And slowly the rusty wheels of the universe screech against inertia and slowly, ever so slowly, begin to grind forward once more. The Old God's, having suddenly lost contact with the realms of mortals, either left or waited for this day to come. Yet, as the creaking of the great walls between mortal and God belows out through the heavens, others are drawn near. .
The world had changed a great deal in this time. The war on Verdance had come to an end, the participants parted after the spilling of blood. Dark and unknown foreigners from far flung stars fly closer and closer. Kyzair and the angel Erin leave quietly in the night to fornicate in fragrant and flighty Olympian heavens of a distant realm. You doubt the pair will return, though not because you think their relationship will last more than blink of an eye for the gods, but because they are wanderers. The universe calls them to move, each for reasons as deep and ingrained in their divinity as one's heart is ingrained in one's soul. No, they shall likely not return.
Yet in the absence of Kyzair's careful lordship, Verdance grew wild and dangerous. Its's once well kept societies and beautiful landscapes grow unkempt. Tentacles in the sky dim the sun's blaze and weathers the minds and hearts of mortal men. A writhing twisting gloom permeates the realm over the majority of Verdance. Plants grew sickly and begin to wither, and the mortals here begin to worry that they will follow suit. The various kingdoms of Tasatha, all but done away with their Boroi warlords and claimed by the fair southerners, quarreled and warred over what little food they could muster to coax out of the increasingly barren and beautiful landscape. This land has changed them, their eyes grow white and their skin pale grey. These Greyskins have adapated to their strange land. Verdance had grown colder as well, not due to the Ice Princess licking her wounds in the far reaches of the distant gelid tundra, haunting frozen glacial halls of frozen icy fortresses. No, the simple dimness of the place prevented the sun from replacing the fleeting warmth, and the land grew cold and angry. As you return, you look down upon the grim land. A haunting place it has become, it’s hills covered with scraggle grass and it’s trees blow brittly in the wind, near devoid of leaves. The tentacles in the sky have faded away, but a darkness clings to this place, casting strange light. The light here is grey with a purple twinge, when some peirces the clouds. Even the dawn and dusk are an strange shade of orange, which casts ill and ominous shadows. The Tasatha kingdoms here are small and morbid, clinging to what meager lives they can in a truely haunted land. Yet not all is dark, the southern coast, beyond the reach of the Grimsky, as the Tasatha have named it, remains bright and vibrant. Here the kingdom of Tasan has grown. A relic of the glory days of Verdance, it’s people are as bright and beautiful as their ancestors.
A strange new creature once appeared across Verdance, and the people lamented their sudden new neighbors. The corpse eaters had appeared across all of Verdance! These wild beasts spread out across the planes and tundra of the wilting wilds of Verdance. Within hours, a terrible fate had become all of those which appeared or spread beneath the permafrost. Their fate unknown, yet their death was most certain. Their skin turned grey and their organs rotted. Not one survived in the thawed lower regions of this unforgiving land. Those that remained in the ice found themselves in one of the most inhospitable places on the planet. Crevices, unseen and unknowable, could not be spotted until one plummeted into their hidden maw. Large slimey predators lurked beneath the snow, snatching nearby victims who wander to close. Boroi marauders and Zail hunting packs sliced and stabbed the wrenched insects and roasted them on a beacon of heat in an endless expanse of frost. Never has a species had so cruel a god as to send living beings into such an obviously and overtly inhospitable land. All that remains of the corpse eaters, mere years after their creation, are a few dozen in the frozen forests of Aedan trees. To which, they exist in small numbers today. All other perished upon the face of Verdance. Luckily, in a stroke of benevolence, a small group was placed on the Troon. Those fared much better their earthly brethren. Yet the pickings here were slim, not due to barren hollow tundra, but sheer competition. Scraps were devoured post haste, and no corpse lasted long in this diverse landscape. The corpse eaters here must be lucky enough to find food, as well as not become it themselves. They exist still, a rarity upon the wild moon. Truly no monster, mortal, or beast has been so decimated as these unfortunate children of an inattentive god.
