GOD ACTIONS
Catarina
Unit created (Mind giving me a name for the Unit, by the way?).
Wheeled Vehicles developed.

Drakatron
While most Sharpclaw are disgusted by the mere thought of…ugh…edible plants, they comply with Star-Eyes’ (read: Drakatron’s) command, choosing the lowliest of the low, those without a hoard of either wealth, knowledge, or experience to tend these fields, so those of greater value than they might reap the rewards in the form of a greater abundance of meat. It’s a valuable lesson for these slackers, all the Sharpclaws agree (except, of course, those put to work). Agriculture developed.
While some consider consuming such creatures to be a mark of an unworthy hunter, others scoff at this high-minded attitude. Protein is protein, whatever the source, and these insects serve all the better as a source of sustenance while one seeks to bring down larger, deadlier, meatier game. Thus, once properly cultivated, these creepy crawlies become a popular snack while on the hunt or out at sea, their small size coupled with the satisfying crunch of their shell under one’s teeth serving as a fine way to pass the time. Insect Farming developed.

Ejpto’Jsjt
R.I.P.

Ervenbloud
Your energy now spread, however thinly, throughout the pyroclastic pools, you put the second part of your plan into motion. As one still-warm Magma Spawn’s remains are deposited into his pool of choice, his corporeal form slowly melting down and becoming one with the flow, his soul does not so easily slip into the hereafter, instead anchored, for the time being, within the flow of magma, suspended in dreamless sleep as several of his brethren already begin to join him in his slow, spiritual journey, ready for your project’s capstone. The Aether Flow (2/3) developed.
Though it proves a challenge to ensure that each Crucoad produces uniform shells, a carefully curated diet of minerals necessary to produce a combination that maintains the same ratios of commonly seen but sufficiently valued minerals, the ubiquitousness of your people’s amphibian companions provides them with more than enough “minters”, so to speak, with the move away from slow, inconvenient, and occasionally incompatible bartering proving too tempting as the new standard of Crucoad shells begin to circulate. Currency developed.

Harbour
Pickaxe developed.
The Northern Strider created.

Huáng
Heliodos’ ability upgraded.
Taking the infinitely small shards of divine flesh into themselves as they train to master its effects, these bold Disciples are fascinated to find, as they meditate, that they are able to resonate with the thorny nature surrounding them, losing themselves in the chaotic, sprawling web of life even in this desolate place. Unfortunately, a couple lose themselves for a little too long, never emerging from their meditation as their skin becomes coarse and bark-like, knobby pseudo-thorns beginning to sprout from what was once flesh, but those who do survive the experience emerge with an unparalleled understanding of nature, and how one might go with its flow. Bodily Cultivation developed.
Though they unfortunately do little to, as the young masters say, “blind the eyes of the more wanton fairies”, these new shades do prove quite useful for protecting one’s eyes from the harsh glare of the desert sun. They even help to hide the tears of your sect’s bold young heroes when a jade beauty rejects their advances! Sunglasses developed.

Laqura
Although this great scavenger bird is no creature of the deep, your waters have suffused it for long enough that there is little distinction between the two, a fresh, cresting cascade of sea spray allowing you to bind the bird in place, its mind muddled and confused as your water invades it from both the inside and out. Korvur’s Obstinance is now 1/3.
While a cephalopod’s siphon alone is hardly sufficient for any great act, his study of the design itself inspires something in your wizard, pinging against his semi-divine domain as he’s seized by a frenzy of experimentation and creation. Out the other side of this storm emerges a new creation, a pump capable of ejecting water with a speed incomparable to even a well-trained siphon, and in far, far greater quantities. Though how this invention will be used is yet to be seen, several possible utilizations are rather self-evident. Wonder Pumps developed.
Though far less playful and far more predatory in nature than Godomoloke, there are a handful of similarities in the to be found between the behaviour of the titanic Primal and the much smaller, though still comparatively quite massive, Maltides, enough of a common thread for your people to be able to coexist with, and eventually, after several generations of adaptation to one another, cooperate with the great sea beasts, the cetaceans begrudgingly allowing several of your people to ride atop their backs as a means of protecting both the Granchpolpo from would-be predators and the Maltide from any smaller, less obtrusive parasites that might attempt to hitch a ride. Maltide Taming developed.

Laurelios
Though this beast seems like a thoroughly unworthy wearer, in comparison to the deity that just rather unceremoniously tossed you at it, in light of his…somewhat more pliable than usual submission, you suppose some degree of cooperation in order. As you’re caught on the tip of one massive, verdant horn, you send out a pulse of mental will, the beast unable to even comprehend what is happening before its underdeveloped little ego is utterly crushed, the arthropodic shell emptied of will and animus by the weight of eons as you assume direct control. Ōkabuto converted. Wizard gained.
What begins, at first, as a far more banal act of record keeping becomes a far more devout experience as the aftereffects of your act of dominance to subdue the beast ripple through the bond you share with the Shades, a scroll recording the history of this civilization of half-forgotten shades warping into an almost fantastical tale, recollecting the great acts of the Crown and its wielder in exquisite, flowery detail. Fascinated by the way the piece of literature sparks memories already half-faded by the passing of centuries, they take to regularly reading and rereading it, searing the words into their minds as a means by which they might recall, even if that memory is only in service to the Crown. Scripture developed.
Such is this scripture’s popularity, and the excellence of its praise of the Crown (and by extension royalty, through the conduit that is its wearer) that it is adopted by those devoted that built the blessed temple, with several copies penned and distributed throughout the small building and its clergy, and a couple of choice passages even written in bold scripture and hung onto the walls, or artistically represented in simplistic, but painstakingly made, frescoes. Temple Decorations developed.

Lithic
While you rest and recline, unaware of and disinterested by the world around you for the time being, your people begin to further experiment with the distantly familiar material, this time utilizing them in conjunction with a powdery red mineral found within the depths of the mountains to create a contained, sustained loop, capable of maintaining a charge for several hours at a time. A fascinating discovery, though how they might use this newfound energy storage is yet to be seen…Stone Battery developed.

Lys
Its mind already enthralled by your light, and its body exhausted by the long march and its attempts to fell the sturdiest of your children, you have little difficulty shining a more comforting light into the deepest recesses of the great arthropod’s shell, filling its simplistic, bestial mind with thoughts of the warmth, comfort, and safety that will surely be brought about by subservience. Thus cowed, the many-legged Primal scuttles over, coiling around the foot of your shining mount as it basks in your light and awaits your command. Nedrasz converted. Wizard gained.
Though at first it is not the most elaborately laid plan, or practical one, coming from your whimsical, musical people, a plan of some sort is certainly better than no plan at all, and as the generations pass and the war between beast and protector is forgotten, some Liten, taking it as more of a game than anything, begin to refine the plan, drilling and practicing with it to see who among them can best escape. Not exactly the intended effect, admittedly, but a convenient way to practice, nonetheless.
Others, less afraid and more awed by the great arthropod’s subjugation, act with a new regard for their god and the protection she provides, their small shrines and daily offerings a small, yet honest expression of their devotion and faith. These specialized hymns of praise, too, are pleasing to the ear, and seem to better carry to your own (?) than they have any right to, considering the distance involved. Worship developed.

Makrópnoos
Defensive Exterior Coating developed.
Amberwax Bone Bonding developed.

Midnight Caller
Epoch missed, 2 Major Actions saved for the next epoch.

Mortrose
Korvur converted.
Syrconite Tools developed.
Trade Route established.

Mutare
4 hexes claimed.

Patior
Epoch missed, 2 Major Actions saved for the next epoch.

The Beast
Ice Harvesting developed.
Trade Route established.

The Whisper
Spore Baths developed.
Malt of Mold developed.

tsss
Rather than a mark against it, the fact that this technology was able to bring a noodle-armed degenerate to victory more than proves the efficacy of this new practice, and it isn’t long before all of the best Thoride riders have crafted makeshift leather (ironically also from Thorides) harnesses, keeping themselves in place no matter what might try to dismount them. Admittedly this leads to several more brained-by-a-spiny-tree-branch-related accidents, but such is the price of progress. Saddlemaking developed.
Though this new breed of Greater Thoride shows a passion for disemboweling that seems to unsettle even their less lean, less mean kin, their agility is undeniable, navigating the bramble forests and sands with a speed and alacrity that truly belies their size, allowing them and their riders to close the distance in a single, visceral instant as the unfortunate soul finds their vision filled with teeth, claws, and spears. Longstrider Thoride created.
(You already shared Glassworking with Huáng, so I’ll let you pick another.)


Xenoq
(OOP will process this later.)

