BBeast

Mid/High Casual - Divinus: The Deity Roleplay Mk.II

@Lugubrious, Good to see you, mate. Aside from all the shenanigans on Galbar, you may have noticed that we've had a change of management.

Also, Slough had a kid. Hope you don't mind.

Mid/High Casual - Divinus: The Deity Roleplay Mk.II

@Muttonhawk Ah, I had forgotten you had written that info sheet. Reasonable enough, then. Although, globally, most of the rovaick population is still concentrated around the Ironhearts.

Mid/High Casual - Divinus: The Deity Roleplay Mk.II

I was under the impression that goblins were spreading quickly. Yorum has many goblin slaves and they are the types to run out into the wild blue yonder. However, if it makes more sense for hain to be more populous still, I can change the wiki to reflect that.

If nothing else, the rate of goblin population growth per individual is certainly higher than hain. Goblins may overtake hain in numbers eventually.

@Muttonhawk

I was not aware that Yorum had any significant quantity of goblin slaves. We haven't (to my knowledge) canonized the spread of sizeable populations of Rovaick far from the Ironhearts (there are were a lot in Xerxes, but that's basically in the foothills). That said, it makes sense for Rovaick to start spreading outwards (mostly just those with Sularn's Oath, though, since the others are trapped inside the mountains in fear of being attacked by White Giants).

Anyway, enslaving significant quantities of goblins and shipping them to Yorum would be a significant logistical endeavour and probably one with notable societal impact. Doable, but not trivial.

Slaves notwithstanding, I agree that it is likely that goblin populations will at some point overtake that of the other races.

---

Also, @Rtron, is the city of Xerxes (or what's left of it) on Galbar or in the Realm of Madness?

Mid/High Casual - Divinus: The Deity Roleplay Mk.II

How can goblins have higher populations than Hain if they live in a smaller area and have less mentions of them having farming? Just curious, in case I am missing something.

@Double Capybara

Rovaick do have farming (that was part of what Toun gave them) and goblins breed like rats. However, I do agree that hain should probably have a higher population, simply due to their global presence. (Goblins also have a higher mortality rate than hain, which is balanced by their excessive breeding.)

Mid/High Casual - Divinus: The Deity Roleplay Mk.II

The Great Artisan, Divine Mason, Builder of Civilisations
Level 5 God of Crafting (Masonry, Carpentry, Smithing, Alchemy)
25 Might & 1 Free Point

The centre of Cornerstone had its industrial rhythm warped by a rapid, out-of-sync tink-tink-tink-tink-ing on the floor. Toun's tapping foot was the small release of anxious anticipation he could afford after his meeting with Logos.

"Get thee down from it, brother," Toun muttered to himself. "Chiral Phi's pet projects can wait."

Looking down on his spinning wheel, Toun observed a horizontal window into the view of his spy in Metera. The hain in the apron was finally taking his leave from the scene. Toun turned around.

On the gleaming white floor in front of Toun materialised the figure of the same hain. He was just as out of place amongst the slave hain as the last time he appeared. He took one step before Toun hurriedly closed the distance in an unseen pace and loomed, blue eye bright and wide.

"You called," Teknall stated up to him. "I assume that means you have met with Logos."

"Correct." Toun's terse pace was for once out of more hurry than derision. "He will fight the murderer, but our plan must be adapted."

Toun knelt, craned his head to be on Teknall's hain eye level, and took Teknall firmly by the upper arms. "The trap. What is your progress on it?"

Toun was rarely this anxious. Teknall didn’t dither. "Phi has provided me with full details on the workings of the Tesseract rift. Construction of the trap can begin immediately," he reported.

"You have not begun?!" Toun scrunched and relaxed his brow. "No matter. This way there is no retracing steps. We have little time to waste."

Teknall shrugged his way out of Toun’s grip, flicked his hain beak from side to side checking for any prying eyes. Then, with a wave of his hand, an inky black rift opened beside them. "Through here is my private Workshop."

