Somewhere in the boundless space below the world, a soul becomes aware of its own existence. Consciousness becomes inspiration, and inspiration blossoms into a new identity. The soul flies up to the surface, where it forms a vessel for itself from sand and air. The body congeals gradually, piece by piece, until a small buzzing thing hovers above the earth.
Walbaxia, the Undetermined circles a glass star. Waves of green and violet ripple across her carapace.
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My name is Walbaxia
I take the form of a green and purple housefly the size of a human thumb. The wings are clear, when the eyes are purple the exoskeleton is green and viva versa. Can switch at will
My purpose is unknown.
Fly around the world to explore a bit
There are so many things in this place that Walbaxia has trouble keeping track of them all, even with the benefit of a bird's-eye-view. She ends up flitting from place to place, examining anything that looks particularly large or important. At first she flies up into the sky, where she finds herself surrounded by a spiderweb of titanic proportions. The Great Web stretches from the ground to the top of the sky, and is populated by hordes of intelligent spiders. The bugs are divided into many different tribes, some of which are distinct from the others. Walbaxia sees one group weaving spells from mystical webs and another flying with metallic wings.
Tangled within this web are the stars, spheres of glass infused with divine fire. They act as beacons in the night, providing illumination to both the Web and the rest of the world. They're overshadowed only by the Sun, a ball of golden light brighter than all of them put together. It's difficult for Walbaxia to look at it without blinding herself, but when she squints she thinks she can see something metallic underneath all the radiance.
Once she's tired of staring at bright lights, she starts exploring the ground instead. The foundation of the world is mostly sand, interspersed with novel new environments. Walbaxia flies through a place where rain constantly falls from the sky, nourishing fields of wheat that seem to have covered the ground completely. She can see a swamp off in the distance, and towards the outer boundary of the world there's a sea of black ooze. Her last stop is a fortress made from solid bone, inhabited by many different species. She sees spiders, metallic birds, and creatures that look like moving blobs of dirt.
With such a high rate of reproduction, the wheat must be rapidly cloning itself. A powerful tactic, to be sure, but its weakness is clear.
Lightly bite one of the stems and introduce a lethal virus specifically suited to omniwheat. Without any genetic diversity, it should quickly rip through the population, leaving behind highly nutritional fields of hay, ideal for the planting of new, less fuckin boring things!
6Zeristia nips an Omni-Grain stem, and something vile seeps from her fangs. Black stains spread from each puncture hole, blotting out the original golden color of the stalk. Then the plant begins to decay. Parts of the stalk peel away, revealing pus and rotten sludge where the wheat should have an internal structure. Seeds swell with bile and then fall off, bursting as soon as they hit the ground. Contaminated material splatters everywhere, even onto Zeristia herself. Everything it touches is infected.
The worm feels a burning sensation as black spots bubble up from underneath her skin. They expand across her body slowly, fighting with her soul and essence for every inch of mossy flesh. The infected areas aren't rotting yet, but the Gardener can already feel herself growing weaker. It may only be a matter of time before the plague overpowers her or contaminates her essence.
It devours the Omni-Grain at a far faster rate. The pile of rotten sludge surrounding Zeristia becomes a lake, and then a crater in the center of the Wetlands. Within it, nothing organic can survive. The corpses of a few unfortunate fish also float to the surface and bloat until they rupture, showering their surroundings in gibbets of infected viscera.
Organize defense of the web from invaders, incenerate vermin with new weapon system.
Huh, he's pretty high up...Wings, make wings, those will be good in case he falls. Meti should do it too. Then continue climbing the rest of the way. But don't attack unless the spiders do it first. Gonna need that self-defense excuse.
Meruem: 6 / Meti: 2
Spiderlings: 4 vs. Meruem: 4 & Meti: 1 & Vespas: 1
Godsbane: 1Amon scurries down to the bottom of the Web, to the place where Meruem and Meti are trying to climb. Parun and the nameless one both march alongside him, followed by each of the four remaining Sentinel legions. Spiderlings from the the Order of Strands rain spells down on the intruders, while elites from the Legions pelt Meruem and Meti with streams of acid and bolts of force. The attacks destabilize the strand that they are climbing, causing it to swing back and forth like a pendulum. Even with the climbing adaptations that they've given themselves, the Spawner and his firstborn can barely maintain their grip.
