[Seemless] Background

[Artexercise]

... meta or the self-reference about the project.

I usually have a problem getting through impossibly large posts, but that's just me.  So I'm going to try and break it down into a few posts inside this thread before moving onto another thread.

Here I will want to talk about:

• The Process
• Initial background
• Outline of archetypes, careers (to be fleshed out in other threads)
• A slightly deeper history of ages

PROCESS
And in this particular post of this thread, hit Process.  From the Genesys Expanded Players Guide (p.40), After a few walkthroughs of the process they had laid out, I decided on a slightly different approach than what immediately appeared prescribed by the book.  For the Common Tropes, I decided to roll until I got a repeat result or until the next result did not fit with the previous results in my mind.  After rolling for Tropes, it seemed like I should be rolling to 2 sides, the good and the evil.  From there, things progressed.  A few sparse notes are in the results.

Code: [Select]

[b]TROPES[/b]
50 Magic - Magic Element, Acquisition is a thing
98 Undead - Vampires Spirits Zombies Ghosts AnimatedSkeletons
33 Good vs Evil - Factions
46 Lost - Something was lost, recovering it is key
76 Gritty Realism - Sometimes villains win, not everything goes right for heroes

[b]TECH LEVEL[/b]
40 Renaissance
01 Stone Age => Undead Humans

[b]World Structure[/b]
3 Earth Like Planet
9 Tidally Locked World => Dark and Light Sides.

[b]CLIMATE[/b]
7 Temperate World => Light Side
8 Cold World => Dark Side

[b]Environments[/b]
7 River Valley - seamless
2 Wasteland

[b]Population[/b]
7 Midsized Towns
3 Isolated Low-tech groups

[b]Other Inhabitants Oddities[/b]
52 The Ruins of Elder Races
69 Elaborate Cave System
17 MegaFauna

[b]Religion and Cosmology[/b]
Monotheistic - Amoral => The planet
Polytheistic - Good and Evil

[b]Governments[/b]
4 City States
10 World Government => Vampire/Lich ruled (Maybe abandon this for City States of Undead)

[b]Factions and Organizations[/b]
49 Military
70 Political
88 Religious Organization
83 Terrorists
 0 Caste System

[b]OBJECTIVES[/b]
79 Protection
16 Exploration
10 Economic Growth
At the end of this, Economic Growth in my mind is farthest from the images my mind was conjuring, but I left it anyway.  The population category may also just plainly be tossed.  So there we have it, the numbers that started this crazy idea.  Perhaps something stands out as strange out incongruent, dear reader, but there is some sense in this for me to get started.

[Artexercise]

BACKGROUND

Using the results from above, I started writing a brief background to use as my seed moving forward.


Nomadic Stone Age Humans discover a temple on the unexplored plains while following a herd of bison.  The temple is unguarded and animals seem to come and go freely.  It becomes a waypoint for generations.  Then one group of peoples decide it is no longer a communal waypoint, but a base for their particular group to stay.  They no longer wanted the nomadic way of life, but the agrarian.  People are people and the temple was not sacred to them, destruction began.  The strange carvings of ancient beasts and weird people were lost when stone met stone.  How many hundreds of years passed as pieces of the temple were displaced and moved to make up the stone huts of the permanent settlers.  Crude stones became less crude tools and the temple became flat with an entrance into the maze beneath.  The maze had been conquered many times, and walls came down within the maze.  Then when the community had grown to thousands and it was a game that teenagers played to break a wall in the maze, the wrong wall was broken.  The stone that glowed was revealed.  It only took a touch, and a wave of energy blasted out in all directions enveloping the thousands that had gathered around the temple and another several thousand much further out.  They had finally paid the price for their transgressions against the past and were sent to the cold.  Others who would approach would also follow the siren call.

The cold was bitter, and they were unprepared.  They prayed as they always had but no gods heard.  Their sun was gone.  Their plants, their stones, their animals all gone.  This new cold ground might listen and they prayed.  The new cold ground heard and blessed them with its ambivalence.  Some of them died in the cold, froze, and rose again.  Some of them died in the darkness and silence and became shades and ghosts.  Some of them refused to die and fed off the ones who were not dead yet.  The hunger for blood consumed them, but they lived and hunted and found they were not alone.

-=*=- -=*=- -=*=- -=*=- -=*=- -=*=- -=*=- -=*=- -=*=- -=*=- -=*=- -=*=- -=*=-

It had been their world for as long as they could remember.  The Priests warned that the gods would only rest upon the band.  The Band was the singular river that ran around the planet separating the dark side from the light side.  The light side of the band had mild landscapes and lush greenery fed by the river and aquafers that spread the water out as far as they dared.  Beyond the green, the plains were thin and beyond that the baked lands and the deep sands.  The dark side of the band on the other side of the river held monsters.  The river thankfully protected them from those monsters.  The monsters of the baked lands and the deep sands were held at bay by the Priests and the Mages. 

The three races that shared the world were the surface dwellers, the cave dwellers, and the children of the ancients.  The surface dwellers were the real fighters, back when the sands were not as deep and the lands not as baked and before the other rivers had not dried.  The surface dwellers were hunters and runners and dreamers.  The cave dwellers were the quiet magicians illuminating the world beneath and lifting themselves up steep underground cliffs and crawling along walls.  The cave dwellers were simple survivors and sleepers and watchers.  The Children of the ancients prayed and listened.  They lived among the sands and mountains before the gods sheared them away with wind and quakes.  The children of the ancients may have been from somewhere else but they spoke with the gods and brought them all together.  They were enigmatic, farseeing, and fearful.  The gods warned them that a new threat was coming to the world, one that upset the balance of life.  Then they all prayed, and fought, and listened, and waited.

