Lords of Creation: The World Madly Spins (IC Thread)

[Gnomes2169]

Spoiler: Previously

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For the second time in its existence, Lor gazed at the Sun and for the second time, it felt the pain of gazing at her terrible beauty. But this time, it did not look away. It had a duty to perform. One that it had fully accepted already. Nothing needed to be said. It accepted the goddess's ray, but, for the first time, it did not release it immediately, instead, taking it upon itself. Its mirror surface now no longer reflected a dispersed, pale light, it no longer reflected to herself Solace's crowned form. Instead, the surface went fully red, slowly shifting to orange, yellow, white and then, finally, a beautiful, deadly blue-white. And then, finally, as the great serpent was nearly upon them, pure black as, from the very spot that Solace had aimed at, came a line so thin and focused that it was entirely invisible. This, as it ran across the serpent's great form, carved its flesh as is it was the finest knife. Its head was severed from its body and its great body itself cut into a thousand pieces by the combined powers of the gods of the sun and the moon. And yet, Lot was not done. The carving stick stalks that remained around its head took root and grew. They took hold of the serpent's dark, poisoned, still-beating heart and forced it into its mouth before wrapping tightly around it, forcing the mouth closed and sealing it shut. The, Lor used the goddess's light again, still unbearably hot, but not so focused, cooking the entire thing until it had tuened into stone. Lor's surface returned to normal, then, its diffused light shining upon the world below even as it reflected the sun goddess once more. Except for one spot, the place from which the cutting beam had emitted, which was now pure blackness and would never reflect anything ever again.

But even through all these effort, Lor wondered if the job was truly done. Even though it was now merely a head, and made of stone instead of flesh, would this be enough to truly stop one such as the serpent was? It implored the goddess to tell it if there was more that could be done.

War in Heaven

Spoiler: LONG

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The release of that much power didn't just scar the mirror. Even before Lor began to release all of that pent-up divine energy, Renarr had listed to the side, the goddess curling around her core with her hands blackened and curled against her chest. Her flesh, divine as it was, would one day heal, but along the veins of her forearms there would be a grey discoloration, as if they had been blackened by soot. Weakened as she was the fires that blazed around her body and in her eyes had gone dim, her Daystar aspect having been tapped of almost all the strength that she had been born with, leaving only the Eternal Night to witness the wrath and ruin that was wrought upon the great serpent. For a while, that aspect would become dominant.

In her exhaustion, there was no celebration in seeing Wan'shi die. Even without its proclamation, without the curses and horrors spawned in the beast's death throes, Renarr's mouth was filled with ash as the cost of destroying the beast, of all the damage it had done, remained at the forefront of her mind. When the last of Lor's beam would fade away, leaving nothing behind but a corpse that was even then being broken down and fading away into the stars, the Dawnstar was not elated, but numb.

And of course, in one last burst of venom, the serpent cursed them all to war and further bloodshed. After all of that, with so many new mortal lives lost, the slaughter of so many proto-deities and the shattering of the Circle Continent, the destruction would not stop. And if she had fought the serpent instead of hiding, if she'd stood with those minor deities who had been brave enough to face the beast instead of running away... maybe all of this could have been avoided. It hadn't taken all of the true gods working in concert to kill Wan'shi, after all, and that had been after it had gained such power from digesting so much divine flesh...

Softly, she whispered to herself, "Coward." And the Eternal Night knew it to be true.

As Lor asked its question, drawing the goddess from her spiral of self-recrimination, she looked upon the great mirror and saw, her heart wrenching, the blackened spot on the great moon's surface. Her hand reaching out, she touches the blemish in its beauty and whispers, "Oh teacher... I am sorry..." She did not know how to answer its question.

The Suzerain, however, did. Arriving on the Strands of Night, looking up to see what was happening to the golems, phoenix and solars who would not flee to the refuge of the First World, Solace or Nocturne, and 'seeing' the ripple of power for that petrifying curse drawing closer, the archon takes the weakened goddess into his arms and he tells Lor, "We endure. We remain vigilant. We remain united. The serpent has put poison into this world, and we must be ready to neutralize it." Nodding to the rippling curse, the Suzerain adds, "But for now, we must leave this place, and return to the First World's surface." He and Renarr would be vulnerable, even if the curse was borne of Nocturne, as he was not a true divinity, and the Dawnstar had been weakened so much...

Without the luxury of being able to wait, the archon of night rode the tides of darkness towards the First World's surface, and the protection that all the gathered divine powers there would provide. He could only hope that Lor would understand the need, and find a way to protect itself or leave the deadly trap that the Void had become. In his arms, Renarr's curled up form looking so very small and weak, the goddess would close her eyes, and then snap them open and look up in sudden realization.

"I remember you." She said. Within the atmosphere of the first world now, the Suzerain stopped at those words and his expression turned hard. "From the start. I remember you. You were there when the creator-"

"Hush now. Rest. You need to keep your strength." The archon states, as if chiding a child.

Undaunted, the goddess whispers, "It was supposed to be you, wasn't it? The creator gave me control of the Night, but it was supposed to be you." He answered her with silence, starting to move once more towards the surface of the world. "I wonder if he made a mistake." Again, silence. "I'm weak enough, you know. You could claim the throne, regain your birthright. Become whole."

Finally, the archon answered, "I know."

Looking into his face, trying to understand, Renarr asked, "Then why don't you?"

Setting foot on the edge of Corrla, still holding the goddess against his body, the Suzerain's eyes would scan the world around them to see if there were signs of any other being, and he answers again. "I will not be enough." Taking his first step, he chooses a direction inland at random and admits, "I am too arrogant. I am tempted, and I do not know how much of that is the serpent's cursed influence or my own weakness. The creator chose not to finish me after giving me sapience. You do not deserve to die." Softly, he adds, "You were not a mistake."

Slowly the goddess would curl in his arms, one hand clutching his shirt as she pressed her face against his arm and, as dawn began to rise on this continent, she wept. For the lives lost, for the work that had yet to be done, in relief and resignation. In the light of Solace she grieved, with only the Suzerain as her witness.

In the aftermath
Worship was a strange and fickle thing. On the circle continent, shattered and obviously misnamed as that place now was, witnesses to Renarr's assault upon Wan'shi had been plentiful, though few would know the truth of what she was, or where she had come from. To many, she had simply been a blazing light in the sky, wrath and judgement incarnate, dealing the serpent a terrible blow before fading away as quickly as she had come.

Some would say that it was a sign that there was a protector of the world, a deity of light who came only to strike down the great monsters when needed, before fading once more into myth. Others that Renarr's manifestation in the sky had been an attack from a jealous god who sat upon a throne in Solace, who had reached out to murder Wan'shi and to claim the Void for herself, an opportunist who had simply used the other gods to further her conquests. And still others claimed that she was a servant of the god that they had already worshiped, or a manifestation of their divine aspects that had been crafted to stop the serpent's destruction, a star called from the sky to smite the astral beast for the harm it had caused.

And because of Wan'shi's curses, the few remaining solars that were now confined to Solace would be unable to correct all of these misconceptions. And since Renarr and the Suzerain were on the other side of the world, leaving only Lor and Dia to really tell the truth, the second-hand misinformation would find plenty of purchase among the various races.

In Corrla, however, where only the aftershocks of the battle had really been felt, and rumor was all that could be confirmed of the conflict's exact details, it was said that a goddess of darkness had struggled against the beast who's coils had so wrapped around the world and filled the skies. A goddess who had tried to protect the world since the beginning, when the sun was crafted by her sister in its terrible, deadly majesty, and who had shielded the world from the serpent's path of ruin as she had spared it from the sun's burning gaze.

Details beyond that were confused. Some claimed she had bested the serpent and scattered its coils to the night sky, giving a new gift to the mortals in the form of the stars above, and the new moon to illuminate their travels at night. Others that she had failed in her struggle, and her powers had been usurped for a moment by the serpent to sew discord and strife within the hearts of mortal kind, before her solar twin had rescued her and helped to finally slay Wan'shi. A minority simply claimed that this goddess was an aspect of Kerima that had not been known before, for if the creator goddess had made the earth, would it not make sense that she would also have dominion over the heavens and the void? What was agreed upon was that a pale goddess cloaked in robes of violet walked the lands with her consort, simply looking upon the mortals that they encountered, before they faded away in the light of day like a dream.

Regardless of the reasoning, location or the aspect, some worship for Renarr began to find root throughout the world. Where before the goddess had been relatively unknown, now mortals had reason enough to start finding faith in her, though it was a fledgeling and incredibly scattered thing. In Corrla in particular it was a minor faith, always secondary to Kerima where it was even allowed, often only with the interpretation that Renarr was simply an aspect of their primary deity. In the Circle Continent, her Night aspect was almost entirely unknown, referred to as a separate deity if it was even mentioned at all.

In these early days, it was a confusing time to be a part of Renarr's flock.

[Writtensanity]

Annethenia was the eldest harpy in her flock. Her clutch-mates had hatched just after her putting her in charge of the decision-making for all of them for her entire life, but that had never made her less hesitant about those decisions. Especially ones like this.

The Spine Aerie was vast, but her ageing sisters and the pair of clutches under them could no longer compete with the other hunters from nearby Harpy flocks. They were younger, faster, and had a generation more instinct than Annethenia and her kin did. If they wanted to hunt, if she wanted her clutch to be raised in a safe place, they were going to need to hunt outside of the Spine Aerie.

It was midday, the perfect time to hunt. She needed to make a decision now. Annethenia called to her sisters, a rallying cry similar to a hawk, they called back in agreement, and the flock of thirty leapt off the clifftops of the spine Aerie and out into the near featureless plains of the lands beyond.

The peaks of The Spire Aerie that fenced the inland were mighty, tall enough to pierce the clouds. Annethenia and her sisters dove through the clouds, piercing them and coming out the other side as new hunters on the plains. A new kind of hunter. Fang Phoenixes were deadly, but they were easy to see coming, solar as they were, instead she and her sisters were small and daggerlike through the clouds, and many creatures weren't used to looking up.

It didn't take long for the predators to find prey. There was a head of it on the ground, something close to the mountain goats they'd seen in the aerie. They didn't know it at the time, but they were looking at horses. The species didn't matter at the moment though, because what mattered was food.

There wasn't much of a chase. Without the brilliant light of a phoenix, the horses didn't know to run away, they hadn't been taught that predators could come from the sky. The harpies couldn't dive down and snatch something as big as a horse, but they didn't have to. Before the rest of the heard ran away Annethenia and her brood dropped on three of the large horses, and the poor creatures had no way to fight back against the harpy's cutting talons.

With their kills caught, the sisters rejoiced for a moment before calling their children over to join the feast. Annethenia watched with the proud heart of a mother as her flock not only ate, but had excess for the first time in months. She caught her sister looking off at the horses, which had stopped stampeding far away, but not nearly far enough to escape a harpy's sight.

"Kaliadena?" the flock leader asked.

"Are we going to follow them?"

"For a time, yes."

----

Twelve days into the great hunt, the horses turned around, back towards The Spine Aerie, having been run ragged by the well-fed and motivated harpy flock. Annethenia had made the decision to keep moving, fly further away from the Aerie to see what laid beyond, after all, they had more meat than they could carry and nothing out here seemed to challenge them.

The landscape of the plains had also changed, the grass was greener and the rain was more frequent. Trees, something that the harpies had seldom ever seen, were suddenly commonplace in this strange land.

And then, without warning, there was a wall of trees. Massive and imposing, standing over the slightly damn grass of the lands beyond the plains. Annethenia had taken some of her oldest sisters and flown up to the trees to see what was happening.

The harpy flock leader spotted movement in the undergrowth and swooped down through the canopy and onto the soft ground, which almost stuck her fast. There was a small creature there, at least by aerie standards. A small lizard like creature that seemed to have just woken up, carrying a stick carved with intricate carvings from top to bottom. The harpy's sisters landed in the trees above the matriarch, who didn't immediately strike her pray, because there was something different about it, something intelligent...

Spoiler: OOC:

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Just a little fiction about the first meeting between harpies and kobalds. They might live pretty far apart but they are the closest thing to neighbors that The Spine Aerie has. Notably, the lack of teach actions mean that the Harpys are behind the Kobalds when it comes to society at the moment, but it's up to @kinro to decide how the rest of the meeting goes! You have my permission to control the harpies :)

[dancrilis]

Kerima - The Gom'Jabbar
She had payed little attention to the southern continent since the crime they had committed had been answered, but she did feel that some revenants were no longer as useful as they had been as punishing them, the deity Idix who had seemingly raisen from the corpse of the slain had chosen to shelter them for reasons that Kerima could not understand - but did not object to, a punishment had been handed out and rules to avoid it had been set, if the Ghul's worshipped this Idix they could be sparred, and if this Idix choose to offer them another chance to spare themselves she supposed that was fair also.

Kerima - The War in Heaven
She had avoided the conflict largely other then to casually supervise events but the prophecy stood out to her - chiefly as that was how she had always understood the world, life sought to improve itself, larger animals eat smaller animals, the smaller in turn could wait for larger to die and eat them in turn or ambush them with numbers or poison, life was a struggle and while the deities were nearly infinite they had limitations and everything else had more.
As such she didn't truely understand the curse - until she noted that some mortals were now chosing to interpret law in a manner that benefited themselves rather then as clearly intended. This resulted in action - the Ghul who had become the first revenant had been examined carefully and she now used one of the items she had learned for it to control the passage of law to be less open to personal interpretation - overnight she bestowed writting to her people, the priests foremost but all should now what was written and how it should be understood.

Kerima - The Arrival of the Weshesh
The goddess had little interest in the Weshesh personally other then to note that they were not her creations and so were not what they claimed to be, if they began to worship her she would accept them as she did the river archons, if they did not they would likely be driven from her lands, and if they offended her she would see if they had what it took to stand upto her wrath.

