Lords of Creation in the Playground IC

[Xuincherguixe]

At the meeting, suddenly the red ball of light appears, which flickers omninously

I would have come sooner, but I only just recently became aware of the world here.

There is a voice, but there's more than that. As if it's voice was a mere shadow of other words. They can scarcely be called words though, it is something beyond words. More primal and the more powerful for it. It's malevolence is incredible. These are killing sounds. And while full of malice, it seems there is no hate, or anger in them. If anything, it any emotion was present, it would be overwhelming joy.

My body is my voice is my weapon. And so my eyes are a mouth.
And an axe.
I seemed to have wreaked havoc on your world. Some of which was quite accidental. I was not aware that it was so fragile.

It pauses, "But when I realized how fragile it was, I decided to break it.

I came here to apologize for the accidental damage. Also through the touching amongst other things, I became aware of this meeting. And that you are worried about one somewhat like yourselves from afar who has come to invade this place. And it sounds like he doesn't have much imagination. When he comes, i'll show you all something very beautiful."

There is a silence, and then, "Oh, and I'm planning something else too! And if all your people are killed off by it it's just not going to be very fun. So everyone please make sure to arm your people very well!"

[Maerok]

The sun god awakes, but resides in the heat of the sun. He juggles the black circlet through waves of fire and anger while looking on to his visitor from within.

"Evadize... Xam has my word that I will rally those below, for what it is worth. Perhaps it shall mean less when he is torn asunder. Maybe it will mean more. I hardly know any more. Isn't that grand?"

[Faithless]

Taking a step forward...

You mock the great creator. You shall regret the day Enigma ever created yet. Threatening the great council What is there for you to gain here Elimanishon. Nothing. You stir distress only to destroy. Your disloyalty will be punished. We don't have a place for you in this divine world, sun god.

Breaking his wooden hands into fists, he straightened himself up waiting for a reply.

[Maerok]

"None of you could ever hope to embody the true nature the Creator. It is pure chaos. No necessary good, no necessary evil. Just endless possibility! We have so much insight into our Playground. Nothing escapes us, collectively at least. Yet the arrival of these outsiders cannot be predicted. The outcome is outside the mind of gods! We cannot simply create an ending for it, and it is that nature I will take advantage of."

The last seven words are punctuated with seven rising tones moving closer to the surface.

[Rizban]

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Fiona looks with quirked brow and relinquishes the giant bird. "There is no problem with Questions in themselves, it's the seeking answers that could become problematic. For Instance, would you ask a Ghast what he wanted to eat? Would you ask the Elimanishon if he could bless you? I do not think you would. Same is for the follower of Enigma. We do not ask questions litly, you have been blessed with two. Enjoy them. Savor them. Understanding is to Question and Get the Proper Answers. But, without the proper questions, the answers can only do harm." she takes a small amount of food, and burns it into oblivion.

Fiona smiles pleasantly "Enigma requires co-operation, you must not allow your God to control you mind. I will speak to him directly. Enigma commands it so." she flickers her fire around her head in the shape of a question mark.

"Controlled by Sand? Perhaps, perhaps not. Is it so wrong to knowingly give yourself over to the Laws of Evershifting Sands, even knowing it is to nearly dominate you from that day forth? Is it wrong for Chaos to attain Order or for Discord to reach Harmony? I heard the Call, as have all who dwell here, and I made the decision to give it power over me, as many who dwell here have also done.

Cooperation is not impossible, but you would have me abandon one master for another? I had not known Enigma to be a jealous god, seeking to command those who would follow another path, whether they wish his control or not.

There is no god directly controlling my mind, that can be assured you. The Call can be ignored. We who respond are shaped by it into that which it desires, this is true; however, those of us who do respond either do so because we choose to do so, for some reason known only to the one answering, or because they were too malleable in mind to resist any external influence. Those that were too mentally weak for a chance to resist are much better fortuned now than before, as they now have the mental fortitude to resist the influence of external factors that once dominated their existence.

Tsk. A well prepared meal is burnt partially, yes, but not consumed by the flames. It is a delicacy ever hovering between the burnt and the unburnt, a wondrous merging of the two. There is no need to burn it completely. If nothing else, then savor it for it what it is, not for the smoke and cinders to which it can be reduced. Fire and the consuming flame is not an end unto itself. Though, in moderation, flame is beneficial and perhaps even necessary, merely burning for the sake of burning has become abhorrent to me. There is something other than fire which dictates the direction of my life."

Fiona and the Emissary of Sand talked long into the night, each waxing more and more philosophical as the hours passed. Needing neither sleep nor rest, the two Flameborn worked ever forward in a grand battle of wits the likes of which the world had never before seen. At long last, each realized their duties called them elsewhere and no amount of further discussion would sway the other from their respective point of view. They parted ways amicably, and the bonds of friendship, or at least mutual respect, had begun to be forged. Each vowed that they would meet again should future events allow to continue their discussion and cross their mental sabers once more.

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OOC: Tialait is going to be out of town for awhile. We discussed how we would handle this while the forum was down and decided that we would show the "full text" of this discussion (and further lengthy discussions) between the two in a separate thread. I've gone ahead and ended this bit here with the Emissary of Sand returning to his duties among the Chosen while Fiona returns to Enigma to report the results of her visit. I'm writing this bit so that the other players will know exactly what's happening and can respond appropriately.

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Klik'chak reached a new stage of awareness with his new form, knowing the world around him for what it was. Believing himself to have learned all there was to know of the material world below, he decided to turn his attention to the Void around him, perhaps in hopes of meeting once again with the only other deity he knew to exist, Cliktith the Swarming.

Immediately after reaching his new state of being, Klik'chak began to feel a slightly buzzing sensation and the base of his neck. Thinking it to be merely a natural feature of his new form, he ignored it. Before he had traveled far in the Void, the buzzing became a growing ache that was no longer possible to simply ignore.

"Sej Ke chak'sa nk'chu... Ke ka cha sej'tsa Ke chak nkdral."
((This sound in my head, I know not from whence it comes... I must find the source of this sound or my mind will never know rest.))

