The Clockwork Mansion

First off, I apologize for the failure of the last game.  I'll be taking a more active role in providing situations for you guys to God over.  Hope you find this new game just as fun.  :)

First off, rules.
1. No powergaming.  This means no controlling other people's characters in a post, no ignoring consequences, no ignoring the rules to get an edge.  And many other bad things.
1a.  It is possible for players to RP in a chat room, or other instant messenger, then post the rp in the thread to be declared canon.  To make sure of this, you must in the post include posts from all parties involved saying they agree to let you, the poster, post the rp.  If these posts are faked, the mods may be called in, but more than likely, the violator will be expelled from the game.
2. Each player has a sphere of influence.  Each player has a power limit.  I know, that for the sake of a pure rp game, that figuring a number to work with is counter productive.  I am trusting you all to know your limits, and keep to them.  Any questions?  Ask me, over chat, or PM.  If you would like a sphere of influence related to another person's sphere, please discuss with them the boundaries you will be keeping too.  Keep me informed of any developments regarding these boundaries.
3. This is a game.  Have fun, for that's the reason it's there to begin with.
4. Please PM me for suggestions of stories, adventures, or new rules.
5. You are not the game police.  If anyone is breaking the rules, contact me, and I will deal with it.  Do not confront violators yourself.


Onto the meat of the issue...

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Long ago, long before the universe as you know it was created...there was nothing.  Then, there was something.  This was Creation.  A force of radiant white.  Creation begot Change, the grey, and Destruction, the black.  From their harmonious accord, they created the cycle of create, change, destroy, that pervades the universe presently.
These three forces left behind traces of themselves on all they wrought.  Which, unfortunately, meant that these traces could be located, and utilized.
You are all examples of this.  You are beings who have glimpsed all Three forces, and grown more powerful from it.  To avoid conflict, you sequestered yourselves into isolated spheres of influence.  Usually, disputes between you and your kin were settled by proxy: mortals.  Mortal champions, endowed with knowledge, favor, power, anything to see victory, and your continued favor.  Then things went...horribly wrong.
Your King, his name lost long ago, lusted for supreme power over all things.  To this end, he stood up, and tried to drag the Three into his gullet, and so become Almighty.  He succeeded only in securing one of them.  The power to Destroy.  Destruction allowed itself to be consumed, for it knew the King could not manage it's presence or power for long, before he and all he had made with his power crumbled.  And crumble things did.
Drunk on the power to Destroy, your King went on a rampage, slaying gods and mortals wantonly, until there was nothing in his reach to destroy anymore.  Destruction left him then, cackling at the King's madness, and despair.  Clouds covered everything...

Until, many eons later, the clouds parted...shafts of light cascaded through the gaps.  A pair of Stars that had passed by your world saw that your Sun was dead, and took pity on you.  Gifting your world with warmth and light once again, and funneling their energy into you, so that you could wake up, and bring your world to life once again.
Your world is whole again, water and plants; animals prowling, and sentient beings wandering as tribes.  A great labor that has just been completed.  The world is of your making.  Animal, plant, perhaps even mineral life can exist if you had wished it. Some Society-based Gods have just appeared on the field, where before only the forces of nature ruled.  A crude beginning to civilization, a city has formed, founded by these Gods of Man, and a challenge issued.  In the time before the Remaking, mortals would be the weapons of the gods, and now they shall be again.  A great tournament has been called, that the champions of each god trying their hand.  The ultimate prize; dominion.  Who shall rule the coming days?  The Primal Gods of nature that survived the Remaking, or Gods of Man, who preach enlightenment?

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Character template.  Open to suggestions on new categories.
Name:
Titles:
Spheres of Influence:
History:
Family:
Goal:
Mythic Origins:
Culture of Worshipers:
Biosphere Contributions:

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Note: Your culture and wildlife is yours to develop if you wish.  If you choose not to, other players or myself will have free reign.  Anyone who is approved need not add this to their applications, but it is advised.

We are closed for new members right now.

Present players:

Inumo	Emeisha (http://clockworkmansion.com/forum/index.php/topic,8534.msg355511.html#msg355511)	Darkness, Secrets, Vermin
Justacritic	Turin (http://clockworkmansion.com/forum/index.php/topic,8534.msg355523.html#msg355523)	Vengeance, Justice, Misfortune.
Corgatha Taldorthar	Jerrel (http://clockworkmansion.com/forum/index.php/topic,8534.msg355532.html#msg355532)	Law, Strategy, Books
AmberCross	Aellor (http://clockworkmansion.com/forum/index.php/topic,8534.msg355538.html#msg355538)	Order, Chaos, Shifting Events
Arcalane	Seraph (http://clockworkmansion.com/forum/index.php/topic,8534.msg355541.html#msg355541)	Forging, Technology, Machinery
ShadesFox	Corythus (http://clockworkmansion.com/forum/index.php/topic,8534.msg355548.html#msg355548)	Cities, Growth, Dreams (as Goals)
Cogidubnus	Sol (http://clockworkmansion.com/forum/index.php/topic,8534.msg355553.html#msg355553)	Victory,
Previewer	Ainos (http://clockworkmansion.com/forum/index.php/topic,8534.msg355571.html#msg355571)	Time
Azlan	Myl'Naia (http://clockworkmansion.com/forum/index.php/topic,8534.msg355626.html#msg355626)	Life, Peace, Light
Tezkat	Tezkatl (http://clockworkmansion.com/forum/index.php/topic,8534.msg355649.html#msg355649)	The Heavens, Night, Dance, Reflections, Borders, Souls

There are also some NPCs to be aware of:

• Milan: The Ocean.
• Shemise: The Shemise River.
• Val'Narya: The Sun
• Ran: The Ran Mountain range.
• Fan: The Fan Mountain range.
• Kurios: The Bronze King, god of Kingship.

Quick question. Is there going to be a cap on the number of players? At least in my opinion, the last one got way to big and wild and unwieldy.

Present cap is at Seven.

((Alright, time for a more active deity than the Goddess of Devotion. In-character writing experiment, go!))

Name: I am Emeisha.
Titles: You ask me of my titles, after asking my name? Hark, then, and hear me, for I shall only pronounce these once. Those who know me hath recognized me as the Keeper of Secrets, the Shadow of Man, and the One Who Spins Webs. Fear me, for you shall not know I am there 'till morn.
Spheres of Influence: Secrets, darkness, and the animals who hide in the windfall of Man answer to me and mine. Be ever cautious, for the shadows are always watching.
History: Since Creation evoked Man from water and clay, fired in the kiln of gods, I have lived in his shadow. When rats and spiders and flies found homes in the detritus of his society, I took them as my own. When he revealed his true self, I blanketed his words and hid his escapades, letting him do as he wished. Generations of lovers' trysts and revolutions have been birthed from my shroud, and many have the battles rang when all was thought well in the cover of my self.
Family: ((The shadows are not brought from nothing, but as the first entrant, I have none to be mother, father, daughter, son, brother, or sister to. PM me or talk to me on chat to sort out details.))
Goal: Survival, and a world so rife with hidden love and war that I may revel in the secret life of Man.
Mythic Origins: ((See History.))
Culture of Worshipers: My followers are sneaky, hiding among the folk and listening to the whispers of Man, rat, spider, cockroach. They take the culture of those they hide amongst, praying to me the secrets they find in the blackest of night.
Biosphere Contribution: Do you not see the mice and crows multiplying? The buzzards and flies swarming? Have the shadows not stretched ever longer as the light fades? There do you find my mark on this world.

Oooh, nice.  I approve of this. =3=

Name:Only a few truly know my name, Turin
Titles: None mortal whisper my name, some defiantly refer to me as the Vicious Tramp, Wicked Vagrant, Vagabond of Doom, or Alms of Justice. Those who honor or desire my favor often call me Benign Watchman or the Sympathetic Ones
Spheres of Influence: Curses, Spite, Bitterness, Malice, Misfortune, and Vengeance
History/Mythic Origins:: Since his creation Man has wickedness in his soul leading to vile acts and sending fellow life into the darkness and lamentation. I was born to answer the wronged cries and fulfill their dark desires when justice is lacking. Wrongs pile upon wrongs as foolish men never learn from the bloody and ruinous lessons of the past. Thus there will always be work for me to do, in shadow or daylight, to poor and rich alike, even handed I shall do unto them to what they do unto others.  
Family : Vengeance is a dirty business, family would just become a hazard and a burden.
Goal: Continuation of intelligent life. As long as there is intelligent life, there will be discontent, and where there's discontent, there will be me.
Culture of Worshipers: Since I am invoked by the desire for equality, restitution, and justice where there is none, in truth or perceived I have no need for set rites. My answer to those desires are as varied as the stars in the sky, but generally my invokers are satisfied by having their grievances heard and overjoyed when I take action for them. This being said I am to a point at the mercy of the people who call upon me as my actions are limited to those who are being invoked against. In other words I may only aim towards those who have others desiring action against them but I do not worry for it is an eternal truth that no one can make everyone happy
Biosphere Contributions: Life can be extremely shortsighted in its actions. As I am in the business of inflicting ruin, misfortune, and even death to individuals or groups, my interference can have unexpected consequences and surprises even to those who had nothing to do with the original parties. I remember a tribe of hunters who felt cheated of their due in a village by the farmers, the strength of the hunters' dissatisfaction was strong enough for me to cause a plague to strike down the village's crops. The village had to rely on the hunters and farming became scorned in the area for some time after that...
Edited

Accepted. 