Ͼ-Arkatassus
Though it writhes and struggles as it’s dragged up into your disk-like body, it’s not long before this first Valbat, the genesis of your new creation, is put under, ready for you to begin making the alterations this kernel of power pulsating within your core seems to demand. Though these ray-like creatures are a biological marvel…they can be better. You can rebuild them. You have the technology. Calling upon the expertise of Ͼ-Sektek, you begin to modify its form, preparing it for the strains its more…esoteric modifications will put it under. Its rubbery skin is replaced with a semi-biological synthetic, remaining just as pliable yet several times more durable, with the capacity to harden in response to several different types of trauma. Its cartilage, too, is replaced, a lightweight alloy of Sektek’s own creation supporting a new, larger frame, sculpted through the injection of dozens of growth accelerants. As the nanites subsume its flesh, replacing it with an equivalent more compatible with its new skin and bones, you judge the beast is finally ready for its finishing touches. Peeling back the synthetic skin and flesh, a manipulator carries a sparking, pulsating organ, thrumming with barely contained energy. It had taken dozens of hours of trial and error, finding the perfect ratio of divine power and mortal flesh to imbue the most potent effects without causing the subject to spontaneously combust under the strain. As the new organ is wired in, you wait, despite your lack of true biological functions, with bated breath, before a wave of relief washes through you as the newly created leviathan thrashes to life, several manipulators snapping and warping as the chamber struggles to contain the powerful new organism’s rampage before you unceremoniously open up the door beneath it, the startled ray plummeting several meters before it catches itself, zipping away with a speed that even you cannot hope to match. Voidrays created.
While you continue the delicate work of modifying your Valbat test subject, the Palladion Sauria, now protected by their new stone home, begin to use their cacti for other purposes beyond housing and aesthetics, with several inserting simplistic spigots with which to harvest the rich, nutrient-dense sap. Bombacto Sap Tapping developed.

Rolled 4, 6, 3 = 13 (3d10)

PRIMAL ACTIONS
Tarazound
Pained, and slightly more hesitant now as a result of its injuries, the luminescent, serpentine form nevertheless dives in for another bite (Tarazound attacks it rolls the first die).

Vuulzendi
Furious at the rodent’s escape inland, it takes its fury out on the town around it, leveling whatever it can (Vuulzendi attacks, it rolls the second die).

Xekath
Still largely unharmed, Xekath strikes at the gluttonous worm, intent on ending things this time (Xekath attacks, it rolls the third die).

>>6355494
>Ervenbloud moves to 4,13
The connection is weak but what matters most to Ervenbloud is that it still holds despite how far north the magma God has travelled. As his cardiac form continued to beat, he waited for the half second between releases of magma when his body relaxed. In that moment he pulled all the energy back into himself. As an epoch’s worth of souls filled his form the God worried he might burst. Yet while his stone flesh strained against the influx of souls it didn't shatter. Once the Molten Lord was able to compose himself, he released the energy back into the magma as he contracted. Repeating this action with every beat Ervenbloud acted as the heart of a soul circulatory system. He felt the emotions of every soul as they awakened within him. In death they had become one with him just as they had hoped. Still, just in case any desired to leave he allowed an escape. Any that wished to leave could choose to let their souls be carried away by the magma tides he produced and be reborn.
>Finish developing The Aether Flow
Within the Molten Provenance the council had noticed that their population was nearing the limits of what the tunnels could hold. While some suggested expanding the tunnels others claimed the very idea of expanding the tunnels carved by the Molten God was blasphemous. After much debate the decision was made to only expand the pyroducts furthest from the volcanos. While the decision was unpopular it was carried out.
>Upgrade Molten Provenance to town
As Volk continues his journey south, he comes across a wall. As he debates the fastest way around it, as he doubts the builder would appreciate him simply blowing it apart, he senses a strange energy resembling that of his God. Curious if these other Gods were like his he decides to head east.
>Volk moves to 10,24

>>6355572
While fitting that is not my name.

>>6355494

Makrópnoos approaches the giant beetle and lays a hand on its carapace, pondering. He hadn't quite expected the Crown to completely hollow the beast, but he supposed that worked as well. He shrugged and picked the crown back up, settling it upon his head.

>Makrópnoos uses his UI to put the Crown back on his head

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>tsss goes zooooom

>>6355603
>tsss moves 4 spaces down!
>tsss is not sure his map position is accurate!
>tsss is pretty sure he does not stab anything regardless
>tsss is now sad

Rolled 9, 1, 10 = 20 (3d10)

>>6355605
> Share Tech: Thoride Taming with Mount Ao Pagoda
As hilarious as watching the disciples fall off their mounts is, perhaps some assistance is in order.
> Share Tech Makeup: Sablewood Treatment with Mount Ao Pagoda
A lesson on the nature of the woods is probably in order, before another disciple ends up impaled.

> Hahk and the Rabble Riders head north, adding another three? Roads as they go.
It's not glamorous, but centuries hence Kikka raiders will appreciate this highway. Or have flying sstabbers.

> Terraform [MA] [2DI] - Siren Sablewood
> Preq-Tech: Sablewood, Gatewood
> A hybrid of Gatewood and Sablewood. This tree bears beautiful golden flowers and golden peach like fruits. A pleasing floral smell wafts from it. The tree is capable of short ranged teleportation when unobserved and impales those near it at the first opportunity.
>Items made from this resource tend to mildly warp space so they can cause harm to living things.

“What is that father?”
Doke the kikka stiffens as he catches sight of the flash of gold and the pleasant smell that brought to mind his mate and the safety of home and other good things.

“Danger.” He answers simply, but takes his child to see it nonetheless. If one does not understand the peril one cannot fear it properly. If one does not fear, one cannot respect it. The tree with the golden flowers stands alone in a glade.

“Long ago, a kikka brought tsss the bringer of stabbing a gift. It was a branch from a distant land, a strange branch with golden leaves. In their wisdom tsss looked upon the branch and saw not what it was, but what it could be, and cast it far away into these very forests.”

Doke’s son listened raptly, for his father rarely spoke so many words in a month. A little thoride wandered into the glade, approaching the tree, where a tiny heap of spoiled peaches sat. Doke stared at the tree, never looking away.

“Years later these trees grew. They are strange trees, for their wood made into weapons seeks weakness and life, the heart, the eyes, the throat.” Doke’s hand touches each in turn. “Look away from the tree for a moment.”

It is only a moment, but when their gaze returns to the tree it is several paces closer. The little thoride is impaled on a branch, blood dripping along the bark. Doke nods as his son yelps and stumbles backward. Excellent. Now the child knows fear and respect.

>>6355667
> Develop [MA] [1 Mana] - Siren Bow and Barbed Arrows
> Required Resources: Siren Sablewood, Normal Sablewood, Textiles
> Prerequisite Techs: Sablewood Treatment, Knapping, ssstabbers, [HOOKS], Rope, Sablewood Horticulture
> An Equippable Offense Progress Tech.
> A siren sablewood bow coupled with sablewood arrows carefully worked into cruel hooked tips and fletched with siren sablewood bark.

Doke the Kikka looks down at his broken spear with a sigh. His three sons watch him warily, waiting for an outburst or an order. They are a week out from the village, their salt bags holding only a few unlucky birds and one tiny lizard. Their greater family depends on the results of this hunt, food enough to eat and trade for other things. Returning so soon with so little would be...difficult.

“Find what you can. I will sort this out.”

His sons scurry away. Doke spends a few hours finding one of the few trees of the grasslands, then meticulously carving a branch from it into a spear. It is a weak thing, unworthy of tsss, and he nearly tosses it to the fire in disgust, but it is all he has. His children return with a few salamanders, a snake, a handful of berries, a few wild carrots. Scarce enough to feed them, let alone bring home a feast.

His children take to playing on the tree, marveling at the wood that does not stab and splinter. Doke watches as he fusses with his new spear. The children take pulling back branches and releasing them on each other, and Doke soon suspects he will have a broken nose to tend to before long. But when his youngest jumps on a branch he had considered for his spear and it bends, then springs back launching the child he takes notice.

The wood of this tree is inferior, yes, but perhaps it can give the shards of his old spear new life. It takes another day, and two more branches before Doke has made the first kikka shortbow. It leaves much to be desired, but it delivers its deadly payload of sablewood shards well and the hunters return burdened with prey.

It is not until Hahk, speaker of tsss, shows up at his home that he understands the full extent of what he has made. Over the next weeks the wizard recreates the weapon, this time from treated siren sablewood, creating cruel barbed arrows with care, each one a small but no less deadly ssstabber.

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>>6355501
>Marine Expedition heads north
>Northern Marines return to Darkwood

>[MA] Develop Carry-her Philosophy
>Ichorous Evolution, Mimicry, Ichorous Instinct
The Children are excited by the exotic new lanterns that produce a beam of glorious soul-light, and with the recent influx of the airfish called Dazhawks, have decided to spread the Ichorous Word and include them into the Choir of the Children. The Marines are especially enthusiastic, for do to their interactions with the Mistress Mortrose, have come to view the divinity as something of close to the Beast, a being close to their Soul. A curious phenomenon. Regardless, this newfound brotherhood has developed tremendously, and it has become a common sight to see the Dazhawks riding upon the Marines as if it were their permanent roost! Along with the innovative ideas of Mr. Sadman, such as the mounting the newfound lanterns atop or into the backs of the Marines, in the claws of the Dawhawks, and in the rather dexterous paws of the Landchildren, the predatory hunting prowess of a group has increased tenfold!

