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    1. Zealous Blade 10 yrs ago

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I'm interested. I think we've got a nice amount of work going here so if we could convert what we have so far into the system that would be preferable for me. A blank slate isn't bad either. I'm game regardless.
The Tragedy of Ceolmaer







"I've always wondered why Avolire Castle has yet to be gifted to a lord."

"The castle has remained vaccant for well over a hundred years."

"Enlighten me. I'm sure there must be a reason why such a magnificent abode has gone to waste."

"Because he still roams its halls to this day, paying the price for the kingdom's sin."





The Kingdom of Oadren was and still is a prosperous nation. A land of vibrant pastures, rolling hills, jolly peasants, and sophiscated lords, from the outside looking in one would think of Oadren as highly cultured and consider it a bastion of civilization.

But, as we all know, in this world even the most alluring of things carry the darkest secrets. And that is just what the case is for Oadren.

Once upon a time Oadren was not the magnificent kingdom that it is but a rather unremarkable land ruled by Everard the Hungry, one of the earliest kings in the nation's long history. As his name may suggest Everard was a man who wanted to consume everything he could both literally and figuratively. Unlike his predecessors he had the quality needed to bolster Oadren ahead of its rivals - ambition. And it was that very ambition that nearly drove an entire continent in chaos.

In an era which the world was commonly thought to be flat, it is sensible to think that the Ruse was far from understood. Everard's predecessors shunned the Ruse and thought that meddling with it would bring about the downfall of their people. Everard disagreed and who exactly shall be named as right or wrong should be left to the interpretation of whoever is reading this record. Regardless, the previous kings were right about the Ruse in that it would prove destructive in the wrong hands.

And Everard's hands were barely fit to hold a spoon correctly.

Desiring swathes upon swathes of territory, Everard sought to raise an army. An army that could quite possibly be the biggest the era ever saw. Obviously, Oadren did not have the men or resources to supply the forces that Everard required. That was when he turned to the Ruse. With it Oadren thought to turn every man, woman, and child dead or alive into a soldier. His hunger had taken form and it threatened to infect all of Oadren and beyond.

Ceolmaer, the famed Paragon of Light, could not allow his king to wrong his people in such a way. After failing to appeal to his majesty about his course of action, he decided that betrayal was the only way to prevent the land from falling into despair. He decapitated Everard to stop his hunger from swarming all of Oadren and beyond but by then it was too late. Everard's hunger no longer needed him and was able to thrive on its own. The people of Oadren were consumed by the hunger and became vicious fiends, invading and devouring its neighbors without command. Ceolmaer, by virtue of his honor, was able to resist the hunger and took it upon himself to be the driving force in fighting against it.

It wasn't until after putting down countless amounts of fellow countrymen and even his own family that Oadren realized his cause was futile. Oadren, in its current state, was lost. The hunger was spreading and there was no that Oadren, a mere warrior with armor and a greatsword, could do anything to stop it.

Then he thought. And, thankfully, thought is the Ruse.

What had birthed the hunger that ravaged Oadren would be what birthed the means to save it. However, a price needed to be paid for such a travesty. All that hunger could not just simply disappear from the world. It had to be redirected.

And it was with the Ruse of sacrifice that Ceolmaer took on that hunger and subdued himself within Avolire Castle. As humanity cannot withstand the vicious plague that is the hunger, Ceolmaer quickly became the very enemy he fought against - only greater. Fortunately, for us all, he became bound to Avolire Castle and with him Everard's hunger.

Miraculously, due to their proximity to Avolire Castle and its prisoner, Oadren and her people recovered from the hunger. Her neighbors, alas, did not fare so well.




"And that's how Oadren became what she is today."

"Preposterous! I've read through the entirety of our history and never have I encountered such events! As far as I know there was never a Paragon by the name of Ceolmaer!"

"Perhaps we are better off believing that."

I believe I have the essentials of my nation complete with minor details left to add. However, I would like to know if there are any major revisions that should be made before I declare myself finished with it. Thanks in advance.
Carrying over from the interest check. Still WIP at the moment but its getting there.




I've jumped time periods between my articles without paying much conscious to it. I had WWII-era in mind when I wrote the Stellar Express and an Imperial China-esque country with Mirror, Mirror by the River.

I've somewhat imagined a setting similar Hunter x Hunter which is a mishmash of modern and fantasy elements but that's just whats been in my head so far.

Regardless, I need to get work on my next article. Enough babbling.

Edit: Here is my first attempt at trying to incorporate the Ruse into something. I hope it's sensible.

The Tragedy of Ceolmaer







"I've always wondered why Avolire Castle has yet to be gifted to a lord."

"The castle has remained vaccant for well over a hundred years."

"Enlighten me. I'm sure there must be a reason why such a magnificent abode has gone to waste."

"Because he still roams its halls to this day, paying the price for the kingdom's sin."





The Kingdom of Oadren was and still is a prosperous nation. A land of vibrant pastures, rolling hills, jolly peasants, and sophiscated lords, from the outside looking in one would think of Oadren as highly cultured and consider it a bastion of civilization.