Corrla - The Arrival of the Weshesh
The Weshesh might find the society of Kerima to be somewhat insane, everytribe seems to have its own language which became less and less similiar as you moved from the tribe - but still the people seemed to have an incredible ability to understand language also, the basic laws of the society were fairly clear, but every priest (the obvious leaders of the society) might have any number of personal laws that were entirely at the whim of that priest. These priests wielded formidable magic also centered on control, security or health - it was rarely used to directly harm but people they spoke to were clear that such as less a restriction and more that the for a priest to harm others was limited.
Then there were the monsters - powerful monsters of flesh who shrugged off nearly any attack and even ones that downed down often didn't keep them down for long, these creatures attacked without warning to destroy, sometimes criminals sometimes normal people but in every case the people on the land simply accepted that the individual had erred and could redeem themselves through correcting others.
In areas blighted by the serpent's blood small groups of outcasts eked out a life until these monsters eventually got them - some seeking to flee to lands unknown on the hope of escape.
The Weshesh received very mixed greetings from the natives, but providing they didn't offend the priests they were largely left alone to go about their business.

Corrla - The Arrival of Renarr
For the people of Corrla in general the arrival of Renarr was less impactful them might normally be understood, most things were seem as a representation of Kerima's power and so a new manifestation of power was not held in much more awe then when the spirits of the river has embraced Kerima or when the Weshesh arrived - some however in the blight lands tainted by the Serpent looked at the new goddess as a potential savior or an agent of hope, they had fled Kerima and rejected leaving the land of their birth - but in the worship of a new goddess they could avoid the revenants and return home. Others of course saw this as a trick of Kerima to lure them back to the flock and rejected everything to do with the new goddess out of hand and branded those who choose to worship her as heretics and cowards, in many blight lands things only got worse.

Kerima - The Arrival of Renarr
Her people began to mention in their prayers some new power in the land being seen, much like when the River Archons or The Weshesh appeared or when The Saorsa had began to interfere Kerima saw no particular reason to act, her priests would keep her informed and she would monitor any changes in reality such as corpses blighting crops, or life moving to greater conflict and would act as needed at the time.

Spoiler: Actions

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AP Current: 3
Teach Mundane Concept: Writing
- Taken from the Ghul's Kerima provided her people with writing to go along with language, where primative writing existed before now it flurished through her people - this was intially to deal with maintaining clear laws in the wake of the curse of Wan'shi which caused some mortals to place law as dependant on what they felt it should be rather then what it was leading to greater conflict, but rapidly writing changed and evolved to match the large number of languages which were present on Corrla.
Domain: Society (Advancement) 5/10)

AP Remaining: 2.

[Kinro]

Lor could not see itself, of course, but it could feel the spot in itself that felt... wrong. But there was nothing that could be done about it. It had to be done, as it indicated to the sun goddess. It had helped to kill a great being, through destruction of a sort that it hoped never to bring to bear again. It was fitting that it should pay the price, just as she clearly was. It bade farewell to her then, as the Suzerain came to take her away, leaving Lor alone once more. Alone in the Void, which was already becoming cold, thanks to the great serpent's death curse.

And so, Lor called up to itself the some of the golem archons that were now also floating aimlessly nearby, their design accomplished. It gave them new purpose, to carry it to the stone head of the serpent, that it and they could watch over it, so that it might never again revive and act out its foul will upon the world. And as they carried Lor, they became alike to it, looking as if they were made of silver and reflecting all around them. But stone head itself was still nothing more than stone hanging in the void. And so, the head, it declared to be not a stone, but a world into itself. And with the world below, it formed a bridge that those who would find it and were worthy and willing could take to join with it and always keep watch, against Wan'shi and those who, like him, would threaten the world with great and unfathomable evil.

But it was not evil, that one little creature back on the world was concerned about. And her concerns were quite fathomable indeed, mainly regarding the clinking of coin that could be heard in the carving stick that she was carrying and looking forward to the baked, salted fish that she knew she would find at her destination. It often amazed her how well these centaurs, who couldn't even eat meat, could make a simple fish taste. Of course, it greatly helped that their race didn't mostly live in a dank, wet swamp, which, as lovely and wonderful as it was, wasn't very conductive to the starting and maintaining of fire. And, of course, there were always the traditionalists at home who grumble about their culture being tainted by the lizard merchants and their coin. Neela Softscale, for that was this Kobold's name, sympathized in a way. As a runner, one of the few that made the arduous trip to the plain, to the centaur runner who would carry it the rest of the way, she took pride in having a profession that dated back to when simple carving sticks were carried for nothing else but the simple joy of sharing knowledge. But there was that and then, there was the taste of salted, baked fish.

And it was likely for that reason that Neela was still out so late that morning, when it was already getting too light to see and she was getting too tired from her long night. She was no great explorer, like the ones who had first made contact with the centaurs, no scholar, like those that had first found a common language with their tall cousins from the fierce deserts. She was nothing but a simple runner. And yet, it was her, of all her race, that the harpies first saw, as they had flown far from their nests as they chased after their meal. All the way to where poor Neela was trying to find a place to finally rest. But, tired as she was, it was hard not to feel the sensation creeping up her spine as she was suddenly being watched by massive, silent predators. She looked up and... birds. But not. Like a strange mix between a bird and a centaur, each of them bigger than she was. There were... she didn't know. Too many. Too many to be looking at her like that, so carefully, studying, as if they were trying to determine whether she was food. Maybe hoping a bit too much that she might be. Her back hit a tree. She hadn't even realized that she had been backing away, her carving stick clutched between her arms protectively, her whole body shacking in fright. They were half centaur. Could they speak? Nothing but centaurs looked like centaurs, that she knew, and centaurs could speak. Maybe these centaurs-birds could, too? "He... Hello?" she called out in a hissing, guttural language that the harpies would have surely never before heard. "Please don't eat me?" she pleaded.

Spoiler: AP

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Alter Land(Serpent Moon)
Make the Serpent Moon livable to all species, protected from the cold of the void. Mana now falls from it and a silvery sort of edible grass that all species can eat grows freely upon its surface.

4 -1 = 3
(Protection(Guardianship) 0 + 1 = 1)

Bless(Moonbeam)
A beam of moonlight appears upon the world below, always in the area where the Serpent Moon is highest in the sky. It is always there, somewhere, though nearly invisible during the day. Those that find it and are both willing and worthy to join the guardianship, can take it to be transported safely to the moon. Any of those who are on the moon can easily know where the beam currently falls and take it down.

3 - 1 = 2
(Protection(Guardianship) 1 + 1 = 2)

Create Organization (Moon Guardians)
The moon guardians are those that have chosen to keep watch over the head of Wan'shi, the great serpent, one who once tried to devour the world. They guard against his reawakening and watch over the world below, in order to prevent such great evil from rising again.

2 - 1 = 1
(Protection(Guardianship) 2 + 1 = 3)

Also, claiming the Swamp(Kobold) domain, before I forget again.

[KragBrightscale]

A Mysterious Village

Sarbaz was one of the more experienced caravan leaders who frequented the route between the prosperous port town of Jazala located half way down the red coast and the Northeastern tribes that lived on the edge of the Desert. This trip had gone well so far, after a successful week of trade during the Grand Bazaar held at the port town, the caravan was ready to return home.

Loading up their goods they set out towards the desert. The caravan had been lucky enough to acquire a few of the large carnivorous birds that had started roaming parts of the desert. The birds were surprisingly capable of thriving along the edges of Wadi Alsahali, where smaller creatures could be hunted for food. Capable of running fast and surviving the dry barren landscape, the few that had been caught became excellent pack animals.

The caravan passed through the red coast without incident, but as they arrived at the last rock formation before the great sand dunes the foremost meme we of the group spotted some lights.

Amongst the rocks, a narrow channel had been carved and the light seemed to come from further in. Curious, the caravan approached. It was good to rest before attempting to cross the dunes, and maybe this was another caravan they could have change news with.

What greeted the Merchant group as they passed through the natural gateway was a village. It was unlike any settlement the Lizardfolk had ever seen before, and Sarbaz had even visited a village in the swamps once. Coming out of what seemed to be their homes, humanoid figures emerged to meet them.

These people were dressed strangely, with not a spot of skin being shown. Wrapped in what Sarbaz thought was some kind of new material, the Lizardfolk felt their merchant senses tingle. A foreign tribe, with foreign clothing, and possibly exotic wares or knowledge to exchange.

Putting on smiles, some of the Lizardfolk unpacked a few sacks of goods onto a spread out piece of leather. Dates, salt, salted meats, grains, jewelry and trinkets made of bone and gold, a piece of wood carved with writing, and some small pearls and colorful rocks.

Sarbaz spoke for the group, introducing themselves and their wares. Pausing, he waited for them to answer, hopefully the strangers could understand.

A couple crocodilians kept the terror birds docile, but were ready to spring to action should things go south.

Spoiler: OOC

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Left the description of the village and what the Xen are wearing mostly to you. The lizardsgolk are interested in purchasing some of the clothing they see the Xen wearing, and hope to trade their wares, or at least establish an initial connection.

[Writtensanity]

At the Edge of the Swamps: First Contact

Annathenia had the small creature shaking, which was something she'd seen many times before she clawed little things off the ground, but they it had done something that she'd never heard before.

Animals squawked and bleated when they were in danger, but this thing was making a series of strange noises, each one unique and structured. Additionally, the little thing wasn't terrified like animals were, scampering away, she could hear fear in the strange noises it was making.

"Sister?" one of the other harpies asked of Annathenia. "is it trying to talk?"

"It doesn't seem very good at it," another sister commented.

"Maybe a phoenix would understand?" a third chimed in.

Annathenia didn't respond, instead taking several cautious steps toward the creature. It was dressed and carrying many things. It was clearly smarter than other animals that the harpies had seen before. That said, the girls being so close to it seemed to be making it afraid. "We're not going to eat you," Annathenia responded, "I just want to see what you're doing." That said, compared to the small creature's language, Annathenia's speech sounded like birdsong.

The harpies would follow the little creature, as far as it went until there were more.

[Kinro]

It's in times of greatest adversity that one's mettle is sometimes revealed. And so, when one of the bird-centaur approached her, Neela only clutched her carving stick more tightly, protecting it. Not that it was, in itself, all that important, but rather what it represented, her duty, her almost sacred duty, she was willing to protect with her life. But it wasn't the carving stick that the creature wanted, nor Neela's life, at least for the moment. Instead, it stopped and... sung at her. A strange, somewhat dissonant bird-like song. And then it left towards the tree again. Had it been trying to... communicate somehow? Could these truly be new intelligent beings? She couldn't... she couldn't think clearly. She couldn't go on much further either, light-blind and tired as she was, even more so now that the terror had drained her as well. As it was, she barely managed to drag herself to her usual mid-way resting area drop onto her moss bed and fall into a deep, but fitful sleep.

---

After their short greeting, the harpies did continue to follow the strange, small creature until she seemed to suddenly decide to collapse. Did she pass out from sheer terror? But then, why not do so at the time when her fear was at the highest? Instead, she seemed to have decided to simply... sleep. During the day. Apparently unbothered by the harsh rays of the sun shining right on its face. Annathenia decided that the creature should continue to be watched, ordering some of her flock to the task, while others continued their hunt until a signal would be sent. And then, the day passed, watchers alternating but never reporting more than the creature stirring in its sleep. That was, until dusk arrived and Annathenia received message that the creature finally seemed to be waking.

---

Neela awoke with a yawn. Immediately, she noticed that she was very much alive. And, looking up, she saw the centaur-birds again, fewer now, still watching her. This worried her a lot less than before. Not exactly because there were fewer, as more soon started to arrive, but also because they had clearly showed that they were not interested in eating her. That was, unless they were the most patient carrion-eaters she could imagine. Well-rested now and with the terror much reduced, Neela could think much more clearly. And so, she had to make a choice. To go forward to her destination and seek help from the centaurs or return to her tribe and seek advice from the elders there. But as much as she longed for those salt-baked fish, it simply wasn't a choice. If these creature were truly intelligent, this discovery was much too important to leave to the centaurs. Not that she didn't love her centaur friends, but her racial pride still wouldn't allow it. So she stood and she started walking, occasionally looking up to ensure that the creatures, soon all returned, were still following. Unfortunately, though they did, it wasn't for very long, a few hours at most. As she had suspected, they were light-lovers, as the centaurs were. They wouldn't be able to follow her in the dark anymore than she would be able to lead them in the light. Dawn and dusk where when they could travel together. This would mean that what would have been a day's journey would turn into many. But Neela was willing to endure it, as long as the creature were, too.

[Gnomes2169]

Corrla - Lord and Lady of Night

Spoiler: A new pack of lies

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From the Blight Lands parables
It was in those days, when the twin gods had been weakened by their war with the serpent, that the Eternal Night wandered with her consort to see how the Great Devourer's influence still weighed upon the world. She wandered the world in the darkness, finding all the peoples or Corrla, watching their lives and struggles, and finding a new evil. So many in these lands worshiped a petty goddess, a tyrant who demanded abject worship and gave little in return, turning mortals into drones that worked and toiled for her amusement.

But not all would give in to Kerima's tyranny. Driven into blighted lands and hunted by their own dead, the Free Peoples of Corrla struggled sorely. And then the mana rains began, the final laugh of the Devourer that brought further ruin to the Free Peoples as addiction and madness claimed them.

When the Eternal Night first came, many feared her and proclaimed her a false prophet, a tool of Kerima's tyranny meant to fool the weak minded to bring them back to the fold. They did not understand her empathy, and spurned her protections. And this she allowed, for she understood that life must be free to choose their own paths, filled with hardship though they might be.

But some became her apostles. Some believed in her generosity, and these she embraced, sparing them from Kerima's spite and the revenant's hunger. Charged by the Suzerain, these apostles went among all the peoples of Corrla, and though many were punished for their faith, they did not submit to despair. For theirs was a goddess of compassion, not retribution, and her arms would embrace any that needed her.

The faith at that time did not know of her twin, the Dawnstar, for she rested within Solace. But she and her Solars would soon come to the world, and the twins would work in earnest to make of this world a better place.

