Yea, I'm thinking of making a mortal Champion or three, but since everyone interested can just become a god I'll probably just do them myself. Actually, I'm not sure exactly what our goal is here. Is there a point when we'll be 'done'?
((Well, we've been at this a little over a week now and already we've gone through a brief plague war and now we have light and darkness[?] throwing down. I imagine it'll probably be another month tops before we blow the thing to hell, turn it back into a giant fish and start over.))
Horshuu walked silent and unnoticed through the lands of the Scale, clasping tightly the Ear-Stone of the Great Fish. Though he went high and low, he could find no rest. Everywhere it seemed was the noise of scampering and swimming, building and resting, breeding and dying. None of these myriad beings noticed the small and quiet Horshuu, but their activity made him nervous.
From then on, as each Craftsman would leave their new creation in search of a new project, their shadows would trace over them and leave a touch of entropy, would begin a chain of events that would cause the creations to begin to decay, as all things must. In this way nothing would be permanent, and the Craftsmen's work would never be done, but so to would they never want for things to do.
Horshuu felt the Stone respond to the decay of little things that were forgotten as the works of the craftsmen decayed... it whispered to him faintly in a barely audible voice... he could not hear it over the din of activity. But more alarmingly... the Stone began, ever so slightly, to grow.
The Quiet One grew desparate to find a quiet place where he could hear the soft voice of the stone, and where he could protect it from his jealous brothers, like Rankenphile, who seemed to like nothing better than to defile that which had been built from the Great Fish. The Ear-Stone of the Fish seemed to be its last unaltered piece, and he would not suffer it to be ruined.
So great was Horshuu's consternation that he went deep into the world and sought out the one whom he feared the most. He went into great caverns where mighty beasts walked about, though they did not notice him, or seemed to forget him as quickly as they had percieved him. Horshuu knew these creatures by their appearance, and sought out their master, the Great Salt.
Horshuu approached the throne and spoke in the loudest voice he could summon: "Brother Salt! I, the Little Horshuu, have come to speak with you."
Salt was surprised by this sudden appearance. The creature indeed had the look of his kindred, but certainly he had never heard its diminutive voice before. He looked on questioningly, his very gaze demanding explanation.
"I have come to see you, Mighty Salt," said Horshuu, "for mighy indeed you must be to have wrought this place and these great creatures. I, your little brother, have come to ask of you a favor... a favor which I am happy to return."
"All I ask of you is a quiet place in your Earth, deep below your throne room where I may be protected from your jealous brothers. You know all too well why I would seek to hide from them, for you they have done nothing but attempt to diminish your great feats. I ask you for solitude, and for... protection."
"In return, I promise you this. The passage of time will take its toll on all things, and in time even grievances will be forgotten. But you, Great Salt, will never forget a grudge. And thus, no matter what time passes, no matter what your enemies forget, you will forever be able to exact the proper retribution upon your detractors."
"Though my appearance be meek, I vow that I will make it my work to ensure this. What say you, Great Salt?"
How sentient are the races we have so far? My Swiftpads are only as smart as horses (which is basically the role they were made for), although Fleetfoot is 'wise' in the fantasy animal sense. I'm basically waiting for Rose to wake up his big guys before I do any manipulations of individuals. :P
They might be intelligent, but none of them can speak without Cosmic's input, so none of them are capable of starting a civilisation yet.
Soup notes that many new races are now appearing all across the Scale. Not wanting to be left behind, he sets to work creating his own race from the Fish's meat.
However, creating a being from scratch requires a lot of material. By the time Soup has created his tenth creature, there is hardly any meat left, and they still lack skin. Deciding that Zil could do a much better job at creating skin, Soup sets off to find him.
Soup on
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Mr_Rose83 Blue Ridge Protects the HolyRegistered Userregular
edited October 2006
((Nothing so far is sentient, or even really close. There are a few pretty bright four-armed monkey equivalents in the forests, and the big herd creatures are smart enough to defend themselves, as opposed to running away like the ancestors of scooters swiftpads would. Also, as some of you have surmised, any creature you create without Life is animated by your Divine Will and will either crumble or revert to what it was before if you stop animating it. Stuff you bred from other living things will be able to cope without you though.))
And now that the seas and the land are populous, it is time I turned my attention to the air above...
Creatures held aloft on for wide fins shall take to the skies and live amongst the clouds/ Some kinds shall hunt the small things on the ground and in the sea, others shall feed in the air from the tiniest flying things that help everything along.
And finally, the greatest flying beasts of them all will take to the air with the awakening, for I have decreed that there shall be a fourth intelligent race, one like no other, two great air-fins to lift them, great jaws of steely teeth to feed them and mighty scorching breath to defend them. And I shall make my home amongst them and my Avatar as one of them.