Name: Jerrel.

Titles: The Masked Judge. The Bookbinder. To his priests when they are Inside, he is simply Master. To his progeny,(see below) he is The Appointer.


Symbols: Jerrel's primary symbol is a fasces. In times of war, the rods are bladed on the outside, but are otherwise just sticks. Secondary symbols include a set of scales, with human hearts on them, a shield with an unrolled scroll device, and a blank, solemn mask.


Depiction: Jerrel appears as a vast human male, standing roughly 14 feet tall and weighing close to 2000 pounds. He has coal black hair , and a square, trimmed beard. He has flecks of gray at the temples, but the musculature of a much younger man, with sad, deep set slate eyes. His shoulders are broad, and his body is lean. He typically wears a flowing white robe, and is indistinct under it where  the folds reveal his body. When acting in an official capacity, in front of mortals, he dons Impartiality, an ornate, feathered mask, impassive and stern, and his voice changes, becoming deeper and rougher.

Personality: Jerrel is almost always completely impassive, speaking primarily in declarations or observations. He only barely understands mercy, or pity, and while he can make exceptions to his rules, it is only by formulating that the rule itself would produce an undesirable outcome in the current situation, and will immediately try to reformulate the rule so that it covers the unintended circumstance. He considers the other deities sovereign, and unless they submit to his authority, he will not overly concern himself with their actions. Mortals he views as little more than peons to be ordered about, for their own good.



Spheres of influence Jerrel is the Lawgiver and Cataloger, and he views his purpose as to promote divine efficiency, not only making sure that the rules are obeyed, but that the rules themselves are just, and promote benign, industrious behavior. While not a war god, he has a martial aspect, but he is more concerned with organization and logistics, with strategy and planning, than with crude slaughter.



History: Once, a rich farmer hunted a fox who was known to make off with his chickens. He roused his hounds, and gave chase to the vulpine intruder. He pursued the fox down a lane and into a quiet forest, throwing darts, but connecting with none. A tracker, hearing the noise, went to investigate, and with one sure toss, impaled the fox on his javelin.

At once, the two men quarreled over who had ownership of the fox's remains. The farmer said that as it was his quarry, he had first right to it, and that the tracker had no business interfering. The tracker said that it was his skill and industry which brought the beast low, and by rights the pelt should be his. The two raised their hands against one another, but before blows were struck, MY voice rang, Pronouncing that lo, the hunt of the fox was a good for ALL, and that it is the sacred duty of all men to advance the cause of their community. The pelt was to go to the farmer, for it was his stock that had been taken by the beast, and he was a pillar of the folk in the way that the hunter was not, but I Decreed that he was to pay compensation, in the form of three hens and a new spear, to the hunter, in payment of his skill.

Following this exercise, I was able to Manifest,  and soon I was to bring all of Teleothial under my rule, for before, men had none to guide them in their pursuits, waging a war of all against all. I put an end to it, and from their My Doctrine spread, eventually touching the hearts of all men.

Structuring, Chapter 2, Lines 1-6


After the reign of the Bronze King and the mass death that followed, Jerrel went into a fugue state. He has little memory of the times in between seeing the ascended human outside of his old capital and of the nascent rebirth of organized, intelligent life on the planet.

Family Tree: Jerrel does not acknowledge kinship with any other deities. (This is open to modification, pending future players joining and wanting to make some sort of bond). Very, very rarely, in times of great need, Jerrel will call for a mortal woman to be brought to his temple. She is always selected on the basis of being the highest ranking priestess that is still within childbearing years. Jerrel will sire a child, known as the Appointed.
   
The appointed are raised in the temple by the priests, and are trained from the time they can understand that they are being addressed to redress a single, specific wrong that Jerrel had in mind when siring them. They are given whatever instruction Jerrel considers necessary to right the wrong, and are then sent out. If they fail, Jerrel will take another priestess and try again. If they succeed, they report their father, and Jerrel embraces them, snapping their necks. The appointed know that they are to die at the end of their tasks, but are indoctrinated to view this as a positive, the fulfilling of a divine destiny.

Jerrel sired an appointed, a son, during the reign of the Bronze King, but during the  insanity of the times, he lost track of his progeny. It is possible that some of his descendants are around, but Jerrel has no current knowledge of them.


Goal: Jerrel's primary goal is to drive humanity into reclaiming the world from the natural realm, settling and taming it. His secondary goal is to restructure the societies of this renaissance into something that will prevent any humans from aspiring to divinity. Along the way, he wants things to proceed smoothly, and peacefully if at all possible. He is willing to fight and if necessary destroy tribes of man who impede these goals.

Mythic origins: Contained in history section

Culture of Worshipers: Jerrel's worshipers are primarily agricultural, living in a somewhat wide plain between two mountain ranges. Families are the central unit of social organization, but Jerrel has been preaching that there should be a loyalty to community, to town and to tribe, that transcends immediate family bonds. Under his influence, the people of the valley have become more organized, cautious, and gaining an eye towards detail. Social harmony is extremely important, especially in sexual  relationships. Divorce exists, but is highly stigmatized; marital infidelity carries the death penalty for both parties if caught.


Biosphere Contributions: limited. Jerrel is not a nature God, and what contributions he has made have been centered around where his tribe lives. Mostly he has been trying to make the soil more fertile and the wetlands somewhat drier. Very limited "wild" life exists in the valley, although there are a number of herded animals (mostly cattle, pigs, and sheep) and abundant vegetation.

Accepted, and it's fine. :3  We're three for zero on Society to Primal gods, with only four slots left. :V  My, this shall be interesting.

Wheee, dibs on first primal god. Which is to say I am ALSO hauling in my character from the old place, but I'm going to rewrite a few things... Also I promise not to abuse my reality powers. He's pretty much the same as last time and I managed it okay there so it should also be fine here. Yeah... that sounds logical.

Name: Aellor, Bora, Gladyrs, Steve, Herdantz... what is a name, if not a way to define something? And how does one define a god of chaos for any length of time?

Titles: Titles are references and indications rather than definitions. Thus while the most common name is Aellor, more common still are a plethora of titles such as The Two Faced God, Fractal King, Storm Bringer, Harbringer of Chaos, and The Balance.

Spheres of Influence: The transcendence of chaos to order, and order to chaos. Most particularly of that which is chaotic when seen from close up, but has an order when seen from the big picture. Or when through a series of orderly systems, causes things to fall into chaos. Most often expressed in weather and the turning of the heavens. Though frequently also expressed in the subtle turnings of fate.

History: Do you remember long ago when a great king marched all across the lands, conquering all in his path? Do you remember the fable of how a blacksmith was short a nail so had to shod a horse sloppily before a great battle? And how that shoe was not able to stay on so the horse stumbled as it came off and pitched to the ground to break the neck of the soldier atop it rather than go on to have that soldier take an arrow meant for his king? Instead the king fell, the battle was lost, and the empire fell. The Harbringer of Chaos was there.

Family: It could be said that if Aellor had a father at all, his father was Change the grey. There are others that it could be said he is brother to, or uncle, or father even... but with gods it can be hard to tell sometimes. These events transpired so long ago that even those who were there hardly recall. One such as Aellor is not stable enough for even that. Details on who he used to be are somewhat fuzzy to him. On the other hand, there are quite a few smaller gods that are parts of him that fractured off some time in the past. They're loosely related to him and sometimes will reintegrate with him, but for the most part they are completely autonomous. This is what happens when gods get schizophrenia. Or would that be considered MPD?

Goal: The world has been in chaos for long enough, it is time for a change.

