The Time Between AEONS...

 The Litany of Sorrows and the Death of the Unicorns

       As the time of Gods draws nigh, the sneak thief amongst the divinities was Tempest, and she uses the portals of the SubSystem to attempt to pass the information on to one of the myriad parties using the blessing of the SubSystem to level up and play a kind of metaphysical mini-game, but she wrote the script for these adventures and began to weave her own tales into them. She marveled at the sight of Tempest's Temple and thought about how Ayrmith had honored her.

       Those that used the SubSystem most loyally were quick to organize what they'd discovered from careful disciples over the generations. It had become something of a religious experience for them. Thus, Tempest further ignited this belief and the dogma that she began to develop surrounding it, to manipulate her followers into journeying to places around Lerret, knowledge only a divinity would be privy to, to the Statue of Beauty on Perrenna's Moon, The Obsidian Obelisks that penetrated through the heart every Lerret. The Forests themselves in many places but also the clearing where once Durehan's forces had entombed her, for there was near to where Durehan himself had turned into a statue in stasis. They soon did so and she managed to capture some of the paradox energy that had been left over, with their help, from these things as they began to lose their divinity, their patrons disappearing into the Void --- UNMADE. With this in mind she cast another blessing, hoping to catch some of the things that had begun to fall from the worlds...TEMPEST ACTS TO BIND THE PARADOX OF BJORNROGN, DUREHAN, AND PERENNA, to herself. So that she might gain ownership of those greatest of ACTs that its Elders had made before they were unmade by Paradox. --- AO sees her intent and though he cannot grant her the fullness of her ACT, he tries to save as much as possible and leave it under her purview for now and until another God wishes to take up its conservation.

      Nirvana wakes and feels the sun upon its face and it sighs, mostly internally, but it wasn't just the crust of Nirvana or its warm shallow waters, it was the whole thing, so the winds stirred. She hears a voice, one that it did not expect, for it thought it alone in the heavens. However, the voice was the voice of Lerret. It also lived as the moon did, a name meant something in this Void. In the ages that pass, they speak of many things, very slowly, and often over one another. However, Nirvana noticed that Lerret's voice had begun to quieter and slower, for a long time. It is about the turn of the Millenia after the last ACT was cast, and it is now that Lerret seems to have fallen silent. Nirvana is unnerved by this, and it calls to its only friend. The Moon can feel its biosphere upon its surface but it is very slow to respond of course and is only alive in the barest metaphysical sense, but it is in fact alive, and it has begun to learn the way of Nirvana...if that isn't meta enough.

      Nirvana's intervention however saves nearly eleven million souls when it swerves in its orbit to avoid hitting Bjornrogn's Moon, which seemed to be out of alignment in its path. It wobbled and wavered, Nirvana sensing what was about to happen through gravity. It was ejected out of its orbit and began to crash into some of the other moons on its way out. Nirvana's save however cost Durehan's Moon, everything as it smashed into Forest Moon, and it too was ejected at an odd angle that would send it on an interstellar course. The last of the Unicorns cried out as they attempted to escape, the change in distance and disruption of Nature here was immense, one began to flicker as if awash with divine power, its powers returned and it teleported through the element of Nature to safety. Later it would thank Tempest for the close call, but today it lamented the loss of the Great Forest Moon and sang songs of Perenna's beautiful creations. Bjornrogn's Moon grazed Ayrmith's Moon as well and gouged a large chunk from it. When Durehan's Moon was out of sight, Ebadorimu, began to shrink back, as a large portion of life had just been pruned off.

      When things had settled down again, the danger had passed across the Moons and the World. Stone rained down across their celestial faces for a month after as chunks of debris began to slowly be reabsorbed by the celestial bodies. Much burned up in the aerosphere, but much also made it landside. Though casualties and sometimes major damage was reported across the freshmen civilizations, they soon repaired and began to move on. However, the enterprising among them found that many of these fallen rocks were in large number Moondust! Soon new things would arise upon the World. Though some things were lost, Tempest had managed to save much with her ACT. The Moons themselves began to follow a new rhythm; for now, there were six and three-quarters moons that still drifted around Lerret Prime. Ayrmith's Moon bled molten lava for years after, but it slowly cooled into a messy scabby chunk of rocky debris where the missing quarter of its body had been.

 The Age of EXP(Experience and Expansion)
      Arcadia arose a century prior, but it was now felt across the world, those that studied the SYSTEM for long enough could tell something of the mind that had developed it, and many theories began to arise. Those that passed on found they were drawn towards Arcadia if they'd felt a connection with Games or Luck. Whereupon entering, they become a commodity for one another until they've spent their entirety, somehow eating the clientele after a fashion. However, the shows were amazing, and the entertainment was the best in the Universe.

 Around this time, some of the most skilled Tricksters had learned how to teleport using the Luck perk and a slowly passed along secret amongst Tricksters, knowledge of the White Rook and its "Random" teleportation to and from the Ancient Archive of Tomeborne and Lerret itself. This sometimes had grave consequences for the Tricksters, but it usually paid the bills. However, a new property of Chessium was discovered by this same group of pioneering Gamblers and Tricksters, it could store LUCK, and this new technique of imbuing it with one's bad luck helped them to keep going. They quickly became both a den of smugglers and an exclusive club of Chance Engineers. They were composed of individuals of every species, though many more were Tomeborne than anyone else liked.

      The special sect of Gamblers and Tricksters quickly learned that they could not survive for long here without the help of some Farmers and Wizards, for this place required something more than merely comradery. Wizards provided water and medicines, while Farmers began to figure out how to make food here. The Paperworms and Uniwings were interesting but not particularly good eating. Elementalists and the unique Druidish class of Daoshi were also needed, for these skilled naturalists were also invaluable in their Ranging skills and unparalleled on the Chessboard for their survival skills and finding the edible moss-fruits and the best birds to hunt.  With their places secured, these dens soon became communities, and communities became cities with piles of chessium in trade for dirt and food; the Farmers even got their hands on saplings that could grow on Chessium. This one was named Civitas Forte and had come to be close to the Pawn on the White Kingside. The penalty enforced by the LawBringers that eventually arose was to eat a spoonful of badLuck'ed Chessium each day of incarceration judged, but impartiality soon gave way to need and the prison compound began to swell in Civitas Forte. Those in charge began to lean on the Lawbringers in various ways to manipulate the flow of the tainted chessium away. Nevertheless, the city began to prosper against all odds, though they were much closer in proximity to the White King of Luck. It was here also that the secrets of the first interstellar travel were borne into action.

      Among the people of the city of Civitas Forte lived many groups of adventurers set on exploring a new place on the Chessboard, but the Monk Coatl, known as Tetragon the Wise, stepped forward; he was a Master of The Way of Nirvana, and only sought to see a new world before he died. His cause gained traction here among the slimiest people in the Solar System, for many were risk-takers with the potential for a high reward; such an endeavor gained popularity among the youth that had grown up here as well. So with much fanfare, eight groups of twenty explorers ascended the Rooks at all four corners of the Great Chessboard to find the White Rook, for each was well covered by foliage by now. Each faced the unique perils of the Chessboard, the winds, the strange beasts, and hungry plants. Only six of the groups were heard from again, but only two groups made it to a new Chessboard by solving the miniature chessboard-styled dial-up puzzle control. Shifting everyone in the room across the cosmos to a receptacle within another Rook, orbiting another star!

     One of the lost Ink teams had made it to the Black Rook of Dreams, where the Witch of the team had become unstable and unhinged from the high-stress situations they'd come across, swinging wildly from manic to depressed and quiet, plagued by memories of the series of events that had brought her here against her will. Yet when they found the rooms within and they'd discovered the nature of the place, had communicated via a dream. It turned out they'd just as easily been brushed off. They were made to leave, and the Witch cursed them, making them emotionally attached to the place and the things they'd been doing. She secured her place by casting the Captain of the expedition ten kilometers to the board below. The chambers allowed her to sequester everyone, giving them tasks to occupy their minds. In this way, she crafted her own place here within the Black Rook of Dreams, she learned the artistry of dreams and how to use dreams to get what she wanted. Right now, she sought her own people to shape, next, perhaps the Empire...

      The first system they found was named Tetragon, for upon their arrival, he began to pass into the next life. As he did so, he shared a memory with all who had accompanied him; in turn, they honored him by taking their mission of exploration very seriously. The party was able to stay for only five months before their supplies began to become dire, for this Chessboard was quite inhospitable but whole at least, compared with the Aerosphere of this system which appeared to have been smeared into a vast Ring around its star, along with all the earthen bodies. There were no moons or worlds here, only huge mountains floating through the endless skies. There was life here, but it had evolved to catch the wind currents and collect water from the atmosphere. They formed vast jungles in some places and clung together with spidery vines across large swaths of the Ring Aerosphere. Utilizing the knowledge of the Ayrsmith and the Daoshi intuiting edibles from the strange skies, they quickly learned to navigate a floating vessel through these strange skies. They went one entire turn around the Tetragon's Sunstar before coming back to the Great Chessboard found here.

