It had been some time since the goddess had set about trying to help restore the land in some capacity, going about and seeking to bring a new cycle of life and death to the land that would bring about nature and a more hospitable place to live. Of course with the atmosphere being in its own kind of issue, and a storm moving about, there was only so much that could be done at this point in time. Even so she at the least laid the seeds of a proper cycle of life and death, things and plants and so forth that would arise at the right time when conditions had been improved enough. Rain from the storming was at least better than nothing. In that vein it wasn't as much detailed work as she'd been hoping to achieve, and it only covered so much land thus far rather than all of it...yet it wasn't all she'd done so far.
She'd even visited the Temple-Fortress once or twice during this time, where she'd begun to regail the mortals with teachings about things such as the cycle of life and death and war and peace and so forth. She'd even begun to teach them a little some inventions, such as the water wheel and some of weapons she'd prepared at the Temple-Fortress, so they might make better use of the tools and weapons she'd given them to protect the paradise they now lived in. It was a basic first-step, however, and after an attack or two by bandits trying to enter the paradise or seize it she'd given a few of them an introduction to basic gunpowder and working with it as well as its dangers. It was all simply for the sake of the location itself, as well as those who now inhabited the special place in her service. Still, in her work with the land so far she'd go and do a bit more to shape the landscape about the large paradisiacal valley than in other places...all part of the plan to make her birthplace that much more secure over the long term.
More importantly, however, in her work she'd run across some strange spaces where time and space seemed 'inconsistent'. Wibbly-wobbly time, errant space, the kind of apocalyptic instabilities that arose when this chuck of creation became a chunk. That, in her mind, was far more of a concerning matter at the moment than more work to revitalize the land. Without a consistent flow of time and space, there was nothing it wouldn't affect if not taken care of in the long term. Cycles of seasons, day and night, and so forth would not be stable either, which being under her purview was something of even more note.
With this in mind, she'd returned to the paradise once more after scouting out the problems a bit. Here would be a perfect place to centralize all of her work on the matter, making it simpler to work on...unlike trying to revitalize the land at the moment. This was simply a matter of increasing efficiency in this work, however, not a matter at all of limitations to one location or another. But if she wanted to put in the raw time to fix time-space for the long term betterment of this remnant of creation, she felt taking the time and investing the extra effort would be most suitable.
And so she began her work, creating a floating shrine in the air high above the fortress-temple from where she could most intensely focus on her work. It was almost egg-shaped, if not a bit wider, gilded in great amounts of gold and white porcelain-colored exterior parts and had giant windows facing out every direction. Truly a divine abode, it existed above that which was mundane whilst letting her new followers know she was still with them. Admittedly this was more a side effect of her choice of location, but all the same she began her work with intense fervor. Her hands wound about the weave of time-space as she stood in the central room of this shrine, her power stretching out across the land and working to help shape, stabilize, and give time-space in this remnant of creation a proper consistency.
Past. Present. Future. She would work to keep them all laid out in a clear, orderly fashion, and seek to observe them in her quest to manipulate and bring order to it. 'Layers' of the past, memories engraved into the land of all things before, would be set in their proper places, the present would be more clearly defined, and the future would be open and uncluttered. Space would be stable and stilled, rather than remain in that constant state of flux. She would master it, she would retain it, and she would embrace it all within herself. Such was necessary, and so it would be done.
"Wind back, oh back, oh hands of time,
And forward, and forward, and forward we'll climb,
Flow, oh flow, oh flow, let the flow be smooth and so settle,
Yea unfold, unfold, unfold, like Arira's grace-
-as a flower's petal."
Arira went about to help try to revitalize the land some, but between the effects of atmospheric change and encounters with Paratiti's storm she basically only helped placed the 'seeds' and roots for a stable new cycle of life and death upon a good amount of the landmass (but not all of it). More so she ran into a problem that worried her more, aka unstable flows of space-time around the remnant of creation. Deciding this, as it would affect cycles and so forth, was important to fix...she has created a floating shrine at her paradise, sitting high above the temple-fortress in the air. Not sure if I need to make an MA tab for that, mostly was just a quick thing she made to give her a centralized spot to work from.
But basically she'll be working for a few posts on stabilizing and mastering space-time to the benefit of this Remnant of Creation in the long-run and to better assist in securing its overall stability. Mostly just wanted to establish that in this post so further ones can further flesh out her work and stories/thing occurring along the way in the future can occur. :3
A time had already passed since the Family God’s inception, and with the company of their first son, they had toured the endless burning deserts, fighting the rampant storms and terrible quakes of the earth around them. The weather brought rain, granted, so that was a much needed solace in this world of death. Chakravarti had pondered this loudly to his son - was this the world of the upset state of the universe, or could there be others like him out there?
Magic cracked across the sky in great, colourful arcs, frequently blasting the ground around them. Had Chakravarti been anything less than divine, they would have joined the garden of bones and skeletons protruding the ashes they walked. To ward their son’s safety, they constantly shielded him with four of their arms, chaotic energies singing their caramel skin, but leaving the young boy untouched. The god walked somewhat aimlessly, even divine senses seeming somewhat useless in locating other enclaves of survivors. That was when they looked down at little Doile, renamed Ossurman the First, and pursed their lips.
”Have you any family left, actually? Distant branches, perhaps? Removed cousins?” The baby cooed sleepily and the god frowned. ”What do you mean ‘I don’t understand what that is’? To lose oversight of the family tree is quite a disgrace, young man. I will have no choice but to drill this into your head before you are to further my line.”
The baby cooed again.
”No, a line as in…” A sigh. ”Perhaps you are too young for this still. What misfortune that the blood of my blood should be so limited in intelligence. Albeit a baby, you are still my son, and the sons and daughters of Chakravarti are to be kept to a standard befitting of my dynasty.”
“Goom-bah…”
”’Goombah’... What are you trying to say? Compass? Gum? I appreciate your attempt to maintain this conversation, but--...” The god stopped to blink, a thought having struck them like an arrow to the mind. ”A compass. Of course! Oh, my little genius, my little sage!” They skipped gleefully around in circles as the earth around them snapped with apocalyptic tension and the heavens quaked with energy. Chakravarti hugged the little baby with motherly tenderness and kissed him on the forehead. ”You may just become a dynastic legend yet, my son. Now watch your mother work her magic.” In one of their palms, Chakravarti conjured forth a small, simple disc, adorned with a single golden arrow that laid suspended in its centre. The god pursed their lips and shook it softly in their hand - it did not respond.
”Alright… Now let’s try…” The god placed it on Ossurman’s belly, and the arrow immediately twisted around and shot a course to the east-south-east. Two pairs of the god’s hands clapped excitedly. ”Oh, marvellous! You have living family! We have living family!” Another giddy skip tossed the god over a bottomless ravine. ”Perhaps they are not alone! Quick! We must make haste!” Ballerina gaits brought the god to a mighty pace, fueled by curiosity and anticipation. In their arms, Ossurman burbled with excitement.
After what felt like days of travel, the two eventually arrived at a great ruin, an ancient stronghold of sorts: Gray stone walls had been coloured black by soot, and a shattered gate served more as an invitation to enter rather than a barrier against invaders. A sacred sniff revealed that the ruin was anything but uninhabited, however; the stinks of fire, sweat, blood and feces oozed from inside, along with the sounds of coughing, weeping and whining. Chakravarti took out the compass again and placed it on Ossurman’s sleeping belly. They wrinkled their nose, but remained firm in their expression. ”Fear not, my son. The compass has led us here and thus, you must have living family left. You must.” They then stepped inside.
They quickly realised why this had been chosen as a shelter despite its decrepit state: Despite the gate’s disrepair, the halls of the fortress were nothing short of labyrinthian - had it not been for their sacred senses, Chakravarti would have been lost in these tunnels for days. Luckily the ever-present stench of wounds, blood and refuse kept the god on their trail, all up to a tunnel with flickering light at its end. A sudden rush of feet told them they had been spotted, and the god drew a slow breath and turned the corner at the end of the hall.
