...Oh. Oh, that is *cool*. Okay. So each magic-user has a set number of spells they can cast in their entire life? Can they repeat spells, or does every utterance count as a slot burnt up? And I'm reading it right that they kind of transform into a combination of all the spells they cast when they run out, right?
Like, I'm voting for it anyway, but I am really curious.
[X] Create Leviathans (Grand Act): As plate tectonics warm the floor of the World Sea, and the sea flourishes with nutrients, the waters are ripe for larger life. Create reptilian, serpentine filter feeders that sup upon that life and relish the warmth. Intelligent in their way, and immortal unless killed, these creatures will never stop growing unless they die, and will grow in wisdom and power as they age.
[X]Create Wandering Whirlpools: The World-Sea forms whirlpools of variable sizes, moving throughout its' skin. Inside the vortex, a connection to the Unseen is made. (Lesser Act)
[X] Create the Clouded Lands, a set of absolute towering mountains surrounded by impossibly deep canyons and ravines. Between these mountains float a series of various sized pieces of land that move between the mountain peaks in, some the size of a wagon and others big enough to be a small country in itself.(Grand Act)
[X] Create the Skylands (Grand Act): A series of floating islands of various shape and size that float up amid the clouds of the world. Most are small scattered islands, a few are larger landmasses, a couple are even the size of small continents. Much like the land below, these islands come with their own assorted biomes and climates. These islands in effect create another 'surface' high above the 'true' surface of the world, but with a 'sea' of air rather than a 'sea' of water; a mix of clouds, specially strong air currents, and plant growth between these islands enable traversing between them. The islands are held in air through a mix of supernatural forces and a gravitonic metal that gives each island its own miniature center of gravity that creates a bonus effect whereby the underside of each floating island likewise has a gravitational force that pulls things 'upside down'.
[X] Create Nix'Shar the Marginally Fluffier, a small, fluffy being that is exactly 20% more friendly and fluffy than Ik'Shar the Fluffy, on the same island as Ik'Shar (Demi Act)
[X] Have a great boom of plantlike ocean life begin in the ocean with a vast variety of different types of planet life emerging throughout the ocean(cosmic act)
Yes, it should indeed be a Grand Act for creating a broad family of life (well, kind of two, but it's fine). Fortunately it already has the required amount of votes for Grand as well, so it was going to pass anyway!
By the way, going onwards, make sure to specify if your creatures are supposed to be fully sentient or simply clever animals if you describe them as intelligent. I'm unsure on the Leviathans and K'orrlansch - they're written as Grand Acts, but they could get away with being Lesser Acts if they are indeed supposed to be merely intelligent animals, not sentient.
So to those folks voting to create the Ouroboros, described as "a monstruously powerful sea serpent tasked with protecting the world from external threats", I just want to point something out:
The only possible external threats to the world right now are the voters in this quest!
You are voting to have a sea serpent show up at your house and wreck you the next time it disapproves of your voting decisions!
I mean, don't let me stop you, but this is exactly how the backstory of Exalted played out. Prepare for your own ironic come-uppance.
[X] Create the Ouroboros, a monstruously powerful sea serpent tasked with protecting the world from external threats (Cosmic Act)
[X] Create a sentient race of octopuses (Grand Act)
[X] Create a moon as a font of magic and the bridge between the Real and the Unreal (Cosmic Act)
Just to remind folks - there's a one-Act limit per Epoch. I would suggest you drop the first two, since the moon thing has the most votes out of the three currently. You can try to get an Ouroboros or sentient octopi going later on, of course.
I'm unsure on the Leviathans and K'orrlansch - they're written as Grand Acts, but they could get away with being Lesser Acts if they are indeed supposed to be merely intelligent animals, not sentient.
I was thinking roughly a bit below dolphin-level for the K'orrlansch, myself. So I think I'll keep it at Grand Act to be safe, since I've got the required votes for it anyway.
