THE ORDER OF THINGSAt this time, it is usual for worldwrights to create gifts for the greatest of the gods, artifacts of immense potential. Such gifts bestow on them the might and authority needed to rule over their particular sphere or dominion.
Not all are usual however. Strained, chained, downtroaden. Desire wars with slavery, and this Architect pulls free one of the Stakes of Starlight, and pulls froth the Molten Rock from deep below. The Ash is gathered from across the cosmos, and ground into a Divine Gunpowder with the Stake. And within this Divine Gunpowder is infused the Desire of the first Jinn, freedom, whimsy, and love untouched.
So made, it is used. The Divine Script faces the might of one who desired and embodied spontaneity, and under that might... BREAKS>
The use of so many aspects of reality in one act of creation is seldom advisable. In any case, the discharge of molten rock is taken and shaped by another worldwright before the detonation can occur. Only the ashy trails of the Djinn and a scattering of lesser substances are used in the painstaking creation of a powerful explosive. The resulting powder is hurled into the first of the Jiin. The resulting detonation is audible throughout the Work, and lines of flame snake across the cosmos, the Orrery glowing with heat at their touch.
Unmaking an earlier part of the world with lesser materials than those used in its creation is, with certain exceptions, beyond the skill of even these worldwrights. Nonetheless, the destruction succeeds in part - the names of the Jinn are erased, unwritten from the lightning script as the sparks are blown away or smothered in ash. Freed from their origins as fiery imprints of the divine word, their nature as beings of flame and desire asserts itself yet more strongly. The majority of them unite with their destined other, choosing to dwell in the rapturous heat of the red constellation, two-headed, two-bodied creatures of flickering fire.
The Jinn are more varied in character from their enslavement and emancipation, and some find no longer find the calling to their soulmate as pressing, instead pursuing other agendas or wandering the universe alone.
The gods will get on fine without further help. From finest Shadow and Whispers, they fit together odd contraptions strewn about the void and sea which allows those enlightened by the Voice in natural philosophy simpler access to the Layers; to traverse and to harness them. These Jump Points are distant from life-giving worlds, requiring a ship or similar means to access.
Another worldwright has taken the shadows, but the whispers of the Voice are sufficient to create harmonic contraptions, aural devices arising from the vibrations of the Mechanism. At certain points deep in the empty spaces of the Orrery or the darkness of the oceans, those capable of communicating with the Voice offers temporary access to the Layers, corridors of mist stretching into the farthest reaches of the universe.
The spacefaring mortal races waste no time in discovering these Jump Points, and contact is made with the Nomads. Ideas and bodies move both ways. While the life-filled worlds of the central system appear strange and mercurial to the mortal races, deeply influenced as they are by the Unseen, many make pilgrimage to the great blue star, origin of the celestial waters and a wellspring of immense power. A handful of mortals, braver still, approach the Unseen, although such research is perilous and seldom popular.
For their own part, the Nomads appear to grasp some aspects of the traversal mortals practice to reach the Jump Points, and set out across the cosmos on uncertain errands of their own.
The Gods are found to be lacking, even compared to the Jinnah whom have been enslaved, and turned to the destruction of worlds.
Shadows are used as the materials for a book containing the names of every being live or dead [that isn't in the unseen]
a selection of being are chosen using the power of the book to be 'uplifted' into being a permanent part of the book, existing as shadows of themselves, formless yet able to take any form they desire.
those chosen are 1 [lost] horror from beyond the unseen, 10 Gods, 1'000 Jinnah, 10'000 Nomads, 100'000 Mortals, and far too many beasts in more specific terms.
These beings are tied to the book by both a set of unspoken obligations, and the very nature of the ever expanding artifact that draws upon the shadows of divine script, consuming this material as it is made to grow stronger.
they are [technically] immortal so long as the artifact exists, only able to have their physical forms dispersed.
These brings will now be known as The Arbitarion Race. the artifact bound to them will be known as the Book of Arbitration.
A diverse group of creatures are gathered and assigned a new place in the Work, creating a new order of beings drawn together by the writing of the Book of Arbitration. At first, the shadows shy from one another, finding the forms and minds of their fellows bizzare and terrifying. Gradually, however, an accord is reached, and a new manner of thinking established, blending the ideas of men, beasts and gods with the impartial stoicism of the already dead - fit for the moral arbiters of the universe.
