I hide myself in the quiet white of Winter and nestle in her comforting folds of cold oblivion.
Winter is particularly harsh this era. In much of the world winter is short and mild. Snow is rare almost everywhere except north Verdance. This era its different. Snow falls over the jungles of Pangaea for almost a month this era. Other areas experience blizzards, snowstorms, and unusual weather. Large icecaps come to dominate the northernmost and southernmost areas of the world. This is not the cause of the disturbance, but the actions of Kyazir. Kyazir sparked a love interest with the ice goddess Skyila. Their coupling caused horrifying weather and ice storms across much of the world. North Verdance is covered in a layer of permafrost and glaciers erupt from the ground. The boroi here find life much harder, and no longer fight eachother as much. Some band together, for alone, none will survive the furious winter. Life for them is markedly worse, for at least before, they could conquer their foes, now they merely huddle together in a desperate attempt to stave off the creeping cold.
On the subject of huddling. Kyzair's and Skylia's coupling is not without consequences. Long after the departure of the ice goddess. Kyzair's stricken by a terrible sickness. Pain wracks the body of the god before his armor splits open and a child emerges from his chest. Skzail is born! A minor god of ice and war. Skyzail is a colossus composed of ice. Born into this world, Skzail's purpose is clear, to spread the conquest of ice across the entirety of the world, slaying all those which cannot survive in the eternal winter. Skzail descends upon the northern pole of the planet. She roars in the direction of Carociber, and then heads directly south, towards Verdance.
The troon sees major changes during this era. The reverse trees are frozen solid, shattering as new trees erupt from inside them and ice and frost cover them. Xickla tells them of the coming change and many Sciro come to admire the trees. They find them odd and strange, as a whole. Many who disliked the upsidedown trees bemoan their replacements, but with less zeal. They still see them as unnatural, but not as overtly wrong as the upside down trees. Some attempt to use the wood of these frozen trees, but its tendancy to melt makes them terrible materials for general use. However, a second prophet appears among the Sciro, one of the prominent organizers of the arsonists. Mygar. Mygar tells many of sciro that the wind spirit of this land is the one who cursed the trees. A great wave of analytics washes over the Sciro. They come to analyze the claims of the two prophets and great debates between the two prophets ensue. Standing beneath the tree of salvation, the two debate for hours in front of massive audiences. The debates eventually conclude and the Sciro are left to make their own decisions. Many are skeptical of the appearance of the prophet of the of the wind spirit, which is normally viewed as a trickester. Upon the conclusion of the debates, few come to believe the word of the Mygar, many believe in Xikla for he has a preestablished rapport, though there is a lot of disagreement and discussion as a whole. Debates become enshrined in Sciro culture as a method of settling all disputes and comes to dominate Sciro culture. Violence and conflict are restricted to the pulpit and society mellows out quite a bit. With one exception. A golden object of some sort has been gifted to the Sciro as a present for acceptance by the Aedans. This beautiful object is highly coveted among the Sciro, and many of them try to get it for themselves. The owner of the valuable object must forever watch his or her back, for others are constantly looking to take it from them. It changes hands over a dozen times a year, never willingly of course.
Elsewhere the glass city of the troon, the Aedans build a library so that they may study and gather knowledge and share it with others. A mysterious grimoire appears here briefly before it disappears in a gust of rather chaotic energy.
Meanwhile on Carociber, things have changed. The minotaur Calyvaro was nudged by their father to go on a rampage. And rampage they did. Large sections of Carociber were set aflame, stomped over, and then set aflame again. Many southern Klix tribes are erradicated, though Calyvaro's nomadic heard of minotaurlike klix grows larger as one or two are occasionally spared. However, the rampage comes to a distinct and utter end when Calyvaro reaches the eldritch lands. For a long time the flaming beast stands there looking in. It doesn't appear to be thinking, or even that its mind is vacant, just an intense thoughtless gaze. This went on for days, unending, before the edge of the eldritch lands moved back. Calyvaro took a step forward over the barren but normal ground that was just moments ago twisted and alien. Slowly, as if carrying a great weight, Calyvaro trudged inward. Yet then, the ground began to shake. Calyvaro looked up, and roared into the sky. In an instant, he left the eldritch lands the way he came, leaving a terrible wound of flaming soul piercing into the twisted world. Calyvaro looks north, roars again, and then heads into the ocean in the direction of Verdance.
Society continues to develop on Verdance, unaware of the looming danger. The tasatha begin using agriculture to grow food instead of paper. This is only partially because of the minor nudges of their god, but also due to the spreading cold over the continent. Winters have become harsher and longer, and the need to grow food to survive them has become more imperative. This makes paper even more rare, and even more valuable, a luxury for kings and a few other wealthy individuals. So too is construction necessary. Enclosed structures are built to trap in the heat. Mostly made of wood and sealed with mud, these log structures are the first mortal made permanent buildings upon the world. With the exception of Ishai and Duro mines of course. Tasatha society huddles closer together, for warmth and safety. Outlaying camps move towards large towns and their society becomes less spread out.
