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BattleMaster => BM General Discussion => Topic started by: Ehndras on June 20, 2012, 02:58:51 AM
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So, as I've discussed with a number of people, I've been hoping to donate to the game and send my new character to Bellua to create a new religion. Since I've just celebrated my new relationship (woo!) by donating 20 Euros to the game, I can now do what I first intended.
Albeit, I haven't worked on my Arkhan'a religion literally in years. I abandoned it in 2007 when a thief robbed me, unknowingly also taking a decade worth of writing for my Fantasy novel series. Long story short I did the real-life version of a /ragequit and decided to start writing Scifi instead, my long-standing love for all things medieval and archaic gradually waning.
If anyone has the time (and patience), I'd like to start a discussion to help iron out details regarding the religion I am to create. =)
Would anyone be up for it? We can do it here, on Skype, facebook, wherever is most convenient. I've already got gods, myths, and religious systems, but they're in little bits and pieces because I lost the actual hard notes years ago. I only remember bits and pieces, so I'll pretty much be rebuilding it from the ashes of something dead and long-buried. ;)
Anyone interested? :D
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I would actually be willing to help, though I admit that my attention is hard to focus at times.
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No worries! Posting a summary of what little information I can scrape from my memory about this pantheon in a bit, still typing it up.
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So what is this religion about? Hopefully it is more interesting than the majority of religions we have.
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Expect to be the sole contributor.
That is how the vast majority of religions work.
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Chenier is pretty much correct. It is hard to get a lot of people to really contribute on a long-term basis. If you can, though, you can get a lot done.
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As I've mentioned vaguely here and there, my Fantasy religion is a polytheistic religion with pantheistic roots, based off of Greek, Norse, and Egyptian mythology most of all, with minor inspiration from various other faiths and myths. Since I lost most of my material I'll sort of just be shooting off until I get a coherent group of concepts. Let me see what I remember...
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The Originators:
Abyss the Unknowable - Amorphic divinity, ethereal embodiment of Impermanence {Comparable somewhat to Greek Chaos}
Aidenn the Architect - Elder God of Order and Power, the male embodiment of Force
Ciberys the Rebellious - Elder Goddess of Chaos and Creation, the female embodiment of Change
The One; Pan-En - Life's Radiant, androgynous embodiment of Being
The Major Gods:
Aarkhan the Judge; God of Harmony and Judgement - Avatar of Will; Seed of Humanity
Denarii the Silvertongue; The Gentleman/Charmer; God of Spirits and Entertainment - Avatar of Carnal Plight
Alekhthaeos the Dream-Weaver; The Great Deceiver; God of Ambition, Illusions and Dreams - Avatar of Deceit; Corrupter of Souls
Aya the Illuminate; Goddess of Compassion, Healing, and Love - Avatar of Passion; Mother of Elvenkind
Hadrean the Redeemer; Harbinger/Godsbane; God of Destruction, Strife, - Avatar of Annihilation
Alura the All-Seer; The Matriarch/Elder Crone;Goddess of Wisdom and Knowledge - Avatar of Eternity; Broodmother of Dragonkin
Lentias the Whisperer; The Seamstress/Gypsy Muse; Goddess of Music, Creativity, and Art - Avatar of Innocence; Queen of the Ghot
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Kha'mael the Forsaken; The Craftsman; God of Industry, Loyalty, and Humility - Avatar of Perseverence; Shyk'rar of Ebon
Nocturne - Goddess of the Night, darkness given form; she is daughter of Abyss, who is formless and genderless, and Ciberys, created accidentally as the primordial darkness which resided within the universe before the Aether flooded it with light. "As the universe became saturated with life-bringing Aether, Nocturne soon became more than formless void... So much more."
Pan-en: {Divine Togetherness} ~ All-Spirit, divine name of The One (Taken from Panentheism, belief that deity, god, the divine, etc., is both a part of everything existent, and in some ways possibly capable of taking physical form, whereas Pantheism is the belief that the divine is a part of us all and everything around us, living and nonliving, that we are made of divine material, and/or that we ourselves are divine by nature, as the universe itself is the divine)
Vigdas - Three sisters, goddesses of the Wilds, born from three drops of immortal blood spilled from the All-Seer upon being clawed across the left-cheek by a bear-like creature - the god Alekhthaeos in disguise {The only being, mortal or immortal, ever to draw blood from the All-Seer... This served as a sort of warning, showing the gods that mortal creatures were dangerous... And, as Alekh tricked them into doing, the gods stripped mortal creatures of their strength, who until that point were practically demi-gods.)
