Dear Mr Curly, I have done little travelling lately because I have been so dreadfully weary. Can it be true as the old Ecclesiastes said; that all things lead to weariness? Surely not. Perhaps the opposite is true: that all nothings lead to weariness. I have a peculiar feeling, Curly, that I am worn out from something I haven't yet done and the more I don't do it, the more exhausted I become. How strange. Could it be something I haven't realised? Perhaps it's something I haven't said? Something I haven't finished! It must be very large and true whatever it is and a lively struggle in the doing but I look forward to it immensely. I know I need it. First, however, I must curl up in my chair and sleep deeply with the duck. Perhaps I'll dream of this thing and wake up refreshed and do it. My fond wishes to you Mr. Curly, and to all Curly Flat. Yours sleepily, Vasco Pyjama xxx P.S. Not having breakfast can make you weary. That's for sure!
The pack had no hesitation falling in with the other soldiers, but even Ri'vashi's commands could not completely stave off the fear in their hearts. Fendros readied his ward and considered for a moment whether one or more of them would not make it through Meesei's portal. If there would be a portal at all.
Sabine distracted herself by bettering their chances. She sprinted to one side of the line and poured a cold magic wide around their flank. The frosty air lingered in a mist that whitened the ground beneath it; a wall of cold. She sprinted to the other side of the line and did the same. Without the staff, she felt for the first time since the battle began that her magicka had a limit. In the realisation, she took a magicka fortifying potion out of her bag, her hand brushing something else in her bag. Opening the flask she processed what she had brushed against. A shiver ran up her neck. It was Molag-Bal's little 'gift' she hoped she would not have to use. A sigil stone that would summon a Dark Anchor.
There was no time to give it rational consideration. She quaffed her potion down and readied for battle once more. The Daedra below were almost in range to deter with spellfire. Her empty fingers curled with cascading mist.
The thing had nothing to sense. A numb cancelling of all waves centred itself there in the core of the world. None of the cacophonous rumbles, pressure, and searing heat was felt. The only company enjoyed by the thing at the core was the gentle song of the cosmos whispered through from the outside. It sat listening, manifesting the opposite of all else around it, whether willed or not. The opposite now was an absence of all. It had neither memories nor the consciousness to record such. No record within or without existed of its age. Its existence was unnoticed, eternal or not. It may never have had memories at all.
What the thing at the core had was a reaction to all the spirits of the world, choiring at once at the hell they suddenly inhabited. The discordant crowd of pain came from all directions at such a volume as to reach a uniform peak at the core. The song of the cosmos was not just drowned, but buried, sealed, and suffocated beneath it. The thing at the core manifested the opposite of all else around it. It was peace, patience, and familiarity.
The apocalyptic choir overlapped its verses, and with it came hate, anger, trauma, vengeance, avarice, and disgust. The thing at the core manifested the opposite of all else around it. Its heart ached not in a desire to destroy, but a desire to soothe, preserve, and heal. From that heart, a being formed. The combined spirit of the planet Galbar itself unknowingly made it so. In the planet’s manifest discord, shattering and breaking into oceanic pieces, the opposite -- harmony -- was given shape. The shape was Kor.
Kor was a weeping goddess.
The birth of Kor lasted only as long as her new consciousness formulated actions from her desires. She wrought a body from the decompressing metal around her and this stilled her tears. From the heat, she pushed out and up. She did not choose a direction to go. The direction chose her, beckoning up to a point at Galbar’s undercrust. An old benevolent trail of divinity beyond her immediate understanding signalled her there like a light in the sky.
She found her direction through the molten mantle and pushed with two arms. The chaos of the world sank into her like so many teeth. With two more arms she pushed. A great shard of the planet buckled and broke away from the whole under her pressure. The underside of the shard glowed and flexed and screamed. To that she sang softly a song she knew to calm it.
…Kor…Re…Pa…Ve…Laak… …Kor…Re…Pa…Ve…Laak…
The screaming quietened, but the dark chaos hung onto the shard jealously. It would consume all if it could not have the peace this shard dared to achieve.