Turning his gaze back to Playground, Klik'chak was drawn to a location in the southern desert of Ramua. It was here that he discovered the source of the buzzing sensation was caused by the fervent praises and supplication of a devout group of Sand worshipers. He thought about this for awhile and realized that he desired to commune with his new followers but that his recently assumed insectoid form would not be as effective at communication with this cult as would a form closer to their own. With some small reluctance, Klik'chak began to concentrate.

He attempted to find a balance between the formless dunes of his beginnings and the unalterable solidity of his new form. After some intense meditation, he located the exact moment in which shapelessness become form, where chaos becomes order. Grasping that exact point of existence, Klik'chak wove it into the sands of his being and obtained the ability to shift into any shape or form he deemed necessary and maintain that shape indefinitely. He still preferred the insect form over any other but knew that taking new shapes at certain times would be necessary for efficient communication with his priests.

(AP 1 = 4 - 3(Evolve Physically))

Once his new transformation was completed, Klik'chak turned his attention back to the one who had assumed leadership of this new sand cult calling themselves the Chosen of Sand. Focusing his powers on the dune beside this "Emissary," Klik'chak formed the sand into letters and symbols conveying his acknowledgment of the cult and some directions on what would need to be accomplished by them in the near times.

"Yes, that will do. Firechild sand priest will lead sleepers for sands well. G'tok is good. Chosen of Sand my g'tokmma'ak and me g'tok-hoz."

(AP 1 = 1 - 0(Domain Granted Power))

[alchemyprime]

Xam looked upon the Playground. And he smiled.

"Tanner... what does one call people that use magic without gods?"

"An arcanist."

"And if the arcanist feels the magic?"

"Um... a sorcerer, a dread necromancer, a war mage, a warlock."

"Warlock! The lock the keep out war! Or to keep it in one place! I like that! What about people that learn it? And ask questions?"

"Um... there are wu jen, archivists, beguilers, duskblades, wizards-"

"Wizard! A beautiful sounding name! I think I am one of those..."

And Xam swished his hand and looked at the lupins. "You'll know it first..."

And Xam created warlocks and wizards.

(Create Concept: Arcane Magic [Warlocks and Wizards] -3 AP)

And Xam looked at the planes.

"What about... a plane that touches every plane... with occasional leaks? Like if I made a plane and sewed it into the rest of creation..."

And Xam made the World Web.

(Create Plane: World Web -3 AP)

And Xam smiled at the peoples. And he saw the wizards arleady trying to make leather hats. And Xam thought and sent a spider to a wizard. And the little spider and some others spun the wizard a beautiful coat of silk.

(Teach Populous: Spider Silk can be cloth too (the already had leather, so it's legit...) -1 AP)

(0 AP = 7 (1 left over, 6 from the new week and server down) - 3 (World Web) - 3 (Arcane Magic) - 1 (Spider Silk clothing, which won't be as tough as steel, but it will be just as nice.)

***Soon Later For Gods, but Much Later For Mortals***

A halfling that met the lupins on friendly terms had just finished almost all of his wizard training. He had one task left.

Find a spider to make a strand of fresh silk and interweave it into your outfit. The spider's survival wasn't nessacary. But this halfling wanted others to use the same spider if need be.

As the halfling walked about, a small rabbit bounced by. The noise startled him, and he let a magic missle let fly, the wizardly attempt to copy the warlock's natural eldritch blast. His specific missile looked like a pointing finger. He missed and sighed and fell back into a spider web.

And woke up on a larger one.

And a large spider found him.

"Where am i?" the halfling asked.

"The World Web. Nice place, I think..."

And the halfling was started.

"Every hole leads some where. The strands are roads for those your size. Just jump off and you'll end up somewhere else. And some abandoned spider webs take you back. Some small. Some large. But remember: the Web is everywhere. You may jump hoping to get to the Playground, end up in Second Chance, or the Burning Void, or Eul's home, or even back somewhere else on the web."

And before the halfling could ask more of the talking huge spider, it crawled off.

"Great... Well, at least there's a lot of silk to make clothes... And I don't feel hungry..."

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WORLD WEB:
Normal Gravity
Odd: People still age normally while walking the World Web, but hunger and thirst are suppressed, at one fifth the need.
Infinite Size
Divinely Morphic
Minor Positively Dominant: This had the unseen side effect of Cure spells looking like white spiders crawling into people's wounds...
Normal Magic

The World Web is a travel system. You just need to know what roads leave where. Some parts have small spider colonies, some don't. Some strands are miles across, others millimeteres. And if you fall between the threads, you fall out of an abandoned spiderweb or cobweb... somewhere...

[Vadin]

Gliss looked to the sky and looked to the sea and looked to the earth, and he saw that others were speaking. Other races speaking with other races, and other gods speaking with other gods. And he thought his Capsin might like to speak with the others as well, and in speaking share their songs and stories and learn the songs and stories of others. And so he created the Lifebeasts from the plants and animals of the earth.

(2 AP = 4 AP - 2 AP Create Animals)

The kinds of Lifebeasts were three in number. The Seabeasts, born of wood and scales and large enough to carry a quintet of grown capsin, were crafted to allow travel across the sea. The Mouthbeasts, who were as large as tall boulders, were crafted to feed the hungry Capsin with the fruits they bore on their bushy backs, and needed only sunlight and water, however foul, to survive. The Skybeasts, born of strong wings and leaves finer than the finest of feathers, were crafted to allow a Capsin to see from the sky and fly with speed to wherever they chose.

And the Capsin were astounded by Gliss's creations, and they strayed not far from the land in learning how to guide the Seabeasts, though those who made fast friends with Skybeasts were a tad more adventurous in their learnings.

And some wished to become closer to their beasts, but still sing the songs of Gliss. Others wished to honor the new gods and ancients they had learned of, but still sing the songs of Gliss. And so Gliss showed them how, and the bards multiplied in use and number.

