all laws of physics are otherwise identical to those on The First World.
Create Land [2 AP]: The Library
Where The Akashic Record is housed. Currently shifts to the image of the user's expected place, though this is temporary, and The Library's appearance may solidify in the future when creatures exist in Regia Laboratoria, as well as changing based on the collective ideals of creatures living on The First World.

These are both intended to contribute to Nobility (Aristocracy) [6/10]

[Mai]

Shyrask marvelled at this new intelligent life, life that could even appreciate what they were given, and enjoy the world they were building! "That's amazing Pariah! Life that thinks and moves on it's own free will! They will be able to learn slowly for themselves. What a grand idea!"

Shyrask smiled wide in awe at them moving about. But slowly it dawned on her. Building required materials for them. To build they would chop down the woods if not moderated. They would probably look out for themselves without heeding the balance of nature.


Shyrask would call to the roots of the trees, and pull them above ground. She would sculpt them into new plant like creatures. Many would come into being, all different to the eye, but all half plants. But how would they keep balance if they could not feed themselves?

Shyrask implanted into each mind the idea of animal trapping for food. But to maintain balance, they needed more. Shyrask implanted the idea that nature was precious, and that while they had their place, they must never harm it as a whole, and prevent others from doing it. Thus the advanced idea of Conservation was created and imbued into them all.

But how would they track the populations they would keep healthy? They needed more. And thus, Shyrask invented the concept of the written word, and implanted the idea of writing in their heads.

With her work done, Shyrask would release them from their inner states, and they awoke, and began to work. In time they would have their own language.

Spoiler: Actions

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Create Sapient Life (2):
Dryads
Create mundane Concepts (2):
Trapping
Writing
Create Advanced Concept (2):
Conservation

All towards Community (Co-Operation).

[Powerhouse]

"Sisters. Shyrask, Sutela. Let us come together in understanding--and together make something truly great. Something to stand the test of time. Something like us."

"I agree, let us create a being on this first world, something not unlike ourselves. Something amazing. What should we imbue it with?"

Though establishing the great power of evolution had been the obvious priority to Sutela, she had heard the words of her siblings. She sneered at the thought of co-operating with them; as if any work tainted by their weak ideals would stand the test of time. Though there was some merit in the idea of a creation that emulated her form...

She turned her many eyes to the First World... or, more accurately, the space around the First World. The others had made petty little sapients, mud people and plant people with their eyes fixed firmly on the ground. Sutela wondered how they would handle the world's first true monsters.

Far above the planet's surface, thick, rocky roots sprung out of nothingness. Sutela held them aloft with a thought, and watched eagerly as they grew mindlessly forward, following the curvature of the planet so many miles below them until they finally encircled it. She released them, and was pleased when they did not come crashing down to the planet's surface, held in position-- for now-- by the planet's own gravity. If Sutela were to be the queen of all monsters (she was), then this new creation would be her crown. Like the planet below it, it too rotated, perpendicular to the planet's rotation such that every time one face of the planet crossed the boundary between night and day, it would first have to pass under her crown's great shadow.

And then the crown began to bleed the fertile blood of Sutela's own imagination. Great hissing lizards dropped from the skies along the edge of the world, shielded by amniotic red fluid from both the heat of atmospheric entry and the bone-shattering collision with the planet below. Like true monsters, they embodied that greatest of Sutela's traits: her never-ending hunger for more.

There were terrible red ones whose bodies burned all around them like magma, and who trailed molten blood wherever they went. Careful blue ones who would haunt the life-filled oceans, easily slaughtering thousands of Sutela's weaker children wherever they swam with the power of lightning. Odious meaty ones with the power to reanimate the dead, defiling and devouring in equal measure. Sickening green ones who would lurk in the jungles of Osea, spreading disease and filth as they stalked their prey. Implacable white ones who would gravitate to the north and south of the planet, where the omnipresent shadow of Sutela's crown had begun to slowly freeze the seas.

... but as she watched them shrug themselves free of her blood and begin to prowl the world they had been placed upon, she couldn't help but feel that they seemed... unfinished, somehow.

Spoiler: AP Action Breakdown

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-5 AP Create Major Artifact (Create Mythical Life): The Bleeding Crown, a massive planetary ring from which all manner of monsters will arise! It encircles the First World perpendicular to the direction it spins in, so that all living things will pass under its shadow each day. Incidentally, this means that the Bleeding Crown is itself tidally locked to the twin suns.

-5 AP Create Major Artifact (Create Monstrous Life): The Bleeding Crown also sheds regular dumb monsters!

-2 AP Create Land: The Bleeding Crown is also a landmass!

-1 AP Create Mythical Life (Reduced by Artifact): Dragons! (2 AP from the final cost remain to be spent.)

-2 AP Create Subspecies: Humoric Dragons! Bile, Blood, Bone, Carrion and Eye dragons. (Stat sheets forthcoming.)

-0 AP Create Monstrous Life (Reduced by Artifact): Protodragons!

[ezekielraiden]

Arkhos eyed Sutela's works with what might be charitably called "cautious interest." In one sense, this sibling could not be trusted--and in another, she could. That is, she would always act in her best interest. Somewhere within him, a phrase came, unbidden. This above all: to thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man. It was not of his own thought, and yet it resonated so well.