In truth, Renarr did wander Corrla for a time with the Suzerain, though unlike the claims made by the fables she did not do so out of a sense of justice or to right any wrongs, but because she wanted to see all the places that she had struggled so hard to protect. And while the single-minded worship among all the races of Corrla was, ultimately, somewhat disturbing, it was not something that Renarr was willing to confront the goddess over. These were likely Kerima's creations, after all, and similarly to how Renarr would not listen to anything the other goddess had to say about how to run Solace, the Dawnstar was certain that Kerima would disregard any comments on how she treated her mortals.

Those who lived in the Blight Lands, however, were another matter. Without any loyalty to Kerima, few resources to their name, Revenants that hunted them in the night, desolation wrought by the wasted corpses and madness spawned from the constant hunger to find mana, which so many of them couldn't even channel, these people broke Renarr's heart. And she couldn't help herself. With the Suzerain at her side, Renarr would strive to wipe the blight lands clean of the one threat they could handle alone in her weakened state, saving hundreds from the predation of revenants by destroying the monsters that were haunting every community they encountered.

Within a week the revenants were either wiped out or driven away in every major settlement within the blight lands, but still, so many mortals remained warry of the goddess and her consort. Renarr couldn't blame them. After all the various gods had done to harm these people, directly and indirectly, the hostility of so many of them would be inevitable. So inevitably, the revenants began to return, an unending plague to haunt the nonbelievers.

A few, though, found faith in Renarr, and clung to it as desperately as a drowning man clings to any piece of flotsam. These ones Renarr assigned to the Suzerain's protection and care, telling him, "I cannot spend all my time here. Take this ones, bring them from the lands tainted by the serpent's blood, and shield them from persecution. There are other places that I must go, but I will be back soon." And then she was gone, traveling to the Circle Continent to see what life had been shaped into there.

In her absence, the Suzerain... well. He didn't tell the newfound faith of Renarr to go out into Corrla to try and convert the others, but he didn't exactly stop them either. The Archon of Night figured that these people had been ordered around and told what to thing by divine beings enough, and besides... if it meant they could convert more people in the Blight Lands and they could grow this community further, than who was he to stop them? There would be safety from Kerima's more militaristic faithful in numbers, even if his presence all but guaranteed the fledgling community's safety, and if the worship of these mortals could help Renarr recover from her weakness faster (which he theorized that it would,) then he would gladly make this church as large as he could.

Though he did ensure that those with more militaristic and vengeful mindsets did not leave as apostles... and he ensured that those warmongers among Renarr's faith who slipped by him would silently disappear, pulled into Nocturne's frigid expanses and hidden away. The Suzerain did not need to spark conflict between Renarr and Kerima, not after the previous war had been so costly, so he would ensure that the priests that made it into the rest of Corrla were the peaceful type simply preaching in good faith, and he enforced the idea among the apostles that this was a faith that demanded compassion and peace, rather than violence and retribution, even if he, himself, wasn't exactly the paragon for such a seemingly naïve ideology.

The Suzerain never claimed to not be a bit of a hypocrite.

[Writtensanity]

Five days into the shortened flights of dawn and dusk, Annethenia sent her oldest sisters back to the nest in the Spine Aerie with the food they'd hunted in the plains. During their short time travelling, they were busy moving with the small creature, and hunting in the swamp was more difficult for the harpies. They'd fished before in the clear oceans around the Aerie, but the water here was murky, and it was nearly impossible to find a good place to dive from the sky especially as the forest got thicker.

The smaller group of harpies made do for the day, but as her sisters found pearches to sleep on for the evening, Annethenia saw the small creature, Neela - as Annethenia had learned from some ENTHUSIASTIC pointing at herself by the Kobald - open her bag and found it completely empty. Whether she was out of food, or it had been stolen by a forest creature, Annethenia didn't know.

Maybe it was dumb that Annethenia still cared about the missing food in the morning. After all, this Neela was so small and different that she could never be a mother to it; but at the same time knowing that Neela was starving gnawed at Annethania's stomach like real hunger. Once the small creature was asleep, just past dawn, Annethenia explained to her sisters.

"What does it eat?" they asked.

"I don't know, it has said the words but we don't know them yet."

"It speaks so strangely," one of her sisters commented. "What can we do if we don't know what it eats?"

"Hunt everything that cannot run from us," Annethenia answered.

----

When Neela woke up she was surrounded by either a banquet or a horror movie, depending on perspective. A dozen fish, four snakes, an honest to goodness alligator and two deer were laid out around her, arranged in what the Harpies considered 'Neela sized' chunks.

Waiting, eight exhausted harpies and Annethenia with a new alligator claw mark on her leg saw Neela awaken. "Neela! Eat! Food!" she waved over the small Kobald. She was guessing at the latter two words, but, maybe by divinity, she got them right.

----

If Neela looked up anytime that night, she would see something silhouetted against the moon. Great wings, bigger than any she'd ever seen, and two eyes, clear as the moon, watching her. The second time she looked up, Briettia would already be back in the Fang Aerie.

[Kinro]

Neela woke to find one of the creatures making sounds at her that were... close to words she knew. As spoken by someone who was not only unused to the language, but also couldn't reproduce most of its sounds. She got the gist of it, however, thanks to the bounty that had been laid at her feet. Thankfully, the Kobolds were quite used to taking from the bounty of the land they loved in. And, since fire was difficult and unpleasantly bright to work with, raw fish and snakes were a common part of their diet. Crocodiles and deer, less so, but Neela gratefully took what she could and ate her fill. She hadn't planned to be gone for many days and she was no great hunter, so her food had been running scarce. She couldn't eat nearly as much as she had been given, however, so once her belly and her pack were full, she stepped away and gestured for the creatures to have their turn, hoping that it wouldn't offend them that she was suggesting that they would have her leftovers. Either way, she continued to lead them afterwards, though the dusk, the dawn and nearly one more dusk after, until they finally arrived at her tribe. There, she was greeted warmly, of course, but almost offhandedly. Not that she took offense as, now amongst her people again, she shared in their excitement of discovering what might be a new people. People to whom they could teach what they knew. People that might teach them in turn. From every hut, kobolds bursted out as the news spread and the creatures would surely have been swarmed if they hadn't been up in the trees. Runners were sent off to spread the news and fetch great scholars from temples and libraries, while kobolds from the tribe were already ready with blank carving sticks, some making observations, some trying to speak and, most importantly, listen, so that they might try to record the creatures' language and, perhaps, begin to find a way that they might understand each other.

[KragBrightscale]

Returning Home

Abu Dhahab lead the small group of divine golems through space and back to circle continent. Descending from above and walking through the air at a leisurely pace the group arrived at their destination. The heart of the desert.

This would be the center for something new, the Great Lizard decided. An attempt at creating a special place, holy in a way.

The golems were tasked with digging a large pit, while Abu Dhahab called for the river archon Nafura. When she arrived, the Great Lizard asked her to always keep a part of herself here, for he was creating a home for her and the golems. With a few trees transplanted, and water filling the pit, the foundation for a beautiful Oasis was created.

Abu Dhahab spread most of his Holy Sand around the oasis, protecting it from supernatural harm. With Nafura and the 7 Golems holding the fort, it would be a secret secluded place of refuge. Hardly any living creature could make it this far into the desert safely, but those that would might find a place of peace where they could for rest.

Abu Dhahab wasn’t finished with the place, and planned to return to make some more alterations to the landscape, but after the fight he felt his divinity a bit sapped. Completing and naming the place could wait until after his trip.

Abu Dhahab, the Mutajahil

Walking slowly through the land he created, Abu Dhahab visited every market he came acccross, taking on the role and persona of a well traveled Mutajahil. As he traded his wares, he listened in on the gossip, and spread a few rumors himself of the divine battle that took place out amongst the stars and the defeat of the terrible devourer.

The stories spread quick, they were unlike any they had heard before. A snake large enough to wrap around the world, the explanation for all the natural disasters, the alliance of the gods that fought to defeat it. A spear created from the bodies of fallen deities that split into countless golems. And finally, a lizard god, similar in likeness to themselves and a being of the desert and a merchant, who wielded sand, fist and claw to avenge them.

At every marketplace for years to come, variations of the tales would be spread. Sometimes with the role of Abu Dhahab exaggerated, as the thought of a deity similar to themselves really appealed to their taste. Some Mutajahil claimed to have seen the deity himself descending from the heavens with 7 helpers and that the divine caravan visited the desert, waiting to be found. A number of merchants started adhering to the growing following that revered the scaled god of commerce.

New rituals were created by some smart businessmen who saw the potential for profit. Feasts, auctions, and blind purchasing of containers with unknown contents. Markets grew in size and liveliness as the desert tribes started to prosper again.

Abu Dhahab was pleased with how his people had bounced back after the constant struggles they had faced. It was time to move on.

Setting sail from the southernmost tip of the red coast on board a small merchant vessel, Abu Dhahab used his divine power to drive the boat southward. The only other passenger apart from the 3 crocodilian crew members on board with him was an old retired Geckokin Mutajahil. Zaki had been an intelligent and resourceful merchant during his prime, sailing the sands to trade salt and earning a fortune. He had traded mostly with the Kobolds who met with his caravan at the agreed upon halfway point that was now a thriving trading post where members of both races could be found.

Zaki had wanted to do one last trip, a voyage across the open seas that none of his people had dared before. When Abu Dhahab found him and suggested they do it together, the old man had been ecstatic. Gathering up some trade goods that wouldn’t spoil on the journey, the two loaded up their boat and set sail.

Without Abu Dhahab personally guiding the boat, and protecting it, the small vessel would never have made it. The Crocodilians grew suspicious of their good fortune as time went by, but as their families had been paid in advance, they stopped worrying things and went with the flow.

Lizards in the Land of the Ghuls

As they journeyed further south, the weather grew colder, and the small group had to wear some of the clothes they had intended to sell. Sheepskins and thick robes and multiple scarves, the group bundled up.

Morale started dropping after they passed a few huge floating chunks of ice. It wasn’t until they spotted land the next day that the mood improved.

Tall thin spires stuck up out of the frozen sea like spears aimed at the heavens. The merchant vessel weaved through the gaps in search of a place to land until they arrived at some steep cliffs cliffs that extended as far as the eye could see. The way was shut.

Getting impatient and aware of his companions growing disappointment, Abu Dhahab stood at the prow of the boat facing the cliffs in the distance. Leveraging his control over sand, the Great Lizard started eroding cracks between the rocks for a portion of the cliff face. Soon large chunks of rack were cracking off and falling into the waters below until the whole section collapsed in an avalanche. A path had been created.

The boat finally arrived at the newly created shore. The group loaded up supplies and trade goods into sacks and made their way up into the foreign continent.

What greeted them was a surprising sight. A group of chubby creatures running for their lives. The creatures resembled seals that the Lizardfolk had seen resting on the large floating ice chunks, except they had more developed limbs and could run upright.

Chasing them were monstrous versions of the themselves, bodies disfigured and bloated looking with bulging muscles and a crazed expression on their faces. Ignoring their injuries these monsters would leap at and try to capture the slowest of the seal-folk.

As the lizards watched, one of the seal creatures were caught and forced to eat part of the monsters’ flesh. The unfortunate victim soon grew bloated from being stuffed with meat almost equal to its own body mass, it’s skin tearing and muscles ripping, shrieks of pain and disparity escaped its mouth until its eyes clouded over and the madness took it.

Disgusted by what they had just witnessed, the Lizardfolk convoy didn’t know how to respond. Seeing potential customers being hunted and tortured in front of them was jarring, and reminded them of the ominous prophecy that rumors told of.

Suddenly, as if realizing that escape was unlikely or just tired of running, a few of the older seal folk turned around to face their terrifying enemy. The fight that ensued was an instinct driven slugfest. The sealfolk used fishing nets to give them a slight advantage, managing to bring down one of the monsters. That didn’t last though, and soon a few more sealfolk were caught and pinned down, another torture scene was about to unfold.

Abu Dhahab had had enough of such abominable behavior and decided to step forward. He felt a slight hint of divinity coming from the monsters as he charged, for who else could create so potent a curse. Disappointed that yet another deity was causing harm he lashed out with few palm strikes and smacked the monsters into the ground. Reduced to little more than paste, the parts of the disgusting monsters that remained kept twitching until he sprinkled some holy sand on them.

Turning around and walking towards the sealfolk, he took pity on the odd but obviously sapient creatures in front of him, they needed a way to drive off those monsters on their own.

Abu Dhahab decided to teach them martial arts. Demonstrating a few stances and moves, he quickly realized the differences in body structure. There was something odd about the creatures too, as they all had more sprites than usual trailing behind them.

Inspired, he imparted some of his understanding for how to fight unarmed through an implanted fabricated memory of someone practicing fist and palm arts for years.

The result was unexpected more successful than anticipated as the memory didn’t just affect this group, but spread over the continent and attaching itself to almost a fifth of the population. Abu Dhahab’s gift later combined with Idix’s bestowal and the creatures’ own inherent abilities and evolved into something amazing. It was the birth of a new fighting style: Prana Bindu

Slightly dumbfounded at the accidental ripple effects, Abu Dhahab decided to let it happen and hope for the best.

Using his divinity to overcome language differences, Abu Dhahab introduced the group of Lizardfolk that were staring at him in shock after his recent display of martial prowess.

We are people from a distant land. We bring food, clothing and other supplies that might interest you. Would you be willing to host us for a while until we continue our trip? I can fend off the monsters while we are here.

