Adventures in Edassa Information Thread (RP Ongoing!)

[Jo and the Bush all/any]

What about declawing? And what about those little pet jackets they sell?

[Voidus]

What about declawing? And what about those little pet jackets they sell?

We could get him a little circlet. 

[Kobold King he/him]

What about declawing? And what about those little pet jackets they sell?

 

Declawing...?!? Who knows what kind of unsavory scum I might have to scratch in this RP! My claws, talons, fangs, or possibly tentacles will remain untouched, thank you very much. 

 

Not if it's something pink and frilly. If I can get a badchull pet trenchcoat, however... then we'll talk.

[Voidus]

Declawing...?!? Who knows what kind of unsavory scum I might have to scratch in this RP! My claws, talons, fangs, or possibly tentacles will remain untouched, thank you very much. 

 

Not if it's something pink and frilly. If I can get a badchull pet trenchcoat, however... then we'll talk.

Not even if it's pink sunglasses?

I should also point out that I'll be very disappointed if no one RPs a familiar pony.

[Mailliw73 he/him]

I'm in love with non-human characters, especially the ones with radically non-human minds and ways of looking at the world.

 

Would a familiar of an animal-like appearance possess the same quirks and general personality as a wholly biological animal of the same kind? For instance, would a cat-like familiar enjoy hunting and cleaning itself, or would a crocodile-like familiar enjoy wallowing in cool water or basking in the sun?

 

I guess I'm open for adoption.

Well, if Voidus hadn't claimed you, I'd be open to it, but I'm actually more interested in Mages. Speaking of, I've been meaning to ask, Seonid, how exactly does II-b Magic work? In your example with that battle Mage sticking his hand in the dirt and severing the bonds to create a fireball, how does he do that? Is it just willpower?

Did any of those three characters have magic in this story?

[Kobold King he/him]

Not even if it's pink sunglasses?

I should also point out that I'll be very disappointed if no one RPs a familiar pony.

 

How about a griffon?

 

[Voidus]

How about a griffon?

 

I do like Griffins, but how will we give him his purple sunglasses and circlet? Unless there's a griffin creator somewhere 

[Seonid he/him]

Ok, I've gone over everything 

Some questions though...

Should I announce a "character template" before the game begins? and if I do, what are my options? (I understand the game will take place in a bordering Medieval/fantasy theme- is our role in the story to influence and change the world around us (for the better, I assume :3) or to interact with it- and explore?)

What is your stance on Chronomancy? (Time manipulation magic) I understand you have a magical system in play, would that branch of magick be applicable? (And more importantly, possible to use in a RP perspective?)

And finally, I see there are a lot of "Factions"- is being aligned with one obligatory, or necessary? I understand magic is strongly tied with "Religion", will being apart from "Religous Factions" stint magical capabilities, and if so- are there other ways of gaining Magicks?

Thanks for allowing me to join in ^-^ I look forward to playing :3

 

These are all good questions. I'm still working on a character template. A good, basic one might be:

 

Name:

 

Physical Description: (age, skin/eye/hair color, gender, approximate height/weight)

 

History/Bio: (country of origin would be good here, too, except I haven't gotten the country/culture worldbuilding info posted. Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.)

 

Religion/Belief System (if any):

 

Magic User (Y/N): (Include type of magic here. Try to avoid people above Class I for now.)

 

If you are confused, curious, or have questions about your character's backstory, station/position in society, etc, feel free to post them here in the thread or PM me. The more questions, the better, in fact.

 

 

Our role in this RP is to interact with the world to the fullest extent possible. There is very little at this point that is set in stone (even future events). The only outcome I have in mind is that the Menkoran Patriarchate successfully splinters off of the Church of the Martyr, and that Menkor remains a stable and powerful nation. There are no plot-protected characters (yet), there is no predetermined outcome (even the success of the Patriarchate could include a period of the Inquisition controlling the city, trying to stamp it out), and there is no set storyline. In a large measure, this is a discovery writing exercise for me, but in RP form.

 

I've decided that this will be a very free-form RP. I'd like it to play out in a similar manner to the Oregon RP (in terms of how that one runs, not necessarily in other senses, even though I expect the ponies to fully infiltrate and dominate this thread well before it even starts.) In other words, the story will arise in large part out of the interactions between characters. (Including my own).

 

 

With regards to time manipulation magic, that's a good question. There are two canon instances of time manipulation (both outside of the time frame of our chosen RP period), one with magic and the other with technology. Backwards time travel is strictly out (even though the FTL system that will eventually come into being is based on wormholes. Yes, I'm still trying to work the physics of that one out. No, it isn't working well yet. Hopefully my General Relativity course next semester will help me towards that). Forward time travel is possible, but with no way back.

 

However, time dilation (or the opposite), precognition/prescience, and stasis are within the realm of possibility. Let me know what you have in mind, and I can give you a better idea of if it would work.

 

 

With regards to religion, being a part of one isn't necessary. In this society, at this time, full blown atheism is vanishingly rare, but there do exist some skeptics (quietly, lest the Inquisition find them). And not all religions are organized, with priests and temples. The Church of the Martyr and the Court of the Gods both have had (in the recent past!) periods of "Convert or die." The Church is in one right now, as the power of the Inquisition rises towards its apex. As a result, most of the natives in the area have converted nominally, at least, to one or the other. Foreigners have a wide variety of belief systems, and are mostly tolerated, as long as they aren't too outspoken with it. Many of these systems are primitive and unsophisticated, without organization or structure, except for recognizing shamans as loci of spiritual power.

 

I guess the upshot is that if you wanted to play an atheist or a skeptic character, I could squeeze one in. There's enough room for that. But the Zeitgeist of the age is against it. Most people still see the world in terms of natural and supernatural during this time period.

 

On the other hand, if you are just talking about not being aligned with one of the major organized churches, that's much easier. There are quite a few belief systems not aligned with any of those. Some are polytheistic, some are shamanistic, etc. I guess my big point is that everybody has a belief system of some sort that attempts to make sense of the world around it, and given the timeframe of this world, most of those belief systems are going to be coming out looking suspiciously like a religious belief system. (Why yes, Religious Studies - not Theology, but Religious Studies - is my second major course of study at University. The first, if anyone was curious, is Physics.)

 

 

About magic and religion - magic is associated with religion, and not coincidentally. However, magic is not exclusive to religion. There are plenty of magical practitioners outside the ranks of Church or Court (or other organization). Well, plenty as in a reasonable fraction of the 1 in 10,000 who have the magic gene in the first place. They may not have as excellent training available, but there is no barrier between them and the magic just because they don't belong to a major religion.

 

Gaining magics is a matter of having the genes (or having attracted a god's attention). Learning how to use your innate magic requires training, however, which is almost exclusively the province of religious orders. But, there could be some former priests living out in the countryside or up in the mountains who might train a young magic user without the rigor and theological requirements of the Church/Tribunal.

 

 

I'm in love with non-human characters, especially the ones with radically non-human minds and ways of looking at the world.

 

Would a familiar of an animal-like appearance possess the same quirks and general personality as a wholly biological animal of the same kind? For instance, would a cat-like familiar enjoy hunting and cleaning itself, or would a crocodile-like familiar enjoy wallowing in cool water or basking in the sun?

 

I guess I'm open for adoption.

 

This question goes into the box labelled "Details about spirits and interaction with the Material Realm." That's a section that needs to come out soon. The quick answer is "Probably yes, but I have to think about it and make sure the interactions work right." The long answer might come over the weekend. Unless I decide to actually sit down and write my physics lab on ultrasonics. Who knows, maybe I can get both in. A general point to remember is that the familiar spirits don't actually have a Material form. So if one shows up as a cat, it's because it wanted to, and thus it would probably adopt the mannerisms. But, like I said, there's a lot of related stuff I'm thinking about and trying to get into a cohesive whole.

 

But I'm quite excited about your playing a familiar spirit character. That will be just cool.

