The world was still in its youth, and continued to expand as grow as the gods poured their power into the earth. Two continents Carociber and Verdance are raised to the northeast and northwest of of prima terra. The two continents could not be any different.
Verdance boasts predominantly temperate climate with the northern reaches giving way to taiga and the southernmost fading into subtropical/mediterranean climates. It's rivers flow (or, would flow, if there was water in them) across the continent, with three major rivers; two terminating in the south and a third ending in the east. With the odd cluster of mountains and a few lone mountains springing forth from the landscape surrounded by hill-land, river valleys & plains. The landscape was beautiful, the vies from the high hills allowing breathtaking views of the majestic rivervalleys.
Carociber was a twisted land covered in windswept plains marked by upheavals of rocks, creating eddies and howling winds as the air cuts across the twisty jagged lands. It holds a vast lake in the south, and a few minor rivers lead either into it or the sea, mostly the result of underground springs. Spires of twisting rock jut into the sky in unnatural and chaotic angles, winding like staircases into the dreary sky. Almost perfect stone orbs of various sizes can be found just sitting across the continent, their origin and make unknown. Nigh invisible crevasses are found in the western badlands, which will engulf many an unknowing inhabitant like a jagged hungry mouth. Volcanic activity is common here, sulfur springs, tiny volcanoes, and ever shifting trickles of lava dot the entire landscape.
Yet the distinction between the two neighboring continents only grows wider as life springs forth upon each of them.
Life was coaxed from Verdance by the passing god of creation, a plan agreed to by the gods of this world was implemented. The creation god began with the trees. Vast numbers of mundane trees spread across temperate and tropical areas, creating forests and jungles across Verdance, Pangea, and Carociber.
The temperate forest biome is created. It contains two types of trees. One is analogous to pine trees. They were smooth barked, with almost no abrasion to their hardy bark. Their branches were straight and pointed. Simply smooth spines protruding from the trunk, ending in a sharp point. Smaller straight spines extend from these, and finally the photosynthetic needles. Secondly there are the leafy trees. Their bark is a series of bands which protrude from the the trunk and branches, giving it an undulating rough bark. Its branches are windy and have pearly green circular leaves. The straight trees continue much further into the taiga than the windy trees. It produces a woody nut. A whole host of birds live in these trees eating leaves, needles, and nuts. The most notable is a a blue and red bird, it's call is very melodic and they tend to gather in massive swarms, creating chirping orchestras. A type of mammal lives among the forest floor. It looks like a deer and a squirrel mixed into one strange creature. Hooves, long fluffy tail, deer face, but squirrel teeth. It grows to the size of an earth deer and it eats plant matter off the forest floor. A predator exists here, a large bird, incapable of flight. However, its strong legs allow it to leap like a frog, snatching its prey in one almost instantaneous movement. Its feathers are mottled and bland, giving it good camouflage. However, the underside of its vestigial wings is entirely coated in bright glowing feathers, which vary in color from individual to individual. These glowwings use this to intimidate other members of their species, and attract mates. Insects too thrive in this area, mostly beetles and small winged insects which feed off decaying plant matter and the trees themselves.
The tropical area however is quite different. It only has one kind of tree, the fruiting bulbbranch. These trees are fairly standard junglelike trees, but their branches end in wooden clublike bulbs. Its thought that these store water and nutrients. It produces a small berrylike fruit typically from the bulblike branch ends. Living among the trees are several species of tree shrimp. The strange multileged creatures come in various shades of browns and greens, and they live among the trees, jumping from branch to branch using their strong tails, and eat plant matter throughout the tropical biome. These are hunted by type of monkey, the blackspot monkey. This monkey is named because it has a black spot on its forehead and on its chest. Its omnivorous and grows to be about two feet long with an additional two feet of tail. Reptiles roam these jungles, large scaled beasts which hunt like jaguars, and have large canines for holding onto prey. They have the ability to change their scalecolor slightly. Lastly a kind of vine grows in these jungles, it is a red vine, which gives it the appearance of a vein. It is a predatory plant which not only sucks the nutrients out of host trees, but has large pitcherlike cups for trapping and digesting of the millions of insects living in the area.
As life springs forth across the three lands, water fills the lowlands between the continents. First is the gift from the rat monster. His ocean contains high levels of brine and dissolved metals. Flakes of iron and gold turn this water into a dense inhospitable area near the bottom of the ocean. These deposits partially precipitate out of the water, giving the bottom of the world a metalic sand. Life here is incredibly difficult, and only two creatures survives here. The ratfish. A long hairy eel with the head of a rat. It feeds off the second creature, a plantlike colonial bacteria which grows in large mats. These bacteria feed off the metals and salts, allowing them slow and meager existence. The ratfish graze on these bacteria mats, exuding densely packed poop nuggets of various metal compositions.
