Neyla - The First World

[ImperialSunligh]

Spoiler: The Creation of the Goraipatzen

Show

The dark beast, Sakona, in a corrupt, indecent imitation of ancient happenings, spat forth a cadre of beings from its mouth. These were not like the dragons or other beings that existed above the waters. They were bizarre abominations of beings, fitting for their dark progenitor.

These beings were known as the Goraipatzen. They had a somewhat human-like form similar to that which the Caetus could take, but much shorter, with ill-defined, ugly features. They had prehensile tails similar to those of rats, grey fur that covered most of their bodies apart from random bald patches that revealed their wrinkly, dark green skin, and ears similar to those of rats, though frequently mangled and pointed in odd ways.

The Gorai, a shorter term with which they were often referred to by, had no gills or other physical means to survive under the water, and so quickly drowned. Yet their strange, physically illogical biology made them resilient enough to constant drowning that they were able to live twenty years without rising from the water, and were able to reproduce and live under the water. Most lived 30 years per old age, regardless of their homes.

The Gorai lived in constant pain from their drowning, but very few rose from the waves to live on land. The creatures had a natural inclination towards the deep waters and cannot leave it without feeling great regret and sorrow.

Their physical state made them extremely resilient to being killed. They did not live long compared to the other races, but rarely died of anything but old age. They were easily damaged, and went through pain as much as any other, but were very difficult to outright kill. A Gorai can be chopped into many peaces and still be alive, and fighting, however well it can. Some have even told stories of Gorai being ground into dust and still living, still moving. These are likely false, but the Gorai are resilient of death to the point of ridiculousness, causing them to be far less empathetic towards their soldiers than other races. Where dragons have very few, valuable combatants, Gorai warriors attack in armies of hundreds of thousands of expendable units.

These beings were born with the knowledge of the dragons, of Sakona and of the "Axis", a mysterious being of great power. The Axis in truth was centrum, and they told tales of its great deeds and how it has existed even before the universe. The worship of the Axis was warped and fractured, showing not adoration, but a desperate desire to understand the being's confusing goals, and for some, to understand its methods, its nature and to gain its power.

Sakona did not ravage the Gorai as it did others, and the Gorai saw it as a great father. They looked up to all dragons in a similar way. Most were fanatically religious in regards to the dragons, Sakona and the Axis. Their place in the depths was rationalized by the Gorai being "fallen creatures", not worthy of the glory that the dragons held in their sky cities. Sakona was seen as the most charitable of all dragons, lowering itself to even their level, so high was its virtue. Gorai religion taught its followers to look to Sakona's charity, as they saw it, and similarly sacrifice oneself for the good of the Gorai, of the poorer and more downtrodden.

Many different tribes sprouted up in this time, such as the Erretxinaz, the Zoriontsu, or the Gainbeheraren. These tribes were once but different families of Gorai, but gradually formed into tribes, who held differing beliefs on minor aspects of faith, among other trivial matters. These tribes fought over such things frequently, and peace in this time was rare for the Gorai.

Spoiler: Crunch

Show

Roll: 2d6+3+45=56


Command Avatar, Sakona, Create Race: "Goraipatzen" (AKA "The Gorai"), -1

Left: 55
Law Bonus: 4
Cult Bonus:

[Omegonthesane]

Spoiler: Diplomacy

Show

"It is unfortunate that you see things this way, poor child of chaos," said the cloud of endings. "Alas, it is not out of concern for our creations that the Watchers are angered, but concern for their own portfolio.

"Near the beginning of time, after the Inevitable gave immortal form to Orat'hoth's children, we decreed that they would be reborn in a more literal sense given the chance. Before, they had merely passed into the earth and become the trees and animals that their children would eat; after that point, they could influence the living again and again. It was for this purpose that I ultimately spawned the Shedim, whose entire life takes place after their death - so that they might be reborn, over and over, so that in each moment the world has grown greater than in the last.

"By marauding through time and space, and obliterating every soul they can find, the Nil-Atath are striking at the very power source of the Watchers. I acknowledge that they have not been so deliberate or successful in this as the Pillar - had they been, I would not have been able to convince the Council to hold back their anger.

"If this is the result of free will unbridled, then perhaps free will should not, in fact, be unbridled. The idiot Hothrid knew better than to abandon their kittens to the wild before they had opposable thumbs - how much more beings such as you and I ought to know better than to abandon our creations. If Iedo'Ono is unable to comprehend his duties alone, then we shall provide him the means, and strip him of that excuse.

"I have been absent from the world too long, child of possibility. Goodbye for now."

With that, the disturbing presence of Nysatek departed the Domain and returned to the earth.

Spoiler: Starspawn

Show

Meanwhile, strange beings began to appear out of nowhere in the Crystal Scar. They had the vague silhouette of the Nil-Atath, a serpentine length atop which a torso grew, a torso with six limbs and a head. Yet, where the Nil-Atath would always have eight talons, these creatures normally had either eight thin tentacles or four thick arms, which changed and fused into new forms if they had an intermittent need for less versatile limbs, becoming wings or scythed talons or poisonous barbed tails. Where the Nil-Atath had writhing claws for a mouth, these beings had fleshy tendrils - tendrils which indicated finer motor control than most beings could, and were suitable for the gestures of Watcher sorcery. Their bodies rippled and shifted, adapting to the terrain beneath, and their disjoint brains worked in far better union than those of the "true" demons.

These were the results of a subtly different timeline, in which Nysatek had instead driven the Council to act within the Nil-Atath themselves. Diplomatic contact with the Proteans had been the result, quickly followed by war, and many Proteans had engulfed and absorbed Nil-Atath only to be permanently changed, regardless of which personality believed itself to be the winner of the synthesis. They were the Starspawn, who had escaped the timeline in which they were supposed to exist, bringing with them the very thing Nysatek had been vaguely dreaming of having its Shedim create in the far future - the Tesseract of Wisdom, a self-updating encyclopedia of mortal knowledge, trivially perusable by anyone whose sanity and senses were strong enough to withstand the load of information contained inside.

In practice, mortals who wished to use it tended to require a sacrifice, who would go permanently insane comprehending the Tesseract, becoming able to function only as a reference for it - only able to respond to requests for the information inside. Thus it said inside the Tesseract itself, which had been used in its original timeline.

Spoiler: Servants of the Gatekeeper

Show

In the boundless emptiness of Limbo, the original Proteans had constructed strange models of worlds real, worlds potential, and worlds that could never exist, unbridled by reality, with only the movements of Chorud the Gatekeeper for inspiration. Chorud, for its part, was - like all Watchers - older than time itself, and had sufficient contact with the Council proper to be reminded of such things, and to see to the task of keeping the Proteans fed and sane.

Not satisfied with being the babysitter of the non-plane, the Gatekeeper began delegating responsibility to certain particularly capable Proteans under its jurisdiction, in return for their loyalty and for favours as variable as the Proteans themselves - for the Gatekeeper was even more polymorphic than its charges, having taken the entire malleable plane of Limbo as its physical form. Thus, its servants took control of the few life forms that existed in the place equidistant from all other points in the universe.

Spoiler: Crunch

Show

Power roll: 6d4.takeHighest(4)=11 +3 = 14
Power rollover: 1 point
Total 15 points

3 points: Create Hybrid Race (Proteans + Nil-Atath Demons = Starspawn)

4 points: Command Race (Starspawn) to Create Wonder (The Tesseract of Wisdom)

5 points: Create Order in Limbo "Servants of the Gatekeeper"

2 points remaining
+3 Cults to next roll

[Elemental]

Roll: 16 + 4 = 20

Calm

In the following years since his disastrous attempt at creation in the High Woods, The Inevitable rested to regain the strength he had lost due to his blind ecstasy. Around him, the Universe continued to turn, though nothing required his immediate attention.

[Rith]

Power Roll: 6d4.takeHighest(4)+3=14
Current Power Points: 19

Light shone, far underground, between towers of worked stone. Vast crystals, a hundred meters across, had been infused with light, and then lifted with care and ample manipulation of Gravity, to the top of towers crafted from single blocks of unworked ore. There they were fused with these structures, and then carved into immaculate shapes, some of immense heads, some of animals, and some of plants. Some had even been carved into multiple shapes. One, for example, was a the fabled meeting of Heovma and Kran Ze'In long ago. Another was a hundred-meter-wide battlescene, depicting figures of Hothrid, Nil-Atath, and some bipedal bears which might have been Beastborns, each being life-sized.

These crystals glowed with white light, lighting up this artificial cavern for kilometers around where they rested at the top of their towers. Dozens of these towers stood, each crystal almost exactly a kilometer away from the next closest, either in elevation or horizontal distance.

The cavern these towers stood in had been carved out of this deep stone over thousands of years, and now stood ten kilometers wide, and so deep that, even with the roaring light of the crystals high above, one could not see the bottom for the darkness. The towers stood, carefully worked, while preserving veins of ores as they had existed in the rock beforehand. Pillars also criss-crossed this cavern, more or less left unworked, but occasionally bearing a walkway or a single room, with stairs and walkways passing back and forth between these pillars and towers.

This was Hassodius, the second city of the Yet-Olong, and it possessed no avenue to the surface high above. The angels would instead use their powerful magic arts to travel back and forth from the surface. Some would use a simple cantrip, amplified with their High Mastery, to allow them to pass through stones. Others would enact an elaborate ritual of their Time Mastery to change part of the stone into what it would be one day, when other mortals chose to assault Hassodius, and tunnel down to it, and then change it back to the current day after traversing down to the place.

Hassodius had been crafted by artists and generalof the Yet-Olong race, who had taken the first many years of this time through reality to simply watch and learn of the world, instead of building upon themselves. When they had found Vollicius, however, the artists had found it audacious, without unity, and ugly, while the generals had found it inefficient, easy to assault, and difficult to defend. So, they had set out to construct Hassodius, many kilometers to the northwest, and far underground, beneath the Sulfur Valley.

Specifically, six angels had set out to build it: The generals Oen and Tou, and the artists Akimtous, Xanagaroum, Premious, and R͒ibamium.

Oen was the tallest Yet-Olong, standing a four and third of a meter tall, a full chest-and-shoulders above the heads of it's fellows, and possessed one of the more unique heads: an androgynous human head made entirely of steel, with eyes glowing pure, white light. In contrast to it's size, however, Oen possessed a short wingspan, of only two meters. In fact, it's wings actually more suited to being used as weapons, as they were compact, and made of sharpened steel. It's body was likely stylized armor, made of steel, with a thin lead cloak flowing over the outside.

