#totlo lore

[twooftheluckyones]

Heads or Tails. Woo hoo! 300 followers! Thank you all so much. As always I like to remind that our ask box is open for silly prompts or drawing requests. GET IN THERE! But we got something else for y'all! Lore dump? Lore dump! We wanted to yap off about how our Narinder and Una's powers work in our AU, but this requires a bit of context in how gods work in general. A god is a sum of its devotion, the raw power poured into it by the will of mortals. Much like a fire, devotion can be as simple as a candle or as raging as a bonfire. A god channels their devotion through a Conduit Crown, which allows them to manipulate the universe. These powers are basic at first, but eventually form themselves into a Domain, or an area of expertise and control a god has. For example: Heket controlled Famine, and in it both hunger and feast. Shamrua, a more aged god, had a wider domain of both War and Peace but also Knowledge and Unawareness. Originally, Narinder was the god of Death, raised by Shamura to blend with the shadows and assassinate rival gods, but his hunger for a larger domain led to his family fearing his rise to power and thus his imprisonment. When Una was given the red crown, she channeled Narinder's energy through herself. She was not a god, simply a vessel, a mortal given the power but not truly the one commanding it or being worshiped. However, as time went on, her followers began to slowly worship her instead. It wasn't by their own choice, mind you. She preached the gospel of the red crown, but mortals saw her feed them, shelter them, and protect them. Its difficult to praise a god you've never met while the one who saved you from being sacrificed is right there cooking soup for the cult. Thus she began to form her own godhood, as mentioned in part one. Her domain was Fortune and change, as she was both quite the lucky lamb and the harbinger of a new era. Lucky to be the last one found. Lucky to be saved by the god of death. Lucky to always get good dice in knucklebones. Narinder could sense this, but his fondness for her and the promise of freedom allowed him to ignore it. A problem that would eventually solve itself. Except it didn't. When fate came to be and their blades met, Una triumphed against Narinder and stripped him of his godhood. But she didn't want to. She had always wanted to rule by Narinder's side, and be his most loyal follower forever. A dream kept deep in her heart from the first days of her revenge, even if it was impossible from the start. So in the apex of battle, when the swirling energy of destiny filled her blade, Una's raging power changed things without her even realizing. A crown cannot lie on sit upon two brows, but a throne can be wide enough for two to share. And with a fateful bargain, a new crown allows them to rule side by side, intertwined as their roles combined. Post ascension, Narinder's old power now belongs to both of them, though each still has a unique domain. Una still controls fortune, ranging from anything to getting lucky in a card game to bumping into your soulmate by pure coincidence, but her power also alludes to growth. Her power manifests as intense bursts of energy, lightning that strikes hard and fast leaving opponents nothing but ash. Narinder's power still pertains to death, but now his domain is Decay and Misfortune. Stubbing your toe, getting rained on, and so many worse fates. His power forms as inky blobs of wispy shadow, corrosive and consuming. Powerful in their own right, their strength only grows when they come together. When life and death meld, their ability carries the strength to change almost anything they desire, if the bickering pair can agree on it. They exist together now, united as gods for eternity.

[twooftheluckyones]

So does the cult have any poop villagers? If so i usually just sacrifice them as fodder because of bad stats or they just piss me off

Unironically, in all 3 COTL save files we have, EVERY SINGLE NARINDER IS A COPROPHILE. Why he gotta do that. WHY.

Regardless we're gonna use this as an excuse to ramble about our lore. In our AU, we've got our Sewer Crew. It's been hundreds of years since the cult was started, and now it's a large town, home to almost a thousand members. One of the improvements that's been developed since then is that of a water and sewage system. It provides clean, fresh water for the cult to use in drinking and bathing, as well as sewage.

These three fine folks are the ones in charge of making sure the system works. Mayla is the newest plumber, and she's only in the job to fund her studying to become one of the Lamb's disciples. Tanbo is far more enthusiastic, having worked with plumbing since he was a puppy. His passion for the job might be questionable if you're the type to judge. Finally we have Gus, who was old enough to be one of the original designers and builders of the water and sewage systems. He lost his sense of smell decades ago.

They'll be showing up in our AU soon. Stay tuned!

