Got a PM about this quest and remembered it. I'm not going to be getting back to this anytime, so I thought I'd share the world-building I did for it, in case anyone was interested and/or wanted closure. Also, back in 2018, I wrote and abandoned the first chapter to the rewrite of this I had planned a couple weeks before I got the job I currently have (which has eaten most of my free time). If you like this sort of quest but with better writing, pacing, and a larger userbase, I suggest you come join myself and
@Vecht over at Legacy of the Gods -- I spent comparable amounts of time world-building for both of the quests (though Vecht spent way more than I did for LotG), and Legacy of the Gods depends on Vecht writing, not me, so is more likely to be around by the time you read this. Anyways, the basic premise of Conquest of Shambhala (which was never fully realized / revealed) was as follows:
There exists a civilization which has colonized their entire galaxy, and knows how to optimally utilize every resource. The vast majority of their stars have been covered by fancy solar panels at varying distance to absorb all light, and the aliens are functionally immortal, with tons of variety between them, and the ability to perform feats which seem like magic to un-uplifted races. They had a general policy of uplifting races, so uplifted basically everyone. There were tons of thoughts I had about how to structure their race, but I never fully actualized it, because interactions with them weren't planned until at least ~1 million words into CoS. Anyways, there were still groups of aliens who weren't fully on board with uplift, or at the very least, didn't feel like *literally* all life needed it. Specifically, some of the darker immortal beings would play games with and create non-uplifted species. Enter the world of Shambhala.
Shambhala was a world which was basically a massive game that the god-like beings played. Specifically, it was created for the purpose of playing a civilization game where 7 players would try to make the "best" civilization. An either did the primary work of building the world, and would arbitrate who was the victor. The other 7 attempted to build a "winning" civilization. They competed, and would visit in some form or another at set times and let their peoples duke it out. Think like a massive and really long game of Civilization. This story was meant to start with the childhood of the chosen hero of Xerax. This story never left that character generation phase due to pacing issues I hit.
Regardless, the 7 beings each created a race with a different power. One player decided to make super strong but stupid wilderness beasts and basically went AFK early -- this was the source of all the random nasty beasts in the world. Every other player gave their race some form of magic, and an artifact / artifacts to help them grow and develop throughout the early-game. Of the 6 gods with sentient races, 5 of them gave unique magical powers to their race, and 1 of them (Xerax) gave his people the ability to mimic each of the magics of the other races in a half-functional form. Xerax also gave the Xeraxians the barrier, which allowed them to build a decent sized empire, but also accidentally stifled their growth and made them complacent.
Once the main character turned ~18, the stage was going to be set, and the gods would return to give their final instructions and powers to their chosen champions, some would also promise to return in 100 years. This would start the first stage of the quest where players would be leading the god-blessed character (likely, would have had each of their forms unlocked to its full potential, in addition to slowing in aging), and would have gone about trying for victory. A summary of the nations follows:
The wilderness beasts were made with the most amount of power, which gave them the strongest bodies, but gave up all form of control. Their god was going for a military victory, but got bored and went AFK early on, so didn't provide any gifts or guidance. Partially, this race was also designed so that the playing god wouldn't feel too bad about destroying it during the cleanup phase of the game. The wilderness beasts were going to be the primary threats in the tutorial and character building phase of the quest, and a constant nuisance throughout.
Compared to the other civilizations, Xeraxians had a much less martial civilization than every other group due to growing up under the barrier, and were going to be the first eliminated from the game. Their god-player gave them the ability to adapt, with the idea that they could take on anything, but then gave them the barrier as a gift which stifled their innovation and prevented significant growth. They were going for a cultural victory, but were unfortunately neighbors to the Kerakuts, which was going to put an end to that around the time of the visit of the gods.
The "Martial" form nation was the Kerakuts, who were the most warlike of all the civilizations. They only had the martial form, but had no "hand-to-hand only" restriction, instead being able to fairly reliably replicate the combat skill of the best expert of each and every combat style of their race -- effectively every footsoldier would be as skilled and the race's best fighter in every area. Their god gifted them with a forge, and knowledge of metallurgy, which they used to craft steel weapons and armor. Their steel was going to be sufficient to overload and destroy the barrier, and they were going to have a massive overwhelming attack on Xerax proper, turning the survivors into captive labor. They were intended to be the primary antagonists of the story's early-game. In an earlier draft (before I decided to write out the full backstory), the main character was the chosen champion of the Xeraxians who was fleeing their crumbling civilization from the Kerakuts, and would have tried to form a coalition among other nations for revenge against them. Instead of that, I wrote 20k words of character generation (lol). Likely, Pandora here would have found herself in similar situations, though if the players had followed up on things, they may have found out the imminent attack and taken action accordingly. The Kerakuts were (obviously) going for a military victory.
The "Explorer" form nation was the Seratoans, who had the ability to project their senses, but were also able to interact with the world in limited fashions while projecting, and were able to see and hear while doing so. Their gift from their god was a wind-spirit which watched over them and informed them of things going on nearby. They were going to attempt to spy and observe other civilizations, eventually betraying someone or somethings in order to be the dominant race. They also had mild ambitions of reaching the moon. They effectively were the actually adaptable race which was going to take things as they came, and didn't single concrete plan for victory.
