Ageratos · Legacy archive
The Storehouse of All Knowledge (Works in Progress and such)
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More strange animals...
#41Marongghovec (ale-ox)- the Marongghovec, or ale-ox, is a large, yak-like animal native to northern Ageratos. It lives on the tundras and plains, eating sweet grasses with its long, sticky tongue. The marongghovec's general features are yak or oxe-like, but their horns are lustrous and red, and they have aforementioned long sticky tongues. In addition, their lower bellies are a distinctive bone-white color (disguised by the shaggy fur) and are ribbed with leathery, thick skin.
The marongghovec's meat is tough and stringy, and its milk always tastes sour. The animal's true value lies in its mighty strength, equal to that of three normal oxen. A marongghovec is also usually belligerent, stubborn, and generally inflexible beyond its will. There is a way to get past it, and that way is beer. Any good marongghovec-driver will tell you that the best thing to quench ale-ox thirst with is beer, good beer. Upon drinking beer, marongghovec become quite drunk, and are at first doubly belligerent, rearing up proudly on their back-hooves to show off their fine, white bellies; during this early drunken state, a rearing ale-ox may at any moment enter near-paroxysms of rage, and cast about to destroy. But soon afterward, the marongghovec becomes quite stuporously intoxicated, and thense slumborous and stray-minded; they are then quite easily led as a work-beast. -
The Storehouse of All Knowledge (Works in Progress and such)
#42We need a general animals thread, not just the exotic animal competition. Then this critter (and your others) should be installed there directly. (Then someday we will move it into the LifeForms section and things will get interesting.)
I am very admused, yet wonderously amazed at this critter. It has true verisimilitude (which is a little oxymoron, but you get the idea).
You should give it increased stamina as well as strength. This will allow it prodigeous strength to be properly utilized. Just a thought. -
The Storehouse of All Knowledge (Works in Progress and such)
#43First I would like to say that every setting should have an index of sorts, a list with clickable links, sorted after topic. Below is an example of how it could be organized, copy it if you care to keep and update an index at the beginning of the thread. (You are an admin so you can press “edit�, and copy paste the whole list from my source).
Nations and races:
The Arachosians
The Carmanians
The Mysians
The Parakonians
The Three Kingdomers
Landscapes and Edifices:
The Black Crypt of Tsartis
The Sea of Esh-Eir
Organizations:
The Contract Clans
The Curalon Hestaris
The Herbmasters of Hibara
The Society of the Red Ones
The Sons of Wailu
The Witnesses of Chalaca
Religious Institutions and Gods:
The Thief God
The Uhamonian Order
Personalities:
Alcion, Master-Thief of Mysia
Dhaa Drangar the Sorceror
Animals and Plants:
Direwolf (Brachyurus)
Grandfather Spider
Marongghovec (ale-ox)
Water-falcon
Miscellaneous:
Demon items
Orichalchum
Overall you write professionally good, reminding me of my Middle-Earth sourcebooks, and that comparison testifies your thoroughness when presenting the source material. The races and nations are very thoroughly explained, and anyone planning on using your setting would find that it has ample material and background. Of course it would be interesting to learn even more about these cultures, such as local wildlife, flora, cities, villages and towns. The reading of these posts can become a little dry though, and proved, for me, to be the most difficult posts to read.
The NPCs you provide are interesting. They are larger than life, epic and “R.E.Howardesque� in character. Very, very good, I look forward to reading about your next NPCs.
The religious institutions and organizations is your strength methinks. It is easy to notice that you have a particular fondness for dark cults, but when describing the masterful Uhamonian Order, you really don’t need the Cthulhuish tentacles. In my opinion this order surpasses any Cthulhu order and the tentacles decrease the overall impression. The Curalon Hestaris, the Society of Red Ones and the Uhamonian Order are my personal favourites.
As for landscapes and edifices you have a flare for describing minute details of your setting. Where the general descriptions of the nations become a little dry, the minute details about seas and tombs are freshening and a good read.
The miscellaneous information is equally good, but any setting needs many, many more of these. Such references and details are essential for any setting.
So overall it is very good. I like the setting and I like most of what has been posted.
Here is my wish list:
• More exposure by listing Ageratos stuff in other threads like the “Establishments�, “Organizations� and “City Images� threads. This is great for attracting readers to your excellent thread and great for the community as a whole.
• This in turn demands that you make cities and establishments. Organizations you already have plenty of ;) (for the moment)
Oh, and one question: I came up with an idea for Fan-Fiction. Can such contributions be posted here, or this a one man project? (It will take a lot of time before I am able to do so though, because of some projects of mine). -
The Storehouse of All Knowledge (Works in Progress and such)
#44If you want to post fan-fiction, that is A-okay with me! In fact, I would enjoy any contributions from any person (well, most contributions).
I have to invest some more time into describing the actual nations and lands- perhaps comprehensive posts like those I made for the provinces in the Empire?
Cities and establishments, yes, of course.
And some time, I will have to get around to more famous folks and heroes. -
The Storehouse of All Knowledge (Works in Progress and such)
#45AG's brilliant index added to the first page. -
The Storehouse of All Knowledge (Works in Progress and such)
#46I have to invest some more time into describing the actual nations and lands- perhaps comprehensive posts like those I made for the provinces in the Empire?
