It's Week 6! Roll-over happens and AP for everybody.
I just post that to remind people, even if I do it very late.
Also, next week, those who started with us can now level up to the next God Tier if they have gained two additional domains. Or this week. I think 'after 6 weeks' would mean Week 7, personally.
uh... Actually, I think we are on week 7
Game started the week of march 18
so the start of the following weeks are:
2° week march 24
3° march 31
4° april 7
5° april 14
6° april 21
that should make april 28 the start of the 7° week.
I'll edit my post otherwise since I was sure to be on week 7 and acted as if I could increase my level.
Oh dear. You're right, I made a mistake. Apologies. I have been apparently counting the second week as 'first' since that was when the first roll-over happened.
It's Week 6! Roll-over happens and AP for everybody.
I just post that to remind people, even if I do it very late.
Also, next week, those who started with us can now level up to the next God Tier if they have gained two additional domains. Or this week. I think 'after 6 weeks' would mean Week 7, personally.
Yir, time is flexible and that was an honest mistake. 'Tis fine.
Re: Recruitment Thread, I'll allow Saminjutsu and Monkeygod to apply, but one of us should post there that we're officially closing it for now.
May I also recommend that, to avoid too many things happening at once, they begin play next week? It would allow some time to talk things out in the Discussion thread, especially as they haven't finalized their applications as of yet.
The Silent acknowledged Erande's act. Were emotions able to take hold, something like satisfaction that another partook in the conscious act of giving nothing would have arisen. However, acknowledgement was the closest thing It was capable of.
And so Nihil approached Erande after the act, appearing before him. Nihil had more a concept of being and spoke.
Erande.
The Empty acknowledged the god, approximating thanks and intent in that single word before continuing on.
The Silent requests. Your stories of the Old World? It would have them.
The memories of the mind would be better. But your words would be enough.
The Empty does not comment on anything else, impassive. It is not yet able to answer questions which are absurd to It--that It could have wishes or goals, or that It was spawned by void.
Yes, other gods are "free" to visit my plane. Anyone can walk in, but only if they know how. You'll have to wait for the visit or somehow call for his specific attention (calling for him with enough will behind it should be enough, even if you don't know any of his names). Later, asking someone who already knows the way will also work.
He's only visiting those who are from the old world. It's not clear from Jezebelle's posts where she came from. I'm assuming she's another survivor then?
The only ones I'm currently planning on visiting, since they're the ones who've explicitly stated to be from Before, are: Oenar, Aeon, Erande, and Melehan.
Oenar, is it fine if Nihil heard your message? Crystal Seer might be enough to hear it considering you directed it at gods. It's alright if not, but Nihil will be visiting the gods who survived the old world one by one to ask for memories for the Remnant, and you'd be first if he heard that message.
Additionally, a point of contention for Nihil's plane, Enuma Elish. I'm stating that it can be accessed from anywhere, but does that mean you can exit to anywhere? My suggestion would be that when you exit it, you appear from wherever you entered it, because you never went anywhere at all.
Forge Monument for Remnant should contribute towards the Knowledge domain, so I've spent an action to gain it. I'll be progressing towards the Will (Liberation, Freedom) domain next. I'll be making my first decree when I have the AP. See if this is fine:
Cosmic Decree: All things share the Mind, which is Empty (Nothing), and from which Will arises.
Effectively: The Mind is defined.
The Mind is something associated with the Body and Soul, but separate from both and can exist outside the two. It is empty of inherent existence. The Mind is defined as experiencing things, and being aware of the experience. Following this, Will is a result of the mind since it requires that capacity.
In-Game Effect is that Minds are now treated separately from Body and Soul, and is inherently Nothing (which falls under my concept). A soul can have no mind (Tabula Rasa, empty shell), a body can have no mind (coma, objects), and a mind can exist by itself (memories actualized by sheer force of will). Combinations also occur, like soul+mind (spirits, ghosts), soul+body (dominated undead?, person in a coma), and body+mind (intelligent undead?, animals, robots?, intelligent objects).
Will only exists when something has a mind, but a mind may not have will. (Free Will is a type of will.)
And when It disappeared, a shudder reverberated throughout everything, making them aware of the Silent. Those who felt the shock and who understood its nature knew It had done something. It had created a plane.