While the races of the world waited for the sign that was to come, they lived together, learned together, and survived.  They went from a distribution of distinct species to a functioning colony, an active distribution of hives, a government of the peoples.  They became the Kollsek.  Cities developed along the entire band, the trade circuit was established, a new age of art, science, philosophy, and more was taking place.  Some of the old ways were slipping into the past and new ways of thinking were being born.

When the first bones were seen across the river glinting in the darkness, the first flash of a fang, the first shadow that moved deeper into the darkness, they knew the wait was over.  The elder most children of the ancients relayed the words of their gods, "The Seemless One is a new god.  Our pantheon is at war with this new one.  We are standing on the one."

The old pantheon of the Kollsek must be heard once again.  Remember the old ways, the old promises, if you want to survive the coming enemy.  The Alien Undead have arrived.


Alien (That is undead humans are the aliens) side of the world is giving me Heavy Metal/Heavy Metal 2000 vibes even though I'm not sure how far down that road I'd want to go.  Focusing more on the undead aspect of it, the caste system aspect of it, may have it stray far enough from the post-apocalypse to avoid a direct pull from that specific inspiration.  Also these are early humans without the technology present in those movies.  I also think about the Necromongers from the Riddick universe as though this could be the beginning of such a type of race/peoples.

On the Light side, I'll be pulling from some specific insects noted in the next post.  In one sense, uplifted/evolved by the pantheon.  I'm thinking a little about David Brin's Uplift Series there.  But as per the rolls, only up to the Renaissance period, which is as arbitrary and fickle as a roll of the die.

[Artexercise]

Outline of Archetypes / Careers

THE LIGHT
Pulled from the Surface of the planet

• Beetles - thinking simple like armored stag beetles, but others could be incorporated
• Dragonflies

Pulled from the caves of the planet

• Pillbugs, RollyPollys  - whatever you call them in your neck of the woods
• Moths - Don't have a good reason for them to be in caves other than I imagine them flying up and down steep passages
• Bees - was thinking hive structure honey bees at first, but totally am looking at Mason Bees now

The above mentioned Children of the Ancients

• Scorpions - not scorpion king.

THE DARK
Treated as undead in positions of command

• Vampires - standard trope, lazy thinking
• Lich - slightly more exciting, what would their magic look like

Treated as undead in ground troops

• Zombies - standard trope, but easily recognizable
• Animated Skeletons - given the magic of the planet there might be more here, like the lich

Treated as undead in scouts

• Wraith - I can't help but think of White Wolf, but caught between material and ethereal
• Shades - living shadows, fully material though
• Ghosts - fully ethereal

THE MEGAFAUNA
On the light side of the world most of it is wasteland.

• Sand Worms - no lie, I like Tremors
• Dinosaurs - is just a first thought as megafauna that lives in the light band of the planet where the influence of the river is prevalent, but farmable by the insects

On the dark side of the world most of it is wasteland.

• Purple Worms - mind was in worm mode
• Giant Penguins - weird, right?  monstrous penguins ready to happy feet after they squash you
• Giant Owls - so long as we have one giant bird, what's another.  Monster Owls that might be something else entirely

In the all important River that encircles the planet

• Minnow - but big so that man sized insects creatures can eat a good protein meal without dining on one another
• Lamprey - just because
• Catfish - bottom feeders to clean up debris, also they eat anything.

THE PANTHEON
Good:

• of Vegetation - Aphion
• of Sun - Lamprides
• of Water - Belost
• of Art - Ronat
• of Birth - Dorylus

 
Evil:

• of Hunger - Tocetes
• of Decay - Callip
• of Megafauna - Sophixura
• of Oblivion - Riodin
• of Hatred - Velleta

The Pantheon would be entirely for the Inset Light side of the planet and have nothing to do with the dark side of the planet.

The Dark side of the Planet, that is the undead humans, would all worship that whisper in the darkness, the planet itself which I am calling Seemless.  Mostly because the river that runs around the entirely planet (throwing science out the window for that one.  It's entirely magical/will of the planet) is like as a giant seam around the planet where the light and dark side might looks stitched together.


THE LIGHT CAREERS

• Politician - open to any Kollsek, a very basic kind of career but one that would use a talent tree.
• Guard - open to any Kollsek, a very basic kind of career with open choice on talents as opposed to a talent tree.
• Trader - open to any Kollsek, a very basic kind of career with open choice on talents as opposed to a talent tree.
• Artist - open to any Kollsek, a very basic kind of career with open choice on talents as opposed to a talent tree.
• Fisher - open to any Kollsek, a very basic kind of career with open choice on talents as opposed to a talent tree.
• Harvester - open to any Kollsek, a very basic kind of career with open choice on talents as opposed to a talent tree.
• Herder - open to any Kollsek, a very basic kind of career with open choice on talents as opposed to a talent tree.  Maybe some limited access to Primal type magic
• Salter - open to any Kollsek, a very basic kind of career with open choice on talents as opposed to a talent tree.  Maybe some limited access to Arcane type magic
• Clergy - open to any Kollsek, a very basic kind of career with open choice on talents as opposed to a talent tree.  Maybe some limited access to Divine type magic, not available to Scorpions.

Specific to Beetle and Dragonflies

• Wasteland Hunter - use a talent tree.
• Hoplites - use a talent tree (pun, play on words, spears/shields jumpers/hoverers/flyers)
• Dreamers - use a talent tree (Weather Magic?, if no open sky, up difficulty)

Specific to Pillbugs, Moths, and Bees

• Navigator - talent tree or open, this is about cave navigation.
• Transport - talent tree or open, this is about cave navigation.
• Dusters - talent tree or open, thinking about magic that is specific to Light.
• Mystic Watchers - talent tree or open, thinking about magic that is specific to Clairvoyance and/or Teleportation.
• Mystic Sleepers - talent tree or open, thinking about magic that is specific to Healing.

