World Creation Superdraft 6: May 2022

[assault]

50 minutes ago, Hermit said:

 

Assuming Assault is okay with that story.. most impressive

But mostly I think you're just trying to arrange for Mania to kick Xarn's ass

 

 

 

Assault is fine with it.

Mania, on the other hand...

I'm working today, and I've only got an Interference and a Geography. I may have to take time to consider how Mania is going to respond to Xarn's unprovoked aggression.

[assault]

Hmm. OK, time to use my Interference. Oddly enough, it is with Aporturn.

---
It was the Living that breached the Gates of Hekk. They did not realize what they had unleashed.

Now the Gates between Life and Death are open.

And the Dead are Many, and the Living, Few.

 

[Hermit]

8 minutes ago, assault said:

Hmm. OK, time to use my Interference. Oddly enough, it is with Aporturn.

 

(Back in a moment)

 

The tension builds

 

EDIT: *Reads results*

You know what? We're good with the tension, it was nice... 

 

Oh well, this Century, on the Stalking Dead

 

 

[death tribble]

45 minutes ago, assault said:

Hmm. OK, time to use my Interference. Oddly enough, it is with Aporturn.

---
It was the Living that breached the Gates of Hekk. They did not realize what they had unleashed.

Now the Gates between Life and Death are open.

And the Dead are Many, and the Living, Few.

 

Just so I am absolutely clear.

 

The Interference is that The Door between Life and Death is open.

[Sociotard]

So, if the dead may ravage the living, and we kill a few laser cats, we'll be ravaged by laser cat lichs?

[Old Man]

Doorways are meant to be open.  And now the dead can convey their wisdom to the living, and the living can move into Hekk and clean up the place.  Seriously, have you just not cleaned this place ever?  And why is everything on fire?  It's clearly not up to code.  The fire marshal would like a word.

[assault]

52 minutes ago, death tribble said:

Just so I am absolutely clear.

 

The Interference is that The Door between Life and Death is open.

 

That's the one.

 

See Ghostbusters for further details.

 

44 minutes ago, Sociotard said:

So, if the dead may ravage the living, and we kill a few laser cats, we'll be ravaged by laser cat lichs?

 

Mania is the Goddess of Judgement, after all.

[death tribble]

14 minutes ago, assault said:

That's the one.

 

See Ghostbusters for further details.

Thanks.

 

Master document updated but not the one here.

[DShomshak]

Passion can strike anyone, directed at anyone. This often angers parents who arranged just the right marriage for their son or daughter, who falls madly in love with that completely unsuitable other person. Or it angers the appointed guardians of caste-based societies, when individuals fall in love with people of the wrong caste. Sometimes the consequences are more than personal, as when the wife or husband becomes besotted with someone new and runs off, or the wealthey person squanders it all on a paramour, or a kidnapped wife results in the launching of a thousand ships.

 

Some folk attribute this random insanity of love to the Blind Archer, a child or servant of the Lovers. The Blind Archer shoots arrows that cause their target to fall madly in love -- but no knowledge of where they should strike. They might think the Blind Archer looks something like this:

(Spoilered again because some people might find it suggestive, even though I'm quite sure nothing naughty is actually visible.)

Spoiler

 

 

They're wrong. There is no Blind Archer. The Lovers rouse or cool passion as They will, and nobody knows why they choose as They do. Maybe not even Them.

 

This is not the Mythic Monster or Guardian for the Lovers. I thought at first it might be, before I thought of something I hope is better. But it's such a cool image that I had to share it, as part of the mythology for the god.

 

I hope to get the actual Mythic Monster/Guardian on Saturday, to wrap up my part in this. The flavor text is unfortunately too long to finish tonight.

 

Dean Shomshak

[Hermit]

*reads* Looks like our Moons Goddess has to catch up too. 

 

I believe i only have a bonus mystic monster/guardian, and an interference

 

 

[Pariah]

Hey, as we are getting close to the end, I just wanted to thank everyone for being supportive of me having to step back a little bit. I appreciate your recommendations, especially. You did some amazing things with my concept. Better than what I had in mind, actually.

 

(Maybe I should do this every year....)

[Hermit]

4 minutes ago, Pariah said:

Hey, as we are getting close to the end, I just wanted to thank everyone for being supportive of me having to step back a little bit. I appreciate your recommendations, especially. You did some amazing things with my concept. Better than what I had in mind, actually.

