#she has managed to attain godhood so she's More Than One)

[dragon-communion]

Concept for Trina vs Miquella:

Let's say Trina manages to upend Miquella's ambitions and halt the plan at "necromance yourself a husband". If Trina and Miquella became god and consort in the same way Marika and Radagon became god and consort, it would be "incomplete" and probably cursed. Nevertheless, one potential way to stop Miquella from becoming the god is for Trina to do it instead.

I think she has absolutely no interest in becoming a god and would rather they both were dead than either attain godhood, but if her compassion for Miquella outstripped her morals and self preservation... hm.

I think I need to break down what exactly a white queen and a red king are.

Ranni, Marika, and Miquella are very color-coded as the white queen.

Malenia could honestly go either way- in some ways, Malenia is the red to Miquella's white. Maybe that's what made them "cursed". Hard to say.

Godfrey, Radagon, Mohg, and Radahn are extremely red. There are a few more red lads, but these are the confirmed options. I think the Tarnished qualifies as red the same way Godfrey does- we're drenched in blood, at least metaphorically.

White Queen: mercury, albedo, earth/water, moon, passive, fixed.

Red King: sulfur, rubedo, fire/air, sun, active, volatile.

So we've essentially got the damsel in the tower and the warlord in the field. Part of why Marika and Radagon fail as a rebis, I think, is that Marika is too active and dominant- according to the classical ideal, the white queen has to submit. While she technically does with us (we get to marry her corpse), I think those are extenuating circumstances prefaced by literally the entirety of Elden Ring's central plot.

It's also kind of interesting that the two main queens in the story represent earth (Marika) and water (Rennala), respectively. Technically, Radagon's more aligned with fire and Godfrey is more aligned with air. Very interesting.

On the topic of Miquella and Trina, if I break them down elementally, they're both technically earth. Miquella is the feminine to Malenia's masculine, and it's very obvious, even though Malenia also has flower imagery. Androgyny is kind of the axis they both spin on. Regardless, both Miquella and Trina are represented by water lilies. Miquella is a smith though, skilled with making weapons and needles as well as the manipulation of light. If it was just enchanting weapons or something I'd say he's only got air to his name, but he created Malenia's prosthesis and Cleanrot armor somehow.

There is more involved in fire and air, in an abstract sense, but I'm trying to make my life easy and not accidentally jam a square peg into a round hole with liberally applied pressure. Miquella's famous intelligence is honestly enough to pin air on him, and the creativity works for fire.

Trina, by contrast, actually doesn't seem that creative? She reacts to things, or manipulates situations that already exist. Sleep is arguably the height of passivity, and it's compared to a quagmire in-game. Stagnant.

While Trina's torch is one of the only sleep weapons in the game, and therefore theoretically significant to her purpose and presentation, I'd argue it's actually an outlier? Considering the description says the imagery on it is rare and disturbing. If anything, it looks like a combination of Trina and the Fell God. Perhaps not impossible, considering Miquella's proximity to the giants' forge. Where did he learn smithing, anyway?

Even though her clerics carried straightswords, I think the natural vector for Trina's poison is projectiles. It's hardly easy work, but it's easy to fire arrows without moving and they're arguably the most effective way to inflict sleep other than throwing pots. Arrows and swords are air, and a torch is blatantly fire, but it's hard to say whether or not her gift was ever intended to be a weapon in the first place. I actually think the original intended way for the average citizen to experience her, other than just natural sleep, might've been dreambrew. And then people got creative.

I maintain that whoever thought to put fantasy opiates on arrows is insane. But hey, the first rockets were bags of gunpowder tied to arrows, so. Who knows.

I got wildly distracted there–

Anyway, white queen and red king. Trina literally personifies the state of being passive and Miquella's extreme ambition could easily qualify him for red king status, regardless of actual coloration. So what would that look like? What kind of world would they create?

St. Trina is a saint that technically functions within the Golden Order; though my personal interpretation of her is either as a folk saint unsupported by the eternal crown, or a saint beholden to specifically Miquella as godhead, even before he actually went for it. Of the few other mentions of saints, Rosus is a good example of a saint I can see working within the bounds of what Marika wanted, encouraging Erdtree burial. Trina might work well with the whole panem et circenses thing, theoretically, but her largest followings seem to be Albinaurics and Cleanrot knights, and her most sacred places seem to be the Albinauric Village and the Apostate Derelict, which is kind of damning.

Whipping out a couple of definitions here: an apostate is someone who renounces a religious belief or principle, according to the New Oxford dictionary. Another word for an apostate is a dissenter. Whoever the apostate(s) might be, Apostate Derelict is a ruin named after giving a big old "fuck you" to some sort of religious organization. It's the best place to farm Trina's lilies in the whole game, and there's a very significant albinauric woman there who theoretically has the power to birth other albinaurics, if I'm understanding the questline right. Which would completely free them from any need for the Erdtree at all, not that the Erdtree was of any use to them in the first place.

I don't think Trina much cares what religion she's attached to, but it's telling that at the very least the albinaurics seem to follow her with such intensity.

I think an age of lullabies would ultimately be a "bad end", the same way Marika's age of unending life was a bad idea. Trina promises relief from pain. Perhaps even a life entirely free of pain or care, where in an extreme circumstance a body could theoretically become irrelevant as people devote more and more time to dreaming and dreaming-adjacent skills like communicating with spirits or walking strange roads between worlds. She would have to be able to cooperate with Miquella to find a way to balance out the cons of eternal slumber, and barring putting the whole world on life support I'm not sure what he could do.

...actually, uh. I think Miquella is capable of putting the whole world on life support. Considering his divine aspect is endless abundance, and more concerningly he can put people in cocoons.

Well! I think I have at least part of my answer as to what Trina becoming a full god would look like, and it's an utter nightmare. I like it. Feel free to chime in, tell me what you think.

[yellowfingcr]

It was slowly, ever so slowly that his hand moved. Outstretched, further and further to the ahead of him. A godly being, he feels it, or something close to it at least as it stood there before him in its aberrant form and alien anatomy, with additional limbs and two pairs of wings sprouting forth from behind their back. Everything in his body screamed against what it was he did and yet the host to another eldritch god could not help it, the urge, and despite his tense posture and trembling hand he finally reaches their star-kissed skin. Hesitant he brushes with his fingertips at where he guesses their cheek to be, feeling the otherwordly texture of divine skin. A sharp pain traveled down his arm, right into his chest, followed by a seemingly unseen force pushing the air right out of his lung. He still did not listen to the silent protest. Stubborn and maybe a bit out of spite he goes a step further, reaching with his other hand for the young god's face also, then cupping it with both of them. Ignoring the numbing sensation spreading from his fingers down his wrists into the rest of his arms in his patron's continuous attempt to get the man to step away from her.

„ You're beautiful──“

The god smiles mouthless between his hands. Divinity allows for that, for acts to become cleaved from the agents supposed to cause them; and it is so that the god whose face barely hosts features, who wears a smooth sequence of round curves fractaled with stars for a skull and two bright points like faraway suns for eyes, smiles, and laughs, low and deep and pleased as he first touches then holds her.

And divinity should perhaps have her untethered from the effects of flattery- what meaning has beauty when you can unwound time from its spool, what use has a word that warms the ego when you are that which creates from nothing, and is indifference not the quintessential trait of a god- but this is no god born of primordial void and stardust, from the first synaptic fire of existence; this is a god with the smallest most minuscule sliver of the human she once was embedded within the depths of herself, no larger than a cherry's kernel, still present, still alive. And that fragment of the human that was so loves a compliment.

“Says you! You are as well,” the Syzygy answers, her eyes narrowing with mirth. She folds her wings, tries to make herself smaller; they flatten against her back with a silky rustle. “Look at yourself. Those who walk and breathe at the same time as you do have been blessed with grand luck, and thrice so if they have ever laid eyes upon you. I don't struggle to imagine their blushing and sighing. I behold a heartbreaker.”

But Meir, for this is his name, is hesitant in his curiosity- the same hands that extended toward her did so careful and slow with the rigidity of a man compelling his skin to clutch hot coals, and she knows why; he might be kind and he might be splendid, but there’s a thing rooted inside him who wishes to take all he is and wear him like a glove, an ancient endless being, who is not.

The Syzygy bends her spine, to better let him cradle her cheeks. Presses herself against the contact, then lifts the upper set of her arms to hold him in turn, her long claws sliding under his black locks, careful around his jaw.

“I can try, you know. I’ve slipped poison in the mouth of a miracle granter slumbering between planets. I’ve carved the hearts out of a god-leviathan with sword and word, and devoured them. I’ve slain all those who tried to find and restitute the death I've excised and hidden to me. I could challenge what keeps you,” she whispers, her brow cold against his. “It would take many of me. Many attempts, many ends and returns. But we could do it. I could do it. Just ask, and I'll begin sharpening my will to a killing point.”

She moves a little closer. Such a brave warlock, such a gentle man he is.

“After all, what use was all I did to become who I am if I cannot help?”

[robotnik-mun]

Also, in regards to your setting, what would be the (abridged) history of Mobius in your vision of things? If you feel like explaining it, I mean.

I can give it a go, but keep in mind that I am constantly revising my ideas, and I tend to vacillate between what I want to keep in and what I don’t. I’m a ditherer, it’s true ID;

I really do need to make a master document of this crap though, even if the most detailed bits and pieces come from specific time periods in Mobius’ recent history. Either way, this is perpetually in Rough Draft mode, so what you see here might not be the same the next time you ask.