There's plenty more, but I can't remember. I'm trying to remember the damn name of the Goddess of the Dead, a very important player in my mythos, but I'll be damned if I can even remember a letter. :(
Anyway, I found an old short-story I started about Kha'mael to explain his origins... I remember my computer froze while writing it and all I managed to save was the intro. Bah. It was a good 3 pages long, and absolutely beautiful. Oh well.
As a test of man's willingness to trust and their capability to feel compassion, an aged blacksmith once traveled from village to village begging materials with which to craft. In return for their kindness, he would create three trinkets – one of which a patron would claim. If they were kind of heart, the trinket would bless them. If they were selfish, the trinket brought a curse down upon them under the guise of a false blessing.
On one of his many travels, the wandering blacksmith happened upon an oasis as he crossed the great sprawling desert of the Khym'ra to bring his goods to a fortress of the nation beyond. Exhausted from his lengthy journey across the rolling dunes after facing a raging sandstorm, the wandering blacksmith stopped at the oasis to feed his steed and rest for a moment. As he hitched his horse to a palm tree and dismounted, he heard distant footsteps coming from beyond the line wall of palm trees. Perplexed, the blacksmith cautiously approached the source of the sound taking care not to been seen; perhaps he has gone mad from exhaustion and dehydration, but he could swear he heard a woman's laughter!
In the small stone-lined oasis surrounded by shrubbery and palm trees is a small lake fed by an underground river. When he crossed the treeline and came to face the shore, he caught a glimpse of three beautiful women bathing nude in the heavenly waters of the oasis. One was as white as polished ivory, her golden locks bouncing in the wind as her gentle laughter echoed through his heart and brought him joy. The second was the color of the earth, the exotic song of her voice carried upon the winds to his welcoming ears. The third was as dark as night, the trail of her lengthy raven hair flowing like an ocean of darkness. Her voice was deep and mysterious, the accent betraying no land he had ever visited though he traveled far and wide. Her sight made something stir deep within him, surfacing emotions he had never before felt. The joy of innocent laughter, the melody of song, and the essence of beauty brought tears to his eyes. Returning to his steed, he fetched three trinkets and placed them in a leather sack. He quickly etched a message on a piece of vellum and placed it within the sack, walking calmly towards the three maidens. As he approached the oasis once more, trinkets in hand, the three maidens turned to face him; each with a different emotion upon their faces. The ivory maiden smiled so brightly that his heart swelled with happiness at her sight. The lady of the earth danced her way through the water while singing, making his body sway in rhythm. The raven goddess parted the water and strode forth, her eyes betraying her immense wisdom and power. "I come bearing gifts for the three lovely maidens who's presence has graced me upon this day" he said, retrieving three trinkets from his leather sack. To the innocent ivory maiden he gave an diadem of ornate silver, placing it atop her head in recognition of her wonder. To the lady of the earth he gave a necklace of pearls, as precious and rare as her magnificent voice. Finally, to the raven goddess he gave a ring of cut and polished onyx, a sure sign of her wisdom and authority. In thanks, they each embraced him with kindness, gifting him with a boon of their own creation. The ivory maiden placed a kiss upon his cheek and lit a spark within his heart; an eternal flame to guide him on his endless journey. The lady of the earth whispered a gentle song and with it, he began to hear sounds he never before could fathom. The gentle flow of the wind, the sounds of the unseen insects, the slithering of a nearby serpent, they all sang to him just as she did. Finally, the raven goddess took his hands in hers and imparted him with an invaluable gift of wisdom; a prophecy that would shape his existence forevermore. "When the raven flies, the dragon shall speak; and all light shall depart your world. A trinity lost, a crone betrayed; a flame is sparked, your crime now paid. As son and brother you shall be embraced - light sacrificed in exchange for eternal flame. In our name, the forge is lit. You are the anvil, the vessel, touched by the chaos of creation herself. Go forth you shall, and the world shall be richer for it."