((yeah, I just brought dragons to the Scale. This is going to be fun!))
INeedNoSaltwith blood on my teethRegistered Userregular
edited October 2006
(( Almost all of Salt's creations are of animal intelligence, the most fierce almost purely instinct, on the level of insects.
The humanoids that Salt created are nearly sentient, but they serve him, as he has not granted them free will.
Regarding When We're Done: I think the idea was to create a setting. When we have reached a point where someone can say "Alright, let's get out the dice and roll up some heroes," I think that's when we'll be done.))
Salt is unhappy. The Scale roars with his unrest; for every feat, a penalty is placed upon him. In the name of Balance, he is struck down, further and further, with each of his accomplishments. His Avatar has been torn asunder in the name of Balance, and even his only demand - that his great domain Within The Scale be left unmarred - has been ignored in the name of fairness.
Does Salt press upon his brothers and sisters? Has he asked for anything that was not his right?
Is there a reason that the God of Balance strikes out blatantly against the Lord of the Scale?
All this time, the King over the Elemental Earth broods, and Horshuu listens, awaiting an answer, an audience...
No! Salt does not ask for anything that is not his right! He does not stop foot outside of his domain! Deities force themselves into his very HOME, spill the blood of his own CHILDREN, and he does NOTHING! But still, STILL they take from him! Take from him why?!
Because they are jealous of his power! They wish for themselves the strength of the Earth!
With a roar that explodes like thunder, Salt rends the earth beneath the Mountain, digs a quiet and safe place for the Little Brother.
"Brother Horshuu," Salt announces, "Within my great halls and within my Scale you shall never come to harm, and I shall never forget the trespasses of my kin." But with a great anger that only the God of Earth can muster, he says: "And never shall I forget what you owe me."
And although Salt, Lord of the Earth and Master Within the Great Scale has claimed his role, it is within this tunnel, at this very moment, that Anger and Hatred find themselves within his Domain.
INeedNoSalt on
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RankenphilePassersby were amazedby the unusually large amounts of blood.Registered User, Moderatormod
edited October 2006
Rankenphile feels, through the whispers of the stone and the songs carried by the wind, a great distress and movement beginning, in retribution of his works.
The Avatar of Order, with great stride infinite gaze, seeks out solace in the shadow of the great mountains, in order to contemplate his next great work, and to protect his guiding hand from being usurped by those who resent the change and balance he seeks to bring to the fledgling world.
Once he has found a suitable cove, a nook deep in a crevice between the mountains which make up the spine of the world, he is gifted with a vision. All of the creatures of this world so far are of great size and power. The plants grow strong, but the soil is becoming packed by the feet of the many beasts and the weight of time. As things fall they do not decay, but are left unchecked to pile and gather.
And so, with his guding hand the Avatar of Order gathers the motes of dust in the air and with them he forms the bodies of a seemingly infinite number of tiny creatures, with hard carapice exoskeletons and many legs, and with his other hand he gathers light and shadow, and with it gives them instinct, and with his mighty lungs he gathers the wind and so breathes life into the new creatures, all of varied form and shape.
You, my children, shall scurry and fly, and swim and burrow, and you shall be the cleaners of refuse, you shall be the tillers of soil, you shall be the spreaders of pollen and the sowers of seed.
You shall be underfoot, and you shall be unloved, for this is your curse, and you shall be crushed upon sight by the other living beasts of this world, and fed upon and thought pests, but you shall spread, and you shall thrive, and you shall be legion.
You will serve a most valuable purpose in this world, and evolve to meet the changes.You shall be the Sowers of Entropy and the Creators of Rebirth. You shall feed on the flesh of the dead and return the flesh to the soil, so that it can become part of a great neverending cycle.
Rejoyce and go forth, my tiny, miniscule children. Upon your backs rests the power of rebirth, and the curse of pestilence.
So shall there be balance, and so shall there be order.
(ooc: these would be excellent creatures to provide methods to spread plant life throughout the world, as well as spreading disease. Do with them what you will.)
Rankenphile on
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RankenphilePassersby were amazedby the unusually large amounts of blood.Registered User, Moderatormod
edited October 2006
(ooc again: well played Salt. Please know that I am not doing these acts to purposefully spite you, but as I see a Diety of Order and Balance would. But having this rivalry between us is very, very intriguing, and I am interested to see how you take this. Having you become a corrupted God of Chaos would be thoroughly interesting and fun.)
Anonymous looked upon the many creatures that began to walk, swim, and fly. As was easily predicted, his superiors the gods had began to squabble and clash, and their quarrels manifested themselves in the physical plane. Anonymous would see his ethereal kingdom begin to fill, knowing the souls to be responsibilities. He wondered, however, if the souls of the restless could ever be used in times of crisis, as an asset. Alas, this was not his place to wonder over. But the seed of thought was there, and the dissent amongst the gods showed no sign of slowing. Perhaps in the future, a time would come. For now, he tended to his flock in silence.