Spoiler: AP actions

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AP: 1

Create advanced concept (Prana Bindu) -1 (split with Idix)
The fusion of martial arts with extreme body manipulation and a strange connection to memories. Exceptionally suited to Ghuls due to their inherent abilities and continues reincarnation within their community. It’s expression varies when learned by other races, but the ability to fight unarmed and heightened precision is universal. The connection to memories is vague, unverified, and needs further documentation.
Combat (Unarmed) 4/10

[Feathersnow]

Naluluri looked on the strange creatures and their mighty leader with awe. The sisterhood, as it would come to be called, for all the warriors were female-bodied to better do the work, had hunted many Revenants since Acis'sej had first passed tge Gom'Jabbar and reversed the tides of the generational war. But, now! Never had they dreamed they could fight like that! Each Ghul, armed with the gift of these new "martial arts," was nearly the equivalent of half a Revenant in combat! And they still had the advantage of swarm tactics and raw ferocity.

Naluluri listened to the strange jabber of the leader. Never had a Ghul encountered an intelligent creature that could not speak the High Tongue, other than an infant. They took that approach. "HELLO! I AM Naluluri!" Accompanied by elaborating gestures. "Come this way!" Pointing to the village.

They came to the Lodge of Many Trees, a sprawling hive-like building built into a cliff face, with adobe used to expand ourward past the natural caves.

To the Ghuls, there was nothing noteworthy about how they used bones and poorly tanned skins as a primary building material for their homes and few, rudimentary, watercraft. They brought out a feast, as befit heroic visitors: spoiled fish, still squirming oozes, and dead animals, barely even butchered and not preserved or cooked in the slightest.

As the Reptilian guests looked on in disgust and bewilderment at this offering, a fishboat came in, pulling fresh fish. The fishers brought the fresh fish directly over, with much haste. In a broken voice, not knowing the words they said, a fisher croaked, in a language no Ghul had ever spoken "Idix Provides."

To Naluluri, in the High Tongue, they said "The Pursued led me to do this in a dream. I think these guests only eat fresh food! How bizarre!"

Then, to the astonishment of everyone, Idix Herself appeared! She bowed to Abu Dhahab and cantered in a circle around the group, then running off and disappearing. Her hoofprints wete stamps of words in the tongue of the desert and again in the tongue of the tundra.
"Welcome"
"Far North [Where the birds go at Night]
"Friends"
"Much to learn"
"Much to teach"

[Razade]

A Mysterious Village

Sarbaz was one of the more experienced caravan leaders who frequented the route between the prosperous port town of Jazala located half way down the red coast and the Northeastern tribes that lived on the edge of the Desert. This trip had gone well so far, after a successful week of trade during the Grand Bazaar held at the port town, the caravan was ready to return home.

Loading up their goods they set out towards the desert. The caravan had been lucky enough to acquire a few of the large carnivorous birds that had started roaming parts of the desert. The birds were surprisingly capable of thriving along the edges of Wadi Alsahali, where smaller creatures could be hunted for food. Capable of running fast and surviving the dry barren landscape, the few that had been caught became excellent pack animals.

The caravan passed through the red coast without incident, but as they arrived at the last rock formation before the great sand dunes the foremost meme we of the group spotted some lights.

Amongst the rocks, a narrow channel had been carved and the light seemed to come from further in. Curious, the caravan approached. It was good to rest before attempting to cross the dunes, and maybe this was another caravan they could have change news with.

What greeted the Merchant group as they passed through the natural gateway was a village. It was unlike any settlement the Lizardfolk had ever seen before, and Sarbaz had even visited a village in the swamps once. Coming out of what seemed to be their homes, humanoid figures emerged to meet them.

These people were dressed strangely, with not a spot of skin being shown. Wrapped in what Sarbaz thought was some kind of new material, the Lizardfolk felt their merchant senses tingle. A foreign tribe, with foreign clothing, and possibly exotic wares or knowledge to exchange.

Putting on smiles, some of the Lizardfolk unpacked a few sacks of goods onto a spread out piece of leather. Dates, salt, salted meats, grains, jewelry and trinkets made of bone and gold, a piece of wood carved with writing, and some small pearls and colorful rocks.

Sarbaz spoke for the group, introducing themselves and their wares. Pausing, he waited for them to answer, hopefully the strangers could understand.

A couple crocodilians kept the terror birds docile, but were ready to spring to action should things go south.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Left the description of the village and what the Xen are wearing mostly to you. The lizardsgolk are interested in purchasing some of the clothing they see the Xen wearing, and hope to trade their wares, or at least establish an initial connection.

What would be immediately apparent in this strange city, aside from how clean and quiet it iss, is that the peoples that greet the Lizardfolk do not match the domiciles they exited. Structures seem too large for these brightly dressed beings. Not that they are short, something close to 5'11'' at their tallest, but the doors are wide, tall and the foundations heavy. They are, all the same, a welcoming people, offering food and drink to the Lizardfolk along with plenty to trade. Obsidian from the new volcanoes, rock and ore from the lands beneath the sun baked surface, knowledge of hidden words that could tap into the mana that now poured from both the ground and sky and a strange drink, thick and black with a taste like smoked mushrooms though the people were not keen on disclosing where this substance derived. Its potability was also lacking, heavy gourds only allowing a little to remain fresh inside though effects were profound, as if the drinker became a source of mana all their own for a time.

The Xen were not a hostile people however dealt mostly in the same silence they were discovered upon, seeming most interested in the birds the Lizardfolk rode, more so than many of their foodstuffs.

[Writtensanity]

The journey with Neela had been long and arduous to get to the Kobald village, but that was mostly due to the lack of time Harpy's could travel with Neela. With knowledge of where the village was, return trips would be faster. Should they be invited.

The attempts to communicate with writing and other platforms are... difficult. Though the Harpies are clearly intelligent creatures, there is such a gap in development between them and the Kobolds on a societal level that some parts are missing. Simply put, Annethenia and her sisters could not learn everything that they needed to know to fully communicate with the Kobolds. That said, it doesn't stop the Harpies from trying, and brilliant Kobalds are able to make progress in translating some of the Harpy language to their runic writing system. The words were fine when written, though biology made speaking each others words incredibly difficult.

---

Something strange happened during one of the later visits, late at night the Harpy's arrived without Annethenia at the helm, despite the fact that she'd been leading each of the meetings. Instead, the Harpies brought a small bounty of well-protected eggs covered in ash with them. The eggs hatched that evening, 17 baby harpies, covered in more feathers than their mothers until they were mature, chirped around the Kobold camp.

Something else had also changed about the harpies, they had become more organized, less random happenstance and more missions from the Aerie. They'd adapted to match the Kobolds.

Spoiler: AP ACTION - Create Racial Society - Harpies

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The Harpies of the Aerie have adopted a tribal society to match the Kobald's who introduced them to the concept. Unlike the Kobald societies that are held together greatly through mutual trade, the Harpies are situated by hunting grounds, using slightly spread out tribes, some even outside of the Aerie, to scan and find prey over great distances using flight to their advantage.

To an onlooker, it would be clear that the Harpies are essentially adopting the Kobald culture, adapted for the difference in scale and speed of their travel.

AP SPENT 2: Sky(Flight)

AP REMAINING 0/16

Domain Progress: 6/10 for Sky(Flight)

With the new organization, it's easier to for the races to understand one another but the Harpy's initial attempts at learning the writing of the Kobolds are slow going, even with young Harpies spending some time around the creatures. Should the Kobolds choose to help them, the Harpies would surely adopt the lessons of writing earlier.

Spoiler: OOC: Writing

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The Harpies don't know writing yet and are attempting to learn it from the Kobolds, this would take cooperation from the Kobolds that I don't wanna hand wave. You may choose whether to spread the concept, otherwise the Harpies will learn it from Briettia later.

[Kinro]

The harpies were invited to the Kobold village, of course. They were welcome, even. Overwhelmingly so. And as they seemed to have decided on this particular village as being their favoured one, many scholars moved there, intrigued by the new creatures. Slowly, lines of communication started to form, helped by the fact that everything that could be recorded was, so that the Kobolds could study the Harpies' language even outside of the few hours when both species were awake. But the true breakthrough came when an old Kobold brought out a new device of his invention. Based on calling lures for animals, it was long, thin and hollow, with holes carefully carved along its length as well. He showed how, by placing fingers carefully and blowing into one end, sounds could be produced that, while they didn't quite match those of the Harpies, came closer to them than anything a Kobold could naturally produce. Of course, progress was still slow at first, but some grew increasingly skilled with the device, allowing them to 'speak' with increasing facility. Neela, especially, who had started to spend much of her time in the company of Harpies, some even choosing to accompany her on her post runs, showed a surprising aptitude for the device. It would be a few years until she grew into her full potential, but it would one day be said of her that she was the first Kobold to become fully fluent in the Harpies' language.

---

When the Harpies chose to bring their eggs to the increasingly famous Kobold village, the Kobolds were, of course, completely delighted when the Harpies presented them with new eggs, from which soon hatched new Harpy chicks. The whole village fully committed to help raise the chicks, as well as they could, though with so few waking hours in common, most of the work was still done by the harpies themselves. Still, it was to these chicks that writing was first taught and it was from these 17 chicks, more used to Kobolds than any others, that the tradition eventually grew spread, along the villages of the Eastern and North-Eastern borders, of mixed villages, both Harpies and Kobold living together. And it's no coincidence that it's from this region that comes the best Harpy stick runners and librarians, as well as the best Kobold musicians.

---

Meanwhile, from the South-Western border, near the sea, other ideas were taking form. Now that the Serpent's Tail had formed, the great river that nearly split the Marshes in two, a tradition of boating had surfaced to bridge the two sides and maintain the Post network. These boaters became increasingly skilled and their boats increasingly well made, to travel further and further. To the sea, where different fish of new taste could be found, along the coast, in search of the rumoured Second Marshes and beyond. With their innate senses allowing them to never be lost at sea, they could be bolder than other races might have been and, before long, Kobold explorers would set out on great ships, to seek out new knowledge from beyond the unknown horizon, soon learning to read the stars to guide their path as well.

Spoiler: AP

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Rollover
1 + 4 = 5

Create Mundane Concept(Musical instruments)
Legends say that the first musical instrument was carved out of a section of carving stick stalk in order to allow Kobolds to speak to Harpies in their language. It was said that the sound was so fine in the hands of a skilled user that all who heard it wanted one for themselves. It soon spawned refinements and derivatives that all spread to the four corners of the Great Marshes, and beyond.

5 - 1 = 4
(Knowledge(Teaching) 7 + 1 = 8

Teach Mundane Concept(Writing)
True to their reputation as the center of learning of the Circle Continent, it was from the Kobolds that the Harpies, too, learned their written language. The symbolic writing, first refined to the needs of carving as much information as possible on a single carving stick, proved to be quite flexible in fitting well to the other languages of the continent. The dense system, however, proved to be too complex for the cares of the other races, so their writing inevitably began to drift away from it.

4 - 1 = 3
(Knowledge(Teaching) 8 + 1 = 9

Teach Mundane Concept(Sailing)
0 (Using Jewel

Create Mundane Concept(Navigation)
3 - 1 = 2
(Knowledge(Teaching) 9 + 1 = 10

Claiming Knowledge(Teaching)

[KragBrightscale]

Spoiler: spoilered to reduce scrolling

Show

What would be immediately apparent in this strange city, aside from how clean and quiet it iss, is that the peoples that greet the Lizardfolk do not match the domiciles they exited. Structures seem too large for these brightly dressed beings. Not that they are short, something close to 5'11'' at their tallest, but the doors are wide, tall and the foundations heavy. They are, all the same, a welcoming people, offering food and drink to the Lizardfolk along with plenty to trade. Obsidian from the new volcanoes, rock and ore from the lands beneath the sun baked surface, knowledge of hidden words that could tap into the mana that now poured from both the ground and sky and a strange drink, thick and black with a taste like smoked mushrooms though the people were not keen on disclosing where this substance derived. Its potability was also lacking, heavy gourds only allowing a little to remain fresh inside though effects were profound, as if the drinker became a source of mana all their own for a time.

The Xen were not a hostile people however dealt mostly in the same silence they were discovered upon, seeming most interested in the birds the Lizardfolk rode, more so than many of their foodstuffs.

Dark Brew, Strang Words, and a Potentially Big Sale

Sarbaz and the other merchants were delighted when the colorfully garbed strangers seemed to understand their intent to trade. It was unclear if they understood what had been said, but gestures seemed the way to go. These people were quick on the uptake.

Some of the merchants attempted to mimic the odd sounding words that their hosts were using to interact with the so called “mana”, though there was no noticeable affect when they did. Unsure of what the words meant or how they were supposed to work had sparked their curiosity, and using their recently developed writing system they attempted to record each word they heard on some long rolls of snakeskin leather. A copy of the record was handed back to one of the strangers who might find it interesting.

In return for the foreign knowledge that they had yet to decipher, the Lizardfolk also demonstrated concepts of numbers, counting, and basic addition and subtraction using their strings of beads.

For safety reasons, and not knowing what was being served, only half of the merchants partook in the food and drink offered. It was different from their usual diet and while smokey flavors were something they knew and enjoyed, they had never had that in drink form before.

There were even less who tasted that Smokey drink. Those that did, mentioned feeling a strange sensation in their body. Like something was flowing through their blood. They felt energized and full of potential, as if nothing was impossible.

Sarbaz being one of the older members politely declined the food and drink, and assigned a few other elders to keep an eye on those that drank the weird brew in case they showed any unexpected side effects. He intuitively felt that it must be unnatural, though it would be rude to voice that and stop others from partaking.

Though he couldn’t see their eyes, he noticed several of the silent ones gesturing at the large birds they used for carrying goods. It seemed that he might be able to make a good sale, this would also serve to distract him from the slight unease he was feeling. The ores, strange rocks, and other goods these people had brought out would no doubt sell well at the next market, so he decided to see how much he could get.

Separating 2 of the birds from the rest of the group, a male and a female, Sarbaz along with another few merchants tried to communicate their intent to sell. They wanted one of those large jars of unidentifiable liquid in hopes of having their craftsmen study it and its effects, for there was definitely something unnatural about it.

There was also something odd about the fact that he had never seen this settlement here before during any of his previous journeys. He could tell from the condition of the housing that it was all recently built. Not that he was going to voice his concerns, and the caravan was set to move on as soon as the sun set and the sands were cool enough to walk on.