There aren't that many tropes that we can subvert without fucking over the humans, though. Human physical strength in a fantasy setting isn't really that strong compared to other species, and that's not mentioning magic strength. If we buff those attributes though we risk creating another HFY human master-race fantasy universe. If we lower those attributes (or at least reduce their magic capacity) though we'll end up with something from No Game No Life, where humans are the weakest out of all the species.
Maybe we could make humans more dependent on technology rather than magic?
>maybe they have an early leg on magitek?
>maybe they are adept at using unreality for magic?
>maybe they are natural born traders and curious,meaning they have massive trade lines?
>maybe they are skilled at cooking and their cultures are well known for being good at food and poisons?
[X] Create Nahesa, First of the Sea Serpents (Lesser-Act) In The Beginning, there was nothing. Then they arose. They held many names and titles through the Epochs. The Demiurges, the Makers, the First, the P̶̧̰̀̕l̴̦͋̊ä̶̼̫̚y̵̛̘͇ė̵̆͜r̵̀ͅs̵̟̞͝͝. In this tale, I will refer to them as the Artists. In the Beginning, There was little more than the great Sea and first ilands. Life was small and weak. Or simply... odd. This is not one of their tales. No, this tale is for the first of the dwellers of the depths and wiggler of the sand. This is the Tale of Nahesa, First of the Sea Serpents.
Within the first waves that crashed upon the first island something rose up. The melding of land and sea created something new, not wholly of water nor of ground. The light of the Sun shined upon this newborn child of the Artists. Born with scales of verdant green and a beautiful fin of azure blue. Small as grains of sands around it, for now at least. This infant would be known as the Nahesa, First of Sea Serpents. And thus the first chapter of Nahesa's life began and thus the first tale of the cosmos also began.
-Excerpt from the Prologue of the Tale of Tails.
Author here, please tell me if you guys like it and some things I could possibly add to later posts. I plan to continue the Tale of Tails through ought our Quest. It would really great if you would vote Nahesa.
So each magic-user has a set number of spells they can cast in their entire life? Can they repeat spells, or does every utterance count as a slot burnt up?
Each spell changes the magician, so he should not take magic lightly.
He also has to choose between relatively inexpensive junior words or get burned quickly
and use high words, but turn impossible things into reality.
If gives an example of junior words, then a person theoretically can have a third pair of hands, a tail and immunity to diseases, but he cannot distort time and create matter out of nothing.
Everything absolutely impossible in reality is at the mercy of sublime words. And, of course, the stronger the word, the more purity is lost.
Yes that's right but there are some additional factors.
Every spoken word affects the world, and since the magician himself is part of the world of matter, he is subject to change in the first place. Therefore, words affect his personality, and the less purity remains, the more the magician becomes limited in his behavior and thinking, doomed to act in accordance with a certain concept.
When all will and purity disappear, the magician is forced to fall under the power of the barrier, and if his spells for the most part did not contradict each other, then he goes to the world of dreams as a spirit of a certain concept, but otherwise his essence will be torn apart by contradictory words that will spill out into the world.
For example, if the magician was a peaceful healer, then most likely he will become a spiritual healer, but if this healer often used the words of death, then all the spells will splash out at the same time, forming a magical anomaly at the place of his death.
[X] Create Nahesa, First of the Sea Serpents (Lesser-Act)
[X] Create a moon as a font of magic and the bridge between the Real and the Unreal (Cosmic Act)
[X] Create pathways through which the worlds can be connected forevermore (Cosmic Act)
[X] Create the Skylands (Grand Act)
[X] Create Leviathans (Grand Act) [X]Create Wandering Whirlpools. (Lesser Act)
[X] Create the Ouroboros (Cosmic Act)
[X] Create the Custodians. (Cosmic Act) [X] Create words from the edge. (Cosmic Act.)
[X] The Hot Lands. (Grand Act)
[X] Create the Abraxas. (Grand Act)
[X] Create the K'orlannsch. (Grand Act)
[X] let there be myriad fishes in the sea and beautiful coral reef for them to dwell in (lesser act)
[X] (Cosmic Act) Create The Stars and Star-trails
[X] Create The Triumphant Comet. (Lesser Act)
[X] Create Law of Constant Evolution (Cosmic Act)
[X] Create The Arising Star (Lesser Art)
[X] Enable The Sun to focus it's emissions into singular deadly lazer of variable power. (Cosmic Act)
Freaking hell is this cool. Do you guys want me to vote for anything? I'm open to anything.
