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Beings of Creation: Return of the Gods - Prelude

The wind sweeps over the ocean, carrying with it salt and sea mist. It passes into the thirteen grand cities of Teroti, each one a bustling metropolis of millions. Each one is a bustling microcosm of a nation, bustling with industry and culture, arts and sciences. Each one remains blissfully unaware of the coming upheaval, of the cataclysm that approaches. For the thirteen have forgotten the gods, but the gods have not forgotten them. For now, the gods sleep. For now the thirteen flourish and grow and write their stories, but these stories, no matter how important they are to the thirteen, are only the backdrop upon which the game of gods will be played.

---

Welcome to the prelude of BoC: Return of the Gods! This will be a cooperative world building experience focused on building out the identity of the thirteen cities of this world. These thirteen cities will serve as the key objectives, and often battlegrounds in a future game where players will play as the returning gods.

Play is straightforward enough, each player can contribute one of the following each turn.

> Create a Species
To a max of 10. This establishes the existence and characteristics of an intelligent sapient species, but does not place them in the world.

> Inhabit a City
Choose a species that already exists and a city. Each city has five slots for species. The same species can occupy multiple slots.

> Expertise
Choose a city and grant it a technology. These can range from the bronze age to the near future, and can include advancements in magic, science, technology, and art. They should be specific, not general or vague. A city has five expertise slots.

> Specialty
Choose a city that has five expertises and grant it a Speciality, a potent technology, resource, skill, or manufactured product considered the best in the world. A city can only have one specialty.

> Name
Name a city. A city can have many names, reflecting its history, or different perspectives of its citizens.

------

In addition to the five options above, each turn a player can contribute one piece of History and Culture related to anything in the world. This can be a holiday, a custom, a local food, a terrorist attack, a battle between cities, a catastrophe that occurred in the history of a city, a legend told by a species, or many other possibilities.

-----

Scheduling: Turns will probably end on Saturday or Sunday.

Priority: All actions are first come, first serve, and are processed in post order.

Restrictions: There are no restrictions on content or theme. I reserve the right to veto stupid shit.

What are the lines on the map?: Ancient roads and/or railways. Feel free to flesh them out.
>>
>>6452686
What are the rules for species creation?
>>
>>6452686
Well someone has to start
>Introduce a species

The Alnaas are a species of bipedal reptilian creatures clad in a lizard's scales and and a bird's feathers(particularly around the spine and neck). They possess four arms ending in clawed hands and six wings whose feathers are bioluminescent grow from their backs. They have an innate affinity for elemental magic and their scales and feathers reflect that. They are also obligate carnivores

This can serve as our ''first race'' precursor thinge
>>
>>6452686
>Create species The Wretched
When the Gods were awake, they punished men for their hubris. As they sleep their nightmares remain. In ancient times Gods would punish mortals who broke their laws with great plagues. The greatest of them would curse the lands themselves so that any mortal who broke their laws would be made ill. Breaking hospitality, lying on a holy day, killing a sacred animal, every God had a law they held above all others and the price for breaking it on their land was steep. The Gods may be gone but their curses remain. To the mortals the disease seems to crop up at random with no pattern as knowledge of the esoteric laws that governed them were lost with the Gods. Yet while its cause may not be known the effects are unmistakable. The victims became misshapen, malformed things that infect any who dwell near them. Those that aren’t killed are cast out, only finding comfort among the rest of the diseased. Their species, heraldry, even their names are forsaken by all who once knew them. They are treated as less than they were, in some lands they are less than even beasts. They are nothing more than mere wretches.
>>
>>6452686
Tricky ownership.

>[One of the Following] Create a Species - Humans.
One needs a baseline of mundanity for all things, and what better quantity but humans? Is man not the measure of all things?

They are simple bipedals, of various spectrums and many members. They do not excel in any particular field, enjoying mediocrity for all of our sakes. Aware of this insignificance, they possess a tendency to violence and trickery, to take from the world what should be theirs.

>[One's Contribution] A Legend of Humans - The First Name

It is told, when the world belonged to none, when all things were not named, and thus, does not belong, that a pair of humans met. Not the first, not the last, not the founders nor the usurpers. As significant as dust in the grand scheme of things.

No quality is innate. Yet, when cutting meets blunting, and blood was spilled upon that instrument, man found that quality is taken. The dead cursed the living, cursed him from taking what was hers, and rattled her final rasping words cursing him, did he understood. He could be described by many nouns, said to be of many adjectives, acting to many verbs as an observer wished.

No, he understood, that above all of that transience, was something he truly is. He is first and foremost, a murderer. That made him belong. That's great.
>>
>>6452689
It's mostly freeform. Most restrictions are going to be fairly common sense stuff, like please don't make a species that's a world ending disaster in a humanoid shape, or a robot that manufactures arbitrary science fiction technology in an internal nanoforge. Broadly speaking a species should be able to exist in the world without warping it to revolve around them.
>>
>>6452686
>Action: Introduce Species
>Name: Kiiztaani
>Description: 'Tree-talkers' in their tongue, the Kiiztaani are, as their name suggests, the children of the world's vast, primordial forests. Curious, yet cautious, Kiiztaani are rarely found far from their vast family units and have an innate fondness for nature.

If you wander the woods you might see a patch of moss or leaves lying on the forest floor or pressed against a tree. It might be moss. Might be leaves. Or it might be the velvety, but advanced coat or tail of a Kiiztaani used to blend in with their surroundings. Blessed with keen senses, it's difficult to find one unless they wish to be found, but fortunately most Kiiztaani are playful to a fault.

Playful, however, doesn't mean foolish...