 

(Maybe I should do this every year....)

 

Well, in your own defense, they had a lot of brains to chime in. Sometimes design by committee has an advantage

 

Also, speaking for myself, having Xarn freaked out by a goddess seemingly 'giving up power' was a fun angle for me to imagine him in

[death tribble]

We are waiting on csyphrett and Pattern Ghost. The former was not on the site from early Tuesday until today.

 

And again I ask shall we push this back to July or August for 2023 ?

[DShomshak]

I have no objection, and if it helps other participants I'm all for it.

 

Dean Shomshak

[csyphrett]

2 hours ago, death tribble said:

We are waiting on csyphrett and Pattern Ghost. The former was not on the site from early Tuesday until today.

 

And again I ask shall we push this back to July or August for 2023 ?

I'll have something posted tonight. Still thinking

CES

[Pattern Ghost]

2 hours ago, death tribble said:

We are waiting on csyphrett and Pattern Ghost. The former was not on the site from early Tuesday until today.

 

I'll catch up this weekend. Was catching up on classes and work, and want to take time to read everyone's entries thoroughly to make good picks.

 

2 hours ago, death tribble said:

And again I ask shall we push this back to July or August for 2023 ?

 

I think we should do it quarterly! This is one of my favorite draft formats.

[Sociotard]

Secondary Domain: Craftsmanship and Artisainry

 

Secondary Domain: Shipping and Logistics

http://www.histomin.com/lineand/andanc/mpangf17.jpg

 

(That last steps on Thrums war Domain, but logistics expands outside war, and Secondary Domains can be Interferences anyway)

[Psybolt]

Bonus Secondary Domain:  Weather.  Chroma discovered that by altering the weather, he could create all sorts of wondrous colors around, including such phenomena as rainbows and lights in the sky.

 

Interference (This is always my toughest part):   When Chroma saw the lovely Flowers of Rebirth, he paused at the loveliness.  "I know" he thought how to make this even better.  He placed a blessing on the Flowers of Rebirth that any creature coming out from the womb bloom covered by all the brightest and most amazing colors of the rainbow.  It was a certain flair for these new forms.

 

 

[Pariah]

1 hour ago, Psybolt said:

He placed a blessing on the Flowers of Rebirth that any creature coming out from the womb bloom covered by all the brightest and most amazing colors of the rainbow.  It was a certain flair for these new forms.

 

This is why Twilighters never use them.

[DShomshak]

“How can you refuse me?” demanded Lissarka of Zyrrhene, by some called the Queen of Pain. “ What can Vanth offer you that I cannot, ten times over? Join me as my consort and you shall have wealth, you shall have power, you shall have me. Am I not beautiful? A thousand men have died seeking my favor, and I offer myself — to you!”

 

Doral shrugged in his chains, setting lean muscle rippling. A pitying smile softened his chiseled face with a dimple. He made rags and steel fetters look good. “I don’t deny you’re pretty, he told the liosalfar Queen of Pain. “In a cheap, needy sort of way. And I’m sure you’re perfectly adequate in bed. But you can’t imagine what I have with Vanth. I loved her the moment I saw her, more than life itself, and I know she feels the same about me. I love the way she sings. I love the way she wears her hat. I love a thousand things about her. I want to raise a family with her, grow old together, see grandchildren. Do you even know what I’m talking about? No, of course not. You can’t. And for that, I pity you.” The smile twisted, turned acid. “But not much.”

 

Lissarka’s golden skin paled in her rage. “So be it. My holy master is right. I might have betrayed him for you — but instead I shall offer Him your life to show Him my love, and make me a vessel for His power!” She took a long, jeweled dagger from the golden plate held by a kneeling slave. “Xarn Tarsus, accept this sacrifice of his heart, and mine! I am yours, Lord, only — Put out that candle!”

 

A hundred guards, nobles, and assorted sycophants turned to goggle at the brownie that scurried along the temple’s baseboards, a small candle in one hand and a cleaning cloth in the other. The candle gave a point of warm yellow light among the shadows cast by pillars in the dim, colorless glow of the zikku-crystals set in the fane’s ceiling. Doral grinned. Right on time, he thought.

