Become.
5Somewhere deep inside himself, Awake can feel pieces of Nothingness slotting into place. The Shardforms, the Fragments, the Demons and the Absent Heart all spiral together, to form one complete, utterly shattered Soul. He remembers the infinitte time-before-time, when the barest shred of consciousness existed in an infinite desert, and then he
manifests, and for an instant ALTERTH is whole once more. Nothingness springs from its body, entirely unaffected by the heat, and it snatches Gyaweft's artifacts up with nonexistent hands. The armor-corpse rests in one palm, gaze still mocking, and the Empty plucks the axehead from its molten resting place with the other. Only then does it feel itself waver.
ALTERTH runs from the Smelter's Grave. Is essence destabilizes, returning back to the sand which devoured it and the empty atmosphere where it died, but the dead primordial does not stop until it is far from the heat, at the very edge of the fiery glass crater. There it lays down its burdens and dissolves, leaving a half-melted Shardform unconscious on the ground.
Transfer my essence and soul to the goo eating goo, consume the rest of the chaos ooze, stop it's ability and will, and then harden a sphere that will be my body again.
3 v 5AJAMA forces its soul out of its body and towards the ooze-eating ooze that now surrounds it. The cannibalistic goop shudders under the spiritual onslaught, but instead of yielding to the Demiurge, it undergoes a spontaneous transformation. The faint scraps of awareness which allow it to sense and devour other materials organize themselves, becoming a rudimentary mind. The new Ooze Elemental does not have a particularly complex mind, but it instinctively knows how to defend itself. By blindly pushing outwards with its will, it drives most of AJAMA's essence back into the primordial's own body.
Once the spiritual attacks don't immediately resume, the Elemental nibbles at other blobs of ooze surrounding it. It tentatively absorbs a thimbleful of AJAMA's body.
Now have both groups work separately on armour for sentinels, they would try to mix non encumbering steel plate and shielding enchantments used on amulets, laying out enchantments over bigger surface of armour instead of focusing them in tiny peace of jewelry should disperse magic enough not to blow up armour occupant. Oversee both groups.
My children, before I leave you to your own devices, there are some things for you to do, first one is organizing High Council of the web, consisting of representative of each spiderling caste , representative for order of strands and any over weaving clans and one of primelings( may demigod spiderlings get renamed to this?just so they are not called demigod)
((Primelings it is!))
5 , 3 , 3After spreading their original shielding enchantment across a greater quantity of material, the original group of armor-Weavers finally meets with some success. Their design still isn't particularly stable, but it can absorb significantly more force than ordinary armor before there is any risk of an explosion. An overload would likely still be lethal if it did occur, but any Sentinel who takes enough punishment to trigger one might already be dead if they were wearing ordinary steel plate.
When the bio-weavers see this version of the armor, one of them has a breakthrough. A few simple modifications to the Weaving allows magical instability to be vented prematurely, rather than building up to a single deadly explosion. They create an additional enchantment which allows Sentinels to release stored energy as blasts of telekinetic force, which can be used both to attack enemies and provide further shielding by turning away weapons. The design requires almost no improvement, but Nazir does make a few minor adjustments to improve the Force-Plate's efficiency.
The Weaver also calls for a delegates from each major group on the Web. They trickle in as the weavers are working, and once they are done, the first High Council of the Great Web convenes.
"Okay everyone out of the glowy water, it turns out it filled with ghosts and I think it might piss people off if we mess with it to much, I was gonna say we go see the glowing town but the guy in charge of it seems like he might not want us there, so were gonna do something else."
Gather everyone back up into the bus and drive back to the tower and dig a pit to hold water, so we can have water that doesn't have ghosts in it.
6+1 , 2To a diplomatic incident, Dr. Bob herds his progeny back into their bus and drives away from the light sea at maximum speed. It's something of a relief when no blazing spears of radiance descend from the heavens to impale them.
The group heads back to the base of the tower, were the Deer-Men disembark once again. Bob finds a few glass odds and ends that could conceivable be mistaken for shovels, then hands them out, with orders to dig a large hole in an area that is receiving rainfall. The mortals take to the task with gusto, having been inspired by their tropical vacation, and soon sand and mud is flying everywhere as the Deer-Men dig holes at maximum speed. After a while Dr. Bob chisels a proper shovel and joins them, albeit with slightly less enthusiasm for trench-digging.
When they've finished, the tower is standing on the single island in the center of a nascent lakebed. The bottom of the hole has already begun to fill, but Dr. Bob and his coterie still have enough time to evacuate before rain can push the water level much higher. As they step into the ground floor of the tower, the giant hole becomes a wide, singularly effective moat.
Hynsyr will now attempt sculpt his light into a grand Temple-Fortress to house Yig at the center of the Light Spires.