(0 AP = 2 AP- 2 AP(Teach Populous: Wild and Divine Bardic Class Variants))

And the Wild Bards occasionally took to bonding with a Skybeast, and this was a good thing, though their studies in other areas often lacked. And the Divine Bards learned much of the world and what was beyond it, though their music didn't resonate the same as the other Bardic songs.

OOC:

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We did get two weeks of AP because of the server breakdown, right? If not, I can amend the las half of this post and save it for later.

[tsuuga]

New one... you worry me. It is not so hard to have a bit of care for what others have made. Kaern sighs. But you do not change my plans. I have waited here long enough.

Kaern sets off to meet Evadize.

[Xuincherguixe]

"Elimanishon. I have learned of names, and of yours and others. And of that named demons. My voice reached them and so I became aware of them. They are lacking something.

I can improve them, if you allow me.

Sounds cease for a moment from the Ball of Light.

"Or I can do whatever I want anyways. But sometimes mine are asking sounds."

[Draken]

Eul lashed his tail in the dark, grumbling in something akin to anger. Or jealousy.

Eul stared at the world, and waht he saw were glorified ants, torches and chunks of rock thriving, while his choosen cultists hid in the fringes of these societies, shunned by their practices, and his chosen people... Better not dwell in that.

Eul's tail lashed against - and shattered - chunks of voidstone, blacker than the blackness of the Dark Home, but just not as much as the Black Serpent himself.

The Shadow howled to the dark, and with his bleak gaze he scrutinized the land, looking for one of his heralds, and he stoped at the titanic form of one of the primeval Nightwalkers, and spoke to its mind, words too foul in the language of the dead, and those words echoed to the creatures in the Deadland, who knew what they should do.

They should gather, and they should show the world that the dead were superior.

(Guide Populace 2 AP. 8-2=6 AP)

Deadborn, ghouls, ghasts, clerics and incarnates and their skeleton, zombie and necrocarnum zombie servants, form the deadlands and beyond, gathered before the primeval nightwalker at the lands besides the two foul lakes at the center of the Deadland, and the great being pointed a grim finger, issuing the command to build. And so they labored, endlessly and tirelesly, with only the clerics being the only divine help they had, they gathered and chiseled marble and granite, they erected walls and paved streets, and they decorated the great halls of their citadel with patterns of bones and motiffs of death, and with the blood of sacrifices to "bless" their capital in the eyes of the Deadfather.

And Eul was pleased.

So pleased that he turned his eyes away from the town, those feelings, so alien and so displeasing, gone, he saw the arcane magic Xam had given to other races, and took his time to teach similar, if darker, arts to his people, those of death, shadows and forgotten knowledge.

(Teach populace/Create Concept 3AP: Arcane Magic (Dread Necromancer, Beguiler). 6-3= 3 AP

And deadborn lupins stole ur Wizzes and Locks >.>)

Pleased and with his hunger quashed by dozens of sacrifices, Eul sat upon his voidstone throne, hearing the dark prayers of his followers, and drawing might from these.

(Evolve Physically 3 AP: 3-3= 0 AP)

~

[Nefarion Xid]

After some time (years to the ken of mortals) observing the desert-dwelling Haradar, Lossethir had come to a number of conclusions, primarily concerning the dwarven race. First, dwarves were boring. Of all the beings of the Playground that he has studied, he found dwarves to be amiable and was pleased he could identify with their motives. But, because dwarves were so easy to understand he found them terribly predictable. He could always be sure he knew exactly what a dwarf was thinking at any one moment.

He would amuse himself for hours by following (drifting lazily and invisibly on the breeze) any random dwarf as he went about his daily business...and all the while having a laugh at the fellow's expense by impersonating him and what he must be thinking.

"Ach, it's hot!"
"Ach, I'm sweaty!"
"Ach! I wish I had a hat!"

Lossethir had just finished fashioning a broad brimmed hat from palm fibers when he heard the cross words spoken between Evadize and the Elimanishon. Now, there was something more deserving of his attention than sweaty dwarves! So, with perfect aim, he pitched his newly made hat squarely on the glistening bald head of the deserving dwarf and spirited away to spy on the big tree and sun god.

The dwarf was greatly bewildered, but thankful all the same.

[Maerok]

Elimanishon looks over Evadize as he responds to the Two-Colored Light through a sending: "I'd be honored that Destruction should teach them the proper ways. I feared that they would not be acting to their full potential... An arrangement?"

OOC:

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I haven't checked OOC yet, but are we getting double AP? So 6 AP or the normal 3 for me?

I would have evolved the first time around.

[Faithless]

You know nothing Elimanishon. For one who rises with each day, you do not understand that nothing will rise once Varr comes. You are foolish and arrogant and I will not have your corrupted ways mark the longevity of this world.

Evadize's eyes raged with a potent fury. This betrayer would not be allowed to lay waste to the hard work poured into the playground. What had happened to the passionate one that had led him so astray.

[Xuincherguixe]

The red ball of light, shakes about excitedly
I see the potential for entertainment in you Evadise! So much potential!

It almost sounds as if it's... giggling?

"But I'll wait for that fun. What did you have in mind bright one? Perhaps you wish to see something covered in pretty lights. Or is there somewhere that you would wish for a hole? Maybe I could teach your followers very dangerous things? Is there some object or person you'd like to see the insides of? There are so many wonderful things I could do for you!"

[Maerok]

Elimanishon surfaced, his grim skull floating on a sea of flame. Liquid light poured out of each eye socket like a waterfall and with each word more of it cascaded from his blackened jaws. He did not look angry, more amused than anything else.

"Corruption?" There were chirping noises from deep below. "Corruption is impurity. It can be burned away. This place of anger can cleanse away good, and evil. And the petty notion of balance. All that will be left in time is pure chaos, focused in such a way as to shame Paradox itself."