      Exploration Group number two's system was vastly different, though its chessboard too was fairly inhospitable to life, but luckily also whole. It orbited a red star, with a strange water world with huge floating jungles of algae and huge monstrous crablike entities that were quite aggressive. Many seemed intelligent as well, but not very advanced; they obviously saw the exploratory party as a threat as they attempted explorations of Abedus, which was very difficult, the pressures were intense near the center, and the elementalists could only cultivate air for so long in their operation of the first jury-rigged bathysphere. Both groups quickly learned also of the powerful Rook abilities extended far beyond Lerret. Far in the distance towards the center of the world, the exploration party could see a vast city had developed deep within the world-sea. They left much quicker than their exploration counterparts and were glad to be away from the place now known as Abedus. Within Abedus, however, consensus had been reached, the invaders had come "from" somewhere else, and they would need to be dealt with before more came.

      When each group returned, news of their explorations quickly reverberated around the Lerret System, and it becomes known far and wide, there were other worlds in the Universe, other Lerrets. Some were quite nasty, while others seemed wonderous beyond comprehension. Many full of ARETE step up to begin preparations for the next wave of explorations. Within a century, another twenty worlds had opened themselves to the denizens of Lerret, and people began to move to these new places if they could afford such a voyage.

      Another vehicle of the Expansion Age was that of the Obsidian Obelisk, which a few Magus' had learned to identify and utilize via advances in the Structured Magic field. Once they were in play, though, the billions of Lerrets became open. Using this magic could jump one to any point on its own or any other world where an Obsidian Obelisk existed. Of the cataloging of new worlds, there would be many.



 The Victory of the Slimes

      At the turn of the Age, the loose confederation known as Slime City became known as The Construct of Lerret. When they'd done the impossible, they'd created a hive body, one that an Overmind could inhabit for a time. They had succeeded also in crafting a great machine, composed of sentient slimes of every variety, given purpose and working in conjunction with one another to give shape to its body rooted upon an exoskeleton of tough metal. The machine could serve many purposes but was most often used to spread the slime lands, stamping a new neighborhood into being with careful precision from available resources. They also used the Great Construct to lay out suction piping stations for easy effortless travel.

      The Slime Farmers that had brainstormed this idea had also performed another great feat, they had begun the uber-slime project. Aimed at genetically modifying slime-kind to always be elementalists and to always exhibit a tendency towards being a Farmer class. This caused a stir with the other classes of slimes, and these Farmers were stricken from the Construct, where they continued their efforts without help from the Minds. However, the project was not shut down, but taken over by a healthy selection of classes with capabilities and foresight. Under this new leadership, the uber-slimes would be able to use the strengths of a party to venture forth unified, coordinated, and practiced after many a challenge SubWorld faced together. This practice succeeded and gave rise to another new innovation for slime-kind, the Oracle, a captured Tomeborne manipulated by their genetic sciences. To serve as a window into the future and the movement of Gods as interpreted by the Overminds. This complex living machine also served to connect a special breed of slimes that acted as akashic signal boosters and in this way, became the first worldwide communications array. It connected civilizations with the explorations that the races had been up to. It opened and coordinated emerging markets, and druid slimes also found they could signal through the ley lines. With this, Slime-kind solidifies their indispensable place among the sapient races. This system was known as The Conduit.

       Now, the Priesthood of CONFLICT, had grown large and hateful, wishing conflict upon everyone but themselves. When the delicate first lines of communication began to arrive, allowing one to send messages across the world became as simple as telling the slime where you wanted to call, a courier would bring your intended recipient to the message offices where they would let the slime read off your message. The Priesthood of Conflict did not like this new way of organizing, they felt that the races were too unifying and did not allow for natural conflicts to play out as they would without the aid of such techniques. Thus began the Rebellion of the Priesthood, which was by far the largest contingent of Priests in the world, mostly human, but there were joiners from every civilization. Wherever they went, they made sure to smash the Message Offices apart and kill the slimes within. After they'd nearly isolated the human civilization, they moved onto the Ink civilization and caused riots, attempting to destroy the slime-communique stations. However, the Inkers held these as a highly valuable resource and fought back. They also sent for help from their slime opponents, for they did not love their encroaching neighbors overly much. They did, however, value their communication ability, so they joined forces to meet the Priesthood. Which was quite an insanely large number of individuals at this point. The Priests felt their first real urge to insight rebellion then, to shift the status quo, their supernatural charisma giving them a natural pulpit to sway from, Air elementalists enhancing their volumes to speak to whole mountainsides of people. Their showmanship gave them many, but their ability to awaken the anger brimming below the surface of their daily lives was astonishing to watch with men who'd leveled in these skills many times. When the final conflict began, Fusionslimes and Cephalo-Pod soldiers began to march out against the Priests using SoulFire and a randomly armed army with metal implements of destruction. They left the Great Isle of Thackus quite abused, burnt, and littered with bodies. Ultimately, the Priesthood had almost entirely decimated the Cephalo-Pods and the defenders operating them from within, and though they were far fewer, the Slimefusions had taken many of the antagonists to task, but the Priests had spent their forces fully, untrained as they were, powered by devotion and FAITH more than any magic and so the rebels had been quashed for now. The remnants of the Priesthood were demoted to 'The Cult' in the words of the Town Cryers across the realm. Secretly, they began to regroup and record their failure to mark out a path that did not work so that they might succeed in the future.


 The Explorations by The Raft Company of Ink City

        At the height of the Conduit's usefulness, it became a way of communicating with those upon the Chessboard and perhaps one of the few ways one might do so. The Raft Company, a business that had spanned the Great Ocean in search of riches and worthwhile trade goods, both of which had occurred in abundance for the lucky trades-inks. When word came back of new worlds, the Raft Company decided that even bad press was still good press for their company; they set their minds to crafting an exploratory vessel, one which might fit into the rooms of the Interstellar Rook. The Inks were not large, so they did not need a gigantic vessel, but they needed one which could support them in case of the worst; there was no Aerosphere. A fear that had been said about the thin atmosphere around the Abedus' Chessboard. They invented pressure canisters, which could store air or compressed water. Their own Ink could provide the fuel if they found themselves in orbit rather than upon a surface. They learned how to seal a thing, to make it water and airtight. It was a well-thought-out design, capable of carrying ten Inkers for a year if they could supplement their supplies. Their parties were similar to those of the first explorers, Lord, Wizard, Witch, Transmuter, Monk, Trickster, Gambler, Defender, Daoshi, and a Bard. So arrangements were made, and they transported the necessary equipment to the Chessboard via Trickster channels and began to make the trek towards the White Rook and, from there, to the transport compartments within. When they'd finally completed their task and were ready to depart, they used a puppet armature to set the controls for a new place now that they had the Oathforcer in their possession...

       Tetragon(a.k.a. L1) was one of the first places they went that the Raft Company went. They established many observations here, and since the zero-gravity did not seem overly bad for one's health, they established a forward base here. On one of the surveys with the transmuters, they found a long-thought mythical metal known as Upsidasium; in zero-gravity, it provided gravity, while in gravity, it provided zero-gravity to itself, at least pushing its nearest neighboring floating islands and mountains away from it towards an equilibrium based upon the density of the material. Finally, they discovered a serious resource cache and a way towards many more riches. They established a mine that reeled in big rocks of the Upsidasium, often, whole teams were needed to bring them in and cut them up into moveable chunks. They quickly discovered that the Upsidasium helped make this Aerosphere rotate around the Sunstar at a momentum that prevented it from falling into the diminutive yet still fiery Sunstar.

       Tenna(Lerret 42) was the second system they found that had a real Lerret of earth and the elements to begin with. Forty of the positions did not yield a Lerret at all, or it was one of the weird living ones. This one appeared to be a garden world, one large continent surrounded by ocean, it also possesses one Moon, outside of the large Aerosphere. The Monks of the Raft had learned to create telescopes to mimick the eyeball styles of many creatures, and in this way, we have the Bee-vision reading of the exposed veins of metal, almost highlighted in the Ultraviolet range. This one had large mountain ranges with silvery metal veins within rather than Copper and Iron ore. This ore was Protonite, and the unique material was able to store up potential kinetic energy. Very strange stuff to work with and hard to pull from the deep veins. Luckily, this planet had active vulcanism and shifted its crust up in this range to expose more of its bounty. However, the world was overrun with Tomeborne, it seemed many had been transported here by some chance rather than Lerret Prime. They had created a land powered by monsters they'd farmed for sport and war. The native animals were much like that of Lerret Prime, except they tended toward triclopean bodyplans. This virtual paradise seemed resilient to the Tomeborne taint and was hardier from some past catastrophe. The Tomeborne Farmers, however, were ruthless in their precision and passion for results. Long had they toiled here securing the land for the Clan of Tenna. They each had learned to mumble-speak to one another, giving them ways of aligning their purposes. They did not die naturally, though, so they only built up their membership, those who spoke. The Raft exploration party dealt with the Clan then, securing an exclusive right to sell their metals. Naturally, as was the custom now with any powerful off-world factions, the Oathforcer was brought to bear. Which always sealed the deal.