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The religion is centered around a pretty complex and expansive pantheon in which all gods are worshipped as facets of reality, yet individuals and regions have their chosen avatars/lords/higher gods. There's a whole system of interesting rivalries and politics within the pantheon, and my actual Fantasy novel had a number of other pantheons, including the Skyborn (Lovecraftian horrors, very fun stuff) which I imported into my Scifi as the primary baddies.
I'll post more when I get back from the gym. I literally had thousands of paragraphs of material on this stuff. :(
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Mind=blown.
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Eh, it was better when I actually had my material. I barely remember anything about it anymore. I created my own language as a kid based on a hybrid of backward interchanging Portuguese and English because I used to get beat up and people would steal my writing/copy my work. After I heard about Leonardo Davinci's inverted Italian I decided to do the same. Later I ended up hybridizing it with Latin, Greek, Italian, French, Japanese and other languages, and eventually just invented my own words, letters, and grammatical style. I lost all of that too when my notes were stolen, but I've slowly re-invented the language in a much simpler form that's easier for most folks to understand. Let me upload the little codex I wrote with the alphabet, hold on.
Hmm, Imgur won't load for some reason. I guess I'll have to send it later.
WAIT, got it!
http://i.imgur.com/VpoVX.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/VpoVX.jpg)
Yes, yes, I'm aware the Swastika is inverted, I need to fix that >_> I wanted the Hindi/Fruit Swastika, not the Nazi one, but I was reading The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich and I guess I accidentally derped that up. >_<
(By fruit Swastika, I mean there's a fruit in the Amazon rainforest that has a swastika in its center if you cut it open, pretty weird, though the swastika is a naturally occurring symbol that is present in practically every culture in the world, hence why it ties into my language which is used in my Scifi. I figured it'd be fun to include 3-4 scattered references within Simplified Arkhan'a, since Complex Arkhan'a and Archaic Script are totally different and don't resemble modern languages at all.)
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That alphabet actually resembles English in a very discernible way once you stop to look. I wanted the Simplified Arkhan'a to be pretty easy to 'understand', though you wouldn't know what it says unless you know the meaning of the words they spell.
For example, that image at the bottom says, in classic English form and grammar for simplicity, "Daan Kaanter eht Arkhana", meaning "The Language of Arkhan'a"
Daan is The, Kaanter comes from 'Cant' or 'Prison cant', a secret or cryptic code used between members of an organization, eht is of (I went for the classic Latin reference because !@#$-yeah Latin!), and Arkhan'a is pretty self explanatory.
Arkhan'a actually means "The People of the Sacred Origin", a big joke really. Arkh is Origin (Noah's Ark anyone? I'm not Christian and honestly despise Christian myth but I put that in there to honor my Christian ancestors), arKHAN is Sacred/Great/Blessed Origin (from Khan, of course), and the ( 'a ) suffix means "the people of/belong to" in Arkhan'a grammar.
Its really difficult to read and pronounce Arkhan'a. >_> I used to be able to read it fluently in complex script, which is backwards and written vertically from top right to left, and read from left-to-right while each individual word is read right-to-left, and the pronunciation is some weird-ass mix of Italian, German, Arabic, and Brazilian Portuguese.
I'm actually quite glad I had to remake Arkhan'a simplified, it was dense as all hell since I made it as an indecipherable code rather than a coherent language.
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But anyway, back to religion. If I go on about the language I'm going to give myself a migraine.
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how long all this took you? :o
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I've been working on my Fantasy work for 12 years, abandoned it 5 years ago, and vaguely remember anything I ever worked on. >_>
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how long all this took you? :o
The quote in your sig is absolutely awesome, love it!
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The quote in your sig is absolutely awesome, love it!
George Carlin, now dead, was an awesome guy. Should watch some of his videos :)
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Going out to lunch, then I'll be shooting over some more info on my religion. I'm going to just throw together some basics based on what information I have and remember. If anyone has any suggestions, they'd be greatly appreciated.
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Suggestion: post it on the wiki. Much easier for reading and reference.
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Just throwing this out here: I love what you have here and would be interested in helping in any way I can. Just in case it helps, I'm a creative writing student who wanted to be a theologian when I was a kid and I've always loved interesting religions.
If there's anyway I can help, let me know.