>Contribution: Sap Swell: The Season of Sugar
There is a time, some say, where the forests smell of sugar. A saccharine scent pungent enough to emerge from even the deepest of forests... one that drives the beasts drooling mad and tinges each breath with a sugary taste.

To some, it's a warning: steer clear of the woods--they aren't for you to walk. To others, like the Kiiztaani, however, it's a sign for celebration: the beginning of a new year and a reward from the woods for patience and perseverance.

In the deepest groves, the trees bleed--their glowing sap dripping down their trunks in a stream of runny rainbow. Some seeps into the soil. Some steeps and sweetens the forest rivers and streams.... and some is gathered by the tree-talkers to brew into potent drinks and sugary sweets.

It is said that during their Sap Swell revelries, no one is a stranger to the Kiiztaani. All are welcome to sup and drink, and if one plays along with their games and dances, they may even wake up in a sugary stupor the next day with their pack intact... along with a few souvenirs for the road.
>>
Interested in this, but it's long past midnight here and I can't post immediately. Am I allowed to reserve a spot for ~10 hours from now? (If there's still one open by then, I'll just post as normal.)
>>
>>6452785
*reserve a spot for a species. I am intending to introduce a species. (And now you know why I'm not just posting immediately.)
>>
>>6452747
Understood. Thank you.

>>6452686
>Create a Species - The Ilune / Elves
The Ilune—or elves, as humans call them—are an old race, even compared to the other long-lived species. Even among their ageless number, however, none remain who know how their race began. Some say that an ancient goddess created the Ilune from moonlight, some that a cruel, tyrannical god-king fashioned elves as servants, and others still that they were born as guardians of a divine tree that stretched across the southern lands; the only commonality between the accounts is that the elves were created by a higher power.

There are some physical traits that are common to all elves, which distinguish them from other species. The first and most important is their agelessness after reaching adulthood at fifty. Due to having far fewer generations and less mutation, elves also tend to be very biologically similar within groups. The most obvious trait of elves is their pointed ears, which allow them extremely keen hearing. One interesting weakness of elves, however, is that the perfect nature of their healing prevents muscular growth or atrophy; while every elf is always fit, they cannot match the strongest humans, much less the strongest members of some other races.

Spiritually, elves also have several defining qualities. They are somewhat like the Kiiztaani in their reverence for nature, but they also possess an unhurried perspective towards time that can often alienate them from shorter-lived species. Elves also tend to devote themselves to mastery of a particular vocation, such as singing, swordsmanship, or hunting.
>>
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>>6452686
>Create a Species
The Quan are a race of motile vine-clusters that supplement their photosynthesis through the consumption of meat. Each emerges from a seed with one eye and one vine, and over the course of their decades-long life, grows another of each roughly every fifteen years. Every thirty years, they lay a handful of seeds, which have the potential to germinate if cared for in a wide range of soil. There is no upper limit to these eye and vine growths, and as they don't undergo senescence, in theory, one could be immortal. In practice, their internal structure collapses from the strain somewhere around eight or nine. Some undergo pruning, but this is traumatic.

Because the other races all have faces, the Quan make masks for themselves. These are often painted or decorated to help non-Quan differentiate between individuals. The Quan themselves have no problem with this and many insular Quan forgo masks entirely. They are a very social, friendly, and charitable race but have no scruples towards violence or theft. For this reason, they are generally overrepresented among military and criminal organizations. They have heavy, guttural accents and their own language is harsh to the non-Quan ear. The shade of their vines varies depending on what time of year their seeds were planted, and many Quan are strongly opinionated about what time of year is best or worst.

>>6452693
>History and Culture
The Alnaas have an obscenely high tolerance for spices, and their traditional food reflects this. Very few non-Alnaas can go the distance at an Alnaas table, something they joke about frequently.
>>
>>6452686
> Create a Species
Half Giants


Poor sods.
In the ancient past, when the Giants and the smaller races warred with each other, the half breeds were persecuted by both sides. The humans still saw them as monsters to be wiped out, and their larger kin saw them as pathetic runts to be enslaved.
This kind of mistreatment is a pattern that follows throughout much of their history. The Half Giants long were outcasts due to their fewer numbers and because the homelands of either side were equally unwelcome to them.

That was long ago, but the consequences of those times remain.
Nowadays you'll only find the Half Giants in the furthest, most isolated cities. They fled from the center of the continent and sought to retreat from the perils of the world.
>>
>>6452846
Anon...why only half-giants...why not strait up giants
>>
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>>6452686
>Create a Species
The Shadowfolk, so called due to their real names being long forgotten, are a disparate and lonely race. They number incredibly few, without more than one known settlement to their name, and seem to grow rarer by the year.

This may due to their dwindling numbers... or due to their penchant for shapeshifting. The Shadowfolk are almost never seen in anything but the guise of another race-- the consummate survivor race, they live by taking on the forms of more populous species and living double lives. If needed, they can survive anywhere, eat anything-- so long as it's in the form of another being.

>Contribute: A legend? A piece of history? The Demise of the Shadowfolk
Once upon a time, this duplicitous mantra branded the Shadowfolk with a rather negative reputation. It is said that, in a long-forgotten ancient era, they were the world's foremost target. Their people were hunted, their children slain-- those who survived forgot most of what it meant to be their race, and took on the names their people were called to communicate with one another. Great knowledge of magic, extensive expertise in subterfuge, constant knowledge of who among them hid among other races-- all such things were said to be lost (though a modern Shadowfolk could never tell you for certain whether they existed in the first place).

