The King Of The Moon

The third and hopefully final announcement regarding the recent overhaul of botany! The Botany Plugin Thanks to the hard work and cooperation of @Llir and the Alchemy subsect of the Story Team, we’re proud to announce the revival of the botany plugin first brought to us by @Wrynn, now updated to include lore abiding locations, respawn times and item descriptions. Most players will have already encountered scenes like this, floating items with the name of the relevant herb that is growing. These are the returning ‘nodes’ of botany, with which all flora that requires ST approval can once more be harvested using Alchemist’s Shears, crafted like so: The ST have been busy updating the plugin to include every herb which requires Story approval and would grow out in the world according to its lore, so as to both compliment botanical roleplay with actual exploration of the map and to ensure the process of herb gathering is streamlined drastically past the current standard of having to /storyreq for herbs and provide RP screenshots. Currently we’ve been successful in implementing all of the plants listed in General Botany along with a number of player submitted pieces, and are working to add all the new herbs we can as more flora lore is accepted. In light of this, the ST will no longer be handling wild herb gathering reqs for plants already implemented into the plugin (if you’re unsure if the plant you’re searching for is implemented yet, feel free to just ask a member of the ST!). Herb Farms In keeping continuity with the new lore, and the hard system of ‘farming’ outlined for a number of herbs, we are also happy to announce the implementation of mechanical farms for herbs harvestable in controlled environments in accordance with respective flora lore. This is achieved by mechanically constructing a ‘farm’ for each individual herb that meets the specifications outlined in its lore, before obtaining a herb out in the wild to ‘plant’, which can then be exchanged for the placement of a new node via a /storyreq. Note that these ‘farmed’ herbs will respawn at a much slower rate than their wild counterparts, both in continuity with current flora lore and to encourage botanists to still go out gathering in the world (the most efficient method). Additional Notes: -The placement of farmed nodes will require a ‘farm’. Farms are spaces built with the lore of their desired plants in mind, locked to one farm per player that cannot be combined with other players’. Farms can house at max 10 herbs, and must be built in accordance with the minimum size requirements: 1-3 herbs - 5x5 4-7 - 8x8 8-10 - 10x10 Farms built past a 10x10 area cannot house more than 10 nodes. The placement of nodes also requires the consent of a region owner. -The location of botany nodes out in the world is considered IC information, as is the case with all other reagent nodes. They are to be found through exploration and roleplay, and the use of leaks or exploits to locate these nodes will warrant lore infractions if not blacklists. -Herbs that have mechanically spawned and not yet been harvested are to be acknowledged ICly and their risks roleplayed accordingly with lore, where relevant. -Whilst older herb items gathered via storyreqs (signed by Ulmo) are still valid for use in RP or ‘planting’, new herbs can no longer be obtained via /storyreq. They must be gathered mechanically, with the exception of herbs not included in the botany plugin (such as those that don’t require Story approval). -As always, herbs must be represented by mechanical items with the right approval if they are to be utilised in any roleplay. -Flora Announcements I and II are now considered defunct.

I don’t know if this was due to misinformation or simply vague writing, but everything in existence excluding the Void is contained inside of the Veil. It’s referenced in several pieces as more of a ‘snowglobe’ with empty space between realms, and an outer wall which splits creation from the Void. The material plane (an umbrella term for the the mortal ‘plane(s)’) is explicitly said to be at the centre of the Veil, furthermore. I don’t know if it’s right to categorise the Veil as a ‘realm’ at all, when in reality it’s just a big load of empty space kept in a bubble, but that’s less important. The same could be said on the inverse for the Void, which isn’t a ‘plane’ at all using the same definitions applied to Aengudaemonica or the material, it’s an endless... Well... ‘Void’ that exists past creation, as bordered by the Veil. This lore (whilst I’m sure unintentionally) suggests it’s just as much a ‘realm’ as places like Moz Strimoza or Val’Garis, which exist within the Veil along with the rest of creation. The Soulstream also isn’t really a ‘plane’, it’s moreso a ‘force’ – or, more literally, ‘stream’ – along which disembodied souls are carried, that passes from the Mortal Plane through the relative centre of Ebriaetas before then linking to the realms of every Aengudaemon that keeps souls, the Spirit Realms, Moz Strimoza and all other ‘fates’ (places in which the souls of the dead can be drawn) within the Veil. I’d ask the Veil’s nature as the ‘container’ for creation be more explicitly referenced here, as well as the nature of the Void and Soulstream to be clarified so as to avoid confusion further down the road if this piece is passed.

I lost a fingerbone scrolling to the bottom.

Yeeee

Yes. It’s just reiterating systems clarified in old Blood Rifts and Arcane Displacement lore as well as the old old precedent that Void magic ‘pollutes’, which have since been outdated and/or forgotten and needs to be reiterated. It also exists to explain things like why deities and the like know and/or care about otherworldly intruders on the material plane, why the world hasn’t been eaten by a Voidal horror yet and why ‘vulnerable’ lore characters haven’t just dipped off the mortal plane as a survival strategy. Tl;dr it was already a thing but having it survive outside of a throwaway line in magic lore (which could be denied/ outdated at any time) immortalises it as more than just the headcanon of a few ST, which is necessary as it ties up a lot of loose ends.

The Law of Cosmic Correction Origin In the making of the Veil, when the Creator first spun the walls which split His physical, ordered domain from the endlessly chaotic and incorporeal Void, a foundational law was etched into the centre of Creation, the banks, all planes and the great spaces between: cosmic correction. Details Either as an intentional mechanism or complete accident of Creation, the Veil holds itself (with some limitations) to self-moderated standards when the ordering of entities, landscapes and energy is jeopardised on a cosmic scale. Put simply, chaos invokes further chaos until complete disorder undoes itself, and the cycle is reset in a once-more ordered plane. This is the cause for the great ‘pollution’ of Voidal delving upon the Material Plane (the furthest point from the Veil’s walls to the void); the invitation of excess foreign energy to places it does not necessarily belong, in the ordering of Creation, will prompt anomalous terror. This is most famously exemplified by the recent Voidal tears found upon Arcas. It is for this reason many higher beings refrain from descending to the Material Plane directly, as it puts them at risk of alerting rivals of their presence; to be on the Mortal Realm is to subject oneself to mortality. This universal law also applies on the inverse. Practitioners of arcane displacement and planeswalking blood magi are known to put themselves at great risk in the cosmos, often being followed through the stars by the likes of voidal horrors and inferis, or being rejected to some degree by the non-sentient fauna of the planes they visit. All lesser mortal beings will be met by forces equivalent to their own in the realms beyond. This cosmic ordering is most relevant to greater mortals (any with more power than a few combined descendants, IE dragaar and drakaar), whose presence in the realms past their native plane will scale drastically past their own significance to draw the attention of greater, stronger entities hellbent on consuming them such as the zar’rokul, Voidal behemoths, policing Aengudaemons or - in the rarest of cases - the Outvoker himself. The only exception to this law is the passage of disembodied souls via the soulstream: a natural aspect to Creation and the Veil’s mechanisms of life and death.