Yet this was not the only new oddity to saunter across the garden of biodiversity that is the moon of this world. No, for two new gods had set their sights on one of the most rare of mortals. The noble grung. Giant slothlike red mortals with claws as hard and sharp as bronze. These majestic mortals roamed the jungle of the moon with such languid malaise that no god had dared try to force them into direct worship. For it would be easier to convince the fiery and frozen bones of the earth to rise up and preach their names, than to convince a grung to do the same. Yet still, the young gods endeavored to make their mark upon this world through the most unlikeliest of means.
Hewhogathersmuch was large grung, full of vim and vigor unlike any grung before him. Yet this was still considered incredibly ponderous compared to other mortals. Though, most pass this off as an urban legend. Indeed, the grungs of the moon had grown much larger and more complacent than their planar cousins upon Cariber and Pangea. Here the wild gutrees grew tall and strong. Their boney exterior pitmarked by the strong claws of the grungs who built their homes there. All grungs knew gutrees made some of the best homes, and Hewhogathersmuch had a mighty fine tree. Yes indeed, his nest was quite impressive and he had a store of food that could feed him for months, so well stocked was his little larder. His neighbor Onewhowritesofstarlight who lives six trees over complimentes Hewhogathersmuch on the construction of his home quite often. Hewhogathersmuch was quite happy with his quiet life, he had recently built a bridge and attracted a mate which had only recently left. This left Hewhogathersmuch time to think and philosophize in the slow manner that grungs do. While contemplating the meaning of a particular leaf above his nest Hewhogathersmuch got a strange thought, and began to see the time and spacial components which led that leaf to that spot. He saw the tree take in nutrients, the rain water the tree, and the insects scurry across it. This was interesting to Hewhogathersmuch and he thought on it some more. A few days later he concluded this indeed a special leaf. At one point he even heard the leaf speak. Apperantly its name was Shalael and it was a god. Hewhogathersmuch knew little of the gods, but seeing as this leaf wasn't hear a month ago, he figured Shalael must be fairly new at this. Hewhogathersmuch decided after molasses contemplation rolled forth off his savory mind and Hewhogathersmuch looked back through the leaf to see how it got here. He saw the birth of the universe, the gods, the stars, the firery explosions of creation and destruction played out against and empty heartless and indifferent void. He saw the works of the gods, their malevolence, indifference, anger, compassion, curiosity, and power. He saw nations rise and fall, battle fields of blood and death, starvation, a near plague, angels, demons, monsters, abominations, a glorious rodent, two dragons, and the infinite plight of all mortals screaming out to gods which can neither hear nor care. Hewhogathersmuch vomited into his larder.
Another grung, Redwhichclimbsthetree, too was visited by a god. Redwhichclimbsthetree was equally unfortunate in his visit from his new patron. While building a bridge to attracted a nearby woman named Shewhichknowswherethesweetfruitgrows, he suddenly lost consciousness. A vision of a happy future was promised to him by a great and terrible abomination. Chosen by this god, Redwhichclimbsthetree was given a power to provide divine healing once per day. It could not do much, for the god had no power to spare on granting this gift, but a token of power none the less. Redwhichclimbsthetree slowly thanked the god which was slowly fading into cold wet darkness. The god looked incredibly concerned as water separated you two and he disappeared, screaming your name. Yet as he blurred out of focus, the riverbottom faded in. Redwhichclimbsthetree had fallen into the river and was drowning! A mix of desperate struggling and pure luck got him close to the surface. Yet, it was not enough. And he sunk once more into the churning undertow. Death came slowly after Redwhichclimbsthetree, a dark and cold catfish swimming down the river, mouth agape. Yet in those final moments before Redwhichclimbsthetree was sucked into that still and eternal gullet, the words of Dabo flooded his mind and water was replaced by divine power. With his second wind, Redwhichclimbsthetree floundered onto the shore and breathed heavily until the sun set on his shivering body. It is there Redwhichclimbsthetree slept that night..
Eons later, Hewhogathersmuch has passed, but not without leaving his mark upon the world. His divine insight led him to creat Grunghold, the only Grung city in the universe. A towering bastion of white stone walls, no god can see into this fortress city upon the Troon. What fate of those who live, or once lived here, a mystery. Though one scrap remains, an organization of paladins, the Gatherers, tasked with ridding the world of the greatest evils, namely, the Red Witch.