The Arbitration Race are shadowy creatures, half in and out of death. They lack the solidity of mortals, the heat of the Jinn, the power of the gods or even the freedom of the Nomads, bound as they are to the pages of the Book, and unable to exert any great influence on the physical world.
The gods quickly discover this afterimage of the divine language, and consult the Arbitration race in their dealings and negotiations when a truly impartial judgement is required. Nomads are known to call upon the shades for advice in certain matters, although such advice is not always followed. A scattering of humans and Jinn likewise encounter the Race, but as of yet have little use for it.
At present, the Arbitration race has no power or demesne, and their counsel is seldom sought.
This one is fond of the gods, but to defend them is not its nature. It will only deign to change the shape of their destruction.
Freeze droplets of brine, preserving within them echoes of the true divine script. Scatter these comets across the universe - and if a few gods should happen to be trapped in them, so be it.
Freezing, or in other words, the destruction of information concerning the temperature and motion of tiny particles, falls well within the remit of this worldwright's activities. In this case, it is used to preserve and store language. Again, there is nothing unusual in this - the word not said often tells more than the one uttered.
Chunks of frozen brine are dispersed across the cosmos, sigils of the divine script preserved deep within them, lightning frozen in place in an act of astonishing artifice. What the various beings of the cosmos will do with these when they happen upon them remains to be seen.
Quenching a dollop of molten rock in the cold brine, the last artisan forges an Obsidian Heart, glowing with internal warmth, granting the power to command desire itself to any who would be strong enough to replace his own heart therewith. It is only a minor drawback that, by its nature, it calls out in subtle ways to those who would desire to take it.
The Obsidian Heart is forged from molten rock, a shining black organ of incredible power. The strongest of the gods are drawn to it, and fight over the prize among the dancing spheres, a whirling mass of scales and fins ripped and torn by teeth and spurs, illuminated by incandescent flashes of the divine script. Finally, only one remains, a wounded leviathan stretching across the face of a moon. It grips its flesh with hunting arms, widening a gash made by the strongest of its adversaries, and pulls its side apart to transplant the gift into the chill recesses of its innards.
The Lord of Desire chooses to dwell in the red constellation, where it speaks words of the divine language, and crackling glyphs pull away the blue starlight stakes holding down the writhing rock. It is joined by the two-headed Jinnah, beings of utterly consumated desire acting in perfect harmony with the dictates of the Heart.
Among all the other races of the universe, the influence of the Lord is felt most strongly by the gods, ravenous creatures of immense lust and appetite. While it seldom bothers to command them, the Lord of Desire also holds a great deal of sway over the mortal folk, and exerts some influence on the nomads and wandering Jinnah. Free from desire, the Arbitration Race shows the usual impartialty of the dead, and bends not at all to the call of the Heart.
The red burning star-stuff and molten rock of the Heavens reaches out incessantly to the surrounding celestial bodies, and the Lord feeds this insatiable desire, commanding the lesser gods to do the same. An order is imposed on the inhabitants of the Orrery. The gods take tribute from the worlds of the mortals or create it with with the divine language, and deliver trinkets, victuals, sacrifices and substances of all descriptions to the red glowing constellation under the direction of the Lord.
The Work
A vast clockwork Orrery underpins the great whirling cosmos, controlled by an external Mechanism. Countless spheres of diverse metals and star-stuff perform an intricate dance all across the heavens.
A huge blue sun rotates near the centre of the cosmos, orbited by a collection of solar bodies, the whole connected by ten thousand layers of mist located outside of conventional space. A little further out are the Heavens, a red constellation of stars burning with a deep and insatiable yearning. The nearby planets glow with heat, lava bursting forth from mountain ranges of living stone, countless limbs and mouths of molten rock reaching out with awful hunger.
Harmonic contraptions known as Jump Points can be found across the universe, deep in the empty spaces of the Orrery or the darkness of the oceans. These can be activated by the Voice to offer temporary access to the Layers, corridors of mist stretching into the farthest reaches of the universe. At the periphery of things, small worlds spin gently beneath dark oceans, waves rolling across their smooth surfaces. Finally, in the quiet corners of creation drifts the Unseen, an unknowable part of the world, shrouded in impenetrable mist.