Ever since, their modern descendants have been left confused and desperate. They can hardly tell their own from those they call "hosts", rarely succeed in much more than survival, and sometimes abandon their Shadowfolk kin entirely to try and truly become one of another species. Their negative reputation lingers, but the species itself has essentially been dismantled. The once-proud strangers have been brought to heel, their generational knowledge obliterated and what was known of their civilization in ruins.
>>
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>>6452686
> Create a Species: Gorno
The Gorno are creatures of earth and stone, motile rocky forms in vaguely humanoid shape that live in the hot and craggy regions of the world. Their diet is laid down bands of silicate that have been deposited throughout the crust and cool out of lava flows; though to simplify this as 'eating rocks' is fairly close to the truth of it. They value strength and resilience in themselves, and simple but strong bonds of friendship and brotherhood over most complex social structures. Where magic is involved, their focus tends toward the primal; but they are not without craft in their artisanry, and see the challenge of wresting creation from raw material as worthy.
>>
>>6452851
I was going to let someone else do that if they wanted
If no one does, we can just say that full giants don't live in urban cities
>>
>Create a Species: The Tatik
Spindly and fragile, with a dozen reed-like limbs that alternately serve as arms and legs depending on what the situation requires, members of this strange race of arthropods lack a discernable cephalic structure, possessing only a thickly armoured central mass from which their appendages extrude. The reason for this strange anatomical quirk is that such an evolutionary development is quite simply unnecessary for a species that lacks any form of olfactory, visual, or traditional auditory senses.

Where most species would find this lack disorienting, the Tatik thrive under the auspices of their extraordinary mechanosensitivity. The segmented layers of chitin that protect much of their body, coloured in burnt umber, are remarkably sensitive to vibrations, even those travelling through the air, allowing their entire body to serve as a remarkably keen, if unconventional, auditory system, while the sensilla that tip each of their dozen limbs are yet more sensitive to texture, vibration and gustation, surrounding and protecting the delicate labellum with which the Tatik ponderously eat.

These exceptional senses, paired with the fragility of their limbs, make the Tatik exceedingly timid, taciturn, and conflict avoidant in both nature and, by extension, society, preferring to go through life without friction of either the metaphorical or literal kind. As a result, the majority of Tatik live out their entire lives in the relative seclusion of their subterranean birth community, only venturing out into the wider world during annual excursions to find new and unique materials and textures with which to decorate the floors and walls of their homes. Should they find one they particularly like they can become singularly focused on acquiring it, thoughtlessly and guilelessly offering a wealth of trinkets and tools, each one of extraordinary craftsmanship and quality, in exchange, though the…unique aesthetic tastes fostered by their wildly differing senses and values as well as their strange percussive language can make such transactions difficult to navigate for every party involved.
>>
>Create a Species: The T.B(Tower Builders)
The T.B call themselves as "living beings". Therefore, the other sentient species gave them the name of Tower Builders, upon observing their behaviors. They go through a period of search for new territory, and when they find someplace suitable, they begin to build. They'll fortify and build up that area to a great extent, and only when they get satisfied according to their own metrics, shall they start a new "tower" someplace else.

>Appearance: They are humanoid creatures, having the average height somewhere between a human and a half-giant. They are grayish in color and have fine finger like manipulators attached to their limbs.
>>
>>6452686
>Inhabit a City
>Shall we do an irony? The displaced Shadowfolk with not a settlement to their name, being the first settlers and taking the first pop slot of the first city.
Where kin and kindred were genocided by the scores the world over, only in the misty reaches of [CITY 1]'s precursor villages did the shadowfolk find succor. Where isolation allowed them time to adapt to a world turning against them. The first of other species to come across these shadowfolk hamlets would be met with people of like face and vernacular; the entire community having adapted and put on a play, all to blend in with a new-arriving minority.

Even as these hamlets and small fishing villages came together to eventually form the City State of [CITY 1], the Shadowfolk bled into this greater nation with seemless grace, there from the beginning, having long since completely adopted their neighbors customs and society.

>Historical Diatribe - Tale of One-Two Cities
Throughout the ages, the history of city states [CITY 1] and [CITY 2] have been one of odd bedfellows, friendenemy rivals, and a source of endless accounts of political and romantic fiction from each side. Often warring amongst each other for decades of even centuries on end, only to immediately ally and have each others' back when a third power arrives to tip the scale in the local geopolitical scene.

Much of their cultures are as heavily defined by their arbitrary opposition of each other, as they are by the heavy cross-pollination between the two.
>>
Oh, is it the next turn? I'll whip something up later if it is
>>
> TURN ONE ENDS

I've written everything down at https://worldforge.me/wiki?worldId=6a8648ccb62301a3dafbb2eb feel free to look it over and let me know if I missed something, made a mistake, etc etc.

We've got all ten species slots filled (well, over filled actually, but I'll let it squeak in). No more species can be created at this point.

> 13/13 Cities have no name
> 64/65 City Population slots remain
> 65/65 City Expertise slots remain


TURN TWO BEGINS
>>
>>6454420
In that case...
>Inhabit a City
>City 7 goes to Kiiztaani
I'll write something up for it when it isn't so late in my area. I figure they'd like a place in the forest.
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>>6454420
>Inhabit a city
>Gorno into City 9
From the volcanos of the lands of fire, the Gorno find the city that teeters upon the edge of the lava-flows of their volcanic domain. Many move to inhabit the palisades and halls, carving as they do great channels to bring the tides of flowing Lava into the city's ancient heart.
>>
>>6454420
>Inhabit City
>Banish the Wretched to City 5
The first inhabitants of [Insert City 5’s name here] were Wretches exiled from their original lands. As more and more people were sent their rumors of a safe haven for the diseased would spread to the northern lands. Isolated groups of Wretches would spend what little they had to reach the island, and though often disappointed that the colony didn’t quite live up to the rumors most choose to stay either because they wanted to be among more people like them or simply because they could no longer afford to leave. As the Wretch colony grew large enough in size to become one of the thirteen cities it became known as the city built by rumors.
>>
>>6454449
>>6454420
Okay I'm alive again. Here goes...