Anyway, let’s roll-

The Beginning

-To begin with, Mobius is a unique world in that it undergoes something we’ll call “The Gaia Cycle”, in which life develops on the planet, advances greatly before leaving/self destructing, leading Dark Gaia to emerge in order to wipe the slate clean, which in turn allows Light Gaia to renew the world and re-start life on the planet, so that the cycle begins again. As such, Mobius is indescribably ancient, having gone through the cycle several times over. The only constant is the Master Emerald and the Seven Chaos Emeralds.

-During this cycle, several individuals from the Old World are able to essentially acend to Godhood via the power of the Chaos Emeralds and mastering their energies, and so are able to escape the end of their world as the Gaia Cycle proceeds. As you can guess, these guys are basically to serve as stand-ins for the Ancient Walkers.

-For now we’ll call them the Titans. The Titans take charge of the various primal fundaments of the plane. They also take it upon themselves to oversee and help guide the development of life on the on the Soon To Be Mobius, overseeing the re-birth of the Dinosaurs before guiding the direction of evolution to lead to the creation of intelligent life far ahead of the usual schedule. Their plan is to oversee the development of a utopian society so that when the time comes for the Gaia Cycle to begin anew, more benevolent life will be left and spread from Mobius, all in the hopes of creating a universe of harmony unlike the ones they had survived.

-Naturally, one of them has other plans and believes that they should RULE over creation rather than guiding and guarding it. The most powerful of their number attempts to convince the others of her viewpoint. When that fails she tries to seize control of creation by force, killing several other Titans before she is defeated. Suffering an unhealing wound that saps her of her cosmic power, The Fallen Titan is banished by the others and sealed beneath a mountain for her crimes.

-The surviving Titans though are not unscathed either, their injuries leaving them unable to directly intervene on Mobius as they once did while regulating the energies that comprise their world. Rather than letting the primal forces run unchecked, they fall into the role of distant, observant Gods, only intervening when able and moving in subtle and mysterious ways.

Early Mobius

-Life on Mobius proceeds onward as intended- the myriad new forms of intelligent life on Mobius develop sentience, tools and the like. Life takes on many strange and wondrous forms on Mobius, from your standard humans and Mobians to more fantastical creatures like dragons. Primitive magic is developed by these early prehistoric societies, and through them understanding of the various Higher Powers begins to emerge. In particular, worship of Light Gaia/Dark Gaia becomes widespread. At this stage of things, the various peoples of Mobius stick to their own kind.

Then, one day, something happens- The Fallen Titan escapes from her confinement.

Though greatly weakened and lacking most of her power, The Fallen Titan still retains certain advantages- namely immortality, and the power to manipulate the forces of Chaos. Cast in the shape of a great serpent, the Fallen Titan regains her ‘footing’ and develops a unique power- that of being able to awaken Chaos Powers within others or nullifying similar powers.

The Fallen Titan, through her powers, quickly establishes a cult around herself, and through her powers amasses a great army. She comes to be known by the name of Vokara, and through her army conquers many tribes. Through her a great and terrible city is built, and she establishes the first civilization on Mobius. This comes to be known as the First Great Civilization.

(In case it isn’t obvious, Vokara is pretty much meant to fill-in for Mammoth Mogul. She started out as an attempt to differentiate Lyric, but the sheer differences eventually led me to just go ‘screw it’ and make an OC)

Standing as Goddess-Queen of the First Great Empire, Vokara researches means of bringing the Chaos Emeralds to her, knowing that they are the key to regaining her original might. Eventually the Master Emerald is located and brought to her, and by communing with it she re-discovers the knowledge of how to access the Special Zone. She houses the Master Emerald in a great temple, and through its power mutates a Chao to become its very first Guardian- Chaos.

As you can imagine, it eventually all goes to shit. On the eve of receiving the Seventh Emerald and re-attaining her lost Godhood, a hero arises to challenge Vokara and lead the oppressed peoples of Mobius in a great rebellion against her. This hero becomes the first ‘Super’ on Mobius, and the cataclysmic final battle levels her great city and sends her Chaos Temple crumbling. The Chaos Emeralds themselves do not return to the Special Zone, and are instead spread across Mobius to become objects of

Though the First City is destroyed, the Vokarik Empire’s influence lives on in its former vassal states, many of whom build off the various advances that occurred under the Vokarik regime to advance themselves forward. Trade and exploration begin to flourish. Vokara meanwhile retreats to the shadows, deciding to take advantage of her long life and try for a more long term, subtle approach to regaining her lost Godhood. Across the centuries she begins to form cults, secret societies and conspiracies to serve her ends, taking on multiple names and identities as she does so.

The longest lasting and most enduring of these is The Order of the Black Emerald.

-After this point things get a bit hazy. Two more Great Civilizations come and go, and eventually the Master Emerald winds up in the hands of the Echidna, along with the Seven Chaos Emeralds.

-The Echidna manage to become the keepers of the Master Emerald, which takes up a great place of importance within their mythology. The Echidna develop into multiple clans, but the two most important are the Nakbe Clan, a society of warriors, and the Nocturnus Clan, who focus on science. The Nakbe Clan are the keepers of the Master Emerald and eventually the Chaos Emeralds, which they keep enshrined. Chaos, the First Guardian, is placated by the company of Chao. The Nakbe Clan eschews advanced science in favor of physical might, and learns to channel the power of the Emeralds to make their warriors all the stronger.

-The Nocturnus, focusing on science, developes rapidly and becomes a highly influential and widespread nation in of themselves. They will be known as The Fourth Great Civilization. While initially things are peaceful between the Nocturnus and the Nakbe clans, gradually the Nakbe Clan sets down a path of conquest and imperialism. In response the Nocturnus develop the Gizoids and march down a path of counter-conquest under the leadership of Pir’oth Ix. The two forces battle viciously, but in the end even the Chaos Enhanced warriors of the Nakbe clan prove to be no match for the Nocturnus, and are pushed to the brink of defeat. Then, mysteriously, the capital city of the Nocturnus simply vanishes, drawn away by a mysterious creature known as Argus (that may or may not have been drawn to Mobius by the efforts of the Order of the Black Emerald).

-The victory of the Nakbe clan is short lived. Pushed to the brink by their losses and left vulnerable, the peoples they pillaged in the past gather and begin to seek vengeance against their oppressors. In desperation, Pachachamac raids the Emerald Shrine in the hopes of turning the full might of the Chaos Emeralds against the attackers…. In doing so enraging the guardian Chaos, causing it to absorb the emeralds and subsequently going on a rampage that devastates the Echidna civilizations and many societies around the globe. Only through the sacrifice of Tikal is Chaos sealed away, but not before Mobius essentially undergoes an Apocalypse that sets it back thousands of years.

-In the aftermath of the devastation, the remnants of the Echidna band together. Realizing the dangers of the Master Emerald, one group of Echidna opts to take the Master Emerald to ensure that something like Chaos never happens again, while the other group decides to have nothing to do with the emeralds at all and migrates elsewhere to rebuild. Eventually, in the name of keeping the Master Emerald out of the wrong hands, the keepers of the ME use its power to create a floating island in the sky, which will come to be known as Angel Island.

What becomes of the ground bound remnant is unknown, and eventually the world will believe the Echidna people to be extinct.

-Past Mobius

-In the aftermath of the Deluge, Mobius is set back pretty far as most cities are devastated, and records of the past are hazy. Civilization tries to rebuild as best it can, but it’s on a decidedly uneven tilt. Consequently this is why you have ruins and weird ancient supertech hidden everywhere. It is during this time that the art of sorcery begins to develop and flourish. Mighty sorcerer-kings (and queens) arise from the ashes of technological civilization and establish dominance over the world. This is the Age of Sorcery, and it’s not really a fun time to exist.

-The Sorcerer-Kings rule and wage war against one another for many centuries, and actively suppress technology to keep their subjects in line. Despite this, pockets of civilization are able to resist this- chiefly the human city-state of Soleanna, which maintains scientific advancement even against the scrutiny the Sorcerer Kings of Mobius. The Soleannans spread the word of Solaris to the other peoples of Mobius, and in secret spread their technological knowledge as well. Eventually the Solaric Crusades are started, a mass uprising against the Sorcerer Kings and their magic. In the course of the crusade the Sorcerer Kings are defeated, but over the course of defeating the dark magics used by the Sorcerer Kings, many of Mobius’ more benign magical traditions are also exterminated as part of the Holy War as it turns into a crusade of magic itself.

When it is over, the Solar Empire is established across Mobius, with Soleanna as its capital.

-One consequence of the Solaric Crusades is that many of Mobius’ naturally mystical species (fantasy critters) are driven to flee from Mobius itself, using magic to cross dimensional barriers into the ‘Nameless Zone’ where they may live freely. Only a few choose to remain behind on Mobius, among them the mighty Dragons.

One of the Sorcerer Kings, Lazaar, builds a mighty fortress in a remote and desolate land, seeking to regain and rebuild his power and re-take the world. His dark magical experiments, left unchecked, pollute and corrupt the land around, creating what will one day be known as The Forbidden Zone. Lazaar uses his magic to create a homunculus to serve as his assistant, only for the homunculus to teach itself magic and betray Lazaar, trapping him within his own fortress and siphoning his powers for its own ends.

