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Birdman

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Everything posted by Birdman

  1. Happy trails to you Proddy Free yourself from the cycle of character rebirths and achieve moksha by leaving LOTC behind.
  2. You're doing God's work Treshure, thank you for this.
  3. Havelock strokes his prematurely grey beard. "A road is made by people walking it." he remarks. "God be with us."
  4. THE CYCLES OF HISTORY I tell you, my kinsmen: this world of ours that we walk today will pass away, just as all the others before it. Do you really think it could be otherwise? The sun rises and the sun sets, the moon hides her face and smiles, the stars march relentlessly along their heavenly courses, each returning again to its own, each again in its proper time. Are gods and men so different than these? Within the lifetime of a single generation, the land we have called our home will sink into the sea, leaving us beggars and vagabonds once again. We run ashore on a new continent, planting our flags, building cities, fortresses, temples. But there is no escape from black time- did Arcas escape her jaws? Or Anthos? Or even Aegis, our noble mother, our childhood home? So it has been since days of old- the cosmic clock will strike the hour, the gates of hell will open wide, and a new menace will emerge from its cursed womb to devour us once again. And so it shall be for you, for this vain life of yours, and so it shall be for your children, and for your grandchildren, and for theirs... On and on, without ceasing or deviation- an endless chain, infinite perhaps! With nothing to mark a stop, nothing to build or hope for. No final resting place, no completion. Only repetition. Only more. Kinsmen, see this world of ours for what it is. You own nothing. Nothing that your hands touch will save you from the fate that awaits us. Nothing can protect you from it- not the highest walls. Nothing can distract you from it- not the sweetest melody. All that you build will be destroyed, sinking once more into the churning flux from whence it came. Talk to our elders- what do they tell you? Read the history of our realm- what do you see? Rex follows Rex, war follows war, the Empire rises, falls, rises again. The same names, the same bloodlines, appear again and again, playing out the same conflicts without fail. We are no different than the stars above us, nor from the great forces that wipe our worlds away. We too keep to our courses, running over the same old ground, spurred on by the same fears, desires, hatreds, loves. For that which has been is that which shall be, and all things return to their birthplace in the end. There is no escape from these cycles, kinsmen. Only acceptance. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LIBERATION OF THE SPIRIT There are many well-tread paths to escape the meaninglessness of this life, but there are two that our people take to like birds to the sky. THE PATH OF WAR Embrace your bloodlust, kinsmen. Embrace the dark gift that is your inheritance. In the glories of battle, many have found deliverance from their suffering, and redemption from a life marked by idleness or misdeeds. War can elevate the spirit- instilling discipline, courage, and selflessness into those who serve her faithfully. The quickening of the mind and the overflow of the heart that combat brings- these banish all thoughts of tomorrow. When you lock eyes with a worthy foe, hear your sword crash against his, feel sinew and bone give way beneath a well-placed strike- yes, when Enhrok takes full possession of your spirit, and you stand over the bloody heap of steel and flesh that was once your enemy- that is freedom, kinsmen, for the raptures of war are their own reward. There are no questions of purpose in the demands of the present moment, for one feels nothing but immediate awareness of danger or safety, pain or pleasure, victory or defeat. All are consumed in the eternal Now. THE PATH OF CONTEMPLATION Another path beckons to our people, as ancient and primordial as the warrior tradition. At the dread feet of a shrine, in the warm darkness of a cave, or alone on the highest mountain peak, our people have found release and completion in this world. The shamans have instructed our folk in devotion to beings higher than ourselves, and have guided many through the spiritual labyrinths that await us in the next life. Others have found peace in stillness, renouncing the ties that bind us to the world of everyday appearance, emptying and perfecting their souls to make them vessels of a mysterious Power. The two paths are not so different as they first appear. Each demands an ascetic’s discipline, and each promises a blessed forgetfulness- a subsuming of the self into something greater and nobler- freedom from the ceaseless turnings of the world-wheel.
