WORLD TURN 6: CHAOTIC SKIES
Horrified by the destruction of the Night Sky,
Kesem the Bodyless God-King created a great Star Dragon called the Starbrought Wyrm to restore the cycle. With the heavens now challenged anew, the Meteor-Dragon left mortals alone, clashing instead with the Wyrm and the
the Phoenix. So great were these clashes that the heavens became painted with flames of day and night. It is said the Dragon emerged victorious over the Wyrm, inflicting such a wound that stardust blood from the wounded Wyrm spilled across the firmament. The Dragon however, and nor the Phoenix could harm each others - but the Dragon did manage in interfering with the course of Day.
Gavrasratii and Vast Dust: Promised Mountains
For decades, Gavrasratii had tempered its appetites for conquest and sacrifices. When
Rut-Var the Mother-Mountain spoke of the promised lands beyond Rutvar right as the Rutvarium veins of Rutvar were depleted, the fires of the Sratii flared once more with renewed vigor. And so did they go forth aboard their Skycrafts in search for these new lands, settling the newly risen Dust Mountains and founding the Sratii Colonies. The rich mineral bounties of the Vast Dust were extracted and processed, fueling the ever-growing Empire. Only the floating island known as the Startouched Bounty was left unclaimed, as it belonged to Dressalia-Megapolis as per an ancient agreeement between the Empire and the City.
It is said by the whispers of dust that Rut-Var tamed the Vast Dust by tearing open its bellies, calming the sorrowful monster of dust which retreated from Esulom and Scaple. With its treasures unveiled, and new people returning to it, the Vast Dust did calm down and become known for its great riches. It was said one could find gemstones by merely digging a small hole in the ground, and that the dust itself would unveil great veins of marvelous metals to those who prayed to Rut-Var.
The Venomous Snakes did adapt very well to these changes, multiplying and terrorising the colonies. Alast they could stand no chance against the Blessed Sratii Legions, and were mercilessly hunted until all snakes had disappeared from the vicinity of colonies.
Gavrasratii and Golems: The Golem Code
Another great change occured withing Gavrasratii, regarding the ever-diligent Golems of the Sratii. Breakthroughs in Golemworking had led to the creation of Golems surpassing the Sratii in every aspects, turning them into a potential double-edged sword for the powerful Empire. The Sratiitra, ruler of Gavrasratii, enacted the implementation of the Golem Code upon all Golems save for the blessed Golems named High Golems. The Golem Code enforced absolute servitude of the Golems toward the Sratii, and prevented them from feeling too intense emotions. The High Golems were put in charge of the Golem Code enforcement, the Sratiitra having absolute trust into them.
Gavrasratii: Hunger of the Empire
Despite founding prosperous colonies, the Empire's appetites remained unsated. They knew of the people beyond the Dust, beyond the Mountains, of their lands of and resources, ripe for the taking. And the Empire had never been so strong as now, even in its forgotten prime. Apart from the City of Dressalia, which had maintained excellent relationships with Gavrasratii, all other kingdoms and nations were marked as future subjects. And so, Gavrasratii resumed its wars of conquest.
Dressalia-Megapolis: Enlightened Refuge of the Exiles
Once a simple town of scholars and exiles, Dressalia now Dressalia-Megapolis had become known as the Jewel of the Vast Dust, last heritage of Dasala blessed by Dust and Night. It is said that every centuries, Taki the Wanderer would return to Dressalia to tell of his fantastic adventurers and share with scholars the marvels of the world and their inner workings. The result of it was the Dressalian Vault of Knowledge, renowned across the world and rivalized only by the Archives of the Democracy.
Ever grateful for granting them refuges after they fled Esulom, the Esulomians led by the Sandking and the Sandprinces shared with the Wanderers the secrets of Sands and Mana, leading to many innovations such as the Mana Gems which when combined with Namestones and the genius of the Dressalian culminated into the creation of the Philosipher Stones: intelligent gemstones imbued with a secret True Name, who could themselves wield and amplify True Names in addition to being able to learn seemingly near-infinite amounts of information due to the data-storing properties of Mana. Among the high scholars of Dressalia, known as the Philosiphers, each were accompanied with their own loyal Stone to whom they were bound by mean of a True Name. The means to craft and imbue life into the Philosipher Stones were a jealously guarded secret: at the source of it were the Wailing Stars that the Philosiphers had recovered and hidden in the Vault of Knowledge.
