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Day Unknown: Gods/Religion

Deities appear perhaps a handful of times in a century, seemingly stepping out of some other plane of existence and into the material world.

Gods in the Fragmented World are destructive natural disasters. Their forms are varied from humanoid to animalistic or unimaginably monstrous, but all are colossal titans of incredible magical power that wreak havoc wherever they tread. Their very presence brings violently strange weather perhaps because of the magical force contained in the vast beings distorting reality around them.

Very few even seem to notice the people of the world or the civilizations beneath them.

The worst event occurred in the Dominion of Grove when two gods appeared at once. They became know as the Two Sisters and a multitude of religions have mythology surrounding them, however the true facts have been pieced together from fragments of recordings found in the ruins of the City of Grove during the Rebuilding. 

Some peoples do form religions following the gods: many do so through some chance that worship or sacrifice will appease them and lessen the destruction (the effectiveness of this is undetermined), while other cults claim that the destruction is a blessing and insist that people should give themselves to the gods by putting themselves in harm’s way when the time comes. Some zealots claim to know when and where the next god will appear. Others maintain that they are a punishment for evil deeds.

The deities appeared on the open plains in the west of the Dominion and were observed from afar by sages of Grove. They resembled colossal mantises, one black and one red. The two creatures appeared to be arguing and their alien vocals shattered buildings and vaporized forests as they strode across the Dominion. The argument escalated and the pair began to exchange blows. The effects were catastrophic and resulted in the whole destruction of the Dominion of Grove. Cities and mountains were reduced to iridescent dust. Sap boiled in the veins of the trees and then turned to toxic vapor.

When the clouds of ash and rains of acid cleared, the Black Sister was gone and the corpse of the Red remained. The survivors of Grove emerged and rebuilt their city in the hollow of the deity’s carapace.

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Day ?/ Some Geography

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Day 5 - People

The above incomplete folk tale describes a legendary hero of a secretive and shadowy kingdom, however the stories disagree about whether he is an ally or an enemy of Oolitica. Tales of the Mycelium Prince vary widely and it is difficult to discern whether he is one person with chaotically changing motivations, or separate figures allied to very different causes.

Oolitica of the Stones, 

The Independent Kingdom of the Oolitic Mushroom, The Fungus Kingdom, etc.

The Kingdom of Oolitica in cradled beneath the surface in the vast limestone caverns of the Western Reaches of the Mantle. It is unknown just have far the Kingdom reaches.

Traditionally very few people return from Oolitica, but recently the kingdom has opened itself to trading and alliances with outside powers and the realities of the underground territory have become clear.

The ruling class of Oolitica are fungus-based lifeforms who can disperse, reform and propagate themselves through spores. The common folk are flesh and blood outsiders (many seem to be unfortunate visitors) who are colonised by the mycelium aristocracy. They retain some free-will, although this can be revoked and they are often subtly controlled or entirely overtaken by their masters.

The rigid feudal system of Barons, Earls, Lords, etc serve beneath the Deep King of Oolitica, although no outsider has ever gained an audience with him (perhaps fortunately)

The Oolitic nobility refer to themselves entirely with traditionally male pronouns and titles, and although feminine people exist among their ensnared population, these are also referred to by masculine pronouns. It seems the Fungus have no concept of gender, only Mycelium and Not-Mycelium.

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Day 5 -People

We’ll come back to the previous prompts later. I want to introduce some of the cultures that live in the world.

The Empire of Metamorphosis

Known also as the Empire of Moths, the Lepidoptera Queendom, and the Silken Empire.

The Moths begin life as larvae and upon reaching a certain age spin cocoons to make the transition into adult form. This transformation is the central ritual of a culture steeped in ceremony. 

The Weaving of Cocoons is undertaken under the guidance of an Imago (adult) usually the parent of the larvae. After the metamorphosis is complete the new adult Moth takes their silk cocoon and presents it to the Weavers to be unravelled and remade into the fine silk that is the economic lifeblood of the Empire.

One strange thing that the Empire imports in return for their Silk (aside from the standard oil-seeds and flesh-coal) is Poetry. Their love of poems is not fully understood by those outside the Empire. Imported verse becomes an integral part of the Moth’s language, which is already one of the most complicated insect dialects.

The Queens take the throne by defeating the previous ruler in another confusing ritual that combines combat, poetry, and a form of dance-flight. The ritual rarely ends with the death of a combatant, and the defeated would-be-queen takes up life as a Weaver-Priest.

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Day One: Introduction

I’ll be following the prompts more or less, but not all of them will make sense, not all of the world will make sense, and not all of the world is under my control.

This World has no name yet. It is made of fragments:

The World is made up of a number of Layers:

The Crust

The Mantle

The Core

The Heart

The Rings

The Core and The Heart is the centre of the planet. The Heart pumps blood around the world in a cyclic system of veins and arteries These vessels spread throughout the mantle and up to the surface where they form capillaries before returning the blood to the vast chambers of the heart.

The Worldblood is a means of transport and a source of power to the inhabitants of the world.

The Crust is the Surface of the planet. It is approximately 3/8 land and 5/8 water.

The Rings are a system of three which orbit the planet. 

One is a sparse layer of clouds inhabited by the Echinodermata: various species of seastar-like creatures which are carried by the systems of wind and weather. They feed on residual magic energy and are a source of food for many cultures.

The second is a ring of small ice particles in the upper atmosphere which appears as a flat ring of blue-white from a distance.

The other is a ring of bone called the Ossicle Arch. It is formed of fossilised bone of unknown origin, scarred and pitted by the harsh space above the protective atmosphere. Its hollow forms have been carved into homes for the bone-dwellers who prefer life far above the surface. 

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