MC Name: Mordu Character Name: Lothar Vladislav Alimar

Valmir Synalli rolls in his grave upon discovering that his father, Avenel Synalli, had turned himself into a pickle

A nice piece that all seems fine with the exception of Cerridwen’s Tears. Whilst I personally am not a massive fan of preggo juice, having it only craftable by ‘female hands’ is somewhat vague and requires further explanation, given the more ‘scientific’ nature of Alchemy within the context of LoTC’s universe. If it required something like women’s hair, blood or whatever else as an ingredient it’d work but simply being ‘made by a woman’ doesn’t really explain why that’d have any impact on its composition. I’d also consider consulting different flora loreholders to see if the plant-based recipes function on every plant, since it could raise some issues with more ‘unique’ pieces of botany lore if left in their blanket states.

The Toad drops a rokodra stool as the dragon’s roar interrupts his torture session.

Across the world, in every caste and creed, Seers of Vaasek, Mediums cursed with Vivification, Farseeing Shamans and former practitioners of Naztherak would share the same prophetic vision: Distant banners fly black and gold And crows reign again in this kingdom old In orchid fields and reconquered lands Come sin and spite from long dead hands Five plagues borne of hellish flames Shall shake the land as chaos reigns: Darkness Toads Betrayal Blood Death

Moz Strimoza (In the Common Tongue: The High Hells) (Urdol: the Zar’rokul Pentacle as invoked by the the Court of Shackles, c.1680) “Amol-vuht kul koth zu’kotuhzt rognat e’rakulu tuk ra’strimozaka” Do not be quick to assume yourself a predator in the hells. -Ruunkav Urkarna to a bleeding disciple of his. In Ixris’ bargain with Ixli and Ikuras, Iblees allowed his patron and the spirits to collect their newly corrupted souls on his original plane, a place whose name and likeness has been both a forgotten legend and a guarded secret for aeons. There the first of the inferis race congregated, pooling under a drip feed of fresh converts and there they began their eternal carnage. The infernal climb was structured and only once truly disrupted with the advent of the zar’rokul when Ixli and Ikuras snatched and immolated dragaar and drakaar souls by reaching out into the fates beyond or in passing. Their arrival established the crushing dominion of the Pentacle (“Urdol” in Ilzakarn) and the true weaponizing of inferi; each of the vehement draconic demons are pinnacles of roiling chaos and their insatiable want for supremacy has scarred the cosmos and their home. Iblees’ plane had been ravaged by the devils in warbands and militias helmed by zar’kiel and zentherak but the zar’rokul brought unparalleled force and order upon them and their industrialized rebirth altered the land itself just the same. In their desire to best one another, the Pentacle sought out other planes within reach be they divine or adjacent mortal realms and conquered them and with their power over conquest would tear the planes into lesser pieces and shackle them to their homeland, the planes stitched together and fused by black sorcery. With each land conquered and damned to conjoin Iblees’ home it became unrecognizable and grew to be the inferis homeworld, Moz Strimoza, the High Hells. Moz Strimoza is a patchwork abomination of other lands forcibly wrought together in a confusing, sloppy amalgamation which the Pentacle has continued to war over for every new land is more to fight over with more souls to prey on and more suffering to propagate. As opposed to common thought, the High Hells are not a purely volcanic hellscape albeit there assuredly are such lands. The stolen landscapes threaded into the High Hells are riddled with Gatrov; an infernal ecosystem of malformed plant, fungal and fae essence long since twisted away from the Aspects’ embrace. Because of the diversity of the realms stitched to Moz Strimoza there are sometimes abrupt transitions of gnarled basalt crags with firestorms of ash and miasma that turn to a grey, ruined city of crumbling, unknown civilization upon broken earth that then leads to a frozen, brooding hinterland forest with unfamiliar wildlife hiding from the monstrosities they now live with. Across the immense stretches of warped landscape the five kingdoms of the Pentacle (“Akalhrit Urt zu’Urdol”), the courts of the zar’rokul, wage unending war with brutality, feigned treaties, backstabbing, and otherwise epic campaigns against each other and the worlds beyond where they tear others and themselves limb from limb and bask in the literal and metaphorical carnage. The factions are wracked with inner turmoil, both complex and simple external politics, and battle with the shifting unassimilated hordes who howl and riot wherever they lie. Because Moz Strimoza is a place of constant war and torment the infernal blood that has been repeatedly spilled has soaked down into the bedrock of the world and baked in the heat of the Hells. These deposits form webs of an infernal ore representative of the hate, chaos, and ruin of the inferi; rokodra. Inferis smiths endowed by the zar’rokul hold the knowledge to shape and forge this dark metal, its ore dredged out of the bowels of the plane in sprawling, dangerous mines and caverns deep in the burning earth. Whilst Iblees has since reclaimed his throne upon his ravaged plane at the centre of Moz Strimoza, by proxy of the Red Prince Ixris, the smaller outlying worlds conquered and sewn to the initial realm remain in the shifting grasp of countless Zar’kiel warlords, the Eight Malice Princes and - most significantly - the five vast swathes of land divided by the competing factions of the Zar’rokul Pentacle independent of their influence. While the zar’rokul may form pacts between themselves to rally the weak against the strong (such as attempts by the Red Prince or Iblees to claim their stolen realms), no zar’rokul maintains a lead for long before a new one rises. The High Hells are a place of true chaos; beware those who seek it and what lies within. While the Pentacle feud and war with one another their own avarice benefits one another for the plunder of one often becomes the plunder of another; no single zar’rokul remains most powerful for long before their brethren dominate them and perpetuate an endless cycle of betrayal and self-defeating hunger. It is fortunate for Creation these fiends fight over scraps amongst themselves lest they all conspire and march upon the many worlds -- an impossible event. Yet they do have some commonalities, namely their affluence for a thing most dark and most dangerous, the binding of pacts (“akomka” in Ilzakarn).” Moz Strimoza is divided into five major kingdoms of the zar’rokul, the Akalhrit Urt, each of roughly equal size albeit their borders shrink and grow as the great demon lords war against and with one another. The Hells are utterly massive, stitched and smashed messes of planes used to add onto one another and grow; there are numerous examples of alien terrain as well as familiar geography throughout the hellscape. Some lands are outright infernal and immolated with rivers of blood and screaming, roiling skies of fire and volcanic ash whereas others are yet to be incinerated and are merely dark and dry where the last non-inferi cling to life yet are hunted mercilessly by their devilish predators. Any entry into the High Hells are often in unfamiliar land which can only be identified by the banners and traits of the inferi roaming or, in very unfortunate or bold cases, poor souls might find themselves near or within one of the five capitals: Natla zu’Velkka, the City of Goats, seat of Velkuzat; Natla zu’Drazka, the City of Bats, seat of Drazhana; Natla zu’Kiizka, the City of Serpents, seat of Kiiztria; Natla zu’Kholka, the City of Crows, seat of Kholidav; Natla zu’Zathka, the City of Cats, seat of Zathairn. Each of the capitals are great and harrowing citadels of conquered civilizations amassed into a single, sprawling demon city decorated in the gargantuan corpses of great, monstrous inferis and the banner of each of the zar’rokul. The demons in these capitals -- as well as out in the domains -- reflect the likeness of their lord but not always yet usually dress themselves to make their alignment obvious lest those in question be ravaged anyways. Goat hoof necklaces, great bat wing leather hide, snake scale clothing, crow feather headdresses, cat skull decorations, and so on. Outside the capitals yet within the warring borders is where the vast majority of the High Hells’ population is for even though the borders have raving legions the roaming demons within outnumber them by far due to the vast tracts of long forgotten, forsaken land within. There are a number of small mines to huge, sprawling