Aesopian

html embed no work :(

Tracing parentage is not overtly sexual. Other qualities of succubi are what makes them sexual. I think it might be important to clarify that.

A hastily scrawled note hangs on the notice boards of every major city: "I have several enchanted books with several enchantments as well as fire aspect, which will be auctioned off as follows. - Ti'gobser the Enpanted" Auctioning: Enchanted Book [Feather Falling I, Knockback I, Fire Aspect I, Aqua Affinity I] Starting Price: 1000 Minas Minimum bid: 1000 Minas Buy out price: None (author reserves right to refrain from selling if bid is not high enough). Ending time: One week after the last bid. Auctioning: Enchanted Book [Looting I, Knockback I, Fire Aspect I] Starting Price: 1750 Minas Minimum bid: 1750 Minas Buy out price: None (author reserves right to refrain from selling if bid is not high enough). Ending time: One week after the last bid. Auctioning: Enchanted Book [Knockback I, Fire Aspect I] Starting Price: 3000 Minas Minimum bid: 3000 Minas Buy out price: None (author reserves right to refrain from selling if bid is not high enough). Ending time: One week after the last bid. Auctioning: Enchanted Book [Fire Aspect I] Starting Price: 5000 Minas Minimum bid: 5000 Minas Buy out price: None (author reserves right to refrain from selling if bid is not high enough). Ending time: One week after the last bid.

Are there any current plans for the Nether or End? Will there ever be an LotC side-server which uses alternate mechanics, like rolling or freebuild?

The man and his wife had sex outside of the explicit permission of the creator, and their union yielded the daughter. The man wanted to hide this from the creator, and felt that by murdering his daughter he could accomplish this.

Yes. Have any ideas how I could make that more clear?

I'll enlighten you to my ways if it happens to get extremely popular.

Uh, I guess that is a legitimate way to go through it, though I'm not sure that results in actually... reading it.

This is a story based on the old creation lore. Click the link to continue. http://googledrive.com/host/0BxFddiUoaXprbjN0anljUXEyRDA

...no? Things posted on Enjin are subject to creative commons - they are no one's copyright. In fact, technically all you'd need to do would be to ask the creator of the post for permission to use it (so, to ask me).

The factions were never mentioned. Also, it's deleted from the other server, so it is no longer there.