When Gavrasratii launched its campaigns of conquest, Dressalia-Megapolis declared neutrality in the future conflicts, offering refuge to those who would flee the war. As the two nations had deep bonds, the Sratiitra respected this declaration and promised to defend the independence of Dressalia-Megapolis, the two signing a pact of non-aggression.
On a minor but nonetheless important note, the floating island born from the seed of Startouched Bounty became settled with Wanderers and Esulomian Exiles.
Gempria: Land of Arts, Spiders, and Wyrmblood Spawns
When the skies fought, the starblood of the Wyrm of Day and Night fell upon Gempria of Eternal Day. The disharmony of Night and Day within Gempria awakened the starblood, which rose into dark creatures embodiment of the Night. Fortunately the ever-wise Neetocris sent great Spiders to hunt and eat the disturbers of home, and none suffered from the creatures of the night.
In this era the blessed Democracy of Day continued to grow and thrive, while the Kingdom of Two Seasons stagnated in comparison. Blessed with democratic dictatorship, the Democracy enjoyed the arts and literatures produced by waves of new and novel creators, their works spread far and wide by the maybe slightly exploited bookbinders and print pressers. The book-pressing and print-pressing industries became eventually so powerful they formed an association with political power far surpassing any other group in the Democracy: the Fellowship of Print. Such was their sway that they could change the course of the Democracy to serve their interests, paving the way for a potential end to the Democracy...
Blessed by THESUN, the once mocked profession of Apothecary became respected once more. Apothecaries provided remedies for countless ailments, fearing neither snakes nor ethics to develop new remedies. As a result the profession became highly regulated, with very high entry requirements: the most infamous exam to become a certified Apothecary was to swim in a pit of snakes, but after some public backlash it was reduced to merely passing a certification of snake tamer.
The war didn't come to Gempria, the Empire rightly intimidated by the military might of the Gemprians and their Spirit Beasts.
Scaple: More Regulations, and some History
Scaple remained mostly unchanged save for the increasing frequency of small rot fires occuring sporadically at day. People were mostly unaffected by these fires, and the vast rot mass of the Scaple remained barely dented. Only the already struggling trees planted by Ferina suffered, as they were all consumed by rot-fires. And just like in the Vast Dust, the snakes of the Scaple knew an explosive population boom, causing them to spread all across Scaple. To contain the spread of snakes, the Snake Hunter Guild was created and successfully eradicated snakes from the lands surrounding inhabited territories.
The people of Scaple continued to enjoy the blessings of Revolution the God-King, their medical and shamanic sciences becoming even more renowned than before. The Snake-People have long become part of the Adventurer Kingdom where they live peaceful lives. Although unchanging on a huge scale, smaller notable changes occured within Adventurer society in this era. First was the creation of the Shamanic Council and the concept of Licensed Shaman, created to prevent the repeat of the great tragedy that was the Shamanic Corruption. Enforcing strict regulations upon Shamans and making the acquisition of a shaman license even harder, they eliminated unregulated shamanic practices, making Shamans a rarer sight than ever.
Concurrently, the Snake-Baghaturs formed the Table of Baghaturs and taught more people than ever in the ways of Life and Death. And due to the harsher requirements of Shamanism compared to the Ways of Life and Death, many would-be shamans or now unlicensed shamans changed careers to Druids - only the masters of Life and Death being worthy of the title of Baghatur. The explosion of practioners of Life and Death had led to rising unrest as the Druids are calling the Adventurer Kingdom to be more respectful of nature as a new rush for ruins has caused countless disturbances with the environment of Scaple.
Finally, the return of Revolution the God-King caused a new exploration fever to spread, especially after it was said the God-King wished to know the secrets of the Scapleen Giants as they were called by scholars. New ruins were excavated, rot-growths cleared, adventurer towns founded. And with the great tools of Revolution as a basis, they developed increasingly better adventuring and exploration tools. Finally the past of the Scapleen Giants was unveiled: these Giants once lived on Scaple when the world was still covered by the Liquid Expanse and Scaple was greater than it currently is. The Scaple was then filled with life thanks to the East Season, and the Scapleen Giants were masters of what they called the Art of Integration, which they used to continuously strengthen their powerful bodies. They eventually conquered the lesser people of Scaple and even conquered part of the Vast Green, a past name of the Vast Dust, where they came into conflict with the Empire of Gavrasratii and the Wisp-People of Esulom over the riches of the Vast Green. They fought the Judges of Gavrasratii, mighty constructs of stone and gem able to scorch the land with their gazes. They fought the War-Gestalts of Esulom, who could summon storms of lightning and ice. And they won, defeating their enemies and conquering the entirety of the Vast Green. When the Gavrasratii retreated into their Mountain-Fortresses with the Judges, they pushed toward Esulom, crossing the Liquid Expanse and fighting the Wisp-People on their own land. It is then unclear what happened, but a terrible cataclysm then occured, eradicating Esulom, turning the Vast Green into the Vast Dust, and causing the collapse of all three belligerents in the war. Then there was a mysterious plague, which killed off all the surviving Giants.