Spoiler: Ghul-lizard interaction

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Naluluri looked on the strange creatures and their mighty leader with awe. The sisterhood, as it would come to be called, for all the warriors were female-bodied to better do the work, had hunted many Revenants since Acis'sej had first passed tge Gom'Jabbar and reversed the tides of the generational war. But, now! Never had they dreamed they could fight like that! Each Ghul, armed with the gift of these new "martial arts," was nearly the equivalent of half a Revenant in combat! And they still had the advantage of swarm tactics and raw ferocity.

Naluluri listened to the strange jabber of the leader. Never had a Ghul encountered an intelligent creature that could not speak the High Tongue, other than an infant. They took that approach. "HELLO! I AM Naluluri!" Accompanied by elaborating gestures. "Come this way!" Pointing to the village.

They came to the Lodge of Many Trees, a sprawling hive-like building built into a cliff face, with adobe used to expand ourward past the natural caves.

To the Ghuls, there was nothing noteworthy about how they used bones and poorly tanned skins as a primary building material for their homes and few, rudimentary, watercraft. They brought out a feast, as befit heroic visitors: spoiled fish, still squirming oozes, and dead animals, barely even butchered and not preserved or cooked in the slightest.

As the Reptilian guests looked on in disgust and bewilderment at this offering, a fishboat came in, pulling fresh fish. The fishers brought the fresh fish directly over, with much haste. In a broken voice, not knowing the words they said, a fisher croaked, in a language no Ghul had ever spoken "Idix Provides."

To Naluluri, in the High Tongue, they said "The Pursued led me to do this in a dream. I think these guests only eat fresh food! How bizarre!"

Then, to the astonishment of everyone, Idix Herself appeared! She bowed to Abu Dhahab and cantered in a circle around the group, then running off and disappearing. Her hoofprints wete stamps of words in the tongue of the desert and again in the tongue of the tundra.
"Welcome"
"Far North [Where the birds go at Night]
"Friends"
"Much to learn"
"Much to teach"

Meeting the Deity of the South
Seeing the Deity appear before him, Abu Dhahab bowed politely in return. A greeting and gesture of goodwill. Though they left soon after stomping out a written message, the Great Lizard felt that familiar spark of divinity. Another deity that from what he had observed, hoped for their people to succeed. This land would surely prosper if given time.

Having accomplished what he had intended for the trip, Abu Dhahab returned to his role as a merchant. The oozes that were served before the fish arrived had been fascinating creatures. They would likely dry up in the desert, though that would have to be tested first. The Kobolds to the south of the desert might be able to raise them in their swamps, but that would require them learning how to herd them.

The Lizardfolk group of 5 decided to spend a few weeks in the cold southern land, and with the help of Abu Dhahab’s divine abilities some basic communication was established. The old merchant Zaki was having a great time puzzling out the foreign language, and although he had a hard time pronouncing certain sounds he was making steady progress.

Although slightly surprised by the ghul’s tendency to scavenge and eat the spoiling of carcasses, it wasn’t too foreign of a concept. With a bit of salt, and some simple grilling over an open fire, the group eventually adapted to the local diet. The slimes were still hard for the crocodilians to eat, for textural reasons until they too were cooked in a bowl of seawater until it dissolved into a creamy soup.

Abu Dhahab spent his time for the most part training some of the younger ghuls and the crocodilians in the way of martial arts.

Time flew by and it would soon be time for the Lizardfolk to depart.

Spoiler: AP

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AP = 0 + 4

[Zelphas]

In the Pit of Making

Hetta toiled deep within her chosen domain, crafting and designing alterations and derivations to the Golem Archons that she made not long ago (by her understanding, at least). Countless humanoid, centaur-like, monstrous, and just plain bizarre designs are conceived, built, and demolished by the goddess as she works towards a half-thought idea. It isn't ready, not yet; something else seems to be required... An odd side effect of corpses and clay was found; not what she wanted, but interesting enough. Hetta enhanced it and sent it upwards with an errant thought, returning to her work and forgetting it a moment later.

In her constant toil, some clay fell over the body of the fallen Clay Dragon. Hetta didn't seem to notice.

At the Eastern Edge of the Claylands

Rula went to visit her father, carrying what flowers she could find in the broken lands that were once the centaurs' great plains. The chaos and destruction of the great snake, the loss of one Clay Dragon, the death of another, and then this curse upon the ground... the centaurs had spent their lifetimes preparing to contain and fight against foes who would consume those who fell in battle against them, leaving nothing to bury. Therefore, to bury their dead had been a great honor and respect, a chance for the honored warriors to pass their endless burden to the next generation and finally rest.

Apparently, some god had taken offense to this time-honored tradition. The blight to the ground crept out from the graves of the honored dead and began to poison the crops and fields, causing the beleaguered centaurs to add famine to the already-overlong list of problems. What was worse was the seemingly capricious way that the blight operated; some graveyards were clear of its taint, while others fell into ruin almost immediately. The added discovery that if they... used the bodies of their dead in some way... the blight would cease, was one of the first truly divisive moments in the centaurs' history. Some tribes, desperate for fertile land, turned their honored dead into fertilizer for their fields; Rula could hardly imagine it. Other tribes kept their pride, making the hard decision to move their cemeteries away from their homes and their fields. The blight crept farther each year, and so each year they had to move farther away. It was worth it for the sake of their ancestors--or so Rula thought, though some grumbled.

And so, when she saw new grass and flowers growing where there was death and blight the last time she visited, Rula's first reaction was not relief, but anger. Someone had desecrated her father's remains. Someone had ripped him from his final rest and used him for their own selfish gain. Rula's steps increased into a trot, then a gallop; she trampled over the new growths, heedless in her attempts to see what had been done to her ancestors.

A waist-high ring of odd cylindrical plants popped into her view suddenly, but she leapt over them in a single moment--and suddenly found herself landing at the edge of the grave plots, now thick with new grass. She searched frantically through the graves, but none were disturbed; she had only been gone for a month at the most, and yet all of the graves looked as though they hadn't been touched for years. Her anger replaced with confusion, Rula walked back to the edge of the gravesite, seeing the new growths as though for the first time. They smelled... sweet, like berries, but at the same time not like them at all. Hesitantly, unsure of where they had come from, with a sense of reverence from the sacred ground upon which she stood, Rula reached out to pluck a leaf from these tubular plants, raised it to her mouth, and began to chew.

In that moment, the culinary world of the centaurs was irrevocably changed, once again.

In the Wadi Alsahali

It started off as concerning reports and rumors--a caravan vanishing between the Wadi and the claylands around the Pit of Making, a small outpost no longer making reports, a large, fast shadow seen one moment in the night and gone the next. Then, the survivors came in, by ones and twos, their stories almost easy to dismiss if not for their number and consistency--and, spread out as the survivors were, that number and consistency was easy to ignore for all but the sharp-eyed. It wasn't until an entire town disappeared in a day and a night, swallowed up completely except for those who managed to run, that the truth broke fully upon the traders and merchants of the Lizardfolk. The warnings of their centaur business partners had not been completely in vain.

The lost Clay Dragon was finally found.

Spoiler: AP Actions

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0 AP + 4 AP = 4 AP

Bless (Grave Sugar) -1 AP: In certain areas, where the proper mixture of dirt, clay, and sentient remains can be found, an odd tubular plant arises with a sweet smell and taste. This plant can be further refined into sugar, revolutionizing the baking industry of the centaurs. Grave sugar can grow naturally if the conditions are met and can also be cultivated; both factors technically use the bodies in the vicinity as fertilizer and therefore fulfill the requirements of the Wasted Earth Curse. (As a side note: the centaurs haven't figured out the "killed by a sentient" clause of the curse, which is a part of their confusion over the whole matter.) (Domain Progression: Cooking (Baking) 7/10 AP)

Curse (The Lost Clay Dragon) -1 AP: The lost Clay Dragon, that deathless, bottomless pit of hunger, has resurfaced in the Wadi Alsahali, and is currently chasing down and eating anything it can find. It will go wherever there is food, but since everything is food to it, there is no telling where it may go next. (Domain Progression: Magic (Golems) 3/10)

4 - 2 = 2 AP Remaining

[Razade]

Meeting in the Desert

The Weshesh are, perhaps surprisingly, more than alright with such a deal. Both in the exchange of knowledge and for the strange birds that the hooded people seemed more and more intrigued by as they were given some over to inspect. The return offer of sale was generous, many bottles of the strange brew produced from dark cellars. At worst, the stuff was only mildly addicting, at best it seemed to empower those with the gift of mana. What it was, time would tell, but the Weshesh saw no concern obviously in letting the Lizard people take as much of it away as they wished. They remained generous guests, finding places for their guests to rest though never allowing them inside the pristine structures, the only truly tense moment should any attempt to investigate inside. When the sands were cool, they bid their new friends



The Void

The War in Heaven was over, the aftershocks rolling out across creation and the great Void Serpent Wan'shi was dead and cannibalized by the victors. What was not useful to the gods cast to the Void the beast had slumbered in before their arrival, in those brief eons after the Creator had created Creation and the Gods of Creation drew forth. Down the refuse fell, down the viscera and tainted flesh. But the great Wan'shi, like any snake one might slay, still thrashed as its nerves and divine energies coiled within it. Though it had no mouth, its head removed, the meat and flesh still ravenous devoured itself and the Void around it blindly until it chewed away the very darkness itself.

And there, eternal, was Garganta. A mirror to the Sun and Nocturne, where both were the extremes of heat and cold, Garganta breathed and spit hot breath and sucked the cold curses of Wan'shi and in but an instant the many frozen Solar descended into that vast pit. The entrance to Garganta was not always open, not even if that abyss yawned forth was it visible from the First World. Within the mighty plane, it spiraled down, down like a throat leading to some unseen stomach, its surfaces lined with sharp mountain peaks like teeth fit to claw down its meals. Light somehow, somewhere, streamed into the humid realm, the ice on all it swallowed slowly melting.

Spoiler: AP Actions

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Weave Plane (Garganta) - 4AP: Garganta sits at the bottom of the Void, drawing those frozen by the cold winds of the Void itself down into its depths. Garganta is, at current, a lifeless place, empty halls of bone castles filled only with screaming winds. Storms wrack the many surface levels of the endless spiraling series of plateaus and other landmasses that cling to the cliff faces that make up the plane. These lands are larger than the first world at their largest, housing near endless land, while many are no smaller than a finger, giving hope that one might climb out of the plane. [Life (Demons) 4/10]

[dancrilis]

Elves and Weshesh

The elven tribes were not as diverse as the humans or goblins in culture so the Weshesh were likely fortunate to encounter them before the others, the writer Tok Fan'Far who predated writing and one of the none priests to take a serious interest in cateloging items visited them frequently - and reported back to the priests all he knew, both out of loyalty but also to give the newcomers a chance to dedicated their lives to Kerima correctly.

On one trip however he came to warn the new comers that one of the priests would be visiting soon and that they were in danger as the priests could be tempermental and wielded immense power both culturally and personally - and would be seeking to determine if the new comers were worthy of relations with the People of Kerima.

Underground Space Requirements
Prior to the laws of Kerima skirmishs between the two people were common but with a priests blessing to engage in conflict both groups were at something of a loss - the goblins breed quick and eat plenty and so needed ever increasing amounts of space, where the dwarves with their longer lifespans were very attached to items and territory they had had for decades or centuries which had lead to earlier conflicts.
Some priests of both groups met to discuss the issue and via writing and documentation of issues they together determined a method to expand the territories.
Goblins took rapid advantage of this talent to provide themselves greater space, where Dwarves were much more inclined to create new space carefully so that it could last the test of time.

Kerima - Revenant's being attacked
She had noted that the new deity of the south had began to offer some protection to her people and so had not interfered - but now two other deities were simply destroying her creatures, one in the south and one on her own land.
She pondered this for a time the serpent curse was intended to force conflict and so the deities might not be in control - if she responded she would also be feeding into the curse, it was a troubling dilemma for her, she likely could simply tear the curse from the fabric of reality and use it for her own ends the dead serpent could hardly complain after all but it would require a fair amount of power and effort to do so and the consequences might be unknowable - particularly if the deities were infact operating on their own rather then at the behest of the curse, after all the wind entity had began to bother her prior to the serpants attack.

The soul stuff of the Revenants on Corrla she did decide to gather up for later however, the punishment for lack of faith was intended to be temporary not permenant and so the creatures likely deserved some peace at some point - after she determined what to do to have them pay off the rest of their sentance.

Traveling first to the site on the southern land she collected the remnants of the fallen revenants and then traveled back to Corrla to do the same - but as she did she noted that in the blighted lands there was a creature like The Saorsa - something lifted above normal mortals or even archons and tied to reality in some way - and acting as a guide to those who lived in the blighted areas, her voice was calm and quite but the creature would hear her and note displeasure in her voice "explain".

Spoiler: Actions

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AP 6, (2 + 4 rollover).

Create Concept Mining - 1 AP
- Both Dwarves and Goblins are highly proficent at creating living areas and tunnels for themselves, these skills the priests pass to others of the people as needed but humans elves and river spirits have little use for such skills.
Society (Advancement) 6/10

AP remaining: 5

[Omoikane13]

Earlier
The journey of Corrlan refugees was not easy. Rudimentary fishing and preparation had meant that the sailing had started tough and got worse. Tidal waves and destruction were spreading across the seas as well, and it was only through those blessed Knights that ships were preserved. The Saorsa, having affection for the peoples of Corrla that had unyoked themselves, lent a metaphorical hand as well, collecting and delivering what food from the mainland that it could. A twist of Athnuachan winds found themselves near the ships as well, though provided little more than a cleanse or a plant, propulsion left to knightly control.

Moiraithe watched as this occurred, not dispassionate. More apassionate. It was in her nature to promote adventure, freedom, movement like the winds, but many times this did not come with the affection tied to direct creation, such as the Saorsa. But that was beside the point. It was evident that the mortals would need assistance.

