#barathu

[honourablejester]

Still on the subject of Starfinder 2e, though, the playtest rulebook had this fantastic art of a rockstar-looking borai:

Which. Undead rockstar lashunta. Noice.

They also have a magic item in the equipment section called the Diva’s Microphone, which is an ‘ostentatious crystal microphone is embellished with glimmering jewels and delicate lights that pulse in time to music’, and which amplifies your voice out to 500ft and grants +1 to performance. It also lets you cast the sonic scream spell. You can get levelled versions that increase the bonus and the level of the spell.

So. You know. I now kind of want to make a borai envoy with the ‘in the spotlight’ leadership style and the icon background and give her this item and basically make an undead Macross-style spaceship idol singer?

Also, sidenote, I enjoy how they made the borai a versatile lineage. That is one PF2e style conversion that I appreciate. Imma put borai on a dwarf. Also ysoki. What does a mostly-undead barathu look like? Thoughts!

[enddaysengine]

Gonna run A Cosmic Birthday as a solo adventure using MGME2. Here’s me blorbos:

Sublime Chemistry - Barathu Envoy - What if Gordon Ramsey was a jellyfish?

Jahir, Warden of Past and Future - Kasatha Witchwarper - Precog

Cesca - Shirren Operative - Swarm Exile

Jo Bob - Prismeni Goblin Solarion - Living battery on a goblin. What could go wrong?

[dailycharacteroption]

Races Among the Stars 8: Haan

When we think of Bretheda’s many sapient species, one probably thinks of either the barathu or one of the many beings populating it’s numerous moons.

However, it’s easy to overlook that there is another species sharing the skies with everyone’s favorite form-altering jellyfish. I speak of course of the arthropoid haan, who sail through the skies of the gas giant on woven silk balloons! With these flotation devices and silken sails, haan can be shockingly agile in the air in their hunt for prey.

Although just as intelligent as other sapient species, the majority of haan society is extremely traditionalist, eschewing all but the simplest tools and weapons to hunt and roam the clouds of their homeworld as they have for millenia.

However, there are plenty of haan that leave their home to travel the stars and interact with other species across the galaxy, where they find their intuitive understanding of aeronautics gives them an edge as pilots.

This does come with a major drawback, as those who leave Bretheda are effectively exiled from their people, and written off as dead by their own families, unable to return. There is talk of these exiled haan creating a new colony home on a different gas giant, far from those traditionalist values, but most fear the upset that would be caused if they try recruiting directly from their kin still living on Bretheda.

Full disclosure, the appearance of the haan in their natural habitat versus the one wearing space armor… they almost look like different creatures. The haan native doesn’t look like it should be able to stand upright… Ah, but that’s just me.

In any case, haan resemble eight foot long, four-limbed arthropods with impressive mandible-like pedipalps near their mouths. They sport many barbs and bristles on their exoskeleton, which can be safely trimmed and groomed, fulfilling much the same role as hair does on mammalian species. They also possess silk glands which are equipped to create hollow balloons filled with light gasses from their internal stores to float themselves or whatever they attach them to in the air. Additionally, striking surfaces on their legs also allow them to ignite these gasses, making them an effective weapon as well.

As mentioned above, traditional haan society is very traditionalist and insular, eschewing many modern wonders in favor of retaining the hunter-gatherer society of their ancient past. While this is perfectly fine and viable, it does alienate and disown those haan who choose to join the wider galaxy, leaving them to struggle with their own cultural identity.

Strong and surprisingly agile despite their bulk, the haan’s focus on tradition over innovation has left most unused to exploring new ideas.

Their ability to ignite their own gasses allows them to have a strong weapon against multiple foes in an emergency.

While traditionalist haan are able to outright fly with their balloons and sails (not to mention sneak balloons onto foes to disrupt them), adventuring haan rarely do so, though they can reflexively craft a balloon on the fly to slow their fall in an emergency.