       Fel-Nor(Lerret 123) was another interesting world that appeared to have been cloven in twain by the blades of Dadacar. Its Chessboard had arrived after this catastrophe as it was nearly spotless. Life here was hard as most of this world had been torn to shreds, and movement around it was much like movement upon the Ring Aerosphere; gravity was less here, almost zero-gee. It was a three-dimensional maze to move around; tides here were mostly dependent upon the Chessboard. Most of the animals that flourished here could both fly through the air and swim through the water, like the Ring Aerosphere. It was here, however, that the largest plants in all of the worlds came to be; it was theorized that they had grown so large as to reach all the way to the core. A material called Neutronium filled the bark of the gargantuan Fel-Nor trees, each easily twenty miles high. The Fel-Nor trees became infamous for the material as one of the few ways of retrieving the stuff. The discovery prompted another line of inquiry, though, what were the practical applications? Of course, there were many, and it would be seen in the New AGE, days and weeks ahead. One thing remained true, the Raft Company had pushed the envelope into the Universe more than any other people thus far.

       Meanwhile, back in Ink City, the riches began to add up. Transmuter Gear corps often receive the lion's share of the resources that came from the other worlds for manufacture. Much of this filtered through the markets after, but they'd soon be relying on the Wizards and Monks to unravel the mysteries of these metals. Inspiration would arise in the form of The Dealmaker, a cursed bit of sorcery upon a signatory paint brush that gives one a nasty rash if they break a deal. He and his goons had taken over Ink City, maybe all sides of potential conflict. They'd grown so wealthy and powerful strip mining Lerret that their ecosystem began to collapse from the wholesale alteration of the countryside; the riches they'd uncovered, though, were great even on Lerret. The Gear Corp developed metal-suited battlepods they called Cephalo-Pods, and they'd crafted engines that could harness perpetual energy from the Protonite; all one needed was to start its gears spinning. Control was another issue, but they'd had decades now to harness the principles and hone the craft. So too did the Inkster Daoshi and Druid councils, the head of which wore the sacred Unicorn Horn, reveal their plans to stop the destruction of Inkland's natural resources. They commit guerilla acts of violence against the Miners and Zero-P Cranes of the Raft Company, which had to keep their buckets from lifting off like balloons thanks to Upsidasium. The conflict comes to a head when production began to drop drastically, buckets or ores being carried into space. In a vicious standoff, the Dealmaker's soldiers meet the Druids and Daoshi, the former shifting into monstrous animal forms and the Daoshis commanding nature itself to attack. The Transmuters Union were no slackers, they deployed the Gear Corp with ruthless efficiency. Many were torn apart by whirling blades or six-inch fangs, but in the end, metal won the fight, but the Dealmaker was mortally wounded. His son found him then, and the Dealmaker passed on the reigns of power to this one. The Inkling hoped they would not tear him apart like the others. The remaining Druids and Daoshi had been exiled, and given the choice, they chose Fel-Nor.


 The Aruunian Empire of Humanity


         Now then came the time of The Aruunian Empire; it was by far the richest and most plentiful of all the lands of sapient beings, in its own way. It was also the largest and most powerful in many ways. Their technological advances were unparalleled to all except perhaps the Coatl, but they would be too humble to admit such things. They had few specialty abilities or powers; the tiny primitive tribes that still lived in some places were stronger in body, but not in their mental capacities, not yet. Humanity had spread across the Southern Continent and had faced the bearmen. They had found a couple of the hidden plants and grew many varieties of crops. Humans had created roads from the Crucible, which was now only home to the hardest people in the Empire, home of The Aruunian College of Martial Service now; that place gave no luxuries, and even though it had sheltered Humanity for a time, it could only support so many people. So they had moved during the last age, expanding out into the wilderness first that surrounded the Chain Mountains, then on into the steppes and Forests that surrounded them. The great plains had been a hard place to trek through, and the sod was also extremely tough. They had to bust it to make their farms grow properly. They also made small communities rise up around them, sometimes, larger groups would settle in new lands together. This had led to conflicts as feudalism was a confounding thing. It was said that all lands settled by humanity were his domain, King Galude the Second. He was the crowned king now, descended from the bloodline of Aruun himself. Yet, little of the original king's blood advanced through Galude's veins. However, Galude was shrewd, and he worshipped Thackus half-heartedly; he felt little FAITH in VIRTUE, but rather more in PROFIT and CONFLICT. Of this, he had spades. He ruled from the Crucible, which counted many among the Elemental Lords, and at least twice as many counted themselves War-Farmed Sorcerors and Earthen Defenders.

        Counter to the Crucible Throne was the Summer Castle, a place of warmth and beauty, residing on the Oceanside near the mouth of a great river to its back farms of wheat with meadows of flowers between. It sprawled and grew for three hundred years prior, becoming a legitimate power center unto itself. Its greatest asset was its harbor, for, with it, they caught great numbers of fish, as well as grew them in aquaculture farms just as easily. It also brought them news from across the waters, a place of diplomacy. To the west of the Crucible, the roads lead to the Provinces of the Pillars. They were largely unexplored but consisted of five provinces reflecting the old way, each quite large. The Territories were The Whispering Forest, The Savage Savannah, The Deep Desert, and Robber Plains. The last was the recently settled Guam, an island chain within the Great Ocean, which had become rich by the frequency of trade from the other races. Each of the Provinces had a unique system of governance but ultimately derived their power from their peoples, and in this, they submitted to the right of King Galude to rule them, at least for now. Many of the families from these lands had existed here before the days of King Aruun, and thus existed in a state of fealty after the reemergence of the Crucible after the Ice Age. They were absorbed and dominated, and well taxed. The Wizards and Monks of these lands had grown wise in their academies, colleges, and debates. Their innovations to help their unique survival situations had ultimately given them many new insights into science and technology. The warmer provinces seemed to be the most active, especially those along the oceanside, creating a wild subtropical zone and a rich and powerful culture of trade and the home of the Savannah River Company, a trading company that visited every civilization, even the much-maligned Tomeborne. From the Thackus Isle, the Tomeborne-Whisperers were able to speak to humans cohesively for trade and information and were only aggressive if provoked. They made it clear to warn them of their brethren and not to trade with the aggressive Tomeborne. From the Tomeborne, The Company received Transmuter spells from Ink City. Soon they also sold them technology that the Raft Company had pioneered. This knowledge began to send them down a path toward the stars. Savannah River Company represented humanity as the first team to pioneer humans representing the Empire of Aruun.

        The scholarly world included five great schools in human lands. The Guild of Wizards and Witches. The Monks of Chi. The War-Farmers. The Druid Councils. Alchemical Archivists. The Guild devoted itself to metaphysical study, studying even spells themselves, including the hottest new technique: syllable by syllable WORD effect breakdown coding, enabling one to craft their own spells with A Difference Engine. The Monk Order served the people and sought to ease the load, crafting labor-saving devices and pioneering new techniques in agriculture and engineering and, most especially, construction speeds and architectural strength. Thackus blessing of philosophy had not been lost on the Monk's Order, AO's favorite theory was that they were in a simulation, one that perhaps existed within a GODLY HIVEMIND...

        The War-Farmers were a lovely group; they were very focused and results-oriented, serious folk. They had little use for sentiment, for they were taught that they were not to get to know the test subjects, of which everyone here had been 'farmed.' Their accord was the contract of their community, service to the Empire. In that way, it became the Legion of the Empire, the source of its power. The war-hounds from it arose, and the farmed cetacean are known as killer dolphin pods. There also were the Great Rocs and the Riding Wolves. They had also recreated the Diplodicus-Crane, the largest Farmed creature by these times; on its days off, it likes to act as a practical effect prop for a stage in exchange for carrots.  The War-Farmers had also improved themselves in several ways, including giving themselves tougher bodies and sorcerer-enhanced strength, speed, and intellect. In fact, the Farmers had isolated the mitochondrial markers even, allowing them to inject mitochondrial material into their test subjects.