Meruem thrusts his claws into the silk, then releases another set of mutagens into the area around his shoulderblades. The chemicals react strangely with the adrenaline rushing through his body. Instead of reshaping cleanly, Meruem's flesh starts to bubble and fizz. Fatty deposits build up in his back, forming a single dense lump rather than the wings that he intended to create. He unleashes growth suppressants to contain the damage, which gives the Spiderlings enough time to press their advantage. They push him off the strand using a giant wall of force, which sends him plummeting to the ground below.
Meti's body also bends unnaturally, perhaps because of the same factors that tripped up Meruem. His legs fuse with the silk he was climbing, which is a mixed blessing at best. The chimera can't be knocked off the strand like his father was, but he's also a sitting duck when the Sentinels attack. three of them start spitting acid at him as he frantically tries to mutate himself into something more mobile.
A small group of Vespas fly towards the battle, but they're interrupted by a bright flash of light from up above. An enormous beam of energy surrounds them, burning them with the heat of a hundred stars. The Vespas are resistant to its effects, in large part because of their own fiery natures, but Spiderlings who get caught in the Godsbane's impact zone aren't nearly so lucky. The beam melts their armor and turns the outer layers of their carapaces to ash.
Hynsyr seeks out the Prismatics. He wishes to hear their consul, ideas, and feelings upon the Super Weapon. For it is his own children who know the creations of Nazir better than himself. Are the Nazirites becoming a threat to the Cycle? Are they arrogant enough not to realize the provocation of a weapon with such a title? Are they seeking to challenge the siblings of their creator?
Hynsyr walks through the city gates. Groups of ordinary lightfolk flock to meet him, some of them bearing tribute, but for now the Titan waves them off. He continues walking until he reaches the temple of Yig, where the Prismatics have gathered to meet with them. Hynsyr asks them for their evaluations of the Godsbane, and of the Nazirites who are building it. At first they are somewhat hesitant to speak, but they become more talkative when Hynsyr explains the reasoning behind his request.
The Prismatics are somewhat concerned about the power of the weapon itself. The Consortium described it as a weapon of mass destruction, perhaps capable of scorching entire cities from the sand. Its mere existence would be a provocation, and perhaps even a threat to the cycle itself if it were to be turned against the Lightfolk. They are not certain whether the weapon's name was meant as a threat, or whether the Spiderling truly intend to turn it against the gods, but there are already reasons enough to worry.
Another Prismatic mentions that the Spiderlings have not targeted the Lightfolk specifically, or even named them as a potential target for aggression. The Great Web is theoretically an ally of the Spires, and they might hesitate to turn the Godsbane against their kin in the Golden Web. On the other hand, there is a certain risk in assuming that the Web is benign. The Godsbane proposal never actually mentioned the factions which could be considered enemies of the Web.
Attempt to use the absent heart to find the Archdemon.
1+2Ira listens to the beating of the Absent Heart. Its Non-rhythm brings her closer to the Nothingness, and to the connections linking her to ALTERTH's scattered essence. She probes the bond, sending her mind outwards through an unfamiliar pathway, until she brushes up against the minds of other Nonexistent creatures. Most are just vague presences, so small that they are almost indistinguishable from background noise. Ira sweeps them aside and reaches further. She stumbles upon a spirit more powerful than any of the rest. It is at the edge of the world, surrounded by an army of lesser beings.
The World-Eater burrows underneath the ground and tunnels until she too is at the boundary of the primordials' oasis. Empty desert stretches out before her, lightless and barren, but the border itself isn't as bare as it was before. Demons crawl across the ground and wheel through the air, occasionally grunting or shrieking at one another. Bestial Shardforms walk among them. Most are wearing the shapes of predators, like wolves or lions. They move more fluidly than their sandy kin.