With their strength and dex, haan can excel in any combat role, favoring everything from soldier to evolutionist, solarian, vanguard, and even nanocyte. Outside of that, their dex bonus is also very useful for operative and even precog as well. Their weakness to intelligence does mean that mechanic and technomancer are hard picks for them, but they can get around this, as well as tap into non-intelligence options such as intuitive biohackers, mystics, and witchwarpers.

That does it for today, but I hope you enjoyed these floaty bugs. Tomorrow we’ll look into one of the new species from the Ports of Call book!

[reckless-glitch]

we played a starfinder one shot over the weekend and I think the character I played would be a great addition to Doc's following

working on a little side story to add them in bit they're a Doomed Future Precog jellyfish (barathu) who is fatalistic but playful about it and I think they'd be drawn in by the catalyst domain of Doc's godhood

Something like searching for the one tiny detail that sets the future on the path of destruction and trying to alter it just enough to make things better but then realizing that its better to focus on the reconstruction domain and find a way to make doom into a positive

[tenosit]

Yeah, that's just a place where D&D runs into its goal of being a combat game - flying is just too good of a positional advantage over many NPCs on the level of granularity D&D goes for. If, say, it was fully focused on pure theatre of the mind, or if battlefield was fully 2D, it wouldn't matter as much. Flying from get go thus is pretty rare across D&D's whole span of existence.

But, if it sounds interesting, here are a number of flying creatures that have gotten playable stats across D&D's history.

Desmodu and Nycters - two MM bat-humanoid species from 3e days, surprisingly acknowledging each others' existence - they are relatives, if not most friendly ones. Desmodu are Large and possess a sonic screech, while Nycters are small and are weak to it.

Raptorans - also from 3e, "siblings" of Goliaths and Illumians in that they were introduced in "Races of ___" books. They are a people with eagle wings, having gained flight due to pact with Elemental Lord of Air in return for obligation to answer their call to arms. They are a patient, philosophical culture, with druids earning high respect. They have a pretty extensive writeup in Races of the Wild, but didn't stick as much as Goliaths did.

Anthropomorphic Animals - finally in 3e, this template came with list of sample stats for players, including Bat, Eagle and Raven. No lore obviously, but if it were polished I am sure it would have found an audience today.

Sphinxes - yeah. The BECMI supplement Top Balista provided classes (this being not AD&D so no race) to play a line of air-related creatures - from bird people and pegataurs, to nagpa and gnomes (they have a flying city in Mystara). Sphinx is definitely the most potent option, offset by big XP track, but I personally would love to play one.

Also, not direct D&D product though D&D blood, but I like that Starfinder offers a number of flying species, given its sci-fi and flight is less of a defense when most enemies have guns. Large Dragonkin, gas-floating Barathu, psionically-propelled Contemplatives of Ashok, the flamboyant butterfly-like "imago" of Dessamar are some that I have converted to D&D 5e rules for personal use.

there should be. more options to get a character with wings in dnd

[seafleece]

*goes overboard on drawing a oneshot character*

basilica di barathus, satyr cleric to/creation of an unnamed goddess who can’t manifest on the material plane! i’m playing them in a cleric battle royale oneshot and they have some nasty tricks up their sleeve

[the-majestic-acid-bear]

the starfinder party and ship. Aeron (before and after waking up from a 700 year long transfer from 1e to starfinder) the human Solarian. Aski the Ysoki Ex space nazi (he’s learning) mechanic. Karl the Barathu Operative who has left his people. and finally the Spaceforce 1, Previously owned by one Jabez Mallory of Mallory Real estate before his head exploded for reasons.

[serendipitousoracle]

i’m drawing @muffinyouadorablelittleshit‘s D&D character (or well one of 42000) while he watches and i think i’m doing a great job

[das-boog]

Finally finished this pic of the starfinder party I run, shoutout to my players who basically write my favorite anime ever.