Well, actually that would be nice. Even nicer if you could make the locations along with possible hooks for those areas, but that might be just me.
Suggested Format: (It is the contents and not the layout that is important in this example)
"Someplaceisthan", province of Myasia
Description: A forest full of dark flowers, blah, blah, blah[10+more lines of description, describing the actual landscape as well as cities and towns and villages of note found in the area, along with any NPCS and special areas of note. ]
Myths and Tales: There is rumoured that within the shadowy forest glades, an ancient secret blah, blah,blah
Hooks:
-Crush the evil! Blah, Blah, Blah
-Grand Diplomacy! Blah, Blah, Blah
-Tricky Problem solving! Blah, Blah, Blah
Sorry for all the Blahs, but I wanted to suggest a format and not lose the focus. -
The Storehouse of All Knowledge (Works in Progress and such)
#47The Thousand-Day-Battle Plains
Description:
In the midst of the wasteland between Arachosia's mountains and the marches of Parakonia, there is the vast steppe known as the Thousand-Day-Battle Plains. Bordered on the south by the Deepmoss Valley (famous as the home of Hibara the Herbmaster) and on the southwest by the Clouded Mountains and the Cataracts of the River Ashash, the Thousand-Day-Battle Plains are a huge expanse of emptiness, in most places nearly dead-flat, and in others hilly, or covered in the Mounds of the Dead, where the bodies of the Ancients lie buried in forgotten tombs.
The Plains have dry, rocky red soil that in the hot summer months rises as choking dust at the lightest footsteps. On some hillsides can be found large taluses of flinty stone and some fields are studded with huge boulders. They also are covered, for the most part, in waving grey-green grass called shtirz by locals. In locations where water is very plentiful, there grow squat, emerald-green iflirt-pines and thick-boled oaks, while in the more empty regions, one can sometimes see copses of okmithan, a species of small, gnarled deciduous trees with fan-shaped leaves and stiff dark wood. Other regions are carpeted in tall urgalshtirz, "great-shtirz", which grows in man-high tufts and weaves, and hides the landscape.
The animals of the Plains travel mostly in herds or packs, and are not used to the presence of human beings- so few travelers come through this wilderness that wild ale-oxen allow themselves to be saddled. In addition to these herds of ale-oxen, wild kine, and great aurochs, there are gazelles of various sorts and wild goats. Predators of the plains include packs of wolves, earth-foxes (small digging foxes), cougars (also called hill-lions), serpents, lizards, and the mysterious Shkorltzlikth, an animal reputedly so terrifying that its very shadow scorches the grass. There are herds of wild horses that dwell around the settlements of Plainsfolk, as well.
The Plainsfolk of the Thousand-Day-Battle Plains are a barbarian people who live semi-nomadic lives. Each tribe of Plainsfolk has a herd of wild horses who they follow, and establish small settlements in each stopping-point of the herd. It is a right of passage amongst Plainsfolk men to break a wild horse to serve as yours at the age of 15. The Plainsfolk are often hostile to more civilized folk who pass through their lands.
Tales, Legends, and Myths:
It is said by the people of the plains and the lands surrounding it that many thousands of years ago, the Thousand-Day-Battle Plains were the site of, predictably, a thousand-day battle between the God Vorl and Utmins, the Invincible Warrior. Vorl had become drunk and knocked over the towers of all the houses in Utmins-land. Utmins, in retaliation, took his Dauntless Company and captured Vorl's son, Sklash, the treacherous Dragon of Uchosha (which is plains-parlance for Arachosia), and chained him up under a lodge. Vorl came to the lodge and knocked it down, and stamped all of Utmins-land flat looking for Sklash, but he was not to be found, for Utmins had made the dragon's skin into armor. Vorl leapt upon Utmins' back and the two wrestled for seven days, flattening even more; then, Utmins drew out his sword and cut off Vorl's arm- the blood spatters became the Lakes of Vorlspilketh. Vorl, in a rage, pulled out Utmins' eye, and threw it into the sky, where the Sun God caught it in a net (it became the moon, say the Plainsfolk). Vorl and Utmins fought for one-thousand days, until, finally, they collapsed in exhaustion. But Vorl rose, and through treachery, overcame Utmins' company of men, and led his army into the Invincible Warrior's camp, where he cut off Utmins' head. The blood from Utmins' body flowed south and became the marshes of Carmania. Meanwhile, Vorl went north and buried the head in a cairn of stone- Mount Taris.
The Shkorltzlikth, "terror-eye", is a mysterious beast that is said to roam the Thousand-Day-Battle Plains. It is reputedly huge and flaming, so bright that none can bear to look upon it. Its body is poisonous, and so deadly that its very shadow causes the graze to wither and blaze. Some say that its hooves are made of iron and its tail is of brass.
It is also said among the Plainsfolk that a wizard once came to the Plains and commanded demons to build him a tower. But one of the demons discovered the secret word that the wizard used to seal their magical contract, and doing so, broke it, and the demons revolted and separated the wizard into ninety pieces.
Plot Hooks
Caravan- A caravan of traders needs to cross the Thousand-Day-Battle Plains, but they need guards to protect them from Plainsfolk, hill-lions, wolves, and the fearful Shkorltzlikth
Hunting Expedition- A noble has arranged a hunting expedition onto the Thousand-Day-Battle Plains, in the hopes of taking prize trophies. He needs guards, staff, and hunters to keep his competitiveness up.