The pair stepped through, Toun after Teknall.

On the other side of the portal, Teknall’s Workshop was abuzz with activity. Curving overhead, the manufacturing line was operating continuously, with the roar of furnaces, the grinding of lathes, the hiss of pneumatics, the clunking of tools. The line was producing Prometheans and queuing them for export. A handful of Promethean Manipulators had been set aside from the rest and were helping to build the other Prometheans. Toun gave them a curious glance, as if he was too preoccupied to comment.

"Welcome to my Workshop, Toun," Teknall gestured around himself. Toun's eye traced up around the circular construct, apparently too distracted to fully appreciate it.

Teknall snapped his fingers and the Promethean Manipulators left their current task to go build something else. He strolled over to a nearby desk, pushed aside a stack of used designs, and began transcribing the formulae he had received from Phi onto paper.

"So, tell me about the meeting," Teknall said.

Toun clasped his hands behind his back and read over Teknall's shoulder. His recount was rapid. "Logos has barely altered himself since the beginning. He has neither given up his desires to rule in spite of our family's behaviour, nor has he filled the hole in his heart." He took a second to scan at the edges of the workshop. "He made as much clear to me upon our meeting. However, a crack appeared in his manner when I showed him the truth of Kyre's death and spoke the reason why I sought him."

Standing up straight, Toun took a moment to centre himself. He paced over to a desk littered with tools, and lifted one end of a pair of calipers with one elongated finger. "Seeing the power the shadow held, seeing Kyre bent before him, Logos did something curious. He said no words. He gathered an amount of power great enough to see the end of planets and projects divine."

Toun lowered the tool without a sound and hovered his hands over the rest. "The power condensed -- as he does with it -- into lustrous plates of realta flesh and..." Toun pointedly tapped at metals that rang at different notes to emphasise his words. "...covered...his...body."

Teknall paused from writing for a moment. "Armour," he commented almost instinctively. He would need to acquire the specifications later.

Twisting to face Teknall once more, Toun angled his head upwards, looking down. "To complete himself, he cast his blade before me." Fingers raised and straightened to sign Singularity. "That line of consuming matter stretched to the length of a weapon." His tone lightened, after a pause. "And then he asked me to kill the 'usurper.'"

Toun spread his arms, raising his voice. "'It has been some time since I have had reason to use excess,' he said. 'Let us hope that I am still capable of the performance that has become expected of we gods,' he said!" His voice lowered to a quiet growl. "And still he will fight. Because he must."

Toun took a step to glide closer to Teknall once again. The lower half of his eye grew obscured by a faintly amused cheek. "Is it not telling of him to behave in such a way, brother?"

Teknall tapped his pencil on the desk a few times as he processed Toun’s question. "He feels threatened," Teknall observed. "He considered it necessary to expend an exorbitant amount of power for his own protection and as a show of force. That is not the action of someone who feels safe."

"Our thoughts are aligned, brother," Toun said quietly. He turned towards the desk. "Make no mistake, he has fostered great power. But telling it is that he feels fear at all, in spite of the mask he has shown to the family. Such a thing should not be forgot when entreating him."

Toun quickened his words, looking at Teknall's notes. "For now, it is inconsequential. Logos has done more than enough to ensure he will be a match for the murderer. Our concern at present is the trap. What do you need from me to enact its design, brother?"

Teknall finished writing and picked up the equation-covered paper. "The Tesseract itself is relatively straightforward. Some of your Calligraphy would definitely help make that process easier. The hard part, however, is getting the target inside the Tesseract." He looked up to Toun. "Once fully formed, nothing can cross the boundary of the Tesseract. This means that the Tesseract must be formed around the murderer. The trap must physically encase the target before the Tesseract is completed."