Specific to Scorpions

• Oracle - talent tree, Divine Magic?  Sand/Predict Magic?  Poison Magic?  Specific Deity and the principle reason that Clergy is not an option for them.
• Stinger/Ranger - talent tree, Divine/Arcane Magic, this should focus on attack and deny some realms, also with a specific deity.

THE DARK CAREERS

• Hunter - open to any Undead, Food and Resources are Paramount, be prepared to find, secure, and defend.
• Leader - open to any Undead, Function as both scouts and unit command.
• Researcher - open to any Undead, Talent Tree. Gain Information from the surroundings.  There are creatures, there are ruins, and there is the other side of the damned river.

Specific to Vampires, Lich, and Wraith

• Noble - a True Ruling Class.
• Summoner - talent tree, Using the power of the world to bring forth a bigger army, Primal, Arcane

Specific to Zombies

• Parts - Talent Tree, Strange abilities come with death, Primal.  Thinking of an ability to become parts for others and/or take parts from others and/or be a head attached to a hand to sneak across and spy.  Weird?

Specific to Animated Skeletons

• Archer - Talent Tree, It's a trope, but mystic sight and the desire are there

Specific to Wraith, Shades, and Ghosts

• Spy - Talent Tree
• Possession - Talent Tree, could deny wraiths to be ironic
• Poltergeist - Talent Tree, Arcane

[Artexercise]

A DEEPER HISTORY

! 50 Magic - Magic Element, Acquisition is a thing
! 33 Good vs Evil - Factions
! 46 Lost - Something was lost, recovering it is key
? 52 The Ruins of Elder Races

Some Magic is intrinsic.
Some Magic is extrinsic. <= Valuable and Sought After
Lost on Light Side is Land, Water, Remnants of Distant Past.
Lost on Dark Side is Assurance of Survival, Sense of Home or Safety, Empathy and Sympathy.

For the Elder Races, I used Keyforge:Secrets of the Crucible p.37, unique species creator and just had a little fun.


The Elder Races existed before the world stopped spinning when day and night were measured by time and not by the width of the eternal river.  Some cities still exist that have not been raided, both large and small.  A variety of creatures seemed to have lived on this world before.  Strange artifacts can be found.  Some event in the past, an explosion in the heavens, perhaps, that changed the nature of the world.  Or maybe there is another explanation of the seemingly infinite network of caves beneath the surface.  Some of the material of extrinsic magic can be found in these places, but the most valuable things found there are information.

There were 5 Ages before the current.  Each represented by the dominant species at that time.

AGE OF THE DEWER
The first, the Dewer.  The Dewer were not an advanced civilization and did not affect the planet in any adverse way.  In one sense they communicated with the planet better than any others.  They had animalistic minds and floated along the vast and varied terrain holding their six limbs out to pass silently over the ground.  They would drop down onto the world to feed on the minerals and small insects that buzzed and hopped and crawled.  The Dewer were like cloudly mole-like caretakers dissolving the debris and absorbing it.  The Dewer over millions of years started the cave structures that run down through the planet, but they did not delve the deepest.  What happened to the Dewer?

DEWER
This Creature has a Form that is Bestial.
This Creature has a Physiology that is Incorporeal.
This Creature has a Silhouette that is Silhouette 1.
This Creature has a Locomotion that is Hovering.
This Creature has a Manipulation that is Limited.
This Creature has a Sense that is Tremorsense.
This Creature has a Features that is Additional Sensory Organ.
This Creature has a Culture that is Competitive.
This Creature has a Tech that is Fire Bad!.
This Creature has a Random Startup XP that is 90 XP.
This Creature has a Aspect that is Elegant.

|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--Brawn--|--Agility--|--Intellect--|--Cunning--|--Willpower--|--Presence--|
|---------+-----------+-------------+-----------+-------------+------------|
|    2    |     2     |      2      |     3     |      2      |      2     |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-----Soak-----|--Wound Threshold--|--Strain Threshold--|------Defense-----|
|--------------+-------------------+--------------------+------------------|
|   0 + Brawn  |    10 + Brawn     |   10 + Willpower   |         0        |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
This Creature's Encumbrance Threshold when Silhouette 1 is 5 + Brawn.

RULE: Incorporeal.
RULE: Fine Manipulation +2 Setback, Knockdown cost 1 less Advantage.
RULE: +1 Boost to Perception and Vigilance, +1 Setback when overloaded senses.
RULE: Choose 1: Athletics, Survival, start with 1 rank.

AGE OF THE CLANDFERIA

It started with the plants that grew in long vines along the surface of the planet.  The vines spouted flowers to spread the pollen to make more vines.  As the Dewer went along sometimes the flowers were get dissolved.  The vine developed a strategy to pull the flowers back in when the Dewer was sensed.  These flowers become the focus, not of the Dewer, but of the survival of the Clandferia.  The vine became less important as the Dewer ate portions of the vine and the flower persisted.  The flower would pull back the vines and then spread out.  It would transport it self first by growing, but growing was difficult the farther from the flower.  So the flower transported itself within the vine.  Adaptation after adaptation until the flowering Clanderia learned how to transport itself without the vine, and a species was born.  The Clandferia then took to the offensive against the corrosive Dewer.  The warfare tactic was to pop into the middle of the Dewer, spin the tentacle-like vines to disrupt the body and pop back out.  A single Clandferia was not enough, and partnerships were formed.  In time, the Clandferia grew, the Dewer were erased, and the planet watched and waited.

The civilization of the Clandferia was not advanced in relation to many organisms in the universe, but for plants that just needed to survive and defend themselves on the hostile world that birthed them, it did well.  The ignored the caves of the Dewer other than to scour them for survivors.  They formed towering cities by using the other plants of the world.  Trees became the base upon which they would build.  Non-sentient vines connected the vast lands.  Moss became their gardens.