((Anonymous: Goumindong had control over death, which he defined as oblivion, and placed underneath the world. Your afterlife would presumably be a realm you created between Goumindong's final death and the living world, where you catch mortal souls. Is that sort of what you were aiming for? We had death, but no afterlife, until you showed up, so that would be pretty useful.
Speaking of souls, I'm thinking only Rose's creations and those of others he gives life to would have them, since the rest are essentially just constructs.))
The Avatar of Sha'mus, The Dreamer, in it's wandering of the Scale, had crushed one of the many legion of Rankenphile, one more soul sent to the waiting embrace of Anonymous.
Brought out of his reverie, Sha'mus felt the change in the air and felt the quaking rage of the angry Lord Salt. Fissures formed and new mountains arose in a violent display of raw power as the Scale reflected the ever changing mood of it's Lord.
Sha'mus, like Horshuu before him (though unknowning of this prior journey), made his way down under the Scale, passing through into the war-torn realm of Salt. There he stood before the mighty throne, in the guise of his avatar, four arms crossed a bronze chest.
"My lord cousin Salt. Great are the tresspasses our fellows have dealt you, but even greater is the damage you do the Scale above us. Rest your weary head, less you turn the Scale you love so dearly into a nightmare."
((Anonymous: Goumindong had control over death, which he defined as oblivion, and placed underneath the world. Your afterlife would presumably be a realm you created between Goumindong's final death and the living world, where you catch mortal souls. Is that sort of what you were aiming for? We had death, but no afterlife, until you showed up, so that would be pretty useful.
Speaking of souls, I'm thinking only Rose's creations and those of others he gives life to would have them, since the rest are essentially just constructs.))
((Sorry, I had thought that Goumindog was a warlock of sorts, a person who stole power from the gods and used it to kill his enemies. As for myself, my original intent was to be something like a St. Peter, a Shiva, or a Hades, a person who works admissions between the realms of the living and the dead and keeps order over the restless of the afterlife. More a custodian than a ruler. My original title was the angel of birth and death, hence the veins metaphor, but I think I may have been unclear in my explanation and it seems that I came across as ruling over the dead, so I rolled with the idea. Regardless, I'm open to character changes. As far as soullessness goes, you're right and I didn't think of that.))
Anonymous Robot on
Sigs shouldn't be higher than 80 pixels - Elki.
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INeedNoSaltwith blood on my teethRegistered Userregular
((Anonymous: Goumindong had control over death, which he defined as oblivion, and placed underneath the world. Your afterlife would presumably be a realm you created between Goumindong's final death and the living world, where you catch mortal souls. Is that sort of what you were aiming for? We had death, but no afterlife, until you showed up, so that would be pretty useful.
Speaking of souls, I'm thinking only Rose's creations and those of others he gives life to would have them, since the rest are essentially just constructs.))
((We should definitely clarify the different forms of Life, as I'm partial to the idea that only Rose can grant 'true' life (complete with souls and sentience when we get around to that), and although any deity can make a creature, only with Rose's aid can they be honest-to-god (lolol) living.))
((imho, Anonymous, I think you're doing fine..While Goumindong represents idea of oblivion, you seem to be more towards the afterlife, which like Red Berry Blue stated, has no patron. A custodian of the souls, moving them on to the afterlife - maybe defining the afterlife itself, and how it connects to the oblivion set up by Goumindog could work.))
((Edit: I agree with Salt, too. Everyone can creature constructs animated by their divine will, but they're not truely alive. Rose has the true power to give life and all that it entails.))
Shamus on
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RankenphilePassersby were amazedby the unusually large amounts of blood.Registered User, Moderatormod
edited October 2006
((the insects I have created were inteded to be essentially soul-less. I feel that the sentient beings should be the ones with souls, once they are created, but I will leave that to the wisdom of the dieties of that realm, at least until I feel that the Hand of Order and Balance is needed.
edit: also, to clarify, I have placed a curse upon the avatars, when I tore away Salt's avatar's shadow, in that all avatars will share pain, and all damage done to one of our avatars shall be done to all. In other words, if one had the power to truly kill an avatar of a god, than all of the other avatars would be destroyed as well. This is a measure I took out of seeking balance and order, as a way of enforcing a pact of nonviolence against one another personally, but it certainly doesn't change how we can effect each others' works in any way.))
Swiftpads are living creatures, being 'created' from Rose's herd creatures through selective breeding and speeded evolution. Hey, gods can use evolution.
But as for whether or not they have souls.... *shrug*
Scooter on
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RankenphilePassersby were amazedby the unusually large amounts of blood.Registered User, Moderatormod
edited October 2006
Has anyone yet claimed the Soul of the Fish, or the ability or dominion over sentience and intelligence, or of the soul itself?