_,.,-~"~"~-,.,_,.,-=~´"-~-"`~=-,.,_,.,-~"~"~-,.,_,.,-=~´"-~-"`~=-,.,_,.,-~"~"~-,.,_,.,-~"~"~-,.,_ The Kingdom of Masur -~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~- "Long have we talked and the sands listened, but now the sand will talk and we shall listen." _,.,-~"~"~-,.,_,.,-=~´"-~-"`~=-,.,_,.,-~"~"~-,.,_,.,-=~´"-~-"`~=-,.,_,.,-~"~"~-,.,_,.,-~"~"~-,.,_ The Kingdom of Masur was a human kingdom, and the ruling power of the Iron Uzg and the central lands for two-hundred and forty-four years (277-521) following the collapse of the Saracin-backed vassal states throughout the region. The Colonial General Imab Achure, originally the military leader for the vassal states, unified the territories in an aggressive conquest lasting eleven months. He declared independence from the Saracin homeland thereafter. Separated by the Balagar Sea from the Saracin military, his new empire was protected from any recourse. This began the Achure dynasty, which ruled over the Kingdom of Masur for the entirety of its existence. King Imab set about creating a society of flexible inter-dependent rural and nomad communities which would solve many of the supply and taxation issues previously endemic to their colonial existence. He took great care in breaking the power of the court lords and trade magnates, distributing their wealth through reduced taxation on incoming traders. This relieved the pressure placed on the communities by trade restrictions from the Saracin homeland, attracting much-needed commerce from other nations. Imab's sons were groomed into fulfilling particular roles throughout the empire and, after his death in 305, were enfeoffed with various land. Though the original kingship still persisted, this weakened it substantially from the absolute control which Imab had first possessed. The last ruler of the Kingdom of Masur was Aayan Achure, whose exploits with the Ambrosian Sleep ultimately led to the doom of the kingdom after the Great Sleep Incident in five-hundred twenty-one. _,.,-~"~"~-,.,_,.,-=~´"-~-"`~=-,.,_,.,-~"~"~-,.,_,.,-=~´"-~-"`~=-,.,_,.,-~"~"~-,.,_,.,-~"~"~-,.,_ -~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~- The Story -~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~- -~=~-~=~-- The City of Sand al-Damanhur -~=~- The City of Sand was the capital of Masur, founded by the second-generational sons of King Imab. It swelled with trade and commerce in its early days, and there is a distinguishable gradient in the color of its narrow sandstone streets as they progress from the inner, richer homes to the outer slums. Water was extracted from the aquifer below the city on which it was founded, and used to irrigate the surrounding land in order to make it viable for crop production. The veins of rainbow sand were first uncovered during a housing project in the north of the city. Construction workers, ignorant to the sands' properties, slept atop them during the night while they spent the days laying foundations. It was when one of court magi became aware of the intense and profound dreams of the workers that the king himself learned of the sands. King Aayan believed it to be a great blessing. He had the lands consecrated by priests, and set about forming mining crews to dig up the entirety of the veins -- which stretched deep into the sandstone beneath the desert. -~=~-~=~-- The Ambrosial Sleep -~=~- Those who slept atop the sands experienced lucid dreams. People entered a dream world termed the Ambrosial Sleep, where the desert stretched on endlessly with all the colors of the rainbow. The Ambrosial Sleep lacked the sun and stars, and only the moon was present. Those within did not experience age, disease, exhaustion, hunger or thirst. It became popular to fill bedmats with the sand and place the mat atop a bed of weavings to sleep upon at night. The king and his closest advisers popularized this practice among the rest of the kingdom. The king himself had his bed tossed out the the palace and replaced it with a box of the rainbow sands. Parents send their children to bed before speaking of the next part of the story. The king withdrew from public life. He began spending great lengths of time asleep in his bed, under lock and protection of his elite guard. He left his trusted advisers in charge of Masur and the capital's operations. His advisers even took to using stand-ins for the king in order to give him the appearance of activity. Nights of sleep turned to days, and days to weeks. As the time stretched on, there were concerns for the king's health, though he refused any treatment. During this period, a number of al-Damanhur's citizens began to complain of seeing the king in their dreams. The king eventually slept for twenty-three days unabated. Some court physicians went so far as to declare him in a coma after the second week passed. After he woke up, the king never slept again. -~=~-~=~-- The Achure Burial Mound -~=~- The king began collecting the great architects, stoneworkers and engineers; the most talented craftsmen from all across his kingdom. He hired the entire craftsguild of Elahdrel. In the plains east of what would be Goodborough, among the miles of rice fields, he set about construction of a great burial mound. The dirt mound would be over thirty feet high by the end of the project, and its stone infrastructure would plunge an unknown depth into the earth. Its largest room was truly enormous, a meeting-hall that was ninety-thousand square feet. The king's instructions frequently changed, and he had divided up his teams of workers such that each would only need be provided with a particular part of the overall plans for the mound. When the guildsmen complained that they had insufficient laborers to finish the project in the king's lifetime, he had his guard begin rounding up dissidents, criminals, and even commonfolk. They were given mandatory years of service helping to build the mound, on pain of death. It was during this time that rumors spread that the king was going powerfully insane. The king grew abhorrent of sleep, and had the plain-beds confiscated from all those in his household. The meeting hall of the palace was filled with sand and declared to be the only place where those who lived with him could sleep. His wives and concubines began whispering of the king having changed since he woke (the darkest of the rumors say that another creature woke up wearing the king's body as a skin). They spoke of mutterings of the king in his waking hours, and of his rapidly-deteriorating health; the dark bags under his eyes that swelled like pus-filled rot. Eventually, they were put to death for treason against the crown. When the burial mound was completed, the king had its meeting hall half-filled with rainbow sand. He gathered much of al-Damanhur's citizens, as well as the mound's workers and his army, and had them all join him in the meeting hall on the summer solstice. Over thirteen thousand souls were squeezed into the hall, and when the doors were closed and the multitudes plunged into blackness, not one escaped. They were trapped, screaming and panicking in darkness. The doors to the meeting hall were never opened again. The loyal guards who had performed the deed drank poisoned wine and then closed the exterior doors of the mound, sealing it forever. With so many lost, the Kingdom of Masur disintegrated into small townships. The city of al-Damanhur was swallowed by the sands. The location of the burial mound was lost to time, and its entrance was covered