There is a maelstrom of darkness at the center of the gathering. Ira sees the incorporeal shapes of Fragments whirling around it, like shadows around a fire, but something more lurks within the storm. She attunes herself to the Absent Heart again, so that she can sense its position, but this time the Archdemon notices her intrusion. A roar loud enough to break her concentration echoes from inside the maelstrom.
Send in North to start setting up a trio of transmutation silos, along the outside of the fields. One is to focus on amplifying nutrient yield, the other healing ability, and the third matter growth.
East should temporarily halt their education process, and attempt to subvert the virus: weakening its effects, and thus leading to a higher surviving, resistant ctop.
West and the Steelspinners are to begin defending the fields from Shardform invaders, if any are present. If such an occurrence was accidental, integrate them.
North: 3
East: 1
West: 4North leads a group of Ironwinged to a place just outside the Wetlands. They construct skeletons for three massive silos by weaving together loops of metallic silk, which they then embed securely in the ground. Once the weavers are satisfied that the towers will be anchored properly, they start coiling more iron around the outer walls. The threads accumulate until they overlap, forming sturdy metallic cocoons around the outside of the scaffolds. Aetherweavers layer durability enchantments over the metal to imbue it with supernatural strength and stability.
When the work is complete, North has a few haulers from the Scrap-Ranch network ferry Omni-Grain from the harvester drones to the silos. It selects three teams of Ironwinged to transmute the grain. They try to tune its magical properties using the power of the Bargain, but the vitality inside the wheat makes it highly resistant to their alterations. Most of their magic simply slides off, leaving the plants completely unchanged.
East also flies to the Wetlands, but it continues towards the center of Kuhaku's rainstorm rather than stopping at the border. It circles the fields until it notices a crater of rotten plant matter creeping across the ground. The disease is spreading rapidly through the Omni-Grain population, carried by rotten fluids and occasionally infected fish. East siphons away the virus' strength, causing a stream of foul energy to fly up into the air. It collides with the Merchants' chest, causing black stains to spread across the vulture's feathers.
Meanwhile, West turns off the Harvesters so it can examine the obsidian shards. The Shardform that ran afoul of the drones is already long dead. Its head was splintered into hundreds of pieces by a scythe, most likely killing it instantly. It makes the body difficult to identify, but since none of the intelligent Shardforms are missing West tentatively considers it feral. The Steelspinners don't find any others in the vicinity.
Learn from the fragments the psychic communication and their writing system and teach them about manipulating the ooze's shape and properties while experimenting with it myself, of course do those things away from the ooze sea.
((If you update once in a few days it's still faster then most forum games I been at, although I wasn't in a lot of RTD so don't take my word for it))
AJAMA: 3 / Fragments: 4 / Apollyon: 6Once AJAMA and Apollyon have confirmed that they're a safe distance from the ooze sea, everyone in the group begins exchanging knowledge and skills with one another. A few of the Fragments gather around AJAMA and show him how to use telepathy. Their form of mental communication involves creating a link between two different minds, which can then be used to transport thoughts and emotions from one entity. More complicated linkages can be used to achieve advanced forms of telepathy, such as mind-merges or telepathic networks.
The Demiurge is already accustomed to using telekinesis, another psionic skill, but mental communication requires far more precision. The Fragments teach him how to sense the minds of others, and then how to connect with them using specialized thought-processes. It's a relatively intuitive process, but it still takes most of the lesson for AJAMA to master a basic version of telepathy. The sphere can use it to transmit vague thoughts to mundane creatures, or more complex ideas to experienced psions like the Fragments.
Knowing telepathy also makes it easier for AJAMA to understand the Fragments' glyphs, which are essentially mental broadcasts in a written form. With Apollyon's help, the Demiurge learn how to organize its thoughts in such a way that they can be encoded into symbols. The end results are legible, although its writing is messier and less efficient than the Fragments' own.
Afterwards, the AJAMA shows the Fragments how to control and manipulate ooze. Apollyon picks up the skill almost immediately, and uses it to compress Non-Ooze into sheets of papery material. The other Fragments find it more difficult, especially when they're trying to control ooze that isn't made of Nothingness, but all agree that they will become more competent given time and practice.
