Sunday, May 31, 2015

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Navel Battles of the Tormented
Captain Scathe and the Tormented Fleet are the scourge of the Dreaming Seas. Their exploits are infamous; the mere sighting of the Nightmare Eye is cause enough for most captains to dump their cargo and make full speed in the opposite direction. Of course, not many can outrun the nightmare pirates, who bend the very winds to their commands.

The nightmares of mariners are not limited to shambling, seaweed corpses or vicious, bloodthirsty pirates. The most powerful sailors on the deck of the Nightmare Eye are the basic maladies and curses that plague seafarers, but brought to horrid sentient life: Oxeye, the living squall; Vang the Snake, rope on which you lose your grip at an inopportune time; Scow the Hullbreaker; Draugr, the beat below who drags air-breathers to their final doom.

For Captain Scathe cares not one whit for treasure. He seeks to terrify the sailors of the seas, to make them abandon their gods, renounce their allegiances, and pray to him for salvation before he sinks their ship and sends them to become on with the Plane of Water.

The trade city of Thet spends a considerable amount of its profit safeguarding its fleets from the ravages of Scathe and his band of nightmares. Not in bribes, but in sacrifices. Whole fleets are sent to die so that others may live. Sailors are lost to suffering, torture, and the devilish predilections of nightmares, merely so others can profit off the portals between the seas. Where does the real evil lie?
Scathe is said to recount his query when he shows any new nightmarish recruit his collection of heads

Canus, The Industrious, God of Naps
Shhh, sleep now, dear dreamer.
Rest your eyes.
Rest your legs.
Rest your aching muscles.
Let go your cares.

Did you fill out all that paperwork for the bank? It was due tomorrow. You’ll need to double check it all, make sure you didn’t forget anything.

Sleep.
Sleep in blissful rest.
Your weariness leaves you.
Your aches and pains dissipate.

You should do a puppet show like the ones in Draumheim, but make it about the history of Freemarch; you could show off Eliam’s heroics, and give him some real gravitas. You should write the script now, while you’re inspired.

Quiet and still.
Hush your thoughts and count your breaths.
Enter the meditative state.
Silence your mind and feel the comfort of your body.

What was that against your leg? Was that the sheet of a bug? Is there a spider in the bed? You need to straighten the sheets. And if there was a spider in bed, you should just clean the whole room!

Dream.
Let your cares and desires sail into the boundless sea of sleep.
Let your mind float free upon the ocean.
Drift in the dreaming.
Sink deep into the sea.
Drink your fill of relaxation.

Now you really have to go; you can’t ignore it anymore. Just get up, go, and start again. Oh, distractible Canus, let us try this again in an hour with better results.

Ghadaul – Skelf God of War
Ghadaul, khopesh of the seas, vanquisher of Akvan, grant me the frenzy. Let me smell the red scent in the tide and let it wash over my being. Let the battle be terrible and glorious, brief and bloody. If my enemies flee, may it be towards shore. If my enemies turn and fight, may they overlook my pod, may we feat upon them from all sides.

Glory to you, Ghadaul, breaker of the pact, carver of bone; grant the red vision when my enemy is upon me, but keep it from me in school. The frenzy is holy, the frenzy is profane, the frenzy is my greatest weapon and my greatest curse. Give me the strength to end the glory, give me the will to regain myself.

Holy Ghadaul, lord of blood, thresher of the night, grant me the tides of Draum, show me the dream of victory. I pilot no leviathan, I pact to no horror. I fight for the coming of the Rhenke. The time when the skelf will throw down the Akvan and ride the waves of victory. I bow to none but the Rhen, I worship none but the gods of the sea and stars.
Grand me victory. Grant me the red frenzy.

Gholing – Avatar Slayer
In the beginning, the skelf were dreamed forth into the Kamoho Ocean to serve Namadraum, an avatar of a great predator fish. The skelf served Namadraum faithfully and learned from her the secrets of magic, war, and the pathways through the infinite oceans. For the Epoch of Kamoho, the skelf steered her throughout the seas, helped her hunt the leviathans of the oceans, and tended to her every need.

Then, the last of the original clutch hatched: a skelf named Gholing. Gholing was not compelled to pact bind to Namadraum, nor any other creature. Gholing was a mighty warrior, as skelf are, and with each year of life he grew larger and more powerful. Gholing left the skelf and Namadraum and swam against the currents. He cut a bloody swath through the oceans, murdering monarch and monster alike. Over time, he grew so strong, that he underwent a Great Change, usually reserved only for the Rhens.