in earth and weeds. _,.,-~"~"~-,.,_,.,-=~´"-~-"`~=-,.,_,.,-~"~"~-,.,_,.,-=~´"-~-"`~=-,.,_,.,-~"~"~-,.,_,.,-~"~"~-,.,_ -~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~- Moiety -~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~- -~=~-~=~-- The City of Dreams al-Damanhur -~=~- While the original al-Damanhur is lost to the sand of the desert, and its many buildings and monuments lost to time, rumors persists that the city still lives on in a place beyond the material world. Spoken by travelers and merchants are the stories of the City of Dreams. They say that atop the Rathamani hills, when the moon waxes and the stars themselves grow weary, that it is possible to fall into a sleep deeper than any other. While the Nakadir bushmen emerge to prowl the hills for the unprepared, those who have set up their tents on the bluffs where they are protected may be pulled into the Ambrosial Sleep. However, in this dream, traders rarely find themselves alone. They are joined by their fellow sleeping companions; all standing outside the sandstone gates of al-Damanhur. Of course, these gates are not real, because the City of Sand is now the City of Dreams, and only exists by the labors of thousands of trapped souls. The multitudes contained inside the blackness of the Achure burial tomb each fell asleep over the course of several days. Their waking bodies entered a trance where they would not age or decay, and their dream selves entered an Ambrosial Sleep in which they were all members. It was only when the last citizen had fallen asleep that the king emerged from the skies. Although the multitudes were asleep, only the king maintained the powers of a lucid dreamer. Several attempted to strike him down. They failed, and were slain by his deity-like power in the dream. The king ordered the reconstruction of al-Damanhur, and over several centuries the many dreamers built the city brick-by-brick. The king granted those loyal to him great powers and boons. In the land of sleep, no one defied the king. Even when al-Damanhur was perfectly reconstructed, the king was not satisfied. Now the merchants and travellers who are lucky enough to visit the City of Dreams speak of a new thing being built within the city – some say a great pyramid, a portal, or a temple. The secrets of the City of Dreams are known in pieces to many. Only the sleeping king knows the whole truth, and it is not a truth he will part with easily. -~=~-~=~-- The Clay Legion -~=~- The Kingdom of Masur made use of a particularly curious military construct in order to supplement their militaries. These were the clay knights: mechanically animalistic warriors built from clay. Clay knights were lauded in their time as magical wonders, for their great strength, durability, and stamina. The process of creating a clay knight was an arduous one, though not so lengthy as to make it a poor substitute for living warriors. It began with the collection of high-quality clay from riverbeds and shores. This would be collected and purified in thickening vats, its detritus turned into fertilizer for desert farms. The resulting clay was turgid even while moist, which served greatly the bodypotters. Using systems of spinners and pulleys, bodypotters would mold whole humans out of the clay. Though techniques varied between each bodypotter family, they were all tremendously skilled in their own right. Many of their creations so accurately resembled their models that the real people had to take to wearing colorful clothing while in public to mark themselves as actual humans. When the clay people were finished, and a set of clay armor molded and cast around them, they were delivered to the Spirit Kilns. A spiritblower was not the average kiln operator. Though they did tend the kiln’s fire, they had a more important duty: to coax a spirit to enter the clay knight while they were being fired in the Spirit Kiln. Spirit Kilns were designed with twisting and winding shapes coming up out of the ground, confusing and trapping spirits that wandered into them from the earth. A series of runes on the inside of the kiln forced trapped spirits to follow a series of instructions, for instance ‘protect the church’, ‘follow the third battalion’, or to perform other tasks. When fired successfully, the resulting clay knight would become an automaton of service for the kingdom, capable and willing to fulfill its inscribed task. Though most of the clay knight are now entombed in the sands of the desert or in the mud of fields, there are rumors that, during the creation of the burial mound of Achure, a great legion was produced. Ordered by the king, a legion of a thousand clay knights was crafted. Divided up into companies of one-hundred knights, they were marched into several rooms of the burial mound and sealed within. The king had killed the spiritblowers who gave the clay knights their original instructions. Now, the clay legions rests in silence, until their mysterious orders come into play, whatever they may be. -~=~-~=~-- The Dream-Stalkers -~=~- There were those who abandoned the Dream City of al-Damanhur, choosing to wander the infinite sprawling wastes of the Ambrosial Sleep rather than dwell under the rule of their sleeping king. Rarer still, are those who somehow insulted the king, and rather than have them killed, the king had these individuals banished. After wandering the infinite sands for so many years, many of these souls have gone mad. It is through this path that these people become dream-stalkers. They can taste the patterns in the sand and hear its many colors. More importantly, they can navigate the sprawling expanse beyond the Dream City of al-Damanhur, to find the sleepers of the world. Dream-stalkers can pass out of the Ambrosial Sleep and into the dreams of the normal denizens of Vailor. They particularly target children, due to the vividness of their imagination and their limited ability to escape. It is in the dreams of the normal folk that Dream-stalkers hunt. They chase men and women through their dreams, hoping to run them down. For, if a dream-stalker should slay you in your dream, then they will be able to steal your body and return to the waking world. Your soul will then be thrown into the Ambrosial Sleep, to be lost amongst the infinite expanse of sand and dreams. _,.,-~"~"~-,.,_,.,-=~´"-~-"`~=-,.,_,.,-~"~"~-,.,_,.,-=~´"-~-"`~=-,.,_,.,-~"~"~-,.,_,.,-~"~"~-,.,_ -~=~-~=~-~=~- Conclusion -~=~-~=~- At last, I have performed the edits needed to suit this lore for Vailor instead of Athera – do note that the posting of this here is only for its components which are lore-based (the existence of a kingdom in the desert sometime in the past, which collapsed). If you have any questions or critique, do not hesitate to state them. If any LMs have any concerns, I am open to changing the dates, empires, and location (like, if there is already lore for this chunk of time in the desert, I'll gladly move it out of the desert (and just say a caravan found the sands), or move it to a different time period), provided it doesn't obliterate the story. Just make sure to message me about it! I will also be posting this in the ET section for their approval as well. Race is subject to change, also (sand dwarves??). *Edits: Removed from other server. *Note: Please leave your concerns in a post before locking and denying the thread, so that changes can made if they are required. _,.,-~"~"~-,.,_,.,-=~´"-~-"`~=-,.,_,.,-~"~"~-,.,_,.,-=~´"-~-"`~=-,.,_,.,-~"~"~-,.,_,.,-~"~"~-,.,_