 

 

Well, if Voidus hadn't claimed you, I'd be open to it, but I'm actually more interested in Mages. Speaking of, I've been meaning to ask, Seonid, how exactly does II-b Magic work? In your example with that battle Mage sticking his hand in the dirt and severing the bonds to create a fireball, how does he do that? Is it just willpower?

Did any of those three characters have magic in this story?

 

What we might call willpower is the major component of all magic. The power that lets a mage use his mind as a lever to facilitate the transfer of energy is the same power that lets a sorcerer hold nearly completed magical strictures in his head while maintaining their efficacy.

 

On the other topic, Samhain Seonid had Type I magic. Like most Type I power, it was only able to be used in certain ways, dictated when the being gave the investment (or endowment) of power, and was associated with a specific moral code that, if broken, would render the gift of power inaccessible. Seonid's endowment of power gave him significant resistance to magic used against him, along with the ability to try to negate power used against others. Also, he gained an atium-like precognition that made him nearly unstoppable in single combat. He was naturally skilled with the sword to begin with, and added years of training at the Academy of War to that skill. He preferred a long, curved, single edged weapon that we would recognize as being related to the katana. This was an exotic weapon for his place and time, but his uncle had traded in weapons as a younger man, and had some exotic stuff on hand. This specific sword was a gift for his graduation. Later, he recovered the shards of the Blade of Ash-Kelir, and was instrumental in having it reforged.

 

The other two characters had no magic.

Edited November 13, 2014 by Seonid

[Kobold King he/him]

This question goes into the box labelled "Details about spirits and interaction with the Material Realm." That's a section that needs to come out soon. The quick answer is "Probably yes, but I have to think about it and make sure the interactions work right." The long answer might come over the weekend. Unless I decide to actually sit down and write my physics lab on ultrasonics. Who knows, maybe I can get both in. A general point to remember is that the familiar spirits don't actually have a Material form. So if one shows up as a cat, it's because it wanted to, and thus it would probably adopt the mannerisms. But, like I said, there's a lot of related stuff I'm thinking about and trying to get into a cohesive whole.

 

But I'm quite excited about your playing a familiar spirit character. That will be just cool.

 

I'm looking forward to learning all the details!

 

One question that is especially important to me: where do most familiar spirits come from? Are they spirits that coalesce in the Spiritual Realm, unbound to any body at any point in their lives? Is it possible for a familiar to be the spirit of a deceased animal?

[BreathTaker he/him]

If anyone is interested in being just a familiar, I need a Wolf or Raven... I've been on an Odin kick lately. 

[Jo and the Bush all/any]

Well, I'm planning on following this RP, but I don't want to get to heavily involved with an actual Character. So i'd be glad to be either a Raven or a Wolf for you.

[BreathTaker he/him]

Sweet, I'm thinking more Wolf right now since I'm going to have a bunch of squires. Two of the Squires will be wearing red tabards with ravens embroidered on to them. They will essentially be Huginn and Muninn and work as my "scout leaders" *ahem* spymasters

[Unodus he/him]

These are all good questions. I'm still working on a character template. A good, basic one might be:

 

Name:

 

Physical Description:

History/Bio:

Religion/Belief System (if any):

Magic User (Y/N):

If you are confused, curious, or have questions about your character's backstory, station/position in society, etc, feel free to post them here in the thread or PM me. The more questions, the better, in fact.

 

 

Our role in this RP is to interact with the world to the fullest extent possible. There is very little at this point that is set in stone (even future events). The only outcome I have in mind is that the Menkoran Patriarchate successfully splinters off of the Church of the Martyr, and that Menkor remains a stable and powerful nation. There are no plot-protected characters (yet), there is no predetermined outcome (even the success of the Patriarchate could include a period of the Inquisition controlling the city, trying to stamp it out), and there is no set storyline. In a large measure, this is a discovery writing exercise for me, but in RP form.

 

I've decided that this will be a very free-form RP. I'd like it to play out in a similar manner to the Oregon RP (in terms of how that one runs, not necessarily in other senses, even though I expect the ponies to fully infiltrate and dominate this thread well before it even starts.) In other words, the story will arise in large part out of the interactions between characters. (Including my own).

 

 

With regards to time manipulation magic, that's a good question. There are two canon instances of time manipulation (both outside of the time frame of our chosen RP period), one with magic and the other with technology. Backwards time travel is strictly out (even though the FTL system that will eventually come into being is based on wormholes. Yes, I'm still trying to work the physics of that one out. No, it isn't working well yet. Hopefully my General Relativity course next semester will help me towards that). Forward time travel is possible, but with no way back.

 

However, time dilation (or the opposite), precognition/prescience, and stasis are within the realm of possibility. Let me know what you have in mind, and I can give you a better idea of if it would work.

 

 

With regards to religion, being a part of one isn't necessary. In this society, at this time, full blown atheism is vanishingly rare, but there do exist some skeptics (quietly, lest the Inquisition find them). And not all religions are organized, with priests and temples. The Church of the Martyr and the Court of the Gods both have had (in the recent past!) periods of "Convert or die." The Church is in one right now, as the power of the Inquisition rises towards its apex. As a result, most of the natives in the area have converted nominally, at least, to one or the other. Foreigners have a wide variety of belief systems, and are mostly tolerated, as long as they aren't too outspoken with it. Many of these systems are primitive and unsophisticated, without organization or structure, except for recognizing shamans as loci of spiritual power.

 

I guess the upshot is that if you wanted to play an atheist or a skeptic character, I could squeeze one in. There's enough room for that. But the Zeitgeist of the age is against it. Most people still see the world in terms of natural and supernatural during this time period.

 

On the other hand, if you are just talking about not being aligned with one of the major organized churches, that's much easier. There are quite a few belief systems not aligned with any of those. Some are polytheistic, some are shamanistic, etc. I guess my big point is that everybody has a belief system of some sort that attempts to make sense of the world around it, and given the timeframe of this world, most of those belief systems are going to be coming out looking suspiciously like a religious belief system. (Why yes, Religious Studies - not Theology, but Religious Studies - is my second major course of study at University. The first, if anyone was curious, is Physics.)

 

 

About magic and religion - magic is associated with religion, and not coincidentally. However, magic is not exclusive to religion. There are plenty of magical practitioners outside the ranks of Church or Court (or other organization). Well, plenty as in a reasonable fraction of the 1 in 10,000 who have the magic gene in the first place. They may not have as excellent training available, but there is no barrier between them and the magic just because they don't belong to a major religion.

 

Gaining magics is a matter of having the genes (or having attracted a god's attention). Learning how to use your innate magic requires training, however, which is almost exclusively the province of religious orders. But, there could be some former priests living out in the countryside or up in the mountains who might train a young magic user without the rigor and theological requirements of the Church/Tribunal.

 

 

 

Ok, I have a general concept applicable to the template provided- but its not finished...

Since the RP will revolve around our impact on it- is it necessary to start our character with a lot of influence (politically, etc) to start with? Or can we start our character with no ties?

Chronomancywise, I might be able to lend a hand- if you're looking for logical explanations. Anyway, dilation, precognition/prescience, and stasis is good enough for me :3

I'm all for having a "religion", just not too keen about having to follow other peoples orders

There must be some quiet belief system without hierarchy, etc- and most importantly, not tied with "religious" conflicts (in which I can already see there will probably be a lot of.. :3). Even if it means getting hunted or looked down on by larger religions, I'd rather that than making myself someone else's servant. In a perfect scenario, I would like to remain impartial religouswise- and not get involved, but as this game seems to revolve around Gods a lot, that might not be possible.. (Would it be possible to be a founder of a religion? :3)

Finally... How would one "gather a gods attention"? Through "prayer" (or something), I assume? And what kind of magic are we talking about? Throwing fireballs and stuff?

Thanks in advance ^-^

[Seonid he/him]

I'm looking forward to learning all the details!

 

One question that is especially important to me: where do most familiar spirits come from? Are they spirits that coalesce in the Spiritual Realm, unbound to any body at any point in their lives? Is it possible for a familiar to be the spirit of a deceased animal?