The second ocean is piled ontop of the ratmonster's, who was greatly amused and pleased by his gift. This ocean is more mundane and has the proper amount of salt, the difference in salinity and composition preventing the two from mixing. This ocean has a large amount of drifting seaweed that roots it selves in the shallows near the continents. It also has a large amount of plankton drifting in the open ocean.
Yet the ecosystems didn't stop there. Two more came into existence shortly afterwards. On Verdance a wild grasslands takes hold of great swathes of lands. Green and yellow grasses turn the area into waving fields of dense tall grasses. Large herbivorous mammals roam the land. They resemble a mix between bison and hippopotamuses. Smaller creatures, lizards and mice, hunt small insects in the ocean of grass. The largest predator here is actually an insect, a relative of the tree shrimp. These grass lobsters measure a foot and a half long including their armored tail. They hunt the rodents, lizards, and insects in the grasslands. The Bisopptamuses have nothing to fear and live long boring lives grazing on the unending buffet of grass. Towering high among the grass, they appear majestic and calm in the beautiful rolling hills and prairies of Verdance. Yet Carociber does not follow this path. No, it becomes much much darker and more dangerous. While some jungles and forests managed to spread across the land, they are reduced to isolated pockets by the terrifying ecosystem created by the raw power of the god of chaos. Fire and blood rule the land. The basis of this ecosystem were animals, if one could call them that. They were horrible twisted blobs of flesh, growing randomly. Some looked like disembodied limbs with mouths and eyes. Others where simple lumps of flesh which engulfed their food. These fleshlings were the first creatures to appear, and the rampantly spread across the new continent, forming interconnected layers of flesh, bone, brain, and blood. Some bits could move and detach themselves from the base layer, but for the most part, flesh simply overgrew the rocks. This did nothing to stop the volcanism in the area, and the screams of the mouthless flesh which layers the continent can be heard at all times, day and night. The smell of cooked meat hangs heavy in the air when the wind dies down. Fires occasionally erupt across the area, burning away the writhing piles of sinew and bone, until only charred bits remained, which were slowly replaced and then burned away once more by the ever growing Flesh. Disease was the worst part, whole miles covered in puss and bile and shit. Dying, rotting, crazed and writhing. Eyes and noses, mouths and organs being half constructed and then left unfinished as the diseased brainless fleshlayer had no idea how to act in the face of its blight. Bits of matter, half formed blood cells, are shot into the air by living volcanoes of bone. These red clouds settle over fast areas, giving some sections of the continents deserts of red gooey sand.
Yet life managed to find a way into this disgusting land of fire and flesh. The first species to be successful was the fleshlily. Appearing like a strange plant, this was actually an animal. It has a long stalk with rings of short cilia, which lead to a crown of hundreds of thing tentacles. These crionoid like creatures set up in windy areas and use their crowns of tentacles to filter the blood dust from the air and sustain themselves off of it. Another large creature, the eye tree manages to take root on the flesh itself, digging into the muscle with bony roots. Its bark is bonelike and serrated, preventing the flesh from simply trying to encrust over them. They are covered in eyes, which stare emptily into every direction. They sustain themselves by sucking nutrients out of the hellscape they find themselves living upon. They have large fruits shaped like a giant pancreas. However, they taste more like spleen. More mobile animals arise later. Large spiders with tentacles instead of legs rip and tear at the flesh, eating it with vigor. Blood slimes form, mindless shapeless beings which roam the land, composed of blood. Their exterior forms a disgusting scab, and they have a rudimentary stomach. They ungulate across the land, vomiting stomach acid onto everything and eating whatever melts. This land has only one predator, the millileech. A giant many legged black leech. It is an endurance predator, chasing down prey without mercy before finally catching them, and draining them of their blood. It preys on the scabslimes, but will not hesitate to rip into other prey and suck up the resulting blood pool.
Truly this land is terrible and horrifying. Life here is disgusting, unforgiving, and sickening in every way.
Life develops on the world's moon. Exotic bottle trees are imported to the moon and take root among any exposed soil they can find between the giant roots of the skytree. Some even manage to take root in areas where the roots naturally channel water. Among these trees, and upon the massive branches of the skytree itself bottlebears appear. These green and brown ursine creatures climb through the trees eating their leaves and their sweet watery fruit. The produce large amounts of fat and protein, mostly in their limbs to aid with climbing.
Life draws to a close, and the ecosystems establish themselves. It seems the great expansion of life has drawn to an end.
