Protect The Tribe: No SV, you're a godly champion born to a small village

Estokarei is much like our world's past, currently in a time similar to the bronze age, with great kingdoms all around, carving out pieces of the world for themselves, which is bad for the Tribes that didn't manage to expand fast enough to stand a fighting chance
Theres also gods, monsters, and all sorts of strange things that pop up from the beliefs of the various peoples in Estokarei so that sucks for you too

The Colonyte Imperium expand across the steppe, their hordes of talented archers striking down foes in the most efficient manner possible while their champions yell in joy as they bludgeon entire squadrons to death, whilst sacrificing their most hated animal the bull for their gods the Sky Chiefs
The Hughn-Nan Horde ride into battle on their white horses across the damp fields and beaches, swinging their whistling stones in circles to call upon the horrors they believe live in the depths and ones tears, smashing in skulls with club sized smoking pipes cause using horrors for warfare while sober is not good for your sanity
The Tyllasti Dynasties send out damned warriors that turn sand to glass with a single step using the power of their own personal issues which form customized hells, the matriarchs planning many grand campaigns to prove their bloodline superior and gain more influence over their kingdom
There are other kingdoms causing trouble to grasp at more power, but this trio is comprised of the strongest mortal factions in Estokarei

But in the mountains the Heretic Seers ponder, considered outcasts and degenerates by almost all Tribes for their ludicrous theories of "All truths are in a state of quantum flux, reality is subjective, and all mythological beliefs are simultaneously correct and wrong" and "We live in creative musings inscribed upon electrified metal and glass tablets"
Now they're spouting nonsense about "Reading the deranged dazzling dancing patterns of the Mythosphere" and "Some crazy shit is about to go down"

And that crazy shit is you, a future champion capable accomplishing great feats to fend off the empires, gods, and monsters of this strange world

First thing is....
Where were you born?
(Will determine what your childhood will be like, what your Tribe believes in, and potential character options, also don't vote yet till I post VOTE IS GO)

[] The Heretic Seer Mountain Monastary
Okay they messed up the prophesy slightly, apparently you would be born among the wild-eyed and dark robed Heretic Seers, who have determined they every culture is correct and incorrect at the time about how the world functions, this allowing all pantheons and cosmologies to exist simultaneously
This controversial theory has given them insight into the workings of the Mythosphere which rewrites reality according to tales and legends and all sorts of poorly thought out metaphors, easily predicting its actions, and being able to harness the benefits of multiple different belief systems with enough prep, too bad this theory also makes folks hate the Heretic Seers

[] The Hanging Bulgi-Nyun Jungle Tents
The Great Primate dreams all things, and mankind used to be one of the Primate's many companions made to entertain it, but during the night of a thousand horrors they shaved off most of their fur and hair to convince the monsters they were not monkeys but weaker monsters, it worked, too well, and now they can't get any of those old traits back since a monster ate the pile it was all kept in
And that is what the Bulgi-Nyun believe the origin of the universe and mankind to be, they wear sparse leather straps for clothing and don large colourful cloth wrappings atop their heads to distinguish themselves from eachother, they live in the trees collecting fruit and whistling the ancient slumber-songs of the Great Primate happily, if not being attacked by the kingdoms
They're quite a crafty people, known to get out of many a tribulation unscathed thanks to good thinking and fast acting, but they tend to bite off more then they can chew sometimes, like that time they tried to steal a bunch of fruit from some llamas, it was a massacre

[] The Comfortable Little Cabins Of The Flowerdancers
The cruel giants made all of nature a cruel and horrid thing to satisfy their sick and twisted desires to watch lesser beings suffer for laughs, one made diseases and weakness, one made violent instincts and claws, one made natural disasters, one made vast and daunting landscapes, but the Flowerdancer was the youngest and most kind of the giants, despite being chained up and abused they brought beauty and flowers to the world, giving mankind thought to become more then just animals
The flower dancers wear masks of flowers and white flowing robes, living off the land and trying to their best to be kind to their neighbors, and sometimes doing communal dances in the flower fields to call upon their god for prosperity and such
They have seen some crazy things thanks to generations of suffering at the hands of the other giants, and thus Flowerdancers can handle pain that would make veteran warriors cry, but despite this they're way too optimistic for their own good