quarries dedicated to drawing rokodra from the blood-soaked earth out of the bedrock. Onsite foundries refine the ore and shape it into usable weaponry or armor of vast diversity and design. So too are there killing fields to feed the hordes and massive, festering gore lakes to dispose waste in. Not all of Moz Stimoza is fire, brimstone, blood, and suffering however, some of its regions are slightly more tame namely within the ruins of old where more primal demons hunt one another as well as whatever may crawl into their hunting grounds. Such places are eerily quiet, often decorated by ash and cinder, and tend to be supernaturally saturated with death wherein fresh corpses and mangled cadavers seemingly appear from nowhere to fill corners, block corridors, rest inside buildings, and otherwise permeate the lands with new carrion. Ruling over the vast tracts of forgotten land, zentherak act as feudal lords fighting amongst themselves and for those subservient to zar’rokul, being forced to fight in their conflicts, their legions and power being sucked dry by the will of the Pentacle just to be slaughtered or tossed aside. A zentherak rarely holds power for long with their own nature and the nature of Moz Strimoza leaving a constant flux. Though a zentherak never holds a high seat for long, challenging them, their strongholds, or their legions is never an easy task as they get to their seat for a reason. Where demons dare not to roam sits zar’kiel, beings of the same power as the zentherak that don’t subscribe to the traditional concepts of power who kill and consume all they see in solem rage and ferality to leave lands ruled by none. These locations rife with monsters are where all but the maddest inferi seek to roam that typically hunt others to absorb their power for themselves. Here rove bands of infei typically lead by zezimar; weakling groups of no note but the most common in all circumstances roam here. Be it in slavery to a legion or hard fought independence, warbands of a handful of inferi subjected to a fledgling warlord are the beings that most lurk these desolated planes. At the edges where Ixli and Ikuras pluck fresh souls from the soulstream to add to the masses of inferi are the burning border sands of Ebrietæs and the ocean mists of Dotagh Bhraf. A third partition to the soul stream, much to the sorrow of Aerial and Apohet, that connects to Moz Stimoza. A desolate land where nothing of value exists populated by wardens put in place trying to control it, zezimar warbands who seek to challenge the wardens and cross the border, apparitions and ghosts who dared to wander too far from the center of the soul stream, those with the audacity to attempt walking the bridge to Fîgûga Uzg and the poor souls who dare to attempt navigating the mists of Dotagh Bhraf. Traveling through Moz Strimoza, and crossing its borders, is not exactly a feat done by land or sea. While plenty of realms have been physically crashed into each other, the High Hells is still a conglomeration of planes, many of which have no physical connection to one another. Circumventing this with no concern for the sanctity of life or reality blood rifts are torn throughout and fueled with oceans of blood to grant passage.” Inferi (Singular: Inferis, Plural: Inferi) “Ra’drakurz raht roknoth kuul ra’vaznan amol tul.” The weak are meat and the strong do eat. Inferi are wicked fiends who know only hunger and chaos but one thing defines them: power. To every inferis there are always larger, more powerful, more cruel inferis and even those on top aren’t safe from their peers. Their world is one fraught with turmoil and pandemonium where conquest and voracity reign supreme. These devils are characterized by their consuming need for chaos often in the forms of destruction, degradation, and depravity as well as their nigh Ibleesian features coining the term infernal; infernal forms are nearly without limitation but they have commonalities of horns, wings, tails, and other such animalistic features while appearing truly monstrous and horrific with vile minds to match. Most inferi were once mortal. Either through passing through the Soul Stream and being picked off by Ixli or Ikuras or by the hands of black sorcery such as naztherak, inferi are men and women whose souls have been corrupted by the manifestation of chaos itself, maleus, a virulent energy of corroded and malformed soul essence, which serves as a malefic fuel. Such inferi are thrown to Moz Strimoza, a nightmare more aptly named The High Hells where they are tormented, enslaved, or consumed lest they themselves torment, enslave, and consume. The Infernal Climb refers to the ladder upon which all inferi exist, a hierarchy which these demons lust to ascend when not reveling in debauchery, violence, and sin. Zevn, zekul, and zezimar make up the lesser inferi, each a breed of increasing danger yet of meek stature in comparison to those above them. Zar’akal, zar’kiel, and zar’rokul make up the greater inferi, each a class of demon whose innate hellish powers make them increasingly volatile and ravenous. Atop the hierarchy sits a lonely and shadowy figure, Ixris the Red Prince, Iblees’ patron behind the creation of the first Inferis and the early conquests of Moz Strimoza, who seems to rarely act directly and either fosters or allows the immense infighting of the inferis race. Inferi commonly manifest in Moz Strimoza as zevn or zekul and by feasting upon each other - consuming soul essence, usually corrupted by maleus in the form of rakir (a liquid made up of concentrated maleus, which all inferis are addicted to and is also found as the blood of infernal beings), they may grow and climb the ladder. It is upon this rakir the closest thing to an ‘economy’ in Moz Strimoza is based. Whilst there are innumerable rogue factions amongst the shifting loyalists of the Red Prince, the inferi at large are ruled by the Zar’rokul Pentacle, a caste of five demonic kings and queens who lay claim to individual factions. Beneath them are their courts of zentherak and zar’kiel who in turn rule over legions of inferi. Their avarice and insatiable hunger for ruin and corruption has led them to not only war over their own home but the wider cosmos. The inferis hordes are a universal threat, permeating the planes and unfathomable gaps in-between. Lastly, when inferi perish outside Moz Strimoza their corpse is left but their immolated soul returns to the High Hells where it manifests as fertile ash (“rovor-lahnt”) in a heap to scatter. Malflame can revive this ash by sparking it with chaos once more, reviving fallen inferi, but they only return whole if their ashes are whole. A zar’kiel who is slain will manifest on Moz Strimoza as a large mound of fertile ash but should it scatter, spread, and separate as it inevitably will its revival will cause it to split apart into lesser inferi who are born anew with less memories and identity of their previous form the more spread they become. Common Inferi Gatrov - Nature Gatrov are the only infernal beings that are known to be stagnant in the infernal climb and incapable of ascending into higher demons. With little to no sentience or consciousness, Gatrov are the warped products of soul essence once under the Aspects’ jurisdiction as plants, fungi, and fae. Zevn - Imps Zevn are the lowest form of sentient inferi. Zevn can be sized anywhere between sprites and small goblins, with physical strength typically to match. Their intelligence can range anywhere from brutish to quick cunning, being for the most part sentient and at times capable of outwitting descendants. Zekul - Beasts Zekul are inferis who have begun the infernal climb and evolved past impdom, often at the cost of their mental ability. Zezimar - Seraphs Zezimar, otherwise known as Zar’ei, are the most ‘descendant’ of inferis. Wrathful mages, dark shamans, witches, and warlocks usually find themselves reborn as Zezimar after death, having passed the lower stages of the infernal ladder. Greater Inferis Zar’akal Zar’akal are the hybrid of descendants and inferis, born of Naztherak. Zar’kiel Zar’kiel are the highest of the descendant-souled inferals. Monstrously sized and powerful beyond the capabilities of any lone Naztherak or Zezimar. Many practice an array of black magics, often deviating from their hulkish forms into monstrous hybrids of grafted ectoplasm, blood marrows, amber and so on. Zar’rokul The five ruling behemoths of Moz Strimoza, which have yet to be dethroned or replaced (and are often far too brooding and wicked with countless contingency plans where they have never been able to deal a truly killing blow against one another), the Zar’rokul are the fallen Drakaar and Dragaar who have come to conquer vast swathes of Moz Strimoza. Citations Credits: Mordu (Co-Author) Zarsies (Co-Author)