As they did, they said, ”Fire not! I seek only the kin of Ossurman the First--”, but was instantly struck by a hail of arrows, all of which bounced off the three arms which had been raised to shield his son. While no improvised arrow could wound a mighty god, the attack had come as a surprise, and Chakravarti lowered their shield with an expression of shock. ”You DARE?!”
“By the gods, what IS that?!” shouted one of the archers - eleven more were busily knocking new arrows; seven stared in disbelief at the creature entering their hideout; and a much greater number of men, women and children of all ages or conditions that could not fight hunkered down in the far corner of the room. As Chakravarti briefly shifted their gaze to take in the details of the room, another band of warriors armed with sticks tipped with crude metal scrap and rusty knives came in from each side of the entrance, screaming their warcries. With seven hands, Chakravarti could seven spears and snapped them in an instant, one of the hands then snapping out and closing around one of the warrior’s throats. The suddenness and incredibility of what had just transpired froze the rest of the warband, and the civilians in the far back all screamed out the last of their hope.
“NO! DADDY!” came a small girl’s voice. Two more of Chakravarti’s hands trapped another warrior who stood a little too close in a paralysing hold.
”What insolence; what utter disrespect!” thundered the god with a voice that knocked everyone in the room back a pace. Their grips tightened on their two hostages, and several humans fell to their knees some distance away and folded their hands
“P-p-please don’t hurt them! W-w-w-we thought y-you--”
”Though WHAT, exactly? You conspire to have me murdered - your GOD?! Did you think your little trap would work, groveling fools?!” Divine muscle tensed with rage and the man he was choking seemed to lose consciousness. ”Hold you your lives in such wastefully low regard that--”
“We thought you were Sirukh!”
A fourth arm shot out and grabbed the yeller by the hand, snapping it back with a cringing crack of bone. The yeller, a woman, screamed. ”And you interrupt me, as well - to think my person, my dynasty, holds no higher status in this world! Lo, it should all descend into chaos, ask you me!” They scowled in disgust down at the crying woman and rolled their eyes. ”What? Does it huwt, hmm? Does it feew owie-owie in the handy, hmm?” Another two hands discreetly dusted off their torso. ”Remind me not to interact with the peasantry again in the future, Ossurman… Why are we here again?”
“GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY SISTER!” came a squeal from the back of the hall, and a young boy, barely fifteen most likely but down a leg, came limping over with the help of a cane. Behind him, a ragged woman, his mother, shouted,
“GIROH, NO, IT’LL KILL YOU!”
Chakravarti straightened themselves a little taller and dropped the man they were choking, released the man in the hold and let go of the woman’s hand - all three of them were quickly tended to by their comrades. The family god raised a curious brow at the cripple and tilted their neck from side to side with intimidating cracks. ”Or what?”
“Or--!” the boy panted, “or I’ll beat you within an inch of your life, you monster!”
Chakravarti pursed their lips smugly. ”Oh? Will you now? Giroh…” They sniffed his odour and grimaced. ”Common blood - not so much as a scent of royalty, heroism or, well, anything.” They stepped right on past the warriors who had attacked them, bypassing hastily evacuated bedrolls, still smouldering campfires and other clutter abandoned upon their entry. The room was like a cave, and the space between Chakravarti and the crippled boy was open and empty like an arena displaying its two greatest champions for the masses. ”Your courage is admirable, at least, though I understand it is rooted in your condition, yes? What life is half a life, am I right?”
“Oh, I have plenty of will to live, demon! You will witness it all, I promise you!”
”Heh. What part of you believes I am killable? What madness are you overcome with in these times wherein I am defeatable? Are you blind, as well, to not have seen how easily I broke my assailants? How their arrows struck my skin like the wind blows feebly at the mountain?”
“I do not care for that!” The two now stood face-to-face, the small cripple glaring up at the towering god. “All I know is that you hurt my sister. So on my honour…”
Chakravarti’s scowl turned to a playful smirk. ”On your honour, is that it? Well, then, honourable one - what happens when I kill you? You have failed in your mission, have you not? Your quest to defeat me?”
“No! For I will be avenged!”
The smirk returned to an impressed purse of the lips. [colour=goldenrod]”Avenged, you say? Who would take up your mission, then? Who here would--”[/colour
“I would!” came a shout from one of the warriors. Chakravarti turned with a frown.
”Ugh, interruptions… And you are?”
“Giroh’s cousin, Finlor!”
Now the family god seemed genuinely intrigued. ”Interesting. And after you?”
“I would!” shouted a woman. “Cilmi, Finlor’s wife!”
“Asdai, daughter of Finlor and Cilmi!”
“Visigah, cousin of Giroh!”
“Sasagah, mother of Visigah!”
“Lindo, brother of Sasagah!”
As more and more people in the room voiced their wishes to die for their family, Chakravarti’s frown gradually turned into a most excited grin. With a bite of their lower lip, they picked up Giroh by the collar of their rags, immediately silencing the room. With a manic smile, they said, ”Oh my, this is all so incredibly fascinating! So you’re telling me, essentially, that you would all, no matter the cost, die for each other in a perpetual circle so long as the end goal was my demise?”
The people in the hall all exchanged looks of confusion and disbelief. Giroh was stunned. “W-what?”
They put him back down again, although not so carefully that he actually had a chance to land properly. As the boy’s family hastened over to collect him, Chakravarti bit playfully at one of their fingers. ”What selfless love; what boundless conviction! What, what an outright arousing level of self-sacrifice!”
The hall collectively lost control of their jaws to gravity. The boy’s mother burst out, “A-arousing?!”
Chakravarti hugged themself with four arms. “Oh, oh what is this feeling? This, this… I’m…!” In a spasmic display that no one in the room could truly describe, the god’s belly seemed to swell at an incredible rate, like a pregnancy completed in the span of minutes. An exploding light burst from their form, blinding momentarily all who could not look away in time - and who could from a sight like this? When the eyes adjusted again, the humans in the cave all beheld a most unexpected sight: Chakravarti had been laid flat on the ground, their form returned to normal, albeit panting like a dog on a hot day. Next to them stood a wholly different form.
Before the very much confused humans, and the incomprehensibly aroused deity before them, a new figure stood upon the dusty floor of the room...and indeed her appearance was something to behold. Fair and lovely skin clad her form in a gentle radiance, paired with a soft smile that seemed to gently assuage those about her like a calm breeze. Her soft blue-grey eyes seemed to look about the room as well, her gaze caressing each human and thing in the room and even glancing outside with a sort of softness to put others at ease...yet also a piercing intellect that seemed to take things in one at a time in stride. Even her ears were admittedly peculiar, pointed even, and her hair was long, flowing, and a pale tan color to boot!
Even her garb was something of note, covered in golden adornments from her hair down to her thighs. A crown or headband of leaves and flowers adorned her lovely head, and the very light blue dress she wore was something of a make and raw quality beyond mortals entirely.
“It seems I have been born of most peculiar circumstances into this world. A world rather broken, so many of the cycles of things broken and left astray...it pains me to feel it so.”
A small frown appeared on the face of the goddess as she spoke, a glint of sorrow in her eyes and she let out a sigh. Her eyes then once more turned toward the mortals, before focusing upon Giroh, the crippled boy. To him she simply extended a hand, as if to invite him. A small smile returned to her face.
“Well, such suffering I cannot abide here at the place of my birth. Thus if you all shall accept, and believe, I shall give you gifts this day. Is that not what mortals do on a day of birth?
So to you...if you wish to be healed, young one, and regain your leg’s use once more, I shall give you this as your gift.”
The humans seemed to lessen in their cowering, and the boy even dared speak up, “What, what are you? What are either of you?”
“I am the beginning and the end. The start and the finish. I am Arira, young one, Goddess of Cycles. A divine being, born into this world by the other deity behind me to help repair and save it as well as help save mortals such as yourselves. Not all that is divine is good, however, but as for myself I am here to help.
