@Lovejoy oooh, hm.

...I wonder, Antonin and Creid? Or...Indira, perhaps? Although Antonin would be weird with the 200-year-old-and-probably-gonna-live-until-killed thing.

Hmm... Oren, in particular, shall take note of this, Lovejoy.

That lines up well. It would be pretty odd for such a domineering society to not domineer gender and sexuality.

I mean, not necessarily. We equate the idea of oppresive societies with restrictions on gender, sexuality, and race, but in a world where the gods never express that themselves, who can say where it would sprout?

I mean, not necessarily. We equate the idea of oppresive societies with restrictions on gender, sexuality, and race, but in a world where the gods never express that themselves, who can say where it would sprout?

Varyan society is based on restrictions, duty, and one's place. It does seem pretty meritocratic, so someone might "get away with it" if they're exceptional, but no part of the state will waste (so far as they are concerned) resources on researching gender surgery, and while I doubt Varya disapproves of sex, not producing more people is pretty objectively bad for a war-based empire who needs people to do the fighting and work the industry.

@deathbringer @OppositionJ @vietmyke

Hope that gave you guys enough to work with! Feel free to respond to Elisheva however you like!

Will get started on a response for the Omestris group now. Should be done by tomorrow. :)

Here are some new character profiles!



Lieutenant Lev Dragonov
Age: 39


A veteran of the Lanostran War, Lev proved himself on the battlefield as a shrewd and talented sniper and leader. Serving under Commander Zoya Kiriyev, he acted as her constant companion and right-hand for the majority of their time in the war, complimenting her defensive-minded planning with risky but ingenious strategies that led to many victories against the Lanostran army.

Ten years after the war's end, Lev retired from the military and spent many years traveling throughout the empire on what he calls a "journey of self-discovery", leading him to travel to remote locations such as Sydon-Mar in Omestris. Like Commander Zoya, he was forced back into active duty to fight in the invasion of El. Once again serving under Zoya, he will soon depart for El aboard the VSS Karamzina to act as military support for the newly ordained Warband Phoenix.



Lieutenant Rexus Lycaon
Age: 43


A former officer in the Lanostran Guard, Lt Rexus Lycaon was a promising soldier during the war but suffered a devastating injury that saw him miss most of the fighting. Like a lot of his fellow countrymen, he felt lost and broken after the goddess surrendered to Lord Varya, and upon recovering from his wounds, declined an offer to join the Varyan military and instead focused his energies on fighting against the empire. Five years spent as the captain of a Lanostran pirate crew earned him a dangerous reputation on the icefields, as well as a fierce rival in Lieutenant Lev Dragonov of Varya, who spent years trying to capture him.

Eventually, their rivalry ended after Dragonov got the better of him during a naval battle, and Lycaon was brought back to his former home of Sapharan in chains to answer for his crimes. Sentenced to death, Lycaon was held in the sky prisons of the High City for months. A week before his execution, he received an unexpected visitor. Lev Dragonov stood in his cell, and informed him that his execution would be stayed. Instead, Lycaon would serve two decades of hard time in the Icevault of Muraad, a prison meant for the empire's most dangerous criminals. And thus, Lycaon served his time in the frigid prison. Ten long years passed, and one day, Lev appeared before him again. This time, he made Lycaon an offer he couldn't refuse.

"I need you. Fight for me and I'll set you free from this place."

It didn't take Lycaon very long to agree to these terms.



Private Andrei Semenov
Age: 15


A young SA conscript currently serving as a Church liason at the Marian Gate, the lone Varyan garrison overlooking the corpseland of Omestris. Due to a childhood spent struggling for survival in the slums of Magnagrad alongside Omestrian slaves, Semenov believes it is his life's purpose to do everything in this power to aid and help the enslaved race in any way he can. A devout follower of the inquisitor Mother Indira al Sayed, he wears her divine emblem on a pendant as a symbol of his fervent belief in freedom for the Omestrian people.



