Karmesh's page

Gathering Power 2.2: 3d6 + 5 ⇒ (5, 3, 3) + 5 = 16 (+1 for ending last turn with 5 points)

"Egalion, son and successor of Egartan, gather those sireath who fight evil with all their heart and all their power. Gather them and train them to harness the power of my divine light. Thanks to The Dreamers and The Venerate you know that a dark and terrible foe is waiting beyond your borders, and the blessed paladins shall lead the fight that will come upon you."

Command Egalion to create the order of paladins.

"To all those warriors in training right now, I see your dedication and your strength. Put on your heaviest armor and strike with purpose, for I will make your a force to be reckoned with. You will hold your grounds and endure whatever opposes you."

Advance sireath in heavy infantry warfare.

"Let it be known that I, Karmesh the Lightbringer, reach out to all those opposing the poison and evil of Eyero. Let us join forces and power to bring an end to this dark threat."

Points Remaining: 11.

Well... darn. Four cities, four armies, enhanced warfare? Eyero, you dirty, dirty bastard :)

EDIT: I have started to draw a map in Photoshop, assuming that future landscaping will rarely be on a global scale. I'll upload a preview when I'm ready and if everyone agrees, we could just use it as background layer in the Etella World Map and delete all the manual icons for mountains, trees, etc.

No worries Nimeton, I think it's a very cool idea! But what do you mean about the wendigo, was that your first idea until lamassu came along, or do you still have some plans for them?

Twinstar being a "Rome" is also very cool, I was aiming for something similar with Suukarmeshar, but I think I'll settle for it being the second-best city for those who can't make it all the way up north. Karmesh will definitely send some of his people up to Twinstar!

Gathering Power #1: 3d6 + 7 ⇒ (2, 5, 6) + 7 = 20

Karmesh watches the bloodshed in the north, and the wandering groups of men and other races all over Etella. "A time will come when food will be a more valueable ressource than all the precious gifts mortal trade with each other combinded. Sireath, my children, the time of hunter-gatherers is over, and I will see to it that your acres will be the most fertile under my light. Suukaarmeshar will be the granary for all in need, and I command you to give all those without home or hope a fair share of bread, as long as they are willing to work for it. Cultivate acres and build silos, my children, for this noble undertaking."

Advance Civilization: the sireath become experts on agriculture.

The sireath created a vast network of canals around their city and all the smaller settlements, so their fields and acres would never be flooded, or completely without water. Between the canals, they cultivated the land, and soon crops starts to grow in great numbers.

"Egartan, my trusted avatar, I know your bones start to ache more with every coming winter, and you have served me and the city well. I will ask this one last thing of you, one last service to me and your kind, before I will release you from your burden and accept your son as your succcessor. Go to the north and errect a new city, for Suukarmeshar cannot hold the entirety of my people, and your numbers grow. Go, and build a city according to your visions and planning, for I will not dictate any details or requirements."

Honored by this task, the venerate Egartan summons workers, engineers, soldiers, and architects, and they move north until their scouts tell them of strange forests, foreign races, and high mountains ahead. They find a suitable patch of land and start building a city, Shereppak. Like Suukarmeshar, it is build on an artificial hill, but instead of terraces the new city features a strong city wall and a number of towers, for Egartan fears what will come down from the north.

Seeing that his children perform so well, Karmesh shines with joy and delight, and in that moment he has an inspiration. He gathers the spirits of lions and mighty birds of prey and infuses a patch of clay with their essence. Under his guiding hands, a four-legged beast manifests itself, with the wings of an eagle, the body of a lion, but the head of a wise human. "Lamassu, you will be my ambassador and my holy symbol. Spread your wings and learn the secrets of the lands. Advise those worthy of your wisdom, but lead to ruin those with hatred and ignorance in their hearts." From his outstretched hands, lamassus begin to fly down to Etella.

Lamassu are a lot like sphinxes, the males have just fancy beards

And with that gesture, Karmesh blesses his children and brings them closer to his heart. They work hard, they value honesty and strength, and they claim their destiny.