[X] Create a moon as a font of magic and the bridge between the Real and the Unreal (Cosmic Act)
[X] Create pathways through which the worlds can be connected forevermore (Cosmic Act)
[X] Create the Skylands (Grand Act)
[X] let there be myriad fishes in the sea and beautiful coral reef for them to dwell in (lesser act)
[X] (Cosmic Act) Create The Stars and Star-trails
[X] Create Trees (Grand Act)
[X] Create Grass (Grand Act)
[X] Create Myriad Sea Plants (Grand Act)
//Edit:
[x] Every living creature bears an innate link to a counterpart spiritual mass in the realm of the unseen. As they grow and experience things this mass grows and changes and upon the creature's death they reawaken as said spiritual mass, now brithed into the realm of the unseen. (Cosmic Act)
[X] Create Nahesa, First of the Sea Serpents (Lesser-Act)
[X] Create a moon as a font of magic and the bridge between the Real and the Unreal (Cosmic Act)
[X] Create pathways through which the worlds can be connected forevermore (Cosmic Act)
[X] Create the Skylands (Grand Act)
[X] Create Leviathans (Grand Act)
[X] Create the Ouroboros (Cosmic Act)
[X] Create the Custodians. (Cosmic Act)
[X] The Hot Lands. (Grand Act)
[X] Create the Abraxas. (Grand Act)
[X] Create the K'orlannsch. (Grand Act)
[X] let there be myriad fishes in the sea and beautiful coral reef for them to dwell in (lesser act)
[X] (Cosmic Act) Create The Stars and Star-trails
[X] Create The Triumphant Comet. (Lesser Act)
[X] Create Law of Constant Evolution (Cosmic Act)
[X] Create The Arising Star (Lesser Art)
[X] Enable The Sun to focus it's emissions into singular deadly lazer of variable power. (Cosmic Act)
Freaking hell is this cool. Do you guys want me to vote for anything? I'm open to anything.
[x] Every living creature bears an innate link to a counterpart spiritual mass in the realm of the unseen. As they grow and experience things this mass grows and changes and upon the creature's death they reawaken as said spiritual mass, now brithed into the realm of the unseen. (Cosmic Act)
Essentially creates souls. Life is born in the material world and lives, experiences and internalizing all sorts of things. Then upon death they are reborn in the spiritual world, their forms the sum total of their life experience.
It would also handles the age old question of what happens after death and I have the image of the unseen world eventually populated by the sum total of all the things that have lived and died in the world, only rather than their physical forms they embody their life's experience. This includes even things like trees. What would a tree have experienced in its long life?
[X] Create Nahesa, First of the Sea Serpents (Lesser-Act)
[X] Every living creature bears an innate link to a counterpart spiritual mass in the realm of the unreal. As they grow and experience things this mass grows and changes and upon the creature's death they reawaken as said spiritual mass, now brithed into the realm of the unbeing. (Cosmic Act)
Can someone help me figure out who is the original author of the Cultivars? If it is @bioticgrunt, it's unfortunately not valid as they seem to have also authored The Law of Constant Evolution. And before anyone asks, no, you cannot just adopt someone else's extra suggestion. The Acts you author should be yours first and foremost.
I do hope people start using the structured authored-unauthored voting format, it makes it much easier to see who is making what.
Can someone help me figure out who is the original author of the Cultivars? If it is @bioticgrunt, it's unfortunately not valid as they seem to have also authored The Law of Constant Evolution. And before anyone asks, no, you cannot just adopt someone else's extra suggestion. The Acts you author should be yours first and foremost.
I do hope people start using the structured authored-unauthored voting format, it makes it much easier to see who is making what.
Doesn't seem like the passed Acts are going to change anymore, so I'll call the vote a bit early.
