BattleMaster Community
Community => Other Games => Topic started by: ^ban^ on June 12, 2011, 07:16:25 AM
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In the space before there was anything, there existed a single point of light that drifted from possibility to impossibility as if a ship upon open waves. The Light drifted for eons or perhaps a single second before it reached out from itself and made it more then what it was before, never able to return to that perfect point. It called itself Aman-Rul the First and in the span of time it watched countless worlds drift away from itself, able now to perceive the creations of others like it. But it grew jealous of these shards of glass on the tapestry of creation and it sought to make creation in its own image to stand above the shattered remains of what came before it. And in that space it created a globe of earth covered placid water. But it did not desire to rule or shape any further as the rest of creation spun forth from its first act. So it set to make those that would rule in its steed. Ten in total it made, shapes and colors it invented at that moment to create them.
Each form was made from the stuff of the very world, tied to it and made from the salt of the Earth. Ten Shapes, Ten Children and he fled away into the darkness, a single word hanging in the black void that wrapped itself around the world and kept all but the smallest of the Ten from touching the soil of the world they were to look over.
"Maintain."
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Toridas, The Void
An entity awoke to nothing. An empty void. He was puzzled, he didn't know where he was, who or what he was.
"I must be an entity," he said to himself, "For I sense and I feel and I think. An entity must be called something, or what could separate it from this nothing? I shall call myself Toridas" He decided. And the entity became Toridas.
"Hm... I am but thought and energy, barely distinguishable from this void. I do not wish this." The young god decided he needed a form. After several attempts he settled on a form that pleased him. A deep purple body (To honour the void from which he came) With four apendedges, two arms, and two legs. The body was thin and had a head crowning it with long face containing two dark eyes.
Toridas looked around at his surroundings and noticed a curious object in the distance. Where at first he thought the void was filled with nothing, he spotted a spherical shape. As he willed it, he was there. He gazed in wonder at the the spherical stone. To himself he smiled enjoying the peaceful blackness of the void.
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Zbartivlast, the Void
Zbartivlast was not sure if his eyes were opened or not. Everything was dark, pitch dark. Yet he could see. Sense. He was aware of his surroundings... which was a nothingness, with a rare object in it.
"I am! I am! I am!" He shouted three times, in joy, thrilled by the idea that he was, and is, something. "If I am... I must be!" And so he formed his shape, which he had, or perhaps hadn't since the beginning of time (he was not aware when the beginning took place). He took form as a rather hollow "man", an image that was portrayed into thin air, casting no shade in light, and only visible when watching closely. Zbartivlast could make minor changes to his image, depending on the mood he was in. He was aware of his shape.
Wandering through the endless Void - was he doing it in his mind, or physically? - he approached a spherical object, accompanied by another something, which transmitted a ray of "being" and "power". He came closer, and from a safe distant he whispered, the Void not killing the noise over distance"What do we have here?"
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Arglwydd, Void
He was without form, not by choice, but because each he tried to put himself to quickly returned tho this state of... amorphism. Frustrated, Arglwydd put aside this endeavour to consider the planet - and others - that were.
"What do we have here?"
Turning - if it can be said to be done in this state - to look at who had spoken, Arglwydd saw a man and a shade.
"This is what we are to maintain, I believe."
And, stretching infinitely and not at all, to infinite dimension as vast as this Void, Arglwydd sought not to maintain, but to better. And so he stretched and stretched, his being touching all and touching none, to create the place that was He. (Create Plane: The Dreaming) So creating himself, Arglwydd found at last he had form: that of reflection. And so creating the place, a place of beauty and terror, of might and helplessness, Arglwydd gave to his charge his first gift: the gift of dream, and to the lifeless planet was given the dream of life.
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AP 9 = 12 - 3 (Create Plane: The Dreaming, info in OOC thread)
GP 3
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Arkh, The Void
Suddenly, he became. He used to be, but now he was. No, words couldn't describe it, for he was in a new way than he had been before. But, perhaps because of being, perhaps for being, he started to suffer the process of slowly not being anymore.
"What is this?", he demanded. "Not good", he sentenced.
He who could feel the eternal infinite peace of the void for a moment, had started to be perturbed by waves of different energies, some of the paradoxically essence that fueled his existence, some of the dread thing: "Heat..."
He had no material form, he was a shifting area where no heat at all was present, yet he was being radiated with stinging tiny rays that were nothing but pleasant.
"This is what we are to maintain, I believe."
Seeing the disturbing being commune with reality, altering so it would be alike him, he decided to mimic his actions and create his own haven, where he could escape the cruel rays scorching him. (Create Plane: The Eternal Winter).
Quickly fleeing to it, Arkh expelled into it all the energy absorbed. The new plane was a mimicry of the void he'd woken up in. There were many of those material spheres everywhere, but there were other material pieces of all sizes and forms too, which his subconscious had created. They were all perfectly static in their places, each gas or solid scrap of them. But, with the liberated energy, some asteroids were set into movement, flows of gas currents made wind, frozen water evaporated and fell like snow in the planets.
In short: things were set into movement. And contrary to what he'd expect, he was pleased.
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AP 9 = 12 - 3 (Create Plane: The Eternal Winter)
GP 3
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Zbartivlast, The Void
Things were happening. There was creation ongoing. Others were busy. "Who are they?" he whispered to himself. "I do not know... Are they us?" His mouth shivered, his essence rippled. It was as if Zbartivlast was bouncing, on invisible walls, back and forth, up and down. Madness took hold of him. Then, he froze, as if he was spotting something. He spoke, but not with words.
Essence sprout out of his wide open mouth. There was no sound coming out of it, but more a place. (Create Plane: The Abyss)
He seared as it be the essence of the Abyss. It was a place, rather plane, that resembled the essence of him. A dark place that would be under constant influence of itself. As if it changed itself, every now and then, to something different, but still quite the same. The Abyss was determined to haunt. Here Zbartivlast was home: he felt comfortable. He would wait, before he would do more: the perfect image of him that the Abyss was, caught his attention. Staring into the endlessness of it all, his reasoning went into another state... a trance.
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AP 9 = 12 - 3 (Create Plane: The Abyss)
GP 3
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Celona, the Void
Celona awakened. From what she was unsure, but quite frankly, she did not care. It was boring being unable to do anything but cease to be, and she was thankful for this abrupt release from her eternal slumber.
"This is what we are to maintain, I believe."
Maintain. The Guide had heard this word before, and knew it meant something important. Fate? That might be what she was looking for, but before she could decide, she finally noticed what the others were gazing upon.
A small pebble compared to the vastness of where they were presently located, but nonetheless she felt that it was much more important than all of the space she could ever desire. Realizing she was simply a ethereal presence, Celona decided to give herself form. While forming an opinion over what would be the most practical but also suitable form to take, she noticed the other beings that had already assumed a form. Deciding that their choices were adequate, she began to change herself. Within moments, a much smaller version of what the others were had been formed from previously had been nothing. Only half as tall as the others, Celona willed herself towards them.
Once she was still out of earshot of the others, she spoke aloud to herself, "Maintain seems like a goal for those without thought or limited mobility..."
With the last word the Guide began to manifest herself in many different locations at once, making sure to observe every minute detail of this lump in the middle of the Void. It did not take long before she had completed this task and was once again quite... bored.
Returning to her single appearance, Celona stopped decide what she could do to both sate her curiosity at everything and to stave off this increasing need to do something. Crossing her recently formed arms and legs, and formed what would later be known as a "smile" on her face, she came up with several ideas.
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Dwyn Gaald, The Void
The Void was barren, or at least it was mostly barren, and Dwyn Gaald had come to exist within it. He awoke to the distant echoes of activity, of voices, of beings.
The vast nothingness that surrounded him was the first of the things he took in. The contrast of his own existence within the vast nothingness pleased him, but the echoes from afar seemed to continue in frequency and strength. His curiosity drive him to seek out these echoes.
Soon enough, he came upon these others. Some seemed to withdraw from this Void into their own havens, however Dwyn Gaald looked upon the Void, it's emptiness and his own life within it was satisfied there, for now. But he was concerned about these others, why they were there.
"Who are you...? Why are you here...?"
He thought for a moment more, "Why am I here...?"
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Ahkram, the Void
An eye opened.
Then another, and another, and countless eyes looked out into the Void, and where all others saw emptiness, these eyes saw potential. Then ears, mouths, tongues, tendrils, all reaching out, sensing the grand, limitless potential...Until they found another. And another, and more...
The senses observed, watched...Understood. Examined...Discarded as limited. They have power, but they did not see the potential inherent in that power. The senses were about to ignore them in disgust when...
That one. The senses quivered. That one...Was wrong. Very, very, very, very wrong. And it was strong, it could hurt...It did not want to, but it would anyway, and that was even more frightening...
The senses fled, and created a new place. A place where they could be safe to create wonders (Create Plane: The Hall of Creation). This new home was made safe from the others, especially that other, and then the senses set to work, finishing the work to arrange their new home so that it supported and nourished new creations...
But without the others, the senses grew lonely. New potential was discovered every moment, and they wished to share this wonder. What point in a grand palace of marvels if there is none to share your joy? And so the senses created others like them, though lesser. It saw that limitless potential frightened them, and rearranged their home so that it would be simpler until they grew enough to experience the full wonder without terror. And these others like the senses looked up at the greater and asked "Who are you, great one? And who are we?"
The senses paused, wondering. That question had never been asked before.
"I am Ahkram. And you, my children, are the Ahkrons."
And the Ahkrons agreed, and Ahkram taught them to organize themselves, and they created a Grand Collegium, learning to fly between the lands that dotted the plane Ahkram had made. The Ahkrons named it the Hall of Creation, for that was their business. And their leader was the Philosopher-King of Ahkram, wielder of the Compass of their father. This Compass showed them many things, how to discover, the deeper ways of science and magic, how to guard their borders against the new planes grown by those akin to their father, building immense technological and magical traps (though they did not yet grasp how to combine them fully).
Soon, the best and the brightest of the Ahkrons were inducted into the Enlightened Thought, a group of close assistants to Ahkram who had learned much of Science and Magic, and began working with him on his next great project, that of combining the two disciplines...And all this they could do, for time flowed like quicksilver in the Hall of Creation, and Ahkram kept a careful watch on the borders, knowing that the time would come when his gifts would be needed if the world outside were to ever grow to reach its full potential...
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AP 9 = 12-3: Create Plane (Hall of Creation).
AP 6 = 9-3: Create Mortal Artifact (Ahkram’s Compass).
AP 5 = 6-1: Create Life (Ahkrons).
AP 5 = 5-0: Create Society (Free from Organized Divine Power).
AP 4 = 5-1: Create Class (Discoverer).
AP 2 = 4-2: Create Organization (Enlightened Thought). The two prestige classes (Organized Divine Power) are Revealers and Arcane Unlockers.
AP 2 = 2-0 Lead the Populace x2 (Free from Mortal Artifact and Leader of Men): Teach the Ahkrons defensive fortifications/architecture (immediate, widespread) and magical barriers (immediate/widespread).
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Varrach, The Void
A million sensations echoed across his consciousness as Varrack came into being. Was it a single moment when everything changed, or did it take eons? How could you measure time, when even the gods themselves had only just experienced it? And yet, already he knew time, just as he knew space and power and existence and experience and pain and emotion and other things for which there were no words. Even without gazing around, he knew there were others like him, his nine brothers and sisters. Gradually, the shock of knowing became familiar, almost comforting. But there was something else still missing, something wrong, something that he did not know. How could a God not know? Puzzled, Varrack turned his eye over all that was. Whilst it was new, he understood what it was, how it worked.
Only when Varrack grasped the axe did he understand. It had been with him the entire time and when he took it into his hand it fitted like it had been made for him alone. But he did not know the axe. Because the axe was merely a part of him. And Varrack did not know himself. Deep in his immortal consciousness, two voices spoke a single word each.
Maintain
Avenge
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Mikha the Void
He sensed the others.....where they as him? Mikha didn't know. He felt some of them taking shapes.....maybe that was an idea. He focussed his mind and attempted to give himself a shape resembling some of the parts of the others. He did not succeed, as his form was smaller and crude, not as refined as the others.
To maintain, what was it with that word that it kept popping up in his mind. Mikha had no idea, but he also refused to take the time to think about it. He had an idea, something that he felt was missing. He shivered and he set off, as he noticed a strange lump of cold dark earth. Some water was flowing across it, but no distinct futures where present. Mikha shrugged and walked off. Maybe that was what he had to maintain, was an idea that popped up in Mikha's head. He shacked his head and focused on his plan. Then he would think it over.....possibly.
Mikha focused his mind and created what was closed to him. A place where he would be able to stay....home. Mikha created the Searing Keep. Create Plane: Searing Keep
After his creation he sat down and started to think.....
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AP 9 = 12 - 3 (Create Plane: The Searing Keep)
GP 3
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Arglwydd, The Dreaming
His hall created and the place given shape, Arglwydd steps once more into the void.
Shaping his world, his hall, had given him... a dream, and his dream he would make into reality.
In quiet words he speaks to the planet, giving to it yet another dream. Something new and unheard of. The planet shudders and rumbles as the dream takes hold, and in a great cacaphony of sound and waves, earth rises from the ocean floor. (Create Terrain: Atlantis, SR3)
"It truly is a beautiful dream... and it shall be called Atlantis."
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AP 4 = 9 - 5, Create Terrain: Atlantis, SR5, ~1,000,000 sq mi.
GP 8
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Varrach, The Void
Maintain and Avenge. Two words, but so many possibilities. How did he maintain something and yet avenge it at the same time? For that matter, what was he supposed to be maintaining and was it even the same thing he was to seek vengeance for? Already his siblings, the ones who knew themselves, had begun to spin their own creations. Would this change destroy what he was meant to maintain or did their actions further some plan to ensure it was maintained? For every question he asked, the only answer was a hundred more questions, all leading back to those words again; Maintain and Avenge. Varrach simply did not know himself. Why would he be created without the knowledge necessary to serve his purpose? There was no reason for that. The sheer illogicality of it drove him to despair. He was incomplete and the knowledge that something was missing burned.
Perhaps though... perhaps one of the others would know his purpose. After all, he was but one of ten. The thought soothed him. Yes, one of the others would know him. Willing himself to move, Varrach crossed the Void towards his fellow gods. Already five of them had departed, leaving for planes of their own. Perhaps once he discovered himself, he too would create such a place, something of his own.
"Greetings brothers." Varrach called out. "Do you know me?"
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- Mikha - Searing Keep/The Void -
Suddenly an idea popped up in the head of Mikha. An idea that he felt was brilliant. He left his Plane and entered the void. From there he looked at the planet he saw that one of the others had been busy as well. He shacked his head, it looked not bad, but it missed a certain energy. He would attempt to do it better.