CLANDFERIA
This Creature has a Form that is Aerodynamic.
This Creature has a Physiology that is Floral.
This Creature has a Silhouette that is Silhouette 0.
This Creature has a Locomotion that is Translocation.
This Creature has a Manipulation that is Tentacles.
This Creature has a Sense that is Tremorsense.
This Creature has a Features that is Redundant Organs.
This Creature has a Culture that is Anarchic.
This Creature has a Tech that is Advanced.
This Creature has a Random Startup XP that is 90 XP.
This Creature has a Aspect that is Festive.

|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--Brawn--|--Agility--|--Intellect--|--Cunning--|--Willpower--|--Presence--|
|---------+-----------+-------------+-----------+-------------+------------|
|    2    |     1     |      2      |     2     |      2      |      2     |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-----Soak-----|--Wound Threshold--|--Strain Threshold--|------Defense-----|
|--------------+-------------------+--------------------+------------------|
|   0 + Brawn  |     8 + Brawn     |   12 + Willpower   |         0        |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
This Creature's Encumbrance Threshold when Silhouette 0 is 5 + Brawn.
This Creature's Encumbrance when Silhouette 0 is HALF.
This Creature's Wound Threshold when Silhouette 0 is -2.

RULE: Brawl and Melee attacks gain Ensnare 1.
RULE: Choose Crit Inj Result no greater than Average to ignore in relation to organ.
RULE: Choose 1: Resilience, Stealth, Survival, start with 1 rank.
RULE: Choose 1: Charm, Streetwise, start with 1 rank.

AGE OF THE MANTA SEEMS

One would question whether the Dewer were a product of the planet or a happy accident that the planet loved and tried to nurture.  The phasing out of the Dewer and the phasing in of the Clandferia might also appear quite natural.  It would be natural if the Clandferia also phased out in a similar natural fashion.  The third age creates the question of other forces being at work in the cultivation of the Clandferia.  The third age, the age of the Manta Seems, was forced by the planet in response to the demise of its beloved Dewers.  As the societies that the Clandferia built grew and fell as the trees grew, the ground would tremble to force the fall of one or many cities.  The push and pull of large continents could not be understood but the Clandferia and they tried to adapt.  Water rushed up from far below the surface, flooding many of the unused caves.  Whole species of fish were flushed along the long tubes to faraway lands with strange plants and strange minerals and different climates.

An Eon passed.  The planet had nothing, if not patience.  The Manta Seems evolved, and grew, and learned to pray to the dirt and water that embraced them as the womb from which they would crawl.  When the revealing quake broke open the ground and water flooded upwards onto the landscape, so too did the Manta Seems.  Bony fins grasped tightly into the crude tools created in the dark.  Strengthened fins like wings undulated to propel the Manta Seems over the land and towards the trees.  A powerful leap and outstretched fins was enough to glide towards the unsuspecting Clandferia.  It was slaughter.  The Clandferia tried to teleport away but was either caught in a rising tide or found by the waiting Manta Seems.

The Manta Seems glowed hot with fury given to them by the planet itself.  When even the pollen was burned away and the vegetation nearly decimated, the planet tried to call them back.  The monster had been unleashed however.  The Manta seems had a taste for fresh air and a desire to become as the Dewer had been to the planet.  The Manta Seems learned how to build, transport water, and write.  They created temples in the name of the Great Seem and worshipped.  Civilization formed and grew and so did technology with the fire that the Manta Seems possessed.  The spark of creation drove them from brutal warriors to hungry explorers to peaceful spiritualist who simply loved the Great Seem.  The planet accepted their worship.

MANTA SEEMS
This Creature has a Form that is Aerodynamic.
This Creature has a Physiology that is Piscine.
This Creature has a Silhouette that is Silhouette 1.
This Creature has a Locomotion that is Ambulation.
This Creature has a Manipulation that is Hands.
This Creature has a Sense that is Tremorsense.
This Creature has a Features that is Fiery Aura.
This Creature has a Culture that is Spiritual.
This Creature has a Tech that is Sophisticated.
This Creature has a Random Startup XP that is 90 XP.
This Creature has a Aspect that is Nightmarish.

|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--Brawn--|--Agility--|--Intellect--|--Cunning--|--Willpower--|--Presence--|
|---------+-----------+-------------+-----------+-------------+------------|
|    2    |     2     |      2      |     2     |      3      |      2     |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-----Soak-----|--Wound Threshold--|--Strain Threshold--|------Defense-----|
|--------------+-------------------+--------------------+------------------|
|   0 + Brawn  |    11 + Brawn     |   10 + Willpower   |         0        |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
This Creature's Encumbrance Threshold when Silhouette 1 is 5 + Brawn.

RULE: Amphibious.
RULE: fire source rating 3.
RULE: Choose 1: Medicine, Operating, start with 1 rank.

AGE OF THE LYCOPAN

The planet began to understand only after the cold came.  It was unnatural.  Neither than Pantheon nor the planet knew the name of the other.  But they could tell they were there.  The pantheon used the water and the pollution of the Manta Seems to cloud the skies and blot the sun.  The darkness drew in quickly and hatred and unrest spread.  The Manta Seems tried to use their technology to clear the skies.  They blew great holes in the clouds with the fire that they weilded so well.  Bursts of sunlight after years of darkness were too little too late.  While the war waged on that front, the pantheon grew their warriors much like the planet had an age before.

The Lycopans swarmed forth from the poles, a nuisance at first.  They were not coordinated in their attacks but their tough blue scales and tenacious spirit placed them everywhere that the Manta Seems did not want them.  The enduring cold and the weakening spirits of the Manta Seems made for long uncomfortable winters in which the Lycopans thrived.  Wild Animals grew large with stores of fat to protect themselves, and the lycopans herded the hungry beasts into and through the cities and the temples of the Manta Seems.  The death of the Manta Seems was a long drawn out ecological war that lasted millennia.  The Last of the Manta Seems exploded every weapon at their disposal to ensure a mutual destruction but the Lycopans survived and thrived on the radiation.