5 Points to advance the sireath in matters of agriculture, 1 Point to command Egartan to build a new city, 6 Points to create the race of lamassu, and 3 Points to purify the sireath to +2 Good.

Points Remaining: 5.

Gathering Power #8: 3d6 + 1 ⇒ (2, 6, 3) + 1 = 12 (+3 for ending 4 turns in a row under 5 points)

Alarmed by the appearance of war in the north, Karmesh orders Egartan to protect the city. "Gather the strong ones, skilled at arms, to form an army and protect the city and its surrounding territories from any harm that may come upon you."

While Egartan goes out, follwoing his god's wishes, Karmesh picks a young architect from those who built his city, Nanesar. He appears to him as a small aspect of the sun coming down from the skies and hovering above him. "Nanesar, you show great promise, so you chose you to lead a new project, now that the city itself is almost done. Go the the holy area, which is a flat space right now, and errect a temple. Go and errect the biggest temple seen on Etella, with an everburning light on top for everyone to see in the troubling times ahead."

So Nanesar leads the city's architects and engineers and they build a massive ziggurat, following divine mathematics and alignments in the process. Several hundret feet above the city the ziggurat grows, and within the chamber of ceremonies on top of it they ignite an everburning fire, visible for miles around Suukarmeshar.

2 Points to command Egartan to raise an army, and 6 Points to command the city to built a ziggurat.

Remaining Points: 7.

Deal! Yikes, but deal!

It would make for great mythology, wouldn't it? Hm...

This is seriously disturbing, but I just had an image in my mind that Karmesh and Belisous would have a fling resulting in catastrophically fire elemental children with the self-righteousness of Karmesh and the lust for destruction of Belisous... I need some soap now.

Aww, you're saying the nicest things, good ol' Belisous! Don't forget, I have Fire (Wrath) as one of my domains, and I've been thinking of burning those damn poison forests down for some time now. And everyone else who gets in my way.

Seriously, I just spilled my tea... :)

I think they are not really blank, but just nondescript landscape compared to the special hexes we all filled with custom stuff. And as Belisous said, it just gets a bit more expensive, that's all. We created a lot of things so far, it's time for some destruction :)

Ok, I'll keep away from the poison caves then.

Do we want to set a limit for how long the first age should go? 8 rounds? 10 rounds? I mean there are still a few spaces left on the map, and a few other basics one might to include (moons, sea currents, perpetual storms, volcanos,...), but I am very eager to see the age of races.

Speaking of races, I just noticed that I forgot to include initial alignment for the sireath and the azzaruki/wendigo (p.8 in the PDF). That would be 1 good for the sireath, neutral for the azzaruki, and -1 evil for the Wendigo.

Gathering Power #7: 3d6 + 2 ⇒ (3, 4, 1) + 2 = 10 (+3 for ending 3 turns in a row under 5 points).

Karmesh looks down upon the sireath, and he sees strength, honor, and dedication. But the sireath live in small settlements, spread across the southern marshlands, with no one to guide all of them in the daily affairs of mortal life. Some tribes prosper and grow, but some fall prey to the hazards of the desert, or the poisonous realms of Eyero and Nyakushuur.

Karmesh notices one of exceptional wisdom and strength among the sireath, Egartan. He stands tall, and his words speak of truth and honor. Under his guidance, a larger group of sireath had gathered, and his gaze often went skywards to seek answers in the celestial movements. And the Lightbringer decides to answer this one. "Egartan, I hear your questions, and I see your guidance and your strength. Fear not, for I will make you my herald. You shall be a leader among the sireath, to guide them, to defend them. Accept this gift of mine, and I make you the first Priest-King of my people, the first one of a glorious dynasty to follow."

Egartan accepted the gift of Karmesh, and he became his avatar. A great many legends began to spread around, causing several tribes of sireath to gather in one place and see the divine herald for themselves.

"Now that you gathered my people, Egartan, you shall create a place for them. A safe place, with houses built from fired clay. A divine place, towering over the fertile marshlands, closer to my light. A just place, where you will judge over my people. A place of trade and music, where people from all over Etella may come together. This will be the city of Suukarmeshar, The Seat of Karmesh."