Lore tidbits that deviate from the rulebooks so far include:

-the undead world eox’s language has the same root words for “living” and “child” and functionally considers you an “adult” when you die at your first job and get reanimated, regardless of age.

- the Pact Worlds functions essentially like the space UN, complete with a strict limit on internal involvement as a prequasite of getting worlds to join

- the veskariums policy of outward conquest never completely stopped, but now happens under the guise of humanitarian aide a la modern imperialism, to varied response by the vesk themselves

-fairies are assholes

- goblins are KINDA assholes but its more understandable.

- barathu have thick boston accents

- nobody good has enough funding for anything

[toasterpip]

This Barathu has seen every single Blasto the Jellyfish movie. Perhaps it's gone to their head...

[arclundarchivist]

The Barathu

I figured I'd post the race stats for those who either don't have the need/money/time to get the Alien Archive

The strange jellyfish creature floated before you, unknown if it was either friend or foe. The answer came not a minute later when a tentacle shot forward, transforming into a deadly looking stinger as it flew, bearing itself in the neck of the yet unnoticed hobgoblin stalking up behind you. "This one should pay better attention to it's surroundings." The creature stated.

Barathu- 6 HP

Ability Adjustments: +2 Con, +2 Wis, –2 Dex

Size and Type: Early stage barathus are Medium aberrations.

Early Stage Adaptation: An early stage barathu’s body is mutable and can adapt to many different situations. Once every 1d4 rounds as a swift action, an early stage barathu can reshape its body and adjust its chemistry to gain one of the following qualities. The adaptation lasts until the beginning of the early stage barathu’s next turn. Unlike more mature barathus, early stage barathus are not generally capable of more complex adaptations. D  Upper limb refinements enable the barathu to add an additional amount of damage to melee attacks equal to its Strength modifier. D  A toughened dermal layer grants its a +1 racial bonus to AC. D  Developed lower limbs grant it a base speed of 15 feet. D   Molecular-level modifications grant it resistance 2 against a single energy type (acid, cold, electricity, fire, or sonic). D   Elongated limbs extend its reach to 10 feet

Floaters: Early stage barathus have a base speed of 0 feet and an extraordinary fly speed of 30 feet with average maneuverability.

Limited Telepathy: Early stage barathus can communicate telepathically with any creatures within 30 feet with whom they share a language in common.

Strange Anatomy: Early stage barathus gain a +1 racial bonus to Fortitude saving throws

Barathus are the sentient apex of Bretheda’s gas-giant ecosystem, blimp-like creatures vaguely reminiscent of jellyfish, with several unusual evolutionary adaptations. The first is their ability to rewrite their own genetic code instinctively and at will, adjusting their own biology to allow them to manufacture a huge array of substances—and even advanced biotechnology— within the crucibles of their own bodies. Yet while this ability makes them quite successful in the Pact Worlds economy, and has deeply influenced their culture’s understanding of wealth and trade, their more notable adaptation is the ability to combine with others of their kind into larger, hive-minded superentities. These mergings create not merely amalgams of their component beings, but entirely new entities with unique and independent consciousnesses, yet which in turn often disband back into their component individuals after a particular need or threat has passed.

Barathu culture tends to be easygoing but hard for some other races to understand, as the barathus’ frequent merging makes the concept of “self” somewhat nebulous to them. Young barathus who grow up surrounded by humanoids are an exception, as they are better able to appreciate the mindsets of creatures who exist in static, solitary configurations. Compared to older barathus, early stage barathus are more adventurous and individualistic, and their adaptation to the humanoid mindset makes it more difficult for them to merge completely with others of their kind. Most of these early stage barathus grow out of this phase, gaining the ability to fully integrate with others, yet recent generations have seen more and more barathus deliberately clinging to their juvenile mindsets. While plenty of barathus remain discrete entities for most of their lives, barathus nearing the ends of their lives often merge with massive, permanent combinatory entities that serve as corporations, governments, or cultural repositories.