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Sweet! I never was much for theology, though my cousin and I have been obsessed with pagan mythology since we could speak and read. =) I could definitely use your support! Also, if you're willing, you could always join me in Belluaterra. I JUST arrived in Riombara :D
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Eh, it was better when I actually had my material. I barely remember anything about it anymore. I created my own language as a kid based on a hybrid of backward interchanging Portuguese and English because I used to get beat up and people would steal my writing/copy my work. After I heard about Leonardo Davinci's inverted Italian I decided to do the same. Later I ended up hybridizing it with Latin, Greek, Italian, French, Japanese and other languages, and eventually just invented my own words, letters, and grammatical style. I lost all of that too when my notes were stolen, but I've slowly re-invented the language in a much simpler form that's easier for most folks to understand. Let me upload the little codex I wrote with the alphabet, hold on.
Hmm, Imgur won't load for some reason. I guess I'll have to send it later.
WAIT, got it!
http://i.imgur.com/VpoVX.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/VpoVX.jpg)
Yes, yes, I'm aware the Swastika is inverted, I need to fix that >_> I wanted the Hindi/Fruit Swastika, not the Nazi one, but I was reading The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich and I guess I accidentally derped that up. >_<
(By fruit Swastika, I mean there's a fruit in the Amazon rainforest that has a swastika in its center if you cut it open, pretty weird, though the swastika is a naturally occurring symbol that is present in practically every culture in the world, hence why it ties into my language which is used in my Scifi. I figured it'd be fun to include 3-4 scattered references within Simplified Arkhan'a, since Complex Arkhan'a and Archaic Script are totally different and don't resemble modern languages at all.)
Interesting, double standard regarding a certain controversial symbol here.
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Ehndras, you may not use the swatiska based on this:
I must step in here.
Please abstain from using symbols used by the Nazis within the game. There's a simple reason for that: I and the game servers are located in Germany. Use of these symbols is illegal here unless it is for historical or educational purposes. I don't really think anyone would sue an online game, but I have more important things to do with my life than worry about that.
So aside from all the other arguments, not endangering the game itself would be pretty nice.
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That symbol has nothing to do with the religion, if that post had been read (at all), you'd notice I was referencing the language revolving around the original Fantasy novel from which the religion idea came from.
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Interesting, double standard regarding a certain controversial symbol here.
Not quite sure where I'm seeing a double-standard. You were referencing in vivid RP your character dancing nude and drawing massive swastikas that could be seen for miles, as you so eloquently stated. I was displaying an example of something I worked on half a decade ago that has nothing that will actually be in any way included in or referenced within BM nor does it have anything to do with the religion itself. As I said in the post, that's the old simplified alphabet I created when I was young and was working on the original fantasy novel, within which I used various pagan symbols to denote a connection between Earth-based ancient scripts, runes, and religions and the one from my old story.
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Not quite sure where I'm seeing a double-standard. You were referencing in vivid RP your character dancing nude and drawing massive swastikas that could be seen for miles, as you so eloquently stated. I was displaying an example of something I worked on half a decade ago that has nothing that will actually be in any way included in or referenced within BM nor does it have anything to do with the religion itself. As I said in the post, that's the old simplified alphabet I created when I was young and was working on the original fantasy novel, within which I used various pagan symbols to denote a connection between Earth-based ancient scripts, runes, and religions and the one from my old story.
Don't mind him, Ehndras, he's just throwing a massive tantrum that he can't have his way. Seems he can't get it through his head that the systematic genocide of 12 million people might have tainted a once innocent symbol.
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I was just making a point. I love your idea and even the alphabet. Its awesome.
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I can't even *become* a Priest yet due to the daimons camping where the only nearby church is, lmao!
So, I'm entertaining myself by fighting the Daimonhorde and randomly preaching in motivational poetics. Setting the mood, so to speak.
We'll see what happens. <_<
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I can't even *become* a Priest yet due to the daimons camping where the only nearby church is, lmao!
So, I'm entertaining myself by fighting the Daimonhorde and randomly preaching in motivational poetics. Setting the mood, so to speak.
We'll see what happens. <_<
Just to be clear, are you trying to become a priest of another religion, or found your own religion?
Because founding your own religion requires exactly two things: a lordship, and about 300 gold.
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First I want to become Priest of another religion, I'd like to first learn the native ways of Riombara before breaking away into my own.
Also, I could have sworn that to become a Priest character you'd need to first join another religion and gain a certain rank for the Priest class to become available?