(You could work the Shkorltzlikth into this)
The Beast Is Real!- The Shkorltzlikth is real, and has been terrifying a Mysian outpost on the southern plains. The heroes must defeat this terrifying demon-beast.
It's A Hoax!- A Mysian outpost on the southern plains is being terrified by the Shkorltzlikth, or a creature fitting its description. The heroes have been hired to get to the bottom of this.
(Its a hoax- a flaming effigy or model, possibly created by the Plainsfolk to scare off the Mysians, or for some other reason)
99 Pieces- The legend of the wizard and his demon contract is true, and a sorceror has hired the heroes to recover his 99 pieces so that said sorceror can learn to make such magic contracts.
I'll Be Back- The legend of the wizard is true, and he returns from the grave, and constructs his tower. He begins to terrify the populace- et cetera et cetera.
Lost (Iteration A)- The heroes become separated from their traveling party on the Plains. Can they survive long enough to find a settlement and find their way out of the vast expanse?
Lost (Iteration B)- A noble of (someplace) has gone missing on the Plains, and the heroes must find him. -
The Storehouse of All Knowledge (Works in Progress and such)
#48The Cilicians
And so it was that Kerrukm and Haunnu were married at the Temple;
But Kerrukm's clan-retainer, Asha, looked on with jealousy and pain in his heart- he, too, loved Haunnu, but he feared action, for like a youth who is early stricken with Love's darts, he feared inadequacy and heartbreak for himself or others; as well, he had no wish to be disloyal to his chieftan, Kerrukm.
For many months, Kerrukm and Haunnu were very happy, and Asha became more and more stricken; his shoulders sagged as if under a weight, his eyes were in deep shadow, and he became hotly angered at slight comments.
Finally, when the complaints among the clansmen of Asha's listlessness and temper grew too great, Hikenvoshla the Mysian, another clan-retainer, went before Kerrukm.
Hikenvoshla the Mysian said: "Thou hast, in wisdom, seen the malaise of Asha the clansmen, he of coppered hair and weighted presence?"
Kerrukm replied: "This weighs upon my soul. But may he not simply be stricken by evil spirits?"
Hikenvoshla said: "We have asked him to make the Rituals, but he refuses. We think he is not stricken by evil spirits."
Kerrukm said: "Then I dispatch thee to find his confidence in this matter- you must bring me the solution."
Therefore, Hikenvoshla the Mysian went to Asha and, clapping him upon the shoulder, said:
"Tell me, clansman, in your confidence- what is it that weighs upon thee?"
Asha said: "There is one who is my heart's desire."
Hikenvoshla said: "Forsooth? Then who is this one that preys so upon thee?"
Asha replied: "I care not to elaborate."
Hikenvoshla was dispatched frustrated, but a little wiser.
So it went when was sent Kikurushma, Ikahashn, and Arishla, also clan-retainers, who were sent to find Asha's secret love.
Finally, one day, it was discovered that Haunnu had gone missing in the night- a search was conducted, of part Asha was not.
It was discovered that Asha had fled the lands of Kerrukm and gone to the east.
There was a chase sent, and Asha was discovered lodging with Harrkkn, King of the Akshlas; and it was discovered that during the journey, Haunnu had been bitten by a serpent, and that Asha was even now upon her grave weeping in shame, fear, and rage.
When they went before Asha, he said to them: "All has come to nothing- I have destroyed all I loved. The only recourse is death."
But Kerrukm, who had before been filled only with rightful vengefulness, went to Asha and said: "Forsooth, my friend- there is nothing to regret."
Asha replied: "There is a child who waits for you, among the People of the East. It is not my bastard; it is your full-blooded son."
Kerrukm said: "What is his name?"
Asha said: "Haunnu called him Kilikka."
Kerrukm then gave to Asha the ceremonial sword, and Asha took himself to a place hallowed by Magi, and spilt his blood in expiation of guilt.
-The Tales of the People of Kilikka
In Their Own Tongue:
Kilikkateka ("the clan of Kilikka"; 'kee-lee-kah-tey-kah'; in proper Cilician, as spoken by the upper classes, this should include the modifier 'Kor-' on the front of the word, denoting an organization of people)
Epithets:
The Redheaded Ones, the Wolf People, the Berzerkers, the Northern Ones (by people south of Mysia), the Raveners (by the Parakonians)
Homeland:
Cilicia, the Wolf Land (in their tongue, Kilikkata)
Phenotype:
The Cilicians are among the tallest of all Agera. Men stand 6'1"-6'7" (177-201 cm) and women somewhat shorter, at 5'5"-6'1" (158-176 cm). Cilicians usually have a sturdy, well-proportioned build, and are a bit heavier than the norm (being a bit chubby is common among children and elderly Cilicians); in some regions, however, it is more common for the folk to be extremely thin and willowy (these ectomorphic individuals are often called "tree-children" or "grass-children"). Cilicians have a pale-medium skin tone that lends itself to having a pinkish tone, and burns quite easily. They have a wide variety of facial features which mix and match quite frequently in unusual ways, though long, aquiline noses are common. They have red, auburn, coppery, or red-blonde hair that is very curly or frizzy, or in some cases, waved. Cilicians have blue or green eyes.