The barathu are an overall interesting race, one because they are aberrations, creatures that up until now have always been nothing but creepy allies or horrifying monsters. Now that Paizo is allowing us to enter this utterly alien mindset it is a wonder what other aberrations could become playable perhaps the Naga or members of the Dominion.

Their ability to speak Common is a tad confusing to me but I'll let that be for the moment and instead focus on the ability to change and adapt to multiple situations almost on the fly.

Them being LN makes a lot of sense considering their focusing on coming together, literally, to solve problems and their almost robotic thoughts processes. I imagine it wouldn't be hard for the less communally inclined barathu could easily slide over to True Nuetral or easily slide up or down the Lawful spectrum given enough pressure. Hell if you're session allows Paladins, or Monks you could have a very interesting character right off the bat as your Barathu Paladin swoops in the smite devils using a holy empowered blade forged in the crucible of their own body or a Monk who changes forms as well as stances during fights.

However what I find most interesting about this race and several others in the Archive is that they are only playable during certain stages of their lives, which can make for very interesting role-play scenarios if they reach the age where they can no longer be playable. Next time we dive in the big brained Contemplatives of Akiton.

[honourablejester]

Starfinder 2e Playtest

Okay, I found a humble bundle literally on its last couple of hours, and bought the Starfinder 2e Playtest Rulebook.

I haven’t heard too much about Starfinder’s second edition, but from what I’ve gathered, it’s aimed to bring the mechanical side of Starfinder closer to Pathfinder 2e. Possibly even to make the two games compatible with each other, so you can bring elements of one into the other. Which … Mixed feelings? Starfinder has a very different vibe and power level, I think, so not sure how that’s going to gel. And from what I’ve read of the book so far, it is very much Starfinder running on a Pathfinder 2e chassis. Which, okay.

The playtest rulebook feels like its written primarily for people coming to Starfinder from PF2e, though, instead of people coming from Starfinder 1e, which felt a little odd to me.

As an example of this, the skills chapter talks about what you can use the Pathfinder skills for in a science fantasy setting, and says that Starfinder introduces the two new skills of Computers and Piloting, but doesn’t at all mention how someone coming from Starfinder 1e’s skills can interpret them. Life science and physical science are now apparently lores, for example, both bluff and disguise come under deception, etc. That’s not stated, though, you’re just given the list of skills and have to figure out what’s where. Which, you could figure it out, but the book is clearly written using Pathfinder expectations as the base, not Starfinder ones?

This really feels like it’s updating Pathfinder to the Starfinder setting, not updating Starfinder to the Pathfinder system, if you follow me? And I’m not sure how I feel about it.

That said. A couple other semi-random thoughts.

The ancestries were always going to be one of the wonky conversions. Starfinder 1e has an absolutely fantastic and lengthy list of playable ancestries, because they’re like D&D 5e’s races, in that they’re a one-and-done deal. You get your basic set of traits and you’re off. To convert that to PF2e’s style ancestries, with their feats as you level, mean that it’s a lot more work to write Starfinder 2e ancestries, and there’s a bit of me that’s afraid that means there’s going to be a lot less of them. Your choice of cool aliens to play is going to be a lot more limited. (Please, I want Sarcesians, they’re my favourites!)

That said. Some of the feats are really cool? This book has 12 ancestries, and two of my favourites, the ysoki and the borai, are in there, but the one that caught my eye was the barathu, which didn’t really catch my interest in 1e, but 2e takes their ‘bag of self-programmable gas and biological goo’ thing, their ability to tailor their own evolution in real time, and turns it into some really cool and fun feats. My favourite pair are Vent Gas (lvl 5) and Corrosive Venting (lvl 13), because barathus are flying sacks of gas, and you can make like a squid and vent a bunch of it at once to give yourself cover and propel yourself away, and then level that up to vent acidic gas later on. Which is, *chef’s kiss*, absolutely do want.