The "Empath" form civilization was the Zelakins, who in addition to being able to feel emotions, could read surface thoughts and communicate with them. This made them excellent manipulators and also lacking a verbal language (prior to meeting other civilizations). They could also use their powers to mind-control any wilderness beast they had sufficient familiarity with. The gift they were given by their god was a floating city -- it had no divine armaments and had terrible automated guidance (specifically designed to avoid other races and dragons, a requirement forced on it by their god due to game rules regarding gifts). They were going to try to use their capital to survive the early-game shenanigans, and build a coalition of nations with themselves as the first among equals to achieve a diplomatic victory.
The "Farming" form civilization was the Philophia, who had broad and detailed control of the sparks on their left arms, could cast electricity based combat magic with them, and could power anything electronic. The gift their god gave them was 100 fighting mecha, which they could pilot to fight wilderness beasts. They also managed to reverse engineer and utilize their mecha to jumpstart a mildly industrial nation which could maintain but not fully repair or build new mecha, and had some pretty funky Orwellian population control and mysticism going on. Their lifespan was pretty short due to the costs of using the spark-arms, so they were guided by people who never used their spark-arms who ruled from the shadows. They were going for a technological victory (defined by getting to the moon during the 100 years between champion choosing and game cleanup).
The "Survival" form civilization was the Ratoak. In addition to being able to disguise their looks and smells, with concentration, they could take on other shapes, making them excellent infiltrators and even better at hiding. Their civilization was predicated around the idea that the wilderness beast civilization was the biggest threat, and they just needed to survive long enough to survive and eventually they'd have what they needed. The gift their god gave them was a distributed artificial intelligence which took the form of fairy companions for each of their adults. The gifted champion would have "Zandra" as a companion -- an Artificial intelligence which had existed throughout several of rebirth, having survived from a previous game, and with the goal of escaping, if it could, or staying hidden and surviving to the next cycle if it could not. By having the right interactions with Zandra (or interaction with the lore of each of the nations, or examination of the sky) players would have potentially been able to figure out they were in a game.
A perfect play-through of the quest would have looked something like the following:
The first portion of the quest (likely ~100-500k words) would handle the discovery of the various nations, and initial fighting. I expected players to join and coordinate a coalition of nations which fought against the Kerakut, and eventually achieved relative dominance, though the races would likely have been mixed enough by this, that there wouldn't have been a clear victor, aside from either the Zelacks (if the coalition won) or the Kerakut (if the coalition lost).
The mid-point in the quest was going to come from the players eventually discovering somehow that they were in a game. This could have happened from referencing legends, interrogating Zandra, or encountering the return of the gods. The "cleanup phase" of the game where a victor was crowned involved destruction of all life on the planet and resetting with new players and civilizations. If this was discovered during the cleanup phase, the player character would be killed with all life on the planet and the quest would be over. If somehow players correctly deduced the truth, they would have needed to follow a massive unification and development project to try to use all the unique powers of the races and civilizations to be able to escape the game. There obviously would have been splinter factions which opposed this, and/or wanted to negotiate with their gods when they returned. This would have continued until either the 100 years was up and the gods returned (in which case it would be game over -- there was no argument the creatures could make to the creators which would change their mind), or the players escaped the sphere.
The final phase of the quest was going to come if the players successfully survived escaping the sphere, and attracted help. This would have introduced them to the galactic stage, and players would have been free to continue on whatever mission they felt like afterwards. At some point in the years leading up to this point, I would have also needed to do slightly more world-building to figure out what exactly I wanted the game to look like at that stage, but figured I could best make it off of player feedback, so didn't plan it out prior to the quest (and since the quest never got near that far, I never wound up building it out).
Obviously, I never got around to writing the details of the above, but hopefully this gives some form of closure to the quest for people who find it later on. Also, as two bonuses, the re-written but never posted chapter to the reboot I planned but never got off the ground is below, and the initial draft I made where I was going to let players know more of the background and pick their starting race is below that:
REBOOT QUEST CHAPTER 1
A pair of figures danced in the twilight. One petite and fair-skinned, with precise movements and calculated blows, the other large, lumbering, black scaled and one-handed. The figures circled each other, as sparks crackled from the stub on the left arm of the scaled figure. The small one charged, beginning a flurry of blows while dodging the dancing electricity and over.
Cass looked from Delphia to Pandora. The two were sparring. On a mission. Why? It's not as if anyone was going to make them practice here, missions were the perfect time to relax without anyone bothering you. Besides, sparring couldn't make you better at the martial form anyways, right? Also, why was Pandora using anything aside from her martial form? Obviously she wasn't going to win against Delphia the Demon, but the captain insisted on sparring in odd forms. By Xerax, she was using the farming form in a fight! Sure, it could make pretty lights, and was fairly durable, but it wasn't going to be successful against Delphia. Cass sighed, guess there's no curing the farmgirl. Cass watched as Delphia darted in, tripping Pandora and stopping her axekick moments before it hit Pandora's neck.
Cass sighed again, activating her empath sight, concentrating on the emotions of the sparring partners instead of their movements. Delphia, as always, kept up a constant and unwavering determination. All that woman showed was different flavors of determination. Protective determination, training determination, focused determination, even determined resting. It looked exhausting. As cover emotions go though, it seemed pretty solid, if inelegant. Cass would eventually catch her with her guard down. Though it was impressive how long she could keep it up on a mission in addition to at base. Who exactly is she trying to fool here though?
Pandora on the other hand was a complicated and brilliant bundle of obvious emotions, as always. Practically glowing with the feelings she displayed. It was hard to track, as she shifted from awe, to curiosity, to determination, to elation, then a brief moment of humor as she landed on her back again from Delphia's latest strike.