  5. THE REALITY OF FORCE Words can trick, mislead, even blind us- but not deeds. Remember, kinsmen, you are what is. Your actions are bound to the Totality; they play a small part in shaping the world into its present form. For what is the world today but the sum total of all our works, and all those of our ancestors? When you forge a new blade in the smithy, when you unleash terror upon a battlefield, when you hold a newborn cub in your arms- that, kinsmen, is Truth- Truth right before your eyes! Is there any doubt, deception, or ambiguity in actual experience? Only the tangible can be trusted, kinsmen. Force: the power to do- this alone is real. What makes things so? Making them so makes them so. What makes them not so? Making them not so makes them not so. A road is made by people walking it. The world belongs to the strong, to those who can act. Some elves believe they have been cursed twice, that immortality is a burden too great to bear without succumbing to madness. But verily I say to you kinsmen, that the orcish race has been blessed twice. They say that bloodlust is damning because it turns us into monsters, without soul, conscience, or honor. But can fire not devour whole cities and still not be satisfied? Does it not take more lives in a day than the greatest warrior could hope to in a century? And yet, do we not call fire the great gift? That which separates us from the beasts, that which we share with the dragons alone? Like fire, our bloodlust can be befriended, tempered, but never tamed. Yes kinsmen, there will always be a wildness in you that escapes the jurisdiction of your mind. You will never be as docile as human soldiers in their neat little lines, or a spindly elf in his library. For you possess a power that they will never understand; even the best of them live only in shallow imitation of it. No other race is born for war - it can take half a lifetime to prepare a man, elf, or dwarf for that which an orc is ready, even craving, by their tenth year. And that is why they hide behind words. I have peered deep into the hearts of their historians, the veritable army of lawyers and scribes that hang off the sleeves of great men- and what did I find? Only fear, a deep and slavish fear. And worst of all- fear of that which they claim to serve: the truth! Visit a library, open a dusty tome, and any discerning reader will be struck by how much of what passes for their history are lies. Names, places, even entire wars are conjured out of thin air in service of the author’s agenda. Details are smudged, re-arranged, “tidied up,” in order to hide the truth, the terrible truth, that our distant kin have long forgotten but the sons of Krug have always known: Force is the final arbiter. History becomes messier, and yet all at once more simple once you perceive this clearest of patterns which all their frenzied scribbling does its best to obscure. Thus the recent obsession with legal codes. When a people is no longer capable of honor, they turn instead to law. But for all of their prattle, the structure that undergirds their societies is no different than it was when the Wandering Wizard walked among us. When you vote, you are borrowing authority guaranteed by the state, an institution that exists only as long as its armies keep foreign powers at bay. In other words, you are exercising force. Therefore, I say to you my kinsmen: hold fast to the ways of our people. Do not be impressed or deceived by the verbal edifices of other lands, for they are only so much breath and parchment. Pay your respects to the spirits and the ancestors, for they will guide you on the path to wisdom. And remember: it will be deeds, not words, that keep you walking on the way of Honor
  6. THE VANITY OF WORDS The world is One. Before thoughts, before words, there is only the one, undifferentiated mass. Nothing exists independently of anything else- things appear as they are because of their relation to all other things. This totality, this wholeness, this One- that kinsmen, is Truth. That is the only Truth there ever could be, for It is all that exists, and all that ever could exist. What then are words? Do we not say that one speaks the truth? When someone pulls the wool over our eyes, do we not call him a liar? Must Truth not take at least temporary residence in one’s writing or speech? Words are just wind kinsmen, no different than the chirping of birds or the howling of wolves. They do not inhabit some special realm of their own- a spectral dimension of knowledge, forms, and arithmetic- posited by philosophers, but seen by no one. They hang together like everything else, fellow members of the endless web of cause and effects that binds us all. No words, spoken or written, will ever capture the Totality. To try and use them for such would be like casting a net over the sky. One can never speak the Truth, one can only speak of the Truth. All that we say or think (for no thought can escape the form of language,) expresses but a puny fragment of the whole of reality, the One Truth. The meaning of a word is determined by the meanings of other words, the objects to which they refer are conditioned by their relations to other objects- all shifting, all changing, never the same… Meaning is an endless maze kinsmen, there is no bottom to the question, no way out of the tangle. Spoken or written language can only ever be an approximation; a useful tool, indispensable even, but nothing more. In a way kinsmen, we are all of us liars- for try as we might, we are condemned never to speak the Truth. Therefore I say to you: Do not speak when you can remain silent. Never talk when you could act. Remember that all words deceive.