On day, Gholing met Namadraum and her Rhenke once again. The oceans darkened with portent, and a lunar eclipse occurred. When this shadow passed over Draum, the Moon, he stirred in his sleep. Such was the end of the Epoch of Kamoho.

Gholing attacked Namadraum, drawing blood. The skelf that served the immortal avatar frenzied to save her, but the violence made them mindless. Gholing, however, kept her frenzy in check. She used the red madness of her lesser siblings against them. Through skill and cunning, she wounded some and threw others into the maws of their own brothers, working her way towards the leviathan avatar.

When the skelf regained their senses, they saw that their god and creator, Namadraum, lay slain. Her still-beating heart had been eaten by one of their own. For the first time in their existence, the skelf felt horror over a kill. Gholing was torn apart by her own siblings, who then took their own lives.

Ever since, the last skelf of a clutch has been slain by its cluchmates. For it is prophesied that another skelf, last of its clutch, will again slay an avatar of Draum and found a Rhenke of her own. This new Rhen will reign for a thousand years, and the endless seas will be changed forever.

Pelagic Order
“To see an entire ocean destroyed is a terrible thing. The waters of life became corrupt, and the nereid race was snuffed out of existence in second, turning the seas red with blood. The entire layer twisted upon itself, fracturing and damaging the Plane of Water. However, it also gave my life purpose.” – Quintarus the Masked

The Pelagic Order is a monastic crusade that operates within the plane of water to keep the various layers of oceans separate and flowing. They ensure that Draum’s dreams remain stable and that oceans to not corrupt each other. They seek out words of creation left behind by the gods. With this power, they heal the damage inflicted on the Plane of Water and keep its seas flowing freely and without corruption.

The First Pelagic Crusade began after the mad dragon, Akylios, created a breech in the Glundro Ocean. He took his demonic forces to the mortal realm and began consuming the sanity of countless worlds. The rifts his journeys created caused the Sea of Chaos to become corrupt, to blend and bleed into other seas, such as the infinite seas of the Plane of water. This stress angered Draum, and his sleep became fitful. As he stirred, an entire layer within the Plane of Water broke down and was utterly destroyed.

The Onir dreamfolk, who had no means to leave their plane of existence and thus escape its destruction, launched the Pelagic Crusade. They used their proximity to Tarken, and other locations imbued with power, to search for words of creation. The gods had once used these arcane words to create the mortal realm and imprison the vile Akvan. Using this divine language, the Onir crusaders healed the oceans wherever they could and sealed off the corruptive influences wherever they could not. The First Pelagic Crusade may very well have saved the entire Cosmos from the wound that mad Akylios inflicted.

After the first Pelagic Crusade, the sanctity of the plane’s layers remained intact, and Draum slept soundly. However, the Onir now had many words of creation under their control. The Pelagic Order’s inner sanctum, led by Caeceius Esdra, became tempted to use this power to shape the planes to their whims. They used the divine words to drain power from other seas and planed, abandoning their lofty goals of healing their own seas. When Quintarus discovered what his mentor had wrought, he rallied the crusading armies against the Pelagium Citadel.

The siege was long and brutal, but the crusaders prevailed. Once they breeched the walls, however, the Citadel exploded in a magical catastrophe. It was utterly destroyed, and no sign of Caeceius were ever found. However, this second crusade was costly. The Pelagic Order had very few crusaders remaining and grey wary about trusting outsiders. Many survivors slipped away to various temples throughout the Dreaming Seas, where they continue their task of healing the breeches between layers and planes.



Phydrena Goddess of Passion

In the glassy seas of Calceron, the night of its creation, upon a rock between surf and sky, the goddess Phydrena waited for Draum to rise. As she idly swirled in cool waters, warm, tropical currents flowed from her fingers and caressed the sea. Where she splashed, a gentle swell formed, and where she dove in, reefs formed and exploded with color.

Phydrena surfaced and gazed up at the moon, which had taken the form of an immense shell. The goddess smiled and basked in its glow. “I have been swimming in your dreams, eternal one; I have seen your innermost thoughts. Your passions and desires were laid bare to me. Your vision of the seas and oceans have enchanted me.” She dove deep into the water and swam through its moonlit beauty.