He gathered his thoughts and started to work on his idea. He found a nice empty spot. He pulled up a small amount of earth from under the water. He piled it higher and higher, until it rose up as a single mountain from the water. Under the mountain he heated the rock, until it was red hot and it melted, which he called magma. He let the magma rise from under the mountain and let it escape from 16 points around the mountain. The escape points he called volcanoes and they formed a perfect circle around the mountain. Between the mountain and the volcanoes a plain was formed. Mikha smiled and said to himself, he had created Therbazent.
After that he knew that he was unable to always protect Therbazent. He toke some of the magma he created before and shaped it to reflect himself in a rough way. He made 16 of them and placed one on each volcano. Then he ignited a spark of life in each of them, making sure that as long as they lived the magma would stay hot and they would be able to move. Finally Mikha send a thought to each of the guardians and gave them two simple orders. Defend and maintain. Then Mikha sat down in the void, and looked down to see what his creation would do with those words.
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9AP - 1AP = 8 AP Shape Terrain
8AP - 1 AP = 7 AP Create Life Magma Guardians (Giant)
5 GP
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Dwyn Gaald, The Void
Dwyn Gaald waited patiently for an answer to his queries, but none came immediately. He saw several things happen all it once it seemed.
Two of the noisy beings seemed to depart elsewhere, while in a huge rush of sound and flash one had formed a vast swath of earth surrounded by sea on the planet far below. It intrigued Dwyn Gaald, and he watched curiously.
Soon, though, a voice bounced his way.
"Greetings brothers." Varrach called out. "Do you know me?"
Dwyn Gaald looked up from his gaze at the planet below. Somewhere near him he became nervously aware of another being drawing closer. Dwyn Gaald realized this is where the voice must have come from.
"I know you not. Though, as you draw closer you become more clear," Dwyn Gaald uttered in amazement.
He suddenly realized something, and blurted it out just as much for his own gratification as to inform anyone else, "I am Dwyn Gaald!"
Again, he let it out, "I am Dwyn Gaald! I am Dwyn Gaald, I am in the midst of nothing!"
His excitement died down some as he became aware of the sink hole of a presence near him, whom he had for an moment forgotten was there. His curiosity, and nervousness of this entity, drove his queries once more.
"Who are you?" Dwyn Gaald asked it.
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Arkh, The Eternal Winter
Things seemed nice in his plane. Arkh was experimenting and learning the cold laws governing the astral physics of the universe, in his own private laboratory. It was... pleasing. Yes, that was the word, it felt right... Until a few seconds later when it felt wrong. Something was displeasing him, but he could not fully grasp what it was. He tried to concentrate on such undesirable sensation, and he spotted the source: that dread plane where he had awakened. He'd have to act.
Arkh, The Void
Traveling back to The Void, now in a white cloud form (for he had learned it was better to reflect the darting rays which carried the dreaded heat, than absorbing them), he looked around for the nuisance. There was no mistake, it was in a tiny spot in the water-covered planet... No, in the now partially water-covered planet. There was a large chunk of earth, yet that didn't seem odd or annoying.
But then he saw it. Calling it an insult or an abomination would be great generosity. It was worse, and words could not describe it. An small island, a tiny place in The Void, yet so filled with... filth. There was a big source of heat, but not common heat, it was something worse... It was heat alive. Something had to be done.
Concentrating and gathering all the power he could into a single spot, not too far from the contaminated planet he sentenced with a cold and cruel tone:
"Forever I curse you, abomination!"
Then, in a swift movement, he released all the tension he was gathering in such spot, creating a huge mass of different gases. (Create Artifact: The White Curse). An uncountable amount of particles started heading towards the center of the mass, solidifying, and creating a huge rock of ice. The size had shrunk, but it still towered over the cursed planet, more than a hundred times bigger.
With that done, he gave it a gentle shove, setting it in motion. And once again, he was pleased.
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AP 2 = 9 - 7 (Create Artifact: The White Curse +3 Bane)
GP 10
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Varrach, The Void
He closed the distance between himself and the other being hurriedly. This one did not know him, but it was becoming clearer! His hopes rose, when suddenly the other being exclaimed loudly, rejoicing in the name of Dwyn Gaald. Varrach slowed, somewhat confused. If this Dwyn Gaald only now realized that he was, how could he know another? Were all his brethren like him, unaware of their purpose? No... no that could not be. Dwyn Gaald had said that things were becoming clearer, that must explain it. It must...
"I am Varrach. I seek vengeance... and to maintain." He mentally winced at how little sense it made before hurriedly adding. "And to know myself. Like you, I am, but I do not understand why."
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Arglwydd, Void
"Brother?" Arglwydd smirked, and then gave to the universe it's first laugh. A thing of purity and beauty. "No, I do not know that we are brothers, just as I do not know you. My name is Arglwydd. Varrach, Dwyn Gaald, behold, that which I am."
At this Arglwydd held forth his hand, where formed the raw stuff of Dreams. Then he held forth is other, where formed the stuff of Fate, and these two he brought together to create something entirely new. This stuff he cast upon the Atlantis he had raised, and there formed new life.
First there formed plants of the world, with thirst for water and hunger for air. Great trees and small sprouts grew, and the Dream Lord smiled, for he was creating a home for what was to come. They were joyous creatures, fleet of foot, fair in appearance, and strong of heart. They had an appearance similar to that of the woman Arglwydd had seen earlier, but from their backs sprouted great white wings, and their bodies were smaller and of more angular appearance. (Create Life: Alfar)
"Behold! The children of Arglwydd, the Alfar." He spoke, once more, but this time to the very hearts of his children, and in doing so began to make them into one people, so that they might create great things of their own among the trees that had grown. (Create Society: Alfar Imperium) This done, he spoke until his children a dream of greatness, so that they in their limited lives might live on. (Lead Populace: Alfar, Music) (Lead Populace: Alfar, Feudalism)
As his newborn children rejoiced in the world around them, Arglwydd rested and paused to consider the many things he had created.
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AP 0 = 4 - 1 (Create Life: Alfar) - 1 (Create Society: Alfar Imperium) - 1 (Lead Populace: Alfar, Music) - 1 (Lead Populace: Alfar, Feudalism)
GP 12: Level up! DR2
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Celona, the Void
"Behold! The children of Arglwydd, the Alfar."
Deciding that she wanted something not only for herself, but also for the pebble in the Void as this other being had done, she came to the conclusion that she would envelop it within a domain she would create. Holding her arms in front of her, she moved her hands in a spherical motion. At first, it was slow and deliberate, but then the speed greatly increased until her hands became a blur and a small ball of air was forming in the space between her hands. Trying not to break her concentration, she stopped her motions abruptly, and held her hands on either side of the ball.
On the planet, clouds began to form and with a flash of light, a coat of air had formed around the planet. Not only was it composed of air, but it was feeding off of the plane that had been created by the Guide's hands. (Create Plane, Eye of the Storm) With the plane of wind and the material plane coexisting, the makeshift living conditions of the planet settled and the air became plentiful.
Deciding that was not yet enough, Celona snapped her fingers and the ball she was holding began to lose it's form. Instead of willing it away, she willed it to the planet, where it became a gentle breeze. Realizing that she could control the power of it, she was content with allowing it to stay as it was for the time being.
One she was done with her work, the Guide began to observe this newly created group of creatures on the planet. She felt that she should no longer call it a pebble, as it had ascended that title. It was now planet, although incomplete. The concept of life on the planet intrigued Celona, but she was unsure how she would go about doing it herself. With a thought, she willed herself to this one that called himself Arglwydd and spoke in a voice that was carried everywhere in the nowhere that they existed.
"These beings you have given life to... how did you decide to create them as they are now, in the stead of another form?" The Guide was also curious of this being, and as such she began to inspect him from every side. Once content, she crossed her legs and faced him, although to see eye to eye, her feet only went down to his chest. She was small, indeed.
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AP 9 = 12 - 3 (Create Plane, Eye of the Storm)
GP 3
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Arglwydd, Void
As Celona gazed upon Arglwydd she noticed his form begin to change. In fact, his form became something close to her own, as though seen at a distance through murky glass.
"How did I choose their form, you ask? You, who's form changes at a whim? It was not I that shaped their dream, I merely planted the seed." The Dream Lord gestured broadly towards Atlantis. "Look and see how they now impose their own dreams upon the world."
Earth
Son of Dream, they called him, as he spent most of his life shaping the world to his dream. A dream of a united Alfar, spreading to all corners of Atlantis. The Alfar were at war. It began during the longest Cold of memory: three tribes joined together as one, led by Kurgin, Son of Dream.
This was the birth of the Alfar Imperium.
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Ahkram, Hall of Creation
Some Ahkrons, driven by insatiable curiosity, wished to explore beyond the Hall of Creation, and after finally achieving the union of magic and science (Lead Populace: Magitech) and ensuring that they prepared well for the journeys ahead, he allowed them to depart and search the Void. They came and told of the existence of other planes, the conflicts on the new world, of Atlantis and the Alfar.
It was this last that Ahkram became interested in. Other beings with the capability of thought...But so pitifully primitive, so lacking in understanding...But their potential...
He touched each of those that wished to explore, and granted them the Gifts of Knowledge and Magic. He sent them back to this Atlantis to seek out those with the most supple minds, those who could create and learn and understand, to show them how to use Knowledge and wield Magic. But they all asked one question with such desperation that the Ahkrons asked their father for guidance, as they could not comprehend the difficulty at first. But Ahkram looked, and understood, and taught his Ahkrons the why, and the how, and they saw and began teaching the new lessons to all across Atlantis. And they also began teaching that this was a gift from Ahkram, the Teacher, and as this new knowledge spread, so did worship of the great Teacher who had saved them from dire hunger.
The first gift of Ahkram to the Alfar, was the gift of Agriculture (Lead Populace: Agriculture).
And with this understanding of the Alfar and their growing devotion, Ahkram felt himself expand, able to see more, do more...
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AP 0 = 2-2: Lead Populace x2 (Magitech, Agriculture)
GP 0 = 12-12 Divine Rank 2
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Varrach, The Void
Curiously, Varrach watched as the Alfar came to be, their mortal lives little but a blink of an eye. They struggled against the bitter cold, wrapping their bodies in the thick skins of the beasts they hunted and huddling in caves to escape the harsh wind. He saw the death of a proud warrior, the Alfar's wing thrashing helplessly as the would be prey gored him, and the solemnity as the fallen one's comrades placed him in the earth. The ones calling themselves Ahkrons came, servants of another of Varrach's brothers, teaching the Alfar how to grow and collect the hardy plants. He heard the songs they sang about their great father Arglwydd and the wise Ahkram, voices joined by the simple instruments they made. Above all else, he watched the progress of the one name Kurgim, seeing him divide the land amongst his followers and lead the tribes into battle with spear and club. As the Alfar Imperium spread, Varrach began to hear something else.
Survivors wailed as they were dragged away to toil for the new order. A pair of soldiers laughed, circling aloft as they chased down another Alfar who running clumsily, his broken wing trailing. Somewhere a girl sobbed for mercy as a vicelike grip held her down. Drumbeats sounded as the Imperium went to war, filling the sky with red wings and grim visages. The overseer beat his whip against the back of a screaming slave, warning the others that the same awaited them if the Son of Dream's harvest was not ready when the army arrived. A dying warrior gurgled blood, lungs pentrated by his own broken ribs. All of them and more cried out and Varrach recoiled as their demand struck him. They cried out to their families, to the spirits, to their tormentors, to anyone who would listen. They cried out for Vengeance.
Slowly Varrack turned away to face Arglwydd. "Do you hear them?" He demanded, divine features pained. "Do you hear them scream!"
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Arglwydd, the Void
"Yes, I hear, and I see as well. I see as dreams of greatness swallow up those of mediocrity."
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Dwyn Gaald, The Void,
Dwyn Gaald was now, as was Arglwydd it seemed, mostly distracted by the events taking place on the planet below him. There were living things there, now. Placed there being guided by strange creatures channeling forth from a place concealed from the Void itself. These living things on this planet below were experiencing so many things. They were living. They were dying, they were bleeding, they were fighting, they were feeling. What a strange way to exist.
What a very strange way to exist, thought Dwyn Gaald. In fact, there were far more perfect ways to exist, even if one had to exist upon a planet, in simplistic form, subject to the laws of that planet. Not all were blessed with the ability to dwell in the solemnity of the Void, but surely even a serene existence was able to be found in life upon a planet.
In that moment, Dwyn Gaald realized that what he thought must so surely be so, could be made so. And so, in that instance, Dwyn Gaald set out to make it so.
First of all, a rightful place for such an existence would need be raised. Dwyn Gaald looked at the earth and mimicked upon it the beauty and perfection of the void and next to Atlantis he rose from the seas the Great Ganbazatar Desert (Create Terrain: Great Ganbazatar Desert).
Within these deserts he would place the beings designed to live a life reflective and opposite of those things in the forests. Carefully, he crafted the Scraads (Create Life: Scraads).
But being simple creatures that they were, Dwyn Gaald would lead them and organize them, and after a time he showed them how to live and work with another (Create Society: Scraads, Kingdom of Ganbazatar).
And to the first King of the Kingdom of Ganbazatar, Dwyn Gald crafted a stone worn from the seas of sand perfectly smooth, and it was called The RainBringer Stone (Create Artifact: Boon, The Rain-Bringer Stone, MR-2). With it, Dwyn Gaald blessed his creations with the seasonal rains that came but once or twice a year to his people's crops, allowing them their city oasis in the middle of the great desert.
When Dwyn Gaald has done all of this, he stepped back from it all and saw it and was content with what he had done. He would watch his creations and he would measure his success. They would please him, they would not fall short of his expectations.
-----
AP 7 = 12 - 5 (Create Terrain: Great Ganbazatar Desert)
AP 6 = 7 - 1 (Create Life: Scraads)
AP 5 = 6 - 1 (Create Society: Scraads, Kingdom of Ganbazatar)
AP 0 = 5 - 5 (Create Artifact: The Rain-Bringer Stone, MR-2)
GP 0 = 12 - 12 (Divine Growth: Rank 2!)
-
Varrach, the Void
"Greatness!" The god's anger rumbled across the Void. "Your dreams are nothing but chaos and despair. They demand Vengeance!"