Seven dark points came into focus around Elimanishon's head at the surface of the Sun. "I... We... will show you how." His skeletal arm shot out of the fire as seven tones rang out around him. Each ring heralded an outburst at the surface around him. Seven flamebound chains roared up to Evadize, ensnaring him at various points across his divine form. They weren't animated metal, the free ends of each chain hissed like a serpent - hydra - in his face.

The chain drew taut and Elimanishon drew himself out of the Sun, standing on its scorching landscape. The seven hydra crossed an immeasurable distance between the forest god and the left arm socket of the sun god. He smiled and leapt backwards into the fire, feet first, drawing the chains inexorably downward.

[Moose Fisher]

Coberal drifted back to the Playground, back to the crater that marked the volcanoes of Enigma. Environmental forces had begun to smooth the sides of the crater, but it would take thousands of years to remove it.

A year later, the largest of the volcanoes near the crater ceased its usual eruptions. The loud rumbles had softened, while the sound of clangs and rings grew stronger and stronger. Curious (along with other emotions) about the changes, a group of Flameborn entered a massive tunnel leading into the heart of the volcano.

Inside was a massive lake of magma surrounded by wide walkways of stone and metal. Several branching chambers contained what appeared to be varying forms of altars holding a burning black substance. Other chambers held minerals, metals, and stones of varying colors, organized by an unknown system. Few were empty, under construction, or leading to areas further than the Flameborn wished to explore.

The party of Flameborn found their way to the outside, when a sound stopped them in their tracks.

"Leaving so soon?"

The Flameborn turned to see a robed figure. She was tall, slender, and possessed an aura of power. The robes covering her seemed to be made of solid, inflexible iron, but it waved and danced like fire. A wiry, metallic hand gripped a hammer's handle, while the other palmed the head. She wore a featureless mask of steel, save for the blue eyes shining on them.

"I am Coberal. I knew that you would investigate my forge, allowing me to work while I wait."

The goddess approached the Flameborn, examining the various emotions displayed to her.

I require... assistance to forge tools for both gods and mortals. I simply ask for your willingness to cooperate, and you will receive protection and knowledge. Tell this to those you know, and make a choice. You should choose the one that will save us all, but that's not for me to decide. Farewell.

Coberal decended back into her forge, leaving the Flameborn to stand in awe and fear.


1AP= 5AP - 1AP(Mold Land: The God-Forge) - 3AP(Evolve Physically)

[Faithless]

Wrestling the flaming snakes from his chest, Evadize wretched out a bloodcurdling scream. He writhed in agony falling from the sky, his wooden flesh being seared. Embers danced around him in sheer chaos. His body glowing bright red as he fought the flames that engulfed his body. The screams pierced ears across the continent as the body whizzed closer and closer towards the surface. Limbs flailing he hit the hard cold earth with a thundering thud. His body spewed forth cinders, that clouded the air in a jubilant gala of destruction and misery.

Letting out a monstrous roar Evadize screamed out as he spiraled to his doom.
This cannot be the end!

Thinking throughout all the pain he tried to bring himself back into another plane. Focus. Focus Evadize. His body went barreling through plane after plane. The images flashed mefore his eyes as he could not stay in one place. They appeared through a shroud of smoke and ash. Must find somewhere safe His smoldering corpse landed in a field. There was little left of his wooden body. His form a twisted heap of deformed wood. The shape was vaguely humanoid but there wasn’t much left. He let out a raspy cough. Still alive.

Where am I?

Where have I been forsaken t..to. A visage of my mind’s own creation. Of life. A safehaven. Th-this is Coirae. Realm of Harmonious Vigor. And here I shall rest.

The god slept, as the years on the new plane he had forged began to pass. His body sank into the ground…

* * *

Calypso moved about her glade in the veil of night. It has been many mortal years since the first flameborn walked the earth. Many have forgotten about the sacred glade. Such a place has slipped from memory like the shadows of the void. Turmoil has long left this place and serenity now echoes throughout the trees.

Yes. This place is strong now and it needs a people…

She gracefully walked to her birth place. The tear of Evadize. Her steps seemed unreal. It appeared as if she glided, as if eyes deceived. Her beauty was something many were unaccustomed to in this young world. However she faltered for a moment…hesitant. There was something laying in the pool. Hidden admist the strands of moonlight skating upon it’s surface.

She reached out to touch it and ripples spread forth from her fingertip. At the epicenter of the concentric waves was a red gem.

How curious…

She scooped it up in her hand and cradled it un her arm. It seemed warm to the touch. Her fingers rolled over it’s surface. Steam gently sifted it’s way away from the object.

A flameborn egg… It is… old.

She exhaled life into it’s shell. She could feel the life force thrum inside. However she wouldn’t be letting flameborn burn down the sacred glade. Far to precious was this place, for it to have to spend aeons to regrow. No something to match it’s grace along with her own had to inhabit this place. Holding it up to the pool, the moonlight fed the egg. Soon the glade would be much different…

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3ap to create plane. 3 ap to evolve Evadize. 3 ap to create fey(1 from Enigma) Will post more details once exact ap amount is determined.

[Nefarion Xid]

Lossethir looked on grimly and bore witness to the fall of Evadize from his hidden perch miles away. He rushed to aid the plummeting god, but to no avail. By the time he arrived on the scene, he found only a smoldering broken and splintered body sunk deep into the ground...and a wafting trail of ash leading skyward.

"Tough luck," he muttered with chagrin as he lighted on the twisted and charred tree trunk for closer inspection. This husk wasn't long for the world, but the god was not slain and Lossethir knew it. Already he could feel Evadize's essence drifting towards the Void and working to materialize the dream of the wounded and slumbering god.

He took one last look down at the twisted form that he nonchalantly trod upon. "I suppose I'll be seeing you later. And, let's hope we meet under better circumstances, hmm?" And with that his elvish form dissolved in to a flurry of snow and he was carried away on the wind.