Of course the circumstances of my birth here are...strange and rather sudden, even for my own tastes, yet all the same I am here now. Should you take my hand, you shall be healed. Should your loved ones come to me after, I shall grant them boons. The choice is yours, whether to live amidst a cycle of perpetual fear and pain, or come and be reborn anew.”
The cycle of the body replacing the broken tissues and parts, a process and cycle that ever wrought upon mortal forms. She could move that wheel forward, and he would be restored. It would, however, all depend on the boy and his family’s acceptance of her gift. This was now the place of her birth, to be sacred, and as it was her ‘birthday’ she felt the mortal tradition of giving gifts was appropriate for this setting. She didn’t even flinch at the boy’s words, nor take offense, but simply smile gently and seek to reinforce and explain herself.
Giroh and his family gasped at the miracle, and the boy stood up with a quiver of difficulty, but then shouted, “I can walk! Ma, I, I can walk!” From all corners of the room, people rushed over towards Arira, lifting their hands to the ceiling and shouting, “a miracle! A saviour has come and her name is Arira!” The wounded and the crippled were helped up close to receive the same treatment as the young boy.
To the wounded and crippled, Arira would give healing as she’d given Giroh. To the suffering, she would give succor and relief. To the already dying, she would place their precious souls into the cycle of rebirth. To the mourning, she would give them comfort. Such was the cycle of life and death.
Arira would then turn her gaze outside of the room, out to the dusty and devastated landscape about this stronghold ruin. No, this simply wouldn’t do at all! She could do a little something for this particular spot at least...it’d be something befitting the place of her birth at least. Thus the goddess would stretch forth her left hand this time, and a warm silver glow would emerge from it and wash over the fortress and area about it. For mortals, it would be something to cover their eyes from, but even so would not blind them as much as just obscure their vision...but when they could look again they would find things rather different for them.
A great carving of a wheel, intricate beyond what any human hands could manage and filled/surrounded with depictions of various cycles, was carved into the middle of the room’s floor. It seemed to give off an almost sacred aura from it, a sort of passive reverence at that. Torches hung on the walls, and in fact the room itself seemed to be like brand new once more! If the mortals looked outside, they would too see something that went beyond their wildest dreams...greenery. Trees bearing fruits, vegetables being born from the fertile soil that replaced the dust, grasses swaying in a gentle breeze and animals running about...even the presence of a couple of lakes, and a river running from a rock formation that had been drawn up in this now flourishing space.
Yet a long ways out, just beyond a shimmering border of very faint silver, the wasteland and its devastations were still present. It was as if this area has been dedicated...no, consecrated to flourish and thrive. All the same, it was a great miracle.
The mortals were speechless and may rubbed their eyes and pinched each other to verify whether the sights were true. Behind Arira, a softened panting hinted that the other holy being in the room had regained their senses and risen to their feet. They regarded the room with genuine marvel and reached two pairs of hands out to softly and lovingly caress their daughter’s shoulders and neck. ”My, you truly are blood of my blood - you have existed for a blink of the eye and already you turn ruins into temples and death into life.” The god wept a small, clear tear away and let a hand play with her hair. ”My daughter, my Arira - pride of my soul and house. What fantastic art you have created so suddenly; what compassion you show for the poor and wounded.”
“This place shall be a holy sanctuary to me always. It’s lands shall be plentiful, and this stronghold shall remain both a stronghold and now a sacred temple to mark the place of my birth. You shall find this fortress-temple stocked with weapons and tools and supplies further in turn.
Care for it all wisely, oh mortals, but not become gluttonous and lazy upon it. Have wisdom in your actions here. Defend it, for it is a sacred place. I shall always know what goes on here, ever-seeing, ever-knowing. Yet still, find peace here. Find rest, and food, and supplies aplenty of all kinds and sorts within these borders. But mind ye where ye stay from this day forward-,”
As the goddess was speaking to the mortals, simply laying down the ground rules and such as it were, Chakravarti’s sudden two pairs of hands caressing her neck and shoulders made her suddenly take pause...and then sigh once more. Arira turned around to look at her progenitor, shrugging off the hands and walking closer to Chakravarti and the little Ossurman resting in the other deity’s arms.
“It was simply natural that I should show compassion here, even on this day of my birth and upon the place of it thereof. It is merely my duty to help bring this world from the brink of destruction and into a new cycle of plenty. All the same, I could not abide such suffering either.
Still, even if from most ‘peculiar’ circumstances...I give thee thanks for bearing me into the world this day. Though who is this little one, who beareth your ichor within?”
Gently Arira reached over and touched the tiny cheek of Ossurman, softly, like a mother or big sister might do. She then carefully pulled her hand back and looked back at that which had spawned her. Three of Chakravarti’s hands ignored Arira’s attempt to dodge caresses, and went right back to playing with her hair and massaging her shoulders.
”Oh, isn’t he beautiful? This, my child, is your older brother, Ossurman the First, the first of my house - the first of our house.” Two hands gently pulled silk wraps aside to reveal the little face looking curiously up at Arira. ”He is quite the conversationalist; he may just be a bit shy in the beginning. He’s very sharp, though; very sharp.”
“Awiwa,” cooed the baby and clenched his bun-like fists in his sister’s direction as if trying to reach out to her. Chakravarti gasped.
”Aaaaaw! Arira, he even knows your name already! Oh me, oh my, this is just… So precious.” Three hands took up the task of fanning away the gods overflow of giddiness. ”Big brother meets little sister, oh! Lo, I am smitten! Smitten, I say!”
The younger goddess let out another small sigh, lightly with her other hand trying to shoo the extra arms away, but all the same gave a smile to the little demigod in her parent’s arms. She put her hand down to the little baby, where he could grab onto one of her fingers if he so desired. Adorable indeed, that much was very correct, and sharp if he was able to grasp her name this quickly. Then again he was a demigod, so there was the matter of that already affecting his development and so forth naturally. Still...
“We have a most…‘eccentric’ parent indeed, Little One. Perhaps we shall have enough room to breathe eventually. Even so, I shall be your sister and you my brother….that feels most right, does it not?”
She whispered close to the ear of her tiny now half-divine brother, before letting out a small chuckle at their shared little conversation. The baby giggled in a bubbly manner and clapped his doughy hands. Above, Chakravarti chuckled a motherly laugh and gestured around the room, shouting, ”Behold, peasants! This is the power of my dynasty. Your queen for all eternity has arrived and her name is Arira, daughter of Chakravarti, second of her house!” They leaned over to kiss the reluctant goddess’s forehead and said, ”I expect you to take good care of your new vassals, your new clansworn, my sweet.”
Arira simply sighed again...she felt this would be far, far from the last time she did so at the antics and such of her also-divine parent. The same for her brother Ossurman as well. They would have each other regardless, so it was only natural that they be united on that front! Was fitting for siblings, she felt, to best weather the ever-repeating ‘cycle’ of parental embarrassment and prodding. Haha.
Even so the goddess turned once more to the mortals, after glancing out at the apocalypse still ongoing a long distance away, and gave to them a simple and gentle nod.
“Be well here, but be wise and vigilant. For as the cycles of this world continue to turn round and round, so can the hands of time and fate also turn one way or another when the foolish begin to sit about idly and vainly.
I shall I watch over thee and this place eternally, however, such is my promise. Therefore wait for my next arrival with great patience, as I must go and tend to this shattered place beyond this paradise. This shall too be a cycle of its own, as I leave to do my work and return at times to teach thee and thine descendants in this place evermore.
So too pray that my work to help this land shall flourish, and be ready for my guidance each time I return. In time I shall also hide this paradise away from destruction, grant it protections, shield it with defenders and defenses round-about, and you too in time shall be its guardians as well.”
Turning her head back to her peculiar parent, Arira then gave a nod.
“I must go away. This shattered land calls to me, and I cannot abide its pain so long as I exist. I shall go and tend to the land itself, to bring about a cycle of rebirth to its myriad places that life and so forth will return.