Lycopans became Thamnopans.  They took over the old cities of the Manta Seems as best they could.  They did well, but it would not last.  The planet now knew it was at war.

LYCOPANS
This Creature has a Form that is Serpentine.
This Creature has a Physiology that is Mammalian.
This Creature has a Silhouette that is Silhouette 0.
This Creature has a Locomotion that is Slithering.
This Creature has a Manipulation that is Limited.
This Creature has a Sense that is Thermal.
This Creature has a Features that is Arctic.
This Creature has a Culture that is Zealous.
This Creature has a Tech that is Fire Bad!.
This Creature has a Random Startup XP that is 100 XP.
This Creature has a Aspect that is Elegant.

|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--Brawn--|--Agility--|--Intellect--|--Cunning--|--Willpower--|--Presence--|
|---------+-----------+-------------+-----------+-------------+------------|
|    2    |     2     |      1      |     2     |      3      |      2     |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-----Soak-----|--Wound Threshold--|--Strain Threshold--|------Defense-----|
|--------------+-------------------+--------------------+------------------|
|   0 + Brawn  |     7 + Brawn     |   11 + Willpower   |         0        |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
This Creature's Encumbrance Threshold when Silhouette 0 is 5 + Brawn.
This Creature's Encumbrance when Silhouette 0 is HALF.
This Creature's Wound Threshold when Silhouette 0 is -2.

RULE: Fine Manipulation +2 Setback, Knockdown cost 1 less Advantage.
RULE: -2 Setback for Survival or Resilience due to cold weather.
RULE: Choose 1: Athletics, Survival, start with 1 rank.

THAMNOPANS
This Creature has a Form that is Serpentine.
This Creature has a Physiology that is Mammalian.
This Creature has a Silhouette that is Silhouette 3.
This Creature has a Locomotion that is Slithering.
This Creature has a Manipulation that is Limited.
This Creature has a Sense that is Tremorsense.
This Creature has a Features that is Desert Dweller.
This Creature has a Features that is Digger.
This Creature has a Culture that is Anarchic.
This Creature has a Tech that is Advanced.
This Creature has a Aspect that is Predatory.

|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--Brawn--|--Agility--|--Intellect--|--Cunning--|--Willpower--|--Presence--|
|---------+-----------+-------------+-----------+-------------+------------|
|    2    |     2     |      1      |     2     |      3      |      2     |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-----Soak-----|--Wound Threshold--|--Strain Threshold--|------Defense-----|
|--------------+-------------------+--------------------+------------------|
|   0 + Brawn  |     13 + Brawn    |   11 + Willpower   |         0        |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
This Creature's Encumbrance Threshold when Silhouette 3 is 13 + Brawn.
This Creature's Encumbrance when Silhouette 3 is TRIPLE.
This Creature's Wound Threshold when Silhouette 3 is +4.

RULE: Fine Manipulation +2 Setback, Knockdown cost 1 less Advantage.
RULE: -1 Setback to skill checks in this environ
RULE: Choose 1: Charm, Streetwise, start with 1 rank.

[Artexercise]

AGE OF MONSTERS

The subtlety had vanished.  The planet was prepared to eradicate life completely from itself and wait for the others to leave, however many eons it may take.  From deep within the caves underground made by the Dewer and enhanced by the Manta Seems, the stones themselves took life and broke free.  Crawling, floating, dragging themselves out of the darkest depths the living stones came.  The holes they left at the depths of the caves was enough to open fissures deep into the bowels of the planet and suck the water down from the surface, back down within itself.

Any remaining Lycopans were all found and crushed.  The Godes watched, signaling their knowledge of the path by establishing themselves upon the sights of ancient temples and praying to the very ground that they were still a part of.  The Mesols used any existing large fauna to begin the process of destroying the evidence of the Manta Seems and habitable land.  They also attacked the Thamnopans by embedding themselves into the skulls of the large creatures and using them to alter the landscape.

When the damage had been done and thousands of years had passed.  The Pyres, a kind of cruel mockery and tribute to the previous age, slithered slowly from the molten veins of the planet up to the surface and began to the final preparations.  Quakes shook the ground and land moved.  The Pyres scorched land and flattened and filled in crevasses that appeared.  The stone beings that were born of the planet were as much construction workers and tools as living beings.  Magic, strong planetary magic derived from the thousand year prayers of the Godes changed the rotation of the planet to be tidally locked with the sun.  Along the band of the planet that divided permanent day and forever night, the last vestiges of water bubbled up and flowed.  The others were still working.

The planet collapsed the Godes, drew back the pyres, and forgot the Mesols, all their jobs had been done.  It was nearly lifeless.  Time would erase all, and the water would evaporate and the planet would sleep.  When it awoke, it could think about starting again.

GODES
This Creature has a Form that is Asymmetrical.
This Creature has a Physiology that is Mineral.
This Creature has a Silhouette that is Silhouette 3.
This Creature has a Locomotion that is Ambulation.
This Creature has a Manipulation that is Limited.
This Creature has a Sense that is Visual.
This Creature has a Features that is Pheromones.
This Creature has a Culture that is Spiritual.
This Creature has a Tech that is Highly Advanced.
This Creature has a Random Startup XP that is 90 XP.
This Creature has a Aspect that is Benign.

|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--Brawn--|--Agility--|--Intellect--|--Cunning--|--Willpower--|--Presence--|
|---------+-----------+-------------+-----------+-------------+------------|
|    3    |     1     |      2      |     2     |      3      |      2     |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-----Soak-----|--Wound Threshold--|--Strain Threshold--|------Defense-----|
|--------------+-------------------+--------------------+------------------|
|   0 + Brawn  |    14 + Brawn     |   10 + Willpower   |         0        |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
This Creature's Encumbrance Threshold when Silhouette 3 is 13 + Brawn.
This Creature's Encumbrance when Silhouette 3 is TRIPLE.
This Creature's Wound Threshold when Silhouette 3 is +4.