        The Druid Council had recently arisen to represent the indigent of the lands, including Lerret herself and the Six moons. They enhanced the lands themselves whenever they could, resolving to do the work of a God if such a thing were possible, for deep within, they knew their patron had fallen. Their Daoshi was instrumental in creating a mediation boundary for wildlife around the villages and cities that had grown. The Druids' control over animals and plants was very useful for developing experimental medical technologies and medicines. Their college of herbalism was already quite robust in the medical community. The Archivists were the great record keepers of human society, and they spanned all the human lands; every library in the Empire was most likely their land and building. They are the first to adopt the wizard devices called difference engines in great numbers, and so too did the Inklanders.

        The Scholarly communities came together near the end of the Age, the time between AEONS soon closing...The Witch techniques of enchantment cursing and the Transmuter Alchemists began to craft new materials from the fusion of various alchemical concoctions. They succeeded in creating the THEORETICAL METAL: Omegasteel. Difficult to create but very lightweight and shapeable, with extremely high tensile strength. Metaphysically, it was able to conduct magic or hold spells as well of both wizards, transmuters, or any class which utilizes magic. Telescopics had grown so finely honed to offer a map of the heavenly stars to determine one's place in space. These technologies came together when Savannah River Company provided the resources and crew for The first generation of Ley Line Skimmers. Ships that would ride the Ley Lines into the Obelisks, Guided by Magus Ritual Fields, and jumped between stars. The First jump took them to Lerret Two, where they emerged from the matching Obelisks. There they began to learn of the strange living world before moving on using the Lore of the Oracle they'd purchased to help them learn of the secret magic of Obsidian Obelisks.


 The Coatl Balancers


         The Coatl Memory Lineages arise on the Moon Nirvana, and by the closing of the Age, they are pervasive throughout the culture here. The culture of Nirvana was one that prized beauty, utility, and service. It did not matter if you were a scary Tomeborne or a touched-human; you would be accepted if you were peaceful. They had shaped a culture here that was very healthy and prized physical activity, such as martial arts and sports of competition. They prized rites of passage and mastering oneself, mentally and physically. Those that had been lucky enough to spend their entire lives upon Nirvana were blessed with a +1 in all meditation-related activities and +3 in group-led meditations. The Coatl had shaped a society where all were welcome; it was the first fully intermixed society, respecting citizens from every race. This goodwill bought them many bountiful riches, invaluable alliances, and treaties brokered between the Empire and city-states to maintain peace. From this synthesis of a new kind of society, they drew upon the combined knowledge and creativity of many cultures, a true mixing pot of life. The life here was very similar to that of Lerret but slightly smaller and generally more docile.

        The cities of Nirvana were often up high in the mountains, but some were down in the valleys, these were called Grounded Towns, and it was here that most of the farming took place as well as much of the resource gathering. Their regimented society offered many benefits, but none so great as that of civil education. With it, Nirvana's towns and cities soon gained a 90 percent literacy rate and came to possess the greatest library in existence in the capital of the Coatl nation, called Citadel Ylish, set within a huge valley upon the tallest range of Nirvana, called the Mohawk Range. The Coatl had used the Lineages to share a piece of themselves with those most important to them. Thus it was customary to carry certain key memories into the future to ensure that the Coatl could remember their pasts. IN this way, they came to honor their ancestors by cultivating their memories of their forbearers, which were not only their biological family. They could be great mentors or teachers; in this way, they carry on their philosophy and directly allow them to draw upon their gathered memory wisdom as well. As the generations pass on the information, it erodes as ideas were wanted to do, but even shortened and contextualized, these ancient memories would become cultural prizes.

         The Coatl Technics are among the most agile engineers in the Universe, giving us such feats as the wind-powered loom. They have used balloons for centuries now, coupled with Ayrmith abilities or Air Elementalism to pilot them. They could carry many Grounded Folk but also could act as the active support foundation for a new community or even bridges across the wide open spaces, for many flotillas began to arise. However, it was here, high in the skies of Nirvana, where the Great Storm raged between the borders between worlds within the aerosphere. Electricity is discovered by a Coatl balloon, and the first concepts for conductivity are borne. Later that year, tests begin on the floating community of Shangrila, where they run wires between their balloons, surrounded by wood, wherein they seek to charge a power stone while saving their masts from destruction. Further experimentation with conductive metallurgy yields many wonderful results. The first light bulb is crafted a year later. The Technics broker a deal with the Slime Construct for large amounts of certain materials in certain shapes; they call this modularization, allowing for replaceable parts. The Earthen Defenders of Coatl kind and beyond have begun to benefit from the increased amounts of free moondust found across the Lerret System. Thus provided, they quickly make use of it with various new items too. Replaceable parts make it so that machines are easily replicable. Though not everyone was excited about the advances in engineering.

         The Skymasters did not care for the ways of Nirvana, they rode the air currents as their ancestors had. Memory Lineages had given many the gift of memory at birth. Farmers among them had done their level best to thwart Humilis and Pax's limitation of sentience prior to the leveling. They often use the blessing of the SubSystem to try to power level the young Coatl Monks into Sentience. However, they learned quite fast when elevated in such ways and became a special way for schools to help advance their students. Many of those who had grown up in these schools as their background became jaded in this regimented society and struggled to find a new ideal; they felt controlled or trapped. What's most often the case is these unfortunately discontent younglings work their way out of society, leaving Nirvana behind. Such were known as Skymasters, for they called no land their home and they live like their missed childhoods.


 The Abedusian Menace


        Khepri was particularly chaotic the day of The Shattering. The Abedusians of Strife watched as the Invaders appeared again and again now. The Abedusians were trapped, it seemed until a Superfamily of Engineers crafted a capsule they printed from Brutes and Sprints in the workgroup. The Elder Engineers watched the world as they conversed, making observations with their keen eyes. Someone near the glass heard it before they saw it. A great crack appears. It continues for two turns around Khepri, then, on the fateful day, Khepri incidentally sent out a wave of solar radiation, common among stars such as this, but this one was particularly powerful compared with the others. It strikes the Abedusian glass globe, and it Shatters!

        The result was fast, as the world ocean bulges slightly, water lapping out over the glass. Some of the glass fell towards Strife, and some flew out from the surface of Abedus. It did not destroy Abedus as previously thought, gravity had taken over quite nicely. However, it was quite fortunate for the capsule, as it could pierce the Glass Sky. They used Priestly SoulFire to steer the capsule. Eventually, they discover the Chessboard's true design, hampered as they'd been by the light warping glass. This first mission of discovery nearly led to the Engineers' death several times, but they began to understand how things worked and how the Universe was shaped around them. They began to anchor Submersible points to the Outer shells of floating glass, as many were held aloft by sheer surface tension and the tidal forces of the Chessboard. It was soon after this that the Chessboard had many water pools for working within. The Engineers began to engineer a new lung design, like that of the Invaders, most likely, ones that could breathe air. They would be called Air-gills. Once they'd accomplished that, they began to create. They formed a new city here, with a geodesic dome and many levels spiraling up to the top. There, gravity was low enough that the crablike beings could launch their pod-craft from and park them here. Thus began the first inter-community trade among the Abedusians. In this way, they also shared their experiences so that they might spread all they learned. The Hive began to diverge slowly, but in a good way; it was giving birth to a new Hive. From here, many new Hives would come to be eventually. For they had yet to learn of Chess or Boards. The Engineers develop another new boon for the descendants of Abedus, the Chickbrutes, nonsentient brutes that are smaller and faster growing, becoming fat steaks for the next generation. They also learn to bring the Abedusian algae with them since it grows very easily in any liquid water. It also supports the usefulness of the Air-gills incidentally. In this fashion, they continue on the Chessboard, the perfect inhabitants of such land. It is here also that they find the usefulness of their Priestly powers, as many other worlds had souls to be purged. Using the studying minds of hundreds of Engineers, they deduce from the clutter left behind by the Raft Company's visits that this Rook shape is the entry point. They climb to the transport structure, their feet adapting to the new surface. There, they discover the Chessboard dialing puzzle...

 The New Worlds
         The many avenues for jumping between stars meant that any world could be possible, and thus a Deity only need ask for a particular type if they wished.


(OOC: Thanks for bearing with me! Each of you begins the day with 2 ACTS. Also PM me with your card pick!)
This message was last edited by the GM at 11:27, Mon 18 July 2022.

By now, the Draconian species had flourished, due to the receding of the ice age. They had twice the strength of a grizzly, were the size of large war horses of later ages, and could breathe fire. Their scales were like steel. Very few other beasts could challenge them. This was not enough for Thackus, however. As god of magic, he believed it would be a good idea to create a sort of sentient race that would bear the resemblance of the Draco.

The surprise, however, is that these "Dragons" as they would then be called, would actually be Humans. Thackus believed there could be a sort of war or conflict between races. The wizard god transformed some Draconians into beings that could switch between Human or Draco at will. Like-wise, he gave the most apt or wise Humans around the world, the souls of a dragon, capable of transforming. The Dragonform was superior to the Draco. Dragons could be as large as elephants. Massive, four limbed, winged and capable of flight scales like steel, and innately linked to both the power of the wizard and sorcerer. Yes, the dragon could breath fire or thunderbolts as well.