Tou, the other general of Hassodius, was of average Yet-Olong height, with bright, electric blue light which glared out from a sharp, triangular head of lead covered in myriad carved patterns, It's wings were also useful as weapons, but not in the same way as Oen's. Where the tall angel's wings were compact and sharp, Tou's were thin, but long, nine meters across, and heavy, made entirely of lead, able to be quickly maneuvered and very useful in bludgeoning nearby creatures. It's cloak was steel, and large, almost entirely covering the large, dense, body of lead armor beneath.

Now, the artists of the Yet-Olong were distinctly beautiful to look up. For example, Akimtous was an angel with a delicate body of iridium tinted indigo, with a beautiful cloak of green copper draped over it. It's head was oblong, and made of the same purple iridium, with eyes of dark, orange light and veins of green copper tracing back and forth across it. It's fifteen meter wingspan was lustrous violet iridium and covered in green copper patterns which played out from the same copper cloak.

Xanagaroum was unlike other angels, for the left portion of it's masculine body was pure gold, while the right was platinum. It's wings were thirteen meters in total span, and similarly divided between gold and platinum, but they were reversed, with the left, golden side bearing a platinum wing six-and-a-half meters long, the right, platinum side bore a golden wing. It's head was head-shaped and shone with the pink light of it's eyes, bearing the same division as it's body, but was usually hidden beneath the hood of it's magnificent cloak, which bore the division the wings possessed instead.

Premious was a frail angel, but, being an artist, this was unsurprising. It's body was tungsten which had been tinted black, but then highly polished, to make it appear almost as though it were polished ebony. Around it's body was wrapped a chrome cloak, which added brightness to it's visage. It's wings were sixteen meters across, and, like it's body, were made from polished, black tungsten. It's head was triangular and made of tungsten as well, but with corners of chrome. It's light was a bright, electric green.

R͒ibamium looked to be a stylized caricature of a humanoid body, with long, curved limbs of iridium and a simplified chest of iridium. It's head was shaped to be a stylized helmet of iridium, with light was the same grey as the metal, and patterns of gold all around. It's wings were fourteen meters across and consisted of iridium, like it's body, but with blackened tungsten patterns all along. It's cloak was long and consisted of black tungsten and gold, mirroring the patterns upon it's wings and head across it's entire length.

There were other angels who came to this place as well, once it was built, for example, Akitriel, the warrior angel of iridium and blue steel with silvery-blue light who had followed Osmithariel for many years had come as the first warrior to defend Hassodius, and Asaffium, the diplomat of many different metals and grey-white light, who had spoken at Ferratum, had come as a lone politician in this city of art and war.



Immeasurable ages had passed since the first moment Indlas, in it's youth, had looked upon the orb of magma and obsidian which had been titled Neyla.

In an act of preservation, it embodies a giant stone with some of it's divine power.

What results is parts of the stone, which were infected with chaos, to fall away, shaping it into a four meter tall, obsidian statue of a Human, but lacking head or arms, with only muscular legs and chiseled torso.

It is not sentient, and completely stationary, but only when observed.

When unobserved, it is still not sentient, but it can make the unchanging desires of Indlas manifest, and thus do stuff, but is similar to the Weeping Angels from Dr. Who. If observed when it acts, time asserts that this clearly mundane statue has not moved, and clearly cannot have acted. Yet what it has done still remains done.

It inhabits the Volcanic Island.

{Summary: Child of Vait: The Lion. You'll learn about him later.}

Spoiler

Show

1 point to Command the Aeonstrum to Command the Yet-Olong to Found Hassodius.

4 points to Command Hassodius to Raise Akitriel as it's first army.

5 points to Create the "Unmoving Statue" Demigod (Achilles).

1 point to Command the Unmoving Statue to Inhabit the Volcanic Island in the Odious Sea.

5 points to Create the "The Lion" Demigod (Black Knight).

Current Power Points: 3
Next Power Roll: 6d4.takeHighest(4)+3=14

Map

Spoiler

Show

Underground Map

Spoiler

Show

Domain

Spoiler

Show

[Omegonthesane]

Spoiler: Drowned Sailors

Show

The Tsarag-Thaun were not truly capable of copulation in the usual sense, either with one another or with other beings - their Los-ndelai cavorted, prepared eggs, and hatched them with all the conscious thought a Mhajm might give to healing a wound or growing during their childhood. Those who had been seduced by the sea-singers had used sorcery to bridge the gap rather than dare send their limbs into contact with land dwellers.

Thus, what Yenmor did as she witnessed the capsizing of a Mhajm ship was unprecedented. Although she had mastered the Thaun spells of teleportation long ago, they simply would not work precisely enough over the ranges involved for each crewman and each passenger of the doomed vessel, and she was loath to leave even a single one to the colossal whale-like Wierresta which had dashed their vessel. Thus, her armoured core entered the fray, and the combat appendages she had cultivated did their duty admirably, taking hold of the soon to be drowned sailors and sending them to the nearest beach, in the westmost segment of the Windblown Steppes, while bending space to prevent the Wierresta from catching any of them.

Unfortunately, Yenmor's control over its appendages was not sufficiently precise to prevent an at best unwise degree of intimacy, as the Los-ndelai found burrows and caves in the much larger beings they were being told to magic away. The least lucky of this band of survivors found themselves heavy with child soon after, but the creatures they spawned were no Mhajm. No Mhajm ever had such large, lidless eyes, such webbed hands and feet, such scabrous and damp skin - and that was before one got into the fins.

To the eye, these Deep Ones were an abomination, and one that needed regular salt water dips to remain alive. To the Mhajm, though, their hypnotic song was a thing of beauty, a redeeming feature of the whole experience - albeit one that would one day be forgotten, as the two species were destined to be somewhat separate, one bound to the sea, the other to the surface. Indeed, the Deep Ones were all female as well, and in need of men to maintain their line, which would surely cause conflict between them and their cousins.

Spoiler: Dagon

Show

The Wierresta did not immediately die in the conflict - Yenmor had taken on herself the task of subduing it, rather than destroying it. It was, however, subject to the attentions of a swarm of Los-ndelai connected to the first of Tsarag-Losh's children. Had this not occurred, then there would be one less beast in the world - and had it occurred with any lesser Thaun, there would be one less beast in the world. Tsarag-Losh could not have created a mighty, yet expendable warrior on its own, for mortal flesh could hardly comprehend the unfiltered form of a Watcher much less contain its seed, and the Lord of Water's body was not fully capable of bearing the resulting child. One way or another, it would have needed help, and had it asked for that help or compelled it directly, someone else might have realised its plan before too late.

Tsarag-Losh had not in fact specifically decreed that Yenmor was to attack a Wierresta, but it had made contingency plans for how best to exploit the event of such a union, and it put these plans into motion without hesitation, channelling its barely comprehensible might through the millions of its creations that swarmed over the descendant of Fel. The Wierresta survived the immediate struggle, but found its own loins heavy - yet not with a true Wierresta, and nor would it lay egg or give birth. Instead, it would be fertile soil, its flesh and organs devoured from the inside by a monstrosity that grew with unimaginable speed. It detected this first as a strange ache in its stomach, then as a dreadful hunger, then as difficulty moving or breathing once its child began squeezing against its heart and lungs, and then as utter terror as a hole was torn from inside its torso, out of which a great serpentine maw erupted, ten metres in diameter and followed by kilometres of serpentine mass. The warning was supernatural, for this new being's aura of terror worked on other Wierresta, yet also entirely natural, for it had killed its mother.

Thus, the great serpent Dagon began to terrorise the depths of the sea, with an especial malice and strange cowardice for a Wierresta - after all, it was wiser than many of its kin, being as much star-god as beast, and able to use sorcery just like its divine progenitor.

Spoiler: Crunch

Show

Power roll: 6d4.takeHighest(4)=11 +3 = 14
Power rollover: 2 points
Total 16 points

3 points: Create Hybrid Race (Tsarag-Thaun + Mhajm = Deep Ones)
5 points: Advance Civilisation (Deep Ones) with Hypnotic Song
5 points: Create Demigod (Fenrir): Dagon the Great Serpent

3 points remaining
+3 Cults to next roll

[5a Violista]

Heovma thinks about how she sees the world

After so many thousands of years, Heovma came up with a list of her prey and her predators. Or, in other words, she finally, for the first time since the beginning of Neyla, thought through her perception of the world.
The White Wolf (moon) - Prey. Chase after it.
The Illuminator (moon) - Prey. Chase after it.
Fel's Moon - Predator. Flee from it.
The Black Wolf (Darkness) - Predator. Flee from him.
Dragons - Strong prey; only hunt sometimes.
Anything that has legs - Prey. Chase after it.
Anything that doesn't move - Only prey when starving.
Wierresta - Predators. Flee from them.
The Sun - Predator. Flee from it.
Cities - Strange and scary. Avoid them.
Change - Friend.
Free Will and the Future - Child. Protect her.
Beastborn - The weak are prey; the strong are pack-members.
Nil-Atath - ...

How did she see Nil-Atath? These strange demons. They don't make sense. They jump around and go backwards and around things when they shouldn't. Why do they do that?

So, she went to their land and watched them: what they did. After watching them for long enough, she grew hungry. They left half of the prey still there to rot, only taking half of it for themselves! From atop the rock, she jumped down and bore her teeth at the demons. If they were to waste food like that, they didn't deserve it.

Thinking they could get an easy meal from this coyote, they attacked the white coyote. However, unlike most their prey, Heovma's soul didn't leave her to be eaten, even when they bit. When they hit her, she yelped in pain but managed to throw them off. The one who came closest to devouring her, she ran up to it and latched her mouth onto what she assumed was its jugular.

Growling and staring at the others, Heovma didn't back off until they had finally left her.

Then, she dragged off the body and soul in her mouth, and had her meal in peace.

Heovma finally decided.
Nil-Atath - Rivals. Bare teeth and growl at them.


The Mhajm and Music

While the Deep Ones were still with them, the Mhajm studied and greatly enjoyed their songs. So much that they became inspired -
While they didn't realize they were originally formed from music, the Mhajm's minds opened and they noticed a similar trick when the music resonated with them. By concentrating really hard on the music, they could bring it into form - as a sword, a spare plank to fix their broken ship, a lockpick to break out of captivity during one of their raids, and so on.

It was a neat trick that spread very quickly across every raiding party as they stopped in Port Beau.