Now mortals begin appearing across the world. In Verdance, the Tasatha appear. These short elven creatures are born with a natural resistance to magic, and thus cannot manipulate the magical forces themselves. They have blue or purple skin, with great variety from the deepest of blues to the most dark of purples, almost black. Their hair is always a color complimentary to their skin. They are quickthinking beings, able to think logically and have a natural inclination to strategy. They are strong and beautiful creatures. They are truly children of a war god. They can, in the heat of battle, enter a cool calm mentality, thinking and calculating, strategizing, appearing as dark calm visages of beauty. At least until they efficiently and effectively murder their target. These mortals quickly inhabit the grasslands of Verdance and, to a lesser degree, the jungles and temperate forests.
In stark contrast the Boroi are a brutish and powerful race. While the Tasthas true strength lays in their mind, the Boroi are beings of force and might. They are driven to carnage and destruction, have a natural understanding of weapondry and warfare. They are rodentlike in appearance, appearing like bodybuilding rabitlike humanoids. They are quite capable of growing fur that best suites their environment. The terrifying rabbitmen are so prone to combat that infighting between them is common, and their various tribes are ruled by merciless warlords. War rages between them, on individual and societal levels, constantly. The most interesting aspect of this mortal is its reproduction. They do not mate (which explains why they're so angry all the time), but instead their children burst forth from the slain corpse of a dead Boroi hours after their death. This gives the babies a good first meal and gives them a headstart in their bloody and violent life. Even from birth these mortals innately know how to fight, kill, and eat. Pacts of these mortals spring up across the world, gaining small footholds on all the continents. However the majority of these mortals live in the northern reaches of Verdance.
A third race of mortals, the Duro, are placed upon pangea by Typheus. These mortals once belonged to another world, but have now been bought and placed upon this one by the god of monsters. The greyskinned golden eyed humans are naturally resistant to magic. Their bodies becoming hardened against it through terrible terrible experiments by a race which strangled itself to death with its own power.
A fourth race of mortals is created by the god of life and order Julius. These avian mortals stand four feet tall and resemble the combination of birds of prey and humans. They live in the treetops where the jungle and the forest of pangea bleed into eachother. The Incilatro have wings and are quite capable of gliding, but self-propelled flight is beyond their ability. They split into two groups after a time. While both are omnivores, those that live in the jungle become hunters and live a hunting lifestyle based around tracking and catching their prey, often competing with the large lizards which roams the jungle. The forest Incilatro prefer a gathering lifestyle gathering nuts and fruit from the bounty of the forest. In both cases they live in large groups, coming together for safety against the elements and dangers of the world.
Finally, the great influx of mortals slows and the races begin to to situate themselves upon the world. However, the appearance of two great monsters interrupts this process.
Calyvaro, the Blazing Ox of Valor is the first to appear. A red minotar who's horns burn with an eternal fire stands tall among the treetops of Pangaea. Its immense strength is comparable only to the gods, and its eyes burn with the fires of hate and destruction. This immense creature roams the grasslands and forests of Pangaea. It occasionally goes on rampages, burning swathes of land in a long straight path.
The second monster to appear is Eurythia, the Great Queen of the Night. She is a great chitinous monster. Her lower body resembling a centipede, hosting a great number of legs. Her torso is humanoid, covered in chitin, and has two clawed spider arms. Her 8 red glowing eyes illuminate her deltoid crest and she has a regal bearing. She commands a legion of venomous spiders and centipedes, which come to plague one jungle on Pangaea, the Jungle of Webs.
Mortal prophets are chosen by the gods, and their mythology develops.
Beneath Pangaea Anno, prophet of Tauron, comes to hear the voice of his god. The truth is revealed to him. The Annelidians are not mushrooms, born of the life god, but stones born of the god of earth! This revelation is staggering to Anno, for he believed the many beasts that roamed the caverns were the dull creations of the earth, and he the descendant of the noble mushroom. His belief system is destroyed by the voice of god! Anno knows what he must do, those in the stable caverns would not be convinced so quickly, but he could prove the existence of Tauron. He travels to the twisting tunnels and, by the word of Tauron, predicts their routes. He is quickly welcomed as a great oracle, and the number of those lost and trapped in the tunnels drops to nothing. Many annelidians come to owe Anno their lives, and the people of this area abandon their previous beliefs and come to worship Tauron!
Another prophet appears on the moon of this planet. A Sciro named Xik hears the word of Acter and is filled with acter's power. New skills come so quickly to Xik that many Sciro see him as a great source of wisdom and skill. When the time comes for the moon to expand, he leads many Sciro up onto the tree of salvation, telling them that they will soon see that the tree is actually the creation of Acter. Many do not believe him, but most follow, if only to see his prophecy fail to come to light. It does not fail, and the Sciro, even Xik, are stunned as the earth trembles and grows outward. Boulders and rocks growing and spreading out, far beyond the horizon. In time, many will come to worship Acter as the planter of the Great Tree, giver of land, and try to follow his methods of discovery. Though the pace is slow, many begin to question the world and try to discover knowledge.