RULE: Fine Manipulation +2 Setback, Knockdown cost 1 less Advantage.
RULE: +1 Boost to track or locate other members of species.
RULE: Choose 1: Computers, Negotiation, start with 1 rank.

MESOLS
This Creature has a Form that is Amorphous.
This Creature has a Physiology that is Mineral.
This Creature has a Silhouette that is Silhouette 0.
This Creature has a Locomotion that is Hovering.
This Creature has a Manipulation that is Mouth.
This Creature has a Sense that is Visual.
This Creature has a Features that is Symbiont.
This Creature has a Culture that is Utopian.
This Creature has a Tech that is Highly Advanced.
This Creature has a Random Startup XP that is 80 XP.
This Creature has a Aspect that is Subtle.

|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--Brawn--|--Agility--|--Intellect--|--Cunning--|--Willpower--|--Presence--|
|---------+-----------+-------------+-----------+-------------+------------|
|    3    |     1     |      3      |     1     |      2      |      2     |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-----Soak-----|--Wound Threshold--|--Strain Threshold--|------Defense-----|
|--------------+-------------------+--------------------+------------------|
|   0 + Brawn  |    10 + Brawn     |    9 + Willpower   |         0        |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
This Creature's Encumbrance Threshold when Silhouette 0 is 5 + Brawn.
This Creature's Encumbrance when Silhouette 0 is HALF.
This Creature's Wound Threshold when Silhouette 0 is -2.

RULE: When item readied, +2 Setback to Social skill checks.
RULE: Choose 1: Computers, Negotiation, start with 1 rank.

PYRES
This Creature has a Form that is Serpentine.
This Creature has a Physiology that is Mineral.
This Creature has a Silhouette that is Silhouette 1.
This Creature has a Locomotion that is Ambulation.
This Creature has a Manipulation that is Limited.
This Creature has a Sense that is Telepathy.
This Creature has a Features that is Air Supply.
This Creature has a Culture that is Cutthroat.
This Creature has a Tech that is Advanced.
This Creature has a Random Startup XP that is 100 XP.
This Creature has a Aspect that is Friendly.

|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--Brawn--|--Agility--|--Intellect--|--Cunning--|--Willpower--|--Presence--|
|---------+-----------+-------------+-----------+-------------+------------|
|    3    |     1     |      2      |     3     |      2      |      1     |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-----Soak-----|--Wound Threshold--|--Strain Threshold--|------Defense-----|
|--------------+-------------------+--------------------+------------------|
|   0 + Brawn  |    10 + Brawn     |   10 + Willpower   |         0        |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
This Creature's Encumbrance Threshold when Silhouette 1 is 5 + Brawn.

RULE: Fine Manipulation +2 Setback, Knockdown cost 1 less Advantage.
RULE: Oxygen Atmosphere rating 8 corrosive.
RULE: Choose 1: Charm, Streetwise, start with 1 rank.

The Current Age, The Sixth Age, The Age of the Kollsek

The Pantheon watched, the planet throw its temper tantrum.  It watched as it manipulated blatantly with the very stones of itself.  Belost drew the water up drop by drop from with the planet without it paying much heed.  Belost gathered the clouds thick over the band while Lamprides gleamed.  Aphion blew the seeds of the past towards the band in the dust storms that the stones turned up.  Ronat peeled the paint off the insects that burrowed and hid and hibernated silently and patiently.  Dorylus blessed the generations that endured.  Tocetes chewed off his own hand and foot to prevent the remaining life from devouring one another, and act of kindness that would need to be repaid in thrice later.  Callip rode upon the backs of the Godes feeding upon the energy that drove them until they died and moved on to the next and the next growing content on the planets recklessness.  Riodin grew fat on the growing wasteland and watched coldly as the others continued their project.  Velleta grew fat on the emotion of the planet itself a constant source of warm fiery emotion that exploded stars and birthed galaxies.  Sophixura was alone in her fuming.  She pulled energy from the infinite Velleta to force feed her children.  She was more of a life giver than any of the others save Dorylus.  Sophixura cared more for them while they lived, Dorylus cared more about process.  Sophixura drank from the waters of Riodin and cried her rage and screamed her frustration down onto the planets surface and gripped tightly to the remnants of her children driving them.  And her madness beget madness.  The creatures grew larger than they had before.  Only the smallest unfeeling insects that happened to be affected her her divine primal powers refused madness and mindless fury.  They did however welcome emotion and passion, and the rest of the pantheon took notice.

They soothed Sophixura.  The remembered their purpose in the aftermath of the time of monsters.  They carefully grew the creatures out of the dirt and dust and from the deep caves that saturated the planet, all while the planet slept.  They know, however, that the planet would awake again.  The cycle would continue until the planet relented or destroyed itself in the process. 

Only the planet did not sleep.  It was restless.  It was weak and it was watching.  It had damaged itself.  It needed to change tactics and try to be as subtle as the others and as effortless as the Dewer.  The Manta Seems, when destroying the Clandferia, kept some of the seeds of the ancient plant.  The ability to teleport itself was strange and magical.  The essense of the discoveries was kept in the temples where the Godes sat and decayed into piles of stones.  The planet summoned forth the energy to carefully extract the information and absorb it.  The planet grew its knowledge of this single attribute over a thousand years and forged pieces of itself to teleport out and dot the landscape of unknown siblings across an uncaring parent of a universe.  The planet waited.  When a long age passed where the planet watched the new creatures emerge and learn and huddle along the band, an answer came back.  The answer however was soft, and needed a subtle push that only a planet could give.  The planet pulled the energy directly from these beings that were given to him.  Their life in small drips became that of the planets.  The age of the others would flow seamlessly with the planet own new age.  Let the battle for dominance begin again.