 

And here I thought that the cosmology and history of the universe was something that nobody would be interested in.

 

I don't have enough time right now, but I think that I can manage a post in this direction later tonight (past midnight-ish, Mountain Standard time). If not, then tomorrow will bring a post with it.

 

 

Sweet, I'm thinking more Wolf right now since I'm going to have a bunch of squires. Two of the Squires will be wearing red tabards with ravens embroidered on to them. They will essentially be Huginn and Muninn and work as my "scout leaders" *ahem* spymasters

 

Odin sounds fun. When I get some time, I'll post information about the Svalding mercenaries, who have a striking resemblance to Vikings...

 

 

Ok, I have a general concept applicable to the template provided- but its not finished...

Since the RP will revolve around our impact on it- is it necessary to start our character with a lot of influence (politically, etc) to start with? Or can we start our character with no ties?

Chronomancywise, I might be able to lend a hand- if you're looking for logical explanations. Anyway, dilation, precognition/prescience, and stasis is good enough for me :3

I'm all for having a "religion", just not too keen about having to follow other peoples orders

There must be some quiet belief system without hierarchy, etc- and most importantly, not tied with "religious" conflicts (in which I can already see there will probably be a lot of.. :3). Even if it means getting hunted or looked down on by larger religions, I'd rather that than making myself someone else's servant. In a perfect scenario, I would like to remain impartial religouswise- and not get involved, but as this game seems to revolve around Gods a lot, that might not be possible.. (Would it be possible to be a founder of a religion? :3)

Finally... How would one "gather a gods attention"? Through "prayer" (or something), I assume? And what kind of magic are we talking about? Throwing fireballs and stuff?

Thanks in advance ^-^

 

You are free to make a character with whatever level of influence you are interested in. If we need characters that others don't create, I can always make NPC's.

 

Right now, I'm working through the physics of time-affecting magic. And the philosophical implications of precognition. (The whole free will debate). You'll probably see my take on that in the near future.

 

With regards to religion - there are several tribal belief systems that match what you are looking for. Most of them are imported by mercenaries, but they exist. (There aren't any native followers of them, but foreigners are not compelled to abandon their beliefs). The only spiritual authorities that those recognize are shamans, and even then, they are more like troubleshooters instead of leaders. You might go to a shaman for advice on a war, or if you have been cursed, or if you need a charm for something or the other. But they'd get only the deference due to an expert in a subject, rather than a religious authority. They definitely wouldn't be making imperative demands on your life. Mainly, actually, these belief systems use the shaman as an interface with the spiritual world so that the rest of the tribe/village can get on with their lives without worrying about it.

 

That whole set of beliefs would also give you the advantage of not having to pick sides.

 

Getting a god's attention takes a little more than prayer, most of the time. It honestly depends on the god and the time period and the situation. That will come in a future post. 

 

The magic we are talking about ranges from illusion to fireballs to weather manipulation to constructing bodies and binding spirits into them to creating whole mindworlds in the Outer Realms, complete with ecosystems and inhabitants. Some things can't be done, but most of those need a little bit of thinking through on my part. The magic is wildly variable, but poorly understood by the people who live in Edassa.

[Seonid he/him]

Can my character be a VII entity?

 

Umm...not in this RP. I am planning eventually to do a spinoff set in the Outer Realms, where we play higher-order beings (although I'm not sure that Class VII will be a playable option, but I may change my mind). For this one, though, I'm restricting player to mortals of Class I.

 

 

And for Kobold (and anyone else who is interested), here is where spirits come from. This is a deliberate allusion to Genesis, just for fun. I'm casting this, as best I can, into the language of a religious text, which seems to me to be the best way to write a creation myth. The CliffNotes version follows the spoiler tag.

 

Cosmological History

In the beginning was the Chaos, and it was without form and void.

 

Then came the All-Father to that Chaos, which did once exist, and does now exist, and will ever exist, beyond time and eternity from world to world to world. And the All-Father said "Be," and the Realms of Being were. And place and time came into being with them, and the intelligences that were in the Void, which are, and ever were, and ever will be, awoke in time and were. And the All-Father spake unto them, saying, "It is in my will to endow thee with my own power, that we may be tied together forever. And though the Realms of Being fail and the eternity itself come to naught, yet will thy awareness never cease and thy being be ever present against the power of the Void."

 

Then said a mighty one to the All-Father, "Thou shalt take those who will, and make of them what thou wilt make of them. But as for me, I am as I am now, and I will be as I will be." And the All-Father said, "As thou hast willed, so shall it be." For the will of the uncreated is inviolable, and not all the counsels of the wise nor all the strength of the mighty can overpower it. And at that day, the mighty one departed, and many followed after him. And they became the Nameless, who have not names, and thereby have no mastery over the Realms of Being. For they have no part with the All-Father, neither with the Unmanifested, nor yet with the Penitent Ones, but are to this day separate and formless, dwelling ever in those parts of the All-Father's Realms that border most closely upon Chaos. For they are still of the Void, and did not partake of the All-Father's gift. And they have no dealings with men, to this day.

 

Then said the two who were greatest among those who remained to the All-Father, "We will accept thy power and thy dominion, and we will make with thee, that the Realms of Being will be filled." And the All-Father said, "I will give to thee names, that thou mayest call upon thy power, and I will grant unto thee my power, that over the Realms I have created thou shalt have mastery." And the one he named Iahel, and the other he called Heylel. And all those that remained did say, "We do accept thy gift, and wilt be of thee and thine throughout all eternity and the ends thereof." And Iahel said, "This day art Thou become a Father to me, and to all of these. And we are now Thy children, and Thou art indeed All-Father, both of things Material and things Spiritual."

 

And the All-Father said, "Let us go down and make of these Realms that which is beautiful, for the uncreated yearns to create. For intelligence is the being of creation, and creation the mindspring of intelligence. And we will draw of that well water both pure and deep, and bring order to the Realms of Being."

 

And Heylel looked upon the Material Realm, and said, "There is matter here, that is without form and void, as even Chaos was in the beginning. Let us therefore take thereof, and craft what we will, that it may be ordered." And the All-Father said. "Thou hast well said. Let us go down and do so, and see what may become." But Iahel said, "Shall we not first make a place where these may dwell? For of the Named Ones near all are not yet able to order the unordered matter, that it will obey them. Shall they therefore be left alone whilst we bring about mighty works?"

 

And the All-Father and Heylel assented to this, and so the Realm of the Named was created, first of the Outer Realms. And in that making, some learned the art of ordering matter by their will, and grew thus in power and stature and dominion. And the All-Father said to Miheil, chief of those that had thus grown. "Wilt thou remain, and order these who are yet as children, that they may grow to power and dominion as thou hast done?" And Miheil said, "I will, though I do not yet know the way." And Iahel said, "I will come and visit thee, and guide thy steps, that the Named Ones may grow as we have done."

 

And the All-Father, and Heylel, and Iahel went down to the Material Realm, and did order the unformed matter. And it did obey their power, for matter has no will, but is determinate in all things from the beginning, except as the will of the uncreated acts thereon. And Heylel was ever enamored of the stars, and wrought mighty works therein, setting them in their places. And he took the name Starmaker as his own. But Iahel did love the formation of worlds, watching closely the All-Father. And he, above all others, did yearn to create mortal life that did grow on its own. And Miheil did, from time to time, come down as well, and his mastery was close behind Iahel's. But Heylel had mastery above all others. And the All-Father did watch closely, and did set in order the things that were ill-done by Iahel and Heylel and all those who entered into the Material Realm to form it.

 

And the All-Father said, "The Named Ones are limited in their growth, for many do not know the way of dominion over the forms of matter. Let us therefore make forms of matter, that they may be bound to it, and so learn mastery. For of such binding is mine own mastery formed, and it is fitting that these should learn to do as I have done. And let these forms be such life as will perpetuate itself, and need not the constant dominion of ourselves to fulfill its nature." And Iahel said, "This one thing have I greatly yearned for, that these worlds which we have made might be inhabited."