With all the new lands becoming available, I can probably secure a Lordship here or there. It'll just take influence and visibility in the public world, which is why I'm fighting wars, giving advice, and being my ol' Priestly self.
Ah, one question. Is a Priest-Hero possible? Always did love Battle-Priests... :P The two counter each other because of the Hero's serious disability via death potential, so it sounds highly entertaining.
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First I want to become Priest of another religion, I'd like to first learn the native ways of Riombara before breaking away into my own.
That's reasonable.
Also, I could have sworn that to become a Priest character you'd need to first join another religion and gain a certain rank for the Priest class to become available?
No. Any Lord can found their own religion. Founding a religion automatically makes you a member, so of course you can then be a Priest. (Which you are automatically turned into. Also, you automatically step down from all positions.)
With all the new lands becoming available, I can probably secure a Lordship here or there. It'll just take influence and visibility in the public world, which is why I'm fighting wars, giving advice, and being my ol' Priestly self.
Ah, one question. Is a Priest-Hero possible? Always did love Battle-Priests... :P The two counter each other because of the Hero's serious disability via death potential, so it sounds highly entertaining.
Priest/Hero is certainly possible, but there are no Battle-Priests. All Priests are removed from combat, and cannot command a unit at all.
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Ah... Huh. Any value to being a non-combat Hero then? I guess I'll have to be a Courtier then. If only I could be an Infiltrator... Priest-Assassin. Sounds very fitting, bahaha.
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Ah... Huh. Any value to being a non-combat Hero then?
You can tell tales, but this gets rarer and rarer the less you see combat.
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Well, that sounds pretty useless. I'm tempted to go Hero on my future-priest (TECHNOPRIEST - just kidding!) but I'd be super-pissed if all the work I put into RP goes to shyte because I decided to traipse into a daimon horde with the sword-skill of a one-legged blind-man.
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You can tell tales, but this gets rarer and rarer the less you see combat.
Untrue statement is ... not true.
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Untrue statement is ... not true.
Oh, I don't know; he may be wrong about the mechanism, but I dare say the effect is actually quite like that.
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From what I've researched, while I can tell tales their effect becomes minimal as best as more and more times goes by. Sort of like "That crazy old priest guy who tells the same damn story every time I see him."
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The religion is centered around a pretty complex and expansive pantheon in which all gods are worshipped as facets of reality, yet individuals and regions have their chosen avatars/lords/higher gods. There's a whole system of interesting rivalries and politics within the pantheon...
So like this? — http://wiki.battlemaster.org/wiki/Athra
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No and Yes. One EXTREMELY important point of my religion is to denote the obvious lack of morality in religion, humanity, and the gods - more akin to the Greek and Norse gods doing whatever the bloody hell they want, than a system where they preach absolute good and evil. I am a STRICT nonbeliever in black-and-white morality and that is reflected in my playing style, RP, and religion. Well, you'll see soon enough.
"Morality
Morality is a concept which often relies on dualities or opposite extremes. Either you are "good", or you are "evil".
As far as this goes, my religion is entirely amoral. I specifically include so many utterly conflicting accounts as possible just to further cement how mind-bogglingly ridiculous the gods can be at times. In essence, I like highlighting my personal idea that the gods are no more than humans given divine power - avatars of ourselves if we had the power to change reality. Would we be just as corrupt? Damn right. Would we love just as passionately? You can bet yer' burning loins, my fellow spirited lovers. Would we hate with just as much ferver? You can !@#$ing guarantee it.
Its a bit difficult to explain without putting up a wiki. I should probably do so. There are conflicting schools of thought in my religion, on purpose, and its pretty much my own religious beliefs put into text. I've been told by a few hundred people that I should start a cult. I could never, ever consider myself religious. I'm an atheist to be entirely honest - I adhere to the school of thought that all gods are reflections of human character, personalities and ideas - and that when you worship a god you are in fact worshipping the Self, just a particular aspect of humanity given form in your mind. Hell, !@#$ if I know if all this worshipping is making some magical baby Jesus pop into existence in another universe or alternate dimension, I leave all that craziness to my cross-multiversal dimension-jumping Scifi novel/RP-game and religion, which is a WHOOOLE 'nother cup o' tea.
Man, I really need to get that damn wiki up.
