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Artifex meddles in the Luminent
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Chaos had engulfed the Luminent, one born of a people made and then divided for the Aiviri where a people at war with themselves. They ran amuck, spilling each other’s blood in acts of aggression or self preservation whenever they met using the crudest of technologies and powers they barely understood. At the same time they battled the elements themselves, clinging to life however they could as nature did its best to snuff them out.

The Aiviri where in a unique situation unseen since the times in which the gods walked the earth and molded mortal races from clay with their own hands. They knew nothing, having been cast into the world and then left, mostly, to their own devices. They were beset by endless problems that none of their kind had ever attempted to solve before. Struggle bred death in many cases, but it also bred innovation. Desperate Innovation. The Aiviri’s chaotic birth also spawned the highest concentration of Inventors the world had yet known, adding a volatile new ingredient into the already uncontrollable situation boiling over in the Luminet.

Contraptions made from twigs, bones, vines, chunks of metal ore and all manner of other easily acquirable materials began to be made, crude things bearing incomprehensible magics and fueled by the infinite core of MUSE.

Some brought life. Plants were fostered, supplies were located, wounds were sealed and the elements defied, yet many more spread death. Neiyari built weapons of slaughter and in response the Oraeliari weapons of protection. When the two clashed, the results were often explosive. They were also highly educational. Opposing inventors who could not best another became, in effect, rivals. They strive to outdo one another in the name of their faction, forcing each other to create greater and grander creations in the name of survival. Inevitably the saints and the cardinals picked up these Inventors, and put them to work towards their opposed causes.

As the conflict ticked along down below up in the realm of Artifex MUSE devoured the data produced by the war. Designs were tested. New and innovative ways of harnessing the forces of the world were concocted as the Aiviri pushed the limits of their people’s limited technological knowledge to a breaking point. The frenzied activity and progress soon caught the eye of the newly minted god of civilization, who turned his narrow gaze upon the glowing forests.

[hr]

Arsarri hadn’t eaten in days. Not that this was unheard of among the Aiviri as they struggled to survive, but Arsarri ‘s hunger was entirely self inflicted. He could have sent his minions to fetch food for him. Indeed they tried to do so on their own initiative before being shouted back to their posts. There was simply too much to do. A grand vision burned in his mind. Grandest of all his visions by orders of magnitude and, he was absolutely sure, a vision far grander than any other Aiviri had ever had! He giggled to himself as  he imagined the looks on their faces when his work was completed, for at last, none would beagle to doubt his worth, his power, his genius!

In accordance to his vision, Arsarri had used his earlier inventions to first capture a beam made of strange metal that resonated with ancient otherworldly power from a human tribe who had been using it as the center to a shrine. Then he had carefully carved into pieces using a superheated sunblade to form the basis of a series of six contraptions. These now formed a ring around clearing in the forest, where Arsarri and his minions busied away, threading crude materials together to call upon powers they did not comprehend. Solar tools, bones, stone, stolen metals and string were placed in intricate configurations, calling dark spheres of negative light, arcs of lighting and twists in space into being within the machine.

As they worked a Saint watched their progress, his eyebrows furrowed as she tried to comprehend what the Inventor was making, as he had done during two of Arsarri’s earlier bouts of Inspiration. Many technologies had begun to be learned from the inventor’s work, from the mysteries of magic to the humble hammer and nail. Yet whenever he tried to apply his divine gift to the heart of the inventions his mind seems to slip off of them and when he asked the Inventor and his minions to explain they babble incoherently about “negative spatial distortions”, “parallel dimensions”,  and “electricity”. All inscrutable madness, and yet he was unable to refute the usefulness of the end result. The saint’s little group was doing far better than the average Aiviri thanks to the Inventor's creations and the insane drive of both himself and his minions.

The success was good for the cause and for his people yes, but even though he was in charge, it still filled the Saint with envy and concern for his position in equal measure. 

Eventually the work was complete. The Saint could tell because Arsarri started laughing maniacally:  “I’ve done it! Ahahahahaha! It’s finally ready”

“And what, exactly, is it.” the Saint asked, unimpressed by the bulky contraption the Inventor had managed to tie his hand too, “how exactly will this help organize the war effort and give us shelter as you said it would?”

“You’ll see! You’ll see. Soon they’ll all see!” Arsarri replied unhelpfully before calling out to his minions. “On my mark, begin the activation sequence!”

The other Neiyari called back affirmations after which Arsarri told the Saint to “stand back, and witness my genius!”

Black lightning suddenly arched from one contraption to the next, causing the Saint, who refused to be ordered around by the madman, to stumble backwards as the power formed a ring of energy. As the Saint and his people watched in awe the ground within the circle suddenly exploded upwards, showering the  surrounding area with soil as a vast pillar of dark uncut stone burst from the ground, climbing high, high into the sky. It grew and grew, an endless stream of stone pouring up from Galbar till it towered above the glowing trees of the Luminanat, casting a great shadow across the land.

