A ripple of agony ran through Vymrl's being. The god spasmed beneath the oceans, sending shock waves rippling through the murky waters. The new part of him, the Aberration Within, twisted and tore, seeking to mix its otherness with the rest of his essence. The god howled again, shuddering. Then, Vymrl surrendered. His inner defenses crumbling, the torrent of aberrant power coursed through him, and receded.
The slightest alteration of his physical form had taken place, everything about him seemed a little slurred, but nothing more. Rising from the depths, Vymrl returned to the world.
The god sought, however, another tool. He slipped into Tamurung, now protected by both the Shroud of Veros and the Ex-Temporal Shell, and began work. Utilizing his dominion of Time, the god called the echoes of his convulsions from assimilating the aberrant taint back into the world. He quickly trapped them, distilling the minuscule amount of taint that he had thrown off, and solidified the substance.
From the essence of the plane, he called forth a raging inferno, melting and searing the taint until it liquefied. Into this substance Vymrl poured power, pure and undiluted, filling it with his yearning. To mortal minds, this would drive them to follow his will, or comprehend mysteries previously beyond their ken. To any who resisted the artifacts pull, flickers of agony would dance within their minds, ceasing only when they followed the Grand Marshall of War. Vymrl called this new instrument the Glistening Agony. ----------
Across the world, Beholders, Aboleths, and Saughahin felt a call. Following it, the pull, the feeling of weird otherworldly-ness, the horrors, the aberrations of the world grouped together in center of the ocean. Their, these Exemplars of Insanity raised a great city, the metropolis of Sarakesh.
PP 3PP-Create Artifact: Glistening Agony (Guide) 1PP-Guide Populous: Aboleths- Worship Vymrl and congregate in the center of the ocean. 1PP-Guide Populous: Saughahin-(See above) 1PP-Guide Populous: Beholders-(See Above) 1PP (Ssabrec)- Nourish Populous: Sarakesh
((OOC: I'm grouping Beholders, Saughahin and Aboleths into one nation, that of Sarakesh))
4 PP - Given to Vymrl 1 PP - Given to Shurka. Aether Ripples Guide PP - Given to Help Mechalibur. 1 PP - Given to Hammu Bloodstone Mold PP - Given to Hammu. Wondermaker Create PP - Given to Chapien 1 PP - Nourish (from Bloodstones) - Drakhorn.
All the artifact points should count toward my max expenditure for the turn Goodbye and Have Fun in these few days when I'm off
The planet was hollow, something it had been for untold millenias, a thin crust separating one inner and one outer world. Earth was meant to be one. To be solid, to be united, to not be disfigured by two horrible holes...but things would change..
The inner world begun to shrink as new earth, rock, minerals and stone was shaped and pushed, oceans and exisiting landmass in front of it. This process took nearly a century and was barely noticed by the local population.
Shape Land 5 PP: Creating more mass in the inner parts of the world. In consequence the Inner world gets smaller.
The ruins of Old Terena were home to a variety of strange and dark creatures. Any person who entered this area was never seen again. What happened within the darkness of these ruins was a mystery to the citizens of the Terenean States, but they seemed blissfully unaware of it.
Vampires had lived in the shadows of Terena for a long time. The ruins had been the perfect location for them to stay hidden. Vampires nearly as old and Drevan were present in the ruins. Their numbers swelled whenever a foolish gnome or humite would enter their ruins to find out what really resided within.
PP Use 1 PP [+1 Eorna] - Nourish Populace x2 - Vampires have large numbers in the ruins of Old Terena.
(OOC: I sure do a lot of actions that don't help my PP gain at all)
Azor'Chapien was once again in his fortress at Azora, looking on his now-larger island. His worshippers were growing in number, yet maybe the Azorans weren't enough. Sure, they were chivalrous followers of the Code, yet the only followed that one aspect of the Code. There was another side of the Code, a side of Honor and Warriors, isntead of Chivalry and Justice.