((What about breeding? Only creatures made or touched by Rose can breed? That fits, and like Rank said, normally only sentient beings are said to have souls.))
Also, as some of you have surmised, any creature you create without Life is animated by your Divine Will and will either crumble or revert to what it was before if you stop animating it. Stuff you bred from other living things will be able to cope without you though.
*/cough*
As for the soul of the Great Fish, I'm pretty sure that's US; individual fragments of the Most Divine trying to make sense of their new forms...))
((Maybe we should carve up the soul of the Great Fish and scatter it far and wide so as to let some souls develop of their own recourse and give us more stuff to bicker over?
Anyways, looking forward to some sentient life. Kinda hard being a hippy-dippy downer of a god without followers! ))
((Anonymous: Goumindong had control over death, which he defined as oblivion, and placed underneath the world. Your afterlife would presumably be a realm you created between Goumindong's final death and the living world, where you catch mortal souls. Is that sort of what you were aiming for? We had death, but no afterlife, until you showed up, so that would be pretty useful.
Speaking of souls, I'm thinking only Rose's creations and those of others he gives life to would have them, since the rest are essentially just constructs.))
Above and Below, they are figurative realms, like the etherial plane or some such. Above and Below mean different things to Gods.
Thus the Lord of Death and Magic rose up again, life had come over the earth. Such is the tragedy that life, unrestrained, creates suffering, and it is only amerlioated with death. He took his great staff and made a hole in the beasts through which their soul would spill when their body was no longer capable of holding it. The released souls then traveled to the underworld where they were kept, waiting for judgement.
edit: I claimed the soul of the fish, but it just represents an aspect of power, so anyone else is free to claim the soul under "intelligence" or some such thing. As well there is no steward of the souls to the afterlife and no definition as yet of what that afterlife is. A steward is definitly up for graps, as well is the concept of judjement. Judgement and I would probably overlap in scope as it pertained to magic and death, but i dont have any plans on setting any hard and fast rules for judgement in the afterlife as of yet.
From the emptiness left in the fish from being gutted, another being began to form. The nothingness of the fish began to coalesce into something. After several long, slow hours enough void had gathered, wrought together by raw will it formed into a black Dodecahedron, no larger then the size of a human eye. The blackness of it was so extreme that it was almost impossible to tell how close you were to it. Light simply seemed to fall into it, and in fact it did. It’s power waxed in waned in short pulses, distorting the very fabric of reality around it. The small black hole in reality drifted silently down towards the budding material plane.
And thus, Ǽther the being of nothingness was brought into existence.
Well, now I’ve laid claim to something. I only got around to reading the first few pages before I knew I had to be in on this. So, the being of nothingness will lay dormant for a bit while he catches up on back-story.
I'll take Intelligence and invention, if nobody minds.
The fish lay gutted, torn, and completely non-existent. It had no gifts left to share. But the Gods themselves, in their struggles and creation, had given birth to a force unforetold. In the dim spaces between the divine portfolios, a being of invention, planning, and some little Order formed. At first unconcious, it spread the basic theorem and thought of understanding. With the discovery of basic, foundation arithmetic, it was birthed. Thorpe, it named itself; lord of Rationality. Like its fellow gods, Thorpe created an avatar, an impossibly complex jumble of lines, circles, shapes, and numbers, arranged into a vast, unknowing pattern. Self-aware, Thorpe begins to spread and nurse the rational sciences: philosophy, science, and mathematics amongst the fledgling races. Only by understanding the laws of the Scale can things larger even than it be discerned.
((Invention is taken (craftsmanship). Intelligence is free, but there is a deity of puzzles, riddles and contradictions, and another of creative thought, and another of speech, so you might find a bit of overlap there. Learning and knowledge would be better.))
((Invention is taken (craftsmanship). Intelligence is free, but there is a deity of puzzles, riddles and contradictions, and another of creative thought, and another of speech, so you might find a bit of overlap there.))
...damn.
Well, I'll try to retcon myself into pure logic/rationality, unfettered by good, evil, order, or chaos.
RankenphilePassersby were amazedby the unusually large amounts of blood.Registered User, Moderatormod
edited October 2006
So, anyone feel like doing a "the story so far" write-up at this point? We're starting to get pretty fucking complex, and a number of wires have been crossed as a result. Anyone want to take a stab at trying to explain what is going on so far?
Rankenphile on
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INeedNoSaltwith blood on my teethRegistered Userregular
So, anyone feel like doing a "the story so far" write-up at this point? We're starting to get pretty fucking complex, and a number of wires have been crossed as a result. Anyone want to take a stab at trying to explain what is going on so far?