Accept the power, with one condition: That the Sun never shines its light on the Spiderlings and their web, for they have already rejected our light and even plan to steal it's radiance and keep it for themselves. If they were successful, the Sun's light would be extinguished just like the first stars were.
There is a shift in the Sun's light once Aton makes his proposal. For a moment it vanishes completely, and the world is illuminated only by starlight. Then it sweeps across the sky, and Aton feels blistering heat fall on him from above. The Sun reluctantly informs him that it cannot bend its light away from the Web without consigning the rest of the universe to darkness. Instead it will alter the nature of its light, so that it chars Spiderlings who would try to feed on it or redirect it with a prism. It extends sincerest apologies, to Aton alongside an offer to renegotiate the compact if this solution is not to his liking.
Rays of brilliant sunlight surround the Herder. They bombard his disk until it melts, and then until it begins to burn with brilliant white light. A miniature star once again hangs above his brow, and with it comes the power of the Sun. Glowing essence flows across his body and then into his heart, where it melds with the bulls' own energies. Shockwaves ripple outwards as they collide with each other, manifesting as waves of change that crash across Aton's body. His horns and hooves become ivory once again, and his fur starts glimmering like gold.
"Okay everyone get back on the bus and we'll circle the wagons then I'll figure out the light situation."
Have the three trucks and the bus form a circle and turn on all their lights, then I shall start a fire and see if I can't make some glass lamps similar to the stars Gyaweft made, then I'll put them around the camp.
(I'm just gonna assume that there are three trucks because you said that they all got built even though you only mention two in the update.)
((Yeah, there are three - my bad. I must've gotten one of them mixed up with the bus or something)).
3The Deer-Men pile back into their vehicles, which they then arrange into an uneven circle. None of the trucks are actually the same length, so the formation really ends up looking more like a trapezoid, but the trailers still work fairly well as a makeshift enclosure. Once everyone is in place, Dr. Bob hops into the cargo truck and searches it for spare materials. He fills a hemp bag with dried corn plants, glass bricks, and even a pile of glass shards that someone thoughtfully stuffed into the corner. Given the sheer amount of foot traffic that passed through this trailer as it was being loaded, it's a wonder that nobody has stepped on them yet.
He carries the bundle outside, then separates each of the materials into separate piles. Bob places the glass brinks and fragments near the bus, then digs a makeshift fire pit in the center of the enclosure. He fills it with the dried corn plants, then snaps his fingers to generate a spark. Embers fly from his palm and settle on the tinder, which promptly bursts into flame. The bonfire burns high, casting light this untouched place for the first time in eternity.
Dr. Bob balances a brick over the fire. For a moment he expects it to absorb the flames, holding them inside itself like the Gyweft's glass sphears. Instead the brick just gets hotter. Bob realizes that the flames are missing something. He thrusts his own hand into the heart of the bonfire, ignoring the tongues of flame that lap at his exposed skin. Essence flows outwards from his heart. It suffuses the fire, which now burns with a brilliant white light. Bob thrusts a second glass brick into the inferno, and this time wisps of fire become trapped inside the Star Lantern like flies in amber.
Dr. Bob, the Unmoved Mover
-Regent of the Tower
-Spidersilk net.
-Improvised glass tools.
-Glass automaton
-Perpetual-motion bus
-Vial of Einyar
-Red Liquor
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Kūhaku, the Mirror
-Catatonia
-Rain-Maker
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Ira, the World-Eater
-Empty
-Woven together
-Debt: Gral: Two Favors Owed
-Minor burns
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Gral, the Contractor
-Contract: Winged Spiderlings
-Contract: Ira: Two Favors
-Pinion Blades
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AJAMA, the Demiurge
-Ooze-born Body
-Ooze-born Spheres
-Sphere of Darkness
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Hynsyr, the Titan
-Transcendent
-Hundred Armed Form
-Edge of Infinity
-Spearmaster
-1000 spears of light
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Ashe, the Collector
-Brass feathers (underwater).
