Tick 4: Living on Prayers
The Eye names his previously unnamed creation!
Cutchin are cut into existence by Cut! These creatures lead a *
very* cut based existence. Currently they spend most of their lives in a tumbleweed like existence, traveling across the shields of the Swordsheild world in small herds constantly in search of food. The arrival of this nomadic creature often causes small-scale catastrophes for the other races local to the area, as they tend to be very destructive to the local ecosystems by their nature. Most other races seem to assume it is a form of natural disaster and treat it as such, many moving out of the afflicted area until the herds have passed. Their worship mainly takes the form of stories told at night, around the proverbial campfire, and are naturally very cutty in many ways. Usually these are stories (many fictional) about the Gods, while few are fables focused around mortals meant to teach lessons. Generally they are lead by whoever the largest is at the time, as they have the most complete memories and are therefore the most developed and cutty. Several herds have taken to a primitive form of democracy, under the belief that they all came from one creation and thus work better when acting as one unit. (Cut -10E)
Cut then tries to carrot-and-stick the Lancecutters towards cooperation. Urged very forcefully by their creator, a large portion of Lancecutters have joined a tribe. At first this results in bouts of not-quite-fatal fighting, but things eventually settle down as their society develops. They end with very stratified societies, with the Men living in fortified nests with the larva and children while the females live in hut-sized territories they cut out (sometimes literally) forming the rest of the village. Many tribes figured out a loophole in the rules given to them, and live essentially as they traditionally had by raiding other Lancecutter tribes. There are still holdouts, but the majority of the group now lives in tribes. Their anti-Imp campaigns are complicated by lack of trust, the female groups are unwilling to let anyone near them while they sleep due to the traditional male mating technique and female aggression, while the males only really have other males to watch their back. Still Cut's forceful cultural change takes effect and many more Imps are driven off (with captures being rare, as they are only vulnerable during feeding.) Current leadership is, essentially "Cut's Divine Will", with the actions almost entirely dictated by the implanted orders rather than mortal leaders.(Cut -10P)
Cut Prayers:
Lancecutter Bowmaker: "Oh Cut, why do you force us to live with those hideous females?"
Titan Weasel Leader: "AAAAAAAAAAAAH! WHERE IS MY FINGER?"
Cutchin "Child": "Its not fair that the sun can cut us but we can't cut it back!"
Lily attempts to block all communications to the moon, except for those currently invested in it. Time will tell how this possessive attitude works with the other Gods. (Lily -1P)
And it is almost immediately ignored! Rut uses their body to seduce Titan Weasels to his cause. With many local leaders preaching fertility to help recover from the recent catastrophe, he finds a willing atmosphere for his seductions. His lover almost without fail join his cause, forming a new faction of Rut-Worshipers on the moon.
Rut Prayers:
Lilrin adolescent: [Must find mate. Must reproduce. Must feed. Must reproduce.]
Lancerutter Female Weaponsmith: "Why do the Weasels have such an easier time rutting then we do?"
Hue-ghasts Landpainter: "By Rut, I've painted the most beautiful creature possible!"
The Eye Prayers:
Hue-ghasts Landpainter: "By The Left Eye of Nefertem, I've painted the most beautiful creature possible!"
Lilrin "philosopher": [What is beauty. How to be more beauty. Sky is very beauty.]
Hue-ghasts Pilgrim: "My Lord, Lancecutter bandits have been forming along the path to the Holy Land!"
The Blood Merchant Requests:
Wheel Angel Alchemist: "I want a design that can help capture wild beast, so that we may turn their life energy into blood crystals!"
Lancecutter Female Hunter: "Forts are annoying! Give me something that can erase them from the face of the planet!"
The Eye takes to skywriting, giving a light-show complete with advertisements for his own Worship. Annoyingly, most moon-dwellers tend to live underground and missed out. Those above-ground where often stunned by the show, with many deciding to convert on the spot. He then creates a very flashy temple, setting it up as a place for pilgrims. Awed by its beauty, many pilgrims choose to stay permanently, setting up a primitive town around the building that now provides services to the other pilgrims. Most are Hue-ghasts, followed by Eye worshipers of other races, followed by non-worshipers who want to see what the big deal is. (The Eye -1E/10P)
Assisting with the unification of the Lancecutters, Tanact gifts them with technology! The wonders of building fortresses and siege weapons! Mostly, these continue to be involved with the lancecutter tribe wars. The nests are fortified, and used as a "castle" when the invaders come in. Given the local geography, most fortresses tend to be made of shield parts locked together in a chain-like pattern, or several large shields stuck together with whatever local material is available. Most siege weaponry focuses on bypassing these defenses, either with ropes and ladders or large swords modified to work well at splitting those bonds. Those in conflict with the Lancecutter tribes themselves pick up some of the technology, simple buildings are becoming commonplace among the more crafty races of the Swordshield world. (Tanact -3P, 3E)
The Seraph's Cloak speaks to the Cutchin, who mostly proceed to walk away from Wheel Angel land without incident. Few are moved by his words and decide to stay, living a more sedentary life among the Wheel Angel tribes. Unity is made much simpler by the creation of the Flame Angels, a race of mortals who's lives tie directly to their hosts. As most of them where placed in the Cutchin population, they currently live together in harmony. Their flame powers make the natural disaster aspect even more prominent, and their powers drive away even the Night Terror Imps. They often turn the proverbial campfire stories into literal campfire stories, while applying special effects to the fables. They often take the roll of wise elders to the Cutchin population, as they have shared experience across "generations" allowing them to fully educate the "newborns" without gaps in memory, though few take direct leadership rolls. Otherwise their cultures tend to be very similar to their hosts, few have currently found themselves outside the Cutchin population. (Cloak -5E, 2S, 10P)
The Seraph's Cloak Prayers:
Lancecutter Fortressmaker: "Is there a way we can wear fortresses like cloths?"