…Kor…Re…Pa…Ve…Laak… …Kor…Re…Pa…Ve…Laak…
Kor manifested the opposite of the chaos to protect her new shard. Her harmonious peace. A body of unbreakable confidence and structure. She then took two more arms and pushed up as hard as she could. The burning remains of Galbar darkened below, opening an endless maw that threatened to consume Kor and her last shard of the unbroken past. It inhaled to draw her closer.
The shard sang with her. The mantra took the spirits of the land, the plants, the animals, and the people, and stroked their spines and shoulders with a new calm. They found a sureness in the pull their bodies had to the earth below them, pushing away the chaos. The pain and darkness that clung from the planet below could not hold on against this force, which from the underside pushed it all away. The chaos held, but thinned and tore like a film of black slime. Finally, though some of the chaos remained atop the shard, the film finally ripped asunder by force of Kor’s strength, and the shard flew free in the goddess’ six great hands.
Kor continued to sing, and continued to push Galbar away. But still she wept. Above, the shard began to shiver and crack. In the cradle of its salvation, the cold of its new freedom threatened to kill it early. Below, Galbar broke and collapsed until nothing was left but the malevolence that caused its destruction. Kor could only keep the ex-Galbar and All-In-The-Darkness-Below at bay. She did not have the strength to save the shard as well.
Then, as if she was not the only one to hear the call of the shard, Kor witnessed more great powers repair and stabilise it from above and within. Six points of surety welded the stone together. Kor readjusted her hands as carefully as she could to align with the six points and found herself finally at a point of equilibrium once more. She smiled softly in the knowledge that the shard above would live on.
Thank you, she called into the earth above. She did not know who was responsible, only that there would be peace again for a time.
This post starts off at the height of the apocalypse, so it’s a bit out of order from the above posts.
Kor starts off as a presence of absence in the core of the old planet Galbar. When Galbar starts its end, the emotional weight of all its spirits induces her to manifest its opposite, thus the goddess of harmony is born.
Manifesting the opposite of the more negative drives within the apocalypse, Kor wants to save a part of the world, so she makes a body of molten iron and nickel from the core shoots up to the underside of the crust. She’s drawn to a particular point of the crust with a benevolent divine trail on it, which just so happens to be right beneath Mons Divinus, but that detail isn’t mentioned.
Kor grows a total of six arms to push a shard out from the crumbling planet, our shard, and sings her mantra to calm the remaining chaos on top of it. She fights and pushes against the culmination of evils that is causing the destruction of Galbar to get the shard out cleanly, creating gravity-like effect in the process.
However, the shard is breaking apart! Not for long, thankfully, as Kor feels Algrim’s six pillars take hold and prevent the whole thing breaking into pieces. Kor aligned her hands with the pillars and finally experienced equilibrium once more.
MA Summary: All costs negated by turn 0 - Pushed the shard that is our RP world away from the crumbling planet Galbar. - Started and will continue to maintain a constant repulsion of evil darkness leftover from Galbar below, maintaining a gravity-like acceleration on the shard as a side-effect without requiring all the matter that a whole planet would usually provide. - Started and will continue to maintain Kor’s Mantra, which can held calm spirits when actively listened to.
"What?" Fendros breathed at the portals tearing open far behind them. "If we had been down there..." He shook the thought out of his head. "But it's not over yet."
Sabine hesitated, tightening her grip around the staff at first. But with the magicka virtually buzzing all around them, thoughts of how she] might use it made her realise Meesei's idea may have been similar. Sabine held the staff out horizontally to Meesei. "Take it. I am not sure I could control it."
Fendros could not say he followed it all, but he knew their time was running out. "Meesei, if this will take more than a moment, this is no place to defend ourselves."
...Kor Re Pa Ve Laak Kor Re Pa Ve Laak Kor Re Pa Ve Laak...
