Old Man

If the IHME throws out official counts of COVID deaths (which are problematic in certain authoritarian states) and instead uses excess death data, then after correcting for non-COVID effects, the actual fatality count from COVID-19 is almost exactly twice the official number.  That puts the US at over 900,000 dead and the world at almost 7 million.
 

 
900,000 is more than the entire population of San Francisco, and more than the total dead of all U.S. wars combined.

I'll never quite understand the obsession comics fans have with continuity.  I love comics but I don't think a realistic overall timeline is compatible with the genre.  Bruce Wayne must be almost 100 years old by now FFS.

Props for the seven year thread necro, btw. Let me know when the campaign starts. 😉

Secondary domain: Navigation
 
When there's an infinite ocean and uncountably many lands on it, it may require divine help to get from one location to another reliably.
 
That help exists.

E'il creates and distributes the beginnings of Our favored sentient life, the Eech.

Originally there were nine times thirty-seven Eech, and then E'il doubled that number for good measure.  He spread them throughout the world, no two together, each Eech on or near the shoreline of a larger-than-average land, and the Eech sang as the waves of the sea crashed against them from time to time, and conversed with whatever other sophonts (and others) were nearby, if those others were of a mind to talk.  They feared not pain; they feared not fire; they feared not folly; they feared not fear, or destruction, or death, or the ocean deeps.  The Eech were not indestructible, but in their destruction they could spread, as chance and the whims of other creatures carried them from their original emplacements.

For the Eech, in their primordial form, are stones.  The original six hundred threescore and six of them were large, the size of humans' houses, or towers, or even the hills on which the towers might be built.  Fracturing an Eech does not diminish the Eech: each fragment is a new Eech, with the memory of its forbear but a new personality, and the largest remaining fragment retains the mentality of the original.  In the beginning only wave and cataclysm slowly broke the Eech apart, and sophonts accelerated the breaking, as they mastered tools and availed themselves of Timra'Keth's Gift.  A few Eech were shaped and became fixtures in buildings or roadways or harbors.  Some lesser pieces were admired for their form or hardness or color and became tools or ornaments.  Some were recognized as ores and smelted into new forms, and all that was made from an Eech became a new instance of Eech-ness, with its own voice and mentality.  Slowly the Eech spread across the lands, and then between the lands, as other agents moved the sentient rocks from place to place.  In this way does E'il hope to fill the world with uncountably many singers, and the concert of their voices, along with the unceasing music of wave and water of the infinite Ocean.  For in Kulan's Domain does E'il also take delight.

The Eech communicate by voice, and with any who will listen and speak in reply.  A new-shattered Eech may become a village of stones, chattering, singing, bickering, joking, declaiming among each other, a village that changes slowly as the smaller fragments are made or carried away.  They welcome conversation but do not talk incessantly, and if a matter deserves long thought, well, a stone has quite a long time to do its thinking without need to interrupt the thought to pay attention to the necessities of flesh.  It is in their nature to understand all language, but other than by voice, no mentality can be discerned in the physical form of the stone, so magic or psionics cannot find or affect the soul of the stone.
 
If there is one great sorrow that afflicts the Eech, it is in the ephemerality of the other sophonts.  Many Eech can tell of many friends they have known over the long ages, friends whose forms long ago fell silent and are no more, recounting them with delight, and sorrow, and annoyance, and affection.
 
The Eech: sentient rocks

I'll never quite understand the obsession comics fans have with continuity.  I love comics but I don't think a realistic overall timeline is compatible with the genre.  Bruce Wayne must be almost 100 years old by now FFS.

I want to play this so badly it makes my teeth hurt.

Eternal migration On pinions aflame A wild conflagration Reclaiming decay They burn out the stagnant With merciless gaze They stoop on the ruins And set them ablaze They feed on the remnants And take flight once more Burning ascendant On fire they soar   Sentient Life:  The Fire Hawks     Through a trick of metabolism and divine intervention, these giant raptors are perpetually aflame. They wander the world looking for areas of dead undergrowth or old structures, then set them alight. This drives any occupants out of hiding where they may easily be hunted. Fire hawks are very long-lived (as being on fire discourages predation) and possess equally long memories, and the oral traditions they hand down makes them invaluable sources of wisdom for those who can remain in their presence.   (author's note: Apparently fire hawks are really a thing, in Australia of course: https://wildlife.org/australian-firehawks-use-fire-to-catch-prey/ )

Eternal migration On pinions aflame A wild conflagration Reclaiming decay They burn out the stagnant With merciless gaze They stoop on the ruins And set them ablaze They feed on the remnants And take flight once more Burning ascendant On fire they soar   Sentient Life:  The Fire Hawks     Through a trick of metabolism and divine intervention, these giant raptors are perpetually aflame. They wander the world looking for areas of dead undergrowth or old structures, then set them alight. This drives any occupants out of hiding where they may easily be hunted. Fire hawks are very long-lived (as being on fire discourages predation) and possess equally long memories, and the oral traditions they hand down makes them invaluable sources of wisdom for those who can remain in their presence.   (author's note: Apparently fire hawks are really a thing, in Australia of course: https://wildlife.org/australian-firehawks-use-fire-to-catch-prey/ )

I'll never quite understand the obsession comics fans have with continuity.  I love comics but I don't think a realistic overall timeline is compatible with the genre.  Bruce Wayne must be almost 100 years old by now FFS.

