The term Oner is used for Universe
The Onerverse is the sum of all space connected (and therefore sequential-time-locked) via Portals

Oner 0 or Oner Zero is the primary Oner


This message was last edited by the GM at 01:47, Mon 23 Mar 2020.

Djunk was in a state of perpetual war. No one was certain when the war began. Only the current purposes of the war were certain. Unquestioningly, the primary purpose was to survive. But the secondary purpose was to control the world.

The myths stated that when the war began, Gearfs and Narfs were the same species. Gearfs had sought the advancement of technology, and the eventual emergence of a race of mechanically integrated beings, incapable of death. But they sought this goal at the expense of all else. The land now known as Djunk was once a forested planet, filled with life. The aims of the Gearfs depleted the planet of its resources. The Narfs were the gardeners, the farmers, the biologists and the environmentalists. They sought the preservation of nature at the expense of all else. Unfortunately both sides were short sighted, and in order to pursue their goals, they both stood in the way of the other. Their opposition began simply enough, with boycotts and protests. But both sides quickly escalated their attacks. Soon assassinations and murders and bombings were perpetrated by both sides. The various countries of the world declared their allegiance to one group or the other, exiling or sending into hiding the opposition within their borders. As battle fronts altered, and border definitions lost their meanings, the names of countries were lost or forgotten, and only the two sides remained. Narfs versus Gearfs.

And so, after unknown ages of war, the land was strewn with ancient destruction. Gearfs mined the planet for metals and useful minerals, converting them into useful tools, while the Narfs tore down the buildings and war machines of their foes. Early in the war, someone had discovered a way to convert sunlight, water and stuff directly into a tasty vitamin and protein rich edible substance, known as solent. If it weren't for solent, everyone would have starved many hundreds of generations ago, as there was no arable soil. Most of the land was covered in mile deep scrap heaps.

It is for this reason, that, once discovered, Djunk became a highly valuable resource for the rest of the portalverse. Garbage disposal was no longer a problem. Old city dumps were replaced with portals over the surface of Djunk. A daily rain of refuse fell on the surface of Djunk, by interworld agreement, at the same time of the day at each location.

There is practically no plant life remaining in Djunk, and certainly no native plant life. A few forms of algae survive. Lichen, mould, all kinds of fungi, plenty of insects, and vermin too. But larger predators were starved into extinction long ago also. One of the first attacks of the Gearfs was to wipe out all plant life in a desperate attempt to remove the reason for the war. Narfs lost the purpose of environmental salvation long before the oldest Gearf's or Narf's greatest grand uncle was ever born.


Djunk: an Ancient History

30,000 years ago, the first civilization arose. Dwarfs developed technologically over the next 10,000 years, until they reached a pinnacle. There were no Shards at this time, but there were computers, holograms, utility fog, AI, immortality through medicines, and much more. But there were two factions among the peoples. Those who sought harmony with nature called themselves Narfs, and those who sought the Technological Singularity called themselves Gearfs. The debates became violent, and war enveloped the world. Narfs discovered and used Shards, chemicals, and disease to fight, while the Gearfs used machines. Over time countries died and ideals were forgotten. Only the factions remained.

20,000 years later, the Gearfs and Narfs have genetically diverged.

Gearfs are long fingered, unbearded, and pale. They are all Engineers, and expert scavengers and builders.
Narfs are all Chemists, Biologists, Demolitionists ir Explosivists. Without exception they are good at destruction. They have thick calloused hands, hairy arms coated in a natural wax, and beards whether male or female. The beard signifies that nothing has blown up in their faces recently.
Both are mature at 5 years, can live for hundreds, and have many children.

Neither cares about their original ideologies. Both share the same ideology now: gain territory. Their great technologies have all been lost. Libraries and schools are often the first military targets. War. It has shaped these two races for 20,000 years. They have paid the piper.
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:23, Mon 15 Aug 2016.