So, anyone feel like doing a "the story so far" write-up at this point? We're starting to get pretty fucking complex, and a number of wires have been crossed as a result. Anyone want to take a stab at trying to explain what is going on so far?
I'll do it, if you give me a little while.
Do it. All that theeing and thouing is really hard to read.
I think that'd be a really good idea, Rank, I just don't know if I'd be able to convey everything successfully.
Well. I didn't state that it was a god. Because it doesn't create. And I doubt it will have any worshippers. But, it's powers. Which I will be working out in my boring three hour nightclass will revolve mainly around a plane of nothingness and reverting things to their original state of nothigness.
For example, rank resolved the build up of matter by creating insects to consume things. AEther could merely convert said matter into non-existence, removing it from the equation. Of course, it wouldn't be recycled this way.
So, less of a god. More of a force. Prehaps when he absorbs enogh he'll explode catastrophically leaving a gaping vortex of void somewhere on or possible off planet into which things can be tossed/sucked into to. *shrugs*
But think, when someone loses a sock in their dryer, they wont curse fate. They'll curse aether
Stepping into the realm of Lord Salt, Zil comes bearing ideas to exchange. He stands forward, boldly, showing no fear and, yet, bearing no hatred or ill will.
"Lord Salt, I must speak with you, for there are things we must discuss. Factions are forming about this scale of yours amongst the other Gods. Some stand against you, and some with you. While as the Keeper of Law and Justice keeps me from becoming close, I am also the Keeper of Craft, so it is imperitive that we are allies. It is not my whim to further the invasion of the others without your permission, so I am here to offer an exchange of service, as surely there are as many things I have that you might be interested as you have that I am interested in.
"My creations, the Craftsmen, are beings of wood made from Scooter's gift, and yet I need more. More sons, the Craftsmen's cousins, but I shall not build from the Trees. What I need is what you have. Stone and steel, materials so sturdy that I may shape them into even grander Craftsmen. If you would give me permission for me and my children to build from bits of your stone, I would craft for you any one thing, no matter how grand or how small. Further more, to your children, I will give them the gift of Craft and Law, so that they may shape the earth to strengthen themselves more, and structure their lives for the many to stand stronger as one."
And so, he layed out the offer. After all, what was a Craftsman without Stone to build from?
Lord Salt, my brother. Your anger calls to me, and it is justified. I am here to tell you that no matter what may come I will be by your side. For what is water, without the earth to border and shape it? If the time comes I will gladly battle beside you, to the very death.
Blankspace on
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RankenphilePassersby were amazedby the unusually large amounts of blood.Registered User, Moderatormod
I think that'd be a really good idea, Rank, I just don't know if I'd be able to convey everything successfully.
Well. I didn't state that it was a god. Because it doesn't create. And I doubt it will have any worshippers. But, it's powers. Which I will be working out in my boring three hour nightclass will revolve mainly around a plane of nothingness and reverting things to their original state of nothigness.
For example, rank resolved the build up of matter by creating insects to consume things. AEther could merely convert said matter into non-existence, removing it from the equation. Of course, it wouldn't be recycled this way.
So, less of a god. More of a force. Prehaps when he absorbs enogh he'll explode catastrophically leaving a gaping vortex of void somewhere on or possible off planet into which things can be tossed/sucked into to. *shrugs*
But think, when someone loses a sock in their dryer, they wont curse fate. They'll curse aether
INeedNoSaltwith blood on my teethRegistered Userregular
edited October 2006
Another one!
What is this?!
Who do they think they are, to stomp into my mountain without so much as a presentation? To present themselves to the mighty God Salt, in his very own Throne, without so much as a reservation?!
Salt, in his smug appearance, allows Zil to speak, droning about craftsman and robbing Salt of his very earth, speaking of tearing from the Great Scale in the name of mortals.
And when Zil finished, Salt picked the Avatar of Zil up with a single massive, plated claw, and threw him, hard, against the floor, cringing with his own pain (as every single deity would feel this pain, avatars linked as they are), roaring all the while. The pain was worth it; Salt is tired of these deities ignoring his demands!
"Zil! YOU are the example! This is MY lair, and NONE are to enter without my notice. Let them all understand this. Salt is not to be ignored."
For a moment, the massive draconic effigy stared down at the staggered being before him, raging silently, a cold hatred boiling in his onyx eyes. "Shape the Scale, Craftsman, and I'll consider your gift. Displease me, and what you've taken from my Earth will strike back at you and yours for every blow it takes in the name of creation.
Leave. I will not forget what you owe me."
And Salt glares at Sha'mus, who has come to Mighty Earth Lord's lair for no purpose other than to criticize. He says nothing; the meaning is clear.