Timra'Keth watched as new peoples arose, beasts spawned, and realms took root. Of course, it was all very dangerous. How would these beings survive the challenges put before them? How might they thrive?

And did any of these beings have a lick of sense? Couldn't they feel the tension in the very surface of the world?
It turned out, no they could not. Some had keener senses than others, but they just weren't aware enough.  She needed beings that would be both fearsome and fearful, so they might teach others to be cautious while being the epitome of it. And so she took dust from earth, and strands of silver out of the sea, and a breath of wind, and wove it with liquid shadow until it was all gathered in a great sac, which then burst forth!

And she warned the first who would grow to be their first queen, “All the world is a danger, little princess facing a thousand dangers, and whenever others spot you, they will  fear you and may squish you. But first they must catch you, weaver, skulker, poisoner, princess who feels every quiver . Be cunning and full of caution and your people shall never be destroyed.”*
And she dubbed them the Charr-Lotti.

Sentient Life: Charr-Loti

Charr-Lotti are spiders, mostly resembling the Orb Weaver family in appearance, save that they vary in size from Face Hugger to 'oh god oh god it's eating the St. Bernard'. They have amazing senses, and have naturally occuring venoms. The venoms vary from 'I feel queesy' to "I think my blood is melting it's way out of my veins and I'm gonna - GAK PLOP' .  Most importantly, their mandibles are as skillful as any primate hands at tool use and the like. They can construct webs that, depending on their diet, be quite strong indeed.

They are a skittish terrified people, bordering on the paranoid for the most part, but those few rebels often face the problem of, well, they're creepy as #$#$! So making friends is not easy.  However, they are still capable of crafting great beauty, and when they make a friendship they can be quite loyal. Indeed, they have a saying to denote friendship that translates to "If we were both being chased I would not hobble you even if it would be the smart move".  
 
* With thanks to the mortal Richard Adams

Timra'Keth observed as the Charr-Lotti came full into this world with the proper attitude: freaking out! Of course, they prayed to her quickly, often without meaning to.

"Oh sweet Timra'Keth what is that bird thing and why is it BARKING?", "I think that Orck is eying me for a snack? Goddess, WHY?" , and of course, "Merciful gods, the human woman is setting her flimsy shelter on fire because I peeked in... is everyone an arsonist?"

Oh yes, very loyal subjects indeed. At last a sensible people. And yet it occurred to her, that strong as webs might be, the homes of the Char-Lotti and other races could stand to be far more secure. And so through nightmares of shelters collapsing, and flooding, and yes burning, the goddess of fear did muse and inspire what would be known as architecture. 

How to build shelters not just with webbing, but wood, clay, stone, and even metals! While she meant the gift to be a good way for everyone to feel secure hiding in their new homes annd never coming out, it soon fell into other less sensible purposes. Designs came not just for defense, or camouflage, but for the joy of creation, the beauty that might come from it, and the study of math and sciences intertwined in it.

The Charr-Lotti were the best at it, using their webs as a base pattern to put works of stone and wood and metal about them.  Indeed, some Charr-Lotti took a chance on bartering their services to those that could stand them to hire them. But every people had their own style, their own designs. With out meaning to, Timre'Keth had gifted all the world with something that was part engineering, and a great deal of art and cultural expression.

Gift to Civilization: Architecture
 

I got my second shot today. YAY
 
My state may have it's vaccines moved to another state because not enough people are showing up to take their shots
 
BOO

We can dream. 

Note to self: Write up two superheroines names Beauty and Justice. Twins, maybe. Send them to Hawaii to squeeze Old Man.

Geography: Everywhere there is need of arbitration of the laws of the land, there is a courthouses where no matter how high or lowborn you are, you may have your grievance heard and addressed by the god of justice. These courthouses are usually permanently installed where they are first needed and remain there
CES 

The butterflies were interesting . . . for a while. But their flight patterns soon became less capricious and more predictable. Laughter being largely a product of the unexpected, and godly perception being what it was, Mirth soon grew bored of the butterflies. They were pretty good, but they needed something more.
 
That's it! Friends. That's what butterflies needed! Playmates who could share the realm of the air with them. Mirth thus created ... .dirds!
 




 
 
 
 
Fauna: Dirds
 
Mirth sat back and watched her creations chase the butterflies through the air. She made them kind of smart, but not smart enough to catch too many of the butterflies. She wouldn't want to dampen their enthusiasm for the chase, which was quite infectious.

Just watched SpaceX launch and (more importantly) successfully land SN15.  I still probably won't make it into space in my lifetime, but my kids might make it in theirs.