  7. THE PARABLE OF THE DUNES A young uruk was wandering alone across the desert. Full to the brim with cunning and ambition, he had left home with nothing more than his sword and sufficient rations to reach the Rexdom’s eastern border. There, he would raise a mighty warband- strong enough to crush the militias guarding the frontier villages, and loyal enough to follow him on a daring raid into the rich Imperial heartland. With the loot from his conquests, he would construct a fortress bigger and more impenetrable than Kodar’Goi itself- no, it would be bigger! From his new headquarters, he would wage a savage war of conquest upon Krugmar, and his foes would fall like blades of grass before him- yes, fall like wheat before a scythe. While his warriors were making short work of the Krughai, he would handle the Rex personally- and before the eyes of all his kinsfolk, he would grind the Rex into the sand, taking the ancient mantle for himself. His hordes would stream forth from the desert’s edge, laying waste to entire armies, exacting tribute from every foe that had ever dared to cross the War Uzg. And how they would worship him, yes, how they would worship him then. His name would be on the lips of the orcish race for all time… Fevered mind lost entirely to the world of dreams, the young uruk hardly noticed his slow drift off the course he had carefully charted that morning in the Goi. Straying further and further from the proper route, it wasn’t until the pricklers of a cactus pierced his bare skin that he awoke with a start in the present moment. First confusion struck, then shame, then rage at his foolish mistake- ah, but then! As his eyes took in the scene before him, the young uruk’s heart grew still and calm, for true beauty can bring peace to the most restless of souls. Before him lay the most alluring range of dunes he had ever seen. All thought of his idleness fled from his mind as the uruk was overtaken with excitement. Here he would build his Kodar’Goi! Here is where the conquests would begin! The desert has its own sort of beauty- a starkness and a vastness that has no equal under the sun, except perhaps in the tundra wastes of the North. An emptiness that seeps into one’s soul, turning every thought into an echo. The sandscape before the young uruk captured this elusive spirit with perfection, and before his mind’s eye, the dunes were being filled with buildings of a grand design. Here would be his feasting hall, and there the outer wall would begin! The campfire here, a shrine there, and ahh- the perfect place for a klomping pit! The young uruk paced dreamily among the dunes, exploring them, naming them, and delighting in his fantasy for the remainder of the day. Just as the red sun touched down on the horizon, a sharp wind whirled in from the west, chilling the young uruk to the bone. The wind was picking up- faster, faster, and faster still. Robes swirling about him in a mini sandstorm, the uruk made for the beckoning entrance of a cave not far from the treasured dunes. Taking shelter behind a row of stalagmites to conserve his meager warmth, the young uruk settled in for a cold and uneasy night. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- He rose with the sun, eager to be off on his way. As the young uruk cast a final backwards glance towards his future headquarters- he stopped, face darkening, crestfallen at what he saw. Where the dunes had once been, there was nothing. The wind had taken it all.
  8. What is your favorite quote?
  9. Idries Irulan wanders dreamily around the Providence streets. A gentle smile marks his face, and his air of contentment strikes those passersbys that he encounters on his saunter towards the front gates. Atop a stack of yellowing parchment in his old chambers sits a ministerial ring, bearing the seal of the Orenian Foreign Affairs Office. Beside it rests an unkempt pile of unfinished paperwork, letters unsealed and unsent, drafts of bills, treaties, diplomatic assignments.... As he passes beneath the city portcullis, the guard on watch might catch a few whispered words beneath Idries’ breath: “Vanity of vanities, vanity of vanities, all is vanity…”
  10. “Good to see you here on this day, brother. We shall begin quite simply. What is your name?” Morgant. “How old are you?” 27 years. “This question is obvious, but it is for the sake of these records. What race of the descendants are you of?” I am human. “You are able to read and write, am I right?” I can. “And with that, I hope you are familiar with the Holy Scrolls and Catechism of our Church?” Yes. “You are of course baptized?” My father wished that I be baptized at birth, and so I was. “Good, good. Are you married? Do you have children?” I am not married, and I do not have children. “In what way of the clergy do you wish to serve? As a Priest, or a Monastic?” As a priest. “This really depends on the needs of the Church, but in what Diocese would you prefer to serve in? You can simply name a city or Kingdom.” Anywhere will do. I do not hail from any place in particular, so I submit to the Church's needs. “A rather personal question, why have you chosen to walk this path in God?” It is what God intends for me. “And lastly, are you truly devoted to this way of life? Prepared to take any vows involved with ordination and commit oneself to this lifetime bond with the Lord Almighty?” I am. Whatever must be sworn, I will swear.