[] The Circular Stone Huts Of The Zocra
The Zocra know mankind were made to carry ideas, to strengthen, grow, and test these ideas so that one may find the Final Answer, they live among the mountains where they believe mankind was carved from thinking stone and discuss all sorts of different theories on many different subjects, watching the stars dance and meditating in mountain hotsprings
The Zocra wear headbands covered in chain patterns to symbolize the mastery of their own minds, and wear togas depicting what schools of thought they tend to participate in believing, they also for some reason all have graying or white hair which makes most people assume all Zocra are just some old people from a distance
They're master debaters, they can tear you apart mentally and deconstruct many abstract beliefs given enough information about you and the subject, they're simultaneously charismatic enough to change your worldview with a speech, and socially inept enough to not realize that tearing down someones beliefs isn't a good way to make friends outside the Tribe

[] Write-In A Tribe
(Subject to rewrite or veto, just try to imagine their culture and beliefs first before thinking up any magic stuff they could have access to)

(Make sure to vote in a plan format)

A crying pink spawnling wrapped in black cloth, being cradled in the arms of your father as mom is busy resting after that whole ordeal of bringing you into this universe alive
(Don't ask what that ordeal was, wait till you're older)

This cold dark hall of the Monastary was more crowded today, as the Heretic Seers all gathered together to watch your birth, seeing the strength of the Mythosphere flow in your direction the moment it got too close, an event horizon for the mystical power underlying reality
One of the elders tried to reach for you, but mother got up faster then a swooping hawk and slapped their hand away, saying in an intense but quiet enough voice to avoid scaring you "NO, I don't wanna see any hero worship from ya! I ain't raising this kid to have an ego!" Father nodded along in agreement, you still couldn't comprehend that trying to eat the fly that landed on your nose was a bad idea

She pointed at the crowd and continued "That goes for the rest of yall! I see you back there Jym! Prepping a stone tablet to record my kid's feats, stop it"
Jym pleaded "Please please pleeeeaaase can't I just do a teeny tiny bit of chronicling?"
"You can keep track of their normal stuff like lost baby teeth, first steps, and their first words, but that is it"
Jym fist pumped in triumph

Mother's legs got wobbly again and the elders helped her sit back down right next to you and father on some shoddy cushions
The wild-eyed elder that tried to pick you up and see the future champion up close said "Whatchu gonna name the little demigod?"
Mother and father looked at eachother and nodded

Father said "We thought up a couple names and came to the conclusion that this little bundle of joy is gonna be..."

- [] Girdok (He/Him)

- [] Hyrda (She/Her)

- [] Hornaz (They/Them)

- [] Write-In

The elders cheered, but then you started crying again and your mother slapped each Elder in the face for doing something that stupid

Seasons change, time passes by, and the days become the months become the years as you are raised in the Monastary, taught by your parents Marna (Mom) and Hazrad (Dad) alongside, some assistance from the Elders, in the ways of the Tribe
They teach you of the thousands of miracles out there in the world, born from belief and wonder, how it all exists at once, but simultaneously does not

Like most kids in the Monastary, you're taught how to see the Mythosphere's working, living imperfect metaphors dancing on the winds, you see dreams of pixies, angels, and devils, holding hands on the other side of the veil singing "We live to prance, we live by chance, we live by pen and papyrus, the wind sings us, the earth sings us, the hearts of many carry us on, and we aaaaaaaaaaaaren't heeeeeeeeeeeeeeere!"

Terrible singing aside you clapped along and giggled with the other little ones at this display, as the teacher pulled out a broom and shooed the little mythic beings away

As you grew, you began to show signs of the prophecy's legitimate nature, performing some things the other children of the Monastary and even most adults, couldn't do...
Choose 3

- [] Your strength was immense
You helped uncle Jym carry an entire stack of recording tablets all by yourself, and there were a lot of tablets, you also carried the wagon he lugged them around in usually, causing your mother and father to almost faint when they saw it atop you

- [] Your mind was immense
You counted each and every grain in the Monastary pantry with a glance, told the Elders the proper way to store it so vermin don't get it, then did a similar thing with the entirety of the inventory

- [] Your dexterity was immense
You ran through the halls at speeds unmatched by your peers, made the rats in the walls look slow, and made your parents have to pull clever trapping maneuvers just to keep you still enough to go to sleep

- [] Your charm was immense
All the other children couldn't help but fawn over you, it took a great amount of mental strength for mother and father to not spoil you rotten, but they succeeded, mainly cause the methods you thought up to manipulate those with immense willpower would be considered mentally abusive and you liked your parents