You and my brother are both welcome always so long as it is in peace or defense of this place, and he too is more welcome to live here if he so chooses to stay, but...please be kind to the mortals here. They and their own families have been through much.”
With this, Arira would raise her right hand, a soft glowing light emitting from it until it shone bright once more. Upon the light fading and looking where she had stood, though, there was now naught but the design on the floor that still sat there. She had left, and yet she had too promised to return. A cycle of leaving and returning to this place had been set forth.
”Then go with my blessing, my daughter, my pride - bring honour and glory to our house! They waved four arms at the ceiling of the great temple and looked down smilingly at their firstborn. Ossurman cooed quietly and the family god blinked in realisation. They turned to the still-dumbfounded humans, held up their son and said, ”Oh, of course. Does anyone recognise this baby?”
The post opens with Chak strolling about with Ossurman in tow. Chak asks if Ossurman has any more family alive. Ossurman naturally doesn’t answer quite clearly and Chak gets upset, though somehow comes to the conclusion that Ossurman said “compass” in babyspeak and makes a compass that can track his kin. This brings them to a hideout inside an old ruin. Chak tries to enter, but gets attacked by desperate defenders.
This pisses the family god off to an extreme level, so much so that they nearly kill (or actually kill) two people and break that hand of a third. After breaking the hand, a crippled boy comes limping over and says he will beat Chak to death. Chak tests his courage and asks what happens after they kill him when he fails. They then figure out that a lot of people in this enclave are family that would die to avenge each other.
Witnessing so many oaths to persevere in vengeance for their fallen kin, Chak gives birth to Arira, the Goddess of Cycles, who immediately heals the wounded and calms the atmosphere a lot. Shrugging off her mother-father’s attempt to cuddle with her, she turns the ruin and surrounding lands into a fertile valley surrounding a temple fortress dedicated to herself. After earning the love and loyalty of the survivors, she disappears to help save the world.
In short, Arira after the end of this post has headed out to do therest of her intended "Post 0" stuff and help restore the land of the world.
1MA (reduced to 0) - Create the Ariran Paradise, a great, large, fertile, and fruitful valley surrounding a temple-fortress in the center dedicated to Arira, Goddess of Cycles.
Goddess of Cycles - Within all things there is a pattern that lies beneath it all, a force of existence that normally is associated with change. From the changing of the seasons, to the growth of plants and animals, to the to the ever-circling flow of life and death and rebirth, to even changing of the time from day to night and vice-versa, these various 'cycles' and patterns of things form the basis for many things in the world. What rises from the dust will return to it, and from the dust will rise something else to take its place. Some cycles will end, and yet from this others will rise to take their place. Even mortals and gods alike, it seems, are intertwined in their own cycles of rising and falling and so forth. It is the way of all things, for some to rise and some to fall, for some to live and some to die, for some to grow and some to wither away, for some to remain trapped in a maddening loop of perpetuity, and so forth.
Cycles are a deathless concept, an eternal thing rooted in the ebb and flow of existence, a phantasmal 'deus-ex-machina' plinking about within the background of all things...watching on even if others are unaware of it. Even within stagnation, a lack of change, there is a cycle of perpetual idleness and decay that will either snuff itself out, continue on perpetually, or be eventually broken and replaced. Such is the nature of cycles, and such is the nature of their fate.
To attempt to be more defined, Arira can tweak cycles in a specific sort of way. Imagine it like 'controlling the time of something'. Arira can 'turn back' the cycle of life to give someone youth. She can 'end' the cycle of a disease in the body so it dies off. She can 'fast forward' the cycle of plant growth and accelerate it to a certain point in its life cycle. She can 'halt' the cycle of something, such as aging, in order to give eternal youth (not immortality, just youth). If a curse was placed on a land for 100 years, she can fast-forward the land itself (not the stuff on it or things living in it mind) to the point where the curse is gone...or rewind the cycle back to what it was like before the curse was placed.
She cannot, however, do things outside of what a given 'cycle' naturally contains. Unlike a nature goddess, she could not 'tweak' crops to be extra fruitful or more fertile or more potent. Unlike a life goddess, she can only wind back the cycle of death and bring a dead person back to a point they were at during the cycle in their life before dying....or otherwise push the soul into a cycle of rebirth to get a new body and be born again. But she cannot simply infuse the dead body with life energies, or necromancy it from the dead as a skelly-boi, or so forth.
To a devastated landscape she can return it to a past fruitful and whole state here in current times, but she cannot control the weather to ensure the land will prosper or be extra fertile or so forth. But if a place has always and forever been devastated desert sands then she can't really do anything unless it was somehow part of an ocean in primordial times (which would mean suddenly an ocean within a desert out of the blue if she used her powers to revert to that).
If she tries to end a cycle of maddening war going on in an area, it might accelerate the damage or cut things off abruptly but will bring peace about quicker. However, if those involved still want to make war her power doesn't stop them from doing so. Etc.
~Saucer Comments~
1. When affecting areas or whole wars, the powers affect more than just the land, but interpersonal relations which may stretch far beyond the land. And that's just the mortal-centric view: this world is animist, and trees, flowers and rocks could all potentially have relation networks that span the continent.
I doubt anyone will actually RP a rock or a tree, though, so I won't force you to take that into account, but still.
2. What makes an event cyclical is that it repeats itself, no matter what you do, really, be it reincarnation, the seasons, Chinese dynasties, whatever. I am hesitant to view learning a skill, for example, as a cyclical concept, or to tie cycles too closely to time, because time, no matter how circular a phenomenon, seems to always be that which moves forward. Time never repeats itself; events in time do. If you actually go for the Time domain, of course, the two won't be mutually exclusive, so when that is achieved, you can disregard that comment.
Myth
(One of potentially more, just need to think of more over time is all.)
In a humble rural town far, far away, the farmers had long plied their trade underneath the gaze of the gods. They had been humble as their priest demanded, they had been devout as their families had raised them to be, and all seemed to be right with the world. None knew what was to come, the era of doom that was to wash over like a tidal wave....and indeed, when the world began to burn they were left alone and with nothing but despair.
The old gods did not answer their calls and pleas and cries for help.
The clergy disappeared or succumbed to the flames.
The fields were choked by monstrous beasts emerging from the woods, slaughtering cattle and anyone else foolish enough to be outside when they emerged.
Plagues ravaged the humble town, tearing apart families that had long sown the soil and reaped the harvests over untold generations.
Every day was a waking nightmare they were forced to wade through, and so it was for their children and children's children after them. Some spoke as if the world was going to end, abandoning all and leaving, and yet the people desperately sought salvation in any form they could find it. They prayed and toiled, cursed and screamed, anything that some higher power might take pity upon them and save them from their hell.
...And so it was the goddess would ultimately in that town descend the night of one brilliant harvest moon, bright and reddish-orange like the great fires themselves. From sleep were the farmers awoken, being stirred from their restless slumber by a voice as gentle as the night breeze. Outside of their homes they gathered, some hiding in fear and others rushing forward to see what the matter was. Into the town square the majority would come, even as the one who had called them was manifested before their very eyes.
The beasts fled from before her as they had from none else, and yet her appearance gave off a gentle glow that brought the people's hearts to comfort.
But who was this divine figure, who had so brazenly appeared before them? Why had she called them?
"Be not afraid, oh children of the land, for your prayers have finally been heard after all this time.
Be not frightened of the desolation and pain about you, for at this time your sufferings and patience over so long will be at long last rewarded.
I am she who keeps the forces of the world turning. I am the end and the beginning, the beginning and the end.
I am Arira, Goddess of Cycles."
Some questioned her words, some simply stood in awe, others turned away, and more so began to beg and plead upon their knees before her for relief. To each she lent her ear, and to many she gave answer.
In the end, she made them all a promise. They would wake to find their livestock reborn, their fields growing with plenty, their dying finally passed on in peace, and their children healthy and growing. They would be helped to bring an end to the cycle of monsters harassing them in turn, and her first great Prophet would come to them. "So it would be," the goddess said, "and so it shall be done." She would then vanish in a brilliant explosion of light...and immediately after the people would finally awaken from this great vision they had all shared.