>[MA] Create Settlement on Arktikana
>Domain: Change, Domination; Tech: Ichor Mimicry, Evolution, Carry-her Philosophy
The Children have been inspired by the legends of Godomoloke and the Granchpolpo, and as such Children have embarked on a glorious enterprise of settling on Arktikana himself. Though far from amused, Arktikana eventually acquiesced to the Children’s plea, and thus a curious ecosystem has arisen, as the Marines, Pallipods, and Dazhawks play their part in the symphonic symbiosis with the Big Brother of the Icy Seas.

>[MI] Mana Absorb 4 for 2 DI

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Rolled 10, 8, 6, 8, 1 = 33 (5d10)

>>6355503

MA+3DI+Nanites+Omnitools: Assimilation Pylon (General)

>Invade/Assimilate/Worldroute

>Influence/Ͼ-Mass/Infrastructure/Labour/Blackprint/[null]

>Records Expunged
>Reconstitute

Great totems wired into the desert sand, something between a relay station and an altar of reverence, thrumming with alien energies. They are made of whatever is found at hand, stone, sand, woven cords and religious iconography, and bound together by nanite masses that transform the construct into a singular object and point of focus.
These structures permit the terraforming signals of the UFO to be carried vast distances, writhing a patchwork network under the soil, carrying signals into the ground for miles to massively magnify the amount of land influenced by their deity, like cancers spreading beneath the skin of the land.

They take hours of labour to assemble before they are ready to be made whole, swirling alien things, constructs that are imprinted into the brains of the lizard labourers making them, sacrificing nanites and blood from their bodies to bind them together, breathing life into these infestations that blight the land for miles around.

MA+Mana+Nanites: Omnitools (General)

The great prophet Sektek gathers his flock, and from them sprout new metallic growths. Blades to cut cloth, measuring tools to keep consistent, blunt instruments to hammer and smash away at obstacles, and more sensitive instruments to clean the gunk out of Voidray drives, which they find rather relaxing and make wonderful cooing sounds during cleaning.

All these varied instruments are willed into being, transforming the body temporarily by mastering the nanites inside their flesh. One needs only to think it and it shall come into being, though a lack of imagination is not an insignificant obstacle.
They may even use this method to expunge the nanites from their bodies to create masses of nanotech material, rendering them rather powerless until the ones affixed to their bone marrow repopulate their bodies with fresh stock.

With these new nanite tools in hand, Ͼ-Sektek orders them to go out and construct the mysterious structures that the prophet demands.
With Arkatassus sleeping, it seems he’s in charge.

Move god unit to 19, 22
UI: Absorb Ejpto’Jsjt‘s spark
Another fallen, a bombastic, cheerful deity succumbed to the clutches of idleness and decay. It is a mournful thing, but once more does the hatch of Ͼ-Arkatassus open and swallow up the corpse of a silent god that would have once played music loud enough to deafen.

Move all Hydrascales back to Aztlas
Reequip all Hydrascales with Voidrays and Stone Century and Omnitools
Destroy the Sauria Prophetics unit blueprint and put Hydrascales in slot 2, move Skyclimbers to slot 1.
Using Hydrascales, construct 10 assimilation pylons on tiles as depicted in the image
Move Ͼ-Quarenicis to Aztlas
Move Ͼ-Sektek to Aztlas

>>6356697
Note, don’t build pylons on any oasis biomes

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>>6355492

>Move Makrópnoos to 15.8
>Move Rampachu to 17.11

>MA1: Arboreal Thorn Paste(ATP), General Progress Tech, 1 Mana
>Pre-Tech: Shifting Wood, Plastic Trees, Evolution

Kairos did not stop his experiments with only the Shifting Wood, indeed he continued to branch off and make more abominations. One of them was the Arboreal Thorn Paste, a descendant of Shifting Wood with heightened aggression as a result of both generational abuse and forced adaptations to make it as hostile to external stimuli as possible by making it punch out hardened spikes if stimulated too much. Kairos didn't see much of a use in this one and went back to his studies, but one of his aides, Achaikos, found a way to handle them without stabbing himself by using sacrificial slave creatures.


>MA2: Aggressive Defense, 1 DI, Defensive Progress Tech
>Pre-Tech: Shifting Wood, Evolution, Arboreal Thorn Paste,Reinforced Lumber,Crafting,Foresight

The implementation of ATP with the Shifting Wood was not an easy one, because even with the means of transporting it relatively safely using evolved slave-animals or special tools made for it that didn't mean it would integrate correctly with the wall, it would try to stab it instead because it was being constrained. The process was a long one requiring chemical therapy and conditioning on both the ATP and the section of the wall it would be inserted into, guided by Makrópnoos' Foresight, for both of the different Shifting Wood species to start coexisting without killing each other. The effect of this is that certain sections of the walls have less hardening coating to allow them to stab everything in front of them when poked in a certain radius. This does mean that it's not necessary to apply the ATP to every inch of the wall and only insert it in roughly spherical areas on it.

Rolled 3 (1d3)

>>6356732
Forgot 2 things

>MI: Share Reinforced Lumber with Whisper

rolling dice for Arboreal Thorn Paste

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Rolled 8 (1d10)

>>6355494
The sharpclaw continue their siege of The Door's abandoned settlement, sure as anything of final victory drawing close...
>Unit Interact: attack settlement at [24,25]
Drakatron, meanwhile, having grown bored with observing the death and destruction, gets to work on his next grand plan. He moves to a place just off the coast of the large, mostly desert island...
>Drakatron moves to the ocean hex below [21,26]
Then flexes his divine influence, snatching two unclaimed hexes, the more northerly right at the edge of what he is able to influence!
>Major Action [DI]: Claim [19,24] and [19,28]
Meanwhile, with the newfound surplus of animal feed comes more affordable beasts of burden, which in turn leads to new and interesting ideas on how to get the most out of said beasts...
>Major Action: Develop Wheeled Vehicles

>>6356931
Oh yeah, also, the pirates continue their westward journey. If current progress is anything to go by, they're going to be doing that for a while.

>>6355500
>Develop [MA] - Hibernation
>Develop [MA] - Dormancy
It's death in any other name.

>Develop [MA][1 DI] - Control Overrides (1/2)
Need the bodies.

>Create Unit [MA] - Steps in Rhythm II
Another group following the visionary.

>Tune In [UI] - (Steps in Rhythm I, Mire, Precise Craftsman)
The visionary studies the Ssestan.

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>>6355492
>Develop [MA] [3 DI] - Long Gate Of Heaven (T/N: Long means dragon in chinese)
>Preq-Tech: Enlightenment, Hazards, White Horse
>Preq-Resources: Ruins of the first Gateway To Heaven, A contiguous wall passing through no less than 9 九 hex sides
>Upgrades walls. Attempts to bypass them through abnormal means (flight, burrowing, teleportation, etc) by any but gods requires beating a contested Culture check against the unmodified civilization score of the Mount Ao Sect (Costing a UI per attempt), followed by a successful Health check (1 success is enough, no UI required). Failure on the first teleports the target to a point alongside the Long Gate Of Heaven within the attempter's remaining movement, still on the wrong side of the wall. Failure on the second inflicts damage equal to [[wall's length / 9] +1] and prevents the unit from bypassing the wall.
>Attempts to destroy the walls have the attacker roll Offense against Mount Ao's Culture (costs a UI). Success deals damage as normal. Failure inflicts damage equal to [[wall's length / 9] +1].
The first Gateway to Heaven, alas, suffered from certain lamentable imperfections; a woeful vulnerability to celestial spheres of annihilation in particular. Yet foremost amongst its failings was the paucity of wisdom gleaned by supplicants, save for the cultivation of mere patience. Patience, a virtue the hunter possessed -and should possess- in abundance, though it availed the cook or server little beyond its due measure.
Now, with territories greatly expanded, the sectmaster decreed a novel trial for those who craved his presence —one that plumbed the depths of their own puissance, rather than the strength of his disciples. For enlightenment dawns when one beholds their flaws with their own internal eye, rather than rely on another's cruel revelation.
Walls, formidable and destined to endure, shall gird the borders of the Eternal Strife's dominion, their height a majestic nine li. Each segment, a canvas for the sigil of one of the nine scions of a dragon.
In the pagoda's hallowed halls, a meditation ritual shall commense, allowing comprehension to osmose through the earthen tapestry, imbuing each of the nine draconic visages with a sapience and profound anima transcending their lithic forms.