Passed Acts
COSMIC
[X] Create a moon as a font of magic and the bridge between the Real and the Unreal (Cosmic Act)
[X] Create pathways through which the worlds can be connected forevermore (Cosmic Act)
[X] Create Law of Constant Evolution (Cosmic Act)
[X] (Cosmic Act) Create The Stars and Star-trails
[X] Create the Custodians. (Cosmic Act)
GRAND
[X] The Hot Lands. (Grand Act)
[X] Create the Skylands (Grand Act)
[X] Raise up the City of the First Children by the Island. (Grand Act)
[X] let there be myriad fishes in the sea and beautiful coral reef for them to dwell in (Grand Act)
[X] Create the Abraxas, the divinely Inspired, primordial in nature, offspring and agents of the Architect's thought and mind. (Grand Act)
[X] Create the Clouded Lands, a set of absolute towering mountains surrounded by impossibly deep canyons and ravines. Between these mountains float a series of various sized pieces of land that move between the mountain peaks in, some the size of a wagon and others big enough to be a small country in itself. (Grand Act)
LESSER
[X] Create Leviathans (Lesser Act)
[X] Create the K'orlannsch, sizable and intelligent air-breathing worms that subsist on sunlight alone. (Lesser Act)
[X] Create The Triumphant Comet. (Lesser Act)
[X] Create The Arising Star (Lesser Art)
[X] Create Nahesa, First of the Sea Serpents (Lesser Act)
DEMI
[X] Make the conformable cave both sapient and capable of telepathic communication, so that Ik'Shar the Fluffy can have some company.
[X] Create, a massive tree who's branches spread out to cover the entirety of the 'Isolated Island' in a perpetual shade. (Demi Act)
[X] Create Nix'Shar the Marginally Fluffier, a small, fluffy being that is exactly 20% more friendly and fluffy than Ik'Shar the Fluffy, on the same island as Ik'Shar (Demi Act)
Scheduled vote count started by Photomajig on Dec 6, 2021 at 12:07 PM, finished with 78 posts and 26 votes.
[X] Create a moon as a font of magic and the bridge between the Real and the Unreal (Cosmic Act)
[X] Create Leviathans (Grand Act): As plate tectonics warm the floor of the World Sea, and the sea flourishes with nutrients, the waters are ripe for larger life. Create reptilian, serpentine filter feeders that sup upon that life and relish the warmth. Intelligent in their way, and immortal unless killed, these creatures will never stop growing unless they die, and will grow in wisdom and power as they age.
[X] Create the Clouded Lands, a set of absolute towering mountains surrounded by impossibly deep canyons and ravines. Between these mountains float a series of various sized pieces of land that move between the mountain peaks in, some the size of a wagon and others big enough to be a small country in itself.(Grand Act)
[x] Every living creature bears an innate link to a counterpart spiritual mass in the realm of the unseen. As they grow and experience things this mass grows and changes and upon the creature's death they reawaken as said spiritual mass, now brithed into the realm of the unseen. (Cosmic Act)
[X]Create Wandering Whirlpools: The World-Sea forms whirlpools of variable sizes, moving throughout its' skin. Inside the vortex, a connection to the Unseen is made. (Lesser Act)
[X] Create the Skylands (Grand Act): A series of floating islands of various shape and size that float up amid the clouds of the world. Most are small scattered islands, a few are larger landmasses, a couple are even the size of small continents. Much like the land below, these islands come with their own assorted biomes and climates. These islands in effect create another 'surface' high above the 'true' surface of the world, but with a 'sea' of air rather than a 'sea' of water; a mix of clouds, specially strong air currents, and plant growth between these islands enable traversing between them. The islands are held in air through a mix of supernatural forces and a gravitonic metal that gives each island its own miniature center of gravity that creates a bonus effect whereby the underside of each floating island likewise has a gravitational force that pulls things 'upside down'.