It was morning now, and upon all leaving their homes and investigating their loved ones and so forth the people would thusly find her words to be true. The fields, once devastated, had been cycled back to a healthy and growing state full of crops. Their livestock, many once dead from famine and monster attacks, were given rebirth and were now plump and happy and mighty in number. The dying that had been long suffering from disease or ailment were found smiling, gently at peace and having passed on. Their children were too vibrant, full of life, and any of them with maladies found the cycle of those maladies ended in their bodies. It was a grand miracle, a saving grace, something beyond words that those in the town could only look upon in awe and reverence.
And oh, how they did praise that day!
On the morrow her Prophet would arrive, humble and yet in service, donning a simple cloak and yet bringing with him years of battle-hardened experience and the word of his patron Goddess. Yea he would direct them to build a center of worship to Arira in her name, and so would be built the first, grandest, and greatest of her temples to rise from the ground and be built to withstand the test of time. To commemorate the mighty vision they had all shared, they would celebrate her honors every harvest moon and give thanks for her helping them.
Yet as also promised, the great Prophet would begin to organize some among them and teach them the ways to fight and hunt the monsters and disasters that plagued their land. His expertise from years and years of battle served the people well, teaching them and guiding them to wield shot and sword and spear and so forth to protect the land and protect their own. These "Hunters of the Cycle", as they so took on the name of, would dedicate themselves to the Goddess, gain her blessing for and maintain it if they kept their creed, and become a major force to help end the old cycle of terror that had gripped their homeland.
Base Form
“What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from.”
(Note: She is 5'6" tall.)
Angry Form
(Very very rare to see normally...not a good sign at all if you do ever see it though.)
“Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, nor hell a fury like a woman scorned.”
True Form
“That is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange aeons even death may die.”
From the mountainside, it was easy to see where the morning sun arose. Its gentle shining rays pierced into the caves, where some had crammed in their own spaces within divided using wood and stone, through the doorways of the perfectly-fitted stone-laid homes that sat securely upon the mountainside, which had taken much time and labor to build and secure, and so forth. Indeed, the light itself would expose the array of Gannorian homes that sat about, taking on different styles as the large Gannor families had sought out their own living spaces and crafted them with the help of relatives. Over time this had expanded quite a bit on this side of the southern part of the mountains, and beyond the caves and the fitted-stone homes that were most common there was one other type of home farther down the mountainside. These were a few dug into the hillside, where the stone gave way to dirt, mostly shored up with stones from the front and on the inside and inhabited periodically by hunters during the occasional long treks down to hunt and gather further game and resources to supplement what they could gather and use from the mountains.
"Beeeeehhhhhhh!!!"
Among the Ganorian homes where pens had been set up in areas of greenery nearby, the mighty Ramnor let out a bleating cry as the sun rose up. It was a common morning call for those who had only a few generations ago begun to keep herds of the species. Ramnor were a type of mountain goat that the Gannor had long before hunted on the slopes and near the peaks of the mountains and so forth, each bearing two sets of dense bone-hard horns, thick, fluffy fur that made for good pelts, and two sets of eyes which sharply kept a look out for danger. The females had one less set of horns, which was smaller, but that was about the only difference. Long had these creatures been prey, but in truth the idea of keeping them had eventually caught on and now the Gannor would not be the same without them. Hardy creatures that had high stamina and could provide meat and milk and wool aplenty, through much trial and error the shorter race of humanoids had found out how to herd and move them for feeding...as well as how to set up pens to take advantage of the spots of mountain greenery dotted about the landscape they lived upon.
Animal horn had provided handles for weapons, simple wrought shafts upon which blades of stone and flint could be tied using animal sinews to make stone knives. Alongside these to the Gannor used clubs of heavy rocks bound together with plant fibers and animal sinews to crush the skulls of smaller prey or smack meat from larger animals until it was more tender, stone axes with which to cut down trees and harvest the wood for various uses, and even used wood to form the shafts for spears tipped in sharp stone, simple bone (the rarest), or jagged-cut horn spear-tips. More than others tools that could hunt at range, however, more Gannor were more and more using a small pouch of animal hide with two strings attached, spinning them to fling stones (which were all over the place) at great distances and speeds. Some even used two of these 'Kfings' (Gannor for 'slings') to shoot at closer or farther targets and protect herd and practice and so forth.
More so, the meat of the animals was good to taste...even if older Ramnor meat needed a club taken to it for a bit to make it easier to eat over the fire. Even the animal bones, filled with succulent marrow, would be cooked or charred or frankly ground up into powder and used on meat to give it more flavor and seemingly make it even more tender sometimes. The Gannor loved their food and feasts and grand meals, and their inherent curiosity about the world drove them to toy about with things once in a while. Some of these things stuck and became more popular, such as the uses for animal bones and harvesting certain kinds of tasty berries from the mountains at certain times of year, but others, such as using a Ramnor skull as a helmet to headbutt someone else with whilst wearing it, didn't exactly catch on for more obvious and practical reasons. Still, the milk of the Ramnor was something also rather useful, somewhat better for Gannor young and able to be used in a few ways (at least thus far) to provide food for adults as well.
Still, the rumbles of waking females, the light of cooking fires, the hurried movement of males waking the children to assist them, and the rather standard smell of cooking meats and berries and even some plants gathered from the mountains and lower areas trailing through the air were signs that the Gannor were rousing from their slumber. Soon the entire great village would begin to see activity pick up normally as females ate with their families and began to go about their business, though unlike the others today would be a...special one. Indeed, as the females began to assemble and talk and prepare for the day's tasks of guarding, hunting, harvesting, and so forth, a piercing noise rang out over the village alongside the piercing call of a hollowed-out Ramnor horn being blown into. Soon after, many of the females would rush over to where the village chief's home was...where they knew the origin of that hollowed-out horn being blown was.
Standing there, cloaked in a dried and prepared hide from a rare albino Ramnor, was the chief. She stood there at about a 4'11 height, on the taller end of things for a Gannor indeed, a smaller Ramnor skull sitting atop her head ceremonially after having been painted with blackened soot and water mixtures until the bone turned pitch black permanently years ago. In her left hand was held a staff of carved wood, topped in a white rounded stone tied to it and the staves before it after being found in an alcove up in the mountains generations ago. Even so the chief's ruby red eyes would scan over the crowd, ensuring enough of the females had arrived that could before she spoke.
"Long have we lived here, hunting these mountains, traveling its peaks, taking its game, and we have grown much in this time! Yet with the use of the Ramnor, we have begun to need to hunt less so than in times before! Our people have continued to flourish, and now we must place our eyes elsewhere!"
There was a general murmur among the crowd, but before it could rise the chief put a hand up and the crowd of females went silent.
"Long ago I dreamt a dream that our people would cover the world, every mountain, every forest, and even places we have not yet seen for ourselves! Even so, our people will one day grow beyond where we currently are. This cannot be denied, for we have seen it in the world about us for so very long.
Have you not seen how the beasts of the mountain split apart when their pack is too big? Have these groups not gone about where food is best found? So too in time, I feel, we shall be the same. Even if those here can keep us rooted, keep us fed, and keep us well, we must be prepared that our families and young might prosper. We must be ready that these lands are not so alien to us that we cannot survive should the need to go away come.
It is such that I call forth the bravest of hunters, the most clever of our people, and the most wise of our ranks forward! We shall prepare them, and after a great feast send them off to explore to the west and to the east of us! Then let the rest return to hunting and protecting and so forth as the village and its families need, but let one female from each of the houses come forward to serve as we prepare for our people to know the lands beyond this one of our birth!"
Quickly the murmuring returned, then turned to a general sense of agreement as the chief spoke, then after the mention of these great missions to the west and east and the sending off of those going on it with a great feast it turned into a cheering crowd. Sure the idea of a feast was something big, and gained the crowd's approval outright, but at the same time the chief did have a point in the end that the vast majority could agree with. The great village they had was large, populous, and even if they were becoming more rooted to the land they like the animals of the world would not be able to sustain such growth indefinitely.