Casting his attention back to mortal world, Varrach looked deep into the rock of Atlantis, seeking out the key fissures and divides. The land rumbled as he bent it to his divine will, casting up mountains across the centre of Atlantis (Alter Terrain: Spine of Atlantis). High peaks ran for thousands of miles, looming above shocked Alfars who gaped at the new wall of rock. In the valleys and plateaus came forth life, life to sustain something greater. Short but hardy he made them, heavily built to survive in the cold and the mountains. Where his brothers had named their offspring after themselves, Varrach gave his one of their own, calling them the Urdimkal (Create Life).
From amongst them he choose one to be his messenger, so that the Urdimkal could know themselves and their purpose. Eraad would be both King and Prophet, bringing the knowledge of the divine in one hand and demanding the allegiance of all with the other (Raise Hero). Varrack commanded that all of the Urdimkal would owe obedience to their High King, but that each valley and clan would have its own leaders to avenge wrongs in the absence of Eraad (Create Society: Kalvaz Kingdoms and Create Class: Nobles). Remembering the Alfas, he taught them the secrets of finding metals within the mountains surrounding them, and how to work them into hard tools and weapons, so they would remain safe and prosperous (Lead Populace: Metallurgy).
But there was one more gift for the Urdimkal. For though they were his children, they were mortal and he saw the weakness within them. Fear, doubt, pity and more clouded their judgement, made them content to let be what was and ignore their desire for vengeance. So Varrack spoke into the very souls of their leaders, imbueing them with the focus, the purity of intent necessary. "Let none escape the reach of your vengeance, no matter the cost." No wrong would go unavenged amongst his creation (Curse MR4: Urdimkal Nobles will go to any length to seek vengeance).
"There is greatness brother." Varrach declared, proud but tired from his labours.
Earth
Two guards dragged the prisoner into the Thane's Court, but one could have done it without difficulty. If the sniffling boy had seen even the first hairs of his beard it would be a suprise. Such a waste, Dorim reflected, scratching absent mindedly at the long, gray expanse that marked his position as much as the well carved throne he sat upon and the metal chain that hung around his neck. His captain discreetly whispered the details. A thief, no question of it; he'd been caught in the act itself. That at least was a relief, there was no need to waste time sorting the lies from fact. Looking down at the child, Dorim felt a moment of regret, but his sense of duty promptly crushed it. Vengeance must be done.
"In the name of the High King of Kalvaz-Var and in the sight of Lord Varrach, I find you guilty." The words rolled off his tongue with practiced ease as the Thane looked to the Urdimkal standing at his left, face hidden behind an elaborate helmet. "Hammerer, give us Vengeance." Both guards hurriedly backed away from the prisoner, who began to wail. The sound did not last long.
------
9 AP = 12 - 3 (Alter Terrain MR2: Spine of Atlantis)
8 AP = 9 - 1 (Create Life: Urdimkal)
8 AP = 8 - 0 (Free from Mythic) (Raise Hero)
7 AP = 8 - 1 (Create Society: Kalvaz Kingdoms)
6 AP = 7 - 1 (Create Class: Noble)
5 AP = 6 - 1 (Lead Populace: Metallurgy)
0 AP = 5 - 5(+2 from Plaguebringer) (Curse MR4: Urdimkal Nobility, Unforgiving)
12 GP
DR2!
-
Zbartivlast, The Abyss
The Deity was drawn out of his trance by a certain activity in the otherplanely essence. More creation was going on. More gods were roaming the Void. "They might come for us. Will they like us?" he spoke to himself. "Who knows? We should protect our haven here. Let us do something. Let us get... minions." And so Zbartivlast created his minions from what he learned while being in a trance. They were meant to be his servants in his plane, and to carry out his eternal will in it. (Create life: The Buin-ak)
Suddenly, out of the scorch that is the plane, creatures emerged. They were cruel in appearance: a dark, leather skin. Rather small of size, and no hair whatsoever. They were capable of running very fast, and jumping rather high, but like their creator their sight was limited in a bright light. They were accustomed to the darkness of the Plane, where barely any light was to be found (more of a dark shade). The creatures rarely had to feed themselves, but when they went into a feeding frenzy (a full out hunt) they preferred to eat the brains of their victims. Rarely did they resort to plants to feed upon.
Zbartivlast, The Void
Zbartivlast was happy with his minions. They would guard and maintain The Abyss for him, while he was busy elsewhere. He left his plane, the Abyss, only to begin with his immense work on the mortal world. He spotted the planet that was, mostly covered by water, but with spots of land already visible. Life was already present. Though that did not satisfy Zbartivlast. Upon watching, he casts his will, and his essence watching from the Void spawned a mass of land, a place upon which a few million could live. (Create Terrain: Goralian)
Zbartivlast, Goralian
The vast land mass was surrounded by water. It was a diverse place: there was green vegetation on some place, then desert, then a scorched earth in the vicinity of volcanoes. A mixture of inhospitable mountains and fertile plains might easily confuse someone. There was not much logic behind the shaping of the texture of the Goralian. It seems as if it was done at random. Yet Zbartivlast smiled, and made his next step. There was no life on his land. That would change. In a hard discussion with himself, Zbartivlast had trouble determining what his offspring would look like. Finally, he came to a consensus with himself. (Create Life: Eyonoi)
The Eyonoi were a strange sort of creatures. Dwelling the more hospitable parts of Goralian, there were several thousands of them. Natural to their behaviour was an expansionist mind, set to conquering unknown parts of land and to spread their 'dominance' over it. They had a cruel way of dealing with nature, and when they depleted the resources of one region, they would move on to another. Gatherers at best, they sometimes resorted to cannibalism when they ran out of an immediate source of food. It was time for the Deity to meet his creatures. (Create Avatar: The Black Kingfisher)
And as a Kingfisher, Zbartivlast went to his people, and the appearance shook the Eyonoi, as they bent down and praised that what they did not recognize as being worldly. The Black Kingfisher was only capable of intruding once thoughts and mind, as he could only make shrieking sounds that one could not understand but being an outcry of a dark and dangerous bird. The avatar would resort with his people, and keep a constant watch on them. Intervention was not yet needed... for now.
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AP 8 = 9-1(Create Life: The Buin-ak)
AP 3 = 8-5(Create Terrain: Goralian)
AP 2 = 2-1(Create Life: Eyonoi)
AP 0 = 2-2(Create Avatar: The Black Kingfisher)
GP 12 -> DR 2
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Ular, Atlantis
"Did you think you could resist me forever, Ulan?"
The war of unification had reached it's head with the Battle of Dhor's Pass, where the last of the resistance leadership was captured or slain. It had been a long, violent, and bloody affair, with whole regions scoured of Ka'Alfar that refused to bend. And now here, before Kurgin, Son of Dream, lay the last surviving leader of the resistance. Beaten, starved, exposed... and broken.
"That you could stand in rebellion against my Imperium?"
Ular knew the terrible fate which awaited him. It was a slow death at the hands of Sa'Alfar. He would be restrained in a field of the Imperium's Sa'Alfar, where over the course of several days the mighty plants would slowly devour him alive. It was how every captured rebel had been executed. How his friends had been executed. His family.
There was no more resistance.
-
Arkh, The Void
Though the planet had not yet met the harsh winter his major creation would bring, living beings were spreading everywhere. They quarreled, waged war and loved. Such chaotic elements should not be tolerated...
Suddenly Arkh started fearing that imposing a harsh glacial era might not be enough. The creatures seemed to colonize everything, stand against any kind of harsh environment and spread like a a disease through every corner of the world. For a long time he thought of a way to destroy them, until he reached a conclusion:
"It will not be I who will destroy you, it will be your own flaws who'll consume you, vermin."
Saying that he started crafting a form not like the vermin that populated the planet, but a more refined version of them. It wouldn't have that annoying burning spark in them, though it would look similar. They would be beings of the cold, and brothers of the ethereal as much as of the material. Each souled race would have his own counter-part represented, who'd imprison their souls and consume them. (Create Unlife: Ghost [Template])
"What good would do for me to destroy your material vessels? I shall rather corrupt you and have you extinguish your own essences, your own souls..."
And that way throughout the world, in secrecy, in underground organizations and where the law wasn't strong enough to impose control, knowledge of a new dark art spread. It was the art of the manipulation, imprisonment and destruction of the soul. (Create Class: Dread Necromancer)
---
AP 1 = 2-1 (Create Unlife: Ghost [Template])
AP 0 = 1-1 (Create Class: Dread Necromancer)
GP 12
DR 2
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Caradon, The Void
An uneasy energy moved through the Void moments after creation. As these chaotic undercurrents collected, the restless energy—the sheer potential—coalesced around a singular need to be, and the Wellspring was born (Create Plane, The Wellspring).
Within this sentient plane, a presence awakened. Slowly at first, but soon unable to drown out the singular consciousness that filled existence. Sensing the utter emptiness in planes beyond, this energy sought expression in the Void but lacked the very ability to articulate the chaos inside. As it drifted through the Void, it was drawn toward a place that, in the cosmic choir of noise, shouted above all others—a place where the complete manifestation of form beckoned. Passing over the surface of this wondrous find, the presence sensed it was not alone. And as it felt the others near him... much like him, in fact... it began to assume a form vaguely similar to the others, though with much less definition.
---
AP 9 = 12-3 (Create Plane: The Wellspring)
GP 3
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Celona, the Void
"How did I choose their form, you ask? You, who's form changes at a whim? It was not I that shaped their dream, I merely planted the seed." Arglwydd spoke while changing his form to something similar to Celona's, "Look and see how they now impose their own dreams upon the world."
The Guide stopped to consider the statement she had just heard. Planting a seed seemed like it would take time, but if she used her power as Arglwydd had, it would seem like an instant. She only now had to decide what kind of being she wished to create. While thinking, she created a few gusts of wind to carry her around. While doing this, she was struck by a most interesting thought. Holding out her arms and allowing the wind to carry her faster, she willed her own arms wider to see if it worked. Without having to test much more than that, Celona now know what kind of creature she would create.
Turning her arms back to their original form, she closed her eyes and imagined the outline of the creature she wished to create. In front of her, a form of pure energy appeared and the Guide reached out to mold it into her own mental image. After trial and error, she arrived at the perfect form for her new creature. After making some finishing touches, she snapped her fingers.
Down on the planet, forms began to appear left and right. Some were content with sitting on the ground, while others jumped up, spread their wings, and took flight along the currents that Celona had left for them. They each had agendas of their own, and neither needed a god to worship nor an understanding of the world. They were simple creatures. (Create Life, Birds)
Smiling inwardly, she knew she had not yet finished. Creating life was quite fun, and she wanted to see what else she would do. Again closing her eyes, Celona imagined a similar being to what she had created before, but this time it was much bigger and very intimidating. Willing it's basic form to appear via energy in front of her, she went to work. Smoothing out the wings and adding layers of thick scales, she would give it the movement of her previous creations and armor enough to avoid most forms of harm. Before creating this beast on the planet, she decided to do something else. Reaching into the creation that was in front of her, she judged how big its heart would be and not only did she create a heart for the beast, but she shared just a touch of her own power and created a mortal artifact so that the beast would forever know its creator and her wish. (Create Mortal Artifact, Dragon Heart)
Once her creation was complete, the Guide knew that she was not done just yet. Scanning the planet for a suitable home for her new creatures, she noticed an expanse of water near Atlantis that was unused for the time being. With a single snap of her fingers, the land rose up and the island of Draconis had been formed. With a rocky outcropping surrounding the more lush forests on the inside, the island would make a suitable home for beings that did not take kindly to being disturbed. (Create Land, Draconis)
With so much time spent, Celona not only knew that these creatures would be a part of herself, but she felt a strong attraction to them. They would be free to fly in the colourful world, strong enough to defend themselves, and she decided that she would teach them everything they needed to know. With this, the Guide began to breathe out slowly and steadily until not only wind was formed, but raw energy that looked just like she did. It only took a little more to manifest this energy on Draconis. (Create Avatar, Nill)
Nill, Draconis
On the ground, things were much different. Everything felt heavier, different, strange, but Celona did not regret the decision she had made and embraced this new experience with open arms. The way she manifested herself varied quite a bit from the form she took in the Void mainly in the way of appearances. From the outside, she appeared to be near five feet tall with a slender body, pointed ears, and fierce eyes. Her senses were heightened compared to the regular human, and her speed was increased signifigantly as well. Underneath this guise, she held the ability to turn herself into a fully fledged dragon at will. She stopped to think for a moment, as this name she gave her creation came almost without hesitation. It was decided then, these creatures would be known as Dragons. With her newfound form, she scanned the area for a suitable place to begin this life for her new creations.
"Excellent," her words were sharp and did not carry as they did in the void, "I believe this will do nicely." Before the Guide stood an immense tree near the center of the forest. Believing this to be the best place to set her plans into motion, she began the transformation of this body into a dragon. It was quick and painless, but the result was perfect. Where once stood a humanoid now stood a large dragon. There was only one thing left to do.
Celona, the Void
Celona had finally completed the process of creating the very first dragon, and decided she would leave the rest up to the seed that she was about to plant. With a wave of her hand, the energy in front of her disappeared, and manifested itself in material form down on the planet. (Create Life, Dragons)
Nill, Draconis
The Guide decided before meeting with the dragons, she would develop an alias for her avatar. With that, she took on the alias Nill just as the dragons were brought into existence. The first of the dragons that was created contained the artifact that Celona had created for him earlier and with that, he easily knew that this being in front of him was truly his creator. Lowering his head in an attempt to show respect, the other dragons that had appeared followed suit. Once this act had been accomplished, Nill decided it was time to show them their power.
In what seemed like an instant, Nill transformed her body into the same as before.
"This..." she began by grabbing the attention of the others, "This is your power. You may assume a form similar to the other races and creatures of this earth and avoid unecessary attention." With a slight mental nudge, Nill showed the newly brought to life dragons to understand the method by which to change their bodies. It was within their grasp, but the specifics had to be revealed in order for it to go as smoothly as her own change.
Each dragon in turn changed to their own unique form. Once this was done, Nill checked to make sure everyone had done it properly. She noticed that the dragon with the special heart that she created was male due to the unique mark that was created on his chest. Deciding that he would need a suitable partner, she found the strongest looking female out of the group, and by placing a similar mark on her chest, the female dragon became a hero that would change destiny, Nill felt, for the betterment of her people. (Raise Hero /Exarch: Spero) Once satisfied, she began speaking again.