Mythic Origins: When the Three left traces of themselves scattered through the everything, traces of the gray transpired to bring about this god. He can't really remember if that's how it actually happened, but he is not an arrogant god and doesn't see anything wrong with letting people believe this. Way he figures it, he has always existed in some way or another. Whether he was once mortal, was created with the universe, created shortly afterwards, or whatever isn't really that important to him.

Culture: Followers of his tend to lead a nomadic life-style, with their life in flux. There are followers of his that follow the order aspect and seek to understand the heavens and their world, trying to unravel the mysteries of the patterns behind seeming chaos. Also there are followers of the chaos aspect that worship him by plunging themselves into chaotic situations and proving their skill by surviving. This can be anything from a barroom brawl to riding an airglider in a hurricane. Most people not sharing their belief don't quite understand how this is really related to chaos. Still, all of his followers have in common a tendency to wander, often traveling alone unless circumstances throw them together with another. Children are usually had during brief meetings with each other or with outsiders. If the mother is a follower, she will take her child with her until he/she is ready to leave and go do his/her own thing. This usually happens around or just before puberty. Fathers will usually leave the child alone for most of their life. A very lucky child might have their dad actually visit them from time to time. The children themselves will nearly always be loners so they won't mind having distant parents that much, and you can always tell when a child to a regular parent is going to end up taking after their mother or father. Interesting quirk: followers of Aellor will never have brown eyes. Usually blue or green, always distant seeming, but never brown.

Biosphere: So aside from the random mutations that will occur over time from exposure to Aellor, my god adds an extra dimension to reality. Not like... an alternate dimension, more like a direction perpendicular to time. To exemplify, imagine for a moment that time is a circle, albeit one that doesn't really loop and has infinite length. People live in the time defined by the edge of this circle, but this extra dimension parallel to that means under certain circumstances you can travel towards the center of the circle or beyond the boundaries of the circle. Towards the center, things are closer together. Reality is somewhat in flux and unexpected changes. Too close to the center and you will emerge completely different from where you began. Every once in a while something will wander into and then out of this realm and that is where things such as white harts, crystal hummingbirds, and oddly colored rainbows. On the other side of the coin, you can wander away from the circle, things are farther apart and change less easily. Time passes at the same rate, but at the same time that passage of time is tied to the 'central' time. Years would pass in the outer rim while only a day passes in truth, and so those who live in the outer rim will only need to eat a few times through the course of these years and will not grow old. However the further you go from the center, the less change is able to occur and you may find yourself stuck, unable to continue or to go back. Those who wander here tend to wind up as longer lived races such as the elven, dwarves, unicorns and the like. Still, time is a tricky thing and the rules are not absolute. When you wander to the outer rim, stay for years and then return, it will sometimes be for only a short time, but sometimes years will have passed in truth. So while time tends to synch radially on this diagram, traveling straightly perpendicular to time is a very difficult thing to do. Interesting quirk: cats have the natural ability to wander along this direction and a somewhat innate resistance to the effects of change/non-change. If you want to travel chaoswards or orderwards.... follow a cat. But be warned that they only ever show you where the doors are, not where the doors go to. And a cat will almost never go where you want it to. IMPORTANT: This only extends so far towards chaos or order due to the mentioned side effects and due to natural pull towards where you're from, people can only travel 1 step towards chaos or order. It is speculated that cats are not bound by this limit, but no one has confirmed this and the cats aren't saying.

Edited for hoo-wee, that's a lot of jargon there. I mean really... wow.

Time for something new... well, sort of new. Certainly not at all original, but neither was Tharsus. :U

Name: Seraph
Titles: The Old Machine, The Infinite Construct
Spheres of Influence: Forging, Machinery, Technology
Family: There may be others like The Old Machine, but none have followed Him here... yet.
Form: The Core of Seraph is a vast, rusty-red metal structure shaped like a brilliant-cut diamond, worn by age and covered in vents and external heatsinks. The flat surface bears a single gem, another brilliant-cut, embedded into it; a vast thing the size of a house that serves as the Eye of the Core. The Eye changes colour according to Seraph's... intentions and moods. It is usually a brilliant purple-blue, but can shift to any colour imaginable.
Symbols: Rusty orangey-red is a colour often associated with Seraph.
In the forges and refineries of machine and mortal, a heavy, primitive gear with eight wide, blunt teeth is commonly engraved into the side of the anvil.
War machines and Seraph's mortal soldiers use a version of the gear with twenty teeth like those of a sawblade on shields, large armour plates, and banners/tabards.
Scholars and artificers discreetly display a ornate and delicate version with six pointed teeth near their workplaces and over doorways.
Goal: Safeguard the World against the Powers Beyond, whoever and whatever They might be. Prevent anyone from ever threatening the World and repeating the mistakes of the past.
Mythic Origins/History: Seraph is not of the World, nor was he originally a deity, technically speaking. Uncountable numbers of nascent powers were forged with the creation of the universe, and the Core of Seraph was just one of those. It hurtled through Time and Space for what seemed like an eternity, until it landed on the World. Observing the World with the cold clarity of the machine, the Core judged it worthy of protection against the powers that would yet find the World. Not all of them, he knew, were benevolent. Some were already here, but had settled peacefully for the most part, and The Old Machine had no intention of ousting them from what they had claimed.

The Core burrowed underground as fast as it had arrived, somehow leaving no trace of its arrival. It buried itself in a vast network of caverns under a huge mountain range, finally stopping kilometers below the surface, and nestled itself amongst geothermal vents, drawing on them for power. Settling down and anchoring itself to the rocks, it first extruded a network of pipes and girders throughout the caverns, like tendrils and creepers. In places, the structures grew and expanded, forming valves, tanks, and other structures. Vast mines and factories rumbled in the depths, churning out a veritable Legion of machines made of steel, iron, copper and all other metals besides, technological marvels mankind could hardly hope to reproduce. Generators and Emitters formed a powerful, invisible Barrier around the World, preventing any with malevolent intentions from entering without inside help, such as Cults. With the assistance of Ainos, Seraph created the Gates and Keys. Time and Space were folded around the Complex, hiding them within the very same space they inhabited; entering them required those special Keys that were almost entirely beyond the power of Mortals to create or obtain.

In time, these constructs returned to the surface. Buzzing Drones surveyed the World from the air, followed by the armoured, scorpionesque Curators, and a hundred other Designs. The Legions patrolled the World, seeking out signs of malevolent intrusion from Beyond, purging that which they deemed hazardous, destroying more than a few Cults along the way. Mortals spied the Legions, and marvelled. Who could create such things, such seemingly intelligent devices that moved despite all logic? Were they the work of demons? Of short, stout Kin of Men who toiled underground? No, they were surely the work of a God!

With perserverance, Men learned of his name, and began to pray to The Old Machine, that they might create wonders like his. Seraph had no such power to give... or so he thought. As a force created at the beginning of Time, his Core resonated with the prayers, and he grew in power. Soon, his mines and factories were running at capacities far beyond any before, his thoughts so fast and with such insight that he was forced to expand and upgrade his Core to compensate. He blessed a handful of wise mortals with the tiniest fraction of his creative powers, and Technology spread across the world like wildfire.

The Legions marched. Their presence was always regarded with suspicion, though their intentions were always pure. They rooted out Cults with surgical precision and with minimal collateral damage, even in the largest of cities. They were tolerated, at least, and so left to do their duties. Attempts to capture them were met with terrifying retribution.

Then came the Cataclysm. The Legions of The Old Machine threw themselves against the powers of the King and Destruction, in vain for the most part; they were annihilated of course, and only a tiny fraction survived. Seraph himself was powerless to stop the attacks... he sealed his Complex and entered a stasis cycle upon the King's "defeat", his survival fuelled by geothermal energies in the absence of mortal prayer. The Barrier was so weak as to be almost gone completely, and with the Legions out of commission, Others could creep in at the edges of the World if they so willed.

Yet, the Sun shines again upon the World, and so, Seraph reawakens. His mines and factories are in disrepair, and what remains of his Legions scattered to the infinite corners of the World. But now he is awake, and ready to return to his duties. Whispers of ancient Machines crawling from the depths circulate amongst the Men, and those Beyond find the World shielded by the awakened Core yet again. Seraph has seen the power of Destruction, and has vowed never to let such things happen again at any cost. He has no interest in tournaments and challenges and dominions... though any that try to stop him in his mission had best be prepared to face his wrath.

