WORLD TURN
AGES
The Age of Time has ended on Multitude.
The Age of Violence has ended on Jigsaw.
The neutral Age has ended on Bitey.The World Scale Star shines bright on Multitude. The Age of Balance has started on Multitude.
The Lunar Light shines bright on Jigsaw. The Age of Time has started on Jigsaw.
The Lunar Light shines bright on Bitey. The Age of Time has started on Bitey.------Introduction of Corruption------
The arrival of Eris and Discordia on Multitude marks the first contact between the Mortal Plane and the Corrupted Origins. The land she appeared in and is resting in has morphed greatly in a short span of time, the barren rock turning into a murky gray liquid animated by unnatural movement, as if the gray murk was alive. It has risen and formed a great quivering mountain of murk, like a tumor on Multitude. It has constantly changing tunnels due to the nature of the murk.
[New Land: the Twisting Gray Mountain of *Chaos*]------The World-Sharks and Ardual round 2------
With Bitey weakened, and Jigsaw busy hunting Multitude, Ardual returned from the Empty Expanses, ready for revenge. Armed with a great gift from its creator, it attacked the weakened Bitey with the intent to kill it.
[Combat: Ardual vs Bitey]
[Advantage]
Ardual (+Nothing Orb [+5CP]) [12CP]: [6]
Bitey (+Blessing of the Worldsharks [+2CP]) [6CP]: [1]
No advantage
[Battle]
Ardual (+Nothing Orb [+5CP]) [12CP]: 12+[20]*2 = 52
Bitey [4CP]: 4+[9] = 9
[Damage]
5 Damage to Bitey
[Escape attempt]
Bitey: 12
Ardual: 14
> Failure
[Advantage2]
Ardual (+Nothing Orb [+5CP]) [12CP]: [3]
Bitey [4CP]: [3]
No advantage
[Battle]
Ardual (+Nothing Orb [+5CP]) [12CP]: 12+[11] = 23
Bitey [4CP]: 4+[13] = 17
[Damage]
1 Damage to Bitey
Bitey has been struck down.
Barrages of searing bolt of light rained down on Bitey, annihilating countless regions. The Worldshark attempted to escape, but Ardual was faster than the weakened Bitey. Once its target had stopped moving, Ardual carved its heart out and devoured it, killing the Worldshark and absorbing what remained of its Essence. [Vitality increased]
[Bitey has been struck down]
[Motion like Violence lost 1 Ichor due to the Death of one of its Avatars.It then harvested the soul of the Worldshark into the Nothing Orb, causing it to radiate with a dreadful Radiance. Its objective accomplished, Ardual left the carcass of the Worldshark to drift in the Endless Expanse...
------On what was Bitey------
And so Bitey became a dead world. Shattered and the core cold, it was nothing more than a rock now. Life had never been more unforgiving on this World, and it was a miracle life could even survive there. Cold, eternal nights. A land that slowly wasted away, becoming smaller and smaller with each passing day. Such was the world the Nox and the Watchmen were brought to.
The Noxian Empire of Harken TalThe Nox survived and most surprsingly, thrived in this insane environment through the rule of the Noxian Sovereigns. Recognizing the dire situation of their existences, and aware of the existence and ideology of their God, the Sovereigns united the Nox under a militarist, spartiate empire. The Noxian Empire of Harken Tal.
They retreated underground, building their cities around the crystallized shark blood veins, exposed by the atrocious wounds Bitey sustained. The mineral generated light and heat, and became a cornerstone of Noxian life. This relationship with minerals led them to quickly discover and develop metallurgy, and thus they created weapons and armors out of the metal-turned minerals that were found close to crystalblood veins. They revered the Shadow God of Conquest Monarch with much zeal.
The Watchmen TribesThe Watchmen nurtured and revitalized life of the Violent Web, which could already survive on its own thanks to the Blessing of Motion like Violence. All these factors made such that life could continue on the deadworld of Bitey.
The Watchmen remained in the surface, and didn't approach the rich underground due to the Nox who lived there. The two races were in constant conflict, the Watchmen seeing the Nox as an invasive species, and the Nox seeing the Watchmen as savages needing to be subjugated. The better training, equipment and tactics of the Nox allowed them to always emerge victorious over the Watchmen, only losing in rare occasions.