[Copacetic]

Dla looked upon his people, the elves, their skin dark as obsidian and their eyes glowing like golden orbs. Blind to the rest of the world, he followed their actions, their movements, their everyday life. How they interacted with all other life in the forest. Then a strange sense of curiousity came over Dla. And he looked deep into the forest, farther into the green landscape, until he came upon a single rabbit. And he touched that rabbit, and saw what it saw, and felt what it felt. It was exhilirating. Everything was so large, and so wonderful. Then Dla felt something, a shiver pass threw the rabbit. A feeling of dread overwhelmed him. The rabbit bolted for the underbrush, but claws kept swiping at him, talons in the dark teared at his flesh until a sweeping sensation rushed into him, and the rabbit died. Dla came out of the rabbit body, and saw the strange and terrible creature had been a simple fox. And Dla retreated back to his position above the elves, and thought. The terrible feeling of being torn to shreds by something he couldn't see, couldn't fight agaisn't has extremely frightening. But Dla thought, and he smiled. He took the fox, currently chewing on her kill, and he made it bigger, big enough to hunt lupins. And Dla made it black as the terror that tore threw him, and made it's eyes glow with fury. He focused his divine essence, and the creature became muscled, sleek, and fanged. And he took many predators of the forest and made them like it. And he gave them to the elves, and the elves, and taught them how to train them, teach them to be their companions. And Dla smiled, for he had made a beast of terrific power and death, but tame enough to serve his beloved elves.

((Ap=4 (6-2 create populos(Nightwolves))

Dla glanced at the other peoples of the world, and saw their wonderful things, their technologies, and grew jealous, for he wanted those things for his own people. So he reached into the playground, and whispered in the ears of a lonely elf. He whispered words of druidic power, how to shape the earth and tree's to your bidding, and he learned them well, for he started experimenting, calling trees to him, and shaping their dead branches into flawless spears. and whispered to the earth, and he shaped a sword of perfect obsidian. And he rushed to his fellows, eager to show them what he had learned.

((Ap=3 (4-1 teach populos(Naturecrafting))

And Dla once again whispered to his elves, and they came to him. They gathered with their Nightwolves, their gleaming weapons, and their friends. Even some animals headed the call, and gathered together. And Dla spoke. Patience me friends, my children. Storms are brewing forces are gathering, and we must wait. And so must you. And they started hiding, calling nature to fit their words. They hid themselves perfectly, seemlesly blending with nature, so perfectly that even the animals passing by could not scent them. And they waited, growing with power each day. And so the majority of the elves, those still loyal to Dla, vanished into nature.


And Dla stood back from his work, exhausted, but happy. He had made life easier for his beloved people. A ball of happines bubbled up inside him, growing and growing until it exploded outwords, changing his body forever. He lost his short, lanky hair and feral yellow eyes in exchange for luminous lengths of hair that fell to his shoulders, and eyes that weren't much more than orbs. His body cloaked itself in a long, black robe, matching his dark skin.

((Ap=0 3-3(Evolve Physically)

[Nefarion Xid]

Lossethir landed safely on a snowy mountain peak and produced from his billowing white cloak a long, blackened splinter from the core of Evadize's trunk...pilfered from the crash scene. Something he reckoned to be a powerful magical reagent - the heartwood of the eldest tree in the world! He chuckled and reveled in his resourcefulness and admired the harder-than-steel shard for a while for a while before he began to mentally draft the plans for a mighty artifact. "The Godlance" he mused; something to aid in the coming battle against Varr.

But, for now, he neither had the power nor the other reagents to craft such a weapon at the moment. So he cast the shard deep inside the snowcapped mountain and warded its location with many spells so that it might escape the detection of even the gods.

His work done and his prize secured, Lossethir launched himself skyward and used his long dormant divine powers to tap into the elements and feed on their energy. He filled his lungs with a deep breath of the thin cold air and summoned the vapors to him where they froze fast in an enormous icy cocoon. The hovering glacier was visible by the naked eye of mortals and hung in the atmosphere for days. When Lossethir had drawn his fill of the elemental energy he thrust out his hands, shattered the structure like glass and then hurled the hundreds of colossal ice shards earthbound.

The ever-frozen shards impact the northernmost peninsula of the main continent, skewering the land and dotting the sea to create a forbidding expanse of terrain. At the tallest shard, squarely planted at the very tip of the peninsula, Lossethir creates an enormous palatial home for himself.

Pleased with his work, he lounges on his newly crafted throne.

((Evolve Physically 3 AP, Mold Land "Spire of the Winter Lord, The Icewrack (surrounding area)"1 AP))
((AP=0...4-4))

[alchemyprime]

Xam looked down on Playground. And frowned.

"I hope you stay around. For a inanimate hunk of rock, you feel like a brother. A GOOD brother, not like him."

And Xam saw Lossethir and Dla do thier actions and smiled. "This is good. They prepare."

And he saw what Eul did. "That... unoriginal... shadow! My shadow! He copied me! Those... lying warlocks and dead like wizards! He copies me!"

And he saw something odd on the World Web. A halfling.

And Xam scurried to him, like a spider should.

"Hello, halfling. Who are you?"

"I'm Althonar. And who are you?"

"I am Xam."

"Oh. Oh I see... where are we?"

"A place of thought. Of questions. But unlike where Enigma lives, I have something he doesn't." And Xam leaned in to whisper the secret into the halfling's ear.

"I have answers." he said. And the halfling smiled.

"Can I have some answers?" Althonar asked.

"Yes. Just give me time to answer them."

OOC

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Okay, so Althonar is going to be our first Archmage. Later I plan on making the first SPiderborn and the Spiderblood Rings (probably during the War). Essentially, Althonar is a short Elminster in power. Or he will be. I think a halfling makes a descent legendary epic character, don't you? The Wizard that Walks With Xam?

[Xuincherguixe]

I will do you a favor some time in the future. Maybe when you ask, or maybe whenever I feel like it. I go off to do something fun.

And with that, the ball of light vanished, back into the void.


There was one particular elf in a community, who seemed to lack everything. His name was Ind. Born deformed, he was ugly and weak. Perhaps he could have been wise, but none would bother to talk with him for very long, and so he neither learned much from others nor was he able to discuss the things he had learned.