 

And the All-Father offered to the Named Ones to do this thing. And many said, "For this thing, we have not desire, for we are content in ourselves with our stations, and do not aspire to be greater than we are." And others, who desired the mastery of matter and the power of creation, said, "A second time we do accept the gift, All-Father. May we indeed make thee proud." But Filrial, one of the Named who had not gained mastery, said, "Although for myself I desire to wear matter as a cloth, I am of no mind to be so bound till eternity fails. Let me, therefore, put on the cloth of the Material Realm and put it off again, as I will." And others cried their assent to this. And the All-Father said, "As you have willed, so will it be done." And such were those who became the souls of that life that has no Reason. And their lives were determinate, having no will, for the bonds that bound them to the Material Realm were weak, and easily overpowered by Instinct. And to the first, the Father also said, "By your will, it shall be so," and they remained the unembodied spirits who do inhabit the world. And at times do they afflict and torment man, and at times do they aid him, as their will takes them.

 

But to the rest, who did accept the second offer of the Gift, he said, "Of you will I make rulers and creators, gods and fathers, that you may one day rise up to be as I am. And of my own power will I endow you, that you may rise to such an height as this." And these became the souls of mortals, who live and die and live on again. And their power was bonded to their form, such that they had not access to it of their own. But the All-Father said, "These mortal forms must die, for thus is the nature of the Material Realm. But I will cause that the mortal form shall come again, and it shall be immortal, and the power thereof and the dominion thereof and the mastery thereof shall be yours forever, and no power shall sunder it from you that it cannot be healed again."

 

And, in course of time, these things came to pass as it had been said. And Heylel looked upon the souls of those who would be mortal, and feared, lest they overpass him in dominion. For he had come to love his mastery, and it rubbed him sore that any should obtain higher than he. And ever did he work away, in silence, to increase his skill and his mastery, lest at any time he should lose it. And he spake unto the All-Father, saying, "It is meet that there should be an overseer set to these mortals, that they may be given tutelage and instruction, lest at any time they should lose their way." And the All-Father said, "Thou hast well said. It was ever in my mind to give them one to watch over them." And Heylel said, "Shall I not do this thing, for I am of the Named Ones the most pre-eminent in mastery and dominion. And I, even I, shall show unto them of my power, that they may learn it."

 

But the All-Father, knowing Heylel's heart, said, "Is it not meet that Iahel shall do it? For he has ever labored with the souls of these who shall be mortal, and they are dear to him. Should I deprive him of the right of aid for this? And furthermore, is it not in thy heart to withhold some of thy power, that thou mayest always be pre-eminent?" Then Heylel in shame turned away and said, "Thy will be done." And Heylel from that day began to work among the souls of those who would be mortals, and he did show them of his power, saying that they might have need of the preparation. And many followed after him, seeking to learn his mastery, for he was still then the greatest among the Named Ones. But ever in his heart was envy of his own dominion, and his help turned ever more to the vaunting of his own power before the lesser spirits.

 

And again, after passage of time came Heylel before the All-Father, and said, "All is now meet to begin. I have labored long, therefore, let me go down as first of mortals, that I might serve them and show them the way of mastery." For he had it in his mind to take upon himself the flesh of a mortal, and so learn that power, that his pre-eminence might ever go unchallenged. Then the All-Father, who saw his heart, how that it was in it to deny to mortals the secrets of the highest mastery, said, "It is not meet that thou shouldst do this, for Miheil the Shining One has been with them long, and has shown unto them many things, and he loves them and they him. It is in my mind that he shall do this, for he shall not hold back the secrets of the mighty, but shall give to them according to his love for them. And as for thee, why dost thou so jealously guard thy mastery as if it were thy life? Knowest thou not that thou shalt take a mortal form too, and thus gaint he secrets of mastery? And if thou wilt, thou mayest be a great teacher to the lesser ones who shall follow after, and have honor and glory above measure in the Realms yet to come."

 

But Heylel was resolved within himself to accept no lesser position, for his pre-eminence had become more dear to him than all else. And the envy of his heart waxed strong and bitter, and anger and hatred grew therefrom. And he did raise rebellion against the All-Father, and against Iahel his steward, and against Miheil the Teacher, and Jivreil the Framer. And there followed him Morion the Dark, who had ordered the void of Deep Space, and Shelech Namegiven, who alone had returned from the Nameless to beg a name and a mastery from the All-Father. And he had grown great in mastery, almost to rival Heylel himself. And many lesser powers among the Named Ones dd join themselves with him, having followed him a long while and having shared in his envy.

 

And there was war between them, and the Realm of the Named was ruined, and the fall thereof was great. And many spirits were rent from their power, and sent tattered back to the void. And the All-Father wept for the destruction among his children, for he could not raise his hand to do battle against those who he had covenanted with that they would be his own. But he counseled with Iahel. And the strength of his counsel and the power of Iahel did overcome the wrath of the rebel. And all those who did rebel were cast down. And the All-Father did revoke from among them the second Gift that he had offered, that none of them should ever learn power from a mortal form. And they do always haunt the Material Realm, seeking always to torment and destroy those mortals who will learn this power. But glory is to the All-Father, and his purposes were fulfilled, and the broken spirits were healed, and their power restored. But the Realm of the Named was not remade, for the All-Father left it a warning to the sin of pride and anger. And the All-Father made the Realm of the Mortals, and hid it, that by no means should any rebellious spirit go there to tempt the souls of men before they were bound to a mortal coil.

 

TL;DR - The All-Father creates everything out of the primordial chaos. In the chaos there exist "intelligences," or little bits of self-awareness. These aren't created things, but are as eternal in duration as the All-Father Himself. However, without space and time, their sentience has no memory and is significantly impaired in terms of awareness. As part of creation, space and time come into being, giving these already-existent spirits memory and awareness. The All-Father offers to invest all of these sentiences with some of his power, making the changes wrought by being in time permanent. Some are content to remain as they are, and to return to the Void when the Realms fade away. The remainder accept the offer, becoming what we can term "spirits," if we like. The Realms of Being are organized.

 

The All-Father offers to permanently bind the spirits to a material form, which is a step towards increasing in power and ability to create. Many (in fact, most by far) of the spirits, again, are content to remain as they are, having no ambition to become greater. These remain as they are. Some are interested in the experience of a material form, but have no desire to be permanently bonded to it. These become the animating forces of plants and animals. The remainder, again, accept the offer, becoming the souls of mortal beings (or more specifically - the spirits that exist in preparation to inhabit the bodies of mortal beings, they don't all immediately receive a mortal form). A dispute over pre-eminence leads to the rebellion of a large number (but not a majority) of these, leading to a permanent rupture.

 

The rebels are defeated and the offer of a mortal form to them is revoked. Of those who did not rebel, Many of these are permanently bonded with their mortal form after death, and some rise to become beings of great power capable of creating Outer Realms. Others become servants to them.

 

We have now gone through the origins and general nature of all of the (current!) groupings of intelligences/spirits/souls.

 

Factions:

Nameless - The intelligences who rejected the All-Father's first offer of stability. Nearly no interaction with the Material Realm of any sort, and almost as little with the Outer Realms. They inhabit the Spiritual Realm, preferring its similarity to the primordial Chaos.

 

Named Ones - The intelligences who accepted the first gift of the All-Father, becoming spirits.

 

Sub-Factions:

Unmanifested - Those spirits who rejected the offer of embodiment entirely. They have an intense fascination with the Material Realm, flitting in and out and through it on a constant basis. These are the spirits who tend to power the magic of a sorcerer.

 

Animated - Those spirits who rejected permanent embodiment, but were intrigued enough to become souls of animals and plants. These reincarnate as often as they want, entering into new bodies whenever they feel the desire to interact with the Material Realm. These can sometimes power the sorcerer's magic, and many of these spirits (when not in an actual physical form) become familiar spirits to those sorcerers who have them.