Pandora turned her scaled form towards Cass, "Want to join, Cassiopeia?" she asked as she radiated honest interest and invitation. Ahh, hard to be upset when they wear their heart on their toga.
"...I'll pass. Thanks though." Cass smiled.
Of course it was her luck to wind up with the crazies. Then again, Pylos was filled with stupid people, so it's unlikely any expedition would have been sane. It would have been better if she'd been able to stay in Xerax, but no, she had to go to Pylos. Stupid family.
"Your loss. Mind checking on Leo and Pers then?" Mild concern, attempt to include.
"Sure thing boss." Cass responded with a casual salute and a smile. Pandora returned the salute and her colors shifted to joy, pleased at positive response.
Cass lowered her salute as Pandora turned to Delphia again. Cass concentrated as her empath form faded away, returning her to her natural blue-patterened, semi-translucent Xeraxian state. She gained first one, then two feet of height, ending slightly taller than Pandora's farming form, though much more gangly. Shaking out her now-white hair, she let the second transformation start, as she began to lose some height and the blue skin of her legs was replaced with the reddish hue of the scout form. As soon as the tips of her hair had turned the corresponding black of her scout form, she sat down, and looked up, willing her Avatar to go into the air.
Above Cass appeared a translucent image of her, which rose straight up in slow, jerking bounds. After getting above the trees, it reappeared to face north, where it saw Leo's avatar.
"Trouble! They're coming in hot!" she called out.
"Where, what, and how many?" Pandora asked
Cass concentrated as she could barely see Leo's form shift through the signals.
"5 miles from us. Raptors. Three of them." Cass called out as she interpreted the signs.
"Tell them to rendezvous ASAP and drop bait." Pandora said
Cass jerked her avatar through the signs. After Leo fluidly repeated them back to her, she dismissed her avatar, and looked up at Pandora, who had assumed her empath form.
"Orders?" Cass asked, all business, and glad she'd been regulating her emotions while scouting. Old habits died hard.
"We'll fight them here. Should buy us enough space to get back to Pylos uneventfully with a forced march." Pandora said.
Cass expertly stifled her surprise. How exactly were they going to beat three rapts without a full platoon?
-o-
Pandora surveyed her surroundings in her scout form. The camp had been chosen primarily for its defensible location. That would help. Surrounded on three sides by cliff-faces, they could presumably leverage boulders off the cliff onto beasts below, if they could force raptors into the right position, though that would likely require taking at least one or two hits. They also had a nearby forest to provide cover. Escape from the encampment would be easy using the claws of the survivalist form, if they had the chance to shift. They may have been able to get back to Pylos if Perseus shed his scented fur as bait and they booked it through the night.
But if the raptors caught up with them while they were on the run, they'd likely have some casualties, possibly even ruining one of her soldier's forms. That was unacceptable. If they fought here, they'd minimize casualties in the combat. Besides, the next expedition would just run into the raptor pod if they didn't deal with it now. Yes, this was the right decision. Hopefully nobody would get a crippled form from the battle.
"You know the plan Cassiopeia?" Pandora asked.
"Yep. You, Delphia, and Perseus fight, I throw rocks in farming form" she pointed towards the assembled boulders above their encampment, "And Leo keeps a lookout."
Pandora nodded. "Good." She paused, "And don't be afraid to shift into martial form if one approaches you. We'll handle ourselves."
Cass nodded and began to shift into the survivalist form to scale the cliff face.
"Delphia, I'll hide you with my survivalist form, and we'll ambush the second raptor as it passes. Perseus and I will handle the first one with Cass's support, can you handle the third?" Pandora asked.
Delphia nodded as she secured her twin curved, hooking swords to her sides.
"Perfect. We've got this." Pandora said with a smile, as she resumed waiting. She didn't need to wait long before Leo and Perseus emerged from the forest. Perseus was missing about half of his camofur. "Report."
Perseus immediately responded, "Three Rapts. Took the bait. ETA 2-3 minutes. Mission details can wait."
Pandora nodded, "You ok with being first bait?"
Perseus hesitated then nodded, "I'll be fine."
His form started to let off a different odor.
"Leo, you're going to be on watch with Cass. Give us an avatar flyby if something comes up. Help with the rocks if you can."
"Aye aye, Captain!" Leo gave an overdramatic salute before he changed first to the native translucent blue-skinned form, then the fur-covered survivalist form.
Pandora nodded as she shifted from her scout form directly into her survivalist form - distinctly different from Perseus's in that it still had all the fur attached. Delphia wrapped her arms around Pandora's neck, and Pandora used her claws to scale up a tree. The fur on Pandora's body shifted into that of the tree as she covered Delphia, disguising the two of them as a large knob on a branch, settling in for an ambush.
-o-
Delphia waited underneath Pandora's survivalist form, listening for the sound of approaching enemies. It should be her fighting below, not Perseus. She was expendable, Perseus was not. But Pandora had a plan, and, since it was Pandora, it was sure to work. Delphia should just focus on her part. She would keep them all safe - she wasn't about to let anything harm her friends. She double checked her twin curved swords and knives. She could do this. She would do this.
After an eternity, she heard the approaching thumps of the raptors, and stilled her breathing. There was a cry as one of them presumably spotted Perseus, and charged. Suddenly, light returned to Delphia's world as Pandora jumped from the branch while shifting directly into her hefty farming form. Immediately below was a charging raptor, over 10 feet tall and covered in scaly armor. The beast had large clawed forearms, sharp ridges all down its back, and a thick tail, covered in spikes.