He put the notes to one side and sketched on a fresh page. "As such, the trap needs to be sufficiently flexible to cast its snare over the murderer regardless of its motions. It needs to be able to survive being struck by that weapon. It needs to be conducive to forming and containing the Tesseract. The trap should be able to inhibit movement even before it is fully formed. And, of course, it should be something you can wield effectively. I have a few possible implementations, but perhaps the one which fits the criteria best is..." Teknall lifted his sketch up for Toun to inspect. "How are you at weaving?"

The blue eye narrowed. "I cannot fault the elegance of this, yet..." Toun's head stretched from the base of his neck in a slow, silent inspection. Sincere confusion slowed his voice. "Is this what it appears to be, brother?"

"In a sense," Teknall replied, "The needle embeds a thread of power into physical space. Once this thread has been woven into a closed surface, the Tesseract is formed and the shape pulled taut."

"Stitched to the cloth as the garment is made," Toun observed. "No escape."

"Exactly," Teknall said. "If this design is satisfactory, we can make it."

Toun's eye flicked to Teknall's. "It shall suffice. We have not the time nor the resources to practically experiment with further designs, if my prediction of required effort in its construction proves even partially correct."

"Excellent." Teknall put down the paper and moved over to a furnace. Metals were deposited into it to form an alloy rich in orichalcum and other magically-conductive elements.

"And the device in action..." Toun tracked Teknall's movement. "It shall falsely appear to annihilate the essence it traps?"

Teknall poured the molten metal into a cast for an ingot. "It should. The Tesseract should block any essence. That said, Logos would probably realise that a Tesseract was made, considering that he built the first one."

"Then he may be flattered." Toun held one arm behind his back. "So long as he shall also be deceived."

Removing the red-hot ingot from its mold, Teknall carried it over to an anvil. One of the mechanical arms which serviced the workshop handed Teknall a hammer and he beat the metal into shape. The hammer drew out the hot metal into a metre-long spike. Expertly aimed taps created facets and edges. The god-sized needle quickly took shape.

Teknall left the needle aside and stretched out a hand to the Elemental Siphon. Carbon and various trace elements streamed out and formed a black ball in his hand. Teknall then brought his other hand over the ball and squeezed. The carbon sphere blazed with an iridescent-swirled white, and the roar of superheated air echoed through the Workshop. When the object cooled, Teknall removed one hand to reveal a transparent eight-sided crystal. A diamond -- a flawless carbon lattice save for the intricate and precisely placed patterns of various other elements, which gave it a gentle blue hue and a peculiar iridescence that shifted as different angles were viewed.

Teknall settled the gem on a bench and chiselled out geometrically precise facets. Taking this fist-sized cut diamond over to the needle, which was being kept hot by a robotic arm with a blowtorch, Teknall attached the diamond by hammering over metal claws placed specifically to hold that diamond in place.

Now Teknall returned to the bench with the plans and scribbled in a few lines of text next to the sketch. He then handed the piece of paper to Toun. "To grant the needle its function, I need you to program it with this Calligraphy."

Toun floated his hand to pinch the top of the paper between his thumb and forefinger, holding it aloft and letting his eye shudder as it took in the words. "'Trail divine webbing at refractive index dissimilar to the tangential quotient found in conventional…'" He exhaled with frustration. "Too many steps. I could do this in half the time by tuning beyond your rounding errors."

"Then do so. We’re making this together, aren’t we?" Teknall said.

The page crackled as Toun tossed it over his shoulder. "You have been principled to making machines by a detrimental habit, Teknall. You are lucky I am here." A twinge of offence only briefly flicked across Teknall’s face. Toun took up the needle in one hand and inspected its surface. "In future, do not feel obliged to design my calligraphy beyond terms that come most naturally to your communication, lest you waste your mind and our time."

The familiar red ink beaded on Toun's extended, claw-like fingertip. With flow resembling the grace of spinning galaxies, his writing inscribed onto the needle exact symbols that hissed and dried in the leftover heat. Each one brought the oversized needle further from a natural physical object and closer to an instrument of extradimensional manipulation. To Toun, who had not studied the Tesseract further than overlooking Teknall's notes in a cursory manner, he was merely implementing modules of counter-reality that would feed into one another. The end result was an ornate pattern, with only one piece missing.