The only reason why they hadn't conquered all of the Watchmen yet, was that the surface where the Watchmen lived was so poor in resources the military campaigns drained the coffers of the Empire. As such, they preferred to expand underground to control more veins of crystalblood and minerals.
The Violent Web of Bitey, and the Seeds of ChangeThe Violent Web beings of Bitey adapted to the new conditions. The species stopped relying on their sight due to the eternal darkness, and developped new senses to detect preys or predators. The most dangerous creature was the species of the Nerith, an insectoid predator which had mastered the art of camouflage and ambush. It looked like a bear sized mantis with a black exosqueleton and a jaw filled with rows of razor sharp teeth instead of a pair of mandibles. It could mask or alter its scent and body heat, and was perfectly silent. They were also extremely intelligent, and learnt how to adapt to new preys.
[New Notable Species: the Nerith]
The terrible living conditions of Bitey made the perfect environment for the Seeds of Change. Non-existent resources and absolute lack of starlight forced them to adapt, turning them into extremely sturdy gaunt twiggy trees which squeezed the soil of all its nutrients.
They were seen as the worse invasive species after the Nox by the Watchmen, as all other plants died where Trees of Change grew. If only a single Tree of Change survived a Watchman extermination, then a whole forest of even more resilient and tenacious Trees of Change would grow back.
------On Jigsaw------
The overflowing Violence of Jigsaw caused the Origin of Violence to become predominant all over it, causing even unaligned entities to develop an affinity for Violence. The Age of Time was as such barely noticeable, being suppressed by the extreme Violence characteristic of Jigsaw.
The cycles of Violence increased in intensity, creatures fought and died from birth, and yet life thrived and grew at an exponential rate. These cycles forced rapid evolution of the Violent Web, and as a byproduct generating a great amount of Life and Earth Element.
New notable species of the Violent Web appeared, and each were deadly in their own particular ways. The great Razgala Lizards, extremely agile reptiles with felyne bodies whose speed in the jungles and the plains was unmatched. The vicious and deceiving Purple Temptress, a small flower shaped arachnid with the most lethal venom of all Jigsaw. The patient and relentless Chaetic Worm, a giant burrowing worm which never stopped tracking the prey it sets its sights on, and only surfaced for the killing blow. And finally the cruel and powerful Varkul, giant birds of preys which enjoyed torturing their preys with their mighty talons.
The Spriggans of JigsawLife was too Violent for the Spriggans of Jigsaw, who despite their formidable ability to absorb plants and animals characteristics, were in the middle tiers of the food chain of Jigsaw. Their powerful was also their greatest weakness, as they could only absorb portions of nearby animals in their line of sight. And in this fast and cruel world, it was often already too late when a beast was in your sights.
They formed small community circles, and lived brief and exciting lives in this Violent ecosystem, always fighting for their survival.
As for the Dryads, they lived long and uneventful lives, hidden from danger in their trees, they only fear the ravenous fungi of the jungles.
------On Multitude------
With Multitude desperately avoiding conflict with Jigsaw, life on it developed surprisingly well. The already present plants of time grew and spread, covering the lands.
The Spriggans of MultitudeThe Spriggans of Multitude led peaceful lives in the company of the Dryads amidst the vast forests of Multitude. The Violent Web creatures of Multitude were dangerous, but easily manageable for the Spriggans. And as the sole people of this World, they grew undisturbed, populating all the green areas of Multitude.
The Sludas of MultitudeSludas were placed by Sekur in the plains Multitude, where they grew independently from scratch, undisturbed. Here they formed nomadic societies, creating beautiful crafts from the bones and fur of their livestock. They avoided the forests, as the Spriggans lived there and fiercely defended the trees.
The Druis of MultitudeIn the early days of this Age, the Acharya visited the Druis when the land was still lacking in abundance. Promising them safety in far better worlds, they followed, leaving for the Inner Worlds of Multitude.
------Spatial Coffer World (in Multitude)------
The Druis of the Spatial Coffer WorldAs promised by the Acharya, the Druis were led to a more prosperous world. They named this world Xervild, the promised land.
[Spatial Coffer World renamed to Xervild]
The Acharya and the Paladins of ArkaiThe two groups of Aspects inevitably met as their missions both involved the Druis. While the Acharya didn't wish to fight, the Paladins immediately recognized the Corrupted Origin that seeped from the Acharya. So powerful was their affinity to Corrupted Hope that they had to be eliminated out here and now, or else the Druis would forever be lost.