"With that, I establish this forest as the Enclave of the Dragons. This is your domain. Your land. You are free to do with it as you wish." (Create Society, Enclave of the Dragons)
---
AP 6 = 9 - 3 (Create Mortal Artifact, Dragon Heart)
AP 5 = 6 - 1 (Create Land, Draconis)
AP 4 = 5 - 1 (Raise Hero /Exarch: Spero)
AP 2 = 4 - 2 (Create Avatar, Nill)
AP 1 = 2 - 1 (Create Life, Dragons)
AP 0 = 1 - 1 (Create Society, Enclave of the Dragons)
GP 0 = 12 - 12 Rank Up
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Mikha, The Void
Mikha looked at the artifact hovering over the planet.......it was ugly and cold. Something was wrong, he knew it. He had been thinking for days for a way to get ride of it. He tried hurling fire at it, but it sucked up the heat of the flames before they touched it. He did not wish to use stronger flames, as he feared for the creations of his brothers and sisters....
Mikha smiled..as he knew that the solution would be simple. Mikha focused his mind and pictured the intense flame that he knew was inside him. He took a small part of it and let it grow. The flame intensified in the hand of Mikha and Mikha started to shape it. More and more the flame started to take the shape of a sphere, small, but with intense heat. Mikha spoke to the flame and said, bless them and protect them. Then he hurled the flame towards the artifact.
Mikha smiled, as he sensed that the artifact was pushed away by his flame. The two spheres started to circle around the planet, as if they where chasing each other. Mikha smiled and sad at the same time. He still did not know who had tried to freeze the planet. He would have to find out.... and then....
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AP 0 = 7 - 7 (Create Artifact: The Sphere of Flame + 3 Blessing)
GP 0 = 12 - 12 DR2
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An Old Urdimkal, Atlantis
It was one of these days, that seemed to come out of nowhere, at completely random times. One of this days in which the sky would shine, with the cold white glow of the frozen star. It was an irritating light that blinded more than illuminated, and it was always a bad sign. Why? Nobody knew, but it was the general consensus. He'd find out why anyway.
His path had taken him to the site where a particularly savage battle had been waged some seasons ago. Had he decided to spend some time foraging the field, he'd certainly have found remains of the battling armies, like broken shields, rusty swords and such kind of items. Suddenly, the temperature fell harshly, and the white glow turned little by little more... bluish. Yes, he'd never heard of something like that, so he turned back to watch the cursed star, yet what he saw chilled his spine. A group of ethereal-looking Urdimkal soldiers, with seemingly rotten bodies and faces, and damaged clothes, armors and weapons, were advancing towards him. He tried to run, but suddenly saw himself surrounded. When he tried to scream, nothing came out of his throat. He was paralyzed in fear.
"Kiiiiill..." was all he could thought of. He'd been shred to pieces, slowly and painfully. It was incredible the amount of pain one could feel before dying, if he had been able to tell his family about it, none of them would have believed it. Of course he had lost that ability, and was now consumed by an unexplainable anger and desire for vengeance. But it was a blind vengeance, for it was only against the living.
From that day on, whenever The White Curse lit the sky, the ghosts of those who'd have a particularly cruel and painful death would come out of their resting places to strike fear among the mortals.
---
(Curse MR3 - Free from The White Curse)
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Ahkram, Hall of Creation
With the defenses of his Hall proceeding nicely, Ahkram decided he could spare more attention for the planet...And he considered all the life, turning away in disgust from the Eyonoi for their crudity, but the rest...Had potential. The Dragons and Alfar particularly intrigued him, for the first could alter their form, and were thus more supple than the rest, and the Alfar made this music that Ahkram enjoyed so.
The two artifacts that chased each other also intrigued him, and so he created the Twilight University (Create Mortal Artifact) to help the various races learn more of the world around them. The University perched at one of the poles where the opposing forces of the Fiery and Cold artifacts were balanced, floating on the water that covered the world. He sent his Ahkrons to guide one of the Dragons to the University and install him as the Revealer of Mysteries.
And then Ahkram decided it was time for another great gift. The Philosopher-King of the Ahkrons and the Revealer of Mysteries discovered the full mysteries of Magic, and taught them to the Ahkrons and Dragons. The Ahkrons were then dispatched by their father to spread the knowledge to the rest of the races, save only the Eyonoi whom their father thought little of.
And Ahkram thought...What if the best and brightest of all the races could join into one, to work to discover more of their world? And so he had his Ahkrons begin testing those they taught, and those that shone brightest, with the potential to be great discoverers, were taken by the Ahkrons to the Twilight University to form the Students of the Teacher, dedicated to the pursuit of understanding (Create Society: Students of the Teacher).
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AP 2 = 5-3: Create Mortal Artifact (Twilight University)
AP 0 = 2-2: Lead Populace x5 (Magic, 3 free from Leader of Men, Ahkram's Compass, and Twilight University), Ahkrons, Alfar, Dragons, Urdimkal, Scraads.
AP 0 = 0-0: Create Society (Students of the Teacher, free from Organized)
GP 5
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Arglwydd, the Dreaming
In the Dreaming, as creatures entered his realm in their sleep, Arglwydd saw the birth of the viscious Umdikal, the Scraads so opposed to his own Alfar, the majestic Dragons, and the nightmares of the savage Eyonoi. No longer were his Alfar alone on this world: no longer could they dream only among themselves. And so, reaching into the musical dreams of the Alfar, the Dream Lord gave to them the power to shield themselves with their dreams, and to impose their dreams upon the world. (Create Class: Psion)
[small]Starting this rollover with 0 AP gives me 1 bonus AP from Impulsive[/small]
AP 6 = 5 (rollover) + 1 (Bonus)
AP 5 = 5 (rollover) - 1 (Create Class: Psion)
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Arglwydd, the Dreaming
As more life was brought to the planet, so too did more and more dreamers make their way to Arglwydd's domain. With them came all manner of wild imaginings. The surreal and chaotic, majestic and malicious.
Gazing upon one of these wild dreamscapes a thought came to the Dream Lord, and he reached forth and told hold of the dreamscape before him. Turning his gaze to the planet, he found a small flower, just bursting from its seed. Into this seed he placed this wild dreamscape, and then spirited the plant away to the Dreamheart.
-
Laune - The Dreamheart - The Dreaming
The flower grows in size, energized by the dreams placed within it. Inside the small flower, a form begins to develop from the chaotic dreams. After some time, the flower begins to open, revealing a child-like form within. Laune awakens and looks around curious about her surroundings. As she does so, the flower she came from wilts, the green of the plant turning to multicolored dust and drifting away. The petals however, remain white and Laune puts them on as a dress to wear since she finds them pretty.
All that remains of the plant is the seed which it sprouted from, picking it up Laune can sense the wild dreamscapes within it still. As she holds it, she also becomes aware of other realms, and sets out to visit them.
-
Arglwydd, the Dreaming
As the newborn goddess begins to set off, the Dream Lord speaks in a kindly voice. "Setting off to leave without so much as a greeting, child?"
-
Laune - The Dreaming
"Setting off to leave without so much as a greeting, child?"
Turning around, Laune looks for the source of the voice. In all the new senses and experiences she hadn't noticed someone else like her. Like her but older. There was a connection between them, from the mix of memories of the wild dreams of her birth a name blurts from her lips:
"Arglwydd"
Blushing slightly, Laune mimics the appearance of someone from the dream memories of her birth. Her hair grows longer and she takes on the size and appearance of a young woman. "Are you my father Dream Lord? So much is new, I wish to see everything."
-
Arglwydd, the Dreaming
"Father?" Arglwydd stretches the word out, as though tasting fine food. "Yes, I am at that. But to see everything?"
Arglwydd gestures and the Dreamheart is remade into pure beauty and innocence, such as no mortal could hope to perceive.
"The thing about everything, child, is that not everything is beauty."
At this last word the Dreamheart changes once more. A place of horror, helplessness, terror and death, devoid entirely of what it just was.
"Remember this, child, if nothing else in all your travels," he says as the Dreamheart reverts to its original shape.
-
Arkh, The Void
It was a terrible sight, to see that... blinding... sphere of fire doing some sort of dance with his creation. It did completely alter the geography of the planet, but that might have been for good, since many animals that used to dwell in the cold regions died by the temperature change. "An evil for a greater good" was Arkh's thought.
In the Planet Arkh could see the dark necromantic arts spreading, though chaotically, and their damage was rather limited with only injury spells and ghosts invocation. For that he decided to enlarge the necromancer's arsenal: the more weapons, the more deaths and the less life.
First, he decided to expand the summoning repertoire. As ghosts were a rather rare sight, he focused on what could be found in abundance: normal corpses. These would be much weaker, but they would work as cheap cannon fodder. (Create Unlife: Walking Corpse [Template]). Suddenly a link was created, and the dark energies would be able to find a place in the resting corpses.
After creating such lovely abominations, he realized that versatility would require to be able to work with even less material. For such, he made so that only bones would work as construction material, making durable, expendable and reliable soldiers. (Create Unlife: Walking Skeleton [Template]).
With the minions made to make a mortal get enough power to let his ambition corrupt him, it was time to set the temptation: an offer of eternal life, or should we say better, unlife, and unlimited power at their hand's grasp. (Create Unlife: Lich [Template]). That would be the epitome of necromancy, a creature hardly a mortal could compare with.
Finally, he decided he'd put a little organization on these dark arts adepts, joining them in a cult that would pay reverence to the lord of the undead, and study such arts in profundity. Like a gentle polar breeze, a wave of individuals across the realms in the planet gathered to study necromancy together. (Create Organization: The Dark Circle). The small hidden groups that formed communicated between themselves over time, and the small cells grew into an organized network. Each cell would be independent of each other in administration, but hidden symbols in the cities and towns would allow members of other branches to identify the presence of local necromancers and get in touch with them.
Over time, a new class of Necromancers rose, usually the formerly Dread Necromancers who'd gotten so much knowledge and power over the rest, and ruled in their local cells of The Dark Circle (Create Prestige Class: Horned Harbinger). Some of those would become beings of such power as to erase kingdoms, and be remembered in legends.
But there had yet to teach the people about the possibilities his dark corrupting arts gave. For such he channeled the energy imbued in his precious Artifact and made creatures rise everywhere. (Curse MR3 - Free from The White Curse). Creatures with the sole desire to eat flesh walked among the living, mostly from graveyards, and with each man that fell to them, a new Walking Corpse rose. They were a plague that spread through the land to terrorize children and grown-ups alike. But not all of them, for some new their Lord had given them a new present to play with...
---
AP: 4 (5-1) - Create Unlife: Walking Corpse [Template]
AP: 3 (4-1) - Create Unlife: Walking Skeleton [Template]
AP: 2 (3-1) - Create Unlife: Lich [Template]
AP: 0 (2-2) - Create Organization: The Dark Circle
(Free from Create Organization) - Create Prestige Class: Horned Harbinger
(Free from The White Curse) - Curse MR3
DR: 2
GP: 5 (15 needed to advance)
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Laune - The Dreaming
Laune watches intently as the Dream Lord molds the Dreamheart one way and then the other. She takes in what is shown to her, but at the same time she picks up some of how it is done as well.
Knowing that she can change her own appearance, Laune attempts to change the area around her as well. Small plants sprout around her feet and then a few flowers which transform into flying creatures, with their flower as a head and the leaves as wings. Satisfied, she lets the area return to the way it was though some of the flower-birds continue to fly around her.
"Thank you for the lesson Father. I think I shall now go to see what lies beyond this place."
-
Arglwydd, the Dream Heart
As Laune left the Dreaming, the Lords of Dreams turned to the work that had been interrupted. It was a delicate thing, picked from one of his own dreams and shaped by his hands, as a way to consolidate his own powers. A gem, perhaps an inch across, of scintillating colors, containing some of the raw essence of dream. (Create Mortal Artifact: The Dream Stone) A grin on his face, he began his search.
Stepping to a balcony of his palace in the Dream Heart, Arglwydd looked upon the infinite dreams of the Material. Millions upon millions of dreams fluttered before him, each unique and precious in its own way. But the Dream Lord held little love for any but his own children, and soon the dreams of Alfar were all he gazed upon. Seeking further, he found those to whom he had gifted the power of the mind, and at last found what it was he searched for. Someone to deal with the abominations of Arkh.
Her dream was one of creation. A merging of the mind and technology. A dream of greatness she would likely forget as soon as he awoke. Arglwydd had other plans for her.
Shimilko Ion Kurgin, Yuthrew, Atlantis
Shimilko Ion Kurgin woke in the black of the night with a start. She could remember her dream as clear as if it had been the whole of her life, and the ideas which grew from it began to consume her. Confused, excited, and restless, Shimilko moved to look outside when she found a strange amulet hanging from her neck, small and constantly changing color. Looking at it, she recalled what had woken her.
She shuddered in awe. At the significance of what passed. He said: "Awaken, my child. Awaken, and make it. Awaken, and take it." (Raise Mortal Hero) (Lead Populace: Psitech) (Create Organization: Children of Dream)
AP 5 = 5 (rollover)
AP 2 = 5 - 3 (Create Mortal Artifact: The Dream Stone)
AP 2 = 2 - 0 (Raise Hero, free from artifact)
AP 2 = 2 - 0 (Lead Populace, Psitech, immediate, Alfar-only, free from artifact)
AP 0 = 2 - 2 (Create Organization: Children of Dream + Prestige Class: Thrallherd)
GP 5 = 5 (15 needed)
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Dreaming, Nicolai
Nicolai giggled while his mother tickles him. Her finger-like sunshine make him squeal and squirm every which way. After shouting for freedom from the torment of laughter, she stopped.
"Nicolai, your time has come."
Nicolai grinned, "Bring it on, I'm not a laughingstock!"
"That is not what I meant, Nicolai. Your dreams with me are over, you must enter the Void as the other Gods have and do what you must."
Nicolai's grin faded. He stood up, his heart beating. Mother had never said anything like this before.
"What do you mean? This is real! I'm not dreaming!"
"Nicolai, looks can be deceiving. I have helped you grow your mind to it's full potential, there is no more I can do to prepare you for your destiny."
His heart beat faster, though he didn't know if it was him or not.
"What do you mean? I don't wanna leave! You're my mom, I love you!"
"Yes dear, and I shall always be with you. My rays of light shall always protect you. But I warn you, never leave the daylight whether cloudy or not. Entering your father's realm, the moon, will have a very bad effect on you. Perhaps fatal."
"But why now? What am I supposed to do? When am I leaving?"
He had so many pent-up questions to ask...
"Now!"
With a flash, Nicolai was blinded he cried out, reaching for those hands of light, only for his own to slip through them. His world began spin and crumble. Random flashes of light popped in and out of his vision. It was blurry, he didn't know what was happening, it was too much - he blacked out.
The Void, Nicolai
He opened his eyes. He was at the Void.
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Sophia, the Void
She woke up in the dark. She knew three things at first: she was a she, encompassing many things she couldn't yet define, the thing around her was the dark, because she knew there was something like light, and she woke up, because she knew she had been dreaming. She had been dreaming of a seed and her father, because there was love there, and she had been dreaming of light, both hot and cold, and of the one who would tame that light.