Elf Royals are not ordinary Elfs at all; they are usually High Elfs. The Current Arbaelf Royalty consisted of 4 married couples: the Empress of Mysticism and Empress of Faith, the King of Rites and Queen of Spirit, the Lord Regent of Hearts and Minds and the Lord Regent of the Sciences, and the Royal of Administration and the Royal of Battle and Recreation. The Kings were all male, the Queens all female, but no one was certain about the Royals. Always, the eldest of the pairs were considered the Emperors.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the GM at 06:23, Mon 15 Aug 2016.

Cameracubes are little animated mechanical wonders. They have absolutely no Magem components, but are able to create little cubes which store holographic photos and videos. No one can remember who invented them or when they were invented. People raise domestic cameracubes as pets. When a camera cube hatches, it imprints on the first person it sees. It will find what it needs to grow, and when it is adult size and capable of producing holocubes, it will seek out its person and follow them around. Whenever you want to take a photo, you need only grab a cameracube and take the photo. If the person a cameracube has imprinted on dies, the cameracube will often wander off into the wilderness.

The reproductive cycle of the cameracube is simple. When you want a new one, you press a button on the cameracube, and it will then prepare itself for reproduction. You can do this with a second cameracube in the immediate vicinity at the same time in order to encourage them to reproduce a new cameracube with features of both of the pair combined. Small mutations often occur such as changes in paint color or size or shape.

Once the reproductive cycle is triggered, the cameracube tell its care provider what it needs to reproduce. If there is no care provider, it will seek out the components it needs on its own.

Wild cameracubes will sometimes press their own reproductive cycle trigger, and have wild spawn. They currently exist on every world known to be connected by Portals, and are often found on newly reopened worlds. Some have even evolved to cannibalize other cameracubes. Some have evolved flight - some to swim - some to burrow. There are even a few which plant themselves in the ground and live like plants.

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Spoiler for needs editing: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
There is currently a Sun-ball roaming around near the ceiling. A flock of pterodactyls are flying to the south, and a waterfall is cascading over the side of a 3km high steep mountain cliff.


((3 times as large as Angel Falls, pictured below))



Some complicated mining equipment is situated near the base of the cliff, and a town is built into the side of the cliff, just a few hundred meters away from the water spray. Aflae feels the familiar Magem suppression field everywhere - but less powerful. She gets the impression that Magem will work here, it just won't grow new crystals.

A small 1 inch tall Fairy flies past, pausing to playfully slide down Aflae's tail, and then resumes its course.

A large pile of rubble and huge boulders is a few feet away. It begins to shake, and rise of its own accord - forming into the shape of a 30 meter tall stone humanoid.

The humanoid pile of rubble speaks, "Greetings, Mages. You are welcomed to Pskaena. Be aware that ye are amongst many of tremendous power who value their privacy. Ye may seek and explore, but do not spread knowledge of this sacred place."

---

The following information is not common knowledge

The Sangwen Tribal Institution: a Sociological and Anthropological Study for the Humagus Guild University

     In this paper, we hope to introduce the reader to the basics of Sangwen life, but most importantly to help the reader understand the formation of its unique social structure.

     The first three Sangwen were named Gwen, Sangue and Sangue. Sangue and Sangue, as with all birthed female Sangwen were twins, and were rarely separate from each other. All Sangwen twin girls are given a single name which they both share. They also share a telepathic bond, one with the other. Although this bond weakens through infant years and into toddler years, it seems to reestablish and begin and continue to strengthen once language is learned. The bond is so strong that the two girls are almost always thought of and spoken of as an individual rather than two individuals.

     It should first be established that as a habit established during their wanderings through the desert, the three slept during the hottest hours of the day, and woke before sunset to work through the night and into the sunsrise. When the three first settled in the Ah’Biut Valley, they were simply husband and wife. As time went on, they had children, and they became the patriarch and matriarch of the family. Further time passed, and their children had children, and they had even more children. They soon had a small tribe. At this point in their social/cultural development, they had been primarily following Elfin and Soldier traditions, with a few Ngomic and Giant masculine rituals. They also had not discovered their innate ability to live on blood, although one small child had been injured and lost a lot of blood. The child sliced and bit another by instinct, saving his own life but becoming ill. Unfortunately that child was assumed to have become possessed by a demon, and was killed and buried. It wasn’t until many years later that they realized the child never truly died, and dug him up. His name was Nosferat. At this time in their development, they had heard of death by old age through the verbal history, but they had never experienced it. They had, however, experienced accidental and deliberate death.