Night terror Imp Facinista: "Look at my collection of dream clothing! Its super rare and valuable!"
Wheel Angel Fighter: "Is it wise to let Cut's creations near our land, after everything he has done to us?"
In retaliation for the Flame Angels ability to harm the Night Terror imps, Bazalith creates Purger Imps capable of exercising possessive spirits. Due to the nature of the Cutchin herds, this ability currently sees little use. Their secondary ability, allowing them to produce offspring with the other races, has granted them the ability to mingle well with the other inhabitants on the planet. Many remain in the Wheel Angel camps, especially those ruled by Night Terror Imps. They are surprisingly popular among the Lancecutters, thanks to their ability to breed without the baggage that both genders of that race possess, and often act as intermediaries between the males and females of the newly formed tribes. Their feasting habits are generally seen as more exceptable to the general population, putting them in a good position to be traders and diplomats (who must deal with other people's desires on a daily bases). Thanks to their diplomatic abilities and natural kinship with the night terror imps, they often work to make them more accepted in other societies with great success. Usually they offer themselves as hosts for the other Imp's feedings, negating much of the conflict between the NTIs and other species. In other cases they use their trading ability to pay others to be host to the NTIs, should their own population be too low in a community. Generally they take on the culture of their host community. Those that don't live with another race tend to form nomadic caravans that go settlement to settlement, trading supplies and population as they move along. (Bazalith 4E 4S)
Rin reinforces the caves of her labyrinth with veins of metal. Most moon races have yet to discover metalworking, and the more curious of them look at the new resource with some interest. After some phantom debate over if this has stabilized the cave system or not, it seems like most of the unstable caves have already caved in from the last impact. Overall stability of the caves is similar to what it had been before. (Rin -4E 1S)
Name: Left Eye of Nefertem
Power: 10/10 (30/50)
Essence: 5/10 (12/25)
Spirit: 8/10 (4/10)
Name: The blood merchant
Power: 10/10 (10/50)
Essence: 4/10 (4/25)
Spirit: 10/10 (4/10)
Name: The Seraph's Cloak
Power: 10/10 (40/50)
Essence: 3/10 (9/25)
Spirit: 8/10 (4/10)
Name: Bassbull Bettu
Power: 10/10 (10/50)
Essence: 5/10 (9/25)
Spirit: 7/10 (4/10)
Name: Cut
Power: 10/10 (40/50)
Essence: 2/10 (12/25)
Spirit: 2/10 (4/10)
Name: Bazalith the Dream eater
Power: 10/10 (10/50)
Essence: 6/10 (6/25)
Spirit: 7/10 (4/10)
Name: Rut
Power: 10/10 (6/50)
Essence: 8/10 (7/25)
Spirit: 10/10 (4/10)
Name: Lily
Power: 8/8 (7/50)
Essence: 6/10 (12/25)
Spirit: 6/10 (4/10)
Name: Tanactithiel Osispatheo
Power: 10/10 (13/50)
Essence: 6/10 (12/25)
Spirit: 7/10 (4/10)
Name: Rin the Immortal
Power: 10/10 (10/50)
Essence: 2/10 (11/25)
Spirit: 6/10 (4/10)
Titan Weasels 0.3/Lily 0.1/Rut (2/2 P)
Lancecutters 0.6/Cut 0.6/Tenact
Wheel Angels 1.5/Cloak 0.2/Cut
Golems 0.6/Bassbull
Night Terror Imps 1.3/Bazalith
Lilrins 1.1/Rin
Lancerutters 1.1/Rut
Hue-ghasts 1.1/The Eye
Cutchin 1/Cut
Fire Angels 1/Cloak
Purger Imps 1/Bazalith