(5) Advance Civilization (Mhajm): Music Formation (Military Tech)
(4) Command Race (Mhajm): Ingrain Music Formation

Spoiler: Cruncho-city

Show

Points: 2 + 2d6=3 + 5 + 3 = 13

(5) Advance Civilization (Mhajm): Music Formation (Military Tech)
: The ability to form weapons and other objects out of music. So, if you're in a battle with them or lock them away, you'd better make sure to gag them and tie their hands up, or they could break out and have new weapons again.
(4) Command Race (Mhajm): Ingrain Music Formation
<Since this was Ingrained on the same turn the Deep Ones were created, would they still have to pay the 1 point to have it as well?>

Remainder: 4




Planned future advancements of Mhajm: Eventually, in airships.

Other planned actions: Create demigods, armies, and more Wonder weapons/objects. Add armies. Son of Chaos gets mercilessly destroyed sooner or later.

Goals: Advance the ideologies of Chaos, Nature, Anarchy, Strife, and Deception

Spoiler: My lists

Show

Heovma
Also currently known as "the white coyote," Abyss, Chaos, and The Eater of Souls. She's a coyote with pure white fur and blue eyes. She began existing after the creation of Neyla, and hardly exists anyway. She is formed from chaos and represents the Wild: the absence of civilization. Sometimes, it's hard to tell if she's anything more than an wild animal or just a part of one's imagination. When she eats a being, the devours the entire soul along with the body, and is absorbed into her, becoming a part of her.

Avatars
Fel the Black Wolf. Also known as Anarchy. Black fur with glowing red eyes. Made of darkness. Surrounding him is a plague of darkness as far as the eye can see. He brings anarchy with him and can't enter the Mirrored World.
Cearta the Masked Fox. Also known as Strife. Humanlike woman, with fox ears and three fox tails. Always wears a mask while in Neyla. When a natural lifespan is passed, she returns to the Mirror World, leaving only her mask in Neyla, until some unfortunate soul puts it on and swaps places with her.
Aurelius the Lonely Jackal. Also known as Trickery. Jackal head, wears a cape and no shirt. Loves music and telling (and inventing) tales which are usually mostly false.

Cults
Hothrid Cult: A select few spread feelings of revolt against current traditions and laws, guiding others to openly rebel. They also have routine traditions and rituals, including a Parade of Light every eleventh year, where they parade through public areas with many lights and frightening canine costumes.
Oalei Cult: Some Oalei find strength in the shadows, where they feign loyalty to their leaders during the day but strike their leaders in the night in assassination. They don't become leaders, but have the purpose to spread chaos using their wicked oaths, blood packs, and foul murders.
Dragon Cult: Dragons whose thoughts are swamped in bringing and inspiring rage and anarchy. They scorn the rulings of leaders and turn against the normal customs of the people.


Orders
The Dark Blade: An order of assassins, currently in the Shadows. They routinely assassinate leaders of the cities. Their purpose is to cause anarchy and disorder. Follows Fel's commands.
Knights of Strife:An order of holy knights, currently among the Caetus. They take vows to bring chaos and strife across the known world, and they're generally upstanding and nice citizens of the cities they're in. They love battles and fighting and working hard. Follows Cearta's commands.

Armies
Strife Legion 1: An army of Knights of Strife of the Caetus, in the city of Conchylium, who defend that city and maintain good citizenship.
Sin A: Shadow assassin army in Umbra, who are a brotherhood of assassins.
The Crystal Protectors: A Beastborn army in The Crystal Village, who hate the wild and hunt out Beastborn who are in the wild.
Strife's Militia: A Caetus army in Chek, made of citizens and Knights, who want to defend the city.
Corsairs of Depair: Mhajm Pirates who dock in Port Beau. They ride the ship "The Galley of Despair" and their enigmatic leader (who passes down the title) is named Wanhoop Jean.

Demigods
The Son of Chaos: A Fenrir-type Demigod. A Tiger-shaped Wierresta who has a symbiotic relationship with the little pieces of chaos. It wanders the world, feeding off of the fear it causes and staying alive much much longer than most Wierresta. Like any other Wierresta, it has an accompanying Aura of Terror, but its is much stronger than most.

World
The Mirrored World: Halfway out of synch with reality, with right being left and everything appearing slightly off. Appears just like Neyla, except without the masses of sapient races, without cities or man-made structures, and so on. Can sometimes be seen on the other side of reflections and mirages. Every time someone puts on The Masked Fox's mask, they are transported to this world where they live out the rest of their short life in solitude, alone and hunted in the wild.

Races
The Shadows: Unfinished, and formed from scraps torn from Fel's body. Most of the time, they're two-dimensional as shadows on the ground or the wall, with glowing red eyes. They can occasionally form themselves in three dimensions and [Form Reflection tech; ingrained] can copy the appearance of someone they can see. They feed on both food and light, but too much darkness and too much light are fatal to them. Can learn [Shadow Manipulation tech]: manipulating objects by manipulating their shadows. They name their cities after prominent founders.
The Beastborn: Unborn souls attach to dying animals. When the beast finally dies, they are reborn together with a sapient soul and the mind of the animal, as an infant. Most of the time, they appear as their animals, but they can sometimes transform themselves to appear humanoid with an occasional animal trait. When killing animals for food, they have a moment of silence and almost a ritual of thanks. The [Feral Strength] is a chaos-caused disease which randomly infects them, increasing their speed and strength at the cost of making them more feral and wild.
Mhajm: Plunderers, formed originally from music. They're wandering raiders from land to land, preying on their riches and food while spreading shanties and tales. All are born female, and all children they have (from males of other races) are born as Mhajm. They like [Pillaging]. They have the best ships around, because of their [Shipbuilding]
Manitou: Hybrid Race of Shedim and Protean, created by me. They're spirit-like elemental beings associated with nature; specifically, locations in nature. There are snow-forms, dust-forms, heat-forms, magic-forms, and so on: each one is like that.
Deep Ones: Hybrid Race of Tsarag-Thaun and Mhajm, created by Omegonthesane. They were accidentally created when Yenmor rescued a drowning crew of Mhajm near or in the Odious Sea. They have large, lidless eyes, webbed feet and hands, scabrous and damp skin, and fins. They have a beautiful song, but live eternally in sea water to survive. Like the Mhajm, they are all female, which causes competitive conflicts between the two races.

Racial Advancements
(Ingrained, normal, traded/stolen) ((Military/Political/Other/Special))
The Shadows: Form Reflection(Political), Shadow Manipulation(Military)
The Beastborn: Feral Strength(Military)
Mhajm: Music Formation (Military), Pillaging(Special), Shipbuilding(Special)
Manitou: Mutations(Military), Biomancy (???), Magic Burst(Military)
Deep Ones: Translocation(???), Music Formation? (Military), Hypnotic Song(???)

Descriptions of Techs
Form Reflection: Can mimic the form of a creature they can see. Political.
Shadow Manipulation: Can manipulate 3D objects by moving their shadows. Military.
Feral Strength: A disease which amplifies physical capabilities of infected but also makes them more wild. Military.
Pillaging: Much more efficient when pillaging a town; knows all sorts of tricks and methods. Counts as Military when attacking cities specifically, counts as Political when stealing wonders and other non-techs.
Shipbuilding: Ability to make fantastic ships which can even (sometimes) cross the Odious Sea. Allows free movement over waters, and counts as Military in naval-applicable battles.
Mutations: (created by Omegonthesane;) The ability of having mutations to make them stronger and survive. Military
Black Magic: Magic associated with Fel's Moon; especially with curses and harm. Military.
Magic Burst: Ability to use massive explosions of magical energy. A disease causing massive buildups of magical energy and random explosions, which can be controlled. Military.
Hypnotic Song: (created by Omegonthesane;) Their song is hypnotic but incredibly beautiful.
Biomancy: ???
Music Formation: The ability to create solid objects out of music. This includes weapons, instruments, supplies, and tools.

Cities
Umbra: A city of the Shadows, located in a swamp. The city is similar to that of wolves in the wild, with the alpha Shadow commanding the rest, and so on. The current leader is routinely assassinated.
Scath: In the High Woods, a city of the Shadows. They wander around in a caravan, following the migratory patterns of the animals whose forms they mimic.
Chek: A Caetus city, on the north shore of the lava lake. The leadership is a council of prominent members of the city, including many Knights of Strife.
Sayh: A Shadow city, deep underground, where they feed on the glowing mushrooms and crystals. They live in a very wild state, in a constant anarchic gathering with continuous upheavals of government (kept that way by the Dark Blade).
The Frozen Village: A Beastborn city, far south in the Frigid Land. They help each other survive past childhood and youth. The eldest Beastborn is respected as the leader, in charge of sending off packs to find newly-born Beastborn, build warm habitations, and hunt for food. While in the city, they keep in their humanoid form to foster a feeling of community. Those who choose to return to the wild can do so.
The Crystal Village: A Beastborn city, in the Shard Woods. They revile their brothers in the wild and stay in their human forms to turn against their wild past. Those who join this city normally stay in it for life, but few Beastborn from outside actually enter the city.
Port Beau: a Mhajm city, which is used as a temporary base between raids. The leaders of each raiding party have some say in the republic government and the distribution of wealth. The majority of the city is out over the ocean, built on docks and such.

Wonders and Structures
The Darkest Blade: In the hands of the army Sin A. It's a black sword that devours light around it, filling large areas with darkness. If it feeds on enough light, it can cut through nearly anything and gives thoughts to all nearby: thoughts of anarchy and rampaging in chaos against allies. Sin A generally keeps it locked away in a box, except when they use it.
The Galley of Despair: Being driven by the army Corsairs of Despair. An excellent boat, one of a kind. Also, it has Wierresta Bones in part of the structure, causing a feeling of despair to all nearby. (Except to those who are used to it, of course.)
The Envenomed Spear: In the hands of The Crystal Protectors. It's a long wooden spear made of very dense and strong wood, impregnated with several kinds of slow-acting poisons which are extremely painful. They use it to slowly kill wild Beastborn.
Banshee's Shield: In the hands of Strife's Militia. A legendary shield which releases a deafening and painful screech when used to block.