True Sight here is kinda just Vivification but without nearly the same level of downsides or clarification. In the feat it’s written to be something much more character defining and detrimental, but in this it kind of just comes across as a throwaway ‘spell’. I’d much rather you keep with what is currently written in Vivification lore – ‘reading of the grimoire of phantoms by a Mystic who - having peered into the ebrietaes by the will of Mthyul Tlan itself - will have the Elysian Wastes unveiled to them.’ – and have Mystics continue to be cursed with full on Vivification (utilising the same app, and in turn the same guidance, explanation and redlines in that piece) than have it squeezed into the Mysticism MA. Otherwise thank God for Mysticism’s return, it’s long overdue.

I’m all for cannons my guy but you could at least try to link this to pre established LoTC lore instead of straight up using IRL science. We have more than enough accepted resources to build off of whilst preserving the concept.

This has all been written to add to or lay foundations for future Naztherak and Inferis lore with consistency in mind, the latter I am helping work on myself.

The Transmutation Pentacle, drawn in witchtallow and marked with the names of the five zor’rokul in Ilzakarn, as well as the five elemental signs and‘creation’ in the Material Alphabet. ⛧ Zevirit Gagaht - Infernal Alchemy ⛧ Infernal alchemy is the occult practice of manipulating matter by taboo amalgamations of the material plane’s resources and those of Moz Strimoza. Often associated with witchcraft and demonology, the practice involves an odd fusion of processes between the worldly alchemical and ritual conjurings of malflame. Processes Much of infernal alchemy is achieved through the application of the forgotten arts of blood magic and naztherak, in the beckoning of malflame from the hellscape that is Moz Strimoza. Both infernal alchemical processes are achieved by the use of either ¼ of a descendant’s blood or witchtallow in drawing the Transmutation Pentacle: Its outer points bearing the titles of the zar’rokul Pentacle in Ilzakarn (the chaotic tongue of the inferis), naming Velkuzat the Goat, Drazhana the Bat, Kiiztria the Snake, Kholidav the Crow and Zathairn the Black Cat. Between the two pentagons at the star’s centre, then, are listed the five elements using the material alphabet (the ancient runes of the veil), invoking Water, Earth, Fire, Air and Aether before finally adding the mark of Creation in the star’s centre. Transmutation Pentacles can be used for the following processes: Ankh Rokodra - Rokodra Forging Reagents Rakir Rokodra Brimstone Eye of Newt Tongue of Wonk Tail of Kha Fist of Hou Recipes Witchtallow Siegsmund’s Candles Beguiling Brew Sprog’s Elixir Fogey’s Elixir Wonksrot Redlines Purpose

Why have any lore that can’t be metagamed, by that logic? Information should be obtained IC. People should have their own cultural distinctions and in-character beliefs about what a magic/ creature is called and how they think it works that is distinct from their OOC knowledge obtained from the forums.