wait so i can move that lore i made to somewhere which is not athera or what

Uh, I guess move this into denied, because you denied Masur.

So, how do we contact an LM if their PM box is full? oh and so should i make masur but for OUTSIDE the map or should i just make it for the new map

Yeah. I wrote them originally for another server but I couldn't resist spiting GGT. I took some inspiration from Goblinpunch's Knights of Kel Dravonis. Not sure if this constitutes event or lore, so I posted it here.

The Twelve Titans of the Bahdaku Spirit Kiln The old Kingdom of Masur used clay knights to supplement their armies. Built from clay, they were given shape and strength by bodypotters, artisans, and armorsmiths; however, the giving of life to them fell upon only one group, the spiritblowers. Spirit Kilns were designed with twisting and winding shapes coming up out of the ground, confusing and trapping spirits that wandered into them from the earth. Though spiritblowers did tend the kiln’s fires, they had a more important duty: to coax a spirit to enter the clay knight while they were being fired in the Spirit Kiln. Printed along the inside of every clay knight was a series of runes. These would trap the spirit inside the knight, and give it instructions to follow, ensuring its obedience to its creator's wishes. It would be wrong to call the clay knights 'willing' servants of the kingdom, because the spirits which animated them were almost always those of minor things. It was not uncommon for spiritblowers to steal the spirit of their neighbor's prized fern for their latest clay knight in order to get revenge for some perceived transgression. The resulting knights were perfectly obedient and subservient to their instruction (although they were quite stupid) due to their lack of sapience. There were isolated cases where more powerful spirits, the souls of Men, and even daemons would occasionally become trapped inside the clay knights. The Bahdaku Spirit Kiln was known for the Twelve - a group of famous and enigmatic clay knights inhabited by impressive spirits. The kiln itself was built into an isolated rockface in the east desert, and has since been drowned in time and sand. However, its Twelve Titans persist to this day, in some shape and form. In order to use these entities in your event, roll 1d12 on each of these tables to build a Titan. First Name Clay knights are bestowed a name by their spiritblower. 1. Al'akon 2. Me'orak 3. Deh'voloh 4. Jah'voldum 5. Kon'pathor 6. Rak'jebak 7. Lok'qorak 8. Te'thulop 9. Za'zaziz 10. Yat'orqop 11. Na'vekon 12. Mek'xazor Last Name It is traditional for a clay knight to take on the last name of its spiritblower, with the prefix 'ben'. 1. ben Gazbida 2. ben Fioruad 3. ben Farooq 4. ben Binyamin 5. ben Atallif 6. ben Braheem 7. ben Husniya 8. ben Ibtihaj 9. ben Imab 10. ben Jameel 11. ben Kareem 12. ben Kharyat Weapon Each Titan has a weapon of choice. 1. Boomerang and Falcata 2. Dual Fan 3. Spear and Square Shield 4. Fists 5. Longbow and Kopesh 6. Recurved Bow and Emei Daggers 7. Stave 8. Glaive 9. Halbred 10. Greataxe 11. Broadsword 12. Morning Star and Round Shield Body Each Titan has unique body structures which identify it from the other Titans. 1. Clay female with slightly avian features, painted with green and black liquors. Wears a cloak made of eagle feathers preserved in an antiseptic balm. Upper chest is in fact a cavity containing a nest woven from roses with a single egg resting in it. If the Titan is destroyed, it reincarnates as an eagle chick and hatches from the egg. 2. Titan is faceless with a black starry void instead of a face, everything else is made of clay. Whenever wounded, more black void is exposed. During the nighttime, the void is replaced with blue sky that exudes a soft ambient light. 3. Clay humanoid lizard which is infested with beetles. It wears clothing that is in fact the corpses of many thousands of beetles which have become glued together over time. 4. Clay female with ursine features, stands roughly three feet taller than the average man. Is caked in mud and blood stains. Constantly secretes realistic saliva. 5. Short and wide, made of stone rather than clay. Is androgynous and has a pouch of rock dust slung around its neck, which as supposedly all that remains of its genitals. 6. Tall and lithe, made of stone rather than clay. It is vaguely masculine and has a third eye painted on its forehead in raspberry and apricot juice. Out of this third eye it has thermal vision, but it is blinded by any strong sources of heat nearby, such as fire. It also has eyes painted on its palms, but these are closed and serve no obvious function. 7. Made of clay. Is home to a young sapling that has fractured its face into an unrecognizable mass, and whose roots are rapidly infiltrating its body. If the tree is allowed to blossom and bear fruit, each of the fruit will contain the ghosts of many hundreds of bugs, which will annoy whoever eats the fruit for the next three hours. 8. Made of amber. Many bugs are trapped within it, and in its core is what appear to be a human heart. Looks humanoid. 9. Clay humanoid male wearing the slightly-baggy skin of a marginally fatter man. No matter how hard anyone tries, they can't seem to remove the skin. If someone manages to, then the skin animates into a thrall and attacks at random. 10. Clay humanoid with a goat head. It is painted entirely black and becomes invisible in total darkness (though, as it cannot see in total darkness, this power is of little use). 