Miscellaneous
Fel's Moon: A black moon with a very eccentric orbit; one of the three moons. It passes by Neyla every 33 1/3 years, causing a solar eclipse across Neyla for two days, traveling across the surface of Neyla from north to south. As the moon comes close, the tides go wild (especially because it passes by so close). Mortals who die under the shadow of the moon come back alive as a soulless husk with a hunger for flesh and blood, and mortal creatures born under the moon's shadow have a great natural talent for all forms of Black Magic. Sacrifices and dark rituals are planned around the passing of this moon.
The Odious Sea: The Odious Sea is a waterlike substance, of sometimes a dark red and sometimes black. It doesn't mix well with water and is much more dense, which is why it doesn't spread across all the oceans. The water immediately scars the flesh of anything touching it. It's extremely scarring and has a distinct and sharp smell.
Wierresta: Monsters with dark black looks, who appear as large, grotesque misinterpretations of animals across the world. They're mindless monsters who feed on blood and fear, with extremely thick armored skin, terrible claws, and sharp teeth. Anything and everything near them feels an inexplicable feeling of terror.
Black Magic: Gifted to those born under Fel's Moon. Also, most Caetus are naturally skilled in it as well. It includes curses and harming rituals.
Stories and Myths: Aurelius spreads tales, songs, and false histories across the world, until they begin retelling themselves. They're about nonexistent gods, heroes, creation stories, myths, and so on.
Chaos: Little particles of chaos living across the entire world. They are essentially bacteria, causing diseases and random and sometimes unexplainable incidents across the world. Some can absorb and feed off of extreme heat.
The Bleached Desert's Gale Storm: A wandering monstrous salt storm which moves around the Bleached Desert, destroying and salt-crystallizing anything unfortunate enough to be caught in it.
The Datura Flower: Flowers found in the Datura Desert. They are poisonous when eaten, but are very beautiful and useful in alchemical uses. They smell fantastically, and bloom during the warmer seasons. Interestingly, they all bloom during the night and wither during the day. The Evening Datura is a dusky rose color, the Moonlight Datura is a deep black color, and the white Sacred Datura is a hallucinogen in small doses..
Carnivorous Plants: Found in swampland, mostly in the Bubbling Bog. Most are small and only eat insects. Others eat frogs, fish, rats, and so on. Others devour large animals - although, most only eat them when they're already dead and decaying, eating parts at a time.
Diselle the Star Goddess: One of the deity invented by Aurelius; this one became more wide-spread than the others. The Mhajm pray to her for safety when crossing dangerous lands. It's said her skin is deep purple and was once a Mhajm who ascended to godhood after sacrificing herself to keep the Wierresta at bay while her sisters escaped.
Chaos Infection: A disease caused by being around Chaos (or Heovma) too much. It affects everyone differently. Beastborn, it causes to become stronger and more feral. Manitou have unnatural build-ups of magical energy which explodes randomly. And so on.

Spoiler: An inaccurate list of All Races and Advancements (not including Wonders/Structures yet, however)

Show

Have I missed a race or an advancement?
In the Parentheses means which player(s) can control them WITHOUT the use of an Order.
Races
Hothrids - (Omegonthesane) Cats with sapience, super dexterity, and so on. Blessed with natural affinity to sorcery.
Oalei - (GeneralRage) Powerful fat humanoids with fragments of stone on them.
Tsarag-Thaun - (Omegonthesane) Sapient coral reefs which can innately mind-control the Los-ndelai infesting them, to perform sorcery and etc.
Colossi - (Rith) Enormous beings who live for a very long time; originally from the Domain.
Dragons - (ImperialSunligh) Firebreathing Lizard creatures who can fly. They have four limbs, leathery wings, and massive tails. Eat gems.
Vynris - (aric_kale) Short vine people who live underground, and who grow flowers and small gems. Project thoughts to 'speak'.
Xan'aca - (Omegonthesane) Heat-eating omnivorous cold-blooded lizardmen made of rock
Yet-Olong Angels (Rith) 99 paradoxical eternal constructs who return to the time of their creation when the world ends.
Proteans - (Omegonthesane) - Shapeshifting creatures originally from Limbo, created from Limbo-stuff.
Shedim - (Omegonthesane) - Spirits from dead beings who wander the world and attach to a living creature. They only permanently fuse if the living being dies while they're still attached.
Shadows - (Mahonri Violist) - Incomplete beings who are only shadows with glowing red eyes. Eats light, but both too much light and too much darkness kill them. They can form themselves in 3D on occasion.
Caetus - (ImperialSunligh) - Subrace of Dragons. Dragons that can take human form by removing scaled coats.
Beastborn - (Mahonri Violist) - Usually born from dying animals (Or naturally). Can shapeshift between their animal form and a humanlike form (with animal characteristics).
Mhajm - (Mahonri Violist) - All-female humanlike wandering pirates with distinct and vibrant non-natural colors of skin, originally formed from music.
Nil-Atath Demon - (Rith) Soul-eating monsters who travel in whichever way in time they want.
Manitou - (Omegonthesane, Mahonri Violist) - Hybrid Race of Shedim and Proteans. Spirit-like elemental beings associated with nature.
Va'Aton - (Elemental) - Basically Elves who are agile and full of endurance. When inactive, they hardly need to eat and sleep. Red hair.
Kaytan - (Elemental) - Humanoid-shaped energy vortexes with lightning. Communicate telepathically and manipulate objects with a mall telekinetic field. Shun physical contact.
Goraipatzen - (ImperialSunligh) - Ratlike goblins with an illogical desire to live in the depths of seas. Extremely resilient to death.
Starspawn - (Omegonthesane, Rith) - Hybrid Race of Proteans and Nil-Atath Demons. Came from a different timeline, when Proteans and Niil-Atath consumed each other.
Deep Ones - (Omegonthesane, Mahonri Violist) - Hybrid Race of Tsarag-Thaun and Mhajm.



Did I miss anything? Tell me! (Actually, I missed a lot, so tell me anyway.)
Bold = Ingrained Italics = Traded/Stolen
P = Political, C = Combat, O = Other, * = Situational, ? = Unknown by me, the player
Racial Advancements
Hothrids - Thanatomancy (?)
Oalei
Tsarag-Thaun - Translocation (?)
Colossi
Dragons
Vyrnis
Xan'aca: Pyromancy (C), Geomancy (C), Berserk Rage (C)
Yet-Olong Angels: High Mastery (C), Time Mastery (C), Gravity (C), Living Metal (C), Premonitions (C)
Proteans: Mutation (C)
Shedim: Biomancy (?)
Shadows: Form Reflection (P), Shadow Manipulation (C)
Caetus: Black Magic (C), Shadow Forging (C)
Beastborn: Feral Strength (C)
Mhajm: Music Formation (C), Shipbuilding (*), Pillaging (*)
Nil-Atath Demons: Non-Linear Time (?), Non-Euclidean Geometry (C)
Manitou: Mutation (C), Biomancy (?) Magic Burst (C)
Va'Aton
Gorai
Starspawn: Mutation (C), Non-Linear Time (?)
Deep Ones: Translocation (?), Music Formation? (C)


City Advancements
-none so far-

[ImperialSunligh]

Spoiler: Kriptikoaren, the Gathering of Huts

Show

The Gorai had begun to build primitive underwater structures out of various materials in the depths, mostly of bone. Eventually, these structures became larger and larger, until larger communities formed. The various tribes were still fighting however, and for the longest time, only minimalist warring settlements could exist.

After much time, a great leader known as Herensuge, whose origins are unknown, set out to create peace between the three tribes. Actually uniting the tribes completely was near impossible, and Herensuge failed in this respect. He worked to create a settlement where people of all tribes could live together in peace, and in this he found success.

At first, this place was a small gathering of huts called Kriptikoaren inhabited by Gorai that listened to his speeches on peace and were moved. The settlement slowly grew until it was a massive stucture governed by Kings of Herensuge's bloodline. Herensuge was never king, he would not take such a position, but such adoration the people had for him that his children were crowned. The other settlements continued their warring, but Kriptikoaren was a neutral zone, where no conflict among Gorai was allowed.

Spoiler: Crunch

Show

Roll: 2d6+55+4=64

Command Avatar, Sakona, Command Race, Goraipatzen: Create City, -1

Left: 63
Law Bonus: 5
Cult: 0

[Omegonthesane]

Spoiler: Wyverns

Show

The dragon Yrgul became downright disenfranchised with the Black Silver Halls, and found themselves drawn south, towards the Magma Pits. She settled there, but was only one dragon, and could not hope to sustain a population or find a mate; in desperation for companionship, she turned to the inferiors, the smaller and flightless Xan'aca, using her sorceries to bend them into shapes that could properly unite with her. Ultimately, strain and loneliness and the poor diet available in the Magma Pits led her to an early grave, exactly as L'zot'aca intended.

The resulting eggs were smaller than those of dragons, but larger than any Xan'aca ever born. When they hatched, their contents were smaller than dragons, more bestial in their features, with harder scales and larger wings proportionate to their flesh - for these Wyverns were simply denser than Dragons, retaining a flicker of the Xan'aca's ties to the earth.

Guided by L'zot'aca, they avoided the worst consequences of the generations of incest which by necessity followed, and instead grew to a viable gene pool, a race of wandering fliers that would forever compete with the Dragons for the skies. They were smaller, weaker, and less wise, but more numerous, and fiercer in combat, as well as retaining an innate knack for fire sorcery above and beyond merely breathing streams of it. They formed a simple rudimentary society of packs similar to the Hothrid, though L'zot'aca had been unable to resist 'improving' on the Dragon design, and as such every Wyvern was both male and female, able to birth or sire or both as suited their whims. Only the limits of their anatomy prevented a Wyvern getting a child on itself, and this was nothing that sorcery or creative flying could not overcome.

For a thousand years the Wyverns never saw their rivals the Dragons, and by this time had become used to calling their tribal leaders "Sky Lords". These were traditionally defended by the Shining Fangs, strong and swift wyverns chosen for their unusually protective glittering obsidian hides.

Spoiler: Let Not The Dark Sleep Easy

Show

L'zot'aca's flames gleamed especially brightly in this age - for though the Council had forbidden the implementation of its full plan, it had permitted that the Watchers should move directly against that which dared oppose their will. In its foolish hubris, Centrum had failed to create defenders for its foul emanations, equivalents to the four Black Guardians; as such, its avatars would be easy prey to capture and hold, and it had no agents stronger than its mere armies to take them back with.

Sakona, intruder on the deep, was easy enough to take hold of - Iskenderun, Cigotuvi, and Golubria, faithful servants of Yenmor who served their creator, were easily placed to imprison it within walls of translocative energy, a box of portals from which nothing could escape. To directly engage her would have been suicide, but all her wrathful spells and condemnations merely passed through a portal and back into her cage.