INeedNoSalt on
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RankenphilePassersby were amazedby the unusually large amounts of blood.Registered User, Moderatormod
edited October 2006
(ooc: Also, woah woah woah, what is with the "battle by your side" talk?
Posts
But then...
Horshuu felt the Stone respond to the decay of little things that were forgotten as the works of the craftsmen decayed... it whispered to him faintly in a barely audible voice... he could not hear it over the din of activity. But more alarmingly... the Stone began, ever so slightly, to grow.
The Quiet One grew desparate to find a quiet place where he could hear the soft voice of the stone, and where he could protect it from his jealous brothers, like Rankenphile, who seemed to like nothing better than to defile that which had been built from the Great Fish. The Ear-Stone of the Fish seemed to be its last unaltered piece, and he would not suffer it to be ruined.
So great was Horshuu's consternation that he went deep into the world and sought out the one whom he feared the most. He went into great caverns where mighty beasts walked about, though they did not notice him, or seemed to forget him as quickly as they had percieved him. Horshuu knew these creatures by their appearance, and sought out their master, the Great Salt.
Horshuu approached the throne and spoke in the loudest voice he could summon: "Brother Salt! I, the Little Horshuu, have come to speak with you."
Salt was surprised by this sudden appearance. The creature indeed had the look of his kindred, but certainly he had never heard its diminutive voice before. He looked on questioningly, his very gaze demanding explanation.
"I have come to see you, Mighty Salt," said Horshuu, "for mighy indeed you must be to have wrought this place and these great creatures. I, your little brother, have come to ask of you a favor... a favor which I am happy to return."
"All I ask of you is a quiet place in your Earth, deep below your throne room where I may be protected from your jealous brothers. You know all too well why I would seek to hide from them, for you they have done nothing but attempt to diminish your great feats. I ask you for solitude, and for... protection."
"In return, I promise you this. The passage of time will take its toll on all things, and in time even grievances will be forgotten. But you, Great Salt, will never forget a grudge. And thus, no matter what time passes, no matter what your enemies forget, you will forever be able to exact the proper retribution upon your detractors."
"Though my appearance be meek, I vow that I will make it my work to ensure this. What say you, Great Salt?"
However, creating a being from scratch requires a lot of material. By the time Soup has created his tenth creature, there is hardly any meat left, and they still lack skin. Deciding that Zil could do a much better job at creating skin, Soup sets off to find him.
And now that the seas and the land are populous, it is time I turned my attention to the air above...
Creatures held aloft on for wide fins shall take to the skies and live amongst the clouds/ Some kinds shall hunt the small things on the ground and in the sea, others shall feed in the air from the tiniest flying things that help everything along.
And finally, the greatest flying beasts of them all will take to the air with the awakening, for I have decreed that there shall be a fourth intelligent race, one like no other, two great air-fins to lift them, great jaws of steely teeth to feed them and mighty scorching breath to defend them. And I shall make my home amongst them and my Avatar as one of them.
((yeah, I just brought dragons to the Scale. This is going to be fun!))
Nintendo Network ID: AzraelRose
DropBox invite link - get 500MB extra free.
The humanoids that Salt created are nearly sentient, but they serve him, as he has not granted them free will.
Regarding When We're Done: I think the idea was to create a setting. When we have reached a point where someone can say "Alright, let's get out the dice and roll up some heroes," I think that's when we'll be done.))
Salt is unhappy. The Scale roars with his unrest; for every feat, a penalty is placed upon him. In the name of Balance, he is struck down, further and further, with each of his accomplishments. His Avatar has been torn asunder in the name of Balance, and even his only demand - that his great domain Within The Scale be left unmarred - has been ignored in the name of fairness.
Does Salt press upon his brothers and sisters? Has he asked for anything that was not his right?
Is there a reason that the God of Balance strikes out blatantly against the Lord of the Scale?
All this time, the King over the Elemental Earth broods, and Horshuu listens, awaiting an answer, an audience...
No! Salt does not ask for anything that is not his right! He does not stop foot outside of his domain! Deities force themselves into his very HOME, spill the blood of his own CHILDREN, and he does NOTHING! But still, STILL they take from him! Take from him why?!
Because they are jealous of his power! They wish for themselves the strength of the Earth!
With a roar that explodes like thunder, Salt rends the earth beneath the Mountain, digs a quiet and safe place for the Little Brother.
"Brother Horshuu," Salt announces, "Within my great halls and within my Scale you shall never come to harm, and I shall never forget the trespasses of my kin." But with a great anger that only the God of Earth can muster, he says: "And never shall I forget what you owe me."
And although Salt, Lord of the Earth and Master Within the Great Scale has claimed his role, it is within this tunnel, at this very moment, that Anger and Hatred find themselves within his Domain.
The Avatar of Order, with great stride infinite gaze, seeks out solace in the shadow of the great mountains, in order to contemplate his next great work, and to protect his guiding hand from being usurped by those who resent the change and balance he seeks to bring to the fledgling world.