[twooftheluckyones]

First off I LOVE the lore omg-and secondly since the crown's power split, how did the followers react to the new co-leader? How did Narinder react to suddenly having his domain somewhat shifted to be the counterpart to his once-vessel?

Well, this will be detailed in our comic later on, as it causes a fair amount of turmoil! Narinder was always in the back of Una's sermons, and she never tried to undermine his authority or legend, but her followers grew up watching her bless them, save their lives, and guide them. They might have heard her preach about the god of death, but it was impossible to guide the flock to ignore her own influence. Over time, many of them started to even assume Narinder didn't even exist, but was rather a mythical figure that lived on in scripture to keep sinners from straying. Now imagine their surprise when he's actually real. However, he still lacks their devotion and struggles to earn it. Narinder's style of godhood is far crueler, much like his siblings, and doesn't earn much favor when compared to Una's gentle but firm guidance. Nevermind that he and her are at odds for a long time. Even after the events of Luck of the Lamb, many people still struggle to accept Narinder as their new co-god, though he's found a niche in the festivals of the fall and winter where the dead and darkness are a focus. As for Narinder's reaction, he's beyond livid at first. Thousands of years working towards victory against the old gods, only to be betrayed by his family, chained for another thousand years, and then betrayed by his vessel and closest friend right on the cusp of victory. Even when their relationship settles he doesn't always enjoy feeling like the "number two", and he often feels that the followers only respect him out of fear and respect for Una. Even stranger is his new domain over not just death but general negativity in general. His powers are strange and unfamiliar, and he has very little control due to his limited devotion. To him, a former god with power overwhelming, the sudden change to being nothing but a novice again at something that was normally so easy is nothing short of maddening.

[twooftheluckyones]

Is there a reason Aegis is so cruel to thier cultists?

Cruelty by his god now passed down to his followers.

Aegis was very much like Una, the endling of a species hunted for its prophecy. But his Narinder was far crueler. He used his vessels to lure goats out of hiding. Had them hunted just like the bishops. He even granted his crown to some with promises of safety if they started a cult, only for him to betray them as goats gathered and were thusly culled en mass. His Narinder knew that he only needed the last goat, so the sooner he killed them off, the better.

His philosophy with Aegis was hardly better. Una's Narinder is cold, calculated, but he isn't blindly cruel. Aegis' enjoyed their misery, relished in the cult's agony. Since many of them were formed followers of his siblings, he saw no reason to not inflict suffering on them after they'd left him chained for millennia.

Aegis started in it for revenge, but grew to enjoy the power. Running all his life, finally given power and the chance to inflict pain on those who wronged him. As he grew in strength, mortals turned to nothing but toys to play with for his amusement.

In the end, it was his Narinder that made him that way, and in the end Aegis repaid it in kind. When the god boasted of his culling of the goats and demanded his sacrifice, Aegis struck him down. Now a mortal, the one who waits was powerless to prevent himself from becoming another toy for the last god. And thus he cooked him alive and had his flesh with his disciples, the creator consumed by the monster it made. Now, with nothing to do but watch eternity pass by, Aegis passes his time by being just as cruel as his old master.

[twooftheluckyones]

Luck of the Lamb AU Sidestory: In the Beginning...

By the time of our story, many of the old gods are long since dead. Battled and beaten by none other by the God of War themselves, along with their family. But it was not always this way. There was a time long ago where the war against the old gods raged, and Shamura, clever as they were, needed allies.

So when reports reached them of a thief breaking into their chambers and nearly getting away with it, they could not help but be curious. Many assassins had been sent to test them, and none had so much as reached their temple walls. Who could be so skilled as to reach the very heart of their fortress alone?

A little starving kitten, desperate but cunning, hardly fits Shamura's idea of a master thief. But there is opprotunity in this lone and desperate soul, an ally to be found, family to be gained.

And who can resist such a cute face?

[twooftheluckyones]

Luck of the Lamb Side Story: Festival of New Life

During the spring festival celebrating the end of the winter, Narinder struggles to accept his new place in the cult as co-leader and reformed god.

We've been working on this one for a bit and finally got it wrapped up, I hope you like a cute little one-shot with some lore and relationship drama!