But, as we all know, in this world even the most alluring of things carry the darkest secrets. And that is just what the case is for Oadren.

Once upon a time Oadren was not the magnificent kingdom that it is but a rather unremarkable land ruled by Everard the Hungry, one of the earliest kings in the nation's long history. As his name may suggest Everard was a man who wanted to consume everything he could both literally and figuratively. Unlike his predecessors he had the quality needed to bolster Oadren ahead of its rivals - ambition. And it was that very ambition that nearly drove an entire continent in chaos.

In an era which the world was commonly thought to be flat, it is sensible to think that the Ruse was far from understood. Everard's predecessors shunned the Ruse and thought that meddling with it would bring about the downfall of their people. Everard disagreed and who exactly shall be named as right or wrong should be left to the interpretation of whoever is reading this record. Regardless, the previous kings were right about the Ruse in that it would prove destructive in the wrong hands.

And Everard's hands were barely fit to hold a spoon correctly.

Desiring swathes upon swathes of territory, Everard sought to raise an army. An army that could quite possibly be the biggest the era ever saw. Obviously, Oadren did not have the men or resources to supply the forces that Everard required. That was when he turned to the Ruse. With it Oadren thought to turn every man, woman, and child dead or alive into a soldier. His hunger had taken form and it threatened to infect all of Oadren and beyond.

Ceolmaer, the famed Paragon of Light, could not allow his king to wrong his people in such a way. After failing to appeal to his majesty about his course of action, he decided that betrayal was the only way to prevent the land from falling into despair. He decapitated Everard to stop his hunger from swarming all of Oadren and beyond but by then it was too late. Everard's hunger no longer needed him and was able to thrive on its own. The people of Oadren were consumed by the hunger and became vicious fiends, invading and devouring its neighbors without command. Ceolmaer, by virtue of his honor, was able to resist the hunger and took it upon himself to be the driving force in fighting against it.

It wasn't until after putting down countless amounts of fellow countrymen and even his own family that Oadren realized his cause was futile. Oadren, in its current state, was lost. The hunger was spreading and there was no that Oadren, a mere warrior with armor and a greatsword, could do anything to stop it.

Then he thought. And, thankfully, thought is the Ruse.

What had birthed the hunger that ravaged Oadren would be what birthed the means to save it. However, a price needed to be paid for such a travesty. All that hunger could not just simply disappear from the world. It had to be redirected.

And it was with the Ruse of sacrifice that Ceolmaer took on that hunger and subdued himself within Avolire Castle. As humanity cannot withstand the vicious plague that is the hunger, Ceolmaer quickly became the very enemy he fought against - only greater. Fortunately, for us all, he became bound to Avolire Castle and with him Everard's hunger.

Miraculously, due to their proximity to Avolire Castle and its prisoner, Oadren and her people recovered from the hunger. Her neighbors, alas, did not fare so well.




"And that's how Oadren became what she is today."

"Preposterous! I've read through the entirety of our history and never have I encountered such events! As far as I know there was never a Paragon by the name of Ceolmaer!"

"Perhaps we are better off believing that."


Elaborated on Mirror, Mirror by the River with a conversation that I hope gives myself and all of you out there a bit more insight into exactly how the phenomenon works. I tried to still keep that mysterious air around it.

@Mokley Those types of projects always creep me out and have me thinking about the morality of them. Love it.
Mirror, Mirror by the River




Give a man a fish and you feed him for the night, teach a man how to fish then you feed him for life. Knowing that he wasn't going to be around to feed his son forever, Muo's father sought to do the latter and brought him to the river just outside of their village to give him lessons. Muo who was freshly eight at the time did not have much interest in fishing and thus allowed his mind to wander during the hours they spent standing by the river with their lines cast. He would scan the river from west to east and dwell on how far it stretched. Remembering that his father told him that eventually, the water would venture to the sea, Muo began to imagine the kinds of fish that lived out there. Far from a marine biologist, Muo had a theory that fish grew to be as big as the body of water around them just as the water took the shape of its container. Muo was an imaginative child and there were times that he let it get the best of him.

However, he was sure that this wasn't one of those times.

Once he was sure that he got as good of a measure of the river's length as he could manage, Muo gazed across to the opposite bank. At first he saw nothing but trees and brush. Sighing, he looked at his line to see that it had not budged an inch. Fishing was so boring!

"Dad," Muo whined to his father, "can we go home yet?"

"No Muo," his father answered sternly, "it's our job and a man must do his job either completely or not at all."

Muo snorted before looking back across the river to see nothing again. Only, that was what expected to see.

"Hello," Muo murmured so his father couldn't hear.

Standing opposite of them, fishing as well, was another father and son pair. Muo and the boy made eye contact so he waved. The other boy waved back simultaneously.

"Dad!" Muo boomed joyfully. "Look over there! They're fishing too!"

His father's sight darted across the river to see what his son saw.

"Oh Muo, stop goofing around and focus before you miss a catch."

Muo was confused. Did his father mean to say that he did not see the other pair across the river.