Into the metaphysical cauldron from which these lizard-creatures, alike and yet also unlike, Arkhos placed his own primal drive: Aspiration. These creatures would not be mere beasts. Though they would, as Sutela's children, feel their passions rough and strong, like the raging torrent of a mighty river, they would also look upward, not merely in the flight gifted to their physical form, but in their hearts. Not beings of petty squabbles, but grand and mighty deeds.

In some places, the blood shed by the wicked thorns fell to the earth, and seeped deep, deeper, between the cracks. It longed for something better, brighter than the rock from which it sprang. And Arkhos fed that aspiration, calling to the material mingled in the planet's crust, its mantle. Iron and copper, silver and cobalt, and purest gold for those sanguine searchers of most rightwise intent. So from metal tempered by sacred blood, came the Metallic dragons, those closest to Arkhos' thought. Though as with all children, not all follow the thoughts of their progenitors.

"Live, my children, and grow. Hear. Think. Feel. Rise."

And with that last word, he pulled more sharply upon the stuff of the world. Some distance from Shyrask's Osea, he called the land itself to rise, rise, higher, higher, first a seamount, then an island, then a landmass...and then free, rock suspended by divine will, a whole continent given flight. One large mass, and many smaller ones, gently rising and falling. Warmed by the fires stoked by Risia. Cooled, and made reachable through flight, by Shyrask's thermals. A new land, for his glistening children to oversee. Filled with green places awaiting a gardener's hand, or the care of the reaper-man. Filled with beautiful vistas and vast bounties.

But how could he give the gift, without being able to speak? To teach? So from the beautiful things of and in and below that place, he fashioned a body, one like to his spirit but physical. Wings of adamant and nacre feathers, scales of gold and platinum and metals higher and more mysterious. The Golden Dragon King, Kinryu-Tei, breathed the air of this fresh land, and was the speaker for the Shining Wyrm. "Go, young ones, and see what you may make of this place, for I give it to all the children of my thought. It is your Jade Eyrie."

More plans had Arkhos for this eyrie, but they required deliberations first. Much and more to accomplish, though with his first children, not so difficult a task.

[Mai]

Shyrask would watch this, and make a good note of this. Hunger and ambition. These were... well things were not looking good so far. But they would each give more to the dragons. Step by step was best in such matters. Shyrask would look down at the first dragon, and smile. Dragons must also be powerful and mighty, and so she would reach out and give the first Primordial Dragon they were forming a new gift. "I shall grant yoy Primordial strength and savagery, such that even as beautiful and wondrous as they may be, they can be just as savage in combat if they need to be."

Shyrask gave this dragon great physical might and primal instincts, after all, though she was a goddess od nature, she was also a goddess of furocity as well. Nature can be as powerful as she could be kind.

Spoiler: Round 2 & 3

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Arkhos:
"Each of us should add as we see fit." Arkhos looks almost chastened for a moment. "I have too-recently learned that others' deeds may cast one's own in revealing new light. What we make here shall be more than the sum of the parts."

Looking to these creatures of their thought, he saw that they had the savagery, but they needed...more. Not just great dreams, nor just great power. For even a lofty dream and a mighty body amounts to nothing if nothing is made of them. These children wanted for courage--not just one among the virtues, but the necessary factor of each virtue when tested, when brought most into practice, into reality. "Take heart, young ones. Fortune favors the bold, and no child of mine should fear to act. I give you Courage."

Shyrask:
Shyrask would look down upon the forming mythical beast. It was primal and furocious, brave, and it hungered. What it needed now was wisdom to discern when to use those three.

"Those attributes all have their merits, but what good is mindless fury, bravery, and hunger? My second gift to you is a long life. May you all live longer than the grandest trees, and may the years of your life number above a thousand at the very least. For while wisdom does not come with age, age is the catalyst that helps wisdom grow. May you be wise enough to know when to use these gifts."

Sutela:
Sutela stared at the additions her siblings had made, a strange confusion settling in her eye-covered heart. These powers, these gifts... they had made her perfect lifeforms better. To be able to rise above mere hunger, to have the force of personality to take do or die decisions, to have the power to conquer any foe and the longevity to learn how to use it all...

Sutela narrowed her many eyes. Fine, then. It did not matter how foolish the reason, so long as the results suited her purposes. Silently, she twisted the beasts' minds, imbuing them with an almost pathological desire for solitude. Oh, they would live for as long as they could: but she would not allow them to fall into the complacency that a cogent society would breed. The powerful were meant to stand alone, self-sufficient in all regards. Only those few that rose on their own two legs would deserve to be called her children.

Shyrask:
Shyrask would look at the creature. They were almost done, though something was off. Sutela said nothing, so why the tendency for solitude? What good would that do? Shyrask mentally sighed. Still, she was getting the best she could hope for somehow. Though Sutela seemed to enjoy mucking things up a bit.

"As my final gift to you, I give you the power and drive to defend what is yours, and with your wisdom, determine wisely what it is you feel is most worth protecting."

Sutela:
A possessive spirit? Sutela could work with that. She reached once more into the monsters' minds, and augmented their urges-- to protect their lairs from invaders, to devour that which they would see devoured, to live their lives as they alone would see fit-- with a fragment of her own cunning.

With so many great and terrible powers between them, these beasts would need to think outside the boundaries of conventional thought if they were to use their abilities to their fullest. They would need to be able to mislead their opponents, and exploit differences in ability, and attack weak points without hesitation. In short, they would need true strength-- the willingness to win in unfair ways.