Pervetus required more work, for the Hothrid could not possibly catch up to it in the sky, not even in their flying boats. Not normal, mortal Hothrid anyway; filled with rage and hatred at what had been done to its sort-of kin, Hamalat was more than willing to take up the chase, and keep the Primordial Dragon surrounded and harried until a particular hunter squadron of Wyverns, the Pearl Wings, could take it down and keep it surrounded and weak.

Spoiler: Crunch

Show

Power roll: 6d4.takeHighest(4)=16 +3 = 19
Power rollover: 3 points
Total 22 points

3 points: Create Hybrid Race (Dragons + Xan'aca = Wyverns, who inherit Pyromancy and Flight automatically)

1 point: Command Avatar (L'zot'aca) to Create Order in the Wyverns "The Sky Lords"

1 point: Deep Ones inherit Music Formation. (Not reflected in above post. Point spent because Music Formation was ingrained at least a turn ago.)

1 point: Command Demigod (Dabok-aat the Black Ship) to Command Order (Sky Lords) to Raise Army (Shining Fangs)

1 point: Command Demigod (Gnallakei the False Angel) to Command Order (Sky Lords) to Raise Army (Pearl Wings)

1 point: Command Demigod (Hamalat the Pale Tribe) to Terrorize and capture Pervetus

Command Army (Iskenderun) to attack and capture Sakona, and defend it at -2

Command Armies (Golubria, Cigotuvi) to defend the captured Sakona at +0

Command Army (Pearl Wings) to defend the captured Pervetus

Command Army (Shining Fangs) to defend the Sky Lords order

14 points remaining
+3 Cults to next roll

[5a Violista]

Humans
In which Humans evolve and form hunting-gathering tribes. They learn to use irrigation, and are directed to build a city in a desert.

Spoiler: Humans

Show

Heovma's wounds that she received from the demons took a long time to heal completely - much longer than they had ever taken before. Most of the time, they were closed, but sometimes they tore open again just before they had healed completely.

Thus, as she ran across the world, more chaos leaked into Neyla. This accelerated the random mutations in several animals and creatures, until finally a sapient race rose from the animals. It was the Humans. They, unusually, had a similar appearance to many of the gods, and that of the Beastborn and the Caetus, among others...

Relatively speaking, they reproduced fairly quickly (especially compared to many of the other races). After a while, they broke off into separate tribes whenever there was internal disagreement or whatever. They found their food across the world as hunter-gatherers.

One day, Aurelius approached a tribe and taught them how to irrigate anywhere - bring water to them. That way, they weren't dependent on nature and chance: rather, they brought nature under their control so they could live wherever they wanted. He gave them several seeds from his back pocket, as well as a few musical instruments he had been working on. Then, he told them to show their dominance over nature by building a city in a hostile land.

On the coast, they built a city in the Datura Desert nearby the Rusty Mountains. They brought in water from the higher lands. As they worked, Aurelius told them stories of the world: of darkness, of evil, of good, of gods, of flowers, and everything. It was mostly false, of course, but it made for a good story.

And that's how the Humans first demonstrated their dominance over the wild.



(6) Create Race: Humans
(5) Advance Civilization(Humans) in Irrigation (Ability to use very creative and long-lasting types of irrigation)
(1) Command Avatar(Aurelius): Command Race(Humans): Create City: Dubris, which is located in the Eastern Hemisphere, on the coast where the Rusty Mountains, the Datura Desert, and that ocean there come together.

Dark Elves
In which Dark Elves are created, live in Scath the wandering city, and forge spirits of the dying into weapons. Also, they kidnap musicians.

Spoiler: Dark Elves

Show

One particularly stormy day, a ship of the Mhajm crashed into a rock. They were carrying a shipload of Va'Aton to be slaves who manned the oars.

Most of the Mhajm, above deck, escaped the sinking ship, but the Va'Aton who were chained below deck had no way to escape. They had no choice but to stay with the ship as it sunk.

Thanks to a lucky gale wind, the ship blew ashore to the High Woods. The Shadows of Scath happened to be passing by, and broke the shadows of their chains - breaking the chains themselves in the process. Not knowing who these Va'Aton were (most of them were unconscious by then), the Shadows brought them back to their wagons, to their wandering city, and held them there. Many enjoyed hanging around them and copying their form and being their second - or third, or fourth, or...well, there were so many Shadows around them that there was no counting how many shadows they had.

Somehow, the energy from this mass excitement melded some of these Shadows together with the Va'Aton, changing both of them together. Their skin (those of the Va'Aton) became more greyish. Their hair turned from red to black, and, most interestingly, they had no natural shadow.

However, just like The Shadows, they could change their own appearance to mimic those they saw. However, they were no longer two dimensional shadows, but complete beings. (Well, as complete as can a person be who has no shadow.)

Though many of these Dark Elves (as they later became known as) left Scath to find their purpose in the world and their way back to Va'Aton society, several stayed there in Scath.

Almost always, a Dark Elf was accompanied by a friend Shadow to make up for what the other lacked.

The Dark Elves had an ability they didn't learn until later: because of their unique anatomy, they could learn to grab the spirit fleeing from a dying soul, and then they could form these souls in their hands into weapons such as bows and daggers.

It was pretty grim, and these Dark Elves gave nightmares to most people who heard about them.

Fel definitely had a hand in this.




(3) Create Hybrid Race: Dark Elves, of The Shadows and Va'Aton
(5) Advance Civilization(Dark Elves) in Soul Claim (Combat) (Ability to entrap fleeing spirits for the purposes of forming weapons out of them)
(1) Command Avatar(Fel): Command City (Scath): Political Maneuver so that both Dark Elves and Shadows are inhabitants of Scath, the wandering city.

Knights of Strife
In which the Knights of Strife also gain a faction among the Wyverns

Spoiler: Knights of Strife

Show

Cearta, through manifesting around the world, heard about the Wyverns and saw them flying through the air. Chek was (relatively speaking, given that she had been to most corners of the world) nearby, so she told her Knights of Strife in Chek about these "Lords of the Skies."

One of her knights, a Caetus, gladly gave her a lift into the sky to speak with a few select Wyverns.

After several words of persuasion, she enlisted many of them to follow her and spread strife, conflict, and hard work across the world.

So far, however, she hadn't caused any major battles. Only small skirmishes had resulted from her efforts.

That had to change soon.



(1) Command Avatar(Cearta): Create Order in the Wyverns: Knights of Strife II(Wyvern faction)
(-) Rename Knights of Strife as Knights of Strife I, for purposes of keeping track of them.

Spoiler: Cruncho-city

Show

Points: 4 + 2d6=11 + 5 + 3 = 12+11 = 23

Actions:
(6) Create Race: Humans
(3) Create Hybrid Race: Dark Elves, of The Shadows and Va'Aton
(-) They gain the Ingrained Abilities from their parents, like they should.
=14 left

(5) Advance Civilization(Humans) in Irrigation (Ability to use very creative and long-lasting types of irrigation)
(5) Advance Civilization(Dark Elves) in Soul Claim (Combat) (Ability to entrap fleeing spirits for the purposes of forming weapons out of them)
=4 left

(1) Command Avatar(Aurelius): Command Race(Humans): Create City: Dubris, which is located in the Eastern Hemisphere, on the coast where the Rusty Mountains, the Datura Desert, and that ocean there come together.
(1) Command Avatar(Fel): Command City (Scath): Political Maneuver so that both Dark Elves and Shadows are inhabitants of Scath, the wandering city.
(1) Command Avatar(Cearta): Create Order in the Wyverns: Knights of Strife II(Wyvern faction)
(-) Rename Knights of Strife as Knights of Strife I, for purposes of keeping track of them.
=1 left



Planned future advancements of Mhajm: Eventually, in airships.

Other planned actions: Create demigods, armies, and more Wonder weapons/objects. Add armies. Son of Chaos gets mercilessly destroyed sooner or later.

Goals: Advance the ideologies of Chaos, Nature, Anarchy, Strife, and Deception

Spoiler: My lists

Show

Heovma
Also currently known as "the white coyote," Abyss, Chaos, and The Eater of Souls. She's a coyote with pure white fur and blue eyes. She began existing after the creation of Neyla, and hardly exists anyway. She is formed from chaos and represents the Wild: the absence of civilization. Sometimes, it's hard to tell if she's anything more than an wild animal or just a part of one's imagination. When she eats a being, the devours the entire soul along with the body, and is absorbed into her, becoming a part of her.

Avatars
Fel the Black Wolf. Also known as Anarchy. Black fur with glowing red eyes. Made of darkness. Surrounding him is a plague of darkness as far as the eye can see. He brings anarchy with him and can't enter the Mirrored World.
Cearta the Masked Fox. Also known as Strife. Humanlike woman, with fox ears and three fox tails. Always wears a mask while in Neyla. When a natural lifespan is passed, she returns to the Mirror World, leaving only her mask in Neyla, until some unfortunate soul puts it on and swaps places with her.
Aurelius the Lonely Jackal. Also known as Trickery. Jackal head, wears a cape and no shirt. Loves music and telling (and inventing) tales which are usually mostly false.

Cults
Hothrid Cult: A select few spread feelings of revolt against current traditions and laws, guiding others to openly rebel. They also have routine traditions and rituals, including a Parade of Light every eleventh year, where they parade through public areas with many lights and frightening canine costumes.
Oalei Cult: Some Oalei find strength in the shadows, where they feign loyalty to their leaders during the day but strike their leaders in the night in assassination. They don't become leaders, but have the purpose to spread chaos using their wicked oaths, blood packs, and foul murders.
Dragon Cult: Dragons whose thoughts are swamped in bringing and inspiring rage and anarchy. They scorn the rulings of leaders and turn against the normal customs of the people.


Orders
The Dark Blade: An order of assassins, currently in the Shadows. They routinely assassinate leaders of the cities. Their purpose is to cause anarchy and disorder. Follows Fel's commands.
Knights of Strife:An order of holy knights, currently among the Caetus. They take vows to bring chaos and strife across the known world, and they're generally upstanding and nice citizens of the cities they're in. They love battles and fighting and working hard. Follows Cearta's commands.
Knights of Strife II: Another group of them with the Wyverns.