"B-but Dad they're st-"

"Look Muo your line!"

Never mind the pair! Muo squealed in delight as his line dipped into the river. He was about to catch his first ever fish! Working together, Muo and his father wrangled in the tiny rasckle that was barely bigger than the boy's thumb.

"Awe," Muo whined, "I wanted a shark."

His father chuckled as he dangled his son's miniscule catch front of him.

"You'll have to go a little further for that, Muo. Don't feel bad. You have to start somewhere."

"Yes sir," Muo nodded his head.

The two gathered their belongings and started up the hill towards the village. Before reaching the top Muo glimpsed over his shoulder to check if the other father and son were still fishing.

They weren't. As Muo and his father headed up the hill the other father and son turned towards the woods with their own gear slung over their shoulders. Muo, being only a boy, didn't think much of it.

They must be heading home too. It is getting late after all

"Muo!" He was snapped out of his curiosity by his father's voice. "We have to get back before dark!"

"Coming!"

Forgetting all about the pair across the river Muo zipped towards his father. Watching him as he had watched them was the other father and son pair.

"Dad," Muo said to his father before they entered the woods. "Where do you think they're going?"

"Home," Muo's father answered, his voice creaking. "Where I wish we could go."

Then, as if they were never there, they faded.




"If you go to the Karayang River you may just see yourself."

"See me? Well, water does give off a reflection."

"It's different than that they say. Think of it literally."

"You've got be kidding me."

"No joke. On the other side, people meet themselves. Their true selves."

"...you're losing me with all that philosophical bull crap."

"I mean it. The Karayang knows what lies within our hearts and has the power to pull it out of us and make us face it."

"Quit screwing around! Since when did you believe such foolishness?"

"Since I seen me for myself."

"....who are you? What have you done with Pon?"

"I am Pon. The real Pon."


And that wasn't a good thing.

Wrote this on a whim. Would love ideas on how to expand it. I'm going to try and roll out an article or two every day. I haven't had this much fun writing in a while.

Mirror, Mirror by the River




Give a man a fish and you feed him for the night, teach a man how to fish then you feed him for life. Knowing that he wasn't going to be around to feed his son forever, Muo's father sought to do the latter and brought him to the river just outside of their village to give him lessons. Muo who was freshly eight at the time did not have much interest in fishing and thus allowed his mind to wander during the hours they spent standing by the river with their lines cast. He would scan the river from west to east and dwell on how far it stretched. Remembering that his father told him that eventually, the water would venture to the sea, Muo began to imagine the kinds of fish that lived out there. Far from a marine biologist, Muo had a theory that fish grew to be as big as the body of water around them just as the water took the shape of its container. Muo was an imaginative child and there were times that he let it get the best of him.

However, he was sure that this wasn't one of those times.

Once he was sure that he got as good of a measure of the river's length as he could manage, Muo gazed across to the opposite bank. At first he saw nothing but trees and brush. Sighing, he looked at his line to see that it had not budged an inch. Fishing was so boring!

"Dad," Muo whined to his father, "can we go home yet?"

"No Muo," his father answered sternly, "it's our job and a man must do his job either completely or not at all."

Muo snorted before looking back across the river to see nothing again. Only, that was what expected to see.

"Hello," Muo murmured so his father couldn't here.

Standing opposite of them, fishing as well, was another father and son pair. Muo and the boy made eye contact so he waved. The other boy waved back simultaneously.

"Dad!" Muo boomed joyfully. "Look over there! They're fishing too!"

His father's sight darted across the river to see what his son saw.

"Oh Muo, stop goofing around and focus before you miss a catch."

Muo was confused. Did his father mean to say that he did not see the other pair across the river.

"B-but Dad they're st-"

"Look Muo your line!"

Never mind the pair! Muo squealed in delight as his line dipped into the river. He was about to catch his first ever fish! Working together, Muo and his father wrangled in the tiny rasckle that was barely bigger than the boy's thumb.

"Awe," Muo whined, "I wanted a shark."

His father chuckled as he dangled his son's miniscule catch front of him.

"You'll have to go a little further for that, Muo. Don't feel bad. You have to start somewhere."

"Yes sir," Muo nodded his head.

The two gathered their belongings and started up the hill towards the village. Before reaching the top Muo glimpsed over his shoulder to check if the other father and son were still fishing.

They weren't. As Muo and his father headed up the hill the other father and son turned towards the woods with their own gear slung over their shoulders. Muo, being only a boy, didn't think much of it.

They must be heading home too. It is getting late after all

"Muo!" He was snapped out of his curiosity by his father's voice. "We have to get back before dark!"

"Coming!"

Forgetting all about the pair across the river Muo zipped towards his father. Watching him as he had watched them was the other father and son pair.

"Dad," Muo said to his father before they entered the woods. "Where do you think they're going?"

"Home," Muo's father answered, his voice creaking. "Where I wish we could go."

Then, as if they were never there, they faded.
Here's what I've got so far. Still WIP at the moment.





@ChickenTeriyaki Perfect. Perhaps too perfect *evil laugh.
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