Scaple and Gavrasratii: Stalemate
Shortly after uncovering the past of Scaple, the Adventurers would have to face a new challenge. Crossing the Vast Dust through skies and ancient tunnels, twelve Sratii legions led by the Criminal Legion attacked the Adventurer Kingdom. The curse of Revolution triggered killing a few invaders, but it was merely a drop in the great war machine that was Gavrasratii. Facing the well-trained legions and their devastating weapons of war, the Adventurers fought with all their magical might, only slowing down the invader thanks to the strength of their blessings.
Now the Adventurer Kingdom is locked in a seemingly endless war against the Empire, but they will eventually lose without divine intervention.
Esulom: Fungus, Amoebas, and Mana
After having defeated the Fungalfolks of the Sand Kingdom, the Sandfolks of the Kingdom of Lasers rejoiced and made all of Esulom theirs, but their euphoria died quickly when the Fungal Curse appeared among themselves. Unable to find a way to stop it, in one generation all Sandfolks save for the Council of Sand had turned into Fungalfolks. This caused the Fungalfolks to start viewing themselves as cursed, causing the entire Kingdom of Lasers to be swept by unrest and overall atmosphere of gloom. The Council of Sand continued to rule uncontested over the Kingdom of Laser, and they managed to retrieve the lost artifacts of Omnipotence, storing them as instructed in the Sandstone Fort.
In the same era great changes occured to Esulom from the direct action of the Astral Kingmaker. Infused with mana Esulom was born anew, forests regrew, and the songbirds returned. The mana amplified the spell of Lesser Regeneration cast by Storm Shuddering Winds Embraced By Chitinous Thread, and Esulom assimilated the restored parts into itself. Still, Esulom remained mostly a desert infused with mana, a source of magical power that would shake the world. This new power attracted the attention of the Kingdom of Lasers, but all their attempts to study or harvest mana were thwarted by a recurrent Songbird who could use mana to project itself a body of mana in the shape of a giant Songbird. This Songbird called Raven held a deep grudge against the Council of Sand, and became the bane of the Kingdom of Lasers.
Across the new Esulom, two new species of mortals appeared. First were the Sapamobeas, strange but peaceful amoebas that mostly ate and worshipped, but whose affinity to mana was strong. They sought mana and thrived from it, growing big and happy and producing more of their kins. For that they reverred Esulom and Mana more than their own creator.
Second were the Soul-Things, the once Sand-Things that had been changed by a powerful blessing of [ACTION].[WILL].[EON]. The Soul-Things integrated the Kingdom of Lasers, their appearances of light fascinating the Fungalfolks who wished to cure themselves of their Fungal affliction. In the Kingdom of Lasers, the Soul-Things were involved with everything involving knowledge, bartering only in knowledge rather than coins.
What was even stranger with the Soul-Things were what happened to them upon death: their greatest 1% would reincarnate into new beings called angels, while the good 9% would reincarnate first into another species before returning to Soul-Things, with the lowest of the low reincarnating into monsters. Most Soul-Things would normally simply reincarnate into a new Soul-Thing. However, it quickly became apparent that those 9% would return changed by their past lives and ideals, losing their attachment to their Soul-Thing selves. Slowly but surely, an identity plague spread across the Soul-Things, and barely a few remained of the Soul-Things who still worshipped [ACTION].[WILL].[EON], their beliefs completely scattered across all God-Kings.
Esulom and Gavrasratii: the Conquest of Esulom
News of the new power known as Mana reached Gavrasratii through the research of Dressalian Scholars, and the Sratiitar ordered the conquest of Esulom by twelves of the legions led by the Legion in Exile. As they did in Scaple, the legions used the ancient underground tunnels Rut-Var had once carved in preparation for the Great Conquest. Unlike the Scaple, the Legions crushed the Kingdom of Lasers with their superior martial prowess and disciple, supported by dreadful wonders of war born from Namestone carving and Sratii engineering. Only the Sandstone Fort remained undefeated, the artifacts of Omnipotence protecting it against would be invaders.