Dress and Fashion:
Cilician men usually dress in knee-length kilts called mteshkar, which are generally striped with one's clan colors and fastened with a thick belt of leather (irreushla). Over this is worn a long coat-like garment with sleeves that reach to the middle of the forearm, called a kulshlimu; the kulshlimu is generally not worn closed, but hangs open, though among southern Cilicians, it is slowly becoming fashionable to belt it with a strip of cloth. Footwear is either thick boots of hides and fur or simple leather sandals. All clothing is trimmed with fur to cut the cold. Weather dress (which, in Cilicia's climate, is almost always worn) is a heavy pelt-cloak of wolf or elk, and a close-fitting leathern cap with earflaps, which is, of course, trimmed with fur.
During formal or festive occasions, Cilician men dress in a similar fashion, but they use cloths specially made and kept for such occasions- their kulshlimus are checked in bright patterns, and their mteshkar are striped in the brightest of shades possible to emphasize clan membership. On these occasions, it is also traditional for Cilician men over 30 to wear a ceremonial breastplate of bone and horn, painted with clan patterns and mystical symbols, called a dashlekk.
Women dress in gowns or dresses, called akikknd that reach down to the middle of the shins. Among Cilician women, it is often a sign of status to have the thinnest possible fabrics for one's akikkn. Over the akikkn, women wear a short jacket or vest that covers the shoulders, arms, and upper torso, called a mashlukk. Footwear is fur-lined slippers of leather. Most clothing is fur-lined, including the thinnest of akikkn. Weather-dress (again ubiquitous) is a heavy pelt-cloak, like those of men, and a hood of fur and leather that is pulled over the head and tied into the clasp of the pelt. At the hairline, young women who are eligible for marriage wear a white band of cloth.
In formal occasions and festivals, young women bring out the bvakknheutnd, a tunic of thin cloth painted with clan symbols and designs with a short skirt reaching to about the lower-middle thigh. Older women wear layers of long, thin robes, and wrap jewelled or decorated sashes about their waists.
Cilicians wear lots of jewelry, men and women both. Typically, a man carries his wealth (or signs of it) in the form of heavy bangles, torcs, and earrings, while women may wear necklaces, torcs, armlets, bangles, bracelets, and other bric-a-brack. Cilicians prefer colorful materials to the luster of metals, and enjoy jewels very much. Their jewelry has a distinct barbaric character to it- wolf fangs and feathers are common among rubies and emeralds. Cilicians also wear huge amounts of carved things- things which are carved are believed to release their spiritual power, or hutmild. Many Cilicians weave carven figurines and beads into their hair, or hang them from their clothing- it is not uncommon to see Cilicians wearing pseudo-armors of carven ivory and wood.
Cilician men grow their hair long and wild, preferably with many braids and weavings, and large sideburns. Only men over 25 may grow beards- this is the sign of an adult. Warriors of a tribe will wash their hair through with lime, bleaching it into a mane of white-yellow spikes. Most women of Cilicia cut their curly locks at about shoulder length, and pull it back tightly, catching it into a ponytail behind the head. In southern Cilicia, young women attempt to grow their hair as long as possible, however.
Food:
Cilician food is generally meat foremost. Any Cilician who doesn't enjoy a good chunk of roasted elk is probably a coward, or worse, a Mysian. Organ meat, haunch meat, it's all the same when roasted over a crackling fire. They eat a large amount of protein, with the added root vegetables and various fowls and fishes, generally eaten with the bones, which Cilicians relish as "good for the teeth" (perhaps not coincidentally, choking deaths are common among Cilicians, especially at their wild raucous feasts).
The general impression of Cilician food is fire-roasted, dripping grease, heavy and filling.
Music:
Cilicians make music on small horns and hand-drums, with rattling tribal beats and storytelling chants. Accompanying may be the buzzing throat-singers of western Cilicia, or the droning bagpipe-like instruments of the north- and southeast.
The general impression of Cilician music is long, narrative, and droning.
Society:
Cilician society is based on the given word and the bond between master and servant. Cilician males form bands of warriors (OOC: similar to the Germanic gefolge) under the head of a chieftain, who is in turn bonded to the high-chieftain of his clan. Cilicians organize themselves into clans. However, these are clans less in the familial sense we might make it to be than they are organizations of clients and patrons- a clan is made up of a chieftain and his bonded retainers, and the retainers' retainers, and so on. One may leave a clan or join another at any time, but the rituals for the release of given word must be overseen. These relationships are governed by complex ritual laws, and based on the giving of oaths, which are regarded as sacred things- to give one's word in Cilician society is to put one's heart and soul behind a promise, and traitors and breakers of promises are among the worst of criminals.
