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View Full Version : Build-A-Legend: "The Crystal Isles"



Admiral Squish
2014-12-26, 11:18 AM
Welcome to Build-A-Legend! It's a simple game, but I do hope you'll enjoy it.
Your task is simply to create the legend behind the name given below. It can be a creature, a place, an event, an idea, or pretty much any other sort of noun you can think of. It can be in any setting you can think of, from high fantasy, to sci-fi, to alternate history, to official settings, or it can even be its own setting, if you're that ambitious. Each week, on Friday, I post a new thread, with a new name for people to build on, and add the last one into the archive. If you'd like, you can suggest names for the future. There's no rules, just have fun and try not to insult other people's creations. Do those count as rules?

The Name: The Crystal Isles

“The Iron Cathedral” (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?378644)
“The Glass Sea” (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?378644&p=18306562&viewfull=1#post18306562)
“The Hounds of Kel'ranu” (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?380942)
“The Vanishing Heights” (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?382217)
“The Order of One” (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?383641)
“Rono's Folly” (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?384719)
“The Day of Shadow” (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?385764)
“The Wandering Crown” (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?386947)
“The Silver Legion” (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?387896)
“The Menagerie of Tehn-Keltan” (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?389014)

Taet
2014-12-27, 12:27 AM
The Crystal Isles are a street legend. They are a sort of heaven for smokers where the smoke dreams last forever. Or for smokers who dream of stopping they are a place where the smoke can leave a body yet not kill. Or maybe they are islands where nobody has heard of smoke and nobody dies of it. So the poor but hardworking people say. Or the smokelords are right and the Crystal Isles means the pleasure palace of a smokelord who took the money and left and lived to tell the story. The Crystal Isles are always somewhere else. They always have something to do with smoke. And every time the smokelords send out orders to stop the stories getting told something odd happens to the smokers of the city and smokelords fall from power.

The ISoLation EnvoyS work very hard to keep those stories going. They sing on the street, they talk in dirty smoke-houses, they trick smokelord's soldiers into fighting one another, sometimes they kill a girl who is new to the smoker life. Poor Crystals. It is a bad thing to share a truename with a precious magus. And the ISoLation Envoy Crystal has precious knowledge.

In seven years she gathers the energy and the magus Crystal speaks the true name of addiction and the message: Break thou the chains.

And it echoes in the mind of every body trapped in smoke: Break thou the chains.

And the chains break.

Imagine the chaos when a six year smoker looks at the next pipe. For that pipe he would feel all the pain of killing his mother and father yet kill them anyway. Imagine when he looks at the pipe in the smoke-house keeper's hand and says No thank you and turns away. In every street. Everywhere.

Every magus in every street everywhere owes a life debt to a smokelord. Except ISoLation Envoy Crystal. They have seven years to live once that call goes out. Because a magus who failed to find the Crystal Isles and the magus who lives there dies when the call goes out again. Every seven years the smokelords fall. Smokers go free and some have the strength of will to stay free. And the mind of every magus everywhere turns to finding the reason for this chaos. No others stay free. No one who can learn the precious knowledge and not take it to a smokelord.

The ISoLation EnvoyS are kept very busy indeed.

Admiral Squish
2014-12-29, 02:25 PM
Man, this one seems to be quiet. I suppose it could be the holidays, but I thought this name had some pretty good potential.

ImNotTrevor
2014-12-30, 06:26 PM
Oh, the Crystal Isles. Of all the locations in the Thousand Worlds of the Praetorium, the Crystal Isles are among the most magnificent.

Located on the world of Halcia, the Crystal Isles are an archipelago that attracts visitors from around the Thousand Worlds. The islands themselves are most closely related in appearance to the Earth islands of Hawaii, though the flora and fauna are very different. What sets the Isles apart is the sand of the beaches. The unique chemical structure of the sea and the unique silicates found on Halcia lead to sand that is formed into smooth, clear pellets that bend and reflect light in a manner similar to diamonds. So much so that early settlers believed that the beaches were indeed made of diamonds.

While visiting, remember that beyond being a fashion statement, sunglasses are practically a must for beachgoers looking for a swim. The crystal beaches are very bright! But when the sun starts to set, the beaches provide a glittering crimson edge to the horizon for a sunset you have to see to believe. At the center of Atma, the largest island of the archipelago, stands The Pillar: a solid crystal the size of a mountain. The crystal is clear as glass, and recent techniques have allowed for workers to dig into The Pillar without clouding the crystal, leading to a set of tunnels that spiral through the vast glassy structure without impeding the view. Adventurous tourists can climb the tunnels and look out over the Isles, or even look down to see the ground far below them.

Atma City surrounds the Pillar and is one of the finest cities in the Praetorium. The inhabitants are friendly and devoted, and crime rates are low even by the standards of the Praetorium. So feel free to relax as you walk the streets. Atma City is a family-friendly, safe environment.

The Crystal Isles are so popular, even the Dissenters have attempted to take Halcia and Atma City. See the memorials to our fallen heroes on the north end of the island and even beam a message to the security forces in orbit above the planet. Our men and women in uniform love to hear from you!

Even the Praetor himself, Alexander Sovereign XVIII, owns a small vacation home on a small island now known as Sovereign's Cove. A small village is there year-round, and visitors are allowed to tour the Praetor's vacation home when he and his family are not visiting. Sometimes, if you are lucky, you may see him, his wife, and his son enjoying the sparkling beaches.

Many visitors choose to stay at Glidefish Resort, a premium beach resort complete with shopping, beaches, spas, and 5-star dining. Be sure to stop by Glidefish Grill to try fileted Glidefish topped with homegrown Papaya and the local Jam-nut. It's simply too delicious to pass up.