- [] The Mythosphere was layed bare before you
Above you can see countless heavens, a vortex of different celestial truths above, and below in the depths of the earth you see more hells then there are people alive, you see the individual metaphysics of every single cosmology, a kaleidoscopic mess of conflicting truths, some so vastly alien that you're surprised a person ever thought it up, others so similar you wonder why they are not united as a single mythology
You can see beliefs bleed from the heads of others into the fabric of reality, how the Elders belief of all truths being true at the same time and their desire to see the innerworkings of the universe are the only reason the Tribe can see the Mythosphere
You see the flow of legendary power, you are the greatest Heretic Seer alive

- [] The Gods love you
Your parents have decorated your room with unholy paraphernalia of many kinds, to make sure angels and divine beings do not break into your room and whisk you away in the night, gods find your existence quite enjoyable, one of the Sky Chiefs of the Colonytes tried to lure you out of the front door of the Monastary with freshly baked pastries before father quickly dragged you back further inside
One night as an Elder cried while drunk and you walked over to comfort them, an elder god of the depths from Hughn-Nan culture reached out and tried to grab you, but luckily the Elder shoved their tear in a bottle and drank it to save you
The Maidens Of True Grace from the Tyllasti mythos sung from outside a window in your teenage years, beckoning you to reach out to them and live in their beautiful gardens, before mother threw a bag of dog feces out the window, scaring them off
You have the favour of the divine, for better or worse, but they'll always consider you one of their own

- [] You carved complex symbols of great power
You studied the symbols that the apprentices of the Elders brought back from their travels, their notes from many trips to learn of the cultures outside that hate you for some reason, you read the symbols, grabbed a chisel, and began to carve on loose floor tiles from abandoned parts of the Monastary
Written upon these tiles were a combination of symbols that belongded to countless cultures, some fused, some spaced evenly apart so as to not mix the metaphors up too much, and made into a complex web of mystical markings
These charms you carved work universally for any culture, your wards can work on any spirit or demon even those from entirely different religions, your good luck charms can satisfy any luck deity, and the fertility charms will satisfy any nature spirit and have a wonderful harvest growing in no time
The charms do have limits to their strength, but now you don't have to worry about what kind of spirit is attacking you and what kind of metal or herb or chant works on them, just use a charm

- [] You wield the enlightened madness of an Elder Heretic Seer
The Wild-Eyed Elder and you shared many talks, apparently the early Heretic Seers used to harness rituals of madness to achieve their visions of the Mythosphere, but slowly grew out of it, the Wild-Eyed decided to keep these rituals in the back of his mind for potential later use, and decided that maybe you could make something out of this archaic practice
And you did, you could still see the Mythosphere like other Heretic Seers, but now you can share unstable and disorienting visions of it with those around you, flooding their thoughts with the legends that preside behind reality, you once made a bandit chief go into a comatose state with a single look, making their band of criminals run for the hills instead of raiding the Monastary
You can really mess up someones head

- [] You mastered the Heretic Sickle Arts
Long before you were born, the Heretic Seers were a simple tiny cult of a couple farming families acting as vassals for a powerful kingdom, when it was discovered they believed in an entirely different worldview then said kingdom, warriors were sent over to slaughter them like cattle
But your great great great grandparents fought back with all they had, some farming tools, and they used their visions to their advantage, they used the gift to see what spots of the body their attacker's cultures believed were weakest, most vital, or culturally significant when wounded
This gave your ancestors a fighting chance, mimicking strikes from stories their attackers once read as children, wielding their significance in the Mythosphere to make each blow that matched well enough lethal
While conversing with the Elder's adventuring Apprentices, they taught you a little bit about this technique with a practice sickle
You began to master it for the rest of your life

- [] Write-In
Subject to rewrite or veto

(Vote in a plan format)

You rose from bed and yawned, making sure to readjust all the unholy symbols on the window of your room in the Monastary so angels don't come in and take you away while you slept
Well, they didn't bother anymore, but it was part of your morning routine since you were born, so shaking this habit is difficult