     As their problems became more diverse, Sangue and Gwen disagreed with each other more and more frequently. When they disagreed they fought as most couples would until they could reach consensus. On one particular issue, no consensus could be agreed upon, and so they decided to test their wills against each other before the people. At this time, they had begun to discover and develop their Imagus abilities, and so Gwen changed his facial appearance to look like Sangue. The people were very impressed until Sangue caused his appearance to change into that of a goat, at which the people laughed. Conceding that Sangue had won, Gwen began to consider the reasons for this outcome, though he would not fully realize them for many years.

     Over the next few biyears, the tribe became matriarchal in nature. Gwen had been used to wielding power, and would not give it up entirely, so he attached himself to Sangue constantly, and ensured that he honestly agreed with each of their decisions. Over time, he began to discover that he too had developed a telepathic bond with Sangue, and could hear some of their thoughts. He continued to develop this new-found skill, and one day, during intercourse, he found that he no longer thought as an individual, but as part of a group. Sangue also felt that they were no longer thinking as one from two, but as one from three. They soon discovered that their abilities with Imagus were improved greatly when connected in this manner, and that it did not require coitus. They also discovered that there was no disagreement when they considered decisions in this manner, and that their decisions were wiser, had better effects, and were more widely welcomed. From this point on, the society/culture became a triarchy, ruled by the three. Individual families began organizing themselves in this same manner as well.

     Over time, they grew to be a great nation with many clans and tribes, and spread throughout the entire Ah’Biut Valley. A city was raised, with Sangue and Gwen as its Triarchy. Other villages sprouted up throughout the Ah’Biut Valley, with their own Triarchies, though Sangue and Gwen remained supreme rulers.

     In one such village, a particularly cruel Triarchy formed, and developed particularly cruel rituals. Each year, a virgin child was sacrificed to certain gods in order to ensure optimum crop production. The practice was kept secret through fear and disbelief for many years. The blood of the child was drained into a large bowl, and poured onto a patch of young growth. If the god favored the sacrifice, the crop would grow immediately. However if the god scorned the sacrifice, the crop would die immediately. It was soon discovered that only a willing sacrifice would please the god. This of course is now understood in terms of the properties of Sangwen blood and whether it is given voluntarily or against the will of the donor. The Triarchy became greedy and demanded two simultaneous sacrifices. The first attempt caused no reaction in the crop. It is now understood that both children were unwilling. The priest collected some of the blood and tasted it to see if he could tell what went wrong. He immediately fell into convulsions and died. His wife sisters the priestesses brought two more sacrifices with another lack of effect on the plants. However, when the children fell to the ground, they fell in their own blood, and after a few minutes they both rose again with no wounds, though they were both light headed. We now understand that both children were willing sacrifices. Intrigued, the priestesses brought yet another two sacrifices. She realized that the first pair was unwilling, and the second willing, so this time she brought one willing, and one unwilling. When their blood mixed, it immediately solidified. She took the substance, and began experimenting with it. Over time, she realized that it enhanced her own abilities with Imagus greatly. She brought this discovery to her Triarchy who then killed her to keep the secret. Each of these bodies (sacrifices and priestesses) was buried, and was not unburied until much later.

     This Triarchy then took their secret, their stones, and their soldiers to march on the city in which Sangue and Gwen ruled. As they marched on the city, word reached Sangue and Gwen that someone was coming to attack them. The city created and mobilized a militia within a few hours. Sangue and Gwen had both continued to increase their skill with Imagus over the years, and were quite capable. The image of various vicious looking beasts and warriors were placed all along the defense lines in order to intimidate the attackers. The battle was fought in three waves. First, front line of attackers and front line of defenders rushed to meet each other. The defenders were led by Gwen wielding Tzoch’s sword. Next, Sangue and many of the other Sangwen women began attempting to frighten the enemy with visions of fire. Many of the attackers fled at this. Finally, the cruel Triarchy arrived. They caused all other illusions to dissipate which encouraged their soldiers, and proceeded to cause certain of their number to become nearly invisible. The defenders were unable to hold against the onslaught, and fell back. Some of the defenders escaped, but as they were routed most were slain. It was during this battle that the bloodlust was first felt by so many. Both attackers and defenders lost a lot of blood. Those who only lost a little felt an odd desire to lick their enemies’ wounds. Those who lost more could not resist lapping at the wounds of others or in some cases inflicting wounds on others to drink from. Those thought mortally wounded occasionally managed to rise again after a few minutes and fight more. The head of one decapitated person even managed to drain the blood from a recently fallen body. By the end, it was clear that consuming blood healed the wounded, and that the fallen could rise again with blood.