 

The brownie goggled back, then bowed deeply. “Wot? Sorry, Your Queeniness, so sorry, it’s just so hard to see back here, an’ I remember there was a bit o’ stain on the floor, some blood musta splashed a long way, of course I’ll put it out…”

 

Too late. The little flame burst up and out in a red-gold blaze, the curls of fire at the edges momentarily looking like a ring of roses. Out leaped four figures: a female faun with a wooden staff and a necklace bearing a pendant of two strips of wood bent around each other, a female ghoul in a black robe with a cozier made of bone, a brilliantly hued dragon that swooped between two pillars to coil in the air, and a giant dwarf in plate-and-chain armor, carrying a massive, long-handled axe. “Ow!” the giant dwarf said as he bonked his head on the underside of the balcony running the chamber’s length.

 

“Impossible!” gasped Queen Lissarka. “Only one can walk the Flame Labyrinth! You can’t take people with you! It’s, it’s, it’s against the rules!”

 

The faun priestess grinned. “Love doesn’t follow rules! Some lovers can bring friends.”

 

“And this fortress-fane is not as hidden as you thought,” said the ghoul in a whisper that somehow echoed to the furthest reaches of the chamber. “The workers you slew after they built it were happy to reveal its secrets. The rebels are on their way. And the laser-cats are with them.”

 

“Enough talk!” growled the giant dwarf as he stooped and squeezed between pillars to enter the temple’s nave. He cradled his axe, struck a chord and bellowed, “Death to false metal!”

 

At the same time, Lissarka screamed “Guards! Guards! Kill them!” And battle was joined. The strings of the giant dwarf’s axe hummed and howled as he swung it, while severed arms and heads bounced off the strings in a counterpoint of doom. The satyr priestess moved among the guards like a dream of dance, laughing with joy as her staff whirling about to trip legs and smash into faces. The ghoul dipped her crozier toward the ground as she whispered a prayer to Mania, pulling ghosts from the darkest bowels of Hekk and sending them to claw and gibber at guards. Troops of archers pounded out onto the balconies, only to find the dragon snapping at them with its jaws and slapping with its tail as its pearl darted about them, strobing in ever-changing hues to blind and distract them. Nor was Doral idle: He kicked a foppish courtier in the groin, used his toes to pull a stiletto from his belt as the elf collapsed, flipped it up to catch it in one hand and began picking the lock of his fetters.

 

The moment he was free, Doral hurled the stiletto at Lissarka. His aim was not true: The blade merely drove into her shoulder. The gleaming golden skin split to release a serpentine creature that hissed, “You shall all pay for thisss!” Several elven courtiers reeled back in shock and revulsion. Unnoticed in the melee, a single advisor scurried back into the shadows.

 

The koutpa that had been Queen Lissarka caught up a rapier from a slain noble, spat on the blade, and drew a circle of blood and venom on the marble pavement. “You win nothing!” she hissed. “I shall return, and— urk!” Doral too had collected a rapier, and driven it through her throat from behind. The Queen of Pain sank, dying, to the floor.

 

The remaining guards broke and ran. The remaining nobles and sycophants threw down their weapons, dropped to their knees, and cried for mercy. The unnoticed advisor slipped out a hidden door.

 

The four heroes gathered around the man they had crossed a world (and two moons, and Hekk) to rescue. All now bore several small wounds, which the faun priestess began bandaging.

 

Vanth asked, “Are you hurt, love?”

 

“A scratch here and there,” Doral replied shakily, and chuckled slightly. “Darling, we really have to stop meeting like this.” It was an old, old joke with them. The ghoul smiled back, then pulled a bottle from her belt, swished her mouth and spat. And then she was in his arms.

----------

With apologies to Mania:

 

What lacks the scurvy, lack-brained Demiurge

Who can invent no other doom but must

Repeat, as wretched penny-a-liners do,

This horror staled by time-long usage? Why,

For variation’s sake, if for naught else,

Mark not with immortality one man,

One rose, one star, one duad of blest lovers?…

— Clark Ashton Smith, “Contra Mortem”

 

Mythic Monster or Guardian: The Blessed Lovers.