Thus, in the large network of tunnels beneath the surface of Azora, a new race came into being. They were like dragons, yet they were like people as well... they were the Dragonborn.
There society was based entirly around a code of Honor. Unlike the Azoran code, one was not measured by status of birth, but by their skill as a warrior. While an Azoran lord is born into his position, a Dragonborn must earn his position, and even a Dragonborn of the lowest birth could find himself a king.
Deep below the Azoran capital of Valden, another, underground city was carved from the rock directly below the city. Here was the capital of the underground Dragonborn kingdom, much like its aboveground twin.
1 + 1 Shape PP (from Topheh's late donation): The Dragonborn are created and live beneath the surface of Azora. 1 PP Guide Populace: The Dragonborn worship Azor'Chapien. 1 PP Guide Populace: The Dragonborn form a government based around Honor and strength of Arms. 1 PP Guide Populace: A large amount of Dragonborn move beneath the city of Valden and build a city of there own, unaware of the Azorans living above them.
From a deep, long slumber, Torvek found himself on the stone slab atop of his home. Dolestre was sound asleep on the ground near the slab. Hondala was seen hovering just above the ground in front of Torvek.
"Had a good night sleep, Torvek?" Hondala asks. She gives a quiet giggle.
Torvek yawns. "Wow- that was some nap. I don't remember what happened last, but I'm glad to be home." He looks around, and focuses on Dolestre's sleeping body. He shoves her lightly with a nudge. "Hey, sis- wake up."
"You don't remember? Hmm... how unfortunate..." Hondala laughs.
"Huh? What's so funny?" Torvek stares at Hondala in confusion. He scratches his head.
Hondala rolls over on the floor. "You should check out your face!" Hondala rises up to Torvek's eye level, and turns into a brilliantly solid surface that reflected Torvek's face. Scribbled on his face are black markings that outline his scales, and some outline a pair of spectacles.
Torvek gasps. "AAAAAH!!! What did you do to me!??"
Hondala assumes her amorphous form and starts bawling with laughter as she rolls along the floor. Dolestre opens her eyes from all of the commotion.
"Okay- what's going on with you two?" Dolestre stands up with her arms crossed over.
Torvek turns around and points at his face. "Look at what Hondala did to my face while I was sleeping!"
Dolestre studies it for a moment. She smiles and starts laughing along with Hondala. Torvek looks at the two. "O-kay...?" -----------------------
Corelloth studies the Chaos for a moment, as she stares down at the huge gateway that has strange formations already circling around it. Elementals of all sorts come around the gateway- hoping to unleash their fury upon the mortal worlds on the other side.
She smirks. "I've been waiting for this to happen. I shall prepare the components needed to open the gateway as soon as possible." She thinks for a moment. "But first, I must take care of a few things before I let myself go do my thing- I must first distract the gods somehow, as to not spoil my plans. I shall keep this doorway concealed until I'm ready." She turns to the Gateway looming below her. "I must ask you a favor, my sweetie- I do not want anyone to see you at the moment while I'm away, so that my plans don't go awry." The Gateway speaks. "I SHALL HIDE MYSELF FROM YOUR ENEMIES, AS YOU COMMAND. BUT BE QUICK ABOUT IT- I GROW TIRED OF WAITING."
"Consider it done, then." Corelloth summons her spear, and she disappears from the Chaos. The Gateway crackles with energy, and molds itself into the contours of the environment- it is now invisible.
If you missed the old Play-by-Post Haven, don't fret! You still have a chance to play with others in the community! Click here to go to the new Play-by-Post Haven!
Over time, the sentience that was the City of Gears had stayed the same. Collecting the knowledge that was contained in the Crystals that were used to store and transmit information, it still remained sentient in a very small way, hardly aware at all.
Then this changed. Bursts of power unseen ran through its mind, awakening it, expanding its sentience, giving it new thoughts and new horizons. Those few artificers who happened to be communing with it were shocked out by the rush of power. It would take a long time to determine what had happened, as the new sentience was still unsure of itself, and was reclusive.