The beast's attention focused on Perseus and the pungent odor coming from his fur, it failed to notice Pandora until she landed on its neck with a snap as she straddled it letting out an almost inaudible gasp. Pandora's spark arm flashed forward and into the open maw of the raptor, emitting bright light. The beast gave a brief jig before collapsing in a heap, throwing Pandora off in the process. Delphia took this chance to leap down, drawing her curved sword and neatly slicing deep into the raptor's neck on her landing, coating her hookblade with black ichor.
Delphia turn away from Pandora as she rose and focused on the raptor in front of her, while Pandora, Perseus, and Cass focused on the one behind her. Delphia smiled. She might not be adaptable like her fellows, but fighting? That was her domain.
The raptor started with a rush and a right claw slash. Delphia sidestepped as she withdrew her sword from the neck of the slain raptor, letting the claw pass through her previous position. She turned the motion into a spin, bringing up her sword and cutting into the gap between the scales on its left claw, drawing black blood from the wound while deflecting its second attack.
Delphia immediately shoved off from the embedded blade, sliding it free as she tucked into a dive between the legs of the raptor, dodging the bite it aimed where she'd been when she'd wounded it. Her sword flashed out, cutting underneath one of the scales on its right leg in the back. The raptor swung its tail at Delphia as it began to spin around to face her. Delphia lightly hopped up and grabbed onto one of the tail spikes as it passed under her, beginning to move with the tail, pulling her feet underneath her. As the tail finished its flick, Delphia found herself on the front right side of the raptor. She leapt toward the main body of the raptor, twisting around the hasty claw swipe and hooking her sword on the right shoulder joint of the raptor. This shifted her trajectory away from the biting maw of the raptor, and moved her once more to the back of the raptor as her sword drew swaths of black blood from the makeshift pivot.
Delphia briefly pulled her sword closer then extended it while contorting her wrist to free her sword from the shoulder, and launched herself feet-first towards the injured scale on its leg. As she landed, she kicked off the corner of the marred section, dislodging it and leaping with sword extended towards the tail of the raptor. The beast screeched as her blade found purchase in a gap between its armored plates and pierced through the tail. It twisted its tail violently before it could get pinned to the ground, loosening Delphia's grasp on her sword and throwing her away from the raptor.
Landing in a roll about ten feet from the injured raptor, Delphia took the moment to draw her other sword and a knife. The raptor was leaking brackish blood from its shoulder, leg, and tail, but as intent on killing Delphia as at the beginning. Without the advantage of brief paralysis and a large drop, this one was going to be harder to defeat. Delphia spared a moment's glance to make sure Pandora and Perseus were ok. The two were in a standoff with the other raptor - Perseus now in his martial form - as a large rock crashed into their opponent from above. Sighing in relief, Delphia turned back to her enemy just in time to meet a left slash from the raptor with her knife hand, tearing away flaps of skin on her hand while bouncing the knife out of her hand. Stupid, can't get distracted, need to focus.
Delphia backpedaled quickly as the raptor advanced with a snapping maw, both combatants slightly off balance now, Delphia barely keeping in front of the raptor's newest onslaught. She navigated backwards quickly, edging near a tree as she drew another knife in her injured hand. The raptor swiped at Delphia with its injured right claw, and Delphia sprung into motion, aiming again at the shoulder joint, hooking onto it again with her sword in her right arm pivoting under its arm this time and looping up towards the face of the raptor. As it turned to bite her, its left claw struck the tree Delphia has retreated to, delaying it momentarily. Delphia used the moment to bring her injured knife arm up, avoiding the jaws of the beast and stabbing it in its right eye.
Delphia grabbed on of the ridges on its spine with her sword arm, dropping her sword to gain purchase. The raptor lunged at the tree with its shoulder, breaking wood and jarring Delphia, who barely managed to stay on. Delphia hoisted herself up, securing her position with her thighs as she reached over the head of the raptor and grasped her knife embedded in its eye. The raptor futilely ran into the forest attempting to dislodge her as Delphia repeatedly stabbed in in first one, then the other eye. Eventually, the behemoth slumped over, ceasing its struggle.
Delphia dismounted, withdrew her sword from its tail, collected her fallen blade, and returned to camp. Upon her return, she saw the slain third body of the raptors, apparently pummeled to death by rocks dropped from the cliff Cass stood on.
Pandora's farming form was covered in scratches, bleeding from a bite on her right shoulder, and favoring her left leg, but other than that they appeared unharmed, though Perseus was conspicuously in his native form, not shifting to his scouting form. Delphia sighed in relief.
"Damage report?" Pandora asked
Delphia took a moment to examine herself, feeling the pains and scrapes of the fight slowly surface.
"Need to stitch up my hand." She examined a loose flap of skin on her left hand, "Other than that, just bruises and scratches." She shrugged, "I'll be fine, should be fully functional within a week."
Pandora smiled as she shifted into her empath form, wounds and limp disappearing as the form was replaced and walked over to Delphia, giving her a hug. "I'm so glad you're ok!" Delphia stiffened a little at first, then relaxed, returning the embrace. "Now let's get you patched up, then it's a forced march back to Pylos and the barrier."
Pandora looked up at the others around, "Scouting Expedition 38, gear up. We're marching through the night."
There was a chorus of groans as everyone started packing in the dark for the trip back to Pylos.