Spirituality:
The Cilician gods are incredibly numerous and vary by region, for the Cilicians are not ruled by one authority or group of Magi. These gods are generally known as ulikkiri ('oo-lee-kee-ree'; literally, "they are watching"). There are generally agreed, however, to be three "universal" ulikkiri, shared by most, if not all, of the tribes:
-Mimerrde, the Wisest One, Gray-Hooded One, Night-Traveler, the Poet God
-Norrnd, the Wolf God, the Bloody One, the Terrible Spear-Shaker
-Nishlurr, the Liar, the Trickster, Lord of Fire and Darkness, Honey-Tongued, the Cunning and Bold
Magi among the Cilicians are called mtorushla ('m'toh-roosh-lah') and are rather more similar in function to tribal shamans than the organized priests of the other nations. Mtorushla of a given area have a loose brotherhood of sorts, and gather together for rites to the local ulikkiri and to the universal ones. Ritual sacrafice of humans and animals is a large part of Cilician religion, and also fortune-telling. Indeed, shrines to the grim Cilician gods are often frightening in their stench of blood and death. A well-known method of divining the future among the mtorushla is to bind a man in a kneeling position, and hack him in the back with a sword- his writhings are sprays of blood are then interpreted.
As stated before, Cilicians believe oaths and given word to be sacred, and any oathbreaker is said to be cursed by Mimerrde.
Cilician Naming Customs:
Cilician male names end in -a, -as, -nd, -urr, and -n; female names in -u, -ish, -ikm, and -arr.
Male Name Examples: Asha, Kilikka (very popular; literally "he is like a wolf"), Beushlas, Morrnd, Mtikkurr, Rrolshn
Female Name Examples: Haunnu, Thrikklish, Mnoshlikm, Shleusharr
Cilician names are generally preceded by an identification of clan- "I am of Krishla Clan, named Mishkarra.
Social Customs:
Cilicians greet each other by kissing each cheek- this is true of all, except between those of low status and high status; in such situations, such as a king greeting a peasant, the high status person places their palm towards the low status person.
Cilicians are not overly concerned with hygiene, but they never, ever eat from another's portion of food, or drink from an unwashed vessel that another has drank out of.
It is considered a healthy behavior to drink lots of alcohol, and those who do not are often believed to be suffering from sicknesses.
Because of their belief in the sacred power derived from carved things, many Cilicians whittle in their spare time, and present people they meet with gifts of carven figurines. -
The Storehouse of All Knowledge (Works in Progress and such)
#49Finished the Cilicians -
The Boots
#50The Boots (also called Lord Snarkh or Lord Bujum)
Taking its name from ancient children's songs and fairytales ("snarkh" being an Ageran term which could be somewhat equated to "goblin"; "bujum" being something like a very dangerous snarkh; and the Boots being a mysterious man mentioned in the child's song "Hunting of the Snarkh"), The Boots is a mysterious agent of great strangeness who one can only hire in very improbable times and places. The Boots must first be contacted through his agent Fishla, a Cilician man who dwells in Hartacon in Mysia, though Fishla himself can be contacted through his agents in various cities. When one arranges a meeting with the Boots (through Fishla), one is given a slip of paper with an unusual rhyme or riddle which provides the location of the meeting, which is generally in an incredibly improbable time and place, such as two hours past midnight on the banks of dry stream where nothing grows in Anthia, at the bottom of the Vale of Swords in daylight on your birthday, or in the center of a public square just after evenfeast. The Boots is never quite seen, but it is easily heard, by those who it wants to hear it, and it is never reasonable about its terms. It insists on being payed in bizarre goods- live beavers, the dust from the grave of a madman collected at dawn, a pound of spiders, a newly-cast bell. After, and only after, this payment is made will the Boots give that famous phrase:
"I shall send out my snarkhs and bujums."
Within a week of this phrase, the intended victim of the assassination will disappear, without a trace, under unknown circumstances. It is often said that the victim has been "taken by the bujums" (who reputedly have the power to make a man vanish), a common expression denoting that the person has vanished. -
The Storehouse of All Knowledge (Works in Progress and such)
#51The Vale of Swords
Description:
Soaring mountains wall Parakonia and the Three Kingdoms from Mysia, a left arm of the mountains of Arachosia, and prove a very choice barrier against trade between these lands. While traders could pass around the mountains through swampy Bedalia into Kerastar, southernmost of the Three Kingdoms, or pass eastward up the Carmanian coast on the Sea of Esh-Eir and through Cilicia, but both routes are somewhat dangerous and rather long. One could go through some of the passes of Arachosia, but these are heavily tolled by the people of Chon, and long to boot (what with passing through all of Arachosia). But for traders who need great speed, and have little regard for their own safety, there is the Vale of Swords, a straight chasm-slash through the mountains, known as one of the most dangerous regions in Ageratos.
The main body of the Vale of Swords is a huge chasm running roughly north-south through a narrow region in the mountains. In this area, the land has split, as if a blade has been jabbed into the ground, and the wound ripped apart. The walls of the cavern are a tortured maze of knife-edged cliffs and crazy, wind-carved rock bridges, mad ledges and impossible formations slashed out of the stone by the wind which blows sand constantly down this ravine. It is constantly windy here, screamingly windy, howling wind that the local people call "iziphon aephon", wind of souls, for the superstition that it is composed of all the people who have died in the canyon.
The tattered rope bridges and ropewalks that swing across the canyons many bridges, planes, and cliffs present no true coherent trail, but they allow a sort of passage, such as it is. The prayer-flags hung by the Valefolk generally follow the route of the safest trail, but... one never knows. The Vale is frequented by dangerous bandits and monsters which prey on the travelers through the area. The walls are always ready to collapse upon the unwary, yawning chasms loom, bridges are ready to collapse.