11. Half-solidified clay lion. As it has only been partially fired, its body has the consistency of clay. It becomes more durable when dried out, enough so that it is actually able to bite, but it is otherwise soft and pliable. 12. Hollow iron bull. Its creator was imprisoned inside of it and burned to death, and when enraged smoke billows from the bull's nostrils and the screams of its creator are echoed out. Retainer Each Titan has a retainer which restrains its powers. If the retainer is destroyed, its powers are unleashed. 1. Two cultists taking turns reciting a hymn that keeps the Titan under control. They want to use it to protect their religion. 2. A runic orbiter which floats a few feet above the Titan. It just a sphere covered in runes, and will remain out of reach of anyone nearby. It is able to avoid most attacks made on it by dodging. 3. None, this Titan is defacto unretained. 4. A ******* HUGE BEAR. 5. A deathless man. He is now several hundred years old, and has been bearing the curse of retaining the Titan. He seeks someone to take his place and become deathless, which also involves being unable to hurt another living thing ever again. 6. A fragment of some sort of crystal. 7. Bandits which are using a runic tome to control the Titan. They want to use it to maraud travelers. 8. Elderly woman who rides on the Titan's shoulders. She is dressed in adventurer's garb and seeks to have one last adventure before her death. 9. Undead human who repairs themself with the Titan's victims, they are constantly rotting. 10. The ghost of the Titan's creator. 11. The Titan's weapon. 12. The Titan's body. When damaged enough, the Titan becomes unretained. Spirit Each Titan has a spirit which empowers it and gives it particular powers. 1. This Titan is inhabited by the God of the Red Flux. A constant red flux surrounds them resembling fine red specks which appear into and out of existence around the Titan. Living creatures in the Flux slowly have their souls corroded away. When unrestrained, the red flux grows at a rate of five litres per hour. 2. This Titan is inhabited by the Black Hound of the Hills. Dogs and wolves instantly cower in the presence of this Titan. It is able to track any living creature it has the scent of over an unlimited distance, even across planes of existence. When unrestrained, it can travel through planes of existence. 3. This Titan is inhabited by the Seven-eyed Dustlord. A constant duststorm billows out around under this Titan's footfalls as it ages the ground beneath it. When unrestrained, physically touching this Titan causes aging. 4. This Titan is inhabited by the Meir Ocean Spirit. All bodies of water within twenty feet of this Titan becomes saltwater When unrestrained, this includes the water inside of living beings. 5. This Titan is inhabited by the Forest. Plants grow in its presence, and fields and instantly overgrown with crops and weeds. When unrestrained, it can control the growth and movement of plants to deadly effect. 6. This Titan is inhabited by the Wraithsoul. It can only be destroyed by being thrown into the same Spirit Kiln in which it was created, otherwise it reconstitutes its body a few hours after its destruction. When unrestrained, it can enter and leave other Titans at will. 7. This Titan is inhabited by the Black Star of Melvok. As long as this Titan is looking at the sun, the sun can not be seen in the sky for anyone else. When unrestrained, the sun is literally not present for anyone else, causing rapid temperature drops. 8. This Titan is inhabited by the Blacksash Volcano Spirit. Ash pours out of this Titan's seams constantly, leaving a trail. It is warm to the touch and can cause ignition of flammable material by staring at it for a long period. When unrestrained, it leaks magma from every orifice. 9. This Titan is inhabited by the Spirit of Year Fourteen-hundred and Thirty-three. This Titan knows everything that happened during that year. When unrestrained, the Titan also gains all the martial prowess and profession mastery of every living entity during that period. 10. This Titan is inhabited by the Mage-eater King. This Titan knows the exact position of any mage within five miles, and is able to teleport to them within five-hundred feet of specificity. When unrestrained, the Titan will begin to hunt mages to the exclusion of all else. It also becomes immune to magic. 11. This Titan is inhabited by the Alchemist. This Titan is able to reproduce any substance it has been exposed to given enough time. When unrestrained, it can reproduce any substance it has been exposed to at will. 12. This Titan is inhabited by the Son of Kabosh. This Titan does not fear, and instead exudes and aura of domination. This causes those within ten feet to fear the Titan. When unrestrained, resisting the Titan's explicit verbal commands becomes impossible. Motive Each Titan has at least one motive which guides it. Roll additional rolls if you want to have a more complex Titan. 1. Kill its retainer. 2. Conquer the world. 3. Marry and have a family. 4. Commit suicide in an easy and painless way. 5. Become an accomplished painter or writer. 6. Learn a profession. 7. Kill everything. 8. Become an arbiter of justice. 9. Lead a noble house. 10. Join or found a religion. 11. Fulfill its retainer's wishes. If they have none, then the Titan is ambivalent about everything. 12. Develop philosophy. A fellow mentioned that he might like to use some of Masur in events. This provides a possible tool for such ambitions to be fulfilled with. This isn't the only thing you can do with Masur lore, just one possibility.