 

Mortals - These are those spirits who accepted the second gift, and have become bound to material forms which they currently inhabit.

 

Immortals - These are mortals who have passed through their life and become advanced in power, having been reinstated to their form after death. Among these are many that could be termed gods, although they are different from the lower orders only in degree, not kind. The remainder are servants of some sort in the Outer Realms. Immortals do not tend to physically enter the Material Realm unless they have exceptionally important business to carry out there, instead working through mortal servants or unembodied spirits.

 

Rebellious - These are the spirits who rebelled over the issue of pre-eminence, and had their right to a material form revoked. Some came back, penitent, but most have remained in exile. These tend to try to influence the Material Plane. The most powerful have created Outer Realms and crafted physical forms of some sort for themselves there, and are trying to lure or seduce or draw mortals to inhabit those places for various reasons. These can also power a sorcerer's magic.

 

Questions? Ask away!

[BreathTaker he/him]

So the Rebellious are basically High-Order demons?

 

This is awesome. Now I can't wait for the book to come out, let alone play the RP.

[Unodus he/him]

So the Rebellious are basically High-Order demons?

 

This is awesome. Now I can't wait for the book to come out, let alone play the RP.

Book..? o.o

[Mailliw73 he/him]

Umm...not in this RP. I am planning eventually to do a spinoff set in the Outer Realms, where we play higher-order beings (although I'm not sure that Class VII will be a playable option, but I may change my mind). For this one, though, I'm restricting player to mortals of Class I.

 

 

And for Kobold (and anyone else who is interested), here is where spirits come from. This is a deliberate allusion to Genesis, just for fun. I'm casting this, as best I can, into the language of a religious text, which seems to me to be the best way to write a creation myth. The CliffNotes version follows the spoiler tag.

 

Cosmological History

In the beginning was the Chaos, and it was without form and void.

 

Then came the All-Father to that Chaos, which did once exist, and does now exist, and will ever exist, beyond time and eternity from world to world to world. And the All-Father said "Be," and the Realms of Being were. And place and time came into being with them, and the intelligences that were in the Void, which are, and ever were, and ever will be, awoke in time and were. And the All-Father spake unto them, saying, "It is in my will to endow thee with my own power, that we may be tied together forever. And though the Realms of Being fail and the eternity itself come to naught, yet will thy awareness never cease and thy being be ever present against the power of the Void."

 

Then said a mighty one to the All-Father, "Thou shalt take those who will, and make of them what thou wilt make of them. But as for me, I am as I am now, and I will be as I will be." And the All-Father said, "As thou hast willed, so shall it be." For the will of the uncreated is inviolable, and not all the counsels of the wise nor all the strength of the mighty can overpower it. And at that day, the mighty one departed, and many followed after him. And they became the Nameless, who have not names, and thereby have no mastery over the Realms of Being. For they have no part with the All-Father, neither with the Unmanifested, nor yet with the Penitent Ones, but are to this day separate and formless, dwelling ever in those parts of the All-Father's Realms that border most closely upon Chaos. For they are still of the Void, and did not partake of the All-Father's gift. And they have no dealings with men, to this day.

 

Then said the two who were greatest among those who remained to the All-Father, "We will accept thy power and thy dominion, and we will make with thee, that the Realms of Being will be filled." And the All-Father said, "I will give to thee names, that thou mayest call upon thy power, and I will grant unto thee my power, that over the Realms I have created thou shalt have mastery." And the one he named Iahel, and the other he called Heylel. And all those that remained did say, "We do accept thy gift, and wilt be of thee and thine throughout all eternity and the ends thereof." And Iahel said, "This day art Thou become a Father to me, and to all of these. And we are now Thy children, and Thou art indeed All-Father, both of things Material and things Spiritual."

 

And the All-Father said, "Let us go down and make of these Realms that which is beautiful, for the uncreated yearns to create. For intelligence is the being of creation, and creation the mindspring of intelligence. And we will draw of that well water both pure and deep, and bring order to the Realms of Being."

 

And Heylel looked upon the Material Realm, and said, "There is matter here, that is without form and void, as even Chaos was in the beginning. Let us therefore take thereof, and craft what we will, that it may be ordered." And the All-Father said. "Thou hast well said. Let us go down and do so, and see what may become." But Iahel said, "Shall we not first make a place where these may dwell? For of the Named Ones near all are not yet able to order the unordered matter, that it will obey them. Shall they therefore be left alone whilst we bring about mighty works?"

 

And the All-Father and Heylel assented to this, and so the Realm of the Named was created, first of the Outer Realms. And in that making, some learned the art of ordering matter by their will, and grew thus in power and stature and dominion. And the All-Father said to Miheil, chief of those that had thus grown. "Wilt thou remain, and order these who are yet as children, that they may grow to power and dominion as thou hast done?" And Miheil said, "I will, though I do not yet know the way." And Iahel said, "I will come and visit thee, and guide thy steps, that the Named Ones may grow as we have done."

 

And the All-Father, and Heylel, and Iahel went down to the Material Realm, and did order the unformed matter. And it did obey their power, for matter has no will, but is determinate in all things from the beginning, except as the will of the uncreated acts thereon. And Heylel was ever enamored of the stars, and wrought mighty works therein, setting them in their places. And he took the name Starmaker as his own. But Iahel did love the formation of worlds, watching closely the All-Father. And he, above all others, did yearn to create mortal life that did grow on its own. And Miheil did, from time to time, come down as well, and his mastery was close behind Iahel's. But Heylel had mastery above all others. And the All-Father did watch closely, and did set in order the things that were ill-done by Iahel and Heylel and all those who entered into the Material Realm to form it.

 

And the All-Father said, "The Named Ones are limited in their growth, for many do not know the way of dominion over the forms of matter. Let us therefore make forms of matter, that they may be bound to it, and so learn mastery. For of such binding is mine own mastery formed, and it is fitting that these should learn to do as I have done. And let these forms be such life as will perpetuate itself, and need not the constant dominion of ourselves to fulfill its nature." And Iahel said, "This one thing have I greatly yearned for, that these worlds which we have made might be inhabited."

 

And the All-Father offered to the Named Ones to do this thing. And many said, "For this thing, we have not desire, for we are content in ourselves with our stations, and do not aspire to be greater than we are." And others, who desired the mastery of matter and the power of creation, said, "A second time we do accept the gift, All-Father. May we indeed make thee proud." But Filrial, one of the Named who had not gained mastery, said, "Although for myself I desire to wear matter as a cloth, I am of no mind to be so bound till eternity fails. Let me, therefore, put on the cloth of the Material Realm and put it off again, as I will." And others cried their assent to this. And the All-Father said, "As you have willed, so will it be done." And such were those who became the souls of that life that has no Reason. And their lives were determinate, having no will, for the bonds that bound them to the Material Realm were weak, and easily overpowered by Instinct. And to the first, the Father also said, "By your will, it shall be so," and they remained the unembodied spirits who do inhabit the world. And at times do they afflict and torment man, and at times do they aid him, as their will takes them.

 

But to the rest, who did accept the second offer of the Gift, he said, "Of you will I make rulers and creators, gods and fathers, that you may one day rise up to be as I am. And of my own power will I endow you, that you may rise to such an height as this." And these became the souls of mortals, who live and die and live on again. And their power was bonded to their form, such that they had not access to it of their own. But the All-Father said, "These mortal forms must die, for thus is the nature of the Material Realm. But I will cause that the mortal form shall come again, and it shall be immortal, and the power thereof and the dominion thereof and the mastery thereof shall be yours forever, and no power shall sunder it from you that it cannot be healed again."