She stretched. She stretched herself to feel what else was in the dark with her, but nothing reached her. In her extreme loneliness, she stretched again, striving for the light of her dream, and suddenly she could see. There were others like her, but much older and more powerful. She could feel the existence of their houses in planes invisible to sight, and she could see that most of their interest was turned to a small and bright spot in the Void. The lights were there. She ran, and stopped by one of the older gods who was working on it. He felt cold, but also familiar. Instinctively, she knew he had made the cold light, and his name was Arkh. She watched for a while as he created his creatures, and suddenly she realized he was creating them from lifeforms that were once dead. In an instant she was able to grasp the entirety of that small world, and the grandness that it was for some of those creatures to be able to control death. At the same time, she understood the terror it spread on most of the living. She looked at the the cloud form he had taken, as he worked, and felt he wasn't necessarily enjoying the suffering of life, but rather rejecting with all his might that sparkle that made things live.
"But who am I to understand the motivations of the greater gods?" - she whispered, realizing she could talk.
Yet, she felt sorry for those creatures he was making. They were to be controlled, hated and feared for all of their existence, even though they were never given a choice. She took the form of a young woman when she started to cry, wrapped in white fabric, and her power started to gather and expand, until she realized what she was going to do. She inspired deeply and blew, her breath filled with power to search each and every one of those creatures, changing their making forever. (Bless MR5 - All Undead) In each of them, a small seed was planted, a trap for their best feelings from life, their love for life and others, and compassion. A trap which would keep the tiniest part of their previous memories alive, and which most of them would never feel. But for those who, by magic, fate (as in a god's bidding), or happenstance, found their way to this piece of themselves, there was the hope of freewill, self-control, or freedom. For Ghosts, this would mean a chance at definite death. For Walkers, this would mean a chance at choosing their own path. For Lichs, this would mean a chance at redemption.
For every conscious living thing in the world, this would mean a small piece of their soul remains trapped in the material world until their body is completely decomposed or their souls purified (not that they all know how). When she noticed the last part of her blessing, the goddess was terrified. She suddenly realized she had been too young and careless, but she wasn't powerful enough to bless them again. Now it was in their hands. She saw that those who freed themselves would be enough at least to create legends, and make them a little less feared and hated by the living.
Oblivious to any reaction from Arkh, her eyes then turned to the light sources. The White Curse and the Sphere of Flame, they were called. Chasing each other in random orbit around the planet, causing the climate to be cold or hot as they passed, causing some chaos and death, but also life, much better than when it was only darkness. She knew it wasn't in her power to organize them, yet she hoped the young god in her dream would do it soon. "Nicolai" she said "and Sophia."
Now she had a name.
---
AP 5 (12-7) - Bless MR5 (1 MR free from Lifegiver) - All Undead
GP 7
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Arkh, the Void
While observing pleased the interactions of his newly created undead with the living, most of them ending with casualties for the later, Arkh felt a metaphorical chill in the spine. Metaphorical for he had the form of a cloud, so no spine, and for the chill would be better described as a burning. Something was happening, someone was... blessing! And blessing his creatures!
Arkh felt a deep displease and an urge to... growl? It was strange, that was new... He repressed it and searched for the source of his pain. There he found it, a small bright piece of divinity, so much... youth and potential. Scarily dangerous, it was not her force what annoyed or worried him, but its youth's spark. How would the universe become a peaceful place once again with such troublemakers around?
He approached her assuming a form based on hers. His cloud appearance started to take the form of an old, decrepit and phantom woman, with clear signs of decay. It was a ghost of the kid, having lost all desire for life and that annoying spark. A truly beautiful sight!
Upon getting near her, he coldly stated:
"So you dare interfere with my creations? What is it that you seek, young one? Is it chaos and pain?"
The ghost's tone had no inflections, like a person bored to death talking. The facial expression was equal. The truth was that Arkh was not attuned at all to his emotions. He didn't fully notice or understood them.
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Sophia, the Void
The young goddess shivered as the older god approached, his coldness preceding him. When he stared at her and started changing, she could see how great his power was, but instead of fear, she felt awe. He took her own form, and she could see herself old and devoid of life and meaning.
Upon getting near her, he coldly stated:
"So you dare interfere with my creations? What is it that you seek, young one? Is it chaos and pain?"
Sophia looked into the eyes that stared blankly at her. He had done a good job, but the old woman's lack of expression bothered her much more because it was his. How could he be so emotionless? And yet, he seemed quite willing to give her some pain due to her actions, which made him somewhat frightening: an unrealized anger?
"Great Arkh" she said, "Creator of the White Curse. You built a thing of beauty to go around this planet." She took a breath, hoping she wouldn't be out of line. He could probably crush her, and the goddess wasn't all that sure she was eternal. "This image of mine you are wearing... would be very truthful if I were to ever age and decay. But it would also look different..." with this, Sophia gently took his old woman's hand. The goddess skin was fresh, but his was cold as ice. She compared them both. "It really is the same as mine... but so... withdrawn." She let it go. "I don't seek pain, Great Arkh, but your creatures were built on endless pain. Not because they lacked the spark, but because they were controlled, and by others with the spark. I made them stronger, in a way. When opposites are together, great things can happen."
-
Among the ever changing Hall of Creation an oddity arose with shape and form. It differed from the local Ahkrons in that its strength seemed to be greater and its focus entirely different. It was brought into existence through the Hall of Creation, the collective emotions and magic, cumulative to form a being. The swell of creation flooded its mind as it first observed his surrounded. Then, it grinned. Or at least, what could be known as a grin. It let out a hearty laugh. A laugh that could be heard throughout the plane and made many Ahkrons chuckle.
With a loud, hearty voice it said to no one in particular, “Aha! I have come forth into being. Myself, being Oofrums!”
Seeing the creatures around him he immediately felt moved to give them something. Something that would prove to help them in times of sadness and waste. With that he gave them the gift of music so that all will share in forming eloquent melodies and songs. Whenever the occasion was festive the creatures would gather and create wondrous music. Of course, none would learn if there was no one to teach them. Searching among the Ahkrons he singled out one with potential and took him aside and taught him the knowledge of Music. In the Ahrkon's training Oofrums crafted for him a lute, an instrument to inspire and soothe the mind. With this his final steps were completed and he sent him forth to his fellow Ahkrons to play for them and give them entertainment all their lives.
AP 11 = 12-1 Lead population: Teach Ahkrons Music(passive/widespread)
AP 10 = 11-1 Raise Hero: The Ahkhon Musician
AP 7 = 11-3 Create Mortal Artifact: The Charm Lute
GP 4
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Arkh, The Void
Communicating with the young goddess, Arkh felt uneasy. It was not like talking to... well, himself, he hadn't had any communication with anyone but with himself since he had woken up. In any case it was different to with other older gods he could see. They were more... pacific? That was not the word, maybe tranquil... There was a disturbing inquisitiveness in this young one he didn't like, an inner burning propelling her forward that others did not have. It was such the curse she had bestowed to his creations, the way he saw it.
"Great Arkh. Creator of the White Curse. You built a thing of beauty to go around this planet."
"Beauty?", he though. Yes, he could see why it could be seen as beautiful, but that did not match with the image the young one should have been picturing. For him, the Frozen Star was a place of peace, of tranquility, a haven in the midst of the chaos that struggled with the frenetic burning star to tame its wild spirit of destruction, and to bring the final rest the planet deserved.
"This image of mine you are wearing... would be very truthful if I were to ever age and decay. But it would also look different..." That said, to Arkh's surprise, the goddess took hold of his hand, and continued: "It really is the same as mine... but so... withdrawn." While she was letting the hand go, both it and the other one of the pair started fading away, until they came back into semi-existence. Arkh patiently awaited for the young one to throw away what she had on her inquisitive mind: "I don't seek pain, Great Arkh, but your creatures were built on endless pain. Not because they lacked the spark, but because they were controlled, and by others with the spark. I made them stronger, in a way. When opposites are together, great things can happen."
He felt a little pity for her, she seemed to be suffering like those creatures of the planet, suffering life. He realized she knew no better, and was used to be constantly burnt by the curiosity, always in debt, never allowed to just rest...
"The Frozen Star is my gift upon the world," he started, "a gift of peace and tranquility. Any living creature who goes to my frozen domains will find an eternal undisturbed calm. Tell me, what is it that you like in it?".
"My image is a reflection of yours, I can change it if such is your desire..." With those words he changed into a humanoid cloud shape, like a phantom but with even less details, almost a mannequin. "The essence of our difference is that you seem to hold onto something tormenting you, your heart seems restless and your mind goes along with it, seemingly never resting. Has the chiseled diamond got old and decayed? It can be, in the sense that is has lost something, but don't forget it has gained a new form, and new kind of beauty."
"The creatures I created were, in a way, a mockery of the pain they endured in life, and a escape for it. Pain is a flame that consumes your interior that never lets you rest. So mortals travel the world burned by desires and ambitions they cannot fully comprehend, and when they fulfill them they discover the thirst has not been satisfied one tiny bit. They are doomed to repeat these vicious cycles that never end, nor ever permanently satisfies them, until they finally find peace in their graves. Yet, they carry an essence that is immortal, and may find a new mortal repository to keep suffering. My creations are a way to free those souls into the beautiful peace we are all children of, that so much we are denying."
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Laune - The Void
Leaving the Dreaming, Laune finds herself in the Void. Taking notice of the mortal world, she observes it for a time. It was an interesting place, but it contained far too much ugliness and too little beauty. This mortal world seemed a dreary place with creatures that took themselves far too seriously. Still, the world had some charms, and it gave her an idea. She would create a world of beauty of her own.
Drawing forth some of her power, Laune crafts the Feyrealm. Modeling it after the mortal realm, she shapes it into a ball. Then she fills it with verdant mountains, forests, meadows and clear streams of water. Oceans form, with clear blue waters. The sky, she fills with colorful orbs to shine light on the land. Wondrous and wild animals roam the land and fill the skies and seas.
Pleased with herself, Laune admires her work. Still, the realm seems incomplete. It needs more mischief and laughter. Thinking, Laune takes some insect wings, some plants and some of the dirt of the Feyrealm. Mixing them together a small winged humanoid figure emerges. Naming them pixies, the small creatures prove to be adept at all sorts of games and tricks.
As Laune follows some of the pixies, joining in their games at times and other times standing back and observing, she comes across a spot in the Feyrealm that is different from the rest. The magic of the Feyrealm has concentrated in this spot and made the barriers between worlds weaker. Some of the pixies vanish and then reappear as they cross a spot where the mortal realm and Feyrealm overlap. These Fairy Gates bridge the gap from the Feyrealm to wild and untamed places of the mortal realm.
Calling the Pixies to her, Laune instructs them on how to use magic to travel to the mortal world and other planes as well as how to recognize where the Fairy Gates are. Before letting them go to play in the mortal world, Laune also teaches them how to use Fey-magic. The Pixies would now be able to make themselves unseen and perform other magic tricks.
Create Plane - The Feyrealm 3ap (12-3 = 9 )
Create Life - Pixie 1ap (9-1 = 8 )
Lead Populace - Magic: Planar Travel 1ap (8-1 = 7 )
Lead Populace - Magic:Fey-magic 1ap (7-1 = 6 )
AP: 6
GP: 6
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Shimilko, Shrengar (Imperial Capital)
"In the night they creep,
when from the trees we leap,"
Outside, the newest recruits tended the fields of Sa'Alfar. They took pride in their work, and the tune of their song evidenced they enjoyed it as well.
"dragging them into the day,
fighting back the gray."
The first hunt had gone well, and had demonstrated the necessity of the thralls all too well. It almost seemed as though every time she turned around there was another... necromancer. Even as a thought, Shimilko found the word vile, spitting it as an insult. The Emperor had decided on only one sentence for such vile creatures.
"Hunt them down! Wipe their mind!
For the crown, we do blind!
Hunt them, read them,
wipe them," AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH comes the sound of pain mid-chorus.
"Wipe them, and then plant them!"
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Mikha - The Void
Mikha looked down on the planet and he noticed the sudden absence of the curse......the planet felt cleansed. He was unsure about what step to take. As he looked down on the creatures that the other gods had created he felt a need to go down and see what they where capable of. Maybe he would find out what those creatures had done with the "maintain" order. He could also see the Magma Giants up close and see what steps they had taken.
Mikha created a creature that looked like him in every aspect although much much smaller. He looked at it and he took a small piece of his own fire to give it life. He called the creature The Blacksmith, his Avatar. To give his avatar a place to stay Mikha created in the mountain of Therbazent a large cave. In this cave he placed a forge....A holy place of fire. (Create Avatar - The Blacksmith) (Create Mortal Artifact - The Forge)
Mikha smiled as he saw his avatar travel on the world. He felt he needed to think, maybe consult some of the others he noticed around him. Yet he did not trust any of them......the maker of that undead curse was among them and Mikha still didn't know who it was...
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1 - 1 = 0 BAP (Create Avatar - The Blackmith)
5 - 1 = 4 AP (Create Avatar - The Blacksmith)
4 - 3 = 1 AP (Create mortal Artifact - The Forge)
0 + 1 + 3 = 4 GP
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Laune - The Void
Returning to the void from the Feyrealm, Laune observes the mortal realm again. Seeing the pixies playing tricks on some of the Alfar and other races entertains her for a time. Still, the world needs something, maybe a touch of the Feyrealm. Going to work, Laune raises up some of the land not too far from the Continent of Atlantis. Forested hills, Mountains and valleys cover the new land, which Laune names Avalon, The Green Island.
To tend to the island, Laune creates people to live there and protect it. She makes them slender, graceful, pleasing to the eye, living long lives and unaging in appearance. Laune decides to name them the Elves of Avalon.
Seeing that the Elves would need leaders to guide them, she raises up some leaders for each village who will gather together to make decisions for them, The Emerald Court. To guard and protect the lands from those who would harm its beauty, Laune creates Rangers, to roam the wilderness with skill in both blade and bow.
Create Terrain: Land of Avalon (The Green Island) ~250,000 sq mi. 3ap (6-3 = 3ap)
Create Life - Elves 1ap (3-1 = 2)
Create Society - Emerald Court 1ap (2-1 = 1)
Create Class - Ranger (1-1 = 0)
AP 0
GP 12 -> DR 2
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Sophia, the Void
Sophia watched Arkh while he talked. The humanoid cloud talked inflexibly, as if it had no attachments, perhaps in what could be considered truly godlike. She smiled, expecting nothing less from the god who had created the White Curse. He was powerful, and his creation was what had given means to her existence, and Nicolai's.