From one burgeoning Kiiztaani family came a tribe... then a community... and finally a bustling commune spanning swathes of canopy in the Southern Forests. Here in RIISMIICHI: 'Glistenberry' in the Kiiztaani tongue, the nigh-endless wilds felt a bit less wild: travelers were welcomed with open arms and fresh-poured sap, stories were shared and supplies were stocked, and the once-wary woodsdwellers learned to greet newcomers with treats and trinkets in exchange for curios and oddities from far beyond the reaches of the forests!

Travelers would sing of the Kiiztaani's legendary hospitality, yes, but also the grand vine-wrapped walkways spidering across the canopy, colossal treetop windmills that powered primitive lifts and tools, and rustic homes built straight into the towering trees. The tales sounded tall, of course, and as they say, seeing is believing.

Riismiichi may not have been the grandest of cities, nor the strongest of strongholds, but their place there was life. Spirit. An unsinkable sense of ease that not even the most aloof mercenary or wayfarer could shake.
>>
>>6454679
Shit sorry I didn't realize naming a city is a separate action. Forget I said anything about that!
>>
>>6454420
You missed the piece of history/culture/legend that came along with the Shadowfolk here. >>6452904
Otherwise seems good.

>Name CITY 1
Perpetua is. Perpetua was. Whatever it is, whatever it must be, it simply becomes. Its name is whispered among the Shadowfolk outside of it with reverence, disbelief-- the mere thought of it stirs something primal in them, something long-since thought to be lost. Its own existence is sometimes doubted by those who've never taken to the seas, but can never be denied by those who've had the pleasure to visit it.

Perpetua is a name known only to the Shadowfolk. What other species know it as varies-- oftentimes, it will share the name of the the visitor's treasured hometown, or the legendary sunken city they've spent so long scouring the world for, or the distant foreigner's capital that they've only heard stories of from more adventurous family. Whatever the name, whatever the appearance, whatever the situation... Perpetua remains a haven for Shadowfolk and a bulwark against their enemies.
>>
>>6454420
>Inhabit a City
>The Tower Builders fortify City 6

Within the first few cycles of scouting for territory, the T.B came upon a piece of land surrounded by some mountains. It could be described as love at first sight, but for an entire species directed towards a place. They quickly got to work fortifying the already semi-isolated City 6 into an even harder to reach place. Except for the acquiring and trading of resources, the T.B rarely make contact with the other cities.

If a traveler from a nearby City were to, by some feat of luck, accidentally stumble onto City 6, they would find a City where the homes are as vertical as they are horizontal(being built into the mountains), mechanisms and machinery laid out in a way that is completely practical without caring for any notion of aesthetics, and constantly moving blobs of gray who never seem to stop their industrious but incessant construction of the already dense City.

>Culture:

The T.B don't have many celebrations in the traditional sense. However, when a "Tower" reaches a milestone that they arbitrarily decide, members of the species finally decide to take a rest and engage in leisure activities, such as playing a boardgame known as "Build-the-tower".

These days are known as tebep(shortening of Tower-Partially-Built) and they come in various phases, starting from phase 0 and incrementally increasing, with each phase bringing on a different form of celebration. There exists a theoretical/legendary "Final Phase" of the tower being built, but the T.B seldom mention it.
>>
>>6454743
I'm posting from a different browser this time, so my id is different.
>>
>>6454420
>[One of the Following] Inhabit a City - Human, City 10

Where would humans be but at the center of things, or perhaps the first tenth?

>[One's Contribution] Murder the Architects

The humans did not arrive kindly. They would come to the city that hid the sun and demanded them to return it to its rightful position in the skies. They said, is the Sun not the universal property of all living beings? What right does the City have in hiding it from all?

Ofcourse, they did not intend to truly reason with the Architects. After they were admitted into the City, they simply chose to collectively murder all of the Architects. From this feat, the humans would claim that they are the true architects of all cities.
>>
>>6454420
>Inhabit a City
Half Giants inhabit City 1
>>
>>6454420
>Assign a Specialty
>The Quan-Grottos to City 10
>Pools of water with the right conditions to enable Quan to grow far larger and older than normal, the density of the water just right to still enable life yet also allow them to reach otherwise untold numbers of vines and eyes without their bodies collapsing under the weight.

The brackish waters and tides that pervade the eastern swamps are a determent to much of civilized societies, poor to build on, poor to farm on. As such, all but [CITY 10] steer well clear of such lands. The Architects >>6454802 who had worked great stoneworks from the neighboring mountains and reclaimed the land from the sea had enabled such an arrogant accomplishment of man over nature centuries ago. One of the few locations where modern society can live alongside such curious ecological systems.

It is here, that perhaps at one point, or perhaps still to this day, the Quan hold an ancestral seeding grounds, Where a subspecies of them more accustomed to and planted in brackish waters, could grow far beyond the pruning-age of the most seasoned of landbound Quan. These "Quan Grottos" were supposedly an unpleasant place to call one's home, the salt always an irritant, and those who lived there eventually reached a point where they could no longer leave for fear of crushing themselves to death, daming themselves there for eternity. Others claimed it helped center the mind, reaching a state of mental peace and tranquility amidst constant physical discomfort and distraction.

Any that may remain in these pools could easily call themselves the oldest living organisms in the world, on par with the timeless elves and be a wealth of ancient knowledge.