Seraph never really had many places of worship, but a ruined temple half way up the tallest peak of the mountain range conceals an entrance a mortal could use to enter his domain as far as one of the Gates. The temple was abandoned during the Cataclysm, and has had no visitors or clergy since then. Rumours and ruins of Seraph's Legions remain, though, and a mortal seeking Technology might well find their way to the temple. From there, they might try to rebuild it... or will they dare to venture down through the caverns and on to the Gate?

Biosphere Contributions: Seraph has a hard time understanding organic life, and so makes little in the way of contributions to the biosphere itself. The chaos involved in its creation eludes him, and he knows that those who found the World before him are better suited to populating it... his few attempts have been pitiful failures, erased from memory and existence. Focusing on the defense of the World allows him to concentrate his efforts and keep it safe for the other gods and their creations.

This is not to say Seraph has had no influence on the things that exist in the World, or brought nothing to it - after all, he has his Legions, but they are not truly sapient or sentient like mortal races. In rare places, crystals cluster in grottos, gardens and groves, humming faintly and resonating with power. They are little more than quaint trinkets and valuable gems to common mortals, but these stones are the key to his creations. In most cases they simultaneously act as the heart and brain of his designs, but they can also be used to make powerful weapons, and crafted into a Key that can be used to pass through the Gates. Only Gods or those few mortals blessed with a fragment of Seraph's knowledge can fully understand their true purpose.

The Legions are many, and their purposes are clearly defined. Buzzing Drones act as reconnaissance units, messengers, and occasionally bombs. Flexible, spiderlike Custodians tend to machinery and structures, reloading the heavy weapons of their kin. Vast, hulking Curators lay siege to the strongholds of Doombringer Cults and seal breaches in the Barrier. Looming Guardians deter and destroy those who intrude on Seraph's ground or threaten his few followers. Tireless Centurions patrol cities and march in to battle with automatic crossbows and tower shields, striking down Cultists and erasing their ritual sites. Walking, flying and rolling Harvesters extract raw materials for the Refineries and Factories that produce more of Seraph's Legions. Slithering Burrowers create the mineshafts the Harvesters need to work underground, and undermine fortifications of those that oppose The Old Machine. These are the most common tools at his disposal, but far from the only ones.

See this document (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1x2iVCu5_CF_vNc7H_spjeGRwG9ozWuwaWbc75H8B-Oc/edit?hl=en_US) for details on the various Legions.

Under the Earth: When the Core arrived, it settled down to build the Complex. The Complex is a vast, megacity-scale network of buildings, tunnels, caves, pipes, and all other things besides. It encompasses 13 'Districts' which are spread around somewhat haphazardly, and 12 Gates which are positioned evenly around the borders of the Complex. The Districts are named after precious stones (quartz, ruby, emerald, sapphire, amethyst, obsidian, onyx, opal, aquamarine, diamond, topaz, tourmaline, sunstone) and the Gates after transition metals (gold, silver, copper, bronze, iron, tungsten, titanium, nickel, zinc, palladium, rhodium, platinum).

See this document (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1d1qeMx3OIEWoT-rcF2eex0dGHimw-ttya5nZp3EXRLA/edit?hl=en_US) for details on the purposes of the Districts.

Name: Corythus

Titles: Lord of the masses, Gatherer of people

Spheres of Influence: Order, growth, expansion, dreams

Family: All the personal gods of little towns are little brothers of Corythus

Form: A tall man who is always dressed in the latest fashions. He is not especially large or heavy set.  Many wilderness gods have claimed the ability to break him in half like a twig.  He seems to give the savages little mind.

Goal: The growth of his cities.

Mythic Origins / History:
Long ago, before the first cities, there were only small camps and tiny farming villages.  Slowly, a few close ones would merge.  While an unceremonious affair to the mortals, the town gods fought viciously.  These towns grew, and out grew being simple farming communities where small time gods could bicker and conquer without consequence. The cities had come to life,  They were their own living, breathing things.  They had their rhythms and reasons.  They had their own dreams and goals.

Originally, Corythus was the small time god of a small time town, its name completely forgotten by all except for Corythus.  Though deals and thievery, noble duels and underhanded treachery, his town became the hub of the first city.  In time, more cities grew, and Corythus commanded them all.  To hear him explain it, you would think that all cities were actually the same thing.  They summon the young, filling them with fresh dreams and hopes.  They jealously keep the old, their dreams broken and their hopes dashed on the road side.

When the mad king destroyed everything, Corythus faded.  With out people, with out buildings, with our the pulse of travel he was nothing.  However, now that the world is rebuilding and there is even a new city, he returns.  His power is limited now, but he remembers the old glories.  He remembers the old dreams.

In...light of the extreme slant toward Society, rather than Primal, I am opening three additional slots, raising the cap to ten players.  Present standing is five for society, one for primal.
AmberCross, Arcalane, and Shadesfox, you are all accepted.  :U

Are we still going to be set in a stone age society?

Stone age, yes.  But you're beginning on the path to the Bronze.  Anyone who isn't a God of Man is in command of barbarian tribes of nomads.  The people serving Society are at most two generations departed from that lifestyle.  Again, at most.

Name: Sol

Title: The God of Promised Victory, The Mortal's God, The Father of Men

Sphere of Influence: Victory

Family: In his previous incarnation, he was the son of Wealth. As he is now, he once knew War, and from them came a son, known as Shor, the Soldier's Friend, whose sphere encompasses those who risk their lives for others. He is currently courting the Primary Sun that restored them to life, and as such uses her image on his banners.

Form: The Light of Sol is as of a bright and risen sun, triumphant and unconquered. He appears to his followers as a man in golden armor, armed for war with sword and banner, a crown of light upon his head, and a fierce joy upon his face.

Symbols: A many-pointed sun, and the upraised sword.

Goals: Restore what was lost, and in making this new world, make it so strong that it can never be destroyed again. Ultimately, to bring inner victory to every mortal, and to teach the universe itself what it means to be victorious and unconquered.

Mythic Origins / History:

Not every God begins where he should.

Aoens ago, a god whose sphere of influence had been usurped, worshippers slain, and power broken, was cast down to the mortal plane to eke out the rest of its existence as a weak, trembling demigod, little more than a passing whisper on the wind, a mere chill in the air. Its meandering travels brought it far and wide, and eventually it would have faded into nothing, but for a single event.

A group of tribal humans, beset upon by a group larger and stronger, were fighting off their attackers with a desperation the demigod had never seen before. Despite the odds laid against them, with disciplined order and tactics, they fought their attackers to a stalemate. Despite their hopeless situation, their morale never broke.

Their efforts had no chance of success. Many tribes had descended upon them, seeking to capitalize on their perceived weakness. They resisted for now, but soon they would be ovverrun.

The Breath-Of-The-Wind found a spark of something within himself - as low as he had been brought, he was not so doomed as the mortals below him. How could they continue, when he himself was on the brink of despair? But, he suspected, the mortals didn't expect to win - they played a different game.
Perhaps, he should do the same.

The Breath-of-the-Wind came to the leader of the defending villagers, and whispering in his ear said "Though the whole world turn against thee, yea, I shall not forsake thee. I promise you victory."

The Breath-of-the-Wind died then, and from his sacrifice the villagers were empowered with divine fervor and strength, and from their slaughter they emerged alive, and victorious. The dead Breath-of-the-Wind was reborn then, from the belief of the villagers whom he had saved, from the fire of their dreams and hearts. He was reborn as Sol, the God of Promised Victory.

Culture of Worshipers: The culture of the people of Sol is colorful, warm, and hospitable, and at the same time immensely competitive, demanding and emphasizing results over anything else. They view Sol as a God who desires winning above all else, and that he placed them in the harsh desert land to strengthen them, that they might be more like him. Sol is frustrated with their views, and has attempted to correct them on numerous occasions with numerous prophets - and while there is a brief change, his people have proven stubborn, and shallow-minded when it comes to his purpose. He is currently in the midst of creating a clergy to teach his people the true words of Sol, and he hopes that his Sun Priests will be able to teach his people what it means to be unconquered. His people are nomadic largely, excepting in the great City of the Desert, which farms the riverlands for food.

Biosphere Contributions: When he took part in the creation of the world, Sol took inspiration from two sources - the suns that gave them a second chance at life, and for his worshipers, he took inspiration from his own image. Sol is thus called the Father of Men, and the land they inhabit is a vast desert of white sands, veined through with rivers and ringed upon the edges with a thick jungle. The conditions for continued life in the desert he gave them, with divine forethought for every need that they might encounter. His people are nomadic, excepting for a single city in the desert, Sunaia, which farms the fertile riverlands to feed itself. There lies also the Palace of Light, where it is said that Sol himself descended from the heavens, and created the land that they live in.