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Hmm, I got into an RP mood. <_< I wonder if this was a big over-the-top of a response to someone's genuine and innocent curiosity about the divinity I preach, bahaha.
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Sir Gellaer,
Preposterous! It is your mortal right to inquire on the divine truths of this world - such curiosity is the flame which shapes humanity! I did not come to know these things simply by through cultural bombardment at the hands of my family, I took a stance toward respecting the divine spirit of our world and sought to learn as much of it as I could. If you have Any questions then I request that you ask to your heart's content.
Ask about the winds which flow through the life-bringing bows of ancient and towering oaks, about the stone-wearing ebb and flow of ageless oceans across time, about the divine spark of all that is and shall be in this world, about the rise and fall of mortal legacies - generation upon generation dripping by in time's ceaseless crawl, every child renewing the fervor and unspoken glory of his or her house... Ask about the many faces of the many gods of mortal man, the vessels which they inhabit, and the voices through which they broadcast their Will. Ask me anything your heart desires, however fleeting or foolish it may seem, and I shall do my best to answer your inquiries.
I do not know all - only blessed Alura The All-Seer can claim such wisdom in eternal vision. What I can offer you is a glimpse into a world greater than our own, of realms that defy convention and who's inhabitants have shaped our own. I can offer but a fractured gaze into multi-dimensional mirrors littered across time and space, fragmented glimpses of what came before and shall one day be. I can recall neither every soft-spoken legend nor every universal truth, but I can offer you the slightest bit of wisdom I hold in my heart and mind. I am but a mortal vessel serving greater purpose - the hand and voice of the gods above. I am not superior to you, nor are they to deem you inferior to even they. As chaotic as the gods might be, they share the belief that all living beings are worthy of praise and respect - for every immortal soul is one and the same. Cast away the flesh of what is and you shall see what was and shall always be - the spirit of man and god intertwined for all eternity.
We are not their children, nor their inferiors, no. We are they, the very gods themselves - like tears shed from skies above. We were cast away from their perfection yet share an unutterable bond forged in the immaterial boundlessness of Primordium - a cosmic infinity that defies all attempts of translation into visions the mind's eye can bare to witness. We are flesh, indeed, but the souls which give us power are as ancient as the gods themselves.
It is true - You and I, the nameless gods, and all that falls and rises - we are cut of the same divine cloth, our souls forged from the very same vessel of immortal chaos. It is by this logic, for this reason that we are as necessary to the gods as they are to us. We are linked, indeed, by the bonds of something far beyond our grasp. It is that very link that the Daimonhordes wish to exploit. By the logic of all which I believe, the Overlord of Daimonkind seeks human souls that they may conquer the very gods! As the sacred stars high above are extinguished forevermore, the souls of god bound to firmament ceaselessly exiled from sight - we shall become prey to the unassailable darkness that writhes just beyond the light. The ebb and flow of our world's shadow is naught in comparison to the living blackness which threatens our very existence... And yet we are ignorant of it all, blind in our worship of man's countless gods while they blister away in vehement supernovae - soul after glorious divine soul lost to the blackness of the endless void.
We are fortunate indeed to have never gazed upon such maddening half-truths as that which I now express. It is with greater purpose within us that we fight to survive, though we know not. There is a reason why we fear the night and embrace the sunlit sky... A reason to our passion toward the sacred firmament high above. Have you ever wondered why Man has praised the sacred stars since the inception of history and conscious thought? Though our logic cannot grasp at such profound and unutterable truths, we seek such shattered glimpses through metaphors of the divine and all that is... The simple truth is, we are incapable of baring witness to the true glory of the god - their shimmering visage would render a mortal mind inert and annihilate from memory all mention of the their divinity. We were not made to walk amongst god, just as god cannot walk among men. Not from lack of desire, but by necessity. We each have our place in the blessed cycle, each baring witness to a fragment of eternity. Mortal and immortal fighting for survival - side by side - never to meet. But our souls, yes - our immortal souls shall peel away as flesh does sever and rot, enchained across cosmic infinity, so destined as we are to rejoin the vessel which bore our souls before the passage of Time so ceaselessly commenced.