Arkhos:
Cunning, protectiveness, solitude. All things Arkhos could work with. After all, cunning cuts both ways--it is both how you win in unfair ways, and how you make fair ways winning ones. But to be protective and stand alone...by themselves, not unworthy goals, but there was something yet missing. Something not found in any of the gifts the three had given.

...and then the answer was obvious, like the first ray of the morning sun. These children were to stand apart--both from the smaller children with which they shared this world, and from one another. But merely to be apart is not enough. They had to stand tall, as beings of majesty worthy of their lofty, and lonely, position. They would be dreamers, shapers, singers, and makers, just like their divine forebears.

They would need Nobility. Whether it be haughty hubris or noblesse oblige, their position entailed responsibilities, to both those above and those below. Be they conniving and cruel, gracious and good, or wily and wise, these dragons must not sully themselves in trivial pursuits or petty squabbles. They would be better, and thus Arkhos gifted them so. "I give, as the final gift, Nobility: Be proud in form and manner, and tarnish not the spirit we give you with inane and trifling causes. With this final gift, over and above all else, be. Take up the mantle we have given, and with it, work wonders in your names and ours."

After a few more back and forths, Shyrask would smile at the dragon she and her siblings had created. Though Shyrask had formed a landmass with all the terrain types a dragon could want, Arkhos went above and beyond and created floating landmass the dragon's could also inhabit, and Shyrask was clearly great full for them as well. For many dragons would no doubt love to make their lairs on such places.

Shyrask would look at the first dragons, and pull away some of their essence, just as the others were doing, and add some of her own to it. And just as the humoric and metalic dragons were released, Shyrask also released dryadic dragons. They would fly off, not too many yet, but more enough to make stable progress without inbreeding ever becoming a concern.

Shyrask herself, in awe of the dragon's being released upon the world, would create for herself a fitting avatar, so that she could help guide her children. A large dragon would form upon the tallest mountain in the center of her continent. Wood knotted itself and shifted, and slowly, a large dragon, bigger even than a normal dragon could hope to grow. It's horns became liked branches curved back, ans upon them blossomed cherry flowers. It's wings were made from leaves and flowers, and it's tail ended in large bunches of clustered flowers. Every inch of it seemed to ooze life. And then, Shyrask would pull.from the first world, and let a part of herself inhabit the new body.

Spoiler: Actions

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Create Mythical Life: (1AP)
Dragons
Create Subraces: (2AP)
Dryadic Dragons (Tree, Cacti, Seagrass, Moss, Flower)
Create Pantheon: (1AP)
Arkhos-Shyrask-Sutela Dragon pantheon
Create Avatar: (4AP)
Grand Blossom Dragon

These combined with:

Create Land: Osea (2AP)
6 biome dragon habitat
Bless: (1AP)
Osea is incredibly bountiful in edible plants and animals.

Give Shyrask 11/10 AP towards Scalykind ( Dragons)
Portfolio gained: Nuetral & Dryadic Dragons.

[BaratheonFury]

This world wasn't too bad after all, the air here had a refreshingly cool feel to it, somewhat like the void, but completely different in other ways. She especially liked the clouds. They had a certain appeal to them, water didn't float yet they did here, and they made such delightful shapes. She thought she saw one that reminded her of Grigori, except better, because it's wasn't made of those silly machines of his. "Tick Tock Tick Tock all day long!" It was terribly boring, she was beginning to suspect those were the only words they knew; although the clouds didn't seem much better in that regard, they were many great things, but great talkers they weren't.
"Hmmm, that could be fixed" she mused. Perhaps they just needed some inspiration, and that she had, in droves in fact. The winds saw all and heard much, surely they had the perfect sound stashed somewhere, it was just a matter of finding it.

And so the winds gathered from all corners, rifts, borders, and abysses bringing with them all they'd heard into one grand symphony. (Calling it a symphony might be a tad generous as it implies some degree of harmony or coherence and here there was none.) Mountains rose and crumbled, The Abyss gaped, creatures great and small, imaginary and real, lived and died, and much more best left undescribed came together in a perfect manifestation of chaos in it's purest form.

As the dust settled and the winds departed Risia darted into her audience excitedly "So what'd ya think? Not bad for a first performance; right?" Not getting a response Risia fumed "Really! after all that this is all you've got to say for yourself? Go float into the eye or something! Hmmph, ungrateful Cur.... " Crack A loud noise interrupted her tirade, followed by another, then another. Crack! Boom! Rumble and Risia's rage gave way to a giddy excitement. They were talking!.... Probably, she wasn't entirely sure what they were saying, but perhaps it was better that way. She liked mysteries.

