Another soul shakes free of the nothingness and manifests in the world. It gravitates to the wetlands, and submerges itself in a lake rather than the sand. Rain swirls in intricate patterns as a fully-formed nymph leaps out of the water.
Ashe, the Collector dances through puddles and across the bottoms of streams. Droplets of water rise from the ground to follow her.
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Ashe collects shiny underwater rocks.
6Ashe splashes through every nook and cranny of her birthplace, but she doesn't find a single pebble. The ground is made from nothing but sand, and no matter how far the Nymph wanders or how deep she digs, there isn't a single shiny mineral to be seen. Ashe gives up and swims to the surface of the lake, but when she climbs onto a riverbank she notices light glinting off of something on the ground. She runs over to look at it, and finds that she has located a single brass feather, so lifelike that it may as well have been plucked from the wing of a real bird.
She looks at the ground again, and notices that there are more feathers scattered across the ground. They're densest near a cluster of empty birds' nests, built using mounds of sand and more of those same brass feathers. The nesting ground is empty, but as Ashe examines it more closely she notices fresh talon-prints and bloodstains. They aren't old enough to have been washed away by the rain.
Look at the non dangerous chaos ooze, see if any of it would be easy to feed, if not try to create the darkness eating ooze again, but now try do it on a single drop of goo.
2Of the various kinds of chaos ooze that AJAMA chose to bury instead of destroying, a few are relatively safe and easy to cultivate. One colony that is sealed inside a chunk of glass can assimilate water, which would make it grow particularly fast if exposed to the rain of the wetlands. Another blob of ooze feeds on silence. Only the whistling of the wind and the crackling of flames near the glass crater keep it in check. The heat-absorbing chaos ooze also still exists, although it is buried in a cool spot beneath the shadow of the web.
AJAMA suspends a drop of standard sand-eating ooze in midair, then tweaks its properties to make it capable of absorbing darkness instead. The Demiurge is careful to keep this transformation under control, but one small mistake fouls up the entire working, preventing the ooze from consuming anything at all.
"You guys keep working on learning how to write while I do other stuff."
Make a chemistry lab from some of the glass and a empty room, then check on the plants.
5After instructing the Deer-Men to work on their spelling and penmanship, Dr. Bob retreats back into the tower to start another project of his own. He commandeers one of the middle floors of the tower and gathers up pieces of glass that look like they could be used to hold liquids. He molds the material like putty, shaping each chunk into a functional petri dish, pipe, or beaker. The tower itself doesn't have any counters or windowsills to place them on, so Dr. Bob also drags a few blocks of glass up from the ground floor to use as tables. He distributes the equipment and constructs a few common apparatuses on each, occasionally making an extra container or pipette when stocks get low. The only things missing are chemicals and a bunsen burner.
Once all the lab gear is in place, the doctor cimbs back to the bottom of the tower to examine his garden. The potatoes and hemp have grown to full size, and appear to be ready for harvesting. Only a few corn and bean stems protrude from the ground, but they also appear to be growing fairly quickly.
Keep entangling my opponent but now in spiritual webs as well, also call my children to assist in dismantling this primordial, since, he just tried to set great web on fire.
Ira feels a strange connection to beings of nothingness now, and as she sees Awake being ganged up on by the spiderlings she feels a burning anger
"Spiderlings, I have been a friend to your people, let me take Awake out of your home for you."
Free Awake and run if spiderlings/Nazir don't listen. (maybe use cool new nothingness powers)
Focus on the armor.
Nazir: 5 , Spiderlings: 3 , Order: 5 v Ira: 2+1
Awake: 2While Nazir cocoons Awake's body in layers of physical silk, it also uses aetheric strings to reinforce the wards around his soul. Both kinds of thread shrivel in the heat radiating from his armor, but the shardform goes limp as he is covered by layers of webbing, and the streams of fire that he was controlling fade away. A swarm of Spiderlings arrives from the rest of the web as soon as the area is cool enough for them to approach. While warriors burrow into the silken cocoon, Ancestors from the Order of Strands prepare a bevy of destruction weavings.