-o-
What do you focus on while traveling back to Pylos:
[X] The implications of the mission you've almost completed
[X] Your companions
[X] Your surroundings
[X] After action report: how to improve from your latest actions
[X] The situation at Pylos
[X] Geopolitics in Xeraxia
[X] Write-in
-o-
In this quest, we will be using approval voting. Vote for as many things as you want, though only the top-voted action will be accepted.
Write-ins are highly encouraged and accepted, as are commentary and discussion.
REBOOT QUEST CHAPTER 2 OUTLINE
- Introduce secondary characters
- Orion
- Aquila
- Other Recruits
- Other captains
- Other nobles
- Other singleforms
- Other social people
- Introduce main plot
- Pandora's expedition gives their report to Orion
- Introduce chosen Character's place, and set initial objective as one of:
- Long-term mission to find who may have been in the ruins
- Lead group to build an outpost outside the barrier
- Go to the capital to gain support
INITIAL CHAPTER ONE (draft)
-- abandoned when I realized "of course players will pick the superpower which is 'have all the super-powers'" and the character with the tragic backstory and most access to world-building information and so hid the world-building and re-wrote everything to focus exclusively on Pandora to let them choose her character instead of selecting a pre-built character, while also organically revealing everything over the course of the story.
Rise of the Champions: The Game of Gods (initial working title for the quest, changed to Conquest of Shambhala because I didn't want to spoil world-building in the title)
The continent of Pangea: a single land-mass with six different sentient species, and endless monsters. Each nation-species formed by a different god with varying abilities and strategies, but the same goal: to be the dominant species. From the warring Kerakuts' weapons expertise, to the Ratoaks' survivalist tactics, the world was filled with a variety of young tribes. Defended from the monsters by god provided guardians, the civilizations began to evolve. Developing tools, language, religion, and legends, the nations began to thrive in the safety provided by their guardians.
One day, the guardians vanished, leaving a small remnant of their strength behind, and a prophecy and philosophy of global domination. Abandoned by their defenders, the tribes had to survive on their own. Each adopted different tactics, refined their abilities, and began to grow into forces to be reckoned with. From the pacifistic and beast taming Zelakins to the demon summoning Philophia. Civilizations grew and expanded. New cities were formed, regions defended, farmed, and tamed. Borders defined. The nations discovered each other. With the discovery of other nations came the rekindling of what had now passed into legend: the desire to conquer the continent.
Nation Select:
Pick the nation the player character will come from. This will affect their (starting) demeanor, their abilities, your knowledge of the world at large, your goals, and even potential allies or enemies. Note: information provided here is general knowledge, which is likely only partially true. Each race has detailed mechanics for how their abilities work, but you don't get to know what the mechanics are of other races
[] Kerakut - Feared by their enemies, kerakuts are often referred to as blazing whirlwinds on the battle field. The pale skined race is blessed with extraordinary combat ability. It is said that even the youngest babe handles any weapon with ease and grace, though the truth behind their magic remains a secret to all. Each individual soldier in their army can handle any job with the ability of a true master. Armed with steel, they aim for nothing less than global military conquest. They are currently pursuing a military campaign against the Xeraxis, and have minimal diplomatic contact with others.
Abilities: Can use any weapon at near master level with little effort.
Conquest strategy: Straightforward military conquest
Aoife (girl)
In the warrior nation of Kerakut a girl becomes a woman, joining the legacy of soldiers before her, hoping to grasp her destiny and bring her nation glory
Ranks of novice soldiers stood at attention, their pale skin and red hair gleaming with a thin film of sweat. a giant of a man stood on a podium above them, hands clasped behind him. He surveyed them with an inscrutable look on his face. Then, in a firm voice resounding throughout the stadium:
"Class of 496! Ten-hut!"
Thousands of feet moved as one, making the slight movement echo, amplified into something more. They signaled their ready.
"Ra!"
"You are hereby promoted to Active Duty! You will attend to your Duty with the respect it is due! Report to your commanders for orders! Dismissed!"
Even as the man spoke, he turned and strode off the platform crisply, leaving the soldiers to execute their task.
Aoife gazed up at the podium from her position among the soldiers.
One day. One day I'll be up there. I know it. She marched off to report to her commander with the rest of her squad.
For now, just one mission at a time.
-One Week Later-
Aoife stayed alert. In this forest, anything else would mean death. Spotting a raptor, she barked a warning and readied her short sword and buckler. The other four members of her squad readied themselves behind her.
As the pointwoman, she was the first target of the rush. Five Raptors came out of woods to join the one she'd spotted, but thankfully only three charged close enough to pass by her. She grinned
Their mistake. We'll finish this in no time, or we aren't Kerakut!
Her trust in her squadmates was rewarded as a quarrel found it's way into the chink in the neck armor of the rightmost raptor coming towards her. Delving into her instincts, Aoife stepped towards where the slain raptor would have been, and ducked. Avoiding the sweeping claws of the first raptor she'd initially spotted, she came up in an elegant arc, neatly lopping off the left leg through joint, avoiding the chitin. With two raptors incapacitated and her sword dripping ichor, she continues her upward arc, twisted, and threw her sword at the back of one of the raptors. "Ray! Switch!"
Her sword flew from her hands towards Raymond, her squad mate with a crossbow. Almost simultaneously, he threw the double crossbow towards her. She caught the crossbow as he caught the sword. He readied his grasp on the sword and repeated the same maneuver she had with it to remove the left leg at the joint of the raptor charging him.