Dreori have been self denied.

Origin The Nine Archons, commanding a legion of dreadknights under Setherien’s banner prior to their conversion. The Undying Sahir The story of the first silit begins with the twilight years of the first strigae court. Hazm Alhazred, a delegate in the Alnorid Sultanate, was a powerful wizard and scryer famed amongst his contemporaries as court mage to the Emirs and even the Sultan himself. His fame attracted a striga agent to turn him to consolidate power in the region amongst the ruling human nation. As the years passed and more were turned, it became increasingly apparent to the Unseen that with each passing generation of striga their influence waned more and more. More elders were deployed and more still turned their backs in pursuit of their own ambitions. Hazm was no exception. The Unseen cult reached its peak in the sands of Alnorid some time around the fourteenth century though to Hazm it had felt like many more. The taste of blood had run sour. His great talents in the cosmic arcane had been lost in his exchange for eternity, his influence amongst the Farfolk nobility squandered and his position reduced to that of an outcast, a monster forced to roam the deserts of eastern Abu’Khourn in wait of another wisened generation’s passing. His experiments, which he once had tackled with such ambition and cruelty, had now all either been concluded or simply bored him. The immortal’s servants had all outgrown him once he’d figured out how to grant them his own blessings and now sought only to impress the Unseen. It’d been at least three cycles of awakening since Hazm himself had last cared to meet with the next Unseen arising from their fifty-year slumber, a task he’d since deferred to other distant elders who undertook such with religious vigour. After many years of absence to the moots of strigae, he had hoped himself dead and forgotten in the eyes of his estranged brethren. He had sought immortality and fulfillment and found only the former. What good, he’d oft ponder in his great dusty halls and libraries, is an eternal life of yearning? It was then that Hazm eventually decided to search for a way of furthering his condition, hoping to restore the great magical prowess he’d once known. It was a long line of black sacraments and secluded studies that then led him to try and understand the Unseen’s power and its relation to mortals, with hopes to subvert it and remake himself anew: a wizard of flesh who had cheated death. Such things led him far from Aeldin into the company of the dragon Setherien and his band of sorcerers after his mortal lineage had passed onto Anthos and one such descendant sought him out. As prestigious as he had once been perhaps it was they who could unlock the secrets of volatile energy found in the blood of man. The Stone Serpent In the years following his arrival, Hazm had become a figure of interest to the drake Malghourn. Setherien’s former general had rounded up Hazm and his nine followers after their and the harbingers’ defeat. Each of the cabal was an archon of ancient blood magic who the enlightened drake sought to experiment upon. Desperate to prevent his own grizzly fate as corrupt stone and fearful of following in his old master’s footsteps and falling mad, Malghourn had become fascinated with the what exactly the Unseen had done to create Hazm, both for the potential it had to spare himself and to bolster his own ranks. After the drakaar’s death upon the Golden Lance Hazm had been seduced by Malghourn’s promises of restoring his magic, and the blood mage cabal had too been seduced by Malghourn’s promise to gift them each with immortality, unending power and riches, and a realm of their own for privacy, seclusion, and dominion. In the year 1461 Malghourn made good on his promises to the nine archons though Hazm’s fate had been far more grizzly. The Red Nexus, some had dubbed it, was an ancient lexicon of blood magic. It’d come into his possession following Setherien’s death, though even Malghourn wasn’t sure if it was his or made by an even earlier dragaar. With its extensive insights on blood magic and with the bohra his late master had captured for conversion Malghourn conceived a grand ritual where the boarfolk would serve as a font of power. The final remnants of their flawed race were exsanguinated to fuel the great feat, their blood poured into a field where the Red Nexus and great many runes laid. Hazm, without his magic, could only sit atop the great crimson stone and watch the drake and his occult company practice their ancient craft. It was when the last sacrifice’s blood had been let that he felt it. Searing pain filled the ancient elf, his body being torn apart first. Immortal, he was less concerned given his previous deaths and reformations until he noticed the sensation hadn’t stopped. The striga’s incorporeal spirit screamed and cried as it was split into ten upon the Red Nexus. The lexicon beneath him fractured and broke into ten, one still considerably large gem with nine shards floating off of it. Each swallowed the pieces of his soul whilst flurries of scarlet mist travelled between his followers and a shard of their own alongside Malghourn and the largest remaining piece. The last thought to pass through Hazm Alhazred’s mind was those of betrayal, as he had been made into nought more than a blueprint. The Nine Archons By the time they awoke from the ritual the nine archons felt changed. Each came to notice the silence within them, their genus-awakened minds finding no pulse, and thereafter became aware of an ease in movement, weightlessly hovering in place where they had each once stood. They could see clearly despite the dark blizzard shielding away the sun and soon noticed that the pieces of the nexus they had broken off for themselves were gone, bar the largest which Malghourn loomed over. His draconic body, once withered and in parts calcified, had been reborn anew. They could see walls of muscle quaking beneath his scales, now a heavy crimson, and the dragon’s fangs had grown significantly. Something about the serpent to the nine seemed menacing. The smell of fear hung in the air that they shared with him until finally they were addressed. “Traitors.” Malghourn spoke, rumbling a blizzard of rock-salt out of the surrounding cliffs around them with his sheer volume. “Your dear friend… torn apart by his own company’s avarice.” The archons exchanged glances, guiltily. They were struck with the realisation that they had been approached and bargained with individually by Malghourn. Each had been given the same promise in secret and each had taken it; all of them had been as willing to betray their master and, with the exception of Numir and Carical, each other more than likely. It became increasingly evident that this was intentional. “You are immortal as promised. You still have your powers as promised. What I demand is your recognition. Your souls are bound to the blood shards which I have carefully scattered. Fear not, my children, for your bonds to the shards are as ethereal as the libraries they contain; if destroyed they shall reform inevitably by my hand if not by my unwitting apprentices. Know this: I can undo what we have done. The lovers shall be sovereign and for me build a world of troops and cattle. This trio,” he indicated with pointed claws, “shall bear tasks of their own to empower my forces, and the strays - the weakest among you - you must earn my favour.” Details And thus began the nine bloodlines of the first siliti. True to his oath, Malghourn ensured each archon was gifted a realm coupled with its own duties: [Sovereign] Numir, the King Once human, Numir was a lowborn stablemaster from one of the scattered proto-Raevir peasant branches that would unify years later under the Kingdom of Aesterwald. Of suspiciously fair hair and skin, the young Numir was mistakenly believed to have been of high elven descent by marauding dreadknights and taken before the old order of blood with hopes of being utilised for his potent genus, in light of Haelun’orian scarcity during its isolationist period. Whilst such lineage was not found, the enslaved Raevir did show promise in deciphering the runic script and esoteric spells of the order, being taken in and recognised as a blood mage prodigy amongst Setherien’s ranks prior to falling into the Stone Serpent’s inner circle. It was under Malghourn’s stewardship that Numir was introduced to the farfolk magistress Carical, with whom he soon became infatuated. When tasked with finding the elusive strigae to bring before his draconic lord for means of study, Numir followed Carical’s lead to western Aeldin. By way of blood rifts their journey led them to the Undying Sahir, Hazm, with which Numir soon developed a deep respect and fraternity as a pseudo parental figure, spending some years in good company together once they returned to Anthos. One of the more comprehensive to Malghourn’s suggested betrayal, Numir eventually caved to the idea of sacrificing Hazm in exchange for the chance to rule his own realm as king, an opportunity no magic nor dragon could have offered in his homeland. Such plagues Numir to this day as one of his greatest regrets, to the extent that his and Carical’s shared dominion was named in the sahir’s memory. Numir now maintains the courts of the Kingdom of Hazmstadt as its king, his own realm being interwoven with his spouse’s: one a farm-world of human livestock, the other a world-spanning kingdom of siliti subjects and nobles. The two keep the true ownership of each realm a secret between them lest one’s authority be questioned. It is from the Kingdom of Hazmstadt that most siliti hail and also part of the reason why the siliti tend to overwhelmingly be former humans, with occasional human livestock winning an elder’s favour and ascending to become siliti, as well as the cultural centre of all siliti. Over centuries of near total isolation among the stars, the Night Courts of Hazmstadt came to perceive themselves as godly in contrast to their mortal fare, adopting the holy tongue of flexio as their own, albeit bastardised by qualasheem and raev influences that resulted in the 'Immortal Tongue' that is Hazmeză, widely spoken throughout the Kingdom whilst also adopted as cultural code by many vampires on the mortal plane. Upon their dual thrones of Hazmstatd, Numir and his Queen, Carical, are protected – or perhaps watched – by an elite order silit warriors known officially as the Cavalerii Sângeri (the ‘Blood Knights’) and more colloquially as the ‘Dreadguard’. At times ordained by Malghourn himself, the Dreadguard’s members arise from groups of Hallin Kord’s choosing, on a last-man-standing basis from a recruitment pool of what some speculate to be hundreds of the silit soldiery’s most skilled warriors. Their unofficial title comes from the strange custom of donning the cursed armour of Setherien’s great dreadknight legions of yore, as well as adopting the pseudonym of historic dreadlords that once reigned over the fallen dragaar’s soul-bound army. Whilst usually acting in the best interest of the Nine, common gossip amongst Hazmstatd’s courts suggests their true loyalty is to Malghourn alone, serving to keep the Trio – including even Hallin Kord himself – in check. Numir's bloodline has strong will and are expert liars; their body language cannot betray their intent and always seem to be telling the truth. [Sovereign] Carical, the Queen Once human, Carical belongs to the long line of Alhazred, distantly descended from Hazm himself and hailing from eastern Anthos. She now maintains the courts of the Kingdom of Hazmstadt as its queen, her own realm being interwoven with her spouse’s: one a farm-world of human livestock, the other a world-spanning kingdom of siliti subjects and nobles. The two keep the true ownership of each realm a secret between them lest one’s authority be questioned. It is from the Kingdom of Hazmstadt that most siliti hail, and also part of the reason why the siliti tend to overwhelmingly be former humans, with occasional human livestock winning an elder’s favour and ascending to become siliti. (This Archon’s origin and motives are left undefined at present, as it is our intent to allow ST interested in using this character for future events to reach out to us and collaborate on a story befitting their purpose) Carical's bloodline has a matronly disposition and tactful minds; their charm is immense, allowing them to use the rite of restraints on siliti to stage 1. [Trio] Hallin Kord, the Quartermaster Once human, Hallin Kord now oversees Malghourn’s armies as his lieutenant. He is infamous amongst the Kingdom of Hazmstadt as Malghourn’s drafter, often coming to the realm to conscript siliti recruits for another of the dragon’s campaigns from which, near immortal as the siliti may be, very few often return. Fiercely loyal, his realm is not truly his, but in fact a base of operations for the stone serpent’s militia, scattered with countless fortresses and training camps. (This Archon’s origin and motives are left undefined at present, as it is our intent to allow ST interested in using this character for future events to reach out to us and collaborate on a story befitting their purpose) Hallin Kord's bloodline has a penchant for honor and enhanced muscle memory, allowing them to learn physical crafts and techniques twice as fast. [Stray] Cadmium, the Witch Once human, Cadmium was a sorceress who taught in the late years of Rivel after its castle had been sacked by the old dwarves of Urguan’s Hall and its flying citadel was fractured by Aeriel and Iblees’ vicious battle at the end of Aegis. Raised amongst the multicultural mage community that lingered in the ruins there, she was dear friends with two others of the splintered college, that of the dwarf Solomon and human Nirta. Their lives with their families upon the scattered floating islands of lost Rivel were harsh at times but the vast wealth of knowledge that lingered in the castles gave them the tools to prosper. Cadmium grew to be a brilliant mage by gleaning information from the troves of books scattered throughout Rivel where her fascination with the legendary Rasmot began and even learned of blood magic by tutelage of Nirta’s father. Despite increasing numbers and prospects for reuniting the shards of Rivel and rebuilding the lost college, the corruption of a man’s heart proved disastrous to their eclectic clan. In a night where Cadmium and Solomon had ventured off to plunder the great libraries they had returned in a panic where the community had been laid to waste in gorey fashion with carnage rampant between the homes. Before a great, spiraling gate of red mercury stood Nirta wailing into the night as her father dragged her into the portal, flanked by a pair of