Good evening once again everyone. I've posted a new update regarding the fear spire today. Things might seem to be settling down but such is the eye before the storm as they say. I would of gotten the update up earlier but I've had a busy last couple of days. I can see that everyone else has been fairly busy as well, some of it good and some less so. Seeing as a lot has been discussed I shall address concerns and pass adjudications below.
@Legion02@Dealdric - I've reviewed the dispute and I'll break my judgement down into it's respective OOC and IC components for ease of reading.
Now, I do often prefer to allow my players a great degree of flexibility. With the setting and characters there's plenty on the table as far as capability is concerned. I'm no fan of stepping in and taking the fun out of matters but as a GM It is upon me to uphold the rules and established setting. I don't raise too much fuss with posting habits but it's come to a point where I need to speak out on this matter.
"#6: Do not destroy, exploit or control another player's deity or their creations without the owner's permission. Outside of extraordinary circumstances there is no valid reason for depriving a player of agency over their creations."
I've shown some leniency in the past regarding this but I'm afraid that recent events have stepped over the line to where it's no longer acceptable. After all this is an rp where we are expected to shape the world, build great things and watch civilizations grow around the actions of living forces of nature. We are to live out the history of why there's a dragon living in a cave that the brave knight sets forth to slay. That really can't happen if someone is constantly kicking down what someone else is building up. It's never fun and begets a vicious cycle which is far from the intended experience.
While occasionally interacting with stray examples of a species established by another player is fine major influences need to be planned with the owners of said species first. Communication is key and thus far I've seen little discussion regarding the changes made to dragons. While this is rather fine on a smaller scale this has come to ahead in these recent developments and I must implore everyone participating to please, for the love of the gods please communicate more! It can be tempting to run with a scene while posting but the more you all plan these events with one another the more enjoyment we can all derive from this collaborative storytelling exercise.
Now I'll be more than happy to just take a step back and let the two of you discuss a satisfactory outcome which benefits the overall narrative we're collectively construction. Speaking of narrative this takes me to my next point: Clashes with deities.
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The two things that separate a deity from a mortal is their dominion over a domain and their eternal life. Gods can command a facet of reality and can draw upon their Divine Cord as a constantly replenishing font of vigor and vitality. That is it. Beyond a near absolute control over their chosen domain using magic a deity only has their physical form and the tools at their disposal. If your god has eyes a sharp blade wielded by a human is no less capable of stabbing them out than a god's is.
For example should a human sneak up on Oao for example they'd find their sword would cut her hide no less effectively than any other human flesh. With a steady stab in the right spot a god is no harder to fell than a mortal beast. What keeps most would-be attackers from attempting this is the fact that with the amount of power their control over a domain affords them even the most stubborn attackers would find themselves easily defeated by the sheer might and flexibility of their divine magic. None brave the depths of North Crown and survive simply because no dark space is safe from her influence.
Now, as a goddess of magic with a physical form that is made of flesh it should stand to reason that she wouldn't stand and simply tank a ray of fire to the hand. As a patron goddess to mages it would make sense that she would use magic to avoid harm rather than simply stand in it's path. If it were Ferron it could be reasoned that as the god of metal he can withstand heat up to a similar tolerance.
For Dirka however her domain doesn't inherently afford such protection. Her domain is magic, a force which effectively acts as a multitool at the cost of not exceeding any other domain in their respective fields. A fireball would never surpass the destructive might of a ball of fire hurled by Ragnageddon nor would a lightning bolt surpass lightning conjured by Drakairos. She controls magic before all and it's limits are no less her limits.
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As far as a direct comparison of power is concerned Dirka and Ragnageddon should be fairly close in strength domain-wise. While Dirka expends her effort in multiple different side ventures and creations Ragnageddon put a presumably large amount of his power into the five arch-dragons.
I'd liken the creation of things to The One Ring. Sauron poured almost all of his power directly into the ring, effectively making him a husk of a being in exchange for an item of such great power. In this rp the only difference is that gods will eventually return to their original might over time though depending on the amount of power used up that could be centuries. It is, however, one of the few ways for a deity to actually grow in power in the long term since while gods have a set cap as to how much power they can expend that limit does not limit their use of exterior items, servants and other such matters.
As far as physical might is concerned each form has it's advantages and disadvantages.
For an example there are two nondescript deities looking to lift a mountain. One is feeble and small while the other is massive and strong. Both these deities hold the same amount of power and can both lift the mountain with ease. One simply lifts the mountain with his sheer physical might while the other uses his domain to lift it instead. They both exert the same amount of effort in doing so.
This is because for a deity physical effort and divine magic result in the same outcome: A result is gained at the expense of exhaustion. Gods have a lot more stamina than pretty close to if not all mortals so while mortal tasks are essentially trivial for even the smallest gods far larger events will have a greater cost in the form of fatigue.
For another example of what constitutes a great amount of effort for a deity Oao could, if she really wanted to, Conjure up a really big pair of shadow hands and tear the main continent in half. This would result in her needing to sleep for a hundred years or so to recuperate from the exhaustion of that effort however.
Coming back around to the subject that is the fight between Dirka and Ragnageddon I would say given the events that transpired they would be fairly evenly matched in terms of exhaustion. Between supplying all her followers with magic, creating all the things she has listed in her realm and carrying out all the feats she's been doing up 'till then she'd have spent a fair bit of effort by the time of the fight. Ragnaggedon wouldn't have been quite as exhausted but between creating the dragons and pouring what seemed to be a great deal of his power into the arch-dragons he'd be quite exhausted as well.
Just as a slight side-tangent the arch-dragons can't increase their divine power through sheer hate alone. Everything draws it's power from a higher source. Animals draw strength from food, plants from sunlight and divine beings from their gods. Divine beings can grow by eating/photosynthesizing but they cannot grow in divine power specifically without taking that power from a deity.
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So looking at the fight from my standpoint Dirka shouldn't have just tanked a blast of fire from Ragnageddon even if they are equally exhausted, she shouldn't be just slinging around a big heavy lizard by it's tail mario-style without specifically using magic and honestly even if he was looking at going far, which for someone as heavy as him it's unlikely, it's not like he can't just use his wings and catch himself in the air anyhow.
As far as the capture and murder of his dragons is concerned they are fairly powerful so it'd be at her considerable expense to stun them into submission for capture.
Overall however I'm not here to tell you how to write your stories, just what fits within my setting and what doesn't. All I'm asking is that you all respect each other and each other's creations. I encourage everyone to discuss things and plan with one another since it can make for a smoother and more keenly interrelated story line which is, as I believe, much more entertaining to write and participate in as opposed to one where everyone keeps to themselves and demolishes each other's works in the wake of their own efforts. After all, the aim is to tell a story, not to win.
Now I'll let you both discuss the matter and hopefully come to a satisfactory conclusion. I really don't want to have to intervene more than I have already and if I must I'll take whatever actions are needed to best ensure the overall happiness and quality of the rp as a whole. I am confident, however, that my players can and should be able to resolve such issues an appropriate and productive manner.
@Lmpkio - I have reviewed your submission. Your god is accepted and you have my approval to enter him into the Characters tab.
As as a general note for everyone (Just in case I'm not just repeating myself in an amnesic loop and I really haven't mentioned this before) after the fear spiral event reaches it's terminus any new deities will be required to be born into the world from then onward. I can't have an endless supply of gods who just so happened to not be involved in all these world-changing events despite how they totally would have been involved if they were a thing the whole time.