(Maybe I'll finish this, but I'm not sure where I'm going with it, and I want to make it seem more dangerous than all that, and... I dunno, it just is unsatisfactory and I've lost interest for now.) -
The Storehouse of All Knowledge (Works in Progress and such)
#52Still to come...
-Tsartians
-Massagettae
-Dragonfighters or Dragon Warriors, whichever name I pick (maybe)
-The Legion of One (I know, it's a corny name... What do I do with it?)
-The Children of Lasaron (and the Undead, to whom they are related)
-Ur-Belut, the Great Fortress
-various sorcerors
-plants and things, maybe.
Any suggestions on what I should do first? -
I'm on an Undead bent... Can you tell?
#53The Undead
Horrors of the grave, unnatural servants of ancient sorceries and dark curses, the Undead exist in dark places across Ageratos. Terrible, powerful, evil, and immortal, the Undead are not common, though any Agera can tell you that they exist in truth. There are many kinds of Undead, from the restless Hungry Ghosts, to the unnatural black Azhag, to the goat-headed underdwellers known as Ghouls, ranging in power, though all are more than a match for the average man (though let it be known that adventurers in Ageratos are often more potent than the average).
Azhag (Tomb Guardians, Demon Shadows)
The Azhag ('ah-ZHAHG'; from Old West-Carmanian azadg, meaning watchman, sentry), called Tomb Guardians or Demon Shadows, are the terrible Undead guardians of the tombs of the Ancient Ones. They were originally bound to the various tombs and crypts they guarded by powerful oaths and spells. Some were bound with more than oaths- their souls were chained to the gateposts of the tomb. But as the ages passed, and the Ancient Ones disappeared, many devious and unfaithful Azhag abandoned the tombs which they watched and protected and wandered away to find blood to quench the burning flames of their eternal hunger. Others, freed of their oaths, remained faithful to former masters and stayed, or were held back by chained souls, and their hunger gradually made their souls feral and wild. Thus, though ancient Azhag can sometimes be found in the wilderness, hiding in dark places, others still can be found dwelling in the dusty porticoes of the tombs of an elder race.
The Azhag can take many forms- a tall, spare man outfitted as a watchman in ancient garb, a shaggy black hound, or a watching black owl. However, when they are enraged, or when they encounter a large threat to themself or their tomb, they reveal their true form: the Azhag have, in self-absorbed madness, not only forgotten their former lives, but all sense of what it is to be mortal. They appear as bone-thin, oily-black-skinned, rotting fanged men with a corpselike appearance. Their noses are sharply ridged. Their bellies are swollen with starvation, and instead of hair, they have thick, heavy tentacles, hanging down to the smalls of their backs. They wear no clothing in this state, and multiple unearthly sexual organs and protruding, purposeless bones emerge and recede constantly from their body as they move. Their eyes are milky green and leak a stream of gray bile, which run down trenches in their long faces. Azhag constantly hunger for blood, which is the only thing that can quench the fiery hunger of their starvation.
Azhag are supernaturally strong and fast, despite their crumbling appearance. They are dull-witted and easily tricked, but they are likewise prone to vile tricks and have a sort of animalistic cunning. In addition to their sharp, curved nails, they can use their tentacle-hair to slap and bite foes. Their tongues can elongate to the length of two feet, and have a pair of deadly poisonous spines at the tip.
Azhag are killed by the severing of their tentacle-hair and by the removal of their hearts. In addition, a mad Azhag confined to the tomb will crumble to dust given the news that it is freed of its oath. Azhag are burned by the touch of sunlight; it reduces the places it touches to ash.
Hungry Ghosts (Bogghon, Blood Drinker)
The Hungry Ghost (from Mysian bogghon, "one who devours") is relatively common, as Undead are. A Hungry Ghost is born when the lower soul (the animal soul of the body, containing physical urges and violences) becomes angered and, rather than descending to the Underworld, lashes out against the living, which, in its instinctive state and having dulled senses, it percieves as enemies who have "wronged" it. The animal soul can be angered in many ways- murder victims, especially those whose murders go uninvestigated or unavenged, often produce Hungry Ghosts. Those who are poorly buried or buried without proper ritual sometimes yield Blood Drinkers. But it is most often the unburied or uncremated dead (or in some cases, those who are not pleased according to local ritual) who give up their Hungry Ghosts.
Hungry Ghosts vary in appearance depending on the person. Often, they manifest merely as an apparition of the person, though twisted and animalistic; others are more monstrous (the Hungry Ghost of King Ytath of an ancient country is a crouching evil shadow with four clawed arms). However, all Hungry Ghosts are semi-immaterial. Their touch is icy cold and often raises blood blisters or wounds on the flesh of the touched. It is dangerous to fight a Hungry Ghost, for in sustaining their touch they cause more serious wounds, and their breath is like terrible slaying ice. They consume the blood and flesh of those they slay.
Hungry Ghosts have dull senses- they see only poorly, in shades of grey, black, and very dulled color; they hear screams, cries, and sobs very clearly, though laughter they hear not at all. They cannot feel, and when they eat they taste only ashes (some mad Hungry Ghosts consume vast amounts of food and wine in attempting to taste again). Hungry Ghosts are not harmed by bright lights, but rather, avoid it, for its brilliance overwhelms their poor vision.