Names: Kor, The Nadir, Kor Re Pa Ve Laak, The Earth Mantra, The Core
Domain: Harmony Kor creates equilibrium. Every phenomenon that is met upon her, spiritual, mental, and physical, is countered by its opposite. This at once leaves each space around Kor at a collapsing spiral of peace while rendering her relatively passive compared to other gods. Her peers may aggress or consume, but she is powerless to do either beyond the base abilities of a deity.
As Kor has chosen to remain on the underside of the world, she repels All-In-The-Darkness-Below as it emanates from the remains of Galbar. This repulsion forms such a powerful acceleration in the opposite direction as to manifest gravity on the world above. This holds all things on the world down.
However, the gravitational acceleration is not the only effect of Kor's repulsion. If one meditates and chooses to listen, they can hear the calming rebuttal that Kor chants against All-In-The-Darkness-Below. This is a calming mantra that slowly repeats the words Kor Re Pa Ve Laak. The true power of this mantra is not the words themselves. It is the space between the words. To notice them and to feel oneself grounded to the earth below (to feel the gravity Kor induces) temporarily brings peace to one's spirit.
Myth:
There were no old men there. No hermits or grandparents or other fonts of wisdom. A camp for soldiers was no place for those that could not stand and fight. The men here were young, eager, energetic, and their nerves could not stop firing in their cores. Battle could come at any time. The sound of gunfire and clashing steel was as much at home here in drills as it was amongst its partnered screams of pain on the battlefield.
But that encampment was overseen by a general thought to not be fully of this world. He was human, but he did not behave like a young soldier. Rounds flew around him and dirt kicked into his eye, but he stood unflinching, hands clasped behind his back. He never showed his fear. But he was not a stone; he smiled, he sympathised, and spoke to the hearts of his subordinates. And his stability allowed him to pursue tactics that countered the most certain of defeats.
When his officers asked in candid moments how this general stood unshakable, he planted both boots solid on the ground and closed his eyes, as if listening.
"Do you ever notice," the general responded to them, "just how deep the earth is? Do you ever feel yourself pressed against it, drinking away the tightness in your chest? At any time, we could fall, and we can be certain the ground is beneath us. We can never fall further."
The general refused to give any less cryptic an answer, claiming he did not have the skill with words to do so. All the same, his behaviour gave off an air of invincibility which granted a morale unmatched amongst his cohort.
But he did die. One battle's morning, an arquebus ball pierced his heart and broke through the back of his ribs on the way out. He fell upon the ground directly on his back. He closed his eyes where he lay and smiled, listening. His soul left his body in such peace that his psychopomp stood waiting a while, thinking he was just asleep. Hearing of this manner of death, his soldiers knew their leader had remained unshaken to the end. They went on to win the battle.
This general, though his name is lost to history, was not the first to hear the Earth Mantra. He was merely the first to let the world know.
Base Form: Kor's base form depends heavily on her surrounding environment, but her abode being what it is leaves little else in options for her except the form she assumes at the underside of the world. Kor takes the form of a titanic metal-and-carbon naked human shape with no hair, a tall head, a torso of no remarkable shape, two emaciated legs fused together below her and six long arms sprouting from her shoulders. These arms stretch up and gently hold the underside aloft by the extremities where hands would normally be. She has instead of hands writhing swarms of eyeless segmented metallic serpents that merge onto the underside's earth like inverted mountains of glinting insects at the end of each arm. These snakes repair holes in the underside with whatever material is available.
Kor's face does not express any strain at this ceaseless duty. Her dull grey eyes slowly blink observing the quiet universe around her, betraying none of her capacity for alertness should a new being come to visit.
True Form: To see Kor's true form is to see one's exact opposite reflected before them within an environment exactly opposite to the one they stand in. A ruthless tyrant in charge of a cowed and clean kingdom would see a peaceful yet deprived beggar happy to sit in a world of chaos and destruction. Conversely, a hero on a battlefield would see a villainous demon passively standing in a peaceful garden.