"The White Curse... I like the stillness of it, her contemplating iceness, and the way she rolls around inexorably. I like the way she ended the dark, ending the insanity that crept among some of the creatures in the world. I like how she curses, because she gives meaning to some of the people's lives. We gods don't have the sparkle of life, ourselves, we're made of something else, and I think that's what makes our creatures so interesting. As much as we have something they'll never have, they have something we'll never taste, something we gave them. Which could bring suffering, but also happiness. And if they do it over and over again, isn't there method and constancy to the chaos?"
Sophia made a pause. She wasn't trying to convince him to like life, but to give it the benefit of doubt. Yet, she had to watch more for herself, the work of the other gods, before continuing to argue. She decided to end it there, if possible.
"Great Arkh, you talk ill of desires and ambitions and the fact that they never end, and I'm glad to see you yourself has things you like and dislike. It is almost safe to say you'll have things you love and hate, though us gods can't love or hate as intensely as our creatures, because our powers would bring catastrophic consequences in the name of our feelings. And, who knows? I might just find a living mortal with a view of things that is keen to your own. They tend to settle down when they get older..."
With that, Sophia left to observe the world. She, too, wanted to play. Instantly attracted to the huge mass that was Atlantis, she approached to see the endless forest and the large spine of mountains. It lacked variety, though. With some effort, Sophia started creating meadows and hills on the northern side of the continent, gently pushing the Ka'Alfar and Sa'Alfar to the sides. Sometimes, she would stop and create rivers and lakes, born in the forests and crossing the lowlands. The final piece of work was to make a large river born in the mountains, going north, crossing the meadows, going through a large plain of grassland and ending in the sea. Sophia named it the Ganos River. (Alter Terrain: the Lands of Ganos) It was then populated with all sorts of small life, from cattle to mice to fish. It looked very peaceful, so she hid some dangers, like river canyons, caves, and predators. Most of all, she dedicated to making a creature of the dark: the wolf. They would thrive in the night with her, survive the cold winters, and some of them would help her chosen ones in their tasks, being able to do limited kinds of magic. (Create life: Wolves)
Then, she went to find an Urdimkal. His name was Chtal, and he had a vivid spirit, being the last son of a noble family. (Raise Hero: Chtal) Her voice reached him in the night, and he felt the urge to start searching... he didn't know what, yet. Sophia imbued him with the love for adventure and the unknown, the eagerness to know more and find more, and sent a female wolf to guide him. He gathered others and looked for a way out of his mountain, finding the river. They became the first Urdimkal Explorers, the first of many to return with all kinds of new materials and techniques. But that was not everything Sophia had in store for him. (Create Class: Explorer)
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Rollover AP 9 (5+4)
AP 6: 5 - 3 Alter Terrain: ~250,000 sq mi. -> the Lands of Ganos
AP 5: 2 - 1 Create life: Wolves
Raise Hero (bonus from Mythic)
AP 4: 1 - 1 Create Class: Explorer
GP 7 + 5 = 12
DR = 2
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Nicolai, The Void
The void... what was this place? A sanctuary, destination, location for the Gods to reveal their true forms and chatter with one another? He had no need for them, though what if they knew how to play top-n-bottom tag? Nicolai shook his head. What had mother wanted him to do? Something to do with his destiny, which he didn't understand as no one could predict what he was about to do.
Rusko, Earth
Upon his decent to Earth, he found he couldn't walk the mortal planes in his true form. Why? Too much power, another all-mighty rule? A crazy powerful sorcery spell? Or perhaps it was just nature playing her part. She was his aunt, after all. In this case, he would need to make a recarnation of himself. While other Gods had created avatars of masterminds and warriors, leaders and kings, Nicolai went along with his favored form; a small boy of 5 feet 3 inches. He was only 14 or 15 of mortal age yet his eyes told oh-so-much-more. With a set of dark brown robes, his figure was athletic for a boy of his size, dark brown hair covered his forhead and down to the nape of his neck. He had a strong tan but no accent of some specific tribe or society. (Create Avatar - Rusko)
Upon the creation of Rusko, Nicolai knew he would need some partners for the deeds he would fulfill. For that he created two heroes, (Raise Hero - Alonzo and Gwenyth). Gwenyth, the battle-maiden and Alonzo the inventor. They were the brother-sister type, Gwenyth would charge into battle full of courage and inspiration while Alonzo used his contraptions and trickery. They were the perfect pair.. but they needed a people who would rally behind her battle cry and help Alonzo with his inventions - creations that would improve life rather than death. (Create Life - Sons of the Sun and Daughters of the Sun).
Both lifeforms were similar in character and looks yet different within. Both worshiped the sun and had tan skin as that of Alonzo, Gwenyth, and Rusko. the Sons were created with a fine-tuned mind and intelligent personality while the Daughters were trained to be battle-ready for the day they were born. Granted they looked more like tan-nymphs than anything else, none recommended you say that anywhere near them. Upon these creations, Nicolai felt a strain of his power, yet he was no where near finished. His creations still needed much more, all which he planned to assist them with. First they needed to be joined together. A society which used the minds and intelligence of the men combined with the protection of the women. These people would be known as Zendikon. (Create Society - Zendikon)
Upon creating a new landmass, Nicolai wondered where the people of the sun would want to live. Perhaps... in the sun? Yes, Dune would be their home. A desert of sand and rock. The People of the Sun lived within the rock formations that tower above the desert. Within the rock formation, great caverns are discovered thriving with life, water, and people. With towers high into the sky, the people could lookout for any incoming danger and ensure themselves to be defended within a natural fortress. (Create Terrain - Dune) ~1,000,000 sq mi.
Finally, the Zendikon were granted a token of their trust and dedication to the sun. The Orb of Life gave them light and life at all hours of the day, which was 17/24 in the desert. They clearly hated the dark and used the Orb of Life as a beacon from their tower to ensure safety from any being with the intention of harm or trickery. This mortal artifact healed the sick, mended scars, and gave blessing to the new-born. (Create Mortal Artifact - Orb of Life)
________________________________________________________________________________
(Create Avatar - Rusko) 12-2 = 10
(Raise Hero - Alonzo and Gwenyth) 10-1-0 = 9 (Free from Mythic)
(Create Life - Sons of the Sun and Daughters of the Sun) 9-0 = 9 (Free from Progenitor)
(Create Society - Zendikon) 8-1 = 7
(Create Terrain - Dune ~1,000,000 sq mi. ) 7-5 = 2
(Create Mortal Artifact - Orb of Life) 3-3 = 0
GP 12
DR2
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Laune - The Void
Having rested for a time after creating the elves, Laune returns from the Feyrealm to the Void to examine the world. Seeing as there is no where to sit, she creates a patch of grass to recline on while looking upon the world.
Glancing at Avalon, her elves seem to be thriving so far. A new continent catches her eye and Laune studies it. It is another desert if slightly different than the other one. But, finding this development of little interest, Laune changes her focus.
Looking closer at the continent next to Avalon, it seems to be different, a new area on one side. Also, there seemed to be a conflict occurring on Atlantis. The Alfar are fighting each other? To Laune one side seems lifeless, the Alfar seeming dead but somehow crudely mimicking life. Having never noticed this phenomenon, it is troubling to her. Speaking to no one in particular she says "Why are the Alfar fighting and what is wrong with some of them?"
-
Laune - The Void
Sighing to herself, Laune ponders what to do. Things were too quiet, at least here among the Gods. On the material plane, her Elves were perhaps lacking in some areas. As their creator, she deserved to be praised. Looking among the elves, Laune finds one worthy, and selects her to be a leader among the elves.
Drawing on some of her power, Laune imparts a series of visions on the girl giving her the knowledge desired. (Raise Hero)
Priestess Holly - Avalon
Holly had been just a normal girl of her village, but over a series of weeks she started having visions of the most beautiful woman she had ever seen speaking to her. Unsure of what to do, the village had sent her to the Emerald Court. The Emerald Court was a large meadow, with a series of tents, the largest of which was used for their meetings. There the Elven leaders, in the finest hides and woven plants found in Avalon met.
Called before them, Holly recounts the visions she has had. After she is done, she is questioned on various points and then the leaders discuss what to do. By the end of the week a decision is made, Holly would be tasked with teaching the elven people of the Goddess Laune and how to worship her. (Lead Populace: Religion)
Laune - The Void
Pleased with the girl, but seeing her to be overwhelmed, Laune stirs the hearts of others and imparts another vision on the girl, that of each village having a priest or priestess. (Create class: Cleric/Priest)
Finally, seeing that the Elves might one day need more room, Laune raises up a series of smaller islands that would surround Avalon and fill some of the gap between Avalon and Atlantis. On each island, she plants flowering trees and names them the Sylvan Isles. (Create Terrain)
AP 5 + 1 bonus from implusive
Raise Hero - Priestess Holly 1 ap (free w/ 1 ap from implusive)
Lead Populace - Religion (5 -1 = 4)
Create Class - Cleric/Priest 1 ap (4 - 1 = 3)
Create Terrain: Sylvan Isles 3 ap (3-3 = 0)
GP 5
DR 2
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Arglwydd, the Dream Heart
Plucking a hair from his head and placing it on the ground, Arglwydd begins to speak to himself.
"It is coming, a great war. The first true trial for my children." By this point, the hair had begun to change, taking on form and shape. "I will not leave them to walk this path blindly." Form and shape finally certain, an Alfar now stood before the Dream Lord. His features those of perfection, almost too beautiful to behold without weeping. "You are Oberon." (Create Avatar: Oberon)
"But I am so much more than merely Oberon. Emperor and Guide of the dream children, I am the Hand of Dream, and I am terror."
The ritual completed, Oberon turned away from the Dream Lord and was in Shrengar.
Oberon, Shrengar
Assuming power of the Imperium was a simple enough task for an avatar of the Father. The Alfar Emperor took upon himself the title of Living Emperor, placing the Immortal Emperor Oberon above himself. His position secured, Oberon set to work on his reason for being. He taught to the Alfar new methods of thinking about the world, giving them the tools to shape the world to their dreams. (Lead Populace: Writing, Engineering) Then he showed to them how the mighty Ka'Alfar could be shaped and carved and combined and bent to create beautiful art, buildings, and horrific tools. (Lead Populace: Crafting Ka'Alfar, Architecture, Psi Weaponry, Psi Barriers)
Taking then to the skies, Oberon showed to the Alfar how these new tools might describe not only the world around them, but their own selves, and how to put those lessons to form. (Lead Populace: Aeronautics)
Finally, Oberon gave a command to his royal court: "Go out to the world in peace now, and discover all that you may."
It was the beginning of a Golden Age for the Imperium.
Arglwydd, the Dream Heart
Arglwydd was undeniably pleased with himself. He knew what was coming, and had done everything he could to prepare, and in doing so had learned more about even himself. (Gain Domain: Mind)
AP 10
AP 8 = 10 - 2 Create Avatar: Oberon
AP 8 = 8 - 0 Lead Populace: Writing (free from artifact)
AP 2 = 8 - 1 Lead Populace: Engineering - 1 Lead Populace: Crafting Ka'Alfar - 1 Lead Populace: Architecture - 1 Lead Populace: Psionic Weaponry - 1 Lead Populace: Psionic Barriers - 1 Lead Populace: Aeronautics
AP 0 = 2 - 2 Gain Domain: Mind (Created Psion + Thrallherd + Psi Weaponry)
GP 15 = Growth! Divine Rank 3!
-
Arkh, The Void
Hearing the goddess speak, Arkh's image started taking a pondering semblance, with the seemingly mannequin figure turning more alike that of an skeleton. After a brief meditating silence, he replied in a very slow and paused tone:
"That gift you speak of is what I call the seed of chaos. It drives things away from order, and throws them in the blinding uncertainty to be devoured by the flames of the unknown. And sure, there is order in what some call chaos, but that is just the apparent chaos, the not yet known. It is just a wild being waiting to be tamed. The problem lays in true chaos. That is the unspeakable horror embodied, and shall consume us all if we refuse to act against it, for it is a beast that cannot be tamed, cannot be reasoned with, and it certainly cannot be coexisted with."
With that said, Arkh took back his meditating posture and awaited for the goddess reply. Of her words he couldn't extract directly-opposing ideas, and to his surprise, at a given point she ended a sentence and left to create even more life. Arkh was confused: communication with gods was certainly very different than with himself. They seemed to be in such a hurry, so... chaotic? "Poor creatures", he thought.
His mind drifted back to a pair of concepts she had addressed: love and hate. It seemed like she gave a positive value of these things, as if passion would be a good thing. "Ah, a lesson must be taught", he thought. He patiently waited until the young goddess was less active to intervene.
After Sophia's manipulations of the mortal realm, she felt something like a cold wind in the back of her neck, followed by Arkh's words:
"You truly are an anxious one, child, like the mortals drowning in water, furiously fighting against their destinies, instead of calmly accepting the unavoidable.
It is clear to me that, though misguided, your intentions are good ones. The problem is that your passion might carry you to cause more harm than good. It is for you think passion is a good force, one you seem to incentive in the mortals, that I need to teach you a small lesson."
With that said, he gestured towards the mortal realm and after sending a chilling wind blow in its direction he continued:
"I will give your mortal children and they relatives that what you seem to appreciate so much: passion. A never-ending desire for more, the continual search for illusionary happiness, the burning thirst that can only be calmed for a while, but never truly satisfies. These children will not only love life, they'll lust it. And this will not be different from what has been done by giving life to these beings, just on a less veiled form, so those who made it can understand their mistakes." (Create Unlife: Vampire) (Curse: Plague spread trough the world through Vampire Bats)
With that said, Arkh turned his back on Sophia and started meditating again about the orgy of life he was sensing in the world. "So much chaos, so little space..."
AP 10
AP 9 = 10 - 1 Create Unlife: Vampire
Free from The White Curse = MR 3 Curse
GP 6
DR 2
-
Arkh, The Void
On his meditations, Arkh realized that part of the problem with the life beings was that they knew no better. Their simple minds were born and raised in a cramped space with others, never to have peace and isolation until the moment the blissful peace came to take them away. That was their only bless, clearly.
As an act of greater compassion, Arkh decided to create in the mortal plane a representation of his paradise, The Eternal Winter. It would be a magnificent land with rocky wastelands, large permafrosts and snow peaks, constantly visited by blizzards, storms and other environmental treats. It would be placed in the southern pole of the planet, encircling a permanently frozen ocean, leaving a canal connecting it to the other seas. (Create Terran: Great Southern Wasteland SR6)
Seeing that many lifeforms flocked to it, as birds and sea-dwelling mammals, Arkh added another bless upon his land: in caves, during snow-storms and in other events in where they could move in more subtle and concealed ways, undead would plague the lands, carrying the open invitation for visitors to join the joy of eternal rest of death... or the unlife.