The marvels did not stop there. The black lighting flowed upwards, encasing the towering monolith in its energy.

“I have my materials, now the real work begins” Arsarri announced, as the same dark power flowed up and over his arm from where he had bound his hand to the device. The Inventor's limb spasmed and shook for a few moments and then grew still and accustomed enough to the power to the work. Energy burst from the enveloping field, carving great swaths out of the tower in accordance to Arsarri’s designs, forming from it a dark tower.

Sat atop a sheer cliff of stone, the actual construction did not start until above the treeline, where stone sliced off of the tower was crafted into arial landing pads for the winged Neiyari. Inside past imposing gateways energy bored corridors and grand rooms fit for royalty and a vast throne out of which a ruler might look out over the Luminat at their domain and at lands still left to conquer. At the very top sat a dungeon shaped like a bird cage, where the Neiyari could keep wingless and crippled Oraeliari prisoners where they had no chance to escape.

Eventually, the lightning died, and the Inventor stumbled back, looking up in awe at his creation even as the machine’s that had built it crumbled, burned and then disintegrated in a series of small explosions.

He turned to the Saint and his people, raised his hands to the sky and called out “Behold my creation! Witness my majesty! All who look upon it and kneel before my genius!”

As he said those words, a final piece of the wonder came into being, but it was not a physical thing, but instead it came alive in the hearts who witnessed it. Who could question the right to rule of someone who owned such an awe inspiring structure? The watching Neiyari fell to their knees. All but one.

The Saint picked up the wicked hatchet of light he wielded and advanced upon the Inventor. “Stand! Stand you whelps. This tower does not belong to him, it belongs to the Sainthood! It belongs to me!”   

“No. No! Can you Saints do nothing but steal from your betters!” Arsarri growled back “Minions! Defend me! Do not let this thief take my Invention!”

The inventor brandished a small wand like Invention in defiance but his minions were too exhausted front he work, and no longer energised or motivated by his Inspiration, to help. The other Neiyari meanwhile were too stuck between the new power and the old fear to move to the aid of either claimant.

The saint charged, roaring in wordless anger as Arsarri raised his small weapon towards him, the machine humming and clicking as it charged up.

“DIE!” Arsarri shouted as the weapon fired, a beam of energy arching out of it. Yet his unsteady hand and the Saint’s skillful dodge caused his shot to miss, instead striking one of the onlookers who fell to the ground writhing as demonic ichor overwhelmed their body.

The Saint’s axe flashed, sundering the hand holding the weapon from Arsarri’s arm before the Saint kicked him to the ground, and planted a foot on the Inventor's chest, raising his axe to strike a more deadly blow.

“No. No wait! I yield! You still need me! Think of what i could still create for you!!” he pleaded, the fear of the Saint overwhelming his former arrogance in an instant, before the axe came down on him twice more.

[hr]

The saint sat upon the raised dark throne of tower and looked out upon the Luminent though the wide gaps between the pillars holding up its roof. His axe sat against one side of the throne, while the Inventor’s weapon rested on the arm on the other side while his people prostrated themselves before him. Life was good.

There would be contenders, his fellow Saints of the Maelstrom would no doubt be drawn towards the tower, but he was quite certain that none could compare to his right to rule thanks to the unique and overwhelming majesty of his dark tower.

Or so he thought.

As he admired the world that was soon to be his familiar lighting flared in the distance and bright white stone rose skywards as an Oraeliari Inventor completed their own constructors, summoning and carving a looming structure of their own. The Saint gripped the sides of his throne in anger at first and then rose raging and fuming as sunlight began to reflect off of the shining golden surface of the domed structure, bathing the forest in a second sunrise that none could ignore.

High above Arsarri, his wings reduced to bloody stamps, bore witness to his rival’s creation as he clung to one of the bars of the prison built atop the tower and laughed and laughed and laughed.

And yet higher still, in the heart of MUSE, a goblinoid Artifex smiled a fang filled grin as his awareness of the region blossomed into pristine detail where before there had only been the scattered pinpricks of the Inventors.

[color=GreenYellow]”Now then, lets see what you can make of yourselves.”[/color]

[hider=summary]
The Aiviri’s desperate situation has resulted in a flurry of Inventors cropping up in the luminant on both sides of the war. Their conflict and clashes using crudely built Inventions provide useful data for MUSE as they strive to outdo each other (causing yet more chaos in the process) and draws the attention of Artifex.