So the sireath under Egartan's command began to erect a city on top of an artifical hill. Thousands of hands worked hard under Karmesh's light, but slowly the city began to take shape and it was a beautifil place, where green terraces promised cool shadows and portals built from enameled bricks showed scenes of Karmesh's divine history.

Spending 10 points to create an avatar, and 2 points to command the creation of a city, Suukarmeshar.

Points Remaining: 1.

Eyero, do you have any plans we should incorporate into the next rounds, in case you're absent?

Gathering Power #5: 3d6 + 1 ⇒ (3, 4, 2) + 1 = 10 (+2 for ending 2 turns in a row with under 5 points)

Karmesh looks down upon the Sireath. "I gave you Nal-Athiemar, The End of All Things, where your essence may rest in eternity. Now, I will give more, to mark you as my children and to allow you to find your path for as long as you walk Etella.

I will give you the wisdom to track my movements, and the movements of my celestial kin, for all things that have been, all things that are, and all things that will be have already happened. See the patterns within the stars and follow the course of my journey, and you will be able to tell right from wrong. Look also upon Zurakar, for his phases hold many secrets for everyone to see, but only few to understand. This is my gift to you, sun-children, use it well."

And Karmesh bestows upon the sireath the ability to read from the stars and the sun and the moon, and they start making charts and calendars, uncovering divine mathematics and the beauty of the natural order of things in the process.

Advancing the sireath with expert knowledge of astronomy, focussed on mathematics and direct applications such as exact calendars or maps. I think it's different enough from Dyrm's latest gift to the Vesper, although a certain overlap might be there.

Points Remaining: 2.

Like everyone said, Eyero taking action was surprising, but in a good way. I dare say that few worlds in existence got as many afterlifes as this one within a single turn :)

Regarding our map, I think we might want to create a second one at some point to trace all the not-earthshaping business, and perhaps show the other planes of existance? It's getting increasingly hard to find empty spots or make additions without moving other parts around, but maybe that's just my famous clumsiness.

We are at turn 5 right now. The link above has a blank space in for some reason, I send a PM to Tobaris with a correction.

"And I will love to hear the stories about the ones who make it, who travel the the end of the world and beyond to find their loved ones, until they join eternity together!" Karmesh responds to Belisous.

To Pyreous, he gives an approving nod. "That was kind of you, Pyreous, and maybe it will not only test those who are determined, but also ourselves as creators and guardians of our respective realms. If at any future point you need my support, I will be there."

Offering Pyreous an alliance and/or a loan of Power points

IC: Karmesh is furious with Eyero, and will likely try to get back at him later.
OOC: Yeah, I have to admit that was a great idea. Karmesh always intended to make an afterlife in the image of Dilmun (from the ancient Sumerians, who serve as a roguth template for what Karmesh's idea of civilization is), but for a LG deity not doing it this round would have been a dick move to say the least.

I think Omaz would make a great divine judge, should we have such a thing later on to sort out the mess of which soul belongs to what afterlife. Not that it really fits his divine portfolio, but he is the only true neutral deity Karmesh would trust with such a thing :)

Gathering Power #5: 3d6 + 1 ⇒ (2, 1, 6) + 1 = 10 (+1 for ending last turn with 1 Power)

"You are the plague of this world, Eyero. May you suffer in your own afterlife when the end of times comes upon us! I shall see to it that you will not put your cursed hands on my people!" With a swift gesture, Karmesh picks up lush island off the coast of his marshlands, and takes it with him. He walks south, far away from the mortal realms, where is light shines bright and the day knows no shadows. There, within a calm ocean, he plants the island down and blesses it. "This will be Nal-Athiemar, the End Of All Things, where the souls of the faithful may gather in piece to live eternity in a neverending day."

Karmesh creates an afterlife for everyone who worships the sun, the moons, the stars, or the light.