Already the signs of some crowding were showing, and to look beyond would be a reasonable enough way to find good land to place some of their people on. A second village, as it were, and a third as well at that! Things that would start small, yet grow as they had here. It was simply a practical thing.
And so the females would disperse in a hurry, a portion staying with the chief as myriad others went to spread the news to their families and others who had not been at the meeting. A great hunt would be undertaken, a great gathering would be initiated, and tonight...they would feast to celebrate the growth of their people! Tonight, they would celebrate the trek of their brave ones to scour the land to the east and west!
Only time would tell, however, what the results and consequences of this would be...
Summed up Gannor tech and their very big main village in a nutshell. Introduced the Ramnor species. And the Gannor woke up to the chief basically telling them they'd be sending a couple of parties of hunters and wiser folk out to see the world. One is going to the east, and naturally the other to the west.
(OOC trying to run into others to get some interactions started, etc, so if we timeskip between turns I could fast forward this to when I run into some other peeps. XD)
Thugal
Day ???, Week ???, Cycle ??? Along the River, Thugal Village (Wetlands/Forest/Grasslands) Springtime, 30 C°, Sunny
Standing above the water of the wetlands were homes wrought of wood, standing on rather thick and strong legs that held them up and away from the murky waters on the southern side of the river. Between these homes were bridges of wood, cut and prepared and secured and wedged into place where even the mighty winds would not shake them loose, with great wooden platforms secured upon great pillars of wood stuck down deep into the waters and ground being interspersed about between every so many homes. This that individuals might meet and speak and talk and move between their homes safely, and move supplies to build their homes that the community would assist with and attach to the ever-growing above-water living space that kept them safe from even the mighty floods the rivers would occasionally dump into these wetlands.
Away from these was also another great wooden platform, yet one that was unlike all the others. It was one with Thugal guard standing beside it with spears wrought of the best wood, stone, bone, and so forth. Upon it was dirt hauled in from the murky waters and land beyond the wetlands, with a great shelter built about it. Yea, even upon this dirt itself was also arrayed something special...growing spores, thick stalks topped in a mushroom cap, and other various stages of the latter half of the long gestation Thugal young underwent before emerging and being 'born'. A sacred and safe place where the community cared for young who could not be seeded and grown the rest of the way in their own homes as said homes were either being built and prepared still or otherwise were absent.
This was the second of two great villages, the other being the first and built just a ways away north into where grasslands and forest met. They had been the second village, diving the large population into two that there would be room to build homes. And here they had built homes, working on them and learning from the mistakes of building them too close to the water. Platforms of river/wetland reeds and wood and bound by plant fibers had been used to get the supplies out there and get them into place, before more could be built up from them and secured. It was work that had taken a long time to stabilize, work on, and build, and accidents and collapses had occurred along the way. Yet this height and advantage was theirs, and at the center of this second village was the Head's large home where the village's meetings were held in front of each day.
Guards protected the communal area where young were grown, as well as the edges of the village, whilst hunters and gatherers set out to search for food to the north, south, and even within the river itself near the edges and within the wetlands. Spears were the most common tool for them to use to stab and piece creatures and beasts and so forth that were being hunted or menaced the village, though handheld tools for throwing spears at a greater distance were commonly in use to hit targets at a range (atlatl/spear throwing tool) and had become common for their ease of use and the great mastery of which one could gain in using them in both villages. Lesser so weapons of hewn and bent wood (bows), with a string of the best animal sinews, were used to fire smaller and more nimble shafts of wood and bone tipped with small spear-tips and feathers from birds of the trees attached to the back of them (arrows). Such weapons were easier to make projectiles for, and had been catching on more in both villages to kill smaller prey items and creatures and more nimble targets, though the spear-thrower was still in use at the same time for larger prey, big threats, and hitting targets harder and so forth. In other words, each tool/weapon had their place and had taken a role and niche among the Thugal.
And having such weapons seemed more important lately than they had been before. There were reports from hunters who ventured out a bit farther that great beasts with two hoofed legs and more were running about the grasslands. It had been knowledge for some time, leading to the second village being built a long time ago over the wetlands and river. Things could not run well in this, that much they knew from experience, and so it seemed 'safer' in a sense. Even the main village, however, had already been sticking many a log of wood into the ground to surround the village, sharpening the tips and securing them and shoring them up with earth on both sides to keep them in-place to keep out beasts. Still, since there had been no run-ins there was nothing to fear, and save for preparing safety ahead of time the fungal species had been rather relaxed about it all. Life, in truth, had continued on as normal in both of the villages and homes within. Yet today, of all days, a sort of change could be smelled as it wafted in upon the morning breeze...
"Village Head, Village Head!"
A worried voice shouted into the home of the Village Head, who after a light grumble stood up and came to the door.
The Village Head, with her white-spotted red cap and all, was donned in a scaly animal pelt over some of herself, clothing not much of herself as was the case with all Thugal clothing being very barebones and simple, and likewise a stone-head spear decorated in designs on its shaft and feathers secured near the tip designated the Village Head from others...and as always ready to fight for her people as well as to lead them. Still, her clay-red eyes looked upon the worried messenger before her. The yellow-capped black-striped Thugal before her was huffing and puffing, notable haste and worry in her eyes.
The chief's eyes narrowed.
"What is the matter? Are we in danger?"
"There is a messenger from the other village, who has run all the way here! They bear an urgent message from the other Village Head!"
An urgent message from the other village? This could be very important as such hasty messages were not sent lightly among the Thugal. Never. It had been agreed upon when the second village was founded even.
Thus giving a nod and gesture for the villager to lead the way, the Village Head followed her over the bridges and past the meeting-places until she reached the rather large wooden ramp-bridge that led into the village from the far bank of the grasslands. It would be here that the chief would see a plain tan-capped Thugal standing there, huffing and puffing as about four of the villagers were trying to help her cool off and giving her some water. She looked horrendously exhausted, though as the Village Head approached she tried to stand back up...only to sit back on the ground at the insistence of the villagers with her.
"Sit, you have traveled a long way in such haste. If you need food, we will provide you a meal and shelter to rest before you return.
Now speak. I am the Head of this village, and I have bene told you bring a message."
The tan-capped messenger nodded slowly, letting out a deep breath and summing up some energy before beginning to speak between ragged breaths.
"Our Village Head...wants to inform you...that we have seen the Iht'mal (hoof-legs) wander closer....to our village than ever before. We desire....you send representatrives...so we can....investigate them....lest we expose...all to a potential danger. That is my message..."
The messenger coughed hard after speaking, though the Village Head simply motioned into the village with her spear as she addressed the guards and few villagers there.
"Take her into the village, give her rest and her meal. Then send word about the village for our Ki'tae (hunters-of-land) to assemble before my home, but not the Ki'toh (hunters-of-water) or Ki'tohra (hunters-of-water's-edge). Make it known this is an important matter, and they must come at once so we may prepare for the morrow'.
So I have said, so make it be."
Nodding, the villagers (including the one who led the Village Head there) began to pick up the messenger to carry as two of the guards took off running deeper into the village. Soon there would be a flurry of activity as the hunters assembled and such, and yet...the Village Head found herself taking a second to look out at the grassland plains beyond for a moment. The breeze blew past her face and rustled the hardy grasses, yet after looking out into nothing she simply sighed again and turned to go back into the village.
Hopefully things would not go bad with this endeavor.
Gave a brief look at the second of two Thugal Villages, this one built over water, as well as some of their tech in a sense and how they get food and so forth.
Had a messenger from the first village arrive at the second one, bringing a message that the "hoofed-legs" (Takhal) have been noticed from afar wandering closer to where the first Thugal village is. Not wanting to risk anything too much, the first Village Head has invited the second to send help so they can form a party to investigate the "hoofed-legs" in final to see why they wander closer and if there's a worrisome reason for it and so forth. Thugal have no idea yet the Takhal are a sentient species and not just beasts wandering the grasslands near the first Thugal village.