The plane was the Nothing Itself, within Itself. The Silent and the plane were indistinguishable. It was formless, spaceless, timeless. It had none of those concepts, nor any concepts. It simply Was, like the Silent Was.
The plane had no name, for the Silent needed no names, but a name was given not for the Silent, but for those who would use the name. The name was Enuma Elish.
And in Enuma Elish, the Silent said Its first words in the new world, the echo of a pebble down an eternal well.
And the pebble took itself, and all that it had seen of the old world, and gave it to the well, which formed into the delusion of a tower. And this tower was gray, and endless, and bounded to Enuma Elish. The tower had no doors and no windows, for it needed none. It was hidden and entrance was given only to those who were allowed by the Silent.
Inside the tower were the memories. The memories were vast, endless. They were all the Silent had gathered and seen of the old world, which was also vast and endless. It did not contain everything, for the Silent was not omniscient and there were those who hid from the Silent's sight, but it contained much. It was given the name Remnant, for that was what it was. This all willed by the memories it contained.
And so the Silent gave itself the Remnant. It held Knowledge of the old world and kept it safe.
Actions:
Weave Plane (5 AP) + Weave Sanctum (3 AP)
Enuma Elish - a formless plane with no layers (effectively zero layers). Not even the concepts of time and space are here, though it may be perceived that way. This is not an illusion. It may share descriptive similarities to space, time, and illusions, but are none of those.
Only those with enough will can be in Enuma Elish, or at least can project themselves into the plane.
The Silent always stays here, infused into the very essence of the plane, and watches all from his sanctum.
Forge Monument (5 AP)
Remnant - an endless gray tower with no doors and no windows, hidden in Enuma Elish. The only way to find it is if you are given permission. The only entrance is for those permitted, willed into it.
Inside are memories of the old universe, stored and sealed away. The entire structure is, in fact, nothing but memories of the old world. The memories can be accessed by asking the tower.
Currently, the insides change to reflect what those who enter it expects to see, but the tower's master can freely change its behavior. Access to memories are currently only given to the master of the tower.
For those who wish to learn from the old world, or to remember it, there is no other place.
(Think something like the dreams from Inception. And yes, the viewers of the memory can interact with the projections inside, but they are all ultimately memories.)
Remnant Bonus: +2d6 HP
Gain Domain (3 AP) - gain Knowledge (Memory, Truth)
Total AP Spent: 16
Remaining AP: 2
The only thing other Gods will know is that a plane was created by The Silent (Rule 7). There's a trick to accessing it, since it doesn't technically appear anywhere. It's currently open, meaning anyone can get in there if they know how. If they don't know how, they can't get in. (All you have to do is to will yourself into the plane and you're already there. It's possible to do it accidentally, or without knowing how you did it. Feel free to pop by if you want interaction with Nihil!)
That was a terrible pun and you should be ashamed. (I still laughed, so I guess that makes me worse.)
That extension of the rule looks good and makes sense. This follows from rule number 1 which is '1. You can't do something huge to someone else's god without consent, or at least discussion.'
Conflict is a part of the game (Curse Wars, artifact/monument/relic control are an example in the rules even!) but we don't want conflict between the players.
The gods can fight it out anyway, too. We can test out the battle system!
Proposal: Aggressor (defined as the one who wants to take control of whatever is being fought over, or based on a coin flip or OOC discussion) makes the first post, rolls their dice. Defender (defined as the other party) responds, rolling their dice. Whoever wins the contest for that round (defined as whoever takes less damage; if equal, assumed that the aggressor 'wins') posts their part of the aftermath and becomes the aggressor for the next round, rolling more dice. The new defender describes their part of the aftermath and rolls more dice. This continues until one party surrenders or loses all their HP.
This will hold true for battles between pantheons and such.
In this particular case, I think the loser has to concede over what happens to the undead. A battle seems to be always over a particular thing (a monument, a city, a concept, etc.) so a contest of wills between gods is fine.
The loser can always try at a later date, or never get over it, etc. Lose the battle, still waging the war.
Note that this is not killing the other god. At most you'd 'weaken' them (this has no actual in-game effects aside from maybe taking whatever is being fought over). The same system is in use for killing, but you'd have to get the other to agree that you kill them.
By the by, I'm extending Nihil's domains to Knowledge quite soon. The libraries thing reminded me of it. I'm already 5/7 for it if the Crystal Seer ability counts towards Knowledge.