Sensing the murderous intent of the Paladins and knowing they would lose a direct confrontation, they elected to flee.
[Combat: Acharya vs Paladins]
[Escape]
Acharya: [6]
Paladins: [5]
Escape successful.
The Acharya, who knew the intricacies of inter world travel better than the newborn Paladins, managed to escape quickly. They even hopped between Astral Planes to elude their pursuers, easily losing them. This made the Paladins absolutely furious, and they vowed they would find and eradicate the Acharya.
The Druis and the Paladins of ArkaiWhen the Paladins appeared before the Druis instead of the Acharya, the mortals felt something was terribly wrong. The Paladins explained to them that the Acharya were demons in disguise, corruptors that would entice them with promises only to then transform them into abominations. But the Druis didn't trust the Paladins, which could have been caused by their own corrupted Origin which loathed the Life of the Paladins.
The Paladins undertook their mission as the Druis went on with their lives, thought they always remained distrustful of the Paladins. Despite the Paladins specialization to Origin conversion, the process was incredibly slow in the Druis, who were Greater Abominations of Corrupted Life. So rooted and powerful was their Corrupted Origin that it took a great amount of energy for a Paladin to cleanse a single Drui. And the Druis were many. And they also had to cleanse the Fruits of Life, which spread quickly like a pest. While slow, progress to cleanse all corruption was being made.
The omnipresence of the Paladins greatly slowed the Druis progress, as they were constantly monitored as to better control the spread of the Corrupted Life. A growing desire for freedom boiled in the heart of the Druis, and they began to idolize the Acharya who brought them to Xervild.
In secret, the Druis developed deadlier weapons, hoping to one day revolt against the Paladins.
The Spriggans and Dryads of XervildMany factors led to the extinction of the Spriggans of Xervild. First was the abundance of Fruits of Life, which caused the Spriggans to go berserk and almost self-destruct themselves. Then was the encounter with the plant-shaping Druis, who eradicated what remained of the Spriggans after the latter attacked the Druis to protect their trees.
The Sludas of XervildThe Sludas of Xervild, on the contrary, benefited from the Drui. Trade of goods and knowledge with this more advanced people kickstarted their development, and in a short span of time, they formed three kingdoms. But while their relations with the Drui were good, relations among themselves were bad.
The three kingdoms were historically born out of a territorial dispute, and the grudge had remained in the Sludan psyche. Eventually, the grudge and unfortunate circumstances caused war to break out between the three Sludan kingdoms. The Paladins intervened in the conflict to evacuate civilians, slowing their cleansing task.
Discovering that, the Drui started manipulating the Sludas behind the scenes to generate more wars, to cause the Paladins to be overwhelmed by their tasks. Maybe then they would find a way to break free from the yoke of these watchers, they thought.
------Pocket-Tree World (in Multitude)------
The Sludas and the AcharyaReturning to the Sludas, the Acharya lamented the abominable Paladins, and how they would steal away the hope of the Druis. Something had to be done, but how? For now, they decided to focus on the Sludas, hoping answers would come.
Ages of existence with the Acharya greatly changed the Sludas and their lands, who were now close to fully turn to Hope. Never had the land been so peaceful and quite. The wind was a whisper, the water flowed silently, all was tranquility. While still quite the farmers and engineers, many Sludas were now also strongly spiritual, learning and seeking the enlightening teachings of the Acharya. Many had become of revered Disciples, those who accepted and understood the teachings the most. These Sludas no longer needed sustenance, and had let go of their mortal weaknesses. No sin, no emotion, only the benevolence of the Acharya.
Rare were those who became Enlightened, and those who did became... more. The Sludas described them as "the complete ones". Most of them continued to preach the teachins, bringing more Sludas closer to enlightement. Truly a noble quest theirs was, in their eyes.
As an aside, the Pocket-Tree World was named Vinaya.
The Acharya and Eris and DiscordiaThe disappearance of a major city and the rise of an abominable mountain of murk in its place didn't go unnoticed. The Acharya investigated, and came across the Goddesses Eris and Discordia, resting in a ruined house.
Suffice to say they were quite baffled. They asked the Goddesses why they destroyed a major city of the Hope-Country.