Does there exist any globe of the maps? Even one which is not really 'canon'. It might be nice to just drop Masur somewhere outside of one of the past or current maps, if the lore folks aren't interested in dropping it into the past.

Any other comments?

oh Can there be a desert north of Athera then?

What do you think, one-guy-who-posted, should I leave that here even if it will be summarily deleted anyway because it constitutes a kingdom and GGT will be able to spite me in victory? In theory, I could just move all of this east. Or west. Or to 'land-adjacent-to-Athera-but-not-actually-there'.

_,.,-~"~"~-,.,_,.,-=~´"-~-"`~=-,.,_,.,-~"~"~-,.,_,.,-=~´"-~-"`~=-,.,_,.,-~"~"~-,.,_,.,-~"~"~-,.,_ The Kingdom of Masur -~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~- "Long have we talked and the sands listened, but now the sand will talk and we shall listen." _,.,-~"~"~-,.,_,.,-=~´"-~-"`~=-,.,_,.,-~"~"~-,.,_,.,-=~´"-~-"`~=-,.,_,.,-~"~"~-,.,_,.,-~"~"~-,.,_ The Kingdom of Masur was a human kingdom, and the ruling power of Deus Proditor and the western lands for two-hundred and forty-four years (277-521) following the collapse of the Saracin-backed vassal states throughout the region. The Colonial General Imab Achure, originally the military leader for the vassal states, unified the territories in an aggressive conquest lasting eleven months. He declared independence from the Saracin homeland thereafter. Separated by the Eruthos Canyon from the Saracin military, his new empire was protected from any recourse. This began the Achure dynasty, which ruled over the Kingdom of Masur for the entirety of its existence. King Imab set about creating a society of flexible inter-dependent rural and nomad communities which would solve many of the supply and taxation issues previously endemic to their colonial existence. He took great care in breaking the power of the court lords and trade magnates, distributing their wealth through reduced taxation on incoming traders. This relieved the pressure placed on the communities by trade restrictions from the Saracin homeland, attracting much-needed commerce from other nations. Imab's sons were groomed into fulfilling particular roles throughout the empire and, after his death in 305, were enfeoffed with various land. Though the original kingship still persisted, this weakened it substantially from the absolute control which Imab had first possessed. The last ruler of the Kingdom of Masur was Aayan Achure, whose exploits with the Ambrosian Sleep ultimately led to the doom of the kingdom after the Great Sleep Incident in five-hundred twenty-one. _,.,-~"~"~-,.,_,.,-=~´"-~-"`~=-,.,_,.,-~"~"~-,.,_,.,-=~´"-~-"`~=-,.,_,.,-~"~"~-,.,_,.,-~"~"~-,.,_ -~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~- The Story -~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~- -~=~-~=~-- The City of Sand al-Damanhur -~=~- The City of Sand was the capital of Masur, founded by the second-generational sons of King Imab. It swelled with trade and commerce in its early days, and there is a distinguishable gradient in the color of its narrow sandstone streets as they progress from the inner, richer homes to the outer slums. Water was extracted from the aquifer below the city on which it was founded, and used to irrigate the surrounding land in order to make it viable for crop production. The veins of rainbow sand were first uncovered during a housing project in the north of the city. Construction workers, ignorant to the sands' properties, slept atop them during the night while they spent the days laying foundations. It was when one of court magi became aware of the intense and profound dreams of the workers that the king himself learned of the sands. King Aayan believed it to be a great blessing. He had the lands consecrated by priests, and set about forming mining crews to dig up the entirety of the veins -- which stretched deep into the sandstone beneath the desert. -~=~-~=~-- The Ambrosial Sleep -~=~- Those who slept atop the sands experienced lucid dreams. People entered a dream world termed the Ambrosial Sleep, where the desert stretched on endlessly with all the colors of the rainbow. The Ambrosial Sleep lacked the sun and stars, and only the moon was present. Those within did not experience age, disease, exhaustion, hunger or thirst. It became popular to fill bedmats with the sand and place the mat atop a bed of weavings to sleep upon at night. The king and his closest advisers popularized this practice among the rest of the kingdom. The king himself had his bed tossed out the the palace and replaced it with a box of the rainbow sands. Parents send their children to bed before speaking of the next part of the story. The king withdrew from public life. He began spending great lengths of time asleep in his bed, under lock and protection of his elite guard. He left his trusted advisers in charge of Masur and the capital's operations. His advisers even took to using stand-ins for the king in order to give him the appearance of activity. Nights of sleep turned to days, and days to weeks. As