Surfacing again, she floated on her back, so the moon could contemplate her beauty. “I love you, Draum. Come to me.”

There was a splash in distance waves, and a giant koi swam up, as big as the goddess herself. It glowed with an inner light. Together they swam through the waters; together they founded the race of Atragaria.
 
Akvans Translations
A Linguistic Analysis of Akvan Runes
Ekhardt Mann

Akvan English
AKVAN The first/truth
CRESHE Present (time/plane/location)
OCULON Godsoul singularity
SEFRE Planar Layer
RACKVANA Collapse/Implode
ANEW Ocean/Dreams
MARTRODRAUM Avatar/Akvan God
AFGEE Understanding/learn
PANAR trapped imprisoned
TAKRONO Divine Power
DEGNA cosmos
RICKENSHA Mathematically Sacred/eleven
DROSH Dimension
AKNIL Rule/conquest
REDONNOT Mortal/Damaged
PLOCUSH diseased
WRE Repair/fix/change
RACKTOONIC Destructive/Destroy/End
AGREENA Left/scattered/Release
CRADIFORN Blood Sacrifice
TARKOON Escape
SIMPO Ultrafinitism/Small
ARGIVENE Parasite/harrier
LOSH Arise/create
SCROSH Souls
WRENATO Power
OFNAR Magic
FULVATO Awake/Awaken
AKFON Weapon
AGILARN Light
EOCON Absent
EGARNO Fuel Devour Eat
REVURAH Darkness
DRAKSHAN Eternity/Infinity
OCATA Singularity
FERATA Infinity
SETRONO Curse/Profane
YAGTRO Ascension
RARO Ancient
ROTA Temple
TOCHRO Creation
LOSHRO Survive
PLOTRISH Debris
WECTRON Fissure/Rift
TEHROCT Menhir/altar
DRAKACT Sleep/heal
ACTNOROT Return
FADRALKNA Deliberate/Careful
AKICKNA Explode
SOGGROTH Chaos
FAKONGRIC Gather/Take
YOCKFOON Survive
TEGOTO Demons
DESHTONO Construct/Golem
TRAVRAKA Expect/Want
OKGRATA Obedience
PAAFGEE Ignorance
TADDRAKO Matter
TEKKO Cold
PAKTRO Heat/Flame
LOSHTAK New
EOCON Void/empty
RATAKTRO Lost
ROK Death
GAFKRO Hopeless/fruitless
SOKGROTTIC Discover/Learn
SAROOTH Succeed
POKRATA Remember
TEKROK Cold Death/Blizzard
IZKINRA Dark Star Father
DRAKO Descend
DRAKTRISH Rain / Falling Debris
 
The Science of Predeterminism
The Science of Predeterminism

The immortal voice of Fate, Prophet of Aia, and Prime Philosopher of the Evanescent Technocracy, Eckhart Mann commands his followers to live by his mathematical manifesto.

One must only look back through the numerous, tragic, histories of the mortal races across the span of time to see how small their world views were. The majesty of the divine, the glory of creation, was hidden behind archaic books, scrolls and broken tablets. The truth of existence was derailed by attachment to the beauty of poetry that tried to express it. Violence was the result, as centuries later factions fought to the death of disputed interpretation and typos.

What hope had primitive mortals of even expressing the revelation of the will of the goddess with such primitive language? It was barely above the barking and howling of an animal. Could a dog come close to understanding the majesty of eleven dimensional Akvan compressed space? Could a cricket explain the eternal, recursive journey of the Ouroboros mother of dragons? How could a mere mortal comprehend creation in their base, common tongue?

Feel pride then, you are an Ascended devotee of Aia. A herald of the true path, one who has untangle the tapestry of creation. When I developed the calculus of destiny we could not only determine what the almighty goddess has determined for each and every one of us, but we could calculate the transcendent ecstasy you were supposed to feel to a transcendental number.

We do not use this knowledge as another hubris as mortals are wont to do. We will not reap destruction upon creation, but as enlightened beings we will act as proper stewards and repair what was, what will be, and what should have been. The glory of these divine equations are that they will restore the paradise that creation once was, and ensure its eternal existence.

Let us begin our study into this most important branch of divine mathematics. Let us start be taking a look at the equation most dear to you, the one that runebinds your soul into service of Aia…
 
Child of War The Child of War

Upon the field of battle was brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron once the battle had won his throne.