[X] Create Nix'Shar the Marginally Fluffier, a small, fluffy being that is exactly 20% more friendly and fluffy than Ik'Shar the Fluffy, on the same island as Ik'Shar (Demi Act)
[X] Have a great boom of plantlike ocean life begin in the ocean with a vast variety of different types of planet life emerging throughout the ocean(cosmic act)
[X] Every living creature bears an innate link to a counterpart spiritual mass in the realm of the unreal. As they grow and experience things this mass grows and changes and upon the creature's death they reawaken as said spiritual mass, now brithed into the realm of the unbeing. (Cosmic Act)
Sing, Leviathan
Of the breaking and the end
Sing of terror and ruin
When the old world fell
-Ancient algae light-poem, unknown trans.
Cosmic Acts
A moon is placed into the unnamed world's orbit. Its appearance sends the ocean tides into a frenzy and is noted with interest by the few terrestrials down below. Far from a mere hunk of space rock, however, the moon soon reveals its true purpose. Waves of potent lunar magic radiate outward from its heart, washing down on the planet as it waxes and wanes. Those who may learn to harness this power will find it potent indeed.
The moon also acts as a meeting point of the Seen and the Unseen. Indeed, it exists simultaneously within both. Spirits flicker in and out of existence upon its rocky surface, bringing with them marvelous illusions and dreams of their native realm for fleeting moments. These phenomena, sometimes visible from the world's surface, will in time be named 'spirit-lights' and 'moonfire'. Some spirits begin to experiment with the energies of lunar magic, tying themselves further to the moon. Cosmic Act: Create a moon as a font of magic and bridge between the Seen and the Unseen.
The expanding universe births stars and planets in the distant void, comets and nebulas, the Flame of Chaos scattering cosmic phenomena with no rhyme or reason. The impossible distances that grow between them and the First World are noticed by the Makers, and cosmic pathways are forged between worlds. These divine bridges manifest as paths of light for those who know where to look for their shimmering gateways. Crossing these divine ways is far more easily done than travel across the Void by any means. Some worlds are given more paths to connect, some less, but the First World receives the greatest share as the hub of all Creation. Cosmic Act: Cosmic Paths.
The stellar nursery of the Void is lit by countless new lights as stars and Star-Trails are placed on the firmament. Stars are no longer merely byproducts of the Universal Expansion, but each now transforms into a memorial, representing a life story lived by something in Creation. The first stars are appropriately those of algae and other creatures of the World-Sea, but in time all creatures of the universe shall reflect their lives into the darkness. Through mysterious means, individuals may also learn to use the stars to gain characteristics of those who have Blazed their Star-Trails before. Cosmic Act: Stars and Star-Trails.
A new Law is pressed into the skin of Reality. The Law of Constant Evolution is put into effect, further pushing change and adaptation across the universe. This has a number of subtle effects: it pushes living things to mutate more often and more dramatically, instills a tendency in intelligent life to loathe and fear stagnation, and empowers natural forces that break up and transform the material world. Such changes can only be seen through the passage of many ages, of course, but it is made an inviolable truth of the universe that everything must and will change with time. Cosmic Act: The Law of Constant Evolution.
A great council of Makers manifests and begins a great work within the stellar forge of the Unfrozen Sun. The Custodians are created – divine servants tasked with upholding the works of the Makers and refining them further. Each is powered by a flicker of the Flame of Chaos – a fire that is caged within their iron skulls, crowning them with terrible light. They are formidable enough alone, but as they come together they become able to work miracles of their own – and their numbers are vast. Cosmic Act: Create the Custodians.
The Custodians are sent out into the universe to begin the aeons-long work of filling it with marvels and horrors of their devising. In this youth of their eternal existence, their minds are fixed things, mimicking and fulfilling the plans of their Makers. But the Law of Constant Evolution roots itself within them all the same, stoking the inherent Chaos of their souls. In time, they will begin to diverge, and change... but to what end?