Crawling Ghosts (Yabuj, Brown Ghost, Lonely Beetle)
The Crawling Ghosts (from Parsic "yabuj", "it crawls") are the loathsome, disturbing ghosts of those who die lonely and rejected, shut-ins and the forgotten. Scuttling in the places where the lone dead once inhabited, the animal soul takes on the form of a huge brown insect, a cockroach or hornless beetle, as long as a man's body and as wide as a platter, endlessly lonely and full of sadness. They are chained to the places where, in their former lives, they once frequented- Crawling Ghosts often scuttle about a single room or tiny cell. Crawling Ghosts seek out living ones to ease their loneliness, but seem unaware of how much horror and fear their presence causes. They are little appeased when, invariably, those they approach flee in terror.
Crawling Ghosts take only one form- that of a huge brown cockroach or hornless beetle. Their snapping jaws drip a foul brown fluid, and their feet trail a similar stick substance. They smell horribly, as if they were a manifest presence of rot; this stench is often the first sign of their presence, along with trails of vaporous residue along the walls, ceiling, and floor of a room. Their eyes are small, black, and gleaming, and their antennae wave furiously when they are agitated.
Crawling Ghosts sense very little- they can barely feel through their stiff shells, save pain and the aches of their existence. They see very poorly- beyond about 40 feet, they see very little other than a grey fog. They have no sense of smell, though it seems that they have a more acute sense of taste than Hungry Ghosts, for they relish garbage and rotten things and are repelled by fresh food. Crawling Ghosts can speak, but unless they speak very slowly and quietly, it is nearly impossible to understand them through the insectile stone-scraping squeal of their voices. Crawling Ghosts rarely sense what they have become- many attempt, at first, to go about their old routines or lives, even attempting to stand and dress despite inexplicable difficulties such as strange aches and whirling limbs where there never were any before. This makes them even lonelier, for in attempting to go about normal human existence, they cause even more horror, and become ever lonelier.
Ghouls (Ghulas, Eaters of the Dead)
Below the surface of the Earth, dwelling in darkness and forgotten catacombs, the goat-headed Ghouls, dark spirits of murder, feast on the dead. Ghouls dwell in old, forgotten places, luring others down into the grasping claws of their evil tribes. Ghouls rarely appear in the daylight, though it causes them no harm, for it serves their secretive tendencies better to be shrouded in darkness. Ghouls have their own loathsome gods, terrible, nihilistic deities who mortals have luckily forgotten.
Ghouls are human enough in form from a distance, or in their preferred darkness, with two arms and two legs, despite a somewhat hunched stature. But when approached, the truth becomes clear. Their spatulate feet and hands are horrible splayed claws, stained a rusty-brown with dried blood. On their meaty chests, there are bloody wounds where their hearts should be. Long tufted tails hang from their backs. But their most inhuman aspect is their heads, for they have the heads of goats, with filthy, blood-crusted grey hair and curving black horns. Their red, strange-pupilled eyes represent the terrible evil of their former lives.
Ghouls seek only to do evil, for one reason or another. Some claim ulterior motives for their vile deeds, while others refute such rationalizations. Ghouls often spin elaborate fantasies to clothe their existences in, fearing to see the truth, that they may slay themselves of it. Some ancient, powerful Ghouls have made wickedness into an existence in itself, and do not even think that they do anything different than any other being. Young Ghouls are often vilely clever, and devise elaborate means to trick mortals into their lairs or traps. Elder Ghouls, having had centuries or even millenia to gain knowledge and power, are vastly intelligent, and more sagely even than mortal sorcerors (some ill-intentioned mortals seek out these elder Ghouls for forbidden knowledge, though the price is often far too high).
Ghouls can see in the dark, and have a taste for human flesh and blood. They use the skins and bones of their victims to create elaborate sculptures macabre and grotesque. Some Ghouls dwell in large tribes- such a life makes it easier to trick mortals by having the aid of others.
(Maybe more?) -
The Storehouse of All Knowledge (Works in Progress and such)
#54Hungry Ghosts added to Undead -
The Storehouse of All Knowledge (Works in Progress and such)
#55Added Crawling Ghosts (inspired by Kafka's Metamorphosis) and Ghouls (inspired by good ol' H.P. Lovecraft).
I find I am enjoying the creation of Undead very much! Perhaps there is something more in it... :) -
The Storehouse of All Knowledge (Works in Progress and such)
#56*sniff, tear falling*
My little baby's moving on up!
I'm so proud!
Prepare for the storm!
Of a new setting forum for Ageratos! -
The Storehouse of All Knowledge (Works in Progress and such)
#57Congratulations to the proud father,er creator. Nice work with the undead,especially with the ghouls. -
The Storehouse of All Knowledge (Works in Progress and such)
#58http://www.strolen.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=30197#30197. Go here and help me! -
The Storehouse of All Knowledge (Works in Progress and such)
#59Just for safekeeping, to be added to a history thread later:
Mysa and his Agera, after helping the other Agera to establish the fort which would one day become Nightwater, on the coast of the Sea of Death, began to march south through the Great Swamp into what is now the Western Wilderness. Then, turning east in the face of the Swamp's diseases and demons, the Mysathoi marched through lands once belonging to the Ancients, raiding as they went. Having already dispatched their desperate armies to defeat the Agera at Nightwater, the Ancients (whose empire was already destabilized and crumbling) were totally unprepared for the golden-haired barbarians, who fell upon them like a hammer. Thus, the Mysians were spared the bloody setbacks of the Assembly of Warrior Gods.