-Glass trinkets
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Meruem, the Spawner
-Flawed essence bladder
-Infused with Nothingness
-Firstborn
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Aton, the Herder
-Radiant
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Zeristia, the Gardener
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Amon
Bestiary:
Demons: Crude imitations of the primordials made from sand and absence.
--Obsidian Archdemon: An obsidian dragon crafted by the Empty itself. It was granted the power to manipulate nothingness.
Fragments of Emptiness: Spirits made from the scattered pieces of ALTHERTH. They were driven out of the sand when Ira consumed the absent heart.
Apollyon: A Fragment which usurped AJAMA’s original body and converted it into Nothingness.
--Absent Ooze: A Nonexistent strain of Black Ooze that Apollyon can produce. Other Fragments often use it to create makeshift bodies.
Shardforms: Obsidian creatures which absorbed the Empty's already-incomplete consciousness. The broken pieces of ALTERTH's identity they possess give them animalistic intelligence.
--Awakened Shardforms: A herd of Sharforms who were granted sapience by Gral. They’ve agreed to provide the Silken Nest with raw materials in return for goods.
Steel Maggots: Metallic larvae which Gral accidentally created while trying to make avian Emissaries. After they were pulled off of the vulture, few escaped into the desert, where they accepted Gral's peace terms and moved into the shifting bog.
Steel Grubs: Steel maggots that have been bound with Pact-collars and transformed into livestock. They have grown larger than their sapient kin, but are unintelligent and largely peaceful.
Brass Buzzards: Brass birds crafted from Gral's feathers. They are infused with the pain it felt while creating them.
Spiderlings: A race of intelligent spiders which can live on light. They cover both the stars and the great web.
--Dustwalkers: A Spiderling subspecies which can feed on sand as well as light. They live on the sand and fight an asymmetrical war against it for survival.
--Ironwinged: Defeated Spiderlings who made a deal with Gral. They received wings in exchange for service, and have built a nest on one of the new stars. They were later granted the ability to weave metal.
--Ancestors: Aetherweavers who have achieved immortality by becoming spirits bound to the great web. They are incorporeal, and their astral bodies make it easier for them to manipulate aether.
--Scarred Spiderlings: Spiderlings who have gained great strength and endurance because of their mistreatment by the Brass Buzzards. They built a market but have mixed feelings about Gral and his servants.
--Sentinels: A army of biologically and magically augmented Spiderlings, created by elite Aetherweavers with Nazir's guidance. They serve the Spider Demigods, and stand ready to protect the Web alongside them.
Primelings: Ten entities created by Nazir and a group of the most powerful Aetherweavers. They watch over the Web in Nazir's stead, but are weakened by flaws in their weaving.
--Ekhor: A proud warrior who wears a larger variant of Sentinel Plate. He was nearly killed in the War of Sands.
--Sekhmet: A Primeling with flaws in the Weavings that form her mind. Despite being a brilliant tactician, her behavior is consistently very odd.
Merchants: Four steel vultures made from Gral’s essence. They are capable of using the Bargain.
Lightfolk: A species of humanoid mortals born from Hynsyr's golden light. Their powers of creation threaten to overwhelm their bodies, causing their inner light to warp chaotically. Many have begun to train so that they can gain more control over this ability.
--Prismatics: Seven lightfolk which glow brighter than the rest. They were hewn from the rainbow light of Hynsyr's eyes.
Deer-Men: A humanoid race with the heads of deer. Dr. Bob originally crafted them from the silk of Nazir's web. They were granted superior dexterity through a contract with Gral.
Three-Headed Worm: A juvenile sandworm created by Ira to serve the Dustwalkers.
Crops: Hemp, potato, corn, and bean plants created by Dr. Bob.
Suspicious Mushrooms: Mushrooms that sprouted in the Glass Tower after Dr. Bob’s disastrous attempts at brewing alcohol. They spawn clouds of hallucinogenic spores.
Fish: A school of colorful fish that swam straight out of Ashe’s dream. They wander through the rivers and lakes of the Wetlands.
Omni-Grain: A type of wheat designed to provide nourishment to every species. It grows explosively in the vitality-rich water of the Wetlands.