Unique to the dragon, Thackus had blessed the new dragonic race with the power of The Source, The Source would grant each dragon some sort of boon, whether in their "stats", and/or powerful, half scientific, have supernatural based magic, without regard to mitochondria. On rare occasions a dragon could be lucky enough to be twice blessed by The Source, due to their mitochondrial DNA being affected by it.

Dragons were intelligent, strong, even longer lived than Draconians, and powerful. However, the Dragon race had but one weakness. Their birth rate was low. Even a lower than the Draco. Dragonian society would likely eventually adopt limited hierarchal systems. Dragons would be divided in their outlook on the shorter-lived mortals, most specifically Humans. Some would view them as slaves, subjects, or even worse, cattle, but the dragons are also capable of great benevolence, and even some evil dragons would protect Human villages and other settlements out of a sense of honor or duty. With a help of gold and princess, of course.

Thacks breathed his magical, invisible breath of mist into Lerret, hoping the winds would carry the mist into other worlds. This breath would manifest in the clouds, earth, fire and seas, giving birth to dragon kind from Humans, Draconians, and even the elements of nature. All dragons, when created by Thackus would solidify into Humans first, symbolizing Thackus'es desire to see the race survive.

These Dragons would be called "Source Dragons."

Card: Jack Of Spades (Create Race, The Dragon)

ACT 1: Thackus creates The Dragonic Race(s) with blessings from The Source in some way.

Act 2: Thackus grants Dragons the enhanced abilities of their physiology, and their intelligence is almost always extremely high.

      So it was; the Great Source Dragons arose at the beginning of the new AGE. The Honor of being the First was chosen by draconians and humans, able to transform themselves from one to the other. So there are many draconian source dragons who are very animalistic in their behaviors, intelligent and thoughtful, but without a memory of civilization prior like the human descended ones. So the dual factions came to resist one another, the first not interested in learning things like language or math, and etiquette was quite beyond them. The humans were equally displeased by their animal brethren, as they took what they wanted and did not try to communicate or add to the greatness of the Dragon civilization.

      Many lands were now under the auspices of the nation-states and Empires; even the Tomeborne world was spoken for. So the Dragons hid on the highest peaks, many flying through the air, others scrambling along the ground with great leaps and bounds. The Random aspect of the Source gave them many aspects such as great strength, perfect health, impervious hides, breath weapons, and other abilities of mass destruction. Those that could speak could cast magical spells. These dangerous creatures seemed to gravitate towards the Crucible, and there they began a campaign against the most dangerous of humans in the Aruunian College of Martial Service and the home of the Aruunian Emperor. The opening skirmishes tested the Human's strength while the dragonic forces marshaled their own powers. The Wild Dragons flocked to the Crucible while the human ones shied from the fight; they didn't want to kill humans without reason. The Wild Dragon then went forward and unleashed their full power upon the Crucible army, the humans were humbled by the dragonic power on display, and many humans fled that place as it began to fall to the Wild Dragons. The speaking Dragons traveled to the untouched moon of Thackus, and there, they began to build...
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:02, Thu 21 July 2022.

Dadacar awakes from his long slumber and finds reality much changed. Though he has not yet bent his immensity to drinking in all that has been wrought in his absence, he first turns to creation.

During his great rest, Dadacar dreamt. The universe, though beginning to fill up, still felt largely empty, and it was not realistic to have him and his siblings fill it up "by hand" so to speak.

To begin, he reached into the darkness of space and created a furnace. Though similar to the few stars that currently lit the cosmos, this furnace burned with the holy fire of life. Around it, he wrapped meat and bone again and again until his creation grew to mammoth proportions, the size of a small moon. They were smooth and grey, with a massive tale to propel them through space. They didn't rely on air, or any type of consumption, not to live. They did feast on the flotsam and jetsam in space. The tiniest particles, an errant rock, even radiation all were consumed by their gaping maw. After enough material had been swallowed by the great beasts their holy furnace roared to life, and in their wake was left a freshly birthed sunstar.

But to seed life, creating stars was only the first part. Within the meat and bone of his creations, Dadacar pressed not just the DNA of all CURRENTLY living things, but all future combinations. In this way, each time one of the great beasts life had run its course, they would beach themselves on a planet and let their corpse seed the planet with the next wave of biological life.


ACT: Dadacar creates a new species, the Generation Whales. These space whales consume any nonorganic matter in space and after a long enough time, excrete a fledgling star. When their long life spans end they crash into a planet and provide the basic genetic elements for future biological life to one day form.

         With the Generation Whales, the seeds of life began to spread through the Universe. Many moons were eaten during this first age of Generation Whales, which lived a supernaturally long time, akin to the lifespans of the stars they excreted. A thousand years at a time. The gargantuan creatures were so large as to quickly accumulate their own native atmospheres when feasting upon empty worlds, absorbing the atmosphere. They did not breathe, however, so they needed none of it. When they boosted towards new feeding grounds with their continental-sized tails, they shed much of this atmosphere, though the little that stayed was enough to keep a small biosphere busy as it adapted. When they crashed finally, they would expose worlds to the life that both lived upon it and within it and that blood, meat, and bone it had carried within as fertilizer and spawning grounds for future life.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:42, Sun 24 July 2022.

As Cungto looked upon the abilities that existed, he saw greatness. Each was whole and perfect in their reflection of the God that made them. However, they were massive, broad abilities, and a Gambler had to take all of it if they were to gamble. However, there was a way to see them. Differently, they were all trees, and taking a single splinter of this power, would allow for greatness with further work. This Fragmentation is a special gift for the Gambler to take. Be it a single Wizard's Spell, a single command of a Lawbringer, turning things into gold for a transmuter... and so on. They were all lesser for it, but a splinter was a splinter, and limitations weren't a weakness but a strength.


Cungto Creates Power Fragmentation.

     Cungto moves again to ACT upon the VOID; the Gamblers begin to feel a shift as a new power fills their veins. They soon learned that they had the ability to help someone focus their class skill, but to do so was to give up other benefits. The specialization was useful to many, as they could do more with a single gift now than they could before with several; some regretted their decision to use the offer of the Gambler. Fragmented was the term that had come to be used on those who had specialized. With this offer, however, Gamblers became a new focus of attention, giving themselves more power through these offers, a new way to 'Gamble' that didn't cost the Gambler much. As a result, their status across the kingdoms begins to climb, and they soon find themselves in positions of power as leaders of industry or finance.

     In the hierarchy of the 16, the Gambler once again retakes his place. With this ACT of Order, the clock strikes 11:30 on the Scales of Order, in favor of Order.
This message was last edited by the GM at 10:59, Mon 25 July 2022.

With the coming of a new aeon and a new age, Humilis and Pax re-emerged from their slumber in a new form: a pair of angelic figures whose physical bodies were a reflection of the observer's own form.

Together, the twin gods moved about the void, observing all that had happened, and noting what they might do in future, either to improve conditions, or steer them. Overall, they found themselves pleased with how much had transpired, though they both chaffed somewhat at the treatment of the younger coatls.

"Children should be allowed to be children." Pax said, to bother her companion and to no one at all.
"Agreed. Let them be free. They have their innocence of youth and ignorance. It is precious and should be allowed to develop at its own pace." Humilis replied in the same tone.
"Well then, brother. It seems we have much to do in this new age of exploration and learning. Let us remind them of what is important. Let us set examples, create goals, and give means. Shall we?"
"Indeed, we shall."

ACT: Humilis and Pax create a new ideal: "LIBERTY".

ACT: Humilis and Pax give coatl adherents of the liberty ideal the power to create 'bubbles' of warm, breathable atmosphere that they can use to traverse through space, water, and empty void at will. The older and more powerful the coatl, the larger the bubble and the faster they can move it.

ACT: Humilis and Pax identify an as-yet-undiscovered Larret with stable conditions and grant it the same peaceful, life-enhancing properties as the moon of Nirvana.

         Humilis and Pax set to their work, ACTing to create a new IDEAL: LIBERTY. This new ideal went out into the cosmos and etched itself into the Void; millions worldwide suddenly shifted to this idea with a natural ardor. Many had already valued the concept, but now it was an IDEAL. As a result, FAITH began to grow in the lands claimed by Humilis and Pax, as these places espoused feelings of liberty and freethinking. The lands were calm and peaceful for the most part, and those places that did see much conflict it was dealt with by Monks or Lawbringers swiftly.