For over four hundred years, lasting well into the Bloody Age, the Mysian states remained squabbling principalities split along tribal lines from their old homeland, divided by language, culture, and power. The Mysian land, as it is known, was not united under one kingdom until the end of the plagues of the Great Fear. After the plagues of that time, a warlord arose among the people of the River Hart, where, it was said, Mysa himself had been buried after the Battle of the River Hart. This warlord, claiming to be a direct descendant of Mysa, forged a kingdom out of the balkanized states of Mysia, creating the Mysian state roughly as it now lies.
Mysia is, thus, one of the most ancient states in Ageratos -
Updated To Do List
#60-Tsartians
-Massagettae
-Dragonfighters or Dragon Warriors, whichever name I pick (maybe)
-The Legion of One (I know, it's a corny name... What do I do with it?)
-The Children of Lasaron
-Ur-Belut, the Great Fortress
-various sorcerors (Malluvyam of the Iron Hand, the Lord of Worms)
-The magical arts (the Chymists, Thaumaturgy, Shamani [including Grass Charms and Taproot Magic, other tribal magic], Necromancy, Diabolism [including Warrior Gods])
-Various tribes (detailed in threads related to their homelands, i.e., Alocimi and Tytoni in the Mysians, Taproot Diggers in the Carmanians)
-Freewomen
-Izadans
-Khwarezmian Peninsula (and Khwarezmians, maybe; depends on what I decide
-As a sideline, flora and fauna and shit. -
The Storehouse of All Knowledge (Works in Progress and such)
#61Oh, and by the way... This thread is now the Repository of All Knowledge- this is where works in progress, to-do lists, and stuff that I can't find a place for yet will go. -
The Storehouse of All Knowledge (Works in Progress and such)
#62Check previous page for updated to-do list. -
The Storehouse of All Knowledge (Works in Progress and such)
#63Notes for Gedrosi:
Name comes from Gye Drus Ji (pronounced "gyeh druhsh yee"), meaning "The Real [or the Visible] People".
Famous Gedrosi leader-
Mr Ji Deak ("muhr yee deyk")
Red-brown skin, with epicanthic folds ("Asian" features); males have frizzy, bleached-white hair, females shave their heads.
Important weapon- the fr bis ("fuhr bish"), staff with a blade at both ends, and the tem teak ("tehm tayk"), square-tipped, straight-bladed sword with a single edge. -
Dragons of Ageratos
#64The Dragons of Ageratos are (or were, I haven't decided yet if there are any left) terrible forces of nature, beings of immense strength and incredible power, beings of incontrivertible evil. It is often said among the darker cults that the dragons descended onto the Earth from the darknesses between the constellations, and label them among the foremost of the foulnesses of the Outer World.
Dragons are semi-mythical, incredibly powerful, and hideously evil creatures. None are exactly alike; some are giant amphibian beasts like toads or salamanders, others are huge creatures like a mix between lion, serpent, and man, some are vaguely insectoid monstrosities, and some lack physical bodies at all.
Dragons are also very wise, despite their destructive and evil natures. They possess secrets which were brought down from beyond the stars in the earliest gulfs of time, know sorceries perpetrated by the inhuman ones who ruled the world before Man, and other esoteric secrets which none can imagine. Many sorcerors have tried to make the devil's bargain with a dragon, though all inevitably fell to the strength or the trickery of these foul monsters.
Dragons speak their own language, an animalistic tongue of shrieks, roars, croaks, and rumbles. However, they are wise enough to speak any tongue once they have listened to it for a while; even the most complex languages come easily to these reptilian polyglots. They are named in their own language, and men call them after these names, rendering the noises of the dragon language into words, and generally giving them a fearful title.
Examples (mythical dragons from Agera history)-
Achash, Furnace of the Underworld
Achash was a terrible destroyer, an enormous beast who terrified the people of Styrash. An a quatic behemoth like a toad or salamander, he had a long, fleshy body which was at turns snaky or squat like a toad's. He had six limbs; two pairs were squat, splay-toed limbs which sat halfway along his slimy bulk; the other pair were gnarled arms, with horrible hands possessing dozens of tendril-like fingers tipped with claws like broken glass. His salamander-esque head, with it's bulging toadish throat, had two pairs of balefully-glowing eyes.
Achash was called the Dragon of Gluttony, and also of Greed. He denuded entire mountainsides and cities of life in his search for satiety. He was called the Furnace of the Underworld, for the fire in his belly never ceased, and he was wont to vomit forth huge tides of flame and molten gold upon his enemies.
Achash was finally defeated by Unydis, the Last Emperor of Styrash, so clever he outwitted even the Furnace of the Underworld. Unydis slew him, and his corpse dropped into the marshy lake which he dwelt in; thereafter, the Dragon's Lake became eternally befouled, and to this day continues to steam and belch forth ingots of poisonous gold.