Deer Demons: Three deer-men whose bodies and minds were twisted by a botched healing. They have an unnaturally fast healing factor and limited control over other aspects of their physiology.
Atlas:
The Living Sands: ALTERTH once awakened the desert and allowed it to consume him. For a time his creation was infinite, but now most of the sand has died. The few surviving pieces are a shadow of what they once were.
The Stars: Glass spheres filled with fire. Gyaweft created them and threw them into the air to illuminate the world.
--New Stars: A second set that isn't accessible through the Great Web. Fortunately, that means they can't be blotted out by Spiderlings.
--Negative Star: A black sphere which radiates darkness, created by AJAMA after Gyaweft's death.
Nazir's Web: A giant web that begins in the desert and reaches up towards the stars.
--Silken Nest: A new star that the winged spiderlings have claimed as a nest. It can only be reached by gliding or descending on strands of silk.
--Tapestries: Libraries of spells and other knotwork which have been woven together and hung from the great web. Some have begun to collect aetheric cobwebs.
--Market of Scars: A grand market built by the Scarred Spiderlings in exchange for their resilience. The Ironwinged sell metal equipment there.
Shifting Bog: A large pool of mud drawn from the sand by Kuhaku. When the sand was alive, islands in the bog constantly formed and dissolved. It has been tainted with Nazir's venom.
Glass Tower: A tower made of glass, raised from the sands by Gyaweft. It extends upwards through the web, tall enough that its upper floors reach the stars.
--Moat: The Tower is surrounded by a lake. Only one thin bridge connects it to the rest of the sand.
--Sandcastles: A series of elaborate sandcastles built around the moat. They were crafted so masterfully that they won’t dissolve in rain. Ashe later added an incredibly detailed sand city of her own.
--Garden: An irrigated garden containing several different types of crops.
--Laboratory: A room furnished with chemistry equipment and various glass containers.
Light Spires: A glowing city made by the Lightfolk using their creation magic.
--Temple of Yig: A golden temple which houses Yig, the First Tribute. It is an intricately-carved cathedral with walls made from an aurora.
Einyar: A sea of golden light drawn from Hynsyr's aura. It preserves the spirits of the Lightfolk after death, so that the cycle may advance.
Bone Fortress: A giant tree grown from one of Ira's teeth, and given to the Dustwalkers as a gift. It has become a large fortress.
Glass Crater: When Gyaweft flew his Sunship into the ground, it melted a wide swathe of the sand into glass. Fiery essence spilled from the ship still burns here, and sealed fault lines radiate from the impact site.
--Smelter's Grave: The center of the crater. Gyaweft's corpse lies here, alongside the molten remains of his Sunship.
Wetlands: Areas of the sand and the Great Web which Kuhaku continuously showers with water. The rain is heavy enough to form rivers and lakes.
--Abandoned Nests: A nesting ground that was briefly occupied by the Brass Buzzards. It is strewn with metal feathers and bloody talon-prints.
Canal: A shallow canal that Ira dug to fulfill one of her favors to Gral. It was meant to channel water from the Wetlands to various other parts of the world, but it overflowed and flooded the Glass Tower instead.
Knowledge:
Knot-Writing: A written language Nazir formulated so that Aetherweavers could record their spells. It involves weaving complex knots into silk, and therefore comes intuitively to Spiderlings but is almost impossible for anyone else to comprehend.
Bargainer's Tongue: A simplified version of knot-script which can be etched into a flat surface rather than woven into silk. It is comprehensible to non-Spiderlings, but not as intuitive.
English: A written script based on twenty-six letters and a few punctuation symbols. It was introduced by Dr. Bob and is primarily used by the Deer-Men.
Metalworking: Blacksmithing techniques that are typically available to the Ironwinged. They can be used to weave metal objects.
Aetherweaving: A magical discipline which involves spinning spiritual webs. It was taught to the Spiderlings by Nazir and is available to the Tribes, the Primelings, and any other arachnid capable of making silk.