The Homunculus dubs itself ‘Naugus’, and continues where his master left off, eager to explore the possibilities of magic and its limits, while vowing to never be subject to the will of anyone ever again.

- Meanwhile on Angel Island….

After the devastation the Deluge and the raising of Angel Island, the Echidna remnants were able to advance in peace and isolation from Mobius. Slowly they regained much of their original technological prowess, and through their technology managed to keep any would-be explorers at bay. The Hidden Palace is created, within it the great Emerald Chamber to house the Master Emerald.

-The science of Chaos Physics, the study of Chaos Emeralds, emerges as a scientific discipline. Two scientists, Sayil and Xultun become leaders in their fields, seeking to better know the power of the Chaos Emeralds in the hopes of benefiting all Echidna kind. One of their projects is figuring out how to transfer Chaos Energy directly into a Mobian (in a kind of predecessor to the eventual experiments carried out by Gerald Robotnik). Something however goes horribly wrong, and there is an accident- one that results in Xultun being physically and mentally transformed by the experience.

-Now bitterly misanthropic and nihilistic, Xultun demonstrates the ability to control a strange, corrupted form of Chaos Energy. He eventually escapes confinement and becomes a terrorist against the Echidna nation, with his goal being nothing short of the elimination of all life on Mobius so that it might be ‘purified’. As the death toll mounts, Sayil sets out to take down her former friend and colleague. Uncovering ancient scrolls of the Nakbe Clan’s teachings, she learns a natural means of drawing power from the Master Emerald. From there she sets out to thwart Xultun, time and time again, eventually seeming to kill him. Much of the Angel Island civilization is devastated as a result, even if the rest of Mobius is saved.

-Realizing the dangers of the Master Emerald and its powers, Sayil in the aftermath takes it upon herself to become it’s protector, and as such she becomes the first Guardian of the Master Emerald. While the Echidna rebuild, Sayil uses her powers to locate the other Chaos Emeralds on Mobius, travelling the globe and gathering them so they will not fall into the wrong hands. During this time she clashes with both Vokara and Naugus, thwarting them both as they seek out the emeralds for their own ends. When finished, she returns to Angel Islands and promptly sends the Chaos Emeralds back into the Special Zone, hopefully out of reach of would-be tyrants.

-Sayil establishes the tradition of the Guardian by taking on an apprentice and successor of her choosing, teaching them her skills and literally transferring the power from herself to her student. Thus it follows that each new Guardian is chosen by the last, protector of the Master Emerald and the Echidna people.

-Xultun, wounded but not dead, retreats to a hidden laboratory base deep under the surface of Mobius. There he places himself in a recovery pod to undergo suspended animation while his injuries are healed. Due to an earthquake, the timing mechanism of his pod is damaged, and he remains in stasis for far longer than intended, dreaming dreams of dark destruction.

(In case it isn’t obvious, Xultun is basically an expy for Finitevus- all the pertinent details of him came from Flynn, and so I feel free to plunder them for my own use).

-As is the pattern of things, the Solar Empire reigns strong for many centuries before falling into excess, decadence and stagnation. The Solar Empire, once the heroes of the Age of Magic, gradually slide into tyranny and corruption, eventually becoming the sick man of Mobius as it desperately clings to power. During these declining years, the Solar Empire begins to resort to slave raids in order to replenish its laborers.

-It is at this stage of things that a new player enters the stage of history- Aneiron. Born to the Acorn clan of squirrels in one of the less developed forest regions of Mobius, Aneiron grew up in a time of constant inter-clan conflict between neighbors. Aneiron left home at a young age to become a wanderer, adventurer and mercenary, travelling far and wide across the known world and exposing himself to many different cultures and people. Learning the strengths of other nations, Aneiron became determined to give his own people that strength, as well as realizing the folly of constant warfare between species.

-Returning to his homeland and bringing with him new ideas, Aneiron became leader of his clan and bringing about radical changes. The most radical was the idea of co-operation between the races. Through careful diplomacy (and force of arms, when needed), Aneiron forged alliances with those who had traditionally been his people’s enemies. Under his guidance, the squirrels and their allies built the city of fortress of Mobotropolis- which meant “City For All Of Mobius”, a meeting ground for clan readers and place where different species could co-habit and trade freely, as well as a refuge for travelers.

-Though initially Aneiron’s Alliance is comprised of herbivores, to his shock, carnivores begin to come into the fold as well. This leads to some conflict, both from within and without, but in time ALL the clans of the realm are allied with one another. At this time, the Solar Empire begins to seek new lands to plunder- and the lands of Aneiron fall into their crosshairs. Raiding parties are sent, and colonies are built. Aneiron and his alliance converge, and Aneiron is voted to become Warlord of the Alliance. Under his military leadership, the Solar Empire’s army is driven back, and the colonies claimed for the Alliance- the people already living there are permitted to stay, under the condition of accepting vassalhood from the Acorn clan.

-This move reverberates around the Solar Empire, leading to uprisings that weaken it further, until the empire collapses completely (with generous help from Vokara and the Order of the Black Emerald). Several of the Solar Empire’s more distant city-states manage to avoid the worst of it and band together for mutual protection. This coalition of city states will eventually unify into a single polity, which will one day come to be known as The United Federation.

-Soleanna itself, despite the loss of its wider empire, manages to escape the collapse of the Solar Empire. Owing to its status as the Holy City of the Solaris faith, it is able to retain independence even as the Solar Empire itself breaks apart. It will survive, eventually becoming the Duchy of Soleanna in modern times.

-Generations pass. Clans develop into feudally based kingdoms. Aneiron’s great grandson breaks with all tradition and takes a chipmunk for a bride, permanently allying the two kingdoms to one another. Mobotropolis is expanded upon. A new and more terrible war brews, this time with the rival Kingdom of Duskmount. A mountainous kingdom of meager resources, the various peoples of Duskmount also banded together- not in mutual partnership, but in a stratified, caste-based civilization where breed determines position, with Deers forming the ruling caste. Seeking new resources and viewing the Alliance of the Acorn family as an affront to the Duskmount way of life, King Mordent Duskmount launches a war of conquest against the Alliance. The war lasts many years, but Duskmount is eventually beaten back, starting a bitter rivalry between the two realms.

-In the aftermath of the Duskmount War, the leadership of the Alliance begins to grow closer. The descendants of Aneiron begin to consolidate power by intermarrying fellow ruling families. Eventually, the Acorn family becomes the controlling family of the realm. War breaks out. Those that do not join willingly are soon forcibly brought to heel. The Alliance of the Forest Realm gives way to the official founding of the Kingdom of Acorn, with Mobotropolis as its capital. For the purposes of historic narrative, Aneiron is none the less credited as the founder and first ‘King’ of Acorn, even though in his lifetime he was only ever King of the Squirrels.

-The Kingdom of Acorn becomes a feudal monarchy, one where species is irrelevant but class is everything. It spreads forth, and eventually becomes one of the greatest empires in history.

-Present Mobius

-In the 800 years since its founding, the Kingdom of Acorn expands to become a great and mighty empire, though it never goes by that name. It influences the culture, economy and technology across all of Mobius, and helps to usher in what is known as ‘The Mobian Age’- an age where the various nation states of Mobius begin to discard species based division in favor of simply calling themselves ‘Mobian’. Whatever the crimes and cruelties of the Kingdom of Acorn, it at least done THAT much good. Though some nations continue to define themselves by species first, by the modern era the term ‘Mobian’ is almost default all across the globe.

-During its time the Kingdom of Acorn knows the highs and lows that come with every Empire- periods of prosperity, periods of hardship, civil war and renaissance, but throughout it all manages to hold onto power. By contrast, it’s longterm rival the Kingdom of Duskmount tries and fails continually to outdo Acorn, until eventually its own holdings are drawn back, the kingdom left a pale shadow of its former self by the modern era.

-The United Federation itself continues to soar and to grow, becoming one of if not THE dominant military and economic powers on the planet. It undergoes a period of great rapid technological advancement thanks to the brilliance of one Professor Gerald Robotnik, who is soon tasked with the single greatest feat of engineering- the space colony ARK, a symbol of scientific progress and of the future.

-Gerald Robotnik completes the Space Colony Ark, and is hit with tragic news- his young granddaughter Maria has been diagnosed with NIDS, which will one day kill her. Refusing to allow this, Gerald arranges to have Maria live with him upon the Ark, and he dedicates a portion of the colony’s research to curing her. To placate his backers within GUN’S military-industrial complex, he proposes the Eclipse Canon, and disguises his research for Maria as being done for the creation of an Ultimate Lifeform. This leads to project Shadow, and the creation of Shadow the Hedgehog, who quickly bonds with Maria.

-Unbeknownst to Gerald, GUN is not entirely in control of the situation- a portion of it has been subverted by agents of the Black Emerald, the true backers of the ARK project. Under investigation and in danger of being revealed, Vokara decides to cut her losses when it comes to the ARK- her agents send false information to GUN’s High Command, framing Gerald Robotnik for treasonous actions, while making sure that the ‘right’ officers would be sent to deal with the false problem. Gerald is recalled to the United Federation, and while he is being interrogated the raid is launched. Many people are killed as a result of the sloppily executed operation, including Maria Robotnik, and Shadow is jettisoned out of an escape pod, though he is swiftly reclaimed by GUN.