  11. ON BEAUTY Many who wrestle with unbelief become preoccupied with notions of proof for God’s existence. These anxious souls insist that an ironclad, mathematically sound syllogism is the only antidote for their doubting, and until such proof sits before their minds, they cannot embrace the faith with sincerity. Good men and women, blessed by God with sharp and critical minds, your situation is that of the Lishan monkey. Rheynari hunters have devised a fiendishly simple way of trapping these creatures, which I hope you will find instructive. First, they find a gourd and drill a small hole in the bottom. Into the hole goes a piece of fruit, and the rest of the gourd is filled with sand and gravel to give it weight. The hunters leave the trap in a place that monkeys are known to frequent, and then they wait. This is how the trap works: the hole is small enough for the monkey’s empty hand to pass through, but once it grasps the treat inside the gourd, the clenched fist becomes too large for the monkey to pull it out. Driven as it is by instinct, the monkey cannot understand its predicament, and will cling stubbornly to its prize until clubbed to death by the hunter. If it only knew that it was exchanging freedom for a trifle, that all it had to do was let go. As long as you cling to the hope that some clever philosopher will solve the riddle for you, you will never be free to love God as He intended. Like the monkey, it will be your stubbornness and inflexibility that spell your doom, for you are caught in a trap of your own making. To frame your problem as an absence of proof is to look at the situation all wrong. Knowing God is not a matter of understanding, it is a matter of perception. One does not prove God or discover God- one sees God, one experiences God. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As the moon borrows all of its luminosity from the greater light of the sun, so does the world borrow all of its beauty from the Heavens above. All that is truly good on this earth belongs to God, not to man You doubters- go not to the house of the theologian or the scholar- no, seek out the artists! The sculptors, the musicians, the painters, potters, and poets. Marvel at the architecture of a grand cathedral, lose yourself in a stained-glass scene. And do not think that the sublime is restricted to works of art- when witnessing a deed done with kindness and purity of heart, when the mountains strike you with their terrible majesty, when you look into the eyes of your newborn child- brothers and sisters, there too is beauty found, there too will you find God. And if your mind longs after patterns and constancy, you will not be disappointed. For there is a grand design at work here, a symphony in which we all play a part. But you will not capture it in words, or tether it with your mind. You will never read the conductor’s score, but if you listen, you can hear His music. -Neophyte Morgant, 1808.
  12. Similar, but with some key differences. Those cursed with true sight see souls caught in the Elysium Wastes, whether they want to or not. Fordmakers can contact souls from the Seven Skies, and it is a choice. I will gladly emphasize this distinction in the post though, thank you for pointing this out to me!