Redwhichclimbsthetree still lives. His power to spare others grew as he aged and he became a powerful healer. At least for a time. As they became stronger, they defied death at every turn, amassing magic power and knowledge. However, mortals weren’t designed to live forever. As the eons went on, cracks began to show. Memories overwritten, the body broke down, but would not die, even if they desired it. By the time of the gods return, Redwhichclimbsthetree had become the Red Witch. An ancient and emaciated Grung necromancer, twisted in form into a red skeleton. Using their powers, they took the long way to Verdance, passing through the empty void of space, unable to die. It seems the once place their enemies cannot reach. There they reside, in a tower of grey stone, constructed and guarded by emaciated Tasatha who have been blessed with living undeath, and the risen corpses of those less fortunate to earn the witch’s favor.
It has been a great deal of time since the gods set their sights on Carociber. Yet strange things stirred amid the swirling chaos of blood and shit and fire. Long forgotten by the heavens, Anuthhurr had prowled these curving cliffs and roiling blood rivers uncontested by any heavenly hand. The powerful beast had been given power over flesh and he wielded it with a fist of blood and bone. After conquering his tribe, he conquered his neighbors, and then their neighbors until he had carved a bloody empire into the flesh of the land. Now he rules as a bloody warlord from a fortress of bone. Fountains of tears and gall fill a moat of vomit around this horrifying living fortress. Truly terror knows no bounds in this land forsaken by the gods.
Though, other regions have grown more tame. While the east remains wild, having more volcanic activity as well, and the klix there are lorded over by the Anuthhurr King, the west has become slighly more tame. It has evolved into two distinct areas, the Giant Bonewoods and the Purple Plains. The Bonewoods seems to have occured when a particular kind of bonetree evolved. This bonetree was able to outcompete not only it’s competitors, but the land itself. As the ages passed, this area became a singular white pine forest with red needles. The klix here have adapted more avian and primate features to adapt to their forest home. The other area of note is the Purple Plains. A vast expanse of purple, red, blue, and white, hair-like structures grows over this entire area, interspaced with flesh lilies. Bloodslimes are especially common here, as are millilice, a strange offshoot of the millileaches which roam the tall hairgrasses.
Yet another section of Carociber had changed greatly. The ancestral home of the Aedans had changed as well. At some point during the eons past, lost to the gods, the island broke from the continent and formed into a large island, or rather, a minicontinent. It is only a few days by ship from Carociber. Yet upon it, Port Aedan has become a thriving, if not strange city. The unusual energy of the eldritch power is less destructive to the minds and bodies of mortals here on the port (though still rather potent away from the city). Yet, it’s twisting roads and unusual geometry still baffles all who visit there. Streets rearrange themselves, and buildings can often be found in multiple places simultaneously, or are completely inaccessible. The Aedans have an innate instinct of these changes, but other mortals are constantly trying to keep up with this city. Serving as a port, travellers will often stop here between pangea and verdance, or for those daring, Carociber or the Moaki Archipelago.
At the end of the last era of the gods a new form of life magic erupted forth from the moon. The work of the Pantheon of the Troon no doubt. This mysterious force fills every living thing under the heavens with traces of Mana, and from some of them more mana flows forth. Great wells of power collect in the wonderous places of the natural world. As the gods drifted from they world, they could feel the world shift and creak as the balance of life itself shifted. Strange things appear in the wilds, great and primal beasts. Over the eras, druids and shamans have tapped into this energy. And that would shape the future of the troon, or rather, the present.
When the gods return to look upon the troon. What they see confuses them greatly. There is, what is obviously, the troon. But lurking in the sky there is another celestial object. A great crystal moon of almost equal size to the troon. Mountain ridges, rivers, and flat smooth planes of crystal cover the strange moon. No natural life can be seen here, with a few exceptions. Large perfectly circular domes contain trees and grasslands, a shimmering force covering them to create the dome. Bits of crystal have grown up and over the base of the dome, unable to grow inward. Elsewhere, several crystal cities have been built. Duros, boroi, and sciro are the majority of the population here. Yet they all share one trait none normally have, glassy gem-like eyes, and strange crystal horns in a variety of colors and shapes.