Armies
Strife Legion 1: An army of Knights of Strife of the Caetus, in the city of Conchylium, who defend that city and maintain good citizenship.
Sin A: Shadow assassin army in Umbra, who are a brotherhood of assassins.
The Crystal Protectors: A Beastborn army in The Crystal Village, who hate the wild and hunt out Beastborn who are in the wild.
Strife's Militia: A Caetus army in Chek, made of citizens and Knights, who want to defend the city.
Corsairs of Depair: Mhajm Pirates who dock in Port Beau. They ride the ship "The Galley of Despair" and their enigmatic leader (who passes down the title) is named Wanhoop Jean.

Demigods
The Son of Chaos: A Fenrir-type Demigod. A Tiger-shaped Wierresta who has a symbiotic relationship with the little pieces of chaos. It wanders the world, feeding off of the fear it causes and staying alive much much longer than most Wierresta. Like any other Wierresta, it has an accompanying Aura of Terror, but its is much stronger than most.

World
The Mirrored World: Halfway out of synch with reality, with right being left and everything appearing slightly off. Appears just like Neyla, except without the masses of sapient races, without cities or man-made structures, and so on. Can sometimes be seen on the other side of reflections and mirages. Every time someone puts on The Masked Fox's mask, they are transported to this world where they live out the rest of their short life in solitude, alone and hunted in the wild.

Races
The Shadows: Unfinished, and formed from scraps torn from Fel's body. Most of the time, they're two-dimensional as shadows on the ground or the wall, with glowing red eyes. They can occasionally form themselves in three dimensions and [Form Reflection tech; ingrained] can copy the appearance of someone they can see. They feed on both food and light, but too much darkness and too much light are fatal to them. Can learn [Shadow Manipulation tech]: manipulating objects by manipulating their shadows. They name their cities after prominent founders.
The Beastborn: Unborn souls attach to dying animals. When the beast finally dies, they are reborn together with a sapient soul and the mind of the animal, as an infant. Most of the time, they appear as their animals, but they can sometimes transform themselves to appear humanoid with an occasional animal trait. When killing animals for food, they have a moment of silence and almost a ritual of thanks. The [Feral Strength] is a chaos-caused disease which randomly infects them, increasing their speed and strength at the cost of making them more feral and wild.
Mhajm: Plunderers, formed originally from music. They're wandering raiders from land to land, preying on their riches and food while spreading shanties and tales. All are born female, and all children they have (from males of other races) are born as Mhajm. They like [Pillaging]. They have the best ships around, because of their [Shipbuilding]
Manitou: Hybrid Race of Shedim and Protean, created by me. They're spirit-like elemental beings associated with nature; specifically, locations in nature. There are snow-forms, dust-forms, heat-forms, magic-forms, and so on: each one is like that.
Deep Ones: Hybrid Race of Tsarag-Thaun and Mhajm, created by Omegonthesane. They were accidentally created when Yenmor rescued a drowning crew of Mhajm near or in the Odious Sea. They have large, lidless eyes, webbed feet and hands, scabrous and damp skin, and fins. They have a beautiful song, but live eternally in sea water to survive. Like the Mhajm, they are all female, which causes competitive conflicts between the two races.
Humans: Humans, who evolved more quickly when exposed to chaos. At the moment, they hunt often in tribes, though they've built a city to show their desire for dominance over the wild and over nature.
Dark Elves: Hybrid Race of Shadows and Va'Aton, created by me. They have greyer skin than the Va'Aton, have black hair, and are missing shadows. They often travel in pairs with a Shadow.

Racial Advancements
(Ingrained, normal, traded/stolen) ((Military/Political/Other/Special))
The Shadows: Form Reflection(Political), Shadow Manipulation(Military)
The Beastborn: Feral Strength(Military)
Mhajm: Music Formation (Military), Pillaging(Special), Shipbuilding(Special)
Manitou: Mutations(Military), Biomancy (???), Magic Burst(Military)
Deep Ones: Translocation(???), Music Formation? (Military), Hypnotic Song(???)
Humans: Irrigation (Other)
Dark Elves: Form Reflection (Political), Soul Claim (Military)


Descriptions of Techs
Form Reflection: Can mimic the form of a creature they can see. Political.
Shadow Manipulation: Can manipulate 3D objects by moving their shadows. Military.
Feral Strength: A disease which amplifies physical capabilities of infected but also makes them more wild. Military.
Pillaging: Much more efficient when pillaging a town; knows all sorts of tricks and methods. Counts as Military when attacking cities specifically, counts as Political when stealing wonders and other non-techs.
Shipbuilding: Ability to make fantastic ships which can even (sometimes) cross the Odious Sea. Allows free movement over waters, and counts as Military in naval-applicable battles.
Mutations: (created by Omegonthesane;) The ability of having mutations to make them stronger and survive. Military
Black Magic: Magic associated with Fel's Moon; especially with curses and harm. Military.
Magic Burst: Ability to use massive explosions of magical energy. A disease causing massive buildups of magical energy and random explosions, which can be controlled. Military.
Hypnotic Song: (created by Omegonthesane;) Their song is hypnotic but incredibly beautiful.
Biomancy: ???
Music Formation: The ability to create solid objects out of music. This includes weapons, instruments, supplies, and tools.
Irrigation: The ability to use very creative and long-lasting types of irrigation, to show your dominance over nature.
Soul Claim: The Dark Elves' ability to entrap fleeing spirits for the purpose of forming weapons (bows, daggers, etc) out of them.


Cities
Umbra: A city of the Shadows, located in a swamp. The city is similar to that of wolves in the wild, with the alpha Shadow commanding the rest, and so on. The current leader is routinely assassinated.
Scath: In the High Woods, a city of the Shadows and the Dark Elves. They wander around in a caravan, following the migratory patterns of the animals whose forms they mimic.
Chek: A Caetus city, on the north shore of the lava lake. The leadership is a council of prominent members of the city, including many Knights of Strife.
Sayh: A Shadow city, deep underground, where they feed on the glowing mushrooms and crystals. They live in a very wild state, in a constant anarchic gathering with continuous upheavals of government (kept that way by the Dark Blade).
The Frozen Village: A Beastborn city, far south in the Frigid Land. They help each other survive past childhood and youth. The eldest Beastborn is respected as the leader, in charge of sending off packs to find newly-born Beastborn, build warm habitations, and hunt for food. While in the city, they keep in their humanoid form to foster a feeling of community. Those who choose to return to the wild can do so.
The Crystal Village: A Beastborn city, in the Shard Woods. They revile their brothers in the wild and stay in their human forms to turn against their wild past. Those who join this city normally stay in it for life, but few Beastborn from outside actually enter the city.
Port Beau: a Mhajm city, which is used as a temporary base between raids. The leaders of each raiding party have some say in the republic government and the distribution of wealth. The majority of the city is out over the ocean, built on docks and such.

Wonders and Structures
The Darkest Blade: In the hands of the army Sin A. It's a black sword that devours light around it, filling large areas with darkness. If it feeds on enough light, it can cut through nearly anything and gives thoughts to all nearby: thoughts of anarchy and rampaging in chaos against allies. Sin A generally keeps it locked away in a box, except when they use it.
The Galley of Despair: Being driven by the army Corsairs of Despair. An excellent boat, one of a kind. Also, it has Wierresta Bones in part of the structure, causing a feeling of despair to all nearby. (Except to those who are used to it, of course.)
The Envenomed Spear: In the hands of The Crystal Protectors. It's a long wooden spear made of very dense and strong wood, impregnated with several kinds of slow-acting poisons which are extremely painful. They use it to slowly kill wild Beastborn.
Banshee's Shield: In the hands of Strife's Militia. A legendary shield which releases a deafening and painful screech when used to block.

Miscellaneous
Fel's Moon: A black moon with a very eccentric orbit; one of the three moons. It passes by Neyla every 33 1/3 years, causing a solar eclipse across Neyla for two days, traveling across the surface of Neyla from north to south. As the moon comes close, the tides go wild (especially because it passes by so close). Mortals who die under the shadow of the moon come back alive as a soulless husk with a hunger for flesh and blood, and mortal creatures born under the moon's shadow have a great natural talent for all forms of Black Magic. Sacrifices and dark rituals are planned around the passing of this moon.
The Odious Sea: The Odious Sea is a waterlike substance, of sometimes a dark red and sometimes black. It doesn't mix well with water and is much more dense, which is why it doesn't spread across all the oceans. The water immediately scars the flesh of anything touching it. It's extremely scarring and has a distinct and sharp smell.
Wierresta: Monsters with dark black looks, who appear as large, grotesque misinterpretations of animals across the world. They're mindless monsters who feed on blood and fear, with extremely thick armored skin, terrible claws, and sharp teeth. Anything and everything near them feels an inexplicable feeling of terror.
Black Magic: Gifted to those born under Fel's Moon. Also, most Caetus are naturally skilled in it as well. It includes curses and harming rituals.
Stories and Myths: Aurelius spreads tales, songs, and false histories across the world, until they begin retelling themselves. They're about nonexistent gods, heroes, creation stories, myths, and so on.
Chaos: Little particles of chaos living across the entire world. They are essentially bacteria, causing diseases and random and sometimes unexplainable incidents across the world. Some can absorb and feed off of extreme heat.
The Bleached Desert's Gale Storm: A wandering monstrous salt storm which moves around the Bleached Desert, destroying and salt-crystallizing anything unfortunate enough to be caught in it.
The Datura Flower: Flowers found in the Datura Desert. They are poisonous when eaten, but are very beautiful and useful in alchemical uses. They smell fantastically, and bloom during the warmer seasons. Interestingly, they all bloom during the night and wither during the day. The Evening Datura is a dusky rose color, the Moonlight Datura is a deep black color, and the white Sacred Datura is a hallucinogen in small doses..
Carnivorous Plants: Found in swampland, mostly in the Bubbling Bog. Most are small and only eat insects. Others eat frogs, fish, rats, and so on. Others devour large animals - although, most only eat them when they're already dead and decaying, eating parts at a time.
Diselle the Star Goddess: One of the deity invented by Aurelius; this one became more wide-spread than the others. The Mhajm pray to her for safety when crossing dangerous lands. It's said her skin is deep purple and was once a Mhajm who ascended to godhood after sacrificing herself to keep the Wierresta at bay while her sisters escaped.
Chaos Infection: A disease caused by being around Chaos (or Heovma) too much. It affects everyone differently. Beastborn, it causes to become stronger and more feral. Manitou have unnatural build-ups of magical energy which explodes randomly. And so on.