         The Coatl who turned to the IDEAL of LIBERTY, most often those who had shaken off the yoke of the Orders and the Path of Nirvana. These rebels among the Coatl were prone to exploration and wandering the worlds. They soon found they were equipped to perform space-flight, using compressed air from the pockets of air they developed as they grew older. These Journey-Coatl began to spread outward from the Lerret System in search of their purpose and the next horizon. Their micro-climates helped them develop their pathfinding abilities and retain life-support. They were still aware of their knife-edge survival estimates, but the blessing of the SubSystem Inventory allowed them to carry much more food and supplies than they would've normally been able. Most made the journey to the closest world that had been dubbed by mortal kind, The First-Sister, formerly known by the Gods as Lerret 2. Others find the occasional rocky asteroids that orbit Lerret at the edge of the system to be quite interesting. Nevertheless, for many Coatl, this was not far enough, and their journey continued.

         A Lerret far from Lerret Prime began to glow with the powers of Nirvana... It would be some time before Coatl could journey here, but short in godly terms. For now it would only be known as Nirvana-Lerret.
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:57, Sun 24 July 2022.

Plutocrus went to a far-off system. He took a system that didn't have a Lerret-copy in it and started to craft a world. It was made only of rock, and the rock was common throughout creation. There was no water, no air, no metals, nothing of value on this planet. No life, for not only didn't life live here, no life COULD live here with its complete dearth of anything even remotely considered a resource.

Then he put something on it. A Great Temple, dedicated to Plutocrus in the same style as the one where they had found Oathforcer would be clearly visible from the system's Chessboard. Inside however instead of nice business details about contracts, there were dire warnings, both in pictures and as many written languages as would fit. "Unless they cared for Lerret and took care of its natural resources, it would end up like this world. Barren. Devoid of all resources. Even the very Air taken from it. Forgotten by all but the Gods who had long since dismissed it as unimportant. Business must be sustainable. Destroying the Future for the Profit Now would only lead to Extinction."

From there it was a simple matter of messing with the Raft Company's records and ensuring that would be the next world they explored.

The more complex action was to make sure someone on there was Inspired by what they saw and went back to Create a Great Work of Art, that could spread the message far and wide in Lerret. For the power and subtlety he would need to do this, he invoked the power of the Ace.


The last step in his plan was to write another book. This one would be given to the Druids and Daoshi. It would tell them; they could not fight the Transmuters for they had too many War Machines that were too powerful. What they could do was make saving the planet profitable, and the Ink-people would flock to help them. Included were ideas for making plants that were desirable, either for their practical qualities or aesthetic beauty. Then people would buy them to plant them. There was the idea of tourism to make the wild-areas that remained valuable, and thus keep them from being further strip-mined. Wild life enthusiasts would pay to see them in a natural environment. Similar advice on subverting the mining industry's hold on the economy were spread throughout.

Plutocrus hoped it would be enough to encourage them to move their mining operations off-world at least and stick to mining the systems that didn't have life to be destroyed by this reckless behavior.


ACT: Plutocrus made the Nothing World.

CARD: Plutocrus uses the Ace of Diamonds to Inspire one of the Expedition to create Great Work of Art and become famous.

ACT: Plutocrus writes the book on Eco-Economy.

      Plutocrus plants a lesson into the Void then, a warning to future generations about responsibility and conservation. It is very effective, for, during this time, the RAFT Expedition 481 discovered the Great Temple of Nothing on the Nothing World. They then found the book on Eco-Economy; the words were hard for them to read, so bright and powerful was Plutocrus's touch. However, despite all that, they eventually did piece together the words from the great book; though they could not move it, they were easily able to copy the massive tome. The Faithful among the Inkerpeoples reverberated with the news, urging increased interest in the methods that the book espoused. Slowly they began to curb the worst offenders and began teaching of rotational crops, soil renewal, and composting. A new faction arises within the Inker society; they call themselves the Regulators and offer to craft laws to ensnare these worst offenders' secret dealings. They do not believe that these industries will stop of their own volition. For this, the leadership convened in their Constitutional Tribunal, a rare event as executives from each side of the city met on Delta Island to convene their court. Together they crafted The Regulation, a contract required of all companies within the purview of the Constitutional Tribunal's authority(Ink Lands). This treaty bound them to the Eco-Economy. In this way, many green places began to expand surrounding the Ink communities. which grew by leaps and bounds as healthy foods came back into fashion.

      The area that Ink City had claimed was five provinces, each of which dispensed the treaty to its business groups. Eventually, shepherding the world within their borders was a part of their civic responsibility. These provinces each controlled another facet of the economic reality of the Ink Nation and some struggled with these endeavors. However, this only expanded the need for Off-Lerret operations, and there were plenty of operations to choose to be part of. The RAFT company had sold exclusive resource rights contracts for many worlds, making them the most powerful and wealthy company in the world of Lerret Prime. Their secret weapon, the Oathforcer. Every contract the company signed was with this quill...

      The Expedition of 481 was changed by what they'd witnessed, spreading the word of this scene forever. However, the one who found it was a Transmuter, and as they dreamt of a vast sculpture, they were filled with inspiration. When they'd awoken, they began to practice. Eventually, the Transmuter found himself occupied with the creation of the statue of the Great Profiteer, made from marble and slivers of gold. This great statue straddled the mighty River Flumen between his twelve tentacles and parallelled the impressive bridges across. Forever after that, the saying, "a Profiteer's Dozen is two less than twelve."

      The statue would soon become a symbol of the nation, as much a part of it as the ink people themselves.
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:53, Mon 25 July 2022.

Ayrmith awoke looking around, focusing on seeing though time to see how each of the races, and each of the planets had developed. In many ways he didn�t care overly, he was saddened that the slimes and the Ink-people had to fight a hoard of people bent on the destruction of communication. With a slow movement he looked to each of the metals found, each solar system that had been explored, and decided to forge a new solar system. It would be different from any other for several reasons. One reason that this solar system would be different is that it wouldn't have a chess board, making contact with it much harder.

He took a sunstar from an undiscovered solar system, and began to morph it nature. He made it radiate the elemental energies of Light, Fire, Air, Darkness, Water. This new elemental sunstar would radiate light and heat for a time before radiating darkness and cold. The time between the changes would be about a twelve-hour period creating an artificial day-night cycle. The air element would create and maintain its own aerosphere over time.

He designed a sphere to wrap around the Elemental Sunstar. First he created a new elemental metal, that would radiate the element of Creation, and Nature allowing an increase in the speed of the growth of plants and animals. He then wove another material through the sphere to help balance to maintain & distribute heat, and to help maintain the stress of the gravity on the inside of the sphere. Then for the inside of the sphere he lined it with an elemental metal that would spread the earth and water element to create the mass of the sphere, that would constantly repair itself if it was damaged or mined. The outer shell of the sphere would be a super strong metal, that would radiate Darkness and Destruction out of the sphere to protect it from being hit by debris, or seen by anyone.

With a tap of his metaphorical foot, the world speeds up thousands of times, allowing the sphere some time to grow to its full size, fill with the earth and water, and for gravity to settle. Because the materials of the sphere needed to be denser than the gravity generated by the Elemental Sunstar. When it was done, Ayrmith moved around, shaping the inside to look and feel natural, shaping rivers and caves. Making sure that the sphere was ready for life.

ACT: Ayrmith created an Elemental Sunstar

ACT: Ayrmith created an Elemental Dyson Sphere

ACT: Ayrmith created a pocket of space around the Elemental Dyson Sphere, with time moving thousands of times faster than outside the area.


           For a brief time, a Sunstar could be seen flying across the heavens before disappearing within a shell of darkness and unique metals. The world then undergoes a slip in time, as it loses purchase on the present; the world slides forward in time thousands of years, then millions, and hundreds of millions. The Elemental Dyson Sphere regains purchase upon a future present and clicks into our present, encased as it was. The bottled world had a purpose, and it had not disappointed. Metaphysical concepts had already found the building blocks of life and had made them dance into place; this had occurred quite early in its sped-up lifespan. Soon after genetics had allowed life to climb, the rule of luck had given it the opportunity to expand unhindered by godly designs.

           Soon life that fed upon the sources of each element began to appear, several branches. All seemed to rely on water in this early stage; many drank the waters that accumulated, absorbing heat as an energy source, others consumed elementally empowered plants whose roots reached down to the metal which radiated creation and nature elements, and other plants drank in the light or darkness even. They spread out across the inside of the Dyson Sphere, bathing in the powers of the Elements. The small animal life that had appeared was split between the land and sea. The river-gliders were thin fish-like beings that grazed upon elemental plants from the waters of Elemental Sphere; they were solitary creatures but had large broods when they occasioned to mate. These delicate swimmers were much like the manta-ray fish of Lerret Prime, yet they were much varied in shape and form. The land dwellers were small scampering things named stick figures, which often made large nests in the vibrant nature bushes; the stick figure's four thin tiny limbs were able to cling to nearly any surface like an insect. The atmosphere was mild in most places, and it rained often enough to sustain a large biosphere that had begun to develop in earnest. These two branches of animal life quickly developed into larger and larger lifeforms, each expanding on the previous body plans to fill some niche that presented itself. However, the pressures on life were few in this time of plenty, for the Inner Sphere had only begun to fill with life. By the time life began to spread fully across the naken world, which took a full hundred million years to accomplish, the interior surface was great.