     When the battle was over, the bodies of the fallen defenders were drained of their blood and burned. The fallen attackers were given the blood, and nursed back to health. Sangue and Gwen were brought in chains before the cruel Triarchy. They were told that they were nameless, and exiled into the mountains. Until this point, no one had ever attempted to climb the mountains. Sangue and Gwen managed to climb into the mountains, and disappear from sight. No verifiable proof of contact with them has been made since that time.

     All previously buried bodies are dug up, and either given the blood to recover or burned depending on the nature of their death. The child named Nosferat who was mentioned before never fully recovered. His body was permanently disfigured, and his mind irreversibly tormented. He was chained to a boulder near a cave, and his family fed him from time to time. He refused meat or vegetables, and would only consume blood.

     The Triarchy began to more fully understand what it meant to be what they were. They knew that as a clan, they were different from the humans they had heard of who died of old age, or even in battle. They began to realize the difficulties they might face if they were to become overpopulated. Although they had some idea of the existence of others in the world, they had only ever known their fertile land in the midst of a vast infertile wilderness, and assumed that there was very little fertile land in the world. Therefore, they established laws to eliminate overpopulation. Any city experiencing difficulties and needing more food could invade any other city to obtain needed supplies or workers.

     In fear that their reign would be challenged should any others learn of the source of their power, they changed their names to Sang and Wen in order to sound like the progenitors, and named their clan, “Sangwen” in order to further their superiority.

     The culture of war and sacrifice which they brought with them to power dominated and shaped Sangwen life, culture, economy and attitudes for thousands of years lasting into the late 7900’s.

     At some point, it is unclear exactly when, nomadic tribes of Men, Giants, Soldiers, Oni, Trolls, and the occasional lone Djini had settled throughout the desert. These tribes interacted with each other in war and trade. Eventually they made contact with the Sangwen. The Sangwen were seen as ruthless and evil. Their habit of sleeping during the day cast suspicions of dark magus and other negative associations. Sangwen came to be hated and feared by the other desert tribes. A group of powerful tribes banded together to drive out the Sangwen race from the fertile land of the desert. They attacked the Sangwen cities one by one, killing all that they could. Some managed to flee into the desert, but most were killed.

     Sang and Wen saw that they would be defeated, and so attempted to betray the other Sangwen and save themselves by telling all that they knew to a leader of a Soldier tribe. When the leader learned that the blood could be used to make crystallized magus, which Sang and Wen called magite, he proceeded to bleed all captives in such a way as to obtain the maximum amount of magite. He obtained so many, that he used them as currency. The occasional magite nuggets can still be found throughout the desert even today. Having learned about the only sure way to kill a Sangwen, he instructed that all captured or slain Sangwen were to be burned after they had been bled. The nomadic desert tribes continued to bleed and burn their enemies’ bodies ever since that time.

     The Sangwen race has continued much as it was though in much smaller, less organized groups throughout the world. For the most part, they still sleep during the day, and are ruled by groups of 3: one husband and his twin wives. They are a scattered people with no central organization. They are hunted or mistrusted by those who know what they are, and feared as a night fantasy by those who don’t.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:41, Sat 15 Feb 2020.

Malhemotin is a black substance, poisonous to Sangwen, but a recreational drug for everyone else.

Extract from ancient Humagus Guild guide to human types:

This message was last edited by the GM at 04:49, Sun 16 Feb 2020.

This message was last edited by the GM at 13:37, Sat 29 Feb 2020.