By my faith and logic, you are I are one. The earth and ocean are homogenous in form yet bound by destiny - their ever-reaching influence changing the very shape of our world. They earth of soil and stone shall never be one with the oceans and rivers which trace paths across our world, yet soil change's rivers course while ocean breaks stone into sand forevermore. Though they shall never be one, their destinies are intertwined - undeniably necessary to the other's shape and breadth. We are like the soils of this world - malleable and so full of potential - shaped and pounded by the efforts of the insurmountable pressure of gods high above, an ocean of divine power which flows among us. One cannot live should the other die - we were born as one and so shall we die as one. It is in our worship and respect of the divine that we lend them our power, a billion droplets of spiritual potential cast into vessels divine - just as they might in turn grace us with their own faith in Man's potential by the power of greater blessing.
The is so much to express and yet so few are the words my mind can bring to light - so limited in breadth are the languages of man, the flesh-born tongue unfit to communicate such profound reflections that cast light into a world beyond our own. We were not meant to bare the burden of such knowledge... But to live and die each day, our struggles bringing light to darkened corners of the endless void. I shall speak no more of the weight of the sacrament placed upon my shoulders when first I prayed to the divine - a burden all true priests of higher faith must bare with each breath and footstep - the weight of a thousand worlds resting squarely upon our shoulders. It is true that the politics of this world can shape that of the firmament - the conflagration of mortal conflict is often reflected by sky-clad gods as stars are born and die... An interchangeable game of tactics and strategic moves which hold at stake more than we could ever imagine... But worry not, my child. Do not be burdened by such prospects - that responsibility must be mine and mine alone, as my father before me.
Destiny... It is not set in stone as some believe. There are no blinded hags cutting and pulling the strings of Fate this way and that, ever-conscious of every action and reaction. Time is an error, a glitch in reality that none may truly comprehend. The gods themselves could not ascertain what might come of tomorrow, their gifts and visions only going so far. Neither God nor Man may conquer tomorrow while today yet stands - for the struggles of today shall irrevocably change tomorrow's battlefield forevermore. Life is a game of strategy - the lives and souls of Man and God ripe for the taking by beasts such as the Daimon filth of the Overlord. It is neither first nor the last ungodly monstrosity that shall plague our world - but as long as I draw breath, I shall swing my blessed blade in the name of Mankind - that our souls may find their way into the cosmic infinity to be joined with that of God once more. I shall never allow but a single immortal soul to feed the hell-forges of Daimonkind so long as I yet live and breathe upon this blessed world. I am no one - but a single mortal man in an ocean of glimmering souls awaiting release. I have seen darkness no man should witness, worse even that the writhing scarified mass of flesh that is the Daimon Overlord and his Apocalyptic brethren. I have peered into a darkness beyond darkness, and it has scarred me... But I bare these scars for all to see, I bare the truth within me, I bare it all to see with every word I utter, with every swing of my blade, with every skyward cry in the heat of battle! I shall live as I die, brothers-in-arms, I fight for the glory of Riombara and all of Mankind so long as my body and mind lie unbroken. And should my body grow weak and weary from ageless war, I shall retire to a place of silent tranquility where I may live out my final days as did my father - teaching the next generation of able warriors the importance of Man's survival, of the Gods' Plight, and our irrevocable relationship to the divine.
I give myself as Martyr, as Divine Son, as Mortal Vessel, as Knight of Riombara, as Paladin of Mankind - I give myself as humbled servant of all that we stand yet stand for. This is my plight. This is my story... Yet there is so much that yet remains unwritten and unspoken. So many battles left to conquer, so many victories to taste...
I can promise but two things: that I will serve ever-faithful as Paladin of Riombara and Guardian of Humanity... And that this is just the beginning. I cannot say what tomorrow brings for it is not my place to dictate the natural order of things. Though the gods may bless me with momentary glimpses, they are but paths which any man might take - every dissenting action warranting an equal and opposite reaction that shall shape the course of a thousand years ahead, from the stroke of a pen to the swing of a sword. The power of destiny lie within our very hands, my brothers... History is written by our own bloodied hands. Let history remember Riombara as bastion of Humanity, then - our efforts and sacrifices echoed through the annals of Time, the birth of countless legends which shall be told for generations to come. Let us be applauded and celebrated as the saviors of humanity rather than the ones who let it all come to naught...