I’m definitely not so hot on the backgrounds. I do miss themes, which was where 1e gave you your ‘feats as you level’, tailored to what you do more than what you are. PF2e style backgrounds a little bit boring by comparison.

The classes I don’t have as much of an opinion on, as I’d have to play them to see what they feel like.

The skills … Skills are definitely tripping me up some. I did kind of like 1e’s system where you got a number of ranks to distribute per level and you levelled up your skills manually. Pathfinder’s trained-expert-master-legendary is a weird mental conversion. I am enjoying some of the Starfinder-specific PF2e-style skill feats, though. Like ‘Percussive Maintenance’ if you’re expert in crafting, which is exactly what it sounds like (hit a glitchy tech item to make it un-glitch itself).

I don’t really have a conclusion here. I’ve only just gotten the book, this was just the first idle browse. Definitely mixed feelings so far. It is weirding me out a bit that it’s so firmly based in Pathfinder rather than Starfinder in terms of expectations and explanations, I will say that. This is supposed to be Starfinder 2e, not Pathfinder 2e: Starfinder expansion. Or, well. Maybe I’m wrong about that? But it does more work to give Pathfinder players a cool new setting than it does to give Starfinder players some cool new mechanics. Pathfinder is the more popular system, so they probably do have reason to think that more people will have it as a baseline, but it does feel … a little rough towards the Starfinder player base? The skills tripped me up a lot, and I did have PF2e as my introduction to Paizo. But I liked the Starfinder skill system, so it’s tripping me up to adjust expectations in the Starfinder setting to PF mechanics.

But, you know. I’m willing to roll with it and see. Just. I would really like 2e Sarcesians? Also more mystic connections. I’m sure all that will build through the cycle, this is just playtest material.

If they’re taking feedback on the writing, definitely I’d say build some more Starfinder 1e expectations into how you’re explaining things? Like, I can figure out that engineering has been folding into crafting, and the social skills have all been rearranged, but some textual nod to that conversion might be nice, you know?

Anyhow! Carry on!

[kayawagner]

Star Log.EM-052: Borai Options

Publisher: Rogue Genius Games

By Alexander Augunas

Take your Starfinder campaign to new heights with Everyman Gaming’s Star Log.EM series! This high-crunch series specializes in everything from fantastic new aliens from recently discovered biomes to exciting new archetypes, feats, and class options based on futuristic ideology and traditional fantasy alike. Each week, a different Star Log.EM tackles a new, exciting topic.

This installment of Star Log.EM includes: 1,000 words introducing new options for borai, undead characters that have retained small slivers of their living form’s souls. Included within is a complete reprinting of borai racial traits, options to create borai for dozens of new races spanning from dwarves and elves to barathu and skittermanders, to kitsune and vishkanya and more. Also included is a new archetype for borai, the borai paragon, four new feats for borai characters, and a new reanimation spell specifically designed to raise corpses into borai.

The Star Log.EM series—Starfinder for tomorrow!

Price: $2.95 Star Log.EM-052: Borai Options published first on https://supergalaxyrom.tumblr.com

[dailycharacteroption]

Races Among the Stars 1: Barathu (Early-Stage)

Not every sapient species in the Pact Worlds is of a traditional humanoid shape. Heck, a few don’t even have a spine.

Today we’re looking at the jellyfish-like barathu, natives of the gas giant Bretheda.

As a product of a world with no reliable terrain or easily extracted minerals, barathu rose to be the apex intelligence of their world, building their advancements not from surrounding materials, but from themselves. Indeed, barathu are famous for their ability to rapidly change their bodies, altering their shape and internals to support any manner of useful things. What’s more, they can join themselves both body and mind to others of their kind, creating great living structures that can perform all sorts of roles. Some of the greatest governmental and scientific locations on the gas giant are in fact massive barathu collectives forming organic senates, laboratories, and factories.