  13. THE COMMUNION OF SOULS Gone, but not forgotten. Far away, yet near at hand… The dead are with us whether we acknowledge them or not. While it is the orcs and mali’ker who have perfected ancestor veneration into a spiritual science, there is another race who may be even closer to their fallen. Humans, more than all other descendants, are obsessed with the dead. Take a walk through the palaces of any living monarch- what will you find? Painting after painting of battles, ancient cities, scenes from legend or antiquity. The visages of old kings, preserved forever in marble, meet your gaze wherever you look. Step outside, and I promise you will be walking down a street named for a great hero. Follow it for long enough, and it will take you to a square dedicated to some long dead queen or saint. Many have gazed into the painted eyes of a relative and wondered: “What would you think of all this? What would you do in my shoes?” Little known the rest of their brethren, there have always been those who never had to wonder. They had only to ask. THE SECRET TEACHING OF GODWIN Ever since it was first whispered into the ear of his disciple Ambrosius, the Teaching of Godwin has been among humanity’s most closely guarded secrets. The mythical King, or so the story goes, foresaw his early death in a dream. Fearing that his wisdom and arcane knowledge would be lost to future generations, Godwin set about finding a way to tether himself to the mortal realms. When he at last succeeded, and the secret workings of all things stood revealed before his mind, Godwin no longer feared the end. Even as his brother’s dread hammer fell, Godwin was at peace- secure in the knowledge of his immortal soul. Passed down through the centuries from teacher to student, master to apprentice, the Art has survived the ravages of time by remaining safely out of sight, and in the hands of only a select few. At which point in the process did practitioners of the Art begin calling themselves “Fordmakers,” none can say for certain. It is said that the name was adopted during a brief period when an enclave of students posed as river ferrymen to avoid detection, though this is a rumor at best. What is known beyond a doubt is that the name serves as a cryptic summary of a practitioner's abilities, instantly recognizable to those initiated: In the folklore of humanity, the dead are imagined as crossing a great river when they leave this world- a vast Rubicon, seemingly impassable to the living. A Fordmaker is one who can journey to the other side, creating a temporary bridge between the mortal realm and those beyond. By concentration of spirit and purity of mind, Fordmakers learn to accomplish what most think is impossible: speaking and consorting with the dead. NOTE: It need not be true that Godwin, Ambrosius, or much in the way of specifics actually be true about the origins of Fordmaking. The gist is that it has been kept secret, and practiced by a long chain of teachers and students, thus explaining its absence from official records. VISITATION Over the long centuries, Fordmakers have identified many techniques for establishing reliable contact with the departed souls, and a set of ideal conditions in which to do their work. FREEING THE MIND SLEEP: THE “LITTLE DEATH” Communion can only occur when the soul of a living person approaches the threshold that the dead have already crossed over. The most everyday example of one of these states is that of sleep, where the waking mind has detached from the mundane world and roams free until sunrise. It is in murky depths of dreams, and on the brink of death itself that those uninitiated into the Art have reported the most encounters with dead relatives, offering counsel or easing them gently into the next life. Fordmakers discipline their minds with the aim of becoming lucid at will during dreams. Once lucid, they can proceed to use other techniques in order to establish contact. MEDITATION A secondary method of approaching death is that of deep focus and meditation. By emptying the mind of all of its contents, controlling the breath and stilling the spirit, more experienced Fordmakers can loosen the mortal coil and open up their soul for communion while remaining awake. THE TIES THAT BIND The dead require some anchor to the mortal realm in order to manifest themselves more completely to their solicitor. A number of objects and locations have been discovered that serve this purpose well: -Objects belonging to the deceased. -Visual Depictions of the deceased: paintings, statues, etc. -Written depictions of the deceased: histories, poems, etc. -Vestiges of the deceased’s body, a skull for example. -Landmarks named after the deceased. -The deceased’s place of birth, and the location of their death. THE CALENDAR It has been observed that it is easiest to contact a deceased soul on the day of their birth, or on the anniversary of their death. In addition, there are a number of astrological events during which it is easiest to contact all dead souls (or so it is believed.) NOTE: I think it would cool to have certain times of year or celestial events that make it easier to perform Fordmaking, an All Souls Day or that sort of thing. This is not essential to the lore though, so I will leave this vague for now and include it as an expansion if this lore is accepted. IN THE FAMILY It is always far easier for one to establish contact with one’s own ancestors, as your own body is itself a powerful anchor for their soul. The more one advances as a Fordmaker, the easier it becomes to contact souls outside of your own bloodline. MECHANICS ABILITIES Contacting deceased souls in dreams. Fordmakers