Turning to the Troon itself, the world there has changed much. Most noticeably, is the Sky Tree, well, at least what remains of it. At some point in the past, it appears the massive tree was petrified and felled! It’s stoney remains stretching miles away from the trunk. However, a new tree has grown from it’s stump, standing at three quarters the size of the original. The remains of a petrified giant snake coil around the tree, it’s fangs lodged deep in the trunk, it’s stoney eyes closed. This area has become heavily populated and is split into three sections. Greatlog refers to the felled original Skytree. Greatstump refers to the petrified stump of the original skytree. And Greattree is the current skytree city. Greatlog and Greatstump have both been heavily colonized. Miles and miles of petrified stone have been carved out by the industrious Sciro to form these cities, which continue underground into Greatroot. Though Incilatro live in all locations, Greattree is heavily dominated by them. Unlike the other sub-cities, Greattree is built around the tree rather than into it. The winding snake is used as a staircase, connecting and anchoring the vertical city.
On the far side of the world, directly opposite the Skytree, another smaller Skytree marks the south pole of the world. Unusually, it sits in a massive crater, with only it’s canopy sticking above the crater walls. Deep within, the Shaded City is the third largest city on the troon, it is carved into the solid stone of the crater and intermingles in the exposed roots of a near floating sky tree. Beneath it, a wooden temple grown from the trunk and roots stands as the city center. Lastly, a bustling trade city, whos original name is lost to the ages, but is simply called Midland, has risen up. Unlike the other cities, this one stands on it’s own, built of stone, wood and metal. Here many duro, vri, and boroi descendants live.
Even more strange are the actions deep beneath the earth. Tauron begins a plan to bring about the first true economy of this world and construct the Powder Road, a long stable pathway through the tunnels that connects various Allelid, Duros, and Ishagi settlements. Tauron causes large quantities of Powder crystals to grow across the caverns, yet for some reason, very few deposits appear near the annelids encampments in the stable caverns and their section of the Twisted Tunnels. It seems as though several supernatural entities have pilfered this resource before the mortals could even track down the deposits. Curiously enough, the dragon Phybur begins hoarding it in vast quantities. Yet the annelids were not helpless, and their tenacity allowed them to collect modest amounts to trade to Ishagi. Yet a winding trip down the Powder Road later, the annelids discovered something aggravating about their unusual giant neighbors. They don't want Powder Crystals. In fact, they wanted to sell them to the cultists! Eventually a deal to trade annelid metal for Ishagi blast powder and the flow of the Powder road begins to trickle. As part of the deal, some ishagi are recruited at a high price, to bolster the annelid forces. With the two races standing side by side, a crusade against the dragon began. Small skirmishes, hit and run attacks, and occasional battles typified the early days. Many of these were victories for the annelids, and their allies. Yet unfortunately, this conflict garnered bizarre attention from various groups. Sides were chosen, and it becomes clear that perhaps the annelids chose incorrectly. Angry duros soldiers, hardened by uncountable battles, and defined only by two numbers, friends lost and ishagi killed, marched through the caves. Their eyes burned and dragonforged armor glittered across their breasts. For many, the dragon Phybur offered them hope of avenging their slaughtered families and the death of the monsters that plague their world. Wind howled through the once still caves as a great beast raged in the sky above, occasionally swooping down to strike the earth with its celestial talons, causing rock falls and injuries without prejudice of which side soldiers and civilians fought for. Strange new beasts appeared in the caverns as well. Crocktapus, as the men quickly dubbed them, were dog sized frogs with powerful tentacles which slithered from their wide boney mouth, constantly agape and filled with wigglingly and powerful tentacles. These creatures lay in wait, and use their tongue tentacles to drag unsuspecting prey into their mouths. Strange meaty mushrooms appear in some areas, the annelids take a particularly liking to the flavor. They claim it tastes of some sort of foreign bird, not of this world. They call this strange flavor 'khican'. Yet the most dangerous of the new creatures roaming the dull and fathomless depths, unpredictable tunnels, and hollow cavern halls, were the Comoondo Dragons. The soldiers are convinced they are dragonlings of the elder dragon. Yet no evidence has been