Deva Tsu'kasa
Age: 20


Daughter of the renowned engineer Amir Tsu'kasa, Deva is a young T'saraen mechanist and shipwright who has spent most of her life working on naval craft in the imperial drydocks of Cero. She is frivolous above all else and cares little for anything outside her field, the hierarchy of the Faith occupying such a small amount of space in her general worldview that she barely registers them at all.

Since Deva was a child, she has worked on the VSS Grace, the old battleship that will soon depart for El alongside her father's magnum opus, the Karamzina. Now acting as the Grace's head mechanic, Deva loves the old ship more than anything.



Mother Elisheva
Age: 24


A talented young inquisitor who has served in Lanostre since graduating as part of Warband Seraph two years ago, Elisheva is a warrior above all else. One of Gregoroth's favorite pupils, Elisheva spent most of her time in the Seminary sharpening herself to be a wicked blade for the empire to wield against its enemies. Much to her anger, the Church did not choose her for deployment to El, and thus she remained on Lanostre, where she would provide some much-needed security for the nation, which is now bereft of inquisitors and soldiers.

Elisheva was born with a strange birth defect which has caused her right pupil to be colored red, making her possess a strange mismatched gaze which is at once both disquieting and strangely beautiful.

I am spooped by that post. New demons?

@CollectorOfMyst The times they are a changing'.

@Lovejoy And then I see the new profiles... Mi casa is Tsu'Kasa, eh?

@Lovejoy@CollectorOfMyst Not only that, but blue. I mean, what else blue have we seen lately...? *wiggles* And this means the Omestris pair are next! SO EXCITED!

So I was thinking... Why do we take it as truth that the fire titan was killed? If the Ice Titan was broken in 12 pieces and survived as such, why the heck couldn't the Fire Titan immortal its way through a giant sword through the chest? Magic? Well, I would think magic is why it didn't collapse under its own weight, so it should have plenty to survive somehow. What are the odds our continent simply had the luck of 0 fire titan presence, while El had some which has steadily grown to power? Knowledge of something along these lines would certainly explain Lanostre's willingness to surrender to Varya - to strengthen Ice itself.

Well, I imagine the extreme lack of any fire would be sufficient. Sparks exist because those are just flakes of wood and metal; warmth exists because that is an energy, and causes changes in the movement of particles; but fire does not occur.

@Draken I took it as truth because Lovejoy said it, not a character...but then, DMs can and do keep secrets! Clearly something is going on. But instead of the ice titan surviving, I'd theorize that perhaps a sliver of it survived.

Although when I put it that way I realize that a sliver /did/ survive -- in the Omestrians!

I love that almost everybody has some story secret, if Love is working it the same as she did last time, and they'll only make sense when they're all put together later on. Muwahaha

@Scout *eager wriggling!* I love DMs that can pull something like that off! It's not easy to do.

@shylarah It isn't easy! I will say the goal isn't for me to have this grand patchwork of plot hidden in the background that will eventually be revealed in one glorious "A-ha!" moment, but to give you guys some interesting things to work with as writers and then in turn use that to fuel the storytelling. And while there will be answers to the mysteries introduced, the story isn't pre-written (barring a few concepts) but will adapt to how you guys play your characters. For example, I created Sydon-Mar specifically because Myst mentioned that Oren had been to Omestris before, ect.

@Lovejoy *snuggles* your world and writing is making me spin all kinds of ideas and questions, so I'd say you're doing exactly that!

Hey about to look at astraea.

Is there a reason for astraea not to go heal the other inquisitor?

Didnt want to go that direction if you had something in mind!

@deathbringerHm. Good point! I was honestly just in a bit of a hurry to get to the proposal so I did skip over that. It would make sense that she’d want to treat him, but maybe we can say that she managed to get a look at his injuries and saw that they weren’t life-threatening and decided to let him be treated at the war hospital. How does that sound to you?