 

And, in course of time, these things came to pass as it had been said. And Heylel looked upon the souls of those who would be mortal, and feared, lest they overpass him in dominion. For he had come to love his mastery, and it rubbed him sore that any should obtain higher than he. And ever did he work away, in silence, to increase his skill and his mastery, lest at any time he should lose it. And he spake unto the All-Father, saying, "It is meet that there should be an overseer set to these mortals, that they may be given tutelage and instruction, lest at any time they should lose their way." And the All-Father said, "Thou hast well said. It was ever in my mind to give them one to watch over them." And Heylel said, "Shall I not do this thing, for I am of the Named Ones the most pre-eminent in mastery and dominion. And I, even I, shall show unto them of my power, that they may learn it."

 

But the All-Father, knowing Heylel's heart, said, "Is it not meet that Iahel shall do it? For he has ever labored with the souls of these who shall be mortal, and they are dear to him. Should I deprive him of the right of aid for this? And furthermore, is it not in thy heart to withhold some of thy power, that thou mayest always be pre-eminent?" Then Heylel in shame turned away and said, "Thy will be done." And Heylel from that day began to work among the souls of those who would be mortals, and he did show them of his power, saying that they might have need of the preparation. And many followed after him, seeking to learn his mastery, for he was still then the greatest among the Named Ones. But ever in his heart was envy of his own dominion, and his help turned ever more to the vaunting of his own power before the lesser spirits.

 

And again, after passage of time came Heylel before the All-Father, and said, "All is now meet to begin. I have labored long, therefore, let me go down as first of mortals, that I might serve them and show them the way of mastery." For he had it in his mind to take upon himself the flesh of a mortal, and so learn that power, that his pre-eminence might ever go unchallenged. Then the All-Father, who saw his heart, how that it was in it to deny to mortals the secrets of the highest mastery, said, "It is not meet that thou shouldst do this, for Miheil the Shining One has been with them long, and has shown unto them many things, and he loves them and they him. It is in my mind that he shall do this, for he shall not hold back the secrets of the mighty, but shall give to them according to his love for them. And as for thee, why dost thou so jealously guard thy mastery as if it were thy life? Knowest thou not that thou shalt take a mortal form too, and thus gaint he secrets of mastery? And if thou wilt, thou mayest be a great teacher to the lesser ones who shall follow after, and have honor and glory above measure in the Realms yet to come."

 

But Heylel was resolved within himself to accept no lesser position, for his pre-eminence had become more dear to him than all else. And the envy of his heart waxed strong and bitter, and anger and hatred grew therefrom. And he did raise rebellion against the All-Father, and against Iahel his steward, and against Miheil the Teacher, and Jivreil the Framer. And there followed him Morion the Dark, who had ordered the void of Deep Space, and Shelech Namegiven, who alone had returned from the Nameless to beg a name and a mastery from the All-Father. And he had grown great in mastery, almost to rival Heylel himself. And many lesser powers among the Named Ones dd join themselves with him, having followed him a long while and having shared in his envy.

 

And there was war between them, and the Realm of the Named was ruined, and the fall thereof was great. And many spirits were rent from their power, and sent tattered back to the void. And the All-Father wept for the destruction among his children, for he could not raise his hand to do battle against those who he had covenanted with that they would be his own. But he counseled with Iahel. And the strength of his counsel and the power of Iahel did overcome the wrath of the rebel. And all those who did rebel were cast down. And the All-Father did revoke from among them the second Gift that he had offered, that none of them should ever learn power from a mortal form. And they do always haunt the Material Realm, seeking always to torment and destroy those mortals who will learn this power. But glory is to the All-Father, and his purposes were fulfilled, and the broken spirits were healed, and their power restored. But the Realm of the Named was not remade, for the All-Father left it a warning to the sin of pride and anger. And the All-Father made the Realm of the Mortals, and hid it, that by no means should any rebellious spirit go there to tempt the souls of men before they were bound to a mortal coil.

 

TL;DR - The All-Father creates everything out of the primordial chaos. In the chaos there exist "intelligences," or little bits of self-awareness. These aren't created things, but are as eternal in duration as the All-Father Himself. However, without space and time, their sentience has no memory and is significantly impaired in terms of awareness. As part of creation, space and time come into being, giving these already-existent spirits memory and awareness. The All-Father offers to invest all of these sentiences with some of his power, making the changes wrought by being in time permanent. Some are content to remain as they are, and to return to the Void when the Realms fade away. The remainder accept the offer, becoming what we can term "spirits," if we like. The Realms of Being are organized.

 

The All-Father offers to permanently bind the spirits to a material form, which is a step towards increasing in power and ability to create. Many (in fact, most by far) of the spirits, again, are content to remain as they are, having no ambition to become greater. These remain as they are. Some are interested in the experience of a material form, but have no desire to be permanently bonded to it. These become the animating forces of plants and animals. The remainder, again, accept the offer, becoming the souls of mortal beings (or more specifically - the spirits that exist in preparation to inhabit the bodies of mortal beings, they don't all immediately receive a mortal form). A dispute over pre-eminence leads to the rebellion of a large number (but not a majority) of these, leading to a permanent rupture.

 

The rebels are defeated and the offer of a mortal form to them is revoked. Of those who did not rebel, Many of these are permanently bonded with their mortal form after death, and some rise to become beings of great power capable of creating Outer Realms. Others become servants to them.

 

We have now gone through the origins and general nature of all of the (current!) groupings of intelligences/spirits/souls.

Factions:

Nameless - The intelligences who rejected the All-Father's first offer of stability. Nearly no interaction with the Material Realm of any sort, and almost as little with the Outer Realms. They inhabit the Spiritual Realm, preferring its similarity to the primordial Chaos.

 

Named Ones - The intelligences who accepted the first gift of the All-Father, becoming spirits.

 

Sub-Factions:

Unmanifested - Those spirits who rejected the offer of embodiment entirely. They have an intense fascination with the Material Realm, flitting in and out and through it on a constant basis. These are the spirits who tend to power the magic of a sorcerer.

 

Animated - Those spirits who rejected permanent embodiment, but were intrigued enough to become souls of animals and plants. These reincarnate as often as they want, entering into new bodies whenever they feel the desire to interact with the Material Realm. These can sometimes power the sorcerer's magic, and many of these spirits (when not in an actual physical form) become familiar spirits to those sorcerers who have them.

 

Mortals - These are those spirits who accepted the second gift, and have become bound to material forms which they currently inhabit.

 

Immortals - These are mortals who have passed through their life and become advanced in power, having been reinstated to their form after death. Among these are many that could be termed gods, although they are different from the lower orders only in degree, not kind. The remainder are servants of some sort in the Outer Realms. Immortals do not tend to physically enter the Material Realm unless they have exceptionally important business to carry out there, instead working through mortal servants or unembodied spirits.

 

Rebellious - These are the spirits who rebelled over the issue of pre-eminence, and had their right to a material form revoked. Some came back, penitent, but most have remained in exile. These tend to try to influence the Material Plane. The most powerful have created Outer Realms and crafted physical forms of some sort for themselves there, and are trying to lure or seduce or draw mortals to inhabit those places for various reasons. These can also power a sorcerer's magic.

 

Questions? Ask away!

 

Wow. That was great. It felt a bit like the Silmarillion. That's a compliment, by the way.

[Seonid he/him]

So the Rebellious are basically High-Order demons?

 

This is awesome. Now I can't wait for the book to come out, let alone play the RP.

 

Thanks! And yes, the Rebellious are High-Order demons. Several are Class VI (I haven't decided whether to have a Class VII Rebellious yet).

 

 

Book..? o.o

 

Yep. The purpose of this RP is to help me flesh out the world that I am building as a setting for the book. If the RP ends up starting plots for other novels set in the same universe, well, that's just gravy.

 

 

Wow. That was great. It felt a bit like the Silmarillion. That's a compliment, by the way.

 

Thanks! That's the feel I was going for. Well, kind of. More like Tolkien and I were both aiming for the feel of the early chapters of Genesis, or the opening stanzas of Norse or Greek or Babylonian mythic cycles. And the King James English seems to inculcate that feeling in modern Americans.

