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[RAM]

The "Horror-beetle" is generally a harmless herbivorous beetle of about 3 centimetres' length with a hard black shell. The females are a bit wider and the males have a pair of large horns with spines jutting from them. They crawl along the ground eating shoots, grasses, fallen leaves and fruits, or most any plant matter that they encounter. During mating season the males will gather large amounts of plant matter on its horns and gather them in a secluded spot then produce a loud shrieking sound by vibrating its horns together and rubbing them against a hard surface like rocks or wood, the differing materials making it difficult to reliably identify the sound. Upon mating, the female will gorge itself on the plant matter, increasing its size several times over and breaking its shell to reveal a bright orange surface underneath. Within, dozens of young gestate into carnivorous grubs that promptly eat their way out of their mother. On the rare occasions in which a pregnant female is attacked, it will often break open into a mass of dozens of hungry mouths(each capable of denting bone) that will attempt to burrow into the attacker to inflict a gruesome demise. Once they have exhausted their food, the grubs will disperse in all directions. While alone, the grubs are little threat, inflicting no more than a nasty bite before being dispatched and being easy prey for predators that can just attack them from behind. Those that survive to the evening will burrow into the ground and emerge a week later in their mature, largely harmless forms.

Whilst actually posing very little threat, with more than the occasional scar being extremely rare, between the wailing sound, the threat of being devours alive by a horde of grubs gnawing through your insides, and the fact that they inflict such a fate upon themselves, it is little wonder that they have gained such a horrific nickname.

P.S.
 I is bad at name-thing.

[Egan_BW]

Honey badgers have strangely armored digestive systems, and will occasionally eat pregnant Horror-beetles whole.

[RAM]

-_-

"Welcome, initiates, to the mysteries arcane! Otherwise known as as introductory invocation theory, or telling you how not to kill yourselves before you know how to do anything dangerous..."

"There are many common misconceptions about invocation, and I am going to give you some more. The things that I am telling you are mostly, technically, untrue, but the technicalities are a matter of higher theory that some of you will address later and some of you would likely never be able to understand. What I will tell you is near enough to let you know if you are in trouble and to figure out of you are getting a result."

"Invocation is, in simple terms, the channelling of the spirit to combine it with the environment to temporarily alter the environment's inclinations. The important thing to know is that to do this, spirit must be expended, so you should know what spirit is. In brief and inaccurate terms, spirit is that which remains amongst the living when someone dies. There is more to it than that, notably that it influences living mental state, but it is easy to think of it as things like reputation, memories of the invoker, quests started, and various other things that are tangible in an abstract way."

"The spirit is classified into three different types. They are expended in a specific order, but are very inconsistent, especially as expenditure increases, and there are some conditions that alter the way in which expenditure proceeds and these are generally reason enough to abandon any interest in invocation. Some practices can alter the expenditure of spirit, but these are extremely advanced techniques and if you have reason to be using them then you are most likely already well beyond safe expenditures. However, in simple terms, they are expended in the order of Momentum, Form, and Substance."

"You are well advised to never exceed momentum expenditure. Momentum consists of an inconsistent energy that manifests as mental traits. In simple, and inaccurate terms, this will drain you of your ability to inspire. It steadily consumes enthusiasm, conviction, wit, charm, it tires muscles, slows healing, and generally saps the ability to achieve anything. The important thing to note about momentum is that it is transitory. The effects of losing it are temporary. Another important detail is that it is loose, and will tend to be expended first. Most invokers will reliably expend a great deal of their Momentum before losing anything else even without learning Spirit Partition. So long as you can feel yourself being drained, it is unlikely that you are permanently harming your spirit..."