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>>6357031
The initial, obvious trial for aspirants seeking to circumvent the ramparts involves scaling their heights or burrowing beneath their arcane foundations. Upon breaching an invisible emanation, intruders shall discover themselves lost in a labyrinth fashioned from their own psyches. Every flaw and trepidation shall burgeon forth, assaying them through a harrowing gauntlet that shall test their self-assurance, scholarly aptitude, dignified composure, and philosophic discernment of the cosmos and their very essence.
Those who falter in the crucible find themselves cast once more into the mundane sphere, discovering they had wandered dazedly to a stage relocated, a proving ground the sectmaster, in sagacious decree, deems more suited to their destined illumination.
Victors who unravel the labyrinth's cryptic coil discover themselves returned to their point of entry, beneath the mirthful gaze of the dragon's relief. It awakens, a playful pursuit commencing, weaving through the stone's embrace like a feline playing with its prey. To elude those jaws, one must possess the swiftness of a river and the tenacity of stone, for beneath the dragons' capricious veneer lies the majesty of a sovereign, capable of shattering bone and rending skin and armor alike asunder with the blitheness of a babe rending paper playthings, before depositing their quarry back at the side they came from.

The second trial, bereft of subtlety, demanded the aspirant to crush through the ramparts. Such sacrilege roused slumbering dragons, initiating a contest 'twixt mind and matter. Should the blade triumph over the quill, the scaled behemoths would plummet, their bastion crumbling in tow.
>Develop [MA] - Mountain Shattering Palms
>Preq-Tech: Mountain Shattering Palm, Unveil the Veiled Beauty
>Preq-Resources: N/A
>Improve resource collection (Oltar Metalworking)
Through continuous, generations-long bone-sundering training, and the eternal task of carving out thousands of miles of the mountains, did the Mount Ao disciples come to an epiphany.
Utilizing both arms would surely be quicker than utilizing only one.
Thus the disciples were enlightened.
>Trade Filial Piety (last turn) and Bodily Cultivation to Thornshade/Tsss this turn [MI]
>Profound Masters should be in (8,21), last turn was a typo
>Profound Masters move to (8,17), building a road from (8,20) to (8,17) [UI]
>The Shennong finishes the wall on (3,28) [UI]
>Blophemous should've been in Thornshade
>Blophemous moves to (9,24) and builds a wall north and northeast [UI]
>Pholipoly finishes the wall around Mount Ao [UI]
>Pholipoly moves to (5,25)
>Huang whistles to Tsss [UI]
>Huang moves to (5,25)
>Huang feeds Pholipoly its pill, increasing its Terraforming to 2 [MI]
>Huang harvests Pholipoly for a pill [MI]
>Zaraave moves to (1,27)
>Heliodos starts "inflating" [UI]

Rolled 7, 7 = 14 (2d10)

>>6355494
>>6355497

>[MA] Develop [2DI] - Enchanted Holy Spring (4/?) (Using: Mana Spring, Domain: Water, Aquatic Affinity)
There is yet more work to be completed, so Laqura's efforts are returned to the task as planned.

>[MA] Establish Trade Route: Tidemark to Mortrose/Bablial Ziggeraut
With trade already established to the far north, the Granchpolpo expand the network of trade with the opening of a route between themselves and Mortrose' capitol. Their own most considered route would pass through Gagi and Giagi groves before proceeding down the mid-isle gulf and around the coast to Bablial; though they are aware that Mortrose' subjects would probably want to use the route as well, so perhaps they would prefer some form of coastal road?

>>6357045
>Move: Laqura to (38,20)
>Move: Godmoloke to (39,15)

>>6355494
-[MI] move god unit to 12,4

>[MA] [wood] [stone tools] create wooden musical instruments

>[MA] claim 12,4 & 14,3

File: __ithaqua_identity_v_draw(...).png (6.93 MB, 2696x1547)

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Rolled 5 (1d10)

>>6355492

>Create Unit [MA] [2 DI] - The Northern Strider
>Population:
>Assigned Tech: Hafted Axe, Pickaxe, Bond Harvesting, Caches, Skids
>Heroic Prospector and Builder Unit, ranging in the North, in search of new potential resources to exploit.
Indeed, as it transitioned from an occasional sighting to a myth, everyone forgot about the Northern Strider. Yet even then, hunters would tell of having seen them, being saved by them. Of course, more outlandish stories also surfaced, none of which are backed up by any evidence. Still, some would venture outside, try to find this Northern Strider. Perhaps one of them will take over the mantle.


>Develop [MA] - Masonry
>Preq-Tech: Pickaxe, Comminutionalism, Rock Crushing
>Preq-Resources: Stone
>Defensive Technology, used in sturdier and more permanent constructions.
Using pickaxes, even larger rocks, veritable boulders, are hewn from stone, at least in more brittle areas. Now, you could just break them down further; however, what if you made use of this size? So, stacking upon these large rocks, you get sturdier structures. Similar to the tents, the people of the Glade live in.
Transporting them by trying ropes around them, or even nets, beasts of burden drag them where they are needed, even more easily if the rocks are placed on specially designed sleds.
Yet, there remains one issue. They are still pretty unwieldy. So, innovating on the design of the pickaxe, a range of tools to change the nature of the rock are devised, Comminutionalism remaining an important part of society. Considering the primary concern used to be only to destroy for the sake of annoying a bunch of philosophizing idiots, it certainly has come a long way.


> Unit Movement
> Harbor (37, 3)


Absorb Mana [MI]
> Convert 2 Mana to 1 DI

>MA develop fletching (woodcarving + primitive tools)

>MA develop basic smithing (campfire + splunking + stone tools)

>MA develop carpentry (primitive tools + splunking)

>MA develop architecture (carpentry + primitive tools + math)

Rolled 7, 3, 7, 10, 8, 5, 2 = 42 (7d10)

>>6357031
>Downgrade Long Gate Of Heaven to 2 DI
>Convert mana to DI [MI]

First 3 for develop, latter 4 for harvest

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>>6355500
>>6355004
>>Mortrose, The Primordial Lindwyrm of Rebirth

>Major: [Develop] [DI] [1 Mana] - Miasmic Scrawl - To coalesce particulate, to disperse it up into the air further, to coalesces again into an airborn mass, and expand and spread another scrawl's capabilities. This is the first step of culmination of all of Kentrose's capabilities and Mortrose' designs. Another stepping stone, but this time far more robust than those that came before. The full and complete ability to create massive magical clouds of underworldly power that permeate the material, the immaterial, the etherial, and those realms beyond. A true cloistering cloud through-which only She can truly see through, and through which Her magics can spread through the very air and aether around us itself.
Using: Domain - Mud, Souls, Aetheral Wizard. Tech - Wyrm's Will, The Wyrm's Word, Coherence Scrawl, Accretion Scrawl, Dispersion Scrawl, Nebulaic Obfuscation Scrawl. Resources - Mortrose-made.

At the moment, it's... really just a particularly ominous looking cloud generator... but in time! In time! We may one day be free from the oppressive sun that beams down on us during prime mudbathing time!

With orders and dealings befitting of gods, the sad truth is that many of the rest of the transactions are best handled through mundane means. On the upside, providing guns to one side of a conflict allows for a compelling reason to sell to the other side as well. As a deterrent, of course. Assuredly nothing bad will become of this.
>Major: [Establish Trade Route] [Sea] - Pic related, we continue the arms trade, this time for services rather than goods. Draw the route along the south of the isle and coming in from the east to tidemark. We have a kaiju spawning geyser of raw energy and a greed god pirate army on the route from the west.
>Target: Laqura, between Babilial Ziggurat and Tidemark
>Trade: Consecrators (Adequate)
Using: Tech - Beast Helms, Pottery, Ceramic Kilns. Resources - Murkfan (Adequate), Clay (Adequate), Textile (Scarce), Wood (Scarce)


>Trade shit
FOOL THAT I AM, I forgot to actually *give* the beast the guns tech last turn, so gonna be on the backburner there for a bit as far as who I owe, what.
>Minor: [Trade Tech] - Soul Pikes to the Beast

>Minor: Trade - 2 Mana to Laqura to pay off the DI cost of helping with the kaiju conversion.

>Minor: Trade adjustment Drakatron - Swap Syncronite for Coral as far as what I give him.

>>6357289
>>Mortrose, The Primordial Lindwyrm of Rebirth

Might as well get some Agility XP while I'm at it,
>Unit Action [God] [Primal]: Reposition Mortrose with Korvur on her shoulder to <38,26>, passing over the old stomping ground of the dead tree god.
It's time we show off how resplendent we look to the masses. Preening our feathers, as it were.

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Rolled 8, 5, 6, 3, 3, 10, 9 = 44 (7d10)

>Spawn in Oltartown, +1 Terraform -1 Spirit

Born amongst the scattered and disheveled survivors of Oltartown, Gautz was raised seeing the worst of the damages left by his ancestors inaction. For the past several epochs, Oltartown has been left devastated by the attack of several Primals. Beneath the ruins, heaps of bodies, and the festering office of The Visionary, lies a dream for a better kingdom. Perhaps better mentally equipped than its last reader, Ser Hugh Mann, the gift of these revelations from a Vessel who has already lived their life reveals a path forward for Gautz: Named The Resurgent, for his quest to restore Oltartown to its former glory.