Spoiler: An inaccurate list of All Races and Advancements (not including Wonders/Structures yet, however)

Show

Have I missed a race or an advancement?
In the Parentheses means which player(s) can control them WITHOUT the use of an Order.
Races
Hothrids - (Omegonthesane) Cats with sapience, super dexterity, and so on. Blessed with natural affinity to sorcery.
Oalei - (GeneralRage) Powerful fat humanoids with fragments of stone on them.
Tsarag-Thaun - (Omegonthesane) Sapient coral reefs which can innately mind-control the Los-ndelai infesting them, to perform sorcery and etc.
Colossi - (Rith) Enormous beings who live for a very long time; originally from the Domain.
Dragons - (ImperialSunligh) Firebreathing Lizard creatures who can fly. They have four limbs, leathery wings, and massive tails. Eat gems.
Vynris - (aric_kale) Short vine people who live underground, and who grow flowers and small gems. Project thoughts to 'speak'.
Xan'aca - (Omegonthesane) Heat-eating omnivorous cold-blooded lizardmen made of rock
Yet-Olong Angels (Rith) 99 paradoxical eternal constructs who return to the time of their creation when the world ends.
Proteans - (Omegonthesane) - Shapeshifting creatures originally from Limbo, created from Limbo-stuff.
Shedim - (Omegonthesane) - Spirits from dead beings who wander the world and attach to a living creature. They only permanently fuse if the living being dies while they're still attached.
Shadows - (Mahonri Violist) - Incomplete beings who are only shadows with glowing red eyes. Eats light, but both too much light and too much darkness kill them. They can form themselves in 3D on occasion.
Caetus - (ImperialSunligh) - Subrace of Dragons. Dragons that can take human form by removing scaled coats.
Beastborn - (Mahonri Violist) - Usually born from dying animals (Or naturally). Can shapeshift between their animal form and a humanlike form (with animal characteristics).
Mhajm - (Mahonri Violist) - All-female humanlike wandering pirates with distinct and vibrant non-natural colors of skin, originally formed from music.
Nil-Atath Demon - (Rith) Soul-eating monsters who travel in whichever way in time they want.
Manitou - (Omegonthesane, Mahonri Violist) - Hybrid Race of Shedim and Proteans. Spirit-like elemental beings associated with nature.
Va'Aton - (Elemental) - Basically Elves who are agile and full of endurance. When inactive, they hardly need to eat and sleep. Red hair.
Kaytan - (Elemental) - Humanoid-shaped energy vortexes with lightning. Communicate telepathically and manipulate objects with a mall telekinetic field. Shun physical contact.
Goraipatzen - (ImperialSunligh) - Ratlike goblins with an illogical desire to live in the depths of seas. Extremely resilient to death.
Starspawn - (Omegonthesane, Rith) - Hybrid Race of Proteans and Nil-Atath Demons. Came from a different timeline, when Proteans and Niil-Atath consumed each other.
Deep Ones - (Omegonthesane, Mahonri Violist) - Hybrid Race of Tsarag-Thaun and Mhajm. Require immersion in salt water to survive.
Wyverns - (Omegonthesane, ImperialSunligh) - Hybrid Race of Dragons and Xan'aca. Smaller than dragons but more bestial, with harder scales and larger wings.
Humans: (Mahonri Violist) - Humans, who evolved more quickly when exposed to chaos. At the moment, they hunt often in tribes, though they've built a city to show their desire for dominance over the wild and over nature.
Dark Elves: (Mahonri Violist, Elemental) - Hybrid Race of Shadows and Va'Aton, created by me. They have greyer skin than the Va'Aton, have black hair, and are missing shadows. They often travel in pairs with a Shadow.



Did I miss anything? Tell me! (Actually, I missed a lot, so tell me anyway.)
Bold = Ingrained Italics = Traded/Stolen
P = Political, C = Combat, O = Other, * = Situational, ? = Unknown by me, the player
Racial Advancements
Hothrids - Thanatomancy (?)
Oalei
Tsarag-Thaun - Translocation (?)
Colossi
Dragons: Flight
Vyrnis
Xan'aca: Pyromancy (C), Geomancy (C), Berserk Rage (C)
Yet-Olong Angels: High Mastery (C), Time Mastery (C), Gravity (C), Living Metal (C), Premonitions (C)
Proteans: Mutation (C)
Shedim: Biomancy (?)
Shadows: Form Reflection (P), Shadow Manipulation (C)
Caetus: Flight, Black Magic (C), Shadow Forging (C)
Beastborn: Feral Strength (C)
Mhajm: Music Formation (C), Shipbuilding (*), Pillaging (*)
Nil-Atath Demons: Non-Linear Time (?), Non-Euclidean Geometry (C)
Manitou: Mutation (C), Biomancy (?) Magic Burst (C)
Va'Aton
Gorai
Starspawn: Mutation (C), Non-Linear Time (?)
Deep Ones: Translocation, Music Formation (C)
Wyverns: Flight, Pyromancy
Humans: Irrigation (O)
Dark Elves: Form Reflection (P), Soul Claim (C)


City Advancements
-none so far-

[ImperialSunligh]

Spoiler: Silent Fury

Show

Centrum, in its sleep, saw the foul acts of the watchers against its most prized dragon. It took great restraint not to initiate the awakening then. But it knew better, and continued its sleep.

Still, though, it acted subconsciously to free the great beast. Before the wyverns even brought the god-dragon to land, Centrum snored a great snore like those of the early days, when it created the pillars. It was a snore of the code, which erupted from the sea, in symbolic tendrils, their text arcing around the pale mockeries of dragons before they could react at all. The water below had mixed with the code material, becoming a code-sea, a soup of concepts.

Once all the wyverns restraining the godly dragon were grasped, the tendrils retracted back into the sea, ending the existence of the Pearl Wings as all but a concept within the calm, grey sea.

With its defenders gone, Pervetus took a while to heal its wounds, and returned once more below the earth, where it rested once more, free from the brutality of the watchers.

Spoiler: Crunch

Show

2d6+63+5=74

Catastrophe: Code material erupts from the Border Sea area to the west of the Grid Forest as Pervetus is being held above by hothrids. The area of sea is turned to watery code material and the pearl wings are pulled into it by tendrils, becoming code. Pervetus is freed, 10

I'm assuming that's where they were as there was no specification. Also, Pervetus never flew and was described as rising out of the landscape and so it would not make sense for him to fly, but w/e.

Cult Bonus: 0
Law Bonus: 5
Left: 64

[Omegonthesane]

Spoiler: A Lack of Discretion

Show

The Pearl Wings were half-dragon, and their numbers were correspondingly few - only five souls had been damned to nonexistence by Centrum's foolish deeds. Still, there was a glimmer of irritation to mar the ecstatic glee visible on Nysatek's hideous form as it assessed the damage - when inflicted on soulless animals, the Pillar's preferred form of attack was not materially different to death, and thus the sight was pleasing to the Lord of Death.

Eventually, the other three Lords gathered at that point, for this act was great, and they had a great act to perform in return. L'zot'aca was furious at the annihilation of its bastard children, but L'zot'aca was always furious at something, and those deities who observed could see it was filled with dreadful excitement. Tsarag-Losh had a sense of resignation - their next deed had been carefully planned, as per its demands, but by L'zot'aca, so it was bound to have missed something important. Orat'hoth was simply angry at what had passed - Centrum had once again showed its lack of discretion.

It was time to show their superiority, as the Lord of Fire had suggested. Time to clean up the Pillar's mess.

Spoiler: Ineffable Twice Over

Show

With an infinite playground of time, the Nil-Atath had access to creations that would never have been imaginable where their most convenient hunting grounds lay. Thus, when one intruded upon a public space in Nix carrying a paintbrush, no one doubted its story that it had looked through an artefact it called a "extraplanar satellite feed", and beheld events that were taking place in the Codex itself at the very moment of its arrival.

No one had any stake in believing it, either, but they certainly appreciated the free decoration of their town with surreal images. There were many small details, of things being slashed, hacked, bent, cooked, frozen, grown, titillated, mutilated, and generally damaged or changed or both in various ways, but four stood out above all, one after the other on a long slab of valley.

The first was a picture in which the background was nothing but words, in all the languages that had yet been written down and many more that existed in the future which this Nil-Atath had come from. Atop this was a fleshy, tentacled mushroom, which took hold of the words in the background, ripped them apart, and rearranged them into alphabetical order, each language taking up a single row where before it had taken up a single column.

The second was a picture of a corridor lined with shelves meant for scrolls and codices, a work of perspective that seemed to extend as far as the eye could see. The left side of the corridor had caught fire, in many places up and down its length, and the written information was burning away; the right side was already an inferno at the nearest point of the display, and nothing but ash and dust lined its shelves in the deeper depths of the painting.

The third depicted a great and needlessly elaborate scaffolding of a hundred floors, a latticework of pure gold from which hung an array of platinum bells. It was well known that gold and platinum did not rust, yet every single layer and every single bell above the tenth floor was marked with rust, every floor above the fiftieth was more rust than it was metal, and a great pile of orange dust sat on the hundredth floor where it touched a strange dark cloud, while the entire structure was surrounded by half a floor's thickness of such dust in every direction

The fourth had at its centre a thick twisted mass of black, thorned branches which seemed to absorb light from around them. Yet, this black hedge was illuminated by many glowing brown vines which criss-crossed its mass, reaching above it and creating a forest canopy - only, a forest canopy which shed light instead of blocking it. The edges of the black hedge transformed gradually into life forms, becoming snakes or birds or butterflies or other forms of beauty, and flowers decorated those parts of the tree which were completely untainted by the blackened vines.

The Nil-Atath painter painted these, and it was admired, yet none truly understood their magnitude. The painter's mind had superimposed these false images on its own eyes, for it had witnessed the day that the Watchers attacked the Codex itself, and how Orat'hoth personally murdered the Dark One.

Spoiler: Agents of the Star-Gods

Show

Summary: The Star-Spawn get an Order, which spawns three armies of Corruptors, dark and dangerous sorcerers who can inflict their Mutation on the very flow of time itself. One defends the Order, two and three recapture Pervetus.

Spoiler: Crunch

Show

Power roll: 6d4.takeHighest(4)=13
Power rollover: 14 points
Total 27 points

1 point: Command Avatar (Nysatek) to Create Order in the Star-Spawn "Agents of the Star Gods"

1 point: Command Demigod (Yghanar, Black Guardian of Wind) to Command Order (AotSG) to Raise Army (1st Corruptors)

1 point: Command Demigod (Maugagon, Black Guardian of Fire) to Command Order (AotSG) to Raise Army (2nd Corruptors)

1 point: Command Demigod (Enelothoth, Black Guardian of Water) to Command Order (AotSG) to Political Maneuver and mobilise the 2nd Corruptors ahead of schedule.