@Eyero: I think there can't be any Urdei from Nyakushuur's Azzaruki since they are more or less undead from the beginning. You could certainly change them so they don't get their rapid (un)life-death-cycle with bodies formed of local materials, but the state of being undead is an innate quality of them that just doesn't manifest all the time.

Points Remaining: 1.

"Atresse and Zurakar, you have done well by this world. May your presence never cease to enlighten your people and the great city you built do close to our watchful paths in the skies. It is a wonder to behold!"

Is Twinstar the name of the city or just the library?

Remember that we aren't bound by the limitations of GoogleDrive's toolset, we can totally copy images from anywhere into the map. The other game for example has some tree icons that look a lot better than what you can draw with shapes.

And finally Karmesh has created his race, so now he can get back to shaping land and frowning on things. Man, first-age races really are expensive, I hope they are worth it.

Gathering Power #4: 3d6 + 14 ⇒ (5, 2, 2) + 14 = 23

"A new dawn in this age. Now, the world will see my light become flesh, and a new race of mighty people shall walk the plains and rule within my realm!." Karmesh starts flashing his light, becoming brighter and brighter with each flash. The rhythm increases in speed, until his power and heat surpasses this world's boundaries. Waves of light begin to crystallize, and fall down from heaven as glowing shards.

"I will give you my light, as life, and as power, and as guidance, so you will never lose your path in this world." Karmesh stops pulsating and catches these shards with both hands. He gathers clay from the marshlands and forms it into strong, humanoid shapes. In each form, he puts a tiny shard of his light, breathing upon it until it starts to glow and melts with the clay. After that, Karmesh spits upon the figures, transforming fired clay into smooth matter again. At the end of his ritual, Karmesh gently puts down the clay figures into the world, and increases his light again, but only for a tiny moment. He sheds millions of light particles, who rain down upon the lands and animate the clay figures with life.

"Sireath, children of the sun, my children!" Karmesh calls down from the sky. "This is your world now, and for as long as you follow my divine light, I will hold your destiny close to my heart."

Karmesh creates the Sireath for 22 Points, a race of large-sized humanoids with great strength and charisma, who are touched by the divine light of the sun. They live in the marshlands he created for now.

Points Remaining: 1.

Or create yet another subrace to increase the potential for conflict. Strix, Vesper, and a third variant of even further estranged bird-people? Sounds like fun - and blood in the skies.

Fill in to your heart's content! I don't have any grand visions right now, but the basic idea was that we may end up with a somewhat "complete" homebrew world we can release on the messageboards, so we could really do writeups on our deities and whatnot similar to the Paizo materials. But for now I think collecting ideas and raw writeups is more than enough, we have a game to play after all :)

Sorry to keep you waiting. Since the dice hate me, Karmesh creates some more lands and is done for this round.

EDIT: I started a design document on GoogleDrive where we can collect writeups and more details on the world than this game allows for. I PMed Tobaris to put the link into the game description, but in case anyone is interested you can access the file here.

Gathering Power #3 (Massive): 5d6 + 9 ⇒ (2, 2, 1, 3, 3) + 9 = 20

Karmesh looks down on the recent creations, smiling upon the angelic mountain of Atresse and Zurakar, and scowling at the unholy forests of Nyakushuur. Then, he raises his arms. The land follows his gesture, rising from beyond the sea to bathe in his light.

"This too will be the realm of my people, for the land is rich and the skies are clear, and no harm shall come upon them here!"

Karmesh spends 6 points to shape additional marshland to the south. He also is very bad at rhymes.

Karmesh turns to Omaz"I can appreciate the strength of the guardians called Titans, but I am sure that she didn't place them in the Valley of the First on a whim. Be watchful, Mountain-Shaper, be watchful."

Remaining Points: 14.

This is going to end well... or not. Oh dear.

Very nice! I had something similar in mind with Karmesh, but I will go a slightly different route now. We don't really have an underworld/deity of the dead right now, do we? I think the whole concept of what happens to the mortal races in death is somewhat important for the later ages, anyone with some ideas?

Sorry to hear that, Hexavos! But thanks for giving us a heads up.