2Hynsyr solidifies the light of his aura, then rends the resulting slab of material with all twelve of his hands. At first he places columns around the edge of the plaza, to provide support for the rest of the structure, but they are exceedingly brittle despite having been made from the Titans own radiance. Many of the pillars collapse as soon as Hynsyr places another block of light on top of them. The rest remain stable until they are jostled, or in one case, until a curious mortal tries leaning against the glowing material. He gets buried beneath a pile of light-shards for his trouble, and Hynsyr sees his spirit flow straight to Einyar.
"Not my idea. But no need to worry."
Ban Ironweavers from selling pacted arms to the denizens of the Great Web, at least to the degree that would make this a problem. Instead, have them focus on crafting set of armor for the Buzzards to wear, in order to supply them for their demon assault. In the meantime, attempt to coax sections of Kuhaku's consciousness out via the power of Bargain, in an effort to further the water cycle.
Gral: 4Ironweavers: 4Production of the new pact-equipment drastically decreases, which turns out to be more comfortable for everyone involved. The Ironwinged were hesitant to make use of slave labor, but given that the assets were already in hand, they were hesitant to abandon their control over the thralls without Gral's permission. The Weavers are quick to remind everyone that the entire scandal was accidental, although they did show a distinct lack of foresight.
Most of the Winged who worked on Pacted items churn out armor for the buzzards instead. This is a relatively simple proposition, given that there are so few living buzzards left, so they also manage to accumulate a large surplus of bird-shaped armor. None of it can be sold to Spiderlings, but the Buzzards will be well-supplied if they ever need their gear replaced.
Gral continues to shriek at Kuhaku, who remains utterly unresponsive. The Mirror collects even larger quantities of water from the air, causing rivers and small lakes to form now that the ground itself is saturated, but it's unclear whether the Contractor has actually managed to inspire any independent thought. Even if the other primordial can hear its screams, would he have the inclination to respond?
Ira tries to tunnel through the sand faster hoping her tenuous grip on the heat will hold
2 v 3Ira slips out of her restraints and keeps pulling at the heart, but the sand also has a hold on it now. They tug it back and forth through the sand, each doing their best to wrench it way from the others. They both fight fiercely for the prize, but for now the two beings appear to be an equal match. The Sand pins Ira down with tendrils, squeezes her with its mass, and shunts her from side to side with cleverly-placed sinkholes, but she isn't toothless herself. When the heart is about to be torn away from her grasp, the World-Eater scatters sand grains and bites through appendages until they back off.
The prize doesn't move an inch, but Ira belatedly realizes she has failed to account for the sand's allies. The earth around her churns as some other aspect of Nothingness looks for a chance to insert itself into the fight. The few times she glimpses it, it looks like a perfectly blank sphere, not unlike an Absent version of the Demiurge.
Dr. Bob, the Unmoved Mover
-Spidersilk net.
-Glass chunks
-Improvised glass tools.
-Glass automaton
-Perpetual-motion bus
-Vial of Einyar
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Kūhaku, the Mirror
-Catatonia
-Rain-Maker
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Nazir, the Weaver
-God of the great web.
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Ira, the World-Eater
-Blackened Scars
-Woven together
-Debt: Gral: Three Favors Owed
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Gral, the Contractor
-Contract: Winged Spiderlings.
-Contract: Deer-Men: One Favor
-Contract: Ira: Three Favors
-Heavily bandaged.
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AJAMA, the Demiurge
-Ooze-born Body
-Ooze-born Spheres
-Sphere of Darkness
-Cannibalized exterior
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Hynsyr, the Titan
-Yig, the Golden Flower
-Twelve spears of light
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Awake
-Echoes and instincts
-Smelter's Armor
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The Living Sands: An awakened desert that extends outwards indefinitely. It consumed ALTERTHENTERRINTARTINTH, the being which brought it to life, and subsumed a part of their consciousness known as the Empty.
--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: ?
--Shardforms: Obsidian creatures which absorbed the Empty's already-incomplete consciousness. The broken pieces of ALTERTH's identity they have absorbed give them animalistic intelligence.
--Absent Heart: ?
-Steel Maggots: Metallic larvae which Gral accidentally created while trying to create bird 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.
-Brass Buzzards: Brass birds crafted from Gral's feathers. They are infused with the pain it felt while creating them.
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. It hangs above the bone tree.
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.
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.
--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.
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.
--Winged Spiderlings: 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.
--Aetherweavers: A few Spiderlings who can perform magic by spinning aetheric webs. Nazir taught them the basics of their craft, allowing them to create fairly intricate wards against evil.
-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.
--Ancestors: Weavers 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.
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.
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.
Shifting Bog: A large pool of mud drawn from the sand by Kuhaku. Islands rapidly form and dissolve as the sand beneath it moves. 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.
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.
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.
The 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.
Light Spires: A glowing city made by the Lightfolk using their creation magic.
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.
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.
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.
Three-Headed Worm: A juvenile sandworm created by Ira to serve the Dustwalkers.
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.
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Topic: Sand & Souls - Let There Be Turns (Read 61740 times)