>Terraform [MA] [2DI] The Hushed
>Preqs: Magnolopes, Heavy Animal Labour, Masters of Beasts, Beast Whispering, Tikka Spine Showers, Whispering Haze, Metamorphic Crawl
>Terraformed species branch off of Magnolopes, sloth-like creature that carries pods of hytox spores on its back. It receives a +1 FV to rolls when in Whispering Haze, and on death creates a Whispering Haze hazard in its hex. If the Whisper does not own this hex, the hazard goes away at the end of the epoch.
A well documented design of Reymnd's myceliac folds, and perfected by Gautz's understanding of the beasts that roam his home of Oltartown, the Magnolopes are metamorphosed into a true child of The Whisper. Just as the haze transforms the natural life of where it inhabits, infusing this to become one with the sloths creates a creature perfect in domestic life for the transport of dense sacs of spores, and in war a powerful deterrent to any opponent.

>Unit Interact [Gliraximum] Move to Avadmet, attack Vuulzendi, and then retreat back to (5,8)!
>Unit Move [Gautz the Resurgent] Move to Avadmet (5,9) to lure the attention of Vuulzendi, shall it survive
>Unit Interact [Makers 1] Begin to surround Eastern Reach in walls
>Unit Interact [Makers 2] Makers have previously been able to build 3 roads, but only placed 2 last turn? With this action, the road should be able to cut across the south of (15,16) and meet the other end of the road in the Eastern Reach
>Unit Interact [Makers 3] Extend road to Oltartown from Avadmet and build Myceliac Relay
>Unit Move [Bannermen] Move to (15,16)

>Dice: 1-3 are Gautz Terraform +1 from Divine Lineage, 4-6 Gliraximum attack, 7 Avedmet defense with +2 from Elderwood

Rolled 6 (1d10)

>Exploding dice for Gliraximum

>Develop [MA] [1 Mana] Chrysalides
>Preqs: Mana Propagules, Spore Baths, Metamorphic Relays, Whispering Haze
>Ability that allows equipped units to use a UI at a Myceliac Relay to invest 5 pop into the structure. Once enough pop has been invested to meet the Unit Type's pop, the Unit is created. If the Myceliac Relay is destroyed before the unit is complete, all of the pop invested is lost.
A concept beyond Reymnd's time, Nettie's Spore Baths prove to be the missing piece to a brilliant invention. Forming a spore bath inside of a Metamorphic Relay, of far more potent a ratio of Mana, the occupants enter a state of sleep that brings them to complete Metamorphosis. Spending years in comatose, subconsciously absorbing all of the information that comes through the Metamorphic Relay, they absorb all of the training of their organizers design.

>>6355494
>MA: Try to strap the Throne on top of the Big Beetle
Perhaps, the clerics reason, it would be a good idea indeed to move the throne- not because they want to remove the divine artefact that makes their church looks like a shitty pile of rocks, not at all!
It’s just… err… a way to make their ruler less tired from walking, yes!

>MA+DI: Continue empowering the throne
I mean hey pouring more DI in it will eventually do something right

>>6357174
now that I recall it, name the unit Bob

Rolled 4, 4, 3 = 11 (3d10)

>>6355504
(Inter-Primal combat resistance rolls. First die is Tarazound, second and third die are Xekath.)

Rolled 6, 1, 7 = 14 (3d10)

>[MI] Carry Boarbarosso
>[UM] Move God Unit to (4, 7)
>[MI] Deposit Boarbarosso
>[UM] Move Boarbarosso to (4, 5)
>[MI] Boarbarosso attempts to intimidate both Primals
>[UI] Boarbarosso attacks Xekath
>[UI] [DI] Observe Xekath
>[UM] Move FACEship to (9, 6)

>Culture Develop [MA] Restrainer Bolts
>Culture Develop [MA] Playback
>Culture Develop [MA] Synchronization
>Culture Develop [MA] Group Formations

File: modal_profile_illust_a5-1.png (1.2 MB, 674x809)

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>>6355492
>Name: Yubei, Fisherman kami
Domain: Fishing (major), Sea creatures (minor)

Kami of fishing and sea creatures. Yubei is a friendly and easy going deity who occasionaly appears near coast and fishing villages calling upon giant sea creatures to descent on unsuspecting coastal villagers for his entertainment. upon sucessfull hunt he will grant his blessing on the village ensuring bountiful sea harvest and divine blessings when on sea or near coast.

>God Attributes
strength (major). agility, spirit (minor)

>god ability
Can call upon gaint sea creatures on a specific tiles on the oceant or coast. grants Yubei's blessing if cast on own or friendly settlement if successfully hunted or captured (dice roll?)


>Minions: Jomonese
Vaguely brown Japanese islander. good fisherman and sailors. is into bodybuilding and martial arts.

>Minion Attribute
Attack

>Minion Ability
Niten ichi ryu - Martial arts developed by jomonese fishermen to hunt sea creatures and defend themselves. consist of dual wielding katana in one's strong hand and another weapon, usually fishing tools like nets, oars or short throwing spear in the other hand.

>Color
Orange

>Starting Hex
anywhere near a coast

Rolled 2 (1d10)

>>6357608
(Boarbarosso's attack, since I forgot.)

Rolled 3, 5, 8, 4, 6, 8 = 34 (6d10)

>>6356931
>>6357373
>>6357608
>>6357628
(Resistance rolls. First and second die are for Mire, third die is for Vuulzendi, fourth, fifth, and sixth are for Xekath.)

>>6355500
>>Develop [MA] Knapping
>>Develop [MA] military tactics
>>Develop [MA] music (take the animal resources I have along with the weaving, and wood working, and let's make some primative instruments, it is time to get melodic)

File: BoC_-1_23.png (7.98 MB, 3880x2484)

7.98 MB PNG

GOD ACTIONS
Catarina
2 hexes claimed.
Wooden Instruments developed.

Drakatron
2 hexes claimed.
Hoping to ensure that their beasts of burden will eventually be able to shoulder all of their burdensome belongings and cargo, some Sharpclaw begin to experiment, designing large, low hanging saddles, sleds, and several other unsuccessful prototypes before eventually, inspired by a small, rolling bug (before he squashed and ate it, anyways), one Sharpclaw brings forth his more inspired idea yet: the wheel! Now if only the damned things would stop getting caught in the thick, viscous mud and quicksand…Wheeled Vehicles developed.

Ervenbloud
For all that it might defy any conventional understanding of an organism and its circulatory system, your flowing, pyroclastic cycle, the intake and exhale of souls as they pass through your form, out into the crust of the earth before their eventual return, undeniably resembles one, and functions in reflection of that, the vast majority of your people’s souls more than happy to be reunited with and, in some fashion, become one with their god in this manner. The Aether Flow developed.
Though some grumble over even this most minor of heresies, it is difficult to deny the necessity of such an action, with how crowded many of the tunnels have been, families expanding to fill out the space over the generations until some are reduced to little better than standing shoulder to shoulder with their peers. The expansion, then, is a welcome relief, those younger Magma Spawn eager to escape the reproachful gazes of their elders and strike out to make their own fortune. Molten Provenance upgraded.

Harbour
Unfortunately, though several are drawn in by this mythical figure, and journey out into the frozen wastes and forests in search of them, each and every one lacks the qualifications to take up the mantle, crushed under the weight of surviving alone as they attempt to endure the elements and isolation, the physical and mental toll enough to break even the hardiest of the Gladebound, separated from the support of their friends, family, and even their fellow pathfinders. Create Unit Spell failed, 1 DI refunded.
With the pickaxe proving itself as a proof of concept, and allowing your people to far more easily break down the mountainous barriers that they had once been forced to tediously work around, a slew of new tools are created not long after, serving more specialized roles for which a pickaxe, while serviceable, is not ideal. With these new tools, not only can the chasms and peaks be tamed, but their bounties extracted and shaped, used as the walls and foundations for larger, more permanent structures. Too cumbersome while beyond the glade, certainly but very welcome when wintering in one place, during the harshest parts of the season. Masonry developed.

Huáng
As your disciples, hundreds of Mount Ao’s finest gathered together for this ritual of singular importance, begin their work, life force coalescing in the ground below before flowing towards the great wall stretching across the Northern expanse, this multi-layered animate defense begins to slowly take shape. An illusory mirage-like haze forms, shimmering, above and along the towering, majestic length of the wall, as one of the great stone dragons crafted with loving care and patience to intimidate any who would dare to approach as they glare forever frozen mid-roar, slowly blinks its eyes with the crunching grind of a tectonic shift in miniature. Long Gate of Heaven (2/?) developed.
To account for this massive wall, of course, your disciples require an equally massive quantity of stone. They make up for this new difference with an innovative new change in the training technique with which they most often gather stone, so simple in theory yet difficult to implement in practice. They begin to strike…with BOTH palms! Mountain Shattering Palms developed.
Bodily Cultivation shared with tsss.
Filial Piety shared with tsss
tsss has gifted you Thoride Taming.
tsss has gifted you Sablewood Treatment.