The experience can be confronting, but whatever stirring in one's mind to make sense of the sight is buffered by a universal feeling of intimate peace, like pressing one's forehead against the forehead of a loving partner in a quiet place. It brings an awareness of the rivers of cause and effect flowing all around, and yet one is safe and calm in the moment, free from all anxiety.
When she is in her true form, Kor is the only one who sees only herself where she already is.
Alright, here's my character. It's a little unorthodox, but keep in mind I'm making this character with the intention of committing less time to the RP, simply because I can't commit as much time to a fully active character, let alone keeping up with everything in the RP. To that end, this character is deliberately going to be rather passive.
Anyway, here goes. Let me know what you think!
...Kor Re Pa Ve Laak Kor Re Pa Ve Laak Kor Re Pa Ve Laak...
Names: Kor, The Nadir, Kor Re Pa Ve Laak, The Earth Mantra, The Core
Domain: Harmony Kor creates equilibrium. Every phenomenon that is met upon her, spiritual, mental, and physical, is countered by its opposite. This at once leaves each space around Kor at a collapsing spiral of peace while rendering her relatively passive compared to other gods. Her peers may aggress or consume, but she is powerless to do either beyond the base abilities of a deity.
As Kor has chosen to remain on the underside of the world, she repels All-In-The-Darkness-Below as it emanates from the remains of Galbar. This repulsion forms such a powerful acceleration in the opposite direction as to manifest gravity on the world above. This holds all things on the world down.
However, the gravitational acceleration is not the only effect of Kor's repulsion. If one meditates and chooses to listen, they can hear the calming rebuttal that Kor chants against All-In-The-Darkness-Below. This is a calming mantra that slowly repeats the words Kor Re Pa Ve Laak. The true power of this mantra is not the words themselves. It is the space between the words. To notice them and to feel oneself grounded to the earth below (to feel the gravity Kor induces) temporarily brings peace to one's spirit.
Myth:
There were no old men there. No hermits or grandparents or other fonts of wisdom. A camp for soldiers was no place for those that could not stand and fight. The men here were young, eager, energetic, and their nerves could not stop firing in their cores. Battle could come at any time. The sound of gunfire and clashing steel was as much at home here in drills as it was amongst its partnered screams of pain on the battlefield.
But that encampment was overseen by a general thought to not be fully of this world. He was human, but he did not behave like a young soldier. Rounds flew around him and dirt kicked into his eye, but he stood unflinching, hands clasped behind his back. He never showed his fear. But he was not a stone; he smiled, he sympathised, and spoke to the hearts of his subordinates. And his stability allowed him to pursue tactics that countered the most certain of defeats.
When his officers asked in candid moments how this general stood unshakable, he planted both boots solid on the ground and closed his eyes, as if listening.
"Do you ever notice," the general responded to them, "just how deep the earth is? Do you ever feel yourself pressed against it, drinking away the tightness in your chest? At any time, we could fall, and we can be certain the ground is beneath us. We can never fall further."
The general refused to give any less cryptic an answer, claiming he did not have the skill with words to do so. All the same, his behaviour gave off an air of invincibility which granted a morale unmatched amongst his cohort.
But he did die. One battle's morning, an arquebus ball pierced his heart and broke through the back of his ribs on the way out. He fell upon the ground directly on his back. He closed his eyes where he lay and smiled, listening. His soul left his body in such peace that his psychopomp stood waiting a while, thinking he was just asleep. Hearing of this manner of death, his soldiers knew their leader had remained unshaken to the end. They went on to win the battle.
This general, though his name is lost to history, was not the first to hear the Earth Mantra. He was merely the first to let the world know.
Base Form: Kor's base form depends heavily on her surrounding environment, but her abode being what it is leaves little else in options for her except the form she assumes at the underside of the world. Kor takes the form of a titanic metal-and-carbon naked human shape with no hair, a tall head, a torso of no remarkable shape, two emaciated legs fused together below her and six long arms sprouting from her shoulders. These arms stretch up and gently hold the underside aloft by the extremities where hands would normally be. She has instead of hands writhing swarms of eyeless segmented metallic serpents that merge onto the underside's earth like inverted mountains of glinting insects at the end of each arm. These snakes repair holes in the underside with whatever material is available.