This tendency to split and merge as needs arise give the barathu a much more fluid sense of self than what most other sapient species view as normal, though this is in part fueled by their culture, as barathu that have grown up around other species tend to respect the value of individuality more. This is especially true for the relatively young “early stage” barathu that have not fully mastered their biological reshaping abilities or their ability to merge with others. This state is tied to age, but more and more of their kind have begun clinging to these “childish” mindsets. That being said, many barathu near the end of their lives retire into a collective mass so their biomass may help serve great works.

Many barathu are laid back and easygoing, since after all, if they need something, they can change themselves to better acquire it. It would be foolish, however, to think of them as passive, for they can be aggressive on both the battlefield and in the political arena. What’s more, they’ve made a name for themselves as one of the foremost innovators of biotech in the Pact Worlds, rivaled as a species only by the raxilites.

An early-stage barathu resembles a jellyfish, or more accurately a man-o’-war, having a translucent oblong and curving core body with tentacles descending down, the majority from the front end, while some descend from the middle of the body. At first glace they might seem to be incapable of manipulating their environment, but these tentacles are much stronger and mobile than those of a true cnidarian , and can be physically changed to become more suited for different sorts of work, thickening to lift heavy loads while their flotation sacs expand, or splitting into dexterous fingers for typing and whatnot.

 Barathu are tough and empathetic, but their balloon-like bodies are ungainly.

While not as adept as fully matured collectives, early-stagers still have the ability to adapt themselves in a variety of ways, shifting their grasping tentacles to be stronger, thickening their skin, altering their composition to resist energy, developing tentacles for land locomotion, or just extending their reach.

Typically, however, they prefer to fly everywhere, drifting in the atmosphere with sacs of lighter than air gas.

As beings capable of joining into collective minds, barathu can speak telepathically with others that share their language, which allows them to communicate without having to grow a mouth.

As one might expect, their mutable insides make it hard for disease to take hole and internal damage to stick.

Without any adaptation, barathu enjoy night-adapted photoreceptors.

 Of course, win a hyper-adaptable species like this, it only makes sense that there would be a lot of variety amongst them.

Sometimes barathu that have freshly budded from a collective or have split up from one after a long period of merging either retain some of the knowledge from that time, or else have a warped sense of self that makes mind-altering magic hard to stick to them.

Others focus on mastering their internal transformations in different ways, such as becoming biochemical plants capable of spraying acid, grease, or smoke, or inflating their gas sacs larger or flooding their own systems with neurochemicals to overwhelm mental effects.

Others that live on terrestrial worlds put the abundance of solid matter to work inside their ever-changing forms, hardening their bodies, growing natural weapons, defensive spikes, digging claws on powerful tentacles, or even encasing themselves in a shell, exchanging mobility for durability.

Some even give up their adaptability entirely, learning some psychic secrets from their cousin species, the dreamers of Liavara, gaining similar powers, though without losing themselves to the perpetual dream-state of their kindred.

 Early-stage barathu, whether they intend to be independent forever or will eventually join collectives as need be, can be a nice way to start branching out into non-humanoid characters in your starfinder campaign. Their high con and starting hit points make them surprisingly suited for a tanky build, particularly as the vanguard class, while their interest in biotech makes the wisdom-based variant of the biohacker appealing, as does the mystic class, particularly the geneturge connection. Beyond that, however, barathu can excel at pretty much any class, though they may not be as accurate with ranged attacks or as stealthy as others.

[barathus]

The First

It came suddenly, the rush of something unlocking inside of me. I'm still not sure what exactly happened, but I remember things. People. A family?

We fought hard for the Lich King. We defeated many, but in the end there was a light. It was hard to make out what it really was and I just sat there for a while, watching them argue amongst each other.