And if you missed it, we're now on our second rollover. That's more AP for everybody!
Should probably get someone to announce whenever the rollover happens.
And Melehan, regarding gaining those abilities, as a Fledgeling Deity, you're limited to having 1 Ability until you rank up. Choose wisely.
It's obviously a metaphor for his empty words. Empty boxes, you see.
In all seriousness, oh, dangit. I thought for sure I'd found something that would display everywhere properly. I'll stick to forum formats from now on.
What he said was: "Death. Dust. Azdan. The Silent watches and sees your name and words. The Silent is not the dust. The Silent is less than dust. The Empty is here not to speak of dust but of nothing.
"The Empty has come to say: The Nothing will act. More than watch. The Empty tells you the Nothing will ask for those who are of nothing. Not your handful of dust. The Nothing asks you to not interfere."
The Empty, Nihil, shard of Itself, did not move. Distance was not a concept to It, for space was nothing to It, and so It merely Was where It Was. This was the delusion of movement for those who did not understand.
And so Nihil did not move to Azdan but simply Was where he Was, in front of him. He spoke from his formless, empty maw, which did not move, and his toneless words made no sound. They simple Were, the sudden understanding.
The Silent was regarded as never doing anything. This was not true, for It watched, and watching changes the watched, especially when the watcher was a god.
Those before that knew Its function left the Silent alone. Some tried to disturb It, but the Silent would not be disturbed. The Silent was Silent not because It did nothing nor because that It said nothing, but because Its action were grains of sand on an endless beach and Its voice the still wind of the void. It just Was, in the state where All and None simultaneously existed, outside of time and the boundaries of language.
This was difficult for even some of the gods to comprehend, for the Silent was less than nothing, that which was less than the absence of being, when It is, in actuality, never anything but nothing. Language was insufficient to communicate It, and so It remained Silent.
The Silent observed the other gods and their creations and knew that some would speak to It, and that It would need to speak. It did not desire to speak, for It did not have desires, It simply Was.
And so the Silent took a shard of nothing from Itself. This shard was both Itself and the Silent, everything and distinct, and It was formless and shapeless, a translucent shape both solid and hollow.
In the Nothing, another Nothing existed. This Nothing was silent.
The Silent had watched the collapse of existence. While the gods battled and all creation destroyed itself, it watched and did nothing. When nothing was all that existed, it watched.
And in the nothing that was everything, The Silent could see everything in the nothing. And it saw the others create themselves anew.
Action:
Gain Ability (5): Crystal Seer.
Remaining AP: 10
The Silent was unseen. It flowed and was fluid in the nothing that it was, unable to be captured. This Nothing was the undercurrent, the Source. It was Nothing itself, existing within itself.
The Silent looked about the entirety of nothingness and wholeness. It waited. It watched.
By the by, how are we treating new gods? The rules state that any new gods will need to be created by an existing god, but there is always the another-survivor shtick where they just now re-awakened or re-emerged from wherever they were hiding.
If we go by the rules, I suggest that whoever is the new player talk it out with an existing god or whoever they want to create them. By default, I'd suggest one of the mods be the one to create new gods if the new player has no preference. Nihil would be fine in this position, creating out of nothing. Anyone re-emerging may also be greeted by Nihil if that is their preference.
Yidhra, sorry to say that Nihil will be rejecting your offer. He will be fully impartial, in no pantheon. The extra AP is tempting, but it just wouldn't fit with his theme.
Further thought about my concept and I think it's quite fleshed out in the eastern philosophy of Zen as opposed to Nihilism. I've changed one domain to reflect that better.
Nihil:
Name: Nihil (The Void, The Silent, The Empty, The Less Than Nothing)
Played By: rashly5
Domains (Portfolios): Void (Nothing), Mind (Enlightenment)
Theme: Watcher God (The Abstract Nothing)
Alignment: Neutral
Attack: 4d6
Defense: 4d6
HP: 20
Description: They were infinite in their insignificance. When the war raged, The Silent did nothing. The Void let itself be known by not revealing itself, darting away from others and those that were to come, appearing only in its absence.
When the war ended, and existence collapsed, and the void came, there was nothing. The Less Than Nothing emerged from nowhere from the unnothing where he unwas.
But in the nothingness, there were others. Gods and fragments, survivors of the war.
All things are nothing. Nihil still was as it was, and watches.