Moiraithe had also noticed that some had begun to worship her. This was not a problem in and of itself, but she noted that she should squash any uprising of rules or regulations inherent in that worship. The thought of worship also brought her thoughts to what Kerima considered rebuttal, but the narrow focus on smaller examples or natural consequences as justification for the repulsive society she had constructed to feed her ego was not worth an ounce more attention.

*****

The Skysea still sat, gently empty of any higher life. Or at least, previously gently. The more vicious skyfish had prospered in the scattering chaos of the massive tsunamis, and the multitude of islands had been knocked like marbles on stone, splitting what had been roughly one ecosystem into many, many smaller, drenched ones. They would need consequent repair before she could continue her plans, but that was not impossible.
Moiraithe had been disappointed that even the birth of Harpies had not led to mortals truly looking towards the sky, but this could all be remedied. The world churned, and Moiraithe admonished herself for not being the actor that churned it.

Spoiler: A conversation with a mortal

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"I wish to give you more boons. I feel that I have been remiss in not helping you in the same way the others help their flocks."

Moiraithe formed a representation of herself, a sharp-featured human woman in combat leathers. One of the refugee ships was being guided by a young elven knight of hers, and it was this mortal that she consulted.

"Lady Moiraithe!" the elf yelled excitedly, and hugged her representation, not flinching at it being made mostly of wind and deific power. Moiraithe couldn't help but smile at this. Even the closest things she had to priests didn't kowtow at her feet or obey her every whim. They hugged her.

After a few moments, the elf pulled away, ears bouncing, "Boons, yes, apologies. We've been very grateful of what food you can provide."

"I want to give you more."

"I'm sure we'll manage, milady. Hope still stands strong, and everyone's bonded surprisingly well. The seas have been torture though, to be frank."

Moiraithe nodded slowly, and a gift began to form in her mind.
"Has your blessing been of use? I've watched the winds push you along at a fair pace."

The elf grinned, a workman with a particularly effective tool. "We always need more, but a little redirection of waves or billow in the sails has saved a few lives. And it was invaluable getting out of that blighthole." There was a sombre moment, and the elf's face dropped. "Wasn't that much good against the titanic wave, though. We lost a good few ships in that one."

Moiraithe leaned forward, pressing her constructed forehead against that of the elven knight. "I am going to give you knowledge, and I am going to grant all a capacity. I want you to spread this among the ships, and I want you to use it well. I believe, if used properly, it could grant you freedoms unknown." Moiraithe looked upwards, internally tutting at the disarray of the Skysea's islands. Wan'shi's work would need to be fixed soon.

The knight blanched, and then went truely pale at the combined sensation of Windweaving coming into being and knowledge of such appearing in their brain.

"Any questions, just ask. But no worship. You are not mine, just as you are not hers."

"We are not hers," the knight agreed, doing a cross-chest salute and gritting their teeth. It would take some time to shuffle through the new knowledge, but the First Weaver would bring the mortals something powerful, and something useful. Once they could array themselves properly to use it, yes, but that was not far off.

"Spit in the eye of fate. I'll try and provide some more help once you've landed."

*****

The mortals arrived at what was an incredibly impractical time, on a larger scale. Though mostly inured from the widescale destruction taking place further north of their landing site, that did not mean that they were exempt. The joy of land was forgotten for now, with many choosing to reside in their temporary, newly Windwoven fortresses west of what many mortals called the Spine Aerie. Well, fortresses was a generous word. Longhouses, formed of the ships that took them across the seas.

They were...behind. Moiraithe disliked granting them too much when she felt it would steer their fate, but too little would mean that mortal lives would be pulled into a god-caused fate of certain death. It would be acceptable to help the growing, new society with these problems. They would need it.

The piecemeal society that had formed at sea had taken to Windweaving naturally, and it had been key in carrying them to their new home. They'd found some proper uses of it once they'd settled somewhat into land life and been able to assign time to experimentation. With a nudge, they'd developed refined procedures for both land and sea sailing, and their existing ships had formed a good foundation for proper study of shipbuilding. Moiraithe had also plucked some basic ideas from the flocks of other gods and given them the basics, and things were rounding out nicely.

Moiraithe watched as they grew, and was extremely pleased as they found their footing. Deciding on a name for themselves - the Marreill - the peoples she had helped began developing moving settlements, using Windweaving to prevent them becoming too heavy. Most of these were sea-bound for now, but the concepts were promising. This was a reaffirmation of her decision to help, and she would keep a close watch on the travels of the Marreill. It was perhaps a little to soon to consider them "her flock", but there was a certain...affection.

Spoiler: AP Actions

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Form Society: The Nomadic Marreill Peoples (2 AP):
The Nomadic Marreill Peoples are the collective of humans, elves, and goblins that fled Corrla, finding themselves in the south of Circle Continent. They are currently centred on a collection of scuttled ships west of the Spine Aerie, and are in the process of transitioning to large, Windwoven town-ships.

There are no overarching, concrete rules for the Marreill, but there are a few tendencies and traditions:
- Most, if not all town-ships or settlements will house a Knight of Moiraithe.
- Having started as a union of humans, elves, and goblins, the Marreill are generally welcoming of other races. This is not a universal, but a large majority.
- The Marreill do not tend to settle down much. There are a handful of permanent settlements, but most live on the town-ships.

Teach: Writing, Fishing, Arithmetic, Currency (4 AP cumulatively.)

Exploration (Travel) 6/10

Create Mythical Concept: Windweaving (4 AP):
Windweaving is the capacity to control and contain air as a solid substance with a variety of properties. The ability is technically learned, but there are multiple factors which make the actual practice far more viable:
- A Knight of Moiraithe's instinctual control of the wind allows them to Windweave with far more ease than any other mortal, and even the newest knight is effectively a mortal master of the art.

- A being with some natural connection to the sky or wind has a similar accelerated process to learn how to Windweave. As an example, a Harpy's capacity for flight will come with natural instincts for doing so; the flight instincts of a Harpy would make them a naturally better Windweaver than a human.

- Education from someone trained/able in the art is incredibly beneficial, skipping a good few roadblocks.

- To a smaller degree than the rest, Windweaving is easier to those that are able to align with wind philosophically (that is, freedom, movement, flowing, etc.). This is not much of a benefit, and isn't well-defined enough to be, say, studied, but it means that Windweaving will crop up more often on a societal level when in a "Chaotic" society as opposed to a "Lawful" one.

A quick summary of Windweaving. This is not exhaustive, but merely the uses provided by Moiraithe upon granting Windweaving to mortals:

Liquid: Wind woven into a liquid form is lighter than normal air, and resembles fast-flowing fog. This form could find use in flotation bladders, balloons, and can also be concentrated into strong enough containers to help lift heavier structures.

Gas: Wind woven into gas form is practically the same as normal wind, but with a few differences. Weaving wind without it changing state essentially provides a solid that cannot be treated as a solid. Gasform wind can only be moved or manipulated with further woven wind or controlled wind, and it functions to push air in defined patterns. For example, a bar of gasform wind would push the air around it from one end to the other. This would typically push the gasform wind bar forward.

Solid: Solid wind is in fact two types of woven wind. Solid wind itself forms a lighter-than-air solid material that can be worked to a degree between fabric and hard metal, based on desired construction and the skill of the creator. Solid wind can also interact with gasform wind, meaning that, for example, gloves of solid wind could manipulate gasform wind.

Wind-imbued materials are similar to solid wind in properties. First, shape wind somewhere between liquid and gas. Then, you kinda have to 'push' it into another solid material. If successful, this material will have its weight lessened (not to the point of lighter-than-air), but will maintain most other material properties.

Air (Sky) 5/10

Remaining AP: 3

[Writtensanity]

Neela was the oldest of Annethenia's brood, and one of the first to be raised in the Kobald villages. She'd hatched there as a sign of goodwill, and raised there originally for convenience's sake, but eventually, it was clear that the Spine Aerie wasn't her or her sister's homes. They were the first Harpies to be native to the swamps of the Kobolds.

Despite living in the same places, having different sleep cycles made complete cohabitation difficult, and as such combined Harpy / Kobald villages tended to have two lairs, the Kobolds were on the ground and the Harpies in the trees, otherwise, the constant morning chirping of young harpies would have driven the Kobolds into a blood rage.

This dawn, Neela was trying to help her namesake with matching the Harpy's language using their new instruments. The Kobald that had befriended her mother was the most talented in the village but the speech was still silted and often incorrect. So they had lessons, teaching each other to write and speak in the other's tongue.

Neela the Kobold played a note.

What are you trying to say? The harpy Neela asked by holding up a small strip of bark she was marking with charcoal. Technically she could have just asked the Kobold, seeing as they could both mostly understand the other's language, but the point of this morning was practice.

What your people call- the Kobald Neela stopped using the instrument for the last part. "Alligators," she said in the Kobald tongue.

Alligators?" The harpy wrote back. The Kobold nodded. The Harpy gave a short whistle and half a song.

Neela the Kobold played the word back.

Neela the Harpy shook her head. Too high, you're saying snake. she wrote.

---

Spoiler: AP

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AP ROLLOVER -

+ 4

4/16 Remaining

Somewhere in the Spine Aerie, the Egg of Flocks shook, it would hatch into something new soon.

[KragBrightscale]

The Caravan Departs, A Successful Trade

Some of the merchants were opposed to selling their beasts of burden as that meant going back to carrying things on their own. Sarbaz was firm however, and the trade was completed successfully. Loading up as much of the dark drink as the remaining terror birds could carry, the merchants made do with carrying the rest of the rock fragments and ores in sacks suspended on rods between them.

As the two groups separated at dusk, Sarbaz handed over a special token to the one he had sold the birds to. It was small piece of the writing cylinders that the Kobolds had spread carved with his name and the symbol of the Mutajahil, an intricately carved gold coin, embedded in it.

Sarbaz tried to explain that this could be shown to other merchants to prove that they had traded with a Mutajahil before, and that the deal had been concluded successfully. It would make it easier for them to enter and participate in a market, should they decide to visit a trade hub or city.

As the group left and started their trek across a narrow part or the desert, the merchants who tasted the brew were still mostly normal. A few mentioned feeling extra alert, and even a bit restless. This didn’t bother Sarbaz though, as some plants would have the same effect when chewed on. It was something else that made him pause. Something about their eyes seemed different.

The Caravan slowly made its way through unmarked paths that they instinctively knew to follow. The old merchants taking the lead and passing on the knowledge of how and where to dig to find water. A couple of the youngsters who had tasted the smokey brew liked the flavor a lot and spent some of their personal earnings to trade for a jar of the drink. Taking a sip every now and then the two were in high spirits.

The few devotees of Abu Dhahab that were part of the group ritually counted the beads on their strings, some had coins with a hole in them threaded on strings too and counted them too with devotion. Flipping coins, and making coins travel across their fingers were also considered rituals that payed homage to the god of wealth who watched over traveling merchants and their caravans.

And so they continued until they arrived back at their hometown. Tales soon spread of the mysterious city and its equally mysterious inhabitants. Stories of a black drink that tastes and smells smokey but somehow ensnares those who drink it drawing them back for more

Spoiler: Underbeer - Part 1: An Innitial Observation

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It has been a few years since the first batch of Underbeer was introduced to our market. That mysterious brew sold only by the masked foreigners who occasionally participate in the markets of towns and cities near their city. No one has managed to replicate it so far, and its effect on those who drink it has caused it to receive mixed reviews.

Recent attempts to document and study these effects have revealed some puzzling details, in particular in relation to the intensity of the initial exposure.

Those who drank only a little suffered mild stomach pain as the feeling of being energized slowly faded over the next week. Returning to normal, however, was accompanied by a vague sense of loss, as if something amazing had been just within reach that they would never grasp. These Lizardfolk, after going without drinking underbeer for an extended period (exact time frames still undergoing investigation) would have bodies that began to reject the drink outright (often resulting in sudden and painful bowel movements where their body tried to remove the substance as fast as possible).

The Lizardfolk seem naturally quick to build up a resistance to the drug’s effect, when compared to tests done using small mammals.

Lizardfolk who after tasting the brew kept drinking it for extended periods or in large quantities, were definitely different. Their eyes would eventually change, with their irises shifting to various unnatural colors and shapes. These changes seem to be permanent, and even avoiding the drink will not reverse its effect.

Those that had passed this point of qualitative change would gain a greater affinity to the brew instead of a resistance, a single sip becoming the most delightful of pleasures. There are rumors of some having unlocked supernatural powers, though these stories have yet to be verified. Many of these individuals seem to have developed an unusual obsession with the drink, to the point that some of them have established a merchant group that primarily focuses on the purchasing, distribution, and resale of underbeer.

It is yet to be clear what the full effects of drinking the mysterious mixture has on Lizardfolk physiology, and what changes it’s continued presence in our society will result in. More observation is needed.

-Tarik Abdel’Oloom

Spoiler: OOC

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I plan on spending an AP or even 2 on the the effects of drinking underbeer for the Lizardfolk, effects on other races will likely be different.

Idea, yet to be implemented:

a bless, the awakening of some power depending on intensity of initial exposure. Possibly: if you train martial arts and only take a sip: the influx of energy provides the spark for your body to start producing ki. For those who drink a lot, the new power becomes dominant and you get sorcerers. For ordinary people who just drink a little, gain a minor resistance to magic.

[Kinro]

Neela nodded. The Kobold one. As flattered and honored and everything else as she was that one of the first harpies born in the Kobold swamps had been named after her, it certainly also caused plenty of confusion that it had been done that way. But that wasn't what she had nodded about. Rather, it was to Neela's response. She knew it wasn't quite right. And not just because she hadn't gotten the symbols quite right. She idly smudged the incorrect spots and rewrote them. Mostly, it was because she had certainly heard the same thing being song at different pitches before. The notes were crucial, irritatingly, were not absolute. The meaning seemed to lie within the relationship to the previous note, as well as to some base tone belonging to whole sentence-melody. And she swore she was starting to see wider influences. From the speaker's previous sentences, perhaps from the entire conversation. All of this would, of course, be easy to grasp to a species as melodic as the Harpies were, but to Kobolds like herself, it was a struggle. Perhaps, it wouldn't always be, however. She did follow the research from the scholars from the library that had been recently built nearby. They had started to figure out rules, it seemed. But Neela found that she spoke best when she ignored the rules and let the notes flow as her fingers gracefully flew over her instrument.