Ira flings herself from a higher strand of the web and lands in the midst of the Spiderling horde. She breathes at them, willing the Nothingness inside her to do something, and it flows out of her mouth as a cloud of vapor. The gas nullifies any matter it touches, including spider chitin and the outer layers of Awake's bonds. It doesn't stop the Aetherweavers from firing spells at the shardform, but the warriors retreat as soon as they understand what has happened.
Inside the ball of webbing, Awake focuses his mind on the armor. Something within the metal yearns to break free, to turn air to fire and sand to glass, but the untapped powers are difficult for the shardform to get ahold of. They whisper at the edges of his thoughts, almost ready to be unleashed, but when Awake turns around and tries to channel them they vanish. He reaches for the powers again, up until the moment a disintegration beam lances through his stomach. It's almost as painful as melting.
Hynsyr will meet with the Spiderlings.
Hynsyr leaves his temple and walks towards the suburbs, where the Spiderling envoys are setting up camp. Steel poles sprout from the sand within minutes, and the arachnids are in the process of hanging silk canvases from them when the Titan arrives. They all turn to face the Primeling, who is still holding a white truce banner. After handing it off to a large Spiderling in heavy armor, he composes himself and skitters towards Hynsyr.
The Primeling, who calls himself Parun, introduces himself and explains that he has been selected as the head ambassador of the Web. The High Council sends its regards, and wishes to negotiate an alliance with the Hynsyr and the Lightfolk.
"While some of our kin have already migrated to the Spires, we believe that a formal relationship would be mutually beneficial. There are too many Spiderlings on the Great Web, which has resulted in constant battles for territory. Since they nourish themselves by basking in light, the Spires and Einyar are already ideal nesting grounds.
We wish to develop mutual trust and friendship, but in material terms we can also offer you the service of any who would live here, and forces to defend this city in times of need."The Brass Buzzards should spend their free time at the fort developing a new form of combat: the martial art. Once they succeed in perfecting this Eight Talon Way, have them negotiate teaching it to interested Dustwalkers in exchange for an agreement of confidentiality and a small fee each month.
Buzzards: 6
Dustwalkers: 6Gral flies to the bone fortress and swoops down to the Buzzards' nest, where the flock has gathered in anticipation of his visit. it leads the birds outside and has them spar against each other, so that they can learn the finer points of aerial combat and refine their technique. The vulture demonstrates his own combat skills by slicing the sand apart with his pinion blades, but it does not take long for his servants to surpass them. They advance quickly despite their various injuries, fueled by the pain and bloodlust that Gral accidentally imbued them with.
Those attributes are reflected in the martial art that they create. The Eight-Talon-Way is a brutal series of strikes and slashes, designed for the twin purposes of killing and inflicting pain. Using it, a single Buzzards can cut steel training dummies in two, or maim their way through three or four demons at a time in the field. Defensive moves are few and far between, but the flock functions so efficiently as a cloud of death that they are barely even necessary.
There also aren't many moves suitable for use in sparring, but the buzzards manage to teach the Eight-Talon-Way to a crowd of Dustwalkers by demonstrating on the sand's pseudopods. Limbs and sinkholes appear in ever-greater numbers as the training session goes forwards, but the Spiderlings' ability to kill them progresses similarly. It's only once a few Fragments of Nothingness appear that things start getting dicey.
Dr. Bob, the Unmoved Mover
-Regent of the Tower
-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
-Empty
-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
-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
-Yig, the Golden Flower
-Twelve spears of light
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Awake
-Echoes of ALTERTH
-Smelter's Armor
-Dawn Axehead
-Slightly lopsided
-Bound in silk and aether
-Stomach wound
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Ashe, the Collector
-Brass Feathers
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: ?
Shardforms: Obsidian creatures which absorbed the Empty's already-incomplete consciousness. The broken pieces of ALTERTH's identity they possess give them animalistic intelligence.
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.
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 and potato plants created by Dr. Bob.
Atlas:
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.
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.
--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. 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.
--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.
--Garden: Several different crops which Dr. Bob planted outside the tower.
--Laboratory:
Light Spires: A glowing city made by the Lightfolk using their creation magic.
--Golden Temple: 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Author
Topic: Sand & Souls - Let There Be Turns (Read 61918 times)