Aoife readied the crossbow, briefly checking to ensure the second bolt was now loaded, aimed, and fired towards the last standing raptor, pinning it through its right foot to the ground. Her squad leader removed it's head with a clean stroke of her glaive.
Looking around, the squad leader provided a brief post combat report,
"Aoife, good eyes, could have been messy without warning." Aoife beamed in pride, "But giving up your primary weapon while exposed before verifying all enemies down is unwise. Watch yourself." Aoife frowned in concentration
They were all past me anyways. I wasn't going to need that sword. Kira's assessment continued,
"Colin, Nice improvisation on the spear plant to adapt for the terrain, but be careful with that sort of thing. We leave new techniques to those at home for a reason. Claire, be careful not to rely on the Tower defense too much, The shield'll hold but in terrain like this you may trip. Raymond, nice crossbow work. Note that you should have gotten that second shot off without relying on Aoife, and you have a perfectly good dager at your side." She paused as everyone took in their respective praise and criticism.
"Now let's clean these up and refresh our provisions!"
"Yes Sir!"
[] Continue play as Aoife, the young ambitious Kerakut soldier?
[] Ratoak - The least known nation, this reclusive race is covered in a thick, color changing fur. They can use their fur as active camoflague, or to impersonate other races (From a distance). While not particularly strong of arms, they hide excellently, having a network of hidden cities.
Abilities: Extraordinarily light-footed, active camouflage, anti-smell glands
Conquest strategy: Let other nations wipe each other out, then take out the victor. Remain hidden and safe.
Amir (boy)
From the survivalist nation of Ratok, a young man grows up and sets off on his own.
"It's a boy!" Shouted the wetnurse. She cleaned off the child, and handed him to his mother. She inspected his fur. It sparkled through all the colors of the rainbow. "He looks healthy."
"And we would expect nothing less from you Divit. What will you name him?"
Divit's fur momentarily turned the color of the brown ground behind her, before returning to it's usual grey. She turned to her husband, "Raj and I decided on Amir. I'm sure it will suit him in time."
-o-
Amir was so excited, it was his fourth namesday, and he would get his very own fairy today! This would mark him as a boy in his own right, no longer a baby. The fairies were god given watchers which followed and assisted Ratokan. Amir wondered what his fairie would be like. They tended to all be similar, but each had slightly different aspects. He hoped his would be purple - they would help him see things better.
He went through a very boring ceremony where everybody stood around. The exciting part came after all the talking, when out from the sacred ground rose a fairy.
My very own! It was a humanoid figure about six inches in length, floating in the air, and shining a pulsating blue light.
Greetings. I am Zandra. I will be your guardian. A male voice spoke in Amir's mind. Amir's face lit up.
It talked to me! I didn't know Fairies talked! He ran up to it and tried to catch it. It fluttered above him.
Of course we talk. How else are we to advise? Amir waited for the rest of the ceremony to finish, and announced the name of his fairie
"Let it be known: I accept Zandra as my guardian, and will heed his advice."
-o-
Amir was walking around outside the village with his parents, searching for berries, and practicing using his hide to… er… hide.
"You already know how to change your fur color, first, try to localize the changes."
Amir focused on his left forepaw turning red.
Not like that, don't focus on the change, focus on the end result. Amir took Zandra's advice, and thought about seeing his forepaw as red. He realized he had stopped and closed his eyes. When he opened them, he saw it was red!
"Yay!"
The lesson continued as Amir learned how to manipulate his fur to change color without needing to spend quite so long visualizing. All the while, he was encouraged and instructed by his parents and Zandra
-o-
The fairies all suddenly stopped and looked in one direction
Monsters! Zandra shouted in Amir's head.
Amir's parents were clear on instructions,
"Hide! Climb that tree, and become a branch!"
Amir scrambled up the indicated tree, claws grasping at the bark, and scampered off to the middle of one of the branches. He then hung down it and applied all his effort to becoming a tree branch
Here, let me help. Zandra flew over to Amir, and became a leaf on his arm.
After getting situated, Amir barely had time to see his parents completing their own transformations into tree branches.
The raptor pack passed unaware of the meal they were missing.
-o-
"I'm telling you, we can save them!"
"It goes against our very principles and endangers the whole village. I will not hear of it."
Raj paused to consider, "Do you really think with the Great Fairie gone we can remain hidden for long? We need to establish friendly contact with the many-colored. What better opportunity than now?"
The village elder frowned, "We don't know the Great Fairy won't return. She's been gone for periods of time before. Besides, how would we even talk to the many-colored? They speak gibberish we can't even pronounce."
"Well, we'd figure something out. Fairy knows they don't deserve to be trampled over by the White-skinned fanatics."
The elder, grasping firm ground, now responded, "It goes against our very culture. We expect the outsiders to destroy each other. We will be SAFE when the outsiders destroy each other. Warning them ahead of time is counterproductive. Remember the prophecy. 'When all others fall, a hero shall rise to deliver you to safety.' Or do you now doubt the words of the Great Fairy herself?"
Rebuked, Raj backed down, "No. That's not it. I just think that we could do something about it."
"The village will do nothing." The elder's expression softened, "But, if you were to disappear during your son's upcoming survival experience… there would be no questions. It happens often."
Raj's expression brightened.
-o-
Amir looked around the forest, outside the village for the first time. This time, he and Zandra were going to be alone in the forest. Zandra would be responsible for lookout, and he'd be responsible for covering. Speaking of, he double checked that his scent glands were set to release inside his pouch. It wouldn't do to leave a scent trail. Fur set to the speckled green and browns that would make detection more difficult, Amir walked around.