the time stretched on, there were concerns for the king's health, though he refused any treatment. During this period, a number of al-Damanhur's citizens began to complain of seeing the king in their dreams. The king eventually slept for twenty-three days unabated. Some court physicians went so far as to declare him in a coma after the second week passed. After he woke up, the king never slept again. -~=~-~=~-- The Achure Burial Mound -~=~- The king began collecting the great architects, stoneworkers and engineers; the most talented craftsmen from all across his kingdom. He hired the entire craftsguild of Elahdrel. In the plains south of what would be San'Vitar, among the miles of rice fields, he set about construction of a great burial mound. The dirt mound would be over thirty feet high by the end of the project, and its stone infrastructure would plunge an unknown depth into the earth. Its largest room was truly enormous, a meeting-hall that was ninety-thousand square feet. The king's instructions frequently changed, and he had divided up his teams of workers such that each would only need be provided with a particular part of the overall plans for the mound. When the guildsmen complained that they had insufficient laborers to finish the project in the king's lifetime, he had his guard begin rounding up dissidents, criminals, and even commonfolk. They were given mandatory years of service helping to build the mound, on pain of death. It was during this time that rumors spread that the king was going powerfully insane. The king grew abhorrent of sleep, and had the plain-beds confiscated from all those in his household. The meeting hall of the palace was filled with sand and declared to be the only place where those who lived with him could sleep. His wives and concubines began whispering of the king having changed since he woke (the darkest of the rumors say that another creature woke up wearing the king's body as a skin). They spoke of mutterings of the king in his waking hours, and of his rapidly-deteriorating health; the dark bags under his eyes that swelled like pus-filled rot. Eventually, they were put to death for treason against the crown. When the burial mound was completed, the king had its meeting hall half-filled with rainbow sand. He gathered much of al-Damanhur's citizens, as well as the mound's workers and his army, and had them all join him in the meeting hall on the summer solstice. Over thirteen thousand souls were squeezed into the hall, and when the doors were closed and the multitudes plunged into blackness, not one escaped. They were trapped, screaming and panicking in darkness. The doors to the meeting hall were never opened again. The loyal guards who had performed the deed drank poisoned wine and then closed the exterior doors of the mound, sealing it forever. With so many lost, the Kingdom of Masur disintegrated into small townships. The city of al-Damanhur was swallowed by the sands. The location of the burial mound was lost to time, and its entrance was covered in earth and weeds. _,.,-~"~"~-,.,_,.,-=~´"-~-"`~=-,.,_,.,-~"~"~-,.,_,.,-=~´"-~-"`~=-,.,_,.,-~"~"~-,.,_,.,-~"~"~-,.,_ -~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~- Moiety -~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~- -~=~-~=~-- The City of Dreams al-Damanhur -~=~- While the original al-Damanhur is lost to the sand of the desert, and its many buildings and monuments lost to time, rumors persists that the city still lives on in a place beyond the material world. Spoken by travelers and merchants are the stories of the City of Dreams. They say that atop the Rathamani hills in the west, when the moon waxes and the stars themselves grow weary, that it is possible to fall into a sleep deeper than any other. While the Nakadir bushmen emerge to prowl the hills for the unprepared, those who have set up their tents on the bluffs where they are protected may be pulled into the Ambrosial Sleep. However, in this dream, traders rarely find themselves alone. They are joined by their fellow sleeping companions; all standing outside the sandstone gates of al-Damanhur. Of course, these gates are not real, because the City of Sand is now the City of Dreams, and only exists by the labors of thousands of trapped souls. The multitudes contained inside the blackness of the Achure burial tomb each fell asleep over the course of several days. Their waking bodies entered a trance where they would not age or decay, and their dream selves entered an Ambrosial Sleep in which they were all members. It was only when the last citizen had fallen asleep that the king emerged from the skies. Although the multitudes were asleep, only the king maintained the powers of a lucid dreamer. Several attempted to strike him down. They failed, and were slain by his deity-like power in the dream. The king ordered the reconstruction of al-Damanhur, and over several centuries the many dreamers built the city brick-by-brick. The king granted those loyal to him great powers and boons. In the land of sleep, no one defied the king. Even when