-The media report of the incident gives falsified information painting Gerald Robotnik as a dangerously unhinged mad scientist conducting unethical experiments on the ARK, leading to the raid, and the deaths that occur are pinned on him directly. Gerald, a broken man by this point, is taken to a GUN Black Site located under Prison Island, told to finish his work on Shadow or that he will die next. Gerald bleakly agrees, continuing to perfect his creation while tampering with Shadow’s mind in a long term plan for revenge. When it becomes clear that Gerald is not co-operating, he is executed. Shadow is placed in cold storage, for later potential use by the Black Emerald.

-The Robotnik family, disgraced by the ‘crimes’ of their patriarch, is forced to flee the United Federation for the Kingdom of Acorn. They take new names in their new home, becoming the ‘Kintobors’, while their eldest son Ivo is given the name of ‘Julian Kintobor’.

-The Kingdom of Acorn is in rotten state at this time. Under the reign of the belligerent and arrogant King Maximus Acorn, social progress grinds to a halt and even regresses in areas while his attempts to make the kingdom ‘strong’ simply bring misery and warfare. The long simmering resentment of the Kingdom’s colonies erupts into open separatist warfare, with Maximus refusing to seek any kind of compromise and instead feeding more and more of the Kingdom’s soldiers into the killing fields rather than show ‘weakness to the lesser’.

((Yeeah, Maximus is my commentary on good ol Maximilian. Before you ask, I envisioned him as a combination of Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany and Tzar Nicolas II of Russia. Any resemblance to certain living political figures is entirely and unwantedly coincidental.))

-In fact, after the failure of the ARK, all of Mobius goes through some hard times as the established Old Powers of the planet are seen as slipping, failing and not doing enough to provide for its respective peoples. This leads to the rise of many new nations built upon new forms of government it, leading to the term ‘Neo Nation’ being bandied about. Though at first specifically referring to post Ark nations, it comes to mean ‘Any Country Less Than Two Centuries Old’, and as such includes old-but-still-young countries such as the Empire of New Babylon.

-Duskmount by this time has been in sharp decline for centuries, only to see its fortunes reversed under the direction of its newly crowned king, Vortigern. Under Vortigern’s direction the Kingdom is able to rescue itself from the brink, re-igniting and rejuvenating itself into a major nation after centuries of humiliation at the hands of the Acorn Kingdom. In time, it begins to exert itself militarily as well, re-absorbing old territories and gaining new ones in the process.

-Julian Kintobor grows up in the Kingdom of Acorn. Despised at home by his family due to inheriting his grandfather’s genius intellect and ostracized by his peers for the same, Julian quickly grows up to become mistrustful, bitter and misanthropic. At age 18 he is drafted to fight in the Colony Wars, made possible due to his father’s connections (the Kintobors slowly regaining their old wealth and prestige in their new homes). During his time in the army he meets and befriends fellow genius Charles Hedgehog, the first friend he has ever had. Their year of duty ensures they both see and endure many terrible things before the war finally concludes and they are sent home. The two work together to join the prestigious Royal Science Acadamy, and are both able to attain scholarships. They soar through college, becoming some of the youngest graduates in history, and soon go work for the Science Ministry.

-Vortigern Duskmount completes his re-conquest, and re-christens the Kingdom of Duskmount as the EMPIRE of Duskmount, with himself as first emperor. He enters into alliance with other Neo Nations, and through them proposes a means for all of them to gain more power and influence than ever before- by conquering the Old Powers and dividing up the resources between the Neo Nations. From this, the Neo Nation Alliance is formally announced.

-Years later, Vortigern succeeds in duping King Maximus into launching an attack on Duskmount territory, effectively making the Kingdom of Acorn the aggressor in what will come to be known as the Great War. Rallying his nation, Vortigern launches an attack on the Kingdom of Acorn and thus begins the Great War, while the other Neo Nations pursue their own targets. Maximus dies early on in a doomed, futile effort to personally lead his forces into battle. Within two years, the Kingdom of Acorn is forced to surrender before the military might of Duskmount. The Kingdom of Acorn is thus occupied and absorbed into Duskmount.

-Charles and Julian go underground to avoid the Dusmount Occupation force. They put their minds to building weapons and vehicles in secret, and begin to engage in a two man war against the Duskmount soldiers. Meanwhile, Vortigern orders the destruction of the entire Acorn bloodline so that no legitimate challengers to its throne may ever emerge. Only Maximus’ youngest son, Prince Galen Acorn, is able to escape this fate.

-Two organized resistance movements form in the Occupied Kingdom. Charles and Julian’s efforts draw others to their cause until they are a true resistance movement, and Julian retires from field work to become a full time strategist and leader. Galen meanwhile joins with a resistance movement comprised of the remnants of the Royal Army as well as civilian partisans, led by the surviving Warlord of the Realm. In time the two movements meet and merge to form the Acorn Resistance Army, under Julian’s leadership. During this time, the setbacks the occupation faces causes Vortigern to resort to more and more extreme measures, leading to greater and greater atrocities.

-With the Acorn Resistance Army in open rebellion and receiving aide from the militaries of the other Old Powers (including the United Federation), factories and foundries are captured by the resistance. Julian uses these to put his grand strategy in motion, building a great army of robots to fight against the forces of Duskmount. Soon a great army of Peacebots is marching upon Mobotropolis itself, though for reasons of politics it is Galen who is seen leading and liberating the city rather than Julian (not that Galen WANTED this). While Julian oversees a crucial battle elsewhere, Galen is able to confront and kill Vortigern in armed combat. With that, the Occupation is over.

-With the Kingdom Liberated, Julian swiftly gains control of the remaining major factories. His weapons and robots are created en-masse, and soon all the Neo Nation Alliance is under siege from seemingly endless Peacebot armies. Engaging them in a war of attrition they cannot win, the Neo Nation Alliance surrenders to the Old Powers. The Great War is won, and the world rebuilds after years of global bloodshed and destruction.

-Years pass, and peace is brief. Galen Acorn sets to become a reformer for the people, making moves to weaken the grip of the nobility and do away with the stratification of the Kingdom. The Aristocracy, resenting these attempts to limit their power and prestige and the shaking up of the social order, make things difficult for their king even as he attempts to shift the monarchy towards a more democratic form of government. Likewise, the widespread use of robots to rebuild the Kingdom leads to fears of job loss as paranoia about technology reaches a fever pitch, with riots and protests following. Anti-Colonial terrorism breaks out as well (aided in part by the Black Emerald as part of a plan to de-stabilize the Kingdom).

-Julian, despite his efforts, is stuck in place commanding the robot labor force of the Kingdom, watching as Charles becomes Science Minister and Galen is lauded as a War Hero even as the Kingdom teeters closer and closer to civil anarchy. A means of advancement is given to him with the offer of becoming the realm’s new Warlord. He is eventually caught in a terrorist bombing that claims the lives his wife and daughter, while he himself is on death’s door. To save his life, Charles Hedgehog unearths the Roboticizer, a medical device the two had worked on before the war broke out. Julian is fed through the Roboticizer and becomes a cyborg, saving his life. He accepts the position of warlord, and after months of physical therapy becomes the kingdom’s new Warlord.

-For the next several years Julian works to set a plan in motion- the conquest of Mobius. He ruthlessly deals with the terrorists threatening the Kingdom and puts an end to the protests, expanding the robot army while conspiring with the Battlebirds in secret. He takes on his nephew Snively as an assistant, and as part of his plan the Battlebird Armada emerges to raid distant shipping lanes. To deal with the threat and abate the fears of robots replacing the army wholesale, the remaining organic portion of the royal fleet is sent to deal with the problem.

-While they are away, Julian launches his coup- the robot armies he built to protect the kingdom now become its attackers, striking all across the globe in a sudden, frenzied march of conquest. The Kingdom of Acorn falls within days, and King Acorn himself vanishes without a trace, while his daughter Sally escapes with her friends to the hidden village of Knothole. With new territories secured, Julian spends the next several years overseeing the conquest of Mobius. One by one the armies of Mobius are destroyed before the mechanical onslaught. So is born the Robotnik Empire, and Mobotropolis becomes Robotropolis as millions and millions of its citizens are captured and transformed into Robian slaves.

-Charles and other veterans of the Great War start a domestic guerilla movement against Robotnik, liberating Mobians and striking at factories and other crucial facilities, becoming an irritant to the tyrant. Eventually getting into contact with the remnant of the Royal Fleet sent to deal with the battlebirds, a plan is hatched to re-take Robotropolis. Unfortunately, Robotnik anticipates the attack, destroying the fleet, killing the nascent resistance force, and finally roboticizing Charles in a twisted act of mercy.

-With his only major impediment defeated, Robotnik turns his attention back to Mobius. Nation after nation falls before Robotnik over the years, the inhabitants enslaved and Roboticized, and everywhere in the Robotnik Empire the environment is desecrated as factories dedicated to building more and more machines cover all the land. Even the United Federation falls before Robotnik, reduced to several cities fiercely and implacably defended by GUN, who resort to suppressed technologies and making robots of their own to fight the machine hordes.