[Gnomes2169]

Spoiler: Previously

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Kerima - Revenant's being attacked
She had noted that the new deity of the south had began to offer some protection to her people and so had not interfered - but now two other deities were simply destroying her creatures, one in the south and one on her own land.
She pondered this for a time the serpent curse was intended to force conflict and so the deities might not be in control - if she responded she would also be feeding into the curse, it was a troubling dilemma for her, she likely could simply tear the curse from the fabric of reality and use it for her own ends the dead serpent could hardly complain after all but it would require a fair amount of power and effort to do so and the consequences might be unknowable - particularly if the deities were infact operating on their own rather then at the behest of the curse, after all the wind entity had began to bother her prior to the serpants attack.

The soul stuff of the Revenants on Corrla she did decide to gather up for later however, the punishment for lack of faith was intended to be temporary not permenant and so the creatures likely deserved some peace at some point - after she determined what to do to have them pay off the rest of their sentance.

Traveling first to the site on the southern land she collected the remnants of the fallen revenants and then traveled back to Corrla to do the same - but as she did she noted that in the blighted lands there was a creature like The Saorsa - something lifted above normal mortals or even archons and tied to reality in some way - and acting as a guide to those who lived in the blighted areas, her voice was calm and quite but the creature would hear her and note displeasure in her voice "explain".

The Lord and Tyrant - Blight Lands of Corrla
The Suzerain had been helping members of the new perish erect a hut, his immortal flesh and power making him a prime candidate to hold the logs that would serve as the central support pillars for the structure, but at Kerima's whisper the Archon of Night would tilt his head to the side and tell them, "Idayle, Kenst." An elf and a goblin looked to him at the mention of their names. "The goddess talks to me. See that this is finished in my absence." Using threads from the Strands of Night to keep the foundations in place, the Suzerain would then leave the mortals to commune with Kerima.

It wasn't a lie. He just didn't specify which goddess he'd gone to talk to.

Once he was separate from the mortals of the blight lands that worshiped Renarr, the Suzerain stretched his arms and he answered the question. "Kerima, I presume? I am doing as my goddess commanded, and I am helping these mortals. They have rejected you, and because of that they live hard lives in harsh lands, and my lady would rather not see them suffer needlessly." Holding up a finger he points out, "We have not forced or compelled them to join us. We merely offered to help and a place to live without persecution, and many of them have rejected that offer. In fact, those who have accepted are in the startling minority. And I have taken steps to ensure that your faithful will not suffer violence because of Renarr's fledgling faith in these lands. So. What can I do for you today?"

Renarr - Experiences with Mana
During her wandering, Renarr would find that the First World was now far, far more infused with mana than she had at first realized. What she thought had been a byproduct of some property in Corrla was revealed to be a universal thing, that background radiation of divinity pouring from every star and from Solace itself. That was... well, that was going to cause trouble. Mortals, being imperfect vessels, were always striving and grasping for something to elevate themselves, and mana was a seductive source of power and ascension. This trickle of divinity would be... intoxicating to them. It would consume every aspect of their lives, driving mortals to grasp for more, and in doing so they would grow jealous, spiteful, divisive.

This mana rain would sew seeds of discord and fuel the Serpent's curse, and it would do so by creating terrible, undying mortal tyrants.

But this mana was also a tool that was open, spread freely among all the mortals in the world, and it was a power that she herself used. It was, after all, just the unrefined form of her divine essence, and the essence of every god. The only reason it was a problem for mortals was that it was an unrelenting tide of power that their bodies were not designed to accept, battering at every creature's psyche whether they tapped into the source or not. Slowly, of course, subtly, but the influence was still there.

Renarr could not justify removing the magic entirely from the world, because it would be wrong and spiteful of her to do so. It was just a tool. Nor, in her still weakened state, could she justify changing its nature to remove its addictive properties, as that would stretch her far too thin for far too long, and she needed to accomplish other tasks. But she could still shield some mortals from the more corrupting aspects. And she would do so gently, remembering Dia's words back in Solace about the fragility of life. Renarr would not change the nature of her chosen mortals, but instead, she would enhance the benefits they gained from holding faith in her, regardless of which aspects they worshiped or even if they worshiped her in a way that would let them channel divine power, granting her mortal followers protection from Mana's corrupting influence. And, unbeknownst to her, granting those same followers ways to influence mana in their own special ways, depending on which aspects they chose to give faith to.

Sighing as her blessing took effect, some of the burden from protecting the minds of her faithful in Corrla already being felt, Renarr took a step, and walked the First World. Now. To make some more followers, so that this blessing actually meant something.

Renarr - Elsewhere
The goddess of the Sun wandered the world. From the coldest places in the land of Cliffs and Spires, to the highest peaks of the Skysea, she wandered and looked for signs of life. And she found it aplenty. While the world was damaged by the rains of blood and the floods that had been born of the War in Heaven, the peoples who populated it were already beginning to rebuild. Of course, she hadn't yet returned to the Circle Continent, where the most damage had been done... but she could delay only for so long.

In the full light of day, Renarr stood above the land and surveyed the damage from afar. The rents that lead down into the darkest places, cracks that had flooded with water, the north, where a massive glacier still stood, and volcanic islands where great birds of fire now resided. It was... not as bad as it could have been. There was, after all, still a continent to look at. And despite the blight spots, there was still plenty of livable area to make use of. If a problem with the land needed to be fixed then Renarr would leave the other gods to do it.

So she went to the people. And here she found... well, nothing short of remarkable progress. Communities, trade, cooperation, these peoples were already well on their way to fully recovering. But there were a few obstacles to their lives at this point. The blight of the wasted dead, blight lands where serpent's blood had fallen, and conflict between peoples were still present, though Renarr did not know how much of that last problem was caused by the serpent's death curse. And then there were the monstrous forms of life, the great phoenix and the wandering clay dragons, and even here some small pockets of revenants.

Her Solars were trapped on Solace, and the Lands of Light were barred from any who might seek shelter. The portal that currently lead to that realm had been made inaccessible by another of the serpent's curses, but the presence of the Void had proven to be too much of a barrier for non-divine travel even before that. So Renarr would fix this mistake.

In the southern part of the Circle continent, Renarr floats down from the heavens and sets foot just at the edge of the swamps. She looks back into those overgrown lands, and then looks away. Lor had this place well in hand. Instead, following the coastline, Renarr approached Marreill. These mortals... she hadn't seen any of their kind outside of Corrla except on ships and here. Their journey must have been long, incredibly hard, and after all the events of the Serpent's assault upon the First World, and the tyranny of the goddess that they had fled, Renarr was certain that they would want nothing to do with the divine. Only, there was divine influence here. Subtle, more of an impression than an overt demonstration, but still present. And some of them still remembered the Dawnstar's strike against Wan'shi... and did not reject her out of hand.

Yes. This would have to do. Renarr entered the mobile community with her divinity masked, and she just watched the comings and goings. For just a few moments she was just a barefoot albino human woman, witnessing the hustle and bustle of people simply living their lives in a fledgling community, and she would cherish that memory for a long, long time. But she had a gift she needed to give them, and shortly after noon her true form would be unveiled.

Standing among them in a robe of flowing gold, the goddess drew a few wondering gazes and a congregation of mortals, but she did not address them directly. Instead, looking to the distant forms of the Spine Aerie to the east, she lifted her hand and created a beacon. A portal now stood to Solace on the first world in reach of mortals, shining like a star, even in the light of day, but much smaller and safer than the first portal that she'd created that now dominated the sky. A few harpies would be the first beings to gain access to this area, since it was built about half-way to the peaks of their home territory. And that nest of harpies would be the first witnesses to the twelve archons that surged from there moments later, and they would be the first to see those archons traveling towards the Circle Continent's southern peninsula.

To the mortals who had stopped and witnessed her action, no matter how large or small that group might end up being, Renarr states, "You have struggled. Suffered. Have been driven from your homes for your choices. And despite all that, you have made your own lives and your own small miracles." Gesturing to the new, distant portal, the goddess states, "I created Solace to be a sanctuary. A place safe from the serpent... but it is empty. Without life. And has been left this way by my own foolishness and the serpent's curse. No more. Should you wish it, should you need it to escape persecution once more, this place is now safe" Thank you for that, Dia, "and it is open to you, and to any other who can find it." And with that, Renarr sat herself down in the center of town and waited for her archons to arrive.

And, like a teacher, if anyone had questions for her, the goddess was willing to talk to them and answer. A few misconceptions of the Dawnstar faith might be cleared up on this day, at least among the Marrellie peoples. Those who talked to her would come to know her as a protector rather than the cold judge that so many thought her to be, and as that image became concrete in their minds, so too did it become a mantle that cloaked Renarr in power.

Spoiler: AP actions

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Starting AP: 0
Rollover: +4 AP

-2 AP Create Portal; Solace -> The Circle Continent: A safe portal crafted into the side of the Spine Aerie mountains, this portal connects Solace to the First World in a way that does not require travel through the Void. This portal also allows mortals to enter Solace itself at a point that is about 5 kilometers from Renarr's throne on the solar plane, and is wide enough to allow twenty elves standing shoulder to shoulder to enter the portal at the same time.

The area that opens onto the First World is kept safe by a combination of Renarr being careful and the Strands of Night that already existed. Therefore, the portal never sheds so much heat that it can become so much as unpleasant, let alone dangerous, but enough heat leaks through to keep the area warm and illuminated with a soft white-violet light even should the portal be completely enclosed within a glacier.

This portal provides no special protections from Solace's environments to creatures that pass through it, though Dia's Sun Spots are able to protect non-aligned mortals that enter.

-2 AP counter bless; Faith's Shield (countering Mana Flood): Any being that worships Renarr, whether it's as a primary deity or not, is protected from the addictive properties of mana, though the temptation to claim more of that addictive magic is still there for all but the most devout. In addition, depending on the specific aspect that a creature worships, a creature that worships Renarr and that channels mana is able to interact with the magic source in one of the following ways:

• Dawnstar Worshiper) Creatures that worship Renarr's Dawnstar aspect are able to channel more mana, though actively doing so makes their resilience to the magic's addictive properties less effective. The mana feeds on the Light that they channel, like Wan'shi was so desperate to do, amplifying the amount of energy that can be expelled at once. Dawnstar priests also tend to be magi because of this, and Dawnstar mages tend to gain renown because of this heightened capacity.
• Eternal Night Worshiper) Creatures that worship Renarr's Eternal Night aspect become more resilient to magic in general, especially mana-based spells, and can reduce or negate the effects of magic entirely around themselves. This also makes them highly resilient to the corrupting influence of mana, since the mana they channel is often just used to deny mana's influence. Wan'shi was already a god of night when Mana was born from it, so channeling Nocturne's power only increases the hunger inherent in the mana, causing it to cannibalize itself when channeled.
• Twilight Goddess Worshiper) A being that worships both major aspects of Renarr gains the benefits of both sides of the blessing, though they maintain the baseline resilience to mana's addictive properties, since their worship of the Light makes the corruption a bit easier and Dark makes it a bit harder in roughly equal measure.

Total AP expended: 4

Remaining AP: 0

Domain Progress:
Realms (the Heavens): 10/10 (Create plane: Solace, portal to Solace (in void), create plane: Nocturne) (Purposefully not taking this until ready to ascend)
Protection (Mercy): 10/10 (Create portal to Nocturne, Blessing; Strands of Night, Solar Archons, Counter-bless; Faith's Shield, portal to Solace (in Spine Aerie)) Domain obtained!
Order (Retribution): 4 (Create hero: Suzerain of Night, the Stars in the Sky, the Serpent Moon)

[KragBrightscale]

The return voyage to circle continent

The trip to the souther lands of cliffs and spires had been to inspiring to the lizard deity, seeing the ghuls’ mystical abilities and inherited memories (their reincarnation it would seem) had given him much to think about.

As the group communicated their intent to leave, Zaki stepped aside. He was old and tired, and feared he would not survive the return journey. Instead, he wished to live out the rest of his days amongst his new friends. Though different in shape and culture, he enjoyed that even the youngsters seemed to have an old soul and would gladly stop and chat about old times.

Saying their goodbyes, Abu Dhahab and the Crocodilians sailed back to the red coast.

On the way they passed the what seemed like small islands moving across the surface of the water. Approaching for a closer look, the crocodilians were surprised by the large reptilian heads that emerged suddenly.

Realizing that this must be the creation of yet another deity, Abu Dhahab was impressed. Large reptiles, with their own portable home in a way. He would need to see what else they had created, but that would have to come later. The Desert called him, reenergized it was time to finish that oasis plan.

[dancrilis]

Kerima and the Suzerain

She considered the creatures words for a moment to and decided that she would likely need to give an explanation to her question if she was to get anything useful from it "you misunderstand - I don't care about those who reject their place, if I did they would be dealt with, I also don't care when they choose to worship other divinities - if I did I would have had the revenants spare only those who worshipped myself rather then any divinity".

"The people are free to choose and free to choose to punish those who reject the ways of society - without freedom there is no will, without will life is merely confined to its lowest state. Some choose poorly that such is the price of progress - and it should be an mostly mortal affair" her eyes were reviewing a flower that was growing and changing in her presence "the actions of divinities can raise questions however, such as when your mistress destroyed some revenants, or when her ally against the serpent did the same in the south".

She conjured the tortured soul stuff she had collected from the revenants "when a mortal punches another flakes of skin or sweat may transfer between them, such as it is with divinities also we leave a mark with all are actions" she split the strands of soul stuff and extracted the barest remnant of Renarr's and seperately Abu Dhahab's power for demonstration purposes before allowing it to return to the whole "the battle with the serpent was not my concern but it might have become so and so it was monitored to an extent, particularly given the beast's carcass is now spread across reality".