"Anything further, brother?"

Toun lowered the side of the needle to Teknall's eyes. Though his feedback was characteristically rude, even he had to admit to himself that the calligraphy on the needle lead itself into efficiencies he did not previously think possible. It was not so much a programmed machine as a set of new rules. Their domains of understanding and power were as distinct as ever.

Teknall lifted the needle out of Toun’s hands and briefly read over the rest of the calligraphy. "Only one more thing. It needs power."

He summoned over the Workshop Prometheans with a wave of his hand. They had made a pair of large coiled orichalcum wires wound around an open void. The devices were set in place on the floor and Teknall placed the needle between them. Each end of the needle was held at the apex of the coils by what the learned would know to be the unseen force of magnetism. The Workshop’s mechanical arms plugged the pair of devices directly to the Stellar Engine Core via thick cables. All that remained was to flick the switch.

At Teknall’s will, various devices in the Workshop shut down in steps of clacks and thuds, conserving power. A strange silence came over the Workshop when the main manufacturing line came to a halt. Even the lights blinked out, until only the light nearest to the gods was on. Above their heads, starfire built up in the heart of the Stellar Engine Core. The accumulators hummed with electricity.

Teknall’s hand hovered over the switch which would activate the machine. "Ready?"

"Eager to witness."

Teknall’s hand closed over the switch and pulled it down. There was a clunk as the circuit closed and electricity crackled in the air around the devices. The coils hummed to life. At this point it was clear that these were not some simple electrical devices, for the coils cast out a golden light. This glow crept along the needle from either end until it met in the middle. There was a dazzling flash. The circuit of divine power closed and godly might arced through the needle. The hum of the apparatus amplified to a roar, and the metal of the needle shone incandescent. The patterns drawn on the needle and embedded in the diamond were highlighted by the energies coursing through it.

After a few seconds, the glow dulled, and the coils powered down, and the rest of the Workshop slowly blinked back to life. Teknall snatched the needle while it was still hot and plunged it into a trough of water, quenching the metal in hisses and bubbles and sealing in the power. He lifted the needle up with a slosh and held its dripping, steaming form aloft.

While Toun’s Calligraphy had given suggestions of its extradimensional nature, the empowered needle was unmistakably hypergeometric. Its surfaces seemed to rotate through time and higher dimensions, and ordinary space appeared to part aside from the sharpened point.

Experimentally, Teknall weaved the needle back and forth a few times in the space in front of him. Trailing behind the needle was a glowing, white-blue thread of twisted space suspended in the air behind the 'spool' of the diamond in the needle’s head. Teknall flicked the needle, and the thread was pulled from its position and retracted into the diamond.

"It is finished," Teknall exclaimed, with some excitement in his voice. Never before had he held a single item with so much power in it, and it was somewhat exhilarating for the craft god. Toun was naturally harder to please and stood stoically, yet appearances were not all.

"Teknall, with such a device, you may have saved the life of a god." Toun dropped any trace of insincerity and disdain for a monotonous moment. "Though not a virtuous life today, it is a divine life nonetheless. My worded appreciation cannot scratch the depths of my gratitude. I am sure Kyre's memory would give similar thanks."

Teknall nodded solemnly. "I hope so as well." He then held the needle by the middle and offered it to Toun. "What shall we name it?"

Toun took the needle near one end and held it vertically to read the symbols on its length. The sheer power caused his eyelid to twitch on contact. "A tool to seal a murderer in an inescapable net."

The needle spun under the flick of Toun's little finger. Under his will, it shot away from him in erratic directions, trailing a thread as before in the space before them until the pattern of a closing fabric took shape. Two seconds later, Toun lifted a hand and closed his porcelain fist just as the needle abruptly stopped between his fingers.

"A Tomb Weaver."