It was then that I saw her. Tall and mysterious. She moved her mouth in a strange upward angle, like a crescent moon. It took me too long to figure out she was smiling. Smiling at me. My decision to join the Alliance was actually made for me. In life, I had been a human. I lived in a village with a woman and a child. More than that, I couldn't remember but it was enough for them to send me to Stormwind.

Arriving in Stormwind, I received directions to their keep, but I got lost often as their layout makes little to no sense. There is no structure to it, no logic. The guards were of little help. Most of them looked at me and then quickly glanced away and pretended I wasn't there. Other people threw their food at me, I figured out it wasn't for them to share with me, but rather to show how they despised me. They should, I did kill their families and the people do get attached to their families.

Walking through the Trade district, I instantly felt like I would much rather return home to the Acherus. I had grown fond of the simplicity and the sense of direction I had there. Here, every street was lined with different buildings and you couldn't quite see what they were unless you'd go inside. I guess you could say I felt lost. Uncertainty doesn't suit me, it never has. The steps up to the keep are many and they could be a burden for attackers, a smart move of the King of Stormwind. Varian Wrynn was his name, the King I met. He held a long, formal speech for me and the other Death Knights. He proclaimed it against the law to spit on us, or throw food on us. I got distracted and looked around the throne room. There she was again, the same lady I saw at the fight. She was standing with more of the important people.

I got distracted by her. So much so that the King had to call me to attention and tell him my name. I lost my family name long ago and hesitated briefly before I gave him the only name I remembered; Barathus. Whether it was actually mine or not, I still don't know.  

[worldfortomorrow-blog]