-Things go swimmingly for Robotnik, and his victory is all but assured. Then one day, facilities in South Island begin to report unexpected delays in the development of the Scrap Brain Zone, an experimental automated super factor and roboticization facility, due to ‘outside interference’. Realizing that the nephew of Sir Charles, Sonic, is the culprit, Robotnik heads to South Island to personally oversee the destruction of the sneaky pest.

-And thus, do things begin.

Anyway, that’s the gist of things as they currently stand. As I said, I’m constantly changing and thinking and altering things, debating on what to include and what not to include, but this more or less is how things went down I the personal setting. The Abridged version anyway. Hope you enjoy it!

[jahaanofmenaphos]

Art by the awesome @tommieglenn!

Of Gods and Men Summary:

When the gods returned to Gielinor, their minds were only on one thing: the Stone of Jas, a powerful elder artefact in the hands of Sliske, a devious Mahjarrat who stole it for his own ends and entertainment. He claims to want to incite another god wars, but are his ulterior motives more sinister than that? And can the World Guardian, Jahaan, escape from under Sliske’s shadow?

Read the full work here:

ARCHIVE OF OUR OWN

FANFICTION.NET

TUMBLR CHAPTER INDEX

QUEST 11: SLISKE’S ENDGAME

QUEST SUMMARY:

The eclipse is nigh. The end of Sliske’s games draws near. All the gods gather for one final race for the Stone, taking them through a shadowy labyrinth of the devious Mahjarrat’s design. Not only does Jahaan have to survive the trials Sliske sets out for them, but he has to compete against every major deity in Gielinor. Then, and only then, will he have a shot at ending Sliske’s madness once and for all…

CHAPTER 7 - BATTLE OF SOULS

At first, the duel consisted of Sliske and Jahaan circling one another, testing out the grip on their swords and feeling out their opponent. The occasional swing would be made, but never in earnest. Instead, it was experimental, almost playful, examining one another’s technique and trying to plot any viable weaknesses to exploit.

Their previous anger and hatred seemed to have faded, or at least dulled considerably. For Jahaan, such extremes were far too tiring on his already exhausted mind. To him, their situation was simpler than ever: Sliske was going to die. There was no rush to end the battle, or indeed any incentive to drag it out any longer than it needed to be. Jahaan was content with his decision, and now put his focus towards remaining calm and composed, steady and focused, waiting for the chance to strike.

For Sliske, on the other hand, he was far too concerned to allow volatile emotions to cloud his judgement. This was a precarious situation for him, already weakened and with only one chance left at salvation. He had to play his cards better than ever before. It didn’t help that Jahaan was an experienced swordsman, and Sliske hadn’t fought with a blade since the Kharidian-Zarosian War back in the Second Age. Still, you never forget how to fight - Mahjarrat especially. He was confident enough in his own ability, but mistakes could always be made.

He just hoped Jahaan made one first.

“Why did Jas choose you?” Jahaan casually asked, focused on the point of his blade as he parried another one of Sliske’s lunges. Since the Mahjarrat was going to die, he might as well get all of the answers while he could.

“I do not know for certain,” Sliske kept his tone light, not betraying the creeping anxiety he was feeling. “She was interested in the gods, and I was the newest among their ranks. Perhaps that drew her to me.”

“So you did ascend?” Jahaan had always expected, subtly assumed, but Sliske had never confirmed it before.

“I don’t believe I had any choice in the matter, after killing Guthix and claiming two Elder artefacts as my own,” Sliske’s stance changed, playing more on the defensive as he explained,  “I never particularly cared for the bows and tassels that came from ranking among the divine, but achieving godhood was always part of the plan, and I succeeded. But I was never to stop there. You see, gods suffer the same fate as the Mahjarrat - they live a hundred human lifetimes, but they die eventually, and then they’re gone. Gods relinquish their right to a soul, to an afterlife. The Saradominists and Zamorakians get to enjoy the afterlife their god and their faith has created for them, but do you think their gods ever join them in that paradise? It’s a pretty raw deal if you ask me. But what if I could achieve something no being in existence has even dared to contemplate? What if I could achieve godhood AND obtain a soul? If I did that… I could create my OWN afterlife. A world where beings were free from the shackles of dogma, where the gods of this universe held no sway.”

Jahaan almost felt like laughing at how ludicrous Sliske was sounding. “Yeah, free… except from everyone being under YOUR control. Besides, you creating your own afterlife? Icthlarin would never allow it.”

There was an instant where Jahaan took his eye off the target as he absorbed what Sliske was saying, and the Mahjarrat used that to capitalise. The sword sliced through the air, and while it didn’t quite hit the mark that Sliske intended, it did succeed in drawing a deep gash across Jahaan’s left upper arm.

“Icthlarin is but a small fish in the pond of godhood,” Sliske countered, calmly flicking the blood off his blade into a neat splatter pattern on the ground. “He has far less power and reach than you assume.”

Jahaan skipped backwards a few paces, trying to ignore the crimson streaming from the wound and the searing pain that came with it. He repositioned himself, checked the grip on his sword. “But if you’re a god, why doesn’t Guthix’ blessing protect me from you?”

“That would be a question for him, rather than me, don’t you think?”

Jahaan was not impressed with the non answer. Huffing, Sliske continued, “Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that, when Guthix’ blessing was bestowed upon you, I was not a god? Perhaps it was because I was the one that killed him, and that made me the exception to the rule? Or perhaps it simply slipped his mind? Even one of the most powerful gods in existence isn’t infallible, as we all well know.”

Jahaan licked the edges of his teeth. “Perhaps.”

It was the wound on his arm that made Jahaan realise that conversing with Sliske was only going to leave him exposed. The Mahjarrat’s words caused him to falter, and he was paying the price in crimson spilling out from the gash in his arm. Thankfully, Sliske didn’t pursue that conversation any further, and he didn’t try to ignite another one.

Jahaan brought his sword up to block a crushing strike from Sliske. He had stalled the attack, but watched as a wretched, stained grin started to split the Mahjarrat’s lips. Jahaan’s blade shivered under the brutality of Sliske’s compelling strength, the sword threatening to slip from his trembling hands. The World Guardian stumbled back, allowing Sliske’s blade to continue in its intended path. Jahaan leaned out of the way as much he could, but there wasn’t much he could do in the realms of evasion. Thankfully, the wound he attained wasn’t deep at all, but a long, thin slice across his chest. Torn fabric soaked up some of the blood, sticking his shirt to his skin with crimson glue.

Not letting this deter him, Jahaan collected himself as quickly as possible to once again go on the offence. He managed to get a rather clean slash across Sliske’s left thigh, though there wasn’t enough flesh left to draw blood. Sliske was almost completely skeletal now. Mahjarrat looked far more terrifying in their reverted form, a haunting visage not soon forgotten. But by now, Jahaan had gotten used to it. For him, it meant a weakened Sliske, and a weakened Sliske was an opportunity.

The stagger in Sliske’s step left an opening, one that allowed Jahaan’s blade to slice across Sliske’s left shoulder. The next strike missed, but only by a hair’s width, and it pushed the Mahjarrat deeper into the realms of the defensive. Now, the World Guardian’s strikes were coming thick and fast, not even allowing Sliske the time to ready his blade enough to block or parry. He was relentless, pushing Sliske backwards and knocking his blade down every time the Mahjarrat went to raise it. The cut to his left shoulder made wielding the blade with any strength or effective technique unmercifully difficult.

The look in Sliske’s eyes… it was hollow, a shell of the joviality that would usually dance in them. He was uncharactistically silent, too, lacking jibes and quips. No, Sliske looked more focused than he ever had been…

...and he looked scared.

Finally, Sliske managed to gain enough distance between himself and Jahaan to raise his blade in a proper deflection, but his grip was all wrong, and Jahaan could see it instantly. No doubt Sliske did too, but by then it was far too late.

The sword flew from Sliske’s hand and he stumbled backwards, retreating away from Jahaan’s blade before falling to the ground. Then, a flash of light; Jahaan realised that Sliske had blocked a killing blow with the shaft of the Staff of Armadyl.

Of course he wasn’t going to play fair, Jahaan scolded internally, having forgotten that the Staff was still at Sliske’s disposal. Though the momentary wideness of his eyes betrayed his surprise, it didn’t deter him for long, and he pressed down with all his weight onto Sliske. The Staff could not be cut through, however - whatever material the shaft was made from, it easily withstood the onslaught of elder rune blades.

Despite having only one working arm, the Mahjarrat was unfairly strong, gaining enough leverage to push Jahaan far enough to the side to roll out of the way and back to his feet. Shifting his grip on the Staff, Sliske swung it like a club, trying to regain some lost ground.

But it was in vain. Jahaan clipped Sliske’s already wounded arm with the edge of his blade, and Sliske cried out, just about refraining from clutching the gash in a desperate attempt to keep in control. Seeing an opening, Jahaan followed up with a lunge to Sliske’s stomach, but his opponent dodged out of the way just in time to avoid being skewered.

Then, Sliske pounced.

As Jahaan’s arm was outstretched, Sliske used the side of the Staff to knock Jahaan’s wrist to the side, causing his sword to fall past the balance line.

The opening was there.

Sliske slipped low, underneath the shadow of Jahaan’s blade. He swiftly readjusted his grip on the Staff, narrowed his eyes, lunged forwards and-

...by the time Jahaan knew what was happening, it was too late.

The bottom end of the Staff was embedded in his stomach.