Laqura
At last, you feel the water that makes up your form beginning to assume a degree of unity with the prismatic, energized fluid. Though it remains beyond your ability to exert true control over, in its current state, were it to become diffused into another, such as the great scavenger bird you helped Mortrose to master, it would be a very different matter. You wonder what sort of creature you might lay claim to…Enchanted Holy Spring developed.
With your people now well-used to traversing the high seas, it is a simple matter to open up yet another sea route, circuitously looping around the coastline before eventually arriving at the foreboding ceramic capital of your oldest divine acquaintance, the wyrm Mortrose. Her people, ominous though they may be, have a variety of unique goods available, unique enough for your people to put up with the strange, hollow-eyed stares as they haul their goods into the city’s confined. Trade Route established.

Laurelios
(It’s definitely possible, but it’s gonna require more than an MA to do so. Also in this case, I’d say that you’d need Ōkabuto to be in proximity to the Throne to place one atop the other, so refunding the MA for now so you can decide if you want to spend it differently next epoch.)
The Royal Seat V developed.

Lithic
Epoch missed, 2 Major Actions saved for the next epoch.

Lys
Epoch missed, 2 Major Actions saved for the next epoch.

Makrópnoos
Though it still falls well short of the stabbiness of a certain god who shall not be named’s creations, for repelling your average predator that might otherwise attempt to scale a log wall to see what, exactly, lies inside, these thorns prove a more than adequate deterrence, warning off many would-be predators and marauders the moment they lay eyes on the already towering, imposing palisades of living wood and the reinforced stone foundations upon which they rest. Arboreal Thorn Paste developed.
Of course, to actually reach such a point takes a great deal of trial and error, the living, semi-sapient wood proving less than pliant when faced with the idea of having this strange foreign invader adhered to its flesh. It’s only with your own intervention that the process can be fully carried out, and even then in limited quantities, though as you stare at the massive walls, dotted with aggressive, spike-covered burls, you suspect that limited quantity will already prove more than deadly enough. Aggressive Defense developed.
Reinforced Lumber shared with the Whisper.

Midnight Caller
Some Pretenders, when lulled into this never-ending, dreamless slumber by a lack of sustenance and supplies never see fit to return to the world of the living, drifting away to Plutonian shores as their bodies wither and die, for others this state of false death allows them to survive when the limited food and water that can be eked out of the desert might otherwise not, with their friends and family eventually reviving them when there is once again enough to go around. The less said about what being chosen for this hibernation entails socially speaking, the better. Hibernation developed. Dormancy developed.
With more Pretenders now at your command, the time is ripe for some experiments. If you hope to bring more Pretenders into this world, then you will need to create a more hospitable environment for them after all. And well, as such cultured individuals, they’re surely more than happy to serve as the foundation, both figuratively and, in some cases, literally, for the lands in which their fellows might finally flourish, instead of simply fighting against the uncaring, unforgiving elements for survival. Control Overrides (1/2) developed.
Inspired by tales (from their followers, of course) of the visionary’s success, yet more strike out into the wilderness to follow after him, though this bunch unfortunately have little luck in locating their chosen messiah. Steps in Rhythm Unit created.

Mortrose
Miasmic Scrawl developed.
Trade Route established.

Mutare
Knapping developed.
Military Tactics developed.
Music developed

Patior
Fletching developed.
Basic Smithing developed (you’re developed enough for this, but you do need a claim on oltar or another similar material to properly implement it).
Carpentry developed.
Architecture developed.

The Beast
Though some Dazhawks do not seem much enthused by the thought of spending days, or perhaps even weeks, at sea, where the salt and brine can encrust their wing feathers and there is scarce carcasses to be found, some endure it for the sake of their large, new carrion-producing friends and investments. And well, even those who do not want to prove far more pliant and willing to try when they realize their aquatic friends have already drifted too far from the shore for them to return. Carry-her Philosophy.
(The Granchpolpo, with their god and minion ability, are uniquely suited to building a settlement on Godomoloke as they did, so while it isn’t impossible, it’ll take more than an MA to achieve what they did in your case. For now I’ll refund the MA, and you decide if you want to give it another go or if it’s not worth the trouble.)

The Whisper
Vuulzendi’s Vitality is now 1/13.
The Hushed developed.
Chrysalides developed.
Makrópnoos has gifted you Reinforced Lumber.

tsss
Though the Sablewood that once made up the bramble forests is a fine wood, when compared against the tssslands in which the majority of it now grows, surrounded by a dozen different varieties of spiny foliage, it feels almost…mundane. It deserves more! To be sharper, like no one (except you) ever was! Thus, you seek to alter it. And what better way to do that than make it sharper? So it is. Though this new strain of Sablewood that begins to quickly ensconce the tssslands looks no different from its older, less stabby counterpart, as a hide-armoured Kikka discovers when he stumbles in a thicket and finds himself impaled in a dozen places where his armour might once have protected him against the formerly familiar plant, that unaltered appearance is a detriment to every other unfortunate creature well-used to the plant’s older levels of stabbiness. Ssstabbier Sablewood.
Though this even sharper wood seems to resist even the heretical “treatment” methods of the Kikka, at least one aspect of its improvement has been a greater degree of flexibility than its ancient counterpart, as one Kikka hunter discovers while out and about with his young. Some consider this new…distant form of stabbing to be nearly as heretical as treating the wood. Did their god not give unto them the ssstabbers? Thankfully, more utilitarian heads prevail, presenting these dogmatists with an argument even they cannot refute. Does that god not cast his own stabbings far afield? Ssstabby Bow & Barbed Arrows.
Thoride Taming shared with Huáng.
Sablewood Treatment shared with Huáng.
Huáng has gifted you Thoride Taming.
Huáng has gifted you Sablewood Treatment.

Xenoq
(OOP will process this later.)

Yubei
Welcome to the game.

Ͼ-Arkatassus
With your presence now blighting and consuming the land, your influence begins to expand and grow beyond its once narrow confines, writhing beneath the sand in this new, physical form in a manner reminiscent of your assimilated, bestial compatriot, Quarenicis, thus it will likely be a long, long, long time yet before it can match the speed with which he tunnels through the sand (or so his vaguely sapient consciousness claims without the confines of your shared mental space, at any rate). Assimilation Pylons developed(?).
While your Saurians’ lack of an imagination concerning what, exactly may serve as a tool, as well as their inexperience in conceiving a structurally sound object during the creation process limits the capacity of this new creation of Sektek’s to an extent, these omnitools nevertheless prove useful out in the desert, able to serve in the role of a dozen different pieces of survivalist equipment that in the now distant past needed to be carried on one’s person at all times, and with little in the need of maintenance and upkeep to boot! Omnitools developed.
As yet another would-be friend falls forever silent, and you sup upon their divine essence, the process now seeming almost routine, you cannot help but wonder if the universe is trying to send you a message. Spark consumed.

Rolled 9, 8 = 17 (2d10)

PRIMAL ACTIONS
Tarazound
Distracted from its previous quarry, it instead focuses on this new, far more abundant source of energy, ethereal blue jaws biting down on the small, armoured figure (Tarazound attacks, it rolls the first die).

Vuulzendi
Critically injured, the cephalopod attempts to retreat into the briny deep, eyes glaring at Gliraximum with a malevolent promise of retribution once its wounds recover (Vuulzendi is outta there).

Xekath
Infuriated by this…overgrown pig interrupting its fun, it lashes out, claws sharp as razors and as long as its forearms outstretched and gleaming, deadly (Xekath attacks, it rolls the second die).

>>6357902
>Develop [MA] [1 Mana] - Longstrider Battle Mount
>Preq-Tech: Saddlemaking, [HOOKS], Thoride Husbandry
>Preq-Resources: Longstrider Thorides
> An equippable tech. The next generation of combat mounts, featuring a saddle that literally hooks the warrior and mount together for enhanced control and stability.

The average kikka warrior had a problem. Well, several problems really, the first of which was that the Longstrider Thoride, for all its marvelous speed, agility, and savagery, did not care in the slightest about its rider. Oh certainly it would, begrudgingly, go in the right direction, and, usually, not disembowel its rider. But it also would gleefully run through narrow sablewood thorn filled death traps, under low branches, and perform stomach lurching turns that left most kikka dragging along the ground. When he finished laughing, Hahk set to work creating a more refined, and secure saddle. One that would allow ssstabber and bow alike to be used with ease, without falling off in the process.

>Develop [MA] - Gate of Broken Needles
>Preq-Tech: Bodily Cultivation, Tsswine
>Preq-Resources: Tsssvine
> A +2 Offense Progression Tech, where Kikka intentionally infect themselves with tsssvine seeds, then attain inner mastery of the infection, learning to tap into the intense focus and fury of the vine at will.

The path to godhood is one fraught with peril. It is the destiny of mortals to live brief lives marked by inconsequence, only ever being of importance in aggregate. Far to the north the Rabble Riders, hundreds, perhaps even thousands of them, will fight and die and lose their way with little more than a few rolls of destiny's dice. To struggle against such ignoble destiny is the purpose of the cultivator.

The body cultivation techniques of Mount Ao outline a path where one can attain inner mastery of the body, using that power to expel the toxins of the tsssvine. But the Kikka cultivator pushes this further, seeking not to expel the toxin, but to capture it, control it, to let the seeds grow within his body, but only where and as he wills, to let the toxins empower him, but not control him.