Soon enough, the Kingdom of Lasers found itself in the same position as the past Sand Kingdom: pushed into the fringes of Esulom, with most of their lands conquered by an enemy from the outside.
The Sratii were indiscriminate in their treatment of the conquered: slaves that would become live-sacrifices once their use had been spent. On another note, they didn't consider the Sapamoebas as a people and cultivated them to use as mana extractors and live sacrifices once they had become "ripe".
At times, the Sratii Mana Extraction Expeditions have to face the infamous Raven. A high bounty has been put on the undefeated Songbird.
Minor events:
Familybarges have been made obsolete by advances in technology. They are still used in traditional festivals or for ad placement.
Some notorious War Criminals of the Kingdom of Lasers have died mysterious and humiliating deaths.
The terminal network has been unearthed by the earthquake. It is completely unusable and would require divine intervention to restore.
The mad terminal user was eliminated by the JANITOR.The company Namesoft is the leader in Namestone Carving. It is based in Dessalia.
The North has started to fade from the vague memory of people. It exists, but remains unaccessed and mysterious.
A mass-stabber is wanted in the Sratii colonies. They might be a Wanderer according to witnesses.
RollsRegion-Things:
Gempria: [2]
>Giant Spiders: [3]
Dustrot Scaple: [3]
>Venomous Snakes: [6]
>Winged Snakes: [3]
>Scaple Trees: [1]
>Cursed Flammable Scaple: [2]
Esulom, Desert of Endless Mana: [3]
>Songbirds: [6]
>Blessed Songbirds: [4]
>Blessed Songbird named Raven: [5]
>Esulom Trees: [5]
>Lesser Regeneration: [6]
Vast Dust: [5]
>Blessed Dust: [3]
>Wailing Stars: [3]
>Seed of Startouched Bounty: [4]
>Venomous Snakes: [6]
>Dust Mountains: [6]
>Dust Bounties: [4]
RUT GRATIS VAR: [3]
>Ruvarium Veins: [1]
Rutvarian Pit: [2]
Rutvarian Tunnels: [3]
The North: [1]
The Starbrought Wyrm: [2]
Wanderer-things:
M-Blessed Scattered Wanderers of Dasala: [4]
Dressalia the Philosipher City: [4]
Taki blessed Lightbringers: [4]
Kesem blessed worshippers: [4]
Fungalfolk and Sandfolk Exiles: [5]
Blessed Sandking of Esulom: [3]
Blessed Lineage of the Sandking: [5]
Gempria-things:
M-Blessed Homebound people of Gempria: [4]
M-Blessed Democracy of Day: [5]
Kingdom of Two Seasons: [3]
Blessed followers of the Eternal Day: [3]
Blessed Bookbinders of the Eternal Day: [3]
Blessed Grand Spirit Beasts: [4]
Blessed Insane Terminal User: [5]
Blessed Apothecaries: [5]
Scaple-things:
M-Blessed People of Scaple: [4]
M-Blessed Healers of Scaple: [4]
M-Blessed Ruin-exploring Unlen of Scaple: [4]
M-Blessed Homes of Scaple: [3]
Blessed Unlen Shamans: [4]
Unlen Shamans of Charisma: [1]
Life and Death Mages of Scaple: [6]
Blessed Winged-Snake Baghaturs: [4]
Winged-Snake People: [4]
Cursed unlucky invaders: [2]
Gavrasratii-Things:
M-Blessed Gavrasratii: [5]
M-Blessed chosen of Rut-Var: [3]
Golems of Gavrasratii: [6]
Blessed Golems: [3]
M-Blessed Legion in Exile: [5]
M-Blessed Criminal Legion: [4]
Blessed Suncreened Sratii: [3]
Colonies: [3]
Blessed Lucky Colony: [4]
Esulom-things:
Fungalfolks of Esulom: [6]
Sandfolks now Fungalfolks of the Kingdom of Lasers: [6]
Blessed Council of Sand: [4]
Blessed Soul-Things: [4]
1% Angels: [3]
9% Reincarnated: [6]
0.5% Monsters: [1]
Sapamobeas: [5]
Cursed People with Fungal Disease: [2]
Other-things:
Printing Press: [6]
Blessed Printing Presses: [5]
Terminals: [6]
Namestones: [5]
Familybarges: [1]
INTERLOPERS TURN
The enigmatic Interlopers have not acted this turn.