al-Damanhur was perfectly reconstructed, the king was not satisfied. Now the merchants and travellers who are lucky enough to visit the City of Dreams speak of a new thing being built within the city – some say a great pyramid, a portal, or a temple. The secrets of the City of Dreams are known in pieces to many. Only the sleeping king knows the whole truth, and it is not a truth he will part with easily. -~=~-~=~-- The Clay Legion -~=~- The Kingdom of Masur made use of a particularly curious military construct in order to supplement their militaries. These were the clay knights: mechanically animalistic warriors built from clay. Clay knights were lauded in their time as magical wonders, for their great strength, durability, and stamina. The process of creating a clay knight was an arduous one, though not so lengthy as to make it a poor substitute for living warriors. It began with the collection of high-quality clay from riverbeds and shores. This would be collected and purified in thickening vats, its detritus turned into fertilizer for desert farms. The resulting clay was turgid even while moist, which served greatly the bodypotters. Using systems of spinners and pulleys, bodypotters would mold whole humans out of the clay. Though techniques varied between each bodypotter family, they were all tremendously skilled in their own right. Many of their creations so accurately resembled their models that the real people had to take to wearing colorful clothing while in public to mark themselves as true humans. When the clay people were finished, and a set of clay armor molded and cast around them, they were delivered to the Spirit Kilns. A spiritblower was not the average kiln operator. Though they did tend the kiln’s fire, they had a more important duty: to coax a spirit to enter the clay knight while they were being fired in the Spirit Kiln. Spirit Kilns were designed with twisting and winding shapes coming up out of the ground, confusing and trapping spirits that wandered into them from the earth. A series of runes on the inside of the kiln forced trapped spirits to follow a series of instructions, for instance ‘protect the church’, ‘follow the third battalion’, or to perform other tasks. When fired successfully, the resulting clay knight would become an automaton of service for the kingdom, capable and willing to fulfill its inscribed task. Though most of the clay knight are now entombed in the sands of the desert or in the mud of fields, there are rumors that, during the creation of the burial mound of Achure, a great legion was produced. Ordered by the king, a legion of a thousand clay knights was produced. Divided up into companies of one-hundred knights, they were marched into several rooms of the burial mound and sealed within. The king had killed the spiritblowers who gave the clay knights their original instructions. Now, the clay legions rests in silence, until their mysterious orders come into play, whatever they may be. -~=~-~=~-- The Dream-Stalkers -~=~- There were those who abandoned the Dream City of al-Damanhur, choosing to wander the infinite sprawling wastes of the Ambrosial Sleep rather than dwell under the rule of their sleeping king. Rarer still, are those who somehow insulted the king, and rather than have them killed, the king had these individuals banished. After wandering the infinite sands for so many years, many of these souls have gone mad. It is through this path that these people become dream-stalkers. They can taste the patterns in the sand and hear its many colors. More importantly, they can navigate the sprawling expanse beyond the Dream City of al-Damanhur, to find the sleepers of the world. Dream-stalkers can pass out of the Ambrosial Sleep and into the dreams of the normal denizens of Athera. They particularly target children, due to the vividness of their imagination and their limited ability to escape. It is in the dreams of the normal folk that Dream-stalkers hunt. They chase men and women through their dreams, hoping to run them down. For, if a dream-stalker should slay you in your dream, then they will be able to steal your body and return to the waking world. Your soul will then be thrown into the Ambrosial Sleep, to be lost amongst the infinite expanse of sand and dreams. _,.,-~"~"~-,.,_,.,-=~´"-~-"`~=-,.,_,.,-~"~"~-,.,_,.,-=~´"-~-"`~=-,.,_,.,-~"~"~-,.,_,.,-~"~"~-,.,_ -~=~-~=~-~=~- Conclusion -~=~-~=~- I've written up this lore for a number of reasons. Mainly it's to blatantly copy Pmck's format, but also to copy Goblinpunch's writing style. Oh, and to spite GGT. Have fun reading this. _,.,-~"~"~-,.,_,.,-=~´"-~-"`~=-,.,_,.,-~"~"~-,.,_,.,-=~´"-~-"`~=-,.,_,.,-~"~"~-,.,_,.,-~"~"~-,.,_

ggt you son of a lich. I'm going to go take some of my own clay men. I'll just like, take Masur, and MOVE IT over to LotC.

oh

I am approved, and I have previously been whitelisted, but I am no longer (probably just a 'been gone too long' deal). My MC username is the same as the username for these forums. Link: https://www.lordofthecraft.net/topic/110162-aesopians-application/#entry1038095