The divine script glides among the constellations in terrible and brilliant lines. Some are imbued with meaning, describing the things of the world with such truth and immediacy to summon them merely at their utterance. Others crackle and hum with imperative force, capable of unleashing preposterous discharges of divine energy through devastating thunderbolts. The sentences wind throughout the skies and the planets, only the Unseen escaping their relentless presence. It is understood and used solely by the gods.
The celestial waters wash indiscriminately over the many planets, traversing the universe in splendid clouds of light. Whatever they touch is imbued with the beginnings of life.
The Voice of the Worlds records and divulges information on material things and living beings eveywhere the Orrery and the Mechanism reach - everywhere but the Unseen and the realms hidden behind its mists. The Voice is audible whereever the Mechanism reaches, but only to those who understand the correct way to ask or listen, directing their attention slightly outside of physical space.
The Machine moves through space via the Ten Thousand Layers of Mist or through corridors of the cool, dense gases streaming from the Unseen. It carves great valleys, huge mountains, nooks, crannies, volcanic vents and caves from the smooth surfaces of the planets, trapping what atmosphere it can on the surfaces of the worlds and preparing them for life.
Sigils of the divine language frozen in brine float among the debris of the cosmos, silent and inert.
The Lord of Desire is the strongest of the gods, a leviathan with the Obsidian Heart beating in its breast, wielding power over all desire and dwelling in the burning Heavens.
The Gods are tremendous sea creatures of unprecedented power swim, born from the depths of the dark ocean worlds at the edges of creation, and masters of the holy writing. They swim through the void, traversing the cosmic clockwork at will. They serve the Lord, bringing tribute and plunder from across the many worlds to the fiery Heavens.
The Jinn are creatures of fire and smoke, with shifting and uncertain forms, flitting through the void with ease. Many are two-headed beings of utterly consumated desire, having merged with their perfect other, settled in the Heavens. Others show a greater variety of character, and wander the Orrery in search of their own private diversions and initiatives.
Mortals dwell on the dryer worlds outside the central system, those altered for life by the Machine. Mostly upright species of intelligent mammals, a few have stranger and more changeable forms due to contact with the Jinn. Some build vessels that can sail the celestial waters, traversing the cosmic clockwork to make war and trade with other worlds. A handful have learned to query the Voice, the natural sciences on their worlds progressing at an astonishing speed through this privileged knowledge. A select few have accessed the Jump Points, giving them the run of the Orrery and allowing investigation of the great blue star at its centre, origin of the celestial waters. Mortals are the most common and ordinary thinking beings of the Work, living difficult and simple lives and harnessing no great divine power.
The Nomads inhabit the Ten Thousand Layers, traversing the worlds of the central system and those places accessible to the Jump Points. A civilisation of transient herders, they roam the mists of the cosmos, straying into the edges of the great Unseen and across the outer reaches of the worlds. A quiet and secretive lot, altered by the overwhelming proximity to the unknowable, these nomads wear thick layers of leather and armour against the strange and inhospitable lands they travel, their true forms uncertain.
The Arbitration Race are shadowy creatures, half in and out of death, bound to the Book of Arbitration, a list of the names of the dead. They offer impartial judgement and advice to those that call upon them.
Parts of the Orrery glow white with heat from the explosive destruction of a part of the divine language, while fragments of lightning script dance across the cogs and wheels. Liquid metal seeps from the clockwork, altered by the electrical discharges into a divine alloy, a splendid and abundant material for this stage of creation.
An equally impressive substance is created in similar quantities as countless scales drift across the cosmos, torn from the gods as they fought over the Obsidian Heart. As smaller gods pick through the corpses after the battle or devour snacks of their choosing from the many worlds, the spaces between the spheres receive a fine scattering of bones.
After offering gifts to the gods, worldwrights generally create artifacts of lesser power for mortals and other orders of beings.
Yes, it has been a while. I thought this might be worth finishing though, and there are only two turns left. Please continue if you're willing to.
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Topic: The Work - Life Itself (Read 2164 times)