Mori’quessir, otherworldly dark elves in the eyes of Cadmium and Solomon. Panicked, they scoured the remnants of Rivel just briefly where they found everyone slaughtered to fuel the rift. Disheartened, they gathered their essentials and with confusion, terror, and bravery took to the portal in search of Nirta if not only for revenge upon her father. Spat out into a black cave, the pair were lost and slowly ventured out to find themselves lost in the realm of Asulon where they grew and learned more of the world. There they met a far superior court of blood mages who, given their talents, inducted them and treated them as their own. Cadmium gained a silver tongue and mastered summoning rituals, once unleashing a horror upon the frozen village of Skravia and in turn one of her students eventually conjured a now-famous horror, Achan-Chatla. Amongst this court she was granted one of the first marrows which allowed her unnatural life but a far cry from immortality which also granted her extremely fluid movement, her peers mockingly calling her a witch that haunted the halls. Eventually she and her childhood friend came into the service of Setherien and warred on his behalf, there meeting the sentient drake general of his, Malghourn, where they mingled with the other blood mages. Their cooperation after Setherien’s demise led to the Night of Ten Treacheries where Malghourn had swayed her with promises of the power to finally locate Nirta and her father, to rebuild her home, and to even rival Rasmot. Accepting his deal and taking part in the ritual she saw the fault in her judgement which struck her with shame for not only had she been willing to sell out her peers but even Solomon and he, her. Cadmium then took on her title as the Witch and toiled away in her realm, the smallest of the nine, a twisting castle of endless chambers, stairwells, and halls with no exterior. Repeatedly underestimated by Malghourn thanks to her silver tongue - one of the few able to deceive him - she hides her true power and keeps to her mission: her chambers contain sets of gateways into different planes where she desperately searches for the great wizard Rasmot, thinking perhaps he if anyone could assist her. Cadmium's bloodline has a keenness for theatrics, art, and expression and extreme flexibility and grace, that of dancers and contortionists and keen hand-eye coordination. [Trio] Mictlanti, the Turnkey Once a dark elf, Mictlanti was among the first of Malin’s line to set foot on Asulon, second only to Zanunder after having been ambushed by orcish slavers and chased through Nemiisae’s portals to the Verge and then upon Asulon with his Laurelin scouting party. There he fought hard to sustain a family in that accursed land, struggling against the elements and many hostile factions and beasts. His work as a craftsman was only so valuable when his small group of peers were more concerned about eating and finding shelter. Disgruntled by their situation while squatting in a ruin amongst colossal trees, Mictlanti whittled away at an interlocking wooden ring, a gift he intended to offer a wood elven woman who had his eye. Then instructed to forage by his company’s officer, Mictlanti hid his carving and reluctantly ventured deeper into the great wood. Unfortunately for him he was soon after come upon by venturing Mori’quessir who hunted in the shade of the grand canopy wherein he was soon taken below and inspected, a rare sight. The high priestesses were unsure of what to do with the elf for he was obviously no child of Nemiisae and inherently of lesser worth as a male. When his carving tools and gift were seized from his pockets however, they did find value in him. Mictlanti was enslaved as many were by the Mori’quessir and he served as a carpenter and learned the ways of gemcutting and jeweling from a poor male Mori relegated to the smithy. He quickly showed great skill for such crafts and was regarded as a master - but still a slave - within two years. Turmoil erupted in Menocress during the Terafil rebellion where Mictlanti was nearly killed for having last made a dresser for a Terafil noble were it not for a high lord of the Malachai stepping in to spare him, making light of his skill. During the conflict Mictlanti’s master was slain and soon after the same high lord bought him to be his personal craftsman. Under his wing, Mictlanti was treated with uncommon grace and taught artificery and the ways of enchantment. As the confidence in their relationship increased and the elf produced remarkable works the Malachai leader revealed himself, dismissing an illusion which revealed him to be a human. Deeply confused, the man informed him of his magical talents and saw great potential in Mictlanti, willing to invest in him by teaching him of powers greater than mere Voidal enchantment but of the raw power hidden in the blood of mortals. Intrigued and bewildered, he accepted. As the years passed Mictlanti showed an equal knack for the dark art, their union creating objects of power of great use. His affinity also proved tainting as his mind deteriorated the more his skills were refined and Mictlanti forgot compassion and peace. Years later, the Mori imposter was discovered either fled or was slain by the Mori’quessir, Mictlanti did not know. What he did know was that his position was therein compromised and when the guard came for him they were outmatched. Having plundered his master’s home for their many artifacts and objects of power, Mictlanti made a bloody escape through Menocress before eventually emerging from the waterfall entrance. He was met in the dark wood by an ominous bunch, a collection of blood mages come to aid their previous member. All they knew was that he was gone and in turn there before them stood a prodigy of his tutelage; the court inducted Mictlanti and he, a free man once more, reveled in his newfound capabilities. Amongst the court he became a specialist in invention, using creation rituals to craft the wildest of relics. His services were employed by Setherien once the court came under his dominion and he served as an architect in the Red Realm where he aided in the invention of the Black Scourge’s war machines and grand, wicked structures. With only mild appreciation for his peers amongst the court, taking to Eireamhan and Numir the most, he did not hesitate much to take Malghourn’s deal. After the ritual however he most especially lamented his decision upon realizing his true feelings for Hazm, a man of true gentile quality. As an Archon, Mictlanti became the Turnkey, Malghourn’s judicator which sparked his invention of the rite of rest and the creation of crimson coffins. He became more jaded and cruel after repeatedly being tasked to extract information from prisoners and his self hatred ate at him for his dismissive betrayal of Hazm, leading Mictlanti to spiral to become a bitter misanthrope, believing himself among the worst. Mictlanti broods within his realm of endless cells, cages, coffins, tombs, and dungeons in a labyrinth without exterior where he tends to prisoners and sealed away relics and monstrosities Malghourn wishes to torment, await execution, or be locked away and forgotten for eternity. Mictlanti's bloodline has a fine appreciation for music and are inherently composed and are comfortable being statue-like - still and silent - for as long as they wish without going mad or getting tired, an invaluable skill