[Anti-Eagle]

Grigori, the Forge Master LN (White/Blue) Lesser Deity | Action Points: 12/10 -12 | Artifice (Smithing), Community (Legalism), Industry (Machines), Law (Inevitables), Trickery (Embellishment)

Bright Grigori wandered the world and the continent for quite a long time after shedding his Venari. He learned the names of the others, of their creations, and their creations creations. He felt something was missing. He conceptualized a new being, a series of such a being, He planted a seed in the hearts and minds of the conscious. In heat of the sun, of the cool of the dark, and the waters of creation. He connected the living and dead, deep in their minds and between them. He briefly admired the records created by Caudex, but thought perhaps it could be improved. He examined it, created a minor revision in its being, and expanded the idea far beyond the initial creation. He created a... the word. Noosphere. He created a Noosphere in the world, a new component in nature. A place of the mind, much as the biosphere was the existence of the biological, and the geosphere was the existence of the geographical. Minds would slowly link deep in their unconscious, their unconscious would gather and communicate at the deepest levels even if only in the simplest of ways. The records would grow on the spiritual and mental levels into something greater, weaving the conscious into a tapestry of minds and through this their thoughts- their concepts and ideals would seed even after they were long gone. But this was only the beginning. He would need to teach them to do this, and through it to read the records. He planted a spark in the minds and souls of the conscious, dim in most and unable to fully realize it without effort, but in his chosen he awakened an inferno. The ability to alter the world with their mind. He called these first souls he awakened Sages. Capable of seeing and knowing all that is known and seen in the world. And he bound them to himself and eachother. More would be created over time, and he would teach them to return over time so that they could continue their works. They would be his chosen in the world, they would learn his laws and his secrets, and they would forge of the world a paradise of order from the creations of others.

[Omoikane13]

For now, a link between the Laboratoria and whatever the current mess of scales and wind on the First World was seemed unwise. This project needed some refining before it could work with whatever would bleed through.

Upon further observation, tying a mental link to each little toy soldier would be unneeded, as The Akashic Record existed. And to boot, it made for a far more satisfying experiment. Especially since the rest seemed to have settled into nurturing creations, rather than being tied to them.

Four limbs seemed standard, for many physical reasons, and Caudex was not one to ignore the data. Bipedal, with manipulators, things had to tend to a certain template when you were working with sapients.

There were, however, places where one could exhibit an artist's touch. And these experiments would be perfect players for a story.

The project would be faceless. A mass of darkness, serving the purpose of sensory organ and...sustenance receptacle. Covered with a mask of fast growing bone. An elegant combination of lost and gained information. The rest would be flesh, taking an average of what could be found in The Record. Arms with three joints, legs with two, not counting connections. Eventually, they would be given a way to tap into the power of the Record, but the details there were still being refined. 'Twas unneeded for now, anyway.

Their psyche was, as well, moldable. Instill into them a built in hierarchy. Both one of superiority and function. A farmer would not typically desire to usurp a landlord, but would hunger to purchase a rival's farm. Tweak them accordingly, giving some physical predilections towards certain roles, and making them tend to test for these. Not requirements, but tendencies.

The Sine were complete - with a little bit extra granted from the Record to make them not utterly incompetent - but Caudex held. As much as one can pause, being a deity.

It would be prudent to have a presence in the Regia Laboratoria. It was a horrible breach of self-imposed protocol, but as Caudex worked, they could feel material becoming...slipperier. Things were getting difficult to mold, and a closer hand would be needed, or else in the future it could become impossible to even tweak a parameter.

What could work with the Sine? What could...play to the predilections of the rest? Caudex took one of the Sine, still undifferentiated from its creation-siblings. Extend the mask, grow the bone further. Accelerate that growth elsewhere, take some inspiration from one of the messier dragons. A Sine with plates of bone where appropriate, and a mask extended into titanic horns. Made with a little indulgence in the Record, taking whatever could be gleaned of the fears of the other sapients. Larger, stronger, but not unrealistically so.

Caudex placed this new hand, the Rector Sine Populi, back into the population that had been formed. A handwave and the Sine awoke, somewhat fuzzy, but eager to live.

Caudex grinned. A plan was slowly coalescing.

Spoiler: AP Actions

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Create Sapient Life [2 AP]: The Sine
The Sine are, as described above, humanoids. They follow a typical bodyplan to your average human, but have an extra joint in their arms, six fingers, and lack a face. Instead, the front half of their head is simply swirling darkness, similar to the skin of their patron. This void, both sense organ and mouth-substitute, is covered by a fast growing bone 'mask', which is no impediment to the senses. The Sine do not possess a capacity for much speech, and are only able to make a small amount of sounds, limiting language. This is supplemented by sign language, which also circumvents the lack of face.

The Sine are inherently lawful, so far as naturally falling into categories and hierarchies. They are not subservient to those above them as such, but all Sine prefer to follow ideas like the chain of command. As of creation, they have the basic concepts seen in many societies such as agriculture and the like, but are not particularly talented in any area. In an OOC sense, they have enough to survive and exist, but not enough to match a Teach Populous level knowledge.

Create Avatar [4 AP]: The Rector Sine Populi
The Rector Sine Populi is Caudex's avatar, currently existing in The Library in the Regia Laboratoria. Created out of a foreseen need, the Rector was designed to help guide the Sine and their civilization, as well as to act as another limb for Caudex. It is, in essence, the epitome of a Sine, with a larger mask, bone plates, a larger physique, and the mind of a god driving it.

Create Society [2 AP]: Lex
Lex is the name given by the Sine to their fledgling society. It is currently nothing much, beyond a collection of meagre dwellings and organised areas spread across adjacent floating islands. The concept of a 'job' does not exist as such, though the Sine still have their inbuilt nature guiding them to take up duties.

Domains and Portfolios
The Rector Sine Populi -> Nobility(Aristocracy) 10/10
The Sine -> Law (Legislation) 2/10
Lex -> Law (Legislation) 4/10

[Mai]

Shyrask would watch Caudex form the beings in his creation into a co-ordination nation, and would smile. "What a marvelous idea! Such a thing would make them far more productive!" Shyrask complemented Caudex, and turned to her creations, the dryads.