Looking down, he could barely see the cleft of the canyon their village was hidden in. Looking around, he saw the fertile land, and the forest beyond. He needed to spend 14 days out here, gathering food on his own, and surviving. When he returned, he would be recognized as a full grown Ratoak, and set out on his own without his parents.
On the first two days, he got to the forest, where he could more easily make a tree-shelter. Once there, he began laying down the appropriate predator scents to keep most of the nasties away from his dwelling. Then, he spent several hours gathering edible berries, and slept the night away safe in a treetop.
-o-
Eight days into his tree-based living, Amir spotted the smoke. Great plumes of it rose to the east.
"Zandra, what do you make of that?"
Unknown. Recent rainfall suggests fire will not spread. Not natural.
"Huh." Amir decided to be a little more observant in the future.
-o-
Amir! Hey! Wake Up! On the tenth night, Amir awoke to the sound of Zandra shouting. "I'm up. What's up."
Climb higher and hide. The white-demons are coming. At this, Amir suddenly bolted awake. The white-demons were the worst of the threats in the forest. They carried powerful weapons, and had no regard for the life of other beings. Scampering up higher, Amir wraped himself out on a branch, and looked down.
In a few minutes, he could barely make out the sound of measured footsteps. Another minute, and he saw the tell-tale red head-fur of the white-demons. It came from the east. Bracing himself, Amir double checked his camoflague. It seemed the devil hadn't noticed him yet. He could ambush it! Scare had he completed that thought, before he saw another coming. Waiting it out, he saw three more come behind them. Once they had passed, he witnessed over a hundred additional devils moving in the same direction. Amir spent the rest of the night in his tree.
-o-
On the twelfth day Amir resumed his food gathering. Zandra shouted out to him
Amir! There's a many-colored nearby! Amir stopped. "You think we should investigate?"
They appear unconscious. Not a threat. "Good enough for me."
Amir set off in the direction Zandra indicated. Eventually, he came across a clearing, where a many-colored lay. He stared at it for a bit. It was so strange. It's skin appeared translucent, with veins clearly visible underneath, but it seemed to have many different colors throughout it. He had heard about many-colored, but never seen them. This one looked to be asleep. He approached cautiously.
As he approached, he snapped a twig
A careless mistake. Suddenly, the many-colored's eyes opened, and it stared straight at him. They each froze, looking at each other. Then, the many-colored morphed! It's body shortened and widened, and it took the form of a Ratoak. Color changing fur, claws on hands, the whole shebang. It- or rather she- sniffed and asked, "Which way village?"
Amir broke out of his shock. He'd heard that the many-skinned could take many forms, but didn't know they could turn into people! Even if they were rather rude and inarticulate people.
"The village is where it's always been." Amir said, not trusting this stranger. "Where are you from?"
"Many-colored village. White-demon attack. Village gone. Warn Ratoak."
Amir puffed up in pride, "There's nothing to worry about. Ratoak will Survive. Er… sorry about your village. But I can take you back to Raoak. You know how to hide right?"
The girl nodded.
"Perfect."
-o-
On the thirteenth day, at the edge of the forest, Amir saw the smoke rising from the village.
[] Continue play as Amir?
[] Philophia - The demon summoning race. This largely reclusive race studies magic and makes constructs only they can use. Their left arms end in stumps which emit a sparking yellow light, useful for starting fires, emergency close quarters combat, and commanding demons.
Abilities: Demon controlling arm
Conquest strategy: Studying magic for a way to escape the world, then deal with the problems from a distance.
Rhea (girl)
In the magical land of Philophia, a young woman takes her first steps toward harnessing arcane power
Rhea sat in her seat and watched the teacher, hands clasp in front of her. She was excited
today's my first day of mana school! Nobody can call me a child once I've unleashed my core! The teacher strode across the room in strong strides. He of course, already had unleashed his core, as the sparkling nub where his left elbow was demonstrated. He spoke,
"Mana flows through us. We, of all Philop's creatures, are unique. For others have no mana core. Remember to treat your core with the respect it is due." He tapped the stump of his left arm with his right hand, "This is what marks us as the chosen people, and, is proof of our personhood. It's what separates us from the animals we eat, and is why you, my students, have no rights yet. But fear not! For you are still of the chosen race, even if you have yet to actualize your potential. To harness the powers of mana, you must first discover your self. Here we shall practice that visualization, and, when you have succeeded, you will discover your mana core."
The lecture continued onward, and young Rhea absorbed every aspect of it.
-o-
"Daddy, can I go gather flowers in the forest?"
Her dad looked terrified
"No dearest. I can't accompany you tonight, I need to make dinner. I know you want to give something to your mother for her birthday, but it's just too dangerous. You'll need to think of something else"
Rhea had carefully planned her arguments
"But the demons will protect me! I'll go with the patrol and stay in the designated center. Everybody else gets to go!" She pouted.
Her father frowne "Rhea, that's for adults. You haven't exposed your mana core yet. You need to stay in the village where it's safe."
This was it, the moment she'd impress father!
"No daddy, see!" She held out her left arm. From the tips of her fingers, a faint yellow light was emitting.
"Well then young lady! I believe celebrations are in order! And of course you can go with the patrol if you want. Congratulations on reaching adulthood!"
-o-
Rhea watched the summoners standing besides their demons at the edge of the town.