when imprisoned. [Stray] Solomon, the Scholar Once a dwarf, Solomon is rumoured to have invented the first dreadknights before the blood mages first surfaced in Asulon. An alchemist, philosopher and inventor, Solomon’s realm is a far-stretching taiga on which an odd blend between a factory and a college exists. There he reluctantly builds siege engines and other science-magic hybrid machines and tools for Hallin Kord’s soldiers. (This Archon’s origin and motives are left undefined at present, as it is our intent to allow ST interested in using this character for future events to reach out to us and collaborate on a story befitting their purpose) Solomon's bloodline has a keen eye and appreciation for detail, to the extent of being able to envision the texture and makeup of alchemical reagents (as well as potions if they are already masterful alchemists) without the need of an ocular apparatus. This only functions on items within one block, for the sole purpose of deciphering signs and symbols. [Stray] Illia, the Collector Once a high elf and the weakest of the archons in terms of both physical and magical prowess, Illia’s realm is both a library and museum rivaling even those of Ixli, the spirit of forbidden knowledge itself. Pacifistic and quietly unwilling to fight for Malghourn, she is often found visiting the mortal plane disguised as an old wise woman, pinching books from libraries and tricking mages out of their artifacts in order to have them gather dust in her halls, all the while operating on the pretence to be ‘curating tools for Malghourn’. She has a deep rivalry with Solomon, whose blueprints and inventions are hoarded in his own realm. It is from Illia’s vast collection that the Dreadguard will source it’s armour, the bowels of her hoard rumoured to contain a thousand fallen dreadknights, whilst some speculate there are even weapons capable of granting Malghourn power beyond godhood in her collection but are buried so far beneath an ocean of useless trinkets that the Stone Serpent hasn’t bothered to check nor could most attempt to begin a search. (This Archon’s origin and motives are left undefined at present, as it is our intent to allow ST interested in using this character for future events to reach out to us and collaborate on a story befitting their purpose) Illia’s bloodline possesses the psychic ability of ‘dowsing’ wherein they can locate mundane objects (or written words) through supernatural means within 1 block (such as finding a desired object in a cluttered drawer or desired line in a passage) instantly. They are commonly covetous and hoard things. [Trio] Krogak, the Headhunter Once an orc, Krogak is a former devout of Enrokh, a shamanic warlord whose bloodlust is said to have remained constant since even before his time amongst siliti. Even more universally hated by the other siliti than Hallin Kord, during the years following their transformation he is the only of the Archons known to have visited the mortal plane and hunt descendants in the desert, unafraid of even the Unseen present there. Maddened by his thirst and the most physically imposing of the archons, the Headhunter serves Malghourn out of bloodlust with an affinity for violence, sent to eliminate the Stone Serpent’s enemies and begrudgingly deliver some to Mictlanti’s prison alive at times. Fresh siliti and the children of the Kingdom of Hazmstadt are commonly told to check for a ‘Krogak in the closet’ before bed. (This Archon’s origin and motives are left undefined at present, as it is our intent to allow ST interested in using this character for future events to reach out to us and collaborate on a story befitting their purpose) Krogak’s bloodline has poor empathy yet find purpose easily to which they cling and possess ivory teeth as well as 2 extra pairs of retractable fangs, one on top and one on bottom. [Stray] Eireamhan, the Hermit Once a wood elf and perhaps the least known about of the archons (so much so that residents of the Kingdom of Hazmstadt often believe there to be only eight), Eireamhan’s abilities and talents are unknown. Rumour has it that Eireamhan attempted to liberate the siliti from Malghourn but was backstabbed by Mictlanti, whilst other stories suggest he only slighted the Stone Serpent and Mictlanti wasn’t involved at all. One thing that is certain is that Eireamhan’s realm has become his prison for at least three hundred years where he is trapped in a sprawling plane to wander alone in its wilderness. (This Archon’s origin and motives are left undefined at present, as it is our intent to allow ST interested in using this character for future events to reach out to us and collaborate on a story befitting their purpose) Eireamhan's bloodline is unknown as he has been exiled to his plane for centuries and no known siliti come from him. The archons mostly frequent the outer planes for safety for whilst Malghourn is their maker and requires them for errands and duties they are by no means safe from him or from one another. Red Lines -The nine Archons can only be played by ST given managerial approval. -The information in this post can only be learned through legitimate roleplay, tightly kept among silit circles. -Using the word ‘siliti’ is the draconic term for slaves, used by Malghourn and viewed as too taboo to echo by the nine Archons. In this sense using silit / siliti in roleplay is metagaming, period. Purpose The nine archons solidify the aesthetic of ritualistic blood magic and mystical vampires as an alternative fashion to the old Dragon Age super-mage we’ve seen time and again where the actual magical properties are balanced and roleplay friendly while still allowing for the more ridiculous possibilities for ST events. Focusing on a conflict with dragonkin, each other, and the communities they enter, the nine are much more public and interactive vampires as opposed to striga which can more easily enable vampire hunting style events and roleplay. In the same vein, healthy conflict can arise between the two breeds of ‘vampire’ (should it be desired) as well as between the nine as internal struggles, given their thematically appropriate split in wants and desires. As world lore, nine archons tie off the loose ends of the Asulon blood mage eventline and Anthos Black Scourge eventline by folding the 2.0 and 3.0 antagonists into the conclusion of the bohra extinction while adding a solid foundation for future event lines and old narrative conflicts. It opens the door to future tie-ins with ST projects regarding mystical, fantastical vampires, Hazmstadt (or the other eight realms and their respective characters), and the future schemes of Malghourn. Citations Pale Blood Magic Strigae Malghourn Siliti Credits: Mordu (Co-author) Zarsies (Co-author)

((The term ‘animii’ has been avoided by the plague by all animii crafters, it is more than likely metagamed terminology and it would be appreciated if you didn’t broadcast it. My advice is to use the term ‘engineering’))

Every day we stray further from God.

Maybe I’ll change the amount needed for alchemy use to 32 instead of 1, since that raises a good argument. I’m hesitant to rely on nodes for obtaining redstone as minecraft items aren’t really restrictable behind lore, and an alternative to redstone isn’t ideal either as redstone is already used in other areas of alchemy lore like Animati and Macro Animii.

I came I saw I balanced some humours