She would turn towards her avatar. With it, she would gather many dryads, and put forth the idea that they form their own society at a larger level. Their own nation of sorts. And so she would help.them to create their own society. And soon they would form their own constitution with her help. And the Ivy Republic was born. As a parting gift, Shyrask would teach them how to mix various healing plants into basic drugs and saves. In the process creating and imbuing in them the concept of Healthcare. Such that they can create their own medicine for healing one another.

Spoiler: Actions

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Form Society (2):
The Ivy Republic
Create Advanced Concept (2):
Medicine/Healthcare

[AlexanderML]

Ulthor the Harvest Mystic CG (Red/Green) Lesser Deity | Action Points: 16/20 |Portfolio: Primal Magic, Earth, Weather, Raw Goods, Gifts | Domains: Magic, Earth, Weather, Good, Chaos

Husband Ulthor, Osea - Ulthor’s Greetings (Made with PowerHouse) Husband Ulthor was the sort to travel the land, enjoying the creations the other divines would place on the world simply by viewing them on his wanderings. The many eyes of the world were opening more and more, shaping themselves to see what’s around them more clearly, making Ulthor feel humbled by the multitude of the world that went beyond his imagination. That did not mean that it was all… kind and good; however, he still loved the world, even if it had those qualities and would not ask it to change itself to suit himself perfectly. One day while walking through an outcropping of the woods, husband Ulthor saw for the first time someone new. A group of foragers it seemed, picking at the bushes for what little food was available. He noticed an eye was also near, watching the group as well. Beaming with a smile, he strode forward to greet them: “Howdy! I am Ulthor, husband of the world! It is good to see others, who might you be?” The 3 dryads, clearly plant creates seemed to back down for a moment, before a male stepped forward, by the name of Hyacinth stepped forward. "Dryad foragers. Just collecting food. And checking up on things to make sure everything is healthy here." Husband Ulthor was a little perplexed, for while he had encountered no one before, a name just seemed like a natural thing to have! Rubbing his beard he stated with a raised eyebrow. "Pleased to meet you dryad foragers, your tasks are good one's to take up. I do not mean to make you weary flowery fellows, instead let bestow gifts onto you! To make it so your task today will forever more seem like child's play. Though, I do want something in return...." He said, hinting at something ominously. After giving the dryads a moment to let what he said sink in "To know what your actually called! I can't say 'dryad forager' over and over again when talking to you! Hahaha!" Hyacinth seemed a bit relieved, then somewhat started. How could he make their task easier? And who was he. And what did husband of the world mean? Like the world's mate? Hyacinth would look at him, growing anxious as the moment ticked by. "A... Ah! Right, yes. Uhh. My name is Hyacinth sir. The name we game to one of the plants who blooms in long clusters of colorful flowers." Hyacinth would look toward his companions expectantly, another male and a female. The female would nod, and then speak. "My name is Red sir, for the color of the wood from the very large trees." Red's barklike skin was indeed the color of redwood. And finally, the final foragers would speak. "Err... i'm Honey sir. Name from the honeysuckles. It's a custom for our parents to name us from what we most resemble..." All looked a bit awkward, unsure of who or what this man was. Husband Ulthor's smile did not falter as the dryads introduced themselves, though he felt for their weariness to trust him; instead when they finished he gave a small clap. "What a wonderful way to come up with names, for it gave you three such beautiful names!" At his joy the bushes the dryads near them moved a little, the berries becoming larger. Ulthor noticed this and moved the hand not stroking his beard behind his head stating with a bit of awkwardness. "Hoho, dear don't give out my surprises before I can get to them! Well, as the world just showed, if you make her happy enough she can make anyone happy as well. You seem like decent folk, with a few pointers you should be able to tend to her needs well enough for her to never forget you." Looking down at his hand that had been stroking his beard he noticed a great many seedlings had gotten stuck on his hand hair, indeed he was accidentally letting seeds fall onto the ground with every stroke. Luckily for husband Ulthor, he knew what they were and tried to hide his surprise at the pile on the ground. "Ah, see these right here Hyacinth? They'd make a fine meal, grind them with stone and mix with water, and placed near a fire. Or just cook them into a mushy slop that keeps you full. You already do that much with wild grass yes? Well just let these little ones grow and you'll find they produce far better that any grass before. Think there's some other plants mixed in there... but most of it is wheat. They do need some proper care, but I think you have it in you, right?" Hyacinth would look on in curiosity. Why were seeds falling from his beard? And what was wheat? "Proper care? How would we care for them? While we certainly do as yoy said, we aren't sure what kind of care? We have never really grown our own plants as of yet. Some of our scouts found a desert without so many plants... so I assume water is involved. Could you teach us how to properly care for this... "wheat"? What sort of plant is it?" Though he seemed uncertain, there was clear fascination. Growing plants on purpose for food sounded like an easier thing than constantly searching for edible plants. "Though I must say, it sounds like an amazing ideas. With that kind of thing we wouldn't need to stay in such small groups to avoid harvesting too much. You have some amazing ideas." Ulthor gave a quick 'hohoho' before grabbing a quick handful of seeds from his hair and moved closer to explain in detail the necessary steps to farm; however, as he was moving forward he noticed the world's eye above them moving. Looking up with a smile, he said: "Little one of my dear, you've been watching them for a while now, have you not? Come down, you have nothing to fear! It'll help to not have to talk so loud that you can hear from there." After a moment the branches began to rustle as an invisible figure came down from the branches of the trees, revealing itself to the dryads as a small monkey-like thing. It's fur was that of flowers similar to the dryads, and though whatever constituted as it's skin could not be seen it's solid bright orange eyes were clearly visible. It moved behind husband Ulthor, weary still of the dryads seeing it. Placing a hand atop the fae's head, husband Ulthor said. "Don't worry little one, and you too my new friends. This here is a part of my dear, and it seems to have grown attached to you. As long as you follow the guidance of it and others like it, you'll know how to make my dear happy. Do you have any questions? I don't want to yap at you three to death before I even get to talk about growing the wheat!" The dryads look nervous, especially when a creature effectively invisible except for it's eyes emerge from the tree branches above. The dryads look concerned at the sudden emergence of mostly invisible fey. Only Hyacinth and Red see the eyes as Ulthor talks, ans Honey is cauth by surprise when the branches move and a strange monkey creature emerges. They'd seen monkeys, they were not rare in this huge forest. But this thing was no monkey it's flowering fur was not unlike their skin and their leaves/petals. "These invisible creatures are part of the world? Legend says trees and plants were born of the one who created us? All those are connected into one world?" Red asks, looking incredulous and unsure. Ulthor gave a nod "Indeed they are, most things are. You and a few other things are made special, not quite a part of my dear yet in some ways are, but that gives you potential to get to know her." He rustled the flowers a bit on the monkey's head. "And me!" Pointing to himself with his thumb. Looking towards the group of dryads husband Ulthor says with his eyes being a little misty "It's good to meet others, and good to give and make joy even with strangers." Wiping his misty eyes, Ulthor looked back at the seeds. "Now, let me tell you the bark you'll need to grow these, first...