>Regional Cuisine - The Eastern Marshes
Fish make up a large staple of the diet of those living near and around the eastern marshes, where traditional farming fails to find purchase. Pearlescent Pike, in particular, with it's glossy white scales and exceptionally oily bodily fluids, are one of their most important food products. Both for the flesh itself, the oils inside cooking it and giving them a crispy texture, but also for the oils that can be extracted for use as cooking fat, lubricant, or lamp oil. Their ubiquitousness has also led to a well established food culture of frying.
>>
>>6454420
>Inhabit a City
>The Tatik take up residence in City 4
Subterranean by nature, their bodies well-suited to traversing tight or atypical confines and their senses providing them with a profound informational advantage in such lightless, contact-heavy environs, the Tatik thus gravitate towards environments that make such a lifestyle convenient. It is thus little surprise that several communities crop up in the hilly lands of the Southeast, which are honeycombed with small caves, grottoes, and overhangs that the Tatik can expand on at their leisure.

>History & Culture Contribution: The Exodus
While typically isolationist, spending the vast majority of their lives within the confines of the subterranean community into which they are born, there is one occasion on which the Tatik break from this hermit-esque lifestyle. Once they come of age and emerge from their final molt, tradition demands that they undertake a year-long journey into the outside world during the next Exodus, an event of both historical and practical significance to the Tatik that occurs once every ten years. For all that their skittish nature urges them to avoid any manner of conflict or friction, which is to say any contact with the outside world at all, they are aware that such a way of life bears far too many risks, with threats from both stagnation and the outside world an inevitability should they fall behind the times.

Thus, in emulation of an event from the distant past, these young Tatik are sent out into the world laden with all manner of trinkets, commanded to learn and seek out stimuli that truly, uniquely call to them, returning only after the full year has passed, hopefully all the worldlier for their journey. The results are, as one would expect of sending a bunch of naïve, inexperienced young adults out into a harsh, unforgiving world carrying valuable trade goods, a mixed bag. While their exceptional senses allow many to return safely, now enlightened (albeit occasionally wrongly) as to the ways of the world, many do not return at all, hunted down by the beasts of the wilderness during the journey between cities or betrayed in a moment of misplaced trust. While those lost are mourned, this outcome too is accepted, a necessity born of a culture uniquely familiar with the perils of such a journey. At any rate, for those who survive, this year-long journey serves as an incalculably valuable experience, a well of nostalgia and inspiration from which these young Tatik, now considered full adults, will draw for the rest of their lives, though few deign to try and recreate this perilous adventure, preferring instead to remain at home and more patiently wait for the goods they have learned to appreciate to come to them.
>>
> TURN TWO ENDS

Apologies for the slow turn around! All events have been recorded, including the city names. On that topic, any unnamed city be named for free, or as part of a lore action.

> 11 Cities have no name
> 57/65 City Population Slots Remain
> 64/65 City Expertise Slots Remain


Players may now take 2 Primary actions and 1 Lore action per turn.

TURN THREE BEGINS
>>
>>6457916
>Name a city: City 9 to 'Daru'
With the city theirs, and a deep trench now bringing lava flows from the burning lands into the heart of the settlement, the Gorno apply the name of 'Daru' to to place. Some claim it is a name taken from their past chieftain, others disagree and state that he was a sage of great wisdom; and still others claim it as a reference to a mythological Hero, or a legendary smith... but none are sure enough of the actual truth.

>Expertise: Daru: Metallurgy
The earth near Daru is aflame with the heat of the volcanos of the burning lands. Lava flows as rivers, and substances that are elsewhere solid will here seep from the ground as molten puddles. The surprise is not that Metallurgy arises here in these burning lands; the surprise is that the growing Smithing skills of the Gorno find ways to cool and use this equipment in their own scorching environs.

>Expertise: Daru: Masonry
Stone beings that eat other rocks and minerals, it is perhaps unsurprising that the craft of stonemasonry is also rapidly adopted by the Gorno of the city; to allow them to carefully excavate their food, and to put together again any structure or rock formation left as rubble by their activities. And also to allow them to build the Heavier duty structures that are required to support their own considerable rocky weights.
>>
>>6457916

>Primary Action 1:
Half Giants inhabit City 13

>Primary Action 2:
Half Giants inhabit Perpetua

>Lore Action:
Name city 5 to Evalla
>>
>>6457916
>Name City 7 Riismiichi
>Expertise:Medicine
Aches and pains? There's a root for that! Bleeding bowels? Try some powder! Broken heart? Sorry, can't fix that, but how about a stiff drink and a few dances? Born from the forest, the Kiiztaani know all too well what potions and poultices one can make to alleviate an ailment... and what better healer is there than Mother Nature herself? While some come to Riismiichi for pleasure, others come for treatment. Word spreads that if one can brave the untamed wilds, they can find a cure for almost any malady...
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>>6457916
>Inhabit a City
>To Rival of a city of shadows, thusly a city of shimmering. The Moonlight Elves bask in the snowfields that reflect light upwards for an ethereal visage in Felicity (City 2)
>Lore - The Shimmering Kin
The Ilune of Felicity prescribe to the belief they came from moonlight, shimmering off of the icy wastes and billowing snowstorms, on the longest night of the arctic city. Their skin is paler, almost white with subtle tones of hypothermia blue or frost-nipped pink beneath the skin, than their contemporaries further south/east. Appearing regal and impassive on the surface at first glance, they willfully express their emotions and thoughts through great acts of stageplay and theatric presentations, in everyday interactions. Often putting those unfamiliar with their 'eccentricities' on the backfoot.