And he longed for the things others had. Fur Coats, a hut with a roof that doesn't leak, food beyond that of the half eaten remnants that was thrown at him, a beautiful mate. Why did he not have these? Why was his existence so miserable? What had he done to deserve this? He was bitter, angry, and resentful.

"You deserve better than this, Ind"
"What? Who's there? Who is this?"
Several of the other villagers turned towards the poor elf, it seems he would suffer more, as he had grown accustomed to in this life.
"Who you talking to Ind? There's no one there." A child started pointing and laughing at him.
"Oh, I know! You must have been talking to this rock." The child's father then picked up the rock he was referring too. "Why don't you say hello to Ind rock!" And with that he threw it at the head of poor deformed Ind.
"Go on! Get out of here! No one was talking to you. Aren't you listening? Move. Now!"
And some of the other villagers picked up some more rocks and started throwing them at him, and so Ind ran deep into the forest. The villagers had given up chasing, and laughed as they returned to town.

Ind cried for a long time. This wasn't the first time this had happened. He had many scars from many rocks. Maybe even more than all of the things the others had, he wished he could live alone. But, he was too weak to hunt. He had to depend on what meager scraps he could beg for and scrounge, and steal.

"Well that didn't go very well I see."
"Shut up! It's your fault this happened!" Ind shouted to something that wasn't there.
"No. That was your fault."
"Look damn it! I can't help who I am! Leave me alone!"
"I will never leave you alone."
And so Ind screamed loudly. So loudly in fact, that he attracted the attention of a nearby wolf. Which came running towards him.
The wolf thanked it's good fortune to find such an easy meal. Well these elves are quite tasty they tended to travel in groups, and carried sharp pointy weapons which could kill a wolf. Elves were a delicious meat that wolves could not often taste.
"Great going. Well looks like you're going to die now."
"And maybe that's for the best."
"That is so like you Ind. But you know..." the voice laughed, "There is a way you can live. Oh and I don't mean just killing this wolf here. I mean live. Have beautiful and enjoyable experiences. Have wonderful tasting food. Have whatever you wish for. What do you wish for Ind?"
"I want to see the village suffer!"
"Then make them suffer."
And Ind felt something. In his hands an axe appeared. And though it sure was massive he had no difficulty in lifting it. And he no trouble in holding his grip on it despite his mishapped hands.
"What... what is this?"
"Your wish. Now go live."
The wolf had not noticed the axe yet, and so launched itself at the strange elf who had been talking to himself. And it was struck with such force that it was split in half.

And so Ind was overtaken by joy. He had produced meat! He began to eat the raw wolf meat. He had no idea how to make fire, nor that one was supposed to cook meat, as he had never seen this done. He laughed and laughed like he had never done so before.

He built a shelter using his new magnificent axe. It was easy to cut down mighty trees, and shape them into what he wished shaped. It took awhile before he was able to determine what shapes those should be, but he managed to form a crude structure out of them.

It had been a busy day, and he was hurt. And so he slept, and dreamed of all the things he would have.

In the morning, he woke up, and returned to the village.

"Whatcha got there Ind? Whatever it is it's too good for you. Why don't you hand it over?"
One of the villagers said, and grabbed the axe, trying to rip it out of his hands.
"You can't let him have this! This is yours! Do something!"
"But what? What can I do?"
"You can let go is what you can do! I'm not going to let you off as easily as the others do!"
"Like with the wolf! You can chop him in half! You have the power now!"
"But... it's different than wolves!"
"Is it?
The villager paused baffled. And then he was infuriated. How dare Ind start talking to other things when he wasn't done with him? And so a fist was formed, and Ind was about to get punched when all of the sudden his arm was hacked off.
"No! No it isn't different! It isn't different at all!" Ind laughed as if he were relieved. "This really is my wish isn't it?"
With his free arm, Ind grabbed the one he had just hacked off, and took a big bite out of it.
"You're not too bad tasting!" he exclaimed. His would be adversary stood there shocked as blood poured out of his wounds, whimpering in fear. And without warning, his head was removed. Ind grabbed the mans head, and headed back to his new home.


Over time, Ind would return wearing the bones of those he had slain. Sometimes he would kill, sometimes he would take a villager with him, never to be seen again. And while many groups would form trying to slay Ind, none ever were able to find his lair.

ooc

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Turns out I misunderstood a bit. So this isn't going to be a "godly" action. Just me messing around with a poor victim.

The axe was a magic weapon The Destroyer created out of Ind's Anger. Not quite sure what properties it should have. Probably doesn't matter, but if some adventuring party ever manages to locate the lair (assuming it's possible :P) and kill him, Let's say +1 Unholy/Anarchic Battle Axe, and grants +2 strength. In addition to an enchantment that somehow enables Ind to hold it, despite his deformed hands.

Chances are I'd have so much experience that's basically nothing.

[AgentPaper]

Haras woke, and he wondered what woke him. As he regained his awareness, he started, worried that another disaster would have befallen the Haradar in his slumber. However, a quick glance around told him that the opposite was the case. The city had grown multiple times it's previous size. None of the original habitants were there, but their children's children were, and they were prospering.

I wonder where the old inhabitants have gone? They can't have just vanished, but they are not here now.

As he thought this, he observed as one of the current inhabitants died. This seemed odd to him, that these mortals must die, but it also seemed right, in a way. He knew it was the way things should be, though he did not know why. It did not matter. However, what happened next did seem wrong. He had come to believe, along with the Haradar, that nothing should be wasted. And yet, here the old man was buried in a pit of sand, and left to lie there forevermore. It seemed the city had put all of their dead in one spot, in fact, a huge dune literally built from the ground up by corpses each buried in turn by sand.