"Form, is the specific structure of a spirit, and is refined over the course of a life. It mostly influences your interactions with others. Perhaps the most famous example was Ethemleric the Mad who, upon lifting their tower into the air(A task that you should all note is enthusiastically foolish, the inclination to descend is one of the Cardinal Drives and invoking over so large an area at such a distance is near impossible on its own.), promptly lost all of their supporters. It is not that they lost their memories, but those memories ceased to hold any subjective value. Memories are not entirely dependent upon the spirit, theoretically a subject can perceive the world in such a way as to be unaffected by the spirit, but in practise, in almost all cases of Form loss the subject has become largely irrelevant in whatever matter the lost Form applied to. Note, finally that form and substance are similar and bound to one another, so it is more likely that substance will be lost in the midst of form loss and it is generally regarded that there is no cause worthy of indulging in uncontrolled loss of Form."

"Substance is the material of which your spirit is composed. Losing it permanently reduces the spiritual depth of the subject. Reports suggest that it feels like a combination of nausea, starvation, a sense of imminent death, and morbid dread of your parents finding out what you are doing, all without any context, physical sensation, or direct effects upon the consciousness. Losing Substance permanently reduces the abilities of an invoker, and inhibits the ability to function in a more general context. In short, do not ever lose Substance..."

"In closing, while there is nothing directly fatal about spirit loss, it has been consistently observed that anyone who massively over-expends their spirit will end shortly afterwards, with almost nobody caring about their passing. Many of the greatest acts of invocation are only known through disinterested observations of related events and didn't come to prominence until long after they occurred."

"In future sessions we will be engaging in spirit familiarity and mental discipline, along with reviewing the great historical mistakes of invocation and reviewing the elements that are most difficult to effect through invocation. Those of you who just want to defend against invocation should pay special attention to The Cardinal Drives and why an invoker should find alternatives to imposing upon them. Many an invoker has been undone by a hasty attempt to reach the top shelf..."

[crazyabe]

PTW

[birdy51]

The Koralli are a matriarchal society with few exceptions. Each tribe is led by a female Korallian known as the Root. In contemporary terms, the Root of the tribe is their elder in all matters spiritual and political, and is believed to be one of two members of the tribe with a direct link with their goddess.

[micelus]

The Sleeper's Holiday is a day of extraordinary spiritual significance to all people of the world. While its place in the calendar differs from culture to culture and its observance too differs from person to person, no one would dare forget to offer tribute before the Holiday. On this Holiday, the Sleeper is said to awaken and walk the land, exploring the world in the short time it is awake, before quickly returning to slumber. What exactly the Sleeper is remains a mystery to most people and indeed, myths and stories have been told of the Sleeper since the first stories were told. In some tales, he is a guardian who requires a break to continue his tasks. In others, he is a rabid demon who is released by the Koralifur in especially boring times. In some tales, he is not a sleeper at all but simply a traveler passing through the world for another destination.

The reason for why the Sleeper's Holiday is steadfastly observed is that no one can remember the events of the day, as if the whole world had experienced temporary memory loss. This is not to say that the day did not occur however; chores that would usually be done on the day the Holiday takes place have been observed to have been done on the day after. Crops continue to grow. Food continues to be eaten. Wars continue to be fought. Travelers continue to journey to their location. Furthermore, all attempts at divining what occurred on the Holiday or recording the event seem to fail. Seemingly benign, these oddities changes should not enough. Should the Sleeper awake and find himself lacking in offerings however, the Holiday might as well be a low-level apocalypse. Cities will burn, several generations of the same family will be crucified, whole forests uprooted and the waterways flowing with blood.

Thankfully, the Holiday has been faithfully observed for much of written history, save for a few mishaps.

[Wozzy]

(To VoidSlayer: Not at all!)

The World is orbited by two small suns, one pale white, and the other, light blue. The two suns are a large distance from the World, and do very little to heat it, this isn't a problem, as frequent volcanic activity warms the World to above freezing levels. Instead, they provide light, and keep both sides of the World in perpetual daytime. Their orbits are highly elliptical, and seasons are characterized by subtle differences in light levels, not temperature changes.