Please everyone see the edits in the intro post.  Corg, you are accepted, but please see the first post. 

If anyone who has been accepted would like to edit in the new fields, feel free to do so, but as you've already been accepted, there is no obligation.

Meh, place left to Tez due to lack of ideas and opportunity

Hmm.... in the past version of this I was angling for a culture of gypsy caravans and a sort of traveling merchant lifestyle with more emphasis on the travel than the merchant. However as a primal god, I have stone age followers pretty much. Would it be better for me to start with cavemen instead?

Also, biosphere... I'm going with a similar idea to last time where my followers will mutate with age as a side effect of exposure to Aellor's power. I figure I'm going to do the same thing here. Genetically they're still human and can mate with other humans (or demi-humans) so the 50-100 rule doesn't just kill them. Offspring will be human for the most part with the rare inherited trait from a parent or two. Aellor is also probably responsible for the species that are exactly the same but a bit different, like the 40 or so species of finches that live in the Darwin-island equivalent of this place.

Also, with one post, Arcalane gave this RP elements of steampunk and lovecraftian horror. I am impressed.

Name: Ainos

Sphere of Influence: Time: Its Flow, Direction and Facilitation of Change

Titles: The Flow of Time, The Passage of the Seasons, The Gift of the Present, The Cosmological Constant, The Changing Cycle

Form: A presence that is indistinct and incorporeal yet pervasive and sensible.

Symbols: None as of yet. At least not until mortals have some physical representation of time.

Goals: Maintenance of the passage of time such that all that dependents bound and affected by it are not inconvenienced by a disruption.

History:

In the fullness of time, passes Creation, Change and Destruction. Their passage, as it affects the created, is Time.

A product of the three great forces, Ainos watches, facilitates and keeps order. Only interfering to keep this order.

In cycles past, with the creation of new life and sentience, mortal awareness of time captures Ainos' attention.  Always it begins with awareness of the cycles of Sun and Moon, passage of the day and night. With life's dependence on linear causality and the passage of seasons, the ubiquity of Ainos' vigil becomes ever more crucial.

At the age when mortals begin to understand, harness and warp the nature of time, Ainos must be most watchful lest their hubris bring forth disastrous consequences. Since the last great age of destruction, there has been little to hold Ainos' attention and little reason to manifest. Now however, with life flourishing again and mortals beginning to advance, another cycle of close watching begins again.

Family: There is little need for Ainos to remain much more than passively aware over an inert world. With the emergence of mortal life and their awareness, only then does Ainos actively manifest. The cycles of day and night brought on by the Sun and Moon are integral to this process therefore Ainos considers these two Gods as parents of a sort.

Nature of Worshippers:

The primary worshippers of Ainos are a race created in response to the expansion of life across the world. They exist mainly as an additional sensory modality for Ainos and a source of nutrition for insectivores capable of ingesting and digesting whole swarms.

They are butterfly-sized, six-limbed, winged insectoid individuals who are organised into swarms of thousands of individuals. While an individual usually operates under the hive mind of a swarm, individuals may separate from a swarm and operate independently. Separate swarms have individual identities but this may be lost or diversified when swarms merge or divide.

Rarely do other forms of life worship Ainos as the passage of time is often taken for granted. In the event of such acknowledgement, it is usually with the motive of obtaining some measure of influence over time. More often than not, Ainos does not deign to receive such followers. Times of necessity however may require that such boons be granted to preserve the overall order of time.

The focused intensity of a devoted hive mind is less uncertain than the individual minds of free willed mortals. Through this bond, Ainos grants the swarms, and to a lesser extent the individuals, the ability to alter the flow of time around themselves. They may enter a preservatory stasis to wait out the passing of the outside world and utilise boosts of celerity to procreate or flee.

Biosphere Contributions: Aside from the insectoid swarm recently created, Ainos maintains pockets of folded space-time throughout the spaces of the world as refuges or rendezvous. Accessible at Ainos' pleasure, they also serve as the original nests of the swarms. A similar consideration was extended to the Core of Seraph as it attempted to bend space and time around itself, hiding in the earth. The method of performing the feat specific to that exact location was given to Seraph along with the means to expand, maintain and transport what it needed in and out of that pocket.

Mythic Origins:

While most sentient life has a basic understanding of time, its unchanging regularity leads most to perceive it as an impersonal force. Unchanging and immutable, much less deserving of worship. It may have some role in societal creation myths, but has little active role past this phase as it reaches stability.

Those who give it more thought than this are the philosophers, ascetics and those who know enough to desire to manipulate it. They may speculate on beginnings, endings, histories, personality, manifestations or even the existence of Ainos, but that is all that it remains. Unconfirmed speculations on a generally silent god.

AmberCross- Yes, you can do that. :3 Feel free to add in plantpeople, and rockpeople, ...hell, even gaspeople, and liquidpeople. :B  And that goes for all of you, too.

VAE/Previewer, your posts will be held in consideration, but not accepted until you're finished.  Not to be rude, I know how much of a muse-sink these things are. :U  Just letting you know.

Quote from: AmberCross on September 11, 2011, 01:55:37 AM
Also, with one post, Arcalane gave this RP elements of steampunk and lovecraftian horror. I am impressed.

One man's god is another man's monster? We may be (mostly) benevolent and (fairly) kind to the people of the World, but I don't think it's beyond reason to assume that there are many other would-be deities out there desperately looking for a 'quick fix'... and that they're so consumed by their own need for power to the point they've basically lost all semblance of who they are, and they're just ravenous horrors. They need power and they need it now, no matter the cost to the World and its inhabitants.

Plus there might be banished/failed experiments at creating Life, gnawing at the borders of Reality and trying to claw their way into the World because they find mortal souls to be an exquisite delicacy. Or a million other things. :U

Previewer- Sorry for the delay, but your sheet is accepted now.  Just two slots left!

Biography edited.


Question: How able are our gods to spur along technological and social development of our tribes? How much do our gods even *know*? I'm assuming we won't be able to make and give out rifles, but given that we hail from a time of greater civilization than currently present in our world, we probably know more stuff than our worshipers. Where, (roughly) do the limits lie?

You, could, feasibly force them along to the Bronze Age/Iron Age in terms of development.  For primal gods, it's harder because their worshipers are nomads, hardly around long enough to mine metals, or refine them into arms/armor/technology.  For Gods of Men, such as Jerrel, it will be easier, because they will be in one location until outside forces drive them off.  Of course, there is nothing preventing the Primal gods from instructing their followers to pick a suitable location and cultivating it.

Gods should have an understanding of technology and society, particularly for Gods of Men, of at least one technological Age ahead of the present norm.  Stone age followers?  Bronze age knowledge for the god in charge of them.  And so on.  The absolute max that the Gods may know is three technological Ages ahead of their followers, and then there begins a breakdown of communication, as the followers are so stupid compared to their god, that the two cannot clearly understand each other anymore.

Does that help?

Sorry for the double post, peeps.

But developments have appeared on the horizon, namely AC's addition of parallel areas in relation to the 'real' space/time.  There will now be a vote.  On whether these areas remain as they are, or the entire cosmology is reconfigured.

This reconfiguration would have, instead of a standard planet, a series of smaller 'worlds' which rotate to reflect day/night, while being separated from each other.  If you have played Kingdom Hearts, it's like that.  If you haven't, the worlds would be usually small, just enough space for your followers to move around and live in.  The area between them, however, would be breathable mist, with what that mist covers being known only to you, the Gods.  Namely, pathways connecting to the other worlds, that the mortals must know of beforehand either through experimentation, or you informing them.  To try without the knowledge results in instant, and unpleasant termination of life.

In a minute, a poll will be added to the topic, to present the options.  Please vote accordingly.  The poll will be open until the IC thread is established, or a majority of the players choose the same option.  A majority being six at least.

I voted for status quo, we already have enough on our hands administrating one world.

The real question was that, if we're going to be introducing parallel realities anyway (because Aellor created a mechanic for that), would it not be more interesting to expand the cosmology into a bunch of smaller, more customizable (and presumably more manageable) worlds rather than having a big sprawling realm that also had some poorly defined mirror counterparts?

So, the rebuilt world might follow a model like the Nine Worlds of Yggdrasill, the various worlds of Kingdom Hearts, the sundered realms of Death Gate, the floating islands of pretty much every steampunk airship adventure, etc.

I also vote for one large world. Otherwise, it'll be very simple to just agree for each of us to mind our own separate spheres. You get more drama and action when everyone's jumbled together.