Wondering what to do about this waste, he sat there pondering for a while. After some time, he noticed something moving among the corpses. At first he thought it another group of Haradar come to bury their dead, but it wasn't burying dead, it was digging one up! Intrigued, Haras watched the strange creature as it dug up the body of a dwarf that had been buried earlier that day. As he watched, he realized that the dwarf was in fact still alive, though it was easy to see that it would not live for much longer, and was likely not aware. As the creature went to bite the neck of the dwarf, Haras mourned at the loss of another of his Haradar, but knew that he could not save the dwarf, and so did not interfere.

However, to his surprise, shortly after the creature bit the dwarf, the dwarf started to move again! It changed shape, becoming shorter, and gaunt, it's skin turning mottled and pale. In fact, it came to very closely resemble the strange creature itself. However, it then started to move, and Haras realized that this was the solution to his problem. Studying the creature more closely, he realized it had a connection to some other power, which was sustaining it. Following the connection, he found himself in a large, dark plane, with seemed to be filled with eternal night, but darker than any night he had ever occurred in his desert home. With a feeling of dread that was partly his own and partly the effect of the surrounding darkness, he called out, hoping to find the one that made the dead live, who had created the Everwalkers.

[Draken]

You know, the Home is a lonely place, there are three things there, darkness, entropy, and...

Eul.

And since darkness and entropy make the place, Eul is the only inhabitant. The souls of the dead coalesce into Eul or into the entropy, and are then spat out as blackened spirits or chunks of voidstone.

All this loneliness makes one thing easy for the Dark Lord in the dark to notice, and it is when another enters the Home.

--------

Haras finds himself before darkness that makes the home seen bright, darkness shaped like a fiend, an angel and a serpent, with glowing white-blue eyes the only sources of light in the entire plane. And those eyes, for there was no nose, and no mouth, spoke with a voice that echoed in the dark, as if the entire dark whispered to a deaf man (A way to say "shout")

... Haras. Lord of the dwarves of the desert. A god among mortals, a mortal among gods...

What brings you beyond death's door?

[Rizban]

As time passed, the numbers of the Chosen of Sand grew, as did the settlement there. The elders died away and their children took their places, faithful servants of the Sand. Others still answered the call, though with each new arrival, it appeared as though none heeded the call except for dwarves. The dwarven population of the settlement within Sand Hallowed Gorge had exploded in recent years until they comprised nearly two thirds of the Chosen.

Having been imparted with a small fragment of Klik'chak's divine power, the Emissary of Sand still lived and spoke as the Voice of Sand on Playground ((DR0, no AP)). These recent trends in dwarf population had troubled him for some time, but having devoted himself to philosophical and theological discovery, the issue had been mostly ignored. As he emerged from the temple hewn from the living rock of the gorge, he saw naught but short, stocky worshipers who seemed determined to turn the beautiful barrens into some sort of city and at last realized that something had gone terribly, terribly wrong.

Summoning a recently arrived dwarf, the Emissary interrogated him, learning all there was to know about this "Haradar" and their patron deity. Sending forth loyal members of the Chosen, the Emissary confirmed the location and size of this city then gathered all the non-dwarven Chosen together to pray to the Sands for guidance and deliverance from this invasion of crude civilization into the pristine wonders of the desert.

Hearing prayers more fervent than any in decades past and more so than any offered up by the growing numbers of dwarves among the Chosen, Klik'chak turned to listen. He had grown tired of the constant begging of many who claimed to be his servants and had begun to simply ignore their pleas; however, there was something different about this that drew his attention back towards them.

Forming the sand before them into a likeness of himself in humainoid form, Klik'chak sent a divine message to the Emissary.
"Tekmma'ak-tet, qha ke chak'sariis thok? Tak g'tok-hoz jot thok ikchtik. N'kos-r-iik no? Chak'sa n'chat ak tik? Ke atik nk'deja."(("My emissary, why do you call my attention back to Playground? You are the leader there, my priest of Sand. Does the sun no longer shine during the day? Have you forgotten how to fight and hunt? My great work is not yet completed."))

As the Emissary explained the recent occurrences, Klik'chak's sight turned outwards from the Chosen back to the wider desert that he had ignored. Seeing the growing Haradar city fills him with rage. How dare they befoul the pristine desert sands with their sprawling city! They dare to trespass in his domain without even acknowledging him! The sands were his by right, and no minor deity would ever take that from him!

As his anger began to seethe in him, reason took hold. He was, after all, a being of Law. Though his domain had been violated, there was no need to resort to direct combat just yet. No, the Laws of Evershifting Sand would put these invaders to the test. Those that failed to follow Law would perish under it.

As Klik'chak was making his plans to test these invading dwarves, their patron deity, Haras, vanished! Realizing he had but jaunted to another plane and time was limited, Klik'chak put his plan into motion without delay.

Klik'chak tapped into the darker, more vile aspects of the wastes and flooded the sands surrounding the Haradar with negative energy, creating black sands that completely absorbed and obscured the light of the sun, causing a perpetual night ((Domain spell: Black Sand)).

The dwarves, not to be discouraged produced torches with which to light the darkness. Angered that these mortals would dare to flaunt him, he summoned forth driving winds from the south and east to obscure all sight and extinguish the torches. The wind blew sand and grit everywhere, causing injury to any and all exposed, occasionally kicking up into even greater gusts of spiraling sand that tossed the dwarves about, throwing them to the ground, and causing damage to their buildings. ((Domain spells: Haboob and Flaywind Burst))

Some of the weaker buildings and those on the outer edges of the city, thus more directly exposed to the storm, began to buckle and collapse. However, rather than let the dwarves die, Klik'chak grasped them in his swirling sands and transformed them into howling winds, bound to the desert. Hovering in a place between death and life at the very veil between the two worlds, these Winds in the Waste would either learn to love and appreciate the desert and regain their original form, unharmed within a few years or remain a howling wind until all those they had known pass away before being returned home. Those that could appreciate the desert for what is was supposed to be would be allowed to return while those that would not accept it would be deemed guilty and punished. ((Domain Spell: Desert Binding(Wind in the Waste)))

As the darkness caused by the negative energy in the Black Sand began to fade, Klik'chak surveyed his work. Few dwarves had been killed in the storm, limited to those few who had been caught outside the city when it began or refused to seek shelter indoors. Though nearly a third of the buildings in the southeastern part of the city had either collapsed or been completely covered by dunes, there wasn't a building in the city that did not show at least some surface damage. It would take months, maybe even years to repair everything and to uncover and rebuild that which had been claimed by the sands. The worst tragedy, at least from the dwarven perspective, was the wind driven movment of the gravesite dune and the unburial of many of their fallen.