Spoiler: AP Actions

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16/20 AP
-1 AP Create Mundane Concept - Agriculture: Husband Ulthor teaches the basics of agriculture to the dryads. While they are the first to obtain it, all other societies may develop it as well as long as they live on the (or visit) the First World over the next few generations.

Community (Mundane) 1/10

16-1=15

Ulthor also technically taught some primal magic (druidic) to the Dryads, but that's an open concept.

[Powerhouse]

Sutela watched her great children, the first monsters, stretch their wings for the first time and bring terror to the scattered tribes that had begun to sprout across Osea. She watched them do battle with her siblings' offshoots, the pale imitations of imitations of imitations that Arkhos and Shyrask had fashioned out of her blood. Each clash between them, each death, each bounty of resources that the winners claimed, served only to make the creatures stronger overall. Sutela was content, for some time.

But something still itched at her insides. The world had come alive, to an extent, but there was still something missing. And unlike those few times before when she had felt this, she couldn't quite see what the problem was-- so it stewed there, deep beneath her eyes and her eternal grin, for some time.

And then she saw something that made her blood positively boil. Two of Shyrask's beasts, two dragons, two beings of her blood who made use of her gifts, working together to protect a settlement of Shyrask's ridiculous plant people from one of Sutela's great craggy blood dragons. She watched as one of Shyrask's dragons gave its own life in order to give its mate the opening it needed to land the finishing blow on the blood dragon... and watched, aghast, as the lone surviving dragon limped back into its grotto without demanding any tribute from those it and its now-deceased mate had just saved from certain death.

By the time she had turned away in disgust, the dryads were beginning to nurse those who had been permanently crippled in the attack, squandering resources on people who would never contribute to the tribe's survival again.

Sutela's body was shaking. The other idiots had been making moves while she had been entranced by the fruits of her own genius. Societies, healthcare, agriculture-- they were nothing more than ways to shield the weak from the mistake of their own continued existence. For some time, she ruminated on these futile concepts, searching for a weakness, some fundamental flaw she could exploit in order to make these creatures pay for the crime of working together.

And then she saw one.

The First World was not, as she had first believed, simply a layer of rock covered in a layer of water covered in a layer of air. There was a fourth, deeper layer beneath the rock; when the others had made their little continents, she had caught just a glimpse of something... different. Something red and hot and angry. Whether it was a relic of her first action, the tearing of Aidia's sun, or something that had always been buried in the heart of the planet, Sutela did not know... but she did know that it did not matter.

What mattered was that she could let it out.

With a gouging motion, she pushed the oozing corpse of the blood dragon into the ground. In an instant, a terrible wound appeared in the earth, and Sutela made sure it was angled to split the village of the dryads in half. The people of the village bemoaned their sorry fate-- to be attacked by a dragon and an act of the heavens in the same day!-- but Sutela, with some sense of what was to come next, just kept watching.

To the dryads' horror, the crack in the ground grew longer and longer still, until it seemed to extend infinitely into the distance in both directions. Those few brave enough to peek over the edge and into it saw only pitch darkness within... until something began to bubble up out of the abyss.

It was a dull red, almost like the bloody outer layer of the dragon that had just been slain in the village. And as it rose further, growing closer and closer to the surface, those few brave souls watching its approach felt its furnace heat. Somehow, this new substance seemed to be even hotter than the skin of the dragon. At this point, the smart dryads dropped everything and began to run.