Looming over him, Sliske’s expression grew dangerously wicked then, and he laughed, a grating scrape. “Oh Janny, you didn’t think it’d be that easy, did you?”

Jahaan couldn’t think to forumate words; his bloodshot eyes were transfixed on the haunting silhouette of Sliske. Even if he wanted to speak, he couldn’t through the blood gurgling in the back of his throat, escaping in fragments with every pained cough. His racing mind tried to comprehend regular thought and action, to fight beyond the agony, but it was futile - the only things Jahaan seemed to be able to focus on were those layered eyes of Sliske, and the Staff ripping through his insides.

Then, the Mahjarrat positioned the top end of the Staff towards the centre of his own stomach. “It’s as I told you before… you’re already mine…”

Suddenly, Sliske drove the Staff inside himself, his face contorting horrifically as he pulled it in deeper and held it firm.

Jahaan froze. At that moment, he could barely register the pain. Pain was ethereal, unreal. No, he was too transfixed on the reality of Sliske to focus on anything else.

For a moment that seemed boundless, the two were linked.

World Guardian and Praefectus Praetorio.

Jahaan Siad-Samak… and Sliske.

Then, the Staff began to shake of its own accord, and Sliske screamed. All the control and innate smugness he held only moments ago disappeared in a heartbeat, and the Mahjarrat’s eyes turned panicked. A bolt of energy cracked inside of Sliske as the Staff continued to tremble.

Something was wrong.

Then, the shaking stopped, and Jahaan watched as the life drained from Sliske’s once glowing eyes. Finally, the Mahjarrat slumped over on the Staff.

Jahaan just stood there, numb to the pain by now. His heart felt hollow, yet somehow… in some strange way, he began to feel more real than he ever had before. Like he was a drawing come to life, his edges sharp and solid, while Sliske’s blurred and faded.

Despite this, an eternity passed, and Jahaan felt more alone than he ever had in his entire life.

Suddenly, movement.

Sliske’s shoulders started shaking, growing in life and animation, and the Staff started trembling again in Jahaan’s grip. Sliske’s head shot up, his face a haunted portrait of blood and madness.

There was something different in his eyes. A confidence once absent, a hint of a sneer now returned, like he knew. He knew something, he’d figured out the missing link to a puzzle Jahaan didn’t even know existed, and he began to laugh. His maniacal laughter shook Jahaan to the core, turning his blood cold.

Shadows began to wrap around Sliske, dark mist and clouds engulfing the Mahjarrat until all that could be seen was his cackling silhouette. With his last ounce of being, he uttered one simple phrase, a whisper and a hiss, that sent a chill down Jahaan’s spine.

Then, he was gone.

When the dust settled, all that was left in Sliske’s place was a stone statue with the Staff buried inside. It didn’t take long before the rock began to crack and crumble, exploding outwards. Jahaan shielded his face to protect himself. When he managed to open his eyes again, the statue was no more, and neither was Sliske.

With his last menial ounce of strength, Jahaan yanked the Staff from out of his stomach.

Then, he collapsed to the floor and willingly let the darkness take him.

“I loved you for more than your soul…”

Then, the ground began to shake, slightly at first, but with an ever-increasing fury. All that could be heard in the chaos was a hollow voice…

“Come to me…”

The world went black, blacker than the deepest chasm, darker than the darkest abyss. The silence inside was so thick, it was tangible, like the empty void was sentient and feeling, watching and waiting, listening and speaking.

When Jahaan awoke, he felt cold stone beneath his bloodied and bruised face. Prising his eyes open was a formidable task, not made easier by the relentless throbbing in his skull. He felt like his head was going to break apart from the inside out. Once he managed to keep his eyes open for longer than a fleeting second, he then found difficulty in adjusting to the white light floating around him, as if the world was replaced by nothing but a blank canvas.

The ringing in his ears took a little longer to subside, but when it did, he managed to pick out the echoing voice of Zaros, alongside another, unrecognisable voice.

“I am Zaros, firstborn of Mah,” Zaros announced, “I come to claim my birthright. I possess the core of Mah. In her absence in your pantheon, I ask to take my place.”

“No,” came the simple reply.

Jahaan realised it was the same hollow voice as the one that brought him to this mysterious plane. It was also the same voice that Jahaan heard in Sliske’s chamber, the one that brought the Stone of Jas to the Mahjarrat in the first place. It whispered and echoed, bellowed and sang all harmoniously, concurrently, as it formed the world around them. 

“I urge you, see reason,” Zaros implored, “With Mah dead your numbers are diminished, you need me to take her place!”

“No”

“Why do you deny me?” as Zaros’ desperation grew, so too did the fire in his tone. “Look at what I have achieved, and imagine what I could achieve among your ranks. I have Mah's core. I am forged from her energy. How could you deny my claim?”

“A flame”

“Can never be a star”

“However bright”

“It burns”

“You are of Mah”

“But you are not Mah”

The voice spoke only in broken fragments, as if the Common Tongue was foreign to it, or it simply did not consider eloquence a worthwhile endeavour.

Zaros could no longer contain his fury. “NO! I will have my birthright!”

“No”

“Then tell me why. What more must I do?” Zaros pleaded, his eyes heavy, features weary, as he struggled against the gravity of the being he was talking to.

“There is nothing”

“We are creation”

“We create life”

“A power beyond you”

Zaros countered, “But what of life I have created? The nihil? Nex?”

“Shadows”

“Whispers”

“False life”

“To be as us”

“Creation from nothing”

“Only we have this power”

“I have learned enough to know that there are no absolutes,” Zaros declared. “If I can create life, you will accept me as one of you.”

The voice was impassive yet commanding as it maintained, “Impossible”

“We shall see about that,” Zaros grumbled. “I will not be denied.”

“Leave”

At this, Zaros teleported away, whether of his own volition or by the power of the voice, Jahaan was not sure. All he knew now was that he was alone, in a foreign dimension, planet or plane - of that he was unsure - and nothing separated him from the mighty presence surrounding him.

“Stand”

Despite the vehement protests from his own body, Jahaan willed himself to comply with the order, scraping himself off the stone ground with every last ounce of fleeting strength he could muster. His frail and fragile bones fought back, as did gravity, pulling him back down to the floor. Eventually he willed himself to stand on rickety legs, swaying and staggering in place. When he looked down at himself, he saw the blood-soaked shirt he was wearing. Carefully, he peeled the sticky material away from his skin, retching as he saw the extent of the wound. Yet, the wound seemed still. By all accounts, he knew he should be bleeding out right about now, but he wasn’t. He wasn’t bleeding at all. Make no mistake, the wound was far from healed... yet it seemed frozen in time.

Unable to comprehend the nature of his injury, Jahaan instead forced his eyes to focus on the world around him, particularly at the amazing, terrifying creature beholding him.

Bathed in a neon blue glow was a gigantic, ten armed being shaped like the sun, and twice as imposing. It looked as if it was carved out of stone, with two yellow eyes on each arm and another on the centre of what could arguably be labelled its ‘chest’.

Clearing his throat, Jahaan tried his best to ignore the taste of iron in his mouth as he asked, “Where am I?”

“Here”

Jahaan rubbed the back of his head, feeling a large bump. “I was hoping for a more specific answer.”

“You”

“Are”

“Here”

Jahaan sighed. “Alright, let’s try a new question. Who are you?”

“Jas”

Jahaan’s eyes grew wide, his chest suddenly incredibly heavy as a large lump formed in his throat. He suspected, but to have it confirmed? Rushing through his mind came a tidal wave of thoughts, questions and emotions, as here he stood, in the presence of an elder god, of the oldest elder god of them all, of the being that shaped the universe and created all life.

All he could say was, “Oh…”

“Explain,” Jas demanded, her tone neutral.

Jahaan queried, “Explain what?”

“My agent”

“Explain its end”

“Your agent?” Jahaan furrowed his brow. “You mean Sliske?"

“Yes”

“Explain”

Clearing his throat, Jahaan replied, “Sliske was trying to reignite a war between the gods. He… hurt a lot of people. I had to kill him."

Jas questioned, “War?”

This caused Jahaan to do a double take. The idea of explaining the concept of war to an elder god, the most powerful being in creation, was surreal to say the least. “Err… it's a conflict where large numbers of people kill each other for a single cause.”

“Why?”

“That's probably too philosophical a question for… whatever this is.”

“Is it common?”

“Yes.”

“You destroy yourselves”

“More than we might like to think…” Jahaan answered, gravely. Then, his mind snapping back to the matter at hand, Jahaan inquired, “Why did you need Sliske to be your agent on Gielinor?”

“Gods”

“Excuse me?”

“Yes”

“No, I mean, can you tell me what you mean when you say ‘gods’?”

“The ones you call”

“Gods”

“Intrigue me”

“They claim power”

“They crave control”

“They have neither”

“Fascinating creations”

“You are a question”

“Mortal life is unexpected”

“It is dangerous”

“It shall end”

“A new cycle”

“Shall begin”

The gravitas of Jas’ words struck Jahaan like a thunderbolt. “Wait!” he cried out. “You can't just destroy us all! There are good elements to mortal life! Like, erm, love and peace and hope?”