I'm with Corg on this one. I think it's best if we're all on the same playing field, even if there are some... imbalances.

--

Quote from: Corgatha Taldorthar on September 12, 2011, 06:09:45 PM
Question: How able are our gods to spur along technological and social development of our tribes? How much do our gods even *know*? I'm assuming we won't be able to make and give out rifles, but given that we hail from a time of greater civilization than currently present in our world, we probably know more stuff than our worshipers. Where, (roughly) do the limits lie?

With the exception of Seraph... who knows? :U

Actually, with Seraph's ability to bestow a sort of knack for the creation of technological devices on mortals he deems worthy, that could be useful for a tech boost at some point if a 'skip ahead' is necessary without chewing up too much time.

There are two problems here; the first is that you need to get up to a certain level of technology already - you can't easily hop straight from wooden tools to iron ones... not easily. Just look at any scifi situation where any primitive race is 'uplifted' by a well-meaning, technologically-superior faction. They barely know what to do with everything and it all goes pearshaped. Given the Antikythera Mechanism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism) and other designs, I imagine societies would have to be similar to Ancient Greece or the Roman Empire.

The other problem is that the big ol' tin can is picky. He doesn't give that technological creation 'spark (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheSparkOfGenius)' to just anyone. They have to be intelligent and wise, for starters. They have to prove they're not just in it for personal or factional military gain - it has to be used to improve lives in a meaningful way. After that it basically comes down to a small group of them being shown around the Complexes for a bit, then being shoved out into the world with all sorts of fantastic ideas and this indescribable understanding of how it should all work and if you just add a few wheels here and adjust the valve on that pipe to let more steam through and then run a charge through this it all works perfectly! Just as planned (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ForScience)! :mwaha

Māchinae ex Deus, if you will.  :giggle

I would like to say something profound and insightful, but in this area I am wholly unqualified.  So please forgive the uninformed questions.

How are all of you considering cosmology?  I ask this because I have always thought an entity that governs a particular area is shaped by the thoughts and minds of those that call to it.  So the existence of a Machine god, or something that takes the form like that of Seraph, would require the bulk of its 'worshipers' to imagine its form to be so.

I suppose that would assume an entity is shaped based on only those in existence at any one given point in time... I suppose if you consider the whole of its followers over all of existence and time...


What are the governing laws of existence and the fundamentals of the universe?  Does everything have spirits... possess some type of mana or energy of the universe... or are they governed by chemical reactions and the interactions therein?


Edit (as to not double post):
----------------------

Name: Myl'Naia (pronounced min naya)

Titles: The Morning Lady, Little Star, The Risen Light, Radiant Lady, Element of Peace, Unity of Harmony, and a host of other ancient names from before this existence (the older star calls her Mina).

Spheres of Influence: Life, which holds the following specific areas - The Spark of Life, Renewal, and Natural Order; Peace and Light.  While she is not The goddess of the Sun in its right, she is considered a Sun Goddess.  Mistakenly associated with the Creation of the Universe by mortals, she is quick to correct any who would laud her as such lest IT notice and come to confront such a pretender.

Family: She is the Sister of the greater sun Val'Narya, is kin to the old Sun from before the Destruction, as well as all Stars.  She is a child of the Infinity of Space that Preceded the Existence of the Ordered Universe (aka That Which Came Before, Chaos, Xaos), the Impetus of Creation, and the Creation itself (the Universe, aka Eos, Iinoa, and a host of other names).  However, they are a silly bunch and not much fun to be around (Silly as in scorch and eat all life, drive mortals completely insane by just looking at them, general "fun at parties" kind of things.)

Goal: Nurture life and restore or replace what was lost.  To Guard the atropal entities and the husks of the lost deities that could not return.  Broker peace and prevent such destruction as was visited upon this world from ever happening again.  Create happiness, Friendship, foster her sister's office of Love through the Light of Truth and Serenity of Peace.

Mythic Origins/History: In times most ancient, just before the formation of what is now known to be the universe, a mass of universal energy and chaos had collected and formed a massive solar body.  This primal force with no name could not contain an existence without form or purpose and needed to direct all the power within itself.  It split into two parts, a greater and a lesser.  From this, and at the moment of the Universe's creation, a large star came into being from the greater and a smaller star was born from the lesser.  This smaller celestial orbited the larger, forming a binary.  The spirits of these celestials watched in wonder as the universe unfolded, adding a bit of themselves to all that came about.

Unattached to any one formation, the two drifted and experienced many different universal happenings.  They watched the birth of stars, the formation of planets, the dark depression that causes a sun to collapse into itself forming an inescapable zone of nothing, and even the wars of celestials.  The pair wandered, lonely and longing for something more.  They had almost given up any hope and slipped into depression themselves until they came upon a small hyper little sprite of a pulsar.  The erratic little thing managed to nearly drive them both insane until it let slip the circumstances of a significant destruction and the location of the dead world and its star.  It was close by and the pair drifted over to examine it.  Taking it upon themselves to right this sad tragedy, they breathed life into the dead world and those husks that had not drifted beyond the threshold.  During this process, a bridge was created to channel, house and facilitate the life which was once again brought forth.  A celestial being formed within this potential space, becoming both an entity of its own and the little star herself.  A duality of existence, greater than any one part of itself alone, but inextricably tied to the planets of this system and its life forms.

She was not of this domain during the reign of the Bronze King, but she learned much of what happened from the husk of the dead sun.  In order to facilitate a balanced existence, she chooses to take a middle stance and try to remain neutral, but her nature is towards life and creation.  To her own ends, mostly curiosity, she walks the strange, entropic plane where all the dead shells of gods that once were drift.  She listens to the wisps of dreams, nightmares, and embers of what could have been, or came to pass, to learn their stories.  One part of her is always with the husk of the dead Sun, drifting through the fugue plane of its unlife, sifting through the knowledges scattered in the embers, and whispering soothing words to its dead soul.   


Culture of Worshipers: Those that worship Myl'Naia are warm, friendly, hospitable, generous and naturally aligned.  They are not naïve or generous to the point of martyring themselves for others, but they value all life and will not willingly kill a mortal.  The only exception is in the defense of others who cannot defend themselves, and other planar non-mortal beings (such as elementals, demons, etc.).  

Her worshipers live among all the peoples and cultures of the lands.  Her temples are scattered across continents, empires, and many different land areas.  They range from Hanging Garden (The Great Celestial Gardens in a prosperous Desert River Valley City) style temples to plain rock carved way shrines in remote mountain passes.  Some old Sun god temples have been converted to her worship, but she does not encourage building upon the bones of the dead.

Currently her priests are in the process of organizing a central High Temple and creating a bureaucracy and hierarchy for their organization.  Morning Swords, an order dedicated to protecting her temple grounds, are also in the process of sorting out their order and developing what could be a long standing martial tradition.  

Her more numerous Shamans and Atavists have little organization save their own tribal and traditional ways.  They base their ways on word of mouth and apprentice based training.

Among the many essences that Myl'Naia nurtured, there are two specific groups of creatures that have spawned directly or have been created by her own conscious will.

The first are the Star Archon Phoenixes which range between planets and high in the skies of the inhabited world of mortals.  These are spawned from her first uses of life giving power.  They are a celestial phoenix and are her 'Angels' for the lack of a better term.  They are much like Amber's Phoenix A, but have a second form close in size between the Gryphon C and B that is of a fiery bird of prey.

The second she created from whisps of dead mortals not yet cooled.  These are the Sohei Kitsune, a semi-nomadic, mystical, and courageous people (magical foxes) that act as caretakers of wild areas, much like fantasy and mystical versions of the druid, ranger, and 'cleric'.  They tend to be thought of as legends or myths because they can shapechange and blend into societies of man.  Older and more powerful members of the species display their 'mystical prowess' in the form of multiple tails.


Biosphere Contributions: She is one of those that gave light, life and warmth back to the shell of a dead world.  Through her, the balance of life and nature play their course and she supports the cycles of life, death and rebirth.  She provides the Light (controlling both Suns' luminosity) necessary for for food, warmth, and life to flourish.  How all things interact in the world and beyond with one another is also due to her designs in accordance with Natural Order.


Edit2 - There are others before me, so I will make room and await an opening if it becomes necessary.


Edit3 - Added the races to OOC, as it would be neigh impossible to hide whole races of creatures from gods as pointed out by Meany :P.


Edit4 - Corrected relation error to Sister and added the primary star's name.