AP 9
AP 0 = 9 - 9 Create Terrain: Great Southern Wasteland (Extra SR from Landshaper)
GP 15 (Divine Rank raised, GP zeroed)
DR 3
-
Sophia, The Void
Sophia had been watching the god of cold build his world, after a long speech which left her thinking. He seemed to somehow pity her, and he seemed to despise passion, but the passion with which he defended his ideas... Maybe he couldn't see it at all. Arkh had preached about passion, and created creatures of the night, creatures with a tragic destiny, but so close to the darkness she loved. Then he created a frozen land, which nurtured many of his unliving creatures, but so many other living ones.
After a while, still thinking, Sophia looked down to the small world again. Chtal had been exploring the north, and the urdimkal only now began to notice the forming empire to the South. They didn't like the idea of leaving their mountains, so it was the explorer's task to bring them news, materials and technology from far away. Sophia had whispered in Chtal's dreams and he had found many materials and knowledge, but nothing compared to what the Alfar had by now. (Lead Populace: Navigation, Mechanical Engineering) They learned to use the power of the water to move their machines, and they learned to travel further away by river and sea. The goddess saw her hero build an oceanic ship and start to contour the continent, heading south. How to...?
Among the Alfar, the Goddess looked. She looked and found a girl, young enough to have never been taken by a male, but old enough to be approaching her first rites. She was the daughter of a very influential Alfar, and she dreamed even while fully awake. Very gifted, they said. Sophia whispered in her dreams, and Larashi woke up feeling both blessed and disgraced. (Raise Hero: Larashi (Alfar)) A dagger, with the wooden handle encrusted with a circle and a chain in silver was beside her bed, and she instinctively knew it would be the instrument of her happiness and sorrow. She had to leave home, she had to go to the ocean, she had to see unknown lands, meet an unknown man, and either begin or put end to a war. Maybe both. (Create Mortal Artifact: The Sorrowful (small dagger))
That done, the goddess wanted to rest. Yet, she still felt bothered... bothered by the many isolated continents, islands and races. Something else had to be done. She didn't quite know what, but something... Arkh's words echoed through her mind:
"You truly are an anxious one, child, like the mortals drowning in water, furiously fighting against their destinies, instead of calmly accepting the unavoidable. It is clear to me that, though misguided, your intentions are good ones. The problem is that your passion might carry you to cause more harm than good. It is for you think passion is a good force, one you seem to incentive in the mortals, that I need to teach you a small lesson."
She looked for him, approached him humbly, and spoke. "Lord Arkh, you are right, I mustn't let passion carry me - but I am a goddess. We must everyday appreciate and conform to our existence, one which isn't life, because we cannot die. But them..." Sophia pointed to the world beneath them "... they have nothing. When they were undead as you made them, they weren't themselves anymore, they had no purpose. They were like broken toys. I only gave them a purpose. It was natural for them to live and die, but without purpose they would just die, not live. Now... Tell me... Why do you prefer them to be unliving instead of dead? When they die, they're gone. You could have chosen death instead of unlife. Or do you appreciate the motion and happenings on the world?"
---------------
AP 4 + 5 + 5 (rollovers) = 14
AP 12 (14-2): Lead Populace - Urdimkal - Navigation, Mechanical Engineering
AP 12 (12-0 BAP): Raise Hero - Alfar - Larashi
AP 9 (12-3): Create Mortal Artifact - The Sorrowful (small dagger) - Also known as The Charmer.
GP 5
DR 2
PS: Joe, I was a little uncertain about the Lead Populace thing, but since it seemed you did it only to the alfar on your last post... I'm doing the same here with the urdimkals.
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Arglwyyd, the Dream Heart
The Lord of Dreams reaches forth into the dreams of his children, grasping the knowledge he has given them, and with his left hand twists it to his design. The knowledge of air he enhances, seeding the idea of long flight and travel among the Alfar. From this seed sprout inspiration and designs, and from designs are born airships of every size. Great and small, slow and fast, the Alfar set forth with a fervor to fill the air with these floating ships.
In the Dream Lord's right hand he grasps his gifts of architecture and weaponry, and in doing so causes the two to join in strange and new ways. The Alfar set forth to bring their understanding of buildings and engineering to do more than create. From this day forward, they also sought the ways, understanding, and tools to unmake the cities they themselves had forged.
Then, Arglwyyd changed subtly the relationship between the Ular and the Kurgin. The Ular's defeat became something more, something which broke the spirit of the brood, and they soon found themselves in something very different from mere servitude.
Lastly, he looked upon those that served in the Alfar, the Children of Dream. He saw in them the seed of hate for the cold and lifeless creations of Arkh, and decided to nuture it. Feeding this seed with dreams and nightmares of his own crafting, Arglwyyd saw to it that the Children of Dream would eventually seek the eradication of these abominations.
OOC: I intend to have several diplomatic envoys meet with the other races soon, and had been hoping for more activity before doing so, but I'll press on with them tomorrow.
AP 6 + 1 (Impulsive)
AP 6 = 6 - 1 Lead Populace: Airships (Impulsive) - 0 Lead Populace: Siege Weaponry (artifact)
AP 5 = 6 - 1 Lead Populace: Slavery
AP 0 = 5 - 5 Curse: Children of Dream have an extreme hate for unlife
GP 6
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Laune - The Feyrealm
Deciding that she had spent too long away from the plane she had created, Laune returns to the Feyrealm. It was delightful to be in the beauty of her own creation again. Looking into a nearby lake, she reaches her hand into the water and pulls out her reflection. Breathing life into her reflection, Laune then waves her hand. The image in the water changes into that of the elven lands and she places the copy of herself, her avatar, in the forest. (create avatar: The Fey Queen 2ap) With this done, Laune summons the Pixies to inform her of the events since her absence.
The Pixies relate that during her absence mortals had arrived in the Feyrealm through the Faerie-gates that connect the two worlds. Alfar, Elves, Urdimkal and even some small numbers of the other races had found themselves trapped in the Feyrealm. Finding in these mortals a source of joy, the Pixies had played tricks on them. However, some the mortals hadn't enjoyed the tricks as much and some of the pixies had been caught or injured.
“Children, you seem distressed by these events. Be comforted, it is as I planned. Now watch.”
Then, bending the Feyrealm to her will, the world twists and shifts bringing the many mortals trapped to her. For the mortals, it is as if they have been teleported to an entirely different place. Some are taller than Laune, but her presense surpasses her small physical size, as they recognize they are in the presence of the Goddess of this world. A mix of reactions, from fear to wonder ripples through the crowd.
“Behold mortals, you stand in the presence of the Goddess Laune. Those of you that have treated my realm with respect shall be given a gift. You will be able to draw on the power of nature. Once you understand how to use this power, my pixies will show you how to return to your world.” (Create class: Druid 1ap)
“Those of you who have harmed my realm or its inhabitants shall also receive a gift of a different kind, for you will be marked by your time here. (Curse: The feymark MR2) Return to your world now, never to return unless you desire death.”
The Fey Queen - Avalon
Laune’s avatar, the Fey Queen visits the many villages of the elves. Out of fondness for them, she teachs them many things without revealing her true nature. As her teaching spreads, the elves soon learn how to tame the creatures of the land, knowledge of nature, how to survive in the wild, and how to shape things from wood.
AP 10
Create Avatar 10-2 =8ap
Create Class: Druid 8-1 =7ap
Curse MR2 The Feymark 7-3 = 4ap
Lead Populace (Tame animals, Knowledge: Nature, Survival, and Woodworking) 4-4 = 0
GP 5 + 10 = 15 (lvl up, DR 3)
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Ahkram, Hall of Creation
Time, time, time, time...Ahkram could sense how it flowed, faster or slower in the Void or the world or the Hall, and if it flowed, it could be reversed...Then...Think of the potential...Every mistake undone, but that was just the beginning...No longer would he have to be curious about the beginning, he could watch and see how all came to be, his own birth, he only needed...Yes...There...
No.
No, no, no, no...
No!
Ahkram's entire being became an organ for the sole purpose of shrieking as he realized what was happening. All undone, none of his works...No, this could not be!
The shriek intensified as he flexed, trying desperately, frantically, to save his children. The rest could fall, but they had to be preserved!
Ahkram tried to hold against the torrential flow of reversing time, but he could not last. But...What if...There might be a way...The time reversed for him but if he were no longer him then...
He released, falling into the torrent, and with one last agonizing shriek tore into himself.
And it stopped.
The flow of time resumed its natural course, though the peoples of the world were lesser for it, as all that Ahkram had taught was lost.
All that remained was the Hall, and the Ahkrons.
One, very last message echoed in the mind of the being that had once been Ahkram.
It nodded, as it was still of Ahkram, though that no longer existed. The children would be protected.
Eyes opened.
A new God was born.
-
Torus, Hall of Creation
When Torus came into being, he had a slight but fading awareness of some past unknown to him. He only knew that he was not the first to emerge, nor would he be the last. But such thoughts quickly were pushed away, for he was filled with a driving curiosity and desire to see it satisfied.
What was he? He did not know. But he knew what were not like he was, those who lived in a world separate from his own. For such different existences that blinked in and out of their realities like sparks of light, what hope had they? Torus did not understand, yet he wanted to see what could become of such things.
First, though, he had to separate himself from this oppressive plane. This place that felt ancient and oppressive, with histories he could not comprehend. Too rigid, too sturdy, it was a fortress to Torus' mind, one that had stood and will stand constant for eternity, whatever such a concept entailed.
He focused, but when he finished forging his own space, away from the Hall of Creation, Torus could not understand how, only that it felt natural. (Create Plane: The Metamorphoses)
Torus, The Metamorphoses
It was dark, though occasionally faint white glows would illuminate some areas. There was no perceptible ceiling, for it was simply an expanse of blackness. The ground was smooth and flat, though everywhere tall, smooth walls of glossy texture and highly reflective surfaces broke the floor. It was clear that this was a labyrinth, though its walls never remained the same. Torus was unconcerned. The space he determined would be his sanctuary would always appear to him no matter how complex the path. And so, he entered, a wispy entity of gray smoke. He had much to do and no time to waste, even if he had a long time. And he mustn't be disturbed. Not yet, at least. (Lock Plane: The Metamorphoses
What to do first? He wondered about the mortals whose presence he had sensed while in the Hall of Creation. But they were too close, and Torus had no interest in them yet. Perhaps some other creations would suffice as his initial test subjects, for he was not keen on making any mistakes on anything too valuable. Through the worlds, he extended his senses, observing for seconds that passed in his sanctuary, but for decades his non-interacting observation lasted in the mortal world. He had seen his first candidate to attempt "transcendence".
The Urdimkal appeared to be an adaptable people. They already forged things of metals and minerals, cold things and artificial. Why not push them a bit further? Like many mortals, they killed each other, but they were limited in their progress because they would always become too emotional about their losses. No more. Let them understand the true power of fire. Let them become as cold as their creations of steel and stone, and then in that passionless existence, would there finally be room for them to advance beyond the chains binding them to their pitiful existence.
And so his influence infiltrated the minds of two Urdimkal: A young warrior named Argent, and a veteran smith, named Blackhammer. (Raise Hero: Blackhammer the Clockwork Smith, Urdimkal)
Through this gifted smith's hands, Torus subtly guided his hands to forge a vessel of steel and diamond, and through the many planes, the artifact Torus had concurrently forged in his own study took residence in that mortal-crafted vessel. A steel-framed lantern with diamond panes, glowed with a fierce crimson flame that never flickered in the wind, nor was ever quenched by water. A bright red pattern depicting a stylized lotus that burned brightly, seared into the base of the lantern. (Create Artifact: Lantern of Enlightenment, Mortal)
But it was not quite enough. The smith alone could not rally followers to his cause. He was simply a craftsman, though supremely useful, for he would pass to the future, blueprints of weapons beyond the imaginations of his current generation. Thus with the whispers of a faraway god in the deepest reaches of his mortal mind, Blackhammer passed the lantern to the young warrior Argent, who immediately changed, though subtly. His manner became more bold, his eyes, where once were unsure and darting, now looked set and forward (Raise Hero: Argent of Crimson Flame, Urdimkal). He and the smith made their move, and Torus saw through the many years that passed like seconds to him, their expulsion, their exile, their journey across foreign and frightening lands. He saw that they had begun to use the knowledge of the unpredictable fire, to create impersonal methods of death and destruction. (Lead Populace: Gunpowder Research and Application, 20 years)
Outcasts, every one of them. But that was fine, for the few who followed the exiled warrior and smith pair soon grew once tales of their powerful weapons reached the territories under the Kalvaz Kingdoms. In short order, the former outcasts declared themselves a separate identity from the Urdimkal in their fortresses far away from the surface world. These dwarves were wanderers, but hardy visionaries beyond their time, who could understand the changes in the world around them. And they would seek to make their own changes as well. And so they called themselves the Dwarves of the Red Lotus and moved through the surface world, recruiting other Urdimkal who also adapted the ideals of effecting changes to their surroundings, and gaining a place in their world such that they would never have to fear from other lifeforms. (Create Society: Dwarves of the Red Lotus)
Still, they could not continue to be nomads. Torus, in his own world, understood this. And so, through hints in the minds of the dwarves who became his unwitting test subjects, he led them to a vast forest, thick with trees. The native life was quickly exterminated for these Dwarves to replace. Most of the forest was cleared and burned, and with some assistance, a single, self-sustaining, self-contained, white-walled city of marble emerged in the clearing, surrounded by some lightly populated villages. (Create Terrain: The Ivory City)
That was more like it. Torus was pleased that now his experiment would have a place of their own, like he had The Metamorphoses, to pursue their research in earnest. And so he had the now settled Urdimkal outcasts begin the next phase of their existences. (Lead Populace: Basic Scientific Research, Advanced Scientific Research, Fringe Research; Ongoing in series for around 100 years each)
And so the day would come when the legendary smith, Blackhammer the Clockwork Smith, would die, though his fearsome weapon plans would be recorded and researched in the decades, even centuries, following his death. Then too would follow in death Argent of the Crimson Flame, first of the Leaders to rule over the Ivory City. And after his death, the Lantern of Enlightenment passed on to the next Leader, who would see to it that the original ideas of Argent and Blackhammer would continue on.
But such a future was only a vision Torus imagined. The reality, so far as he could see, was that the Dwarves were continuing to build their white-walled city in the midst of the forest. Slipping out of his plane, Torus decided he had enough meddling in the mortal world for the time being, and sought to see what had occurred among those he sensed were like him, in the Void.