------Extradimensional Egg-World and Microcosm Needle-World (in Multitude)------
Life had changed a lot in these two Inner Worlds. Enough time had passed that all life in there was in grand majority descendants of Chaos Born, as the many offspring evolved differently, creating completey new species. The only characteristic these species shared was the tentacles that made up their bodies.
Bathed in Chaos, these worlds were as everchanging as the life they bore.
The Chaosian, Chaos Great-GrandchildrenIn the Microcosm Needle-World, all changed when a special species of Chaos Great-Grandchildren evolved: the Chaosian. Extremely curious entities, they always sought to discover, understand and learn. Their evolution was rapid and expected, and before long they formed a civilization, the Knowledge-Country of Conacio.
They were a people of scholars, always eager to accumulate new knowledge, whether it was useful or not. And while not particularly strong for their Tier, they knew how to use their knowledge to create tools, weapons, and plans that gave them an edge over other Chaos Offspring. The speed at which their technology developed was like none other, as they were always eager to experiment and record their findings. The great libraries of Conacio were the pride of the Chaosians.
The most popular mystery to uncover was to find the progenitor of all life, Chaos Born. The theory was that all life descended from a single entity that birthed the mythic and dangerous Chaos Children, powerful beasts at the apex of the food chain, and birther of many powerful species.
Chaos BornChaos Born had migrated to the Egg-World, feeling the prosperity of its offspring was assured in the innermost world. As such it was naturally time to move on to another world, to spread more of its children.
Spriggans, Dryads and ChaosiansThe first encounter with the Spriggans and Dryads was an important historical event in Chaosian history. For the first time, they met another sapient race, flaring their curiosity to no end. The primitive Spriggans and Dryads were absorbed into Conacio, and made citizens of the Knowledge-Country.
The Chaosians felt a kindred toward the Spriggans, whose abilities somewhat resembled those of the Chaosians. What fascinated the Chaosians the most was that the Spriggans and Dryads were clearly not descended from a Chaos Children. Were they a mutation of a plant? Or a race from another world? So many questions, too few answers, and that thrilled them.
Sludas and Chaos BornThe Sludas had the terrible luck of settling next to the nest of Chaos Born. And when the Original Beast gave birth to hungry children, they were nearly annihilated.
Now the few that survived have fled as far as they could, crossing the sea, and settling on an island.
------In the Plane of Thought------
It, the Paladins and the ReplacatorAt the behest of Arkai, the Paladins were sent to help It cleanse the Replacator to stop it from corrupting the Subdomain of Thought. Before they arrived, It attempted to fiddle with the Replacator, to no avail. Nothing in the Shard changed, and nothing changed in It either.
But as strong as the Corrupted Origin was, it wasn't strong enough to face an Elemental God. And with the death of Xanxerwild, the Corrupted Life was no longer in its prime.
The Paladins arrived, and attempted to cleanse the Replacator. Unlike the Drui, the Shard was immovable, its Origin didn't yield a second against the attempt of the Paladins. Pooling their powers together, they worked on the Replacator for the whole turn, making slow but sure progress.
The conversion was not without consequence, as the Corrupted Origin flailed and struggled, generating destructive waves in the Subdomain of Thought. Fortunately It was present to suppress them, though one wonder what would have happened if It hadn't been there.
[Conversion of the Replacator in progress (Slow)]
PRESENCE CHANGES
The Extradimensional Egg-world is slowly turning to Chaos> The changes are spreading to the upper worlds.
> Another Subdomain of Growth has appeared.
Multitude and the inner Worlds up to the Spatial Coffer-World have stopped turning to Time.Xervild is being influenced by many Origins.Vinaya is strongly tainted by Hope.
Vinaya is starting to get tainted by *Chaos*
As a result, Hope has infected a Subdomain of Growth!> There is a high risk of it turning into a Corrupted Domain of Hope.
Jigsaw is brimming with Violence!> Another Subdomain of Havoc has appeared.
> An Essence of Havoc has appeared.There is still trace of Corrupted Life in the Subdomain of Thought due to the Replacator.Thought is still slowly increasing in worlds full of life.> Another Subdomain of Thought may appear in the future.
Radiance has infected the Subdomains of Havoc due to the death of Bitey> There is a high risk of them turning into Corrupted Domains of Havoc.
Author
Topic: On the Origins of Conflict (IC) (Read 15609 times)