Grand Acts
A similar, if lesser, union of divine spirits forms a titanic divinity, the Architect. Its mind of ever-changing plans and designs fixes on creating a race of servants, and so the Abraxas are given life. Formed of stardust and the endless light of the Flame, they come to be as fifteen greater and four hundred and forty lesser brothers and sisters. Their purpose is to serve the ephemeral Makers, and they come to dwell in the boundless Void alongside them, at times venturing onto worlds in pursuit of ineffable divine aims. Grand Act: Create the Abraxas.
Fish are created. This broad family of life comes into being in myriad niches and forms, quickly coming to dominate the young oceans. Some feed on floating nutrients, others graze on algae, while some species are made into deadly predators, hunting their lesser kin where they congregate. Simultaneously, coral appears in the seas. It forms elaborate reefs that provide shelter and homes for the species of the World Sea. Grand Act: Fish and Coral.
The sentient algae are unprepared for the introduction of so many rivals and predators into their environment. Entire colonies are devastated until countermeasures develop and the sentient algae learn to trap and hunt predator fish in turn. Most colonies shift to occupy coral reefs and heal in their sheltered confines. Within the colonies, a grave sense of a loss of innocence and peace is widespread.
By the First Island, a young colony of the sentient algae awakens to witness the power of the Makers unleashed. The powers of Creation coalesce for moments into a titanic divinity - Bãsn, the Smiling Maker. This apparition descends among the algae and commits an act of holy self-sacrifice. His savaged heart bleeds white-hot divine blood, the Flame of Chaos manifested, and floods the shores of the Island in power. Water of the World-Sea mingles with fiery blood and is transformed.
Upon the shallow waters of those shores risesthe City of the First Children; a great bastion of high spires and shining domes of impossible coral, of deep cavernous chambers and a thousand monumental edifices. Its greatest towers cast long shadows over the island itself. Grand Act: Raise up the City of the First Children.
The colony of the algae is deeply affected by the chaotic upheaval of their waters and the visitation of the Great Bãsn. They make the choice to move into the City and settle it as their new home. For now, they dwell in the submerged lower levels, frightened of the open air above. Word of their choice travels, with far-reaching consequences...
In the southwestern World-Sea, the mantle of the world heaves and buckles in a violent eruption of magma and earth. Tortured tectonic plates crash together and force the ocean floor upwards in jagged peaks and volcanic plateaus. The waters recede from them in massive tsunamis, waves rushing across the planet's surface to slam onto shore as far as the first island.
As the sea winds cool this red-hot landmass, the Hot Lands come into being. This new continent becomes home to high mountain valleys and craggy lowlands alike, with imposing black-sloped volcanoes standing shoulder to shoulder with snow-capped peaks. The earth is rich in minerals and ores for those who know how to work them; geysers and steaming pools offer energy for the taking. In the lowlands, grinding stone and volcanic ash begins to build soil for life to take root in in the ages to come. Grand Act: The Hot Lands.
The first true continent of the World has been born. It will not remain alone for long.
The leisurely realm of cloud and wind of the sky is disrupted with the appearance of the Skylands. Floating islands of varying sizes appear in the skies of the world, held there by divine power and their cores of magical metal. While barren for now, they should possess all the prerequisites for a hardy kind of life to make them its own. Grand Act: The Skylands.
Lastly, theClouded Lands burst into being. Impossibly high mountain peaks thrust out of the planet's crust like spears reaching to pierce the belly of the sky, skewering clouds and vaporizing a small sea's worth of water with the force of their arrival. This small new continent is a curious one – towering peaks stand next to deep chasms and treacherous canyons, making it a difficult place to traverse. Islands of the Skylands float between the mountain heights, however, allowing those who can track their movements to use them for transport. Of course, for now, nothing lives on these deathly slopes. Grand Act: The Clouded Lands.
Lesser Acts
The Arising Star is sighted for the first time. This magnificent, many-colored divine messenger is received with great awe and wonder, though the denizens of the world are at a loss to what it signifies. Only the Makers know it speaks of a great story unfolding. At the appointed time, the Triumphant Comet shall then fly across the skies of the Seen and Unseen. Likewise, it shines in every color in the universe and appears when great stories come to their end – a manifestation of the First Law of Reality. Lesser Act: The Arising Star & Lesser Act: The Triumphant Comet.