          By this time, the epicenter of life had developed into quite complex forms originating from the two branches, but these new families were relatively minor in difference from one another respective of the branch they arose from, due in no small part to the mild conditions the Elemental Sphere presented. Many varieties of large and small river-gliders had arisen, with some having developed predatory sensibilities, adorned with razor-like teeth to attach themselves to their target, or the new paddlers, which waded in the shallows to shoot a tongue out to snatch up some unwary stick-figures. Meanwhile, the Stick-figure family had spread out into several varieties as well, each adapted to the environs where they lived, like the Twiggies who lived out their whole lives in the Evertrees, eating its fruit. The Airpuffs were another development of clever stick-figures who could expand out their bodies to make themselves super-light, making them resemble little soot-colored snowmen who could float on the wind like dandelion seeds or for protection. The predatory stick-figures of the Stickers family used triangular slivers on their arms to attack other nests. In this way life began to arise within the Elemental Sphere.


This message was last edited by the GM at 10:55, Mon 25 July 2022.

Dadacar turned his attention to Lerret, gazing over what had been wrought in the absence of the gods. He was pleased to see all manner of struggles amongst the sentient races. If a godhead could nod, he would have been doing so approvingly.

Looking to the people of the Crucible, he took in the totality of the Aruunian Empire.  They had come far without the pressure of the gods to drive them further. Without his help, they had reached the stars. With just a bit more, who knows what they would achieve?

Looking upon the bounty of the Aruunian lands, Dadacar saw an opportunity. Flexing the barest hint of his celestial fire, he ignited a blaze on a handful of Aruunian crops at the molecular level. Flameless, the molecular wildfire began to spread from plant to plant, across the empire.

ACT: Dadacar infects Aruunian crops with a blight intended to wipe out 2/3 of their harvests.

       The Great Blight of Aruunia spread across the lands, infecting all that the Farmers had wrought these last thousand years. If it grew within the grounds here, it began to die as waves of the infectious deathblight washed across them. Between six and seven in ten thousand plants began to die off until the creeping infection's power began to ebb. By then, however, the damage had been done. The careful and fragile infrastructure of the planet began to crumble as food riots started rising across the hemisphere. Even the poor Bearman had nothing to fill their bellies or the bellies of their children, nor their children's children. It was a time of great sorrow, for no new plants would grow in these spots after that year. The blight's sway held power for a decade as the crisis was indeed pushing them to their very limits. Most looked inward for a solution, a way to cleanse the lands; not even Priests could dispel the Holy Curse.

       First, the humans began to flee to new lands that would have them in the beginning. Then the Aruunians began to build their ships to sail northward towards the land of the Ink-Folk, to force them to help. They had gained a sour taste in their mouths for humans who had attempted destruction of their communication facilities. The Farmers had begun their expeditious experiments to attempt the impossible here as well, for they had heard rumors of the Generation Whales that had been seen on the voyages of the Expeditions of humans and Inks. What they sought was to tame one, make it their starship. So they began, hoping to avert an interspecies war. After a decade, they had completed their first with a Generation Whale baby pen in a recently discovered spawning ground within a nearby nebula. They controlled the whale's growth and had learned to tinker with their senses as well as the communication centers of its brain. They created harnesses upon which were attached several passenger pods, and the Daoshi were able to direct the massive creatures with the use of their magics. The Pods were connected with a series of tubes that ran the harness length, culminating on the top of the whale's head, a barely noticeable fixture that held the cockpit and crew. Even so, these creatures were massive, and one escaped quite easily. Were it not for the trust bond the Daoshi had gained with the beast, they might've all fled. Finally, Humans began to stretch out for the stars as they entered the Aerosphere; this one was much smaller than the moons of Lerret but still large enough to knock over one of the Chesspieces if it had a reason to. Yet, they had succeeded in averting a war that the humans couldn't have won in their weakened state. The human farmer's newest and maybe greatest achievement for modern society were the six Greater Rocs, for these gargantuan birds could carry such pods to the creature. Each pod could fit four thousand, and each harnessed whale could hold twenty pods, with one extra as a multistory parkland. Once aboard, they christened the creature "Abdura" or, in the old Aruunian tongue, "Exile."

      Despite the initial hardship of living aboard a cramped vessel with eighty thousand others, they began to prosper. Their mostly hairless primate bodies quickly adapted to life in low gravity. They learned to cultivate Lerret's life on the back of Abdura. So too did they learn to harness a bit of the resource that Abdura had to feed upon occasionally. This allowed them to grow their tiny worlds, adding new chambers and shielding against a stray planetoid that might hit the harness during the generation of whale feeding. In addition, many Coatl loners used the starships as an excuse to leave Lerret, perhaps the only race that still appreciated humanity.

      In the end, two-thirds of the humans who had been left upon Lerret had left the dustbowl lands of the Aruunian Empire. After a time, the lands began to grow seed again, but now it had grown wild again, more often than not, with the help of the Druids and Wizards. The Aruunian Empire was a shell of what it once was. It could not control the whale fleets and those holding most of the Empire's people now. The royal family began to fade into obscurity as the heir went into hiding to avoid assassination. The lands became divided, and soon skirmishes began to break out here and there; for now, borders were more fluid.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:04, Tue 26 July 2022.

Dadacar continues to fix his eye on the sapient races in an effort to "help" them advance.

Somewhere in Ink City, deep in the bowels of an accountant's lair, resides the paperwork for one of the great merchant families of the city. Already overleveraged on the soon-to-be collapsing Aruunian grain harvests their risk is compounded when a clerk finds a document heretofore lost where the shifting of one comma by Dadacar's hand will set of a fiscal calamity.

ACT: Dadacar sets off a financial crisis amongst the Ink People

Much like the Aruunian Empire, the Abedusians had become martial. While Dadacar had attempted to decrease the amount of available food to the humans to spur their creativity, his tack with the Abedusians would be slightly different. Rather than decrease their food supply, Dadacar reached into their bellies and made them hungry.

ACT: Dadacar increase the need to consume for all Abedusians

        The God of Conflict saw the opening, a weakness in the system. The dominoes had set themselves, and he altered a number on a check. This set a chain of events destabilizing the worldwide economic system, which had been almost entirely dependent upon the Ink people's explorations and, therefore, the brokerages. One by one, the industry fell, they had consolidated too much, and each company had subdivisions dependent upon other companies for materials and resources. One by one, the city fell into chaos, and the famine had bled the Arunnians dry, with fewer companies now to deal with in human lands and fewer clients. As industrial giants fell and riots began in the streets, chaos seemed to reign for a time. A great scrounging for resources erupted. Many died as all-out warfare was declared upon the main class companies that had arisen. Alone, the Raft Company extended a hand towards the nation of its birth. It offered refuge for those who sought refuge, not for free, but for a fulfilling purpose among the stars. They had begun a great project, developing a real starship rather than just taming one. This ship ran upon a dimensional chance engine, which had only just received the final funding for completion...but the work had not been done yet.

         Individually many Inkers were brought up with games of chance and mathematics; taught the fundamentals of economics at a young age. In this way, the Inkers seemed to have a certain level of resilience, performing essential tasks for any well-run economy. They feel Dadacar more than see his handiwork, utter economic collapse down to individual responsibility.

         The Abedusians had been free for some time now. They had explored many Lerrets already. Soon they would find the correct one, and time and effort would pay off. The Hivemind had grown its presence here, fashioning bubbles of tough and watertight containers. A third way existed but was highly dangerous at the moment, as Engineers tinkered with Brutes to make them gigantic and capable of being modified with armor and Battlestations. The Abedusians had been inspired to make spears and staves from the Raft Company's brief encounters.

          Now they waited for the next visitation, a thousand Sprints, and Brutes, four CarrierBrutes. It turned out that all you had to be able to do to transport was to see the chessboard dial puzzle control so even the CarrierBrutes eyestalks could curve around to see the chessboard within the chambers. It was only a problem if another brute had not gotten out of the way. Engineers Reigned over the others, weak compared to the SuperEngineers, which had grown much in the time of Strife City. There the war of ideas clashed. For they felt a primal HUNGER rising within them. They knew now where the RAFT came from; they dialed with as many as could fit in the transfer compartments, about a dozen at a time if they were willing to squish, every half hour to reset the system. They are Emptied into the White Rook in the Lerret System. They find random Ink People performing menial tasks to move products and resources from the crane elevator system down to the Chessboard. The site quickly fell to the Abedusians, for they HUNGERED. They controlled interstellar travel here in the Lerret System and were an invader here. Above them, they could see the Lerret system in its entirety, six moons, and a Great Chessboard. They regained themselves and used what they could find of the land-dwellers both for protection and armament perhaps. The Abedusians were enamored with the wealth of metals and sought to adorn their carapace with it whenever possible. Thus many strange fashions emerged within the Abedusian society.