You got out of bed and stepped through the door to the sight of a bunch of bright and early admirers, who you knew from your school days, basically the whole class, carrying some scented soaps, perfumes, and soft towels (You have no idea how they got all that stuff) for when you get yourself cleaned at the communal hotsprings this morning, these hot springs were a leftover from the former owners of the Monastary, a tribe that believed relaxation was a path to enlightenment before getting murdered by bandits, now its where you and everyone else bathe in the morning
After that soak, you dried yourself off and got handed your dark cloak by (blindfolded) admirers

The garment was a traditional style from back when the Heretic Seers were simply a young cult hidden among some vassal farming tribes, though you added some gold patterns to make yourself look way better, and a lot of these patterns were based off godly fashion, mainly just golden floral images inspired by gods from the Northern Tribes and Kingdoms

Your parents shooed away the admirers with a broom and Hazrad said "Please tell me you didn't let them clean you"
"No I didn't dear father, I simply let them carry all my stuff"
Father sighed, but your mother said "Good, I don't want you acting like one of those snobs from the cities, unable to wipe their own butts without a serf's aide"
"They don't all do that" Father whacked another admirer away
Marna looked at him incredulously "Really?"
The pair talking about whether the people of the Kingdoms are capable of wiping their own asses were your parents, which was stated before
They brought you into this world, and you have a pretty good relationship with them, they taught you how to walk and talk, mother also taught you about swearing when she got drunk once, which ended with father making her wear the traditional HAT OF SHAME for a whole day, the aforementioned hat being a phallic cap made of itchy wool
They also taught you a couple other simple skills like....

Choose 1 option for Marna and 1 option for Hazrad
(If they share the same occupation you'll be even better at what they taught you, but only have 1 extra skill)

- [] Marna taught you about travel
Mother used to be a Elder apprentice, but gave it up to marry Hazrad, the travel and intense training to become an Elder is far more difficult when also trying to maintain a healthy relationship with family, so she made her choice, now she mainly helps with training newer Elder Apprentices
She taught you all kinds of things about adventure, stuff about navigating, if a man at the bar was looking at you in a flirty way or a murder way (It's surprising about how easy it is was to confuse them), and even how to avoid getting into trouble among certain Tribes, mainly don't do everything she did at said Tribes

- [] Marna taught you about gardening
She frequently helped tend the plants and mushrooms in the various areas of the Monastary to feed the inhabitants, working day and nignt, sometimes arguing with the Elder that managed the water about how many drams she and the others were allowed to use for gardening that week, and she was pretty good at it
She taught you about plants and mushrooms, how to care for them, how to make them into filling meals, and how to to scare away vermin that try to eat your crops

- [] Marna taught you how to CURSE
She apparently is very good at making the universe hate some people, she knows the archaic Heretic Seer art of Mythosphere-Blighting, where you apply negative thoughts you have about an individual or item to the target of that ire and that target will suffer animosity from the universe based off that, like if you considered someone a liar, people would be less likely to trust them and they would distruet folks at inopportune moments, which she used on many an enemy of the Tribe
Mother taught you the rituals to subtly convince the Mythosphere to share your hatred for someone, you just need prep and enough symbolic elements for the ritual

- [] Hazrad taught you some chemistry
He was actually a skilled chemist, most of the people in the Tribe barely knew how to read non-tribe speak but he figured out a book in a different language and read it, learning something called chemistry, which really helped the Tribe Physician out, he personally got the ingredients to treat a wound mother had, which was one of their bigger bonding moments
Some tips and tricks were passed down to you, nothing much, just how to make some oils, medicines, and dyes, stuff about chemical reactions too

- [] Hazrad taught you about stealth
He acted as a spy for the Elders, sneaking into other Tribes and Kingdoms to learn secrets and make sure they never look in the direction of the Tribe, he did some pretty crazy stuff, some some depraved things, had sex with an Emperor, normal stuff like that, now he delivers mail around the Monastary, which he likes more
Cloak and dagger (actually sickle, since thats your Tribe's signature weapon) are the arts he has taught you, info gathering, disguises, and stealth are the teachings he has passed on, this will make you harder to notice

- [] Hazrad taught you about carpentry
He knows how to make a table, and now you do too
Nothing more complex then that, simple parent and child bonding over making and repairing wooden stuff for the Tribe

- [] Write-In
Subject to rewrite or veto

Your parents continued their conversation as they followed along to the main Monastary hall, where the other Heretic Seer discussed their days and shared their diagrams of the Mythosphere, the little personal cult that formed around you by accident were praying at a candle-lit corner altar, and the rest were just eating at the tables
After a quick scan of the hall, you waved goodbye to your parents for now and went over to meet your dearest friends...