Welcome to Nurion

            It was as it had always been. The Eternal Strife, constantly warring, constantly struggling. For the Great Powers of existence came in pairs, equal and opposite. As there was light, darkness also existed. Where there was order, disarray struggled against it. Where there was good, evil flourished. And this harmony in the heavens passed for an eternity, time beyond all comprehension, all the while struggling.           These Forces were all of existence, and all of existence was these Forces. They each claimed a portion for themselves. Good opposed evil, law opposed chaos, and all met in the center, where balance prevailed. These divisions of the universe, where one force prevailed over the others, became part of the Great Sphere. Nine divisions, eight sections of power, surrounded by the center. Millennia ago these inexorable forces begat spiritual places, and they were called planes of existence.            Heavenly Caelestin opposed evil Malor, orderly Cogiton opposed chaotic Nemux, passionately good Aeron opposed Hellish Barathus, and beautiful Efferenus opposed hopeless Carcus, all circling around the Concordia, the great balance. In the middle of the Concordia, at the center of the sphere, was all of the non-spiritual matter of the Multiverse. Untold eons of friction, of the ceaseless pushing of these cosmic Forces, pressed the Concordia, creating at its center a great Maelstrom of heat and pressure. And the heart of this Maelstrom of Friction condensed into a diamond of perfect beauty, flawless and unspoiled: the Lifestone of the Universe.            Upon seeing the beauty of this gem, the Forces changed. These once mindless Powers now knew desire, desire for this perfect gem. These desires slowly personified into creatures, mighty sentient beings with full-fledged emotions and minds of their own. And the Concordia simultaneously gave birth to a protector, a god whose sole purpose was to guard the gem. This being, called Dekk, was the strongest of all.            Hence came to be the nine original gods of the Universe. Caelestin begat Heshtail, Efferenus begat Bestra, Aeron begat Kantor, Cogiton begat Neltak, Nemux begat Bel, Barathus begat Lagur, Carcus begat Grlarshh, and Malor begat Soggoth. As each of these creatures came to be, the desire in their hearts was kindled, and they wanted the gem. And beholding this gem, something else became apparent-- although the stone was beautiful beyond compare, it was also the key to more, to the cessation of the perpetual cosmic struggle which burned within each of them. The want of the Lifestone grew. This desire became passion, this passion became anger, this anger became rage. And thus began the Ontological War.            Each of the gods desired the Lifestone, working to take it for his or her own. Knowing that they would be unable to wrest the stone directly from Dekk, as he was the most powerful of all of the gods, being the protector, the gods perceived that they must each defeat the other gods first, usurping their space in the Multiverse, to grow in power. As they absorbed the power of the other gods, they would be able to challenge Dekk and defeat him, claiming the Lifestone for their own.            Bel was the first to act: the nimble rogue attempted to steal Neltak's great axe. But Neltak saw him and struck out at him, meaning to end his life and take his power. The blow was true and would have killed Bel, but Dekk would not permit one Force to seize another's place, and he stopped the strike the only way he could: he interposed the Lifestone itself, using its powerful force to stop the blow. But the axe struck true, the edge bringing a small crack to the once perfect surface of the shining gem. Grlarshh cast a plague on Bestra, who struck back with a tremendous bash of her mighty shield. But Dekk was again there, stopping the power of Grlarshh's plague and Bestra's shield strike with the Lifestone.              Once again, damage was done; Bestra's shield created ripples on the surface of the stone, while Grlarshh's plague left spots of disease on the once shining jewel's face. Soggoth lashed out at Heshtail, his tentacles trying to rip Heshtail in twain. Heshtail met force with force, his staff deflecting Soggoth's blow, but shattering into many shards. Dekk intervened again, placing the Lifestone between the pair, Soggoth's spiny tentacles leaving a long mark on the gem, Heshtail's staff leaving splinters all through the gem. Lagur and Kantor warred with each other, each believing that they could defeat the other with but a single blow. They each mustered all of their power, lashing out at their opposite, only to be blocked once again by Dekk and the Lifestone. But again, the blows struck true. Kantor's axe sundered the gem, leaving a large crack, while Lagur's trident pierced it to the core. And thus rebuffed, each god returned to his or her place.              But Dekk was distraught, for the war of the gods had devastated the once perfect gem, leaving naught but a broken piece of rock in its place, flawed, irregular and imperfect. Unwilling to see any further destruction to his beloved jewel, he called for a halt to the hostilities, for a gathering of the gods. Hence began the Council of the Gods.              The council of gods lasted many ages, with talk about what could be done to save their precious Lifestone, the gem they all craved so much. Khuldul Rockcarver was assigned the task of repairing the gem, for he had great skill in working with gems of all sorts. Many ages he labored on the Lifestone, fixing some of the damage, but much of it was beyond his ability to repair.              Much of the harm done during The Ontological War was irreversible, a permanent mark left by the gods. And though this gem was no longer perfect, they still had a great desire for it, perceiving again that it was somehow the key to ending the war once and for all, and they named it Núrion, the Shattered Jewel.              Many things came from the Council, designed to prevent any further damage to Núrion the beloved. Seeing the destruction wrought by their strikes, each of the gods agreed never again to touch the gem, for fear they may further damage it. And out of fear of Dekk's power, the other gods cried mightily, for there could be no balance where one god had more power than others.             In the interest of neutrality, Dekk agreed to give up a portion of his own life essence to Núrion itself. To keep the balance, Dekk created two great entities, Tanarus and Sulis, which gave sentience and life force to the shattered jewel. And Dekk created the Universe Shell as a case for the gem, and he pierced the shell in many tiny spots to let light into its dark hollow space.              As the universe created all things in pairs, so the gods felt that they should be in pairs as well. Each god created his or her own helper, an aid of sorts, a creature of lesser power who could further the aims of his or her master and who was not constrained from touching the gem. And secretly the gods hoped that these lesser beings could grant them aid should the Ontological War be rejoined.              Only one god refused to make a single helper. Tal-Allustiel the farsighted refrained; instead he created several creatures, immortal, of insignificant power when compared to the gods, yet he prophesied that they would be a great helpmeet. He named his creation the Elhil, the Firstborn, for he sent them directly to live on the beloved rock known as Núrion, and they were the first creatures to live thereon.