--------------------
AP = 12
AP 9 = 12 - 3: Create Plane: The Metamorphoses
AP 7 = 9 - 2: Lock Plane: The Metamorphoses
AP 7 = 7 - 0: Raise Hero: Blackhammer the Clockwork Smith (Free from Mythic)
AP 4 = 7 - 3: Create Artifact: Lantern of Enlighenment, Mortal
AP 4 = 4 - 0: Raise Hero: Argent of Crimson Flame (Free from Artifact)
AP 4 = 4 - 0: Lead Populace: Gunpowder Research and Application (Free from Artifact)
AP 4 = 4 - 0: Create Society: Dwarves of the Red Lotus (Free from Organized)
AP 3 = 4 - 1: Create Terrain: The Ivory City (SR:1)
AP 0 = 3 - 3: Lead Populace (Basic Scientific Research, Advanced Scientific Research, Fringe Research)
GP 12 -> 0
DR 1 -> 2, DR up, GP zeroed
-
Some minor fluff actions:
Lead Populace: Religion (Encourage the worship of Oberon among Alfar)
Lead Populace: Biology
The Alfar Imperium
They felt the change. Deep in their beings, in their souls, and in their dreams, the Alfar felt the change. In ever building, tree, leaf, ship and stone, they saw the world change subtly as Knowledge gasped one last breath.
And then they felt the fires. They felt the Ka'Alfar and Sa'Alfar burn, and saw from the skies as their ash rose into the winds they rode. The great plants destroyed to make way for small and vain creatures that did not know their place in this world.
So it was in fury that the first emissary of Emperor Oberon of the Alfar Imperium arrived at the gates of the newly forged white-city. But the Alfar are children of the Lord of Dream, and they know well the dream of justice.
The Ivory City
It is a clear day outside, with the skies bright in the wake of a just-passed storm. Far from the walls of the city, animals skitter about their lives cautiously. Near as far as the eye can see are the scorch marks that preceeded the construction. So it was as the airship descended on that day.
The airships of the Alfar are not particuarlly quiet things up close. A great buzzing can be heard for thousands of yards as the ship touches down, followed by the crash of the gangplank as two dozen Alfar make their way to the gates of the Ivory City with efficient purpose.
On one of every three of the walking plants are the marks of Brood Kurgin, with the rest split evenly between the closed white eye of Arglwyyd and the blood drops of the Children of Dream. Not that these Urdimkal knew the meaning of these yet, but they would learn.
Upon reaching the gates of the city, an eye-marked Alfar, of slightly stronger build than his eye-marked peers, steps forward and speaks to the minds of the Urdimkal.
"We are the Alfar. The offspring of that which you burned and destroyed. Come forth and answer for your crimes!"
AP 6 + 1
AP 6 = - 1 LP: Religion - 0 LP: Biology
GP 6 of 18
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Laune - Feyrealm
Laune could feel her powers changing and growing. She felt more attuned with nature, as if it was a part of her. (Gain Domain: Nature)
The mortals who had come to the Feyrealm were gone, scattered across the wild places of the world they came from. Those that survive might form small villages. Some of the mortals remained, having begged to stay. Laune had mercy on them and allowed this. This mixed group of mortals would collect those that wandered to the Feyrealm and reveal the secrets granted to them.Taking some crystals, Laune plants them in the grown and they begin to grow into towers. The towers that will grow would be a beacon that would attract those that get lost. (create society: The Shining Towers).
The Fey Queen - Avalon
The Green Island would not hold the elves for much longer. It is time for them to spread out into the world. The Fey Queen would give them the tools they would need to make their first steps by showing them how to craft boats and how to navigate the waters. Those she taught would share their knowledge allowing the Elven tribes to venture out to the Slyvan isles and beyond (Lead Populace: Shipbuilding, Navigation). The journey far from home would be full of challenges. To lift their spirits, she will bless them with music to comfort them in times of sorrow and celebrate in times of joy. (Lead Populace: music)
Laune - The Void
It having been a long time since visiting the Void, Laune returns there. Some of the others she had sensed before seemed to be gone. But, she could sense a new presence. Drawing near this new god, Laune attempts to get a good look at him. Laune’s own appearance has settled since her birth, taking the same shape as one of her elves, with tanned skin, reddish-brown hair and brown-green eyes. White flowers decorate her hair like a tiara matching a white dress.
AP 6 +1 impulsive
Gain Domain: Nature 3ap (6-3 =3) (Classes: Ranger & Druid; Lead Populace: Tame animals, Knowledge: Nature, Survival, and Woodworking)
Create Society: Shining Towers 1ap (free from impulsive)
Lead Populace: Shipbuilding, Navigation, music 3ap (3-3=0
GP 6
DR 3
-
Arkh, The Void
Surprised, the Elder God saw little negative reaction to his tragic creations from the Young Goddess. "Wicked as it is, it's almost like she enjoys it, the tragedy... The villainy of passion!" he thought. She then came back at him with a response to his words, which left him quite annoyed. As she spoke, his Skeleton form began to become more and more ethereal, with crackling sounds of orbiting ice shards breaking.
"No, you tell me... why do you assume to know what I prefer or do not? How can you attempt to read such chaotic things as desires and preferences? If you want to know, I prefer peace..." As Arkh noticed his agitated state, he started forming a large black-as-the-void cape in which he covered himself, only letting his skeleton face and his bony hands revealed. While doing this he continued, in a sort of absent mumble: "And the unlife is but a way to achieve it. Dead creatures are not opposition to life, unlike undead creatures, who will counter-balance the living one's destruction.". As he said this, he thought to himself he had indeed grown quite fond of his creations, in a possibly unnatural way. Possibly a weakness... In a moment of silence he thought to himself "such are the perils of dealing with life so closely", before proceeding in a more firm tone "I have no form of attachment to the creatures that are only to serve their function. Only in the expectation that they do so correctly. Success rate that is now lower since you cursed them with the ability to awake from their peaceful slumber of unlife. But I can work around that limitation of theirs. There are many things one can do. In fact, we can give each living creature a special unique present, to maximize effectiveness.
Saying so, he looked into the planet and made a gesture with his hands, indicating a demand for something to rise from the ground. And things rose.
Create Unlife: Angel of Decay "The outsiders, these need someone to put them in their own place!"
As a mockery to the wise and mysterious Ahkrons, came Arkh's Angels of Decay, in order to show the true nature of those apparently superior beings. Everywhere they would seek to hunt the Ahkrons, and undo their doings. Though their grudge is special against the Ahkrons and any other outsider they sense, no living creature, but very powerful Necromancers, is at peace with them. And the peace with these Necromancers is an uneasy one.
Create Unlife: Dream Vestige "The sons of the dream and the nightmares, great specialists in making both of these come alive, they too should find the peace of unlife. Why not through the substance they are made of?"
Born and more prevalent in the Alfar populations, though not restricted to those, these monsters of nightmare lurk mocking the dream lord while hunting his children.
Create Unlife: Mohrg "The Urdimkal, so obsessed with vengeance and retribution. Well let's aid them in that task, bringing punishment for those who escaped it, and for those that failed to apply the law."
From the remains of brutal unpunished assassins, terrible creatures spawned causing chaos to the region and peoples that allowed such being to meet his eternal rest without doing the same with justice.
Create Unlife: Grave Dirt Golem "To their technology-driven siblings, some rotten advances for them to enjoy."
Out of the experiments of Necromancy-practicing Dwarves arose a necromantic machine that would soon be replicated more than it should...
Create Unlife: Ghoul Create Unlife: Lacedon "The bestial Eyonoi, deserve nothing more civilized than their undead counterparts."
Now resting was unsafe both near land and near water in the Eyonoi lands. As long as one would prefer to stay alive, of course.
Create Unlife: Dracolich "The arrogant Dragons, when set it their right places, can make good serfs."
Though nothing happened instantly, the spark of potential arose, and it was only a matter of opportunity of an evil Dragon mixing with the right necromantic arts to form this incredibly powerful beast.
Create Unlife: Carcass Eater "Ah, your precious Wolves, creatures of honor and love. Let's give them something new to love."
Eating the carcasses of any animal available, whenever possible preying in the young wolves not momentarily defended by their packs, the Carcass Eaters turned life for Wolves (and for any living creatures that met them, as they gradually expanded their presence) into a more dangerous one.
Create Unlife: Bloodmote Cloud "The annoying pixies, childish creatures of the forests. This will be a new toy which we'll see how funny they'll find."
Specially present in swamps and filthy lands, the Booldmotes migrated to almost every forested place in the mortal realm, looking for all those who inhabited them, to suck them dry of their precious blood.
Create Unlife: Crypt Chanter Create Unlife: Spectral Lyrist "The isolated and elevated Elves. Don't they love music and arts? Then that they shall have."
Both haunting and beautiful melodies start echoing through the Elven Forests, specially in the Sylvan isles, giving Elves a taste of what dangers the lands outside their island will present them, and a reason not to trust very much the music makers.
Create Unlife: Bleakborn "The wastelands are not welcoming enough. Let's make them receive their visitors properly..."
In the wastelands of his creation, around the very common frozen and unforgiving places, a new creature rose in order to call forward others into its unliving slumber. Even when not directly encountering these beings explorers with not enough precaution that got lost in freezing climates, suffering death by either environmental or magic cold, could end up turning into one of these unliving murderous traps for travelers.
"Ahh, is this not good?" Asked Arkh with evident pleasure.
AP 0 (12-12) (Create Unlife: Angel of Decay, Dream Vestige, Mohrg, Grave Dirt Golem, Ghoul, Lacedon, Dracolich, Carcass Eater, Bloodmote Cloud, Crypt Chanter, Spectral Lyrist, Bleakborn)
GP 12 of 18
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The Ivory City
The Urdimkal were confused by this strange form of communication, but they did not falter. They had long ago asserted in their minds that they would suffer judgment from no other power that walked their world.
Looking above at the airships, the now-advanced autocannons that had since been established at the walls took aim and fired.
That was their answer to the Alfar, for better or for worse.
Torus, The Void
Upon seeing the goddess take a seemingly mortal form, Torus pondered whether he would do the same. But in the end, he decided against it, maintaining his mostly vapor-like appearance of wisps of gray smoke. He did not wait long, as he said, with the sound of impatience in his voice, "Can I help you?"
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Laune - The Void
A voice comes from what appears to be a cloud of smoke,
"Can I help you?"
Finding the question funny, Laune laughs. As she examines the cloud for a moment, a smirk appears on her face. "Help me? Oh I don't think you could help me with anything, at least not right now. I wanted to greet you and find out who you are. My name is Laune."
Glancing down at the mortal world, she says "Things are getting interesting down below aren't they?"
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Arkh, The Void
Paying better attention to the Alfar, he noticed a group of them more enthusiastic than usual in the eradication of his undead. The Children of Dream. He pondered what to do with them, and finally thought it would be better to attack at the root of the problem. He would make that which separates them from his undead their weak spot: their feelings. He would make so the loved ones of the Children of Dream would get unusually interested in the ways of necromancy: their families, their loved ones, even their own children.
Seeing that as not enough, he decided to go on. He chose a promising Alfar Necromancer, a natural leader, and bestowed upon him a gift and a task: to lead the rebellion against the Emperor, sabotaging his authority and giving the oppressed populations an illusion and fake hopes of change. For that, Arkh crafted an object that would channel his energy, and augment the necromantic use of magic of its user in unthinkable ways. (Create Mortal Artifact: The Divine Staff of Necromancy). Then he placed inside a cave in a hill of Atlantis.
Mal-Korkhat Ion Kurgin, Gulisain Hills, Atlantis
Mal-Korkhat, of the Ion clan and the Kurgin brood, who had became the scourge of the Gulisain region and controlled its very capital, Zolnaek, hid now like a rat in the Hills of Gulisain. The cursed imperial forces had not tolerated his rule over this rural region, and made him flee to avoid certain death. On his meditation, he was interrupted by a disturbance he felt on his acolytes, for his Alfar henchmen had found something in the caves that didn't seem of this world. Having his Skeletons opening and closing doors on his way, he moved to the source of the commotion. Around one of his unholy altars, he found several of his highest ranked disciples debating in low voice. Without a word he casted them aside and took a look at the finely carved staff, made almost entirely out of bone, in an extremely unnatural way, for there should be no animal in the world able to provide raw material for this. Its top was the skull of a goat, with two large twisted horns. Its shaft was slightly irregular in the middle, providing a good grip, and ending in a spear-like bone blade. Its texture seemed that of the ivory and its strength was much higher than what would be expected. Two onyx-black stones were socked in the eyes of the goat skull.
No words needed to be said. For long had he dreamed of this moment, and for long had he patiently waited. It was now time to start mobilizing the rest of the cells in the Imperium. It was time for a revolution... (Create Organization: The Dark Order)
Along some distant regions, the local lords did not content themselves on the subtle plotting and sabotaging of the empire. They would go further: the directly revolted against the central government and made a Theocracy to which Mal Korkhat was invited to rule. A dark era had begun for the citizens of said areas. (Create Society: The Dark Hagiarchy)
AP 6 = 6 - 0 MR3 Curse (Free from The White Curse): Children of Dream's loved ones have an unusual interest for unlife.
AP 3 = 6 - 3 (Create Mortal Artifact: The Divine Staff of Necromancy)
AP 3 = 3 - 0 (Raise Hero - Free from Mortal Artifact)
AP 1 = 3 - 1 (Create Organization: The Dark Order)
AP 0 = 1 - 1 (Create Society: The Dark Hagiarchy)
GP 16 = DR 4
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Laune - The Void
Growing bored from the lack of response, Laune drifts from the silent God.
The undead seemed to spread throughout the world below. Laune found them ugly mockeries of nature. They seemed to resist decay, to resist how chaos wears things down into their base elements. With an idea now forming, Laune curses the undead. "Rot foul creatures, your bodies shall decay and turn to dust. Your dark magic may preserve you for a time but your minds shall rot and memories fade." (MR 6: Entropy Curse on Undead) Laune knew the curse wouldn't rid the world of undead by itself, but it would prevent them from growing without limit and overwhelming the living.
With that done, Laune decides to create something to live in the sea. The seals that live on the coast attract her attention and thus she decides in a moment to transform some of them into something new. The seals morph and change as she molds them. They would be the Sealkie, mortals able to take the form of seals in the water and yet able to change their appearance so that they can walk on two legs like the elves.
AP 12 (6ap/wk x 2)
Curse MR 6: Undead Entropy Curse (12ap - 11 = 1)
Create Life: Sealkie (1ap -1 =0)
GP 6 + 12 = 18 DR 4