“Meaningless”

“Why should life”

“Continue”

Jahaan was at a loss for words. “Because… because…”

“No words”

“Prove by action”

“I ask the sisters”

Then, a choir erupted around Jahaan. All it sang was, “We hear”

Jas continued, “Consensus”

“Bik”

“Wen”

“Ful”

“Agree”

“Prove that life”

“Has worth"

“Or be”

“No more”

“Leave”

“Wait!” Jahaan cut in, desperately. “You're Jas, you're THE elder god! I have so many questions!”

Jas responded, “One”

“One what? One question? I get one question?”

“Yes”

Jahaan frowned. “Why do I only get one question?”

“Because”

“Leave”

Jahaan's eyes grew wide. “No, wait, that wasn't my question!”

But it was futile - the world around him was engulfed in white light, and he could feel his body flying away from Jas, away from this state of painless non-being… and crashing back towards reality.

DISCLAIMER:

As Of Gods and Men is a reimagining, retelling and reworking of the Sixth Age, a LOT of dialogue/characters/plotlines/etc. are pulled right from the game itself, and this belongs to Jagex.

Previous chapter / Next chapter

[fireeaglespirit]

Warning: TDP Season 2 spoilers and considerations of my own stuff

Ok, so in TDP there’s something that happens which just... made me confident about an aspect of my own story I was always kinda doubtful would work out...

With this I mean, for those who don’t watch TDP, just like in my world, there’s conflict going on between elves and dragons (magical creatures) and humans (devoid of any natural magical attribute). One of the main human characters manage to gain access to magic through a ‘dream sequence’, its worked in a way that is very significant both for the character’s themes and the ‘element’ in question: sky which carries the inherent ties to freedom, etc.. he is able to attune himself to the element.

More consideration on the ‘sky’ or ‘wind’ element later as it pertains to my avian characters.

Anyway, the dream, this sounds very familiar with the stuff I talked about, doesn't it? Anyway, by this I mean the legendary Astraea, who was a human and managed to acquire magical powers and she went even further than that, attaining something akin to godhood... all of that, through dreams, focus and sheer force of will.

I always feared this would sound a little forced or idk... I’m kinda glad to see this concept worked out, even if in my story it would be much more dramatic as when Astraea ‘pierced the veil’ it was a huge event and all magical creatures felt it, and reality trembled... I just find her story incredibly empowering, as she is the ultimate example of human resourcefulness and kindness. As I mean to talk more about her later just leave this aside for now...

The overall concept of breaching reality through a dream is similar. I wonder if the TDP character will go the Astraea way and teach the technique to other humans... so they can have a level field with magical creatures. There’s an ongoing theme of ‘sharing power’ in my world and I’m very partial to it... 

I certainly hope so, as they already hinted at it with another very interesting and ancient elven character who apparently has a very Prometheus-like role... I’m really curious to where this is going.

As you know, I really like the Prometheus narrative, and I do that a lot with my dragons and avis but I also wanted to have examples of ‘common’ beings being able to climb the ladder with their own strength so that’s how Astraea was born and for some reason the way they did it in TDP reminds me of this.

[mintkupocream]

In Pieces: Background Info and Ending

After completing over a hundred pages, I gave up completing *In Pieces, my Undertale fancomic set in a neutral ending.  People were curious how it was going to end, so I collected together my notes.  You can read them yourself under the cut:

Nature of Ghosts:

Ghosts are Monster progenitors.  Once upon a time, a single spot received a large amount of emotion, and that emotion took on a life of its own; a ghost.   This is why ghosts tend to be very single minded (Blooky is sad, MD is angry, MTT is ambitious) Upon becoming corporeal, they can have offspring, and these offspring became Monsters as we know them, having more diverse emotions as they're mixes of different ghosts

Nature of Boss Monsters:

Boss Monsters are the product of a Ghost becoming corporeal in the body of a living creature. This nature causes them to have an excess of Determination compared to other Monsters as well as a more solid form. They can utlize this in various ways.  When Toriel created the new Spider Queen, she was infusing the spiders with extra Determination.  It is the same concept as the Amalgamates, only done with purpose, finesse, and imbued emotion like with other transformations (emotion -> ghost, ghost -> monster).  Lack of study of Boss Monsters and no recorded history keeps Alphys from making this connection

Gaster's Experiments: (This flashback sequence was to be the next story arc) Gaster tried to solve the barrier issue by looking to the past.  He attempted to return Monsters to a pure emotional state like Ghosts originated from in hopes of transcending the barrier; this resulted in:   1. The Gaster Followers were regular Monsters with their Determination removed; not the desired effect   2. The Skelebros were brought from the past in attempt to pull something in from beyond the barrier.  Many Monsters were pulled in this way, but died on arrival; the skelebros survived because they were a variation of Boss Monsters, but lost enough determination in the transfer to be "downgraded" to regular Monsters.  This is really just an elaborate backstory to make Sans and Toriel have less of an age gap and not super important >>;;   3. The Void is discovered. An access key is created; hopes are exploration will lead to a way out, but it is fruitless   4. Gaster's daughter fools around in the lab one day ends up having her determination removed, resulting in Goner Kid   5. Snowdrake's Mother's job was keeping the CORE cool (a job replaced by ice wolf throwing those icecubes into the river in the game).  Despite a lovely friendship with Papyrus who brings her lunch and stuff, Gaster overworks her in his grief over his daughter's disappearance, causing her to Fall Down, and there being an explosion in the core, and Gaster being lost there   6. This has the side effect of Gaster succeeding in becoming pure energy.  When Alphys is sucked into the Void in the beginning of the story, she becomes a vessel for releasing this energy: the Gaster Blasters literally blast Gaster around.  I still had some kinks to work out on why that was linked to Justice and how Sans was accessing that, but basically remnants of power from his transfer

Goner Kid:  As noted, she was Gaster's daughter with her determination removed.  In this run, a very rare occurence happened: she managed to have a fun value that let her materilize in a different location, right when MTT was killed. MTT was not corporeal, but a Ghost inhabiting a machine with an excessive amount of magic, and the explosion allowed her to absorb this odd mix, causing her to have more access to the real world again.  She realizes that she needs much more determination to have any hope of becoming truly real again.  The True Lab is empty at beginning of the story because she basically ate all the amalgamates for their determination, but it still isn't enough.  She has 2 major targets that she hopes will give her the final boost she needs: Toriel, the last remaining Boss Monster, and MaDOS, who is also a Ghost in a magically infused machine, and whose destruction could potentially give another boost like MTT did

What Happened Next:

After Sans gives Toriel all the backstory from the Gaster experiments section, Toriel insists they let Undyne know.  After some conflict, Undyne believes them due to her dreams about Alphys.  Flowey then comes forward and tells them that Goner Kid intends to take over the Underground by absorbing the energy from Ghosts, which is a lie to further his own agenda of stealing GK's gathered Determination for himself.  At the same time, he has been telling MD that Undyne, who has more determination than a regular Monster, is actually GK's target.  He wants MD die, give GK the boost, and make GK a more whole vessal for Flowey to absorb and attain godhood, because he figured out how that all happened through observation.  

Undyne orders all ghosts to be put into protective custody (except for MD, whom she doesn't know is a ghost), and challenges GK to a duel, thinking she can just beat them into submission.  MD tags along hoping to protect Undyne, whom they no longer hate (possibly have developed feelings for?? this is the one sided crack ship I mentioned in the initial faq about the fic; I was very hesitant to add it even though I thought it would be interesting, because I was scared alphyne shippers would get angry somehow.  They at least respect her deeply at this point.  There's also a little side story about them going on a shopping trip in there somewhere).  Flowey tries to manipulate MD into fighting Undyne again, but they refuse due to the reasons just stated, and so Flowey kills them himself.  

Upon the explosion, GK does indeed gain the extra determination and physical presence and a heck of a lot of power.  Flowey is quickly overpowered and absorbed by her himself.  Sans, Toriel, and Undyne retreat to the Void using the key and meet up with Gaster, and put together the last few lose ends and come up with a plan, which is basically massive Gaster Blaster attack to separate the determination and Goner Kid again.  This is a success which has a heartfelt father/daughter reunion and they are at peace in the void together, basically.  

However, there is a by-product here: the excess Determination.  Toriel ends up possessing it due to her higher tolerance through her solid nature as a Boss Monster, and becomes officially The Most Determined Being in the Underground, which was in flux with the human gone.  With this power, she realizes a major decision is possible: she can make it so that their timeline is never reset again.  Undyne wants her to reset so that all her dead friends come back and argues against this possibility.  Sans tries to stay neutral.  Napstablook, who totally was taking part in the story the whole time (and also ended up having a cool lil robot flying saucer thing called Limewire that he used to help in the fight briefly), expresses that everyone that was left has matured and wants everyone to just go on; either way he's going to be sad, but at least he had made amends with his cousin, MD, and they had died doing something they believed in. Sans tries to stay neutral.

The plan was to show the outcomes of both choices.  The canon ending is locking the time line, breaking through the barrier with a combination of Gaster Blaster and Determination beam, which neutralizes it, and Sans and Toriel living out the rest of their days "not in pieces, but in peace"

[catflowerqueen]

Here’s a bit of a character study for one of the characters in my little writing experiment. She’s technically only a side character in the piece, but she is a necessary one to interact with if the reader wants to get the best ending.