Leviathans come into existence. These large serpentine creatures spread into the depths of the World-Sea, feeding on nutrients drifting on currents and in the seafloor. They are often found near thermal vents, basking in large family pods as they enjoy the heat. Blessed with effectively endless lifespans, leviathans grow larger and larger unless struck down by violence, disease or misfortune. Leviathans prove a benefit to other species in the deeps. Their movements along the bottom of the ocean free nutrients trapped in the sand and the presence of these giants often discourages predators from approaching, allowing smaller beings to flourish. Lesser Act: Leviathans.
K'orlannsch appear in the World. These intelligent air-breathing worms sustain themselves on the light of the sun and come to dwell on land and in shallow water. They awaken to life by the Island, wriggling their way to shore. These creatures spend much of their days in photosynthetic torpor, stirring in the twilight hours to socialize, play, mate and explore. Lesser Act: K'orlannsch.
On the shores of the First Island, from sea foam and salt spray and drenched sand is born Nahesa, First of the Sea Serpents. A scaled, amphibious serpent, Nahesa comes into life as tiny as a grain of sand, unnoticed by all but the Watcher high above. As it happens, its Tale of Tails begins on the exact same moment that the Arising Star is first revealed to the world... Lesser Act: Create Nahesa, First of the Sea-Serpents.
Demi-Acts
The Comfortable Cave is granted sentience and an affable personality, to give Ik'Shar the Fluffy much-needed company. Ik'Shar is very pleased to make his acquaintance and spends many nights purring at the rocks and walls of the Cave. Very soon after, Ik'Shar is even more amazed to meet Nix'Shar the Marginally Fluffier, an almost identical being that is, in fact, a subtle but notable amount both fluffier and friendlier than it is. They both settle in the Comfortable Cave in great contentment. Demi-Act: Make the Comfortable Cave sentient and capable of telepathic communication & Demi-Act: Create Nix'Shar the Marginally Fluffier.
A great tree rises on the Isolated Island, its canopy great enough to shadow the entire breadth of it. As it happens, the Lonesome Tree is also the first of its kind in the World. Demi-Act: Create a massive tree to cover the entirety of the 'Isolated Island' in a perpetual shade.
Developments
Children of Water and Blood: The chaotic Epoch sees the sentient algae divide as a species. The sudden onslaught of predatory fish traumatizes many hives, as do the violent births of new continents that unwittingly destroy entire populations as they rise from the seafloor.
News of the Makers' divine visitation and the creation of the City spread slowly to other communities of the algae. This proves the final blow for those algae who feel abandoned and failed by the Sea-Spirit. Some begin migrating towards its strange shores, while others shun it and those who dwell within.
A dozen colonies reach the City of Coral. After lengthy negotiations, they come to an agreement to share the City among themselves without attempting to consolidate into one unfeasibly large hive - an unprecedented break with tradition no doubt spurred on by the new Law of Constant Evolution. Perhaps arrogantly, this new polity renames itself as (what is best transcribed as) Bãsn-Shaal-Khlomet, 'the Favored Children of Bãsn'. For their part, the 'loyal' colonies – the majority of the species – retreat from shallow waters and shores, settling in deeper waters and devoting themselves further to the Sea-Spirit. Time will tell what this division will lead to...
Leviathan Wakes: Chance sees a young colony of the sentient algae in the north-eastern ocean coalesce into a particularly daring and adventurous mind. It names itself Chuult-Shumo – which in the visual language of the algae is made up of various intricate pulses of light and shuddering motions, but which the Historian's mind transcribes as such – and settles near a hydrothermal vent in the region. The underwater geyser is frequented by a large pod of leviathans, and in these Chuult-Shumo sees potential.