[Unodus he/him]

You mentioned the various classes for "Godhood", how would someone ascend to a higher tier? :3

[Lightsworn Panda he/him]

Umm...not in this RP. I am planning eventually to do a spinoff set in the Outer Realms, where we play higher-order beings (although I'm not sure that Class VII will be a playable option, but I may change my mind). For this one, though, I'm restricting player to mortals of Class I.

 

 

And for Kobold (and anyone else who is interested), here is where spirits come from. This is a deliberate allusion to Genesis, just for fun. I'm casting this, as best I can, into the language of a religious text, which seems to me to be the best way to write a creation myth. The CliffNotes version follows the spoiler tag.

 

Cosmological History

In the beginning was the Chaos, and it was without form and void.

 

Then came the All-Father to that Chaos, which did once exist, and does now exist, and will ever exist, beyond time and eternity from world to world to world. And the All-Father said "Be," and the Realms of Being were. And place and time came into being with them, and the intelligences that were in the Void, which are, and ever were, and ever will be, awoke in time and were. And the All-Father spake unto them, saying, "It is in my will to endow thee with my own power, that we may be tied together forever. And though the Realms of Being fail and the eternity itself come to naught, yet will thy awareness never cease and thy being be ever present against the power of the Void."

 

Then said a mighty one to the All-Father, "Thou shalt take those who will, and make of them what thou wilt make of them. But as for me, I am as I am now, and I will be as I will be." And the All-Father said, "As thou hast willed, so shall it be." For the will of the uncreated is inviolable, and not all the counsels of the wise nor all the strength of the mighty can overpower it. And at that day, the mighty one departed, and many followed after him. And they became the Nameless, who have not names, and thereby have no mastery over the Realms of Being. For they have no part with the All-Father, neither with the Unmanifested, nor yet with the Penitent Ones, but are to this day separate and formless, dwelling ever in those parts of the All-Father's Realms that border most closely upon Chaos. For they are still of the Void, and did not partake of the All-Father's gift. And they have no dealings with men, to this day.

 

Then said the two who were greatest among those who remained to the All-Father, "We will accept thy power and thy dominion, and we will make with thee, that the Realms of Being will be filled." And the All-Father said, "I will give to thee names, that thou mayest call upon thy power, and I will grant unto thee my power, that over the Realms I have created thou shalt have mastery." And the one he named Iahel, and the other he called Heylel. And all those that remained did say, "We do accept thy gift, and wilt be of thee and thine throughout all eternity and the ends thereof." And Iahel said, "This day art Thou become a Father to me, and to all of these. And we are now Thy children, and Thou art indeed All-Father, both of things Material and things Spiritual."

 

And the All-Father said, "Let us go down and make of these Realms that which is beautiful, for the uncreated yearns to create. For intelligence is the being of creation, and creation the mindspring of intelligence. And we will draw of that well water both pure and deep, and bring order to the Realms of Being."

 

And Heylel looked upon the Material Realm, and said, "There is matter here, that is without form and void, as even Chaos was in the beginning. Let us therefore take thereof, and craft what we will, that it may be ordered." And the All-Father said. "Thou hast well said. Let us go down and do so, and see what may become." But Iahel said, "Shall we not first make a place where these may dwell? For of the Named Ones near all are not yet able to order the unordered matter, that it will obey them. Shall they therefore be left alone whilst we bring about mighty works?"

 

And the All-Father and Heylel assented to this, and so the Realm of the Named was created, first of the Outer Realms. And in that making, some learned the art of ordering matter by their will, and grew thus in power and stature and dominion. And the All-Father said to Miheil, chief of those that had thus grown. "Wilt thou remain, and order these who are yet as children, that they may grow to power and dominion as thou hast done?" And Miheil said, "I will, though I do not yet know the way." And Iahel said, "I will come and visit thee, and guide thy steps, that the Named Ones may grow as we have done."

 

And the All-Father, and Heylel, and Iahel went down to the Material Realm, and did order the unformed matter. And it did obey their power, for matter has no will, but is determinate in all things from the beginning, except as the will of the uncreated acts thereon. And Heylel was ever enamored of the stars, and wrought mighty works therein, setting them in their places. And he took the name Starmaker as his own. But Iahel did love the formation of worlds, watching closely the All-Father. And he, above all others, did yearn to create mortal life that did grow on its own. And Miheil did, from time to time, come down as well, and his mastery was close behind Iahel's. But Heylel had mastery above all others. And the All-Father did watch closely, and did set in order the things that were ill-done by Iahel and Heylel and all those who entered into the Material Realm to form it.

 

And the All-Father said, "The Named Ones are limited in their growth, for many do not know the way of dominion over the forms of matter. Let us therefore make forms of matter, that they may be bound to it, and so learn mastery. For of such binding is mine own mastery formed, and it is fitting that these should learn to do as I have done. And let these forms be such life as will perpetuate itself, and need not the constant dominion of ourselves to fulfill its nature." And Iahel said, "This one thing have I greatly yearned for, that these worlds which we have made might be inhabited."

 

And the All-Father offered to the Named Ones to do this thing. And many said, "For this thing, we have not desire, for we are content in ourselves with our stations, and do not aspire to be greater than we are." And others, who desired the mastery of matter and the power of creation, said, "A second time we do accept the gift, All-Father. May we indeed make thee proud." But Filrial, one of the Named who had not gained mastery, said, "Although for myself I desire to wear matter as a cloth, I am of no mind to be so bound till eternity fails. Let me, therefore, put on the cloth of the Material Realm and put it off again, as I will." And others cried their assent to this. And the All-Father said, "As you have willed, so will it be done." And such were those who became the souls of that life that has no Reason. And their lives were determinate, having no will, for the bonds that bound them to the Material Realm were weak, and easily overpowered by Instinct. And to the first, the Father also said, "By your will, it shall be so," and they remained the unembodied spirits who do inhabit the world. And at times do they afflict and torment man, and at times do they aid him, as their will takes them.

 

But to the rest, who did accept the second offer of the Gift, he said, "Of you will I make rulers and creators, gods and fathers, that you may one day rise up to be as I am. And of my own power will I endow you, that you may rise to such an height as this." And these became the souls of mortals, who live and die and live on again. And their power was bonded to their form, such that they had not access to it of their own. But the All-Father said, "These mortal forms must die, for thus is the nature of the Material Realm. But I will cause that the mortal form shall come again, and it shall be immortal, and the power thereof and the dominion thereof and the mastery thereof shall be yours forever, and no power shall sunder it from you that it cannot be healed again."

 

And, in course of time, these things came to pass as it had been said. And Heylel looked upon the souls of those who would be mortal, and feared, lest they overpass him in dominion. For he had come to love his mastery, and it rubbed him sore that any should obtain higher than he. And ever did he work away, in silence, to increase his skill and his mastery, lest at any time he should lose it. And he spake unto the All-Father, saying, "It is meet that there should be an overseer set to these mortals, that they may be given tutelage and instruction, lest at any time they should lose their way." And the All-Father said, "Thou hast well said. It was ever in my mind to give them one to watch over them." And Heylel said, "Shall I not do this thing, for I am of the Named Ones the most pre-eminent in mastery and dominion. And I, even I, shall show unto them of my power, that they may learn it."

 

But the All-Father, knowing Heylel's heart, said, "Is it not meet that Iahel shall do it? For he has ever labored with the souls of these who shall be mortal, and they are dear to him. Should I deprive him of the right of aid for this? And furthermore, is it not in thy heart to withhold some of thy power, that thou mayest always be pre-eminent?" Then Heylel in shame turned away and said, "Thy will be done." And Heylel from that day began to work among the souls of those who would be mortals, and he did show them of his power, saying that they might have need of the preparation. And many followed after him, seeking to learn his mastery, for he was still then the greatest among the Named Ones. But ever in his heart was envy of his own dominion, and his help turned ever more to the vaunting of his own power before the lesser spirits.