She knows more than she should. She knows this. And she knows that if she just looked a little deeper within herself, she would know why. But… she knows that doing so is probably a bad idea. The clues are all there—in her thoughts, her mannerisms… How she fills her home with plants and keeps them in perfect condition with an ease that rivals her mother but cannot, for the life of her, manage to keep a garden alive. The way she still feels a trill of fear and longing whenever her mother mentions her homeland, or her father shows his scales and fangs to drive off the latest pests attempting to steal the fruit from her only successful pear tree.

 Ghosts are a rare sight nowadays in Mallea, and she… wonders. Everyone knows that a ghost only forms when the Essence is still tied to the body, still identifies it as theirs—when the core it formed around doesn’t realize the body is dead, or is too in denial about what happened, or just needs a final push or tug to be fully released. So she knows why her mother’s predecessors and her father’s victims didn’t leave ghosts behind. Not even in those times so long ago before it was known why some would linger after death. Before Mallea, before even the dragonskins. But even so… a sense of duty or of resignation can still leave bitterness and longing behind.

She shouldn’t know—and yet she does—that the Between Place emptied far more than usual when she was formed and given life, and become a new Piece of One to learn all that she could. She shouldn’t know—and does not, not really, can only make a guess—that the Essence which combined to make her had been split apart so very, very quickly upon the early deaths of the different Pieces who were, technically, her predecessors. And she wonders.

And she… worries.

With all that happened—the history of her mother, and her father, and that they share between them. The bittersweet history of Mallea, and her mother’s homeland… Is it a sense of morbid curiosity which led to her chosen field of interest? Does she feel most at home among the graves because that’s what feels the most familiar? Is it like a bird, who longs for freedom from its cage, but has forgotten how to fly once that freedom is attained?

Is it merely that the profession allows her to learn the most, to see the could-have-beens and things-that-were, while allowing her a sense of safety and the ability to prolong this life as much as possible?

Or is it just… coincidence? After all, the purpose for being, the reason that Pieces exist, that the world itself exists, is because the One was too full of contradictions and wanted the chance to grow and learn enough to reconcile them. To see how things fit, or didn’t, and the sorts of combinations that could be made and bring fulfillment, or interest, or comfort and peace.

Perhaps that’s it: Coincidence, or the knowledge that something vital was missing, or the want of a new combination. The innocuous, and common place, and the reality of the Cycle aligning in just the right way that the Essence involved and the remnants that once were all melded together to form her.

But… part of her worries, and wonders, if it is, instead it’s a sign that the One might be ready to assemble once more. Or if it is the first step in paving the way for a new aspect of godhood to be created. Or if one already has, and she simply hasn’t reached ascension yet.

But then she remembers that dragonskins can live long lives, depending on what they inherit from the prior generations. Even more so, with her, who is technically a first generation, despite how long ago the dragonskins first came into being. And even if she leans more towards her mother’s heritage than her father’s… though she is an adult by human standards, she is a young one yet. So she has time to learn, and grow, and wonder.

 And perhaps, with time, to know.

[trustworthyreporter]

Issue 19

I have an ask blog too!

Blogs mentioned in the articles:

Yakumo scheming up a dinner and a show: @officialdipp, @silversoundsandcalmvoices​

Satori accidentally gains divinity @maiden-of-eyes

Long lost brother @cruentusscarlet

Double dealing ceremony @queen-of-spinspin, @jellyousy, @inchlingmallet

Parsee’s new book @jellyousy

Text versions with links after the readmore:

Yakumo scheming up a dinner and a show

Gensokyo is no stranger to humans being brought here from the outside world, it’s a daily occurrence that at least a handful of humans get spirited away by youkai-sage Yukari Yakumo. Usually they are the useless and forgotten of society; the kind that the outside world won’t notice missing.  Per Yukari the humans usually come from the same outside world as the mildly-famous outsider Renko Usami.    A recent crop of humans has broken from this pattern however.

Recently, Yukari has brought in a crop of humans that are decidedly different from the usual fare.  Rather than being useless and forgotten, many of these humans seem quite capable.  They also come from versions of the outside world that are significantly more exotic then the one Gensokyo usually imports from.  Yukari has confirmed that she is to blame for this recent odd crop, but remaining true to her youkai among youkai nature she has declined to say why.

Speculation as to why Yukari would take these actions has lead some to think that there may be a problem with the stability of Gensokyo’s food supply.   It’s possible that something has happened in the outside world that has caused Yukari to need to look else where for Gensokyo’s food supply. There’s also the possibility that Yukari is simply bored and thought this might be fun.

Hakurei has not changed rules

Youkai readers are reminded that despite the sudden change in Yukari’s imports, the Hakurei shrine has not changed the rules regarding human hunting.   They are only valid targets when outside the village or inside if you can avoid getting caught.

The Bunbunmaru will be following this story as it develops.

Satori accidentally gains divinity

What’s the most memorable mistake you ever made dearest reader?  Did you accidently become a goddess?  If not, then Satori Komeiji of Chireiden most likely has you beat.  

Indeed, dearest reader rumor has it that Satori recently ascended to godhood while preparing breakfast in one of Chireiden’s many kitchens.  There is yet no indication as to what triggered the change.  The few people that have dared to ask the new goddess, have been met with rather un impressive answers.

Per Satori, “The combined faith in <her> is sufficient for it, apparently.”

Entry into crowded religion market

Satori’s divinity marks another entrant into the already crowded competition for Gensokyo’s faithful. Satori joins the ranks of other relative new comers such as the Moyria shrine, and Hinaism against the more established Hakurei and Buddhist faiths.

Traditionally goddesses in Gensokyo have only pursued the faith of the humans of the village. However, the increase in competition has caused some groups to go after alternate sources of faith.  Most notably would be the Moryia shrine that has made several large inroads with the youkai of the mountain and the Buddhists that have done the same with the youkai of the area around the village.

It is still unknown how Satori plans to go after faith.  Due to the accidental nature of her divinity it’s possible that she may not yet have a plan. Although in the opinion of yours truly, it would make the most sense to go after the residents of the underground first.  The Oni are a largely untapped market per recent polling.

Other goddesses begin to take notice

Most of the divinities have yet to issue a formal comment on the issue.  Many likely are waiting to see how Satori decides to conduct herself.

One however, the outer goddess Hecatia extended an offer of friendship to her newly formed peer. This has some observers worried as Hecatia’s intentions for Gensokyo have been historically questionable.  A fact likely not lost on Satori given her diplomatic yet cold reaction to the gift.

Accidental nature questioned

Satori is the second youkai from the underground to attain divinity through questionable or non-traditional means. She is proceeded by the famous or infamous Utsuho Reiuji, a hell raven that managed to attain the power of the sun god Yatagarasu during the incident that lead to the creation of Moryia’s hot spring.

This has lead some observers to question the accidental nature of Satori’s ascension in lieu of the possibility that it’s part of a power play on the part of Chireiden to tip the balance of power against Gensokyo.  Adding fuel to the speculation fire, there are unconfirmed reports that the shrine maiden of the Hakurei shrine has been to Chireiden; possibly out of the same concern for the balance of power.  

The Hakurei shrine maiden is well known for her lack of tolerance with those that would threaten Gensokyo’s balance of power

Long lost brother

The Scarlet sisters Remilia and Flandre are some of Gensokyo’s most famous citizens but recent news has caused some to question if there might be a third Scarlet sibling.  This news comes after several eye witness accounts of a guest at the Scarlet Devil Mansion that bore a striking resemblance to Remilia Scarlet.

SDM Refuses comment

When asked for comment on the matter our intrepid reporters were turned around at the gate without being given a reason.  As of press time the SDM still has not issued a statement on the matter.

Remilia is well known for her open and charismatic nature.  This sudden secrecy marks a drastic departure from her recent behavior. This has lead some observers to question if there might be more to the story than initially appears.

Possible connection to Flandre

This would not be the first time that Remilia has hid the existence of a family member.  Up until the Scarlet mist incident broke, Remilia had kept her younger sister’s existence a secret from all Gensokyo. Purportedly out of fear that Flandre was a danger to the rest of Gensokyo.  This may be a similar situation.

Double dealing ceremony

Sad news dearest reader! The much-anticipated double wedding of Parsee Mizuhashi to Sukuna Shinmyoumaru and Tenshi Hinanawi to Hina Kagiyama has been postponed indefinitely.  This no doubt comes as a shock and disappointment to all those that were invited.

Possible repercussions

The Kagiyama/Hinanawi marriage was rumored to have been a political one to further improve relations between Gensokyo and the celestials after the unfortunate destruction of the Hakurei shrine at the hands of Tenshi herself.  Experts on Celestial relations worry that if the wedding was authentic, it being called off or postponed may herald a worsening in the already strained relations.

Even if this is the case dearest reader, it is the opinion of yours truly that people should not marry for political gain!  But for love!

Further complicating matters is Hina Kagiyama’s fast growing religious following.  There was hope among the faithful that the marriage date would mark the first holiday that Hinaism could call truly its own.

Attendees disappointed

The wedding had been expected to be the scene to be seen at this season, with several of Gensokyo’s most famous going on record with their plans for the wedding.  Alice Margitroid, the well-known puppeteer and rumored Makai princess even went so far as to sew a new dress.  No doubt she will not be the only one disappointed by this news.

Invitations possibly faked

While it is still just a rumor at this point, there are indications that the entire wedding may have been a prank from the beginning.  However as those involved did not respond to the request for comment from your truly by press time this can not be said for sure.