Once he has found a suitable cove, a nook deep in a crevice between the mountains which make up the spine of the world, he is gifted with a vision. All of the creatures of this world so far are of great size and power. The plants grow strong, but the soil is becoming packed by the feet of the many beasts and the weight of time. As things fall they do not decay, but are left unchecked to pile and gather.
And so, with his guding hand the Avatar of Order gathers the motes of dust in the air and with them he forms the bodies of a seemingly infinite number of tiny creatures, with hard carapice exoskeletons and many legs, and with his other hand he gathers light and shadow, and with it gives them instinct, and with his mighty lungs he gathers the wind and so breathes life into the new creatures, all of varied form and shape.
You, my children, shall scurry and fly, and swim and burrow, and you shall be the cleaners of refuse, you shall be the tillers of soil, you shall be the spreaders of pollen and the sowers of seed.
You shall be underfoot, and you shall be unloved, for this is your curse, and you shall be crushed upon sight by the other living beasts of this world, and fed upon and thought pests, but you shall spread, and you shall thrive, and you shall be legion.
You will serve a most valuable purpose in this world, and evolve to meet the changes. You shall be the Sowers of Entropy and the Creators of Rebirth. You shall feed on the flesh of the dead and return the flesh to the soil, so that it can become part of a great neverending cycle.
Rejoyce and go forth, my tiny, miniscule children. Upon your backs rests the power of rebirth, and the curse of pestilence.
So shall there be balance, and so shall there be order.
(ooc: these would be excellent creatures to provide methods to spread plant life throughout the world, as well as spreading disease. Do with them what you will.)
Speaking of souls, I'm thinking only Rose's creations and those of others he gives life to would have them, since the rest are essentially just constructs.))
The Avatar of Sha'mus, The Dreamer, in it's wandering of the Scale, had crushed one of the many legion of Rankenphile, one more soul sent to the waiting embrace of Anonymous.
Brought out of his reverie, Sha'mus felt the change in the air and felt the quaking rage of the angry Lord Salt. Fissures formed and new mountains arose in a violent display of raw power as the Scale reflected the ever changing mood of it's Lord.
Sha'mus, like Horshuu before him (though unknowning of this prior journey), made his way down under the Scale, passing through into the war-torn realm of Salt. There he stood before the mighty throne, in the guise of his avatar, four arms crossed a bronze chest.
"My lord cousin Salt. Great are the tresspasses our fellows have dealt you, but even greater is the damage you do the Scale above us. Rest your weary head, less you turn the Scale you love so dearly into a nightmare."
((Sorry, I had thought that Goumindog was a warlock of sorts, a person who stole power from the gods and used it to kill his enemies. As for myself, my original intent was to be something like a St. Peter, a Shiva, or a Hades, a person who works admissions between the realms of the living and the dead and keeps order over the restless of the afterlife. More a custodian than a ruler. My original title was the angel of birth and death, hence the veins metaphor, but I think I may have been unclear in my explanation and it seems that I came across as ruling over the dead, so I rolled with the idea. Regardless, I'm open to character changes. As far as soullessness goes, you're right and I didn't think of that.))
((We should definitely clarify the different forms of Life, as I'm partial to the idea that only Rose can grant 'true' life (complete with souls and sentience when we get around to that), and although any deity can make a creature, only with Rose's aid can they be honest-to-god (lolol) living.))
((Edit: I agree with Salt, too. Everyone can creature constructs animated by their divine will, but they're not truely alive. Rose has the true power to give life and all that it entails.))
edit: also, to clarify, I have placed a curse upon the avatars, when I tore away Salt's avatar's shadow, in that all avatars will share pain, and all damage done to one of our avatars shall be done to all. In other words, if one had the power to truly kill an avatar of a god, than all of the other avatars would be destroyed as well. This is a measure I took out of seeking balance and order, as a way of enforcing a pact of nonviolence against one another personally, but it certainly doesn't change how we can effect each others' works in any way.))
But as for whether or not they have souls.... *shrug*
On breeding, I'd leave it in the domain of Rose.
As for the soul of the Great Fish, I'm pretty sure that's US; individual fragments of the Most Divine trying to make sense of their new forms...))
Nintendo Network ID: AzraelRose
DropBox invite link - get 500MB extra free.
Anyways, looking forward to some sentient life. Kinda hard being a hippy-dippy downer of a god without followers!
Above and Below, they are figurative realms, like the etherial plane or some such. Above and Below mean different things to Gods.