Travel packages start as low as 2000 Hex, so any family can come down and enjoy some fun in the sun! Book your vacation today!

Honest Tiefling
2014-12-31, 05:20 PM
The Crystal Isles are beautiful, with a gleaming pillar of pale crystals the size of a mountain can be seen in the distance from all of them. The beaches are made of fine grains of the same material, causing a play of light beneath one's feet from the reflections of the grains.

The crystals that have been harvested are hard like diamond, and twice as brilliant. They are valued so highly that opal is seen as a pale intimation of the crystal's play of color and beauty. Some sages believe they have magical properties and a large crystal from these isles graces the Empress's crown, likely the most valuable gemstone in the world. More then one thief has risked their life to steal it, despite the number of wards known to be protecting it.

Why would such a thing be so valuable if there is a mountain of it, waiting to be harvested? That is because going to these isles is dangerous. Not because of any monster or beast, for no life flourishes on these shores. Anyone who breathes in the air of these lands begins to feel a pain in their chest and finds it difficult to breathe. The crystals grow within those who come here, eventually preventing breathing or even piercing the lungs as the crystals grow larger and larger within the person. In a matter of days, the entirety of the person has become the crystal, forming a dense cluster of them that barely resembles a man. Only the remnants of gear would ever indicate that there was once a person here.

Many sailors refuse to set sail for the place, speaking of man-sized boulders twinkling brightly in the sun on the shores of the isle. Few know how any of the crystals have been harvested, but most suspect it is a grim affair that only the most greedy would pursue. Thankfully, these gems seem to lack the magic of the isles...As far as anyone knows.

Durkoala
2015-01-02, 09:01 PM
I was working on some things for the Sliver legion and Wandering Crown that got delayed by life. Should I post them here or in their respective threads?

Anyway, Crystal Isles, with ponies!
When I was a brony I had the idea of a grimdark future Equestria, caught in an eternal war between many different species. The ponies had become elitist, racist and were in general the most skilled at magic; the Diamond Dogs were heavily mechanised, but understood their technology poorly as most of it was created by a mad human millenia ago, who they worshipped as part of their trinity of the Dog, the Wolf and the Man; The Changelings infiltrated and took over the empires of others; the Nightmares or the Blanks were inspired by the flash game Story of the Blanks, an immense zombie army of varying intelligence; the Griffins had started their own aerial empire but were usually considered a annoyance or mercenary force rather than a serious competitor.

There were plenty of silly details that I thought up: The Mane Six had been mostly remembered as bloodthristy warriors, The Nightmares were actually trying to stop the war but wanted everything dead anyway, The Man, creator of the the Underground Empire of Dogkind was actually Wallace and the Dog was Gromit, Discord was placed in the keep of Canterlot. It was mostly believed that he was a petrified foe of the Mane Six, which was technically true, but the constant war was beginning to crack his prison, and he was powerful enough to be a side all on his own.

It turned out that I'm not very good at writing grimdarkness because I kept adding bits of light into it. There was a multiracail group chosen to be the next bearers of the elements of Harmony, several neutral powerful creatures that were close to Discord's level and a cyborg Granny Smith driving around in a tank rewarding the good and ignoring the evil because they'll kill each other eventually. Because I decided that Post-Season 3 wasn't for me, I never thought about the crystal empire. Until now.
Log of the Airship Razorwind, 14 slivers into Thaw of year 13 of Airlord Apollo

Today we saw a marvellous sight. We were on a daring engagment scouting the frozen wastes near Whinnyago, with clear, cool skies. As all signs seemed to point to a perfect anticyclone, so there was some surprise at an apparant cluster of cumulus. We moved to investigate, as there seemed to be some kind of anomalousness about them. The pony town has been damaged by the recent attacks of the Houndkind and Changelings and must not have thought they could spare the force to challenge us. We dropped several bombs on the return journey and left before they could retaliate, but failed to hit any major structures, although I must say that I struck a flower clock dead on from 300 feet.

But it is a stranger matter that needs recording, brilliant though my exploits may be. The ersatz clouds clouds were hanging low over the valley and sparkled like frozen snow. They stretched out in a curiously flat formation, with spire-like formations rising up from surface. As we approached, they lost their uniform whiteness and sparkled in all the colours of the rainbow. While we saw several ponies on their surface, it was not until we were practically on top of the formation that we realised what we were seeing.

These were not clouds at all, but an enormous collection of floating buildings and roads built from a variety of crystals. The ponies were neither pegasus or unicorn, but they possessed crystalline coats. As there were no visible weapons or warriors, we decided to try conquering this place for the Griffin Empire. However, our opening shots were blocked by a force field that resisted all of our rifles, bombs and cannonballs. We could find no way through it, no matter how where we flew the Razorwind. In desperation we armed ourselves and flew down in a raiding party. We were utterly humiliated when the field halted us all except for Ship's Cub Bernadette, who proved to be as useless as ever when the city faded away when she tried to land. She has been unable to explain how she got past the barrier and has fallen into silence after the bombing of Whinnyago, skulking in the depths of the ship and avoiding the crew.

This news must reach the Airlord. Such a place of beauty in the hooves of the equine is a travesty, especially since these thousands of crystal isles in the air are the perfect place for griffins, the only race to be capable of leaving the ground entirely.

Admiral Squish
2015-01-02, 09:08 PM
I'd say post 'em in their respective threads, if only so you can find 'em if you want to look back on 'em. I don't think any of the threads are old enough for it to be called necromancy at this point.

I very nearly forgot to make a new one today...