 

And again, after passage of time came Heylel before the All-Father, and said, "All is now meet to begin. I have labored long, therefore, let me go down as first of mortals, that I might serve them and show them the way of mastery." For he had it in his mind to take upon himself the flesh of a mortal, and so learn that power, that his pre-eminence might ever go unchallenged. Then the All-Father, who saw his heart, how that it was in it to deny to mortals the secrets of the highest mastery, said, "It is not meet that thou shouldst do this, for Miheil the Shining One has been with them long, and has shown unto them many things, and he loves them and they him. It is in my mind that he shall do this, for he shall not hold back the secrets of the mighty, but shall give to them according to his love for them. And as for thee, why dost thou so jealously guard thy mastery as if it were thy life? Knowest thou not that thou shalt take a mortal form too, and thus gaint he secrets of mastery? And if thou wilt, thou mayest be a great teacher to the lesser ones who shall follow after, and have honor and glory above measure in the Realms yet to come."

 

But Heylel was resolved within himself to accept no lesser position, for his pre-eminence had become more dear to him than all else. And the envy of his heart waxed strong and bitter, and anger and hatred grew therefrom. And he did raise rebellion against the All-Father, and against Iahel his steward, and against Miheil the Teacher, and Jivreil the Framer. And there followed him Morion the Dark, who had ordered the void of Deep Space, and Shelech Namegiven, who alone had returned from the Nameless to beg a name and a mastery from the All-Father. And he had grown great in mastery, almost to rival Heylel himself. And many lesser powers among the Named Ones dd join themselves with him, having followed him a long while and having shared in his envy.

 

And there was war between them, and the Realm of the Named was ruined, and the fall thereof was great. And many spirits were rent from their power, and sent tattered back to the void. And the All-Father wept for the destruction among his children, for he could not raise his hand to do battle against those who he had covenanted with that they would be his own. But he counseled with Iahel. And the strength of his counsel and the power of Iahel did overcome the wrath of the rebel. And all those who did rebel were cast down. And the All-Father did revoke from among them the second Gift that he had offered, that none of them should ever learn power from a mortal form. And they do always haunt the Material Realm, seeking always to torment and destroy those mortals who will learn this power. But glory is to the All-Father, and his purposes were fulfilled, and the broken spirits were healed, and their power restored. But the Realm of the Named was not remade, for the All-Father left it a warning to the sin of pride and anger. And the All-Father made the Realm of the Mortals, and hid it, that by no means should any rebellious spirit go there to tempt the souls of men before they were bound to a mortal coil.

 

TL;DR - The All-Father creates everything out of the primordial chaos. In the chaos there exist "intelligences," or little bits of self-awareness. These aren't created things, but are as eternal in duration as the All-Father Himself. However, without space and time, their sentience has no memory and is significantly impaired in terms of awareness. As part of creation, space and time come into being, giving these already-existent spirits memory and awareness. The All-Father offers to invest all of these sentiences with some of his power, making the changes wrought by being in time permanent. Some are content to remain as they are, and to return to the Void when the Realms fade away. The remainder accept the offer, becoming what we can term "spirits," if we like. The Realms of Being are organized.

 

The All-Father offers to permanently bind the spirits to a material form, which is a step towards increasing in power and ability to create. Many (in fact, most by far) of the spirits, again, are content to remain as they are, having no ambition to become greater. These remain as they are. Some are interested in the experience of a material form, but have no desire to be permanently bonded to it. These become the animating forces of plants and animals. The remainder, again, accept the offer, becoming the souls of mortal beings (or more specifically - the spirits that exist in preparation to inhabit the bodies of mortal beings, they don't all immediately receive a mortal form). A dispute over pre-eminence leads to the rebellion of a large number (but not a majority) of these, leading to a permanent rupture.

 

The rebels are defeated and the offer of a mortal form to them is revoked. Of those who did not rebel, Many of these are permanently bonded with their mortal form after death, and some rise to become beings of great power capable of creating Outer Realms. Others become servants to them.

 

We have now gone through the origins and general nature of all of the (current!) groupings of intelligences/spirits/souls.

 

Factions:

Nameless - The intelligences who rejected the All-Father's first offer of stability. Nearly no interaction with the Material Realm of any sort, and almost as little with the Outer Realms. They inhabit the Spiritual Realm, preferring its similarity to the primordial Chaos.

 

Named Ones - The intelligences who accepted the first gift of the All-Father, becoming spirits.

 

Sub-Factions:

Unmanifested - Those spirits who rejected the offer of embodiment entirely. They have an intense fascination with the Material Realm, flitting in and out and through it on a constant basis. These are the spirits who tend to power the magic of a sorcerer.

 

Animated - Those spirits who rejected permanent embodiment, but were intrigued enough to become souls of animals and plants. These reincarnate as often as they want, entering into new bodies whenever they feel the desire to interact with the Material Realm. These can sometimes power the sorcerer's magic, and many of these spirits (when not in an actual physical form) become familiar spirits to those sorcerers who have them.

 

Mortals - These are those spirits who accepted the second gift, and have become bound to material forms which they currently inhabit.

 

Immortals - These are mortals who have passed through their life and become advanced in power, having been reinstated to their form after death. Among these are many that could be termed gods, although they are different from the lower orders only in degree, not kind. The remainder are servants of some sort in the Outer Realms. Immortals do not tend to physically enter the Material Realm unless they have exceptionally important business to carry out there, instead working through mortal servants or unembodied spirits.

 

Rebellious - These are the spirits who rebelled over the issue of pre-eminence, and had their right to a material form revoked. Some came back, penitent, but most have remained in exile. These tend to try to influence the Material Plane. The most powerful have created Outer Realms and crafted physical forms of some sort for themselves there, and are trying to lure or seduce or draw mortals to inhabit those places for various reasons. These can also power a sorcerer's magic.

 

Questions? Ask away!

 

 

...

 

Just exactly how much time did you spend writing that!? 

 

Take my upvotes!

[BreathTaker he/him]

So since I picked up WoT again I can't help but imagine the Paladins as Asha'man who joined the Children.

 

Also, is the magic Paladins use more like Soulcasting or Chanelling?

[Tulir he/him]

So I have gotten really busy, and unfortunately, I don't see it letting up in the close future.  As such, I think I will have to withdraw from this.  Sorry everyone, it looked really cool and I think I will try to keep up, but I won't have the time to commit to this.  Apologies. 

[Seonid he/him]

So since I picked up WoT again I can't help but imagine the Paladins as Asha'man who joined the Children.

 

Also, is the magic Paladins use more like Soulcasting or Chanelling?

 

Hmm...Asha'man that joined the Children, eh? I'd find that a pretty good description. They have their own army, aren't beholden to any nation, and operate anywhere their religion holds sway. (And places where it doesn't that aren't powerful enough to make an issue over it.)

 

The Inquisition would be similar to the Hand of the Light, in this analogy. A mix Asha'man and non-channelers in the Hand of the Light.

 

As far as magic, we're looking much more like channeling rather than soulcasting, but neither is a really good match. I've been saying for a while that I need one last revision on the magic stuff I've posted, as well as a revised creation mythos, and I hope to get to that soon. Not to mention the cultural/geographical background stuff I've been promising for months now. Schoolwork is taking it out of me, though, and I keep hearing that real life is more important than forum roleplaying games (I know, heresy, right?). I'm just glad that the semester is almost over.

 

So I have gotten really busy, and unfortunately, I don't see it letting up in the close future.  As such, I think I will have to withdraw from this.  Sorry everyone, it looked really cool and I think I will try to keep up, but I won't have the time to commit to this.  Apologies. 

 

Sorry to hear that. If you do get time in the future, you're welcome to join late. Or if this gets successful enough to support spin-offs, you'd be welcome in there too. Also, I do hope that you enjoy reading through this while it's running.

[BreathTaker he/him]

 (I know, heresy, right?).

 

 

 

Did someone say Heresy? We're going to need the names and addresses of these people... ya know, fo rthe good of the realm or whatever

 

*Storkes mustache and laughs evily*