Choose 2

- [] Jym Jr
Uncle Jym's daughter, a young woman with bright red hair and stone tablets hanging from all over her cloak, she and Jym are honorary family members, and she is also a chronicler like her father, she even has better memory, she knew the exact first words you said to her as a toddler, despite the fact she was also one at the time
She is also an aspiring historical scholar, she accurately deduced a large portion of the former Monastary owner's culture just from the architecture and knickknacks laying around, though this does mean she gets a bit nosey
She greets you by attempting to sound cool, her voice cracks halfway through, she tries to salvage it by using ancient slang for her next greeting but she ends up sound more awkward than before and she knows it

- [] Iron Mask
A person wearing a smooth iron mask with square orifices and square prongs coming out the top of it, in a tunic of silver thread
He arrived when you were both teenagers, brought home by a Elder apprentice from a journey to a distant land for reasons unknown, he creeped out most of the others with how little sound he made, but not you, he became a close companion over the years since he generally helps you out and comforts you, he is quite physically affectionate but has never shown any romantic or sexual interest in you
He is incredibly skilled with interpreting emotion and playing instruments, capable of analyzing a person's face and creating a musical score that would match their feelings in seconds, even some dance skill is in there, despite seemingly being from a Tribe or Kingdom that values affection and empathy, he suffers from a great amount of emotional isolation from his peers in the temple
He greets you with a big hug and pulls you by the hand to the table, all while completely silent

- [] Wild-Eyed Elder
A man with eyes that look in a different direction every half-second, with long grey hair, a unruly beard, and a dark cloak covered in many different embroidered names, attempts at regaining what he has lossed
That crazy ol coot who taught you about the Enlightened Madness isn't exactly a friend or a nuisance, he just likes to follow you around spouting nonsense and actual info of value occasionally
He has no actual name, no past, and no known family, he is simply one of the Elder Heretic Seers, he says that he once had a name but he lost it somewhere in a desert and hasn't found it since then
The man is wise in ways that the other Elders just can't compare to, and has spent years researching every culture across Estokarei to better understand the Mythosphere's complexities, but years of having lost his own identity have not left a man in their wake, but a shadow devoid of any structure to hold himself together
He greets you by offering to let you watch as he scares a couple small children, he doesn't wait for you to reply he just starts running over to them screaming

- [] Plethic
A lady with many scars from different battles, blonde hair, and a constant smug grin, she dons a dark cloak with armour plates depicting a symbol of the Heretic Seers, an eye with the pupil split into 7 dots in a circle around a bound tome to represent the secret council of the first Seers
A mighty warrior of the Tribe and a older sister to you, keeping the peace and defending the Monastary, mainly to look cool for the ladies, despite her shallow reasons, she is still a great warrior, she once slew a beast the size of a building, even if she did fall for it's disguise as a beautiful woman a couple hours beforehand, she is a formidable opponent, powerful ally, and a surprisingly talented tactician, brought down by her desperate desire for intimacy with many women to fill that hole in her heart a childhood friend of her's left long ago
She playfully grabs you in a weak chokehold and noogies you once you're near the table, while also asking about how well you slept last night, she knows you sometimes have trouble with that due to the Enlightened Madness

- [] Write-In
Subject to rewrite or veto

And that is generally your life in the Monastary, you're popular even among the heavens, have loving parents, have good friends, you wield a cool magical power, and you love life currently
You bet nothing could go wro-

Choose the first Trouble

- [] The Slaver King's Laughter
A man who trades in man, something abhorrent, despicable, and far too human, he found valuable assets among the Tribe and he took them for the flesh market in the city, get them back

- [] In The End I Bloom
The signs of an apocalypse are near, it isn't potent enough to destroy the world, but it'll devastate the region, the Elders know this end belongs to another Tribe, go to them and figure out how to stop this

- [] From The Mouths Of Plaak's 3 Sons
3 major Tribes that all worship a long dead hero called Plaak are having tensions grow between them over theological disagreements, end this before total war breaks out between them

- [] The Moonlight Palace
A palace has appeared in the dead of night near the Monastary, satisfy their curiosity and strange whims, also make sure the peculiar inhabitants do not harm the Tribe

- [] Write-In
Subject to rewrite or veto