Kor's face does not express any strain at this ceaseless duty. Her dull grey eyes slowly blink observing the quiet universe around her, betraying none of her capacity for alertness should a new being come to visit.
True Form: To see Kor's true form is to see one's exact opposite reflected before them within an environment exactly opposite to the one they stand in. A ruthless tyrant in charge of a cowed and clean kingdom would see a peaceful yet deprived beggar happy to sit in a world of chaos and destruction. Conversely, a hero on a battlefield would see a villainous demon passively standing in a peaceful garden.
The experience can be confronting, but whatever stirring in one's mind to make sense of the sight is buffered by a universal feeling of intimate peace, like pressing one's forehead against the forehead of a loving partner in a quiet place. It brings an awareness of the rivers of cause and effect flowing all around, and yet one is safe and calm in the moment, free from all anxiety.
When she is in her true form, Kor is the only one who sees only herself where she already is.
It took a few moments for the pack to realise the structures around the doors were even lifts. Fendros said what obviously came to mind. "I don't like the idea of sitting in one of those lifts while a flock of flying Daedra take their pick of us, much less separating to operate one of these things." He lowered his gaze to the stone doors in front of them. "Nowhere else to go but through it. There could be surprises behind there."
Walking up to the base of the tower, Janius and Fendros tried working to open the doors fast enough for the rest of the pack to get some initiative over whatever guarded the other side.
The quieter moments of the pursuit gave Yalu some moments to reflect. The mission was not going flawlessly. He did not know whether the enemy commander would still be at the landing pad by the time they reached him. It would not be over by then, he told himself. If the human rebels could fly through these tunnels as a routine, then he might...
He paused his thought before they opened the door to the landing pad.
There was little time else for Yalu to do than to take a shot alongside the others at the commander. "He has a gauntlet. Need more firepower-"
The grenade flew across them. Yalu reflexively ducked and covered his head as it went off. He grit his teeth at the shock that had blasted against his now EMP-drained shield. This breach was dead in the water.
But he did spot some other aircraft in the landing pad.
They had perhaps a few seconds before their quarry could load up another grenade and they could not push an assault without shields. That was the first concern. "Grenade out!" Yalu risked an arm out of cover to pitch a fragmentation grenade out ahead with plenty left on the timer. It bounced, slid, and coasted to a stop across the forerunner floor, spinning in place ahead of the pelican's ramp before detonating.
Yalu was already switching to his concussion rifle for the next stage. He had only six shots left to pin down the enemy while the rest of the team followed up.
"The quarry covers his allies' retreat," Yalu observed. "We are not hunting a coward."
"Something tells me Vile's goal is not to simply gift the Dominion back their tower," Fendros remarked, breathing heavily.
Sabine worried her brow looking up at the columns of power. "I cannot fathom what that magicka should be used for. If it is directed towards us..." She did not want to finish the thought. It would be terrifyingly instant, whatever end it would bring them. Everyone knew that.
Nevertheless, they pressed on. They had no other choice.
"Crystal Tower!" Janius growled. He was more lucid now, though still choleric from his transformation. "Does Vile think it some kind of symbol? Egotistical tyrant..."
Fendros thought for a moment. "Why that tower? What did it ever do?" He asked. "And why lycan souls to power it? If I guess it correctly."
The pack caught their breaths in the short time Meesei spoke with the others. Sabine passed around a few potions in the pause to restore their energy and heal any superficial wounds they had.
"We do not know what is in that tower," Sabine remarked.
Fendros lifted the visor of his helmet. "We don't have time to scout it out." He regarded everyone. "We all knew the plan coming into this," he said. "We'll all go home once Vile is defeated. If there's a good spot to hold out until then, we'll be counting on everyone."
"Tarna, Rhajul," Sabine addressed her subordinates. "What is ahead of us may be worse than what is behind us. If you want to stay behind and hold the line, you may do so."