          Many Abedusians must quickly don the breathing apparatus that fit directly into their gills to give them direct oxygen. Still, they'd been engineered to use little. They were testing out their own ambitions, they were ready, and reinforcements were ninety seconds behind. It was like a race for all you can eat... They began to study the city left behind at this time as well, for they could only faintly feel the pull of the hivemind at this distance. When they returned, they would report faithfully. They called themselves affectionately WAVE ONE, or the Greatest Wave. Lerret was unprepared for what had shown itself upon its doorstep. They quickly learn they have the ability to fire bolts of SOULFIRE as well here, fueled by FAITH. Today Civitas Forte is the multicultural city on the Chessboard and all that opposed the Abedusians at the moment. They would be there very soon with enough numbers to counter any resistance from the sweetmeats.
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:48, Tue 26 July 2022.

Ayrmith smiled as he looked over his new world, it had grown new life. A few even surprised the god as he hadn’t realized that the elemental energy was going to have that much of an effect on the new life. Ayrmith laughed knowing that it would work for his trial run for the enhancements of life.

Ayrmith shifted his position to overlook the Slimes, his gaze fell onto the outcast farmers. He knew this group had the potential to change the world. The goal to create class effects through genetics would make them worth investing into. He gave them a memory, that was an invitation to join The Realm of Farmers. There focus on the project would be increased if they weren’t outcast, but simple the residence of a new world.

Ayrmith created twin monoliths, they were formed out of a black stone with white words written on it.
“Farmers that wish to tread into the realm of the gods. Prove that you can. This gateway will only work for members of The Realm of Farmers. The Elemental Sphere has the highest concentration of elemental energy. Mimic the elemental slimes, develop the power of a farmer for creatures that don’t choose the farmer class.”

Each of the monoliths would allow The Realm of Farmers to teleport to it. This would allow them to get to safety in a time of danger, or simply get them to the Elemental Sphere.

Then Ayrmith created a mental ability, that would allow The Realm of Farmers to store, and receive memories by creating physical contact with either of the monoliths. This would allow success to be repeated, improvements to be understood by others, creating a more effective team of farmers.

Ayrmith moved one of the monoliths to the inside of the Elemental Sphere, and moved the other right outside of the outcast slimes farmers facilities. It should be enough to get their attention, while also offering them enough independence to grow.


Ayrmith used the Jack of Clubs to create and invite The Realm of Farmers

ACT: Ayrmith created twin monoliths.

        The invite goes out like a secret invitation. Each time a Farmer levels it appears to them, reminding them of the Sunday Brunch in the Realm of Farmers(F.Y.I. every day is Sunday in the Elemental Sphere). In all seriousness, however, Farmers began to arrive near the Construct lands, seeking the Monolith. For each of the Slime Farmers, work descendants went forth to carry on with the Slime revolution on Elemental Sphere. The Sphere was already teeming with lifeforms of a variety of sizes. Bringing unintelligent slimes to the new lands, however, proved difficult if they could not be determined to be a naturally inclined Farmer class lower life form.

        The Monolithic doorway provided an escape for many struggling to find a way to pay for passage upon the Ink starships or the Whaleships or a voyage to the new worlds. The Farmers at least had another way off Lerret. Elemental Slimes in particular did not mind heading into the Monoliths, nor did Farmers of other races. Once there, they found that at least one lifeform from Lerret had succeeded in making the transition without the Monoliths, the Last Unicorn, and a number of other elementalists who had used the elemental teleportation to get out into the cosmos. Within the Elemental Sphere, a new community was growing slowly but surely.
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:42, Thu 28 July 2022.

Thackus looked at what had occurred to the Aruunian Empire down below on Lerret. Unfortunately, the order and structure, the culture that the Empire brought to the otherwise primitive Humans was destroyed. Well sort of. Not destroyed. More like "stunted severely". It was still around. As a mockery. Not of it's own fault. Thackus, feeling sympathy, and frustration for the Aruunian Empire simultaneously, took a conjured dagger of magic and dripped thousands of magical drops from his blood into the soil. Various flora would grow on the lands and sometimes in the seas, heavily resistant to the elements. Some of these new plant life and sometimes even fungal life would grow with different properties that are very valuable to alchemists.

In areas where no particular plant life would sprout from Thackus'es life blood, in some isolated pockets of the Empire, now a ghost of it's former self, a very valuable substance would eventually form. Salt. Not just Thackus'es blood, but within a few short years, the rains, waters and winds of the world would scatter into the rivers and other elements of the earth, creating new magical ingredients for spells, or culinary means, and is an improved means to preserve food.

The domesticated animal species such as cattle, to say nothing of canine species, would eat of these new species of plant life would live at least several years longer and healthier lives. Regular diets of the more impressive plant and fungal species would yield mildly enchanted and even Source blessed improvements for both sentient species and yes, the animals.

ACT: Thackus creates new species of flora, again, in both the lands and waters, for culinary and alchemical purposes.
<b>ACT: Furthermore, animals would especially live longer and healthier lives, due to mild enchantments of the plants, and the Source.
</b>

With Blurry eyes, Cungto looked upon The Humble Farmer the next to gain his attention. The Gamblers provided order, which was a bit of a shame on the board. The Farmer had a gift integral to their class that Cungto needed to work on.

There were three main aspects. The First was strengthening the perk system to allow for the next two features.

Then it was all a mere metaphor away from being born.

A Farmer had many seeds they could gain over time, be they parks, The powers of the Mitochondria or abilities gained from them by winning a Gamblers Gamble. These a Farmer could forge into a seed of potential.

This seed could be planted into any animal or plant, and over time and as the Farmer cared for them, they could allow mere potential facet to become far more substantial than where it began.

This he saw would be an excellent asset for the Farmer. Telepathy could become far more robust over the spans of generations where a farmer on the sorcerer's path would simply become more skilled. This was the key. It gave more power but caused a problem. No matter how a Farmer cared for his flock, it would be the animals and plants' choice how they grew the ability. A power over squirrels could become mighty, but whether it became an army or a single Squirrell powerhouse was hard for the Farmer themself to decide. A Telepathic power could allow deeper insights or go into far greater ranges, or merely turn into a danger Sense. This was the Farmer's greatest asset and their greatest folly.


Cungto spent 3 acts to Give the Farmers The ability to bloom seeds of power into things far stronger.

Plutocrus was annoyed with Dadacar. Once again acting in his Purview as God of Conflict, he was trying to bring destruction to Plutocrus's creations. Well it wasn't the first time they would be in conflict and it certainly wouldn't be the last. As he watched the chaos start to unfold he let out an existance-weary sigh of resignation. Of COURSE, War, Conflict and a general Classist Uprising is how the mortals would choose to respond to this. One of these days he'd have to give in and accept the Ink-People as a Warrior Race. But that day was not this day. He decided. He would not aid them in warring, but would aid the refugees and people who just wanted to get away from the War and Death.

The first part was easy. Dadacar had messed with the paperwork to set the Ink-People ablaze, Plutocrus figured he just had to fulfill it to save them. The Dimensional Chance Engine intrigued him. Truly a work of mortal ingenuity and genius. He just had to ensure it got made, the contracts for parts were fulfilled, the workers assembled it, and above all that it would work. if he was subtle enough, only the other Gods would be able to figure out he'd done anything.

The next part was a practical problem. If the people wanted to flee the wars, they would need somewhere to flee to. Mining Camps, mining Upsidasium or Protonite for the Raft Company wouldn't be enough. He was thinking more on the scale of full on colonization.  Fortunately, the work had already been done seeding the Cosmos with planets. He merely had to find one the Raft company hadn't explored yet, and then he could get to work.

Using the remains power of the ACTs AO had given him, Plutocrus set about refining the world he chose. It would need Water, Air and Land in similar proportions to Lerret. Though there would be plants across the land, there would be no animals. All the plants would have adapted to pollinate without the help of Libees. With no predators to threaten them, no vermin to eat their food, and only what prey they bring with them, it would truly be  a world where the only conflicts could be internal.

Like Lerret, this world too would be rich in resources, metals and ores. If handled responsibly, this world would easily be as profitable as Lerret.

"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free."  he intoned as he finished his work. "You shall be known as Sanctuary."  And thus the planet would be so named in the System.


Plutocrus ensures the construction and functionality of the Dimensional Chance Engine.

Plutocrus uses his remaining ACTS to make Sanctuary.