The foolish were caught in the First World's first volcanic eruption.

For many days and nights, the lava continued to spew forth from the deep crack in the world's surface, and the crack itself continued to spiderweb outwards, extending along the seafloor until the world had been split. Osea itself now had a hairline fracture that ran through its center, a jagged cut extending from the site that fateful village had once occupied. And where these rivers of darkness ran, the threat of the world's own burning blood would always be near, no matter how rich or fat a society might grow.

Sutela nodded her head. An entire society could not outrun disasters like this: survival would naturally come to those wise enough to see disaster coming, and those fast enough to react in time. The survivors would pass their wisdom and their speed on to the next generations; those who died would not.

Spoiler: AP Action Breakdown

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-1 AP Alter Land: The crust of the First World is now split into tectonic plates! Earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanoes are here to bring ruin to the socialist agenda!

-2 AP Create Land - Sutela's Fang: There is now a massive volcano in the south of Osea, in the middle of its thick forest biome. Towering and black, it emits a sulfurous smog, choking out most plant life in a two-mile radius. Its own biome is adapted to the harsh conditions that have arisen from this-- carnivorous plants that thrive on heat rather than light, creatures that can go weeks without a drop of water, and birds that can survive flying through hot volcanic gases.

-1 AP Curse/Bless: I'm pretty sure it takes a curse to drop a volcano directly on a bunch of poor victims of a dragon attack, and also cause volcanoes in general to be a thing from now on. Oops. But on the plus side, even though dryads can't use this part of the forest anymore, new life can spring up here?

-1 AP Form Pantheon: Sutela has tacitly accepted her fellow dragons' interference in the creation of dragonkind, and completed the Dragon Pantheon! We now get all the cool benefits of being in a Pantheon together!

[Mai]

Shyrask watched her dragons protect some dryads. It was unexpected, but her children were I divide also with free will. She had wanted dragons to go in packs, but given Sutela's subversion, mating pairs with children was likely the best she could hope for. Though unfortunately, Sutela seemed to take offense to the idea of medicine and one life protecting another.

For Shyrask this made sense. The mated dragons probably had a mutable beneficial relationship with the dryads. But as gentle and healing as nature could be, nature could be cruel and furocious. When Sutela split the land and created the first volcano, Shyrask watched with bated breath as dozens, maybe a hundred dryads died. The whole area created a volcanic lava flow zone in her forest. And yet as time passed, things were to.clearly stabilize. It was safe! The world would go on, and the many creatures and races would bounce back. The years of peace on Osea gave the prey and races time to become stable.

Shyrask smiled towards Sutela. A smile Sutela probably wouldn't have expected. It was wolfish and primal. Shyrask then let out a howl, a loud, terrifying roar from one of the dragon dieties. And then, after a minute, the first world howled back! Wolves sprung from the world at Shyrask's call, and lions came soon after, then crocodiles and other large predators. Finally eagles, hawks, and falcons emerged and took flight.

Shyrask had made Osea a land devoid of major predators to give prey time to propogate and spread, such that Shyrask could unleash predators without unbalancing the first world. And if the world as a whole could bounce back from such a disaster over time, this was proof Osea had stabilized fully.

"The intelligent species will need to find weaponry to defend themselves, but I am sure they will still survive and multiply still. But to be sure they can't make a weapon suitable for all enemies, I have a creation in mind."

And so Shyrask created Rust monsters, so that metal could never fully triumph over nature itself. And she would bless them, so that they held no true thoughts of their own. Their minds rang hollow, and thus they couldn't be sensed by things like akashic records or mind reading. These large insects were likely the first life to be mentally hollow, invisible to all but mundane senses.

Spoiler: Actions

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Create Monstrous Life (1AP):
Rust Monsters
Bless (1AP);
Rust monsters cannot be sensed by though based methods in any way. They are invisible to akashic records, psionic senses, and other like methods. Only the mundane senses of sight, hearing, and etc. Detect them.

[ezekielraiden]

Arkhos could feel the shuddering of the world below, and knew then that action was needed. He knew Sutela would not simply stand idly by and permit interference, but he was not ready yet to work his new wonders. Still, there were those crying out, and he could help them.

"Come, my children!" he cried, as his avatar dove down toward Osea. "We who hold this lofty perch do not merely stare down in superiority. No, we understand that only by taking responsibility can you receive power--not the other way around. Let us save whom we can."

A particular dragon, one of the golden ones, seemed hesitant. "What do we know of them, Father? How can we know they will understand our intent?" Yet despite the uncertainty, this young one followed anyway.

"We cannot know, child. Nor can anyone, before the first gesture is made, the first word spoken." He gestured to the now-sundered Osea, and the rising peak of fire and ash and death to the south. "But always we must try. For we cannot choose to make no choices: even to choose not to act is still a choice. We are embarked, and if we are to be true to that Truth which stands outside thee and me, we must learn to make our choices wise."

The dragon looked chastened. "I...yes, Father. I understand, and ask your forgiveness for asking such a question. I did not see with wise eyes."

Arkhos smiled, though it was touched with sadness. "Thy question is not in need of forgiveness, child. For thou must know that I, too, have acted without wisdom, and have chosen to wear my failure open and shining. By remembering when we err--and that we err--we anchor our thoughts. Thou mayest see with unwise eyes many times in thy life. If thou wouldst make true wisdom thine, thou must first know thou shalt lack it ere thou have it."