I'd be on board to continue this as a group, we managed pretty good so far I think. If at any point we come across a problem, we could simply vote on it. I also offer my services to produce a "real" map in Photoshop once we get to a point where that might come in handy.

Ah dammit, I seem to have clicked Preview instead of my changes... this is what happens when you go through caffeine detox (I used to drink about 2l every day). Sorry all, sorry.

@Belisous: You wish... :)

Omaz Almas - A very direct force, and seemingly without hidden agendas or dark sides, I like him very much. His mountains bring the world closer to the celestial realms, and together we could achieve greatness.

Upsy-daisy, thanks for spotting that right on time, a few minutes later and I couldn't have edited the posting :)

Artesse - A mysterious one, with a bright light of her own. I could see her by my side, for we seem to agree on lots of things, but she also has a trange bond with her brother. Nevertheless, I feel comfortable havin her around, and civilization will go far under her protections - and mine.

Belisous - Dangerous, bloodthirsty, and vicious. There will be no bond between us, for she incorporates the end of all things. I have been passive towards her so far, to see what she is up to, but I fear that a brutal conflict is unavoidable.

Dyrm - This one is quite annoying. He has so many talents, but no directions to give them purpose. He will be as useful as much as he will be a pest, but he might be a necessary presence civilization will have to be judged against. I will keep an eye on him.

Eyero - Like a dark omen, this one. He reminds me of something I encountered somewhere in the past, but it eludes me. Like Belisous, I will have to fight him, but unlike her, I fear his presence brings a pestilence to the world that goes deeper than the fires of war.

Hexavos - He has remained silent so far, and I hope this all happens according to his wisdom and his plans.

Nimeton - The one whose eyes look so old. I am sure he could teach us a lot of wisdom, but he seems to be more curious for his own sake than for the world, and I fear his powers will not always be a positive influence on mortals. I should find out what it is he seeks here, and maybe we could become allies.

Nyakushuur - An unholy abomination, and one I really don't get. How can life mesh with death in such a.. "natural" way? It is unfathomable. But it seems she doesn't have too much of a personality, and maybe she can be forced, or tamed, into obedience. Her touch can be fertile, after all.

Omaz Almas - "A god who knows what he wants, and is very obvious about what that is, but that is nice in its own fashion. I'm extremely sure he will like my gift, and maybe I can teach him about the joys of destroying civilizations? That would be a very nice sight to behold. A god of nature facing off against a god of civilization."

Pyreous - As dangerous as he is fickle. Unlike Belisous, he lacks overall darkness, but unlike her he thinks in cycles and I fear nothing will be the result of his reign. I have to find a way to further his positive influence on the world, and keep him from destroying all too much.

Zurakar - Like Atresse, I like him, but he is ver focussed on mortal affairs. Since he will be the guardian of the nights, when I have to leave the celestial realm above, I should learn about his nature and beliefs, for he would make a unique ally.

Hey guys, sorry for missing all the posts, I will contribute to this divine survey when I have slept a few hours.

The map looks pretty good by now, and we still have lots of white space to play with. I definitely want to do something along the border between marshland and poisonous caves, this is way too dangerous right now... maybe Nyakushuur will become an accidental ally for Karmesh when she seeds something almost-living in that area.

"Your utilitarian attitude is a disgrace," Karmesh looks a Nimeton. "You have the look of someone who has lived many lifes, so I ask you: is there one tale, a single mythos, where the 'use' of undead didn't bring chaos, death, or imbalance to the rest or the world?"

To Atresse, he adds: "Any mortal yet to be born will be offered protection, and even if they decide not to follow our guidance I will turn my gaze onto every undead treatening them!"

Well, your giants could fight Belisous' giants, that would be very interesting, no?

Yeah... this world is going down in flames or something, isn't it? I watched my sister playing that game for like 10 minutes, and it looked awesome. I think I want my floating islands. Now.

Ok, sounds reasonable.

Omaz, I'd like to turn one of your mountains into a volcano, if that's ok?
Atresse, you have anything Sun-related in mind where you'd like to cooperate? My plan (at least for now, depending on how they look in a couple of turns) is to create a city à la Uruk in one of the marshlands, but I'm cool with you making something in that area.