can meet and converse with dead humans in their dreams. This requires some prior training: first, aspiring Fordmakers must begin to learn how to become lucid in their own dreams, accomplished by performing regular reality checks, keeping a dream journal, waking strategically before their REM cycle, etc. As anyone who has attempted this IRL will know, it takes some time to successfully internalize these habits; learning them will be a major component of T1 training. As a Fordmaker gains experience, it becomes progressively easier for them to slip into a lucid dream with little to no effort. Novice Fordmakers require more anchors to successfully reach a deceased soul. They often sleep beside an item belonging to their intended contact, or at some location that was meaningful to them during their lifetime (the classics being place of birth or death, but any location vested with significance to a certain soul has been found to work.) Once lucid, the novice Fordmaker must recreate within the dream whichever significant item they are sleeping next to, or the consequential location at which their resting body lays. From here, they cast out their probing mind in the “direction” of the soul they wish to contact. More experienced Fordmakers shed steps of this process as they progress: ceasing to require the presence of actual objects/locations and relying entirely on their mental recreations, contacting souls further and further outside of their ancestral line, and sinking more effortlessly into lucid dreams. A master Fordmaker is so accustomed to casting her spirit towards a desired soul that she can enter this state of receptivity almost immediately after becoming lucid. Notably, the calendar must still be contended with by Fordmakers of all levels. It is difficult, if not impossible, for a Fordmaker lacking an artifact/depiction/noted site close at hand to reach a deceased soul outside the month of their birth or death, even for a master. Contacting deceased souls in meditative states With the proper training and concentration, Fordmakers can meet and converse with the souls of the dead while awake. This is accomplished by many hours of rigorous training at the feet of a master, working tirelessly to “tame the drunken monkey” in their heads. Entering a meditative trance is made easier by burning incense, chanting, and playing repetitive/dronelike music. The same rules for progression apply here- novices must be in close contact with artifacts, or be present at a location significant to the deceased. Progressing through the tiers removes the necessity for certain prerequisite conditions, namely artifacts, locations etc. Calendar events still play the same influence. Receptivity to impromptu visits More of a condition than an ability, the mind of a Fordmaker has an open backdoor for any souls who wish to make a sudden appearance. They may have dreams with visitors they did not intend to contact, or see visions of souls they did not wish to see. Binding together a layperson with their guardian ancestor Experienced Fordmakers [T3 or above] have the ability to create a permanent bond between a layperson and an ancestor from their bloodline. The ritual must take place on the anniversary of the deceased’s death. A significant number of anchors must be present: old possessions, artistic depictions, bones if you can get them. It is customary to assemble these items into a single location, most commonly a small altar. Next, the layperson and the Fordmaker must enter into a meditative trance. As the layperson clasps the necessary anchor objects, the Fordmaker reaches out to the soul who wishes to be bound to its descendant, while laying their hands on the layperson. The Fordmaker’s mind functions as a bridge between the two other souls, their empty consciousness serving as the medium for the first encounter between ancestor and descendant. When the two souls have established contact, the ritual is complete. Once bound, the layperson has comparable access to this ancestor as a Fordmaker does to all dead. During sleep or meditative prayer, the layperson and the ancestor are visible to each other and can converse. As always, the ancestor must choose to appear to their charge; they can never be summoned. TIER PROGRESSION TIER 1: The novice Fordmaker can contact members of her own ancestral line, but only while asleep in a lucid dream. TIER 2: The middling Fordmaker can enter a meditative trance and contact members of his ancestral line while awake, provided he has an artifact, depiction, or some binding agent on hand. TIER 3: The adept Fordmaker is now capable of binding a layperson’s soul with an ancestor from their line. She can contact souls outside of her own ancestry with greater ease. TIER 4: The experienced Fordmaker can contact any soul, regardless of any blood relation, but still requires some binding artifact/location to make it work. They can make a visiting soul visible to up to 3 other mortals, who must be related to the deceased but do not have to be Fordmakers. TIER 5: The master Fordmaker can contact any soul, regardless of blood relation, and does not need any binding agents to do so. However, they can still only contact souls from beyond their bloodline on key dates in the deceased’s life, namely those of their birth and death. They can make a visiting soul visible to up to 5 other mortals, who do not have to be related to the deceased or be Fordmakers. RED LINES -Deceased souls are contacted, not summoned. Nobody can appear against their will. -Deceased souls can only be roleplayed by the player who roleplayed as the character when they were alive, and can only be contacted with OOC