The threads in the air violently collapsed into a displaced wind and were sucked, thrashing like a flailing snake, back into the diamond.

"This I swear: Kyre's murderer shall be stopped."

Wherein Toun is Mary Poppins, y'all!

Teknall meets up with Toun. Toun was impatient and anxious to get to work.
Teknall shows Toun his man cave.
Toun gossips about his meeting with Logos and how Logos is secretly afraid, he thinks.
Teknall and Toun team up to forge a hyperdimensional needle, capable of weaving a Tesseract prison to trap Xos.
After pumping the needle full of electricity (and divine power) like a mad scientist, Teknall holds aloft his first truly powerful artefact.
Toun takes the needle, names it Tomb Weaver, and vows to stop Kyre’s murderer.

Might Summary:
Before:
Teknall - L5 - 25 MP (10.5 reserved by Workshop) - 1 FP - 8C/7D
Toun - L8 - 22 MP (+22mpt) - 3 FP - 8C/8D <Holy site turn counter 0/4>

-12 MP: Construction of Tomb Weaver (-5 from Teknall, -7 from Toun)

After:
Teknall - L5 - 20 MP (5.5 reserved by Workshop) - 1 FP - 8C/7D
Toun - L8 - 15 MP (+22mpt) - 3 FP - 8C/8D <Holy site turn counter 0/4>

Mid/High Casual - Divinus: The Deity Roleplay Mk.II

<Snipped quote by Kho>



I'd say it isn't, your honor. The prosecution requests the defense to be penalized for this.

@Slime

You can't impeach me. This is a dictatorship!

Mid/High Casual - Divinus: The Deity Roleplay Mk.II

@Rtron It sounds like the kind of shenanigans that Vestec always wanted.

Mid/High Casual - Divinus: The Deity Roleplay Mk.II

<Snipped quote by Antarctic Termite>

To be specific!

-Vestec appears, makes some long spheeel about an arena (think LADIES AND GENTLEMANNNNNN type thing)

-Teleports Xerxes (Status effects, all forces, and everything else) into the Realm of Madness. Declares it 'The Arena'. (-10 might to make the Holy Site 'The Arena')

-A giant half hourglass (with boulders instead of sand and an open bottom) appears above the ruined city of Xerxes and all it's combatants. Next to it are two numbers one red and one blue that respectively represent Xerxes and Lif and allies numbers. Vestec declares that the first side to eliminate all the other side wins. Also that when the giant hour glass empties, his shield will leave and the denizens of the Realm of Madness will have free reign. He declares the fight to begin. Everyone presumably begins to throw down, giant boulders from the half-hourglass begin to fall, and demons begin to gather at the edges of the shield. They soon reach numbers many time the size of Liffy and allies numbers.

-Right as the shield falls, Liffy engages Amartia in mortal combat.

-Before the Demons can overwhelm everyone through sheer numbers, Amartia is slain and Vestec teleports everyone out of Xerxes (and thus the Realm of Madness) and lets them do their own thing.

@Rtron

I hope you brought that up with the people involved.

Mid/High Casual - Divinus: The Deity Roleplay Mk.II

@Kho In my defence, I did put it in a hider.

@Slime For mapping that timeline, I used Xerxes. Tauga rose to power almost immediately after the Realta invasion. She was in power for a couple of years (long enough to rebuild a lot of stuff and for a famine to pass). Then Amartia returned, and things went downhill rapidly. War preparations took some undetermined time, then the Xerxes Battle happened (off stage, mostly). Concurrently, it would have taken Lifprasil several years to manufacture and train 10000 Cosmic Knights.

We are now formally after the Xerxes battle. 5 years post Realta seems like a good date.

That said, the circa 5 years is very circa. It could be plus or minus several decades.

Mahz's Dev Journal

Regarding Zeroth posts:

I have noticed that, while the user thumbnail is hidden in the Zeroth post, the signature of the person who posted it is not. Perhaps the signature should also be suppressed on the zeroth post.