Achillean (-3) - Members of this species display an unnatural hardiness, a perplexing result of natural evolution or genetic tailoring. Both hard to injure and quick regenerate any wounds they receive, this species enjoys a distinct lack of natural predators who would attempt the foolish foolish endeavor of taking them down. Indeed, others will only assume these are normal creatures until they regenerate a lost arm by the end of the week.
Solitary (+1) - (Specifically in this case refers to how Thugal family units naturally desire their own home and space to rear young [born/seeded in batches] and grow them in. Whilst communal in other ways, such as having a socially acceptable and community-protected space to seed and grow young whose birth parents do not have space or cannot care for them, in this regard the Thugal have both an inherent disposition for needing the housing space and a rather practical reason for it at the same time.)
Slow Breeders (+1) - (The species has a long gestation period for young. Pregnant members can move around easily due to the growing fertilized spores being stored in their mushroom-cap 'hats'. Later, at a certain point in the growth of these, these hardy, rather survivable fertilized spores will be seeded in a spot [at home or communally] to grow the rest of the way. In compensation Thugal breed in larger batches to help grow and even recover population, but it still occurs more slowly even if in 'bursts' and is assisted by them having a higher 'drive' for mating. However, Thugal young are also born more well-developed and able to walk about and even run after their 'birth' as an advantage. Even so they are slower to breed than other species as a result, and ultimately still take longer recovering from plagues or disasters since it is much more costly for them than normal.
Before the 'seeding' point, though a Thugal can biologically go into reproductive 'stasis' as well. This in effect will block pregnancy chances entirely altogether, or can be alternately and just as naturally used to preserve fertilized spores and temporarily as well as safely halt an existing pregnancy itself. This originally evolved in their pre-sapience times so individuals could retain pregnancies, or prevent them, until they escaped danger or a dangerous area...or likewise do this to halt things until they get to an area more food-plenty and 'secure' to seed and raise young in.)
Sentient Fungi (0 / Does not cost trait pick) - Members of this species have evolved from fungi or have received some significant gene altering during their history, making them more akin to fungal species than any sort of animal. Whatever the reason is, this species requires little to no outside nutrients other than consuming organic matter to decompose and process within their bodies, though they do still possess an inherent sense of taste and flavors and such. While certainly an efficient way of generating energy, not being limited to one kind of food source as long as it is organic matter, it is much slower than a normal metabolism but faster than those of a sentient plant species. While unburdened by the sun or moisture due to a resilient fungal form and efficient internal organ system, they digest food more slowly over time (even if constantly) and yet tend to eat quite a lot with each 'meal' naturally (giving them a higher food upkeep for each meal...though said meals are spaced well and a long ways apart). Thankfully, not many fungus-eating predators are out to get them, and they are unburdened by age as individual members of the species can keep growing forever unless they are killed by other means. They are also immune to most viruses that would affect non-fungus based creatures, but they have their own scourge in the form of fungal diseases and certain types of insects (admittedly some only do this in certain stages of their lifecycle, like during the larval stage). Likewise anti-fungal compounds can be adapted to within this species' immune system, akin to how the human body irl can become more resistant to diseases and poisons and such, but even so such anti-fungal compounds naturally still hurt and even kill them unless sufficiently high resistance is built up over time or through surviving exposures or even just done purposefully.
RACE PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: A humanoid fungal species that possesses an appearance rather similar to most other humanoid species, with recognizable features such as eyes and ears and such. In that vein they are at least not a 'repugnant' species due to having a more familiar type of general humanoid appearance. However, every member of the species has a 'mushroom cap' on top of their head, which both gives them shade as well as has the same durable thickness the rest of their skin/hide does. From it are released fertilized spores some times after impregnation, which are seeded onto a particular spot to finish the rest of their long gestation and growth. Even so, as a fungal species they entirely lack the sexual dimorphism present in animal species and as such are all basically equipped with both things to reproduce with each other and rear young as a standard without any dimorphic divisions among them. This does, however, make for some rather confused initial interactions with other species, especially animal ones, as the concept of 'different sexes' in a sentient species is basically alien to them at first.
(Eye colors range from an earthy clay red to dirt brown to forest green and other natural, earthy, plant/fungi-y colors. The Mushroom-Cap of each Thugal can also range in color from red and spotted to yellow and light tan and so forth as fitting for fungi. Patterns like spots on the cap can also be hereditary at times in a family line.)
POPULATION: Up for community vote, depending on traits
RACE BEHAVIOUR: A species of fungal sentients, ones who usually take things generally relaxed and in a calm manner due to their inherent hardiness and such traits. Thugal mindsets usually mean that they take their time when performing tasks, working on them and putting emphasis on quality over speed when getting things done. That being said, this more relaxed mindset carries over into their free time, where games and relaxing and laid-back things so forth are rather common to see them doing when what needs to be done has been completed. Meals are a once-a-day matter for them biologically and societally, and are usually very large since they do not need to eat as often as others and have a unique digestive process. Still the 'daily meal' is taken as an important yet still a bit special event that demands they put their best into it for the sake of enjoyment and survival both. However, practicality is not lost on the species nor are they 'wasteful' about it unlike some others.
There is also another, ah, 'peculiar' local habit the species exhibits due to their reproductive traits. Mating is a more common casual practice among Thugal couples and friends and such, though is not done out in the middle of public in front of others. However, seeding fertilized spores from one who is not your primary 'mate' is seen as a generally negative thing. Further, whilst families can seed their fertilized spores at home to grow their young in safety after their pregnancies reach a certain point, a communal place to do so is also available for Thugal in order to ease the burden by the community. Here community-chosen guards protect and monitor the growth of young in the last half of their gestation. Ultimately these communal spaces allow for the taking in of young that are seeded there by Thugal families in the community (if unclaimed and/or unable to be housed by the original parents) or by their original parents (if claimed and the parents can care for them). Yet in these senses one also cannot deny that the Thugal are rather 'alien' in some respects.
Thugal can during the day be usually found moving about performing tasks throughout, starting earlier than others to ensure it gets done in time in some cases, being hard and hardy workers naturally. When one can survive a hell of a lot of damage, is hard to injure, is quick to regenerate, and recovers something like an entire lost limb by the end of the week with ease, it makes one's perspective on life and activities naturally differ from that of other species. One can take the time, put in the effort, and generally survive doing even dangerous things. When one's life is put in real danger they do become serious, though this threshold is rather different for them as compared to other species.
HISTORY: (You will have plenty to write here once we begin!)
CULTURE: (Same as above, leave it free for now. Will fill up as we get into the game.)
@Dark Cloud Since the others on discord can see it there, here is a non-official copy of the map (with people's starting positions) currently until Nis gets the official stuff up:
...Seemed whoever wrote that page was not a fan of the Illuminator, but more worrying was the seeming gusto to one-up a god at something. Sure whomever it was could erase memories, it seemed, but trying to one-up a deity was usually a sign of the kind of hubris that would doom someone in legend. Or at least the kind that led to bad things happening in anime and movies. Maybe even, as she suspected most of all, the words of a rejected follower or apprentice or something who was trying something ultimately stupid and dangerous to try to one-up the master or deity or so forth who cast them aside. The mention of an orb was also something odd, however, as they'd already seen one after coming in. Was it the same one they wanted to take? Was it another one hidden deep in this temple? Both could be valid, and her own suspicions immediately went to the latter option unless it would be proven different otherwise.
Either way, the mysterious writer who left this behind a complex trap would be something to get back to sooner or later depending on what happened next. Maybe she could even ask Lazhira about it all, to be frank, and see if she had any insights. The girl bore markings like this place and was suspiciously able to get to and fro to here with a strange ease compared to them. So perhaps she knew something? Leannah didn't want to assume anything outright at the moment about the newfound companion, but hell the mysteries behind her too and the fact they'd only met some shorter time ago did indicate something of potential mischief and strangeness afoot if naught else. So much didn't add up, so much she had already theorized about, and so much more was here to learn if she didn't get herself killed first.