[Sturn]

Ok only read through the initial post so far.

One thing that jumped out at me is the tidally locked world with light and dark sides equating to the Light and Dark forces, that is great. I had a tidally locked world for a fantasy setting once.

What about the twilight band? You've got temperate for the light side. There of course can be variations of tidally locked worlds, but how about the temperate area be in the twilight zone where it's not quite day, and not quite night? The full light side could then be hotter and desert covered as you get deeper into it. The dark side, the opposite, cold and eventually a glacial waste as you journey deeper into it. The civilized zone could then be in the much smaller band between those areas?

[Artexercise]

We are probably thinking of almost the same thing.  Both hot side and code side are wastelands except for this band around the world.  The lighted side is desert and hot, not livable except for maybe the sand worms.  The dark side of the world is too cold except for specially adapted creatures.  Although would the undead really suffer that much in extreme cold?  The light side of the band is temperate.  The dark side is colder but doable.  The river separates the two sides.  And in this more temperate band band on both sides of the river is where 99% of all action takes place.

I probably just restated what you said.  In both cases, It's what I hope to get across.

[Artexercise]

Aphion
 - God of Vegetation.  The Grower.  The mouth that gives.
 - The symbol of the god is that of a pair of mandibles surrounded by 6 bent legs.
 - He is one of the giving gods.  "Aphion blew the seeds of the past towards the band in the dust storms that the stones turned up."
 - His followers will often deal with Harvesting plants for the community or using their knowledge of the plant life for medicinal purposes.
 - While Aphion is a giving god, he is also more concerned with the flora instead of the fauna.  The Clandifera were considered the children of Aphion and Lamprides and hold a more special place in his heart than the overgrown insects called the Kollseks.  He understands the choice, but wanted instead a form of plant life to burst forth from the heart of the planet.  He is not content with the Kollseks but will wait until the next age to show that a reimagining of the Clandifera will solve the issue of the planet's obstinance.
 - Chilek Oracles and Rangers in alignment with Aphion would have these skills as part of their career set: Negotiation, Medicine, Survival, Knowledge[Flora]


Lamprides
 - Goddess of the Sun.  Brilliance.  The shining eye.
 - The symbol of the goddess is a set of golden drops in the pattern of a honeycomb.
 - She is one of the giving gods.  "...Lamprides gleamed."
 - Her followers will study the stars and take up positions of leadership or of messengers and communicators.
 - Lamprides is the guiding light of the pantheon but not the brains of the operation.  She keeps them going at all times but defers often to Dorylus or Sophixura.  As the bride of Aphion, she is giving to all his creations, and finds that she is also giving to the others in the pantheon.  Secretly she wants her own voice to be heard, and may someday force her will into the stuff of life and bring forth a being that she can call hers and hers alone.  Her followers whisper of these dark dreams as, "The Final Call".
 - Chilek Oracles and Rangers in alignment with Lamprides would have these skills as part of their career set: Charm, Leadership, Resilience, Knowledge[Astrology]


Ronat
 - God/Goddess of Art.  The Designer.  The hands that build.
 - The symbol of the deity is 3 pairs of shining wings around a segmented ball.
 - He/She is one of the giving gods.  "Ronat peeled the paint off the insects that burrowed and hid and hibernated silently and patiently."
 - The followers of Ronat will be found in both the shadows listening where they shouldn't and in many construction projects helping to create a new structure for fellow Kollseks.
 - Ronat listens in on the thoughts of the other gods and builds what is heard.  The deity is fluidity of form and in love with the enigmatic Belost, though Belost's mind never seems to give form.  Ronat is constant re-invention and thus takes delight in any form of creation, but cannot help but to also want to add something to the process.  Ronat is also a thief of ideas and "borrows" the invention of others to use in new creations.  Coincidences in the patterns of carapaces sometimes show up as a Kollseks new design "happens" elsewhere in nature by reflection.
 - Chilek Oracles and Rangers in alignment with Ronat would have these skills as part of their career set: Charm, Deception, Skullduggery, Knowledge[Architecture]


Dorylus
 - Goddess of Birth.  The Grandmother.  The comforting bosom.
 - The symbol of the goddess is a cracked cocoon.
 - She is one of the giving gods.  "Dorylus blessed the generations that endured." "...Dorylus cared more about process."
 - The followers of Dorylus are caregivers and ascetics.  The followers of Dorylus have little, but expect to receive the things that they might need from others.  They are expected to have no permanent home of their own and thus be more nomadic.
 - Dorylus along with Riodin is the oldest of the pantheon.  While Riodin simply refuses to speak of their origins, Dorylus simply forgets.  Senility would be the providence of this deity if it weren't so selective as though specific parts of her memory were erased.  Dorylus is one of the strongest deities but focuses that strength on helping others.  She has never had grand plans for bringing about life of her own as she considers all but Riodin the life that she created, but she can't be certain.
 - Chilek Oracles and Rangers in alignment with Dorylus would have these skills as part of their career set: Leadership, Athletics, Discipline, Survival


Belost
 - God of Water.  The mysterious.  The eternal heart.
 - The symbol of the god is a red branch with seven small branches coming from it.
 - He is one of the foundational gods. "Belost drew the water up drop by drop from within the planet without it paying much heed.  Belost gathered the clouds thick over the band..."
 - The followers of Belost are often alchemists and weather watchers.  They have an uncanny ability to find water either.
 - Belost, among his followers, is also said to be the god of unrequited love.  He loves Ronat some of the time, but is other times confused by the strange affections of the other deity.  As such, he is involved with his element until both he and Ronat become static.  In the meantime he talks with Callip about the day where everything stops.  His relationship with Callip is a source of confusion and contention with Ronat.  What none speak of, however, is the eon Belost and Velleta spent alone together.
 - Chilek Oracles and Rangers in alignment with Belost would have these skills as part of their career set: Negotiation, Alchemy, Medicine, Brawl