The light blue sun projects a supernatural radiation which is caught and distributed onto the planet by magnetic fields.  Living things can absorb the radiation for food, like the coral and many plants, or in special organs to produce specific telekinetic effects.  Many intelligent creatures have these structures in their brains, which allow a broad range of telekinetic manipulation.

The pale sun and volcanic vents also produce different types of supernatural radiation which vary with the season.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Going with the whole seasonal thing, instead of just color lets go with magic and plant food types.  What do does the pale sun and volcanoes produce?  Let's see.

While the pale sun itself doesn't provide a source of supernatural magic, the gas giants that slowly orbit it do. When one gets between the sun and this cube-y planet, the side of the world that is currently facing it is bathed in an unnatural color.

The green gas giant, the one that is closest to the pale sun, travels around the fastest. It only stays in the sky for a few hours, but seems to show up the most often. It causes large fluctuations in gravity, capable of massively moving the sea level up on two sides of the cube (or down, in the case of the 4 other sides).

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

What other gas giants might travel around this pale sun, and what effect do they have on our planet?

[Egan_BW]

Some people of several cultures claim that the world is shaped like a square pyramid, with the continent being on the square "bottom" of the pyramid. They are, of course, terribly wrong, but because a journey over one of the edges and back again is practically impossible, it is impossible to disprove this theory with complete certainty. This is a fact that these "Pyramid Earthers", as they are called, are all too happy to point out.
They're still wrong though.

[RAM]

Scattered about each surface of the world, there are channels carved out by powerful winds that can be anything from a few to dozens of kilometres long. The winds have been blowing consistently in the same places at the same speeds for as long as anyone knows, and all of these channels of wind on any given face are all parallel and all blow in the same direction. While it is possible to cross unaided, it is generally advised to be bound to weights to avoid being buffeted against the ground if one's balance is lost and to have something stable to lever against when avoiding debris. Various peoples have designed weighted or anchored shelters which can be useful as the strong winds strain the eyes, and make breathing awkward while the lack of stable footing can be disorienting, and the largest channels can be several kilometres across... As these winds are seemingly permanent and consistent, a large empire will encounter them and many use them as a standard for labelling directions. This is often then passed on to smaller communities.

[Nakéen]

((Another of Ardent Debater's collaboration threads ! I really like those, too bad they are often short-lived.))


Tectonic Mantas and Volcanic Activity

The world's tectonic plates are actually titanic batoid-shaped beings living in the lithosphere. Made of extremely hard minerals, their lifespan far exceed millions of years. They are as old as the world, and so few they are numbered less than a hundred all over the world.

They are also the main source of volcanic activity : as underground individuals dig through the rock, they will break the earth down into useful components in their furnace like bellies. The components they don't need is accumulated in special organs, then expelled in the form of mineral-rich magma through special orifices.

This magma will often travel to the surface, forming volcanos.


Life cycle :

Tectonic Mantas are born in the back of their parents, digging upward until they reach the sea or the surface. If they find themselves on the surface, they will return back to the underground and keep digging until they find the sea.

Younger Tectonic Mantas live in the sea, forming what is known as Moving Islands. They will live nomad lives for thousand of years, absorbing the radiations emitted by the two suns. Once they reach adulthood, they will dive and dig through the world's crust, joining the other adult Tectonic Mantas.

They will spend the rest of their lives there, digging through the earth and moving the surface. When two very old mantas collide, tremendous earthquakes shake the world, with possibly cataclysmic results. It is actually a form of duel to assert dominance over hundreds of thousands of years. The losing manta will pass under the dominant to show its loss. On the surface this phenomenon manifest as mountains ridges.

The reason for this ritual is because being closer to the surface allow them to absorb more energy from the suns. As such, the majority of younger Tectonic Mantas typically live under the elder individuals, swimming through the earth until they are strong enough to contest a territory.

The older a Tectonic Manta get, the slower its metabolism get. Eventually they will become so slow their movements will be imperceptible to normal beings.