The mind-hive ponders for a time the nature of these new beasts, admiring their great strength, longevity and evident intellect. It observes the leviathans from afar until one day, when it is approached by a lone wounded young leviathan. An idea hatches. The hive calls to the weakened beast with its bioluminescence and offers forth stored nutrients as gifts. The exhausted leviathan lets down its guard and begins sleeping near the colony. Chuult-Shumo works for days and days to earn the beast's trust. Finally, the placated leviathan allows the colony to attach itself to the beast's hardy hide. The algae swarm and settle like living armor over the leviathan's body – and as the leviathan swims away, they are carried with it. A symbiotic relationship is formed, and Chuult-Shumo becomes the first – yet likely not last! - leviathan rider of its people.
Friendship Goals: On the nameless central island, Ik'Shar and Nix'Shar become very affectionate friends indeed. As it turns out, the divine power of creation is strong in them – or in other words, their biologies turn out to be perfectly compatible for the purposes of reproduction. After the passing of some time, the pair find themselves looking at a mewling litter of furballs made in their own image. Their children represent the potential beginning of a new species - the Iknix, perhaps?
The Void
The nothing between worlds and stars.
-Being: The Watcher. An immortal entity perceiving all of Creation. -Being: The Historian. An immortal entity recording all of History. -Being: The Watcher's Watcher. An immortal entity trying its best. -Being: Custodians. Powerful divine servants tasked with maintaining and continuing the works of the Makers. -Being: Abraxas. Divine messengers and servants composed of fifteen greater and four hundred and forty lesser beings.
-Phenomenon: Cosmic Paths. Divine paths of light connecting worlds for travelers. -Phenomenon: Stars and Star-Trails. Stars marking lives lived by beings of the universe. Characteristics of great beings of the past may be gained in some way from them. -Phenomenon: The Arising Star and the Triumphant Comet. Cosmic phenomena marking the beginnings and ends of great stories.
The Moon
A rocky moon orbiting the World and existing simultaneously in the Seen and the Unseen. A source of powerful lunar magic.
-Being: Spirits. Native entities of the Unseen.
The Unnamed World
Sea: Unnamed
Saltwater sea, blessed with nutrients and life. Microbial, simple multicellular life, coral, fish, leviathans, K'orlannsch. Sentient algae. -Being: The Spirit of the World-Sea. The awakened genius loci of the World-Sea, possessed of great magical power. -Place: The City of the First Children. A great coral city by the central island. Settled by the sentient algae of the Bãsn-Shaal-Khlomet.
Central island: Unnamed
Barren rock. Some microbial, simple multicellular life, K'orlannsch.
-Being: Ik'Shar. A friendly, furry creature inhabiting the island.
-Being: Nix'Shar. A friendlier furry creature inhabiting the island.
-Being: Nahesa, First of the Sea-Serpents. An amphibious serpent inhabiting the island. -Place: The Memory Pool. A mysterious pool of black liquid. Allows one to view their memories in vivid detail. -Place: The Comfortable Cave. A sentient and telepathic cave where the temperature is always comfortable.
Isolated island: Unnamed
A rocky island dominated by a massive tree. Some microbial, simple multicellular life.
-Being: The Lonesome Tree. A great divine tree covering most of the Island.
The Hot Lands
A volcanically active continent in the southwest of the world. Some microbial, simple multicellular life.
The Clouded Lands
A landmass of extremes in the southeast of the world, made of high peaks and deep ravines side by side. Some microbial, simple multicellular life.
The Skylands
A collection of floating islands of varying size high above the surface world.
The Unseen
A realm of dreams, imagination and spirits.
-Being: Spirits. Native entities of the Unseen.
Laws of Reality
Law: Narrative Satisfaction. All laws of reality may be broken and bent for the purpose of narratively satisfying outcomes or for the pure of heart and will. Law: Constant Evolution. All of Creation strives to change and evolve. Mutations in living beings are common, forces of change are more potent, and intelligent creatures tend to oppose stagnation.
I might need to think about better formatting, given how big and wall-of-texty these are clearly going to be. Hopefully it is reasonably pleasant to read even so.
A moratorium on Acts is now in effect. You may begin Voting for the next Epoch in 12 hours. The following Epoch shall be the Age of Life. Acts to create or alter forms of life will receive a free +1 Vote.