Riodin
 - God/Goddess of Oblivion.  The Patient.  The unthinking mind.
 - The symbol of the deity is that it has no symbol.  An absence where a symbol should be.
 - He/She is one of the foundational gods. "Riodin grew fat on the growing wasteland and watched coldly as the others continued their project." "Sophixura drank from the waters of Riodin..."
 - The followers of Riodin are few and take a vow of silence.  They often find ways to hide in plain sight.
 - Riodin along with Dorylus is the oldest of the pantheon.  While Belost is considered enigmatic and mysterious, Riodin is simply an unknown.  Even the other gods are unsure often what to make of Riodin, or even why the entity is hanging around, but it does.  Sometimes the patient one smiles, and sometimes the unthinking mind will utter a word or two.  It is rumored, even among the gods, there exists an Order of Riodin, where the first among the Order is the only being that Riodin only really ever talks to, and the first among the Order lives longer than others.
 - Chilek Oracles and Rangers in alignment with Riodin would have these skills as part of their career set: Deception, Discipline, Resilience, Brawl


Tocetes
 - God of Hunger.  The Collector.  The growling emptiness.
 - The Symbol of Tocetes is an outline of a dragonfly with another smaller outline within that.
 - He is one of the taking gods. "Tocetes chewed off his own hand and foot to prevent the remaining life from devouring one another, an act of kindness that would need to be repaid in thrice later."
 - The Followers of Tocetes are often chefs or any other profession that uses sharp objects.
 - Tocetes is a demanding god of his followers.  If they have the capacity to regrow limbs, giving up a limb periodically might please Tocetes.  Of all the pantheon, Tocetes is mostly an outsider who stays socially distant from the others.  Usually he just finds the hungriest creature and lingers around them to provoke and enforce the hunger as a more than natural desire.
 - Chilek Oracles and Rangers in alignment with Tocetes would have these skills as part of their career set: Coercion, Discipline, Resilience, Knowledge[Flora]


Callip
 - Goddess of Decay.  The Joyous.  The spirit of the dance.
 - The Symbol of Callip is an empty husk, but sometimes followers use a warted mushroom instead.
 - She is one of the taking gods. "Callip rode upon the backs of the Godes feeding upon the energy that drove them until they died and moved on to the next and the next growing content on the planets recklessness."
 - The Followers of Callip often partake in the arts with wild abandon but as a profession prefer being doctors.  These followers are metaphorically "social butterflies".
 - Callip and Belost are good friends but nothing more than that.  Callip enjoys Belost's inadvertent long time erosion of all things; she really eats it up.  While she does not have the hunger drive that Tocetes has, she does revel in the inevitably entropy of all things and sees it as a long and wild dance between the stages of life.  Things dying and decaying are the most fascinating to behold and the creations of the other gods provide lovely material for her to witness.
 - Chilek Oracles and Rangers in alignment with Callip would have these skills as part of their career set: Alchemy, Medicine, Resilience, Knowledge[Kollsek]


Velleta
 - Goddess of Hatred.  Focus and Fury.  The broken breath.
 - The Symbol of the Velleta is a pyramid point up encircled by a worm that nearly touches its tail at the apex so that the circle is not complete.
 - She is one of the taking gods. "Velleta grew fat on the emotion of the planet itself, a constant source of warm fiery emotion that exploded stars and birthed galaxies."  "... the infinite Velleta..."
 - The Followers of Velleta are always ready for a fight.  They are usually guards or hunters and strive on always reaching their target.
 - One of the truths about Velleta that few understand is that she is passionate.  It is hardly ever a hatred directed at a specific thing but rather an intensity to see and stay the course of a decision.  Velleta can be a marvelous cheerleader of the causes of the pantheon but one set upon the course, there is little to deter her.  Anything in her path will suffer her rage.  Deviations from the schedule are unacceptable even from the fickle randomness of life itself.  Never ask of the time with Belost, but know that when she returned, she had softened in her disposition ever so slightly.
 - Chilek Oracles and Rangers in alignment with Velleta would have these skills as part of their career set: Coercion, Coordination, Skullduggery, Brawl


Sophixura
 - Goddess of Megafauna.  Madness.  The unforgiving embrace.
 - The Symbol of Sophixura is a square with any letter inside.  Others may write a letter over the existing letter and it is still the symbol of sophixura.
 - She is a mad god. "Sophixura was alone in her fuming.  She pulled energy from the infinite Velleta to force feed her children.  She was more of a life giver than any of the others save Dorylus.  Sophixura cared more for them while they lived, Dorylus cared more about process.  Sophixura drank from the waters of Riodin and cried her rage and screamed her frustration down onto the planets surface and gripped tightly to the remnants of her children, driving them.  And her madness beget madness.  The creatures grew larger than they had before.  Only the smallest unfeeling insects that happened to be affected her her divine primal powers refused madness and mindless fury.  They did however welcome emotion and passion, and the rest of the pantheon took notice."
 - The Followers of Sophixura are, contrary to expectations, not mad at all, but careful about walking the line between boundaries.  They are ready listeners and eager participants, afraid of both disobedience and potential reward.  Should a follower also go mad, that is get too close to the goddess, then they must be sent into the wasteland never to return.
 - Sophixura is both powerful and unpredictable.  The others together reign her in.  It might be said that the others remain together as a collective group for the sole purpose of containing Sophixura.  She is a crucible of creation, a catalyst for disaster, and a ready protector of the downtrodden.  She wears her heart on her sleeve and her sword on her hip.  When it is that gods are created, two or more may have been mixed into the mold of Sophixura and all fight for dominance in her mind.
 - Chilek Oracles and Rangers in alignment with Sophixura would have these skills as part of their career set: Leadership, Athletics, Stealth, Survival