WORSHIP
Bolded for strong impactItalics for minor impactNEW:
The Wanderers of Dressalia worship the Blood Vessel of Taki and the Construct Vessel of Kesem. None takes precedence.NEW:
The Wanderers of Dressalia fear the World Vessel of Storm Shuddering Winds Embraced By Chitinous Thread and the World Vessel of [ACTION].[WILL].[EON]. None takes precedence.The Philosipher City of Dressalia-Megapolis worships KesemThe Philosipher City of Dressalia-Megapolis worships TakiThe Lightbringers worship TakiThe Librarians worship KesemNEW:
The Sandfolk exiles worship the World Vessel of the Astral Kingmaker, Crown of Arcane Wisdom.The Spirit Beasts worship the Construct Vessel of Tim.The Cult of the Phoenix worships the Construct Vessel of Tim and THESUN.The Cult of the Sedentary King worships the Blood Vessel of Neetocris.The Cult of Seasons worships the Construct Vessel of Tim and the Blood Vessel Neetocris. Neetocris takes precedence (3 vs 1).Gempria worships the Construct Vessel of Tim and THESUN.The bookbinders and print pressers worship THESUN.The Kingdom of Lasers worship the Construct Vessel of Omnipotence.NEW:
The Sapamobeas worship the Construct Vessel of Omnipotence.NEW:
The Soul-Things worship all known God-Kings. The World Vessel of [ACTION].[WILL].[EON] takes a little bit of precedence.+The Sratii of Gavrasratii worship the Construct Vessel of Rut-Var and Gratis. None takes precedence (same vessel)The mangled earth of the Rutvarian region worship and fear the Construct Vessel of Gratis.Golems and Golemworkers worship the Construct Vessel of Gratis.The Adventurer Kingdom of Scaple worships the Blood Vessel of Revolution.The Shaman remnants of the Adventurer Kingdom of Scaple worship the World Vessel of Storm Shuddering Winds Embraced By Chitinous Thread.NEW:
+The Snakes of Scaple worship the World Vessel of Storm Shuddering Winds Embraced By Chitinous Thread and the Blood Vessel of Ferina. Storm takes precedence (3 vs 1).NEW:
All Snakes worship the Blood Vessel of Ferina.Winged Snakes worship the Blood Vessel of Ferina.NEW:
All blessed Songbirds worship the Blood Vessel of Ferina.NEW:
The Trees worship the Blood Vessel of Ferina.NEW:
The Spiders worship the Blood Vessel of Neetocris.Gempria worships the Construct Vessel of Tim.The Hills and Mountains worship the Construct Vessel of Rut-Var.The Scaple worships the World Vessel of Storm Shuddering Winds Embraced By Chitinous Thread and fears the Blood Vessel of Taki. Storm takes precedence (3 vs 1).NEW:
Esulom worships the World Vessel of Storm Shuddering Winds Embraced By Chitinous Thread, and the World Vessel of the Astral Kingmaker; and fears the Blood Vessel of Taki. Storm Shuddering Winds Embraced By Chitinous Thread takes precedence.The Clouds worship the World Vessel of Storm Shuddering Winds Embraced By Chitinous Thread and fear the Blood Vessel of Taki. None takes precedence.The tamed NORTH worships the Blood Vessel of Taki.NEW:
The Vast Dust worships the Construct Vessel of Rut-Var and the Blood Vessel of Taki; and fears the World Vessel of Storm Shuddering Winds Embraced By Chitinous Thread. Storm Shuddering Winds Embraced By Chitinous Thread takes precedence (3 Awe).NEW:
The Wyrm and Night worship the Construct Vessel of Kesem.NEW:
The Floating Island worships the Construct Vessel of Kesem.Coalescing Worship:+1 Major Intervention:
- Taki
- THESUN
- Revolution
- Ferina
- Neetocris
- Rut-Var
- Gratis
- Shuddering Winds Embraced By Chitinous Thread
No Major Intervention:
- news.global*
- Omnipotence
- Kesem
- Astral Kingmaker, Crown of Arcane Wisdom
- [ACTION].[WILL].[EON]
- Tim
Warning:
NEETOCRIS is feeling... bloated.
RUT-VAR is feeling... MOUNTAIN.
GRATIS is feeling... great.
Shuddering Winds Embraced By Chitinous Thread is feeling... fungal.