Alright, made some headway on this. Player's were selected partially based on how fast they submitted sheets and if they had a spot in the first game that didn't happen. Discord isn't really set up, but gonna go ahead and post it:
https://discord.gg/YaGe4V4MortalsWell, here's mine. It's an ex-aquatic, (mostly) humanoid mortal race with shapeshifting limbs. They're obsessed with arguing about mathematics, and their current civilisation is based around an ongoing three-way argument about metaphysics, with each side trying to gain knowledge through mathematics and natural philosophy, believing it'll vindicate their own side's theory.
Mortal Race Name: The People of the Isles (Colloquially, Ilsesfolk)
Civilization Name: The Orthogonal Triarchy
Mortal Race description:
A race that rose from the Seas to escape calamity, and were twisted in order to live on the Land.
Generally Humanoid.
Their bodies are partly amorphous. They don't have proper bones; instead, muscles harden and entwine, temporarily forming bone-like structures.
Their central mass, containing vital organs, can't alter very much and is about as vunerable as a human's torso (perhaps more, as their bones aren't as strong), but limbs, in particular arms, are readily extruded, absorbed and reshaped.
Absorbing or extruding an arm takes about a minute. A well-fed, healthy adult has enough shifting flesh for two and a half human-sized arms. More limbs are more difficult to control: it's a feat of skill to wield three arms as well as one can two. Four arms will always be weaker individually, and require great training to use properly.
Changing shape costs a lot of energy. It's not to be done on an empty stomach, or by the mal-nutritioned. Food is usually the limiter on how much shifting muscle an individual can maintain: This limits how much flesh is available to extrude limbs with, and how big those limbs can be, of course. Children of a period of famine can be recognised by their few and meager limbs, and the difficulty with which they reform them.
The most common form taken is humanoid, with additional small arms and simple hands for carrying things, acting like pockets and hooks. These carrying hands have limited dexterity.
Other limb configurations are sometimes used, e.g. quadrapedal layouts for transporting goods over long distances in the absence of pack animals, or specialised configurations for bucket brigades that optimise for rapid bucket-passing. Ilsesfolk learn and master configurations over their lifetimes; novel configurations take time to get used to.
Serious trauma can stunt the afflicted area's shapeshifting ability, sometimes permanently. Ilsefolk are thus generally more afraid of fire and scalding water than a human would be, but less afraid of superficial cutting damage to limbs, as these can be resorbed and the damage healed more easily.
Islesfolk form monogamous breeding couples. Mating occurs using organs on the lower torso. Women give birth by growing a polyp of morphogenic flesh that eventually splits off after about a month, becoming a newborn.
A child's first limb extrusion is treated as the equivalent of a human child's first word.
Owing to their aquatic origin, the Islesfolk have transparent secondary eye-lids that offer protection from Salt Water.
They are omnivorous.
Civilization culture: The Trichotomy
A culture dominated by elaborations on a three-way disagreement on the nature of reality, had by the Three Wise Ones at the Founding.
Four generations ago, atop Zanth's Rock, the three Wisest of the Islesfolk convened and entered into a heated discussion about metaphysics. For a year and a day they argued, and in that time, the Ilsesfolk who came to hear their words built a shanty town at the area. Over time this grew into the city of Orth, first of its kind and seat of power in the Ilses, having conquered all other political factions by virtue of superior military theory spawned from some notes scribbled down during the Founding.
The Rock, at the centre of the city, has been mined, hollowed, tunneled and reshaped over generations and decades into the Concent of Orth, where the philosophical descendants of the Founders study and argue. There are three main sects, each aligned with one of the Wise Founders:
The Platons claim Reality is a deriviative of the primal space, where all mathematical objects exist.
(They're Platonic realists.)
The Sophates claim mathematical objects are created by the thoughts of conscious souls, and deride theoric realism. The mind-soul is all that can be known to be real.
(They're spiritual Solipsists.)
The Praticans believe metaphysics is a fool's errand. The world you can touch and feel is all that is: the mind is an illusion. Mathematics is a tool like any other.
(They're Engineers.)
All sects believe that by expanding their knowledge of the world, and finding Truth, their own position will be validated. Thus they relentlessly theorize, research, and innovate, sometimes at the consternation of the wider populace. In recent times, their gaze has been turning greedily outwards- for perhaps new Concents, across the Islands and beyond, can reap ever greater Knowledge. The Triarchs, having to deal with their inter-sect rivalries as well as the general running of Civilisation, are only too happy to pursue these expansionist ambitions.