Among the things that the sentience had discovered was the magic that ran through it and its shapeable nature. Guided by something beyond its ken, used this power to reach out, explore beyond the boundaries of the city. It found two other cities like it, inhabited by the same people. As soon as it did, brilliant links of power flashed between them and it. Space twisted, and changed shape, bringing the cities into alignment.
3 pp: Create Artifact(Greater)(Gear of Creation): The City of Gears becomes fully sentient, and gains the ability to move people between itself, Aether Home, and Far Home. Its sentience also begins to spread to include these cities. 1 pp: Nourish Populace(Gears): Iron State grows stronger.
Giving 1 PP to Chapien (retroactively) for the creation of the dragonborn.
Once more, Convincer fell to his knees as the laughter overwhelmed him, pounding against the inside of his head as he felt the staff of earth go warm once more. As he slipped into unconciousness, his last thought was that he needed to talk to Nixis about this. ~~~~~~~~~~ Below Terena, A shape materialized over the Mournelord's trapped form. hazy and insubstancial, it gazed down upon the vampires which had formed his inner circle.
"Report on the progress of your work."
One of the vampires bowed.
"Your fortress is complete, and many of our number are rallying to train in the arts of defense to hold this place against any invader. What shall we do next, Mournelord?"
SSarok looked down at the vampire before him.
"Now? We turn our gaze back above to those who banished me here, and whose blood I know you long for. Soon, soon we will have our revenge!"
The Vampires bowed and left the room, and the Mournelord's projection dissipated back into nothingness.
Elsewhere in the city, the iron-entombed heads of those killed by the Mournelord still stood in silent testimony to their slaughter. One by one, ghostly skulls detached themselves from their mortal counterparts, and floated upwards, turning into massive hordes of skulls driven insane by the pain and depravity of their deaths. They roamed the outer edges of the city, searching for the living to exact their revenge upon... for the simple crime of still being alive.
1 PP: From Staff of Earth: Mold Land: Create a dirt and stone castle for the Mornelord's body. 1+1 PP: From Convincer: Guide Populace (lesser): Vampires learn Warden class 2 PP: Spawn Creature (paragon): Abyssal Skull Hordes, formed from the entombed heads of those killed at the Mournelord's orders. See below for stats.
And with this, at least for me, Old Terena as an adventure site is ready to go. All we need to start is some overzealous humite who wants a bigger basement to break through into the underground, and we'll be golden. Assume various creepy things have been happening in town, but nothing to reach the level of a denourish.
Iyelle had unlived for millenia. Most humites had thought she was dead after the vampires had attacked Rathali, but Drevan would not allow her to find any freedom in death. She had hid among the ruins of Rathali for many years, until the ruins of Old Terena had called to her. She was an incredibly talented invoker, but she now used her divine connection to serve darker purposes. She performed gruesome experiments on makeshift altars.
Her first experiments were called flesh puppets. First she would capture other humites, and kill them with her magic. This method of killing left their body intact for her work. She would then cut the body open, and fill it with an explosive alchemical substance. She then used a vile ritual to animate the bodies. Any major damage to them would cause the substance to explode. She called them flesh puppets.
Her next experiment involved stripping her enemies of their shadows. It was an interesting idea she had, and her dark magics allowed it to work. She would kidnap any creatures that roamed near the ruins, and use a special spell that would kill them, but keep their shadow alive. These shadows caused mental damage to their opponents with just a touch. Iyelle called these shadowspawn
PP Use 3 PP [+1 Bloodvine] - Spawn creature (paragon) x2 - Created flesh puppets and shadowspawn
Shadow might be the only person still playing that remembers Iyelle (maybe Wyld, too). Anyway, to Topheh: Are you planning on Old Terena being a heroic, paragon, or epic adventure? I want to know so I can adjust how much I spend on them