One notable Inventor is Arsarri, who has created deadly Inventions that allowed his group of Neiyari to successfully raid human tribes. Using the spoils of one of these raids, an I beam of lanturn moon metal, he begins work on his latest and greatest Invention while the group’s unnamed Saint watches. The Saint has reverse engineered some of the mundane parts of the Inventor's previous creations, but is frustrated by his inability to comprehend the parts relating to MUSE. He mentally acknowledges the Inventors contribution to his own success but is both enviousness and worries about whether the Inventor would eventually undermine or threaten his authority.

Then Arsarri completes his invention, which turns out to be a trio of magical construction devices. These, when activated, pull a vast column of stone out of the earth and then allow the Inventor to carve this stone into a massive tower. Upon its completion, Arsarri claims its effect, inspiring loyalty to him in the hearts of his people. The saint, having none of this blatant affront to his divine right to rule, attacks. Arsarri calls the Saint a thief, tries to shoot home with a ray gun, fails and gets his hand cut off, decked and de-winged via axe.

The Saint takes over the tower, sure of his own regal status and right to rule, a perception that gets shattered when the Oraeliari raise up their own mighty structure,a  domed citadel that reflects the light of the sun and glows like a beacon as a result. Arsarri has a giggle in the tower’s birdcage like jail while Artifex enjoys the heightened awareness of the regions the two holy sites he inspired the Inventors to build grant him.
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5/5

5 mp to claim the civilization Domain

1 construction dp to inspire the creation of the constructor devices that built the two monuments in moments. (these all exploded after creation)

Heart Pierce spire

Titles:

The heart pierce spire has no entrance at the base, and instead the base is completely solid as a declaration to the Neiyari superiority over the grounded humans.  It features an open air dungeon at the top, accessible only by air, where they keep said humans and Aiviri with cut wings who they want to extract knowledge from, enslave etc. In the middle there are a few landing platforms which lead into comfortable and spacious living quarters for the Neiyari elite. There is also a throne room near the top which has no walls and instead the roof is held up by sturdy pillars so that the rulers can easily down at their domain. The throne room features a number of Inventions to protect its occupants from harm despite its exposed looking appearance, as well as quick access to the more defensible living quarters down below.  

Reinforced stonework II (free stoneworking): the stonework used to construct the keep is unnaturally sturdy, allowing it to withstand most mundane attempts to destroy it.

Seat of Authority II (civilization dp): The holder of the spire receives increased legitimacy for their regime, reducing the likelihood of rebellion and increasing the loyalty felt towards the owner by all members of the owner’s civilisation. This also makes it a prime target for those wishing to overthrow the civilization’s rulers, so the owner must maintain an air of unassailable power, via fear, victory in battle, public works projects, divine favor or other methods. The effect works by line of sight and drops off gradually when the affected person can’t see the tower.

Solar Bastion:

The Solar Bastion is a cross between a bunker, a keep and a temple. It is a place of safety which can house many people (including humans thanks to having ground access) in times of danger. It consists of a stout fortified structure topped by a high dome which breaches the first canopy and reflects light, blinding attackers and reminding everyone in the surrounding area it is there. The dome itself also has arrow slits (which can be reached via scaffolding), so that the defenders can safely shoot in any direction at flying attackers. Inside the structure proper there's a cistern, which is fed by rainwater that can come down though the arrow slits and store rooms for supplies, both there incase of a siege. The insides are lit by Luminant plants in pots and solar batteries. There is a vault where Aiviri weapons can be charged using an Inventor made high-power sunlamp.

Titles:

Reinforced stonework II (free stoneworking): the stonework used to construct the keep is unnaturally sturdy, allowing it to withstand most mundane attempts to destroy it.

Shield of Civilization II (civilization dp): The warriors who own the Bastion are considered the guardians of the realm by the people of their civilization, and will find them far more willing to cooperate with them as a result. Willing recruits are plentiful and supplies are willingly provided so long as the army fulfills its duty to the people. The effect works by line of sight and drops off gradually when the affected person can’t see the bastion or the glow radiating from its dome.

2/5 arcane monuments (+ 1 from constructors)

5/5 mad science

1/5 for medicine

2/5 for legitimacy/governments (+ 2 from spire’s ability)

2/5 for armies (+ 2 from bastion’s ability)

End: 0/0

prestige

Sainthood of the Maelstrom
+ 5
End: 13

Inscrutable inventors
+ 5
-15 for:
Manic Muse II
When seeking to solve a problem they will sometimes be struck by inspiration. While inspired the Inventor will obsess about the solution they have seen and will gain the effects of the following three titles.
->
 Manic Muse III
When seeking to solve a problem they will often be struck by inspiration. While inspired the Inventor will obsess about the solution they have seen and will gain the effects of the following three titles.
End: 3
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