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[Harbingerjm]

Ah, well, I uess we'll just have to murder everyone. Shame, but these things happen.

Terrible shame. Real tragedy. Pass the liver, would you?

[flame99]

Dear god this is amazing.

And sorry for the drought of updates. I've recently moved, and I'm still settling in. Updates should resume before too long, possibly later today (Though as late as the weekend).

[Dwarmin]

@FB: But I want my update NOOOOOW! *tantrum*

[flame99]

@FB: But I want my update NOOOOOW! *tantrum*

Eat all your hiatus first.

[GiglameshDespair]

Hiatus is far too dry and flavourless for my tastes.

[flame99]

Hiatus is far too dry and flavourless for my tastes.

Would you like some copy/pasted irrelevant fluff about the world to add some flavor?

[GiglameshDespair]

If I haven't seen it before, it's good.

[flame99]

Spoiler: The Nazerian Apocalypse and the Formation of Beltheizar (click to show/hide)

Nazeric (The continent Aretrian is on) is not an immortal thing; one day, it does indeed die, but is reborn into something new; Beltheizar, the Isles of the Sky. According to many ancient legends, Nazeric was once a part of the sky, rather than being set upon the world. However, the men of the isles grew arrogant, and built great monuments atop them; monuments so great that their weight began to cause the islands to drift downwards. For their hubris, the gods punished the humans by declaring that the islands would not rise until they learned humility.

Fast forward a few thousand years. The Nazeric people are flourishing, the economy is at its peak, and the arts are in a new renaissance. And yet, the Nazerians were more humble than ever. And so the islands lifted once more. At first, this was met with joy and celebration, but soon they found that they could no longer survive in the sky; the air was too little to breathe, the pressure caused them sickness. They had technology to save themselves with, but most were claimed regardless. From the wreckage, the ex-Nazerians denounced their gods, and renamed themselves the people of Beltheizar. Aided by the spirits of the sky, the Elin, they began their life anew; and though they struggled for centuries, eventually the Beltheic managed to regain the glory owned by the Nazerians.

[GiglameshDespair]

Wait. Surely they used the materials of the islands for building, so there was no net gain in weight?

[Harbingerjm]

It's metaphorical weight. Life got heavy, and they were all very depressed until they managed to become deferential enough that none of them put pressure on another... at which point they all got high and partied and society collapsed, and then they died from starvation and such. Thus we see that Neutral Evil is best alignment.

[flame99]

Wait. Surely they used the materials of the islands for building, so there was no net gain in weight?

This is all according to legend. Ancient Nazerians didn't have much of a concept of conservation of mass, so the thought was "Buildings are heavy. We're making more buildings, ergo this is getting heavier."

In actuality, the gods got sick of them being so proud, but the story got warped, primarily because the Nazerians don't particularly like admitting they're wrong.

[Harbingerjm]

I don't really see how a) your island being at sea level rather than sky level is a terrible thing and b) "we fucked up by building too much stuff" is less "admitting they're wrong" than "a bunch of gods cursed our island because they was jelly of our architecture and whiny about us not being obsequiousness enough to them."

[flame99]

I don't really see how a) your island being at sea level rather than sky level is a terrible thing and b) "we fucked up by building too much stuff" is less "admitting they're wrong" than "a bunch of gods cursed our island because they was jelly of our architecture and whiny about us not being obsequiousness enough to them."

a) Altitude sickness. This wasn't a slow, gentle rise; this was going from sea level to above Mt. Everest within a few minutes at most.
b) The actual reason the gods punished them was because they were extremely arrogant as a culture. Failing to learn from their mistakes, a lot of scribes "misinterpreted" the divine mandate, and said it was because they built too much. Not that Nazeric gods don't have a tendency to be petty, but still.

[Nerjin]

Hm... Wouldn't they have faced similar deaths from falling to the ocean and stuff? Even if it was a slow fall the sheer amount of oxygen would be lethal right? If their descendents died from too little, surely they died from too much?

[flame99]

Of course; it simply wasn't mentioned in the story is all.

And if you're wondering why the gods wouldn't think "Hey, maybe this won't end well for them", they aren't exactly used to having mortal bodies and the need to breathe, nor are they omniscient (Or even particularly intelligent).

EDIT: Oh, and since this will likely get asked, the ancient Nazerians managed to survive the descent because whereas the modern Nazerians had great technology, but lackluster magic, the ancient Nazerians were extremely skilled magically, but a tech level about in the range of the Bronze Age. Their magical prowess allowed a portion to survive and form modern Nazeric. As for why modern Nazeric has such poor magic, that's actually potential spoilers.