Lightforging: Creation magic unique to the Lightfolk. It is a powerful but chaotic ability which can be used to make solid-light constructs out of one's own aura. More advanced techniques allow practitioners to create complex materials such as metal or wood.
Eight-Talon Way: A powerful martial art created by the Brass Buzzards. It is purely offensive in nature, but consists of strikes so lethal that defense isn’t usually necessary.
Agriculture: Farming is only feasible in the wetlands, but plants watered by Kuhaku’s rain grow quickly. The Deer-Men have been taught to cultivate and use several kinds of crops.
Prayer: A technique which allows Lightfolk to tap into their connections with Yig and Einyar. The Prismatics have learned how to use it to communicate with Hynsyr.
Photosynthesis Enchantments: A personal enhancement Weaving developed by the Ironwinged. It increases the amount of energy that Spiderlings can absorb from light.
Platonic Glyphs: Symbols that telepathically insert concepts into the reader’s mind. Writing with them requires some form of magical power, but they can be understood by anyone willing to endure mental strain.
The Inheritance: A magical message that Nazir sent to his children from beyond the veil. It included incomplete blueprints for several different marvels of Aetheric technology.
Items:
Seven Rainbow Spears: Weapons Hynsyr forged from a rogue splinter of his soul and gave to the Prismatics. They amplify their wielders' magic immensely, and provide slightly more control over their powers of creation.
Black Ooze: A patch of black goo created by AJAMA which can grow by absorbing sand. A column of ooze goes deep beneath the earth, where it breached a reservoir of Emptiness.
--Chaos Ooze: Blobs of ooze which have accidentally been made to assimilate a variety of substances and concepts. They were later sealed away.
--Silence Ooze: A strain of chaos ooze that can feed on silence. AJAMA transplanted some of it to the empty desert, where it has grown rapidly.
--Crusted Ooze: Semisolid ooze variants which have been hardened by intense pressure. They take slightly longer to grow as a result of their density.
Pact-Arms: Metal weapons, armor, and tools which can compel their wielders to carry out tasks for the Winged Spiderlings. Most are in the possession of Spiderlings on the Web.
Tribute Tokens: A currency minted by the Ironwinged and infused with the power of the Bargain. They see light use in the Great Web but are not considered especially valuable, so most of the economy still relies upon bartering.
Sentinel Plate: Magical armor developed for use by the Sentinels. It can drain the force of attacks and release it in the form of telekinetic blasts.
Life Machine: A machitech device that can be used to shunt vitality from one area to another. Additional upgrades gave it the ability to drain life from sand, which a Merchant used to create a patch of fertile soil around the machine.
Smelter’s Plate: A suit of metal armor that was once part of Gyaweft’s body. After his death, it was claimed by a Shardform called Awake.
Dawn Axehead: An axehead that Gywaeft made from the remains of his Sunship. It was meant to split the world into pieces, but the Smelter bled out before he could complete the shaft.
Factions:
Spiderling Tribes: Prominent groups of Spiderlings, mostly organized by subspecies. The are scattered across the Web, the stars, and the sand.
--Order of Strands: The first Spiderlings to learn the art of Aetherweaving. Many have strained their minds and bodies to hone their abilities, making them feeble despite their mystical strength.
High Council of the Web: The governing body of the Great Web. It consists of delegates from each of the tribes, as well as one Primeling. Most meetings take place in Nazir's nest at the top of the Web.
Lifeweavers: A group of Ancestors who helped Nazir create the Primelings and Sentinels.
Warpriests: A Lightfolk religious order which protects Einyar, the Temple of Yig, and the Light Spires themselves.
Ministry of Light: Civil servants appointed by Hynsyr to oversee the Light Spires. The seven Prismatics were installed as founding members.
Scrap-Ranches: Homesteads manned by Ironwinged and awakened Shardforms. They produce metal by farming Steel Grubs and shearing excess material off of their body.
The Lost: Fragments of Nothingness that chose to follow AJAMA rather than the Archdemon. Their new purpose is to create, collect, and preserve knowledge.
Author
Topic: Sand & Souls - Let There Be Turns (Read 60302 times)