Even though the last fight had tired her, Tarna tsked and wiped the blood off her dagger in the crook of her elbow. "No, I am not the kind to do better in a shieldwall. I will keep going with you."
Yalu danced his feet back as fast as he could once his last bullet shot into the brute's shoulder. He got to the last punch of reloading in his final carbine magazine only to hear one more close gunshot aimed at the chieftain. The hulking alien fell heavily onto Tar, but she looked like she could handle it. Yalu briefly scanned for more enemies, finding none worth shooting, before turning an eye to their scarred human Corporal nearby. "A fine kill, Cohen."
Only now did Yalu take another look at the spartan Rex. He knew it was not his business to eavesdrop, but Yalu showed at least some relief to hear that the spartan still lived, based on Aviza's assessment.
But Rex was not the only one wounded. Yalu thought about his next words carefully while scavenging for another weapon. This Tar 'Mdalak was not to be underestimated if he impugned her honour by drawing attention to her bleeding leg. She was no minor under his command, after all.
Yalu rearmed with a few frag grenades, a fallen brute's plasma rifle, and a human marksman's rifle to replace his carbine; there was more ballistic ammunition than carbine magazines available.
The other team reunited with them, Yalu gave them a nod. They were about to set out when he decided to speak up. "Commander Aviza," Yalu said quietly over the comms. "As you are our medical specialist, your anaesthetics may help us Sangheili pursue our objective faster. Do you have spare doses we may hold?"
If they all could hold onto a shot of pain relievers, particularly Commander Vael, Yalu knew 'Mdalak was less likely to lose face if she used it for her leg. It was risky for Yalu to assume Aviza would understand the social nuance, but he hoped the AI could make up the difference.
[center][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPjJCVylFBo[/youtube][/center]
[quote=Michael Leunig. The Curly Pyjama Letters.]
Dear Mr Curly,
I have done little travelling lately because I have been so dreadfully weary. Can it be true as the old Ecclesiastes said; that all things lead to weariness? Surely not. Perhaps the opposite is true: that all [u]nothings[/u] lead to weariness. I have a peculiar feeling, Curly, that [u]I[/u] am worn out from something I haven't yet done and the more I don't do it, the more exhausted I become. How strange. Could it be something I haven't realised? Perhaps it's something I haven't said? Something I haven't finished! It must be very large and true whatever it is and a lively struggle in the doing but I look forward to it immensely. I know I need it. First, however, I must curl up in my chair and sleep deeply with the duck. Perhaps I'll dream of this thing and wake up refreshed and do it. My fond wishes to you Mr. Curly, and to all Curly Flat.
Yours sleepily,
Vasco Pyjama
xxx
P.S. Not having breakfast can make you weary. That's for sure!
[/quote]
<div style="white-space:pre-wrap;"><div class="bb-center"><iframe src="//youtube.com/embed/HPjJCVylFBo?theme=dark" frameborder="0" width="496" height="279" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><br><br><blockquote class="bb-quote">Dear Mr Curly,<br>I have done little travelling lately because I have been so dreadfully weary. Can it be true as the old Ecclesiastes said; that all things lead to weariness? Surely not. Perhaps the opposite is true: that all <span class="bb-u">nothings</span> lead to weariness. I have a peculiar feeling, Curly, that <span class="bb-u">I</span> am worn out from something I haven't yet done and the more I don't do it, the more exhausted I become. How strange. Could it be something I haven't realised? Perhaps it's something I haven't said? Something I haven't finished! It must be very large and true whatever it is and a lively struggle in the doing but I look forward to it immensely. I know I need it. First, however, I must curl up in my chair and sleep deeply with the duck. Perhaps I'll dream of this thing and wake up refreshed and do it. My fond wishes to you Mr. Curly, and to all Curly Flat.<br>Yours sleepily,<br>	Vasco Pyjama<br>	xxx<br>P.S. Not having breakfast can make you weary. That's for sure!<footer>Michael Leunig. The Curly Pyjama Letters.</footer></blockquote></div>
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