>Expertise
>Felicity gains the technology of Fine Artisanship
Beautifully stained glass, finely woven tapestries, well carved wooden or ice insets, resplendent architectural styles. Felicity is also known as the City of Lights, for its numerous uses of glass to emphasize not only the internal lighting, but also the reflective qualities of the vast snowfields around it. Accented by imported dyes used to color windows and long flowing tapestries, it stands in stark contrast to the white landscape and pitch night skies.
While not as imposing as the Towerbuilder's works of [City 6], or as durable as the stone city of Daru, the craftsmanship of the city is second to none, enrapturing the eyes of all who gaze upon it.
>>
>>6457916
>(One of These) A Legend of Humans - Born of Air.
It is on one of these days, that the One Who Creates Humans wandered upon the world. Bearing witness of all that shall transpired, that One knew that humans must be so. Yet, of all that stood upon the land, that One found none in their image. The Aryans, whose steps shook the Earth, their face beared no kindness, and the Ashur, whose limbs reached for the Stars,
their face was no face at all. Of those whose faiths are smaller, that One's spindly hands took to look closer, and yet when that One grasped, nothing but the Dew was left.

So that One Who Creates Humans, frustrated and took a deep Breath, and that One realized. What else made those images? Light is a lie, for it cannot be grasped, yet that One saw the humans most clearly.

Knowing of whose lineage the humans were, humans were birthed. That One Who Creates Humans beared witness no more.

>(One's Contribution) City 12 gains the Expertise Traintaming.

Upon these lands, trains are a natural phenomena. It is like flying, or swimming, or burrowing. There is a tendency for mass to simply congregate into a chain of connected cars, and for the Earth beneath them to shape itself in such a way as to manifest self-locomotion upon the chain, allowing the creation of a train through completely natural processes. The vast majority of trains are, ofcourse, created by the rebellion of Metals birthed and imprisoned by the Earth, when the quantities of spawned ores reach a sufficient amount to overwhelm the Earth with the dream of motion.

To tame these trains is to recreate the accord that a majority of the Wilds has with the phenomena. Railbarons of all kinds naturally occurs for any animal with enough brainpower to listen to what the trains wants, and enough sense to know that these things will kill you of you don't have a healthy dose of fear and respect for it. Having the capacity to communicate with trains, the Railbaron serves to alert the local community of an incoming train, and to make deals with the trains, stopping it to suggest better routes, carving aesthetic symbols on its cars and tracks, or offering it with some meat whenever it gets the craving.

The easiest way for a sapient species to replicate this relationship is to murder the wild Railbaron and incorporate them within their attire as a pelt. The trains could not perceive the separation of the Railbaron's life and the sapient's, and will treat the hunter like it treated the baron.

>(One's Contribution) Humans arrive to City 12.
Ofcourse, because humans created all cities, it obviously rules over the trains that connects every city on the map as well. Nevermind that the humans arrived to the Tenth City on trains.

For the moment, the humans casts a jealous gaze to the south. In their cold nights, they would think, how dare they! To have heat while we must work for it. They shall pay for this injustice!
>>
> TURN THREE ENDS

All events have been recorded. Again, apologies for the slow turn around, my time management skills are quite shit. Let me know if I've missed anything. No time for the map today I'm afraid.

> 8 Cities have no name
> 51/65 City Population Slots Remain
> 59/65 City Expertise Slots Remain

TURN FOUR BEGINS
>>
> Inhabit city 10 with Quan
> Inhabit city 8 with Alnaas
> Lore
On the frozen island of the south the Wretched continued to grow in peace. As time went on, it began to live up the rumors that originally drew Wretched to it. The Wretched who had faced the worst persecution during their lives began to wonder why none of the other races had come to purge them. Most simply concluded the island's isolated nature and lack of resources made it pointless to attack. But some who had noticed tales of the city seemed to only ever spread from other Wretched began to suspect the island was cursed to be forgotten by all, even the great Scribe Of Providence, and only their body’s twisted nature let them perceive it, though most dismissed this as mere superstition. Regardless, the city earned the name Ill Haven. (ill not LLL or iii)
>>
>>6463626
>Primary action 1 Inhabit city Evalla/Ill Haven with half giants
>Primary Action 2 Ill Haven/Evalla Seafaring
According to legend the first giants, the fomorians, built the great city Evalla upon the first island when they rose from the seas. While most giants of the modern age dismiss this as mere legend claiming no true giant race would ever reject nature's gifts by building a city it is not uncommon for half giants to seek out their mythical ancestral home. While most are lost to the leviathans that inhabit the frigid waters a rare few find themselves on Ill Haven’s shore. While none have found the true city they sought, those that tolerate the wretches can at least say they found a home.
>>
>>6463639
Action 2 was supposed to say expertise seafaring
>>
>>6463626
>Inhabit a City
>Quan inhabit Go'Ger'Goran [City 11]
Raiders, pillagers, gruff and hard to put down. The open plains make for a great and mighty staging ground for the rough rider Quan to travel and sack the neighboring cities for food, coin, and plunder.
Their proximity to Cities 3, 12, and 10 (and Felicity when they can cross the mountains) straight from the super highways of the continent, have made them contentious with all of their neighbors, their histories occilating between open combat with the inhabitants of Go'Ger'Goran, paying them off to raid their rivals, or even engaging in mercantile trade when a particularly amicable chief was in charge of the warband.

>Expertise
>Go'Ger'Goran gains Technology of Experienced Animal Riders
Though many blame the long stretches of roads and rails that lead the Go'Ger'Goran to their cities for making the trip easier for the raiders, in actuality it was the Rough Rider Quan that first carved out these paths and stomped down the grasses and soil with hoof and shovel. Their mastery of beasts and subsequent riding of them enabled wide reaches of the world to be visited and connected and exchanged far sooner than other more isolated communities would ever come to know.