put forth to confirm this. The Comoondos are large reptiles with a pack mentality. Their long gecko-like bodies can span up to three meters long. They have a variety of powers, including ability to cling to walls with great skill and ease, vision which is perfectly adapted to the darkness, a mild paralytic venom which affects many creatures, yet no reptiles, and a distinct love of annelid flesh. They cause a great deal of issues for the men, as small parties are completely wiped out by these hungry pack hunters. Yet it seems that the wyrms object to their presence here, often killing them on sight and burning their bodies. Despite all these issues, the annelid army won several battles, but as time wore on and more enemies rose against them, the Annelid army was pushed back quite a bit. The forges were working full time now, but mining slimes only dig so fast and the quality of armor is vastly inferior to dragonforged armors. Truly this is a predicament most grave. Yet perhaps there is hope. With the aid of divine assistance, the ishagi are gifted with knowledge of machinery. They find this information to be a wise gift from Tauron, and he gains favor with the race. Within days, crossbows are distributed among the wounded remains of the army, and their hold on their fortified section of the Powder Road is solidified. At least, it was.
In the eons past, the dragon Phybur reached the center of the planet. There, the frozen heart of a Titan dwelled. After claiming this power, it ascended to hear god-hood. With power unrivaled by the gods, for a thousand years it ruled the lands. Many believe it was this power which seperated the gods from the world. In this period the Duros and Annelids under his command became more and more corrupted by his power, becoming dragonic in nature. He built a great kingdom which came to cover a quarter of pangea and half the underworld beneath it. Yet, it's power eventually consumed him. The Titan soul eventually degraded the dragons body and it's power, and empire collapsed. Dragonbelly, the now capital of the crumbled empire, is built within his massive bones and extends from the surface near to the center of the planet. Brightglow is the second major city beneath the earth. It was beyond the reach of the dragon Titan and stayed mostly out of the war. Strange glowing mushrooms and crystals give this city it's iconic name, though it is located in a rather wild area of the stable caverns.
On the surface of pangea, the ishagi have built two divergent civilizations. The Mishagi continued their ways of building powerful bodies for their children forever questing for better materials. However the Shishagi have grown closer to their slime charges and continue their long lives becoming intertwined with nature. Some towns exist between both of these civilizations. Slimelake is a large inland lake which consists of one giant slime and is in the center of the Shishagi territory. Corpsegarden is the Mishagi fortress, centered in the deadlands. They have had a ceasefire with Duros kingdom of Highforge to the north for two hundred years, though about ten years ago, hostilities broke out between the two races once more. Yet this time, the Duros have a powerful ally. Calyvaro and the emblazoned have taken up residence in this land and allied themselves with the Duros. Yet this is not out of the kindness of their heart. Four hundred years ago, a power struggle between Calyvaro and Eurythia placed the two in direct conflict. The two remain in their own areas, but their children find themselves in an eternal war.
The Farlanders found themselves found themselves placed right in the middle of this conflict. With no other option, they abandoned their ship and fled underground. They have a small city named Anglersreach near a deep subterranean lake in the twisting tunnels, far from the influence of the outside world. Annelid traders often visit here for their strange goods and fish.
The Oradontos have been equally isolated from much of the world, though they have developed much. After worshiping Maringi and appeasing him, the islands became united and formed a thriving seafarer culture. They have ports on Pangea, and visit Aedenport and Highforge often. They are not a multitudenous people, but I'm the coastal cities, they are not uncommon. Luckily for them, during the age of Phybar, Maringi collapsed the tunnels connecting their island to the mainland, which prevented the opposing dragons army from invading the archepeligo. Though, other dangers still lurk. A giant rat fish has often made trouble for seafarers, though it is powerful, Maringi has chased it off every quarter century or so.
The gods look upon the world. It has changed and grown, and there is much left unanswered as to what has happened in their time lost. Now they turn their sights once more to the lands of mortals.
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Topic: Gods Of Creation: IV (IC) (Read 2439 times)