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_,.,-~"~"~-,.,_,.,-=~´"-~-"`~=-,.,_,.,-~"~"~-,.,_,.,-=~´"-~-"`~=-,.,_,.,-~"~"~-,.,_,.,-~"~"~-,.,_ 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. _,.,-~"~"~-,.,_,.,-=~´"-~-"`~=-,.,_,.,-~"~"~-,.,_,.,-=~´"-~-"`~=-,.,_,.,-~"~"~-,.,_,.,-~"~"~-,.,_

The Braduk Rhino ((The following lore was originally written by Makka_Pakka_99 and the1bow, eventually edited by Catarrh, ilikefooddude and yimmya Previous lore is Here)) Discovery In Aegis, when the Braduk Clan was just starting off, a village war had broken out between the Braduk village, Kenuk, and a rivalling village led by Braduk’s half-brother, Gorjol. Dishonourable raids were leaving Kenuk in ruins, and the Braduks needed an edge. Braduk discovered rhinos roaming the mountain pass. The problem was that they only stood around the height of the average human, so they couldn’t support the weight of most Orcs. Braduk, however, still saw potential in the beasts’ sharp, sturdy horns and incredibly thick hides. After a short raid on Kenuk, Braduk decided to inspect the rhinos more closely. One was captured and brought to the village, and Braduk watched it stomp around in a pen for a while, pondering how the beasts could be used to their advantage. Breeding Braduk ordered for a few more to be captured, and started a breeding program in hopes of bigger, mountable rhinos to use in the Village Wars. He only bred the largest rhinos, which, at the time, weren’t much bigger than the average ones. Each generation was slightly larger than its parents, and as such the progress was painstakingly slow. It wouldn’t be until long after Braduk’s death that the rhinos would be big enough to ride. Two Chieftains after Braduk’s reign, Goregutz was finally pleased with the size and tried to mount the first Braduk Rhino. Taming At this point, the rhinos hadn’t been properly tamed yet. The larger ones were dangerous, and were kept locked up in caves situated not too far from the clan fort. Smaller ones were usually killed for meat and leather, though the clan was still eagerly awaiting the fruits of labour to be harvested from the massive Rhinos. Goregutz, as a show of strength and bravery, decided to try his luck with the only ten-foot rhino they had. He entered the pen with several other Orcs, and immediately the animal went berserk. It began to smash around, killing many that stood in its path, impaling and crushing the slowest of the Orcs with no more than a turn of its head. Goregutz, being one of the biggest, jumped at the rhino and mounted it. He grabbed it by its two long horns, holding on for his life as the Rhino tried it’s best to throw the Orc off its back. It bucked around like this for several minutes until it threw Goregutz off. The beast was tenacious, but so was Goregutz. He jumped back on the rhino, holding on even tighter, but even then he was bucked off multiple times. It took hours for it to tire out, and Goregutz barely outlasted it. Finally, the rhino grew tired and stopped. Exhausted just as much as the Rhino, Goregutz relaxed a bit, sitting on it calmly. “Mi kall lat Gurtog,” said Goregutz. The rhino grunted, and looked up at him with what resembled a look of respect. Characteristics and relation with Orcs Braduk Rhinos have a diet consisting of grains, grasses and small plants. Usually the untamed rhinos are kept in a pen and fed their daily meals, but once paired with an Orc they are let free to roam and eat as they please. Stunted Rhinos, a somewhat common occurrence in Braduk forts due to the lack of grasses, are usually killed and processed. Their hide is used in armour, their horns sometimes sharpened into daggers, and their meat is cooked up in stews and casseroles, being too tough for any other meal. The rhino’s most common colour is grey though rare sand coloured rhinos can be born. The very first rhinos were black, but as time went on their skin lightened through reproduction. It is unknown if a black rhino remains, the last being Ghazkull’s, and there has only been one recording of a white rhino. During infancy, the Braduk rhino will have just a bump where the horns will develop. As they mature, they grow two horns; one directly in front of the other. The front horn is longer than the back horn, and usually reaches an average length of 47 inches (120 cm), while the second horn usually reaches 35 inches (90 cm). If a horn is cut off, it will take decades to re develop, and during the first couple days, the hole will remain. It is a lethal spot, and if stabbed will result in a fatality. It’s common practice for a Braduk to customize his rhino’s horns by sharpening them, overlaying them with iron, or sometimes carving his name or important symbols into them. Their thick hides cover most of their body and legs. It’s too thick to be penetrated by arrows, but hard swung weapons are capable of breaking the bones of the beasts. On some occasions, an Orc will use rhino hide as a moderate substitute for leather armour, and the clan mothers have been known to replace an Orc’s flesh with a rhino’s in serious injuries to prevent infection. The rhino’s underbelly is loose fat, and is the weakest spot on their body, save for the soft flesh behind their large ears and underneath the horns. The average Braduk rhino stands from 9-10 ft tall, and can weigh between 8,000-8,500 lbs. As a result of their incredible size, their speed is depressingly slow. Bursts of speed are not uncommon, however; a charging rhino is capable of reaching a maximum speed of 40 kmh (approx. 25 mph), with enough force to break through solid brick walls. Additionally, what Braduk Rhinos lack in speed they definitely make up in stamina, being capable of maintaining a constant speed for as much as a day without rest. The Braduk Rhinos grow at about the same rate as a normal Orc does. When an Orc cub is born into the Braduks, a rhino will already be chosen for him by one of the Elders of the clan, usually one born at around the same time. At the age of ten an Orc is shown to the Rhino, and this is where they will be bonded for life. They must first gain each other’s honour by engaging in a klomp. The Orc must do as Goregutz did, and mount the rhino until it ceases retaliation. The Orc will name the rhino, and in turn, the rhino will name the Orc. The Braduk Rhinos have their own respected contingents and have their own names; communicating to each other using a series of grunts, snarls, grumbles and roars. The bond between a rhino and an Orc is strong, and one can rarely live without the other. After the two have been paired, the rhino will scar the Orc with its horn, and in turn the Orc will scar the rhino with his favoured weapon. The Braduk rhino is extremely difficult to train and control due to their ferocity and their horrible eyesight. They’re known to charge upon the slightest provocation, and it’s rare that a particular rhino can be approached by anyone other than its familiar rider. As a result, an Orc must spend tremendous amounts of time familiarizing himself with the rhino he wishes to ride. Due to their foul tempers, the rhino will commonly go into a bloodthirsty fit during battle, requiring truly masterful skill for a rider to maintain control, and such fits can cause just as much damage to the rider’s enemies as to his friends. Because of their poor eyesight, the rhino must also rely heavily on its strong sense of smell, though this of course presents further difficulty in training and control; a stray scent sometimes causing a Braduk Rhino to plough through a nearby wall without warning.