Shards SystemJan 2, 2024

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Starting off the year with trying to work on writing for our homebrew world. So with @WriterRaven as our accountability buddy (love ya!), I’ll be joining in #Lore24 with discussing and refining #Matea, the world of loss and decline.

Thread will continue below, and be updated daily. Please feel free to mute the hashtags for your convenience!

Show threadShards SystemJan 2, 2024
Matea, as we encounter it, is a world on the brink of change. What was once a world of technological marvel and magical prowess now finds itself with one of the primary rules of the universe fading. Where both schools of arcane and divine magics helped create a utopia, its wielders struggle to achieve even a fraction of the same skills. If a spell works at all, it is drastically weaker than in history. A worldwide collapse of magitech left the survivors in ruins, unable to adapt.
#Lore24 1/1/24
Show threadShards SystemJan 2, 2024
In the beginning, the Father tried to make the world alone, every attempt failing. The Mother came to him, offering her aid, and so #Matea was born. When the first of their creations died, neither could cope, so the Daughter was born to handle the grief and anger. Seeing her good work, the Mother and Father birthed a Sister. Without a domain of her own, she engineered a war to fight against her family; tearing open a rift for devils to pass the barrier and lay waste to creation.
(1/2) #Lore24
Show threadShards SystemJan 2, 2024

Seeing the potential for their work to be undone, the family fought back by creating the angels. The war raged, until the Brother was born to guide a peaceful resolution; quelling the Sister’s rage by suggesting domains she would take over, while he would take the load of the more civil aspects that grew from a progressing society that his elders had not foreseen. The Sister acquiesced, having a duty at last. And so a harmony was established.