EDIT: Everyone, would you mind putting some sort of information in your deity's profile? I am having a hard time identifying everyone, right now I am cross-checking the recruitement constantly to see who's who. It is a personal weakness of mine, I know, but please? :)

Yeah, I think your guys are right with Event for weird stuff. Damn, I really need more points!

I edited the map with Karmesh's additions, hope it isn't too cramped in there. In case someone didn't know: if you want to place several small parts together repeatedly (like the marshland I made, with lines and trees), you select everything and can then group it in the context menu, and work with copy and paste from there.

Karmesh looks down on the world. There is beauty and purpose, but also darkness and death. But to extend his eternal watch, he needs a realm of his own first. His light flares brightly while he increases his reach.

Gather Power #2: 3d6 + 11 ⇒ (3, 1, 4) + 11 = 19

"So let there be a realm of light, where the skies are clear, and the land is rich. Not a barren wasteland, but fertile and a home for every mortal race looking for a destiny under my protection."

Karmesh breaks the earth and the stone, grinding both into fine powder.
Karmesh catches his own light in his hands, turning it into liquid essence.
Karmesh cultivates a marsh, close to his presence and touched by his reach.
And from earth and stone, from light and essence, Karmesh the Lightbringer creates a marsh, where it is warm, where waters from the mountains brings life to the plains, where the ground is rich in clay and nutrition.

Karmesh creates two hexes of fertile marshland between Zurakar's forest, Omaz' maountains, and Pyreous' desert. It is fed by several small streams from the mountains, absorbs the desert's heat, and receives the seeds of plants from the forest.

2 hexes altered for 10 points (shaping land and climate in each hex).

Remaining Points: 9.

Ok, does anyone know how to handle weird phenomenons? I am thinking about stuff like modified gravity, wild magic, floating islands, and such. Right now I guess you can cover it with either Shape Land or Shape Climate, but I am not entirely sure... Karmesh has something special in mind :)

Congratulations, that is amazing! All the best to your family.

I know what you mean, and I made the mistake of not including everything in one post per deity, so it's all good. You are correct, and we should be in round 2. Call it summoning sickness, and now the action begins :)

As Ozmas pointed out in an earlier quote,

Quote:

Turn order is first come first post, however you must post all your actions in one post per turn. When everyone has acted, passed, or been inactive for 24 hours(48 on weekends) the next turn shall come.

I began posting for round 2 because everyone had posted once, and did an action (gathered power) in the post. I guess I'll chill for now, so ingore Zurakar's post until we get there. I'll leave the rolls though for when we actually start. I assume one block of Zurakar and Atresse posting, conversing, etc. is fine for one turn.

I was confused because I didn't see anything changing or overruling this:

At the beginning of each round, every player rolls two six-sided dice and adds the total to his or her current power level.

So from my point of view we didn't do anything yet, aside from Omaz Almas, since the gathering of power is not an action per se but something everyone does/gets each round (the document is written frustratingly obtuse). Sorry if I come across as kind of dense, but I was caught flat-footed by the speed, since I am still figuring out the rules - not that there a lot of them, but for some reason I have a hard time with the PDF.

Wait, why are we in round 2 I didn't say I wanted to skip spending any points, I just didn't have the time to come up with something yet :(

Hexavos, could you please open the map for editing if time allows it?

Sounds good to me! Karmesh would especially love to see an archipel, or a line of isles, to let his (planned) race bring light into the dark sea. Since he is LG good and has Pact as subdomain, he will of course pay a fair amount for it if necessary :)

You weren't, no worries! But the time zone is definitely a thing... I am GMT+1, which likely puts me 6+ hours apart from all US players.

Karmesh enters the world, striding across the skies and shining down upon the new lands of Etella. "Let this new world know the guiding light of mine, in all four corners of the world..."

Gathering Power: 2d6 ⇒ (4, 6) = 10

Gathering Power: 1d6 ⇒ 1

Sorry, typo with the dice.