Treshure

public posts = you’re coming back

Balthazar peers over the missive with an air of skepticism. “The Helane Dynasty have asserted their indomitable grasp over Humanity, but this is a lineage as old as they. To bend to another Imperial monarch is doom in their eyes. The Savoyards will never forget.” His eyes wet. “I fear only war and death can come from this.”

((Excellent formatting that you’ve made. My only suggestion is to somehow make it larger and more readable. Otherwise, I really enjoy this post.))

@Riftblade

2nd one is actually fire, good job

A corpse lays bare to the wind and soot covering the remains of the Fringe. It is a body among thousands; bodies littered beneath a towering mountain and the web of mechanical horrors sewn into its stony crags. Whatever story it had to tell died on that gruesome day.

In 2013, Runesmithing was a rallying cry for dwarven freedom in terms of a niche, relatively balanced magic. Having seen the magic in action, it only now seems like a clique’s tool of control. Don’t want to see it on the server.

Meraxis shakes his head. “They cannot invoke the name of Elvenesse – it is a title of the Dominion alone. Our people are fractured, and these words hold little merit.”

Meraxis takes a hard look at the recruit rank before tearing the scroll apart in a furious tantrum.

I can recognize and respect the dedication people hold to their work. I want to make clear the fact that I do want to see this group flourish. I hope any RP group flourishes. But as a normal player watching this lore go through, I’d want to see the foundations made of stone and not sand. Players like WhiteKnight who are deeply involved with the lore don’t need magic to satiate them because they are committed to the vision. But other players often don’t share in that immediately. What I hope to see is a player’s attraction to the quality of the story and lore around your diety: their purpose, their way of life, et cetera. The magic would then only compliment the lore and not as a primary attraction. I think the merit of clerics have a shot in this server. I hope it works out in the proper way.

Thank you for sharing my perspective, but this lore needs to come before, not after. I think that you are perfectly capable of roleplaying followers of Tahariae without using magic, at least for a time being to prove that you don’t need fancy spells to survive as a roleplay group. If you do, then that speaks lengths about the value of this.

I think this community needs to pull the collective wool from their eyes and take a good look at why this magic needs to exist. Now I’m not saying that it doesn’t need to – but your backstory and origin is a tiny fraction of your post. This magic is essentially a religion – you worship a god, you gain their power, you do their bidding. But there is very little of that here. Most of it are spells and abilities. The backstory and purpose of the magic are just as important as the balance of the powers thereafter. I know Tahariae and I know that they can give power canonically through the lore. But why does this magic need to be apart of the server? What impact does it have on the narrative? If you can build a compelling narrative lore-wise rather than a quick explanation before rushing off to the spells, you’ll prove to me and a lot of other skeptics that it’s anything more than a foil to necromancers or w/e.

Heat and rain washed across the Warden of the Pale. He had bore through the jungle for days, slashing through vines and venturing deeper into ruinous wilds. There Lathadlen discovered the ruin - and within, the tome. ♬♪♬♪ THE CREATION MYTH In the beginning, The darkness and the void were the boundless powers of The Blind God, whom the world would come to know simply as ‘The Creator’. When The Blind God and his Servants first assumed their place in the endless dreamscape of starlit skies, so too emerged the Mortal Plane from amidst the remnants of bickering nameless gods; whose bones formed the hardy surfaces of the world, whose tears created the endless seas, and whose molten blood shaped the Mortal Plane we know today. In the elder days, the song of life was as much spoken as it was beheld. The words sung were tayna; lifeforce incarnate. Malin and his children marveled in the wonders of creation; the Elves drank in their promised inheritance of the earth. As the eldest of the Descendants, Malin bore the sword and seal as the guardian of this new and boundless earth. He mastered the tongue of tayna, and held dominion in paradise. With the knowledge of creation itself, Malin bound his will to the Word Altars and taught his progeny of san’taliyna - the path of the living word. San’taliyna’s namesake was born out of reverence of Malin’s song of life. That so which any elf would walk in the purest way, they too would inherit a nirvana promised to them by Malin. But evil had touched the world. The plans Malin held for his race were laid to waste by the Deceiver Iblees, and great dissent was sewn into the fabric of Elvenesse long after aengulic chains banished the Archdaemon to oblivion. Eldritch spirits of the world whispered into the ears of Malin’s descendents with visions of power and grandeur. These now wayward daughters of Malin conspired against their eternal Father to create kingdoms of their own likeness. The wars of the elves washed over the world, and san’taliyna was lost to time. But what is lost will be found. Those that practice the lost art of San’taliyna maintain an old elven tradition born from the glades of Malin’s first kingdom. It is a philosophy deeper than faith about the natural order of the elves that practice it, who believe they shall inherit the earth as the eldest of the Descendents and must spend their immortal lives performing acts of virtue and service awaiting the day they can claim that inheritance. The Temple of Malin All understanding of San’taliyna revolves around the elven concept of tayna - what most could label ‘lifeforce’. The path of San’taliyna strives to dismantle that world of selfishness and avarice that has bound the elves into obscurity for so long. It rejects the mainstream worldly political systems that elves often inflict themselves in mimicry of their Descendent brethren - who lack the wisdom and longevity and require such institutions, while elves often pervert and spoil their natural order in bondage to them. Instead, they understand their role is to preserve the throne of Malin, who they regard as the last living racial progenitor. Through good deeds, valor, and proof of their mastery of tayna, they await his return, by which he can institute eternal nirvana on earth through the use of perfect tayna. In this way, elves of the temple of Malin do not believe in an afterlife that is beyond this world nor do they care for the heavens or planes of other races or heavenly beings. They are firm in their conviction that their destiny is intertwined with the planet that was bound to them by the first coupling. As a result, San’taliyna thought dictates an elf that has perished will mingle with the soil beneath them and awaken as a natural being, most often plants or fauna. However, in truth, they are only rest in a form known as soulsleep, an inert dreamscape. It is said that when Malin returns, he shall with the use of perfect tayna awaken all resting elves from their soulsleep and establish them an eternal nirvana on earth. This is seen as a beautiful thing as to elves, as their immortal life is suffering, and to rest in soulsleep until Malin comes ensures elves avoid the toil of survival and the harsh realities of the world. It is also thus a great crime to destroy a San’taliyna grave, as if an elf in soulsleep is broken from it by the destruction of the plant they rest in, they are reincarnated and brought back into the world of suffering. Elves that accumulate great tayna in life are reborn as great bodies of nature or natural beauties that can survive the greatest of tempests or fires, while elves that lived immoral, wicked, or sinful lives are reborn as little shrubs and saplings that are easily downtrodden - forcing them to relive life quite quickly and avoid the bliss of soulsleep. “How could the Gods compare to us? They were born from astral privilege, and we the sacred heat of ambition and will.” Musings of the Priesthood The Temple of Malin espouses a path forged by elves alone. Wary of the idolatry placed in great elves and gods alike, San’taliyna glorifies the individual elf’s struggle; against pride, against slavery, and against the infinite temptations of the world. The greatest elves of San’taliyna bargained against the powers of the world for the betterment of their own race; whilst they held power of the gods, they were never beheld to the gods’ path. They walked the light of Malin alone. These elves would become known as the Oracles, and the gods they wrest power from: the Pantheon. An eldritch symbol sprawls against the end of the tome, with thick text leading off to another page. It seems there is yet more to discover.

Meraxis looks upon his own small shelf of literary work, pondering the expansive nature of the Compendium. O’, what hidden depths of knowledge now lay bare!