General cultural traits: High numeracy, due to required of knowledge of geometry in order to resolve disputes over the limited farmland available on islands.
General almost religious devotion to seeking and preserving knowledge; mathematics is seen as the height of civilisation. Great mathematical understanding is a sign of high status.
However, many factions and groups guard many secrets, only revealed in their inner circles.
They farm and raise livestock, with a cultural divide between rural and more built-up areas.
General starting biome: Temperate archipelago, with a few mountains.
Civilization Name: Tide
Mortal Race Name: Cicadas
Mortal Race description:
Cicadapeople that form social groups, with a twist. The nymphal cicada are active ambush predators(also proficient diggers), a favoured tactic being to dig large pits and chasing prey animals into them, supplemented by a diet of tree sap. The youngest cicadas, and thus smallest and slowest have to be particularly cunning and reliant on traps, instead of using their physical abilities to simply hunt down prey.
This led to a strange evolutionary quirk, where the first cicada instars have the highest intelligence, with the intelligence slowly deteriorating with each molting, until the most drastic metamorphosis into the imago, gaining wings, switching from being omnivorous to only drinking tree sap, and having only the intelligence of particularly bright animals. The flights of the cicada, and their chorus songs are both extremely beautiful to the younger instars, and a source of horror at their own inevitable regression, with only the wonder of flight and laying the eggs of the next generation as small comforts of adulthood.
Other: Sometimes non-paragons can temporarily enter waking dream states, especially during periods of high stress, particularly during battles. Generally they just gain the skills of their previous lives, rather than any mystical powers. This lesser waking dream state is generally called a "martial trance".
Civilization culture:
Tide Religion: They believe that after death, cicada are reincarnated anew. They liken life and death to dreaming and waking. Just as a night's sleep may be filled with dreams of powerful drives, passion and wonder, only to slowly fade like mist before the sun once awake, so death is a time of sleep and dreaming, from which cicada awake once they hatch, slowly losing the power of the dream, and their intelligence with it, forgetting it's wonder, until they sleep again. Each nights sleep is seen as a microcosm of this larger cycle of life and death, a temporary return to the dream, yet even more ephemeral than the sleep of death.
A somewhat more complex and subtle expansion of this concept, is the cyclic nesting of dreams within a dream, with your previous life in fact being part of the deathdream for this dreamlife, that is part of the deathdream of the dreamlife after it. As such, along with the dreams themselves, you are forgetting your memories of your past life.
There is another sect which believes that each cicada moulting was part of a slow ascension to a higher plane of existence, with the lowered intelligence being caused due to getting less and less in tune with the base lowly current plane, until finally the adults fly up past the clouds, past the sky and sun and become spirits.
Method of Ruling: A child shall lead them.
Sometimes a particularly large and special type of cicada egg is lain, a Paragon. These Paragons can survive being broken out of their eggs before they hatch naturally, thus entering the waking world while still being in the deathream. This state, known as the "Waking Dream" allows the paragon to access the skill, experience and knowledge of their past lives, as well as the mysterious powers of the dream. Whenever such Paragons are forced to be born, they become the leaders of the tribe. The forceful creation of the first Paragon was is the impetus of the current rise of the Cicada Tide and as such much is still unknown, including how moulting will affect the Waking Dream state, though it seems depressingly likely that it will break the waking dream.
Without a paragon, generally council of children will be chosen from the first instar of the tribe to rule, generally by selecting those that managed to build the best traps in a competition.
General starting biome: A forest with giant trees that have sweet, syrupy sap.
Mortal Race Name: Wret
Mortal Race description: The Wret are a subterranean species of cold blooded lizard people. They are typically between four and six feet tall and have a hide of black scales. They have three red marks under each eye which grow darker in colour everytime they molt, this is the primary method of telling a Wret's age. Most Wret have large scythe like claws on their hands which they use to dig, the ones that don't will have clipped their claws for cultural or practical reasons. Wret fed on the other animals in the underground and the fungus which grows on the walls leaching metals from the rock. This leads to the Wret naturally depositing some of the metal in the foods they eat into their growing claws. This strengthens them so they are capable of burrowing through rock but means the toughness of Wret claws is dependent on diet which in turn means poorer Wret tend to have softer claws. In terms of heat Wret are resistant to high temperatures but quickly slow down at colder temperatures and will rapidly lose consciousness and die in extreme cold. This is why most Wret habitats are located around geothermal vents.