Only when one has passed through the Gate of Broken Needles and obtained mastery of the tsssvine is one ready to continue their path to godhood.

> Share Tech: Longstrider Battle Mount to Mount Ao/Huang
We wouldn't want the disciples to be left in the dust.

> Convert 2 Mana into 1 DI
Soon, something new will begin forming in the tssslands...

> Hahk moves to (8,17) and builds a road leading north
> The Rabbleriders build roads at (10,19) and (11,19), and move to (12,20)
Roads roads roads

> Tsss follows the sound of Huang's whistle to (12,25), but the sect master is nowhere to be found.
Mysterious!

>>6358086
> DO NOT
> Convert 2 Mana into 1 DI

tsss forgot which number came after one

tsss is sorry

>>6357608
(The fluff.)

>[MI] Carry Boarbarosso
>[UM] Move God Unit to (4, 7)
>[MI] Deposit Boarbarosso
>[UM] Move Boarbarosso to (4, 5)
>[MI] Boarbarosso attempts to intimidate both Primals
>[UI] Boarbarosso attacks Xekath
>[UI] [DI] Observe Xekath

Despite the war-torn state of the not-so-peaceful-these-days isle, life must nevertheless go on. A small population of ogres, those that were outside of the village when Xenoq arrived to implement his non-consensual emigration plans, remain blissfully unaware of the titanic forces of nature clashing leagues away, eking out a simplistic life in their suddenly much more spacious, still rather ramshackle village, idyllically whiling away their days bashing each other and any wildlife with too short a stride to outrun the ogres when their ever-present hunger pangs become overwhelming.

The pastoral scene, however, is interrupted by a distant rumbling. Well, another distant rumbling, aside from the faint, ever-present quaking as two monstrosities battle for dominance to the North. It takes this rumble, however, mere moments to grow in volume, drowning out all other sounds as the ogres stare up in confused, helpless awe at a massive shadow, the sun blotted out for a moment before the front hoof of an impossibly massive boar descends upon the village, reducing all but a few buildings on the outskirts to splinters and the dumbly staring ogres to something less than paste before the Primal vanishes as quickly as it came in the opposite direction, a faint, tinny voice the only thing that seems to echo, against all odds and known laws of science, in its wake.

“…ssssSSSLOW DOWN YOU SIMPLISTIC SWINEEEeeee…!”

Hanging on for dear life, dozens of scalpels, manipulators and other tools desperately attempt to both complete their work rewiring the porcine brain and anchor their originator in place as Xenoq lets out a string of profanities, bouncing and jostling as he desperately clings on to the bristly red fur and contemplates simply lobotomizing the overgrown side of pork. He’s so very close now, however, and his greed wins out over his irritation as he, with another grumbled stream of expletives, tightens his grip, redirecting the lion’s share of his mental effort into finishing the thoroughly unsanitary surgery as quickly as possible.

As a massive sea of trees comes into view of the pair, the feverishly focused scientist’s concentration finally pays off as one last nerve cord is snipped. Fortunately, several hundred meters shy of the treeline, the Primal abruptly plants its hooves, slowly braking as it battles against its own momentum. Unfortunately, Xenoq finds that his equipment does, indeed, have a stress-testing limit, the sudden stop catapulting the scientist forward as the manipulators and mechadendrites holding him fast groan, shriek, and quickly give up the ghost, dragged along behind as they futilely clutch bristly clumps of fur. The impact is as violent as it is quick, silver-and-maroon armour dented, distended and in some places torn off as Xenoq smashes through dozens of trees before finally making a not so happy landing, accompanied by a sizeable plume of kicked-up dirt and sod. After several moments of tense silence, Boarbarosso completely still for the entirety, the armoured figure emerges from the slowly settling cloud of dust, shaking off yet another layer of grime before stumbling

“Well, that’s not right.”

Looking down in confusion, the scientist winces behind his mask as he realizes that his left foot is facing the wrong direction, the force of the crash violently wrenching the leg around at a 180-degree angle within his armour. Bending over, the divinity lets out an agonized hiss as he forcibly rotates his leg back around with a wet squelch, the foot now facing…well, mostly the right direction as the god lifts himself into the air with an exhausted sigh, floating with unusual slowness back towards the boar that now glares balefully up at him, its eyes the only thing that seem to have escaped the otherwise absolute lockdown of its body.

“Really now, you didn’t even let me patch up that big, open square on top of your head. Why, someone could just shove a scalpel in there and it’d be lights out for those beady little eyes of-“

Suppressing the impulsive, murderous urge that seems to get stronger with every wave of pain that emanates from his leg, the god adopts a chipper tone as he addresses the boar, whose hatred slowly ebbs away, replaced with confusion as the scientist’s words become far more comprehensible to its once much simpler mind and it finally finds itself able to move, though it feels a strong sense of repulsion where it tries to trot closer to Xenoq.


“Now, I know that after a life of freedom and the wilderness, servitude might sound terribly droll. But it need not be so! I am a villain of means, after all, and I can assure you that every one of my minions would attest to the vast depths of my generosity. Picture it: Delicious feed as far as the eye can see. Picturesque, rolling green fields of soft grass that stretch on forever without any pesky, pokey trees underhoof to scratch at your hide. Maybe we can even find a nice Miss Piggy for you. Doesn’t that all sound fantastic?”

…Hm, yes, well, the straightforward boar does think that all sounds rather nice, curly tail beginning to bounce with excitement as it stares off into the distance, the ocean waves seeming to transform into roiling, fuzzy green fields before its very eyes as a pleasant warmth seemed to spread throughout its chest. It almost seems too good to be true! Perhaps this servitude business won’t be so bad after all-

“And I just need you to do one teeeeny tiny thing for me before I can shower you in all of that~…”

For some mysterious reason, a chill runs down the optimistic pig’s spine as that sibilant whisper seemed to ooze, like treacle, across its brain, and shaken from its daydream the Primal turns away from the ocean view, staring up at the armoured figure overhead at its head tilts, confusion writ plain even on its bestial features.

“With such great senses as yours, I’m sure you’ve picked up on that little…spat to the North, yes?”

The boar had, indeed, sensed the veritable war being waged to the North some time ago. It had also resolved, as its survival instincts screamed, not to get involved, especially after the seemingly strongest entity had perished under the combined assault. It would need to be a truly suicidal lunatic to try and stick its snout into that me-

Oh no.

“Oh yes~”

The scientist croons a response to the unspoken concern as Boarbarosso begins to violently shudder, attempting to backpedal while desperately shaking its head before finding that it is once again stuck fast, its legs refusing to obey the signals sent from its brain even as a wave of despair begins to rise within and engulf it.

“You’re quite sturdy, after all, aren’t you? I’d quite like to make several more new friends, but considering how enthusiastic they are about their little dispute it would be SUCH a tragedy if one killed the other, or villainy forbid there was a mutual kill and all of that precious research material went to waste. The only way to interrupt them that comes to mind, really, is if a third party got between them. I’d do it myself, but well, I’m in quite the sorry state after “befriending” you. You wouldn’t mind helping me out, would you…?”

With what is surely a beatific and innocent smile behind that expressionless mask Xenoq points North, the request that isn’t really a request ringing with all the severity of a death knell despite the airy nature of its delivery as the Primal, against all of its better judgement, turns and begins to move, the earth and trees churning beneath its hooves as it charges towards the guaranteed beating on its own four feet. Picking up speed as it charges against its will, the porcine Primal squeals pitifully at the injustice as its new master lets out mocking cheers of encouragement at its vanishing hindquarters. Unfortunately, as the great boar reluctantly crashes on to the near apocalyptic scene of the two other Primals and their clash, neither the azure, serpentine creature nor the spindly, bone-armoured figure seem interested in divining this arrogant interrupter’s intentions or picking up on the mournful nature of its cries. Xekath’s claws waste little time before they gouge deeply into one thickset, fur-covered flank as Tarazound hungrily nips at the other.

In the meantime, Xenoq approaches at a far more leisurely pace, basking in the mixture of catharsis and schadenfreude as the oversized pig’s piteous wails do wonders to drown out the throbbing, ever-present pain in the villain’s leg as his flesh slowly knits itself together underneath his armour. With one last chuckle, however, he gets to work, sensory arrays that have only just begun to cool down whirring back to life as the ever-curious mad scientist turns his attention to the sadistic, bleached-white figure tormenting his newest acquisition.

“Hahhh, now that that’s taken care, of let’s see what we can see about that fascinating ability to develop keratin you have, my slender, soon-to-be friend...”

>Culture Develop [MA] Synchronization
>Culture Develop [MA] Group Formations

On one of the highest floors of the Faceship, in what could be approximated-were the monolithic monument to megalomaniacal vanity flesh and blood-to be the facsimile’s brain, one can find the Peril Pod, a simulation chamber equipped with state-of-the-art torture devices, holographic technology, and environmental generators, all for the purposes of ensuring that the rank-and-file of Xenoq’s forces, by hook or by crook, possess all the villainous qualities necessary to adequately fulfil their roles while also remaining incompetent enough that he has an excuse to creatively kill them when he is sufficiently bored. In this glorified torture device, a batch of nervous, newly cloned Phenomes struggle to maintain their balance as the platform on which they stand wobbles unsteadily, suspended over a yawning black abyss.