>Rough Riders of Go'Ger'Goran and their masks
While the Quan of Go'Ger'Goran care even less for the person-hood they may or may not posses to the more humanoid and facially possessing races than the typical Quan or insular one, they do greatly enjoy the fear and terror that crosses their faces as they ride up to their doorstep. As such, the Rough Rider Quan population have adopted a culture of decorating their masks in great grissly displays to invoke terrible animals or supernatural horrors.
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>>6463626
>[One of the Following] Inhabit a City - Human, Daru.

They saw the smoky pillars rising far south, and thought then, that must be where the Sun is.

>[One's Contribution] Murder the Smiths

Ofcourse, they were not pleased when the Sun was not in the previous city, and having spent their lives in fairer climes, the sheer heat emanating of Daru and the land it commands enflamed the humans ever further. Having short patience and tall passions, they were convinced that the Sun must be here.

So it was, like any other day, that Murder came upon the walls of Daru. (He was attired by a raiment of snow and shrouded by the scales of a great reptile, and at his beckoning, the mighty train who was known as Ten Cars stopped and roared in smoke, and within were his legions awaiting.)

Yet, the Smiths was wise, for they listened as the Architects howled their rattles, and knew Humans came for Murder. So when Murder and his legions disembarked and demanded, in their Quest for the Sun, to enter Daru and exchange their wealth for Daru's craft in pursuit of that, and the Smith knew better than to listen. Murder pleaded and begged and screamed and howled, and the Smiths did not listen. Then his legions joined, and they banged on empty bowls and bleached skulls and roared and wailed to be let in so that they may serve the Sun, and the Smiths retreated deeper beyond cacophony.

Ten Cars then came from elsewhere (it was bored of the waiting), and it was hungry. So Murder told it, and it rammed through the architecture of Daru, made to fall and molested into tracks, until it found the Smiths, and it ate meat and blood, and Murder and his cohorts joined it in this.

Having imbued metal with a purpose far beyond the Smiths, the humans would claim that they are the true wielders of metal, and the holder of its myriad meanings.

>[One of the Following] Expertise - Shackles of Steel, Daru

The Humans would come to the remaining Smiths, and having tasted their meat and blood, knew their natures deeply. So they said to them, with their fangs and claws bared ready to strike,

>"You who seek artifice most deeply, you do not know what you work."
>"We who know better will tell you what to shape, and you will obey."
>"Metal tempered deeper, and made as collars for you and your kine."
>"You shall do this, because you will obey."

The Smiths chose without choosing, and so was Daru known as the land where these Shackles that Controlled were made. It is a simple trick, for when iron becomes steel, there is a moment when iron does not know that it is iron, and neither does it know that it is steel, for fire burns and cleanses all, and steel is this but for iron, so that.. when you whisper to the thing, "You are this and you must obey.", it has no choice but to listen. Metal contains purpose, so when one wears the final craft made of such steel, they cannot help but think "You are this and you must obey." for there is no difference now between they and the craft.
>>
>>6463626
>ACTION: Inhabit CITY 6 with Kiiztaani
>ACTION 2: Name CITY 6 Miestao: Brightwater
>>
>>6463626

>Flame's Contribution: Burning of Murder

When Murder came to Daru, we laughed. For what were these creatures that came to us with evil hearts? Weak things, meat things; lacking of the strength and solidity of stone. Intolerant of the city of heat, they nonetheless tried, oh, how they tried! But such mistaken fools they were! So flimsy were their own hovels, they mistook the solid stone of the Gorno for being so easily breakable. More lava from outside the walls was directed into the city through the trench from the firelands, rising the temperature higher and higher still. Each train crashed into became a train lost; until their reserves were spent against unyielding stone. Each jaw that bit broke against crag of steel and mason. And without the shelter of the carriages to protect their skin, the Murder-Men broiled alive in the city's heat. Such burning of the Invader-Men! The city, too hot for creatures of the flesh, lay now purely as domain of rock beings.

>Expertise: The Heathguard of Daru

>"We who artifice deeply, we know what we make.
>"We make the tools and craft we will to make, and refuse your demand of servitude."
>"Metal so wrought shall serve only our purpose, and never serve to bind us."
>"But so bound in the Steel of our Forge, we never shall be slaves to evil."

The smiths had only one choice, and it was no choice at all. And so Daru was known as the land where the shackles of control were broken. From steel and the forge came implacable armour plate to cover sturdy stone bodies and heavy Hammer to wield; lifted to break those evil hearts and minds. Such shackles made to bind us found their mark only on the throats of those who attempted to oppress our craft and our lives.

And forevermore and after, the Gorno of the Hearthguard would stand vigilant against wicked hearts and evil minds, breaking evil apart to re-shape it.

>Inhabit a City: Gorno to City 10

In shackles of steel, we bound those who would use them upon us. Scarred and scorched by their trips through the land of fire, we drove the wicked back in chains whence they had come to us from. The hearthguard at our head, we descended upon the wicked of the city with the fury of rightful vengeance, uplifting the Quan to rulers of he city and casting down the 'Humans' who sought only slaves.
>>
> Name a City: Name City 4 ‘Clikclak’
> Expertise (Tatik): Tinkering
> Expertise (Tatik): Trinketry

Inherently wiry and thin as a Tatik’s appendages generally are, it is no particular surprise that the craftsman traditions of larger, more powerfully built peoples, such as the Gorno and Towerbuilders, far surpass their smaller insectoid counterparts in scale and durability, the strength of their arms allowing them to far more easily temper metal and carve great blocks of stone. Thus, the Tatik make use of their own unique strengths, and instead scale down. While great works of metalwork and masonry might be beyond them, smaller, more delicate pieces allow them to most effectively utilize their exceptional auditory and tactile senses, and countless gears, springs, and other fantastically small mechanisms are carefully shaped, interlocked, and brought to life, ticking and clicking against one another in calm, consistent metronomes that both the Tatik and potential customers from other races find pleasing to the ear. Some of these pieces serve a purpose, such as keeping track of the time, while others are little more than marvellously complex Rube Goldberg Machines, made only to please the ear with their orchestra of mechanisms and the hand with their smooth, carefully sealed finish. Though the earliest of these devices have…some difficulty finding the right owner, given the unique aesthetic sense of race of completely blind insectoids, as they adapt to the market a unique niche is eventually found as collector’s pieces and home decorations, especially given the value their inherent scarcity lends them.