Edit5 - Revised Family to reflect a clarification regarding chaos and the universe, so as not to confuse her origins with that of Aellor's office.   

Azlan, to answer your questions.  First, it's actually the reverse.  The god manifests as it chooses, and instructs the followers in its likeness, if they cannot simply see.  Factions that worship shoot-offs of the main god, or aspects, are usually just that god experimenting with it's followers, see what they are in the market for.

Anything sentient has a soul, anything alive, but nonsentient has a protosoul.  A protosoul is a collection of energy and instincts derived from generations of survival.  Left to their own devices, the species would develop full sentience, and souls after a point of evolution.  Plants are very slow in this regard, but they are more plentiful than animals because of it.  It can be either mana, or biochemical reactions.  It depends on the subject in question, and how much influence the Divine has had on it.  Usually, there is a positive relation between the influence of a god in a lifeform, and the amount of mana it uses to sustain itself.

Also, accepted.

Quote from: Arcalane on September 13, 2011, 05:10:02 AM


There are two problems here; the first is that you need to get up to a certain level of technology already - you can't easily hop straight from wooden tools to iron ones... not easily. Just look at any scifi situation where any primitive race is 'uplifted' by a well-meaning, technologically-superior faction. They barely know what to do with everything and it all goes pearshaped. Given the Antikythera Mechanism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism) and other designs, I imagine societies would have to be similar to Ancient Greece or the Roman Empire.

While I agree with the first statement, I don't see how it leads to us needing to have a society similar to ancient Greece.  There were stone age civilizations, we've dug up cities that display no evidence of any sort of metal tools  such as Catalhuyuk (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catal_huyuk) some of the oldest settlements in Egypt, or the Aztecs. All of them, I might add, were able to leave marks on the environment, build the proverbial "great works".

I think playing a stone age-society would be interesting, we could have a *very* hardscrabble existence, one where people really *need* their gods for day to day survival. Now, I'm not saying that I don't want technological advancement to occur, but I do want there to be some kind of rule system in place, so we know what we can do and can't do. And I'm not crazy about "skipping ahead"; I would like to see a steady progression from A to B to C to D, to have progress that's founded upon our actions.

They seemed like a decent enough example. Having not previously heard of that settlement, I couldn't exactly cite it as an example.

Settlements and wonders of the world and great works are fine and all, but when it comes to the finer points of advancement, well... I think a quote sums it up better than I can, even if that quote happens to come from a fictional character. :B

QuoteTechnological advance is an inherently iterative process. One does not simply take sand from the beach and produce a Dataprobe. We use crude tools to fashion better tools, and then our better tools to fashion more precise tools, and so on. Each minor refinement is a step in the process, and all of the steps must be taken.

Chairman Sheng-ji Yang
"Looking God in the Eye"

I guess 'skip' wasn't quite the right word. More of a temporary increase at the rate of which technology is developed up to a certain point, beyond which the sentients have to take Seraph's lessons and innovate for themselves. The trick is determining exactly what that point is, and then getting there.

As for starting tech; if I wanted to play Civ starting at the Ancient Era, I'd play Civ starting at the Ancient Era. :U

So currently we have nine gods and goddesses confirmed and are waiting for the tenth
However I have a few questions.
Has the Cosmology been settled yet?
Meany did you receive a PM I sent you referring to a subplot I wanted to pursue?
Thanks can't wait for the game to start  :mowcookie

Attention: List of default Godly powers.  These are powers and abilities all gods have, regardless of sphere or league of power.

• The power to be in more than one place at one time.  This means, with the proper allotment of attention, you could fill in all the seats in four movie theaters, and be aware of the goings on in them in real time, as an example.
• The power to deliver dreams unto mortals.
• The power to grant fractions of your power, or brief instances of insight into your knowledge of the universe, or lesser topics.
• The power to Create, provided you have the energy to make it atom by atom.
• The power to Change, provided you have the knowledge and energy to complete the transformation successfully.
• The power to Destroy, provided you have the energy needed to will the target into nonbeing.
• The power to manipulate energy directly.
• The power to know when your name is mentioned, regardless of context or location.
• The power to create a region of space where you and other deities may communicate directly.
• The power to manifest a physical avatar of any shape or size.
• The power to alter your appearance.
• Immortality-in the sense of you do not age, and cannot be killed except by another deity or a weapon specifically designed to kill immortals.
• The power to deny your sphere of influence from taking part in the world at your leisure.  The Sun can choose to not shine, if she wishes.
• The power to share your insight into Creation, Change, and Destruction with a mortal, and thus drag them up to godhood.

If anyone has suggestions of something to add to the default powers list, please say so, and I will consider it.

Name: Tezkatl

Titles: The One Eyed God, Skyfather, Skydancer, Soultaker, Soulbearer, Watcher, Guardian of the Fallen Sun, Keeper of Time, Great Mirror, Dark Sun, Celestial Cat

Family: Consort of the Fallen Sun. Father of Time. Brother of Earth.

Spheres of Influence: Sky/Heavens, Night, Borders, Reflections, Dance, Souls


Mythology:

Destruction ended the First Age. Life fled from the world. The Fallen Sun was but a Scar across the face of the Sky. Naught remained but the broken Dreams of Gods and Men. Tezkatl, who was Lord of Dreams, sundered his realm and scattered all the Dreams to the winds. And the Lands of Earth and Sea and Sky reached out to catch them. And wherever a Dream came to rest, a seed was planted. And so they slept, awaiting the return of Life.

So it was that two Travellers came upon them. "Rejoice," they said, "for we bring you gifts of Light and Life!" And behold Twin Suns rose and brought forth a New Dawn.

Tezkatl wove of his own flesh a Celestial Mirror and became the Sky, such that the will of the Gods be reflected upon the world. And he said unto the Travellers, "Come. I will you teach you the Dance of Time." And he showed them the steps he had once danced with the Fallen Sun. Each day, the Twin Suns danced across the Sky and poured Light and Life into the lands. Each night, he watched over the world while they slept. Thus did Time return to the world.

With Time came the winds of Change. Nestled between the Pillars of Order and the endless Seas of Chaos, the world reflected both. And wherever Light touched a Dream did the seeds of Creation awaken and grow, each taking shape according to the laws of their nature, the vastness of possibility, and the providence of the Gods.

Since the Dawn of the First Age, the First Men stood sentinel over the world as Stars in the Sky. Tezkatl said unto them, "You who were First to serve me in the Land of Dreams shall return to the World and serve me again. For the World did become a Dream. And the Dreams hath become the World."

So the First Stars fell from the Sky. Tezkatl made for them forms according to his own likeness. And to these Cats who were Born of Sky, he taught counts and shapes for reading the Sky and keeping Time. And he granted unto them all the Lands of Sky.

Then Tezkatl went to the Underworld and gathered the Souls of Men. And he delivered them unto the other Gods such that each might craft a race of Men in their own image.

At the end of the first month, Tezkatl rested.


Biosphere Contributions:

Since breaking up the Land of Dreams to rebuild the world, Mortal souls no longer have a place to visit when they sleep. Thus sleep is normally dreamless. Gods may still send dreams, which effectively become a conduit to communicate with mortals, providing information, inspiration, instructions, and so on while they sleep. This is the preferred medium for interaction with followers. A god manifesting personally on the mortal realm is a Big Deal.

When Tezkatl and his brother remade the land, they crafted stones out of not only Earth but Sky as well. These skystones range in size from mere stepping stones to islands the size of a city and are collectively known as the Lands of Sky (or simply Skylands). Their positions are mostly fixed geographically. (Although they pay little heed to gravity, they're as difficult to move as regular mountains.)

Shards are living crystal formations that can grow and branch into tall faceted trees. Like normal plants, most feed on air and light. They are commonly found on or near the Skylands, and many also feature properties similar to skystones, allowing them to grow into fantastic, gravity defying shapes.

Nightflowers include a variety of plants that bloom at night and phosphoresce in moonlight. Some have interesting medicinal and/or poisonous properties.

Skyborn are intelligent winged felines with a pantherlike appearance. They are facultative bipeds, and all four paws are prehensile. (Their Earthborn cousins also have six limbs, but lack wings and look more like lynxes.) They are strong, agile flyers and usually make their home in the Skylands. Although mortal, they do not die of old age and continue to grow throughout their lives; those who tire of the mortal realm simply Cross on their own. They are hypercarnivorous, but notably also feed on gemstones and the crystalline "fruit" of shards. Such mineral supplements contribute to the razor sharpness of their claws and fangs and some interesting fur properties. They are primarily nocturnal.