When a Tectonic Manta eventually die, every other individuals will feel it, as they are all connected through a mental link. They will then converge toward the corpses of the individual, eating through it, closing the cycle.


TLDR: Tectonic plates are mantas. Eat rock'n shit magma. Photosynthetic. Live in sea then ground.

[micelus]

Long ago, the main continent was home to a very highly advanced civilization, though none of its current inhabitants are capable of utilizing this technology. A large area towards the southern end of the continent is a ruined city, with jutting spires of metal and glass still standing, proof of their sturdy construction. The local intelligent creatures often visit the city as a source refined steel and other materials that are now difficult or impossible to synthesize. For this reason, control of the south is hotly contested.

Deep below the city is a bunker still powered by a geothermal power plant, maintained by machines. Within, an exceedingly powerful computer runs a simulation. This is a simulation of a world with one main continent, shaped like a cube, orbiting two suns.

((Sci-Fi bits because I can. Also Recursion.))

While the groups that lay dominion over the southern necropolises have until been now ever changing, the Oyyadin Emirate has recently become the recognised suzerain of much of the land. The Oyyadins are a people foreign to the continent and while visibly subhuman, the Oyyadins differ significantly. Rather than protein-based organs, an oyyadi's organs are composed of biometals and if one were to look closer, one would see that nanomachines compose a large amount of their blood composition. Of course, this fact is not known by most people and most oyyadin see no difference either. Indeed, oyyadins are able to breed with other humans and their resulting children tend to be baseline. The only discernible and difference is that oyyadin consume metals for sustenance, a fact that has caused more than a few cultural mishaps.

Until recently, the Oyyadin had been lead by a hereditary emir, the descendant of the admiral who had lead them to this land. Recently however, a revolution has taken place, instituting a republic lead by a group of appointed emirs. While the new government is young and subject to a great deal of change, the vigour to bring change upon the rest of the world has lead the oyyadin to invade and bring upon revolution to the rest of the South. So far, they've succeeded.

[TheBiggerFish]

((Ooh.))

[Egan_BW]

There are four different competing standards for determining the cardinal directions. Windways, where the wind blows from south to east along the wind channels, Poleways, determined by the magnetic north pole on one of the world's corners, Whiteways, where the white sun rises in the east and sets in the west, and Blueways, where the blue sun rises in the east and sets in the west. All four methods result in slightly different headings, but east and west are always generally the same direction.
A compromise standard "Always" has been suggested, but nobody actually wants to deal with five different standards.

[Ardent Debater]

Long ago, the main continent was home to a very highly advanced civilization, though none of its current inhabitants are capable of utilizing this technology. A large area towards the southern end of the continent is a ruined city, with jutting spires of metal and glass still standing, proof of their sturdy construction. The local intelligent creatures often visit the city as a source refined steel and other materials that are now difficult or impossible to synthesize. For this reason, control of the south is hotly contested.

Deep below the city is a bunker still powered by a geothermal power plant, maintained by machines. Within, an exceedingly powerful computer runs a simulation. This is a simulation of a world with one main continent, shaped like a cube, orbiting two suns.

((Sci-Fi bits because I can. Also Recursion.))

While the groups that lay dominion over the southern necropolises have until been now ever changing, the Oyyadin Emirate has recently become the recognised suzerain of much of the land. The Oyyadins are a people foreign to the continent and while visibly subhuman, the Oyyadins differ significantly. Rather than protein-based organs, an oyyadi's organs are composed of biometals and if one were to look closer, one would see that nanomachines compose a large amount of their blood composition. Of course, this fact is not known by most people and most oyyadin see no difference either. Indeed, oyyadins are able to breed with other humans and their resulting children tend to be baseline. The only discernible and difference is that oyyadin consume metals for sustenance, a fact that has caused more than a few cultural mishaps.