A great slab of stone descends from the sky and plants itself firmly near the Duro. It states thus:
"The worthy slayer of a child of Typheus shall be granted power beyond mortal understanding.
To those bearing the aspects of Might and Bravery, heed my challenge.
Typheus, god of Might, Bravery, and Monsters awaits you."
The Duro know not what to do, but eventually build their society around the stone. They come to offer worship to Typheus, praying and hoping that the Bringer of Death, does not send monsters to crush and devour them. They know not what else to do, and come to be a fearful and scared people. Living in constant fear that any moment the words of the slab may begin to glow, signalling their impending fate.
A strange and mysterious city appears on the moon, it's exact details seem to be in flux.
The angel Rycial appears. Powerful gods, many of your mortals know not of the light and of the glory it holds. I offer a powerful artifact, a weapon composed entirely of light. It's power to slay evil is unmatched, while it passes through the innocent without harm. The holy weapon appears as the most common weapon of the time, changing to best fit its wielder. I offer this artifact to whichever god can prove they are more righteous than all the rest.
A monster of wind attempts to enter your world! It is a terrifying beast, composed of tornadoes and it screams with fury. It seeks the destruction of all things, and will stop at nothing until the world has been blown to bits. It's power is mighty, but no match for the gods. A total of three acts will prevent its entry into your world.
Typheus (Nakeen)
Acts Inventory: 1 minor Act
Calyvaro, the Blazing Ox of Valor
Eurythia, the Great Queen of the Night
Worshiped as great Dealer of Death by Tuerrot's Unnamed Mortals (1 minor act per turn)
Rexilium (Crazyabe)
1 chaos, 1 normal, 1 minor act
Worshiped as the Wind by the Sciro (1 minor act per turn)
Tauron (ShadowClaw777)
1 minor act, 1 act
Anno- Annelid Prophet
Worshiped as One Who Leads Too and From Darkness (1 act per turn)
Acter ( Glass)
5 acts, 1 minor act
Xikla- Sciro Prophet
Worshiped as the Tree of Salvation by the Sciro
Kyazir (Taricus)
2 minor acts
Worshiped as the sky by the Tastha (minor act per turn)
Ambient worship from Boroi (minor act per turn)
Julius (Doubloon-Seven)
The Incilatro begin to tell their stories of how the world came into being. In their folklore, the Incilatro believe that they were once the fruit of trees. Yet one day, one of the many birds of the forest laid its egg inside a particularly big fruit. From that egg, the first Incilatro was born. This is why the Incilatro cannot fly, because they are not truly birds, but fruit. And, much like fruit, they live in trees, and like birds they have wings. But they cannot be completely birds, for they cannot fly, so the reasonable conclusion is that they are fruitbirds.
The Tasatha have a very strange mythology. The myth states that the great ocean of night sky once covered the entire world. It was not confined to the heavens as it is now, but its blue-black wonder once touched the earth. However, at some point a great drought struck the lands and the ocean of night began to dry up. Most blame the sun for this. Slowly land emerged as the sky evaporated like a still lake, only in small bubbles, but those land bubbles grew larger with time. Eventually the sun rose and sliced through the darkness, forever pushing it away from the earth. Yet some of the sky was separated from the great expanse, trapped on earth in puddles. It is from these puddles that the Tasatha were born, and upon their death, their essence will return to the part of the sky which matches their skin color, for that is where they truly belong.
The Boroi could not have less of a mythology if they tried. And they often do. They believe that once there was only one Boroi, which lived a peaceful and quiet life. This life was so unbearable that the Boroi eventually became enraged and, in their anger, killed themselves. A terrible terrible act for a Boroi. From that first act of violence the Boroi were born. Now all Boroi are born, live, and die in violence. To do otherwise is to be insane, and suicidal. Nonviolent boroi are normally killed out of fear of them spreading insanity.
Not long after the Incilatro expand into a full race that a hero emerges among them. A levelheaded mediator Cekh was selected by Julius to be his voice. Cekh was told the true creation story of his people, and was given power over plants in a druidic fashion. This terrified the raptorperson. His entire life he believed he was a fruit and was one with the trees, not he is told that he is the child of a skyking who grows the forests like grass. It was a lot to take in, so Cekh shared this information with the people. He showed them the druid powers, and he told them that a god of life created them. But they did not believe him. While he was a great mediator, he could not persuade the people so easily. Most believed that he was intuned with nature, but they didn't buy into the idea of a god creating them. They mostly just said that the fruit in his soul was particularly potent and thats why he could grow the fruits and move the trees. The idea of gods was superstition to them, for it was so obvious to the average Incilatro that his powers were related to fruit, so he must be a fruit. Frustrated, Cekh was given these powers, but it would take time to dissuade the people of their believed mythology.
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Topic: Gods of Creation III (IC) (Read 28711 times)