Her voice was dispassionate throughout all this "as such I am aware of the creatures curse and shortly after it was delivered deities begin attacking creatures far below them in the cosmic order, creatures who serve a primary role as divine punishment for an act of deicide when the world was younger, and a secondard role of ensuring that mortals revere the divine, and a distant tertiary role of acting to support the structure of the society of this land in particular".

"So what I want you to explain is this - is your mistress's proximity to the utterance of the serpent's curse impacting her behaviour such that she has begun to engage in wanton displays of power against creatures that are less then gnats to her, and thereby the likely disruptive behaviour of the others who were most actively engaged in the battle" she felt now she had now clarified her question enough that the servant should be able to understand it "such would likely either be or become a concern" her eyes now fixed on the Suzerain.

[Writtensanity]

The egg of flocks cracked and hatched, but nothing came out. The egg resetting as if nothing had happened. The Spine Aerie unchanged.

Above the artifact, Briettia hovered, the essence of life in her fingertips. Sparks of divinity rained down onto her talons and she held her creation close to her heart for a moment, letting it know what a heartbeat was. Briettia released the essence of life onto the wind. She flapped her mighty wings once, scattering the essence and teaching her life to find gales.

---

According to the first Harpies that saw them, they came from somewhere over the sea.

According to the first Elves, they came to attack to the ships.

According to everyone after the first month past their arrival, the safest thing to do as soon as you heard the singing was getting inside.

Spoiler: Image

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Spoiler: AP Action - Hallowcallers

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The Egg of Flocks has spawned Hallowcallers to the coasts of ALL lands.

Hallowcallers are large, four-legged avian predator monsters that primarily hunt large terrestrial and marine mammals like seals, goats, cows and horses. They do not seem to go out of their way to attack cities, but they also do not try to avoid them.

Hallowcallers get their name from their hunting strategy, in order to fly long distances their bones are hollow and they are not as strong as their size would imply, meaning that they are ill-accustomed to a long fight. Rather than pinning and hunting down prey, Hallowcallers hunt by creating dissonant tones that disorient and confuse creatures as they fly overhead. Once a creature is confused, they will close in and release short sonic bursts that break eardrums and stun prey long enough for a quick kill.

The cry of a hallowcaller is less effective against intelligent species, meaning that most sentient races only need to worry about the combined effects of a hallowcaller flock, or the short sonic blasts they release while closer to the ground. Unless a boat is trapped at sea, or something similar, finding cover from a hallowcaller is more than enough to deter it into finding easier prey.

Size: Mature Adults 2.5 m long from beak to tail with a 7m wingspan.

Habitat: Coastal

Preferred Meal: Large easy prey. Livestock and such.

OOC:

AP Cost: FREE with the Egg of Flocks, no Domain Progress.

---


Deep in the swamp, Neela pondered during the daytime when her companion was asleep. She'd learned so much, and the Kobolds had so much to teach her but- there were thousands of Harpies back home what made little sense to her would mean nothing to them. Even as travel between the Spine Aerie and the Great Mashes became common, using writing back in the Aerie meant bringing a Kobold translator and Neela remembered being carried as a hatchling.

It wasn't comfortable for long trips, even if you were sleeping.

That and the Kobolds looked too much like prey when carried by a Harpy, it was unsettling. Neela's mother had been the first to find the Kobolds so Neela knew that hadn't happened yet.

Something shattered Neela's concentration, a large impact out in the forest, something that she should warn the sisters about but- at the same time, somehow, someway, she knew that there was no danger.

Two wings split the treeline, extending like midnight across the sky, and then folding once more, a sliver of dark cutting through the daylight. There and not.

Neela flew to the break in reality, and found that it wasn't a break at all. It was a small little black thing that had fallen from the sky. As Neela approached, the thing turned to face her with gleaming eyes of silver. The creature was somehow like her in every way and unlike her in an infinite amount more. It as predator and prey, creator and creation, blood and talon, beak and claw. It was-

It was too much.

Black.

A kobold found Neela, but it was not her friend Neela, but another named Didri. Didri was a quiet hunter who had never said anything to Neela, but he found the young Harpy and shook her. He had thought she was something quick to hunt and easy to bring back to the tribe.

Neela didn't wake, so with a grumble, Didri dragged her back to the village, paying no notice to the talon clutched in her hands, a talon blacker than midnight, and more than anything a mortal had seen.

Spoiler: AP ACTION - Briettia's Gift

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Briettia has given a gift to the Race of Harpies, a minor artifact.

Briettia Midnight Talon - Minor Artifact (Create
Mundane Concept)

This talon, when cut into a Harpy’s skin leaves a deep black scar and instantly grants knowedge of their greatest life’s work to those around them.

Interestingly, the talon can be used on someone twice, but it only even effects the exceptional.

AP Cost = 3
Current AP: 4
Remaining AP: 1

AP Invested Into:
Society (Wilderness) 3/10

[Kinro]

Neela wasn't worried in the evening, when she couldn't see her feathery friend. When she was on a run, as she was now, they could only reasonably meet once a day. Harpy-Neela would surely be at their arranged meeting spot by the time Neela got there. She wasn't, unfortunately, but that sort of thing happened occasionally as well, then the Harpy got caught in a particularly difficult hunt. It was on the third dusk without a trace of her that she got particularly worried. This had never happened before! They had always, always met at the end of each run! Now sick with worry, she barely took time to drop off her carving stick and ask her centaur colleges to keep an eye out, before turning around and starting to run back. A true run this time, not the leisurely stroll that was her usual. Thankfully, small kobold legs were still fast and sure over swampy grounds and she knew the way well. It was only two day before she returned to the nearest village, near exhausted, half-blind from the light of well-past sunrise. The poor, bewildered villagers directed her to the nearest harpy hut and, there, Neela begged to be allowed in. And it was said that the desperate melody that came from her flute that day was more beautiful and more heart-wrenching than any that a Kobold had yet produced. Or yet would, for a long time to come. But still, she refused to allow herself a moment's rest until she saw Neela again. It was only once she saw her friend, nestled onto herself as she usually was, clearly breathing peacefully, that relief washed over Neela and she collapsed into a profound sleep.

---

Of course, as the Kobolds would soon find, it Harpies were no longer their only neighbors from the spire. And while the Kobolds had started to build greater ships to take them to explore far, they surely couldn't help but notice the even greater one that came to them instead, to land at the foot of the mountains of those that were their newest friends and allies. Great ships, they were. Much greater than any yet built by Kobold hands. And while the Kobolds were wary of these strangers that would come to settle these lands, they were also eager to meet them. And do, delegations were sent, over land and over sea, each bearing gifts of friendship, and scholars to record and assist in these new encounters.

[KragBrightscale]

Changes at home, The Origin of Ki

Abu Dhahab and the Crocodilian crew arrived back at the red coast and split up. Tales of the voyage spread along with knowledge of the southern continent and the ghul that inhabited it. An increased interest in sailing launched the people of the Red Coast into an age of sea fearing.

Crocodilians were the most common crew members for the new fleet of vessels that made their away around the coast of the continent while keeping the shore within sight. Intercontinental travel would, however, require more technology or special abilities that the Lizardfolk had yet to discover.

Visiting the markets, Abu Dhahab soon heard about the destruction of several settlements and the spread of a new questionable drink. There were also rumors originating from those that traded with the Kobolds of intelligent bird people who speak through song, and talk of other soft bodied people who occasionally roamed the foothills of the mountains on the other side of the great marshes.

Things were happening, both good and bad, but such was life. Although many Lizardfolk had adopted martial arts as part of their daily routine, there were not any who were strong enough to stand up to the overwhelming powers that so often brought destruction.

To solve this issue, or at least give them a fighting chance, Abu Dhahab made use of what was already available.

Abu Dhahab studied a sample of Underbeer, the black drink that had lead to the rise of a new merchant entity: the black market where anything could be sold, and identities were kept secret by adopting outfits that imitated the Xen, showing no skin or scales, and hiding your face behind generic masks.

After noticing a disturbing detail, Abu Dhahab gathered several of those who had consumed the drink and checked their body status. His concern was made worse by what he found. A very familiar aura saturated the dark drink, and too a lesser extant leaked out of the bodies of its consumers.

The Cosmic Devourer that had taken an alliance of divinities to defeat had somehow managed to spread a portion of its essence, raw, powerful, and full of potential throughout the world. While Abu Dhahab was aware of the ever present mana in the air, this was a much stronger concentration of it.

Looking again at the bodies of those who had mutated eyes, the Great Lizard noticed that the rest of their bodies was already at maximum capacity, and the excess energy was just leaking out, damaging their body in the process.

Deciding to bless the world in an attempt to keep the lingering aura of the great snake from corrupting his people. It was too late to reverse the effect of the brew in these individuals as some of it had fused to their bodies, so he blessed their bodies with the potential to mutate, reforming their bodies to better adapt to the unnatural energy and possibly harness it.

To those who had yet to reach the point of no return, Abu Dhahab blessed with the potential to digest, refine, and make the energy both that in the drink and what is present in nature their own. This energy was later known as Ki.

To gather and refine mana into this energy within the body, Abu Dhahab created a set of breathing exercises combined with martial arts. Together with a set of methods to strengthen the body using Ki, he spread its knowledge amongst the most disciplined of martial artists.

Spoiler: Underbrew part 2: Raw Energy and Mutations

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The introduction of underbreer to our society was possibly one of the most significant pivotal events since the fall of the Devourer. It marked the beginning of the discovery of new powers that resulted in several new groups forming within our society, and a complete revolution in how battles are fought. With it also came new industries, new markets, and new profits. Several discoveries were important to this development.

First, the discovery that martial artist who took a sip of underbeer prior to intense training could maintain an increased intensity for longer than usual, these individuals would also not show any of the other usual side effects. Some described feeling a unique pulse or flow within their body that transported the energy to where it was needed.

Second, those that indulged in the drink continued to show signs of divergence. Unlike martial artists whose bodies got strengthened, these individuals’ bodies seemed to mutate. The most common mutations apart from the already established eye mutation is the growth of larger horns, thicker heavier scales, or wings capable of little more than gliding. Some drank more than they could tolerate and threw up, but unlike normal Lizardfolk these mutants would have flames, ice, smoke, sand or other unnatural things come out of their mouth.

This lead to the belief that the drink contained some sort of raw energy that could be digested like food by the body in small doses and combined with exercise, but too much would cause the energy to permanently change the body instead. Opinions have been divided ever since on which effect is most desirable.

-Tarik Abdel’Oloom

Satisfied with the blessing, Abu Dhahab decided to try meeting with the deity who resides in the Pit of Making, the first deity of the continent. There was a creation of hers causing chaos in the desert.

Arriving at the edge, Abu Dhahab called out:
Oh creator of this continent so many now call home! I’m known as Abu Dhahab, a being like yourself whose work is the western desert. I have come to meet you, my neighbor.

Spoiler: AP actions

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4 AP

Bless (Potential for mutation or Ki) -1ap
In response to the blessing of mana being everywhere, and underbeer being in a way that in concentrated form, this blessing allows BEINGS OF FLESH AND BLOOD, whose bodies absorb mana to channel that into something else.

Option 1) Ki (requires a fit body, and martial arts, provides general boost to physical abilities. Fancy Ki stuff will require the concept)

Option 2) mutations: Those who don’t practice martial arts, are not fit, and/or are exposed to too much mana at once, cannot convert it into Ki, but instead have their bodies mutate to accommodate the energy. Mutations vary a lot, though within a race mutations will be similar. In the case of Lizardfolk (+Geckokin +crocodilians) most common is coloring, eyes, scales, horns, wings, breath weapon in some combination.

Note1: Once refined into Ki, the energy is no longer mana, and no longer has any connection to the space snake (now it’s your own essence)
Note2: Mutations make the body more suited to mana. It’s absorption, it’s retention, and manipulation. Mutate make use of normal mana (snake essence).
Note3: Lizardfolk are physical focused so mana affects them mostly in that aspect. Other races may respond differently to mana.

Combat (Unarmed) 5/10

Create mythic subconcept (Ki) -2 AP
Ki is a subconcept of mana, it includes the method for cultivating Ki in the body and it’s use as a strengthening/buff that lets you do cool monk stuff. magic looking stuff or elemental bending requires extensive training and attunement but is possible.

Note 1: Ki cultivation is basically the absorption of mana and its refinement into Ki which is totally your own energy.
Note 2: Ki training involves meditation, breathing exercises, movement techniques, martial arts and more.

Combat (Unarmed) 7/10


Total AP:
4 -3 = 1AP

[Razade]

The Weshesh: The Underdark


Long had the Xen toiled deep in the pits below the watchful eye of gods, away and in the dark places where even Dwarves and Goblins would not, could not, tread. The Xen's cities spread, the Weshesh grew like a crawling fungus where lava veins ran thick and hot, where strange gems gave off light that could twist the mind, where whispers of the dead godflesh beckoned, only to consume those not strong enough to resist their calls. They whispered dark things that made the gloom seem as bright as day. The Serpent had been slain, but its touch would never fade. That Wan'shi was not so simple a snake, that its chosen had been denied.

The Weshesh took to these mad whispers, ensconcing themselves in the very flesh they had been born from, where mana had accumulated in both their bodies and in the depths like a miasma. Where their minds were filled with the lessons of the surface dwellers. The Xen where but the caretakers and stewards within the Weshesh. It was obvious now. To infiltrate and to acclimate other societies for what was to come. To chart the tunnels, so many tunnels, that ran to the many islands now dotting the world that seeped with the world's blood. In the silent cities of the Weshesh a word echoed throughout the minds of those who came first, the childless parents, the instructors, the nursemaids to the true Chosen of the Serpent. Across the vast Underdark the chant went out, hissing voices as void black faces parted, fierce fangs erupting.

"Orcs."