Seeming heartened, the gold dragon bowed (or at least what passes for a dragon's bow while both the giver and the recipient are in flight) and returned to the throng of metallics below and around them. In some cases, it was true that the dryads reacted with fear and trembling, as few metallics had chosen to live on Osea. (That was one of Arkhos' few regrets in making an Avatar, though he would be loath to admit it if pressed. He had not well-accounted for their preference to learn from their maker over travelling the world. Perhaps, as a silver lining to the black cloud of this day, this rescue would encourage them to look outward at the world and all its potential.) However, in almost all cases, they welcomed rescue gladly, and many an innocent life was preserved, at least for another day, by Arkhos and his children.

Some wished to stay in Osea, the only home they had ever known. A few brave souls among them, however, wished to know more of these shining dragons and their patron. Thus did mortals come to the Jade Eyrie, even before those woven of star-stuff and Arkhos' will.

[Powerhouse]

As the fleet of shining dragons left the continent of Osea behind, bearing those mortals who they had so selflessly rescued from the ruins left by the faultline, the only sign of Sutela's response was a dull rumble in the heavens. That night, as Sutela's Fang-- the black spire that had arisen from the ashes of the fallen dryad village-- passed beneath the Bleeding Crown, two fat droplets of the Crown's blood slammed into the ashen structure. One found its way into a dark bird's nest, sinking into its clutch of eggs; and one dripped into the endless black crack of the faultline. In the morning, two new species would awaken upon this world: one of the skies above, and one of the depths below.

Spoiler: AP Action Breakdown

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Create Monstrous Life (0 AP) (reduced by the Bleeding Crown) - Cinder Vultures. Sort of like the Dire form of ash vultures, except they're explicitly just unusually large and powerful members of the same base species.

Create Monstrous Life (1 AP) - Blood Salamanders. Sutela's special salamanders! They just kind of chill out around Sutela's Fang for now, I guess.

Create Avatar (4 AP) - Wait, what?

[Omoikane13]

Writing came easy to the Sine, with some aid from the Rector. A racial struggle with vocalising and a reverence towards The Library meant that written language quickly flourished. Words were written in concentric circles, going outwards, with a symbolic representation of the emotive hand sign in the centre. This writing was done via multiple media, including clay tablets dredged from the muds surrounding springs and woven-reed paper.

Unbeknownst to most, The Library shifted. No longer containing a single book, the building now contained countless pages of Sine writing.
Next came nicer houses, which needed less encouragement. The Sine's tendencies towards hierarchies led to a natural order when it came to housing and smaller districts, with many grouping according to job, role, and sometimes family. These collections of houses, many times just one large house with satellite buildings, somewhat resembled the Sine language, an amusing coincidence to Caudex.

With language both spoken, written, and gestured, as well as a closer sense of community, Caudex, no, the Rector could see that his people were beginning to come together. They had fallen into the tradition of carving their masks to represent various facets of themselves. Family, role, some seemed to be marking achievements. The bone was fast growing enough that the marks were not permanent, and this time it was Caudex thanking earlier decisions.

The Sine were an experiment that was running well. But well was all that they were managing. It was time they were elevated.
The Rector Sine Populi watched The Library from behind blank bone. In this building was contained data and information on everything - well, almost, if the others would just cease creating those infernal blank spots. Controlled access to this could provide the Sine with the power the Rector sorely wanted them to have. And would, hopefully, give them a small spark of their creator's hunger.

It would be far too uncontrolled if tied simply to writing, but writing would be the most logical way to access The Record. A key, something that could unlock the barrier. Caudex waved a hand, and seeded the Regia Laboratoria with inky black crystals. These inkstones would be the key to magic. Writing utilising them would be the foundation of magic. And the limited number would provide a little...healthy competition. For later, Caudex left the idea open to all forms of language. One never knew whether they'd expand their horizons later.

One announcment from the Rector, and the Sine truly awoke. Some once thought lost carved new names into their masks, and groups set off to hunt for inkstones. This was the impetus they would need. And if so desired, the First World could be seeded with inkstones too. A future project perhaps, to give the Sine a certain...goal.

Spoiler: AP Actions

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Teach Mundane Concept [1 AP]: Writing
The Sine, with assistance, have developed writing, as described above.

Teach Mundane Concept [1 AP]: Construction
The Sine, with assistance, have improved their dwellings, as described above.

Create Mythical Sub-Concept [2 AP, based on The Akashic Record]: Runic Magic
Runic Magic is a way to tap into The Akashic Record to manipulate reality (unless the target is unrecorded, which is essentially direct magic immunity). It is currently only usable via writing the Sine language with an inkstone, but this is not a hard rule. Runic Magic is often seen being prepared beforehand via ofuda-like slips of material.

This concept is closed by virtue of dimensional geography, but otherwise will be effectively open, limited only by inkstone access.

Bless [1 AP]: Inkstones
Caudex has seeded the Regia Laboratoria with the key to Runic Magic. These are ink-black crystals, found in various locations underground, and must be used in writing to perform Runic Magic. The Sine currently have no way of obtaining these on an industrial scale, making practitioners of Runic Magic relatively rare.


Domain Contributions
2 AP towards Law (Legislation) -> 6/10
3 AP towards Rune (Language) -> 3/10

2 AP remaining