[AgentPaper]

Seeing such a power in front of his eyes, Haras could not help but feel a strange mixture of overwhelming awe, but also a powerful, uncanny fear. Still, resolute, he knew that the Haradar needed him to do this, and he would not fail them.

"I come to solve a...mutual problem we have. I have seen your creatures, these ghouls, scavenging among the wastes to find those they can turn into the ever-walking. Others shun them, proclaiming them abominations, so they have no choice but to hide in the shadows and take what no others want. I also have a problem. The dwarves of the desert, as you call them, the Haradar, know that to live in the desert where they do, they must take only what they must, and use everything that they take. Nothing can be wasted. And yet, there is nothing that can be done with the corpses of the dead. They lie in a heap, doing nothing, while your dead walk and work and serve. I would seek an...agreement of sorts. We have dead, and no use for them. You need dead, but cannot get them easily. I think it would be both of our benefit if you taught some of the Haradar to work with the dead, to turn them into useful tools that we both can use."

Before Eul could respond, Haras started to explain the specifics of his proposition. In exchange for teaching the Haradar how to make the dead into ever-walkers, the Haradar would send Eul a percentage of the bodies each year. Some of Haradar's own ever-walkers would lead a caravan into the wastes, where they would leave the designated bodies. The rest of the ever-walkers would do the bidding of the Haradar, doing whatever work they could and allowing the Haradar to focus on more important things. As he ran out of words to explain his idea, he stopped talking, and waited.

[Draken]

The darkness heard in silence, it's tail and wings moving as if to keep altitude in the entropic sea.

Ghouls are ravenous beasts, I made them in a fit of fury. You ask for undead servitors, the dwarves have clerics, they can raise the dead, zombies and skeletons who never tire.

But they can only do so much, mindless beasts made with haste. A unwhorthy eternity.

Eul's eyes vanished in the dark, for a mere few minutes for the gods, that were months for the mortals bellow.

Wrap your dead in the mantles of kings and preserve their bodies forever, given time, the friends and lords of old will walk again. But until then. Have your caravans travel to the north, to the Deadlands, take as many of my blessed as you can, the arts are theirs by right, but be no fool, many will choose to remain, but the few who return to the desert will be masters of life and death, and your people will never suffer any waste anymore.

[AgentPaper]

"We have an agreement, then. I will send my dwarves north, all who are willing and all of the dead that can be carried. It is a fair trade for many to stay with yours for such a gift, to never waste the dead. I must leave now, and return to my people, to tell them of this great new!"

Elated that the Haradar would no longer waste their bodies in burial, Haras returned to the Haradar, words of joy and action on his lips. However, upon returning to the city, he found chaos. He could not believe what he saw! The city, so pristine and ordered when he left, was in utter chaos! Half of the buildings that had been built were collapsed or damaged severly, and the other half seemed not long for that fate. Fortunately, the Haradar themselves were mostly intact. Driven to rage at such destruction, with no apparent cause, Haras searched for the one responsible for this carnage. Seeing the apparent cause, another god, he yelled out a challenge, telling the beast to explain his actions. Quivering in rage, Haras barely contained the urge to attack the fiend outright. Still, he knew he must contain his anger for the good of the Haradar. Making such an enemy now would only cause unneeded waste of life, when the dwarves would need every last man to re-build their city, and to send out the caravan.

[Rizban]

The fury of the desert had passed, and those that remained would not soon forget it. Those that had been bound to the winds would soon return home to their brethren with the message of the wastes. They would teach the others to live in harmony with the sands and warn that the desert is unforgiving to those who would violate its sacred Laws. Content that the proper order had been restored to the deserts, he ensured that no further destruction was to be wrought upon the Haradar by granting those bound spirits the ability to form a veritable wall of winds surrounding the city, protecting it from natural dust storms that could blow their way.


The storm of fury gone, the stifling heat of the desert at rest returned. Klik'chak had turned his attention back toward his great work and began once more laying plans as he laid back and allowed himself to lose cohesion, falling into the shape of an enormous dune floating in the Void. It was then that he heard the challenge called forth by Haras. He considered answering but at last decided that he would simply wait, watch, and continue his planning. The bound dwarves would soon return to their kin as his messengers, and Haras would know why the desert had blown over the settlement. If Haras was too impatient to wait a few mere mortal years, he could seek out the Sands for himself.

[AgentPaper]

Watching the cause of the destruction as it left, Haras seethed at the rudeness the other god showed, not even answering his query after causing so much destruction. Still, he did not follow. Instead, he looked to his people. Over a third of them had gone, disappeared into the winds that now surrounded the city. The winds would be an obstacle to the caravan leaving the city, but one that could be overcome. Indeed, looking upon the Haradar, already they were beginning to rebuild.

All seemed to be returning to normal, and Haras went among his people to find those who would make the journey north to the wastes. Rounding up about 300 willful participants, and a thousand corpses in various stages of dehydration, the caravan set out, through the winds with Haras' help and out across the desert. Haras hoped they would make the journey safely, and kept an eye on them as they crossed the desert, though he knew he could not follow them further than the edge of the desert.

After that was taken care of, Haras again turned his eye to watch the Haradar, hoping he would never again have to leave them. As he thought of how to protect them, he thought of an idea. The dwarves who had been indoors had suffered far less than those caught outside. If he surrounded the entire city with a stone wall, would that not help to keep all inside safe? Haras began, working the stone hidden under the desert to raise up a huge, circular wall, a mile in diameter, to protect the city from harm. He knew that even with his power, it would take years to finish the project, but he was determined to build the wall.