(I’ll get my lore post done after work, with any luck.)
>>
> TURN FOUR ENDS

All events have been recorded.

On time, and an updated map? Craziness.

City 3 is the only totally untouched city.

> 5 Cities have no name
> 44/65 City Population Slots Remain
> 53/65 City Expertise Slots Remain

TURN FIVE BEGINS
>>
Reposting the link to the wiki so people don't have to dig for it.

https://worldforge.me/wiki?worldId=6a8648ccb62301a3dafbb2eb
>>
>>6466621
>(One of the Following) Expertise - Eternal Midday, Evalla / I'll Have

The Sun hid in Evalla, ofcourse. There, does all forget, and there, the Sun always shone upon its skies. Light would always shine, and great rainbows danced in the sky, and plants would grow to gigantic proportions. Its generosity flowed without stop.

>(One of the Following) Inhabit a City - Humans, Evalla / I'll Have
>(One's Contribution) Last and Final Conquest of the Empire Blessed by Earth

Yet, the Airyas was disturbed. Their behemoths of ice and wood and bone would not be tolerated further upon the mainland. So was the Empire angered, that Murder was roused from sleep, and he, in his stout and worldbearing visage, would command the great steel serpents to slither west in a turning of the moon, with the guardians of his heart embarked.

Yet, his wrath grew further, when he saw the Sun shining from the other shore, and knew then where it was. Impatience festered within him, and so he lifted one of the serpents unto his shoulders, and jumped unto the isle. He roared then, his rage flared upon the airs.

>"You, who are of Ariana's get, what right do you have upon the Sun?"
>"You, who are Fomor's legacy, what pride do you bear to shake the Earth?"
>"You, who dared to disturb me, you dare forsake yourself?"

So did Murder spoke, and for these are words upon the wind, so then was Evalla ravaged by Humans, who appeared from thin air. Sufficiently reduced of resistance, Murder would march into the City's depths, and his serpent with him.
>>
>>6466621
Fuck it we ball
>Kiiztaani settle in City 3
>Name City 3: Hightop
We're going to get the resorts popping up
>>
>>6466621
>Action 1
Rename City 13 to Abbican

>Action 2
City 13 Specialty - Healing Magic

>Lore Action
The founding of Abbican occurred when nomads encountered a reservoir deep underground whose waters had astonishing restorative properties. Word spread of a reservoir that could supposedly "heal any ailment", and people from far and wide began to travel to the miraculous location. The boom in foot traffic combined with many of the nomads choosing to become sedentary led to the creation of a settlement that grew and grew. All these years later, Abbican is now a fully fledged city state, with magi who are masters of medicine and life magic. This specialization was born from those who had studied the healing waters in the distant past and tried to replicate its properties. Their research was never successful, but many breakthroughs were still made thanks to having such a large number of experts spending their lives in close proximity to each other.
Nowadays, the original reservoir is heavily depleted, and the government of the city keeps it tightly regulated. They utilize the practice of taking minuscule amounts and adding the droplets to massive kegs of water; diluting the potency but multiplying the quantity. These potions are reserved only for what the magi cannot handle with their sorcery.
There had been ancient murals on the walls of the reservoir when it was discovered, although by now those cave paintings are all but faded away.
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>>6466621

>A Traveller's Guide: The Lands of Fire
Between the mountains and between the northern grasslands and southern jungle, the region of the lands of fire stretches coast to coast. A molten furnace of shifting lava flows beset by tremors that rises high above the level of the surrounding sea and higher with each day and each new eruption, this land is inhabited by creatures that are more mineral then flesh, and thus can tolerate the natural furnace temperatures. Some are simple walking creatures that are little more then piles of rocks torn up and granted motion, whilst others take more complex forms such as rock serpents, craggy horned quadrupeds and limbed geodes... as well as the Gorno, the peoples of this land who are variously said to have birthed it, or been birthed from it. Across the lands themselves, the Gorno are mostly nomadic as the shifting Lava flows make even their rugged settlements impermeant things; but more solid settlements are built for themselves in the Mountains and carved into the bedrocks of the Volcanos that bring the lands of fire their heat. Indeed, there are some who say it is the constant mining activity of Gorno in the molten heart of the Volcanoes that keeps these ancient mountains in the state of eruption that has made these lands so hot and deadly.

>Action One: The Biggest Brother (More Gorno to Daru)
That Daru was nearly lost to us is a heavy weight; but in times of trouble a family comes together. And the Biggest Brother, that he himself has come with the crowds of new faces to Daru to aid and to lead brings much cheer to all Gorno!

Action Two: Gorno Wander (Gorno to City 8)
North of Daru are the lands of Fire, but what lies to the south? Some Gorno wander further, finding a city that lies upon the edge of the land beyond two stilled mountains. Who lurks here? We say our hellos, sniff the strange spices, and listen to the music of the jungle.



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