On Pangea, the Ishagi host had spread far and wide, with a great number of hurdles before them. They had but one directive, to build more and better ishagi. It was a clear and simple maxim, one instilled upon them by their former owner. They spread outwards in every direction, each uncaring for themselves, only for the creation of their children. In the south, they faced the magically resistant duro. This hurdle caused the ishagi there to change. To the north, they were stopped by a horde of tiny tree living birdmen and their druidic leader. In the west, Ishagi disappeared into the jungle, never to be seen again. This all changed during this era.
In the south, a powerful giant Ishagi, Ighasi (That name is going to lead to incredible confusion). The large golem of earth and ice drew the attention of the Ishagi in the area. Never before had they seen an individual such as Ighasi, and looked over it in detail. What caused the greatest confusion was Ighasi's ability to speak. The ishagi had a written language, but was rarely used, yet this Ishagi spoke to them spreading the word of Tauron. The ice golem demonstrated its powers to the others, creating shards of ice and fighting valiantly in the conquest against the Duro. The Ishagi in the area were mostly composed of earth and watched this in their cold calculating manner. It is difficult to discern whether or not they believed in Tauron. It was clear they revered Ighasi as a great warrior, but seeing as Ighasi is the only ice golem which would not melt, they changed their composition little, with one minor exception. Many new Ishagi were constructed with mouths. And though they rarely used them, word spread that Tauron could create great warriors and was a master craftsman. It also was unclear whether or not the Ishagi considered Ighasi a true Ishagi, for they thought and acted differently than Ishagi. Though after spending time with them Ighasi found they were a quite intelligent race, with a wide cornucopia of knowledge. However, they found little use for it in their current situation. Though word of the prophet never reached the northern front, for trouble brewed in the west. From the Jungle of Webs, strange ishagi emerged. These Ishagi were not like their brothers and sisters, but crafted of flesh by a great molder, Eurythia. These Ishagi were made of spiders and webs. They were legs and muscle and claws and pincers. The strange Ishagi had no interest in creating new Ishagi, for they could not compare to the masterwork of the spider queen, but instead sought to bring her flesh with which to eat and work. The Ishagi watched this, and resumed their activities. It seems the goals of the Isharach did not conflict nor interrupt the work of the Ishagi and where thus ignored. Advancements are made in the north and south. Tauron's prophet slaying Duro with its might and garnering a following of Ishagi seeking tauron to create children for them, while in the north wildfire ishagi burned tree after tree. Amid the smoke and fire Isharach drones sought out Icanthi prey to ensnare and return to their queen. At no point did the Ishagi feel malevolence towards those they fought. They simply had what the Ishagi wanted, needed, and thus they were only secondary in the Ishagi quest for reproduction.
The land the Ishagi origianlly colonized begins to recover with the help of the Feurwerks, a poison absorbing mushroom that eventually launches itself into the air where it explodes into a spore cloud for massive dispersion of spores. These exploding mushrooms help draw forth the poison from the land, and speed its recovery towards fertility. Furthermore tunnels appear in this area, and to some degree the northern forest and southern jungles. Yet these entrances to the underworld mostly go unnoticed as the area is now uninhabited. However, from the underworld, some curious Annelids travel up to the surface, drawn by the strange smells, the bright light, but most of all, wind. None of these wonders existed in the still caverns, and some small communities find the surface world an interesting curiosity. Though those in the twisted tunnels are warned by Tauron's prophet not to ascend to the surface, his word does not reach those godless souls in the stilllands, and occasionally a doomed tribe is saved by ascending to the surface instead of starving lost in the tunnels. The annelids become visitors in this strange place, but never stay for long.
Offers this era:
A plague demon appears before you. Glowing multifaceted eyes and a misquitolike proboscis rest upon a scraggly owllike face, which sits atop the body of an incredibly muscled leper.
I am Wagryar. I bring you a game. The game of plagues. The rules are simple. If you let my disease into the world, I will give you the antidote and your mortals will be saved. If you don't many will die. If half or more of you refuse me, the plague does not occur. If more than half of you accept, you will each gain two medicine acts. If all of you accept, you gain nothing and the plague still happen. This is the game, lets have fun. A demigod of peace and foresight, Eyranor appears! A prophet which
I'm going to totally regret this speaks only in rhyme and riddle.
A quest I am on my lords and lieges,
A quest to end the impending sieges,
For fire and ice will soon collide,
For mortal coils will soon be knocked
Aside.
Grant me you power kings of divinity,
I need only power enough two trinity,
Peace, prosperity, and a prison,
To build the garrison,
Against the clash of fire and ice,
That shall render down the earth and sky,
Three welkin lands to be precise
This I do descry
Wall and redoubt must erect,
A prison too, to prevent the wreck,
I can aid you in this endeavor,
Though six acts with which you must,
Sever.
The final offer comes from a titan of beasts and wilderness, Zyklekan. He looks upon your world thoughtfully, thinking hard as if philosophizing deeply about some unseen nuance of the realm. After a time he states thus.
NOT. ENOUGH. ANIMALS. Zyklekan begins to radiate power around your heavenly lands and you find that his presence halves the cost of creating new animals. For minor acts, you simply get two make two species, but cannot spend half a minor act without the magic crumbling.
MORE. says the thoughtful ape of a divine denizen.
Author
Topic: Gods of Creation III (IC) (Read 30997 times)