 

In all the World and its moons, two people have a love story that never ends. They have borne many names. They can grow old, but never die of old age. When one dies before the other, the other finds their new incarnation — and at the moment of that meeting, the partner remembers their former lives and their love. They have been all sapient species, in every combination of geners, whether by reincarnation or by the Flowers of Rebirth — even cats and koutpas; but whatever their form, their souls belong to the Lovers.

 

Or so goes the tale. Some believe the Blessed Lovers are quasi-mortal avatars of their god. Others suggest the Blessed Lovers are a role or a mantle of power the Lovers grant to mortals of exceptional passion and devotion. Only the gods could know for sure, and they do not reveal each other’s core secrets.

 

Time and again, though, pairs of mortals have achieved incredible deeds for love. They have toppled kingdoms, or founded new ones; slain heroes and monsters alike; inspired others with their devotion, or appalled with the taboos they broke. Rarely do they meet raw power with raw power (though they call gods into themselves with uncanny ease); but they have skills acquired through a hundred lifetimes, and seem to succeed no matter how foolhardy the risks. One way or another, people who try to keep the Blessed Lovers apart usually end up regretting it.

 

And people do try to keep them apart. They are magnets for mortals of overweening ambition and power, especially those who would push a single god’s influence out of balance with the rest. Such folk easily become obsessed with the pair, lusting for one and mad with jealousy at the other. Perhaps the Blessed Lovers clash most often with the minions of power-hungry Xarn Tarsus, but they have also brought new order to lands ravaged by brigandage and anarchy — the worst manifestations of Thrum . They have saved lands from famine and plague that would deliver them to Mania, and balked the vengeance of Olandria. But in so doing, they have also many times turned strangers into friends, from individuals to nations.

 

Love may not truly conquer all, but it’s risky to bet against the Blessed Lovers. And perhaps the most dangerous thing about the Blessed Lovers is that you never know who they’ll be this time around.

--------------

And with that, I'm done!

 

Dean Shomshak

[Pattern Ghost]

I know I'm at least two picks behind, so a couple of easy ones:

 

Fauna: Servants of Thrum , and any who can tame them, need a valiant steed. A statuesque, glorious, refined mount! The Axebeak:

 

 

The Axebeak is plentiful, tastes like chicken, and is both a very tractable and fierce mount. There are populations throughout the world, of many subspecies and locality populations ranging in size from the very small to those suited for Giant Dwarves. They're even tolerant of feline passengers!

 

Gift to the Sentient Races: To  Thrum , the only freedom more important than the freedom to rock  is that of mind 🧠. Thus, he gives to the Sentient races the Gift of Philosophy.

 

[death tribble]

6 hours ago, DShomshak said:

SNIP

 

Mythic Monster or Guardian: The Blessed Lovers.

 

In all the World and its moons, two people have a love story that never ends. They have borne many names. They can grow old, but never die of old age. When one dies before the other, the other finds their new incarnation — and at the moment of that meeting, the partner remembers their former lives and their love. They have been all sapient species, in every combination of geners, whether by reincarnation or by the Flowers of Rebirth — even cats and koutpas; but whatever their form, their souls belong to the Lovers.

 

Or so goes the tale. Some believe the Blessed Lovers are quasi-mortal avatars of their god. Others suggest the Blessed Lovers are a role or a mantle of power the Lovers grant to mortals of exceptional passion and devotion. Only the gods could know for sure, and they do not reveal each other’s core secrets.

 

Time and again, though, pairs of mortals have achieved incredible deeds for love. They have toppled kingdoms, or founded new ones; slain heroes and monsters alike; inspired others with their devotion, or appalled with the taboos they broke. Rarely do they meet raw power with raw power (though they call gods into themselves with uncanny ease); but they have skills acquired through a hundred lifetimes, and seem to succeed no matter how foolhardy the risks. One way or another, people who try to keep the Blessed Lovers apart usually end up regretting it.

 

And people do try to keep them apart. They are magnets for mortals of overweening ambition and power, especially those who would push a single god’s influence out of balance with the rest. Such folk easily become obsessed with the pair, lusting for one and mad with jealousy at the other. Perhaps the Blessed Lovers clash most often with the minions of power-hungry Xarn Tarsus, but they have also brought new order to lands ravaged by brigandage and anarchy — the worst manifestations of Thrum . They have saved lands from famine and plague that would deliver them to Mania, and balked the vengeance of Olandria. But in so doing, they have also many times turned strangers into friends, from individuals to nations.