This discourse began as a simple reply to you, Sir Gellaer, but higher purpose spurned me to make more of it. My mind aches with the burden of such thoughts... My body grown ever tired... I must rest now. I thank you, Sir Gellaer, for having brought such inquiries to my attention. I always find pleasure in those who's curiosity brings them to my doorstep... I promise though that next time I will be more curt in my response, lest I scare away my youth with wisdom far beyond my years.
This world is ours to conquer, brothers and sisters. Will you rise to the challenge? Will you fulfill your sacred duty and show Man and Daimonkind that Riombara shall not fall - shall never fall - as long as we draw breath from chest and sword from sheath? Let us show them all, then, mortal and beast, Man and Daimon, that Riombara shall remain alight as the Human world's final bastion - that from our walls and fields shall spread a light not seen for countless ages - that Mankind's Hope remains alive here within our hearts and minds.
Shine your light, brothers and sisters, that even the sacred stars high above might see us across the void's vast expanse.
I have faith in you.
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O_O
HOLY SH*T. I just received my first ever medal - a Roleplaying Medal - for that post. :3
I shall die a happy man indeed if this Priest-Hero gets ironically slaughtered in this next battle. A happy man indeed.
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Well, you pretty much left Gellaer with a dumb face, trying to decide if it was the longest explanation he had ever received or perhaps it deserved just the second position. Please do not think bad of him, but he is a former advy and as such I RP him being very short in many aspects. In any case, he looked at your explanation, tried to process it, had a system crash, looked at your explanation again and said: meh, whatever, I guess tomorrow I'll be a smarter man. Whoop to bed!
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BAHAHA!
I'm surprised I could even write that. My brain is fried and I forgot my keys, forgot to turn on my office's alarm then ran back in, locked myself in, forgot my address, and so on. I'm so bloody out of it that I don't know how the bloody !@#$ that RP made any sense. Its a bit fragmented to be honest, it jumps all over the place but oh well. At least it made a bit of sense <_<
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I shall die a happy man indeed if this Priest-Hero gets ironically slaughtered in this next battle. A happy man indeed.
Priests never get involved in battle, so can never die in battle. The subclass is irrelevant.
In fact, the only way for a priest to die is to be executed. (Short of switching back to Warrior and going into battle again.)
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He's not a Priest yet :-P Leading a full unit of Infantry for GLORY and HONOR!
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Oh. Well, then good luck dying! :P
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SHH! Damn it! :-P I did not write 20-30 paragraphs of RP in the last 2-3 days only to die. <_< I am SO bringing his crazy sister Lentias in, since Lentias = Sentinel in Arkahn'a and Ehndras = Guardian, derived from the English words in reverse. :-P Ahh, early Arkhan'a... How simple you were to design.
Ehndras = Naidraug = Guardian
Lentias = Lenitnes = Sentinel
That's pretty much the logic my language used while I was 9-12 years old.
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Ehndras = Naidraug = Guardian
Lentias = Lenitnes = Sentinel
That's pretty much the logic my language used while I was 9-12 years old.
I am seeing the Naidraug=Guardian but how did Ehndras end up equalling Naidraug?
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That's the point. :-)
I needed a word that meant Guardian so I reversed it - voila, Naidraug. Now, I need a good, well-flowing name that's easy to pronounce in my Latinized Arabesque accent yet different enough from the originating word. Naidraug... N-draug... En-draug... Endra... Ehndras. And there we go.
Most of my language came about that way.
If I had my lap... Wait, I brought my laptop to work today! Derp. I'll post from my laptop in a second, going to find my out-dated Lexicon of Arkhan'a (because I can't seem to find the modern one among the 15 copies of it I have :-|) and post some examples here.
Some words are purposely derived from real-life words, paying homage. Lucien, Lucius, Lucivel, obviously derived from Lux. Others are relatively derived, like "Kaanter", Language, being derived from "Prison Cant", a term for secret codes developed by gangs and secret organizations.
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Reviving this topic since I finally gained Lordship in Rio, have stable internet, am financially stable, and my writer's block has buggered off.
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If anyone is interested in joining me in Belluatera for when I found the religion, or would be interested in helping me iron own the details since I'm rusty as well and the system could use some refinement, just shoot me a message. :-)
I'm perfectly willing to provide IRC, Skype, Facebook, or other means of communication for the purpose of helping me with my soon-to-be religion. Much appreciated!~