Until recently, the Oyyadin had been lead by a hereditary emir, the descendant of the admiral who had lead them to this land. Recently however, a revolution has taken place, instituting a republic lead by a group of appointed emirs. While the new government is young and subject to a great deal of change, the vigour to bring change upon the rest of the world has lead the oyyadin to invade and bring upon revolution to the rest of the South. So far, they've succeeded.

A common phrase among travelers: "If you've seen one Oyyadin, you've seen them all."

The reason for this phrase is the striking similarity Oyyadin share with one another, they differ very little in size and weight, being slightly above the Human average. They have vivid green eyes, dark hair, deep voices, very pale skin, and sharp, angular facial features. Though the Oyyadin do not know it, the reason for this is that the programming in their nanomachine code specifies that Oyyadin appear this way, though it is unknowable why, their striking genetic similarity suggests that they were coded to resemble a specific person. Oyyadin are extremely resistant to most diseases, but their extreme genetic similarity and stagnant evolution mean that if a disease ever came along that was able to easily kill an Oyyadi and spread efficiently, it could drive the Oyyadin extinct. Incidentally, Oyyadi are known for being extremely hygienic.

Oyyadin differ as widely as Humans do in personality and opinion. Birth defects and mutations among Oyyadin are extremely rare, and the Oyyadi gestation period lasts a full year. Well-fed Oyyadin seem to heal from injuries almost three times as quickly as Humans, though Oyyadin without enough 'food' won't heal at all, and will slowly degenerate. Oyyadin have a boundless endurance and patience, and can continue to work on the same task for hours on end without tiring, they only need to have a dreamless sleep for four hours every day. Oyyadi have better night vision than baseline Humans, but it isn't very noticeable. They also have an unprecedented amount of self control, and can control their bodily movements and functions much easier than Humans, though they still need to train themselves for emotional control.

Oyyadi have very good memories, but they cannot adapt to new situations as readily as Humans. They also learn somewhat slowly, at roughly 0.75 as quickly as Humans, but they retain knowledge much better. As they are from an alien land and didn't follow the Main Continent's Evolutionary Path, they lack the specialized organs to preform Magic. They are mechanical in nature, and many Invokers have been surprised to discover that they lack a Spirit, leading some religious individuals to ponder if they truly have a Soul.

They have legends of their ancient homeland, which they describe as a heavily forested, extremely fertile, paradisaical land that their God, who they refer to simply as, The Creator created for them. But they say that long after The Creator left the world, their homeland began to suffer a series of sudden and cataclysmic earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions, with clear evidence that the end was near. Not wanting to be destroyed, an Oyyadin Admiral gathered a massive fleet, and an enormous horde of followers, and they left. According to legend, their homeland was consumed the maw of the world itself. After travelling across unspeakably frigid, storm filled, titanic monster infested Ocean where gravity itself would destroy all but the strongest and most skillfully piloted boats for many generations, a handful of the once grand fleet arrived, and with it, the Oyyadin, bent on reclaiming paradise.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I don't think that I've contradicted micelus's post, I had the idea that the Oyyadin were actually the clones of an ancient, egotistical scientist, and it was interesting enough that I had to implement it. That, and a few subtle differences between Oyyadin and Baseline Humans that might've resulted from them being made of nanomachines. I was also inspired by an interesting idea for a mythical origin story as well, and I put that in too.

[micelus]

((My idea was that oyyadin were completely identical to humans save for their stated diet and chemical composition but ehhh))

The Rettalatra can be best described as a semi-organised cult of bandits and murders residing within the lands of the People of the Earth. Worshippers of the goddess Freje, the Rettalatra believe that to kill is holy and that it matters not who is killed but simply that someone is killed. While Freje is indeed a goddess traditionally worshipped by blood sacrifice, this is usually through ritual scarification, animal sacrifice or the sacrifice of prisoners of war. To attack peaceful travellers, ones who one is not necessarily at war with, is heresy to the orthodox priesthood of Freje.

Despite their status as bandits, the Rettalatra do have a surprisingly large amount of influence in the cities, having contacts and secret cells in many cities.