Thus the Lord of Death and Magic rose up again, life had come over the earth. Such is the tragedy that life, unrestrained, creates suffering, and it is only amerlioated with death. He took his great staff and made a hole in the beasts through which their soul would spill when their body was no longer capable of holding it. The released souls then traveled to the underworld where they were kept, waiting for judgement.
edit: I claimed the soul of the fish, but it just represents an aspect of power, so anyone else is free to claim the soul under "intelligence" or some such thing. As well there is no steward of the souls to the afterlife and no definition as yet of what that afterlife is. A steward is definitly up for graps, as well is the concept of judjement. Judgement and I would probably overlap in scope as it pertained to magic and death, but i dont have any plans on setting any hard and fast rules for judgement in the afterlife as of yet.
And thus, Ǽther the being of nothingness was brought into existence.
Well, now I’ve laid claim to something. I only got around to reading the first few pages before I knew I had to be in on this. So, the being of nothingness will lay dormant for a bit while he catches up on back-story.
The fish lay gutted, torn, and completely non-existent. It had no gifts left to share. But the Gods themselves, in their struggles and creation, had given birth to a force unforetold. In the dim spaces between the divine portfolios, a being of invention, planning, and some little Order formed. At first unconcious, it spread the basic theorem and thought of understanding. With the discovery of basic, foundation arithmetic, it was birthed. Thorpe, it named itself; lord of Rationality. Like its fellow gods, Thorpe created an avatar, an impossibly complex jumble of lines, circles, shapes, and numbers, arranged into a vast, unknowing pattern. Self-aware, Thorpe begins to spread and nurse the rational sciences: philosophy, science, and mathematics amongst the fledgling races. Only by understanding the laws of the Scale can things larger even than it be discerned.
...damn.
Well, I'll try to retcon myself into pure logic/rationality, unfettered by good, evil, order, or chaos.
I think that'd be a really good idea, Rank, I just don't know if I'd be able to convey everything successfully.
Well. I didn't state that it was a god. Because it doesn't create. And I doubt it will have any worshippers. But, it's powers. Which I will be working out in my boring three hour nightclass will revolve mainly around a plane of nothingness and reverting things to their original state of nothigness.
For example, rank resolved the build up of matter by creating insects to consume things. AEther could merely convert said matter into non-existence, removing it from the equation. Of course, it wouldn't be recycled this way.
So, less of a god. More of a force. Prehaps when he absorbs enogh he'll explode catastrophically leaving a gaping vortex of void somewhere on or possible off planet into which things can be tossed/sucked into to. *shrugs*
But think, when someone loses a sock in their dryer, they wont curse fate. They'll curse aether
ps. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nothing#Philosophy
"Lord Salt, I must speak with you, for there are things we must discuss. Factions are forming about this scale of yours amongst the other Gods. Some stand against you, and some with you. While as the Keeper of Law and Justice keeps me from becoming close, I am also the Keeper of Craft, so it is imperitive that we are allies. It is not my whim to further the invasion of the others without your permission, so I am here to offer an exchange of service, as surely there are as many things I have that you might be interested as you have that I am interested in.
"My creations, the Craftsmen, are beings of wood made from Scooter's gift, and yet I need more. More sons, the Craftsmen's cousins, but I shall not build from the Trees. What I need is what you have. Stone and steel, materials so sturdy that I may shape them into even grander Craftsmen. If you would give me permission for me and my children to build from bits of your stone, I would craft for you any one thing, no matter how grand or how small. Further more, to your children, I will give them the gift of Craft and Law, so that they may shape the earth to strengthen themselves more, and structure their lives for the many to stand stronger as one."
And so, he layed out the offer. After all, what was a Craftsman without Stone to build from?
Your followers.
What is this?!
Who do they think they are, to stomp into my mountain without so much as a presentation? To present themselves to the mighty God Salt, in his very own Throne, without so much as a reservation?!
Salt, in his smug appearance, allows Zil to speak, droning about craftsman and robbing Salt of his very earth, speaking of tearing from the Great Scale in the name of mortals.
And when Zil finished, Salt picked the Avatar of Zil up with a single massive, plated claw, and threw him, hard, against the floor, cringing with his own pain (as every single deity would feel this pain, avatars linked as they are), roaring all the while. The pain was worth it; Salt is tired of these deities ignoring his demands!
"Zil! YOU are the example! This is MY lair, and NONE are to enter without my notice. Let them all understand this. Salt is not to be ignored."
For a moment, the massive draconic effigy stared down at the staggered being before him, raging silently, a cold hatred boiling in his onyx eyes. "Shape the Scale, Craftsman, and I'll consider your gift. Displease me, and what you've taken from my Earth will strike back at you and yours for every blow it takes in the name of creation.
Leave. I will not forget what you owe me."
And Salt glares at Sha'mus, who has come to Mighty Earth Lord's lair for no purpose other than to criticize. He says nothing; the meaning is clear.
You dudes pulling rank to go to war with me?)