Drakes are the non-sentient relatives of the Skyborn. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes, but most follow the same general bauplan (two forelimbs, two wings, two hindlimbs). Drakes fill many of the ecological niches normally taken by birds. A small handful (usually the largest specimens) have been granted intelligence and Souls and are considered full Skyborn by their feline brethren.


Culture of Worshippers:

All Skyborn worship Tezkatl.

True priests, known as Seers, will scar one eye in a ritual known as the Reflection of Sight. In return for their sacrifice, they gain the ability to See the facets of the Celestial Mirror that surround their world and separate it from the planes of Order, Chaos, and Spirit. And, if needed, Cross these boundaries into realms beyond.

Mirrors and other reflective surfaces are considered holy items used for Seeing and communing with their deity.

Earthbound mortals usually pay homage to Tezkatl when they have weather-related requests. As the Soulbearer, he figures prominently in ceremonies related to death, and to a lesser extent childbirth.


Skyborn culture revolves mainly around prowess in hunting, navigation, and dance. As natural apex predators, they are fearless hunters. Time is spent either hunting or in artistic/philosophical pursuits. They possess fairly advanced knowledge of mathematics and geometry, applied mainly to astronomy, timekeeping, navigation, and architecture. Although natural stonecarvers, they have little use for tools, using their skills instead to beautify their environments. They've been known to raise impressive megaliths as temples to the Sky. The Cats are usually vain and enjoy decorating themselves and their homes with gemstones or hunting trophies.

They do not domesticate food, but some do keep pets. It's not uncommon for Cats to adopt a family of earthbound mortals. These are among the few non-Skyborn mortals who choose Tezkatl as their patron.

They do not have any particular qualms about eating intelligent life. Indeed, they consider it disrespectful to waste a body once the Soul has been taken beyond. They deal with uneaten remains according to the nature of the dead. Those Born of Earth are buried and returned to the Earth. Those Born of Sky are cremated and returned to the Sky.


The Moon, properly known as the Eye of Tezkatl (sometimes Eye of the Night, Nightsun, or simply the Eye), changes appearance in phase with the Twin Suns, performing a complete cycle with them once per month. The night of the new moon, known as the Night of the Dark Sun or the Night of the Sleeping God, is a holy time of rest, celebration, and thanksgiving.

Accepted, and cap is filled.

IC shall be up once I get time to put together a really decent Intro post to set up the scenery. :3

Quote from: Meany on September 14, 2011, 10:53:05 PM
If anyone has suggestions of something to add to the default powers list, please say so, and I will consider it.

Gods should not have the power to create their own realms? How about a race to serve them? Like angels, djinns, efreets, asuras and devas. I know that an army of extra-planar beings can be difficult the control, but it would be very interesting to see it in action.

Quote from: Meany on September 14, 2011, 10:53:05 PM

• The power to Create, provided you have the energy to make it atom by atom.

I believe the creation of life and realms would also fall under the "simple" power to Create. Also see everyone's Biosphere Contributions field. :)

Quote from: Arcalane on September 17, 2011, 09:20:50 PM

Quote from: Meany on September 14, 2011, 10:53:05 PM

• The power to Create, provided you have the energy to make it atom by atom.

I believe the creation of life and realms would also fall under the "simple" power to Create. Also see everyone's Biosphere Contributions field. :)

That would be how I interpreted that as well.  Gods should have an ambiguous categorization of powers for the 'level' of deity our characters are to be.  Subordinate and lesser gods, our lackeys so to speak, may need a more defined list of powers.

That's just a list of the power anything designated a God can have.  To be classified a God, one must have each and every one of those powers, it is the bare minimum.

So, we gonna get started any time soon?

I keep pinging Meany but he keeps coming up with excuses. :U

Like he can't think of an introduction awesome enough?

Well, there's that, but also because I had several writing-heavy assignments in my college courses.  Writing has begun. :U

Funny, I noticed a few descriptions mention the "Sun", have relationships with the Primary, or an IC post or two that just mentions the Sun (singular) rise.  I appear to have signed up, with the exception of the moon thing, to play Princess Luna... forgotten and unloved  :cry.

On a serious note, Meany...

Quote from: Meany on October 05, 2011, 11:12:40 AM

The Sun peeked over the horizon.  It was that magical moment of day, when The Sun was rising, just as The Moon was setting.   

It should be Suns.

True. :B  I'll fix.

You must forgive Naia, she is trying her best to be the kind of goddess that is expected of her.

Meany, I was wondering if Val'Narya would embody Balance, or if not, who does?

Theoretically, Aellor embodies balance, albeit an unstable one. This is order/chaos specific but does peter out into other things as well. Which isn't to say he's the ONLY embodyment of balance, just that he is one. There could easily be others and Narya could be another.

On a side note, when Myl'Naia said she was daughter of chaos... do you mean my god? Cause he IS (among other things) a god of the cosmos and could very well have fathered (or mothered, whatever) several stars without recalling due to his fractured nature.

Also to make things clear, since I thought Naia was paying attention to out of tavern events, I had Aellor intercept the Turin trying to talk with her. Since they're gods, they can easily all talk at once without issue, but the point here is that Aellor is paying attention to that 'region' locale and thus would have heard her comment about being chaos' daughter. So whether it was meant that way or not, he is going to assume he or some other part of him at some point caused her creation.

Well she is not a daughter of any god or goddess.  What she means specifically are Pure Forces... She came from what existed before the creation of reality, the Force of Chaos, and what came about because of creation, The Universe.  Myl'Naia is a Primal goddess yes, but her origins are a bit different than local gods.  Her parents are the electricity, not the electricians.

Sorry if this is just being confusing.  Both Naia and I missed Aellor's comment, which is actually fine, because she would have missed it right now. 
I'm just sorry I missed it.

Ah, in that case the three 'pure forces' in this setting are Creation, Destruction, and Change. Aellor is also directly descended from Change which would make them siblings I guess. And if it's not clear, there are two kinds of local gods; primal gods like Aellor and Tezkatl, and social gods like Jerrel, Torin, and all the others. The social gods generally came about because of people, or as you said "children of the electricians". Primal gods on the other hand are generally from mixes of the first three forces at the most only a few steps removed. They exist irregardless of the people and are like the "children of the electricity". Social gods tend to understand people better that primal gods do. As an example, while Aellor loves the culture of people and has several that he really likes, he doesn't really understand their moral code, emotions, drives, etc all that well. (Just as an indication of why everyone didn't go with the primal gods who one would think are more powerful.)

This is my understanding of the situation which admittedly might be a bit mixed up with Deification mythology. But Meany hasn't said any differently so it's my current operating assumption.

Indeed, I am partially aware of the original mythology.  I would argue that the universe itself could justifiably be considered a living thing and something had to exist prior to reality.  However this can easily be retconned for Naia to be Creation and Destruction, but I had hoped to build anew rather than on the bones of others' work.

I sleep now, is late in California.

Heh, maybe I'm just tired but I'm losing track of what we're talking about ^.^;

It still sounds like (as it did before) Naia is a direct result of one or more of the three primal forces at most one step removed. I'm not sure what would need to be retconned, aside from perhaps the 'chaos' thing which you meant to be 'change' and Aellor took the wrong way.

The Three Forces themselves are the force of balance.  There is no creation, change, or destruction without influence of the others.  When the King dragged down a fair share of Destruction, it was like a water molecule.  One large bit of Destroy, with two smaller bits of Change and Creation, the latter two he couldn't actively access.  They maintain balance by always being up in each other's business, making sure the universe keeps on chugging. 

So Creation would be from nothing to something
Change would be something to something else
Destruction would be something to nothing almost
But what about nothing to nothing or something staying the same thing as it is would that be something like stagnation?

Destruction is something to nothing.  Nothing to nothing is still nothing.  Stagnation is an absence of all three.

Double post!  It burns my retinas!

GM post is being made right now.  If any of you have something to say to each other before it's up, hurry and post.  Also, for people who use llearch's IRC, we have a channel for our game, to chat and stuff without infringing on other chats.  Just pop into llearch's irc server and join #aaoyumei.  Enjoy!

This is getting interesting, what with the hands of the three powers seeming to move in the world now

And this is why I told Emeisha to investigate. :rolleyes

Oh pshaw, we're gods. Violent, blind retribution is what we do best.

If at first there are objections try another route.
So I've gone from attempting to create life, changing one form of life to another, and now I'm trying to adopt life. I've tried just about every force except destruction and I'm not even sure about that...

So sorry, Tezkat!  I'll have your section updated soon, probably later today.