 

Love may not truly conquer all, but it’s risky to bet against the Blessed Lovers. And perhaps the most dangerous thing about the Blessed Lovers is that you never know who they’ll be this time around.

The Moon Goddess thought that was beautiful and she is proud to have fought against them.

[death tribble]

Revenge is a dish best served cold or so it is said. But then nothing beats a blazing ball of self righteous retribution. It has been noted that Xarn Tarsus and his followers are the ones who usually on the receiving end of revenge rather than being the ones seeking it as their just due. But then when your dogma is Tyranny, Persecution and Envy what do you expect ?

I mean how exactly does healing or cleaning incite revenge ? Or for that matter colour ?

 

It is not as if Xarn Tarsus and his followers seek to upset the goddess and call upon her revenge aspect, it is just that they are the ones most skilled at calling revenge down upon themselves,

Why indeed should they fear her ? After all she is just a goddess of moons, what could she do ?

And then they are reminded after they have upset her. She killed a god. And their god did not.

 

Xarn Tarsus's army and those who fight in his name know the wrath of the goddess as they may see it up close and personal. It is one thing to see your god facing off against Thrum  across the battlefield, quite another to see him facing off against the moon goddess in a shouting match while that awful purple ball hovers over him or yourself. Those who were there have passed down the legend that occurred during one epic confrontation as one of his followers had said that he could hold off the goddess with one hand and the Moon with the other. Her reply carried across the battlefield, ‘I have you surrounded at the best of times, what you don’t know is how many more moons I have and what they can do. Care to find out right now ?’

The God was not impressed. His followers on the other hand were terrified.

 

Trying to circumvent the moon goddess however can lead to unexpected acts of revenge. Some examples include the murder of Fauns by some members of Xarn Tarsus’s cavalry. This was done for sport not battle or conflict. While The Lovers were upset, Olandria took them to see Mania to see what her judgement was. Once Mania had settled on The Lovers as having cause against the god of Tyranny, Olandria enacted a vicious and brutal revenge. The next morning as the camp awakened they found that those responsible for the Faun attack had been killed and eaten in the night by ghouls. The bones which had been picked clean had been left in discrete piles. No one else had been harmed and no one had noticed anything untoward.

 

Then there was the occasion that a dragon had been killed at the start of a campaign. Chroma had been upset but Olandria had been apoplectic. Her revenge was incredibly subtle and it took some time before Xarn himself realised that a god was interfering with the army’s progress. And even longer, too long !, before he realised that Olandria was responsible. Battles had been inconclusive and casualties had been light. Minor bouts of gastric distress dogged the army. The weather bogged them down or fogs made them unaware they were and it separated the units causing delays. All sorts of minor problems dogged the campaign. The army did not witness the confrontation between the two gods and it was far more civil than Tyranny expected. Olandria made clear that non-combatants could not be killed on campaign without invoking her retribution. Killing a dragon upset her. As punishment for offending her, the general responsible was to be dismissed and would be left to die of envy as others who were not as well favoured or trusted by the God achieved more success than he had. Xarn Tarsus seethed but agreed to it. Much to his surprise the Moon Goddess did ensure that the general's successors were famous in the annals of the empire.

[DShomshak]

13 hours ago, Psybolt said:

Interference (This is always my toughest part):   When Chroma saw the lovely Flowers of Rebirth, he paused at the loveliness.  "I know" he thought how to make this even better.  He placed a blessing on the Flowers of Rebirth that any creature coming out from the womb bloom covered by all the brightest and most amazing colors of the rainbow.  It was a certain flair for these new forms.

Well, it was implied by the illustration. The Lovers are not displeased. (I almost included it in the description myself, but it's better for Chroma to ordain it.)

 

Dean Shomshak

[csyphrett]

This is my list so far.

Geography. 

Sentient Life. 

Gift to Civilization: 

Fauna. Brownies

Interference: Healing can only be done in a clean environment

Second Interference.

Mythic Monster or Guardian. 

Secondary Domain. Home and Hearth

Secondary Domain. Solvents

Secondary Domain. 

I think I need three picks to catch up. I am going with the Tooth Fairy as my mythic guardian. Pick two will be cleaning agents as my gift to civilization. Pick three will be the Fountains of Aqua that wash all your cares away.

CES