As the appointed time approached, there did appear upon the hill four riders. The Child did hear a great horn bellow and the armies did surge forth in battle.

The beasts rode off in four directions and each did bring low the enemy, and planting their flag in the red ground.
The Child did not follow but instead stood upon the hill and proclaimed: “Why dost thou not rush the bridge? These base and callous creatures will cost me my victory yet again!”

Then a cry rang out, as if a beast of heaven was calling in the language of men. The best cried out “Come and see!”
The Child did then abandon the bridge like is fellows, and followed the path unto the first rider.
He beheld a white horse, a horn crudely attached. Upon which a rider carried a bow; and a crown was given unto him from his conquests.

As the rider’s side crouched an immense wolf, bearing the name Azazu in flaming letters. The beast’s teeth dripped with blood, and glowed from within, for it had tasted the sun.

“Help me Child! For the enemy approaches upon my seal in force. Surely I will fall to them if I face them alone.”
The Child laughed, “Thou art like a new born babe, who hath entered unto the battle for his first day.”
“You have brought a beast onto this fight, you are unclean! You spread the plague of the demon, whose blood I smell upon you.”

“You will surely fall again the assembled host, and I will laugh at your misfortune.”

The sky blazed red as the second seal was opened. A horn sounded once more, and a rider’s voice rang out, “Come and see!”

And there went out another mount that was red, with the haunches of a lion and the head of a ram. A power was given to her that sat upon this mount to take peace from the world, the rider was dressed like the harlot of Scion, and she wielded a great sword.

“Help me Child! The enemy comes cloaked in the veil of darkness. They scurry like the snake and will surely catch me unaware! Together we may strike them down and the seal will be our glory.”

The Child grew angry. “I have marked that beast upon which you sit, harlot of Scion. You have purchased it with the blood of the righteous and brought ruin to all the land!”

“I will not fight beside you, though your purpose would be the same I mark thee enemy. You are untrained in the art of war, and I will not teach thee!”

The sky blazed once more, and the third seal was opened. A new voice rant out over the battle, it cried out “Come and see!”

The Child approached the seal, and lo he beheld a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in hand.

The Child heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, “Whence comes the dragon? Surely it is in morn to decimate the War. I name him Akylios and weep for his prophet Jounaru.”

The Child sneered at the rider. “Art thou a puppet whose strings are pulled upon the fae stage? Speak plainly in the tongue of men and do no dance for the pleasure of the base few learned scribes.”

The Child left the rider of the black horse behind, he rode out into the wilderness and did cry out unto heaven.

“Gods of the Vigil! Condemn these soldiers who would fight at my side into the flaming pit. They are not deserving of victory!”

“Base and callous creatures! They will cost me my victory yet again! Why do you plague me with their presence? I, who am most deserving?”

The Child did then stomp his feet and attempt to rend the ground with great leaps of anger so as not to be cast out of the battlefield.

Then did the sky turn black as night, and the ground was corrupted by plague. The fourth seal had opened and the Child heart a cry over the battle, “Come and see!”

And the Child looked, and beheld a pale horse: and the name of the blaze above him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the battle, to kill with the sword.

The Child saw under the altar of soul them that were slain, and for the testimony which they held:

The souls cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Child, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell upon this world?”

The Child sneered at their pain. “Art thou angered my brothers? Weep and despair, for thou has lost the battle. You are but unskilled babes, abominations before my holy majesty.”

And the Child saw the dead, small and great, stand before the pale rider, whose name was Death; and the seal remained opened: and the dead fount their resurrection.

And Death reared upon his horse and cried, “Victory is at hand for the faithful! The third part of the sea will run with blood! Mark yourselves m brethren, so that the healer may mend your wounds!”

The Child cried out “Death I am here! I am greatly skilled in slaughter! Why will you not mark me? Why travel with these low born souls?”

Death regarded the wails and cries of the Child. “Oh Child. Thou art the bad see in the host of the faithful. The faults of the army are numerous, but it is but an ember next to the radiance of sin you possess.”

The Child did throw his sword upon the ground and a great cry was uttered unto the heaven.

Death rode out to victory with the army of souls, leaving the Child behind. “We all agree that this apocalypse would be improved if you contracted the plague! Preferably in your tongue!”

And thus did Scion fall.
 
 

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