consent from said player. -Deceased souls cannot causally influence the world in any way, save by manifesting their image on the mortal plane, and creating faint sensory data of touch. -Deceased souls have no new knowledge to offer, save that of their own afterlife in the Seven Skies (see the lore linked below for details.) -When appearing to a waking Fordmaker on the mortal plane, deceased souls are only visible to other Fordmakers or to their immediate relatives (siblings, parents, children.) T4 Fordmakers can make the visiting soul visible to up to 5 other mortals, who must be of the same bloodline as the deceased. T5 Fordmakers can make a visiting soul visible to 5 mortals, who do not have to be related to the deceased. -As per the Seven Skies lore, Fordmakers cannot practice voidal magic, as it interferes with the souls they are attempting to contact. -Fordmakers can only contact souls who have ascended to the Seven Skies, not souls trapped in the Elysian Wastes or elsewhere in the metaphysical realms. FORDMAKERS TODAY A small enclave of Fordmakers has persisted to this day. Shrouded in mystery, and hidden behind a complex web of codes, secret names, and hidden doors, their antique art remains a secure secret. But perhaps, the cabal will break the long silence of their tradition, and share their arcane skill with the wider world... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OOC: PURPOSE I wrote this lore simply because it has the power to create roleplay. It is a magic that puts power into the hands of players, that doesn’t require special builds, particle effects, or event creatures in order to do its thing. All you need are willing participants- old players to hop on long-dead characters for an appearance in a fateful dream. Fitting snugly into approved lore as it stands, it is a bridge between Seven Skies lore and Lautamancy. It does not introduce any novel abilities or powers into the LOTC world, only extends and refines existing ones. According to this post on the Seven Skies, [link] souls in the Skies can work minor influences upon the mortal world, though it is intentionally vague as to how. All that this lore asks is that one of these minor influences be the power to manifest their likeness in the mortal realm, and make conversation with a few folks there. Thematically, it fits perfectly into the LOTC human ethos. Humans are extremely attentive to their history and lineage, documenting the life and works of practically every character to come from an established bloodline. Some wonderful folks actively maintain a sprawling familyecho page that links together 10 years’ worth of human families and intermarriages, which the playerbase makes active reference to. This magic does not grant its users any special abilities, save the opportunity to get closer with that heritage. The existing counterpart for this lore, Lautamancy, grants its users a couple of abilities beyond contact with ancestors, but I am not interested in anything beyond the basic capacity to talk with the dead for the Fordmakers. This will leave Fordmaking open to appropriation by a wider variety of human cultures and groups; the concept itself is so basic that it can be interpreted many different ways by practitioners and onlookers alike. A clan of viking-inspired characters may use the magic to commune with past chieftains, a queen might speak with her dead grandmother in a dream, while a holy knight of the canonist church might hunt down Fordmakers for heresy- just to give a few examples. In short, by making only a small expansion of existing lore, Fordmaking has the capability to become a powerful tool for roleplay. Thank you. If there are any aspects that need clarification, or if you have any suggestions to improve this lore, please let me know down below! References: Response to Feedback (LT please read.)
  14. *A salt-speckled Osprey lands besides you on the dock, a damp piece of parchment grasped tight in its talons.* Accepted. Report to Southbridge for further instructions. ((add me on discord birdman#9444
  15. Always curious about this sort of thing. Share some of your favorite memories playing the server, and screenshots if you have them. I'll start. As my hard drive got wiped and I lost all my old screenshots, I will share a recent memory. I had a blast going on a late night bear hunt with @Eddywilson2, where we were humbled by the ferocity of minecraft mobs.
  16. *A magisterial Golden Eagle lands on a branch beside you, offering you a sealed scroll.* Accepted. Report to Southbridge for further instructions. ((add me on discord birdman#9444
  17. *A snowy own nips at your fingers, offering you a weathered piece of parchment.* Accepted. Report to Southbridge for further instructions.
  18. *A steely-eyed goshawk lands beside you, a scroll clutched in its talons.* Accepted. Report to Southbridge for further instructions. ((add me on discord birdman#944
  19. *A majestic red-tailed hawk lands beside you, a scroll clutched in its beak.* "Accepted. Report to Southbridge for further instructions." ((add me on discord birdman#9444
  20. *A playful kestrel lobs a scroll at your head.* Accepted. Report to Southbridge for further instructions. ((add me on discord birdman#9444
  21. *A magnificent Golden Eagle circles overhead, dropping a small parchment into your hands.* Accepted. Report to Southbridge for further instructions. ((add me on discord birdman#9444
  22. *A red-eyed kite silently swoops over your head, dropping a weathered scroll in your lap.* "Accepted. Report to Southbridge for further instructions." (add me on discord birdman#9444
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