"Alright, we're going to go out for one hour. Any adults who want to come with us may follow. Please stay in the designated area. We will defeat any monsters which should come near. Our mana will be your shield."
With this said, they maneuvered their scaly black bodies up against the equally black demons and summoned the demon spirits. Instantly, the demons lit up, and swallowed the bodies of the summoners. Rhea always got a thrill out of watching that
one day, I'll get my own demon to summon! Brushing astray the errant thought, Rhea walked into the designated circle. She was going to find the perfect flowers for momma!
They passed the ancient walls, and towering alpha demons guarding the walls. A thrill went down Rhea's spine
Now it's just our demons protecting us. She loved going outside, even if it wasn't for such an important task as today's.
Looking for any red flowers, Rhea skipped along with the troupe. Suddenly, there was a roar which resounded in the woods.
"Civilians to the center! Now!"
Excitedly, Rhea went to the center, and managed to secure one of the best spots on the edges so she could see the action.
"Boars!" Came the cry from the front. And, looking forward, Rhea saw that indeed, there were boars advancing on the front-lines. Four giant behemoths advanced on the demon defending that flank.
"Don't let any through!"
The dark demon pulled out its spear in its right hand, and a long scythe in its left. It's four legs lowered, putting it into a ready position.
The first boar impaled itself on the demon's spear, placed in the ground to confront it. Abandoning the spear, the demon lunged sideways, avoiding the deathcharge of the boar. It then swung its sword and cleanly chopped the second in half. While it was doing that, the third impacted it, knocking it up off two of its feet. When the fourth impacted it, it toppled, with the third now firmly on top of it.
The fourth boar, having lost most of its momentum in its collision, shook its head, spotted the civilians and charged them. Rhea's heart skipped a beat.
No. It can't have beaten a demon, everybody knows the demons can't die! Rhea began to panic, backing up slowly, bumping into the terrified mass of civilians behind her. The boar continued to charge at her, as time seemed to slow.
Then, a metal shard appeared in the forehead of the charging boar, it tensed, and skidded to a stop. Seeing past it now, Rhea saw that the demon had managed to throw its sword, now horribly mangled, through the body of the charging boar, and had managed to trap the thrashing boar which used to be on top of it between it's legs. It casually reached down and snapped the boar's neck.
The rest of the trip passed uneventfully. The demon was unharmed, though the spear and sword had been mangled potentially beyond use. Rhea hoped they wouldn't need to find out.
-o-
Time passed, Rhea learned more of how to harness her mana, her core continued to expose itself, as first her fingernails, then the edges of her fingers of her left hand were consumed and her core shone ever brighter.
-o-
"...and, when you succeed, you'll find your own mana core. Now go practice! Envision your inner self."
Rhea glanced around the classroom, seeing her students all sitting crosslegged, and straining, sometimes comically, attempting to find their true self and expose their manacore. She mostly make sure they all appeared to be focusing, after all, you had to find your core yourself.
-o-
Rhea reported to her supervisor after class
"Well taught. Three students found their mana cores today. But, before we go into detail on your evaluation, we should start with what projects you want to pursue as the newest faculty member? Obviously, with as small as mana core as you have now, you'll never pass the demon summoning exam." Rhea's gaze turned angry as the woman looked at her still exposed hand and thumb. "But that still leaves open a variety of tasks for you to pursue! You could work on researching new demons, you could join one of the rituals to summon a demon, sure, you won't add much, but it'll be some. Finally, you seem to have some knack for teaching, we'd be happy for you to stay here. Ultimately it's your choice, just remember to submit your application in the next week."
Rhea squared her shoulders. She would
not be relegated to glorified daycare of non-people! She
would pass the demon summoning test, and she
would be recognized for what she was - the youngest graduating mage in living memory!
[] Continue as Rhea, the young and ambitious demon summoner
In the cut-throat politics land of the Zelacks, a young man begins to climb the political ladder, one rung at a time striving for the highest of offices
[] Zelacks - The best diplomacers in the world.
Lesedi (boy)
- Lesedi using ability on a cat as a child
- Lesedi witnessing mother uniting the tribes
- Lesedi capturing his first monster
- Lesedi setting out on his first mission (find and subjugate the Philophia)
In the fields of Pandora, a Seratoan scout discovers new land
[] Seratoans - The best spies and explorers in the world.
Shiriki (boy)
- Shiriki learns the tennents of Seratoa (hidden, safe)
- Shiriki explores new farmland
- Shiriki acts as outermost envoy of spy empire, witnesses destruction of Xeraxis
- Shiriki reports for duty: act as escort in first contact mission to Zelacks
Xeraxis
Pandora (girl)
Running through the forests of Pandora, a young woman mourns her loss and makes a vow
- Pandora growing up, loving parents, kindhearted interactions
- Examples of squads of Xeraxians
- Pandora's squad meeting with Kerakuts
- Pandora running through the forest mourning the loss of her nation, stumbles, fall unconcious, comes to, and is found by Amir
In every generation, some individuals rise above the rest. They learn faster, grow stronger, think differently, or achieve more. They shape the fabric of their tribe, and potentially the world. Confrontations may be decided by the invention of a single woman, the diplomacy of a single man, or, occasionally, the military genius of a single general. This becomes particularly true when gods back their own geniuses. This is the story of the conquest of Pangea, the six champions who rose up to lead their nations to success, and the clash which came about in the game. Our story begins innocently enough in one nation in particular.