Mostly she was thankful the crystals on the walls were back, and that the one she had was still glowing well in the dark. She'd put out her magic light well enough by this point to simply see better with the crystal, or really it could be said her concentration was broken and it went out when she fell down the pit in the first place, but still she pressed onward through the path that opened up from the cistern.
By the time the catgirl reached the large pool, she immediately paused in her movement to observe and look around...carefully this time. It was a big rectangular area, wrought of bricks and glowing crystals. Things were moving in the large pool of water (not always a good sign), though light was coming from the bottom of it as well. Most worrying was that more of that 'tar' was hanging from the edges of the pool, which wasn't a good sign if she went into the thing. Reminded her of a local YMCA really, at least when she'd managed to first see one after many years of travel and training and so forth.
It smelled of a trap. Jump into the water to get things, things turn out to be monsters or cursed or evil slimes or something, can't get out because of the tar on the edges. Ensue a stamina struggle to swim whilst fighting, and then basically either die or manage to get out. Such a thing seemed fitting for a deity who wanted to 'test' how far others were willing to go for knowledge. Of course she could be reading too much into this as well, that much was always a possibility. Either way her curiosity was something fierce about all of this, and she couldn't just sit idly by after what had just happened either. There was a lot up with this place, and it was important to ensure she learned something as she went along to help ensure her owns survival and maybe unravel one or two clues about here at least.
Still, in the end she would decide to keep her feet away from the tar and patrol around the pool with her crystal in hand. From this safe distance of the tar she'd look around the walls and edges and floors about the pool, minding her steps and looking cautiously for obvious 'push me into the water' traps. She'd also, from this safe distance, look over into the pool and use her own handheld crystal as a light source extra to see if she could tell what was down/in there without stepping as far as the tar.
Once she was done, if nothing crazy happened, she'd stand near the far end of the pool close to exit from (not where she entered into here from) this room. Here she would try to cast a 'Light' spell like earlier, but this time take time, control, and caution to the extreme to do so. Because in this case she was trying to cast a light attached to the edge of the pool to give her more of a look into the water. It would probably cancel out the crystal light, but all the same it would be another perspective. If it gave her any better view or look at what was in the pool from here, or not, she'd gently snuff out the light once more with the same level of extreme caution in her magic use.
@rezay I asked Nis a long time ago and he said he wouldn't stop me. Mostly I am seeing how trying to use two would do, and worst case one of my species goes extinct off-screen if I get overloaded by the work load for that irl. Tis' experimental, as it were. :P
I'd say ask him before doing anything though, if you'd be wanting to. I don't think we want to overload the RP too much with stuff. XD
Herculean (-2) - (For their 'average' and 'standard' size the Thugal are incredibly strong, beyond what they'd seem to be like on first glance, and require the right amount of calories and food to compensate. Combined with their 'one massive meal a day' needs, their standard 'meals' are basically great feasts in comparison to other species!)
Slow Breeders (+1) - (The species has a long gestation period for breeding during which they cannot get pregnant 'again' or further during said time, and during which members can move around due to the growing fertilized spores being stored in their mushroom-cap 'hats' to later be seeded them in a spot to grow without being attached to the parents, but breed in larger batches as compensation to help grow and recover population. Even so they are slower to breed than other species as a result, and ultimately still take longer recovering from plagues or disasters since it is much more costly for them than normal.)
Armored Skin (0) - Members of this species' exterior is a as tough and dense as the thick bony shell some other species out there might have, in this case weighing them down and making them move slower than other species (equivalent to a 'Big' trait species in speed). To the touch it feels very deceptively 'soft' akin to skin on the outermost part, but when hacked at or stabbed at or bitten or so forth is very much resilient and proper 'armor' that 'takes a licking and keeps on ticking' indeed. It is highly protective naturally, but at the same time moving slower doesn't exactly help wielders in other ways.
Sentient Fungi (0 / Does not cost trait pick) - Members of this species have evolved from fungi or have received some significant gene altering during their history, making them more akin to fungal species than any sort of animal. Whatever the reason is, this species requires little to no outside nutrients other than consuming organic matter to decompose and process within their bodies, though they do still possess an inherent sense of taste and flavors and such. While certainly an efficient way of generating energy, not being limited to one kind of food source as long as it is organic matter, it is much slower than a normal metabolism but faster than those of a sentient plant species. While unburdened by the sun or moisture due to a resilient fungal form and efficient internal organ system, they digest food more slowly over time (even if constantly) and yet tend to eat quite a lot with each 'meal' naturally (giving them a higher food upkeep for each meal...though said meals are spaced well and a long ways apart). Thankfully, not many fungus-eating predators are out to get them, and they are unburdened by age as individual members of the species can keep growing forever unless they are killed by other means. They are also immune to most viruses that would affect non-fungus based creatures, but they have their own scourge in the form of fungal diseases and certain types of insects (admittedly some only do this in certain stages of their lifecycle, like during the larval stage). Likewise anti-fungal compounds can be adapted to within this species' immune system, akin to how the human body irl can become more resistant to diseases and poisons and such, but even so such anti-fungal compounds naturally still hurt and even kill them unless sufficiently high resistance is built up over time or through surviving exposures or even just done purposefully.
RACE PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: A humanoid fungal species that possesses an appearance rather similar to most other humanoid species, with recognizable features such as eyes and ears and such. In that vein they are at least not a 'repugnant' species due to having a more familiar type of general humanoid appearance. However, every member of the species has a 'mushroom cap' on top of their head, which both gives them shade as well as has the same durable thickness the rest of their skin/hide does. From it are released fertilized spores many months after impregnation, which are seeded onto a particular spot to finish the rest of their long gestation and growth. Even so, as a fungal species they lack the sexual dimorphism present in animal species and as such are all basically equipped to reproduce with each other as a standard. This does make for some rather confused initial interactions with other species, especially animal ones, as the concept of dimorphism is basically alien to them.
POPULATION: Up for community vote, depending on traits
RACE BEHAVIOUR: A species of fungal sentients, who despite their moving due to their tougher exterior are capable of short periods and brief bursts of speed (especially when reproducing). Thugal mindsets usually mean that they take their time when performing tasks, working on them and putting emphasis on quality over speed when getting things done. That being said, this more relaxed mindset carries over into their free time, where games and relaxing and laid-back things so forth are rather common to see them doing when what needs to be done has been completed. Meals are a once-a-day matter for them, and usually very large since they do not need to eat as often as others and have higher requirements, and so are taken as special events that demand they put their best into it for the sake of enjoyment. However, practicality is not lost on the species nor are they 'wasteful' about it.
There is also another, ah, 'peculiar' local habit the species exhibits. Their slower reproductive cycles usually mean a slower recovery period from population-devastating events, but also means that mating is a more common casual practice among Thugal couples and friends and such as well since they cannot get 'pregnant again' whilst being pregnant. Further, whilst families can seed their fertilized spores at home to grow their young in safety after their pregnancies reach a certain point, a communal place to do so is also available for Thugal in order to ease the burden by the community dividing out and protecting the growth of and ultimately taking in young that are seeded there. It is an odd thing that would perhaps seem strange or otherwise to other species, but for Thugal is a rather simple matter without the rampant population and moral issues it would generate among others.
Despite moving more slowly they are a surprisingly who usually can be found moving about performing tasks throughout the general day, starting earlier than other species to ensure it gets done in time in some cases, being hard workers where they lack speed as ones. The quality of work is emphasized over speed, though by pushing themselves a bit too much the species can can a project done more rapidly in a time crunch...but need distinctly just as much more rest in the aftermath from the strain. However, their incredible strength does assist them handily when it comes to their labors as well.
HISTORY: (You will have plenty to write here once we begin!)
CULTURE: (Same as above, leave it free for now. Will fill up as we get into the game.)
BurningCold
Fallenreaper
Zapdos
Xaltwind
Spiffy
dwyer austin
The Otter
Dezuel
Izurich
Danyel