1 point: Command Demigod (G'garakut, Black Guardian of Earth) to Command Order (AotSG) to Raise Army (3rd Corruptors)

1st Corruptors defend the Agents of the Star Gods Order.

2nd Corruptors attack and capture Pervetus, and defend it at -2.

3rd Corruptors defend Pervetus at +0.

10 points: Catastrophe - The Watchers directly attack the Codex itself in various ways, causing widespread corruption of its record of the Code itself, and destroying the Dark One.

12 points remaining
+3 Cults to next roll

[ImperialSunligh]

Spoiler: Twice Scarred

Show

Orat'hoth and its fellow watchers foolishly believed that the Dark One was slain upon the death of its manifestation in the Codex. Such naivety Centrum had long learned to put aside. The Dark One would not be slain.

Mere moments after the assault upon the already redundant Codex, the watchers having rendered it so not by their attacks, but by their previous actions, that turned the body of the Dark One to nothing, a small, amorphous shadow descended to Neyla. It laughed a laugh audible to all.

"You Watchers are so silly. Watching and watching and watching, yet when you do something, it's always so silly. You thought I was dead? I cannot be killed any more than you could have killed Centrum. I don't much mind being "killed", But you know, what you're doing to the dragons isn't very nice. My dad really liked the dragons. You should stop being so mean to them when they aren't doing anything to hurt you or your people. Father wasn't going to do anything mean to you again. Trying so hard to capture the original dragon is... stupid, and will get your followers killed. I know this because I will kill them. So I suggest that you don't do this again in the future, else I shall have more toys to play with."

The shadow manifested within the crystal scar, among the wicked sorcerers that guarded the primordial dragon. The Corruptors noticed the black shape among them, and attempted to strike it with magic, to alter time to prevent whatever such a being might do, but the Dark One, as a godly being, existed beyond time, beyond space, and beyond realization. It merely walked up to one of the sorcerers and touched the strange being, which at first had no reaction, but then quickly burst into dark flames. These flames burned so deeply that they scorched both the body and the soul. Even as the being burned to its death, its soul continued to burn, and would burn evermore, as its immortal essence became tortured and insane.

The flames at first only burned this one being, but as the panicked star-spawn grabbed its fellows, the fire caught their bodies alight, and eventually grew such that it would spread without direct contact. All of Pervetus' protectors were consumed in flame, allowing the dragon to sink beneath the ground once more.

The flames did not end there. No, the Dark One had not yet had enough fun. The scorching flames spread throughout the area, burning many of the star-spawn and condemning them to infinite suffering. The fire burned the earth, so intense was its otherworldly heat, melting much of the crystals and even the dirt in the area into strange shapes and blackening what once was natural. The Tessarect of Wisdom was partially burned by the flames and was damaged significantly, such that it could not be used barring extensive repairs.

The race of the star-spawn were shaken greatly, but were not wholly concentrated in this area, and so lived on. Much of the ecosystem in the area was destroyed, as the fire burned all plants that had any hope of living in the already fairly barren area into dust and most animals that could survive the fire starved to death, besides that the now scorched land would not be fertile for many generations and would be forever scarred.

"Watch this, O watchful ones, and remember it. Stop pestering the dragons, or I shall have an excuse to do this again."

Spoiler: Crunch

Show

2d6+64+5=79

Catastrophe: The Dark One, who was only destroyed in manifestation, destroys the armies protecting Pervetus, with searing flames that torture their souls to insanity beyond the grave, as well as severely damaging the Tesserect and badly scorching the most populous area of the crystal scar to the point of melting much of the landscape, freeing Pervetus (again), -10

Left: 69
Law Bonus: 5

[Omegonthesane]

Spoiler: Restraint

Show

Of the four Lords, Tsarag-Losh and Nysatek were busy, L'zot'aca had effectively a negative amount of experience in negotiation, so it was her would-be murderer Orat'hoth who responded.

"The Watcher Council wishes me to convey three questions to you, Dark One.

"Why should we trust Centrum, who violated his own Code the moment it inconvenienced him?

"Why should we trust you, destroyer, defiler, creation of a Code that has now been completely abandoned?

"Why do you presume that we cannot kill Centrum?"

That last part was something of a bluff - Orat'hoth affected perfect confidence, as if it were absolutely certain that the combined might of its kind was capable of destroying even a god. In reality, it was in no way certain - though it had heard the news from some of the Star-Spawn, of how the old grey god of Tyonix was doomed in every possible timeline to die at a mere mortal's hand. It was only certain that god-slaying was possible.

What followed was no bluff, however. The Dark One gasped softly in horror, before glowing golden vines of spirit-stuff bound her seemingly amorphous form, forming a perfect airtight seal, while similar golden vines ensnared and choked the Pillar itself. This was what a mortal would see, at least, as the Life-Bringer sealed away Centrum's destructive power, preventing it from lashing out again.

"We have left the dragons alone. Pervetus is no dragon, it is the extrusion of Centrum's will upon the world. That will has proven hostile to us at every turn; therefore, we are hostile to it."

Spoiler: Seers of the Council

Show

Nysatek's business was with the Nil-Atath, the lesser of the two soul-stealing abominations that plagued the Watchers. Courtesy of the Dark One, there was a new crop of tortured, insane souls which needed to be got rid of before they turned into Shedim and spread their corruption throughout all of life, so now was the time to gain a foothold.

The Catalysts of old were not the only ones who had learned the sorcery of nonlinear time when they stole it from Nil-Atath hosts. What they knew, their master knew. With that in mind, Nysatek had planned its journey, performed it once or twice alone, and now performed it with a cabal of thirteen Demons in tow, held in its cloud by hideous rotting tentacles.

Together, they travelled outside the universe, to the very beginning of time, to the meeting in which Orat'hoth was granted permission to descend upon the world. When these kidnapped demons were returned to the present, they were forever filled with wonder at having witnessed a power structure older than time itself, and thus these Seers of the Council spread their word throughout Nix. A fair number joined them, and fourty-eight of their worshippers were trained as two warbands of Harvesters, experienced at stealing prey from across time and interested in hunting more dangerous game than usual.

Spoiler: Corrupted Tesseract

Show

The Tesseract of Wisdom had been plugged into a Star-Spawn sacrifice when the Dark One lashed out, and the two had fused to a degree in trying to survive the nightmare fires. The Tesseract was no longer a perfect, passive record; instead, it knew enough to pose a terrible danger to its enemies, and was possessed of a frightened, cowardly, malicious sentience born of the panic of its host.

This malice drove it to the remaining Agents of the Star-Gods, where it deceived them, saying that it was undiminished, unselfish, and sapient, and that their best course was to continue opposing Centrum. This they did, by sending their existing army of Corruptors to recapture Pervetus and drag his form to the demonic city of Nix, whereupon it was seized by the two bands of Harvesters created by the Seers of the Council. As this was done, a replacement army of Corruptors rose up, and began their task of protecting the Star-Gods' agents from those who would strike against them.

Spoiler: Fury of the Wild

Show

The wild was not safe. All the Beastborn of the Crystal Village knew this for a fact, and it was the reason for their increasingly cruel Protectors, wielders of the poisoned spear that brought slow and agonising death.

Those "protectors" trying to purge the beach ready for their own kind's use might have done well to better remember how unsafe the wild was, but then, it was not their lucky day. Guided by subtle changes in the current and altered prey patterns courtesy of its divine parent, the serpent Dagon happened to be in the sea when a Protector boat sailed out, seeking to kill sea creatures that might dare to disrupt their fishing operations. After all, they had received reports of a Wierresta in their fishing grounds, and the wild could not be tamed by their creed, only destroyed and violated.

All went well as the beast rose from the water, only to taste the sting of the Envenomed Spear. Had it been any full Wierresta other than the Son of Chaos itself, that would have left only the task of fleeing, but even as Dagon felt the poisons enter its body, its body twisted, tracing sorcerous runes in the air, igniting all the poison within its veins and at the tip of the spear. Even that was amazingly painful, but the poison would have lasted, while the fire simply burnt itself out in seconds or starved in Dagon's oxygen-starved blood vessels. Meanwhile, the ship caught fire, for the poisoned blood of its target had landed on the deck, and it caught fire when the monstrous serpent's spell was complete.

As the seagoers panicked and died, the serpent started travelling along the land, twisting like a colossal sidewinder, keeping as much of its mass off the ground as possible. Within the Crystal Village itself, it devoured Protectors and civilians alike, leaving bloodshed and horror in its wake. Once its cavernous belly was full, however, the dread serpent simply left, returning to its preferred underwater environment.

In the immediate, mortal term, the damage was utterly horrific, more than a quarter of the Crystal Village butchered and devoured, and practically all the rest injured. In the longer term that gods worked over, it was less dmaaging than all that, for most of Dagon's prey had been the slowest and weakest - old persons near their end, the sick in their beds, the maimed who could not run. Mouths to feed that could provide only knowledge in return, in an age where there was not yet so very much to know.

Spoiler: Crunch

Show

Power roll: 6d4.takeHighest(4)=15 +3 = 18 points
Power rollover: 12 points
Total 30 points

7 points: Event - Orat'hoth seals the Dark One away completely, and partially restrains Centrum itself. The mechanical upshot is that Centrum cannot use the Catastrophe action next turn without spending an Event to break the seal ahead of schedule.

5 points: Create Demigod (Achilles) "The Corrupted Tesseract"

1 point: Command Avatar (Nysatek) to Create Order in the Nil-Atath "Seers of the Council"

1 point: Command Demigod (Black Ship) to Command Order (Seers of the Council) to Raise Army (Harvesters 1)

1 point: Command Demigod (Black Guardian of Wind) to Command Order (Seers of the Council) to Raise Army (Harvesters 2)

1 point: Command Demigod (Corrupted Tesseract) to Command Order (Agents of the Star-Gods) to Raise Army (Corruptors 2)

1 point: Command Demigod (Dagon) to attack the Crystal Protectors!
Dagon 4d8=16
Crystal Protectors 2d6+3=8

Corruptors 1 switches from defending an Order to attack and capture Pervetus and deliver him to Nix, city of the Nil-Atath

Harvesters 1 defend the captured Pervetus in Nix.

Harvesters 2 defend the captured Pervetus in Nix.

14 points remaining
+3 Cults to next roll