Civilization Name: Unified Cavern Cities of Jurr
Civilization culture: The Wret and especially the people of Jurr are known for their treachery and cunning. Many outsiders who have contact with them describe a culture where bribery, treachery and murder aren't just accepted but are seen as virtuous. This has lead to much debate as to how the Wret can survive with such a culture but most outsiders to the Wret don't understand the Wret concept of disruption. The Wret live underground where the recklessness of a few can literally bring the roof down on the many and because of this they have a deep cultural hatred for anyone and anything that causes 'disruption'. Murder is an acceptable means of advancement, but murdering a single person more than you absolutely need to will make you a pariah as will getting caught. The less other Wret are disturbed by your actions the more likely all Wret will accept what you've done and move on. This is why it is customary for a murderer to supply the victim's family with the equivalent to the victim's income for a few years. Bribery too has a whole set of cultural etiquette to it for the Wret. Most people pay the people they rely on a small sum to prevent them from betraying them. It is considered extremely rude to sell anyone out for any less than three times what they paid you not to sell out, though many Wret will vary the price they demand as a bribe depending on how much they like (or hate) the people involved. This causes an incomprehensible economy of bribery and counter bribery to form where most public services are funded by people paying under the table to avoid having someone else pay to turn said public service against them rather than be funded by the central authorities that founded them.
Politically the Cities of Jurr are ruled by a council of twelve major Noble houses and an ever-changing number of minor houses (any family that can get three major houses to acknowledge them as a noble house counts). In the center of this council sits the chairperson of Jurr. Offically the most powerful person in the United Cities, unoffically the nobles of the Major houses do what ever they can to avoid getting nominated for the position. The Chairperson of Jurr has to balance the needs of the feuding noble houses without showing favoritism lest they be assassinated by a house that views them as an obstacle. Few people have survived very long in the position.
General starting biome: Underground caverns connected to a geothermal heat source
Dhoxtar, Patron of Strife
God/Goddess: A trickster and shapeshifter, Dhoxtar enjoys causing mischief and trouble wherever They go. Whilst Their shapeshifting tendancies mean They can be one of a variety of forms, They prefer to appear young and adventurous, with well-made but unadorned equipment and as whatever species They are currently interacting with.
Dhoxtar believes in action and excitement, and that is found when Mortals and Monsters face challenge and uncertainty. Harmony and Predictability are anathema to Them, and to be considered "boring" is the most grave of insults.
Those who find themselves in jeopardy can pray to Dhoxtar for aid, for They love underdogs and upstarts, whilst those who are safe and secure should offer up sacrifice to appease Them, lest They decide to make life interesting.
Starting type: Embodiment of Strife
God: Kabat, the Lesser God
Starting Type: Patron of Mortals
Born from the buildup of ambient mana in the world came this unusually humble deity. Kabat remembers the ancient battles of his predecessors well, and seeks to avoid repeating their mistakes.
Kabat is not above the idea of taking advice from mortals, and rarely makes demands or acts out of spite. He hold many of the opinions of Yonlu, finding the company of mortals to be more pleasant than that of monsters and his presence is almost entirely beneficial to the struggling mortal populations.
However! Ever fearful of the Blind Titan Mu, Kabat will actively avoid any kind of conflict with the other gods whenever he can no matter how minor that conflict may be. As a result, excessive reliance on Kabat would be unwise; for you will find no protection against divine fury in him.
God/Goddess: Sagrund, the tiny, a single grain of golden sand
Starting type: Embodiment of microscopic creatures and machines,
Monster Lord: Ashbloom, Aradian beetle queen.
Monster race description: Aradian beetles are characterised by their iridescent green and blue shells, their un beetle-like hive clusters, and the mind-numbing drone their wings can emmit.
Starting type: Beasts
Starting trait: Multitudinous.
Monster Lord: Heionna is a particularly large demon that stands at a towering 100 feet (30 meters) tall and unlike what most would think of as the traditional demon, has greyish purple skin. Additionally, they have five horns on their head, two large horns on the side of their head and a row of three smaller, spear head shaped horns that looked like it was partially made of a gem along the edges, going across the top of their head. It also has two eyes, both with a black sclera and amber iris. Their weapon of choice is a large scythe which has a double edged blade and they wear the pelts of varying creatures, both monster and mortal.
Starting type: Demon
Starting trait: Giant
Monster Lord: Aman the Shroom mind, they are a giant fungus that colored red with purple spots, its only goal is to spread and infect all life with shrooms, its body is highly poisonous and most creatures in its presence get infected with shrooms and slowly lose their mind to Aman and join its horde, its preferred weapon of choice is its spores
Starting type: fungi
Starting trait: Giant
Author
Topic: Mortals and Monsters II (Read 2530 times)