(2/2) #Lore24 2/1/24

Show threadShards System
Dwarves (name pending) are the progenitor race/species/ancestry (specifically to spite the endless fantasy worlds that start with elves), and are hatched from eggs. Not conventional eggs; more a cocoon of mud and other related materials. They can have a minimum of one parent, and no functional maximum, though after 20, some serious identity issues arise.
Prospective parents will start rolling their egg like people do with snow, while performing a ritual of offering to the Father. #Lore24 3/1/24
Jan 3, 2024 at 12:13amWeb
Show threadShards SystemJan 3, 2024
Dwarven children are born with a full grown beard, regardless of their future gender presentation. This assists with the development of musculature, though hinders their growth. You can typically tell the age or experience of a dwarf by how worn/damaged their beards are, as they are made of stone. Though some choose to damage their beards personally, for their own reasons, the effects are no less permanent. Some view their beards as a sign of a pact made for their creation. #Lore24 4/1/24
Show threadShards SystemJan 4, 2024
Elves (name pending) evolved from dwarves when (the story goes) one wished for the ability to fly, being jealous of birds. More long of limb than their traditional counterparts, the elves of #Matea are feathered, have the ability to glide until their elder years where they achieve full flight, and prefer to make their nest homes atop the mountain peaks of the world. They still hatch from eggs, but their material choices are less earthy; more grasses and scrub. #Lore24 5/1/24
Show threadShards SystemJan 5, 2024
Perhaps the hardest hit by the loss of magitech, the Gnomes (name pending) of #Matea seek immortality through their creations, owing to their nature of existence. In their original development, a flaw in the process led to them being primarily formed from sand. This resulted in their lifespan averaging three years before they almost literally fall apart. The Warforged and Autognomes (names pending) are their primary legacies; though they seek further. #Lore24 6/1/24
Show threadShards SystemJan 7, 2024
Though they do not know it, Tabaxi are among the most powerful beings of #Matea, as they are connected to the universe through some strange magic unknown to others. The first Tabaxi dreamt itself into existence after people began telling made up stories. From there, they dreamt their family into existence, and opened a gate into the realm of the Fey. As they unknowingly created more and more however, their ability to do so dispersed and diluted among each of their number.
#Lore24 7/1/24
Show threadShards SystemJan 7, 2024
During the Family War, the need for frontline forces presented itself to the then-forming nations of the world. Pressed for time, they hurried the process and took shortcuts, incorporating living beings into the mix instead of asking spirits. Thus, Goblins (name pending) were born. With a lower half reminiscent of arachnids and other insects, their quick deployment and ability to traverse a variety of surfaces without issue was key to victory in a number of skirmishes.
#Lore24 8/1/24
Show threadShards SystemJan 8, 2024
Tortles (name pending) once held political sway over the seas and ports of #Matea. Unfortunately, during an exceptionally tough harvest year and dire situations, they were discovered to be delicious. Following a terrible, bloody uprising, they are now extinct, remembered only through archaeological evidence and museum pieces.
#Lore24 9/1/24
Show threadShards SystemJan 9, 2024
Tieflings and Aasimar (names pending) are the descendants of the devils and angels left behind after the war, closed off from their home realms. Comparing to their multiversal counterparts however, on the whole, it is tieflings that are respected, and aasimar that are viewed with suspicion. This comes from the direct aftermath of the rift being sealed.
[1/2] #Lore24 10/1/24
Show threadShards SystemJan 9, 2024
Cut off from the influence of the hells, the remaining devils felt remorse (natural or otherwise; scholars don’t know) and vowed to repent for their misdeeds, which carried through to their descendants. Tieflings tend towards contemplation and helpfulness. On the other side, the angels were mournful and angry about the loss of their divine grace, traits that modern aasimar bear. As such, they tend towards fits of rage and melancholy in equal, unpredictable measure.
[2/2] #Lore24 10/1/24
Show threadShards SystemJan 10, 2024
The world of #Matea is in a binary star system. Thaus, the Star of Wonder, and Flaun, the Star of Hope dance around each other in an eternal 3-beat waltz leading religious scholars to point to it as evidence of the Father and Mother’s joint efforts in making the world. The stars eclipse three times during the day, two hours after sunrise, midday, and two hours before sunset. These hours are marked by the religious orders and observed in all variety of different ways.
#Lore24 11/1/24
Show threadShards SystemJan 12, 2024
To contrast the twin suns, #Matea has a single moon, which is home to the Elemental Plane of Earth. Once upon a time, spellcasters could simply travel to Pio but with magic fading, the only remaining path is via Sou’dare, the great geyser. Travellers are to bathe themselves in its waters, and perform a specific ritual to activate the latent magic in the spring; firing them towards the moon in a dramatic jetstream of water.
#Lore24 12/1/24
Show threadShards SystemJan 12, 2024
The Elemental Plane of Air has no fixed location, and can be accessed from anywhere in the world. One must be EXTREMELY precise with the incantation however, as the ritual is centered around collecting fruit oils, anointing yourself with it, and setting yourself on fire. A successful ritual will transform your body temporarily and painlessly to ash, to be carried into the planar winds. An unsuccessful ritual just turns your body to ash the painful way.
#Lore24 13/1/24
Show threadShards SystemJan 14, 2024
The path to the Elemental Plane of Fire was once sealed, but is now open to all, though perhaps not the most accessible. Rakhada’s Folly, also referred to as The Fall, created a spiraling crater that intersected with planar boundaries. The journey must be undertaken on foot, to acclimate to the heat over a timeframe of six weeks. Those wishing to expedite their journey must be immune to flame and possess the power of full flight, or face the firestorm at the crater’s centre. #Lore24 14/1/24
Show threadShards SystemJan 15, 2024
Getting to the Elemental Plane of Water is all about timing, but otherwise simple. It’s merely a little absolutely terrifying. During the Second Step, or the second of the three eclipses per day, the winds at the top of Mt. Sanmaya (the tallest peak on #Matea) pick up and become almost unbearably strong. One must align themselves to the correct direction and jump from the mountain, fighting the winds. [1/2]
#Lore24 15/1/24
Show threadShards SystemJan 15, 2024
If successful, they will be blown off the peak, plummeting into the waters below, and transferring the planar boundaries. If unsuccessful, the same thing occurs, but without the transfer, dashing the bodies of prospective adventurers on the rocks among the waves. [2/2]
#Lore24 15/1/24
Show threadShards SystemJan 16, 2024
Though magic is weakened and fading throughout #Matea, the island of Paana-Dûl is abundant with mana crystals, allowing magic to work not only as it used to, but in some cases better. Because of this, the use of magic on the island is reserved exclusively for healing. The crystals feed on the remains of one of the great dragons, Ibu the Profaned, spreading slowly like a fungus, though they are more easily formed nearer the corpse.
#Lore24 16/1/24
Show threadShards SystemJan 17, 2024
The magitech age of #Matea kicked off with the discovery of manasteel: metal pulled from the earth with magic, weaving into it and reinforcing its strength. Known for being hard to work with, skilled smiths wasted little time in using it for all manner of inventions. From buildings and bridges, trains and aircraft, even personal devices of all kinds, manasteel was the backbone of a dawning golden age.
#Lore24 17/1/24
Show threadShards SystemJan 18, 2024
At some point during The Fall, the prison island of Dosoga was lost; taken by an impenetrable bank of mist and fog. An entire population of inmates, their guards, and even a number of small villages designed to support the facility, spirited away. There are reports recently of fog that drifts across the oceans, seeming never to settle in one place for long. People have investigated, only to come back, changed in a number of ways. [1/2]
#Lore24 18/1/24
Show threadShards SystemJan 18, 2024
Those that return (as not everyone does) undergo a complete behavioural overhaul. Their personalities become wildly different, they do not respond to their own names, and some seem confused to the point of madness at their own bodies. Information to the reasoning behind this change is lacking, save for a single report that claims that one returning adventurer, declared herself to be a convicted man historically to be executed, and noted as inappropriately touching her own skin.
#Lore24 18/1/24
Show threadShards SystemJan 19, 2024
Historical records state that the last known Warden of Dosoga Penitentiary was infamous for his brutally strict adherence to the law, but fairness in administering the applicable penalties. Inmates were suitably cared for, unless they broke the rules, in which case punishment was swift and hard, though only as to the letter of the law. People of the time saw it as an acceptable alternative to capital punishment, though not much is known about their rehabilitation success.
#Lore24 19/1/24
Show threadShards SystemJan 19, 2024
Though unimportant at the time, the once-small town of Dun has claimed the title of nation capital city, primarily due to its fate during and immediately following The Fall. No one remembers the original name of the settlement, but records show how it got its current name: When the great floating cities began their final, disastrous descent, the town was written off by people in power; declared not worth the time to evacuate. Done for.
#Lore24 20/1/24
Show threadTissekJan 3, 2024

@Shards

I just love dwarves that feel more created than born, especially when parentage becomes complicated. And the more earthy the better.

My dwarves were first created by The Maker as automatons to maintain the workings of the world. Soon though souls started inhabiting the shells which were to the Maker's liking as efficiency rose. The dwarves consider themselves the blueprint for what a mortal is - a soul inhabiting a mundane shell for a time until the connection degrades.