“Now POSE! Hold it…hold it…and break. ATTEEEEEN-HUT!”

As the simulation ends and the room once more returns to its featureless, ovoid white passive state, the recruits have no time to rest or congratulate themselves as they snap to attention, desperately hoping they moved with enough alacrity to assuage the wrath of their tormentor. With the measured, deliberate strides of a predator, the speaker stalks down the line of nervous, sweating(?) Phenomes as they stand ramrod straight, desperately praying to their god that his visage does not decide to vaporize them. Indistinguishable from Xenoq himself save for the faintly translucent, flickering outline and the campaign hat perched precariously on top of the handlebar(?) that adorns its head, the holographic trainer continues its journey before finally coming to a stop before a particular Phenome with the finality of an executioner.

The Phenome begins to tremble as the divine doppelganger pulls out a metal baton, dispassionately examining it before abruptly swinging low, the sacrificial lamb’s leg inverted by the force of the impact as they crumble to the ground, letting out a burbled groan and clutching at the ruined remains of their knee. The hologram patiently waits, staring down at the silver-suited figure as the sounds of suffering slowly begin to peter off when the Phenome comes to the realization that it does not, in fact, have knees, or pain receptors for that matter. Awkwardly clambering to its feet, the unfortunate target cannot help but flinch with poorly contained terror as the expressionless maroon mask swoops in, inches from the Phenome’s visor, cold, contained anger rapidly escalating into a furious roar that booms through the Peril Pod’s speaker system and almost blasts the Phenome off its feet once again with the volume.

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“Minion 2987. What. Was. That? WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?! ARE YOU TRYING TO SCARE ME OR ARE YOU TRYING TO SEDUCE ME?! WHAT DID I ASK FOR?! AN INTIMIDATING POSE, NOT THE SORRIEST ATTEMPT AT A “COME HITHER” GESTURE I’VE SEEN IN ALL 15 MINUTES OF SIMULATED LIFE! RRRRRAGH!”

“THAT’S AN INTIMIDATING POSE! A pose that perfectly suits where you would be situated in any would-be do-gooder’s line of sight. NOW SHOW ME YOUR INTIMIDATING POSE!”

Shuddering, the unfortunate Phenome awkwardly attempts another pose before keeling over as its head, this time, is caved in by another merciless baton blow, the drill instructor’s outline vibrating with poorly contained fury as his head cranes up towards the other Phenomes, who quail under the raw disgust emanating from the hologram’s gaze.

“PATHETIC! Let me make something clear to you louses. I’m not your kind, forgiving, generous overlord, Xenoq, who worries every day about your personal wellbeing and does not, as some rumours might imply, record these training sessions so he can watch them later for his personal amusement. I AM AN AI! I DO NOT FEEL SYMPATHY! I DO NOT CARE! THE SOLE REASON FOR MY EXISTENCE IS TO…beat you worthless sea slugs into shape, until…until…”

Abruptly, the holographic figure pauses, staring off into some unforeseeable distance with hollow, haunted eyes as the mediocrity of its own existence comes crashing down upon its simulated psyche.

“…Until Xenoq deems me obsolete, and phases me out…”

[Instability detected. Correcting.]

As the synthetic voice chimes out of the Peril Pod’s speakers the hologram twitches, eyes glazing over behind its mask before, with a particularly strong flicker, it seems to come back to itself, instinctively glaring down the line at its charges as it is forced to re-assess the situation before launching into another thunderous tirade, simulated spittle spraying out through the thin opening in the Instructor’s mask.

“…Where was I? Oh, right. THE ONLY EMOTION I’M PROGRAMMED TO FEEL IS DISGUST WHEN YOU SORRY SEA SLUGS FAIL TO MEET MY PATHETICALLY LOW EXPECTATIONS! YOU’RE BRINE SUCKERS! YOU’RE BILGE SCUM! YOU’RE THAT DISGUSTING, SLIMY PIECE OF DETRITUS THAT SOMEONE REALLY HOPES IS KELP AS THEY SCRAPE IT OFF THEIR FOOT DURING THEIR TRIP TO THE BEACH!”

As it seems to exhaust its fury, however, the hologram’s tone begins, by a fraction of a fraction, to soften, something that could almost be very generously construed as…well, definitely not kindness, or hope, but perhaps expectation leaking into its voice.

“…But you don’t have to be. You know how even spineless, gutless, witless, worthless flotsam like you might be able to succeed in life? THROUGH VILLAINY! What do you do when life gives you lemons? YOU MAKE SOME LEMONADE, POISON SOMEONE WITH THAT LEMONADE, THEN STEAL THEIR FRUIT! What do you do when the going gets tough? YOU FORCE SOMEONE TO CARRY YOU! NOTHING IN LIFE IS UNACHIEVABLE, AS LONG AS YOU’RE WILLING TO EXPLOIT SOMEONE ELSE’S EARNEST EFFORTS TO ACHIEVE IT! And how do we begin to exploit people? BY SCARING THEM!”

For a moment, the Phenomes perk up, a kernel of hope kindling within the cavity where their hearts would be, if the former deep-sea invertebrates possessed a circulatory system. That brief warmth is dashed, however, as the hologram stalks back down the line, fixing every Phenome with a gimlet eye that immediately causes them shrink in on themselves.

“Alright, enough of that gooey love-thy-neighbour bullshit! Thanks to our friend’s bedroom eyes, you delicate little lotuses are going to give me five minutes of sinister cackling. AND IF TEMPTRESS OVER THERE TURNS OUT TO HAVE AN UNDERDEVELOPED DIAPHRAM, I’M GOING TO FEED YOUR ENTIRE BATCH TO MY BUDDY, DRILL SERGEANT CRADDOCK! THAT FAT SONUVABITCH WILL EAT ANYTHING! NOW CACKLE LIKE YOUR LIVES DEPEND ON IT, BECAUSE THEY DO!”


>Culture Develop [MA] Playback

Finally, after several more torturous hours, the training session comes to an end, allowing the exhausted, battered, beaten Phenomes to slink back to their cramped living quarters. As most of the thoroughly wrung-out minions collapse onto the slightly more padded corner of their floor and drift after into dreamless slumber, however, two souls resist that urge. In the privacy of its personal sanctuary, one Phenome reaches a silver-gloved, noodle-like appendage up to the terminal installed into the side of every Phenome’s environmental suit, a HUD projecting itself on to the inside of the individual’s visor as they begin scrolling through dozens of options before finally settling on their goal. With a click, the suit’s audiovisual playback begins, the events of the day playing out at dozens of times their normal speed as the Phenome fast-forwards through until it arrives, at last, to the Peril Pod. Then, even as their body aches and groans rebelliously, the Phenome begins to practice, reviewing the footage and attempting to correct their errors even as the recording’s loudly barked orders ring at a migraine-inducing volume in his suit’s headcase.

In one bright young soul, at least, a spark, a will to extort, exploit, and torment is born, flickering and faint, but filled with the promise of a better tomorrow, in which a shroud of malice envelops the world and all that is good and pure is trampled under the jackboot of evil.

>Culture Develop [MA] Restrainer Bolts

In the depths of the other yet-conscious soul, however, something more mutinous brews. Banished to the bowels of the ship’s engineering section with a mop and no water, the target of Drill Instructor Xenoq(?)’s ire pointlessly scrubs at a Phenome-shaped nuclear shadow burnt into the alloyed floor, stewing in their thoughts. Why were they being subjected to this? They knew their pose would have scared any hero stiff! Sure, it was a bit unorthodox, but wasn’t that the beauty of individuality? Why did they need to conform, to unquestioningly follow the guidelines laid out before them? It just wasn’t right. The Phenome…it needs to change, change this ship, change this god, uproot the old order, it needs to [PRACTICE ITS POSING].

The rebellious Phenome freezes mid-scrub, confused, as its mind seems to stutter for a brief instant. Where had that come from? Sure, it would probably need to practice more, to conform for the sake of avoiding being fed to an especially hungry ogre by its overenthusiastic instructor, but only for the sake of appearances, it would never truly [GO AGAINST XENOQ’S WILL]. The Phenome flinches again, mop slipping from its grasp and clattering to the floor as it stands, stunned, before shakily bringing an appendage up to the terminal, attempting to run diagnostics and figure out the problem. Before it can even, however, a headache seems to pierce its mind like an ice pick, the insubordinate(?) Phenome falling to the ground in a thrashing, unrecognizable tangle of limbs before going completely, ominously still.

After nearly an hour, the Phenome abruptly seems to uncoil, smoothly climbing back on to its feet and beginning to enthusiastically scrub at the scorched shadow. It only has 8 more hours of "remedial training" to go, after all, and it wants to be nice and limbered up so it can get right into its pose training!